บท 624: The World Forge
"Who are you?" Arishem asked, no, demanded in an aggressive tone. Edward squinted his eyes as soon as he saw him in person.
"As I said, I'm the Sorcerer Supreme and Guardian of Earth."
"Guardian? By whose authority?" Arishen has lived for trillions of years, so the guardian status of one planet will not deter him or his actions. However, he also wanted to know if this man had someone backing him so that he would be this bold.
"Whose authority? This one," Edward replied before pointing his finger northwest. A beam of light rushed to a distant and barren galaxy, wiping it out instantly. He then snapped his finger to rebuild it atom by atom. Arishem's Cosmic Senses allowed him to experience the entire process.
"I'm sure you're now willing to talk," Edward muttered.
"What do you want?"
"You should have recognized that thing?" Edward pointed to the magic circle, which was not far away.
"Human, what have you done?" Arishem immediately noticed one of his kind.
"Calm down. He's still alive and can still hatch properly."
"What do you want?"
"Now, we're talking," Edward sneered. "I only want one thing: all your knowledge about Cosmic Energy — including how to build a World Forge. In return, I'll hand over the egg to you and help you hatch it."
"You can do that?"
"How about I show you?" Edward pointed at his magic circle, and it started absorbing a strange energy similar to faith. The celestials require energy from intelligent lives, but it was not faith since no humans knew of their existence or worshiped them. Due to the similarity, it did not take Edward long to analyze and replicate that energy.
Arishem sensed the rapid complication of its kind, proving that the human was telling the truth. After a few minutes, Tiamut the Communicator was born.
"Now, it's your turn."
Arishem looked at the magic circle, and after thinking it over briefly, he raised his enormous palm to condense a crystal. 'Morgana,' Edward called. 'I'm on it," swiftly replied the little elf. 'No problem.'
"Pleasure doing business with you," Edward declared, removing his magic circle to reveal Tiamut in its complete form.
"Thank you, human, for your help," Tiamut stated after his emergence.
"This is just a deal," Edward nodded calmly. "Here, you can take your people." He moved the Eternals before him.
"No need," said Arishem. "They can stay on Earth as diplomats to facilitate communication between us."
"Communication? You want to have another deal with me?"
"We are not cruel," stated Tiamut. " If there is a way for our kind's emergence not to affect the planet, we would not mind using it."
"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. I can even build machines capable of achieving what I did," Edward replied. "However, I live by the creed of Equivalent Exchange. If you want my help, you must pay something of value."
"We will communicate with the others before coming to a decision," said Arishem. "So, be prepared for our next meeting." The two opened a black hole to teleport away.
'The Celestial Race is born with Tier 6 strength and can grow to Tier 9 — Tier 10 for the ones like Arishem, so they will make excellent allies,' Morgana commented. 'But are you sure about this? I know you noticed it from him.'
'The power of Law/Authority,' Edward muttered. Arishem was the first person in this universe with an [Authority], as even the Panther Goddess did not have one despite her body being enveloped by faith. Moreover, Arishem was not a faith god, and his authority was powered entirely by cosmic energy.
'The celestials' origin and purpose is unknown, but as of now, we can categorize them as allies.' He teleported everyone back to Earth.
"Well, you heard what the man said," Edward stated before handing the celestial communication sphere back to Ajak.
"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Spite asked. Edward glanced at Ajak, and she sighed deeply before explaining their true mission and the emergence.
"That can't be," muttered Sprite.
"Are you saying we've been raising humans to be slaughtered like pigs?" Sersi asked.
"Things are not so simple," Ajak replied,
"But they are, aren't they?" sneered Druig. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I'm sure she had her reason," Icarus butted in.
"Of course, you would defend her."
"What does that mean?" Icarus asked with a frown.
"What else are you hiding?" Phastos asked, trying to prevent an argument between those two.
"I'm not hiding anything else," Ajak replied.
"She's lying," Edward said. "She didn't tell you about the memories or Thena's Mahd Wy'ry." Ajak wanted to curse as she did not expect him to know so much.
"Ajak," Sersi asked. She grunted before telling the entire truth, mainly that this was not their first mission. The group was quiet as they tried to process all this information. For a moment, many of them did not know what to do.
"Can you cure her?" Gilgamesh suddenly asked, looking directly at Edward.
"You're talking about Thena?"
