Alexander began to wonder if the hulmite was even inside the anomaly.
'This is his universe and the anomaly could be a cover for something sinister.' He pondered with a frown. 'He might as well not be inside and shifted to a different location.'
Alex extended his senses to the other blank locations but found nothing out of the ordinary.
'And I doubt he could have made a null vow like I did. Something is not adding up.' His focus turned to the universe's centre.
The demi-god-level void creatures had all but destroyed the spacetime fabric in that location. It was a miracle the universe was still holding up.
'....'
Alex cast a last glance at the anomaly before him and disappeared, reappearing outside the storm barrier of the universe centre. His presence immediately caught the attention of the void creatures, and without hesitation, the creatures turned to him.
Of course, it was but a simple matter to dispose of the creatures. A ripple spread out from his body, and within the span of picoseconds, the creatures disintegrated.
The only thing left of their existence was their black cores glistering with the same sinister vibe Alex remembered. Even as he was now, he still hadn't found a way to destroy them.
They were not meant for living entities--god or otherwise--to manipulate.
He ignored the cores and moved closer to the storm, phasing through it like they weren't present. Once he reached the outer shell of the inner core, he came to a stop.
"I can't get through this one." Alex realized after his attempts to break in failed. "Is it because this universe isn't my own?" He shook his head a moment later.
"No. Those core refiners and veilwalkers were able to enter just fine. This must be related to the anomaly as well."
With no way for him to enter, he returned to the outer storm area and just waited. He had a part of his senses locked on the anomaly the hulmite disappeared into, just in case.
Two more days passed and still no signs of the hulmite. Just when Alex was beginning to think the veilwalker bolted out of the universe, all of spacetime trembled and a sinister aura spread out from the core space.
"!!"
Alex's eyes widened in horror as the sinister and foreboding aura washed over him. The aura was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It brought out a dreadful sense of disgust and revulsion within him.
"The hell…?!"
Without hesitation, Alex backed off, putting millions of light-years of distance between himself and his previous location. Even then the aura reached him.
Under his celestial eyes, the hues of the universe changed from its mesmerising colours to black, silver and grey, traversing the fabric of spacetime like a raging thunderstorm.
The galaxies and celestial objects in the path closest to the centre were instantly disintegrated, turning into nothing but motes of black, grey and silver lights.
'The people!'
Alexander's expression was unsightly upon that realization. With gritted teeth, he turned around and arrived within the regions of the universe that contained life.
He made a clasping hand gesture he quickly opened up, willing his powers to create protective spheres around numerous and sparse out galaxies. It encompassed everything and everyone--even the ones isolated in the paradise the hulmite created.
Alexander brought his palms back together and the spheres disappeared in a flash. He had taken everything into a different space he created himself--an isolated universe of his own making.
And as soon as that was over, the raging sinister aura ran past the region. An involuntary shudder ran through Alex's body, his senses tingling and warning him of extreme danger.
Slowly, he turned to face the direction where the aura was gushing out from--the universe centre.
"This universe is done for…"
Alex noted with heavy eyes, watching as everything was being wiped out of existence--the anomalies included. He knew it was the doing of that veilwalker.
What he couldn't understand was why the hulmite would condemn his universe to the destruction they were chosen to prevent. Had he not intervened, even those in his paradise would have been goners.
Within the span of a few minutes, everything that was once the territory of this universe was covered in the sinister and foreboding aura, leaving nothing but a blank canvas of nothingness.
Spacetime still existed but was as fragile as a piece of cardboard. A single swipe of the hand and spacetime would tear apart, revealing the true void.
"Staying here might not be the best decision."
Alex knew this was likely some kind of ascension the hulmite was completing, and this entire place now looked like his domain. Fighting here might not be favourable to him.
He willed for a veil tear to appear beside him, wanting to return to the true void. However, nothing happened after a second had passed.
"Hm?"
Alex focused on the spot before him, trying a second time. Still, there was no response. The spacetime fabric was indeed weak--he could sense it.
"Domain…" Alex realised what was happening. "Spacetime might be weak, but it's not for me to manipulate…." He could see the laws and principles of spacetime being a completely different thing--something not meant for entities like himself to interact with.
"It's like those black cores…I can see it but I can't interact with it." His mind began to put things together. "That's why this feeling is so foreboding and sinister… So those anomalies…"
He was there but not quite yet.
CRACK!
A loud crack echoed throughout the blank universe, catching Alex's attention. His focus went back to the source of the aura. In the location that was supposed to be the centre of this universe was now a swirling mass of darkness and grey.
Just looking at the phenomenon made Alex extremely uncomfortable, and with no way out at the moment, he could only watch and bide his time.
The mass was solidifying towards the centre, where the crack originated. As the swirling continued, condensing towards the centre, the crack continued to intensify--almost like a cocoon that was forming and at the same time being cracked open.
Several seconds later, the swirling condensed into the cocoon, resulting in a dark and foreboding shell with numerous silvery cracks.
"It's time…"