The Martial Unity

Rui glared at her with the darkness of a thousand nights.

'Do you loathe me?' Her eyes gazed into his with pious devotion. 'Do you wish to kill me?'

It took a herculean effort not to show her the answers to her questions with his actions.

It took more self-control than he had ever mustered to stay his rage until the battle formally commenced.

Yet, even then, he felt a deep frustration at his inability to kill her on this occasion.

Disapproval flickered in her eyes.

'The Antithesis shan't be bound by the force of man.'

Her expression grew more forceful.

'Lord Virodhabhasa mustn't cede to worldly shackles.'

It was as though she was trying to overwrite who he was with her vision of the Antithesis.

'You are not ready…' She gazed at him with clear eyes. 'For you do not even know who you are.'

Rui's eyes grew darker as the air between them boiled tumultuously.

'Lord Virodhabhasa knows no uncertainty of self.' She spoke to him from the depths of her eyes. 'Come, let me show you who you are. Let me show you—'

"Shut up."

Rui's voice was laced with hatred and disgust.

Everything she said simply fueled his rage. He hated the vision that she had for who he was.

He hated the pious devotion that he saw in her eyes.

He hated the reverence that he could feel in the depths of her soul.

It was love.

A deep, twisted, sickening love.

Yet, it was directed not at him as he was.

No.

That love was for the person that she wanted to turn him into in her delusions of his godhood.

It was his Martial Path and Martial Art that she truly cared about.

To her, Rui the person, his personality and temperament, all of it was simply the mortal impurity that needed to be cleansed away from the Antithesis.

It evoked deep fury unlike anything he had ever experienced.

"Take your stances," Master Jenile instructed, entirely and blissfully unaware of what unfolded between them, for merely half a second had passed.

Non-verbal communication was exponentially faster than verbal communication.

Master Uma simply spread her arms while her legs firmly supported her weight.

Rui closed his eyes as he took his classic stance.

One that was cleanly balanced between offense, defense, and maneuvering.

Of course, he had some idea of what her Martial Art was like, having seen it twice. Once during Virodhabhasa's first round, and once during the time she had attacked Rui, and Master Deivon had fought to hold her back.

'You reminisce of a man in the past.'

Rui's eyes grew severe as she seemed to be able to read his mind despite the fact that her mind sense should have been entirely ineffective against him.

He had schooled his body language and non-verbal communication as much as possible, yet she still somehow intuited his thoughts. It only added to the disgust he felt at being so transparent to someone that had such a twisted view of him.

Yet he knew that she lied.

The Beggar's Sect had informed him of reports that Master Deivon had entered deep, isolated training under Sage Sariawar in the Virodhabhasa Theocracy.

Yet, when he peered into her mind, he could sense pure, unadulterated sincerity.

There wasn't a hint of deceit or deception.

Chills went down his spine as that only deepened his fears. 'Do you really think that non-believer was a match for me?' A sneering look emerged on her face. 'He deserves what has happened to him. He deserves it for impeding my divine duty to mold the Antithesis.'

"You…" Rui's expression crumbled. "What have you done…?"

A profound smile appeared on her face. "Who knows?"

It was at that moment that Rui came to learn what true rage felt like.

"Begin!" Master Jenile frowned at the strange words that the two exchanged but commenced the battle nonetheless.

Unbeknownst to him, the battle had already begun in spirit.

BADUMP!!

Two Martial Hearts and Minds burst into action as the two Martial Masters drew out their true power from within them.

An ephemeral storm emerged from the depths of Master Uma's eyes as her Martial Embodiment bloomed in all its tempestuous glory, sweeping across the vast expanse of the Master-level battlefield.

Yet, it wasn't merely an illusion.

No.

"Tempestuous Whirlwind Sword." A whisper escaped Master Uma as she activated a technique that birthed a storm that overlapped over her Martial Embodiment.

It was a manifestation of absolute harmony and a perfect synergy between the Martial Mind and Martial Art. An extremely rare feat.

The winds of her technique only multiplied as its scope continuously rose.

It had grown far stronger than it had been eighteen years ago.

Yet, what was to come had already arrived.

The world held its breath as Rui's Martial Embodiment erupted from deep within the depths of the microcosm of his mind.

It subsumed heaven and earth in its vengeful fury.

An infinite void.

The panel of Martial Masters witnessing the battle widened their eyes in sheer horror at the power of Rui's Martial Mind.

Never before had they beheld such an otherworldly Martial Embodiment.

Never before had they beheld such an astronomical capacity of thought.

While the Martial Masters had come to accept the anomaly that was Rui and had grown used to his truly unprecedented power of mind, the same could not be said for Martial Masters who were witnessing it for the very first time.

The Martial Master who was tasked with evaluating Ruis Martial Mind was simply frozen with an aghast expression on her face as she witnessed systems of thought far greater than anything she had ever thought possible.

However, this was just the beginning.

A single whisper escaped Rui.

"Muspelheim." WHOOOOOSH!!!

An inferno the likes of which none of them had seen before emerged from within Rui as the realm of fire descended upon heaven and earth.

It reflected the fury that Rui felt emerging from the depths of his heart.

WHOOOOOSH!!!

The first clash of the battle was the storm colliding with the inferno.

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