Chapter 2251: Halting Siege

RUMBLE!

"What's going on...?" Sage Senpu's expression grew alarmed as their senses picked up the high energy levels. "Why is there such heavy energy radiating from the direction of our home? Not just any ordinary levels of energy output. This...!"

It was an energy level that only Martial Sages could output.

The nine Sekigaharan Sages grew deeply concerned about the fact that they were detecting such energy from the direction of their home.

RUMBLE!!

"Dammit!" Sage Shinken cursed. "Did a bunch of Martial Sages attack the Sekigahara Confederate while we were away?!"

"Who dares to make an enemy of the Sekigahara Confederate?"

"We will tear those bastards apart!"

RUMBLE!!!

The nine of them hurried as they sprinted toward the Sekigahara Confederate at top speed with grave expressions.

What they found when they arrived shook them to their very core.

For a moment, they could scarcely believe what they were seeing.

BOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOM!!!

Massive beams of pure energy soared from afar at extraordinary speeds, threatening to raze the entirety of the territory of the Sekigahara Confederate. Each beam possessed destructive power that was easily Sage-level.

BOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

If not for the other Martial Sages and the Apocalyptic siege weapons of the Sekigahara Confederate intercepting almost all of them, the Sekigahara Confederate would have existed in all but memory.

However, the destructive power of these beams, even after being intercepted, still caused immense damage to the Sekigahara Confederate just from the dispersion of the energy beams into the environment.

If not for the four Martial Sages who had remained behind during the assault on the Kandrian Empire, the nation would have been reduced to dust. These Martial Sages not only contributed to redirecting the astronomically destructive beams of energy that soared toward the Sekigahara Confederate but also bent heaven, earth, and space to ensure that as little harm as possible came to the nation and its people.

BOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

The nine Sekigaharan Sages immediately broke out of their frozen stupor, rushing instantly towards the Sekigahara Confederate in the distance to aid their comrades and protect their nation and, more importantly, their clans.

The nine of them immediately rushed in to help the Sekigahara Confederate defend itself from those who sought to destroy it.

Yet, the moment they jumped in alongside their other comrades, ready to contribute their power, the beams of destruction stopped coming. For a moment, all of them just stood, frozen in shock.

They were too stunned to even speak.

RUMBLE...

As the dust settled down and the energy dissipated, the Sekigahara Confederate had finally exited a state of emergency. Yet, even before the authorities could begin conducting a survey on the material outcome and the damage inflicted on the nation and its people, there was no optimism in the air.

Even with the best effort of the nation's valiant Sages and their powerful siege weapons, the damage inflicted on the nation was not little.

It was as grave as it was inexplicable.

"What..." Sage Shinken felt like he was on the verge of losing his sanity. "What just happened?"

The four Sekigaharan Sages that had remained home collapsed from the sheer amount of exhaustion that they experienced. They appeared to be in an even worse condition than the nine of their comrades who had taken part in the assault on Kandria.

"...Shortly after your battle with the Kandrian Empire commenced, the Sekigahara Confederate came under siege. Those massive energy beams started firing at us from the west. Only we had the means to contact you, but the siege was so sudden that if not for all of us jumping in exactly the moment we did, the Sekigahara Confederate would not exist at this moment," the eldest Martial Sages slowly explained between pants. "It was extremely sudden, with absolutely no warning of any kind. Entire inexplicable."

The nine Martial Sages of the strike team stared at the four Martial Sages with horror.

It was just one nightmare after another.

It didn't seem to end.

Most of them weren't theistic, but all of them couldn't help but wonder if they were being punished by a deity in the heavens.

First, the Sage-level battle had amounted to a failure as the Kandrian Empire had suddenly revealed the addition of seven new Martial Sages to its roster. Then, all but one Master of the Master-level strike force had been massacred and butchered at the hands of the son of the Devil. And now, the Sekigahara Confederate had suddenly and randomly come under attack from the west with long-range apocalypse-class heavy artillery siege weapons.

It was one of the worst days of their lives, without any shadow of a doubt.

"But who...?" Sage Shinken was half praying that this was all a bad nightmare and that he would wake up from it to an entirely ordinary day.

Of course, he knew that was not possible. Martial Sages did not experience dreams.

"...Who is responsible for this attack?" Sage Shinken gritted his teeth. "Who dared to attack the Sekigahara Confederate at this moment, of all times?"

"...Given the direction that these attacks came from, and the unprecedented range of those apocalypse class weapons," one of the four Sages who remained in the Sekigahara Confederate began, "we think it's the Esocline Federation."

Sage Shinken's eyes widened with shock. "...What?"

He gritted his teeth. "You're telling me that the weakest Sage-level nation and a nation with almost no Martial Artists dared to attack the Sekigahara Confederate from afar like cowards while it was in a moment of vulnerability?"

"There's no other possibility I'm afraid." The Sage nodded with cold fury. "That nation is the only one with such powerful siege weapons. Today, they have waged war against us. However, what really makes me wonder is the timing of all of this."

The thirteen Martial Sages fell into deep thought as they considered her words. Was the fact that this attack happened in the middle of an operation that deployed most of the Martial Sages and Martial Masters outside of the nation just a coincidence?

"No..." Sage Shinken had never experienced such rage in his entire life. "This was planned."

His eyes sharpened with murderous anger. "That bastard Emperor Rael. He roped in the Esocline Federation in this war. From this day forth, Esocline Federation is our enemy forever."