After opening his eyes, Edward remembered a saying often used in Eastern Fantasy novels he read online:
"Heaven is ruthless and treats all sentient beings the same as dogs."
This saying can apply to the Cronai, the Planar Will. As the consciousness responsible for ensuring this world operates properly, there is almost no difference between an ant and a Tier 10 God–it must treat them equally, applying the rules to all of them.
However, it seems Cronai has gained some sentience, or maybe it's the desire of all life forms to become more powerful. She calculated the Arcane Empire was the civilization most likely to allow her to succeed, so she granted them differential treatments.
However, Edward's actions went beyond the help Cronai can offer since he broke one of the fundamental rules.
'The first time I traveled to the future, my future self told me there were consequences if I messed up with the Space-Time Continuum. Is this what he meant?'
Edward felt great pressure. He did not know whether he could elevate his floating city into a Tier 11 weapon in 50 years–even with Time Acceleration. Furthermore, he has many problems to deal with, including the Soul Limit of the people; otherwise, the progress of the Empire will be halted.
'Is my only choice to find this Savant Race?'
He cannot move the Empire into another timeline. If these Guardians have the power of Tier 11 in this plane, they should have access to the Multiverse. Furthermore, Cronai should have told him of such a simple solution.
'So, if everything fails, my only solution is to migrate to another plane and plan an eventual return.'
He did not want to start again from somewhere far away. However, if he did not have any choice, this might be the only way to survive and preserve his legacy.
Edward exhaled deeply, finally focusing on the people in the room.
"You have failed me, and I have the people," said Edward, his words creating great pressure on everyone. "Now is not the time to find who's at fault. Let's deal with the aftermath of this event."
The discussion did not last an hour, as everything was discussed as swiftly as possible. Then, the royal family appeared before the screen of every citizen, wearing all black.
The Emperor was addressing the people.
"Hello, my fellow citizens. Today, I am addressing you because I have failed you as the Emperor. For that, I deeply apologize."
Edward did not hesitate to bow, followed by the royal family behind him. Then, he continued with a solemn attitude:
"My duty is to protect you, and I have failed in my mission."
Edward did not make any excuses, such as trying his best. The people witnessed how he tried to revert time to undo this tragedy and failed. However, failure was failure.
"Today was the darkest moment in the Empire's history," continued. Such massive casualties did not even occur during the Fall of Darkness.
"During this war, we have learned of the cruelty of the universe. But today's event allowed us to experience it personally.
"Our rise will threaten the grip the Gods have over this universe. As such, a single mistake, a single error, could cause the destruction of civilization, of our home, of the people we love."
He paused to allow his words to marinate:
"But we cannot allow such a thing to happen. No, we Will not allow it to happen.
"We will not allow fear to control our thoughts and actions. We will inherit the Will of the ones who prematurely left us, shoulder their dreams, and continue to move forward.
"May the Arcane Truth bless all the ones who left before us."
[May the Arcane Truth bless all the ones who left before us.]
The citizens repeated this phrase across every territory of the Empire, creating a strange atmosphere or power around the entire galaxy,
The Empire declared a seven-day mourning for the dead. The media talks nonstop about the Emperor's Inherited Will Speech, saying how it was a wonderful way to condense the spirit of the citizens who had lost faith in the Empire.
A monument appeared to honor the people who died in this incident and the war. The monument was a towering glass a few stories tall with countless names engraved on it.
The glass was enchanted so that people could use their soul strength to see the information and life experience of every individual on the glass.
After the speech, Edward and Rowena had to go on a tour around the Empire to meet the family of the people he failed to save. He also used this time to reassure his citizens.
A few hours later, they finished and returned to the palace to have a meal with the family.
"How are you guys doing?" asked Edward as he sat down; the food was still warm.
"We're fine," said Hermione. "How about you?"
"Holding on," said Edward, sighing deeply. Could he have saved these people? His rational mind told him it was impossible since he did not know about the curse. However, he also knew this situation might have been avoided if he had been too arrogant and used Guzznad as a pawn.
"Don't beat yourself," said Olivier. "If Guzznad did use this curse, someone else might have used it, making the situation even worse. In a terrible sense, we should be glad this problem was discovered so early."
She was correct. Guzznad was only Tier 9, so the destruction he could create based on this curse was limited. Furthermore, the population of the Empire was not too large, so the Magus Race bloodline was not spread too far.
