The Dark Multiverse was something he came upon back in Primordial Earth when reading comics. It refers to a group of infinite timelines where everything goes wrong.
In the normal multiverse, good and bad things coexist–similar to Yin and Yang. However, in the Dark Multiverse, nothing ever goes correctly; only pain, death, and suffering exist.
And because of its nature, the most powerful and cruelest entities live in the Dark Multiverse. It can be considered the most dangerous place in the entire universe.
"I did not expect the concept of Dark Multiverse to exist," committed Morgana, who shared senses with him. She did not contain her excitement, "I cannot fathom how far our understanding of the multiverse will reach after studying it."
She already imagines the papers the Empire will publish after studying this Dark Multiverse. There will be theories involving Space-Time, new understandings of matter and energy, advancement in Dark and Black Magic and Negative Emotions, and even more profound research into Cause and Effect–especially Negative Karma.
And these things were only the tip of the iceberg.
"Master, I have to say, your luck has been excellent recently," commented the little elf as she gave him a thumbs up.
"Too good, I would say," replied Edward.
"You mean?"
Edward nodded. His luck has always been excellent, maybe a perk from his reincarnation from Primordial Earth. And Merlin even admitted this was one of the reasons he accepted him as his student.
And Edward knew of his outrageous luck after discovering the hole leading to the void that the Magus Race left in Rowena's timeline. That hole was the only reason he could create Omniversal Travel while only being a Tier 3.
Otherwise, he would have to wait until Tier 10 before he even had a chance at success. According to the many simulations he ran, if he did not discover that Void Crack, his research would lead him to discover other planes.
As such, he would have escaped the plane where Harry Potter was located but never escaped the entire universe, also called the Astral Realm.
Edward knew having access to the knowledge of other planes would fasten the Empire's development. However, it would never compare to the current state where he can use power systems from different universes; where he can study the laws or authorities of other universes.
As for why his luck has been on the rise lately, even without the use of the Felix Felicis? He guessed it was Cronai's doing. To ensure the Empire's development and the Gods' eventual downfall, she blessed the Arcane Empire with tremendous luck.
And this act resulted in the birth of countless geniuses from different fields; it allowed the Empire to survive dangerous situations, have an easier time succeeding in difficult problems, and many other benefits.
"In that case, we need to keep a good relationship with her," nodded Morgana, and Edward agreed with this sentiment.
"Let's check out this Dark Multiverse," commented Edward, who cast an Astral Projection Spell. There were two main types of Astral Projections; the first was the soul leaving its dimension and surviving without the body.
However, this version requires Tier 6, when the soul is tangible and can survive a few months after the body is destroyed without help.
And the second type involved using soul energy to shape a body before transferring some of the consciousness into this energy body. The advantage of this method is the caster will not be affected if something happens to the projection. However, the downside is the projection is incredibly weak compared to the soul or the main body.
Edward's Astral Projection opened a portal to Earth in one of the infinite timelines of this Dark Multiverse.
As soon as he arrived, Edward sensed things were different; he felt this suffocating depression as his mind was overwhelmed with negative thoughts and emotions.
"This place is disgusting to live in," commented Morgana. "Is that nuclear waste I detected?"
Edward agreed with her words, so he decided to be swift and efficient. He cast a spell that allowed him to see places where great destiny resides.
Then, his projection teleported to that destination while remaining invisible to the naked eye.
After appearing, he saw a group of people hiding underground. These people looked miserable, malnourished, and their eyes were devoid of any life or hope.
They ate their food in silence, and the few who spoke muttered with the lowest voice and were quick in their conversation.
"Look," said Morgana suddenly, and when Edward looked in her direction, his pupil flashed in surprise. He saw Ron Weasley holding a bottle of vodka and chugging it like water.
Edward quickly noticed he had a metal prosthetic for an arm. Then, not long afterward, someone suddenly apparated, making everybody alert; their reaction was almost visceral until they realized who it was. Then, they sighed in relief.
"Harry?" asked Edward, as the latter was too difficult to identify. Half of his face had a terrible scar, while the rest burned completely.
