NOVEL NEXT [23] Boons and Backlashes
Chapter 23: Boons and Backlashes
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[Earlier, Third Person Point of View]
Ruby was a lot more worried about Tsubasa than her brother was. She always noticed he was a bit cold-blooded – even though he was much better nowadays – which always made her wonder why, though she didn't like to ponder what he was in his last life.
She had been curious since the first day he revealed that he was a reincarnator like her. However, she never asked about his past, the way he never asked about hers. Well, she asked him a few times, but all he said was that she should tell him her past first, which she didn't plan to do.
So no matter how interesting his previous life may have been, she never got to know about it. Ruby was slightly annoyed that he hadn't come to look for Tsubasa from the get-go, but he's never been too fast to act, rarely anything made him react. His last life must have been something.
"[Scan]!"
She chanted once more. Her 4th Circle mana heart could cast a stronger scan than the one she used a few weeks ago to find Aqua in the gym. It rippled through reality a few kilometers from her spot and returned with nothing.
"Haah, where is sh-"
Ruby paused as she did sense something. It was a person, veiled until now as they let go of it. Before she could gather her thoughts, the person vanished from where she had just scanned, and soon he was in front of her.
"Uh oh." Ruby took a step back as a tanned man wielding a spear dropped in front of her. The speed at which he came to her from his previous spot was terrifying.
"Little girl," the man said, raising his spear. "You know where the Treasure is, don't you?"
He’s been aggressive from the start, which told Ruby that this won't end well. For her right now, and for him in a bit, if she was hurt.
Ruby knew a lot of spells. However, she had zero battle experience. Her brother tried to train her, but she always said there was no point in training to fight. She said, if danger does come, she could just call forth a pillar of fire.
Back then, she hadn't considered what if the enemy was faster than the pillar of fire. What if he dodged the lightning she'd call from the sky? What if he wasn't damaged by the sharp whip of water she'd create?
After a very short period of time, the battle ended. To Ruby's credit though, at least the Jaguar-like man's spear was destroyed in the process. Even if it cost her her vision.
* * *
[First Person Point of View]
I felt my veins chill as I stared at the scene with wide eyes. Blood boiled as my fingers twitched in a desire to tear him into pieces.
"Xihuitl is dead? A pity." Said the man.
Who this man was didn't matter. It wasn't an issue too that I sensed a decent level of divine authority inside him, similar to the White Tiger divinity actually. Based on his outfit and appearance, he must be an Avatar of the Jaguar God – the Aztec equivalent of the more popular White Tiger. Not that I gave a fuck as I vanished from my spot.
[Eternal Sorcery: Discrimination of Time]
Circles of magic appeared overhead, and the world slowed down for everyone but I, even as I endured the ever-growing internal pain inside me. My anger demanded why had I allowed that woman from my 7th life, the Empress of Mankind, to put a seal on my soul that made it so I can't freely use magic until I turn 18? My reasoning back then was that life will feel too easy if I did, too boring, but fuck that and fuck myself from the past.
It hurt, but the spell did work.
My hand grabbed the bastard by his throat as we blinked from one spot to another, and Ruby's body fell to the ground because of that. To my surprise, the jaguar managed to move even within this slowed time, which meant his natural speed was outrageous.
His hand tried to punch me, but my passive aura flared around his fist, making him yell in pain and withdraw his punch.
We went flying and I slammed him against a tree, my throat clenched around his neck the same way he was clutching my sister.
"S-stop!"
"Worthless bastard."
I growled as my Qi raged, and I forced it to perform an [Underlord] Technique. I knew anything less will not work, so I had to do this even if I'll face severe consequences.
[Fulmination of Cyclone]
Using advanced control over Lightning Qi and Wind Qi, I unleashed a swirling cyclone of charged particles inside him. The storm was created internally to destroy the enemy from his core; the generated vortex of lightning and wind tore through matter from within, leaving only vapor in its wake.
Soon I only held onto his neck, as his body from below was 80% disembodied into a cluster of flesh and bones. The remaining flesh fell to the ground with a thud, while the empty eyes stared at me with dread.
I would have destroyed the head too, but I decided against it only because of the eyes. Since Ruby's eyes were gone, she'd need some replacement.
