The Martial Unity

3000  Incomplete

The sheer maestrom of force unleashed by the long, long struggle between the Martial Transcendents and the astronomically destructive gravitational wave unleashed faded away as the struggle came to an end.

And yet, it had lasted merely nanoseconds at most.

It occurred in such an astronomically small timeframe that even Rui, with the full power of Gigabrain and the Prophecy of the Void, could barely process what had happened. His eyes widened with shock as he spotted all the Martial Transcendents of human civilization gathered on the battlefield.

One moment, he bore witness to the Devil destroying the chimera and the manifold tree.

The very next, all fourteen Martial Transcendents had gathered in the depths of the Beast Domain. The battlefield was ravaged.

The once Lost City, perfectly fossilized in a layer of quasi-Transcendent and Transcendent-grade esoteric layers, was now largely destroyed, depriving them of a pristine relic of the past that would have helped them understand the mysteries of the Empty Ages better. The cityscape was ravaged as buildings were shattered into rubble, roads and sidewalks were uprooted, and the statues of human beings in the past were completely pulverized.

The skies boiled with plasmas, crackling with energy released by the battle between the Martial Sages and the eldritch chimer, and later the Martial Transcendents. The lands smouldered with lava and magma, swallowing up what was left of the cityscape into complete and pure destruction.

Almost all of the Martial Sages had long retreated from the epicenter of the Beast Domain having lost their stamina and energy reserves, or having suffered too many wounds to have continued fighting and remaining in the presence of the destructive battlefield.

Only one Martial Sage remained. Rui gazed at the fourteen Martial Transcendents of human civilization with awe, even as the blood-red Suns shined with blinding brightness.

And yet, for once, he was able to control his urge to adaptively evolve to everything in sight.

Perhaps even in this subconscious entranced state, he still understood that he could not adaptively evolve to the Martial Transcendents as he was now.

He would need to grow much stronger.

”Hahaha!” Transcendent Damian smirked with excitement as his eyes scanned past the Panama Continent. ”To think such an exciting thing had been hiding beyond our reach. Tsk, I picked the worst time to become a Martial Transcendent.

He beheld the True World for the first time in his entire life with profound anticipation, gazing at new continents beyond Panama.

A world unlike anything he had ever seen in his entire life. And yet, his gaze returned to Rui.

As did all their gazes.

All fourteen Martial Transcendents converged their attention on the lone Martial Sage who had managed to remain in a battlefield of Martial Transcendents.

”You have done well, Lord Virodhabhasa,” Transcendent Raizel directed towards him a gentle smile of tranquil pride and approval. ”I have grown more certain in my estimation of your power and your capabilities to serve as the one that I prophesied would salvage human civilization. I have grown certain that you will be the one to achieve what we have yet to. And…”

His warm, encouraging gaze fixated on Rui. ”I believe that you are the only one who can protect human civilization in our absence.”

Ruiʼs eyes widened as a profoundly heavy burden of responsibility bore down on him. ”…Absence?”

The Astral Sovereign smiled melancholically as his form suddenly began shimmering.

As did all of their forms.

Speck by speck, they slowly began eroding.

Their very beings and existences began fading out of reality.

”This is the price of the Transcendent Realm,” the Martial Primordial answered his question with a profoundly heavy tone. The legendary Martial Artist at the very forefront of Martial progress for much of human civilization himself gazed at the shocked Rui with his ephemeral silver eyes, sparkling with life as they bore deep into Ruiʼs very being.

”…The price of the Transcendent Realm?” A stunned whisper escaped the Dawnbringer as he gazed with horror at the shimmering form of the Martial Transcendent slowly fading away. ”You mean…?”

”The more we deploy the power of the Transcendent Realm,” the Martial Primordial continued with a calm tone. ”The more we deploy the power of our quasi Martialverses, the longer we cease to exist.”

His words were simple and elementary.

As was his message.

And yet, Rui felt like his mind was short-circuiting. ”The price of the Transcendent Realm is… ceasing to exist?” Ruiʼs tone was one of horror. The Martial Primordial nodded calmly as he gazed at Rui with powerful eyes filled with enough life to fill a barren world. ”The quasi Martialverse allows us to break past the shackles of causality to enhance our Martial Art. And yet, the price it demands is… steep. I suspect that when we finally complete our incomplete breakthroughs, we may very well cease to exist in reality forever.”

Despite the active Gigabrain fueling his thoughts, he struggled to process the sheer significance of the world that the Martial Primordial had uttered to them. ”…Martialverse?” Rui barely managed to squeeze out a whisper. ”…Incomplete breakthrough?”

The Martial Primordial nodded as he walked towards Rui.

His gait was gentle.

Each step he took seemed to spread life across the world around him. He arrived before Rui with a profoundly heavy gaze bearing down upon the blood-red Sun shining within the depths of his eyes.

”Listen well, Dawnbringer,” the Martial Primordial began with a significant tone. ”The Truth of the Transcendent Realm is that…”

His eyes sharpened with severity. ”…it doesnʼt exist.”

Rui staggered unsteadily as he began growing dizzy with the sheer collision of the information that the Martial Primordial dumped on him. ”…What?”

”Martial Transcendents…” he began. ”We are simply Martial Sages who have yet to fully break through to the next Realm above the Sage Realm. We have simply taken a step, nay, one toe into the next Realm. We are incomplete and we are…”

His eyes closed.

”…insufficient.”

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