Lord of Annihilation

Large swathes of open green lands were ravaged by furious waves of fire. Battered by the flames and drenched in the blood of the people, the entire scene had a deathly aura. A dense grey fog hung in the sky, blotching out the two suns. Beyond it lay the infinite expanse of the deep blue skies, which were tainted red.

The acrid smell of smoke and death was present in the sky, reminding the inhabitants of this land that this place was no longer a sanctuary. But a land of death.

Distant howls belonging to both man and beast were heard. Some begging to their silent gods, others roaring in retaliation and rage.

Standing amidst this hellish scene was a solitary figure. A figure donning a black robe, covering every single part of its body, save for its eyes.

A pair of eyes, which were completely black. Black, which was darker than the abyss. The pair of eyes that seemed to hold no emotions apart from absolute indifference.

The figure surveyed the lands with its indifferent eyes, watching the scenes of violence in complete silence. Under the black robe, the mouth of this being made slight movements before a low, bland voice leaked out.

"Where am I?" Lucius questioned himself.

Closing his eyes, he tried to recall the last scenes in his memories. Slowly, the last moments of remembrance flashed through his mind.

'I successfully escaped with the 'target' and we landed onto the planet of Deatov.'

'I seem to recall being impaled by a sharp rock in the shoulder, before passing out.'

'Wait.... my shoulder?', he immediately raised his other hand to inspect his right shoulder.

Even with his standards, the injury that he had sustained was quite serious. If it wasn't treated immediately, he risked the possibility of permanently losing his right arm.

However, the serious injury which he was expecting was surprisingly not present on his shoulder. In fact, instead of feeling pain and numbness, Lucius felt an unfathomable amount of energy fill his entire body. Energy that could allow him to effortlessly destroy a planet, with just a flick of his fingers.

His indifferent eyes jumped in astonishment as Lucius felt the strength and quality of his soul power.

"Stage 7?!!! My strength had returned to its peak?!!", he unconsciously blurted it out.

Upon this discovery, Lucius did not rejoice. Instead, his wariness increased by a few folds until it reached the same level as when one is facing mortal danger.

'Where is this place?' Lucius immediately crouched into the ground and scanned the surrounding area with his vision. He did not dare to use his soul power or the abilities provided by them, lest this be a trap.

He could vaguely see the presence of some existences in the distant forests, a few hundred kilometers away from where the fire hadn't spread yet.

'Let's take a look.' deciding so, Lucius' still body swayed a little and suddenly stiffened, before slowly dissipating.

The image which dissipated wasn't his actual body, but merely the afterimage left by his speed.

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The world around Lucius seemed to turn into streaks of light. It was in fact eerily similar to how the surroundings would look when a spaceship was in hyperspace.

The truth was, this was exactly what happened. Lucius' body had reached such speeds that his physical body had broken through the space within this planet and entered the hyperspace, present within the dimensions. And this was without the usage of his soul power!

Instantaneously or perhaps even faster, Lucius arrived in the middle of the distant forest. His body immediately came to a standstill, as a serious expression was present on his face.

'My speed and resilience of my body are exactly the same as when I was in Stage 7. Even my senses are the same. Without the usage of soul power, I can sense everything in a few hundred-kilometer radii.' he carefully analyzed.

'Should I test my soul power?' Lucius pondered.

Just in time, there was a movement in the green foliage that surrounded him. The trees which were standing towards his left suddenly trembled before falling.

Coming out of it was a huge armored being, that was vaguely resembling a rhinoceros. It had six thick, stubby legs filled with dominant strength. A single horn on its face glowed red. Two pairs of eyes looked at Lucius with a predatory gaze, seemingly sizing him up.

Lucius' currently resembled a normal human. His soul power was hidden and his murderous aura was also being contained. In short, he looked weak. Extremely weak.

This 'rhino' also came to a similar conclusion and charged towards his body. It was intent of feasting on this 'weak', skinny body.

Looking at this beast charging up at him, Lucius simply thought.

'A mere Grade 3 beast. Its soul cultivation is only at Stage 1. Well, I guess this would suffice for a test subject. An ant seem does seem to have its uses after all.'

Driving his soul power, Lucius' mouth softly uttered these words.

"[Rule of Death- Perish]"

Mysterious words of an unknown language seemed to flicker in and out of existence. They came from an unknown dimension and surrounded this 'rhino'.

The second these words came into existence, the charging rhino in front of his gaze immediately collapsed into the ground. It's four eyes, stared at Lucius with absolute terror. A terror that surpassed the concept of fear. A fear which seemed to birth from its very soul.

It did not understand what these words were but knew that its life was over. However, it did understand one thing.

This person in front of it was a GOD!

Understanding that it had tried to go against a 'God', the rhino was filled with no hesitation or grievances. It calmly accepted its death.

Staring at the dead rhino, Lucius did not feel anything. To him, it was merely another life. One among the countless he had claimed.

