Guzznad's face under the hood frowned for a brief moment before continuing:
"The Magus did not easily dominate the Astral Realm. During their rise, they encountered many obstacles, many worthy opponents. The most dangerous of which was the Witch Plane.
"The Magus suffered the most while conquering that plane. One could argue that they did not even succeed. Do you know why?"
Guzznad ignored Edward's fierce gaze as he snickered:
"The Witch Queen sacrificed their entire plane to place a terrifying curse on the Magus Race; to be precise, she directly cursed their bloodline source. So, after this war, the Magus Race lost such a powerful plane but was also cursed. I would say they lost the battle, wouldn't you?"
Guzznad did not care there was no response; he only wanted to buy more time.
"After this event, the Magus Race delved deeper into Bloodline Research, trying to cure this curse. They succeeded, of course. But without paying a price.
"The Magus Race instilled their bloodline into many races in an attempt to solve the curse. If I guess correctly, the humans on Earth are the descendants of test subjects during that era."
Edward no longer paid attention as he looked at the screen before him. The Space Elevator in Brazil had exploded, killing hundreds of millions of people. If not for the fact all citizens of the Empire were now mages, the casualties would have been even worse.
"It took me a lot of effort to come up with this plan. I had to make a deal with an Abyss Lord with the Curse Authority, allowing me to control the right people," continued Guzznad. "The defensive measures on this planet were over the top, so it took a lot of effort."
Edward clenched his hand. During the battle, he did not take Guzznad seriously since he was nothing but a pawn to control the galaxy. He needed to film their battle as propaganda, so he took things easy.
Even when he noticed something was wrong, he thought it had something to do with the remaining five Star Systems. He thought they were Guzznad's final trump card but never imagined the latter would target Earth.
I mean, why would he? After the last attack, he boosted the Empire's defense, so he was reassured. As for the problem of the Wizard's bloodline?
He also thought about it after learning of the Magus Race's achievement during his time in the Naruto World. So, after returning, he had a team studying the bloodline to ensure there would be no problem with his Ultimate Magic Body.
But so far, he has not detected any residual curse from the Magus Bloodline.
"Boss, we have news."
Edward looked at her:
"We captured all the other assailants."
"The casualties?"
"Less than a hundred."
Guzznad's face changed after hearing this. His plan was to use the other people as hostages to negotiate with the Arcane Emperor. Now, he just learned all the other pawns he controlled were dealt with.
"Good," said Edward with a cold calmness. "Fire the Void Canons and annihilate Guzznad and his remaining territory."
Morgana wanted to say something but closed her mouth. She controlled Netheril and used the highest energy setting.
Boom!
A white light flashed, and everything was gone. The remaining Five Star Systems and even the Mirror Dimension were torn apart. However, Morgana, who still had her emotions in control, took something from Guzznad's dissipating body.
Meanwhile, Edward controlled the Floating City to instantly return to Earth.
As he floated above the ruins of the Space Elevator, hearing the agonizing screams of the injured and the families of the victims, he felt a tight pain in his chest.
As an Emperor, his task is to protect his people, and he failed miserably.
"Come here," he ordered, and his Time Staff appeared in his hand. He could tell Guzznad was very vicious and granted True Death to the people who died, so the Death Staff was useless.
Edward mobilized his Time Rule, boosting it with the power of the staff. An enormous clock appeared above Brazil, moving counterclockwise. He immediately felt a great resistance, preventing him from moving time backward.
However, Edward did not care.
"Put the Energy Core on overdrive," he ordered. Morgana once again wanted to say something but chose to be silent. With this new blessing, Edward pushed his Time Rules to the limit.
However, the resistance he faced was proportional to the effort he put in. Alas, Edward was not about to give up.
He activated his Arcane Spark to use Karma Empowerment. He used the ability from the Akashic Records that allowed him to take some mana from all his citizens. He controlled the Mana Grid to get more energy.
Finally, he linked himself to the other two Floating Cities for even more energy.
He entered the Mana Sage Mode, boosting his Energy Control Ability to its highest level.
Crack!
Edward heard the sound of something breaking, followed by a great sense of dread. His Cosmic Awareness activated, and he saw his name appear in a strange machine. He did not know what the machine was, where this place was, or why did his name appear, but he knew it was not a good thing.
However, he did not care about this problem for now.
He focused on his tasks at hand until he succeeded. Half an hour later, the spell finished, and he watched as the dead appeared one by one as if time was rewind.
The destroyed Space Station returned to its original state as if nothing had happened. However, Edward felt something was wrong.
"What is the problem?"
Morgana took a moment before saying, "According to a brief scan, more than 3 million people did not return."
"What?"
Although 3 million dead is nothing compared to the previous more than 100 million, this number was still astronomical.
"Do you know the cause?"
"Insufficient data."
Edward frowned as he activated the staff for a second time, trying to bring them back. Unfortunately, it was useless. He even tried a combination spell between the Time and Death Staff.
The result was the same.
In the end, he sighed before teleporting away. There were many things to deal with after this event. By the time he arrived, all the people with the highest authority in the Empire were waiting for him.
Edward walked to his throne, sitting down with a face as if everybody owed him money. No one said anything as they did not expect things to reach such an extreme.
After more than ten minutes of silence, Edward opened his mouth to say something but suddenly paused. He then closed his eyes and found himself in a white room.
"Cronai?"
"I don't have much time, so I have to be fast," she said. However, Edward could see chains appearing on her wrist before disappearing.
"Your actions have broken the Space-Time Continuum Rules of the Plane, so the Guardians are coming for you.
"The Guardians? Who are they?"
"The only Tier 11 in the plane."
"I thought you said there were no Tier 11."
"They are only Tier 11 in this plane and because of an ancient pact. Once they leave, they are one of the most powerful Tier 10 Gods in the Astral Realm but not Tier 11."
Edward finally understood why these other planes did not immediately invade; it was not only because of the fear of the Magus Race but also because of this Guardian.
"I have bought you some time, approximately 50 years. If you want to survive, you must find the Savant Race–they have the answer."
"Can't you tell me more? Who are these Guardians? Why do I need to look for the Savant Race?"
"My actions have broken the rules," said Cronai, showing the chains on her body. "As the Planar Will, I need to be impartial and treat all life the same. But I have broken the rules to the best of my ability.
"The rest is up to you."
Edward opened his eyes in the room, a deep frown on his face.
{AN: I don't think anyone cares but the volume called Undead is over. The next volume is called Time Criminal.}