_Chapter Begins_
William was standing on a pile of broken mystical shards with a bewildered expression.
Was he imagining things, or was his sister holding a dagger?
And also...
"Is she stupid?!"
Was she really taking a stance against the wooden abomination—like she was planning on fighting the thing?
William rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh.
"Stupid minds think alike, I guess."
He also had a very strong desire to fight and kill the abomination.
In fact, this desire was so strong that he still hadn't decided if he wanted to fight or run yet.
William looked past his sister and into the distance.
The abomination was slowly approaching, and it seemed that its eyes were completely fixated on William—despite his sister being closer to it.
William stared right back with disdain written all over his face.
Without giving his sister a warning, William strained his muscles and shot forward with so much speed that a mundane human wouldn't even be able to perceive him.
The abomination decided to stay in place and wait for the prey to come to it.
The distance between William and the monster disappeared in a single second, and now they were face to face with each other.
William was in the middle of the air, and it seemed that he was winding up a nasty roundhouse kick.
Meanwhile, the abomination shot its long and twisted arm forward with so much power and speed that it created a small sonic boom.
Just as it seemed that both of them would land their attacks, something unexpected happened.
Both missed.
The creature's massive claws swung on nothing but air.
William had disappeared.
And then... he reappeared right in front of the abomination.
"It actually worked!"
William stretched his arm as far back as it would go, and then swung it forward.
His hand connected with the monster's skull.
Now was the big test... could William actually hurt the abomination?
If he couldn't, then he would be forced to retreat and run away.
But if he could...
The abomination staggered back—clearly hurt by William's punch.
William fell to the ground and grabbed his hand.
"T..that hurt!"
He stood up and looked at where the abomination had landed.
A small frown enveloped his face, and he clenched his fists.
"It's not enough."
Sure, William's punch had indeed hurt the abomination.
But the punch only pushed it back a little—and it didn't do any significant damage to the wooden body of the abomination.
William could try to slowly break down the wooden body of the creature, but he decided against this idea for two simple reasons.
Firstly, even though he was now much stronger and faster than before, he was still weaker and slower than the wooden abomination.
The only way he could get a hit on it was by using his reflection ability to catch the monster by surprise.
This was how he landed the punch on the monster—he used his ability to disappear into the reflection of the creature's eye and then reappear to attack it.
But this tactic would only work a few times before the abomination eventually caught on.
The second reason was a bit more worrying than the first.
William was starting to get really tired.
But not the physical or mental type of tired.
It felt like something deep inside him was being exhausted.
If William had to guess, it probably had something to do with his soul, but he was too busy to have any deeper thoughts about it.
To sum up...
William had to retreat.
"Well, that's disappointing...."
William sighed and stared one last time at the ugly abomination.
The wooden monster stared right back with eyes full of madness.
Its legs and arms scraped against the ground, and it looked like the thing was ready to make a powerful sprint towards William.
William did not waste any time.
He turned around and dashed towards his sister.
At the same time, the abomination launched itself forward with unholy levels of speed.
William appeared right in front of where his sister stood.
Meanwhile, the abomination appeared right behind William.
The creature opened its ugly maw and lunged its head forward.
William shot his arms forward to grab his sister.
But... what happened next was something William had not planned for.
A curved dagger that had a vibrant purple-colored hilt and a ghostly pattern shot from his sister's hand.
The ghostly dagger went straight for William.
"Damn it!"
But then... it just passed right through him.
No cut and no blood, it just passed through him as if it was just an imaginary weapon.
After it passed him, the blade went straight towards the wooden abomination.
And just like last time, the blade went right through it.
"What..what was t—"
William's sentence was cut off by a pain so sharp and lethal that it made him drop to the ground and scream like he had never screamed before.
Behind him, the wooden abomination dropped to the ground and let out a haunting howl.
Both were in absolute misery.
Meanwhile, a girl with long black hair and pitch-black eyes was standing with a shocked look on her face.
"D..did I just do that?"
She looked at the wooden abomination that was wailing with agony on the ground.
A small sadistic smile appeared on her face.
"I actually did it!"
She let out a triumphant chuckle.
"Wait a second...."
She looked down at her feet.
There on the ground was someone she knew very well....
Her eyes widened.
"William... is that you!"
William slammed his fist on the ground to try and shake off the pain he was feeling.
Of course it did not work.
"Yes... yes, it's me!!!"
He let out a yelp.
The pain inflicted by the ghostly dagger had cut something very deep inside his being.
With his eyes full of tears and his body trembling all over, William managed to get one last sentence out.
"Get us out of here!!!"
She did not dare lose precious time and got to work.
She picked him up and threw him over her shoulder.
"I see that being homeless has really fixed your weight problems, brother, you are much easier to carry now."
Her bitter joke fell on deaf ears, as William had already passed out.
She gritted her teeth and began to march away from the wooden abomination—who was still howling and squirming around on the ground.
Before long, William and his sister were far away from the creature.
William slowly opened his eyes.
"....it still hurts."
He had been out for an unknown amount of time.
He used his hands for support and managed to lift his upper torso.
He was... in a room?
"What the hell is this place?"
He was laying on an actual bed, with pillows and a blanket, and that wasn't all.
The room he was in was made of black stone.
Inside was his bed, a wooden desk with a couple of books on it, a closet that was halfway open, and a couple of other small decors.
Was he really still in Hell?
Because this room was more than he had in the living world before he died.
William blinked a couple of times.
"My sister... she must have brought me here."
And speaking of his sister.
The door of the room slowly opened, and a young woman with raven black hair and pitch-black eyes stood there.
Holding a cup of tea in her hand, she looked at William and smiled darkly.
"Hey there, sleepy."
A frown appeared on William's face and he put his hand on his forehead.
"Hey there, sister."
He very much doubted that his sister would forget that one time in the past where he made a very small mistake....
Well, destroying a business that was on the road to making millions wasn't really small.
And it also wasn't a mistake...
_Chapter Ends_