Lord of Annihilation

"Lady Governor! Stellar Light City is launching another attack! Please give us your orders!" A young, white-haired Terran burst into Olivia's office and announced while heavily panting. 

"Their army is 8000-strong and has almost reached our city borders! We need your leadership, Lady Governor!" Another Terran, a young lady with blue hair, stumbled into the office and hurriedly informed in a similar fashion.

Looking at the two aides who were gasping for air while holding onto their knees, Lucius recognized one of them.

Pointing towards the young lady with the blue hair, Lucius recalled. "You are…that girl I rescued from that Scrofanian pig."

Confused, the young lady raised her head to take a look towards the unfamiliar voice.

"You are--?" she paused, feeling dazed after looking at Lucius' pale, handsome face. Her pupils then suddenly shrunk in horror as she recalled.

"You are that psychopathic killer who has been miss—I mean! It's good to meet you again, Lord Lucius!!" 

Quickly stopping herself from voicing her instinctive horror, Mia Baltmer, daughter of Leon Baltmer (Old Man), hurriedly corrected herself, all while cautiously stepping back.

The tremor in her voice, however, betrayed the fear she was currently feeling. Mia distinctly remembered the day she was saved from the Minaccio Gang by this monst(er)—the young man in front of her. Mostly of how he had bare-handedly ripped apart her captors while looking bored.

While she was extremely grateful for his help, she was also equally terrified of him.

'Wow, that's some deep-rooted trauma seen in her eyes. What did you do to this poor little lamb?' Noting the young lady's reaction, Ka'lor'ah routinely teased Lucius.

Ignoring Ka'lor'ah's jab, Lucius carefully observed the two aides. His eyes scanned their bodies, noting their respective strengths.

'The girl is Mid-Level Stage 1, whilst that boy is at Low-Level Stage 2. Their bodies are weak and looking at their stance, neither have sufficient battle experience. Do not seem to possess any special

'Extremely weak.' Having completed his observation, Lucius lost interest.

However, the young man gazed at Lucius with suspicion and reached for the dagger on his waist. He had noticed the odd atmosphere within the office and acted on his intuition.

Keeping his eyes on Lucius, he asked Olivia, "Lady Olivia, who is this person?" 

Just as the tips of his finger touched the handle of the dagger, the young aide's body turned rigid. He felt his blood chill to a halt and his pupils freeze from fear. He could feel the presence of a cold wind caressing his back.

The presence of death had never been felt closer in his life than in this moment. The oppressive shadow of death was upon him!

And it was not just him. 

Both Mia and Olivia, who were both present in the room, felt suffocating pressure that threatened to swallow them into obscurity. They both felt their breaths cease and their hearts pause.

The cause of this pressure, was the ice-cold [Annihilation Intent] released by Lucius. Reaching Mid-Level Stage 2 had boosted its effects making it more effective [Killing Intent] of the same level.

"L-Lu-cius, pl-e-ase s-to-p…" Olivia barely managed to squeak out a sentence. 

Although Olivia was also in Mid-Level Stage 2, the difference between their Life Grades and the sheer intensity of their respective soul powers put Lucius on a completely different level. 

If it was not for her previous experience of being exposed to the much tamer version of [Annihilation Intent], Olivia would be no better than the two stiff dolls present in the room.

Seeing that the two aides were on the verge of passing out, Lucius retracted his [Annihilation Intent]. The instant it was retracted the pressure immediately disappeared from the room and the two aides fell to the ground. Even Olivia felt her legs weaken and threaten to collapse, but managed to forcibly hold on.

In a rather serious tone, Lucius coldly spat, "Remember your place, worm." 

For the weak to even dare and try to point their weapons towards him, was an unforgivable sin. While Lucius was usually forgiving and mostly unbothered by provocation, such blatant acts were still intolerable. 

This was why even Ka'lor'ah didn't bother stopping Lucius but quietly watched. She even felt that Lucius was being too kind.

The sense of absolute arrogance and superiority was not something unique to Lucius and Ka'lor'ah, but rather, was a common, deep-seated notion among all Stage 7 existences. 

In fact, if it had been some other Stage 7 in Lucius' shoes, he/she would've ruthlessly killed the provoker and everything that was related to him.

One such case was recorded in history where a Stage 5 existence had unintentionally slighted a Stage 7 existence. Not only did that Stage 7 existence destroy that person and his family, but he also proceeded to utterly eliminate his (Stage 5's) entire race from the Universe!

Not only did that Stage 7 existence succeed in his slaughter, but not a single person stepped up to stop him. The entire Universe watched in silence, as the Stage 7 existence decimated an entire race of beings!

Stage 7 represented an entirely different realm and everyone beneath this realm was utter trash. They deserved unconditional respect and absolute authority. 

