CHAPTER 2408 RIPPLING SHOCKS
Matriarch Nephi's inability to foresee the future and the ominous words that followed shook the leadership of the Kandrian Empire.
Not only could they not stop the battle, they were unable to even influence it.
Not only were they unable to influence it, they were unable to foresee what was going to happen. Even a Martial Sage who had mastered the original Eye of Prophecy was powerless to divine the outcome of a battle that could decide everything.
It was as though the very world itself, as though Gaia herself forbade their interference.
Emperor Rael had spent three years plotting out hundreds and thousands of general directions the war could go. It was not an exaggeration to say that everything that had happened thus far was within his expectations and preparation.
Yet, this battle…
This battle was perhaps the first variable that completely threw all his foresight and preparations for the war to the wind!
A battle of endless stakes.
A battle that seemed like it was written to happen.
A battle beyond them all. "Prepare all forces." In a conference hall in the Kandrian Empire, Emperor Rael conducted what he regarded as the most important war council meeting of the third Great East Panamic War. Around a round table were many distinguished governmental officials—the Cabinet of Ministers, Grand General Aramoeous, Grand Admiral Veyron, the Martial Union, the directors of various intelligence and national security organizations as well as members of the Royal Family like Princess Ranea.
They all stared at him with a stunned expression.
His order struck them off-guard.
"…Your Majesty?"
"I said…" The Emperor's eyes narrowed. "Prepare all forces. The Britannian Prime Minister is going to undoubtedly summon all his forces to the battlefield outside the Shionel Confederation. We will meet them and ensure that they do not try to intervene. They will undoubtedly be doing the same, which is also why we won't be able to intervene."
As much as Emperor Rael was just itching to have all his forces jump into the battle and tear the copycat Martial Artist to shreds, he knew that his forces would be intercepted long before they could even reach anywhere near the battlefield.
"Still, Your Majesty," the Minister of Domestic Affairs began. "You want to mobilize all forces…?"
"Do it," Emperor Rael insisted. "At the very least, we must mobilize all Martial forces of the Upper Realms. If my son wins this battle, then they will undoubtedly do everything in their power to kill him at all costs."
"…Understood, Your Majesty."
Everybody was quick to follow this command after they came up to speed on what was happening.
Over the next forty-eight hours, all Masters and Sages who had been sent to protect Kandrian allies were called back, a decision that shocked the latter.
Simultaneously, all attacks on Kandrian allies from the enemy alliance finally halted.
It was inexplicable.
Since the war for allies had begun, the East Panamic Treaty Alliance had relentlessly bombarded all Kandrian allies with attack after attack without fail.
And now, for the first time since then, they had finally ceased their efforts.
The upper echelons of East Panama churned with shock as many nations and other organizations and individuals came to the conclusion that something incredibly big was cooking between the powerhouses.
The absence of conflict gave them some relief but also left them nervous about what was to come.
It did not bode well.
It did not bode well at all. It was like the calm before the storm.
A storm that could potentially eclipse all of East Panama.
One that could eclipse all of human civilization.
Peril tingled in the air of East Panama.
Tension churned the atmosphere.
Nations, organizations, corporations, Martial Artists, and even ordinary citizens watched with bated breaths as they felt the convergence of an epoch.
They felt this in the depths of their bones.
Whatever was to happen could very well change the future of East Panama forever.
Just this revelation alone sparked off a set of economic shocks that spread across the eastern hemisphere of civilizations.
Consumers withheld spending in anticipation of harder times, causing a plummet in demand, which led to the birth of a recession that spread like wildfire. Nations experienced spiking downturns while the supplier market spontaneously experienced plummeting sales. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
The speculative fearmongering that was born from the sudden halting of the battles between the Kandrian Empire and the East Panamic Treaty Alliance crippled markets and strangled supply chains. The economy seemed to grind to a stop as the nations of the eastern half of the Panama Continent waited and watched.
They watched as both sides engaged in massive operations that involved all their Martial Artists of the Upper Realms!
A flood of intelligence reports flew out of the Kandrian Empire, reporting the wide-scale preparations that the two sides were making with extreme haste. Whatever was happening was bound to happen soon and quickly. Nations closest to the two sides declared national emergencies, while others declared martial law. Organizations went into a temporary hibernation mode, deeming it safer to wait it out as they put a hold on their operations. Ordinary citizens shut their doors and locked themselves in, refusing to come out until everything returned back to normal. Insane rumors surrounding the war had spread across the common folk. The average man believed there was a chance that the entirety of East Panama would be wiped out as the collateral damage of an all-out war. They believed that the combined destructive power of so many godlike Martial Artists was enough to wipe all of them out!
All of East Panama seemed to grind to a halt. The very world watched with bated breaths as the war tended towards what appeared to be a singularity event. An event that would determine the future of not just the war but perhaps all of human civilization.
An event that would go down in history as one of the most defining moments of the Age of Martial Art.
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