บท 521: The Election (III)
Everyone immediately began the process of analyzing this magical formula. The room was spacious, but everyone felt it was not enough. So, some people asked C-137 if they could return to their rooms and use their equipment to better analyze the formula.
A vote was made, and people agreed they could leave the area as long as they did not leave the citadel. Furthermore, they must return before the allocated time for this test.
Meanwhile, the nine main variants at the center of the stadium remained, each using its own method to analyze the situation.
Edward soon analyzed many things from the formula.
'The core of this formula is Wang Craft, Divine Runes, Ancient Runes, and Dragon Language–although only the basic one.'
'It seems that most of your variants did the same bloodline experiments on dragons,' commented Morgana.
'Yes, and the difference is whether they awakened a normal Dragon or a king. I guess many of them might have died in the process after whatever restrictions they used failed.'
'One of your greatest strengths is your cautious nature, but one of your greatest weaknesses is also your pride and overconfidence.'
'My pride and arrogance are inherited from my reincarnation, so they should all have it. However, my cautiousness is a learned trait after certain experiences. So, not all of them have it,' commented Edward.
"If that's true, we can exploit their weakness.'
Edward agreed with her. 'Let's get back to work. What do you think?'
'The formula should not be hard to decipher. The only issue is the Divine Runes. We need to test them out and find their functions.'
'In that case, let's divide the work,' said Edward as he assigned Morgana some of the runes and focused on the others. He closed his eyes to access his Soul Dimension, using his soul to study and analyze these Divine Runes.
Time passed, and the variants kept working. The Divine Runes was their main issue but not the main one. C-137's formula was very complex, and only a few variants have already figured out it's a formula involving Space-Time Magic.
'Done,' said Morgana.
'I'm finished too,' nodded Edward. 'Put it together.'
The little elf nodded, and in a few seconds, she had an answer: 'Got it. It's a formula to open the Gate to the Astral Realm. However, it's incomplete.'
'So, C-137 has discovered the Astral Realm and other planes,' commented Edward. During his stay in the council to gather information, he discovered most of his variants did not spend much time in the universe because of God's control over the universe.
Most of them spend their time navigating the Multiverse, so their knowledge about certain things–like other planes–is lacking or nonexistent.
'Do you think C-137 is the only one who discovered the other planes?' asked Morgana.
'Unlikely, but he might be the only one with the technology to do so–as of this meeting–besides that God over there.'
'True,' nodded Morgana as she remembered the Emperor Factions should now be facing Guzznad, and most have learned information about other planes. So, unless their timelines deviated too much and Guzznad never appears, they should be knowledgeable about such a topic.
'What about that God? Will he be a problem?'
'Gods have a natural ability to manipulate space, so he should have discovered the Astral Realm. However, if you ask him to teach others how to do it, the best he can do is give them a blessing and pass on his ability. He should not be a problem.'
'He's still you, wouldn't he be different?'
'Don't you see the incense corroding his soul? By now, he has already lost the essence that is me.'
'You are enjoying yourself too much,' said Morgana.
'By do you mean?'
'Your entire demeanor is I am the one and only [Prime], and such arrogance is exuding from your body,' replied the purple elf with a sneer.
'That's because I am the prime,' replied Edward smugly. 'Haven't you noticed that our technology outclasses everyone here? What do you think that is?'
'Because you're the prime?' asked Morgan, rolling her eyes.
'No, it's because I'm the only one who discovered that tear in the void, leading to developing Omniversal Travel. However, that's not what I'm referring to,' replied Edward. 'The closest variants to me are the Empire Factions who created an Arcane Empire. However, even though these people are similar to me, haven't you noticed none of these variants have knowledge from other universes?'
Morgana immediately caught the crux of what he was trying to say. Edward's first voyage in the Omniverse was when he was Tier 3. After his return, new timelines of different variants who made the same voyage should have appeared. However, none of these variants appeared.
'Are you saying our timeline is unique, and there are no variants of yourself who have traveled to other universes?'
'Correct,' replied Edward. 'I have tested it. Many of the other Arcane Emperors have created the Arcane Rune Magic System, but it's not based on the runes from the Full-Metal Alchemy Universe but based on Lemurian Civilization's magic.'
