Lord of Annihilation

In the direction of Lucius' pointing, was the huge mountain wall. The mountain wall shone with an eerie dark-blue radiance, with blue icy veins running through the entire structure. Similar to the veins in the human body, these icy blue veins pulsed with energy.

As he traced the path of the veins with his eyes, he noticed a small crevice in the center of the mountain wall, dozens of meters up in the air. Infusing his soul power into his eyes, his gaze sharpened as Lucius observed the crevice.

Inside the crevice was a large ornate door, carved out of pure-white ice. With the dark blue mountain acting as the backstop, Lucius was easily able to spot the door, which was a few feet inside the crevice.

"That's our destination," Ka'lor'ah spoke while pointing towards the white door.

"That's obvious. The problem is, how are going to get there?" Lucius replied sharply.

Indeed there was a problem. Two problems to be precise.

The first problem was that the crevice on the mountain wall was approximately 60m in the air. With the face of the mountain being perpendicular to the ground. Scaling it would be very hard. And to increase the difficulty, the mountain was clean and unnaturally smooth. In other words, there were no ledges for him to grip it.

Now the second problem.

At the bottom of the mountain wall, were hundreds of yak-like creatures. They were 5ft in length and 4ft in height. Two ice-white horns decorated their head, and a pair of crimson eyes shone with malevolence.

Looking at the way they were grazing at the bottom of this mountain, this place seemed to be their home. 

"Are those..." Lucius questioned and Ka'lor'ah instantly replied.

"Fjord Beasts. All at Mid Level Stage. Oh wait, I can spot a few dozen Peak Level Stage 1 in the back of the herd." 

Indeed. Blocking his way to the white door where hundreds of Mid Level Stage 1 beasts with dozens of Peak Level Stage 1 beasts in the mix.

'Fjord Beasts' Lucius searched through his memories and recalled the information pertaining to them.

Fjord Beasts:

Grade 3 Lifeform.

A Lifespan of 120-160 years. Reaches adulthood at the age of 40. Feeds on Ice-type energy. Lives in groups large groups numbering 300 at least. Possess basic intelligence. Adept at group attacks. Direct Combat is not advised.

[Piercing Lance] and [Ice Shell] are the two soul types available to this species. Born with minimum soul cultivation of Low-Level Stage 1, they have the potential to reach Peak-Level Stage 1.

'This is going to be difficult.' Lucius complained.

"Let's explore the surrounding area. Maybe there is another way up there." Ka'lor'ah encouraged.

Nodding his head, Lucius immediately took off towards the mountains.

The Fjord Beasts were extremely territorial creatures. As long as one does not invade their territory they do not attack the other party and are quite gentle. 

But once their territory is invaded... they attack the intruder with their superior numbers, crushing the other party with brute strength. 

Although Lucius was a Peak Level Stage 1 being, even he would die if attacked by dozens of other similar level beings. Such being the case, fighting the horde head-on was the most foolish choice.

As he neared the group, Lucius intentionally lowered his pace. Getting within a hundred meters of the other party, he noticed the gazes of the Fjord Beasts falling on his body. Ignoring them he continued to close in.

80m...70m...60m...50m.

Just as he entered the 50m range, those gazes suddenly turned hostile. From the corner of his eye, Lucius noticed the closest Fjord Beasts moving their soul power and getting ready to attack him.

Immediately stopping at this spot, Lucius activated his [Annihilation Intent] without hesitation. At the next instant, a terrifying aura was unleashed from his body and an intangible pressure descended onto the surrounding area.

Although the Fjord beasts weren't within the 15m radius upon which Lucius [Annihilation Intent] would start attacking their souls, they immediately felt the immense threat radiating off, of his person. The beasts who were preparing to attack him unconsciously backed away.

'Not bad. Much more effective compared to [Killing Intent].' Lucius remarked.

[Killing Intent] was only useful in paralyzing the opponents at a lower level. Against an opponent of a similar level, it only provided a source of discomfort, being a waste of his soul power. This was why Lucius had turned off his [Killing Intent] when fighting against the Leader Bug.

