Lord of Annihilation

Alex quickly shook himself off his stupor and warily watched the the events unfolding below. He scanned around and was surprised at the number of people present in this place.

'20...30...50 people!!', Alex was shocked.

Closely looking at the way they were standing and the arms carried by them, Alex also understood that these were no normal kidnappers. Each and every single one of them was a professional in his own right.

'Who is this young lady?', he inwardly asked himself, knowing that Ka'lor'ah could hear him. He waited a few seconds, but noticed that she was silent.

Furrowing his brows, he nervously asked, "Something wrong?" His hands slowly moved to remove the object he was carrying around in his back.

Hearing his voice, spoken out loud Ka'lor'ah was awoken from her reverie. With her rarely serious voice, she instructed, "No harm can befall her! We must absolutely protect her!"

"What? How am I supposed to do that?! There are 50 armed guards, maybe more in hiding." Alex asked her in a confounded and shocked manner.

"She is a Chosen just like you! And you just need to buy enough time until he gets here." she replied in a cool manner.

Alex was dumbfounded.

Just a few minutes ago, she had instructed him to place her in one of the warehouses and quickly escape to evade Lucius. Yet, right now she was contradicting her earlier statement by making him stay here.

Faintly amused, Alex asked her, "Didn't you say that Chosen ones were very rare, with not even 5 existing throughout the Alliance. I suddenly don't feel all that special.."

Although he sounded like he was complaining, Alex was looking forward for this. He loosened his grip over the object and undressed the cloth covering it. Pulling out the long object carried within, a sharp metallic light shone off it's surface.

It was a long elegantly carved spear, standing proudly 2.4m in length. It gave off a solemn and bloody vibe, a testament to how it wasn't simply a weapon to be hanged., but one that had tasted blood. His had gripped it in a familiar manner, as he gently stroked the tip of the spear.

"How are we to proceed?" he asked the crystal.

"Let's not be hasty. We have to first learn, what their motives are. When the opportune moment comes you move in to rescue her."

"Oi, Oi, Oi! You're not telling me to jump in right?" Alex gulped.

"Precisely! Weren't you talking about saving a damsel in distress. Here is an opportunity readily available." Ka'lor'ah spoke in an amused voice. She had reverted back to be non-serious personality.

"Saving a damsel..! This is suicide!" Alex bemoaned

"Relax, you don't have to face all of them. Just buy enough time for Lucius to get here. Together with the two of your working, you can clean these guys up in no time. Now shush, listen to what's going on down there."

Alex was rendered speechless. Giving out a small chuckle he abided by her commands.

'This is more like it." his eyes shone with the intent to battle.

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Olivia, who had been kidnapped by a group of mysterious black robed men, had completely shaken off her previously gloomy state. Upon identifying Luther and hearing Keith's name a new type of zeal had invaded her body.

'You want to protect me? But how are you going to protect yourself?', Lucius' earlier question once again reverberated within her mind.

'Indeed, if I cannot even protect myself, how am I expected to protect him.' Olivia thought to herself.

During the course of her being brought to the warehouse, Olivia had been reflecting on herself. She once again played the entire series of events, which had taken place in Lucius' room.

Every word, he spoke, every action of his, every expression, played within Olivia's mind in great detail. Thinking with a clear head, she suddenly realized.

'Although his words were harsh, he wasn't admonishing me. Rather it was sincere advice.', Thinking back to that emotionless look in his eyes, Olivia's heart pained once again.

'He's lonely.' she understood.

'He's acting cold to me in order to protect me.' Olivia's eyes shone in her understanding. Everything suddenly made sense in her head.

'Instead of being helpful to him, I'm being a burden.'

'No! This cannot continue.' her fists clenched in determination. 'I need to be stronger.'

'To protect the Alliance, my family and Lucius. I will become stronger, so that he no longer has to wear that cold expression on his face. To bring back that sunny and cheery young man!'

Olivia had solidified her goal once again. This time, she would no longer be dependent on others.

