Lord of Annihilation

Seeing a beam of dense starlight energy rush towards him, Lucius instinctively took a step back and used [Void Step] to evade.

The shadows underneath his feet tried to expand outwards but helplessly collapsed after a second. [Void Step] did not activate.

'Dammit! I forgot that the void abilities are inactive."  Realizing this fact a bit too late, Lucius could only choose to tank the attack. He couldn't dodge to the sides due to the odd position he was in –at the exit of a self-made hole with rock walls on both sides- and the perfect timing of the attack.

BAANG!!

Forming a cover with both his hands and shrinking his body to minimize the area of the attack, Lucius met the scalding, seething energy head-on. The instant the beam of starlight hit him, Lucius was blown away.

The hole from which Lucius had exited was on the side of a mountainous rock face, which was surrounded by a dense canopy of the signature tall dark trees of the forest. Due to the presence of the mountain, there was an opening in the dense foliage of the trees, allowing sunlight and the sky to be seen. 

The moment that the attack stuck the mountain face, the surrounding ground and rocks were instantly vaporized, leading to structural instability to the sides of the mountain. A domino effect was triggered, leading to the collapse of the entire mountainside, burying Lucius and Ka'lor'ah, who was by his side, within.

Floating in the air was a handsome middle-aged man with scaly, snake-like golden skin and a pair of thin slit eyes. Floating above his head was a miniature halo similar to the ones possessed by the Heavenly Sovereigns, seen in Lucius' memory. However, the difference between the two was paramount, as the former possessed none of the dignity and grace of the latter.

If the halo of the Heavenly Sovereigns was the sun, then the halo possessed by this middle-aged man was flickering candlelight.

The pair of snake-like eyes stared towards the collapsed mountainside with obvious wrath. His chest repeatedly rose and fell in succession as he struggled to contain the ugly emotion of anger within him.

Perhaps unsatisfied with his previous attack that had quite literally collapsed a mountain; the middle-aged man who obviously was a Bertarian formed a sphere of energy within his hands once again, before another beam of starlight of similar proportions to the previous one, headed towards collapsed rubble.

The beam of destructive energy vaporized the rocks in an instant and was in fact so hot that it had even ionized the air around its path, resulting in a strong burnt smell wafting through the air.

A wave of soul power swept across the area of charred air and molten rocks, confirming that no traces of life could be felt from within, he finally lowered his hands.

Closing his eyes in prayer, the Bertarian thought to himself.

'Kiren, Kara…my children. With this one of the murderers responsible for your death has been killed. May your souls rest in peace.'

He then recalled the information about the other murderer and was overtaken by rage once more.

'Now, only that calculative bit*h remains! If not for her trickery and schemes, I would've popped the life out of her!'

Finding himself fuming with rage, the Bertarian repeatedly inhaled and exhaled, abating some of the tension.

'Soon. Soon, I will personally make you repent for your actions! Let's see how long your tricks can last!' A cruel smile appeared on his lips.

Taking one last look at the solidifying pond of molten rock, the Bertarian turned around and was about to fly away…

…when he felt movement coming from behind him.

Turning his head around, the first thing that appeared in his vision were millions of stunning, interwoven threads of light. An image that reminded him of the brilliant starry sky, a view that he could only see in his home planet.

Following this stunning display of light, was a voice.

"[Third Movement] - Eviscerate."

And in the next instant, the web-like threads of condensed energy, connected.

BOOOOM!!

With an explosive sound that was multiple times louder than one after the mountains' collapse, the figure of the Bertarian was flung away. 

In a use of twisted irony, his figure was similar to a falling star that one would see in the night sky. For a person who used 'Astral' energy as his main form of attack, this was indeed a form of irony.

Dropping to the ground in an elegant fashion was the figure of Lucius, who was unharmed as he was nude.

"Tch," clicking his tongue, Lucius complained. "It's extremely annoying to fight Stage 3 beings, ones that can fly as a Stage 2."

"For others, maybe. But for you, it's hardly of any inconvenience." Ka'lor'ah rolled her eyes, at his statement.

