Edward followed the group to the nearest city. He was in a daze throughout the journey, feeling a heavy weight lifted from his shoulder. Although finding the Savant Race did not guarantee he could deal with the Time Guardians, he felt much better just by knowing about his enemy.
After arriving at their destination, Luna separated from the group after compensating them and reuniting with Edward. The two began to visit this city, fact-checking much of the information Krovik provided them.
For example, the power limit of this world is Tier 4 for all creatures but Tier 6 for technology, and no one can break that limit.
"This place reminded me of Hermione's System Creation Research," said Luna, and Edward nodded. The Konosuba World is the perfect embodiment of System Creation Power. The way the world is established is there are certain rules; for example, after killing creatures, you receive points to use to increase magical abilities.
The Quantum Realm seems to be a very strict system, but the purpose of this system is still unknown.
"What's the plan? Do you want to head to the Enlightenment City immediately?"
"No, let's fix the floating city first," replied Edward. His first step was to buy a few Tier 6 ships or magical artifacts. The process was much harder than anticipated since this place was the domain of the Sun God Cult, which strictly controls all technology and powerhouses.
However, money can buy anything. This place uses barter and soul stone as a monetary system, so Edward gets what he wants after spending lavishly on the black market.
He dismantled these technologies and artifacts until he found the correct mana frequency that would properly allow his floating city to function. He did not take it with him but placed it in invincible mode.
Although there was little chance the Savant Race would be hostile to him, he needed to take precautions and not reveal this thing as of yet. The Savant Race had connections to countless plans in the material world, so he did not want to risk revealing the floating city's existence yet.
As such, he also did not bring it close to their territory. If they were in the material world, he was confident in the cloaking system of the city. Still, in this place, with a limit of Tier 6, his technological advantage was drastically reduced–especially before a race known for gathering knowledge of the entire Astral Realm.
So, Edward embarked on their territory after creating an artifact that allowed him to use the city's power from a long distance.
As the name implies, the Enlightenment City was an enormous city, but it was built on top of this giant mechanical spider-like construct with legs. There was an entrance, so Edward's ship headed in that direction. They soon discovered that the entrance required a test; they had to solve a puzzle, formula, or question before being granted access.
There were many questions from every category, from science to magic, to understanding of soul, and to countless other power systems.
'Interesting,' thought Edward before picking a question and answering, and Luna followed. The city was lively, full of different spaces, including certain creatures from the material world.
He also saw many members of the Savant Race, who wore loose black robes on their short bodies. They had massive heads and floated in the air instead of walking. They reminded Edward of the Watchers from Marvel, except they were much shorter.
After a short tour, they discovered this place was similar to the Myriad Codex Plane, with countless libraries scattered all over the city and the main one at the center. Edward had to solve countless questions to reach the central library, which required solving an unsolvable question before he could meet the higher-ups of the Savant Race.
Edward and Luna waited inside a room. According to the receptionist, he would meet the Grand Elder tomorrow morning. So, Edward waited until the next day when someone escorted him to a room with a large table.
Opposite them was a Savant Race dressed in gold and white, with wisdom shining on the latter's eyes.
"The name is Cori. How may I address you?"
"Edward Bones."
"I have to thank you for solving the Bloodline Sequence," said Great Elder Cori. "We have been studying the curse the Witch Plane placed on the Magus Race, and so far, our research has made little to no progress until you came."
"I'm glad I could help," nodded Edward.
"So, how are you finding this layer of the Quantum Realm? A very magical place, isn't it?"
"This layer? There are other layers?" asked Edward.
"Yes, this is only the first and most normal layer," the Great Elder nodded. "Once you go to the deeper levels, the things you can see are truly beyond any normal mind to comprehend."
"Are the other layers less restrictive?"
"That's correct. However, each of them has strange and sometimes baffling rules. If you have a chance to visit, you should be more careful."
"I see," nodded Edward as he figured out some things. For example, the Savant Race purposely chose to stay in this layer as a form of confrontation. In this place, even a Tier 11 powerhouse appeared; they cannot use power greater than Tier 4, and their technology cannot go higher than Tier 6.
Such a place is excellent for the Savant Race to base their kind and protect themselves from the greedy hands of all the other planes in the Astral Realm.
"So, what brings you here so far away?" asked Cori, his eyes seemed to contain all the truths of the universe.
"I need to know how to deal with the Time Guardians," said Edward directly.
"You've become a Time Criminal?"
"Yes."
"Well, you could stay here. I doubt they could do anything to you."
Edward shook his head; this solution was like running away to another plane.
"Do you know how the Time Guardians originated?"
"I don't know."
"In the beginning of the universe, Cronai created the Elder Gods, granting each of them certain authority at birth. Her purpose was to allow them to help her manage the universe as she stabilized the process of going from chaos to order.
"However, something unimaginable occurred; The Space Elder God created the first act of killing in the universe, eliminating the Time Elder God and taking its power."
Cori paused, giving Edward time to process this information.
"Cronai wanted to punish him, even kill him. However, the latter was a smart individual and a great talker. He convinced her that time needed to be preserved to prevent other lives from messing with the space-time continuum.
"He made an oath to guard the sanctity of the multiverse and all its timeline. At first, Cronai accepted his plea because she saw his position as guardian as a form of prison. However, as time passes and the universe is full of life, time criminals begin to appear, thus showing Cronai the need for the Guardians. After that, the Space Elder became more and more powerful until he encountered the Magus Race, who almost annihilated him."
'Is this why the Time Divine Spark was on Earth? From the time the Magus Race dealt with the Time Guardian?' thought Edward.
"As you can guess, he survived and waited until the Magus Race disappeared. Now, he's currently the strongest being in this plane."
"How strong is he?"
"Well, he's the only Tier 11 existence in this plane. Better yet, he's more powerful than ordinary Tier 11 since he has the authority to borrow Cronai's power."
Edward frowned as this news was the same as Cronai told him, even more detailed.
"So, how do I escape my fate as a Time Criminal?"
"You must survive the Time Game."