WHOOSH

Rui smoothly evaded the attack with a gentle side-step, launching a powerful blow to his opponent's jaw with his elbow.

BANG!!!

The Alfinian commander gritted his teeth, spinning with the impact as he opened his mouth, launching a powerful sonic blast at Rui through the water.

"You're predictable."

WHOOSH

The commander's eyes widened as Rui effortlessly canceled out the attack with destructive resonance, before surging towards the seafolk pathwalker with balled fists.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!!

His fists surged forth in a barrage of blows, blasting his opponents with attack after attack. The Alfinian Commander gritted his teeth as he wielded his trishul defensively, blocking Rui's powerful blow to the best of his ability.

"Sturdy weapon," Rui muttered. "Must be made by the dwarves. It isn't even made up of invintium, and it can withstand my regular attacks. But unfortunately…"

His pitch-black eyes sharpened.

"It isn't enough to protect you from me."

His fist merely moved an inch, striking only water.

And yet, the impact permeated through the medium, striking the commander.

BOOOOOM!!!

The commander's eyes widened as he barely managed to deflect the attack. "You have mastered water projection…? Impossible! That is a classified secret of our people!"

Rui smirked. "Not anymore, I'm afraid. I'm going to be spreading the technique to all Martial Artists. Who knows, maybe I'll sell the secret to the entire world."

"Rargh!" the Alfinian commander charged forth with in a bout of rage, thrusting the trishul towards Rui with a violently powerful attack.

"Breathing Crucifix."

The man froze as he choked, struggling to breathe.

That was all Rui needed.

BOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

A thundering attack to the jaw knocked the commander out.

"Take him alive," he commanded the sea monsters around him. "Get him to the Kandrian Empire safely. Make sure he doesn't wake up."

Several poisonous sea monsters injected venom to keep him incapacitated, while others gently carried him in their mouth before taking him away.

Rui's attention shifted to the rest of the pathwalkers, charging towards them with calm determination. Unlike his battle with Lord Shenlong, he considered these to be 'work' rather than something to enjoy. None of them was strong enough to pose even a mild challenge to him.

"Capture as many as possible and get them back to the Kandrian Empire."

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!!

RUMBLE!!!

Pathwalkers were priceless assets; he was sure that keeping them alive and as hostages would give them tremendous leverage against the Alfinian Kingdom that could potentially retaliate.

"I'm sure my father will figure something out with them."

His father always did.

"As long as I collect as many pathwalkers as hostages, it will give the Kandrian Empire an astronomical amount of leverage despite making enemies out of a large part of the world," Rui reasoned. "It will give the entire world a worse impression of us, but…"

He shrugged.

Negatron matter was more important than harmony, as far as he was concerned. Perhaps his father would disagree, but alas, he didn't dictate how Rui chose to conduct this war. Rui had made a promise to Jormundgandr that he would free the beast from its cage.

For that, he needed lots and lots of negatron matter.

He didn't give a damn if he had to antagonize many people to get that. With the elves and the therianthropes as firm allies at this point, along with the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, the Panama Continent had reached a certain level of security.

He had ordered the army of monsters to avoid the mining regions occupied by his allies.

"Everybody else can only regret that they didn't accept my father's offers for friendly relations up until now."

His father had worked hard to win over many nations with partial success, as many were opposed to the Kandrian Empire due to their close relations with other civilizations hostile to the Kandrian Empire. There were also many who sat on the fence, uncertain of which side to choose.

They could only curse themselves.

Rui had chosen to personally intervene in the case of the Alfinian Kingdom's forces due to the fact that their military was powerful enough to inflict great losses on the sea monsters he commanded. He couldn't afford for his war assets to suffer great damage; thus, he personally dealt with any stragglers who tried to resist.

The situation was hopeless, and the seafolk clearly realized.

"Retreat!" the interim leader cried with desperation. "Retreat back to our homeland! We cannot overcome this force! Not with a top-ten powerhouse leading them!"

The seafolk reluctantly withdrew from their mining base, running away from the belligerent monsters who were all but eager to consume them. Their vessels joined them in the retreat, forced to leave behind their mining equipment.

"Stop all the storage and transport vessels. Don't bother with the others."

The monster wave charged forth with a ferocious charge.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!!

RUMBLE!!!

Rui had no interest in attacking those who had given up and retreated, but he did care for their negatron matter.

"Let me go check up on the other war fronts."

WHOOSH

He teleported away, reinforcing other areas of intense conflict where the sea monsters faced great resistance to their invasion and destruction. The wave slowed down after it entered the Great Void Ocean, methodically cleansing large numbers of areas with its immense destructive might, reinforced by the therianthropes and the elves, who targeted any stragglers while also securing the abandoned areas.

Within a single day, countless private mining operations have been destroyed. They had already experienced tremendous losses thanks to the pathwalkers of the Alfinian Kingdom, but the invasion of the sea monsters made one fact abundantly clear.

Only nations had the power to partake in the Great Void Ocean and the negatron mining rush. There was simply too much danger associated with the Great Void Ocean such that a unified and cohesive military organization was needed to have any security in the long run, especially with Rui singlehandedly sweeping the entire ocean to claim all negatron matter for himself.

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