The Martial Unity

Rui gazed at the various Immortal Sages gathered in the virtual meeting. There were more than he could have counted, more than he knew existed. He didn’t even know who half of them were, frankly. Regardless, he found himself staring at many of the most knowledgeable human beings in existence.

“Thank you for heeding my beckon,” Rui began as he leaned forward, steepling his fingers on the table. “I have gathered all of you here today for two reasons. To tell you the truth and… to make you an offer.”

“Tell us the truth?” The Beast Tamer raised an eyebrow. “The truth about what?”

Rui’s eyes sharpened. “The truth about your immortality.”

The Beggar Sage shot him a warning glance. The Psycher directed a deep gaze at him with a pointed expression. The two of them were keepers of immortality and had started the Immortal Sage program.

They had never once told the immortal sages the truth about their program. They had thought the truth to be… an inconvenient fact that was better kept secret. What the immortal sages didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Alas, Rui had cracked true immortality.

He had no reason to play along with the farce. In fact, he could use it to his advantage and make massive gains for the Kandrian Empire.

“Listen well, for this is the truth.”

The air began to tingle with a faint rising tension.

The Beggar Sage gritted his teeth as Rui divulged the horror story that was the truth of the Soul Transfer Ritual, turning towards the Esoterist with a fierce gaze.

“End this meeting right now!”

“…That response makes me think you’re hiding something,” the Estorist’s eyes sharpened, before turning towards Rui. “Continue, I’m curious about what the truth is and what has got the Beggar Sage in such a cold sweat.”

Rui continued, indeed, describing that they were merely clones who had been brainwashed into believing that they were the original. How they only inherited memories under the hope that they would turn out the same, and how there was even a failure rate to the ritual, where several attempts had to be made to make for a good vessel.

The immortal sages widened their eyes with horror as Rui divulged the truth.

“Ah…” The Ecologer gazed at her shaking elven hands with an expression of dread. “I’m… I’m just a six-month-old elf who thinks she’s the Ecologer and inherited her memories?”

“No!” the Beggar Sage barked. “You are the Ecologer! The Ecologer is not a person! It is a legacy! A very important legacy! You are the Ecologer, and you will pass on your knowledge to your descendants. It is a very noble process!”

Those words didn’t help. In fact, they made it worse. Several more Immortal Sages broke down; they broke down sobbing, while another had a bout of screaming in a mental breakdown of epic proportions.

Others simply remained frozen in shock.

Very few were able to maintain their composure.

“Is this…” The Esoterist directed a murderous glare at the Psycher. “Is this true, my friend? All this time, all these decades and centuries… You have been lying to me about the truth of immortality and soul transfer?”

“Yes,” the Psycher calmly remarked. “I have been lying to you, to all of you. I hope you can forgive us and understand why we made the decision more than a thousand years ago. The truth is…”

He spread his arms, gesturing to all of the immortal sages around them. “…All of the knowledge that you sages possess is priceless. It is a priceless gift to human civilization. We could not allow that knowledge to die. At the same time, if we revealed to you the truth about the Soul Transfer Ritual, you would not have accepted our offer, would you?”

“Of course not!” The Martialist growled. “Who in the world would agree to being subject to a vile procedure like that? Brainwashing clones to make them believe that they are me while subjecting them to the exact same memories as the clones develop is… just wrong!”

“All these years…” the Author muttered. “I thought my works drew upon life experience spanning centuries, and yet…”

He glared at the Beggar Sage with a murderous expression. “You have defiled my art! You have defiled my work with your deceit!”

The Beggar Sage still made many an attempt at trying to console and compel the traumatized immortal sages, while the Psycher simply heaved a resigned sigh and turned towards Rui with a hint of exasperation.

“What was the point of this? Why did you do this? Do you know how much damage you have caused to human civilization? Now they refuse the Soul Transfer Ritual. Their knowledge, skill, and experience will die with them. Human civilization will become weaker.” Psycher pressed Rui with a calm but pointed tone. “What did you hope to get by revealing the truth?”

“They deserve to know. Deceiving them is not good, you know?”

Rui replied simply.

“Do you expect me to believe that a man who deceived the entire world a quarter of a century ago is that opposed to deceit?” The Psycher asked with a calm voice. “Just tell me, what was the point of this?”

Instead of answering, Rui turned towards the bickering immortal Sages.

“That’s enough.”

His ethereal voice cut through all the tumultuous confrontations and arguments that had broken out.

“This meeting is still ongoing, and I am not done yet.” Rui’s ethereal eyes sharpened. “No matter what you want to do from here on out, I will have you listen to the very end.”

None of them were particularly in the mood after this revelation, but they still heeded his words; the words of the most powerful man on the continent.

“I said I would tell you the truth and make you an offer,” Rui continued. “An offer of true immortality.”

Realization dawned on the Psycher and the Beggar Sages as they understood what Rui was doing.

It was nothing short of a coup detat.

He wanted all of the immortal sages for himself.

“I have achieved actual immortality,” Rui replied. “I can do it for all of you rather easily with my current power. I can even make it so that you are autonomously independent without any need for procedures or rituals or anything of the sort.”

The immortal sages grew attentive at those words as a hint of desperation emerged in their eyes.

“In return… I want you to join the Kandrian Empire.”