The Demon Monarch System

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Apollo's eye narrowed further when he felt the pressure of Fuhrer's aura acting down on him. Not only was it a new type of pressure, but it was also the first time the system revealed the effects this aura had on his attributes. 

The first time Apollo experienced Fuhrer's aura, it wasn't this strong. Yes, it restricted the opponents' movements; however, it never caused the ground beneath their feet to shatter.

This effect went beyond the initial state of suppression Fuhrer used, a level beyond a mere aura. It was the point where an aura manifested into something much more significant.

Fuhrer was invoking his genuine Dominion of super-suppression! 

Not only did this Dominion deliver a crushing force, but that force also acted upon its targets from all directions except up, producing a dreadful feeling of losing control.

Fuhrer's Dominion mixed both suppression and super-gravity to root his opponent in place. Coupled with his free void movement, Fuhrer concocted a combination tactic that overpowered his opponent in an instant.

In Fuhrer's former glory, the breadth of this Dominion could cover a battlefield, which is why his enemies feared his presence on the battlefield. Just imagining the horrifying scene of a battlefield riddled with void openings and an overbearing force slowing down the enemy made Apollo praise Fuhrer's abilities.

'No wonder father appointed him as the Grand General of his shocking amount of followers,' Apollo thought. The tactics at Fuhrer's disposal were boundless, and his power allowed him to have a grasp over any battlefield he stepped foot on.

Besides overwhelming power, the leader of an army also needed flawless cognizance to remain vigilant of all the movements taking place on the battlefield.

Still, Apollo wouldn't just take this matter sitting down. If he did, how could he be the ruler of all these demons?

Bang!

Apollo moved his leg, causing a second deep footprint to appear on the ground. As a precaution, the Infernal Ira Stigmata released an undulating wave of Ira that soon wrapped around Apollo's limbs.

Because of the significant disturbance, everyone focused on absorbing the Ira stopped and turned towards the match between Apollo and Fuhrer.

"Whoa… Fuhrer just activated his Suppressive Dominion? When's the last time we saw that? More importantly, the Lord can still move!?" Valac guffawed as he witnessed the battle's current events.

"Well, the Dominion's scope is still small. It's not the same Dominion we remember from the past. Keep in mind, Fuhrer's resources are minimal. Just activating this Dominion should be stressing his reserves," Furcas commented with a thoughtful expression.

'I wonder just how fast his Anima and Aura are being exhausted since he's doing this as a Greater Demon,' Furcas muttered to himself.

Generally, a Dominion couldn't appear from a Greater Demon because it required at least two prerequisites that were beyond a Greater Demon.

One, it required an aura of the fifth degree to operate as the foundation of the Dominion. Without this core factor, the Dominion would crumble in seconds because of the insufficient power supply. After all, the simplest way of explaining a Dominion was the evolved projection of one's aura.

Second, a Dominion required a potent perception to keep the projection activated. Additionally, the perception identified the target as well as the scope of Dominion. The requirement for this bled into the final prerequisite.

A Dominion could only be employed once a demon melded their Cardinal Temple and Tainted Temple, which, as mentioned before, happened when one became a Noblesse. In other words, the earliest a demon could form a Dominion was as a Noblesse.

Once a demon fulfilled all of those prerequisites, they were free to try forming a solid Dominion. However, this was only advised if their anima reserves were large enough to support the monstrous expenditure of this demonic ability.

Even for the weakest Dominions, the consumption was ten times that of using a Noble Art. Its obscene expenditure resulted from infringing upon a mass of individuals. If the effects were too weak, then the target could easily escape the coverage of the Dominion.

Meanwhile, the surge around Apollo continued to condense as his muscles swelled after experiencing the increased exhaustion of his stigmata. Soon enough, a message appeared before Apollo's eyes.

〈System Alert: Your current Ira Purity is pure enough to unlock the Infernal Ira Stigmata's second phase. Do you wish to activate it?〉

"Unlock!" Apollo groaned through clenched teeth. 

