The Martial Unity

He actually wondered if that was how Kane entered his sights, through the story of the two of them beating Senior Xanarn the same way he did.

If that was the case, Rui could definitely understand why the man had turned his attention to both Rui and Kane.

('Does he intend to challenge me next or anything like that?') Rui's eyes narrowed.

Of course, he didn't mind it.

In fact, he intended to challenge guardian Ieyasu at some point himself. However, he did not intend to do so immediately. For now, he was still in the middle of his journey of getting stronger, once he achieved the first iteration of Project Metabody.

Once he did that, the VOID algorithm would have undergone a qualitative upgrade that would allow him to adapt with a degree of proficiency that was unlike anything else before.

However, he wasn't confident that even the pattern recognition system alone was enough to deal with someone of this caliber.

Part of the reason definitely had to upgrade the VOID algorithm was because the man's Martial Art was simply too large and too potent. Rui knew that he was in trouble because he could not compete against the sheer number of techniques that he was competing against.

He had a feeling that if the two of them had the same quantity and quality of techniques, there was a chance that he could win with a more potent Martial Art, but it didn't matter because the man almost certainly had more and stronger techniques and a stronger Martial Body.

('For now, let's observe,')

Rui had to truly push down the temptation to form predictive models based on the movements and patterns that he saw from Ieyasu down.

To a certain degree, it was a bit useless given that the man copied Martial Art, and presumably the patterns he would use came with the patterns of the original users of the Martial Art that he copied from.

His attention was drawn back to the arena as Squire Ieyasu narrowed his eyes. A maelstrom of pressure rose from him as it washed over every single Martial Squire in the stadium.

Many of the guardians shivered with horrified expressions on their faces.

This was not peril within the Squire Realm.

Rui was the only one who could replicate this, and he could do it well. He could to a much degree with the power of cultivation of the technique.

('He's the real degree,') Rui grinned.

Rui did not know whether his aura was based on real power, or whether it was a projected image or a projected impression through some kind using a mental technique. Regardless, it didn't matter.

"Begin!"

Kane immediately rushed forward.

He immediately activated the Fulminata technique. He generated a change in his body using the esoteric substances that Rui had introduced to the body.

He deeply exhaled, getting rid of redundant mass while increasing the sheer speed at which he moved.

The Fulminata technique had been activated.

Kane flashed across the battlefield at speeds that beggared the minds of many who bore witness to it.

Kane moved at speeds that they didn't think was possible within the Squire Realm. Not even Tokugawa exhibited such speed.

That was why he wanted to obtain the Fulminata technique, or so it seemed that way to Rui.

Kane's attacks were well-timed and well-aimed.

Yet, they were ineffective.

They simply did not hit him.

WHOOSH!

Squire Ieyasu moved so fast that he disappeared in the face of an attack, appearing right behind Kane immediately after. The two of them proceeded to have almost a childish back-and-forth about who could go back and forth on who could get the other's back.

Rui wasn't sure if it was more impressive for Kane, or for Ieyasu, but the level of speed that he was witnessing was absurd.

The two of them were no different from blurs in the eyes of everyone else.

Still, that did not mean they were equal.

('he's holding back on other parameters and aspects of the fight,') Rui narrowed his eyes.

He hadn't had the opportunity to pay too much attention to the man's fights during the war, but he knew that he was not short on offensive lethality, and passive defense.

He did not need to allow the match to proceed in this fashion, but he did.

This convinced Rui even more that the man was after Kane's techniques, as opposed to seeking victory.

If he wanted to win, he could have been able to kill Kane with a single lethal attack and it would have been game over.

Yet he deliberately chose to engage in a match where both sides employed speed to their best. They evaded each other's strikes while looking into possible avenues of opportunities and weaknesses.

Kane could not spot a single thing. Both Rui and Ieyasu were able to spot several flaws, shortcomings, mistakes, and problems in Kane's movements. Rui was able to do so because of the sheer depth of the predictive model he had on Kane. This was the most robust and deep predictive model that he had ever made, after all.

As for how Ieyasu seemed to operate, he wasn't entirely sure. He did not have the degree of limitations that he would have faced had he been relying on a system that focused on gathering information in the middle of combat.

This was quite interesting to Rui because it meant that he may very well be relying on an entirely different form of gathering information. If that was the case, then Rui was even more curious about how he got the information that he needed to mimic or imitate.

He wondered whether it was possible for him to overlap such a method with his own way of gaining information. It was possible that this could potentially solve one of the chronic problems of his VOID algorithm which was the time it took to adapt and evolve to its opponent, shortening it was a new area that he hadn't yet touched.