The Martial Unity

”Please, O Great Blood Goddess!” The President of the Jakarthar Federation dove to Arastia’s feet. ”Don’t accept the War Contract! Don’t go to the Solar System! Stay here!”

He stuck his butt in the air as he pressed his balding head into her feet, throwing away all dignity. His prostration didn’t match his status, nor his extravagant custom-tailored attire fashioned from esoteric fabric.

Arastia immediately recoiled, stepping several steps away with an expression of disgust at the sorry excuse of the head of state. ”Stop that! Don’t touch me with your head!”

”No, I will! I won’t stop unless you promise not to leave this planet!” The head of state increasingly resembled a madman drowning in his terror and desperation.

The balding President had experienced a tremendous amount of stress ever since the Gaian Alliance had issued the demand for all frontier states to impose curfews and restrictions. The man, pathetic as he was, instantly understood that this meant all-out war was imminent. Yet, because he was the head of state of one of the weakest and smallest states in all of human civilization, nobody bothered giving him more information!

The higher-ups in the Gaian Alliance and the Central Human Command ignored all of his communications, choosing to remain radio silent or offer perfunctory responses from their liaisons. Forget even speaking to the Emperor of Water; the man couldn’t even get the chief executive or any of the directors in Alliance on the phone.

Arastia stared at the pathetic man with a hint of pity. He had absolutely no idea that his own star system was going to be invaded in five days’ time. He feared war, of course, but the man only feared it in so far as it eventually spread to his star system, not incepting in his star system.

That was why he so pathetically and desperately tried to get the vaunted Blood Goddess to remain behind. This way, it would not only give him confidence, but it would also give the business interests of his star system

Central Human Command had ultimately chosen to deprive the man of this information on the order of the Emperor of Water. Arastia didn’t know why her elder brother had chosen not to share such crucial information with the man, but perhaps it had to do with his unstable state of mind.

”I cannot stay,” she told him coldly. ”I have a duty to my people and to my civilization. I must accept the War Contract from the Gaian Alliance so that I can fight on the front lines if and when war does come.”

As one of the top-ten patwalkers and a member of the Kandrian Royal Family, she had been made aware of the impending invasion into the Arima III System, but she had been given strict orders by Rui himself not to divulge this information to anybody and to act like she didn’t know it.

She didn’t understand why they weren’t rushing to form defensive formations in the star system, but she fundamentally trusted her elder brother and the people he had selected for the Central Human Command.

”Goodbye, President Jarkarthar,” she growled, trying to hide her pity for the man. ”Now get out of my office.”

”No, wait. WAI—”

She snapped her fingers.

WHOOSH

The sniveling, groveling man was gone, teleported away in the blink of an eye. Arastia heaved a deep breath as rested her elbows on the table in her office, pressing her head in her hands as she felt a headache come over her.

She had been busy with the assimilation of the Blood Cult’s resources and personnel, on top of that, she had also been busy with the mining operations she had undertake at the ruins of Planet Pinky. Now, she would have to undoubtedly partake in war. She had expected to be more free after the destruction of the Blood Cult. Now, she was more busy than ever.

”You look exhausted, Aunt Arastia.”

The hemosapien’s eyes lit up as she looked up to find her niece at the door of her office, wearing her Water Integument exo-Martial suit. The young lady had lost much of her youthful charm with the breakthrough to the Sage Realm. Her amber eyes grew more serious. They had grown a little bit more murky ever since the first operation of her company.

Her power was also much greater than it had ever been, forcing her aunt to take it more seriously.

”I am exhausted,” she heaved a tired breath. ”But unfortunately, I don’t have time to rest.”

Her tone grew more severe.

”War is coming.”

Ria looked serious at those words as she pondered them for several moments. ”I wish I could help.”

”You are helping,” Arastia insisted. ”You’re helping more than most people. More than even me. You have no idea just how precious all the untapped resources you have delivered to us are. It will change the future of human civilization, and it will alter the outcome of the war for the better.”

”I meant directly,” Ria replied with a composed tone, not even stirring at all the praise that Arastia had given her. ”I wish I could be by your side. By Dad’s side.”

”None of us are qualified to fight by your father’s side,” Arastia smiled bittersweetly. ”After all, we only have two Transcendents.”

Ria’s eyes lit up with interest. ”Can the dwarven Transcendent fight?”

”…Dwarves don’t fight, at least not directly. They allow their creations to do the fighting for them,” Arastia frowned. ”I have not been apprised of what Transcendent Dwight is capable of. But he will empower all of us to fight. I intend to commission an exo-Martial suit from him as soon as possible. You should consider commissioning him as well. Your life is too precious.”

Ria nodded with an intrigued expression. ”I look forward to seeing what he can provide me. The stronger I am, the more risks I can take. The more I can do for human civilization. But…”

She shook her head. ”It will have to be after the next operation I am going to take today. Soon, human civilization will get its hands on a third infected world.”

Arastia’s face lit up with anticipation at those words.