Suddenly the world changed.
The Tree of Life, in its nigh infinite glory, altered the very fabric of heaven and earth within the depths of the minds of all those who beheld it.
In that mont, the world that cradled all life ceased to exist.
In its place, ca Hell.
A true Hell, one that was different for each and every one of them.
So were subrged in a world of fire.
So were subrged in a world of ice.
So were subrged in a world of extre gravity.
It brought them suffering.
"ARGGHH!!"
"...Ack! Can't... breathe!"
"Rgh!!"
A world that was antithetical to their Martial Body.
Martial Artists had a strange place within the Tree of Life.
The system of thought that codified the evolutionary genetic chains that bound all life and the environnts that were most optimal and, by extension, most antithetical to them
recognize each Martial Body as its own unique individual species.
In other words, every ti a new Martial Apprentice ascended to the Squire Realm, a new species had been created.
After all, Martial Bodies were just super evolved human bodies.
Thus, within the Tree of Life, each Martial Artist was his or her own leaf stemming from the sa branch that was the human species.
They each had their own antithetical environnts that Rui could see as clear as day at all tis due to the passively active system of thought.
The reason he didn't use the Tree of Life against Martial Masters as ubiquitously as he did against beasts and monsters was because the forr did not just use their Bodies to fight. Martial Masters had Martial Art and Minds that were best countered by his other systems of thought.
The Tree of Life and the Yggdrasil System had been created to be most effective against those that relied on their raw and innate capabilities of their body and species. He had designated them to be used most when against beasts and monsters, because that was what they were ant for and best at.
However, when it ca to breaking through Seniors, it still contributed by making the world antithetical to them in their minds, in addition to the other asures that were to be enacted.
Most particularly, he used the Tree of Life specifically because among the Seniors, there was one who primarily fought with his body rather than Art, had also developed a system of thought, and was eligible to break through.
Nel.
Nel froze in shock as the world around shifted from ordinary land and sky to a world of emptiness.
Everything was gone.
"Wha―!" Nel grew shocked as he tried to catch on to sothing, anything, to gain leverage so that he could deploy his physical abilities.
Yet, there was nothing.
He simply floated in infinite darkness.
A void.
He could see nothing, feel nothing, sense nothing.
It didn't matter how strong his body was.
It didn't matter that he was born with superhuman prowess.
It didn't matter that he had spent decades refining his physicality.
This was the world that was antithetical to his physicality.
It drove him to the verge of sanity.
Yet, that wasn't the worst of it.
Rui narrowed his eyes, ignoring the sharp pain in his head as he activated three predictive models that he had on the three of them, adding them to the Tree of Life hypnosis.
Suddenly, Nel froze as the darkness he was subrged in gathered into a single figure.
It condensed to form a head, a torso, and limbs.
The figure of darkness took a stance as its eyes flared with bloodlust.
Nel grinned. "Oh yeah? Bring it on, you little shit!"
The shadow figure surged forward as the two threw their most powerful blows.
WHOOSH!
Nel's eyes widened as the shadow figure easily evaded his attacks using Rui's predictive model before launching a blow at him.
BOOOM!
"Rgh! Dammit!" Nel flew spiraling as he struggled to regain any semblance of bodily balance
and stability.
The world continued to reject the aning of his greatest gifts.
A world truly antithetical to him.
anwhile, Kane faced a different world.
A world very similar to the Speed Void domain in Rui's Yggdrasil System. One that refused to allow him to move, let alone move fast.
A world of light that rejected his Void Step, illuminating him as he tried to hide in the
shadows.
A world grounded to a current sink that drained every ounce of lightning he generated using a domain in an atmosphere that was chemically insulant and resistant to the flow of electricity.
A world that was antithetical to everything he had to offer.
He faced an even stronger opponent.
He faced the desire that drove him forward.
Rui himself.
"What... what're you doing here?" Kane narrowed his eyes as his gaze pinned Rui where he stood. "You just fought a long battle. I know you can't use your Martial Mind."
A smile erged on Rui's face. "You're correct, I can't use my Martial Mind, but the question
is whether you will."
Kane's eyes widened.
BAM!!
"Rgh...!" Kane grimaced as Rui blasted him with an attack.
"Get up." Rui's gaze grew severe. "You want to catch up to , right? You want to reach ,
right? Well..."
Rui surged forward with powerful eyes. "You're going to do it right here and right now or die
trying."
In the real world, things were not going so great for Rui.
"GET HIM!"
"KILL HIM!"
"We need to break this illusion!"
BOOM BOOOM BOOM!!
Rui grimaced as he held on for dear life while working his breakthrough magic on all the
Martial Seniors.
"Did you forget why I'm called the Dawnbringer?" Rui's glare grew murderous. "Don't push , unless you want to fight the Sun."
They froze as they rembered why they had ever sought to kill him early on in the battle in
the first place.
This was Rui's plan to buy himself as much ti as he could before his friends could break
through. He needed to wait just long enough to ensure that their Martial Paths were on the verge of breaking, serving as a trigger for their breakthrough to the Master Realm.
He didn't need to wait long.
His eyes lit up with delight as he felt a Martial Mind blooming!
He could feel it clearly.
It was decent.
Yet, he could feel an unfathomable amount of refinent within it, much to his surprise.
"Nice, is it Nel or Kane-!"
His body froze with shock as he realized it was neither.
The truth dawned on him.
Yet, it was beyond even his ability to parse.
"No..." His voice grew shaky as he gazed at the Gatekeeper with aghast bewildernt.
"Impossible!"
For reasons beyond Rui's fathoming, he could sense an active Martial Mind deep within the
Gatekeeper's mind.
The strongest Senior was no more.
In his place, a Martial Master was born.
Sir Armstrong opened his eyes after what felt like an eternity, shifting his gaze to Rui.
A soft smile cracked at the edge of his mouth.
"You have my eternal gratitude, young man."
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