“You are making a mistake.” Ka stated quietly.

Moments ago, Ka-siq-la returned to his brother once again. He has just convinced a number of Dream Lords to join him, and he needed the energy stored in the Pond of Sorrow to restore the power of the Dream Lords. That was why he went to Al-siq-la in the first place.

Now, he found himself staring at the white mask of a Protector.

“On the contrary, you are.” Welch smirked as he raised his Protector Rifle and rested it next to Al’s head. The weapon held enough power to destroy a dimension in one strike, and he could unleash the power in a fraction of a fraction of a second.

The rebel’s gaze was trained on Al.

“Why? Is it really so tempting to be a dog?”

Al looked away.

“Tell me!” Ka screamed, ignoring the Protector Rifle. He obviously didn't think he could live through this day, so he was as reckless as one could be. “Are you really willing to betray your own brother so you can remain as a slave of the very race that almost wiped out our kind? Sell out your own people to satisfy your master? You disgrace me!”

“I will answer the question for you, Dream Lord.” Welch said quietly. “Two years ago, due to the infestation of rebellions, the Grand Protector has issued a decree. For any dimension where a member participated in the rebellion, the rest of the dimension must do their part to put down that rebellion, whether by providing information or providing direct military support. Otherwise, the entire dimension will be punished. In extreme cases, dimensions will be exterminated. Of course, I don’t think you knew that.”

“You...you bastard!”

“Bastard?” Welch smirked. “Your kind was one of the races that invaded our world during the Merge. How many of us have you killed? How many more would have been killed if you weren’t stopped? We should’ve destroyed you! Look at the other races that invaded us! The Greed. The Puppet Masters. The Time Council. Where are they now? The Grand Protector showed you mercy, and you should be grateful.”

He glanced at Al. His tone softening.

“You did the right thing. I can not speak for the Grand Protector, but I think your contribution to us is enough to cancel out the sins of your brother. He will still die, as well all those that joined him, but the rest of your realm will not be punished for it. Speaking of the others…” He turned to Ka. “tell me who they are so I can get this over with.”

Ka looked at Welch like he was daydreaming.

“I am not a fan of torture, but I know a group who is, and they are on their way now.”

Welch wasn’t concerned. He waved his hand, and both Ka and Al could sense the entire Dream Realm being sealed off from the rest of the Infinite Realms. It wasn’t the strongest seal, but it was still enough to keep most transports from leaving. Even if it was penetrated, Welch could get a warning.

The situation was silent for a moment. Welch casually walked to the Pond of Sorrow and looked inside. There, Jean was waiting for Allen in boredom. Al stepped up to behind the Protector.

“How many times did she die in round 1?”

“319 times.”

“That’s less than I expected.”

“Another Voyager reached the win condition. You told me to make her feel like she didn't get any special treatment.”

“Yes I did.” Welch nodded. Died 319 times. Not bad. During the age of the Protector Reapers and Reapresses, even the best of them couldn’t last past 400 times. He wasn’t surprised Jean survived this long. After the initial conversation, he has received some more information from Isabella about these spies. Diagnose on one of the captured spies show that their souls have been manually altered so they wouldn’t feel any emotion. This made this mission, one whose only threat was based on emotions, perfect for Jean.

This was one step closer to get Jean to the top.

Welch had no idea that at this very moment, Jean was deducing, step by step, his entire plan.

Nothing else happened in the pond, so Welch turned back to his prisoner. His reinforcement would take a little longer to get here. He had some free time.

“Now, Ka-siq-la, tell me. What made you think you can defeat us?”

Ka didn't answer.

“Your brother told me you came into contact with a group strong enough to compete with us in the field of battle. Apparently, they attacked several of our outposts. Correct?”

Nothing.

“Well, whoever it is, they lied to you. I checked. Not a single Protector outpost has been destroyed in the past twenty years. Whatever you were shown must be a result of some sort of trick. You have been fooled, my friend.”

“Really?” Ka couldn’t help but make a comment. “I am a Dream Lord! We are the masters of deception! Do you really think you can fool me…”

“You haven’t been out of this realm much, have you?” Welch knew the answer to that question. All the Dream Lords were restricted to the Dream Realm. “Psychic power and soul manipulation aren’t likely to trick you, sure, but how about technology? I know a type of hologram technology that can make anything look real. Heck I can’t even tell the difference with my bare eyes. How difficult will it be to trick an ancient relic who has never left his own world?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Considering your life choice, yes, but that’s beside the point. Point is, what do you think is more likely? A mysterious power suddenly came out of nowhere with the power to compete with the unchallenged rulers of the Infinite Realms, or you have been fooled.”

As Ka lowered his head in thoughts, Welch chuckled inside. Of course he was lying. Protector outposts have not only be under attack, but have also been destroyed, in the past. Most of them were attributed to the work of the Enemy. But if he could scare Ka into surrendering the information right here right now with a simple lie, well, he wouldn’t be complaining.

But the next second, Ka rose his head with renewed confidence.

“Nice job, Protector, but you missed one thing.”

“What?”

“I didn't just see the power of that group. I felt it.”

“What?”

The next second, Welch looked up into the midst-covered sky of the Dream Realm. He could feel his barrier being ripped apart by a dozen entities of incredible strength. The next moment, twelve figures landed in between him and Ka.

These figures wore blue armors. Unlike the helmets of the Protectors that completely covered the upper half of the faces but left an opening for the bottom half that could be covered at will, the helmets of these figures were completely sealed shut. Their armors were similar to the Protectors in terms of both fashion and function. Welch could feel his power being deflected when he tried to scan these figures. It was something he has only seen from fellow Protectors.