"Yes."
"Sure, but why should I?"
"If you do, I will forever be in your debt," Gigamesh bowed.
"There is no need to go so far for my sake," Thena said.
"No, it's worth it."
"You were always my favorite," Edward said. "Good, I'll help you, but remember your words."
"I will."
Edward approached Thena and raised his hand to her head. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Erasing the memories from your previous mission. You're suffering because there was an issue with the process."
"Couldn't you make me remember instead of erasing them?"
"I could if I had access to the place Arishem stored them. Since I don't, this is the best solution." Edward was not telling the truth since he could help her recreate her memories. But it was faster and safer to erase them.
"I see." Edward placed his hand on her head and erased the residual memories. He ensured he did a thorough job, unlike Areshem. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet all of you." Edward opened a gate, preparing to return home.
"Wait," yelled Ajak. "I must go with you."
"Why?"
"Arishem said we would be the communication link between you two, so I think it would be best for me to remain close."
"Hmm, you have a point. Fine, you can come with me."
"What about us?" Sersi asked. "Shouldn't we know how to contact you?"
"I live in Kamar-Taj in Nepal. You can visit if you wish." The portal closed, and the two disappeared. The Eternals looked at each other before walking away for a reunion after thousands of years.
Edward found a room for Ajak. "I don't think you care about living a modern lifestyle, do you?"
"I'm fine as long as I have a roof over my head."
"That's good. You can ask any of the sorcerers if you need anything."
Edward returned to his magic tower and started his work. "Morgana, how is it?"
"The information we've received is enough to push our understanding and application of Cosmic Energy to Tier 10."
"That's good news," Edward nodded. "Send all the information and your analysis into my mind."
"No problem, sir."
In minutes, Edward absorbed billions of years of the Celestial Race's study of Cosmic Energy.
"Did you find how to build the World Forge?" he asked while absorbing the knowledge.
"Here is the blueprint, and I've already optimized it."
Edward nodded, not surprised. The forge obviously had plenty of flaws. For example, Arishem created the Deviants to help hatch the celestial seeds, but the Deviants evolved beyond his control and rebelled. He made the Eternals synthetic life and inhibited their ability to improve and evolve, but Sersi did so in the movie. Edward would never have used something with so many flaws.
Edward found a few small ways Morgana's blueprint could be further upgraded, and once he modified it, they immediately started building the forge.
"Being able to manufacture Eternals will be very useful for the Convergence," Edward nodded. Besides the Nova Empire, they had an additional method to create middle-level troops.
บท 625: [Scarlet Wizard]
"What do you want to do now?" Morgana asked while showing her a list. Edward's lips twitched, and he sighed. He glanced at it, and something soon caught his eye: "Chaos Magic? That should be interesting." He teleported to Wanda's body from Earth-125.
Her body floated at the center of a room surrounded by countless magic circles. Edward first summoned the data gathered from her body and immediately started testing. A red hue appeared in his hands, and with thought, he created a jet of flame. Edward waved his hand to change the room into a zoo, and with another thought, he changed it into a desert.
"A very potent form of magic," Morgana commented.
"I don't like it."
"Seriously?" Morgana looked at him in shock. "I didn't think I would live until the day there was a magic you didn't like."
"There is divine magic."
"That doesn't count," Morgana rebutted. "So, why don't you like it? Is there something wrong?"
"Just like its name, this magic has no rules and regulations. If you can tap deep enough into the Chaos Dimension and draw enough Chaos Energy, you can mold reality to your will. This is not magic, and more like reality warping masked as magic."
"Your argument is flawed since magic can be described as a form of reality manipulation," Morgana stated.
"I prefer to define it as the act of creating miracles." Morgana rolled his eyes since he was just being pedantic. "So, what are you going to do? Will you not use it because of your preference?"
"That would be stupid," Edward replied. "In fact, I just thought of a plan that will provide us with the greatest data about the capabilities of Tier 11."
"Oh, I'm now intrigued."
"Do you remember in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda from Earth-616 was way more powerful than her variants?"
"I do."
"Why do you think that is?"
"Many reasons could explain it," Morgana replied. "She had the Darkhold, and combining that with her intense grief, it's normal for her to be way more powerful. Additionally, Earth-616 was once the Sacred Timeline, meaning there is a chance that this brought her some advantage."
