The Martial Unity

"Begin!"

BADUMP

Their Martial Hearts flickered into power the moment the battle commenced.

And that was when Rui saw the Sun.

The Gatekeeper's Martial Heart shined a brilliant, blinding white light that was more than an order of magnitude more powerful than any other Martial Heart Rui had ever seen in his entire life.

Yet he was unable to admire it.

Not even the briefest moment passed before the Gatekeeper leaped at Rui with an astronomical speed.

He had already arrived in just a matter of microseconds. His fists converged on Rui, threatening to crush him with a single blow.

It was within Rui's prediction.

WHOOSH!

He managed to evade it.

Yet the same could not be said for the very world around him.

BOOM!!!!!!!

Heaven and earth roared as a wave of destruction emerged from the attack. A devastating shockwave the likes of which Rui had never seen erupted from the collision. It spread, expanding as it engulfed everything.

The sheer concussive force of the shockwave shattered the foundations of the bedrock it touched as it spread from the epicenter. It spread through the battlefield and the skies for several kilometers, ravaging everything it engulfed.

STEP

Rui landed away.

He was frozen.

Frozen in shock as he beheld the destruction that the Gatekeeper unleashed upon the very world itself.

The battlefield had been ravaged. Where Rui once stood was the epicenter of a crater that spanned kilometers in radius. A profoundly deep scar had been inflicted upon the very world that bore their battle.

The attack hadn't struck him physically, but it sure did strike him mentally.

The destruction he beheld was in the same tier of power as the quasi-Master-level bomb that Chairman Deacon had surgically implanted into his body.

A single whisper escaped Rui.

"What is this…?"

RUMBLE

The lands quivered as the Gatekeeper emerged from the crater.

"This is power that I have cultivated over five centuries," the Gatekeeper solemnly remarked. "That was the first attack…"

The man narrowed his eyes.

"A hundred thousand more to go."

At that moment, Rui felt a chill crawl up his spine. He felt something he hadn't felt in battle in a long time.

Fear.

"Here I come!" The Gatekeeper roared.

Despite the weight of his gargantuan body, his speed was extraordinary, exceeding even that of Fulminata Kane.

A titanic lateral swing was hurled at Rui's side.

WHOOSH!

Only to miss as Rui crouched, cleanly avoiding the blow.

WHOOOOOOSH!!!!

The sheer winds the attack generated from the enormous power of the swing caused shifts in pressure in the atmosphere across the northernmost peak of Kandria, altering the entirety of the weather spanning the expansive region.

Yet, the Gatekeeper was far from done.

He hurled a barrage of powerful blows at Rui, each with the power to crumple his body into an indistinguishable slab of meat.

None of them connected.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui evaded every single one of them, even if narrowly. The man surged forth, launching a devastating barrage of powerful, heavy blows.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui's eyes sharpened with intensity as his concentration and focus heightened even more, reaching unprecedented levels. He could not afford to make even a single mistake. There was a zero tolerable margin of error, for even a single error would undoubtedly get him killed.

The Gatekeeper possessed more raw power than Rui could even begin to comprehend. There was no question of trying to defend against the Gatekeeper's attacks. The man was so titanically powerful that he would shatter any and all defenses that Rui could possibly muster.

FLICK

His eyes widened as a small cut emerged on his face, evading a blow.

It was not the attack that cut him.

No.

It was the sheer air pressure around the attack generated by its power that had managed to break his skin.

Rui gritted his teeth as the Gatekeeper appeared before Rui once more.

BOOM!!!!!

An enormous sphere of destruction emerged as his attack barely missed Rui once, punishing the world instead.

Rui had barely landed on his feat when the Gatekeeper had already arrived, thrusting forth yet another devastatingly powerful blow.

BOOOM!!!!!

Rui narrowed his eyes with a grave expression, successfully managing to evade the attack, yet the Gatekeeper had already arrived before him once more.

WHOOSH

BOOOOOM!!!!!!!

The first, and perhaps even the last, phase of the battle had taken shape. A single truth had become evident to every single person who bore witness to the battle.

Rui Quarrier Kandria was weaker than the Gatekeeper.

That was not a single doubt in anybody's mind regarding this matter. As far as any physical parameter went, the Gatekeeper was absurdly stronger. Thus far, Rui had been pushing himself to desperately avoid the destruction of the Gatekeeper's offensive power.

WHOOSH!

BOOOOOM!!!!!

Rui gritted his teeth; if not for the predictive model that he had created from the Angel of Laplace moments before the battle began, the battle would have long been over. The Gatekeeper possessed speed and power that greatly exceeded that of Rui's.

WHOOSH

He leaped away moments before destruction ensued.

BOOM!!!!!!!!

Each attack inspired a primal terror within him. The power that the man exerted was horrifying, causing Rui to overreact and over-evade.

Yet…

BOOOM!!!!!

BOOOM!!!!!

BOOOM!!!!!

With each passing blow, Rui became increasingly comfortable and familiar with evading them. His nerves eased, attack by attack, as his movements grew more efficient.

They grew more relaxed.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui shifted millimeters to avoid the ensuing blows. The Gatekeeper narrowed his eyes at the sight, exerting himself as his attacks quickened.

WHOOSH!

Rui spun, evading a powerful blow, surging towards the Gatekeeper.

BAM!

A charged Flowing Canon kick crashed into the man's jaw.

The Martial Artists beholding the battle stirred as a significant event had finally unfolded.

Rui Quarrier Kandria had landed his first attack.

"Not bad," The Gatekeeper remarked.

"Liar," Rui gritted his teeth.

The Flowing Canon was Rui's most powerful attack. Unlike his Transverse Resonance, which was only empowered by his lungs, the Flowing Canon was empowered by every single muscle group in the body, including his augmented lungs. The full might of Outer Convergence, Fire Breathing, Adamant Reforging, and Reverberating Lance had been funneled into the Flowing Canon.

It hadn't so much as budged the Gatekeeper's face by a millimeter.