Fight, William.

Will understood the moment he felt the kind of energy coming out of that crystal. A wave of intense, crippling sluggishness fell over his body and threatened to suck all of his energy and willpower, yet instead of seeping into him, it passed through him as if ignoring him.

All around him, however, the mercenaries began to fall. Strength left their legs, their weapons dropped from their hands, their knees hit the floor first before they sluggishly laid on the floor.

Will could think of only one being capable of such a powerful and large-scale spell like this, and the nature of the energy he felt confirmed it in an instant. And yeah, giving them a helping hand without actually having to do anything himself was totally on brand for old man Belphegor.

Still, as powerful as this way, there was still the matter of magic resistance. The mercenaries were all down, but Helga beside him was still on her feet, if a little woozy. It was enough.

Even with the man holding him being about twice Will’s size, it didn’t take much effort to push him away. His grip on him had weakened and it looked like it was taking all he had to keep from falling backwards.

He sent a quick kick to Helga’s side, making her stumble, and made a dash for it towards Aoi and the others. At least, he tried to. Not three steps in, the man in the suit was in front of him, his arm stretched out to grab him by the face.

He wasn’t the only one to start moving, though. In fact. Johana took her first steps just as the crystal was thrown. They both reached him at the same time, and Will didn’t know what to think. The man in the suit was closer, but he also moved later and his full capabilities HAD to be hindered by Belphegor’s spell, yet Johana also reached him in but two dashes despite being farther away.

Had he had the time, Will would’ve laughed. These people were monsters. And as if to prove that, the man in the suit not only withstood but fully tanked a backhand to the face from Johana without flinching, and in response he switched targets from Will to the blonde amazon and pushed her with a shoulder tackle, dragging her with him even as Johana planted her feet firmly and tried to push back.

“Will!” That voice was Reina’s, but from what he’d felt just earlier, that was Ishtar.

She took her first steps to run towards him, and with the man in the suit occupied with Johana, Will also saw it as his chance to run, but he really should’ve known better than to underestimate a Higher Spirit.

Ethereal figures of golden, yellowish light sprung from the ground along the space between Will and Reina, one after the other and blocking their path. One, two, three, four… Ten in total, some of them carried weapons like swords, shields and spears, some held nothing, but all of them were human-looking.

“You… little shit…!” Helga groaned, struggling to her feet. “What was that!? Sloth!? You have… Ugh…! You have a Spirit of Sloth with you!?” Her legs shook and she had to lean back against the metal door. “If so, then I’m gonna get it, too… I’ll take fucking everything!” Her face twisted as she screamed. It was like she was resisting Belphegor’s spell through sheer drive, willpower and the high magic resistance of the Higher Spirit inside her.

Her soldiers began to move. Two of them rushed at Will while the other eight blocked Ishtar and Aoi. In the blink of an eye, Aoi had her sword in her hands, sheathed and at her side, ready to draw. Will also saw Ishtar taking a stance, ready to fight her way through, but he didn’t have time to worry about them.

Before, with Ishtar’s power, he’d been able to smash through Helga’s soldiers, but now…

The two soldiers in front of him carried swords made of the same energy as their bodies. Would they cut like real swords, be blunt or even deadlier than regular steel? It didn’t really matter. Without Ishtar’s powers, Will was about as fragile as a regular person.

Fragile, but not helpless.

Instead of rushing in, he quickly retreated into the warehouse while keeping his eyes on the two soldiers. There, on the floor and by their owners’ sides, lay a plethora of weapons for him to choose from.

He quickly kneeled to grab whatever was closest. Two shortswords, one in each hand. He held them with the left sword in front of the right one.

“What, you’re gonna tell me you’re dualwielding swordmaster now?” Helga said. “You have nothing, Will. What meager power you gathered while you were here won’t get you out of this.”

Will smirked confidently but remained silent. He inched closer bit by bit to the two soldiers who remained wary of him despite everything. What were they? How did they move? Was Helga directly controlling them like puppets or did they move on their own? The disparity between Helga’s smug attitude and the wariness of the soldiers would hint to the latter. If so, he’d be better off fighting like these things were competent fighters, if not veterans.

Once at the proper distance, Will lowered his stance and kicked the ground to dash forward, only not really. The two soldiers fell for the faint, moving forward to intercept him. That was when Will threw the sword in his right hand, sending it spinning at one of the armed figures. Then, without missing a beat, he tossed the left sword into his right hand and sent it flying as well with all his strength.

Will, after all, was no swordsman. Aoi may have trained him, but she didn’t turn him into her. She had him lean into his own strengths, which were lay in something closer to brawling.

The soldiers managed to parry the thrown swords, but that was expected. The moment the second sword left Will’s hand, he was already tapping into the meager power he had gathered.

Memories of previous encounters… sustained him. In that dark room with nothing to do, Will remembered the time he spent with Amelia, Cynthia, Reina, Anna, Ruth, Nanami and Aoi. The memories became more vivid with each moment, and like drops of water falling into a cup, they filled him with power not unlike Ishtar’s.

Will felt familiar warmth course through his body, and despite it not being separated from Ishtar for that long, it almost felt like aether was coursing through him for the first time in years. His legs, his arms, his whole body felt firm and strong.

He kicked the ground again, and using that momentary opening from the soldier raising their swords to parry, Will closed the distance and landed a strong punch into the unprotected stomach of one of the soldiers, making it bend forward.

The second one, however, wouldn’t miss its chance. It raised its sword to cut Will down, but Will smoothly moved to put the injured soldier between them and kicked it as hard as he could, sending it crashing into the other.

Yep. Power or no, being diligent with your training doesn’t let you down.