Lord of Annihilation

"Listen well, Reyna. My relation with Alex, Olivia, and you is one of cooperation. I never considered you people as my friends nor will I ever will."

He stared directly into Reyna's shocked eyes, as he continued.

"I merely required you to play a part in my plan and you have already done so. In other words, our cooperation is over."

"As of today we no longer have any ties between us."

He then released his grip over her wrist and walked past her. The dark-gold crystal quietly floated alongside him.

"I will no longer stay around to protect you and your group. Nor will I ensure the continuity of your survival. Your life and death are in your own hands."

His indifferent voice continued to sound out as he walked without pause.

"My suggestion is, stop whining and complaining about such irrelevant matters. Stop being so dependent on others and gather your own strength."

"For the sake of yourself, your family, and for mankind."

Reaching the door, Lucius stopped for a second. Without looking back, he spoke in a serious tone.

"That army of alien bugs is just the beginning." having said so he exited the room.

The door closed behind him leaving the stupefied girls. Tears started to gather in Reyna's eyes, while Olivia's turned blank.

What shocked them wasn't the fact that Lucius did not consider them his friends nor the fact that mankind's struggles had just begun.

'I will no longer stay around to protect you and your group.'

His meaning was quite clear in that one sentence.

Lucius was going to leave them.

-------------------

Walking through the passages, Lucius continued to sport his blank face. There was no unhappiness, despondence, or reluctance in his face. His eyes remained indifferent and his heart remained unfeeling.

"That was harsh." Ka'lor'ah quietly remarked.

"It's about time they stop relying on me, on coming to save them. I have no time to waste on such meaningless matters. They are simply too weak to be of any use." pausing for a moment he continued.

"Also, this was always the plan. Protect Reyna until the completion of the 'Ascension'."

"Once she becomes the 'focal point of mankind' and her cause synchronizes with the Universe, she will no longer be in danger of losing her life. With her assistance mankind is no longer in danger of being annihilated." he concluded.

Following the signs labeled on the walls, Lucius started to walk towards his living quarters.

"More importantly.." he spoke.

"Isn't it about time you tell me what's wrong with my body?"

Hearing his question, Ka'lor'ah sighed. She understood Lucius' personality very thoroughly, having lived with him and taught him for 30 years.

From the moment she confirmed the nature of Lucius' race having changed, she had been expecting this question of his.

'What do I tell you? That you and I are mortal enemies, destined to not rest until our counter-parts death.' Ka'lor'ah soundlessly laughed.

The idea of hiding the truth had also occurred to her. But knowing that he would learn of the truth sooner or later, made her hesitant to continue.

'Perhaps this question itself is a test? Perhaps he already knows the nature of his existence and is sounding out to know my stand.'

Whatever the case, Ka'lor'ah felt that she could not lie. Rather, she did not want to lie.

Arranging her words, she started.

"Lucius, what do you know about the Void?"

Hearing her question, Lucius was suddenly confused.

'Why is she asking about the Void?' although he did not understand, he recognized Ka'lor'ah's serious tone. Thinking about it for a moment, he then replied.

"Void- It's a type of sub-dimension that surrounds and envelops the entire Universe. It exists everywhere and connects everything, yet none of us can actually see it or feel it."

"Rather than say it exists, it's more of a theoretical possibility. Something that exists in words but cannot be actually proven."

Hearing his answer, Ka'lor'ah smiled.

"Ding! Ding! A textbook answer. Seems like I did a good job as your teacher. Anyways, what you don't know is that..."

"The void really does exist! It is a Rule of the highest order, belonging to the same category as the 'Rule of Creation' and the 'Rule of Fate'. Actually, some consider it to be even higher on the hierarchy. Placing it on the same level as 'Rule of Beginnings'."

Seeing that Lucius was fully focused on her words, Ka'lor'ah gently said.

"And you are the child of the Void."

BOOM!

Lucius felt an explosion go off in his head.

His race belonged to a Rule which was in the same category as the 'Rule of Beginnings.' A Rule of the highest order!

What did this mean?

If this Universe was a game and the Rules represented the various levels of permissions required to access the system. Lucius' existence was like the GM.

He basically had 'admin rights' of the Universe.

Of course, the above case was simply an example, as the real world was much more complex. The basic meaning was more or less the same.

