C-137 stood up with a slight smug look on the corner of his face. He chose this formula for myriad reasons. Firstly, it's one of his highest achievements, combining the knowledge of many civilizations.
Secondly, space-time magic was something even his variants found difficult despite their outrageous talents. Additionally, not all of them specialize in Space-Time Magic, so he made the citadel tests to determine whether someone has developed Multiverse Travel.
He needed to route out his competition and detect their level of Space-Time Magic. Finally, taking into account that knowledge about the Astral Realm was rare amongst his variants and his unique Divine Runes, he knew he had a high chance of succeeding.
"Time is up," declared C-137. "Please comment and evaluate this formula."
Murmured echoed in the room before M-616 said: "It seems to be a Space-Time Magic Formula, opening a gate to somewhere."
"Probably a special dimension," said F-823. "The application of time seemed quite unique."
"The core of this formula should be these unique runes," commented A-001, his voice slow and calming. "However, the way they work seemed different from any magical runes I have seen."
The discussions continued as many people gave their input. C-137 watched everything calmly with his confident look. However, that was on the outside.
His eyes focused on two people who had not said anything much: G-003 and L-123.
'L-123 is a god, so he should know about the Astral Realm. Even if he revealed the truth before I did, I can still impress the crown. However, G-003's silence is raising eyebrows.'
While C-137 paid attention to Edward or G-003, the latter was mostly paying attention to L-123.
'Has this guy not discovered the Astral Plane?'
So far, L-123 showed no signs he knew about other planes and the Astral Realm.
'It's possible the main source of his followers is the Multiverse.'
'If that's the case, he should have reached Tier 9 by now by conquering the Milky Way Galaxy.'
'Unless he encountered Guzznad,' countered Morgana. 'His plan might be to conquer the Solar System across multiple timelines to avoid dealing with Guzznad.'
'This is a slow way to reach Tier 9 and a good way to avoid directly confronting Guzznad. However, after we reveal the truth about this formula, doesn't that mean he will access the Astral Realm? He will have more planes and ways to reach higher Tiers.'
Conquering planes is not simple, especially the Tier 10 ones. However, the most likely scenario is he is discovered by the enemies of the Cosmic Faith Plane, captured, and has his soul searched for information,' replied Edward.
'That's even more dangerous. Knowledge about the Council might be revealed, making things more difficult for us.'
'True, so we must become president and take precautionary measures,' concluded Edward, who was finally ready to take the stage.
"It's a formula to open a portal to the Astral Realm and reach other planes."
Everyone looked at G-003. Meanwhile, C-137 was doing everything to remain calm and control his facial expression.
"Other planes? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" asked A-001.
"The Harry Potter Universe is only one plane of a myriad?" asked L-123.
"Are the other planes anime worlds, or things like the Wizard, Titan, or Abyss Plane?" asked C-666 with an eerie voice. He did not specialize in Space-Time Magic, focusing more on Dark Magic. However, the information revealed in this meeting might change that.
"The latter," replied Edward.
"Have you been to other planes?" asked someone else.
"Yes, I've been to a Knight Battle System Plane, a Beast Master Plane, and the Abyss Plane. I've also come into contact with people from the Wizard Plane," replied G-003.
Everyone's eyes twinkled.
"You guys should be careful in the future. From what I know, our plane–called the Cosmic Faith Plane–is the enemy of everybody. Anyone from there will be hunted down and captured."
"Oh, why?"
"I don't know. Apparently, our plane used to have a glorious past," replied Edward and no one asked anymore.
"You said this was a formula to open a gate to the Astral Realm?"
"Correct. It's incomplete, but the general idea is to condense time energy until becoming denser like a star before collapsing it, like a black hole, creating something similar to Time Black Hole or Time Wormhole," added Edward.
"The idea is genius, but the application is too rough. He's only using an immense amount of Time Energy, condensing it until it explodes. The only real technical aspect should be to control the explosion and not let it get out of control.
"However, the formula did not show how to do it. So, as far as I'm concerned, he might not control the explosion and let it happen in some random isolated timeline before leaving and returning after the Time Wormhole is created."
C-137's face was ugly to look at, but things were not finished.
"I'm guessing the core of your magical achievements is that you successfully absorbed the Death God–Herpo the Foul–powers, soul, and memories. From him, you learned the prototype of the Divine Runes and finished them yourself. You also probably learned about the Astral Realm from him.'
C-137 did not say anything, while everybody else paid attention. Herpo is the greatest adversary all variants have to face; Voldermort is their first adversary, but he's only an opponent when the variants are young during the First Wizard War. After that, he became a clown for most of them.
Meanwhile, a lot of people successfully defeat Herpo, some fail, some run away from him, and others cooperate with the latter.
"Your aura is weird, containing a well-hidden hint of Divinity," continued Edward. "Are you trying to fuse Divine Energy and Mana? You should bring out that research, it's more interesting than this formula. I'm willing to complete this formula in exchange for your research on the fusion of Divine Energy and Mana."
C-137 had never wanted to kill someone more than G-003. He felt bare naked before the latter as if all his secrets were seen through. Furthermore, he hated the contempt in the latter's voice for one of his greatest magical achievements.
"Thank you for the offer, We can discuss it after the election," said C-137, successfully calming himself down after casting a spiritual spell on himself.
"Now, let the AI decide on my score."
His final score was 220 points out of 300. Although Edward mercilessly dissected his formula, he was the only one who completely saw through it. So, C-137 still had a high score.
Afterward, these variants experienced the worst day in their lives. No matter what spell, formula, or theories these people came up with, G-003 analyzed it quickly and even gave suggestions for optimizing it.
These variants questioned their sanity, wondering if they were in a simulation being tortured by their enemy. The situation worsened when it was Edward's turn, and he showed them Luna's latest research about Divination. He knew all his variants suffered from the same weakness--Divination Magic.
So, he took advantage of this weakness to embarrass them.
These variants began questioning their existence while ripping their hair from their heads. In the end, G-003 had the highest score, while C-137 came in third, while A-001 came in second with 225 Points.
His research on Healing Magic was something even G-003 praised, so the old man was quite talented and successful in his field.
After this event, people began to wonder whether there was a need for the combat aspect of this election. After all, G-003 is among the top fighting powers in this room, so there was no way for C-137 and A-001's scores to be so high above his and make up the gap in points.
Alas, C-137 and a few others insisted on this test.