"You're truly strong," She murmured as the distance between them momentarily paused the temp of the fight. "It appears that you only displayed a small portion of your might against former guardian Seronin."
"I don't overdo things," Rui replied while he stalled to recuperate from the attack, allowing his healing factor to quickly fix the most essential parts.
She paused for a moment, before bursting out laughing. "You have the audacity to say that after what happened to him? Yet to think you're this strong at the age of twenty-one… Just how far will you go?"
WHOOSH!
He dashed forward, appearing before her.
"I guess we'll see."
A devastatingly powerful Flowing Canon fist threatened to strike her, yet she elegantly evaded it.
SPLAT!
Kane's piercing bolt sliced a cut on her neck, appearing out of nowhere!
Yet before she could even express surprise, Rui had already released tier five Transverse Resonance at her. As an expert on sound, she was easily able to skillfully deconstruct and dissipate the attack!
Yet;
SPLAT!
Kane inflicted another cut on her just as she shifted her attention to him!
She leaped back as she realized what was happening.
('They're switching places! He became the distraction while the other brat targeted my vitals!') She furrowed her eyebrows.
Rui grinned. ('Because I can predict him, I can force you to run into his attack!')
The predictive model was not monolithic and static.
When predicting actions, Rui calculated one outcome using the predictive model, however, when it came to predicting reactions, Rui saw multiple possible futures!
The reason for this was that she would respond differently to different attacks. A powerful kick would evoke a dodge, while lighter attacks were better off being blocked. Thus, depending on the action, there could be varied reactions.
Thus Rui predicted Kane's actions and then chose the right attack to force the correct reaction such that she would run into Kane's attack while she was distracted by Rui's attack!
As an experienced Martial Artist, Senior Xanarn immediately realized what Rui was doing.
It was a feat that required an absurd amount of insight into both Kane and Senior Xanarn.
She subconsciously opened her eyes, widening them in shock. ('Just how well does he know me?! We slept together just once!')
She was understandably flustered. She didn't understand how Rui had such a deep insight into her movements, she felt transparent.
She felt completely naked under the profound depth of his eyes.
She actually knew exactly how that felt, after all.
It was a lot less pleasant than last time.
The abrupt shift in roles threw her off, forcing her back on the defensive.
SPLAT!
Kane inflicted another cut on the more tender parts of her flesh on her vitals. As he grinned, brought his arms together, before rubbing them away into his stance.
Because the stamina for the Fulminata technique did not come from his mind, he was doing better than both Rui and Senior Xanarn. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. He evaded all her attacks smoothly, before sneaking and exploiting an opportunity created by Rui, or creating an opportunity for Rui.
The two of them switch back and forth between their roles. This constant switch threw Senior Xanarn off even more. Now she didn't even know who was the decoy and who was the actual attack!
It was just an endless wave of decoys and attacks that landed on her almost before she even realized it!
She gritted her teeth feeling increasingly pressured as Rui kept staying one step ahead of her. Her damage was accumulating.
Her conventional stamina was truly reaching her limits.
Her mental fatigue was finally stepping in.
Yet despite the unpleasantness of the situation, she couldn't help but be truly impressed with the two Martial Squires. The two of them were individually only as much trouble as grade-ten Martial Squires at most, as a quasi-Senior even without her Heart, she could handle them individually.
Yet it was their phenomenal teamwork that elevated their threat level astronomically!
It created a sum that was far greater than the parts, allowing them to reach power that could potentially take her down.
Furthermore, Rui had wisely waited for her to drain her power with the rest of them, before unleashing a level of threat that he would have been unable to by himself.
The battle had entered a profound rhythm, one that captivated all those who beheld it. It was as though it would continue on forever and forever.
Yet, they were wrong.
THWOOM!
She dispelled a tier five Transverse Resonance attack, immediately looking to defend Kane's attack.
Yet it did not come.
CLASP!
BZZT!
Rui coiled around her body in the minute blindspot he had created while she shifted her attention, his arms curled around her neck, as he squeezed down in a vice, while applying Thundercoil!
Rui had gone off the beaten path, breaking the pattern.
He had not made this decision lightly. For one, he was nearing his limits. Godspeed was not a light technique, and it was one that he knew would burn him out soon enough. He didn't just want to push her into a monotonous battle before losing.
He wanted to push her past her limit.
That was why instead of simply opting for the regular combo with Kane, he decided to go for a finisher.
It was an ambitious risk, but this was a sparring session. He could afford to take such risks as opposed to a real battle where a loss meant it was game over!
Fortunately, he did her job well.
Catching her off-guard and drawing her attention to him momentarily.
Momentarily incapacitating her with partial paralysis.
He didn't know if it was enough, for what followed exceeded his cognition.
Kane burned all of his energy in one grand burst!
He reverted back to the original Godspeed technique that made use of all of his voluntary stamina and energy!
In less than a millisecond, he had long crossed the distance between them as two fingers rushed towards her eyes!
…
BADUMP
