While it was going to take some time for the research to end, what wasn't going to take too much time was their deployment.
Soon enough, both Rui and Kane received stand-by summons from the department of defense. The two of them quickly scurried over to the edge of the town and quickly followed through with their instructions.
Both of them were wearing masks, of course. Rui had no intention of letting hostilities take an image of his appearance.
If it spread around, then it could potentially land in Chairman Deacon's hands, and he would recognize Rui in a heartbeat, regardless of the color of his hair.
Rui was relying on the poor communication facilities across the continent to get away with such a simple disguise. The further away they got from the Shionel Dungeon, the more Rui would relax, but for now, his identity needed to be protected.
The two of them waited in a dispatch facility with a bunch of other Martial Squires that were loosely part of the same squad. The Martial Artists arranged themselves in the manner of their range, with the long-range Martial Squires taking a place at the back of the squad and the close-range Martial Squires serving as the vanguard of the squad.
Kane and Rui took a place in the vanguard, The former because he was a close-range Martial Artist, and the latter because he wanted to stick with Kane.
The squad was on immediate stand-by for whenever the alarm for an incoming attack was sounded.
And it wasn't long before it happened.
"Eighteen Martial Artists approaching Crexeet town from six O'clock!"
"Executing directive 8b!"
Soon enough, the handler of the squad nodded at all of them. "You're all up, you outnumber the incoming Martial Artists, follow the protocols, and you'll surely be able to overwhelm them."
The guidelines in such circumstances were specifically meant to ensure that the squad members did not get in each other's way and were able to complete their duties without any problems.
The squad was quickly deployed once they were informed about the specifics of the attackers. Apparently, the Derous Duchy had set off another attempt to try and compromise the defense of Crexeet town. If it succeeded, it could make invasions into Crexeet town a lot more feasible in the future.
Thus the surrounding kingdoms routinely made sneaky attempts to try and stretch the defenses of Crexeet Town just far enough for significant holes to emerge.
Soon enough, the attackers emerged into view. The enemy Martial Squires took to the air when they realized that they were going to be executed.
Yet the squad did not intend to let them pass without any problems.
THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM THWOOM
Rui launched multiple Mighty Flash Roaring Blasts at several Martial Squires in the battle, uncaring for which one succeeded in hitting and which one didn't. It was merely a stalling move to ensure that they never got to Crexeet town.
That was the goal of the deployment, to ensure that no harm came to Crexeet town, allowing this basic goal to occur would be quite disastrous.
Rui's attacks did slow some of them down, along with other long-range offense techniques.
However, he wasn't content with just this simple and mundane goal. He hadn't forgotten the deal that he had with the mayor.
As long as he killed a Martial Squire, he got a week off, It meant that he had more time to do what he wanted.
It was for this reason that Rui was very motivated to kill a Martial Squire in this battle. His eyes ran around the entire battle who looked to be the weakest. It wasn't easy making these evaluations when all of them were heavily clothed in attire and masks, but he could vaguely get a guess for all their power levels.
For one, there was no grade-nine or grade-ten Martial Squires. He was extremely certain about that, his Primordial Instinct was something that could easily detect them had they been there.
However, there were some high-grade Martial Squires. So much so that he felt quite an interest in fighting them. Fighting low-grade Martial Squires was easy, but it was also boring and highly lacking in stimulation. Rui liked exercising his Flowing Void Style, more than the actual conflict itself.
Low-grade martial Squires were simply far too weak to force him to use the VOID algorithm, he could dispatch them simply by applying just a few of the techniques of his Martial Art.
There was no way that he needed anything more than that.
His vision suddenly rested on one particular Martial Squire out of them, one that looked particularly strong.
Rui had already made up his mind.
"I'm splitting off here," Rui told Kane. "Be careful."
"You too," Kane nodded.
Rui rushed toward the man before swiftly launching a powerful blow.
The man did not react with surprise or panic, he simply faced Rui, slowly raising his hand up slightly.
POW!
He interception the attack gently, yet Rui'd attack did not break through.
Rui's eyes widened as the world twirled in his vision. It took him a moment to stop the rotation, yet he was already open.
BAM!
The man had exploited the opportunity to launch a blow against Rui's gut, causing the latter to grimace.
('That was counter-offensive redirection') Rui's eyes twinkled with interest. ('His Martial Path is similar to aikido in the defensive aspect.')
In just a moment, Rui recognized and identified the core of his Martial Art's defense.
The man watched Rui for a second, before moving. Yet instead of attacking Rui, he dodged a blow from behind, stepping aside as he caught the fist. With remarkable movements, he twisted the flow of the power of his attacker to face Rui!
The man flew forward towards Rui, much to his own shock.
Yet Rui simply ignored him as he evaded the flying body before rushing toward his opponent with an excited expression. The man was a remarkable master of manipulating the flow of power of his opponent, and Ruio was excited to test himself against the man.
