The Martial Unity

In just a moment, the three strongest Martial Seniors of Kandria leading Operation Clean-Up were suppressed by many powerful Martial Masters that systematically opposed them as more and more of their peers grew rejuvenated.

BOOOOOM BOOOOOM BOOOOOM!!!

Sir Armstrong’s eyes sharpened as he put his all into defending himself from the astronomical onslaught that threatened to overwhelm even his immense and vaste natural durability.

“Rgh…!”

Kane’s new domain was slowly torn apart as many Martial Masters wrung heaven and earth out of his control collectively, shredding off his armor of lightning.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!

“HAHAHA! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO, YOU LITTLE SHITS?” Nel bellowed even as he weathered the onslaughts from his enemies who were determined to put him down like a wild animal.

Unfortunately, bravado was not enough to win a battle.

Far from it.

The Sekigaharan Masters who should have been focusing on retreating had lost themselves in the pent up anger and frustration of losing the war to Kandrian Masters and now stooping to losing to even their Seniors.

That was too much for their psyche.

“DIE, KANDRIAN SCUM!”

“KNOW YOUR PLACE, LITTLE SENIORS!”

“HOW DARE YOU ATTACK A MARTIAL MASTER!”

Rui clenched fists as his eyes narrowed.

A single realization had dawned on him.

The truth became clear as he beheld the battle dynamics at large.

“Father…” He gritted his teeth. “This was a suicide mission.”

A mutual suicide mission by design.

There’s no way his father didn’t predict that they would undoubtedly lose their lives en masse even if their opponents were exhausted.

However, his father probably didn’t care.

After all, the life of a Martial Senior was insignificant compared to that of a Martial Master.

If his father could kill as many Martial Masters as the number of Martial Seniors who were sacrificed, then his father and the Martial Union would gladly make that sacrifice.

It just made too much strategic sense.

So much so that even Rui had no choice but to admit that the decision to deploy them into a deep strike operation from which their probability of survival was low made the most sense.

It was objectively the best option.

And Kandria would not be where it was today if not for his father making the objectively most superior strategic and tactical decisions each time.

Yet, as he watched Kane, Nel, and Sir Armstrong get piled on by even more rejuvenated Martial Masters who unloaded all the power in their Martial Hearts in abandon to kill the Martial Seniors that had given them so much humiliation, he couldn’t help but grow more indignant.

He didn’t care about the other Martial Seniors.

However, he didn’t want to see Kane, Nel, and Sir Armstrong die.

Was he going to just sit there and watch all of them get brutally decimated as the onslaughts on them only grew stronger and stronger?

His fists clenched as he gritted his teeth.

The answer was clear.

“No.”

He got up with a determined expression.

But what could he even do?

His mind was truly exhausted from the sheer number of times he had abused the VOID algorithm, the Angel of Laplace, the SOUL System, and the Hypnotrix in the previous battle. There’s no way that he could use his Martial Mind.

He hadn’t forgotten Master Zentra’s warning in that regard.

“…There’s no point in jumping into battle if I can’t use my systems of thought and or Martial Mind.” He massaged his aching head.

His greatest strength was thought.

It always had been.

Without it, he was only a fraction as strong as he was with it.

“I don’t have the power to turn the tides with my personal power as I am right now.” He grew more urgent as he saw even the Gatekeeper bleeding profusely from the sheer amount of devastation he weathered from many powerful Martial Masters. “If I jump in and join the fight, I’ll only prolong the inevitable and get myself killed.”

He wanted to succeed.

“Think.” He closed his eyes.

Despite how much it hurt his brain, he simulated the most promising strategies in his mind to see the outcome.

Unfortunately, they all ended in failure.

Using Greater Phantomind Void to extract them from the battlefield and get them to safety: failure. He would be deeply damaged and they would most likely notice with how many Martial Masters were focused on their targets.

Trying to misdirect their attention away from their opponents, giving the latter enough time to escape was also a failure. There were some who still had their Martial Minds, even if barely a spark, active. That was enough to render all hypnosis and misdirection invalid.

Using his Mind Mask to feign being a Martial Sage was also something that he considered. Unfortunately, that tactic had become extremely well-known. The Sage-level powerhouses certainly knew about it because he had used the exact same strategy in the Serevian Dungeon War.

“Dammit…!” Rui cursed. A stream of ideas entered his mind, yet all of them were worthless.

Nothing worked.

He turned in Kane’s direction with a grim expression.

The man’s domain had been thoroughly eroded with the combined efforts of many Martial Masters who ensured that he wouldn’t be able to activate it.

After that, it was just a matter of picking him apart slowly but surely.

Kane was bleeding profusely, panting heavily as he desperately evaded the attacks to the best of his ability.

Yet, his expression was severe.

Rui gritted his teeth as his eyes grew grave. “…To think that you would be thrust into this situation right after you reached the cusp of the Master Realm—!”

He froze as a final idea popped into his head.

“At the cusp of the Master Realm?” Rui’s eyes widened. “Then…”

His eyes swam around as he simulated his idea.

“…Then what if I break him through, them through, to the Master Realm before he dies?”

He turned towards Kane, sweeping his gaze across the dying Martial Seniors.

“Right here, right now…” Rui murmured. “If he breaks through, then…”

Then they would be able to turn the tables around one last time.

There was only one catch.

“If I do this, then…” His expression grew severe, “they’ll know that I am responsible for the breakthroughs.”