The Martial Unity

“Where is the Dawnbringer now?” Consul Sergenilius’ tone was one of displeasure.

“According to the long-range surveillance corps, he is in the City of Martia, being guided by Sage Kyria.” A voice emerged from his artifact. “We are currently awaiting confirmation on their exact activities, but so far, it appears that he is simply being shown the Martial Art culture of Terra, Your Excellency.”

In a grand stateroom in the citadel in the City of Nagara sat one of the two leaders of the Nest of Terra; on his table was a flood of intel reports from the internal surveillance corps. Reports that described everything that the Dawnbringer had done since entering the Nest of Terra.

Thus, the leader of a Sage-level powerhouse was aware of every detail of how Rui tried to flirt with Amare. As well as the fact that one of the prime pillars of the Martial faction was now actively guiding him through the City of Martia.

“Tsk,” Consul Sergenilius’ displeasure continued mounting. “Notera… she’s definitely going to try something with him. He is the only one who can possibly empower the Martial faction to the point that they will be able to challenge us.”

Consul Sergenilius gazed at the image of Prince Rui in the intelligence reports documents, scattering his table with a mixed expression.

On one hand, he was grateful that the Dawnbringer was able and willing to empower the Nest of Terra to such an extent. On the other hand, he was deeply concerned about the Martial faction gaining more power and influence. The Dawnbringer was their dream come true, and it would allow them to drastically improve the total power of their faction.

That was deeply unpleasant to him, the leader of the tech faction.

“Tsk, if only the Esoterist’s solution had already proliferated within the Nest of Terra,” he gritted his teeth with a displeased expression. “We would have been able to leverage it to balance out the gains that the Martial faction will make once he bestows his services upon them, allowing us to ensure that the status quo remains unchanged.”

However, despite his greatest efforts, he was unable to expedite the development and acquisition of esoteric technology that the Esoterist had displayed at the Human Summit. For one, the Esocline Federation was on the other side of the continent, situated in the northernmost parts of North Panama.

In between them was the impregnable Beast Domain that had become the source of the largest apocalypse that all of human civilization had seen in the past thousand years. In other words, a delivery from the Esocline Federation would take forever through land and would require them to circle all around the Great Nam Ocean.

Both of these were time-consuming.

“On top of that…” his eyes narrowed. “Our own R&D and manufacturing industries are unable to supply us with what we need soon enough.”

The Nest of Terra had a very well-developed manufacturing industry. It was almost inevitably needed considering how unique their circumstances and technological needs were. However, the only issue was that their manufacturing infrastructure and capital were hyper-specialized for massive, large-scale public infrastructure, such as their special construction manufacturing sector that carved buildings out of the ground. Their ventilation and irrigation manufacturing set-ups were also difficult to leverage to upgrade their siege weapons with the solutions that the Esoterist had provided in the Human Summit.

And while they were doing their best to make do, it simply hadn’t made it in time to strengthen the military technological sector enough by the time the Dawnbringer had arrived in the nation.

“Which means that…” his eyes narrowed. “Until those shipments arrive or are manufactured, we will be in a temporary state of weakness compared to the swift but massive upgrades that the Dawnbringer will impart to the Martial faction.”

This was deeply troubling and represented a chance for the Martial faction to permanently alter the power dynamics between the two factions within the nation, annexing influence that they didn’t have before and staking a greater position within the Nest of Terra.

“However, even if they seize some permanent power, we will be able to gradually erode away at their influence after we, ourselves, are empowered by the Esoterist.” A hint of relief emerged in his eyes. “The Esoterist’s power will surely not fall short of the Dawnbringer.”

While he didn’t dare underestimate one of the most revolutionary Martial Artists in all of history, he was certain that the single greatest artificer and engineer of human civilization would ensure that their faction would never fall behind.

They were two pillars, after all. Their influence would surely cancel each other out. “The only way for the Martial faction to make some permanent gains would be through the Scriptures of Terra discovered by the Shield of Gaia,” Consul Sergenilius narrowed his eyes before shaking his head lightly. “Thankfully, not a single person since His Transcendence himself has found it.”

The Scriptures of Terra.

It was a legendary treasure of the Nest of Terra said to have helped the Shield of Gaia reach Transcendence.

Two hundred years ago, the strongest Sage of the Nest of Terra reached Transcendence, weakening the Martial faction due to the fact that Transcendents simply did not act, barring existential threats to the world.

The Martial faction mourned his unwillingness to lend his power to their cause after gaining Transcendence. They mourned the fact that they had grown weaker after losing a peak Sage and gaining nothing in return. They mourned the fact that their cause had been set back by centuries.

And then, the Shield of Gaia offered them a path to salvation.

“Find the Scriptures of Terra,” he had told them. “I found them and gained Transcendence with the godly knowledge inscribed in their texts. Find the Scriptures of Terra hidden within our great nation, and you shall gain the power that you seek.”

Since then, two hundred years had passed, and not a single person had found the Scriptures of Terra, as hard as the Martial faction had searched for it. As long as nobody found it, nothing would change.

Conversely, as nothing changed, nobody would find it. This, Consul Sergenilius was certain of. That was why he was so concerned about the Dawnbringer.

He represented change.

The man’s eyes narrowed as his gaze fixated on the Dawnbringer’s profile as a profound possibility entered his mind before promptly being dismissed.

“No, there’s no way that will happen.”

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