"Hey. Are you still alive in there?" the masked boy kicked Ace's unresponsive body.
"Haaa..." he sighed as he picked up Ace from the ground by the hair. "Wow. Your eyes are as dead as ever."
Behind his mask, the masked boy's eyes were full of scorn for Ace, flinging him away like a ragdoll the next instant.
"Agh!" Ace groaned as he crashed onto the ground.
The masked boy then walked slowly towards him, his presence menacing.
"There's absolutely no drive in them. Heck, you don't even have the will to fight anymore. What a disappointment you are. Just a coward who can't even put up against his own trauma. Note that for someone who doesn't even have a soul to begin with, that'd probably be the most terrifying thing in the world."
"Huh?" the masked boy's words made Ace react as he struggled to rise from the ground. "What did you just say?"
"Pfft! What? Did that catch your attention?"
"Just answer the damn question, would you?" Ace seethed with a birthing emotion of rage, something that only this unknown past of his could trigger.
"Don't wanna!" the masked boy shrugged it off sadistically. "If it was that girl, strong as she is, I'd probably tell her. But compared to her, you don't deserve to even breathe the same air as me."
"That girl?" Ace finally stood on his feet. "What does Emi have to do with anything?"
"Who knows?" the masked boy tilted his head, avoiding Ace's question with crossed arms. "I just know that I'd much rather be bound to her than you at the very least."
"…Heh!" Ace's face slowly got shrouded in darkness.
'Why even try to know?' Ace's mind drowned, wallowing in his darkest and most hidden thoughts. 'Coward, huh? He might not be that wrong. Same goes for Emi. He's not wrong about her either.'
He stared blankly at the cave ceiling.
"Tch," the masked boy's mood soured. 'That idiot…'
He sighed heavily. 'Let's just kill him and take over his body. It's not as if he will care anyway.'
"You know what?" the masked boy started, his dark golden aura flaring up. "I feel bad for that girl. You made her suffer by telling her the unfiltered truth, but thanks to that she grew stronger. I ended up with the short end of the straw. To think my powers were used on a mongrel… What a shame."
'Emi?' Ace's empty gaze focused back on the masked boy, his mind wandering to Emilia while his opponent slowly summoned a black shadow sword in his hand.
"She could have despaired if you hadn't been there," the masked began walking towards him slowly once again. "Living a worthless and disgusting life as an empty vessel for the humans' desire for a power they shouldn't have to begin with.
"Too bad you're just a cursed blessing for her," he continued as he then snickered at Ace as he now stood before him. "Well, I did have fun when she put you back in your place.
"Even calling you her slave or boytoy would be an insult to such a strong human as her," the masked boy raised his blade, his menacingly smiling expression evident even if hidden behind a mask. "I'll do her the favor of ridding you of her back."
The blade descended, the motion incredibly slow in Ace's lifeless eyes that held no resolve.
'Emi…' Ace thought, his end nearing though not written in stone. 'Emi. I do admit that I was curious about that glint in her eyes. Even faced with the absurdity of her situation, she still struggled to survive. Is that what they call human resilience?'
'In the end, I simply dismissed it as a whim,' his mind wandered to a sequence of flashing images of Emilia.
The first time they met. The day her past caught up to her. The day they made their agreement. And as each of those moments replayed in his mind, the same sight hypnotized him. A defiant glare that seemed to peer and stab the deepest parts of his heart.
'But maybe it was just my imagination,' Ace internally resigned to his fate, unable to gather any strength within him until…
You want to die? After everything I've been through, everything I endured to get to where I am… you're telling me to do you the favor of letting you die?
'Huh?' Ace's inner mind was confused as the familiar voice resounded within his ears stronger.
I refuse. Until the day I get my revenge, I won't let you die… Not until I say otherwise. You'll live for me and die for me. From now on, your life will belong to me and me alone.
Ace's eyes suddenly widened right as the blade reached.
"Wha-?" the masked boy was filled with dumbfounded surprise as Ace's sword-struck form dissipated into the shadows.
"Where did he…?" he looked around him before gasping as he saw a punch closing in on his face.
In a moment's breadth, the masked boy evaded and created distance between him and Ace… but not without damage. A part of his mask cracked and fell apart into pieces as they landed on the ground.
"Oi-oi," the masked boy's face, as expected from his youthful appearance, had wide yet sharp brown eyes full of mischief and contempt as he glared at Ace. "What's that about? I thought you wanted to die. Don't tell me that you're clinging to life after brushing shoulders with death?"
Ace remained unresponsive for a short moment as he contemplated the question.
'Me? Clinging to life?' he lowered his gaze and stared at his left hand. 'That would be ridiculous. But… do I… really want to live?'
After dropping his left hand, his torso slightly leaned forward as he clutched his face and began to chuckle.
"Ha. Hahaha," his chuckling then evolved into a maniacal yet amused laugh as he back arched back with his face facing upwards. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!!!!!!"
With his hair swaying in motion as he tilted his head to the right, the no-longer masked boy nonchalantly stared at Ace with a confused expression.
'Guess he's finally lost it.'
"Hmm?"
"Haaaaaa…" Ace let a deep exhale as if a burden was lifted of his shoulders. "To answer your question…"
Ace gazed at his opponent with his usual calm and aloof expression, the serenity enveloping it surprising. "I don't think that's exactly it."
"Oh?" the mysterious boy crossed his shoulders after dissipating his weapon. "Mind elaboratin' ?"
Ace glanced on the side with a pondering gaze as his tilting head followed the same direction as his eyes.
"Can't say for sure," he replied, also crossing his arms. "Since I'm not like a certain girl you kept yapping about."
'Though I say that, I'll just have to rely on Emi since I'm pretty sure she's the only reliable clue I have. But still, offering my life to her, huh?' Ace pondered once again. 'Well, since I don't really know what to do with myself, the perspective of living for someone and dying for them is kind of strange to me. But I will admit that there's something about her that's drawing me in.'
"Is that so?" the mysterious boy muttered as he seemed to know exactly what was on Ace's mind. "Guess that'll suffice for now."
"Hmm?" Ace surprise to the boy's words was short-lived as blades of shadows pierced him through his chest, letting his blood spill out in the process.
'What the hell?' Ace's body collapsed on the ground, resting in a puddle of blood as his vision grew blurry.
"You'll probably be asleep for a long while as your body gets adjusted to the release of the second seal, but you'll be fine. Maybe," the boy crouched in front of Ace while grinning happily with mischief. "On that note, until next time~. And do stay faithful to your new master… Wannabe King."