MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

As the dinner continued, the family remained cheerful and full of laughter, delighted by the progress of Anthony's love life. Although they were eager to meet Vega immediately, Anthony knew he needed to meet with her first and discuss the right time for introductions.

After the topic of Vega had been thoroughly explored, Anthony shifted the conversation, his tone turning inquisitive. He leaned back slightly in his chair and asked about the mission his family had just returned from.

"Do you even need to ask?" Michael replied with a wide grin stretching across his face. "Demon Monarchs are like flies now. A single swing of my sword is all I need to end them."

Mitchelle turned toward him, her elegant features carrying a hint of amusement. "You know not all Demon Monarchs are of equal strength, right?" she countered lightly.

Michael waved a dismissive hand, his grin widening. "Doesn't matter. A single slash is all I need," he intoned confidently, his voice filled with arrogance that bordered on playful.

Anthony simply sat back, watching the exchange between his parents with a faint smile tugging at his lips. Their banter reminded him of simpler times, moments when the world outside their home seemed less dangerous.

Collins, who had been quietly observing from the other end of the table, finally turned his black gaze away from his son and daughter-in-law. His deep black eyes shifted to Anthony. "Why didn't you kill the Second Supreme Monarch?" he asked calmly.

The air in the room froze instantly. Michael and Mitchelle both stopped in mid-motion, their expressions hardening slightly. Though they had planned to ask Anthony the same question, neither of them had expected Collins to be the one to break the silence first.

"Enemies should be killed, erased completely," Collins continued, his voice carrying a tone of experience and authority. "So they don't grow back like weeds, or return later to pester your life like stubborn flies." His tone wasn't judgmental; it was simply the voice of one who had seen countless battles. He hadn't interfered with Anthony's methods before, but to him, the most efficient solution was always the most permanent one, death.

Anthony paused for a brief moment before speaking, his calm voice carrying a weight that silenced the room. "Killing him would have been too… simple," he said, his tone almost casual. "It would have been a blessing, a release, that I wasn't going to bestow."

He leaned slightly forward as he continued, his expression composed and unreadable. "As for him coming back, I took away his lifespan, his talent, and his abilities. As of now, he has only a single year left to live. As for making a breakthrough to increase his lifespan, with the curse I placed on him and the talent I stripped away, he won't be achieving any breakthroughs in a year."

Anthony's family sat in stunned silence, processing his words. None of them could fully comprehend the extent of his power, how he had managed to take the Second Supreme Monarch's talent entirely. But then again, this was Anthony, a being who could rewrite existence itself. In comparison, erasing a talent seemed like a small feat.

Before anyone could even speak, Anthony raised his hand. A darkish portal appeared above his palm, swirling with shadow and eerie energy. From within, a scream tore through the air, raw, distorted, and filled with madness.

"Within this portal lies half of the Second Supreme Monarch's soul," Anthony said coldly, his gaze fixed on the floating darkness. "He can forget about revenge. I can always link this fragment to the one within his body and end him at any time." As he finished, the portal collapsed into itself and vanished without a trace.

Collins, Irene, Michael, and Mitchelle stared silently at the young man before them, their expressions a mixture of awe and contemplation. It was clear, Anthony didn't merely want the Second Supreme Monarch dead. He wanted him to suffer.

"It seems you truly have your own methods," Collins finally said, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over the table.

Anthony simply nodded, a faint smile curving his lips.

"How did you reach the planetary level?" Mitchelle asked after a moment, her tone calm yet curious.

Anthony met her gaze, his expression softening slightly before he began to explain. "I have an ability called Death Blesser," he began evenly. "This ability allows me to see and take away the lifespan and vitality of others. That was how I stripped the Second Supreme Monarch of his vitality and left him with only a year to live. I became a planetary-level being by using that ability."

He paused for a moment, giving them time to absorb his words before continuing. "Since the Second Supreme Monarch sent his descendant after me, I simply tracked down all his descendants. I devoured their vitality, one by one, and then erased them completely. The sheer volume of vitality I absorbed from them was enormous, enough to push me into the planetary level."

He spoke the words calmly, as though recounting something as mundane as a routine training exercise, but the table had once again fallen silent.

"Wait," Collins suddenly spoke, his tone sharp. "But I didn't feel the Second Supreme Monarch's vitality dwindle."

"That's because Death Blesser also works that way," Anthony replied smoothly. "It doesn't cause any noticeable changes. When your time comes, you simply slump over and die, quietly, without warning."

A heavy silence settled over the room once more. The implications were chilling. To them, Death Blesser was perhaps the ultimate ability, one that could end anyone, regardless of power or status. After all, no one was beyond the reach of death. Everyone had a lifespan.

Michael turned to Mitchelle, his brow furrowing deeply. "Are you sure he awakened the Magic Swordsman class? No one in history with that class has ever possessed this many ridiculous abilities," he asked, unable to contain his disbelief. Every time he saw his son, it seemed Anthony had developed something even more overpowered than before.

Mitchelle smirked faintly. "Why don't you ask him?" she replied, her tone half-joking, though her curiosity was genuine. To her knowledge, Anthony's class had always remained the same, Magic Swordsman.

"My class isn't Magic Swordsman," Anthony said suddenly, confirming Michael's suspicions without hesitation.

At his words, both Mitchelle and Michael frowned in unison. "You've been lying to us all these years?" they demanded, their voices tinged with both confusion and disbelief.

Anthony immediately sensed the sharp edge of anger beneath their tone and quickly clarified. "Of course not. I haven't been lying. My class changed after a few years. I originally awakened the Magic Swordsman class, but five years later, it evolved into Anomaly."

If it had been anyone else, Anthony wouldn't have revealed such information. But these were his family, the people he trusted more than anyone. There was no need to hide something so fundamental from them.

The moment the word "Anomaly" left his mouth, everyone frowned in thought. They all knew what that word meant, something outside of common understanding, something that defied the system's order. None of them had ever heard of a class changing after awakening.

'Does this mean awakened classes can evolve if certain conditions are met?' Mitchelle wondered silently. The thought intrigued her deeply. The conclusion they all reached was that Anthony's Anomaly class must have been an evolution of his previous one.

It was a groundbreaking revelation, something that could change the very foundations of class awakening. Yet, despite its magnitude, it was also frustratingly useless for now, since no one knew what the specific conditions for such evolution were.

After a few more moments of quiet contemplation, they all decided to drop the topic, at least for the time being. There would be time later to explore it in greater detail.