A few weeks ago
Zol Knight was in his cultivation room cultivating in the Knight Family Estate. There hadn't been any threat for a while now, and the kids were doing well from the reports he received. He was also made aware of Alex's problem with his level, but he had decided to observe in the meantime.
[Sir, there's a problem.]
Suddenly, the voice of his AI resounded within the room. Zol slowly opened his eyes, eyes that flashed a bright green before subsiding. His posture sitting on the massive mana podium caused the very air to ripple as waves of mana swirled around him.
However, that wasn't all, the room was built with the ability to change the gravitation force. Zol could increase the gravitation pressure during intense exercises, increasing the effectiveness. His current strength level made the normal gravity as light as a feather. He was practically untethered to any planet.
"What is it?" He demanded in a deep tone that left no room for refusal if anyone heard it. He made no attempt to get and waited for whatever issue it was to be explained to him.
[Director Dirgg received a communiqué from the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy about unusual spatial phenomena happening in the vicinity of the destroyed Fornax Dwarf galaxy.]
Zol squinted his eyes a little. One had to know the Fornax galaxy was destroyed when multiple portions of various galaxies displaced by cosmic mana waves wreaked havoc when they collided with the galaxy over a thousand years ago.
The galaxy was now a danger zone plagued with veiled spaces, cosmic mana waves and void creatures. It was utter chaos and madness.
However, in that madness is a treasure trove. The void creatures alone were resources enough. But their numbers and levels were higher compared to much quieter regions. Because of the constant waves of cosmic mana waves, it was a challenge to venture into such regions, leaving all the potential minerals and treasures untouched.
This had been the state of the Fornax Dwarf galaxy and other ones just like it. But for a report to come in stating unusual happenings from the already existing ones must be a serious matter.
"…"
Zol was silent and did not give a response, going over everything he knew about their current universe that might be remotely similar to what he heard. However, …
[Director Dirgg requests your presence on the Orbital Ring. He claims it's urgent.]
Zol let out a breath and got on his feet. Since his presence was requested, it must be very important. His rank and authority did not make it easy for someone to summon him.
He quickly changed into his formal wear and made his way outside. But before he stepped out, he instructed the AI to inform his family about his absence. He had already decided to venture to the area to see what was happening.
'Hopefully, it's nothing major.' Ever since Alex told him about his experience after the cosmic mana wave displacement, he had a feeling things would be changing very soon. And this feeling did not ease.
But the problem was, there was nothing they could do even if they wanted to. With no clue as to what to expect, they were blind and could only wait for whatever was coming to approach.
Of course, there were critics of the information he presented to the council from Alex. Their opinions were valid as there was no proof that the universe was on the verge of being destroyed.
Yes, there were veil tears, cosmic mana waves, and void creatures. But even with these, the fabric of the universe was never as strong as it was two millennia ago.
Zol approached the edge of his building and floated away from the building. Once he determined the position of the Orbital Ring in the sky, he took off and within a second, was already before one of the bays of the Orbital Ring.
The Operators immediately noticed his position and opened the bay for him to enter. Once inside, he made his way straight to the control centre. On his way, everyone who saw him stopped what they were doing and bowed in greetings.
Of course, said person was used to this and did not pay much attention. But even then, his imposing height, stature and presence always turned heads wherever he went.
Sometime later, he arrived at the control centre and saw the director already waiting for him. The director and his subordinates quickly got up and received him.
"Welcome, Lord Zol."
"Mm....
"Shall we get on with it?"
"Of course, right this way." Director Dirgg said and led him to the large display. The operators quickly brought up the feed they received from the Large Magellanic galaxy.
"What am I looking at?" Zol asked, glancing at the director.
"We're not sure. Initially, we assumed it was another veil tear appearing in the vicinity, but unlike the veil tears we are familiar with, this one behaves strangely."
Zol watched the feed closely as he listened to the director and just as he mentioned, something was strange about this veil tear.
Unlike the veil tears they knew about, this one in particular was pulsating as if alive. All veil tears, at least, the ones the empire was aware of looked like tears in space. They were not visible to the naked eye and had to be tinted with colours to be observable or one had to be able to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
In all cases known, veil tears were mostly stable, even with the eerie aura they gave off. As the gateway for the emergence of the void creatures and mana, they were surprisingly stable.
However, what Zol was looking at was not behaving like that. He squinted his eyes and watched closely as this was the feed they were receiving right now from the Large Magellanic galaxy.
The pulsating nature of the veil tear almost looked like something was trying to force their way in. The thought slightly scared him.
'Please, don't be what we have feared for some time now…' He silently pleaded.