Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor-Chapter 731 A Bit Of Both.

Hal raised a brow as the Devil Chieftess led him out of the building and towards the back but his raised eyebrow was of course more about what she had said than it was about where she was leading him.

"Care to be more expressive. I'm quite unclear if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. I'm leaning more toward the later though" He said.

Eleanor never stopped walking but she did look back at him with a mild smile,

"A bit of both. As I said, you are much younger than any of my children but none of them can claim to have achieved what you have achieved.

They are currently on a retreat to better service their skills so that they can better benefit the Debil Tribe. In this aspect, the fact that I see you as a newborn, could be considered a compliment..." Eleanor finally stopped.

At this point, she had led Hal to the center of a large arena that was littered with vestiges of battles... Bloody battles.

"You look at this arena and the first thought that might come to your mind might be that it is for the battling and killing of slaves and prisoners of the tribe and you will be wrong," Elenor said.

"I will?" Hal said with a fake eye-widening which he had of course done in an obvious attempt to humor the Devil Chieftess.

He had not thought what she had said he had thought... The moment he stepped foot in the arena, he had sensed the residue of pseudo-devil blood that had been spilled.

Elenor ignored his cheek,

"This arena is used to test the mettle of anyone who dares try to command a Devil army squadron. No one is fit to command his fellows if he/she has not yet been tested in combat within the arena.

This arena is also used for challenges to the death which actually happens more often than it probably should in the Devil Tribe... It is the most direct form of conflict resolution and the only way for the loser to survive the death sentence, incurred upon losing, is to surrender.

Climbing the ladder of authority and gaining the right to be a general had been fraught with many battles in this arena... Battles I happily took part in. Battles I find myself craving every minute I spend seated on my throne listening to the drivel that is considered 'report'.

I love to rule... I am happy to be chief but there is just something about combat that gets my blood pumping and my heart racing.

The rush... The feel of warm enemy blood splashing on my body as I bludgeon them to death with my weapon... Well, nothing beats that.

Intercourse, as good as it is, does not even come close.

I had a habit in my early years of ruling, of randomly challenging members of my court.

They always did well... Very well in fact but the frequency of the spars reduced as the years passed.

Prince, how about a spar?" Elenor finished her words with a small smile.

"What?" Hal asked even though he had heard her perfectly.

"I want to spar with you. I will reduce my cultivation so that I am more on your level. What do you say?" she asked but as she spoke, she retrieved a scroll from her spatial ring, and with its activation, the arena was covered in an opaque Array Dome to block any prying eyes

As Hal eyed the dome, he wondered if he even had a choice in the matter.

He did not.

"Sure why not," he said with a shrug eventually and watched as the Devil Chieftess nod her head with a satisfied smile.

Elenor formed seals with her hands and cast a Devil spell. The spell began to forcefully reduce her cultivation so that it went from being impossible to track by Hal to being at the level of a four-star saint.

Hal knew she had done this because of his previous altercation with Gregor who was a three-star cosmic Saint. Elenor was making a fairly accurate guess of his current capabilities.

Unless he actively lets out his cultivation pressure, Hal's cultivation will remain hidden and that was even after Elenor had used her Ordinance on him to have full knowledge of his lifeforce.

His cultivation was now more of a baseline on which his battle prowess was mounted and it was almost destined to forever remain hidden from the senses of his opponents unless he chose to share.

It was his aura and strength that they would have to rely on to know how strong he was.

That lock that Elenor had placed on herself to receive her cultivation to make things more 'fair' did not particularly feel reassuring. She had control of that love ad could unlock it whenever she pleased.

He was banking on her being honorable and that seemed a very unstable thing to bank on. 𝘧𝚛𝗲𝘦𝚠𝙚𝙗𝙣o𝙫𝗲𝚕.𝐜o𝓂

Elenor took off the extravagant cloak that told of her status as Chieftess and she kept it in her spatial ring as she smiled ad Hal,

"Remember when I said you were but a newborn to me?" she asked before she cast Devil spells with both of her hands only to thrust her hands through the spell circles and retrieve them with two large Devil armaments.

One was a nightmarish black hammer with red spikes and the other was a large sword whose blade was nightmarishly back but had red lines on it to add to its threatening feel.

Both weapons were large and with the sword on her shoulder and the hammer held at her side at the ready, Elenor looked excited to double wield and deliver pain to Hal who replied to her question,

"Of course, I remember. That was five minutes ago" he said as he stretched his hand to summon his Devil Trident and take on his Devil form. Complete with the wings.

"Well, then you must also remember that we discussed whether it was a compliment or an insult and I said it was a big if both.

Well, that is untrue. The statement was not in any way insulting but was rather completely factual.

You have promise and you are shrewd and ambitious which is definitely more than I can say about my children but you're in no way on my level..." Elenor twisted her sexy body weirdly and suddenly vanished from where she had been standing.

Almost immediately, she was one inch away from Hal and brought her hammer down on his head.

Hal raised his trident and held the hammer at bay while Elenor licked her lips and leaned her face closer to Hal's to continue her words as though she had never stopped,

"... And to pretend to be will be your demise. You know it is the truth. I can and will squash you if I please." she said and drew the hand holding her sword back as though she were not even trying her hardest to push her hammer against Hal's trident.

Hal suddenly felt a sting in his side and it caused his eyes to widen as a large fist made of Devil energy swelled from his front to slam into Elenor and push her back.

As the giant fist forced a separation, Hal looked at his side and saw he had been cut by her weapon.

When Elenor had pulled her sword back, she had somehow managed to get in a slash on Hal who had not been able to block.

Meanwhile, the giant fist dissipated and Elenor was smiling while staring at the bit of blood on her sword. She then looked up at Hal to say,

"Even if I lower myself to a level you have shown to be capable of holding your own against, which I just did, I will still win.

The fact that I am superior to you is undeniable.

Let your blood be that of another Devil that I have spilled on this ground." Elenor said and flicked the bit of blood on her sword onto the ground.

"Not enough" she then mumbled before her light red eyes flashed just as red lines began to appear in distinct patterns on the right side of her body.

She then grew a horn from the right side of her forehead.

The Devil Tribe's version of half transformations.

Hal was busy trying to avoid getting dragged into the grey world of death again.

Elenor had done more than just give him a small cut with her sword.

She had used that as a connection between herself and Hal to attempt to impose her Deathly Ordinance on him.

It was why he had not attempted retaliation yet.

It gave Elenor time to revel in the small success and to then follow up with another attack.

Elenor cackled as she closed in on Hal again but when she swung her hammer to strike Hal's chest with the clear intent of caving it in, Hal revealed his ploy.

Abstract Ordinance or not, Elenor was at a level he could negate with his Infinity and the 'struggle' had been to lure her closer.

The moment before her hammer hit his chest, he let out his Sovereign aura and it forced Elenor to stop in place.

His aura had even more impact once used along with his Infinitely Sovereign Devil Bloodline which did well to impose its rule on Elenor's Devil bloodline.

Elenor's eyes were wide in surprise as Hal managed to force her to stop but she only had half a second to truly feel that surprise as Hal slammed her with the stem of his trident immediately after.

*Bam!*

The hit sent Elenor flying to the side and she let go of her weapons in the process.

Hal followed up with a kick to her midsection.

*Bam!*

The kick connected but Elenor grabbed hold of his legs and they were now floating a few inches above the ground supported by her being a Transcendent expert capable of flight and him having wings.

Eleanor summoned her hammer before Hal could attempt to escape her hold and she finally slammed the spiked end against his chest in a booming blow...

*BAM!!!*