Lord of Annihilation

"Dammit! Why are the doors not opening!"

"Stop pushing around."

"Do you know who I am?! Help me get out of here!"

"OVERSEER! What is the meaning of this?!"

Multiple voice screamed in unison. Their words were different, but the meaning behind it was the same. The people behind the voices were terrified. These people whose eyes had gone red and were behaving without any of their usual grace were naturally the so called 'audience'.

Most of them were people of high statuses and were quite remarkable in society, yet right now all of them were scared sh*tless. All of them were crowding towards the exits only to realize that the doors were closed tightly. The blast doors had been deployed and none of them cold get out.

Naturally, the reason behind this chaos was that monster in the skin of a young man. Seeing him kill the participants in such a brutal manner, terrified these onlookers. They believed that they were safe and protected at first. But then when he left the setting area and proceeded to hunt down the rest of the facility's staff, they realized the precarious situation they were in. But by the time they had come to this conclusion, it was already too late. The blast doors had shut, and the protective mechanisms had been enabled, the doors which were supposed to protect now trapped them.

The fear they had towards him had now turned into hatred against the overseer of The Pit. This leader who was also stuck in here with these big shots started to receive a dense flood of questions and threats. Alas, he was as clueless as the rest.

'Aren't you people who wanted me to run this. Why would I shoot myself in the foot by inviting such a monster?" the leader felt like crying.

As this cycle of testing and threats continued to happen, a sudden stench was smelt. It was the smell of burning metal. Tracing it's source they realized that it was coming from the blast doors in front of them.

"Are we being rescued?!" one of them felt overjoyed.

Seeing this, the leader/overseer felt an ominous feeling set in. he thought to himself, 'Did somebody deal with him? But who could do it. The majority of the troops were sent to deal with him in the setting. We must be low on man power, then who is this?'

Thinking up to here, the leader noticed the door turn black and then fall down with a loud sound.

BANG!

From the other side of the door, a foot casually stepped in. Everyone's heart which was filled with elation suddenly dropped.

A young man with ragged clothes stood before them. He had an expressionless face and indifferent eyes. His hands held two laser knives and a couple of grenades lined his waist. On his way here, Lucius had completely emptied the rifles and hence chucked them aside before coming here. Lines of cark crimson liquid decorated the edges of the knife.

Looking at the crowd in front of him. he casually spoke, "Oh, looks like this is the last batch."

Hearing his words the rest of them were confused, What did that mean?

The leader picked up some courage and asked, his voice quivering, tinged with obvious fear. "Wha-what does th-that mea-mean?"

"Oh, I killed everyone else in the facility. You guys are the last ones alive. Chasing down rats is really annoying." Lucius casually spoke. He could have chosen not to reply, but felt like humoring this plump man.

He then looked around and his eyes settled on a group of four men. His eyes narrowed and he spoke to them.

"We meet again."

Audible gulps could be heard coming from the four of them.

Lucius then continued, "Well, let me finish with these other guys, then we shall have a good chat."

------------------------

In the narrow, dark vents of the facility, a dark shadow was rapidly moving. The vents did not have enough space for a person to stand nor run, it was barely enough to move in a crouched position. The vents had long corridors and many turns.

The dark shadow used the watch in it's hand to light the way ahead.

"How long is this vent?! I have been moving for 10 minutes!" the shadow complained.

It's voice was surprisingly that of a young woman's. Grumbling about her current circumstances, she then continued talking.

"How did that guy even, end up here?! This is not a simple place. No store has such long ventilation shafts."

She then suddenly felt angry then shouted, "Lucius! You better have a good explanation for making me suffer this much! ignoring my calls and not showing up for classes in days!"

The person speaking was Lucius' foster sister and best friend, Olivia Mayer.

She was a student in the academy and was part of the Interstellar Command Course. Like Lucius she was a once-in-a-decade genius in this field. Her revolutionary structure for re-organization of galactic class ships, for better efficiency in scouting and protecting, won her many laurels in the Alliance and eventually a scholarship in the academy.

Though she did not have any friends other than Lucius due to her ordinary background, she wasn't bullied or ostracized like him either. Her relationships with her teachers were quite good and none of the other student bothered much with her either.

