Edward understood Charles' situation after a quick analysis. One of the bloodlines he fused with was the Thunderbird, which had the ability to predict danger. However, this was insufficient information to know what happened to his agent.
Without hesitation, he activated one of the rings on his finger. An illusory image manifested behind him.
"A floating city," yelled Phoebe, who quickly covered her mouth as she realized the situation. However, she could not help it. His father would tell her stories of floating cities, the ultimate creation of advanced civilizations capable of killing Gods.
Her father promised her he would build a floating city one day, including one for her. But now, she saw a floating city behind this man that her family seemed scared of.
Charles did not know how to feel. As a person from Earth, he knew better than anyone what the Floating City represented; it was the dream of all Mages, the pinnacle of magical civilizations. He dreamt of building one, but he knew his Magic Empire was far from this stage.
He had long suspected the Arcane Empire had a floating city. However, his memories regarding the matter were probably deleted after signing the contract, so he could only guess,
But now, he finally had confirmation.
Edward ignored these people's reaction. Traveling through the Multiverse was dangerous, so he created ways for him to use the power of [Netheril] even if it was not with him.
As such, with this projection, he had no trouble fighting any Tier 10 threats for a short duration.
After accessing the city's power, Edward mobilized his [Space-Time Rule] and cast a spell with Charles as a medium. Then, a screen appeared, showing the events of a few days ago.
He saw how Charles' experiment failed, but that was not his main focus. Soon after the later turned-back time, two invisible people appeared around Charles.
The real Charles had an ugly expression because he never detected any of these people; in other words, they could have easily killed him, and he would not even know how he died.
Edward focused on these two people; they looked humanoid, one woman and a man. Their bodies appeared illusory, making them look like ghosts. However, Edward's intuition told him they were not ghosts.
"The Time Anomaly we sensed is from this timeline, but I don't see any criminal," said the woman, and the man nodded his head. "This person has a talent for time magic, but he's not the criminal."
"So, what should we do?" asked the woman. The man did not immediately answer but asked: "Do you feel like someone is watching us?"
"Huh, now that you mention it, I do feel a looming sight."
Edward immediately frowned and adjusted his spell and rules.
"It's gone," said the man.
"Are you sure?" Her senses were not as sharp as her partners, so she only had a vague feeling.
"Yes."
"What to do? Do you want to search for the source?"
"No, let's focus on our main job," he replied. "I detect another person with high-level time magic talent. Furthermore, the residual energy on him indicated he had just traveled 24 hours to the past."
The two disappeared, and someone else arrived. Edward immediately recognized the place–the agent's hideout.
"It seems it's not him," said the woman. "He has no marking of a criminal."
"It doesn't matter," said the woman. "The residual energy on him is enough to convict him of a crime."
"Is this okay?" She knew this man probably was accidentally involved in an accident related to time, but it did not mean he was a criminal.
"We cannot return without any success, so it's fine for him to take the blame."
The two appeared before the agent.
"Who are you?"
"We are the Time Keepers. According to the rules established by the Time Guardians, you have broken the rules of time by participating in dangerous experiments that negatively affect the space-time continuum.
"Please do not resist."
The agent frowned before immediately mobilizing his mana, trying to resist. Alas, it was futile. The female Time Keeper was the weakest, but she was still Tier 9. Meanwhile, the man had reached Tier 10. Meanwhile, the agent was only Tier 7, capable of using Tier 8 Spell with his Arcane Spark.
So, with a wave of her hand, a prison made of time energy imprisoned him. The agent looked at these two. Then, his eyes turned white as he passed out.
"What happened to him?" asked the woman as she checked on the agent.
"He wiped out his memory," said the man, giving her the answer before she finished checking.
"Why?"
"It's because he has a secret he wants to take to the grave," said the man. "I have seen this kind of thing many times. Usually, these types of people belong to a powerful force who has trained them to be absolutely loyal."
"Can we recreate his memories?"
The man checked the agent's soul before shaking his head, "No, he wiped out clean, and the magic he used is not simple."
He looked at the room to check for any more information. However, he discovered this person had also wiped out all his traces from this place. Even if he used Time Spells to recreate the latter's past, he could not find anything.
"The situation might be more serious than we thought," he muttered before checking the planet again; he wondered why such a secretive and capable organization would send someone to such a desolate place.
However, besides a severely weakened Death God that is imprisoned, there was nothing special about this place.
"Let's go and report to our superiors," said the man before taking the agent away.
Edward ended his spell as fury flashed in his eyes.
"Time Guardians, our conflict just got personal."
He did not know the fate of his agent, but he knew it would not be anything good. Since the person was his agent, his citizen, no one could hurt him without paying the price. So, whoever or whatever these Time Guardians were, he would make them pay the price.
Edward exhaled to calm down, analyzing the situation. He had a major doubt:
'Why did these Time Keepers not take the Elder Gods's Divine Spark? Charles was experimenting with the Time Divine Spark, so they should be aware of its existence and be interested. But based on their actions, they seemed not to detect their presence.
'The only explanation I can think of is they do not care for the Divine Spark, or someone protected these things as they did not want the Guardians to get their hands on them, most likely Cronai.'
Edward felt the first theory was more likely. If these guys were in charge of safekeeping the Multiverse, they should have gotten their hands on a few Divine Sparks by now, so these things might not be of great value to them.
'Forget this for now,' thought Edward as he focused on Charles.
"You need to come with me."
"Why?" asked Charles, his body trembling. Although he expected this, he still had a faint hope in his heart.
"I have offended the Time Guardians and become one of their criminals," said Edward, telling him the truth. "I'm trying to find a way to deal with them, and you might be the answer."
"What does it have to do with our husband?" asked Bellatrix angrily.
"His experiment also broke the rules, and he should have been a criminal. Yet, the Time Keepers did not detect him. You should understand why."
"Because I'm a Time Lord," replied Charles, one of the few things he still remembered from the Empire; he remembered the old man who told him of his status while being imprisoned at an experimental table.
"That's right."
"The Empire should have other Time Lords; you can use them."
"As a fellow traveler, you should understand we are all unique. So, you must come with me," said Edward, making Charles clench his hand.
Swish!
Phoebe got out of her father's lap and rushed toward Edward. Charles was too late to react, and no one expected this to happen, so she soon reached him, held onto his robe, and said:
"Uncle, don't take my daddy away."
Everyone's face in the room was pale, but Edward ignored him; he lowered himself to her level and caressed her head.
"Don't worry, your daddy will only help me with something. Once he finishes, he will come back."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Edward looked at Charles, "I'll give you time to leave a clone to tend to your Empire."
"Are you really not going to kill me?"
"Since I gave her my words, I won't go back. But don't expect to come out of the experience intact."
Charles felt relieved. Although he expects to lose many memories once the experience ends, it might be better not to remember what happens.
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