Gawad, no longer inhabited by anyone, was a scene of apocalyptic wasteland.
Desolate snowfields, sparse pine woods, burned fortifications, scattered broken bricks and tiles, sulfur fragments left behind by dead Devil Race members, and dried traces of pus.
Of course, there were also dead humans and mixed-bloods. Their clothes had been stripped clean, and nothing worth even a little money remained. All that was left was flesh and bone, preserved from decay by the freezing weather.
Against such a backdrop, the Imps' figures in the cold wind looked even more desolate.
Especially with a largely destroyed graveyard beside them.
As the only somewhat larger living creature within several kilometers—well, strictly speaking, it could not be considered entirely alive—this Imp had no consciousness of its own. It was merely a puppet controlled by Thomas.
It was a gift from the Devil he had made a deal with.
The outcome of making a deal with a Devil was essentially predetermined. Once the body perished, the soul became part of the Devil's collection, or was stuffed into a Devil's body to become a new slave.
Thus, controlling an Imp's body now counted as getting used to his future life as a slave in advance.
Thomas did not believe he would remain a Devil's slave forever, but he had to begin with this step eventually.
The Imp's spiked claw held a slightly worn playing card, its claw tips trembling uncontrollably.
Why?
Why would he find playing cards here?
There were many popular card games in Larven, and some of them had suits and numbers.
But cards whose suit had this shape—clearly resembling neither a peach nor a heart, and honestly looking more like a butt, yet still called hearts or red peaches—were unique to the people at Aurelius's Mage Tower.
Thomas controlled the Imp