The Martial Unity

"…How many did you say?" A stunned voice escaped Princess Ranea's mouth.

"Seven, Your Highness," Sierra calmly informed him.

Prince Randal's expression grew severe. "We have underestimated him. No, everybody has. He's far, far stronger than we had expected. I don't think there are Senior assassins out there who actually possess the ability to kill him."

Princess Rafia's expression was blank, as always. "Even if that were the case, it doesn't matter. Seven may have failed, but they have undoubtedly wounded and exhausted him, significantly reducing him below his peak. The later assassins will have a much greater chance."

"Still, this is surprising," Prince Raemina eyed the brief report with interest. "Do you think he's the strongest Senior in Kandria."

"Definitely not," Prince Randal shook his head. "He's got endless potential and is definitely far and away with the most talented and driven. But he's not on par with the Gatekeeper."

That name hung in the air.

Prince Ranea shook her head. "I'm more concerned about the operations. Since we have committed to this, we need to see it through."

She turned to Sierra. "How is the progress going?"

"We do not have any real-time footage or surveillance,' Sierra replied calmly. "We barely have one distant scout using long-range surveillance artifacts to ascertain the bare basics of the operation. We cannot allow anything to be traced back to us. When the anomaly is investigated, we cannot have any proof that we were involved."

That was why the task force sacrificed information for the sake of staying hidden.

The place that the operation was taking place in was mostly deserted and remote with almost no settlements or human presence anywhere within a hundred kilometers of the battlefield.

This was what allowed the Martial Seniors to go all out, as long as it was one by one, without immediately alerting the Martial Union.

On top of that, the Great Jrava Mountain Range had its own beast population that occasionally caused a ruckus that would be ignored until it started affecting people.

"Don't worry; the next assassin will surely get him. He's too exhausted to get away with any shocking victories," Prince Randal asserted, almost trying to convince himself.

He was wrong.

BOOM!!

"Sonic Singularity."

Rui's voice reverberated through his new domain as he unleashed the domain born from Project Malevolent Kitchen.

The domain unleashed sound waves toward the epicenter of the domain.

An avalanche of sound.

A tsunami of vibrations.

Suddenly, they converged.

They converged upon a single point.

A single man.

BOOOOOM!!!

"AAAAGRGRGRGGRGEGREGGR!!!" The gargantuan man bellowed in agony as Rui unleashed the third domain technique of the Yggdrasil System.

His skin grew red as his entire body began heating up, and his hair and clothes incinerated from the sheer heat that he was giving off.

"RRRRGHHH!!" The man gritted his teeth.

The Martial Body, particular when reinforced from the enhanced metabolism from the Martial Heart, was not nearly as easy to incinerate.

STEP

He centered himself, crouching as he took a sumo stance.

"Bring it on!" The man roared.

THUD!

He struck his foot against the ground in defiance.

"Why are you even an assassin?" Rui scoffed.

Yet he never let up on the domain.

The grappling Martial Artist was dangerous. If Rui got caught by him, it would have been game over. He was so large and gargantuan that not even Hypertrophic Surge would have been enough to overcome him in grappling.

Thankfully, Rui didn't need to maintain the domain forever.

HSSSSSSS!

The man's flesh started sizzling and smoking.

His eyes had become a deep red.

He staggered before losing consciousness.

THUD

He collapsed, dead.

"Huff…Huff…!" Rui fell down to one knee as he desperately gasped for air.

He glanced at his broken hand. It had been incredibly difficult to bend heaven with a broken hand, but alas, he had no choice.

Normally, he would have never allowed such a giant assassin to have sneaked up on him and caught him by surprise, but his exhaustion had truly been catching up to him.

'Only…a few more to go,' Rui barely caught his breath when he suddenly detected the familiar sense of peril from Primordial Instinct.

BOOOM!!!

15:18

He barely managed to evade a tremendous impact with Gale BOOOM!!!

He barely managed to evade a tremendous impact with Gale Force Breathing as he got a good look at his next opponent.

The man had a well-balanced body frame, not unlike Rui's. He had especially long arms relative to his body, giving him an enormous wingspan. Rui was unable to gauge exactly what his Martial Art was just by looking at his body.

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd get a turn," He smiled. "You've done well to last this long. But time's up!"

WHOOSH!

He lashed out against Rui at tremendous speeds. His arms blurred as he launched them into action.

POW POW POW POW POW

Rui expected short, swift, heavy blows, yet he only received soft finger pokes. Yet, his eyes widened with surprise as his arms couldn't move.

'Paralysis!' Rui gritted his teeth.

BAM!!!

The man launched a heavy kick against Rui's ribs, dealing a painful blow.

"Rgh!" Rui gritted his teeth as he leaped away, struggling to regain control over his arms. The degree and duration of the paralysis far exceeded that of his own Lightning Tap, which was only partial and momentary.

The man's grin widened as he blasted off a large variety of kicks, one after the other.

WHOOSH!

Rui ducked, evading a powerful upper kick as he finally regained control over his arms.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

The man leaped back, taking back a stance that emphasized his arms.

'I see,' Rui narrowed his eyes as he formed a basic model of the man's combat system. 'His Martial Body is such that his arms were evolved purely to disable while his legs are meant to batter his opponent while they're paralyzed. In most cases, he would be able to take them down very quickly if he had the element of surprise. Fitting for an assassin.'

The man rushed forward, ready for round two.