The chains that were trapping the man shattered just as the orb of the white robed man had turned blood red.
The sudden change in aura was enough to stun everyone who was present in the world. If the man's old aura was like a rain droplet of water, his current aura was like a Tsunami that was unstoppable.
All the Star Alliance members felt their skins burn under the effect of the destructive aura. They were forced to cast a small protection around themselves to make their bodies resist the aura.
The person who got the worst of it was the person who was standing right in front of Lucifer.
He should feel his body being destroyed from inside out, just with the aura itself. He also cast a barrier around him. The small star symbol on his chest started shining, casting its protection.
"Interesting..." he muttered, looking at the deep eyes of Lucifer. "I was thinking it was going to be boring. It'll be a bit more fun it seems."
The blood red sphere on his staff slowly became intense as time kept passing.
"It seems like you're back to your old self? I'll ask one last time. Do you regret what you did?"
Lucifer stared at the staff in the hands of the man.
"The Staff of Zaira..."
His grim voice spread far and wide even though he had only spoken lightly. His voice covered the entire world, even making the shields around the world tremble.
"You remember this? Of course you would. It's the staff of the woman you killed," the blonde haired man responded.
"It's interesting, isn't it? You'll die with the weapon of the woman you killed with your own hands. I've seen many monsters but not someone who would kill his own wife. Even hell would refuse to take you in after your death!"
Lucifer looked towards the sky, observing the Shields.
"May I ask one thing before I kill you? Why did you do it?"
Lucifer didn't respond to the question. He kept observing the sky.
"You don't want to answer me? You want to die with that secret?"
After a long time, Lucifer lowered his head, observing the staff again. There was a look of reminiscence on his face that was emotionless until now. "Zaira..."
"Don't even speak her name with your filthy mouth!" The man roared, waving his sword.
A blood red mist came out of the ground, shooting straight to Lucifer.
Lucifer's figure flickered as he avoided the attack. He didn't run away. He just appeared in the air, a few meters above where he was standing previously.
"You're not running everywhere!" The man said, tapping the staff once again. Time moved in reverse, bringing Lucifer back where he was standing, right in the middle of the mist.
The mist penetrated his skin, entering his body.
Lucifer felt pain, but he still didn't react. He just observed the staff as he patted his chest a little.
"The Curse of Zaira, most painful spell in existence. I know your body can't be destroyed but it'll destroy your soul instead. It'll destroy it in the most brutal way possible, making it even more painful than you can imagine."
"You can't protect yourself against this no matter what you do. As each second passes, it'll get worse."
Lucifer didn't react even now. He wasn't even hearing the words of the man. His entire focus was on the staff.
It was indeed becoming more painful for him but he didn't seem to care at all.
"You aren't scared of death?" The man asked Lucifer.
Finally Lucifer looked at the man.
"Death isn't scary, life is."
He shifted his gaze, looking down at his hands. A blood red line had started appearing in his hands. "You all should run."
"We should run? You're still threatening me even in this condition?"
Lucifer didn't respond after his initial response. He just looked back at the sky.
....
Boom~
A deafening sound spread everywhere. The ships that were forming a barrier around the planet flew back uncontrollably, being damaged really badly. Some of the ships were destroyed entirely.
The planet where the Star Alliance members were standing on also blew up to smithereens in the massive explosion.
As the dust cleared, a black hole came to sight where the world used to be. The black hole started swallowing all the pieces of the world that were floating in space.
A few meters under the black hole, Lucifer's unconscious body was floating, not knowing where he was. The black hole absorbed all the pieces of the world along with Lucifer and disappeared.
The Star Alliance members were also unconscious as they were caught in the explosion but their star shields sensed the dangers and activated. The shields teleported them back to the ships they came from.
The unlucky ones were teleported to the ships that were destroyed while the lucky ones landed in the other ships that escaped the explosion.
The blonde haired man was one of the lucky ones who had survived as he was teleported on the ship in the back.
It took him a few minutes to come to his senses, understanding what had happened. He ran to the window, holding his staff firmly.
He looked out at the ship.
"Where did the planet go? And where is him?"
"Sir, the planet has disappeared. I would say it's destroyed already right after we sensed that destructive energy signature. We were lucky to survive that explosion."
"How can he destroy the world on his own? The Curse of Zaira must've blocked his strength!"
"Sir, we think he used overdrive to kill you all by himself. That's why this explosion took place. Our Star Shields saved you but he... I think he died."
"Could it really be that simple?" The man muttered. "Scan every place for any life signature."
"If he's alive, I want him here! I want to see him die with my own eyes!"
"Commencing Scans!"
...
In another place, a block hole opened, tossing out the body of Lucifer.
The unconscious body floated in space aimlessly. The black hole compressed in itself, combining all the energy.
It soon turned to a black sphere that started changing colors. The black sphere contained the complete life energy of the world that was destroyed, including the energy from its core.
As the energy was completely absorbed by the sphere and refined, the black sphere split into seven small parts.
Each small part of the sphere was only a few inches wide. The pure life energy compressed even more and finally solidified, taking the shape of small stones.
Each of the seven stones had a different color of its own.. All seven spheres floated closer to Lucifer and started circling around him like he was their sun.