Chapter 343: Martial Cadence

Atlas’s voice echoed throughout the arena as he silently looked at Kael. Kael remained motionless, with blood coming out of his mouth and nose at the same time.

His head remained lowered as he leaned against the barrier behind him, and the impact of Atlas’s punch had cost him far more than he could have imagined, ’I got cocky, and it cost me a lot, huh?’ Kael thought before slowly lifting his head to look at Atlas.

Both of them stared at each other silently for a long moment before Kael finally spoke up. "Agranoth’s Healing."

In an instant, all his injuries, including the damage to his internal organs, regenerated and healed completely as his Aether Energy flowed through his body. He slowly stood up from where he had fallen before speaking again, "I’ll go all out now, Atlas. I hope you take this seriously."

Atlas narrowed his eyes at those words before giving a slight nod. His eyes remained fixed on Kael, who adopted a completely different stance this time. It was a martial arts stance that Atlas failed to recognize.

Thanks to the pill Kael had given him, Atlas had learned about numerous martial arts and understood how powerful they could become when combined with energy and techniques. He could easily understand that Kael was taking a ’Martial Stance’ right now.

However, this particular stance was completely different from anything he knew.

Kael positioned his left leg in front while keeping his right leg behind him. He then closed his eyes, focused his mind, and relaxed his muscles, leaving himself completely open for a brief moment. In the next instant, his body blurred and disappeared from his original position.

Atlas’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he failed to sense Kael’s movement through space itself, and before he could investigate further, Kael suddenly appeared behind him with his eyes still closed, his right leg shooting forward from Atlas’s right side toward his neck.

Atlas sensed the incoming kick from behind but didn’t even turn around completely. He casually moved his right hand behind him and stopped the kick before twisting Kael’s leg, redirecting the entire force of the attack in another direction.

However, just as Atlas turned around to face him, Kael vanished and reappeared behind him again. Atlas once more failed to sense his movement, but this time, he immediately moved away without hesitation because he wanted to observe the technique Kael was using.

However, just as Atlas appeared several meters away, high above the platform, Kael appeared behind him again as though he had followed his movement itself. Atlas immediately turned around, only to find that Kael had already disappeared.

’What’s that technique? He’s not even using Aether...’ Atlas narrowed his eyes before immediately altering the logic governing Kael’s movement, reducing his speed to that of a snail.

To his surprise, Kael continued moving and reappeared behind him once more. His body crouched down as he launched another kick, which finally struck Atlas’s legs. Although the attack failed to produce enough force to destabilize Atlas’s floating figure, it had still managed to strike him despite the defenses surrounding his body. Atlas’s eyes widened slightly as he wondered, ’How?’

His confusion wasn’t caused by Kael’s ability to move even after Atlas had altered the logic of his speed. It was because Kael had somehow bypassed his defenses, which Atlas had constructed using gravity and space.

After gaining knowledge of all four fundamental forces, Atlas had developed a technique of his own. By dividing the space in front of him several times over, he had created a defense that should have made every attack directed at him meaningless.

Yet...Kael had somehow managed to bypass it entirely, which genuinely shocked Atlas.

While Atlas continued trying to understand the technique, Kael’s voice reached him, his eyes still closed. "I know you have ridiculous abilities, Atlas, and I know every known and conventional method would never work against you."

He paused as his body slowly descended to the same height as Atlas, with afterimages forming one after another behind him. His movements continued to follow a pattern that Atlas couldn’t fully comprehend, despite having already altered the logic governing his speed.

"That’s why I’ve developed this technique, a technique that doesn’t require any energy or any type of ability to execute." Kael moved his fist forward, and Atlas could see it approaching him as though it were moving even slower than a snail.

Yet...despite how slow the movement appeared, Atlas’s instincts warned him to dodge the incoming attack, "Its name is Martial Cadence."

Just as Kael finished speaking, his fist stopped moving, causing Atlas to frown for a brief moment. Suddenly, an enormous force erupted from Atlas’s chest.

BOOOOOOOOM! WHOOOSH!

A deep cavity appeared in the area of his chest where his heart was located, tearing through his attire without creating a complete hole. Atlas widened his eyes at the unexpected impact, even though he couldn’t feel any pain because he had already altered the logic governing pain within his body.

Atlas’s body shot backward for an instant, but he immediately covered himself with the Flames of Nothingness and controlled his movement. He came to a stop after travelling several kilometers, then looked toward Kael, who had finally stopped moving.

’That technique seems to have a range and... timing as well.’ Atlas snapped his fingers, and the injury in his chest healed instantly. After exhaling, he looked toward Kael and spoke up, "You surprised me quite a bit. That technique is good, but... it has some limitations."

Kael’s closed eyes twitched for a moment as he thought, ’Tch, he has figured it out.’

He couldn’t help wondering how Atlas had managed to decipher the technique so quickly, but he knew he was in trouble now. Atlas’s cold voice rang out again, making Kael swallow hard as he listened to what came next, "Now it’s my turn to attack again. I hope you have another ace up your sleeve, or you’ll be erased before you even know it."