Lord of Annihilation

A week later.

A large crowd of people was standing around a small, slender spaceship. The crowd contained humans and aliens alike, with the latter attending with greater capacity.

"A-are you su-sure *sobs* we-we can't co-come wit*sobs*-with you, B-boss?" A teary voice choked with emotions, sobbed loudly.

His alien body which was built like a bear and looked just as threatening, juxtaposed perfectly with his crying expression. His shoulders trembled as he used a small white handkerchief to wipe his nose, to no avail.

"There, there, big guy. Let it all out." Wilkes, who was standing next to this bawling alien, gently patted his back. 

"The Boss will be fine. Lord Lucius is going with her." Wilkes consoled.

"Ri-right." The big guy nodded his head, but his cries did not lessen.

Looking at him go at it once again, Wilkes let out a sigh. He then turned towards the awkward-looking Olivia and spoke.

"He'll be fine, Boss. Big Chums over here gets easily emotional. He's a sensitive kid." 

"I can clearly see that." Olivia stiffly replied.

The alliance with Moonwater City, Gravity Falls City, and Mankind had been successfully established, and Olivia was finally done with her managerial duties. 

Although it was called an alliance in name, it was more of a company in actuality. Mankind occupied the 'employers' position while the people of Pectron were the 'employees'. As for the product…it was clearly Mankind's technology.

Mechanical or Technological products were always welcome within the Universe. Coincidently, the region of the Universe within which Mankind resided, did not have a dominant Mechanical race and space-level technology was relatively rare (no fixed channel), as such it was a largely untapped market with incredible potential and spending power.

With the establishment of a company, Mankind would be able to sell its technology into the Universe, thus establishing a universal, functioning economy and help with its assimilation with the greater whole of the Universe.

Having set it on the right path, it was only a matter of time before the race recovered and surpassed its previous height. 

That being said, after months of hard work and many sleepless weeks of mind-numbing labor, Olivia was finally relieved of her managerial duties and leave on her training trip with Lucius.

The large crowd who had gathered here today was the sendoff group.

"Anyways…" shaking her head, Olivia looked at Wilkes with a serious expression and continued. 

"Starting today, you will be in charge of all of Pandemonium's troops and also the 'Head Enforcer' of the company. Do a great job, I wish you luck."

A resolute look appeared on Wilkes' face. He stood in the 'Attention' position and sharply answered with a salute.

"Yes, Boss! I swear to honor this role 'till my final breath!"

"Stop being overdramatic. We already went over this change yesterday!" Olivia's mouth twitched as she replied. 

Her people had recently discovered the existence of 'movies' and 'dramas'. And much to Olivia's dislike, they seemed to be getting…too into it.

Ignoring the giggling troops, she then turned to face her human subordinates. Unlike the previous group, the humans seemed calmer and more proper since their level of attachment towards Olivia was relatively low.

To them, Olivia was simply their leader.

Reyna and Anya stood at the forefront of this group, with the former covered in mechanical oil and grime, while the latter coldly stood in strict military discipline.

"I personally performed the maintenance and checks on the ship. There are no problems." Reyna tiredly replied.

The ship she was referring to was the latest, flagship model borne out of Mankind's latest advancements and the vessel Olivia, Lucius, and Ka'lor'ah were using for their journey. It contained a mixture of technology from Mankind's, Formicians, and the Universe's own (pirate ship).

Skipping the technical jargon and putting it simply; the spaceship could go very far, very fast, for very long, and was very tough. (AN: God, I can feel my IQ decreasing as I write that sentence. Definitely putting it in the final edit.) It would serve as a reliable vessel for the training party's travel.

"Thank you." Olivia politely replied. The relationship between the duo was still frigid, but slightly better than before.

Nodding her head, Reyna turned around and started to walk away. A few steps later, she suddenly stopped and gently spoke. "Be careful out there."

After saying that, she ran away.

Olivia looked at Reyna's stiff, retreating back for a few seconds before turning to face Anya.

"How long before you come back?" Anya coldly asked. After Alex's 'disappearance' her personality had become extremely detached and ice-cold. 

With each passing day, she resembled less of a person and more of a mindlessly working robot, toiling until death.

"A few years. Definitely less than five, though." Olivia thought for a moment and answered.

"Noted." Anya mechanically replied.

"Just keep to yourselves and follow the general plan that I laid out. The company takes precedence so make sure everything goes smooth on that side." Olivia reminded her as Anya was replacing her in the managerial position.

