"H-HOW…?!!!"
That one cry carried the agony and grief of countless lives lost across the multiverse.
Every chief… No, every Veilwalker could feel the vacuum left behind by the outrageous loss of lives in their universes, the ache in the cores threatening to cripple them with overwhelming despair.
Many clutched their chest in desperation, as though their cores were housed just behind it. Visions of the beings living in their universes played in their minds like passing memories.
They saw the smiles of the regular people and felt their determination and will to overcome daily struggles.
Children playing around, the parents watching over them, and those who were looking forward to the future; the Veilwalkers saw and felt it all…
But just like that, it was all snuffed out!
The Veilwalkers tried to make sense of what had happened and how it had transpired, but to no avail. They had no premise to make educated guesses.
What had happened was not mere genocide, no. What had transpired went far beyond reasoning.
It was a sin against the multiverse! The scale of the loss could not be put into words; words wouldn't be enough.
The chiefs desperately drew in the surrounding energies, gasping and wheezing like spent bulls, the agony traumatising.
It took them several minutes for the chiefs to fully heal, and a lot longer for the other Veilwalkers.
This simple fact emphasised just how crippling the loss was to them and their essence, as even the most devastating damage took less than seconds to heal.
Unfortunately for them, the lingering pain in their cores wasn't fading, and the Veilwalkers didn't know how to change that.
Silently observing the agony reality was going through, Alexander clenched his fists.
He could not feel what the Veilwalkers felt, but he could imagine what they must be going through… He could see the scars in their cores.
'It wasn't supposed to be like this…'
In his range of vision, which vastly exceeded the capabilities of the chiefs, were several low-level universes. Peering into them revealed the level of devastation their actions had caused.
Alexander knew what they had done was not something that could be reversed like what he had done with his universe.
Cutting off a piece of reality was not the same as bringing an end to a universe. The destruction of a universe retained the essence within the system.
Their actions, instead, had crippled the Omnisoul, which in turn affected everything it birthed.
Veilwalkers might be able to recover to an extent, but the same couldn't be said for everyone and everything else.
'Only by being whole would this level of damage be repaired.' Alexander deduced grimly, rage bubbling beneath his calm facade.
While he had plans of claiming his universe, using forceful means was not his style. But things rarely went as intended.
'Such is the nature of chaos… Even I cannot accurately predict what happens next.'
Although there was the option of putting the universe back in place, the Omnisoul was not whole. Moreover, that Cosmic Horror would definitely retaliate.
Alexander could not afford to put his universe in harm's way. Not again. He had failed it once and nearly lost everything.
"Huh? Where did that thing go? And where is our universe?"
Julia's question pulled Alexander out of his thoughts. She clung tightly to her beloved's torso, her head resting on his chest.
The Knight princess had been frightened at the sight of that creature. However, that fear faded away as if it had never existed, which was strange.
Even so, she didn't question how that came to be, as her only concern was her friends and home universe.
"I destroyed it," Alexander replied, tightening his arm around Julia. "As for our universe, it's somewhere safe."
"Hehe, I knew you would pull through." She giggled, feeling an unprecedented sense of safety.
Alexander smiled at her, shifting his gaze to Ross and Julia. They had questions they were dying to ask, eliciting a small smile from him.
"I'll answer all your questions later. For now…" He looked in the direction of the chiefs, focusing on the threads that connected them to each other.
The threads were a complex mesh of chaotic energies that spread throughout the void, connecting the Veilwalkers to their universe and to the largest thread around.
That large thread resembled the roots of an ancient tree, vast and all-encompassing. On the nodes of these threads sat the multitude of universes.
It was a breathtaking sight to behold, akin to a lighted realm of root systems, where ambient grey lights blended with the darkness of the Chaosveil.
As chaotic as everything was, Alexander could accurately pinpoint which thread belonged to whom by perceiving the different signatures in them.
More than that, Alexander was able to tap into the individual threads of the chiefs, picking up on what they were discussing.
