MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 985: It Was

Lucian wasn't stupid; he realized the backlash stemmed from activating his Fourth Wall Breaking power. He had brushed against a realm that even figures like ??? and Romulus could never grasp or understand. No one could brush that level of power without consequences; a toll had to be exacted. And his toll was total. He had forfeited everything.

Naturally, Lucian hadn't foreseen such a backlash before; in truth, he lacked even the full specifics of the ability that brought him to this point, much less the repercussions lurking behind its use. His soul had merely informed him of an extraordinarily potent ultimate skill, an unmatched ace up his sleeve, and that was the extent of the insight provided.

Yet after deploying it, clarity struck. He grasped the complete scope of its essence and the utter gravity of its fallout. He needed to atone for meddling with forces outside the limitless, past structures, past cause and effect, past the very metaphysical orders ruling Existence, Reality, Law, Order, and Creation.

This raised a crucial query: had he known of the backlash before triggering the ability, would he have proceeded? Absolutely. Lucian committed fully to every choice; doubt held no place in his nature. If death awaited, he'd embrace it. If oblivion was the fee, he'd settle it without remorse.

In his dying instants, his mind turned to his kin, to his mother Vespera, who had urged him against departing their homeworld at twenty, insisting their planet posed enough threats without the incomprehensible dangers hidden in the vast Galaxy.

Next came his father, Riven, who backed his venture and encouraged exploration, proclaiming true men shunned fear of mortality. Lucian cherished his family profoundly; words fell short in capturing that depth of affection.

'Can't they see I'm on the brink? They ought to be hurrying over, wailing and weeping beside my fading form,' Lucian quipped inwardly, for not even inevitable and genuine Death could erase his defiant wit. Unbeknownst to him, they were meant to arrive and attempt his rescue; Klaus and the others should have shown up too. Their absence remained an enigma for the time being, one he chose not to puzzle over in these last breaths, since conjecture wouldn't sway destiny.

His reflections drifted to Veronica. He recalled their first encounter at the cafe; it started with just a shared look between unknowns, a brief spark of interest, followed by endless coincidences that kept drawing them together until feelings grew into an irrefutable bond, transforming them into partners.

Though numerous women had crossed his path before, Lucian had never harbored true love for any, evident even now in death as he recalled none of them and focused solely on Veronica.

'Sigh... such a tragic woman. Her previous boyfriend fell to demons on a mission, and now her present one teeters on the edge from an ability's rebound,' he pondered silently, jesting once more, though he could vividly picture the heartbreak awaiting her.

Were this Earth, his world of reincarnation, if a woman lost two partners to death amid their time together, observers would surely point to her as the linking factor.

'Even beyond the grave, my love for you endures, Vero,' he reflected as he stayed on his knees, his frame too frail to stand, his life force almost snuffed out.

'I wonder if that crossed her last boyfriend's mind before his end,' he wisecracked yet again, chuckling in death's shadow, utterly unperturbed like a lunatic who had surpassed all terror.

He lifted his gaze to the heavens, his existence replaying in his waning sight. He thought of his Earth family before reincarnating. He recalled browsing countless titles on the Webnovel app until discovering Might As Well Be OP.

He remembered sinking coins into it fanatically. He thought of his competition with Aaaninja, the fellow who rivaled him first in the Milky Way Galaxy and now once more in the Acarnis Galaxy. Lucian couldn't ignore yet another twist: he, Lucian, faced death this time. In his prior existence as Alex, demise had claimed him in the Milky Way Galaxy; as Lucian, it struck again in the Acarnis Galaxy.

'How ironic,' he contemplated, deriving grim humor from the cycle.

His eyes turned to the infinite expanse of the Acarnis Galaxy as memories flowed from one to the next, each revisited with delight, levity, and fondness, like turning cherished leaves.

'I truly savored a flawless and joyful existence,' he mused inwardly. 'Pity I missed the story's conclusion, but at least I held the physical copy, and I'm certain no one else ever has,' he added in his thoughts, a spark of pride lingering amid fading awareness.

Though fixed on the sky, Lucian's sight failed; shadows encroached from the periphery, leaving him nearly blind now.

'I wonder if Aaaninja faced any rebound,' he pondered as his thoughts wandered back to his timeless adversary, a contest bridging two lives, two species, two worlds, two Galaxies. He offered a subtle smile at the epic scale of it.

[It seems we've reached the journey's close, Host]

The System's robotic voice resounded in his head, the loyal ally present from his awakening right up to this instant.

'It does,' Lucian responded with a subtle grin.

[I'll remain by your side, even through death, Host]

The System intoned once more, but now its synthetic quality felt faintly subdued, as if some part of it weakened alongside him.

'I know,' Lucian whispered back, curious about what awaited beyond. On Earth, he might have mulled paradise or perdition, but here he knew deities were just advanced cultivators, not ultimate truths.

'Though I've never voiced this over our century together, and it may come too late, but... thank you,' Lucian conveyed earnestly, extending thanks to the System for its direction and constant presence.

[...]

The System fell quiet, as if at a loss for words, as if grieved to merely witness its Host's passing without action. Yet like all of Lucian's skills and powers, it too faced limitations, reduced to faint exchanges.

Abruptly, Aaaninja's body on the moon, surrounded by its own blood, shimmered, then distorted like a glitch in existence. In the following instant, it disappeared completely. But Lucian felt no shock; he had anticipated this, questioning only the delay in Aaaninja's revival.

Immediately after, time particles quivered with apparent delight as Aaaninja materialized, appearing untouched by any beheading. His vibrant, timepiece-like, captivating eyes blinked open, then fixed on Lucian, still on his knees and reduced to a mere shell, a hollow remnant of who he once was.

No acquaintance of Lucian's would recognize this figure as the same individual.

Aaaninja regarded his companion, taking in his state with an unchanging face, not from indifference or grudge against Lucian Darkheart, but from his innate composure amid any crisis, no matter how dire.

At last, his mouth opened as he uttered, "Was it worth it?" he inquired.

Hearing Aaaninja, Lucian yearned to reply, but speech eluded him. He lacked even the vigor to twitch his lips, let alone shape words. Yet it hardly signified; driven by sheer fiery resolve, he forced out a response to his foe before oblivion overtook him.

"It was," he managed, his tone feeble, barely audible, and raspy.

With those words, he shut his eyes and surrendered fully to death.

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