Chapter 471 - Praises And Fears. R-18
To anyone other than the commanders, Devon's words were of little implications. They were much too focused on celebrating their victory.
Hal however, looked back towards the Dystopian continent while his brain worked fast in an attempt to think of how he could make use of such a situation to his advantage.
However, while he did come up with a lot, the mere thought of the high power level and his own weaker level (in comparison) caused him to think more realistically.
Schemes were all well and good but he was way too far and lacked the necessary Dystopian connections to make them happen.
If only, if only he had been able to mark Reyna or contract her, she could have been his way in.
*sigh*
There was so much to think about.
Especially his impending Bloodline tribulation..
Oh well, there was no point fussing over it for now.
The Haronians eventually all slumped off towards their camp, thinking to return after the celebration to collect their dead and at least not have the bodies of their fallen comrades rotting on the ground.
Eventually, Devon thought to have a sitdown with his daughter and Hal.
The report he had heard of this sketchy young man spoke of his lack of social skills in regards to his comrade and also his absolute lack of remorse at the death of many Haronians.
He simply fought and won.
Haronian C-class experts who had been in the Dystopian camp told of how Hal had saved their lives along with Melinda. The two whirling through Dystopian experts as though they were nothing.
They had sung their praises as much as they had expressed their fears.
The men especially told of how Melinda's golden eyes chilled them to the bones. Almost as though she was thinking of many different horrific ways to kill them.
That had caused Devon's lips to twitch as he knew that look quite well since it was the one Melinda always wore when she looked at him.
In fact, ever since her return to the Dane family, it was the look she wore when looking at any and every male that was not Hal, for whom for some reason she had nothing but fondness.
Anyway,
Devon did not ask for them to tell him of any of Hal's peculiarities (if they had noticed them, which in truth, none of them had noticed as Hal was always careful) because if Hal did indeed have a connection with Dystopia, he did not want to know.
It was such a bother.
One of the main reasons for him wanting Hal on this expedition was to discover his secrets but before they left the Silva Duchy, he had had a conversation with his mother.
Hal was a Doxon and was a potential link to powerful allies. Allies that while they disliked could actually aid them in defeating the Silvas and achieving their grand ambitions.
If he (Devon) found out what Hal was hiding and it indeed was a connection to Dystopia, he would most likely not be able to curb the instincts placed within him by the Primeval Virtue and act out in a way that would be detrimental to their plans to rule the continent.
Alas, even when unaware, he could still not stop himself from putting Hal in situations the Doxon man would most likely not survive.
Had Melinda not been over at the Dystopian camp as well, he might have held out until things got as difficult as they possibly could for Hal.
Of course, the Joke is on him as just like Melinda had said 'Everyone might die but Hal won't. He had his Harem space to hide in and wait out the battle.
In fact, It was inside the Harem space that Hal and Melinda were in at the moment Devon sought to find them.
...
The Mansion in the Harem space...
Hal and Melinda were inside the bath in Hal's room in the mansion with the water scented with so many pleasurable scents.
But Melinda was of the opinion that the scent coming off Hal's body put all the many scented mixtures in the bath to shame as she pressed closer to him and took long whiffs that got her heady with pleasure while her pussy tingled with pleasure.
She pressed her lips against his chest and kissed it before she moved up to nuzzle his neck and pepper it with kisses as well.
Hal lay back in the bath, with his eyes closed and the tip of his back-length black hair dipped inside the water.
His posture was a lounging one that told of being perfectly at ease as Melinda continued her treatment of kisses all over his well-muscled form.
Eventually, her ministrations progressed with her right hand going down towards his flaccid cock which she gave a few pumps while her perfect ass was teasingly above water level.
*Fap* *Fap* *Fap*
Her stroking quickly picked up in speed thanks to the lubrication of their bath water and Hal moaned lightly at the pleasure of her touch. Melinda was getting ever better at this the more she did it.
Soon, his cock rose as hard as it ever could and its sheer girth would have been enough to intimidate any woman, but Melinda was no stranger to its size.
While it truly was large, her pussy had long been shaped to accommodate him and him alone.
She rose and stopped her strokes before lowering her pussy over the cock and taking it inside herself, inch by inch, and never stopping until her ass was touching his laps and his entire length was deep within her.
Which also happened to be the limit of all she could take.
"Mmnnghhhh" she moaned in pleasure and gyrated her hips a tad bit on his cock causing it to move around her in such a way that had her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
There it was!
The familiar feeling that always managed to remain fresh.
Always managed to make her feel like a virgin again. Excluding the pain, of course.
Hal groaned at how tight she gripped him with her inner muscles and how good she made him feel.
And then Melinda raised herself upon him only to slam back down as hard as she possibly could, and slowly increased her tempo.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Nnghh... Nnghh... Nnghh" Melinda moaned in accordance to her downward thrusts and then Hal leaned forward and grabbed one of her nipples into his mouth to suck on it.
As he did, he was also kneading her other breast and the golden-eyed beauty quickly clung even tighter around him as her entire body was now twitching with pleasure and the twitches were quickly turning into spasms as she quickly neared her first orgasm of this particular session.
"Oh yes, that's it"
As she groaned and moaned her pleasure for anyone and everyone who had ears to hear, she spasmed and tightened even harder around Hal who still found a way to keep thrusting into her to help her ride out the orgasm that was sure not to be the last and was merely the first of many to come.
Melinda shuddered as she came down from her high and then Hal rose from the bath with her clinging tightly to him as he took them both to the large bed in the room.
It was there that he lay Melinda, pulled out of her, and lowered his head to begin sucking on her perfect nipples. The feeling of which had Melinda twitching with pleasure despite just coming down from orgasmic bliss.
Chapter 472 - [Bonus ] Body Collecting Committee. R-18
As he sucked on her erect nipples, Hal stretched his hand downward and initiated Erogenous touch to begin teasing her pussy that was still tingling from post-orgasmic bliss.
"Mmngghhh" Melinda moaned and grabbed his head to hold it even tighter against her breasts (whichever of the two he was focussing on) while she clamped her legs together in a hopeless bid to hold in her leaking juices.
However, her clamped legs did not stop Hal's ministrations.
Eventually, Melinda began to spasm once again and she squirted pussy juices as she was subjected to a minor orgasm.
Once she came down from that high, Hal propped her up on all fours and placed his cock right at her moist and glistening entrance.
He rubbed his cock against it for a short while before thrusting inside her to the hilt in one push that saw Melinda arch her back and moan out loud in pleasure.
At first, Hal thrust slowly, not to get her used to him as that bridge had long been crossed and forgotten, but just so he could not the sensation of being inside her warm and moist snatch.
The manner in which Melinda tightened around him and then loosened up only to tighten once again almost felt like he was getting a Cock massage.
Anyway,
His lustful nature eventually took over and his speed began to gradually increase as he thrust in and out at a quick and steady rhythm that was always accompanied by the musical hitting of his pelvis against her wonderful ass,
Her wonderful ass which he grabbed as he sawed his cock in and out of her.
"Ahhnn... Oh yes... Hal, harder... Fuck me HARDERRRR!!!" Melinda yelled at the top of her lungs and Hal did grant her wishes.
He pounded into her with resounding smacks that could be heard all around the mansion.
*PAH* *PAH* *PAH*
Even as the pounding went on, Melinda experienced multiple orgasms but minor and major that had her pussy spasming around Hal's cock, and enhancing the experience all the more.
And then, Hal's skin went crimson and became marred with Dark likes as he took on the form of a Mid-World Devil, a form that instantly aroused the vindictive desire to burn him to a crisp.
However, as the golden flames of her Dane bloodline began to coat Melinda's form, Hal initiated {Mind Meld} which instantly curbed the reaction while also heightening the pleasure of their intercourse all the more.
Then Hal pulled out of her and while Melinda's body twitched from even more minor orgasmic sensations, her lust for Hal was not yet quenched, although to be fair, she already deemed it as unquenchable, so she pushed him lightly down and quickly mounted his straight pointing hard cock.
She began to ride him, so hard and passionately that Hal felt as though he was some prized bull off of which she was attempting not to be bucked off. He did not particularly hate that feeling,
In fact, he welcomed it as he grabbed her hips but made no move to assist her thrusts.
This was all her.
*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*
Over and over, Melinda smacked her ass against Hal's laps while moans of pleasure kept leaking out of her lips.
Soon, the two changed positions once again with Hal raising one of Melinda's legs to spread her even wider for his smacks to have more impact and force behind them.
Then after half an hour in this position, Hal groaned and spewed copious amounts of cum inside Melinda's pussy, enjoying it, even more, thanks to her tightening snatch as she was having her most major orgasm yet.
But that was far from being the end and the two would continue changing positions and indulging in each other's bodies, sharing essence for many more hours to come.
...
Eventually, they separated and ended their passionate session as they both refined the essence they had gotten and moved ever closer to the Cosmic Aurora realm, although Hal was farther along.
When they were sure they were presentable again, they left the Harem space with Hal wondering how he could get every single dead body in Gelread valley.
He could not possibly go about picking the bodies and sending them into the Beast habitat as that would be quite impractical and give him away.
Shielding it from view with a dome of astral energy could also give him away due to the signature royal blue color his Astral energy takes.
At first, he wracked his brain and then thought,
'Screw it, there's no point hiding anything at this point. Let's just show this bunch where the bodies of their dead are going to end up'.
-
That night, the men and women of the Haronian Army saw something peculiar.
They had been celebrating since the Dystopians retreated and only planned to move their dead at night but someone beat them to it, or more accurately, something beat them to it.
"Alright move it along, move it along, we don't have much time. Master wants us to get this done as quickly as possible. Come on Devils-in-the-making, MOVE IT!"
The one speaking was a humanoid bear with red eyes and a monstrous-looking physique.
The Bear was of course Borus, the ex Tretch king and now commander of the Semi-Devil beasts inside Hal's beast habitat, and the monstrous physiques that boasted of hardness that surpassed what he ever had as a Demon beast was a sign of his mutation heading towards becoming a true Devil.
The ones he was addressing were none other than the thousands of beasts Hal had inside his Beast habitat.
Hal had set them all loose and let them gather the beasts themselves.
"Why are you all so slow? Pick up the pace, I want everyone grabbing at least two bodies. Let's clear this up quickly." Borus kept barking orders and soon he was approached.
They were B-class Lieutenants and while a dislike for these beasts showed in their expressions, they neglected to arm themselves for now as they sent word to the Grand tent on this peculiar sight.
"Who are you?" A B-class lieutenant eventually asked when he got a little closer to Borus.
Borus looked over at him with narrowed red eyes,
"My name is not for you to know" he told the lieutenant in a curt tone of voice.
The Lieutenant that had spoken frowned and looked ready to act out with extreme prejudice when another Lieutenant stretched an arm to hold him back as he asked Borus who had not looked a tad bit worried,
"Then might we ask. why you are here?" The Second Lieutenant asked.
Borus looked at the first lieutenant like he was an insect not worthy of considering before he said,
"We are a part of the Body Collecting Committee," Borus said with his voice not sounding any nicer than it had before.
Then he turned and continued barking orders to the Beasts.
"Those are the bodies of brave experts of the Haron continent, you bastards are stealing them!" Said the first lieutenant.
The second, however, decided to rephrase,
"Body Collecting Committee? I've never heard of it" he said.
Borus shrugged,
"I have no idea why that is. Our committee has existed since the dawn of time." The Devil bear said with a wolfish grin and a lick of his snout before he continued,
"We take contracts that involve clearing battlefields such as this of dead bodies. I have the contract right here..." He said and presented a parchment which he handed to the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant frowned,
"This is not a contract. It just says 'We can do whatever we want and you can't stop us'."
"Sure it is! And it's a binding one at that. Just as it says, if you don't fuck off and stay out of our way, you are going to join the many bodies we're already carting away." Borus said in a not so veiled threat.
The Lieutenants immediately summoned their cosmic Armaments and charged Cosmic Auroras.
However, the display did not rouse fear in the semi Devil beast's eyes, instead, he looked pleasantly amused....
Chapter 473 - I Still Don't Like You...
Why was Borus amused?
It was not just because he could very well take these two as his physical strength enhanced with his semi-Devil physique had long surpassed their capabilities, the real reason was that he genuinely found the situation funny.
He was merely to bide time so that every body on the battlefield of Gelread valley could be carted away by the beasts hurrying about behind him.
As for the Lieutenants, while they did summon their Armaments and charged Auroras, they did not attack immediately as they were still outnumbered.
Let it be mentioned now that it was not just the two vocal lieutenants that were present. There were others, they just declined to comment and followed the lead of the vocal duo.
Anyway,
Well aware that these beasts far outnumbered them and their capabilities were still relatively unknown, they were only waiting for reinforcements and that was when a phenomenon occurred on the side of the valley.
A phenomenon that caught their attention.
It was a dark fog that was sipping out of a manly figure in a sapphire blue robe and a mask.
This was of course Hal and the fog around him was his Devil shroud.
Anyway, the Lieutenants had no idea who this new arrival was or where he had come from but when he nodded his head at Borus, they knew something troublesome was about to happen, but they did not react fast enough to dodge the punch Borus threw out at them both.
*BAM*
A simultaneous blow with one single sound sent both Lieutenants flying back.
The others that had come with the Lieutenants frowned and summoned Armaments while tossing cosmic Auroras at Borus.
Reinforcements be damned!
They needed to act now.
Meanwhile, the masked man waved his hand and a portal opened right by his side. A portal that the beasts began to walk through to dump the bodies and then going back out to take more.
Then those who were not occupied with attacking Borus, who was doing a good job dodging all they threw at him and hitting back when faced with physicality, soon noticed what was going on.
They did not have the time to think about the fact that this mysterious fellow had a pocket dimension housing many unknowns, they were merely focused on stopping him from taking the bodies of their dead comrades.
"Stop that" yelled a female Lieutenant and dashed forward with B-class experts of her platoon to stop the carting.
Hal who was keeping his perception spread knew they did not have much time before the arrival of reinforcements. Reinforcements that were sure to include A-class experts who had originally refrained from clearing bodies.
Apparently, it was not 'befitting their class'.
The Beasts all divided into two groups with the smallest group dealing with the B-class experts while the other much larger continued carting off bodies.
The B-class experts soon realized they were out of their depth as the Beasts proved practically undefeatable.
As their evolution proceeded, the development of the beasts was getting more focused on their physical strength which was enhanced by them getting ever closer to being Devils.
Add that to the fact that they could still use their attuned elements and imbue them with as much cosmic energy they had inside their bodies and you get why the B-class experts were finding it difficult to be victorious.
Frustration began to set in as many of them got crippled while they were all ultimately held down and could do nothing about the bodies being taken away.
Suddenly, Hal's sense perked and he passed his order of retreat to all his Beasts through the telepathic connection he had with them.
It was the best time to retreat too as they had successfully cleared every single body on the battlefield.
The B-class could not follow as they had been beaten down well enough already.
When the last beast, which was none other than Borus, entered into the portal, it closed behind him right as A-class experts arrived at the scene.
They arrived quick enough to see the Portal close and the masked man beside the closing portal get shrouded completely in dark fog before he dashed away from the scene.
Needless, to say, they pursued...
Of course, by the time they reached the spot Hal had vanished at and faced the direction he had faced, they saw nothing. It was almost as though he had vanished into thin air.
Hal was invisible a few meters from where they were searching and took his time to walk away from the area entirely before going into his Harem space for a change of clothes.
When he came back out, he stayed invisible for good measure as he crossed Gelread valley over to the Haron camp where he became visible once again and joined Melinda who smiled at his return.
"You look like you enjoyed yourself" she told him and Hal nodded with a smile.
He indeed had enjoyed himself.
Watching his beasts cart away the bodies and watching them overpower B-class experts brought a smile to his face.
At the moment, he knew the beasts would be digging into feasts of dead bodies and then go into hibernation. From that point, he was not entirely sure what level they would attain but he was interested to see.
"I actually did" Hal told her and kissed her forehead.
News of the actions of the thousands of beasts whose escape had been aided by the mysterious masked man had spread all about the camp and it was at the time of circulation that Hal and Melinda were invited by Devon to have a little sit-down.
...
Devon's Tent...
A circular table that usually held maps and strategic plans for the Haronian general to look through was now only occupied by a wine jug and three wine glasses.
Devon then filled the wine glasses with wine from the jug before he picked up one and gestured to the two,
"Go on, it's good for you" he said.