The one person she cared for the most, her foster brother had gotten into trouble the other day and was beaten up. After that day she had visited his residence multiple times and even called him a ton, unfortunately she couldn't find him. Naturally. having heard no news about him she panicked and one thing after another, tracked him down to this creepy place.

Although Lucius was the same age as her, in Olivia's mind, this younger brother of hers who was shorter and weaker than her needed her protection. That's why even though she was complaining here, she never meant any of it and was actually distracting her mind from worrying about him.

Lucius who never really went outside the academy and ended up in such a place, had naturally given rise to fear in her heart.

'Did someone force him to do something? Did they kidnap him?', such facts constantly floating in her mind, further increased her worries.

'Huh? I hear something?!', suddenly she heard some vague sounds come from a certain distance. Paying close attention to the sound she started heading in that direction.

Nearing closer to the sources of the voices, she could make out that these were human voices. It was coming from underneath her and was only a little distance away.

'Underground?!', her mind concluded and her unease increased.

Turning a corner, she stopped after walking a few steps ahead and pressed her ears on the bottom of the shaft. Straining her ears, she tried to make out the contents of the conversation. Maybe she could gather some clues on the whereabouts of her little brother.

"Wait! Please spare me, I can give you whatever you want. Money? Influence? Power? Tell me and it shall be yours!!" a panicked voice shouted.

'What the hell is happening here?', Olivia was confused. She could hear the panic and fear in that man's voice. It was not faked.

In response to that man's pleas a calm, almost mechanical voice sounded out, "Your life." As soon as this voice spoke the sound of something sharp cutting across a heavy, fleshy object was hear. The man who died could not even muster a single noise and died just like that.

Olivia quickly retreated back and held her hands over her small mouth. Her eyes were widened and fear filled them. She was simply shocked.

'Did someone just die? NO! I MUST INFORM SOMEONE.', just as she was about to call the police a voice from below interrupted.

"Wait! Wait! Lucius spare us! We were just paid to capture you!" a voice hurriedly stated.

'LUCIUS?!!' Olivia's mind suddenly blanked. She paused her actions and paid close attention tot the dialogue happening below. Her concern for her little brother had over-ridden her fear.

Straining her ears to the greatest extent, she heard a mechanical voice reply, "Oh looks like you have something to tell me. But first where is the crystal?"

Hearing that voice, Olivia suddenly stared blankly, her actions froze and her mind was in chaos. 'That was Lucius voice!' She was absolutely sure about this fact. Lucius was someone that was dear to her heart. Both of them had grown up together and stayed in each other's presence for more than 10 years!

She would never mistaken that voice of his, no matter how much it had changed.

'Why was Lucius here? Why is that man begging Lucius? Did Lucius kil...." Olivia mind was in disarray. She could imply not believe that her weak brother could commit an act like murder in cold blood.

He simply wasn't such a person!

He was sunny, bright, never complained and was very compassionate. He was very smart and always understood other people, he had great empathy!

Giving no regard for Olivia, the voices underneath them continued, "Crystal?"

"W-we sold the crystals to a exchange shop. Yo-you can enquire there. Please spare me and my brothers. If we had known earlier we would have never bothered you.", this voice pleaded.

The apathetic voice responded, "Weakness is a sin. Knowing that you can die.". four more slashes were heard and quietness returned to the underground facility.

"Why does reality have to be so complicated? I have to search for the crystal now.", saying so the voice underneath sighed to itself.

Olivia having confirmed that this voice did indeed belong to Lucius, panicked and tried to stand up in shock. She immediately hit her head on the top of the shaft and a dull sound was heard.

Klunck!

The sound reverberated in the quiet underground facility. Olivia crouched down and held her head. The pain she felt on her head was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart.

'There is no way, that is not Lucius!', she was trying to subconsciously trying to reject this fact, yet her rational mind told her otherwise. Her mind was in great agony. She immediately wanted to go back to her room and sleep.

"This is just a dream. This is just a dream. This is..." she tried to convince herself over and over again, yet that dull pain on her head said otherwise. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

'No! My Lucius could never kill someone. He is a kind boy!' just as Olivia was telling herself this a powerful yet emotionless voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Who's there?!!"