Lord of Annihilation

Within a certain region of the Cloud Cover Continent lay a vast field of multi-colored flowers. These flowers which added a much-needed touch of color to the dim environment of this planet slightly swayed to the passing breeze.

Visible sunlight filtered into this field due to a massive hole, spanning a few dozen kilometers in size, was present vertically above this area providing the nutrition required for these fantastical plants to grow.

Strolling through this field of flowers were two people.

The person joyfully flying in the front had a tiny 'Faerie-like' body, with lush golden hair and iridescent wings. Skipping from flower to flower, she took joy in sniffing the wonderful scent of the flowers and recording it within her mind.

The person following behind her had a cold expression and a gloomy demeanor. Dressed entirely in black, he wore a white rapier on his waist, and possessed a face that could only be called, 'absolutely handsome'.

The two, both of whom were dissimilar to the point of being called opposites, seemed to be having a conversation.

"Whoa! Look, Lucius, I found another new one! I need to record this into my memory bank," Ka'lor'ah joyfully yelled and quickly stopped over a specific flower.

Hearing her exclamation, Lucius clicked his tongue and replied, "You've already recorded this exact flower three-hundred and twenty-nine instances ago. It's not a new flower."

Ka'lor'ah paused her exciting actions and moved to verify his input. Upon finding the specific flower in her memory, she then compared it to the one before her and exclaimed, "You're right!"

"The shade of this one is a bit lighter but that's due to over-exposure to the sunlight," turning to face Lucius, she continued, "You're seriously good at this game, aren't you? How is that?"

Pointing to his nose, Lucius replied, "Smell."

The Void Eater's body came with powerful olfactory systems allowing it to conveniently and efficiently finding its prey. It gave Lucius the ability to smell everything, be it material or immaterial.

Remembering the scent of a random flower was but mere child's play.

"Such a hack," Ka'lor'ah muttered, before returning to her stroll. Lucius causally trailed after her. 

The flowers behind him, however, shriveled and died after his passage. In fact, Lucius had left a long trail of dead flowers behind him. His aura was not something a mere flower could withstand.

It had been a month since the initial battle with the aboriginals of this planet. After killing a hundred or so Sword-Winged Angels, Lucius did not immediately move to another section of the vast continent to restart his battles.

Or rather, he was stopped by Ka'lor'ah before he was about to do just that.

Having been a slave to the Lords since her birth, Ka'lor'ah did not, or rather, could not leave her home planet. She was confined to the massive castle within which she was born and could not leave it unless granted permission by the Lords.

All her knowledge about races, planets, scenic spots, cosmic wonders, etc, had solely come from the descriptions and images which she had read and seen from her books. 

Ka'lor'ah's bookish knowledge was beyond compare, but she had no experience in personally experiencing any of those wonders. It was like seeing the ocean in a picture or a movie, and actually going to the ocean.

The experience was simply incomparable.

Returning to the past alongside Lucius might have robbed her of all of her strength, but it granted her a unique chance to experience all of these wonderful places and satisfy one of her biggest regrets.

Previously, the duo was incredibly busy running around, becoming strong, hiding from a Lord, etc. She had also lacked a feeling body that allowed her to feel her surroundings.

Now, however, everything had changed. Ka'lor'ah had gained a body and the time to tour around and enjoy herself. 

Since Lucius had also accomplished his short time goals of improving his power, she had roped him in to accompany her on this sightseeing tour.

One way or another they had to kill time until the deadline of Olivia's test arrived. What better way to kill time than go on a short vacation.

And so here they were, alone together amidst a field of beautiful flowers. 

While strolling across this field of flowers, Ka'lor'ah routinely snack glances at the one following behind her. She discreetly read Lucius' aura and expression, approximating his mood and thoughts.

Sighing to herself, she thought, 'Still blank as ever, huh? Well, at least he doesn't seem to be bored or impatient.'