It indeed was good for them as Hal was quick to realize after inspecting it and having Grimoire double-check, the beverage granted him a boost in his cultivation.
Once Hal had taken a sip, Melinda took one as well while eyeing her father in an 'I still hate you' look.
Devon smiled at his daughter,
"It will help you break through bottlenecks" he said.
Melinda eventually downed the whole Drink and Hal did the same while Devon was a tad bit surprised at the ease with which they had refined and absorbed the wine's effects.
Even after downing gulp, the two showed no signs of discomfort.
He refilled their glasses and then finally began to speak about non-wine related topics,
"So, I heard you two made quite the impression during this Expedition. Melinda in particular, you caused quite the storm despite just arriving." He started.
Melinda sneered,
"What? Are you praising me? 'Cause trust me, I can do without such false gestures" she said.
Devon smiled fondly,
"I am indeed praising you but it is not a false gesture. It's genuine." He said and then looked at Hal who was smiling lightly in amusement,
"As for you... I still don't like you! But you did well. You were quite capable, truly you are a one-of-a-kind genius, but... You can't be trusted" he said.
Hal fought the urge to roll his eyes.
This was so typical and expected.
It no longer struck a chord in him.
He really could not care less what Devon thought of him at this point.
Hal decided to play along,
"Really now. What have I done to deserve such a harsh assessment?" He asked with his amiable smile.
Devon was silent for a while and then said,
"You're hiding something"
This time, Hal rolled his eyes,
"Aren't we all?" He asked.
"Aren't we all... what?" Devon requested clarification.
Hal shrugged,
"Aren't we all hiding something? Do we all not have secrets to keep? I mean, even the Dane family has something to hide. After all, I really doubt you would want the Emperor knowing his General is plotting to overturn his rule"
Devon frowned,
"You are out of line" he said.
Hal shook his head with a mockingly musing expression,
"Actually, I don't think I am. I am involved in this plot now, am I not?" He asked with a relaxed expression.
"Certain things are for you to know but not speak about" Devon said with a scowl.
"Oh please, what are you going to do, kill me? You have too much self-control to let yourself lose control and kill your hope at an alliance with the Doxon family"
"You're pushing it kid. Don't test me. Don't test my patience" Devon said and clenched his fist.
Hal leaned forward, not backing down,
"Then don't go off raving about me not being trustworthy especially if you still hold thoughts of an alliance with the Doxon family, regardless."
Silence...
During which, Melinda had taken to serving herself glass after glass of wine and smiling at the whole conversation that was getting her father purple with rage while Hal remained as relaxed as ever.
Eventually, Devon calmed down and sighed,
"Okay then. I admit your trustworthiness is of no importance to our goals, at least not directly. Whatever you are hiding, whatever it is that makes me uneasy around you, I don't want to know until we have accomplished what we want."
'After that though, I will make sure I end you' he added in his mind.
Almost as though Hal had read Devon's mind, he thought with a bright smile as they both stared into each other's eyes,
'By then, it would be too late, Old Man'
Chapter 474 - The List.
The staring contest of sorts went on for a few more seconds before Devon eventually averted his eyes and gestured to Hal that it was time for him to leave.
When Hal stood up, Melinda made to follow but Devon called to her,
"No, Melinda wait a moment more" he said and Melinda sat back down with a deeply disgruntled look.
Hal left the tent just as his communication talisman alerted him.
Hal went off to somewhere relatively private and away from the raucous of celebrations to take the call.
Out of the talisman boomed the familiar voice of Ehrlich,
"You're alive" said the Princess' stooge with a tone of disappointment.
Hal grinned,
"Well, I'm wasting my time talking to you so I must be" Hal said.
"Wasting your time? How dare you? I am contacting by order of the process and you go about saying nonsense like that." Ehrlich said and Hal rolled his eyes,
"Yeah, yeah, quit your yapping and get to the point, will you?" He said in annoyance.
Ehrlich paused and then,
"Now that the war is over, the princess has another mission for you to undertake" he eventually said.
Hal did not ask how she knew about the end of the war as Devon being a general to the Emperor must have long reported the end of the war through a communication talisman, pending a direct, possibly face-to-face report to the Emperor.
Instead, he mulled it over,
"No" he eventually said.
As Ehrlich misheard his reply, he had already launched into a description of this mission,
"Okay, so it will require you to go to a different Duchy. One you've most likely never visited... Wait, did you say 'No'?" He asked as his brain eventually caught up.
Hal nodded even though Ehrlich could not see him,
"Yes, yes I did. I won't do any more missions until I get to have a sit down with the Princess. If I can't even be afforded that, then I'd rather not offer up my services."
"Hey, hey look here, you are in no position to make demands. The princess requires your services, then you offer them up in the entirety" Ehrlich said.
"I don't think so. I never swore loyalty to her. I work to be paid and as such, I have absolute freedom to act as I please. If I do not want to offer up my services, then I will not. Deliver that to your princess and don't ever contact me until she accepts to have a sitdown.
Oh, and don't attempt some stupid stunt like kidnapping because I assure you that you will regret it"
And with that, Hal disconnected the communication talisman before Ehrlich could say a word in reply.
...
The Haronian army left Gelread valley the very next day. The expedition was over and it was time to go home.
Hal was especially happy to see the end of the expedition.
Now he did not have to act as though he gave a crap what happened to the Haron empire.
Although, those who had fought with him would claim that he had never shown any interest or form of patriotism from the very start.
Anyway, they soon arrived at the border forts where devoted experts kept an eye on any activities in the enemy continent and where the first sighting of the invasion-planning Dystopian Army had been seen.
They were only passing through and continued into the Haron continent's territory proper.
...
Once they were back in the Silva Duchy capital where they were given a sort of hero's welcome as they walked through the streets, Hal and Melinda were quick to separate from them.
This was actually a form of insubordination as all members of the army were to return to the main barrack behind the General and the commanders where they would be addressed on how well or how bad they had acted.
This was mostly formality but it was a formality that was to be followed but Hal and Melinda could not care less.
Once they arrived at the mansion Hal had been given by the Alchemist Organization, Arya was waiting to welcome them both and Hal had not even settled into his return to his mansion and his and the ladies' eventual entry into the Harem space when a visitor arrived at the mansion for him.
The visitor was a silver-haired young man with pale eyes, who even though Hal had not seen for months, he still remembered was Pierre Silva.
When Pierre saw Hal, Arya, and Melinda, he smiled at them and moved forward in excitement while presenting his hand to Hal who eyed it for a long while before shaking it,
"What are you doing here?" Hal asked as soon as their hands had disconnected.
No greetings. No false theatrical show that would have normally involved him struggling to recollect the Silva man's name before been reminded, he simply went straight to the point.
Maybe Hal should have been more friendly but he found it hard to be for numerous reasons.
He was still not pleased with the male gender, except if they were serving him and fighting for him. Even then, he only endured their presence.
He would much rather cuck, cheat and kill them.
He was sexist that way.
He was also no longer interested in 'powerful allies'. Having been decided that if a male was not marked or contracted into servitude by him, he had no need for their alliance.
First Pierre greeted Melinda and Arya with words and a gesture of his head. A gesture Melinda accepted in quite a curt manner.
Pierre smiled uncomfortably as he said to Hal,
"I said you should come to visit me at the Duchy palace but you never came. Surely, your run-in with Adeline could not have put you off, could it?"
Hal shrugged,
"The idea of a visit to your home fills me with trepidation. I'd really rather not." Hal said and
Arya soon excused herself.
Melinda thought to leave as well, but eventually stayed put to listen to what Pierre and Hal would discuss with her legs crossed.
"So, you're an alchemist" Pierre said not as a question but as a statement of fact. A fact he knew.
Hal did not find it surprising that he knew as the news was sure to be spreading in the top echelons. Especially since the top young alchemists whose league he was now unwittingly a part of, were part of the top Echelon.
"Yes, I am" Hal replied knowing where this was going and that it was related to the fact that Pierre knew he was a Runemaster.
"Wow, I never thought I'd get to see someone capable of the two professions. You really are incredible." Pierre said.
"But?" Hal asked as he knew there was one such word coming,
Pierre smiled,
"... But I never thought you would be linked to a Dane." He said and gestured to Melinda with his eyes.
Melinda sneered,
"What? Does that throw you off?" She asked.
"Throw me off? What is that supposed to mean?' Pierre asked but Melinda rolled her eyes,
"Oh don't play dumb. Since you came here, you have never made mention of what you actually came to visit Hal for. You want Hal in your corner, don't you? But you are thrown off by the fact that you met a Dane by his side."
Pierre smiled lightly,
"Even if that was indeed what I came here for, why would your presence affect such plans? After all, the Danes have been loyal subjects of the Duchy for millennia" Pierre said.
Funny thing was that both Hal and Melinda knew Pierre was saying that because that was what he believed.
The Silva man was being as unenlightened as he possibly could. However, maybe from certain things he had heard or certain things he might have experienced, he could sense the unspoken rivalry between the Danes and Silva and it made him uncomfortable in Melinda's presence.
After all, it was very likely Pierre knew nothing of the history between Danes and Silvas, or maybe he knew it in a manner that painted the Silvas as the 'good guys'.
Of course, it is prudent to know that this was practically how Isabella's take was to Hal as well. He (Hal) after all, had no way of knowing if all he had been told by the Dane patroness was the truth and nothing but the truth.
"Why are you here?" Hal asked and Pierre sighed before finally coming clean,
"Okay then, I did come for an alliance. An alliance during the Royal Academy Entrance exam taking place in two weeks"
Hal raised his brow,
'That's right, it's about time for that stupid exam. It completely slipped my mind'
'Of course, it did. You don't need all that nonsense, all you need is me' Grimoire perked up.
Hal's lips twitched,
'What? Are you jealous?' Hal asked but Grimoire remained quiet and declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Melinda who had clearly not forgotten about the exam even if she did not care either way, asked,
"So what?"
Pierre cleared just throat,
"The exam's challenges usually change every year but this year there will be two main stages; Group battles and single battles.
During the first stage, from the rumors, from reliable sources, I have heard no one fights alone and whether you have prearranged teams or not, you must be part of a group and work together towards your collective goal.
What that goal is, I have no idea, but I do know that having a talented cultivator such as yourself in my group could not possibly hurt my chances to get to the second stage."
Hal showed two fingers,
"Couple questions, why come to me when, as a Silva, you are sure to have many talented cultivators to fight with you? And also, how the hell do you even know I'm going to be taking the exam?"
Pierre looked a little confused at the second question,
"You don't know?" He asked but from Melinda's expression, it was clear that she knew and she proceeded to tell Hal,
"It's no big deal but the names of those participating is not a secret to be kept but something to be honored to be a part of. The list of participants already spread about the continent's main Duchy cities during your time at war."
Pierre nodded and presented Hal with a copy of the very long list where he had highlighted a few names, one of which was;
Hal from Sapphire city.
Chapter 475 - An Unknown Side.
Hal furrowed his brow as he looked over the list and confirmed multiple times that his name was really there. Melinda's name was there as well and so was Pierre's sister, Adeline.
Inwardly he sighed and was a tad bit upset at the public nature of his participation in the entrance exam.
"Okay then, I guess that answers the question of how you know I might be taking the exam, but what of the other question?"
Pierre sighed before he said,
"I'll be honest with you, other than Adeline, I have absolutely no one close to me to join up with.
The royal academy exam involves the best of the best which also means it involves the most egotistical young cultivators on the continent. There is just no way around that fact.
I learned how quickly people could change upon being recognized as the best when I took the exam the first two times in the past two years."
Hal raised his brow,
"You've taken the exam more than once?" He inquired to be sure of what he had heard and Pierre nodded,
"You are allowed to take the entrance exam three times. No one can take it any more times than that regardless of who they are. That includes members of the imperial family.
In fact, for a member of the Imperial family, you are only allowed to take the exam twice, and even then, taking the exam the second time would tag the person as 'weak' regardless of success or failure."
At this point, Pierre sighed and closed his eyes before he opened them and continued,
"My situation is similar. I have never been my father's favorite and my failing the exam twice did not help my likeability in his eyes. He has taken to sending me on demeaning tasks such as going to witness the induction of a Baron.
Which also happens to be how I met you.
Anyway, almost every friend I had passed the exam on our first try, as we had taken it together. The ones who failed succeeded the second time. In both cases, they dropped me as fast as they could.
They said I was dead weight.
A failure.
They were right..."
Pierre looked up at Hal and Melinda to see the two now sipping tea that was clearly rich in cultivation resources.
"What the hell?" His eyes widened.
First off, where did the tea come from?
In the space of the few words he had said with his head down, the two were already clinking glasses and watching as though all he said was simply interesting.
There was no sympathy in their eyes as they heard his sad tale.
"Oh, are you referring to the tea? A maid brought it in just a while ago" Hal said.
"Did you even hear anything I just said? Do you understand it?" Pierre asked.
Hal and Melinda nodded,
"Of course we did. It's all very sad" the golden-eyed lady said.
"Well, if it is, why aren't you showing it?" Pierre was utterly confused.
"Because sad or not, we actually couldn't care less when you have clearly already given up on yourself. Tea?" Hal asked and gestured towards the teapot on the small table separating him and Melinda from the Silva man.
"I wouldn't mind a cup" Pierre said and Hal nodded,
"Then get your own" he said and Pierre gapped.
"What?" He asked.
"Get your own tea. It does not come cheap and I would rather not waste it on a failure, isn't that right?" Hal said and gestured his question to Melinda who nodded,
"So right. It would be such a waste."
Pierre looked visibly upset,
"A failure? Now, look here..." He began but Melinda interrupted,
"Look here what? You said it yourself. They were right. Your father, your friends, they were all right. You are a failure."
Hal nodded,
"That's right. Why would I share such precious resources with a failure? Why would I want to assist you in an exam that you, a failure, have failed twice already?"
Pierre calmed down after that as he saw sense in Hal's words before he said,
"Because if you don't help me, I'm likely to fail and third time and I will not be able to bear the shame. That is not to mention the fact that I could get ousted by my family.
No longer able to call myself a Silva" he said in a pleading tone,
"Then why not just not take the exam?" Hal asked and Pierre took a deep breath,
"It will change nothing. It would also be seen as my third consecutive failure. Not participating is not an option. I have to participate and I have to pass. So, will you help me? If you're in my group, I believe I have a higher chance of passing the first stage."
The part he had neglected to talk about was that this was not only concerning him.
Adeline was taking the exam this year and she was adamant about being in her brother's group. She would drop every friend she had if they would not allow her brother to join their group.
Pierre was touched but also worried for her.
You see, the more times you take the entrance exam into the Royal Academy, the harder it is to pass. The competition becomes even harder to topple.
Unlike Hal and those close to him who breezed through cultivation realms and remained greedy for more, Pierre's cultivation did not improve drastically since he took the exam for the first time two years ago.
And if he did not take the exam this year, it would just be counted as a forfeit and an instant fail without any more chances.
Adeline was indeed a genius and there was even a possibility that before the Exam in two weeks, she will advance to the Cosmic Aurora realm, but because she wished to be in the same group with him, they would most likely have to settle for failures as well.
They would have to settle those who had taken their exams more than once.
And such a team, Pierre knew from his second exam experience was practically doomed to fail.
He needed new blood.
He needed another genius.
He needed Hal.
Hal looked to mull it over before he said,
"It depends. I could very well not participate in the Exam. That said, I'm intrigued with the prospect and I will definitely think about it."
Before Hal even bothered with the Royal academy exam, he wanted to have that sit-down with Tanya.
Maybe she would not give in and attempt to convince him to take on the new mission through other means, but he was sticking to his guns on this one. If not, the princess would simply always believe that he would work as long as the pay is right.
This could be every bit as restricting as swearing loyalty to her.
If he did not take a stand and make these occasional demands, he would really have no value in her eyes.
He'd be taken for granted.
And that was the last thing he wanted.
"Think about it... Please. It's not just my success that is on the line..." Pierre looked to wish to say more but eventually stopped and walked out of the mansion to return to the Silva Duchy palace.
Hal watched him leave and could not help but be amused at how different this situation was from when Hal and Pierre met for the first time when the young man had been sophisticated and important.
Speaking about meting honorable justice and eventually claiming they could be friends.
How different that was from the pleading expression he now had on his face.
