The Martial Unity

"Then…what do you propose we do…?" the Patriarch of the Shinken Clan asked with sharp eyes and a stern expression. "We have suffered heavy losses on the Master-level front; we cannot afford a pyrrhic victory; we must minimize losses."

"It's simple, really. There's only one thing to do," Prime Minister Edward replied with a firm tone. "We gather enough Martial capital from other nations in East Panama to ensure that we face an overwhelming advantage against the Kandrian Empire when it comes to numbers, and then we overwhelm in war. We may not have a two-to-one advantage as we are now, but we have many subservient nations within our domains of influence. There's also the Sage-level nations of East Panama from whom we can borrow Martial power…"

Prime Minister Edward narrowed his eyes. "As soon as we have accrued enough borrowed Martial Power from across East Panama, we can focus on destroying them rapidly. Thus, our primary goal is to ensure that we have accrued enough Martial power from other nations in East Panama to wipe out the Kandrian Empire with minimal losses. Squeeze out Martial Artists and siege weapons from as many nations of the Upper Realms as possible through any method you can. The Britannian Empire has plenty of colonies from which we can extract Martial capital, for example."

He turned to President Raymond. "The Republic of Gorteau has plenty of nations trapped with debt. Leverage that credit and use it to borrow as many Masters and Sages as possible. While it is painful to lose the leverage you have had over the nations you trapped, it will be much more painful if we don't stop the Kandrian Empire."

President Raymond closed his eyes, issuing a curt nod as he sighed. It was indeed painful to lose all the debt traps that they had ensnared many nations in, but it was worth it to acquire the Martial Artists needed to destroy the Kandrian Empire. After all, it was just money that could be rebuilt again.

However, if they failed to stop the Kandrian Empire at this juncture, then they were screwed.

Prime Minister Edward turned toward the clan leaders of the Sekigahara Confederate. "The Sekigahara Confederate has triggered countless local and civil wars in its domain of influence for centuries. Just the price to have you halt it will be something that many nations will be very willing to pay rather than have their lands ravaged by wars that they cannot stop. I'm sure that you will be able to borrow many Masters or perhaps even Sages with the complete halting of all covert interference that you use for triggering conflicts. They will gladly fight to destroy the Kandrian Empire if it means keeping their home nations free from civil conflicts. It is the ideal incentive program that will save you money and bring you Martial Artists."

The clan leaders fell into thought as they realized the genius of such a plan. It was indeed true that expenses took care of themselves. Of course, not triggering wars was a tough condition, as they triggered wars to increase the demand for Martial Artists, who were needed to win wars.

However, it was still far preferable to losing the war against the Kandrian Empire due to insufficient firepower to win with minimal losses.

In the past, the Sekigahara Confederate would have never taken such a stance. However, the fiasco of the previous battle was something that had shaken them to their core. Losing so many Martial Masters at once had shattered all shackles on the course of action that they would take.

Anything to ensure that the Kandrian Empire experienced the despair it felt and was ruined forever.

"With these three methods, the three of our nations can squeeze as much Martial capital from nations in our sphere of influence," the prime minister continued. "While the Kandrian Empire does have a much more favorable relationship with nations in its sphere of influence, it also does not use forceful methods to get what it wants, limiting it in that regard. If all goes well, we will be able to build an enormous army with enough power to wipe out Kandria with minimal losses."

This was the plan.

The measure that Emperor Rael had taken as a part of his grand plan was enough to close the gap between Kandria and its enemies so that they would not be able to achieve anything less than an excruciating pyrrhic victory.

In order to achieve a palatable victory, the three powerhouses needed to gather as many Masters and Sages as they could from across East Panama to ensure that they gained enough power to wipe the Kandrian Empire out with overwhelming force without having to suffer horrific losses.

"But…" President Raymond sharpened his gaze as he eyed Prime Minister Edward. "Will that be enough to take down Kandria?"

"Absolutely not," Prime Minister Edward nonchalantly replied. "In fact, I am certain that he has predicted my response.'

The two sides grew alarmed at his words. "What's the point of pursuing this plan then? Are you trying to lead into a loss?"

Prime Minister Edward heaved a sigh. "The reason that he has foreseen our response is because it is undoubtedly the best choice at our disposal. It would be foolish to let go of this opportunity to greatly bolster our net war potential with the aforementioned plan. In other words…"

He narrowed his eyes, "…he needs to demonstrate that he is able to overcome this. Of course, knowing him, this isn't something he cannot overcome, especially when he has been planning this long before the war came."

"What could he possibly do to overcome such an overwhelmingly large gap in net war potential, however?" President Raymond.

Prime Minister scorned him with contempt. "He already did it once with you lot. He crippled both and sealed or destroyed more than half your war potential. It is possible to do it again, especially if he foresaw this three years ago, as I suspect he did. The difference is…"

Prime Minister Edward smiled coldly, "I'll be his opponent this time."

He closed his eyes as his mind parsed through all possible decisions and choices that his rival and enemy could take and were likely to take based on the most promising outcomes. It was a game that two could take.

"It all depends on how powerful his treasures are…" he tutted, "he has an advantage on us. However, I cannot conceive a future where he wins without also pursuing the same strategy. The best way to counter us gathering Martial capital from East Panama is to do the same thing."

The clan leaders of the Sekigahara Confederate grew more enthusiastic at his words. "Doesn't that mean we have an advantage? After all, three Sage-level powerhouses can gather more Martial capital than one, right?"

"You'd be right in ordinary circumstances," Prime Minister Edward answered them earnestly. "However, these are not ordinary circumstances. Kandria has a lot of attractive things to offer. Breakthroughs, accelerated growth, healed and improved Martial Bodies, longevity potions, abundance of rare precious resources, prophecy. It all depends on what limits his treasures have. However, there's no doubt that he will pursue some strategy that will allow him to leverage these treasures in a relationship to ensure that he doesn't fall behind in borrowing Martial power from East Panama."

The two parties stiffened at the Prime Minister's words as they realized his words made sense.

"Then…" President Raymond gritted his teeth. "How can we ever borrow Martial power faster than Kandria? At this rate, we will never reach a position where we can overwhelm the Kandrian Empire in war with minimal losses!"

The air grew heavy under the shared frustration that the others felt. It was almost as if the Kandrian Empire would win no matter what they did.

"The solution is elementary."

Prime Minister Edward's tone was steely. "We announce to East Panama that our alliance will wage war against any nation in East Panama that dares to ally with the Kandrian Empire."

Prime Minister Edward knew that Emperor Rael would definitely also have to borrow Masters and Sages from East Panama to ensure that the Kandrian Empire did not fall behind the alliance, which would also be doing the same thing.

In that case, Edward had no qualms about leveraging the might of three powerhouses to inspire terror in all nations in East Panama.

President Raymond and the clan leaders quickly acquiesced as they rapidly proceeded with the plan they had agreed upon. Ordinarily, they would have stalled, resisted, and delayed, lest they dance to the tune of a rival powerhouse. However, this time they did none of that.

There was too much at stake.

Everything was at stake.

Within a month, the three Sage-level powerhouses issued a public announcement.

First, it announced the founding of the East Panamic Treaty Alliance led by the Britannian Empire, the Republic of Gorteau, and the Sekigahara Confederate.

Secondly, it declared war on all nations allied with the Kandrian Empire.

East Panama shook with horror as the war escalated even further, swallowing up much of human civilization.

A war that would define the future of the Panama Continent. -

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