Given that he knew that he had the element of surprise in their next battle, he was especially on the prowl for patterns that could help with launching an ambush.
Specifically, he paid attention to the patterns in their attention distribution, which was something he didn't always do since he would not have the element of surprise in a head-to-head battle.
However, he wanted to tailor his predictive model to be the most useful in making the most of the element of surprise when it came to taking down a Martial Senior or two. After all, that was his task.
His job became easier after an hour when the Martial Hearts truly began wearing off and he was able to perceive all of them with ease. That was the one thing that he knew was going to do well.
BAM!!!
Senior Sarak skidded back, coughing blood, and panting heavily.
His opponents were not doing too much better. Their bruises were heavy, and several of their bones had been broken.
Duchess Lioma was about to rush forward to continue their assault when suddenly she felt a special device vibrating on her belt.
"Tsk, stop!"
The two of them heeded, they too had been issued the same device.
It was a signal indicating that the gravitational stabilizer was going to deactivate soon, having reached its limit. They were given a forewarning five minutes ahead of time, enough time for the Martial Sneiors to extricate themselves from their circumstances and retreat.
A murderous glower crawled onto her face as she glared at Senior Sarak with unrestrained fury.
Senior Sarak smiled despite the blood trickling from his mouth.
"Smile while you can. I'll have your head next time!" She snarled as she and her comrades drew back, exiting the island as they headed back to the Erionel Kingdom.
Senior Sarak sighed in relief as he witnessed the other groups of Kaddar Martial Seniors leaving the island as well, taking a moment to sit down and lie down flat to rest
It wasn't long before the other two Martial Seniors joined him.
"Glad you two are alive," Senior Sarak remarked.
"Hmph," Senior Leonil lightly snorted. "As if you couldn't sense us."
"Glad you two are doing just fine," Senior Xanarn smiled as she sat down beside Senior Sarak. "Though I see you lost a hand Leonil."
"He got a lucky hit in." Senior Leonil complained.
"Keep making excuses like that and you'll never set foot in the Master Realm, Leonil." Senior Sarak remarked.
Senior Leonil glared at Senior Sarak wordlessly.
"It's ok, Leonil, A for effort." She cajoled him, patting his head.
"Don't patronize me," He growled, smacking her hand away.
"Did you get shy with big sister Xanarn patting your head, how cute."
"You wanna go a round?" He growled.
"You'd probably lose even if you a hand." Senior Sarak remarked, amused.
"He's right, what was our score again?" Senior Xanarn put her finger on her chin in an exaggerated motion.
"Who even remembers stuff like tha-"
"-I believe it was three-hundred to eighty-seven?"
"It's two hundred and ninety-three to ninety-two!" He barked at her.
"Ahaha~ so you do remember."
Three more individuals approached the Martial Seniors while the two of them bickered.
"I hope you got everything you needed." Senior Sarak said as he got up, facing Rui, Kane, and Ieyasu. "As you can see, nine is close to our limits. However, the Kaddar Treaty Organization possesses more Martial Seniors. If they do decide to send even one more next time then..."
He met their eyes individually. "You're our only hope."
His words weighed heavily on the three of them.
Rui's eyes narrowed. He understood the predicament quite well.
The Floating Sect was screwed. It was actually quite the miracle that the three Martial Seniors pushed back nine Martial Seniors.
However, this was their limit. Even a single extra Martial Senior would be game over for the Floating Sect.
One of the Senior guardians of the Floating Sect would fall in battle.
Even if the other two were able to push back their opponents, it was still a lost war. The next time that they returned, the two of them would not be able to survive being taken on by five Martial Seniors each.
Rui found it quite admirable that the three of them hadn't so much as faltered despite knowing this. As expected, the psyches of Martial Seniors were different. As people who had discovered their Martial Heart, their drive was necessarily of a high caliber. This was a quality he did not see very often in the Squire Realm.
('And that's one reason why so few Martial Seniors emerge from the Martial Squires.')
"I will not let you down," Squire Ieyasu replied with a calm and composed voice.
Yet it was reassuring.
The three of them knew what he was capable of as a Martial Artist. He was not someone to be underestimated. He was as strong if not a little stronger than them without their Martial Hearts.
His confidence meant a lot to them.
Yet, what Rui said went even further.
"I hope to win us this war."
The three Martial Seniors raised eyebrows at those words.
Those were bold words. A Martial Squire could not win a war that involved Martial Seniors, that was common sense. The three of them had allowed Ieyasu, Rui, and Kane to partake in the battle because they were special, but it was understood that their impact could not exceed that of a Martial Senior.
The three of them were puzzled why Rui would make such an arrogant statement but refrained from commenting. It appeared that he was serious about contributing to the war, thus they simply accepted his words.
"There's plenty of work that needs to be done, you're dismissed." Senior Sarak to the air as he headed back to the Floating Sect main office. As one of the three leaders of the Floating Sect, he had many duties to fulfill even if he just fought a war.