'I can manipulate the 'Rules'. My strength is at Stage 7.' he calmly concluded.

'Where is this place? And why am I here?' Lucius looked around but found no clues.

Just as he was about to continue on forwards to search another location, he suddenly a strange soul wavelength in the soul. One that seemed to be.....

'This!!... My soul is resonating?!! IMPOSSIBLE!!' Lucius' brain halted from the astonishment he was feeling.

Because what he felt was the existence of another soul.... that was exactly the same as his.

Not bothering to contain his soul power any longer, he immediately used it and tore through the space around him. Wherever he was or whoever was behind this, no longer mattered to Lucius. He had to immediately find the source of that soul.

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Floating high up in the sky, Lucius' gaze peered through the dense forest cover to gaze at the scene below him. He was currently using his soul power to hide within a scattered dimension.

A man and a beast were facing each other. The beast looked like an oversized ape, with 6 arms and blue fur. It had bulging muscles and red eyes with a blue shine covering its fur. It was another Upper Grade 3 beast with a Mid Level Stage 1 cultivation.

Opposing this monster was a haggard-looking youth. His skin was pale and his body consisted of a weak skeletal frame, with little to no muscles on them. Injuries of varying degrees filled his body, with a large cut running across his entire back that leaked blood.

He had black hair and black eyes, which were filled with anger and grief. Tears covered his face, as he faced the ape monster recklessly. Clearly, he had completely lost his mind to rage. From the way he moved, he seemed to be protecting something behind him.

Behind this youth was a dead body of a beautiful young woman. She seemed to be older than the youth who was fighting and had such a beautiful face that could only be considered-heavenly. She had black hair, and her bright sapphire eyes were wide open filled with reluctance and unwillingness to die.

A large hole was present in her abdomen with blood flowing into the ground without pause. Her heart did not breathe affirming her death.

Seeing this scene Lucius who was in the sky shook his head before sighing.

'I remember. This place is the frontier planet of Virdis. One of the planets where humanity faced their 'Ascension.' If I remember correctly, this planet almost fell to those guys. ' he calmly thought.

'Not to mention...' he continued.

'This was also the planet where I was sent to, in my previous life.'

Gazing at the black-haired youth fighting with reckless abandon, protecting that dead body from the six-armed ape, Lucius spat out a single word.

"Pathetic." His voice contained extreme coldness and disappointment.

Seeing that youth, Lucius somewhat understood. That young man fighting down there seemed to be himself of the past. At this moment, he seemed to have mysteriously arrived at this time, as his Stage 7 self.

'Does the person behind this want me to witness my failure once again? Is he trying to make me remember?' Lucius questioned himself, pondering about his current situation.

Meanwhile, the situation down below continued to worsen for the youth. Looking at this Lucius furrowed his brows.

'If this continues, he will die.'

Yet, Lucius clearly survived the event. Although he had forgotten how he had survived this event in the past, he knew that he had lived. His life later and his Stage 7 self was irrefutable proof of this fact.

The youth down below lost the weapon he was using and the ape swung its fists towards his head. Time seemed to have slowed down, as Lucius simply continued to watch. He had no intentions of helping or rescuing the youth down below.

'Without having an understanding of what's happening to me, I must not carelessly intervene. For all I know, that boy down there might not even be me. All of this might just be a large illusion.'

Just when the fist of the ape was about to make contact with the youth's head, it suddenly paused. To be precise, everything had paused. The ape, Lucius, the wind, the sky, in fact, space and time itself seemed to have paused.

"Sigh." An unworldly sigh that seemed to originate from an unknown dimension was heard.

Lucius who had been hiding in a random scattered dimension immediately felt a surge of panic and fear in his heart. He immediately used his entire efforts to hide and did not dare to expose even the slightest traces of his presence.

"This child cannot die." the voice sounded out once again.

An invisible stream of energy suddenly appeared and mysterious words started to appear and disappear around the youth and the ape. The ape suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a weaker beast. The wounds on the youth had also been healed to a certain extent. The traces of the battle around them were also altered.

"Such an excellent pawn. I anticipate your growth.' saying so the voice disappeared and the pause was removed.

The youth who had been previously losing, now held the advantage in the battle. He swiftly killed the beast before heading towards the female body and kneeled before it. Holding her in his hands, he cried out loudly and screamed towards the skies.

Meanwhile, Lucius who was the only person to witness these changes had a face filled with incredulity. His body was on the ground and was faintly shivering with fear. Hearing that voice and seeing how it had casually altered all the 'Rules', he understood.

'A Lord..!!! Why is 'He' here?!' Lucius' very soul trembled at his discovery. He forcibly suppressed his thoughts and did not dare to think any further. Even the slightest mention of 'Their' name would lead to him being discovered.

Just as Lucius was considering how to escape this place, he suddenly heard a loud voice near his ears. The scene around him shattered as he once again returned into darkness.

"LUCIUS!!"