The Martial Unity

While four young pathwalkers fighting -o—o-o did so with determined aggression, Ria groaned with pain, leaping away from the female homoarachnoid before her. She felt a stinging pain in her back, along with a broader throbbing pain in her, a pain that came from tension and from internal pressure.

Even as she leaped away, she could feel her movements constrained by the web fluid that the female homoarachnoid had injected into her flesh. She breathed unsteadily as she put ten meters before them, struggling to take a defensive stance as her expression grew foggy with pain. Modern Martial Artists didn’t have the kind of pain tolerance that Martial Artists from before the Era of Expansion had due to the fact that they didn’t have to go through the excruciating pain of the Body Evolution process.

RIa was no different, blessed with a body of the highest genetic engineering quality that the Kandrian Empire had at its disposal. Yet, she gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the pain and keep her attention on her opponent. She could feel the hardened web fluid that made her back stiff.

She could feel that she couldn’t twist or bend her back as much as she normally could because of how stiff it felt.

That was bad.

She could barely fight her opponent even when she was unhindered; with the current hindrance to her movements, she didn’t think she could fight nearly as well.

The only silver lining was that she had managed to inflict great damage on her opponent. Oo—o- barely managed to pull herself as she cradled the spot that Ria had struck her at. Or rather, the spot where she had been struck.

The wound was so great that it caved the flesh of the spot that Ria had struck. Blue blood emerged from the mouth orifice of the alien, showing that the counter-attack had inflicted a tremendous amount of damage on the creature’s body.

Ria hadn’t even exerted any force herself; she had simply positioned herself in a manner to ensure that the alien’s momentum would be used against her to inflict upon her a great wound.

The alien staggered a little, breathing heavily. Her six eyes bore deep into Ria’s with an intense expression.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

”To. Think. That. You. Could. Inflict. This. Much. Damage. On. Me. Your. Weak. Body…”

Her tone was one of pleasure and pain at the same time. She was pleased by Ria’s performance, which seemed to vindicate her considerations about the female human, even if she was pained by the attack.

The attack appeared to have been severe enough that it reduced her combat power by a substantial chunk.

That meant that it was possible for Ria to emerge victorious in the battle nonetheless.

At the very least, the chances of escaping were that much more significant. That was all that she cared about at the moment. She didn’t know why these crazy aliens were after her, but she knew that she had to get out of there and return to the main battlefield.

They were some ways away from the battlefront. Oo—o- had shot both of them so far away that it wasn’t possible for her to call for help.

Oo—o- clearly understood her intentions, slowly positioning herself between Ria and the camps.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

”If. You. Want. To. Get. Back. You’ll. Have. To. Go. With. Me.”

Ria sharpened her eyes.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

”So. Be. It.”

She charged forth, already adjusting her movements to account for the limited back mobility. She felt as though her skin had become leather, simply unable to stretch even in the slightest, becoming tougher by the moment.

WHOOSH

She arrived right before the homoarachnoid, whose stinger pointed straight at her, trying to bind her in web fluid.

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!

Ria’s amber eyes glowed with power as she smoothly redirected the spewing web fluids back towards the female homoarachnoid in a smooth motion, theatening drown the female homoarachnoid in her own web fluid.

And yet, that appeared to merely help the alien as she used the redirected webbing to cover herself in a web armor.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

”You. Cannot. Trap. Me. With. My. Own. Web.”

The creature swung at Ria in a wild haymaker, trying to knock her out then and there.

WHOOSH

Ria ducked ever so slightly, thrusting forth with a powerful double-fisted blow armed with a spark of materia prima.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

With an impact enough to shatter mountain ranges, her fists struck the homoarachnoid’s body. And yet, the webbed armor dampened the impact, making it more and more tolerable. The creature continued attacking Ria in an unfazed manner while spraying her own body with more and more web fluid.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH

Ria smoothly bobbed and weaved, avoiding blows that were so fast that even her eyes could barely see them.

But she wasn’t reacting to the present.

She reacted to the future.

Each and every single attack was telegraphed, as far as she was concerned. The flow of causality became increasingly transparent to her, allowing exactly what was coming for with each attack.

The female homoarachnoid click-snarled as she pointed her stinger at Ria, threatening to drown her in web fluid. Aware of the fact that Ria could redirect it in fluid form, she unleashed hardened web bullets that contained enough power to scar continents.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Ria summersaulted just in time to evade a massive series of bullets that gouged the very crust of the land around her. But before she could even land, Oo—o- rushed towards her at blurringly fast speeds, much to Ria’s surprise.

She was moving faster than she had before.

She emerged before Ria midair above a long crater of damage, unleashing a devastating blow of extreme force.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The sheer force with which Ria was struck was so great that if not for the Water Integument exo-Martial suit, she wouldn’t have been able to emerge with all of her bones intact. She turned the substance of the suit into a highly tough but elastic substance that could make impacts more elastic and thus more survivable.

If she wanted to survive, she would need to use every tool at her disposal.