"How did it go?" asked Ron in a gruff voice.
"The result was the same," replied Harry, his voice worse than gravel. His vocal cord obviously suffered significant damage, most likely burned.
Rone did not respond as he expected this. He took a sip of his drink before taking out a locket from his shirt, opening it to reveal a picture–Hermione.
"Only one left," he said, his eyes full of determination. "We only need to destroy the last Horcrux before we can kill this fucker. Then, I can finally join her."
Harry looked at his friend, hiding the complication he felt deep in his eyes. It was his mission to kill Voldemort and save the people of this world. However, he also knew what awaited his friend once he achieved his mission.
A small part of him wished they had never found that last Horcrux so his friend could continue accompanying him. However, he also knew being selfish in this situation was impossible.
And it was not only because the world needed it. He knew his friend was only enduring out of sheer desire for revenge. If he cannot have his revenge after an extended period, his mind will no longer be able to bear it.
By then, who knows what he will do?
Furthermore, he was also tired.
"The wizards in South America might have discovered something. In a few days, I will go visit them."
"Good," replied Ron blandly.
Edward and Morgana calmly watched this situation, wondering what happened to turn these two into this shape.
"Did you find out?" asked Edward, who knew the little elf was reading their memories.
"Yes. Voldemort was the final winner in the battle at Hogwarts. Longbottom never killed Nagini, and he went on to conquer the wizarding world before enslaving the muggles.
"He then killed all the "mudbloods" of the magical world and 40% of muggles. The remaining 60% were enslaved. And as you can guess, Hermione was on the casualty list."
Edward sighed as he imagined what these two went through. He shook his head as he realized that most people he knew and cared for were dead in this timeline.
"I'm guessing there is no version of me in this timeline?"
"From their memories, they've never heard of you."
"I either died under Voldemort or some other way. Or, this timeline derived from the main timeline where Edward Bones died as a child during the First Wizarding War," he analyzed.
"Boss, what do you want to do? Do you want to help them?"
"From what I know about Voldemort, he would hide Nagini in a safe place after a few assassinations attempts.'
He knew the fear of death was deeply ingrained in the Dark Lord's soul.
"Find the location and give it to them," ordered Edward.
Morgana cast a spell that allowed her to search the entire planet. After discovering where Voldemort placed Nagina, she left a note in Harry Potter's quarter and a spiritual hint on the note so the latter would believe it.
Then, Edward's Astral Projection opened a gate to another timeline. And as expected, the world was still dark and gloomy. Upon arrival, he immediately noticed the overall population of the earth had drastically decreased.
"How many people are there?" he asked.
"3.3 billion," replied Morgana.
"What year?"
"2007."
"Around that time, the population should have been twice that. So, what caused so many people to die in a few decades?"
He used the same technique to find the place with concentrated destiny and teleported. He found himself in a villa near Godric Hollow that he recognized.
He frowned for a moment before entering. In a large room, two people were talking. To be precise, one man talked while the other–a woman–floated in the air, looking at the speaker with a blank.
The speaker talked for a few minutes before the listener suddenly became transparent. The man suddenly panicked for a brief moment before taking his wand and activating a spell.
Then, a black magic circle on the ground suddenly lights up. Countless black tentacles emerged from the ground; they were accompanied by screams of agony and hatred. The tentacles entered the woman's body, stabilizing her state.
"It seems like it's about time to replenish our stock," muttered the man, his voice containing worries. He proceeded to use his wand to send a message before continuing to talk to the floating woman.
Edward watched all of this with a calm expression. Although he has seen many horrors and even did many of them, what he saw was still a little unsettling.
"I can't believe Dumbledore turned into this," said Morgana, her eyes penetrating the basement of this house where there were thousands of humans in captivity. She could sense the terrifying grievances, ghosts, and dark spirits bred in that dungeon, and it was terrifying.
"Grief is truly a powerful emotion," commented Edward, who had already figured out what happened to this timeline without reading anyone's mind or doing much research.
Dumbledore became enamored with the Resurrection Stone–one of the three Deathly Hallows. He used it to revive his sister, Ariana, whom he felt guilty about after believing he might have been the one who killed her.
