Oliver and the rest of the Soul Forging existences of the Heavenly race flew through the Fornes continent and all of them, even the duke, had a dispirited expression. Their speed was slow, mostly because they were very tired and injured.
The reason for the gloom aura around them, despite having completed their core mission, was the number of casualties.
After Tomas and Vapula went after Heinz, to stop him from saving Zatiel, only forty-one Rank 4 warriors remained to face the Magi invader force.
They had just lost four comrades to Heinz's shout, most of them were filled with injuries, and killing energy had invaded their bodies so when they faced a group of warriors who were fired up after their leader reached a level where he could kill Rank 4 life forms with a word, the outcome was obvious.
Vapula had ordered them to resist the enemy for ten minutes and that was inside the Second Layer where their powers were weakened. Oliver knew that as long as they remained in the force field, the Magi would not risk reducing their numbers and put the thousands of warriors and the magic tower beneath them in danger.
But the moment they were pushed out of the force field, it would be very easy for Nero with his immense power or Zitra with her Law of Shadows to go after Zatiel and let the rest to stop them from getting anywhere near the tower.
Not to mention that just running away without a strategy would leave them exposed to a barrage of attacks, so under the guidance of the duke, they slowly made a tactical retreat while making sure to maintain the pressure on the Magi invader force.
In the end, three Angels of Supremacy and one Angelic Paragon died, while eight others had lost their bodies and only their True Souls managed to escape.
Oliver knew that their casualties did not end up there. Tomas had informed him, just before he was expelled from the world, that Vapula had died. According to Tomas, the Angelic Paragon with wings of crystal fell because she underestimated Heinz's power, and by the time she wanted to escape it was too late.
Tomas' message sounded sincere and the truth was that in his mind that was exactly what happened.
The group continued flying for a long time until they reached a castle on the north of the continent. In this place, there was a teleportation formation that would bring them into the Vixus continent.
Vermeil's mission would have been much easier if a teleportation formation was in place just beside him the moment he got Zatiel, but unless you are an Origin Runemaster with a certain domain over the Law of Space, building a formation like that out of nowhere was not realistic.
As for creating a castle with the capacity to do something like that in secrecy, that was impossible. Heinz could have detected it very easily, thanks to the disturbance in space that those facilities created.
'Our losses were great and we will have to respond to Lord Gonzo for the demise of Vapula, but still, we obtained the Taboo Existence and once we open up his head and obtain his knowledge, everything will improve.' That thought was the only thing that recomforted Oliver.
The moment Oliver reached the castle, he immediately used the teleportation formation and traveled to Saint City in the Vixus continent, where the headquarters of the Heavenly race was.
In an instant, the Angelic Paragon reached a city full of life where thousands of members of the Heavenly race resided.
There were huge buildings all over the place where people talked and discussed important topics. Many of the members of the Heavenly race in this place gave an erudite aura.
The entire city was spotless and its walls were completely white.
There was an immense castle in the center of the city from which giant wings came out, and each of them released an immense sense of power.
Of course, this was only the visible face of Sain City. The sewers were filled with natives who were forced to perform all types of menial tasks. Their lives were pitiful and death occurred almost every single day, many times for starvation.
Oliver appeared at the entrance of the city. Teleportation was blocked in every part of the city other than that place, for safety measures.
From the winged castle, a force was released that examined the duke. If something wrong was detected with him, the wings would kill the Angelic Paragon.
After the scan was over, the duke flew to the winged castle and it only took him a moment to reach it. Oliver frowned when he saw a plump man with four wings made of leaves waiting for him at the entrance of the castle.
The Angel of Supremacy had a troubled expression and there was an unconscious man on his hand.
The unconscious man was Zatiel, who no longer was covered by a cocoon made of boiling asphalt, and on his face, there was still that glorious smile he gave to Heinz and the rest before disappearing.
The duke knew very well the Angel of Supremacy that was holding Zatiel. His name was Pipit and was posted in Sain City to take care of any unforeseen problem. Although he was not very powerful, his bloodline gave him extraordinary healing abilities and with the great formations of the city, he could face dozens of Rank 4 life forms on his own.
Vermeil had given him the cocoon to Pipit. The Angel of Supremacy was tasked to probe the state of Zatiel and make sure there was nothing wrong with him.
The moment the plump man saw Oliver, he immediately went to him and performed a bow.
"Speak, what is the problem?" Oliver could see that the Angel of Supremacy had something he wanted to share.
"Duke Oliver, as you commanded I performed a thorough check on the target the moment Vermeil handed him over to me. He is unconscious now and the black energy froze his consciousness and body, making it impossible for him to commit suicide, but there is a serious problem with his soul."
"What, that is impossible!. The Mirror of Falsehood clearly stated that he was Zatiel Daybreak, not even a Rank 6 life form could hide from its powers." Oliver became incredibly anxious. If all the hard work and sacrifice they endured was for nothing, the duke did not know what he would do.
Black tendrils, so thin that they were invisible for a Rank 4 life form, appeared in the eyes of the duke when he got that news. Those were the same tendrils that appeared before on Tomas when this one went to battle against Heinz.
"No my lord, that is not what I meant. His soul is the same that appeared in the person who broke the Origin Runic Set. The problem is that his soul is extremely weak, so if we manipulate it in any way, it will crumble. There is also a problem with the runes he has inscribed all over his head." Pipit's expression clearly showed how problematic the situation was.
Oliver relaxed once he knew that this person was indeed Zatiel Daybreak, and although he found it very odd for his soul to be so weak, many explanations appeared on the mind of the duke. One could be that the technique that increased his power to the boundary of Rank 4, had damaged his soul.
The duke focused on the runes and signaled for Pipit to explain what happened with them.
"The runes are not just in his head, they are also inscribed directly in his brain. The moment we make any type of forceful intrusion on his brain or consciousness, the runes will activate and they will explode, killing him." The Angel of Supremacy could not understand why someone would do something like that to themselves. Even for a Rank 4 life form, the brain is an essential and very fragile organ and without it, although they would still live, their bodies would be useless.
Oliver frowned and felt a headache assaulting him as he attempted to figure out the best path forward.
Search his soul would be impossible since it would crumble before they could obtain any information. As for taking advantage of the fact that he was still a biological life form and messing with his brain to make him answer their questions, the runes blocked that method.
When the duke saw Zatiel smile, he could not help but to think he was mocking him.
