Lord of Annihilation

A ring of [Annihilation Energy] imbued soul power poured out of Lucius' body and flooded the surrounding space. The ring continued to expand outwards before stopping at a thirty-meter radius.

"Fill."

A single syllable was spat out of Lucius' mouth, the instant after which the clouds of soul power within his mindspace started to rapidly dissipate and disappear. 

Outside, the area encompassed by the ring was rapidly filled with the Low-Level Stage 2 soul power originating from within Lucius' mindspace. 

This soul power which was imbued with [Annihilation Energy] clashed against the Stage 3 soul power of the Bertarian, imbued within the Domain, with each burning and destroying each other in the process.

Sizzle!! Sizzle!!

A sharp sound, similar to the one produced when fingernails are starched against boards, sounded out as the two different energies clashed.

The [Annihilation Energy] was evidently superior at destroying other forms of energy as seen from the speed at which the Stage 3 soul energy was destroyed. However, its quality was too low when compared to the latter necessitating a greater quantity.

This process continued until the soul power within Lucius' mindspace was reduced by 83%, leaving a mere 17% to continue the battle.

However, this wasn't the time to think about that, for the cluster of meteors had arrived above his head.

Lucius continued to look towards the meteors, unfazed.

'I did not want to use it at this stage. What a waste of energy.' Sighing to himself, Lucius worded the final command.

"Solidify."

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BAAANNNGGGG!!!

The skies cried and the earth moaned. An explosive sound, one that was several magnitudes higher than the previous one resounded within the Domain followed by absolute silence. 

The middle-aged Bertarian, floating in the sky, had beads of sweat covering his forehead. His argent robes with patterned blue borders were also sticking to his body, as a result of intense sweating.

Looking down at the massive cluster of rocks that had formed a fracture on the ground, the Bertarian thought to himself.

'That should have done it, right? There is no way he could have survived that. Even if it was me that was hit by that attack, it would've resulted in some serious injuries.

His chest rose and fell as he tried to stabilize his breath. 

Evidentially, that attack consisting of the verge large cluster of rocks had trained quite a bit of stamina and soul power from him.

Not only did each attack earlier, require soul power to manifest and materialize, but the Domain itself required a constant input of soul power to sustain it. 

This meant that although Domains were extremely powerful, they also had short durations. Of course, if one has a greater soul power capacity they could also prolong the duration of their Domains, and the increase in Stages would also improve and affect the effects of the Domain.

Heaving heavy breaths for a few moments, the middle-aged Bertarian then looked into his mindspace to confirm the amount of soul power remaining.

'Less than 45% and its declining at a rapid rate too. I better leave this place before those other Stage 3 beasts from within the forest show up and use this opportunity to deal with me.'

'But first…' He looked at the large artificial crater on the ground and carefully probed it with his senses. 

Similar to the previous case, the middle-aged Bertarian couldn't detect Lucius' presence or even his body for that matter. 

However, different from the previous instance, he did not simply turn to leave but flew down towards the meteor rocks.

'I have to confirm that monster's body with my own eyes. He seems to have some sort of cloaking device to hide from my senses.'

The middle-aged Bertarian could not help but refer to Lucius as a monster. After all, what kind of Low-Level Stage 2 could fight against an experienced Stage 3 such as himself and also injure him in the process.

To be honest, if not for the Domain forming an inescapable cage and constantly attacking Lucius while hindering and suppressing him, the middle-aged Bertarian couldn't honestly say how long the battle would've lasted.

Of course, he was absolutely convinced of his victory. A mere Stage 2 couldn't win against a Stage 3 after all. However, the time taken and the damage taken would've also been considerable, according to his guess.

And as stated earlier, being inside the Dark Shade Forest, he couldn't afford to use too much time or strength when there was a pack of Stage 3 Wild Beasts hungering for an opportunity to pounce on him.

'Let's get this over with.' 

Infusing some more of his soul power into the Domain, he started to manipulate the space within to lift the heavy rocks. 

Creating a Domain also meant that one would have complete control over the space within. This meant that one would be able to alter the various factors within the domain such as gravity, air density, elemental composition, and much more at a suitable energy cost (i.e., soul power).

The purple lightning, the toxic air, the falling meteors, all of these things were a result of the above statement. 

Therefore by paying an insignificant amount of soul power, lifting these heavy rocks was hardly a challenge.

'Now to confirm your death…'

Just as the middle-aged Bertarian had moved the rock aside, he saw the faint shine of a metallic object. The shine was ever so faint and delicate, that it was obvious that the owner had angled the blade to not refract light.

Where the middle-aged Bertarian has expected to see a smashed body, he was instead met with the blade of a scythe containing an immense amount of soul power.

