Divine Emperor of Death

Shirley and Schleya returned to their floating island. The moment they set foot on the island, Shirley heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the air turn lighter. She was afraid that something worse would happen when she set out, but fortunately, she encountered no problem while traversing out.

"The Aurora Cloud Gate is quite safe!"

She declared as she turned to look at Schleya. The latter nodded, having the same opinion.

The patrols walked over the public spaces and even in the designated air routes... everything was protected. Almost every public island had an elder in charge, and the treasury seemed to be well-guarded. The people whom she saw may be old people, but Nadia was unable to sense anything from them, making it possible that they were peak existences within the surface of the Aurora Cloud Gate since they were standing- no, sitting guard outside.

Only the residential spaces were quite deserted, but there were plenty of formations to fill in the gap. Even now, she was shrouded by a detection formation in the southeastern part of the island. It was working well, lighting up her badge, which gave a sign of affirmation while it did the same to Schleya.

This formation was officially controlled by Yotan, the Legion Commander of the Reaper Soul Legion, so there wasn't any problem entering and exiting for her.

"Schleya... accompany me to my residence, will you?"

Shirley nodded at the near-perfect arrangements made by the Aurora Cloud Gate and the Reaper Soul Legion before she turned to look at Schleya. The latter indifferently blinked as she nodded her head.

"Sure."

"Good."

Shirley giggled and stretched out her hand, grabbing Schleya's hand. Her action caused the other party to become slightly tense, clenching her muscles as though she was going to attack but forcefully suppressed.

However, Shirley didn't worry. She knew that her reaction was from how she lived her life. She understood that it was ingrained in her to be cautious of those who try to get their hands on her.

But still, Shirley didn't take away her hand.

"Don't worry. Since you have aligned yourself with us, you will soon get your Heaven Immortal Vessel Pill."

Schleya's eyes went wide before she frowned.

"That's not... right. How can I-"

"Tch-ch~" Shirley clicked her tongue as she shook her finger, "You're one of the true disciples under my husband's jurisdiction, so how can you remain the weakest of true disciples? You must be strong enough to represent him. Although I like your style, just recklessly diving in and trading injury for injury isn't advisable. If you had enough power, even I would be afraid of facing you, so become stronger so we can have a reliable Blood Demoness amongst us."

Schleya couldn't say anything as she stared at Shirley. She couldn't tell what the other party was thinking, being so close to her, but she also felt strange. This kind of feeling, being held and given praise, didn't feel bad, causing her to give a weird smile.

Fortunately, a velvet veil blocked Shirley's view, or else she might've bullied Schleya on the spot.

Soon, Shirley arrived at the southwestern part of the island. This part was still being renovated by the workers, but she went ahead and bound the residence to herself, and with it came the functions of the land, which were the control over the formations.

Moreover, she heard from Schleya that she had shared control over the formations with Yotan. She also planned to share the control with Yotan after familiarizing herself with the formations so that the residence could be better taken care of.

"Yes!~ I finally have my own hill to stand upon. Now, all that is left is to fill two remaining spots on this island and make it completely ours! As long as we remain true disciples, we'll own a huge piece of safe land in the Aurora Cloud Gate!"

Shirley couldn't help but tremble at the implications. As soon as Eldia and Nadia became true disciples as planned, not only would they be safe from most harassment, her child Eterna and Isabella's child Celestia would be able to live carefree on this island!

She couldn't help but imagine their cuteness that gave life to the lush yet silent scenery. She was also sure that more kids would be thriving here.

Schleya glanced at Shirley and couldn't help but comment.

"I've never seen someone as cheerful as you, Princess Shirley."

"Why? Am I being too optimistic?"

"No... it's just... you're confident, articulate, and attractive... I like it."

Schleya's eyes revealed some genuine interest, appearing to want to be like Shirley.

Her words caused Shirley to become stunned, not expecting compliments from Schleya before she couldn't help but happily giggle.

"Hehe~ I have a natural charm towards women. Not only do I like being around them, gossiping all day long and playing the fool sometimes, but my imperial father said that if I was born a man, I would have most likely made them all mine and formed a harem."

"..."

Schleya blinked thrice at Shirley, staring at her before she trembled, her cheeks producing a blush.

"No... I didn't mean it that way..."

"I'm just kidding..." Shirley couldn't stop smiling.

She found that teasing Schleya also had its own taste. After all, the other party didn't seem to know what to do in this situation, most likely having taught a lesson if it were anyone else instead of her.

"Hey! Hurry up! It seems that there's another new true disciple having taken residence in the north."

"What!? Again? How come so many true disciples keep appearing in just a few days? Weren't they supposed to be super rare that only three or four get admitted each year?"

"Fool. Just drop what you're doing and hurry up. The princess of this residence seemed to be quite forgiving and good-natured, but we don't know who the new true disciple is. Don't blame me if you get kicked out because of this-"

"Wait! I'm coming!"

Shirley and Schleya both stopped smiling as they looked at each other with shock in their eyes. Their hearts fell, causing Shirley to voice out.

"It can't be..."

"There's another true disciple that has entered this island...?"

Schleya's expression also became grave. She looked like a demon that had its territory infringed, her crimson-black hair slightly lifting up as she jumped and flew towards the north.

Shirley also followed suit, wondering who was so unlucky enough to disturb their plan as her expression churned in annoyance.