The Martial Unity

Rui felt a mild headache at those words.

“I see…” he heaved a sigh. “Well, thank you for the warning. I will keep it in mind. What is the final group?”

“They are the Harmonists,” she answered him straight away. “They believe in living with the world in harmony. They are also the most sociable group of clans in the Pasupati Clans, and the Gajanan Clan is among them. They are the group that we have the best relations with, so there shouldn’t be any problems with this group in particular.”

“I see… it does appear as though the Gajanan Clan is the best to visit,” Rui remarked, before turning back to her. “What is this delicate situation you mentioned?”

“Well, it’s not an exaggeration to say that there is always a delicate tension between the four factions,” she huffed. “But there have been two developments that have exacerbated the situation. One of them is, of course, the return of the Lost Continent. The Lost Continent’s disappearance and reappearance is one that has radically shifted the consensus of how to engage with the world in the Pasupati Clans.”

Rui frowned. “Let me guess, the Hawk Faction has gained a lot of primacy in the Pasupati Clans after the return of our continent.”

She nodded. “Correct. Although their attempt to establish a permanent base on the Panama Continent ended in failure, they have managed to get their hands on a lot of biological samples of the exotic fauna from the Panama Continent, and what they might be capable of. This has, of course, caused an enormous surge of greed and lust in the Hawk Faction that has been amassing power in Kiriket and has been growing stronger and stronger. While the Harmonists have also gained a little bit of power in their attempts to win over support for negotiating a trade deal with human civilization, they have not been as successful.”

Rui’s eyes sharpened. “I’m assuming that the therianthropes, by nature, are more prone to violence than peace.”

“Correct,” she replied. “They exceed even you humans in that capacity. Even if peaceful trade is very much a viable way to get their hands on the fauna of the Panama Continent, they are more inclined to pursue violence. If it was just the Hawk Faction that was in favor of this, it might have been manageable to challenge them. But unfortunately, the Naturalists are also in favor of an invasion because of their belief in evolution through natural selection. The Unitists don’t actually have a desire for war or for peace, but they have been egging on an invasion nonetheless because they believe that it will help unite Kiriket and help them achieve their goal.”

“Damn, so we have three factions that favor conflict with the Panama Continent for our resources and only one faction that is against war.” Rui’s expression grew grave.

“However, that isn’t the only reason.” She continued with a serious tone. “Another reason that they are inclined to go to war is actually because of you specifically.”

Rui’s expression grew almost comically bewildered. “Me? What the hell did I do to them? I just chased them out of my continent. I didn’t even kill them. Don’t tell me they’re so petty about the resources they were forced to leave behind?”

“No, it’s because of your Authority of Alpha,” she pointed out. “You don’t seem to understand the significance of that, so let me inform you. Authority of Alpha is a power that can only be achieved at the very pinnacle of the Beast Path. It requires achieving the Converge of Beasthood that, so far, only the Dragon Emperor has achieved. It is the pinnacle of mastery. And you already have it. You, an outsider to Kiriket, have achieved power to sway their beasts and even those therianthropes that have begun beastification. Can you imagine what they think of you?”

“…They probably look at me as an existential threat to all of Kiriket,” Rui realized.

He had an inkling of it, but it was only when properly contextualized with information that he had just gotten that he understood just how bad his relationship with Kiriket was.

“Correct.” She nodded. “And unfortunately, they are correct. Unlike the light elves who slander you, the therianthropes are indeed accurate that you are a tremendous threat to therianthropes. You possess the power to manipulate and even enslave theriathropes against their will just by virtue of the Authority of Alpha. The Hawk Faction has used this to rile up the masses with fear and hatred against you specifically. That has become another pillar of their drive for war in addition to esoteric resources.”

Rui heaved an exasperated sigh. “Why am I destined to be hated by a large part of every race I meet?”

First, it was the Evolutionaries who harbored an unyielding hatred and bloodlust towards him.

Then it was the light elves, comprising half of all elves.

And now it was the therianthropes, who also appeared to want him dead more than anything else.

“So they want me dead, but you would still recommend me from going to Kiriket?” Rui raised a suspicious eye. “If I didn’t know better, I would have assumed you wanted me dead.”

She smiled wryly at those words. “It is indeed very dangerous. But you’re the man who defeated Anthea, are you not? You are the man who survived an ambush from the Mothers of Nature of the light elves in their own home. I do not believe that you will succumb to such a challenge.”

Rui raised an eyebrow. “Really? I feel like you’re buttering me up because you want me to go.”

She smiled. “You’re shrewd. Correct, I do indeed have some ulterior motives in having you go there.”

“Tsk, you’re supposed to deny your deceit. Not own it.”

“My, I would have thought you appreciated honesty.”

Rui scoffed, shaking his head. “Well, let’s hear it. I doubt it would change my mind anyway.”

“The reason is quite simple, really,” she remarked. “It is because of the Dragon Emperor.”

Rui sharpened his gaze. “…The strongest therianthrope in Kiriket.”

“And also the only therianthrope who has achieved Authority of Alpha,” she added. “He is currently using his Authority to try to enslave the Harmonists into following his bidding as the leader of the Hawk Faction. If not for the mighty power of the leader of the Gajanan Clan, Lord Vakratunda, they would have likely succumbed to Shenlong. However, it is unlikely that even he will be able to hold out forever. I’m sure you understand what would happen if Lord Vakratunda were to fail.”

“…The Hawk Faction would gain absolute control over the Pasupati Clans of Kiriket, and then declare war on human civilization,” Rui realized with a severe situation. “It would cause untold harm to human civilization.”

“We dark elves would lose a precious ally in the Harmonist Faction, something we are eager to avoid after our divorce with the light elves,” she remarked knowingly. “However, nobody can defeat Lord Shenlong and the Authority of Alpha.”

Her eyes grew serious as she fixated on him.

“Nobody except you.”