Alex knew this was his way to grow stronger — through his very own will. He wasn't sure what this would eventually lead to, but he was willing to find out.
Also, he was never going to put his domain away. From this moment on, his Nexis Radiant domain will be a normal part of his everyday life.
'And the best thing is that only I can use it…' Alex pondered. 'The only problem I'm not certain of is the Supreme One.'
While he was his own universe, independent of the multiverse, he was still within the bounds of the multiverse. Someone like the Supreme One would surely not be simple.
Even if the Supreme One could not sense his Nexis Radiant, he doubted he could affect him.
"You've made your point," Auraleth said, snapping Alex out of his thoughts. "This test is over."
"Not quite." Alex smiled and extended his right hand out. "Humor me, just for a bit."
The enforcers narrowed their eyes, not liking Alexander's tone. They had miscalculated - big time. Without hesitation, they attempted to back away when a sudden force froze them in place.
"What?"
Before they could even attempt breaking free, all eight enforcers found themselves in line before Alex, just a few meters away!
"W-what are you doing?!" Mike shouted, his heart filled with dread. "Any harm —" His mouth suddenly clamped shut, preventing his intent from being expressed.
"Shh…" Alex placed a finger on his lips. "No harm will come to you guys; I have no reason to harm you. You fellas just failed to do something when I arrived."
The enforcers were confused, unable to understand what he meant. But then they noticed Alex make another gesture, lowering his right hand. And as if enchanted, their bodies followed and bowed to Alex.
"!"
They bowed! They, enforcers of the Supreme One, were made to bow to some small-time veilwalker from some small universe! Ah, the humiliation! They couldn't even express themselves!
"There… That's how you show respect." Alex said, straightening the enforcers. "I'm very disappointed, you know? Did no one ever teach you this?"
He was messing with them, knowing exactly what his little act did to their pride. While he was all smiles, Alex wanted to make them understand that power comes from even the remotest of places.
The enforcers were livid. However, they could not express their intent. They knew what was stopping them from making any moves. But this was not the worst of it; they couldn't even sense any energy around.
The force suddenly disappeared, freeing them from the restrictions. Without hesitation, most of the enforcers backed away, putting in more distance than before.
Auraleth, however, wasn't too accepting of the humiliation.
"You bastard!" The woman roared like an enraged beast, her killing intent spewing from under the hood. "I'll kill you!"
She thrust her right hand forward, going in for a killing blow. All reasoning disappeared, replaced with unbridled rage — she forgot what she had experienced earlier.
Alex smirked at the enraged enforcer lady who had fallen for his little scheme. He wondered how strong they were or more precisely how many uninverse cores they fused with.
But with the protection they had on themselves, that was an impossible feat. Auraleth had not unleashed the full extent of her presence in her earlier assault — none of them did.
Through this act, he hoped to see how many would fall for this trick.
'Seems she's the most volatile of the group.' Alex mused, staring at the blow that was taking forever to arrive. 'But damn…. 24 universe cores? This is insane.'
Alex was in disbelief. He thought they would at most have like 6 to 10 cores, but he was proven wrong.
Then there were these clear distinctive auras to her presence. They were subtle, but Alex could sense them through his Nexis Radiant.
'Each universe had a unique signature that can be sensed when a person revealed their whole presence or the culmination of universe cores that made up their godhood.' This was an unchanging truth. 'But there's something else…'
Alex narrowed his eyes, raising his left hand to catch the blow with a resounding boom. His robes fluttered, but otherwise, he was not moved — not even a little.
'The cores aren't completely hers…' The dissonance he sensed had something else. 'The will of the Supreme One…'
"What…?"
Auraleth snapped out of her rage the moment Alex caught her blow. Looking up at him, she realised the man was no longer smiling. Alex looked down at her with cold eyes.
'Shit.' The enforcer lady cursed. 'I lost it.'
Auraleth watched with trembling eyes as Alex stepped back and lowered his centre of gravity. He drew his right hand back, condensing a white sphere in the palm.
"Don't be too rushed to engage someone in a fight," Alex said in a cold tone, striking with a jab that Auraleth failed to see.
In a flash, it connected with her stomach, tearing through it and coming out from the back. There was no loud boom nor was there a disturbance in the surrounding energies.
The enforcer lady gasped wide-eyed, her insides revealed for all to see. From the hole in her stomach, deep golden essence trickled out as motes of light that eventually disappeared.
Her companions observed with horrid eyes, unable to move. Alex did nothing to them, but they couldn't move. They were shaken to their core — literally.
None of them had even taken damage like that. Since they ascended to godhood, no one had been able to touch them, much less hit them.
But Alex just did the impossible. Right under their eyes, they watched Alex tear a hole right in the stomach of their companion. And it looked so easy!
Alex suddenly furrowed his brows and looked at the remaining seven enforcers. He tossed Auraleth to the side, leaving her to bleed out her essence.
She was going to die, but she won't be healing anytime soon. Getting rid of his Nexis Radiant wasn't possible unless it ran out or someone removed it — unlikely.
"Who are you?" Alex questioned directly.
"Oh, you can sense my presence." The intent that leaked from all seven enforcers echoed in surprise. "That's interesting…"