"I'm going to be unavailable for a while."
"Unavailable? Is something wrong with you?" Coulson immediately asked.
"No, I just need to do some research."
"How long will that take?"
"Three to five years," Edward replied. "My clone will still be available if you need something, but don't mind if it suddenly collapses." He won't be using a soul clone since he needs his soul intact for the training. Instead, he will use a Shadow Clone, which is less reliable.
"Are you sure everything is alright?"
"Yes," Edward reassured. "While I'm absent, you can contact the council if there is an emergency, and they will decide whether to contact me."
"I understand."
"One more thing: keep an eye on the Fantastic Four," Edward continued. "If you see them coming in contact with a man in silver armor and green cloak, or a silver man flying on a surfing board, contact me directly."
"What a strange description. Can you send a visual projection?" Coulson asked.
"No problem."
After the conversation with Coulson, Edward visited Arishem the Judge, along with his other Celestials.
"Sorcerer, why have you imprisoned us?" Arishem asked.
"I apologize for how my companions treated you," Edward said as he dismissed all the seals imprisoning this dimension.
"This is unacceptable," Eson the Searcher said.
"Not really," Edward said calmly. He floated in the air, facing all these towering Celestials. However, somehow, he was the most intimidating one in this dimension. "Your actions could have caused the eradication of our timeline."
"We were unaware of the consequences of our actions," Tiamut the Communicator — who is the Celestial sealed on Earth — added.
"Your ignorance is the very reason why you still breathe," Edward said. "Let's cease all this talk about fault. What exactly caused you to open a breach to another timeline?"
"The Eternals on Planet Sereon in the Centauri Galaxy revolted and set a trap for us," Arishem said. "Eson was sent to the In-Between, but before he could return to our timeline, someone else summoned him to another reality. He sent a distress signal of the highest level, so I deplore to rescue him."
"It appears that the Eternals you've created are not reliable," Edward commented.
"It appears so," Arishem agreed.
"Sorcerer, what exactly do you want with us?" Tiamut asked.
"Your kind should now be aware of the current situation. Our timeline needs as much as possible, so I'm extending an invitation to the Guardian Council."
"Guardian Council?"
"It's an alliance of powerful and wise individuals whose sole purpose is the protection and survival of this timeline," Edward explained.
"What do you think?" Arishem asked.
"It's worth considering," Tiamut replied.
"The purpose of Celestials is to bring more planets with life in the universe — not join any council," Eon said.
"And when the universe is erased or forcefully fused with another, what will happen to your purpose? What will happen to you?" Edward asked.
"Fine, we will join your council," Arishem said.
"But —"
"I've made my decision." Arishen glanced at him.
"As you wish," Eon sighed. Arishem was the firstborn and was appointed as the leader by the Eternal Consciousness itself. He oversaw the Big Bang and numerous cosmic events that led to the current state of the universe.
"While I accept your proposition, the Celestials cannot stop their mission," Arishem continued.
"I wouldn't want you to," Edward replied. "We need as much power as possible, hence why I offered you the means to extricate the Celestials without killing the planet."
"And for that, we are eternally grateful," Arishem nodded.
"No need for the formality," Edward waved his hand. "I will introduce you to the other council members." Numerous large screens manifested before Edward, showing the faces of the other council members. He introduced everybody before sharing information about the convergence.
The council had a meeting to decide on a few major issues. The Celestial's Forge will be operating at full force to create armies of Eternals to serve as soldiers. Of course, Edward has fine-tuned their operation to ensure the Eternals cannot revolt like the others did.
The Celestials will also serve as ambassadors, using their status and fame to help SHIELD spread its wings throughout every corner of the universe, forming an organization that can gather information and manage all individuals with superpowers. Asgard is also famous in the universe, and Odin agreed to use his name and reputation to help the cause.
Odin is also preparing to expand the scale of Valhalla. The Allfather's idea is that anyone in their timeline who dies can be reborn in Valhalla as a Warrior Spirit for a second chance to continue the battle. Odin has prepared to recruit people from other timelines to be a part of this new version of Valhalla.
Odin is not the only person making significant moves. Frigga is slowly building the [Witch Sisterhood], which is an organization of witches with the power to peer into fate. One of Edward's greatest problems is the lack of Seers or Diviners to help his cause, so he was glad Frigga had this idea.
Wakanda was on the verge of creating their Tier 10 Panther Armor, and they will be providing the vibranium the council needs. Wakanda has also started to distribute the heart herbs to all its citizens while also preparing powerful armors and techs for their armies.
The Ancient One had two tasks to accomplish. The first one was to keep an eye on Kamar-Taj. Over the years, the sorcerers have been going on expeditions across multiple dimensions, eliminating hidden threats that may suddenly occur during the Grand Convergence.
They removed artifacts that could cause problems if they fell into the wrong hands, assassinated individuals who would have grown up to become powerful and a disaster to the world, and even intercepted the actions and opportunities of Demon Gods or Hell Lords to prevent them from becoming more menacing.
The Ancient One's task is to continue this work. But Edward also handed her the job of completing his Lantern Corps. The Yellow (Fear) Corps and Red (Rage) Corps are already established, but the recruiting process has not stopped. The Ancient One needs to keep the program running and ensure the people recruited — especially the demons — are kept in check.
More importantly, Edward needs someone to oversee the Death Corps for him. Most of the work has been done, and she only needs to put the final piece together before proceeding with the recruiting aspect. Edward won't have much time, so he delegated this task to her.
The last thing the council did was to create a team made of their faction's best tracker to look for the missing Hydra and Mephisto. The Hell Lord had ample time to cause trouble, but he never acted. Edward did not like how patient and calm Mephisto was acting. All signs indicate the bastard was about to cause trouble.
After the meeting, Edward did not immediately enter seclusion. Instead, he visited one of his pawns: Kaecilius. The council's tracking group was just a facade. His true trump card to catch Mephisto is Dark Kamar-Taj and Kaecilius. After a short talk with the latter, Edward agreed to increase his visit time to four days a week.
After ensuring that nothing was wrong, Edward finally felt relieved to enter seclusion to regain his superb control over his mana.
—
[How would you guys feel about a pause in the MCU? I could pivot to the story of the Purple-Robe Daoist and the Earth controlled by the Samsara Hall. For this arc, you would get to see Edward start as a human and use his intellect, knowledge, and wisdom to climb the ranks of power extremely fast.
[Or, I can continue with the MCU since I've already created an outline for the next arc. Tell me what you think in the comments.]