The Demon Monarch System

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"Dodge to the side!" Apollo bellowed before lashing out his arm horizontally. Without a pause in his movement, Typhir moved the side as he allowed Apollo to cleave a Lesser Ifrit in half with a swing of his Hellfire Creation. While he wished to conjure the Sin Armament, he knew it wasn't a viable option for now. The consumption was far too much for him to sustain.

Thus, he used his strengthened Hellfire to do its bidding. The scythe he conjured now was a lot more solid in comparison to what he could do before. Unfortunately, despite their kill, it wasn't the time to rest in the slightest. Since they were approaching the area of the barrier, the Lesser Ifrits were growing stronger.

Additionally, the purity of their Ira was also climbing as well. Slowly, Apollo started to realize that they seemed to possess a resistance to his Hellfire. At first, it took but a single swing to do away with them, but now, it took both him and Typhir working as a team to defeat a single opponent.

Fortunately, the more Typhir battled, the more he became accustomed to his body. It wouldn't be long before he could activate his stigmata to bolster his strength. After all, the Pure Demonic Anima in his body was adequate enough to support the flow of Ira.

"These things… they are becoming troublesome. How do you suppose we advance? Do you think we bit off more than we could chew?" Typhir questioned while heaving a breath of relief. Yet and still, he immediately entered a battle-ready state. A collection of Lesser Ifrits stormed towards them.

"No, just think of it as a training experience. The harder the tempering, the better the results that follow. For now, continue to follow my lead  until you establish your own momentum," Apollo responded before dashing forward. As he moved forward, he also utilized his Partial Shade Silhouette to hasten his reactions.

When Typhir saw this, he also took the time to try and learn the activation process of the Baleful Steps. Since he was Apollo's follower, Apollo held no qualms against teaching him powerful techniques. As long as Typhir grew stronger, it was beneficial to him. Regrettably, a Noble Art, no matter how simplistic the teaching process, wasn't an easy thing to learn.

As Typhir tried to execute the First Step, only a small flicker of shadowy embers appeared. Naturally, Apollo didn't dissuade him from learning. After all, even the smallest comprehension of a Noble Art was a boon to one's combat ability. That accompanied with the fact he possessed a greatsword would turn him into a lethal weapon.

The one shortcoming of a greatsword user was their lack of agility. Should this issue be corrected, that user would become a force to be reckoned with! Granted, the strength required to assist one in accomplishing this feat was by no means small. Strength wasn't as simple as increasing the power one could exert on a strike. 

It also pertained to the tensile strength of the muscles and how much power one could propel themself with. This was why speed types also focused on achieving some type of notable strength. 

Unlike before, when Typhir swung his greatsword now, the most he could do was send one of the Lesser Ifrit hurtling backward. However, with his personality, his assault was far from over. With a crazed gleam in his eyes, Typhir started to bombard the Lesser Ifrit before him with ceaseless strikes.

Naturally, this caused enraged roars to sound as the Ifrit both defended and met Typhir's strikes with attacks on its own. On the other hand, Apollo moved like a murderous demon; both silent and deadly. Each time he passed an Ifrit, a new cut would appear on their body. 

While Typhir dealt with one enemy, Apollo caused three to become annoyed with him. Although his strikes weren't exactly strong, they continued to whittle away at their bodies as well as stamina. 

As a result, they made an odd move. All of the Ifrit's fists were covered in flame before slamming it into the ground. This caused numerous craters spewing magma to form as they connected together and limited the area both Typhir and Apollo could act in. The moment this happened, Apollo frowned.

'Their actions are becoming more intelligent. While they still can't speak, their actions have worked in their favor. It would seem the decreased intelligence is merely in respect to the higher life forms of demons,' Apollo thought while gazing at the miniature magma geysers.

Despite their appearance, Apollo remained calmed. Based on what he felt, it didn't match the temperature of his initial Infernal Ira Stigmata. In other words, if he wished it, he could last quite some time within the flames of the magma. The only question was how long until it would start to affect him? 

'It's times like that I wouldn't mind possessing more than one Sin even if it is painful to achieve. An expansive arsenal is key to deal with a myriad of issues that may arise,' Apollo thought quietly. A moment later, he dodged to the side.

A powerful smash appeared right before Apollo's face that didn't faze him in the slightest. In response, he threw a powerful punch wreathed in Demonic Anima that shattered part of a Lesser Ifrit's arm.

The pained roar that followed caused Apollo to smirk. A sadistic tendency welled up within him which compelled him to bully the opponent. At first, he wanted to monitor his expenditure but now that wasn't the case.

He brandished the scythe, spinning it around his body as he fired Perfected Demonic Massacre Waves one after another. The first wave severed an arm from the Ifrit. The next did the same to its other arm and the last bisected the body. 

In exchange, Apollo's experience meter underwent a noticeable increase. Not only did his kill contribute to his experience, so did Typhir's. In fact, Apollo received a hundred percent of the value. Since Typhir didn't hold the system, he gained benefits in another way.

Through the link to Apollo, when Apollo grew, so did Typhir. Granted, the stipulation was that Apollo needed to be in close proximity to his follower that was engaged in combat. Otherwise, only Apollo would reap the benefits.

As this dawned upon Apollo, he smiled. He was sure that he had just understood the proper route of the Monarch. It was to gain strength from his subordinates and be the ruler of them without contest. Once this became clear, something within Apollo started to resonate with not just the world but Typhir as well.

Another hidden benefit appeared as both Apollo's and Typhir's aura underwent a change. A fragment of Apollo's intent was transferred to Typhir to empower his own comprehension of intent.

Suddenly, the aura around Tpyhir caused the ground to crumble. At a glance, Apollo could tell this wasn't Dominance nor was it Suppression. However, in his eyes, the feeling felt on par with Fuhrer's own.

In a trance, Apollo murmured, "Destruction."

〈System Alert! Your Demonic Acolyte Typhir has started to comprehend the Destruction Intent due to your actions. Additionally, it is of the highest grade.〉

Once his greatsword was coated in this energy, each of Typhir's strikes caused the Ifrit who received his blow to crack. The outer shell shattered soon after and exposed the magma body that resided underneath. Apart from the destruction of the outer shell, there was another anomaly happening. 

The Ifrit seemed to fall into a mindless rage as if its mind was destroyed along with any shred of reasoning. This sight made Apollo even prouder.

'It seems his intent is dual powered. Not only does it attack the physical, but it also has a direct effect on the mental stability of the foe. I wonder, how would it look if I learned this intent as well. Furthermore, do one of the Annihilations require this?' 

After ample deliberation, Apollo found this to be plausible. As time passed, a path of dead bodies laid in wake of Apollo and Typhir's advance. Meanwhile, Ouroboros was still fast asleep while wrapped around Apollo's shoulders throughout all of this taking place. 

In addition to leveling up to Lv.115, he also approached the line that Saehtyn warned him not to pass over. However, if he wished to meet Furcas, this was an inevitable choice. Thus, after a lengthy exhale, Apollo took that step. Whatever would happen afterward, he would simply have to deal with it.

What he didn't understand was just how appetizing his irregular Stigmata was to the other demons.