Reborn

"Looks like it's time to go"

The old man said looking at Azreal with his usual gentle smile on his face.

"Where are we going?"

Even though he didn't know what was going on or what these people wanted, when he watched the town being consumed by flames, all his previous confusion was momentarily suppressed by the joy he was feeling from seeing them die such a horrible deaths.

This was the town that his father had sacrificed himself for, the town that refused to help his mother when she was dying, this was the town that killed him!

The joy he was feeling right now couldn't be expressed with mere words.

He truly believed that If he were to feel any sadness or remorse for their deaths, then he would truly be dishonoring his parents' memory.

So seeing this outcome made him quite happy, If it didn't happen to them today then so long as he was able, he would make them meet the same fate regardless.

After finishing the task entrusted to him, Enron returned to the old man's side.

Right as the old man was ready to depart something off into the distance caught his attention, A great white owl.

Seeing the owl still hovering around the burning town the old man pretty much confirm what he had been thinking; it's watching them.

Letting off a disdainful snort and raising his hand in the direction of the owl, his sleeve started to move on its own, shifting and swaying without any wind as if it was alive, as if it was trying to separate from him, two ink black lumps formed from his sleeve, transforming in crows with blood red eyes.

Once they were formed the crows shot off into the distance towards the great white owl without a moment's hesitation.

Flying parallel to each other the crows used their claws to dig deep into each of owls wings, dyeing the once pure white wings red, the owl tried to struggle free but the crows refuse to give the owl a chance to escape.

Each crow with their claws still firmly planted into its wings flew into opposite directions ripping the owl in half within seconds of them being summoned.

After completing their tasks they flew back into old man's sleeve, once his clothing had settled down the old man finally answered Azreal.

"Home"

Before he could register what he'd just seen, a portal opened up in front of him and a hand gently pushed him from behind.

....

By the time they had crossed the portal, Azreal had already lost consciousness, maybe it was because it was his first time traveling across space or because he was genuinely tired from all the traumatic events happening one after another.

"What happens now?"

Enron asked while looking at the passed out young man on the ground.

The old man didn't immediately answer instead he walked towards Azreal, picked him up off the ground and walked him in the direction of an empty bedroom.

"To be frank, It doesn't really matter what happens next but I don't believe that that's really what you wanted to ask."

Walking behind the old man, Enron asked that he really wanted to

"What about when the council calls a meeting?"

Hearing Enron's question the old man couldn't stop himself bursting out into a fit of laughter almost dropping Azreal in the process.

"Enron, are you afraid?"

The old man asked teasingly but didn't give him a chance to reply, the old man's face turned serious before he spoke again.

"They've already called a meeting..... I know you like to be careful, making necessary preparations in everything you do and so I understand your concern, but this is one of those times where you'll have to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, besides, only a fool would try to make me their enemy"

At the end of the hallway, they arrived at an empty bedroom, the old man walked in and placed Azreal on the bed covering him in what looked like animal fur.

After covering him up they walked out of the room.

"In any case, what's more, important right now is that the strength of his soul and the shell is incompatible, if he were to continue staying here the shell would eventually be destroyed and him doing magic or summoning divine energy would only speed up that process exponentially"

The reason why the old man referred to Azreal's body as a shell was because that's all it was, a shell to protect his soul.

When Enron had gone to retrieve him he was disinclined to bring his body because of the condition it was in, he instead chose to only take his soul and place it within a shell.

The shell would take whatever form of the body the soul previously inhibited.

To get a new and proper body, there were only two ways to solve the problem: the first which was the easiest way was to create a new vessel that matched the strength and characteristics of the soul, This way was good as it would be easier for the body and soul to synchronize but the only ones who could create new vessels like this were the elves and they didn't really like him.

No, to be more accurate they hated him with every fiber of their being.

The second way was to allow the soul to recreate a vessel for itself, this process took more time and energy but the time could be sped up if they found a place of high energy.

In order to do this, they would first need to remove the soul from its shell then place it in an environment, naturally formed or artificially, where it could constantly absorb energy to recreate its vessel, though the amount of energy required would be astronomical that wasn't really a problem.

The problem was how the energy would affect the soul and in turn the mind.

For example, if they were to put Azreal's soul in an environment with pure dark energy, once Azreal reformed his personality would lean toward darkness, hate, slaughter and things of that sort.

If they chose to use a purer form of energy then the opposite would happen and in the eyes of Enron and the old man that would be far worst.

If they were to choose a balanced combination that leaned more towards darker energy then that would be ideal, but once again the difficulty would rise.

The energy would need to be in constant equilibrium or they would start to reject each other and lash out, untimely leading to the souls' destruction.

Thinking up to this point the old man stopped, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"When I get back, I'll make a decision, for now, I have to go to this meeting"

After saying that, he opened a portal and stepped through, his body transforming as he moved.

.....

In an enormous hall made completely out of jade was a huge table with four people sitting around it.

Going around the table was a middle-aged man that looked to be in his thirties, an old man that looked like he'd drop dead at any moment, a young man that looked like he wasn't even eighteen years old as yet, an elf woman that words would fail to describe the beauty of, and one empty seat.

The odd thing about the meeting was that no one was speaking.

Finally unable to take it any more the old man sitting around the table broke the silence.

"We've all gathered here upon your request my liege, what is the purpose of this meeting?"

"Not everyone is here as yet"

When the man in his thirties said that almost everyone simultaneously looked towards the empty seat, the youngest of the group only gave an indifferent glance and nothing more while the only woman among them had a face of complete disgust and hatred while the old man was completely surprised.

"My lord you must be joking! Lord Death hasn't attended a council meeting in eons, I-"

"Brother!"

Cutting off the elderly man, the man at the head of the table spoke with a voice beaming with joy.