Lord of Annihilation

While Lucius was having earth-shaking battle against the black armored being on the battlefield, inside the Alliance Base.

A black haired, young woman with sapphire eyes, walked through the streets. She was walking alone, with a number students and citizens of the Alliance being placated by the soldiers around her.

While the people within the base had neither seen the army of alien bugs nor the human soldiers being effortlessly slaughtered, they still understood that the current situation was bad.

Neither the electronic machines were working, nor were the communication systems. Unable to contact the Alliance, they felt alone and lost. It was similar to being stranded atop an island in the middle of the sea.

Looking at the sky, they could see massive golden rocks rotating at fast speeds while sending out a beam of light into outer space. This scene which seemed to come out of a fantasy novel or a blockbuster movie, went against everything that they had known and believed.

Fortunately, none of the people within the base were ordinary people. Each of them were experienced in their lives and were exceptional. After the initial panic, they had immediately calmed down and had followed the emergency evacuation plans which they had been taught and waited for the soldiers to resolve the situation.

While some people had dissenting views, the overall situation was relatively calm. The soldiers then led here by Olivia, served to improve their morale and reassure the citizens.

A cacophony of voices and discussions surrounded Olivia, yet none of these words registered within her mind. Her face was expressionless and her countenance was dull.

"Disappointing. Absolutely disappointing." just these words, spoken with an cold, indifferent tone echoed within her mind.

'No matter how hard I try. I can never catch up to him.' depressing thoughts continued to pass through her mind.

During her stay in the Alliance base here, Olivia had not taken a single second of rest. Upon her arrival and the subsequent allotment of her tasks, Olivia had spent her every free period practicing her soul power and her combat skills.

During the course of these 10 days, she had slept for less than 2 hours everyday and constantly pushed herself to her limits. While sleeping for such short lengths would usually have a negative impact on one's health, Olivia had found that she could circulate her soul power to remove the hidden fatigue.

Day after day, hour after hour, second after second. She spent her time polishing herself. It wasn't easy. It was much, much harder than anything Olivia had ever done in her life. Still, she never once entertained the possibility of giving up.

Each time the thought of quitting rose within her mind, she would remember Lucius' words.

'Admirable resolve. Maybe you still have some hope left.'

At that moment, Olivia had seen something within Lucius' indifferent eyes.

It was hope.

To others Lucius seemed to be indifferent, unperturbed and cold. Someone who wouldn't care about anything other than himself. A person who treats others as lesser than ants and constantly demeans them.

Olivia however, saw something different.

Although his eyes seemed indifferent and unconcerned, she understood that he really cared about something. If not, then why save her and Alex?

Why protect Reyna during the escape from the space station? He could have easily escaped by himself whilst sustaining no injury, if he had chosen to abandon her.

Why show up to save the soldiers atop the wall, if he did not care about their lives?

After his change, although Lucius seemed to be unperturbed, Olivia could sense great urgency in his actions. His actions seemed to have a sense of great haste behind them, almost as if he was being chased by something.

Something seemed to constantly push him on the path to acquire greater strength. Having grown up with Lucius, she clearly noticed this.

Next was his words. While they seemed to be inconsiderate and cruel, Olivia understood that each and every word was the utmost truth. He directly spoke the crux of the matter, never wasting more words than necessary.

Having witnessed these aspects, she understood something. All along, Lucius had never told them how he had gained his strength. How he had found Ka'lor'ah. How he had known about the changes which were happening.

And neither did Olivia want to ask.

Whatever his goal was, she wanted to help him achieve it. Whether directly or indirectly, she wanted to be someone whom he relied upon.

She wanted to be that hope, she saw within his eyes.

This was her motivation to struggle against her weakness and achieve strength. Lucius' importance within her heart was simply this great. He was her friend, brother, family, her everything.

And seeing his disappointment, her world shattered. Her struggles, hard work seemed to be meaningless. The depression she felt within her heart was simply overwhelming.

Do not underestimate this feeling of invalidation. When one works hard to attain something, striving for and dedicating their entire lives towards it, only to be denied at the very end. It is equal to their entire lives being meaningless. Their willingness to live would rapidly decline. They would being to view themselves negatively and lose their self-confidence.

