The Martial Unity

Rui simply waited impassively.

He had, of course, already begun creating a predictive model on her. One that he was quite optimistic about given the fact that she had many vibrant patterns in her attacking.

Too many patterns, even. He narrowed his eyes. So much so that there is no way she does not notice them.

He didn't quite understand, but he continued studying the strange rhythm in her movements that existed in the undertone of her movements, blocking every attack with Flux Earther.

He didn't feel the need to use the Metabody System. There was no need to divulge his cards if he didn't need to. Although people had seen Void Forestep, and Hypertrophic Surge, he had managed to hide Nemean Blossom and Weaving Blood.

He calmly took a neutral stance once more, simply challenging her to do more.

She was not pleased by this outcome. Her body twisted even as she splendidly balanced on the edge of a single toe, generating an immense amount of torque as a result.

BAM BAM BAM!

She continued to bombard him with a barrage of powerful kicks. Each attack was quite heavy and struck him hard.

Yet they did nothing.

Rui always managed to effortlessly disperse and drain the impact away with Flux Earther. It had been more than five years since he had come up with the technique, and his proficiency with it only kept growing and getting smoother. It didn't matter if she had a supreme sense of balance that allowed her to effortlessly employ rotating attacks with immense torque.

Rui resolutely dispersed every single attack with even better timing.

She threw ferocious attacks, yet every time they touched his hand or arm, she could feel them growing weaker and weaker until their power was completely gone.

BOOM!

Rui effortlessly dispersed another attack, furrowing his eyebrows in comparison. He had to admit that he was a little surprised by the level of power that she was displaying.

He was not impressed. She made such a big deal about challenging him that he thought she would be capable of a lot more.

Still, she is hiding something. He could tell that much.

She was preparing something that was probably different from the attacks that she had been hitting him with.

BOOM!

He couldn't help but wonder why she was maintaining the monotony of these kinds of attacks when he had already proven that they didn't work against her.

Yet even he couldn't help but feel something was wrong. The patterns that she displayed tugged at his mind. He strangely felt like he was watching a kaleidoscope.

Something was off.

BOOM!

Rui didn't even budge when he caught her kick in his hand. "Is this the best that y-"

Rui froze when he looked at the bottom of her foot. Why is the bottom of her foot a dark purple color?

He immediately leaped back, wary, wiping his hand.

Poison.

Yet even before he could do anything, he felt something strange stirring within him.

A ferocious grin sprung up on her face. "Too late."

Suddenly, the world shifted in Rui's vision and senses. What?!

He couldn't help but stagger on his feet in surprise. The very world around him rocked like a ship traveling through a storm! It spun and rotated, he could feel each of his senses detecting a torque that seemed to emerge with this strange rotation.

No, it's not. This is the effect of the poison.

It was not an ordinary poison. It affected all five of his normal senses in addition to Seismic Mapping, Tempestuous Feel, Primordial Instinct, and even Riemannian Echo!

BOOM!

A powerful attack collided against him as he barely managed to put up his guard, blocking the attack. Squire Ran grinned as she managed to launch Rui flying back, rolling across the ground.

"Woah!"

"What just happened."

"She suddenly began beating up on him."

Rui, however, maintained his composure even as she began unleashing a flurry of attacks against him. His mind began swiftly analyzing this predicament as he judged the nature of what she was doing.

It's not just poison. He felt his mind being burdened by another element. She's also employing a bit of hypnosis. That was why she had so many patterns. They weren't glaring holes in her kicking combos, she was sneakily setting up an offensive mental technique to complement the poison!

He was starting to get a clearer picture of what was going on. Yet he could only grimace as the world began shifting against him. He felt like he was a normal human trying to ride a bull. The sheer amount of torque that his senses experienced made it difficult for him to make any movements.

Let alone movement, he could barely stand in place.

BOOM!

Squire Ran roared triumphantly as she launched him flying. He was unable to leverage his strength to maintain his footing because of how messed up his sense of balance was.

Yet despite his predicament, his insight had already begun gaining ground.

This isn't an ordinary poison. Rui's eyes narrowed. It doesn't function by targeting sense organs. Riemannian Echo is being targeted, and it doesn't come from a sense organ. Furthermore, the Primordial Instinct exists within the mind rather than a sense organ in the body. Which means...

The unpleasant truth had arrived. It's a poison that's inhibiting the part of my brain that generates my sense of balance.

Yet he had not forgotten what he learned about poisons that targeted the brain. They were extremely difficult to condition one's self to, that included the user. Thus, there was only one conclusion to draw.

She's not unaffected by it herself. His eyes widened. In order to ensure that almost nobody could possibly resist it, she chose a poison that affected the brain rather than any other part of the body. In exchange, she herself is affected by the poison. But...

He had not forgotten the splendid sense of balance that she had displayed. Every single attack she launched was launched balancing on the verge edge of her toe, she performed complex pirouettes, spins, and all kinds of complicated maneuvers within milliseconds, generating immense energy and torque without so much as twitching even a micrometer off trajectory balancing at the edge of a single toe.

Rui's eyes widened as the truth about her Martial Art fully dawned on him. She isn't a poison-oriented Martial Art or an offensive Martial Artist. She's a balance-oriented Martial Artist who has forcefully turned this into a competition of balance! A competition that she cannot lose.