Under normal circumstances, Rui would most certainly have gone for the stamina victory. Not only did he possess better stamina due to having a more balanced spec configuration as far as his Martial body went, thereby placing a greater weight on stamina, but he also possessed the Final Breathing technique that would allow him to preserve much more energy in the long run.
Furthermore, Rui's Forestep technique, which he was now forced to use at a maximum was less energy-consumptive than Kane's Godspeed technique due to it being imperfect.
That meant that the battle would normally turn in his favor as time passed and Kane tired until he exploited an inevitable opening to end the fight.
It wasn't glamorous, or flashy. But it was a surgically ruthless path to victory.
The issue was that they were no longer fighting under normal circumstances. They were fighting under special circumstances.
('Under these circumstances, his Fulminata technique is essentially endless,') Rui narrowed his eyes.
The source of the Fulminata technique was not his own energy, but energy harnessed from lightning, stimulating all nerves and neurons in his body. There was endless lightning around them, thus Rui suspected that Kane could use Fulminata for as long as he was conscious.
('That's extremely troublesome,') Rui tutted.
Rui could not make use of the VOID algorithm forever. It was an extremely mentally intensive technique of the highest order of difficulty that he had ever seen. Asking him to use it continuously indefinitely was like asking someone to write high-pressure high-difficulty exams indefinitely.
He could not do it.
Of course, it was possible that the Fulminata technique stressed and strained his brain and nerves too much, causing him to be unable to use the technique for as long as Rui could use the VOID algorithm.
However, that was a gamble at best. Rui did not enjoy gambling, he enjoyed certainty. ('For starters, I need to optimize my defenses even more,')
Kane's lacking power was something he could exploit even further to simplify his defenses. There were very few things Kane could do to hurt Rui in any meaningful manner, which meant that there were very few things that Rui had to do to prevent Kane from hurting him in any meaningful manner, he wasn't being as efficient as he could be.
He planted himself in one spot as he shifted all his weight on his right leg, freeing his left leg for defensive and offensive measures.
He took a tilted stance against Kane, with his torso facing away from Kane while he turned his head to watch Kane. His arms were brought really close to his body.
Rui had already realized the futility of an active frontal assault. It was the most difficult thing for him in this fight, and it was not something that he could easily overcome. He knew that there were just far too few ways to go about it in a successful manner, worst of all, it allowed Kane to fall back into his element.
Thus Rui was content adopting a more defensive stance for the time being. If he could not reach victory by slowly inflicting damage on Kane, then there wasn't any point in continuously attacking.
WHOOSH
Kane appeared before him throwing a palm jab to Rui's throat.
THWACK!
Rui shifted his guard just a little, deflecting the attack off course.
POW POW POW!
Kane swerved to the side, squeezing into his striking range as he launched a swift flurry of strikes to Rui's vital points.
Rui barely managed to deflect them in time as he shifted his body and arms just the bare minimum amount of distance needed to defend against the attacks.
Yet that created an opening. Kane launched a blindingly fast attack upwards to Rui's throat once more. This time, Rui's guard was too slow to make it.
POW!
Kane's eyes widened as Rui swiftly lowered his head, blocking the attack with his chin!
Ordinarily, this would be a bad of defending and a good way to get knocked out. However, due to Kane's weak offense and Rui's passive durability, he could get away with pulling off such a tactic against Kane.
Had he not done that, there was a good chance that Kane's sharp attack would have pierced through his Adam's apple, inflicting a serious wound.
Kane grew frustrated at his inability to go around Rui's defense!
Rui on the other hand, was relieved, yet concerned.
Kane was just an inch away from gaining a decisive advantage in this battle. Rui needed to quickly adopt a strategy that would put him on a path to victory.
The frontal assault had already proven to be ineffective against Kane due to the sheer difficulty of even touching him. The stamina strategy was a gamble that Rui was not willing to take. The optimized defense evened the playing field, but it wasn't enough, and if it failed, it would give Kane a dominant upper hand.
('The biggest issue is getting my attack to connect. This is the fundamental issue,') Rui's eyes narrowed. ('I possess the power to one-shot him, but touching him seems impossible. The fact that the predictive and adaptive evolution models are unable to allow me to even touch him shows how absurdly overpowered Fulminata is in this environment of the Thundering Valley.')
Within the Thundering Valley, Rui wondered how many Martial Artists could beat him. For one, most Martial Artists would not be able to ignore or handle lightning as easily as Kane did. Rui was able to do so thanks to his Eye of Thunder which allowed him to avoid them as easily as avoiding obstacles.
But on top of that, the same lightning empowered Kane to a degree that surpassed any prediction Rui could have ever made regarding the matter.
Was there any Martial Squire that could defeat Kane when they were fighting inside the Thundering Valley?
He highly doubted that. In fact, Rui knew that if not for his deep familiarity with Kane, he would have long lost this fight.
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