Lord of Annihilation

'From my previous uses, it's clear that [State of Devour] has a time limit. But then, how was I in that state for such a long period of time?'

'Was it because of Ka'lor'ah's spell to stabilize my body and soul?...No, that doesn't make any sense. The void energy expenditure would still force me out of that state.'

'If it was energy expenditure…was it because I was constantly devouring food?'

'Does this mean that as long as I have sufficient replenishment, I can have [State of Devour] constantly active?'

One has to remember that during [State of Devour], Lucius' Peak-Level Stage 1 strength was boosted to Quasi-Stage 3, not to mention he also had access to all of the devoured abilities (flying, night vision, etc).

In other words, he could constantly face opponents who were way stronger than him. This was an invaluable trump card, almost equal to a second life!

'Hmm…there is still the matter of losing control.'

'[State of Devour] agitates my consciousness making me prone to lose control of my desires. Such an outcome is not ideal.'

'But then, why did I not lose control in the underground labyrinth? Of course, there were certain moments when I was rash and impulsive, however, for the most part, I was firmly in control.'

"..ci..s"

'Was it because my body understood that it was in danger and behaved? Or is there something else that I'm missing?'

"Lu..i..s!"

'If I can find a way to solve the 'losing control' issue, does that mean a permanent boost in strength?'

Of course, there was the matter of permanently looking like a monster but then again, Lucius never really cared about how he looked. If sacrificing his looks could grant him greater power, there was no point in hesitating.

'This is worth looking into…'

"Lucius!!" 

Startled by the shout, Lucius snapped out of his daze. He could see Olivia's partially masked face looking at him curiously. 

Seeing Lucius regain focus, Olivia asked.

"Are you okay? You seemed to be spacing out for a bit there."

Taking note of his surroundings, Lucius calmly replied. "I'm fine." 

Noticing that his hand was being held by Olivia, he shook his hand and removed it from her grip. Lifting his head to look into her eyes, he spoke.

"Continue leading." 

Although Lucius had acted rudely, Olivia did not mind it. Wearing the same 'happy' expression she continued to guide him 

"Right this way." 

The party of three continued through the large, maze-like Governor's office. 

'You okay?' Ka'lor'ah's voice echoed within Lucius' mind. 

'I'm fine. I was just thinking about something.'

'How two years had passed and neither of us noticed it?' Ka'lor'ah questioned before giving a reply of her own.

'I was thinking the same thing. Actually, it might've been some runic array slowing our perception of time. Who knows what and how many arrays that guy had hidden under there? However, it's understandable when you think about what he was doing in there. The man was trying to cheat death after all. It's admirable really.'

'Right.' Lucius perfunctorily replied.

An awkward silence filled the atmosphere between them. A few seconds passed before Lucius broke the silence.

'I completed your bet.' His tone held an uncharacteristic annoyance.

'Oh right! That bit completely slipped me!' Ka'lor'ah's tone went multiple octaves higher, as she started to giggle.

'Hehehe, excellently done. I recorded the entire thing.'

'I still don't understand why you asked me to do that.' 

'If 'you' could have understood why then the bet would've had no meaning.' Ka'lor'ah replied in a mystical tone.

To understand what this 'bet' was, let's look at their conversation from a few minutes ago when the trial had just come to an end.

….

'Lucius, you owe me recompense.' 

'Recompense? For what?'

'About how I was right about bringing Olivia with us. You said she was dead weight and a liability, as you can see now, that is not the case. Ergo, I won that argument.'

'I never agreed to a bet.'

'Oh, come on, Lucius! I thought you knew me well. You have to do something for me whenever I win an argument. We agreed on it when I took you in as my disciple, remember?'

'…I refuse.'

'Oh just give up and listen. When the crowd starts to disperse, I want you to run towards little Olivia. You mustn't stop, even for a moment, got it?' Ka'lor'ah said playfully.

'Why?' Not understanding the intent behind her request, Lucius questioned.

'Just because. Now do it.'

"Haah." Exhaling audibly, Lucius sighed heavily.

