The Martial Unity

The spectators watched with slackened jaws as Martial Squires collapsed one after the other. The earliest phase of the match was so chaotic that Martial Squires attacked those they didn't mean to attack and got hit by attacks that weren't meant to hit them.

It was just that things changed so quickly that by the time an attack was launched and began traveling, in close-range or long-range, the things in its path had already changed. Many Martial Squires were inadvertently taken down by attacks meant for someone else.

It was too much to follow!

Thankfully, with each falling Martial Squire, things became easier to follow. Being knocked out, killed, or incapacitated were grounds for elimination, and those Martial Squires were swiftly extracted through esoteric means without interrupting the battle.

It wasn't too long before a lot of the riff-raff were filtered out. These were Martial Squires who, while they weren't weak, simply stood no chance at claiming victory against all odds.

It wasn't too long before only the grade-eight, nine, and ten Martial Squires, and Rui remained.

Rui had spent this brief and initial phase of the preliminary contest on the run for the most part. He kept his energy consumption low enough for the most part. While some attacks did hit him, especially large wide-scale attacks that covered a lot of area, his partial Nemean Blossom handled them perfectly for the most part.

"Get him!"

"Tsk! He's too slippery!"

"Surround him!"

"RARGH!" One grade-nine Martial Squire appeared in front of him, managing to cut him off while throwing his most powerful attack at him.

CLASP!

His eyes widened as he felt his power disappearing the second that Rui caught his fist, as though it was being drained away into a void. Not even a powerful grade-nine Martial Art technique was enough to overcome the combination of Flux Earther and a partial Nemean Blossom.

BZZZT!!!

At the same time, Rui activated Thundercoil, sending a buzzing and paralytic sensation through his body.

For just a brief moment, he couldn't move.

And that was enough.

BAM! POW!

A swift kick to the jaw rocked the man's head, driving him dizzy before a final blow to the solar plexus armed with Outer Convergence and Reverberating Lance hammered the final nail in the coffin.

THUD

man crumpled to

his pursuers, as

Artist? How did he

profoundly deep sense of peril

Something was wrong.

grin cracked onto Rui's face. "Time's up. Should

returning back to normal. He felt less

they only felt greater pressure when they beheld his

away the defense. Now that the most chaotic parts had passed, and only continued

even gather their wits, Rui had already lashed out,

launching a powerful kick to Rui's head as he approached

WHOOSH!

man's eyes widened as his attack

A feint.

BOOM!!!

Rui's most powerful attack crashed into his ribs. The full might of Flowing Canon, Outer Convergence, Reverberating Lance, as well as

fell to a knee, trying his

POW!

kick to the skull knocked him

any sense of victory as he was immediately

targeters had realized that he could not be taken down one-on-one after watching him dust two high-grade

simply did not comprehend. They did not comprehend the depth of the power that Rui was hiding; the

WHOOSH

A simple step here.

shift in weight

A palm over there.

all of their attacks failed. Half of them were dodged, and some of them

of them reached

he was

over to the closest Martial Squire, a

his direction, a short and crisp blow with little power. And yet, the

Or so he thought.

BAM!!

breaking his nose. Yet the shock he felt

swerved in this direction even before I began dodging!') Even though he was quicker, Rui moved earlier, just early enough to compensate for the lower speed, just late enough that his opponent could