Lord of Annihilation

Standing before a memory fragment that billowed with dense grey smoke the Master's spectral body trembled with exhilaration and excitement.

The object of his obsession. 

A place that even the mighty Lords had no domain over. 

A place where all things dead, rested.

A place that lied on the 'other side' of the Universe.

A place that Lucius referred to as...Limbo.

And now, before his very eyes laid the memory fragment detailing all of its secrets.

The emotion that the Master currently felt was similar to that of a starving man being offered the finest of meat or of a dying man being offered the panacea for his illness.

Pure, unbounded joy.

"Mine, mine, mine! All its secrets are mine!" The Master hoarsely screamed before diving into the fragment with all his strength.

BANG!

An explosive sound similar to that of a mountain's collapse rung within the battlefield. Ka'lor'ah who had been hiding within a different fragment, peeked her head out to observe the commotion.

With his body lying flat against the dark grey fragment, the Master looked listless. 

Denied.

He was actually denied entry into this fragment.

He, an illustrious [Grand Mage] of the great Alcana Empire, a man whose name was regarded as legendary to this day, was denied entry into the memory fragment of a puny Stage 1 being.

Rage, unbounded and unfiltered, coursed through his entire body.

Raising both of his hands into the air, the Master furiously smashed against the fragment.

"LET ME IN!! LET ME IN!!!!"

More and more soul power gathered around his hands, as he repeatedly smashed against the surface of the fragment. The amount of energy surrounding him was so great, that invisible ripples and infinitesimal tears started to appear within the mindspace.

Alas, it was to no avail. The fragment solemnly stood, firmly denying all attempts at his entry.

They stood infallible and unbreachable.

"ARGH!!! Why won't you let me in?!!" The Master cried with frustration. 

Turning his body to face the battlefield, his eyes instantly swept through the surrounding space before landing on Ka'lor'ah's figure.

Sensing the danger, Ka'lor'ah immediately tried to dive into a memory fragment, when her body suddenly stiffened, refusing to heed the commands of her brain.

"Come." With his hands outstretched, the Master ordered with impatience. 

Abiding his words, the mysterious force surrounding Ka'lor'ah's figure jerked before pulling her towards the crimson specter. 

Refusing to go down quietly, Ka'lor'ah mounted a furious struggle. However, her energy had already bottomed out and the opponent had cast away all of his reservations. 

Grabbing the golden-robed figure by her throat, the Master spoke with a monotonous voice, which trembled with impatience.

"You have a single chance. Tell me, how do I enter that fragment?"

Just as Ka'lor'ah was about to respond with a spiteful quip, the Master interrupted her once again.

"I will warn you. If you reply with anything but the method of entry, I will condemn you to a fate way, way worse than anything you can imagine. I will tear your soul apart and scatter it into the Abyss, to be violated by the devils within."

Ka'lor'ah's body stiffened at his words and her struggles came to a pause. Her head, which was still covered completely by the hood of her robe, hid her face and thoughts. Facing downwards, she remained in silent contemplation.

"Tell me!!" The Master yelled while tightening his grip around her neck.

While Ka'lor'ah's current figure wasn't her actual body and was only a physical manifestation of her consciousness, the Master was an expert with the matters regarding the mind and the soul. The methods that he could employ against such conscious bodies were too numerous to count.

And each method was more devilish than the previous one.

Right now, by coming into direct contact with Ka'lor'ah's conscious manifestation, he was using one spell after another, each inflicting pain and torture directly onto her source. 

While Ka'lor'ah refused to scream, her body trembled uncontrollably.

'I guess…this is it…uh? Well, I'm not gonna lie, it does suck that we had to drop out of the game this soon.'

As his annoyance continued to increase against this silent figure, the Master started to slowly destroy parts of her conscious. This was a direct injury on her source, one which Ka'lor'ah could not ignore.

'No more do-overs. No more chances. Looks like the 'Great Plan' comes to an end right here…'

As more and more of her source was continuously destroyed, Ka'lor'ah figure became fainter and fainter, and her vision was gradually darkening.

'…looks like my wish to see some 'mini-Lucius's' will not be fulfilled. Tch, life is truly without meaning.' 

Just as the final light within her eyes was about to disappear, Ka'lor'ah's head suddenly jerked up. Her golden eyes that contained boundless wisdom, stared right into the eyes of the crimson soul and a brilliant smile bloomed on her face.

"Oh, you are so… fu*ked." She softly whispered in relief.

The Master's spectral body paused for a moment before he detected another presence suddenly arriving within the battlefield.

"You will die for that." 

A tone that sounded more mechanical and emotionless than machines, declared.

In the next instant, the figure of the Master suddenly disappeared alongside that of the new arrival. 

Ka'lor'ah who was now released from the clutches of the obsessive madman breathed a sigh of relief in jubilation.

'Yeah, you tell him, partner! Show him who's boss!' 

She pumped her fists, as a final show of support before helplessly collapsing from exhaustion. 

With Lucius having returned, she could finally let go of her worries.

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

"Waaahh!! Waaah!!"

"It's a boy! Quick, run and inform the Count that the child is a boy!"

….

"Sir Count, your son has incredible talent in the Arcane. At the mere age of three, he has already memorized the entire set of basic tier spells! The Empire hasn't had a genius of such pedigree for nearly a thousand years!!"

