CHAPTER 920: AZZY MEETS TIME VARIANT AZRAEL

Tempus went on explaining, carrying a hint of anger in its tone, "Znuvo is a time beast which travels through timelines and realities as it wishes. It creates fractures, births branches of unstable realities, as it wishes, giving the guardians of time a huge headache. It is your greatest enemy, as it is impossible to kill it. The only way to kill it is when you become the god of time, as that’s when you have control over time that you can reject its time travel altogether...":

Azzy’s expression hardened at that. "My greatest enemy, huh..." he murmured under his breath.

Azzy looked down at the dying devil, whose demonic essence was almost gone, his body half-consumed by the skeletal hands. After thinking a bit, he lowered his scythe slowly, gazing at the devil, "I won’t erase your existence, demon. I want to speak to the host. Return to your mindscape and bring him out."

The devil’s lips curled into a faint smirk despite the damage done to its host’s body, the loss of a significant amount of life force... "Heh... how merciful. But then again, it’s not that you won’t erase my existence. It’s that you won’t be able to... not when you see who my host is."

Azzy’s brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

The devil gave no answer — only raised his hand, the last shred of demonic energy disappearing back into the mindscape with his consciousness.

Fwoom.

As the body shifted to human, an unconscious seventeen-year-old boy, Azzy’s face froze. His eyes widened in quiet disbelief.

"Azrael?" he whispered.

The desert wind seemed to hold its breath. For a few long seconds, Azzy just stared, caught between realization and dread. "Now I get why he said that..." he thought.

Everything made sense now of how he felt this demon’s soul energy is so familiar; it was Vajra’s lightning that he was feeling.

"This isn’t a coincidence, as this demon thinks," he muttered under his breath. "This is... a side effect of the merge."

However, what’s strange was that when Azzy knelt beside the boy and placed a hand gently on his chest, he sensed that there was no trace of death energy — no sign of reaper essence inside this Azrael at all. That means this Azrael isn’t chosen by the Reaper. He was chosen by corrupted Protos Vajra and the Devil.

Azzy’s eyes hardened. "His soul orb... It’s already tainted."

He focused deeper — beyond the physical vessel, into the structure of the soul itself. What he found made his stomach twist: Azrael’s soul and the devil’s were entwined too much to the point that he wasn’t confident that he could separate one without tearing the other apart.

Azzy whispered to himself, clenching his fists. "To destroy him... would be to destroy me. No wonder he was so confident... But he forgot that there is no such thing as absolute in this world. If there is a problem, there must be a solution too."

He straightened slowly, exhaling. He looked down at the unconscious Azrael. "Let’s take him home and decide later."

A pulse of death energy gathered at his palm. From it, an energy arm extended. It slipped beneath the boy’s back and lifted him gently, carrying him like a sleeping child.

Azzy turned toward the horizon and began to rise before flying away.

Meanwhile, inside Azrael’s Mindscape.

A vast black sea stretched beneath a fractured sky. Black lightning strikes kept on striking the waters.

There, the devil was seen floating mid-air and watching the scene that happened outside like on a TV screen. Well, well..." he chuckled. His voice was smooth now, calm, no longer desperate. "You’re even more sentimental than I thought, brother."

He paced slowly, the black water rippling beneath his feet.

"I thought you’d spare the host — perhaps even trap me again. But to carry him to your home..." He chuckled darkly. "You turned out to be a fool who is too overconfident in your own strength. You’re bringing him to the very place he wanted to destroy."

The devil’s grin widened before laughing aloud, which reverberated all over the place. "Alright... since you seemed stronger, then, I won’t deal with you by myself. Instead, I will use Azrael. All I need is time. And perhaps... a little friendship. Instead of possessing him, I will have to lend my power. And when that day comes, your home will be the first to burn before I turn my gaze toward Elysia. What I couldn’t do in my reality, I will accomplish in this reality."

*

Sometime later;

Tower of Abel, Canaan City, Arcana World;

Inside the tower master’s office, Gideon, the Tower Master, sat hunched over a pile of thick tomes. His long black hair brushed the parchment as he flipped through them.

