Edward floated in the air as he looked at his surroundings; everything was so beautiful. He saw these white wing-like creatures, most likely angels, happily chatting and talking to one another.
Some played the harp while others sang with heavenly voices while eating fruits and drinking wine. The entire place was a typical representation of what Heaven would look like.
Everything looked peaceful and harmonious–except for Edward's presence.
'What a place of tremendous mana,' thought Edward as he sensed the surrounding. 'It is so positive that just bathing in it could expand someone's lifespan by a few years.'
"Who are you?" asked one of the angels.
"Look, he does not have wings; he's a human."
"Don't say stupid things. Elysium has been cut off from the Mortal Plane. How could a human come here?"
Not long after these people discussed aloud while looking at Edward with strange gazes, a group of Angels dressed in armors came running in.
'Their response time is excellent. I've only been here for over a minute.'
The leading person of this Angel Army was a woman with red armor, which distinguished her from the others behind who had black armor.
"Human intruder, please do not resist arrest or suffer the consequences."
"So, no negotiation or neutral talk?"
"After you are placed in holding, we can investigate how you breached our borders, and then we can talk."
Edward shook his head: "I thought you angels would be better than those devils."
"Don't mention these filthy creatures to us," said the Commander with a slightly raised voice; pure hared and disgust could be seen from her facial expressions.
Edward has no intention of going to prison, so his Grimoire floated in front of him. However, the moment these angels saw the 6-leaf Clover, they collectively gasped before all becoming alert.
"The Origin Grimoire," said the Commander.
"I thought it was destroyed long ago," said one of the Soldier Angels.
"Even if it was not, how could someone be talented enough to inherit it?"
Edward learned much from this brief conversation, so he quickly used a Memory Reading Spell to gather some information. To his surprise, these people's minds were protected by a powerful spell. And not just the soldiers but the other angels as well.
"He's trying to read out memories," said the Commander before attacking; she used Light Magic, while the other angels used a variety of elemental magic.
Edward did not want to waste time with these weak angels, so he went all out from the beginning. He used the Mana Method to create an enormous magic circle that covered all the angels.
Then, he prepared to use a Sleeping Spell to knock them out. However, before he could succeed, an enormous hand descended from the sky and broke the magic circle.
Without stopping, the hand headed straight for him. As it approached, Edward felt his Grimoire stop working for a brief moment. Albeit only for less than a second, he felt it.
The pages turned before using another spell instead:
Chronomagic: Time Sword.
A gigantic clock appeared on top of Edward's head before a sword came out made from the minute hand. The clash of the blade and the hand made all the angels freeze in time while the entire dimension shook.
Then, a weird fluctuation came from the hand, and before Edward could react, he found himself back in the mortal plane in front of the Tree of Qliphoth.
'That was the power of the Universe Will,' he thought with a frown. Although it was very faint, he felt the Universe's Will. Moreover, it was weird somehow this time around.
"It was like as it was impure,' he muttered; this was the best way he could describe how different it was this time. Then, he immediately tried again to enter Elysium but was blocked.
Although he could find its location, he could not directly enter.
'Since I cannot enter the normal way, I'll find another method,' thought Edward. Many of the mysteries of this world lied in Elysium; this includes Grimoires and the possible existence of Gods or unknown entities.
Moreover, Edward discovered another intriguing mystery from the necklace he took from Lucius. The magic systems used to make that artifact is very different from the current era's magical artifact.
Most of the magical artifacts of this era originated from the first Wizard King of the Clover Kingdom five hundred years ago. However, Lucius' necklace seemed older than this and from a completely different system.
Edward remembered in the anime that Lemiel, the first Wizard King, also studied ancient magical artifacts, primarily found in Dungeons. Adding to this fact, Edward has some theories.
Humans may have had a different magic system before grimoire. But a war between the devil and angel race destroyed that magic civilization. And Dungeons are remnants of that era.
Although there are still many unknowns and no proof for this theory, he felt he was going in the right direction.
"How is the translation going?"
"I have translated many elemental spells, but further tests are needed," replied Morgana.
Edward nodded his head, not in a real hurry. However, after what happened to his Grimoire, he was determined to recreate the Arcane System before attacking Elysium again, or even the underworld, as some weird stuff might also be going there.
Then, he took out an orb that contained a sleeping soul inside: Lichita's Soul. Using time magic, he reverted the soul to its injured state before summoning her preserved body.
