Lucan's dad closed his eyes; tears gathered as they filled his eyes.
His throat went dry as he gulped down saliva.
Teardrops fell from his eyes as he started to cry, his eyes turning red. He hugged both his wife and daughter.
And he started to shed his tears, letting out all the stored pain.
The golden butterfly turned pale as it felt pity seeing this scene.
It thought, "Lucan... you must see them! I can't let them wait for you... I feel bad."
Meanwhile, in the mysterious library, the child guy took a fighting stance. "Lucan! I swear if you try to do something to my friend, I will kill you!"
Lucan grinned, "Oh, you mean the fate guy? Chill, I wouldn't even touch him. My true target is you! Hehe."
The child guy frowned. "Me? Why me? What did I do?"
Lucan's grin was replaced with a cold smirk. "Didn't you find out that I knew the secret? And weren't you about to tell it to the fate guy?"
The child guy gasped. "But... how did you... know it? Impossible!"
Lucan grinned, "I didn't know it; I just had a hunch to double-check! And my instincts were right—you indeed tried to reveal me!"
The child guy took a deep breath. "Good, but... one thing you have miscalculated is that I am not weak!"
His whole body shone with brilliance as cosmic energy circulated around him.
His control over cosmic energy was almost perfect; even Lucan couldn't help but marvel at it.
The child guy said another strange spell as Lucan was tied up by nothing...
Lucan tried to break free, realizing he was trapped, but he felt nothing around his body.
Nothing was binding him; despite that, he wasn't able to free himself.
The child guy laughed mockingly. "Now what do you say? If you just surrender and spill the truth, I might think about letting you live.
Hehe, don't get afraid! It will only get worse from here..."
His laughter faded as his face held the gaze of a monolith.
Lucan, however, was instead more interested. "Amazing! What a genius power! I am being bound by nothing?
I guessed a possibility, but it was actually not the case!"
The child guy was stunned. "Who the hell are you?... Don't you even feel fear at all? You are insane!"
Lucan laughed. "Yeah, people say so. Even the fate guy says that I am an incomplete psycho! Hahaha!"
The child guy took out a blade and pointed it at Lucan's neck.
"Look, I have no time to play with you. Say whether you surrender or die."
Lucan realized the seriousness of the situation as he said, "I choose to live! I am not dying at the hands of you aliens before reaching my goal!
No matter who you are or what you are, I shall kill you and step over your corpse if you are in my path to reach my goal!"
The child guy laughed. "You?... Goal?... Kill me? Hahaha! C-tier species, hehe. Now I get it—you are too dumb!
Fine, tell me what your goal actually is. Haha, probably something so stupid."
Lucan grinned. "It is reaching the end of space and going beyond it! Finding the truth beyond everything!"
His eyes widened and shone with passion; his teeth showed in a wider grin.
The child guy started to laugh more. "See, so stupid! There is no end to space, you idiot!"
Lucan froze in disbelief as he recalled a past incident.
Where he was in his class, and the teacher was asking their goals one by one.
"I still remember it... the laughter and mockery from then..."
One by one, students stood up and said their goals.
"I will be an astronaut and fight aliens!"
"I will be a superhero and save the world..."
...
When it was my turn, I stood up with excitement and fear crawling through my heart.
I gathered my courage and took a long, deep breath before screaming, "My goal is reaching the end of space and going beyond it, and finding the truth beyond everything!"
A moment of silence passed through my class... I can still feel the silent echo rumbling through my ears.
But soon, laughter echoed as people started to mock me... especially that nerd! I can never forget that.
He said, "How can you be so stupid! Dumb kid, space has no end, it's infinite!"
I sat down and turned away. The teacher supported them too. "Well, Lucan, how do I put it? Your goal... uhm! It's actually not possible.
You will learn it later..."
Lucan even remembered his sister correcting him along with his mother.
He felt so lonely; his mind went blank as he saw himself floating in space.
He felt emotions surging through him—sadness, anger, anxiety... all of them gushed into his mind.
He saw the surroundings shatter into multiple fragments; space collapsed as he fell into a null void.
Where nothingness exists.
He tried to grab the fragments and climb up, but his efforts were in vain.
As he fell deeper—so deep that... he felt even he couldn't reach out.
The golden butterfly's image and his dad's image appeared.
He said, "At least you guys stood by my side... hehe!"
But he missed their hands... unfortunately, and fell deeper.
He recalled his life from that one day until now.
Countless struggles, life-threatening risks, mind games, physical and psychological battles, fleeing from one place to another.
And despite all that... he still lost more than he had won; his only victory was managing to stay alive.
He closed his eyes. "In the end, I failed at reaching my goal? Hehe, huh! Regretting... like this now.
I advised others to live without regrets, and now I am regretting it.
And I am going to die without even reaching a checkpoint of my goal."
...
He saw everybody he had ever met, spreading out their hands, just to... push him down deeper.
Suddenly his expression changed as he saw himself falling down.
He saw his own self falling right beside him. It spoke, "Me, hehe! We failed, huh?"
Lucan frowned. "But... I don't wanna fail! Or don't wanna die now! My goal... I want to reach it!"
His own self laughed. "Let me tell you one thing: count the number of times we have failed and won on your fingers! The failures can't be counted, and the victories can't either.
Because we have lost more and won none.
But that doesn't stop us from reaching our goal... it's your choice, in your hands, your own hands!"
Lucan felt a strange motivation. "What is... this?"
His own self said, "It's you or us—you! Remember, if you want to reach your goal, you are the only person who will accompany you!
Others won't! Hehe, tell me, do you wanna die or live?"
Lucan screamed in agony, "I wanna live! I wanna die only after my goal! Please help me!"
His own self spread out its hands. "Hold me, hold yourself still, and climb the wall."
Lucan grabbed his own hands and saw himself stop falling. "I... I... survived!"
His own self vanished. "Remember, whenever you need help or wherever you need help, only I... sorry, hehe, you can be there! To help yourself.
I swear to you... no, to me! That me myself, that is you, wouldn't die here because..."
Lucan finished, "Because I don't wanna die! Whatever happens is my decision! Me! Myself is the only person for me... no others are there!"
His own self hugged him. "Oh, me, myself! My own self, haha! Whenever you feel anything, ask your own inner self.
You will always be there to answer yourself! Hahaha! Lucan, we are Lucan, I am Lucan, you are Lucan.
Hehe, tell me what you must never forget in your life!"
Lucan grinned; he started to move ahead, stepping over all the obstacles and flying high above the darkness.
He laughed as if he had gone insane. "That is, I am always there for me! One's own self will always be the one and only helper in our life!
That is me, myself!"
His own self completely disappeared. "I am happy that I am you! Lucan! Hahaha..."
The fragments around him started to reattach as the whole place rumbled; the solar system felt a massive fluctuation in cosmic energy.
Everyone Lucan had ever met in his life felt his aura...
Even on Earth, his family and the golden butterfly felt it.
Lord, Kaol Noah, Crystals, Space Station members, King, Celestia, the black figure from the organization—all of them felt it.
The child guy froze in fear as he saw Lucan still alive with such an aura...