The Martial Unity

“All hail Emperor Rui!” The officiant roared.

“All hail Emperor Rui!” The subjects of the Kandrian Empire roared back.

“All hail Emperor Rui!”

“All hail Emperor Rui!”

…

The air boiled with anticipation as the leaders of Kandria and the Panama Continent continued cheering for Rui’s newly officiated status as Emperor. The atmosphere tingled electrically with the excitement, triumph, and hope of many people gathered in the royal hall.

Rui himself felt like a different man as the full weight of everything he had been building towards settled on him. The crown weighed down on his head, while the scepter he held reminded him of his duties as Emperor.

He was the true emperor of the greatest nation in the Panama Continent.

The royal officiant and the high-ranking government officials split apart, opening a path for him to reach the throne. With each step he took forward, their cheers and roars grew louder.

He ascended the steps with a decisive, measured gait before eventually taking his seat on the throne.

’It’s uncomfortable.’

It was an unceremonious thought that was unworthy of the moment, but it was true. The throne was designed for magnificence at the cost of ergonomics, but perhaps there was a point to that.

Perhaps it was a message.

That he shouldn’t get too comfortable on the throne.

’I’ll take that to heart.’

His attention returned to the choir of roars before him.

“All hail Emperor Rui!”

“All hail Emperor Rui!”

Even as they continued chanting, he could feel the surge of emotion from their brainwaves. His friends and family were overjoyed at the occasion. He caught a glimpse of Kane grinning at him with a thumbs-up, Amare beaming at him with pride, while the others smiled at him with sincere delight.

From this day forth, they were all his subjects as Emperor.

“All hail Emperor Rui!”

“All hail Emperor Rui!”

He raised a hand, causing them to go silent instantly. They waited for him to break the deafening silence with an expectant gaze. Rui simply inhaled deeply as he directed a sweeping gaze across the gathered guests.

“Citizens of the Kandrian Empire,” Rui began with a powerful tone of voice. “Citizens of Panama. Citizens of the world… I, Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria, have ascended the throne as the third Emperor of the Kandrian Empire. I have made many vows today in front of all of you and, rest assured…”

His ethereal eyes sharpened.

“I intend to stay true to them. As Emperor, I swear to you that I will elevate our nation to much, much greater heights in power and prosperity,”

he informed them with a serious tone of voice. “And while our nation will change, it will change for the better, it will adaptively evolve in a changing world. We will adaptively evolve to a changing world. Yet, while I look forward to the long-term prosperity and power that the Kandrian Empire will gain, I am well aware that there are many pressing matters that our nation faces.”

His expression grew more severe. “Our nation has suffered great damage in the True World War, and reconstruction of the nation and restoration of livelihoods will be our immediate priority. Only after we have fully restored our nation and done our duty to our people, will we proceed with the vision that I have already shared with the entire world on a previous occasion.”

After all, he couldn’t immediately jump to creating his Martial regime, which currently still existed in theory. The detailed planning and preparation came before implementation. It would also give the world some time to adjust to his vision and make changes to ensure that they were compatible with his regime.

He continued talking about his regime as Emperor, expressing to the people and to the stakeholders of the nation different aspects of what Kandria was going to look like under his rule, stressing the changes that needed to occur to fully embrace prosperity and power, as well as heightening Kandria’s centrality within the continent.

He stressed national security from external attacks on the seaboard, expressing a vow to never allow such destruction and death to ever again occur in the Kandrian Empire, before ending his speech on a positive, uplifting note.

“…and thus, I hope you will join me in the future,” he raised a hand, beckoning not just the stakeholders, but also the citizens who were watching the feed from the press. “I hope all of you will join me in a brighter future for the Kandrian Empire and for the Panama Continent.”

His speech ended in a decisive tone of finality, earning a thundering applause from the gathered crowd of guests that lasted a full minute.

“I thank all of you gathering here today to bear witness to my ascension as Emperor, and I bid all of you farewell.”

The ceremony came to a close.

Soon, the guests of honor, the press, and even many of the domestic stakeholders of the Kandrian Empire departed, row by row in an orderly manner, according to protocol, followed finally by the press, who were ushered out of the royal throne hall by Martial Artists.

THUD

The doors closed, allowing him to heave a soft sigh and lower his guard a little. “That was simultaneously tiring and energizing.”

“Rui…!” Julian stood up from one of the seats in the audience as he gazed at his foster brother with a stunned expression. “What… what is this? What happened?!”

Rui smiled at his brother as he walked down from the throne to speak to his older brother. The man’s hair had grown out, reaching his waist. His face had grown wearier and visibly older, while his tinges of white streaked his brown hair.

“I was in a lab one day in isolated research, and then they told me that you were being coronated as Emperor…” He muttered with a stunned expression. “How could all of this have happened so quickly? The world has changed in just two weeks!”

Julian had barred himself in his lab, instructing everybody not to disturb him unless it was by the order of the Emperor. It was only when an invitation for the royal coronation ceremony from the royal palace reached him that he realized something truly gone wrong while he was isolated in his lab.