Lord of Annihilation

"You can do that?" Olivia curiously asked. 

Nodding his head, Lucius replied, "So far, I've been letting you fight that Sword-Winged Angel without the latter deploying her Domain."

"However, now that you've gained initial mastery in your [Power Unity] technique, continuing that previous pattern of training will not have any effect. With your current strength, you will be able to last for some time inside a Domain."

"Hmm," Olivia lowered her head in thought. "Can you simulate any Domain?"

"All that I've come in contact with." 

"How accurate will the simulation be?"

"More than 90%," Lucius replied and continued. 

"While the simulation cannot replace actual, physical combat experience gained with fighting with your actual body and life on the line, it can more or less prepare you for when the real thing comes," Lucius explained.

"Do you want to try?" Lucius asked.

Olivia remained silent for a second, before nodding her head in reply, "Of course, I want to try. However, I have a request."

Raising his eyebrows, Lucius asked, "What request?"

"Can I experience your Domain first?" she asked, excitedly.

Olivia had seen Lucius deploy his Domain on multiple occasions. She knew how it looked from the outside, but had yet to experience it by herself.

Hearing that Lucius could simulate any Domain, she wanted to experience his Domain first.

"You want to experience my Domain, [Corpse Mountain Range]?" Lucius asked, surprised.

"Yes!" Olivia exclaimed and hurriedly nodded her head.

Seeing her excited reply, Lucius shrugged his shoulder and replied, "Come over here and sit in front of me."

"Yes!" Olivia replied and quickly made her way towards Lucius. 

Looking at her eager expression and excited face, Lucius thought to himself, 'I hope she knows what she's getting herself into.'

Placing his hand over Olivia's head after the latter had sat down in front of him, Lucius continued, 'Oh well, it's only a simulation.  Letting her experience death is also a valuable lesson.'

Soul power exploded from his palm and Olivia' soon found herself entering a familiar place.

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Standing inside an endless white space was a projection of Olivia. 

The projection was a perfect replica of her real body, possessing the exact same strength and similar control. It was almost distinguishable from the real thing, except for one single difference; there was this sense of hollowness present within her inside this space.

Although Olivia did not understand where this feeling of hollowness stemmed from and what exactly that she was lacking, it did not matter to her since it had no real impact on her power.

If anything, this feeling of hollowness helped her realize that this space was simply a simulation and not the real world.

"My armor, sword, soul power…yep, everything is here and in perfect condition," Olivia quickly examined herself and the items on her body.

Since this was space was merely a simulation and Olivia's figure was but a projection, the issue of her depleted soul power and the missing weapon was easily resolved.

"Are you ready?" a voice asked, indifferently.

Raising her head, Olivia noticed that a projection of Lucius had suddenly appeared in the space above her. 

The endless white space made it a little difficult to accurately judge distance, but Olivia estimated that he was around 50m away from her.

Nodding her head, Olivia replied, "Ready."

"Deploy Domain [Corpse Mountain Range]," Lucius solemnly stated and snapped his fingers.

In the next instant, the white space around Olivia retreated and disappeared. A monochromatic grayness filled the space, as Olivia found the ground, the air, and even the sky change around her.

Dense but scattered grey clouds appeared in the sky above her. The ground underneath her feet turned soft and squishy, as Olivia felt a sticky sensation underneath her boots.

Lifting her leg, she realized that the bottom of her boots was covered with sticky, crimson blood; the only bright color within this grey world.

'Is this blood?' Olivia asked herself. 

Just as she was about to lean down and touch her feet, Olivia felt a terrifying pressure descend upon her, freezing her body and locking its movements.

Recalling the lessons taught to her about Domains and their abilities, Olivia quickly understood what this pressure was, 'Domain suppression…how terrifying!' 

However, with those lessons, she had also been taught how to combat this pressure. As such, Olivia controlled the soul power inside her body with great difficulty and pushed it outside to establish a Field. 

Just as the strands of soul power were about to exit her body and spread into the space around her, Olivia felt the movement of her soul power suddenly come to a halt.

It wasn't just her soul power, but even her blood, heart, and even her thoughts came to an absolute pause.

An indescribable and unmatched sensation of fear assaulted her mind, bringing her to the precipice of death. 

Never before, had Olivia felt the hand of death as clearly as she did right now. It surrounded her entire body, caressing her, and tempting her to fall into its clutches.

It took her an immense amount of willpower to resist this temptation to die and recover her thoughts. However, that was the extent of her recovery, as Olivia found it impossible to communicate with her body or soul power.

'This! This was never mentioned in the lessons!' Olivia thought, terrified. 'Didn't Lucius say that I wouldn't be completely helpless within a Domain and would be able to last for some time?'

Unable to control her body or her soul power, Olivia could only passively see what her eyes were looking towards. Seeing the scene, however, made Olivia mentally draw a sharp intake of air.

