The Martial Unity

Departing from the Virodhabhasa Theocracy left Rui feeling light and relaxed. His demeanor and body language were less stiff and rigid.

It was a subtle change.

And yet, Amare hadn’t missed it. “…You seem better,” she mused with a hint of curiosity and eagerness.

“I resolved a conflict of identity spanning two decades.” Rui smiled calmly. “I do feel better indeed. It has always been a passive, background thorn in my side, but now I feel as though I have gotten closure in so many ways.”

His powerful gaze shifted. “I am the Antithesis. Not because some religion told me or because of some ‘divine revelation,’ but because who I am, who I have aimed to be, has always been the Antithesis.”

She listened to him, smiling as she noticed how good he was clearly feeling. “I’m glad that you have made peace with a conflict of identity. With this, you have gotten even closer to the Sage Realm.”

Rui nodded, closing his eyes. “I can even see the gates to the Martial Soul some distance away on my Martial Path. And yet…”

His eyes opened with a hint of severity. “It seems harder and harder the closer I get. I suppose it’s like climbing a mountain, and it gets steeper and steeper the closer you get to the peak.”

She nodded. “I, too, am experiencing greater resistance to the top. This must be why so many Martial Masters fail to reach the top despite getting so close.”

“…To be honest, I’m surprised you’re not yet a Martial Sage,” Rui remarked with a hint of curiosity. “You have been purified, have you not?”

“Well, yes, but just because I have been purified does not mean I will reach the Sage Realm,” she replied. “Especially after the revelation of my memories. I think… the revelation of my sealed memories will help me take the final few steps I need. I look forward to meeting with the Psycher.”

She hummed along peacefully, entirely unbothered about the matter of her sealed memories. To her, it was not nearly as important as the truth of his identity and soul transfer was to him. They traveled through the beast-ridden Human Domain in the West of Panama. Rui had finally completed the entirety of South Panama with the Virodhabhasa Theocracy, having completed half of his journey across the human civilization.

In the past two and a half years, human civilization has changed much. Naturally, an enormous number of people had died since the Beast Incursion had begun. According to estimates drawn from the Beggar Sage, the Panamic Martial Federation estimated that close to three hundred and fifty billion human beings had perished since the Beast Incursion had commenced.

That represented roughly thirty-five percent of human civilization.

To say that it was devastating was an understatement.

It was the apocalypse that Rui had known it would be since the very moment the Beast Incursion had commenced.

Thankfully, with each passing month, the rate of progress of the Beast Incursion had reduced.

No doubt, much of it was simply due to human civilization adaptively evolving to its new conditions. By then, an overwhelming majority of polities had transitioned in a wartime and war-driven economy and civilization. The primary goal and ultimate objective were survival.

Everything else came after.

Humanity returned to a state of war, authoritarianism, and feudalism unseen since before the Age of Martial Art. Of course, this time was an inter-species war rather than wars between humans.

Regardless, all sociocultural and civilizational sophistication and progress were thrown out the window as the one and only priority of any and all states became survival. The lives of the average citizen had deteriorated in quality to unfathomable levels. Gone was any opportunity to pursue dreams and acquire desired goods and services in a free-market economy. With every government forcefully seizing resources to fund the defensive effort, even food was carefully rationed.

Citizens had turned into little more than slaves who existed to support their polities in whatever way they could.

And yet, there was shockingly little resistance from the average citizen to such an arrangement.

There was no rebellion effort.

That was because, as deeply unpleasant as this arrangement was, every citizen understood that it was either this or being crushed and eaten alive by horrific monsters. Even the most extreme of oppression was tolerated simply because their fear of being mangled and consumed by the beast tides was infinitely higher.

Morale across humanity was at an all-time low. Rui and Amare could see it in the eyes of the impoverished people of each nation they visited en route to their next Sage-level powerhouse destination.

Their empty eyes were devoid of hope.

Their spirits broken.

Upon Rui’s arrival, the citizens of each nation would erupt into a desperate longing for him, expressing the maelstrom of emotions they suffered through to him, praying for hope and salvation.

Rui made a big show of the Hellbringer model and the breakthroughs, trying to hype up the Martial Artists as much as possible. They were the last line in many states, without whom the nation would be doomed.

He found it more important to ensure that these people never lost confidence so that they wouldn’t eventually end up trying to escape. That was much more disastrous, as far as Rui was concerned.

Amare, on the other hand, focused exclusively on the people.

The plummeting morale and the intense despair in the air made her warm positivity stand out.

She became a beacon of warmth and comfort to many.

They absorbed her teachings like a sponge did water, finding respite with the basic tenets and principles of genism. Certainly, it didn’t magically fix the misery in the air, but it helped the people feel better or feel less bad about the hellish apocalypse that had swallowed up human civilization.

The two of them worked their magic across each nation that they passed, and the difference was noticeable.

The nations of South Panama did better than any other cardinal section of the continent, experiencing better morale and having a better performance.

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