It was no different from mind-reading. Nothing could be hidden before his gaze. Then again, Alexander was not a big fan of prying into people's privacy.
Reading the traces openly left behind was more than enough.
"I have the answers you seek."
Snapping out of their lingering agony, the chiefs narrowed their eyes as they picked up Alexander's intent around them.
They exchanged weary glances, uncertainty flickering in their eyes. Despite their appearance and recovery, they weren't at their peak.
That strange feeling of terror they felt from Alexander was still present, making them cautious and hesitant.
But Drakmor, Rycan and a few others took the initiative, melding with the void before vanishing.
With no reason to linger, the others did the same and reappeared in the vicinity of Alexander. They did, however, put enough distance between themselves and Alexander.
Only those who had interacted with Alexander were brave enough to get close, really close. If Alexander wanted to harm them, they wouldn't see it coming.
It was that realisation and frightening assurance that brought Drakmor and the others a few meters away from Alexander.
'He really is different.' Drakmor thought to himself, taking a critical look at the boy. He couldn't pinpoint what was different; he just knew.
The boy gave off no sense of existence at all.
'And he's not the only one…' The dragon looked at the others by Alex, their situation a lot clearer than Alexander's.
The very first time they met Alexander's friends, they were part of their reality; they could see it.
Now, however, they were just there as themselves. Not a part of their reality in any way, shape or form.
This was what kept the other Enforcers back, weariness in their eyes.
"W-What is going on, Lord Alexander? What happened to that thing?" Calyndra broke the awkward silence.
Drakmor glanced at the tigress, picking up the change in her intent. 'She's being more reverential than before.'
"The Cosmic Devourer is awake."
The reply came, calm and collected. But to the Enforcers, their cores quivered as if being reminded of an imminent threat, a feeling of deep, existential crisis.
"That 'thing' you saw is a true manifestation of that monster's will, birthed from its abhorrent essence."
The Enforcers had deduced that much, so there was not much surprise there. Still, the revelation sent a wave of terror through their existence.
They had nearly fallen into absolute despair when that thing appeared. Being reminded of it was not easy on their psyche.
"The reason you're all in crippling pain is because of our actions. That entity devoured another piece of reality, as opposed to destroying it."
"W-what do you mean?"
"When Cthulhu took a part of the Omnisoul, all of reality fractured. But at the very least, that was limited to the domain of the Omnisoul. This time, however, it devoured a thread connecting all universes."
"..."
The Enforcers were speechless, unable to grasp how Alexander came to this explanation.
His words played in their minds like a video recording of the events that unfolded, allowing them to grasp what he meant.
'H-He's doing this, isn't he?'
It was only natural for the Enforcers to be cautious when Alexander bypassed all their mental defences as though they didn't exist!
'So that's why…' Drakmor was among those who didn't think much about Alexander's feat of bypassing their defences, focusing on processing what he said.
'By cutting off his universe, that entity had cut off a piece of everyone.'
The implications were significant and telling of Alexander's change. Even they weren't privy to the threads Alexander showed them.
"Your universe?" Nyssa asked, drawing everyone out of their racing thoughts and discussions.
"With me," Alexander answered.
"..."
The Enforcers waited, expecting more than that. Unfortunately for them, Alexander remained silent, unwilling to share any more.
But that in itself was enough, as it confirmed the suspicions of those in the know. And when it was shared with the others, the mind-space went silent for several seconds.
Everyone just stared at the boy, speechless. In their eyes were shock, surprise, hints of admiration, envy and… fear.
'An independent system, huh?'
Expressing the intent in the mind-space further drove the point home. Alexander had shattered his ties with their reality to become his own cosmos!
How did Alexander do it?
That question rang in the heads of all the Enforcers, and yet, no one was brave enough to express it.
"I-Is there something you can do for us?" Calyndra asked after many considerations on her part.
The lingering agony was unbearable for the beings in their universes. If nothing were done, who knew how many more would die?
The tigress and her colleagues held on to hope, anxiously waiting for Alexander's response.