The assassin coughed blood as Rui pummeled him with close-quarter attacks with his knees and elbows. He struggled to get away but Rui did not let up even a moment of respite. Even as he did his best to block Rui's attacks, he couldn't help but wonder how he had even reached this level.
His initial two sets of attacks were effective, and they bypassed his guard and landed on his vitals, piercing his flesh. Things had been proceeding according to plan, when suddenly, the target of his attacks had disappeared in the face of his attacks in an illusion, appearing right in front of him!
Rui had used his trusty Phantom Step technique to feint a step back when instead dove forward with a flying knee kick. Phantom Step was a technique whose effectiveness also depended on its application. When the feints of the technique were used to show the opponent what they wanted to see and what they expected to see, then the technique was more than thrice as effective as normal!