Lord of Annihilation

"Huh?" A gasp of incomprehension escaped from Olivia's mouth.

Fearing that she had misheard his words, Olivia raised her head and stared into the pair of cold, black eyes. 

Without missing a beat, Lucius replied seriously, "I said, stand up and strip your clothes."

Hearing it for a second time, Olivia dropped her hands in shock, A deep red blush, first appearing in her cheeks continued to paint the entirety of her face and most of her neck. Even her ears, partially hidden behind her long black hair turned red.

Feeling flustered to an absurd degree, Olivia hurriedly denied, "Wha-what? I-I ca-can't do that!"

Olivia thought that Lucius was simply joking and wasn't being serious. However, reality was contrary to her thoughts.

Growing impatient at her lack of action, Lucius ordered once more. This time his tone was colder and much more severe.

"Enough! Stop wasting time and hurry up." 

This time, even Ka'lor'ah who was previously quiet joined in on the persuasion. 

"You have to listen to him, Lil' Olivia. We have to move quickly." 

With Ka'lor'ah joining in on the persuasion, Olivia felt the pressure stack up against her. The redness of her face increased in intensity and her eyes nervously roamed about.

"I-I am not prepared for this." Olivia quietly mumbled under her breath. With her head facing the ground, she replied, "F-fine."

'Thi-this isn't h-how I imagined it to be! My heart isn't ready yet!' Olivia desperately screamed within her mind. However, for all her complaining, Olivia still complied.

'I-it's fine! I already love Lucius! This was going to happen one day or another!' Assuring herself as such, she started to undress

Meanwhile, Lucius who was completely oblivious to the risqué nature of his command had his eyes closed and was in a mental discussion with Ka'lor'ah.

'Her body is infected by Curse Energy. Looks like a desperate final attack from a [Soothsayer] or [Voodoo Curser].' Having analyzed Olivia's soul power, Lucius explained.

'The infection seems pretty deep too. She was attacked by it three-four months ago.' Ka'lor'ah collaborated his analysis. She then paused for a moment before continuing, grimly.

'Injuries of this kind are best treated at their earliest. Delaying them would only complicate the injury… To cure her now, will be very difficult, to say the least.'

'Difficult and time-consuming, if we follow the proper method that is.' 

'You have another way?' Ka'lor'ah questioned with interest.

Cure Energy was a malignant form of energy that poisoned one's body and soul. It was a very slow-acting, vicious, and sinister poison that destroyed a person's body, soul, and mind, over time.

Curse Energy was normally produced at the time of death if the victim carried an unusually great amount of resentment during their final moments. As stated previously it could also be an 'attribute' of the [Soothsayer] or the [Voodoo Curser] soul type.

Having been a [Killer] in his previous, Lucius was more than experienced with Curse Energy. In fact, he could be considered a master in this topic.

To rid oneself of Curse Energy was actually quite simple. Upon identifying its point of intrusion, one simply had to flush it from their body before the poison took root. In other words, the sooner one deals with it the better.

However, this was not the case with Olivia. She, being unfamiliar with Curse Energy, had failed to notice its intrusion and had allowed it to take root and fester. It had already started destroying her body and was in the process of tainting her soul.

To get rid of such large amounts of infection would take a lot of effort and time. Two things that Lucius and Ka'lor'ah desperately lacked right now.

Pushing this matter aside for a later date was not a viable course of action, as any delay would only serve to increase risk and endanger her life. Lucius, having acknowledged her value, felt a modicum of responsibility towards her.

'Normally, we would have to suppress the poison and flush out portions of the poisonous energy at a time, all while locating its point of inflection and root. This is would waste a lot of effort and time.'

'And your method is?'

'To destroy the energy itself.' 

'How will you destroy the en—oh wait! I got it!' Ka'lor'ah exclaimed in understanding. She then let out a small chuckle and spoke.

'She sure is one lucky girl. To have met the only person in the entire Universe who can pull off such a procedure, what are the odds?'

"I-I'm done." Just as the duo was wrapping up their discussion, a shy voice interrupted in a meek tone.

Lucius opened his eyes and looked at the sight before him.

"Do-don't look!!" She hurriedly quipped before hiding her face within her palms. 

Currently, Olivia was standing before Lucius without a single piece of cloth covering her body. Her tall figure, almost equal to Lucius' own, was perfectly proportioned into a beautiful face, a toned upper body, and long slender legs. 

Olivia's pair of arms and legs were long, slender, and muscular, a result of her painstaking training and efforts over the last two years. Her abdomen was occupied with beautiful muscle lines backed by a smooth set of toned muscles that radiated power.

