"Hey, Thomas." Calian called out in a tone that suddenly sounded very friendly. "You've already realized that my blessing can manipulate time as I please, haven't you?"
Thomas glanced at Calian with a look radiating confusion.
"If you're willing to open your mouth and tell me honestly who all the people involved in this human trafficking syndicate are, I will use my blessing to return all your family members to you, and you can be reunited with them once more."
Thomas's pupils instantly trembled violently after hearing the offer just made by the purple-haired youth.
In this world, the power, magic, or blessing to resurrect the dead was merely a bedtime fairy tale. Life and death were the absolute domain of the gods, and it sounded utterly impossible for a mortal to achieve.
However, upon seeing that the youth before him possessed a blessing capable of controlling and halting the flow of time absolutely, that sheer impossibility suddenly felt highly possible to accomplish.
Thomas, who had been feeling devastated by the deaths of all his family members, fell silent for a moment. His brain tried to weigh the consequences and risks that would occur once he revealed the secret about everyone involved.
If I expose it, I will become an enemy of the empire, and it is highly likely that I will become an assassination target for my associates in Wollen City.
He slowly turned his head, glancing back at the lifeless bodies of his wife, son, and daughter sprawled on the ground.
But, this is enough for me! My son can take my place if I am the only one sentenced to death.
Thomas immediately made a resolute decision. He chose to sacrifice everything, including his own network, for the resurrection of his entire family.
"All... all the documents..." Thomas said in a hoarse voice, trembling as he endured the pain. "All the documents regarding the network are inside a secret underground safe in my office."
Calian glared at him sharply, exerting an invisible psychological pressure. "In your office?"
Thomas nodded slowly without the slightest doubt in his eyes. "Yes. Inside my office!"
"In that case, you must accompany the two of us there right now!" Calian suggested in a casual tone that sounded as if it would brook no argument. "Show me where the safe is located. If what you are saying is indeed the truth and the documents are there, I assure you that you will be reunited with your entire family tonight."
"I am willing! I will show it to you!" Thomas replied quickly and without hesitation. Despair made him cling to that promise like a lifeline at the edge of the abyss of death.
Hearing that answer, Calian slowly stood up from his crouching position. He then walked calmly around Thomas's body, picking up the severed arms and legs of the Gias City ruler that were scattered on the grass.
One by one, Calian placed the blood-soaked body parts precisely in alignment with their respective joints.
Reversion!
Calian activated the 'Reversion' authority of his [Time Loop] blessing.
Instantly, a sight that defied the laws of nature occurred. The flow of time upon Thomas's physique was reversed at high speed. The blood pooling on the ground crawled back up into his blood vessels. The severed skin tissues, muscles, and bones knitted back together and fused perfectly.
Thomas's physical condition returned to normal in a matter of seconds, as if the brutal amputation he had suffered never happened in the first place.
Thomas took a deep breath, his eyes widening. The pain that had previously caused him agonizing suffering was now completely gone.
The man slowly raised and looked at his trembling hands. He wiggled his fingers, then tried moving his legs. Everything functioned normally.
Thomas was truly amazed and simultaneously horrified by the absolute power of the blessing the youth possessed. He no longer harbored any intention to resist.
Beside Calian, Wolvin, who stood in silence witnessing everything his husband did, could only remain quiet. Even though in his heart he did not expect his husband to actually restore Thomas's bodily condition to normal, he still chose to trust and follow whatever scenario his husband had planned.
Despite his trust, the Night Wolf youth did not lower his level of vigilance in the slightest and assumed a combat-ready stance.
He immediately took out his favorite black dagger from his dimensional storage necklace and tightly gripped its hilt in his right hand. His eyes monitored even the slightest movement from Thomas.
If this man intends to make a suspicious move, I will not hesitate to behead him before he can do anything that endangers my husband's safety!
Thomas, who slowly stood up on slightly trembling legs, looked at Calian with a gaze full of hope regarding the fate of his entire deceased family.
"Will... will you truly keep your promise?" the middle-aged man asked in a pleading tone, reconfirming the purple-haired youth's words. "You will resurrect all my family members whom you killed after I hand over those documents, right?"
Calian looked at him with an incredibly calm expression.
"Haven't I already said that I will reunite you all?" Calian answered without a shred of hesitation, his voice sounding utterly convincing. The youth raised his hand, pointing at the frozen night air. "Can you not see that the flow of time in this place is completely halted? Their deaths are also frozen here. Even if they are spirits, they cannot go anywhere to cross over into the afterlife. Their souls simply remain in place, waiting to be returned."
Hearing the answer coming from the purple-haired youth's mouth, Thomas immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief. The man highly anticipated the moment when he could be reunited with his wife and two children.
With a sense of resignation and immense hope, the man looked at Calian's face with a gaze full of obedience.
"Come, follow me inside." Thomas said, inviting them to head into his mansion.
With Thomas walking ahead as their guide, Calian, alongside Wolvin who was already in a combat-ready mode by his side, immediately followed the man from behind.
The three of them walked, leaving behind the frozen people in the backyard, ascended the stairs, and stepped into the grand, luxurious mansion to retrieve the crucial documents containing the list of everyone involved in the human trafficking syndicate in the Erthland Empire.