Lord of Annihilation

"You--?! " The Boss was caught completely unguarded. His voice thundered with rage, as he felt Lucius grab his heart.

"Quietly, die." Giving him a bland response, Lucius clenched his fists. 

The satisfying feeling of something elastic and hard, being crushed transmitted into his hands. 

The Boss' face rapidly lost its color and his body started losing its strength.

"I-I'll never for…" his body slumped and fell to the floor. 

Lucius shot an indifferent look towards the dead Scrofanian before turning around. The Terran Vice-Leader's looked at him with stupefaction, especially Estes' expression which was filled with horror.

Gazing at them, in the same manner, one would stare at a bug, Lucius spoke.

"So, would the three of you like to follow in his footsteps or die…" Lucius' pupils suddenly constricted. His instincts blared, warning him of the oncoming danger.

Dropping his body to the ground, Lucius sought to roll away.

Alas, it was too late.

BANG!

"Guh--!" An extremely large, muscular fist slammed Lucius squarely on his back. A tremendous amount of force was transferred, throwing Lucius into the air!

Crack! Crack!

The ominous sound of bones cracking and muscle tearing was heard. Unable to bear his injuries, Lucius threw up a mouthful of black blood. His consciousness flickered, threatening to blackout.

'NO!' Biting his tongue, Lucius forcibly held on. Revolving his soul power, he forcibly twisted his body mid-air, falling onto the wooden table on his sides. He had avoided falling unprepared.

"AHHH!! DIE SL*T!!!" The 'Boss' suddenly roared, rushing towards Lucius. 

His body which was supposed to have its heart crushed was moving with apparent force and rage. A gaping hole could still be seen in the middle of his chest, pouring blood. However, this hole was rapidly recovering with the input of white-colored energy.

The wooden table before him barely did anything to halt his charge. The inherent strength of the Scrofanians was enough to crush iron with their bare hands!

'I have to move!' Perceiving the danger brought by that charge, Lucius immediately forced his body to move.

While the Void Eater's body might be stronger than an average Peak-Level Stage 1 being, it was no match for a pseudo-Mid-Level Stage 2 Scrofanian. 

Lucius would be utterly crushed into a meat paste under the latter's charge.

"I WILL KILL YOU!!" The Boss had evidently lost his mind to his rage. The very reason that he was currently alive could be attributed to a certain 'life-preserving artifact' on his possession. 

Lucius' sudden sneak attack had truly caught him unprepared. Before the latter's mind had processed the events, the former had directly crushed his heart, almost killing him.

Thankfully, he had received a one-time use, life-preserving artifact' from his superior in the Black Sabbath Gang, one of the 'Five Big Ones', to complete a certain mission.

Owing to its miraculous property of preserving its owner's life from near-death, he had barely managed to survive.

Having narrowly escaped from death, his mind was filled with anger and shame. Anger on being betrayed by Estes and shame for almost losing his life to a woman!

"TAKE THIS!!" he screamed before slamming his two arms atop Lucius. The pseudo-Mid-Level Stage 2 soul power moved with unmatched ferocity.

'Move!' Forcing most of his soul power to his legs, Lucius exploded the gathered energy.

SLAM!

The wooden table was smashed and the ground beneath it was cratered. The walls of the room shook and cracked as an effect of the escaping energies.

"Such power!"

"That sl*t is surely dead, right?"

"Boss is completely serious."

"She should have. No one could have survived that attack."

The shocked murmurs of the three Vice-Leaders sounded out. The room was covered in a curtain of dust and falling debris limiting everyone's vision.

Everyone was caught unprepared by the female slave's sudden attack. Their shock was then further amplified when their 'dead' boss suddenly rose up and attacked. 

"Dammit Estes! Are you revolting?!" having finally recovered from their shock the other Vice-Leaders accused Estes.

"I—I'm innocent!" Estes pleaded in response. 'Heck, I'm just as confused as the rest of you!' he screamed within his mind. 

However, looking at his 'colleagues' hostile gaze and rapidly gathering soul power, Estes knew that he couldn't prove his innocence.

'I'm dead.' He resigned himself. 

"AHHH! GET OFF ME!!" the three Vice-Leaders were startled by their Boss' scream. The dust settled and the scene at the center of the room was revealed.

"GET OFF ME!! GET OFF ME!!" The Boss of the Minaccia Gang stomped around the room, screaming and trying to grab onto his back. 