Having removed her armor and chest wrappings, Olivia's abundant bosom, a set that had noticeably grown larger than before, was desperately hidden by the flustered woman's arms. Not that she succeeded in hiding anything.

Her previously pristine white, smooth skin now possessed a light-brown tan due to the continuous exposure to Pectron's celestial bodies.

Looking at her overall, there was no question that Olivia was a beautiful woman. The last two years of struggle for survival had rid her of their naivety and inexperience, turning her into a mature beauty who wielded power and authority. 

Her mesmerizing violet eyes and cruel, regal behavior had earned her the moniker of 'Violet Witch', commanding respect over the entirety of Pectron. 

Right now, however, this very same 'Violet Witch' was a squirming mess of shame and embarrassment as she stood before the one she loved.

"Hu-hurry up!" Olivia desperately urged Lucius. 

She had her eyes tightly shut as she did not possess the courage to look at Lucius. Her body nervously squirmed, positively fearful but also expectant. 

In light of such a scene, Ka'lor'ah would have usually joked and teased the parties involved. However, looking at Olivia's body, Ka'lor'ah's mood was quite grim.

'This is much worse than what I expected.' She mentally messaged Lucius.

While nothing could be seen on the surface, Ka'lor'ah's vision which penetrated Olivia's body painted a different picture. Almost 70% of her body was already poisoned by the veins of Curse Energy.

'It makes no difference.' Replying as such, Lucius neared Olivia and spoke out loud, "Turn around."

Complying with his words, Olivia turned around and felt the sensation of a hand pressing against her back. Feeling that foreign touch, she instantly shivered, feeling her muscles tighten. 

'I-it's happening.' 

Just as the thought popped into Olivia's mind, she heard Lucius' cold voice ring next to her ears.

"This might hurt."

The next instant, Olivia felt her body being penetrated by a foreign force.

...

..

.

It was Lucius's soul power. (AN: To all those who thought differently, I have nothing to say. I will not judge you.)

Starting from the middle of her back, the area where Lucius had placed his palm, the pure Mid-Level Stage 2 soul power quickly started suffusing throughout her body, enveloping her skin, muscles, bones, and even her soul power.

A feeling of comfort that couldn't be described with words, assaulted Olivia's sensory nerves. It felt similar to bathing in a hot spring during a cold winter day or lying in front of a cooler in peak summer. 

A feeling of absolute bliss was felt by Olivia, so much so, she involuntarily released a light moan.

"Ahh~"

Just as this feeling of comfort seemed to reach its peak, it suddenly disappeared. Replacing it was bouts of pain, the likes of which Olivia had never experienced.

"AARRRGGGHHHH!!!" 

It sufficed to say, today would be an experience that Olivia would never forget for the remainder of her life.

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

The method that Lucius had come up with was simple; he would first locate the poisonous Curse energy within Olivia's body and then proceed to destroy it with [Annihilation Energy].

While this procedure looked simple in theory, it would require two conditions to be met.

1.    Possess a method capable of destroying the Curse Energy.

2.    Absolute control over one's energy, so as to not accidently destroy anything other than the curse energy.

Needless to say, Lucius was perhaps the only person capable of performing this feat. While there were other geniuses in the Universe fulfilling the second condition, [Annihilation Energy] was something unique to Lucius. 

With Lucius devoting his complete attention to the procedure, it took only a few minutes to completely rid Olivia of all the curse energy. The veins of malignant energy had disappeared, and even her face had started to heal restoring her former beauty. 

Unfortunately, however, Olivia was not in the mood to appreciate these things. The very moment the procedure had been completed and the pain had disappeared, Olivia's mind shut down and she collapsed.

Quickly catching her before she fully fell, Lucius carried her and laid her on a sofa that was present in her office. He then proceeded to pick up the purple robe that was on the ground and covered her body with it.

Having done that, he walked away and sat on one of the seats, quietly meditating to recover the soul power which he had spent.

Ka'lor'ah who had witnessed the procedure confirmed Olivia's condition and finally heaved a sigh of relief. All they had to do now was to wait for her body to naturally sort itself out and for her to wake up.

With Olivia's issue solved, Ka'lor'ah who now had some time to kill, processed some empty thoughts.

'Now that I think about it, that entire situation was kinda risqué and ambiguous. Looking from a different perspective, it looked like Lucius was about to do something.'

She then turned to look at the expressionless Lucius meditating, and the unconscious young woman, who slept with a frown.

'Actually, it's better this way.' A wolfish smile formed on Ka'lor'ah's face as she continued, 'This gives me more room to work with!'

"Hehehe." A villainous chuckle echoed from within the crystal.