The Martial Unity

Prime Minister Edward heaved a deep breath as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

He hadn’t been doing well the past few months.

He couldn’t sleep, his appetite was poor, and he had begun developing a series of health problems inexplicably.

Not even the doctors could find out what was wrong with him despite the developed medicine sector of the Britannian Empire. Nobody could even identify what ailed him.

The worst of it all was that he couldn’t help but feel something was immensely wrong. Not physically, no.

But mentally.

“…I feel like someone carved away a piece of my brain.”

It was difficult to describe what that felt like and what that even meant.

He had never had a piece of his brain carved away. How would he know what it felt like?

Yet, he was certain of what he experienced.

It felt like he had been lobotomized so much that he couldn’t even remember being lobotomized.

He felt like a chunk of his mind was missing.

A chunk of his memories.

It drove him insane.

He had begun developing signs of rapid onset mental disorders like ADHD and others of its ilk spontaneously due to what felt like a missing piece of his memories and experience.

“Is it Rael?” he asked himself, narrowing his eyes. “But why wouldn’t he just kill me if he could do something like this?”

He didn’t know.

He didn’t understand, and certainly nobody around him could either.

He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that something extreme had been done to him.

Something that shouldn’t have happened.

Regardless, he had tried and tried and was unable to find a solution to the problem. Thus, he had decided to just cope with the issue and best discharge his duties despite it. Much to the surprise of everyone around him, he still executed his duties to the T without so much as even the slightest failure despite his condition.

And today, he was here to prove that. CLACK

The massive gates before him opened, and he found himself gazing at five figures sitting across a massive table.

Five forces of nature.

It was as though the very world warped asunder beneath the weight of their existence.

It was as though heaven and earth bent around them.

They were garbed in ostentatious and militaristic Martial attire. On the chests of their attires were embroidered the coat of arms of the Britannian Empire as well as five stars that stood out conspicuously.

It was a sign that they were of the Sage Realm.

The Prime Minister bowed his head while he fell to one knee.

“O exalted venerable Knights of Sage, I, Edward Del Germont, your humble servant, have appeared before you as per your summons.”

They gazed at him wordlessly for a moment.

“Edward.”

The woman at the center remarked with a cold gaze and even frostier voice.

“Sage Knight Vermillion, how may I serve you?” His voice was one of deference.

Her eyes sharpened. “How goes the war?”

“…We have gained an advantage in securing the allies we need to destroy the Kandrian Empire without suffering immense losses,” he calmly replied. “Unfortunately, every step of progress is grueling. The only reason we have an advantage is more due to human psychology rather than our Martial superiority. People fear the stick more than they want the carrot. However, the Kandrian Empire is able to match our Martial power when it comes to defending its allies and has been doing a brilliant job protecting their allies from our attacks.”

Chills crawled across his skin as he felt the rage of the strongest Martial Sage of the Britannian Empire.

“…We’re losing?”

He winced at her words. “We have not suffered any losses, Your Sagehood.”

“Do not play word games with me.” She glowered at his words. “How many of the Kandrian Empire’s allies have we destroyed?”

“…None so far.”

“So, we have deployed our forces with the intention of attacking their allies and taking them down,” she bristled. “And you mean to tell me that not a single one of these operations has even partially succeeded?”

“…I’m afraid that’s so, Your Sagehood.”

His words only made her more furious.

“Our alliance has more Sages, does it not?” She growled.

“Yes, Knight Vermillion.”

“Our alliance also has more Masters, does it not?”

“Most certainly, Your Sagehood.”

“Then why are we not able to destroy their allies?” Her expression was distorted with anger.

Prime Minister Edward heaved a sigh. “They have an absolute strategic advantage over us when it comes to intelligence, Your Sagehood.”

Her mouth curled with displeasure. “We have our very own Britannian Intelligence Service, as well as the Gorteau Bureau of Intelligence and the Nindo Clan of the Sekigahara Confederate.”

Her eyes sharpened to slits.

“Pray tell, how does the Kandrian Empire have an advantage in this regard?”

Prime Minister Edward heaved a sigh. “It’s because of the Silas Clan, Your Sagehood. Thanks to them, we are unable to dominate despite our numerical superiority. They are able to foresee the future. Not perfectly or completely, of course, but they are able to do it well enough to know what forces we will send where, and then they send Martial Artists that have the best compatibility against ours.”

Her demeanor only grew icier at his words.

“They’re adaptively evolving to us on a tactical level,” he continued. “By knowing exactly what forces we will send, they can send the perfect set of Martial Artists that can stop our forces due to a massive compatibility advantage. If we deploy a poison-oriented Martial Artist, they send Martial Artists who are extremely immune to poison. If we send long-range Martial Artists, they send even longer ranged Martial Artists. So on and so forth. This is the reason that we have been unable to take down even one of their allies, even after three months of trying.”

He could almost feel the displeasure radiating from them prickle on his skin.

Of course, he understood how they felt.

It was deeply frustrating to see the Kandrian Empire possess such overpowered treasures that could allow them to conjure such miracles.

But it was also precisely why they needed to succeed in destroying the Kandrian Empire.

It wouldn’t be possible to do so in the future.

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