"It's a waste of time and energy." Lucius disagreed.

"Still, I quite surprised that Stage 3 attack barely scratched you. Did your body further improve after your ascension into Stage 2?"

Indeed, the figure that had attacked him earlier and the magnitude of the attack were both in the Stage 3 realm.

A living, breathing Stage 3!

The first opponent of this Stage that Lucius was fighting against after his regression.

What? He already fought against a Stage 3 Cerberus?

Well, that battle wouldn't count since;

A) The Cerberus wasn't at its peak stage and was barely living, and,

B) Lucius had attacked it just moments after its awakening, thus fighting it at its weakest state.

The two opponents were simply incomparable.

In response to Ka'lor'ah's question, Lucius gave a curt, cryptic answer.

"Attributes." 

"Attributes?" Ka'lor'ah tilted her 'head' in question, before coming to a sudden realization. "Ah! The attribute for his soul power was 'Astral'!"

Lucius nodded his head, approving her answer.

To explain this, one would have to refer to the workings of the Rules. As the precise explanation is too long, complicated, and convoluted to explain, here's a more reader-friendly one.

Everything within the Universe was based upon, managed, and regulated by the Rules. Such being the case, physical bodies and soul power were no exception.

One's physical body was a complex mixture of different Rules. Each species have a different mixture of Rules, thus resulting in their physical and racial differences.

Continuing with this logic, the more complex and higher a Rule used in the composition of a physical being, the higher would be the Grade of the life form. This is also why one's Grade is very important in the ascension of their soul power. 

For a lower Grade being to control higher ranking Rules was simply impossible.

Now, the attribute of one's soul power referred to which Rule their system of power and combat adhered to. 

For example, the attribute of Alex's soul power was simply 'Fire' or 'Heat'. This meant that his soul power was adhered to the Rule of Fire, the Rule of Destruction, and at higher levels, the 'Rule of Energy' and 'Rule of Chaos'.

The attribute of the middle-aged Bertarian was 'Astral', in other words to adhered mainly to the 'Rule of Stars' and the higher leveled 'Rule of Space'.

So, why did Lucius hardly take any damage from his attack?

Void Eaters also called the 'Children of the Void' were beings that were composed of the Rule of Void, which was a Rule that was higher than the 'Rule of Space'. 

Similar Rules cancel out each other and higher leveled Rules overpower the lower leveled ones. 

Even after factoring in the difference of their respective soul Stages, Lucius' physical body, which was mainly composed of the 'Rule of Void' had a 95% damage reduction boost against Astral and similar types of Energy.

A 95% reduction, even after factoring in their Stage difference! 

In other words, Lucius was the perfect counter for all Astral and Spatial energy opponents, unless of course, their Rule is at a level higher than the 'Rule of Void'. 

Another thing to be noted here is that dissimilar Rules, i.e, Rules of opposing nature, will be extremely volatile. That is to say, they would have their effectiveness amplified and their destructiveness multiplied exponentially.

"Anyways, any idea on whom that attacker is and why he attacked you?" Ka'lor'ah asked to which Lucius simply shook his head.

"We can find out later. He's not dead yet." 

Upon saying so, Lucius held the scythe which he had taken out from his [Void Storage] and held it horizontally with both hands. He could acutely sense his enraged opponent approaching.

"YOU INFIDEL! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!" 

Although his shout was full of righteous anger, the middle-aged man had not lost his sanity. Upon realizing that his opponent was a Stage 2 being, and therefore couldn't fly yet, he remained in the air while preparing his attack.

Lucius' [Eviscerate] combined with the Stage 2 [Annihilation Energy] had caused a lot of damage to the Bertarian. The automatic defensive barrier on his robes was totaled in that single attack, which further continued to tear into his face. 

Staring at Lucius with enraged eyes while sporting multiple, long, deep cuts in his face the Bertarian went all out!

"Deploy Domain – {Starfall Plains}!"

The moment Lucius heard that shout, the look in his eyes changed.

'The difficulty level just went up.' He thought to himself.