Lord of Annihilation

Two weeks later.

Entering the spaceship's command center, Olivia dressed in light purple robes and close-fitting black body armor asked the Terran in charge.

"You called?" 

Raising his head from the terminal, the Terran ex-pirate looked towards Olivia and nodded his head.

"Yes, Captain. We have almost arrived." He answered with respect, pointing towards the distant silhouette of a spaceship.

During the last two weeks, apart from being instructed by Ka'lor'ah on many topics, she had also spent some time successfully integrating the group of thirty (traumatized) pirates into her own. 

As a result of her efforts, some amount of life had returned into the eyes of these thirty pirates which greatly contrasted the lifeless, corpse-like expression they had at the beginning. 

During this time, Olivia also utilized her abilities to investigate some matters. The first, mainly being, how the pirates had received information about Mankind?

After a few days of rigorous investigation and she finally arrived at the truth. A truth that was simple, yet shocking at the same time.

It came in the form of a single person…Major Eyler. 

If one recalled carefully, Major Eyler was the second-in-command at the Frontier Base of Deatov, the first planet which faced the Ascension. 

After successfully surviving that tragedy, he safely returned to the Alliance HQ, where after a series of events and schemes, he managed to snag the position of 'Head of Military' from Alex and was the General in charge of leading Mankind's forces against the Ascension.

Having expected easy victories, honor, and fame, he was met with the insurmountable assault of the Formicians. After facing them not once, but twice, 'Head of Military' Eyler's whereabouts went missing after the latter battle. 

Having disobeyed the Alliance's orders to willfully retreat while sacrificing the soldiers under him, he was charged with high treason, desertion, and inhumane conduct. Alas, unable to find the man he was declared, MIA.

Or so was the story, until now. Using the Arbiter's investigation abilities, Olivia managed to piece together the rest of the truth.

Apparently, having lost the second major battle against the Formicians, under the threat of death, Eyler, sacrificing the soldiers under him to buy some time, managed to escape the battlefield after manning a spaceship.

Understanding the weight of his actions and the consequences he would face if he returned to Mankind's territories, he left in the opposite direction planning to take his chances in the vast Universe.

Two years later, having run out of food, water, and fuel, listlessly floating in the infinite void of space, just as Death's touch reached in to reap his soul, he stumbled upon a scouting ship of the 'Flying Dutchman'. 

Captured by the pirate group, he was then tortured to the point of disclosing information on Mankind. 

The leader of the pirate group, knowing that a species would be at its weakest when facing its first Ascension, immediately gave the order for the 'Flying Dutchman' to enter the fires of war.

The phrase, 'the fall of Man will be caused by Man himself,' had never been truer.

This just goes to show, how much of an effect a seemingly insignificant, easily-forgotten character would have in the greater picture. No plans are perfect and even the smallest of factors will lead to the most unforeseen of changes.

Beep, beep!

Just then, one of the terminals within the command room started to buss with life. The atmosphere within the room immediately turned tense.

"*bzzt*…You're entering restricted territory. Immediately leave or you will be treated as hostile!" A voice grimly announced.

"*hrzzt* this is Deadman One, we are returning from the 'Refill Mission'. Please report to Command." 

"Oh, it's you guys. Didn't expect to see you so soon. Please wait while I report to Command." Having recognized their men, the voice on the other side of the comms immediately turned friendly.

While waiting for further instructions to follow, one of the Deputies, arrived next to Olivia and asked.

"Lady Governor, when do we begin?" 

"No hurries, Captain. We will follow the plan previously discussed." Olivia coolly replied.

Just as Olivia had finished talking, the alarms within the command room sprung to life.

"Hull Breach in Compartment 13!" One of the technicians immediately reported.

"Is it an attack?" Growing serious, Olivia asked.

"No, ma'am. It's…" 

Raising his head from the terminal, the technician was about to explain when he suddenly paused. His eyes had unwittingly passed by the large glass window in front of the room, overlooking the void of space, causing him to notice something.

It wasn't just the technician, but all of the people within the command room had their eyes affixed on the window. Their eyes bulged and their mouths, agape. 

For outside the window, in the empty void of space, a humanoid figure covered in reddish-black aura dashed towards that distant spaceship.

'Hmmm, Lil' Olivia,' A mental message from Ka'lor'ah resounded within Olivia's mind. "Lucius just left from the ship."

"Change of plans! We shall immediately start the battle. Full speed ahead!" Olivia's voice thundered within the command room.

