The elven glade was mostly empty now, most of the younger warriors had dispersed and a few older elves had arrived instead, including a frighteningly powerful elf, which had to be a Tier 3.

Pef hesitated for a second, his confidence decreasing in front of overwhelming power.

He inspected the old elf with his coresense, and was brutally rebuffed. A burst of mental waves scanned him in turn, leaving behind a tingle in his temples and the feeling of being naked.

"So you're this Pef Xi. Our new owner, I hear." the man asked with a mild voice.

"Exactly. But before we get into the legal details, I'm gonna see about the refugees. Have you picked the site for the new town?" Pef answered in a level voice, although keeping himself calm was quite hard.

"Hmph! Pretty much relentless, are you? But fine, let's put the wellness of our new citizens first. Must be difficult for you to carry so many, with such a small inner world." the Tier 3 allowed with a tired voice.

'His inner world is the same size as yours. He just has ten times more land.' the glove commented as the elf waved a hand and displaced them both to beside a river, and where the sun was just rising.

He flew up a bit, taking in the land, which seemed to be exactly what he had asked for.

Lots of arable land, a large forest to the east, some hills to the south, and farther to the north the river estuary and access to the sea.

"The elves still have a hunting reserve far to the south. This continent is otherwise empty." the old elf explained with a sad voice.

"Demons." Pef concluded as he floated down.

Soon, the landing began, refugees being ejected in groups and spread out, while Pef and his wives began constructing a city.

They had a lot more experience and available powers than back on Lacrima, and by the time evening came everyone had a place to call home, although simple and not furnished.

On a whim, Pef planted the large sword a bit to the south, to serve as a monument for the new city.

Some local elves began flying in, dispensing food and other necessities.

A stone was lifted from Pef's heart, as his burden would lessen if the locals helped.

Then, as he started preparing dinner for his family, the old elf and the younger Tier 2 siblings arrived as well.

"So many hair colors! Green and red, black and brown and even purple! Humans are more diverse than I thought. And quite beautiful..." the young elf exclaimed as he measured the women.

Pef sighed but didn't answer. Too bad Erin and Lara had died, or he'd have two more colors to present. Blonde and blue hair.

The porridge needed a bit more salt, and he had to flip over the fish grill. Paint the meat with sauce and pepper, gently pulse qi over it to infuse the meat to all depths. Pretty good. Perhaps a 4 out of 5? Oh well. It would have to do.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Pef said while setting the plates and silverware.

"But..." the elf muttered at his empty plate.

"They are married, my stupid brother." her sister admonished him with a gentle slap on his arm.

Soon, the elven gods got to enjoy Pef's cooking, and didn't comment anymore.

Aria rose an eyebrow at the less than perfect meal but luckily didn't pester him for it. Small blessings.

As the meal ended and wine was served the elder elf extended his hand. "Let me see it"

Pef handed out the demonic contract with a bit of worry. But to his surprise, the old Tier 3 chuckled and handed it back. "I bet the Soultrader was furious, having to pledge his vow on that contract. I've rarely seen a tighter contract."

"Yeah. He actually cried, a bit" Pef answered with a tiny snort.

"Not Variznel then. One of the young ones?"

"Arazmodel."

"Oh. That one. The genius. Climbed to High Lord ranked in less than half a million years. He will make a poor Greater Demon though. Schemes are useless when confronted with overwhelming power." The old elf mused in a sad voice.

"Are you the highest ranking elf?" Pef asked, to make sure.

"Our King is deep in meditation. For some time now. I'm the second strongest, if that's what you ask."

"King? He would be a Tier 4?" Pef wondered.

"Oh, you know of higher ranks?" the old elf asked, suddenly curious.

"My knife is a Tier 5 artifact. My glove is Tier 6. And my gun is Tier 7." Pef replied with a smile, holding his Legion knife out.

Floating slowly, the knife made its way across the table right in front of the elder elf.

The man poked it once, then pushed it back with a contemplating look. "Tier 7 you say. The maker would need to be a rank higher, thus a Tier 8. I think the entire universe would know of such a being. Not from our universe?"

Pef shrugged. "I can't answer that, because I do not know. I do not know where our universe is. But if you focus that way, you may sense the door. If it leads to my General, or to someone else's territory, I will need to find out. It will surely be interesting, wherever the exit leads to." He explained, pointing vaguely to the gravitational distortion in the far distance.

"Our whole universe, only a locked box in someone's pocket. Even if our Queen hadn't died and reached the fifth stage, we would still be locked in..."

Pef shrugged again. Philosophy wouldn't help here. "Most likely. How did your queen die? I suppose she was also a Tier 4?"

