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Edward looked at the three things in front of him: two of them were Deathly Hallows, while the other was a new World Gate he personally made for this occasion.
Without hesitation, he began his plan.
The Elder Wand and the Invisible Cloak floated in the air together with a black hue enveloping them. The World Gate has both a golden and silver hue surrounding it. Finally, Morgana had a purple hue around her.
Then, a pillar of light came from these three groups before hitting the earth; upon closer look, the light had countless runes inside of them; there were at least a few hundred thousand of them.
After entering the Earth, the lights seemed to be forcefully pulling something off. However, Edward felt a great deal of resistance.
"Not enough energy?" muttered Edward. "Then, let's add more."
Edward's Gate of Truth suddenly appeared behind him. He clapped his hands together before touching it; the gate disintegrated into tiny particles before dispersing.
Edward was not the only one doing so. Every single individual in this world who was being controlled by him did the same thing. Even Morgana took the time to do the same.
Ever since he decided to confront Truth, he was prepared to destroy his Gate of Truth. But now, it could be used for a better purpose.
After making such a large sacrifice, Edward was able to gain access to the vast soul energy of this world as an equivalent exchange; it was the same energy that Truth was currently using to stop the explosion.
The majority of the soul energy was used to power the three light groups, while a small part was diverted to create a pool on the second floor: a pool full of pure soul energy.
Edward did not only want to use such pure soul energy for himself, but also study how it was possible for Truth to purify soul energy to such an extent; this is one of the many benefits he will receive after his plans are completed.
After being powered up by the soul energy, the light groups began to operate. Each of them pulled a small luminescent orb: this was the [Authority] of this world.
The Deathly Hallows forcefully pulled the [Death Authority], the Gate pulled both [Space and Time Authority] and Morgana pulled out [Wisdom Authority].
"Edwarddddd!" roared Truth after seeing what just happened; he was truly enraged this time. [Authority] is the source of his power and the reason he stayed in this world for so long.
After gaining sentience, Truth was lucky to be contacted by the Akashic Record because of how unique of an individual he was and because of his potential.
Through it, Truth learned a lot of things including knowledge regarding [Authority] which has many other names like Divinity, Godhead, Law, Rule, Concept, and so on.
A perfect way to explain [Authority] is why is it that Zeus is the ruler of the Sky, Poseidon the ruler of the sea, and Hades the ruler of the Underworld. That's because Zeus controlled the [Authority of Heaven], Poseidon the [Authority of the Sea], and Hades the [Authority of Death].
Another example is Athena and Ares. Both of them are Gods of War, so they share the same of [Authority of War]. But what's the difference between the two?
Well, Athena's authority focused more on the strategy and tactics of war, while Ares focused more on the brutal killing aspect of war.
One thing that he learned from the record was how to become a Void Lifeform. This method involved swallowing all the [Authority] of this world to transcend the limit and restriction of this world.
But now, his plan is being ruined.
"This might be the first time you address me by name," replied Edward as he watched Truth's agitated emotion. However, he soon frowned as he discovered that the rate that the latter could contain the explosion was rapidly increasing.
"If I were you, I would slow down," said Edward.
"And why is that? Are you scared now?" replied Truth with gritted teeth.
"No, I just do not want to use extreme means."
"Why do you mean?"
"If things do not go according to plan, then I will be forced to open a hole in the crystal wall and allow void energy to rush inside. That would not be good for any of us, would it?"
A look of terror appeared on Truth's face, "There is no way you have the ability to destroy the Crystal Wall."
"Try me," replied Edward calmly.
Truth had no way to determine whether he was bluffing, so he slowed down his actions, while Edward went back to his plan.
He first used an orb made of the metal magicium to contain the [Wisdom Authority]. As he looked at it, he could not understand anything from it. Then, he took the [Death Authority].
Instantly, his Cosmic Awareness activated and he knew the consequences of him taking away a small part of this world's Authority.
One of the first major events he did when he came to this world was attempting Human Transmutation, but he discovered that it was impossible to bring the dead back to life in this world as their souls would turn into pure energy to absorb by the world.
However, now, things have changed. His actions made it that Truth had lost control of Death in this world. The result of him taking away the Authority is that the concept of the afterlife will become a reality in this world.
From now on, a few lucky individuals, after their deaths, will not turn into energy, but their souls will enter the afterlife and even have the opportunity to reincarnate.
These individuals can be brought to life through Human Transmutation.
Then, Edward looked at the [Space-Time Authority] that he took. He activated his Cosmic Awareness to learn the consequences of his action.
"Interesting. The Multiverse?" muttered Edward. His World Gate has the ability to travel to parallel universes, but this function did not work in this world. So, he concluded that a multiverse did not exist in this world.
But now, he could have countless timelines diverging from the main one. In one of them, he saw that it was eerily similar to the 2003 Full Metal Alchemist Anime that did not follow the manga.
Edward did not watch that anime, so he knew little about it. But he was still aware of the main villain Dante. So, he recognized this timeline.
He has always wondered what happened to that story. Was it a part of this world, or an entirely different one? He guessed that in the future, Truth might become powerful enough to create different parallel universes.
Now, his actions are the reasons that the multiverse has opened.
Then, after sighing out loud, he quickly placed all the [Authority Orb] inside the World Gate, along with Morgana's survivor and the pool of pure soul energy.
He planted a chip in his brain before removing the consciousness of the main body from this clone. From now on, he was nothing but a robot acting based on a program.
Finally, he activated the Gate to send these things to the main body.
The reason that Edward left this clone was to let Truth kill it in the hopes of removing some of its anger. Although that was unlikely as Truth would most likely see through his plan, he still wanted to try.
After all, he did not want such a powerful being to do whatever it took to track him. If he was lucky enough to remove some of its anger and have him accept the loss, so be it. All he would lose is a clone. It's worth trying.
In the Void, the real Edward held another orb in his hand. Although he felt the return of the Second gate along with the other gains of this plan, he did not care.
His real objective was never these things; they were nothing but additional goals.
Edward was not petty enough to go through all these troubles because Truth placed a spiritual hint inside his mind.
His real goal all along has always been the Akashic Gate inside Truth's Knowledge Dimension.
During all those 50 years that Alchemists have been infiltrating the Dimension, he has been searching for it. Unfortunately, after finding it, its owner was next to it so Edward could not take it away.
Plus, according to his calculations, he might not even succeed if he tries to. So, he proceeded to plan B.
He wanted to gather an energy signature of the Gate to use in his plan. Using it as a guide, his success in finding the Akashic Record has increased by at least 20%.
Of course, the process was not that easy. Although Truth was occupied, the Eye of God was still an obstacle. However, after anything that it was an A.I, Edward had Morgana divert its attention.
After looking at the energy signature in front of him for a moment, he said, "Morgana, use all our energy and run away as fast as possible."
"As you wish, sir."
The Gate then ran with the fastest speed possible.
(AN; This volume is basically over. A few more chapters before Edward return home.)
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Title: Old Acquaintance