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Flying through the void of space using his soul power, Lucius, whose body was surrounded by material murderous intent, had a single thought in his mind.

'Kill.'

Anger had completely clouded his rationality, resulting in Lucius' reverting to his base state.

The state where he was incapable of reason, fueled only by his desire to slaughter. This state was simultaneously both Lucius' strongest and weakest moment. 

Strongest in the sense, that Lucius would be at this peak performance state with his battle sense, and combat talent would be fully showcased.

Weakest in the sense, Lucius was no longer capable of reasoning and would not stop until he or all of his opponents were dead.

Approaching the first pirate ship with his full speed, Lucius felt the surface of his skin tingle as a sense of immense danger appeared within his mind. The moment he felt danger, Lucius instinctively activated [Void Steps], entering the void and appearing a few hundred meters away.

It had to be noted that all of the Void Eater's racial abilities had undergone another upgrade. 

[Void Steps] now had an increased range of 1km, with the cost of void energy remaining the same. This just goes to show that the 'Rule of Void' inherent to the Void Eater's body was growing stronger as Lucius increased in power.

The very instant that Lucius had disappeared from his initial location, a ray of colored light exploded at that location, tinting the surrounding space with light and heat.

Interestingly enough, the source of energy was soul energy, and not the 'Condensed Directed Energy' which Mankind used. 

Having dodged that attack from the enemy spaceship, Lucius' eyes narrowed and the murderous intent surrounding his body strengthened further. Once again, he utilized [Void Steps] to close the distance between himself and the enemy spaceship by a great margin, entering melee combat range.

Through his olfactory organ, Lucius could smell the surprise and shock of the people inside the spaceship. However, he ignored these reactions and landed atop the vessel's surface with a loud thud. (its space so there's no actual noise)

THUD!

Raising his fist into the air, Lucius' right hand shone with silver light as he heavily punched on the metal surface. Under the sheer weight of the punch, the metal surface instantly formed a depression, caving inwards. 

One had to know that these spaceships' surface was quite resilient, made to withstand impact from rocks and other space debris. It was by no manner weak.

It was Lucius, whose physical body had devoured the special property of the Silver Fist Apes, combined with Peak-Level Stage 2 soul power, who was simply too strong.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The hull managed to withstand a few minutes of inane pounding, before giving in. A whooshing sound immediately appeared as the air started to rush out from within the spaceship due to the relative pressure difference.

Grabbing onto the two sides of the manufactured entrance with his hands, Lucius effortlessly entered the spaceship.

His soul sense immediately swept through the entire spaceship, followed by the sensitive sniffing of his nose. 

'60 beings on board. 59 Low-Level Stage 2s and a single Mid-Level Stage2.'

Having confirmed the number on board, Lucius immediately moved to smash apart the metallic walls inside the vessel with pure brute force.

Appearing on the other side, he was instantly met with the attacks of 3 Low-Level Stage 2 beings. [Metal Fists], [Animal Strength], and [Laser Palms] being their soul types.

A fist formed of metal and another which was covered in fur landed on Lucius' body in sequence. Simultaneously, a beam of energy originating from the two open palms of its aggressor headed towards Lucius' face.

'Weak! Too weak!'

Lucius couldn't even bother evading or blocking, as he allowed the attacks to land on him. Apart from that laser attack blinding him for an insignificant instant, Lucius was completely unscathed.

While the three attackers were common foot-soldiers, they were by no means weak. To be able to survive in this profession (pirate), for more than three months, meaning that the person had some amount of ability.

Seeing Lucius' unharmed figure that didn't so much as flinch under their attacks, the three figures slowed from shock. Just as quickly as the thought of retreating appeared within their minds, it disappeared.

Lucius' body flashed past them and the head of the three exploded and their bodies lifelessly dropped to the ground. 

There was no technique, there was no finesse. There was simply pure, mindless violence.

After Lucius' passage, a dark shadow immediately appeared underneath them, with a few pitch-black appendages appearing from within and dragging their dead bodies into the ground.

With their bodies recycled into void energy and their soul recycled into soul energy, Lucius was a perpetual machine of slaughter that had just begun its massacre.

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"Gatekeeper Three to Command, please respond! I repeat, Gatekeeper Three to Command, please respond!"

"A new hostile target has appeared. Danger Level: Catastrophe! Power Level: Suspected Stage 3!!"

"Please inform the Boss and prepare—acck!" with a scream of pain, the voice suddenly cut out marking the end for Gatekeeper Three.