Lucian lay on the earth, his eyes distant and unfocused as he stared at the slowly healing sky of the separate plane. Cracks in the artificial firmament mended themselves like living scars knitting shut, streaks of fading light weaving together until the damage from the battle gradually disappeared, leaving behind an almost deceptive calmness.

He didn't know whether to be angry, disappointed in himself, or simply indifferent to the situation altogether. His emotions tangled together in a dull, heavy knot that refused to unravel. After all, he had only lost to Anthony, which, in a strange and almost bitter way, was normal, expected even, something that could hardly be called surprising.

He had guessed he would lose from the very beginning; it was precisely why he never wanted to face Anthony the way Aaaninja and Aura Nova did. He had always preferred observing from the sidelines rather than charging headfirst into a wall he knew he could not break.

But Aura Nova's words had gotten to him.

He, who was barely influenced by anyone's persuasion, who rarely allowed emotions or encouragement to sway his judgment, had somehow been influenced by her to change his mind, as though a tiny spark of pride had been ignited where there should have been none.

And since he decided to face Anthony, he resolved to give it his all… well, not truly his all, because deep down he still held something back. He still possessed an ability he had acquired after teaming up with Anthony to battle the Demon King's clone. Although he didn't know how the ability had mysteriously come to him at the time, Lucian, who had knowledge of ???'s existence, immediately understood that ??? might have blessed him with that particular power. There was no other reasonable explanation for something so abnormal appearing out of nowhere.

And that ability had been his trump card, the final ace hidden beneath his sleeve, the one move he believed could overturn an otherwise hopeless situation.

But he didn't use it against Anthony for two reasons. One, throughout the battle, nothing had worked against Anthony, not his techniques, not his strategies, not even his most carefully calculated attacks, so what would make this particular trump card any different? Yes, the trump card was overpowered in every sense of the word, absurd to the point of breaking common logic, but who was to say ??? hadn't given Anthony something even more broken, something that would effortlessly crush his last hope the moment it surfaced?

Secondly, a trump card was only effective if people didn't know about it. If others knew, analyzed it, and prepared for it, then it was no longer a trump card anymore. Meaning, once he used it here, Aura Nova and Aaaninja would immediately try to develop counters to this hidden advantage of his, dissecting it piece by piece until it lost all surprise. Information alone could turn miracles into mediocrity.

Just like Aura Nova's Root Access Mode, he and the others were already preparing counters for that ridiculous ability even now, because that was simply how battles between monsters worked.

And finally, he had decided to save the trump card for Aaaninja alone and no one else. As for Aura Nova, she was talented and strong for sure, undeniably gifted in her own right, but Lucian still believed she wasn't quite on his and Aaaninja's level due to her late beginning, that subtle gap in experience and instinct that couldn't easily be erased.

And finally, he also understood that Aaaninja would have a trump card of his own, an ability he too had likely obtained from ??? but would believe he comprehended through pure talent, since he didn't know of ???'s existence. And knowing Aaaninja's thoughts and behavior, Lucian was sure that Aaaninja would use this new ability against Anthony without hesitation, gambling everything on a single decisive moment.

'Truly an overpowered character,' he mused to himself, whatever uncertainty remained within him gradually vanishing as he accepted his reality. Winning against Anthony was no different from winning against ??? or even the Author himself, an existence that dictated outcomes from above like a god writing fate with a pen.

'No amount of gifts from any reader will change that,' he thought to himself as he continued lying on the ground, staring at the sky as though he hadn't seen one in a very long time, his mind strangely quiet despite the storm of thoughts.

'Is he just overpowered, or is there a reason none of my attacks worked against him?' Lucian's thoughts continued. Throughout the novel prior to his reincarnation, the number of times Anthony had been injured could be counted on one hand. Lucian had at least thought he could injure Anthony, even slightly, even if it was just a shallow cut, yet he couldn't even rearrange his hair, let alone wound him. The difference was so absurd it felt almost comical.

But unknown to Lucian, no matter what he did, it was bound to be useless against Anthony… unless he changed his race into something entirely different, like a vampire or another non-human species, and not only that, but also possessed overwhelming power to match Anthony's ridiculous strength.

After all, Anthony was a Perfect Human. The bloodline flowing within his veins possessed a passive ability that rendered any attack from humans not of a Perfect Bloodline rank or Primordial Bloodline rank completely useless and ineffective against him. Every strike would simply fail before it even truly connected. But Lucian knew none of this, and as long as he battled Anthony as a human, he was destined to lose from the very start.

And of course, even if Anthony decided to deactivate the passive ability of his Perfect Bloodline rank, Lucian's attacks would still be useless against him. After Anthony's seclusion that lasted over a century, his power had entered an entirely different level and category, something beyond conventional scaling.

Even at this moment, Anthony didn't know if even the famed Demon King's true body could put up a proper fight against him. That was simply how overwhelmingly overpowered he currently was.

So this spar, this battle for the Captain rank that had merely been used as a pretext to clash with one another, was useless in every sense of the word. After all, Lucian was human, so was Aura Nova, and so was Kingsley. All their efforts were destined to end in futility, just like Lucian's had.

Only Aaaninja, the non-human from the Celestial race, stood a chance to injure Anthony. But did he really stand a chance to begin with? After all, one percent was still a chance, and even 0.00001% was technically still a chance. After his next battle with Anthony, would he finally come to understand that Anthony was an unscalable wall.

'Hey, System, it isn't too late to change your function, you know,' Lucian mused lazily, his thoughts directed toward his ever present companion.

[What do you mean, Host?]

The System asked, wondering if its host was about to court death again after the beating he had just received from the protagonist.

'I mean, why can't you be like those binding systems, you know, the ones where people who reincarnate in a novel bind themselves to the protagonist and gain like a hundred times or even a thousand times whatever the protagonist gains?' he asked jokingly, directing a mental grin at the System.

The System was rendered speechless by Lucian's words. If it had a tongue, it would definitely have clicked it in annoyance at his shameless greed.

[It isn't too late to uninstall myself, Host]

It replied flatly, as though daring him to try.

'Look at you, all angry. If you leave, you won't witness the end of the story. I'm just saying you should maybe upgrade yourself or something,' Lucian replied again.

But this time, the System didn't respond. It could clearly tell its greedy Host was eyeing the protagonist's abilities, then planning to multiply them by a factor of a hundred at minimum.

Such terrifying greed.

Yet because of Lucian's words, the System itself couldn't help but consider whether there was truly a way to bypass the protection on Anthony and allow its Host to copy Anthony's abilities.

But unknown to the System, its Host, Lucian, was already subtly affecting its way of thinking, pushing it toward dangerous, death courting thoughts it was never meant to have.

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