Lord of Annihilation

""We have to be careful from here.""

The instant they finished speaking, the duo paused for a second and looked at each other. 

"That was weird," Prometheus spoke first. He then scratched the back of his head and continued, "So…do you want to go first, or should I explain what I know?"

Hearing his suggestion, Lucius pondered for a moment before nodding her head and replying, "Explain first."

"Okay, I'll explain then. It's not that complicated really, I wrote a small poem to remember it easier." Saying so, Prometheus took a deep breath before singing;

"One way in.

One way out.

One thousand guards.

And one prisoner."

After singing the last line, Prometheus' expression suddenly changed. He then spat out in a dissatisfied tone, "Dammit, we are two prisoners now! Now it just sounds stupid."

Lowering his head, he grumbled under his breath, "I spent so much time coming up with it too…"

Ignoring his childish grumbles, Lucius seriously pondered within his head, 'One thousand guards…that's almost three times greater than the guard force in my previous life.'

'While I'm not worried about the Stage 3 and Stage 4 officers, the Stage 5 wardens will be quite difficult to deal with...' He then shot a glance to the Stage 5 being who was drawing circles on the ground next to him. 

Immediately, Lucius threw out any thoughts of wanting to employ his strength. 

Turning his gaze towards him, Lucius asked. "Do you know of the exact composition of the guards?"

"You mean their Power Levels? Sure," Dusting his hands, Prometheus rose from his crouching and confidently answered, "There are three Low-Level Stage 5 Wardens, 120 Stage 4 Officers of varying levels, and the rest are Stage 3 Guards that only deal with basic stuff like cleaning, cooking, and whatnot."

Hearing his answer, Lucius' brows furrowed as his eyes sharpened, 'Three Stage 5 entities…even though they are only at the Low-Level realm, fighting against the three of them simultaneously while carrying this deadweight is very risky.'

Closing his eyes, Lucius then tried to feel his connection with the Void. 

The shadow underneath his feet wavered slightly for an instant before quickly returning to its previous state of stillness. The change had occurred so fast that even Prometheus, who was standing right beside Lucius while intently watching him, noticed nothing.

Opening his eyes, a trace of disappointment appeared within his eyes, 'While better than when I was inside that sealed chamber, the connection is still extremely faint. With my current dangerously low reserves of void energy, it would be impossible for me to enter the void, let alone with him in tow.'

It couldn't be helped. There seemed to be something special about this tertiary dimension that greatly hindered his connection with the outside. 

The cost of connecting with and opening the void, even to access his storage, was not something that Lucius was currently able to spend.

In the end, he returned to the initial step.

'Seems like I have no choice in the end…the only way to leave this place is to fight our way through,' the light of resolve shone brightly within Lucius' eyes.

Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hmm, Lucius, I couldn't help but notice the look within your eyes," Prometheus slowly spoke up. "You aren't planning on fighting the people out there, are you?"

"Is there another way?" Lucius asked, an expression of confusion appearing on his way.

Hearing his reply, Prometheus stared at him speechlessly for a few seconds before shaking his head and quietly mumbling underneath his breath, "…these muscle-brained people are always looking for an excuse to battle."

He then coughed to clear his throat before looking at Lucius with a smile on his face. Lifting his right hand and bringing it next to his face, Prometheus spoke.

"What if I told you…there's a better solution compared to your Final Solution?" 

He then moved his right hand to cross his face, hiding it for an instant. However, in just that instant, great changes had occurred.

Prometheus' face had changed into that of someone completely unrecognizable. His peach-colored skin was now greatly tanned and the ruby-colored gem on his forehead shone with a quiet emerald brilliance.

"Neat, huh?" Even his voice had changed from its previous carefree state to a more rugged, manly tone.

With surprise coloring his face, realization instantly struck Lucius as he slowly asked, "…you mean?"

"Oh yeah!~" replied Prometheus, a brilliant smile across his face.

----------

Inside a densely crowded stone passageway filled with dozens of Magi wearing a dark-blue uniform lined with black stripes, a column of white light suddenly appeared with two men walking out of it.

Much like the rest of the Magi walking through the very same corridors, the two newly appeared men were dressed in the same uniform; dark-blue robes with black stripes lining across its surface.

