After the battle was over I took a few hours to deal with the rest of the new corpses.

Since I didn't kill most of these, the effects are minimal but it's still an upgrade in power, no matter how small.

...

When I was almost finishing, four people approached.

It was Diond, Daisy, Galgo, and Mirim.

«Welcome back.» (Me)

Galgo stays quiet. I can tell how bitter he feels.

«See? I told you Jim would never betray us!» (Mirim)

Those few words shone a light on every doubt I had.

I got closer to Galgo and whispered into his ear.

«Don't worry. I know you just wanted to protect her. You did what was best with what you had.» (Me)

Galgo drops his chin and as his eyes slowly close, he walks to Mirim, in absolute silence.

-I guess even he would change a bit because of all this.-

When I finished, I went back to where everyone was. To think that there are only two people left already.

From within the chatter, Noemi approaches and hugs me. It felt warm and soft.

«What will we do now?» (Noemi)

«Now, we'll get ourselves a flying castle. We need a base of operation after all.» (Me)

Noemi's eyes open wide. We're talking about the demon king's castle after all. To get it, we'll have to kill the demon king...

Her father.

«But if you're against it. I've already thought of...» (Me)

«Let's do it. Don't worry about me.» (Noemi)

She silenced me with a kiss before I could worry more.

She knows me a weird bit too much...

But with that, everything's decided.

«Listen, everyone. You too assassin guy or whatever.» (Me)

I couldn't feel him but I'm sure he's listening to us.

Kit was, as expected of his incredible senses, the first one to notice him appear and looked in his direction as he appeared within the forest.

He's human. With dark hair and dark eyes and dark bandage-like clothing. Everything about him is dark with the exception of his skin that was mostly covered.

«How long have you known?» (???)

«From the beginning. Even before the fox here.» (Me)

«You're going to destroy my pride you know?» (???)

«Don't worry. We would still accept and help you.» (Me)

I smiled. He is smart so it should be alright.

He sighs and looks at his feet.

«Alright, I'm in. Go on with the next plan.» (???)

«Alright. Do you have a name you want to be called?» (Me)

«Just call me Nexus.» (Nexus)

I smile like I never did. The elite team is almost complete. We're officially half-way there. It's all going according to the plan.

«Next step is...» (Me)

I pause and looks around at the effect of the suspense. With the exception of Noemi and Nexus, everyone was at list a little tense. What kind of crazy idea would I come with to fulfil the final objective?

«...Defeating the demon king!» (Me)

All their faces were in shock with a clear of "there it is!" twist near the eyes.