A wave of surprise spread through the members of the committee.
The Martial Supremacist was a highly cohesive faction.
Yet apparently, the Final Prince was powerful in a topic to cleave even this cohesive faction into two.
"We of the pro-Rui Martial Supremacist Faction are in favor of supporting the Void Prince," She said. "We believe it will do more for Martial supremacy to support him instead of Prince Raijun."
The air tingled, prickling at their nerves.
Many stirred at her words.
The rationale behind it became increasingly clear.
Prince Rui was far likelier to win the throne war than Prince Raijun. Thus, supporting him was the best way to get a through-and-through Martial Artist on the throne. However, that wasn't the only rationale.
He was also a Martial Senior, while Prince Raijun was a new Squire.
He was a deeply accomplished Martial Artist, while Prince Raijun had yet to have his first real fight.
Many Martial Masters felt naturally inclined to support Rui between the two. He was overwhelmingly more attractive and superior as a candidate to support.
However, his detractors had a point.
"We of the pro-Raijun Martial Supremacist Faction have chosen to abstain from supporting His Highness, the Void Prince," One man remarked. "While we have deep respect for the final prince of Kandria, his marked distaste for Martial supremacy is far from a secret. We do not wish to support a prince that actively dislikes our philosophy."
This was the reason that Rui had been unable to win over the entirety of the Martial Supremacist Faction.
While a portion of the Martial Supremacist Faction had immediately defected and switched sides, the portion that was more concerned with making Kandria a Martial Supremacist nation had remained with Prince Raijun.
The fact of the matter was that most of the portion that defected to Rui was comprised of Martial Masters.
As Martial Artists, they were prone to judging Martial Artists by strength, regardless of context.
Even if the duties of the Emperor were entirely irrelevant to one's Martial power, they were still much more inclined to support Prince Rui because he was exponentially stronger than Prince Raijun.
This was what power was to Martial Artists.
It was overriding. Martial Artists naturally arranged themselves in hierarchies of power in any given organization or even random grouping.
That was why Rui had earned a large amount of support from across the Martial Supremacist Faction.
"The Balance Sect supports Prince Rui for Emperor," One Martial Master declared.
"The Aquatic Sect refuses to support Prince Rui," Another Martial Master immediately followed up.
It was not surprising that this sect did not cease their support of Princess Ranea. After all, Princess Ranea's vision heavily favored their sect above all else. The Aquatic Sect would become extremely prominent and powerful if she ascended the throne.
Of course, like all members of the Martial Union, they certainly respected Rui and were grateful for all his contributions to Martial Art. However, that did not mean that they were willing to curb their interests to support him when he didn't really favor them.
It was also known that Prince Rui had been invited by Princess Ranea to join her faction more than a year and a half ago, and he had refused. He was known to be highly opposed to her naval ambition.
It meant that if Rui ascended the throne, they were definitely going to be disenfranchised, compared to if Princess Ranea supported him.
Just like the Poison Sect and the Aquatic Sect, there were sects that were ultimately opposed to the Martial Union opposing Prince Rui Quarrier.
However, they were few and far between compared to those in favor of Rui.
"The Hajin Martial Academy approves," The calm and powerful voice of Headmaster Aronian reverberated through the General Assembly. "Prince Rui Quarrier has not only demonstrated an extraordinary drive for Martial Art but also a supernatural mind and a capacity for thought that rivals those of fabled human sages throughout history."
Headmaster Aronian was the only Martial Master in the Martial Union who had known Rui from before he broke through to the Apprentice and Squire Realms. His insights regarding the prodigious genius were especially heavy in that regard.
"The Weapon Sect refuses!" One Martial Master declared. "While we have deep respect for His Highness and his accomplishments, he is unable to act in a manner that is best to our interests."
One of the things that weapon-oriented Martial Artists were uniquely concerned about was access to high-quality resources and smithy services. They were among the most economically aware Martial Artists and understood that their needs were greater than those of the average Martial Artist.
That was why they had firmly chosen to support Princess Rafia in return for an astonishing amount of wealth and exclusive channels and agreements to secure the goods and services they needed for their Martial Art. The quality of their weapons would raise much more if Princess Rafia ascended upon the throne.
Just like the Poison Sect and the Aquatic Sect, they simply did not get from Rui what they got from other princes or princesses.
They weren't the only ones.
The pro-Rui Martial Masters cursed as more Martial Sects and Martial Masters than they expected refused to support the proposal of the Martial Union as a whole supporting Rui Quarrier.
It wasn't long before every Master, sect, and faction had voiced their opinion.
"Let us now commence the voting period," The speaker remarked. "All in favor of the proposal?"
A large majority of the Martial Masters threw their hands up in the air.
"Eighty-two Martial Masters are in favor of the motion," The speaker remarked. "All against the proposal?"
A minority of Martial Masters raised their hands.
Their numbers were far fewer than those that favored the Martial Union wholeheartedly supporting Rui Quarrier Kandria as Emperor.
"Twenty-nine Martial Masters have voted against the motion," The speaker remarked. "With merely seventy-three-point- eight percent of the votes, this motion has failed to meet the threshold of approval and has thus been rejected!"
