The Demon Monarch System

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In light of this revelation, Apollo's aura underwent a change. A sensation that threatened to swallow everything in its path seeped from his body as his gaze remained fixated on Zarkath's body. However, the moment Zarkath sensed this change, all of his attention was extricated from Furcas and Typhir.

Compared to those two, his senses told him that Apollo was without a doubt, the most dangerous one of the bunch. While Furcas may be stronger than him physically, the feeling that Apollo gave was far more nefarious than Furcas could muster.

'Could it be another attack from this same technique? However, this feeling… it's so strong that it even overpowers the temptation of greed. When something like this happens, it is usually a sign that one should assess how to move forward. I'm almost certain there will be an injury on the way if I don't handle him immediately,' Zarkath determined to himself.

Once he realized his next course of action, Zarkath didn't linger for another moment. He rushed towards Apollo with no remorse for the environment. His heavy steps cracked the surface of the ground as he maximized his power.

However, his advance wasn't as easy as he thought. Again, both Typhir and Furcas appeared in his path. Even though both of them were suffering from injuries, they still acted. Typhir did so out of loyalty and also the sensation that accompanied his contract with Apollo.

As for Furcas, his actions were more so spurred on by the fact that he could see within the dark star alignments that Apollo's next actions would be rather helpful. Thus, it was engraved within his star's purpose to hold Zarkath back until he reached the prime state to unleash his technique.

On the other hand, Zarkath's expression darkened, "Trivial attempts, truly so! I suggest you all move out of my way lest you provoke my true wrath. If you think an Archdemon is to be taken lightly, then continue with your pointless actions and see how I respond," he bellowed. 

Naturally, neither of them backed off. In fact, Furcas smirked. Based on what he saw, this demon's control wasn't that good. In his eyes, it was a surprise that he was able to become an Archdemon. After all, entering that state required a difficult trial. Once it was overcome, it symbolized the ability to retain proper control over one's self. Yet, his response didn't follow this logic.

'Could it be that the dreadful aura from that boy's body is causing him to react instinctively? Even though we train to hone our instincts, sometimes, when grave danger appears, our autonomous response overpowers over ceaseless training,' Furcas thought. 

Meanwhile, Typhir entered a state of extreme focus. He could tell by the way his power was circulating internally, his internals should have suffered a bit of damage. In other words, he was nowhere near his peak state. Be that as it may, he didn't feel a sense of fear. According to what his body felt, death wasn't something to feel trepidation for. 

While he didn't understand why this was so, he didn't question it. The indisputable feeling within him allowed him to retain a seemingly calm demeanor in the face of danger that didn't arise from Apollo's actions.

"Furcas, tell me his movements as quick as you can," Typhir bellowed before exhaling a mist of viscous breath. Both his Intent and Demonic Anima seethed. At the same time, he finally tried using Ira actively instead of letting it flow through his body. Once it reached its peak, Typhir coaxed all of the energy to form a triple-layered enchantment on his broadsword.

When he saw this, Zarkath became quite surprised, 'The control needed to hold the shape of that technique is larger than he should possess. It seems this party is filled with anomalies. One exhibits a control that increases the longer this battle extends and another possesses an aura that is simply terrible. Very well.'

In response, Zarkath stomped his foot. A cage of 8 Infernal Ramparts appeared around both him and the others. However, the only one outside of the cage was Apollo. The best way to deal with them would be to separate them and defend himself so that the threat Apollo could pose was minimized as much as possible.

Furthermore, Zarkath didn't stop his actions there. He doubled up the ramparts by reinforcing them with another layer of ramparts. Then, he connected the tops to form a completely enclosed space. Even though there were minuscule gaps in the formation, the infernal aura it leaked caused those gaps to be bridged. 

Now that he was sure he didn't need to worry about Apollo's actions, he unleashed hell upon the duo of Furcas and Typhir. However, he was also surprised when most of the explosive strength behind his blows was dealt with. It wasn't because Typhir was just as strong as him, but because Typhir's intent was so highly graded.

'Is this the effect of having an Intent that allows one to overcome a small difference in strength? But, beyond that, he is also destroying a large portion of the force behind my strikes. While a fraction of it is passing through his actions, he is lasting far longer than I would have liked. In fact, his stalling is too good.'

Zarkath's eyes narrowed upon this realization. Unlike before, Furcas wasn't physically involved. He stood against one of the ramparts while holding a hand seal. His lips moved slightly as he chanted information directly towards Typhir.

Since he couldn't see what was happening, Typhir had to rely on Furcas' continually increasing cognition. Thus, he left his actions up to his innate reaction speed. Typhir took his thought process immediately out of the equation in this extremely focused state.

At the same time, the stigmata on his body started to form magma-like veins on his body that seemed to accentuate his Destruction Intent. Different from Apollo, whose body followed the route of Dominance, Typhir's body followed the route of Destruction. As a result, he was more resistant to energies that accompanied destruction. 

If one looked closely, it would seem like Purgatory's Blood was flowing through him but that truly wasn't the case. It was merely the result of his Intent and Anima undergoing a rudimentary merging. Of course, it was nowhere as strong as a demon with his same composition yet a higher physique.

Nevertheless, it was an enormous feat to retain this combination for the amount of time he did. But, there was also an issue that presented itself. The longer he held this state, the more the pain he felt in his Infernal Nucleus augment.

Because of this, he looked towards Apollo's position in hopes of him being close to rejoining the battle. If not, he wasn't sure how much longer he would last. While Apollo possessed innate healing abilities, Typhir's was weakened due to his type of intent.

This was the drawback of some powers. They came with drawbacks of equivalent power. 

Moreover, Furcas' body was also starting to tremble. As of right now, there were 6 symbols spinning within his eyes. Additionally, they merged to form a sort of star formation inside them. Unfortunately, this also seemed to be his current limit as traces of black blood appeared on the side of his eyes.

'It has been countless years since I have used this technique for this long. Unlike the past, it seems the Malevolent Six Star Formation is my eyes' current limit. Luckily, an Archdemon doesn't surpass this threshold of cognition,' Furcas thought. 

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On the other hand, Apollo's closed eyes finally opened. However, his eyes weren't the only ones to open as well. On his shoulder, Ouroboros's body convulsed. The horn on his head grew further, growing to half the side of his head. 

"Master, you can devour now?" Ouroboros muttered while looking into Apollo's eyes. As he did so, he also noticed the small gem-like crystal embedded in Apollo's forehead. When he looked at it, it gave him an odd feeling.

"No, I can't but this strike can," Apollo replied as he held out his hand. Unlike the other two strikes preceding this one, the third strike came with its own creation. A blade made of pure nefarious energy appeared around his hand and continued to grow the more he supplied it with Demonic Anima.

Soon enough, his countenance paled. But, then Ouroboros made his move. He opened his maw and breath a stream of energy on the blade that caused it to augment exponent. In response, Apollo's eyes widened with shock.

'That's right, his ability is to devour. In other words, Ouroboros' first sins must be Avaritia and Gula,' Apollo thought to himself. 

He then turned his attention towards the rampart not too far into the distance.