Lord of Annihilation

"THIS. IS. AWESOME!!"

A resounding cheer rang in the air above Riker and Ka'lor'ah as they raised their heads to look at the flashing streak of dark purple. 

Cupping her mouth, Ka'lor'ah warned, "Be careful. Don't fall off!"

"GOT IT!!" replied the purple figure flying in the air.

"I have to say," Riker spoke with a small smile on his face, "I did not expect for such a young girl to have already mastered [Perfect Control]. It only took her half an hour to start riding the sword."

"What can I say except that she's talented," Ka'lor'ah smugly replied, feeling proud of her disciple. "In fact, she also—"

BANG!!

The sound of an object crashing onto the ground interrupted Ka'lor'ah's speech. Riker and Ka'lor'ah immediately turned their heads towards the direction of the crash and quickly headed there.

Some distance away, a small crater had formed on the flat, grass-covered ground. A faint smoke rose from within the crater, followed by the sounds of coughing. 

Ka'lor'ah and Riker neared the crater and the former worriedly asked.

"You okay in there?"

"Cough, cough, I'm fine. I just messed up trying to land," A messy head covered in dust and dirt, popped out of the crater and replied.

Extending his arm, Riker helped the figure out of the crater and sighed, "You'll have to be more careful."

"I know. I know," the figure in purple perfunctorily replied and proceeded to dust off her clothes. 

However, judging from the smile on her lips and the obvious excitement within her eyes, it was obvious that Riker's words of caution went unheard.

Olivia, who had just fallen off during her practice flight, turned around and called out to her new companion, "Come on out. Don't be shy."

At her words, a pitch-black object flashed out of the small crater and flew towards Olivia. Circling her body a few times, the object finally came to a halt and stationarily hovered next to her.

This pitch-black object, which was shaped like an oddly-sized rapier, was Olivia's newly reforged sword. Or to be more precise…

The Living Weapon, Thorn.

Rubbing her chin, Ka'lor'ah said, "Thorn, huh? It does kinda look like one. Nicely named." 

"Thank you," Olivia cheerfully answered, while using her left hand to gently caress the hovering sword. 

Receiving its owner's gentle caresses, the sword, Thorn, trembled with ecstasy while releasing a low-pitched hum. It couldn't talk, but it sure did voice its satisfaction. 

"The personality of your Living Weapon is very similar to yours. You should not have any problem maintaining your bond," Riker casually stated, looking at the scene before him.

Just as their names suggested, Living Weapons possessed life. They possessed a minor soul that allowed them to become independent existences capable of limitless growth.

They also possessed their own personalities and thoughts, albeit not as complex as other intelligent beings. All in all, they were similar to the Forgotten Warriors, only being more independent and possessing their own authority and uniqueness.

"So then, how did it feel to fly on your own for the first time?" Ka'lor'ah asked with a smile.

"Surprisingly," an excited glow appeared within Olivia's eyes as she recalled her experience over the last half an hour, "Not as scary as I thought it would be. If anything, it was more freeing and exciting!"

She then mentally sent an instruction to Thorn, prompting it to fly near her feet and hover a few inches off the ground. She then stepped onto its slender main body while extending both her hands to maintain balance.

Balancing her body like a surfer, Olivia continued, "It's still a bit hard to maintain my balance, but I'm getting better. It would help if the sword was a bit broader."

Right now, Olivia had to stand on her toes to successfully stand on the sword. Thorn's body was simply that slender.

In response to Olivia's words, Riker shrugged his shoulders and said, "I just did as instructed and kept everything exact to its original structure."

"I know, I know.  I was simply joking," Olivia dismounted the sword, returning it to its previous hover. "It's perfect the way it is right now. I couldn't ask for anything better." She said while touching Thorn with her forehead.

"How many attempts did it take?" Ka'lor'ah curiously asked.

Hearing that question, a weary, slightly fearful look appeared on Riker's face as he replied, "The sword was simply enough. It only took me a single attempt to complete it. That scythe, however, was a different story."

"The first attempt failed because I mismanaged the energy channeling during the forging. That wasted one part of the materials. On the second attempt, I was almost done with the forging when, out of nowhere, the weapons started to suck in a tremendous amount of energy. I was caught off guard and that resulted in the failure."

Shaking his head, Riker continued, "Honestly, it was shocking and a bit ludicrous how much energy a Living Weapon of the third Stage was eating. Mind you, the energy that was being supplied was at Stage 4!"

Due to the foundational difference caused at Stage, the energy densities between Stage 3 and Stage 4 soul powers were on a completely different level.

To compare, one was a focused spotlight while the other was the freaking sun! 

"Accounting for all of these hiccups, I started the third and final attempt with incomparable focus and seriousness. For the most part, everything went smoothly and I could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel." Riker dramatically recounted.

"I'm sensing a 'But!' here," Ka'lor'ah intervened.

