Pef stared at the Archdevil with even greater surprise.

"Veritas Legion, Soldier rank." he answered after a few seconds of thinking.

The Archdevil sat down with relief visible on his face. "I never met anyone who remembers."

"The aura is a big clue, silver and gold carry the reincarnation memories with the soul. Although not all reveal anything useful, mostly bits of skills and random knowledge." Pef said in a knowing voice, as he began pouring tea for both of them.

"Any news from the outer realm?" Yamon asked after sipping some tea.

Pef nodded gravely. "All the Realms are united in a great alliance against the invaders. And we're still losing badly."

Yamon sighed and fell silent. "That sentient weapon that Yama has...it must be a Legion weapon then. And it's why you're here."

Pef held his hand out and the power word gun emerged into his hand. "It's merely a sidearm in the Legion. Doesn't work that well against nu-goliths." he said in a grave voice.

Luckily, he had another way to deal with them, when the time came.

"Yours is already active. I only have this thing, and is broken." Yamon muttered in low voice, producing a palm-sized cracked badge, sporting a deep gash two thirds of its length.

Pef poked it with a gloved finger.

'It's a Devil Totem Badge. Basically the ignition key to their hexapod power armor. Badly damaged, obviously.' The glove explained in a sad voice.

"Tell it to allow access and repairs from Veritas. Then I can fix it, to a small degree." Pef said in a calm voice, then sipped more tea.

Yamon rose an eyebrow then stared at his hand. "You have another artifact. I didn't even notice it." he said while observing the glove with wide eyes.

"It has oracle powers, thus it blocks casual detection." Pef explained while summoning his Legion knife.

"Oh! Another one. And this one is fully functional, right?" The Archdevil wondered with an admiring gaze.

"I've fought an Archdemon some while back. He had a golith sting, although also a damaged one. Perhaps the golith had him, is better said. That galaxy was surrounded by a magic barrier, giving the Archdemon immense control over the locals." Pef added helpfully.

"The invaders are already at the gates then. I fear the Devil Realm might have..." the Archdevil muttered softly.

"They are still fighting. As is the Legion, and the Dragon Realm. Not that sure about the others. Fairies and liches never made good soldiers." Pef mused out loud.

"So you can fix my hex armor?" Yamon asked in a pleading tone.

Pef shook his head. "Very little. But enough to withstand a Tier 4 for some time. Maybe 10 minutes."

Yamon ginned widely. " Really? 10 minutes is a lot. Here!" he said in a happier tone.

Pef took the badge and stored it into his glove. "Black jade, naga cores, anything with stored qi?" he asked after reading the necessary materials from his inner repair screen. He wouldn't pay for the repairs from his own pocket.

Yamon held his palms out, beast cores and various types of jade emerging from his storage rings.

Pef poked a dozen of them, as directed by the glove, collecting the necessary materials for the badge repair.

"Now we wait. A week or so. My glove is quite proficient at battlefield repairs." he explained wryly.

Yamon nodded happily. "Great! Now. Tell me about these soldier ants of yours. Numbers?"

Pef grinned as he resumed his Rogue Trader persona. "Up to a trillion of them, if you want them with a decent cultivation, Lord Yamon. But, as they level up they do become quite powerful. And without equal as they cross into Physical God Realm."

Yamon nodded wisely. "I know. We did manage to push a few of them over the divine threshold in our tests. And they did not disperse like all devils."

"Plus... I need to participate in the final fight. It's a reasonable way to recover my artifact, before it self-destructs. You do want your galaxy intact and not as space dust and gas, right?" he asked curious.

Yamon blinked cautiously. "Self-destruct, huh? So Yama is trying to subvert that weapon, just like I've heard from my spies. Spending megatons of active jade for rune circles, and blood sacrifices."

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"Power word guns are tier 7 weapons, Lord Yamon. They are designed to erase entire universes if ordered. Sure, that gun is probably nearly depleted, so it won't collapse our universe. But a galaxy is much smaller." Pef explained in a warning voice.

The Archdevil stopped to think for a second. "The only way you could be present there...if you were a Count."

Pef sighed in defeat. "I'll start getting ready to relieve Count Tarkin of his station then. If he doesn't attack first. This Barony was where he raised his sons, after all."

Yamon's eyes glinted with a faint trace of violet. "Heh. You do have the devil's luck, Veritas soldier. But it is to my advantage to replace one of Yama's supporters."

Pef nodded and poured more tea.

"Now Lord Yamon, make me an offer I can't refuse, for these trillion soldier ants." he asked politely.

"Here." the Archdevil said, passing him a storage ring.

Pef swiped the ring into his glove, without even checking the contents. He wouldn't refuse anyway, like he just said.

"I will need these soldiers unloaded into my inner galaxy." Yamon demanded in a mild voice.

"Sure. Let me in and I'll expel them directly." Pef replied with a kind smile.

Instantly he felt being drawn inside, and didn't resist.

A large galaxy, as natural for a tier 4 emerged around him. Billions of devil soldiers were already training hard inside, millions of them at the Saint rank equivalent, and hundreds into Tier 2.

"You were preparing for war for a long time." Pef observed in a calm tone.

"You're not worried about being in my power?" the Archdemon asked curious.

"I am here. There is no reason for worry. After all, I am the reason." Reason spoke from the Devil's avatar side.

"You! You are the sentient weapon?" Yamon realized in terror.

"Breaking the Great Alliance knowingly is cause for erasure, as agreed by her Devil Majesty and the General in the alliance treaty. So, you were asking about being in your power?" Reason asked with a mocking voice.

"... Never! I was only curious." he answered with a shaking voice. Suddenly, the devil felt he has let a bomb inside his stomach, instead of devouring a naive prey.

"That's what I thought. It would be a pity to obliterate so many souls." the armored woman added then vanished.

Pef patted Yamon's shoulder with compassion. Luckily, the guy listened to reason.

"Let's finish the ant deal then, powerful one." he said gently as millions of warships full of ant soldiers emerged around them.

In a minute, the transaction was concluded, and Pef was expelled from the devil's dantian post-haste.

"I'll be back next week for my armor." Yamon muttered and stepped away, disappearing from Pef's senses.

Pef sighed and poured himself more tea, while going over the ring's contents.

"That cheapskate!" Pef murmured as he observed he was paid three times less than the normal rate.

Then again, those soldiers will not remain slaves very long. For a few years loan, the Archdevil overpaid a thousand times.

Pef smiled and Blinked himself beside Strella, steaming teapot in his hand.

"Wanna go shopping, my love?" he asked with a warm voice. So much wealth had to be spent after all. Hopefully on something to aid cultivation.

This many high tiers in the devil galaxy hinted at some powerful aids, maybe pills or such.

Strella nodded eagerly. "There's an auction house in the Tarkin trade nexus. I heard they have all sorts of pills and rare plants that can even open meridians!"

Pef smiled even wider. "That's just perfect then. Let's go buy them all. Hopefully Count Tarkin will also give me a reason for war."

Strella grinned mischievously. "You're the best, hubby!"

Pef nodded wisely and drew his wife into a long kiss.

Another fused clone split off to oversee Strella's Barony as he Blinked towards his destination with Strella in his arms.

As Pef departed, an invisible form glided after him, keeping pace effortlessly.

'This outlander is quite fast. But he is walking into Tarkin's territory like a fool.' the hidden shape noticed in surprise. 'I wonder what he spoke with Yamon about.'

The glove sighed inward as it detected the unwanted follower. Damn idiot couldn't keep out of trouble.