Of the two newly appeared men, the person walking in the front had a wide smile across his tanned face and possessed a tall, muscular body. 

The person, who trailed behind him, possessed deathly pale skin, long straight hair, and a gloomy disposition. His eyes were unusually dull and his face was expressionless akin to a corpse.

On the foreheads of both figures were rhombus-shaped gems that quietly shined with emerald-green and fire-orange glows, respectively. 

Seeing these colors an educated individual would immediately be able to guess the nature of their magic powers; the tanned man had an affinity with Nature-related magic while the gloomy man behind him possessed an affinity towards Destruction-themed magic.

The instant these two figures stepped out of the light portal, the column of light behind them instantly disappeared sinking the area into dimly-lit darkness. 

Their sudden appearance, apart from drawing a few surprised glances, went largely unnoticed by the moving crowd of Magi as each went about their tasks.

After looking around with their heads, the two newly appeared 'Magi Guards' quickly joined the crowd and moved along.

Drawing closer to Prometheus' ear, Lucius, who was disguised as a gloomy loner, whispered with annoyance apparent within his tone.

"Where are we?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the muscular tanned man, who was none other than Prometheus in disguise, whispered back, "The hell if I know. I only hacked that light curtain to teleport us to someplace random instead of its preset destination." 

He then leaned forward and tapped on the shoulder of a tired-looking Magi who was walking in front of him. Waiting for the man to turn his head, Prometheus then cheerfully asked, "Hello sir, may you please tell us where we currently are?"

Hearing his question, the look within the tired-faced Magi's eyes became alert.

Seeing Prometheus cheerfully question the very same enemy whom they were trying to hide from, Lucius' muscles tensed. Soul power instantly gathered at his fingertips as Lucius prepared himself for battle.

Prometheus, however, looked as carefree as ever as he flashed an apologetic smile towards the tired-faced Magi.

After scanning both Prometheus and the gloomy-looking Lucius for a few seconds, the tired-faced Magi opened his mouth, "Are you two new here?"

"Sorry to bother you, senior. It's just the teleportation network is extremely complex and, my friend and I aren't very good at navigating," Prometheus expertly acted and explained. 

Hearing his apologetic explanation, the tired-faced Magi's eyes suddenly shined with a look of understanding. He then nodded his head and replied, "I understand your troubles, junior. When I came here a few years back, I was much like you, always getting lost and losing my way."

Patting Prometheus on his shoulder, he continued, "Don't be too apologetic. It will take you a few months but if you keep going at it, you'll quickly master the complicated teleportation network."

"As for where we currently are, if we keep going in the direction that we are currently heading, we will reach one of the cafeterias," he explained while motioning at the path forward. 

Turning around, the tired-faced Magi then pointed towards the back and spoke, "In the other direction is Sector F, with the Beast Processing Center, Dimension Stabilization Hub, Guard Towers, and other miscellaneous units."

"Ah, I see!" Performing a quick bow, Prometheus replied cheerfully, "Thank you so much for your help, senior!"

"Don't mention. Don't mention," the man mumbled while patting Prometheus on his shoulder. 

Seeing the cheerfulness and honest thankfulness on the tanned newcomer's face, the man sighed. Inwardly he cynically thought to himself, 'Such energy. I remember being this cheerful one time, believing that I was destined for greatness after being selected for a 'special', 'secret' mission.'

Looking at Prometheus with a kind and reminiscent look in his eyes, he continued, 'How naïve I was.'

"Stay strong, junior. Don't let reality crush you too soon," the tired-faced man removed his hand from Prometheus' shoulder and turned around, heading towards the cafeteria.

Prometheus speechlessly stared at the Magi's receding back and mumbled, "Wow…that guy has a story to tell."

He then threw this matter to the back of his head and turned to look at Lucius, who was shooting him looks that could kill.

Flashing a smile and forming a 'V' shaped symbol with his fingers, Prometheus spoke, "When lost, just ask the locals."

Turning around, he then resumed his walk towards the cafeteria.

"Let's have something to eat first. I don't know about you, but I'm starving from not having had anything to eat in five years!"