The Martial Unity

Empress Schlieffen felt her legs threatening to give out once the news of Lord Shenlong’s defeat finally reached her from the surveillance divisions keeping tabs on the Dragon Emperor’s position at all times. She didn’t even care that she was acting undignified before all the gathered top pathwalkers of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, for they felt the exact same way, and many collapsed with relief.

It was unspeakable how close they had come to the complete destruction of the Dragon Emperor, if not for the intervention of the woman who called herself the Omni-Martial and the forces of the true world later on.

Empress Schlieffen heaved a shaky breath of relief as she gazed at the bright blue sky of the early afternoon, basking in the bright warmth. The humid ocean winds blew over them, carrying with them a salty oceanic odor. The grotesque, red apocalyptic aura that seemed to spill over from the very existence of the Dragon Emperor, blighting the sky in his colors, had disappeared, returning the world to its pure state.

Everything was how it was before.

And yet, everything had changed.

’I was mistaken about much…’ she realized inwardly even as the pathwalkers around erupted in celebrations. ’I hadn’t realized just what manner of force we were provoking. Not entirely.’

The Dragon Emperor was known to be belligerent, but she hadn’t expected him to outright fly over to the Hlakaschken Trade Empire and blatantly threaten to destroy it. She had predicted that the world would come to the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, which was what she was counting on when she fought back against the Ryu Clan.

What she hadn’t accounted for was how much the world would drag its feet in its attempt to protect the Hlakaschken Trade Empire as per military security agreements signed between the Hlakaschken Trade Empire and the rest of the world. She had expected a more swift response, and indeed in the past there would have been a more swift response.

’Things have changed since we are no longer at the center of seafare and trade routes anymore

.’ She gritted her teeth with a serious expression. ’The world no longer has as strong an incentive to protect us. The reason they came nonetheless is because we are, for now, still the largest trade hub, but eventually the world might move on to another, more effective trade hub. And in that time, we will lose all the protection we had and fall prey to the Evolutionary Army.’Ironically, the Army had come to their protection despite the fact that they were the greatest threat to the Hlakaschken Trade Empire. Of course, she didn’t think that they were doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, but more so because they viewed the Hlakaschken Trade Empire as their own property.

This realization was even more gutting as the Empress realized the gravity of the situation and to what extent things had deteriorated in terms of the political safety and stability of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire.

Aligning with the Evolutionary Army was not a real solution; she needed to find a way to return to maintaining a balance of power around her. If she sold her country to the Evolutionary Army, then its fate was doomed. Their value as a trade hub will have collapsed by then, and nobody would come to rescue them, unlike this one time.

“Look! It’s the Omni-Martial!”

“She’s sickly and ill…!”

“Who’s that with her?”

STEP

A black-haired and black-eyed man donning a Martial attire similar to that of what Amare wore arrived before them with a serious gaze, ignoring all the pathwalkers around them and instead focusing on the Empress.

The air grew silent as his powerful presence bore deep into the Empress’s eyes, as if trying to tell her something.

Something that she very well understood, of course. The source of this content ɪs n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net

“Thank you for your support,” she offered her gratitude without explicitly identifying him. “We would not exist as a nation at this moment if not for you.”

He shook his head.

“Do not thank me… instead, thank her. She is the reason that you are alive, I can promise you that much.”

Amare slept cozily in his arms; her complexion was already much healthier than it had been just several minutes before.

RUMBLE…

The tremors of Rui exerting his tremendous power to heal her washed over the entire island gently, healing her cell by cell as he undid the damage the radiation poisoning did to her in her battle. His presence was unfathomably heavy, weighing down all of them like a mountain thrust on their shoulders.

So much power emerged from him that it reminded of the extraordinary energy of the Dragon Emperor himself.

“Of course, Your Excellency,” she addressed him with respect. “She is nothing short of a hero of our land and of our people. We will honor her with gratitude.”

Rui nodded. “You better.”

Just as he was about to teleport away, the Empress drew his attention.

“Your Excellency,” she said with a more pressing tone. “I wish to discuss the matter we spoke about once before. I hope… things aren’t too late for that.”

Rui’s expression softened as he nodded.

WHOOSH

He disappeared in the blink of an eye with Worm Step as he returned to their little inn at the edge of the port town of Halsch. He walked over to their bed, placing her in it as he continued her treatment. It wasn’t easy de-radiating her cells and the damaged biochemistry.

In fact, it would be impossible for anybody other than him to do this.

Thankfully, he possessed an existential model on Amare and could easily restore her body to how it had been with enough time, healing her body as her complexion grew better before her body was eventually fully healed and restored.

“Mmmh…” Her sleepy voice was one of comfort as her arms wrapped around his, and he caressed her gently. Rui smiled as he joined her, taking her side in bed as he slowly closed his eyes.