"Leave it." Davis shook his head, "Whether it may be vile or just, people have their own reasons and determination for doing many things. She hadn't said anything wrong as I was indeed insulting her."
"..."
Eldia blinked, not knowing what to say. She turned around and only watched Fairy Thunderblaze stare back at her before the latter left after a few seconds.
Davis watched Fairy Thunderblaze leave for the volcanic regions before he extended his hand out and caressed Eldia's shimmering white-silver hair. It was prickly to his hand yet still soothing as it felt like he was being massaged. Regardless, such things weren't in his thoughts as he worried about Eldia.
He had never seen her burst out like that, but it also meant that she was truly mad at Fairy Thunderblaze for taking away a giant portion of her food. Moreover, he knew she was still bothered about their usage of Prismatic Intramural Soul-Spirit Pact's third level failing, leaving her all dejected these few days.
He had wanted to address it but rarely got the time, but now that she was outside, he caressed her silvery-white hair, slid over to her face, grasped her cheek, and pulled her close.
He kissed her gently, savoring her purplish-blue lips that mesmerized his very soul. The numbing feeling was fantastic and relishing, causing the stunned Eldia to also raise her hands and grasp his shoulders as she took part in his familiar taste that she was once fond of and wanted more.
"..."
Tina and Dalila gawked. They had heard rumors since they were secluded most of the time, but it seemed like Davis really did see Eldia, a spirit, as his woman. But they were only shocked and not disapproving as they knew how important Eldia was to him and them as she mostly acted like a guardian spirit for them many times, protecting the household.
After three to four seconds, Davis let go of Eldia's lips and caressed her cheek with fondness.
"Eldia, don't mind that woman. We're all hypocrites in some way, so we should just be careful not to become a walking contradiction, alright? You are becoming a wiser spirit, aren't you?"
"Mhm~"
Eldia, who was feeling down, appeared revved up as she hummed to his advice.
She understood that Davis was telling her not to attack unless provoked into a battle. Certainly, what she did had almost crumbled the beneficial relationship that Fairy Thunderblaze and her master maintained, and if she truly cared for her master, then she should not have taken such an action.
However, she pounced on him, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck as her lips quivered.
"Master... I'm truly sorry that I failed..."
"We failed."
Davis smiled as he caressed her back, "But I think I vaguely know the reason why."
"...?"
Eldia pulled her head back, looking at him curiously as she wondered why.
========
In the outer region of the volcanic mountain range, a golden-robed figure flew over the visibly hot skies that distorted the air around them, raising its hand.
It was a woman. Her blonde hair shook against the searing wind as she descended against a boulder. Instead of landing on it, her hand that was raised formed a palm, which she then slapped on the boulder.
*Shaaa!~*
Abruptly, a painful scream echoed from the boulder as it thrashed around while the golden-robed woman retreated.
The boulder seemed to be an Inferno Boulder Serpent that acted like a real boulder in order to ambush its opponents, but being struck by the golden-robed woman's palm right over its head, it flailed in pain, bleeding all over from its orifices before it twitched and stopped moving altogether.
"Bylai, kill the beasts without allowing them to experience pain as much as possible."
A white-crimson-robed woman appeared before her, advising in a gentle tone, but Bylai shook her head.
"I was practicing my slapping technique. It was effective, wasn't it, elder sister Lea?"
She gestured as she waved her hand, causing Lea Weiss to giggle lightly, "Understandable."
Bylai smirked.
She was indeed practicing Gold Laws, but the eerie thing was her hand wasn't even clad in gold energy. It was as though she let her hand remain defenseless and powerless, but her palm slap delivered such a force that killed a Level Two Immortal Emperor Feral Beast's soul from just the impact alone.
"I learned this move from watching our second sister practice her moves."
"So you applied yin force to your Gold Laws?"
"Indeed."
Bylai appeared enthusiastic as she walked towards the Feral Beast she killed and began to dig out its beast core before bleeding it out and storing its corpse in her spatial ring. It didn't even take her a minute before she looked at the cave that the Inferno Boulder Serpent was sealing with half its body inside.
The cave entrance was nestled in the rugged, blackened rockface, surrounded by the remnants of past volcanic eruptions. The mouth of the cave was wide, almost as if beckoning the curious to venture inside.
Bylai headed inside it with caution while Lea Weiss waited outside, her senses guarding Sophie and many others if they were to run into trouble. Nadia was also here, so the burden on her to protect them was also less, allowing her to conduct her own adventures, but just in case, she waited for Bylai to come back.
"..."
Inside the cave, Bylai looked around.
The temperature dropped slightly around her, but the air remained heavy with a faint putrid scent. The walls are lined with jagged obsidian formations, sharp and ominous, a stark contrast to the smooth, hardened lava flows that have carved the cave's interior over countless centuries.
Her gaze was drawn to a narrow, dimly lit tunnel that stretched deeper into the mountain's core. The tunnel's walls were marked with streaks of various minerals, shimmering faintly in the low light.
As she entered this tunnel, the walls around her began to emit a soft, fiery glow. They seem to pulse with an inner warmth, a reminder that the dormant volcano could awaken at any moment, causing Bylai's brows to twitch.
The heat was not a problem for her, but if apocalyptic flames were to suddenly appear, she knew that she could be dead before she realized it.
Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and descended further.
Before long, she appeared on an even ground, the surface still black.
However, she felt that this was enough and placed her hand on the ground, lightly smacking it.
*Cling~*
Her action radiated a sound as though she hit a glass with metal. It sounded funny as she hit a hard rock, but the resulting sound descended, flowing through the rocks like water.
Bylai had her eyes closed, following the path of this sound with her senses before they eventually hit certain obstacles that disallowed them to pass through, but she opened her eyes, a faint light radiating in her golden eyes.
'Three ore deposits found, and two of them are Low-Level Immortal Emperor Grade and one Mid-Level Immortal Emperor Grade...'
She also found four more peculiarities that she wanted to investigate, hoping that they might contain the Molten Goldcrust Core she wanted.