Lord of Annihilation

Chapter 324: Land of the Giants.

Three months later.

Lucius sat in the lotus position inside his room within the spaceship. His eyes were closed, seemingly in a trance, while before his figure floated the newly forged scythe.

The weapon constantly released an oppressive reddish-black miasma that then gathered together and flew towards its owner's body. The moment it came in contact with his skin, the miasma sunk into his body and started to circulate alongside his soul power.

The crimson veins on the body of the weapon continued to pulse with vitality while the blade's edge gleamed with sharpness. Overall, the scythe looked mostly similar to its previous appearance.

However, if one were to observe the weapon closely and compare it to how it was immediately after the reforging, one would be able to immediately spot a difference.

The weapon felt less…alive.

The feeling of individuality and greed that the scythe previously exhibited was completely absent and replaced with the cold indifference of a tool.

It was living, but wasn't alive. The former was a state of being, while the latter was a way of life.

The miasma emitted by the scythe continued to decrease in volume with the passage of time. After a few hours, no new miasma was being released while the amount, previously released, were assimilated into Lucius' body.

The body of the scythe lightly trembled following which it let out a low hum. The eyes of the owner floating before it opened, and Lucius' cold, black eyes stared at the weapon.

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Reaching out with his right hand, Lucius caught the weapon and felt the weapon as it reformed its body to perfectly meet his grip. The original coldness of the metal was replaced by gentle warmth.

Lucius then looked towards his left hand as he released his soul power into the air. The soul power had a new feeling of solidarity, being vastly different from its previous feeling of 'flow'.

"Peak-Level Stage 3…" Lucius softly muttered.

Various shapes formed in the air above his hand radiating great weight and density. Lucius continued to manifest hundreds and thousands of shapes and figures, as he sunk into the newfound feeling of power.

After testing his newly improved soul power for a few dozen minutes, Lucius then looked towards the weapon in his hands once again.

'Wiping out the annoying individuality and enslaving its consciousness worked out much better than I expected. I managed to gain inspiration to increase the completion of my Domain,' he thought to himself.

A tool that served its purpose without asking any questions was the best kind of tool. Lucius needed his scythe to be such a tool.

As such, after the party boarded the spaceship and safely exited the Rivendell Elvenheim, Lucius locked himself within his room, spending the next two months wiping out all traces of the Living Weapon's individuality while suppressing and enslaving its consciousness. Right now, its state was similar to that of the Forgotten Warriors.

While its Stage 4 strength did create some hurdles, Lucius cleared them with little trouble. Defeating a person who had great strength but did not know how to use that strength was quite simple for an able challenger.

Just when he had finished wiping out the last remnants of individuality, Lucius suddenly gained a stroke of inspiration, which allowed him to smoothly improve the completion of his Domain.

Currently, Lucius' Stage 3 Domain [Corpse Mountain Range] had reached 90% completion, elevating Lucius' strength into Peak-Level Stage 3.

A few new battles would further increase this percentage allowing him to reach the absolute apex of Stage 3 at 99% completion. After that, Lucius had to simply meet the requirements for ascension, gain an opportunity, and undergo the test.

Were he to be successful, Lucius would officially enter Stage 4 for the second time in his life. His power would shoot up to a ridiculous degree, giving him the strength to participate in the next step of the plan.

'Stage 4…' Lucius' eyes glowed with desire. He then blinked once, restoring the previous calm once again.

Lucius then unfolded his legs and landed on the ground. He then released his grip over the weapon, following which the shadow underneath his feet expanded slightly. Lucius shot a glance at the hovering weapon, which then obediently flew into the shadow with zero hesitation.

Nodding his head with satisfaction, Lucius closed [Void Storage] and exited the room.

Stepping into the ship's corridor for the first time in three months, he felt a breeze of fresh air hit his face. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling a stale one, he then looked around the corridor and found it empty.

Stepping forward, he then walked towards Olivia's room, which was the closest one from him, and found it unoccupied. Walking over to Ka'lor'ah's room, he found it similarly unoccupied.

Thinking that the duo must be in the Training Room or the Control Room, Lucius expanded his soul sense from its usual five-meter radius to envelop the ship.

His eyes suddenly narrowed and his brows tensed. 'Strange…no one is within the ship.'

Scanning and confirming one more time that no one was present within the ship, other than himself, he then focused his attention into his mindspace, trying to sense the soul link between himself and Ka'lor'ah.