However, the Resurrection Stone is nothing but bait that Herpo, the Death God, used to lure powerful wizards to help escape his imprisonment. And that's exactly what Dumbledore did.
The stone only summoned a shell of his sister's soul. And this shell could not stay long in the world of the living. So, in his madness to save her, Dumbledore began sacrificing souls to stabilize her.
At first, he probably used some dark wizard in a vain attempt to keep his insanity and morality. However, things soon escalated, and he enslaved the entire planet and used them as livestock to harvest their souls.
In just a few decades, he absorbed the souls of billions of people to keep his sister's soul intact. Or so he thought.
Most of these souls were Herpo's snacks. And the death energy created by so many killings was probably enough to escape and regain his full strength.
"Master, what should we do? Do you want to kill that bastard Herpo?"
"Not now," replied Edward. "Record the magic he is using and see if he can learn something new."
Morgana scoffed in displeasure before recording Dumbledore's Soul Absorbing Magic Circle.
"I remember I created a project to fuse the same objects from different timelines to see if they will evolve into something unique?"
"Yes, we have tried to fuse the Ancient God's Godheads, but there has been no success as of yet."
Edward wanted to see what would happen if he fused two Time Rooms from the Mystery of Department, what would happen. Unfortunately, these rooms were Godheads from powerful creatures in the universe and could not be easily fused.
"Expand the project and try lesser objects like the Deathly Hallows," he ordered. The hallows were created by Herpo, who is a Tier 8 Death God. However, they are only low-level items, but they are unique because they contain certain traces of divinity.
"Alright."
Edward continued his journey through this Dark Multiverse and only saw different Earths with devastating results. However, he also noticed a pattern. Something changed from the original Harry Potter timeline that deviated from the lives of certain people, leading them into darkness.
For example, in one timeline, Hermione's mind broke after Bellatrix tortured her, and she became the new Dark Lord, leading chaos and destruction to the wizarding and muggle world.
In another, Harry watched Ron die by Scabbers or Peter Pettigrew's hand. As a result, Voldemort's piece of soul corrupted his mind, and became the new Dark Lord.
In another, Ron became the Dark Lord after trying to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux, and the latter showed him an illusion of Harry and Hermione being together.
"Where are the timelines related to the Empire and us?" asked Morgana after traveling for a few hours.
"Let's try again but use our new Karma Spell as a link to find a new timeline," said Edward, and they took a few minutes before opening the portal to the new timeline.
As soon as they arrived, the group knew they were in the right place. They could be the Empire's official language mixed with other languages. Furthermore, they were now located on a battlefield with countless mages, golems, and ships.
Both sides massacred each other, leaving the planet in a devastated state as countless Tier 4 Arcanists launched their attacks without restraint.
"What the hell happened?" asked Edward, who was uncomfortable after seeing the state of Earth and his Empire.
"According to the memory of this battle's commander, the Arcane Empire suddenly went mad after an experiment. No one knew the exact reason, but there were rumors some type of demon or entity corrupted his soul.
"After his madness, he began to abuse his power–he became more brutal and fierce. Then, the royal family–led by his wives–tried to stop him. Sadly, the result was a full-out war between the two sides, causing catastrophe to the entire planet."
"I was corrupted? Well, that makes sense," commented Edward. "But how did they manage to stop me? Did they activate my protocols?"
"Hold on, and let me check." Less than five minutes later, she responded, "Yes. The royal family and the members of the Illuminati banded together to deal with you, and they almost succeeded."
"I see. When did this happen?"
"Around the time you reach Tier 5."
"Luckily, it was around this time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been more severe."
"I'm sure there are timelines where you went mad during your later Tiers," uttered Morgana, and Edward gave her a deadly stare.
"Did I say something wrong? You are the kind of person who likes to play with fire. Without your extreme caution and severe paranoia, you would have long died or been corrupted due to your curiosity."
"What do you know? I'm the embodiment of the perfect Arcanist: great curiosity practiced using extreme caution."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," the little elf rolled her eyes. "What do you want to do? Do you want to interfere or check out other timelines?"
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