"I wouldn't be here showing off to you morons if you had kept your greed for power in check, now would I?"
"..."
If silence could go any lower than it currently was, then the recurring silence that enveloped the courtyard did just that.
Many among the Enforcers, their subordinates included, were speechless beyond belief.
"Hahaha…!"
An abrupt laugh from Alexander's right drew everyone's attention. Someone was, at the very least, open-minded enough to find Alexander's response comical.
The Enforcer laughed his heart out, uncaring of the gazes he attracted.
"You're a funny boy, aren't you?"
The Enforcer said, stepping out of the crowd and approaching the front.
Once at the forefront, the Enforcer stopped and carefully scrutinised Alexander's features, as if he had not done so already.
Standing more than three meters tall with a bulky and muscular frame, the Enforcer was a beastman of the lion lineage.
Unlike Cassandra, who resembled a human with a few feline features, the Enforcer had the head of a lion, raw and beastly in form.
"I have never seen anyone speak to us like this, not even the Supreme One." The Enforcer added with a beastly grin, his arms crossed over his chest, highlighting his muscular features. "You have balls, kid. I like you."
"What are you doing, Rycan?" The Enforcer, who had spoken against Alexander's act, frowned deeply. "The boy just insulted all of us, and you're warming up to him?"
"Isn't he right, though?" The beastman known as Rycan replied, making many among his companions raise their brows. "I mean, we are responsible for what Zauren turned into. I would be mad too if I were in his shoes."
"..."
The Enforcers did not like seeing one of their own point out their flaws. Yes, they were all subordinates of the Supreme One. But that did not mean they were all friends, or had to agree on everything.
Everyone had their own personality, and Rycan was a free spirit who acted in his own way. The beastman looked back at Alexander and grinned once more.
"Kid, don't mind the others and be yourself, alright?" Rycan expressed, closing in on Alex. "We were in the wrong, and I'm not afraid to admit it."
Taken aback was an understatement to describe how Alexander felt. He was all too familiar with how powerful people disliked being challenged.
Seeing one among the hundreds of gathered Enforcers own up to their mistakes was unexpected, to say the least.
And where there was one, there were bound to be others. Alex had to raise his head to meet the Enforcers' gaze, not sure how to respond to that.
However, after a bit of thinking on his part, he realised he might have been looking for a fight.
Of course, this was not to say he would take his words back. Many of the Enforcers still looked at him with gazes filled with anger and dissatisfaction, and they were ready to act.
"The name is Rycan." The beastman extended a right hand. "I've heard a lot about you, kid. I'm glad to finally meet the Deviant Veilwalker."
"Deviant?"
Alex muttered, lowering his gaze to look at the offered hand. It was more than thrice his hand.
He did not doubt the kind of power those arms could unleash. A wave of that arm would wipe out his universe with ease.
"Yep, that's the name we gave you." Rycan's grin did not diminish, nor did he lower his hand, patiently waiting for Alex to take it.
"Alexander Gray." Alex took the offered hand and shook it, finding no reason to keep the beastman waiting. "A pleasure."
The beastman did not attempt to apply any pressure in the handshake, making Alex realise that the beastman was genuine.
"Enough of this nonsense, Rycan." Another Enforcer stepped forward and declared coldly, her expression anything but kind. "The boy has no idea who he's addressing, and I'm not willing to ignore the insult he threw our way. He needs to apologise."
Calyndra and Nyssa attempted to move, but were stopped by Drakmor. When their eyes met his, they quickly understood his intent.
They had warned their companions already. If they chose to ignore those warnings, they only had themselves to blame.
"Indeed…"
The first Enforcer to address Alexander grinned, slowly approaching Alex with the woman. "We're willing to listen to what he has to say, not take his insults. I don't know why we can't force you down with our auras, but that doesn't matter. We have other ways to make you kneel…"
The beastman let out a sigh and stepped away from Alexander, smiling apologetically at him. Despite finding Alexander interesting, he was also interested in seeing what Alex could do.
Alexander calmly waited for the two Enforcers to reach him, each one towering over him with their over three meters of height.
Both male and female Enforcers were of the devil race, with the male having red fiery skin and the female having purple coloured skin with barely any clothes on.
