Lord of Annihilation

『INSOLENT BUG!!』  Cerberus barked with anger.

The strike from Lucius had been ingenious and fatal, for it had destroyed a 'node' in the Cerberus' body.

A 'node' is a point of junction within the body's soul power pathway. These points act as a junction and regulators to control the speed and flow of soul power in the body. 

It is also connected to one's soul and is the reason why one is able to control and manipulate one's soul power.

In short, nodes can be considered to be the most vital component to cultivation, second only to the soul! 

It had to be mentioned that the nodes in every singly living being are located in different places. It is also one of the most closely guarded secrets of any person since destroying a node was equal to crippling one's strength. 

Of course, destroying a node isn't that simple. With the increase in ones' cultivation, the defensive strength will proportionately increase. Not to mention, the body of the living being would also increase in defensive prowess.

Unexpectedly, Lucius had still managed to destroy it! 

All thanks to the profound [Annihilation Energy] which seemed to be capable of destroying everything.

Using [Flaw Detection] he found the peculiarity in the Cerberus' body when he saw threads of energy intersect at a certain point. With his vast battle experience, he immediately understood that this was the opponent's node and infused [Annihilation Energy] to destroy it.

Caught off-guard by the sudden destruction of its node, a backlash had occurred within the Cerberus' body and all of its soul power rampaged with no fixed direction. 

This caused its previous stomp to lose its effectiveness and also caused the large behemoth to lose its balance.

Having fallen under the opponent's foul trick, it could only roar with indignance. Due to the backlash, its strength was at an all-time low.

Knowing this, Lucius pushed forth and decided to make full use of this situation.

After narrowly dodging its stomp attack, Lucius continued to flap his wings and flew towards the Cerberus' head. With his ten, long nails dripping with dense crimson blood, he looked especially demonic.

The distance was crossed and Lucius neared the middle head of the Cerberus. Extending his hands, he detonated a fair amount of soul power underneath his wings gaining instant acceleration.

Boom!

A small explosion occurred within the air, as Lucius broke through the sound barrier. His speed had exceeded Mach 1.

ROAR!!

The Cerberus helplessly roared. It tried to control its head to evade that attack but found its body to be unbearably weak and limp. 

Unsurprisingly, Lucius' attack reached.

His pitch-black nails that had evolved after countless uses of [Devour], cut into the crimson eyes of the Cerberus. Although he was met with some amount of resistance, [Annihilation Energy] weakened the resistance, allowing his nails to pierce through.

With the entirety of his 45cm, long nail entered into its eyes, Lucius did not stop. He continued to flap his wings, further increasing his momentum!

The nails, his finger, his arms…Lucius used his entire body to charge into the large beast's head through its eyes!

ROAAAAARRR!

Pain, like none it had ever felt before assaulted the 'Little Behemoths' minds. It could quite literally, feel a large 'nail' piercing into its brain.

Having entered its head, Lucius wrapped his body with his wings to protect it. [Flaw Detection] was active, looking for the shortest and least obstructive path to exit its head from the other side.

Grind! Grind! Grind!

Dull sounds of blood, flesh, and bones churning resounded outside and a small bulge appeared at the back of the middle head. 

The bulge continued to expand in size and before long, exploded into a rain of blood, chunks of meat, and a solitary dark figure encapsulated in fleshy wings.

Falling from an elevation of 50m, Lucius hurriedly unraveled his wings and flapped them, maintaining his flight.

Retreating a few dozen meters, he coolly turned around to witness the amount of damage that he had done.

With two heads staring towards him with unconcealed hatred and the middle head hanging limply from its neck, it was safe to say…

…That's a lot of damage!

『Y-YO-YOU-YOU-YOOOUUU!!!』 

Never before in its life had the beast sustained such significant damage. Not to mention, the opponent was a 'measly' Stage 2 being! 

Of course, this evaluation was a mistake by the Cerberus due to Lucius being in [State of Devour]. His actual cultivation was still at Peak-Level Stage 1.

"Shut up, dog." Lucius unfeelingly declared. He couldn't care less about the ramblings of a beast.

