"...I was the Veilwalker in mine," The woman steeled her resolve, her gaze locked in Alex's.
"When I was no older than fourteen, a cosmic mana wave swept over my home world, claiming the lives of everyone, including my parents.
"I was the only survivor and that was only because I was chosen."
Everyone at the table understood what she meant as Alex had undergone the same thing.
'But she lost everything from the start.' Alex wasn't sure if he would have been the same had he gone through something like that. 'Compared to her, I had it easy.'
Alex came out of his thoughts as he listened to the Catwoman continue her story.
"My universe isn't as technologically advanced as yours, but we had our own ways of reaching other worlds within the chaos.
"My universe was primarily for beings like me--The Beastkins. Races with animal features and abilities. There were catkins like myself, foxkin, rabbitkin, etcetera. But that matters little now. They're all gone."
A trace of guilt flashed in her eyes, the pain of losing everything stabbing her deeper than any knife could.
"Things weren't harmonized like yours as well. There was conflict everywhere despite the threat of void creatures and cosmic storms.
"Greedy beings only interested in power and ruling controlled nearly all the resources. People had to fight tooth and nail just to get a bit more resources for the next day."
Cassandra closed her eyes again, the memories playing within her mind like it was yesterday.
Her words made the hunters realize just how easy they had it. Then again, they weren't any better in the beginning and only came together to fight a common enemy.
Unfortunately, not all universes chose that path.
"Fortunately for me and unfortunate for others, I got my hands on a small void core that triggered the ability to call for a cosmic mana wave.
"That was when I began to increase my powers. And with that power…" Cassandra took a brief pause for dramatic effect. "... I forced every power to yield."
Alex raised an eyebrow at that. The woman conquered her universe, taking complete charge of everything.
"With the aid of my vassals," Cassandra continued as her gaze lingered on the hunters present. "I began to eliminate void creature after void creature, focusing entirely on completely eradicating them from my universe."
Through that act, she absorbed a lot of abilities from the void creatures while her strength continued to grow.
Due to the passive nature of her void core, she focused more on combat than on enlightenment.
"But then more powerful void creatures began popping up. Initially, it was still manageable…" she swallowed hard before adding. "...until that one showed up."
Zol, Mason, Charlotte and Evelyn exchanged glances. They knew which creature she was talking about.
"Unlike the ones we were fighting before, this one was intelligent. It knew how to fight and didn't rely on its size.
"At the beginning, it was far stronger than me. Our fight spun across the galaxies, destroying everything and anything."
Alex recalled his last experience, getting a feel of what she meant. But then, something didn't add up. Luckily for him, she explained.
"For whatever reason, it would always avoid the veil tears, wanting to have our fight within the galaxies. We fought for years on end until I began to match its power."
At this point, a single streak of tears fell from her left eye. The experience was harrowing as she saw the worlds she ruled getting reduced to ashes.
"Finally, after our battle reduced the integrity of the universe's fabric, it began to fall apart, pushing us out and into the true void."
Cassandra released yet another sigh. "I don't know when or how it happened, but we somehow ended up in this universe where I saw some of your vassals."
After many years of battling, they had used more energy than they could recover, making it easier for Zol and the others to help her finish the creature off.
But this was where her question came from. "Where were you at that time?" Cassandra questioned Alex directly. "It would have been a breeze had you been there."
"Unfortunately or fortunately for me, I was still a teenager with no idea what I had." Alex casually replied and the others nodded.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes at that reply but then a question that skipped her mind came back.
"Wait," The Catwoman raised her hand. "How many years have passed since then?" She was a little over 100 years old, so for Alex to be at the stage he was, it should be at least half a century.
However, the response she got left her in a state of absolute shock and disbelief.
"It's been a little over six years since then…" Zol replied.
"What…?" Cassandra was in doubt. She looked at Alex only to see him nod. "Th-that can't be true…"
She stared at Alexander like he was staring at a monster. 'Was there a difference among Veilwalkers or have things changed since I went to sleep?'
Unfortunately for her, most of her time was spent fighting instead of learning about herself and what she could do.
"I don't know what to tell you, but not much time has passed since then." Alex shrugged. "But there are a few things missing in your narration.
"How did you know about the existence of other Veilwalkers and vassals?"
Universes he could dismiss as he had the same vision. But he only knew about what he was only after Elina told him.
And with the woman's non-existent understanding of laws, he wondered how she knew or was even able to make vassals.
The question added to her disbelief, but it also made sense as she only knew sometime after she conquered her universe.
Cassandra regained her composure after some time and replied.
"That's because I had a few visitors to my universe as well." She sighed. "They called themselves servants of The Supreme Walker and were a part of a coalition of universes under one banner."
"Supreme Walker?" Alex echoed with raised brows. This was news to him and the others.
"Yes." She nodded, her expression growing slightly dark. "And they were incredibly strong. They…"