The Martial Unity

Just like that, three months passed.

The giant invasion into East Genora grew sluggish as the light elven resistance to further expansion into the continent proved to be extraordinarily intense. Each and every light elf was mobilized to bring about as much destruction to the giants as they possibly could for the crime of setting foot on their sacred territory.

The Mothers of Nature began to get more and more involved, putting aside an increasing number of their duties to keep elven civilization running as they, too, began partaking in the war.

It forced the giants to try and claim the edge of East Genora for themselves, trying to establish some form of base where their members could rest and recuperate before returning to battle.

Much to the shock of everybody, however, the light elves were unable to remove the continent of giants. Even if the giants had put an unreasonable amount of power into the invasion, none of them could have expected the elves would have failed to crush an invasion into their territory, where they were touted to be invincible.

The event had reduced elven prestige to an all-time low, along with events prior, such as the failure to kill Rui Quarrier despite teleporting him to their territory and ambushing him.

Almost every Mother of Nature in East Genora had already begun participating in the defensive efforts, desperately trying to push back.

And yet, they were unable to.

’You must help us, Grandmother!’

At the core of East Genora was an astronomically titanic tree of unfathomable proportions and a domain that extended a truly enormous diameter. Her enormous green leaves soaked up the bright light of the morning Sun, gaining an enormous amount of energy that sustained her energy expenditure.

Within the enormous tree sat an elderly lady in a cavity deep within her body.

She patiently gazed at Rui, patting his head on her lap.

’Elder sister! Why haven’t you participated in the resistance to the giant invasion?’

Mother Maeria heaved a sigh.”

“I do not wish to.”

’But why not?! Do you take pleasure in seeing your sisters and daughters suffer at the hands of these oafish giants?’

’Why will you not mobilize your extraordinary power?’

’You can save so many elves!’

Mother Maeria shook her head.

“This war was caused by your actions. I feel rather content allowing all of you to deal with the consequences of your actions. I do indeed mourn each and every daughter of mine that falls to the giants, but this is necessary for the well-being of East Genoran Elven Civilization.”

’What do you mean?! How can an invasion possibly be good for elven civilization?!’

“If you still haven’t understood that, then all the more reason for me to allow the giant invasion to continue.” Mother Maeria shook her head. “You are still strong even without me. You have many Mothers of Nature who are also very strong. And moreover, you have the power of an entire civilization that is known to be invincible on its home territory. That should be enough. And it isn’t…”

Her tone grew stern.

“Then try and understand what it means before it is too late.”

’…’

Her little sisters grew silent at those words, withdrawing from the conversation.

Mother Maeria heaved a sigh, shaking her head lightly.

She couldn’t blame them, of course.

It was almost impossible for a light elf born in East Genora not to grow up conceited to some extent with such a civilizational culture.

Mother Maeria herself had been that one once upon a time.

Until she experienced the meaning of true fear for the first time in her life.

Her elderly eyes grew hazy as she recalled a memory from old.

It had happened more than a century ago, which was relatively recent by the standards of Mothers of Nature.

She has reached the pinnacle of the Singularity of Nature and was unable to grow any larger and more powerful.

There were logistical constraints to a tree growing bigger than she currently was.

She spread her senses far and wide across the planet and across the stars to search for something that could help her gain more power, leveraging her astronomical senses, mind, and the cognition that her flora network would grant her.

That was when she had experienced a horrifying fear unlike anything she had ever experienced in her entire life.

She had only touched up on the very surface of it, unable to sense anything beyond the tiniest hint of the fear. And that alone had proven to be more terror than anything else she had known her entire life.

No one believed her, of course.

They treated her like she was going crazy.

He had tried, at the time, to reach out to countless people regarding it, and not a single other person she had communicated with in a century could even fathom what she was talking about.

PAT

Her hand gently brushed Rui’s black hair as she gazed at him with an expression of longing.

She had watched his battle carefully with faint interest.

Like everyone, she had witnessed his astronomical power when his eyes became blood-red Suns shining with blinding brightness.

But more than the incredible power he displayed, she had been moved by what she sensed in him in that moment.

She had sensed a primal terror.

A horrifying existential fear that froze his very existence.

Others may have assumed that it was simply fear of the attacks that were on the verge of annihilating him then, but she knew better.

That was why she had waited.

She had waited patiently for three months for him to recuperate from his battle without so much as even batting an eye.

And then, he finally woke up.

His eyes slowly opened as he found himself gazing at the wooden roof of the cavity, illuminated by the light of glowing flowers.

“Have you finally woken up?”

Rui’s eyes widened as the elderly elf leaned forward, entering his field of vision out of nowhere, staring deep into his eyes with an intense gaze.