The Martial Unity

“I am more aware of what was so close to happening,” Emperor Rael calmly replied. “But you are making the same mistake that Prime Minister Edward made. Do not let your emotions impede rational judgment. The fact of the matter is that if the Republic of Gorteau, the Sekigahara Confederate, and the Britannian Empire are destroyed, then we too will be destroyed. More importantly, if they are not strong enough to survive without their Sages, then they won’t deploy their Sages to the Central Highlands to fight quasi-Transcendent beasts and monsters. I know you are more than smart enough to understand how devastating this will be for us.”

Rui narrowed his eyes.

Of course, he entirely understood the reasoning for why it was a terrible outcome for the Kandrian Empire.

In order to stop quasi-Transcendent beasts from destroying East Panama, they needed to intercept them in the Central Highlands. However if the Republic of Gorteau, the Britannian Empire, and the Sekigahara Confederate did not send their Sages, the task-force would not be able to cull them in the Central Highlands due to insufficient Sage power.

“Each Sage-level powerhouse will be most focused on culling the quasi-Transcendent beasts closest to them that are most likely to emerge in their direction,” Emperor Rael continued with a composed tone. “This means that the four powerhouses of East Panama will be responsible for dealing with the quasi-Transcendent beasts in the eastern section of the Beast Domain.”

“…And if we don’t send in all our Sages, then we won’t be able to stop them from destroying all of East Panama,” Rui noted with a distasteful expression. “So we need our enemies to send all their Sages along with ours. Which means they need to be able to survive without their Sages, which means they need my help.”

Rui understood this reasoning very well.

He just disliked the idea of helping the Britannian Empire after the prime minister had tried to wipe the Kandrian Empire off the map.

In fact, he was stunned that his father could be so exceedingly rational and help a man who had tried to destroy him because it had been the most logical action at the time in his own self-interest.

Rui was not as pragmatic for that to come to him naturally.

But in this particular case, he understood just how severe and grave their situation was. They truly needed to band together as a single species if they were to overcome the apocalypse of the Beast Incursion.

“Fine, but there is a chance that they will use this opportunity to kill me,” Rui remarked. “They hate my guts, after all.”

“Not even the maddest Sekigaharan clan leader will dare to inflict  so much as a scratch on you,” Emperor Rael told him. “Killing you will instantly make them the absolute sworn enemy of the entire world forever. There are simpler ways to commit suicide. Less painful ways too.”

Rui shrugged. “That is true, I suppose.”

As the purveyor of the Hellbringer model, he was one of the two hopes of all of human civilization in overcoming the Beast Incursion. In addition, he was especially valued since he would be personally accelerating the Hellbringer rate of mastery in each nation. Thus, all Sage-level nations needed him alive and well.

Moreover, he was also among the only two people who could break Martial Artists through to a higher Realm, which was also a desperately desired ability.

Anyone who dared to kill him was beyond doomed.

“I can’t go immediately anyway,” Rui calmly replied. “I will go after I complete my current training.”

Emperor Rael frowned. “That is your prerogative, of course. But keep in mind that human civilization needs your aid immediately.”

“I am aware of that,” Rui remarked. “I don’t intend to delay it for too long. Besides, we have information that the rest of the world doesn’t have, which is that the quasi-Transcendent beasts are not going to emerge soon.”

Emperor Rael directed a knowing look at Rui. “You’re referring to the Elder Tree’s state of mind.”

“It was able to resist the commanding roar powerfully,” he noted. “It was at the peak of the Sage Realm comparatively, though it did have a powerful mind. It means that the quasi-Transcendent beasts are most likely even less affected, which significantly increases the period over which they will likely start appearing.”

Emperor Rael stirred at his words. “That is a sound conclusion, but it is not certain. So try not to take too much time. It is best if we are able to deploy as many Sages as quickly as possible.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Rui calmly replied. “Frankly, if not for the manifold, I would be extremely troubled. This current training phase of mine is going to take years at the bare minimum. I will be entering a deep training phase soon where I won’t exit the manifold for anything until I have completed my training.”

“What about your Water Sect headquarters?” Emperor Rael raised an eyebrow. “It shouldn’t be too far from completion given how many months ago you commenced this project.”

“The Water Sect staff and administration know exactly what to do even without me. I made sure of that,” Rui answered. “As for the international Water Sect branches for accessing my special Hellbringer training methodologies, Guildmaster Bradt will handle that in coordination with my staff and administration. I don’t care to involve myself with business or politics.”

There was a good reason that Rui had completely left all of that permanently and it was the best decision he had ever made. Ever since he completely shed the political shackles that came with being the Crown Prince, his Martial progress had accelerated significantly due to how free he was to focus on himself and his Martial Path. He didn’t plan to make the mistake of making the Water Sect a shackle that continuously sucked away at his time and energy, completely sabotaging his process. From this point on, he would focus solely on himself for the next few years inside the manifold.

“One last thing,” his father added with a serious tone. “I wanted to hear your thoughts on MECHA and its place in the Kandrian Empire.”

Rui stirred at his words, falling into thought.