The Martial Unity

1561 Clashes

Suddenly, Kane's world changed. His physical body speed seemed to accelerate to the point where he found it hard for his mind to keep up with his own body, forcing him to go slower.

He glanced at Rui with a shocked realization, yet Rui didn't appear to want to cut him any slack.

BAM!

Rui managed to land a powerful blow on Kane's guard flinging him away, creating an ugly bruise on the man's guard. Yet he wasn't finished.

WHOOSH!

He rushed forward at top speed, looking to get another blow on Kane.

WHOOSH!

CRACKLE!

Rui's eyes widened with shock as Kane disappeared in the face of his attack.

WHOOSH!

Rui leaped away from a twin dagger attack that almost cleaved him in half.

SPLAT

Kane had managed to leave a cut on his abdomen, getting back at Rui for his earlier attack.

'Fulminata Godspeed," Rui realized, smiling inwardly.

Fulminata was a technique that amplified reflexes with lightning. Reflexes were a phenomenon that were not dependent on the mind's perception of time, allowing Kane to resist the effects of Temporal Disharmony with the technique.

On top of that, it allowed him to use Godspeed without restraint.

"Fuuuu…!" Kane exhaled heavily as he activated Godspeed, rushing forward towards Rui with extraordinary speed.

Yet, not even that was enough to reach Rui.

"FUUU!" Rui exhaled forcefully, activating Neo Godspeed, evading Kane's attack.

The two young men blurred into streaks of green and black as they maneuvered around the battlefield exchanging attacks after attacks.

Rui rushed forth aggressively right into Kane's dagger attack.

WHOOSH!

The blade crashed into an empty image.

A feint.

Rui's fist emerged from the other direction and a Flowing Canon with tremendous momentum blasted into Kane.

WHOOSH!

…Yet another feint.

Both the young men had mastered Phantom Step, abusing it to create openings in their opponent's style. However, Kane had an edge in that battle, for Phantom Step was a maneuvering technique, a field where he was overwhelmingly superior to Rui.

Yet Temporal Disharmony was such a deep sabotage that it put them on even playing fields.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

The battlefield grew increasingly infested with afterimages and illusions that the two boys had created.

Had any ordinary person witnessed that battle, they would have merely seen an army of Ruis and Kanes fighting against each other across the entire battlefield!

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

For now, the two sides were even.

Yet Kane gritted his teeth.

He knew that Rui had yet to use his strongest trump card.

He was rather surprised that Rui hadn't used it already.

He stared into Rui's eyes.

The darkness of an endless void.

That was all he could see.

That was all there was to see.

Four words escaped Rui's mouth.

"Don't worry, it's coming."

A chill crawled up his spine at those words.

BAM!

A powerful kick from Rui flung him away as Rui saw through his feints, landing a clean blow on him.

Kane was unable to evade the blow even though he was still moving substantially faster than Rui.

There was only one thing that this meant.

'He's ready,' Kane gritted his teeth as he prepared his daggers, rushing forward.

Both daggers had been aimed at Rui's neck.

WHOOSH!

Both of them missed.

Kane's eyes widened as Rui casually evaded his attacks with a single gentle step.

"Rgh!" Kane gritted his teeth as he unleashed a storm of blades. It was as though a domain had formed around him. One that would shred anything that entered it.

Not Rui, though.

CLASP

Rui caught both his arms as his foot surged forward at top speed into Kane's gut.

BOOM!

"Rgh!" Kane grimaced.

BAM!

Rui flung him overhead into the ground.

BOOM!

A powerful kick flung him away, launching him in the distance.

Rui's offensive power while using Neo Godspeed was limited, but it was still enough against Kane, who had poor defense and durability.

Kane coughed a bout of blood as he did his best to ready himself.

Yet Rui had already arrived.

POW POW POW!

Kane grimaced, incurring more damage as Rui peppered him with blows. He launched a powerful blow at Kane's head, threatening to knock him out.

WHOOSH!

Kane evaded the blow.

Yet, he didn't.

A kick had already arrived at his new location before he himself had.

BAM!

"Argh!" Kane grimaced as he put some distance between them. 'Dammit, he's so strong!'

He marveled at Rui's power. The man had grown so strong that even without the Martial Heart he was a menace to face.

At this rate, killing Rui was a joke. He would not be able to leave even a cut on his body.

'No choice…' Kane narrowed his eyes a glint of bloodlust reflected in his pupils. 'I'll have to use that.'

Suddenly, his stance changed.

Rui paused, not recognizing it, before rushing forward anyway.

A deep intensity flashed in his eyes as he used a Mind Mask to increase the pressure he mounted on Kane.

It worked.

Shivers went up his spine as he beheld Rui's haunting figure. Within his pitch black eyes was a seemingly endless void.

A void that threatened to consume.

Kane refused.

He rejected the fate of being consumed by the void.

No matter what.

'No matter what!' Kane's eyes sharpened as Rui had arrived to throw a powerful blow at him.

WHOOSH!

Kane evaded the attack, yet even as he sidestepped the attack, a second attack had already reached him.

But not even that touched, not this time.

WHOOSH!

Kane swung his daggers in a strange manner.

He disappeared.

Rui's eyes widened as he failed to keep up with Kane for a moment.

His instincts flared warning as he leaped away.

SPLAT!

His eyes widened as a light gash appeared on his chest.

"Tsk," Kane tutted at the shallow depth of the wound, before rushing in again.

The pressure his mind was experiencing was immense, it was like fighting against a fully powered Senior.

Yet he pushed forward nonetheless.

Deep within his body, his heart beat strong.

BADUMP!