[You know that you can't hurt them with this shallow weapon, right? Just your Soul Mirror is capable of killing them, and you can only activate it when you are in Demon Form] Mask explained, though he found Tobey quite courageous for facing a Paladin with a combat knife, only.
[Also, Paladins are way stronger than you physically, faster as well. You don't exactly need the first one when battling with a knife, but the second is quite important.]
'Just watch me, Mask. I will show you what it's all about. I wouldn't try to make such a reckless thing if I didn't have a reasonable plan.'
Tobey stayed beside the door, holding his knife and looking at the doorknob with a serious face. He knew that the person wouldn't expect him to have locked the door of the bathroom. After all, who would do it? The entrance door was locked and there wasn't someone else with him there.
Just as the detective expected, the Paladin on the other side of the door went for the doorknob and turned it, just to discover that it was locked.
He heard a grunt of surprise and perplexity on the other side of the door.
'The enemy has good senses and isn't dumb at all. He probably considered that I might have closed the door because I noticed his arrival. This grunt has some meaning behind it...', Tobey narrowed his eyes as he sharpened his mind and waited patiently. He didn't even breathe nor emitted the slightest noise.
The sound of the water of the shower falling on the ground was filling the bathroom together with his fast heartbeats. He was doing his best not to panic there before the time came.
'Use your desperation to react in time, use your apprehension to avoid anything that can threaten your life, and panic to make your body wake up and unleash its full strength. The negative emotions can be used in a positive way always!'
Tobey watched attentively as the doorknob was broken in the external side, making the other side fall to the ground as well. That Paladin was messing with the lock in a way that he wouldn't need to break through the door.
The white door of the bathroom opened slowly as someone walked in.
'That's exactly what I need!' Tobey thought as he rushed forward, passing one of his arms around that person's neck and placing his combat knife on the throat.
Just as he thought that would happen, that Paladin got paralyzed, holding his weapon firmly but never using it.
'I see... So the news already spread, huh? Mask just talked about something like Soul Mirror. I don't need to be a genius to relate it to that dagger I materialized out of nowhere during the last fight. That dagger was something for sure, I could see the fear in the Paladin's eyes as I used it to kill him.
'By grappling this guy here like this, he can't see that I am holding a combat knife, not that dagger. Also, his cautiousness shows me that he knows that I am dangerous. The news about my escape and the way I killed and hurt many Paladins is spreading, probably.'
"Y-You piece of..."
Tobey pressed his knife with a bit more strength, making the man stop talking and swallow his saliva.
"Shhh..." was the only thing he retorted. He didn't want to talk since his voice would be that of a normal human.
'I can't let him know that I am not in Demon Form. Also, he can't notice that I am not holding my Soul Mirror. The entire point behind this plan is to deceive him like this, so I can get to the bedroom again and find a way to get out of this place.'
Slowly but surely he led the Paladin out of the bathroom, always maintaining the same pressure on his knife. He did it with slow and steady steps so he would be able to pay more attention to the movements of his hostage than his own. If he focused too much on himself, he would surely lose sight of the small details that really mattered at that point.
'That's not a hostage situation where I am surrendering a normal person with normal physical capabilities. Right now I am risking my life by holding someone far stranger and faster than me, in a tentative of deceiving him. I need to pay attention to everything that he is doing before he can find a way out of my grip or discover that I am faking it all.'
The Paladin wasn't struggling under his submission, which was getting Tobey quite worried about his next steps. He felt like the Paladin also had a plan and that he was acting exactly as he wanted. Tobey was trying not to be too predictable, though it was quite difficult for him to make it in a natural way.
'This man is smart. I could notice it when analyzing the way he acted until now. I need to make sure that he isn't predicting my reactions and trying to counter them somehow. I am not only the most physically weaker person here, but also the only one injured.'
There was another reason why Tobey was stepping so slowly backward, which was a crucial part of his scheme. Nonetheless, he would need some time more for it to actually happen.
'Hold on, Tobey,' he thought as cold sweat went down his forehead and he fought against his own anxiety to regularize his breathing. 'Hold on, Tobey!'
The detective gritted his teeth as he gave another step backward.
"Why don't you kill me? Any other demon would have done it already. I wonder if you want to interrogate me. Good luck with making me spit anything other than blood and saliva," the man sarcastically said, albeit he wasn't in the best position to be so arrogant.
Indeed, if Tobey could, he would have had killed him as long as he got to apply a submission of that nature on him. However, Mask said that his combat knife wouldn't work on that Paladin.
'I want to break his spirit by threatening even further but it is something very difficult to do when I can't talk nor pull my blade further. If I do so, he will recognize my voice as that of a normal human and realize that my blade is nothing like what he is thinking right now.'
Tobey swallowed his saliva in a way that the Paladin wouldn't hear. His hands were starting to tremble so he held his breath lest they wouldn't shake that much.
"Hmm? What happened? A Paladin cut off your tongue, by chance...?" he mocked, forcing his body forward slightly.
Tobey knew that he was testing his force, so he used his own momentum to take him off balance by throwing his weight to the side and slamming him against the wall.
The Paladin wasn't expecting for him to pull off such a thing. That move was clearly practiced a lot; that man learned how to fight. He possibly mastered one or more martial arts during his life. The problem was that such a thing didn't allow him to take a grasp on his real strength. His technique covered his physical capabilities almost entirely.
'Damn it!' Tobey thought, desperately. 'That was dangerous. He is indeed very clever...'
[I agree. He felt that there is something strange with the way you are grappling him, also as suspecting the effectiveness of your blade, so he forced himself forward to test both at the same time. I am thankful you don't have the same reaction time as a turtle.] Mask pointed out, finding that exchange quite interesting, though very thrilling.
'I am struggling here, ok!? Stop talking as if you are just watching a movie and help me out, you bastard!'
[Ok, ok... Well, if you want to know about the sun, it is about to appear. Its first rays are already peeking the horizon. You just need to hold him for some time more. We are gonna make it, brah.]
'Easy for you to say when you are not the one needing to have this kind of fight against someone clearly stronger than you! This guy nearly made me lose my feet when he gave that light push forward!'
[Well, you saw your increase in strength when you were in your demon form, right? This Paladin isn't ordinary like the others, so his physical attributes are way higher than yours, even at that point.]
'A-Are you saying that, even in my Demon Form, I wouldn't be able to beat him?'
[What kind of war do you think you are!? Did you think you were some kind of special and strong being? Get real, man! These people are trained soldiers who spent their entire life preparing their bodies just so they would be able to especially kill your race!]
"Hey, demon..." the Paladin finally said something else after getting slammed against the wall.
Tobey didn't respond, trying his best to press him against the wall, using all the weight of his body to do so as he poised his blade properly.
"I bet that you are just trying to flee as fast as possible, right? You are just waiting for the right time to burst through that door and run away... However, this building is already filled with lots of Paladins! You can't make your way out!"