The Martial Unity

Throughout the fight, Rui had wondered.

How hadn't they lost yet?

She was a Martial Squire, was she not?

What exactly was happening?

Based on the power and speed she had displayed the first time when she had missed, she should have been able to mangle them with just a few attacks, if not one.

Yet when she fought the second time, she was noticeably inferior.

Rui had been able to dodge her attack, as had Kane. Nel had been able to withstand her attack without losing consciousness the first time, although he did the second time.

It was only after a few exchanges that Rui understood.

('She's given up on using techniques entirely.')

Her proficiency with her body was sub-optimal, adding on top of that incompatible Apprentice-level techniques and these two elements sabotaged her accuracy too much.

She could not fix the proficiency with her body on the spot, that would require a lot of time, experience, and training. But she could get rid of the incompatible techniques sabotaging her accuracy.

But only if she stopped using them entirely.

It was a tough choice. But ultimately, she chose control over raw power, as a good Martial Artist would.

Once she stopped using incompatible techniques, her power dipped well below the Squire Realm, but her accuracy and precision had risen.

Once Rui realized this, he realized that maybe, just maybe, victory wasn't too far-fetched.

But only if they used everything they had. Throughout the fight, he watched her like a hawk. He documented everything about her.

Every twitch.

Every shift.

Every attack.

Every block.

All of it.

Large volumes of information entered his Mind Palace as he watched her toying with his friends with gritted teeth.

his friends suffer to prolong the battle for his sake

He was almost there.

So close.

He closed his eyes.

to look death in the eyes?"

heard a

final piece had finally

He was ready.

blitz punch;

WHOOSH

BAM!

perfect counter to the maneuver as he adapted to her attack with the help of the adaptive

struck with effectively both of their power combined, yet she didn't suffer

huge gap in physical parameters between her and them individually. If she was fighting against an

paper, it should have been easy

the fight began and for some reason,

and Hever were still alive through their seismic signatures. Yet their conditions angered

vent it out on

to die." She glowered at

even bother exchanging

environment itself. She widened her eyes as she experienced a mental pressure that exceeded that

felt fear for the first time since stepping into the

she felt

mere Martial Apprentice humiliate

"You... You will die."

pushing it back as she propelled herself forward at a speed that beggared the

as she tore it

Yet.

WHOOSH

Rui avoided.

the prediction and adaptive models the VOID algorithm, Primordial Instinct, and five Apprentice-level

he avoided it

BAM!!

elbow crashed into her chest with a titanic collision fueled by

of strikes at him, the power of each strike was beyond even Fae, even what Squire Kyrie had struck him with, even beyond what

they crashed into empty air

not something she was comfortable with. On top of that, she

These flaws made

he was doing merely just that;