The Martial Unity

One moment, the Devil was dominating, having exploited a moment of vulnerability to pile on an absurd frequency of destructive attacks. The very next moment, Rui disappeared in the face of his attack, escaping his awareness entirely before being ravaged by his attacks with an extraordinarily powerful attack.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

The Devil was left reeling by the tremendous blow. And yet, the wild smile of ferocious aggression never once left his face.

It only got more intense, even as Rui bombarded him with a maelstrom of attacks one after another.

This was the first time in his entire life that Rui utilized the Prophecy of the Void with the SOUL System. After all, in the past ten years, he had exclusively used the Eye of Prophecy by itself in a trance-like state to master the technique in a slow, long, grueling process.

He had created the Prophecy of the Void against the abyssfeeder, but hadn’t been able to use the SOUL System for the mind of the abyssfeeder, which adopted an entirely different form of existence that was very different from anything other lifeform. Against a Martial Sage, however, he was able to read one’s mind thanks to his astronomically superior Martial Mind, allowing him to finally utilize the SOUL System for the first time in a decade.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

A myriad of powerful attacks ravaged the Devil as Rui’s movements flowed with absolute certainty and an otherworldly fluidity.

The SOUL System didn’t improve the depth of the Prophecy of the Void.

No.

It improved the resolution and the accuracy.

He was now able to foresee what was happening in an incredibly detailed manner.

The probability of a mistake being made was virtually zero.

The future unveiled itself more and more than it ever had before.

And yet, there were still things that he couldn’t foresee.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

His fist was ravaged by a great impact once more, shattering his bones and crumpling his flesh once more. The passive and involuntary defense mechanism was inscrutable, making it impossible even for Rui to predict when it was going to happen.

And yet, this time, it was within his general anticipation. He immediately activated Weaving Blood without so much as missing a beat while continuing his onslaught against the Devil.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH

Each and every single blow Sage Damian tried to throw ran into empty feints, never so much as even coming close to touching Rui. Each and every single wave of destruction was foreseen far too easily and avoided far too easily.

With the SOUL System, the medium of actions had entirely tilted to Rui’s favor as he evaded everything with an absurd degree of ease while simultaneously blasting Sage Damian over and over again with a powerful attack.

A myriad of wounds and bruises emerged on the Devil’s body after the countless blows that Rui had dealt him.

Much to Rui’s surprise, the Devil didn’t have a healing factor.

His sheer durability and defensive power were shocking for someone who was exclusively focused on destruction. However, it made sense for his own body to be able to withstand the recoil of his own power and destruction.

This meant that each time he unleashed an attack, it was only because he could withstand it himself.

Even after a sustained onslaught of tremendous attacks each amplified by the Hypertrophic Surge metabody, he had only just begun to bleed. Rui may have had the stamina advantage, but the Devil certainly had the endurance needed to compensate for it.

And yet, Rui persevered.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

His eyes sharpened fiercely as the intensity of his attacks rose.

Everyone had a limit; no matter how absurdly tough the Devil was, he could not withstand the sheer onslaught of punishment that Rui unleashed upon him. He utilized not just the Metabody System to the fullest but even used the Forge of Creation to rapidly improve and enhance his striking technique with greater and greater principles needed to inflict more and more damage on him.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

The Devil reeled under the weight of the sheer blast that Rui unleashed on him, staggering unsteadily while Rui surged to finish the battle then and there. He curled his arm and upper body, generating as much torque as he could while a flood of materia prima propelled the tremendous attack towards the Devil.

Even as his fist surged towards the Devil, the SOUL System picked up on activity.

A decision.

A single thought.

“Destroy.” A wide grin emerged on the Devil’s face.

TAP

Rui’s eyes widened with shock as his attack crumbled, causing his fist to gently tap the Devil’s chest with a light tap.

His attack had been ‘destroyed.’

He sensed that the Devil had done something.

He even foresaw it.

But he didn’t understand what it even meant.

“Rargh!” the Devil snarled, unleashing an onslaught of tremendously powerful attacks one after another, threatening to blast Rui where he stood.

And yet, his body froze as his actions died.

“I ‘destroyed’ your evasion.” The Devil’s voice was chilling.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

“Rrgh!” Rui grimaced as a tremendous impact ravaged his body, launching him away as the Devil utilized an extraordinary mastery of destruction to destroy his opponent’s chances of winning the battle. Rui could scarcely believe what he had heard, even as he gritted his teeth, struggling to withstand the sheer onslaught of attacks.

Unbeknownst to him, this was the line that separated the Transcendent candidates from regular peak Sages. They were Martial Sages who had reached the very limit of what they were otherwise able to achieve and had dove even deeper, reaching the very core of their Martial Art.

The underlying concept permeated their Martial Art and who they were, and the myriad of manifestations of the concept.

They learned to harness all of it.

“I thought I told you…” A chilling message emerged from the Devil as he grinned wildly at Rui. “Everything falls to destruction.”

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as the Devil unleashed an onslaught of Destruction unlike anything Rui had ever seen.

To him, Destruction was no longer limited to simply big explosions.

It extended beyond.

The Devil’s fist drew backwards as he unleashed a tremendously powerful attack at Rui.

Time slowed to a crawl as Rui opened his eyes.

A blood-red glow flared with power in their depths.

RUMBLE!!!!!

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