The Martial Unity

Chapter 2458: Prelude

”Mother, look at this strange rock I found!”

A beaming and ecstatic young boy held up a rock in the air, showing it to a woman who gazed at him with loving eyes. ”Isnʼt it awesome?”

”Itʼs wonderful, Pelen,” his mother praised him with a gentle and warm smile, perching herself outside her little hut while she watched her son play in the dirt. ”Why donʼt you show it to your friends?”

She watched him running over to his friends who were playing on the outskirts of the Panimurau Village, relaxing after a tiring day of picking herbs from the forest that covered the village. It wasnʼt easy picking herbs from a forest known to harbor a few Apprentice-level beasts and monsters. It took a whole dayʼs labor just to make a dayʼs living to feed her children and herself.

And yet, difficult as this life was, it was also simple and fulfilling. The herbs she collected from the outskirts of the Beast Domain and sold in the market allowed for simple pleasures like watching her children delight in playing outside in the evening. While the job was dangerous for a human alone, the village was home to retired veteran Martial Apprentices who inspired a lot of safety in herb-pickers of the village.

Their power was superhuman.

So much so that they were able to fell any ordinary beast with a single blow.

The sheer amount of power that Martial Apprentices possessed compared to normal weak humans inspired great confidence in the villagers.

On top of that, the forest that the Panimurau village bordered was among the very most benign and stable regions of the Beast Domain. Thus, Martial Apprentices were enough to guarantee their safety.

It allowed them to enjoy such peaceful evenings without any fear.

That was why what followed exceeded their wildest dreams.

What followed exceeded their wildest nightmares.

Chills crawled down their skin as shivers jolted their spine. In that moment, they felt more horror than they had in their entire lives.

”PELEN!” Her voice could not hide the sheer terror she felt in that moment as she raced over to her son, cradling him in her protective embrace.

The horrifying roar that emerged from the depths of the Beast Domain was unlike anything they had ever had in their entire lives. It inspired primal fear.

Primordial terror.

One that lingered in the depths of their souls.

She didnʼt know how she knew, but she knew.

”We need to go…” a shivering whisper escaped her. ”We need to go now—!”

RUMBLE!!!!!

The ground beneath their feet shook violently.

Her eyes widened with shock as she finally saw it.

A wave of darkness.

A wave of countless different beasts and monsters.

Wyverns, kirins, adamantigers, and countless other creatures surged from the depths of the Beast Domain.

The Martial Apprentices were frozen in terror of what they saw.

They never stood a chance.

Their fates were sealed.

BOOM!!!

And just like that, the Panimurau Village ceased to exist as a Senior-level beast flattened the entire village and its denizens in the blink of an eye. Hundreds of humans perished in the blink of an eye as the wrath of countless beasts began eroding away at human civilization.

And yet, it was hardly the only one.

Countless fell to the beast tide that emerged from the depths of the Beast Domain.

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook as the frenzied beast tide surged forth, clashing with countless forces that were stationed at the border of human territory. Gruesome stampedes crushed countless outposts, settlements, bases, centers, and any and all human establishments that lingered around the Beast Domain.

Almost all of them were destroyed.

Only those who were armed to the teeth with an army of Martial Artists were able to withstand the devastating stampede beyond the gruesome initial clash. The others never had any hope to begin with. Millions died by the minute.

RUMBLE!!!

Heaven and earth shook violently as the wave of beasts and monsters wiped out everything they touched.

It crushed establishments and infrastructure.

It crushed Martial Artists.

It crushed people.

RUMBLE!!!

No more than minutes had passed since its inception, yet the loss in capital and lives was already beyond fathoming. ”ROOOAAARRR!!!”

”KRIIIEEEK!!!”

”RAWRRR!!!”

Their eyes were bloodshot with bloodlust as their ruinous rampage ravaged everything that dared to impede its path. Their current state of mind was beyond comprehension as predators and prey rampaged side by side in primal ferocity.

Even the most docile of species seemed to be overwritten by the horrifying command that the creature at the very epicenter of the Beast Domain embedded into their mind. They rampaged in an onslaught of death and destruction, spreading a shock across all echelons, sectors, and segments of humanity.

Within minutes of the eruption of the Beast Tide, the ruling class and political sphere of human civilization learned of the horrors that had emerged from the depths of the Beast Domain.

Never before had a piece of information penetrated all of humanityʼs powers as fast as the news of the devastating incursion of monsters and beasts did. Not even Prime Minister Edwardʼs targeted intel dissemination for the investigative report spread information as fast word of the emerging apocalypse.

Never before had all of humanity united in its horror of what was to unfold. Not even the prospect of seventy-five Martial Sages fighting with everything they had and spreading a tsunami of seismic radiation that could eclipse all of human civilization had united human civilization in any way.

Yet, for the first time in the history of human civilization, all of humanity was united in its horror of what was happening. For the first time in the Age of Martial Art, a force that could threaten the hegemony of Martial Art over the entirety of the Panama Continent had emerged.

With each initial passing minute since the eruption of the beast tide, the very foundation and fabric of human civilization began to erode as establishment, infrastructure, capital, and human lives were lost at a rate that was thought to be impossible.

And yet, it was just a prelude to what was to come. RUMBLE!!!

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