Just as Rui resolved his determination, a wave of exhaustion took over him. He was beyond tired.
He had done so much.
So quickly.
Even his vaunted energy reserves fell behind.
Additionally, there was just the matter of the sheer stress that he had put on his systems. Not only had he completed his breakthrough to the Sage Realm by finishing what remained of the Large Soul Model with Gigabrain, which had been active the entire ti. Then he had gone on to put himself through the Body Evolution process to assimilate and integrate the Gu poison into his Body.
After that, followed one of the single most extraordinary feats that a Sage had ever accomplished.
Resurrection.
Sothing that Rui had truly given everything to accomplish.
Followed by continuously neutralizing the Gu poison of the Demon of Asmodeous against Bodhisattva Maitreyi.
The emotional burden of his grief and sorrow for Amare.
They too had worn him down. He was tired.
Truly tired.
His vision began blurring
His body felt weak.
Tired.
A single whisper escaped as he fell unconscious.
"…Who am I?"
His tone, even as his voice faded, was confused.
CLASP
Bodhisattva Maitreyi caught his falling body as her expression grew troubled.
"The first ti is always the hardest," a troubled murmur escaped her, "he will suffer for it."
The price of the Martial Soul.
"Amnesia."
One would forget who one was, temporarily losing contact with one's mories. The abuse of the Martial Soul would be marked with a withdrawal of the mind from the soul, causing a neuroelectric isolation to occur between the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus.
One would be unable to recall mories of any kind.
Furthermore, this withdrawal of the mind from the soul due to abuse of the Martial Soul also extended to the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, causing one to lose access to one's Martial Art, leaving them rendered entirely powerless in this state.
It was a state of weakness where they were no more than a Martial Squire, deeply confused about where they were. It was profoundly unpleasant.
To the point that Martial Sages universally preferred to be put in sedation until the amnesia wore off.
It also ant that Martial Sages needed to be extrely careful about when and where they used their Martial Souls.
For the consequences of the Martial Soul would render them in extraordinarily vulnerable states.
It was also why most Martial Sages preferred to be based in a powerful nation or organization that they trusted. They needed a proper place to lay down and deal with not just the consequences of the Martial Soul but also the price of the Martial Mind.
It also served as leverage for states against Martial Sages.
Oftentis, the latter was far more powerful than the forr. As had been the case of the Shionel Confederation and its Martial Sage, but because of the combined consequences of the Martial Soul and Mind, the polity had more bargaining power against the Martial Sage.
It was one of the reasons that Martial Sages had not completely usurped all of human civilization upon the advent of the Sage Realm.
There were simply too many liabilities holding them back outside of conflict.
It was also one of the reasons that the Martial Union existed.
It served as a place to allow Sages, and even Masters, but especially Sages to recuperate from the consequences of their power.
There was no such thing as power without price.
RUMBLE…
She shifted her gaze away from Rui and Amare towards the direction of the source of incoming Martial Sages.
She could feel the ferocity of their battle intent.
She could make out familiar auras.
The Breath of Destruction.
The Flickering Elder.
The Mountain of Fortitude.
The Master of the Inferno Fists.
And, of course, the Devil himself.
"ATTTAAACCCKKK!!!" Sage Damian roared with a grueso murderous tone. His eyes flared with bloodlust.
His malevolent grin was chilling.
And yet—
"The battle is over." Bodhisattva Maitreyi's tone was unimpressed.
The Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire froze as they finally arrived at the Gu or, at least, what remained of it. They were beyond shocked.
They ca to the Gu expecting a ferocious battle with its many Martial Sage.
They were wrong.
They ca across a place of deathly silence.
Every single person.
Every single lifeform in the Gu—barring Rui, Amare, and the Boundless Light—was dead.
The darkness of the Gu had been stripped, exposing the entirety of the landmass.
A landmass whose very bedrock was comprised of corpses.
Human and beast alike.
And yet, the Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire were concerned for one and only one person.
"Rui!" Kane was the first to spot him, swiftly reaching him the soonest. "Damn…! What the hell happened here?!"
The Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire were underinford about the circumstances of what was happening. They had been deployed because Rui's Martial Embodint had montarily swept up all of human civilization.
They knew he had broken through to the Sage Realm.
They had no idea why he was deploying his power to such an extent.
The Emperor of Harmony, considering the risks of the target of the Gu, had decided to deploy the most powerful Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire to set to the Gu at maximum top speed, deploying their Realms of power to the very limit.
While they couldn't travel at the speed of light like Bodhisattva Maitreyi had, they had arrived very quickly, expecting the worst.
Instead, they found emptiness.
The entire place was devoid of even the tiniest speck of life.
The Demon of Asmodeous was nowhere to be seen.
The people of the Gu were nowhere to be seen.
The monsters and beasts that were supposed to be ravaging the Gu were nowhere to be seen.
They only spotted Rui and the Omni-Martial in a deep sleep while the Boundless Light of the Gen Temple watched over them with a profound gaze.
It was dumbfounding.
Where were the ferocious battles?
Where was the world-shattering war?
Just what had happened?
"I can explain." Bodhisattva Maitreyi's tone was profoundly solemn. "I can explain everything."
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