Then — Knock. Knock.

His eyebrows twitched. Without looking up, he said, "Enter."

The door creaked open, and his assistant, a young mage in uniform, stepped inside with a polite bow.

"Tower Master Gideon," the assistant said, "a visitor is here to see you. She says her name is Kate of the Moreau Family."

Gideon froze mid-page, blinking in surprise. "Kate Moreau...?"

"Yes, Master."

He closed the book and gestured lazily toward the door. "Send her in."

The assistant bowed and disappeared, and moments later, soft footsteps echoed from the hall.

A young woman entered the chamber. Her golden hair shimmered like sunlight under the mana lamps, and though her aura was faint — only about Rank-5 — she carried herself with the confidence of someone born to old bloodlines.

"Uncle Gideon!" she called cheerfully, her voice light and melodic as she scurried forward in excitement.

Before the old man could react, she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him in a sudden hug.

Gideon blinked, caught off guard, then chuckled softly, patting her on the head. "Still as energetic as ever..."

He leaned back slightly, studying her while grabbing her face. "But you didn’t send any message of your arrival. What brings you here so suddenly? Don’t tell me it’s another secret mission from your mother?"

He squinted. "Or perhaps you came here to see Aries? If that’s the case, I’m afraid you’re too late... he’s away on a mission right now."

Kate giggled softly and waved her hand. "No, Uncle. I’m not here for Aries this time."

"Oh?" Gideon tilted his head, intrigued.

"I came to borrow someone."

Gideon arched a brow. "Borrow... someone?"

She nodded, taking a few steps closer to his desk. "Yes. I need to borrow one of your experts for bodyguard duty for just three days."

Gideon gave her a long, curious look. "You, borrowing a bodyguard from me?" He chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "Kate, your family has several Rank-7s and even Rank-8s. And if it’s just three days, you can easily hire someone from the guilds on Gaia."

Kate shook her head before he could finish. "No, Uncle. This isn’t a normal outing."

Her voice softened, her usual playfulness replaced by quiet seriousness. "It’s a secret auction in Ashenford City. I’ll be attending with my fiancé... and we can’t bring our usual guards. The fewer people who know, the better. If we appear with a Moreau escort, every eye will turn toward us."

Gideon rubbed his chin. "Hmm. A secret auction, you say?"

Kate nodded. "Yes. And I need someone trustworthy — someone who won’t hesitate to offend anyone if the situation turns ugly. Someone who’ll do the right thing."

Her blue eyes looked up at him, full of quiet conviction. "That’s why I came here, Uncle. To borrow your disciple."

Gideon blinked in mild surprise. "You mean... Orion?"

Kate clasped her hands together and smiled sweetly, rocking on her heels like a child trying to win a favor. "Please, Uncle Gideon. Just three days. I promise I’ll return him in one piece."

Gideon let out a long sigh through his nose, though the corners of his mouth twitched upward.

"You haven’t changed a bit," he muttered. "Still knowing how to disarm people with a smile."

She giggled softly. "So... you’ll let me?"

He chuckled again, shaking his head. "You know I can’t say no to you, Kate. Fine, fine."

He stood from his chair, stretching slightly before motioning toward the door. "Follow me. Orion should be finishing his morning training by now."

Kate clapped her hands together, beaming. "Thank you, Uncle!"

"Why do I feel like," he muttered under his breath, "this ’three-day guard job’ is going to cause me at least three weeks’ worth of headaches..."

Kate just smiled innocently beside him, the faint sound of her laughter echoing through the halls of the Tower.

Meanwhile, on the 21st floor of the Tower of Abel, the Hall of Ziz;

BOOM!

A shockwave erupted from the clash of two forces. At the center stood Orion, shirtless. Around him floated a thousand spectral arms attached to a vast Buddha-like avatar

Across from him hovered the Ziz — the colossal guardian of the Tower, a divine beast shaped like a magnificent albatross.