"It's done."
It took Totto three hours to put Martin's body in a state where it should not be able to resist the Telepathic abilities of a Rank 1 Animus.
Zatiel used his Eye of Life and Creation to analyze the Angelic Paragon condition and when he saw that his magical defenses were incredibly low, he put his hand over the Mind Gate rune on his head and starts the creation of the Mind Link.
Martin's defenses were low but that was only by the standards of a Rank 4 life form. Therefore, even with the help of having weakened the Duke's defenses and putting him in a deep state of unconsciousness, it still took Zatiel fourteen hours to establish the Mind Link.
This was a display of the devastating power of a Soul Forging existence.
Once the link was created, the Angelic Paragon mind becomes a library for Zatiel, where he can select any book he wanted and explore the memories in it.
There was an immense amount of information that could help the war efforts in the Duke mind, but the first thing that Zatiel did was look for his knowledge about the first contact of this world with the Heavenly race and the location of the Garden of Creation.
It did not take him long to find the memories that he wanted and he was extremely focused as he went through them.
An Angelic Paragon named Gonzo had managed to locate this world as he explored the void. At first, he was almost unable to believe his luck, since finding a world this way was almost impossible.
The world had not long ago reached the standard of a Middle World and it barely had a couple of, very weak, natives Rank 4 life forms, so it was not very hard for the Angelic Paragon and his troops to invade it and kill the ruling force, before enslaving the rest.
In the next years, Gonzo and his troops took complete control over the world, harvesting his riches and increasing their power.
Not too long before Gonzo reported about his complete control over this world to the Heavenly Creator World, and an Archangel with the Shooting Star Bloodline appeared who started the process of terraformation as he built the Garden of Creation.
Despite the mammal appearance of the Heavenly race, all of them are born in this Garden of Creation, and it is one of the most sacred places of this world for them since it is where the Archangel is being conceived.
The years passed and people of the Heavenly race were being born and filling this world.
Gonzo maintained total control of this world until he reached Rank 5 and could no longer be inside it. But before leaving, he fulfills his final task and selected seven of his most talented and powerful warriors for them to fuse with the Garden of Creation and protect the Archangel until he is born.
This was an immense honor in the Heavenly race, so despite having to spend possibly millions of years confined in there, the candidates for those positions were plenty.
After Gonzo left, how it was custom in the Heavenly race, the next rulers would be selected from the most powerful Angelic Paragons born in this world and they would gain the title of Duke.
Once any Heavenly race member born in a satellite world reaches Rank 5, they will migrate to the Heavenly Creator world and in case it was one of the Dukes, another will be selected from one of those at Rank 4 that stayed.
The Dukes will have control over this world meanwhile they live in it, and they will need to send part of their riches to the individual who found it.
This was the system of the Heavenly race and has allowed them to conquer and expand all over the universe.
Hundreds of thousands of years as pass and a great number of Dukes had come and gone. As for Martin, he had become a Duke less than one hundred years ago.
As he finished going through those memories, a smile appeared on Zatiel face.
'Everything went well.'
This information that seems to have little importance was something that Zatiel needed to verify for his ultimate goal in this world.
Now that he had finished with that, instead of review all the hundred of years of memories for the war information he needed, Zatiel orders the chip to act.
"A.I. Chip. make a copy of all the memories of the Angelic Paragon, then classify them and upload to my memory the ones concerning the military power of this world, their plans to deal with the demonic threat, and the identity and powers of the Rank 4 Heavenly race members."
[Bip... analyzing information.
Creating a copy of Angelic Paragon's memories.
Estimated time until finishing the task: 6 hours and 23 minutes]
After hearing the robotic voice of the A.I. Chip, Zatiel remained sitting and took the time to replenish his Mind Force.
When the chip ended and the memories were uploaded to his mind, Zatiel eyes narrowed.
"So they trapped most of the horde in a Heavenly Guard, and before the effect of it is over, reinforcement will arrive and help them deal the final blow to the demons. That is the window of opportunity I need."
Zatiel mind was already thinking of the way to take advantage of his opponent's situation.
"I have everything I need. I will communicate our next movements in the following days." Zatiel deactivated the runes and took the Duke as he prepares to leave.
But before he could exit the tower, Totto appears in his way which provoked Zatiel eyes to become cold since his action could have been considered hostile.
But when Zatiel saw the cordial and submissive attitude he was taking as he stood in front of him, his coldness transformed into curiosity.
"Is there anything else?"
Totto expression was strange. He wanted to ask Zatiel for something and he was planning to obtain it in exchange for his help with the Duke.
But Zatiel had already paid him for that with something even more valuable, so he was feeling a little embarrassed about asking it.
"I know that you have paid for my help with something extremely useful and you don't owe me anything, but I was hoping to obtain something from you. Of course, I will pay very generously for it."
Zatiel founded funny the expression on the lich faces, and since the Magus was behaving with respect, he chose to hear him out.
"What do you want?"
"I was hoping to obtain the diagrams and information about the principles of the runic set you are using." Eagerness could be seen on Totto's eyes as he mentioned the runic set.
Zatiel was able to understand right away why Totto wanted it. As a lich, his energy pool is filled with negative energy and he needs to create a stable connection with the Negative Energy Plane, in order to continue its growth.
The runic set of Zatiel was able to establish that type of connection and Totto wanted to understand how it worked to increase his power and the speed of his training.
If it was just the runic set, Zatiel would not have a problem, but by giving him the diagram and the principles of its work, this could allow anyone with enough skills as a runemaster to copy this runic set not to mention that Catalyst of Negative Energy was not exactly a Rank 3 runic set.
"The reason why my runic set displays a Rank 3 force is due to my lack of skills as a Runemaster, with the diagram and principles, someone with enough skills could create a Rank 4 runic set."
Totto was surprised when he hears this and after some analysis, he reached the conclusion that Zatiel was telling the truth. After all, when he first saw the runic set he was impressed by how efficient the connection with the Negative Energy Plane was, and now, knowing its true Rank, it makes sense.
He felt downcast as he hears this, after all, the diagrams and principles of a Rank 4 runic set were a secret that no Runemaster will sell. At least that was his thoughts until he hears Zatiel speak again.
"I am willing to sell them to you. But the only price I will receive will be a living Master Rank 4 demon and since I understand the difficulty of the task and the importance of increasing your power due to the war, I can give you the runic set now and allow you ten years to pay me." After speaking, Zatiel remained silent and his eyes were focused on the Magus.
Totto was excited when he hears Zatiel proposal, but although he could fight against a Master Rank 4 demons, defeating it will be very difficult and trapping him alive impossible, even if he has ten years to prepare.
The reason is that those powerful demons will rather explode than become prisoners.
Of course, he could say he agrees to the deal, take the runic set, and then just invent an excuse.
In the end, Totto just shook his head and sigh as he spoke.
"I am not confident in being able to do that, even if I am given ten years."
"Good, here take it."
Totto was shocked when he heard those words and saw a crystal going to him. The old man could not hide his confusion as he looks at Zatiel.
"If you had said yes, then I would not work with you, after all, to capture a Master Rank 4 demon alive you will need Rank 5 battle power. You still have ten years and the price is still a Rank 4 demon, but it can be a Novice one."
Zatiel was satisfied with the Magus' behavior, and since Totto growing stronger aids him in the invasion, he decides to negotiate with him.
Totto was more than happy with the deal and was grateful for Zatiel help.
"I will definitely pay you before the deadline"
