Lord of Annihilation

On the surface of an unnamed planet.

"Hey, I told you to stay down!" Wilkes thundered while his face showed his frustration.

The recipients of his ill-tempered bellow were a group of six humans, four males, and two females. Wearing a grayish-silver-colored uniform, their faces were colored with surprise and confusion.

『What are you, creatures?! Let us go! We have something important to do!』

One of the male humans who seemed to be the leader of the group tried to speak up.

"Ah shit, does anyone here understand what he's saying?" Wilkes asked his team, which replied by shaking their heads.

Mankind, which resided in an unknown corner of the Universe, was not familiar with the common tongue of the Universe. Neither did they have tools or external gadgets that could help them. 

With both knowledge and tools lacking on both sides, communication was impossible.

Turning his head to the group of captured humans, Wilkes, who had the body of a battle-tuned Oncanian, moved his canine head and spoke.

"Hello? Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

While his words were purely harmless, Wilkes' tone and generally predatory-looking face came off as threatening. 

Such being the case, the reaction of the humans were also understandable.

『You-! Do-don't kill us! The Allied Liberation Army will not forgive you!!』 the leader-human shakily threatened.

With the two women hugging each other while crying, one of the younger males looking pallid and lifeless, and the two other middle-aged men, resolving themselves to bitter death, the scene was comical, to say the least. 

"Ah, this is going nowhere." Wilkes let out a frustrated cry.

One of the Terran members of the team, who was also surrounding this group of humans, turned to Wilkes and asked.

"They sure do look like a bunch of sissies, don't they? Are you sure they are related to Lady Governor?" 

Wilkes shook his head and answered.

"I'm not sure if they are related but they definitely are from the same race." Pointing to his canine nose, he continued, "My nose is never wrong."

"Sometimes I forget how much of a dog you really are." The Terran joked.

"Looks like someone just landed themselves the clean-up upon returning." Not amused, Wilkes replied back.

"Ooh, serves him right."

"You shouldn't have said that."

"Captain is as fearsome as always."

The others within the group started to click their tongues and sneer at their groupmate's unfortunate ending.

"Oh come on! I was just joking!" 

Ignoring his cries, Wilkes turned towards the group of shivering humans.

'Still, he's right. Lady Governor has this fearsome aura around her that makes you feel both afraid and awed. She is nothing like this bunch of cowards.'

Being an Arbiter, who were once the upholders of order within the Universe, Olivia possessed a unique aura that was unique to their kind. 

An aura that commanded authority and subservience from all others.

"Captain, please forgive me! I was just joking." The offender from earlier pleaded.

"Can ya shut your damn mouth?!" Wilkes snapped back.

It was then, that everyone on the surface collectively looked up. Accompanied by sonic booms, a dark, metallic spaceship could be seen entering the atmosphere of the planet.

The group watched on as the size of the spaceship became progressively larger as it headed towards their locations.

"Lookup. The lady has arrived." Wilkes immediately commanded and everyone's demeanor instantly became strict. 

Just from these actions, the extent of Pectron or more specifically the new Pandemonium's military discipline could be seen.

Whooosh!

The spaceship eventually came to a stop a few hundred meters away from the group. Maintaining a steady hover over the ground, its roaring engines significantly calmed and the doors on the sides opened up.

From within, a dark shadow alighted from the vessel and landed on the ground with graceful movements. The shadow then turned towards the Wilkes' group in the distance and headed towards them.

Within a few seconds, Olivia's charming figure appeared near the group. Her long, black hair tied up into a ponytail danced behind her beautiful, unmasked face. 

Wearing full upper-body armor and dark-purple robes, a sword sheath hung by her waist alongside multiple smaller blades and pouches. Boots made from some sturdy unknown material covered her feet up to her knees, followed by thick leather-ish-looking pants covering her slender legs.

"Lady Governor!" the instant Olivia arrived, Wilkes and the rest of his team saluted.

"At ease." Olivia waved of their salute and her eyes landed on a group of humans sitting on the ground, looking towards her with shock.

"This is them?" she asked, to which Wilkes nodded his head in affirmation.

While walking towards the group of humans, Olivia asked Wilkes.

"How did you discover them?"

Expecting such a question, Wilkes immediately answered. 

"We were performing our routine checks around the battlefield when one of the detectors detected some soul power aura coming from the surface of this planet. Assuming them to be stragglers from the earlier battle, we came down here, only to find these guys."

Nodding her head, Olivia replied.

"Very well done, Captain Wilkes. This counts towards your merits."

Now, standing before the group of dumbstruck humans, Olivia was just about to speak when the latter began talking first.

『Yo-you--! Who are you?』 the supposed leader stuttered in his strange language, while slowly standing up. The others behind him also rose from the ground and stood up.

Born and raised in Mankind's territories, this was a language that Olivia could not be more familiar with. 

Putting on a light smile as a sign of reassurance, Olivia started to talk.

『I apologize for the inconvenience caused and for any rude behavior on my subordinates' part. We have just finished a large battle and couldn't afford to be careless until your identities were confirmed.』

Olivia kindly explained while continuing the smile. Perhaps calmed by the smile of a beautiful woman, the trembling of their bodies lessened and their minds became much more stable.

『No-no problems. We understand the caution.』 the leader replied.

'I confirmed it, they are human. No signs of any control spell either.' Ka'lor'ah's voice suddenly sounded out within Olivia's mind.

Dropping her final bit of doubt from her mind, Olivia's smile became even more genuine.

『My name is Olivia Mayer. I'm human, just like you guys, and hail from the Earth Alliance. These guys are my subordinates.』 She continued speaking while gesturing towards the Wilkes squad behind her back.

At her sign, the gauds took a step back and sheathed their weapons. Their eyes, however, continued to vigilantly stare towards the group of humans and a faint bloodlust continued to permeate the air.

『Ea-earth Alliance?』the leader looked confused for a moment, before mumbling. 『You mean the Allied Liberation Army, right? The Earth Alliance collapsed two years ago.』

The relaxed guards of the humans tightened once more and their eyes showed wariness towards Olivia. It was clear that they had become suspicious of her.

Olivia's smile also stiffened at this unexpected revelation, rendering her unsure about how to continue. The atmosphere instantly became frigid with conversation coming to a halt.

『A-are you Ol-Olivia from the Strategic Command class from the Academy?』 the pallid-looking youth spoke out.

『Yes. Do you know me?』 Pleasantly surprised, Olivia nodded her head.

The leader and the other humans also looked surprised as they turned to face the youth and asked.

『John, you know this lady?』

The pallid-youth whose name was John nodded his head. Gathering courage, he then replied.

『Yeah, I was unsure at first because her eyes were a different color. But now, I'm quite sure. She was my classmate at the Academy. I remember her quite fondly because she was always at the top of the class and was also a teaching assistant.』

He then turned to face Olivia and continued.

『But I thought you died three years ago at the Deatov attack since you never returned. How come you're here with these scary-looking creatures.』

The group of humans turned to face Olivia awaiting a proper explanation.

Taking in a deep breath, Olivia then gave a detailed but heavily altered explanation of her circumstances. Her face, however, was the picture of seriousness, patriotism, and honesty.

『Three years ago, after the Deatov battle, I was sent away to a far-off planet in order to research methods and gain help for surviving the ascension…』

The veracity did not matter, for as long as she could gain the trust of these people.

Hearing the blatant lies effortlessly spew out of Olivia's mouth, Ka'lor'ah sniggered, clearly impressed.

'You're becoming more and more of a bad girl with each passing day, Lil'Olivia.'