Turning his head around, he stared at the floating crystal and blandly asked: "Are you okay?" 

With no words to articulate her current feelings of shock, Ka'lor'ah dumbly nodded in affirmation.

'I knew he would be strong, but to compete with an 'actual' Stage 3 being in pure physical prowess…' Ka'lor'ah chanted a tiny spell to shock herself. 

Feeling the pain shoot into her mind, she soundlessly exhaled: 'This is not a dream.'

Looking towards Lucius who was gathering his power for another attack, Ka'lor'ah's mind was filled with complicated thoughts and emotions. She felt surprise, shock, joy, excitement, and…fear.

'With the Void Eater's body and [Devour], Lucius can grow at a frightening rate. While this will be helpful to our plans…what would happen if he, one day loses control of himself.'

'Will that gluttonous being whose only desire is to kill and devour, even be considered Lucius anymore?'

'Can life even continue to flourish and thrive after that?'

'What point is there in achieving freedom, if there is no one to appreciate it?'

'Void Eaters…Children of the Void…Enemy of All Life.'

Sighing soundlessly, the hesitations within her mind disappeared, replaced by a resolution.

'I need to take some precautions against this eventuality.'

'If one day, he loses control and gives in to the Void Eater's desires....Lucius must be eliminated!'

----------

With the slaying of one head, the result of the battle was already decided. 

Continuing forth with his offense, Lucius used the period of Cerberus's weakness to deal with the other two heads in a similar manner.

Accelerate. Pierce the head through the eyes. Exit from the back of the head, destroying the brain in the process. Repeat.

With its battle sense already weakened due to the prolonged isolation and slumber, coupled with the disarray of its soul power, the Cerberus stood no chance.

Of course, Lucius wasn't uninjured either. 

That initial shattering of his shadow connecting to the Void had dealt serious damage to his internal organs and had depleted a large amount of his void energy.

His suppression of the injury and the continued high-intensity battle had further increased its severity.

Floating in the air and staring at the dead Cerberus, Lucius shook his head feeling unsatisfied.

'That battle was very inefficient. My actions were too rash.' He admonished himself. 

Due to the severity of the injury and the constant floods of pain striking his consciousness, Lucius enjoyed a rare moment of clarity. 

He inspected his body and thought to himself.

'[State of Devour] mustn't be used casually. While the benefits and increased battle strength that it provides is considerable, the damage shouldered is also equal.'

All seven of his eyes squinted in unison, as Lucius seriously considered.

'Also, I'm being unconsciously led around by my desires. This is not ideal and might lead to unfavorable outcomes.'

'This ability must be sealed and mustn't be used unless absolutely required. The use of [Devour] must also be moderated.'

Being done with his evaluation, Lucius descended from the air. He flew towards the corpse of the Cerberus and places his mouth on one of the large legs.

'That being said, I have to first recover my strength. [Devour]' He activated his racial ability.

Biting down, Lucius' pupils suddenly shrunk in shock. He instantly retreated far away from the corpse and warily gazed at it.

"What happened? Why are yo--?!!" Ka'lor'ah floated towards Lucius, in the process of questioning him, when she suddenly stopped.

Both of their eyes were fixed on the mountain-like corpse of the Gatekeeper.

The Cerberus' body slowly turned into dust and dissipated into the air. The originally luscious body was now completely lifeless, resembling a dead rock.

It was as if, the Cerberus never possessed by life force in the first place. 

While Lucius was shocked at the sudden disappearance of its life force and the subsequent disappearance of the Grade 4 body, Ka'lor'ah was shocked for a different reason.

In her eyes, a struggling, screaming illusory 'figure' of the Cerberus' was being pulled into the large door, behind them!

'How is this possible?! How is its soul being forcibly pulled towards that door, instead of returning to the Limbo!!'

At this moment, Ka'lor'ah faintly understood why the 'Cause' and 'Fate' barrier was erected surrounding this place…

…why the owner of the labyrinth was hiding on the edge of the Universe on some obscure planet…

'This person…he's befouling with the matters of the Soul!' Ka'lor'ah internally exclaimed.