Lord of Annihilation

"Bwahahaha!~ She really succeeded in slaying that beast. What a tenacious little girl!" Klytius jovially laughed.

The Giant King, who had been watching the screens before him with great excitement, turned to face the person sitting next to him and asked, "What do you say?"

Lucius sat next to the king with his legs crossed and head resting on his hand. Keeping his eyes closed he replied to the king casually.

"She could've killed it sooner. The method that she used was very inefficient."

Lucius' tone remained staid and did not possess the hint of respect that one's tone would possess when addressing a king. 

Usually, this would be a blatant breach of etiquette and would come off as being disrespectful. Klytius, however, did not seem to mind Lucius' disrespectful behavior and brushed it off. 

Hearing Lucius' answer, the glimmer of excitement within his eyes increased in brightness as he continued, "Oh? Tell me about it!"

Feeling the tangible aura of excitement that was being let out by the king's body, Lucius lightly sighed and opened his eyes. Turning to face the king, he explained.

"The method that she used to kill the Nine-Headed Hydra was quite creative and was an admirable application of her soul's ability and inherent property. Her method has an almost definite chance of success but consumes a lot of time in its execution."

"Now, the method itself is very simple as you've seen. Using her soul power, she poisoned the mind of the Nine-Headed Hydra and cast [Beguilement] and [Mental Suppression]. Trapping the Nine-Headed Hydra into a trance-like state, she designed a dream that would be fueled by the beast's own hatred and wrath making the entire process self-sustaining."

"This not only reduced the burden on her own soul power greatly but also had the additional effect of curbing the innate survival instincts of the creature. All injuries that would be inflicted on its body would be interpreted as wounds from its dream by its mind. This effectively allowed her to kill it."

Speaking this much, Lucius paused for a second before continuing.

"But as I said, she could've slain it sooner. All she had to do was poison some of the heads with her ability and then take control over them. Then, she could've controlled these poisoned heads to turn on the other ones, letting the beast fight with its own body while sneaking in some fatal attacks."

Shrugging his shoulders Lucius shook his head and concluded, "It would only take three days to conclude the battle."

Hearing his explanation, Giant King Klytius nodded his head in agreement. Just as he was about to speak his own thoughts, a sharp voice intervened.

"Excepting the fact that forcibly controlling a sentient creature of greater strength with your mind and battling it at the same time is near impossible for most people. Not to mention, even the slightest of mistakes would cause your method to backfire and will kill you."

"She did what she could to the best of her abilities. Do give her some credit, Lucius." Ka'lor'ah politely reminded from the side.

She had also been alongside the duo during the entirety of the conversation and couldn't help but intervene at Lucius' heartless evaluation. 

"I'm just saying that she could've done better," replied Lucius. "There is still much room for her to polish her abilities."

"With more time and guidance, of course," scoffed Ka'lor'ah. Rolling her eyes, she continued, "Not everyone has the same monster-level talent like you, Lucius."

"That is correct." Lucius agreed.

At his response, Ka'lor'ah released a sigh and did not quarrel further. She understood that arguing further would be fruitless since neither party was in the wrong.

CLAP!

The loud clap brought the attention back to Klytius. The Giant King looked around at his two guests before facing the screen once more.

"Hahaha, this round has been one of the most excellent ones that I've ever seen. Not only did my youngest son successfully complete his trial but I also had two record-setters participate at the same time."

"Well, only 24 hours are left before the round ends and the trail ground teleports out all of the remaining 27 participants." He then suddenly paused and shook his head, "It's a shame though. I wanted to watch more of your mate. She's got some fantastic talent."

Looking at the giant screen which reflected Olivia desperately chasing after the objective of the Third Labor, Klytius continued.

"With her current level of progress, she should be able to reach the Stage 3 realm in less than three years. Please tell her to come back at that time." 

Klytius' eyes glimmered with an interesting light as he finished.

