Lucas stood silent and wondered, 'I should help him. Maybe this will help me figure out why there are differences from the novel in this world.'

"I'll help." He approached Thomas and said, "I want to know what is going on as well."

Thomas frowned as he looked at Lucas. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Lucas nodded. "If I'm wrong, then I want to know why."

Thomas wondered why this matters to Lucas, but decided not to push this matter for now. Even if Lucas was wrong, the demon on the loose on par with Drake was too serious a threat not to be taken seriously. Especially when the informant knew about Drake.

"Alright." Thomas sighed. "Follow me." Thomas created a portal that led to his treasure room.

Lucas followed Thomas inside. The royal family filled the room with golden chests, ancient books, and vases. There were also seemingly useless items that belong to Thomas before he became a demon. One of those was his high-school photo album.

"If he was my classmate," Thomas said as he picked up and opened a photo album. "Dorian must be in here."

Thomas gazed at Lucas and asked, "Do you know how he looks like?"

"Yes." Lucas nodded. He remembered detailed description from the novel.

Dorian was short, skinny and pale. His hair was as light as snow and messy. He usually wore his black shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of jeans to keep cool.

"Is this him?" Lucas pointed at the picture.

"It's him." Thomas nodded. "I know this person."

Lucas looked closely at Dorian's features. He was right. 'This is him,' he thought to himself.

"What happened to him?" Lucas asked, confused.

Thomas's eyes filled with sadness as he answered, "A couple of thugs assaulted his best friend, and this guy fought them despite having no magic powers."

"W-What?" Lucas gasped. "Where the fuck were you?! You already had powers!"

"It was on my wedding day, so I was already in the castle." Thomas shrugged. "I mean... Drake roughed them up afterwards. But..."

"But what?" Lucas's eyes narrowed in anger. "Did he kill them?!"

"N-No..." Thomas shook his head. "He controlled himself."

Lucas clenched his fists in frustration. 'This is bullshit!' he thought as he tried to calm down. 'THIS IS TOTAL BULLSHIT!' he shouted internally.

"So... What happened to them?" Lucas asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing." Thomas sighed. "They fled the school and never returned after that incident. "

Lucas frowned. 'Dorian...' he thought to himself. Then his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait..." Lucas placed a hand on his forehead as he pondered something. "What happened to Dorian's parents?"

"His father died confronting those bastards." Thomas said with a heavy heart. "His mother died in an accident a couple of weeks before the incident."

"And his friend?" Lucas asked, hoping for some good news.

"Last I heard, Elizabeth was in the mental hospital." Thomas said bitterly.

Lucas felt his blood boiling hot. He wanted to punch something, anything.

"One person died, one was hospitalized, and the other ended up in the mental hospital... And all you can do is shrug?!" Lucas raged at Thomas. "That's not fucking fair!"

"I know." Thomas sighed. "It's just that... I was not going to murder people for..."

"FOR RUINING 3 LIVES?! YES! YES YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE EXACTLY THAT!"

Lucas stopped mid-sentence as he realized what he was doing. 'Dammit, Lucas!' he cursed himself inside his mind as he calmed down.

Thomas looked at Lucas carefully, wondering if this outburst resulted from his angelic nature.

"Look. I am not an angel. I am a demon. What happened to him was not my responsibility." Thomas said coldly. "All I did was make sure that Drake didn't kill him after the incident. But that doesn't make me responsible for his actions after that."

Lucas remained quiet for a moment and nodded.

"That's right. What happened to him was not your responsibility." Lucas said coldly before making a smirk. "But what will happen to the Elemental kingdom because of that event will be on your hands. Yours alone."

"What?" Thomas raised his brows in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Lucas took a deep breath and explained, "Think about it, idiot. We have a demon king that has a grudge against humans sleeping inside the Elemental kingdom. What do you think he will do after he wakes up?"

Thomas's eyes widened in fear at the thought. "Oh, shit..." he murmured under his breath.

Lucas smirked again and said, "In fact, I won't even bother helping you."

"Wait!" Thomas grabbed Lucas by the collar and pulled him close. "What?! Then why..." he wanted to ask Lucas but was interrupted as Lucas pushed him away.

"Because I never knew you were a spineless bastard who couldn't even avenge his own classmate!" Lucas spat to the ground. "I liked you in the novel. But in real life... you suck."

"What does that supposed to mean?!" Thomas yelled in anger.

"Don't worry about it." Lucas waved his hand dismissively. "Make me a portal. I want to go home."

"Y-You!" Thomas gestured his hands in anger. "H-How can you seriously..."

"Just do it." Lucas glared at Thomas. "I don't have time to waste on your stupid ass."

Thomas stared at Lucas for a moment.

"Fine." Thomas said through gritted teeth. He created a portal behind Lucas and pushed him through it.

Lucas appeared in front of his house with a gasp of air. 'This... This is not my problem. Right?' he asked himself.

He quickly grabbed his keys from under the rug and headed inside.

'I hope this will not turn out ugly.' he thought to himself.

******

Thomas disguised himself with a cap and a hood and walked into the hospital where Dorian was being held. He found him in a room on the second floor. Dorian was lying on the bed, still unconscious, while wearing bandages on his head and chest.

"No visitors allowed." Thomas heard Elizabeth's voice.

Elizabeth stood up and walked towards Thomas, asking him to leave. Her dark hair was messy and there were bags under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"I'm sorry. But..." he said as he noticed the dark and powerful mana flowing in the air. As he expected, it was coming from Dorian's body. "But... I need to take him."

***************

After sensing another demonic entity, something within Dorian's mind woke up inside a dark void deep within his consciousness. The blackness slowly formed images and sound.

"Wake up, Dorian." A familiar voice whispered inside his mind.

"Where am I?" Dorian asked, confused.

"The realm of dreams." The voice replied. "But now it's time to wake up."

"I..." Dorian tried to open his eyes, but they refused to move. "What is happening?"

"You'll know when you see him." The voice said. "Now open your eyes... And remember."

Dorian's eyelids opened, revealing black eyes that absorbed the surrounding light. He saw a figure standing in front of him: It was his best friend, Elizabeth.

"Eli..." Dorian gasped in awe. "I..."