The Martial Unity

Rui smiled underneath his mask. "Of course."

A bunch of low-grade Martial Squires were so weak that they might as well have been Martial Apprentices to him, he probably wouldn't even notice the difference. Apparently, Farun didn't understand just how strong Rui was despite what the sect informed him. He would have picked a greater challenge if he did.

Nonetheless, Rui found himself facing all of the Martial Squires of the coup force in the Saiful Abyss which was far away from the direction that the Ferendul nation was.

They surrounded him, taking their stances. Rui simply stood in place, unable to feel even the slightest hint of pressure. He had reached a stage where he could simultaneously comfortably mop up multiple grade-ten Martial Squires with ease when he was a Martial Squire himself. High-grade Martial Squires were nothing short of weak, and he didn't even notice low-grade Martial Squires anymore.

"Any time." Rui remarked.

Those words commenced the spar as all the Martial Squires lashed out forward, yet they were so slow that Rui needed to actually wait for them to arrive. He didn't even bother wasting any time when they did.

POW POW POW POW POW.....!

One by one, all of them fell to swift and powerful blurs that knocked them out before they even realized what happened.

In less than a second, he had knocked all of them out.

Sometime later, he found himself before Farun once more, who looked at him with an impressed expression. "It appears that the sect was completely accurate in their evaluation of you, as always. You are more than qualified to fight Albus. My apologies for doubting you, however, I need to be skeptical of everything in order to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"Don't worry about it." Rui casually replied. "When does the operation begin and how do you want me to coordinate with your forces."

"We will begin the operation in a week, which is the soonest now that we have confirmed a Senior-level combat force." The man replied. "Your role is simple. We will attack when Albus is away from the throne and far away from our conflicts on the other side of the Ferendul. All you need to do is be there at that time and place, and kill him when he tries to return to the throne in the wake of conflict."

Rui nodded, wordlessly.

It was a simple operation on his part, and Rui appreciated that. Although he was accustomed to coming up with complex and sophisticated plans that had the highest probability of succeeding, he did appreciate simplicity as well.

Especially when he wasn't the one coming up with all the plans.

"Albus spends the night of the full moon away from the throne on one of the countryside mansions," Farun explained. "All you need to do is assault him there, potentially ambush him, and take him down then and there."

He made sure to mark the point on the Ferendul maps of differing detail, honing in on the point, while also specifying the time and date. He even offered Rui a pocket watch that counted down to when Rui needed to be there.

It appeared that he didn't trust Martial Artists very much. 

It wasn't long before Rui's business was concluded with the man, he simply took his leave returning to his inn. There wasn't much left for him to do. A week of time wasn't enough to guarantee that he could finish another mission before this one was due, so he avoided taking the risk. 

He simply spent his days meditating as he brought himself to his peak mentally. Although he didn't think that such measures were necessary, he did them anyway.

It was his first fight in the Senior Realm. The information provided by the Beggar's Sect had extensively covered his Martial Art, yet Rui had decided to avoid looking into that information. 

He didn't care if it lowered the probability of success, he wanted a genuine test of his ability as a Martial Senior. He was not interested in preparing for this battle since that would make him much stronger than he normally was in combat.

Furthermore, he looked forward to a genuine fight in the Senior Realm, not just spars or duels.

He had yet to gain a good understanding of how strong he was as a Martial Senior. He knew that he was definitely well above the average starting point for Martial Seniors, but he also knew that he was on the weaker end of Martial Seniors, as well. Meaning that across the wide scale of grades, he was most certainly on the lower sight.

He hoped that this upcoming fight would give him a better understanding of how own position. 

After a week of excruciatingly long waiting, the day had finally arrived. Rui corresponded with Farun for a bit before it was time for him to depart for the Ferendul Republic. He could have simply activated his Martial Heart and rushed for the spot, but he recalled what Senior Sarak had told him quite well. 

The Martial heart was too important and significant to be made use of in such a frivolous manner. It would also weaken him against King Albus, and while he wanted a fair fight, he did not want to sabotage his normal standard power.

Thus he did it the hard way, taking his time as he crossed multiple borders to reach the Ferendul Republic. Once he entered the nation, he needed to be even more discreet, making sure to avoid the military carriages that patrolled the streets for seemingly no reason. 

He had arrived a little ahead of time, choosing to remain at some distance away from the mansion that Albus would allegedly visit when the night came. He kept the pocket watch he received at hand, watching it tick as time passed.

The night grew solemn and grave as the air grew heavy. It was as though the nation held its breath in trepidation of what was about to unfold.