Lord of Annihilation

"Welcome to the Elvenheim- Rivendell. What is your purpose of visiting?" he asked.

"Visiting an acquaintance," Lucius plainly answered. 

The elf leader calmly nodded his head and the orb within his hand lit up with green light. He then continued with his questions.

"Are you harboring any known criminals or transporting any contraband? Coming clean right now would reduce your sentence if you're found guilty later." 

"There is nothing of that sort aboard."

"Do you or any of your companions belong to the [Evil] faction?"

"No."

"Where is your exact destination within Rivendell?"

"The seventh planet within his system."

"How long will the duration of your stay last?"

"One or two weeks."

"How many passengers are on board?"

"Three. The ones you see here."

A few other mandatory questions were asked and Lucius answered each one calmly and precisely. 

Olivia, who was reading the expressions of all the elves, keenly noticed their faces turning sour as the questions continued. Lucius' detachment and nonchalance during the questioning seemed to irritate them.

"Final question before we start the search, I'll have to see your Traveler IDs."

Hearing that question, Olivia slightly panicked. She was very aware that they did not possess such an item and was afraid that the absence of such would deny them entry.

Lucius, however, seemed to be unbothered by that question as he casually replied, "We do not have a Traveler ID. We are first-time travelers."

"Oh?" the leader elf slightly raised his eyebrow and looked at Lucius. 

He had not liked the nonchalant demeanor of this creature before him and had been quietly holding in his irritation.

"You should know that Travelers without an ID will be denied entrance. You should take your ship and leave, or you will be attacked."

"That is not true. Unrecorded, first-time Travelers must pay an extra toll before being granted entrance into an Elvenheim. I know the rules," Lucius answered, unmoved.

Hearing his reply, one of the female elves in the back finally lost her calm and finally exploded, "Audacious! You dare talk ba—"

Low-Level Stage 3 aura exploded from her body and rushed towards Lucius. 

Olivia, who was standing next to him also felt the pressure, but quickly employed her Field to combat it. She then took a step backward and assumed a combat stance. Her hands hovered above the bone sword at her waist, waiting for Lucius' order to attack.

Facing the wave of hostile aura, Lucius simply gazed at the female elf. He then released a trace of his own aura that had been previously hidden.

The instant his aura came into contact with the female elf's aura, the latter was instantly destroyed. Lucius' aura continued to grow and expand until it started to oppress the entire party of elves.

Except for their leader, all the elves found their bodies immobilized and their hearts frozen with fear. 

The sheer intensity of the murderous intent released by Lucius reminded them of a particular breed of individuals who were not to be messed with.

"Killer…" The leader elf absent-mindedly replied. He then adopted a serious expression and casually waved his hands.

Instantly, Lucius' aura was suppressed and completely dispersed from the scene. The elves regained control of their bodies and fell to the ground in unison. Sweat drenched the back of their uniforms and their pale faces reflected the horror within their minds.

Although his aura was dispersed and his power was suppressed by the other party, Lucius did not react much and calmly replied, "I simply defended myself. I do not seek any trouble and simply want to enter."

He then stared straight into the eyes of the leader elf and continued, "You might be at Stage 4, but I'm a Stage 3 [Killer]. I'm not afraid to fight you even if I have to trade my life for it."

"While I might not be able to kill you, I can seriously wound you and cause a tremendous amount of damage to the surroundings. Many elves and Travelers abound will lose their lives in the process, which would then poorly reflect on you."

Lucius then retrieved a box from near his feet and showed it to the elf leader. Opening the box, he spoke. "500 spirit coins for the entrance fee and an additional 3500 for undocumented IDs. This is the price mandated by your laws."

The Stage 4 elf, who had been silent throughout Lucius's speech, quietly extended his soul power and scanned the box. 

After confirming that its contents were true as Lucius had stated, he retrieved the box from Lucius' hands and threw it to one of his subordinates on the floor.

Extending the orb in his hands once more, he asked, "I will need to record the Names, Soul Power realm, and Races of you and your companions."

Nodding his head, Lucius answered, "Olivia, Peak-Level Stage 2, Mankind."

"Mankind?" the elf asked in confusion. 

"It's a newly ascended race." Lucius truthfully answered. He then continued, "Kalor, Low-Level Stage 3, Animated Puppet."

Lucius intentionally lied about Ka'lor'ah's information, as he couldn't explain her actual identity. 

"An Animated Puppet, huh?" 

"That's me,' Ka'lor'ah answered blandly.

"Lucius, Mid-Level Stage 3, Nightmare." 

Surprise flashed through the elf leader's eyes as he asked, "You're a Nightmare?"

"Indeed," Lucius lied.

"A Stage 3 [Killer] who's a Nightmare, huh? Very interesting combination," The elf leader muttered before entering the information into the orb.

Once this was done, he turned to face his subordinates and strictly instructed, "Get up and quickly search this ship. Enough time has been wasted already."

"Y-yes, Sir!!" The other elves hurriedly answered and got to work. 

They scanned the entire ship with devices specialized for searching contraband. Fifteen minutes passed before they returned to the garage.

