Chapter 510 - The Gang-up And The Blow-up.
Three days later...
The Imperial City,
Hal stepped off the teleportation circle in the teleportation building finally ready to deliver a very doctored report of his deeds in the Dreg Duchy or more accurately, the Silver Moon Sect.
Finding a secluded area closest to the Teleportation building, Hal opened up the portal to the Harem space to let out five of all six women within. Them being Rita, Marla, Karmen, Lillian, and Olivia.
The only woman left inside the Harem space was Sassy who was spending time getting used to the use of a human form.
It was harder for her since she had never had limbs all her life.
Going from slithering on the ground to walking on two legs was quite a change to adapt to and while It was taking her a while, she was getting better at it.
Telling Hal, it was not as uncomfortable as it had been when she first transformed.
As for the other five, he felt they very much deserved to enjoy the sights of the most important location in the entirety of the Haron continent.
And the imperial city really did have a lot of sights to enjoy.
From the large Imperial palace to the smaller (in comparison) noblemen mansions, Manors, and castles. The continent truly had it all.
Maybe not as beautiful as the Doxon Duchy or as stately as the Silva Duchy, but definitely more regal.
Just being there gave them a feeling of being in the presence of Imperiality...
"Meh, I want to go back to the mansion. I\'d rather be cultivating in there than looking at these phony sights. If anyone deserves to be called imperial, it should only be Hal, not those totally stuck-up Harons" Marla said.
Hal\'s forehead was filled with black lines. Especially since they were now out in the open and Marla was not making an attempt to keep her voice down.
Ever the trouble maker, she looked to be inviting conflict.
Hal looked to Rita as a voice of reason,
\'Surely, she would set her right\' he thought, Alas, to his surprise, Rita was nodding in agreement,
"I totally agree. I mean even Silva is better than this dump. This is where the Emperor lives and acts all superior?, *snort* well, I guess we will really be doing this continent a favor when we take over" she said and folded her arms beneath her breasts.
Hal was so happy he had been quick to cast a noise-canceling from the moment Rita said \'I totally agree\'.
Who knows what sort of trouble their words would have incited.
Cocky and confident he was, but definitely not stupid.
"Hal, what\'s with that look?" Marla said and grabbed his arm to pull it towards herself and get it snug between her breasts.
Hal\'s lips were twitching and so was his right eye at how careless the two ladies were,
"How could you ask me that? Had it not been my noise-canceling Rune, the whole city would probably be training their weapons at us right now" he said in an irate tone of voice.
Ready to remind them that they were in a city, with the size of a Duchy, which consisted of multiple superpowers when Rita asked with a confused expression,
"I thought you cast the rune the moment you asked for our opinion. What, you only just cast it? How careless can you be?" She asked him and placed her hands on her hips.
"What?" Now Hal was really confused.
Then Marla decided to chime in,
"Yeah. We could have literally said anything. You should have prepared a safe environment for us to rant. We have a right to rant.
Honestly, you have impressive intellect, you are talented, the absolute best lover, the most good looking man to have ever lived but sometimes you can be a bit... What\'s the word?" Marla paused and Karmen cut in to add.
"Clueless?"
Lillian chimed in after with,
"Slow?"
Olivia added,
"Careless?"
Marla clicked her fingers,
"Yes. Yes, Yes to all of that. Hal, sometimes you can be a bit clueless, slow, and careless. Or I am wrong Rita?"
Rita shook her head,
"Nope, you are absolutely right. Honestly, Hal, you need to work on that"
\'What is happening?\' Hal wondered and Grimoire chuckled.
\'Your very first gang-up. I expect more to happen in the future usually for the purpose of getting you to give in to a particular line of thought.\' It said.
\'I will never give in if I don\'t want to\' Hal said with confidence.
\'I\'m not so sure about that." Grimoire said in a sing-song sort of voice.
\'The power of the feminine masses should never be underestimated.\' It added before Hal cut off the connection and addressed the ladies,
"Okay then, I\'ll indeed work on that" Hal told them.
\'Ah, it\'s working already\' Grimoire rejoiced.
Hal gritted his teeth,
\'No, it\'s not. It\'s just that they make some good points. I know my ladies and I know how they are so I should have indeed anticipated for their behaviors so it would not put me or them in danger\' he told the artifact.
\'Who is to say that\'s not the power of their gang-up. Making you THINK they have a point when in fact they don\'t\' The artifact pointed out with glee.
Hal fought back the urge to yell at Grimoire in annoyance before focussing on the ladies once again to continue where he had left off,
"That said, I brought you out here to sightsee. Not liking the city and preferring other places to it is a part of sightseeing. Spending some time away from each other will do us some good."
Karmen stepped forward, her expression no longer mocking but respectful,
"Master, It\'s my job to protect you. I\'m your Blood Knight" she said.
"So are we" Lillian and Olivia said.
Hal smiled lightly,
"It\'s also your job to live. Have some fun" he said.
"Since when is that our job?" Karmen asked.
"Since you began to share my bed. Besides, can you really not fathom the thought of being away from me?" Hal asked and instantly wished to take the question back because he knew what the unanimous answer would.
"Yes" they all chorused.
Hal grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed,
"Just take a walk. Okay, Enjoy yourselves." He tossed Rita a spatial ring containing more than enough blue gems to enjoy themselves in the most high-end city on the Haron continent.
"Fine" Rita said and slipped the ring on her finger.
However, Marla did not let go of Hal\'s arm,
"I want to come with you" she said.
Hal sighed and made to disagree when Marla added,
"Going with you still counts as sightseeing. You are going to the Imperial palace, aren\'t you? That\'s a structural view to be enjoyed" she pointed out.
Hal took all of two seconds to decide,
"Alright then. Marla can come with me. Only Marla" he said.
"Haha" Marla rejoiced while Rita frowned.
"Foavoritism" she said before turning away and ushering Lillian, Olivia, and Karmen to follow her.
"See you later" Marla waved with a cheeky grin and Rita waved at her with a disgruntled expression that Marla could not see as her back was to her.
Hal smiled lightly at the whole dynamic before he said reversed the noise-canceling rune,
"Let\'s go" he told Marla and they began their walk towards the grandest structure in the Imperial City.
They had not gone far that a commercial carriage stopped in front of them.
\'Why not?\' Hal thought.
It was going to get them to the palace faster anyways.
"The Imperial palace" he told the driver once inside the carriage.
The driver said nothing and simply drove the carriage towards the palace.
They had only just started moving that Hal frowned,
"Something isn\'t right" he said.
Marla also perked up,
"This driver... He\'s weird" she said also picking up on something.
She had only just made the claim that the carriage doors sealed shut and something was tossed into the part of the carriage they were seated in from the driver\'s compartment.
Speaking of the driver, Hal heard the unmistakable sound of him opening his door and dashing out right before the thing he had tossed into the back exploded...
*Boom!!!*
.... and the entire carriage was blown to smithereens.