Alexander looked at the hundreds of gathered Enforcers and subordinates with an expressionless face, quickly deducing the reason behind their frowning expressions.
Their bruised egos and feelings were not something he cared about.
They could frown and stare daggers at him for all he cared. To him, they were all morons who gave the go-ahead or silently watched as their colleagues put all of existence at risk.
The second he appeared, his domain intercepted all their expanded senses, stripping them of their ability to read him or his companions.
He also did not fail to notice the subtle release of their existential presence in an attempt to force him to the ground, wittingly increasing the gravitational force several times over.
Unfortunately for Chief Enforcers, Alexander had been prepared for all of it.
Slightly behind him were Julia and Ross to his right and Cassandra to his left, who looked down at the Enforcers with the same look Alexander had.
Still dressed in casual clothes of a white T-shirt with a brown leather jacket, Alexander carried an air of nonchalance about himself.
'So this is a high-level universe…' Ross muttered through the connection.
Although he made no attempts to look anywhere else besides the Enforcers on the ground, he could feel the sudden spike in the restrictions he felt. 'The restrictions are heavier than what we experienced in the void.'
'Yeah.' Cassandra chipped in.
'Unlike the chaotic void, all universes are built on the principle of order, taking chaotic energies and weaving them into organised energies.
'Each existential framework or laws act as a base layer for the next. It is this layering principle that makes the restrictions greater in universes.'
'I see…' Julia inwardly nodded, grasping the concept to an extent.
'It's like how we feel restricted because of societal laws. It's there to protect everyone, but at the same time, it puts a leash on how people would have behaved otherwise.'
'Exactly. However, it's also beneficial for you guys. The more time you spend in this restrictive environment, the more your body adjusts.
'Trust me, once we return home, you'll feel so unbound that your previous feats would seem irrelevant.' The catwoman added.
While Ross and Julia mulled over Cassandra's words and appreciated the lesson, Drakmor and the others landed before the gathered crowd, silently waiting for the guests to land.
Naturally, the more time Alexander spent floating in the air, the more annoyed the Enforcers got.
"Are you coming down or what?"
An impatient Enforcer called out to Alexander, drawing everyone's attention. "In case you've forgotten, boy, we have duties to get back to. We aren't here to have our time wasted, and certainly are we not here to entertain your little display of authority."
At a glance, one would think that the Enforcer who spoke expressed what everyone was feeling, going out of his way to attract Alexander's ire to himself.
But the words of the Enforcer were an agreed-upon attempt to see how Alex would react to such words.
Would he take offence at the disrespectful tone and lash out, or would he ignore it and play the 'bigger' man?
Honestly, they were counting on the former. They wanted Alexander to give them a reason to put him in his place.
Just by looking at the expressions of the Enforcers who had returned with him, the others could not help but question and imagine what they had experienced.
Hearing didn't do much convincing when they were not used to being served their egos with bruises as toppings.
Julia glared at the Enforcer with a subtle frown. This was the first time she and Ross were seeing so many different beings with bodies and frames they would never have imagined in a million years.
There were only a few among the numerous races she could name, some being the familiar beastmen like Cassandra and legendary creatures like the Enforcers who accompanied them, elementals and beings straight out of celestial beliefs.
'What are you going to do, Alex?' Julia asked, gauging the expression of her beloved.
Alexander wasn't the type to face-slap those who openly baited him into acting. However, a part of her wanted to see Alex put them in their place.
'Nothing…' Alexander replied calmly, his expression still calm and collected. 'For now, that is.'
Before Julia and his friends could process the first part of his response and then the second, Alexander descended to the ground, landing with regal grace.
Julia, Ross and Cassandra followed a second later, landing behind Alexander while maintaining their positions.
It was a sentiment Alexander didn't force on them but appreciated. Even so, it was something they wanted to do as guests in a foreign land.
Alexander was not afraid to stand up to the deathly glares being sent his way.
He single-handedly ward off the collective aura the Enforcers exerted, his gaze settling on the Veilwalker who rudely addressed him.
'Fufufu, there's no one as strong as my hubby. Even their collective auras fail to do a damn thing!'
