Edward teleported to James' Demi-plane. And as he expected, Hokuto had already dealt with the threat by sealing the corrupted Arcanist. The Dragon Spirit handed him a small cube before disappearing.
Edward could hear a sound coming from the cube in his palm.
"Any last word?"
"What did you do? What are you alright?" asked James.
"I guess these are your last words," sneered Edward.
"You don't need to threaten me. I know how you operate. You will try every means to get more information from me. But I guarantee you won't succeed."
James knew this man very well; this a person whose core values involved the word "value." He loves geniuses because of their values; he embraces all races, ethnicities, and species because of their value as a collective.
So, since he was more valuable alive, James believed he would be fine. And as long as he can withstand the torture, it's only a matter of time before the Empire falls under the might of the Abyss Plane.
"Oh, silly James, you haven't realized your true value yet," said Edward with a smirk.
"Wait, you want to use me as an experimental material?"
"Otherwise? You are the first corrupted Arcanist capable of using Dark Mana. Your existence is way more valuable than any information I could extract from you.
"Furthermore, I'm sure your soul already has the mark of the Abyss Will. And with my current strength and knowledge, it would be futile to try to deal with it. However, it is worth studying."
"No, you can't do this. The Empire's law forbade using other Arcanists as experimental materials. If you do this, the royal family cannot survive the backlash. Your iron-clad rule or control of the Empire will be shaken."
"You underestimate my control over my country," rebutted Edward. "Plus, this law has a loophole–such a protection is not afforded to heinous criminals or traitors such as yourself."
Edward loved and cherished his Empire. After all, it is his baby that he spent years building from the ground up. However, he did not need the Empire as much as it needed him.
If people revolted against his reign, he could just begin a new and better Empire on another galaxy, plane, or Universe. The Arcane Library, which contains 90% of the entire Empire's knowledge and technology, will make the process a hundred times easier.
So, if he needs to abandon everything from Earth and start from scratch, he is more than capable of doing so.
Edward placed James away before teleporting back to his palace. And as soon as he arrived, he accepted all the calls waiting for him.
More than a dozen screens appeared before him as the royal family and the members of the Illuminati called him simultaneously.
"What happened?" asked Amelia. "Why was time stopped?"
All the people present have three magical items they must carry with them at all times: A Anti Time Stopping Item, Anti Instant Death Item, and a Void Teleportation Spell Item that stores a small portion of Void Energy that can break through any Space Blockade Spells, allowing them to run away in a dangerous situation.
As such, they were the few people capable of moving during Edward's Time Stop. Of course, the main reason is that they were not the main target.
Edward explained the entire situation to everyone.
"How did they bypass our defense system?" asked Dumbledore.
"Has the Intelligence and Divination Department become so incapable?" asked Grindelwald.
"Don't blame the Divination Department; we're already overworked," chimed Luna. Recently, their department received two new Seers–Miko Satorou and Yami's sister, the Divine Maiden.
With these two, things have eased a lot in their department. However, Luna has been easing them into their station so as not to place them under too much pressure.
"I'm sure Your Highness is doing her best. However, you can also see the consequences of failures," replied Grindelwald, and Luna had to agree. In some ways, their Department is the first line of defense of the Empire.
And their failure almost caused the destruction of the Central Area of the Empire. Such a blow would not destroy the Empire but would cripple it for the next few hundred years.
And as long as Guzznad took this opportunity, it could truly be the end.
"We need to indeed expand the amount of Diviners."
"But you know very well such talent is rare."
"Expend the pools we have to choose from."
"Do you mean the Multiverse?" asked Luna. "But, we are currently banished from accessing it."
"You can also go to other planes," explained Edward. "Plus, I was referring to the Dark Multiverse?"
"Dark Multiverse? What's that?"
"I already updated the information in the library. You can check it."
"Forget that for now. We have not discovered how Guzznad bypassed our defenses. If that problem is not solved, we cannot solve the issue from the core," commented Olivier.
"If I guess correctly, it should be through Dream," said Edward.
"Dream Revelation?" Olivier suddenly remembered that Intelligens named Albert. "Indeed, that seems to be the most common way the Gods talk to their followers."
"Now we know the method. What solutions do we have?" asked Amelia.
"We can just create a Dream Dimension as a barrier to the Empire's territory," suggested Rowena. "This should be no problem for Chloe."
