"Listen up, Recruits! I know the past month was hard for many of you, getting crushed and resurrected a thousand times. But look at the bright side! Half of you reached Sky rank and the rest advanced a rank or two as well, with the lowest rank being Nascent Soul." Pef proclaimed to the gathered ranks of the Legion.

The recruits didn't seem that happy, looking haggard and exhausted by the ordeal. But their eyes were bright and resolved.

"For the Legion!" the recruits chanted back, pounding their fists on their breastplates.

"You have received armor and weapons, mind stones with cultivation techniques and knowledge how to travel and colonize the galaxy. I expect great things from you all. Divine Gaia will be available as support should you encounter difficulties in your exploration, but don't abuse her patience. She's an ally, not a member of our Legion. Sovereign Arden may also be of some help, but I expect you'll soon become stronger than him anyway." Pef added with a smirk.

The recruits smiled in disbelief. They couldn't yet believe in themselves, and how strong the Legion's method made them, especially when amplified with Pef own Taichi method.

"Go forth and grow, recruits! Marry and be happy, raise a dozen children and be the best you can be. Defeat evil whenever you find it. Fill the galaxy with civilization and let no god or demon stand in your way. Also, try not to die too soon. I'll need you all to join me when the time comes to fight the real enemy."

"Even in death, we serve the Legion!" the chorus replied in a strong voice.

Pef sighed and glanced at Lia, who was standing on the podium to his right. Of course, she would teach them that morbid creed. Dead people served no one. Living soldiers would serve the Legion much better.

He pounded his chest in response, then walked away.

Another step brought him in Arden's castle, now the host of some druids gathered around Gaia and her young husband.

"Well then, my friends. I'm leaving." Pef said softly.

Arden pounded a fist on his new demon-bone breastplate, and nodded. Gaia smiled and stepped forward, hugging Pef with her new glorious body. "Safe travels, Pef. And thank Reason for me." she whispered in gentle voice, then turned away. Pef glanced one last time at Arden, then vanished.

His wives gathered around Pef in orbit above Ardenia, next to the new spacestation.

'Let's go home, beloved wives.' he sent with a qi pulse.

The inner world received the women on the beach, and they entered the familiar house quickly since it was raining.

Outside, Pef wiped his eyes of frozen tears and Blinked away, faster and faster.

He focused on meditation, trying to remember and envision that special moment again. The eroding presence of the scepter, and the purifying lightning coursing through his body and soul.

Light-years flashed by, time slowing down while his speed increased. Slowly, a bubble of Void energy formed around Pef, separating him from the crude matter of the universe and allowing even greater speed.

Years passed inside, yet for an outside observer, almost no time passed. In less than a day, Pef arrived in the Tear galaxy, and changed course towards Lacrima.

Then he came to a stop, holding station above Lacrima's moon. A thousand shipyards were full of ship hulls, some almost finished.

A familiar presence rose from a lunar city, and arrived in front of Pef just as he has disembarking his wives. 'Firalli! Still not married?' Pef asked with an amused qi pulse.

'Lord Pef, welcome home. And...well. I did have someone, a smart woman working here at the ship designs. Bome Ji passed away a thousand years ago.' Firalli sent back with a pulse loaded with regret.

Pef measured the sad smith with his eyes. 'Do you feel she wasn't worth it?' he asked back.

'She absolutely was. Best 40 years of my life.' the old Saint said with a longing tone.

Pef patted his shoulder and drew him inside the inner world.

"Any children?" he asked while pouring some wine for his old friend.

"One boy, then two granddaughters, five grandgrand...." Firalli began exposing his family tree.

Reason appeared at the table, and poured herself a small cup of wine. "I won't bring her back, Pef. Bome Ji has already reincarnated and moved on to a new life, just like your mother. Resurrections have a time limit, sometimes a week, but generally three days." she spoke while drinking the wine with her eyes closed.

"... That's good anyway. If she's happy." Pef muttered after a short pause.

"My lady." the Saint whispered in a bewildered voice.

"This is Reason, the Legion gun. Well, the avatar of the gun. She's great!" Pef explained in a fake cheer.

Firalli glanced at Pef then gulped his wine in silence.

"How's Cellia?" Pef asked with a more relaxed voice, his eyes fixed on the distant ice castle.

"She's exploring the galaxy, with Lord Artus inside. Although her world is quite smaller and much more frozen than yours." Firalli explained with a smile, gesturing at the warm beach and forests behind it.

"Sounds fun. I explored the demon galaxy, killed a few Greater Demons and even a Tier 4 Archdemon. Married two elf goddesses as well." Pef boasted while pouring more wine.

