The audience watched the contestants fighting with shocked expressions.
Almost none of them were competitive!
It was terrifying to see what a single creature could do to Martial Artists of all kinds. There were only two Martial Squires out of the forty who were able to not get overwhelmed.
One was the reigning champion, Squire Meera. She had ended up getting locked in a stalemate with the abyssfeeder.
Their battle was hard to comprehend, it was almost incoherent. Both sides seemed to change rapidly, so much so that nobody could make sense of what was happening to them.
In comparison, the battle that Rui was undergoing was a lot more comprehensive.
He blasted away at the abysskeeper from afar with everything he had, refusing to allow it to come closer.
Rui narrowed his eyes as he realized that his tier Transverse Resonance was increasingly less effective with each attack. He knew that it was not going to last long based on the rate at which it was progressing.
Thankfully, it seemed as though its rate of adaptation against the powerful attack was lower in comparison. It appeared that the stronger the attack, the proportionally slower its progression was.
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM!
Rui somersaulted backward as he launched three power tier four Transverse Resonance attacks in rapid succession.
BOOM!
The abyssfeeder quivered under the sheer amount of power that Rui was outputting.
It was as though it could hardly believe that a single Martial Squire could output such power!
Transverse Resonance tier four and tier five were already in the grade-ten territory, furthermore, they were amplified by the titanic power of Hypertrophic Surge.
On top of that, Rui was accurately nailing every single attack perfectly on the dot to ensure maximum impact. The ODA System of the Pathfinder was something that made the already daunting task of approaching Rui even more perilous.
That was why the fact that it continuously made progress against him was even more impressive.
It continuously focused more and more of its body mass at its core, shifting all vital and vulnerable tissue deep inside, while the tougher and harder tissue occupied the exteriors of the disk-shaped creature. The exterior looked extremely solid but in reality, it was light and extremely porous and web-like, perfect for absorbing air and sound and using it to fuel its own acceleration.
If not for the fact that Rui strategically used the ODA System to attack it in angles that were perpendicular to the direction that it wanted to go in, it would have been a lot more successful in using his power to accelerate towards him. However, Rui continuously used many tricks and tactics to slow it down.
Slowly but surely he was adapting to the adaptation of abysskeeper.
The only question was whether it was fast enough.
If it wasn't, the Abyssfeeder would continuously make progress towards him, and eventually reach a close range and attack him from there. It would be unlikely that he would be able to switch to Nemean Blossom, or Weaving Blood fast enough.
Furthermore, even if he did, it would most likely be game over at that point.
Rui's eyes sharpened as he resolutely pushed himself even further. His movements became more and more efficient as he resolved to increase his accuracy even further.
There were several measures that he took to make it harder for the creature to absorb his attacks.
Power is not what makes absorbing them more difficult, not truly. He realized. What does make it harder is the energy density.
A lot of power spread across a wide attack was easier to absorb, less power focused across a much smaller area was much more difficult. The sheer amount of energy focused across a small area made it more difficult for that portion of the creature's organs to absorb the attacks.
This way, he could reduce the energy he consumed, while also making it more difficult to absorb and negate his attacks.
The distance between himself and the abyssfeeder served as a measure of who was winning.
If the distance was reduced, then it was only because the abyssfeeder was winning.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Rui bombarded the creature with attacks as he continuously applied Gale Force Breathing and Outer Convergence to speed away.
His eyes widened as the abyssfeeder resolutely followed. The predictive model that he was constructing allowed him to see what was coming ahead of time.
It's adapting once more. He narrowed his eyes as he ran calculations. It's growing smaller.
The abyssfeeder began reducing its disk size as it began squeezing even more mass into its super-dense core. It appeared that the primordial seed was so flexible that it could freely be squeezed into a small dot, increasing its density seemingly limitlessly with no resistance!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The very atmosphere shuddered as Rui unleashed his most powerful long-range attacks one after the other.
Yet the truth became increasingly clear to those who watched.
"It's getting closer…"
"Damn, can no one beat that thing?!"
"Do your best!"
Yet, words of encouragement were just that.
Words.
They did not impact reality; the fact of the matter.
The fact of this matter was that even with all the measures and tactics that Rui came up with to adapt his combat style based on the predictive model he was developing.
It was not good enough to keep the abyssfeeder away.
BADUMP!
The abyssfeeder raced in towards him sleekly. It did not cause so much as a ripple through the air as it approached him.
The time was nigh.
Rui's eyes sharpened as he exerted himself to the absolute limit, yet it appeared that his long-range offense had finally truly died.
WHOOSH!
Fifteen meters.
The abyssfeeder was arriving.
Every cell in his body felt intense danger.
BADUMP!
Ten meters.
His eyes intensified.
It was not over.
He refused to let it be over.
He would die before he let it be over.
BADUMP!
Five meters.
The time had arrived. It seemed clear that the gambit had failed.
Or it should have.
Yet in that moment, where he should have experienced the height of despair…
"Heh…"
…He had the audacity to grin.
BADUMP!
Every muscle in his body brimmed with raw unadulterated power.
Every cell worked together as Outer Convergence converged more power than it ever had.
BOOM!!!
The final clash ensued.
Only one could emerge victorious.
And only one did.
SPLAT!
The spectators widened their eyes in shock.
"Eh…?"
Rui was late to notice.
He glanced down at his arm.
Only then did the pain register.
The pain of having an arm chopped off.
The abyssfeeder had brutally chopped off his uppercut at the shoulder joint.
BADUMP!
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