Lord of Annihilation

"The Supreme General..... has gone missing."

Hearing the old commander utter those words, Alex felt his heart drop.

'Fa-Father...has gone missing?' his eyes opened wide and his face turned pale.

Alex felt his throat drying up. His thoughts and emotions were in complete shambles, as he tried to digest the information he received.

'Impossible.' his first response was to subconsciously deny the fact. Taking a few seconds to calm himself, he tried to be rational.

'Father should be staying at the mansion on Earth with Mother. He has no reason to leave, unless....' just as the thought formed within his mind, Alex immediately shot off towards the old commander.

His body shot off the ground like a bullet. Before the old commander managed to blink his eyes, Alex had already arrived in front of him. Grasping the old commander by the collar of his clothes, he asked.

"Did father receive an order to mobilize?!" he shook the old commander a few times and screamed at his face.

The face of the old commander was awash with shock. Feeling the strength of the youngster's grip he hurriedly spoke.

"..Wa-wait! Calm.. down!"

"Answer me! Was Father asked to mobilize personally?!" due to his agitated state of mind, the soul power within Alex's body started to run amock. His hands started to turn red and the old commander felt the area near his throat become increasingly hot.

The higher-ups within the Alliance only had a limited understanding of the nature of the Awakened humans. Their abilities, level of destructibility, threat possessed, such factors had yet to be properly calculated.

Since Alex's movement, less than 5 seconds had passed. It was only now that the guards surrounding the old commander and his colleagues finally reacted. Rather than say they were slow in their reaction, they were more shocked at the abilities displayed by Alex.

Immediately pointing their rifles at Alex, they shouted in unison.

"Student! Put down the High Commander and retreat. Otherwise, we will shoot." they threatened.

Alex however wasn't in the calmest of states. Hearing their words only served to add fuel to the fire. Literally.

"Shut up!" he roared when a wave of fire suddenly exploded.

With Alex and the old commander at the center, the waves of red-hot fire spread in all directions. Wave after wave of blistering heat rushed in all directions. The guards who were pointing their rifles towards Alex immediately screamed and dodged the incoming waves of heat.

Some standing a little further away were able to escape unscathed while the others who were standing in closer proximity suffered burns to a certain degree.

Perhaps, knowing that he was currently in the Alliance HQ, Alex had subconsciously held back on his attack. This resulted in a small number of people being injured, but none losing their lives.

The guards immediately rose in unison and aimed their rifles at the figure in the middle once more. Catching a glimpse of the figure, they were instantly shocked.

Holding onto the old commander's collar was a man on fire.

Alex's entire body was wreathed in red flames. His red hair now contained a tinge of yellow and was also in the form of fire, fiercely burning. His crimson eyes burned with a multitude of emotions, chief of which was anger and worry.

A being composed with the purest of fire. This was the true form of the [Ruler of Flames] soul type.

With a voice that was just as raging as a fiercely burning flame sounded out.

"What! Happened! To! My! Father!" Alex bellowed.

Having completely lost his calmness, the old commander quickly started to speak.

"..Leader.. suddenly received an order from the HQ. He was tasked with leading the Alliance forces towards the Eastern Front, to respond to a sudden terrorist raid. He left shortly after you kids, left to your frontier planets."

"Three days before the sudden 'blackout' that occurred 3 weeks back, we got the news that an entire battalion personally led by the Supreme General disappeared!"

"That is the latest information. Ever since the blackout, we have not been able to contact any of our forces scattered across the various star systems. You kids from Deatov were the first to establish contact with us!"

"You have to calm down, young man. Being rash isn't going to help you or your father. Please calm down first." the old commander repeatedly urged in a soft voice.

Hearing his explanation, a hint of rationality had returned to Alex. While he did not understand the entire situation, this initial bit of info allowed him to forcibly push down on his worries. He released the grip on the old commander and stepped back.

The fire covering his body was slowly absorbed back into his skin. The figure of Alex was finally revealed to the eyes of all the onlookers. Shockingly not a single inch of fabric which he had worn was burnt nor showed signs of burning. Similarly, the old commander's body was also unharmed.

Seeing the fire retract from his body, the old commander finally let out a sigh of relief. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed his guards aim the rifle at Alex. Immediately he fiercely roared.

"Stand down! Do not attack the boy! He's the Supreme General's son!" upon his warning the guards finally lowered their rifles.

The old commander then slowly neared Alex. He saw the boy's face turn completely pale and his chest repeatedly rising up and down in exhaustion.

And exhausted he was. That little move of Alex, which lasted for less than 20 seconds had consumed a whopping 80% of his soul power. Alex's mind was hit with an intense wave of dizziness and his body was aching in pain.

His mind screamed at him to take a rest and allow his body to recover. Alas, he couldn't do so.

Raising his head, he stared into the eyes of the old commander. With a serious tone, he asked.

"Does Mother know?"

Hearing his question, the old commander shook his head.

"No one other than us High Commander and some of the higher-ups knows. We placed a tight seal on this matter to avoid needless panic within the military. Your father's prestige and reputation are simply too great. If this matter was to be leaked, god knows how the common soldiers would react."

"With the sudden blackout that has happened right now, panic within the military is one thing that we cannot afford to occur."

Listening to the old commander's explanation Alex nodded his head.

"Don't inform the family. Allow me to assume temporary command as Head of the Family."

"That should be possible. You are of age and are also the eldest son of your father. With that being said, follow me." saying so the old commander directly turned around.

He went up to the other High Commanders and explained the situation. All of them replied in affirmation to Alex's request.

Rising to his feet, Alex started to follow behind the old commander. They started to head towards the interior of the base.

Just as Alex was about to enter the Alliance HQ, he heard a loud shout originating behind him.

"SIR!" a loud, deafening voice was heard.

Turning his head back, Alex saw a line of soldiers who had followed him to the Alliance HQ from Deatov. These were the same men and women with whom he had fought the alien bugs and more recently played cards on the spaceship.

Seeing that Alex had heard their call and had turned to face them, the line of soldiers immediately performed an orderly bow. With resounding voices, they spoke.

"We thank you for your command against those damned bugs. Thank you, Sir, for leading us to victory and helping us preserve the lives of our comrades and families. We shall forever be in your service!" saying so, they formed a military salute.

Alex also responded in kind. A sense of accomplishment and pride filled his heart.

Seeing this scene, the old commander who had paused to wait for Alex to catch up to him, faintly smiled.

'This scene.... Both father and son are really too similar.' he faintly remembered the same exact scene occurring to Alex's father. Dozens of men and women profusely thanked that 'great man' for his leadership.

The old commander himself had been one amongst those soldiers.

Having said his goodbyes, Alex resolutely turned around and headed towards the old commander. He did not waste the time of words and silently followed behind the man.

Walking for a few minutes the old commander slowly asked.

"Are you not going to ask where we are going?"

"Where are we going?" Alex asked.

His mind had been preoccupied with thoughts about his father and therefore he had failed to ask this basic question.

"That's more like it. Young people must be curious. Anyways, to answer your question we are heading towards the Central Hall of the Alliance HQ."

"Why?" Alex asked curiously.

The old commander flashed a bitter smile and spoke.

"The World Council will gather to discuss the current supernatural events that are taking place across the galaxy. Prepare yourself, you will have a lot of talking to do."

Just as he completed his dialogue, the group of Head Commanders followed by Alex entered a large circular hall.