"You never said that it has to be my soul," said Elfric, making sure to emphasize the word letter by letter.
He realized that he ought to give Orathan a couple of minutes to realize what he was hearing. Elfric himself was finding it hard to believe; he never thought that he had it in him to act like this or utter these words.
"T-That's true," he stuttered.
Elfric scoffed. What are the chances of hearing the devil stutter in his lifetime?
But this was how it's supposed to be, Elfric couldn't allow himself to be easy prey for the devil. Not like this...they were going to do this his way.
"Then I think we are done with this pip talk," said Elfric as he took a deep breath to settle himself down.
"You do know that the soul needs to offer itself to me by complete will, don't you?" Orathan asked.
He wanted so badly to try to interrupt this as something other than him getting conned by the human that he thought was a weak entity driven by determination alone.
"I never took the devil to be a talkative," Elfric took a moment to come up with the right word, calling him human would be like calling a chair Jackson.
"I believe that we have more important things to take care of," Elfric gestured to the three men who were still frozen in time - or they were the ones who were out of time, he didn't know yet how this worked.
"You human never listen, do you?" Orathan sighed, rubbing his nose bridge between his fingers.
"Alright then, how do you want to deal with those?" he gestured to the men petrified behind him.
"Are they Elves?" Elfric asked, having a feeling that Orathan had the answer.
"Elves…" Orathan quoted, taking a glance over his shoulder, studying the statued men.
"I do smell that disgustingly sweet aroma of Elves…but, they aren't. They are humans."
Elfric followed Orathan's gaze.
"Is that even possible?" said he. "Humans can't do what they have done."
"You have a point, but that doesn't change the fact that they are human," Orathan added. "How do you want to deal with them, Master?" Orathan mocked, knowing that they were going to do it as Elfric wanted, the long way.
And the devil hated the slowburn.
"If you give me enough power to deal with them," Elfric started. "Will I be able to take it?"
"I've never shared my power with a human before so there is no way to know for sure. However…" Orathan paused.
In that split second of silence, Elfric saw the inhuman sensations in the demon's eyes. Lust and pleasure.
To Orathan, this was all just one big game that he had never tried before.
"However, I think that if it's you then it might actually be possible," he smirked.
"Even though it would be a lot faster and easier to allow me to take care of it," Orathan complained, raising a hand of protest.
"Are you going to do it or not?" Asked Elfric with one brow raised. "We can't keep these gentlemen waiting now, can we?"
Orathan sighed, then nodded once. He closed his eyes as if regaining his composure. And then they fluttered open, and with it, everything was returning to the real world.
Elfric couldn't fathom where he was a second ago, but he figured that it was something ...inhuman.
The thought was terrifying. A snap of this being's fingers and he could halt everything on earth, and they wouldn't even realize that it happened. But now, his power was his...
Whatever Orathan could do, he could as well.
Elfric snapped back to reality the moment that the rough voice of Ash started echoing back in his chest.
"The boss clearly said to wipe this guy out," Ash snorted, nothing moving other than his frowning brows. "I don't remember that there were negotiations."
From the glare that came from Zeph towards Ash, Elfric knew that it was true.
Though he couldn't get to why he bothered to try and protect him. It can't be that he was worried about him, can it?!
Elfric watched as Zeph shifted his attention to him instead. There it was again, that look of sadness, almost as if he was sorry that he was delivering such hardships to him.
"I warned you, Elfric Woods," said Zeph. "There isn't anything that I can do now."
Before Elfric could ask what he was warning him against, he gestured to the two men behind him. The other man finally moved forward while Zeph took a step back.
'You have enough of me to make you survive them,' he heard Orathan in the back of his mind. 'I still can't say how strong they are, but this should do.'
Ash smirked as he twisted his wrist, readying himself for the fun awaiting him. "This is going to be easier than I thought!" Before he uttered the last word, he was already launching at Elfric.
Elfric was taken aback by his speed, but he was even more shocked at the fact that he saw his move crystal clear.
'Just move as you usually do,' Orathan instructed. 'The power is yours, command it to your will.'
He felt what he was saying. With the adrenaline that was rushing in his veins, he found himself delicately dodging the hits that flowed right at him.
"Nice one!" Ash yelled out in excitement.
"Finally, an interesting target!" His elbow cut sideways in the air, targeting Elfric's face.
Elfric stumbled back; the momentum of Ash's blow sent his hood falling back, allowing his silver hair in view. Elfric watched his elbow a mere inch away from breaking his nose.
His own weight on the ground felt unfamiliar; it was going to take him a couple of minutes to get accustomed to this new feeling of being weightless on the ground.
It was a good 10 minutes of Ash launching forward and Elfric swiftly evading it.
Elfric was more concerned about the other one that was still unmoving where he had been standing. Ash finally jolted, a row of curses left his mouth, and the amusement that was once in his eyes was now replaced with annoyance.
This was taking too long, and he was starting to get the feeling that he had underestimated him.
"You are starting to get on my nerves," Ash hissed as he frowned.
The air around him started to feel dense as he clenched his fists, turning sideways to glare at the other man who was observing the clash between the two.
"Don't you think that it's time to bless us with your presence, Jake?"
Jake merely glanced over at him before returning to his original position.
"Reckless," Jake muttered for the first time.
"You have always been reckless, but…I can't complain as it helped me understand the boy's capabilities."
'So that's why he was quiet,' Orathan mumbled in the back of Elfric's head.
It was going to take him a while to get used to a voice inside him that literally didn't belong to him. It was…unsettling.
'And by the way, you know that you can do more than evading, right?'
'I need to know what I'm up against as well,' Elfric stated in the back of his mind.
'He isn't the only one who can tactic.' He almost felt Orathan's chuckle deep within his own bones.
"YOU AND YOUR DAMN BRAIN!" Ash yelled, taking advantage of the daze that Elfric seemed to be in, and this time, he was launching at him with the intent to kill.
It was clear in the fury in his eyes that he had had enough playing around; now it was really getting on his nerve.
Elfric felt the killing aura emitted at him. Finally, he was showing him what he really got instead of fighting him like a gangster. Elfric grabbed his arm before it was inches from his face, twisting it painfully, causing the other to groan in pain.
Next, he completely disabled him by sending him off his feet and onto the ground face-first.
"What the hell are you?" Elfric asked smoothly as he pinned the man with his knees. "There is no way that you are human, and there is no way that you're an Elf."
He was answered with a slash from the sword that was unsheathed in Jake's grip.
"What we are is none of your concern, Elfric Woods," Jake uttered expressionlessly. Not a muscle in his face was moving, making his whole movement seem like child's play.
"Why is everyone calling me with my full name today?" Elfric snorted.
"It's not some sort of achievement to show off." He jumped to the side just in time to avoid the sharp blade of his sword. The blade clattered harshly on the asphalt, almost causing Ash to lose an ear.
Elfric sighed and looked around. Zeph was nowhere near them.
"I should finish this quickly," Elfric breathed out after glancing at the time on his watch.
"I have a job to be at right now."