"But!" Riker paused for a moment, and continued, "Just when the weapon's individuality was starting to form, everything went to hell! The weapon started to suddenly grow unstable and the cluster of energy started to boil. The Rules started becoming chaotic and the entire thing was on the verge of blowing apart." 

Just recalling that terrifying moment was enough for Riker's back to sweat and his face to turn pale.

Not to mention the obvious loss of materials and the danger to his life, there was enough energy inside that weapon to match a Low-Level Stage 4 being!

What would happen if such a powerful being with such tremendous amounts of energy was to blow up?

It would easily destroy a portion of the planet. A portion of the PLANET!

"Just when the incomplete weapon was on the verge of blowing apart a good chunk of this planet," Riker pointed towards Olivia's hovering sword and continued, "This sword here intervened."

"It started to release a gentle violet light and with it, a mass of Rules that I was unable to recognize. The moment that violet light came in contact with the unstable weapon, the latter started to calm down and gradually reach completion."

Wiping the sweat formed on his forehead, Riker jokingly said, "Apart from the time I faced my transcendence, this forging was the most terrifying experience in my life. I honestly believed that I was gone for a second there."

Hearing his recounting, Ka'lor'ah audibly chuckled while Olivia simply smiled. She then turned to face her hovering sword and continued to pat its body.

'Looks like we are similar in that aspect too,' Olivia mentally thought to herself.

"Well, congratulations to you, I guess. Not only did you forge two Living Weapons, but one was a Stage 3 weapon while the other was a Stage 4 weapon," Ka'lor'ah started clapping her hands. 

Olivia also started to clap while voicing her own thanks. 

To receive a Stage 3 Living Weapon that was personalized to her, while being in Stage 2 was an incomparable blessing and honor.

"Anyway, wanna see if Lucius is done bonding with his weapon?" Ka'lor'ah asked the crowd.

"Let's!" Olivia was all up for it and seeing the trembling Thorn it was apparent that it was excited too.

Riker, on the other hand, had a hesitant look on his face. 

"He shouldn't be done this soon right? It's only been less than an hour and the weapon is in the Stage 4 realm. I can't imagine the bonding being any smooth given the weapon's…frightening personality."

""Frightening personality?"" Olivia and Ka'lor'ah asked in unison.

The two ladies hadn't seen the scythe after its reforging, as the weapon had suddenly disappeared from within the forge, upon completion. 

Lucius, who was maintaining the shield barrier, had seemed to have felt something as he too shot out, flying into the distance, the moment the scythe had reached completion. Riker, who then exited the forge in confusion, met with the ladies and gave Olivia her completed sword.

All of this had happened less than an hour ago and Ka'lor'ah had been tracking his position since then. 

The reason she suggested meeting up with Lucius now, was because she had felt him stop a dozen minutes ago and hadn't felt him move since then.

Nodding his head at their collective question, Riker spoke with a serious tone.

"It was a strange experience. Although I was one to forge that weapon, I, myself, was unable to understand it after its creation. I had created something, but was unable to exactly understand what I had created."

"The Rules composing and surrounding that weapon are a mystery. Its power and abilities are a mystery. The only thing that I know is its unconscious personality…its base state that it revealed at the moment of its completion."

"That scythe…it's vicious, insatiable, and domineering. It is extremely individualistic and its greed for power knows no bounds. To tell the truth, I don't think it's possible to form a bond with such a weapon. If a bond is to be forcibly formed, it would, without a doubt, harm the user."

Hearing his thoughts, Ka'lor'ah showed no reaction and her face maintained a blank expression. Olivia, on the other hand, had an expression of confidence.

Sporting a confident smile on her face, she spoke, "I don't know about others, but Lucius, I'm sure that he would be able to do it."

There were no grounds for Olivia's claim; however, she had a feeling that it was the truth.

"Staying here and guessing will not do us any good. Let's just go to his location and see for ourselves," Ka'lor'ah declared and started to lead the others towards Lucius' location.

----------

At a mountain peak, a few hundred kilometers away, stood two entities. 

One was a humanoid youth, with long, black hair and a cold, handsome face. The other was a pitch-black scythe radiating a fearsome amount of dense, red-colored killing intent to the point where it started to affect and forcibly twist the fabric of space around it.

The two entities faced each other in a silent battle, as they stood unmoving 50m away from each other.

Staring at the scythe with an expressionless face, Lucius suddenly moved his lips and spoke.

"You can't win. Give up and submit yourself to me."

Hearing his words, the scythe let out an enraged roar and radiated an even greater amount of killing intent. The blood-colored veins covering its body started to pulse and throb, giving off a terrifying aura.

Facing this change, Lucius' face turned bloodless and signs of weariness started to appear on it.

The scale, which had previously been tipping to his advantage, suddenly reversed to the scythe's favor as the odds started to mount against Lucius.