Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Elenor came off every bit as intimidating as she wished to be with her words but Hal remained relatively calm because he had expected such resistance and reluctance to his proposition and he was ready for it. More or less.

"Ah, I see. The old 'Be as commanding and terrifying as possible' trick. It's nice.

That said, what I have said is true. As unbelievable as my claim might sound, I assure you that it has merit. Besides, why else would I be here, risking incurring your wrath for something I was not sure about. There is nothing for you to fear." Hal said.

Silence descended upon the hall and then Elenor stood from her throne and with smooth and graceful movements that made her look like she was gliding while also oozing power and authority, she walked towards Hal.

Once they were face-to-face or face-to-mask, she said,

"I don't fear you. Any indication that I fear you is preposterous and really increases how much of a nuisance I already find you..." as she spoke, Elenor released intense pressure from her body.

Even being so close to Elenor, Hal found it hard to read her.

The pressure she released was merely an inkling of what she was capable of and yet, the entire deliberation hall was shaking. The area around the hall was experiencing tremors very reminiscent of earthquakes.

Cultivation within the Cosmic saint/Transcendent beast realm was the most time-consuming and also the most rewarding the stronger the expert becomes.

Every star formed is a massive boost to the previous star and there came a point in the Cosmic Saint/Transcendent beast realm that the cultivator finally begins to make an ascension from the mortal plane of existence... They transcend the features and rules of the world they reside in.

At this point, the battle between two experts of this caliber would have more impact on the surroundings than it would on the actual participants of the battle.

Anyway, Elenor proved quickly that she was no way on Hal's level but Hal was not going to show that her display had affected him because, for one thing, he could tell what Elenor was thinking.

Elenor was fishing for retaliation with Hal letting out his cultivation pressure so that she could better gauge how much of a threat he could pose to her and her tribesmen and Hal was of course not going to fall fur that.

Even if he was at a level where he could confidently claim victory over Elenor, he would still have kept it tempered because being Mysterious was a power he needed to have over his possible opponents.

Also, it is worth noting that the Devil Tribe has Elders and so many other experts that either surpassed the caliber of Elenor the Malignant or are at least at a very similar level... If he actually went after Elenor to initiate a conflict, many would rise against him.

Gregor who he just had a brief spar against was definitely not the best that the Devil tribe had to offer... They were part of a quad that rule over the Dystopian Continent so it would be foolish to underestimate them.

He wanted to be seen as an ally... He had use for them.

Hal chuckled and as he did, he let his eyes roam over Elenor's body in a complimenting manner despite not saying a word to that grain and then said,

"You only have to tell me what you think of my proposition... Are you interested or not. If you are not interested, then Sassy and I will be on our way." 

There was no denying that Elenor was interested in his proposition. If she had not been interested, she would surely not have bothered to engage him in this dialogue.

Yes, it all seemed like a stretch and a fairytale of sorts but if there was any truth at all in Hal's words, she wanted to confirm.

"And how exactly will you leave?" Elenor asked with a smirk and spread her arms as though to indicate to Hal that he was surrounded.

Hal who possessed powerful senses knew she was actually referring not just to those within the deliberation hall but rather to the full might of the Estate who were ready to attack him at a moment's notice.

Hal just shrugged,

"The saw way we came in, completely out of sight," he said and Sassy smiled cockily which was her way of emoting for her master whose expressions were still hidden behind his mask.

Hal's words touched upon a matter that had been pushed into the background but was very important and that was the mystery of how Hal had evaded the security of their Arrays as well as the fact that when he was in the hall, Elenor herself had been unable to accurately sense him.

Elenor's expression did not change,

"And where will you go?" she asked and she Increased the pressure of her intimidating pressure which Hal was now starting to secretly ward off with the commanding factor of his Sovereign Dao.

"To any one of the rest of the ruling quad. I am ready to work with any one of them and will offer my services to anyone who will appreciate them but I came here first because I have a... Soft spot for the Devil Tribe. I think you can guess why" Hal said with a smile behind his mask.

This was a lie of course as Hal had not specifically picked the Devil tribe and their segment just happened to be where he arrived in by making use of his connection to Kya, the Dystopian female he met in the Monument Of Ordinances.

Anyway, he was right about Elenor being able to guess why he had a 'soft spot' fur Devils.

When he made use of his devil form which had been uncharacteristically blue, Elenor had sensed, even better than Gregor, that he was a Devil but never did she let that factor into the conversation.

Why? Well, camaraderie is a sensitive matter with the Devils of the Devil Tribe. Even family members can be selfish so why would a stranger, whose Devil form is so strange, get a free pass?

Elenor smiled and then stretched her hand to grab Hal's shoulder.

She took hold of his shoulder faster than he could blink and she kept such a stable hold of it that Hal felt pinned to the spot.

Already, Hal was working on his contingencies and an escape plan as he had expected that she would get so close to him and did not wish to alienate her until he was sure that cooperation was not an option.

He believed he could get away before a battle truly broke out but Elenor did not instigate conflict. Plus, when she did speak, she immediately grabbed his attention and he listened to all she had to say... Whether he wanted to listen or not.

"I might not know how you got here but I assure you, I can and will stop you from leaving if I wish to. I can and I will bring you to justice if I want to..." 

At that point, Hal finally felt it...

He was suddenly detached from the normal world and from normal experiences until everything around him seemed to turn grey.

In this grey reality, Elenor's warm hand on his shoulder was joined by a cold skeletal thin hand with grey rotten flesh, and immediately, Hal began to feel his chest closing... He felt immense dismay as though his days were numbered... His lifeforce was getting corrupted by the grey touch of death and it was shortening by the second.

And then suddenly, formless energy encompassing infinite negation spread out to counter the greyness and reverse the damage that was not yet set in stone.

Hal felt Elenor's palm leave his shoulder but he was still trapped in that grey plane where he began quick attempts to activate his contingency...

He was just about to activate the said contingency when color returned to the world and the grey skeletal thin hand vanished.

Hal's eyes widened behind his mask and he was suddenly looking at Elenor once again as she pressed her beautiful face closer to him and peered into his mask with her light red eyes.

Other than taking her hand off his shoulder, not much time seemed to have passed since Hal was taken into that very deathly plane.

He quickly compared with Sassy and he was right, only about two seconds had passed since she first placed her hand on his shoulder.

Elenor continued with her ongoing speech but now had a thin smile on her face and there was a glint of intrigue in her eyes as she stared at Hal which he took to mean she was well aware of what had happened to him and that was to be expected as she was the one who did it to him.

What Elenor had done was a mere taste of what she was truly capable of but she had found it interesting that Hal had something powerful about him that attempted to negate her deathly touch. 

He had undoubtedly done much better than many other experts she had inflicted her touch on. 

She found him interesting but did not find him threatening.

"... Nothing about you is trustworthy. You are yet to introduce yourself and we are also yet to see your face" Elenor completed her speech and then walked back to her throne.

Hal rearranged his expression quickly and shook off whatever vestiges had been left from Elenor's deathly touch as he took off his mask and revealed his face that surpassed perfection to those in the Deliberation hall.

When Hal took off his mask, he had his eyes on the face of Elenor the Malignant who stared right back at him.

Hal looked into the face of the very first expert he would witness wielding the Abstract Ordinance Of Death!