The Martial Unity

“The problem with that line of logic is that Martial Sages can only stabilize the situation of human civilization for as long as they are here,” the Britannian Prime Minister declared. “The moment they leave to destroy the Beast That Roared, we will be back to square one.”

“We can prepare solutions with the reprieve we get from their protection,” Chairman Bradt retorted. “We can ensure that we build ourselves in the time that we are protected by them.”

“And just what solutions can you erect with their presence that you could without their presence?” The Britannian Prime Minister raised an eyebrow. “They cannot directly improve our power to cope without their absence. If anything, we will likely grow psychologically dependent on them and not proliferate any solution we develop as fast as we would without their presence.”

“Their presence gives us time to adaptively evolve to the threat of an evolved intelligent Beast Incursion,” the Chairman replied with a strong tone. “Case in point, the five years that we had to proliferate the solutions of the Esoterist and the Dawnbringer through humanity. It is only thanks to the Martial Sages protecting us that we were all to safely adaptively evolve to the Beast Incursion.”

“Time is not something that we can afford to force them to give us,” the Prime Minister shook his head. “Not as long as the Beast That Roared as an existential threat is still active. You have no idea what the consequences of calling the Martial Sages from the depths of the Beast Domain will be. In the ideal world, it is possible that the beast will simply sit inside the very epicenter of the Beast Domain and never move from there. But that is naive wishful thinking at best. In my mind, the Beast That Roared is similar to the threat of the quasi-Transcendents such that it is only a matter of time before it emerges from the center of the Beast Domain.”

Chairman Bradt narrowed his eyes. “So you you place more weight on a hypothetical threat of existential significance than on an actual confirmed threat?”

“Hypothetical threat?” the Prime Minister gazed at him with disbelief. “Hypothetical? The Beast That Roared is the single realest threat that humanity has ever faced! With a single roar, it rewrote the future and the destiny of this continent and our species! With a single roar, it destroyed our dominance. It destroyed everything we built in the past millennium!”

A hint of rage and frustration bottled up deep within the Britannian Prime Minister exploded in the meeting.

Out of all the nations in the world, the Britannian Empire was one of the most obsessed with hierarchies of power. It was keenly aware of its dominant position as a colonizing powerhouse, spreading its culture and footprint across its domain of influence. It was also most proud of humanity’s dominance on the continent.

The third Great East Panamic War had stripped it of its dominance in East Panama and the Beast Incursion had stripped humanity of its dominance in the world. It was truly a bitter pill to swallow that had caused a lot of resentment and frustration to build up within him. “Mark my words,” Prime Minister Edward growled. “The Beast That Roared is our greatest enemy. Once we slay it, everything can be fixed…”

He turned to the Ecologer, “…isn’t that right?”

She stirred where she stood, having simply observed the dialogue of the leaders silently until then. “There is a fifty-percent chance that the death of the Beast That Roared will end the Beast Incursion. If I had more data about from its roar, I would be able to model the nature of the influence it has over the beasts and monsters of the Beast Incursion.”

The Britannian Prime Minister turned back to Chairman Bradt. “A fifty percent chance of ending the Beast Incursion is worth it relative to any plan that we have cooked up. None of any of our ideas have had anything more than a five percent chance of ending the Beast Incursion and none of them have worked. Need I remind you in the past ten years, we have tried mass hypnosis, we have tried special sensory stimulants, we have tried a beast targeted epidemic of a virus, we have even tried special poisons. But nothing we have ever conceived of has ever worked.”

Chairman Bradt shook his head. “The agenda of this meeting is sustenance. Not a direct victory.”

“A victory would sustain us more than any half-baked measure,” the Britannian Prime Minister coldly retorted. “Let me remind you that you have absolutely no proof that the Martial Sages returning from the Beast Domain will not be a blunder that destroys our civilization. If there is even a slight possibility of the Beast That Roared emerging from the depths of the Beast Domain, then the probability of that event happening increases as time passes.”

“As opposed to the very real possibility of succumbing to the new evolved and intelligent Beast Incursion?” Chairman Bradt raised an eyebrow.

“The beast emerging from the Beast Domain will mean absolute destruction of humanity, by all estimates,” the Prime Minister retorted with a steely tone. “The evolved, intelligent Beast Incursion is certainly a threat. But it isn’t insurmountable and will not lead to the absolute destruction of our civilization.”

Chairman Bradt heaved a sigh, shaking his head. “There is no point in dragging this out any further. Your Majesty…”

He turned to the Emperor of Harmony. “Surely you are in agreement with the sensible decision of bringing the Martial Sages back.”

Emperor Rael gazed deeply at the Britannian Prime Minister before turning to the Chairman and shaking his head.

“I’m afraid not, Chairman. I find myself being more compelled by the merits of the arguments of the Britannian Prime Minister in this particular case. I strongly recommend that we do not interfere with the Martial Sages while they prepare for their final battle with the Beast That Roared to hopefully end this war forever.”

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