The Martial Unity

Fear.

A bone-chilling terror.

It was the first emotion that gripped her heart when she opened her eyes.

It was the first emotion that gripped the sum totality of her existence when she opened her eyes.

It was the first emotion that flooded her entire being when she opened her eyes.

A blood-curdling fear.

Her heartbeat grew erratic.

Her breathing grew labored.

Her hand flew to her heart as she found herself drowned.

Drowned in an ocean.

An ocean of darkness.

One that consumed the entire world. A pitch black void extended in all directions.

An infinite void.

One that she found herself in.

The faintest of whispers escaped her.

“…Where am I?”

She didn’t know.

“Is this… the afterlife?” she murmured with uncertainty.

With melancholy.

With regret.

She knew she was dead.

She knew she had to be. She knew with absolute certainty that she had died at the hands of the Demon of Asmodeous.

She had tried.

She has tried her best to protect Rui to the best of her abilities, but had ultimately failed because she simply was not strong enough to stand up to the Demon of Asmodeous. Never had she cursed her weakness the way she had when his arm jabbed its way into her heart.

She knew that Rui was bound to be next.

Her heart clenched with fear as she thought about what the Demon of Asmodeous had done to him. She knew the man wanted to kill Rui.

She had no idea why.

They had traveled to the Gu with the intention to speak with the Demon and convince him to join the Solution of Harmony. Rui had told her many times that this would be a dangerous mission, and yet, they only realized just how dangerous it would be after they entered the Gu.

The chilling realizations that the value of his breakthroughs was gone.

The terrifying disregard for his political protection.

Had she known what was to happen, she would have done her best to convince Rui not to go.

Profound regret, guilt, and sorrow consumed even her.

For once in her life, she was unable to find the silver lining.

For once in her life, she was unable to find the light at the end of the road.

For once in her life, she found herself unable to draw herself from the muck of despair she had found herself in.

“That’s not like you.”

She shook. She shook as a powerful feminine voice reached her from the depths of the void.

A familiar voice.

One that she had heard echoes of her entire life.

Echoes that the depths of her soul.

The void stirred as a figure emerged from its very depths.

A human figure.

A feminine figure.

Her hair was pitch-black.

They seemed to melt away from the very darkness that consumed the entire world.

Her eyes were universes unto themselves.

An unfathomable amount of power emerged from their depths.

Every inch of Her existence was filled with an unfathomable luster.

She was different.

She was different from any other person that Amare had ever met.

She had never seen Her before.

And yet, she instinctively knew who She was.

“Esil…” A faint, stunned whisper escaped her. “…You are the Progenitor.”

She who bestowed Martial Art upon the world.

The primordial origin of Martial Art as a whole was none other than the extraordinary being before her. Esil’s smile was delighted. “Not quite.”

Amare frowned at her words. “What do you mean?”

“…I’m sure you have sensed the truth by now,” Esil smiled. “This isn’t the Afterlife. Such a thing doesn’t exist. This… this entire universe exists within your mind.”

Amare’s eyes widened with shock as she directed a sweeping gaze across the entirety of the infinite void around her. “This place… is in my mind?”

“I am not the Progenitor,” Esil smiled. “I am just a projection of the Progenitor that your soul has conjured. A figment of your imagination. A very accurate simulation of who I am. Of who I used to be.”

Her tone contained an unearthly luster.

A transcendent aura.

Amare gazed at the Progenitor with a shocked expression.

“A figment of my imagination…?” A stunned whisper escaped her, “…within my mind?”

It was a stunning revelation.

One that she couldn’t believe.

One that she didn’t believe. “But… I died,” Amare’s tone grew melancholic. “I am dead. I know of it. This place can’t be my mind. Because that would mean I’m still…”

Her words trailed off.

“Still alive.” Esil’s tone was gentle.

Warm.

“…That’s impossible.” Amare’s tone grew stunned. “Death is absolute!”

Esil giggled with amusement.

Amusement and awe.

She gazed upwards.

As though She could see something that Amare couldn’t. “I thought so too.”

Her tone contained the same melancholy that Amare’s did.

The same regret.

“I, too, thought death was absolute. And yet…”

An amazed smile emerged on Her face.

“He did it.”

Her tone was profound.

“He accomplished the impossible.” Her expression was shaken.

“He overcame Death.”

A tinge of envy entered the Progenitor’s eyes as She gazed at Amare.

“I wish I had a man like him by my side when I traveled the continent.”

Her tone grew dreamy. “Perhaps I would not have gone down the path I had. Perhaps I would not have been overcome with regret. Perhaps he could have resurrected me with his endless love and power.”

Amare grew stunned.

She froze with shock.

A single whisper escaped her.

“…Resurrect?”

Her eyes widened with bewildered astonishment.

“Overcome death?”

She didn’t understand.

She didn’t understand how such a thing was possible.

“Just what…” a quivering whisper escaped her. “Just what happened?”

Esil smiled gently. “Then listen and learn…”

Her eyes grew more intense.

“Learn how far he has gone for you.”

She began narrating.

She began narrating the truth of what has happened. How the Boundless Light intervened.

How the Dawnbringer broke through to the Sage Realm.

How the Dawnbringer overcame the Gu.

And how challenged Death itself.

And how he overcame it.

–