Julia remarked proudly, having noticed how the atmosphere felt extremely suffocating, yet she did not feel anything on her person.
'Alex will continue to stand tall with his strong physique and power. He will and cannot fold!' The more Julia praised, the more excited she got.
Just resisting the urge to smile brightly in the faces of the Enforcers took everything out of her.
The moment was a proud one for the Knight princess, as she hadn't seen Alexander stand up to so many powerful beings before.
The people from their universe did not count. They were not like Alexander — a Veilwalker — so they didn't qualify.
'That's not how Veilwalkers work, Julia.' Cassandra smiled smugly. 'Compared to the Veilwalkers gathered here, Alexander is the weakest in terms of physical might.'
'What?'
Both Julia and Ross echoed in disbelief, taking another look at Alexander.
The catwoman's words and what they were seeing did not match. 'Is it because of his Nexis Radiant?' The redhead hit the nail on the head.
'That's right.' Cassandra replied.
'In terms of might, Alexander might rival a Veilwalker from a mid-level universe at best. The thing that makes Veilwalkers so powerful and Alexander even more monstrous is their strength of will.
'All Veilwalkers have access to void energy, and the higher their understanding of how reality works, the stronger they are.
'But the switch is flipped once they become gods. It's no longer just about physical might, speed and reaction.
'Sure, the higher their physical attributes are, the stronger void creatures they can face. They become stronger and faster in all aspects of their powers and their applications. But what is energy?'
'...'
Cassandra's words got the two thinking. They had learnt a lot from Alexander, and are still learning from him.
But they were still vastly misinformed about Veilwalkers and what made them special.
'The expression of one's will…' Julia answered after taking a moment to ponder. Her gaze silently shifted to Alexander, not quite grasping Cassandra's explanation.
'Exactly…' The catwoman inwardly nodded. 'Veilwalkers were chosen as champions of their universes.
'But to become gods, they have to fuse with a universe's core. That core is not their will, but a piece of reality's will.
'They merely borrow reality's will to express their own, while Alexander…' Cassandra glanced at Alexander, once again feeling proud to have met him. 'Well… Alexander takes reality's energy, strips it of its will and makes it his own.'
'So the wills aren't the same…' Ross muttered in enlightenment, his eyes widening and heart skipping a beat.
'Alex is the sole master of his energy, but also a user of reality's energy. He makes his own rules while reality's will is passive! The quality is not the same, and no one can interact with it without his say so!'
'Hehe, you're finally catching on.' Cassandra laughed, but her facial expression did not change.
'The Enforcers are trying to pressure Alexander with their existential auras. However, they are failing because Alexander's will is stronger than all of them, even if they combined their wills.
'The moment Alex unfurls his domain, the region falls under his command. So, what point is your greater power, strength and speed when he can stop you from expressing yourself?
'He can strip away the very concept of motion, and there's nothing you can do about it. The very concept of everything we are and what we do is the expression of our will.'
Ross and Julia swallowed hard, finally grasping the brokenness of Alexander's unique energy and power. 'When he said we have nothing to worry about when using his energy, he wasn't just saying it.'
The more the realisation set in, the more impressed they were. They had known Alexander for years, but they had never truly realised how broken he was until this very moment.
'W-what about the Supreme One?' Julia asked after a moment of shocked silence. 'Alex himself acknowledged that the Supreme One is the strongest being in existence.'
'I can't answer that one, Julia. Only Alex can…' Cassandra replied, her attention falling on Alexander when he took a step forward.
The conversation she had with Ross and Julia lasted less than a second, a unit of time expanded long enough to allow her to explain while not missing a single moment.
She and the others did not want to miss how Alexander intended to deal with the situation.
Silence settled in the courtyard as everyone watched Alexander approach. Each step he took echoed loudly, and his every move was scrutinised.
He only stopped when he was a few metres away from the gathered Enforcers.
With an expressionless face, Alexander addressed the Enforcers, looking them dead in the eyes: "I wouldn't be here showing off to you morons if you had kept your greed for power in check, now would I?"