The Martial Unity

2915  The Passage Of Time

The report was not ambiguous about what the Reverend of Reckoning had found in the Lost City.

“…What does the Esoterist have to say about this?” Emperor Rael continued reading with an immersed expression.

“He says, ‘Now I want to learn more about history,’” the Director of Intelligence replied. “The Beggar Sage had already relayed the information to the Scrier and will soon get back to us regarding our new discoveries.”

The Emperor of Harmony nodded. “This is fascinating, but it is not directly relevant to the strategic outlook. What are the projections for the total time needed to reach the Beast That Roared from this point on?”

The Director of Intelligence frowned. “…At this rate, it will take ten years for them to reach the Beast That Roared.”

“Ten years…” Emperor Rael’s powerful mind extrapolated that timeframe in the Human Domain, projecting how the Beast Incursion resistance would fare at the rate of success they were experiencing. While he had entrusted the matter of the Siege of Sages to others who were more fit to handle such matters, he himself had taken full charge of humanity’s war against the Beast Tides.

“Regardless of which way our war goes, we can certainly last ten years,” Emperor Rael remarked. “However, we can accelerate this with breakthroughs of Masters to Sages. With the manifold, Martial Masters will reach the Sage Realm much sooner. What are the projections if we add this variable to the equation?”

“We have considered this possibility, Your Majesty,” the Director of Intelligence heaved a sigh. “Unfortunately, there is a limit to the efficacy of this solution to accelerate the Siege of Sages.”

Emperor Rael directed a knowing gaze to the director. “It’s because the manifold simply cannot accommodate the number of Masters needed for the breakthrough rate to increase fast enough, correct?”

“Precisely, Your Majesty.”

This was because they also needed to focus on the lower Realms that formed the rank and file of the resistance against the Beast Tides, without which all of humanity would perish. They had also focused on things such as accelerating the progress of MECHA using the manifold among other things.

There simply wasn’t enough space.

The Transcendent-grade Manifold Crystal that they had in the alien specimen was not powerful enough to create a larger space.

The Emperor of Harmony stirred as he recalled something. “Whatever happened to the mission I had given to you to find the remaining majority of the crystal?” the Emperor of Harmony asked with a curious expression. Analyzing the crystalline structure of the crystal within the alien specimen revealed that it had been part of a vastly larger crystal.

It meant that they could create a much larger manifold if they ever got their hands on it, potentially ameliorating the shortage of space.

“Unfortunately, we never managed to find it, Your Majesty,” the Director of Intelligence heaved a sigh. “We searched the Mellow, scouring every inch of it for this treasure, and we never once found anything resembling what you have sought.”

Emperor Real heaved a sigh. “In that case, scrap the initiative and redirect its resources to more useful endeavors. We do not have the leeway to be wasteful in this Era of Darkness. Continue coordinating with the Martial Sages and the Solution of Harmony task force as per protocol. Ensure that the Martial Sages are tended to as fast as possible in their reports, or requests for intelligence and analysis. They are our most important assets.”

“Understood, Your Majesty,” the Director nodded.

And thus, the war between beasts and man continued.

Human civilization learned to live without their Martial Sages, with their Martial Masters fully comprehending the sheer burden that came with being the strongest defenders of humanity. The departure of the Martial Sages, thankfully, didn’t lead to any fiascos within the Human Domain, although there were several close calls with the Sekigahara Confederate. The Gen Temple, infamous for its low Master and Senior level breakthroughs, also experienced more pressure than most. Ironically, the powerhouse that fared the best was now the Esocline Federation which handled the beast tides with extraordinarily high power.

The birth of the first MECHA Master had shaken the Martial World.

From its very inception, it had become a peak Martial Master in terms of combat power.

It had the potential to achieve a level of power not too far from that of the Dawnbringer within the Master Realm. The shocking power of MECHAs had exited the merely theoretical and had already begun gathering receipts, prompting much of human civilization to aggressively pursue MECHAs in the darkening era that they were in.

Power had proven to become absolute.

Especially so as the esoterification of the Panama Continent progressed beyond fifty percent.

A majority of the continent had been turned into a new, nascent Beast Domain where monsters and beasts could recuperate, heal, and breed more than ever before, increasing their numbers faster than ever before.

Simultaneously, Martial breakthroughs across the entire world had hit an all-time high as the drive of self-preservation fueled Martial progress more than anything ever could. More than even Rui ever could, having fully entered the back foot and also having lost the psychological protection of the Martial Sages, countless humans broke through to the Apprentice Realm.

The breakthroughs to the Senior and Master Realms, however, were the most intense as Seniors and Masters began emerging up across the continent like popping popcorn. It reflected the psychological desperation that humanity experienced with the absence of the Martial Sages. In addition, the Kandrian Empire began slowly working on spreading the blood of Blood Goddess after extracting her ovules before handing them off to the Divine Doctor who promptly began working on the massive project to create a whole new breed of superhumans, a project that would take years even for him. And thus, time flew as humanity fought the beasts on two fronts in a war that consumed the entire continent, reshaping heaven and earth with its intensity.

And just like that, ten years passed.

–