楼上的上瘾女士

When Hal says he has the backup of the Doxon Duchy, he is not just referring to his mother and she was actually the least he was referring to in that statement.

The entirety of the Doxon family, except his grandfather and his mother, was under his control.

The Elders might not know it but Hal was not just the son of the one who controls the Duchy but was practically in control of the Duchy by himself.

A Duke in all but name.

"So now that we have ruled out execution..." Hal began but he was quickly interrupted by one of the Elders who said,

"We have not ruled out anything," he said.

Hal waved his words off and said,

"No, we have. Let us not continue to discuss the issue as that would be quite embarrassing for you and quite frankly, it will be pointless.

Now, on the matter of your proposed, nay, your only punishment for me; turning me into a Pseudo-student.

Making sure I will never leave the Academy premises..." At this point, Hal paused and eyed all the Elders before he then said,

"This is yet another example of why this hearing is pointless and why being stuck on the idea of punishing me is also stupid"

"Will you elaborate?" the Empress asked.

"Yes, yes I will but in all honesty, should I have to? I have already made it clear that I am the best that the Royal Academy can ever hope to have and you all know it is true and you all have admitted it...

... So why would you then imprison me just to soothe your ego.

While my growth has had nothing to do with Royal Academy thus far and it has been mine and mine alone, when I excel, it will still be was known by all that I belong with the Royal Academy.

Your snotty fodder disciples just sit in the Academy feeling entitled while I go out and champion the banner of excellence for the Royal Academy.

Wherever I go and however well I perform, it is just free publicity for the Royal Academy and you all are going to stop that?" he asked.

"This is not a matter of the Academy, it is a matter of your punishment," said an Elder with a loud voice that was followed by a hint of the release of cultivation pressure from his body.

Hal was not bothered,

"Well, it should be! If you will only focus on how much you dislike me and will ignore how good my freedom will be for the Royal Academy, then it is you all that should be on trial.

You should be on trial for not having the best interest of the Royal Academy at heart."

"Watch your mouth!" said Elder Chad in a loud booming voice but Hal wasn't going to back down,

"No, I won't because I am speaking the truth. Let's be honest, is this trial to make the Royal Academy better or just to stoke your egos. Just to make it known that you all personally will not allow disrespect!"

Hal went silent and so did the hall.

He could see that he had made the impact he had been planning on but he wondered if he should say more. If he should go further... If he should push harder.

'Go on, push... Show them what you are capable of... Mwahahahaha' Grimoire said with what was meant to sound like q malevolent cackle but came out as pathetic instead.

'You are a terrible Devil on my shoulder. You aren't even the least bit convincing' Hal told it with a smile.

No, this was good enough.

He was almost at the home stretch and all he needed to do was bring it home and seal the deal.

"In conclusion, I think it is more than clear today that voting against me and spending time and resources, no matter how small they might be, on the implementation of my punishment will be foolish.

Also, if you try to make me a Pseudo-student. As long as I am alive, I will make it out of the Academy grounds." Hal said with a confident smile that was borderline cocky which was exactly what he had been going for.

They could not hope to hold him prisoner.

He had his Astral perception spread and had precise knowledge on every Array that was in place in the hall and he would be alerted the minute they are activated.

Not to mention that his Rune drawing skills and speed were unmatched and unseen.

He would make his escape before they could activate their trapping Array or before they could activate the depowering Array that would make him incapable of using Cosmic energy.

On a side note, he was impressed with the large number of high-end Arrays in place for a hall meant for student hearings.

He was not a fool who would just come and insult a bunch of powerhouses without an exit strategy and only rely on two allies.

He had come into this hall with the mindset that everyone that would be available for the hearing was against him. Everyone including the Empress and Tanya.

He could not defeat any of them but escape was very much possible.

Regardless of what any of them might think.

As the Elders eyed Hal, it was his last words and his confidence at them not being able to imprison him that rung in their ears the most.

Some saw it as Cocky.

Some saw it as funny.

Some like Tanya saw it as very possible.

Even now, the princess had no real idea what Hal was capable of and he had proven capable of surprising her with his exploits over and over again.

He was a monster.

If he said he could evade capture, she was inclined to believe him.

This boy, No, this man, had come a long way from the time she had first met him.

The Empress was of a similar mind as her daughter...

She felt that Hal was incredible.

She had not yet been privy to his accomplishment and capabilities but the little she had seen told her painted him as special.

Over the course of the last year, while Hal was gone from the Academy during which the Empress had tutored Melinda, the Dane lady had always reaffirmed that however good the Empress thought Melinda was, Hal was more.

Melinda had said that as her cultivation grew, so did her ego and she was nearing or was already at a point where she believed no one could surpass her but there was still one man she believed she was second to and that was Hal.

"All in favor of punishment?" the Empress said with a neutral expression.

Few hands went up and as Hal counted, there were about ten and among them, only one was among those seated on the same level as the Empress.

All those who voted for Hal to be punished glared at him and Hal actually found himself surprised that there were still those who would push for punishment after all he just said.

'I told you to push harder. These are the consequences of not showing what you're made of' Grimoire said with what was meant to be a mocking chuckle but Hal simply rolled his eyes inwardly.

"All in favor of tossing this case to the wind?" the Empress asked and along with her and Tanya's hands, the hands of every other Elder who had not voted for him to be punished was raised... Albeit with disgruntled expressions.

Majority wins...

The Elders wasted no time dispersing from the hall.

They all left in a blink and moved so fast, it seemed to Hal as though they just blinked out of existence.

They were so fast, his eyes could not even catch their Afterimages.

Soon, only the Empress and Tanya were left in the hall.

The Empress walked forward until only a few feet of distance was between her and Hal.

She stared at his face for a few seconds and then she said,

"Now that you are back, we should have a chat. A nice little... Chat" she smiled lightly and turned away from Hal to walk out of the hall.

All in normal speed and seemingly in no hurry to leave.

Only when she was gone did Tanya walk towards Hal to say,

"Well done. You insulted the Elders of the Royal Academy and git away with it," she said with a grin.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Hal asked with a smile.

"It was fun but I am not sure it was entirely worth getting on the bad sides of the Elders for. Even those who voted for the case to be thrown out will be out to get you," she said with a smile to match Hal's.

"Of, course it was worth it. I don't care about getting on their bad sides." Hal said with a shrug.

Alas, at the time, he had no idea that the retaliation of the Elders would not come in the form of attacks or problems targeting him...

... The retaliation targeted the Sapphirine Guild.