Melinda slid into his lap and wound her arms around his neck as she began peppering his neck with kisses.
Then she asked,
"So... are you going to ask me or what?"
Hal raised a brow,
"Ask you what?"
"To join your group. Assuming you do take the exam that is" she said and leaned away from him to look into his eyes,
Hal wound his arm around her to grab one of her ass cheeks as he said,
"Should I have to ask? That should be a given. Like asking a lover if you will spend Valentine's day together or not. Such things don't need to be asked. They should be known."
"What's Valentine's day?" Melinda asked.
'Propaganda' Hal thought.
"A special day for lovers" was what he actually said.
"Where do they celebrate it?" Melinda asked as she was of course clueless as to such customs.
"In a place called earth" Hal told her with a smile.
"Where's that?"
"It's one of the many worlds that exist in the multiverse. It... used to be my home"
Melinda's brows furrowed and she wondered what Hal meant. How could he have been in another world and call it home when he was supposed to be born and raised in this world? The Nexus world.
She thought to question Hal on it but stopped when she realized, Hal was exposing a side of himself to her that he had never exposed to anyone else.
A side she could have gone the rest of her life and never known.
He was exposing it to her without any prompting from her.
All she had to do was listen.
At least for now.
Hal was still speaking,
"You could definitely crush the strongest of them without actually trying. And their most powerful weapons will be totally useless against us but they are amusing to remember.
Ah, life was kind of simple back then.
Not too boring. But this is so much better"
He pulled Melinda's face closer and connected their lips in a passionate kiss before separating and saying,
"I wouldn't trade this life for anything"
"Neither would I?" Melinda said and reconnected their kiss with even more passion than Hal had put into the kiss in the first place....
Chapter 476 - An Invitation Of Sorts. Part 1. R-18
"Ahhhnnn"
Arya moaned as Hal delved into her pussy and licked it for all it was worth. Getting her delirious with pleasure as she clamped her thighs around his head to hold him there but it did not do anything to hinder Hal who upped his cunnilingus skills even more.
Melinda had returned to the Dane territory already after some personal time with Hal. At the moment when Hal was spending time with Arya in the Harem space, Melinda was already reunited with the guard placed with her by her grandmother.
Of course, now Irma was more like a personal assistance rather than the bodyguard the golden-eyed beauty reluctantly accepted.
That said, Irma still reported back to Isabella but Melinda did not really mind.
She always refrained from talking about the main things that she wished to keep from her grandmother in Irma's presence and then made use of Irma's connections about the Dane territory and even the Duchy at large (thanks to working for Isabella) in her favor.
Anyway, after she left, Hal decides to indulge himself in Arya's body.
Something he had not done for so long and was sure to be quite the bountiful essence reaping session. Due to her being at the Cosmic Pagoda realm.
Arya arched her back, spread her thighs, and thrust her pussy even harder into Hal's lips and pleasurable tongue to gain even more traction but nothing was enough
Nothing was satisfactory.
No matter how she gyrated,
No matter how good she felt,
She was always wanting more.
At the moment, she moved speedily towards an Orgasm, and Hal's pleasurable tongue guided her along, and soon, she was exploding and squirting pussy juice into his mouth.
Pussy juice that the Devil quickly lapped up with joy.
Then he rose from between her legs to lie down on the bed beside her. He placed his hands behind his head as Arya knew what she was to do next.
Even as her body trembled slightly from the vestiges of her Orgasm, she pulled down his pants and Hal raised his lower half to ease the process, and then she took a few seconds to simply gawk at the majestic flaccid tool. The mere sight of which was causing her mouth to water.
Her pussy moistened as well, but since it was already wet, it hardly made a difference other than a tingling that very distinctly differed from her post-orgasmic tingles.
She grabbed hold of the tool and bent low to not yet lick it but to take a whiff of it. Take a whiff of that delicious scent that had the ability to make her lose all ability of rational thought.
Then she stretched her tongue to it and took a long lick of the tool before taking the head into her mouth to begin to suck while she stroked the rest of it with her hand.
She went hard from the very start because she knew she would not be rewarded with the erection of Hal's cock if her attention to it was considered to be half-assed.
*Fap* *Fap* *Fap*
*Slurp* *Slurp* *Slurp*
Was the sound of her strokes and licks and Hal enjoyed the attention she showed his cock. He enjoyed the movements of her hand and it showed In the gradual but sure stiffening of his cock.
As well as the occasional groans he allowed to leak from his lips.
'This is the life' he thought with his eyes closed as the fellation session continued.
Then he noted another presence in the room and his eyes opened to see Marla standing at the doorway and grinning wickedly with her eyes staring directly at Arya's ass which was thrust in her direction.
Hal smiled as Marla stepped closer to the two and then proceed to stick her tongue into Arya's glistening pussy lips.
So involved with her fellatio was Arya that she had not noticed Marla's presence in the room. Her guard had been completely down.
It was only after Marla grabbed her ass cheeks and stuck her tongue against her pussy lips that the Alchemist's eyes widened in surprise.
Looking quite comical with that expression as Hal's cock was still inside her mouth.
Then she removed her mouth from the wonderful organ so that she could turn her head a fraction and address Marla,
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.
Marla pulled back from her pussy lips,
"What's with those eyes? What, you've never had a woman eat you out before?" She asked and went right back to what she had been doing.
"Ahnnn" Arya moaned at the pleasure she felt from Marla's oral service.
It was nothing compared to how it had felt to have Hal lick her pussy but it felt very good all the same.
Hal chuckled at the classic Marla response before he pressed Arya's head back down onto his cock so she could pick up where she had left off.
Arya gladly did so, but every time Marla's ministrations struck a chord in her, she would moan and groan onto Hal's cock.
The vibration of which made it all the more enjoyable for Hal who occasionally thrust his cock upwards to get even more of the length inside Arya's mouth.
Arya had taken to massaging his balls in a bid to get his seed out of them and into her even faster.
Hal groaned,
"Here it comes" was the only warning he gave before his cum exploded out of his cock and into Arya's mouth.
It was them that Arya showed off her swallowing skills because even though the volume was immense as usual, she still managed to keep it from wasting.
She swallowed most of it and only left enough in her mouth to savor its delicious taste while Marla's licks got her ever closer to climax and soon, she was twitching and spamming as her orgasm rolled over her.
"Oh, yesssssss" she moaned and squirted her pussy juices onto the bed as Marla was no longer licking her but was merely looking at her with an amused expression.
"One would think, with the way you had looked at me, that you would not enjoy cumming to my ministrations. And you are so damn loud, I like it" she said with a sexy grin before she moved over to Hal to lick any left over cum on his cock.
Once she was done, Hal approached the prone Arya whose limbs were twitching occasionally.
He grabbed her smooth creamy thighs and spread her wide to expose her pussy. Then he dropped one of her thighs to take hold of his steely cock and place it at her entrance.
He rubbed it up and down her moist slit and even though she was still coming down from an orgasmic high, Arya groaned to him,
"Master, please, Fuck me. I need it so bad" she said.
Hal saw no reason to ignore her as he thrust half his cock length into her tight pussy.
Immediately he was inside her, Arya tightened around him and almost made it impossible to move.
Almost
Hal pulled back until only the head of his cock was left inside her before he thrust into her until his cock was inside her to the hilt.
Then he grabbed hold of both her thighs once again as he began drilling into the Devil-spell adept Alchemist who let him know how good she felt with her loud words.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"OH YES, fuck me... Fuck me harder... Drill me... Make me lose all sense of reasoning... Make me mad with pleasure... Kill me... Kill me... Kill me with your cock..."
Hal for his part more than enjoyed the way her pussy squeezed tightly around him in a bid to milk him for all he was worth.
Arya's words were soon cut off though when Marla connected their lips to get any remainder of Hal's seed inside her mouth.
Chapter 477 - An Invitation Of Sorts. Part 2
For the next hour, Hal continued pounding Arya who had gone through multiple orgasms but was now heading towards one that surpassed all the others while Hal also groaned before dumping his seed deep inside her.
Arya fell unconscious after that and Marla was quick to reposition her body before she got on all fours to present her shapely ass to Hal while thrusting her tongue into the unconscious Alchemist's pussy at the same time.
Marla had no intentions of letting Hal's seed which was already starting to sip out of Arya's pussy to go to waste and would suck every drop of it into her mouth. Enjoying the wonderful mixture he Hal's seed and Arya's pussy juices while also enjoying Hal's wonderful cock thrusting into her from behind.
Hal smiled lightly as he placed his cock at her pussy was then thrust in, hard and fast.
The speed and force caused Marla's back to arch in pleasure as she muffled her moans with Arya's cum filled pussy.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*
The tempo of the session picked up and got even faster but that did not stop Marla from sourcing out all of Hal's seed inside Arya's pussy.
Eventually, she climaxed. Almost at the same time, she realized she had gotten every drop of Hal's cum that was inside Arya's pussy.
Once the tightening milking of his cock by her pussy had stopped, Hal pulled out of Marla's pussy only to change positions with her now lying on the bed as he pounded her in a classic missionary position during which she clung on to him with every strength she still had in her post-orgasm weak body.
She regained her strength while they had sex in this position though as the energy boost granted by Hal's seed finally came into effect.
Then after half an hour in that position, half an hour during which Hal had indulged himself in her beautiful breasts, they changed positions again.
This time with Hal standing and Marla clinging to him like a koala bear while he eased her pussy onto his cock and fucked her even harder thanks to gravity enhancing the force of his thrust whenever he lifted and dropped her back down on his raging pole.
All through this, Marla was moaning loudly while clinging even harder onto him. With her legs and arms as well as her pussy.
Of course, when Marla finally reached her limit, that was not the end of what quickly turned into an Orgy as Hal began his turns. Pleasing Every single woman in the Mansion.
Including Arya and Marla who later awoke from their slumber still hungry for more.
...
It was only until the next day (Normal time) that Hal finally exited the Harem space along with Marla, Arya, and Rita.
Marla was more than happy to roam outside of the Harem space.
Unlike the ladies inside it right now who had quite accepted it and even welcomed it as the best way of life, she was more than happy to spend some time outside of the space.
Arya soon left for the Alchemist Organization where she had now taken to work fully as an Alchemist.
She told Hal that the Branch head would surely be relieved that he had not died in war and it only served to amuse Hal who really could not care less.
After all, the Branch hard was only worried because he hoped Hal could win the Alchemist convention along with Adeline Silva. The whole idea which Hal had not particularly cared for.
Anyway,
One thing he did care about was meeting Lucile as he went to the Paladin Trade Union headquarters to see the building was undergoing massive renovation or more accurately, it had undergone it already.
They were putting the finishing touches but one look and it was clear that the Trade Union was a massive success. One that surpassed its previous state.
Clearly, Lucile had a good hand for business.
When Hal went in, the attendants were welcoming to him. When last he had been here, he knew Lucile had told them of him and said he was to be treated with respect.
He was to be treated like he owned the place.
And he actually did own part of it as he had invested the wealth of the Sheik of Black lagoon in it.
"Master Hal" greeted the clerk with a bow.
"I'm here to see Lucile," he told the clerk with a smile but the clerk said,
"I'm sorry to inform you, but lady Lucile has not been here in a month. We have no idea where she is" the clerk said.
"You don't seem worried" Hal noted and the Clerk raised a brow,
"Well, why should I be? She's alive and she is doing all she's doing for the good of the Union. Being worried is of no use or help"
"Exactly what is she doing?" Hal asked and the Clerk explained...
Apparently, Lucile had been successful in creating branches for the Union and the branches were doing relatively well so she returned to the headquarters a month ago.
However, the level of success was not satisfactory to Lucile, and when she learned of a venture with which she could source incredible Artifacts that they could auction off gradually to keep the Union successful, she went after it.
While the Union traded in so many things ranging from Arrays or attacking runes they were commissioned to sell by Runemasters to pills and Alchemical products they were commissioned to sell by Alchemists and anything else sellable, be it furniture, clothing, etc, with this horde of Actionable Artifacts in which they kept all the pay and were not being middlemen, they (the union) could be set for life.
It was an opportunity Lucile could not let slip away.
Not only that, she wanted to oversee it all personally along with the excavators who worked for the union and who should have been taking care of this sort of situation.
However, there was no actual location to find this horde of treasures, it was more like a riddle that when solved would lead to it.
So no one knew where she was and when she checked in to show she was alive, she never bothered to say where she was as she believed there was no point to such since she could be leaving that location soon anyway.
He asked if he could contact her and the clerk said no.
She could contact them, but they could not contact her. She had wanted it that way as the last thing she needed was interruptions on this quest of hers.
When Hal left the Paladin Trade union headquarters, his brow was furrowed as he wondered if Lucile was well wherever she was and it was when he was thinking of this that his communication talisman alerted him.
He found a private enough location and take the call, out of which sounded the voice of Princess Tanya Haron,
"Hello Hal" the Princess greeted.
"Hello Princess" he said as he felt he might as well add honorifics.
"Quite an interesting ultimatum you gave me. I have to admit I was intrigued and could hardly ignore such boldness" Tanga said and Hal shrugged.
"I'm glad" Hal said in a bland voice.
"That said, it was disrespectful" Tanya said.
"I don't care" Hal shrugged.
Tanya took a deep breath on the other side,
"Very well, you want a sit-down, you've got one. You will have to come to me though" the Princess said.
"Okay then, where are you?" Hal asked in a natural voice and Tanya sniggered before she replied,
"The Imperial Palace.... In the Imperial city"
Chapter 478 - A Peculiar Consort And A Familiar Face.
The Imperial City...
Tagged a city but more than large enough to compete with any Duchy. In fact, it was once the kingdom ruled by the Harons before they sought absolute dominance over the entire continent.
The Imperial city...
It was where the Emperor lived and from where he ruled the entire continent. From where he prevailed over the human race. The dominance of his Haron lineage that has not been toppled for millennia.
And yet, grand as it all was, the only thing that actually came to Hal's mind was,
'The Imperial palace... I wonder how many world-class beauties the emperor has in his imperial harem. The mere thought of cucking an Emperor gives me such thrill.'
'To even think of cucking the Emperor as weak as you are right now... Your greed truly has no limit.' Grimoire piped
Hal scoffed,
'Let's not even talk about a human Emperor, if I get the chance to get away with it and laugh in their faces afterward, I'll cuck gods!'
The Conversation was quick and Hal did not allow his thoughts to show on his face even though Tanya could not see him,
"Fine. I'll come to the Imperial palace" he said.
"You will?" Tanya seemed taken by surprise at how readily he accepted to come and see her in the Imperial Palace.
'Was she seriously thinking I would be too intimidated to go? How naive' Hal thought with a mild chuckle.
Tanya composed herself almost immediately,
"Okay then" she said and made to disconnect but Hal said before she could,
"Oh, but if I am coming, I can't possibly be expected to pay for my own transportation, can I?"
"Why shouldn't you pay for yourself?" Tanya asked.
Hal smirked,
"Oh? You're a princess and are not ready to fund your asset's travels? How cheap can you be?" He asked.
'Look who's talking!' Grimoire said in outrage and Hal ignored it.
"Fine. I'll fund your travels" Tanya said before disconnecting.
Hal decided there was no point in dawdling and went right to the Teleportation that had taken him to Doxon Duchy. He took his time so he could be sure Tanya would have gotten things ready for his departure.
Sure enough, when he got to the teleportation circle building and stated his name, he was told he did not need to pay.
Probably took just one call from the Princess.
It was that easy.
The journey to the Imperial city would take two days. The same as the length of journey between two neighboring Duchys.
The imperial city stood right at the center of the Haron continent and was surrounded by Four Duchys which made up the inner ring (Unofficially) named) of the continent.
Then the remaining Eight surrounded the four to complete twelve Duchys.
The Silva and Doxon Duchys were two of the four Duchys surrounding the Imperial city and so the journey to and from them was bound to be short.
Hal stepped onto the Teleportation circle and it was activated which saw him get sucked into the void.
When his eyes opened next, he was inside a Teleportation circle quite similar to the one he had gone into but yet possessing an elegance about it that set it aside.
After going through the usual refusal to have to state his name and then having his image taken, he then walked out of the building to see that the elegance he had noted or more accurately, felt in the Teleportation building was not restricted to the building.
The entire air of the Imperial City had the feel of that elegance.
The feel that they were at the center of everything.
And then, there was the Imperial Palace.
So immensely huge and impossible to miss.