"Noted."

"If you ever require force to solve anything, request the Stage 3 existences. They should assist you." 

"Noted."

"You can leave now." Olivia replied with a sigh. 

Anya simply saluted her and walked away, followed by the rest of the humans. Well, almost all save for a single person.

Looking at this calmly smiling person, Olivia's face softened as she approached him and gently hugged him.

"Dad…"

"Whoa! Easy there, kiddo. Don't accidently crush this old man." Bennet joked.

Hearing that, Olivia tightened her hug and buried her face into his shoulder. Complicated thoughts filled her mind and her eyes were getting teary.

Holding her tears back, Olivia whispered with a quiet voice.

"…I'm a bad daughter. Leaving you again after barely spending time with you…"

"Hey, don't say that." Holding onto Olivia's faintly trembling shoulders with his aged hands, Bennet pulled her back and met her eyes with his gaze. 

Wearing a rarely serious expression, he continued.

"I didn't raise you for all those years, just so you could sit back at home and spend time with me. No…I raised you so that you can leave the nest with confidence and spread your wings out there in the real world."

"You're just doing that. There's nothing to feel bad about here."

"Seeing and hearing about the things that you've done makes me more than just proud...I'm amazed, to tell you the truth." A reminiscent look appeared within Bennet's eyes as he muttered. 

"Sometimes, I wonder whether or not you really are my daughter. Perhaps…there was a mistake at the hospital and the babies were switched?"

His joke caused Olivia to chuckle and lightly hit him on his stomach. Bennet too laughed at his joke and continued.

"Seriously though, I'm super proud of you and if your Mom had been here today, I'm sure that she would be too." 

Wiping her tears and patting Olivia on her head, Bennet cheerfully smiled.

"So go out there and do more amazing stuff so that I can brag about it. Who knows, it might even help this old man get laid with some beautiful, mature ladies…that was a joke, don't look at me like that." 

Seeing Olivia's eyes narrow threateningly, Bennet immediately folded. He then looked towards the sky and grumbled. "Seriously, you're too much like your mother that it's scary." 

Feeling her mood to be much brighter, Olivia looked at this frivolous father of hers and curiously asked.

"Did you talk with Lucius?"

Hearing that question, Bennet looked at Olivia with a strange expression.

"Well, there was a talk…to say the least. It was more of me talking and him nodding his head."

Bennet then casually shrugged his shoulders and continued. "Well, it's not like I don't understand his thoughts. I also felt very awkward when I talked with my father-in-law alone for the first time. I'm sure Lucius must have felt even more awkward, considering that I even raised him."

"Wha-what are you saying?!" Hearing her father's causal words, Olivia became flustered.

Smiling slyly at his daughter's flustered reaction Bennet simply returned a thumbs-up and replied.

"I've seen what is happening and I like it. You got my full support." He then mischievously smirked and continued to tease her. "Make sure to bring a lot of little ones when I see you two the next time. I'll be waiting."

With that, Bennet immediately turned around and made a break for it. He had zero interest in being subject to his daughter's 'embarrassed beatings', as his body was not as strong as it was in the past.

Looking at her father unhesitantly run away, Olivia stood dumbfounded for a few seconds. She then let out a sigh, followed by a series of giggles which then broke into full-fledged laughter.

After laughing till tears started to fall from her eyes, Olivia gradually calmed down, turned around, and walked up the metal staircase leading into the spaceship.

Waving goodbye to the Captains gathered for one last time, she entered the spaceship and closed the hatch behind her. Staring into the dimly lit corridor, Olivia lightly slapped her cheeks and resolved herself.

'I need to become stronger. Much, much stronger than I currently am.'

Walking to the end of the corridor, Olivia arrived before a metal ladder leading into the main body of the ship. Climbing the ladder, she then made her way past the multiple closed doors and arrived at the center of the ship.

To the Common Room.

Entering the Common Room, Olivia looked at the black-clothed youth meditating at the center of the room. 

Feeling her presence, Lucius opened his eyes and asked. 

"Done?"

Resolutely nodding her head, Olivia answered. 

"Yes!"

Tapping into his soul link, Lucius informed Ka'lor'ah.

'She's done. Take it away.'

'You got it, chief!' 

The ship began to gently tremble and quake, before slowly lifting off of the ground. Turning its nose to face the sky, the ship's engine blazed with energy and the vessel started to ascend.

The training arc had officially begun!