Chapter 256 Storming The Council 2
Even as the alarms blared and various defenses came to life to deal with the intruder, the fellows on the Prime Human Council were not scared nor worried. Rather, they turned to glance at the intruder with fury and disdain.
"INSOLENT!"
"ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS!"
"WHO? WHO DARES?!"
They roared out majestically, aiming to use this chance to establish their demeanors and aura because even though council meetings were done in a quiet chamber, they were still recorded for public reasons.
If the public saw them not even fazed by an attack and even dared to berate the attacker, their status would rise in those hearts.
Meanwhile, they also felt truly angry. Recently, the prestige of the Prime Human Council had been falling, and people had been getting away with doing whatever they wanted without their permission.
First, almost 50 years ago, that damned Lara Sanguis had graduated from the Eternal Academy and quickly risen in power after entering the First Gate, enough that she strong-armed them into becoming the headmistress from then till now.
Secondly, 20 years ago, one of their own councilwomen and a very powerful fighter for their universe in the Universe Battlefield was ambushed and murdered because of petty clan and business politics.
And more recently, a new brat had appeared with great talent, looking like he would be another powerhouse for them, so they planned to drag him here and force him to sign some agreements to limit and control him, but he always found a way to brush it off without making it illegal.
They were the Prime Human Council, ah!
Back then, aliens used their name to scare their children into behaving, telling them that they would be sent to the Prime Human Council for a hearing if they misbehaved, and such children would burst into tears!
Now, any random cat and dog could harm their interests anyhow! Even the Portinari Clan, after undergoing that tragedy, was slowly being bullied by the other competing clans and factions in a subtle manner, slowly removing them from the center of power and information.
And look, someone even dared to kick their door in and speak such rude words!
The Prime Human Council could not tolerate this kind of rubbish anymore!
Just as well, this person coming here and doing this was fine. The Prime Human Council could use the intruders to reestablish their prestige in the hearts of the commoners by washing the universe with their and their families' filthy blood!
Thinking such vicious thoughts, many felt extremely dominant and cold inside, looking over with a death sentence in their eyes. Just as they were about to order the cyborgs to capture them so that they could slowly torture them brutally for the entire universe to see, their pupils constricted greatly.
What did they see? A fucking ghost, that was what!
How else could one explain that a woman who had cowed a whole segment of the universe into submission had come back to life and was standing before them, an arrogant and playful smile on her face despite being surrounded by enemies?
Portia scanned the room and seemed to see many familiar faces, which made her expression even more vibrant.
"Hah, it's good to see that even after my death, all of you fellows managed to survive this long and retain your power. That's great, that's great." Portia chuckled as she stepped forward and walked towards the stage.
"For those who are new and don't know me, I will give a short introduction. I am the name that the older members of this council warned you about, the one that they fear the most."
Portia stood atop the stage and became the center of attention for everyone as she folded her arms behind her back and coldly scanned everyone.
"I am Portia Portinari, The Nightmare of the Eternal. Of course, that title was given to me by our foes from other universes due to my achievements on the Universe Battlefield."
Portia's demeanor changed and became more amiable suddenly as she smiled with amusement. "Locally, I am more well-known as the wife of clan master Augeus Portinari and a member of this council."
Augeus walked over with a smile and stood beside Portia, bowing majestically to the crowd. Seeing his familiar face, those who were skeptical and thought that this must be a trick were now uncertain and fearful.
"Impossible!"
A voice sounded out from the seats of the council representatives, causing all eyes to turn that way. Immediately, all attention fell on an old woman who had plenty of wrinkles and looked like she was one step into the grave.
"Harrumph, don't think you can come and play tricks here, you fraud. The real Portia Portinari was confirmed dead years ago, and I even inspected her corpse!" the old woman stated coldly as she glanced down at Portia without fear.
Portia saw her, and her eyes flickered. "Of course it would be you, old hag Dragon Witch!"
Hearing her old nickname, the old woman was stunned for a second as reminiscence entered her eyes, and she couldn't help but pause. After all, the way Portia said it was too natural and felt like old times.
"Eternal Nightmare Portia? Is it really you?" The old woman asked with uncertainty in her voice.
"As real as ever, Ao Zilong!" Portia replied full of heart and confidence.
That's right, the old woman was one of the 12 people who had been in the First Gate headquarters while inquiring about Dante, the current second most powerful in the universe after Lara and previously the third most powerful when Portia was alive!
She was the current ancestress of the Ao clan, the second most powerful clan after the Portinari family among the Ten Great Pure Human Clans! She was popular in the universe for her main superpower was Dragon Transformation, an SS rank superpower that did exactly as it said.
It was publicly stated to be at the B rank in terms of potency, but given that 20 years had passed since then, she might have risen to the A or even S rank. However, that did not matter now as Portia was back and exponentially more powerful than before.
