The Demon Monarch System

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Apollo's cursory glance fell upon the two as he crossed his arms. Truthfully, this was a chore but if he could collect the cores unabated he didn't' mind completing this task.

"Is what I saw earlier the furthest extent of your abilities?" Apollo questioned before continuing, "Are those your fighting styles or was it something improvised by your incapabilities?"

"N-No, I can do more, "Lily responded with a faint tremble as she stared into Apollo's eyes. She sensed no emotions from his dull gaze and it left her dismayed. In response, she only received a slight nod.

"And you?" Apollo turned his gaze toward the frowning Axel. He loathed the position he was in; he felt as if Apollo was looking down on him. The same twerp they used to bully and bury alive was now disregarding his existence!

"What does it matter? I know how to pull my weight," Axel replied in a brusque manner. Apollo, however, remained unperturbed by this attitude and simply nodded once again.

"Really? Then why do I feel you'll be utterly useless in this upcoming fight?"

A disdainful chuckle left Apollo's lips causing Axel to seethe and tremble. 'Useless?!'

"What do you mean useless?! I'm a Zul Warrior, what the fuck are you?" the veins in Axel's neck protruded whilst he fumed over this statement. Craning his head, Danyul looked at the situation between the youth and frowned.

"I'm something you can't comprehend," Apollo said with a dark grin.

'Tch… the bad blood is surfacing. This is really not the time. Can't they pick a better moment to resolve their differences?' Aaron thought to himself.

Still, he couldn't stop what was happening.

"Also, I suggest you bite your tongue lest my blade dismembers it. As you can see, these beasts are of the Fire Attribute. Unless you possess a more tyrannic flame, you'll be no help in that department. Hence, as I said—your existence is basically useless. If you'd like, you can prove me wrong by confronting three beasts at once," Apollo added.

"W-what…? Why would I confront three Rank 3 beasts at once? That's madness!" Axel's eyes widened in disbelief. All the while, he thought one thing, 'Did this kid lose his mind while out in the wild?'

"Well, because I'm capable of doing so. Shouldn't you as well? I mean, you've always felt superior, right?" Apollo smiled while his expression remained nonchalant.

Axel's expression darkened as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was unable to answer before the answer was lost on him.

"As I thought. Lily, back up Aaron. If you're of the Water Element, I'm guessing you possessing minute healing abilities which will be further accentuated by your Light Attribute, correct?"

"That's right, but I can also use offensive techniques. Some of which are stronger than Aaron," Lily replied as she retrieved a white blade with a pale yellow handle. A faint cerulean hue exuded from the weapons as Apollo glanced at the canary-yellow veins circulating throughout.

"That's good. I'll deal with my own. Remain within 10 meters of me. Outside of that, I will be unable to respond and alleviate any unforeseen circumstances." After relaying this information, Apollo's silhouette faded into a dark flicker.

Widening their eyes, they were astonished by his movement and understood why he said 10 meters. He was capable of traversing this distance in an instant!

Meanwhile, they were more shocked by this movement technique. What type of ghastly feeling was this? He was even faster than earlier; it appeared he didn't use it at full capacity earlier.

'Hm, it seems my upper limit with the Partial Shade Silhouette has risen. That's good to know,' Apollo thought before launching the Dark Cutter and disappearing.

Splich!

The thrown Dark Cutter stabbed into the forehead of a salamander. However, after it impaled its forehead, Apollo reappeared grabbing its handle and thrusting downward. Its scales were more durable than he hoped, causing the resulting cut to be on the shallow side.

Nevertheless, this just meant the battle would be longer. The salamander swiped towards Apollo, conjuring a triple-layered ripple of flames. Surprisingly, there was mass behind the ripple, causing the sounds of powerful collision to echo.

Ding! Ding!

Whoosh!

Outside of the first two waves, which Apollo parried, he stipped the last one, dodging it as his shadows trailed.

Watching his movements, the trio remained in awe. It seemed his words weren't lies! He showed no difficulty dealing with a single Rank 2 Spirit Beast whose aura was amongst the late stages.

This left little room for doubt in their minds while noticing his advantage rested in his agility! That technique he used boosted his speed beyond what was normal for even a Zul Warrior!

Naturally, raising his proficiency in the Partial Shade Silhouette was not without its benefits. Compared to before, the parameters now satisfied Apollo greatly. It seemed each skill had to be trained as they possessed their own familiarity levels.

In other words, the more he familiarized himself with them, the greater the effect he could draw from them.

...

「Technique Name: First Phantasm - Partial Shade Silhouette

Rank: *Lesser

Mastery: 26%

Information: Embracing the darkness, one's movement seems to blend in seamlessly. The deeper one enters the shade, the more they approach the phantasm's silhouette. However, the darkness corrupts and tempts all. Therefore, the demand is greater.

Description: Increases Agility by 30%, up to 50% depending on the usage of the Tenebrous Dark Winds.

Consumption: 5 Stamina + an additional 3 Stamina per second for every 2% increase.

Requirements: Strength: 50.0, Agility: 60.0, Intelligence: 30.0」

'I should test how fast the upper limits are,' thought Apollo before taking a step that caused his disintegrating silhouette to emit a sonic boom. Correct, rather than his body doing so, the fading silhouette did!

'Interesting! But this drain is rather high. In a second, I'll lose 35 stamina points. Not to mention, I still need to factor in the movement's drain itself. With that, my drain is more or less 40 stamina points per second. In other words, I can only uphold this state for 100 seconds before exhaustion appears,' Apollo estimated as he dropped his execution to the minimum.

Meanwhile, he glanced back at Aaron and Lily teaming up to handle two of such salamanders. Axel, on the other hand, remained disgruntled as he waved his spear. While he dealt adequate damage, his current style had a glaring flaw.

His style lacked the ferocity it should have. The Fire Element was one of explosiveness, yet he seemed to be mellowed. Naturally, this was due to the mind games Apollo played on him. In normal circumstances, he would have walked into a battle without the doubts he currently had.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

There was now a pang of doubt present in his mind. To put it differently, Apollo had attacked his "Dao Heart" or what one would call a cultivator's pride—a truly ruthless move.

Needless to say, Ashur saw this and frowned, 'Venomous kid! How dare you trample upon someone's pride! That is synonymous with ruining their future. Vile! The Grand Elder will not be pleased with this.'

The battle waged on and beasts continued to fall. However, Apollo and even the elders sensed a large change in the fluctuations from deeper in the cave.

Cynthia looked back at the kids as she increased the rate in which she mowed the sea of salamanders, but even she took a moment for a breather but shockingly, Apollo didn't.

It went without saying, the only one forgoing rest was usually a foolish choice. But despite zipping around, Apollo didn't show any sides of slowing down. Instead, the only thing that changed was the amount of greed he held towards the cores.

'I wonder where he got that pouch,' Cynthia wondered while silently spectating Apollo store a ridiculous amount of cores in his pouch.

On the other hand, Ashur arrived before Axel, placing his hand on his shoulder, "Don't let his words enter your mind. You must remember he harbors malice towards you, thus his words are poisonous. What he speaks is far from the truth. You must always hold yourself to the highest standard—you are talented."

Shaking his head, Axel recovered from his muddled state as a tinge of hostility flashed within his eyes followed by a burning ember. His hateful gaze fell upon Apollo's leisure persons, "You're right. It seems he hasn't let go of the past and bears hate in his heart. However, I will let him know when the time comes that he is not my superior!"