Lord of Annihilation

Opening her eyes, the first thing that Olivia saw was Lucius' ghostly, expressionless face leaning dangerously close to her own. His pitch-black eyes impatiently stared into her violet-eyes, as he impatiently asked once more.

"How did you do it?"

Feeling rather perplexed and flustered at his sudden actions, Olivia sunk into the soft bed and nervously voiced her confusion, "Huh?" 

"Good lord, dude," she then saw the lithe-bodied Ka'lor'ah appear behind Lucius and smack him on his head. 

Resting both her hands on her hips, Ka'lor'ah wore a reproachful expression and spoke, "The poor girl has just woken up from a three-month coma and that's the first question you ask her? Seriously?"

"Have some tact," she clicked her tongue. 

She then neared Olivia, wore a motherly expression, and softly asked, "How are you feeling, Lil' Ollie? Any pain, discomfort, or nausea perhaps? Or is the bed too soft? Too hard, maybe? Anything at all, do not hesitate to tell me, your teacher. I'll take care of it for you."

Ka'lor'ah words of concern seemed overly polite and perfunctory in Olivia's ears. 

Just as the latter was about to reply, Ka'lor'ah interrupted her and continued her earlier speech, "Oh, and also, how did you do it?"

"Huh," Lucius scoffed, "So much for tact." He said, mockingly.

Ka'lor'ah turned to face Lucius and aggrievedly replied, "I tried to keep it in, okay?! But I can't suppress my curiosity either. I also want to know how on earth she managed to kill a Stage 3 being!! It should be impossible!"

Ka'lor'ah's small arms kept swinging around as she desperately tried to justify her actions. However, it was evident from the look of derision in Lucius' eyes that he was buying none of that.

Once Ka'lor'ah ran out of breath and stopped talking, it was Lucius' turn to start talking and mock her. Holding nothing back, Lucius' words were just as sharp as his blades. The two then went back and forth as they continued to verbally quarrel with each other.

Looking at these two friends/teachers/loved ones of hers locked in such childish squabble, Olivia found herself speechless. 

In a bid to mock and demean each other, they continued to devolve and digress, eventually forgetting about the main topic of their conversation; herself.

Unable to intervene amidst their hot debate, Olivia continued to silently lie in her bed while slowly recovering her power. Violet-colored soul power was produced from her mindspace and slowly flowed into her body.

After a few minutes, when Olivia had recovered enough of her strength, she inserted soul power into her throat and asserted with gravitas, "Both of you, stop fighting!" 

Her sharp voice boosted by her soul power cut through the childish quarrel of the two ex-Stage 7 beings. Surprised, the duo turned their heads in unison and stared at Olivia.

The instant their gazes landed upon her, Olivia felt a great pressure descend upon her. The duo's auras contained portions of superiority and majesty, which made them unequal and unique when compared to other life forms at a similar Stage.

Stage 7 is a completely different type of existence. Even if the duo had regressed, they still carried traces of this power.

'It really does feel suffocating when they release their aura in full. Is this a side-effect of ascending to Stage 3?' Olivia wondered.

Revolving her soul power at maximum speed within her body, Olivia forced out the Arbiter's dignity in its entirety before managing to barely cancel out the suffocating pressure. 

Wearing a calm expression on her face, she spoke, "Please stop fighting with each other. I see that the two of you have some questions to ask me?"

Olivia tried to voice her words as unflustered as she could. However, she noticed the gazes of the duo in front of her turn strange halfway through her sentence. As a result, the second sentence in her speech automatically turned polite.

'Argh, that was embarrassing!' Olivia wanted nothing more than to hide her face within a pillow.

Just as she was wallowing in her own embarrassment, Lucius spoke to Ka'lor'ah with utmost seriousness.

"Did you see it?"

Nodding her head with equal seriousness, Ka'lor'ah answered, "For a moment."

Vaguely feeling that their conversation was about her, Olivia hesitantly asked, "Are you guys talking about me?"

The duo, however, ignored her question and continued to converse.

"It felt stronger, right?" asked Ka'lor'ah.

"It is stronger. It seems to have grown since the last time I saw it," answered Lucius.

"Last time?" Ka'lor'ah pondered for a second before continuing, "It was on the icy planet, right?"

Nodding his head, Lucius affirmed, "Correct. That was the first time I saw it." 

