The Martial Unity

He lashed at Rui, swinging his clawed hand at him wildly.

WHOOSH

BAM!

Rui somersaulted out of the attack, landed a powerful drop kick on the man's head. Vranil grimaced as he swung at Rui once more.

Rui intercepted strike at the middle of his forearm, careful to avoid his hand.

FLIP

Vranil's eyes flew wide open as the world turned upside-down. Rui had cleanly flipped him using Flow Flux. Under ordinary circumstances, Rui would not have been able to but Vranil's state of mind was not conducive to stability.

PEW

Rui's toe flew, whistling as it cut through the air and buried itself in his throat.

"ARGH!" He choked as he landed on his head.

BAM!!

Rui soccer-kicked him to the head, sending his body flying across the forest, breaking past some trees. Even if the man was strong, Rui's raw power was immense.

Having mastered two highly-powerful high-grade techniques; Outer Convergence and Flame Breathing, as well as Adamant Reforging which also significantly increased the impact his fists were able to deliver had reached a whole different level. With four techniques in total amplifying his power, every strike of his was remarkably heavy. As far as he knew, only Fae, Ian and Fiona surpassed him in raw power.

Well, Vranil did as well. But his defense wasn't nearly as good. Even he couldn't shrug off such a powerful impact to the head.

He got up groggily.

BLINK

PEW!

Rui used Blink to pierce him yet again. Vranil stumbled unsteadily as he breathed heavily as he closed the new wound Rui had just inflicted on him.

He tried to gather his bearings, but Rui was just overwhelming. Had he been in peak physical and mental condition, he would have performed much better. But he was psychologically and physically far away from his peak. Rui's schemes and plans had affected him negatively in many ways, physically and psychologically.

Furthermore, he noticed Rui had changed. The pressure he exerted on Vranil had been rising, bit-by-bit. His fighting style slowly and gradually morphed as it flowed, changing forms.

Vranil felt weaker

sharper. He had begun shutting down everything Vranil

Every attack.

Every defense.

Every evasion.

Rui mercilessly

was as though every movement Rui made was made to defeat him. Every step, ever shift, every swing and thrust, even the tiniest

as he met the boy's

He felt transparent.

He felt naked.

felt as though Rui saw through

his Martial

the depths of his Martial

Saw through, and denied.

Denied his success.

Denied his accomplishments.

as a Martial

his Martial Art, and even his

Rui had become the Antithesis; He

in Vranil's eyes. It was as though his

movement Rui made, countering every move his foe made, Vranil felt

his very Martial

He felt despair.

Martial Art that countered his own Martial Art to the very depths of

felt as though Rui

flaw. Every Imperfection. Every trace of weakness.

They came to life.

Rui had given them life. They came to life and began eating away at his Martial

leaving him. He hadn't felt this weak since he was a

Path he

It was gone.

that was left was

could see was the

lost their vitality as

BAM!!

at tremendous speeds, breaking

THUD

to the