The Head spoke, "These two maniacs! Everyone, activate the battle formation!" Everybody poured their cosmic energy into the space station. It started to transform; it turned into a huge giant. It had arms and legs; in simple words, it resembled a gigantic battle robot.
It shot out its hands, grabbed Lord, and started to crush him. It squeezed him tight. The Head laughed heartily and spoke, "Haha! Lord, you were actually this weak! Pathetic! Truly pathetic!"
Lord struggled hard. It was not that he was weak, but his backlash had manifested. His earlier tactic of attacking himself to reverse it also failed. He currently had no methods to go against the backlash. Seeing Lord struggling, Lucan was extremely glad. Now his enemy would be eliminated, which was definitely good news.
But he was still feeling a sensation of gloominess because the strength shown by these aliens from the space station was beyond his expectations. Lucan sighed. He decided to help Lord because Lord's threat was far lesser than these aliens'. If Lord dies, he definitely has no allies, but if these aliens perish, Lord will be severely weakened. Lucan could use this chance to eliminate both of his enemies; this was a golden opportunity.
Lucan used his move, and time froze. He had other moves, but his backlash was about to appear soon; if he used different methods, he would face the backlash faster. He freed Lord from the hand of the giant robot. This robot was made from a technology highly advanced compared to the technology of Earth.
Lucan went inside the giant robot and tried to deduce its functions. He succeeded; he found a button. It was to self-detonate. Lucan said, "Oh! I found it!"
He was about to press it when time was released. Lord was freed, but Lucan was frozen. His time was stopped. He felt, "Damn it! This time the backlash was faster than the previous one; my calculations have to be redone!"
All the aliens surrounded him. The Head spoke, "Ah kid! A pity! If you had one more—"
Lord suddenly shrugged. Lucan made one last move; he had prepared this move as a trump card. Lucan and Lord swapped their positions. Lord went inside while Lucan went outside, but he was not facing the backlash. Everyone was surprised. Lucan said, "Lord! I found my own method to break the backlash! That is to consume your full cosmic energy! I used my final move to use it completely! Since my cosmic energy was fully consumed, my moves were cancelled, so the backlash didn't affect me, hehe!"
But these aliens were not trembling with fear. Lord's strength was immense, even excluding moves made from cosmic energy; this made everyone fighting him always avoid close combat. But now Lord was inside, and he spoke, "Come! Fight me all together! Because that way, I am at a disadvantage! Hahaha! After all, everybody's watching! I can't let down my pride!"
Even without him saying it, all started to fight fiercely. Both sides suffered severe injuries, but casualties started to occur on the aliens' side. Lord eventually killed them all. He stepped over them, snorted coldly, and spoke, "Weaklings! All of you are weaklings!"
But this did not last long. A claw pierced through his heart. Lord's consciousness was affected; time and space warped again. Lord was again summoned from within the portal. The Head spoke, "Hahaha! No matter how many times you try, you will stay within this loop! Or surrender!"
Lucan spoke, "Ah, freaking hell! Here we go again!"
Lord asked, "This is not the first time!?"
Lucan smiled bitterly and said, "We have to first kill that alien who is causing this! Or else we die by staying in this loop!"
The head alien said, "Quick! Defend him!"
The alien retreated while others guarded around him. The aliens laughed heartily and said, "Haha! Two criminals! Don't worry! We will give you an honorable death."
But Lord and Lucan looked into each other's eyes, and a creepy smile arose from them. The Head cursed the other aliens and said, "Idiots! You openly showed them the target!"
They realized their mistake, but it was too late. Lucan stopped time, killed that alien, and then released the time. He let out a huge sigh of relief. Lord started to kill these aliens without any strain. Lucan went to a corner and started to observe the battle; he also tried to break the formation, but nothing worked.
He could only wait. The head alien's eyes turned red; he gritted his teeth in anger, seeing his subordinates getting killed as if they had no value. Lord eventually killed him too. The formation broke and collapsed. Lucan laughed like a maniac while Lord snorted coldly, starting to boast in front of everyone watching him.
But suddenly, Lucan spat out blood. Lord also coughed out more blood than Lucan. Their eyes twitched. They were still within the formation, weakened to their fullest. The Head laughed coldly as he spoke, "Capture!"
The aliens captured both Lord and Lucan. Both were severely weakened; they did not have any more strength to resist. Lucan was extremely confused. The Head explained, "All of this was an illusion. This move is also our trump card. You will hallucinate, but it will be controlled by us. We made Lord attack Lucan and himself, hehe! In simple words, all this time, you were fighting your own selves!"
This twist made Lucan gulp. He was sweating heavily; he had failed! Now no more trump cards or reinforcements were left; he could only surrender! Lord tried to roar loudly, but he had no strength. He did not care about being captured or killed; he cared that this was telecast to everybody in this solar system. He was humiliated; his pride dropped, and his heart sank to rock bottom.
Chains were attached around them everywhere; these were made of materials which would prevent the release of cosmic energy from anyone they touched. Lucan fell into a deadlock; Lord was even more heavily suppressed. The space station had plans of investigating Lucan—they even had plans to recruit him—but for Lord, they straight up thought of killing him. Such a prideful monster cannot be tamed.
All sorts of chemicals and poisons were injected into him; several sharp blades and objects were pierced through him. He was immersed in extremely hot and cold temperatures; he was electrocuted with countless lightning bolts, and heavy weights were dumped over him. They used all sorts of methods, but Lord was still clinging to life because Lucan had transmitted a message while they were being captured: "I have a method to erase memories! Your pride can be restored! But only—"
Lord transmitted back: "If we both end up ALIVE!!!"
He groaned in pain. His body and his soul all wanted to accept death and relieve the pain, but his mind was constantly saying, "PRIDE! OH LORD! DON'T GIVE UP! PERSEVERE! PRIDE IS MORE IMPORTANT!"
Even Lucan was astonished to see his level of pride. The Head also praised Lord deeply for his pride; even though he was an enemy, his pride was so deep. He started to inquire of Lucan, asking, "Tell me everything you know!"
Lucan shut his mouth tight. Even after many tries, he replied to the questions only with silence. The Head spoke, "Hmm! Kid! I thought at least you had some brains! But who can change your fate if it is for you to die?"
The same methods used on Lord were used on Lucan. Lord had survived, which was possible, but for such a fragile human body, there was no need for explanation. Lucan fell down; his body was emitting smoke. He was like a piece of burnt coal.
The Head sighed in pity, as did the others. They were about to leave, but a change occurred. Lucan's body was healing at the speed of light; not even a blink of an eye could compare to the healing speed. He was fully healed. Everyone was stunned, even Lord. Lucan's mouth showed a deep, wide grin, and he spoke, "Wow! Nice try! Truly, I would give a 1/10 rating for this effort! Hahaha!"