Published at 14th of December 2025 8:43 am

Chapter 3672: Caveated Criticisms

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A month passed in real time quicker than one could have expected. Each day, the citizens of the world were bombarded with so many new developments that it was impossible to keep up with everything that was happening.

More and more nations and organizations completely accepted the new reality of the war and began picking sides. The Emperor of Harmony had announced that he was opening the list of potential allies entirely, revealing that any organization could forge an alliance with the Panamic Alliance and get their hands on some negatron matter.

This was not a small matter.

"The Emperor of Harmony must have miscalculated. How rare." One political analyst smiled. "Emperor Rael is a veteran political genius, but the world has changed so much with so many unknown variables and factors that even he is not beyond mistakes. It appears that he has underestimated how much ire the Void Prince’s actions have drawn and how much support he needs."

The man was attired in a formal suit custom-tailored to fit his body. His salt-pepper hair had been combed to one side neatly, while the spectacles he wore gave him an erudite air to the live audience seated across the arena and the people who watched the program feed.

Opposite him sat a woman who wore a single-piece red dress that matched the color of her hair.

She nodded at his statement. "Could you elaborate more on his decision to open up a path for an alliance for all nations in the true world, Professor Leynar?"

"It’s not that complicated, really," the old professor remarked with a knowing tone. "The Emperor of Harmony’s intentions with the original alliance program were rather clear; clearly greedy."

His words caused the people in the audience to frown.

While Emperor Rael was not nearly beloved as his most prominent son, people did not take well to such direct criticism.

"Clearly greedy?" she raised an eyebrow, pushing back. "How were they greedy when he was willing to share?"

"They were greedy precisely because he limited how much he was willing to share," the professor responded with a composed expression. "The more you share, the more allies you get, the more protection you get. Emperor Rael was willing to forgo protection in favor of more negatron matter because he must have calculated, with information beyond us, that the Panamic Alliance could handle the pressure. However, he was clearly wrong and hence has chosen to undo this, allowing theoretically any nation to forge an alliance with the Panamic Alliance."

"Where do you think he might have made an error, then?" The interviewer asked with a cautious tone.

Professor Leynar smiled, unperturbed.

"He underestimated the entity known as NOVA considerably, from what I can tell."

Another wave of disapproval swept across the audience composed of Kandrian citizens. There were even a few people who booed at those words in a crude manner, only to be promptly escorted outside the establishment by Martial Apprentice guards.

"I am not condemning the Emperor of Harmony." The professor raised his hands defensively. "Mistakes are inevitable, even for the most competent ruler in our continent, especially during war. The Emperor of Harmony has twice brought our nation victory against our former enemies despite being outnumbered three-to-one, but I suspect he has met his match in NOVA, who has completely outmaneuvered him strategically."

He raised a finger. "She, or it, or whatever, understood how ambitious his alliance program was, and punished him for it by cleverly escalating the war to near maximum intensity from the very get-go. By doing so, she triggered a cascade of events that caused a world war to erupt in the span of a week, when this was a process that should have taken months, as the Emperor of Harmony must have anticipated."

He raised a second finger. "By doing so, she has increased the urgency for the protection while simultaneously reducing the time period the Emperor of Harmony has to obtain it. I believe that this is why the Emperor of Harmony has delegated the war to Prime Minister Edward of the Britannian Empire while focusing all his time on diplomacy alone. Right now, the initiative is with NOVA, and she is currently pushing our continent on the defensive. However, if there’s one saving grace, it is that..."

He smiled proudly. "Our enemies have undoubtedly underestimated our great Emperor as well."

This elicited a round of cheers and applause.

"Are you saying this just to get into the good graces of those watching, Professor Leynar?" The host teased him with a friendly smile.

"Hohoho, not at all. I have had the great honor of speaking to the Emperor of Harmony just once, many years ago, during the Era of Darkness. I know just how unbelievably charismatic and magnetic an individual is. NOVA has underestimated just how hypnotizing his diplomatic ability is. She must not have anticipated that the light elves were making overtures to normalize relationships with the Kandrian Empire. She must not have anticipated that nations of our continent would put aside their differences and truly commit to protecting the Kandrian Empire, as evidenced by the recent surge in foreign Martial Artists in our nations."

No Kandrian citizen had failed to notice the sheer number of Martial Artists from across the entire continent. The foreign ethnic attire, different foreign races, and different Martial arts had visibly increased the population density of the entire nation.

This was unprecedented in human history, but they were living in unprecedented times.

"She has also underestimated how effectively we can mobilize our Martial power and how stable our nation can remain despite all the Martial Artists who are in this nation," the professor continued. "She must have, rather correctly, assumed that no nation can have so many foreign groups of pathwalkers without collapsing; that is why she has concentrated all her attacks on one nation. But what she has miscalculated is..."

He grinned. "...just how much all Martial Artists in the world revere Prince Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria."

Just the utterance of that name caused the entire crowd to erupt in a thundering roar of approval.

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