'?!!' 

Recognizing the danger of the blade, warning bells rang within the middle-aged Bertarian's head.

Alas, it was too late.

With both of his hands firmly gripping onto the pitch-black scythe, Lucius' aimed the tip of the blade to strike at his opponent's eyes.

He was acutely aware of the Stage difference between them and understood that he wouldn't be able to penetrate the latter's skin without using [Shred] or [Eviscerate]. However, his soul power reserves were already at a dangerous level and he could not afford to be extravagant in their use.

As such, Lucius did what he did best. Strike the opponent in his weakest spot.

To fight is to survive and to survive is to kill. As long as the final result was the same, the method of fighting did not matter.

Fighting dirty was definitely not beneath him.

With the middle-aged Bertarian caught off-guard, he was unable to react in time. The hardened scythe blade, reinforced by Stage 2 [Annihilation Energy], effortlessly tore into both the eyeballs.

"ARRRGGHHH!!" A noisy cry similar to a pig's squeal came out of the Bertarian's throat. "My eyes!!!" 

The [Annihilation Energy] had effectively vaporized the eyeballs and their surrounding areas. In terms of effectiveness, it was even better than Lucius' expectations.

Out of pain, the middle-aged Bertarian instinctively flinched and stepped back, while using his hands both of his hands to cover his eyes. The sudden pain and blindness had been a bit too much for his mind to process.

And this was exactly the result that Lucius' had aimed for.

'Eyes are done, next is…' 

Flicking his wrists, Lucius instantly pulled back his scythe and twisting it. Rotating the blade to face directly upwards, he reached down with his scythe and…

…pulled it up from under the Bertarian's legs.

"AARRRGHHHH!!!" 

A scream that was forceful enough to tear apart one's vocal cords resounded through the air. Perhaps, his vocal cord was indeed torn by the scream, as it was abruptly cut short replaced by the sounds of choking.

The blade of the scythe was at least, three feet in length. Currently, near half of that size had entered the Bertarian's body through his pelvis and the [Annihilation Energy], having entered through this juncture, started to rampage within.

"—GaRh!! I…ill KiLl yOu!!" Having lost his mind to the pain and shame, the middle-aged Bertarian screamed through blood and tears.

Of course, Lucius never paid any attention to the threats of his opponent. 

Since a second attack had connected successfully, so will a third…and a fourth…and a fifth…

With his opponent in constant pain and agony that was intense enough for him to lose his sanity, Lucius continued with his combo. 

His right eye shined with eerie crimson light, proof that [Flaw Detection] had activated somewhere along the way, Lucius noted every single point of weakness and methodically attacked.

His body was in perfect form and his actions were in perfect sync. His scythe flowed ever so effortlessly as it ripped and tore the Stage 3 opponent at various spots.

Lucius' wasn't using any of his scythe techniques, but was exhibiting his purest skill with the weapon. 

Actually, calling it pure skill would be an understatement. The degree of his ability had surpassed the boundary of simple movement entering the realm of an art form.

While the 300 years may have taken away a lot of things from Lucius, it did grant him unparalleled skill

If this scene was to be recorded and the background was to be muted, it would undoubtedly be a cinematic masterpiece. And record, someone did.

Ka'lor'ah who had flown some distance away was eagerly recording this battle with her crystal body. She knew better than to intervene with Lucius' battle and quietly let him have his fun.

Capturing the scene which would be added to her collection at a later date, she thought to herself.

'It's a shame that it's impossible to showcase such ability at higher Stages. With Domain's being the main form of combat, and the sheer lack of Living Weapons, physical combat takes the backseat. Such a pity.'

While Ka'lor'ah lamented the lack of artful fights, Lucius was also approaching the end of his battle.

His uninterrupted combo, one that had crossed the two hundred or three hundred mark, came to an end with a final blow to the middle-aged Bertarian's heart.

Having shaved and cut layer after layer of skin and muscles, Lucius unleashed a final stream of [Annihilation Energy] which vaporized the furiously beating heart.

A Stage 3, an almost unconquerable existence for Stage 2 beings was finally cut down!

With his heart having been destroyed, the Stage 3 body lost all signs of life and slumped into the ground. Lucius, being eternally calm as ever, had broken into quite a sweat from his exertion.

His nose twitched a few times, leading him to consciously sniff at the air. An extremely mouthwatering aroma assaulted his senses, prompting Lucius to unconsciously activate [Devour].

The shadow beneath his feet exploded and a formless white silhouette was quickly absorbed.

The soul of a Stage 3 being!

'Wow!' Looking at the amount of energy entering his mindspace, Lucius was honestly surprised.