The Martial Unity

"The immediate goal of the Sekigahara Confederate upon any such invasion would be to ensure that no conflict occurs within their territory." Commission Feristen explained. "After all, ideally our goal would be to ensure the conflict occurs within their border, this would inflict the most amount of damage to their base and would ensure that their expansion is hindered the most. Their goal is the exact opposite. They'll want to minimize the amount of damage we inflict, while also maximizing our losses."

Rui nodded. This was common sense. It was impossible to prevent any damage from being inflicted in such a conflict, but at the very least the damage could be significantly minimized depending on their strategy and tactics.

"If they want to minimize the damage done to their territory, it logically follows that not letting the conflict take place within their territory is ideal. There are only two ways of doing this." he paused, before continuing. "Either their defensive measures prevent us from entering their territory, which is certainly a tall order. Or they intercept out force away from their territory with their own counter-offense striking force."

He projected another image detailing the known information regarding the defensive measures of the base Sekigahara territory.

"The probability of a powerful force not inflicting at least some damage to their territory once the assault team reaches their territory is low. This is because their territory is large and their defensive resources are spread across a wide area whereas our offensive resources are going to be very focused on a single part of the border. Once we reach the border of their territory, it will become untenable to ensure that no damage is inflicted on their territory. Therefore, the second option is evaluated to be much more likely."

He pressed a button on his projector that switched to a map featuring the Kandrian Empire's and the Sekigahara Confederate's territories in the Serevian Dungeon.

"Our analysts predict that once our assault team is dispatched from our territory the Sekigahara Confederate will quickly mobilize their Martial Artists and military to intercept our assault team a little away from their border." Commissioner Feristen continued. "This is expected because our protocols entail something similar as well."

"Thus, it is quite likely that all of you on the assault team will be intercepted a little earlier by their military. Regardless, you will have to fight, the only variable is where. That depends purely on their response." Commissioner Feristen explained. "If the battle occurs at the border, then you may retreat only after you have compromised the security and stability of that portion of their territory, which will be evaluated by the strategic department in live time. You will receive a specific number of beeps from your mission tracker devices that correspond to different orders."

He paused before continuing. "In the case of being intercepted by the forces of the Sekigahara Confederate, you will have to ensure that the damage and loss of assets inflicted on the opposing force exceed the loss of assets endured by the Kandrian Empire. This will also be evaluated by the strategic department, and orders will be relayed mid-battle via a certain number of beeps that will each correspond to a different order."

He dove deeper into certain finer details of the mission before the mission breakdown finally ended, and would soon be commenced in a few hours.

"Nervous?" Rui asked his friends.

"Hell no!" Nel grinned.

"A little," Fae admitted.

"Not nearly as much as I should be." Kane shrugged.

Rui could definitely understand why Kane was more nonchalant. It was extremely difficult to hurt him at all even when people knew of his abilities and had time to prepare against him. In a chaotic scenario like the conflict they were going to be engaged in, as long as he was careful, he was going to be quite safe for the most part. Although it wasn't too unlikely that there would be Martial Apprentices with enough sensory prowess to at the very least sense him, there was likely almost nobody that could sense him well enough to pose enough of a threat to him.

Even Rui, who had actually beaten Kane and the Void Step technique before, wouldn't be able to do much in such a chaotic scenario. He was simply too slippery and Rui had needed to use a niche tactic in order to defeat him in combat.

Nel being a battle-loving freak meant that it was very difficult to intimidate him. It had taken the bloodlust of a Martial Squire to scare him, anything below that was simply too weak. He would dive head-on recklessly. Rui made a mental note to keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn't get killed.

Fae was the most balanced out of them, her striking prowess was quite extraordinary, and she had even become a grade-nine Martial Apprentice in the past month, which meant she was an extremely powerful Martial Apprentice.

However, she was fighting in a huge war where everybody was exceptionally powerful. In this context, she was merely above average. It was not strange to feel a certain amount of nervousness, this was a new yet incredibly dangerous circumstance.

The same could be said for most of the Martial Apprentices of any of the nations participating in the dungeon wars. War on this scale was something most Martial Apprentices were unaccustomed to. There weren't too many wars of this nature. Although there was a conflict between nations, none were nearly on this scale, they were limited to smaller-scale scuffles that were par for the course between nations regardless of whether they were allies or enemies.

These Apprentices had all gone through war for the very first time, and it was visible to all of the nations. There were inadequacies and shortcomings in their performances that were sub-optimal.

A few hours passed, and eventually, it was time for the mission to be commenced. The military had taken their time ensuring all the preparations were done carefully.

"It's time."