A few minutes later, many people apparated in front of a large manor wearing strange and creepy masks. At first, they were surprised at not seeing their Lords, then they were relieved when they saw Severus waiting for them.

With a motion of Snape's hand, all the Death Eaters removed their masks before following inside. There, they did not see Voldemort as expected, but Edward sitting in the main seat with Bellatrix standing next to him. Then, to these people's more surprise, Severus walked over and stood to Edward's left side.

"Seat!" said a commanding voice. Many people subconsciously did so, while a few wanted to say something. However, before they could do so, they felt an overwhelming fear taking over their body, their souls; so, they quietly sat down.

"I know all of you were expecting your Dark Lord, unfortunately, he is still dead. Well, at least, still hovering between life and death, and using any means to live his miserable life."

After saying this, Edward waved his hand, then an image of Voldemort's life in the forest of Albania manifested in front of everyone. All the Death Eaters watched how their Lord had to possess animals, and eat raw animals to sustain his life. The process did not happen only once, but day after day.

The only words that could describe the current Dark Lord now are: miserable beyond belief.

Meanwhile, in the corner of his eyes, Edward noticed the disdainful sneer on Bellatrix's face and the surprise on the Death Eaters' face.

Then, he started to speak: "All of you here are wise and should be able to guess my purpose in summoning you here, so give me your answer straight."

The whole room instantly became quiet as everyone was afraid to say anything; it was as if everyone was waiting for someone else to speak first. The silence lasted for a few minutes. As a matter of fact, Bellatrix wanted to say something, but Edward had already warned not to intervene during the meeting unless otherwise stated by him.

When everything seemed to be about to last for a very long time, someone suddenly stood up and said: "My lord, I offer my allegiance."

Edward nodded before saying: "Lucius, I always admire your Malfoy's family to know when the wind of changes approaches, and knowing which side to choose. You will not regret your decision"

Lucius' face became happy and relieved at the same time; he sat down while giving his wife a thankful look. It was her who encouraged him to stand up and be the first to do so.

As for the other Death Eaters, many of them had a look of regret on their faces for not being the first one. So, they quickly stood up and offered their "undying" loyalty.

As a matter of fact, these people have long decided to follow Edward. After all, he is a very talented wizard and a member of a pure-blood family.

With all his accomplishments, none of these people did believe that his accomplishment would be lower than the previous Dark Lord. The reason that they did not immediately swear their allegiance was that they wanted to see whether Edward would use threat or benefit to force them to follow him; that way, these Death Eaters would know what kind of Lord he would be and how best to serve him.

Unfortunately, they did not expect that the Malfoy family would betray this tacit understanding so quickly.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Of course, not all the Death Eaters were willing to serve.

Suddenly, more than three Death Eaters stood up and said at the same time: "Ava Kedavra!"

Three green lights flashed from their wands and headed straight to Edward. Meanwhile, Bellatrix--who was on the side--wanted to act quickly and stand in front of her Lord, but she discovered that she was incapable of moving.

So, the three green lights hit Edward simultaneously, while all the Death Eaters gasped, however, nothing happened afterward. The Killing Curse hit Edward, but nothing happened; he was perfectly fine.

The Death Eaters would be alright if he used the counter-curses, but with just his magic resistance, he resisted three killing curses from three Death Eaters who survived the First Wizarding War.

Meanwhile, Edward smiled after this attack, then looked at the three assailants. Suddenly, a blue flame started from the Dark Marks of these people, then burned their bodies into ash.

"I wanted to give all of you the illusion of choice," said Edward calmly, "But it seemed that it was unnecessary." After that, he took out his wand, waved it into the air, creating a strange ripple in the air.

Following this, all the Death Eaters suddenly felt that the Dark Mark in their hand started moving, then it changed to the same design as the one in Bellatrix. Following this, all of them felt a terrifying pain in their souls.

Soon, they discover that the new mark was actually engraved in their souls; all of them could guess the meaning of this.

After the experience was over, all of them had a look of fear on their faces. In this room, there were only four people who did not have the mark in their souls.

Snape, Soleil--who was Edward's sweetheart--however, her husband was not spared.

"Thank you, my Lord, for your benevolence," suddenly said Lucius, as he and his wife only had their mark on their hands changed.

"Since you were wise enough to be the first to follow me, this is the best I can do for you," replied Edward calmly.

He then looked at all the other people, "Now that your loyalty to me can no longer be questioned, let me make things clear on how things will be from now."

Edward stood up, waved his hand, and a small metal plate appeared in front of everyone in the room. Then, he started walking around the room.

"First of all, I do not like any of this nonsense talk about pure-blood supremacy. I'm about to conquer this entire planet, and muggle will play a great role in my rule--maybe even more important than wizards.

"In this new world order, a wizard's worth will not be based on his family or bloodline but based on their contribution to civilization.

"All of you can activate the Alchemy Item in front of you by using your wand and saying the word, 'Conversus In.'"

All the Death Eaters immediately followed the order. Then, a projection appeared, showing a number; each person had a different number. Edward waved his wand, then a projection of a massive library. The number of books inside this library astonished all these Death Eaters--even Snape was not an exception.

Nodding in satisfaction at their reaction, Edward continued: "I'm not Voldemort who used fear and power to rule over you and never gave any benefit.

"This library contains all of my knowledge. In there, you will find the most powerful spells, the foulest of dark magic, the mystery of the soul, the way to improve bloodline, and even acquire immortality."

The breath of all these Death Eaters became rapid after hearing this. Knowing Edward's reputation, they did not doubt his words; all they could think about was how they could get their hands on this knowledge, and Edward answered their questions.

With a wave of his wand, a list appeared in front of them with numbers behind them. The list included things like bloodline modification, Elixir of Life, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Revival of Loved One.

Just by looking at the things in the list, information about their meaning was instantly placed in the minds of these Death Eaters; they all secretly gasped, wondering if this was some very elaborate prank.

"This is not a dream or prank. I am a person who believes that knowledge should be shared for more to be produced, and civilization can advance. As a person who advocates the law of equivalent exchange, this knowledge is not for free.

"The number in front of you represents something called Reward Point. It determines the amount of time you can spend in my library, the level of clearance of knowledge that you can get access to.

As for the list in front, not only do you need a certain amount of Reward Points to acquire any of these things but also, a certain level of loyalty to me is also required."