MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Minutes drifted by, the only sound a relentless, subterranean rumble, an echo of the unending earthquake that had shaken the world into silence.

Gradually, the swirling dust began to settle, unveiling the shattered reality of the planet. Yet, there remained no eyes to witness this desolation.

Millions had perished, erased in an instant.

Newborns, untouched by the world's cruelties.

Children, who had only moments ago been lost in play, their awakening still far ahead.

Expectant mothers, nurturing unborn life.

Innocents, untainted by malice.

Ancient vampires, clinging to the final embers of existence.

None were spared.

Life in all its forms, trees, animals, beasts, insects, even the smallest organisms, was annihilated.

A once-vibrant world, teeming with energy and promise, had been reduced to nothing more than a barren, lifeless expanse.

But Anthony felt no remorse.

No hesitation.

No second thoughts.

No what ifs, no comforting lies, no grand ideals to justify his actions.

He sought no meaning, there was none.

No purpose.

No reason beyond the simple truth that he had chosen this.

Through the dissipating haze, he stood tall, untouched, unblemished. Not a speck of dust clung to him, not a single scratch marred his body. His hair moved with a haunting grace, caught in the aftermath of the apocalypse he had unleashed with unsettling ease.

Though the attack had mimicked the fury of the sun itself, even a true sun, burning at its peak, could do him no harm.

His newly awakened form stood beyond such trivialities. Even had he allowed the vampires to strike, to land their strongest blows, his body would not have registered the effort. Not even a scratch would remain.

At this moment, only a Supreme Monarch or greater could hope to wound him.

And there were none here.

And that was if he allowed it in the first place.

Suddenly, space warped, and in a blink, a vampire was forced into reality before him. The vampire collapsed to his knees instantly, his entire being consumed by an all-encompassing terror. His body trembled, overtaken by the phantom screams of death that echoed within his soul.

"S…sp…spar… spare… m-m-m…me," he stammered, his words dissolving into a cascade of broken syllables, each one strangled by fear.

"P…pl… plea… please…"

But he couldn't finish. The words died in his throat.

Anthony did not even look at him.

Not a glance.

His gaze remained fixed ahead, indifferent and uncaring to his cries.

He had spared this one for a reason.

Among the countless he had annihilated, Anthony had selected this vampire and threw him into the Mirror Dimension, he had a use for him. He might have preferred to use the Warlord Vampire who had confronted him earlier on the Blue Planet, but that one had been reduced to nothing during an experiment.

With a mere thought, Authority of Severance activated. The trembling vampire's pleas were instantly silenced, his voice cut cleanly from existence. Anthony had grown tired of the noise.

His gaze swept across the trembling vampire before him, but it was not the physical he saw, it was the web of life, of connection. Countless threads shimmered in his vision, each one tethered to bloodlines, to lineage, to people.

And there they were, those tied to the bloodline of the Second Supreme Monarch.

Even the Monarch's own thread pulsed faintly within the weave, distant yet unmistakable. Anthony considered summoning him, tearing that thread across realms and dragging him into this desolation. But the risk was too great.

Who could say whether the Monarch was currently locked in battle beside Anthony's father… or his mother?

A reckless pull might endanger both.

He would not risk them.

Not yet.

With a thought, Anthony cast the Monarch aside, figuratively and literally, and refocused. His will surged. Dozens of threads shimmered, taut and trembling.

And then; he severed them all at the same time.

There were no spatial fluctuations, no twists, no flashes, no warning. Reality itself seemed to rupture, effortlessly disgorging thousands of vampires into existence before Anthony's eyes.

He could see the shock and disorientation etched into their expressions. Some wore military uniforms, others were clad in armor. A few stood naked, clearly interrupted during intimacy, while others donned ordinary clothing, as if plucked from mundane moments.

Without hesitation, five of them blurred forward. They required no explanation. In the brief window afforded to them, they had already assessed the situation, marking Anthony as an enemy, a threat to the bloodline.

But before they could reach him, they froze mid-motion. Anthony had activated the pause function of the Sense Dome, halting them, and everything else, within its bounds.

With that, Anthony activated Death Blesser once more, siphoning away their lifespans. Yet, there was no further transformation, no shift, no surge, nothing.

He left them with only two minutes to live. And within a mere three-second window, he had already taken everything from them.

As those three seconds elapsed and the vampires prepared to resume movement, their bodies suddenly shattered, diced into innumerable pieces.

The remaining vampires froze in place. None had seen Anthony move. Yet, their kin lay dismembered, flesh and bone collapsing lifelessly to the ground.

Before they could could even scream, countless slashes bloomed into existence.

They were not physical, each was a rift of pure spatial energy. Anthony hadn't drawn his katana. He hadn't needed to. With a single thought, the slashes pulsed outward, collapsing upon each vampire faster than their senses could register.

The vampire sitting on the floor trembled violently, his eyes wide with horror as he witnessed the death of those who had just emerged from the void.

He tried to scream, but no sound came. His voice had vanished, stolen by the Authority Of Severance. Slowly, his gaze rose and met Anthony's.

It was like staring into the eyes of death itself. In that moment, he knew, there would be no escape.

Around them, the blood of the slain vampires began to stir. It writhed and pulsed, and then, impossibly, the bodies began to reform. They were returning to life.

Anthony merely glanced at them, unsurprised.

He knew the truth: as long as even a single drop of blood remained, resurrection was possible for creatures like them. But it didn't matter. He had already stripped them of all but two minutes of life using Death Blesser.

And he didn't intend to wait.

Blue flames surged from his feet, then exploded outward in a pulse of divine fury. The vampires instinctively retreated, their blood twisting and stretching to form wings in a desperate bid for escape, but it was futile.

The flames were faster.

They latched onto their bodies, burning with no concept of hesitation or mercy. Some, in their panic, cleaved off their own limbs in a vain attempt to sever the flames.

But Anthony would not allow it.

With a single thought, he froze them in place within the Sense Dome, rendering them helpless as the divine flames consumed them entirely. This time, their deaths would be permanent.

His gaze then shifted to the trembling vampire.

Without a word, Anthony activated Poison Body. Instantly, venom surged into the creature's bloodstream, unraveling his consciousness from within.

As the vampire collapsed into unconsciousness, Anthony threw him into the Mirror Dimension, sealing him away.