The Martial Unity

"Rui… Quarrier?"

Chairman Deacon stared at the document containing a profile of a young Martial Squire with pitch-black hair and eyes.

At that moment, he felt a deep instinct stirring inside him.

"Yes, sir," His secretary nodded. "He's a B-rank Martial Squire residing in the Shionel Confederation, with average success with the dungeon. Nothing too spectacular. But he is the one who won the war over the core of the Serevian Dungeon for the Kandrian Empire. The intelligence that our intelligence department dug up on him deeply indicated that he does possess the ability to project an aura that is characteristic of Martial Artists of a higher Realm. That is actually how the intelligence department found him, rather. By investigating the possibility of a Martial Squire responsible for the Senior-level aura that Squire Yuna sensed. Since then oddities have piled, such as the confirmed locations of the Martial Squires in the Shionel Confederation at the estimated time period that the Voider was on the final floor. Many names get cut. However, we were unable to locate him or his partner Kane during this time period, or at all, they haven't returned to their inn yet. Also-"

"Wait a minute…" Chairman Deacon's eyes widened. "I… remember him. Yes. He was a Voidhunter. One of the only four to survive."

Chairman Deacon managed to remember his distinct features.

"Yes sir," His secretary nodded. "The duo serving as the Voider has been found to match the data on the Voider obtained on the sixteenth floor where a glimpse of them was obtained. Multiple individuals serving as the Voider together is the trait that disqualified the theory of the Voider being a Senior. Also, the fact that the Voider waited for the raid force to clear the sixteenth floor disqualifies them from being a Senior, since Senior would have been able to destroy the tree as a whole with a single attack."

"That makes sense…" Chairman Deacon nodded, bewildered. "On top of that, there is the fact that the Martial Union withdrew its forces from the raid force sent to the final floor!"

His expression was saturated with raw unadultered shock.

The Kandrian Martial Union was in on it!

He could think of no other explanation for why the Martial Union would refuse to partake in the clearing of the final floor of the Shionel Dungeon. It made no sense. The only reason their otherwise inscrutable decision made sense was if they knew that deploying their internal Martial Squires on that operation would get them all killed 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝘯𝑒𝑡

In hindsight, it as absolutely clear that the Martial Union possessed foreknowledge of the disaster that was following through. He didn't know exactly what kind of working relationship Rui and the Martial Union had, but it was clear that they were working together.

He gritted his teeth as his expression morphed into one of deep hatred and fury. His secretary felt the hair on her body standing on edge at the sheer sight of him.

He glanced back at Rui's photo, closing his eyes as he did his best to recall the interactions he had with him.

He could barely remember anything. It couldn't be helped. Individual Martial Squires were a dime a dozen at his level of power. Grade-ten Martial Squires were worthy of more consideration, but even then, they were more valuable disposable pawns.

Yet for some reason, even though he didn't remember the words Rui exchanged with him, he recalled the impression that Rui had left on him.

He had actually spent some time talking to Rui because the young man had made a subtle yet profound impression, he was highly intelligent and pertinent. He had a bright mind, and there was more to him than met the eye.

He opened his eyes.

He already knew. "It's him."

There was unyielding certainty in his chilly voice. His eyes narrowed as his eyes blazed with fury and rage. "Find him."

The secretary did not think it was a good idea to do anything rash without gaining absolute confirmation that they were the Voider. However, she knew that he was not going to change his mind. He would most likely gain more explicit proof after the two Martial Squires had been caught and interrogated.

"Should I inform the alliance?" She asked.

"No," He shook his head. "The Martial Union is a traitor to the alliance, but kicking them out will tip them off. Do it using the capital and resources of Deacon Industries. Task the entirety of the Intelligence Department on the search of Rui Quarrier and Kane Arrancar."

"Yes sir," She bowed.

"Oh… One more thing," He paused. "Do a more extensive background check. Families and friends, I want a list of all of them. They can be of use."

"Yes, sir," She nodded, before leaving the room.

Chairman Deacon put aside the matter of cleaning up the mess that was still around due to his loss in the elections. At this moment, he was fully invested in the matter of the Voider. He would do everything in his power to find and kill him.

"No, I'm going to torture him for stabbing my son in the back," He gritted his teeth as his nails drew blood from being clenched into his fist too hard. "I'm going to kill his entire family before his very eyes."

He didn't bother about making the same claim for Kane. He recognized the latter's last name quickly and knew that he could not dream about trying to make his family suffer even if he was guildmaster.

('Speaking of guildmaster…') His eyes narrowed. ('Does Bradt know…?')

He got the feeling that he hadn't known this entire time, for certain things would have gone differently. He knew his enemy well and knew that the man would never treat any Martial Squire as an equal. However, if he was working with someone who was anonymous and kept himself safe from Bradt's power, then he could understand why Rui wasn't firmly locked in the guildmaster's palm and power.