The Martial Unity

Each tendril that blasted against Rui’s body inflicted a heavy impact, causing his bones to crack despite his redirection of the tremendous attack via the quantum gap that existed between all objects. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Each time he tried to evade, the alien entity would see right through his movements, arranging for blows that would phase right on him at any given moment. The laminar integument’s movements phased through the very fabric of reality while simultaneously relying on an astronomically powerful predictive model and a blindingly fast cognition composed of light flashing through its body, creating a level of cognition that greatly exceeded the neuron impulses that all life in Gaia relied on.

Despite possessing both Autocorpus and Eye of Prophecy, Rui was unable to evade each blow, although he did manage to use Outer Divergence on each incoming attack.

The jellyfish-like alien hovered in space in a graceful manner while simultaneously unleashing the most brutal attacks it had ever seen. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was likely the only pathwalker from Gaia who could withstand a combination of teleported and phased attacks, along with a cognition and predictive model that dwarfed his own.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

As the laminar integument blasted him with whip after whip. And yet, to its surprise, while its attacks landed, they didn’t seem to inflict any truly meaningful damage.

Rui managed to negate each and every blow with a combination of Aqua Existentia and Outer Divergence, even if he wasn’t able to evade it. Blocking extremely fast attacks was easier than evading them, and the ability of the laminar integument to tag him with its tendrils seemed to exceed its ability to inflict kinetic damage on him.

Of course, with each defensive maneuver he made, he was also feeding his enemy information that could be used to refine its predictive models, allowing it to engage in even more precise and accurate attacks. For now, the alien didn’t quite understand where human vitals were or how human motion worked exactly, but as the battle continued, that would change.

The longer he continued, the stronger his opponent grew.

And yet, the same was also true for him.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

Even as the laminar integument bombarded with blow after blow, the blood-red suns within the depths of his eyes shone with blinding brightness as his mind blazed forth with furious intensity.

“Light of Soul.”

It was the name of the predictive model he had created on the laminar integument’s holographic mind made up of light signals.

It allowed him to see the very essence of its thought process and understand it.

To interpret it.

And to predict what it would do next.

His eyes sharpened as he spotted several familiar light signals emerging from within the laminar integument’s body.

He had seen them before.

They preceded a straight downwards tendril whip on his head every single time.

WHOOSH

With a single tilt, he evaded the predicted tendril whip that swung down on him from above, smoothly twirling as he charged forth towards the laminar integument.

Only to find several tendril whips converging on him from all directions.

FWOOSH

And yet, with the gentlest of touches, Rui intercepted them. The tip of his fingers ever so slightly made contact with the jelly-like tendril, while he smoothly redirected the trajectory of the tendril against other tendrils.

He used the laminar integument’s attacks to negate themselves, gaining clear access to the laminar integument. A portal had already opened right in front of his fist as it charged forth towards the laminar integument.

His first attack of the battle.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

His fist was teleported right on top of a laminar integument with a devastating impact, rocking the laminar integument. His other fist had already swung in full force, also emerging from a wormhole right atop the laminar integument’s body.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

He unleashed an onslaught of blows, expecting to inflict great damage upon the laminar integument.

Much to his surprise, however, that was simply not the case.

WHOOM… WHOOM… WHOOM… WHOOM…

Each blow became a… wave.

Each impact he inflicted became a wave that bounced back and forth within the laminar integument’s body. The waves bounced back and forth across the surface of a bucket of water, remaining in a state of complete flux.

His eyes widened with realization as he watched his attacks being helplessly converted into pressure waves within the laminar integument’s body. The creature was made up of layers instead of cells.

Only now did he understand what the true implications of such an alien biochemistry and biophysics were. Each impact he inflicted would be spread farther and farther across each layer of the laminar integument, naturally dispersing the impact across its body.

If the human body were largely composed of a liquid, then the laminar integument he was looking at was almost entirely a liquid, held together by the layers that composed its body.

Its very existence was the equivalent of his Aqua Existentia defensive technique, allowing it to withstand his blows.

To absorb the impacts of his attacks.

And, of course, to use them against him.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The next tendril whip he launched was faster than his predictions, phasing on his body even quicker than before, forcing him to tank the blow with his arm guard.

RUMBLE…

The attack, possessing the combined power of the laminar integument and Rui’s own absorbed impact, struck with such a heavy impact that it sent shockwaves through the very fabric of space and time.

“Two can play this game.” Rui’s eyes blazed with determination as he absorbed the impact with his Aqua Existentia, charging forth with super-powered blows as the two entities commenced what was nothing short of a brutal space brawl.

It was a battle that was impossible even for pathwalkers to fathom. The laminar integument phased its blows while Rui teleported them with a wormhole. Both entities absorbed and used each other’s power to inflict greater and greater impacts on each other, creating a brutal, ruthless slugfest.

RUMBLE!!!!!