The Martial Unity

The entirety of the colosseum watched in rapt attention as the volatile battle ensued.

They didn’t understand.

They were unqualified to.

The battle has begun relatively even.

Then it had shifted in Squire Falken’s favor.

And now, it had shifted in Meera’s favour.

What had changed?

BAM BAM BAM!

Meera’s eyes were fixed on him as she pummeled him with a series of kicks. 

Rui’s eyes narrowed as he barely managed to deal with them. 

Her weight shifted.

He rapidly leapt back, avoiding a predicted swift front kick.

And again.

POW!

He gritted his teeth as he barely blocked the early attack.

BOOM!

She spotted an opportunity as she rushed forward, pressing both her palms into Rui while rushing forward a blinding pace.

WHOOSH!

“And Champion Meera launched Contestant Falken into the distance!” The commentator exclaimed. “Is Contestant Falken simply unable to compete?!”

The crowd’s sentiment sunk as they watched Rui increasingly overwhelmed by Champion Meera.

After the previous fight, nobody wanted the champion to win the Martial Contest.

Many people had begun rooting for Rui in earnest.

It had not been pleasant to watch him get overwhelmed.

Rui, on the other hand, wasn’t paying attention to the spectators. They may as well have not existed to him.

His eyes were focused on a single person.

He had expected her to be quite powerful, but this was different.

He had not expected that his pattern recognition system would fail. it was a blow that he had suffered twice in the Martial Contest. Yet it was understandable for a creature like the abyssfeeder to be able invalidate it.

But a human? That too a fellow Martial Squire.

He hadn’t expected to come across something like that.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a complete invalidation. What she did was invalidate his timing.

Not that that was a good thing, timing was extremely important in general, but especially so when it came to adaptive evolution. 

He needed to time his movements just precisely right when countering someone, or their effectiveness was greatly compromised. That was why despite predicting the actions, he was unable to counter them well because she made his timing go to shit.

The realization that this was the first human to invalidate his predictive model so directly was not light. It was a psychological blow. Project Water was founded on the premise that people had core patterns that could not be changed it was a manifestation of who they were as beings, in a sense. They were the shape of one’s identity.

His eyes widened.

He gazed into her eyes as a chilling realization dawned on him.

 ‘Her very identity as a being is incoherent.’ His expression turned grave. ‘The root of her mind is in a greater state of flux than even the body of an abyssfeeder.’

That was the source of the chaos within her. That was what allowed her to defy his predictive model.

How could such a being exist? It was said that the sum of one’s life was what gave rise to a Martial Path.

What kind of life could have resulted in a monster like her?

He didn’t know.

He didn’t understand.

Yet, he didn’t need to.

‘I just need to win.’ His eyes narrowed he steeled his determination.

His body brimmed with power responding to the force of his will.

‘I need solutions.’ He quickly thought even as he defended himself from her onslaught. ‘Metabody System?’

It only took him a second to decide. ‘…No.’

Just like against the abyssfeeder, it was not something that could compensate for the failure of his pattern recognition system. It was too short-lived. It was meant to press an advantage on top of the pattern recognition system.

His eyes narrowed.

There was only one option left.

Yet it wasn’t something that he could implement immediately.

His stance shifted.

One leg shifted back, bolstering his body. 

His arms drew closer.

One did not need to be a Martial Artist to see what he was going for.

A fortress-style defense.

He had abandoned offense.

A sensible decision.

Yet the spectators couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Wasn’t that the same as admitting defeat?

It appeared that Meera was less than amused.

“…Is that it?” Her eyes narrowed.

BOOM!

She blasted him with such a powerful attack that the ground itself shook! 

Rui grimaced as he did his best to mitigate the impact as he was launched away.

“Is this the best you can do?” She asked as she immediately arrived in front of him.

Yet, she felt a strange sensation when she looked into his eyes.

They were fixed on hers.

He never once broke eye contact.

It was deliberate.

He was…watching.

She felt a profoundly faint sense of peril. It was as though his eyes captured more than just her body.

It was as though they could pierce right through her.

The profound disconnect between her instincts about him and the state of the fight was disorienting.

Something was off.

His eyes never left hers. Even when she launched him away, he positioned himself to ensure that he never lost sight of her eyes.

It was discomforting.

The same kind of discomfort one would feel if one was naked in public. 

That was what she was before his eyes.

It was unpleasant.

“Your eyes…” She murmured.

A horrifying wave of pressure radiated from her. 

The spectators watching shivered. 

Chills crawled up their skin.

“…are violating.”

Pure unadulterated malevolence emanated from her being.

Yet they were nothing compared to the words she uttered next.

“So don’t mind if I pluck them out of your skull.” 

Hardly anybody could maintain their composure at her words. 

And yet, Rui was one of them.

He may as well have not heard her.

No, that was not true.

A small smirk emerged on his face behind his mask.

He felt his heart stirring. If losing his eyes was the price of activating his heart, then he wouldn’t mind it.

And yet…

“Take my eyes…” They bore into hers. “…If you are able to, that is.”

One moment, nothing happened.

The next?

RUMBLE!!!

The very world around them shook as all hell broke loose.