The Martial Unity

('Tsk, he has too much power,') Rui tutted.

That statement was true in many ways.

Not only was guardian Tokugawa stronger than he had expected, but he also probably had a lot of power and influence within the Floating Sect.

Being the strongest guardian meant that he did have a lot of influence within the sect, second to only the three Martial Seniors.

Furthermore, the Floating Sect was in a state of absolute war, people like Tokugawa Ieyasu were absolute treasures whose value was second only to, again, the Martial Seniors of the sect.

That was why Rui knew that he could probably get away with killing Kane if he wanted to. The Floating Sect was not going to punish the only individual Martial Squire that was a threat to Martial Seniors without their Martial Heart during the war.

This was the kind of influence he gained from being that strong.

And strong he was, Rui had to admit. The man was able to outpace someone as powerful as Kane in maneuvering while clearly not going all out even when it came to maneuvering. If he was even remotely as powerful when it came to offense and defense as he was with maneuvering, then his true full power was far beyond any Martial Squire that Rui had ever seen. The man's power was era-defining.

Regardless, it wasn't enough to deter Rui. He immediately got to the edge of the arena.

If he saw anything that indicated that the man was going to move in to kill Kane, he absolutely would intervene without any doubt. There was no way that he was going to just stand by and watch his best friend die, regardless of what the rules were.

It appeared that Kane was unwilling to resign since it was clear that guardian Tokugawa Ieyasu was clearly not done with whatever it was that he wanted from Kane. If Kane resigned, it was unlikely that he would give up so easily. He would most likely challenge Kane again, and they would be back to square one.

He nodded in approval when Kane deactivated Fulminata.

He could not use Fulminata and Void Step simultaneously, unfortunately. The reason for that was that the Fulminata technique ran on reflexes while the Void Step technique required conscious thought.

Kane immediately leaped into action, disappearing into thin air.

That earned a reaction from all the guardians. Each of them had decently powerful senses, and many of them had particularly powerful senses.

Yet none of them were able to sense Kane, barring two of them.

CLASP!

Tokugawa caught Kane's attack, forcing him to stop maneuvering as he didn't let go of his attack.

POW!

He smashed Kane away without inflicting too much force on him.

Kane grimaced as he retreated. Yet, rather than simply returning to the normal Void Step stance, he paused, crouching as he took a sprinting stance.

Rui immediately realized what he was going for.

('He's using the original Godspeed technique.')

He actually approved of the choice. The Fulminata technique allowed him to control the speed of Godspeed to a far greater degree than he could without it. However, it was far slower than Godspeed as a result.

He had already used it extensively against Tokugawa, and it most certainly wasn't enough.

In fact, Rui highly doubted that the original Godspeed technique was enough to even possibly have a shot against someone of the caliber of Tokugawa.

However, these three techniques weren't the only powerful techniques that Kane had. Rui knew that he had one more technique. The technique that had given him enough individuality to allow him to become a Squire candidate.

It was a technique that he had worked hard on, yet one that wasn't used nearly as ubiquitously due to how limiting it was.

Yet it was also the most powerful technique in his arsenal.

"Fuuu…" He exhaled deeply, going all out as he activated Godspeed at its absolute maximum.

A profound sense of pressure exuded from him, stirring even his opponent

Just the briefest whisper escaped his lips subconsciously.

"Voidspeed."

He disappeared.

The technique was the only place where he could combine the power of Void Step and Godspeed for just the briefest of moments through trained pre-programmed movements.

He would disappear in the senses of everyone around him, while also using Godspeed to cross the distance between them.

Yet…

THWACK!

…It wasn't enough.

Kane appeared ten meters behind Ieyasu, motionless for a moment.

THUD

He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

For several seconds, no one said a word.

No one had even understood what had happened. Only Rui and Ieyasu possessed a full awareness of what had transpired.

Kane had crossed the distance between them with Godspeed and Void Step, yet before he could even launch an attack, Ieyasu struck him hard on the neck, knocking him out.

He didn't stop as a result, only collapsing after he fully lost consciousness.

The fight was over.

Rui heaved a sigh of relief. He could hear that Kane was just fine when he examined him with Seismic Mapping and Tempestuous Feel. His heart was beating, and he was breathing just fine.

He turned his attention back to Ieyasu with narrowed eyes.

('The fact that he knocked Kane out… He got what he came for.') Rui tutted inwardly.

He didn't know if Ieyasu had already mastered the technique, or had simply gotten everything he needed from Kane to master the technique however he wanted.

He suspected that the truth was probably closer to the latter than the former. It was too absurd to be able to skip months of training just because his Martial Art was an imitative evolution.

It made more sense that he needed time to digest and improve what he saw, to varying degrees.

('Or perhaps easier Martial Art can be replicated quickly, while harder ones take longer?')

Rui didn't know what his limits were, but whatever they were, it did not take away from the fact that he was extremely powerful as a Martial Artist.