My Soul card is a Reaper

With the invading death energy blocking his automatic recovery from soul energy, Qridus wasn't healed for a few seconds until he forcibly used his soul energy to push out the death energy as well as Vesyrn.

Vesyrn blasted away for a few meters but managed to make a safe landing. On the other hand, Qridus healed himself and let out a satisfactory smile as he looked at his descendant.

After commenting on how long it has been since he was injured to such an extent, he praised, "I should say you are really worthy to be my successor, Vesyrn."

Vesyrn smiled in response and replied, "If it is someone worthy of the throne, it should be my son, Lord Qridus. I merely want to protect him and the clan until he was ready."

"Well, I guess so." Qridus shrugged his shoulders, agreeing with Vesyrn as he never saw any other kid who has more potential than Azzy. But still, at the moment, Vesyrn is more important. He explained, "Time is of the essence. There is a war coming up and I need to make preparations. In my absence, you might have to look after the clan as the acting monarch.

Hence, you shouldn't shy away from displaying your full power in the upcoming battle. Your victory should be so convincing to the pavilion masters/elders of the clan and the sub-clan leaders that they wouldn't dare to scheme behind your back."

"I understand." Vesyrn nodded seriously.

The match was finished and the Garcia family started their journey back to their clan village.

On the way, Azzy questioned his ancestor about how they planned on explaining his mother's 30th-week pregnancy when they have barely gone for a month.

In response, Qridus glanced at Izora, who hung her head in shame. But then again, neither of them could be blamed. The husband and wife were alone in a space for all year and it wouldn't be surprising if such an accident happens.

Anyways, they cannot undo what happened. Since they cannot reveal the existence of the time chamber, they had to make up some excuse for the rest of the clan.

Azzy wondered what they were gonna answer, hoping that they would have already prepared but not expecting them to throw him under the bus instead.

Grabbing his shoulder, Vesyrn spoke in a soft tone, "King Lucas doesn't want us to reveal the existence of their elemental towers and Lord Qridus doesn't want the clan members to think that he was too partial. So, we can only depend on you, son."

"Me?" Azzy blinked his eyes threw as he pointed at himself.

Qridus then spoke, "Once your father wins the battle, we will announce the existence of the Hourglass Arcana and your ability to control time. Combined with the death scythe and your name, people will just really believe that you are the reincarnation of our founder. It will also be helpful to keep the sub-clan leaders and the pavilion masters on our side."

"What?" Azzy was stunned for a second. "But, that will directly paint a target on my back."

Qridus then looked at him and said, "Don't worry. As long as you don't leave the clan, you will be fine. I will also equip you with enough life-saving treasures that only a demigod would be able to hurt you. And once I make a breakthrough, no force in this world would even think hundred times before targeting you."

Azzy stayed silent for a while. One on hand, he felt so betrayed that he want to shout at his selfish parents and ancestor to stop making decisions without discussing them with him.

And on another hand, he felt like those things weren't actually too much of a problem for him to handle and that he should reject them outright.

If it was anyone else, he would have said what was on his mind but since it is his parents and the other one is his only blood relative, Azzy couldn't say it and hurt them with his words. Not to mention the fact that he has to make an important choice very soon to decide the fate of his unborn sibling.

As a result, he turned toward the Reaper for advice.

And the Reaper's suggestion was anything but ordinary. He said, "Sooner or later, the secret of your hourglass is bound to get out. So, I guess revealing it early wouldn't hurt you too much.

As for the fetus, you already knew what you had to do. Either destroy your mother's soul orb and simultaneously remove all the Protos energy away from her system or kill a person born with pure divine energy and feed the soul to your unborn sibling and make it strong enough to contain it."

Upon being reminded of the choices he was facing, Azzy threw away the matter of the hourglass from his mind and argued, "Chronos, I'm not willing to do either of them. There should be another way."

"There is actually one more method," replied the Reaper. He continued to explain, "Just tell the doctors to operate on your mom to take out the baby right away and put it in an incubator. You can then use the Gluttony seal to destroy the baby's soul orb and suck all the protos energy from it.

Later on, you can use forbidden rituals to forcefully create a soul orb and awaken an Arcana. This way, you can let your sibling have a life of an Arcana Master."

"Really?" Just as Azzy's hopes brightened up, the Reaper squashed them with a stern explanation, "but, doing so is the same as going against the laws of nature, Azrael. For the greater good, it is okay to break the laws but for selfish reasons such as attachment, if you do that, you will make an enemy out of the gods.

And despite your efforts, it will not remove the aura of death from the baby. From the moment it gets born, Death continues to chase it for eternity. The baby will not have a life filled with bliss. Instead, it will be a cursed life, unless you plan on not leaving your sibling's side for even a minute and protecting him/her for eternity.

So, learn to accept the reality, Azrael. Or else, you will pointlessly suffer. Be a bystander and let nature takes its course. This is best for everyone."