The Legion continued to prepare and arm themselves with better weapons, content to prolong the stalemate as long as possible, but things do not always go to plan. The stalemate ended through the actions of a foolish man.

Pef could only watch in horror as Ceres flew valiantly towards the demon armada and mind screamed at them to leave Mi'rilodor space or be killed.

Perhaps he thought the demons were hesitating, or unsure of victory. Surely his brave act would establish him, the valiant High Prince, as the future leader of the elves.

The prince and his honor guard were almost immediately swarmed by a company of demon High Lords, and had to retreat in tatters, losing most of their numbers and their dignity too.

The Grand Duke arrived too late, saving only a few. The prince survived, but was gravely injured and wouldn't help in the future engagement.

Even the Grand Duke had to retreat at speed, as his attacks were deflected by a field created by the collective efforts of demons.

It seemed the demons had learned a special defensive formation, allowing them to combine their powers and match a higher tier.

Pef frowned and cursed inward, since this new development messed up his plans. Still, it wasn't all bad.

The demons probably wanted to keep the formation a secret, and use it at a critical moment. One rash elf, and their plans were also derailed.

'There were 108 demons anchoring the formation. Something to do with number 9?' he asked the glove.

'I doubt the demons follow daoist precepts. That formation was likely stolen from someplace else. Remember they also had the Legion gun and the Veridian armor.' the glove answered with a warning tone.

Pef nodded and grimaced. And they had a golith spear as well. Considering the demons were ruling an entire galaxy and already scouting nearby galaxies, they likely found or looted untold numbers of artifacts or cultivation secrets.

Pef tried to anticipate the Archdemon's future moves, but he knew too little about him or his powers. But if he was at least as capable as the Elf King, he would be waiting nearby, possibly invisible.

'Try to read their body language, see if they are being directed from a certain direction.' he asked while blinking forward and slicing through a Demon Lord before jumping back.

With his new rank and extended range, Pef could blink in and out at his pleasure, using the spacestation's sensor room as his launch pad.

The magical arrays had ten times the range of his own qi senses, covering the entire system.

Only one blind spot existed, as the sun blocked the scanner directly behind it.

Pef struck again, this time at a different area, again killing a Tier 1 demon then retreating. The demon army repositioned, grouping into tighter groups.

'I found our hidden demon. He's not behind the sun though. The Archdemon is inside the sun. This is bad.' the glove explained with an uncertain voice.

Pef scratched at his cheek and glanced at his own stats. 'I can survive inside the Sun too. Won't be able to see very far though. My Fire domain is too small.'

'Stop being dense, Soldier. Remember the blue nebula near Hellsreach? That used to be a sun too.' the glove muttered with an annoyed tone.

Pef cursed again. When the sun went nova, there wouldn't be any Mi'ridolor to defend.

"Zorkel, take the other three and engage the Archdemon. He's inside the sun." Pef ordered rapidly, then he wrapped himself in Indigo cloaking and blinked far upwards, positioning himself for an enfilade burst on half the demon army.

The Legion gun snapped in his hand, glove gripping the butt of the weapon with immeasurable force.

'Target the widest concentration. Pacify and hold, Tier 1 or lesser.' Pef demanded, pointing the barrel towards the invading army.

Time slowed down, as the familiar sound rumbled, coming from everywhere. Golden light followed then a short vocal cantrip. "Within her light, there can be no shadow. Hold still and await your fate."

Pef blinked himself away, then blinked downwards, aimed at the other half of the army, which was already moving, but too slowly. 'Let there be light!' he whispered inward.

Another glowing wave of golden light, with the same cantrip, and over 99 percent of the entire demon army remained frozen, their bodies surrounded by a thin film of golden motes.

Meanwhile, inside the sun, titanic forces were battling as the converted Greater Demons engaged the Archdemon in melee, ignoring the large pressure and heat of the sun.

A second later, the Elf King joined the fight, keeping the Archdemon too busy to set up whatever means he used to detonate stars.

A Greater Demon accompanied by a hundred High Lords, sped towards Mi'ridolor, while another was desperately trying to free the army, and failing.

'Nice trick there, Reason!' Pef exclaimed inward, amused at the raging of the Greater Demon as he impotently smashed at the golden barrier without success.

'Temporal amber is quite useful. But it won't last long, due to low energy reserves.' Reason said in a strange, hurried tone, almost implying urgency.

Pef flashed forward, swiping a few dozen Demon Lords into his inner world. His wives would be glad at the easy kills.

He continued with another jump, attacking the demon formation from behind, just as Duke Gormash and Nellie struggled to hold them from reaching the planet.

His qi sword formed in his hand, then time slowed down, while the glove projected on his eyes an optimal strike. Then he released his skill, the Voidsplitter expanding from his sword with infinite speed.

