"..."
The tigress calmly watched Alexander carry out his little test, her guard raised to the utmost limit. She did not like how vulnerable she felt in the environment, and with her inability to extend her senses, she felt more suffocated.
That ball of light she witnessed disappear into the abyss was unnatural to her eyes. Alex was extremely close to the abyss, and that light had more than enough essence to be seen thousands of light-years away.
'It swallowed it completely…' It was the best analogy she could think of to describe what she witnessed. 'There has never been anything like this before. Outside existential frameworks, there should be nothing but the veil of chaos. But this… this is just nothing.'
"What do you make of this?" Calyndra looked back at Alexander, who was looking over his shoulder at her. The solemn expression on his face more than informed the tigress that Alexander didn't seem as fearless as he projected.
"I'm not sure…" Calyndra swallowed imperceptibly. "None of us had ever seen anything like it."
"You don't say…" Alex muttered as he turned to look at the abyss. He was hoping that with her extensive knowledge, which he lacked, she would be able to offer some insight.
Unfortunately for him, the woman was as clueless as he was. But one thing was for sure… The abyss was absolute nothingness.
When that condensed light disappeared into the abyss, it didn't feel like it was absorbed, neutralised or destroyed. He simply lost all connections to that condensed light the moment it crossed into the abyss.
Alexander spent a couple more minutes staring into the abyss, yet failed to perceive anything. In that time, his senses monitored the surrounding dark oceans and the abyss they contained, learning nothing new.
The only consistent thing was the occasional ripples in the surrounding millions of light-years. 'Why does it look like the ripples are the prelude to creating this absolute patch of nothingness?'
More questions arose the more he pondered. With no way of knowing with absolute certainty, he could only make assumptions. Usually, his intuitions were spot on. But here… he was unsure.
Suddenly, a daring thought came to mind, and the more he considered it, the more his core and inner realm shook. 'It can't be helped…'
With a decision made, Alexander flew even closer to the abyss, making the tigress look at him like a maniac. But then, her expression widened in absolute shock when Alexander extended his left hand towards the abyss, seemingly attempting to plunge it in.
"You're insane, aren't you?"
Alexander ignored her assessment, wholly focused on the task at hand. He didn't want to miss anything when his hand went into the abyss.
THUMP…
As he inched closer and closer, his core thumped loudly. Even so, Alexander ignored the warning signs and plunged his hand in.
"..."
Nothing.
Alexander furrowed his brows thoughtfully, trying to make sense of what he was experiencing. Half his forearm was plunged into the abyss, and everything from that point was missing.
He could not see that part of his hand. Neither could he feel anything past the point at which the abyss began. There was no pain, no sensation whatsoever. The circulation of his energies stopped right at that point.
'Stop is not the right word here… More like I lost my connection to everything in that part of my hand. I can't even feel my existential framework.' The observation sent a shiver through his being.
The tigress looked on with a rare anxious look on her face. She had already widened the gap even more, putting at least a billion kilometres of distance between herself and the madman.
"!!"
When Alexander pulled his arm out, there was nothing left to see. That part of his arm looked like it had been cleanly cut off, exposing the white essence of his existence.
Lifting his arm for a closer look, Alexander gazed at the missing portion as if he had seen a ghost, his expression a mask of absolute terror. Without so much as a thought from him, he swiftly backed away from the abyss, putting as much distance between himself and that 'thing'.
'I-it's gone…'
Alexander swallowed fearfully, staring at the arm and the abyss in tandem. The fear in his eyes could not be described, as the number of times he felt this level of fear could be counted on one hand.
The missing portion was not just gone; it was thoroughly erased, soul framework, essence and all. It was nothing short of absolute oblivion. This was not returning to baseless energy, but the complete erasure of all that was his missing arm!
Had he not been a Veilwalker, rebuilding that missing portion of his arm would have been impossible. Alex felt his body and core tremble once more, this time more intensely than ever before. Realising what his core had been warning him about, Alex dreaded what could have been.
What if the abyss had erupted to engulf their entire body? They would be erased without a shadow of a doubt! With this being his main body, he would have ceased to exist right then and there!
"What have you fools done?!"
