The Martial Unity

While human civilization still reeled from numerous shocking events like the birth of a new Transcendent, EsoQuest Solutions finding a second infected world in ten days, and the impending Arakai Invasion, the Security Council quietly amended the recognition of the Arakai Web Civilization as an enemy of human civilization.

They quietly excluded the Pluralist Faction and certain cells within the civilization as not enemies. This had been done entirely on the order of the Chancellor of the Gaian Alliance, the Emperor of Water himself. The amendment recognized the Pluralist Faction of human civilization as a non-threatening party and its willingness to partake in a business relationship with the rest of human civilization.

It created the opening needed for the Emperor of Water to sign a free trade deal with the leader of the Pluralist Faction, Divine Mother ooo—o-, and have it ratified with the General Assembly.

Of course, when Rui started getting everybody on board, not everybody was receptive, to say the least.

”This is absurd!” Prime Minister James stood up, banging his hands on the table before him. ”The arakai are our enemy! Why are you trying to have us sign a free trade agreement with a large faction of the enemy?!”

In a private meeting shortly before the General Assembly caucus, Rui himself had convened a meeting with some of the highest powers of human civilization to impress upon them the importance of ratifying this trade agreement.

Everybody in the meeting room stared at the Prime Minister of the Britannian Empire with a stunned expression as he glared at the Emperor of Water sitting at the head of the table.

Rui simply stared at the hot-headed Prime Minister. He was the successor of Edward after the man had retired from his office, a nationalistic young man, relatively speaking, who dreamed of the days when the Britannian Empire was one of the most feared powers in East Panama.

He disdained the Kandrian Empire and its overbearing and nearly absolute power. And he hated the man he was glaring at more than anybody else. It was not an exaggeration to say that the Britannian Empire may very well have won the third Great East Panamic War if not for the then Void Prince.

”Answer my question,” Prime Minister James demanded with a serious expression. ”Why must we agree to form a trade agreement with these cells of the Arakai Web Civilization, with this ’Pluralist Faction?’”

”Because they do not desire war with human civilization,” Rui calmly replied, unbothered by the defiance of the prime minister. ”Their leaders voted against the war with human civilization despite knowing that I killed three of their sisters. They desire to establish a trade agreement with our civilization, a mutually beneficial relationship that will help us in this war.”

”So you want to allow the enemy to enter our civilization while we’re waging war?” the Prime Minister scoffed. ”You do realize that they could just be spies who are here to collect wartime intelligence under the pretense of trade, right?”

”Our intelligence sources disagree with that assertion. They were the ones who delayed the invasion into human civilization, and they were the ones who pushed for peace, and are still pushing for peace,” Rui replied. ”They are opponents of the War Faction, which is the faction that is most responsible for the decision to invade our civilization.”

”What intelligence sources?” the man demanded to know. ”As far as I’m aware, the only intelligence sources we have are those of Sage Sayfeel, who is loyal to the Kandrian Empire?”

”And an excellent Transcendent Candidate,” Rui calmly retorted. ”His intelligence cannot be disputed.”

”What if he’s making this up? Hell, what if you’re making this up? How can we trust—”

”E̷̖̗̖̭̖̤̭̟͇̘͉͑͐̓̒n̶͖̆̾͘ô̴̠̘̳͖̇͑ų̵̧̬̘̣̼̱̮̯̺͔̹͎͒̃̕ǧ̵̨̟͎͋̒̏͆͂͌̏̋̕͘ͅͅh̶͓̦̳̬͓͔̗̩̼͔̏͂̑̅̆͒͆̈́̎̈́͛̊ͅ.”

Rui’s voice reverberated through past, present, and future, undertaking an ethereal luster that transcended causal constraints. His voice exerted tremendous pressure on the various leaders within the private meeting, as he let loose some of the pressure that he withheld from the members of the meeting.

They felt a profoundly deep sense of suppression that came from the universe itself. As if the laws of reality themselves commanded them to bow their heads before a Transcendent authority.

The world around them grew… fluidy. As if melting into water from simply being gazed upon by the ethereal eyes from the Transcendent emperor.

The pressure lasted for just a moment, before subsiding.

The next moment, the world returned to normal, allowing each of them to breathe normally.

THUD

The Prime Minister collapsed to the ground, covered in cold sweat, breathing frantically.

”Do not mistake my willingness to the institutions that I created as license to express contempt for my decisions.”

His voice was calm and normal, but still contained a luster of Transcendence in its reverberation.

His eyes sharpened, sweeping the table. ”I’m telling you that this is necessary for human civilization for reasons I cannot divulge. If you want to know, find a way to get approved by me into the Central Human Command.”

Of course, Rui had not divulged the information to the Central Human Command either. There was no need for them to know since it pertained to operations that involved Rui and Rui alone.

”Now, the General Assembly is starting soon. I want all of your nations to ratify this trade agreement.” He got up. ”Are there any objections?”

He turned towards the Prime Minister, who got up with gritted teeth, but remained silent. Clearly, he hated Rui for imposing his will upon them so blatantly, but Rui simply didn’t care for his hostility. He was too weak, even as the prime minister of a powerhouse, to do anything about it.

Emperor Ranoua, the emperor of the Bournvyrne Empire, remained discontent. ”…Will this truly help human civilization?”

Rui turned towards the dwarven emperor with a raised eyebrow. He hadn’t expected the dwarf to speak out after that; he tended to be among the most passive leaders. It appeared that getting his hands on his own Transcendence gave him the courage to speak out against Rui.

”It is our only hope,” Rui quietly responded before teleporting away.