Lord of Annihilation

Seeing a showcase of power by the youngster, the Alliance Head's opinion of Alex went up by a few tiers.

'A smart kid who understands the seriousness of the situation and his role in the upcoming dialogue. 'That person's' intuition was correct after all.' Edward thought to himself.

At this moment, Alex had already arrived before Edward. He performed a salute and spoke.

"Private Alex Hellwig salutes the Alliance Head," he spoke in a serious voice.

Although Alex was usually rash and hot-blooded, when it involved matters regarding the military, he was unusually serious. He possessed the heart of a soldier.

Seeing the serious manner in which the youngster had greeted him, Edward showed a small smile.

"You can do away with the greetings, young man. If I'm not wrong you are here in your capacity as the temporary leader of the 'Hellwig' Family and not as a soldier." having said so, Edward casually threw a glance at the High Commanders sitting within the Hellwig Family's zone.

He even intentionally raised his voice at the last part, to make his voice audible to the rest of the audience. He was hinting that he had tacitly approved of this matter.

Having vaguely understood this hint, Alex lowered his hands.

"That is correct, Sir. My father, the Supreme General had me undertake the position of 'temporary' Family Head to help me accumulate experience. He is busy with other matters and expresses his sincere apologies for not being able to personally come here. " he unhesitantly replied.

Alex knew that he could not reveal the matter of his father's disappearance to the rest of the families, lest they use this opportunity to weaken the Hellwig family's position.

Apart from the High Commanders and a few of the Alliance higher-ups, none of the others knew the truth behind the matter. Alex wanted to keep it that way.

Hearing his words, Edward revealed a bigger smile. 'Truly a smart lad.' he thought to himself.

"No problems, young Alex. In fact, it is all the better that you are personally here. Please explain the events you have experienced in Deatov in detail." he instructed.

Alex nodded his head. Standing on the podium, he slowly started to explain all the events that had occurred starting from the gainst golden rocks falling from the sky.

He did not bother adding unnecessary details and paid attention to emphasize the strength and methods of the enemy. He also briefly explained the matter of souls and soul power, emphasizing its ability to grow in strength and lethality.

"...I'm afraid that the matter of Ascension is not strictly exclusive to Deatov. If my guesses are correct, the other frontier planets must also be facing a similar scenario."

"In fact, I have reasons to believe that the rest of mankind will also undergo the process of Ascension and the Ordeals in the upcoming months. It is imperative that we establish a proper channel of communication and properly prepare for the attack by those strange alien race."

Having said his piece, Alex stopped talking. The various representative and dignitaries present in the room remained quiet for a few moments, as they digested this information.

'Perfectly spoken.' Edward also nodded his head in appreciation. His evaluation of young Alex was undergoing a steady increase.

Just as Alex was about to get off the stage, one of the Family Heads from the audience directed a question at him.

"Young lad, I have a question. During your speech, I noticed that you placed a lot of importance on the threat possessed by those alien species. But from what I understand from that video, just a single youngster was able to easily handle hundreds of those bugs. Therefore, isn't your worries exaggerated and unfounded?" a tall man with a cultured appearance, questioned.

Hearing this question, Alex paused in his movements. His eyes narrowed, as he gazed towards the audience who were nodding their heads at this question.

Looking at this scene, Alex remembered a certain memory.

'Humans consider themselves to be invincible within the Universe. They do not understand the meaning of 'absolute power'."

'Then again, mankind is but a pathetic worm that is meant to be crushed.'

That emotionless tone coupled with that indifferent face made the anger within Alex's surge.

'He was right.' although he did not want to admit it, Alex realized that Lucius' words had been entirely correct.

He then raised his head and looked at the tall, cultured man who had a smug expression on his face. A mocking smile decorated Alex's face.

He turned around to face Edward and asked.

"Alliance Head, can I borrow two of those unmanned mechs which are guarding the hall?" he requested.

Hearing his request, Edward was a little confused. Still, he nodded his head and the unmanned mechs were brought near the stage.