In actuality, other than seeing the sights, Ka'lor'ah had another objective which she hadn't shared with Lucius. She wanted to use this rare moment of calmness and peace to evaluate Lucius' mind and mood.

No one knew Lucius better than her. She was the one who had found him in his most broken state and pieced together the remaining shards. 

Not only was she very familiar with his past life, but she was also the one who provided him with a purpose to continue living.

Coming with him to the past, Ka'lor'ah not only wanted to free this Universe from the tyranny of the Lords, but she also wanted to free Lucius from the entrapment of his guilt.

'At the start of the return, it was a bit better. When his three-hundred-year-old consciousness and the innocent seventeen-year-old consciousness had combined, Lucius had unknowingly mellowed down by a large extent.'

'He was still every bit the Killer he was, but at least there were other parts to him other than the killing. It made me happy to no extent when I saw that.'

Ka'lor'ah lightly smiled when she recalled Lucius' thoughts and actions at the beginning of their return. He was rash, impulsive, and to a certain extent felt the emotions buried within him.

Meeting the people from his past had made him forget about his guilt to a certain extent. Ka'lor'ah had been glad to see Lucius take a step out of his confinement. The changes brought by the Void Eater instincts also led him further away from this guilt.

'But now it's returned to how it was back then,' Ka'lor'ah bitterly smiled. 'He is back to being bound by his guilt. I can see it in his eyes. He's being haunted by his actions from back then.'

At the start, Ka'lor'ah did not know what had caused this sudden change. Asking Lucius was pointless since he wouldn't tell her. However, after thinking about it over the past few months, Ka'lor'ah finally arrived at the answer.

'Those Stage 3 Formicians. They must've used their Domain to show him the one thing he wanted to desperately avoid and forget,' Ka'lor'ah sighed.

Aurora Letum.

The people of the Universe knew her as the once-in-a-thousand-year prodigy from the Letum Clan. 

The one who possessed the moniker of 'Silver Reaper' and climbed the 'Universal Powerhouse Rankings' from the bottom with record speed. 

One of the youngest people to ascend into Stage 5, equaling the speed of those geniuses from the two 'Leader Races'.

However, the feat that she was most renowned for was stopping the rampage of the 'Undying Killer' Lucius. She had singlehandedly succeeded when countless others had failed.

Aurora Letum, whose strength equaled Lucius' own back then, not only stopped his mindless slaughter of revenge but had also become the sole ray of light cutting across the grim darkness of his heart.

She had accompanied him, married him, and bore him a child. The 'Black Death' had been stopped and peace had returned to the Universe.

But alas, it was not to last.

On the very day, his child had been born, Lucius had killed both his wife and child, completing the damning requirement for ascendance, and had reached Stage 6 of [Killer].

He had then slaughtered the Letum Clan, clashed once again with the forces of the Universe, and had disappeared into the Abyss, home of the [Evil] faction.

The rest was history.

While the rest of the Universe viewed Lucius' abhorrent actions of killing his own flesh and blood as a desperate attempt for greater strength, Ka'lor'ah knew better.

Lucius did indeed kill them for greater power. But he did not do so readily nor willingly. He had been forced by his circumstances to continue walking the damned path of a [Killer].

One that forced him into a life of eternal loneliness and perdition.

'The return had seemed to have suppressed his guilt and sealed those dark memories. However, it seems that the Domain of the Formicians had ripped apart the seal,' Ka'lor'ah concluded.

No one wanted to forget those memories more than Lucius, however, the Formicians had forced him to remember.

Lucius, how had finally taken a step into the light, had now returned back to square one.

'I can only hope that he finds that light once more. Maybe--'

"Heads up. I noticed the traces of that material near here," Lucius interrupted Ka'lor'ah's thoughts.

He sniffed around with his sensitive nose before turning in a specific direction. Locking his gaze in that direction, Lucius grabbed the flustered Ka'lor'ah, put her in his pocket, and started to fly.

The hunt for the Cloud Steel was on.