"Thomas, does the room occupied by that alchemist have a strict defense system like this safe of yours?" Calian asked while looking at the man in front of him.
Thomas shook his head. "No. The door to that room is just an ordinary wooden door without any protective spells whatsoever."
Calian was quite surprised by the answer given by the man. He had thought that a valuable captive capable of creating a masterpiece like this safe door would surely be locked inside a room with a high-level security system.
"Are you not afraid that such an important alchemist might escape from your mansion when you are off guard?"
"He will never be able to escape." Thomas answered with full confidence.
"Is it because of the strict guarding by your soldiers in this mansion?"
"It is not because of that. It is because of the slave collar attached to his neck." Thomas replied again, providing an explanation. "That slave collar is bound directly to his brain nerves and mana flow. The object can only be released by the owner who has signed the contract, or it will automatically come off if the owner dies."
Calian finally understood why the genius alchemist was simply left in the room without any significant security. The collar itself was an invisible prison that restrained the person.
"Who is the owner of that slave? Is it you?"
"Not me!" Thomas denied quickly. "The owner is Mr. Veldan Dimals. He is the holder of the slave supply in this region, as well as the absolute ruler of Wollen City."
"If he is the slave of a man named Veldan, then why is he here and submitting to you?"
"When the alchemist was lent and brought here, he had already received absolute orders from Mr. Veldan to obey whatever I say. And as a bound slave, he will always be obedient. If he dares to rebel or run away from my commands, excruciating pain will instantly burn his nerves until he begs for mercy."
Calian finally understood how the slave collar worked after hearing that explanation.
Even though he already knew the truth about the slave collar, Calian still wanted to free the alchemist from slavery.
For ordinary humans, freeing a slave bound by such collar was utterly impossible without the presence of the master or without killing the owner first. However, that absolute law only applied to others, not to Calian who held authority over time.
"Thank you for your explanation, Thomas." Calian said, his tone of voice suddenly changing to be very calm and friendly. "Your duty here is done. It's time for me to keep my promise to you and reunite you with your family..."
Hearing the purple-haired youth's words, Thomas immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief. A smile laden with a feeling of happiness visibly bloomed on his face. The moment of resurrection he had been anticipating all this time had finally arrived.
On the other side of the room, Wolvin instead froze in tension. He stared at his husband's back with a feeling of anxiety.
The Night Wolf youth did not dare to imagine if his husband was truly going to resurrect the dead.
To my knowledge, all this time my husband has never been able to use his [Time Loop] blessing to bring the dead back to life. Did he lie to me at that time?
However, unbeknownst to Wolvin and Thomas, Calian had still not finished his sentence.
The purple-haired youth stared at Thomas with a sharp and cold gaze.
"...in hell!"
The smile on Thomas's face instantly vanished. His eyes widened until the red veins were visible, and his breath hitched in his throat. He completely could not believe that the youth who had just promised the resurrection of his family had instead turned around with the intention of taking his life.
Survival instincts spontaneously took over Thomas, intending to run away from the youth. But unfortunately, everything was already too late.
Calian casually activated the Stasis authority of his [Time Loop] blessing.
Instantly, the movement of Thomas, who was trying to run, stopped completely. However, Calian's stasis authority did not entirely freeze Thomas's body as a whole, only halting the flow of time from the neck down.
Thomas could still look around, turn his head which was covered in cold sweat, and even breathe heavily, while his entire body was as stiff as a stone statue.
"W-Why?!" Thomas shouted in panic, the veins in his neck bulging as he held back anger and fear. "Didn't you promise to resurrect all my family members whom you killed after I gave you that document?!"
"Resurrect your family?" Calian repeated with a cold tone and gaze. "As I recall, I never promised that out of my mouth. What I promised you was merely to reunite you with your family."
Realizing that the purple-haired youth was only playing with words and had never intended to resurrect his entire family from the start, Thomas became absolutely furious. He felt he had been deceived.
"Curse you, you bastard boy! You're truly a demon!"
Calian only remained calm, completely unbothered by the curses thrown by the man who was in despair. He slowly began to raise his sword, aiming the sharp blade right at Thomas's left chest.
Seeing the tip of the sword now pointing directly at his heart, and realizing that death was truly very close to him, Thomas struggled with all his might. He tried to force his muscles to break free from the time magic that had shackled his body. He wanted to get as far away as possible from this purple-eyed monster. However, it was futile. Calian's time authority was an absolute law that could not be defied.
In Calian and Wolvin's eyes, Thomas was merely jerking his head in all directions, as if performing a bizarre head dance.
"As a parting gift before you join your family, I will tell you this." Calian said coldly, as if he were the figure of the angel of death itself. "My name is Calian Wallfend Zien Da Erthland. As a future emperor, I swear I will annihilate all traitorous nobles like you along with your entire families. I will not let this slavery run rampant in this empire, so that all non-human races can live safely, comfortably, and peacefully alongside their families!"