The Martial Unity
chapter-2100

One of the reasons that all eleven members of the Sage Council had chosen to heed Emperor Rael's call was because they knew that he was not a man who would waste their time.

And they were right.

Considering everything that he had shared with them, nothing they would be doing otherwise could compare to the importance of this meeting.

"Why are you showing this to us?"

Emperor Rael directed his gaze toward the Flashing Flier.

"While we have a large stake in the nation, you are the Emperor," Sage Dagar Roschem continued. "In addition, you own these treasures. Why go out of your way to reveal your cards? We may be friends as people, but our positions of power put us on opposite sides of the leading powers of Kandria."

Emperor Rael smiled inwardly.

He had been waiting for this question, having guided them to it.

"…I own these treasures, you say?" Emperor Rael shook his head. "That is not true. My son has given me only a third of the ownership over the dungeon. He decided that he would give a third of the ownership over the dungeon to the Martial Union while retaining a third of it for himself."

Their eyes lit up at those words.

"…You see, while he has earned acquittal from the little duel and wager that the Master Council came to agree upon, he ultimately decided to make up for his deceit to all of you. This is his repayment. Partial ownership over a priceless training tool of unprecedented value."

The Sage Council grew stunned at Emperor Rael's words. Even Sage Lemolen's sharp gaze softened a bit. "…Hmph, he's still an impertinent brat."

"Speak for yourself," Sage Vintar threw a disapproving glance at Sage Lemolen. "I, for one, will gratefully accept a stake in this treasure and forgive the young man for his discretions against the Martial Union. I will admit that I was deeply displeased when I came to learn of it, even if I decided to leave it be and let the Master Council deliberate over it."

Many of the others had felt similarly.

They certainly had the power to punish the Void Prince and make him pay if they truly wanted. However, in consideration of their extremely good impression of him and his existing and future value to the Martial Union, they ultimately decided to stifle their resentment.

Now, however, they had an even better impression of him.

Not only did he not use his position as a member of the Royal Family to shield him from them, but he actually went above and beyond to repay everything they had done for him during the Kandrian Throne War and more.

In fact, partial authority over the dungeon was an asset that far exceeded everything they had ever done for him. So in reality, they were actually indebted to him.

"Hah." the Sloth Sage heaved a sigh of relief. "This is a good development."

He had come under the most pressure from his peers due to covering up Rui's deceit. The same was true for Matriarch Nephi. This had not been good for her because, unlike Sage Sevian, she hadn't built a deep rapport or friendship with her peers due to the limited amount of time that she had spent in Kandria.

"As expected of my grandson." She beamed with pride.

"When can we begin using these?" Sage Glacken's eyes twinkled with greed. "I am eager to use the dungeon. However, I am especially eager to make use of the Elder Tree network to find particular precious resources in the Beast Domain that cannot be found otherwise. Naturally, I will impart a fair portion of gains to the Empire."

"I wish to procure the Divine Doctor's services," the Flashing Flier remarked. "No price is objectionable."

"The dungeon sounds like a dream to me," Sage Sevian remarked lazily. "I take forever to finish training."

"We can iron out the details. However, rest assured that I do not intend to extract a great price," Emperor Rael reassured them. "As I mentioned, I intend to use these resources to elevate Kandria far above all others. That necessarily means using them to empower our greatest combat assets: Martial Sages. Unfortunately, barring the Divine Doctor, none of the other assets are ready at the moment, although they will be within a year. I intend to chalk out a long-term strategy for their application, one that I hope you will aid me with."

The Flickering Elder nodded solemnly. "We will leave the strategizing and decision-making process to you, Rael. In fact, it would be disastrous to trust a matter of such unparalleled importance to anybody but you or your son, I suppose."

"…My son has decided to stay away from the politics of this matter." Emperor Rael shook his head. "He is rather adamant about only partaking in it in so far as Martial Artists normally do."

"A pity and a relief," the Mountain of Fortitude shook his head. "He has inherited your genius for politics but has been blessed with an even greater capacity to pursue his Martial Path. I previously was pleased about a Martial Artist ascending the throne, but after seeing him break through to the Master Realm at the meager age of thirty-five, I realized that it would have been a blunder to waste his unfathomable potential by shackling it to the throne."

Emperor Rael smiled, glad to see the Sage council hold a positive outlook towards Rui.

"Then, to affirm, I have your absolute support in the ambition that I espoused, correct?" Emperor Rael's tone grew more heavy.

The Sage Council gazed at him deeply for a moment.

Their decision was unanimous.

"Give me a war, and I'll give you all the support you need." Sage Damian grinned with bloodlust.

Emperor Rael heaved a sigh of exasperation and amusement. "Alright then. Prepare yourselves. All of you are deeply important to the outcome of this reach for the skies. Kandria will experience much turbulence in the future, but together, we can overcome it."