Inside the mindscape of Azzy, the Reaper was looking for a way to destroy the barrier around his home.
The Reaper's connection with the soul energy has been severed while the wolf is still in slumber.
"Even if my powers are restricted because of Azrael's low soul power, within his body, within his mindscape, I'm the supreme controller. Only a true god can reduce me to a state like this.
How powerful Azrael had gotten in the future…" The supreme deity who is the personification of time and death itself couldn't believe how strong Azzy had gotten.
But then again, when he thought of the origins of the Protos energy that infected Vajra, the Reaper felt it might be possible if Azzy had complete command over it.
In the end, he was just satisfied with the outcome where the Protos energy didn't swallow up his host.
Suddenly, the barrier disappeared and the Reaper got access to the soul orb without doing anything. He found the time has been resumed and the older Azrael disappeared.
As the Reaper wanted to know what they talked about, he accessed the memory of Azzy and takes a look into it.
He couldn't help but get shocked. "This… We are already in a time loop for the twenty-fourth time? How come I never remembered meeting him before, unless…"
Realization dawned upon him. "I see. Azrael must have used the Sands of time every time to erase the kid's existence from the universe and reset the timeline. So, along with the kid, I must also have been erased and never received those memories.
But then again, the brat left with a huge mess for me. How do I deal with this, now?" The Reaper became troubled on facing Azzy who will now question him.
"Azrael…" The Reaper called him out.
"We will talk later, Chronos." All he received was a cold reply from Azzy. The Reaper could clearly see the impact on Azzy and also realized the origins of some of the potential futures where Azzy's actions don't make sense.
Meanwhile, in the pocket world, as the time resumed, everyone continued to wait for any news on the Royal Ancestor.
When there's no news, Aegis told them to wait for a while.
They waited another hour until the peak-rank-8 expert entered the pocket world and met with the bunch.
"Well, it's almost half-past ten. So, the feast has been postponed to tomorrow afternoon. And Barton, you also need to take care of the complaints from the participating academies. There's also a press conference need to be held in the early morning. It's time to dethrone the king." Aegis then mentioned how the Royal Ancestor went missing and further theorized that he might have been met with either an ambush from enemies or the old man was waiting to ambush them.
"In any case, Azrael, I suggest you stay here for tonight. General Oliver will arrange your bedding." Aegis then turned towards Affea and told her that she's also welcomed to stay in this place.
Seeing how everyone is protecting her son, Affea trusted them a little and left with Barton and others as her husband will be worrying about her too…
After a while, a cute robot in white appeared before him. It looks a bit different from the Sparring robot. It was more like the one could see serving in some restaurants.
Azzy was also familiar with such type.
"Hello, Mr. Azrael. I'm Kia, your personal assistant." As it introduced itself, the Director of the Special forces informed him that it was probably assigned by Dr. Mac."
Azzy was taken to the sleeping chambers where the cadets and the soldiers usually rest.
It was a bit too cramped with just one single bed and nothing else. There was no space to even walk but at least the bed was of king size and there was a temperature controlling system within the room. So, Azzy had no problem falling into sleep.
While his body rests, his spirit made its way to the mindscape where the Reaper was waiting for him.
Staring into his pupil's less pitch-black eyes, Azzy asked, "So, you have any explanation, Chronos?"
"I don't know why your future self had decided to spill all the secrets of time travel to you but you aren't ready to know them." The Reaper answered him calmly. He added, "I was hoping to tell you one by one."
"I will understand about the time travel but don't I at least deserve to know that you have killed the one that I spared?" Azzy for the first time roared at him as he no longer could control his emotion when his eyes fell on the Reaper.
"It was self-defense. He was going to kill you, Azrael. I did what I believed was right." The Reaper was already prepared to hear this question. However, the next countless futures show various responses of Azzy. Some are filled with rage and some are filled with understanding with respective futures.
The Reaper wanted to see what kind of possible futures will hold for Azzy.
In the next moment, the Reaper realized that he was expecting too much from Azzy as the latter once again roared at him in rage. "And I completely understand that. But, why did you have to hide it from me? You went as far as hiding the evidence. Why?"
Because Azzy trusts the Reaper the most in the world, he felt betrayed by his lies even though the latter says it was his own good.
Continuing to suppress the Protos energy, the Reaper stayed silent for a few seconds as he peeked into the possible futures.
"I see…" The Reaper realized something. Staring back at Azzy, he apologized, "I'm sorry but you are still a child. Some things are too complicated for your brain to process properly. Until then…"
The Reaper raised the death scythe and slammed it vertically onto the ground as he released the death energy from his other hand. Azzy felt the tremor below him and suddenly, his consciousness faded out and his spirit returned to the soul orb.
Staring into the empty space, the Reaper mumbled to himself, "I probably understand now why the future Azrael went against me. I think you will also hate me for this in the future, but I will not let anyone come into my way. No matter what, I will finish the thing that I wasn't able to do in your first life, Azrael. Well, it's been a long day. Sleep tight, Azrael."
Several hours later;
Azzy opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep, grabbing his head as if he was experiencing a hangover. "Ugh…"
He remembered the scenes that happened the previous day. "That's right. My future self came to me and told me the things… What did he say? The origins of the Sands of Time, then, when I become the time traveler, I should not risk traveling to the future, then, the Royal ancestor has been killed, I should join WAMO if an opportunity presented, what else… oh, that's right, I married Claire in the future. Ever since the confession, I already have trouble facing her How would I face her, now… Ugh…"
Several of his memories from the previous day were locked by the Reaper so that Azzy walks in the path that he designed because in his opinion, it is the most optimal path to become his successor and he doesn't want to wait for another reincarnation.
As soon as he stepped out of the chamber, Azzy was greeted by the serving robot.
"Good morning, Mr. Azrael. Dr. Mac would like to meet you."
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