'Mason, stop them!'
'One step ahead of you, Zol!'
It had been a rather hectic few weeks for Zol and his companions. Being exposed to the 'world' Alexander lived in showed just how overbearing it all was.
But nothing shocked him more than seeing the uncountable number of Veilwalkers, the implications even more shocking.
Each Veilwalker represented a universe in the multiverse… and they were the ones who had lived long enough to be around!
Zol had no idea the multiverse was that vast…
And then there were the primordials… beings who were older than every universe except for one. To think they were the primogenitors of all life forms… There was just so much to learn.
Unfortunately, everything else had to wait.
Chaos ran amok as Veilwalkers, knowingly or unknowingly carrying corruption within their very existence, turned on their colleagues.
However, this was just the beginning. True pandemonium was just a barrier away, and while unfortunate, it had to be done.
And it was his job and that of his companions to make sure no one got in Alexander's way. From what his young lord said, he needed to focus his entire existence on breaking through the boundary.
Naturally, no manner of assault on him would break or disrupt what Alexander was doing.
The issue was… the kids, especially his niece, were hell-bent on keeping up appearances. To allow anyone to sully Alexander's person would be an affront to his status as an absolute.
Julia, Ross, and Cassandra swiftly acted to stop the first attempt against Alexander. As for the second wave, Zol would be damned to leave everything to the kids.
Every last vassal had significantly increased their overall size to match the diverse group of humanoid and bestial Veilwalkers.
Many were of builds that the former guardian of the Milky Way galaxy had never seen or thought possible. In his current situation, however, they were irrelevant.
Zol and the rest of his colleagues materialised out of the void several thousand kilometres away from the kids, Mason taking the lead to intercept the sea of Veilwalkers charging towards Alexander.
With a sweep of his hand, the barrier master conjured an invisible dome ahead, and the Veilwalkers crashed into it with tyrannical force.
It wasn't enough to stop them, as there were cracks already spreading, but it was more than enough to break their momentum.
'Remember, don't kill them if you can restrain them!'
Zol fearlessly charged into the midst of the corrupt Veilwalkers, completely ignoring the vile essence they emanated.
Confronting three momentarily disoriented Veilwalkers, Zol's hands flashed, systematically striking at them with uncanny prowess.
Every strike from him caused the void to explode with essence. However, those explosions were muffled by the one Alexander's actions brought.
The former guardian swiftly manoeuvred through the now incapacitated Veilwalkers, moving on to another set.
Behind him, the three he had incapacitated had their bodies tightly bound by white ethereal strings that sapped them of their strength and ability to move, be it physical or magical.
Breaking through those restrictive bindings would be the same as breaking Alexander's will… an impossible task for anyone without his express permission.
While Zol had easily incapacitated those Veilwalkers, the fraction of a microsecond delay Mason bought ran out. Moreover, chiefs were not so easily defeated.
The void exploded once more.
Zol clashed head-on with a giant demonic Veilwalker brimming with corrupted essence, the dark, smoky sheen of corruption in the demon's eyes threatening to drown him whole.
But as corrupted and invasive as the abhorrent essence was, it could not latch onto Zol's armour, much less invade his body.
Zol narrowed his eyes as he noticed something he had ignored earlier. From where he stood, the demon he fought looked feral, like he had lost all consciousness.
'He's not in control…' He realised somberly.
The two exchanged thousands of blows in the span of a microsecond, each combatant taking and receiving heavy blows powerful enough to shatter high-level universes.
However, despite his precarious situation, Zol did more than clash with the corrupt demon. Utilising his powers, he locked onto several thousand non-chief Veilwalkers, effectively slowing them down to a drag.
'Tch, there's just too damn many!'
Even with his efforts, the corrupted Veilwalkers outnumbered them by a considerable margin. Mason, Charlotte, Evelyn, and the others were also locked in by other chiefs, with some even battling more than one.
It would take at least a second to incapacitate the chief he was battling.
That left several more Veilwalkers, chiefs included, free to charge towards Alexander's figure unimpeded. Of course, Ross, Julia and Cassandra had not moved since the second wave began.
Finally, the kids made their move with tyrannical momentum, the sheer weight of their clashes whipping void essence around like crazy.
They never moved too far from Alexander's back and promptly returned to their previous positions after successfully repelling the attackers.
Their goal was not to kill, but to repel or restrain where possible.
After another one or two microseconds, Zol restrained the demon chief and promptly moved to bind the Veilwalkers he had slowed down with his telekinetic powers.
The former Knight guardian moved with unnatural speed, striking the thousands of halted Veilwalkers and incapacitating them, the aftermath of his movements leaving a network of fading trails in the void.