This was the prime reason why Lucius never tended to argue with Ka'lor'ah. She had an annoying habit of requesting compensation for her victories and had him do odd errands.

'I hate this.' 

Although he thought to himself as such, he still prepared himself to complete her request. Getting it over with as soon as possible was the optimal method of completion.

Delaying it would only serve to increase its troublesome factor.

….

This was conversation was the reason why Lucius had performed that nonsensical action of antagonizing the guards when that entire series of events could've easily been avoided.

Why bother doing that elaborate set of actions when he could've simply followed the guard escorting him or simply calling out to Olivia.

'I still don't understand why you asked me to do it.' Lucius voiced a complaint that was ignored by Ka'lor'ah.

The dark-gold crystal on the other hand was keenly observing the reactions of the person leading their party.

Olivia's entire demeanor was radiating with visible happiness. She randomly broke into cute giggles and slightly blushed at others.

'To think Lucius dashed towards me when he saw me…he should've missed me a lot, right? It makes no sense otherwise! Although he's still wearing that expressionless look, he secretly glad, right? That's why he allowed me to hold his hands, even though he stopped me from hugging him. I…I have a chance!'

While the above thoughts took place within Olivia's head, Ka'lor'ah's keen observation managed to deduce as much, simply from looking at her actions.

Forming a 'smile' that was suggestively evil, Ka'lor'ah thought to herself.

'All according to the keikaku!' (TL Note: Keikaku means plan.)

--------

"Please have a seat." Leading the party into an ornately decorated office, Olivia gestured towards a seat positioned in front of a large table.

The table was intricately carved from what seemed to be whitish-brown colored wood. The wood had the strange glossy look of marble, yet had a matte feeling to its touch. Many papers and documents decorated the top of the table, with drawers decorating its sides.

Upon seeing Lucius take a seat, Olivia pulled herself a chair from the side of the room and sat next to him. 

"Did I pass your test?" Olivia asked with obvious excitement.

Looking at the pair of violet eyes glowing with expectation, Lucius felt a sense of confusion. He simply could not understand why she was being so expectant.

Hesitating for a moment, he then replied.

"Erm...yes. You passed. Good work."

Olivia's balled fists slightly quivered from excitement, while she mentally pictured herself punching the air. 

All of her hard work over the last two years was for the sole purpose of hearing this statement of validation from Lucius. Having achieved that goal, Olivia was filled with boundless happiness.

'I-I did it!'

Olivia had always hated the fact that she relied on Lucius and could not offer him any direct assistance. She did not want to be a burden on Lucius but wanted to be someone whom he could count upon, someone who could be counted on to fight alongside with.

Having made a small step on that front, Olivia found herself tearing up.

"I-I'm sorry." She hurriedly hid her face away from him and started to wipe her tears. "I'm okay now."

Watching her act like this only served to further fuel his confusion.

'Didn't I say she did a good job? Why is she crying?' 

Lucius could not understand. And his failure to understand this served to annoy him. Lucius' inability to empathize and understand emotions were being shown here. He could see, but couldn't feel.

The atmosphere turned odd as Lucius' growing annoyance started to taint the joyful atmosphere. Seeing the situation take an odd turn, Ka'lor'ah hurriedly inserted herself.

"So! Tell me, Olivia. How did you take over Pandemonium and become its Governor?"

"Oh, and what were those skills you used in that trial? Did you gain them after your Stage 2 ascension? Did you perhaps gain any special knowledge or memory fragments?"

Extending the [Isolation Barrier], Ka'lor'ah asked in a tone that contained all her seriousness.

"Does the name Temple of Fairness, ring a bell?"

Being bombarded with so many questions, Olivia looked a little lost. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she started from the top.

"No, I don't recall hearing any such name. Is it important?" she replied nervously.

"Oh," Ka'lor'ah expertly hid her disappointment and continued, "Don't mind me, I was simply asking, it's not very important."

Convinced by her reply, Olivia nodded her head and continued to answer the questions.