"Argh…"
Sadly, I couldn't hold on for much longer myself. I coughed and spat as blood came out, making me growl. The internal injury hurt a lot, and I felt it more than usual since I haven't experienced much pain in this life. Dammit, this battle cost me; of course it did, I was against the Champion of a God. For reference, even someone like Rias with the power of Destruction would have been no match for this guy.
I deposited the head in my Void Storage. I wish I could vaporize the remaining meat on the ground, but using Qi hurts a lot now.
I turned back to where Ruby was. There I noticed Hanekawa Shinra present too, and thankfully she hadn't harmed Ruby. She was just staring at the scene.
I walked to them, even as I staggered, and leaned down to touch Ruby's body. I tried to deposit her in my Void Storage, but for fuck's sake I couldn't. My power was not working properly due to all the injuries, putting a living person there was too much work.
Instead, I sat down near her and pulled out my phone with a shaky hand. The cat girl finally decided to move, coming to me and helping me sit. She sat beside me and held me in place, saying nothing.
"Thanks,"
I told her as I dialed Mem-Cho's number. Should I have called Rias instead? The call was picked up soon.
– "Hey~ Aqua-kun, what's up?"
"Sup. I need you in this location right now. You said you live alone, right? I have an injured person, and I need a room. Come pick me u- cough. Come pick me up, don't bring a taxi or Uber."
There was a short silence before she spoke. – "It sounds serious; I'll be there soon."
Before I could tell her the location, the cat girl shook her head. "Who knows how long it will take her to find a car and come? Ask her for her location, I'll carry you too. I am faster than a car."
I stared at her eyes, she was smiling and nodded. She was trying to score a favor from me, and she sure succeeded. I nodded.
* * *
The cat girl or Black Hanekawa as she said I should refer to her, carried us through the rooftops of Japan and we reached our destination in under five minutes. Mem-Cho lived close enough, the harder part was to correctly navigate to her apartment.
We didn't take the stairs or the elevator, we jumped from the rooftop and landed on the balcony. Hanekawa's cat reflexes helped, as we heard footsteps until the glass door to the balcony opened.
"You look so messy. Just c-come inside!" Mem-Cho gave us a worried look and said.
I'm glad she didn't mind the blood. We made ourselves in, and Mem told me to put Ruby in her bed. I didn't do that, and just put her on the floor, there was no need to ruin her sheets with blood.
"Kitty, Mem, get out of the room." I told them as they exchanged glances and walked out, I closed the door.
Then, I crouched down near Ruby. She didn't have that many injuries, but her eyes were gone. They were ripped out of her, it seemed. Fucking hell.
I yanked out the head of the jaguar bastard and put it down beside Ruby. Its eyes still looked at me in fear. Those red eyes will change their look when it goes to Ruby.
Before putting those eyes on her though, I decided to do something. Fuck, it will hurt, but I have already endured enough pain. So why not some more? I can't miss this kind of opportunity to help Ruby.
I realized this jaguar guy had some divinity in him from the get go. He wasn't a God, so it wasn't much, but as an Avatar or a Champion of a strong God, it was pretty solid. Now that his body was gone and only his head remained, that bit of divinity was still lingering in the air around his head. It was oozing out and would return to the Jaguar God soon, but I wouldn't let it. I'll turn the weapon used to hurt her into a boon.
This level of Qi concentration damaged me and so it hurt, but I managed. I grabbed the divinity in the air with my Qi, and then held it down on the eyes of the severed head. Thankfully it didn't hurt anymore since the divinity belonged to that body, it didn't take much work. It snapped into place as the eyes surely received some great benefits.
Then, I put my left hand on top of those eyes while my right hand rested on top of Ruby's eye sockets. This was a technique I could perform without hurting myself, as it was a simple exchange of healing.
I concentrated and cast a spell. Right, I was wrong, it hurt. The Healing Magic: [Swap Surgery] was a simple enough spell and my restriction wouldn't have reacted much normally, just like when I used the Metaphysical Consciousness Spell, but my body was wrecked from the inside right now, so it hurt.
"Damn." At least, the spell was done. I felt my Qi work to cast the spell and the work was done.
