The Martial Unity

Not a single person could maintain their composure.

Not the Martial Seniors.

Certainly not the guardians.

A smile nothing short of maniacal encompassed Rui's face.

A myriad of emotions radiated from him heating up the atmosphere.

And yet.

Ieyasu only grew colder.

His eyes narrowed.

His expression frosted.

He dedicated the entirety of his mind and body to one thing and one thing only.

Overcoming Rui Quarrier with everything had.

Not a single word was exchanged.

They didn't need to.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

Ieyasu's eyes fixated on Rui as he hunted him down with Transverse Resonance attacks.

Rui sprinted at top speed, propelled by Gale Force Breathing, Outer Convergence, and Parallel Walk. He flashed around the colosseum with Phantom Step, all while doing his best to obscure his thoughts in a giant mess of information within the Mind Palace, increasing the difficulty of reading his mind.

And yet.

BOOM!

An attack crashed into him, blasting away.

Yet he didn't so much as flinch.

His eyes were fixed on Ieyasu.

His mind flashed as he furiously processed every iota of information he could get his hands on.

A predictive model slowly came to life.

Its completion was inevitable.

Yet Ieyasu had other intentions in mind.

POW POW POW!

Waves of attacks crashed into Rui. The full might of Outer Convergence, Reverberating Lance, and Vital Pressure empowered with his own innate superior output crashed into Rui's Adamant Reforging and Flux Earther.

RUMBLE!

The very land beneath them shook as Ieyasu mercilessly pounded Rui's guard with every ounce of power he had.

BOOM!

A powerful kick launched him flying across the colosseum and into its walls.

Yet before Rui could even breathe...

WHOOSH!

Ieyasu had arrived.

For a moment, their eyes met.

A dark mirror reflected an image of the void that stood before it.

WHOOSH!

Rui barely managed to avoid a powerful kick as he leaped away.

Yet his eyes never once shifted away from Ieyasu.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

Ieyasu unleashed an avalanche of blindingly fast heavy blows. His body creaked in the effort that he exerted, yet his eyes only sharpened with even more determination.

He was to crush Rui before Rui crushed himself.

That was the only thing that mattered at the moment.

Every other consideration was secondary.

If he held back, he was unworthy of the power of a higher Realm.

An innumerable number of strikes continued to blast Rui even as he flashed away from Ieyasu at top speed. The sheer number of attacks that he had endured with his body wasn't low.

Every attack did more than just meaningful damage. They shook his body with a powerful impact that significantly damaged his body.

Yet Rui's eyes were unshakable, unshakably fixed on Ieyasu.

His mind was unperturbed.

He didn't care.

Yet his body begged to differ.

He was bleeding all over.

He was deeply bruised all over.

The Martial Body was resilient, not indestructible. Both of them knew that a critical point in their race was arriving.

The decisive moment. One that would make or break the battle.

BOOM!

Yet, it arrived sooner than either had expected.

Rui gasped for air as Ieyasu cleanly landed a powerful blow to the solar plexus, collasping to the ground. An incredibly powerful kick crashed into Rui, launching him across the colosseum.

BOOM!

He crashed into the colosseum walls, almost destroying them entirely.

His body screamed in pain.

WHOOSH!

Ieyasu arrived before him glancing at him while his attack surged forward with tremendous momentum.

His eyes were closed.

BOOM!!!

RUMBLE!

The entire colosseum shook.

Not a single person was able to draw their eyes away from what followed.

A single figure was launched to the other side of the colosseum by the powerful impact.

It was Ieyasu.

He glanced back at Rui with eyes of shock.

Rui's kick still lingered in the air.

His head was tilted, having avoided Ieyasu's attack. He stared at Ieyasu with impassive eyes.

Six words escaped his mouth.

"So close... And yet so far."

He had arrived.

RUMBLE!

Rui stepped forward with such force that the entire colosseum may as well have shifted back as a result. He blasted forward, pushing his wounded ability to the limit as he rushed forward with incredible velocity.

His fist surged forward as the most powerful Flowing Canon of the battle emerged.

Yet Ieyasu had read his mind.

WHOOSH!

He avoided the blow, swerving to the right at the right moment with sheer reflex.

Or so he thought.

BAM!

A kick had already arrived at the new location of his face. Ieyasu barely managed to read his mind in time, hastily blocking the attack with Flux Earther.

Yet an attack had already arrived at the opening created by a mind-heavy technique like Flux Earther.

WHOOSH!

He barely evaded the swift kick, turning to Rui as he read his next move.

And yet...

BOOM!

A powerful blow had already struck him. The attack cleanly crashed into Ieyasu, launching backward.

The second clean hit that Rui had ever landed on Ieyasu.

It should have been a meaningless accomplishment before the many clean hits that Ieyasu had landed on him.

The difference in their conditions was transparent.

This should have changed nothing.

This was not a web.

Reality was cruel.

Fights did not magically undergo a turn of tables at the very final moment for the protagonist.

Every single person knew this.

And yet...

When they looked at silver eyes, they only saw limitless darkness. An artificial luster could not hide the growing void.

An all-consuming abyss that consumed any and everything before it.

"I told you, didn't I?" Rui murmured, taking his classic stance. "Your reflections are shallow. They cannot reflect the depth of the void you see before you."

Ieyasu stared at him, mimicking Rui's stance to the last millimeter. "A void that consumes itself is not enough to overcome me."

The very world around them quivered under the weight of their raw emotion.

Their eyes sharpened, lashing forward with abandon.

The battle escalated to even greater heights as their fists clashed!