The Martial Unity

Chapter 2219  Challenge

Yet, that wasnʼt all.

CRACK!!!

Rui flattened his skull without even the slightest hesitation.

The unconscious Martial Master died then and there.

The first casualty of the Master-level battle had occurred.

It was not missed.

Rui turned as his eyes swept the battlefield, meeting the bloodlusting gaze of the Sekigaharan Masters. The elation he had felt from gaining more experience was gone. It was in the first place. It was an emotion that had no place in a battlefield, breeding immense complacency that almost got him killed.

”You want to kill me?” His furious voice echoed across the battlefield. ”Well…”

His eyes narrowed.

In their depths stirred an endless darkness.

A void.

”…Here I am.”

For a moment, the battle seemed to pause the Ruiʼs overwhelming Martial Embodiment swept across the entire battlefield, snuffing all other Martial Embodiments as though they were merely flames before his inferno.

Unbeknownst to him, in the Sekigahara Confederate, this was considered an insult and a provocation.

A declaration of superiority.

Countless Sekigaharan Martial Masters glared at him with bloodlust.

In just a moment, several Martial Masters flooded him from all directions.

”Die, little bastard!” they roared with furious bloodlust.

Unfortunately for them, they didnʼt have as much luck as last time.

”Speed Void.” Rui bent heaven and earth as his domain expanded, enveloping all his incoming opponents.

WHOOSH!

”Eh…?” Their eyes widened as Rui casually evaded their full, slowed-down attacks with little effort.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

They gritted their teeth as they fought against a speed-draining high drag coefficient that refused to allow them to reach their full speed.

That, in combination with the predictive models that he had already built on them, avoiding their attacks was quite easy for Rui, especially with a technique like Phantom Step that confounded when he used it to disappear in their faces.

Ruiʼs fighting style shifted radically as he adapted to both his opponents and his circumstances.

He used a partial Neo-Godspeed while his stance changed as he shifted around bobbing about the entire place, centering his legs together to reduce the timeframe for shifting directions or speeding up and slowing down.

He became exceptionally difficult to so much ass touch.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

The Sekigaharan Martial Masters around him gritted their teeth as they went all out, using the full power of their Hearts, Art, and Minds as they did their best to harm him.

WHOOSH

He avoided a powerful thrust, side-stepping as he backflipped after evading the wrestling charge.

WHOOSH WHOOSH!!

He evaded a spinning kick to the head, sky-walking to the air as he simultaneously evaded charges.

”GET HIM!” they charged into the air, refusing to let him escape.

However, much to their chagrin, the domain followed him into the air, slowing down their attacks even more since they were slower skywalking than on the ground.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui immediately went all-out with defense as he bounced about his domain, evading the attacks they threw at him.

The Speed Void domain was the most optimal choice to adaptively evolve to his circumstances and opponents. Just the fact that he had multiple opponents was a good reason to focus on domains.

After all, domains typically had an effect on the entirety of the field they covered. Thus, it was useful for getting all of his opponents.

Furthermore, dodging took little effort compared to the powerful and lethal attacks that they hurtled at him. Thus, he could drain their energy reserves long before he tired out. Then, he could effortlessly kill them after tha— ”You think it will be that easy?”

Rui felt chills crawling down his spine as Primordial Instinct rang alarms in his head.

WHOOSH!!!

Rui barely evaded an immensely powerful attack.

BOOOM!!!

The sheer power of the blow tore apart his domain with its devastating impact on the heavens.

Ruiʼs expression grew severe as he swiftly turned around, leaping away as he beheld the new threat that had intervened in his battle.

”Master Kaijin!” The Masters of the Sekigahara Confederate bowed to him despite the war that surrounded them. ”We are gratefu—”

”Shut up.”

His voice was deep and raspy. His muscular body was littered with scars underneath his Martial dougi.

His fierce eyes glared at the Sekigaharan Master around him with contempt.

”You weaklings couldnʼt defeat a snot-nosed brat who entered the Master Realm three years ago?” They flinched at his words. ”Master Kaijin—”

”Enough.” He growled. ”Go join the others and weather down the Kandrian Masters, you useless louts…”

His gaze shifted to Rui, flashing with bloodlust.

”Yes, Master Kaijin!

They scurried off, leaving the two remaining Martial Masters to their devices.

”You know,” Rui began, heaving a sigh. ”Next time you try to provoke me with petty insults, donʼt be so extra.”

He directed a steely gaze at the powerful Martial Master.

”Youʼre transparent.”

A smile appeared on Master Kaijinʼs face. ”Hoho, it appears that rumors of the wisdom beyond your age were not wrong. I had hoped that, given your youth and the overwhelming success that has been your Martial Art career, you would have an ego proportional to your unfathomable talent, but it appears not. In that case…”

He adopted a wide-legged stance as his powerful arms stretched out before him with the fingers of his flat palm facing him.

A classic Karate stance.

”…I challenge you to a battle, Master Rui,” his tone grew more intense yet respectful. ”I have looked forward to fighting the Void Prince of the Kandrian Empire for a long time.”

It was deeply odd to be challenged formally in the middle of a war.

Yet, it was nothing out of par for the martial culture of the Sekigahara Confederate. ”Should you accept,” Master Kaijin continued. ”You will not be ambushed for the duration of our fight as they have undoubtedly witnessed my challenge to you.”

His eyes flashed with battle lust.

Yet, they lit up with elation when he saw Rui take a stance before him.

”I accept your challenge,” Ruiʼs tone was intense. ”You see…”

His eyes narrowed.

”I love fighting people stronger than me.”

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