The Martial Unity

Chapter 3301: Calculating

”To regard my son as a demon, that is unacceptable.” Emperor Rael’s tone was unfriendly. ”I had no problem ignoring them before, but if they go out of their way to antagonize our civilization even when we showed them the respect of giving them the solitude that they sought, then I have no choice but to regard them as absolute enemies of human civilization.”

”...I’m afraid I cannot blame you if you do that.” Mother Alicia’s tone was one of regret.

”My greatest concern at this point in time is Rui’s safety,” Emperor Rael remarked with a tone of angst. ”Maximizing his survival probability is my highest priority.”

That was a lie.

The Emperor of Harmony had faith that his son would survive.

After having witnessed everything that Rui had accomplished in his life as a Martial Artist, he couldn’t help but feel extremely certain in his son’s well-being. In particular, he knew that Rui knew of the impending attack, which meant that he was prepared in whatever way he thought was most fit.

What Emperor Rael was most concerned about was the optics of the situation to the rest of the world. He sought to project power, to project integrity and rationality to the rest of the world. He wanted to deter attacks, show that he adhered to contracts and agreements even when a treaty was brand-new, and even when he had reason to be mad at his ally.

All of this simply made it even more worth it to pursue peace and friendship with human civilization than war.

’To think that I would gain the opportunity to start from scratch all over again.’ Emperor Rael couldn’t help but muse inwardly even as he spoke to Mother Alicia.

Right after he had killed his father and taken the throne, he had done the exact same thing. He had deterred war and incentivized peace and trade with all the nations around them that had suffered from brutal devastation after the effects of the Second Martial Revolution in the Age of Martial Art.

He had spent years doing this, which was what had eventually led him to being known as the Emperor of Harmony. He had made sure to keep a flawless track record and had even succeeded until the matter regarding the Throne War scandal that had temporarily harmed his reputation.

That was exactly what he now intended to do with human civilization in the true world.

He would protect his word, deter war, and incentivize peace and cultivate a similar reputation in the true world as he had with the Kandrian Empire.

”...and that is why I would strongly advise against military actions on your end,” Mother Alicia remarked with a serious tone. ”The hostility that the light elves harbor for your son is purely personal and not because of his identity as a human or as a Martial Artist—”

”That does not matter.”

Emperor Rael’s tone was firm and unyielding.

”They have attacked our greatest warrior. Our ambassador. And our leader. An attack on Prince Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria is an attack on all of us,” Emperor Rael’s tone was strong. ”We will have no choice but to conduct a military operation in East Genora with our Martial Sages.”

This was part of deterring war.

A demonstration of no tolerance of bullshit and a willingness to immediately act out on one’s threat was a good way to go about it. On top of that, he was unwilling to allow the dark elves to avoid ending up in a complicated situation where their ally was now against the light elves.

He wanted to end the sisterhood between the dark elves and the light elves.

After all, he gained nothing from it and gained much from its destruction. Their sisterhood made the Genora Continent essentially an entirely safe zone for them, making their safety extremely high.

However, if their sisterhood with the light elves ended, then Emperor Rael suspected that they would be forced to become more willing to engage in military conflict for their own security. He deeply sought the dark elves to shed through passivity and become more active as the ally of human civilization.

He also hoped that Rui would be able to do a lot of damage in their territory and inflict unforgivable wounds from the light elves.

While they were willing to engage in military conflicts, their innate pacifism appeared to be the same, and they had absolutely no history of any major military conflicts outside of their immediate domain of influence. Thus, the Emperor of Harmony didn’t mind even if they were extremely pissed at human civilization.

’I’m counting on you, Rui.’

Far away in East Genora, the battle between Rui and the harmonizing Mothers of Nature only grew more and more intense.

RUMBLE!!!!!

Rui shot through the darkness of the night sky as he evaded a barrage of attacks from the Mothers of Nature, blocking and defending from wide-scale explosions.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!!!!

The world shook as the Mothers of Nature unleashed a destructive onslaught of power, threatening to annihilate him right then and there.

And yet, he hung in there, maneuvering and defending just right as he pushed himself to the limit, using his new system of thought, the Soul of Nature, to give him an edge when it came to having foresight regarding exactly how nature was going to move.

The Mothers of Nature had their own predictive model that was powerful enough to even cancel out his Prophecy of the Void, allowing the fusion of the SOUL System and the Tapestry of Nature to bestow upon him his classic foresight advantage.

On top of that, Rui pushed his Metabody System to the limit, maximizing his defense and seed while relying on the Palm of Death as his only offense against the nature manipulation.

And yet, his target was not the wood or the forest itself.

No, his target remained Mother Mara, who resonated with her sisters, while doing everything in her power to exorcise Rui.