The Martial Unity

Chapter 2589: Ego and Egoless

They arrived at the citadel at the center of the capital of Westerson, and she guided him to the man in charge.

”Prime Minister Edward.”

His expression was cold unlike that of virtually every other leader who had come to greet him. He adjusted his monocle, buttoning up his extravagant coat and robes as he stood up from his seat in his office, walking towards Rui.

For a moment, their steely gazes clashed in the air.

A faint tension boiled in the air as they silently regarded each other.

They were absolute enemies until relatively recently.

The man had done everything in his power to kill Rui and destroy the Kandrian Empire.

He had come this close to destroying the Kandrian Empire.

No matter what, Rui could never regard him with anything other than hostility.

”In all my years...” A faint whisper escaped him. ”I would have never imagined that the day when I would be forced to welcome you as an honored guest in our nation would come. And yet...”

His hand reached out, offering a handshake to the Dawnbringer.

”Here we are.”

Rui snorted. ”I am not an honored guest. I will adhere to my own self-commitments, do what I came here for, and then get the hell out of here. But do not think I harbor any personal goodwill towards you or your nation.”

He left the man hanging.

”Your father would have used this opportunity to shake hands and propose agreements would not only be extremely attractive but also inadvertently shackle the Britannian Empire,” Prime Minister Edward calmly informed him. ”He would have used this opportunity to crush any hostility the Britannian Empire has towards the Kandrian Empire but also to raise the difficulty of ever re-initiating conflict against it. All for the sake of the Kandrian Empire.” ”Yeah, well, Iʼm not my father,” Rui glared at him. ”I donʼt care if you guys re-initiate conflicts in the future. We will be strong enough to eradicate all of you and your allies singlehandedly by the time the Beast Incursion is completed. I will personally destroy this nation should the need arise.”

He didnʼt hide the malice he held towards the Britannian Empire in his voice.

He had an especially high dislike for the Britannian Empire even compared to the Sekigahara Confederate. Mostly because the latter were a bunch of idiots while the former was the mastermind behind the war and almost destroyed the Kandrian Empire, if not for the Beast Incursion.

RUMBLE...

The world shook under the wrath of a Martial Sage.

”Watch your mouth, Dawnbringer,” Sage Vermillion growled as her eyes lit up with rage. ”I shanʼt tolerate threats towards the Britannian Empire in my presence.”

Rui wanted to scoff right in her face but ultimately restrained himself to an indignant glare.

”Enough, have a seat, let us speak candidly now that our nations our no longer in a state of war,” Prime Minister Edward calmly remarked as he gestured to a lavish couch opposite his in his office.

The two men sat opposite each other as the atmosphere cooled down a bit while the butler served them with a hot tea. Rui gazed at the man curiously while he savored the hot tea patiently, entirely willing to take his time.

”You seem awfully relaxed for someone whose nation is in shambles,” Rui remarked with a hint of intrigue.

”You must think of me to be a raving lunatic if you for you to find that worthy of note,” Prime Minister Edward replied calmly as he sipped his tea.

”I mean, yeah,” Rui scoffed. ”Youʼre an actual madman. You were going to ravage your own nation just to destroy the Kandrian Empire. Forgive me if I donʼt think of you as a beacon of rationality.”

”Nobody is rational,” Prime Minister Edward informed Rui with a composed tone as he added more sugar to his tea. ”Your father most certainly isnʼt. Everyone is irrational to varying degrees. While I do hate the Kandrian Empire from the bottom of my heart, my decision to eradicate it wasnʼt based entirely on the future prospects of the Britannian Empire in the scenarios where I allowed it to break past the Great Limit versus where I destroyed it at the cost of ravaging my own nation. I simply concluded that it was worth the damage and would still be easier to overcome than a Transcendent nation led by the Emperor of Harmony.”

His gaze shifted towards Rui. ”Your father regards me as an egotistical man, and heʼs not wrong.”

His eyes narrowed. ”I am egotistical. I am the most egotistical man you will ever meet. But in my eyes, your father is inhumanly humble. He possesses less ego than a commoner on the street. Even all the posturing, the power projection, the puffed chest, and the raised chin that he shows off in public. All of that is for show. All of it is calculated. He does everything he does for the sake of the Kandrian Empire.”

An expression of disgust appeared on the Britannian Prime Minister. ”It repulses me.” ”Yet, he is right.” Rui glared at him. ”Your ego is your downfall. Your choices are what led to the harm that the Britannian Empire suffered.”

”Hah!” the Britannian Prime Minister scoffed with contempt. ”You Kandrians got lucky that there was a monster among monsters hiding in the depths of the Beast Domain. If not for that, you would be destroyed right now. You call that victory? Give me a break!”

Rui glared at him even harder, but even he couldnʼt deny the sheer good fortune of the timing of the Beast Incursion. It was a cosmic miracle that saved them from the brink of destruction.

”If too much ego is bad, then too little ego is equally bad,” Prime Minister Edward declared. ”In my eyes, the Emperor of Harmonyʼs lack of ego is what got him to the brink of destruction. Had he had some measure of ego, he would have been able to have foreseen my reaction and averted it ahead of time. We live in a world of people with ego.”