The Martial Unity

“The Martial Sages have begun their final preparations for the final battle, Your Majesty.”

In the Kandrian Royal Office, the Emperor of Harmony heaved a deep sigh as he leaned forward on his messy, scattered table. Despite the bright light of the morning Sun that peered through the windows to his right, the air in the office grew intense at the news that the Director of Intelligence, standing before his table, informed him of. “At long last…” Emperor Rael’s rich voice was low and profound. “At long last we may finally end this nightmare. I don’t know how much longer human civilization could have taken the Beast Incursion and the Era of Darkness. Of course…”

His voice faltered as he left the unspoken as it was.

He didn’t even want to invoke the possibility of the Beast That Roared killing all the Martial Sages and then hunting down the rest of human civilization. Although, he was too careful not to prepare for such a possibility. He couldn’t stand even considering how horrible such an outcome would be.

“Perhaps those useless Transcendents would finally act.” A hint of resentment uncharacteristically glinted in his tone. He had never expressed dissatisfaction towards the Martial Transcendents of human civilization ceasing to act. In fact, he thought it was noble and was relieved that Transcendent Emperor Arthur didn’t put his foot on the Kandrian Empire’s throat with his Transcendent power.

Now, however, he felt a deep resentment towards the Martial Transcendents of human civilization who simply sat in their various abodes across the world and did nothing with their godly power.

He didn’t understand.

He knew that there were circumstances where they were willing to act.

The example of the Moonforger came to mind.

Then there was the fact that the Transcendent Emperor himself had crushed the singularity that the Martial Sages of East Panama had unwittingly created to protect human civilization from its destruction.

In other words, they were willing to act when the circumstances were dire.

That was why he didn’t understand why they had stayed their hand all throughout the Beast Incursion. “Huff…” he shook his head. “Forget it. There’s no point in thinking about them. We will have to make do with everything that we have.”

If there was one positive outcome that came from the Beast Incursion, it was the fact that human civilization had grown unfathomably stronger since its dawn, desperately trying to protect itself from the destruction of the Beast Incursion.

The number of Martial Artists around the world had doubled not just because of Rui and Ieyasu, but because of the fact that the drive for survival was the strongest, and it had replaced virtually all other drives in the past.

All Martial Artists, even those who had once retired, were vastly stronger than they had been prior to the start of the Beast Incursion. The rate of breakthroughs to each Realm had increased at an extraordinary pace and eventually, with enough time, each nation would be able to achieve the kind of numbers that the Kandrian Empire had.

As for the Kandrian Empire, the Emperor of Harmony tentatively projected that they could eventually achieve more than one thousand Martial Masters.

More than six times their old number.

Breakthroughs had increasingly begun to become a more common sight and every Martial Artist began progressing like their life depended on it.

And it did.

“…Even though our population has reduced substantially, the number of Martial Artists around the world has increased substantially in all Realms,” the Director nodded. “Even the Martial Sages who have had a gruesome mortality rate against the quasi-Transcendents have still increased in number, even if barely with how many Martial Masters have broken through to the Sage Realm.”

Emperor Rael nodded. “We have grown vastly stronger as a civilization as well.”

In the past, human civilization was fragile. Most polities were not prepared for heavy war.

Settlements and villages were the most vulnerable.

It was why more than fifty percent of all human civilization was annihilated by the Beast Incursion seventeen years ago. The only polities that remained were those that were absolutely prepared for war and were absolutely impenetrable. The current human civilization was powerful enough to utterly destroy the old human civilization. Perhaps the only reason there would even be a battle was the existence of the Gu in the previous era.

A mix of regret and relief appeared in the eyes of the Emperor of Harmony as he heaved a sigh. “The grand plan of the Demon of Asmodeous was horrifying, and he deserved the death he got. But I must say… one of the reasons I was confident we could defeat the Beast That Roared was that he we had him and Damian, Death and Destruction.”

The Director of Intelligence directed a surprised gaze towards the Emperor of Harmony. “But Your Majesty, we have the Dawnbringer, do we not?”

“Yes, but I don’t know if my son, as brilliant and extraordinary as he is, will be enough,” the Emperor of Harmony admitted, much to the shock of the Director of Intelligence. “I don’t think he would even disagree with that statement. Rui is many things, but arrogant, he is not. He must understand how painful, even if necessary, the death of the Demon of Asmodeous was to human civilization. And I’m sure he has worked hard in the past eleven years to become a worthy replacement. I have heard his recent duel with Damian was promising, which gives me hope. Regardless…”

He closed his eyes.

“It is out of my hands. I can only put my faith in the finest warriors of human civilization.”

Very rarely did the Emperor of Harmony of all people feel helpless, but in that moment, he truly couldn’t help but wish he could do more. But he understood it was better not to intervene in a haphazard manner and make a mess. He would focus on human civilization and let the Martial Sages deal with the higher forces of this world themselves.

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