Five void creatures, unlike anything Alex and Trohan had ever encountered, floated around the hulmite with deliberate calmness.
They weren't cosmic-sized, nor were they formless entities. Instead, they were humanoid, standing at an imposing three meters tall.
Their lean frames had slightly elongated limbs, and their fingers were unnaturally long, gleaming with dark and ominous intent — just like the hulmite.
Their bodies were inky black, slick with an almost liquid sheen that would have gleamed under a light source if one had been present. The surface pulsed with an eerie glow, shifting like liquid shadows.
It was an unsettling sight.
But what disturbed the hulmite the most was their utter lack of facial features. No piercing eyes, no nostrils, no mouths — nothing.
And yet, he felt completely exposed under their 'gaze'. It was as though his very existence was laid bare for their scrutiny. The sensation was so deeply unsettling that had it been possible, he might have pissed himself.
The sheer weight of their collective presence was overwhelming, capable of collapsing a low-level universe. Even from a vast distance away, Alex could feel it.
'God-level void creatures.'
Neither Alex nor Trohan needed confirmation. They instinctively knew — those beings were on a completely different level.
An eerie silence settled around the true void as Trohan remained still while the void creatures scrutinized him. After what felt like an eternity, the void creatures did something.
A bone-chilling series of deep, rhythmic clicks escaped from them, resonating with a predatory menace that seemed to crawl beneath the skin.
They glanced at one another like they were having a conversation about what to do about the anomaly before them. With each eerie click that escaped from them, Trohan felt his soul leave his body.
Alex paid close attention to what was happening, all the while making his own preparations. He wasn't going to get caught off guard again.
The radiant essence around his body continued to flare nonstop, and Alex even created an invisible domain around his body. It covered a radius of 100 meters — small, but enough.
'What are they going to do?' Alex was curious.
He realised how fortunate he and his universe were. Had he encountered creatures like these before his ascension, he would have been an absolute goner.
Alex's full attention returned to the void creatures when the 'discussion' they were having came to an abrupt end. The creatures snapped their heads to the hulmite, their steely 'gaze' returning in full.
Trohan had never been scared this much in his life. Even Alex hadn't shaken him to such an extent.
'Shit! Shit! Shit!' The hulmite cursed like a broken record. 'How could I have known this would draw the attention of these monsters?!'
Regret was a bitter pill to swallow and an even harder one to let go of. Trohan had no one to blame but himself.
The silence and tension grew more and more noticeable. Alex and Trohan could tell something was about to happen — and it did.
Suddenly, the void creatures closed in on the hulmite. Each one thrusted their right hand forward, impaling Trohan through the chest. Yet their hands did not clash, nor did they emerge from the other side.
Five hands, each the size of a lean man's thigh, plunged into the inner realm of the hulmite with unnerving precision. Trohan spat out condensed black essence, his eyes wide with shock and confusion.
He weakly reached for two of the creatures' hands, but there was no strength in his grip. Black essence continued to drip from his mouth for several seconds before the void creatures abruptly withdrew their hands.
The moment they did, Trohan's body exploded into nothingness. He was erased completely — just like that. And without understanding why, the hulmite's existence ended, leaving behind only a lingering sense of unwillingness.
Yet the void creatures paid no heed to the hulmite's demise. Their focus remained fixed on the pulsating, circular black and silver core floating at the centre of their formation.
Alex watched the scene with a grim expression. An unsettling taste lingered, not just in his mouth, but in his very being. The sight of the black core intensified the disturbing feeling that had plagued him since his battle with the hulmite.
He narrowed his eyes at the ominous, foreboding power that pulsed from the core. He could already guess what the void creatures intended to do with it. And the more that thought settled in his mind, the louder his instincts screamed of impending danger.
The void creatures emitted the eerie sounds from earlier, seemingly discussing something once more. Their heads would occasionally shift from one void creature to the other.
Had they made hand gestures while emitting those sounds, they would have looked no different from humans. The intelligence they displayed was already frightening enough.
But to see them actively engage in a conversation was a different sensation. Alex wanted to know why they killed the hulmite when his essence was similar to theirs. Something had to have guided their decision and Alex desired that answer.
'Why do I even bother…' Alex silently mused, the frown on his face deepening. 'He was an abomination, even for them. I would have killed him anyway.'
His right hand went behind his back as he slowly condensed his white essence in something he hadn't used in a while. Things were about to get ugly.
The 'conversation' soon came to an end and the void creatures refocused on the pulsating core. Then, the core began to spin around. It would complete one spin in one direction and then switch to a different direction.
This action continued until the ominous energies around the core began to extend outwards and towards the five void creatures. Their chest morphed and wriggled as if something underneath was trying to come out.
Inky black cores that were similar in aura to the hulmite's core but also different in another way emerged from their chests, revealing a tennis ball-sized portion.
The energies from the hulmite's core began to be siphoned into the cores of the void creatures — or at least that was what was supposed to have happened.
BOOM…!!!
Out of nowhere, a spear condensed purely of white essence whipped through the void and plunged into the hulmite's core. The core trembled for a second before white cracks began emerging on its surface.
The cracks continued to grow and the brightness increased until the entire core exploded in a massive explosion that blasted the void creatures away.
"Not on my watch…"
Alexander stood heroically in the dark void, his gaze cold while white essence flared around his body. His celestial robes were gone, replaced by the cold and metallic sheen of his black armour — now with white detailing.