Grek stared in utter disbelief.
His black eyes, normally darting around with calculating cunning, were now fixed on the spot where Death had crumbled into ash. His pupils had dilated so drastically that they seemed to swallow nearly all the whites of his eyes.
Even the tuft of gray-brown fur at the tips of his ears stood on end from sheer shock. His mithril-covered claws unconsciously dug into the stone pillar beside him, carving several shallow grooves into its surface.
"That's impossible…" His voice was hoarse and trembling, as though his throat had been scraped raw, and even his breathing had become rapid. "The ancestors of Gringotts said Dimensional Demon Gods were invincible! How could one be reduced to ashes by a wizard?"
As he spoke, Grek instinctively shrank backward, his entire body trembling with fear.
Death's arrogant words still echoed in his ears, yet in the blink of an eye, that mighty being who claimed dominion over life and death had been destroyed without leaving so much as a trace behind.
Lina stood beside him, her body equally rigid.
Her hands were clenched tightly at her sides, her fingernails nearly digging into her palms. Her gaze shifted from the scorched ground to Harry as he lowered his wand, her eyes filled with bewilderment and lingering fear.
She opened her mouth, but several seconds passed before she finally managed to speak. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"We were actually planning to wait until they had exhausted each other and then steal the Invisibility Cloak.
"Looking at things now, if he wanted to deal with us, it would probably be easier than crushing a piece of candy."
Her gaze drifted toward Harry.
He looked no different from an ordinary wizard, yet in her eyes, the figure before her was now more terrifying and awe-inspiring than any monster in the wizarding world.
After recording the lingering traces of Death's aura, Harry turned his attention toward the two goblins trembling in the distance.
He took a single step and disappeared from where he stood, instantly reappearing directly in front of them.
Under their horrified gazes, Harry calmly asked,
"So, what should I do with the two of you?"
Grek reacted first.
He stumbled forward two steps before dropping heavily to his knees on the stone floor. His voice was almost tearful.
"Lord Harry, we were wrong! We must have lost our minds to ever covet the Hallows. You're a great and generous man, please don't hold the foolishness of insignificant goblins like us against us!"
Lina immediately knelt beside him. The silver-blue hem of her dress scraped against the loose stones as she lowered her head, her trembling voice filled with urgency.
"Lord Harry, please spare us!
"We never helped Death hurt innocent people. Other than stealing the Deathly Hallows, we haven't killed a single innocent person!"
Harry looked down at the two kneeling goblins. His voice remained calm, but there was an undeniable pressure behind it.
"Explain everything. Why did you agree to steal the Deathly Hallows for Death, and what exactly did he promise you?"
Grek pressed his forehead firmly against the cold stone floor, trembling so badly that his words almost broke apart.
"He promised us a new homeland!
"You know what happened after the goblins lost the old rebellions. Throughout the wizarding world, nearly all goblins are treated as subjects to be controlled and exploited. Only a handful of goblin elites at Gringotts can maintain even the appearance of dignity, and even that is nothing more than an illusion.
"Death told us that if we stole all three Deathly Hallows for him, he would give us an entirely new world!
"There would be no wizards there, only goblins. We would finally be free from oppression and could live happily without anyone controlling us."
Harry remained unmoved after learning their motives.
Whether in the wizarding world or the wider multiverse, the people Harry protected had always been humanity.
He would not slaughter other races without reason, but neither did he find it easy to sympathize with them.
Even so, after hearing the two goblins' explanation, Harry had no intention of killing them.
Instead, a new idea occurred to him.
As he continued absorbing the Soul King's authority, Harry's understanding of space and time had grown increasingly profound, while his own power drew ever closer to the universal level.
He had already begun to acquire the ability to create independent spaces.
However, because he had never attempted anything like this before, Harry could not guarantee that the space he created would be completely stable or self-sustaining.
These goblins might make suitable residents for his first experiment.
Of course, Harry was reasonably confident that he could successfully create an independent space. He was not planning to throw the goblins into some unstable dimension and let them die for nothing.
So he explained his idea to them without concealing the risks.
Neither goblin hesitated for even a moment.
Grek immediately nodded.
"Lord Harry, we accept your proposal. After all, we don't exactly have a better option."
Naturally, there was no chance they would refuse.
What if rejecting Harry caused him to decide that exterminating the rebellious goblins would be simpler?
Even Death had been no match for Harry. Compared to him, the goblins were utterly powerless and had no possibility of resisting.
With Grek and Lina leading the way, Harry soon arrived at the settlement where the renegade goblins had gathered.
After demonstrating enough force to make his position clear and giving them several assurances, Harry temporarily relocated the goblins into the expanded world inside his suitcase.
This was only a temporary solution.
The world inside the suitcase had primarily been constructed using the Undetectable Extension Charm. It lacked proper material and biological cycles of its own.
Living there for a short period would cause no problems, but any long-term settlement would require constant supplies from the outside world.
The world Harry intended to create next would be different.
It would be entirely self-sufficient.
After settling the goblins, Harry returned to Hogwarts and told Dumbledore everything that had happened, placing particular emphasis on the information concerning Death.
When Dumbledore learned that Death himself had been responsible for ordering the goblins to steal the Hallows, he abruptly froze.
Slowly, he turned around.
The usual warmth and amusement had disappeared from the blue eyes behind his spectacles, replaced by an unfathomable gravity. Even his voice was deeper than usual.
"Death. So the threat we have been guarding against was never merely the greed of the wizarding world. It seems an old friend has been watching us as well.
"Harry, you truly have brought me quite the surprise."
After a brief pause, Dumbledore walked to the window and gazed toward the clouds gathering over the Forbidden Forest. A nearly imperceptible sigh entered his voice.
"I should have realized sooner. Death's shadow has always been present within the legend of the Deathly Hallows. The three brothers outwitted him, but he never truly abandoned his desire to regain control over the Hallows.
"Using the goblins' deepest desires as bait was certainly more subtle than appearing himself, and considerably crueler."
Seeing Dumbledore's reaction, Harry immediately realized that the Headmaster knew far more secrets about Death than he had ever revealed.
"Professor Dumbledore, what exactly do you know about Death?"
Dumbledore turned back toward Harry. His fingertips lightly tapped against the windowsill, and his gaze sharpened.
"I once read in an ancient text that Death is a god born from the realm of death.
"He is the embodiment of the laws governing death itself and holds dominion over the cycle of life and death…"
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