Divine Emperor of Death

Davis stared at Tia.

Naturally, many thoughts were revolving in his head as though a part of his questions about the mysterious black-robed woman had been answered but he looked at Tia, seeing that she had become mature in the time that he didn't see her.

No, he wasn't talking about her body, although she had matured, but he was talking about her mental state. There was something vastly different about her, even though she acted comical at the end.

Nonetheless, Davis opened his mouth.

"I would do it all over again. I aim for one thing: Either we all live, or we all die. There would rarely be any in-between, so I hope it won't come to that."

Ellia and Myria gazed at him as they heard his sincere voice.

Tia's eyes swelled with tears, but before anyone could see it, she lowered her head.

'You never change… yet, that's what makes everyone fascinated with you… foolish big brother…'

She felt a myriad of emotions that made her heart swell with warmth, but on the other hand, Davis made a confused expression.

If Tia had been talking about him, then karmic burden would've fallen on them already, as the myriad laws of the universe couldn't be fooled. After all, it was useless speaking in an obscure way when holding evidence of the events of the future in one's mind, but he didn't even feel a shiver, causing his rational side to believe that this was Tia's drivel.

However, his instincts said that Tia was indeed talking about him. Not only did the scenario perfectly match him, but the woman he pursued last was Myria, who had a life-and-death physique that caused her to reincarnate again and again, perhaps almost endlessly.

If she was captured and sealed, he could see why he would go crazy and try to end it all.

'Fuck… am I really considering Tia's story to be true…?'

A part of him said he was out of his mind, but considering the strange events that happened when he was on the bridge and here, he felt inclined to believe in Tia's story as his own. He felt some kind of relief as he partly understood what was going on, almost making him guess the identity of those four souls, although he could only tell two of them, while for the other two, he had no idea.

Still, what the hell was going on was beyond him.

Time travel? To the past? To block him from reaching the venue of the realm pill so all this bullshit doesn't happen?

'This is getting ridiculous…' Davis felt this was out of his paycheck, not that he received any pay from the damned heavens.

But if it was true… he shuddered, somehow feeling delighted as he could've made a good decision when he retreated from the Astral Forgeheart Minor Realm.

Tia raised her head and looked at Davis go through a sea of emotional waves.

'That's right… I no longer remember much… all I remember is a trivial picture art depicting these events, a vestige of forgotten memories, but the vague experiences and ridiculous emotions are all still there like they're imprinted onto my true soul…'

Tia gazed at him, her eyes full of emotion, her lips quivering as though she wanted to say something but could only speak in her mind, 'Big brother, I know I missed you for a lifetime. I know I loved you for a lifetime, and this time… I promise… I won't be passive…'

"Is there anything else…?"

Davis noticed her strange reaction while he was thinking and asked hesitantly.

"Nothing." Tia brightly smiled, but she swiftly shook her hands, "Ah, that's right. There is one, but leave that to me."

"Wait- leave the story. What about Clara-"

"Follow me~"

Tia confidently answered as she floated away, flying outside the chamber.

Davis, Ellia, and Myria looked at each other, their eyes containing strange emotions, but they didn't discuss and decided to follow Tia. They followed her all the way to Clara's chamber, but they concealed themselves except Tia.

Clara was awake again, still roaring to let her out, although she still seemed to be affected by exhaustion due to the sleeping pill.

When she saw Tia, her purple eyes stared daggers at her.

Tia boldly walked towards Clara, standing before her.

"Forgive me, for I have failed you…"

She didn't say much but merely took out a dagger and stabbed herself in the forehead.

"!!!"

The three of their eyes went wide, but they heaved a sigh as they swiftly recognized that Tia cast an illusion art. However, Clara's expression was just the opposite as she grinned at Tia's dead body that fell to the ground, bleeding heavily while her soul dispersed.

"Good riddance…"

Eventually, Clara's entire body relaxed. Like a puppet that had its strings cut, she fell to the ground, appearing to have finally broken free of the curse that was the Heaven's Descent.

'The target of Heaven's Descent was Tia… but… but Tia deceived her so easily…'

Davis's gaze shook.

He imagined that Clara was fooled because she was too exhausted to use her Transcendent Truth Eyes but- his image of Tia took a complete turn as he couldn't help but think she was cool as she walked out from an inconspicuous corner after Clara fell, standing before her again, this time with no barrier between them.

He almost wanted to ask her who she was if he hadn't heard the story before, so he had a faint inkling of who she was and what she could've experienced, her actions decisive and gaze a bit cold. However, she bent down and caressed Clara's cheek.

'Don't worry, Clara. I have a feeling that I placed too much burden on you last time, but this time… I'll protect you no matter what…'

She inwardly thought to herself when she saw Clara shed a tear while she was still sleeping, causing her heart to shake.

"That's right. Big brother, I forgot to tell you… but the truth is… I might've become an Anarchic Divergent during the treatment for a reason that I don't know, so half the reason the treatment failed might be because of me…"

"I see." Davis perfunctorily nodded his head.

'Lies…' He didn't even need to use Heart Intent, and even Myria could tell that while Ellia could faintly sense it.

As Anarchic Divergents and a vestige of an Anarchic Divergent, they knew this matter was riddled with karmic burden for them to easily discuss it, so Tia conveniently made a lie for them to consider, mixing the truth with falsehoods.

Tia's gaze flickered as she saw they didn't react much when her becoming an Anarchic Divergent was supposed to be a big matter.

Either way, her lips curled as she picked up Clara and looked at Davis.

"Big brother, you must be tired after your return, so please go and enjoy yourself with your beauties. Particularly, I think the two sisters behind you would be apt."

"…"