The Martial Unity

2434  Farewell

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook.

It shook as a hundred and eighty Martial Masters and twenty-one Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire ferociously blasted forward with menacing vengeance. Yet, they were not allowed to go unimpeded.

"STOP THEM ALL AT COSTS!" Sage Shinken bellowed with all his might as he himself confronted Damian with eyes blazing with fierce determination. BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

The devastating power of dozens of Martial Sages erupted from the distant battlefield.

Never before in the history of the Age of Martial Art had so many Martial Sages fought in such close proximity of each other.

The sheer concentration of power beggared the imagination.

RUMBLE!!!!!

A wave of power unlike anything the world had seen before emerged from the battlefield, spreading across the entire region and beyond.

It spread across the entirety of the entire continent.

All of human civilization in East Panama shook with horror as the rage of Sages shattered the lands and tore the skies.

Yet, while it was the Martial Sages who caused a ruckus on a scale undreamt of in the history of humanity, it was the Martial Masters who were tasked with the missions of saving Rui, or sabotaging the saving of Rui.

All sides had been disoriented by the outcome yet, they pulled themselves out of their joys and despair and leaped into their missions with ferocious desperation.

The Martial Artists of the Kandrian Empire dedicated the sum totality of their being into one and only one mission.

Killing Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The Martial Artists of the enemy alliance dedicated every ounce of their power into stopping them.

"KILL HIM!!!!!" Sage Shinken shrieked at Ieyasu many thousands of kilometers away. "KILL HIM NOW!!!!!"

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as the battle of powerhouses raged on with desperation. Their eyes of hope and despair fell on a single man.

It all came down to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Yet, he didn't so much as glance at them.

He didn't so much as gaze in their direction.

He didn't acknowledge the existential war that unfolded in the distance.

No.

His eyes were fixed on Rui.

DRIP DRIP DRIP…

Blood profusely spurted from the countless wounds on his body.

"Huff… huff…" His breathing became labored beneath his shattered rib cage.

He felt his strength leaving him.

His Realms of power had long shut down from pure exhaustion.

He had given everything to this battle.

It was not an exaggeration by any means to say that he had deployed every ounce of power and energy that he had ever cultivated and assimilated in his entire life over the span of this battle.

He felt exhausted not just in body and mind, but also in his soul.

As though the battle had cracked something deep inside him.

His blurry gaze remained fixed on Rui.

He knew what he had to do. He had to finish the job.

He had to complete the objective he came to this battle for. Or, at least, the final objective.

STEP

He stood up unsteadily, staggering where he stood as he gazed down at the unconscious Rui.

He raised his hand.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The battle escalated to an even greater echelon of intensity as the Kandrian Martial Artists watched with horror, pushing themselves to the very limit with raw desperation to reach Rui in time to protect him. Yet, Tokugawa Ieyasu didn't so much as spare them a glance.

No.

His blurring vision remained focused on Rui as his hand surged towards him.

An ominous remark escaped him.

"Farewell."

"NO!!!!!" the Martial Artists of the Kandrian Empire roared with despair as they watched his hand reach for Rui's heart.

CLASP

Except it didn't.

Their eyes widened with shock as they watched his hand pull out an object from within Rui's robes.

An object that they all recognized.

The Royal amulet bearing the Insignia of the Kandrian Royal Family.

It was also an emergency teleportation artifact which was publicized to deter Martial Sages from trying to attack Rui.

What followed, however, shocked them to the very core of their beings.

What followed was something that they could have never imagined happening even in their wildest of dreams.

What followed defied the fathoming of each and every single one of them. Not even the vaunted Celestial Seer could have possibly foreseen what was to unfold.

He crushed the artifact, destroying it with the final ounce of strength he had left within him.

WHOOSH

He disappeared.

Just like that, he disappeared.

Each Martial Artist froze.

They froze where they stood.

Their minds and even their souls stopped working as they simply stopped dead in their tracks.

None of them moved.

None of them could move.

Their extraordinary minds and souls were in so much chaos that even the Conqueror of Chaos herself glanced in their direction from within the Great Nam Ocean with fluctuating interest.

Meanwhile, deep within the Kandrian Empire, in an extremely secure defense military base of the Kandrian Royal Army, a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

His disheveled hair was black.

As were his eyes. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Royal Martial Masters who were on guard immediately shook with concern. "Your Highne—!"

They froze with horror as it took them just a moment to realize that this young man, black-haired and black-eyed as he might be, was not the Void Prince!

"Wh-Who are you?! What have you done with His Highness?!"

He glanced at them with faint eyes as his condition worsened by the moment. "My name… is Tokugawa Ieyasu," he squeezed out even as blood gushed out of his wounds. "And I…"

His vision turned dark as he felt his consciousness fading.

"…Would like to join the Kandrian Empire."

The Royal Martial Artists shook with shock as he collapsed unconscious.

"Medical aid, now!" they roared.

Thankfully, the chamber was built in anticipation that the Void Prince would likely be in dire need of medical attention if he did use the emergency teleportation artifact.

In the blink of an eye, the dying Tokugawa Ieyasu was flooded with the best doctors and nurses who fought furiously to stabilize his critical condition.