The meeting spot.

Amelia gave Aoi the location for the trade. It was in the far outskirts of the city, only in the very opposite direction of where they’d been searching just now. A frustrating feeling, to be sure, but one that they had to push away.

The ride there was quiet. Ishtar didn’t say a word, and if they were anything alike, they were both running all manner of possible scenarios in their heads. They had contacted Johana as well, and the amazon warrior met them close to the trade spot, next to the road.

“I almost got lost,” Johana admitted. “I’m still having a hard time getting used to this city. Every street looks the same to me.”

“Thank you for coming,” Ishtar said, getting off Aoi’s bike and taking off her helmet. “I feel better having you here.”

“Between the three of us, we can handle anything they throw at us,” Joahana said. “What worries me is how we’ll get William back without them harming him.”

“We have something prepared,” Aoi said. “Hopefully it’ll be enough. At the very least it should give us an opening. We’ll act once we confirm that they have Will. We’ll throw something. Once we do…”

“I rush in and grab him while you two back me up?” Johana guessed.

Aoi nodded. “There’s a chance they’ll have someone with enough magic resistance, but even they won’t be immune. But until we confirm Will’s safety…”

“I’ll act like I’m willing to trade myself,” Ishtar said. “Should we tie my arms behind my back or something?

“We don’t have anything that’d be strong enough to hold you. Anything we tie you with would barely be symbolic. Not that they’ll trust us, but it’ll be better if Johana holds your wrist from behind. Regardless, we don’t know what we’ll find. We’ll have to ad-lib.”

“If all goes well, we walk in and get Will out without issues. But things never go well, so be ready for a fight,” Ishtar said. “Hopefully we’ll get him out without injuries…”

Aoi and Ishtar rode the bike while Johanna jogged beside them. They made a turn from the main road through a dirt path leading further and further away towards old warehouses and rundown, abandoned hardware stores.

Then, as they got closer to the specified warehouse, Ishtar’s hold around Aoi’s waist tightened. Aoi stopped the bike and Johana stopped running.

“What is it?” Aoi asked, looking back at Ishtar.

“...” The spirit remained quiet for a moment, focused on something further ahead. “He’s here,” she confirmed. “Will is here.”

“Are you sure?” Johana asked.

“It’s like I’m seeing the tiniest reflection of myself up ahead. Or rather… seeing the ghost of a reflection. Stronger than what I sense in Reina and all of you, but…”

“...Let’s approach carefully now,” Aoi said.

She got off the bike and left it somewhere nearby. Johana then stood behind Ishtar and held her wrists together behind her back with a strong grip. It was all a show, and Will’s kidnapers would know, but it was better than strolling there looking ready to fight everyone.

The meeting point was one of the many old warehouses around. A particularly large one with a long double sliding door and a smaller pedestrian door to the side. A single man stood in front of it, in the open, concrete floor space.

He wore a black formal suit from which magical power could be easily felt. He seemed to be close to Aoi’s age, but it wasn’t age that put Aoi on edge. Her instincts screamed at her that this was a dangerous man, and the magic in his suit was barely even the start.

No… No, that was wrong. Aoi trusted her instincts, but this had little to do with it. This was intentional. That man was deliberately letting out a faint, subtle bit of his aura. Ishtar, Johana and Aoi could absolutely take him on, but he wouldn’t stand there in the open and boasting about his strength if that was all he had. After all, Helga herself was probably around, too. According to Ishtar, even a drained Will was able to beat her puppets, but Aoi wouldn’t underestimate a higher spirit.

“Welcome. Thank you for meeting us here,” the man said with a short, polite bow.

“Where’s William?” Aoi asked. “Where’s Helga?”

“Inside the warehouse, both of them,” the man answered easily. “We’ll bring him out as soon as you give us proof that you have a Spirit of Lust. Is it inside that woman, I assume?”

His eyes landed on Reina first, but soon they looked past her and to the taller woman behind her. His eyes narrowed and his stance loosened, not in relaxation but in preparation.

“Just let the kid go,” Ishtar said. “It’s me you want, isn’t it? I can’t give you this woman, but if you show me Will is in good condition, I’ll get myself inside one of those crystals if you want.”

“Proof, please,” the man repeated.

Ishtar sighed and let out a bit of her own aura, exceedingly distinct from the one the man was letting out. It was warmer, welcoming, tantalizing… It threatened to draw everyone in with the promise of unimaginable pleasure. Perhaps in that sense, the Spirit of Lust was unique in that it could give every bit as much as it took. There was no mistaking this feeling for anything else.

The man smiled and turned to the warehouse’s large metal doors. “Bring him out!” he shouted.

The heavy doors began to open, creaking and screeching from rust and wear. The first thing the girls saw was, indeed, William. He had his hands behind his back as another, taller man held him from behind. Helga was watching him, standing beside him. But… the doors didn’t stop. They kept sliding open, revealing more and more of the inside of the warehouse.

Ten… Thirty… Fifty? No, even more, to the point they couldn’t be easily counted. Men and women with different weapons stood inside the warehouse. There could be anywhere from 80 to 150 people in there, all of them combat ready.

“So many?” Johana asked. “I didn’t think they had this many people on hand. But anyway… That’s Will, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Ishtar confirmed before she sighed. “This really would’ve been a pain in the ass to deal with. But if he’s there…”

“Right,” Aoi said. “Let’s get this over with.”

Aoi took her hand in and out of her pocket in a quick, swift motion and tossed a large piece of white quartz crystal towards the large crowd of mercenaries.

The man in the suit reacted faster than expected, throwing a coin nearing the speed of a bullet to intercept that crystal. The coin hit its mark and managed to crack the crystal as well as push it away, but it didn't make a difference.

A powerful, bright light blinded them all. Not a second later there was an immense, soundless explosion of smoke that covered the entire area around the warehouse. In less than seconds, the army the kidnappers brought began to fall to their knees, then to the cold, hard floor.