The Martial Unity

Ria sensed the futility of resistance along with the danger that lunged at her. She watched as the black-furred homoarachnoid spewed powerful webs of space-time that would incapacitate her where she stood.

It should have been the end.

And yet, it wasn’t.

WHOOSH

The six eyes of the black-furred homoarachnoid widened with shock as her webs struck thin air, failing to make contact with any solid target to bind to at a space-time level.

Where the girl had been just a moment ago was a shadow.

A shadow unlike anything she had ever seen before.

”Are you ok, Your Highness?”

The dark voice of Sage Sayfeel broke Ria out of her reverie as she suddenly found that the world around her had changed. He gently held her in his arms, with one knee on the ground, directing a gaze of concern towards her.

”Eh?” Ria did a double-take of shock as she struggled to understand what had just happened.

One moment, she was on the verge of being swept up by powerful webbing that she certainly had no chance of escaping.

Then the very next moment, she had been swept by a... shadow.

And then she found herself in the protective grasp of her trusty royal guard. A man who had been entrusted to protect her by her father. The man wore a cloak that hid most of his face in shadow. A shadow that seemed to blend into his very existence. The powerful exo-Martial suit was handcrafted by an elite craftsman of the Bournvyrne Empire, making it one of the most powerful pathwalker combat suits in the entire world.

His presence was extremely powerful and yet... silent.

Like he was a shadow himself.

”Sayfeel...” Ria muttered with a stunned expression. ”You’re here. But... how?”

”I’ve been here the entire time, Your Highness,” the Martial Sage respectfully replied to the princess he served. ”I would never leave your side in a situation where you suffer from so much danger.”

”What-” Ria couldn’t believe what the Martial Sage was saying. ”You’ve been here the whole time?!”

She didn’t even understand how that was possible. Didn’t the Blood Arc have a lot of security? How did he manage to get to the surface of the planet without a single person noticing?

She didn’t comprehend what was happening.

And yet, it didn’t change the fact of the matter that he was in front of her.

And that he had saved her life.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK...

The eerie clicking sound of the black-furred homoarachnoid behind them drew their attention. Sage Sayfeel shifted his gaze, directing a glare of pure murderous intent towards the direct descendant of the Divine Mother.

”Nobody is allowed to threaten the life of Her Highness.”

His voice was filled with cold wrath. It was clearly filled with emotion, but it was, at the same time, inscrutable and shadowy.

—oo—oo grew wary of the Martial Sage, not immediately attacking. The female homoarachnoid knew that her webs had been on the very cusp of capturing Ria. Just a moment away, and yet somehow the man before her had managed to save the target before the webs could reach her.

And he did without allowing —oo—oo to be able to detect his presence.

The only thing she had seen was a shadow.

And that was it.

No ordinary being could do that. Among all the bipedal humans that had invaded this outpost world, he was definitely one of the most dangerous humans.

And yet, it didn’t change her mission.

The Divine Mother had commanded the capture of the young female human with the universe in her eyes.

Then it didn’t matter how difficult the task was. It didn’t matter how difficult the process was. It didn’t matter who stood in the way; it was —oo—oo’s duty to fulfill the mission.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

”I. Care. Not. For. You,” she told the cloaked Martial Sage carrying Ria in his arms. ”Leave. The. Female. And. You. Can. Leave. Alive.”

Of course, she didn’t think he would actually get away alive. He, like all the humans who had invaded their world, was going to die. There was no question about that. But for now, —oo—oo didn’t want to waste too much more time. She was also quite injured from her battle with Arastia. The Blood Empress had almost killed her with the absurdly powerful blood plasma that she wielded. The outer flesh of the homoarachnoid had been completely burned by the female hemosapien, making the homoarachnoid much weaker than she would have been at peak condition.

Ria translated the message to the Martial Sage with a grim expression. It was one thing for the other two homoarachnoids to target her. But it was a whole other matter for the homoarachnoid that had fought her aunt head-on for quite some time to try and hunt her alive as well. What could possibly be going on for them to want to take someone like her alive?

Sage Sayfeel’s expression, however, didn’t change. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of surprise in his dark eyes. His expression hardened, but not out of confusion, but out of expectation. Even as Ria quickly briefed him on everything that had happened, none of the tales of the various homoarachnoids trying to capture her seemed to faze him in even the slightest.

’He knows something.’ Her amber eyes widened.

And yet, now was not the time to litigate this matter.

CLICK CLICK CLICK

”Do. Not. Make. Me. Repeat. Myself.”

Sage Sayfeel’s dark eyes sharpened, never once shifting away from the homoarachnoid. ”Can you stand up, Your Highness?”

”Y-Yeah...”

She got to her two feet in a wobbly manner, feeling a wave of weakness wash over her. Fighting Oo—o- had been extremely different. She had made progress and had grown stronger, but she didn’t think she could possibly help Sage Sayfeel against the homoarachnoid monster.

”You did well, Your Highness.”

His words were calm and composed. His tone was non-flattering. He simply spoke the truth as he knew it, and he earnestly believed that she had performed admirably.