The Lumerian was the percussion to Wizard's Civilization and even developed interstellar civilization. Unfortunately, Herpo's ascension to Godhood wiped them out.
'So, our timeline is unique and even protected,' summarized Morgana. 'That's probably the work of Merlin.'
Edward agreed with this conclusion. Someone of Merlin's level can observe all the variants of Edward from every timeline they exist in, then choose one of them as his apprentice.
But, in the end, he chose G-003. So, Edward concluded that even if he was not the original Prime Edward, the first one to be reincarnated from Primordial Earth and make the first decision that led to a new timeline, after discovering that portal and creating the first Omniversal Ship, Merlin chose him and he became the [Prime].
'So, you're just a lucky bastard,' sneered Morgana.
'Luck is also a part of strength,' countered Edward. An infinite amount of himself, yet he's the only one who discovered that tear in the void. Furthermore, that tear was the only remaining one in the Multiverse, and it was rapidly closing.
'Yes, for a person like Merlin, innate luck might be more important than talent and ability,' nodded Morgana. 'So, what is the plan? Do you want to take the stage now?'
'Not yet," replied Edward. 'Something else is in my mind.'
'What is it this time?'
'According to our information, the Cosmic Faith Plane is the only plane with a Multiverse, hence why everybody wants to occupy it.'
'So, what will happen when my variants enter other planes? Better yet, what about the variants of the other Gods who have conquered multiple planes? Did they meet? Did they confront each other? Or is there something else going on?'
Morgana paused after hearing this. If other planes had a Multiverse, then these variants would have just accessed one of the infinite timelines and not meet their other variants unless they met in the Astral Realm while traveling to these foreign planes.
However, if the planes do not have a Multiverse, the issue becomes a much bigger problem.
'Our theory could be wrong. Maybe these places have a Multiverse, but something is different about them, preventing individuals from reaching Tier 11. Or, there might be a bigger secret behind this problem.'
'After this meeting, we must investigate the truth,' replied Edward with great seriousness. Morgana agreed, and then the two chatted until the allocated time.
บท 522: The Election (IV)
C-137 stood up with a slight smug look on the corner of his face. He chose this formula for myriad reasons. Firstly, it's one of his highest achievements, combining the knowledge of many civilizations.
Secondly, space-time magic was something even his variants found difficult despite their outrageous talents. Additionally, not all of them specialize in Space-Time Magic, so he made the citadel tests to determine whether someone has developed Multiverse Travel.
He needed to route out his competition and detect their level of Space-Time Magic. Finally, taking into account that knowledge about the Astral Realm was rare amongst his variants and his unique Divine Runes, he knew he had a high chance of succeeding.
"Time is up," declared C-137. "Please comment and evaluate this formula."
Murmured echoed in the room before M-616 said: "It seems to be a Space-Time Magic Formula, opening a gate to somewhere."
"Probably a special dimension," said F-823. "The application of time seemed quite unique."
"The core of this formula should be these unique runes," commented A-001, his voice slow and calming. "However, the way they work seemed different from any magical runes I have seen."
The discussions continued as many people gave their input. C-137 watched everything calmly with his confident look. However, that was on the outside.
His eyes focused on two people who had not said anything much: G-003 and L-123.
'L-123 is a god, so he should know about the Astral Realm. Even if he revealed the truth before I did, I can still impress the crown. However, G-003's silence is raising eyebrows.'
While C-137 paid attention to Edward or G-003, the latter was mostly paying attention to L-123.
'Has this guy not discovered the Astral Plane?'
So far, L-123 showed no signs he knew about other planes and the Astral Realm.
'It's possible the main source of his followers is the Multiverse.'
'If that's the case, he should have reached Tier 9 by now by conquering the Milky Way Galaxy.'
'Unless he encountered Guzznad,' countered Morgana. 'His plan might be to conquer the Solar System across multiple timelines to avoid dealing with Guzznad.'
'This is a slow way to reach Tier 9 and a good way to avoid directly confronting Guzznad. However, after we reveal the truth about this formula, doesn't that mean he will access the Astral Realm? He will have more planes and ways to reach higher Tiers.'
Conquering planes is not simple, especially the Tier 10 ones. However, the most likely scenario is he is discovered by the enemies of the Cosmic Faith Plane, captured, and has his soul searched for information,' replied Edward.
