The Martial Unity

The four royals gazed at him with shock.

"…What?"

Rui sharpened his eyes. "Did I stutter?"

Princess Ranea furrowed her eyebrows. "…You want us to do everything in our power to stop Raijun from becoming Emperor?"

"That's right," Rui nodded calmly. "He has reached the Squire Realm. Thus, you will pool your resources and ensure that he does not win over enough of the government to initiate the Crowning Ceremony to crown himself Emperor. Employ every means of legal, extra-legal, covert and active, direct or indirect, or any other measure that can be employed to stop him. That is all."

"…Is that all?" Prince Randal glared at Rui, yet a hint of surprise was evident on his face.

"Yes." Rui simply replied.

"You're not going to…personally oversee our operations?"

"I don't need to," Rui calmly replied. "You lot have spent many years, even decades, some of you, pining for the throne. I'm sure you've developed a good understanding of what it means to sabotage your fellow siblings. You've done it before, and now you will do it with everything you have. You will sabotage Raijun even at the cost of your campaign. You will sabotage Raijun even at the cost of all your faction's detriment."

The very thought of it was revolting. Yet they could only comply.

"…"

He had expected much worse from Rui.

All of them did.

Yet, he did not torture them sadistically or vengefully.

"That is all," Rui nodded. "Is that clear?"

"…"

"Or would you rather rot in prison?" Rui narrowed his eyes.

"…I accept." Princess Ranea's tone was resigned.

Soon enough, the other three followed suit.

"I accept."

"I accept."

"…I accept."

"One last thing," Rui coldly added. "If I die, the evidence goes public."

"If I go missing, the evidence goes public.

"If anybody in my orphanage suffers from a mysterious force, the evidence goes public."

"If you make any action that can be even partially construed as treacherous or hostile to me, the evidence goes public."

His words were ruthless.

The air grew perilous as profound bloodlust pushed down upon them.

"If the thought of eliminating me crosses your mind, then take a moment to remember what happened the last time you tried killing me."

Chills crawled up their spine as his words triggered forbidden memories that had already become the seed of life-long trauma.

Princess Raemina visibly shivered.

Princess Ranea did her best to suppress the sheer terror that gripped her heart.

Princess Rafia widened her eyes at his words.

Prince Randal's expression grew ugly.

"All that effort. All that caution. All that capital. All of it, and for what?" Rui's voice grew fierce. "For a magnificent failure that will choke you for the rest of your lives."

His words had a strong impact. A deep ferocity accompanied his voice.

"Do not think you'll be able to slip past my notice just because I'm not going to be personally overseeing you," A sharp edge overtook his voice. "I will not only learn of the truth like I did last time, but I will make you regret it for the rest of your life."

This time, they were quicker to acquiesce.

"Good, do well," Rui narrowed his eyes. "If you stall, I'll release the evidence. If you fail, I will find out. So you better get working, and fast. Make sure that you succeed for your own sake. If you fuck around, you will find out."

"That isn't a threat." His voice grew colder. "No…"

"…that's a promise."

His words firmly resounded in the minds of the four royals. He turned around and left the building, disappearing as he activated Greater Phantomind Void while Master Reina brought her into the effect of her active stealth techniques as well.

"What do you think?" Rui asked, turning to Master Reina.

"They were filled with hatred and fear. But I sensed no deceit or deception," Master Reina replied.

"Good," Rui heaved a sigh.

"That was awfully short," Master Reina commented. "I thought you would give them highly specific orders."

"They're more suited to micro-managing the task because of their position, familiarity, and personal experience with their own resources," Rui replied calmly. "On top of that, the more involved I get, the more I'm likely to be exposed, earning the displeasure of parties that want to see Raijun become Emperor."

"…The Martial Union?"

"The Martial Supremacist Faction, primarily, but yes," Rui calmly replied. "I might be demoted from platinum boy to golden boy if they learn what has happened, though it would cancel out the favor I gave Prince Raijun by empowering him. Still, an undesirable outcome."

"How will you know whether they're doing their jobs?"

"I won't; they won't mess around when it comes to the threat of being imprisoned," Rui replied calmly. "But there is a reason that I embedded the idea that I will find out if they do mess around, just like I did last time. It related to what we discussed."

He turned to Master Reina. "What can be inferred if I am confident that I can know everything about their operations despite not actually being there?"

Realization dawned on Master Reina. "…They'll be more convinced of an information leak if they think about the reason behind your confidence of being able to keep tabs on them."

"That's right," Rui smiled mischievously. "Besides, I do intend to use the Beggar's Sect to keep an eye on their activities. But there is an even bigger reason why I avoided taking the lead in the operations against Prince Raijun."

"…Which is?"

Rui shrugged. "It's too time-consuming. I have a Martial Path to tread."

Now that he had settled the matter regarding the royals, he had gained a bit of breathing space.

While it was true that he still needed to find a way to end this little cold civil war cleanly, it was not an immediate concern. He had more important things to consider.

"My fight against the assassins revealed minute flaws and sub-

optimalities," Rui revealed. "I need more experience with domains."