[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 280: Ishtar and William. (Patreon)

Ishtar understood what that was by feeling the flow of aether inside Aoi, and if she could understand it, so could the man in the suit. Will’s teacher was in danger. Her blade had not been able to cut through the raging man, and understanding the amount of protection the enchanted suit gave this other one, she knew she wouldn’t be able to cut him, either.

Aoi forwent all the strengthening magic that would let her body keep up with this level of fighting. Instead, she poured it all on her sword, creating a blade that could cut through even the toughest reinforcement spells. The sharpest, most dangerous weapon in the hands of a normal person.

…

No, Aoi is not just a normal person. She’s a swordmaster, magic enhancements or no. Hers was a life devoted to mastering skills the normal world had discarded long ago, all for moments like this one.

If Ishtar and Aoi took on that guy together, she was sure they’d be able to beat him. But there was still that other guy with the powers of a Spirit of Wrath, and even more importantly, Will was finally in a position where she could reach him.

She ran. Reina’s body was lithe and strong, but it didn’t feel right. This wasn’t it. Ishtar wanted to be with Will again, she wanted to be with her idiot. He needs her!

From the corner of her eye, she saw Helga also running towards Will, a heavy piece of concrete in her hand. With boiling blood, Ishtar took a little detour. She ran towards Helga, reaching her in but a moment, jumped and kicked her on the stomach with the tip of her foot, driving it in deep.

“Gah!” Helga gasped before she was sent flying and rolling on the floor before hitting the wall of the warehouse.

Ishtar went back to running towards Will, reaching him in second.

“Will! Will!”

Ishtar wasn’t sure if he could even hear her. He was bleeding from the side of his head, his legs seemed to fail him and his forearms were turning purple. She gritted her teeth in frustration. If she were to try and possess him again, they’d be one fighter down. Will could not fight with these injuries and Reina would be back to being herself. He was right there in front of her, finally, yet if she joined with him, they were all sure to lose. 

Ishtar looked back to check the situation. Aoi was keeping the man in the suit at bay with the threat of a one-shot kill, but if she were to miss that one strike, Aoi would be the one to die. They were at a standstill, but the man had the advantage. All he had to do was wait until Aoi couldn’t hold the spell on her sword any longer and attack then.

Johana was treating the raging man almost like a sandbag. She would punch him, kick him and beat him down with her heavy halberd, pushing him back and into the ground, but the man would continue to stand up like he had received no damage. In fact, he was practically ignoring Johana, trying to rush past her to reach Will.

Should she just throw Will over her shoulder and run away, then? Would they give up if they lost both their objectives? Aoi and Johana could probably run away.

…

No, they couldn’t. The spell Aoi had on her sword was draining her rapidly. That she hadn't brought it out until now meant it was a last-resort sort of thing. She’d be too drained of aether to escape. On Johana’s side, she was brute forcing her way through that fight and her leg was injured. She was using all she had to keep that monster on the floor, but every time he stood up like an angry gorilla like nothing had happened. Her pride was taking a bigger beating than she was, most likely… But she was getting tired, that much was obvious. No one can keep their 100% going for too long, not even the amazons.

No, the best course of action was to turn back and help them. If they could at least beat the man in the suit, then…

“Why…?” Will muttered weakly. “Why did you come? Should’ve just… ignored me. You all could’ve… started fresh…”

Ishtar’s eye twitched, and suddenly worry and caution gave way to annoyance. Yep, this was her man alright. Her self-depricating idiot.

She pulled out the vial with the lust elixir, raised Will’s head by holding his chin and shoved the thing in his mouth.

“No one was going to abandon you, much less me. Come on, Will. Since when have you been the type to fish for reassurance?”

Will drank the potion to the last drop and without complaints. He shuddered when he was finished, as the thing didn’t really have a great taste, but slowly his eyes were regaining their focus.

Aether has a direct effect on the condition of the body, and that potion was practically a shot of pure sexual energy. From what they could tell, Will had awakened power of his own, independent of Ishtar’s. Strictly speaking… he didn’t need her anymore, not to live the type of life he wanted. In fact, going back inside him would pull him back into the hectic life of supernatural bullshit he hated.

Ishtar hesitated. She kneeled in front of him, held his face and pulled him close to hers, looking directly in his eyes. “Answer me. Do you not want me with you anymore?”

For a moment, Ishtar believed she had heard his answer. “I don’t,” he had said, but when he spoke for real, she realized that had only been the fear in her mind.

Will chuckled weakly, and when he looked at her, she realized it was their first time locking eyes. Ishtar’s heart skipped a beat as she now stood on the receiving side of that look and understood why the other girls fell so quickly. There was something… weirdly innocent and genuine in his eyes.

“We said we’d be together forever, didn’t we?” he said. “Besides, I doubt anyone else could bear having you nagging them in their head 24/7.”

Yep. That’s her Will.

“Fucker.”

She leaned in and locked lips with him for the very first time and cursed their current situation. He tasted heavenly, and she would make damn sure they learned to make a body out of that slime Belphegor got for them, because she needed a more thorough taste later. For now, though, there were important things to do.

All her previous considerations were thrown out the window. It would be alright. Ishtar and Will would be joined again, and together they would kick so much ass they’d be back home in time for dinner.