Rui had underestimated just how greatly the Fulminata technique amplified his reflexes. It was an entire order of magnitude above his baseline reflexes. His baseline reflexes were not unimpressive either, far from it. Even his baseline reflexes were significantly superior to Rui's.
That was what the VOID algorithm was competing against. It was true that Rui had an incredibly robust predictive model, but the fact of the matter is, much of the power of the VOID algorithm went into bridging the gap between their reflexes.
('This is the power of two grade-ten techniques working together with high synergy,') Rui couldn't help but feel awed.
He didn't doubt for a second that the Fulminata technique was a grade-ten technique. There was no question. The sheer boost to his reflexes that it granted easily put it in the same Realm as Godspeed.
Furthermore, the two techniques had an immense amount of synergy with each other and covered each other's weaknesses with their strengths.
Kane could use Godspeed without relying on pre-determined movements or muscle memory thanks to his reflexes being able to keep up with his movement speed. While his reflexes could accomplish more with Godspeed being able to execute his reactions in time.
Rui had recognized that there was a shift in the dynamics between them.
It was no longer impressive for Kane to keep up with the Void Forestep technique, the reverse was not true. It was truly impressive that despite being slower in movement speed, and exponentially slower in reaction speed, he was still able to keep up with Kane with the power of Void Forestep.
The VOID algorithm showed him what Kane was about to do ahead of time, he began moving the second he predicted Kane. He wouldn't be able to make it in time for the counter if he waited any later!
The hardest moves to counter were the attacks where Kane changed his trajectory mid-air to counter Rui's movements. That was quite the pain the in the ass for Rui to handle even if he was able to predict them.
Kane on the other hand was not surprised. He always knew that Rui's ability to somehow make the right move at the right time was inexplicable. He recalled how effective Rui was when he helped him train his Void Forestep technique.
It was as though he didn't even need to react.
And he didn't, Kane knew well enough that Rui was solely keeping up, despite his slow reactions, because of his predictions. That was mortifying, to a certain extent. It meant that Rui was able to see him coming from a mile away, literally. Therefore even with his ability to cross a mile in an instant, Rui would be able to at least defend whatever he threw against Kane.
However, that did not mean the battle was entirely equal. To the layman, the clash between the two of them may seem like it was equal as the two of them threw roughly an equal number of strikes, but that didn't mean they were fighting equally with each other.
It actually meant the opposite.
Rui was an evasive maneuverer, he was not someone who took an active offense, as opposed to a counter-offense. Rui, on the other hand, had begun the battle with an aggressive approach, yet he ended up being forced to defend against Kane's swift barrages to his vitals.
The fact that he was forced to be less offensive, giving Kane the opportunity to be more aggressive than he normally was, meant that Kane had a mild advantage!
"Tsk," Rui tutted with irritation as he closed off his body even more. ('The VOID algorithm's predictive power isn't able to do more than bridge the gigantic reaction speed gap. He reacts so absurdly quickly defensively and offensively that even the sheer depth of predictions cannot overwhelm him. But the gap in our movement speed isn't nearly as much…')
He was compensating for the gap in their movement speed in two different ways. First, he relied on passive defenses to defend against Kane's weaker attacks. Adamant Reforging was a solid passive defense. It meant Rui could tank Kane's attacks to most of his body without any guard or block whatsoever.
This wasn't true for his crotch, neck, and several places on his face.
These places required active defenses. He used Flux Earther to completely dispel more powerful attacks while using simple blocks to intercept normal attacks.
One thing that was annoying was the mild electric shock that he felt every time came into contact with Kane, even if he had predicted that that would happen. The issue was that there was no way to avoid it realistically.
The good news was that it wasn't debilitating.
Regardless, he was defensively able to compensate for the movement speed gap by moving lesser than Kane had to.
However, that became difficult when Rui went on the offensive, putting Kane back in his element of counter-offense.
Rui had yet to land a single attack on Kane. The problem was whenever he attacked, Kane easily dodged, however, even when he countered the dodge by having predicted it, Kane's reflexes allowed him to negate whatever adapted counter Rui had by moving out of the way easily.
The sheer reflexes he possessed at the moment meant that it was extraordinarily difficult to land a single clean blow on the man.
('This is sub-optimal,') Rui's eyes narrowed.
Both sides were unable to hurt each other, and the battle drew into a stalemate, one that slightly favored Kane, but not enough to grant him any meaningful path to victory.
BOOM!
The two of them broke apart as a lightning bolt struck the spit that they were at just a moment prior.
Rui's mind furiously processed his circumstances as he came up with a means to victory. ('There are a few routes to go through.')
The first route was to leverage his stamina advantage. Kane did not have great stamina. However, the issue was that he wasn't fighting with just his stamina this time.