'Found it. They are…' A strange look appeared on Lucius' face as he increased the range of his soul sense to confirm his findings.

'What are they doing over there?'

Confirming their locations, Lucius opened his eyes and dashed towards the nearest exit airlock.

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Exiting the spaceship, Lucius surrounded himself with a barrier of soul power before leaping out of the ship. Floating into the void of space, brightly illuminated by a fantastical array of colorful stars, he controlled his body to fly towards the nose of the spaceship.

Arriving at his destination, he found the two figures that he was searching for.

Olivia was sitting in a meditative posture on the hull of the ship, just above the transparent window of the Control Room of the spaceship. Her eyes were tightly closed and her face was red with effort. Even her two fists were clenched with enough strength to the point where her nerves could be seen wriggling.

Lucius also noticed that her entire body was extremely stiff and taut, as she seemed to be greatly focused on something.

Floating right above her was Ka'lor'ah. She was in a state similar to Olivia, with the only difference being the movement of her mouth. Ka'lor'ah seemed to be speaking or chanting something, which was being lost in the void of space.

Briefly scanning the duo with his soul power and ensuring that they were alright, Lucius then vacantly stood from a distance and watched them.

Seeing as how they seemed to be focused on something, he did not carelessly intervene, lest it leads to drastic consequences.

As he continued to watch this strange routine, Lucius found his gaze lingering near Olivia with increasing frequency. He did not know exactly why this was happening but felt oddly okay with it.

'She smells nice,' the thought randomly appeared within his mind.

Of course, the smell that he referred to wasn't her actual smell, but the scent smelt by his Void Eater senses.

Olivia's figure emanated a pleasant scent which was greatly liked by the Void Eater instincts within him. The scent did not increase his appetite or stimulate his desire to devour but brought him a strange sense of satiety and tranquility.

'Somehow this scent is oddly familiar. I just can't seem to remember it,' he absent-mindedly thought to himself.

Just as Lucius was about to sink into his ponderings, he suddenly raised his head and looked into the dark distance with narrowed eyes.

Putting a barrier around Olivia and Ka'lor'ah, he then extended his soul senses in the direction of his looking and released his aura. Removing the scythe from [Void Storage], Lucius flew into the air and assumed a relaxed combat stance.

"I can sense you. Don't bother hiding," he coldly spoke.

Lucius' monotonous voice containing his Peak-Level Stage 3 soul power resounded within the empty, black space. A few seconds passed in silence when the space before the ship suddenly shuddered and two massive individuals came into existence.

"Looks like he really can see us, brother," said one of the giants, a being over 30m in height.

"I heard it too, brother. He seems quite strong too," replied the other giant of similar stature.

His tyrannous muscles, which were sparsely hidden behind his light-brown skin-tight battle suit, bulged as he continued in excitement, "My hands are itching to fight him, brother."

"Me too, brother! But we have to first ask him what's he's doing here," said the first.

"Ah, I almost forgot about that! Thank you for reminding me, brother," the other replied, as he used his massive hand to slap his bald head.

"Don't mention it, brother," the first replied with a grin.

"Brother…"

The two giants faced each other, as their eyes locked with the other with fondness and brotherhood. Just as they were inches away from performing a brotherly hug, they were interrupted by Lucius' cold voice.

"My companions and I are here to visit the Land of Giants and undergo the 'Twelve Labors', to increase our strengths. Lead us into your lands."

Hearing his words, the two giants suddenly paused in their actions and immediately looked towards Lucius with great interest. Their eyes scanned over his body multiple times, before asking in surprise.

"The 'Twelve Labors'? With that scrawny little body of yours?" asked the first.

"Yes," Lucius curtly replied and nodded his head.

"Looks like we have come across new challengers, brother!" said the second giant with great excitement.

"Yes, yes, in great timing too, brother! If I remember correctly, the First Son will be starting his' in a few days," replied the first, meeting his excitement.

The duo then looked towards Lucius in unison. Gesturing with their hands, they loudly resounded, "Come, come, quickly follow us, brother! We will have to be quick if we want to reach the Land of Giants in time for the start of the Labors!"

Then without waiting for Lucius to reply, the two giants grabbed onto the nose of the spaceship and started to pull it along with their flight. The languidly floating spaceship immediately jerked forward with the sudden acceleration.