A few minutes prior…
Plunging into the open veil of the universe welcomed Alexander to the familiar, yet abhorrent essence with its revolting feel.
He pushed down the feeling as he calmly looked around the surrounding space, soon shifting his gaze downward.
Below him was the expansive landscape of the universe stretching an uncountable number of light-years.
With a thought, Alexander dived down, heading straight for the land below. He swiftly breached the atmosphere and touched down on the ground.
BOOM!
His landing was as explosive as his takeoff, the resulting shockwaves blasting away everything in a radius of fifty kilometres.
However, instead of dirt and rock, the surrounding blizzard was what got blown away.
The region Alexander had landed in was an uninhabited area buried under a raging blizzard. Everything was either covered in snow or hardened into blocks of ice.
Winds were strong enough to rip skin off flesh, and temperatures were so low that any being below a certain level would find themselves instantly frozen.
It was a region of death.
However, that was not the most crucial bit. Instead of the usual white, everything came in a revolting black.
From the falling snowflakes to the covered ground, everything was blackened and corrupted beyond measure.
Alex crouched and scooped a handful of black snow, feeling its texture and noting the barely existing differences.
The corrupted essence within the snow attempted to invade his existence, but was swiftly erased, returning the handful of snow to its natural white.
Visibility was extremely low, but Alex had no problem seeing millions of light-years away. And while he took in his surroundings, he conversed and instructed his friends.
With a sweep of his hand, Alex cleared the blizzard, restoring calm to the region spanning millions of kilometres.
Alex knew he was being watched. With the universe teeming with corrupted essence, it was a certainty.
His expanded senses covered billions of light-years, silently watching the aggressive actions of the abhorrent essence.
'If they're going to act, it will be during the purification process.' Alexander reasoned as he prepared to act.
Sending his friends away was a last-minute decision. With no way of knowing what was installed for him, he could only play it by ear.
Would they attempt to go after his friends to use them against him, or would they stick with their original plan?
Alex doubted they factored in the presence of his friends. Even if they did, his current location was the only surety in the equation.
Inside the crater, Alexander's figure flickered and disappeared, reappearing at the edges of the crater.
A sweep of his hand materialised several white orbs the size of footballs. The spheres of white, numbering a total of sixteen, casually revolved around him.
The last few days had not been without plans. Knowing he had to purify all corrupted universes, Alex came up with a way to get the job done efficiently.
He wanted to expedite the process while minimising the strain on himself. As such, the spheres of white were the result of his work.
Each sphere of white was a pre-prepared, highly condensed Nexis Radiant with the power to fill a low-level universe once unleashed.
While they would not be enough to purify a high-level universe, they were enough to serve his purposes.
As the spheres revolved around him, they grew in radiance, bathing his figure in a sea of brilliant white.
Then, as quickly as the brilliance came, it disappeared, leaving behind a lingering breeze.
Alexander had sent the spheres to the farthest reaches of his expanded senses before hurtling them farther away.
A moment of silence settled over the region before Alexander made his next move. He lifted his right hand and then snapped his fingers.
Rumble…
The universe quaked for a moment before every direction lit up with an explosive brilliance, swallowing everything in a sea of white.
Alexander remained rooted to the spot, his cloak swaying around him majestically, waiting.
He was waiting for something to happen, for the corrupted Enforcers to make their move against him… or his friends.
Time passed, seconds turning into long minutes, but nothing happened. No corrupted Enforcers made an appearance.
As more and more corrupted essence continued to be purified and erased, the radiance showed no signs of decreasing in intensity.
But just as it seemed nothing out of the ordinary would occur, Alexander revealed a slight grin behind his hood. 'There we go…'
***
The corrupted Enforcers had indeed planned on taking Alexander out of the picture. His existence and essence had proven to be a problem they could not ignore.
Fortunately for them, Alexander's character and personality had already been deduced, making it easier to plan.
It wouldn't take much to get Alexander moving in the direction they wanted for him. They knew his plans of purifying the corrupted universes, so they used that.