The formation resisted for a fraction then imploded, the void itself flattening into a cutting edge of infinite sharpness. Half of the High Lord demons died on the spot, bisected through their cores and evaporating into violet flames and silent screams.

Pef blinked away, dodging the two Greater Demons who retaliated against him almost instantly.

The Elf Duke took advantage of the broken formation and threw a dozen darts of some kind, killing the poor Tier 2s which were now exposed.

Pef ran away, his path taking him through the midst of the frozen demon army, capturing hundreds after hundreds of Demon Lords and lesser ranks and moving them inside his inner world.

Already he could feel Lia and Lin begin their Ascensions, as the immobilized demons had no choice but to die without recourse.

Then the Heaven's lighting began gathering, bringing a sense of terminal danger with it.

This time the lightning wouldn't be easy to survive. Not that it has been in the past.

Pef blinked himself as far as he could into the sun, then dove deeper, with two enemies of same tier chasing ever closer.

At the speed he was moving, seconds meant a long time, enough to catch up with the Archdemon and stab him with his qi sword. He barely managed to pierce two finger deep, but it should be enough.

Lightning struck, wide as a river, but billions times stronger.

In the midst of all the pain and paralysis induced by the current, Pef could feel his glove and gun beaming with joy, becoming energized by his suffering.

The Archdemon wasn't so happy, as his defenses were down, and he wasn't able to move.

The Elf King used the opportunity to stab a red-bladed and glowing athame into the demon's stomach, resulting in the blade snapping of, after hitting something too hard.

Zorkel howled and sliced at the Archdemon from behind, severing the spine and getting his sword stuck.

Pef directed mentally two of his Greater Demons to fend of his two pursuers, then grit his teeth and activated his skill again. He was too close to miss, and the Archdemon was paralyzed.

His void skill slashed, cutting through the Tier 4 demon with ease. Then it stopped with a high pitch sound, and bounced up, decapitating the Archdemon but unable to penetrate the core.

'Target the core and fire. Do it!' Pef ordered in desperation.

Time stopped, as the Legion gun emerged from glove and began singing.

The golden light was thin as a laser, focused only on the Archdemon's core. "By her grace, you are brought into the light. For her light is the truth, and the truth pierces through anything. Neither heaven nor hell can block her light, and no illusion or lie can remain in her light. Veritas unicum!"

The Archdemon screamed in horror, as his core cracked then split open, disgorging countless slaves and artifacts, including a spear like item, which exploded into a violet cloud of lightning.

Everything nearby was devoured, including the Archdemon's dying body, the Greater Demons, the burning billions from the demon's inner world.

The Elf King survived, fleeing at speed while his magic barrier crackled with wisps of violet electricity.

Pef didn't have time to flee, so he advanced, slashing through lightning with his qi sword, and hitting the golith sting without doing any damage.

A malevolent energy rebounded through his sword, then his arm, reaching his mind and shattering his mental shields.

The golith lightning was burning through his body, while a more insidious construct was advancing through his mind maze, sweeping aside traps and barriers with impunity.

At the last ward however, Pef felt a familiar presence step beside him.

"You're too late, discarded sting. This is where you fail and die." Reason spoke with a dismissive voice, and Pef could see her lips moving.

A frayed golith-like figure coalesced in front of them, towering over them with height and power and more importantly depth. It was a million dimensions deep, each of them glaring back with eyes and snouts and fangs and pincers.

"You said it Reason! Kick its ass!" Pef yelled, emboldened by her presence.

The golith didn't speak, but Pef could fell it was amused and derisive. The thing was in his mind after all.

"Oh, you expect me to kill this thing?" the gun's avatar asked, looking at Pef's avatar with amusement.

"Who else?" Pef asked, a bit worried at the obvious answer.

The woman smiled and patted Pef on his head. "This thing? You already killed it. Dubious method, and rather suicidal, but I'm glad anyway. The second time will recharge me completely. For you...it will hurt."

Pef searched his mind, and came up empty. "What do mean? The second time..."

Then the second lightning strike fell, the one caused by his failed void skill. Another Heavenly torrent of electricity, and this time the lightning coursed through him and into the golith weapon. Bright lightning devoured the violet lightning of the golith weapon, erasing the construct in his mind.

The world errupted into light, and pain.

A million years passed, and yet not a grain of sand moved.

Pef stared at the sky, his eyes glazed and mind wandering.

Far away someone was singing, the song sad, but familar. He felt he was close to hearing the words, but still too far.

Pef wondered about his family or his few friends. If they learned what he's done, would they still love him?

Truths hurts. Will it ever stop?

He wondered how many he had killed, when their universe was split open. Maybe they were better off now, having escaped their torment from a mad Archdemon and his grotesque weapon.

Maybe they screamed in despair, as they burned alive inside of a sun.

He surely knew how it felt.