Sitting at the center of the Imperial city.
It was there Hal headed.
Maybe he could have taken his time sightseeing but he was quite eager for something else at the moment.
And not all of those reasons were perverted.
After all, the main reason he had come here was to have a sit down with Tanya and find out where the map he had gotten from the Kruger estate led to.
He boarded a carriage which took him directly to the palace gates which were being guarded by intimidating-looking guards with intimidating late-stage Cosmic Aurora realm cultivation.
Only the Emperor's domain could ever showcase such flex where mere guards who stayed at the gate and were the weakest of his forces had cultivation to put some seasoned cultivators to shame.
The guards looked at Hal hostilely and were already sending him signals that he was not to even dare getting closer.
Hal paid them no heed as he took out his communication talisman. He contacted Tanya but it was Ehrlich who answered the call and while he rolled his eyes and the buff man groaned in annoyance on the other side, he still told him of his arrival.
"Wait there" Ehrlich said.
A few minutes later, the buff man arrived and the guards let him through where he then called to Hal to lead him inside.
As they walked towards the closest Teleportation circle, Ehrlich spoke,
"Be careful what you say in here. Your stupidity will not be seen as endearing. You are a nobody in the presence of the noblest of all bloodlines in the Haron continent. The Haron Bloodline.
This is an honor and should not be taken lightly." Ehrlich said and paused when they arrived at the closest Teleportation circle to the gate and then turned to look back at Hal,
"Do you understand?" He asked.
Hal in turn looked absolutely clueless,
"Do I understand what?"
Ehrlich swelled in anger,
"Do you understand everything I have just said?" He asked again.
"You were saying something?" Hal asked as he had indeed tuned Ehrlich out.
Why would he waste his time listening to the buff idiot when he could better spend that time with his thoughts on more important things.
Ehrlich growled but he said nothing.
The Teleportation circle took them deeper into the palace grounds but not directly to their destination.
All Teleportation circles in the Imperial palace had limits in their range which means, no matter what, you need to use more than one circle to reach any area of the Imperial palace or to leave the palace.
This was actually one of the reasons Ehrlich had launched into a speech to caution Hal on how to speak.
As there was no direct transportation to Tanya's residence, they were bound to meet so many of those who lived in the Imperial palace along the way.
Sure enough, right at the moment they stepped off the Teleportation Circle, they indeed met someone.
She was a woman dressed in stately attire that befitted her status as a woman in the Emperor's inner court.
Her brown hair was adorned with so many expensive ornaments that did not take away attention from the gorgeous imperial hairpin that held her hair in place at the top of her head. A hairpin that told of her status.
A hairpin Ehrlich recognized but Hal was clueless to.
"Your highness" Ehrlich bowed low, keeping his face out of sight as he did not dare to look this woman in the face.
In truth, she was not the Empress, but that was the only title her status was lacking for she was the mother of the First prince, Creten Haron who many already perceived would be inducted as the Crown prince.
Hal felt this was not the moment to act prideful or arrogant, (after all, who the hell was he in face of such status), so he followed Ehrlich's lead and bowed.
The Imperial consort did not really spare them any looks.
She was used to being bowed to.
It was the natural order of things.
How could they possibly not bow, knowing who she was?
However, as she walked uncaring past them, with her attendants trailing behind her, something about the black-haired lean young man caught her attention.
Something she could not really explain.
"Look up" she told Hal and he did so immediately to nail the beautiful consort whose ample breasts could not be totally hidden by her robe, with his sapphire blue eyes.
The consort bit her lip and then walked away in a huff.
As Hal watched her leave, he could not help but smile,
'Interesting' he thought.
Judging from the slight shake of her legs, Hal knew the consort was on the verge of an Orgasm.
From seeing his face.
While standing.
In a fairly public place with her attendants and clueless Ehrlich present.
'Very interesting'
Funny thing was that Hal who usually paid a lot of attention to women could not really be sure of the Consort's features. Other than ample breasts and brown hair, he could not make any more mention of her features.
The work of an Artifact... Or was he just not paying enough attention overall?
"Let's go" Ehrlich said, eager to leave and not willing to talk about the consort who was now gone.
However, as fate would have it, Hal was to see someone else that actually struck a familiar chord in him.
And that was because he had seen the man before.
As the Prince (Hal could tell he was a prince due to his robes) walked by and Hal followed Ehrlich's lead to bow, his attention was actually on the attendant closest to the Prince.
It was a man with multicolored hair and green eyes that seemed to have slits.
Hal instantly recognized him as the semi-saint, who belonged to an Organization the Princess was against, who almost grabbed hold of him at the Kruger Estate.
Chapter 479 - Who Is Seducing Who?
There was no mistaking, it was him.
At this point, Hal had completely forgone the thoughts of bowing as he now turned his eyes away from the multi-colored-haired apprentice to the Prince he was attending to.
The prince looked slight but healthy.
There was a sort of benevolence about his gaze as he actually took note of all those who bowed to him and acknowledged them with nods.
Hal wondered if he knew his attendant was a part of a secret organization or better still, if he (the prince) was a part of the organization as well.
Pietro looked over to Hal and the blue-eyed devil could tell there was no sense of remembrance in his gaze. There was scorn though and it was soon understood why that was the case when Pietro yelled at him,
"Hey you, why aren't you bowing to the Prince?" he asked.
Hal furrowed his brows not exactly sure what to say when the Prince himself waved his hand,
"It's fine. Let it go" he said with that same benevolent smile before he moved on.
After one last glare at Hal, Pietro followed with the other attendants.
When Hal looked to Ehrlich thinking he would caution him on his disrespect at not bowing to the Prince, the buff man made no mention of it.
Instead, he watched the prince and his attendants walk out of sight with a frown, and only when he was sure they were out of earshot did he say,
"Phony"
Hal did not ask what he meant by that and Ehrlich made no attempt to explain as he moved on to the next teleportation circle.
This circle took them closer to their destination but of course, they still were still far from where they were truly headed and as they walked, Ehrlich made no sound. He was quiet all through.
Hal knowing that this was not because he was suddenly conscious of the fact that Hal hated the sound of his voice knew there must be something else bothering the buff lackey of Princess Tanya Haron.
He did not ask though.
As they walked, they met many more inhabitants of the Imperial palace but they were not Imperials. They varied from guards to Maids to Eunuchs. All going about their business in the Imperial palace and to the service of the Emperor and his family.
The females all acknowledged Hal's looks and Hal always took the time to wink at them or lightly flirt with them. Which certainly seemed to make their day.
After the first fifty maids had fawned over Hal, Ehrlich could no longer stand the lack of attention to his own buff physique and picked up the pace. (The Jealous bastard)
Now they were no longer walking between circles, but were running at the peak of the speed their cultivations allowed them with Ehrlich more than a little surprised at the fact that Hal was keeping up with him.
Eventually, more than ten circles later, they were finally at an Amalgam of buildings that looked dignified and distinguished enough to house the most powerful family on the Haron continent, the Harons themselves.
Was Hal in awe of the sight?
You bet he was.
Anyways, at this point, there were no longer any Teleportation circles and both Hal and Ehrlich would need to navigate the streets between this amalgam of buildings to arrive at Princess Tanya's residence.
It actually took a much shorter time than Hal expected.
And soon, they were in front of a beautiful residence that was bustling with the activities of maids and was under the guard of guards.
They let them through once they saw Ehrlich and Hal allowed his eyes to roam as Ehrlich led him into the residence towards the lounge where he thought Tanya would be.
But she was not there.
An attendant walked in soon enough to tell Ehrlich that the Princess was waiting for Hal in her bed chambers.
Hal's eyes widened slightly in surprise but it was nothing compared to Ehrlich who's eyes became as huge as saucers.
"H-H-H-Her bed-chambers? But that is..." He began but the attendant interrupted him with her hand raised,
"That is what the Princess said. You are not about to question her, are you? Because if you are, I will be more than happy to teach you that it is not your place to do so." She said and her eyes flashed.
Hal could immediately tell that this attendant was not to be messed with.
She was dangerous!
Ehrlich gulped,
"There is no need for that" he said.
The attendant gave a short curt nod in satisfaction at his words before she turned to Hal who was always happy to see Ehrlich put in his place,
"Come with me" she said.
"Of course" Hal said with a dignified pose that looked quite good on him despite the fact that he was a degenerate pervert to the core.
He followed after the attendant and there was even more navigating as they went deeper into the residence of Tanya Haron and arrived at a beautiful door, despite which Hal could still smell the scent he had now identified with Tanya.
The smell of roses.
"He's here" the attendant announced and Tanya's voice sounded from inside the room,
"Bring him in"
The attendant pushed the door open after that and led Hal into a dim-lit room where the scent of roses was even stronger,
There was a transparent curtain partition through which Hal could see the large queen-sized bed the Princess' room contained.
There was nothing particularly special about the room other than the dim lighting but even then it still felt special.
And then there was Tanya Haron herself dressed in a smooth silk gown that emphasized her ample tits. She looked absolutely ravishing with so much exposed skin.
True, her usual clothing wee seductive but this went a step further.
If not for the good level of self-control Hal had, he would probably have been sporting a tent in his pants right now. And it would be all for her.
However, even the Devil should know when to bid his time.
Also, Hal knew what this was all about.
He could tell what all this out-of-character act was all about...
Tanya wanted to seduce him.
However, rather than feel glad at the possibilities, Hal was upset.
You might ask why?
Well, you see, he knew Tanya was not doing it because she wanted to have sex with him.
She was doing it to make him 'agreeable' to her suggestions.
Part of him wondered where she had gotten such an idea since from what he had noticed about Tanya, this was surely not her style of doing things.
While Hal did not know for sure, he was actually right that this was not Tanya's style of doing things.
Yes, she dressed a tad bit seductively, in gowns that always clung to her form to show off her breasts and her wide and sexy hips but it was usually more because she was comfortable that way.
This behavior of hers was out of character and how could it not be?
The one she had gotten the idea from was much more slutty than she could ever hope to be after all.
'What a sneaky Tease! It's certainly okay when I'm the one doing the teasing but, how dare you... how dare you attempt to get me revved up and horny for your hot body just so you can manipulate me?
How dare you dangle it like a forbidden fruit I am incapable of tasting?
How fucking dare you?'
Hal raged in his mind but kept it away from his face as he smiled at Tanya and actually bowed to her.
Of course, it was not a true bow and Tanya could tell when he used it to shamelessly look her from toe to head as he stood slowly, calmly back up.
She was not disgusted though. This only showed her plan was working.
"Have a seat" she told him and patted an empty spot on the sofa she was seated on.
There was no need to waste time with pleasantries.
Once Hal was seated, comfortably so, Tanya said,
"First off, what makes you think you are worthy enough to know of my plans? To know what I seek?"
Hal shrugged,
"I got you to invite me into your room just by saying no to a mission. Clearly, you value me. If I am wrong and you don't, then you can just send me off right now" he said.
While Tanya's expression remained the same, in her mind, she was actually agreeing with Hal while berating herself.
She could not kill him, could not hurt him, and while she might be able to threaten him to do her bidding, she ultimately decided to table the idea for now.
After all, if she could get him to be putty in her hands like she had seen Elsa do numerous times to other men, she could have him do as she wished with absolutely no issues.
She closed the small distance still between them on the sofa until their knees touched and then she stretched her right hand to his thigh.
According to Elsa, in Seduction, Talking was overrated. Actions speak louder. So much louder.
All that as well as any rational thought were tossed out the window (figuratively) as Hal placed his hand on hers which was still on his thigh.
Introducing Tanya Haron to a whole new world of pleasure, one she had never experienced before.
As she tried to hold back her moan, she looked up into his sapphire blue eyes and felt herself getting lost in them, she could not help but exclaim in her mind,
'Wait a minute, exactly who is seducing who?'
Chapter 480 - The Silver Moon Sect.
How could Tanya not ask the question?
How could she not ask it as the back of her hand which Hal was touching was radiating such pleasure all around her body and already causing her inner thighs to moisten?
How could she not ask when she now felt like she was a Lamb and Hal was a wolf quite ready to eat her up?
Cliche as that would probably sound, that was how Tanya felt and Hal was very much aware.
How dare she attempt to tease him?
Clearly, she had no idea who she was dealing with.
Suddenly Hal pulled her hand off his thigh and held it even tighter before he used it to pull Tanya towards himself.
Transitioning into a position where his back was against the sofa's hand rest and he had Tanya's back pressed against his chest.
Now he could look down and see the dip of cleavage between the high peaks on her chest.
He could look and enjoy to his heart's content as Tanya was not protesting anytime soon.
Why wasn't she?
Well, when they transitioned into this position, Hal's hands were now on her arms. Touching her smooth and creamy skin and running up and down those arms with his hands charged with {Erogenous Touch}.
So charged in fact that Tanya moaned and leaned against him even more.
The only other person in the room was the attendant and it was clear from her frown that she felt Hal was doing something dubious.
She was right of course but when she made to move, Tanya disentangled herself from Hal and put a lot of distance between them as she was now at the other side of the sofa.
A quick flick of her wrist and she pulled out a piece of clothing which she used to cover herself up.
It was more symbolic than anything and it symbolized the end of her attempt at active seduction.
Not just because she was not good at it but also because she was facing a master in the art. She wondered what would be the result if Elsa, who was the most seductive person she knew, clashed with Hal who was definitely no slouch.
Even now that Hal was no longer touching her, she could still feel tingly.
She could not help but wonder if, in her attempt to seduce him, she had not actually burned herself.
Her body craved his touch and was making her crave it more than anything she had ever wanted,
That's right.
It was making her crave his touch more than the accomplishment of her goals.
She shook her head and the action while having no direct effect on the calming of her thoughts and body did aid her in regaining control.
Once she was sure she had regained enough control of herself, she finally raised her head to Hal, whose Sapphire blue eyes still drew her in, and said in a calm tone of voice,
"This mission... I want you to undertake it. Saying No is not an option" she said with a frown.
Her tone was no longer sweet with a touch of ensnarement, now it was dangerous.
Quite like how a Cosmic Semi-saint expert was supposed to speak to a Cosmic phenomenon realm junior.
Hal's smile remained,
"My answer hasn't changed. And don't threaten me, you can't kill me" He said.
Tanya paused at the confidence in his voice,
'What sort of backings could you have? What makes you think you are untouchable?' She thought and then a woman came to mind.
A woman with long black hair and sapphire blue eyes. A face that was a tad bit similar to that of the young man sitting right in front of her with the similarity easy to notice once you know it's there.
She thought of the Blue-eyed witch, a woman she never wished to cross for more reasons than just the reputation the Doxon Duchess had built up.
Tanya was never one to follow the hype. But she knew, in this case, the hype was warranted.
"Okay then, you really want to know what the map leads to, I'll tell you" she said and Hal's eyes widened.
He was ready to stick to his guns but he had not expected Tanya to give in. Was she really that stuck on the idea of him going on this mission?
Was it really something she could not entrust Ehrlich to do?
Tanya continued,
"You should know though, that if the legends are true and you attempt to seek it out, you will experience the worse of deaths. The fresh ripped-off bones kind of death. Absolutely horrifying."
"Is that so?" Hal asked with widened eyes and he let his skepticism show.
"Yes, it is" Tanya replied.
And then she began;
Apparently, the map had been drawn by the First Emperor of the Haron continent to lead a worthy descendant to the secret to his success. The secret to how he had been successful in laying down the legacy of their Haron reign and the dominance they all now enjoy.
The Map led to a Nexus stone.
Or more accurately, it led to a secret vault belonging to the first Emperor and while containing much riches also contains the Nexus stone.
No one knew exactly how it worked but the little they knew through the legends said the one who could wield the Nexus stone would have unrivaled control over the continent.
However, the legend also claimed that anyone who did not possess Haron blood and wields the Nexus stone would suffer the worst of deaths. The flesh ripped off the bones sort of death.
"The map does not lead in the standard manner, it's more like a puzzle. And this would explain why most have been able to understand it." Tanya said.
"But you do" Hal noted and Tanya let a smile play in her lips briefly before quickly composing herself,
"Yes, I do. But while most gave truly seem unable to understand it, there are surely those who can. Which is where it gets tricky. Understanding the map does not mean you will surely find the vault because it just leads to another clue in the puzzle.
For the past two months, I have toiled to find the clue which happened to not be where the map claimed it would be due to changing terrain of the Haron continent over hundreds of thousands of years."