At the very center of his back, hanging onto his dear life was Lucius. His hands were fully inserted into the Scrofanians back and his mouth was biting onto his thick, bulbous flesh.

No one knew how, but Lucius had not only managed to evade that fatal attack but had also managed to grab onto his opponent and hung from a place where the Scrofanian couldn't reach.

The scene looked comical to the onlookers. A thin person precipitously hung at the back of a stomping, fuming giant that waved its thick arms to no avail. Not only that, the stick-like person was also biting into the latter and eating him.

'What the fu*k?' the Vice-Leaders cursed collectively.

However, being the 'victim' in this situation, the Boss knew that the situation was far from being comical. With every bit that Lucius took, the Scrofanian could feel his regeneration slowing and his body losing strength.

'Why am I losing strength? Who is this woman? What is she doing to me?' The Boss' rage cooled to the point, he was capable of rational thought. 

He tried to rationalize his current situation. However, the more he thought the more he began to fear.

'I can feel it! The woman...No, that thing on my back is absorbing my strength!' a ludicrous reason formed within his mind. 

Alas, this was the truth. Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable the reason, must be the truth.

"You useless things! Stop dawdling about and get that thing off my back!" he screamed towards his dumbstruck subordinates.

'A chance! I can use this to prove my loyalty!' Estes who was the least surprised among the three reacted first. 

Gathering his soul power into his arms, the bronze-skinned Terran bellowed and shot a black-colored projectile.

"Take this! [Black Bullet]!" Pouring the majority of his soul power into that attack, he shot towards Lucius.

The attack was fairly fast, with a mutation curse imbued into it. If struck, one would find their bodies seizing and warping into a horrible monster.

'You're dead.' Estes confidently smirked. However, his smirk soon turned into an expression of horror.

Having sensed the attack approaching him, Lucius who was having the most delicious meal of his life was rudely interrupted.

"You dare!" he bellowed. Removing one of his arms, from within the Scrofanian's body, he simply waved towards the incoming attack.

An invisible stream of energy shot out and intercepted the Estes' attack. And in the next moment, the [Black Bullet]….faded away.

The attack which Estes had poured more than 80% of his soul power into. A Peak-Level Stage 1 attack, which was imbued with the soul power of the [Gastrea], a rare-type soul…simply faded away.

Everyone, including Estes, the two Terran Vice-Leaders, The Boss, and even Lucius' himself watched in shock.

Soul power was a product of the Soul and the 'Rule of Souls' states that the soul is almost indestructible. Of course, this almost was added because a Rule higher than the 'Rule of Souls' could negate its effects. (Lucius' [Devour] for example).

During the clash between two soul powers, a soul power that is of a higher quality (or Stage) will destroy the soul power of lower quality (or Stage). A tremendous amount of energy is generated in this process; hence loud sounds, bright lights, heat, etc have resulted from their clash.

A soul power that is able to erase the other during a clash? 

This was unheard of and was fairly ridiculous!

'This!' being the perpetrator of this unnatural event and an ex-Stage 7 being, Lucius was more surprised than anyone. 

A sudden flash of inspiration struck his mind, as Lucius thought: 'Could this be… [Annihilation Energy]?' 

The mysterious ability to which, his soul provided no explanation. Lucius might have possibly stumbled upon its nature.

Thoughts clashed within his mind and excitement grew within Lucius' heart: 'This might be the key to my advancement!' 

Lucius was struck by an inexplicable feeling. He had an almost tacit understanding that his [Annihilation Energy] was the door leading to his advancement.

'Calm yourself, Lucius. You must first survive this ordeal.' He pushed down the rapidly building excitement and calmed himself. He was currently in a precarious situation and could not afford to distract himself.

Making use of this opportunity when everyone seemed shocked, Lucius fiercely chomped down on the Scrofanian. Unleashing [Devour] to its greatest extent, he greedily absorbed his opponent's energy and strength and converted it into his own.

Lucius' injuries had healed and his soul power was replenished. In fact, an excess of energy was overflowing within his body and his cells were shimmering from excitement. Something had once again changed within his body.

Dismounting the Scrofanian, Lucius gently placed his foot on the floor. A smile had could not hide his excitement formed on his face, and his eyes shone with restrained madness.

Looking at the half-eaten Scrofanian, an unmoving Estes, and two Terran Vice-Leaders who looked on with shock, Lucius stated.

"It's my turn."