Divine Emperor of Death

"Ask away~"

A raspy voice resounded in Davis's mind, causing him to close his eyes.

His senses sprouted, covering the island. Isabella and a few others were able to detect his soul sense. They initially thought he was spying on them, but they also detected his soul sense covering the entire island, wondering what he was doing, although they didn't ask as it seemed to be without a ripple, passive as an expert protector.

"Back then, we had this little game going where we traded power for information. Are we still doing that?"

"I… I guess not."

"Why?"

"You don't ask me much, and even if you do, it's something to warn you about. Besides, I think I have grown enough, although I feel like there is one last step…"

"…" Davis's gaze shook.

One last step? That would be the Immortal Emperor Stage. Was that the end of the road for unlocking Fallen Heaven's complete prowess that was sealed or drained for whatever reason possible?

"If you have anything to ask, just ask away. I'm bored." Fallen Heaven sighed loudly.

"You're bored, huh?"

Davis's brows twitched, "Will you leave me after I reach the Immortal Emperor Stage?"

"I know what you're worried about. I've watched too many of those animations for you to think I will leave upon acquiring my complete form."

"…"

"However, your fears aren't baseless. My options are you or Myria. Even that Saintess Lunaria chick doesn't come close to becoming my owner."

"Chick…?"

Davis almost fell while sitting, feeling amused that Fallen Heaven certainly had a corrupted way of talking when it got comfortable with him. He missed this buddy, causing him to smile, but it was one of worry.

Even Fallen Heaven admitted that it could be with Myria, which made him all the more think why the fuck he got it in the first place. By all means, he figured that Fallen Heaven and the Nine-Treasured Immortal Ordeal Palace were something that was fated to Myria, but he had no idea how he stole it from her.

Regardless, he felt like he should work on damage control.

"How big is your compatibility with her compared to mine?"

"High."

Davis pursed his lips. Although he created his soul physique, it was something that had unseen flaws and even visible ones, like being unable to create avatars, while Myria's soul physique had fewer flaws. Besides, his was artificial while hers was natural, so he guessed that he lost to her on that part.

"But as far as I can recall, you had no compatibility with me until you created your soul physique. However, our bond cannot be fake, and you're alive for an extreme while, so you're my best bet to reach the apex. I think I won't be leaving you for the time being."

Davis smiled as he nodded, "That's fine. However, you want to reach the apex? For what?"

His voice sounded intrigued, while Fallen Heaven's answer was rather quick.

"Spreading death and gaining knowledge."

"At least, it was… before I found other factors influencing me each time you broke through, allowing me to improve but become stale as though lacking desire. If anything, I want to survive as there is a sensation of impending doom lingering each time you break through, but it could be just my imagination."

"What?" Davis's voice boomed, "Why didn't you say that all this time?"

"As I said, it could be my imagination as I only sense it for a moment, and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it as you're already a scaredy cat who refuses to use me, not to mention figuring out that it's harmful to my own understanding of myself despite the risk."

"…"

Davis had the urge to shout that he was alive because of that, but his mind churned.

"Is this 'impending doom' why you're not able to figure out your powers to their fullest extent?"

"Mhm… hard to say."

Davis thought it was receiving its own kind of karmic burden since everything in this world seemed to be cursed with one, but it seemed like it was different.

'Guess I was wrong...'

He thought before shaking his head, unable to form an opinion on this matter.

"So we've established that you're an apex treasure long ago, so you should also have a wild, mind-blowing origin. Do you remember anything of that sort?"

"No. I just remember being sealed in the Third Layer. Anything before that is vague, as I only recall demanding knowledge in return for spreading death, and things beyond that are outright hazy. It's like that thing you call noise while watching television, quite creepy and hideous."

Davis blinked, "Any sign of outside interference?"

"Well, there is, but not the way you think."

'World master…' Davis's expression sank.

Ultimately, that person had the final trump card and could rob everything away from him.

Davis had already thought about this matter many times, somehow knowing that his fruits of labor could be exploited at the last moment, so he would not be surprised if the world master made a move to end him when everything they needed to learn was said and done.

However-

'Why is this world isolated but occupied by the strongest Divergents to ever exist…? Obviously, the Heaven's Warriors are the ones hiding here… while the Aurora Cloud Gate's Divergents are just cooped up… not wanting to cause a disturbance in the lines of fate…'

Davis refused to believe the world master wasn't positively biased towards Divergents with this kind of world. Otherwise, wouldn't the world master have killed the Divergents off purely based on the fact that their divergence factor causes pure trouble in their world?

Saintess Lunaria even claimed that she had seen the world master vaguely, so he wondered if they struck up a deal or something that she later forgot.

Regardless, he figured that the world master should not be a bad person at heart considering all things done, but they weren't good either, seeing how they low-key used Fallen Heaven by having it fall into the hands of many unsuspecting immortals who used it to further their gains by slaughtering, only to end up dead except people like Saintess Lunaria who had the self-discipline to throw it away.

"The world master is very much experimenting with you…"

"Well, that much was clear from the start, except for what purpose is unclear."

"It could be as simple as using you without having to die while I'm the exemplary test subject for you as I still didn't die."

"No way." Fallen Heaven roared with a grating voice, "You died a few times already."

"…" Davis turned speechless, "… But I'm still alive, right?"

"Due to some special circumstances that I can't understand of you lifeforms but, yes."

Shirley and Everlight. Fallen Heaven couldn't understand how they moved out of love to save him and not benefits or reliance, as they had essentially sacrificed a part of their powers or limbs to revive him.

Davis's gaze flickered, "If my memory serves right, you were emotional when you attained life energy and became neutral or somewhat lethargic when you gained karmic powers. Before all that, you were just spiteful and calculative, spewing curses at me. I think you have already achieved a balance, so the rest is for you to grow up and understand emotions as an artifact spirit."

"Therefore, I'm going to treat you the same as Yama and Lancelot, my armament spirits, except with a bit more respect, as you could end me anytime."

"You better treat me with respect! I'm a superior being!"

"Sure…"

Davis pursed his lips while Fallen Heaven cackled ever so lightly.

"And lastly, out with the suspense. What kind of power had you attained after I stepped into the Immortal King Stage?"