The Martial Unity

“Let us continue with the presentation.” The Ecologer was as collected as ever. “Unfortunately, the news of the mass reproduction of the beasts and monsters is not the worst piece of information that I have to provide. The worst piece of news that I have to provide is yet to come.”

Those words cracked the masks that many leaders wore.

Her prior news was horrible enough.

What could possibly be worse?

“Up until now, the distribution of the qualitative power of beasts and monsters has not been even,” she began. “Stronger and weaker beasts and monsters have distributed themselves differently and in a targeted way. I have constructed a macro map of the distribution of the various beasts and monsters by threat-levels after parsing through an enormous amount of raw data from all corners of human civilization, courtesy of the Beggar Sage.”

She pressed a button on her device, causing a map of the Panama Continent to appear on screen. The map was marked with a gradient of colors as well as layers of lines representing beast tides incoming from the Beast Domain.

The darker a region on the map, the stronger the human civilization was militarily and Martially. There were fourteen pitch-black spots across the map, representing the Sage-level powerhouse nations.

Sage-level powerhouses were dark gray and weaker nations were lighter shades.

The lines of the beast tides varied in thickness from one end to another.

The thicker the line was at a certain point, the greater the power at that particular point.

All the leaders gleaned a pattern within seconds of analyzing this map.

“The lines are thicker around darker regions…”

This meant that stronger nations faced greater resistance.

The Sage-level powerhouses were surrounded by thick lines.

They were surrounded by the thickest lines, representing the most dangerous beast tides.

Most leaders had already gained an inkling of this dynamic just by virtue of analyzing the fact that somehow Apprentice-level nations had survived despite the fact that even Sage-level powerhouses were pressured.

Obviously, the threats of the Beast Domain were highly non-uniform.

However, looking at the map that cleanly represented vast amounts of data from across all of human civilization collected by none other than the Beggar Sage, the patterns became evidently clear as they gained a holistic view of the battle between the Beast Incursion and the Human Domain.

Stronger beasts knew to target stronger nations.

“It is unclear whether the beasts and monsters ‘know’ to target the stronger polities, or whether this pattern is simply the outcome of bare minimum hunting thresholds,” she continued. “A lion does not hunt for ants, nor does it pick a fight with worms. They are too weak for them to be of any interest to them. It is entirely possible that all the Sage-level beasts and monsters rush to Sage-level powerhouses and Sage-level nations because only these nations and specifically the Martial Sages of these nations are deemed worthy of being hunted by these creatures. For in the animal kingdom, power correlates to nutritional value. Thus, they hunt Sages for their perceived nutritional value.”

Several Martial Sage leaders in the summit narrowed their eyes at those words. They were not pleased to know that the frenzied beasts and monsters regarded them as prey. It was deeply patronizing and condescending. Especially when Martial Sages were the most powerful combatants to exist.

“Alternatively, it’s possible that these beasts and monsters are being guided by subconscious and esoteric detection systems in their physiology,” she went on. “After all, Sage-level powerhouses have the greatest quantity and quality of esoteric materia in their reserves and stocks. Thus, it is entirely possible that this is the reason that is driving the Sage-level beasts and monsters. Alternatively, and I find that this is more likely, it is possible that both of these cause this distribution of beasts and monsters.”

This was an enlightening insight and explained why the distribution of beasts and monsters were so lopsided.

Emperor Rael thought back to the warning of the Elder Tree that the Kandrian Empire would face greater pressure than other nations.

It turned out to be true indeed. Emperor Rael regretted that he wasn’t able to maintain a connection with the Elder Tree upon the advent of the Beast Incursion.

Another thing that none of the leaders missed was that all of human civilization needed to be extremely grateful to the Sage-level powerhouses. After all, they served as magnets that drew away most of the Sage-level monsters and beasts that would easily wipe out all of human civilization. “Now that we have established this understanding of the distribution of beasts and monsters, we can finally proceed to the next important piece of intel that I must supply to all of you, which is…” She pressed a button on her remote, causing the map to change slightly. “This.”

All the lines grew substantially thicker.

This shook the leaders of human civilization.

“I predict that the beast tides will grow stronger on a qualitative level,” she remarked. “The reason for this is rather simple. It’s because the beasts and monsters have yet to send in their greatest powerhouses.”

She pressed yet another button on the remote, causing the slide to shift. The next slide featured illustrations and profiles of a large variety of beasts and monsters.

“These are the known quasi-Transcendent beasts and monsters in the innermost circle of the Central Highlands of the Beast Domain.” She turned back to the leaders of humanity. “My research and insights into the mysteries of the Beast Domain lead me to believe that there are more than just the many that Martial Sages have run into. As the Sage-level powerhouses may have noticed, they have yet to come out of the Beast Domain as a part of the Beast Incursion. You might have heaved a sigh in relief, believing that they wouldn’t come.”

The air boiled with peril as many leaders gritted their teeth, understanding where this was going.

“Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking,” the Ecologer calmly explained. “The quasi-Transcendent beasts are able to retain their conscious control and are able to partially resist the commanding roar that emerged from the very epicenter of the Beast Domain. This has delayed their rampage and stampede temporarily, but there is no doubt whatsoever that eventually, they will emerge from the dark unknown depths of the Beast Domain and lay siege over all of mankind.”

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