The Martial Unity

"Challenger; Squire Falken. Defender: Guardian Saiwal."

The two of them stepped forward, bowing to each other. Rui locked eyes with her, and he could feel cold bloodlust in her eyes. He didn't expect anything less, of course. By challenging her, Rui was basically saying that he wanted to kill her and was confident that he could do it.

He couldn't even deny it, since that was indeed the case.

Kane had already joined the Floating Sect, and it was time for Rui to follow suit.

"Take your stances,"

She took a wide stance, crouching with spread arms and legs.

Rui stood nearly fifty meters away from her, having chosen a long-range distance while she chose a short-range, with a completely neutral stance.

He stared at her with a calm expression. Yet he exerted a faint pressure on her without making any threatening stances or glares.

"Begin!"

She immediately lashed out toward Rui, hoping to reach him in her initial charge. After all, her most effective range was when she was up close with her opponent, tearing off their flesh while she roasted them in her flames.

Yet, she wasn't surprised when Rui took to the air as he leaped back. He launched a barrage of Mighty Roaring Flash Blasts.

THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM!

Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly at the distance where the creation of the technique could not be sensed. That only worked when he was hundreds of meters away. She was able to notice that he was manipulating the atmosphere somehow when he created the sonic bullets, even if she couldn't sense the sonic bullets themselves.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

away as her sharp instincts told her to disrupt her

Yet, it wasn't enough.

BAM!

her even after she moved away. Rui had aimed for her maneuver

of projectiles at her, restricting

eyes

it was largely devoted to maximizing her friction, and the utility of her friction. It meant that she wasn't

made up for it, but it didn't help her get past Rui's attacks. She wasn't swift and nimble enough to evade all the attacks that he threw at her, nor was she durable enough to

second that went by, he grew better and better as he memorized her active and passive patterns that existed in her

way. She wasn't able to reach him, but that didn't mean she was helpless when it came to dealing with his onslaught. His long-range offense wasn't high-grade in

power-consuming than close-range attacks,

comfortable place where she only spent enough energy avoiding

much more difficult to land because he needed to

while still trying to close in where and when she could. He, on

he decided

a sigh as he seemingly

able to outlast her with his attacks despite her much lower effort evasion. She lashed out, itching to shred him to pieces and then roast him to

she reached him, yet that only fueled

BAM!!!

her pupils dilated

CRACK CRACK CRACK!

several ribs

her vision finally came into

right before her, with his fist buried into her

she could even process what had