Lord of Annihilation

"We have arrived at Grenich Town Station! Passengers are to be careful when you alight the carriage," A mechanical voice announced on the train's speakers.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Lucius and his party promptly alighted from the train, gracefully landing on the muddy, unevenly paved station platform. According to Lucius' memories, this was the town where the Master Forger had taken up residence in.

Upon exiting it, Olivia turned around and performed a proper bow while facing the train.

"Thank you for all the advice and stories, elders! I enjoyed them quite a lot!" she sincerely thanked.

"Be careful, kid! Don't die too soon!"

"I'll be expecting your name on the ranking board! Don't disappoint me!"

"It's been fun talking to you, youngster! I wish you a smooth journey!"

A barrage of replies rung out from the train's window, as the passengers within gathered to send Olivia off. Suffice to say, the four-hour journey had netted Olivia a lot of friends.

Olivia continued to bow and thank, all the way until the train left the station. Waving her final goodbyes, Olivia then stretched her body, which had grown sore from all the bowing.

"Wow, you sure did become popular, didn't you?" Ka'lor'ah teasingly spoke.

"I was simply lucky enough to meet such good people," Olivia humbly replied. "Still, I can't believe how very normal they were. It was almost as if they were just regular people and not a mighty Stage 3 being."

"Well, not everybody seeks to improve their strengths and climb the Stages. For most people in the middle regions, to live is to get a job, work,  get married, start a family, and hopefully die of old age."

"Not everyone is born into a talented race with unlimited potential. Most aren't geniuses like you or monsters like Lucius either." 

"What you saw today, is what the life of a Stage 3 being in the middle regions looks like: simple people who are trying to make a living and survive each passing day," Ka'lor'ah shrugged her shoulders and calmly explained.

The Universe was a harsh place, but it was also mostly stable. Gigantic, Ruler-level civilizations existed, that maintained order and peace within most territories. 

Wars that embroiled civilizations into it were pretty much non-existence in this Era. Structure and society existed as a whole and people abided by a system.

Even the never-ending war between the [Good] and [Evil] factions was specific to the frontlines which were unseen by ninety percent of the population.

People were aware of the war and many even joined the war effort, but in the end, it wasn't at a level of intensity where every win or loss drastically altered the universal society.

Compared to the First Era where it was 'kill or be killed' and every extra bit of strength counted for survival, times had changed by a lot now. 

"I can see that. But still, the disconnect from what I've heard so far to what I'm seeing is simply shocking," Olivia replied.

"Yeah, but don't get too used to it. As long as you stick with us, all you'll be seeing will be the cruel and chaotic side of it. People killing other people for strength, power, authority…In a way, the people that we met on the train can be considered lucky." Ka'lor'ah ruefully said.

"How so?" Olivia asked, curiously.

"They recognize reality and adhere to society. They do not dare to dream, and whatever dreams they did have in their youths were ground to dust by reality."

"After all, ascending the Stages is not an easy task. Every time you rise up, you have to sacrifice something precious in return."

A bitter smile appeared on Ka'lor'ah's face as she finished, "In the end, not everyone is willing to sacrifice what they have, for what could be."

Hearing those words of wisdom, Olivia quietly pondered. While she was able to understand the words themselves, she wasn't able to grasp their entire meaning. Olivia was, after all, lacking in life experience.

"Wait, where's Lucius?" Ka'lor'ah suddenly yelled, causing Olivia to break out of her contemplation.

Raising her head, Olivia looked around, only to realize that Lucius was missing. The station was completely void of people, except for the duo. 

"Did he leave us behind and go somewhere?" Olivia asked.

Nodding her head, Ka'lor'ah replied, "It seems so. Did you notice him leave?"

"Nope," Olivia unhesitantly answered.

"Let's find him and group up together quickly. I have no idea where we are and who we are meeting." 

Ka'lor'ah focused on the soul tether between her and Lucius and quickly started to follow it. Olivia followed behind.

----------

Meanwhile.

Lucius, who had left at some point of the goodbye ceremony after having grown tired of it, had exited the station and entered the town of Grenich. According to his memories, the Master Forger Riker lived somewhere within this town.

After entering the town, there was an immediate difference in the scene before his eyes. Unlike the station, which was desolate and abandoned, the town was lively and filled with people.

And by people, I mean elves. 

Only elves.

The instant Lucius entered the gates of the town and stepped onto the main paved road, he was immediately shot with dozens of disapproving and hostile glares. 

The elves, who were highly haughty and xenophobic, were not happy with his presence at all. If anything, they were overtly unhappy about it.

