The Martial Unity

WHOOSH

He reappeared in a familiar room. A simpler, but still highly luxurious personal quarters, directing his gaze at the bed where Amare slept.

“Amitabha, you are here early,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi remarked with a knowing tone. “She still rests, for she had pushed herself to the very limit and beyond.”

He slowly walked to the side of the bed wordlessly, never once taking his gentle gaze off of her. Her light, soft snores drew an amused smile as he gazed at the mess her hair had made across the pillows. Her limbs were flung in all cardinal directions, as if someone had challenged her to take as much space as humanly possible.

“She’s a messy sleeper as always,” Rui chuckled as he gently shifted a tuft of her brown hair away from her face. “Thankfully, it looks like she’s rested enough.”

“Mmmm…” She shifted at his gentle touch, slowly opening her eyes as her gaze fell on him. “Rui…”

Her tone was gentle and groggy.

For several moments, they simply gazed at each other.

Then, her eyes widened with realization as she lunged at him, hugging him tightly. “Rui!”

He reciprocated her affection, hugging her tightly as her warmth and her scent made him relax for the first time in a long, long time. He had spent sixteen years in the manifold, and another ninety-three years in his mind.

When he returned, he fought three powerful opponents, only to watch his nation suffer and his father perish.

“Rui.”

Her voice was filled with longing and affection.

He heaved a shaky breath as he felt himself relaxing in her familiar presence.

“I’ve missed this.”

When she had bathed in his presence enough, she slowly pulled away, cupping his translucent face with her hands knowingly. He had discussed his plan with her from the very start, so she knew exactly why he had become the way he was.

“…You’ve grown stronger.”

Rui nodded before his eyes darkened. “And yet… it wasn’t enough.”

She frowned at those words as he explained everything that had happened since she had passed out. Her eyes widened with horror as he told her about the destruction to the east coast of Kandria and the death of his father.

“I’m so, so sorry to hear that.” She whispered with a sorrowful tone as she pulled him into her once more. “This… if I had just been strong enough to fight the Suneater and Tokugawa Ieyasu…! This would not have happened.”

“It’s not your fault.” He heaved a deep breath. “I have already accepted my responsibility and have made peace with it, even if a little bitter and regretful. I have made a decision that will…”

His tone grew serious. “…that will change my life, our life, forever.”

He turned towards her with a serious expression as he told her everything.

His decision to ascend the throne and become Emperor. His conversation with the Elder Tree. The Royal Funeral and everything he had planned for it. His talks with Princess Ranea and with the Shepherd, and his vision for the future.

“You’re going to become Emperor… to create a world where not even Martial Sages are above law and order.” Her amber eyes lit up with amazement. “I would love to see such a world! A world where people are not terrorized by the havoc of Martial Artists sounds wonderful!”

Rui smiled softly at her approval. “Thank you. That means a lot to me, coming from you. But…”

His expression grew serious. “This decision will have a great impact on our relationship. If you wish to be with me, then… then you will have to deal with everything that comes with it. To be in a relationship with the Emperor of Kandria is a serious matter.”

His ethereal eyes bore deep into hers. “It comes with responsibilities.”

Much to his surprise, her determination came quicker and stronger than he expected. “We can do it. We can do it together. Nothing can tear us apart anymore.”

He smiled at her.

“Together it is.”

Her smile grew jubilant. “I know… this isn’t appropriate considering everything we have lost, but I feel so excited for the future.”

“That’s good.” He nodded. “To be hopeful for the future is better than to drown in the despair of the past. I hope that others feel the same under my regime as Emperor. I hope that I can create hope in my people for a better world.”

Her amber eyes lit up with alacrity as she lunged at him, kissing him deeply as her hands began to run across his body.

“None of that impurity in my presence,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi’s disapproving voice startled Amare, who had been so immersed in Rui that she completely failed to check her surroundings.

“Grandma!” she exclaimed, as her immature side came out in the presence of her grandmother. “You should have said something if you were here!”

“Amitabha, your grandmother feels so sad that she was ignored by her precious granddaughter, even though she waited here the entire time, and the man who stole you from me came at the last minute.”

“Aww, don’t pout, Grandma.”

Rui watched with a hint of amusement as Amare comforted his grandmother, who projected sorrow to earn more affection, before growing immersed in his own thoughts.

“Two days…” A whisper escaped him. “Two days and everything changes.”

The two days passed in the blink of an eye from that point on.

The Royal Funeral Committee had struggled and worked day and night despite the surplus of officials from the Ministry of Domestic Affairs. The Royal Funeral for the death of the Second Emperor Rael Di Kandria arrived three days after the conclusion of the first True World War, as it came to be called.

The fate of the continent seemed to weigh on the minds of everybody as leaders, warriors, merchants, and the most powerful people in the continent gathered in the Kandrian Empire.

An unprecedented concentration of power, the likes of which Panama had never seen.

A gathering of power that would change the future of the continent forever.