Flames, earth, metal, and wood rotated around as Tina's undulations blazed. Her amethyst eyes had sunken a bit while her shoulders drooped.
The pressure on her right now was ginormous as she remained hovering above Epsila and the others, becoming the first line of defense.
Such an act was very similar to that of a man protecting their wife and newborn from a heavenly tribulation, except that this was not a tribulation that strikes the child but a pill tribulation.
*Rumble!~*
*Bzz!~*
The ninth heavenly strike had finally formed. It was a true dragon, unlike the small serpent-like ones previously before. Its horns crackled with an apocalyptic might, sending its tyrannical aura straight toward the surface.
"...!"
A hint of fear finally crept on Tina's face, appearing unable to believe that her beloved faced creatures like these all on his own alone.
She bit her lips, swallowing a sweet metallic taste as she gulped down her own blood and allowed herself to remain firm despite the tremor that swept through her heart like a devastating tsunami.
Dalila and even Tyriele trembled- no, they greatly shuddered, appearing as though they wanted to run away anytime as Dalila turned halfway while Tyriele also tried to run in the opposite direction.
Because of that, the defensive barrier's capability fell by half.
Tina didn't notice this scene as she fully had her concentration above.
It took all her willpower to remain standing, yet she also used the fact that the fact that her beloved won against these creatures to push her past her limit, causing her to burn her soul essence.
Level Nine Immortal King undulations burst forth from her, her aura particularly heavier than a Level Three Immortal Emperor's aura, even surging past its peak and pushing forth the throttle as she increased her soul force's prowess to the limit of her capability.
'My love, are you watching me right now...?'
Tina's only motivation at this moment was thinking if she was dazzling to him right now, selfishly and dreamily expecting him to have his vividly beautiful sapphire eyes on her.
She didn't know if he was watching her as it was possible that the heavenly geniuses from the true Immortal world might've caught onto them, trying to sabotage them, but little did she know that the annihilative aura from the tribulation already scared them to death.
Regardless, she hoped that he was watching her for none other than the reason she wanted him to know that she lived her life for his sake and would die for his sake.
"Not good!"
Davis was indeed watching her very closely, knowing that she reached her limit if she was forced to use her blood essence to defend against the tribulation strike.
Moreover, the heaven's tyrannical aura wouldn't let her unleash her full potential. He knew it because he was a victim of such suppression and also knew that it would take an enormous quality of willpower to overcome it.
He was about to interfere with the tribulation out of sheer worry but held himself back because he would just worsen it, leading to all their deaths, as Tina should still have the ability to protect herself as she wasn't the main target.
However, that hesitation almost cost him his sanity as he saw Tina flying above to meet the ninth annihilative heavenly strike.
*Boom!~*
"Tina!"
Davis rushed forward, his eyes turning bloodshot as he saw his Tina be struck down, causing her to crash into the debris of the palace they were originally inside.
It was nothing but ruins at the moment.
However, Davis came to a stop as he saw the ninth annihilative heavenly lightning strike become encased in some kind of four-layered barrier.
An earthen soil sphere produced countless vines and thorns, which lit up in blue flames, burning with an ungodly amount of energy as these vines seemed to be like oil to them.
However, this intense surge of flame energy was directly heating up a metallic layer that seemed molten like magma.
It was like flaming liquid metal, thoroughly trapping the willful and tyrannical dragon.
*Bzz!~*
Crimson-red lightning crackled as the sphere could be seen changing shapes in all directions as though the dragon was trying to break through but couldn't.
Indeed, each time the annihilate dragon tried to force its way out, it crashed into a layer of molten metal, causing it to severely take damage.
It could still push through but was then stabbed by the thorns that awaited it in the middle layer, causing it to retreat back into the center of the sphere as it knew it could die if it forced its breakthrough.
It was being whittled down as it was being burned inside alive, the sheer heat enough to roast almost any Level Four Immortal Emperor to death, perhaps even a Level Five Immortal Emperor.
"What my beloved wants, he shall have it~"
Tina's voice resounded out as she lay on the rubble, spitting a mouthful of blood as she had her hand raised up in the air and smiled victoriously.
With a pull of her hand, she brought down the dragon, causing havoc in the skies as the heaven and earth trembled furiously.
"A combination of four Laws..."