'That's even more dangerous. Knowledge about the Council might be revealed, making things more difficult for us.'
'True, so we must become president and take precautionary measures,' concluded Edward, who was finally ready to take the stage.
"It's a formula to open a portal to the Astral Realm and reach other planes."
Everyone looked at G-003. Meanwhile, C-137 was doing everything to remain calm and control his facial expression.
"Other planes? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" asked A-001.
"The Harry Potter Universe is only one plane of a myriad?" asked L-123.
"Are the other planes anime worlds, or things like the Wizard, Titan, or Abyss Plane?" asked C-666 with an eerie voice. He did not specialize in Space-Time Magic, focusing more on Dark Magic. However, the information revealed in this meeting might change that.
"The latter," replied Edward.
"Have you been to other planes?" asked someone else.
"Yes, I've been to a Knight Battle System Plane, a Beast Master Plane, and the Abyss Plane. I've also come into contact with people from the Wizard Plane," replied G-003.
Everyone's eyes twinkled.
"You guys should be careful in the future. From what I know, our plane–called the Cosmic Faith Plane–is the enemy of everybody. Anyone from there will be hunted down and captured."
"Oh, why?"
"I don't know. Apparently, our plane used to have a glorious past," replied Edward and no one asked anymore.
"You said this was a formula to open a gate to the Astral Realm?"
"Correct. It's incomplete, but the general idea is to condense time energy until becoming denser like a star before collapsing it, like a black hole, creating something similar to Time Black Hole or Time Wormhole," added Edward.
"The idea is genius, but the application is too rough. He's only using an immense amount of Time Energy, condensing it until it explodes. The only real technical aspect should be to control the explosion and not let it get out of control.
"However, the formula did not show how to do it. So, as far as I'm concerned, he might not control the explosion and let it happen in some random isolated timeline before leaving and returning after the Time Wormhole is created."
C-137's face was ugly to look at, but things were not finished.
"I'm guessing the core of your magical achievements is that you successfully absorbed the Death God–Herpo the Foul–powers, soul, and memories. From him, you learned the prototype of the Divine Runes and finished them yourself. You also probably learned about the Astral Realm from him.'
C-137 did not say anything, while everybody else paid attention. Herpo is the greatest adversary all variants have to face; Voldermort is their first adversary, but he's only an opponent when the variants are young during the First Wizard War. After that, he became a clown for most of them.
Meanwhile, a lot of people successfully defeat Herpo, some fail, some run away from him, and others cooperate with the latter.
"Your aura is weird, containing a well-hidden hint of Divinity," continued Edward. "Are you trying to fuse Divine Energy and Mana? You should bring out that research, it's more interesting than this formula. I'm willing to complete this formula in exchange for your research on the fusion of Divine Energy and Mana."
C-137 had never wanted to kill someone more than G-003. He felt bare naked before the latter as if all his secrets were seen through. Furthermore, he hated the contempt in the latter's voice for one of his greatest magical achievements.
"Thank you for the offer, We can discuss it after the election," said C-137, successfully calming himself down after casting a spiritual spell on himself.
"Now, let the AI decide on my score."
His final score was 220 points out of 300. Although Edward mercilessly dissected his formula, he was the only one who completely saw through it. So, C-137 still had a high score.
Afterward, these variants experienced the worst day in their lives. No matter what spell, formula, or theories these people came up with, G-003 analyzed it quickly and even gave suggestions for optimizing it.
These variants questioned their sanity, wondering if they were in a simulation being tortured by their enemy. The situation worsened when it was Edward's turn, and he showed them Luna's latest research about Divination. He knew all his variants suffered from the same weakness--Divination Magic.
So, he took advantage of this weakness to embarrass them.
These variants began questioning their existence while ripping their hair from their heads. In the end, G-003 had the highest score, while C-137 came in third, while A-001 came in second with 225 Points.
His research on Healing Magic was something even G-003 praised, so the old man was quite talented and successful in his field.
After this event, people began to wonder whether there was a need for the combat aspect of this election. After all, G-003 is among the top fighting powers in this room, so there was no way for C-137 and A-001's scores to be so high above his and make up the gap in points.
Alas, C-137 and a few others insisted on this test.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
167 หินพลัง 
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