"Un. I will have him tutored by the best of the Tower Mages."

….

"Incredible! The boy has awakened the [Grand Mage] soul type at the age of five! His future is boundless!"

"It seems that even the Emperor has heard of his achievements. Rumor has it that a Royal Mage is interested in tutoring the boy!"

"Sir Count must be reveling in joy after this news. This boy is destined to become a hero of our Great Empire!"

"""Glory to the Alcana Empire!"""

….

"Young Acolyte, are you certain that you want to challenge the 'Tower of Truth'?"

"Yes, Grandmaster!"

"Sigh. You must understand that failure would result in your death. Are you sure that you don't want to reconsider your decision?"

"Yes, Grandmaster!"

"Then in you may enter. May the Lord of Knowledge and Truth, grant you his blessings."

….

"Grand Mage Flauros, step forward and receive the Emperor's decree."

"Henceforth, Grand Mage Flauros will be awarded the title of Viscount, for his exceptional contributions to the Alcana Empire. He shall also be the youngest mage to be inducted into the Empire's Royal Magic Corps. Do you obey?!"

"I obey and receive the decree!"

"Good. Glory to the Alcana Empire!"

….

"Finally, I have broken through the barrier of Stage 4. With this, I have become the youngest Stage 5 Grand Mage in the history of the Universe."

"Still, that ascension was incredibly dangerous. It will take me a few years to recover from my injuries. I suppose I could use this time to continue with my research of 'that' place."

….

"WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!"

"Why can I not progress any further!! What am I missing?!!"

"DAMN THIS EMPIRE! DAMN THAT GREEDY EMPEROR!! ALL OF YOU CAN BURN IN HELL!!"

….

"S-son, what are you do-doing to us?!"

"W-we are yo-your parents! You can-cannot kill u-us! Please, snap out of your madness!!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!"

"HOW DARE YOU PATHETIC DOGS, TELL ME WHAT TO DO?!!"

"THE ONLY WORTHY THING YOU HAVE DONE, IS GIVING BIRTH TO ME! WHAT OTHER VALUE DO YOU HOLD?!"

….

"…another failure. The path ahead…does it even exist?"

"So many years have passed…I'm running out of time."

"…death…"

….

"This is it!! Death is not the end! There exists a place farther than the Universe! A place where death isn't the end!!"

"FIND IT! I MUST FIND IT!!"

….

"This place lies in an unknown corner of the Universe. My seals will hide it from the eyes of the Lords. I can do it here."

"A single attempt is all I have. If I succeed, death will not be able to claim me!"

"However, a single error will result in my soul falling into the 'other side'."

"Succeed! I must succeed!"

"The Truth waits for me to find it!"

….

"DAMN IT ALL! DAMN THIS UNIVERSE! DAMN THE LORDS!!"

"LIES ALL OF IT IS A LIE! FREEDOM, AND CHOICE ARE A LIE!!"

"EVERYTHING IS BY THE GRACE OF THE ONES ABOVE!! KILL THEM! I WILL KILL ALL OF THEM!!"

….

'Where am I?' the Master, whose name was once Flauros, found himself in a foreign space.

He first observed his body and felt relieved after finding it whole. His power level also seemed to be fine and had suffered no restriction.

'Where am I? Did that kid do something?' 

He then took interest in the space around him, carefully looking around. Finding himself floating in the air, he noticed movement underneath him and looked down.

Underneath him on the ground, was a crimson-colored sea. The sea stretched for as far as the eye could see, way past the observable horizon. 

Flauros furrowed his eyes, as a vague sense of discomfort rose within his heart. His nose twitched for a moment before a pungent smell assaulted his olfactory senses.

It was the scent of blood. 

The rotten, horrible, pungent smell of blood.

His eyes shrunk in disbelief, as he carefully observed the crimson sea beneath him. Looking closely, he came to a shocking discovery.

'Blood! All of it is blood!!'

Just then, his eyes automatically moved and landed on a specific portion of this sea. Here, the devilish, monochromatic color was absent with the sea of blood having parted to reveal the ground beneath.

Walking atop this reddish-brown ground was a solitary figure. His body was covered in a dusty, torn robe and his hands held onto a broken scythe.

With every step that this figure took, the sea of blood surrounding him automatically parted to the sides while the area behind him was automatically filled in.

In a biblical sense, this solitary figure resembled the scene of Moses parting the red sea.

Perhaps noticing someone observing him intently, the figure came to a stop and slowly turned to look at Flauros, who was floating in the sky. 

Its eyes locked with that of Flauros, the latter's body froze with shock. A pale white face bereft of any feelings and a pair of cold, dark eyes that seemingly stared into one's soul.

This entity's face was the same as the face of the one, whose memories Flauros was forcibly plundering.

The entity continued to stare into Flauros' eyes for a few moments, before moving its lips to speak something.

The words that Flauros must have had no way of hearing due to the thousands of meters of distance between them, resounded softly, right next to his ears.

"[Rule of Death- Perish]"

And in the very next instant, Flauros simply perished.

For a man who spent most of his life evading death, he was finally erased from existence by 'Death', himself. 

The solitary entity moved its gaze away from the now empty spot in the sky and continued with its march. 

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