Arrival

"I have just received some information on Elysium, so we finally have a plan for the invasion. There are four layers to Elysium, but you will be divided into 3 groups.

Edward placed a device in the middle of the table to display some of the layout and information about the angels.

"The first group will include the elves and most magic knights to protect them. This group will be sent to the first layer and the weakest. Your objective is to subdue the angels as quickly as possible to the elves can start the summoning ceremony."

He zoomed to the second layer.

"The second group will consist of the magic captains, and you guys will be fighting the Archangels, who are on par with the High-ranking Devils. You can choose a leader amongst yourselves.

"The third layer is where the Seraphim and the two Lords reside. In terms of strength, the Seraphim Lords are even more powerful than the Underworld Leaders."

Edward was not lying; the Seraphim Lords have survived since the Ancient War. Meanwhile, only Astaroth has survived since the war. The other Devil Leaders–Lucifero and Beelzebub–only acquired their position after the war.

"When it comes to the third group, they will be Asta, Yuno, Yami, Mereoleona, Fugeoleon, Acier, Noelle, Vengeance, and Vanessa."

Edward chose these people because they have the highest combat talent and should reach Tier 5 after the training, which is the ceiling for all creatures in this world–except for Devil Rulers and Seraphim Lords, who can reach Tier 6.

And only God, Satan, and Edward have reached Tier 7 in the world, and the Wizard Sage might be the only human who reached Tier 6, or maybe he also reached Tier 7 with some unknown method.

As long as these people work together, they can defeat the two Seraphims and the Lords.

Of course, they were not the only ones expected to reach Tier 5 after the training ended. Charlotte, Dorothy Unsworth, and Rill Boismortier will do the same. However, Edward wanted these three to look out and protect the others in the first two layers to ensure nothing unexpected occurred.

"Sir, wouldn't it be better to have a Healing Mage on our side?" asked Fugeoleon. "Plus, Charmy's recovery food magic would be very useful."

"Charmy is responsible for the Magic Captains in the second layer. They can come to your aid if they defeat their opponents in time. As for the healing, you won't need it because of this."

He waved his hand to show them a metal heart.

"This is a Devil Heart or Arcane Heart for a better name. To be precise, it is a magical artifact created based on my recent research."

Edward's research on Devil Heart so Arcanists can have higher survivability is not complete yet. But, he could still create a magical item version.

"This heart will provide you the same healing factor as a devil. Unfortunately, the materials needed to create one of them are rare, so all members of team 3 can have one. But the others will only have a sub-par version with less than 20% of the healing capability.

"So, a healing mage like Mimosa is needed to help them in case something goes wrong."

Everyone understood the reason for the development. Then, Acier asked: "What about the fourth layer?"

"This is the layer where God lives. And as I mentioned before, he is a being on par with me, hence the greatest threat to our invasion."

He then looked at Secre Swallowtail.

"This is where you come into the equation. I will give you an artifact with abundant mana. Your mission is to use it to make a seal powerful enough to block the entire 4th layer."

Secre frowned slightly before nodding his head.

"I know the training session did not have much information on sealing."

The Empire's knowledge of sealing magic could only be classified as above average. However, this should change very soon with the Sealing Art from the Eastern Continent. Furthermore, Edward also planned for a brief visit to the Naruto Universe to get their Fuinjutsu.

"I recently got some more information from the Eastern Continent, which should be useful to you."

Secre's eyes lit up despite no change in her facial expression.

"How is your study of the Arcane Rune Magic System?"

"It's going okay. Too much stuff to study to cast one spell. But it's cool being able to use other elements." replied Yami.

"It's simply not as convenient as Grimoires. I want to cut people, not study like a nerd," added Jack the Ripper.

Edward frowned as he felt the general sentiment of these knights toward this system was not positive.

"You better make sure you can use the Arcane Versions of all the spells in your Grimoire. If I'm not mistaken, there is a high chance that your Grimoires will not work in Elysium."

Everyone became serious after hearing this. Without their Grimoires, they cannot use advanced spells, thus drastically weakening their strength. And facing such a level of an opponent with only basic spells. Well, none of them here would survive such an ordeal.

"There is still enough time to adapt. I know that magic used to be exciting and only required training, but you should quickly adapt to the status quo of studying; it will benefit your future."

A few intelligent individuals sensed these words had deeper meaning or significance behind them. But they could not think of any reason.

"Dorothy, you must use your Dream Magic as a communication link between the layers."

"Yes, Sir."

Edward nodded his head. "The angels have an ability called [Worship Poison], an aura released from their bodies that can affect the mind, forcing weaker individuals to worship them. I will modify the training booths so you can train to resist this ability. I will also craft some magic items to help, but you still need to reach a certain standard before the mission."

Edward then looked at Nacht, the vice-captain of the Black Bull Squad.

"You will be the first to sneak into Elysium, and you must spend an entire month without being detected. Are you prepared?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. Finally, your personal equipment forged by the dwarves will arrive soon. So, test and get used to them in the training booth. Now, the meeting is over. If anyone has anything else to add, do so now?"

Someone raised their hands, and Edward smiled after seeing who it was. "Noelle, what is it?"

"Undine-san wants to take part in this battle."

"Did you tell her of the danger?" Edward asked with a slight frown.

"I did."

"In that case, I'll accept the help. You two can train to achieve Spirit Fusion. Anything else?"

"I also want to participate." This time, it was Lichita who spoke.

"You can't."

"Why not?" She did not like the idea of letting her two sons do something so dangerous when she could help.

"Now that I can control my physique, I'm very strong. And my magic can be useful."

Edward sighed but did not answer her out loud. Instead, he talked directly to her mind explaining the ultimate fate of Zuriel, God's Plan for her and Asta, and how she might be a liability to this mission.

"So, that's how it is," Lichita muttered under her breath.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. After all, I already expected this."

Edward motioned for Asta to comfort her, but the idiot had a confused look on his face. So, he had to rely on Yuno instead. Then, Edward dismissed the team, telling them to continue training.

'Alright, let's prepare for the underworld.'

He opened a portal outside of the Spade Kingdom. From a distance, he could sense the sealing magic prepared for him that surrounded the entire nation.

'I could not find the Origin Grimoire in the Diamond Kingdom, but I could sense it here. Moris likely took it to help the Dark Triads open the gate to the underworld.'

He closed his eyes before stomping on the ground. A magic circle appeared with him at the center before entering deep unground, invisible, and undetectable by normal means. He then controlled it to spread until it covered the entire Spade Kingdom.

Once he finished, he teleported to the Underworld since he left a coordinate mark there when he dealt with Megicula. While invisible, Edward traveled to the lower levels while secretly leaving undetectable magic circles.

Of the seven levels, he did this for six of them, only leaving the lowest level occupied by the rulers. Then, he left as quietly as he came.

…

The Void: A city traveled for a few months before arriving at what looked like a sphere, stopping outside.

"Is this what you called the Source Wall?" asked Fleur.

"Yes," replied Hermione. "We finally arrived at our destination."

(As you can already guess, we will take a small break to focus on the Konosuba World.)