Ace was stumped by both Thomas and the system's notification. He never expected the situation would turn out to be like this just by meeting with Thomas.
It wasn't like he had forgotten the Thief Promise he unknowingly triggered that day. But he never expected it would be triggered now of all time.
Nevertheless, by how Thomas was kneeling in front of him and his storm-like feelings of grief, pain, and hatred, he knew something had happened after he left, and it seemed to be completely changed the happy-go-lucky Thomas that he knew.
"There is no need to kneel, Brother Thomas. We are no strangers. Aren't I here to help you in the first place? Tell me what you need." Ace said with a smile before he turned back to being White.
Since the system was telling him to listen to Thomas, he mused the mission would be triggered after Thomas revealed his plight and there wasn't any danger to him as well.
However, Thomas seemed to ignore that at first completely and continued to be on his knees before he uttered, "I know you owe me nothing, especially after you saved from the fox mountain that day. But right now, only the Sky Stealer can help me. I never expected to find you like this and had already lost all hope, but it seems fate has not abandoned me.
"Since you're still calling me friend, I won't hide it from you. After you robbed the auction arena that day, the royal zone took drastic measures and investigated everyone present in that place.
"But they naturally didn't find anything, and the demon gate trial was started again after being held for almost half a year. Milly and I took part in them, which was our goal and the only way we could be free from our family and have a new start together.
"I never wanted the successor's seat of the Cheveyo Wild Demon King, just a peaceful life with her, and what could be the better place than the legendary royal zone…" At this moment, a nefarious aura suddenly started to rise from Thomas, which made Ace's eyes narrow.
"After almost dying multiple times under my own brother's hand, we both managed to pass the trial and said our goodbyes to the provinces and vowed never to look back.
"But… but only after entering the paradise of our dreams did we realize that it was actually a hell in disguise. The 1000 participants chosen from the eight provinces were nothing but sacrificial pawns in the eyes of those in the royal zones.
"We were…weren't even people in their eyes but only dogs who they wanted to train to hunt. The promised paradise was never given to us but only an empty and hoax promise under the pretext of greatness.
"Now that I think of those days when we were all excited about being so important to those high and mighty demons, I'm loathed by the fact of how foolish we all have been.
"The reality was only revealed to us when the so-called Life and Death Training began, and among us, 1000, only 100 were allowed to leave alive from that training and move to the Miasma Demon Body Program.
"From then on, we started to fight for our lives on daily bases and got the taste of the true face of our demonic lineage…" Thomas's pensive voice was extremely spooky and filled with hatred.
At this point, Ace could easily imagine what might have transpired on that life-and-death training and why Milly wasn't here—the real reason why Thomas's entire cheerful self had been changed into a vengeful demon.
But what Thomas revealed next was something even he hadn't imagined.
With an abhorred voice, he uttered, "We both were still fine since we had each other, but… but those damnable bastards targeted us for exactly that reason since they wanted cold-blooded soldiers without anything holding them back.
"S-so they set us up in the ring of life and death… I-I wanted to fight with those bastards together with her, but the damn soul contract we signed prohibited us from doing exactly that. I would've died with her or committed suicide to let her live… but that foolish woman always was too sharp for her own good!
"S-she… she took her life the moment she saw our names on the fighting list! I… I wasn't even able to react, and her bleeding corpse was lying on the floor. Yet… yet she had that lovely smile on her face, and she said two before the… her life fades away in my arm, 'Live happily….'"
Something trickled down from Thomas's mask at this moment; it was blood mixed with tears…
Ace closed his eyes as he thought about how painful it must've been for Thomas to watch the love of his life taking her own life to save him.
He couldn't help but think if that were Eva, she would've done the same without even thinking about it twice, and he would've been no different from Thomas.
Thomas hatefully continues, "I-I… I wanted to die as well. But I didn't want to waste the life she granted me after ending her own, or I was just a coward… But one thing is certain; I wanted to kill every one of those bastards who pushed us this far. They were the real reason behind what she'd done.
"That's why I followed their every order while I wanted to find a way to break free from these shackles put on me. I always thought of you about how you were able to break free from their soul contracts and fool everyone.
"You are my inspiration and the hope to achieve my goal despite all the odds against me. However, I soon realized that it was still too foolish of me to think that only the soul contract was my problem.
"The Miasma Demon Body was the actual, final nail in the coffin for all of us. This body tempering technique is an evil technique that requires us to kill and then absorb the dead's resentment until our bodies awake the Miasma Demon Bloodline.
"Once the bloodline is awake, we'll get the ability to fight under all odds, especially when we are wounded. We'll gain more power boost the more we are closer to death. The more we kill, the stronger we'll get.
"But this damnable technique has a major flaw which was told to us by that bastard minister himself, so we lose all hope in running away. Those guys have modified this technique and divided it into two parts.
"The first part we cultivate is flawed, and under five years after the start of cultivating it, we'll die of suffering if we don't get the other part…"
Ace couldn't help but be astounded by the imperial demons' divisiveness. They didn't even leave a single loophole for these guys to exploit.
Thomas then finally stated his request with a hateful yet pleading tone, "I know it's too much to ask, but if you have any way to help me get rid of this soul contract and this flawed technique's effect, I'll be eternally grateful. I'll repay your kindness after I take revenge on those in the royal zone!"
Before Ace could reply, at this moment, the system's interface changed in front of him!
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