Under no circumstances can the honor of a Stage 7 be belittled. (Unless, of course, if it is done by another Stage 7.)

"I-I'm sor-ry." Struggling to speak, the young Terran voiced an apology before passing out.

Lucius simply nodded his head in response and turned around to take a seat. It was only a minor offense and Lucius quickly forgave him.

The air within the room turned odd, as none dared to carelessly speak. A few minutes passed like this before Olivia finally broke the silence.

"Cough, cough. Anyways, you were saying there is an attack?" Having regained her regal demeanor, the Violet Witch asked.

Mia, whose face was entirely bloodless quickly nodded her head and replied. "Their army is approaching us as we speak. We need your leadership, Lady Governor."

A serious expression surfaced on Olivia's face as she carefully pondered.

"…seems like that old man has resolved himself. This might as well be the final battle." 

"What's the issue, Lil' Olivia?" Ka'lor'ah curiously asked.

"Ah?" Confused at that sudden voice, Mia jumped like a frightened kitten, before nervously looking around.

Waving her hand to placate her aide, Olivia turned to face the floating crystal and explained.

"Well, when Lucius and I landed in Pectron we ran into some unexpected trouble with two Bertarian youngsters. The meeting resulted in confrontation and we ended up killing the two of them alongside a few others."

She then sighed to herself, before continuing.

"It turns out that the two youngsters were the children of the Stellar Light City's Governor, a Stage 3 Bertarian. By some means, he seems to have figured out that I was one of the murders' and has since been keen on capturing me."

"Thankfully, I managed to stave off his personal attempts with the help of the other Stage 3 Governors from some other cities and also led him on some wild goose chases."

"He tried attacking the city but wasn't able to, partly due to my meddling, and partly because you can't attack another city or its Governor without a proper casus belli. It seems he has no proper evidence stating that I was the murderer."

Gritting her teeth, she then finished.

"But it seems he has resolved himself now."

Turning to face her aides, she then gave out a command. 

"Quickly send out a request for aid to our allies. If that crazy, Stage 3 bastard joins the battle our troops will be crushed without any resistance."

"But will the other Governor's help? Their interest in this matter seems lackadaisical in recent times. Will they really assist against the Stage 3?" Mia worriedly asked.

"They have no choice but to help! If they want to continue enjoying the current benefits, that is." A determined look flashed across Olivia's violet eyes as she declared, "And even if they don't send any help. We are not going down without a fight! I shall see what the difference is between a Stage 2 and a Stage 3. It can't be that bad!"

Lucius, who was quietly sitting by the sides, interrupted Olivia's monologue. "You won't survive a single second."

The feeling of having a cold bucket of water poured over her head passed through Olivia. She quickly turned to face Lucius and asked, "Not even a single second? Is the difference of power that great?" 

Nodding his head, Lucius continued, "Even I would be greatly troubled to face a Stage 3 at my current realm. With your strength, you will absolutely die."

Hearing his flat tone, Olivia felt another bout of cold water being dumped over her head. Her head hung low, as she felt disheartened.

What disheartened her wasn't the fact that she would die, but the fact that Lucius had implicitly stated that he had a chance.

While she knew that Lucius was stronger than her, she had just realized the mind-numbing gap between their respective strengths.

Ka'lor'ah floated over to Olivia and casually patted her head with her body. 

"There, there. Don't be too disheartened, Olivia. With our guidance, you will also grow stronger." Comforting the girl, she then continued, "Plus, the situation is not as hopeless as it seems. I know for a fact that the Stage 3 guy will not join."

"Huh? How do you know?" Raising her head to look at the crystal, Olivia asked, feeling confused.

"Because Lucius over here already took care of him."

Right on her cue, Lucius reached into his shadow and threw the unfinished remains of the Stage 3 Bertarian towards the center of the room. Although the Stage 3 existence had died, the body still contained the remnant aura and presence of the figure. It was evident that this body was the real deal.

"Ack!" "Whoa!"

Two screams, one of disgust and the other of surprise resounded within the room. 

Staring at the partially-eaten corpse, Olivia was first shocked but then overcome with surprise."This is excellent! With this, we will be able to win without fighting!"

"Get it over with quickly. We need to figure out a way to leave as soon as possible." Lucius instructed, before reclining on his seat and closing his eyes.

"Un!" Olivia nodded her head and quickly turned to her dumbstruck aide. "Forget about my previous orders! Just wake that guy up and follow me!" 

Upon completing her sentence, she quickly grabbed the corpse and rushed out of the room. Ka'lor'ah who was floating in the room gave a light yelp, before following her figure.

"Let me come with you!"

Soon, it was only Lucius who remained within the room.

Silence returned, save only for the near-soundless rhythmic breaths of Lucius.