"STOP THEM!!"
The roar came out of nowhere, but it snapped everyone out of their shock. Their reactions were instantaneous. But then…
Kzzt…
"!!"
Something out of their realm of understanding froze everyone in motion, the chiefs and reforming Enforcers alike.
Then, everything went black.
***
'It's too much!!'
The dragon and his colleagues realised. Their barrier wasn't going to hold. They needed to abort.
CRACK!
With the abyss being so close to Alexander's universe, there was no other path for the attack to take.
"DRAKMOR…!"
The other Enforcers called out to Drakmor, their intent clear. They weren't going to stand in the way of the overwhelming force!
'I'm sorry, Alexander.' Drakmor turned his head to Alexander's friends, the look in his eyes solemn. 'I can only save your friends.'
The first to abandon the hopeless situation were the four Enforcers. Following their exit, Drakmor flashed and appeared before Alexander's friends.
They seemed to have been frozen in place, as the speed at which the dragon moved far exceeded their reactions.
Drakmor covered the trio with his power, gave one last glance at the universe below, and then vanished.
CRACK!!
The barrier gave way, crumbling under the overwhelming force of the cataclysmic beam. It hurtled towards the universe with unstoppable momentum!
"??"
"What the…"
Right before the disbelieving eyes and senses of the gathered chiefs, the beam of cataclysmic and universal-ending proportions froze.
The death ray froze just before it swallowed the universe whole! But that was the first of many surprises and shocks to come!
A split second after the death ray came to a stop, it disappeared in its entirety, casting a deep and harrowing silence over the region.
"I-Impossible…"
"I-Is that…"
"He's alive?"
"Something is different..."
"Alex!!"
While the chiefs looked on in a daze at the ghostly countenance of Alexander, Julia dashed towards him.
The relief she felt through her being was unlike anything she had ever felt. Seeing her beloved protecting their home deeply stirred her emotions.
Alexander was alive and protecting their home. The Knight princess had never felt so protected and safe.
She and the others didn't realise how, but they reached Alexander the moment they made a beeline for him.
"..."
The Enforcer Chiefs, on the other hand, saw everything that happened, and it shook them to their core.
'They became one with the Chaosveil.' Drakmor noted grimly, his intense gaze falling on Alexander. 'He couldn't do that before.'
"Alex, you scared me!" Julia wrapped her hand around Alexander, burying her face in his chest. "Don't ever do that again!"
"I'm really sorry, sweetheart. But I'm back now…" Alex returned the embrace, caressing Julia lovingly.
He looked at his best friend and nodded, 'I won't fail you again.'
Ross didn't quite understand what Alex meant with his words, but he nodded back, glad his best friend was fine.
Alexander then looked at Cassandra, who also nodded his way. She, too, was glad and relieved to see Alex.
'You really gave us a scare, Alex. You should be more careful in the future.' Cassandra shared her worries.
'Understood.'
Alexander replied, focusing on the silently crying Julia. 'I really scared her.'
He tightened the embrace, emotionally sharing with her how sorry he was and how much he loved her.
An involuntary smile crept onto her face as Julia felt the warmth and love her beloved had for her.
Meanwhile, the Enforcers looked on with uneasy gazes and throbbing cores. They tried to make sense of what they were looking at.
However, their efforts yielded no results. Alexander looked and felt different from before.
They didn't know why, but they felt a level of dread and terror they hadn't felt before. And no matter how they tried to push down the creeping fear, it wouldn't disappear.
There was something dangerous about the boy, and that uneasy feeling only grew as they stared. Moreover, his face, which was hidden beneath his cloak, did not help.
Alexander was right in their line of sight. They could see him but could not sense him.
In fact, he wasn't part of the void. He was right there and yet, he wasn't. That made them very uneasy.
Rumble…
Suddenly, the void trembled, shifting everyone's gaze from Alexander and his party to the abyss of absolute nothingness.
"Fuck, the bastards didn't get erased."
The corrupted Enforcers were reforming. They began as repulsive waves of swirling energy that gradually grew in size.
Silently, the chiefs watched the reforming Enforcers, while a part of their senses was honed in on Alexander and his companions.
'He doesn't at all seem bothered…'
The chiefs noted the strangeness surrounding Alexander. He was still locked in an embrace, seemingly lost in comforting the girl.
