The Martial Unity

His journey brightened up with a companion he regarded as an equal and someone just like him. It also brightened up because of the warmth and light in her temperament and personality.

Rui didn’t know it was possible for a journey through the devastated Human Domain infested with beasts and monsters to feel so positive.

And yet, she succeeded in doing just that. “So this…” A faint whisper escaped her, “This is the human domain.”

A smile of earnest happiness bloomed on her face.

“It’s beautiful.”

She gazed out the vast landscape that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The cool breeze washed over while the light of dawn graced her gently. It was a truly overwhelming experience.

“You sound like you’ve never seen the Human Domain before.” Rui raised an eyebrow as he passed by her. “Come on, let’s go. People await us.”

“…Can’t you appreciate the beauty of heaven and earth?” she pouted, catching up with him. “This is a beautiful privilege that only we are able to afford!”

“I have been experiencing this for the past year,” Rui scoffed with amusement. “It’s wonderful the first hundred times, then it just becomes normal.”

“Still, we should be grateful to have such a beautiful world, don’t you think?” her gaze softened as she returned to appreciating the beauty of the world around her. Rui stirred as he directed his attention to the world around them.

“I suppose we should.”

She smiled, bringing her hands together. “Dear Gaia, thank you for being so beautiful.”

“I know a man who thinks she’s alive.” Rui’s tone grew mirthful. “Who knows? Perhaps she heard you.”

“I hope she did,” her voice was as gentle as it was sincere, turning towards him. “I hope to explore Gaia and everything she has to offer. I hope that I will be able to…”

Her voice trailed off with uncertainty and discomfort.

The world chilled and darkened as she fell into a pensive state of mind, depriving it of her warmth and light.

Rui paused, turning around as he gazed at her with deep eyes. “You hope to be able to remember?”

She smiled at him with a bittersweet expression. “So you know, after all.”

She wasn’t surprised.

Her Embodiment reflected her memories, thus undoubtedly revealing her sealed memories when she accessed them. Rui could sense her apprehension.

“I do know, Amare,” he walked towards her, never once taking his eyes off of hers. “I know more than you can possibly imagine.”

He arrived before her.

Close enough to feel her warmth.

To catch a whiff of her sweet scent.

“I know because I’m the same.”

Her eyes widened with surprise at his words. “The same…?”

Rui nodded softly. “Let me show you.”

It took only a split second to do so with the power hypnosis, communicating everything he needed non-verbally.

He showed her the memories he had inherited.

He showed her death.

And then rebirth.

“You…” the faintest of whispers escaped her. “You’re the same… you’re the same as me.”

At that moment, a special intimacy that no one else in the world could have arose between them. He nodded with gentle eyes. “We are the same. I lived most of my life believing I had reincarnated in another world, and when I found out the truth, it broke me. That is why I’m going to do you a favor and tell you the truth now before you come to believe a lie.”

She gazed at him with a stunned expression.

“Amare,” he began with a firm tone. “These memories were implanted within you. They were sealed within you. They were infused within you when you were very young, possibly when you were unborn. Through an extraordinarily complex memory transfer process.”

She grew horrified at his words. “What…? But why? Who would do such a thing to an infant?”

His expression grew grave. “I don’t know. But… I have some suspicions.”

He hadn’t forgotten that it was the three original Sages who had created the soul transference ritual. He also hadn’t forgotten the fact that it was the Beggar Sage who had given the Martial immortality, spreading her memories across vessels to create brainwashed subjects who were deluded into believing they were the same original Martial.

What was the probability that they were unconnected to what had happened to Amare?

“Suspicions…?” her tone was that of shock. “You know who might have done this to us?”

“To you, yes. Unfortunately, I still don’t know who did this to me or why,” Rui explained. “Rest assured, I will explain everything from the very start.”

As he began describing the story of the Divine Doctor, the Beggar Sage, and the Psycher and how they created the Soul Transference Ritual, her expression grew increasingly shocked and stunned.

“…They brainwashed clones of themselves and hypnotized them to inherit their memories?” her whisper shook with horror. “That’s… horrible! How could they do that to innocent people?”

Rui nodded, heaving a sigh. “What people won’t do to obtain eternal life or the closest thing to it. Coming back to the point, the Martial was one of the people who had earned the power of immortality, allowing her to travel human civilization across centuries, spreading the power of Martial Art everywhere she went, including…”

“The Gen Temple…” she murmured with a shocked expression. “But that means I…”

“Your case is… strange and odd,” Rui admitted. “I don’t know why your memories are sealed. If you were intended to be a vessel for the Martial, then they would not have sealed your memories. After all, doing so would have allowed you to develop your own identity, which you have.”

A smile emerged on his face.

“You are Amare, after all.”

His words managed to draw out certainty from within the muck of lost haze her emotions were.

“I am Amare. But… these memories are a part of me, as well. I don’t what that makes me.” Her voice grew uncertain even as she smiled at Rui. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”

Rui stared at her with a hint of disapproval. “You’re too trusting. Why are you believing me so easily? What if I lied to you?”

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