Lord of Annihilation

Lucius' second Domain was the [Sea of Blood]. It roughly covered one-third of his Mental World and was a construct of mass slaughter.

With [Corpse Mountain Range] serving as his one-shot killing move and [Sea of Blood] serving as his cannon fodder slaughter, Lucius was slowly but surely building up to his ultimate move from his previous life- World of Death.

Going back to the story…

The probe which he had sent out using his soul power returned to inform Lucius of the existence of life on the small dwarf planet. While he couldn't learn of their exact number, he could approximate that there were about three thousand or so people living down there. 

'The strongest presence on this planet is at Peak-Level Stage 3 and there are three of them. The rest…' a red flash streaked across Lucius' eyes as he descended, '…are disposable.'

Unbothered to hide his presence, Lucius descended into the planet while releasing his Stage 4 aura in its entirety. A gale of crimson-colored murderous intent surrounded him which would cause stinging pain to those who were of the Stage 3 realm while killing those who were lesser.

The instant Lucius' body broke through the planet's atmospheric layer and cover, he instantly felt the people living below hasten their movement. 

'Seems like they've detected me,' Lucius thought to himself. 'Good. Saves me the trouble of chasing after them.'

Feeling the Peak-Level Stage 3 auras approaching him, Lucius' paused his descent and quietly muttered.

"Appear."

A dark shadow endlessly extended beneath his feet before morphing into ten shadow-like figures with varying appearances. The only factor common between all of them was their cold, lifeless, glowing blue eyes.

The Forgotten Warriors, who had undergone an upgrade alongside Lucius, obediently stood behind him while hiding their Peak-Level Stage 3 auras.

Opening his mouth, Lucius ordered, "Head to the hidden bases that are spread out around the planet and destroy them. Make sure that none of the inhabitants are left alive."

The ten Forgotten Warriors soullessly nodded their heads and turned into flashes of dark light, heeding his orders. 

Having taken care of that, Lucius then looked at the base down below which seemed to be in the process of arming itself to defend against the sudden intruder.

"How bothersome." Shaking his head, he gathered soul power within his hands and muttered, "Deploy Domain: {Sea of Blood}"

"STOP RIGHT THERE, INTRUDER!!" 

The strongest guardians appeared in that instant, but alas, it was useless. The hand seals had been completed and the Domain was deployed. 

For a second, the people running about in the base below seemed to pause in unison. An intense sense of unease and trepidation struck their hearts, warning them of the imminent danger. 

Unfortunately, however, they were too weak to avoid the disaster.

A wave of blood descended upon the base, swallowing up everyone and everything. Their bodies were corroded and their souls were absorbed for his nourishment. 

Closing his eyes, Lucius felt the streams of pure soul power rush into his body. He had made some minor changes to his [Sea of Blood] to incorporate the devouring powers of his bloodline into it, after leaving Olivia and Ka'lor'ah. 

At this moment, feeling the exhilaration within his very essence, Lucius felt the changes to be worth his time.

Opening his eyes, Lucius inadvertently let out a bright smile towards his three opponents who were staring at him with horrified eyes and warped faces. 

"Thank you for the food." 

Saying so, his left eye changed to shine with a bright golden color and a mysterious force shot out of his eyes.

"Now then, answer my questions…"

----------

Floating with his arms crossed and brows furrowed, Lucius stared at the three unmoving bodies floating before him. Their wills had been crushed by Lucius turning them into will-less puppets whose only purpose had been to answer his questions.

After a ten-minute interrogation, Lucius had more or less gotten to know all about the organization called 'Chimera'. He now knew the location of their other bases, the size and motive of their operation, the number of people employed under its banner, and also about the powerhouses that led it.

Chimera was a small-sized organization that did not have a Stage 4 entity backing it. They only had two dozen Peak-Level Stage 3 beings heading it and around a hundred thousand lower levels beings under their employ. 

While eliminating them within a month wouldn't be an issue, there was one answer from the interrogation that made Lucius strangely cautious.

