Half a day later, even Rui was starting to get a little bored as he had come to gather nearly all of the data he had wanted. There was nothing new or novel to be gathered from the roots pummeling down the Martial Artists.
In fact, it was quite distasteful to watch. Those Martial Squires were certainly his enemies as warriors of Chairman Deacon but at the same time, they also were fellow Martial Artists. It was unpleasant for him as a Martial Artist to witness his fellow peers get absolutely demolished by a dungeon for Martial Squires.
He definitely held pride amidst his love for his Martial Art, and Martial Art in general, thus he did feel affronted by the end outcome, even if he had entirely predicted that it would come to pass, even if he himself had set into motion the series of events that led to this devastating loss.
"Don't worry, I'll get revenge for all of you," He said, without a single shred of shame. He didn't even realize how shameless the statement was.
Kane, however, did, looking at Rui through the side of his eyes with a skeptical expression. "I don't think you of all people get to say that to them, you know?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rui said, getting up.
"Where are you going?" Kane asked.
"The fight has ended, so I'm off to clear the dungeon, of course, and to ensure that a rat doesn't escape," Rui replied.
"Rat? No, wait, you're going to clear it immediately?" Kane asked with a surprised expression. "Shouldn't you, I dunno, prepare more or something?"
"Nope, I'm good," Rui replied with a single word. "You should come along too, you won't be partaking, but knowing you're nearby does help."
"Alright," Kane sighed.
The two of them hurried down until they reached the Root floor, Rui swiftly entered the floor, while Kane stayed back behind.
SHING
Rui drew his sword, activating Gale Force Breathing as he rapidly appeared before Captain Deacon swinging hard.
SLASH
SPLAT
Much to his surprise, he was unable to decapitate the man despite getting a clean shot at his neck!
"To think that didn't kill you," Rui murmured from behind his mask. "Grade-ten Martial Squires sure are impressive, it makes sense that you managed to escape despite being blasted by the Root."
The man grimaced as he glared at Rui with shock and rage, yet his eyes widened as he seemingly made a realization on the spot regarding who Rui was.
"You…" He managed to squeeze out. "YOU D-"
SLASH
A second slash finished the job.
THUD
His head hit the ground, rolling away.
Rui had no interest in humoring him. His attention had already moved past the man, focusing on the Root.
"We meet again," Rui offered.
Unfortunately, the Root did not deign to return his greeting.
Rui wasn't afraid of being where he was at the moment. He had already discovered that while the Root was capable of attacking the target anywhere inside the floor after it had triggered the defensive mechanisms, one could not trigger the defensive mechanisms from just about any distance.
Yet, before he began the battle, he swept his senses across the entire floor. There was something important that he needed to make sure that he wasn't missing.
('Not a single one of them can be left alive,') He made sure to thoroughly focus on every single body he came across, inspecting every single one of them to make sure that there was absolutely no chance that they could possibly be alive.
After five minutes of a thorough scan, he was finally convinced.
He closed his eyes as he breathed deeply. As dangerous as it was, he ceased his relentless attention to his surroundings, diverting his attention inwards. At this moment, the Root very well could attack him, and he wouldn't even know of it, and would die on the spot.
But he knew he would die if he didn't get himself to his peak condition.
It took effort, but he gathered his scattered awareness.
He honed his focus.
He gathered his concentration.
He amassed his mind.
He embodied his awareness. At that moment, everything could have ceased to exist, and Rui would not have noticed.
It was difficult focusing every ounce of his conscious mind in a single direction, it required discipline and more perseverance than people realized.
It felt like an eternity inside his mind, but it took only ten seconds in reality.
Ten seconds later, he was almost a different person entirely.
The pressure he exerted was sharp, so much so that it was hard to believe he was the same person. Just standing near him would create a profound sense of peril even among high-grade Martial Artists.
"Fuuu…" Rui opened his eyes, directing his honed mind toward his objective as he tossed his sword into his dimensional ring. He exhaled deeply, activating his various breathing techniques as he felt his body grow tremendously lighter.
It began suddenly.
Rui disappeared into thin air as he rushed toward the Root at an astronomically high speed. The sheer atmosphere recoiled as he tore through the air, leaving behind a gigantic sonic boom.
Not even a millisecond had passed before what happened ensued.
As fast as Rui was, he was still vastly slower than the sharp root that lashed out toward him with a titanic speed.
The first confrontation between the Root and Rui had come to be.
What followed would have blown the minds of all the Martial Squires that had fought against the Root prior.
WHOOSH
With the gentlest of sidesteps, Rui evaded the attack at the most crucial of timings, watching it blow right past him. His gracious movements were smooth, yet swift.
It took him no more than a millisecond to detect cues and tells in the passive patterns of the Root, predicting the trajectories of four more root attacks.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH
Before he even realized it, he had already dodged them.
And thus began the final battle. The outcome of this battle would affect more people than Rui had realized at that moment.
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