Lord of Annihilation

The duo of Lucius, led by Reyna walked towards the latter's lab with brisk strides. Ka'lor'ah had stayed back in the office to review Olivia's daily homework.

Lucius' gait was smooth and natural as he followed Reyna with his eyes closed. His attention was inside his mindspace as he continued to work on his Domain.

In direct contrast to his casual demeanor was Reyna, who walked in front of him with stiff, heavy steps. Her head was lowered to face the ground and her breathing was noticeably labored.

Even the people, who passed the duo during the walk, felt their chests tighten and their eyes constrict. Their faces noticeably paled, sweat formed in their backs, and hearts skipped a beat when Lucius passed them.

The culprit behind this phenomenon was Lucius' cold, murderous, and scathing aura.

Unlike the previous time he was within Mankind, Lucius no longer had to lie low and hide his aura. His strength has reached a point where he could single-handedly wipe out the entire race in a matter of hours.

Having also accepted himself for what he truly is, Lucius naturally radiating aura had a dense murderous background, filled with cold winds of cruelty, and sharp lines of indifference. 

Simply coming into contact with his aura made people incredibly uncomfortable while also creating a palpable sense of fear and tension in their hearts.

The unlikely duo continued their walk for a dozen minutes. No conversation flowed during this time, as Reyna was too scared to open her mouth to speak and Lucius was too busy doing stuff within his mindspace.

Finally, arriving inside a large, hemispherical laboratory with white walls and floor, Reyna quietly announced.

"W-we are here."

Lucius retracted his attention from within his mindspace and opened his eyes. His eyes scanned around the laboratory once, before landing upon a necklace formed out of multiple black orbs worn by a white-colored mannequin.

Noticing his interested gaze on the device, Reyna gathered her courage and walked towards the mannequin. Extending her hands, she touched the chain and spoke, before infusing her soul power.

"This is the product."

With the infusion of her soul power, the black-orbs lightly hummed before furiously expanding. In less than a second, the entire mannequin whose body structure matched that of Lucius was dressed in its new suit of armor.

A black-colored, full-sleeved vest covered the entirety of the upper body and arms. Multiple lines of white ran atop the length of the arm before gathering at the center of the vest, behind which would lay the heart. Plates of paper-thin armor covered parts of the front, the shoulder pad, and around the wrists, providing light defense and rigidity.

The lower body's design was simple with the same black-colored material wrapping tightly around the mannequin's legs. Below the knees, a secondary layer of black orbs expanded forming slender, armored boots.

A full-length black-colored trench coat covered the entire body, held on with buckle-like fasteners on the front. This trench coat which came with a thick hood formed the topmost layer of clothing and protection completing the entire set.

(AN: That was a long explanation. If you want the exact image, it's just Corvo's costume from the game, Dishonored. One of my fav games.)

Lucius' focus was completely placed upon this suit of armor, with waves of his soul power scanning it in great detail. A tinge of interest appeared within his blank eyes as he unconsciously lowered the intensity of his aura.

At that instant, Reyna felt like a drowning man resurfacing. She noticed Lucius' interest in the armor and started to hurriedly explain.

"It's the amalgamation of our most recent breakthroughs and technological prowess. The entire armor consists of an inner shirt, a vest, full-length pants, boots, and a trench coat. Its defensive properties are not that great, being resistant to knife-wounds, basic energy shots, and small-caliber bullets. Then again, the defense was not the priority."

"The entire suit is made up of self-assembling nano-machines and comes with the self-repair function. When required, just infuse your soul power into the generator placed in the center of the chest and the self-repair will begin."

"As requested, it can undergo extreme amounts of friction, stress, and gravity. It can also resist temperatures as high as 800° C to as low as -160° C. Each part of the armor can be separately worn and is almost indistinguishable in feel and texture from the actual material. It also includes temperature regulation, electronic signal disruption, etc."

Reyna then walked towards a table on the side and brought out an elaborately constructed mask.

"I also made this mask. It comes with thermal vision, sona—" 

"That won't be needed." Lucius interrupted her. 

There was no better method than soul power to detect one's surroundings. This, coupled with the Void-Eater's sensory perception rendered the effects of the mask, useless.

Ignoring Reyna's dismayed face Lucius neared the armor and placed his hand on the generator on its chest. He then infused his soul power into the device and replaced Reyna's own. The suit instantly hummed once more, before reverting to its necklace form.

Removing it from the mannequin, Lucius wore the necklace and infused his soul power into its body. The device hummed once more, and in less than a second covered his entire body.

Lucius was now fully clothed in that steampunk, leather-feeling armor. He then started to move around, getting a feel for the armor.

The armor beautifully complemented his movements without hindering him in the slightest. A sense of harmony and synchrony radiated off of the armor and Lucius.

They felt like two parts of a whole.

Growing increasingly satisfied with the armor's performance, Lucius started to increase the intensity of his movements. His figure soon formed after images as he moved around Reyna's lab.

'Soul power flowed without the slightest impediment. Excellent.' Lucius praised.

