The Martial Unity

The Day of Drowning had shaken the true world to its core, causing many people to truly question how strong the strongest warrior of human civilization was. Many people didn’t even understand the phenomenon.

How could the illusion of water spread across the entire world?

What did it even mean?

And yet, even if they were unable to decipher it, they understood instinctively that whoever was responsible for the Day of Drowning was strong. Much stronger than they had expected from even someone known to have defeated Supreme Commander Anthea of the Evolutionary Army.

The power of the strongest powerhouse of human civilization proved to be a powerful deterrence for many civilizations and entities in the true world. The nations who were already dead-set on invading the Panama Continent for its resources were not too moved, even if they were more wary, but the polities who were on the fence about human civilization were even more hesitant than they had been before.

If the light elves couldn’t finish him off even after teleporting him to the very epicenter of the region, then they none of them possessed the confidence in succeeding with their efforts.

As long as Rui emerged from East Genora alive, human civilization would have truly emerged victorious.

“Where is my son?”

Emperor Rael’s voice was stern.

Intense.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his table as he steepled his fingers.

His powerful golden eyes bore deep into those of Mother Alicia’s vessel, who sat opposite him. The bright light of the morning Sun peered through the windows in his Royal Office, illuminating his groomed golden hair.

Mother Alicia winced at his question, before replying to him in the Panamic language. “We do not know where he is at the moment. From all the data that we have gotten from the light elves, it appears that he simply disappeared in the midst of being attacked by the Mothers of Nature of East Genora.”

Emperor Rael’s eyes sharpened.

“Disappeared?”

His tone was one of displeasure.

“You’re telling me my son up and disappeared into thin air?”

“…Yes, Your Majesty,” she replied with a tone of discomfort. “From the data of the fluctuations in space-time that our satellites picked up, it appears fairly certain that he used a space-time technique to rapidly shift his location.”

Emperor Rael raised an eyebrow.

He didn’t recall his son having such a capability, and he followed up on his son’s Martial progress quite diligently as both father and emperor. Then again, Rui constantly spontaneous came up with new techniques, so it wasn’t the most shocking.

“Is he alive?”

Emperor Rael’s tone was grave.

Of course, he knew his son was alive, he had Matriarch Nephi who had personally undertaken monitoring the situation with her Eye of Prophecy. He didn’t know where his son was, but he knew that he was dead and wasn’t at risk of imminent death.

“We have every reason to believe that he is absolutely alive, Your Majesty,” Mother Alicia replied with a confident tone. “Our cyber attack on the East Genoran Flora Network has revealed that their Mothers of Nature are still frantically searching for him across the entire continent. From what we can tell, almost every single Mother of Nature and light elf is involved in the search even as we speak. That is proof that the light elves have not found him. It is a truly remarkable achievement to hide from the elves in our continent.”

She smiled at the Emperor of Harmony.

“Your son is an extraordinary man, Your Majesty.”

A small smile cracked at the edge of Emperor Rael’s mouth.

“He truly is. But more importantly…”

His eyes sharpened.

“What are you doing to locate him?”

“Currently, Mother Myria is on stand-by to teleport him back the second she ascertains his location,” Mother Alicia reported to him. “We have had her put aside her other responsibilities and focus solely on being ready to teleport Rui back the second we obtain his exact coordinates. We have infiltrated much of the light elven flora network while they were busy trying to kill and hunt Rui. And while they have curbed much of our access into their network, we have managed to achieve seem permanent strongholds within their flora network and will learn the very instant the light elves locate him.”

“And I suppose you will have this Mother Myria teleport him back the very moment the light elves discover his exact location…” Emperor Rael fell into thought, nodding. “Those are decent measures but please ensure that you are doing everything in your power to find and bring him back to safety. Spare no effort and leave no stone unturned. My son in imperative to human civilization and his death will not go unpunished, one way or another.”

“Rest assured that we are deploying every resource to find him, Your Majesty,” Mother Alicia replied. “Even my main body is currently scouring East Genora for his energy signature that I have grown familiar with in the past few months since befriending and mentoring him. He has an extremely distinctive presence, which should, in theory, make him easier to find, but he has truly hidden himself well this time. I suspect that he is recuperating from the wounds that he has endured in his fight. It will likely take some time before he decides to make another move.”

“That is what we think as well.” Emperor Rael nodded. “I will deploy some Martial Sages to your aid nonetheless, please use them in the effort to bring Rui back as you please.”

In reality, the Emperor of Harmony knew that his son was likely unconscious at the moment simply due to the fact his Gigabrain had been turned off, causing him to enter the all but familiar state of unconscious that sometimes lasted months.

He didn’t want to reveal this to the dark elves because it would reduce the deterrence that Rui posed to the true world. It was better for human civilization if they thought that he could access this power without any cost or problem.