"I don't believe it! How can someone who was dead just come back to life?" A loud voice bellowed with refusal to admit the facts.
This caused the center of attention to shift once more. This time, it fell on a bald-headed man with a thick mustache on his face and a burly body. Looking at his familiar features, wasn't this Julon of the same group from before?
"Shut up, Fierce Ogre! When I used to beat you until you cried back in the day, did you ever dare to speak to me like this?" Portia roared right back, causing Julon's fierce momentum to disappear as he cowered, his past trauma coming out.
However, he soon became dazed as he realized that this feeling of familiarity couldn't be fake. Like Ao Zilong, he began to believe that Portia had truly come back to life.
"How then? How did you do it?" a soft yet majestic voice asked in the silence.
This time, the person who spoke was Ophelia, the red-headed young woman of the same group with phoenix-like eyes. She had tied her hair up in an oriental style with the hairpin and the ornaments and everything, despite being noticeably Caucasian.
Portia scanned her up and down with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I don't know you, young lady."
Ophelia did not seem insulted by Portia's lack of etiquette and rather stood up and bowed respectfully. "Sorry for not introducing myself; I am Ophelia Seers, the current Acting Head of the Seers family."
Portia's eyes flickered deeply. "Hmph, old Eunice has given up her power to you, then you must truly be remarkable."
Ophelia's eyes curled up slightly. "Thank you for the praise, but I am nothing much compared to my grandmother."
"Hmph, if I say you are exceptional, then you are exceptional. How dare you refute me?" Portia snorted coldly.
Ophelia was left speechless at that.
"And to answer your question, there are many means in the universe to achieve resurrection. However, the kind I underwent is not available to the public, and I will not be revealing it," Portia said coldly.
Many flickering eyes in the crowd who were thinking about how to strongarm this woman into revealing and sharing her resurrection method fell. After all, who wanted to die? Who didn't have loved ones they were not willing to let go of?
Portia had been dead 20 years but was now alive and kicking before them, and some had relatives that had passed for even shorter periods than that. If they could grasp the methods of resurrection…
Greed began to surge in many hearts.
"Anyway, you people seem to have the wrong idea. I did not come here today to catch up with old 'friends' nor explain how I am alive to any of you, nor do I even need your acceptance with my level of strength." Portia suddenly said as her entire aura became cold.
"I came here to ask you questions and demand answers from you all, and if they satisfy me, I will only inflict minimal punishments. If I am not satisfied, there will be more than hell to pay for those who have affronted me and my loved ones." Portia concluded as she released 1% of her aura, which was enough to cause everyone to fall on the ground.
Only Augeus, Beatrice, and Dante were exempted, but they could sense that there was a primordial beast near them, which made them feel restless. Dante especially realized that even 1% of the current Portia had surpassed the void monster that almost traumatized him.
Even Ao Zilong was suffering great pressure, though she began to shift into her half-dragon form, which barely allowed her to remain seated underneath the pressure, but only enough to save face. The others who had exemplary power also revealed their powers to remain seated, but they only accounted for about 29 people.
The Prime Human Council was made up of about 120 people, all of them pure humans of great renown and power across the universe. Either they represented top clans and factions or had great personal power themselves.
Most were just barely around 30-70 points in SDI and could not withstand the pressure at all as they were planted face first into the ground. Even the alarms shut down as they crackled sharply before they were destroyed, the protective cyborgs around crushed into tin metal as if someone had used The Force to squish them.
Honestly, the people were only alive under her pressure because Portia had frightening control over her power after fighting in the Universe Battlefield for years and that she did not want to kill them… yet.
"Portia, what are you trying to do?" Ao Zilong questioned with gritted teeth, glaring at the woman angrily.
"Nothing much really, just trying to establish my dominance using you fellows as stepping stones as well as seeking justice for my darling nephew." Portia replied nonchalantly, making everyone almost spit blood.
We all obviously know that's what you're trying to do, but must you state it so openly and obviously?!
Ao Zilong felt like the wind had been sapped from her sails and did not even know how to continue. Luckily, someone picked up the pace for her as Dante walked over to stand with Portia with Beatrice by his side.
Seeing the young man, many pupils constricted again. After all, while others may only know Dante by the name and not the face, these fellows definitely knew as his picture and even videos of him had been played in the council while they had their debates about what to do with him.
Looking at him here, some had confused reactions as they knew that he was summoned by was a no show, and that was as far as they went with him. Some had slightly guilty expressions as they had clamored the loudest for him to be dragged here due to their little schemes in order to pressure him to sign contracts.
Others had more guilty expressions as they even went one step further and had secretly assisted in the smear campaign against him, fearing his influence on their interests in the Zero Gate.
While 7 distinct individuals, all who happened to be part of the true upper echelon in the First Gate, had their entire bodies become ice-cold as they finally understood the cause and effect for everything.
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