His reminiscence was short lived, interrupted by an awful monotonic voice that bored him to death. 

“Ylipeste is growing envious of Kaufernis’ civil upkeep of their Realm. They recently changed the rules for souls to bypass their Gate, and it’s almost impossible for newly judged souls to meet their requirements to enter their Realm, to the point it's been closed shut for everyone. They’ve started to push their idea of perfectionism in pure ‘goodness’ within souls, and any form of imperfection is seen as a ‘sin’, or a ‘defect’, basically,” the golden hat individual said with their lips pursed. Their full attention turned to the cup of tea that they’d been stirring for the past couple of minutes, with clouds of steam no longer arising from it. “On top of all this, there’s a much more alarming matter at hand. A blight is spreading across the Realm, tarnishing and stripping souls of their purity. It’s been rumoured by the Council that these new changes to the Ylipesten Judgement system have caused these cases to surge significantly. It’s uncertain as to how the blight came to be, and it’s starting to get to a point that it can’t be contained as securely.”

Renatus began counting his fingers out of boredom. He could’ve been working out right now, preparing for his next street brawl in the back alley of a local pub. “And…how does this blight affect the superiority-complex riddled angels in Ylipeste, exactly? Can’t they just open the Gate? Problem solved.”

“If it were that simple, then we wouldn’t have called you here. We assume that its closure may be related to the blight. That said, we don’t have too much knowledge just yet, except for the known observations of angels turning insane and turning against each other for no reason. There was a case of cannibalism, but we’re unsure if it’s related just yet,” the winged being said, exposing one of their many eyes beneath the left wing that covered their face. Their irises were a dull stormy blue, and a small bell adorned on their shoulder pads chimed with their subtle movements. “We suspect that these impurity factors may have already existed within these angels that Godric created since these observations have only been seen in angels, and not regular souls just yet. We also suspect that this may turn into a serious issue if not taken care of immediately.”

“We don’t have a Death Dealer to do this for us, and you’re really the only one who can resolve these issues for us,” the bearded man interrupted, impatiently slamming his fist against the bench as the wood split underneath, making the golden hat individual grumble after subsequently causing them to spill a bit of their tea onto their suit.

“The missing Death Dealer is allegedly part of this whole mess, since they’re the only one capable of extracting the source of the impurity to begin with.”

Silence filled the Audience Chamber as Renatus returned a dumbfounded expression from across the room in an attempt to ease the soreness of his neck. He had considered taller heels for dealing with situations like these, but it’d only make them more impractical if he were to gain any more height, especially given that he’d just grown accustomed to them for the purposes of mastering his stealth abilities.

“Is... it even worth telling him this information?” the golden hat being whispered to their colleagues, though it was loud enough for Renatus to hear from the opposite end of the room given how the echoes bounced from the high walls.

“We’ve already received numerous complaints from His Worship of Kaufernis. It’s given us more work as well, since so many souls are left unjudged right now. They can’t all go to Kaufernis. Speaking of which, this blight situation seems to have created a new pocket Realm in between Ylipeste and Kaufernis, which is now referred to as ‘The Middle Ground’,” the winged individual calmly continued, though the wings covering their face became restless and occasionally twitch as they spoke. “We want you to cooperate with us and help us figure out what’s causing the blight, and to destroy it if you’re able. The disturbance it’s causing in the Realms is too great to leave unnoticed, and we’ve just received reports of souls starting to decay and rot as if they’re facing death, all without the Death Dealer doing so. Death without the Death Dealer, what have the Realms come to...”

“I still don’t see what’s in it for me though. This seems like it only benefits you guys,” Renatus firmly replied with furrowed eyebrows, his arms folded as his wings extended in annoyance.

He wished he had the luxury of being taken seriously whilst donning his mismatched pair of wings, as it had always brought him unwarranted attention from those in the Underworld due to their deep-rooted hatred for the angels, and vice versa. He was unwanted everywhere by everyone, with the exception being the Lord of Kaufernis who adopted him into his small, close knitted family consisting of Alyse and Rhys - the only people in his life whom he would ever dare lower his guard around.

“We are desperate, Renatus - you’re the only being who can travel between the Kauferni and Ylipesten boundaries due to your angel background-”

“And now me being an angel is suddenly convenient for you, after years of disdain, neglect and abuse, left unheard and dismissed by you guys. What a blessing it is, to be an angel,” he snapped. 

Of course. It always comes back to this.

“Renatus, listen to us-”

“It just sounds like you’re just trying to force me into doing your dirty work as the new Death Dealer,” he growled. 

The brief silence made in unison resonated loud and clear. They'd been desperate for a scapegoat to do all their dirty work and were prepared to dispose of them once their trivial matters were settled, and for other certain uses that Renatus refused to think about. They had already asked him informally on several occasions to take care of some assassination work on some political heads, to which he’d ignored every single request - not until the day it was Godric’s turn. He already knew that they’d been trying to ease him into such a role for years - a handle that no one wanted to take on. The Death Dealer’s sole purpose was to get rid of unnatural disorders across all the Realms through the essence of death, maintaining a sense of balance and peace for all living things.

However, after the previous Death Dealer had fulfilled their final duty and entered into eternal slumber, the next handler in line never rose to take over their duties, ensuing chaos for the Higher Authority due to their heavy reliance on their work.

Considering how they dismissed his desperate pleas to deal with Godric in the past with the blunt reasoning that “life is just miserable for some”, he felt no sympathy for their selfishness - in fact, the very thought irked him, feeling his anger surge and boil in his blood as he felt the scars that defiled his body stung. The scar over his right eye burned in hellish wrath, and his fingernails dug into the balls of his fists as he trembled with fury.

They should’ve been very thankful that he wasn’t carrying his blades, or else things would’ve quickly turned into a bloodbath. But then again, cracking their skulls against the pristine marble pillars and impaling their bodies into the sharp flagpoles behind them didn’t sound like such a terrible idea either.

The Audience Chamber trembled as the heavy doors suddenly threw open, and a thunderous laugh that radiated a strong heartiness to it further shook the high marble walls, with a golden figure trailing them in the distance.

“He’s right, you know. Death Dealer this, Death Dealer that... You yourselves know that you’re going to need a lot more than that to deal with my brother.”