The Crystal of Betrayal stood still in the air, floating slowly.
Its gaze shifted past three enemies: Life crystal, Death crystal, and that figure.
It started laughing crazily, "Are we going to start yet?"
Life crystal replied, "Don't get cocky! Death is your only destination now. Death, let me finish this pest!"
Death crystal agreed, "Alright, but let me erase him on the final blow! Otherwise, he can respawn again."
The figure shook his head, "No! Although I want to kill him, Master must grant the permission to do so. Will you both wait—"
Death crystal erased him from existence. "Sorry, dude! Every second you delay will create new problems for us!"
Life crystal laughed, "Good, one down! Now, you yapper!"
The white crystal started to absorb cosmic energy from nowhere; it began to accumulate inside the crystal as it grew big.
It even started to shine brightly. The Crystal of Betrayal was stunned, "You can... take in natural cosmic energy? Magnificent!"
Life crystal had an expressionless gaze; its only goal now was to kill the Crystal of Betrayal.
The Crystal of Betrayal flew above the clouds, and Life crystal followed it up, "Wish to die in the air? Hmm!"
The Crystal of Betrayal thought of its strategy, *Yes! I have split my enemies in two; it's time to try my powers!*
It smirked as it started to glow in its yellow color, "Witness my true power, fellow crystal! Don't blink or you will miss it!"
Life crystal laughed, "Try your tricks! Before you die, at least your last wish before death shall be fulfilled."
A huge smoke erupted in the sky, forcing even Life crystal to close its eyes, "Damn you! This much power? Hmm, didn't he say I mustn't blink?"
When the smoke cleared, the Crystal of Betrayal was standing there, panting heavily, "Oh no, it failed, damn it!"
Its earlier powers were now diminished; it appeared as a dim pebble.
Life crystal smirked, "Eternal freedom? With these pathetic powers? Not even in your dreams, huh!"
The Crystal of Betrayal begged, "Please give me one more chance—"
Before he could even finish, "Not a chance. Take as much as you need; when you give up, I shall kill you."
The Crystal of Betrayal laughed, "Thanks, friend! Please wait a little."
As time continued to pass, he failed multiple times. Life crystal lowered itself to its initial stage.
"Tell me when it's done! Bye!"
The Crystal of Betrayal felt hope diminishing as it remembered the truth, *I have no tricks to defeat Life crystal! Which is the truth, but... I want it... No! I need eternal freedom!*
Although he felt desperate, his goal made his will unshaken. He thought, *If Lucan were here, what would he do?*
It closed its eyes and imagined the situation.
Lucan was flying before Life crystal with injuries, having no strength left to even defend himself.
He also bought time the same way he did.
After Life crystal left, Lucan grinned, "Hehe, although I can never possibly win this, I also can't lose, because I have been granted no time limit. All I have to do is persevere until he abandons me!"
After imagining this, the Crystal of Betrayal slowly opened its eyes and smirked, "Just as I expected it to be! Let me try it in real life!"
And so, many days passed, months passed, years passed.
Life crystal came frequently and asked, "Give up?"
But the Crystal of Betrayal shook in rejection, "No, not yet."
Eventually, Life crystal was indeed fed up; the Crystal of Betrayal possessed no threat like Pride crystal.
Hence, Life crystal abandoned him, just as planned.
The Crystal of Betrayal screamed loudly in joy, "Yes! I did it! I have finally survived this! Now I have basic freedom."
But before he could even enjoy it, a harsh reality struck him: Life crystal was gone, but what about the Organization?
With this hesitation, the Crystal of Betrayal flew down to Life crystal and Death crystal, "Friends! Long time no see."
Death crystal frowned, "How are you still alive? Life? Could you explain this!"
The Crystal of Betrayal retreated, "Forgive me, Death. Please, I just want my eternal freedom! If I attain that, I would never meddle with Fate or anything else."
Life crystal sighed, "Death! He's not worth our time. Let him be as he wishes to be. He is so weak that killing him or letting him live makes no difference."
Death crystal went into deep thought, "But... the issue is that Fate wants him to be dead! That is what my true concern is about—"
Before he could even finish, Life crystal went berserk and started attacking madly.
"Idiot! You should have told me sooner!"
The Crystal of Betrayal went speechless, "But... why me? I can barely cause an issue!"
Death crystal surrounded him from the other direction, locking away his escape.
"Sorry, my friend. Only Fate knows the answer to that, but just don't resist. I will erase you without any pain!"
The Crystal of Betrayal tried to defend in every way possible, but in a few mere seconds, he was overwhelmed by the combined force of Life and Death.
Facing one individually was already hard—imagine the two of them combined...
Life crystal painted the sky white with its glow, and Death crystal darkened it with its glow.
They nullified each other's powers to prevent them from affecting other living species.
The Crystal of Betrayal fell to the ground, with multiple cracks all over its body. This time, it felt as if the end was near.
With no escape route.
But...
He once again remembered Lucan as he imagined things from his point of view.
However, this time he got no solution like the earlier one.
He started to recall the best memories of his life as death was a few steps away.
All of them filled his mind and made him dream of himself attaining true eternal freedom. It laughed, "At least in my dream, I have achieved my goal. Hehe! Death is fun in a strange way."
He gave up resisting as both Life crystal and Death crystal stopped attacking him.
Life crystal said, "Finally, it's over! Phew, I expected some surprise attacks from him, but he went down far easier than you mentioned."
Death crystal replied, "It doesn't matter either way, because we will kill him in any case!"
Both of them flew away as the Crystal of Betrayal's body started to get absorbed by the abyss.
A purple halo burst out of him as the light blinded even the stars in space.
The entire abyss started to tremble; Life crystal and Death crystal turned back to see this bizarre state.
Death crystal froze in disbelief, "No, it can't be true! Damn it, Fate was right; you should have killed him!"
Life crystal felt goosebumps from the scale of the power, "Pri... Pri... Pride crystal! Don't tell me he is still alive!"
Pride crystal laughed aloud, "Actually, I am truly dead and erased; there was no way I could have been reborn. All thanks to Lord! He selflessly acted using time essence and saved me, and the Crystal of Betrayal was true to his own feelings. With all of this, I, Pride crystal, am back! Haha!"
A huge hand slammed him down, "Idiot! Lord is Lord! You say I did it to save you? Hmph! I did it for... uhm... a personal reason!"
Pride crystal smirked, "Oh my, Lord has become lowly by submitting to emotions! Hahaha!—"
Lord pinned him to the ground, "Don't get cocky, you idiot! Damn it! Why do I feel like not hurting you? This stupid feeling! What is it?"
The Crystal of Betrayal watched all of this in amusement, "Pride crystal! But aren't Life crystal and Death crystal the supreme ones? How did you surpass them?"
Lord snorted with pride, "Hehe! Kid, it's because of only me! Me, Lord! The greatest of all things in all time!"
The Crystal of Betrayal laughed, "You got it wrong! It's 'greatest of all time'—"
Lord punched him to the ground, "Idiot! You dare try to correct me? Whatever I do is correct!"
Pride crystal laughed, "Dude! You've gotta stay silent around that guy."
The Crystal of Betrayal asked, "Why? Is your servant that strong?"
Pride crystal, Life crystal, and Death crystal froze in silence as their gazes shifted past Lord.