"The ship is clean," one of the elves announced.

The leader elf simply nodded his head, before turning to face Lucius.

"Get you and your friends registered in the Traveler Guild. We can avoid such incidents in the future."

"Understood," Lucius replied.

"Let's go."

The leader elf commanded before turning back and exiting the ship. The other elves followed behind and left, after which Ka'lor'ah closed the hangar doors.

Removing her hands from the console, Ka'lor'ah released a sigh of relief and spoke, "Well, that was stressful." 

"Agreed," Olivia relaxed her stiff posture and straightened up. She then turned to face Lucius and asked, "Was that person a Stage 4 being?"

"Correct," Lucius nodded his head in reply.

"But why couldn't I feel any aura radiating off his body? He seemed no different from an unawakened," Olivia continued.

Lucius then explained, taking a deep breath, "Stage 4 beings will shed their mortal bodies and attain something called a 'Body of Rules'. Not only does this vastly improve their powers, but it also starts the 'Assimilation' process with the Universe's greater body of Rules."

"Aura is nothing but the passive feeling radiated by a person's Rule composition and density. It's not that you couldn't feel his aura, but that his Rules had already occupied everything in your surroundings." 

The 'space' and surroundings that you felt around you was in fact composed of his Rules, that is to say, all of us were inside his Domain. Every inch of space within this ship and in the surroundings is currently inside his Domain."

"Wait, Domain? He cast his Domain?! How come there is no change in the surroundings?" Olivia asked, shocked.

"To cast a Domain in Stage 3, one has to flood the surroundings with one's soul power and forcibly alter the Rules within that space. In Stage 4, however, this process is not that drastic and is more subtle."

Seeing that Olivia had not completely understood his explanation, Lucius continued with an analog.

"Imagine this, to taint a bowl of water with ink one has to continue pouring ink until the entire contents of the bowl change color. A single drop or two will do little to affect it. However, say instead of ink you were to use a powerful poison. Just a single drop would be enough to completely taint and affect that bowl of water, with seemingly little physical change."

"The Stage 4 Domain is similar to that. That is why…" Lucius paused before continuing, "A Stage 3 Domain is called a [False Domain], while a Stage 4 Domain is called an [Imperceptible Domain] or [Half-True Domain]."

"I see," Olivia nodded her head understanding. 

"You've gotten better at explaining things. You might even make a half-decent teacher now. Good job, Lucius," Ka'lor'ah praised. "Well, it seems as though we've been cleared. Let me get this ship moving."

Saying so, Ka'lor'ah headed towards the control room and the spaceship finally started moving once more. Lucius and Olivia also headed to the control room and occupied their seats.

"Well, it seems like it will take us a day to reach our destination," Ka'lor'ah checked the distance and stated. "Nothing else to do but wait now, I guess."

"Oh right, I have another question," Olivia asked once more.

"Why did you lie to that person about your race? I can understand that Ka'lor'ah's existence is complicated to explain, but why yours? Also, can't you just say you're also from Mankind?"

The moment Olivia had finished wording her question, a dark pebble struck her on the forehead. 

"Argh!" Olivia let out a yelp of pain. She then looked at Lucius and complained. "That was uncalled for."

Lucius, however, was unfazed by her complaint and asked, "What Grade is Mankind?"

"Grade 3, why—"Olivia's eyes suddenly flashed with realization, causing her to slap herself on her forehead. "Of course, it's impossible to reach Mid-Level Stage 3. I get it."

"But wait, it was evident that he didn't know about the race? Couldn't you've just lied?"

"I can lie now, but what about when we actually register ourselves? The Traveler Guild will test your body to ascertain its Grade. When they then test mine, it will obviously be different," Lucius coldly spoke.

Leaning back into his chair, he closed his eyes and continued, "Additionally, my teleportation ability is very similar to a Nightmare's [Shadow Swap]. When we enter the mess in the Grand Alcana Empire, there might be a need to rely on it. Therefore, I'm currently laying the groundwork for that."

"Why go through all this trouble?" Olivia was confused. "Why don't you just name your actual race?"

This time, it was Ka'lor'ah who answered first.

"Lil' Ollie, there are some creatures within this Universe whose very existence is greatly feared and hated by everyone else. They are viewed as a menace and scourge that must be eradicated with all effort," Ka'lor'ah spoke seriously.

"Without the strength to protect themselves, these creatures must carefully hide and pray that they are not found or revealed."

Dazed, Olivia asked, "And Lucius is one of them?"

Ka'lor'ah lightly chuckled in response and replied, "Lucius is the biggest one amongst them. If he was to be revealed, even the [Good] and [Evil] faction would set aside their insatiable hatred for each other and join hands to eradicate him."

"Anyways, don't think about this too much and just forget it. Remember, if you're asked what he is, just answer, 'Nightmare'. It's a rare race, but a very well-known one."

Olivia absent-mindedly nodded her head. She then faced the quietly meditating Lucius and silently stared at him. 

Unknown thoughts ran through her mind.