Solitary Sword Sovereign 63 Andre Chamberlain

Well, Will didn't care. The puppy just became a dog, so without a care in the world, Will moved forward to attack. Like the fleeting wind, Will closed in on his target. The Hound was very discontented by Will's lack of hesitation, but nevertheless was still able to respond with a swipe of its front paw.

'Heavy!'

Despite what one might think, it was actually the Hound which was surprised by the weight behind Will's strike. It had fought Will for quite some time now so it assumed that it understood his weaknesses. Will was fast, but he was not strong nor did he have a strong defense. Now thanks to the baleful aura emanating from Will, physical strength was no longer an issue.

'Just what is that red energy?'

Even though the Hound had increased in size, it was now even faster. Will and the Hound started to have many exchanges, the impact of which caused shock-waves to damage their environment, even more, often resulting in a stalemate.

The Hound would often attempt to fly, but a True Strike would quickly cut off its escape route. During the clashes, all Will was doing was imbue his sword with Bloodlust. He was trying to save as much Qi as possible thus he had to rely on his intent for the exchanges and only used True Strikes to prevent the Hound from going airborne much to the latter's chagrin.

But using intent while you are low on energy is difficult, as intent is synonymous with willpower. When you are tired, it is hard to concentrate. But Bloodlust was not an ordinary intent. Thanks to his rage, Will was able to keep fighting and keep his head level.

It was at this point that something changed for Will. The illusion of a graveyard suddenly disappeared and he was suddenly back at the arena.

This entire time he had been relying heavily on his Aqua Sense, so Will was now happy that he could concentrate again, but he was wary at the same time.

'Why did the dog cancel the illusion? Is it because it realized it was useless?'

Many thoughts ran through Will's mind as he was trying to figure out what the dog was up to.

With light steps, Will retreated from an exchange and landed on a cracked road. He was ready to attack again when a voice entered his ears. "William, stop this instant." Will froze as if time itself had stopped. His expression changed slightly as he looked to his left to the source of the sound. Aqua sense had already told him who it was, but Will wanted to confirm this fact by himself.

A tall broad-shouldered man, wearing an expensive suit. He had dark brown skin and a square jaw as if cut from the highest quality of marble. A shaped beard ran across the majority of his face and a stern expression of disdain lingered in his piercing eyes. This was the only man who called Will 'William' in the entire world. Andre Chamberlain, his father.

....

For as long as Will could remember, his father had always called him William. According to his older brother Michael, Andre wanted to name Will William, but Will's mother opposed and eventually the name Will was chosen as a compromise.

To Will, his short, simple name was the only thing his mother left behind. Although it was not much, it was all he had to remind himself that she existed. So every time he heard his father call him William, it felt as if Andre was intentionally spiting his former wife. Will had grown up being called William by his father, and he did not have the courage to tell his father that he despised being called that.

So in Will's mind, the name 'William' was associated with hatred, spite and most of his unpleasant memories.

The illusion Will was seeing was another effect of the Nether Door Pulse. Instead of trapping someone in a memory, it brings out an illusion of the person you hate the most, the being you fear the most and do not want to see. For Will, it was the man who raised him, his own father.

The Hound noticed Will pause slightly, it snickered in its heart as it knew that the new illusion had taken effect. It wanted to take advantage of Will's momentary lapse and attack him while he was incognizant. This would have indeed succeeded; on those who had one mind.

The Hound appeared in front of Will and struck down like lightning descending from the sky.

"Why are you playing games here when your family is in danger? Did you even think to contact us during the past five years? What kind of son are you? What about your brothers and sisters, surely even if you despise me you should at least worry about them! Why can't you be more like your siblings?"

The illusion was in Will's mind, thus despite sentence being lengthy, less than a fraction of a second had passed since Will had laid his eyes on his father. The giant paw was quickly descending, while the illusion had brought out all of Will's current insecurities.

Will wanted to defend himself. He wanted to say that he was getting stronger to protect them, he wanted to say that Modus had given his word that his family would not be harmed. He wanted to say that he was trying the best that he could...but he didn't.

Despite how realistic the illusion was it was still an illusion. Will was shocked but he had sixty-four minds, he was completely wary of his true foe's movements and had planned ahead. His plan was simple, feign an opening. And the opponent fell right to his trap!

Will was running on fumes, so this was going to be his last attack. Will wanted to make sure it was a good hit so he gambled by showing a slight opening. Will decided to end the battle by doing something he had never done before.

All of Will's true strikes previously were filled with sword intent. Thus Will was going to bring out the big guns. With a quick sidestep, Will dodged the large paw coming from above. Within moments he was exactly where he wanted to be, beneath the Hound.

His rusty katana glowed with a red intensity it had never shown before. Will bit his lower lip and swung his sword with all his might. Showing the quintessence of his destructive power, a True Strike with Bloodlust!

Chapter end