Ian opened his eyes and took a long breath. Although he has always been calm and composed, he also has his own worries. After all, he only has the Eighth Tier position now, but he is facing a Tenth Tier god - especially a god who has conquered countless planes and has countless believers, even with the support of Netheril Floating City's connection, he cannot completely rest assured.
"I can't believe you actually tried to fool her," Morgana appeared and said. She was wearing a suit and trousers and looked like a successful lawyer. Paired with her beautiful purple hair, her beauty and charm were no less than any goddess.
Ian ignored her because he knew this was one of her hobbies - role playing.
"I didn't," Ian denied.
"Are you really going to let her join Empire?"
"Yes. I have always been very tolerant of truly talented people." Ian replied.
"But, she will become a Arcanist of Tenth Tier." Morgana reminded.
"As long as Soul Limit is broken, it will be extremely easy for me and the many geniuses at the Empire to be promoted to the position of Tenth Tier, especially after we completely control Dark Multiverse," Ian explained. "By that time, her strength will not pose much of a threat."
"I see," House-elf nodded, "Then do you think she will agree?"
"I don't know, but we have a good chance of winning." Ian replied. He found that this Goddess of Magic was easier to see and understand than he expected. Of course, one of the main reasons was that she despised Ian when they first met, which allowed him to observe and infer many things about her through her body language and basic information.
"There are currently several factors preventing her from joining us. The first is the issue of strength. Although Empire currently shows extraordinary potential, it is far from enough in her eyes," Ian analyzed. "However, when we completely eliminate Guznader and prove to these gods that Milky Way Galaxy is still a restricted area that they cannot enter, she will understand our true strength and will be more willing to accept my proposal."
"Interesting. What else is there?" Morgana continued to ask.
"Her status is also a big problem. She has ruled at a high position for too long. It is difficult for her to give up her current power or even be subordinate to others. There is not much I can do about this kind of problem. I can only let time change everything and seduce her with more benefits."
"This is indeed a good strategy. We can use benefits to induce her to cooperate with us. After a period of cooperation, her behavior will be regarded as betrayal by other gods, thus gradually isolating her until she has no choice but to join us." Morgana instantly deduced Ian's follow-up plan.
"The only problem now is how to seduce her. She has reached the pinnacle of power, wealth and resources in this world, and there are very few things that can arouse her interest." Ian pondered.
"We can reveal some basic information about Multiverse. However, that is extremely dangerous knowledge. Once leaked, the consequences will be disastrous." Morgana suggested.
"At this stage, the knowledge about Multiverse must not be used. Even if she joins us, I will not disclose this information easily." Ian rejected the proposal. Multiverse It is the key to promotion to the Eleventh Tier position. Any relevant news will set off a storm in the entire Cosmic Faith Plane, and may even trigger a terrifying storm in the endless plane of the Astral Realm.
"In this case, only the knowledge of Ancient Magekind can interest her," Morgana added, "Or, she may also be interested in the information about Aether Mana Network that we obtained from Akashic Records."
Ian nodded in agreement. Then, he pulled out a white thread of memory from his temple.
"Send this memory to Imperial Think Tank and let them deeply analyze this meeting to see if they can find out any details I missed. I want them to create a detailed portrait of her." Ian ordered. "In addition, immediately awaken our spies lurking in the center of the universe and let them collect more intelligence about Delilah."
"Is it too dangerous to contact these people now?" Morgana asked.
Ian has long since planted spies into the central area of the universe, where all the most powerful creatures, gods, and top civilizations gather. However, due to the extreme danger inherent in that place, these spies have always been dormant.
"This risk is worth it. Besides, they just need to be extra careful not to dig too deep into her core secrets. When this war is over, we should provide more support to these lurkers."
"Follow your orders." Morgana said, and sent the instructions to the relevant departments, "Okay, it's time for us to get back to work. Have you obtained the information?"
Cracking the Mark: Taking Control of the Beginning of Mana Network
"I got it. When her mood was fluctuating violently, I successfully scanned some of her soul fluctuations. With this data, we should be able to decipher the imprint she left." Morgana replied, while bringing up a holographic screen that displayed complex data.
"Great job," Ian nodded with satisfaction. With this information, he could suppress the Divinity imprint left by Delilah on Aether Mana Network, thereby using his enchantment array to draw endless magic power from Mana Network.
Ian returned to crazy research. Two weeks later, his enchantment project was finally completed. Then, he left a clone to carry out the Second Tier phase of the project - completely erasing her imprint, so as to fully take over Aether Mana Network throughout Milky Way Galaxy. However, this is a long-term project and cannot be accomplished overnight.
After the project was completed, Morgana sent the enchanting technology to the relevant departments, while Ian returned his attention to the war.
Three months later.
Ian was sitting on a lounge chair by the beach, holding a glass of margarita in his hand, with a holographic screen suspended in front of him. No one on this beach recognized this as their Emperor, and he also took this opportunity to enjoy a moment of relaxation.
"These little guys did not disappoint me," Ian said while watching the video played on the screen. In the video, the magic knights from the Black Clover universe were fighting fiercely with the Empire's scholar-type Arcanists.
These battles are not all victories. After all, there are too many amazing geniuses in the Empire, and even if these knights have the help of Time Acceleration, they are still too young after all. Therefore, even with the ability of Anti-Magic Asta, who astonished the world with their abilities, also suffered many defeats. However, the original goal of Ian was just to make them into totems showing the powerful strength of battle mages. From the current point of view, this plan has achieved initial success.
Now, with his secret promotion, the social status of combat type Arcanist is steadily improving, and the huge status disparity between the two classes is being gradually resolved.
"Although it has not reached the ideal level in my mind, we are on the right track." Ian murmured to himself, preparing to turn off the screen and enjoy his sunbathing.
At this moment, he received a notification of the highest level security alert. He quickly clicked it and his eyes lit up instantly. "Done? Very good, great."
Empire successfully built the second Tenth Tier and Aether Core! Thanks to the new Mana Network Enchantment Array he developed, the time it took to make the core was only a fraction of the original plan. The Mist Array that protects Milky Way Galaxy was completed a few weeks ago. Now, as long as it survives this war, Empire no longer needs to worry about the safety of Milky Way Galaxy.
"Guznader, how dare you blackmail me twice," Ian sneered and whispered, recalling the humiliating experience when he was forced to send another Ninth Tier and Energy Core a few days ago, "Now, it's time for you to repay the debt with interest."
He immediately contacted Olivia, and she should have received the good news.
"Did you see that?" he asked.
"I see," she responded with a curt nod.
"So, what's the next plan?" Ian asked.
"Since we no longer need to worry about peripheral security issues, we can let go of our hands and feet, slowly encroach on Guznader's territory, and completely crush him with absolute strength."
Today, Milky Way Galaxy has been divided into two. Now, it is time to take over half of the Guznader star field and let the entire Milky Way Galaxy achieve unification under the same political power and the same voice.
"That's great. Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Tomorrow before launching the final expedition, we will hold a top-level strategic meeting. You need to attend in person."
"I'll be there on time."
Olivia nodded and then decisively cut off the communication.
"She's really cold," Ian shook his head and sighed, "I probably really need to find some time to have a good talk with her."
He raised his head and looked up at the blue sky. He knew in his heart that this cruel interstellar war was about to come to an end, which meant that Arcane Empire was about to enter a new era.
"Hope everything goes well."