With other colleagues hidden among the chiefs, knowing the whereabouts of Alexander was as easy as living with him as a next-door neighbour.
All it took was for them to control the corrupted essences found in the tainted universes remotely. And the moment the first universe was chosen as the start-point, they moved.
Zauren and his colleagues had eyes and ears everywhere, including those who were unaware of their status as corruptees.
Alexander sending his friends away was an unexpected development. Fortunately for them, their plans did not really involve his friends or the chiefs, for that matter.
Keeping an eye on Alexander, they watched as he began purifying the universe. The spheres of white he deployed were new, but ultimately the same thing as predicted.
Phase one of the plan was simple.
After giving a bit of time for their target to focus on his task, they made their move. With swift movements calculated to the last decimal place, the attack left no room for thinking.
Rumble…
The ground beneath Alexander's feet rumbled and cracked, spilling out waves of corrupted essence that threatened to drown him whole; a prelude to a surge of corrupted essence.
At the same time, the space around Alexander wobbled and cracked, revealing the presence of four humanoid void creatures giving off thick fumes of corrupted essence.
The creatures were bathed in the corrupted essence from head to toe, making them seem ethereal and unreal.
Each void creature lunged at Alexander with their elongated limbs shimmering with deadly intent. The attack was perfectly coordinated to maximise the speed of the creatures.
To the senses of the attacking void creatures and those watching from afar, Alexander was just about to react to their lunge.
Unfortunately for him, he reacted a tad too late…
BOOM…!!!
… or so they thought.
An area spanning the entirety of the blizzard-plagued region erupted in a thunderous explosion, violently rupturing the fabric of the universe and shaking its foundations.
Space cracked and spread outward at speeds no less than the speed of light, shattering a split second later to expose the cold and dark true void.
The black snow, glaciers and the surrounding atmosphere were completely erased upon eruption, permanently devouring a large portion of the universe.
"You couldn't have believed it would be this easy, could you?"
The void creatures heard their target say while they focused their senses on what had blocked their assault.
Surrounding their target was an almost colourless, flaring protective ward that blocked their lunged claws and corrupted essence.
SCREECH…
With ear-grating screeches of displeasure, the void creatures attempted to change tactics when Alexander's figure flickered and disappeared.
"!"
The void creatures whipped their heads in the direction they sensed their target. He had reappeared behind one of them, a closed and powerful fist ruthlessly closing in.
Accompanying the fist was a white radiance that made the void quake for a few light-years, a testament to the power it contained.
BOOM…!
When the fist made contact with the void creature, it instantaneously exploded and disappeared. The resulting shockwaves violently blasted the others back, leaving visible cracks in their bodies.
Barely a nanosecond had passed, yet one of the void creatures was erased with apparent ease. But the surprise assault had just begun.
The remaining void creatures sent flying quickly recovered and locked in on Alexander once more, closing the created distance in an instant.
"There's got to be a point to this ridiculous assault."
Hearing their target mutter something else did not deter them. When they closed in on him, they lunged forward with an even greater force.
Nevertheless, the outcome remained unchanged.
No matter how forceful they were in their lunge, they could not break the protective wall around him. The universe, on the other hand, was not so lucky.
Their first strike had shattered more than half the universe, and the second strike, which was packed with an even greater force, did the rest.
BOOM…!!!
"They're attacking!"
The Chief Enforcers and their subordinates swiftly reacted. Rycan was the first to move, explosively closing in on the location.
A high-level universe had just been erased with just two concurrent strikes! But of course, this was their reality, their new normal.
At the second strike, the void creatures noticed their target remained rooted to his spot, seemingly unwilling to make another move.
The creatures had already sensed the imminent arrival of the others. Fortunately for them, their interference was taken into account.
Realising Alexander wasn't going to engage them, the void creatures unhesitantly triggered their cores, their figures flaring with overwhelming levels of corrupted essence.
The target finally reacted, his piercing eyes boring into their figures. However, it was the second part of his reaction that confirmed the success of their mission.
"YOU DARE!!"