Lord of Annihilation

Walking through the long narrow corridors default in all spaceships, Lucius noticed other rooms, equally spaced on either sides. Looking at the scanner on the doors, he noticed that some of them were occupied, with many being empty.

"This is quite the large ship." Ka'lor'ah admired.

'Looks like I'm quite late.' Lucius thought to himself. Although the room's were occupied, the a green light was flashing in the scanner, signifying that the owner was out.

Checking the time, he noticed that it was almost 9AM, which was the scheduled time to launch.

The corridors were brightly lit with white light. It wasn't glaring in the eyes and were of perfect brightness which soothed the eyes. The air ducts and temperature panels lined the roof of the ship in equal distances. Lucius also noticed the gravity-controller machine placed at each segment of the corridor.

Following the direction for a few minutes, Lucius finally came across another pressure seal door with the words -Cafeteria- printed on them. As he neared it, the door automatically detected his presence and opened itself.

Swoosh!

Lucius walked into the place, only to see some 50 other students already in wait, looking at his direction.

'It seems we are the last to arrive.' Ka'lor'ah remarked.

The various students gathered here were wearing similar one-piece overalls like him, expect that the colors on some of them were different.

Scanning the room with his eyes, Lucius concluded that there were four different groups each wearing a single color. These colors consisted of black, blue, white and red.

The total number of students present roughly equalled to 50, with equal number of students in each group.

As Lucius studied them, they also studied Lucius in return.

"Hey, ever seen him before?" a boy in the blue suit asked

"Nope. Don't recall seeing anybody like him." his friend wearing white replied.

The boys were curious about this new arrival.

One of the ladies wearing a black suit, similar to Lucius remarked to her friends.

"He is very good looking, isn't he?"

"Yep. Usually people having such a cold face are all actors, or people trying to get attention. But somehow it just looks natural on his face." her friend wearing blue, spoke with her eyes evaluating Lucius' body.

"His body doesn't seem bad either....", she absent-mindedly remarked.

Hearing this, the first woman rolled her eyes and replied, "How can you even see through his dress?"

"My sixth sense." the young lady cooly replied.

The girls were interested in his looks and demeanor.

Just as the discussions about this mysterious newcomer were about to continue, a loud voice tore through the atmosphere.

"YOU BASTARD, I FINALLY FOUND YOU!", an arrogant male voice sounded.

Hearing that voice, everyone was surprised and turned to look in the direction of that voice. Seeing the person who just spoke, everyone was shocked.

A young man, with flamboyant red hair and crimson eyes rapidly walked towards Lucius. His face was filled with righteous anger and annoyance.

"Is that Alex, who just spoke?" an absent minded voice spoke.

Hearing this, the rest of the students around him blankly nodded.

Alex who never interacted with anyone, had voluntarily addressed this newcomer. Granted, he sound very angry, it was a type of anger directed between friends.

With his nostrils flaring, Alex walked with quick steps towards Lucius. Approaching him, he directly caught Lucius by his collar and spoke in an angry voice.

"Do you have any idea, how much trouble you left me in!" he spoke in a furious voice.

Seeing Lucius' face, Alex recalled that time in the warehouse. He had risked his life and jumped into that fight to save Olivia, partly because of Ka'lor'ah's instruction and partly because he was charmed by the beauty.

Due to his hot-blooded nature, he had quickly used up the entirety of his soul power, leading to him being paralyzed due to the overdraft. Just as he was cursing over his own rashness, he was almost hit by a bullet, only to be saved by Olivia.

He was already embarrassed by the turn of events. Still, he was somewhat glad on being able to leave a good impression on a beautiful lady like her.

Of course, all such feelings went down the drain when he watched Lucius arrived, save the both of them, scare him into giving up the crystal, before finally leaving with Olivia in his arms.

'I was supposed to be the hero saving the damsel. Not you!' Alex yelled within his mind, while

conveniently ignoring the fact that most of the problems were caused by him and Ka'lor'ah.

Alex had then barely escaped before the authorities had arrived, limping all the way back home.

Recalling the anger, humiliation and shame he had felt, Alex's face reddened with various emotions before he tightened his grip over Lucius' dress.