Noticing the confused expression on the faces of the audience, Alex did not bother to explain his actions. He simply spoke one word.

"Watch."

The moment his voice fell, Alex mobilized his soul power and compressed two spheres of flames atop his palms. The moment those flames manifested, Alex immediately threw them towards the fully armored mechs.

"Fireball." Alex softly spoke the name of the spell.

The two fireballs whizzed through the air and instantly reached the bodies of the two mechs. Noticing the attack, a blue shield formed over the bodies of the two mechs. It was an energy barrier.

Seeing the energy barriers, Alex wasn't worried in the least. The fireballs came into contact with the energy barrier and at the next moment...

It easily tore apart the energy barrier!

With no signs of stopping its momentum, the two fireballs destroyed the energy barriers and directly attacked the bodies of the two mechs. The result naturally followed.

BANG! BANG!

Two thunderous explosions sounded out, as the powerful mechs turned into two pieces of flaming metal junk. The waves of fires immediately started to spread in the direction of the audience.

Noticing the threat to their lives, the faces of the audience turned pale and they screamed in terror. Their bodies stumbled as they tried to escape from the approaching death.

Just as the wave of fire was about to make contact with their bodies, it suddenly stopped. Alex casually waved his hands and the blanket of fire immediately rushed towards him and was absorbed into his body.

'That's rather convenient.' he thought to himself. Then looking at the mess that he had caused, Alex nervously thought to himself.

'I wasn't expecting a casual [Fireball] to be that deadly.' Thinking back on how Lucius had tanked this attack with his bare body, cold sweat flowed from his back.

Suppressing such unnecessary thoughts, Alex spoke.

"That was a casual attack from a Low-Level Stage 1 soul. The enemy that attacked the base in Deatov was composed of thousands of such beings. Tell me, did I exaggerate their lethality?"

Hearing his question, the tall man hurriedly shook his head and apologized. The rest of the audience also calmed themselves and a serious expression was present on their faces.

'A casual attack? How deadly!!' Edward inwardly thought to himself.

Alex however, did not merely stop here and continued to talk.

"As for that young man who fought against thousands of those Bugs and was able to effortlessly kill hundreds of them. Please do not use him for comparison."

"That guy is a monster! A monster that does not follow common sense." Alex fiercely warned them.

"Any other questions?" he then asked.

"I have one!" the Head of the White Family raised his hands.

Standing up with his short, stubby legs he asked.

"May I ask, where did you get your information on this... 'soul power' and the matters of the 'Ascension'? I recall no such information being provided by the others who had undergone Ascension among the survivors of Deatov"

A sharp question, which questioned the basis of his claims.

Alex was caught off-guard. He was unsure of how to answer this question. His knowledge of souls and the grim future that awaited mankind stemmed from the information provided to him by Ka'lor'ah.

'What should I say?' Alex started to panic.

Edward who was standing right next to Alex noticed his abnormality. Just as he was about to intervene, Alex started to speak once again.

"I'm afraid I cannot fully explain the basis of my information. To put it simply, I was 'chosen' by a certain entity and had my soul awakened prior to the 'Ascension'. This entity shared with me this information, at the price of having to bear the responsibility of mankind's continued survival. I cannot divulge any more information pertaining to this matter."

"I understand that words might sound fantastical, but this is the truth. I can swear my life on this."

Hearing his answer, the audience voiced their dissatisfaction. The brows of the head of the White family also furrowed. Still, he decided not to push forth with his question. Especially when the other party was of equal standing.

'Still, my scheme was somewhat successful.' the Head of the White family thought to himself.

"Understood. Apologies for my sensitive question." he faintly smiled and sat down.

Not noticing the implications behind that smile, Alex simply nodded his head.

Edward who was standing behind him faintly shook his head. With a bitter smile on his face, he thought to himself.

'It is to be expected. After all, he is still young and isn't familiar with the schemes of these old foxes.'