The Martial Unity

“As the leader of the Naraka Sect, I, Arken Meeltin, denounce His Highness’s vision.” A Martial Sage with black skin, laden with gu, spoke up, clad in a black cloak that hid his face. “We have deep respect for the Dawnbringer as the man who wields the greatest poison of death in the world to the greatest extent. Our sect would not exist without his past actions, and we have even hoped to work with him to elevate our death Martial Art techniques to much greater heights. But this and that are different matters entirely.”

The darkness in his skin matched the glint of darkness within Rui’s ethereal body. Rui instantly sensed his gu within him as he directed a curious gaze at the young Martial Sage. He had heard of this so-called Naraka Sect that had emerged in the North-West extremities of the Panama Continent, where he had dispelled Asmodeous’s gu to make the entire land pitch-black.

“We are a sect of death, and we live with death, we endure death, and we inflict as we please,” the Martial Sage declared. “I speak on behalf of all my brothers and sisters that we do not wish to be under the rule of law and order of a man who enforces it on us with force, for our ways will undoubtedly clash with your Kandrian sense of law and order.”

Rui didn’t respond to those words as several more powerful people stood up, mustering the courage to stand against the Dawnbringer.

“As the President of the Mallarkian Martial Consortium, the very notion of what His Highness proposes is distasteful,” Sage Sharnall remarked with a stern tone. “I deeply respect the Dawnbringer and his tremendous contributions to Martial Art. But to try and force the entire Martial World into a regime of law and order is more tyrannical than if you simply took the throne by force.”

“As the leader of the Blood Cult, we too dislike His Highness’s vision for the Martial World,” Blood Lord Mariel remarked with a serious tone. “We do not wish to live in fear of some authority that will bring the hammer of law upon us if our ways conflict with your personal sensibilities, Prince Rui. Even if it is merely limited to loss of life and property.”

“As the Patriarch of the Hive, I too speak for my people to express our opposition to his vision.” An old Martial Sage stood up with a serious expression. “We believe that the changes he wishes to bring to the Martial World as a whole will not be compatible with our Martial cultural values and norms.”

One by one, the Martial Sages who had some dissatisfaction but were too afraid of the Void Prince stood up and conveyed their opposition to his vision for the future. Unlike with Rui, where his support came from industrialists and non-Martialists, the support that Princess Ru managed to gather had very few industrialists, while skewing heavily Martial.

Rui simply listened to the reasons that the Martial Artists offered for opposing his vision with a deep gaze. Each cited reason was different, but it ultimately came down the fact that they feared the regime’s law and order would conflict with their core interests, whether it was due to the fact that they simply did not have any influence on the regime, or whether it was due to the fact that they believed they were too different from Rui for his idea of law and order not to conflict with theirs.

Ultimately, Martial Artists were as varied as humans when it came to culture and thus could radically diverge on where lines ought to be drawn when it came to Martial Artists and their impact on civilization.

It was for that very reason that even a continent of humans with radically different cultures and languages could not be governed by the exact same set of rules. He could see that more clearly when he studied the Martial Sages expressing their misgivings and compunctions with his vision for Panamic Civilization.

It did not change his mind that there needed to be law and order. He had been convinced that this was the basis of prosperity in his conversation with the Shepherd and his own experiences with civilization.

However, when he heard their complaints, he realized that there was validity to them. Indeed, his idea of law and order was colored in the Kandrian context, and even from a twenty-first-century Earth context.

’…I see, it is my conception of law and order that might have come off as too narrow, or might actually be too narrow.’ A hint of realization dawned on him then and there. ’Different people are compatible with different regimes of law and order that are suited to bringing about prosperity to specific groups of people.’

He turned to the Shepherd with a pointed glance.

She simply shrugged with a knowing expression, as if to say that she didn’t have enough time to teach him all the nuances of civilization in just the span of two days. She had prepped him enough to convey his vision with confidence, but couldn’t account for all scenarios, like when certain short-sighted elements of his vision were exposed by the clever and insightful princess he faced.

He simply heaved a sigh as his gaze returned to the guests of honor as the tide of opposition to his vision finally ended.

It had been just as prominent as the tide of support for his vision earlier.

“Thank you all for your courage and your voices,” Princess Ru smiled at all of them harmoniously. “Rest assured that I will fight for you as the Princess of Harmony.”

She turned to face her brother with a calm expression. “Do you see, my esteemed older brother? Your vision is one that conflicts with much of the Martial World. Even the support among Martial Artists that you have earned is largely out of faith or personal loyalty, not because your vision is truly beneficial for them.”

Her golden eyes brimmed with will.

“I will not allow you to pretend as if you have a broad base of support among Martial Artists and stakeholders of our civilization. And even if I do not ascend the throne, I will not allow you to disrupt the harmony that our father dedicated his life to fostering by imposing a regime of tyranny over the Martial World. I will represent that harmony and the voices that you seek to oppose.”