"She died defending our worlds. Took down four Greater Demons and injured their Archdemon, but that demonic staff is too powerful. We do not have such artifacts, at most things like that Greater Sword you have captured." the elven goddess replied instead, gesturing towards the towering trophy.

"Stronger than my knife?" Pef asked with a frown.

"Hard to say, human. Can that knife cut through the Great Sword?" the old elf asked with a smile.

"As it stands there, certainly. The material is much stronger and I can further boost its attack with sword ki. But I expect a Greater Demon would have enough abyssforce energy to power up the sword. At that point, probably not. I'm not that strong anyway." Pef replied with a head shake.

Getting back his gun wouldn't be easy if there were Greater Demons in the way.

"Your mind isn't that strong either. A barely credible mind shield, no mind maze, and many other flaws. It's almost like you never got trained." the elven goddess commented with a smirk.

"Well, what can I say. My cultivation was a bit rushed. Just followed the cultivation method, and I got some training with swords. I only reached my Tier 2 rank at 80 years old. And then I started traveling..." Pef answered with a weak voice. Not everyone has old teachers full of wisdom.

"You're not so bad Pef...took me 88 years to form my Core, so it's okay." Qin interjected with a soothing tone.

The elves glanced at each other than back to Pef.

"How old are you now?" The eleven goddess asked in a warmer voice.

"A bit over one thousand. Space travel isn't that fast you know. Galaxies are really far apart..."

"Is he lying? He must be, right?" the younger elf man asked the elder.

"No. I don't think he is, Ceris. A bit stupid, but then all youngsters are. Look at you, over two million years and still a High Prince. And probably just as stupid as this human." the elder elf replied with a grunt then simply vanished.

"Errr. Why is the old guy upset? Ceris, what did you do? Are you really stupid?" Pef asked with a smile.

"You're stupid, human! And your stupid lies! I'm going home, sis. Still...the food was good. So thanks." Ceris said with an apologetic tone, after yelling about something. Then he flew up and away, leaving only the female elf at the table.

"More wine?" Pef offered politely.

"Yes, please."

Silence fell over the table, people only taking small sips and keeping quiet.

"Well then. Go home princess. No need to prolong the weird silence." Pef demanded after some minutes of awkward silence.

"I'll bring you a mind stone tomorrow. If you head towards the demon's capital, you'll need better training." she answered with a small voice.

"Thanks"

"Nellie. My name." the goddess said with a small voice, and ran away at superspeed.

The Xi family glanced at each other and burst into snorts and laughter.

"Did you see his face? Phua hahaa!" Xie exclaimed in a fit of happy tears.

"They had a point though. Our husband is a bit stupid." Lin mused, then smiled as well.

"Hard to compare though. Their proud Prince is two million years old. Hahaha!"

"C'mon, guys. I'm like 400 thousands soon. Age is nothing to joke about." Yuan said a more reserved voice.

Then Lia slapped the table. "Quiet! You aren't better, are you?"

Pef nodded at her. "Lia is right. Our mental defenses suck, while the elves have slow cultivation methods. Luckily the demons are not much better, except for their core thing. I suspect they can mass produce Tier 3 by sacrificing lesser demons in large numbers. Millions maybe."

"I don't think it's that easy. You've killed like four Demon Lords and it didn't make much difference." Lia mused out loud.

"Yeah. We don't know how they do it. Maybe they sacrifice billions for their cores. Maybe they have some rituals or artifacts. But that Archdemon and scepter...we can't fight something like that. Even the Elf Queen failed." Pef said in a thoughtful voice.

'Reality is harsh, soldier. There are always stronger enemies. Now figure a way to beat them.' the glove added helpfully.

'I always do. Strength isn't everything. Maybe that mind stone will help.'

The glove stayed silent, and continued it planning. Its ward wasn't discouraged or scared yet, which was a good thing. He would need to keep heart for the later phases. A course in mind defense would help, but not that much. The diadem, maybe?

It was keyed to the elves bloodline though. Something to fix. New Objective.

'The elf girl. She likes you.' the glove proposed as a first step.

'Really?'

'Nellie, my name. A tiny blush, in awe of your exploits. To establish a base here, the Legion will need deeper roots.' the glove pressed on.

'Well, Nellie is rather pretty...' Pef mused inward, while sipping more wine.

'And you need a teacher for mind powers'

'Yeah, I kinda do. Okay, you win, my orange glove. I'll do my best.'

The glove grumbled a little, since it wasn't orange. Anyway, the objective was set. The rest was up to Pef's charm and talent. Females fell for that, usually. But if not, the glove would take off its gloves and play dirty.