The Virex Corps were no fools.
By the time Leo had made his way to his room, the Virex Corps officials had already begun their search of other guest rooms.
They were making their way towards the East wing when suddenly they heard frantic noises coming from Leo's wing and were quick to investigate.
By the time they arrived outside Leo's corridor, they saw a bunch of smoke bombs being deployed all across the corridor and throughout the garden below.
"Faizer, Ali, go check the garden. Dom" Follow me, The Virex squad captain instructed, as while two of the four Virex unit members jumped down into the grass below, The captain and one of his subordinates named 'Dom', checked the passageway.
Unlike the normal palace guards who were not used to peer into the darkness, The Virex Corps members had no trouble navigating through even thick smoke.
The training one received to become a Virex Corps member was completely different from what a normal palace guard did, as the Virex Corp soldiers were trained to be the biting dogs of the Emperor, which was a unit not designed to represent his nobility, but rather extract a pound of flesh from his enemies.
As the duo made their way down the hall, they were met with a wildly swinging royal guard, who was just swinging his sword in the smoke, hoping to catch the intruder while he could really not see jackshit within.
*Block*
Blocking the swing of the palace guard, the Virex Captain held his swinging arm tightly and kicked him in the stomach to make him keel over.
"Stop swinging your sword like a buffoon, there's a royal maid sitting just two meters from where you are.... Idiot-" the captain admonished as his subordinate Dom gave the the palace guard and extra kick to the chest for good measure.
[ WIND SLASH ]
Using the move 'Wind Slash', The Virex Corps captain cut straight through the smoke in the hall, dispelling it instantly as within a couple of seconds he managed to clear the hall of the smoke.
Once the hazy smoke cleared, the image of the drooling and keeled over royal guard became more clear, as beside him, hugging the entrance to Leo's room was the Royal Maid, who had the room key wrapped around her chest.
She looked terrified and in tears, as she could not understand the reason behind the on-going chaos and had already assumed the worst, that somehow she would be killed in the midst of this all.
"Darling, who is inside that room?" The Virex Squad Captain asked, as the royal maid looked into his ice cold eyes and felt the remaining air being sucked out of her lungs.
The Virex Squad Captain was a terrifying figure, just a look into his murderous eyes was enough to intimidate a normal citizen and the soft Royal Maid was not a match for him, at all.
" I-its the quarter-finalist, T-the boss" the maid said eventually, as she stuttered even saying these words.
"Has he left the room tonight? Or has anyone entered his room since?" The Captain asked, as the maid nervously clutched the key around her chest and shook her head in denial.
Although she muttered nothing, from her expression, the Captain understood that she was fairly certain that no-one had entered or left the room since the curfew, as he accepted the explanation and instructed the maid to open the door.
"Open it-"
With trembling hands, the maid opened the lock to Leo's door, as Dom and the Captain headed into the room.
**********
( Leo's POV )
Standing alone in his room, Leo was already panting and breathless. The weight of his actions had set his nerves on edge, leaving him trembling with fear, acutely aware of the towering stakes that loomed over him.
Any slip-up now, could end his gaming career forever, and hence he could absolutely make no mistake going forward.
As the words 'Open it' entered his ears, a chill went down his spine as he knew that the dreaded moment of confrontation was finally upon him.
Once those doors opened, some inquisitor would walk in, and they would either accept his acting as genuine, or he would be busted.
*Creak*
As the thick wooden door opened with a soft creaking sound, in came two Virex Corps officials, with their signature masks on, and the first sight that they saw after entering was Leo standing in the guest room with daggers in hand and a fighting stance assumed.
For a second after they entered, Dom immediately unsheathed his sword, looking at how Leo was arms ready, however, once Leo lowered his weapon and let out a deep sigh, Dom relaxed too.
"So it's just you guys…." Leo said, in a calm voice, as although his entire back was drenched in sweat, he did not let any of his fears show.
Having already ditched the guard uniform and having changed his attire back to the one made by the Royal Tailor and adorning his signature Virex mask, Leo had already changed his disguise back to usual.
"Why did you assume a fighting stance?" Dom asked rather rudely, as Leo frowned underneath his mask, his eyes trained on Dom as he fully immersed himself in the role of being the number one player 'TheBoss'.
"Are you deaf? Or just retarded? Do you not hear the chaos outside? Of course I took up arms. What if someone walks in here and tries to kill me?
What should I do then, expose my neck and ask them to slit my throat?" Leo snapped back, with the same rude arrogance with which Dom asked him the question.
"What?" Dom asked, sounding surprised as his eyebrows began twitching under his mask.
It had been a while since someone disrespected him so blatantly, especially when that someone was not his Captain.
"Permission to chop him up into pieces, Captain?" Asked Dom, as the Virex Squad Captain looked towards Leo with his icy cold eyes and then shook his head.
"Denied….. his words do make sense Dom" The Captain said, as Dom audible grind his teeth under his mask.