The Martial Apprentices spectating gaped at the sheer power that Rui and Fae displayed. They were shocked at the display of Martial prowess, and for good reason. Even among the upper echelons of the Martial Apprentice population of the Academy, Rui and Fae were special. They were genuine realistic candidates for the position representative of their Academy, and now, everyone could see why.
Fae drew every ounce of power from deep within her. Her body vibrated with unbridled power as she poured everything into the avalanche of earth-shaking palm blows.
Two out of every three attacks landed into feints! Rui was abusing the Phantom Step technique to avoid her attacks. He did his best mitigate the damage of the attacks that landed with Inner Divergence, Elastic Shift and Acute Edge. However, Fae's offense was too strong, he could only partially mitigate the damage she inflicted.
Fae gritted his teeth as she endured his powerful blows. Even though his striking power was much weaker than hers, it was also true that her defense was weaker than his. He compensated for the remaining disparity with evasive tactics and that unbelievable timing of his.
Despite the maelstrom of offensive power that she unloaded onto him, she was hurting more than he did!
It was unbelievable, yet painfully evident. The difference wasn't large, or even significant. But it existed, and it existed in Rui's favour.
Rui was one of the few people who could fight her head-on and gain an advantage against her.
She, who was nigh invincible in close-quarters combat, was being pushed back?
Her expression steeled as boundless determination welled up from within her.
('Not on my watch!') She swore as her eyes burned with defiance.
She had come too far. She yet far to go.
She could not afford to fall here!
('I wanted to save this trump card against Kane and Nel but...') Her expression grew grave.
But she had no choice.
She coiled her right arm, twisting it to the highest degree she could accumulating enormous amount of power.
Her veins popped struggling to contain her raging blood!
Rui's hair stood up as he felt a shiver going down his back. Primordial Instinct was screaming at him to retreat.
But before he could even decide...
A twisting impact burrowed itself his gut, blasting him back.
"Fuck!" Rui grimaced. The sheer power of the blow was above anything she had him with thus far. He could only mitigate a portion of the impact, it had still inflicted considerable damage on his body.
Rui's eyes flew wide open as he glanced down.
"...Blood?" He stared at a large open wound where the skin of his abdomen ought to have been, dripping blood.
How on Gaea did she skin his abdomen?!
Before he could even process what had happened, his nerves and instincts tingled as Primordial Attack warned him of an incoming palm attack.
He managed to avoid it in the last second. The wound had hindered his physical parameters, slowing him down.
This was what Fae had hoped for.
This was her trump card.
Outer Convergence: Whirlpool
One of the most powerful and highest applications of the Outer Convergence that required a mastery of the Outer Convergence that was well above even that of Rui's. This technique gathered power from all muscle groups just like the ordinary Outer Convergence technique. However, through incredibly precise and accurate muscle control, it allowed the user to gather and convey the power in the form of rotational energy and torque, rather than kinetic energy.
The rotation allowed the impact to damage flesh more thoroughly and effectively than just a straightforward blow.
However, that was not the extent of the lethality of Fae's attack. She had added an extra element. She had gone so far as to condition her palm to be extremely rough.
The sheer power of the rotational impact in addition to Fae's conditioned rough palm scraping against Rui's skin had cleanly sheared off not just his skin and the outermost layer of flesh with a single blow!
This was the trump card she had prepared.
She had persevered immensely to keep this trump card hidden. The nature of this move was such that it would have the greatest impact if her opponent did not know about it. She didn't think she could defeat the likes of Kane and Nel without it, and it turned out she wouldn't be able to defeat Rui without it.
She had almost used it against Avi Seth, but ultimately decided against it. The poison had brilliant compatibility against the Whirlpool variant of the Outer Convergence, and singlehandedly crippled the technique. It took her everything to perform the attack, and she would not be able to in her poisoned state.
However, in this fight, she had decided she would no longer hold back. Perhaps against other she would have tried to outwit her opponent with tactics and strategies, but not against Rui. Everyone knew that nobody outwitted Rui, it was a fool's errand to even try.
Having truly been backed into a corner, she had no other choice.
Rui leapt back as he avoided her Whirlpool impact. He had gone into full evasive mode, abandoning his attack temporarily. In his eyes, Fae's lethality had skyrocketed.
Even being near her was too dangerous!
Fae, on the other hand, was ecstatic. Her trump card had fulfilled her expectations, which brought an immense amount of relief to her. With the wound she had inflicted, there was no doubt she possessed an advantage now. She lashed forward, pushing herself to the limit as she launched a flurry of attacks while preparing to use the Whirlpool impact.
Rui paused, he had reached the corner of the ring. He could no longer run.
His wound had already bled profusely, he didn't have much time, he didn't have much space either with his back facing the corner.
He steeled his will and dashed towards Fae.
This would be the final clash!