Lord of Annihilation

Chapter 247: Limits.

Having jumped well over the height of the encampment's walls, Lucius pulled both his arms back winding up for a punch. 

Just as the initial momentum from the jump, started to disappear and the effects of gravity started pulling him down, small transparent steps made out of soul power appeared right beneath Lucius' feet. Kicking off those steps, Lucius descended with great speeds as his figure dashed towards the group of humans standing atop the wall.

BANG! BOOOOM!

The walls cracked, the floors cratered, and the stone exploded as Lucius' figure smashed onto the surface of the wall. The unfortunate humans who were caught underneath his crash were instantly reduced to patties of meat.

The initial impact was only the start of the chaos as right after the landing, the soul power infused into his attack formed waves with Lucius in its center. With [Annihilation Energy] running amok, it was a scene of pure destruction.

Rocks, dust, structures, humans, anything and everything that impeded the path of the wave were utterly pulverized under the destructive effects of the energy.

Standing up from the crater that had formed atop the wall, Lucius looked around and observed the scene of destruction.

'All dead.' 

Lucius' body suddenly shook as the ground underneath his feet started to shake before falling over. Jumping immediately, Lucius landed at a spot with better footing and looked towards the cause of the shaking.

Owing to his attack, large cracks and fissures had formed throughout the surface of one portion of the wall. With its durability having run out, the wall fell apart turning into a mountain of rubble and crushed rock.

This sudden destruction announced the arrival of a calamity to the inhabitants of the encampment. 

From his vantage point, Lucius could hear the sounds of bells tolling, humans screaming, vehicles moving around, and a general cacophony of noises resulted by the chaos.

'I should finish this quick.' 

Thinking as such, Lucius disappeared into the Void and reappeared beneath the wall, in the middle of a group of humans who were being sorted. His arrival was then followed by head explosions and chest punctures.

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The entire encampment was around 25km in length and 30km in breadth. Within the tall walls that surrounded the encampment were plenty of free areas and sparsely populated buildings.

Block-shaped residential buildings, weapons storage warehouses, transport storage sheds, and other basic facilities were spread around, evenly spaced and neatly arranged. There were even proper roads built to connect the facilities.

The only building that was of any real interest was built right at the very center of the encampment. It was an enormous temple built out of smooth, white stone native to this planet. 

A massive five-by-five-kilometer area was neatly laid with the marble stone, constructing a platform of sorts. White pillars engraved with lines demarcated the inner and outer areas of the temple, both of which were accessible by the tall, smooth steps which led to the center. Fountains, gardens, and statues depicting beautiful men and women adorned the rest of the structure.

The main building housing the altar resided in the middle of the inner area and was built quite high into the air. A single set of staircase provided access to its inside, bringing the pious believer to an unadorned, pure white room where the worships and prayers occurred.

And within his holy sanctum stood Lucius.

His borrowed clothes were stained with blood and dust, with his two hands having the worst of it. His smooth, long black hair extended all the way to his back, covering it in its entirety. His entire figure radiated a sense of sharpness and coldness, alongside an intensely oppressive aura.

Having finished clearing up almost everyone within this make-shift city, Lucius' slaughter finally led him to the interiors of the temple.

The conquest of the city was relatively effortless since Lucius' attacks were sudden and merciless. He methodically cleared out the 30,000 or so residents of the city in less than three hours, before facing his first, proper resistance at the temple.

The strongest five hundred or so humans within the city, ranging from Low-Level Stage 2s to five Peak-Level Stage 2s, gathered within the temple and fought the monster that had besieged them.

Still, beings at Stage 2 could hardly trouble Lucius at this point. Apart from being annoying and time-consuming, Lucius faced no other trouble.  Their abilities, weapons, and traps had no effect on the Void Eater who was dangerously close to the realm of Stage 3.

Clearing these troops took another three hours, which finally led him to the current scene.

His right hand was clutching onto the throat of a struggling, middle-aged human who was the leader of the resistance, and also the Head Priest, at least that's who he was, assuming from the dying screams of the others.

This middle-aged man, who had Peak-Level Stage 2 strength, was staring into Lucius' indifferent eyes with anger and defiance. His limbs continuously trashed about, in a bid to escape Lucius' clutches.

"Unhand me sinner or you'll face the wrath of His Holiness!!!" He hissed.

Growing rather annoyed at the priest's movements especially that of his legs continuously kicking his body, Lucius casually swung his left hand. 

"ARAGH!!!!" Beastly screams escaped from the priest's throat.

With movements that were swift and precise, Lucius separated the man's lower body from his upper. Blood fell like a waterfall and copious amounts splashed onto Lucius' body.

Taking care not to kill the man before the questioning, Lucius infused a suitable amount of soul power into his body to stop the bleeding and preserve the priest's vitality.

The priest's struggles had died down and his pale as paper face stared at Lucius in horror.

"Are you ready to talk?" Lucius opened the dialogue.

"y-y-yes" the priest stuttered back.

"What is this place?"

"I-it's on-one of the tem-temples bu-built for His Holiness!"

"His Holiness?" 

"Y-yes. Th-the Ruler of Destiny, The Forevermore!" 

While chanting His name, the eyes of the priest strangely shone with golden light. Lucius, of course, immediately noticed it and infused more of his soul power into his body to study the change.

However, the instant that his soul power was injected, a pained expression appeared on the priest's face and his vitality started to disperse. Lucius hurriedly acted to retract his soul power, but alas it was to no avail. 

The light within the priest's eyes disappeared and his head slackened.

He had died.

Lucius, however, did not instantly move but stood there with his eyes closed. His focus was inside his mindspace, inspecting his soul.

Seconds before the priest had passed away, Lucius' soul had trembled and a singular, oppressive emotion was radiated. The emotion was not a product of his mood, but an independent expression of his soul.

It was a cry of hatred. 

Upon detecting that golden energy, the [Annihilator] soul roared with hatred seemingly having met its greatest enemy.

Taking a few minutes to calm his soul, Lucius then opened his eyes. They were no longer indifferent but were filled with worry and hesitance.

'He was killed.'

'It seems the worst outcome has occurred after all. A Lord has personally intervened.'

Sighing out loud, Lucius dropped the dead body of the priest and turned around. He did not care to collect it or eat it, as Grade 3 bodies no longer had any effect on his hunger.

The more he ate, the more the Void Eater's body grew. As a result of this growth, the intensity of his hunger also increased requiring greater energy to satiate it.

Grade 3 beings were no longer cutting it and Grade 4 was quickly becoming ineffective. At this rate, Lucius would have to hunt Grade 5 and above species to satiate his hunger, if he continued to grow at this rate.

This also meant that Lucius could no longer be free and wasteful in the usage of his racial abilities, requiring careful usage and rationing of his void energy.

If he was not careful and depleted his void energy without being able to replenish it, Lucius would fall into madness fueled by his hunger and lose himself to the Void Eater's instincts turning into an actual monster.

The limits of the race were starting to show.

Walking out of the inner sanctums with heavy steps, Lucius sighed once more.

'He died before I was able to question him more. Looks like I can only continue heading in the direction of Mankind, hoping to run into more of these people.'

'I should also be careful while questioning them, taking care not to evoke His name. The moment His name is mentioned, he notices and kills these people.'

Exiting the building, Lucius found a spaceship piloted by a seemingly terrified Terran waiting for him. Leaping off the ground, Lucius boarded the ship and headed towards the pilot's room.

Seating himself in one of the available seats, he closed his eyes and ordered.

"Continue onward. Stop if you notice more planets like this one."

"Ye-yes, sir!" The Terran hurriedly answered, piloting the vessel to leave the planet's atmosphere.