Lord of Annihilation

"Reyna! Long time no see." 

Olivia's joyous shout was accompanied by the furious waving of her hands. 

A brilliant smile occupied her face and a bright, friendly aura replaced her previous 'cold' demeanor. Seeing her best friend after a long period of time filled her with incomparable excitement.

Ignoring the stupefied gazes of the others within the room, Olivia started making her way down the platform.

Meanwhile, the other party in question -Reyna- had a dazed expression on her face. Under Illya's orders, she had originally come to this room to compile information from the team that was sent into the Formician territory to investigate the strange movements. 

Now, however, having returned with that team was her long-lost friend who had disappeared three years ago, without a single word of goodbye. Faced with Olivia's excited shouts, Reyna's mood was…unpleasant, to say the least.

A cold look appeared within her verdant green eyes, as she snidely remarked.

"Oh, the coward that ran away has come back."

Reyna's tone held none of the warmth that Olivia's had. Her expressionless face and clenched fists made it obvious how terrible her current mood was.

Hearing Reyna's words, Olivia's smile and movements froze. Fearing that she had misheard, she raised her head and slowly asked.

"Pardon?"                           

At that response, Reyna loudly scoffed. Lifting her head to meet the gaze of her preciously dear friend, she repeated once more, this time her tone contained disdain.

"Were my words not clear? No worries, I will repeat once more."

"The coward that forsook her friends abandoned her family, and betrayed Mankind has finally come back, I see. Where's that other coward, I don't se—" 

The remaining words paused at her throat as Reyna's eyes and body froze in fear. She found herself directly staring into Olivia's violet eyes separated by only a few inches. Olivia has seemingly teleported from her previous location and had appeared before Reyna.

What was more was that Reyna felt a cold piece of metal resting on her throat. The sharpness exuding from Olivia's weapon which the latter had placed on her throat made the former (Reyna) fear even the smallest of movements.

The smallest of errors and Reyna would find herself without a head.

With a voice that was reminiscent of the frigid winds of hell, Olivia whispered into Reyna's ears with absolute seriousness.

"Watch what you say, or you'll find yourself missing a head." 

Olivia's words were direct and her face was expressionless, however, the intensity of the murderous aura that she was currently radiating made it obvious that she was incomparably angry.

The previously joyous atmosphere had completely vanished with thick, heavy tension filling the air. 

Seeing Reyna's expression and hearing her words, it was clear as day, that the former held none of the favorable feelings that Olivia felt. Nay, it was clear that Reyna felt hatred towards Olivia and Lucius. 

Hate for leaving Mankind behind. 

Hate for not informing her about their plans or even their actions.

Hate for having her pure feelings toyed by them.

Every day Reyna lived and struggled with Mankind, when she watched cities fall and planets crumble, when she watched people die without being able to put up any resistance, she watched people important to her leave and never come back this irrational hate within her started to compound. 

When pressured by incredible events which were beyond one's capacity to handle, humans always sought to blame others in a bid to escape responsibility. And the recipients of Reyna's blame were her two closest friends who had heartlessly abandoned her.

The more she suffered, the more she wished for them to suffer. 

The more people she lost, the more she wished for them to lose others. 

And today, when she met one of the objects of her blames. A person whom she loathed and hated every single day for abandoning her, Reyna found herself unable to hold her tongue.

Admonishing and blaming Olivia, filled Reyna with a twisted sense of relief and righteousness. However, these feelings instantly vanished when she found a blade on her neck. 

Olivia's deep, violet eyes and her frigid voice instilled the fear of death into Reyna's mind. 

Looking into her ex-best friend's eyes, Reyna knew that if she made a single wrong move, then her life wouldn't be hers.

Olivia continued to stare into Reyna's eyes while radiating thick, viscous murderous intent. Although she found herself in what can now be considered enemy territory and threatened their leader, there was not an ounce of fear or uncertainty in her motions. 

Best friend or not, the Arbiter were being that had their pride and demanded respect.

While she was originally calm and sympathetic, understanding Reyna's thoughts to a certain degree, the moment she had brought Lucius into the conversation, Olivia's emotions exploded.

She directly drew her sword, detonated her soul power, and made her way through the dozens of guards to arrive before Reyna, before the latter could complete her sentence.

After confirming that Reyna had understood the gravity of the situation, Olivia took a step back and spoke.

