Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Phaedra lad Hal to the hall and it went quite deep into Elenor's main residence as chief of the Devil Trube.

Her main residence was a magnificent palace but Hal could barely observe it as he was led quite quickly by Phaedra who appeared in a hurry to obey Elenor's Order.

When they arrived at the large doors to the hall, Phaedra tapped on them rapidly in what seemed like an established pattern rather than a random knock.

She then looked at Hal to say,

"Good luck,"

"Doubt it will be needed," Hal said before putting on his mask which he retrieved from his inventory.

He had just put on the mask that the doors opened to admit him.

Phaedra turned around and left to get herself much more presentable and return to the hall from such she had been absent for quite a while.

Hal eyed her leaving before he stepped into the hall with confident strides.

Elenor was seated on a high-backed throne facing large screens on which were the three other rulers of the Dystopian continent.

All three had their eyes on Hal as he walked forward and stopped beside Elenor's throne.

Elenor looked to the side at him and raised a brow at his decision to accessorize a mask.

She gestured at it with her right index finger and Hal chuckled before saying,

"Oh, you have received the privilege of gazing upon my magnificent face... They have not"

"What?!" asked the gruff voice of a black-haired man who Hal took to be the head of the Dragon clan.

Hal had guessed from the features he had seen on Reyna Gord as well as the General who had fought against Devon during the war.

"Are you hard of hearing? I said bat-shit crazy Elenor has the privilege of seeing my face but you do not" Hal said.

"Bat-shit crazy?" Elenor repeated and Hal looked sideways at her,

"It's a compliment... Mostly"

*BANG!*

The sound came from one of the screens and had of course come from the head of the Dragon clan who sneered,

"What manner of disrespect is this?" he asked but Hal just ignored him.

He and Elenor were still staring at each other and neither paid heed to Dogroth.

"You are yet to introduce me," Hal told Elenor who smiled lightly as she said,

"He's right you know, you are indeed being disrespectful"

Hal shrugged,

"Do you really care if I disrespect him?" he asked.

Entering the hall, Hal already picked up on sentiments in the room... The fact that every one of the rulers, besides Elenor, was on a screen did not Impair Hal's ability to analyze the scene and detect the thick permeation of tension in the hall.

Elenor's eyes widened a bit and her smile grew wider,

"Not really, No..." she began

"Elenor...!" said Alvira with a tone of indignation but Elenor not only ignored her but continued as though there had been no interruptions.

"... But while there might be friction among me and my peers, that is a matter concerning us alone. When you are in our presence, you need to respect us... Dogroth included" she said and mentioned his name like an afterthought as though he barely qualified as her peer.

It was a detail that was not lost on the Dragon clan head who had an indignant expression on his face but was quiet... For now.

Hal just rolled his eyes,

"And why exactly should I respect him? Or any of you for that matter? What exactly does respecting any of you accomplish.

I do not identify as a denizen of your Continent and I have something you are interested in, not the other way around.

Besides, what are THEY going to do to me through a couple of screens?" Hal asked and stared at the screens.

A moment of silence and then,

"You don't want to cross us boy," said the only other male on the screens besides Dogroth.

The man spoke in a silky tone and he spoke in a cold voice that was enough to cause Hal to feel chills despite just being a projection on a screen but Hal shook off that effect.

He had the advantage of just being face-to-face with this bunch and while he was surely getting on their bad sides, he was also setting a tone for their exchange going forward.

What better opportunity to diss on them all could there possibly be?

No matter how angry they became, they could not touch him.

Elenor could intimidate him on their behalf and Hal did not doubt that they were expecting her to do so but he was sure that she was not going to do anything of the sort.

"Once again, I ask, what are you going to do about it. Come on, if you are so pissed, strike me now!" Hal dared.

A very dangerous game he was playing... But Hal knew he was safe. Not only was the range of the attacks not so wide as to accurately strike him down from so far away with intended intensity, but they also would not- could not strike him down in Elenor's palace in such a manner.

The best they could do was create Avatars to intimidate him but destroying the Avatars would not only be easy but should they appear, they were likely not to even find him in the hall.

Hal was not ashamed to admit that he was acting tough only because he believed he was safe... He indeed had no respect for this trio (quad if you include Elenor) but he was cautious of their power which was so much greater than his at the moment.

He saw this as a golden opportunity to stick it to them and watch them be unable to do anything and he shamelessly took that opportunity.

Elenor was now grinning... She didn't even care that Hal had technically insulted her as well, she just got a kick out of the angry look on the faces of the trio of Dogroth, Orlon, and Alvira.

When they invited Hal into the Hall or rather when they had Elenor invite him to the hall, it had been to get a good look at him... To get a good look at the one behind this private teleportation circuit.

They had no actual questions for him as whatever it was that they could possibly learn about him, Elenor had already told them and if there was something she had not revealed, they knew damn well that they would not get it with her present in the hall.

The main reason for inviting him into the hall was to have a massive pat-down... Lay down the law (so to speak) and let it be clear who was in charge.

Alas, all that was basically out the window... Intimidation tactics were basically useless and they no longer saw any point in having an audience with this disrespectful asshole...

... Especially not when Elenor clearly did not care about defending the honor and authority of the council.

All three delivered thinly veiled threats before disconnecting their projections.

Elenor laughed out loud as she said,

"Congratulations Prince, they hate you,"

Hal shrugged,

"Three more to the list..." he said and took off his mask before brushing his hand through his hair.

"They are still going to send forces to take part in the invasion though. Your little stunt won't change the stance they already agreed on" she said as she watched Hal who nodded,

"That's good. It'll be a shame for them to let their dislike of me get in the way of such a wonderful opportunity."

"A true shame" Elenor agreed.