Never had Master Krakule experienced such a turn of tables. Even while Rui choked him, he realized that this was part of the boy's plan.
A hand was not all that useful in a rear choke hold that occurred at the elbow.
He had sharply predicted that Master Krakule would employ an active defensive offense to deter Rui away.
But what if Rui was not deterred?
What if he bore the consequences in order to win the battle?
A losing battle could instantly be transformed into a winning one.
Rui crushed down on his throat with the full power of everything he could muster, activating Hypertrophic Surge in place of Weaving Blood, completely sealing off the blood flow to his head.
On top of that, he pushed the Breathing Crucifix technique to one hundred percent, cramping down on the man's breathing.
On top of that, a current of electricity passed through the man's nerves, inducing a paralytic effect, crippling him even more.
"Rgh!!" Master Krakule's eyes grew bloodshot as his face turned red with pressure. He pulled at Rui's hand, trying to free his neck from the young man's hold.
The strength gap was non-existent with Hypertrophic Surge, Rui had other shackles on the man's power like hypnosis and quasi-paralysis.
On top of that, there was a reason rear choke holds were so deadly, it was because the victim had absolutely no way to leverage strength to break out of it properly, while the one performing the hold had the absolute perfect way to leverage strength.
That was why unless one had a large strength gap, which he most absolutely didn't, one could not break out of such a hold.
'I'm going to lose at this rate!' Master Krakule desperately did everything he could to break out of Rui's hold.
He struggled, hurt Rui, try flying around to throw him off. But the grip never softened.
'Am I going to lose?' Master Krakule's eyes widened. 'Me? A Martial Master, to a Senior brat like him?'
His eyes narrowed. 'No.'
The world froze as an avalanche of pressure erupted from the Martial Master.
Rui opened his eyes with shock.
Chills went down his spine.
Shivers crawled up his skin.
One moment, the Martial Master in his grip.
The next moment, he was standing in the skies above Rui.
He was no longer a man.
No.
His very existence seemed to have transformed into an entirely different existence.
He became a shining dagger. One that towered over in the sky larger than a mountain. The surfaces of the dagger were not smooth, the surface was the shape of a hand, from end to end.
Rui's eyes widened.
The dagger wasn't shaped like a hand.
It was the hand that was shaped like a dagger.
The Martial Embodiment reflected the nature of his Martial Art.
He was a man who had forged his hands into blades. This belongs to : ©.
The dagger embedded itself in the sky, drawing more attention from all life that beheld it than the sun itself. It stood tall and proud, declaring its existence to the entire world.
Rui beheld it with awe and admiration.
This was the power of a higher Realm.
In each of the honed palms of the Martial Master was the power to fell an entire mountain range with a single swing.
With the power to alter maps, Rui yearned to reach that Realm of power.
"You truly are an era-defining force, Rui Quarrier," The Martial Master's voice reverberated through the skies. "I have violated the sanctity of my promise to not use the power of the Upper Realms. I am indebted to you. I will fulfill any one wish you ask of me within my power as penance. If it is my death you desire, then that too I shall give you."
Rui's eyes widened, before furrowing his eyebrows.
There was but one wish that was appropriate.
"Never implicitly threaten me with my family again. In fact, as penance, ensure with all your power that nothing ever happens to them," Rui replied.
The Martial Master gazed deeply into Rui's eyes. "...So be it."
Rui could feel his sincerity, he heaved a sigh of relief although there was still some skepticism in his eyes. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know."
"As you must," The Martial Master remarked. "I don't like repeating myself. But I find it truly worth doing this time. Join us, Rui Quarrier. Join the Hawk Faction. Join us in the glorious conquest of East Panama. We will soar to heights unprecedented in history and you can be there with us, side by side."
He raised his hand, stretching out to Rui.
Suddenly, an avalanche of pressure crashed into them.
Rui shivered with the sheer amount of peril he felt at that moment.
'This…' Rui recognized the nature of the pressure. 'Martial Master!'
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
Many short-range homing ballistic missiles crashed into the giant hand-dagger, causing several enormous explosions across it.
Rui balled up as the explosion engulfed him, burning him to cinders.
Except it didn't.
Rui's body didn't experience any damage.
It was an illusion.
Yet Master Krakule grimaced as his physical bodies were struck with precise attacks.
'No…this is the same as the hand-dagger,' Rui realized. 'A Martial Embodiment!'
He glanced in the direction that they came from, only to be shell-shocked by what he saw.
A modern Earth-like military missile launcher with Earthen technology floating in the air, firing homing missiles at the hand-dagger.
The two powerful Martial Embodiments stood in opposition.
Yet there were more.
The pressure Rui experienced escalated astronomically as other forces joined the fray.
A titanic feminine mouth appeared from the East, opening and breathing out, sending a powerful windstorm tearing at the hand-dagger.
A puppet controlled by strings appeared from the south, crashing attacks onto the hand-dagger.
A shield with a mirror on the surface appeared, placing itself between the hand-dagger and Rui in a protective gesture.
The five Martial Embodiments clashed in the sky, four of them oppressing the hand-dagger aggressively.