Chapter 2088: Deceptive Trap

Master Vertol's true offense was not bullrushes or charges.

No.

Those were red herrings.

By constantly charging in over and over, he tricked his opponents into believing that he was a Martial Artist who relied on linear momentum to inflict damage with heavy collisions. His systems of thought relied on constantly conditioning his opponents to be wary of his bullrushes while writing them off as his sole offense.

It was a lie.

He grinned as the two Martial Masters blasted around on the battlefield, grappling with each other.

CLASP!

He pulled Rui into a deeper, deadlier embrace, using all the power he was able to muster in his arms and legs. By further pulling him in, he also subjected Rui to the Yin-Yang Shield, which had now become a full-contact battering ram.

BOOOM!!!

"Rgh!" Rui grimaced as he experienced the full power of Yin-Yang Shield over longer periods of time.

A tremendous amount of pressure converged on him; he would have long broken his bones if not for Nemean Blossom, which was at half power, and Flux Earther dispersing the impact. A half-powered Hypertrophic Surge helped him fight back against his opponent's immense resistance, yet this was where Master Vertol showcased his power.

This was the power of a man who had honed his body for centuries. While enhancing its defense was something that he had focused on the most, his power output was extremely high, far higher than Rui as he had a massive weight advantage in addition to being stronger pound-for-pound.

The two Martial Masters struggled, yet Master Vertol was definitely more comfortable. The Yin-Yang Shield became surprisingly lethal when used in grappling; that was why Master Vertol had spent more than a century refining his grappling trap. Once he snared his opponents in a trap, he could use his greatest shield as his greatest club.

His Martial Mind allowed him to maximize the probability of successfully grappling with his opponents by scrupulously evaluating their reactions, their attention, and their focus. It also allowed him to find the most optimal timing for springing his grappling trap so that he could ensure that the probability of failing to trap them in it was minimal.

Furthermore, the trap itself was something he had painstakingly and tediously burned into muscle memory and pure reflex to minimize the probability that it would be foreseen before it was too late. The lack of conscious intentionality behind the motions was the reason that the SOUL model's reading of intent was delayed, causing Rui to react too late.

The SOUL System was centered around reading the physical intent at its inception, yet he was unable to read their minds to learn of strategies or their systems of thoughts.

That wasn't all.

CLASP

The two of them wrestled in a deadlock as Rui exerted himself to the maximum. Yet, Master Vertol even had a system of thought for grappling.

While Rui's predictive and SOUL models allowed him to foresee his grappling maneuvers, his opponent's system of thought allowed him to grapple in a manner that was most adaptively evolved against his opponent's Body and techniques.

The innate physical superiority, the centuries of deep experience in grappling, the systems of thought specialized for grappling, and actual grappling techniques were strong advantages that gave Master Vertol an extremely high probability of victory.

On the other hand, Rui could predict his moves well ahead of time. He also dispersed much of the man's output over time with his defense. In addition, he continued Breathing Crucifix, stifling the man's full power and draining his stamina even further.

If not for them, Rui probably would have broken some bones under the sheer pressure of the Yin-Yang Shield technique.

However, those weren't the only cards he had to play.

BZZZT

An electric current passed through his opponent's body, interfering with the yin and yang vibrations of the technique, reducing their power. Master Vertol gritted his teeth as the two of them rolled around heaven and earth, furiously struggling with each other.

Master Vertol couldn't help but be amazed at how powerful Rui was even when he had fallen into his opponent's home court.

Even though his systems of thought were not specialized for full-contact grappling, Rui demonstrated that they were so powerful that they didn't require any special affinity to rival and even overcome other systems of thought.

Every time Master Vertol maneuvered, Rui had already long predicted it, ensuring that he had a timely counter prepared at the right moment to prevent his situation from deteriorating any further.

Both of their energy reserves continued plummeting as they exerted immense power each second. Grappling was a field of combat that required continuous exertion of not just a part of their Body but the entirety of it.

It was a field of combat that genuinely tested power and stamina.

Rui would have long lost had he not consumed the Sandflower Nectar Potion.

Thanks to it, he was able to sustain the Metabody System for much longer than he otherwise possibly could. He wasn't worried about it running out of juice at any moment, even if it did consume more energy than his opponent.

While Master Vertol had exerted himself more since the start of the battle, the Yin-Yang Shield technique was a technique that was much less taxing than the Metabody System. This was where the sheer magic of the technique shined the brightest. Despite its extremely high output, it was remarkably low in its difficulty of mastering and execution, making Rui deeply envious.

Neither side was certain of their victory or loss, yet they struggled nonetheless.

Of the two of them, only one side was sustaining damage.

"Rgh...!" Rui grimaced as he tried his best to disperse the heavy impacts of the powerful grade-ten technique.

Unfortunately, the synergy between Flux Earther and his systems of thought was negated greatly in this circumstance. The synergy normally existed because the greater the preparation for the technique, the greater the effectiveness.

Yet, in grappling, he was constantly bombarded with the Yin-Yang Shield technique, making any notion of preparation irrelevant. The odds were not in his favor.