The Martial Unity

"You're going to hole yourself in the highest security arena of the Gereign Base?!" Senior Zenshin glared at a man seated in front of him.

A few days had passed since the death of Senior Marna, it had caused quite an uproar within the Gereign Base of the Carnil Mafia. "Of course," The man replied calmly, sipping some tea. "I do not wish to die or get hurt."

"You sorry excuse of a Martial Senior," Senior Zenshin curled his mouth with contempt. "You really are the most pathetic Martial Artist I have ever met. A Martial Senior cowering away like a little girl is something that should not exist!"

"The feeling is mutual," Senior Francis calmly replied. "If anything, it is the rest of you who are idiots. How many times did I tell you we should cease all activity until Master Haishi arrives? How many times did I warn the others to abstain from traveling across the Hypnonarak forest? No one listened, and all of them died. Hmph, serves them right."

"You bastard…" Senior Zenshin narrowed his eyes. "You cowardly wimp. You haven't a single bone of pride or courage in you."

"If those bones didn't break so easily, the others who had them would still be alive," Senior Francis snorted. "Hmph, Martial Artists of the Underworld are too reckless, irrational, and volatile. That's why they have a higher casualty rate than those in the Royal Army."

"You aren't fit for the Carnil Mafia, that's one thing we agree on," Senior Zenshin narrowed his eyes. "This ain't the Martial Union. This ain't the Royal Army. This is the Underworld. There is no royalty agreement. There is no hefty salary with government benefits. There is no safety blanket, guarantees, rights, or privileges. Only one thing matters in the Underworld."

"…Power," Senior Francis muttered. "That's right," Senior Zenshin's eyes narrowed. "The weak are exploited and killed, the strong exploit and kill. That is the only rule of the Underworld. You can't show weakness. You can't let others walk over you. You can't be willing to back down. You can't run away. If you do…"

His expression intensified. "You'll never stop running. You'll never stop backing down. You'll never not be weak. They won't let you. That's the reason the other Seniors of our team decided to go hunting for the Plum Ecstasy Fruits even though they knew they were going to be attacked…A pussy like you who is willing to let others walk over all over you by showing weakness would never understand."

Senior Francis snorted wordlessly. However, even he had to admit that there was merit to what Senior Zenshin was telling him. Backing down from a threat or a risk, that too an implicit one, was weakness. And weakness was consumed in the Kandrian Underworld. If word got out that the Martial Seniors that the Carnil Mafia at the Gereign Base were too scared to leave their base because they were afraid of being killed, it would destroy their reputations.

It would do more than that, it would destroy the influence that they had cultivated for decades in the Kandrian Underworld. None of them were willing to do that. That was why none of them backed away from Rui even though they knew he was going to ambush them.

None of them except Senior Francis.

"I intend to leave the Kandrian Underworld, no, the Kandrian Empire once I'm done with this assignment," Senior Francis remarked. "I will have paid off my debt to the Carnil Mafia with this assignment, and then I'm free to leave."

"Hah…" Senior Zenshin snorted contemptuously. "You don't actually believe that you can leave, do you?"

"I have no intention of staying, I'll tell you that much."

"Just you try leaving…" Senior Zenshin narrowed his eyes. "Master Haishi may dispatch me to kill you, and I promise you that I will not hesitate."

"Hah…" Senior Francis felt his head aching. "Speaking of, when is she scheduled to arrive?"

"Today," Senior Zenshin grunted, his eyes narrowing.

"That's earlier than I expected," Senior Francis remarked with surprise. "She was furious when I informed her that Senior Marna died at the hands of the assailant," Senior Zenshin grunted. "She was personally ordered by Lord Carnil to stabilize the Gereign Base and restore the narcotics supply."

"Huff…" Senior Francis heaved a deep sigh. "I might just choose to run away before she arrives. I'm afraid she'll kill me."

"She definitely will if you try running away," Senior Zenshin snorted.

Senior Francis got up, walking towards the door. "I'm going to hole myself in the HQ command center, the most secure place in this facility. Mark my words, Zenshin, I'm not going to die, I'm going to survi-"

Suddenly, his body went limp.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head.

THUD

Senior Zenshin simply watched, shocked, as his lifeless corpse fell to the ground. Senior Zenshin simply stared for the briefest moment before his instincts felt a single thing.

Danger.

"RARGH!" He activated his shining Martial Heart in just a microsecond, spinning as he swiped his claws omnidirectionally.

A titanic amount of power and force was generated.

…SPLAT!

A masked Martial Senior appeared out of thin air, leaping away from Senior Zenshin. His arms were bleeding, having blocked the prior attack. Senior Zenshin's eyes narrowed as he recognized the mask. This was the same bastard that started all of this by killing Senior Nereau. He gritted his teeth as his eyes widened with rage. "You…"

For a moment, the two Martial Seniors stared at each other. The very air seemed to quiver under the sheer force of mind that the two powerful Martial Seniors exerted. Senior Zenshin let his emotions boil. He let his rage soar through, taking over. He had pent up a lot of frustration over the past week or so, and he had no intentions of letting the chief party responsible for it go.

His eyes grew feral as he lashed out, abandoning his rationality.

Just as Rui had planned.