Reason coughed a little, making Pef grimace. "Well, the Archdemon was mostly Reason. Her words pack a mean punch." he mused thoughtfully.

Firalli stared at Reason for a minute, his hand smoothing his beard unconsciously. "I did some work on holographic interfaces for our ships, but Reason's a work of art. Looks a lot like..."

"Like Pela, I know." Pef said with a sad nod.

"Not her. Like the statue of the General, the one from Blue Xi." Firalli said in a wary tone.

Pef's head snapped towards Reason, comparing the two images in his mind.

"She does seem similar, huh?" Pef muttered in a daze.

Reason tapped the copper cup in her hand, making the metal ring with a melodious sound. "I am Her flesh and Her voice. You are soulsmiths, so you know how this works. The soul of the maker is infused into the work."

Firalli gulped, although his cup was empty now.

"You are her! Well, a tiny little fragment of hers." Pef observed in a calm voice.

"A single cell, at most. We work much better in large groups." Reason admitted with a frown.

"And yet, the General never lost a war. She plans for every contingency, even something unlikely like a lost gun in a locked universe." Pef said with gritted teeth.

"Yes." Reason said in a strange tone, her voice echoing a million times around the planet.

Pef punched the table, wooden shards exploding like a bomb. "Damn it."

Reason smiled and rose an eyebrow, making the table repair itself as new.

"Recruit Firalli! For your service record to the Legion, I promote you Soldier 1st class. You shall endeavor to aid the Legion with artifacts and weapons, and never lose heart. By her Grace and Light, let this become truth and deliver your soul to salvation." Reason chanted out loud, while pointing a finger at the terrified smith.

A halo of golden light enveloped Firalli, and forcefully Ascended him to Tier 1.

The new god slumped in his chair, staring at his own hands with disbelief. "I made it. Divinity, with a kind word and a gun."

"My friend, you're a million years old! It's not a wonderful gift, it's a consolation prize. Let's go visit the pantry and have you fight a couple of Demon Lords." Pef explained with a sigh, then grabbed Firalli's arm and shifted them both to the store of frozen demons, trapped in amber around a distant star.

After a few awkward fights, the new god got the hang over his new powers, and Pef brought him to a High Lord demon.

'No weapons this time. Punch his core until this demon dies.' Pef demanded with a qi pulse.

Reluctantly, the smith began punching, his hits weak and inaccurate. It took a long time and effort, for a single execution. Once the Tier 2 demon died, many hours later, Pef shifted them back to the beach.

"Still too easy?" he asked rhetorically.

Firalli glared at Pef for a moment, then sat down on the warm sand, absently wiping off blood and guts from his fists. "I rather not kill anyone." he muttered in a shaky voice.

"One more kill, and you'll become a Tier 2 god. Those demons are slavers and butchers, captured while raiding our Legion base and the city they protected. We lost a million people in a few minutes." Pef explained with a stern voice, remembering the demon desant on Rome.

"I'd rather explore my new powers, I can feel so much more, so much deeper..." the smith muttered in his beard.

"Yes, and you will. Tomorrow." Pef decided with a sigh, then returned them to the pantry.

Another High Lord met his end at Firalli's fists, his core cracked then shattered under relentless impacts.

'Take the bodies. Their bones are very valuable.' Pef ordered with a smile. The smith glanced at his kills with disgust, then began dousing the six-armed corpses with flames, scouring the bones of demonic flesh.

Once the bones were collected in his storage ring, Pef returned them both to the beach, and left Firalli drop on the sand, tears melting on his face, just as Reason appeared in front of him.

"You cannot hide forever under a mountain, Firalli. Training is now over. Go and explore, find a meaning for yourself." she spoke with tight lips.

"One day, you'll have to face things a billion times stronger than these puny demons. And to win, you need to become strong. The Legion doesn't have weak Soldiers." Pef added while expelling the sobbing smith from the inner world.

Firalli looked around, his eyes stopping for a second on the large planet below, where Volcanis was still bound to the mountain of Vesuvius.

Then he bit his lips and flew away, gathering speed as he left his home behind.

Pef stared after him for a second, then blinked down to Lacrima, and entered the Monarchy palace in Lacrimosa.

Mia and Blossom were there, both of them still Monarchs in rank. Easy to fix now, even if Reason wouldn't help.

He swept them both in his arms, and gently hugged them to his chest.

"I'm home." he whispered in a joyful voice.

"Pef! It's good to have you back." Mia exclaimed in surprise.

"I missed you." Blossom added in a soft sob.

"Dinner or lovemaking?" he asked with a grin.

The women shared a look, then told him the obvious and logical reply.