Chapter 72 - Deaths Door (1/2)

Intent was a line that separated the skilled from the ordinary, the wheat from the chaff, the mortals from the gods. It was something that Will had pride in since he had spent five years honing his intent in hundreds of battles. Yet before him stood a man who oozed an intent that made Will whistle in admiration.

This was the first time that Will had met another human who could use it like him, or rather it would be more accurate to say that this was the first time Will had met someone who revealed their ability to use intent.

”Who are you?” asked Will. The man said nothing and merely reached for nothing. To Will's surprise, the man pulled out a spear from thin air. It was a long spear with a thick shaft. Will had no doubt that even he could not wield such a heavy spear with such ease.

'That's it. It's spear intent!'

The heavy and sharp intent that was bearing down on Will was no doubt spear intent. As a user of sword intent Will was now sure that intent mirrored the quality for which it was named. For example, Will's sword intent was sharp, light and agile; made purely for offense. Spear intent, on the other hand, had a certain weight to it that made it difficult for one to breathe.

It gave one the impression that no matter how far away they were, they would always be in reach for an attack.

”So you are the one Modus kept talking about, I have to say I am a bit disappointed.”

The man's words shocked Will. Since the man knew Modus, Will was beginning to assume that perhaps he was not a user from earth.

”If you think I am not from earth you are mistaken. I, just like you, was born and raised here. My name is Ignius. My username is not something you are worthy of knowing.”

With his first theory out the window, Will sighed. If this man was a user and from earth then this meant one thing.

”Did you really think you were the only person the immortals took note of on this world? Did you perhaps think you were special because you are a Sovereign? Well let me tell you, those pathetic rankings were only made to fool the masses! Musashi and Dragonheart? Those men are children compared to the real monsters hiding on Genesis' land, not to mention Genesis himself is…” The man's voice trailed off as his thoughts consumed him. He made a fist with his free hand and gripped his spear even harder.

The name Genesis struck a chord with Will. He was number 1 on the list of Emperors. Not much is known about Genesis, as he never involved himself with worldly matters. All that is known is that he is a martial prodigy. Will only paid attention to Musashi and Dragonheart, but after hearing what this man was saying the name Genesis was firmly imprinted in his mind.

”No matter.” The man shook his head and shifted his focus back to Will, ”The point is you are nothing, even on this planet. You are no different from a frog in a well, looking up assuming it can see the entire sky. Allow me to show you that there is a sky above your sky and heavens above your heavens!”

”I refuse to give you permission.” Will's words stumped the spear-wielding man. ”Peerless, what did you just say?”

Will crossed his arms defiantly, ”I said I won't give you permission. I decline.” The spear-wielding man started quivering with rage. ”Peerless! How dare you say such a thing! What on earth would I ever need your permission to do!”

Will shook his head like he was looking at a fool, ”Dude, you just said 'Allow me to', well I will not allow it. It's just that simple.”

The spear-wielding man's face became ugly and instantly reddened. There were no words to describe how much shame he felt for falling for Will's little joke. ”Impudence!”

With a speed unbecoming from such a large man he struck his spear forward. Will was not sure how to react because there was still quite some distance between the two.

'Maybe his spear can extend? Or perhaps it can fire some sort of projectile?'

The killing intent coming from the spear-wielding man was somewhat hard to detect. Even for Will. Killing intent was always some sort of marker for Will, thanks to Bloodlust Will was able to understand almost anything about a creature just from having killing intent locked onto him.

'It's probably because I've mostly fought animals. This guy seems very disciplined.'

This made it difficult for Will to understand the spear-wielding man's attack. Thus Will brought up his sword defensively waiting to see what would happen. What happened next made Will's pupils dilate.

Death was a mysterious phenomenon for mankind, but one thing all mortals knew was that you could never tell when you will die. Despite knowing this, Will felt as if his neck was resting on the Grim Reaper's scythe, ready to be chopped in two.

His water sense gave him nothing, his hearing was also blank, his physical senses told him that nothing was behind him, yet instinct told him that he was dead.