The Martial Unity

“The Gu…” A soft whisper escaped Amare as her expression grew sorrowful. “Why… why has it done such a horrible thing? Why has it stolen people themselves?”

There were nations that stole land.

There were nations that stole gold.

Resources.

Capital.

But this was the first time she had ever seen a nation that stole the people and left behind all other valuables.

Rui’s expression grew grave as he had a better inkling of why the Gu had done such a horrible thing. He didn’t have the heart to tell her. “Come,” he gently patted her shoulder. “We need to go. The Gu awaits us. We will find answers to our questions there.”

They traveled towards the Gu over the next month, getting closer and closer to the epicenter of the Sage-level powerhouse.

The pattern of empty polities continued without so much as a single exception.

Every settlement, every village, every kingdom, even larger and more powerful ones.

They even came across Sage-level nations whose names rang a bell in Rui’s mind.

And yet, they were all empty.

It was beyond fathoming.

Even Rui struggled to understand just how this was happening.

How did the Gu manage to do all of this in silence?

How did it manage to do it fast enough that the other nations didn’t even have time to muster even the slightest bit of a defense?

It was a level of power that was well beyond almost any other Sage-level powerhouse he had run into. Aside from the Kandrian Empire, he couldn’t think of a single other powerhouse that would have the power to do something like that. That wasn’t the only strange thing about the Gu’s domain of influence.

Another thing that was quite strange was that all the monsters and beasts moved in the same direction.

No matter where they were, all the beast and monster converged upon a single point.

Rui’s eyes widened with a chilling realization. “They’re going to where human beings are.”

And within the Gu’s domain of influence all the people were concentrated in a single location.

The Abyss of the Gu.

Like magnetic lines, the beast tides converged upon it with rampaging aggression.

The closer they drew, the greater the intensity and density of beasts and monsters were.

All the beasts and monsters across a small chunk of the nation, moving towards a single destination.

No other powerhouse, not even the Britannian Empire, sustained such an astronomical amount of pleasure.

Rui and Amare could feel the tingling tension of the tumultuous atmosphere as the maddened frenzy of the beast tides only escalated as they literally fought for space amongst each other.

“ROOOAAARRR!!!”

“KRRRIIIEEEKKK!!!”

“RAAAWWWRRR!!!”

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook as they rampaged forth.

Rui could sense the sheer primal aggression intensifying the denser they got. He saw a stretch of beasts and monsters, unlike anything he had ever seen in his entire life. The beasts tides that the Kandrian Empire faced were mild in comparison to what he was witnessing here. After all, the Kandrian Empire’s sphere of influence had many other nations that bore a part of the burden.

The same could not be said for the Gu.

As a result of its own consequences, there were no other nations in the vicinity to take the burden for it. It bore the sole burden of countless monsters and beasts in its domain of influence that converged upon it with the intent to destroy the one and only population center in the entire region.

Rui and Amare tightened their grip over each other’s hands as a sense of severity took over them.

Rui intensified his Greater Phantomind Void with Megamind.

His energy expenditure would increase, but he could handle it just fine with the Blood of Solaris. It was worth it.

It was much better than having to face the monstrosity of beast tide that surged for the Gu.

Rui swept a grim gaze across the sky.

He couldn’t even see it. It was blocked entirely.

Not by clouds, no.

But by monsters.

“RRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHHH!!!!”

An enormous Sky Dragon with shining blue scales roared with primal aggression as it spread its vast wings that spanned a vast area, dwarfing even cities. Behind it were smaller and younger dragons of the pack that joined their Sage-level leader.

His apprehensive gaze shifted to the other side, where a flock of birds that burned like Suns in their own rights blazed their fires across the sky.

“KRRRRRRIIIIIIEEEEEEKKKKK!!!”

White hot flames exceeding even the heat of his Sun technique constituted their entire beings.

Numerous other powerful avian beasts and monsters surged through the skies, each deadlier than the next.

A swarm of monster hornets.

A flock of rocs.

A group of griffons.

A group of plumed serpents.

All manner of beast and monsters across the entirety of the Tree of Life converged upon the Gu with on and only one intention.

To destroy it. “This…” a whisper escaped him. “This is what the Gu has fought for three years?”

The realization sent chills across his skin.

It was only then that he fully understood what kind of monster this powerhouse was. A deviant in every sense of the word.

Every Sage-level powerhouse was deviant.

It had to be, to emerge as one of fourteen powerhouses.

But this was a level deviation that far exceeded any other powerhouse that Rui had ever seen. Not even the Blood Cult was as extreme as the Gu.

“Rui…” Amare’s shocked whisper drew his attention. “Look there…”

A hint of horror lingered in her eyes. “I think… I think we have arrived.”

His gaze shifted towards the horizon as he beheld their destination.

What he saw stunned him.

The land depressed, inclining downwards gently over thousands of kilometers.

It sat at the epicenter.

An abyss of darkness.

One that spanned a diameter of ten thousand kilometers.

Rui’s eyes widened with shock as even his powerful senses failed to breach the darkness from the outside.

It was darkness incarnate.

Darkness that stirred in the depths, devouring all light and life.

In that moment, a wave of chilling terror washed over every single creature that beheld the depths of a place that could be described as a living hell.

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