At the same time, Davis was thoroughly in disbelief at this moment, unable to believe his Tina had been capable of such a feat.
She had somehow combined Earth, Wood, Fire, and Metal Laws to co-exist, even layer on top of each other to multiply the technique's prowess.
He remembered the words Myria had just said, that he was underestimating his Tina.
Since he heard Tina's voice, his worry was more or less deceased. However, that didn't mean he didn't want to step in, as the heavenly flames could descend anytime now!
The heavens didn't wait for anything or anyone!
*Rumble!~*
And without saying, the crimson-gold clouds began to release thunderous sounds again. The ninth strike still hadn't been defeated, but it was still sending its next tribulation strike.
*Sizzle!~* *Sizzle!~*
Heavenly flames were already forming underneath those clouds. They were crimson-gold in hue, just like tribulation clouds, radiating an even more threatening aura than a punitive one.
*Whoosh!~*
"Don't come!"
Dalila's voice resounded out with solemness.
It made Davis come to a stop again, his expression turning livid. He was just about to berate her as he saw she was about to make the same move that Tina almost used her life's luck to accomplish.
"...!"
However, he saw Dalila throw Epsila into Tyriele while Tina dropped the ninth heavenly lightning strike into the same cauldron.
"I leave the rest to you, Dalila..."
Tina gasped for breath as she smiled at Dalila. She still had a lot of soul force left in her soul, but her psyche was drained, making her unable to put up much of a fight anymore.
"Worry not. My specialty lies in controlling flames..."
Dalila comforted, but her expression said otherwise as the tyrannical annihilative aura now fell on her almost completely as she hid Epsila within Tyriele, whom she was in full control of.
She smiled while fear overtook her expression, making her look quite comical, but to Davis, it was anything but comical.
However, he was stunned as he saw them feed Epsila to the dragon, the ninth annihilative heavenly lightning strike.
Had it weakened enough for Epsila to experience tempering?
He didn't know, but what he knew was that the will of the dragon could essentially cripple Epsila's spirit, so even if they crossed this tribulation successfully, the odds are that the Soulforge Elevation Resonance Pill would be a Spirit-Tier Pill without an actual spirit, only useful for consumption.
Did they just gamble away Epsila's life, not knowing about the ridiculously tenacious will that sought to annihilate anything it set its eyes upon?
*Sizzle!~*
By the time he ended up accepting Epsila's eventual death upon being gnawed by the ruthless annihilative dragon, he gave up, knowing the tribulation would disappear in a few seconds.
With Dalila and Tyriele's prowess, he knew they would at least be able to deal with this first strike, as they should only be as powerful as the first or third strike of annihilative heavenly lightning.
At the most, if he waited enough and made a move at the right time while the annihilative heavenly flame wisp was still trying to burn his Dalila, he may be able to salvage it, but he wasn't going to ask her to do that as he would never let her play dangerous games.
With the two of their prowess, he knew they could deal with the first annihilative heavenly flame strike before surviving the tribulation.
*Sizzle!~* *Sizzle!~*
He waited, looking at the heavenly flame wisp fall from the skies as they tried to engulf Tyriele and Dalila together.
"Tyriele, let's show the world your ability to withstand flames, no matter their properties."
Dalila sat on top of the cauldron's lid and made a hand sign with both her hands, causing Tyriele's powerful runes to light up. Her crimson body lit up, and the countless magical beasts etched on her manifested as they spread out and turned into a powerful barrier.
*Shhhh!~*
The annihilative heavenly flame wisp finally fell, intending to burn the human and the cauldron in order to get to the pill inside!
The space around Tyriele entirely lit up in crimson-gold flames, continuing to burn even after a second instead of dispersing.
"Wha- what are you doing?
Davis shuddered as he saw this scene.
Dalila wasn't attacking, but she was keeping the barrier up only to seemingly defend! It was as though she was doing this on purpose, as he knew she could deal with this attack with Tyriele together.
He knew they could exhaust this attack until it was out of energy, but he was horrified as he saw the second annihilative heavenly flame wisp form, knowing that they were going to endure another attack in two seconds if Epsila didn't die!
"Dalila, extinguish the flames right now!"
He yelled at the top of his lungs, but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as two seconds later, the second annihilative heavenly flame wisp finally fell.
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