The Martial Unity

Soon enough, Rui put the matter aside temporarily as he swiftly headed to the shelter.

The moment he reached, his mind sense was flooded by negative emotions. The atmosphere was dark.

The air was curdled with fear, despair, anger, misery, and frustration.

STEP

Rui arrived at the shelter, a massive underground complex that could sustain a huge population within it. It had a shared space system where large groups of people huddled in huge spaces with bedding on the ground among other places.

Rui’s powerful sense immediately swept over the entire establishment before finding his family huddled up in one of the shared spaces. Fortunately, they were all together.

The security at the place immediately let him pass as the prince of the empire, allowing him to descend underground and head to his family.

“Rui…” Alice widened her eyes when he appeared before them. “Rui!”

She pulled him in for a hug as she broke down sobbing.

“I’m sorry I was away.” Rui’s expression grew remorseful. “I’m sorry you have to go through this.” He swept his gaze across the adults that were all clearly weary, stressed, and tired even if they were happy to see him. The children were all asleep, clearly exhausted from the two days of evacuation.

“I know this has been tough on all of you,” he told them as he pulled away from Alice. “But I promise this will end soon. The emperor is making absolutely certain that there is no danger in letting you all return home before actually doing it. And so far, things are looking extremely optimistic for us. While a few monsters have gotten past the border here and there, they have been thoroughly crushed by our special corps. Our Martial Artists have fought valiantly to protect the Kandrian Empire. You will be able to go home soon.”

A wave of relief spread through all of them. Some of them even broke down crying due to the surge of emotions they felt at his words.

It reminded Rui that even if the Beast Incursion had been beneficial to the Kandrian Empire compared to the alternative, it was still a horrifying apocalypse for the average person. The average person would have to try and sleep with the fear of the frenzied beasts and monsters that ravaged at the border, racing to get to kill them all. That was a genuinely hellish world for the common people.

And it reflected in the sheer negativity of emotion that lingered in the air.

That was a genuinely hellish world for the common people.

And it reflected in the sheer negativity of emotion that lingered in the air.

It took a toll on all of them.

“Rui… have you checked up on the Martial Apprentices of the Quarrier Village? What about Max and Mana?” Farion asked weakly.

Rui cursed himself mentally for not having done that. His mind had been filled with so many more astronomically consequential matters that it hadn’t even struck him to do that. “No. The battle is too chaotic and not enough time has passed to know the state of each Martial Artist on demand. In the first place, this was a hastily formed defense line without the corresponding registration,” Rui calmly told them. “I will find out and let you know as soon as I am able to. Bear in mind that we Martial Artists need to prioritize all our power to fighting and growing stronger to protect the Kandrian Empire. The government will handle the rest.”

Yet, he noticed that it wasn’t just the government that was helping the citizens in the shelters. There was also another organization that had been authorized to aid the Kandrians in these tough times.

The Kandrian Ruffians led by his half-brother Raul.

Rui hadn’t thought about him in quite some time, yet he made a mental note to drop by and express gratitude to him for his help. “Get ready,” Rui told all of them. “Soon, the state of emergency will be called off and the evacuation period will end. You will all be able to return home.”

“But… will we be able to live in the Quarrier Village any more?” they asked him with concern. “It’s not too far from the border where the beasts and monsters are fighting.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Rui shook his head. “There will be many defensive lines and perimeters in place. Lots of systems and failsafes to ensure that the citizens will be protected at all times.”

So far, the beast tides were tough and grueling but not overwhelming. The third shift had already been dispatched and things were going well while the first shift had already recovered and was ready to get back into action.

This certainly put a lot of stress on Martial Artists, but it wasn’t anywhere nearly as much stress as what the Britannian Empire had endured. Not only had a part of the border been breached, but a chunk of the empire had been destroyed with millions of people dead.

“Be ready,” Rui repeated his message again after spending some more time lifting their spirits, comforting them, and inquiring about their conditions. “It will soon be time to go home.”

With that, he soon departed from the shelter, having ensured that his family was okay. Yet, his talk with them caused the sense of urgency in his heart to grow more and more, making him more determined to finish the proto-Tree of Life system of thought as soon as possible.

On top of that, he himself needed to grow stronger in order to secure the safety of the Kandrian Empire as much as possible.

That was why Project Forge was also at the top of his list in terms of priority. As a Martial Master and one of the two strongest Martial Masters in East Panama, every gain he made in power would do much to protect the Kandrian Empire and the people he cared about.

It was another source of drive in addition to Project Water, which was his ultimate ambition.

Thus, the next one month, which was fourteen manifold months, was completely clear and set.

It was time to get to work. –