Rui had activated Hypertrophic Surge as he banked everything on his long-range offense. It had the highest probability of ending the fight, largely because the man was unable to evade the heavy attacks and could only withstand them.
And it appeared that his estimations weren't too far away from the truth.
RUMBLE!
The very land around them shook violently as the two Martial Seniors punished it with the power of their conflict. Senior Minneson gritted his teeth as he did his best to weather everything that Rui threw at him, yet it was clear that Rui's power had exceeded his expectations.
He had not expected the younger Martial Senior to be able to output such ferocious power continuously. Given the fact that his Martial Heart was dimmer than any other he had ever seen, it meant that this power was a product of his Martial Art rather than his Martial Heart.
Senior Minneson couldn't imagine how strong Rui would go on to be if continued to grow stronger and delved deeper into the Senior Realm.
Instinctively, he came to a conclusion.
'He needs to die before he grows even stronger.' Senior Minneson narrowed his eyes.
Especially since there would be a grudge between them if his opponent survived. It was possible that if they faced each other in the future, his opponent will have reached a level of power that would allow them to beat him.
"Hyah!" The man yelled as he resisted Rui's onslaught, closing the distance between them at an ever-increasing pace.
His powerful Martial Heart and Martial Body forged forward as they endured the many impacts that Rui inflicted on them.
Rui, on the other hand, was having trouble facing a shift in mentality. He was not accustomed to the Metabody System not only not getting the job done, but also being overwhelmed by anybody who wasn't also the strongest in the Realm.
However, he had experienced this twice in the past, entering a new Realm meant that he was quite weak from the start all over again. This time, of course, he didn't start at the absolute bottom, however, it was clear that he was still well below the norm if someone like Senior Minneson was able to compete against his Metabody System.
The surrounding town that they were in had already been leveled to the ground, and completely wiped out. The infrastructure wasn't the best in the first place and with two Martial Seniors fighting off a raging battle, it was no surprise that the entirety of the town had already been reduced to rubble.
That included the man's base of operations, but it didn't appear like he cared about that anymore, if ever.
"RAARGH!" The man snarled as he increasingly gathered momentum and heat, rushing forward towards Rui.
Every step he took shook the land they were on.
Every swing of his arm generated a wave of flames.
His body steadily made its way to Rui as he weathered down the power of his Hypertrophic Surge-empowered attacks. Rui narrowed his eyes, increasing his limits as he launched his most powerful Transverse Resonance attacks.
And yet.
BOOM!!!
Attacks that used to be devastating were only effective at most. Senior Minneson gritted his teeth as he bore the brunt of everything that Rui had thrown against him.
It was at this juncture that Rui had a consideration. If he wanted, he could ensure that the shootout fest would last till the end of the battle, but the issue was that he didn't know if he could actually take down the gargantuan giant down in this manner.
It appeared that as powerful as Hypertrophic Surge was, it was not necessarily strong enough to win him the battle. At most, Rui was sure that he could deal severe damage to him over time.
However, the man also had a healing factor, which meant that the worst of the damage would most likely get mitigated and he would retain a good chunk of his combat prowess despite the wounds.
If Hypertrophic Surge ran out before the man did, then Rui would be in no position to take him down. The Metabody System drained him too much. He certainly did have his Martial Heart, but it was simply not enough to overcome the man's powerful Martial Heart.
Rui had not forgotten that his ordinary attacks did little to no damage against the man's extraordinarily powerful physique.
Rui narrowed his eyes as he made his choice. He stopped backing away from the man, instead standing his ground as the man closed the distance between them at an increasing rate.
He rushed forward, with a wild grin on his face. "What's the matter? Don't want to continue this little contest for much longer? I can do this all day!"
His burning fists blasted through all of Rui's attacks as he seemingly exerted himself to the absolute limit.
Rui suddenly ceased attacking as he adopted a crouching position before launching himself forward at an extreme pace towards the man. Before the man could even question the decision, a change had already occurred.
"Fuuuuuu...!" Rui exhaled deeply as he activated Godspeed, deactivating Hypertrophic Surge.
The man's eyes widened as Rui lashed forward in a blur, the momentum that he had gathered from charging forward with Hypertrophic Surge was still there, so he had momentarily combined the power of both techniques. Yet Rui gritted his teeth as the flames burned his flesh unperturbed and with greater ease.
BOOM!!!
A swift and incredibly heavy Flowing Canon crashed into the man's vitals before he could even react. The man staggered, bending forward reflexively disoriented. Yet even as Rui's flesh charred, his foot flew to the man's jaw at an extreme velocity.
BAM!!
A powerful impact struck the disoriented man's unguarded jaw, permeating through it with the help of Reverberating Lance. A wave of shock rippled across the man's face. Flashes of dizziness rung in his vision. He staggered unsteadily, trying to maintain his ground and regain his clarity. He reflexively generated even more heat with friction, trying to keep Rui away.