Just as he was about to continue cursing at him, a cold voice interrupted him.

"Do you want to lose your arm?" that devilish emotionless voice sounded once again.

Hearing that voice, Alex felt like a bucket of cold water being dumped onto his head. His red face, rapidly paled in fear as he felt his instincts warning him that this was no mere threat.

If he did not immediately comply, he might actually lose his arms!

Alex's rebellious side almost wanted to scream- Try it if you dare!. Alas, he quickly swallowed that thought in.

Retreating his hands, Alex gently used his hands to wipe the creases formed over Lucius' black suit. He even wore a fawning smile over his face trying to maintain his image.

"Ha, ha. No need to be so serious. It was just a harmless joke. Look all is fine now." Alex spoke, his voice tinged with panic and fear.

Cold sweat covered his face and completely drenched his back.

He looked up to see if Lucius was appeased, only to find his emotionless face staring at him with cold eyes.

Alex stood there quietly for a few seconds, awaiting some form of answer, yet there was none. Lucius simply continued to stare at him.

Inwardly Alex was screaming, 'Bastard, at least tell me if you are still angry. Give me some sort of reaction! Stop staring at me with those scary eyes.'

"Haha. You are Lucius, right? Nice to meet you." Alex tried to move the conversation. That nervous laughter at the beginning spoke volumes on how scared he was.

Silence.

"She told me a lot about you. You are very strong and skilled." he continued.

Silence.

"Which department do you belong too? I just graduated from the Army, with Deatov being my first placement."

Silence.

"Nice weather today, huh. Blue skies, calm winds, perfect weather, for leaving."

Silence.

"Can you please, speak something? Anything?" Alex gave up and directly asked.

Lucius continued to stare at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"Your fight with the guards the other day....." he spoke in a low tone.

Hearing his words, Alex's eyes shone with interest.

Watching Lucius fight the other, Alex understood that this person standing before him, was an absolute powerhouse. An expert without an equal.

The way Lucius chose his targets, his speed, his footwork, dodging efficacy, etc. Each and every single action of his was polished to the peak.

In fact, Alex was very curious on how Lucius honed himself to such an extreme. He himself was a genius in combat and had started training from a very young age. He was so skilled that very few people in the entire alliance, could defeat him in a fight. He had always believed that his fighting skills had been polished to the extreme.

A thirst to learn and defeat Lucius was born within his heart. Partly to prove himself. And partly because of his selfish motivations.

'Women like stronger men right? Maybe that lady would prefer me, if I can beat him in fair combat.' A honorable idea, that was 'extremely' outdated. Alex's heart was simply too pure and his experience with such matter being non-existent.

"...was terrible." Lucius said blandly.

He had watched Alex's fight from Ka'lor'ah's memories. Knowing this young man was the future 'Great Commander' Lucius had some expectations.

Alas, he was disappointed by what he saw.

"Your planning is lacking, actions are wasteful and unrefined, instinct is a joke and overall combat capability is lower than what it could be by 120%" Lucius pointed out all his errors.

Normally Lucius would not have bothered with such stuff, but for some reason he was looking forward for Alex's growth.

Alex was the first human to reach Stage 3 in his previous life. This time, however he had awoken his soul 4 years in advance. His potential was greater, not to mention he had a Rare Soul Type. Alex becoming stronger quicker, meant Humanity's chance at survival increased. This in turn meant that Lucius did not have to waste more of his time, protecting humanity and could move forward with his other plans.

On hearing Lucius bland answer, Alex was was stunned and stood stiffly. To say he was not expecting some praise, would be a lie.

"....So, I'm basically trash." he asked in a low voice.

"Not exactly. Trash has some value, seeing how it can be recycled. You however have none. Therefore 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, you are lower than trash." Lucius objectively replied.

Alex took and deep breath. His fists were clenching and his face was rapidly reddening. He repeatedly took large intakes of air, before he....

.....exploded.

"WHY, YOU!! AHHHHH!!" Alex bellowed, before swinging his fists, enhanced by soul power.

'So what if I die! I will not stand this insult!' Alex had thoroughly lost his mind to rage, completely intent on bringing this infuriating man down!