Lord of Annihilation

"Having learned that my motherland is facing such a crisis, I gathered all my available subordinates and rushed back as soon as possible. Only after getting here, did I realize that the situation is much grimmer than I previously thought it to be."

"Still, I have taken a vow to protect it till my final breath and will never give up! As long as limbs can move, I will fight for the Alliance!" 

And that marked the end of a passionate, long-winded explanation. For how much of it was true and how much was false, only Olivia knew. 

But for people such as this group of humans who were oblivious to the truth, Olivia's tale was a noble story of self-sacrifice, undying loyalty, and devotion to Mankind.

"To think that people of such noble character still exist during these times."

"Miss Mayer is the model freedom fighter!"

"Truly, this is an era that belongs to the young ones."

The human group could be seen wiping tears and nodding with a moved expression. All of their distrust towards Olivia had completely vanished, with them even feeling ashamed in their hearts for doubting such a noble young woman.

The group collectively looked towards Olivia and loudly apologized.

"We apologize for doubting you, Miss Mayer. It was truly small-minded of us for acting like that!" 

They then proceeded to collectively bow.

"Please don't say such things, elders! I have only done what was expected of me to do! And do call me Olivia. I am your junior after all!"

Olivia hurriedly gestured for the group to raise their heads. Seeing their earnest reactions, even Olivia felt slightly embarrassed for deceiving them.

Alas, it was only embarrassment and not guilt.

To fight is to survive and to survive is to kill. Lucius had told her that.

While Olivia was originally hesitant to such extreme measures at the beginning, the time spent in Pandemonium had changed her views and ideals.

While her ideals were not as extreme as Lucius', Olivia had greatly grown from her previous naivety.

To survive within the Universe, one had to fight.

For Lucius, a fight meant to kill his opponent. To utterly eradicate their existence from the Universe.

For Olivia, however, a fight meant to win the greatest of benefits for herself and her people, while expending minimally.

As for the means of the fight? 

It did not matter, as long as the ends were met.

Lying, deceiving, plotting, scheming, all these methods were on the table as long as they guaranteed victory. 

'To think you even used some of your mental spells on the people. You are blacker than I thought.' Ka'lor'ah joked with Olivia.

'It was nothing too serious, just some [Intimidation] and [Beguile]. We are in a hurry, aren't we?' Olivia shortly replied, before continuing her talks with humans.

"So how did you guys get here and why? From what I understand, we are currently within enemy territory." Olivia asked, to which one of the human females replied.

"This planet is actually, one of our forward scouting bases. My team and I were sent here because of the recent strange movements of the Formicians. Seeing you folks and hearing your story, it makes sense."

"We have a Long-range Teleportation Array built inside that cave over there, which we use for transportation.." The woman pointed to one of the distant caves within the mountain.

'Teleportation Arrays?!' Both Olivia and Ka'lor'ah were surprised, with the former voicing her surprise.

"Ah, that's right. You wouldn't know about the Teleportation Arrays. It is one of the godly devices invented by the Genius Mechanist Reyna. These arrays are one of the main reasons why we are able to survive the two-pronged attacks of both the Formicians and the other alien invaders."

"Genius Mechanist Reyna? You mean, Reyna Snowden?" Olivia involuntarily mumbled.

"Oh, you know her?" Surprised, the woman asked her, to which Olivia simply nodded her head.

"That's excellent then! It would save us so much time and effort! Miss Reyna is one of the founders of the Allied Liberation Army. She, alongside 'Fire God' Alex and 'Brilliant Strategist' Illya were the ones who preserved and led the remaining parts of Mankind after the betrayal from those Sors Fides bastards!" She hatefully spat.

Upon hearing that name, even the other humans showed hateful expressions. 

"Those conniving bastards are the reason we ended up in this situation!"

"Traitors of Mankind! I hope they rot in hell!" 

"My family was brainwashed and then sacrificed to that fu*king deity of theirs!" 

Venomous murmurs and wrath-filled expressions went all around.

Seeing that it was a sensitive topic, Olivia redirected the conversation and learnt more about the current state of Mankind. The others were more than ready to comply with this noble young lady and happily answered.

Almost an hour passed in this fashion before Olivia prompted.

"I suppose, we get going now. The sooner I can get back to the Main HQ, the sooner I can get my people approved and end this war sooner!"

"Yes, yes, that's right!"

"Let's go."

Saying so, the humans started to lead Olivia towards the cave within which the Long-range Teleportation Array was located. 

Olivia also gave instructions to her subordinates, instructing some teams to employ delay and subversion tactics while they gather on this planet.

"It will be done, Lady Governor!" Wilkes enthusiastically replied.

"Actually, don't call me Lady Governor. We are no longer in Pandemonium."

"Boss? Commander? Milady? Your majesty?"

Startled at the choice of words, Olivia quickly interrupted the over-enthusiastic Wilkes and answered.

"Leader or Boss is fine! Don't even go any further! Instruct the others too." 

