The Martial Unity

“Damian…” Sage Shinken grumbled with a displeased expression. “To think the Emperor of Harmony sent you, of all people, on a diplomatic delegation. What a joke.”

The powerful winds that blew across the Heaven Sect brushed past him as the loose yukata draped over his body swayed gently.

The two of them glowered at each other in the pavilion of the finest luxury housing quarters of the Heaven Sect. They hadn’t expected to run into each other, but they didn’t waste any time immediately jumping into their shit-talking routine.

“Shinken, you cowardly bastard,” the Devil grinned with bloodlust. “Don’t talk shit when you can’t back it up with your fists.”

“Fool, you have come here as a delegate. A diplomat. Fists are the last thing you should resort to.” Sage Shinken cursed.

“Hah! Any diplomat that is too afraid to use their fists is a weak diplomat!”

Sage Shinken stared at him like he had lost his mind.

It was not far from the truth.

“Why am I even talking to you…?” He realized the foolishness of trying to reason with the Devil. “Heh, you bastards came all the way to root against us,” Sage Damian spat contemptuously. “Tsk tsk, what a pathetic lot of sore losers!”

“We’re on the same side, you fool!” Sage Shinken bellowed with frustration. “We’re here to root FOR the Dawnbringer! We have much to lose if he dies!”

“…So you have given up. Tsk tsk, that makes you even more pathetic!”

Sage Shinken’s eyes grew bloodshot as veins popped on his head as his temper rose exponentially. He was normally a calm and composed man, but for some reason, the Devil always managed to irritate, anger, and frustrate him.

“Please calm down, Sage Shinken,” a woman next to him with frosty silver hair and eyes tried coaxing him. “We cannot engage in a conflict on foreign soil. It will damage our trustworthiness. Nations may start refusing us outright if a fight breaks out here.”

Sage Shinken glanced at Sage Himari as his rage subsided. “…I know.”

The Devil shifted his gaze to the woman beside his archenemy and rival, and his eyes lit up with recollection. “You…”

“…It’s an honor to meet one of the four Transcendent candidates,” Sage Himari spoke to him with a measure of respect. “My name is Himari. I have joined Sage Shinken to witness the Dawnbringer’s battle against yet another Martial Sage.”

Sage Damian’s grin widened. “You couldn’t control yourself, hm?”

Her demeanor grew reluctant and uncomfortable. “…I couldn’t. I just had to see for myself. I just had to see for myself just how far he has come since my battle with him.”

Her battle against Rui was one of the most shocking events of her life. It shattered everything she thought she understood about the limits of power. The gap between Realms, once thought to be absolute, had suddenly become mere guidelines.

The Dawnbringer had shown to the world that it was possible to traverse the gap between Realm and fight at a higher Realm. He had shown them, or so they mistakenly thought, that it was possible to defeat a Martial Sage of the higher Realms.

Three years had passed since her battle with the Dawnbringer, but not a day had gone by which she didn’t find herself thinking back to it. It had served as a powerful motivation for her to grow stronger and stronger.

“It’s nothing to be uncomfortable about,” Sage Shinken remarked with a knowing tone. “You’re not the only one who is unable to control herself. Many Sages have come to witness this battle as spectators. They may use political excuses that may even be true, but the real reason that has driven them to come far is all the same.”

A shared understanding arose among the three Sages as they exchanged glances of anticipation.

They all were there to watch Rui fight a Martial Sage.

The three of them glanced to the side as two heavy presences approached the three of them. They wore skimpy clothing attire that hardly covered their albino skin with a crest of the Nest of Terra proudly embroidered on it. “As the official representative of the Nest of Terra, I would like to offer my greetings to the delegates of the Kandrian Empire and the Sekigahara Confederate,” Sage Kyria calmly offered a greeting to the three Martial Sages.

The Terrampager remained silent.

A strange tension had hardened his body, like he was trying to hold back a fart.

Ever since the world had falsely come to believe that he had been defeated by the Dawnbringer, he felt like he was going to crazy with anger. This had been exacerbated by his battle with Sage Sera the Harbinger who rubbed his not-defeat against the Dawnbringer in his face in the most humiliating ways possible.

That battle was the first time since Sagehood that he felt he might have forgotten who he was and lost his Martial Soul.

Since then, it took him all his conscious mind to make sure that he was constantly in touch with who he was, understanding his anger and frustration and its causal impact on his behaviors.

“Hah, the loser has come out of his little cave.” Sage Damian sneered with raw contempt.

Even Sage Shinken snorted with approval.

It was very rare that the two of them were on the same page.

The Terrampager’s eyes grew red with anger.

Sage Kyria heaved a sigh, placing her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from doing something that would disgrace the Nest of Terra even more than it had been disgraced already in recent times. “My fellow Sages, let us act in a manner befitting those we represent and abstain from childish insults that reflect poorly on our home nations,” Sage Kyria continued with a calm tone. “We are all here for the same reasons, after all.”

She reaffirmed their previous sentiment.

“We, too, wish to witness the power that bridges the gap between Realms,” she remarked with a knowing tone. Of course, for her, there was more.

She had been there when Rui had deduced what the Scriptures of Terra were. She had more clues as to what the Scriptures were than anybody else. She hoped that she would be able to get the final clues from watching the Dawnbringer fight a Martial Sage and watching him use the Scriptures.

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