He placed the soul inside the body before fixing the connection between the soul, body, and spirit. A few minutes later, Lichita opened her eyes.
"Where am I? I thought I died," she muttered before suddenly sitting up, making her very dizzy.
"Liebe, where is Liebe?"
"He's fine."
She finally noticed someone next to her. "It's you, Edward. What is going on?"
Edward then explained everything to her: from her death to the fate of Liebe and her son, Asta.
"Not only are they fine, but they also became partners. That's good."
"Do you want to see them?"
"You know of my condition."
Edward was aware. Because of the perfect control of his mana and life energy, he can prevent her body from absorbing them, but this was not the case for others.
The best solution is to place a powerful seal on her body, but that would take too much time to develop. So, he wanted to wait until he acquired Secre Swallowtail's Arcane Stage Sealing Magic; her magic is one of the many reasons he came to this world.
Edward waved his hand to show a screen. Lichita then saw a black hair boy that resembled her wielding a large black sword, fighting in what appeared to be a dungeon.
'As expected. Without my existence, the plot went back to its original track.'
He could tell that the second arc of the anime was taken place. The only difference is that everybody was more powerful than usual. Edward shook his head as he honestly did not care.
The reason he made his exit from the kingdom was to lure the devil Zagred out. He already released many newly created Sorcerer Eyes to find traces of this devil. And the moment he showed up, Edward will capture him.
After Lichita watched her son for a while, Edward cut off the feed.
"Oh, come on; it was just getting to the good part."
"I know. Now, it's time to get down to business."
"You want to know about Zurel, don't you?" she said while lowering her head.
"Yes."
"I don't know much about him. He was like you; my body could not absorb his mana or life force. I was excited to meet someone I could finally have a meaningful connection with.
"Then, after talking, we fell in love, or so I thought. After he learned I became pregnant, he disappeared the next day, and I have never heard of him after that."
Edward frowned after hearing this; he always thought Asta's father had some connection to Elysium or Gods. So, he wanted to find him and learn something from him.
But now, it appeared that even Lichita did not know anything. So, after thinking about it for a moment, Edward opened a small portal before a drop of blood flew out of it; it was Asta's blood.
Erudite Magic: Bloodline Tracking.
A map appeared in front of Edward before zooming out and showing the entire continent where the three kingdoms resided. Then, a dot appeared on what seemed to be another continent.
'That direction; that's the Land of the Sun; Yami's birthplace. So, Zurel is there?'
Edward had planned to visit the Land of the Sun to see their culture and magic system. But now, he had another reason to visit; however, now was the time. There were some things he needed to do before leaving.
He then looked at Lichita and said: "You can live here until I can find a solution for your physique." Then, Edward handed her an orb that could display Asta's actions so that she could watch her son from afar.
With this act, Lichita suddenly forgot her sad past with her husband as a bright smile appeared on her face; she was indeed a simple and kind woman. Very little could please her.
Edward used Charmy's cotton magic to make a feast for the two before going to sleep. His Higher Life Essence was still sealed, so he was physically tired after doing so many things the past few days.
Although he could use a spell or potion to recover, he decided to sleep. It has been a long time since he felt so weak yet human. Somehow, the feeling was very refreshing.
The next day, after taking a shower and eating breakfast, he flew into the sky; no, into the stars. After reaching near the atmosphere, he looked back at the Black Clover World.
He immediately noticed that this was not a planet but a massive floating plane. Two continents floated in a vast ocean with a few scattered islands in between.
The Western Continent is where the main story takes place, while the Eastern Continent is where the Land of the Sun is located. At the ocean's edge was a powerful mana fog that Edward could sense from so far away.
This fog was probably the most dangerous Grand Magic Zone ever in this world. Although he could not see what was after it, he could guess.
After a short observation, he continued to fly until he broke out of the atmosphere into space. He saw the sun shining brightly on the continent. An invisible barrier filtered out the UV rays and other things from outer space. If that invisible barrier were to be destroyed, catastrophe would befall the entire universe.
The power of time flashed across Edward's eyes as he saw a few hours in the future. He saw the sun disappearing and entering another small dimension before the moon came out from that dimension.
"Fascinating," muttered Edward. Based on his observation, the sun and the moon do not control things like weather, ocean currents, tides, or climates. Instead, they are a source of mana to the world.
