The Martial Unity

The Sekigahara Confederate slowly recovered from the immediate effects of the hallucinated disaster as the citizens slowly got back to work. Had the Sages intervened too late, then there most certainly would have been far too many accidents and crises to the very function of the nation, but because the Sages had noticed and intervened quickly, they were able to prevent the situation from escalating.

The people on the other hand, were merely dazed and confused. None of them quite understood what was happening and why an illusion of water had consumed the entire nation.

The Beast Incursion, on the other hand, made a subsequent return after the Water disappeared. The beast tides resumed the war against humans as beasts and monsters quickly overcame their uncertainty and followed their instincts to return attacking.

The Martial Artists participating in the defensive perimeter were once more in battle to protect the Sekigahara Confederate, even if they weren’t able to overcome their shock nearly as easily.

Everything slowly returned to normal as the mysterious illusion of Water never reappeared ever again.

Sage Himari collected herself as she gazed at the unconscious body of the Dawnbringer with clenched fists. She had resolved to kill him, but not only had he resisted, he had managed to gain the upper hand in his battle against her. He only lost because he ran out of stamina.

Of course, Martial Art didn’t care why one lost.

A defeat was a defeat.

Stamina was an extremely important parameter that could make or break battles, and Rui had simply fallen short. But it was truly humiliating to her that the only reason that she had won a battle against a Master was because she had more stamina than him. For a moment, she felt the deep urge to kill him then and there anyway.

As long as he died, she would not feel the humiliation of having failed to kill a Master while he was awake. She would be able to nip what certainly hurt a part of her esteem as a Sage.

Additionally, she had plausible deniability or even justifiability. After all, he was the one who instigated this entire conflict by assaulting the Sekigahara Confederate’s citizens with his Martial Embodiment.

“Don’t.”

Several other Sages arrived behind her, having dispelled the isolated domain and barrier.

She turned towards her colleagues with a grave expression of severity. “We have cause.”

“I said don’t,” Sage Shinken growled as his gaze shifted towards Rui with a hint of grudging respect and disbelief. “He must not die.”

The other Martial Sages turned towards Sage Shinken with a hint of disbelief.

Of all of them, he hated the Kandrian Empire and its Void Prince the most. He had wanted to destroy them the most, and the clan leaders had been the most worried about him when it came to harming the Dawnbringer.

“We need him.” Sage Shinken’s voice was clear. “We cannot tolerate the consequences of killing him.”

They grew even more stunned as he became the voice of reason. Since when did Sage Shinken become a man of logic and rationality?

In reality, those were not the reasons that he wanted to spare Rui. While watching Rui fight, he had been overcome by a profound premonition.

His deepest instincts told him that if the Dawnbringer died that day, then…

Then so would all of them. He didn’t know why. It could very well have been due to Rui’s contributions to human civilization with his Hellbringer model.

Or it could have been something even greater.

Regardless, he could not allow the Dawnbringer to perish that day.

Certainly not to assuage the insecurities of a Martial Sage.

“Himari…” he began. “You know as well as I do that this is bigger than you or I. This is bigger than the Sekigahara Confederate. Your emotions are impeding your judgment.”

As a Martial Sage, she was very well aware of that. She understood exactly what she felt and why and what role her emotions played in the serenade of causes that shaped her very being and interaction with the world.

“You did not fail. You were weak.” His gaze shifted to Rui. “He succeeded because he was strong. Stronger than even our wildest fathoming. Stronger than was thought possible. He has touched a dimension of power that was not thought to be possible without the Martial Soul. And even then, you have emerged victorious.”

She understood.

And yet, it was difficult to accept.

She wasn’t alone.

The other Martial Sages were still entirely paralyzed in silence over the miracles that had unfolded one after another.

“We will leave this matter up to the clan leaders.”

Sage Shinken’s tone was final. “We appointed them to their positions for a reason,” he continued. “Now let them do what they do best, and allow them to extract the best possible outcome for Sekigahara.”

This was the best course of action.

Although this event was unpleasant and shocking, it was ultimately a good thing for the Sekigahara Confederate. The Dawnbringer had clearly crossed a line.

That gave them the political capital to demand even more from him. And in a time of crises of the Beast Incursion, getting more from one of the two pillars of hope for the Era of Darkness was most certainly a good thing.

Nobody challenged his decision.

He simply departed from the place as he fell deep into thought about the premonition. He was not a superstitious man by any means, but his instincts on the matter were truly strong. Thanks to the Enlightenment of Self, he knew exactly where those instincts came from.

He knew that these were not merely fleeting intuitions.

And thus, the debacle with the entranced Dawnbringer was now over. There were still many, many questions that were unanswered, such as why the Dawnbringer had lost control. Why his Martial Embodiment had grown to be not just as astronomically powerful but had also changed qualitatively from a void to water. And, at least as far as the Martial Artists were concerned, how he had managed to acquire such an astronomical amount of power.

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