My Soul card is a Reaper

A while later;

Ruins of Io's fortress, Forbidden Region;

The gate of the fortress opened with a loud bang as Azzy kicked it like a brute, upon realizing that the opponent he wanted to challenge didn't come out to fight him or greet him at even.

Azzy made his way to the throne room, where he sensed the presence of his deemed opponent.

Inside, seated on a throne of scorched marble, sat Argus, the many-eyed titan, skin pale as bone, each of his eyes closed… until one opened.

Then two.

Then ten.

Then all hundred.

As he rose from his seat, Azzy observed him. Previously, he didn't observe his eyes much. He only took it as he had 100 eyes, and yes, he looked uglier than even a monster.

But now, after entering the demigod realm, Azzy didn't even need to activate the Eyes of God soul skill to see through him. He could see a certain type of seal there on the rest of 98 eyes over his body. Only his primary two eyes seemed unrestricted.

Argus' soul realm was also restricted to peak-demigod realm, but his real strength had surpassed it.

This caused excitement in Azzy's heart as he felt he would be able to enjoy this battle today.

Azzy walked forward without hesitation.

He then took something from his storage card, a long sword. Plain-hilted, still sharp. He casually tossed it toward him.

Argus caught it reflexively.

"I never used it, though," Azzy said softly, walking forward, reaching the center of the room. "Not that it would be helpful to me.

Argus finally opened his mouth as he caressed the blade of his sword, which had been with him for thousands of years but was taken away by this brat in their last battle. He looked like he had quite an attachment to the sword, even though it was only a mythril-made sword with mediocre runes carved upon its blade. Its grade isn't that high.

"Why have you come again, Azrael Garcia?" He asked.

Azzy looked him in the eye and smirked. "For two things. One, to test my strength. Two, take away your freedom."

"Hmm?" Argus frowned at his declaration. "You are certainly a lot stronger than last time. I underestimated you and lost back then. This time, you won't be that lucky. Leave before you regret."

Without another word, the floor cracked as Azzy launched forward, his speed breaking the silence like thunder. Argus responded with a single raised arm, trying to block the blow.

However, just before they were about to clash, Azzy's body was suddenly enveloped by black sparks of lightning, and his fist turned into a blur.

Argus was taken aback by the sudden change and instantly used his divine perception ability from his left primary eye. It clearly showed Azzy's fist in slow motion.

The fist bypassed his hand and was going straight to the face.

Unfortunately, his body couldn't keep the same speed. Before he could try to dodge, the punch struck his face.

*Boom*

A heavy sonic boom was heard in the surroundings before Argus was sent crashing through the fortress wall and into the cliffside beyond.

When the smoke cleared, he lay there, chest heaving, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.

Azzy disappeared and reappeared at the spot where Argus was lying down.

Azzy stood tall over him.

"I think I used about 30% strength into the punch, Argus," he said plainly, looking down at him. "So, are you going to yield, Argus? Or should I go ahead and kill you, turning you into my undead soldier instead?" In order to threaten him even more, Azzy conjured primordial death force, extracted from his death energy. "What's it going to be, Argus? Will you yield or die? If you yield, you and Io will come to our Death Clan and stay there as our clan guardians, protecting the humans from anything that threatens their survival. It's like you are going to shift from one prison to another. There won't be many changes, except that you cannot protect only Io anymore. And when I enter the god realm, I will also release those seals on your eyes. That is a promise I can give you."

Argus struggled to his feet and slowly got up. The injuries were healed by extreme regeneration.

Seeing that, Azzy spoke before Argus even replied to his proposal. "If you have the intention to fight, then my next attack won't be held back by the way."

Argus replied. "I'm a servant of Goddess Hera. Atleast I used to be. We made a deal with the guardian god to stay hidden in this Arcana world, where the authority of the Olympians doesn't reach. If we go outside, our location will be exposed, and you cannot protect Io when executioners arrive. Hence, trying to kill me will serve you better, Azrael. And of course, if you plan to do that, I will forcefully break the seal and will destroy this entire world with me, along. The best way for you is to leave us alone. We don't have any personal enmity, anyway."

Azzy furrowed his brows. He could see that Argus was serious and determined to do it. Azzy knew that there were thousands of Arcana masters in this world at the moment, and if he had to prevent it, he needed to deliver a decisive strike.

As Argus said, they don't have any personal enmity. If he goes ahead and kills him, that will just make him a power-hungry bastard.

After thinking a bit, Azzy took a deep breath and said, reaching out his hand. "Alright, you don't have to exist in this dimension that guardian god had created. Even in that scenario, will you still serve me and my clan as the guardian? Make the oath of soul."

Argus stared at the hand for a while. Before his eyes closed one by one. His expression softened, and he fell to one knee.

Then, his voice echoed in the surroundings.

"I, Argus Panoptes of the Hundred Eyes, oath-bound under heaven and earth, swear upon my soul to guard the clan belonging to Azrael Garcia. Until my final breath. Until my eyes see no more, provided that I don't move away from my home against my own will."

A celestial sigil burned onto his palm as soon as he finished the oath.

Azzy turned his back and looked out toward the horizon. "I got the protector. Now, if I understand how this dimension barrier works, I can do the same for the Death Clan, too, and give confidence to Argus to shift his home. This barrier is quite special. The sky isn't false. The sunlight isn't false. It's like this planet exists in the solar system at the same time, it isn't. Hmm… I gotta study this…"

Leaving Argus back there to his own devices, Azzy flew into the sky at his max speed. He flew to the edge of the stratosphere, where the sky turned black. As a demigod, he was perfectly fine even in those thin atmospheric surroundings. It was then that something suddenly clicked inside his head. "What the… this planet actually doesn't have a night sky. I can only see the sun. Hmm…By the way, why is the sun reddish? Shouldn't it be white in space? This…"