The Martial Unity

"Cough… Cough…" Captain Deacon spluttered blood as he panted deeply.

His body was a mess, riddled with deep wounds that refused to stop bleeding. His left eye was missing, causing him to take a stance that tilted his left side away. His Martial Art attire was completely torn, yet he didn't care. He stumbled as he moved forward.

Each step he took splashed around the blood that submerged his heels, produced by all the corpses around.

He glanced around him.

The grade-ten Martial Squires that had taken the lead of their wounded force in the battle against the Root were all dead.

One of them was flattened, while the other one was severed in half, the third one had been throttled away. Considering he never returned, Captain Deacon that he was dead too.

He was the only one left, half a day later.

The raid force had put up a brave fight, the grade-ten Martial Squires rallied the wounded Martial Artists into going all out against the roots. Hundreds of Martial Squires launched long-range attacks one by one as the close-range Martial Artists rushed forward. They mustered every ounce of power they could to resist the nightmare that the roots were.

The worst part wasn't that they were crushed in the end.

No.

The worst part was that they weren't crushed immediately.

The worst part was that they even made some progress, believing they could win.

Hoping they could win.

The worst part was when the roots allowed them to hope, before crushing it mercilessly, leaving behind nothing but despair.

with the power and speed of grade-ten Martial Squires, crushed any and all

the end, only he, the most invincible

it was just a matter of time. Yet, he didn't

wasn't

afford to care, for the sake of

a Martial Artist, as a leader, as the son of his father for whom he was

of despair. He had sunk low not only because of his personal failures but because he knew that his personal failure would

had begun more than a decade ago. He had sworn that he would do anything in

He had gone and suffered the greatest failure in his career at the worst possible time he

catastrophe that they had suffered by losing the Martial Squires that they had contributed to the raid, that his father was responsible

days before the elections was absolutely devastating. It was a political catastrophe of unprecedented detriment. It would cost Chairman Deacon the entirety

his failure as a leader, as a Martial Squire, and as a son, was the reason that

froze as his father's image

was certain that he loved his children deeply, going to great lengths to

repulsed him. He owed it to his father to not kill himself because he was too weak

turning around and heading for

BAM!!!

left. He had gotten a brief moment of respite when he had collapsed

on his body. If not for the fact that his Martial Body had grown stronger over twenty years of growth, and the powerful grade-ten defensive technique that allowed him to endure much damage, he

Squires. Of course, they had inflicted far more damage than he had to the Root, they simply did

a figure appeared before him out

SLASH

SPLAT!

his exposed neck, leaving a wound that

sure are impressive, it makes sense that