Chapter 1207: Late
The spectators watched with slackened jaws as Martial Squires collapsed one after the other. The earliest phase of the match was so chaotic that Martial Squires attacked those they didn't mean to attack and got hit by attacks that weren't meant to hit them.
It was just that things changed so quickly that by the time an attack was launched and began traveling, in close-range or long-range, the things in its path had already changed. Many Martial Squires were inadvertently taken down by attacks meant for someone else.
It was too much to follow!
Thankfully, with each falling Martial Squire, things became easier to follow. Being knocked out, killed, or incapacitated were grounds for elimination, and those Martial Squires were swiftly extracted through esoteric means without interrupting the battle.
It wasn't too long before a lot of the riff-raff were filtered out. These were Martial Squires who, while they weren't weak, simply stood no chance at claiming victory against all odds.
It wasn't too long before only the grade-eight, nine, and ten Martial Squires, and Rui remained.
Rui had spent this brief and initial phase of the preliminary contest on the run for the most part. He kept his energy consumption low enough for the most part. While some attacks did hit him, especially large wide-scale attacks that covered a lot of area, his partial Nemean Blossom handled them perfectly for the most part.
"Get him!"
"Tsk! He's too slippery!"
"Surround him!"
"RARGH!" One grade-nine Martial Squire appeared in front of him, managing to cut him off while throwing his most powerful attack at him.
CLASP!
His eyes widened as he felt his power disappearing the second that Rui caught his fist, as though it was being drained away into a void. Not even a powerful grade-nine Martial Art technique was enough to overcome the combination of Flux Earther and a partial Nemean Blossom.
BZZZT!!!
At the same time, Rui activated Thundercoil, sending a buzzing and paralytic sensation through his body.
For just a brief moment, he couldn't move.
And that was enough.
BAM! POW!
A swift kick to the jaw rocked the man's head, driving him dizzy before a final blow to the solar plexus armed with Outer Convergence and Reverberating Lance hammered the final nail in the coffin.
THUD
The man crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
This paused his pursuers, as they froze.
Wasn't he just a grade-eight Martial Artist? How did he take down a grade-nine Martial Artist so quickly?
Suddenly, a profoundly deep sense of peril emerged in their hearts.
Something was wrong.
A grin cracked onto Rui's face. "Time's up. Should have been quicker. Now it's too late."
His skin lightened, returning back to normal. He felt less solid compared to before.
Yet for some reason, they only felt greater pressure when they beheld his figure walking towards them.
Rui put away the defense. Now that the most chaotic parts had passed, and only continued passing, he no longer had to play defense.
Before they could even gather their wits, Rui had already lashed out, racing against them.
"HYAH!" An aggressive offensive Martial Squire bellowed, launching a powerful kick to Rui's head as he approached him.
WHOOSH!
The man's eyes widened as his attack crashed into an empty image.
A feint.
BOOM!!!
He coughed blood as Rui's most powerful attack crashed into his ribs. The full might of Flowing Canon, Outer Convergence, Reverberating Lance, as well as the momentum accrued by Gale Force Breathing crashed into the man's abdomen in the brief window that his guard was down due to the feint.
Yet, much to his credit, he only fell to a knee, trying his best not to lose. Unfortunately for him, it was far from enough.
POW!
A swift kick to the skull knocked him out, putting him out of commission.
Yet he couldn't even revel in any sense of victory as he was immediately attacked from four directions.
It appeared that his targeters had realized that he could not be taken down one-on-one after watching him dust two high-grade Martial Squired with little effort.
Yet, they simply did not comprehend. They did not comprehend the depth of the power that Rui was hiding; the depth of the VOID.
WHOOSH
A simple step here.
A shift in weight there.
A palm over there.
Rui made the simplest of adjustments, and all of their attacks failed. Half of them were dodged, and some of them were blocked.
None of them reached him.
Yet he was not content.
His eyes flashed over to the closest Martial Squire, a maneuvering-oriented expert, sending chills down his spine.
Rui threw a swift kick in his direction, a short and crisp blow with little power. And yet, the man effortlessly dodged the attack with his high speed.
Or so he thought.
BAM!!
The kick resolutely landed on his face, breaking his nose. Yet the shock he felt surpassed the pain.
('I dodged, but... his attack swerved in this direction even before I began dodging!') Even though he was quicker, Rui moved earlier, just early enough to compensate for the lower speed, just late enough that his opponent could not change the decision that his body was already executing.
How could he do that? It was impossible!
Unless...
('Unless he knew ahead of time,') The man's eyes widened.
"You shouldn't get distracted."
A chill crawled up his spine.
BAM!!!
Rui launched an attack from his blindspot into his vitals.
CRACK CRACK CRACK!
"Cough!" The man vomited blood even before the attack launched him flying, barely retaining his consciousness.
Yet he already knew that his wounds were too severe.
He turned back to Rui in alarm and fear, yet Rui had already dismissed his existence. "You should withdraw before it's too late."
Three Martial Squires down. Three seconds in real time.
It dawned on his targeters.
No, not just them.
It dawned on everybody in the colosseum.
Maybe, just maybe... the rumors surrounding Squire Falken were not fiction.
Still...
"Like I said," Rui narrowed his eyes coldly. "Too late."
A wave of peril washed over everybody. A sense of pressure that didn't seem to quite fit in the Squire Realm drew everybody's attention.
He removed his Mind Mask entirely.
It was no longer necessary.