This was the single riskiest mission Rui have ever partaken in, not even the mission in the Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana that featured an enemy Martial Squire had been so threatening. Each of the three nations had sent its own team of Martial Apprentices that was meant to suppress him.
Of course, none of the nations had expected that he himself would be deployed alone with no backup. But the Martial Apprentices that were specifically deployed to target him were immediately informed of his arrival.
Rui pushed to his absolute maximum. He used nearly every technique at his disposal as he fought violently, trying to break past the many Martial Apprentices that had been targeting him. What surprised him was that although the Martial Apprentices targeting him from different nations did not actively cooperate with each other, they did not fight against each other either.𝒩𝚘𝑣xt.𝗇t
They were completely focused on taking down Rui.
He was forced to fight nine powerful Martial Apprentices that were specifically meant to take him down. Yet, to everyone’s surprise. Rui managed to hold on, even if barely.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!
Rui managed to cleanly evade the powerful attacks of a close-range Martial Apprentice.
BAM!
He was immediately struck with a wide-range projectile, pushing him away.
(‘I can’t separate from the close-range Martial Apprentices.’) Rui immediately concluded. The long-range Martial Apprentices had to restrain themselves when he was in close-range proximity to their close-quarters teammates.
He immediately rushed forward to meet the close-range Martial Apprentices as they aimed to take him down in hand-to-hand combat.
Despite being surrounded by Martial Apprentices, he managed to keep up. His heightened awareness and reactions were an absolute godsend, the combination of the Mindmirror brain and Primordial Instinct was incredibly powerful even at the highest of echelons of the Apprentice Realm.
He blocked some attacks while simultaneously contorting his body to avoid an equal number of strikes. He abused his maneuvering and speed technique to the maximum, using Parallel Walk, Balanced Direction, and Wind Breathing to allow him to evade position himself at the right time and place accurately. He further used Phantom Step to feint to misdirect their attacks and aim. He used Flow Flux to intercept and destabilize his opponents while using Blink to land as many surprise attacks as he could.
PEW!
WHOOSH
He managed to land the Stinger on one of his opponents while evading a haymaker from behind.
POW POW POW!
An offensive speed-oriented Martial Apprentice managed to tag Rui with a barrage of strikes cleanly, hurting him in the process.
BAM!
Another powerful swing slammed into Rui, flinging him away.
POW POW POW!
The long-range Martial Apprentices peppered him with different kinds of attacks from varying distances.
He grimaced as he quickly regained his bearing, yet he was immediately beset by three more Martial Apprentices who unleashed an onslaught of attacks on him.
Rui pushed himself as he fought back. He used Inner Divergence, Acute Edge, Elastic Shift, and Adamant Reforging to deal with the attacks of two of his opponents as he targeted the remaining Martial Apprentice.
BAM BAM BAM!
Rui launched a barrage of swift and powerful attacks, using Reverberating Lance to permeate the impact of his attacks to his vital organs, leaving him reeling.
The brief respite allowed Rui to focus on the remaining two Martial Apprentices, he positioned himself between them and waited for the right moment.
WHOOSH
BAM!
POW!
Their attacks crashed into an empty image, passing through it and striking each other off-guard.
Rui raced through the field as he evaded the attacks from the long-range Martial Apprentices and unleashed an avalanche of strikes, trying to tag him. He threw them off with a combination of Phantom Step and Shadow Step and the Mind Mask technique that reduced his presence and sense of danger to the absolute maximum.
Rui disappeared into the chaotic battlefield as the Martial Apprentices chased after him, using the environment to his favor.
The atmosphere grew tense as the Martial Apprentices saw flashes of him in the chaotic environment. The other nations had already built an extensive profile on Rui and the way he fought. He was extremely resourceful and tactical, when he fought, the environment fought alongside him.
None of them wanted to get caught up in his spell.
Yet none of them had realized it was too late.
BAM!
He caught the group in their blind spot with Shadow Step and the Mind Mask technique, slamming the offensive speed-oriented Martial Apprentice with a power Flowing Canon. At his current level, the attack’s sheer power was beyond what something a speed-oriented Martial Apprentice could withstand when caught off-guard.
The attack launched him into the distance, as Rui reduced one of the Martial Apprentices meant to target him.
His enemies felt a shiver down their spine as they realized their roles had changed.
They were no longer targeting him.
No.
He was targeting them.
He let go of the Mind Mask restraining presence as the weight of his mind was unleashed. The sheer pressure of the concentration of one of the singled greatest Martial Apprentices of the modern era crashed onto them, jolting them
It was then that it hit them.
They might actually lose. Despite all the odds.
That was how fearsome Rui was in their eyes
What ensued was a devastating battle. Rui fought like a demon, expressing combat prowess they had never felt before. The difference between now and before was that Rui had finally completed the predictive models for all of them. He was no longer on the back foot.
The remaining seven Martial Apprentices weren’t weak, they were among the cream of the Martial Apprentices deployed by their respective nations.
Attacks emerged from three different directions of the Martial Apprentices of the three different nations.
Time slowed down in Rui’s perspective as his pupils dilated.
He knew exactly what he needed to do in a moment of incredible clarity and peace.
(‘I’ve arrived at the higher Realm.’) He realized.