My Soul card is a Reaper

Azzy didn't understand why this battle was so easy.

Yeah, Typhon did kill Vajra, but other than that, there wasn't even much fight.

He didn't understand why a God realm beast didn't even force Azzy to bring out his Titan power at all. Moreover, he still possessed half of his soul energy reserves.

Did he really become that strong? Azzy couldn't help but wonder.

But whatever the case, he needs to proceed with the next step.

Staring at the enormous spirit core, which he couldn't even see its edges, Azzy mumbled. "Should I absorb it myself? I can raise my soul power by ten, no, even a hundred times more. But this only makes me stronger. What I need now are allies and an army. It's best to keep my original intentions intact. Since I didn't make Argus my undead general, let's make this one."

Azzy sat down in a meditative pose, floating in mid-air. His hands touched the spirit core.

Meanwhile, inside his mindscape, thousands of undead moved away in fear as a skeletal Typhon slowly formed in their midst. The current rulers, two of three supreme in these barren lands of the mindscape, Knull and Nidhoggr, still in their beast form, just lowered their backs and bowed to their new King.

It was then they saw the skeletal Typhon was enveloped by a blinding flash of light, floating into the sky and getting enveloped by a spirit cocoon.

This is a scene that the old special undead beasts had seen many times in the past. The first-ever special undead beast and third ruler, the Undead Hydra, watched it in silence. It neither bowed nor ran away. Just spectated the scene.

Roughly 3 days later, Azzy opened his eyes and sighed in relief. "Man, it took 3 days just to absorb everything and merge it into Typhon. Hmm…" Azzy's eyes couldn't help but look around. He saw everything looked as good as new, as if the traces of the battle were erased altogether.

But then he saw the hourglass and the Death Scythe were hovering around his head on their own. Lux was back in its angel form, currently standing like a bodyguard. He could also see that the cosmic jewels were all still in an activated state.

Azzy grabbed the hourglass and asked. "Did you do this?"

Instead of whizzing sand, a child-like voice escaped it. "Yes, Master."

"Eh?" Azzy was taken aback. His eyes widened in surprise.

"You can talk?" he thought they were only weapons of the Reaper, but it looks like they are genuine Arcana spirits.

The hourglass spoke. "Yes, master. For some reason, the seal on my speech function was released."

Azzy observed it, activating his Eyes of God. He couldn't find any changes. "Do you have a name? What should I call you?" Azzy couldn't help but ask.

The Hourglass replied. "Chronos called me Tempus, Master. You can call me the same."

"Tempus?" Azzy's mind whirled into thoughts, and an instant realization dawned upon him. "That Tempus?"

The last time he met his future counterpart, he met Tempus, who looked more like a pocket watch. Back then, he was told that he would meet Tempus when the time was due.

Azzy thought that Tempus was perhaps a cosmic jewel of time. But he was wrong. It was the Hourglass, all along.

He couldn't help but turn his gaze to the floating death scythe. "Do you also have a name?"

But the Death scythe didn't respond with any speech. It just gave off a dark glow that implied that it doesn't understand the order.

Azzy shook his head, turning his attention back to the hourglass. "Then, is this your form, Tempus?"

The hourglass answered. "I'm a manifestation of time, Master. I change my forms according to the will of my master. Chronos created me as an hourglass. If you wish to change my form, I can do that too, but I can do it once. After that, I can only change again for a new master's, perhaps, your next reincarnation. Only one of your past three lives changed my form. But this is my default form because of Chronos' will."

It took some time for Azzy to digest this piece of explanation. "My past selves? I have three past lives?"

The hourglass answered right away. "I don't know how many past lives you had, master. I have only been with you for three other incarnations before. I first met you as Azrael Orkney Garcia, a hundred thousand Gaia years ago. Back then, your past self asked me the same question. However, he rejected changing the form in the end, owing to his respect for Chronos. Later on, my second master, Arceus Ash Garcia, 42,000 years ago. He died before I got to talk to him. And third, your past self, Varon Silver Garcia, in his later stages, around 8500 years ago, asked me to change into a pendulum. I changed my form back then. Do you like to keep this same appearance or change my form, Master?"

"Arceus Ash Garcia, Varon Silver Garcia?" Azzy never heard those names. The name wasn't recorded in the Book of Death records either. Perhaps, they couldn't become clan heads. Only those who became the Monarch have their names and details automatically registered in the Book of Death. "But, this Varon person lived 8500 years ago. Surely, Great-grandfather would know his name, right? Unless Varon Garcia didn't live in the death clan, or he was too unimpressive to remember.

Getting up to his feet, Azzy stretched his body, "Okay, the place is selected. Let's go and meet great-grandfather and return. There's a lot to do at the clan. As for changing its appearance, let's think about it later."

A while later;

Azzy was again at the Null point, the island where Qridus and Devorah continued to meditate, training to absorb natural energy from the seas within the confined forbidden region and refining it into their soul power.

"Azrael, why are you back now?" Qridus was taken aback as soon as his eyes fell upon his descendant. Because of his soul energy self-cleansing properties, he looked as fresh as always. There was no smell from his body or his mouth, just like every other 7-star and above rank Arcana Master who lives in the wilderness. That's how they keep themselves clean.

Azzy, however, responded with a question instead of an answer. "Ancestor, have you ever heard of the name, Varon Silver Garcia? He is supposed to have lived in your times."

"Eh? Varon?" Qridus took a step back in surprise. Azzy saw his expression and asked. "Do you know him?"

Qridus asked. "Why?"

Azzy replied. "Nothing, I just got some revelation from my hourglass. It says Varon is her past user. That's why I'm curious."

Devorah curiously watched what was happening.

Qridus took a breath and replied. "He was my younger brother."

"Eh? Your brother?" Azzy blinked.

Qridus let out a deep, melancholic sigh as he turned around, his hands to the back, and his gaze to the horizon as he explained. "He was powerful, his time manipulation abilities often made the other hidden clans fear us. But, unfortunately, he was also quite sick. To cure his sickness, he sought to break through to the demigod realm, but he failed and died."

Azzy quietly bowed, "I'm sorry." He apologized, sensing sadness in this 9000 year old great-grandfather of his, who never showed such weakness in front of anyone. Anger, yes, but not sadness.

"It's alright." Qridus sighed, turning back and letting out a smile. "I'm just happy that you didn't have any sickness and grew up healthy. I was actually worried that you would fall to the strange sickness too, after all, the first ever Hourglass user, the founder, has also passed away in sickness."

"Eh? Sickness? I thought he died in battle…" Azzy blinked in wonder.

After a while, Azzy bid goodbye to Qridus and Devorah and returned home, hoping nothing significant happened at home in his missing.