While Reyna's personality was greatly lacking, her skills were hardly the same. Her title as 'Genius Mechanist' was well-earned.

After moving around in his new armor for a few more minutes, Lucius came to a stop before the pale-faced Reyna. 

Her body was quaking with tension, as her eyes nervously looked around the wrecked lab, courtesy of Lucius' action. She then stared at the culprit standing before her, before mentally letting out a sigh.

'I don't want to be killed yet.'

Turning back, she reached into her table once more before taking out a long, rectangular box. Opening the box, Reyna revealed eight more similar necklaces and spoke.

"I made a total of nine sets of equipment. All of them have been tested and should perform the same as the one you are currently wearing."

"Thank you." Lucius nodded his head and received the box from her hands. After confirming the states of the other necklaces with his soul power, Lucius opened his [Void Storage] and placed it inside.

He then turned to face the shocked Reyna, who was wondering how the box had mysteriously disappeared into Lucius' shadow, and spoke.

"I have two more requests." 

Waiting for Reyna to recover from her daze, Lucius then continued.

"I want you to make nine more sets of the same armor, but to these measurements." Soul power exited from the top of his fingers and formed numbers in the air.

Reyna carefully looked at the numbers and memorized them. A few seconds later, a strange expression appeared on her face. Gazing upwards, at Lucius' expressionless face, she cautiously asked.

"These measurements are they—"

"Olivia's." Lucius completed her sentence. "Those nine sets are for Olivia."

The next stage of the plan revolved around the political turmoil of the Grand Alcana Empire. To enter and participate in this battlefield involving Stage 5 existences, one required political wits, and strategic sense. 

Simple brute strength would not be enough during this phase.

According to the original plan, the duo of Lucius and Ka'lor'ah would have entered the battlefield during the initial stages of the political turmoil. With Ka'lor'ah's meticulous planning and Lucius acting as her executor, they would have resolved the situation and achieved the result required for the plan.

However, due to the unexpected complication with Mankind, they had already missed the initial window. This rendered their original plan useless.

The next chance would arrive five years later when the political environment of the Grand Alcana Empire flares once more. However, with the unexpected attention of a Lord placed upon them, the 'returner duo' have to be extremely careful and mindful of their actions.

In short, this meant that Ka'lor'ah could not overly involve herself with the plan. 

If they somehow messed up, and Ka'lor'ah actions with regards to Cause were noticed prematurely, their plan would immediately fail and the duo would be hunted by the entire Universe, under the orders of the Lords.

The risks were too great and the chances of failure were too high. This was where Olivia came in.

One could say that the task of managing and resolving Mankind's problems was another test of sorts; a test to gauge Olivia's talents in the field of politics and plotting.

And to quote Ka'lor'ah's words –' She had passed with flying colors.'

Not only did Olivia have talent in this regard, but she also possessed determination and drive. She was also hardworking, trustworthy, and loyal. Not to mention, her feelings towards Lucius were explicit and painfully obvious.

Even someone as desensitized as Lucius had noticed this point. However, he was in no mind or capacity to answer her feelings.

With the pressure of the Lords, breathing down upon his neck, Lucius neither had the time nor patience to go about such frolics and chase after such fancies.

While Lucius had originally decided to confront Olivia regarding this matter and put an end to her feelings. Ka'lor'ah had intervened at the final moment and changed his mind, with her reason for doing so, as such.

'It's not like her feelings are causing you any real trouble or distracting her from her work. If anything, it motivates her to work harder and keeps her loyal. Why would you go and destroy such a natural leash?'

'A tool is only useful when its effects are guaranteed to its user. Not only is this tool extremely useful, but it also has direct connections with the later parts of the Great Plan. It would be a waste to let such a useful tool go to waste.'

'So just let her remain, and maybe just throw in some fanservice from time to time as bait to keep her motivated. This much should be easy for you, right?'

Finding her words reasonable, Lucius had let the situation remain. He had nothing to lose, but a lot to gain. Therefore, the duo had decided to involve Olivia in the next part of their plan and actively use her talents.

Still, a single problem remained. Olivia was too weak.

There was no doubt that her prowess within Stage 2 was near the top, however, the battlefield in the Grand Alcana Empire would involve at a minimum, Stage 3 existences.

In face of such beings, Olivia was lesser than an ant.

That being said, Lucius now had five years to earnestly train her to the peak of what her human body would allow. He had to raise her soul's Stage to the Low-Level of Stage 3 (Grade 3 race's limit), but elevate her combat prowess to battle Peak-Level Stage 3 beings.

Lucius' two requests to Reyna were in regards to this.

"Make nine more sets, following those measurements. Dye it in purple, if possible."

Reyna gazed at the measurements with a complex expression. Her mind was addled, causing her to involuntarily speak out her thoughts.

"How do you know her body's exact measurements?"

The instant she said that Reyna hurriedly closed her mouth with her dainty hands and looked towards Lucius in terror. Only after finishing speaking, did her brain realize the weight of her question.