[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 154: How to pierce through. (Patreon)

His jaw had fallen off. His hand on it said otherwise, and he could move it just fine, but Will definitely felt as if his jaw had fallen off or had completely shattered.

The pain made the adrenaline rush to his brain, letting him stand up after a roll. He saw black spots all over, his vision spun and his legs felt wobbly, but for what could’ve easily been being hit by a sledge hammer, he was fine.

“Thank fuck for the training we did…” he muttered to himself, again making sure his jaw was indeed in place.

His own strengthening magic, the layer of aether protecting him, was as solid as a rock wall. In the spar with Aoi, she’d been able to hurt him as he got the hang of reinforcing his body, but after he did, bone-breaking blows had only caused bruises. The fact that Jack was able to hurt him like this despite it spoke of the raw power the man had.

“Tsk. You still stand?” Jack spat. “After that? You shit.”

“William, are you okay?” Aoi asked, hurrying to his side while keeping her eyes on Jack.

“Well enough,” he answered. His jaw still stung. “Any plans on how to beat him? I punched him hard and it didn’t do anything.”

“But it did. Look.” Aoi pointed to Jack’s face. There was a clear bruise on his cheek, right where Will’s punch landed before he got hit. “We can’t hurt him, but you can.”

The incubi surrounded Jack at a safe distance, spears in hand, yet there was a clear hesitance to their movements. They wanted to rush in and attack, but knew their attacks would be easily repelled.

“I don’t think I want to trade blows like that again,” Will said.

“Then don’t. You can do more than just punch, remember? You don’t need to win in one strike. If you can attack and shred his barrier bit by bit, we’ll be able to damage him as well. Make him waste energy.”

More than punch? Out of all the types of magic Aoi taught him, he was a natural at lust-based Enchantments thanks to Ishtar’s nature, but those didn’t work on Jack. After that, Strengthening was the only one he’d been able to get any practical usefulness out of in such a short time. So far, Restoration only worked when having sex, he had no use of Illusions, Construction was too complex and out of his reach yet, mind-reading through Thaumaturgy didn’t work either due to Jack not having a libido at all, and Evocation…

Will’s eyes widened and he threw himself to the side to avoid a stone that flew past him like a bullet. Jack yawned as he played with two other stones in his hand.

“Is the crystal even here, Aoi?” he asked. “If not, I’ll simply leave. I can take care of you more easily on the other side. I’ll send tons of people after you, after those you care about, and without me needing to lift a finger. If you give me the crystal, I’ll consider going easy on you all.”

“By all means, please turn your back on us,” Aoi said with a small smile. She stood firm in a stance with her sword held vertically close to her face. “I’m not honorable enough not to strike from the back when given the chance.”

“You can’t hurt me, woman.”

“If you’re so sure, then why don’t you stand still and let me try again?”

Without warning, Jack shot another stone, flicking it with his thumb towards Aoi. She swung her sword down in a flash, and two halves of the stone shot out in different directions, one burrowing itself on the ground and another bouncing off and leaving a crack in the rock formation.

“Really, it’s such a waste to lose those skills,” Jack said, sighing. “Come back, Aoi.”

Jack stretched his arm towards Aoi, his palm open. The gray haze began to ooze off him again. He walked towards her with agonizingly slow steps, and Aoi was rooted in place. Her body tensed, and her sword shook in her hands despite or perhaps because of the tight grip.

“NOW!” Azazel shouted. “FIRE!”

All incubi threw their spears like javelins. The wooden shafts flew cutting the wind and landed with perfect aim, yet they all bounced off of Jack without leaving a scratch. All but one.

Will kept his eyes on Azazel when he noticed the incubus doing something different than the rest. The tip of his spear gave off a faint purple light, much like the color of his own aether. When he threw it, it left a purple trail through the air, but when it landed it didn’t bounce off like the others. It was only the very tip of the blade, but it drew blood. A nick, but the spear managed to pierce through cloth and skin.

The attack, if he considered it that, broke Jack’s concentration on whatever he was doing to Aoi. He turned to look at the spear on the ground, now devoid of the light that had helped it damage him, and Aoi took that chance to jump further back. Her jaw was set and her body trembled, even while she held her sword in a ready stance.

‘That was an aether-infused spear, wasn’t it?’

‘Yeah, it was.’

‘So adding Evocation magic to our attacks can shred through his barrier faster?’

‘It’s worth a shot. You did it before, when sparring with Aoi. Remember how you did it?’

‘...Not well. It was sudden and I was desperate.’

‘Aren’t you lucky you have me here? I remember what you did. Leave the flow of aether to me, you hit him hard and don’t get hit in return.’

‘Alright. But you owe me if it doesn’t work.’

‘Sure. What do you want?’

‘I’m going to spank you when you have a body.’

‘Hey, don’t threaten me with a good time.’

Will chuckled. The tension of his muscles eased up, if only somewhat. The pain was still there, keeping him aware, but his heart wasn’t beating so wildly anymore.

It was good to have a partner to take on some of the burden.