I removed my hands from the sockets of the severed head, and its eyes were gone. When I did the same with Ruby's, I saw her eyes closed, but full. The blood around her socket was gone too.
I sent another simple wave of Pure Storm Baptism around her body to heal any other wounds, and then collapsed on my face, barely managing to deposit the severed head back in the storage and yell for the others that they could enter.
* * *
Strangely, I woke up with not much pain in my body. Well, none at all. The damage was done, but it was less lethal than it should have been, plus the wounds were healed.
Once I opened my eyes and looked around, I soon spotted the reason. I was in a bed, and two naked girls slept around me, all under a blanket. An aura of Senjutsu seeped out of both of them, helping to calm me. One was Tsubasa, and the other was Mem-Cho. They were both asleep, even as I got up and stretched my arms.
What did they do? I wondered.
I recalled reading about something related to this, I think. Bouchujutsu is a form of healing that is performed by a woman in the bedroom, she and the man have sex to heal the man in the process.
"Oh no," I looked down at the weapon of mass destruction between my legs and let out a sigh. It didn't seem like we did the deed. I didn't mind doing it, but what's the point of it if I was asleep?
My movements seemed to wake up the girl on my right, Tsubasa. She's always been a light sleeper. I had to mention that her hair was black again, it wasn't her mother right now, but I could imagine that it was that woman who must have proposed this idea to Mem-Cho. Because the little devil girl didn't appear as proficient in this form of healing as Tsubasa did, even when her mother wasn't in control.
"What is this…"
Tsubasa sat up, rubbing her eyes, as I quickly put the blanket over Mem-Cho. One step at a time.
She stared at my face with a blank look for a second, and then at my body. She shook her head and then went back to sleep.
"Still dreaming, I guess…" she muttered, and laid down.
A moment later, she jumped back up, staring into my eyes with her wide ones. She didn't have her glasses, so she wasn't supposed to see, but I knew she could now, she was stronger than yesterday.
"Aqua…" she said slowly as her face went red. She quickly covered her breasts with her forearm, and turned her head to the side, unsure what to say. "W-what's going on? Did we… d-do it last night?"
I don't know why she looked so cute today. Maybe it's the awakening of her bloodlines that made her prettier, or maybe it's just the fact that her mother was such a useful one. Without her, things would have been a tad bit troublesome. No, Tsubasa has always been attractive physically, but I suppose seeing her help me so much – even if it was just her body and not exactly her – built a different sort of attraction for me.
I couldn't help but lean forward and hug her from behind. She stiffened, but only for a moment. Her body relaxed as she breathed in easily, while I pulled her closer to me, hugging her tightly.
"I know you can hear," I said, talking to the woman inside Tsubasa. "Looks like you are not telling her anything. I don't like that. Make everything clear to her, about what you're doing. Thanks, by the way, you were a massive help."
Tsubasa was naturally confused. "Ah, am I really dreaming in the end…?"
My hands that were wrapped around her abdomen rose higher and grabbed her breasts. She flinched, moaning when my fingers pressed on her nipples as a big blush forced on her face.
"Are you?"
"A-aqua, this…"
She turned her face around as if to complain, but I took that chapter to grab her chin to hold her in place. I pressed my lips on top of hers, inserting my tongue inside hers as her eyes widened. She tried to struggle only for a moment out of instinct, but soon she gave in and returned the kiss.
I grabbed her body and twisted her around, pushing her back on the bed and rising on top of her. I leaned down and kissed her once again, and she returned it by wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Since we were both naked, my suddenly hard dick rested on top of her abdomen, waiting to be inserted. Sadly for her, I wasn't going to go that route with her right now, when she was still confused. I just wanted to kiss her.
I canceled the kiss and looked down at her panting face, she was a mess.
"We didn't do it last night," I told her, and she gulped.
"I- I want you right now, please." Who knew where she pulled that courage from, for a moment I really wanted to give in.
Sadly, things often go as planned. I heard a fake cough, as did Tsubasa, as we turned our heads to the side. There, with half of her reddened face under the blanket, was the devil Mem-Cho who had stars in her eyes.
"U-um, would you two wait until I leave the room…?"
Needless to say, the situation didn't stay as it was right now. Pity.
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