The Martial Unity

The air around them grew heavy as the leaders of the Sage-level nations around the world hardened with severity the sheer scale of the problem they were facing. The new revelation that there was a younger elder tree that had seized control of the newer flora that had repopulated the Panama Continent and used all that flora to allow the Beast Incursion to conduct ambushes was beyond concerning.

It was an existential threat to human civilization. “I have communed with a specimen of the elder tree species,” the Emperor of Harmony informed them with a serious tone. “It is a highly intelligent organism with a shocking ability to communicate through tree networks at a truly mind-boggling speed and distance. If one specimen of this species is against us, then we will need to make extreme improvements to our strategic outlook, else…”

Emperor Rael’s eyes sharpened. “…We’ll be wiped out.”

For the Emperor of Harmony to speak so highly of this new threat did not bode well. If he said it was dangerous and a threat, then it was probably an existential threat to the fabric of human civilization.

A heavy silence bore down on the conference as they struggled to find a path out of this predicament. The only thing they knew was that if they did nothing, they were bound to experience much greater tragedies and catastrophes than just the destruction of half of the Sekigahara Confederate.

“What if we…” Chairman Bradt began with a dark tone, “…recall the Martial Sages from the center of the Beast Domain?”

In the past fifteen years, he had aged visibly, albeit not too significantly, having been bestowed a healing potion by the Emperor of Harmony, who found his knowledge, competence, and experience with distribution to be far too valuable. With the destruction of the Shionel Confederation seven years ago due to natural reasons, such as the complete freeze of all international free trade, the countless merchants of the Shionel Confederation had disbanded and sought refuge in the Republic of Gorteau and the Kandrian Empire.

Chairman Bradt was no longer a guildmaster, but had exclusively dedicated his time and energy to the Bradt-Kandria Seafaring Distribution Enterprise.

It was only thanks to Chairman Bradt and Princess Ranea working hand in hand that food, in massive quantities, had managed to be shipped from the Cornucopia of the Britannian Empire to virtually half of all human civilization. The two of them had earned themselves a rather high rank in human civilization’s resistance and struggle against Beast Incursion, earning them the right to partake in the meeting in addition to the leaders of the Sage-level nations.

The other leaders at the table stirred at his suggestion with an engrossed expression.

They would be lying if they didn’t find the idea to be seductively tempting.

Virtually all their problems would be solved if the Martial Sages returned home and defended humanity with their invincible power. Humanity would be as secure as a rock and would ensure that they had nothing to fear.

This was too attractive to let go of very easily, for many of the leaders of human civilization has thoroughly learned just how much they depended on the Martial Sages of humanity for their psychological comfort. These Martial Sages truly formed the basis of confidence for virtually all leaders of Sage-level leaders.

However, not everybody was willing to let themselves succumb to this desire.

“That is not a good idea,” the Britannian Prime Minister sharpened his eyes as his intense glare fixed on Chairman Bradt. “The Martial Sages are dealing with threats so perilous to the very fabric of human civilization that it would make this elder tree nonsense look like an infant throwing a tantrum. Need I remind you that one roar from the Beast That Roared has singe-handedly caused all the suffering that we have endured in the past sixteen years?”

This was a powerful rebuttal that reminded them of the true threat to all of human civilization. They had put the matters of the horrors lurking in the depths of the Beast Domain in the back of their mind after the Martial Sages departed from humanity a decade ago. It was now exclusively the Martial Sages’ job and that of the Solution of Harmony strategic task force to worry about the horrifying threats emerging from within the Beast Domain.

“That does not mean forget that the threats that they deal with are far greater than the ones that we are dealing with,” Prime Minister Edward snorted. “Do not lose track of the big picture. The wars that we are dealing with are essentially the side-war. The main war is the war between our finest warriors and that of the single greatest singularity of an existential threat to our species and civilization.”

Chairman Bradt frowned at the Britannian Prime Minister’s response. “The most pressing reason that the Martial Sages were deployed into the depths of the Beast Domain was to deal with the quasi-Transcendent beasts and monsters. Now, they have exterminated every last one of them. This means that the reason behind their pressing departure into the Beast Domain is now gone. They no longer have to be in the Beast Domain at all costs.”

“Your evaluation of threats is inconsistent with the reality of the matter,” the Britannian Prime Minister shook his head. “The quasi-Transcendent beasts and monsters were the most immediate threat, but they were never the most significant or the greatest threat to human civilization. The greatest threat to human civilization was always the Beast That Roared. It is of such an extraordinary magnitude in its threat that it dwarfs the quasi-Transcendents and the Beast Incursion combined. If not dealt with immediately, we would be flirting with the possibility of absolute destruction.”

Guildmaster Bradt frowned, unconvinced. “Would it not be prudent to have the Martial Sages return home, stabilize the situation, and then depart back to the Central Highlands of the Beast Domain once more? Would it not make sense to ensure that we use what we have to fix this crisis?”

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