The Martial Unity

It happened before Rui could even react.

One moment, ‘she’ was standing some distance away.

The very next moment, ‘she’ arrived before him with a single step.

There was no quantum or tunneling.

There was no wormhole teleportation.

‘She’ simply perceived the distance between them to be a step away.

And so it was.

Rui’s ethereal eyes widened with shock as ‘her’ hand balled into a fist, thrusting forth. And yet, before he could even leap away, the very flow of time slowed down in ‘her’ eyes.

And so, it slowed down in material reality.

He watched helplessly, rendered to slow motion, as ‘her’ fist surged forth towards his.

What shook him was not the impact.

But the form of ‘her’ movements.

It contained a kind of… existential smoothness that defied his fathoming. It was a motion that existed within the intersection of each and every single person to have ever died in human civilization.

If all humans were ever to throw a punch, what would a punch made up of the only motions that all punches shared look like?

It would be the quintessential punch.

The essence of human movement.

And indeed, it was.

It didn’t strike with the power of one trillion people.

And yet, ‘her’ fist ravaged his body with a devastating impact. ‘Her’ mind perceived the punch as doing much damage, and indeed it did.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Rui coughed blood as his ethereal eyes widened with shock at the sheer amount of damage that one blow inflicted on him. The sheer amount of force that ‘she’ had managed to inflict on him was so tremendous that it completely bypassed his Aqua Existentia.

He leaped away, gritting his teeth as he pushed his mind to the very limit with a juiced Megamind and accelerated neurochemistry with his Anthean side. On top of that, he pushed his systems of thought to the very limit, while activating the Topaz of Time with his exotic pluripotent matter to slow ‘her’ down, compensating for the time differential.

And yet, all ‘she’ needed to do was merely take a step to reach him.

As did ‘her’ fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It crashed into his guard this time, as he struggled to deal with both invintium and Aqua Existentia, only to find a kick just inches away from his head by the time he noticed it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The kick rocked his head violently, making him feel momentarily dizzy. Only to find himself faced with an onslaught of attacks that threatened to ravage his body.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

The sheer raw power of each attack wasn’t actually anywhere near his limits, but because ‘she’ saw how much damage, it became the truth.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A devastating blow to his arms once more, causing his bone to crack despite just how tough his physiology was. And yet, the moment he tried throwing a counterattack—

WHOOSH

The slightest of shifts was all ‘she’ took, and where an attack would have struck ‘her’ jaw, she merely perceived that it missed her.

And it did.

WHOOSH!

Reality itself accommodated her vision of it, allowing ‘her’ blows to connect, ‘her’ to inflict damage on him despite possessing insufficient raw power. It allowed ‘her’ to evade his blows by simply perceiving that they missed.

Or when they did strike, simply perceive them as extremely weak.

Reality was overwritten by ‘her’ perception of it.

And that was all ‘she’ needed.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

‘Her’ Martial Art were the intersection of each and ever single Martial Art that had ever existed. The quintessential essence of Martial Art itself, creating fundamental forms that were nothing short of the singularity that existed at the center of all Martial Art.

It gave ‘her’ unparalleled power.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as Rui coughed blood, bleeding badly as ‘she’ thoroughly ravaged his blows in an onslaught of attacks. The first absolute truth that became very evident to him even as he grew utterly beaten black and blue was quite simple.

‘This outcome is not possible within the laws of reality as I understand them.’

There was an extra-causal factor at play here. He was dealing with something that clearly had the power to overwrite the very fabric of reality itself. And as far as he was aware, he was very confident that there was only one way to do such a thing.

‘The information dimension.’ He gritted his teeth, withstanding yet another blow.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It bypassed his capacity to evade.

It bypassed his capacity to withstand.

It bypassed his defense fundamentally.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

RUMBLE!!!!!

He vomited blood as his internal organs began hemorrhaging, the sheer force with which ‘she’s struck him with was so intense that it threatened to break his body.

‘How is she doing this?’

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

‘How is she interfering with the information dimension?’

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

‘Is she a Transcendent?’

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

‘How could an alien virus possibly create a Transcendent being like this?’

Was it truly that powerful? Is this the reason that the alien virus triggered fear in Martial Transcendents? Because it could interfere with the information dimension to create Transcendents?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

“Argh!” Rui’s body crumpled under the sheer weight of the impact his body experienced as ‘her’ fist caused a part of his torso to collapse under the sheer weight of ‘her’ fist.

Each blow ‘she’ threw was foundational.

The simplest of a straight punch.

And yet, it exceeded his ability to overcome.

Their eyes met for just the briefest of moments.

In the depth of ‘her’ dark eyes, he could sense the weight of the gaze of a civilization.

It bore down upon not just him.

It bore down upon all of reality, bending under the weight of ‘her’ perception.

His eyes widened with reality as the truth dawned upon him.

“You… are an embodiment of the Noosphere.”

The Noosphere.

A conceptual ‘sphere of human thought’ in the field of philosophy that encompassed every human mind and consciousness. Thought to be purely abstract and non-material, it was dismissed as purely a concept.

Only now, he was gazing at a material embodiment of one.

All this time, he had thought interference with information-phenomena in the information dimension required a Transcendent mind.

Yet, now he wondered, what if a large number of minds were able to work in tandem in a singular being? What if one being had the sum totality of the minds of all of human civilization? What if one being were able to align each and every single one of them? What if one being could have the sum totality of each of their minds perceive the same reality? To behold the same universal truths?

The truth bore down on him even as she blasted him with a devastating blow. A truth that was universal across a civilization was indistinguishable from objective reality in the mind of the embodiment of the Noosphere.

It spoke to the relationship between the mind and the universe.

And the fact that his probability of surviving this particular battle was almost zero.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

RUMBLE!!!!!