Chapter Five: Escaping

[Tactical Analysis Skill Activated]

The system message flashed above Eggsy's face, illuminating his determined expression.

[Tactical Options]

[1. Immediate Escape: Summon a weapon from the weaponry, loosen your bindings, and escape to the other room through the opening on the ceiling.

- Pros: Quick escape, minimize risk of detection.

- Cons: Unknown dangers on the other room, there might be no way of escape.]

[2. Wait and Ambush: Summon a weapon from the weaponry, loosen your bindings. Then wait for the rightful moment when Hank or the workers would unlock the door. Fight your way through and have the enemy in bindings.

- Pros: Gather information, potentially take out enemies quietly.

- Cons: Uncertainty of timing, risk of allies being harmed.]

Eggsy weighed the options, his mind racing with the implications. Though both options seems great, yet the first option seems more approachable than the second.

If they were to wait till someone unlocks the door, who knows when that will be. Maybe they might have done something to the others before then. And with how the workers were being paranoid and fearful, Eggsy had a hunch that something odd might be happening.

After thinking about the workers' paranoid behavior and the unknown fate of his friends, it had made him lean towards the first option.

While thinking of what to use to free his bindings, he realised that both of his swords have been taken down by the restaurant workers, which means he has only guns, and no swords in his weaponry.

‘But what if I can add them back to my weaponry, regardless of their physical location?’ Eggsy mused, a spark of curiosity igniting in him as he put the theory into test.

He opened the weaponry tab on the System, navigating to the empty slots where his dual blades and ghost blade were kept. With a few swift clicks through his mind, the following tabs had appeared.

[Add Weapon: Dual Blades]

[Add Weapon: Ghost Blade]

He clicked on add weapon, and suddenly the dual blades had appeared in the empty slot on the system. He did the same thing for the ghost blade, and it had also appeared on the system.

“It works!’ Eggsy said within himself, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. Ava would have noticed if only she was looking at his direction at that moment.

Now that he has successfully taken back his weapons, then it means, no matter where Hank searched, he won’t be able to find his swords, since he already had it stored back in his weaponry.

Now that the swords were back in the system, he could now summon them into his hands. He summoned one of the dual blades. The familiar weight materialized in his tied-up hand, bringing a smile to Eggsy’s face.

Cutting off the binding ropes, he was set loose with both his hands and feet freed. Now all that was left was freeing Ava, whose couldn’t help but glance at him surprisingly.

“How did you do it?” She whispered, knowing full well that Eggsy’s swords have been taken along with theirs, when they were captured.

Eggsy turned to Ava, his eyes locked on hers, having already summoned the second blade before Ava could notice.

“It’s a long story. First, let’s get out of here.” he said as he cut through her restraints, freeing her from the bindings.

Ava nodded, seemingly ignoring whatever secrets Eggsy might be keeping, as long as they survive and make it out of here.

“We’re escaping through the ceiling hatch,” Eggsy declared, his eyes locked on the narrow opening above. “We have to save the others.”

He then stacked up the two chairs together, hoping it could help them reach the space above the ceiling.

It wasn’t enough but the two of them could help each other up. But the question is, who will carry who?

Ava turned her gaze from the ceiling to Eggsy. “I’ve been eyeing the same spot, it’s our only way out.” She claimed. “So, who will go first?”

“You of course.” Unexpectedly, Eggsy had grabbed Ava on the waist, she gasped as he effortlessly raised her to the opening. Her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

“Eggsy!” she whispered, surprised by his strength.

She had no idea about the superhuman strength that Eggsy possessed, which had made it easy for him to carry her.

Without effort, Ava crawled into the cramped space, her slender frame navigating the narrow passage with ease. Eggsy soon followed as he climbed onto the stacked chairs, jumped, and grasped onto the edge, while pulling himself up.

As they crawled through the dusty space, the air thick with cobwebs, Ava whispered,

“We're getting close. I can see a vent cover ahead.”

Eggsy had nodded in response as he glanced ahead.

They continued, until finally, they reached the opening on the next room. They carefully removed the vent cover, wondering who or what was in the room.

Peeping into the room through the opening, they found rows of foods and packages. But since saving the others was their first priority, they had decided to move on. Then maybe when all of this is over, they will come back for it.

Moving stealthily, they reached the opening of the third room. Luckily, they had spotted the others. They were all bounded to chairs, with their mouths covered with duct tapes to keep them shut.

After securing the area and seeing that no one else was in the room, they had proceeded into jumping down. Eggsy had gone first as he was much taller than Ava. He landed carefully and silently on the ground.

He turned to help Ava, his hands encircling her waist, as he carried her down. This time, she didn't protest, as she had her eyes locked on his.

The others glared at who had just appeared in the room, and seeing who it was, they couldn’t help but giggle in joy, but Ava had immediately cautioned them by placing a finger on her lips.

Then Eggsy began cutting their bindings with his dual swords, the blades slicing through the rope with ease. They were all freed from their bindings but they couldn’t help but beam a smile towards the two, especially at Ava.

That was when Ava noticed that one of their members wasn’t present, and she had immediately whispered in urgency, “Where’s Lena?”

***

At the time when Eggsy had summoned his swords back into the weaponry, he didn’t realise that at that very moment, it was being held by Hank.

He was standing by a stretcher where Lena was placed nakedly on it. Her wrists were tightly bind with chains, and despite her desperate struggles, she found it difficult to set herself free.

He was preparing to massacre a part of her body when the sword in his hands vanished into thin air.

“What?” He raised an eyebrow, and the second sword had also vanished, leaving him in utter disbelief. “What the heck is happening?”

Just as he said those words, he noticed a certain movement on one of the CCTV screen closest to him. In the room that he had Ava and Eggsy tied in, he could see a sword appearing in Eggsy’s hands. It was the same sword as the one that had just vanished from him.

“This one is interesting. I’ll eat him first.” Hank said, licking his lips.

Eggsy and the rest, now reunited, shared determined glances. Little did they know, Hank's sinister plans were unfolding.