Divine Emperor of Death

Hayou Azureclaw's voice resounded with gusto, causing people to feel the tremble even on the outside.

However…

"No thanks…"

Niera shook her hand in a disinterested manner, causing Hayou Azureclaw to become dumbfounded. Not only him, but the excited crowd's shoulders dropped as though they were a balloon that had been deflated.

"You…!" Hayou Azureclaw came out of his reverie as he pointed at Niera, "Are you insulting me!"

"No, unless I sacrifice my blood essence, I don't have the confidence to defeat you in thirty-eight seconds." Niera appeared solemn before she smirked, "I'd rather face you one on one, having enough time than having to defeat you in ten minutes. Then, we can compare whose offensive prowess is truly strong. Yours or mine but the next time we meet out of this competition, I assure you that you wouldn't be my opponent anymore."

"Big words… young lady." Hayou Azureclaw's eyes were narrowed before he turned to look at Sophie.

"This is also fine. I'm not interested in comparing offensive prowess but ripping apart people who pride themselves in their defense."

"What are you looking at?" Sophie narrowed her eyes, "I don't specialize in one thing and have overall prowess in offense, defense, and support. So go look for someone else. Shoo~ Shoo~."

She waved her hand like she was chasing away some dog, causing Hayou Azureclaw's brows to twitch. He waited for a few seconds and saw that they really were not interested in engaging in a battle with him.

"Ah! This sucks! Honorable Elders! I want to be matched with Mu Bing!"

Having nothing to do but stare at empty air, Hayou Azureclaw looked above and bellowed, turning to look towards the Mystic Ice Sect.

"…"

"Oh…"

Silence filled the space in the New Era Battle Arena before they all belatedly understood. For a moment, they all misunderstood that he was asking Mu Bing's hand in marriage, but it didn't seem to be the case as they saw his claws pointing at her.

"Maybe we'll meet in the last round if luck allows us to meet in the battle stage. Until then, please refrain from addressing me in such a way."

Mu Bing had her eyes narrowed, looking offended, while Hayou Azureclaw looked clueless, wondering if she wasn't interested in battling him.

A few more seconds passed when suddenly he felt his scalp turn numb. He quickly shot in the opposite direction and gained immense distance in a few seconds as he appeared near the edge, but then, when he turned to look around, he saw Niera where he was before.

"You little…"

He clenched his fists in anger.

"As I thought." Niera grinned, "Your battle instincts are tremendous. No wonder my powerful concentrated attacks were not able to catch you. You always slipped through or lacerated them before my attacks could harm you."

Hayou Azureclaw clenched his teeth, looking unamused.

"Why did you attack me when you said that you wouldn't?"

Niera's eyes rolled.

"I have no recollection of saying something like that. I just declined your invitation to battle and said that I do not feel like winning against you without using my blood essence, but if you kept your back turned against your opponent, then I'm going to try my chances anyway."

"You're needlessly provoking me…!"

Hayou Azureclaw tried to suppress himself, but he could no longer keep his calm and shot forwards, wanting to retaliate, when a voice suddenly resounded.

"Enough, the battle is over."

Honorable Elder Julian Kruse's voice caused him to stop mid-air before he hatefully looked at Niera for insulting him before he turned around and left.

Niera and Sophie also naturally left the battle stage and returned to their seating area. However, they didn't look smug nor proud as they lowered their heads in front of Davis.

"What's wrong?"

Davis couldn't help but ask these two adorable souls.

"Sorry, we were unable to finish him off despite possessing the advantage," Niera spoke as she pouted.

"Doesn't matter." Davis shook his head, "You two weren't trying enough, and there wasn't enough time to try to do much damage. Besides, if you two took it far enough in that little span of time, it's easier to make a mistake and end up in a disadvantageous position. Just finish him off in the next round if you meet him."

"Yes!~"

"You're so good to us..."

Niera pounced to hug him while Sophie lightly scratched her cheek. After what they did for part amusement, at least a bit of chastising was required, right?

Wasn't he afraid that they would just take his kindness for granted and become bold enough to do all sorts of things?

But on second thought, Sophie felt like she didn't want to see his wrathful side and realized that others probably thought the same.

On the other hand, Davis was simply confused as to why they would apologize. He told them to go have fun, not win or anything of that sort. However, since they looked as though they were afraid that he would be disappointed in them, he could only console them.

They talked for some time before the participants of the next match were called out.

The next match was Logan and Clara facing off against two Soul Palace opponents, which caused the people to break down laughing.

How could they win against Clara, the young expert everyone thought would most likely win?

All four of the participants entered the battle stage.

However, the two Soul Palace's Supreme Soul Stage Experts voluntarily gave up after the match started, causing everyone to roll in laughter.

Did the Soul Palace have no backbone after they lost their Soul Emperors? However, most of them thought that it was a direct order from the Emperor of Death, but none dared to speak about it.

But in truth, even Davis was astonished, making him wonder if this was because they gave him respect or was it commanded by Yotan?

Needless to say, he didn't bother and welcomed his father and little sister back with an amused smile on his face as he teased his father that his presence intimidated them.

"Next, Tanya Frostblight and Dalila Leehan. Esvele Zelte and Verona Stein. Please step onto the battle stage."

The arbitrator's voice resounded, causing the crowd to cheer for them in eagerness as all were beauties in their own right.

Lea Weiss nodded to her two disciples, sending them off while Ancestor Tirea Snow did the same. From the Thousand Pill Palace, Dalila Leehan noticeably didn't have anyone other than her protector Yahu sending her off.

Tanya Frostblight walked past Davis as she slightly cast him a glance before taking off to the battle stage. Davis appeared clueless but then, a voice echoed by his side.

"Son, your second mother has something to say to you."

Davis turned to look at his father, "What is it, father? I thought she was brave enough to tease me, but not brave enough to ask something from me?"

Logan couldn't help but silently chuckle as he smiled, "I don't know. Go talk to your second mother."

"Fine…"

Davis looked amused, wondering what was going on before he turned to look at Nora standing alongside his mother. He approached them and stood before Nora as he clasped his hands.

"How can I be of service to you, second mother?"

Nora appeared flattered, "You… you're polite."

However, she still sounded hesitant, causing Davis to look more amused, "What's with you? Are you not going to tease me?"

Claire placed her hand on Nora's shoulder with a smile, causing the latter to take a deep breath before she moved her lips.

"I'm not going to tease you… I just want you to help my friend Dalila Leehan extricate herself from a marriage agreement that her power, the Thousand Pill Palace, arbitrarily got her into with the Glorious Pill Palace because they used the resources gained from it to make her powerful and also possibly gain some benefits for themselves from their loose alliance."

Davis's brows raised when he heard Dalila Leehan and when Nora finished explaining sincerely, he turned to look at the battle stage and saw Dalila Leehan float alongside Tanya Frostblight. His eyes were narrowed with scrutiny when he suddenly got sight of Dalila Leehan looking at him, their gazes matching before she looked away in panic, instantly talking to Tanya Frostblight as though she was formulating a plan to counter Esvele and Verona Stein.

Nora also felt her heart skip a beat on noticing that their gazes matched.. Then, Davis turned to look at her with the same narrowed eyes, causing her to gulp as she saw that he no longer had that amused smile on his face.