The Demon Monarch System

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While awaiting his answer, Apollo's attention switched over to Reiner and Grayson. Contrary to his expectations, neither of them made a move. When he saw this, Apollo chuckled. Additionally, for the first time, he used the ability of Spiritual Cultivators, telepathic conversation.

"You see? They don't even respond when your life is in imminent danger. Is this truly the type of people you're willing to act for without a moment's hesitation?" Apollo prodded by trying to instigate Selene's seemingly nonexistent emotions. Unfortunately, her response was something that baffled him.

"I was born as a tool, therefore, this type of behavior is something that I'm used to. I never expected them to come to my aid. When I joined them, the only thing I was promised was resources and that was enough. This is the way it works, you take what you can get and accept what is given," Selene replied with cold emotionless eyes. At the same time, a concealed dagger slid down her left sleeve into her palm.

"Besides, I'm not as weak as you believe me to be," Selene added before slashing her arm outward. In response, Apollo dropped her and retreated. Unlike the rest of her strikes, this specific one seemed odd. It was almost as if the strike was a venomous snake. Thus, Apollo narrowed his eyes.

Sure enough, he found faint silver tendrils inside the darkness that appeared to drip obscene toxins. At first, Apollo was baffled. His body had already developed a certain resistance to toxins, yet his body still reacted by instinct. This meant the poison was either of unknown strength or something about it was abnormal.

While examining the aura around the dagger closely, Apollo also took note of the fact that the spectating crowd seemed to be growing denser. Nevertheless, the most important threat to him at the moment was Selene. According to Fuhrer, there wasn't any significant danger in the area, yet this happened.

In response, Fuhrer appeared in the shadows of Apollo's, "Young lad, why do you act so frightened against a normal strike?"

"Normal?" Apollo questioned in return. As he looked at the weapon, he couldn't see anything "normal" about it. But then, when Fuhrer continued, he finally understood what happened. 

"Yes, normal. That meager amount of toxins is enough to warrant your apprehension? Hmph, there are infant beings more poisonous than this wench before your eyes. In this world, the things I've found that you should fear could probably be counted on one hand," Fuhrer replied. 

However, as he chatted with Fuhrer, Selene appeared for another strike. As her body was sheathed in a shadowy flame, she seemed to phase in and out of appearance. Furthermore, due to the specific pattern she was moving in, the tiny silver tendrils formed a cage-like creation around Apollo.

Then, when she formed a hand seal, the cage started to constrict around Apollo. Meanwhile, through the talk with Fuhrer, Apollo came to realize something. He understood why his body reacted like that. Unlike typical poison that targeted the body, Selene's variant poison created by her body consisted of pieces of her bloodline as well as spiritual essence.

When the two melded together, the creation was capable of directly attacking the mind. It would cause the body to slowly lose function. Soon, any of her enemies would find themselves at a disadvantage with the lack of mental mobility and the debilitated reaction speed. Hence, the reason she was the undisputed first rank of the Outer Barracks.

Until now, there had yet to be an individual who could resist her ability. Regrettably for her, Apollo had read into her moves and prepared for it. Silently, he submerged his Tainted Temple in Hellfire and allowed the silver cage to touch his body. The small sizzling noise that resulted from this action didn't bother him in the slightest.

Furthermore, when her spiritual essence entered Apollo's mind, it was nearly incinerated in an instant. Of course, this was something she wasn't privy to. Anyone who tried to sense inside of Apollo's body, outside of Fuhrer, would find it to be a monumental task. Due to the jumbled internals of a demon, no one in Astarat would understand the way his energy flowed or even where he drew strength from.

'Interesting, the tendrils try to attach to the temple and slow the signal that is emitted towards the rest of the brain. If it is successful, that would without a doubt greatly impact a cultivator's perception,' Apollo thought before making his move.

At a glance, Selene thought his abrupt increase in pace was due to him understanding that her special ability allowed her to whittle down her opponent without expenditure, thus she moved on the defensive. Her following actions all consisted of evading Apollo's strikes by utilizing her specter-like stepping technique.

