The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 77: Nothing Remained

Muffled cries came from the next room. But Lane just pressed on the remote, turning the volume up, as he stuffed another piece of fried chicken in his mouth.

The cries, however, continued. Until something got knocked and fell, tumbling on the ground. Only then did Lane finally get up from the couch with a sigh, taking the box of his late-night dinner with him as he walked over to the source of the sound.

A bottle of half-drank soda lay on the ground, right by the door threshold, as if waiting for someone to trip on it. Lane merely glanced at it though, sending it back to its place on the table.

"Just calm down, will ya? What are you making all this trouble for?" He turned to the culprit behind the noise.

Xavier woke up earlier than expected, and was now glaring straight at Lane. Only for a brief moment, though - soon he remembered about the hypnosis, and quickly averted his eyes.

Not that it could help him now. He was all tied up, completely at Lane’s mercy. The ooze seeping from his hands couldn’t melt the handcuffs he was wearing...

But it could damage the floor, so Lane quickly put the chicken away, and waved his hand, capturing the goo before it could drip down. He’d rather not have his place damaged, as he didn’t have time to bother with any repairs right now.

Next, he grabbed Xavier’s chin, forcing the man to face him. Xavier’s eyes, however, were still tightly shut...

"Xavier Owens. What subject at uni did you like the best?"

"Hmph?" Surprised by the unexpected question, Xavier opened his eyes on reflex. He tried to close them again immediately...

But it was too late. His mind was already affected by the red glow.

"Ymph..." Xavier furrowed his brows, trying to put on a fight. He was a B-ranker, and on guard. He could at least resist a bit...

No matter how much he struggled though, Lane was more powerful. The shine in Xavier’s eyes soon subsided, replaced by a blank, hazy look.

"Follow me," Lane unlocked the handcuffs, freeing Xavier’s arms and legs, and got up, grabbing his chicken and going back to the living room. He grabbed his laptop, turning it on, and pushed it in front of Xavier’s nose.

"Write down everything someone impersonating you would have to know. Personal information, all subscriptions and accounts, notable acquaintances," he said, before returning to his food.

He finished his meal, took a shower, got dressed, grabbed his duffel bag from underneath the bed and checked whether it was all ready...

But Xavier was still typing.

"Still not done?" Lane clicked his tongue, looking over the man’s shoulder. He seemed to be writing whole essays on each and every one of his friends. "Wrap it up, be more concise. I don’t really need to know which of your friends like the Hawaiian pizza."

Xavier’s fingers paused for a moment, hovering over the keyboard, before they started clacking on the keys again, this time only listing out the key facts about each person.

Even then, it took close to an hour before he was finally done. Lane gave the man side-eye glances every now and then, lounging on the couch in front of the TV, but he didn’t stop him in the end. After all, he was hoping to remain in that identity for a good while. Having more info could come in handy.

Once Xavier finally took his hands off the keyboard, sitting quietly on the floor, Lane grabbed him by the shoulders, removing the gag from his mouth.

"Forget everything that happened tonight," he curtly ordered, and activated the Memory Scan. Mainly to check where the man lived, so that he could find his apartment without much trouble. The rest he would read about in the file.

Then, he slashed his wrist, pressed it against Xavier’s lips, and activated the Plunder.

A moment later, Lane was already in Xavier’s body, his own resting on the bed. He activated the cloaking - Xavier was a B-rank Esper, so his body could handle most neutral abilities well - and jumped out of the balcony, running in the direction of Xavier’s place with Sky Step.

***

A few hours later, Lane arrived at the gates of Forbidden Zone No. 74 again, this time in his real body. Unlike when he was ’Aidan’, the first gate opened as soon as he got close - Lane had notified his underlings about his arrival, so they were all waiting, ready to greet him well. He passed through all the gates easily, and drove straight to the apartment building where Aidan was held.

The leader of the group, an A-rank Esper nicknamed Vulcan, was waiting at the front, all of the main members of the group lined up behind him, stifling their yawns. They were dragged out of their beds at dawn, just to present themselves...

Lane merely gave them a passing glance though. It was all unnecessary, as far as he was concerned. He just rolled down his window, parking his car right in front of the group.

"Welcome, Boss! Would you like to-"

"Just give me the keys. And the phone. I already know where to go," Lane said, interrupting Vulcan. "We’ll talk about the rest later."

"Yes, Sir."

Vulcan scooped out the requested items from his spatial bag, handing them over to Lane through the car window. As soon as he was done, Lane rolled the window back up, and drove into the underground parking. He couldn’t leave his car on the streets, with all the monsters roaming around, after all. It’d be a shame if it were to get scratched.

’Aidan’s’ car was also there, parked on the spot nearby. Lane walked over, and with a flick of his fingers, opened it from inside - Vulcan only gave him the keys to the basement unit, but Lane couldn’t be bothered going back now. He took out the spatial bag from the gloves compartment, and headed downstairs, to the secure basement units.

Although a few hours had passed, Aidan was still unconscious, likely due to the prolonged possession without any breaks. It suited Lane well - their connection was already broken, and there was nothing more he wanted from the man.

Now, all that he needed was to erase his existence, so that Damien could never find out about his death.

’How should I do it? Burn him?’ Lane paused for a moment, looking at the motionless body on the floor. The walls, floor and ceiling were all concrete, they should withstand the flames, as long as Lane didn’t go overboard. He was about to activate his ability...

But at the last moment, he changed his mind, activating Toxic Ooze instead. He had just obtained it, so it was a good idea to put it to the test.

He lifted his arm, opening up his fingers as he formed a ball of dark, glowing goo in the air above his hand. It was sloshing around, whirling and spinning leisurely. It resembled a bit the slime ability Lane had, except that it was far more useful, with its toxic properties.

Next, Lane made a slow, horizontal motion with his hand, unfolding the sphere into a flat plane. It all worked well, just as he intended. Using Esper abilities generally was supposed to be highly intuitive, and it was even easier for Lane to get a hang of it, having experience in using all sorts of abilities in the past.

He nodded with satisfaction, and dropped this toxic blanket straight onto Aidan.

Aidan’s body stirred, a violent shudder passing through it as all of his nerve endings started screaming in pain. It only lasted for a second though. Soon enough, they were all melted. The ooze spilled all over the body, quickly turning it into a mass of dark goo, until nothing resembling human remained.

With the shape Aidan was in, perhaps even the experts wouldn’t be able to figure out his identity. Not that they would ever get the chance, with the building, as well as the whole Zone, being more or less under Lane’s control. Still, just to be sure, Lane waved his hand, burning down all the glowing sludge.

All that was left of Aidan was a massive hole in the ground, the concrete floor half eaten through by the Toxic Ooze. Even if Damien found out which Zone he fled into and sent someone to investigate, he wouldn’t find anything.