My Soul card is a Reaper

Six Hours earlier;

The event at the Arena was completed and Azzy was on his way to the palace.

He was with his family, alongside Qridus, on the flying card.

Looking down at the crowd rooted in their places and having their gaze upon their clan head filled with awe, fear, and respect, Qridus couldn't help but let out a smile and comment as he patted Azzy's shoulder, "Look at them. Whether it is that move of yours against the Night Clan's invincible formation or your decision to build a home for the exiled clan members who are willing to repent, your clansmen surely look forward to the future you build for them."

"Future, huh?"

Qridus' words brought a desire in Azzy's heart and he asked the Reaper to help him see the future.

However, the Reaper firmly rejected it, stating that the future is just one of the possibilities that change with every decision of his in the present. There is a good future and there is also a bad future. And if he wants to fulfill his curiosity, he can see it through his hourglass.

Azzy summoned his hourglass and unleashed the soul skill, "Precognition," which sees the random future of the target, although it is the one with the highest probability based on the current events.

His surroundings changed.

He was standing in the middle of the street filled with dead bodies.

"Kekekeke" "hahahaha" .net

Crazy and hysterical laughter could be heard all around as Blood Clan members having pointy ears, pale faces, fangs, and some with wings too, were causing chaos everywhere.

The Garcia Palace also seemed damaged from far away.

Before Azzy gets out of his trance, his surroundings change back to normal. He returned to the reality.

"Azzy…" "Azzy…"

"Ah, yes, Mom?"

"What happened? Why are you suddenly sweating?" Izora asked in worry. Qridus, on the other hand, saw the hourglass. "Hmm…" He fell into deep thinking.

Azzy dismissed the hourglass and stayed silent all the way to the palace, thinking about the future he saw.

Back to the present, Azzy was on the terrace of the palace and busy in deep thought. "No matter what, I can't let them stay in this clan. It is quite possible this event will happen in my absence. If I can just abandon my wish to meet Claire and just move on, everything will just be fine. But, I can't just, for some reason. No, even if I move on, I can't just stay in the clan forever. What if this event happens far in the future and not the immediate one? Perhaps, should I travel far into the future and check in the Book of Death for the historical record, whether it happened or not?"

The Reaper's voice echoed in his head right then, "The Book of Death from the present won't show beyond its timeline, Azrael. You have to find the Book of Death of that future timeline to check out the events. But, is there any point in worrying about the future that didn't happen?"

"What if this decision of mine caused that event instead?" Azzy displayed his concern, "After all, separating them from our clan will generate hatred. I'm just not so sure anymore."

"That is the burden you have to carry, Azrael." The Reaper replied, "When you enter the demigod realm and become the guardian of the timeline, you will have the knowledge of all the events that will happen in the future. Then, you will defeat Thanatos with that knowledge of the future and succeed him as the new God of Death. You will know who dies when, and you will have the power to deliver to that person, too. Imagine the burden you have to carry on later. You must get used to these little things and move on."

"Why should I have to?" Azzy was frustrated by the Reaper's words even more. The conflict in his heart didn't reduce a bit.

It was then the spirit of the clan founder's voice heard in his head, "You must have heard this saying before. With great power comes a great responsibility. Imagine how much responsibility you are going to have for possessing a power that is impossible for a normal human to ever achieve. So, yeah, I agree with Tezka… I mean Chronos. Too bad that he can't hear me though."

The following day, early in the morning, Azzy was woken up by a servant of the family.

"Ugh…"

Letting out a groan, feeling stiff on his back after sleeping on the terrace, Azzy asked the servant, "What is it? Wake up hours already?"

The servant nodded like a robot, "Ye… Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize… but, there is a situation."

"It's alright…" Azzy slowly got up, "what is it?"

The servant answered, "Lord Crescent, Lord Smoke, and Lord Silver are here."

"The clan leaders?" Azzy's eyes widened.

The servant nodded, "Yes. They are waiting for you at the Throne Hall."

"Must be here to shield Blood Clan again," mumbled Azzy before jumping down to the ground.

As he entered the throne hall, not bothered to wash himself or anything for meeting them, Azzy saw three of them standing together with serious-looking faces. Ares Silver had some sort of scroll in his hand.

"What is it?" Azzy asked, walking toward the throne.

As Harvard nudged Ares, but the latter didn't budge a bit, Gredor Crescent took a deep breath, snatched the scroll from Ares, and stepped forward, "This is a formal petition from Crescent, Silver, and Smoke Clans after an intense discussion with our respective elders."

Azzy didn't take a look at him or the scroll and calmly climbed the steps, sitting on the throne, "Even if you bring a petition from the remaining two clans also, my decision won't change. The Blood Clan must either leave or sacrifice their autonomy."

Gredor tightly gripped the scroll and said, "The Blood Clan has been a loyal subject to the throne for more than fifty thousand years, and they have protected our clans many times. If they leave and then if Your Majesty also leaves the clan to go on a journey, the Death Clan will be subjected to the threats. Hence, we have come to a decision that if Blood Clan leaves, our three clans will leave with them."

"Hmm…" Azzy frowned at the words he heard from Gredor, "What did you say?"

As Gredor stepped back in a bit of panic, Harvard Smoke patted Gredor's shoulders and spoke, "We apologize, but we are representing more than 4/5ths of the population here. If His Majesty is not interested in listening to the will of his people, we have no other choice but to make a new home elsewhere. After all, you are tremendously strong and even if we united, we would never be able to convince you with force."

Ares, too, steeled his mind and stepped forward, although not intending to look directly at Azzy, as he spoke, "Our Silver Clan is heavily debted to Blood Clan. We cannot abandon them."

Azzy intently stared at them for a couple of seconds and then leaned back to the headrest, crossing his legs, "Hmm… I heard that Blood Clan held a banquet over the emergence of a second 9-star Arcana master, and you three are invited. And then, overnight, Clan Leader Gredor, who was supposedly at the elementary stage of 6-star rank, made two minor breakthroughs to reach the advanced stage of 7-star rank. I can also sense two additional 7-star ranks in the village too. And here I thought they returned from a mission."

He took another look at them. The three of them became silent as if they were guilty.

Five seconds of silence later, Azzy opened his mouth again, "Alright. I accept your petition. Along with the Blood Clan, your three clans can move in with them. But, since you are all voluntarily leaving on your own, you can live in Blood Clan territory or whatever. You won't be able to claim your lands."

"What!" "What!" "What!"

The three of them reacted at the same time.

Azzy freed his legs and leaned to the edge of the throne, resting his arms on his knees as he coldly gazed at them, "Hand me the petition. Your wish be considered granted. I'll make the announcement right away. After all, I respect the freedom of choice. But, please do remember that you don't own the people even if they bear your clan surname. You can take away as many people as you want, as long as they are willing to follow you guys."