The Martial Unity

2946  Climactic Misfortune

The people of the Sekigahara Confederate had been through a lot in the past few decades.

A lot of bad things, of course.

It all started with the third Great East Panamic War long ago, when the nation attacked the Kandrian Empire and suffered great losses to their Master count, the external deterrent of the Esocline Federation damaged it, and shackled its power. Since then, the Sekigahara Confederate had experienced a string of negative happenings that crippled the nation.

The war drained its Martial capital and left it weakened. The Beast Incursion delved the entire nation into the Era of Darkness along with the rest of human civilization. The continuous attacks from beasts and monsters had ravaged their Martial Artists, leaving them exhausted and tired, far more so than any other Sage-level powerhouse. They were truly pushed to their limits in a variety of ways.

The Solution of Harmony had been both a blessing and a source of anxiety to the leaders of the Sekigahara Confederate. On one hand, they truly could benefit from the solutions laid out by the Dawnbringer and the Esoterist.

On the other hand, they dreaded the day that they were to part with their Sages, leaving their nation entirely up to the protection of the Martial Masters whose numbers had been culled significantly in the Sekigahara-Kandria battle. The breakthrough deal with the Dawnbringer alleviated the pressure, allowing for an influx of newborn Martial Masters that helped the Sekigahara Confederate cope with the Beast Incursion. The supplies that they received from the Esocline Federation were also quite helpful in ensuring that the nation was safe.

They were the first nation after the Kandrian Empire to receive the Hellbringer Model and had had the highest amount of training time with it for a total of four years.

Everything had been going well until the Abyssal Dragon emerged from the depths of the Beast Domain.

It increased the pressure on human civilization once more, getting rid of the stability and safety that they had just barely managed to enjoy.

The destruction of the Gu was even worse.

It led to a whopping ten percent increase in the intensity of the Beast Incursion that once again erased any and all gains in stability that the Sekigahara Confederate had experienced.

By the time the departure of the Sages came, the Sekigahara Confederate was the least secure but still barely secure enough to cope with the Dawnbringerʼs Omni-Apotheosis.

And in the ten years since the departure of the Sages, it had lived in an insecure state of instability, just barely avoiding the destruction that came with the Beast Incursion that only grew stronger and stronger as the human domain grew more esoterified with each passing second.

The world shook as a vast tide of unharmed, frenzied Sage-level monsters and beasts shook the world with their thundering charge as the very fabric of heaven and earth quaked with peril.

15:10

Unlike the Kandrian Empire, which only grew more and more secure with each passing year, each day was a struggle for survival for the Sekigahara Confederate.

That was why they simply couldnʼt take it.

They simply couldnʼt handle the ambush of the second wave.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as a vast tide of unharmed, frenzied Sage-level monsters and beasts shook the world with their thundering charge as the very fabric of heaven and earth quaked with peril.

”ROOOAAARRR!!!”

”KRRRIIIEEEKKK!!!”

”RAAAWWWRRR!!!”

The Martial Masters of the Sekigahara Confederate, wounded and exhausted from the previous battle, gritted their teeth as they rallied. Their Martial attires were torn and roughened, caked with not just their blood but the blood of their vanquished foes.

There was a deeper sense of desperation that flickered in the eyes of the Martial Artists of the Sekigahara Confederate relative to those of the Martial Artists of the Kandrian Empire, who fought with greater security and safety.

The Sekigaharan Martial Artists, however, had nothing.

”Where are the siege weapon attacks?!” the leader of the Martial Masters roared violently as he tried to squeeze as much power from their waning Realms of power as they could. ”…The technicians say theyʼre on cooldown!” The desperate scream of his subordinate among the Masters caused the air to grow macabre.

In that moment,

They understood.

They understood that their time was up. Their eyes darkened as their expressions grew grim with despair and reckoning.

”If weʼre going to go down…” the leader of the Martial Masters gritted his teeth. ”Then we might as well go down fighting.”

His eyes intensified as his body strained with effort. ”ATTACK!!!”

The Martial Masters roared with defiance as they charged towards the incoming tide of Sage-level beasts and monsters with a ferocious battle cry.

They never stood a chance.

The Fire Dragon that led the charge inhaled deeply as its reptilian eyes sharpened with a frenzied bloodlust.

”ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

It unleashed an extraordinary wave of heat as it breathed blue fires upon the charging Martial Masters, incinerating them alive.

They never stood a chance in their condition.

Not when the Sage-level beasts were uninjured and more numerous.

”Gruff…” the fire dragon huffed a breath of crackling smoke and embers before shifting its gaze to the unprotected Sekigahara Confederate far away in the distance.

Its pupils dilated with a fierce drive.

”ROOOAAARRR!!!”

It charged, followed by hordes of beasts and monsters as it surged towards the distant state.

The battles always occurred as far away from the nation as possible to ensure that none of the onslaught of energy reached the Sekigahara Confederate. The other Martial Artists struggled as they were swamped with yet another surge of beasts and monsters that overwhelmed them.

The battle in the battlefield had turned from a one-sided dominance as an excess number of beasts and monsters swamped the Martial Artists. Unlike the Martial Masters, however, they did not fold very easily due to the fact that their numbers had never been reduced like the Martial Mastersʼ had.

They were able to hold back the Master-level beasts and all other beasts and monsters that were weaker than it. But they couldnʼt do anything about the Sage-level beasts and monsters heading towards the Sekigahara Confederate.

They simply watched with horror and despair as the domineering beast tide surged straight towards the Sekigahara Confederate.