Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Getting invited to the Sheik's gathering that night meant Hal was successful and so he decided not to overstay his welcome. Especially since the Sheik still seemed interested in keeping his intimate gathering of guests going so that he could continue putting the moves on the big-breasted and very beautiful Lucile.

While Hal's conversation with Grimoire had seemed to indicate him being more forward in his pursuit of Lucile, he was actually not that willing to go after her.

At least not for now.

He was here for a mission and he decided going after her right now could prove detrimental and he did not want that.

Fenrir stood to his feet shakily and while Hal had turned away from his direction, the sound caused him to turn and face the battered Runemaster who was stealing furtive glances at him and looked incapable of making eye contact 

"W-w-who the hell are you?" He asked in a shaky voice.

Hal grinned wolfishly, 

"Since you were so polite, I'll tell you" he said and moved closer to the frightened man who found himself incapable of moving away, to speak into his ear, 

"It always gives me a thrill to introduce myself but today, I'll let you take a guess" with that he leaned back so his face was in view before it morphed.

Black horns grew out of his head and his face turned crimson while his blue eyes turned black and released small bursts of fog of the same color occasionally.

In fact, Hal's entire head was releasing Devil energy and Fenrir's eyes bulged and turned Blood red as he yelled, 

"DEMON!!!" and immediately fell unconscious.

Hal shook his head and shrugged just as he returned to normal, 

"Close enough"

And with that, he left the Runemaster in the arena.

He had a party to prepare for.

He seemed to be attending a lot of parties recently. Although to be fair, it was only two so far.

It must have been a high society thing.

...

Hal found his way to the gate and on his way out, he glanced at the dumb guards who had let him in, or more importantly, he looked at the guard who had led him inside and was now staring at him in awe.

Hal's show must have had a large impact on him.

"I'm so sorry that I was hostile inside. I was just being thorough with security." He said and Hal chuckled,

"Yeah, I figured that. After all what better way to be secure than to let an unknown fellow into your master's home and then act hostile when said stranger is in front of his target?" He asked.

"Was that... Sarcasm?" The guard asked.

"What do you think genius?" Hal asked and contained his walk and only turned back once completely out of the compound, 

"Anyway, Keep up the terrible job guys. And that I say in total honesty" was the last words he left them with before boarding a carriage back to his hotel.

When Hal was in front of his hotel room door, he could detect with Astral perception that there was someone waiting in the room and he even knew who it was, 

"You know it's my fault you are here. I should have had my room sealed with Astral runes. I'd like to see you get your perverted self in here then" he said the moment he was inside the room.

But he said it with a nonchalant expression while flicking his wrist as though he was withdrawing clothes from the spatial ring in his finger when it was actually from his inventory.

"You are right about locking your room with Astral runes. That you did not do it, was careless of you." Ehrlich said and stood from the chair he was sitting to cross his arms in front of his chest.

Hal however did not seem to notice as he continued to scrutinize the clothes he had on the bed with a puzzled expression.

"So you went to visit the Sheik. While it was good progress, it was also careless and dangerous. I also doubt it actually bore fruits" he said.

Hal had his right index finger on his lips as he contemplated, 

"Hey, Ehrlich, which of this do you think will look better on me?" He asked.

Ehrlich looked confused, 

"What?"

Hal sighed, 

"I know, I know. Everything looks good on me. But I need to look extra good today. I might be in a conversation with a beautiful Lady and if on the rare occasion, she looks away from my face, I'd like for the rest of my body to be very appealing." He said and stroked a green robe with elaborate designs.

"What are you...?" Ehrlich began to ask but Hal interrupted, 

"I know you are a virgin, but your input will still be useful, after all, I might have to battle tonight. So let's just say I'm going for sophisticated but subtle and lethal" he said.

"What? I'm not a v... Will you shut up for a second?! Do you think this is a joke?

I am here to supervise you and so you need to clue me in on your proceedings. Remember you answer to me and I answer to the princess. Now I don't give a crap about your wardrobe choices so will you just tell me what you are doing next?!" Ehrlich practically yelled at Hal who did not give any indications that he could hear.

Then he turned to him once the rant was over, 

"Oh I'm sorry, did you say something?" He asked with an innocent voice.

Finally, Ehrlich knew how the Elder must have felt as he swelled and prepared to give Hal another talking to, only for Hal to interrupt whatever it was he wanted to say, 

"If you took some time to actually cue into my attempts to converse with you, you will notice that I am picking out clothes fit for an occasion. 

And then you Might, emphasis on the 'might' since you actually seem like a really dumb individual, deduce that I was invited to a gathering planned by the Sheik tonight.

At which gathering I will scour for information on the supplier of that troublesome technique and finally be done with all this.

Now I ask you once again, which of these clothes will be perfect for tonight?!" Hal raised his voice a little towards the end of that sentence.

Ehrlich looked a tad bit embarrassed but covered it up well as he pointed to a red robe.

"Go with that one, it looks quite classy" he said in a mellow voice 

Hal nodded, 

"Thank you for your input but it was a horrible choice since red is much too violent and flashy for tonight. If you had been listening, you'd remember I said I was hoping to go for subtle and lethal.

Now get out of my room and let me plan my next step" Hal said and tossed the red robe away from selection.

Ehrlich glared at Hal for a while before turning towards the door and walking out without sparing Hal another glance.

Once out of Hal's room and inside his own next to it, Ehrlich withdrew a communication talisman out of his spatial ring on which he dialed a Rune and waited until his contact spoke out of the talisman, 

"What is it, Ehrlich?" Asked Princess Tanya's voice out of the talisman.

"Your highness, I am sorry to disturb you but I felt it was paramount I tell you I do not believe this Hal is who you want" he said.

Tanya was quiet for a while before saying, 

"And where do you get that? Or even feel you have the right to advise me?" She asked in a level tone.

"I apologize for my imprudence but I do not say this blindly but instead based on my careful deductions" he said.

"Oh, is that so? Then why not start with how the mission is going so far?"