Divine Emperor of Death

Davis saw Tia cover for Starlily, not that he tried to blame the latter in the first place. Still, he was worried for Tia, wondering if it was really fine for her to use divination arts, especially when he was right beside her.

*Whizzz~*

Icy winds swirled around them, howling like a banshee. It had everyone's heart clench, making them feel constricted as though they were hurled into an unknown territory suddenly. Perhaps because the area was enclosed, the feeling of danger within them grew exorbitantly, unlike when Tia performed divination outside. However, they saw Davis not move, so they stayed the same.

Davis had his eyes squinted as he closely watched Tia.

At this moment, karmic essence flowing from Fallen Heaven imbued his eyes, allowing him to see through the intricacies Tia was performing. Before, he had been able to see her karmic threads clearly. They surrounded her like she had been spun around in a cocoon. They were stable and static, but at this moment, they were not only vague but kept contracting and expanding like they had their own heartbeat.

And between the threads was a gaseous, dark purple energy sweeping in from nowhere.

"..." His eyes narrowed at the unknown form of energy that was sweeping toward Tia.

It was like they just existed, and she was absorbing them as she kept murmuring something. She was absorbing it with her eyes closed, and her eyelids quivered ever so lightly as though she saw things in her inner vision.

"...!"

But at this moment, his body inevitably froze again as he saw something he had seen before, something that had chilled his spine when seen for the first time.

Those invisible space maws returned, hovering around Tia as their maws kept opening and closing. Each gulp inevitably took a part of the dark purple energy sweeping into Tia. However, those maws particularly didn't seem to be interested in the energy itself.

They constantly hung around them, searching for something. One even came towards him, causing him to move his gaze away naturally.

It stopped before him and continued opening and closing its jaws, seemingly staring at him through its bottomless pit.

'Fuck... it perceived me sensing it...?'

Davis's face was absolutely expressionless. However, he found himself staring at Starlily's big breasts since that was the thing most near to him.

"..."

Starlily also sensed his gaze. In response, her cheeks turned red as she looked away. It was unknown if she was uncomfortable or rejoicing as Davis had no chill to be using Heart Intent at this moment, nervous that these invisible maws would sense him as well.

However, the invisible maw before him left, causing him to return his gaze to it, but this time not so daringly or straight. He viewed it as unfocused as he could possibly make it.

It went back towards Tia, but instead of attacking her, it continued to hover around her like the other invisible karmic maws, still seemingly searching for something.

'This... they're not able to find her...?'

Davis inferred what he could from this bizarre and unpredictable situation. These unknown entities appeared to be something even more terrifying than the Unfettered Ice Fiend, or they were things related to the secrets of this universe or even the heavens. At the very least, he felt like he couldn't directly involve himself with them or face reckoning.

Why? Because he innately felt threatened by their presence. However, they didn't seem interested in him other than that one suspicious glance.

But one thing was for sure. They were unable to find Fallen Heaven, and it didn't hide in front of them, which made him wonder if they were not under the control of the heavens but a natural part of the world.

'Like balance...'

Numerous thoughts ran through Davis's head.

Last time, when they arrived, they quickly latched onto Flamerose and Frostrose's karmic threads, but now, they were unable to find Tia. He wondered what was the reason for this phenomenon to occur before his pupils suddenly dilated.

"...!"

He abruptly saw one of those invisible maws brush against Tia's cocoon that kept contracting and expanding flexibly. And the moment that happened, that invisible maw suddenly turned around and latched onto Tia's cocoon, which was borne from her karmic thread boosted by her physique!

Instantly, Tia bled from her mouth. Her eyeballs in her sockets shook greatly, and even her body trembled crazily, causing Natalya and

Looking at the other invisible maws turn in her direction as though ready to pounce on her, Davis's hand inevitably moved.

He had just clenched his fist, his soul force gathering on his palm when he saw Tia's eyes shoot wide open before she took a deep breath.

*Whhoooz!~*

A breezy chill rushed past them, leaving them feeling colder than ever as they gazed at Tia's pale countenance.

However, a rosy hue appeared over her cheeks before she wiped the blood away from her crimson lips and turned to look at them, smirking sweetly.

"There was some light backlash, but I found it. A real treasure..." Her eyes were especially on Davis, seemingly wanting to receive his praise.

"Are you serious?"

Davis's brows twitched as he saw the strange phenomenon disappear after Tia's awakening, but his reaction caused Tia to be even more satisfied.

"Yes!"

"No, what do you mean that was a light backlash?"

Davis raised his hand in question, causing Tia to be taken aback before her smile became even more resplendent.

"Oh... that... my defenses were just slightly shredded by the backlash from the heavens, but that's just normal in the world of divinations... It's nothing to worry about, big brother. Thank you for caring about me."

She didn't seem hurt but was simply enjoying the worry Davis had for her.

Davis had no words to return to her.

He couldn't just ask what just happened as this appeared like even she, with the Karmic Guardian Physique, didn't seem to have sensed these unknown entities and just compared them with backlashes. Perhaps, they were truly the backlash sent by the heavens. However, if that was the case, it made no sense to him why they didn't pick on him, a Divergent.

There were too many unknowns about this phenomenon, causing him to retract whatever statements he had in his mind.

"You're still slightly injured, so don't do that for the remainder of this adventure."

He simply warned while pointing at Tia, causing her to purse her lips and nod, "Okay~"

Davis and the others relaxed upon hearing her answer. They thought Tia was not only a shy person but also a scared woman, but it turns out that she wasn't afraid of heaven-sent backlashes?

What was with that strange combination? They couldn't make sense of it.

However, Davis could somewhat tell that she was trying to follow in his footsteps as he figured that his figure defending her from the heavenly tribulation remained etched in her heart. However, he was worried as what was necessary for him might not be good for her.

"So, what's the treasure you found?" Nonetheless, he asked what was on the tip of everyone's tongue.

Hearing Davis inquire her, Tia's eyes unwittingly lit up again.

"Senior Niel Bladeheart seemed to have found the Frostcloud Sword Empress's Inheritance, and I say... we snatch it from him!"

She brought her hands together and looked at Tanya like a little thief, causing them all to be stunned.