The Martial Unity

Chapter 3484: Unbothered Elephant

”My Lord, we have begun the most discreet mobilization we are able to, limiting ourselves to shifts that overlap with routine fixed artillery tests and siege weapon systems maintenance, while subtly calling back any therianthropes outside of the continent at the moment without disclosing their return publicly. We have begun mobilizing our air force within our military bases, bringing them to the cusp of battle-readiness and on standby for deployment,” an elephant man in the giant tusk-like structure in the capital city of the nation remarked. ”We have done our best to minimize any divergence in the military patterns that our bases and our fleets normally go through.”

Lord Vakratunda popped a modak in his mouth, enjoying the traditional sweet of the Gajanan Clan with a simple nod.

”Ok.”

Before proceeding to continue his hearty meal.

”All that to say that everything is going according to plan and we are not seeing any reason to suspect that the War Coalition is on to us.”

”Good.”

”So far, the Dawnbringer is still training elsewhere in our territory after he procured a sample of the negatrons in our vault.”

”Nice.”

”The Omni-Martial has taken it upon herself to also engage in some preparatory training and mental conditioning. Based on the combat power that she displayed against the Dragon Emperor, we foresee that she should be able to take on the strongest warriors of the War Coalition and not falter by any degree at all. She will likely be the second strongest force on our side after yourself, My Lord.”

”Great.”

”...All that to say that we hope to get your great wisdom to guide us on this matter.”

Lord Vakratunda smiled at the official reporting to him. ”You don’t need my wisdom. You have enough of it yourself. That is why I can entrust these matters to you without needing to intervene as I once did. Today, the Gajanan Clan has many powerful and competent people who can ensure that our clan will thrive and continue rising each day, even without me.”

”Impossible, My Lord! You were the one who led our clan from a little tribe to one of the most powerful clans in all of Kiriket. Without your boundless wisdom, we would have been one of the many nascent clans that simply get devoured in this harsh continent, merciless to those who aren’t the strongest.

The Gajanan Clan was one of the few clans in history that rose astronomically under the leadership of a single man. Lord Vakratunda had personally commandeered his clan, once comprising no more than a thousand people, and elevated it to untold heights along with himself, with a rate of growth that was unprecedented in the history of therianthrope civilization.

He became the second most powerful person on the continent, creating the Harmonist Faction and protecting his people and his allies from the influence of the Dragon Emperor. While the older Lord Shenlong was too strong for him to defeat, Lord Vakratunda constantly maintained his power at a level where, if they fought, the Dragon Emperor would be too weak to fight off the people who would attack him after they fought.

That was the only deterrence that he was able to bring up, and that was enough. The security of his clan and his faction depended entirely on his personal power.

It was perhaps one of the reasons that he didn’t mind even the worst from Rui if he had turned out to be lying when he said he wouldn’t use his Authority against the therianthropes.

They were already under the worst, and it wasn’t even possible for Rui to inflict upon them even worse. He was also extremely confident that Rui was sincere in his commitment to the promise.

Lord Vakratunda wasn’t fond of the fact that he had to rely on an outsider, not just to defeat the Dragon Emperor but also to keep his word to make sure his people weren’t abused, but it was more than just that.

”If this succeeds, we will become the weakest civilization in history, after even the Evolutionary Army.” His wise elephantine eyes narrowed. ”With the death of our strongest warrior, we will lose top-combat power, and we will lose a lot of forces and resources in the civil war. We will fall below even the light elves. It will take a long time for us to recover from what is about to follow.”

It wasn’t something that particularly bothered Lord Vakratunda. What bothered him more was when the Dragon Emperor finally decided to take the risk and attack him to gain full control over the continent. When that day came, the stakes were everything, and it was entirely possible that the entirety of the continent would fall to the dragon’s hands.

In comparison, he would much rather leave the continent in shambles from a brief civil war and the death of the Dragon Emperor and build up from the ground up to make Kiriket a more harmonious continent than what it was now, where the political tensions were so thick that one could literally cut it with a knife.

”We fear that the Dragon Emperor has come to the conclusion that the Dawnbringer has indeed come to our continent and is currently in our abode. The moment he confirms this and the location of the Dawnbringer, he will undoubtedly launch a belligerent war against us and seek to consume the Dawnbringer alive to get his hands on the Authority of Alpha.”

”Hmmm...” Lord Vakratunda fell into thought as he pondered the matter with a nod. ”I suppose that’s something that we will need to be careful. However, I’m sure that the Dawnbringer knows what he is doing. Speaking of which, have you managed to identify exactly what Sage Rui intends to do with a single negative-energy exotic matter particle?”

”Not yet, My Lord, we are exploring various possibilities, but we are unable to identify what he could possibly be using it for.”

”Hmmm, I fear... that we might see something beyond our wildest dreams.”