As long as Lucius continued to become stronger, the number of restrictions that he would face in the Universe would become lower and lower. He would be able to ignore the lower rules such as 'Rules of Space' or the 'Rules of Time', simply because his 'Rule of Void' was higher in the hierarchy.

Ka'lor'ah paused for a few minutes to give Lucius some time to digest this information. If she herself, a person with tens of thousands of years of experience was shocked by the revelation, nothing was to be said about Lucius.

"Ah...Uh.' weird groans escaped from within Lucius' mouth.

Noticing that he had regained his senses, Ka'lor'ah continued.

"The Ancients named your race as, Virudero Degulos.『Void Eater.』 in simpler words."

"Other than the fact that Void Eater's could freely travel through the Void and their ability to consume anything and everything. Not much is known about them."

She hesitated for a second, wondering if she had to inform Lucius of the next part. Pondering for a moment she decided to reveal it.

"More importantly, Void Eaters are known as The Ender of the Universe. The Enemy of All Life. In other words..."

"..My mortal enemy."

Speaking that final sentence, Ka'lorah felt a huge burden fall of her heart. The worry and tension that had filled her mind, melted like the morning dew.

'I have told him everything that I know. Now, the choice is in his hands. Whatever his choice, I don't regret my actions." a sense of freedom filled her.

Silence filled the atmosphere between the two parties. Lucius had stopped moving and quietly stared at the floor beneath his feet. Ka'lor'ah for her part shut off her vision and awaited her verdict.

Her life's duty was to kill the Void Eater. Similarly, the Void Eater's goal was to devour all life. Since she was the Great Mother, The Myriad Species Queen. She was the Void Eater's end goal.

While the crystal in Lucius' hands was merely a remnant will, a piece of her original soul. If he was to devour her right now, Lucius would gain the advantage when facing the real 'Ka'lor'ah' of this timeline.

Minutes continued to painfully pass when Lucius' voice was finally heard.

"That's it?"

"...I think? At least that's all the information that I have." she honestly replied.

"I see." Lucius simply nodded his head.

Ka'lor'ah waited for a few minutes. Seeing that Lucius showed no intent to act against her she was astonished.

"Aren't you going to devour me?" her tone was both quizzical and astonished.

"Why would I do that?" Lucius replied with a question of his own.

Both of them stared at each other before Ka'lor'ah spoke.

"Isn't the end goal of every Void Eater to devour all life. Therefore, shouldn't you also deal with me? You do know that I have the ability to create life, right?" she questioned.

"I do know about your ability. But I have no interest in devouring all life. Nor is that the plan. No changes will be made to the plan. If anything, this just improves our odds of success." he nonchalantly replied.

Ka'lor'ah was speechless.

'This guy! I had prepared my final wishes and last words. Now he says, 'I have no interest'. Where is the justification for all the mental dilemma I had to go through?'

While she complained within her mind, Ka'lor'ah's heart was filled with a profound sense of happiness and joy. All of her earlier gloom had melted away and her jovial personality once again returned.

Of course, Lucius did not pay attention to any of these changes. He stood silently while inspecting his body. He noticed that many of his organs had changed and his skeletal and muscular structure had been significantly improved.

Inspecting his body, he also noticed greyish-black energy quietly flowing alongside his completely black blood.

This greyish-black energy was not his soul power. It was a separate type of energy that was inherent to the Void Eaters.

'Void Energy.' he gave it a simple name.

'So this is how I activate my racial abilities.'

"I have a question. Why did I attack the two weaklings earlier? Also, is that 'mysterious hunger' related to my race? "

Hearing his question, Ka'lor'ah pondered for a moment.

"I'm not exactly sure. After all, you are the first Void Eater I have seen in my entire life. All my knowledge comes from the records left behind by my predecessors."

"Your mysterious hunger is definitely related to your racial instincts. As for your loss of control and the attack... I guess it's because your body instinctively hunted for food?"

"We should test your abilities to confirm my hypothesis," she concluded.

Hearing her answer, Lucius nodded his head. This answer had the highest probability of being correct. Real reasons can only be established upon tested facts.

Knowing so, Lucius continued towards the living quarters. Before he headed out into the Universe, he wanted to learn his newly received abilities.