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.