"I want to personally see how far she's able to go then."

"I'm sorry but that's not possible," replied a voice, calmly.

"Hmm?" 

Feeling confused, Giant King Klytius turned his head to face the owner of that voice. Looking at Lucius who got up from his seat with an indifferent expression on his face, he asked.

"What did you say?"

Lucius quietly looked at the screen mirroring Olivia for a few seconds before turning to face the Giant King. Looking directly into those massive brown eyes, he declared.

"I said that it's not possible. She will undergo her ascension into the Third Stage by the end of those twenty-four hours."

Lucius' tone was firm and his voice was without the slightest turbidity.

Hearing his answer, Giant King Klytius seemed to be caught off-guard for a moment as a look of bewilderment appeared within his eyes. However, that look was almost immediately replaced by the fires of curiosity and excitement.

"BWHAHAHA!! Now, I really want to hear what you have in store for me!" His roar thundered with excitement.

Taking in a deep breath, Lucius spoke his thoughts and requested a certain something. Hearing his request, Giant King Klytius thought for a few seconds before unexpectedly agreeing. 

He, however, had a request of his own.

"I will grant you your request. In exchange, I want to fight you at full strength."

"Agreed," Lucius unhesitantly agreed and nodded his head.

Meanwhile, Ka'lor'ah, who had heard the terms of their exchange, sat blankly and thought to herself, 'Did he just agree to fight the King, a Stage 5 existence, at full strength?'

'Oh wait, never mind. I almost forgot that he always was crazy.'

----------

"Stop running you, damned pig! Just stay still for a single second and let me catch you!!" 

Olivia, who was desperately chasing after the Fleet-Footed Hind, the objective of the Third Labor, yelled in exasperation. 

The feelings of pride, joy, and satisfaction from completing that impossible task of slaying the Hydra were nowhere to be found on her current figure. Instead, only pain and exasperation filled her entirety.

"Damned little piggy! Just wait! The moment I catch you, I'm going to chop off those disgustingly quick legs of yours and roast them before your own eyes!" Olivia yelled in a very unladylike manner.

Her beautiful face was twisted with wrath and scathing murderous intent filled the air around her. Thorn, which flew alongside its mistress, was filled with similar rage.

Thirty minutes had passed since her entry into this specific trail. 

Thirty minutes ago, she had found the objective of her trail grazing the grass right in front of her.

Thirty minutes had passed since the start of their high-speed chase. 

In short, Olivia had been chasing after this damned pig-looking creature at full speed for a full thirty minutes. 

Well, that doesn't seem to justify her anger. Doesn't she know that her objective was to catch the Fleet-Footed Hind? What's the point in being angry?

Excellent question. And the answer to that question is…

BOOM!!

Olivia's figure suddenly accelerated greatly and the sound of a compressed, miniature explosion followed shortly after.

BOOOOM!!

An even greater explosion sounded right after and the figure of the Fleet-Footed Hind blurred into the distance.

"WHY DOES IT INCREASE ITS SPEED AT THE EXACT MOMENT THAT I INCREASE MY SPEED!!? WHY NOT RUN AT FULL SPEED FROM THE START!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!?"

There was your answer.

With the increased speed of both the parties, the futile chase continued. The distance between both the parties neither increased nor decreased and remained at a constant 50m. 

Just enough to stay within sight of each other but not enough to catch up.

Olivia maintained her new top speed for five minutes before slowing down once again. Both her stamina and soul power were starting to run low prompting her to exercise caution.

Interestingly, the moment Olivia reduced her speed, the Fleet-Footed Hind also similarly reduced its speed. As a result, the distance between both the parties remained at a perfect 50m, even though their speeds had obviously lessened.

"*huff* *huff*Dammit! To be mocked by a mere pig*huff* *huff*I swear *huff* I will catch that damned thing and—"

"Are you an idiot?" 

A cold voice suddenly interrupted her declaration of war.