Lord of Annihilation

Peering through the cracks of a broken window, a pair of triangular eyes stared towards two figures walking some distance away.

'Fresh fish. High quality too.' Rat remarked as his sleazy eyes evaluated the faces of the two newcomers.

Licking the corners of his lips in a depraved manner, he silently thought to himself: 'One's got quite the size, whilst the other is flat. Nonetheless, their faces are top-notch, especially the flat ones. If I can get my hands on them and successfully sell them, I'll be swimming in coins!' 

Tearing his eyes away from the crack, he silently observed his surroundings. His triangular eyes shortened and his eyes furrowed.

'Of course, none of this matters to me. Quite the crowd had been gathered here. There will be quite the show to watch.' Rat lamented. 

This sickly looking man with a pair of triangular eyes, a broken nose, and sharp ears was named Rat. Of course, this wasn't the name given to him by his parents, but one that he had earned during his time as a Hyena.

Much like the others inhabiting the Pandemonium, Rat had been abandoned at a very young age. Managing to escape the fate of being a slave, he had turned to crime at a very young age, surviving at the very dredges of the world like a rat.

He wasn't exceptional in any way, as he lacked both strength and courage. However, his cowardly nature had enabled him to survive for almost 50years in this hellhole.

Owing to a fortunate encounter in the sewers, he managed to raise his soul by a great degree, barely managing to cross into Stage 2. Thinking that he had made it big in the world, Rat had proudly entered the big leagues of the Pandemonium, only to be shown how cruel reality was.

Since that day, he had reverted back to his life as a rat and hung around the outer-district of the Pandemonium while preying on the newcomers.

His days were usually meaningless and mundane. However, today was an exception. Word from certain sources was that a pair of cocky, arrogant newcomers had entered the city. In fact, they had gone as far as directly killing the gate-keeper.

While their numbers were large for a single group, their strengths were nothing exceptional, only being at the Peak-Level Stage 1.

'Bunch o' fools.' Rat had spat disdainfully when he had heard the news.

While Peak-Level Stage 1 might be exceptional in the wilds, to survive in the Pandemonium where Stage 2 lurked in abundance, they were just waiting to get jumped on and sold.

Deciding to try his luck on these newcomers, Rat had arrived and been trailing them for quite some time. While he had heard the rumors, laying his eyes on them really showed how high-quality these newcomers were.

'I can't see the five on the back, but these two females walking in the front are simply spectacular! If only I could get my hands on them, I'm sure they would taste exquisite.' However, judging from the crowd gathered around here, Rat's chances were simply too low.

'Maybe I should try grouping with some of the others. Nah, I can't say when one of these bastards might stab me in the back.' He quickly denied his thoughts.

'Anyway, let me move to a better spot, to watch this show.' 

Just as Rat was about to stand up from his position, he could see through the crack that one of the ladies had stopped. She then proceeded to turn around and…

Rat's entire body just froze.

In fact, the bodies of every single person watching the newcomers froze. Fear and dread seized their hearts.

'Thi-this! A [Killer]?!' Rat's eyes shrunk in shock, as he noticed the potent killing intent leaking from the body of the expressionless beauty.

A [Killer]. This was an opponent that one must avoid at all costs and if one accidentally meets them pray that they leave you alone.

[Killer] it is a common soul type with nothing exceptional about it. However, what one often fails to mention, is that it's a common soul type amongst Wild Beasts! Intelligent beings possessing this soul type were very rare. Though, one thing was common amongst all these beings.

They were all psychopaths. Individuals with twisted minds, whose only sense of the world is to kill others. They didn't bother about the how or the why, they simply killed.

What was even worse was that [Killer]s simply did not know when to give up. Even when facing an opponent that was overwhelmingly stronger than them, they still went for the kill and died trying.

An enemy who never knew when to quit was the worst enemy to fight.

'Shit! Who would face these nut jobs!' seeing that tangible killing intent leaking out of Lucius' body, Rat promptly gave up and retreated.

All conflict existed in order to secure benefits. If a conflict did not result in benefits, but actually resulted in losses, then it was foolish to fight.

And fighting against a [Killer] was very foolish, especially when the other party is not afraid to sacrifice himself to attack you.

Having come to this conclusion, Rat mobilized his soul power and purged the effects of [Annihilation Intent] which he had mistaken for [Killing Intent]. Ridding himself of its effects, he regained control over his body and immediately retreated.

The other Hyenas present on the scene also came to a similar conclusion to Rat and retreated. 

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

Within a few short moments, all the Hyenas disappeared into the darkness. 

'Tch. They ran away.' Lucius clicked his tongue in disappointment. While he had expected them to react like this, he had vaguely hoped for a fight to occur.

'If someone still came to attack me, it would mean that he was new to being a Hyena. Killing and plundering him would have been easier.' This was why Lucius was disappointed. 

Currently, Lucius possessed no assets to his name. Apart from the cloth covering his body and the scythe sheathed on his waist, he was completely broke.

'Spirit Coins. I need to earn some Spirit Coins.' Lucius pondered while retracting his [Annihilation Intent]. He then turned around and started walking once more.

Olivia, who was clueless on these happenings, wore a confused expression on her face. Seeing Lucius, who seemed to be in deep thought she did not voice out her question and quietly followed him.

Silence returned once more, only this time the uncomfortable feeling that they had felt had completely disappeared.

'First order of business is to get some proper gear. These torn clothes will not provide much protection during battle.' Wearing an expressionless face, Lucius quietly mused: 'Actually, before that, I need to buy some Babel fish.'

The Babel fish is small, yellow, leech-like and one of the oddest things in the Universe. Placing it in one's ear, it has the ability to translate any foreign speech allowing one to communicate without actually learning the language.

It's a Grade 2 life form and is commonly regarded as one of the most useful creatures in existence. Its only drawback being, it does not allow one to read or write the language (only speech).

However, for an anti-social person like Lucius, this drawback was hardly of any inconvenience.

Heaving a light sigh, he thought to himself: 'Seems like I have to visit that old man's shop.'

Having no money, Lucius had no other choice but to meet an old acquaintance. One of the only people in his previous life who was good to him.

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

Making their way through this empty ghetto-like place, Lucius followed by Olivia and the five Forgotten finally entered the city of Pandemonium. The difference between both the places could be immediately seen.

『Move! Move! Move!』 a tall dark-skinned Cyclops ordered as he whipped a procession of child slaves.

BANG!

『Hehe, I win. Tonight she's mine.』 A vulgar-looking man, his face covered by a helmet spoke as he stepped atop his defeated opponent.

『Wh...at are ye..h lookin at?』 a drunk-sounding patron of a bar waved his halberd threateningly.

Stopping for a second, Lucius took a sharp inhale. The smell of blood, sh*t, death, and debauchery flooded into his lungs. 

'Just like I remember it.' This was a scent that Lucius would never forget.

The scent of the City of Sin.