Pausing for a moment, he then continued, "Compared to then, its intensity has grown much stronger. Perhaps, it is related to her progression as an Arbiter?"

"Don't ask me. I'm just as clueless as you are," Ka'lor'ah replied. 

Silence descended for a moment as the duo seemed to be lost in their thoughts. Ka'lor'ah recovered first and asked, "It should be a good thing, right? I mean, this possibly gives us another trump card to deal against 'Them'."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know," Lucius replied. His forehead, however, was strangely tense. 

"Something just doesn't feel right," he tensely spoke.

"Feel right?" Puzzled, Ka'lor'ah asked.

Walking away from Olivia, whose mood composition was equal parts of worry, anxiety, and perplexity, facing the cryptic talk of the duo, Lucius gestured Ka'lor'ah to follow him and spoke, "Come here and deploy [Isolation Barrier]."

Ignoring Olivia's questions, Ka'lor'ah flew near Lucius and deployed her spell. The moment the hemispherical dome finished encapsulating the area around them, Lucius started to speak.

"If it is indeed as we think and the [Temple of Fairness] did intervene to help her in that battle, it would make sense on how she managed to kill a Stage 3 being with lacking authority. It might have even helped her with that final blow."

"But would it do that?" Ka'lor'ah asked.

"Well, it happened once on that icy planet. I don't see why it wouldn't happen again," Lucius casually answered. 

He then turned to look at Olivia and continued, "For whatever reason, that place seems to consider her important. It seems to intervene whenever her life is in danger and assists her."

"That's a good thing, right? If we were to involve her with the important bits of the 'Great Plan' and were to hit a snag, the temple might help us, as an extension of helping her!" Ka'lor'ah spoke with excitement.

Plans were often just that. No matter how many variables were accounted for in its creation, there was always bound to be some unexpected variable that would appear in the most crucial moment of execution.

Hell, this had already happened and even a Lord had shown up as a result. 

As such, the prospect of having a trump card like the [Temple of Fairness], which was a bona fide relic of the Overlord, helping them during crucial moments was invaluable. 

For example, if Illya's brother hadn't gone to watch the Pit that day, he would've escaped the fate of being killed by Lucius. Ergo, the enmity between Lucius and Illya wouldn't have existed, and the Lord of Fate wouldn't have managed to stumble upon the Annihilator and casually messed with Mankind.

Just one simple change and history would have flowed differently. 

The importance of a 'greater power' and the role it played in the events of the Universe was extremely consequential!

It was this very fact that greatly excited Ka'lor'ah.

Lucius, however, seemed to be unmoved by this proposition. His face still wore the same serious expression as he spoke, "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right?"

"Again, what do you mean by that?" Ka'lor'ah asked. 

"It seems too convenient. It almost feels like someone or something is deliberately showing us this, just to make us use it and rely upon it." 

"Yeah, right," Ka'lor'ah scoffed, "You're saying that someone or something is deliberately baiting 'us' using the [Temple of Fairness], a relic of the Overlord that even the Lords, the freaking rulers of the Universe, cannot find or use."

"I'm just saying. It all feels oddly coincidental and scripted. You are free to choose what to believe," Lucius replied.

Silence descended and neither of them talked. 

Lucius continued to stare at Olivia with a cautious gaze. The latter couldn't see him as [Isolation Barrier] blocked all forms of observation.

On the other hand, Ka'lor'ah's face underwent many changes in its expression. It was evident that her thoughts were in conflict.

One part of her wanted to employ Olivia and as an extension the [Temple of Fairness], with greater purpose. This would not only increase the chances of the Great Plan succeeding but also reduce the overall risk of their actions.

The other part greatly trusted Lucius and his instincts. While Lucius left most of the planning to her and rarely intervened, each intervention would be crucial and had helped them overcome many pitfalls.

After a few minutes of tug-of-war, Ka'lor'ah finally released a sigh and spoke, "All right, I trust your instincts. Let's just continue according to our previous plan."

Lucius did not reply and silently nodded. Ka'lor'ah then removed the [Isolation Barrier] and the duo walked towards the obviously panicking Olivia.

Looking at her two teachers walk towards her, Olivia, who was on the verge of crying, anxiously asked, "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry for rudely interrupting your discussion!"