The Martial Unity

Chapter 3645: Do What You Must

She could deploy all the intelligence she had that could surpass even Rui when it came to prediction and apply it one-to-one to military strategy, diplomacy, and geopolitics.

It gave her a strategic advantage that was profoundly unparalleled.

”She has used that mind of hers to give every member of an army a tactical advantage against their opponents, giving her a large strategic advantage,” the Emperor of Harmony continued. ”And she has also managed to pull off diplomatic victories that even I would have deemed absolutely impossible when facing off against none other than me. For instance...”

The Emperor of Harmony waved his hand, causing an image of a news headline to appear on screen.

[The Skinwalkers of Sierm Island have declared war against the Panama Continent.]

”The skinwalkers...” Rui murmured. ”They were the hybrids that I planned to visit before the therianthropes, but ultimately decided not to because of the urgency of the threat that the Dragon Emperor reflected.”

Sierm Island was a large island between Moridia and Kiriket, highly prominent on a map. Ancient therianthropes and evolutionaries had migrated from their respective adjacent continent and had interbred to produce a species that inherited the best of both worlds.

Skinwalkers who walked the Hybrid Path of Beastformation, allowing them to transform parts of their body into that of a beast. Pathwalkers pursued this power to the absolute maximum, allowing the most powerful among them to fully transform into a beast.

This had made them susceptible to the Authority of Alpha of the Dragon Emperor next door, making them permanently opposed to the therianthropes, which could explain why they had decided to avoid allying with the Panamic Alliance.

It could explain why they had avoided joining up with Rui.

If their goal was to kill him, then this war was both a good excuse and a good opportunity. In hindsight, Rui was sure that they were truly spooked by how well Rui could enslave beasts, surpassing even the Dragon Emperor in that regard.

”I see.” Rui understood what was going on. ”NOVA has manipulated their fears extremely well.”

”Indeed.” The Emperor of Harmony nodded with a grim expression. ”I offered them esoteric matter. Esoteric fauna. Esoteric biotechnology. Negatron matter and everything in between, but they simply are not receptive, no matter what fruit I dangled in front of them.”

”Fear is one of the few emotions that can exceed greed,” Rui remarked. ”She must have developed a profoundly accurate and precise model of their behavior and must have ascertained what drove them the most, and sufficiently used it to manipulate them. That is... impressive.”

”It’s more than impressive,” Emperor Rael’s expression tightened. ”It’s damning. We never had any data on her, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when she suddenly escalated this war to its highest level, but now I see why she did that. Her raw politicking and diplomacy greatly exceed even mine, as unfortunate as it is to admit. Even with Edward and I leading the military and the diplomacy respectively, we will likely be unable to rival her ability.”

Rui fell into thought as he realized the predicament they were in. If she truly could harness all of her cognition and intelligence for politics as well as she did combat, then indeed not even his father or his rival would be able to match her.

”Thankfully, this isn’t a Chess game with symmetry on both sides,” Rui replied. ”You have a massive advantage in diplomacy. NOVA has no carrots and no sticks. You have both, especially lots of the former. We have carrots galore. She may be better at using carrots than you are, but since you have way more carrots than she does, you’re at an inherent advantage. That is why we have successfully reeled in the therianthropes and especially the dwarves who were not necessarily on our side before.”

”That is the reason things have not spiraled out of control, yes, but it is dangerous to think that alone will be enough. The skinwalkers were a prime target for me, and the fact that I have failed is deeply concerning.”

”You brought them up in the context of the top ten, which means...” Rui’s eyes sharpened.

”That’s right, their leader, the Elder Phoenix, is considered a part of the top ten,” Emperor Rael brought up an image of a burning bird that was of a great size and brightness, setting fire to giant swathes of land. ”He is a menace to fight against because he is patently immortal. Even if you kill him, he simply rises from the ashes of his own death. Over and over and over again.”

Rui’s eyes lit up with intrigue. ”That sounds fun.”

”This is serious, Rui.” His father’s tone grew more stern. ”This man and his people are now our enemy. Along with NOVA, that means we have two top ten pathwalkers trying to destroy us. The only operating top-ten on our side is God’s Hammer at this moment.

Rui fell into thought.

All of this was his father trying to compel Rui into partaking in the war to ensure that none of the enemy pathwalkers. Any responsible Martial Artist would not have shirked from such a need of their power, especially when they were the ones who triggered the war that demanded their services.

Not Rui.

He shook his head. ”I get it. But I can’t delay this project. It’s too important. Too significant for me to put off. It might be the single most important project that I have ever embarked upon. It could very well prove to be the deciding element that can help me achieve Project Water.”

”Rui...”

”I need this, Father. This... this will be special. I must see this through. When I’m done, there is a chance that... that I might ascend to a whole new world of power.”

The air tingled as Emperor Rael’s eyes widened at those words. What Rui was suggesting was so consequential that he didn’t even dare say it straightforwardly.

Emperor Rael’s expression grew serious as he fell into thought, before heaving a deep breath.

”Very well then, do what you must. With the manifold, even a project lasting more than a decade can be cut down to a year. We are not so weak that we will crumble so quickly without you.”