At this moment of chaos, a loud voice echoed throughout the place. It was Lord. He spoke, "Pathetic! Truly pathetic! Lucan, I, LORD, considered you to be worthy!
But now, you have proved to me that you are nothing but worthless trash! Relying on others is a disgrace to one's own pride and one's own self!
Haha! When I first met you, I had great hope! But you have disappointed me! You shattered that hope!"
Lord was severely injured. Everybody ignored his words; he was not even a threat right now. Instead, they mocked and joked about Lord. This made Lord even crazier. He gritted his teeth in anger. He felt, "I am ignored! The Lord is ignored! Am I that lowly? Primitive creatures! I fell so far that I am being mocked!"
Suddenly, purple light shone over his body. A formless force pierced through his heart and appeared in front of him.
Everybody's attention shifted. It spoke, "Oh! Lord! Do you wish to be the number one person in this world? Do you want to be the one above all? To be unrivaled?"
Lord laughed coldly as he replied, "Let me correct it. I do not wish to be the number one! Because I want to be beyond the number one!
The status determined by others is meaningless to me! Hmm! Only my decision matters! I do not want to be the one above all! I want to be above that. All should pale when compared to me!"
The light radiated brighter. It asked, "I will help you, Lord!" Everybody started to get suppressed under the light; only those who had some pride resisted it.
Lord laughed like a maniac. He held the purple light with his bare hands and crushed it. He frowned; his wrath was growing faster than the light. He said, "Were you deaf? I said MY OWN SELF! It means nobody else must be there!
Your help? Imbecile fool! I don't need it, even if it benefits me! I AM THE LORD!"
The purple light brightened intensely. The light covered him, and a sneaky laughter echoed from it. Aura surged around Lord. He was healed rapidly. In a single instant, Lord was not just fully healed—his cosmic energy was restored to full.
It even got stabilized. He could now use any move without facing backlash.
But he was extremely angry about it. It helped him despite his order. The light spoke once again, "Oh Lord! I am not external! I am your pride itself! Hehe! In simple words, I am your own self!"
The purple light radiated brighter and brighter. The light explained everything to Lord. He started laughing. He raised his hands and began to fly above.
The purple light was growing stronger and stronger. Everyone in the solar system witnessed this change. They felt a formless force sucking them. Fears crawled through their minds; they were filled with despair!
The purple light absorbed their pride. Lord felt extreme excitement surging through his mind. He was at the peak of the world, stepping over everyone and everything.
He laughed crazily. He said, "From this day! I am not Lord!" Some felt he was turning righteous, but he finished, "I AM THE GREAT LORD!!! HAHAHA! I am the absolute lord of everything!"
The Head's eyes almost popped out. His pupils shrank to needle size. He said, "This! This can't be happening! That is impossible!" Not even a single person let their guard down.
Lucan frowned. "What!? Tell me! What is happening?" His human instinct also felt something amiss.
The Head's hands trembled. His heart was beating so fast that it almost flew out. His eyes twitched. He was going insane. He said, "It is happening! Even nature has sided with him! He is refining that crystal!" Everybody shifted their gaze toward Lord.
One thing was in everybody's mind: if he completed it, all of them would face fatal danger. Lucan commanded, "Everyone! Attack and disrupt him!"
Without him saying it, many started to attack. Lord waved his hands. All were severely suppressed. Even Lucan's time-stopping move failed.
He flew down to the Head and asked him about the crystals. He started to explain, "I have one last bit of sanity! Listen, kid! When a person reaches the highest point, like Lord reaching the peak form of pride, nature intervenes! The cosmic energy clusters there to create crystals!
You know about fate, right? The fate of everything is controlled by the Fate Crystal! It has formed from nature! Now Lord's pride has reached the absolute peak! Nature is creating a PRIDE CRYSTAL!
Each crystal has unimaginable powers! Even our research cannot find anything about it! Lord is refining the pride crystal with his own pride and nature!
If he succeeds, he will become truly invincible! Only another crystal could rival him! But no one here, including me, you, and others, has any chance of refining it!
So go! Destroy it! Save this world!"
The Head became truly insane after he finished. Everybody heard his words. They felt goosebumps from fear. Lord felt excitement rising.
Lucan laughed as he shouted, "Hehe! This is why the path of reaching my goal is interesting! No boredom! Everyone, retreat! I, Lucan, will face Lord!
After all, he begged me to fight him! Hehe!"
Everybody retreated far away, paving a way for Lucan. Lord's smile turned dark. He snorted, "So! You are still the same Lucan I knew! Sorry for doubting you, my dear entertainment! Come! But remember—I never beg!"
Lucan rushed ahead. Both of them battled in ways that defied common sense and logic. Everyone was dumbfounded. The purple light affected them all. They all knelt down. Those who had pride were the only ones who could barely resist.
But Lucan was not suppressed. This made all of them think, "HE HAS LORD'S LEVEL PRIDE!!" The blue guy thought, "No! It is because of his pure pragmatic character and perseverance! But he can't last long unless he has his own crystal!"
Lucan's strength matched Lord. He was at par with him. His crew and the slimes understood why he said, "This is only my 1% of power" back then.
Lord's hand itched eagerly to kill Lucan. He even stopped blinking to focus his full attention on Lucan. He couldn't miss his entertainment. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But Lucan soon started showing weakness. First, Lord's strength was rising with the refining of the pride crystal. Next, Lucan faced backlash while Lord didn't. Next, Lucan had limited cosmic energy, while Lord had unlimited energy because he was refining the pride crystal.
Lord stopped attacking. He sighed, "Stop! Only if you have the advantage or are stronger than me will I fight you! Or else it is a disgrace to my pride!"
All of them felt this was the right time for Lucan to kill Lord. They encouraged him to take the risk. Lucan's grin widened. He said, "I don't care if this Lord guy reaches the pinnacle of his strength! As long as it doesn't obstruct my goal, I don't care about it!"
Lord replied, "Don't worry! I won't mess with you!" Others were stunned. But Lord finished, "Till you become stronger than me," with a creepy smile.
Lucan ordered, "Retreat."
His crew retreated along with him to the spaceship. The slimes did the same. The space station aliens cursed Lucan. Lucan's decision was wise. As long as he stayed weaker than Lord, Lord wouldn't attack him.
So he could easily move forward toward his goal. Lord wouldn't stop him, even if he could, because he had promised it on his pride. His crew was happy.
When they reached the spaceship, Lucan retreated faster. He traveled hastily. He even asked the slimes to do the same. But his crew asked him questions.
Lucan said, "Look back!"
Lord had fully refined the pride crystal. It attached itself to him. Now he had become the Great Lord.
The purple light blasted. Everything within its range turned into nothingness. He had already informed Lucan to move far. Hence, he rushed to retreat.
The space station and its aliens were all erased from existence.