A sudden rush of anger rose out of nowhere, his eyes set ablaze in righteous fury. Abruptly, he turned around and glared at the tigress with so much intensity that the space between them trembled. Calyndra flinched, an existential crisis overwhelming her.
BOOM…!
Without so much as a word, she took off in the opposite direction, heading straight for the first Veil Tear in her sight. Alexander did not have to make a statement. She knew what he was probably thinking.
'Shit, shit, shit…!'
The tigress cursed as she felt her surroundings change. The corrupted essence that had been kept back all this time came in full force, seemingly trying to invade her existence.
She was out of Alexander's protection, and knowing what might be going through his head, the tigress did not dare to stand around to find out.
Alexander looked on with a furious expression as the tigress escaped the bounds of the ruined universe through a Veil Tear. Not even a second had passed from the time he erupted with fury to the time the tigress escaped.
He would deal with the Enforcers later. For now, however, he needed to do something about this universe. He could not let things progress as they were.
Alexander turned his attention back to the patch of absolute nothingness, his senses extending even farther out to mark the others.
'Damn it. This universe is too big!' He exhaled loudly, watching as his arm began rebuilding itself from scratch. 'No matter… It won't be here for long.'
***
After several minutes of struggling, Alexander's companions grew accustomed to the overwhelmingly restrictive pressure, allowing them to stand upright once more.
The redhead lifted his left hand, the feeling akin to lifting several tonnes of solar masses. Every move felt like he was dragging that much weight along.
But that was the tip of what the restrictions placed on their bodies, especially for Ross and Julia, who were not Veilwalkers. When he extended his senses out, the discovery left him baffled and shocked for several seconds.
'Alex was right… We really had it easy in our universe.' From his estimates, his senses could barely cover one light-year in diameter. 'From 100,000 light-years to barely one light-year…? What the hell is with the restrictions?!'
Ross dreaded the extent to which his physical speed and power had decreased in this environment. He glanced at Julia and realised the girl was equally testing how much strength she could draw out. As if noticing his gaze, Julia looked over, shock evident in her expression.
The Chief Enforcers noticed their actions but did not comment; their focus was mainly on the universe in the distance. They were still puzzled as to why Alexander had taken them along. Whatever the reason, Alexander's companions were not their concern.
'Hm?'
Suddenly, the Enforcers all turned to look at Alex's companions, specifically at Julia. Right beside her, a vortex of energies began picking up, drawing everyone's attention. The energies quickly condensed and took form.
"Alex…?"
Julia muttered, her expression lighting up radiantly. However, her bright smile faltered when she saw Alexander's expression and felt the presence he exuded. The usual beam in his eyes when he looked at her was gone, replaced with a deadly white radiance as he walked past her.
The sight made Cassandra and Ross frown deeply. They had never seen him look this enraged. Without even acknowledging their presence, they watched with bated breath as Alex turned to look at the Enforcers.
"!!"
Drakmor and his colleagues almost flinched at his gaze, perplexed as to what had him riled up. However, before they could even express themselves, an explosive boom drew their attention back to the universe.
They watched their colleague, Calyndra, emerge from a Veil Tear with unparalleled explosive force, the forceful exit ripping and widening the Veil even more. As soon as she broke free from the corrupted essence, she merged with the void and shifted, reappearing beside her colleagues.
"Shit!"
When her eyes fell on Alexander's cold and deadly ones, she cursed and distanced herself from the group, quickly disappearing. The rest of the Enforcers did not wait around either, swiftly vanishing from sight, leaving Drakmor as the only one behind.
"You morons have doomed us all..."
Alex looked directly at the only Enforcer remaining with literal eyes of white flames. There was no trace of respect in his tone. His radiant eyes emitted so much rage that the void began trembling.
"You'd better hope this mess doesn't get any worse."
"..."
The dragon was taken aback and very much confused. Something must have happened in there for Alex to appear so enraged, letting go of all modicum of respect. However, that would have to wait.
Alexander turned his focus to the universe, stared for a moment and then disappeared. His actions left his friends baffled beyond reason. Driven by a desire to know what had gotten him worked up, they called to him through their connection.
Unfortunately for them, Alexander was not in the mood to respond, at least not yet.
"What the hell happened?"