BOOM!
Ieyasu's attack launched him away at blinding speeds, crashing into the other side of the colosseum with a titanic impact.
BOOM!!!
Yet he wasn't done.
Not just yet.
He mercilessly dashed forward, racing to the other side while his next attack surged forward through the dust, towards Rui's figure.
Every person who bore witness could not help but grit their teeth.
Their fists clenched.
Many did not understand what had happened.
Yet one thing was clear.
A glint of triumph shined in the darkness of his eyes, a darkness that reflected the image of Rui.
Tokugawa Ieyasu had reclaimed the battle.
And now he sought to claim one more thing.
The air turned grave.
The skies darkened.
The world grew silent as it bore witness.
His palm jab drove forward towards Rui's heart.
A death blow.
SPLAT!
A splash of blood unfazed him.
His hand dug deeper and deeper, piercing his heart.
It struck true
And yet it wasn't the only thing that did.
At that moment, another attack had already surged forward, uncaring for the severity of the situation.
BAM!!!
Every spectating soul widened their eyes in shock as Rui landed a powerful blow on Ieyasu.
A powerful blow...
But at what cost?
He had already been mortally injured, and now his gut and heart were impaled.
He was doomed to collapse.
Any moment now.
The air grew taut as they waited for the fated outcome.
And yet, once more, Rui defied expectations, stepping forward defiantly.
Not a single person could contain their shock when they saw what had become of him.
How could they?
It was almost magical.
Every wound on his body had already disappeared.
Every scratch.
Every bruise.
Every cut.
Gone.
It was an incomprehensible sight.
Only Senior Xanarn and Kane understood what had happened. They had borne witness to the battle he had fought more than a year ago against the Martial Seniors of the Kaddar Region. They had watched as Rui healed with an almost magical healing ability, allowing him to negate the immense damage that the Martial Seniors had inflicted on him.
Ieyasu's eyes intensified at the sight. He hadn't gotten a good look at the technique, but he didn't need to.
It was unnecessary.
There was only one thing left to do; win.
So what if Rui could heal?
'My eyes reflect the might of a thousand Martial Artists! ' His eyes narrowed.
They grew darker.
Colder.
A single whisper escaped his mouth.
"You may have overcome yourself but...can you overcome the Floating Sect?"
The ominous question sent chills crawling down the skin of the guardians as they realized what was about to happen.
The sum totality of everything that the Floating Sect had to offer.
That was what Rui had to overcome.
No sane Martial Squire would dare to even try.
Rui didn't say a word.
And yet, they could only watch with utter shock as he took his simple neutral stance.
A single word escaped his mouth.
"Come."
Their eyes sharpened.
For a moment, nothing happened.
And the very next...
RUMBLE!
The very land beneath them shook as the two raced forward with abandon.
A single thought emanated through the sum totality of their being.
A single desire resonated across their existence.
Victory.
At all costs.
POW POW POW!
A powerful barrage of swift blows struck at Rui's guard, each swifter than the previous one, flinging him backward. Ieyasu lashed out forward, and a sharp swift palm jab flew towards his throat, aiming to sever it.
WHOOSH!
It crashed into an empty image.
A feint.
Rui had leaped back, watching him with the fixation of a serpent. His eyes were fixed on Ieyasu. The void within the consumed everything it beheld.
An unpleasant sensation.
Ieyasu narrowed his eyes as he immediately followed through, launching a barrage of color arm maneuvers with sharp palms.
An offensive Martial Art that carved their opponent up like a butcher.
"Th-That's my Martial Art!" A guardian in the spectator stands exclaimed with shock and amazement. "It's smoother and cleaner than mine!"
Not a single one of them was surprised. A grave expression underlying a hint of despair flashed in their eyes.
This battle affected them, and yet they were helpless.
THWACK! POW!
Rui calmly deconstructed the colorful movements with a single swing, landing a swift blow on Ieyasu. Ieyasu narrowed his eyes. His arms blurred, hoping to chop Rui up with the lethal copied Martial Art.
And yet...
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!
Rui casually evaded every blow with knowing eyes.
The void had already consumed this Martial Art.
Hardly five minutes had passed, and yet it was already dead.
"No..." The Martial Artist watched with a look of horror as Rui tore apart not just his Martial Art, but a superior manifestation.
An overwhelming sense of despair washed over him.
One had effortlessly copied and elevated his Martial Art, while the other effortlessly read and evolved to destroy it.
He could do nothing about it.
He was helpless, and yet the battle continued.
Neither of the two of them cared.
It was an insignificant outcome.
BAM!
Rui's eyes widened as a fundamental shift in Ieyasu's patterns allowed a strike to cleanly blast him away. This time his stance resembled a Muay Thai stance, emphasizing his elbows and knees.
He rushed forward as Rui raced backward, hoping to maintain the open distance. Close-quarters combat with such a style was detrimental.
FIEW FIEW FIEW!
Rui narrowed his eyes as Ieyasu's elbows tore through the air, releasing waves of vacuum flying straight towards him.
WHOOSH!
"I never thought my Martial Art could have such power at that range!" Another guardian exclaimed with amazement.
Yet his emotions did not defy the pattern.
POW!
Rui imbalanced Ieyasu with a swift roundhouse kick, completely disemboweling the style minutes later. Amazement turned into despair as yet another guardian felt their heart crushing at the hands of both the monsters warring in the battle arena.
Every guardian watched with grave despair.
What was to come had already been established. They prepared their hearts one by one.
Ieyasu had only become as strong as he was after entering the sect more than six years ago. He had mostly fought guardians after that time period. That meant that an overwhelming majority of the copied Martial Art in his arsenal belonged to them.
It was a mass execution.
Ieyasu was the prosecutor.
Rui was the executor.
Together, they butchered Martial Art after Martial Art.
They had become monsters in the eyes of the breaking guardians.
A duo of despair.
Harbingers of destruction.
The reapers of Martial Art.
Yet there was nothing that could be done.
The battle would continue.
They could only watch.
The battle grew darker as the melody of a mirror and a void rung through the colosseum.
Comments