Filling the entirety of her vision was a mountain of corpses. And seated at its peak, upon a throne of corpses, was Lucius.

Although Olivia had seen this scene before, it was only from outside the Domain. Being outside and being within the Domain were two incomparably different experiences.

Feeling the gaze of Lucius, who was sitting with his legs crossed and his arms resting, Olivia, for a moment, felt like she was being stared at by the God of Death!

Under his gaze, all living things were quickly helpless and worthless.

Olivia then saw Lucius open his mouth and softly utter a word. His voice, which should technically be inaudible judging from the distance, loudly resounded within her ears.

"Die."

The next instant, Olivia saw her surroundings darken and her body collapsed.

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"Poof!" Olivia threw up a mouthful of blood, as her body recoiled backward.

Falling onto the ground, she stiffly laid as her mind continued to recall the indescribable sensation of terror and helplessness which she had felt during her time inside his Domain.

Sweat poured out of her body wetting the ground underneath. Her heart beat at a hundred miles per hour, as her chest constantly heaved up and down, as it tried to desperately suck in air.

"How as the experience?" she heard Lucius ask.

Partly dazed by the experience, Olivia absent-mindedly replied, "Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying."

Hearing that, Lucius let out a rare chuckle and replied, "That was the simulation of my Domain. Although the simulation is 90% real, it still can't mimic the real thing."

"If you were inside my real Domain, you wouldn't have been able to move from the beginning much less think during the rest."

Hearing that, Olivia grew even more shocked. Forcing herself up with her arms, Olivia sat up with difficulty. 

Wearing a discontent expression, she looked towards Lucius and asked, "Didn't you say that I would have a fighting chance inside a Domain with my current strength? I couldn't even see your Domain in its entirety, much less fight."

"Indeed, I did say that," Lucius unexpectedly agreed to her words. "However, I never included my Domain into that consideration. Even if you were to ascend into Stage 3, you wouldn't even be able to touch my shadow, much less fight me."

"All which that enters my Domain, will die." Lucius solemnly stated.

Hearing that sentence, Olivia found herself speechless.

'Oi, are you bragging? Are you saying that you're invincible?' Olivia thought to herself. 

A strange glint flashed across her eyes and a childish flame of competitiveness was lit alight within her heart. 

'Defeating you might be impossible, but saying that I might not even be able to touch your shadow is just too much. Wait for me to ascend into Stage 3, I'll prove you wrong!' Olivia declared within her heart.

Lucius was, of course, ignorant to this challenge. His sentence had been said, not with the intent to brag or demean Olivia's strength, but as a simple fact. 

Lacking in his communication skill, Lucius' sentence had sounded like an arrogant declaration, when in actuality he did not mean to do so.

"Do you want to try again? Another Domain, perhaps?" Lucius asked, extending his hands.

In response, Olivia simply stared into his eyes for a few seconds, before replying, "Not right now. I want to take a break."

She then moved to the spot beside Lucius and leaned against the wall. Stretching her arms and legs, Olivia closed her eyes and seemingly sunk into mediation.

Seeing that she was not interested in continuing and seemed to be taking a break, Lucius retrieved his hands and similarly closed his eyes in mediation.

Since he never slept, Lucius quietly mediated to rest his mind, while circulating his soul power within his body. This was an ingrained habit and an automatic function of his body.

Minutes passed when suddenly, Lucius felt a weight on his shoulder. 

'Hmm?' Opening his eyes, he lowered his eyes towards his shoulder and saw that Olivia's head was resting against it. 

Her breathing was calm and ordered, and her eyes moved rapidly underneath her eyelids. Scanning her once with his soul power, Lucius confirmed that she had fallen asleep.

'Sleeping with no concern about her surroundings…seems like I need to provide her training in that aspect,' Lucius thought with furrowed brows.

Raising his right hand, he gathered soul power into his palm and shaped a tiny, black pebble. Aiming towards Olivia's forehead, he was just about to flick it at her, when he suddenly heard her mutter.

"Heh…Lucius…I…win…" A smile appeared on Olivia's face, as she seemed to have sunken into a dream.

Hearing those words, however, Lucius' movements suddenly stopped and his body stiffened.

He couldn't help but recall a silver-haired figure being in this exact same position, uttering those exact same words in her sleep.

For a moment, Lucius saw Olivia's figure replaced by the silver-haired one in his memories.

He was, however, quick to recover and hurriedly shook his head, 'No, that is her and this is Olivia. They are not the same.'

'She…is no longer alive,' guilt appeared within Lucius' eyes, as he recalled a certain memory. 

A few minutes later, Lucius snapped out of his daze and looked at the sleeping figure of Olivia with a complicated gaze. Dispersing the pebble in his hands, he removed his gaze and closed his eyes once more.

'I'll let you off, this one time.'