The Martial Unity

“Hey! That’s my Martial Art!” Master Ceeran exclaimed with shock. “When did this fellow copy it?!”

The Kandrian Masters grimaced at this revelation while the enemy Masters smirked smugly.

“It is difficult to believe even when one sees it with one’s own eyes.” Master Zentra’s tone was composed even as he observed the fascinating battle that had commenced down below. “Truly…” Master Vericita murmured. “To think that such a Martial Art can exist in the world.”

“That’s what he does,” Kane nostalgically mused. “He copies people’s Martial Arts before they even realize it. He has limitations but knows how to get around them. The only time he has ever cleanly failed is…”

His eyes turned towards Rui, who found himself in the middle of a hundred sound projectiles converging on him with extremely high speed and power. No way to run, for all directions were occupied with incoming attacks.

No way to defend, for the converging omnidirectional nature of the attack meant that not even Flux Earther would be able to save him.

And thus, in the final moment, Rui spontaneously created a new technique.

“Heavenly Divergence.”

He reversed the Heavenly Convergence technique, redirecting the vectors of force in the atmosphere not to converge on him, but to instead diverge, amplifying the force of the technique with a momentary Hypertrophic Surge.

BOOOOOM!!!

The wave of pressure emerging from Rui canceled out the incoming sound blasts in an enormous atmospheric explosion.

WHOOSH!

Ieyasu appeared before him in the blink of an eye with flaming fists that flashed toward him at incredibly high speeds, threatening to burn him where he stood.

It was within Rui’s prediction.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui evaded each blow with great vigor even as Ieyasu relentlessly surged forward while increasing the temperature and range of the flames. He evolved the flame fists into inferno fists by assimilating a flame-stoking air-supply domain that delivered a gush of oxygen to the flames, negating Rui’s ability to dodge him very well. Unfortunately for him, not even this was beyond Rui’s ability to adaptively evolve.

Rui evaded each blow with great vigor even as Ieyasu relentlessly surged forward while increasing the temperature and range of the flames. He evolved the flame fists into inferno fists by assimilating a flame-stoking air-supply domain that delivered a gush of oxygen to the flames, negating Rui’s ability to dodge him very well. Unfortunately for him, not even this was beyond Rui’s ability to adaptively evolve.

“Niflheim.”

The world chilled as the realm of frost descended upon the canvas of heaven and earth. However, Rui reduced the radius of the domain to a meter, turning it more into a personal mini-domain that was much more portable and less taxing than the real deal. FSSS…

The cold frost diminished the temperature and range of Ieyasu’s attack, negating it as Rui exerted just the amount of strength needed to perfectly adaptively evolve to it. Furthermore, he used convection to ensure that the mini-domain’s temperature gradient was perfectly adaptively evolved to oppressing the dying flames.

It was over.

WHOOSH

Ieyasu snuffed the flames out before lifting his leg up and stomping the ground with all his force.

THUD!

Rui’s eyes widened and he leaped into the air as fast as he could. Razor-sharp stone spikes emerged from the ground where he had stood a split moment prior before being launched at him in the air.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui’s eyes sharpened as he flashed around the heavens, evading blow after blow. Martial Artists were slower in the air than they were on land. On top of that, the spikes were shaped to be extraordinarily aerodynamic.

Yet, none of them so much as touched him. WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

He evaded the spikes with the grace of a ballerina.

He might as well have been skipping in the park on a warm, sunny day with whimsical and relaxed steps.

Yet, each and every single attack missed him. WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

As though heaven and earth themselves were protecting him.

As though Gaia refused to bring harm to her own child.

Even without his predictive model, he could read the timing of each attack with a combination of seismic mapping and Tempestuous Feel, allowing him to detect seismic radiation in the land that was being used to propel the spikes forward.

Unfortunately for him, Ieyasu was not that easy to deal with. He spontaneously evolved the Martial Art by integrating an assimilated subterranean Martial Art that allowed him to turn solid ground into liquid vibrations as well as another Martial Art that allowed him to reduce the friction and drag of fluids by altering temperature.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!!

Rui barely managed to avoid having his head impaled by the formidably powerful earth attacks, and a flash of surprise emerged on his face at how much faster the attacks had gotten.

Yet, Ieyasu was merely getting started.

RUMBLE!!

Rui’s eyes widened as glowing cracks emerged on the ground beneath Ieyasu’s feet.

Lava.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!!

Gone were the simple and elementary spikes of hardened rock. Now Rui had to experience flaming hot magma spikes that would impale and burn him all at once. On top of that, Ieyasu expanded the scale of production and firing of these magma spikes, propelling an entire army of spikes at Rui all at once.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!!

They surged at him with blinding speeds and perilous lethality!

Yet, it wasn’t enough.

“Speed Void.”

Rui very calmly applied his domain to drastically slow down the momentum of the attacks. He adaptively evolved the domain by applying it to the region of space between himself and the ground. On top of that, he applied a gradient where the drag coefficient reduced the further away he was, causing the imbalance of force on either side to drive the spikes away from him. WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!!

An avalanche of razor-sharp magma spikes emerged from the ground, surging towards him at unbelievable speeds. Yet, the cleverly applied domain not only caused them to slow down, but also caused them to diverge from him just enough that they missed him.

His eyes widened with surprise as not only were there no more magma spike attacks, but he could no longer sense Ieyasu anymore!

A momentary lull took over the battle as Rui lost track of his opponent amidst evading the hail of magma spikes. His expression grew severe as he expanded his powerful senses in hopes of catching him. RUMBLE…

Suddenly, the heavens began roaring as dark clouds began forming in the air around him. –