"That's a good idea. With this dimension, it's possible to intercept any Dream Revelations from Gods or higher beings in the future," agreed Amelia. Since they were destined to be the enemy of the Gods, they needed to be prepared for all possibilities.
"More than that. We can use dreams to gather information, assassination, and even plant suggestions into people's minds," added Grindelwald.
"Such a method could create major backlash if discovered," swiftly argued Dumbledore, who opposes using the dream for such a method. Although he supported the Empire after seeing the cruelty of the universe, he also did not want things like severe monitoring to become common in the Empire.
And many people like Lily and Flitwick agreed with him.
"Plus, most Arcanists stop sleeping and dreaming after a certain Tier; this method is not effective."
"If they don't dream, we make them dream," added Grindelwald.
"There is no need to go this far on how people," countered Rowena. "But, we don't need such restraint on foreign powers.
"Set up the dimension and relevant department," Edward said, making a decision. "We need Dream Aurors, Intelligence Gatherers, and Assassins. We don't have to use it on the citizens–unless there is reasonable cause."
"Very well," uttered Amelia, since this is her department. "Now, how do we deal with the outside reaction?"
Although only these people were not affected by the spell, the other Arcanists quickly found something was wrong–especially since only the time of planet Earth stopped. With communication with other colonies, their own intuition, and the input of the few known Arcanists capable of using Time Magic, people soon discovered what happened."
"Tell them the truth," said Edward.
"If the news that we can stop time around an entire planet, many people will not easily accept such a thing; this could lead to chaos," said Amelia with a frown.
These powerful Arcanists will not easily accept that someone could so easily control their lives–even though they already know this to be a fact once the floating cities appear.
"We can minimize the impact if we say it was an artifact from the Time Aurors Department," said Edward. These people might more easily accept this fact if they don't know he did it with his own strength.
"Plus, I plan to have a chat with them. Once I'm done, they won't dare openly complain," continued Edward.
"The Time Auror is a semi-open secret. So, it would be easier to accept," agreed Amelia.
"The more important thing is after this incident, many of these people will begin to study Anti Time Magic, leading to many brilliant ideas and developments," said Edward with glowing eyes.
Everyone nodded with him.
"Alright, you can continue with your own thing. Luna, stay; I have something to say to you," said Edward.
"Is this about the Divination Department?" asked Luna. "You should know things are beyond my ability."
"No," Edward shook his head. "I wouldn't blame you for something like that."
"Oh, then, what did you want?"
Edward paused, his hesitation obvious from his facial expression. Luna looked at him weirdly, "Are you going to ask me to do something morally outrageous again?"
Edward's mouth almost twitched, "It's not as bad as you make it sound."
"What is it this time?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.
"I just had an idea on how to boost the strength of the Divination Department."
"And that would be?"
Edward no longer hesitated and replied, "Take countless variants of yourself from the Multiverse, purify their Seer Bloodline before connecting their minds together, forming an amplifier–allowing them their ability to reach new heights."
"You want to use my variants from the multiverse as some sort of battery or Divination Artifact?"
"When you put it that way, it sounds worse than it sounds."
"And how exactly do you think that sounds?"
"We can erase their memories so they don't feel any pain."
Luna's bloodline was special, making it impossible to clone her. And even the successful clones lost her Seer Abilities, so this plan has to use different versions of herself from the Multiverse.
"That sounds even worse," argued Luna. "They would be nothing but objects once you succeed."
"We will be using the versions from the Dark Multiverse, meaning they would all be evil."
"And that won't make the situation any better. Based on what you said about the Dark Multiverse, these people turned evil because of one or two events that went wrong in our timelines.
"In other words, they are the way they are because of fate and circumstances."
Edward groaned a little, "In that case, think of the long term. If you agree to this project, it can increase your chances of reaching Tier 11. You know what is at stake and what is waiting for us in the future."
"Don't try to guilt-trip me. We don't even have a proper method of reaching Tier 11. So, this project will not affect the general situation."
Edward looked her in the eyes for a few seconds before sighing, "Then, what about a compromise? Instead of using your variants, we use Professor Trelawney.
"Although her divination bloodline is nothing compared to yours, we can make up for the gap using numbers. Plus, we don't have to tell her anything."
