A complicated rune appeared before Edward as he tried to find Malakai's dimension for a second round. His petty self would never allow such a humiliation to go by.
"How long have you been awake?"
"Three years?"
"What? It's been so long? I promised the Ancient One I would return after a month."
"She came by two years ago," said Morgana. "I told her you were in the middle of something, and she was very understanding."
"That's good to hear. So, how are you doing?"
"I'm feeling better than ever." Their souls were linked, so when Edward broke his soul limit and started the Soul Divination Process, Morgana also felt improvement in her abilities. Edward nodded, "So, what exactly happened?"
"As I said — we crashed into a battle between two Tier 12 entities. The shockwave almost destroyed Netheril, and one of them glanced at us, which is why our souls and minds were injured."
Edward sighed silently, feeling an intense desire to become more powerful and reach higher tiers.
"I teleported us, Netheril and Albion, to different timelines, hoping to divert their attention," Morgana continued. "I used my last bit of strength to divine the closest dimension with the highest chances of survival and landed before that woman named Aisha. I planted a spiritual hint in her mind to ensure the safety of your body, then went into deep sleep to recuperate."
Edward exhaled. In times like this, he's glad he had Morgana because, as a supercomputer, she can enter an ultra-logical state and make the fastest and best decision to ensure his survival.
"This time around, I owe you big time."
"Of course. You should praise me more often and raise my wage," said the purple-haired elf with a smug look.
"I will," he chuckled. "Do you know if Netheril was completely destroyed?"
"In bad shape, but not completely destroyed. The auto-repair protocols should have been activated."
"Can you sense its location?"
"Yes, but vaguely," said Morgana. "It might take a while before I find it," Edward grunted, calculating whether he should start building another one. Now that he was Tier 10, it was not worth it to build another city since the value of Netheril is all his research data, materials, and artifacts stored.
"Let's put tracking it and Albion at the top of the list."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Thirty minutes later, he found Malakai's dimension and a smirk appeared on his face. He tore open the dimensional barrier and forcefully entered.
"Who dares invade the Great Malakai's dominion?"
"It's me, you red-skinned bastard."
"Boss, that sounded racist."
"Really? Do you think this is an appropriate time?"
"I'm just warning you to watch out."
"It's you?" A great anger rushed into Malakai's head, and he immediately sprung to action: [Cry of the Damned]. A terrifying wailing sound that directly targeted the soul rushed toward Edward.
"Want to play the soul with me? Two can play at this game."
[Banshee Cry]
A black-red magic circle appeared before him, releasing a terrifying scream that seemed to burst any souls it came into contact with. Countless screams of agony echoed from deep within this dimension as these two powerhouses' attacks clashed.
"You!" Malakai could not hide his shock. This little ant was a small meal for him less than a few seconds ago (for such a being, three years is a second), but now, he was on par with him. How could he accept such a thing?
"Dark Soul Flame," he roared. The entire dimension—much larger than the observable universe—turned into a furnace, releasing a dark flame with unimaginable powers.
[Purification Flame]
Edward created a golden flame around him to block the dark flame. However, he soon discovered he was rapidly being overwhelmed. The entire world seemed against him, trying to restrict and kill him at any cost.
"It's as I speculated. The dimension is like the Gods' Divine Kingdom, granting these creatures absolute power."
[Arcane Domain: World of Knowledge]
Edward used his new domain, which involved projecting his soul dimension while weaving an entire dimension using a vast quantity of mana — just like Reality Marbles. His domain crashed with Malakai's dimension, fighting for control.
With his new power, Edward's flame suddenly became brighter and purified the dark flame. He wondered what would happen if he purified this entire dimension.
Malakia's expression changed as he understood he was experiencing a dimensional invasion. If the enemy swallowed his dimension, he would lose all his powers and immortality.
'I won't let you,' he thought before using his most famous tactic: Soul Sacrifice. He sacrificed trillions of souls to boost the strength of his dimension; the tide immediately shifted in his favor.
Edward frowned. His battle prowess had drastically decreased without access to his laws. He summoned his Time Staff, trying to give himself another boost, but failed.
"It seems his dimension has a higher authority than yours," commented Morgana. Technically speaking, the staff should have worked inside his domain but did not, indicating that Malakai's dimension had priority.
'In other words, If I want to use my rules in dimensional battles, I must either find a way to increase my domain's authority or reach a willpower of 10 and wield the laws of the MCU universe,' thought Edward with a grunt.
[Will Blessing]
He blessed his domain with his Willpower using the Haki Techniques from One Piece. His actions tilted things to his advantage, but he knew that was insufficient. So, he accessed the energy in his Mana Circles in the other two layers of his soul dimensions. After reaching Tier 10, he also elevated the two mana circles to Tier 10.
Edward discovered he no longer needed to seal these dimensions as the mana became a part of his overall energy reserves. This meant that after becoming Tier 10, he was not at the bottom level of the powerhouses who could only destroy one universe; he had enough energy to destroy 4 to 5.
He plans to add Supersolid Aether Cores in the other two layers to further increase his mana capacity while following the path of dragons by building a Dragon Heart that stores mana in the cells. The gods in his universe have ruled over countless Tier 10 Planes, so they are usually some of the best Tier 10 capable of destroying dozens if not hundred universes.'
With the blessing of new mana, Edward's domain became even more potent, rapidly empowering Malakai's dimension.
"Damn you, Sorcerer, for forcing me to do this," roared Malakai as a glowing purple orb appeared above his large palm. He had just found a Dimensional Core and was prepared to fuse it with his dimension, elevating it to a higher level, thus increasing his strength and status. But now, he had to use it in this battle, which would waste a lot of energy.
The purple orb released a light, and the sound of something cracking echoed through both these crashing universes/dimensions. Edward's domain showed signs of collapse. The throne behind had split in two, and the books floated everywhere, turned to ashes, or were separated from the middle.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"It seems to contain a great deal of spatial energy," analyzed Morgana.
"I sense a power that reminds me of Cronai."
"The Universe Will? Could that be why his dimension has a higher authority than yours and does not allow foreign rules to manifest?"
"Possibly."
"If true, this world is more valuable than we anticipated," said Morgana. "So, what's the plan?"
"Let's retreat. We know too little about this world," said Edward, realizing how many things the movies never revealed. So, although he could continue fighting using the Soul Stone, he decided to just bail and return later.
He disappeared from the dimension, leaving a roaring Malakai. After returning to his universe, he prepared to return to Kamar Taj but stopped after receiving a notification from the Akashic Records.