'Well, that's to be expected. If it is as flimsy as a piece of parchment like this map, then it is sure to have changed hands since it was kept.' Hal thought.
Tanya continued,
"I now know where it is and it is not at the kind of location anyone can ever attempt to rob. Or attack. This is not only because there are powerful experts there and is not only because once caught, the culprit will be punished by the Emperor himself,
The real reason no one will ever attempt to rob this place I am talking about is because it's a sect chuck full of diviners." Tanya said.
Her tone was normal. Neutral. But even then, the impact of her words caused a dense silence to descend and bear heavily in the room...
"Hahahahaha"
... At least that was how it was before Hal burst into laughter.
"Really? You are actually talking about a place full of fortune tellers?" He asked and his tone showed how ludicrous he saw it all.
Tanya frowned,
"Not fortune tellers, Diviners. And not just a 'place', it's a sect. The Silver moon sect. Known to only accept females because they are the purest of all mankind."
'Bullcrap' Hal thought but said nothing.
Tanya continued,
"The moment any ill will, be it robbery, murder, or just plain perversion is directed towards them, they will know. And they will be so locked down, any attempt at robbing the place will prove useless.
Any attempt at concealing oneself will also be rendered void as they would know of such an attempt even before it happens. In matters that involve their security as individual members or as a sect, they always know beforehand.
Even if you go in there with a clean mind in an attempt to change your mind on the fly once inside their walls and they can no longer react fast enough, it's pointless because they are sure to already know your plans beforehand.
No one has ever found a loophole in their system and many have stopped trying.
That's where I need you to go.
I need you to go to the Silver moon sect and get me the next piece of the puzzle."
Hal furrowed his brows,
"But you've made it clear that I cannot steal it. How then, do you expect me to get it?" Hal asked.
Tanya shrugged,
"How else? Charm"
"What?" Hal asked with a mild chuckle.
"You heard me, I said use your charm. Since you can't steal it, then go in there with the intention to charm your way to the piece of the puzzle.
I'll give you my Imperial seal and it will get you through the gates. Especially if your intentions at only getting the piece of the puzzle are all you have in mind.
However, I have to warn you, once inside the sect, no one can protect you. No powerful background will save you if you cross them and you could very well lose your life if you offend them.
All things in the Silver moon sect happen according to the wishes and whims of their sect head and from what I have heard, she can be very vicious...."
Chapter 481 - Tanya Swears.
Hal straightened his sitting posture with furrowed brows as he said,
"So, let me get this straight, you want me to risk my life and quite possibly die just so you can further your plans and dreams of ruling the Haron continent?"
"Is it any different from the missions you've undertaken already?" Tanya asked.
"Touche"
She was right. He had indeed risked his life to further her plans thus far. Even going after the supplier in Black lagoon must have somehow played into her plans as well.
"Be that as it may, this mission, with all you've hyped it up to be seems to go much farther than simply difficult. You make it sound nearly impossible" Hal said.
Tanya smirked,
"What's wrong Hal, a lack of confidence in your charms?" She asked.
Hal pursed his lips but said nothing.
Tanya continued,
"If it truly is a lack of confidence in your charms, that's good. You are being realistic. Charm is far from enough to take on an entire set of purist women who have absolute power in their domain.
That said, if I want the next piece of the puzzle, I will need you to suck it up and push through. With my seal getting you in, you might actually have an easier time than you think.
Actually, I don't see any need for the Silver moon sect to hold on to whatever the piece is since even if they do understand what it is and what it can be used for, they are not Haron Blood. None of them are.
However, I can not be certain that they indeed have no use for it.
The Emperor makes sure they are satisfied but it could be that he has been remiss in certain areas or they might just be greedy for power..."
"Like you are?" Hal interrupted boldly with a smirk.
The eyes of the attendant, whose presence was quite easy to ignore, flashed and she frowned deeply but Tanya waved for her to calm down.
Then she addressed Hal,
"I want what is rightfully mine. Since my father has not seen fit to make Creten the Crown Prince, being the Oldest must no longer be enough. Why then can't I rule the continent?"
Her question took the tone of a challenge but Hal merely smiled lightly as he shrugged,
"I asked if you were greedy for power but I never said there was anything wrong with such greed" he said.
Tanya composed herself,
"That's enough. There is nothing that concerns you in regards to Imperial politics" she said.
Hal raised a brow,
"Oh really? This organization you say is against you wouldn't happen to have something to do with Imperial politics would it?"
Tanya frowned,
"Not really" she said.
Hal chuckled lightly,
"The multicolored-haired dude who came after the map in Kruger estate and almost caught me is an attendant to an Imperial prince. Does that not count as having something to do with Imperial politics?
Imperial politics indeed should not concern or involve me, after all, I am only a civilian but the fact is that you involved me with the missions you sent me out on." He said.
Tanya's frown deepened,
"But you got paid. For every risk you've taken thus far in the previous two missions, you were rewarded. You did not do it out of blind loyalty for me. You did it because you wanted to be paid." She retorted.
Hal nodded,
"Exactly. And that is why I can now tell you I am no longer interested. That Blue gems and measly merit points are no longer enough incentives for me to risk my neck.
We can part ways right now.
Put an and to this potentially life-threatening relationship built upon my love for wealth." He said.
"How about you stop fighting for materialistic gain. Stop selling your skills for nothing other than Blue gems. Join my cause and I assure you that when I rule the continent, you will have a seat in my court." Tanya countered with a steely gaze.
Hal chuckled in his mind,
'My goodness, is all I have said just falling on deaf ears, or is she simply interpreting it all the wrong way.'
In all honesty, Hal did not actually want to stop going on missions for Tanya.
Even this mission to the Sliver moon sect was one that intrigued him once he had come up with a simple enough plan that would aid him quite well. More on that later.
The reason he was still interested in going on missions for Tanya was none other than the convenience.
Many were working on their own plots with the aim to rule the continent and Hal was already mapping out ideas on how to use it all to his own advantage. And it would help him greatly if he could use Tanya's wide array of information gathering.
She had such an enviably deep network in the Haron continent and by going on these missions he could use them to further his aims.
He considered swearing loyalty to Tanya in pretense and use it to get even deeper into her network but ultimately decided that it was not yet time for such a scheme.
After all, it was clear from her reply to his tirade that Tanya still clung on to the hope that she could have his talent in her corner.
All he needed to do to strengthen that desire was to keep playing hard to get.
It was unlikely that the Princess would tire of him so soon.
So carrying himself with an air of dignity and nobility, he said,
"I won't be a tool with which you fight with your siblings all so you can rule the continent.
I won't do it just so you can have what is 'rightfully' yours. Cause quite frankly, I don't give a crap about that."
"What exactly is it that you want right now?" Tanya asked with a sigh.
"To not be used. Just because I am working to be paid does not mean I should be disrespected. If the 'Organization' is just code for your oppositions in the Imperial family, you can just tell me. Tell me and I will actually consider going to the Silver moon sect for you"
Silence...
Then Tanya took a deep breath before saying slowly,
"I... Don't know."
"What?" Hal asked in surprise.
"I don't know. I knew beforehand that Pietro works with the organization but I have been reluctant to believe Nozel, my brother who he attends to, has something to do with it." She said.
"What? Because he is slight?" Hal asked in disbelief.
Tanya could not possibly be shallow enough to think body size was justification enough for whatever goes in a Cultivation expert's mind.
Sure enough, Tanya looked outraged,
"Of course not. I say that because I have investigated and Nozel seems to have nothing to do with the Organization. That said, it is clear that Pietro is a part of the Organization but I have long given up trying to open Nozel's eyes.
I have my own agenda and I refuse to spend my time trying to convince a potential enemy that his attendant, who is part human and part dystopian is part of a secret organization."
Hal's eyes widened,
"Pietro is part Dystopian?"
Tanya nodded,
"Yes, he is. His mother was a demon beast that acquired human form at the Aurora best realm. She caught the eye of a human and they made a baby that was destined to be scorned and grow up as a slave to humans.
But Nozel doesn't see him as his slave. He sees him as an equal. It's why he refuses to hear anything against him. And why many would instantly tag him as aware and a part of the Organization.
But I don't see Nozel as a threat.
He's a weakling and a coward" Tanya said but did not seem ready to explain her words further.
Hal however, was more preoccupied with the fact that he had not noticed Pietro was part Dystopian.
Was it because he was so caught up in the moment?
Tanya continued,
"Anyway, the Organization is not a code word for my oppositions in the Imperial family. It is real and from what I have gathered, it could be made up of just about anyone.
In fact, I have been a tad bit skeptical as of late as to whether ruling the content is truly the Organization's main goal."
'I see' Hal thought.
Then he said,
"Okay then. I'll go to the Silver moon sect for you on one condition."
Tanya frowned at the mention of a condition but then she replied,
"What is it?"
"Swear that no matter what, you will not keep me in the dark in regards to the Organization and you at least explain to me why I do the things you ask me to do" he said.
"Fine" the princess said but Hal shook his head,
"Swear" he said.
Tanya rolled her eyes,
"Is that really necessary?" She asked.
"Swear" Hal insisted.
"I swear by the name of Zalser, the Primeval Asura and the Progenitor of my Haron bloodline that I will follow your conditions."
As she said it, there was a sense of finality to her words.
Whether it would be enough to hold her to her words or not is remaining to see.
After all, Primevals hardly pay attention to the invocation of their names.
They are usually much too busy with more important things. Right?
Chapter 482 - He Makes Me Feel 'Funny'.
In all honesty, it was not that Tanya's swearing was actually reassuring, Hal just felt it was better than nothing.
"Where exactly is the Silver Moon Sect" he asked.
Tanya smiled inwardly as this question told of Hal's decision to undertake on this mission,
"It's located at one of the four Duchys that surround the Imperial city; the Dreg Duchy. It will take two days to get there with a Teleportation circle and once at the Duchy capital, it is impossible to miss the Sect.
Let's not even talk about the glaring signs, just the fact that it is noticeably the largest and grandest territory in the Duchy will immediately let you zero in.
While the Duke indeed takes care of day-to-day activities, it is clear to everyone in the Duchy that true power over the Duchy belongs to the Silver moon sect head" Tanya explained.
"And the Duke is okay with that?" Hal asked with a raised brow and Tanya shrugged,
"Why choice does he have? The Emperor favors the sect's authority over his and his family's own.
In fact, not fighting it is actually how the Dreg family have been able to hold on to their title and pass it on over the years.
They accept their situation and let the Silver moon Sect do what they do which is usually divine and act superior while they (The Dregs) retain control over the masses as a family not only second only to the Silver moon sect but also a family that has the full backing of the Silver moon sect who believe them losing their position in the Duchy would 'upset' the balance.
It's all just politics to me.
The Silver moon sect could very well be getting something from the Dreg family to offer their support... But this is all, of course, just speculation."
Hal stroked his beardless jaw with a contemplating look before he nodded,
"Okay then, I'll go right away" he said.
Tanya nodded at his decision,
"That would be for the best. Who knows how long it could take to convince the Silver moon sect head to let go of the piece of the puzzle and you still have to return to the Imperial city for the Royal entrance exam in Less than two weeks" she said.
Hal who had stood to his feet, paused as he said,
"About the entrance exam, I'm considering skipping it"
Tanya furrowed her brows,
"If you do so, then you can consider our arrangement over. You will go on missions but I will always hide important information from you. Telling you only all you need to know to survive" she said with a frown.
Hal smiled lightly but Tanya was not yet done,
"In case you are not yet aware, there is already a list out. Two types of lists actually. The first is for public viewing which merely shows the names of the participants and the second type is only for the viewing of the select powerful individuals of the Haron continent.
It's a list that not only shows names, it also shows who recommended those participants. Before the list was prepared, you could have said no and I could have withdrawn my recommendation, however, right now, You not participating, with the list already out, will only bring me shame.
In fact, not only must you now participate, but you must also pass. At the very least, you must pass the first stage."
"Hmmm" was all Hal said to her words and as he made his way towards the room's door with a smile...
... Only to be blocked by Tanya's attendant who had a deep scowl on her face,
"The next time you touch the Princess, I'll cut off your hands."
Hal's eyes first darted to Tanya who was smiling lightly but ultimately said nothing.
The Blue-eyed Devil then leaned closer to the attendant,
"I never heard your Princess complaining. If you're really that jealous, you don't have to worry, next time..." This time he spoke into her ear. His tone was so mellifluous and mesmerizing that the stoic attendant actually froze in wonder at the sound,
"... I'll touch you too"
*Bang*
By the time the attendant recovered barely a second later, Hal was already out the door.
She turned to look at Hal,
"Princess, I don't like him."
"Really?" Tanya asked with slightly widened eyes and a light smile,
The attendant nodded,
"He makes me feel... Funny"
Tanya sighed and one hand went unconsciously to one of the arms Hal had touched and she rubbed it absentmindedly.
"It's not just you, Lena... It's not just you"
...
Meanwhile,
Hal needed no directions or guidance to navigate his way back to the lounge where Ehrlich was pacing back and forth.
Immediately the buff man saw Hal, his eyes widened and he paused as he waited for Hal to get closer to him.
"Alright then, lead me out of the Palace. I'm going to Dreg Duchy and I must leave right away" Hal said.
Ehrlich's eyes widened,
"You're going?"
Clearly, he knew going to Dreg Duchy meant Hal had decided to take on the mission but what was surprising was that Hal was deciding to go on the mission with a relaxed smile.
He felt Hal could not have possibly looked like that if Tanya had threatened or forced him to take on the mission.
Even if she had somehow managed to convince him, there should still be a bit of reluctance in his eyes.
The way he looked right now.
The manner in which he was smiling told of things having gone completely his way.
It almost looked... Perverted...
What the Devil had happened in the Princess's room?
A place Ehrlich had never heard of a man who was not part of the Princess' family ever being in.
In fact, only a few family members who were male could boast of such.
Hal noticed Ehrlich's expression and what it meant but still acted oblivious as he said,
"What are you still dawdling around for? I need to be on my way. The Princess will be paying for the trip, won't she? Both leaving and arriving?"
"What... What happened in there?" Ehrlich eventually asked.
Hal sneered,
"Nothing you should worry your perverted, creepy virgin self about" he said and walked past the buff lackey only to turn back when he was past him to say,
"Now stop wasting my time and tell me if the Princess will fund my expenses. If you are not ready to answer, I can always just go back in there and ask her directly"
Ehrlich frowned and then sighed,
"She will take care of your travel expenses. Come with me, I'll guide you out of the palace" he said.
Inwardly he thought,
'In all honesty, how is it really any of my business? The Princess can make her own decisions and she has never made a wrong one yet'
Ehrlich led Hal out of the palace even though the Devil could definitely make his way out without any help with his perfect recall of everywhere he had been and everything he had seen on the way in.
If anything, he could clearly pinpoint his way with memories of where he had met the peculiar consort and Pietro and the many places he had met the admiring maids.
His memory was infallible that way.
Anyway, they were soon out of the palace grounds at which point, they boarded a carriage that took them to a Teleportation Circle Building. Thus one was different from the one Hal had arrived in.
Ehrlich paid the traveling expenses and then Hal got on the circle before he was sucked into the void.
As usual, he was steered through the void and when his eyes opened to normalcy only a few moments later (to him), he was inside a different Teleportation Circle building, in a different Duchy, and Two days of normal time had passed.
Once again, Hal opted not to mention his name and instead only had his image taken as he walked out of the Teleportation circle into... What had to be the busiest Duchy capital street he had been at.
Carriages dashed about, somehow managing not to hit any of the many pedestrians walking on the roads as well.
Although, while it is fair to say that the pedestrian lane was quite different from the main roads for the Carriages to pass, with the speed of movement and the haphazard movement most of the time, it was dangerous fur pedestrians nonetheless.
But the pedestrians hardly seemed to notice.
They all seemed busy with their own matters.
Hal spread his perception as wide as he could and realized that everywhere his perception reached, he noticed the same level of busyness.
This situation seemed capital wide!
Luckily, with the sheer number of pedestrians, Hal had many to call to and ask why this was so.
The first person he caught hold of was actually quite open to explaining to him. In fact, he explained with a smile on his face,
"Welcome to Dreg Duchy capital, the busiest Duchy capital in the whole of the Haron continent Everyone has something they want to get done in a day and our streets always seem to be filled.
