The Martial Unity

The spectators watched, dumbfounded. The battle had been raging on for quite some time, immersing them in.

Many had gripped the armbars of their seats for stability and comfort

That was how intense the seismic radiation of the battle grew.

"Hey..."

"Yeah...?"

"We'll be alright, right?" One man asked with the quivering tone of uncertainty.

BOOM!!!

The seismic radiation near them intensified, scaring the already-shaken spectators.

"Oh my god!"

"Protect us, Lord Virodhabhasa!"

Neither Rui nor Meera cared about the mental health of the spectators.

Meera rushed forward at a blinding speed towards Rui.

Her hand reached out, her fingers uncurling towards Rui's.

Yet they were unable to reach.

THWACK!

Rui slapped them away before guarding his eyes, still staring into hers.

Her expression darkened.

Her pressure spiked to a greater level.

Her pacing accelerated.

She had ascended to an even higher level of power.

Her palm rushed forward, striking his abdomen with a blinding speed.

Rui's eyes widened.

BOOM!!!

He grimaced in pain as she launched him to the other side in the briefest split second!

Yet she had already arrived before he did.

Her palm blurred, curving towards him.

SPLAT SPLAT!

Rui's expression grew grave.

Two deep gashes appeared across his abdomen.

The contemptuous ease with which she bypassed his partial Nemean Blossom was more than concerning. Even if it was at partial strength, the fortitude of the technique far surpassed what grade-ten Martial Squires could harm.

Yet it may as well have not existed in Meera's eyes.

Yet, her displeasure grew more palpable as the partial Weaving Blood had already kicked into action, quickly healing the deep gashes at a remarkable pace.

Rui leaped away, his eyes fixed on her, absorbing every ounce of information it could. Greedily. Overwhelmingly.

One could only see two unending abysses within his irises.

Meera's displeasure only grew.

As did her metabolic output.

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!

Three more gashes appeared on Rui's body faster than he could defend.

And yet, they healed faster than they were deeper.

She wasn't done.

Rui continued leaping back at an extremely swift pace with a partial Godspeed, hoping to reduce as much time he was in contact with her. Yet, her output had already reached a speed that was not perturbed by the powerful grade-ten technique.

Her eyes radiated a malevolence that was unlike anything he had ever felt as a Martial Artist.

She was beyond determined to blind him.

And it reflected in her movements.

Her hands lashed out like whips, carving on the flesh of his body. Every time she hurt him, he felt his body growing weaker. Both Nemean Blossom and Weaving Blood relied on the Hungry Pain technique amplified by the Reaper's poison.

It actively harmed him in order to protect him from even greater harm. Yet it was a technique that was fundamentally meant to adapt to his opponent, it was incomplete so long as the predictive model was not functional.

That was why Rui was sacrificing the Metabody System.

All so that he could obtain the power he needed to fix the predictive model. There was no point in relying on a power whose foundations were faulty due to external disruptions. It was best to use that power to fix the foundations and rely on the foundations to fight.

The Metabody System almost came alive in a way that it never had before.

It pushed forward as if accepting its role.

The partial Nemean Blossom and Weaving Blood worked in tandem as they did everything in their power to stave off the lethality that Meera threw against them. Godspeed did its absolute best to keep him away from her for as long as possible.

Yet there was a limit to everything.

With each wound Meera inflicted on his body, Weaving Blood grew slower. With each wound, Nemean Blossom grew softer.

The difference was minute.

Not even Rui knew how many wounds it would take for the many minute differences to sum up into a large difference. He did not know how much time he had left.

His mind was not focused on the matter in the first place.

It raced at an incredible pace as he furiously processed all the information he was gathering from Meera.

Within his mindscape, the Mind Palace quivered as it was pushed to its absolute limit.

And yet, the long battle was now reaching a critical point.

SPLAT!

A wave of gasps rippled through the spectators.

Rui was almost a second too late to realize it.

He glanced down. Her arm was at his abdomen.

He wasn't able to see her hand.

That was because it had emerged on the other side of the body.

She had impaled him.

"Rgh!" He coughed some blood, instantly leaping back as he extricated himself away from her.

His wound had already begun mending, even if much slower than before.

Yet, she didn't seem to care.

Her eyes were fixed on his.

She activated a breathing technique and she stepped forward with a maneuvering technique. The very sky and earth seemed to propel her forward as she instantly reached him despite his best evasive efforts.

WHOOSH!

Rui gritted his teeth as he evaded her attack with Phantom Step and Gale Force Breathing stacked on top of the partial Godspeed. Yet her follow-up was even quicker.

SPLAT!

It couldn't be helped. He couldn't use Forestep because Forestep was Godspeed in conjunction with the VOID algorithm. Until he fixed the predictive model, his reflexes would not entirely be able to keep up with even a partial Godspeed. Primordial Instinct could only partially mitigate this factor.

The VOID algorithm was at the center of his combat style, when it was compromised, everything built upon it also suffered.

Rui's eyes widened as her hands blurred, sweeping at him. He leaped back as fast as he could.

And yet...

SPLAT!

His body lagged.

His flesh broke easily

The wound healed slowly.

Time was up. Godspeed, Nemean Blossom, and Weaving Blood committed their final contribution before leaving.

Time was up.

He was not the only one who realized this.

An expression of innocent ecstasy bloomed on her face as her fingers lashed out towards his eyes.

Nothing stood in her way anymore.

Time was up.

And yet...

WHOOSH!

Her eyes widened as he disappeared at her attack.

Time was up.

"Your time... not mine."

His voice behind her sent shivers up her spine.

BOOM!

A powerful attack slammed into her from behind, launching her away.

This was the second attack of the battle that landed on her.