CHAPTER 2217 WAR
The battles between the Martial Sages raged hard as the two sides fought to accomplish the goals that they had set out to achieve.
The Sages of Kandria fought to ensure no harm came to their empire from their enemies, while those of the Sekigahara Confederate fought to pressure their opponents and ensure that they would not be able to redirect their attention elsewhere.
After all, they needed their Martial Masters to be unperturbed by the Sages of Kandria. This meant that they needed to exert enough pressure to ensure that when the additional Sages made their appearance in battle, it would be solely to reinforce the Sage-level war front.
Of course, the Sages of the Sekigahara Confederate did not put their faith in Masters alone.
Their true plan had yet to begin.
For now, even with the massive oversight in the number and identities of Martial Sages present in the Kandrian Empire, they had a path forward to victory.
While the Martial Sages fought, the Sekigaharan Masters advanced to the thousand-kilometer distance from the Kandrian Empire. The closer they got, the more of a threat they were.
"This is it," Master Sera lightly declared, turning around to meet the gaze of her fellow Martial Masters. "Do not use your Hearts and Minds until we enter battle, got it? Conserve as much power for the actual war itself. You won't have time to use stamina potions once the battle commences."
The Martial Masters behind nodded affirmatively.
Each one of them knew that once the battle began, they would need every ounce of stamina they could muster to engage the Masters of the Sekigahara Confederate and ensure that none of them reached the Kandrian Empire.
It would be all-out warfare across an enormous battlefield.
Anything could happen to anybody, especially when they are surrounded by hundreds of battles.
They did not follow an orthodox and organized military style of division of specialty into different sections.
Martial Artists were individualists.
Unless they'd received dedicated training in coordination and combination, it was almost impossible for them to be able to engage in teamwork with other Martial Artists. And the Master-level interception force was a shabby mix of Martial Masters from different organizations. Most were from the Martial Union, while the rest were from different departments and divisions of the government and the Royal Army and Navy.
They had no choice but to dig up every single Martial Master they could from everywhere to put up a force that could match the might of the enormous Master-level strike force that was deployed by the Sekigahara Confederate.
There was no hope for coordination.
Their only hope was that the same thing was true for their enemies.
It would end up being every man for himself.
That was how the war in the upper Realms worked.
Each and every one of them knew that.
They knew that this was the unspoken truth that was best left unsaid.
Yet, it bore down on them, putting immense pressure on each of them.
The air grew heavy as the moment of deployment drew closer, soon to arrive.
And it did.
"It's time." Master Sera's demeanor shifted.
It grew distorted with malevolent bloodlust as a sinister smile cracked at the edge of her mouth.
"Master-level interception force, dispatching," she spoke into a transmitter before tossing the artifact away as she surged forward.
"Let's go show those savages that we're not to be messed with."
The atmosphere tingled with tension as the Master-level interception force shot out of the dispatch center from the forts that protected the Kandrian Empire, leaving the nation behind them as they moved to meet the enemy at dusk.
The macabre twilight melted as dusk made way for darkness.
A meaningless daily event. One that would have been entirely insignificant on any other day.
Yet, it tightened their hearts, mounting even greater pressure on their hearts.
Amidst the grave atmosphere around Ruithere were those who only grew brighter.
He needed to exert physical effort to keep a wide grin from forming on his face. It would be his first experience of genuine life-or-death combat in the Master Realm. Even his fight with Master Uma had never been that, considering that even she had not fought with the end goal of killing him.
He needed to be truly pushed beyond his limits for the precious experience and fuel for the growth of his Martial Art.
Yet, more than just calculated gains, he wanted to fight.
He wanted a battle.
Or, to be more precise, he wanted the opportunity to deploy the vast power of his Martial Art in abandon. Unlike Nel, it was not violence that excited him. It was the love he had for Martial Art, specifically his Flowing Void Style, that made him excited for combat.
"There they are."
The air boiled with anticipation.
It prickled at the skin.
Rui's eyes lit up as he sensed the bloodlust long before he could actually see his enemies.
Just how much did those Sekigaharans want to kill them?
He looked forward to finding out.
He couldn't wait.
And he didn't need to.
There they were.
"AAATTTTAAAACKKKK!!!" A thundering command was bellowed by the man at the head of the Sekigaharan strike force. His command went both ways. This is from .
BADUMP!!!
At that moment, two hundred and four Martial Hearts and Minds blazed into power, empowering each Martial Master to their peaks.
Less than a microsecond later, the battle broke out.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The long-range Martial Masters began firing at each other from a distance while the defensive Martial Masters shielded themselves and those around them from the incoming attacks.
RUMBLE!
Heaven and earth shook under the combined might of such an enormous amount of power concentrated within such a limited vicinity. The sheer power that the Martial Masters outputted was enough to reshape the entire region, causing them to grow stronger.
The two forces drew closer, firing at each other in abandon until they clashed.
Countless fists, charges, and bullrushes were exchanged as the two forces clashed with one another.
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