SL Chapter 21 Spy Takes Action
"As long as you anticipated being asked to sign a Spirit Oath, you could come up with a phrase and anchor that targets it. It's that simple." Allan spoke even as he swirled a glass of red wine. A stray thought materialized within Eric's mind upon seeing that. It was a question. Why would the man walk around with the glass of wine? Was he an alcohol addict? But that didn't seem to be the case as he had never seen him drunk. Or could it be the same obsessive compulsive disorder that made him wear the suit?
"No one should take any step towards me. An approach means that you have turned traitor." Eric warned seriously. Though, Lanaley, who was leaning on the wall, with her hands crossed across her modest chest, scoffed at his words.
"We should first confirm that they are okay." Jeffrey spoke, taking a step, attracting everyone's gazes, making him pause.
"Why? They are okay within the room." Eric's voice came out harsher than he wanted, but he had also started developing a dislike for the man. The way he stood changed, making it so that he would be capable of both attacking and defending should anything uncertain happen. Though his body was frail, a result of years without exercise, he was convinced that he would atleast be able to enhance his movements with spiritual energy, buying himself enough time to activate his ability. Which, he still hadn't managed to check.
Jeffrey ultimately took the step back upon seeing the increased wariness of everyone, with madam Selena's gaze being particularly dangerous.
"Eve, use your ability." It seemed like he hadn't given up.
"Why?" Eve asked.
"Someone might have sneaked in of course. Don't ask stupid questions!" Jeffrey answered abrasively, increasingly getting impatient.
"That is something I cannot allow." Eric instantly vetoed that.
"Come now, boy. Spirit Lords have a wide range of abilities. Seemingly impossible things can easily be accomplished by them." There was a certain smugness within the man's tone even as he explained that, causing disgust to well up within Eric.
"Jeffey makes a point. That doesn't imply that I choose to side with the man. Instead, I wouldn't like to experience the backlash of a Spirit Oath. Do any of you want that?" Everyone turned quiet at Lanaley's convincing words.
"There is also the fact that the traitor among us might want to confirm whether madam Iris and the boss lady truly are trapped within the virtual world, which would give him the impetuous needed to act with impunity." Eric reasoned.
"Do you really believe that?" asked Jeffrey, his tone filled with exasperation.
"You give off a suspicious vibe, Jeffrey." Frida spoke.
"Little girl, this is a normal course of action!" Jeffrey snarled.
"I will do it." said Eve before bringing her hands before her face, with the right palm facing her, and the left facing away. The index finger on the left touched the right thumb, while the index finger on the right touched the left thumb, making something akin to a human finger camera. Eric felt helpless. Though the others remained skeptical of Jeffrey's intentions, no one spoke out to dissuade the convinced Eve.
"Don't do it, young lady!" spoke out madam Selena, bringing her actions to a halt.
"Lets first contact the boss lady, or miss Iris." With her previous words gannering everyone's attention, madam Selena suggested, earning gazes of approval from everyone except Jeffrey.
"Why does everything have to be so fuckin' hard? I tried to be accommodating, yet you people refused..."
Upon those ominous words, the sphere of flame within Eric's mind trembled minutely.
"... Guess will have to take action myself." He finished after a pause. Jeffrey pulled down his tie.
"So, I was living with someone who could have murdered me? How refreshing!" exclaimed Allan in a deadpan tone with the wine within the glass he was swirling increasing its rotational speed. He, and the others became tense, each preparing to take action except Eve, who was still in a daze.
From his pockets, Jeffrey took out a coin, one of a golden color. And it had all been done with an abnormal amount of speed as compared to what a normal human would be capable of. Though, his fingers that had been in contact with the surface of said coin had blurred a bit, with Eric and the others missing what he had done. Then he mumbled out a word, one no one failed to register before tossing the incredibly dazzling coin towards someone.
"Catch!" Instinctively, Eve held out her palms to catch the coin, while alarm became evident upon each and everyone else's faces.
Her movement had been instinctual because of her momentarily daze, and by the time horror manifested upon her face, the coin had landed within her palm. There was a flash of light before a shockwave pushed Eric into the door of the room he was supposed to be guarding, which developed innumerable cracks, while unbeknownst to him, his pupils had turned from normal brown to flame-like.
Yet, a figure, with the light of the explosion at his back, was heading his way at such speed that he wouldn't have any leeway to evade, nor could he afford to. His boss was behind that door!
The dark figure was chubby Jeffrey, who had now slimmed down to have a body akin to that of an athlete, with well defined abs exposed because of a lack of a shirt. All the clothes on his body had been singed or having been outright incinerated.
His right hand had been pulled back at the elbow, poised in a punch, one which was causing Eric's instincts to scream at him. The forearm, all the way to his folded fingers was bulging unnaturally, giving him the impression that the force contained within wasn't something his frail body could handle!
'Was the coin not his ability? How did he negate the Spirit Oath, then? What about this physical enhancement? Is it his ability?' such stray thoughts flitted through his mind even as Jeffrey's figure enlarged within his gaze as he got increasingly closer, almost blocking out the light from the explosion.
He could even make out the fact that the man was clenching his jaw, an action made because of the pain was he was under. After all, propelling himself forwards because of the explosion had consequences that he was most definitely feeling behind his back.
Then, the man forcefully stopped his speed by taking a powerful step on the floor, with his foot sinking into the floor, creating a spiderweb of cracks near instantaneously. Then, he punched! And it wasn't a probing strike. It was an attack with enough force to kill him instantly!
'If I block, I die.' Instantly, Eric knew the outcome of the confrontation should he take that course of action.
Martial arts forms swarm within his mind as he searched for a suitable counter. His left toe had just touched the floor, with the rest of his body still coming down from being bashed upon the door. With an intention of will, his spiritual energy augmented the toe, giving it unnatural strength that he used to kick out with that same foot. The limits of his body were surpassed as it accelerated. He felt his muscle fibres straining, then tearing themselves apart as the foot headed towards the punch.
A circular shockwave was released from the point of contact while he was thrown backwards with such force that this time, the door failed to withstand that force, splintering into multiple pieces while he felt his back colliding with an immovable object, a wall, forcefully coming to a stop, knocking the air out of his lungs for a moment.
"So, it was all a lie." Spoke Jeffrey as he sauntered unto the room. Eric spat out blood while feeling a ringing in his ears.
Jeffrey's previously chubby form was now no more. With a buff well toned version having taken its place. Misty vapor curled from his body, creating a grand tapestry of art that gave off a godlike feeling. Each step was a hammer to Eric's heart. After all, the man had gotten quite imposing.
With a shake of his head, Eric tried to banish the dizziness that had almost overcome him. Then started to stand up, slowly. His bones and organs had been rattled from the blowback. He raised his eyes and saw that Jeffrey was sporting a contemplative, yet also ugly expression. A sliver of satisfaction rippled through him for an instant upon seeing such an expression on the man.
"Each of us were played. Even you yourself didn't know that you were guarding an empty room." Then, as if he had lost interest, Jeffrey started turning around to leave.
Because of his improved eyesight, enhanced by spiritual energy, Eric saw how his skin rippled as each muscle started storing force. The man wasn't simply going to walk out. He was most definitely going to be sprinting out.
'I can't let him loose.' Eric resolved himself.