Divine Emperor of Death

The Mandate Emperor also thought the same as Davis as he came to understand Vast Sky Emperor's deeply hidden character after being pushed into dire straits. However, he was astonished to see Davis arrive at this conclusion as he was still a youth in his eyes. Nonetheless, he quickly responded.

"Don't kill them. It is precisely what that vile person wants as he's provoking you to kill them. He wants to tarnish your name, and the righteous powers would be forced to act- don't look at me like that. I know I can't stop you, but we will have no choice. It's not a matter of if we can, but we have to. We just can't sit by and watch you slaughter them. You two at the top could scheme all you like, but it's the people who have nothing to do with the feud who truly suffer. Don't bring the slaughter to those children. It is not the bearing of a true expert."

Davis was staring at the Mandate Emperor with murderous rage in his eyes. However, the latter didn't cower and tried to convince him, causing him to calm that he couldn't help but recall the past.

The Mandate Emperor had also tried to stop him when he went to slaughter the Zlatan Family.

He didn't blame the Mandate Emperor for it because he could tell that he was not a hypocrite like many others he had seen and wanted to truly save them to the best of his ability.

He did what he had to when times called and didn't go back on his words. That alone was worthy of respect when he sat in a high-enough position to rule the world. That kind of aloofness and magnanimity was not something he could achieve that he could tell that if he and Nadia didn't have the infamy of death in their powers, the Mandate Emperor would've defended them from the Dragon Families as well.

Moreover, the reason why he spared the three Emperors and only targeted Vast Sky Emperor was that Isabella told him that only the Vast Sky Emperor was sickening and annoying while the others didn't even bother other than maintaining a cordial relationship that sought to pull her into the righteous path and obtain the key to the Forsaken Phoenix Realm which was understandable considering the Calamity Light's threat.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have let them off for either reason.

"Heh, I'm no true expert." Davis sneered, "I like plundering like a bandit, but even some bandits have their own morals. However, that trash doesn't have any and manages to make me mad again and again that I don't care if killing his people is going to give me an infamous name."

The Mandate Emperor's heart fell. Was there really no other choice?

"However, I'll give you face."

Davis snorted before turning to look at the other Emperor.

"Karmic Guardian Emperor, prepare a Peak-Level Emperor Grade Blood Soul Contract and bind them with the words we agreed upon. Then, I'll spare them as you all wish."

"Alright."

The Karmic Guardian Emperor left and got to work while the Mandate Emperor heaved a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he could only thank Davis for understanding as he really didn't expect a hot-blooded youth to understand. His respect for Davis only grew more and more. Nonetheless, he stayed for a while, disallowing any kind of mishap to occur.

The matter ended just like that, but the way the two Great Righteous Leaders placated the Emperor of Death had the hearts of people clenching with a profound sense of terror.

Was the Emperor of Death already above them all…? Is that why he wasn't punished even after he made so much trouble? Then, if someone really offended him, would they have to say goodbye to their lives without being able to state their own reasons in defense?

However, they didn't think so.

They recalled the Golden Dragon Queen's words and understood that they were the ones making him out to be a calamity. It was the Vast Sky Emperor who invited that calamity at this moment that they could only hope the rage in the Emperor of Death's heart would quell.

If the matter of Emperor of Death belonging to the righteous path wasn't made clear, they would be fearing for their lives right now.

With the matter coming to an end, the competition was not disbanded. The Vast Sky Palace's people also stayed. Although they were utterly humiliated with their Vast Sky Emperor deciding to flee, it could be said that they gained some face back with the Vast Sky Emperor sending word like that. The naive ones fell while the sharp and cunning ones merely sneered, knowing what was happening after a short time.

People weren't fools. Some could see the intentions of the Vast Sky Emperor. However, a hegemonic leader was still a hegemonic leader. No one took sides, not daring to open their mouths, supporting or denouncing either party. Even the other hegemons stayed silent. They knew that they would be screwed if their words were to fall on the wrong ears as opportunists were as vast as the stars in the skies.

With making a ruckus, the competition smoothly continued despite the gloomy atmosphere. Soon, the second round was over after a few more battles ended.

Davis and the other victors' rankings were moved to the top sixteen. In contrast, the ones who were defeated were ranked according to the size of the sea they condensed, meaning that Ivy Aries became seventeenth and Bylai became eighteenth.

The first rank was temporarily occupied by the Emperor of Death, with the second being Natalya. The third was Myria, and the fourth was other than the dark horse. This ranking was according to the power they displayed and would move as they battled as they moved before.

However, many people felt that there was no longer any meaning in the Eighth Stage Segment. They all collectively felt that they should just hand over the first rank to the Emperor of Death and move on to the Ninth Stage Segment, only to give that first rank to him again.

After all, the Emperor of Death sent the Vast Sky Emperor running. Was there any more reason to continue on with this competition other than to decide the ranks other than the first?

Since they could see the ending, the excitement was less. However, they still wanted to see the Emperor of Death battle and use his full prowess against the other geniuses. Surely, it would be awe-inspiring to witness a battle of such scale.

"Cough…"

Honorable Elder Julian Kruse stood in front of the sixteen youths whom he had summoned on the battle stage. However, in the presence of the Emperor of Death, he couldn't help but maintain a humble posture.

He still didn't know why he was still an arbitrator along with Honorable Elder Mihangel Evans standing by his side as even if chaos broke out between these geniuses, they were powerless to stop it. Nonetheless, he stuck to the task he was given and opened his mouth, coughing to grab their attention first.

"Everyone, the third round is extremely simple but also up to your luck."

When the competitors heard that, some of their hearts clenched.

They wouldn't be meeting with the Emperor of Death at the first clash, right? If so, they could only give up or act like they want to experience his might, which probably going to end up humiliating themselves as both times the Emperor of Death attacked, he only used a single finger, which also suddenly reminded them of Fairy Myria.

There were also Natalya and the dark horse. All four of them could be called monsters, but the Emperor of Death was in his own realm.

The next moment, sixteen motes of light shot out from the arbitrator's hands, appearing in front of them. They reached out to take it, only to find a tile plate that had numbers inscribed on it.

"The tile represents your number. I will take a lot from the box in front of me while sealing off my senses, so it is really up to luck what kind of number I would pick. The number chosen gets to challenge any participant they want, giving them a vast advantage to move through the rankings."

Hearing Honorable Elder Julian Kruse's words, the weaker competitors became relaxed. If their number showed up, they wouldn't choose the stronger ones to be their opponents, and if the initiative went to the stronger ones, they wouldn't choose them out of pride. Therefore, it could be said that they wouldn't suffer a humiliating defeat, allowing them to heave a secret sigh of relief.

Honorable Elder Julian Kruse saw that they understood the rules before he reached out his hand into a box that had been summoned before. He sealed off all his senses and picked out a lot after rummaging through the box. He displayed the tile to the participants, causing some of their hearts to clench.

[8]

Eight? Who was it?

"Eh? It's me?"

Natalya looked at the tile in her hands, blinking adorably.. She then smiled, turning to look at Davis, who was by her side before her gaze fell on Myria, a desire to challenge appearing in her eyes.