Edward walked on a red carpet with two ambassadors behind him. At the end of this walkthrough stood a woman with beautiful dark skin and eyes that reflected the cosmos itself.
He was momentarily dazed as he laid eyes on her.
"There are rumors that Queen Katura is one of the most beautiful women in the galaxy. It seems these rumors have not done your majesty any justice."
"And it appears the rumors about your highness being a womanizer is true," the Queen replied with a smile.
"Unfortunately," countered Edward, not embarrassed in the least. He motioned to the ambassador, who opened the box he carried, revealing vials of potions. "My greeting gift."
The Queen walked down from the slightly elevated podium where two thrones rested. Usually, she would have one of her ministers take the gift. However, Queen Katura understood it was not time to play political games since she was before an Empire that was even more powerful than hers.
She looked at the potions, and a slight surprise flashed across her eyes. With quick divination, she could tell this potion was to heal her previous injuries. What's more surprising, this potion was perfectly tailored to her race's physique.
"Star Magic is fascinating," commented Edward. According to the Empire's study, stars can emit two other unique types of energy besides mana or solar energy: cosmic energy and star energy.
Solar Energy is used mainly for Fire Spell, or what the Eastern Arcanist called Pure Yang Spells. Cosmic Energy has more versatility, but it remains somewhat of a great mystery. The Empire has machines that can wield Cosmic Energy, but it is harder for any individuals to wield, let alone form an Arcanist Sub-system.
As for Star Energy, it is the main energy the Starskin races use. It can be used for various spells like controlling the weight of the stars, teleportation, light magic, or use astrology for divination and other magic-related activities. By studying the Starskin race's ability to convert star energy into mana, the Empire has benefited greatly in the field of Star Magic. And when Edward brought back Zuriel and Yuno's star magic, the process was accelerated.
Queen Katura paused for a moment before opening the potion and drinking it, ignoring the apparent horror of her minister. As soon as she finished, a powerful aura emanated out of her body.
Then, her long braided hair reverted to the glistening black from a dying white. Her sick complexion returned to a normal level, making her skin shine more brilliantly like the stars at night.
"The root of my injuries has been healed," she muttered. Queen Katura could feel she was not completely healed, but her biggest injury problem was dealt with. In her current state, she could use that forbidden item once again without killing herself.
"Thank you, your majesty."
"No need for formality since it is simply a gift."
The two then proceeded with this meeting. And as expected, the Starskin wanted to negotiate their terms of surrender. Mostly, there was no trouble in the negotiation, except for the issue of Kinghood.
The Empire does not grant Royalty Position. However, Edward agreed to give the Queen a title with some benefits. However, the title will not have any actual power. If she wants to represent her race in the Arcane Empire's Council, she has to be elected appropriately.
The title will also not be hereditary. However, there will be many other benefits regarding resource allocations, security access, and certain privileges. Since the Starskin race was a group with many Diviners (not all of them were but a good portion), he was willing to make some concessions.
The issue of Royal Title could not be agreed upon in one day, so the delegations agreed to continue the next day. However, Queen Katura invited Edward for a personal meeting since she wanted to tell him something.
Queen Katura served a beverage unique to their race, and the only way Edward could describe it was it tasted like stars. Stars are nothing but massive pieces of celestial bodies, yet, he could taste them.
"Before everything is settled, there are a few things I would like to tell you about our race," said the Queen. "Do you know the existence of the Astral Realm and other planes?" She had to ask since she knew the Empire was less than a hundred years old despite its advancement.
"We do. We've even begun our first exploration," replied Edward.
"Well, our Starskin is from another plane: the Luminary Plane," she said, observing his response. "You don't seem surprised?"
"After discovering the Astral Realm, one of our Think Tanks theorized this possibility. After all, your race is truly special," replied Edward before sipping his drink. "What I want to know is how did you enter this plane?" From what he knows, this place has been closed off for billions of years to prevent foreign invasions.
"I see," nodded Queen Katura. "We were a peaceful civilization, living lives to ourselves. Then, another Tier 9 Plane, the Moon Demons, invaded our world and waged a terrible war. In the end, we lost, and our ancestors were forced to use a Plane Gate left by the Magus Race to come to this place, abandoning our home."
Edward let out a soft sigh.
"Is there a problem?"
"My apology. I was just thinking how everything recently seems to involve the Magus Race in one way or the other."
"This statement is more true than you can imagine."
Edward sighed before changing the subject. "I'm guessing you want help taking back your plane. Since it is a Tier 9 Plane, it should not be a problem."
"Have the Arcane Empire developed Reincarnation Magic?"
"What does this have to do with anything?" asked Edward, confused by this out-of-nowhere question. Then, Queen Katura looked at him strangely, "Don't tell me you have not heard of the Planar Warfare Guidelines?"
"No, I have not."
Queen Katura did not waste time and used a spell to summon a book from her library and handed it to Edward, who used another spell to absorb all the information in the book in a short period.
Planar Warfare or Invasions are serious matters because of the existence of Planar Will. The Planar Will will attack anyone who enters a plane, and the invader has to resist.
Now, the issue of tiers will come into play. If a Tier 8 Mage invaded a Tier 7 Plane, they could take some time to fight the Plane Will or use brute force to destroy the plane. But if they attacked a Tier 8 Plane, they would most likely be suppressed because the Plane Will can borrow the strength of every individual it contained, not to mention the other Tier 8 entities.
The suppression from any plane is the most disgusting thing any individual has to deal with; it is a mechanism that makes large planar invasion extremely difficult. So, there are a few ways to deal with the issue–besides using a higher tier to a lower tier plane.
The first one is Consciousness Hiding Technology. As the name suggests, it is a method where the invader coat themselves and their legion with an aura that hide their identity as invaders, allowing them to do as they please in any planes they attack.
Unfortunately, throughout history, only two civilizations have developed this technology: the Magus Race and the Abyss Plane–a few Abyss Lords still have this technology in the modern age. Edward theorized a few Faith God might have got it from a Magus Race inheritance.
The second and most common method used to deal with Plane Wills is sacrifice. By sacrificing a large population of the invaded plane, the invaders can coat themselves with the aura of the plane, passing for its citizen and evading the Plane Will.
However, this method has an issue: all invaders are immediately suppressed the moment they land, so where would they have the time or opportunity to sacrifice a large portion of the population?
According to this guideline, other tactics are required. The first tactic is to possess an habitant of the invaded plane. However, this method has too many flaws since the Plane Will could still easily detect invaders who tried this.
The second tactic is to have a native summon the invader and form a contract. Then, the invader can use loopholes in the contract and the situation to have the contractor conduct the Sacrifice Ceremony. This tactic is often used by cunning creatures or civilizations proficient in Soul and Contract magic.
The final tactic is to use Reincarnation Magic and become a "citizen" of the invaded plane and take it down from the inside.
Edward took a moment to analyze all the information he had received. He needed to pay attention to two planes because of their uniqueness; the Cosmic Faith Plane, which was his home, and the Abyss Plane.
For example, the Abyss Plane Will did not suppress any visitors. On the contrary, it encourages more people to visit. The Cosmic Faith Plane used to be the same. However, things changed after the disappearance of the Magus Race.
Edward then used his watch to contact his wives and have them check on Hermione's expedition.