But, when she realized his movement wasn't be affected at all, Selene felt something was amiss. 'There's no way his natural reaction is this high. His Soul Temple should be bolstering his reaction speed and allowing him to keep up with me.' Upon thinking this, Selene suddenly felt a chill.

When he looked up, she witnessed Apollo smiling at her. Out of nowhere, his body just up and disappeared. Almost an instant later, she felt the world spinning as Apollo reappeared and grabbed her wrist before smashing her face in the ground.

"I think I found out the true meaning behind your words earlier. It isn't that you see yourself as a tool, both you and your party are confident that the academy will enforce their rules, correct?" Apollo whispered in her ear while digging a finger into her ribs.

Despite wanting to scream because of the searing pain of the Hellfire on his finger, she couldn't. Apollo gripped her thought rendering her vocal cords null. As he tightened his grip, Selene's eyes widened.

On the other hand, Reiner frowned, "How is this wet behind the ears lad overpowering Selene? Even though strength isn't her forte, her special ability should have affected him long enough. There's no way that his combat ability is still this high."

"Something is wrong. Furthermore, where are the instructors, or at the very least the disciplinary committee?" Grayson responded while glancing around. Even up until this very moment, not a single soul from either governing body could be found. Unbeknownst to them, the higher-ups were still trying to iron out the particulars of how they should move forward.

Meanwhile, as they talked amongst themselves, Apollo took his actions a step further, "While the rules might save you in normal circumstances, let me engrave in your mind the fact that you should never seek to bother something like me."

Afterward, Apollo retracted his finger but picked her up by the throat. Repeatedly, he smashed her face into the ground until it became a bruised mess. Numerous gasps of horror were heard as he did so. Even the nearly emotionless Selene trembled after each repeated slam against the ground.

The moment he began his actions of retaliation, two more newcomers appeared. However, when they witnessed Apollo's actions, they looked at each other. Based on what they knew, while Apollo may be the cause of the situation, they were almost certain he didn't go out of his way to provoke anyone.

"What did they do to him to cause him to retaliate like this? Not to mention, who the heck are these people?" Nadida mumbled while looking at the two standing with crossed arms before Apollo and his victim.

"Upperclassmen," Odessa replied with a tiny frown. As she looked at Grayson, she felt she saw him somewhere before. For now, she couldn't put her hand on it, but she was sure he wasn't good company. Thus, she made an immediate move.

"Apollo, stop!" Odessa exclaimed while appearing before him. For a small moment, she looked down at the trembling girl in Apollo's hand, but somehow, she didn't feel any remorse for her. In her eyes, it was her fault for confronting this madman. Even Odessa regretted some of the times she almost agitated this lad.

Hidden deep within him, there was a darkness that sought to destroy everything. Should it ever be awakened, she wouldn't want to stand on the opposing side. 

"Hoh? Maybe this is indeed far enough," Apollo responded before releasing  Selene from his grasp. While she wasn't bleeding, there were numerous bruises and possibly fractures on her face.

Be that as it may, both Grayson and Reiner looked at Nadida and Odessa silently. If they were to compare their beauty with Selene, these two were leagues above. In fact, the moment they appeared, these two harbored thoughts of making them their own. 

Although Odessa was known, Nadida's reputation wasn't as illustrious. Hence, without a powerful background, there were sure to be people who would covet her beauty to no end. 

"Ahem, you two newcomers, my name is Grayson Matthews. It would be my pleasure to beseech you two beauties. What do you think about joining my side?" Grayson offered, paying almost no attention to his wounded follower on the floor.

As a result, Apollo spared her another meaningful glance as well as sending her a message, 'Now look at that, you see how fickle your leader is? The moment someone with more appealing features appears, he flocks to them. In other words, your existence is insignificant. I am learning myself, never follow someone who sees you as disposable.'

Silently, she continued to look at Apollo. Despite Grayson's introduction, neither Nadida nor Odessa paid him any mind. Instead, they approached Apollo and examined him. Naturally, this act incensed Grayson as it was a form of trampling his pride.

Slowly, his expression twisted. But, when Apollo saw this, he chuckled in response, "I guess the saying is sound after all. It seems fools are truly known to covet beauty."