All mana in nature comes from those two sources. Oddly, Edward did not sense any Solar or Lunar Energy from these celestial bodies, so he could not use the magic system from the Undead Mummy Universe.
However, he could draw mana from them to cast spells if needed with a bit of training. So, after checking whether some unknown creatures resided or were growing inside, he continued flying towards the fog.
As soon as he entered, he felt how chaotic the mana in the fog was. Even with his acute Mana Control, it will take him a lot of effort to control even a small amount.
Furthermore, as he flew deeper into the fog, numerous natural phenomena began to attack him—thunder and Lightning Storms, Wind Tornados, Volcano Eruptions, Ashe Poison, etc.
The deeper he flew, the more powerful these mana phenomena became. At some point, he suffered an attack from a Star Explosion. If he did not use his Tier 7 Strenght to block it, he would have died.
After traveling for a few hours, he finally left the fog. And right in front of him was this Universe's Crystal Wall or Source Wall.
"If only the Crystal Wall were this easy to reach in every universe," muttered Edward. Then, it dawned on him that he had never seen his Universe Crystal Wall from the inside. All the time he saw it was from the outside when coming from his travels. Most of the time, the World Gate or Floating City will open a tear that leads straight into the Void.
"I should check that out when I return."
Then, Edward looked at the fog again. He had the idea of studying this fog and replicating it as protection measures for the Empire. He could artificially create one that surrounds the Empire's Star Systems as protection and, eventually, the entire Milky Way Galaxy.
Of course, the strength of the fog has to be increased; nevertheless, it should be a great way to hide from the eyes of the Gods while the Empire rapidly increases its strength.
He did a few tests by trying to open a portal to the Western Continent, but the fog contained Space Blockage Properties, which made Edward very satisfied.
Finally, he focused on his main task. He spent a few days studying the Source Wall before starting to create a complex magic circle in space. One of the benefits of the Mana Method that he learned is that he can place Temporary Enchantments in the air without the need to add magical resources.
So, now, enchantments are used not only for forging or blessing things with magical properties but also as spells to fight and other things. The only downside to this method is that a lot of mana is required in the process, along with excellent knowledge of Enchantments.
While engraving the magic array, Edward took out a bunch of floating orbs. He stored his mana inside these orbs for the past few days before recuperating and repeating the process.
He needed a lot of mana for this Mana Method Enchantment, and his Tier 7 Mana was insufficient. Furthermore, controlling a lot of mana from the fog seemed impossible. It even blocked his attempt to draw mana from the sun and moon.
So, he had to use this method.
After activating the magic array, Edward opened a slight gap in the Source Wall. And in that split second, even less than a nanosecond, he summoned his World Gate from the Void before closing the gap.
Edward frowned as he looked at the gate in the middle of the circle. The World Gate had many holes on it while appearing as if it was melted by something.
He immediately checked the dimension inside, and as expected, most of the rooms were now destroyed. Most of the enchantments no longer functioned, and the Aether Core was almost drained of all its energy.
Luckily, Morgana's server room was still barely intact and salvageable. However, thinking about all the magical resources stored inside that had been lost, Edward wanted to cry,
In terms of value, everything inside was probably enough to buy a small planet.
'What a headache,' he thought while sighing deeply. Then, he focused on how long to fix the World Gate and the time required. The first step is to create the ore, magicium. To do that, he must first make the Aether Core in this world.
This should not be a problem since he can do that as long as there is mana and souls. Finally, he needed magical resources to fix the enchantments. That's the only real issue he has.
Some of them might not exist in this world, so he has to find a replacement for them or modify the enchantments to fit the laws of this world.
"And if everything fails, I can use the Mana Method to replace the enchantments with a temporary one. However, I need a few other Aether Cores as an energy source."
After making a preliminary plan, Edward flew out of the fog with the gate. And once he exited, he placed it inside his pocket dimension. Then, he took out an orb to check on the Clover Kingdom.
A slight frown appeared on his face by what he saw: destruction. Whether it was the Noble Realm, Common Realm, or the Forsaken Realm, many magic knights fought, resulting in death and destruction everywhere.
"So, the plot changed," he muttered calmly as he focused on a few specific battles.
"This is most likely Zagred's secret doing, so he should show up soon," he muttered before deciding to wait longer before showing up and accomplishing his goal.