Seeing the Fjord Beasts back away, Lucius continued to test their bottom lines. He continued to press forward while preparing himself to retreat when needed.

40m.....30m....20m....15m.....10m.

Just as he entered the 10m range of the group, the closest beasts let out a loud bellow and charged towards him. Having prepared himself to retreat, Lucius immediately jumped back.

The beats continued to charge at him until he reached the 50m range, upon which they stopped their charge and back away.

Absolute silence returned to these snowy lands. 

On one side stood a lone human figure and on another stood hundreds of yak-like beasts. A gap of 50m between the two parties was the illusory 'no-mans land'. A gap that either of the parties hesitated to cross.

Looking past the beasts, Lucius estimated the distance between himself and the mountain wall. From the point he stood, there was a distance of 300m. 

'[Void Steps] would allow me to travel 15m at maximum range. As such I would have to use it 20 times. Unfortunately, it consumes 25% of my soul power and is therefore not feasible.'

'[Annihilation Intent] can only intimidate the other party to a maximum range of 10m. Upon which they disregard their safety and attack.'

'[Void Hands] and [Flaw Detection] are useless in this scenario. As for [Annihilation Energy] I have no idea how to use it.'

'Maybe if I cycle [Void Steps and [Devour]? No, once I make it to the center of the group, I will face attacks from dozens of those Peak Level beasts. Death is the only outcome.'

Lucius' mind rapidly analyzed all the possible battle strategies that he could employ here. His feet then tapped on the ground to check its strength. 

'Ground is too hard. I cannot tunnel my way under it.'

Looking at the beasts who were staring at him with a hostile look on their eyes, Lucius sighed.

'Looks like I can only fight the long battle. Draw them out in small groups and effectively kill them. The small mound behind me will act as a check, blocking the view of the two sides.'

Having come to a decision, Lucius extended the metal rod in his hands. With his command, it rapidly grew in size before turning into a pitch-black scythe with crimson veins running across his surface.

'Let's begin.' saying so, he dashed towards the large herd. 

It was time for slaughter.

-----------------

An unknown distance away, Olivia ran towards the incredibly tall mountains with all her might. Her face was completely pale and bloodless and the violet light covering her body was rapidly dimming. Her large chests continued to heave up and down, as she struggled with all her might.

Olivia was completely tired. Tired in body, mind, and soul.

Her mind was dizzy. She couldn't feel her limbs anymore and her soul power was overdrafted for the fourth time in her run. Her body was solely running with her will power.

'Hungry.....want...sleep.....small...break.' her mind screamed at her to take a small break, to relieve her exhaustion. Just a few hours of sleep and she would be fine, it told her.

Yet, Olivia did not give in. One, she knows that if she slept right now, she might never wake up. And two...

'I don't want to give up. I will catch up to him!' she thought to herself.

She ran after Lucius with all her might and barely caught up with him. Alas, when her soul power was exhausted for the first time, her body collapsed onto the ground. Lucius never paused and she lost sight of his figure.

An unknown amount of time had passed since she had lost sight of Lucius and the thoughts of giving up plagued her mind. However, her will wasn't easily broken.

'Just over this mound. Come on... you can do it!' she encouraged herself and pushed her body past its limits, once more.

Climbing over the mounds, she saw the plain view of the spotless white lands, finally being broken. Underneath this mound lay dozens of bodies of yak-like creatures. Blue blood and white flesh were strewn all over the ground, as their bodies lay lifeless and unmoving.

At the very center of this scene was a handsome young man. Pure darkness enveloped the 5m radius around him and multiple pitch-black tentacles, extended from within the Void and pulled these lifeless creatures into them.

Seeing the figure whom she had been chasing all this time, standing here and devouring his opponents with an indifferent face, Olivia felt a sense of accomplishment filled her heart.

'I....caught...up.' she thought to herself as her knees buckled under the immense exhaustion.

Just as the thought of going to sleep tempted her mind, she heard the young man speak.

"Oh. You finally made it. You have 15mins. Prepare yourself for combat." he heartlessly ordered.