The Martial Unity

The revelations of the Elder Tree were enlightening and simultaneously also damning. The moment it admitted to experiencing the urge to destroy human civilization, it was already compromised as far as they were concerned.

Of course, that didn’t mean that they would treat it as hostile.

If it were hostile, it would not have been so forthcoming about its conditions, it would have done everything in its power to deceive them of its inclinations, pretending nothing was wrong, before eventually backstabbing them.

This event has enlightened me to a truth that has previously eluded me.

“…Go on,” Emperor Rael cautiously prompted. The Beast Domain… is not natural.

The two men frowned at the Elder Tree’s words. “The Beast Domain has been around for more than a millennium, at least.”

Be that as it may. The way that the command has affected us is not natural. The way that we have served as slaves to whatever force there is that commands us… is not natural. I think it is absurd that all of life has naturally evolved to obey the command of a higher authority. Such a thing does not happen naturally and thus…

“You think it was engineered to be that way?” Rui realized as shivers crawled down his back. “If that’s the case…”

Then just the thought of what kind of power would be capable of such a godly feat sent chills across his skin.

It was a horrifying thought.

How could all of life be some twisted engineering project?

How could someone aim to control all of life?

I don’t know. It may be that my thoughts are erroneous. I don’t have proof. Just some shaky rationale and… intuition.

Emperor Rael’s expression was severe. “If there’s even the tiniest ounce of truth to that then…”

He closed his eyes.

“…Then this world is more horrifying than I ever thought.”

His words were chilling.

The air boiled tumultuously  as the atmosphere chilled with reckoning.

The horror of the implication of the Elder Tree’s words was not lost on them. They could only pray that the Elder Tree was overthinking.

This is farewell, my friends. I am glad I have gotten the opportunity to speak with both of you one last time.

The two jolted out of their stupor at its words.

“You’re going somewhere?” Rui asked with a hint of weak hope.

I will be hibernating until the Beast Incursion is complete and the world returns to some semblance of normality.

“But… why?” Emperor’s tone was as severe as it was incredulous. “…It’s because it is unable to sustain itself due to the loss of all the ecosystems that sustain the chemical cycles and other environmental processes,” Rui mused knowingly with a hint of melancholy. “It needs countless living beings and species and their ecosystems and environments to get the nutrients, compounds, and environmental states that it needs to survive and be healthy. With the Beast Incursion, it has lost each and every one of them and will die soon enough.”

This was the whole reason that the Elder Tree created the Garden of Salvation. It relied on the borrowed hive senses of the flora network to save creatures that needed saving, creatures that it needed to ensure that the countless environmental and geochemical processes it needed to remain healthy were doing just fine.

With all the creatures of the Beast Domain exiting it, my eventual death is all but certain. Within the Garden of Salvation, thanks to your help in our partnership, I have managed to capture a male and female of every species that I need to sustain myself. I will create suitable environments for each of them within the Garden of Salvation so that an endless production system of all the compounds and processes I require can just barely keep me alive while I hibernate. I need to slow down my metabolism to just one-percent of its normal state in order to keep myself alive with the sustenance from all these species in the Garden of Salvation.

Essentially, the Elder Tree was trying to create its own version of Noah’s Ark in order to ensure that it didn’t completely die off. However, just the members of each species was not enough to sustain its tremendously massive requirements, thus it planned to cut down those requirements by going into a deep hibernation.

“I see…” Emperor Rael’s tone was colored with regret.

It was not pleasant to know that one of their greatest treasures would indeed be out of commission for at least as long as the Beast Incursion lasted .

“How do you plan to slow down your metabolism to one percent?” Rui raised an eyebrow with a hint of curiosity. “You do not strike me as a being who was evolutionarily evolved to engage in such a state.”

You are correct, the Elder Tree agreed with Rui’s words. However, I have been trained in medicine by none other than the Divine Doctor himself. On top of that, I have inherited otherworldly scientific knowledge from none other than you. The two of you are the most brilliant geniuses that I have had the honor of being tutored by. I believe I have managed to create a viable and safe solution to hibernating with one-percent of my normal metabolism. “I see…” Rui heaved a soft sigh. “Well, good luck and goodbye, my friend. Do you have any other intelligence that we ought to know about?”

…The distribution of beasts and monsters across the Beast Incursion is neither uniform nor random. The Kandrian Empire will face the harshest and toughest battles out of any power in all of human civilization, The Elder Tree remarked. Another thing to keep in mind is that this will not be an acute threat that will wash off naturally as long as you survive it. No, it will be sustained and it will only get worse and worse. You cannot stop it unless you break the spell. If I had more time, I would be able to glean more insights. But, unfortunately, I don’t. This is goodbye. May we meet another time in the future should we all survive.

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