The Martial Unity

Rui gazed at her with piercing eyes in a deafening silence.

The air tingled with a tension as the two of them locked serious gazes.

The darkness of the night outside the windows of her personal chambers seemed to come alive, feasting on the peril that lingered in the air.

Her anger and hatred were viscerally real.

The Whisperer had definitely nailed that part.

However, where Rui found her accounts of the Empress to diverge were whether she let her anger and hatred control her decisions. While she was very vocal about her emotions towards the Panama Continent, she also appeared to be entirely in control.

She was the type of person who could systematically sever the connection between her emotions and decisions. The type to hug the person she hated the most with a pleasant smile on her face if it suited her interests and goals.

In this case, he got the feeling that her emotions were in line with what was beneficial for the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, or at least what she considered beneficial.

His attention shifted from her emotions and mind to her words.

“You’re blaming your decision to move away from neutrality on us?” Rui scoffed lightly. “You are an expert at shifting responsibility.”

“It’s not about responsibility. It’s about causation.” Her tone was unapologetically cold. “As I said, the only reason we were able to remain absolutely neutral is because we were at the very center of the world. I did not utter those words lightly. I meant every word of it.”

She shifted her gaze back to the outdated world map with a softened, longing gaze. “Out of all the nations in the world. Ours is the only nation that was absolutely neutral. We would harbor members of the Evolutionary Army, the dwarves of the Bournvyrne Empire, even a scant few light elves from East Genora, along with tekvores from the Federation. We even tamed the giants who visited our island. All these forces did not stir up a war on our territory, and we maintained neutral and equal relationships with them because their influence canceled each other out.”

Rui’s eyes lit up with a hint of interest. “Go on.”

“It’s about the balance of power,” she replied with a stern tone. “We were just barely outside of the sphere of influence of each of the six continents. This made it difficult for any of the six superpower civilizations to dominate us. Even if they tried, the others wouldn’t let them succeed because the position of Grinolia Island was too strategically viable to allow anybody to get control over it.”

Her narrowed eyes shifted towards him. “You think the Evolutionary Army, the Imperial Tekvorian Federation, and even the giants haven’t tried conquering us? They absolutely have. But every time they have tried, the dwarves and the therianthropes have intervened, protecting us from conflict. The dark elves do not directly intervene, but they provide every other form of support to ensure that our land does not fall into one of the six continents. This way, each of the six continents keeps the other five continents in check so that nobody could gain control over our island. That…”

Her voice grew angry again. “…was the foundation of our peace and our neutrality. A tense but solid tug of war and balance of power, followed by the allure of the carrot. Even the Evolutionary Army relented and agreed to the armistice. It worked for centuries, until the Decentering occurred and pushed us away from the balance at the center of the continent.”

“…And that must have caused the balance to be disrupted because now you are far away from the domain of influence of the dwarves, the tekvores, and the giants.” Realization dawned on Rui. “Now you are between three powers. The Evolutionary Army of Moridia, the dark elves of West Genora, and the Panama Continent.”

She nodded with a serious expression. “The dark elves are pathetic pacifists, as all elves are and you…”

She directed a sweeping gaze of scorn and disdain. “You Martial Artists of the Panama Continent are not enough to form a balance with the Evolutionary Army in East Moridia. With the delicate balance of power disrupted by the Decentering, I have no choice but to form allegiances and alliances with the Evolutionary Army. This will reduce our free trade because we are no longer neutral, and it will destroy our way of life.”

Rui gained a better understanding of her unrelenting hatred for the Panama Continent. He would probably not have a good impression of the continent if everything he held precious about his way of life was destroyed by an unfathomable miraculous event like the Unfolding.

“I can understand why you are shifting away from neutrality, but…” his tone grew curious. “What I don’t understand is why you’re choosing the Evolutionary Army when they clearly are not the type to recognize and respect your sovereignty.”

“It’s because I don’t have much of a choice,” she remarked with a stern tone. “The Evolutionary Army is a powerful and lethal force. My nation stands the least to lose by siding with them than to engage in war with them.”

“It worked out before the Unfolding because of the balance of power, didn’t it?” Rui raised an eyebrow. “Why not form a new balance with the Panama Continent and the dark elves versus the Evolutionary Army?”

“As I mentioned, the dark elves are unreliable because they are pacifists. They are also much weaker outside of Genora, as everybody knows. And as for you Martial Artists of the Panama Continent…” she directed a piercing gaze at Rui. “I admit that I was impressed that you warded off an invasion from the world and even kicked out the Evolutionary Army from your land. However, that doesn’t mean that you can handle them at their full power. You merely faced less than half their power and an even lesser portion of their net military potential. And, most importantly…”

She glared at Rui.

“Your people allowed the former supreme commander of the army to spread his seed of evolution in Moridia. Now, the next generation of evosapiens will be monsters unlike anything we can fathom, possessing the fruit of his evolution. They will become a force that nobody can contend with.”