The Martial Unity

1820 Outcome

Rui felt his consciousness dimming.

"Winner! Rui Quarrier Kandria!"

A sense of relief spread within him when he heard those words.

He won.

But at what cost?

His body had been throughout the entire battle. He had been forced to use a forbidden technique. He had even had his arms ripped out.

Still, the thought of victory brought him great elation even as his consciousness faded.

After all, he had defeated the great Gatekeeper. Someone who was regarded to be the strongest Martial Senior in all of Kandria. Hell, he could not imagine the Gatekeeper losing to any Martial Senior even though he had barely extracted victory from him.

Rui had truly used everything that he had to offer against the elder Martial Senior. Even by the very end, he had used Phantomind Void synergetically with Phantom Step to bypass his guard and land his Sympathetic Death Lance on the man.

He had known from the very moment he laid eyes on the Gatekeeper that he would be unable to harm him using conventional methods. He had resigned to having to kill him using his greatest assassination technique in order to extract victory.

That was why he continued striking the man's head throughout the entire battle, even if the action appeared to be in vain. It was not about damage; it was about finding the right resonant frequency.

And despite that, the man did the impossible; he got up after being struck by the Sympathetic Death Lance, not once, but twice. It was a feat that Rui still didn't understand.

Rui would probably never admit this out loud, but the moment that he realized that not even the Sympathetic Death Lance could take this man down was one of the most horrifying moments that Rui had ever experienced in the entirety of both lives.

Thankfully, the second one seemed to do the trick, but it still shook him.

What he hadn't expected was how absurdly strong the Gatekeeper would be. The sheer amount of physical power that this man had cultivated across his entire lifespan was unlike anything he had ever come across.

Rui had thoroughly been shown how great the power of accumulation was. If he ever came across a particularly old Martial Artist, he definitely needed to steer clear, for there was no telling just how much power they had cultivated in all that time. He could completely understand why the Martial Masters in his immediate inner ring had told him that he would lose.

He didn't blame them.

In comparison, he was close to one-twentieth the Gatekeeper's age. Thus, the fact that he managed to overcome all that accumulation was a testament to the potency of his Martial Art as a force multiplier.

He had many questions that he wanted to ask the Gatekeeper if he got the chance.

He didn't know if he would.

Even if the man was still alive, Rui wasn't sure if he would live.

Time seemed to have slowed down in his perspective as a multitude of thoughts flashed through his mind.

'Am I dying?'

The question seemed to break the spell of time, accelerating the darkness that overtook his mind.

Soon enough, his consciousness had completely faded. A comforting, warm sensation had completely overtaken his body.

Time passed.

Faint memories of noises, voices, scents, and odors had cumulated during this time.

His body experienced many different sensations during this time.

A lot of pain initially, but eventually, even that ceased.

By the time his eyes opened, he could instinctively sense that some time had passed.

He found himself in a bed.

An unfamiliar ceiling greeted him when he opened his eyes.

"I'm alive."

A sigh of relief escaped him.

His circumstances before passing out had been so genuinely dire that he could not help but worry that death was a very realistic possibility. Having his arms ripped out after using his forbidden metabody technique was a good recipe for death. It would suck to die after going as far as he had.

He hadn't trodden his Martial Path for almost twenty years only to die so this young.

He had an entire life ahead of him.

An extremely long life.

He clenched his fists, feeling a surge of power.

He was unable to distinguish any differences in the sensations of his arms. It was as if they had never been torn off in the first place.

Whatever the Martial Union did to him while he was unconscious did the trick quite well.

"Mmm," Rui groaned as he sat up in his bed.

His body seemed to have grown a little unfamiliar with the movement, reluctantly obeying his control.

"Your Highness!"

His attention was drawn by eight Martial Masters that guarded him while he recovered.

"…Hm?" Rui narrowed his eyes, tilting his head.

"You've finally woken up!"

"I shall inform the doctor."

"How do you feel, Your Highness?"

Elation radiated from them.

"I feel fine, mostly," Rui murmured, glancing at his arms. "How long has it been since my battle with Sir Armstrong?"

"A little over a month, Your Highness."

"What?!" Rui's eyes widened with shock as he jolted. "Over a month?!"

"Yes, Your Highness," the Martial Master explained. "According to the medical team we assigned to specifically your condition, your condition was extremely dire. According to them, without extravagant and ostentatious resources that the Martial Union has invested into your recovery, you would undoubtedly have been dead or permanently crippled."

"…Damn," Rui murmured. "I suppose that means that I am not permanently crippled?"

The Martial Master smiled. "We have used the very best of the best to ensure that your condition was completely restored. Congratulations on your complete recovery, Your Highness."

Rui heaved a shaky sigh, smiling at the man. "I am grateful to the Martial Union for ensuring that my condition was completely head and restored."

The direness of his circumstances was not lost on him, but it certainly became clear to him after he learned that he had been asleep for more than an entire month.