Of course, not everyone here is a Denizen of our busy city, many actually come here for a consultation with the Silver moon sect's Diviners or at least in the pretense of consultation but to actually look upon the beautiful faces of the Sect's maidens.
Regardless of true motives, there is always a long waiting list for a consultation..." The man eyed Hal with a smirk,
"If that's why you're here Mister, you had better get accustomed to Dreg Duchy capital because you are going to be here a long, long time"
Chapter 483 - The One To Seduce.
While this man's words meant the princess had neglected to mention certain things to him, such as the fact that this was the busiest location in the Haron continent or the fact that there was a waiting list, Hal still felt the reason she had not made mention of it was that she expected had her seal to get him in, no problem.
It was either this or she had not known of the situation in the Dreg Duchy capital but that was impossible given the research she must have done as well as the fact, that he was almost certainly sure she had been to all the Duchys on the Haron continent. Being an active member of the Imperial family as she was.
After all, she could not possibly sit in the palace and expect assistance to simply come to her. Occasionally she needed to step out and get that assistance by herself and for herself.
Anyway, since it was impossible she had not known, then she must have indeed thought her seal would be enough which Hal felt was... Stupid.
Those here for a consultation were from all over the continent and have taken any and all measures to aid them to get ahead of others. Some had even managed to procure Imperial seals.
Usually by using any form of relationship they had with the Imperial family no matter how distant.
So Tanya giving Hal her Imperial seal did not really do him much good when there were others of considerable numbers with Imperial seals to aid them as well.
Of course, he was not just tagging her with such an adjective since it was clear from the get-go that she could not help him to go that far. This mission was thoroughly dependent on how he decided to handle it himself.
This use of various seals or any advantages to get ahead of others on the long waiting list only applied to visitors. In other words, it only applied to those who were not actually from the Dreg Duchy.
If an ordinary denizen of Dreg Duchy was higher than a visitor on the list, it would not matter what seal the visitor possesses, as long as they are not the Emperor or any other high-ranking member of the Imperial family themselves, the Denizen would always take precedence.
It was one of the many reasons the Dreg Duchy always sing the radishes of the Silver moon sect. They were always looking after their people.
Anyway, Hal approached the Silver moon sect and there was no physical line to be seen in front of the premises.
The way the waiting list worked was to leave a contact info (Communication Talisman) with which someone would be contacted when it was nearing their turn to get a consultation.
As for those who did not have Communication Talismans because they could not afford them, they were given possible dates and would have to settle for coming to the Sect on those days and waiting in the waiting room for their turn.
"What's your name?" Asked the guard by the gate with a frown.
He looked Hal from head to toe and back again and his frown only grew deeper.
Not because Hal's clothes were poor as they were actually average and good enough to not deserve scorn, the guard frowned because he did not like the blue-eyed young man with a perfect face not from the Duchy and would 'definitely' be full of himself.
Luckily, he was far from being the only guard at the entrance and one of the others cautioned,
"No need to be so hostile" said the second guard to the first before he then addressed Hal,
"But you really have to tell us your name"
Hal smiled lightly,
"My name is Hal and as it should be obvious, I am here for a consultation"
The first guard rolled his eyes,
"You are clearly here to gawk at the ladies of the great Silver moon sect all in the pretense of a consultation" he scoffed.
The second guard sighed,
"Don't make such assumptions. Not everyone is of a perverted mind" he said but Hal's next words caused the guard's jaws to drop,
"Actually, he's right." Hal said.
"I am?" The first guard asked with narrowed eyes. He was of the opinion that Hal was mocking him and in part, he was right.
Hal nodded,
"Absolutely. I came here to gawk at the beautiful ladies of the Silver moon sect. Back at my Duchy, I heard tales but I refuse to believe that they were not just exaggerated rantings of horny men. I came here to see it for myself.
I came here to admire their beauty with my own eyes and from what I have heard, such wishes do not automatically disqualify me from a 'consultation'" He said and let that sink into the minds of the guards before he brought out Tanya's imperial seal,
"I have this seal to aid me and should bump me a tad bit higher on the waiting list" he said with a natural smile as though his confessions were nothing to be ashamed about or kept locked up in a perverted mind and never to be said out loud.
Then a new voice sounded. One that was undoubtedly female,
"Is that so?" The voice and Hal looked to the side to see a Lady in a silver gown of such incredible material, it seemed ethereal.
It seemed to shimmer and move. While always remaining opaque, it seemed to be shifting in states, going from solid to liquid and then gaseous and back to solid.
Of course, this was just a trick and Hal knew that should he get closer to her, the effects would lessen and he would better see the gown for what it was.
Then there was the lady herself, with her silver eyes to match the color of her gown as well as her beautiful black hair. She was beautiful. Very much so.
She looked to be Hal's age -nineteen going on twenty- but he knew she was much older.
Probably more in Melinda's age range.
Her breasts were moderate. Not too big but definitely not too small. Hal could not help but think of how perfectly they would fit in his hands.
She was facing him so he did not have a clear view of her ass, but her nice hips told him they were quite promising.
Since he was sure she had not been outside before now, Hal felt the lady must have come from inside the Silver moon sect, but exactly when she had come out, he had no idea even though he was right in front of the gate.
"Did you have a good enough look?" The lady asked with a sneer as the guards were quick to bow.
Hal who knew that despite taking a long look, he had kept his expression quite composed smiled lightly at her,
"Yes"
The guards gasped and the lady frowned at what she thought was a disrespectful response to a question that was clearly meant to be rhetorical but then Hal added,
"And by 'Yes', I am obviously referring to your first question in which you asked 'Is that so?' My answer is yes, it is so. I indeed have a seal that should get me a consultation much faster"
The lady composed herself and reached out for the seal and Hal gave it to her.
She inspected it and then looked up at Hal,
"What's your name again?" She asked.
"Hal" Hal told her and then she said,
"No last name to speak of? How exactly do you have an Imperial seal?"
Hal shrugged,
"A member of the imperial family gave it to me. So how ahead will it get me on the waiting list?" He asked.
After speaking to the man he had met outside of the Teleportation Circle building, Hal had researched the Silver moon sect by questioning denizens who were more than happy to speak of the pride of their Duchy.
So he knew before coming here that it was not the guards who handled the waiting list but members of the Silver moon sect and once this lady came out to meet him, he knew she must be the one...
The one he had to seduce to get himself so high up the waiting list that he might actually get to present his reasons for coming to the Silver moon sect before the day was over....
Chapter 484 - I Lied.
Okay, so let's get something out of the way;
The ladies of the Silver moon sect are not virtuous.
Remaining 'pure' is not a prerequisite for them to be able to divine.
Members of the sect were allowed to have sexual relations.
Many of the maidens in the sect already had partners to satisfy their occasional sexual urges and at some point, as was 'inevitable', they would reach the limit of progression in their cultivation.
A condition that would be made known by the speedy aging of said member and they would then 'graduate' which was just a kind way to say they would be kicked out.
They would be kicked out for aging.
For not being capable of eternal youth.
When they reached this milestone, the members would usually then settle down with their partners and finally begin a life. One in which they will be awarded prestige befitting of a once-upon-a-time member of the Silver moon sect.
But, for anyone who had ever been a member of the silver moon sect, this wasn't the start of a new life but the start of a mediocre one.
Once they left the sect, they would lose the ability to divine and also lose the advantage of being privy to the unique cultivation resources and techniques of the Silver moon sect.
None of them wished for such a life and would only accept it once they had no choice.
As such competition was fierce in the Silver moon sect.
After all, the more impressive you prove you are, the more resources you would be granted and cultivation was incredibly important to them.
It allowed them to retain the youth they so desperately needed to remain in the Sect and that was the only future that mattered.
Starting a family, to them, was overrated.
Their drive to cultivate and retain that youth is one of the reasons the Sect contained powerful experts and was not to be messed with.
To Hal, this was why gawking at the ladies of the Silver moon sect while not officially an accepted reason to meet them was not punishable either.
After all, being looked at and having their beauty admired was a sign that they were doing something right and they reveled in that attention.
Not to mention, their virginity was not one to be protected and they were allowed to be attracted to men just as men were allowed to be attracted to them.
So, despite the touch of hostility in the lady's tone, Hal knew she was not really upset.
He also noted from the manner in which the guards acted towards her that she might not just be an ordinary member of the sect.
Of course, this was a bit of a stretch since he had not seen how the guards acted towards other members of the sect and their behavior towards this lady might simply be how they were towards every lady in the sect.
"This is your first time at our sect" the last said.
It was not a question but a statement of fact she was only looking to Hal to confirm.
Hal nodded,
"Yes, it is"
"I will not be discussing any matters involving the sect out here and that includes the waiting list which means if you truly wish for a consultation, you will follow me into the sect" the lady said.
Hal nodded,
"Very well"
The lady turned away from him and walked towards the walls beside the sect gates and placed her hand on the wall she was facing. Just the touch of her hand on the wall seemed to have been enough to activate a Rune circle. Or at least that was what Hal thought it was even though he could not sense any Astral energy coming off of it at all.
That was when he noticed a rune circle was now underneath his feet. This one also not giving off energies that would alert him.
The circle activated and he sunk right into the ground and when next it spat him out, he was behind the sect gates and beholding the beauty of the Impressive structures of the impressive buildings with nothing obstructing his sights.
Then another Rune circle appeared beside him and out of it rose the lady who addressed him with a gesture of her head before she said,
"Follow me"
She walked ahead of him and as Hal followed behind her, he thought to the peculiarity of the Rune circles and how this sect was the first location he would ever tag to actually possess stealthy rune circles.
Yes, the energy of Rune circles could be hidden when dormant but once activated, he always thought he was bound to notice them, and the fact that he had not noticed these was unsettling.
Unless... the circles were not being activated by Astral energy.
The journey was short and they were still not yet inside the sect proper.
They hardly met anyone and the few they met, who were also wearing silver robes that while beautiful lacked the ethereal state-shifting properties of the gown worn by the lady Hal was following, all bowed in respect to the lady.
Reiterating further the assumption Hal already had that she had a high status in the sect.
They were now inside a small but and the lady turned to him,
"Why are you here?" She asked.
Hal smiled lightly,
"What, you don't believe I am here for a consultation?" He asked.
The Lady shook her head but her face was not as stoic as it had been outside the gates.
"No, I don't. I am sure you came here for something else. Since we have not been alerted to your presence before this little conversation of ours, then you must not have come here to rob or harm the sect. Which is why I haven't killed you yet" she told him with a smile as though telling him she could kill him if she wished was amusing to anyone but herself.
Hal raised a brow,
"And yet you don't trust me"
The lady shrugged,
"Why should I? I don't know you"
"Sure you do. I told you my name" Hal said a chuckle as though that was as familiar as they needed to be.
The lady's smile grew wider,
"You told me your name, not your last name. Last names are important. Very important... Especially if you are a Doxon"
That she said he was a Doxon did not come as a surprise to Hal. Not because she was a Diviner as he doubted she divined him personally. It did not surprise him because she was staring right at his sapphire blue eyes which were a sure giveaway to the family name he had no interest in having.
"My mother is a Doxon... But I am not" Hal told her in a low voice.
The lady was now seated in a comfortable position with her gown still looking as ethereal as ever and eyeing Hal who was now leaning against a pillar of the hut in a casual pose as she raised a brow,
"Family troubles... Interesting" said and looked deeper into his eyes as though searching for something.
The longer she looked, the more satisfied she was.
But her satisfaction was not just due to his incredible looks, it was also due to self-satisfaction in herself as though she could see right through him.
As though Hal was an open book she could read at leisure.
Hal noting this smiled to himself,
"I told you my name, why not tell me yours" he said.
"Leona. My name is Leona" the lady told him.
"Beautiful name" Hal said and Leona nodded,
"I like it too." She said.
"Good. Now that we know each other's names, why don't you tell me how high the seal will get me on the waiting list. You see, I am in a bit of a hurry" Hal told her.
He had no way of knowing how high Leona was in status.
For all he knew, she could simply be respected as a senior in the sect. He had no way to be certain she was the one to speak to with regards to what he was here for.
Leona shrugged and stood up from her seat to approach Hal at the pillar he was leaning against,
"YOU are in a hurry, but I'm not" she said with a smile and walked even closer to him,
"Thing is, when I told you I could not discuss the list outside the gates, I lied. Telling you when you could come back for a consultation would not take me more than a few seconds. I wouldn't even need to consult the actual list.
But I have to admit, you... Intrigue me.
You are not leaving here until you tell me exactly what you came here for."
Hal sighed in surrender,
"I wish to meet the Sect head. Or at least anyone who can access the Sect's Treasury and can authorize that I get what I came here for"
Leona was now only inches away from him and smiling with satisfaction.
Hal stretched his hand towards her as he asked,
"Can you help me?"
Before his hand could touch her, Leona grabbed his wrist and said with a sneer,
"Don't..."
She was unable to complete her words as at that time, a pleasurable sensation flowed right from where her hand was making contact with Hal's skin and the pleasure traveled all over her body.
And yet, Leona did not let go.
It was almost as though she couldn't let go and in a matter of seconds, her legs turned weak and she fell against Hal with her face buried in his chest while she breathed in the sweet scent coming off his body.
A scent that sunk her even deeper into the pleasured craving that {Erogenous Touch} had already tossed her into....
Chapter 485 - A Looming Darkness.
While Hal was getting familiar with Leona, the head of the Silver moon sect inside her shrine of an inner room.
The room was inside the grandest building in the Silver moon sect territory and was quite central to the structure as a whole.
The Sect head was dressed in a flowing white robe that covered up the silver inner of similar material as Leona's robes.
While her hair was let down, there was some of it held at the top of her head with a silver hairpin, the handle end of which was clearly meant to be a silver moon.
It could not be any more clear that she was the head of the sect.
She knelt before what looked like an altar with her eyes closed as she took deep breaths to clear her mind and most likely aid her in divining.
While she did this, the door to the shrine room opened, and in walked a lady in a robe that was identical to Leona's. In fact, the lady's face noted a resemblance to Leona's, and her hair was held in a bun at the top of her head with a hairpin similar to that of the Sect head.
The only notable difference was its smaller size which also served to make it look less grand and more like an accessory.
"You are developing quite the habit of interrupting me when it's clear that I'm busy" the Sect he'd said with her eyes still closed.
"You're not busy. You're thinking" the new arrival said.
The sect head took a deep breath,
"When I'm thinking, I'm busy" she said.
"Since when?" The new arrival asked.
"Since you've shown you don't have enough aptitude to relieve enough of my burden for me not to be worried" the Sect he'd said.
The new arrival rolled her eyes.
"I saw that" the Sect head said but the new arrival only rolled her eyes once again.
This time, the sect head sighed and opened her eyes to reveal silver orbs to match those of the new arrival and Leona's.
Then she shook her head.
"Inevitable" she said in a low voice.
The new arrival was suddenly kneeling at her side and there was an understanding in her eyes after the statements were made,
"Next step will be to tell the Emperor right?" She asked.
The sect head snorted,
"Tell him what? That a darkness will envelop the whole of the Haron continent and for some reason, not only am I, the chief Diviner of the Empire unable to see its source, I can also not see a way that it does not happen?" She turned to look at the lady who shared her Silver eyes,
"What good would that do, Corrina?" She asked.
Corrina took a deep breath,
"It could give him time to prepare. To prepare a countermeasure" she said.
The sect head shook her head.
This revelation had come to her two months ago when she was meditating before the Altar.
A month or so before that she actually fell into a trance where she had seen a glimpse of a seed that while she could not see clearly, she could feel it giving off nefarious energies before it was buried inside the ground.
Unfortunately, on which ground exactly, she had no idea.
The only thing she was sure abort with regards to the location was that it was somewhere on the Haron continent.
Anyways, the revelation two months ago saw the darkness spreading and she decided to look at the future of its spread and hopefully track where it had originated from but she was unable to divine anything.
So she instead divined the future of the Haron continent.
The results were far from promising.
First, for some reason, she could not see exactly at which time in the future this was going to happen, and second, no matter how she looked, one thing was always constant which was that at some point, the whole of the Haron continent would be enveloped in darkness.
While she could not see the origination of the darkness, one thing remained clear no matter how much she divined and it was that there was no way to stop the darkness.
It was inevitable.
To the sect head, the darkness meant a terrible future for the Haron continent. A future that could not be avoided and it made sense to her.