Regardless, the situation is still devastating.
"Alright, let's not talk about this and eat. Wait, where is Luna?"
"You should probably talk to her," said Edward's mom.
Edward stood up and headed to her room in the palace. After entering, he saw her lying on her bed with listless eyes.
"Are you alright?" he said as he rushed next to her.
"I should have listened to you," said Luna, tears dripping from her eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
"I should have listened to you and fused with my variants from the Dark Multiverse. They could have increased my Seer Ability and prevented this tragedy.
"I should have listened to you."
"No, no, don't blame yourself," said Edward as he held her tightly. "If you did, there is no guarantee you would have foreseen something."
Luna kept crying, not appeased by his words.
"I'm glad you did not listen to me," continued Edward. "Our family has two moral compasses–you and Hermione. If not for you two, me and the others might have gone too far.
"However, Hermione's competitive nature allowed her to bend more than you. So, I am glad you can keep your own morality and not be influenced by my darkness."
Edward was not telling the complete truth. Their family had a third person with a good moral compass–Wiz. Although Tsunade has a kind heart as a healer, she has been traumatized by being a child soldier, so she has her own demons to deal with.
Only Luna and Wiz can be the moral compass of this family, preventing the others from going into the deep end. However, Wiz has only just joined, so her power and influence are too weak, so Luna has to be in charge.
"Are you telling the truth?" asked Luna.
"Of course, when have I ever lied to you?" replied Edward as he caressed her hair.
"Thank you. I need to hear this."
"There is no need for pleasantries between us," nodded Edward. "You need to sleep, and I will help."
"Okay."
Edward opened his mouth, and a beautiful lullaby emanated. Immediately afterward, Luna felt her eyelid heavy and fell asleep. Edward waited a few minutes before she was still in a deep sleep before standing up.
However, he did not take a few steps before he received an emergency communication.
"What is this time?" he said, his voice very grave. The Royal Guards standing outside of the room trembled in fear after hearing that cold voice.
A screen appeared before Edward, and his face became extremely solemn. Without hesitation, he teleported to the Time Auror's headquarters.
"Where is he?" asked Edward as soon as he arrived.
"We have him apprehended and waiting on Cell EX7."
"You did a good job," nodded Edward before taking a deep breath and walking to his destination.
As soon as he saw the prisoner, his pupils dilated.
Edward looked at the man in an energy barrier cell. He had an old wizard robe similar to Dumbledore. However, he had what looked like a Saiyan Scanner in his right eye, along with a watch that looked both futuristic and retro.
However, the weird man's dress was not the oddest part about him; that prize went to his face. He looked exactly like Edward.
"Who are you?" asked Edward.
"I am Edward F-234," said the man. "You should understand what this means?"
"You guys have created a council."
"That's correct," replied F-234. "I've come to formally invite you to the Council of Bones."
Edward groaned. He read comics and cartoons in his past life, so he knew of the Council of Reed, created by Reed Richard from the Fantastic Four. The Council of Kang–created by Kang the Conqueror, and the Council of Rick created by Rick Sanchez.
So, he knew some of his variants would also walk that path. In fact, he also planned to create the council to keep a watch on his other variants. However, he did not expect them to arrive so soon and find his timeline.
"What's the name designated to my dimension?"
"You're G-003," replied F-234.
"I bet many of you were fighting for C-137 and 616, weren't you?"
F-234 blushed in shame before quickly hiding it. C-137 is the name for "Prime" Rick in the show Rick and Morty, while 616 is the main universe of Marvel in the comics.
As such, many variants wanted these numbers and fought for them, including him.
"When is the meeting?" asked Edward.
F-234 looked at his watch.
"According to my calculations, in about a month of your timeline."
"How to get there?"
"Have you developed Multiverse Traveling Technology?"
"Why are you asking?" retorted Edward.
"So, we can send someone to pick you up," replied F-234 calmly.
Edward looked at him before sneering: "I see. Strength and technology determined status in the council."
F-234's heart skipped a beat, but his face did not change. Unfortunately, the enchantments in this prison were monitoring every atom of his body.
"You don't have to worry about my transportation."
"That's fine," replied F-234, not showing much emotion through facial expression. He took a card and said: "This is your invitation to the council. It also serves as a coordinate."
