The Martial Unity

2004 An Infinite Void

The moment Rui bore witness to the chimera at the start of the battle, countless tactics and strategies emerged within the depths of his tremendous mind.

Yet, the most important among them was centered around chimera's mind.

More importantly, its SOUL.

It was the creature's greatest weakness. The greatest weakness of the entire species. The lag between decision and action in the chimera was twice as large as it normally was.

This was because, unlike normal creatures, action did not immediately follow the decision to act. The brain of the chimera was not directly connected to most of its body. Once it made a decision, it then indirectly manipulated the minds of the angel, phoenix, and dragon to make the decision that it wanted, and only then could it move its body.

That was why the decisioning process of the chimera was twice as long: it involved two brains going through the same process one after another. It resulted in a clunky and unwieldy reaction and decisioning time.

Yet, what was a curse for the chimera was a blessing for Rui.

After all, it meant that the lag between SOUL and action was much larger, giving him twice as much time to prepare for the imminent attack than any creature of its caliber.

He recognized this the moment he beheld the monster.

A single objective formed in his mind: to complete the SOUL model on the chimera's main mind before he died. Never before had he rushed to create a SOUL model with such desperate determination.

It took him everything.

It took him everything to buy enough time.

And on the cusp of defeat, the very brink of death, he suceeded.

"I can see your SOUL."

WHOOSH

Rui narrowly evaded a thunderous charge of horrifying power.

His combat level had decreased significantly since the inception of the battle, especially with the collapse of the Metabody System. Yet the void was filled up by an even stronger force.

A quadruple SOUL model on the dragon, angel, and phoenix as well as the main SOUL of the chimera.

RUMBLE!!!

A might roar shook the devastated world that cradled them as the chimera unleashed a horrifying onslaught devastation. Countless tornados and blows converged onto Rui.

Yet, Rui foresaw each attack almost an eternity before they arrived.

WHOOSH

Each time, the chimera unleashed devastating power at Rui, and each time, Rui avoided it.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

Tornado after tornado.

Blow after blow.

Charge after charge.

Yet—

WHOOSH

The empty image of Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria merely faded into thin air. It was as though he had transcended the material realm. It was as though he had ascended to an ephemeral stated of existence.

Or so he wished.

In reality—

—SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT

Countless wounds emerged across his entire body. While he was able to avoid each individual attack, massive as it was, he could not avoid the devastating shockwaves of the tremendous power that the chimera outputted each moment.

It took a toll on him.

…DRIP DRIP DRIP

Blood spilled out of several orifices in his body as his passive healing factor worked over time to clot the wounds and heal them. If not for the super-charged Niflheim reducing the chimera's power by thirty percent, it would have long annihilated him in his condition.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed an array of minute twitches, shifts in breathing, heartbeat, and perspiration.

In an instant the SOUL model supplied him with the translation.

A powerful tornado in precisely seventy-eight milliseconds. He swiftly made preparations for precisely timing a Phantom Step feint at exactly the right moment.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

By the time the tornado arrived at speeds exceeding lightning, he was already gone.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

He grimaced as the devastating shockwaves emerged from the missed collision, washing over everything.

CRACK CRACK CRACK!

His expression grew grave as multiple bones across his entire body broke. Instantly, his combat prowess was cut substantially.

The chimera sensed this as well as it unleashed the most powerful onslaught it was able to muster up under the incapacitating conditions of Breathing Crucifix.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

His expression grew severe as his wounds instantly worsened.

Despite what felt like an eternity of preparation, Rui was not able to distance himself from each attack as well as he wished he could. Phantom Step, when used in conjugation with the VOID algorithm and the SOUL System, was an extremely demanding maneuver as far accuracy of timing and placement.

Under his broken condition, it was almost impossible for him to meet the standard regularly.

And he paid the price.

He paid the price dearly.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

His determination surged even as his body plummeted towards death. In that moment, the sum totality of the Flowing Void Style surged to Rui's aid.

The powerful predictive adaptation of the VOID algorithm showed him how to avoid the inevitable.

The potent SOUL System showed him the very origin of intent within the depths of the soul.

The mighty Hypnomatrix wrestled with the monstrous chimera, suffocating it with Breathing Crucifix.

The titanic Yggdrasil System, the Tree of Life, rendered all of heaven and earth antithetical to its being with the chilling power of Niflheim.

Yet, not even that was enough to withstand the horrifying onslaught of a Master-level beast for too long.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

His bones broke one after another. His flesh tore, wound after wound. His body shed copious amounts of blood by the second as his combat power plummeted by the second.

His vision dimmed, growing blurry as his breathing grew heavy and strained. An unimaginable amount of pain flooded his mind, threatening to paralyze him in agony.

Yet, it could not dampen his will to fight.

A soft smile appeared on his bloody face as he felt more alive than he ever had in his entire life.

Even as his body died, his mind surged with life.

It surged with power.

It surged with force.

It surged to unprecedented realms of power.

RUMBLE!!!

The very world shook as the chimera unleashed an attack of horrifying magnitude. An attack that encompassed the sum totality of the microcosm that enveloped everything.

An attack of certain death.

It was the end.

"No." His eyes flared with endless defiance and determination as he surged forward.

And in that moment, an infinite void expanded from within the depths of his mind.