The Martial Unity

Chapter 3470: Skewing Paths

”Now that you mention it, it is rather strange,” Rui admitted. ”I would have expected that therianthropes mimic the dynamics between the sexes in the species that they bonded with... but they’re patriarchal for the most part.”

There were many species, like the mantis, hyenas, and spiders, that were biologically heavily skewed towards females. In two of those species, the females even ate the males after copulation.

He was relatively certain that therianthrope women did not eat therianthrope men in the clans that specialized in these species.

It might have been due to the fact that, despite their species being patriarchal, therianthrope men were simply too much stronger than women for that to matter. But then it begged the question, what about the clans that bonded with species where the female half was already innately disadvantaged in many ways, such as the dolphins, lions, or even more extreme examples?

”They must have it really, really rough.”

What he found most curious, however, was that most therianthropes were not pathwalkers just like most humans were not Martial Artists. This meant that most of the therianthrope population was entirely normal, and yet, because the most powerful members of their population, the pathwalkers, were patriarchal, the entire society skewed more in favor of men as a whole.

”This probably causes a lot of intersexual tension within their civilization that isn’t very clear on the surface,” Rui realized. ”It’s a weakness in their civilization that could be used against them.”

”That’s a brutal thought to have,” Amare remarked. ”Do you plan to use that against them in our battle?”

Rui shook his head. ”I was referring to more extended political sabotage that could radicalize their female population and give them the tools to fight back against their oppressors. It could create fissures in their civilization that would make them too preoccupied with it to focus on war with the Panama Continent.”

”You want to spread civil tensions within their civilization to make them too averse to war with other continents.”

Rui shrugged. ”If l have to. When it comes to the survival of human civilization, I don’t mind doing whatever I have to in order to protect my people. They should be grateful that my tug towards psychopathy with the Martial Mind doesn’t make me choose more violent and permanent solutions.”

If he really wanted to, he could genocide the entirety of the population of therianthropes and simply wipe them all out with his Martial Embodiment. Of course, they had some anti-surveillance technology that impeded the spread of information, including his Martial Embodiment, but he could overcome that if he really wanted to.

The same was true for the Evolutionary Army and the tekvores.

But he deliberately avoided going down such a path.

Perhaps it was a little silly for him to stick to the more human elements of his morals when he was not just a Martial Sage, but also the most powerful of them, allowing him to get away with virtually anything he wanted to.

But he didn’t want to do that.

He had done it once, much to his deepest regret, with the people of the Gu who were forced into the place against their will, and he never wanted to do it again, if avoidable.

She smiled at him with a good-hearted expression.

Rui huffed. ”Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a saint for not wanting to go down such a dark path. And if push really comes to shove, then mutually-assured destruction might be the only deterrence we will have against the true world.”

”Still. It’s good that you don’t want to cross certain lines.”

”This is the Amare part of you talking, isn’t it? Esil wouldn’t have had any issues doing that.”

”That’s true, but only if she had to.”

The two of them chatted about somber topics as if they were nothing until these finally reached the capital city of Cragha. Outside their window, there found themselves arriving at an even more ostentatious city comprised of large skyscrapers made not just from biotechnology, but even metals, creating a strange cyborg-esque vibe that he was not expecting.

The city, as expected, was filled with elephants and elephant symbolism and art. Many buildings were shaped like them while elephants roamed the streets, carrying large numbers of people on them. It truly was more fantastically absurd than anything else Rui had ever seen.

They arrived at a massive megastructure, one that was larger than any other in the entire city, extending deep into the higher layers of the atmosphere, curving greatly by the end.

It was the shape of an elephant tusk.

”We have arrived at the abode of Lord Vakratunda, Your Highness,” his therianthrope guide remarked discreetly. ”Please maintain your stealth.”

Rui nodded as he studied the massive structure, his eyes widening. ”This... is made out of elephant tusk?”

He could tell just by studying its constitution, even from a distance, that it was made up of a massive bone-like material. Just the fact that something this large could possibly be constructed from bone alone blew his mind.

”It was constructed from when Lord Vakratunda shed his old tusks and got a new one,” the man beamed with pride and reverence. ”He is truly a god in living form, is he not?”

”Amazing...!” Amare gasped as she gazed straight up in the sky, looking at the very tip of the massive tusk-shaped citadel. Rui had no idea how a normally sized person produces that much matter out of their own body.

His senses pricked as his instincts tingled.

He could feel that he was about to meet someone extremely powerful.

They were guided into the citadel as the massive gates to it opened, unveiling a large throne room within which a giant man sat on a large throne, able to fit his gargantuan body.

His head was that of an elephant, proportional to that of his body, while his belly protruded in a rather obese manner. A long cloth draped across his entire body, fashioned from simple cloth in a single bind that left his upper half exposed. His abdomen was adorned with all manner of adornments with strange symbols on them that Rui didn’t recognize.