The Martial Unity

“This…” Amare’s whisper grew stunned. “No wonder you didn’t want to come back.”

Rui nodded, waving at all the people who boisterously cheered for his arrival. “But it was a long time ago, and I even got my revenge, so it’s about time that I got over it and got on about my job.”

It would definitely have been more unnerving if he hadn’t gotten some closure against Master Uma. It allowed him to move on past old grudges and focus on the objective that he had set for himself.

For now, his goal was fixed on finding the three Master seeds of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy and killing them. He had briefly considered whether he could convince them to make their Sages also join the unified Sage-level task force.

He quickly dismissed the idea.

If they were aligned on the matter in the first place, then they would have convinced their Sage supporters to help with the task force in the first place. The fact that they didn’t mean that they, too, were in favor of solving the problem by finding the Antithesis, who they likely regarded as themselves.

He was unlikely to convince them of anything in the first place, in which case he was much more inclined to simply dispose of them and hijack their supporters. Unfortunately, if not for the massive announcement of his arrival, he might have been able to get at least one off the list and work towards killing the other two. One thing that he disliked was that despite having all the Sages on his side, he couldn’t put them to use to hunt down his enemies.

“I can’t afford to cause a civil war in the nation.”

After looking at the mess that was the Nest of Terra and its civil conflicts, he definitely did not want to go that route. He would much rather figure out a way to kill the other three without involving the Sages.

But just like his Sages were protecting him, the Sages of the other three were also protecting them. “I don’t think I can just ambush them as I’d like to.”

It was very unlikely that the Sages would tolerate that. Thus, he needed to find a way to ensure that he could kill them without having to worry about their Sages while also not causing a civil war.

“…The only way that would work is if they are very far away from their Sages, from reason, or more viably if there was some sort of death battle.”

Rui found the latter to be significantly easier. The former would definitely require some extensive strategizing and planning to catch them entirely unguarded and unprotected. The latter, however, simply needed to be well-timed such that they couldn’t refuse it.

“If I challenge them in a public occasion, then they shouldn’t be able to refuse and lose face.”

There were expectations of the Antithesis.

That he was certain of. He knew because Master Uma wanted to brainwash and change him as a person, and he didn’t live up to her expectations in other regards. While their Sages wouldn’t go that far, they would certainly be disillusioned by their chosen seed if they didn’t even have the courage to partake in a death battle.

“Sage Kair.”

“Yes, Your Divinity?”

“Will there be a banquet or event of sorts involving the most important people of the nation to welcome me?”

“Most assuredly, Your Divinity.”

“…Ensure that the three other Antithesis seeds are also invited.”

“Understood, Your Divinity.”

He didn’t know if they would accept the invite, but there certainly would be some pressure to do so. Not accepting it would amount to fear, which would also end up with their Sages being disillusioned.

They couldn’t do anything that would afford them the disillusionment of their Sages. To a certain extent, this was true for Rui as well. The difference was that he had a tremendous amount of leeway because of how extraordinary his profile and track record were. With his ability to raise paths, he superficially resembled the Antithesis was like in the Virodhabhasa Theocracy.

In other words, he could get away with almost anything and not lose the faith of his Sage-level followers.

“We have come to an end of the welcoming parade, Your Divinity,” his newfound Sage followers remarked. “Would you like to pre-pone the welcoming ceremony? With your prestige and importance to this nation. People will accept the inconvenience and attend anyway.”

“That does sound tempting, but…” Rui turned to Amare with a knowing smile. “We are tired after travels. We would like to get some rest.”

It was more like Amare was exhausted while Rui was lightly worked out. But he cared too much about her to strain her anymore.

“Understood, Your Divinity. We will escort you to the prepared luxury quarters.”

And thus, the two of them retired for the day after a long period of travel.

“Ahhh…” Amare relished the warm and cozy beds of their room. “This feels so good~.”

Rui had insisted that they live together.

For security reasons, obviously.

“I didn’t take you for someone who enjoyed luxury,” Rui smirked. “Didn’t you grow up practicing austerity in your lifestyle? The Gen Temple didn’t have any luxury quarters, you know?”

“Mmm… I should tell grandma to reconsider…” she muttered to herself.

Rui laughed aloud while Amare rested after having traveled a huge distance on foot. “Things will get hectic from here on out while we remain in the Virodhabhasa Theocracy,” Rui continued. “Be sure to get some rest and get to your peak. I’m not saying something will definitely happen by any means, but it is best to remain on guard.” She turned to him with a mixed expression.

“Because you plan to kill three people in order to annex their Sages.”

Rui detected a hint of disapproval in her tone.

That worried him. “…I don’t have much of a choice,” Rui scratched his head. “Does Genism prohibit killing?”

She simply gazed at him before shaking her head.

“Genism does not speak of morality.”

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