The Martial Unity

Rui waited in position, standing some distance away from the path. Flashes of carriage traveling at truly remarkable speeds went in either direction on the road. The sun mercilessly baked anything unfortunate enough to be within its direct exposure.

Of course, Rui was unbothered by this. Not only was he a Martial Senior, but he had also prepared himself physically and mentally for this for quite some time. Physically, he had ensured that he had gotten plenty of sleep before he undertook this mission. He didn't want to perform sub-optimally since his combat and assassination prowess greatly depended on his mind.

He had been meticulous with his nutrition, making sure he was fed and just lightly full enough where he wouldn't feel uncomfortable with great physical exertion. He had also mentally prepared himself for this day for quite some time, subjecting himself to a lot of meditation and mental conditioning.

Today, he was different from other days.

He seemed to ooze peril, much unlike his normal day-to-day impression. His eyes were sharp, devoid of the warmth that they normally possessed.

His senses were active, directed towards the carriages that arrived from the direction of the Shionel Confederation.

His eyes widened as they pricked, detecting the approach of the travel convoy from Deacon Industries. He quickly used Riemannian Echo to pierce through the anti-sensory measures of the central convoy.

His expression crumpled with cold fury. 'He's here.'

Rui had no interest in attacking his convoy if the man himself wasn't here. It would be a disaster if he attacked the convoy to kill Deacon only to find the man's butler or subordinate.

But he was here. He had aged a lot in the past seven years, but Rui couldn't possibly fail to recognize him.

The time had come. Although the carriage moved at extremely high speeds from the perspective of normal humans to Rui, it may as well have been nigh-stationary, especially when he activated his Martial Heart.

'First step; cripple the carriage,' Rui fired off a Squire-level Mighty Roar Flash Blast, having activated the Pathfinder technique, that was just weak enough such that it would pass below the senses of the Martial Seniors within the carriage. This ability was the reason he had been able to assassinate the Martial Seniors of the Shadow Isles. BAM!

CRACK!

crucial component of the axel. In the past three months, he had studied the model of the

the Martial Seniors,' Rui inhaled

THWOOM!!

surged as five attacks merged into one, flying straight towards

Yet, it never reached.

doors burst open violently,

BOOM!!!

had in addition to their numbers was their teamwork. Each team of bodyguards was highly trained in their coordination when it came

for

on the spot, dying then and there. It was as though someone had cut off the strings

THUD

eyes widened

sense the enemy, had one of their Martial Seniors spontaneously experienced a lethal heart

prepared for this. That

TAP!

closest Martial Seniors, causing his eyes to roll back as he too collapsed lifelessly. He surged forward at blinding speeds, hoping to

not to

BAM!

shockwave flung him away, dispelling Greater Phantomind Void as two more Martial Seniors appeared from within the carriage with severe expressions.

to fight such a fiendish assassin. They hoped that the sight of two more Martial Seniors who weren't supposed to be there would cause

was not

he looked as though