The Martial Unity

That day, an uproar erupted.

It spread across the upper echelons of the Kandrian Empire like wildfire before eventually spreading across East Panama.

"To think His Highness found the mythical Silas Clan…"

"Not just found, he also managed to bring them to the Kandrian Empire!"

"Once again, His Highness has rocked the Empire."

It couldn't be helped.

Rui had been forced to disclose their identity, in part due to Sage Farana but also because they had already arrived. However, the initial number of people who heard about the Silas Clan wasn't large; it was like a spark in oil.

The information spread like a conflagration across the entire Kandrian Border Patrol Force from where it was leaked to all corners of the political and upper classes of Kandria.

The legendary Silas Clan had joined the Kandrian Empire.

On top of that, the matriarch of the Silas Clan was a Martial Sage.

This information rocked everybody who heard of it.

A Martial Sage was nothing short of a priceless national treasure. Every nation that had one on retainer was on a whole other level entirely compared to Master-level powerhouses. One of the reasons that the Shionel Confederation managed to just barely retain ownership of its dungeon instead of the Sage-level powerhouses bullying it was because it had a Martial Sage on retainer.

Just the presence of one Martial Artist made a difference between night and day.

Of course, in the case of the Kandrian Empire, the difference was not so staggering. Fifteen Martial Sages were marginally stronger than fourteen Martial Sages. However, the Martial Union had reached such a pinnacle of power that even a one-percent increase in power was extremely difficult and precious to achieve.

The fifteenth Martial Sage of the Kandrian Empire represented a seven-percent increase in power!

This was a staggering increase in power, relatively speaking.

However, onlookers did not discount the other gains that the Kandrian Empire had made with the widely reported addition of the Silas Clan to its ranks. With the power of prophecy, the Kandrian Empire had undoubtedly become the nation with the most powerful intelligence capability.

It could be game-changing.

There was also the addition of Martial Masters, which, while not as exaggerated as the two main gains, was still worth mentioning.

All in all, the impact and ramifications of this recent event were diverse and widespread.

Naturally, an overwhelming majority of the political establishment of the Kandrian Empire had positive reactions.

While not all of them had the best impression of Rui, it was almost impossible to pretend that this development did not deeply benefit almost all of them.

For the business and commercial sector of the Kandrian Empire, an additional Martial Sage represented a much stronger Kandrian Empire. This, in turn, almost instantly increased the benefits to the Kandrian economy.

After all, a Martially stronger nation was less likely to suffer negatively due to detrimental external stimuli like war and natural disasters. This meant that the nation was more reliable and stable to external shocks, which, in turn, naturally meant that the risk factor in investing capital in the nation was lower.

This translated to a greater capital influx, higher credit scores, a higher Kandrian currency index, and a lower trade deficit.

Thus, the corporate, business, and commercial sections of the Kandrian Empire were quite pleased with the retainer of a new Martial Sage and the power of prophecy. Not all of them had chosen to switch to Rui after Princess Rafia dropped out of the Kandrian Throne War, but there were no doubts that they all stood to make great benefits from this recent event.

The maritime and seafare industry of the Kandrian Empire was also pleased for this reason. In addition, the Silas Clan's prophecy could be deeply useful for forecasting the ocean. This new means of information was deeply alluring to all of them; thus, they, too, had no reason to be displeased by this event.

The Hawk Faction was also grudgingly pleased by this event as a faction centered around ambitions of conquest and dominance; greater militaristic power was always a good thing to them, no matter what. The addition of the Silas Clan greatly enhanced the power of the Kandrian Empire and made their pipe dream of continental dominance minutely less unrealistic.

The Merger Faction was mostly ambivalent, tending towards positive since it reinforced Rui's influence in the Martial Union if and when the Silas Clan inevitably joined it. This would allow for a smoother merging of the two greatest power blocs of the Kandrian Empire.

The Kandrian Border Patrol Force was displeased with this little stunt; however, Rui's paperwork was impeccable, so they did not have the authority to stop him in any way. The various governmental institutions reacted somewhat positively because the Silas Clan had proven a history of cooperation with the royal family by marrying their daughter to the Emperor.

Thus, that most likely indicated that they were not going to be against the authority of the royal family and the government that answered it.

If there was one power bloc of the Kandrian Empire that was displeased by the revelations of the Silas Clan, it was the Underworld.

"…This threatens the very foundation of the Underworld," Don Dagonel growled.

As the head of the Dagonel Network and the oligarch of the black market for information, he had swiftly verified the veracity of the Silas Clan story. Much to his shock, it turned out to be completely legitimate and real.

The prophetic power of the Silas Clan had the potential to completely uproot the Underworld!

It completely changed the equations of the game for them.

Five other figures sat around at the table with equally grim expressions. The existence of the underworld was predicated on the darkness. They had attempted to change this through Prince Rajak but had all but failed.

And now, the power of prophecy threatened to strip away the darkness that protected them. They needed to be deeply careful about the way handled this, otherwise, it could spell the end of the Underworld.