Milky Way galaxy, several light years away from Sagittarius A*
The Order had stayed well hidden over the years and while they boasted quite the power, they were still no match for the empire.
For this reason, they operated in the shadows, taking actions that seemed pointless and useless at times and also recruiting talented people from the empire to join the cause.
With many bases all over the empire, well hidden in natural celestial positions that would make anyone think twice, The Order had thrived, awaiting the day the one who was envisioned would appear.
Since the return of Alexander, The Order had been busy. First, they needed to reaffirm their decision. That is, they had to make sure Alex was the kind of person to be trusted.
Many of the high-profile members of The Order objected to the decision of the oracle. However, a quick reminder of their purpose put them in their place.
The Order was created to find a way to save their dying universe and not engage in the very power play of the empire they extricated themselves from.
"If you are unwilling to do what needs to be done, you are free to leave." Elina Tempest, oracle and leader of The Order spoke sternly.
The majority of the members were gathered near the centre of the Milky Way, waiting for Alexander to make his appearance.
Long before The Order was put together, Elina Tempest was a special being in the sense that her abilities worked differently from the others.
It was unrelated to anything fighting and for the majority of her life, she remained indoors until she had a vision that revealed to her the origins of the Universal Calamity.
She learned of the multiverse and where all these universes were gathered—The Origin space. And within this Origin space was the core that powered all worlds.
In her vision, she was shown the ultimate void creature—a monster so overwhelmingly powerful and could induce soul-chilling fear that she remained mute for several days after the vision ended.
But she did learn what the core did to save itself from the very monsters created to assist it in its function.
The core appeared to have a consciousness and while it was only basic, the vision it showed was enough for her to grasp what it wanted to do.
The core played a huge gamble, making the decision to give a single being chosen at random from each universe the power to become masters of their universes, removing all limiters of growth—a risky gamble indeed.
Along with the vision were the whispers of what such a being would be called.
When she told her father at the time, including what they could do to help, their first thought was to report to the leaders.
However, the dynamics among the leaders at the time were unacceptable. Moreover, she doubted people like that would submit to a fictional being who was not even born yet.
With the help of her father, they set up an organization to prepare the way for the ultimate being granted the power to save their universe.
Gradually their strength grew and while they had their issues, it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. But time was an element not many could outrun.
Many of the starting members had passed away when they failed to break through their bottlenecks, leaving Elina as the only original founder due to her special nature as an oracle.
"I apologize for what I said, my lady." One of the S Class hunters who still had issues with what the oracle planned to do lowered his head. "It's only been a few days since his return and what we have on hand isn't enough."
"Alexander has been on our radar since he was first heard of." Elina countered. "What more do you need to verify his character? He is the strongest being in our universe and will continue to grow. For all we know, he might not even need us."
It was more like they needed his help and was the reason the majority of them were even here. Alex was the key to breaking the limits of humanity. She didn't know how she knew, but she just did.
Suddenly, Elina turned her head and looked to the wall, though everyone who saw that knew she was looking beyond it.
"He's almost here," Elina said with a beaming smile and quickly stood up. "Get everyone ready."
Behind her were her two most trusted guards, both Class S who were raised since young to stay by her side.
With her order, one of them disappeared to get everyone ready. The high-profile members got to their feet as well and fell behind her as she made her way out of the base.
Once word spread of Alexander's coming, everyone rushed to get in place. Everyone donned their armour as they flew out of the base and into the void of space.
Their movements appeared organized and practised. Within a few minutes, all the available members numbering in the thousands formed an assembly as they floated in uniform rows and columns.
In the background was Sagittarius A* occasionally exhibiting flaring activity in infrared and X-rays, but for beings of their calibre, such radiations were meaningless.
In front of the hunters were the leaders who were also donning their armour. The only exception was Elina who wore a completely white flowy gown that covered her from head to toe. Covering her face was an equally white veil that hid most of her features.
The veil covering her face was almost always on whenever she met with the members of The Order.
Only the other leaders were fortunate to have seen her true appearance and there was one thing they could all agree on.
Elina Tempest was one hell of a beauty unlike anyone else in their universe. Her unique look earned the admiration of all those who set their eyes on her and if they were any weaker beings, they would fall into an abyss for her sake.
"He's here," Elina muttered with a smile.
Under the gazes of all the gathered hunters, Alex materialized out of the void, equally donned in his black armour without its helm.