The Martial Unity

Rui heaved a deep breath as he gazed at the Virodhabhasa Theocracy in the distance down below.

“It’s changed.”

Of course, it had. The last time he had visited it was almost twenty years ago. What nation wouldn’t change in the span of twenty years?

And yet, that didn’t make him more comfortable in the presence of the nation.

“Let’s go.”

Amare nodded as the two of them leaped off the mountain cliff and slowly descended down to the world below them. On the other side of the nation, the world tremored from the onslaught of the Beast Incursion and the Martial Artists of the Virodhabhasan Martial Artists protecting the nation from it. RUMBLE…

The seismic radiation was so intense that it could be felt all the way where Rui and Amare were. It wasn’t long before they finally arrived at the Virodhabhasa Theocracy.

The massive gates that served as a port of entry opened slowly, revealing nearly half of the Martial Sages of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy. Rui gritted his teeth he felt their domineering presence weigh down on the world around them.

Their demeanor was serious.

The tension in the air boiled tumultuously as Rui felt a tingling sense of danger.

And then, all seven of them suddenly surged towards him without any hint of a warning.

WHOOSH!

“Shit!” Rui cursed as he leaped away with a grave expression as they arrived before him in the blink of an eye.

“No!” Amare surged forward to intercept their attack with a panicked expression.

And yet, what followed was not an attack.

No.

What followed was a gesture of reverence.

They knelt before him, bowing his head to him. “We welcome Lord Virodhabhasa to our humble nation with all our heart.”

For a moment, nothing happened.

His eyes widened with shock. “You…”

He could feel the weight of their devotion to him. “I am Sage Kair, the Wind of Wisdom. We hope that you find our humble nation permissible.”

“I am Sage Niarobi, the Cloud of Convergence. Rest assured that we have vowed to serve you with all of our heart.”

“I am Sage Kenthil, the Sword of Severance. We shall protect you while you are still bound by this mortal form.”

“I am Sage Urrou, the Undying Priest. Allow us to surrender ourselves in our devotion to you.”

“I am Sage Melwin, the Silent Sage. We will fulfill your will.”

“I am Sage Karia, the Mourning Maiden. We will aid you in your destiny.”

“I am Sage Chila, the Embrace of Eternity. We are yours.”

The seven Sages prostrated themselves before Rui, who simply stared at them dumbfounded.

For a moment, he was rendered wordless by their actions and words.

His wariness of the Sages of the Theocracy had not halted, but it had receded partially.

If they wanted to capture him, they would have done it by now. He was entirely powerless to resist seven Sages at once, after all. And yet, they prostrated themselves before him obediently, swearing absolute loyalty. At the very least, he could surmise that their intentions weren’t overtly hostile. He simply didn’t trust their words enough to take them at face value without any hint of skepticism.

Amare had absolutely no idea what was happening, but Rui’s powerful thought had already deduced much of the truth.

“Raise your heads and rise. It is unbecoming of Sages to kneel to a Master.”

The seven Sages adhered to his order but did not agree with his words.

“You are the Antithesis.” “You are Lord Virodhabhasa.” “He who will deliver this world unto salvation.”

Their tone made it evidently clear that they were entirely serious about their words. He knew from experience that arguing with them about this was futile. Once the fellows made up their minds about him being their deity, there was no changing it. “…You said you would fulfill my will, didn’t you?”

If he couldn’t change their devotion to him, then he would use it.

“Yes, Your Divinity,” they spoke in unison. “We will fulfill your will.”

“Then, join the unified Sage-level task force.”

This was ultimately what he had come for in part: to reaffirm their participation in his father’s solution of harmony.

“Understood, Your Divinity.”

Rui’s eyes lit up with delight at how easy this was. “Wait, if I convince the other Sages that I’m the Antithesis, they will also be forced to obey my orders.”

“Of course, Your Divinity.”

“Blind as they may be to the Divinity that rests in every inch of your being, they too are devoted to Lord Virodhabhasa.”

“Then…” Rui’s eyes lit up with an idea he hadn’t considered before. “Can I just order all of them to join the Sage-level task force if I am convinced of my ‘divinity?’”

“Of course, Your Divinity.”

“We guarantee it, Your Divinity.”

“We can ensure that you will be safe.”

He fell into thought as he pondered the idea. Admittedly, it felt gross to pretend to be the deity of the Virodhabhasa Faith, but if it allowed him to achieve his goal, then it was worth it to attempt to go down this route.

His research into the Virodhabhasa Theocracy in the past few months had revealed that while although the Martial Pontifex of the nation had agreed to the Sage-level task force at face value, he didn’t represent the will of the nation, nor could he enforce his decision on his fellow Sages.

The Sages of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy had leaned towards relying on the Antithesis to solve all their problems, as opposed to partaking in his father’s sole solution to dealing with the quasi-Transcendent beasts and monsters.

Wondering how the hell he was going to convince all the power blocs within the nation to partake in the Solution of Harmony while simultaneously balancing out his own paranoia and fear towards the nation hadn’t been easy.

But he now realized that he could use what he had been afraid of to solve the problem of them not joining the Sage-level taskforce.

“This… this might be the key to solving this problem.”

–