Olivia had goosebumps on her arms, while Ka'lor'ah broke into a peal of laughter.

"Got it, Boss!" 

Wilkes saluted once again, before heading off with the others. There was a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.

Olivia then headed towards the cave with the group of humans, eventually arriving before a complicated mess of metallic parts and devices.

The ovally shaped device was built out of a material that greatly resembled silver. Many intricate lines of glowing circuitry ran throughout the body of the device. 

"Fire it up now." The leader instructed his companions. 

Upon his instruction, the two middle-aged men immediately got to work and started to work on the device. While they were working on the device, Olivia asked the group a question.

"Doesn't the machine make large fluctuations of energy? How have the Formicians not noticed this place or the people that pass through?"

Hearing that question, John was the one who replied.

"We have other machines scattered around the cave and throughout much of the mountain which hide the energy and radiation fluctuations of the device. Actually, this planet formerly housed a military plant, which is where we get the power source for this device from."

"As for us being detected by the Formicians…" John's face reddened for a moment, as he continued. "These suits that we are wearing mask our soul power fluctuations. However, today I had accidentally torn a piece of my uniform on a rock resulting in leaks, leading you guys to detect us."

"I see…" Olivia nodded her head in understanding.

Ka'lor'ah, however, had her own doubts.

'To have an accident on the exact same day as we were here…something is strange about this situation. This is too much of a coincidence to be normal.'

'It's almost as if something or someone wanted to find them right here, right now.'

However, Ka'lor'ah had performed checks to check for the involvement of the Lords or any other foreign power and the result was negative. That being the case, it really did seem like a coincidence.

Still, Ka'lor'ah had an unsettling feeling wash over her. 

WHOOSH!!!

A loud whirring sound originating from the standing oval device rung out within the cave. Large amounts of energy gathered at the center of the oval, gradually forming a whitish-blue gate.

Approaching closer to Olivia, the leader shouted.

"Mind your steps and watch out for the discomfort!"

The two women were the first to step into the portal and disappeared on the other side. They were then followed by John, the two middle-aged men, the leader, and finally Olivia.

'Here I go.' 

Motivating herself as such, Olivia stepped into the portal.

The moment her figure disappeared, the whitish-blue energy destabilized and decreased. It then eventually disappeared, with the device powering down.

Silence returned to the cave.

--------

'Whoa!' 

Unsteadily stepping out on the other side of the portal, Olivia hurriedly stabilized herself and brought her right hand to her waist placing it above her sword sheath. Her eyes were blurry and her mind was particularly dizzy.

Releasing a wave of soul power, she instinctively surveyed her surroundings looking for signs of potential danger. She also lowered her body and got into a combat stance.

A few seconds passed before Olivia regained her bearings. Her eyes cleared and the sight of a large white room came into focus. She found herself standing on a white platform, with a Teleportation Array behind her, and the group of humans whom she had just met collapsed around her.

Most of them were clutching onto their stomachs with obvious discomfort, with the two middle-aged men vomiting.

Turning her eyes away from them, Olivia finally noticed the dozens of other humans, some scientists assuming from their attire and most soldiers. Dozens of computer terminals and other devices littered the room with holographic screens and service robots filling the rest.

'Hmm? Why are they all frozen like that?' 

It was only then that Olivia noticed a peculiarity. All of the people within this room had their eyes locked onto her and were standing frozen. Their pupils were shrunk and their bodies were faintly trembling.

'Olivia, you need to retract your murderous intent.' Ka'lor'ah quickly warned.

'Ah!' Realizing what she had done, Olivia quickly straightened herself and retracted the enormous murderous intent that she had involuntarily released.

Finding herself in a new environment suddenly, Olivia had instinctively gotten into combat mode, prompting the release of her murderous intent. While her murderous intent was nowhere as great or as refined as Lucius', it was still quite sizeable.

The moment the heavy, invisible pressure disappeared from the room, the bodies of all the people noticeably relaxed with the soldier pointing their guns towards her.

'Oh?' Olivia's nose faintly scrunched from dissatisfaction as her hands continued to rest upon her sword. While she understood her mistake had earned the soldier's hostility, it nevertheless, did not feel good having weapons pointed towards you.

"Wait! Don't shoot! She's with us!!" 

Then, the leader of the group accompanying Olivia quickly stepped before her and shouted towards the soldiers.

"This young lady is here to meet the leaders!!"

"Meet me?" A female voice suddenly sounded, followed by the ordered creaking of multiple boots. 

Coming from the tunnel that led into this teleportation room, where a group of heavily armed soldiers with a single person standing amidst them.

A woman with flowing golden hair, a pair of bespectacled green eyes, and pale white skin was wearing a navy-blue colored laboratory coat that faintly shimmered with blue-colored mechanical-attribute soul power.

Olivia's eyes locked onto this person before a happy expression surfaced on her face.

Smiling brilliantly, she waved her hands while happily shouting.

"Reyna! Long time no see!!"