Lord of Annihilation

The moment Earnest and Willem laid their eyes on the black-robed youth, the ominousness within their hearts peaked. Sweat pooled inside their robe and a shiver ran across their backs. 

Keeping their eyes on the newcomer's face, Earnest's eyes suddenly shrunk as realization flashed across his face. 

Swallowing a dry gulp, he heavily spoke, "You, you're that demon who recently entered the Evil Subjugation Board, right?"

Hearing his arch-enemy's words, Willem's mind quickly recalled the recent batch of wanted posters.

"You're…the 'Black Blade' Lucius?" he asked.

Unexpectedly, the youth before them simply nodded his head and replied, "Indeed."

He then took a few steps forward and indifferently asked, "But shouldn't you be concerned with something else?"

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BANG!!

A sudden explosion rocked the streets of the richest area within the capital city of Prxima. Waves of chaotic destructive energy spread out as chunks of magic-enforced bricks fell broken from a building riling up a dust cloud.

Just as the people below desperately avoided the falling debris and protected themselves from the destructive energy, two humanoid figures shot out of the dust cloud at great speeds.

These two bloody and battered figures were obviously, Willem and Earnest.

Flying back a good thousand meters, the duo finally managed to cancel their momentum and regain their balance. 

Looking at the partially destroyed building with grim eyes and solemn expressions, the duo turned to face each other and nodded at the same time, their eyes carrying the meaning of, 'let's work together.'

Turning back to face the dust cloud, or to be precise, the person perching on the hole behind the dust cloud, the two Magi brought their hand together and started chanting at high speeds. 

The shimmering crystal embedded into their forehead glowed with increased fervor while sending out a vast surge of magic power.

"[Negative Energy Bomb]!!"

"[Dark Solar Ray]!!"

The moment their words fell, two concentrated beams of condensed energy, one grey and the other black, left their hands. The attacks, both of which were purely offensive Stage 4 spells, effortlessly tore through the air and the dust clouds, reaching the site of the disaster near instantaneously. 

Strangely, however, there was not a trace of confidence present on the faces of the two Magi. 

Just as the two high-density rays were about to make contact with the building, their movements stilled and their body flickered. 

"Slash." 

An insanely overbearing and soul-shaking wave of energy blade shaped in the form of the crescent moon appeared and cut through the two spells. The Stage 4 spells were barely able to hold for more than a second before they were ruthlessly torn apart and annihilated by the energy contained within the energy blade.

A secondary explosion occurred rocking the street and its surrounding areas once again, destroying many other structures in the process.

The curtain of dust parted and revealed the unevenly destroyed hole and the stone-faced youth who stood on it.

Lucius' eyes emotionally locked onto the two Magi who were floating a good distance away. He then looked around, noticing the gazes of dozens of people as they watched hidden from a distance.

'Good. There are spectators,' Lucius inwardly nodded his head.

"How dare you act wantonly in the territory of [Good], demon!!?" Earnest let out a righteous roar.

Inwardly, however, he was cursing at his bad luck, wondering just what had drawn this monster to him.

Turning his gaze back towards the two Magi, Lucius softly replied, "I'm here to kill the two of you." He then gently stepped onto the air before him and floated into the sky.

Hearing his chilling but honest reply, the two Magi were astonished. Seeing him fly closer to them while emitting a tangible murderous intent, the two of them were reminded of the small exchange that had taken place inside the room a few moments ago.

'We must not allow him to make the first move!!' The same thought resounded inside the heads of both the Magi.

Bringing their hands together, they started forming strange hand-signs at inane speeds. Forming the final sign, which was shaped like a circle, with their fingers, the duo thrust their hands out and yelled in unison.

""Release World!!""

(AN: From this point onwards, the 'Absolute Territory' of Stage 4 and Stage 5 experts will be called Mental Worlds. For Stage 3 experts, it will still be called a Domain.)

An inestimable amount of energy surged from their bodies, instantly destroying their immediate surroundings while irreversibly altering the rest.

Dozens of the hidden spectators, who were watching from too close to the battlefield instantly died while the rest helplessly watched as they were pulled into the Mental Worlds of the two Magi.

The sky above the world of Prxima changed in color, as one side took on a pitch-black color while the other occupied a greenish-purple sky laced with concentrated pillars of solar flares.

The change in the skyline extended for hundreds of kilometers all the way up to the Boundary of the Mental World, which stood at exactly one thousand kilometers.

The change did not only stop at the sky as after the sky, was the land.

Boundless soul power changed the Rules of the areas caught within the Boundary. The overwhelming aura and power of a Stage 4 existence instantly killed all the entities below the Stage 3 realm. 

As for those within the Stage 3 rank, their powers were hopelessly suppressed within their bodies rendered immovable under a humungous amount of pressure.

Were one to look at the Planet of Prxima from outer space at this instant, they would see a large, visible portion of the continent covered in utter blackness while another visible portion was covered in purplish green. 

At the very center of the black region, a small spherical ball of white light slowly rotated, spitting out innumerable tons of hot, gaseous energy while radiating an immense gravitational force.

This was the Negative Sun, the core of Earnest's Mental World.

In the region of the purplish-green, clusters of concentrated energy gathered in the form of pillars, randomly and routinely swept across the lands. Every inch of land that these pillars passed, black scorch marks would be left behind alongside the complete lack of moisture. 

These pillars were the core of Willem's Mental World and were aptly named World Ending Light.

It sufficed to say, no matter who won in this confrontation, the Planet of Prxima was doomed to turn uninhabitable. 

Meanwhile, at the battlefield…

Lucius, who stood some distance away from the two Magi, clearly felt the power and danger of the two Mental Worlds better than anyone. 

The overwhelming pressure which rendered the Stage 3 beings immobile assaulted him too, albeit to a lesser degree. Seeing the pillars of death rays which could easily destroy his body, or the slowly rotating Negative Sun which possessed the power to kill him, Lucius wasn't scared.

Nay, he was excited.

Inside his long-dead, stone-cold heart an ember of hot flame appeared.

Inside his bored-looking, indifferent eyes, a trace of excitement appeared.

Flashing an indiscernible smile towards the two Magi who had now regained their confidence, Lucius brought his own palms closer and performed hand-signs at blinding speeds.

"Release Incomplete World."

His cold voice fell, and a third energy surged out to contest with the two others already conflicting energies.