The three other beings who appeared were dressed in a similar fashion as the one choking the veyzari.
"Speak."
The one choking the veyzari demanded, tightening his grip. The veyzari had no will to struggle anymore. With his powers sealed, he was at their mercy.
"I-I don't know." The veyzari managed to say. "I only remember the universe being here. Clearly, something or someone must have destroyed it!"
"Obviously…" The being growled in annoyance.
"Why are you even wasting time with this lesser being?." One of the other three chipped in, their tone just as cold. "Read his soul and get this over with. We still have to investigate the origins of this energy lingering around."
The veyzari's heart skipped a beat the moment the other suggested peering into his soul.
'Shit!' The veyzari panicked.
Regardless, his situation was extremely grim. Even if he told them everything of his own free will, the chances of them letting him go would be null.
Moreover, it was easier to just go through his soul. It would make things a whole lot easier to understand.
'And what the fuck are they talking about?' He couldn't sense any other energy besides the abundant chaotic void energy. 'Does it have something to do with that Alexander fella?'
"His soul protection is stronger than expected." The man holding the veyzari said. "Trying to break it would take some time, even for us."
"..."
His companions were surprised by those words. Also, why did it matter? They were on a mission for the Supreme One. Anyone who got in their way would be crushed — no exceptions.
"Just do it."
The veyzari noticed his choker raising their head to stare into his eyes. Even now, he couldn't see the being's entire face. It was like a mysterious power protected their face from being seen.
The being's eyes suddenly glowed a deep and menacing gold, staring into the eyes of the veyzari.
"Mm!"
The veyzari groaned and closed his eyes. A sharp and piercing pain tore into his head. One of his mental blocks was destroyed, just like that!
"Ah…!"
The veyzari's screams gradually grew until it became a full-blown torture. His choker was ruthless, mercilessly tearing down the soul defences of the veyzari. He didn't bother trying to unravel the maze structure of the protection, simply breaking through them like a battering ram.
Even so, the defence was not weak. For the first few ones, the choker was able to easily break through them, but as he continued to push, more time was required to break through the protections.
"You weren't joking." Another companion of the choker muttered, shock evident in their tone. "Looks like this is his race's speciality."
"Mm."
The group of four completely ignored the heartwrenching scream of the veyzari, not treating him like a living being at all. To them, this was the fate of the weak.
About half an hour later, the choker brought down all the veyzari's defences, exposing his soul to be read completely unhindered. But the veyzari was no longer the same as before.
His eyes rolled back into his lids, drool leaking from the corner of his lips. The veyzari was completely broken, no longer a functional being. Sure, they could put him back together. But what would be the point?
Once they acquired all his knowledge, he would be useless. Simply killing him and taking his universe core would be enough.
One easy universe core to acquire without the stress of the universe's protective sphere.
The choker began the soul-reading process while his companions waited for him to finish. With glowing golden eyes, he peered into the secrets of the veyzari.
The man found out that the veyzari was known as Nixque and was part of a race known for their strong soul magic.
Even before the mana descended on all universes, they had the ability to manipulate the souls of other beings.
But that was of little consequence for the man. He filtered out what he didn't want and focused on the important bits, finally stumbling on the plan Nixque was cooking with the dark core, using other universes and the recently lost one.
He saw Nixquye put soul protection on the hulmite and how he convinced the being to implement his little experiment. The experiment part caught his attention as this was something even they hadn't considered.
"Disgusting."
Still, it wasn't something anyone would want to do. But then, he noticed the presence of Alexander and how he interacted with the hulmite until the hulmite fused with the universe+dark core to ascend to godhood.
"Oh…"
"What is it, Mike?" One of the choker's companions called out his name.
Mike revealed a small smile under his hood and replied in an amused tone.
"Looks like we found our person, and he is the same person of recent interest," Mike replied.
"Alexander?"
"Bingo." Mike then plunged his left hand into the veyzari's chest and pulled out his universe core, killing the veyzari in an instant.
He tossed Nixque to the side as the veyzari's body began disintegrating. Turning to face his companions, he said.
"We have to report this to the others before we make a move on the human."
Mike waved his hand through the void, feeling the energy mixed in with a different lingering one he had no control over.
The remnant energy was unlike anything they had ever felt. There was one word to describe the feeling it instilled — purity. But that wasn't all. The energy felt out of this world; like it was foreign.
"But the trial hasn't yielded any results yet." Another stated. "It's still a mystery how he achieved his ascension. And now this…?"
"It doesn't matter," A feminine voice responded next. "Our mission was to find out what this lingering energy is and the one responsible for it. We've gotten our answers and more…" The woman turned to look at Mike.
"I believe you learnt more than we expected?"
"Yeah…" Mike replied. "But that veyzari was doing something real nasty, having already gotten many lower universes involved. It creates another problem we will have to deal with."
"Whatever problem it is, I'm sure the lower servants can handle it." The woman replied. "Let's get out of here."