"But first, I must survive." Olivia spoke out on a gentle voice that was not heard by anyone. She noticed that the people who had kidnapped her had finally come to a stop.

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The group of 4 men included Luther and 3 black robbed men, who had their faces covered with a mask. Apart from their unfeeling eyes, nothing else could be seen.

Directly walking to the center of the warehouse, with Olivia in tow, they came to a halt before another young man with black eyes and brown hair. He had a scholarly but dangerous aura surrounding him.

Luther directly walked towards this young man and spoke in a subservient voice.

"The plan proceeded without any troubles. We successfully brought her here."

The young man simply nodded and asked, "Are you sure no one followed you."

"We took many detours and were cautious along the way. No one knows, nor has anyone followed us." Luther explained in a respectful tone.

Inwardly Luther was grumbling, 'To kidnap this one woman, you hired more than 50 professional hitmen. Yet you have the audacity to ask me, whether I was care full or not! Who are you even in guarded against.' Alas, Luther did not know the trauma left in Keith's mind by Lucius. In order to get rid of Olivia once and for all, he was not taking any chances.

The handsome young man nodded once again and proceeded towards Olivia. Extending one of his hands, he removed the bag covering her head.

Seeing the person in front of her, Olivia glared with hateful eyes.

"Keeehhttth" she fumed. Alas wasn't able to voice the name of this young man standing in front of her, due to her mouth being blocked.

Keith gave a gentle smile and replied, "Nice to meet you too, Miss Mayer. It seems you have heard about me."

He then looked up towards one of the men and spoke, "Remove the mouth gag."

Nodding, one of the dark robbed men, stepped up and complied.

"KEITH! You are the one who hurt Lucius!" Olivia thundered, her eyes were filled with simmering rage.

Keith's graceful and gentle face collapsed upon hearing that name. That name was cause of all this complications. That person, who foiled his smooth-sailing plans resulting in him being blacklisted by the Snowden Corporation.

Even his own family dumped all the accusations on his head, after receiving information, not hesitating in the least to make him a scapegoat. Keith's expression was twisted in hatred. A rarely seen madness filled his eyes.

'Fortunately, I got rid of him.' he placated his thoughts.

He then stared at Olivia and replied in a equally thunderous voice, "I did so what? Commoners like you are meant to stepped on by people like us."

Olivia's rage was quelled for a moment. She was indirectly reminded of Lucius' words once again.

'I'm at a disadvantage right now. If I am to survive, I have to act with prudence.' Olivia rationally analyzed.

Taking deep breaths to calm herself, Olivia spoke to Keith.

"Why have you brought me here?"

"In order to kill you, of course." he spoke in a cool voice, his mouth carrying a cruel smile.

Olivia's face paled, 'This is bad!' She then hurriedly asked, "Why?"

Seeing the accomplice of his most hated enemy struggle like this, Keith's smile widened. "And why should I tell you that?"

Inwardly, Keith was thinking, 'That's right, despair! The more you despair, the greater my satisfaction.'

Although, Lucius' death had placated Keith's madness to a certain extent, the great emotional upheavals he had felt resulted in some changes taking place in his psyche. This resulted in his personality being more cruel and vicious. A sadistic nature had been birthed in his mind.

Olivia, seeing Keith's expression understood this fact, 'If I'm to have a chance at survival, I have to play to his sadistic side.'

Putting on an aggrieved but helpless expression, Olivia spoke bitterly.

"Since I'm fated to die here today, please tell me the cause of all of this." there was a felling of certain defeat in her voice.

The smile on Keith's face grew all the more brighter, until it encompassed his entire face. The madness in his eyes also grew.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA", he bellowed out a maniacal laughter.

"Sure! I'll tell you. It's because you are related to that bastard Lucius!"

Suddenly, his madness retreated and a calm look resurfaced in his face. It seemed as though his earlier outbreak was all a lie.

"Knowing that, you can die." he said in a calm voice.

He gestured to the men standing behind her and turned around to walk away.

"Not if I have something to say about it!" a new voice sounded out. One that was filled with defiance and arrogance.