In the days that followed, the tempo continued to increase, and it became apparent that something was going to come out soon. The intense and heavy pulse Zol and Mason felt before Evelyn and Charlotte joined them did not occur at that time.
However, on the 13th day of the two women joining them, what they feared happening finally began.
The pulse finally sped up and what appeared to be cracks began showing on the veil tear.
"Has anyone seen a veil tear crack like that?" Mason asked, but the question was one that was on everyone's mind. Veil tears were already a tear in the fabric of their universe, leading to god knows where.
So, for cracks to begin showing on its 'surface' was an indication of something abnormal. When veil tears appear in any region of their universe, they begin like a typical tear of a fabric. Once that was underway, the veil tear gradually transitioned into a circular ring.
"Get ready for anything," Zol instructed and they all geared up, paying close attention to the expanding crack.
As the crack continued to grow, so was the tension they all felt. The pulsating veil tear once again released the massive pulse that washed over the group and even with the distance Zol and Mason created earlier from the first one, the dread they felt did not subside.
Due to this, the hunters backed away from the vicinity, covering billions of kilometres in a split second. Mason looked at the two women and commented, "See? That was what we experienced days ago. And I can confidently say, this new one was much stronger."
He swallowed the lump in his throat once he finished and turned back to the cracking veil tear. He could already feel his heartbeat rising. His nerves were unable to relax.
Evelyn and Charlotte were speechless and could not give any response. But that was not to say there was nothing going on inside their heads.
'This is dangerous. When was the last time I felt this way?' Evelyn's thoughts were racing and the feeling that she never thought she would feel again after so long returned. The feeling was fresh. She looked over at Charlotte and noticed how her stance was battle-ready.
'I guess I'm not the only one.' Even with such thought, her fear did not diminish. She then turned to look at Zol and also saw how battle-prepared he was, waiting for whatever was coming.
Zol noticed her gaze and turned to her, "Don't think too much. If it's something the four of us can't handle, we'd retreat immediately." He said and the others nodded.
The cracks continued to expand gradually and within a few days, the cracks were finally spread all over the veil tear. It was time for the veil to hatch.
"Split up!" Zol commanded and everyone moved multiple distances away from each other, creating a semi-circular formation millions of kilometres from one person to the next.
Zol, Evelyn and Charlotte brought out their weapons of choice from their storage and took a fighting stance, ready to quickly act if and when necessary.
Zol brought out multiple bladed weapons that floated around him, clearly showing his power as a telekinetic user. Evelyn was an ice user and had a specially made long and glamorous sword made from the essence of metal found only in extremely cold regions in the universe, another creation from the influx of mana.
Charlotte was a metal ability user. Her ability allowed her to create and manipulate anything that had to do with metal. But now, she could only manipulate metals she created from her abilities, granting her the flexibility of making any kind of weapon.
Regardless of her ability, she always carried a properly forged bow she used with arrows she created from her ability. And while she could create weapons and control them like Zol, she was not a telekinetic user. Moreover, that was not her fighting style.
Mason on the other hand did not carry a weapon as he was a weapon itself. And while all hunters were weapons themselves, Mason was a barrier magic user. He could create anything with his barrier ability, from shields, swords, blades, etc. Right now, he created a huge shield he held with his left hand.
Class S hunters were considered the pinnacle of humanity, but they themselves knew they were far from reaching the limits of their strength. They could still cultivate and while there were little improvements, it was not enough to create a significant gap among the S Class hunters.
Each and every one of the existing Class S hunters could feel that their level was not increasing significantly because there was something they were missing, but they did not know exactly what that thing was. But that was the beauty of growing, it was up to them to find out.
The four S-Class hunters focused on the veil tear, waiting for its imminent breakdown. And while they stood in the void of deep space, they could feel a certain silent atmosphere settle in. They all held their breath―not that they had any―and watched the cracked 'surface' explode with a final powerful pulse.
They heard the massive explosion and felt the wave of eerie aura, but this time, they held on and did not move an inch. From the veil tear, they saw debris of what looked like pieces of planets, asteroids and other space debris.
However, within that mass of debris were two humanoid-shaped beings moving about rapidly, so rapidly that the four S-Class hunters were having difficulty keeping up! They increased their distance from the ongoing fight, waiting to have a glimpse and understand what was happening.
Mason swallowed nervously once again, his fears rising quickly. Though the beings appeared humanoid, their speed made it difficult to see any actual features. And the aura they gave off was exactly like the massive pulse they felt when the explosion happened.
Surprisingly, once it spewed out the debris and those humanoid beings, the veil tear collapsed, quickly disappearing from its location. However, the chaos in the galaxy did not diminish.
The fight was slowing down and the eerie feeling they let off also diminished. The beings separated from each other, giving the four hunters a glimpse of them, and what they saw made them speechless.