The Martial Unity

Rui smiled mildly when he heard that. Yet his smile froze when he she lashed out an even greater speed than before.

BOOM!

He grimaced in pain as he skidded away.

('Just how much power do you have?') He wondered, shocked. He could see a strained expression on her face, contrasting to the calm blank expression from prior.

His eyes widened.

Had she only truly began to push herself?

The notion was terrifying.

Yet Rui's mouth cracked into a grin as he sensed determination in her demeanor.

She was the strongest.

And yet, he grinned.

He could feel her body tensing up as she drew boundless energy from within her petite physique. It shook him unlike any fight he had been in before, pushing him beyond his limits.

His eyes widened.

His pupils dilated.

In that instant, time slowed down.

The world disappeared.

Everything disappeared.

And yet, she was there.

The only thing he saw was her.

Her everything.

From the tiniest strands of her brown hair to the furthest inch of her fair light skin.

From her soft beautiful features to the ferocious power hidden beneath.

He saw everything.

His mind converged into one as he entered a state of absolute awareness and focus.

In that instant, he could feel it.

He was stronger than he had ever been.

"Come." He beckoned. Like a lover would.

Yet it was not her he loved; it was the VOID she had drawn about from within him.

RUMBLE

She stepped. The sheer power of the simple motion shook the very ground.

WHOOSH

She disappeared in the eyes of audience, and yet.

WHOOSH

Rui avoided her blow with motions as smooth as the gentle ebbs of a soft flowing stream. Yet, his powerful attacks resembled a tumultuous violent river!

BAM!

She blocked his strike as she struck him with an immensely powerful blow. Rui spun out of it as he did his very best to mitigate his damage.

What followed was a brutal exchange of attacks as Rui did his best to mitigate the damage from her extraordinary power.

But the odds were stacked against him. He had endured a large number of blows from her at that point, his condition had already deteriorated from his physical peak.

Every inch of his body ached.

Every movement hurt.

His skin was a bruised mess. He was bleeding from more places than he realized.

On the other hand, Fiona was nearly unscratched. The only attack that left a bruise on her was his Flowing Canon.

The only attack in his arsenal that could  truly hurt her was the Stinger.

And she knew it.

And he knew she knew it. And she knew he knew she knew it.

That's why he hadn't used it yet. She was being careful of it, yet she wasn't as easy to manipulate as Nel was. If he tried launching the Stinger, she would intercept his leg with ease, being much faster, and probably even break it on the spot before he could do anything with it.

There was only one trump card he had left.

Yet, this was even harder to use.

But because her movements were so explosively agile and fast, he was not able to get hold of a decent opportunity to use his final trump card.

BAM!

A powerful side kick slammed into his guard as skidded away. Yet, in the fraction of a moment she had already crossed the distance to him, and threw a combo of strikes.

WHOOSH

Rui ducked, avoiding them as he threw a sharp spinning kick empowered with all the Outer Convergence and Vital Pressure he could manage.

BAM

His attack stopped dead at her ankle.

He couldn't even budge it.

BOOM!

Rui barely managed to roll out of the way as a drop kick impacted onto the very location he was at just a moment prior.

She immediately spun, dashing at him aggressively, as she launched a shooting maneuver, trying to tackle him wand then crush him on the ground with her greater power.

But he was wise enough to decline her wrestling offer. His biggest advantage relating to his evasive reactions would be diminished, while her greatest advantage; her power would be highly emphasized.

He would be an utter disgrace to his Martial Path if he chose to grapple Fiona.

WHOOSH

,m He managed to dodge yet another attack as he wiped some blood streaming down his face from a wound on his head.

He didn't have much time.

And almost as if recognizing that, his entire body cooperated as it did its very best to prevent his condition from collapsing.

Yet, the end was near. Even Fiona had sensed that as she intensified her attacks.

POW POW POW!

Rui launched a barrage of weight blows, yet Fiona effortlessly blocked them.

BAM!!

A powerful impact collided against him, launching him away as he grimaced in pain. He gritted his teeth as he entered his evasive maneuvering stance. He felt an extraordinarily strong urge to start abusing the Blink technique to mitigate his dire situation. Yet her managed to impose self-control, restraining his urges.

The reason was simple. Frankly, she was so much superior to him that even the Blink technique could not allow him to start winning. It was just not enough. it was a strong technique, yes. But she had many strong techniques as well. Blink by itself could not turn the tides.

The only thing that could turn possibly the tides was timing Blink with a Phantom Step and a Stinger attack with more than ninety-nine percent accuracy and precision, to inflict critical and vital damage on her.

That was it.

He had nothing else.

Yet Fiona had no intentions of making life easy for him.

She crouched as her leg muscles tensed until they were tauter than contorted steel wire bundles, brimming with an unimaginable amount of power. Even her veins bulged, unable to contain the energy she had gathered as her face trembled with effort.

Every single person stirred at what was happening.

And also...

What was about to happen.

BOOM!!!

Rui's instincts screamed as she launched herself charging towards Rui unleashing a swing of untold power.

For just the briefest of moments, her power surpassed the Apprentice Realm.

BOOM!!!