The Demon Monarch System

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Apollo's odd train of thought was caused by the sight that appeared before him. It was a demon in the form of a boy, no larger than the size of Apollo back when he first acquired the Demon Monarch System. However, Apollo also noticed some astonishing aspects about the boy.

For one, he possessed leonine features. It was more suited to call his hair a thick mane of fiery crimson locks. In fact, it was almost as if his hair was composed of flames, but the lack of flickering heat told Apollo otherwise.

Additionally, the boy possessed golden eyes in the shape of a feline's. But, golden eyes usually hinted at an affinity with Superbia. So, Apollo was instantly on high alert. 'A demon with dual Sins? If so, this will be a first.'

Ignoring the fact that the Monarch Candidates possessed multifaceted Sins, this was the first time Apollo came in contact with the demon that could potentially wield two Sins. Therefore, that was enough for him to raise his guards. Even more so if this wasn't the actual commander. That meant there were still two individuals stronger than this "child."

"Kadiun tells me you are talented," the boyish demon said.

"He is, Vice-Commander Arleo. I've experienced it firsthand. This individual is well versed in combat and it is as I said earlier. I believe he'll be a strong addition to the organization," Kadiun instantly repeated. These were the same words he fed to Arleo before.

However, Arleo simply spared Kadiun a glance before returning his attention to Apollo.

'Hoh? That's some pride I see,' Apollo inwardly thought while also answering the question, which was truthfully worded as a statement, "Perhaps. Though, I presume you'll want to verify his claims for yourself."

"It could be possible, but I don't think it'd be a fair match-up at all. As you see, I'm an Archdemon, and you... well, you're just not a match. But, perhaps you'll fare well against a lieutenant here," Arleo responded with an uninterested wave of his hand.

But, when it came to pride, Apollo was endowed with enough to rival any competition, "If that was truly the case, then I don't see anything special about becoming an Archdemon. And, I only suggest you line me up against a lieutenant if you're willing to lose them."

"Hmph," Arleo harrumphed before forming a faint smile.

Whoosh!

A blazing trail was left on the floor as Arleo teleported from where he stood. Although he moved extremely fast—fast enough to even disrupt Apollo's languished perception—Apollo didn't just stand around.

He raised his left arm at the last second, resulting in a deafening boom. A throbbing pain appeared on his arm, but he managed to guard the attack, nonetheless.

"Perhaps you're right. None of the lieutenants can guard this strike without making ample preparations. Still, not enough to warrant your bloated confidence," Arleo said while still midair with one leg extended.

This pain was the product of a simple kick. One that wasn't reinforced by Anima or Sin. Because of this, Apollo now understood the disparity between the evolutionary state. Especially for individuals who were tempered by more than one Sin.

Despite their lengthier advancement times, they were stronger with the superimposed cleansing of purer energies.

Still, Apollo had a few cards of his own to play. The earlier pain instantly disappeared as Apollo deepened the activation of his Infernal Arms of Damnation, bulking up his arms. Since Arleo was still within striking range, Apollo retaliated with a savage punch.

But, Arleo used his free leg to kick Apollo's fist. The rebound allowed him to create some decent space. And, a coat a raging Ira appeared around Arleo before he could touch the ground.

Apollo now understood what fighting against a decent Archdemon meant because the rate at which he reacted with the ambient Ira was even faster than Apollo!

"If you wish to join this stronghold and have a good position, then I won't go easy on you," Arleo said, not even waiting for Apollo's response as he formed an obscure hand seal and smashed his hand into the ground.

A surge of Ira flooded the ground before traveling towards Apollo in a torrent. A ring then formed under his feet with a 3-meter radius while the temperature of the area around him rose exponentially.

Without a thought, Apollo deepened his transformation. The Infernal Ira Stigmata thrummed with power as he resisted the magma that surged from the ground. While it was painful, Apollo burst through the walls of the geyser and dashed forward, which garnered some astonishment from Arleo.

'That's a very strong stigmata he was. It seems like it has raised his capabilities by 50%. Sadly, that isn't enough to close the gap between our evolutionary stages.'

Suddenly, flaming whiskers appeared on Arleo's face as his expression turned savage. Additionally, a tail of flames trailed behind him. Compared to before, his speed skyrocketed before an exhausted of baffling heat accompanied each of his movements.

'He's only used Ira thus far, but it is potent. Should you attempt some techniques? Or do you want to reserve your energy?' Fuhrer questioned.

'No need to reserve it,' Apollo responded. A savage aura permeated his body as he launched an endless stream of Perfected Demonic Massacre Waves towards Arleo. However, his current power proved to be an issue as Apollo struggled to hit him despite his absurd fire rate.

Still, Apollo focused even further, amplifying the torrent of savage waves once again. The spacing between each release was minute, making it hard for Arleo to close the distance, but he was intent on putting Apollo in his place.

"Waves of savage energy? I can do something similar," Arleo muttered before clenching his fist. A cluster of sharp energy enveloped his hand when he opened them, soon morphing into the image of lion claws.

Identical to Apollo's actions, Arleo zipped around while releasing a relentless barrage of infernal claw strikes. However, to his surprise, Apollo's attacks were much sturdier than they looked.

It required some effort from Arleo to shatter them upon contact. Something that was unprecedented. It didn't usually take so much energy for him to shatter an attack of a Greater Demon, much less one that was being mass-produced.

Another thing he took note of was Apollo's monstrous reserves. Firing over 200 such attacks in such a tiny window was simply unheard of. Granted, Arleo wasn't aware that the system allowed Apollo to shorten the activation process as well as reduce the cost of his techniques.

So, while it took others some time to gather their resource, Apollo's activation and discharge experienced little to no delay at all, taking place at virtually the same time.

At this point, Apollo had already passed Arleo's test. But he was curious as to where Apollo's limits lied. Never would he have guessed that Apollo's current actions were a prelude to what he had in store.

Meanwhile, the doors to two small huts akin to a shrine opened to reveal two individuals. One was a demon with a middle-aged appearance with a thin physique that rivaled on the frail side. However, a lethal air swirled around him continuously—it was an aura. It was just unknown what type it was.

Conversely, the other individual was a middle-aged demon as well, except he possessed a burly physique with apparent signs of being burned present all over his body. It was evident that he dabbled with flames, and not just the Hellfire created by Ira.

Similar to Geneva, Valac, and Sapphyr—who all possessed obscure flames—there were many types of flames present in the Nihilistic Rings. Hellfire was just the most accessible, while also being the flame with the largest potential for growth.

"What a ruckus," the burly demon groaned. "A beautiful sleep just wasted…"

"Rather than sleeping, shouldn't you be needed elsewhere?" the thin archdemon countered.

"Hah?! Why don't you reveal what you were doing then?"

"That is of none of your concern, Xonnomor," the thin demon said with a scoff.

"Whatever you say, Gallmath. Still, what is the meaning of this fight? And who is this boy that I've never seen before? Could this perhaps be a recruitment session?" Xonnomor asked in thought.

"Dunno, it's quite possible. Though if you ask me, it's getting kind of fierce. Isn't Arleo a little too worked up, even activating that ability of his? Young, but still rough around the edges. Then again, I guess we should expect that from him," Gallmath added with a tired sigh.

Obviously, Arleo was more of a handful than the others knew.

Meanwhile, Apollo's attention turned towards these two new demons.. A ripple of darkness took place before revealing two more demons, each bearing a level of power that put these newcomers on immediate alert.