A serious concern. Protector armors were crafted within heavily guarded forges in the Core Realms. They were the top of the entire Infinite Realms in terms of technology. These random figures either stole Protector work or came up with designs of their own that achieved a similar function.

Welch frowned.

“This is Corporal Welch of the Fifth Legion of the Protector Corps. Identify yourself!”

One of the leading figures smirked.

“I know exactly who you are, Protector, as for us…” He smiled scornfully under his mask. “you can call us the Aggressors.”

Aggressors…

Against Protectors…

“Very well…” Welch could no longer keep his anger contained. Aggressor? Aggressor? How dare they? A lot of factions in the Infinite Realms have challenged the Protectors, but since a long time ago, as the Protectors grew more and more invincible, no one dared to disrespect the Protectors like this anymore, not when the price was the full obliteration of them and their world.

Welch couldn’t remember when was the last time someone has did something like this, but he did remember whoever did it ended up receiving very haunting ends.

“I will remember to put that down on your tombstone as a sign for the consequence of disrespecting the Protector Corps.”

The leading Aggressor tilted his head before suddenly charging forward. Welch matched with equal speed. Welch has held back when he faced Death. He has held back when he captured Ka.

This time, he wasn’t holding back.

A wave of white energy smashed toward the Aggressor with a speed beyond the comprehension of both Dream Lords present. Against lower foes, it could settle the battle before the foes even knew the battle has started.

The Aggressor charged forward like a mindless beast. The white energy smashed over him and washed over his body. His armor evaporated in less than a second. Welch smirked inside, thinking the fight was over, but it wasn’t.

“Ahhh!”

The Aggressor screamed, and all of a sudden, the projection of a complicated array appeared behind him. The projection quickly crept into the man’s body and started deflecting some of the power enough to roast an entire planet.

A large portion of the blast still went through, but the Aggressor tanked them. Millions of openings were torn open all across his body, but that was it. These wounds were quickly healed.

The Aggressor was tanking the full might of a Protector.

“That is impossible!” Welch’s eyes widened as he increased the energy output. This time, the Aggressor was held in place. He could no longer move an inch. The array on his body started getting ripped down bit by bit. The wounds got larger and larger. Before he knew it, he was being pushed back, struggling to hold his ground.

Fortunately, he wasn’t alone. Four other Aggressors faded into the shadows before appearing right next to Welch. Before Welch could react, four punches landed on him.

“Uh.” All the strikes landed on the Protector’s energy shield first. The reduced strength were then applied on the Protector Armor before finally being absorbed by his physical body.

Protectors were well-rounded warriors. Their bodies were as strong as their energy. The hits didn't do much, but they were enough to piss Welch off.

Throughout his years as a Protector, after the Pact, this was one of the few times where he has been beaten up like this.

The energy beam that pinned the lead Aggressor down kept on blasting. With a scream, Welch grabbed onto two of the Aggressor assassins. White energy spread from his arms to their body and started to scorch through everything about them from their body to their soul. The two other Aggressors pushed forward, but they quickly realized the few steps of distance became as far as light years away. No matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t get any closer.

They tried to blink away, but all they did was slam into an invisible wall.

“One of my friends is a Space Smith.” Welch explained as he slammed the two Aggressors he was grabbing onto against each other. They were already burnt to crisp by the Protector’s energy. The final slam was all it took to reduce them both to ashes.

Welch held his hand out at the two other Aggressors trapped in the space prison. He suddenly closed his fist.

Instantly, both Aggressors were reduced to a pile of neatly chopped flesh. Welch just formed thousands of space slithers in that prison all across the two Aggressors. Space slithers were extremely difficult to form, but at the same time, it was nearly impossible to defend against them.

Four Aggressors dead.

Welch turned back to the head Aggressor who was still trying to break through his energy beam. His array was almost completely gone. Welch stopped the energy beam before making a declaration.

“Ambition can be a good thing, but when you don’t have the power to back it up, it makes you a laughing stock.”

Welch had the right to be proud. He was just a Protector foot soldier, but already he has killed four of these so called Aggressors without taking any real damage. He had to admit, these Aggressors were powerful enemies. They have nearly reached the peak of of the power pyramid in the Infinite Realms. If the Protectors were the top, then the Aggressors were the very next step. Their powers were random, but all of those powers were as good as they could be.

Nonetheless, they were insufficient. He was confident he could kill all the Aggressors left in the field all by himself.

The leading Aggressor smirked.

“Alas, we still can’t challenge you Protectors. No one can. After all, you have made a pact.”

Welch’s eyes suddenly widened. All of his casualness disappeared.

“How did you know about the Pact?”

The Protectors have made many pacts with different power houses of the Infinite Realms during the Merge and the Infinite March, but most of them, like Death and the Dream Lords, are no longer useful to the Protectors themselves. Their only function left was to help the Voyagers.

That was except for the only pact that mattered...the one that made the Protectors semi-invincible.

This was supposed to be a secret among the Protectors because as long as people knew what the power source was, they would try to take it for themselves. Obviously, they would all fail, but this information would inspire hope, which would in turn inspire hopeless rebellions that would only weaken the Infinite Realms against the one real Enemy.

And now this Aggressor knows about it.

“As I said,” The Aggressor smirked. “I know about the Pact, and I also know a dozen of us can’t take you.”

“In that case, how about a thousand of us?”

Welch looked up into the air. Almost as if it heard the words of the leader Aggressor, a giant vessel appeared in the air and dashed through Welch’s barrier. Its blue plating screamed one thing.

Aggressor.

An entire army landed in the Dream Realm in a thousand beams of light.

A thousand Aggressors against one Protector.

Sounds fair.