The Martial Unity

And thus, while Rui dove into a brief period of preparatory training, the Solaris Kingdom got to work for preparation.

And an announcement was released in the upper echelons of the Martial Community. The announcement of a Martial contest.

A free-for-all Master-level contest where any Master able to wield light was allowed to participate with a prize of nothing less than a whole drop of the Blood of Solaris. This was nothing less than a bombshell within the Martial community. The fact that the queen had chosen to set up a tournament during an apocalypse was quite shocking to all Martial Masters.

The prize was even more shocking to all of them. “I don’t what her Majesty is thinking,” one Martial Master grinned. “But I’m all game. I have been saving up sol merits so that I can redeem the Blood of Solaris, but now I already have a chance!”

Several others nodded even as they kept a guarded demeanor around each other as they read through the details of the contest in the announcement around

If there was only one winner, then that meant they were all competitors, not on the same side.

“Don’t be too certain.”

The voice of another Master calmly cut through the words of the others.

They quietened down at the man’s voice.

It was firm yet calm.

Thoughtful.

And yet, they seemed to pay an excessively high amount of attention to him. Why wouldn’t they?

He was the one remaining peak Master of the Solaris Kingdom, Master Linn, the Radiant. His eyes glowed with untold power and a profound golden light.

“The fact of the matter is that the timing of this contest is so far too suspicious,” he remarked. “Is the fact that it was decided and announced on the same day as the arrival of the Void Prince a coincidence?”

His golden eyes narrowed. “Unlikely. This means that this was done with the intention to coincide with the arrival of Prince Rui. Thus, we can infer that, most likely, the prince intends to participate in the contest.”

The other Masters around him frowned with surprise. “But this is supposed to be a light-bending contest. How can an outsider possibly compete?”

Master Linn narrowed his eyes. “…It is difficult to believe, but the queen might have reason to believe that the prince is able to compete against others in the field of light bending.”

From the reactions of those around him, it became clear that this was indeed hard to believe. How could an outsider ever even remotely be competitive against them? There were a handful of Masters around the entire world who were even remotely comparable to them, and none of them exclusively focused on light.

There was no doubt that the Void Prince was a strong Master, but how could he possibly compete with them in a field that he probably had no foundation in, a field that they had dedicated much of their life to?

Even if he somehow did have a foundation, there was no way that the queen could possibly be confident that he could win against the sol Martial Artists of his own merits. This was especially true when they had someone like Master Linn.

“I, for one, hope that we see him in combat,” the Radiant walked away with narrowed eyes. He clenched his fists. “I will kill him.”

His eyes narrowed. “And then, when that Gen wench no longer has his political protection. I will kill her as well.”

His words were chilling.

And yet, none of the Masters had the courage to point out that killing was prohibited in this contest.

They knew that he was already dead set on his objective. Revenge.

Revenge for his fallen twin sister, who was also peak Master before the Omni-Martial slayed her in their previous battle. The Radiant had been itching for an opportunity to get revenge and would stop at nothing. Ideally, he would have loved to kill her directly the very moment she entered the Solaris Kingdom, but the political protection that the filthy black-haired cursed heretic had was too much. The Golden Guardian himself was guarding them at all times.

There was nothing that he could do.

“I will kill him, and after I drink the Blood of Solaris, I will surely be able to kill her as well.”

This he was confident of.

Over the next month, he intended to research Rui quite thoroughly and extensively to understand exactly what he was dealing with and whether there was anything to be concerned about when dealing with the Martial Master.

He knew that the Void Prince was extremely powerful as a Martial Master, but he was more concerned about the extent to which he had mastered light-bending. Regardless of how much he had, he surely stood no chance when it came to beating a peak Master in his own field.

He didn’t know what the queen was plotting, but he didn’t care. He would accomplish his objective nonetheless.

Thus, the strongest Master of the Solaris Kingdom announced his participation the very day the announcement was made, dampening the rush of Master attempting to take part in it. With someone like the Radiant taking part in the contest, it was simply not worth partaking in. In fact, the fact that he was easily the favorite for the winner added more credence to the theory that the Void Prince would also be joining. Otherwise, there was truly no point in making this contest when one truly thought about it aside from perhaps wanting to make it more meritocratic, at most.

But even then, it wouldn’t explain why the Blood of Solaris wasn’t simply kept on sale at a high price that Masters could aim to redeem.

Regardless, speculation went wild as the entirety of the Martial community within the Solaris Kingdom gained the first hint of excitement amidst their people since the dawn of the Beast Incursion that had ravaged its borders. Many Martial Artists wondered if the Void Prince would take part in the battle or not. –