Edward walked into a large room with many people waiting. A table stood in the middle with all 10 Magic Captains along with Acier, Mereoleona, and Patolli. Around the table were specific members of each squad along with the elves members who were Apostle of Sephiraph.
As Edward walked into the room, the sitting people stood up while the standing one stood even straighter. He smiled at Lichita, who was embracing both Asta and Yuno.
Asta had a genuine smile; he appeared happy to see his mother and spend time with her. As for Yuno, he had his usually stoic face with a slight embarrassment. However, deep in his eyes, there was very hidden happiness.
Edward knew this kind of happiness: familial love. He smiled as he was not surprised that Lichita basically adopted Yuno. They were already closed as brothers; now, it had just become official.
"At ease," said Edward before taking a seat. Everyone then focused all their attention on them. Edward waved his hand to create two holographic orbs: one dark and one light.
"In this world, two factions or places could be considered the most powerful or dangerous. The first one is the underworld where all devils live and originate from." He pointed at the dark orb, and the words "underworld" and "devil" appeared inside.
"And the second is Elysium, where angels and possibly God live."
Many people squinted their eyes at the words "Elysium." "Angels" and "God" appeared in the light orb. Most, if not all, of these people, have heard of the underworld or devils. But they've never heard of angels or God except in stories and the church.
Edward waved his hand to crush the dark orb.
"There is no need to worry about the underworld since I will personally deal with them. However, I need your help to access Elysium."
"You want us to invade Elysium? Why? They seem to be no threat to us?" asked Yami. Many people had the same thought as him.
Edward looked at all the people in the room and calmly said: "I could give you a valid reason since I have sufficient evidence to suggest that God has been plotting to use our hands to deal with the underworld.
"I could use the rhetoric that this was for the future of the Clover Kingdom. But all of this would not be true."
Edward paused for a moment to let his word marinate.
"When a man's reach my position and power, few things have value: whether it is wealth, fame, glory, or woman, most of these things held little to no value to me.
"What I want is knowledge, mystery, and the truth. For example, where did the Grimoire comes from? Is it a natural thing or an artificial creation? Why can it create spells without study but just repeated practice? Is it possible that there exists a place that connects all Grimoires? And could that place have all the spells ever recorded in a Grimoire?"
Everyone looked at him in shock, not knowing how to respond.
"Now, I'm sure none of you ever thought about these questions, never cared or assumed certain things were normal when they were not. But I have contemplated these mysteries and searched for answers.
"And the last part of the puzzle to find the answer lies in Elysium. So, this invasion is a personal or selfish mission of mine. If you do not want to participate, you are free to leave. In my name as Wizard King, I promise not to blame you."
The magic knights looked at each other while some whispered to each other. In the end, no one left.
"I will emphasize: this is a high-risk mission with a high death rate. So, it is best to consider this as you make a decision."
Despite saying this, no one left after a few minutes.
"I have a question," said Zora Ideale. "Why don't you invade this Elysium on your own since you can do the same for the underworld?"
"I did," replied Edward. "But someone or something exiled and banned me from entering again."
The people who watched Edward easily deal with a high-ranking devil immediately became serious; they knew how powerful a person has to be to exile the Wizard King.
"Alright, so what is the plan?" asked Mereoleona, who had very intense fighting desires in her eyes as if she had found another worthy prey.
"So far, I have only a basic plan since I'm still gathering more information on Elysium. However, there is a basic plan. You will be divided into different groups, and one of them will be in charge of protecting the elves.
"And why do we need to protect them?" asked Jack the Ripper with a malevolent look.
"I cannot enter Elysium the usual way. So, I need the elves to use the magic stones and summon me with the Tree of Life Monument."
"So, we must protect them from the enemy to prevent them from interrupting the ceremony," added Charlotte.
"Exactly," replied Edward.
"There seems too little information," said Fuegeleon. "These angels should be as powerful as devils. Plus, we will be stuck in their home and lose the home-field advantage. Too many things can go wrong."
"I understand your worries," said Edward to appease everyone. "I handpicked all of you here because I can see your potential better than you can yourself.
"And before the invasion, I will ensure all of you have reached that potential and beyond."
He stood up from his chair before a portal appeared next to him.
"Follow me."
Everyone followed him through the portal. Then, they found themselves in an underground room with two doors in front of them. Edward opened Door 1, and everyone followed.
Inside was numerous large tubes with green liquids inside.
"These machines serve two purposes: The first one is to enhance your physical body, making it faster, stronger, and more durable. With a strong body, your fighting capabilities will increase, as will your survivability."
"It's not going to make me all buff and muscular, no?" asked Vanessa from the Black Bulls.
"If you don't want it to, it will not," replied Edward before continuing: "The second purpose of the machine is to increase your mana."
"How is that possible?"
"Five hundred years ago, the Clover Kingdom's nobles and royal family stole mana from the elves using a magical Artifact created by the First Wizard King and passed this mana through their bloodline.
"I discovered their magical artifact and modified them to use ambient mana in nature. However, this is the limit as the machine will also grant you an additional artificial mana pool."
Many people became embarrassed after hearing this and did not know what to say. And this is precisely the reason mentioned this topic; to alleviate the tension between these two races after the previous chaos.
"What does that mean?" asked Mereoleona, wanting to change the topic.
"A stone full of mana will be fused to your heart and serve as a second reserve or second mana pool."
Edward turned around to see the smile and excitement of these people. He smiled devilishly before saying: "Nothing is free or easy in life. So, whether it is the body enhancement or the Mana Increase Surgery, the process will be excruciating, and only individuals with extreme Willpower will succeed. Furthermore, the longer you can resist the pain, the more benefit you will receive."
"Me, me, me, I have a question," said Asta as he raised his hand.
"What is it?"
"Does that mean I will have mana?"
"No. With mana, you cannot use Anti-Magic."
With a lot of knowledge and training, this kid should be able to turn Mana into Anti-magic Energy. However, this would require too much time, plus Edward wanted him to walk on a pure Anti-Magic path so he could create his own Arcane Subclass one day.
Although a little disappointed, Asta quickly cheered since he knew how powerful his Anti-Magic was.
"I'll tell you a little secret to motivate you," said Edward. "The relationship between Mana and Anti-Magic can be described as a meatball divided into two. So, if you have enough knowledge and training, you can turn Anti-Magic into mana, so work hard, kid."
After hearing this, stars appeared in Asta's eyes, then he looked at Yuno: "You hear this, Yuno. I'll become more powerful with mana and defeat you; then, I'll become the Wizard King."
"Idiot."
"Why are you calling me an idiot?"
"The Wizard King's word means that mana can also be turned into Anti-Magic."
Asta's mouth became wide open when he realized that his rival was already so powerful. If he could also use Anti-Magic, wouldn't he lose his advantage?
"I won't lose to you," said Asta, all fired up; he decided to master this Mana Changing Technique before Yuno and beat him. Lichita smiled after seeing her two sons' rivalry.
"It's good to be motivated. Alright, let's go see the other room."