𝗏xt.𝗇t
The one flaw of the Void Step techniques was that the misdirection techniques were maneuvering-based. Kane misdirected attention in the opposite direction that he was heading, creating a large gap between where he was and where his opponents were directing their attention to.
Thus, they could not be stationary when extracting the esoteric ores from the walls. Thus Rui and Kane had practiced a method where they extracted esoteric horizontally, line by line from top to bottom, requiring them to move left and right by a section while Rui used his tools to pluck them out of the wall and into his dimensional storage ring.
He was initially surprised by how responsive the dimensional ring was. It operated based on a pretty nifty mechanism that could be activated at any given time.
He didn’t spare the dying Martial Squires a second look, he did not want to concern himself with problems that were not his, nor ones he could afford to try and solve.
He extracted the toolset that he had procured discreetly to aid with the extraction of the fruits and the stones from the Earth. Thankfully, the process was rather simple. It was a matter of positioning the instruments, pressing a small lever that gained a grip on the stones and organic esoteric deposits in vegetation.
CRACK
He pulled out a giant glowing crystal, before tossing it into a portable bag that he would be filling before tossing into his ring. The two of them swiftly walked and sky-walked across an entire section of the huge floor for a few hours, filling up several giant bags worth of esoteric harvest.
“Unbelievable…” Kane murmured to himself as they walked past nearly fifty Squire-level bloodfury rabbits that completely ignored their existence.
He glanced at the corpses of the three Martial Squires that were previously fighting for quite a bit. Roots from the ground had already emerged, pulling their corpses into the ground.
Individually, each rabbit was at a low squire level. However, together, they were a menace that could overwhelm parties of weaker Martial Squires. Kane was not confident that he would be able to survive this floor without Void Step.
This made him feel a tinge of nervousness because he could not maintain Void Step forever, and the time period he could maintain it was especially limited when he had to use it on not just himself but also another Martial Squire.
“Rui, you have ten more minutes before I need a break,” He panted before wiping some sweat off his forehead.
Rui simply glanced at him, unperturbed by his remark, nodding. “Gotcha. Let’s get to the ground then. I want to be prepared for when the exact time comes.”
“You’re going to be alright, right?” Kane was worried.
He knew that Rui was strong, especially when he extensively prepared for certain circumstances as he had done so for the Shionel Dungeon. But, at the same time, could he truly handle dozens and dozens of low Squire-level creatures all by himself?
It was true that he had even seen one of Rui’s countermeasures personally, Rui’s sword attack possessed an absurd amount of lethality that one could simply not expect from seeing his swings.
Rui did not even bother replying, instead, he closed his eyes and began focusing.
A focused mind was vastly superior to a scattered one. And Rui could not afford to give anything but his very best.
“Fuuu…” He exhaled.
Kane was about to ask him again when his eyes widened upon a gush of pressure from Rui. Rui got rid of his Mind Mask as he drew his blade and procured his pipe, putting it to his mouth.
STEP
He immediately leaped out of Kane’s reach all of a sudden, rushing towards the herd of bloodfury rabbits with his blade drawn and poised to swing.
“Wai-!”
SLASH
The initial attack killed five bloodfury rabbits in a single swing!
Unlike the bullish and massive catoblepas, the rabbits did not possess an outstandingly durable constitution. The second the freezing cold blade pierced their flesh, it was as though a grenade had been set off inside their body, and the flesh on either side of the blade blasted away from the freezing cold tethered Bellhorn Steel violently as the blade cleaved through the flesh of the monster like a knife through butter.
SPLAT
The remaining bloodfury rabbits did not even realize what had happened until after it had happened.
“SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!”
They aggressively lashed out at him in their reactionary aggression. Yet they couldn’t help but falter when they senses his fearsome aura weighing down on them. His pitch-black pupils inspired their fear of death, while his blade caused it.
The Bellhorn blade ceased to be a blade. It had become an arc of destruction, annihilating every monster it so much as touched.
“FUUU…” he exhaled cracklingly hot air at three rabbits before him, enveloping them in extremely hot air. Their fur grew a shade lighter as the Mercurite esoteric hardened, paralyzing their movements.
SLASH
Another three monsters to his right died.
SLASH SLASH
Four bloodfury rabbits in front of him were cleaved in half before he smoothly transitioned to swing to his left, stepping about his position to accommodate the swings.
“FUUUU…” He froze six rabbits on the spot before his blade followed through a moment later, butchering the frozen bloodfury rabbits.
Rui ceased being a simple Martial Artist, it was as though he had become a sphere of death. A sphere that killed anything that dared entered it.
Every single bloodfury rabbit lashed out at him.
Every single one of them died.
Soon enough, there were none left.
SLASH
Rui killed the final bloodfury rabbit of the herd before exhaling and turning to Kane who retained the ability to use Void Step for himself.
“It’s done,”
Kane was utterly speechless, staring at Rui with shock and awe.
“Come on, we have work to do,”
SHING
He sheathed his blade, walking back unperturbed at the carnage left behind.