User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail Chapter 490: Fairy Tail Zerø, Review/@comment-27337151-20160620181958/@comment-7418318-20160620183008

I wouldn't mind if he was actually dead, but something from within the underworld gives him a task to do in the living world and his recompensation for the task will be a few days/weeks/years/whatever of time to spend in the living world, before he's pulled back to the afterlife.

At least that way he can properly say good bye to Levy (and father the twins).