After all, over the hundreds of thousands of years, the Harons had ruled the continent, plots had begun to usurp their rule. She felt this vision was just a manifestation of the eventual blowout of all those plots.
She felt this vision was just showing the inevitable civil war the Haron continent was bound to go on as opposed to it being the work of a certain Devil planting his Devil seed in a small inconsequential city whose influence was already permeating the Barony it was situated in.
Even with her means, the Sect head could not possibly divine the whole of the Haron continent. She could not unravel all the plots.
She was not all-seeing and her foreseeing was usually more focused on dangers to the sect and eventual dangers to the Empire which she could warn the Emperor about beforehand.
But she was well aware that a lot of the plots were from the Emperor's own family. The Imperial family was already divided into factions that were going all out to rule the continent.
"There's no countermeasure for this, Corrina." The sect head said and then sighed,
"But Darkness always passes. Hopefully, when it does pass, the Empire will not be left in ruins."
Corrina was quiet to this not just because she saw sense in her mother's words, but also because there was something else she had come in here for and now wondered how to broach the topic.
Eventually, she took a deep breath and when she spoke, she opted for a more familiar moniker,
"Mother..." She said and the sect head whose eyes had been turned away swiveled her head to look into her daughter's face,
"Yes, child" she said with a slight smile as her silver-eyed took an all-knowing expression that said she knew what Corrina wished to speak about already.
"How much longer?" Corrina asked and there was such a change to the sect head's expression that it was clear that they were no longer talking about the impending enveloping darkness looming over the Haron continent.
This was a different matter.
A more personal matter to the mother and daughter.
The sect head took a deep breath,
"It's getting clearer. It won't be too long now" she said and then closed her eyes and assumed the same expression she had had before Corrina's arrival.
However, Corrina did not leave, instead, she closed her eyes and assumed a similar expression.
...
Meanwhile, while the mother and daughter meditated before the altar, Leona was no longer just leaning against Hal's chest as the blue-eyed devil pulled her closer and wound an arm around her slim waist.
His wrist which Leona had grabbed and had been the first part of this inevitable sink into pleasure, had now been released as the Silver moon sect disciple now had her two arms around Hal.
Using it to pull him closer to herself and breathe in his scent even more.
In all honesty, Hal's arm around her waist was not an act to pull her closer to himself but to help her remain upright.
If they were still in this position, it was all thanks to her impressive hold on him.
Chapter 486 - A Tad Bit Irritable.
Don't get him wrong, Hal was not averse to her touch.
He loved it.
That beautiful flowery scent coming off her body permeated his nose and got him wanting to breathe in even more of it. That warm soft feeling of her body.
His hand went lower towards her shapely ass which he gave a firm squeeze.
"Mmnghhh" Leona moaned and pressed even closer into his body before she gasped and asked,
"Why do I feel this good?"
Hal smiled lightly,
"Because you are with me" he said.
And then took his hand off her ass as though to give her space as a gentleman would,
"You should stop touching me... That is of course if you don't want to feel this way" he said.
Leona looked up at his face and after a short while, her pretty pink lips separated and her pupils dilated with pleasure,
"I... want to feel it" she said and Hal took her words as an invitation for him to take her lips in a hard and passionate kiss that saw to a further weakening of her legs just as she closed her eyes.
Her arm strength increased and she grabbed Hal even tighter than before and even as she felt her pussy lips moisten and begin to dampen her underwear, she only embraced the pleasurable feeling all the more.
"Mmnghh" Leona moaned into the kiss until eventually, Hal pulled away from her and held her away from himself with his hands on her shoulders.
Leona kept her eyes closed for a while longer as she adjusted to the loss of Hal's manly hold while also coming to terms with the craving her body had for his touch. A craving that did not go away even after Hal stopped touching her.
Hal slowly lifted his hands off her shoulders and was pleased to see Leona was stable enough to remain on her feet, unsupported.
When Leona opened her eyes, she took a deep breath and gazed upon the incomparably handsome face of the Blue-eyed young man whose very gaze was causing her to quiver.
"You've done that before" she said.
Not a question.
Hal chuckled,
"So have you" he said and Leona nodded in admittance.
"You are a womanizer" she said.
Also not a question.
"Yes, I am" Hal did not deny.
"And you want to seduce me" Leona said.
Still not a question.
"Yes" Hal answered. Now leaning against the pillar he had been leaning against before.
"So that I get you even higher on the list" she said.
Leona was definitely not one to ask questions and would rather prefer to make knowing statements.
Hal nodded,
"Absolutely" he said.
"If you're admitting all this, then you must believe your seduction was successful" Leona said with a confident and sarcastic smirk.
But how could Hal not see through such an obvious facade?
He shrugged,
"You tell me. Was it?" He asked and walked closer to Leona to would an arm around her waist and pull her closer to himself.
Then he pushed his face closer to hers as though to take her lips only to stop before actually making contact.
Leona pulled away from him but Hal did not pursue. Instead, he watched her with a smile.
Eventually, the silver-eyed lady said,
"From the moment you planned to come here, we have known. Mother... The Sect head won't tell me why you are here which is why I wanted to ask you directly as I was instructed to turn you away."
Hal raised a brow,
"Really now. Even with Princess Tanya's imperial seal?" He asked.
Leona took a deep breath,
"Especially because of Princess Tanya's seal. Whatever you are here for must involve Imperial palace politics. That is the only matter mother does not wish to pay heed to." She said and searched Hal's eyes as though to find confirmation.
Alas, Hal's expression remained the same as he took on a contemplative expression,
"Hmmm, so what, it's a no-go?" He asked with a light smile.
There was no way this was the end.
Had Leona not been curious enough to actually have a conversation with him, it might truly have been impossible and he would then contact Tanya with his communication Talisman to ask for another way to get what he came here for.
However, not to even mention the fact that he had been successful in his seduction, there was now something else he could maybe use to his advantage...
"When you say 'Mother', do you mean it as a term all disciples use in referring to the Sect head, or is she your actual mother?" He asked.
Leona closed her eyes as though to inwardly berate herself for letting it slip before she opened them and said,
"I mean she is actually my mother. Gave birth to me and all that."
Now Hal moved closer to her and brushed a lock of her black hair behind her ear,
"So then, surely you can facilitate a meeting. I wasn't lying when I said I need to speak with her. Your mother has... Something. Something the princess wants. Something I actually don't give a crap about other than the fact that getting it would earn me a lot of blue gems."
Leona bit her lower lip,
"But you're a Doxon... Surely you can't be in want for blue gems. Why work for someone else to get what your family has in abundance?" she asked.
Hal shrugged,
"Alas, when I told you that my mother is a Doxon but I am not, I was not being anything but truthful.
So how about it? Will you help me?" He asked her with a grin that had Leona's heart racing.
She sighed and turned away from Hal as she walked out of the hut,
"Of course. If that's what you really want, I'll get you a meeting with my mother. But I will tell you this, she has already made up her mind not to be cooperative and I believe it would be infinitely hard to change her mind.
Also, she is in a bit of a bad mood due to certain issues our sect will be facing soon so she might be a tad bit irritable.
In the case of my dear mother though, 'Irritable' means angry enough to kill you as soon as she feels like doing so" she said and led the way while Hal eagerly followed.
His smiling expression remained unchanged.
...
As was expected if a large sect such as this, they did not complete the trip on foot. However, while Leona, now very chatty, explained the use of short-distance Teleportation circles similar to the ones used in the Imperial palace being the main mode of transportation in the sect, she made use of a special circle.
The circle was the same as the one that had brought them from outside the gates into the Sect. And it was also not giving off Astral energy.
Anyway, Leona led him to the main building and then into a large and impressive hall with a throne-like chair clearly meant for the sect head.
Then Leona made to leave but before she could, a black hole appeared in the middle of the hall, and out of it walked a lady with a striking resemblance with Leona, including the silver eyes and same shade of black hair, albeit more mature.
She eyed Hal for a while and then looked to Leona,
"What is this?" She asked with a bit of annoyance in her tone.
"Calm down Corrina, he just wants to speak with mother." Leona said without a hint of worry dor her sister's obvious bad mood.
"Well, mother does not wish to speak to him. She has enough to think about with the impending arrival of... you-know-who" Corrina said.
Leona opened her mouth to respond when a voice announced another presence in the room.
All eyes turned towards the throne-like chair in the hall on which sat a comfortable looking Sect head who surveyed Hal with a smile and eyes that told of wicked intentions,
"Actually, with how far this young man has gone with you sister, Corrina, I might as well hear what he has to say...
.... Before I kill him"
Chapter 487 - A Want Interpreted As A Need.
'Alright hold up, multiple information in need of immediate digestion'
That was Hal's first thought when he saw the Silver moon sect head sitting in the throne-like chair.
And he was right.
First off, there was the arrival of Leona's sister, the very nature of which was eyebrow-raising.
The black hole she had come out of was giving off Ordinance vibes and that was because it had been made possible with the Ordinance of void.
The Ordinance of void which is an Elemental Ordinance is derivative of the Abstract Ordinance of space which could perform all the tricks void ordinance could and then some.
Anyway, while its uses would always be limited to the opening of portals for quick transportation through stretches of spaces no matter how strong or how high in comprehension the wielder got, void ordinance was definitely no slouch.
For one, Hal could now realize why the circles Leona had used thus far had not been powered by Astral energy which was that they were powered by her sister's void ordinance and could most likely only be used by members of their immediate family.
But such elaborate use, Hal wondered if simply comprehensive the Ordinance of void had granted her such advantages,
'Ordinance Hanessing' Grimoire piped.
'She has attained Ordinance harnessing and with a foundation with the drawing of Runes, it is highly possible that she achieves such feats. But she is still fairly young and harnessing is only enough for a small scale so her range of such use of her Ordinance can not surpass the Sect's territories'
Which meant her special teleportation circles were only active in the Silver moon sect
Hal agreed with Grimoire's assessments with a mental nod before he looked over at Corrina's form once again and noted that maturity that reminded him so much of Tanya.
They were most likely in the same age range.
With that information appropriately digested, Hal's eyes moved over to the main woman in the room.
The one who would determine whether his mission would be successful or be a failure.
The sect head was beautiful. Just like her daughters and she had that maturity that reminded Hal of Emily and could very well serve to rev up his perverted sexual engines all the more.
'Careful' Grimoire cautioned him slightly.
'With my thoughts?' Hal asked with skepticism. 'I thought you were protecting me' he said to the Artifact with a mentally raised brow.
When Tanya of the level of foresight protecting the Silver moon sect from getting caught off guard by a robbery attempt, Hal had been quick to think up a plan. Aided along by Grimoire, the ever surprisingly (especially when not expected to be) useful Artifact.
No human can see the future. So-called foreseeing is not actually possible even when 'blessed' by the gods.
The only one who can ever see the future and claim to be all-knowing (Even though they are actually not) would be someone who had achieved the Paragon level of comprehension in the Abstract Ordinance of destiny.
So unless the Sect head of the Silver moon sect was a goddess who had achieved paragon level of comprehension in the Abstract Ordinance of Destiny (which is impossible for any human), then there was no way she could see the future.
Not without help.
So somewhere in this sect, there was an Artifact similar to the flame crystal that Hal had which allowed not just the sect head but everyone in the silver moon sect to tap into its powers and 'foresee' the future of those who came in for a consultation.
Hal had joked that it would be ironic if it was a crystal ball but Grimoire had taken it seriously by saying,
'It could very well be'
Anyway, since it was an Artifact, Grimoire could shield Hal from its potent but passive abilities even with the sect head or anyone else in the sect channeling its abilities.
So focussing on him with her Silver and seemingly all-knowing eyes would not help the Silver moon sect head to 'foresee' his future.
As such as long as it did not involve her sect, whose future she could foresee, Hal could go about plotting anything he wished.
So he felt his perverted thoughts should be safe but Grimoire reminded him that he should be careful having any such thoughts in regards to the Sect head.
Unfortunately, Hal could barely help himself. While her voluminous robes had her completely covered up, he was still sure there would be a lot of mouthwatering deliciousness underneath them which he would be more than happy and ready to enjoy if he got the chance to do so.
"You've been busy" the sect head said and called Hal from his thoughts even though it had all taken barely a second.
He smiled lightly,
"May I ask, in what way?" He asked.
The sect head gestured to Leona whose cheeks were pink as she already knew what her mother was referring to,
"You haven't been here an hour and you've already kissed and groped my daughter."
Corrina's eyes widened and she looked from her mother to Leona and then to Hal who she glared at.
Hal sensing the glare merely chuckled,
"So what, that deserves the death penalty?" He asked obviously referring to the sect head's earlier 'Before I kill him' statement.
The sect head's eyes widened comically,
"Gods no. Why would I kill you when I don't hear my daughter complaining? I haven't ever interfered in their... Sex lives and I do not intend to start now"
"You afford them that much freedom, what a great mother you are" Hal said with a smile but he truly was impressed.
The sect head scoffed,
"Of course I afford them that much freedom. Just like I afford all members of my sect that much freedom. Affection is fleeting. It is bound to never last. Sexual pleasure is a want our body interprets as a need and once taken care of, only shame remains.
Our connection, however, the connection we all feel... The connection that preserves this sect. The connection that lasts for the rest of our lifetime."
"You mean the connection that keeps them tied to the sect. The connection that makes them want to be here rather than feel the true pleasures of intercourse only one man can truly proudly claim to be able to provide."
The sect head frowned as she felt Hal was being condescending to the cultures of their sect but that was not what he was doing. Quite the opposite in fact,
"I know of such a connection. I admire it actually" he said.
'Of course, I'd rather it be a connection with me at the center and absolute focus of your attention and devotion... but all in due time, I guess'
The Sect head sighed while Leona looked down.
She felt her mother was underestimating the pleasure Hal could provide. She had only felt his touch and she was already feeling indecision on which she would choose... Hal or the sect she had been born and raised in.
Corrina was still glaring at Hal.
"Why are you here?" The sect head asked but Hal furrowed his brown as he said,
"You know why"
The sect head rolled her eyes and it looked incredibly sexy to Hal as she said,
"Of course I do. But like I said before, I would like for you to present your case. You know, before I put an end to your existence"
Hal took a deep breath and then said,
"Alright then.
Apparently, there is something that helped the First Emperor rule the continent, and to keep it for a worthy Haron, he drew a map in the form of scattered clues. One of those clues, the next piece of the puzzle, is with you.
Most likely in your treasury.
And I will not leave Dreg Duchy until I have gotten my hands on it."
Chapter 488 - The Answer Is...
Leona's eyes widened at the news of why Hal was here.
Even Corrina's eyes were widened as she momentarily forgot to glare at Hal who was smiling slightly at the Silver moon sect head.
Neither of the two had known that was why he was here and now, while they were able to keep their curiosity tempered and not ask questions, for now, they were definitely intrigued.
Hal monitored their expressions with his astral sense and noted from it that whatever it was that he came here for, while they might have seen it, they had known what it was for.
The Sect head mirrored his smile,
"Oh you will stay here till you get it?" she inquired.
Hal nodded,
"So could you please give it to me?" He asked.
"That's it? You're just going to ask for it and not even offer up any compensation? Blue gems perhaps" the Sect head inquired.
Hal knew the sect head was mocking him. Even if he could offer her a mountain of blue gems, he doubted that could get her to give him what he came here for.
He hated the distance between them because as charming as he indeed was, he highly doubted he could work his charms over that distance and get her mind so muddled that she gave it to him.
So he opted for the best possible way... Compromise.
Hal shrugged,
"I have nothing to give. Neither was I authorized to give anything in exchange. Surely your sect is not in want for wealth."
The Sect head sighed,
"No, we are not. With the amount of consultation we offer, we are rich in blue gems. Wealth is the last thing that we desperately need. That said it would have been far more interesting to watch you offer all you have only for me to eventually still say no." She said.
"How about a service then?" Hal asked.
"Excuse me?" the sect head said with her perfect eyebrows raised.
"How about I offer you my services in exchange. You see I am a little strapped for gems at the moment. It's the whole point of my working for the Princess to even try to get this for her. For some reason, she thought I was the best for the job."
The sect head rearranged herself but she did so with a mocking smile on my face her lips,
"You want to offer me your services?" She asked and there was a sweetly dangerous edge to her tone that should have chilled Hal to the lines but he acted oblivious to it.
As well as the overall tension in the air not just from the Sect head but also from her daughter Corrina.