"On the account of us previously being friends, I spare will spare your life. However--" Olivia's voice increased by a few octaves, "If you or anyone here, dare to insult me or Lucius once more, I will cut your head, even if it costs me my life." 

Saying so, Olivia took a step back. However, she did not lower her sword nor retract her aura. The situation was incredibly tense right now and a battle might start at any moment. Being in a position as disadvantageous as hers, Olivia had to seize every possible advantage.

Upon being released from Olivia's stare, Reyna immediately fell to the ground, losing strength in her legs. Although she herself was a Low-Level Stage 2, with Olivia being in the Mid-Level of the same stage, the two simply could not be compared.

The sheer difference in their mindsets and intensities, made the latter infinitely superior to the former, even while ignoring their respective abilities and powers.

It had to be mentioned that the events described above occupied less than fifteen seconds of time. Being subject to Olivia's incredible skill and immovable pressure it was only now that the guards and soldiers accompanying Reyna reacted.

"Vice Leader! Are you alright?!!"

Two guards closest to Reyna immediately tended to her, while the others pointed their guns and weapons at the female assailant. Their hands, however, weren't as steady as before and faintly trembled.

Their minds were overloaded with tension, incomprehension, and fear. After all, they could scarcely understand how this woman, who was dozens of feet away, had instantly made her way through tens of guards in a matter of seconds!

"I-I-" At the questioning of her subordinates, Reyna's pale face and trembling body failed to give a proper reply. Lifting her shaking finger, she pointed towards Olivia and ordered.

"S-she ju-just threatened m-me! Sh-shoot her o-or something!" 

Hearing those words, Olivia's final considerations for her friend disappeared and the intent to battle appeared within her eyes. She did not wait for the soldiers to react, as she instantly moved.

'I'm at a disadvantage concerning weapons. I must thin their numbers while constantly moving.' A plan formed and Olivia's moved.

Her eyes then locked onto Reyna's figure. 

'I gave her a chance, yet she threw it away. It's a pity, but I suppose I can start with her.' Sighing to herself, Olivia strengthened her resolve.

Just as she was about to move towards Reyna, Ka'lor'ah's voice rung within her head.

'You mustn't kill her.' She instructed with her rarely serious tone. 

'Why?' Olivia questioned, surprised.

'She has an important use. This instruction is not just mine, but Lucius' too.' 

Hearing that, Olivia forced herself to abandon Reyna as a target. She then continued.

'What about the others?' 

'Oh, the others are fair game! Show them what you got.' The lackadaisical attitude had returned, as Ka'lor'ah lightly replied.

Having received confirmation, Olivia acted. 

The soldiers, having received Reyna's orders immediately pulled the trigger on which their fingers were placed. Their guns flashed and bullets started to fly towards Olivia.

Given the short distance between them and the assailant, and the fact that they were all humans, it should've been confirmed. After all, the assailant only had a sword and this was a gunfight.

Alas, Olivia was someone personally trained by Lucius and someone who had tamed the hell-hole called Pandemonium. Even amongst battle-experienced Stage 2s, Olivia was an exceptional existence.

Detonating the gathered soul power beneath her feet, Olivia used that energy to jump up into the air. Having left the area of impact, the bullets could not even see her, much less touch her.

Olivia's jump had propelled her quite high, almost reaching the ceiling of the room. Adjusting her body to gain a better position mid-air, her eyes then scanned the entirety of the room, memorizing the positions of all soldiers within the room.

'The reactions of those five are faster than the rest. I must get rid of them first.'

Holding her longsword with both her hands, Olivia started to infuse her violet soul power into its body. The blade started to shine with ominous light and a faint humming spread into the air.

The technique taught by Lucius almost four years ago: a technique which she has since then tirelessly practiced and refined to perfection.

'Hah!' 

Dexterously moving her hands, the sword moved with fluid, waste-less movements and five slashes of condensed blade energy exited her weapon. 

Cutting across the air while ringing with a dense humming noise, the five slashes effortlessly cut through the five designated targets, dissecting them in half.

Blood, guts, and brain matter feel accompanied by the shrill screams of the scientist and non-military members within the room. 

'Five down. Thirty-two to go.' 

Touching down on the ground, Olivia kicked off with her toes and dashed towards her next targets.