Luna frowned for a moment, "I'll think about it." Then, she immediately ended the conversation, leaving Edward alone on his throne.
"Morgana, what do you think the consequences would be if I did it behind her back?"
The little elf appeared before him, "She has great control over the Department, so it's very unlikely to hide it from her. And once she finds the truth, well, the best-case scenario is she ignores you for a few years–possibly hundreds of years–and the worst-case scenario is she divorces you."
Edward groaned softly as he muttered, "So severe, huh?"
"Boss, if I may say something."
"Go ahead. You know there is no need for reservation between us."
"Your current reaction is probably the result of your insecurity that the Empire's defense system was so easily breached. In other words, your paranoia makes you subconsciously fear similar things will happen again.
"So, you want to do whatever necessary to ensure it doesn't–even at the cost of your personal relationship."
Edward paused, "You're…probably right."
"I usually am," said Morgana with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. She knew her best was in a delicate state after experiencing the Illusion Formations. So, his paranoia was at an all-time high, fearing the things that happened in the illusion would come true.
"Well, smartass, I'm glad you're here to keep me in check," said Edward as he rolled his eyes. "Let's get back to work. Did you send the invitations?"
"Yes. Everybody is already waiting."
"Did anyone not show up?"
"No, but a few people seemed deep into important research and sent a representative."
"That's fine," nodded Edward. "Let's begin."
Thousands of screens appeared before him, showing him all types of Arcanists: humans, other races, old, young, women, men, and some people who even looked like children for odd reasons.
All the people present were people who had a private Demi-Plane, so their ranks ranged from Tier 4 to Tier 7.
As soon as these people appeared, they saluted the Emperor as a form of politeness. However, after seeing Edward's nonchalant, almost cold response, they knew something must have happened.
"Less than 30 minutes ago, Arcanists Jame Carter and Edward Wentworth III betrayed the Empire and sold their soul to Guzznad. Wentworth almost succeeded in using a Tier 8 Spell, destroying the entire Solar System."
The faces of these Arcanists changed. Their hearts trembled as they realized how close they were to death. Among these people, few people could survive the sudden destruction of the Solar System.
So, the result of such a terrorist act would be catastrophic.
"Your majesty, is this why there was an anomaly of time stopping recently?" asked an Arcanist.
"Yes."
Everyone quieted down, analyzing the ramifications of this event. A few smart people had already guessed the reason for this meeting and were unhappy.
"I made the use of Demi-planes public to give you personal space to do your research. I basically allow each of you to have your own small country where you have absolute power, including military powers in the forms of Golem Legions.
"But what is the result?"
Many people were against such "loose" control of the Demi-planes, and many others were against allowing private use altogether. But Edward proceeded because, in the future, Arcanists will travel to other planes and, eventually, other universes.
So, they need to be a walking civilization to conquer, visit, or explore these places. So, he allowed them to develop to prepare for the future.
"Anyway, private Demi-planes will be more strictly regulated from now, and the threshold for possessing one will be raised. We will place a Dimensional Wall to separate all Demi-planes from the Empire's territory to prevent the previous situation.
"So, be prepared that it will be more difficult for you to enter the territory from your Demiplane."
These Arcanists secretly cursed in their mind. Although the Emperor used sophisticated words like "more strictly regulated," they knew what these words actually meant.
The Intelligence Department will now secretly infiltrate their Demiplanes and monitor them. After all, they need resources for their experiment or raising their legion, so it's easy to infiltrate.
Even the ones who do not allow people in their space and only use Golems did not think they were safe. With the royal family's capabilities, it's not impossible for them to secretly control many of their Golems without anyone else being aware.
Additionally, that Dimensional Wall will also affect them as it will make traveling to Earth more challenging, limiting their connection to other Arcanists. The exchange of ideas and knowledge is the cornerstone of any powerful Arcanist.
So, most of them will have great connections, friends, or acquaintances with people in many fields.
If this decision was made anytime before today, they could protest, even banding together and using public opinion to protest such a decision. However, these cunning Casters knew it was impossible to do so with the betrayal of these two.
If they tried anything now, they would become pawns for the Emperor to display his power and warn others.
"I have said what I needed to," said Edward. "The meeting is finished, and you're dismissed."
He waved his hand to close all these screens, not giving anyone the chance to ask any more questions.