Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

No man is safe.

So says the Emperor and he was right in the context of what he knew.

After he spoke, Tanya frowned but as she had been doing a lot so far, she remained silent about what she knew.

"You are right. But your majesty, I will at the very least have to think of my stakes in this war. Also, I have been a part of the Haron Army before and it was not exactly my thing.

Even if were to fight for the Empire, I will still have to advance in my way... And that is on my own. I don\'t improve as a part of a Unit but rather as an individual."

Amador stroked his jaw for a while and then nodded,

"That sounds reasonable.

What do you want? What do you desire?" he asked Hal.

Hal sighed and watched the Emperor for a good few seconds before saying,

"Nothing. As long as I know the Emperor is supportive of my strength, there is nothing I can bring myself to ask"

This was all mostly bull shit.

True, Hal had nothing to get from the Emperor or the Harons in general. In fact, whatever knowledge or means they possessed, he possessed with greater impact.

The knowledge of the omniverse was essentially all available to Hal through his codex... He might lack the strength for now but he possessed the knowledge and the will.

That he was not bursting out malevolence and revealing himself as the villain of the Haron Imperial Family was not really out of fear but rather due to the joy he gleaned from messing with people.

Plus, revealing himself as an enemy to be targeted should be done in a carefully controlled scenario all tailored towards giving him a maximum advantage.

He had said that he had no roots in the Imperial Family and that was true except that he had someone very close to the Emperor on his side... He had Makena of the Silver Moon sect.

He had control.

Amador saw Hal\'s words as an indirect flex in which he was expressing just how superior his means were and how far they outstripped whatever means the Harons had to express.

Every Haron cultivated with Purple grade cultivation techniques, the very best mortal cultivation technique grade possible and those especially in line for the throne had their fundamentals and constitutions enhanced by Asura rituals.

None of this was apparently interesting to Hal.

Amador of course did not let it show on his face that he had so many thoughts going on in his head.

"Very well, once you have really thought of where your loyalties may lie and have realized they lie with the Harons, you will have my support" Amador said and once he was done talking, he stood from his throne,

"My audience with you is over and I await your response in earnest"

As soon as he was done talking, there was a deep rumbling sound after which the Emperor scattered into flecks of green light.

"Should have known" Hal said with a chuckle at the dispersal of the cosmic Avatar.

Only he and Tanya were in the Throne room now.

Tanya began to descend the stairs with her eyes focused on Hal.

She stopped on the last step which still gave her elevation but only put her face on Hal\'s level.

"Everyone obviously still sees you as my sponsor." Hal said.

"So what?" Tanya asked.

"Nothing. I was just making commentary. You want to try again?" Hal asked obviously referring to her attacking him the last time they met.

"You can try but you will fail just like before. I have to say, I am curious why you are yet to tell" Hal added.

"What\'s the point? You\'re mine" Tanya said.

Hey words sounded sexual and the undertones were sexual as well but both she and Hal knew what she was referring to.

She had made up her mind that Hal was her nemesis to foil and even now, she was already taking action aimed at Sapphire City which she believed was his support system.

Hal burst out laughing. He found it silly that she thought there was actually a contest. Plus, not telling anyone was harming her family who was floundering around in the dark.

"Goodbye, Tanya. I will pay you back. You can be sure of that" Hal said and turned away from her, heading out of the throne room.

As Hal walked out, he reached out to Sapphire city where he was able to see just how much progress had been made with them laying down of the Array, and with full knowledge of what was going on and was going to happen soon, he believed they would be done just in time.

At that time, Tanya received a summon from her father to the strategizing hall and she hurried over there.

In the Strategizing Hall, there were many others but Tanya\'s focus was her father and the holographic image of the head of the Silver Moon Sect, Makena.

While he had sent an Avatar to have his meeting with Hal along with Tanya, Amador\'s true self had actually been busy in the strategizing hall working out plans.

"Are you sure?" Amador asked.

Makena had previously informed him that she was narrowing down the source of the Empire\'s problems and now returned with assurance that she now knew.

"One cannot be sure about these things but that is what I have seen. The source of the darkness that I foresee will surround the Haron Empire is a little cult that originated in a small city in the Silva Duchy; The Sapphirine Cult.

Every bad event that has so far plagued the Continent is because of that cult."

Makena saw nothing.

Hal\'s Devil seed and spreading nefarious influence were greater than the artifact she was using. In regards to Hal, her means were useless.

Any information she was currently spewing was because Hal had given her permission to dispense said information.

Makena\'s uselessness in regards to delivering information was already a source of frustration for the Emperor and while that would have likely had her just shunned to the side and ignored, Hal decided there was a lot of good in reigniting her usefulness.

It would help steer the Emperor in the right direction.

Outing the Sapphirine Cult did no real good for Hal at the moment but it did mark the end of strictly secretive means. He was going public with his enmity and he wondered if that would push Tanya to reveal what she knew.

No one knew better than the Emperor that religion was not a crime in the Haron Empire and it was hardly a reason for raised eyebrows due to a wide diversity of gods to be worshipped.

Unless there was a potential power or constitution boost for a cultivator, he/she was unlikely to be a fanatic religious. Religion and god worship only really comes into play when there is something clearly to gain.

Any cultivator with good knowledge of the way of things knew that to receive from a god is to be at that god\'s mercy but that is a different matter altogether.

"You saw all this in your crystal ball?" Tanya asked with clear skepticism.

Makena shook her head,

"No, I did not. Divining doesn\'t work that way. I saw the source as Sapphire City in the Silva Duchy and then came up with conclusions through investigations through my contacts.

I believe the cult is the cause but how exactly they are involved in all that has gone wrong in the Empire is as much a mystery to me as it is to you."

There was a need for more information which they would find out through investigations but what Makena had Divined lined up with thoughts the Emperor might have had already.

Someone, or a group, had found a way to open a way to allow the Dystopians into the Haron Continent.

The Dane Duchy was reached out to and the issue was told to them and an investigation into the cult was ordered.

The Silvas made it known quickly that they had already clashed with the cult and of all they had attacked the cult with, only one man had survived, and that had been done to tell everyone of his experiences.

The fact that many families in the Dane Duchy had turned away from their gods to worship the Sapphirine was expressly used to depict the danger the cult posed.

There were nefarious and dangerous things going on and the only part of the Duchy that was safe from the influence was the capital. At least this is what the imperial family was told.

In an hour after Makena made her Divination known, the Sapphirine Cult became an Empire-level threat the Haron family was ready to take on.

Further investigations were ordered but conclusions were already reached.

Tanya watched as Sapphire City which she had been secretly investigating became an Imperial issue and she knew Hal was the reason.

She did not trust Makena as she realized that anyone Hal ever had contact with, especially if they were female, was suspect and he had met all those people under the guise of working for her.

It was settling into her mind that she might have given him a massive reach whose impact she could not even begin to comprehend.