Zhou Sining had never regretted anything more than he did now.
A true Emperor that fed on Magic Energy had appeared in Venice. One wrong move, and nearly half of Italy could be wiped out.
"Are you going to hit me?"
Zhou Sining stared at the humanoid creature before him, whose build was much like his own, then asked in a timid voice.
He and Burning Heaven had a Soul Contract, but it only guaranteed that either could gravely injure the other. It did not bind them to die together.
Burning Heaven rolled his eyes at him, looking utterly speechless. "If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be dead... I'm pretty angry that you took this long to feed me, but since this meal tasted good, I'll let it slide."
Burning Heaven glanced at him and added, "Relax. If you're injured, it affects my stability. If you die, it's an even heavier blow to me. I'd be right back where I started.
"And for some reason, when we signed the contract, you weren't consumed by my backlash. We skipped straight to the Compatibility Stage. At this stage, if you face a fatal blow, I'll automatically take it for you... just like every time before. The only difference is that I'm fully awake now."
"That's good, that's good. You scared me to death." Zhou Sining breathed a sigh of relief, then asked after a moment's thought, "Can I force you to obey me?"
"No." Burning Heaven crushed that fantasy without mercy. "Don't forget, every time you were about to die, I was the one who took the hit for you. In a way, I was controlling you back then."
"I could feel it." Zhou Sining did not dispute that.
"Actually, you had the most control over me when I was