Nimir's eyes were full of anxiety and unwillingness as he could not believe what had just happened.
Originally his mission was straightforward. He only needed to ignore Heinz's order to protect Zatiel and do nothing when Feiner attacked.
Although the repercussions for disobeying the order of a superior, especially a Soul Forging existence, would not be minor, Nimir thought that as long he found a good enough excuse, the punishment would not be too hard. After all, he was someone at the Master level of Rank 2 with a great chance of entering Rank 3, while the other party was only at Rank 1.
But all the plans crumble to the ground the moment that Zatiel displayed his fantastic power and talent, and he understood that the value of this insignificant Rank 1 would be much greater than his own in Heinz's eyes.
Luckily, he did not lose calm and was informed that his backer would send someone to take care of Zatiel, and there will be no possibility of failure this time. He will no longer need to be under Heinz orders after that.
When Lun arrived, displaying the might of a Rank 4 life form, Nimir could almost not control the happiness he was feeling for being under someone capable of making a Soul Forging existence do his bidding.
But just when the situation was reaching the climax, and he was waiting to see Zatiel's soul destroyed, Heinz showed up.
Initially, Nimir hoped that Heinz would only reach a settlement with Lun, but not even on his wildest fantasy could have he imagined that the cultivator was powerful enough to disintegrate Lun's body and soul with a single attack.
Although the cost of using a power capable of annihilating the life on a planet was immense, and Heinz was severely injured, Nimir knew that the cultivator was still capable of killing him without even moving a finger.
When the dark flames appeared and stopped him from seeing what was happening inside the dome, fear began to take control over his mind.
Escaping was not an option since they were so deep into the Endless Forest that if he were to try to run, he would surely end up eaten alive by some magic creature, and of course, there is no way that Grigori would dare to help him.
As the hours passed, the fear in Nimir's heart grew without control, and the moment the flames disappeared, he immediately focused on the dome, but to his surprise, the only ones present in it were Zatiel, Sophia, and Ezequiel.
But instead of relaxing by the absence of Heinz, the fear of Nimir only grew, and when he saw the smile that Zatiel was sending in his direction, he knew that something horrible was going to happen.
The next thing Nimir felt was a palm grabbing his shoulder, freezing his energy and even his consciousness.
"Are you looking for me, little rat?"
Although he could not see the origin, Nimir recognized the voice and knew that Heinz was responsible for his current condition.
The only reason for doing this is if they wanted to stop him from doing something drastic, and the Magus understood that whatever was going to happen next would make him want to die.
But now that he was under Heinz's control, even killing himself would be impossible and the last feeling on Nimir's mind was absolute terror before he passed out.
There wasn't a member of the empire that did not understand how horrible the fate of those that offended Soul Forging existences could be, as they were powerful enough to extract someone's soul and subdue it to the worst imaginable pain.
The Magi World may give the illusion of a lawful place, but the truth was that it was a cruel and dangerous land, and no one would say a word against Heinz no matter what he may do to Nimir.
And of course, the ones present in the platform were not an exception, so despite whatever they thought of what was happening, not a single one of them dared to look directly at the cultivator.
Heinz could not care less what was happening through those people's minds, and he originally intended to soul search Nimir right here and now, to learn who was the individual that dared to put a traitor among his subordinates and act against his people.
But Zatiel convinced him otherwise. He was assured by the Neo-Demon, that he could make Nimir spill all of his secrets without the need to destroy his soul.
Zatiel told him that he had a use for the Magus, and since there was no difference for him if he obtained the information now or in a couple of days, he accepted.
Heinz made Nimir's unconscious body disappear before waving his hand and taking the core of the platform from his personal storage space.
Just then, a humanoid figure made of light materialized on top of the statue of the empire and flew down.
When the humanoid landed on the platform, he scanned Heinz for a second, and when he saw his healthy condition, his eyes narrowed, but without delay, he performed a polite bow.
"Your Highness, I am the Rank 4 Magus Nate. Please hand over the core to me. My body will reach this place in less than a day and handle the platform. It will be easier this way, or else it could give the impression that you killed Lun to alter the spoil obtained during this expedition."
Nate's speech was very polite and explained his desire to help Heinz out of a difficult situation.
Unlike when the Magus first appeared, he now adopted a humble and reserved attitude. Nate knew that those sorts of displays he had performed before could wonder some people, but if he were to do it in front of Heinz, he would only embarrass himself.
Even after hearing the man, Heinz did not stop, and without even looking at him, he sent his consciousness to the core and took control over the platform.
When Nate saw the complete disregard that Heinz was showing to him, he started to become angry, but the man understood that even if his body were to be here, a fight against the cultivator could only result in defeat.
So without letting his emotions appear on his face, he prepares to continue his speech when Heinz looks at him.
"The Star Heart is so precious that even if all the rest of the fallen star that it was collected were to be put together, it could not equal his worth. It would be very troublesome if some people were to try to claim it due to some losses."
When he heard this, Nate immediately tried to explain his intentions, but before he could speak, Heinz spoke again, and this time his eyes were cold.
"I do not care about your goal, I will take this platform, and those that want to collect the fallen star can go to my tower and reclaim what the register says the people under them obtained. As for Lun's death, he would not have acted the way he did if you had done your job."
Technically, Nate's responsibility was to secure the safety of the empire members, but that was against magic creatures, not a Rank 4 Magus, so if one were to look at the situation with an objective mind, one would find that he didn't do anything wrong.
But since people were objective, they judged other actions according to what they believed was right, and Heinz was not different.
A trace of anger appeared on Nate's face, but he did not say anything and his body of energy transformed into dots of light before flying away.
Heinz did not bother with the Magus, and once he got control over the platform, he shrunk it until it was the size of a fist before making it disappear.
Since there was nothing else to do, Heinz did not delay his departure any longer.
He released his consciousness and started to embrace every empire member inside it.
"Brace yourself." An amused expression appeared on Heinz's face as he pictured what would happen next.
Once all the people were covered by his consciousness, Heinz controlled the Law of Space and teleported.