They each had curved horns protruding from their heads. Even without trying, the devils gave off sinister vibes that distorted the surroundings.
The red-skinned devil went by the name of Gru'ey, while the purple-skinned she-devil went by the name of Fre'er.
With sinister grins and auras that would send shivers down the spines of any weak-minded being and force them to their knees, the two devils looked down at Alexander with a burning desire for a fight.
"Apologise, boy…" Gru'ey urged. "You stand in the presence of beings far stronger than you can possibly imagine. Don't force our hands."
Alexander looked them in the eyes but did not respond, his expression hard and unreadable. His eyes shifted from the devils to the surrounding Enforcers, noting their expressions.
They did not care what it took, so long as they succeeded in putting Alexander in his place.
Alex had shown impressive feats when he dealt with void creatures. But void creatures were not Veilwalkers, much less Enforcers with hundreds of universe cores fused into their existence.
"My words still stand…"
Alexander replied, returning his gaze to the devils before him. Slowly, he increased his height, stopping only when he was eye-to-eye with the Enforcers.
"You guys knew fusing a black core with a universe core was bad news, and yet you did it anyway. If that isn't the definition of a moron, then I don't know what is."
"Well said, boy…"
Gru'ey grinned victoriously, raising his right hand. That simple act distorted the surrounding space to an extreme, barely keeping the fabric of the spacetime together.
Alexander followed the devil's movement with his eyes, noticing how the devil positioned his hand just above his left shoulder. Gru'ey's intentions were clear.
"You've proven to have no respect for your elders. An unruly child can only be taught the error of his ways. Don't blame us for what happens next." The she-devil added, mirroring her colleague's actions, positioning her left hand just above Alexander's right shoulder.
The air had grown extremely tense, as everyone focused their attention on Alexander and the devils.
Drakmor inwardly sighed, hoping Alexander did not kill them for their foolishness. Their actions did nothing but prove Alexander's words.
"Last chance to apologise…" The devil pressed.
"M—"
BOOM….!
Two devilish hands weighing more than one thousand mid-level universes combined fell without hesitation.
The sheer force of the act generated a loud explosion that forcefully dispelled the surrounding atmosphere.
Julia, Ross, and Cassandra instinctively raised their hands to shield their faces from the violent shockwaves, once again forgetting about the sphere that protected them from harm. As for the Enforcers, they stood in place, barely reacting to the violent winds.
"!"
"I-Impossible…"
Gru'ey and Fre'er muttered with shock and disbelief in their hands. They could not believe what their eyes and senses were showing them.
"Why not?"
Alexander sneered, his response sending shivers down the spines of the devils. The two devils were sure they had made contact with Alexander's shoulders.
They had intended to force him to his knees, but the outcome they had imagined was not what they were witnessing!
Alexander stood tall, while the hands of the devils remained on his shoulders, seemingly pressed down. The very air around Alexander's shoulders was distorted, a testament to the weight he bore.
Yet…
"Who told you the one to punch the hardest was the strongest?"
Alexander declared with unwavering momentum. "Once again, you have proven to be morons. You should have already seen what your other colleagues saw. But that was not enough, was it?"
Alexander looked in Drakmor's direction and then at the other Enforcers, who now appeared more cautious than ever. What they were seeing did not make any sense; it shouldn't.
"It's not surprising that you carried this mentality towards creating the mess that we now find ourselves in."
Alexander turned to the two devils, silently observing them as they strained to move their hands while gritting their teeth, but to no effect. They couldn't even move their bodies.
"How I would have loved to punish you guys for your mistakes…" Sadly for him, he could not do that without actually killing them; he was furious. "But that is not why I gathered most of you here."
Alexander took a step forward, and the devils slid out of the way against their will. The scene was utterly heart-throbbing and core-shaking to witness, domineeringly so.
The devils were still frozen in the same posture they were, resembling statues with horrified expressions on their faces.
"I was kinda hoping this wouldn't be the case…Sadly, this is our reality."
Alexander spoke as he slowly approached the gathered Enforcers before him. The Enforcers made no attempts to move, but they were guarded like never before.
"W-What are you saying, kid?" Rycan asked, swallowing hard.
Alexander stopped and then looked towards the beastman, sighing. "You guys have corrupted agents in your midst."
"What?!"