"A fair analysis," Edward nodded.
"You think I'm right? So, what's your explanation?"
"My theory is that the title of [Scarlet Witch] can only belong to one variant. Wanda-616 is so powerful because of that title."
Morgana's eyes immediately lit up as she figured out his plan, "You want to take the title from her?"
"Correct."
"Wanda-616 was able to destroy all the Darkhold that exists in the Multiverse, and that's a Tier 11 feat. If you succeed… However, this plan is not as easy to pull off as you say. All signs indicate that only Wanda can be the Scarlet Witch, meaning no outsiders who can use Chaos Magic can take that position.
"We can bypass this restriction by creating a clone based on Wanda's Life Code. However, the most challenging aspects of this plan are how to get the title, how to get the Darkhold, and how to control such a powerful clone."
Edward nodded. "Getting the title is relatively easy. The source of Chaos Magic is the Chaos Dimension, so we only need to elevate our affinity to that dimension to a sufficient level — just like Barry was to the Speed Force."
"This might work, but don't forget that there is a chance that once Wanda-616 is revived in the Sacred Timeline, she might take the position back."
"I don't doubt that for a minute," Edward agreed.
"So, should we try to kill her before she revives?"
"Do you think that's a good idea?"
"Probably not," Morgana replied. "It seems that beings like Chthon, the creator of the Darkhold, lust after her power and maybe even soul. We also have to consider whether the God of Story, Loki, will allow us to intervene in the affairs of Earth-616."
Edward nodded. Chthon was a Tier 11 Demon, and GOS Loki was Tier 12, meaning they were all entities he could not handle currently.
"Alright, so our plan is to use this clone to gather data on Tier 11 strength," Morgana concluded. "Next is how to get the Darkhold. Wanda destroyed all copies, and our previous attempts in the past three years to get a copy failed."
"The answer to both our remaining problems is the same — the Power of Law," Edward responded. "We can give the clone some of my mastery of magic and access to my Time Law. Then, it can summon a copy of the Darkhold from the river of time."
Edward previously tried this method but failed. However, he was now confident in this method since the clone would have the backing of the entire Chaos Dimension.
"As for how we can control the clone? The answer is the same — Soul Law. Wanda could pull off these Tier 11 feats, but all other aspects of her being — soul, body, and mind — could be classified as ordinary. So, what we have to do is ensure the clone does not follow the Arcane Path, follow the same path as Wanda, and put a kill switch on its Divine Flame.
"We will be fine if we don't tell it about it."
"In that case, we cannot give the clone your memory since that would create a suspicious personality. It can have your knowledge but not your personality."
"No need to say it like that," Edward complained.
"You also need to achieve a 10 Willpower and regain control over your Law before this plan starts," Morgana organized.
"Alright. Let's immediately get started. You create the clone, and I'll start increasing my willpower," Edward replied before suddenly thinking of something. "Make the clone a man, give him a similar background of grief as Wanda, and call this project the [Scarlet Wizard]."
"Why?"
"Once he loses the title, eliminating him would be a waste. So, let's send him to Earth-616 and see if he can woo Wanda. Maybe we can secretly manipulate her through him."
"Aren't you worried about playing with fire?"
"I am, but in this current mess, we need to make more bold moves if we want a chance at winning and surviving," Edward replied. This world was a training ground for him for the upcoming war, so he needed to evolve and adapt. Otherwise, once he genuinely gets involved in Merlin's War, he might suffer terribly with his usual conservative and safe approaches.
"Alright." Morgana started her work while Edward walked toward the room with the experimental multiverse to increase his willpower. "Oh, don't forget about Loki."
Edward needed to cast the Shadow Clone Jutsu, leaving it to talk to Loki once he returned. Edward started to experience the lives of trillions of people with different races, ethnicities, and even species. He even lived the life of unicellular organisms and the process of evolving into multicellular organisms and complex organisms.
All these memories should have overwhelmed his mind, but the process of this training method was for him to resist being assimilated or losing his sense of self while experiencing all these lives.
The process started easily since his soul was so powerful. However, it became more challenging after a few trillions or more lives. He was already struggling once he had experienced the life of every single being in 1 universe. But, he continued with other universes in that Small Multiverse.
Luckily, the process worked. Edward could feel his willpower increasing every minute, and he was so close to passing that last threshold.
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