Less than a millisecond after Heinz performed the group teleportation, the empire members found themselves thousand of kilometers away from the excavation zone, and every single of them was displaying symptoms of nausea.
Even Zatiel wasn't an exception, and the one with the best condition wasn't Grigori, who was the strongest, but Ezequiel due to his extraordinary physique.
The feeling the empire members experienced when Heinz teleported them was as if they were moving at an unimaginable speed only to stop suddenly, going from one hundred to zero before they could even figure out what was happening.
That made the content of their digestive system and blood flow go crazy for an instant.
Heinz almost started to laugh when he saw some of the Rank 1 Magus about to puke, and after giving them a moment to recover, he once again made everyone teleport.
As they were reaching the exit of the Endless Forest, almost all those Rank 1 Magus had emptied their stomachs. Of course, this wasn't something that could really affect them, being life forms superior to ordinary mortals, as long they rested a couple of minutes, they will be perfectly fine.
So Heinz did not stop their advancement and only chuckled.
It took more than a month for the empire members to reach the excavation zone from the meeting point, and they had to fight against hundreds of magic creatures during the journey despite being protected by a Rank 3 Magus.
But in less than two hours, Heinz was able to bring them to the exit of the Endless Forest without even seeing a magic creature.
This simple display of speed and capabilities was proof that even if Heinz were to be so injured that a Rank 3 spell could kill him, he could just focus on escaping, and there was nothing that those beneath Rank 4 could do to stop him.
Of course, an individual like him who could use the Law of Space at Rank 4 was almost inexistent, but there was no Soul Forging that could not display high-speed movements or some special tricks to help them escape.
"From here, you can safely arrive at wherever your residence is. With regards to the platform and the fallen star in it, relate my previous statement to your superiors."
Heinz did not wait for the rest to respond and teleport again, with only the three Neo-Demons this time.
All the members of the empire that remained here could not help but look at where those four people were just a second ago before leaving.
Whether it was envy, admiration, or another complex emotion the one filling their hearts, all of them knew that they were individuals that would make their names known in the empire.
...
It was midnight, and inside the Sinux Magic Tower, three men were in a room with white walls.
Two of them were standing, and the other was sitting in a chair unconscious, and his body seemed to be glued to it, maintaining his chest and head perfectly straight.
There was a small table next to the chair with all sorts of surgical equipment above it.
"Is this your plan, brother, physical torture?" One of the men had a doubtful expression on his face as he pictured what would happen to the person in the chair.
Heinz did not doubt Zatiel's capabilities to inflict pain, and his instincts tell him that the young man in front of him could make anyone talk, no matter how powerful their will was.
What bothered him was not whether he could make Nimir talk but the problems that all information obtained by this means carry.
Zatiel understood the cultivator's concerns, so he explained what he was going to do.
"Of course, I won't use such a flawed method of interrogation as torture. After all, when you inflict enough pain on a man, he will say anything you want, but most of it, or maybe all, could be false. And in the worst case, you could be the victim of counterintelligence and end up with the wrong target."
After Zatiel finished speaking, he moved to Nimir's side and put his hand on his shoulder before sending a wave of dark aura inside his body.
The aura did not hurt or awaken the Magus, making his expression calmer.
Zatiel used a simple spell with anesthetics properties, completely numbing Nimir's body and turning off his pain sensor.
"You know, the Magi path is certainly powerful and generates all sort of transformations in the body of those that use it, but before reaching Rank 4, they are still considered biological beings, and their brains anatomy did not truly change."
Zatiel proceeded to take a scalpel from the table and play with it. A smile appeared on his face, and he even started to whistle a strange melody.
Despite what may seem, there was no wickedness in Zatiel's actions, and his attitude was more similar to those people that like to work with wood in their free time as it relaxed them and helped them release some stress.
Before continuing his narration, he positioned himself behind Nimir and made a small but concentrated golden flame appear on the scalpel's blade.
"So since they are biological beings, their bodies are susceptible to a physiological stimulus like the one created when certain areas of the brain experiment small and concentrated electric shooks. With the right knowledge, even a mortal could make a Magus reveal information with complete honesty."
Once he was finished speaking, Zatiel made an incision on Nimir's head and, with great precision, continued cutting the bone without harming the brain before removing the top of the skull.
That scene looked like something out of a nightmare, but Zatiel did it uncountable times in the past. Heinz was someone that paved his way to power with his enemies' blood, so neither of them showed any aversion to what was happening.
Despite having his brain exposed, thanks to the powerful anesthetic running through his body, Nimir remained unconscious, and there was no sign that he was feeling any discomfort.
With Nimir's brain in his sight, Zatiel used the A.I. chip to scan it and made a model of it, performing hundreds of tests, and only when he had mapped every important region did he begin.
He took dozens of tiny needles out of the table and proceeded to insert them on diverse parts of the brain, with perfect accuracy and control over his movements.
Once all the needles were in the correct position. Zatiel sent small arcs of lightning into them.
The moment the electric shock touched the needles, Nimir's eyes opened. But you could see that he remained unconscious by the fact that his sight was out of focus.
"Ok then, let's see if I did not lose my touch" There was a little excitement on Zatiel's face as he proceeded to question Nimir.
"Tell me your full name and age."
Once he made the question, Zatiel releases stimulus into some of the needles and activates Nimir's speaking ability and some motor functions.
The Magus' body trembled, and his eyes twitched, but he started to speak after a moment.
"My name is... Nimir Hamel Janer Crink and... I am two hundred and eighty years old." Although his voice was a little rough, Nimir's words made perfect sense.
Zatiel continued asking random questions to which he had the answer already to calibrate the Magus responses and the way he needed to stimulate his brain.
Although he did tremble from time to time and blood was coming out of his eyes, nose, and ears, Zatiel had a perfect grasp over Nimir's condition and knew there was no real damage.
Once all the base questions were over, Zatiel proceeded to ask what he wanted to know.
"When did you betray Heinz, and what were your orders."
Unlike the previous questions, Nimir did not answer immediately. Still, Zatiel increased the potency of the electric shocks, and although his entire body shivered, answers came out from his mouth.
"From the beginning... I was approached by someone way before I entered... his service. My order was to collect all the... information possible about him and report his every... moment no matter how insignificant it was."
When Heinz heard this, his eyes narrowed, and fury appeared on his face. Someone has been surveilling him for decades, and it was only now that he found out.
Zatiel knitted his brows when he heard this. Whoever controls Nimir was someone that did not hesitate to put a spy on a Soul Forging existence, and that was able to maintain it hidden for a very long time.
But what really bothered him was that this person was willing to burn important assets just to kill him and even go to the point of making a Rank 4 Magus act.
"Tell me the name of the individual who gives you your orders."