The Martial Unity

Sage Glacken, the Mountain of Fortitude, couldn’t help but smile at the Sage Sarak’s words, turning to a man with long flowing hair, donning the military attire of the Royal Navy.

Sage Siliken, the Eastern Shield of the Royal Navy.

“They don’t know yet, do they?” Sage Glacken chuckled to his peer.

Sage Siliken smiled. “It appears not.”

Sage Sarak narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the five Kandrian Martial Sages with a peculiar gaze.

He didn’t understand why they were so nonchalant deploying the five of them here.

He knew a good chunk of the sixteen Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire were in the Beast Domain, leaving only eleven behind.

If nine of them went to confront the nine Sekigaharan Sages from the east, then it meant that they would only have two more left.

That was why the Sekigahara Confederate deployed just to be safe.

Yet, he was confronted with five.

That meant that they had only deployed six against the nine incoming Martial Sages?

That was hard to believe.

They had not engaged in any communication since they commenced their operation since Martial Sage could detect the invisible means of communication quite clearly, something that would sabotage their covert approach.

That was why they could not be sure what was happening on the eastern war front. However, it wasn’t hard for them to come up with an educated guess as to what had happened.

“I see,” Sage Yuu began with an erudite tone. “That report about the lot of you being in the Beast Domain was faulty intel. Damn Nindo Clan.”

“Heh, give your little spooks some credit,” the Hugging Hegemon grinned like a demon. “The intelligence was completely accurate, you see. It is indeed true that many of our colleagues are in the Beast Domain.”

Sage Saren gritted her teeth. “That’s impossible. Even if you deployed the Devil, there’s no way six Martial Sages could possibly fight off those nine, not with Shinken amongst their ranks.”

“Who said there were six of them, you stupid bastard?” the Hugging Hegemon’s smile grew wider as she enjoyed toying with her opponents before killing them.

The confusion on their faces only grew as they struggled to understand what was happening.

“Wait…” Sage Sarak’s eyes widened. “I figured it out!”

Sage Glacken’s eyes narrowed. “You did, did you? Then we’ll have to kill you to protect our secret.”

The air grew heavier as tension between the eight Martial Sages grew.

Heaven and earth strained as the weight that they exerted on them only rose, straining the very foundations of the world.

The other two Martial Sages gazed at Sage Sarak with solemn expressions. “Quick, tell us, what insights have you gleaned?”

“Kill him before he can speak!” Sage Glacken roared.

Alas, it was too late.

“These bastards,” Sage Sarak gritted his teeth. “They didn’t just figure out how to trigger the Apprentice breakthrough. They also figured out how to break Masters through to the Sage Realm! That’s why they can afford to send five Sages here while nine Sages attack them from the East.” Suddenly, the five Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire paused, stopping in their tracks.

“…”

“Look at their reactions!” Sage Yuu gasped. “You must be completely correct!”

“Good going, Sarak,” Sage Saren smiled at him. “You are truly a genius!”

“Hehehe, what can I say? Sometimes, my deductive ability scares even me. Only I am a match for the Emperor of Harmony and Prime Minister of Britannia.”

The five Martial Sages silently watched three idiots from the Sekigahara Confederate pat each other on the back as Sage Sarak rubbed his nose bashfully.

In reality, despite waging war the most, the Sekigahara Confederate was the worst at military strategy and tactics. The reason was simple.

It was because Martial Artists were in charge of military and Martial operations.

Thus, while on an individual level, their Martial Artists were known to be the strongest and best at war, as a nation, they were incompetent, for their generals were the likes of Sage Sarak and the other Martial Sages of the nation.

So much so that Sekigahara Confederate was the strongest argument used against Martial Supremacy. Martial Artists could not be allowed to be in solely charge of military operations and war. “Hm?” He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the Kandrian Martial Sages simply staring at him. “What’s with that reaction? Could it be that my genius deduction was actually wrong?”

They simply stared at him. “…”

“K-Kill him!” Sage Glacken roared. “We cannot afford to let these three get away alive now that they have learned of our greatest secret!”

Thankfully, the other four caught on to his plan quickly.

In war, faulty intelligence was a blunder.

If they were led to believe some seriously flawed beliefs about the Kandrian Empire, then there was a good chance it would come to bite them in the ass in the future.

“Kill them!”

“We cannot let them get away alive!”

“The secret must be kept safe.”

The three Martial Sages of the Sekigahara Confederate grew deeply grave at the weight of the burden that they were carrying.

They were the only ones outside of the Kandrian Empire who knew of the extraordinary secret of their enemies.

If they were to die here, then they would be unable to convey this deeply important to their peers.

At that moment, they felt a deep responsibility to get away and return to the Kandrian Empire alive.

“We need to live.” Sage Sarak’s tone grew dramatic and profound. “We need to live for the sake of the war. We cannot afford to be done in here.”

The other two nodded with severity. “We must tell the Sekigahara Confederate about this extraordinary secret.”

“Life isn’t easy,” Sage Sarak smiled. “However, that is precisely why it is worth living. Come, my brother and sister. We shall overcome this hurdle and return home.”

The two of them nodded. “Together.”

The three darted off from the bloodlusted Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire, who sought to silence them.

–