The Martial Unity

The air on Ajanta Island grew heavy.

Heavier than it already was.

A strange sense of turmoil put everybody on edge.

The reason for it had been obvious.

Everybody had heard tales of the Martial Squire who killed a Martial Senior. Everybody had heard tales of the Martial Squire said to be chosen alongside the strongest and second-strongest guardians to fight off the Martial Seniors of the Kaddar Region. Everybody had heard tales of the Martial Squire that defeated Senior Xanarn alongside the second-ranked guardian.

Yet no one had seen him in more than a year.

Many of the new guardians that had emerged from the new influx of Martial Squires to the Floating Sect had never seen him. They did not know what weight these rumors held. It was easy to dismiss them as exaggerations.

A Martial Squire killing a Martial Senior? What kind of nonsense was that?

What really shocked many guardians was when Nake, the second strongest guardian swore on his life that this mysterious Martial Squire was stronger than him, and not by a small margin.

Such was the legend of Squire Falken in the Floating Sect.

And now, that legend had returned.

All of the guardians listened in rapt attention as guardian Rel-Ivon gushed about her meeting with the famed Martial Squire.

"I'm serious! Senior Sarak himself came all the way to greet Squire Falken!" She insisted.

The other guardians narrowed their eyes. "...A Martial Senior personally traveled to greet a Martial Squire?"

"Not only that..." Squire Rel-Ivon continued with an excited expression. "I have only seen Senior Sarak that respectful with Guardian Ieyasu."

She paused for a moment, as she gathered her words. "I can see why too...They look nothing alike, but they did have one thing in common."

She clenched her fists. "...An unfathomable depth of power. One that could easily be mistaken for a higher Realm if one was not careful."

Her words were grave.

Their severity could not be denied.

The guardians stiffened at those words. They wanted to refute them, however, she was, unfortunately, a credible source as a high-grade Martial Squire. Her words could not be dismissed easily. All of the guardians wondered what was going to happen now that this famed figure had returned to the Floating Sect.

Coincidentally, it had been announced that Senior Xanarn had finally exited her year-long isolated deep training session, making her first public appearance in a year. Many couldn't help but wonder whether the timing was not a coincidence. Many were convinced it was not.

It became evident that Squire Falken was so important that even Senior Xanarn exited her isolated training session to greet the Martial Squire.

The very next day, a shocking bracket on the scheduled fights had been revealed.

[Guardian Tokugawa Ieyasu versus Challenger Falken]

The entire sect stirred in the wake of this fight.

Many had suspected this would happen, eventually.

No one had expected that this would happen less than twenty-four hours after Squire Falken's return to the Floating Sect.

For the first time in the history of the Floating Sect, all one thousand guardians gathered together in the colosseum.

For the first time in the history of the sect, all three Martial Seniors also stood in witness.

For the first time in its history, a duel would be arbitrated by Senior Sarak himself, and not a standard arbiter.

Even the most braindead fool could tell that what was to ensue was nothing short of historic.

That was when the air shifted.

Every guardian froze.

Squire Rel-Ivon glanced down at her arm.

Her hair stood on edge.

Her skin tingled.

"Guardian Ieyasu..." Senior Sarak did his best to contain the excitement in his voice when he announced the man in.

STEP

STEP

STEP

The guardians watched as he entered the colosseum with widened eyes.

They had seen him many times.

And yet, it was as though they were seeing him for the first time.

Energy brimmed where they were accustomed to seeing bored lethargy.

Sharpened intensity where there was dull emptiness.

A blade honed to its very edge.

Honed for this very day.

For this battle.

This moment.

He would not be denied.

Instinctively, they knew that if anybody dared to stand in his way, it would be the last mistake they made.

"Challenger Falken..." Senior Sarak was unable to reign in his anticipation.

STEP

STEP

STEP

The guardians watched with shock as a profoundly sharp sense of peril washed over them.

At that moment, a profound realization dawned on everybody.

The rumors did not exaggerate.

No.

They understated.

Every movement he made.

Every inch of his body.

The intensity of his eyes.

They conveyed an otherworldly depth.

It was as though a deity in human form had graced them with his presence.

As the two powerful Martial Squires arrived before each other, their presence overlapped. A weight that had long broken through the shackles of the Squire Realm emanated from the center of the colosseum.

At that moment, everyone felt insignificant.

They were spectators... but not just of the duel.

But of their lives. The lives of two protagonists. Protagonists of the world. Everybody else was a spectator.

They were envious of the two of them.

And yet...

The two of them didn't care.

Their eyes were fixed on each other.

The world may have ceased to exist at that moment, and neither would notice. Not even such a calamity was worthy of their attention at that moment.

Ieyasu recognized the newborn sharpness in Rui's eyes.

It was the same sharpness he saw in his own when he looked in the mirror.

"You have arrived." A whisper escaped his mouth.

Only Rui understood that he wasn't referring to the match.

He was referring to the cusp of a higher Realm of power. Just the tiniest step away from the Martial Heart.

All it took was one step.

Yet that one step was greater than the sum of all others that came before it.

A greater hurdle.

"Maddening, isn't it?" Ieyasu's soft voice quivered, uncharacteristic of him. "To be so close, and yet so far from a higher Realm."

"...More than I imagined." Rui's voice betrayed the intensity of his anguish.

"Then, you understand." Ieyasu's voice grew severe. "If your death is the price to pay... then it is a price that I will gladly extract from you."