The Martial Unity

Chapter 2668: Brief Discussion

”Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Consul Notera,” Ruiʼs tone was formal. ”Itʼs good to be able to speak with you directly rather than through intermediaries.”

In a large and extravagant stateroom, Rui found himself sitting opposite Consul Notera, guarded by Sage Kyria herself.

”Ah, that is where you are mistaken, esteemed Dawnbringer,” Consul Notera smiled at him. ”It is I who is the intermediary.”

His eyes narrowed at her words.

The consul, one of the two leaders of the Nest of Terra, was the intermediary.

”Those are eerie words, Consul.”

”It is the truth.” Her smile was sincere, betraying no hint of arrogance. ”Since you have already deduced our ultimate objective, Iʼm sure you understand.”

”…Be that as it may, it would behoove you to choose your words more carefully,” Ruiʼs tone grew serious. ”Your ultimate objective is one that will change the Nest of Terra forever. Are you sure you want to be uttering such incriminating words to a complete stranger and outsider to your Nest?”

”I am, Prince Rui.” The confidence on her face didnʼt lie. ”I do not believe that you would betray the trust that we have in you and sabotage our noble cause before we are able to fulfill it.”

Rui scoffed. ”Your cause doesnʼt seem very noble to me, Consul. Power-mongering is not evil, but it certainly doesnʼt fall into the category of noble. Especially when it could weaken your nation amid an apocalypse, it seems that your faction is more concerned about power than the well-being of more than one billion people residing within the Nest of Terra.”

”It is because we are amid an apocalypse that our cause has a chance of succeeding,” Consul Noteraʼs tone grew stern. ”You underestimate how desperate we have grown over the centuries. Can you imagine the humiliation we feel at the fact that while others of our kind have already accomplished this very objective in other nations around the world, we are the only ones sitting around because we donʼt have the power to achieve it? The world has moved on from that era, while we have yet to even achieve it.”

Her words were cryptic on purpose.

Anybody who didnʼt already know what she was talking about would be puzzled by them. And yet, to Rui, they were chilling.

Because he was perhaps the only person outside of their faction who understood what they were trying to achieve.

”We have waited enough,” Consul Noteraʼs tone grew sharp. ”We shanʼt wait any longer. With the power that you will surely bless us with and the Scriptures of Terra, we will achieve our ultimate ambition.”

Rui stared at her.

She wasnʼt nearly as sane as he had expected.

Then again, what was he expecting, considering what their ultimate ambition was?

Regardless, he buried down any further protest to it. Given that she wasnʼt as sane as he had hoped, it was best not to offer too much resistance. Gazing into her eyes, he could intuitively be the type that would have him killed regardless of his political protection.

It was best not to make an enemy of her. He could only feel sorry for the people of the Nest of Terra.

”You seem awfully confident that I will find the Scriptures of Terra,” Rui mused. ”I have heard that you have a high opinion of me, but what makes you think I can succeed where your faction has failed for a hundred years?”

”Come now, Prince Rui,” she smiled knowingly at him. ”Someone like yourself should know better.”

He heaved a soft sigh. ”Your nonchalant confidence is enviable. It must be nice living life, being certain that everything will work out the way you hope.”

”It is because it hasnʼt been that I adopted this attitude,” she replied lightly. ”Everything must work out. Or else all hell will break lose. We have lost patience to wait any longer after more than a century. If we donʼt accomplish our goal in this window of opportunity before the Esoteristʼs solutions proliferate through the Nest of Terra, empowering our enemy, then we will lose our chance forever.”

Rui heaved a sigh. ”I will do what I can but donʼt expect the world out of me. Ultimately, Iʼm just one individual.”

”We have strong reason to believe that, at the very least, you will be able to produce better results than we have,” she remarked. ”We will help you with all power, naturally.”

”Well, I suppose Iʼll find the Scriptures of Terra after I finish my breakthroughs and Hellbringer embeddi—”

”No,” she firmly interjected. ”That can wait until after you find the Scriptures of Terra. You wonʼt be in danger until you finish doing what you come here for. If you choose to do that right away, then Consul Sergenilius will have fewer qualms of getting rid of you if and when he realizes that you are searching for the Scriptures of Terra.”

Her words underscored the gravity of the situation.

What they were seeking to accomplish was so extraordinary that anybody perceived to be important to their cause would be at risk, even with the political protection he had.

”…Very well,” Rui heaved a sigh. ”Letʼs just hope that your confidence is not misplaced, Consul Notera, for both our sake.”

”Indeed.”

”…For now, I will go through the hundred-year summary report that you have prepared for me so that I can get a clearer idea of the situation and figure out what is going on.” Rui got up. ”I am on a tight schedule, so I will have to end this conversation here, Iʼm afraid. I have another seven powerhouses to cover across all of human civilization in the next three and a half years.”

”I understand.” She got up as they shook hands. ”I will have everything sent to your quarters. Please let us know if you need anything else.”

”I will.”

And thus, his private meeting with Consul Notera ended. His expression grew severe when he emerged from the stateroom. The political state of affairs in the Nest of Terra was much worse than he had expected.

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