"Those spells just appeared in my mind after I ascended into Stage 2. Similar to the previous time, most of the spells are of the 'Mental/ Mind'-type. Oh, my body and soul power also became a lot more powerful after I ascended."

Feeling a sense of pride, she continued.

"I can fight a Peak-Level Stage 2 in equal grounds now. Winning is easy, but killing them in frontal combat is difficult. The rate of recovery of Stage 2 beings is simply insane. The same goes for me too, I guess." 

"When did you reach Mid-Level?" 

"Around a year ago." Olivia seriously replied, before explaining in detail.

"A week after Lucius had left I managed to ascend into Stage 2. After that with constant battles, daily practice, and some inspiration I ascended into Mid-Level Stage 2. However, reaching this point, I seemed to have hit some kind of an invisible barrier. The process of gathering and condensing soul power is incredibly slow."

"Release some of your soul power." Lucius who was silent all this while suddenly intervened.

Hearing his words, Olivia obediently complied. Promptly releasing some of her violet soul power into the air, she controlled it to move towards Lucius.

Seeing the violet energy head towards him, Lucius raised his hand and casually grabbed the incoming energy with his hands. 

"You can grab soul power?!" Olivia exclaimed.

Soul power was naturally formless unless explicitly given a form. However, to give it a form required great mastery of the energy from its user. The difficulty level of this feat was already explained during Lucius' fight with the Bertarian.

Lucius ignored her surprise and carefully analyzed the violet soul power with his own. He prodded at it with tendrils of his soul power and studied it.

Lucius' expressionless face slowly started to crease and furrows began appearing on his forehead. Looking at Lucius' expression made Olivia nervous.

"Release some more," Lucius ordered in a serious tone.

Complying once again, Olivia asked. "Is there a problem?" 

Carefully studying the second wave of soul power, Lucius turned to look at Olivia. His nose scrunched, as he automatically started sniffing. 

Sniff. Sniff

Closing his eyes, Lucius leaned closer and closer into Olivia, and his sniffing became more pronounced. 

Seeing Lucius sniff her body at such close range made Olivia incredibly embarrassed. 

"Wha-what are you doing?" Olivia asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, what are you doing, Lucius?" Ka'lor'ah also joined in, as she found Lucius' behavior extremely odd.

Lucius then stopped his sniffing and opened his eyes. The distance between his face and Olivia's was less than a finger's width in space. Staring into her eyes, Lucius spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Olivia, why are you wearing a mask?" 

Hearing that question, Olivia's body froze for a moment. Her face turned pale, as her mouth opened and closed multiple times. She wanted to reply but found herself hesitating.

"Remove the mask." Continuing with his serious tone, Lucius ordered.

In a voice that was indistinguishable from a formless whisper, Olivia replied. 

"…no."

While one could have easily missed her reply, Lucius who was in extremely close proximity, clearly heard her reply. Ignoring her answer, he reached in and removed the mask of her face.

"NO!" Olivia desperately moved her hands to cover her face but was stopped by Lucius.

"Oh, my," Ka'lot'ah replied, audibly surprised.

"Curse Energy," Lucius answered looking at her face.

The left half of her dazzlingly beautiful, mature face was marred with veins of curse energy. The veins pulsed and throbbed with grayish-black energy, constantly attempting to destroy her face only to be unsuccessful.

Currently, half of Olivia's face looked like it had suffered an acid attack. It looked horrendous and scary, to say the least.

"I-I didn't want you to see this." Having been exposed, Olivia started to sob.

Unconcerned with her cries, Lucius continued to stare at the veins of curse energy. The veins seemed to extend down her face and into her neck, which was hidden with a high collar.

Releasing his grip over her hands, Lucius backed away from her. Olivia immediately hid her face behind her hands and started to quietly cry.

"I-I look ugly. I di-didn't want yo-you to see this."

Lucius absent-mindedly stared into the air for a few seconds, before his eyes regained focus. He then stood up from his seat and gave an outrageous order. 

"Stop crying."

His tone was mechanical and his face was indifferent.

"Get up and strip."