The Martial Unity

CRACK

Ria grimaced as she felt a bone crack in her arm, as she failed to intercept and absorb the energy of the impact faster than it unfolded. She had foreseen the attack a moment too late due to the shortening of the available timeframe caused by the sudden increase in speed.

The sheer speed and force with which the creature blasted her body exceeded the threshold that she was able to withstand, causing several spikes of sharp pain across her entire body.

RUMBLE!!!

The land around them shattered, crumpling under the force that the creature had inflicted upon her as deep fissures began emerging around them. And yet, as if unbothered by the destruction stopping its homeland, the homoarachnoid flung another extraordinarily destructive blow at her, threatening to crush her flat.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A wild haymaker to the side of her head would have killed any other Martial Master in existence.

WHOOSH!

And yet, even as she was launched away by the blow, she managed to survive, converting the force of the blow into pure kinetic energy that allowed her to put some distance between herself and the creature.

Even as her flung body cut through the air, she coughed some blood with a grimacing expression. She knew that she would not have been able to survive the attack if not for her Water Integument, gazing at the flesh of her right arm, which she had used to intercept the blow.

She had thickened the armor there as much as she could while making it as tough and elastic as she could to make the blow survivable. Even as she gained her aerial bearings and her body began healing the damage, her attention returned to the homoarachnoid.

Only to find that the creature had already arrived within a meter of her, dozens of meters in the air.

His blow struck her with great force.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The sheer force of the attack ravaged her defense, blasting her straight down with a massive amount of force.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

She struck the ground like a meteorite from the sheer force that the impact had inflicted upon her, as the impact created a titanic crater that spread far and wide.

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook violently as tremendous fissures emerged in the ground around her, spreading kilometers as as an indentation in the land the size of a valley emerged. It was as if someone had split a tectonic plate in half with a single blow.

She coughed blood as she pulled herself from the depths of the soil, struggling to remain on her feet as the powerful creature charged towards her, threatening to annihilate her with a singular, powerful blow.

A blow that she knew she couldn’t defend against.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

Her eyes widened as a powerful air blast crashed into the ascendant homoarachnoid, blasting it kilometers away in the blink of an eye. She turned towards the side as her eyes lit up to find the panting Martial Sage she had saved standing there, having launched the attack that had saved her life.

He turned towards her with a grim expression and a serious nod. “Good, you’re alive. I was starting to think that I was too late.”

RUMBLE

The two of them shifted their gaze back towards the source of the vibrations as they spotted the homoarachnoid emerging from the ground, wiping off dirt and dust from its web armor.

It was entirely unharmed by the attack.

It turned towards the Martial Sage it had beaten within an inch of death with an expression of what could only be described as disdain.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

“Get. Lost. I. Have. No. Business. With. You.”

Its eyes turned towards Ria as it began to walk towards her with pointed interest.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

“The. Universe. WIthin. Your. Eyes. I. Seek.”

Her amber eyes sharpened as she clicked with her mouth.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

“What. Do. You. Mean?”

The ascendant homoarachnoid froze as its body shook with shock. Its eyes widened at the bipedal outsider like she had just spoken in its language.

And she had.

There was no doubt about it.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

“You… You. Can. Speak. Click?”

She shrugged like it wasn’t that big of a deal, responding in click. “I just reverse-engineered it after sensing your SOUL and identifying between it and your clicking sounds.”

The ascendant homoarachnoid didn’t understand much of what she said, even though she used the clicks correctly. The reality was that there was still a large difference in the fundamental psychology and sociology of the two species, making precise communication very difficult.

Even Ria could only interpret the meaning of its words in the form of broken words that formed a crude meaning together.

And yet, that alone was enough of a basis for communication.

“You…” The Martial Sage widened his eyes at her. “You can communicate with that thing?”

She nodded with a serious expression, never taking her eyes off the web-clad homoarachnoid.

“What do you want from me? Why are you targeting me specifically?”

If -o—o-o wasn’t entirely certain before, he was convinced now. Whatever this specimen was, she was connected with the universe. She was in touch with reality on a level that perhaps only the Divine Mothers were. He could scarcely imagine how powerful they would become if they managed to understand the source of her power.

How did she become this strong?

Why was she special?

These were what it sought from her.

And yet, there was no time for words. While the conflict between the homoarachnoids and the outsiders continued, this was the perfect opportunity to nab her and take her away with it. Without so much as exchanging a single word in return. He rushed towards her, threatening to nab her as a battle between the homoarachnoid and the Martial Sage and Martial Master erupted with all of its might.

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook as the creature took on both of them at once, constrained by its desire to preserve one alive while trying to eliminate the other.