The Veilwalker-Chapter 581: Where Thought Meets Mystery

Pierce.

Fragment.

Disconnect.

Isolate.

Utilising these four absolute authorities, Alexander's spear pierced Aurelionth almost instantly as it left his hand, the resulting shockwaves erasing what remained of the multiverse.

He held nothing back with that throw, having affirmed his decision to bring an end to the madness. He could not bring himself to assimilate the mixed essence of the Omnisoul and so decided to split it.

Aurelionth's majestic body exploded in a mist of radiant and dark, fragmented essences. These fragments numbered in the billions, given the sheer size of the dragon.

But almost instantly, the fragmented wills attempted to recombine. The absolute authority of disconnect severed any connections the fragmented wills shared.

Then the absolute authority of isolation forcefully dispersed the pieces in every direction, swiftly sending them into the far reaches of nothingness.

Without being in one piece, the mixed wills of the Omnisoul and Cthulhu could never recover to become a complete absolute.

The trait of nothingness as he understood it was not something that could be shared. It had to be only one source. Ironically, it served as the only limit to their absolute powers.

Reality was more or less dead. And while the outcome was not ideal, it was the best he could deliver given the circumstances. Then again, there was no longer a reality that corrupting essence could infect.

But that also raised another point. Living entities were an ever-changing breed of wills. Corruption had not existed before… Cthulhu made that possible.

Just thinking about that made Alexander frown. Although the core essence of life forms came from a single source, they were still individuals with their own thoughts.

There would always be a risk that someone would stumble onto that path of corruption. Of course, he would not tolerate such a development… he would never allow it.

Alexander might tolerate the greed living beings carried and go so far as not to interfere in their actions, but he would not sit by and watch as they brought doom to his existence.

History would not be repeating itself.

Alexander promptly brought his racing thoughts to a halt. There was no need to ponder too deeply at the moment. He could feel his will imbued in his authorities permanently consolidate as absolute laws.

Left alone in the abyss of nothingness, Alexander let out an imaginary sigh as he straightened his body. He momentarily closed his eyes as a final show of respect to Aurelionth before reopening them.

There was nothing left to see or sense. Nothingness was just that… nothingness. There was no essence to feel, no veil to manipulate, no dimensions to interact with… there was simply nothing.

The only reason he could cope with the experience was that he was a walking paradox… a self-sustaining reality.

'Haa… Nothingness is deafening.'

The thought was not novel, but the truth was only one. Never had he ever imagined stepping outside the bounds of his former universe, nor had he imagined stepping out of reality even more.

But here he was… the only entity in nothingness, an absolute existence. His former reality was now gone, the only traces of its existence being fragmented wills and the lives he now sustained.

'...'

As his mind went over the experience, he couldn't help but fall back to his last thoughts. Once again, the fight — while cataclysmic — felt too easy.

Yes, the Omnisoul's first strike had taken a piece of himself away, a piece that was still recovering. It had shaken him quite a bit.

However, because the Omnisoul had not been a complete absolute, he had managed to settle the fight as seamlessly as possible.

Perhaps it was because he was extremely powerful, or that he was a bit different as a reality from the Omnisoul. It could probably be something else, but there was no reference to draw from.

He only knew about himself and what he could and could not do. Maybe he was being arrogant, but the fact remained. Countless living had been ruthlessly destroyed, so much agony had gone around, so much trauma… and yet.

'There must be something wrong with me. Was I expecting to be forced onto the edge? Am I doing this for some sense of satisfaction? Have I had it so easy?'

Suddenly, he realised how misguided his thinking had become. He should be glad he had resolved the madness. He should be pleased it didn't force him to sacrifice anything!

Maybe he did not feel too much difficulty, but the path he took to get to where he was now had not been easy, not in the slightest.

Who had gone through the impossible to make the impossible possible? Who had found a way to create their own essence when they should have been only one?

None of what he did was easy! If it were, everyone would have done it!

And yet…

'...'

There was no possibility of any external forces acting on his existence… he was his own existence, after all. Luck and fate were things he decided and made possible; no one had that kind of influence on him.

Alexander took another imaginary breath and exhaled, letting go of all his sophisticated emotions. Aside from the rising ego he promptly crushed, there was still fear… there was still guilt.

Shutting off his emotions seems to be something he consciously chose not to do. After all, it was because he allowed himself to feel that he caught himself growing egotistic.

He did not want to be a brick wall devoid of emotions just because he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. He wanted to be grounded as much as possible… it would be very easy for him to grow detached, after all.

Putting his complicated emotions aside, another issue bugged him. He still did not get the answers to how Cthulhu had gotten its sinister claws into the Omnisoul in the first place.

That was still a giant question mark.

Being an absolute existence himself, Alexander knew that the creations he supported could never tear through the veil of the universe into his existential domain of power.

His rules did not allow it, and he also made it so that the life forms could not utilise Nullion — the essence of his existence. They could not use it without his explicit permission.

It would erase them the instant a hint of it touched their bodies. The creatures of the void within the Omnisoul were different, but that did not grant them the power to bypass the protection the Omnisoul had.

So how did that happen?

Alexander extended a hand to catch his returning spear. He looked at the spear and broke into a small smile, sharing the weapon's sentiments with him.

Despite being a creation that could be easily dissolved, the spear was a part of him and would retain the same sentience whenever he conjured it.

'You did well supporting me all these years, buddy.'

Sharing the sentiment of his spear, Alexander watched it dissolve into essence that flowed back into his existence.

Shifting his gaze, he looked around at nothing… Well, there was nothing to see. A piece of himself still felt that it was not entirely over, and yet, there was literally nothing around him.

The entire sequence of events that had transpired from the moment he realised what Cthulhu was doing to splitting the mixed wills took only seven minutes, a time measured by the flow of time in his existence.

Most of that time had gone into convincing the Primordials and Gods to help protect the multiverse and explaining his actions to the Veilwalkers. The fights, however, had lasted merely seconds each.

In the end, absolute power won over the power of the masses.

'No… Without the Omnisoul creating the Veilwalkers, I wouldn't have grown as I have. I wouldn't have had the chance to become who I am now. Everyone did their part in ultimately creating this outcome.'

Alexander let out a final sigh. It was time to return to his existence and sort out the countless life forms he had adopted. He needed to carefully review the plan for demarcating the universe to favour all life forms.

As his figure began to turn ethereal and formless, Alexander abruptly felt a foreign will — sinister and overwhelmingly foreboding — wash over him.

Alexander's face darkened as he reacted instantaneously, his existence re-solidifying. He turned around and put a chasm between himself and the source.

At the same time, his spear manifested into his hand as he took a defensive pose, his senses spreading outward like a tyrannical wave, searching.

Fortunately, he did not have to search long. Soon, his eyes and senses locked onto an entity that had not been present moments prior, making him furrow his brows cautiously — he had never felt so guarded.

There was nothing more dreadful than an entity you knew nothing about and had no understanding of. But what felt most disturbing was the essence that composed the entity.

Where did the entity come from? Who or what was the entity? None of those questions mattered… there was no point.

Alexander watched with a dark expression as the entity unleashed some essence into nothingness. The essence lingered but did not approach him, seemingly harbouring no ill intent.

Upon closer inspection, Alexander deciphered the essence. In fact, it was so plainly revealed that it would have been a joke if he failed to decipher what it was.

'A neutral essence inviting my own to share intent…'