The Martial Unity

A macabre air descended upon the battlefield.

The atmosphere darkened considerably.

Not a single Martial Master could bring themselves to celebrate her victory.

Almost nobody even knew who she was.

But they acknowledged her words.

His sacrifice had to be honored.

Nel and several other Kandrian Martial Masters secured the body of the Gatekeeper with sorrowful expressions as they prepared to carry it back to the Kandrian Empire.

He and the others who had died in the attack that came from beyond the Great Nam Ocean.

Several Kandrian and Esocline Martial Masters had passed away in the attack in their brave attempt to protect the Esocline Federation from the attack of the foreign cyborg entity. They sacrificed themselves knowing full well that they were going to die.

The Esocline Federation immediately mobilized once the threat was confirmed to be eliminated. MECHAs and crafts emerged from the Esocline Federation as it emerged out of its shell.

The energy barrier erected over the country came undone as the powerful nation reduced its state of national emergency, deploying their few Martial Artists to immediately secure the alien craft and cyborg entity while they were still incapacitated thanks to Amare.

Several crafts came by to collect and secure the alien craft in a highly secure harnessing before slowly lifting the aircraft away while the MECHA Masters began to gather the broken cyborg entity, carefully taking it away to the Esocline Federation where it would rapidly be taken away to be dismantled safely before it could possibly wake up and retaliate.

The dead were quickly collected by the Esocline Federation but also the Kandrian Empire through the World Bridge. Teams were deployed to gather what remained of the bodies in bags.

The cyborg entity had consumed them almost like an animal would, leaving most of the deceased Martial Masters not entirely in one piece.

“Kandria…” Fae whispered as they bagged the Gatekeeper’s corpse. “…has suffered a great loss today.”

The Gatekeeper was one of the most eminent heroes of old and of late in the Kandrian Empire. Not only had he been a powerful warrior during the era of war before the Emperor of Harmony, he had also greatly contributed to the Kandrian Empire’s training Martial Art surrounding the body and had been invaluable during the third Great East Panamic War. He had also been on the very frontlines of the human resistance to the Beast Incursion, especially after the Martial Sages had departed from human civilization eleven years ago.

To say that his death was a loss to the Kandrian Empire was an understatement.

The Martial Masters of the simply mourned in silence as teams from the Kandrian Empire and Esocline Federation collected the bodies of their valiant heroes.

Not even the Martial Masters themselves, dead or alive, had understood the sheer significance of their successful resistance.

While most of them understood that what they had protected the Esocline Federation from wasn’t an ordinary threat and unlike anything they had ever seen before, they couldn’t have imagined that they had just fought back against a citizen of the True World.

Less than nine hours had passed since the True World had Unfolded.

The world-shattering news was still the most confidential classified information that the highest leaders of human civilization kept to themselves until they were certain they could handle the consequences of the public learning about this shocking event.

It wasn’t too long before the dead, the living, and the spoils and prisoner of war were collected.

The Esocline Federation collected the ruins of the MECHAs of their MECHA Masters as well those remains of the heroes who sacrificed themselves while the World Bridge connecting the Esoclne Federation to the Kandrian Empire widened, allowing the Kandrian Empire to bring back everybody they had sent and everybody that they had lost.

Amare watched with warm eyes of sorrow and sadness.

“Thank you.”

The Blood Goddess arrived before her.

Her tone was one of sincere gratitude.

And yet, within it was a tiny hint of distrust.

Her blood-red eyes contained a hint of wariness.

“Thank you for saving us,” she continued. “We would be dead without you.”

Amare smiled warmly as an unfathomable light emerged deep within the depths of her amber eyes.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it sooner.”

Her tone was gentle.

And yet, the Blood Goddess couldn’t help but narrow her eyes.

She couldn’t help but feel that something was off.

Nobody else noticed it.

And yet, nobody else there knew Amare the way that she did.

After all, she had spent a year with her while they traveled a year through the Panama Continent.

She had grown very familiar with Amare’s body language.

It overflowed with life, compassion, and warmth.

And yet, this time, there was more.

She sensed a profound drive for power.

One that was never there before.

The Amare that she knew was not power-hungry.

And yet, when she gazed into Amare’s eyes, she sensed that She had changed.

The Blood Goddess hesitated. “Where… where have you been in the past eleven years?”

The truth about Amare was also kept a secret from outsiders.

The fact that she had died.

The fact that she had been resurrected.

And the fact that she had been trapped in her own mind.

As far as the Blood Goddess was concerned, her only friend had bid her goodbye and then made herself scarce and didn’t even bother to meet her again for the next decade.

Amare’s bright eyes grew hazy with melancholy.

“I… was unable to live.”

The air grew heavy.

The atmosphere tingled with a faint tension.

The Blood Goddess didn’t understand what her words meant.

But she could sense the sorrow within Her tone.

“It was my fault.”

Amare’s tone was uncharacteristically intense.

“I was too weak.”

Her eyes grew more intense.

“It was my weakness that led to me becoming a burden to him.”

Her tone grew doused with regret and sorrow.

“He must have suffered all by himself.”

Her eyes grew stronger with a resolution.

“Never again will he have to suffer alone. Never again will we be separated with force.”

Amare’s tone intensified.

“Now I have the power to stand beside him as a true equal.”

The Blood Goddess stared at her with a shocked expression as a single question escaped her.

“Who…”

Her tone grew severe.

“Who are you?”

–