The Martial Unity

The question escaped Rui before he even realized it.

It couldn’t be helped.

He had been left reeling with shock after shock, completely stunned by the revelations that the Transcendent Prophet had imparted so easily.

“That is a question you should be asking yourself,” Transcendent Raizel smiled with a hint of mirth and amusement. Rui narrowed his eyes. “How do you know about my… memories?”

The question seemed only to amuse him even further.

“I am the Astral Sovereign.”

It surprisingly was quite convincing. Considering that Amare had also been exposed with a glance, he wasn’t surprised that a Martial Transcendent who specialized in the mind could see right through him. “…And you have nothing to do with my condition?”

The Transcendent Prophet regarded the question with a hint of intrigue. “It is curious that you would think I ever might have.”

Rui stared at him with a piercing gaze. “The Beggar Sage told me that what was done to me could not have been done by even Martial Sages. That doesn’t leave too many possible suspects, you see.”

The very moment that the Beggar Sage had told Rui that, he had begun suspecting a Martial Transcendent.

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

The Transcendent’s voice was knowing and wise..

Rui’s eyes lit up at those words. “Do you have any insights that you are able to share with me?”

His entire life, he had been stumbling in the darkness, looking for clues to understand what had happened to him. The Divine Doctor had been his first major clue.

As was the Soul Transference ritual.

The means had become clear, although it left him in a terrible identity crisis. And yet, he didn’t understand just who had done this to him.

“To have transferred a lifetime’s worth of memories in an exceptionally small timeframe in a manner that not only didn’t leave the child stillborn but also allowed for the development of a nascent mind that developed through the inheritance of the memories” the Transcendent Prophet fell into thought. “That is indeed a truly incredible feat that no Sage would be capable of. However, I can assure you of one thing.”

He gazed into Rui’s piercing eyes with a clear expression.

“I am not responsible for what has happened to you.”

The air tingled with a hint of tension.

Frankly, Rui had no way of ascertaining whether he was telling the truth or not. It was entirely possible that he was the one who had transferred John Falken’s memories into his mind for a purpose and had decided to lie because it was simply in his interests, whatever they were.

On the other hand, did a being as powerful as a Martial Transcendent even need to lie?

There was absolutely nothing that Rui could even do to him if he truly was the one who implanted John’s memories in Rui. Perhaps he might not have wanted to earn Rui’s ire by having defiled him with the memories of another person even before he was born.

“You have no way of knowing whether I speak the truth or lie,” the Martial Transcendent’s tone was light. “At least, not until you reach the Transcendent Realm.”

Rui simply stared at him with a piercing gaze.

“Then, I shall pay you a visit after I reach the Transcendent Realm and judge for myself then.”

The Martial Transcendent regarded his resolution with a hint of approval. “You seem certain of your attainment of Transcendence.”

Rui’s tone was unwavering.

“I will achieve Project Water no matter what, and for that…” he continued, “attaining Transcendence will be necessary. Thus, I will achieve Transcendence, no matter what.”

The Martial Transcendent’s gaze remained fixed on him. “And what will you do if it is I, indeed, who implanted John Falken’s memories in you?”

His tone remained normal.

As did his body language and demeanor.

And yet, the air chilled as Rui sharpened his eyes.

“I will kill you.”

No one had ever uttered those words to a Transcendent after they reached their exalted Realm of power.

And yet, Rui didn’t even hesitate in imparting the truth.

He didn’t think of himself as being brave, he knew that the probability of his words earning dire consequences were extremely low. On top of that, he knew there was no point in hiding his intentions before the extraordinarily perceptive Transcendent.

The Martial Transcendent’s powerful gaze remained fixed on him for several seconds.

Before an approving smile cracked at the edge of his mouth. “A worthy choice of words for the Antithesis.”

Rui furrowed his eyebrows. “…That is the third time you have proclaimed me as the Antithesis.”

The Martial Transcendent simply gazed at Rui silently.

Rui should have been happy.

After all, he had gotten what he had come for. The declaration of him being the Antithesis.

And yet, his unease only grew as the Martial Transcendent’s unfathomable gaze remained fixed on him. “…Why do you proclaim me as the Antithesis?”

The Astral Sovereign simply smiled with a hint of amusement.

“I have already answered that question.”

Rui frowned as he recalled the man’s words. “…You call it like you see it?”

“Precisely, dear Virodhabhasa,” he replied patiently. “I call you what I see you as: the Savior that I prophesized a long time ago.”

Rui narrowed his eyes as his expression crumpled with a hint of disdain.

“Don’t bullshit me.”

The atmosphere boiled tumultuously as a maelstrom of contempt, frustration, and anger erupted from within Rui.

“Prophesized? Do you think I’m a fool?” Rui growled. “In the first place, you don’t have any prophetic Martial Art. Your Martial Art is centered around the field of hypnosis, which is light years away from Prophecy. If my grandmother uttered those words, it would be one thing. But you do not possess the power of prophecy. And yet, your so-called prophecies have been blindly worshiped and have even yielded the birth of a new religion. One that had made my life harder at every turn. Trying to shove its identity on me and mould me in the color of the Virodhabhasa Gospels.”

His eyes flared with a hint of anger.

“My name is not ‘Virodhabhasa,’ it’s Rui. Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria. Remember that.”