"What is that creature doing in this town?"

"Tch! Just seeing it walkabout fills me with disgust."

"Mother, what is that thing? Why does it look different from us?"

"Don't look, child! It's a filthy thing that doesn't know that it's unwelcome here."

Derisive mocking and whispers filled the air around Lucius, as he walked through the street. They did not try to hide their dislike in the least and openly spoke out.

Some of the elves, who were walked in front of him automatically moved to the sides with great haste, seemingly afraid that something from Lucius would come in contact with them.

The extent of their xenophobia had crossed the traditional boundaries and had reached a realm of its own. At this moment, Lucius wasn't a mere outsider, but an 'untouchable'.

At first, Lucius wasn't bothered by those whispers. However, as the content continued to grow more and more disrespectful and scornful, Lucius started reaching the limits of his patience.

Just half a street later, Lucius heard something that finally struck his nerve.

"Hah, a weakling bastard that can't even project aura is walking through our city. Should I catch him and turn him into a pet?"

Lucius immediately turned his head towards the person who said that sentence. An ungodly amount of murderous intent exited his body and froze everyone in the street with horror and fear.

Slamming his feet against the stone path, Lucius instantly shot out and caught the audacious elf who had spoken that sentence. Grabbing him by his throat, Lucius raised him into the air and stared into his eyes.

"I stayed quiet because I couldn't be bothered with you, insects. But here you are, asking for it," Lucius coldly spoke while tightening his grip around the elf's throat.

The elf, who was a Low-Level Stage 3 being, was unable to struggle in the slightest as a majority of Lucius' aura drilled into his body and froze it with fear.

However, as the grip around his neck tightened and death approached closer, he managed to move his lips to painfully utter a sentence.

"St…op, you can…not kil-l m-me. Yo…u will b-be hun…ted by t-the officers o-of my ra…ce."

"Correct. That would become bothersome, I suppose," Lucius paused for a moment and loosened his grip over the elf.

Joy flashed across the elf's eyes immediately followed by shame and anger. Opening his mouth, he chanted, "Deploy Do—"

"I guess, I'll just turn you into an idiot," Lucius calmly interrupted him and acted first.

His left eye shined in bright golden and [Annihilation Intent] shot out of it. Rushing into the forehead of the elf, it forcibly barged into his mindspace and destroyed a majority of his consciousness.

The light of intelligence disappeared from within the elf's eyes and was replaced by ignorant blankness. Lucius released his grip, dropping the newly 'mentally crippled' idiot onto the ground.

"Wah? WAH!" The elf cried as he rolled on the ground.

Turning his gaze away from this idiot, Lucius looked around at the other elves and asked, "Anybody else have something to say?"

With their very hearts and soul pressured into submission by his furious, unadulterated murderous intent, the elves lowered their gazes in unison. No matter how unhappy they were within Lucius' presence, they were forced to realize the difference in their strengths.

If he wanted to, Lucius could slaughter everyone within this street in mere seconds. The elves, even the Stage 3 ones, could only hopelessly watch.

Seeing that no more complaints were being voiced, Lucius retracted his aura and turned towards the elf closest to him.

"Where does Riker live?" he asked.

The female elf, quick-witted and sharp, hurriedly replied to this terrifying figure, "At the edge of the town over there." She pointed towards a certain direction.

Nodding his head in response, Lucius turned around and started walking away. 

Seeing him walk away, the female elf relaxed her body and quietly let out a sigh. She then looked at Lucius' retreating figure with a complex expression.

'Should I do something? Maybe I should contact the—' her thoughts suddenly came to a pause and her eyes shrunk to form slits.

While looking at Lucius, she suddenly felt strange energy explode out of his body. The strange energy pulsed in the form of waves and quickly enveloped everyone within the street, except for her.

In the next instant, the light of intelligence disappeared from within their eyes, as they all fell onto the ground and cried in a manner similar to the male elf.

Losing power in her knees, the female elf dropped to the ground as her spine chilled at the realization that the outsider in front of her had retarded the intelligence of every single person in the surroundings.

'Mo-monster!' 

She hurriedly scrambled to her knees and ran in the direction opposite to which Lucius was moving in. All she wanted right now was to escape as far away as possible from this town.

Lucius, on the other hand, continued to nonchalantly walk in the specified direction. He did not bother hiding anymore and released his aura in its entirety, turning it into a warning for the people past this street.

As for his action of mentally retarding dozens of people…well, they had it coming.

After all, the dignity of a Stage 7 existence was not to be tarnished.