CHAPTER 2426: SEALED
It was the end.
Rui was completely sabotaged.
An intense emotional turmoil had completely overtaken him.
Time slowed down in his eyes as his mind reached an extraordinary state of activity with the power of the Megamind. He applied the tachypsychia hypnotic technique he used for Neo Godspeed in a final act of desperation to give him time to figure out how to overcome this tribulation.
Yet, as he watched Ieyasu's killing blow surging towards him in slow motion, a single truth became clear to him.
'I can't do it.'
He realized that in hindsight.
He had adaptively evolved to others.
He could adaptively evolve to Ieyasu, as was his secret plan.
But, he couldn't adaptively evolve to himself.
He couldn't adaptively evolve to his own trauma.
He couldn't adaptively evolve to the weaknesses of his psyche.
He couldn't do it.
Memories of his previous life, memories of the revelation that they belonged to someone else, memories of the people he loved, memories across two lifetimes.
They shackled him.
They wounded him.
In this battle, they were weaknesses.
In this battle that would define the future of the Kandrian Empire, they were a liability.
In this battle that would define the future of all East Panama, they sabotaged his victory. They sabotaged his Adaptive Evolution.
...Sabotage my Adaptive Evolution?'
A hint of defiance flared in his eyes in the face of defeat and death.
Nothing was allowed to sabotage Adaptive Evolution.
He would eliminate anything that dared to stand in the way of his greatest ambition.
But what if it was his own memories that did so?
What if it was one of the most important elements of who he was?
'If these memories sabotage my Adaptive Evolution... if they sabotage my Martial Path then...' Rui's eyes flared with determination. '...Then I shall get rid of them.'Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
And thus, on the verge of death and defeat, a deep self-awareness dawned on him.
His memories, the crystallization of his experiences, were not as important to him as Adaptive Evolution and Project Water.
And thus, if he had to choose between them, he would gladly get rid of the former.
In that moment, endless determination and willpower flared in his eyes as he recollected his lessons and training with Master Zeamer seventeen years ago.
"...But memory essentially works by association. Memories are associated with sensory cues. Seeing the color red will induce a variety of thoughts and images in your mind that are associated with that color. Every memory is associated with sensory clues, generally related to the sensory information stored in the memory."
"I'm conjecturing that you would need to draw those memories around by conveying relevant sensory cues to the target. Like if you wanted to make someone forget about the sky? You would perhaps need to make them see blue?" Rui wondered.
"Indeed, you catch on fast. We resurface memories in this manner and then rely on non-verbal communication to convey to the subconsciousness that memories are invalid. Normal hypnotists do this by speech, but we Martial hypnotists, once again, use non-verbal communication."
"I see..." Rui murmured, immersed in his thoughts. "However, in order to generate relevant sensory cues, you need to be capable of manipulating light and air to a certain extent"
"Indeed." The man nodded. "That is the hard part and why memory manipulation is very difficult mid-combat."
Ambition flared in Rui's eyes.
He was not limited the way that ordinary Martial Artists were when it came to hypnosis. Not only was his mind far stronger than his contemporaries, but his mind was even further enhanced to an extraordinary extent by the Megamind technique. Furthermore, this was self- hypnosis. He wouldn't be experiencing those difficulties.
And thus, on the verge of defeat, he made a decision.
A decision to seal off all his traumatic memories in the depths of his mind palace, causing an induced amnesia.
There were risks.
There were many side-effects and after-effects.
They were a terrible price.
Yet, if it allowed him to adaptively evolve to the Harbinger's Martial Art, he would gladly pay any price.
RUMBLE!!!
His mindscape shook as he sealed all his memories into his mind palace one after another as he rapidly drew them from the depths of his mind.
He sealed off any and all memories surrounding the Divine Doctor's revelations.
He sealed off any memories regarding the death of his mother.
He sealed off any memories surrounding his adoptive mother.
He sealed each and every memory that evoked deep emotion. He sealed off the memories of Tokugawa Ieyasu's words.
He sealed them all.
He sealed the very memory of sealing off his memories.
And when it was done, the very foundations upon which his emotional turmoil existed were
gone.
And with it, everything that rested on top as well.
His black eyes opened with endless clarity as his attention returned to Ieyasu surging towards
him.
WHOOSH!!!
Ieyasu's eyes widened with shock as his attack crashed into an empty image.
A feint.
In the final moment, Rui had leaped away while using a feint and misdirection to trick Ieyasu into believing he was still there. With the power of the Megamind, not even Ieyasu was able to pay attention to the real Rui leaping away.
Ieyasu couldn't believe that Rui could possibly execute such a move considering the state of
his mind.
Yet, Rui was just getting started.
The sum totality of logos was focused on a single objective.
Defeating Tokugawa Ieyasu.
BOOOOOM!!!
A thundering Yin-Yang Spear crashed into Ieyasu's hasty guard. He barely managed to block
the incoming attack with a grave expression.
He could feel it.
He could feel the limitless single-minded drive in Rui's fists.
And it left him almost paralyzed with shock and bewilderment.
Just how did Rui manage to break out of his deep emotional turmoil?
Just how could he possibly adaptively evolve to and negate one of the most powerful Martial
Art that Ieyasu had ever copied in his entire life?!
He didn't know.
He didn't understand.
Yet, Rui was not kind enough to give him the personal space he needed to figure everything
out for himself.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!
Ieyasu grimaced as he struggled to block the devastating onslaught that Rui unleashed upon
him.