CHAPTER 2419  RETALIATION

The Martial Sages and Masters of both sides watched as the battle between the two Masters unfolded in all its glory and ferocity.

"This battle exceeds my expectations," Sage Sera remarked with a profound tone. "Truly, I have never seen such endless versatility in a single Martial Master in my entire life."

She echoed a sentiment that all of them felt.

They had certainly expected that the copycat Martial Master would be strong given that he had beaten none other than the Harbinger herself. However, what they witnessed exceeded even their lofty expectations.

"Hah." Sage Damian grinned toothily. "That other brat isn't bad at all."

He turned to Sage Shinken who was some distance away from him. "…You Sekigaharans are not entirely worthless, after all. To think you maggots were hiding such crazy talents among your ranks."

Sage Shinken's confident smile was unperturbed. "It's game over, Damian. Tokugawa's prodigious talent and absurd powers together are a miracle that the world is blessed with once an era. The Void Prince will soon have his Martial Art copied before dying at his hands." Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

His eyes grew more fierce. "And then, we will have won the war."

"It begs the question then, doesn't it?" Sage Sera turned to Sage Shinken before Sage Damian could even respond. "Why hasn't he copied Rui yet? Why hasn't he even tried?"

Sage Shinken's expression darkened as he gazed askance at the distant Ieyasu. It became clear that not even he knew the answer to that question.

Each of them watched the fated battle with deep attention and immersion.

A battle that would decide the future of the Kandrian Empire.

A battle in which the tables had just abruptly turned.

BOOOOOM!!!

A devastatingly powerful Yin-Yang Spear crashed into Tokugawa Ieyasu in a catastrophic collision. His expression crumpled with grave severity as an impact unlike anything he had ever faced in his entire life launched him away.

CRACK CRACK!

The sheer force with which Rui had struck him cracked his radius bone even as the vibrations permeated deeper into his Body, doing far greater damage than even an attack of its power normally would. It took him just a moment to understand how the technique functioned and how to apply his own mastery of yin and yang vibrations to use the technique, which was also why he understood that only Rui could use it with his immense foresight.

The sheer force with which Rui had struck him cracked his radius bone even as the vibrations permeated deeper into his Body, doing far greater damage than even an attack of its power normally would. It took him just a moment to understand how the technique functioned and how to apply his own mastery of yin and yang vibrations to use the technique, which was also why he understood that only Rui could use it with his immense foresight.

What truly shocked him was how Rui somehow evaded his attack even before he noticed.

Yet, before he could even catch his breath, Rui had already arrived before him. Ieyasu threw up his guard at the last moment, hoping to shield his Body from the onslaught that Rui unleashed upon him. Unfortunately for him, each attack that Rui threw at him weaved past his guard to exploit the chinks in his armor.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

His guard might as well have not been there, as each attack perfectly evaded his defenses like keys through keyholes. It was as though Rui could read him like a book.

No, it was beyond that. It was beyond just prediction.

However, it was only after Ieyasu read Rui's mind deeper and deeper did he finally stumble upon the truth.

The truth shook him where he stood.

In the depths of Rui's mind, he found his own mind.

He found his own SOUL.

"You…" His eyes widened with shock.

"What, you thought you were the only one who could copy?" A smirk appeared on Rui's face.

BOOOOOM!!!

08:30

He grimaced as Rui mercilessly blasted him with an extraordinary attack before surging forth with a ruthless barrage of attacks one after another. Each Yin-Yang Spear battered him past his defenses, intercepting his evasions, refusing to allow him any respite. Rui perfectly adaptively evolved to his flailing defenses, squeezing the absolute most out of each attack.

With the power of the VOID algorithm and the SOUL System, Rui was a complete menace in battle.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

Yet, even as Ieyasu suffered an avalanche of attacks, his mind was focused on one and only one thing.

Rui's systems of thought.

Rui's predictive model showed him all the patterns that were manifestations of who he was, while the SOUL System translated his SOUL into understandable intent at its very inception.

Just observing them in the depths of Rui's mind taught him more about himself. He learned more about who he was by observing Rui's predictive and SOUL models on him than he could have ever imagined.

He could sense his own greed and fear in Rui's SOUL model from an outsider's point of view while the predictive model taught him what kind of temperament he had and how his experiences had shaped him as a Martial Artist.

And in that moment, he came closer to the Sage Realm than he ever had.

Even as the Yin-Yang Spear blasted him with attack after attack, he felt a single emotion well up in the depths of his heart.

Pure and unadulterated gratitude.

CLASP!!

Rui's eyes widened with shock as Ieyasu effortlessly caught a charged Yin-Yang Spear with a single hand. Amidst what seemed like a one-sided beatdown, he effortlessly caught Rui's attack like it never mattered.

And then, his retaliation began.

BOOOM!!

Rui calmly dispersed a thundering vacuum blast that threatened to crumple him under the devastating weight of the atmosphere before throwing an even greater flurry of Yin-Yang Spears.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

STEP… STEP… STEP…

Even as Rui unleashed a fearsome storm of Yin-Yang Spears upon his opponent with the power of the VOID algorithm and SOUL System combined, Ieyasu weathered and waded through the storm with a stoic expression.

He combined multiple assimilated grade-ten defensive Martial Art. Not only did he combine the Yin-Yang Shield with the Heaven-Earth Draining technique like he had done against the Harbinger, but he also combined other technique such as the Adamantite Body technique, a grade-ten defensive technique that was based on the principle of Prince Rupert's Drops, to bind his internal body with extraordinarily powerful forces that would not allow damage to occur.

Together, these techniques allowed him to withstand Rui's immensely potent offense, a feat that very few Masters could possibly achieve.

And then it was time for retaliation.

BOOOM!!

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