Divine Emperor of Death

"It's time…"

A gentle voice echoed around the space where the golden coffin lay ahead in the pagoda canopy.

She walked to it before finally opening the roof of the golden coffin. She raised her feet and kept one leg on it before shortly entering it, sitting on the coffin like she reclined on a sofa and kept her legs relaxed.

"That was fast…"

Her lips curled while still quivering, a wry smile appearing on her face.

"Nothing goes according to our wishes, does it…? Banding together and offering their Legacy Treasures to karmically target me? That's not supposed to happen until the final trial of the Candidacy, but there's still the third trial left and the final trial… and even if it does happen, it should be easy for me to defend against it… but-"

She giggled ever so lightly.

If she had never met the Divine Emperor of Death, would everything have gone smoothly?

Would she not be injured heavily by the Celestial Transcendent?

Would she be able to defend against this terrifying karmic attack even while possessing such injuries?

First of all, there would've been still nine years left before the Candidacy ended, but it was shortened to nine days for it to take place and a mere month for it to run. The more time passed, the more she noticed that her days were being numbered.

Shaking her head, her smile slowly faded.

"I guess only fate could tell, but then… Jade Aurora's future already let me know the end… Only… I didn't expect it to arrive so soon…"

Heaving a sigh, she reclined and lay down in the coffin.

However, as she looked up at the closing door of the coffin, a hint of sorrow finally crept into her eyes, and her lips quivered.

"Pa… ma… Thanks to you, I lived a good life… although, I wanted to see you two… one last time-"

Her words were meek, but her voice carried numerous emotions behind it. However, even before she could even finish saying her piece, the golden coffin closed.

At that moment, her entire body shuddered ever so lightly, her pupils dilating before the light in her eyes went dull. A terrifying karmic attack landed on her soul without making a single sound.

"I see… an ancient fruit borne from the lost Thread Essence of Karma… how unlucky…"

Her pupils rolled back, revealing the whites of her eyes, and at the same time, all seven of her orifices bled. Her lips parted as though she was in deep pain, but no groans came out. This continued for a few seconds later until she pursed her lips and shuddered one last time.

She finally stopped struggling and… closed her eyes.

There was no movement in the golden coffin, nothing.

The World Master appeared to be dead.

However, the surroundings lit up, numerous otherworldly formations beginning to emerge as they sealed her corpse, and above the coffin was a compartment that seemed to possess a tome of unknown nature, perhaps the cultivation method she derived with all her expertise.

In her universe, countless beings noticed something strange brewing in the air.

The heaven and earth energy around them began to resonate, giving off a low hum. It filled with First Haven World with a deafening silence. However, that silence made them cry somehow for no reason.

They were all confused and perplexed, wondering what was going on.

Some wondered if some magical beast with the ability to make others cry, like the Sunset Mountain Wolf, was amplified by some phenomenon. However, their doubts didn't last long when they suddenly felt constricted.

Davis and the others in the hall narrowed their eyes. He raised his hand, feeling a strange shift in the heaven and earth energy as the others felt.

"The heaven and earth energy… they're mourning the loss of something…"

"How can that be?" Tina looked confused, "The heaven and earth energy doesn't have feelings nor emotions… all they know is to impart the laws of the universe in all beings, creating landmass, celestial bodies to bringing forth fire and whatnot…"

"I don't know what it is, but it's an unseen phenomenon… that's for sure…"

Myria uttered as she tried to see through what was going on, revisiting the countless records of phenomena she had in her mind. There were a few cases of this happening, like when Heaven's Warrior died, so she wondered if something had happened to Clara. However, looking towards the side, she saw Clara doing well, but she was similarly confused.

Everyone was confused.

"Mother… where did father go…?"

Abruptly, Aurelia pulled on her mother's sleeves as she tried to whisper amidst the tense situation.

"…?" Sophie smiled amusedly as she picked her daughter up and kissed her lovely cheeks.

"Of course, your great father is just there, standing-"

Sophie returned her gaze to Davis, but her words were cut short suddenly, her lips parting lightly.

Davis was missing.

The others also noticed something was amiss.

"W-Where did he go?" Shea blurted out while holding Sheria closely, looking worried.

"Don't panic." Natalya raised her hands, "Myria also disappeared. We know if they disappear together out of nowhere, it would be because-"

Out of nowhere, Natalya also disappeared without a sound. The very sight of it was terror-inducing in them, making the others shudder as they stepped back ever so lightly.

"Natalya…"

"Second sis… Myria… don't play…"

Sophie and Niera called out. The two of them closely held their children, Aurelia and Lucian, in their arms, feeling terrified. As they stepped back, they saw Lea, who was walking towards them, disappear.

"Everyone, don't panic!"

Ellia shouted, "This could be a worldly phenomen-"

Her voice hung in the air as she also disappeared.

"Mingzhi!" Schleya screamed out, taking out her crescent blades.

However, Mingzhi also disappeared the next second.

"Wahhh!~"

Lucian began to wail out loud, crying as he didn't feel safe there. He pounced on his mother, Niera, and held her closely. Niera was about to take Sophie's hand.

Sophie quickly reached out with her hand in response, but all she managed to catch was air. Her purple pupils trembled, unable to comprehend how one could disappear just like that. She trembled.

Shea and Sheria had also gone missing.

She quickly turned to look and noticed that not many were left, causing her to pan her gaze.