Zol spared a nanosecond to take in his surroundings. Everywhere his senses reached, it was chaos. Veilwalkers, Primordials and Gods fought against the corrupted, resulting in a cacophony of explosions that added to the shaking void.
However, unlike how he and his companions freely moved, the others had to be cautious of the corrupted essence around them.
If they lingered in the corruption for too long, they risked succumbing to it. Even so, many had already been taken over by the corruption, helpless in stopping its invasive power.
'Hang in there, people.'
Zol said a silent prayer in his heart and then charged back into the fray, this time clashing with three corrupted chiefs.
After what felt like an eternity of continuous battles but was in fact just a few seconds, the sound of something cracking echoed across the rumbling void.
Louder than any explosion, the echoing crack momentarily broke the continuous battles as everyone turned to look.
More than a crack in a perceived barrier, it looked like a spiderweb of cracks in the fabric of reality itself, spreading outward in all directions.
There was no up or down, right or left… but a crack in all dimensions of the void, the network of cracks weaving through the beings gathered as though they formed a part of the boundary.
Zol swallowed hard, his core thumbing anxiously. He stared at the figure of Alexander as he pushed forward, widening the crack more and more.
'It's time…'
The boundary finally gave in and exploded like glass shattering. A second shattering followed the first one, the barrier set by the Supreme One falling faster than Zol could process.
With the shattering of the boundaries, a torrential rush of void essence swept over the gathered forces like a tsunami.
Simultaneously, every entity not a corrupted or a companion of Alexander, toppled over as they gripped the area around their chest, their figures intermittently convulsing.
The agony they were going through must have been especially daunting.
But that was not all.
Along the rush of essence came a grim feeling of horror so invasive and overbearing that the former Knight guardian considered putting a chasm between himself and that grimness.
It felt so wrong…
It was as though Alexander had taken the lid off a forbidden tomb, one that shouldn't have been touched.
The dreadful feeling drowning the void kept growing by the second, gnawing at his flight response. But the Knight guardian stood his ground, unwilling to abandon the fight.
Then… then all hell broke loose.
'Not good.'
The corrupted Veilwalkers, who had been feral before, lost it all over again, the severity of their madness beyond anything Zol had seen thus far.
It was as if they sensed an existential crisis looming, one that threatened to wipe them out completely.
As if they had received an order, the corrupted mindlessly charged at Alexander, leaving those they were previously fighting behind.
Zol and his colleagues turned around to face the incoming sea of corruption, a bit of apprehension burning within.
Suddenly, Zol's eyes widened in terror when a shudder ran through his spine. Turning his head around, what he saw nearly crippled him with fear.
Beyond the shattered boundary, in the harrowing bleakness of the void, came what Zol could only describe as an immeasurable cloud of horrifying madness.
From one direction came a sea of corrupted Veilwalkers, and from another, were the abominable creatures of the void… the true monsters Alexander spoke of.
It seemed they sensed the threat he posed to their existence and were willing to do anything to stop him.
'H-How do you fight something like that?!!!'
Zol could not imagine himself fighting the incoming terrors. He could barely make out any shape in that cloud of corruption!
Void creatures with forms so monstrous and so massive, the Knight guardian momentarily forgot to breathe… and he didn't even need air.
'Snap out of it!'
Alexander's voice rang in his head, pulling him out of his harrowing thoughts.
'This has always been the madness forced on us. Now is not the time to despair.' Alexander continued, his intent spreading far and wide. 'I leave the multiverse in your capable hands… Protect as much of it as you can and leave the rest to me.'
Zol looked at the majestic figure of the young boy he had once shielded, his cloak gently swaying amidst the chaotic void.
Then, Alexander raised a hand towards the madly approaching Veilwalkers, his palm radiating an intense white light. Like a discharged electromagnetic pulse, the fierce light swept past him.
Before he knew it, the approaching wave of corrupted Veilwalkers was blown back, their charge forcibly disrupted.
'He cleansed them all…'
The Veilwalkers, brimming with the harrowing essence of the madness, were snapped out of it like a bad dream.
'See you soon…'
Zol turned his attention back to Alexander, who had also turned around to face the approaching cloud of madness.
Before his very eyes and expanded senses, Alexander took off with a bang, shaking the void once more.
He disappeared in an instant, too fast for anyone to follow. With his explosive take off came the absolute and complete erasure of all the approaching monstrosities.
'...'
Alexander single-handedly eradicated creatures he dared not imagine facing himself. Such a display of domineering might… such power!
Zol was proud.
However, the madness had just begun. Alex had taken and would continue to take care of the true monsters, but the void creatures they were capable of fighting would soon arrive.
Along with them would be another wave of corruption. Alexander might have cleansed the Veilwalkers, but they would still be vulnerable to the corruption.
But whatever may come, he and the others would defend the multiverse as best they could. They had to…