Edward waved his hand to summon the card through the energy barrier. He did not immediately touch it but glanced at it.
"Another test?" he said with a sneer. He took a few minutes before something like a map appeared before him.
Meanwhile, F-234's face finally changed; he had never met a variant who cracked the code so fast and easily.
"I will be there," nodded Edward.
"It will be our honor to have someone of your caliber in our midst," said F-234, who proceeded to show an embarrassed look. "Um, could you free me?"
His experience in this timeline was unique. As soon as he appeared, a group of people proficient in Space and Time Magic arrested him. To his shock, they even had methods to prevent him from using his machine and running into another timeline.
Finally, after meeting his variant in this timeline, he could not see through the latter's strength and capabilities. However, his intuition was warning him of great danger.
Edward nodded to someone, and the shield was removed. Without hesitation, F-234 typed a bunch of numbers on his watch. Then, an orange energy shield surrounded him.
Boom!
The shield or sphere propelled itself forward with immense speed, breaking the space-time continuum barrier between parallel dimensions and leaving numerous space cracks in the room.
It took a few minutes before the space naturally healed itself, and everything returned to its original state.
"What a rough way to travel the multiverse," commented Edward. "However, their navigation system is worth learning." He looked at the card in his hand.
The Empire's current navigational system of traveling the Multiverse originated from Novad's race technology, which he acquired from the Indiana Jones Universe. However, he could learn from the Bone Council's system as it seems more efficient.
"Bring it to me," said Edward, and soon afterward, someone brought him a pure crystal.
Without hesitation, he used his soul strength to read F-234's memory that they secretly took. Although the latter had very high proficiency in Occlumency, it was useless to the Empire's current understanding of the soul and Soul Flame.
F-234's life was similar to Edward's in its infancy but diverged in one instinct–he lost all his family members, including Aunt Amelia. In grief, he began to study magic intensely with the purpose of reviving them.
But he made a fatal mistake–he did not hide his magical talent, garnering the attention of Voldemort. The latter invited the 11-year-old Edward to become one of his Death Eaters.
After rejections, Voldemort attacked a young Edward during his Second Year of Hogwart, right before he died at the Potter's house.
F-234 survived and escaped with severe injuries. So, he hid and never showed up again in the magical world. However, his existence was torn in Voldemort's sight.
The Dark Lord became obsessed with finding F-234, so he did not even attack the Potter, escaping his fate of death. Then, as time passed, Voldemort became more worried due to the boy's magical talent.
He could not fathom how powerful he would become if given enough time. So, he became more obsessed with power, using any means possible to increase his strength.
Everything culminated in an all-out war between F-234 and Voldemort, affecting the entire planet. His variant was the final winner, but both muggles and wizards suffered tremendously.
F-234 did not care about the state of the world; he only wanted to see his family again. Alas, most of the mysterious rooms in the Department of Mysterious–which were Elder God's Divine Spark–were destroyed or missing after the war, leaving only the Time Room.
F-234 focused on studying this thing to reverse time and save his family. The result was he invented Multiverse Travel Technology. He was fine with this outcome, so he searched the multiverse for a timeline where he could reunite with his family and succeeded.
Then, another variant contacted him and invited him to the newly built Bones Council.
Edward then watched how F-234 integrated into the council, fought for the moniker of C-137, and lost, acquiring his number through a randomly generated program.
Then, F-234 traveled to the Multiverse, inviting different variants to the council.
'What should I do with these people?' thought Edward, who was a little frustrated. He had many problems to deal with, but now another one popped up.
'My first instinct is to attend this meeting and use this opportunity to murder all of them. However, that would be pointless as it won't be long before another council is set up.
'Plus, if I use these people correctly, I can accelerate the speed at which I become Tier 11.'
Many thoughts flashed in his mind. 'The council appeared to be friendly so far. However, that's because they probably do not know the requirements to become Tier 11. Once they do, they'll turn on each other faster than I can say my name.
'I also cannot rule out that some people know and plan to use the council for their own use like myself.'
Edward grunted softly, 'The best course of action is to take a position of power in the council, influencing and controlling them from the inside.
'However, I also need to take precautionary measures to prevent these people from popping in and out of my timeline like it was their back garden.'
Edward sighed as he teleported away. He knew he would be extremely busy in the next few years; he had too many problems and was unhappy about it.