MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 1105: Misunderstanding

Aurelius Ignis, the Phoenix King, was the first to respond, ”We all sensed the True Death of the Blood Queen, so we came rushing to find out what happened,” his voice calm as a bright red, burning crown of flames sat upon his head, radiating an imposing yet controlled aura.

Everyone around nodded in agreement, as though they had all indeed come rushing for the exact same purpose, seeking answers to the same looming question that lingered within their minds.

Anthony arched an eyebrow as he spoke, ”I thought you all hated each other and had immense differences; why the sudden concern for her death and its cause?” he asked as he floated upward to their level, as he couldn’t continue looking upwards without appearing somewhat awkward or strained.

”While we may have our differences, the sudden death of a Domain Ruler is a cause for alarm; we might have a hidden threat at hand or something else entirely, it is always best to confirm,” Kaelen Wildhart, Ruler of the Demi-Human Domain, stated in a factual and composed tone, earning a nod of agreement from the other Domain Rulers who seemed to share the same line of reasoning.

”I see...” Anthony responded thoughtfully, ”I thought you were all here to pillage the Vampire Domain as well,” he added as he met their gazes with an amused smile playing subtly on his lips.

”We are going to do just that; that was the second matter on our list,” Gorath Storm, Rider and Bringer’s father, replied bluntly, as he wasn’t going to pretend that they had not intended to seize and plunder whatever valuable resources the Vampire Domain possessed.

”Well, we were going to do that,” Baldor Ironhammer, Ruler of the Dwarf Domain, began to speak, deliberately placing emphasis on the word ”were,” making it clear that such intentions had now shifted into something belonging to the past at this present moment, ”but now that you seem to be protecting the Vampire Domain, we won’t,” he stated plainly, as the last thing he desired was to engage in conflict with the monster known across Planets as Null Anthony.

Anthony arched an eyebrow once more as he spoke, ”I think you all are misunderstanding something,” he stated calmly, his tone even and composed, ”I’m not protecting the Vampire Domain, so do not mistake my presence for such intentions,” he clarified without the slightest hint of hesitation.

At Anthony’s words, the Domain Rulers all exchanged glances with one another, a particular gleam flickering within their eyes, as though they were now beginning to look forward to robbing the Vampire Domain without restraint. Of course, they wouldn’t go around mindlessly slaughtering Vampires or robbing the weak, nor would they wipe out the Vampire Domain entirely, as there was absolutely no value or benefit in doing so; what they intended instead was to target every Apexus Mana Ranker, along with those from the Origin Mana Rank and above.

They were certain that the Vampire Queen didn’t simply carry all her treasures around within her space rings at all times; they themselves, as Domain Rulers, certainly did not follow such a reckless practice. After all, it was both common sense and common practice to loot the space rings of the dead after a battle, meaning that by carrying everything, one would essentially be handing their entire life’s wealth over to their killer. It was far wiser to have such treasures securely hidden away in secret locations.

Although they didn’t know where the Blood Queen had hidden her own treasures, they were confident that they could eventually locate them; and even if they couldn’t, they would simply employ a Seer to uncover the hidden troves, it was as simple as that.

”Since you are already here, do you know what killed the Blood Queen?” the Dragon Emperor asked as he met Anthony’s eyes with a calm yet probing expression, clearly seeking a definitive answer.

Anthony stared at him for a brief moment before replying with a flat, emotionless expression, ”I killed her,” his tone completely devoid of any hesitation, tension, or remorse.

Upon hearing Anthony’s words, silence instantly tore through the space as everyone stared at him with stunned expressions, as though they could scarcely believe what they had just heard.

”May I ask why?” the Elf King inquired calmly, carefully choosing his words so as not to overstep any unseen boundaries, as he had no desire whatsoever to join the Blood Queen in her journey to the realm of death.

”Well... her son died; she contacted me to bring him back to life, and like every healer out there, I demanded payment. When she couldn’t pay, she claimed I refused to bring her son back to life out of spite, saying it was because I was the one who killed him,” Anthony explained calmly, ”so she attacked me, and so I killed her,” he concluded in the same indifferent tone.

Hearing Anthony’s explanation, everyone immediately forgot about the Blood Queen’s death itself, their expressions shifting into deep frowns as their concern shifted toward the mysterious death of her son. They all understood the unique resurrection methods of the Vampire race, and to them, if even the Blood Queen couldn’t resurrect her own son and couldn’t identify the culprit, then didn’t that imply that their own children could potentially be next?

But unbeknownst to them, they were all simply overthinking the situation, as the very source of this mysterious death stood right before them.

”What exactly did you demand from the Blood Queen?” the Phoenix King couldn’t help but ask, as although Phoenixes possessed the ability of rebirth, it was not something they could consciously control, and even those with Royal Grade Bloodlines rarely experienced it.

”Nothing specific; you will understand if you ever face the same problem,” Anthony replied as he shook his head lightly, offering no further clarification.

However, his words only caused their frowns to deepen, as his statement was phrased in a manner that made it seem as though he already knew that something unfortunate was destined to happen to their descendants. They couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of unease and quiet unrest settle within them.

”It seems I forgot something; I will be back,” Aeltharion Moonwhisper spoke first. He casually plucked a strand of white hair from his head, and it immediately transformed into a perfect clone. With that, his original body vanished as he rushed back towards the Elf Domain with urgency.

”I seem to have left the gas on fire,” Aurelius Ignis stated, as he created a flame clone and immediately rushed back towards the Phoenix Domain.

Anthony was momentarily stunned by the absurd excuse, as it quite literally made no sense whatsoever, but he said nothing, simply shaking his head at their clear misunderstanding of his words.

With that, the remaining four Domain Rulers each left behind a clone in their place and swiftly rushed back to their respective Domains. At the same time, their clones immediately descended towards the Vampire Domain below and began to systematically raid and pillage resources of Origin grade and above without hesitation.

Anthony did not speak; he merely shook his head once more before vanishing from where he stood, without bothering to correct the Domain Rulers’ misunderstanding, as it ultimately had nothing to do with him.