The Martial Unity

Chapter 2358  Not Holding Back

It was in moments like these that Rui mourned not having had greater offensive diversity. If an impact-driven offensive were ineffective against his opponent, then most of his arsenal would be rendered useless against the Convergence.

Ruiʼs expression grew grave as he continued evading the manʼs powerful and relentless offensive by a hairʼs edge, as he pushed himself to come up with a winning strategy that would allow him to not only survive but also win.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!

ʼThink.ʼ He evaded three more blows. ʼNo impacts and no collisions, nothing that gives him the opportunity to steal the energy of my attacks. What does that leave me?ʼ

Not much, but it wasnʼt as though he was toothless without his collisions.

He had hypnosis, for one. Rui highly doubted whether the man could absorb hypnosis the way he absorbed normal attacks. After all, hypnosis did not transfer energy from the user to the target.

There were several domain techniques that were still useful because they didnʼt rely on kinetic energy to hurt his opponent. He was sure that even if the man could absorb the heat of Muspelheim, he couldnʼt absorb the cold of Niflheim or the drag force of the Speed Void technique.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

He pirouetted out of the way of several devastatingly powerful wind projectiles that threatened to blow holes in his body.

”Little rat!” Master Stephen snarled with frustration. What Rui was most uncertain about was grappling. However, he doubted that the man was defenseless against such a primary form of combat. On top of that, strength and power gaps were the most decisive variables in grappling, and this was an area where he was significantly inferior to his opponent. This was especially true when considering his physically weakened state.

Thus, he ruled it out for the time being.

He had a few more techniques here and there that were devoid of any elements of impact and collision-driven damage-dealing elements. However, none of them were particularly able to fix his problem of their own merit.

ʼIf I am to do this…ʼ Ruiʼs expression grew more intense. ʼI will need to use all of them in a manner that maximizes their contributions to my victory in the most effective manner possible.ʼ

In actuality, the Megamind technique was not the most effective Metabody technique against the Convergence. The fact of the matter was that he had already significantly crossed the threshold of necessary brainpower against the Convergence. The remaining excess, while certainly still effective and useful, was not the most optimal configuration with which he could have fought.

Ideally, he would have liked a fifty percent Neo Godspeed and fifty percent Megamind mix in this particular circumstance; it was the most effective strategy and was the best way to adaptively evolve against this particular opponent.

Unfortunately, it was not a strategy that he could go for.

His gaze shifted to the incapacitated Masters.

If he lowered his Megamind Metabody, even more Martial Masters would be free to go to pursue their second mission regarding the Shionel confederation. He couldnʼt allow that. The whole reason that he was even fighting in the first place was to protect the Shionel Confederation. He couldnʼt allow them to go, and the already burdened Masters of the nation were undoubtedly having difficulty.

”You dare to look away from me?”

SPLAT!

A cut appeared on his neck as he barely managed to evade being decapitated by a simple elbow jab.

Yet, the sheer speed and power of his strikes were so high that his elbow was able to cleave his flesh apart like it was paper.

When it came to raw power and speed, this man was in a dimension above Rui.

If Rui wanted to defeat him, he would need to use every ounce of information that he had collected and figure out the best way to kill him using the tools he had.

It was at moments like these that the Megamind was most useful.

Time slowed down to a crawl in his blood-red eyes as his mind surged with thought. Countless possible plans involving the viable elements of his Martial Art in countless different ways surged in his mind as he tried thinking of ways that he could kill his opponent.

Almost all of them were failures.

It couldnʼt be helped.

Almost all of them ended in his death because his opponent was just too strong in too many different ways. His combat parameters far surpassed Ruiʼs, allowing him to simply overcome almost anything that Rui could possibly do. The keyword being ʼalmost.ʼ

There was one possible circumstance where he ended up securing victory.

A single chance of victory.

To anybody else, that knowledge would bring despair.

To Rui, however, that knowledge brought him hope.

It was his greatest strength.

For as long as he was a Martial Artist, it was his greatest strength.

Time and time again, he turned a one in a hundred, one in a thousand, one in a million into actuality by active intervention.

His foresight had always far exceeded that of his opponents, and to this day, he had yet to find someone who could match him in that regard.

Even as he continued evading his opponentʼs frenzied attacks, an electric smile cracked at the edge of his mouth.

ʼI might die.ʼ

He could feel it.

Yet, it didnʼt inspire fear.

No.

It only brought him ecstasy.

A powerful opponent who could push him to his adaptive evolution to the very limit.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui evaded three more attacks with vigor, leaping away. His posture was sharp as he expected to foresee the Convergence chasing after him doggedly.

Yet, for once, the man did not, much to Ruiʼs surprise.

The elder Martial Master heaved a sigh.

”Your insights and foresight into your opponent are unlike anything Iʼve ever seen in my entire life.” His voice was calm, much to Ruiʼs chagrin. ”You are indeed impressive. As much as I detest you for stealing everything that Iʼve ever worked for in my life. You are indeed worthy of the prestige and renown that you have gained. That is why…”

His eyes flared with power.

Chills went down Ruiʼs spine as more power than anything he had ever felt from a Martial Master began unfurling from deep within his body.

”…That is why Iʼve decided to stop holding back.” RUMBLE!!

Ruiʼs eyes widened as what felt like a second Martial Heart erupted from deep within his body.

”Allow me to show you my single greatest technique…” His body shook with force. ”One that allows me to not only absorb energy from my opponents but also store it as mechanical potential energy in my body, waiting to be used as a second reservoir of power.”

Ruiʼs eyes widened with shock at that explanation.

”My greatest accomplishment…” his tone was chilling. ”…My magnum opus. Yet, nobody knows it exists. Because everyone who has ever seen it…”

His eyes sharpened with bloodlust. ”…is dead.”

BOOOOOOOM!!!

He blasted forward at mind-numbing velocities as a destructive attack of unparalleled lethality shot forward, threatening to erase Rui from existence.

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