The battle unfolded in a direction that not a single person had expected it to, especially to those partaking in the battle.

Squire Isin Keelia and her Whispering Winter Style.

Squire Draxel and his Hurricane Shredder Style.

Squire Varay Meenia and his Breathing Marionette Style.

Each of them had expected to face the other two in the end for the title of the Seonmun Champion.

That was why they were shocked when they realized that they were not the prime candidates for that title.

Once that moment of realization came, they made their decisions quickly.

They circled around Rui, drawing in close towards him to finish him off quickly with a numeric advantage.

It was humiliating, yes, but there was too much at stake for each of them. Unlike Rui, they had been eying the Virodhabhasa Martial Contest for a lot longer than just a year. They had even participated multiple times before.

Although they despised the fact that they had to employ the same cowardly strategy that had been employed against them, it couldn't be helped. Content is property © .

Even as they surrounded Rui, their expressions were ashen.

And yet, their opponent did not seem displeased in the slightest. Not only was he not displeased, they could even pick up hints of ecstasy. They couldn't help but frown when they saw him grin.

His mouth opened, and a single word escaped it.

"Hypocrites."

It pierced through all the noise their techniques, reaching not just their ears, but also their hearts. It made their expressions deteriorate. It was hard for them to deny the accusation. They had shamelessly resorted to a strategy that they had looked down upon from a moral high ground just minutes prior.

Yet something about the way he said it was off. The sensation he gave off was strange. It was almost as if he wasn't condemning them. They didn't sense resentment or rage.

No.

He was conveying a different emotion.

Their eyes widened as they understood. They understood what he was conveying.

It was gratitude.

He was thanking them.

In the middle of a battle. Despite being targeted by them collectively, Rui had the audacity to express gratitude.

('Thank you for pushing me to my limits.') Rui exhaled as he completed his Metabody transition to a half Hypertrophic Surge and Void Forestep body.

His body shifted before lashing out.

The battle had begun in earnest.

A maelstrom of pressure crashed into them as Rui rushed forward, racing towards Squire Varay at blinding speeds!

BAM!!!

The very land beneath them shook as Rui dished out a powerful Flowing Canon.

Squire Varay gritted his teeth as he exerted himself to the limit blocking the attack. The very act strained his joints, threatening to snap them. Yet Rui did not let up even as the powerful impact blasted the man away.

The expressions of the other two grew grim as they pursued Rui aggressively, and for good reason.

They already knew.

They knew that Rui could not be allowed to face any one of them alone. With the sheer amount of peril they felt from his monstrous physique, it would be game over if one of them fell, leaving the other two to face him alone.

They rushed forward, hoping to get within close quarters where their Martial Art were effective within.

Yet Rui did not stop moving, ever. Even as he chased after the retreating Squire Varay who was reeling from his attack, he never paused in his steps.

There was good reason for that.

('I can't engage in close-quarters combat with the other two.') His eyes narrowed.

It was frustrating, but it was the truth. Squire Isin in particular was the biggest problem. He had already determined that both Nemean Blossom and Weaving Blood were entirely ineffective against her. That was why he didn't even bother using them, sticking to Hypertrophic Surge and Void Forestep. If she ever entered striking range of him, it was already over.

And because he was forced to abandon Nemean Blossom and Weaving Blood was the match, it also meant that it was unwise to combat Squire Draxel at close quarters as well. Because only through Nemean Blossom's defense, or Weaving Blood's recovery would he be confident of handling his torque-centered counter-offense. The two techniques he wasn't using due to the ice lady.

It was frustrating to be that vulnerable, but it was a good reminder that he wasn't yet at the stage where he could flawlessly adapt to all techniques and Martial Art. He was certain that there would come a day when he would be able to directly negate her freezing head-on.

But today wasn't that day.

If he couldn't let her enter striking range, then that logically left only two solutions.

The first solution was to move away faster than she approached.

The second solution was to barricade her from reaching him, from a distance.

Rui could do both.

('I'll fight this one in hand-to-hand combat.') Rui stared deeply at Squire Varay even as he pummeled him with incredibly powerful and swift blows. ('While constantly moving around chasing him to ensure that the other two cannot even reach me.')

A simple, yet effective plan. Both Squire Isin and Draxel were hyper-specialized in offense and counter-offense respectively. They did not excel in maneuvering, catching up with the much faster and motion-inclined Squire Varay and Rui was a challenge in and of itself. They would waste energy trying to hit him with their Martial Art, while Rui happily took down Squire Varay with the predictive model he had on the man on top of Hypertrophic Surge and Void Forestep.

Yet it appeared that his opponent was not as strategically incompetent as Rui hoped.

Squire Varay took a sharp turn as he rushed in the direction of the two Martial Squires who had been looking to reach and pressure Rui.

His impromptu teammates were trying to reach Rui, but Rui was avoiding them while chasing and beating him down. He realized that all he had to was constantly move the battle in the direction of his slower peers and regroup, allowing them to fight him as a group once more. As long as he maneuvered correctly, he could always ensure that Rui would not be able to ignore the other two.