While Leona wondered if she should tell to Hal to not be stupid.
Hal nodded and raised his hands,
"Yes, I do. It's all that I have that is of value and I have been told the work of this hands of mine is absolutely priceless."
Leona blushed even harder when she thought she sensed a sexual innuendo in Hal's words.
"You want to offer me services with your hands?"
There was now no way Hal could ignore the dangerous edge in the Sect head's voice. Neither could he ignore the thick tension in the air.
His eyes widened suddenly,
"Oh come on, what the hell are you thinking about? Get your mind out of the gutter! My intentions are absolutely pure.
When I say the work of my hands, I actually mean it in the sense that maybe I can offer my assistance with certain menial labor you might have around the sect.
Maybe even take care of a few miscreants looking to cause trouble.
How could you even think I was that perverted?"
Of course, despite the indignation in his voice, the sect head did not believe a word of what he had just said.
He was that perverted and she felt his words should be interpreted as such.
There was a pause and then Hal added,
"Also, I could offer my services by assisting you with your coming troubles"
Three sets of eyes snapped towards his handsome face just as the Sect head said,
"Can you now?" There was every bit of skepticism on her face but Hal caught something else in her reply,
"You're not going to ask me how I know of those coming troubles."
The sect head shrugged,
"You would have to be an idiot not to figure it out after Corrina very clearly mentioned I already had enough to worry about.
What I really want to know is how you think you can help?
How you, a Cosmic Phenomenon realm expert, can help in an issue that worries a Saint like me?"
Hal shrugged,
"It's simple really. All you need is a boost. Any boost. Whether conventional or unconventional. I can offer you that... As long as you let me make contact with the source, I am absolutely sure I can offer you that well-needed boost" he said.
"Source?" The sect head asked with a raised brow.
Hal nodded,
"Yes, the source of your 'foreseeing' abilities. Let me make contact with it and I assure you that you will get through the coming troubles with superb ease." He said with a light smile.
If anyone else had said this, the sect head would have laughed and most likely killed them on the spot for such impudence but because it was Hal, she found herself unable to do so.
Sure he was handsome, incomparably so, and was the type to surely set her heartbeat racing back in her maiden years but that was not the reason she let him live... For now.
There was just such confidence in the way he spoke that was a healthy, delicious mix of (Did she just say delicious?) Confidence and charisma.
However, while it did stop her from killing him instantly, it did not stop her from bursting into laughter.
"Hahahahaha, my gods, you have to be kidding me. Did you actually expect that to work?
That I would believe you could actually have something to offer other than your glib tongue which I am quite tempted to cut out of your mouth right now?"
Hal shrugged,
"I was only presenting what I had to offer in exchange for what I want which by the way, you have absolutely no use for and would just sit in your treasury collecting dust" he said.
"Needing it is not the point. I am holding onto this to slow down this harmful struggle for power that is casting darkness over the Haron Empire" the sect head said.
Hal chuckled.
The sect head's eyes flashed,
"Is something funny?" She asked.
Hal nodded,
"Of course. The fact that you think holding on to this will actually slow anything down is a tad bit naive" he said.
Leona gasped.
Corrina took a step forward,
"How dare you?" She snarled.
"Stay back" the sect head ordered her daughter.
"Mother..." Corrina began but one look from her mother shut her up.
"Continue. How is it that I am naive?" the sect head asked Hal who eyed Corrina for a while before he continued,
"There are many others vying to rule the continent and a vast majority of them don't give a damn about whatever the First Emperor left behind. Even if you found whatever it was and destroyed it, that won't change anything.
There will always be conflict and I see no reason why you should bother yourself to stop them. Focus on your immediate environs.
Let those who wish to kill each other kill each other and vie for your own survival."
The sect head frowned,
"That's selfish"
Hal smirked,
"And what? You're selfless?" He asked.
"As the chief diviner of the Haron continent, I have to be" the sect head said but Hal shook his head,
"You don't have to be. You choose to be. Anyway, there is really no point in holding on to it. If you don't want my help in your coming troubles, that is fine, but you should know that there are others after whatever the First Emperor left behind.
Eventually, they could come after it.
I feel it would be best you just give it up before that happens."
Silence...
Then the Sect head smiled,
"Nice try but the answer is still no" she said.
"What?!" Hal was indignant.
The sect head rose to her feet,
"Maybe I am naive. Maybe I am selfless to a fault but I will do all I can to stop the Empire from falling to ruins. If things continue as they are, the future of this continent is... Dark.
You made a good case.. Albeit a selfish one and for that I will spare you but I will not give you what you came here for."
Chapter 489 - Simple Curiosity.
Hal's eyes widened in outrage,
"Now wait just a moment..." He began but when the sect head turned her eyes in his direction, he froze and found it impossible to speak.
"I am already sparing your life. Take the win and get the hell out of my sect" the silver moon sect head said and a blast of energy shot out of her firm heading towards Hal who knew even before he tried that he could not avoid or block that attack.
But he need not fear as the attack had been benign and only served to toss him backward and into the black hole Corrina had just opened up behind him.
*Whump*
Taking him right out of the Silver moon sect territory and outside the main gates where the guards were more than surprised at the ejection.
Hal groaned and rolled to his feet in annoyance.
'Well, I guess that's that' Grimoire piped.
Hal said nothing and instead turned away from the grinning face of the antagonistic guard he had met before Leona came out to take him into the sect.
After dusting his clothes, he took a walk.
Preferring that over boarding a carriage.
'So what now?' Grimoire asked.
When Hal still said nothing, the artifact continued,
'Do you contact the princess and tell her you failed?'
'I haven't failed.' Hal said.
'Well, you didn't get what you came here for so I would say that's failing...' Grimoire began but paused when a thought came to it, 'Unless you have a plan'
Hal smiled,
'Took you long enough to catch on... Of course, I have a plan' he told the Artifact.
'Alright then, let me hear it. Because if it involves going back into the sect, I would have to be honest and call you out on that stupid idea as a complete idiot' Grimoire said clearly not pulling any of its metaphoric punches today.
Hal was not bothered though,
"It actually does involve me going into the sect. In fact, I'm not just going into the sect, I'm going to rob it' he said
'Oh, so you're not just a complete idiot but a complete idiot with a death wish' Grimoire said with a maniacal cackle.
Hal rolled his eyes both mentally and physically,
'Will you stop trying to find ways to insult me for one second and think real hard on why I would have such a potentially suicidal thought?'
Grimoire paused and indeed when it was not just attempting to make fun of its host, it could see the merit of such a dangerous sounding plan,
'The troubles... The troubles the Silver moon sect is facing' it said in realization.
'Exactly' Hal said with a lazy smile.
'That is the window I need. I mean whatever this trouble is, it is so potent that it has a Cosmic saint worried... And it has not even actually happened yet. Just the thought of it is what has her worried.
Imagine how preoccupied she and everyone else in the silver moon sect will be when it actually starts. There's no way they would be keeping a lookout on something they don't need' he explained.
'But what if you're wrong. What if she's lying and actually does care about it enough to worry about it' Grimoire said.
Hal, having thought of this scenario already was quick to answer,
"If she still has it in her vault, then it would not matter as long as she is preoccupied. If she has it on a person which is very, very, very unlikely, then and only then will I admit failure... For the time being of course. Until I come up with another plan.'
'What about time? You have no idea when it's going to happen. What if it surpasses the less than two weeks limit you have?' Grimoire asked.
Hal shrugged
'I doubt it would take that long.'
...
Hal went into the first hotel he saw which was closest to the Silver moon sect and booked a room.
He wanted to make himself accessible in case of any visitors because all planning aside, he was sure he would be visited by a certain silver-eyed lady.
At nightfall, someone knocked on his door and when Hal scouted ahead with his Astral sense and then pulled the door open, he was surprised to 'see' it was not the silver-eyed lady he had been expecting...
"Corrina, what a pleasant surprise"
... It was her sister.
Corrina met Hal with a frown even though her glare had lessened a tad bit.
Now, for one thing, Hal knew he was incapable of defeating her in battle if that was indeed what she was after.
The mere fact that she had comprehended an Ordinance told of her having visited the monument of Ordinances five hundred years ago, except of course in case of unique circumstances which Hal was sure was not the case for her.
Anyway, since she had been able to enter the monument of Ordinances, then she must have been at the Cosmic Phenomenon realm at that time which meant that now, five hundred years later, she was already most likely a Semi-saint.
The hint of pressure she began to let out of her body as she passed by Hal into his hotel room confirmed his suspicions.
"To what do I owe this visit?" Hal asked with a charming smile even though he had his guard up in case of anything.
That he could not defeat the silver-eyed lady did not mean he wasn't ready to escape at a moment's notice.
That said, the fact that she actually knocked and allowed him to answer the door rather than bursting in might mean she was not here for a fight.
It could also very well mean she had good manners to knock on the door to her enemy's room before killing him.
To his inquiry, Corrina shrugged,
"To put it simply, Curiosity" she said.
Hal, acting as relaxed as he possibly could, went over to the bed in the room and sat on it while he observed Corrina whose eyes roamed all about the room as though to uncover all of Hal's tricks.
"What are you curious about?" Hal asked her.
There was a brief pause before Corrina began,
"I can't see you"
Hal furrowed his brows,
"I am right here" he said.
Corrina shook her head,
"Not in that sense. I mean I can't 'see' you. Even when I focus on you, I can't foresee what you will do. I have found it difficult to see people at times. Even those who are weaker than me in cultivation. For them, I only get flashes. Flashes of possibilities which is usually enough to satisfy them in term of a consultation.
But you... It's all just... blank"
Another brief pause before Hal shrugged,
"Who knows why that is?" He said in a bid to be dismissive.
"YOU do" Corrina said in an eerie tone.
"I do?" Hal asked with skepticism coating his words.
Corrina nodded,
"Yes, you do. You mentioned a 'source' of our foreseeing ability and mentioned wanting to get close to it. To make contact with it. Which has me thinking you are somehow consciously protecting yourself... I wonder what you have to hide"
Hal opened his mouth to speak but Corrina interrupted him,
"Don't speak. You will most probably tell me lies anyway. Mother would have figured things out even before I did and if she let you go safely, you are either no threat to us at all, or you are not worth the trouble. It could very well be both though." She said.
"Is there a point to all this?" Hal asked with a bit of impatience in his tone.
Corrina's eyes flashed,
"Of course there's a point. Mother might not be ready to consider the possibility but I am."
"Consider what possibility?" Hal asked.
Corrina sighed,
"The possibility that you can help with our problems. The possibility that you can help defeat my father"
Chapter 490 - Why Are You Here? R-18
"You want to defeat your father?" Hal inquired to be sure he had not heard wrong.
Corrina raised a brow,
"What? Is that too much for you to wrap your brain around?" She asked.
Hal shook his head,
"Not at all. I know all about dysfunctional relationships and the drive to k– I mean defeat a father." He said and after a brief pause he asked,
"So what's the story and why do you wish to defeat your father?"
Corrina sighed,
"I guess using the term 'father' for that man is unfair to all real fathers. I have lived a little over seven hundred years and I have never actually had a relationship with him. He doesn't want a relationship with us. All he wants is power.
He's coming to the sect. He and an Army.
And not only can my mother not 'see' where he is or where he will be so that we can lay an ambush and take the fight to him, but she also has no idea how strong he is at the moment.
Just that he is strong enough to evade her sights and his arrival is imminent.
And even then she has no precise time for his arrival"
Corrina took a deep breath,
"Mother is right. You are just a Cosmic Phenomenon realm expert, how could you possibly help?"
Hal shrugged,
"I can't tell you my methods but I can tell you that I truly can help you if you can allow me access to the source" he said and suddenly Corrina's fist grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to his feet.
"Why should I believe getting you to the source is not just part of a plot concocted by you and the one who sent you here"
"Oh, Princess Tanya?" Hal said.
"So you say. But It could all be a lie. A trick" Corrina snarled and pushed her face close to Hal's so that they were only separated by inches.
Hal eyed her beautiful lips,
"Then don't believe me. You can walk out the door right now. You don't have to accept my help but I will remind you that you came here all on your own. Of your own volition.
Trust your instincts." He said.
Corrina let go of his shirt and scoffed.
"Well, my instincts say not to trust you. That you are lying. Withholding the whole truth. That you are being dishonest."
"Then why come here? Did your mother send you?" Hal asked.
Corrina shook her head,
"Of course not"
"Was it Leona?" Hal asked with a slight smile and Corrina's cheeks went red for a moment before they were back to normal.
"It was her, wasn't it?" Hal said and his slight smile grew wider, slowly turning into a grin.
"Wipe that look off your face. I told you it was curiosity that brought me here" Corrina said and turned away from Hal.
Still grinning, Hal said,
"Does curiosity translate to 'you came to see if your sister was right about my touch?'"
Corrina bit her bottom lip and then turned around to face Hal before taking deliberate steps towards him to once again grab the front of his shirt and pull him closer to herself except this time, she connected their lips in a passionate kiss.
However, all the bravado she had when walking towards him to 'forcefully' take that kiss melted away when she finally made contact. She shivered with pleasure and her legs became weak.
From then on, Hal took over with his arms wound about her waist as he pressed them even closer to each other until her breasts were cushioned hard against his chest.
Then she pulled away from him.
Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were puckered.
When she finally opened her eyes, they sparkled.
'What was that feeling?' She thought as she felt the craving she knew she could not resist.
She did not try to.
She let herself sink into the pleasure and let it pull her closer to Hal who welcomed her with open arms as their passionate kiss resumed.
But this time, Corrina had her hands between them, not to separate them but to let her feel the contours of his chest while she breathed in his scent.
As a Cosmic semi-saint, Corrina had a great deal of resistance to Hal's effects on women due to his lower cultivation base. Quite like how Tanya had been able to pull away from Hal and resist his sexual charismatic pull.
But the difference was that Tanya was not yet too interested. She could still muscle the bit of resistance Hal's touch had not yet broken away. However, even before she touched him, Corrina had wanted to be touched to be kissed.
To feel what her sister had felt herself and so once she actually made contact, it was impossible to muscle any resistance and she would only keep falling deeper and deeper into that sexual abyss of pleasure.
Especially with Hal aiding her along.
The blue-eyed Devil released his pheromones and it saturated the room. Further charging the already sexually charged room.
Their lips separated once again as Hal's hands went lower to grope her pliant ass through her robes.
"You know it would be a shame if your mother came in and interrupted us" Hal said with a light smile.
Corrina reciprocated with a smile of her own, quite eager to get back to touching and ditch the talking,
"She won't come. She doesn't watch my every move. She is only really alerted when I am in danger and even then she won't come immediately. After all, I can take care of myself" she said.
Hal chuckled to himself thinking that if he was someone who wished to kidnap or hurt Corrina, she had just told him why it would not be overly difficult.
Anyways, since there was no worry for an interfering sect head hanging over his head, Hal grabbed the fastener of Corrina's silver, Ethereal-looking robe, and loosened it to take the clothes off her.
And that presented him with a complete view of her beautiful, creamy skin and silver underwear.
He did away with the underwear quickly enough.
The moment he had stripped her of her clothes, Corrina did the same to his.
With the two now naked, Hal picked her up, cast a noise-canceling rune about the room before he pinned her against the wall and recaptured her lips.
Corrina groaned from the hard contact with the wall and tightened her legs around Hal's waist and her arms around his neck.
Then Hal pulled away from her lips only to dip his head and grab one of her nipples into his mouth and suck on it hard.
"Ngghhhh" Corrina groaned as that act subjected her to a minor orgasm that already surpassed any pleasure she had ever gotten from any of her previous sexual encounters.
A few more minutes of this when she was definitely down from her minor-orgasmic high, Hal transitioned to the bed where he lay her down and began peppering her body with kisses. Kisses all charged with {Erogenous touch} and few lust flames.
The results of which had Corrina squirming with pleasure and arching parts of her body towards him to gain better traction.
As Hal kissed his way down, taking his sweet time to admire every part of her body, his destination was clear and the anticipatory thought of him flaming up her already tingling and wet pussy with his delicious tongue had Corrina's toes curling.
She could barely wait to feel that pleasure, alas, she would definitely have to wait.
Because Hal was in no hurry and while he did stretch his hand down towards her sopping wet pussy to begin a slow tantalizing stroke of her plump pussy lips, Corrina felt it was far from enough.
She needed more.
She needed his tongue.
She needed his cock.