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Edward frowned after hearing this, "Can you be more specific?"
"Hmm, in that case, certain background knowledge is required. Do you know about the Ancient War of Annihilation?"
"Are you talking about the Angel-Demon War? I know a little?"
"That saves me some effort. So, you must know the Hero Alan and the Ten Guardians?"
"I know of Alan but never heard of the Ten Guardians," answered Edward.
"The Guardians were the most talented individuals underneath Alan during the war; they were indispensable in ending the war."
"So, what do they have to do with anything?"
"One of the Guardian was the Yamato clan's ancestor, Daisuke Yamato," said Yakou slowly, who seemed to want to take his time.
"After the war, Daisuke felt that the Grimoire was a restriction on humans and other races instead of the boost it was viewed as. So, he wanted to create a magic system not too reliant on it."
"So, he is the creator of Onmyouji?"
"He did not do it alone, but essentially, yes."
"So, what does this have to do with the Grimoire and the Spirit World?"
"As you know, Spirit User with attack abilities can purify devils and protect from angels' worship poisoning."
Angels are as dangerous of a race as devils. While the latter enjoyed killing and destruction, the former is not innocent despite appearances. Angels have the ability to force creatures to worship them; this ability is referred to as worship poisoning.
Edward learned all this from Zuriel and prepared a method to counter this ability for The Elysium's Invasion.
"Daisuke wanted the Onmyouji system to have the power of Spirits, so he sought a way to create a world full of them. And the Grimoire is the core or source of that world."
Edward squinted his eyes, "How exactly did he create an entire world of spirits?"
"The power of legends and myths. Daisuke found an empty dimension and used the Grimoire's ability to modify it to gather the power of myths and legends. Then, he spread myths and legends about gods, demons, and spirits.
"And as more and more people read these legends and even believe in them, the first spirit was born in that dimension. And with time, the Spirit World became what it is now."
'Interesting,' thought Edward. If that was true, the Spirit World was more valuable than previously estimated. The Empire is a multi-cultural and multi-racial one, so there is no lack of myths and legends.
These stories should increase the variety of Shikigami or Spirits contained in the Spirit World.
"Tell me, why is the Grimoire not kept inside the Spirit World? Wouldn't it be safer to keep it hiding there?"
"It was, but one Shikigami discovered it and created a disaster that almost destroyed the eastern continent; that disaster is the source of the Spirit World fusing with the normal world; in other words, the Spirit Disasters."
"Did you try to take control of the Grimoire and fail?"
Yakou momentarily paused after hearing this before nodding his head with a wry smile: "Yes. I thought that I could, at last, achieve immortality or the ultimate form of power. Unfortunately, the Grimoire deemed me not worthy to be its master."
"So, you decided to reincarnate in the hope of being born into a more talented body. I'm guessing your plan was to keep reincarnating until you find a body talented enough to control the Grimoire."
Edward looked at the silent Yakou and knew he was correct. The former Emperor probably wanted Akimitsu's body because of his talent to finally achieve his lifelong ambition.
Edward pondered deeply about the information he had just received and found a few loopholes in Yakou's story. How did Daisuke have the Origin Grimoire?
Did he take it from the Wizard Sage? He would have to be extremely powerful to do so, and Edward doubted he was this capable. And even if he was, why take only one part instead of the entire thing?
So, the logical conclusion is Alan gave the Grimoire to him. Now, why would he encourage someone else to create a magic system that would compete with his legacy of Grimoires?
'One possible answer: he wanted to use the Spirit World to reinforce the seal he placed on God and Satan. Moreover, I'm pretty sure both Alan and God have managed to take some control of the Universe Will.'
"What did you do with the Gate's tokens?" asked Edward.
"I destroyed them. Don't look at me like that; I'm telling the truth. I did not want anyone else to open it while I was gone, so I ensured that I was the only one who could open it."
Edward did not care about the tokens since he had found the correct method to crack the sealing on the Gate. With the Yamato clan's bloodline, he can create a counter-sealing ceremony to open the gate; it only requires a little time and caution.
Furthermore, he had a plan that would shoot two birds with one stone. If he succeeded, he would not only acquire the Origin Grimoire but also cripple the Yamato Dynasty's military power, thus fast-tracking his rebellion to overthrow the ruling class and spread semi-modern concepts in this place to make it easier to integrate into the Empire.
Edward looked at Yakou, thinking about how to deal with him. The man was truly talented. During the conversation, Yakou used his breathing, slight body movements, fingers, and even facial features to replace mantras to cast a spell to free the princess; it was an ingenious method that Edward had never seen or thought of.
With his talent, he would make a great Arcanist. His only problem was his ambitions, but Edward had plenty of experience in controlling over-ambitious people.
"When you two wake up, you will forget this entire conversation."
After saying that, Yakou and the princess felt the world spinning before Matsumoto woke up in her bed. She felt as if she had an important dream but could not remember. The same was for Yakou.
At the same time, Edward opened his eyes in his dorm.
'These two should not be able to alert the royal family, so my plan can proceed smoothly.'
He summoned a bunch of puppet talismans before handing them invisible inks. He instructed them to draw the Counter-Sealing Array that would open the Gate. And since the array would surround the Academy, the Royal Palace, and the Protection Hall, it would take some time.
Western Continent, Clover Kingdom, Wizard King's Castle:
The magic captains, Mereoleona, Acier, and Patolli, sat at a square table with a frown. The other people participating in the invasion stood around these people. Compared to three months, these people's mana and overall strength had drastically increased.
However, their training was far from finished.
A few minutes later, Clone #9 walked into the room, and after feeling the somber look on everyone's face, he asked: "What's wrong with all of you?"
No one answered him at first before Yami asked: "Are you really that powerful?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about the training scenario where you went mad, and we must stop you."
"Oh, you're talking about that. No, that's only 80% of my strength."
Everyone looked at him with the expression that they did not believe him. For that scenario, they tried many methods to deal with him, but all their strategies ended in failure.
In one strategy, they gathered their knowledge of the Mana Method to create a magic array that could gather the mana of all the citizens in the Clover, Diamond, Heart, and even Spade Kingdom.
They thought they could stop him with this power, but he still killed all of them and the people on the continent.
In another strategy, some of the magic captains became devil hosts to boost their current unimaginable strength. But it was useless.
In one of their most prominent strategy, they gather all the Spatial Mage of the continent to turn the underworld into a Dimension Bomb. Then, they sacrificed countless lives to trick the mad Edward into the underworld before detonating it.
Unfortunately, he still survived.
"I can't do anything if you don't believe me. Well, let's start the meeting. I have received new information on Elysium so that we can make a plan for the invasion."
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