Page 3960 -- CCCXVIII.

Chapter Three Hundred Eighteen: ‘The role of Fire...’
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As they proceeded through the oppressive dark, Roman was watching Hector like a hawk. In particular, he was watching that orbiting cube.

Truth be told, despite how casually he’d played the whole thing off--in part, thanks to Voreese’s private advisement--Roman was in awe of the kid.

Again.

How many times did this make? It was always something, wasn’t it? Some new reason to be baffled by his young friend’s behavior or accomplishments--or both, oftentimes.

How things had changed. Not so long ago, he’d felt like the one leading the charge in their little Atreyan club of superpowered friends. He’d been the most experienced, after all. The strongest. The wealthiest. The most knowledgeable about the world of reapers and servants. The one everyone most relied upon in order to protect their nation during its time of great need.

Need to lay low for a while? Roman has your back. Need to flee the country and search for allies? Roman’s private jet was ready and waiting. Need to fight Abolish head on? Roman’s alteration ability was instrumental in that, too.

But now?

Now he was struggling to find ways in which he could still be useful.

It was frustrating, in its own ways, even though it was simultaneously a relief. Not having to feel like so much weight was resting on his shoulders--that was certainly nice.

But he couldn’t simply let things continue on like this, either. If Hector kept advancing further and further ahead of him, then this sense of frustration was only going to grow along with that gulf.

He’d discussed this with Voreese a bit already, though not in its totality. Hell, it was only right now, as they were walking through this underground expanse of pitch black that this feeling was becoming fully clear to him.

The feeling that he would absolutely not allow himself to be left in the dust.

Which was doubly frustrating, because he really liked Hector. At this point, the kid was one of his closest friends. It was impossible to see him as a true “rival.” That just didn’t feel right at all.

And there was always the bigger picture to think about, of course. Protecting the nation. Protecting each other. Building up their position. Their strength and influence. At the end of the day, interpersonal feelings amounted to little more than petty nonsense.