Suddenly, both of them screamed in pain as they felt their minds going crazy.
The next instant, silence echoed throughout the place as both King and Kaol Noah were lying down on the ground unconscious.
The golden butterfly immediately slowed down and approached King...
Instantly, it was horrified and gazed into space.
Watching it through his endless eyes, Cosmos smirked, "Oh! Nothing much to worry about, I just reversed time to prevent their interaction. Hehe!"
The golden butterfly frowned as it slowly spread out its aura.
A golden aurora flew through space and wrapped itself around Lucan.
He was startled, "Oh! Golden Butterfly..."
It closed its eyes and scanned his entire body, relaxing only after realizing that he was completely safe and sound.
It smiled again...
Cosmos shifted his gaze past Lucan. "Damn! Too lucky... wait a minute! I HAD WANTED TO EXPERIENCE THIS FEELING CALLED LOVE! OH NO, I FORGOT IT BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID LORD'S INTERFERENCE!"
Suddenly, the pride crystal giggled, "All right, all right, playtime's over, Cosmos!"
Its purple halo spread through the entire place; the radiance dazzled like the sun.
The sky, the land, and everything surrounding them were illuminated in a purple color. Lucan was perplexed, "Wow! Even my body looks purple, hehe. Pride crystal's locked in! Well... I have to leave, my goal is waiting for me, and I have to pursue it! Oh dang! Golden butterfly's waiting for me. Damn, I'm dead scared just thinking about that punishment... infinite tickles..."
Immediately, he grabbed Lord and attempted to teleport.
But... his body dashed and struck the floor, sticking like a lizard. The pride crystal gave a death stare, "Touch him again and you die!"
Cosmos smirked mockingly as it waved its hands, releasing Lucan from the pressure.
It gave him a death stare... well, it tried to give one.
"TAKE HIM AND GO! HUH, I'LL TAKE CARE OF HIM! I WON'T LET MY FRIENDS DIE LIKE THIS!"
Suddenly, he was highlighted by the stars, and music started to play as he walked in front of the pride crystal with his sunglasses on.
Lucan grinned, "Bro thinks he's the main character in a movie! Lol!"
It asked, "What! Wait, am I not cool and swag? I saw your human movies; I thought this would be cool and awesome!"
He smiled bitterly, "Hehe, yeah, yeah, super cool!"
It snorted coldly, "Hahaha, one day I'll win my Oscar, you'll see!"
He teleported away, nodding in agreement.
The pride crystal frowned, thinking, "He's taking me as a joke, that bastard..."
Cosmos smirked, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Kiddo, who told you so? I will never take my enemy as a joke!"
It stared at him, waiting for him to finish.
He finished, "But who told you that you are my enemy, dimwit!"
The pride crystal started to punch through Cosmos without even letting him speak.
Suddenly, the purple color returned as Cosmos smirked, "This power... I see! So you didn't simply rush into a suicidal attack!"
The pride crystal replied coldly, "Yes! It's the very power Lord almost conquered on his own. His Pride! Unfortunately, he failed only because..."
Lord's laugh echoed in Cosmos's ears, "BECAUSE I WANTED TO! IF I SURPASSED YOU THAT QUICKLY, IT WOULD BE TOO NAIVE OF ME. REMEMBER, I ALWAYS FIGHT ONLY WHEN MY OPPONENT IS STRONGER THAN ME!"
Cosmos itself was stunned for a second, "Which means..."
The pride crystal gave a powerful kick right at its mouth! "So don't push your luck, freaking idiot!"
Lord laughed crazily, "Now that I'm super weak, right at the bottom tier of species in existence—"
The pride crystal smirked, "No, that's not the only reason you failed! It's also because when I grew powerful due to your power... your true power came into existence through me! Which means it had already become reality."
Lord and Cosmos were dumbfounded. Cosmos started to laugh, "I see... Lord! Lord, you're truly a lord. I take back all of my previous accusations—"
The pride crystal smashed him down to the ground. "Too late to regret... Hmph! Kiddo."
Lord screamed, "Stop! If you kill him, it will be a disgrace to my pride. He said he takes it back. Killing an enemy who wants peace will be ugly for a Lord and his pride! Pride crystal, did you forget who I am?"
It replied, "But..."
Cosmos thought, "Holy moly, they thought they had almost killed me! Let me play along to see my Oscar performance. Hehe."
Sweating heavily, it spoke, "Lord... I, Cosmos, surrender!"
He grinned, "Hahaha, I hate it! Now I've gotta search for an even more powerful enemy to kick their ass."
The pride crystal smiled warmly at him. "Your powers... take them back!"
Cosmos bowed down, "From today, I'm Lord's disciple! Master, take back your powers..."
Lord shook his head, "No, if the pride crystal already had them and used them, let them stay with him. I wouldn't like taking them back! Hmph, I will simply start from scratch and become even more powerful."
The pride crystal opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. "Alright then! But at least let me heal you..."
Lord smacked his head with his terribly weak fist. He felt pain, but swallowed it! Because he is Lord!
Slowly, the pride crystal started to fade away... his body crumbled into purple dust flakes and drifted away.
Lord was dumbstruck. "Pride... where are you going? With my powers of pride, you can return alive!"
Cosmos was also desperate; this time, it was not an act.
He said, "Pride! I will erase the erasure of your existence! Don't go away!"
The pride crystal replied with a gentle smile, "Great to know that I had a few people to lament over my demise, hahaha."
Lord's voice broke, "I'm not crying or lamenting! You fool—"
But his eyes were red, filled with tears almost bursting out. He held them back, clenching his fists tightly and gritting his teeth.
Cosmos strangely felt he was losing something he had possessed for a long time. He smiled gently, "Human emotions have even affected me? Hehe, C-tier species! Aliens truly nerfed humans just to prevent themselves from getting nerfed."
The pride crystal gazed at Lord. "Lord! Listen to me, my purpose for living has been fulfilled! It's you—you have true pride. Don't let pride disappear after my demise; it should stay forever in this world! Even after millenniums and whatever crap. And you are responsible for making that happen!"
Suddenly, multiple figures appeared from the sky: crystals, the space station gang, Zacian, Kaol Noah, and Lucan's crew.
The pride crystal was surprised, "..."
Cosmos smirked, "Not just us... Pride! All of them actually respect you and like you from the bottom of their hearts... Inspiration! Respect! Admiration! Pity! And more... damn, I can't even name them all."
The pride crystal felt goosebumps and chills run down his spine.
The fate crystal cried, "Friend... I'm sorry you had to go through all this for me and the crystals!"
Lucan grinned, "Pride! You know, all this time, I was never able to succeed in making a single calculation about you, huh."
The life crystal apologized, "I'm sorry I killed you! But after realizing the truth about you... I feel so guilty."
The time crystal frowned, "You told me to just wait a few minutes. Your 'few minutes' was endless... you made the time crystal itself fumble on time."
The pride crystal laughed, "Time itself fumbled on time! Hahaha, nice joke!"
For the first time, all of them saw Pride smiling at a joke instead of smiling at his death.
The death crystal gulped down saliva, "I TOLD YOU ALL I HATED KILLING OTHERS! DAMN."
All the crystals called out, "PRIDE CRYSTAL, DON'T WORRY! PRIDE WILL NEVER CEASE TO EXIST IN THIS WORLD, AND WE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT!"
...
The pride crystal cried tears of joy, "Hehe, thank you, guys! Thank you, Cosmos! I actually love this feeling—dying with no regrets at all. Dying freely without any worries or thoughts. This is why humans call it resting in peace!"
And just like that, the hero of the entire world died, smiling with pride!