"There is a time, however, when a third type of happiness occurs. One that derives pleasure from one's own misery and not the misery of others." As Modus said these words, Adelda could not help but focus on the odd expression on Will's face.

Modus did not say more and merely continued looking on at the battle. Adelda had understood the underlying meaning in his words. Will had taken one step closer toward the forbidden path for those born with Bloodl.u.s.t, the path of Asura!

…

Will's mind was in utter chaos. Countless ideas and thoughts were running through his mind, many calculations and plans were being churned and destroyed, all for the sole purpose of achieving one thing.

'How do I prolong this battle?'

Will had entered a state of euphoria. He himself was not aware of when this happened. And he did not care. He was enjoying himself far too much. Despite the fact that the puppy clearly had the upper hand. Despite the fact that it had been Will who had been on the receiving end of the damage, he was still happy. Because he was completely and utterly suppressed!

Make no mistake, Will was not a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t, far from it, he was actually a s.a.d.i.s.t by nature and he was proud of it. But this battle had pushed him to his limits. His energy reserves were low, his body was fatigued, his conscious was fading, his ears were ringing, his arms felt like they weighed a ton, and most important of all his own life was on the line! This was a state Will had not achieved for a long time.

Will was now running on fumes, and he himself knew that he was walking a tight rope and that one mistake could make him fall into the chasm of darkness. But to Will, it was worth it. Because he could feel that at a microscopic level, he was getting stronger, or to be more precise, his technique was improving.

Will had an abundance of World Energy in King Yama's gate due to many factors, and when he fought the bosses while training his True Strikes he was never pushed to the real brink of exhaustion, thus he never really was forced into a situation where he had to improve himself due to fatigue.

Cut from this angle to reduce wind resistance, step like this to reduce muscle strain, s.h.i.+ft weight in this manner in order to add more force to blows. Multiple thoughts like this were running through Will's mind, all trying to help him to improve!

Finally, when Will had been blasted into the water, he felt it. Perhaps it was because he was nearly empty on energy, or perhaps because his mind had been forced to work at peak strength for a long time, but as Will fell into the water, he felt a connection to the water he had never felt before. It lasted for less than a fraction of a second, but this connection was like a key opening a door in Will's mind.

The door was barely open, but for Will, this was more than enough. A wave of refreshment washed over Will's body and he lost control of his body. His mind had faded into the bliss of spirituality. It was at this moment that Will was walking out of the waters with the rusty sword in hand. His body had as if conscious tossed away the stick and drawn the sword. Despite not being fully aware of his actions, Will's body was doing all it could to bring him back to his true state of being a swordsman. His cultivation base s.h.i.+vered with excitement as his Qi moved according to the path designated by the Solitary Sword Sovereign manual.

The puppy's eyes narrowed in on the sword.

'This King can feel it. That sword is not a normal item. That's it! This brat leaves me no choice! This King does not want to win in such a cowardly manner, but this King cannot take chances anymore. It already took this King a lot of effort to hide from the two other monsters, yet the third one comes by my doorstep. What is up with the Sovereigns of this world, they are too strong!'

The puppy then performed a strange action, its front paws came together to form some kind of hand seal. The moment it was formed, a pulse of energy spread from the puppy toward its surroundings.

'Nether Door Pulse!'

As the puppy roared in its heart, the energy instantly took effect. Will, who had left the waters and was confidently walking toward the puppy, suddenly stopped and looked sideways. The expression on his face changed from pleasure to shock

'Taste the power of this King's illusions!'

Nether Door Pulse was a nasty illusion skill that had many applications, the simplest of which plunged one into their most unpleasant memories in a continuous loop. Over and over again. It was very difficult to block and instantly took effect. It was an innate skill that the puppy was born with, and was one of the reasons its race was feared.

Will was currently seeing a memory he despised in a continuous loop, thus the puppy was happy. It a.s.sumed the battle was over. It took a few moments to land to the ground and recover its own energy reserves. It had lost quite a bit too. Though not as much as Will.

During recovery, the puppy had its eyes closed, until a wave of killing intent so thick it felt tangible washed over its body like a tsunami. By reflex, the puppy jumped back a hundred meters and looked toward the source of the killing intent alertly.

It was Will!

His body was still turned sideways away from the puppy, but waves of killing intent billowed from his body like lava from a volcano. The air started having a tint of red to it as if red smoke was spreading around.

Will then turned his head around and looked straight at the puppy.

'Impossible! Nether Door Pulse is still active!'

Will's face then changed once more. His expression seemed very plain, except for one difference. Wills' eyes were wide open. So wide open the white parts of his eyes were far more exposed than usual. His pupils had also dilated and his body seemed eerily calm. Will moved his mouth but no sound came out, yet the puppy heard him loud and clear. Each word skillfully sent by intent with a chilling pause.

I. Will. Kill. You.