This was the feeling currently being experienced by Oliva.

'Perhaps its better for me to simply disappear. At least then, he wouldn't be disappointed with me.'

Unknowingly, she had walked towards the relief tents were the soldiers who fought against the bugs earlier were being treated. Only 50 people or so had survived the initial onslaught and all of them had injuries of varying degrees.

As Olivia was deeply lost within her own thoughts, multiple soldiers walked up to her.

"Young Miss." one of the soldiers voiced out.

Olivia was too lost within her thoughts to notice them.

"Cough, cough! Miss." another person broke into a coughing fit, but still managed to voice out his words.

Finally awakening from within her own thoughts, Olivia stared at the people in front of her with a confused expression.

A group of injured people stood before her. One was missing an arm, another had his head and shoulders bandaged. One was carrying an artificial respirator hooked to his lungs. Another was sitting atop a wheelchair, with his entire lower body missing underneath him.

Almost 30 soldiers each injured in one manner or another stood before her. All of their gazes were focused on Olivia.

"Ca-can I do something, Sirs?" her voice was hoarse.

Just then, all the soldiers standing before her suddenly bowed down. Even the ones on the wheelchair whom struggled to move their bodies, did so unhesistantly.

"We wanted to thank Miss for saving our lives atop the wall! If not for you and the other Miss fight in the front lines, we would have lost our lives to those creatures." they spoke in chorus.

Olivia froze, unsure of what to do.

One of the soldiers, who seemed to be a middle-aged man then rose from his bow and looked at Olivia. Bowing once more he spoke with a solemn voice.

"If not your Miss, saving my life. I wouldn't have had the chance to go back and see my newborn son. For giving me this chance, I'm eternally grateful!" his voice quivered towards the end, seemingly holding back his tears.

Another soldier, younger in his years spoke through the bandages wrapping his head.

"Although I have been blinded by those creatures, I am eternally grateful to Miss, for saving my life. If not for you, my parents would have lost another son of theirs. Their old hearts would not be able to withstand such an impact. Thank you!" he cried.

Similarly one after another, each soldier individually thanked Olivia. Their contents were mostly similar, but the emotions behind their words, was something Olivia had never felt.

"Oh, I almost forgot! The other soldiers also wanted to thank the Miss. It's just that some of them are rooted to their beds, unable to leave. They wanted to convey their thanks to the Miss." a soldier who had lost on of his legs and was sitting atop a wheelchair spoke.

Receiving the plethora of emotions and thanks, Olivia could not longer restrain her tears. Teardrops fell from her eyes, as she broke down crying.

'My efforts weren't meaningless. My hard work wasn't wasted.' looking at the soldiers before her, Olivia understood.

Her efforts hadn't been in vain. Her actions had received validation.

Looking at their savior suddenly break down crying, the soldiers found themselves at a loss. Immediately they started to placate her and encourage her, asking her what was wrong.

All these actions and words, served to bring warmth to Olivia's heart. Her ideals hadn't been meaningless. She had managed to affect the lives of a small amount of people to a certain degree.

Call it naivety or perhaps inexperience. Olivia wasn't the 300 year old monster Lucius was. She had not seen or experienced the things that he had.

This action of saving the lives of 50 soldiers, might be insignificant in Lucius' eyes and even in the great cosmos. However to Olivia, it was proof of her efforts and the validation of her struggles.

'I'm not strong enough to assist Lucius. But I'm not useless either.' she declared within her heart.

'If I am to give up, just because I'm currently disappointing. Then I truly have no hope.'

'I want to become stronger. Not for Lucius, not for the Alliance, not for the people. But for myself. To do what I want to do and for validation of my efforts!'

'Someday, I'll definitely catch up to him and make him look at me as an equal. To become the hope, that he sees me to be!'

Olivia had finally found her true self. And with this her soul had finally completed its growth.

Precisely at this moment, a pillar of light fell from the sky and encompassed all the people within the base. Reyna who had been watching Olivia, hiding around the corner was also included.

With a smile Reyna thought to herself, 'In the end, what she needed wasn't my comfort, but the simple proof of her efforts.'

'I'm glad you found it, Livia.'

With this, all the people on the planet of Deatov were enveloped by pillars of light.

Well, all expect one.