According to one of the head's recount, two months ago, a sudden order had been sent down from the leader of Chimera, instructing the people of this base to prepare some items in preparation for something. 

As for what that something was, they weren't given a proper answer. The only reply given to them was, 'Someone from HQ will arrive in three months and instruct you.'

Unfortunately, this was no longer possible as Lucius had gotten here first. While this did not bother him in the slightest, what did bother him were the materials that were being collected.

Going through the dimensional storage pouches that had been on the bodies of these three heads, Lucius looked at the materials collected once more.

Tainted Flesh, Tortured Bones, Blood of Innocents… if memory served him right, these materials were commonly used in rituals within the Abyss.

The very same Abyss which was the home of the [Evil] faction and of its leaders, the Abyssal Rulers.

'Why are the materials used in the Abyss' ritualistic practices being collected here? And why in such great numbers?' Lucius questioned.

Lucius wasn't a very deep thinker or an excellent strategist of any sort. Thinking about ploys wasn't his strongest suit and wasn't something that he was especially keen on developing in this life.

After all, he already had a person to do all the thinking.

Trrring!~ Beep!

"For heaven's sake, what do you want, Lucius?!" A disgruntled voice came out of the bracelet on his wrist. On the holographic screen, Lucius could see Ka'lor'ah sitting on a bath of some sort with shampoo on her hair.

"I'm trying to have my first bath in FOREVER, and here you are INTERRUPTING ME!! I swear if this isn't something important, I will cut all ties with you! Humpf!" Crossing her arms, she stared into the screen menacingly.

Automatically ignoring her threats, Lucius brought out the items from the storage pouch and explained his questions to her. The impatient, angered expression on Ka'lor'ah's face receded little by little and was eventually replaced by an expression of solemnity. 

Staring wordlessly at the materials on Lucius' hand, she eventually spoke, "Indeed. There is something very fishy about this situation."

"What do you want me to do now?" Lucius asked.

"For now, nothing. Just continue with your task of destroying that organization and try to fish for some additional information from this 'leader' of theirs. However, I doubt you'll find anything."

"Meanwhile, I'll investigate it from my end using the resources that Lil' Ollie's given me," Ka'lor'ah seriously replied. "Still, our main priority remains to weaken the other factions. While Mankind lacks the power to face those factions head-on, we've got you on our side."

"Keep continuing on your missions and I'll take care of this, okay?" 

Hearing her words, Lucius thought for a moment before nodding his head, "Fine." However, the feeling of caution within his heart did not decrease with his answer.

'Should I take a trip to the Abyss?' Lucius inwardly wondered. 'Hmm, I'll just see if this feeling of caution increases. For now, I'll just let it be.'

"Hey!~" 

Just as Lucius was sunken into his own thoughts, Ka'lor'ah's playful voice rang out from his wrist.

"Wanna take a peak?" she enchantingly asked, lowering the camera's angle and removing her arms from her chest.

Tap!

Lucius immediately cut the call and inwardly instructed his puppets, 'If you're done, gather. We are moving to the next location.'

Saying so, he snapped his fingers, exploding the heads of the three mindless bodies in front of him and absorbing their souls in the process. 

'10% of the way to Mid-Level. A thousand Peak-Level Stage 3 souls or a few dozen Low-Level Stage 4 souls should bring me to Mid-Level.' Satisfied at the speed of his progress, Lucius inwardly nodded his head.

'A pity I wasn't able to absorb the souls from the Royal Giant City. I could've reached Mid-Level and halfway to the Peak-Level with those souls.'

He internally monologued, conveniently forgetting the fact that it would take his years, maybe decades if he were to cultivate the traditional way.

Once again, the Void Eater was a grossly overpowered race that broke the balance at every turn. 

After waiting for the Forgotten Warriors to gather, Lucius then stored them inside his void space and left the planet by summoning another portal. 

The total time it took for Lucius to wipe out the inhabitants of this planet...sixteen minutes.