The Martial Unity

“A reported six Martial Masters from the Kandrian Empire are dead, in addition to… Sir Armstrong, who broke through to the Sage Realm shortly before his death, Your Majesty.”

In the Royal Office of the Kandrian Empire, the Director of Intelligence had found himself standing before the Emperor of Harmony.

His tone was strained.

He considered himself to be quite clinical when it came to intelligence, and yet not even he could comport himself when he conveyed the news of the tragic death of the Gatekeeper after breaking through to the Sage Realm, no less.

The Royal Office was silent.

The darkness of night drenched the world in its omnious veil while a sea of lights could be seen across the town of Vargard from all the people who were awake in the middle of the night.

The disruption of day-night cycles less than half a day ago disrupted everybody’s sleep, leaving them as wide awake as owls in the middle of the night and as sleepy as bats during the day.

The air across the entire nation was one of uncertainty.

While the people of the Kandrian Empire were not hysterical like the people of countless other nations had been upon the Unfolding several hours prior, they were still prone to some mass fears.

The air in the Royal Office of the Kandrian Empire was tense.

The atmosphere was heavy.

“…What did you say?”

The voice of the Emperor of Harmony was chillingly intense.

His powerful golden eyes were sharpened with grave severity.

They pierced right into the eyes of the Director of Intelligence, who flinched. “…Sir Armstrong has passed away in battle, Your Majesty. He fought valiantly, protecting not just the Esocline Federation but also the Martial Masters of both nations.”

Emperor Rael let out a long, shaky, deep breath as his head lowered, his eyes hidden behind his golden hair.

The silence was deafening.

And yet, the Director of Intelligence couldn’t bring himself to break it.

“This cursed day…” the Emperor of Harmony continued with a pained tone. “…continues to extract a painful price from us.”

Unlike most Martial Artists in the Kandrian Empire, the Emperor of Harmony had cultivated a personal relationship with the Gatekeeper a long, long time ago when he was still aiming for the throne as a young, ambitious prince.

Back then, the Gatekeeper’s prominence in the Kandrian Empire was still extremely high for the Master Realm had been discovered very recently and his star was still very bright. Many back then had expected to break through to the Master Realm right away along with the others, becoming the strongest Martial Artist right away.

Many a prince and princess had sought him, and yet, he had rejected them all.

Prince Rael was the only one to earn his support, an important step in his grand plan to seize the throne and become Emperor.

“I had promised him an end to Kandria’s era of conquest and an end to the brewing civil war, followed by an age of prosperity the likes of which he’d have never seen before,” the Emperor of Harmony continued with a tone laced with faint sorrow and grief hidden by a strong voice befitting the Emperor. “He was convinced by my path and by my conviction. And it was thanks to his support, among others, at the time that I seized the throne painlessly after assassinating my father.”

The Emperor of Harmony closed his eyes, heaving a deep, long breath.

The Director of Intelligence tactfully remained silent at a rare moment of raw openness from the Emperor.

The air tingled with tension.

The atmosphere grew electric with peril.

“Director Marbridge…”

The shift in his tone was jarring.

One moment, he allowed himself a moment of mourning and grief.

The very next moment, his tone became chillingly intense.

His head lifted as his powerful golden eyes bore heavy on the Director of Intelligence.

“I believe you said that the true world entity was captured?”

His voice was laced with anger.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the Director of Intelligence gulped. “The Esocline Federation has captured both the foreign aircraft and the true world entity that mounted the attack and is responsible for the death of the Gatekeeper. Thankfully, the Esocline Federation has already sent a missive to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs with an offer of joint custody over the captured prisoner and the spoils of war.”

The Esocline Federation knew that it was in no position to claim full ownership over such priceless sources of intelligence and technology, as well as the culprit responsible for the death of the various Martial Masters and Sir Armstrong’s death.

The reinforcements that the Kandrian Empire had sent to the nation were the sole reason that the Esocline Federation hadn’t been captured or destroyed. In fact, the Kandrian Empire even had the opportunity to claim full ownership over the captures because of the loss of the Gatekeeper, however the Emperor of Harmony didn’t intend to go that far.

“We need the Esoterist’s help in decoding the alien technologies,” the Emperor of Harmony spoke knowingly. “It’s better if we make it a joint ownership and a joint effort in decoding the technologies of the true world.”

Now that the true world has proven itself to be a threat, the Emperor of Harmony knew that international cooperation needed to rise astronomically. Human civilization of the Panama Continent needed to become more connected and more integrated.

He even had plans for distributing World Bridge technology across human civilization to accelerate the second wave of globalization in a post-Beast Incursion world.

“Though we don’t have any idea if the Beast Incursion has truly ended.”

His tone was laced with grave severity.

After all, if human civilization had to fight the true world and the Beast Incursion at the same time, then all hope was lost. They stood no chance against an enemy from inside the continent and an enemy from outside. It was why the Divine Doctor and the Ecologer dedicated themselves tirelessly to understand the state of the beasts and monsters in human civilization.

There was absolutely nothing he could do about the outcome of their judgment, and the worst part was that it wasn’t easy to plan for the future of human civilization without knowing the state of beasts and monsters.

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