[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 93: In again. (Patreon)

William stood in front of the aether cluster and took a deep breath. The thing had gone back to being more or less the size of a tennis ball, even though Ishtar had made it large enough to fit an adult man just yesterday.

“So these things can just appear in our world? Anywhere?”

“Kind of,” Nanami said with a frustrated sigh. “They’re a rare occurrence, but when they happen they can cause all sorts of trouble. Thankfully, this one’s small so it doesn’t seem to have led to anything over here.”

“Wait, you mean someone on the other side could use this to come over?” Will asked, now suddenly alarmed.

Nanami had a conflicted expression on her face. “Well… yes and no? Do you have time for an explanation?”

Will clicked his tongue. “Not right now, but if you can spare some time to give me a class on this later, I’ll be thankful.”

“Y-Yes!” Nanami nodded with a surprisingly eager smile. “Oh, by the way. You should probably take this, just in case.” Nanami reached inside her bag and took out a long knife in its sheathe. “It’ll be of more use in your hands.”

“Why do you have this?” he asked, taking it in his hand and unsheathing it. It had the shape of a small machete and the blade was fully black.

“…My aunt gave it to me. For self-defense, she said. She was supposed to teach me how to use it, but…” Nanami shook her head to push the thoughts away. “Like you said, we don’t have time for a full explanation, but you should know that everything in that other world is made of aether, even the living creatures. That was what I’d been told and was able to confirm it when we went there. If you tried to use a normal knife, it wouldn’t work. This one is special.”

Will frowned. He hadn’t brought a weapon because 1) he figured a punch with Ishtar’s power would be better, considering the strength she could put behind it, and 2) he could borrow a spear from the incubi. But if things there couldn’t be hurt with conventional means, then his fists were out of the question.

‘No worries. I’m sure the good old punch will work anyway, so long as we load it with sexual energy like I did when touching the cluster there. Speaking of, why don’t you give it a try this time? You felt me doing it yesterday, right? You should be able to do it yourself now.’

Will nodded. “Let’s give this a go.”

The flow of energy now felt effortless to him. Thinking back, he was using it without thinking both when he found the incubi yesterday and last night with Reina and Ruth.

‘I said it before. Sexual energy is all about emotions. Your feelings are becoming more intertwined with the energy. Basically, you’re finally thinking of it as part of you. Sucks it took a shocking picture like that to trigger it.’

He didn’t want to think about it, so he carried on. He attached the sheathe of the knife to the waist band of his pants and held onto the invisible hole in front of him and made it larger. Nanami went in before him and he quickly followed. They were greeted by the same image, by the same basement as the one they were in before. Will briefly wondered why. Why was the building here but also in the real world? It was like a copy had been made. But again, there would be time for that later.

Along with Will’s better control of sexual energy came the ability to sense lust, like Ishtar did. He could feel something like a faintly pulsing heat coming from above them.

‘Is that what I think it is?’

‘The incubi, yes. You’re still green in that area, but since these guys live off of lust, you can still sense them. The signals are far clearer to me. Still, you getting better at this means I won’t have to tell you every little thing.’

‘Aww, but I like our talks.’

‘Go upstairs, dammit.’

Will let out a soft chuckle and shot Nanami a look. “Doing well?”

She nodded. “The first time was a shock, but now I was ready. I feel fine.”

“Then we’re moving up. Stay close.”

Will went up the stairs with Nanami close behind him. Immediately after leaving the basement they found two incubi in the main lobby. There was glass on the floor, and the windows where it might have come from were barred with closets and bed frames, as was the main door. The two incubi were checking that everything was in order when they heard his footsteps behind them. They turned towards him in a startled panic, pointing their spears in his direction before they recognized his face and smiled with relief.

“L-Lady Ishtar!” one said.

“The lady is just watching right now,” Will said, his tone forcefully neutral. “The name’s William, in case you don’t remember. The owner of this body and the boyfriend of the girls you… saved yesterday,” he decided on.

“Lord William, then,” said one big and muscular incubus. By appearance alone, he looked like he could easily squash Will. “Thank you very much for coming.” He and his friend bowed.

Will looked past them to the barred windows. “What happened there?”

“The sudden apparition of this building has called attention to other creatures nearby. The windows were shattered when we fended off an attack. Thankfully, defending this place is easier than sleeping out in the open.”

“You feel better, then?” Will asked, fighting to keep the disdain off his voice.

“Yes, Lord William. Enough to move around and fight off lesser beasts, at least. Azazel, however…”

Nanami let out a soft gasp behind him. “Is he… dead?”

“No, but he’s not well. He was injured during an attack last night. Shall I take you to him?”

“Yes,” Will said. He and Nanami followed the incubus, with Will half expecting to be taken back to Reina’s place.

Much to his relief, they were taken to an apartment on the second floor. Azazel was sitting on a couch in its living room, holding the left side of his waist. He looked pale, his purple-ish skin almost white in comparison to the others.

“Azazel,” the big incubus said. “Lord William and Ms. Nanami are here.”

“Huh? They remember my name?” the Asian girl muttered softly to herself.

“Lord William?” Azazel asked, but after a single look at Will he understood it all. “I see. Thank you very much for your return, Lord William.”

Will wasn’t a fan of them calling him ‘lord’, but with everything that had happened, he needed to hear that level of deference towards him from them. They probably understood that, which was why they kept doing it.

‘This guy is almost dead. I’d give him two days at most, and that’s if his injury doesn’t take him earlier.’

Will could read between Ishtar’s lines. “Has your injury been treated?” he asked.

“As best as we can,” Azazel nodded while trying to suppress a grunt. “But as we rely on sexual magic for healing, our knowledge of other types of healing is severely lacking.”

Nanami approached Will from behind and whispered in his ear. “I know some first aid and there should be a kit in the building. It may not have any effect, but… Should I try to help?”

“Please do,” Will nodded. It would be a good opportunity to confirm one more thing. Nanami left the apartment in search of a first aid kit, and Will took a seat in front of Azazel. “I need to be clear on something. Despite understanding your situation, I still hold a grudge over what you had my girlfriends go through. Nevertheless, you saved them. Besides, Ishtar… is curious about you lot, so we’re here to help and to learn. Tell me everything.”