The Martial Unity

The returning Martial Artists expected to return to celebrations and cheer for the victory that the Kandrian Empire had just secured. Not only did Rui survive, but the Kandrian Empire also managed to get their hands on Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Since this man had copied Rui’s VOID algorithm, it meant that he too could trigger breakthroughs. They could promise twice as many breakthroughs in negotiations.

This was an extremely good development.

Worthy of celebration.

Yet, when they returned, they found the Kandrian Empire in a mess.

Not a physical mess, but an economic mess and political mess, one that they didn’t entirely understand.

Not only was the Royal Palace and the other institutions of the government extremely busy and consumed with sudden developments that had occurred very recently, the administration of the Martial Union also appeared entirely consumed in some sort of an emergency.

Unfortunately, not only were they too tired and consumed to pay too much attention to this, they also needed to rest and take care of the price of using their Realms of power to the extent they had.

Not to mention, as Martial Artists, the complexities of these problems flew entirely above their heads. The solutions, too, were beyond their understanding and beyond their power.

They had succeeded in their mission. Kane had already reached the Kandrian Empire earlier, having already fed the unconscious Void Prince a few potions enroute when all the conflict had ended. He had also transferred him to the Royal Hospital.

That was a success, as far as they were concerned. They had performed their jobs adequately and were entitled to the rest they deserved.

Yet, not all of them retired immediately.

“Your Sagehood, with all due respect and honor, His Majesty is incredibly busy at the moment!”

Before the large doors leading to the Royal Office stood two Master-level guards. They gritted their teeth as they tried not to back down despite facing the most fearsome Martial Sage in all of East Panama.

“I’ll say this once,” he growled. “Get out of my way.”

“…You cannot do this, Your Sagehood!”

RUMBLE…

“I can,” he growled. “And I will.”

Suddenly the doors behind the guards opened.

Inside was an entire team of assistants and officials frantically poring over a plethora of documents.

The Emperor of Harmony was immersed in countless files and documents as he rattled off a series of instructions to his people in rapid succession. Behind him stood a silent and alert Sage Sayfeel, faithfully protecting him at all times.

“Rael.” Damian’s gruff voice boomed. “Must you cause a ruckus each and every single time, Damian?” His voice was calm and composed despite the storm that he had found himself hit with just an hour ago. “Can you not see that I’m truly consumed with an important affair?”

“I have a message for you.” Damian’s expression grew complicated.

“Well, I’m afraid it will have to wait,” Emperor Rael faintly murmured as he sifted through two documents at once. “It’s from Arthur.”

The air tingled.

It tingled with tension.

The Emperor of Harmony paused as his gaze sharpened. He shifted to look at the Devil. “What…? How did you even get a message from the Transcendent Emperor? Just what happened?”

“Listen carefully,” Sage Damian snorted. “This was what happened…”

As he narrated the tale of the battle between the Martial Sages and the cosmic monster it gave birth to, Emperor Rael grew increasingly stunned by the moment. His eyes widened with shock when he learned about the intervention of the Transcendent Emperor and his subsequent disappearance.

As well as his message for the Emperor of Harmony.

“He said that this war is more important than you realize.” Sage Damian’s powerful gaze looked straight into the golden eyes of the Emperor of Harmony. “He said that you cannot succumb, for the sake of human civilization. For the sake of life. For the sake of Gaia.”

Emperor Rael’s eyes narrowed as he fell into deep consideration.

He didn’t understand.

Martial Transcendents were a piece of the puzzle of the world that not even he understood. Like others, he had not come close to understanding why they refrained from intervening in the world. And now he found the inscrutable words of the Transcendent Emperor to be equally cryptic.

Why did the ruler of an enemy nation wish for the success of an enemy state?

For the sake of human civilization? For life? For Gaia?

He shook his head.

He didn’t understand.

But it didn’t matter.

“I never had any intention of losing, either.” His tone was severe and hard as his gaze returned to the Devil. “I have received his message. I appreciate everything you have done for the Kandrian Empire. I will formally congratulate and reward all the Martial Sages for their immense contributions to the Kandrian Empire, including the success of my mission and successful saving of my son, as soon as I’m able to. For now, however, if there’s nothing else, then I will have to return to handling the economic and political crisis that has struck our country.”

Damian nodded before leaving wordlessly.

Meanwhile, Emperor Rael only grew increasingly more absorbed in the storm that the Kandrian Empire had found itself in. He kept himself up to date with all developments as he guided monetary and financial policy. He began to gain a deeper understanding of the problem.

All the economic problems, varied and diverse as they were, could be boiled down to one problem.

“Lack of trust…” Emperor Rael eruditely realized. “Lowered credit ratings mean they don’t trust us to pay all our debt back. Dumped bonds… dumped equity… These are all signs of loss of trust or chain reactions caused by the loss of trust.”

This also corroborated with what he saw on the political side of problems.

Remuneration, compensation, condemnation…

“What the hell are they even talking about?” A hint of frustration entered Emperor Rael’s voice. “Just what has happened for them to all take such extreme stances against the Kandrian Empire?”

He could very easily find out by confronting them, but revealing that would only leave him in a position of weakness in negotiations.

“Your Majesty!” The Director of the Kandrian Intelligence Bureau stormed into the royal office with a document in his hand. “We have found the source of the political and economic mistrust! Our spy network has gotten its hands on numerous copies of the same document across all sectors in East Panama!”

Chill crawled across the skin of the Emperor of Harmony as he saw the title of the document.

[The Fraud of Harmony]

“Oh no…” A grave whisper escaped him.

–