( Rudra's POV )
[ System Notification-
You have an urgent message from Monarch Regus Aurelius-
" Oh Supreme Lord Shakuni, protector of the universe, I pray to you to save my life as I promise on my soul with the celestials as a witness that should I survive today, I shall yield the throne to your brother without resistance- "
You have 0.9 seconds to decide for a response.
Should I help him?
Yes!
No- ]
Rudra read the queen's notification and frowned.
0.9 seconds was a really short time to think in-depth about a decision, however, he got a gist of the situation by reading Regus's plea for help.
Ideally, he would have looked into the matter, studied his brother's emotions and decided whether or not he should intervene.
However, since this time around he only had a split second to decide, he decided to not intervene at all and let things play out naturally.
Whether Regus lived or died was none of his concern as he couldn't care less about who was leading the vampire monarchy.
What he did care about however was his brother's emotions over the matter as he knew that defeating Regus Aurelius and rightfully ascending to the vampire throne was one of the top priorities for him.
His decision to not intervene in this matter was a huge one, as despite having the power to save Regus from his impending doom, Rudra chose to let things take their natural course.
***********
( Meanwhile Max )
As Max tore through the space between Zandar and where Regus was currently fighting Dracula, he saw with his own eyes as to how Dracula accumulated divine essence and prepared to strike against a defenceless Regus.
' NO! '
Max yelped internally as he desperately activated [ Dimensional Walk ] in hopes of reaching Regus's location in time.
For the split- second that he entered the void, Max could not observe what exactly went on in the real world as when he finally stepped outside, he stood a few metres behind Regus's location as Dracula decisively decapitated his head from his body.
*SPLASH*
Max watched horridly as Regus's severed head flung into space in a linear trajectory as there was no gravity to make it fall down.
The dead king's red eyes looked at him one last time with contempt as warm blood gushing out of his body vaporised the moment it spurted out.
' I was too late- ' thought Max as he felt all strength being sapped from his body as he looked at the duality of Regus's lifeless body losing its ability to stand upright against an elated Dracula celebrating his victory.
" DIE VAMPIRE KING, DIE! " Dracula shouted in elation as Max just stood rooted to his spot motionless as he felt a weird sense of loss watching Regus die.
Countless days he had dreamt about being the one who would decapitate Regus some day to claim the vampire throne, countless times had he prayed for the downfall of the king, yet when that finally came and it was someone else who did the deed, Max somehow felt empty as if someone had stole his birthright.
[ Blood Manipulation ]
Jolting out of his stupor, Max used blood manipulation to seal the rest of the blood within Regus's body as he brought his decapitated head back towards the rest of his body so that he could at least bury him intact.
Internally, Max felt extremely enraged, he felt like fighting and killing Dracula right then and there, however, he knew that now was not the time to pick that fight.
" What happened boy? Why do you look like you just lost your soul? " Asked Dracula as he finally acknowledged Max's presence and decide to taunt him.
" Where is your guardian and protector, the universal queen? Is she always around or does she only appear when big brother asks her to? " Dracula said as he mocked Max for living in his brothers shadow, however, despite the taunts Max said nothing as he calmly retrieved Regus's body and prepared to retreat.
" Why are you such a mum boy? I thought you of all people wanted Regus dead as badly as me.
It's a cause of celebration!
Come, let's crack open the best wine back at my palace- " Dracula said as he invited Max to come drink with him as this time around Max shot him a glare back.
" I'm letting you go, because you're injured today. I don't want you to think that I beat you just because you were tired and injured.
Don't push it Dracula, or you won't reach your palace in one piece to celebrate - " Max threatened as instantly Dracula flared his aura which Max countered with one of his own.
Neither side budged as they stared down one another, with Dracula finally backing off as he made light of Max's threat.
" you're just jealous because I killed him before you could.
I told you boy, I'm the individual mentioned in the first king's prophecy. It's not you-
It was never you!
The destiny you believe is yours, Is actually mine! " Dracula said as he tried to remind Max about the time where he was delusional, thinking that he was the child of the prophecy.
" Go, run away and bury him with all honours, that Man deserves it.
While you're at it, also prepare a graveyard big enough to dump all the modern vampires within as I'm coming after every last one of them.
The king is dead!
The entire race will follow next- " Dracula said confidently as he wanted to wait and gauge if Max intended to defend the modern vampires or not.
However, Max gave no reaction as he only quietly took Regus's body and made his way towards Zandar without paying Dracula much attention.
Today was a grave day for the vampire society.
They had lost their greatest pillar of strength and the most important individual who sat at the top of vampire society.
The great vampire king, Regus Aurelius, was dead! Killed by his adversary the primordial vampire Dracula.