'Why are we standing around?' A chief questioned their colleagues. 'Zauren and his partners aren't dead!'
'Relax, Revan. Right now, the boy seems more threatening… And I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling absolute dread towards him.'
'Yeah… But there's more.'
'...'
Their shared connection went silent as everyone looked on, keenly prepared to react or flee at the slightest unexpected change.
Through their eyes and senses, those absent and busy with other duties allotted portions of their wills to witness the unfolding events.
Soon, the corrupted Enforcers reformed. However, like the gathered chiefs, Zauren and his colleagues turned to look at Alexander, their eyes flickering with uncertainty.
'They've noticed it too…'
'It would be weird if they didn't. That kid is not the same person as some minutes ago.'
Now, everyone had their attention on Alexander, their visions selectively eliminating Julia from his embrace.
To their eyes and senses, Alexander's figure distorted the void around him, phasing in and out of the void, almost like a ghostly entity.
"Child…"
"!!"
A sinister and soul-stirring intent washed over everyone present. The intent was so vile that every single Enforcer present recoiled in visible disgust.
'Ugh! What is that?!'
The heads of the chiefs snapped over to Zauren and his companions. The intent originated from them.
But that wasn't all.
'Look at their eyes…'
Everyone focused on Zaurene's eyes and swiftly noticed the change. Moreover, the look in his eyes was the same for all the corrupted Enforcers: soulless and horrifyingly repulsive!
'Fuck. I wish I hadn't seen it!'
The chiefs could not hold the gazes for long. Those eyes induced an existential degree of horror and rejection in their very being.
Somehow, the chiefs could tell that they would suffer severe backlashes if they continued holding that gaze.
'The Cosmic Horror, Cthulhu.' Drakmor muttered in their connection, but they already knew who that intent belonged to.
As an alternative, the chiefs focused most of their attention on Alexander to spare themselves the backlash.
However, despite the sinister intent that continually sent shivers through their existence, Alexander didn't seem affected.
Surprisingly, his friends turned their attention to Zauren's party and beheld their presence. They showed no signs of disgust in their countenance.
It almost looked like they were staring at another life form found anywhere in their reality.
"...you've done the impossible. Congratulations."
The intent from Zauren's party added, confusing everyone. What the hell did it mean that Alexander did the impossible? And congratulating him? What did they miss?!
"However… you're no longer welcome here. Leave…"
'What is going on?'
'I think we're all lost here, Calyndra.'
Confused and unsure of what was going on, the chiefs waited for Alexander's response. Fortunately for them, Alexander didn't keep them guessing.
Gently, Alexander pulled Julia to his side and faced Zauren and his colleagues. With no way of seeing his face, they could only infer his sentiments from what he said.
"So you retained everything," Alexander replied, his intent deep and reverberating through the void. His response, however, deepened the confusion.
"It would have been a joke otherwise. Unfortunately for you, I am not going anywhere."
'...'
The chiefs were very confused! There was no one they could ask, and Alexander seemed as terrifying as the Cosmic Horror.
But there was one among the Enforcers who swiftly caught on to what the Cosmic Horror said earlier, entirely ignoring what Alexander said.
That part did confuse him.
'It said Alexander did the impossible.' Drakmor inwardly reflected, recalling all he knew of Alexander. 'And Zauren was convinced the abyss killed him.'
There was no faking that.
'That could only mean…' the dragon swallowed, realisation dawning on him. His core thumped anxiously, an unknown sensation creeping into his being.
'H-He did it. He actually did it…'
Drakmor was snapped out of his thoughts when Zauren and his companions collectively shared once more.
"Your actions have forced me out of my slumber, child."
The void began to tremble as the intent was shared, instilling a deep-seated fear in the core of all the Enforcers.
Without hesitation, the chiefs put more distance between themselves and the corrupted Enforcers.
"You have undone the success of what I've set out to achieve…" The trembling intensified, seemingly threatening to collapse the void!
"For that…"
The shadowy and ghastly figures of the corrupted Enforcers began trembling as their bodies emanated waves of corruption.
BOOM!
Every last corrupted Enforcer exploded in a blaze of abhorrent darkness, swiftly swirling and coalescing into a giant mass of corruption.
With anxious gazes and racing cores, the chiefs bore witness to the birth of something straight out of a horror story.
"W-What the f…"