The Demon Monarch System

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Besides the germinating pain flowing through his body, Apollo felt his actions were correct. According to Azridan, when the Hellfire became clearer and was able to harm you as well, this indicated it stepping across the next boundary. Additionally, the pain only signified the Hellfire tempering the physique to the next level.

Furthermore, as the pain spread to his mind, Apollo's hair stood on end. At the tip of each of them, a tiny spark of Hellfire could be seen traveling downward. Not long after, all of the pain gathered in his heart.

Before he took another step forward, Apollo's eyes slammed open. He crouched over and vomited copious amounts of blackened blood. Naturally, this was the prior numerous faults that the Diabolic Heart of Wrath tempered out of his meridians and Infernal Nucleus.

'It's one step closer,' Apollo thought as he felt his body lighten a great degree. Albeit slowly, his body was catching up to the abnormality of his Infernal Ira Stigmata. If he could enter Ashiraem again and fall under the tutelage of Saehtyn, there were no doubts in his mind about overcoming this issue.

"Whoa Master, you feel stronger! I like this feeling. Wait," Ouroboros paused, sniffing Apollo's forehead, "You went back to a place near my home! Next time you have to take me along."

After regulating his aura, Apollo nodded and looked at Ouroboros. "Sure, I'll take you along. However, Azridan told me your identity is special so you'll have to conceal your presence while we are there okay? But, first, I need to learn how to travel there properly," Apollo answered, rubbing the scale on top of Ouroboros' head.

"I don't have that ability right now. I'm sorry for my uselessness, Master," Ouroboros responded in a downcast tone. In response, Apollo shook his head and denounced that idea.

"It is my responsibility to cultivate you, so your weakness is my fault. Don't blame yourself. But, we won't be weak for long. We will grasp more power and become immutable," Apollo responded in a spirited tone. 

He raised his hand to the sky and clenched it. 'It's time to stop delaying. I need to spend every passing moment training. I must be able to enter Saehtyn's castle. Once I have done that, I can open the path to master Ira!'

Thus, Apollo put Ouroboros down next to him and gave him an additional 5 Crystallized Chaos while returning to cultivating. Once again, he simultaneously tackled his problems. After the exercise was done in class, he came to realize something.

Although he required a balance between mind and body, he could still split his focus in two and tackle two issues at once. In light of this, half of his attention was vested in engraving the stigmata symbol on his Infernal Nucleus while the other half was focused on directing the Hellfire to etch the inverse.

In this state, hours passed. Only when his Pure Demonic Aura was completely exhausted did he take a break and recuperate his aura over the course of 10 hours. Under this repeated cycle, Apollo continued to move closer to the point of a breakthrough.

Despite the pain, Apollo pressed on. As he did so, his racial meter also climbed as well. In other words, unlike the initial evolution, to become a stronger demon, it was based solely on his comprehension of Sin. Naturally, this could be determined by the way the Imp wanted to absorb his Ira.

However, soon enough he ran into an issue. His progress on engravement came to a standstill when both sides reached 85%. The intensity of the Hellfire failed to etch anymore of the intricate symbols of the stigmata. Due to this, Apollo started to grow frustrated.

Fortunately, before his anger became outlandish, the symbol on his heart implanted by Saehtyn glowed. Afterward, a stream of information flowed into his mind. However, as Apollo listened, it felt more like real-time direction than it did an instilled message. Thus, Apollo pondered over the true purpose of this symbol.

'Could it be Saehtyn is monitoring me? The timing of this information is too coincidental. Nevertheless, if he is, I don't sense any ulterior motives. Then again, he is a being much greater than I am. He should be able to shield such things from me.'

Soon enough, Apollo pushed this matter to the back of his mind. In accordance with Saehtyn's directions, Apollo retrieved 10 Fragments of Sin from his Interdimensional Inventory. In the beginning, Apollo was surprised by this instruction.

Azridan told him these items were useless on their own. Hence, he never looked over their details. However, what Azridan didn't let him know was that it was only useless because he had yet to step into demon-hood. In other words, even if he wished to learn more about them, the detail would have come up inconclusive.

Now, the situation was entirely different. Thus, as Apollo looked at the usage of the fragment of Sin, he wasn't surprised. He was elated. Alone, it was a tool but when mixed with other items, the outcome was just what he needed!

Item Name: Fragment of Sin

Item Type: Universal Tool

Item Rank: Elementary

Usage: The Fragment of Sin is the materialization of a Demon's excess Sin while advancing to a new level. This only comes into existence during the neutral point in evolution. As a result, this item doesn't possess an inherent type. It can be used with any and all methods.

«Augment of Sin» - By using this item while utilizing an ability focused around your Sin, it possesses the ability to increase the potency by 10%. However, due to its fragmented nature, it is only capable of increasing the intensity to the initial Greater Demon state at best.

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"So that's why Saehtyn said about 10 of them. I'm guessing 10 is the number required for my Hellfire to reach the initial Greater Demon standard of Hellfire. However, that also sounds like a world of pain. Just the insignificant increase earlier introduced me to a world of pain. But, as they say; no pain, no gain," Apollo muttered after steeling himself.

As he repeatedly activated the Augment of Sin ability attached to the item, Apollo's aura skyrocketed. In fact, it became so great, even Ouroboros was frightened by what he saw. Thankfully, when he saw Apollo was still in control, he didn't intervene.

Furthermore, it seemed all of the Sin was channeled into the Hellfire. Needless to say, this strengthened it to a nonsensical degree. So much so, as he formed the blade-like image to continue etching, Apollo could hear a searing noise from both the pit of his stomach and his mind.

Due to this, his Diabolic Heart of Wrath pulsated. It sent a protective aura to these two organs that regulated the pain to a certain degree. Despite wanting to stop, Apollo couldn't. He was well aware this state was temporary and already disappearing from his grasp.

As a result, he did the opposite of what he desired. He threw caution to the wind and pressed on without result. Consequently, both his mind and body strengthened while also becoming weak.

Regardless, he was at a point wherein he couldn't stop. And so, right before losing control, the process finished! A faint shockwave undulated from his body. Once again, the whirlpool formed around his body.

However, unlike before where he absorbed solely Natural Essence, the energy he gathered now was mixed with Spiritual Essence of an equivalent standard. Moreover, an alert appeared before Apollo's eyes.

〈System Alert! The Tainted Temple and Infernal Nucleus have been linked to each other as well as the Diabolic Heart of Wrath (Incomplete). As a result, the Inner Physique has evolved greatly.〉

〈System Alert! Congratulations, you have reached the Saint Meridians (Middle Tier). Due to the burst of energy, all related pores have been opened. The Infernal Demonic Body and Tainted Nebulous Mind are maturing.〉

While his body absorbed the energy, Apollo drooped. The hard part was finally over. The pain was great but as he read these messages, he felt it was worth it. In addition to the small upgrade, he could feel the space of his reserves deepening. It should be something to be ecstatic about.

Yet, Apollo didn't know if he should laugh or cry. In his current state, all that meant was the conversion would take that much longer. If that was the case, even if he was unprepared, he needed to enter Ashiraem once again and test his theories.

Luckily, the way to do so was also within the information Saehtyn provided. He was well aware that the world Apollo came from was incapable of training him properly. Still, it still appeared to have some use.