楼上的上瘾女士

The suggestion was accepted by the council who made it clear that they wished to have the meeting as soon a was possible but did not want Sassy brought into the hall.

It would seem that they still had their experience with the Prince on their minds and did not want to give his representative a platform to be disrespectful especially not when they could not physically retaliate.

Elenor was thrust with the responsibility of relaying it all to Sassy after which Sassy was to be provided with the best teleportation circle available which would take her right to the heart of the Dragon clan which was the closest territory to that of the Devils.

Once the communication was cut off, Elenor rolled her eyes and had a meeting with Sassy, a meeting during which she relayed things to the serpent familiar,

"I'll go," Sassy said with a ready smile.

There was no reluctance in her emerald green eyes and why would there be? Hal had been negligent of such matters so far but there was a need to travel to the other Continent rulers.

There was a need to set up network in said regions for smooth transportation and healthy manipulation.

Now, since Hal technically had someone in the territory ruled by the dragon clan already (that person was Zeke who Hal had marked in the monument of Ordinances), he would have preferred to have Sassy go to any of the other continent rulers.

That said, there was no problem... Even with Zeke, there was still a need to plant roots and that was best done personally by either Hal or his trusted familiar.

Plus, it would make it much easier to wave suspicion of the likes of Elenor who would now believe she was the ones directing where he and his familiar traveled to.

There was no need to feign resistance.

Elenor smiled when Sassy seemed so willing to leave and the teleportation circle to be used was organized. Sassy stepped onto it and welcomed the void that swallowed her.

***

Haron Continent...

Imperial Palace...

It was noon and the day for the duel between the two Imperial siblings as had been ordered by the Emperor.

The event was close quarters in the sense that no one outside those residing in the Imperial palace knew of it.

Even then, the Arena was packed.

The news of the duel had spread mostly due to the Emperor who ordered to have it publicized as an event.

Even if the Emperor had not had the news of the duel spread all about the palace and it had only spread due to gossip and word of mouth, the arena would still be packed.

The only way the arena would be empty, the only way anyone would ignore a blockbuster battle between the Prince and the Princess was if it had been made very clear that no spectators were welcome.

It did not matter that just the day before, they had been attacked by Dystopians... This was their fun and this was their way of taking their minds off future problems and issues with a good old fashion duel.

Precautions had been taken to protect the spectating crowd from any impact of the battle and they could just lean back and enjoy.

The Emperor was present and with him were his consorts but the most attention-grabbing of said consorts was Andrea Dreg, Creten's mother who was looking just a tad smug.

She seemed to be of a mind that it was a matter worthy of respect for her son to be having a duel aimed toward seizing the title of heir to the throne.

She did her best curbing her excitement though whenever her eyes crossed that of the Empress, Harlyn Haron, mother to Tanya.

Speaking of Tanya, she stepped out into the Arena with confident strides and clad in a sexy rose-red gown that was form-fitting but parted in all essential areas to allow for maximum mobility.

Tanya had a solemn and focused look on her face mostly because of the thoughts that had been running through her mind all night and leading to this battle.

She had contacts in the Silva Duchy and was already notified of all that had happened and especially how the consecutive events had ended with the Danes taking over the Duchy.

She know for sure Hal had had something to do with the Danes' takeover just as she knew for sure that he had something to do with the Dystopian invasion.

It was all him.

He obviously had allegiances with the Danes who were his fiance's family but she also knew this was all going to be working for his benefit... Not for the benefit of the Danes and himself but for his own personal benefit.

The fact that Hal was after ruling the Continent was not really unknown to Tanya as he had practically admitted to the fact the last time she saw him.

And she could feel that it all boiled down to that strange cult spreading all over the Silva Duchy.

Reports that Tanya received from representatives of her network who were not residing in the Silva Duchy capital had been very vague when it came to the Sapphirine Cult.

They had taken to dismissing any potential troubles with the cult with statements claiming it was all harmless worshipping.

The Sapphirine Prince who was being worshipped by the Cult was just being seen as the true god to grant them boons that their family gods never could or never cared to grant.

'Just a uniting faith' they called it.

Many were already lost in it and if the way the Silva Duchy had quickly fallen to a new regime and the way the Silvas had been so accepting of it all was an indication, then the cult was making its way to the only part of the Duchy yet to be taken over.

Worshipping a god was fine and all but the case of the Sapphirine Prince was no longer just a higher power to be believed in and worshipped but was now the banner of a movement.

Anyway, Hal was clearly hard at work and Tanya was especially focused to take the next step in her journey to the throne by defeating her idiot brother right in front of everyone opportune to be present.

And then Creten stepped onto the stage... He was not alone.

Creten was followed by two men and a woman.

The two men had the green eyes of an Haron but the woman did not and Tanya recognized her just as she recognized the two men.

The two men were named Ernest and Niel and the woman was Therese Dreg. The woman was Creten's relative on his mother's side.

They were all alumni of the Royal Academy and had been a part of Creten's guild in the Academy. They always had his back and that did not seem subject to change in a duel that should be one on one.

"What is this supposed to be?" Tanya asked with a smirk of disbelief.

"I was ordered to duel but never was it mentioned that I could not have help," Creten said.

"You can't be serious," Tanya said and looked up at where her father was seated but he watched on without any indication that he was going to be saying anything against Creten's logic.

Technically, Creten had not really done anything wrong.

He was given time to prepare and this was what he had come up with to cover up for his deficiency in possession of an Abstract Ordinance in the sense that he did not have one.

If he had brought a massive arsenal of artifacts that he did not realistically have access to, they would have been allowed.

The three he had brought with him were the cream of the crop in regards to cultivation geniuses with all three possessing Elemental Ordinances and having cultivation ranging from the mid-stage to late stage of the Semi-Saint realm.

Tanya's cultivation, just like her brother's was at the late stage of the semi-saint realm which meant that the only advantage she had was her Abstract Ordinance.

Her runemastering was prepared for with them all being semi-saints and possessing the energy qualified to nullify astral energy effects.

That said, Tanya had better perception than her four opponents and it was sure to come in handy.

There was no arguing with the unfairness of the situation... The moment she stepped into the Arena, all planning and preparations stopped and she would have to deal with whatever Creten brought along however she could with whatever she had with her.

The three all had serious expressions on their faces after clearly being warned by Creten about what they would be facing and none of them was stupid enough to be cocky.

They wasted no time and sprung into action.

Their speed of movement was boosted by Creten who was hanging back and providing support with his Earthen Ordinance.

So boosted were their speeds that they were in front of Tanya in a fraction of a second.

The two men, Ernest and Niel had their weapons out and struck at her but Tanya reacted fast enough to block their attempts with a shield she made of cosmic energy.

She knocked the two back and naturally, went after Therese next but her hands failed to connect with the woman whose body appeared to have become fluid.

Therese changed her position so quickly that it was when her leg connected with Tanya's head that the Princess' brain truly acknowledged the change in position.

*Bam!*