The Martial Unity

This occurred because the bones of the fist were weaker than the bones of the region being struck. Thus, the attacker suffered all the damage of their own attack.

It was no different from trying to damage a steel wall with glass. It didn’t matter if the glass attacked the wall, it would always be the one to suffer.

Normally, this happened at random and was unpredictable.

However, what if someone devised a system of thought that calculated how to make this happen every time?

What if someone created a system of thought that evaluated the structural integrity of their opponent and adaptively evolved their movements to ensure each collision damaged their opponent more?

‘In that case, it doesn’t matter how powerful my blows are,” he narrowed his eyes. ‘She will always be immune to them.’

By hyper-conditioning her joints and other special regions, she had created zones across her entire body that served as collision pads to shift all collisions. In addition, because she merely needed to shift her body by a little, the effort and time needed were minimal, allowing her to always ensure that her opponents suffered more than her.

Then, by creating a system of thought that allowed her to calculate the exact location of impact and the structural durability of her opponent’s fist or leg, she would know exactly how to move to ensure they suffered from their own power.

“A splendid system of thought.” Rui’s admiration was earnest.

Her eyes flared with rage. “Don’t patronize me!”

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

She surged forward at him at extremely high speeds, throwing flurries of blow after blow.

Yet, they never landed.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Rui calmly evaded each of them with the most optimally efficient evasion maneuver, foreseeing all her attacks with the predictive model of the VOID algorithm as he decided his course of action, courtesy of the Angel of Laplace.

He couldn’t strike her.

It was possible that he could negate her system of thought through some tactic or strategy, but it was not an avenue worth pursuing.

He had a much better solution.

‘Mighty Roar Flash Blast.’ His eyes intensified as the Void Pathfinder technique activated in his mind. THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM!

A barrage of sonic projectiles surged toward her with remarkable velocity.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Her expression crumpled with severity as she tore through each projectile one after another.

Yet, he could directly sense the pain and strain inside her mind.

“Sound cannot get hurt.”

THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM!

He continued blasting her with projectile bullets of sound one after another.

Not a single one missed her, much to her dismay.

Like magic, each and every single sound projectile surged exactly where she stepped, almost as if they came from the future, forcing her to endure and tear apart at each and every single pulse of sound that moved towards her.

Yet, she was not done.

‘Mind of Spear: Dividing Spear Mode.’ Her mind surged into thought as she shifted her body in calculated manners.

THWHOOSH THWHOOSH THWHOOSH THWOOSH!

Rui’s eyes lit up with interest as his sound attack dissipated when they struck her body. Her movements lessened as she lessened her surface area, closing her body and stiffening her muscles.

“I see…”

It was similar to her earlier system of thought but a slightly different application. Rather than focusing on specific areas of her body where her body was tougher, she focused on withstanding attacks through an axis where she was most durable.

Every object had an axis along which the maximum amount of force was needed to break it. Even an egg could be extremely difficult to break if one tried breaking by compressing it from top to bottom rather than side to side.

She estimated the vector of force of her opponent’s long-range attack and ensured that the axis of maximum difficulty was aligned exactly with each attack.

THWHOOSH THWHOOSH THWHOOSH THWHOOSH THWHOOSH!

She was able to minimize damage by cleaving through each attack with less resistance.

Her grin widened as she surged forward at him at high speed. She thoroughly overwhelmed each incoming sound projectile with maximal effectiveness, growing better and better at it with each step that she took.

Until Rui used Hypertrophic Surge.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

“Argh!” She grimaced as countless bruises, wounds, and cuts erupted across her body.

Yet, her steps never ceded as her eyes remained fixed on him.

Rui was deeply impressed by just how powerful her defense was. Her Martial Mind was weaker than his, but her defensive techniques and conditioning were even more synergetic with it than his were.

Unfortunately for her, he had already identified the most adaptively evolved solution to her latest offensive defense.

“Sonic Singularity.”

The world screamed.

It screamed as a tsunami of sound converged onto her from all directions.

No greater solution against her directional defenses existed than an attack that attacked her from all directions. She couldn’t shift to adjust the point of impact because the point of impact was every inch of her body.

BOOOM!!!

“AAAARRGHHJHHH!!!” She screamed in pain as she tried to cleave through all the incoming sound that began heating her body up from the inside out, glaring at him through the pain.

His Martial Embodiment had shifted entirely.

Gone was the endless void that consumed everything.

In its place, a singularity of heat and sound had emerged.

Yet, she stood nonetheless, moving towards him even as her insides began heating up at alarming rates.

“Phantom Pain.”

All thought in her mind ceased to exist as unfathomable pain erupted from deep within her.

“AAARGRHAGRHARGH!!!!!” Her bellows echoed throughout all of North Kandria.

“Enough.” Sage Lemolen’s raspy voice cut through the battle.

In an instant, Rui’s domain and hypnosis disappeared.

THUD

The Martial Master collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

“Winner by incapacitation,” Sage Lemolen calmly announced. “Master Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria.”

Rui heaved a sigh as he deactivated the Metabody System, his Martial Heart, and Mind, and a hint of satisfaction glinted in his eyes.

He had achieved his first proper victory in battle against a Martial Master.

–