Chapter 2433: An Attack of Chaos |
RUMBLE
The attack shook the world. Not with its power.
But from the shock.
From the shock that it delivered to all the people who beheld the era-defining fight.
BOOOM!!!
Ieyasu's fist rocked Rui's head violently as it blasted his jaw with a devastating impact.
Rui's fist stopped inches away from Ieyasu's jaw as the impact sent ripples across his entire Body.
For a moment, both of them stared at each other in confusion.
The attack came out of nowhere.
It bypassed the VOID algorithm.
It bypassed Rui's instincts and intuition.
It struck just a beat earlier.
For a moment, nothing happened.
For a moment, they simply stared at each other.
Then, Rui's eyes rolled backward as his body went limp.
THUD
He collapsed.
The world froze as the battle concluded.
The Martial Artists of the Alliance froze with shock as the Martial Artists of the Kandrian Empire froze with horror.
For a moment, nothing happened.
And then, all hell broke loose.
"KILL HIM!!!!!" The Devil's roar shook the world as he surged forward at speeds that beggared the imagination.
Then, and only then, did time unfreeze as all the other Martial Artists of the Kandrian Empire surged forward with endless bloodlust and vengeance.
Endless bloodlust and vengeance targeted towards a single person.
And yet, despite that, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not so much as glance at them. He didn't so much as acknowledge their existence.
His gaze was fixed on the unconscious Rui.
His mind was focused on the past.
Once, he had stood before a woman at the bottom of the Great Nam Ocean.
A being of unfathomable power.
"You seek the power of chaos, boy? "
Ieyasu's face had crumpled with horror as the voice of the Martial Transcendent reached the very essence of his being.
Her voice emerged from the past.
It emerged from the present.
It emerged from the future.
It emerged from beyond causality itself.
It was faint, yet it seemed to overlap infinitely.
It was painful.
It ravaged his Body.
It seemed to erode his Mind and Soul.
It seemed to erode his very sanity.
Yet, he gritted his teeth as fierce determination flared in his eyes.
He clenched his fists as he stood his ground with sheer willpower.
Even as blood started pouring out of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he stood his ground, glaring at the Martial Transcendent defiantly. Simultaneously, he activated countless assimilated techniques, using them to help him protect himself in any way possible.
And yet, his antics merely evoked a crooked smile from her.
Impressive. When Zeamer told me about you, I assumed he was exaggerating in some strange attempt to try and get in my pants, but I can see now he was telling me the truth. You truly are an extraordinary Martial Artist.
WHOOSH
In the blink of an eye, he became as he was.
All the wounds on his body disappeared.
As if they were never there. He panted heavily, using a Martial Art technique to extract oxygen from seawater rather than from the air, as he struggled to regain his stoic composure.
He gazed at her with eyes filled with horror and awe as he regarded her with the respect that a Martial Transcendent deserved.
The Conqueror of Chaos was one of the thirteen Transcendents of human civilization. With absolute power over the entire world, she stood at the very pinnacle of Martial Art along with her peers. Yet, she didn't interfere with human civilization, instead retiring to the bottom of the Great Nam Ocean. She playfully twirled her asymmetrically styled hair as her fingers drummed on her thighs in a disorderly rhythm while she studied him with her red and blue eyes. Her Body and attire were so discordant that even looking at her gave one a headache.
Even her beauty, mesmerizing as it was, was immersed in endless chaos.
Read her as he tried, but he wasn't able to glean even the slightest truth from her. She was an embodiment of chaos.
You didn't answer my question.
He heard her voice in his mind.
He was grateful that she abstained from speaking physically and subjecting him to whatever the nightmare earlier had been. "Yes, Your Transcendence." He faced her head-on with his dark eyes. "I do seek the power of chaos."
MmmMMmm. Her tone fluctuated. And just why do you seek the power of chaos?
His eyes narrowed. "I need to defeat someone. A man who has harnessed the power of order. A man who has deep insights into the patterns underlying the very being of others and harnesses them to foresee the very future itself. Thus…"
He clenched his fists. "...I need the power of chaos to negate the power of his order."
A hint of uneven interest emerged on her face. Fascinating.
"I beseech you, Your Transcendence." Ieyasu's tone grew intense. "Bestow upon me the power of chaos so that I may gain the power I need to defeat him."
A crooked smile emerged on her face again. I cannot take you in as my disciple, but…
A faint hint of shifting amusement emerged on her face.
I can expose you to my power. If you are able to maintain your sanity and if your Martial Art is potent enough, you may just be able to assimilate an infinitesimally small portion of my chaos.
His eyes sharpened with willpower. "I accept your offer with gratitude."
Several years later, he emerged from the depths of the Great Nam Ocean a changed man, soon to be found by the Martial Artists of the Sekigahara Confederate who sought him to fight against the one man he had gone through hell to obtain the power to defeat.
The fruits of his labor were a single attack.
A nameless attack.
One imbued with the power of chaos.
It struck whenever.
It struck wherever.
It struck without cause.
It struck without his intent.
It struck without his awareness.
It struck in defiance with the past.
It struck in defiance with the future.
An attack of chaos.
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