The Martial Unity

2545  Bidding Farewel

Rui spent the following day with his family, catching up with them as he spent as much time as he could talking with them. It gave him perspective on what a normal life looked like.

It was not a life that he could ever bring himself to live.

He could never live in the same place doing the exact same thing every single day for the rest of his life. Not that he thought less of it, but it just wasn’t something that he could do. He knew that this life was the only kind that a lot of people could live.

He especially took his time speaking with each member of the first generation of the Quarrier Orphanage that he had grown up with. These were the people he cherished the most and missed the most.

People like Farion and Mica had played an important role in his life up until that point. Without them helping with his MMA training early on in his life, he might not have ended up making it into the academy. He was forever grateful for their aid and support.

Unfortunately, his farewell came sooner than he would have liked.

“I will be leaving the Kandrian Empire… indefinitely,” he managed to squeeze out. “I don’t know when I will return home. I… may not make it in time.”

He didn’t specify what he meant.

He didn’t need to.

The air grew melancholic.

“Rui.” Alice pulled him in for a frail hug. “Don’t be sad.”

“Yeah…” “We are happy for you, so don’t be sad for us. We will always remember you and we know you will always remember us.” Her voice was soft. “We have lived a good long life here in the Quarrier Village thanks to you. So don’t regret the life that you have chosen to live. Instead…”

She pulled away from him. “Live it to the fullest. That is the best thing that you can do.”

Rui smiled darkly. “Thank you.”

His gaze swept across all the other adults that had gathered around him.

“Thank you all for everything.”

“Hah!” Farion grumbled. “Enough sentimentalizing and get along now, we have work to do!”

His snap earned laughter out of everyone present.

Rui smiled. “Well…”

He gazed at all of them one last time. “This is goodbye.”

Even as he rose to the air, he received a flood of goodbyes and well-wishes.

It wasn’t easy leaving after that.

And yet, he gritted his teeth and pushed through nonetheless.

He knew that was going to be the last time that he saw the Quarrier Village in a long while. Disheartening as it was, he tried not to let that get him down. He flew through the sky, heading straight towards the Royal Palace in Vargard.

He needed to speak with his father before he headed out on his voyage across the Panama Continent. There were several things that needed to be established between them so that he wouldn’t mess up his commitments to the fate of all of human civilization.

It wasn’t too long before he landed in the Royal Palace, unimpeded by the heavy security that infested the most important Royal establishment and the most important individual in the Kandrian Empire.

CLACK

The massive, ostentatious doors to the Royal Office opened, revealing a diligent Emperor Rael immersed in what seemed like an endless hoard of paperwork.

“Well, look at who has finally decided to leave his den after six years.” His rich voice contained a hint of amusement.

“It was only five months in real time.” Rui shrugged.

“Five months in real time of an apocalypse that could very well destroy all of human civilization.” His father glanced up at Rui from all the paperwork that covered his table. “Still, I suppose it could have been worse. I will thank you for not prolonging your training session too much longer.”

“Tsk, a man can’t enjoy a proper training session around here these days,” Rui grumbled.

“Not when he is needed to save all of humankind, I’m afraid not,” his father retorted. “Still, now that you are here, we can begin.”

Rui tilted his head. “Begin with what?” “Your briefing, of course,” Emperor Rael calmly informed his son. “The world has not been sitting still in the past five months since the era-defining Human Summit came to a conclusion. Developments—important developments—have occurred since then.”

He passed Rui a document containing a report on everything that had happened in the past few months. Rui immediately began reading it. He was stunned by what he first read.

“Five years?” he murmured. “You managed to figure out how many years from now the quasi-Transcendent beasts will emerge from the depths of the Beast Domain?”

“Matriarch Nephi came through and after plenty of failed attempts, she managed to discern exactly how long it was until the quasi-Transcendents would reach human civilization,” Emperor Rael explained. “It required coordination with the Ecologer for her to foresee the right future. Thanks to her, we now know exactly how much time we have left.”

“She really saved us all with that priceless piece of intelligence.” Rui smiled. “Five years is more than manageable for me to travel across human civilization and accelerate the mastery of the Hellbringer model. Hell, I could potentially impart the Tree of Life model too, if there are any who are worthy.”

“That is your prerogative. However, I suggest you start with the Sekigaharans,” his father offered. “The Sekigahara Confederate suffered a border breach and incursion into its territory?” Rui grew stunned as he read through the report. “…Damn.”

The briefing report detailed how the absence of enough Martial Masters led to a collapse of the Master-level battlefield, causing a break in the defensive lines protecting the Sekigahara Confederate.

“They need your aid more than any other nation aside from perhaps the Britannian Empire,” his father continued. “So, head to the Sekigahara Confederate immediately, and give them the power they need to survive. I don’t need to tell you how much the Kandrian Empire would suffer if the Sekigahara Confederate is destroyed.”

Rui nodded with a severe expression. “…Will do.”