Fiora took Eterna and Celestia into her arms, huddling on the ground with them while the children's faces were full of terror. Everlight and Nadia were also with them, along with Viridia and Azariel.

Sophie's gaze flickered as she saw them disappear one by one.

Tanya and Stella were gone.

Yilla and Schleya… gone.

Lanqua and Panqa were also gone silently as if they had met with some supernatural phenomenon. The ones who were still present all had expressions of terror and trepidation.

"W-What's happening?"

Just as she uttered, she felt a wave of dizziness erupt in her soul, almost causing her to go limp, but she tensed her muscles and stood straight, protectively holding Aurelia. She confirmed it really was her Aurelia and quickly surveyed her surroundings, recognizing she had landed in some kind of barren land.

There was nothing as far as the eyes could see other than cracks on the ground, including giant crevices that who in the world knew where it went.

Instantly, she could sense that the heaven and earth energy was different here. She sensed its nature, and the realization couldn't help but make her eyes go wide in shock and horror.

"Fizizi!~"

Abruptly, a giant silver ant emerged from a crevice by her side. It swiftly spotted her and rushed to her with its six legs ending in sharp claws, allowing it to have a firm grip on the loose, sandy, or barren ground.

It was about twenty meters tall, and its head was slightly elongated with large, multifaceted eyes. Its mandibles appeared sharp and powerful, able to pierce through even the toughest Immortal Grade metal.

However, Sophie didn't panic.

She didn't even let it get closer and simply cut down the space in front of her with her hand. The resulting energy that came out of her arm was like a gigantic shockwave, a wave of azure flames ripping apart the silver ant in two.

However, it was just the start.

"Mother…" Aurelia panicked.

Two… three… four-no, tens of ants began to climb out from the crevices, rushing towards Sophie and her. They were all Late Stage Immortal Beasts.

But Sophie didn't panic, nor did she feel threatened because she could easily take care of them, and the other reason was because-

*Bang!~*

The hundreds of silver ants were crushed into meat paste into the ground as a heavy spatial attack fell on them from nowhere.

Sophie turned to look up and couldn't help but smile. Aurelia also jumped in her mother's embrace, looking excited.

Davis was there.

"Sophie, come here and enter the Nine-Treasured Immortal Ordeal Palace."

"Yes~"

Sophie quickly rushed up with Aurelia in her embrace. As soon as she neared him, she disappeared along with Aurelia.

Davis turned to look at his side, watching Myria, Stella, and Tanya appear to his side.

"Stella, secure the perimeter. This is likely a mass teleportation of some kind, as you said, and since you all appeared near each other at a range of at least a half a kilometer difference, the others should've also appeared elsewhere."

"Myria, take the east. Tanya, take the west. If you find Lea and Mira, tell them to take north and south respectively. Defend the area until we can secure all our people."

"What about Evelynn, Shirley, and Isabella? Were they also teleported here?"

Davis clenched his fists, "I don't know… I hope they're still in the Candidacy or somewhere here…"

He trembled, looking like he could go crazy.

"No," Tanya uttered, "I was still watching the projection, and Shirley and Isabella disappeared from the place where they stood right after Crystia and Hirona disappeared. I think they're no longer in the Candidacy, just like us who were teleported…"

"What…?"

*Whoosh!~*

Yotan emerged from the distance.

"Legion Master, Threelotus has found your family, and the remnants of the Reaper Soul Legion have all connected through our indispensable formations. We're returning back to this point right now…!"

"…"

At the same time, Mingzhi also shot towards them from a distance, finally appearing before them.

"Davis, this is ridiculous. Right before I came here, I managed to hear that many people from the First Haven World started disappearing because one of my expert informants witnessed the people he was working with in a city disappear, including other normal people, one by one or en masse!"

"…"

Davis's brows were deeply furrowed.

He had been thinking the World Master had kicked him and his family out for some kind of reason. He was prepared for it and thought it would happen sooner or later, so he was able to regroup as planned.

Yotan was able to quickly reunite all the members of the Reaper Soul Legion, and his family, including the others, were also being found one by one.

However, he didn't think the denizens of the First Haven World were also being kicked out.

He couldn't help but think something was deeply wrong when his eyes suddenly widened the next second as he remembered the mourning sensation that he sensed from the heaven and earth energy as though it had lost something precious, similar to how the heaven and earth energy here was vehemently refusing to become one with him as though he was cancer.

"It can't be…" He uttered, appearing unsure.

However, Myria pursed her lips, "It is possible. In fact, if everyone is being teleported out of the First Haven World to the true immortal world, then I can't think of any reason other than the World Master has reached her… end."

"…"

"It is possible the Candidacy is over… without nearing its end."

Davis and everyone who heard Myria's words trembled greatly. The two of them even thought back to the last conversation they had with the World Master, feeling a sense of sadness and dread envelop them.

Davis's clenched fists created an incredible sense of pressure around them, but he eventually relaxed.

"Quick, find everyone. Stella, prioritize looking for the aura of Evelynn, Isabella, and Shirley. They couldn't be far… shouldn't be far…"

Davis shuddered as his words became meek, as though he was convincing himself.

He couldn't sense Evelynn. If she was near, then he should be able to sense the sight they shared through the hex she implanted in him, but he could sense no such thing, making him irked beyond comparison. However, he didn't give up hope.

Stella was a Level Seven Immortal Emperor.

Her range was far more than he could sense in this unknown space!