Suddenly, a burst of Ira shot from this body in all directions as the glow of the stigmata switched from crimson to a blackened red, reminiscent of dried blood.

〈System Alert: Your current Ira Purity is sufficient to activate the third phase as well.〉

〈W A R N I N G: A Mature Demon Body is advised for the third phase of the Infernal Ira Stigmata. More Purgatory Blood will be produced.〉

After reading this message, Apollo thought about it as he glanced at the updated information of the Infernal Ira Stigmata.

「«Infernal Ira Stigmata» (Second Phase) 

Rank: Abysmal*

Purity: Absolute

Vessel: Greater Demon Body

Description: This stigmata is a part of a set perfected by the First Monarch, Astraval Dominus, to create a mobile vessel for the Primal Sins. In its current state, it is still far from reaching that intention.

Effect: Harnesses Ira's power to empower its wielder. Increases your Strength by up to 75%.

Consumption: 500 units of Ira per minute. 

*Note: This stigmata can be further improved by deepening the bond with the Primal Sins. 」

…

From the initial number of 3,040, Apollo's strength ballooned to over 5,300, which allowed him to move under the pressure of Fuhrer's Dominion. However, he was far from done as Apollo spread his aura across the area of their battle.

Similar to Fuhrer's suppression, Apollo's domination held a special effect. Moreover, Apollo used everything at his disposal to bridge the gap.

〈System: The ability of the «Monarch's True Heir» title has activated. Aura of Domination effects increased by 50 percent.〉

〈System: All of Erus Fuhrer's attributes have decreased by 10%.〉

'Only 10%?' Apollo thought with a frown. Even after experiencing a 50 percent boost, Apollo's aura could only reduce Fuhrer's stats by 10 percent! Whereas Apollo could reduce Valac's attributes by 75 percent, he didn't have this luxury with Fuhrer.

However, Apollo then looked at it another way. 'The true strength of Fuhrer's vessel is tens of times stronger than mine. So, a ten percent decrease is comparable to rendering every demon on my team immobile.'

If all of the attributes points that render null were summed up and compared to the other demons, Fuhrer's reduction would still triumph over more than ten demons! 

Therefore, Apollo understood just how nonsensical a Daemos's power was.

Besides, Apollo activated the title's effect for another reason. He smashed the large palm into the ground and covered himself in a cloak of this aura. As a result, the effects of the Suppressive Dominion vanished, but so did Apollo's ability to move.

If he moved and the cloak vanished, he would once again become susceptible to Fuhrer's actions, which wasn't the best.

Unfortunately, there was a significant divide in the masteries of their aura. Although the Aura of Domination stood at the pinnacle, with the Aura of Suppression right under it, Fuhrer's degree of activation made Apollo's seem worthless.

"Heh. Young Lord, you'll have to do better than that," Fuhrer chuckled with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

Shinnggg! Shinggg! Shing!

The frequency of Fuhrer's instantaneous void slashes hastened. Each slash of absurd speed caused a portion of the cloak to vanish. Fuhrer's damage rate was simply baffling, to the point that even Apollo blanked.

'This is far from enough,' Apollo thought as he switched his method. He braced himself for the effect as he deactivated the cloak. However, in the split-second granted by his actions, Apollo flapped his wings, retreating from the small Dominion.

And, just as he expected, the Dominion followed his movements, just slower.

Still, Apollo was forced into a passive state as he constantly changed his flight trajectory to escape Fuhrer's Dominion.

'Come on. Think! What else can you do?' Apollo muttered to himself as he watched Fuhrer walk from within the void with a faint smirk.

In the next moment, he slashed Brynhildr downward, sending a surge of void energy towards Apollo. Although it possessed no presence, Apollo sensed it because he was all too familiar with this technique.

Or, so he thought.

Another immense collection of void portals opened up and swallowed the Phantom Millennia Strike.

'Don't tell me!'

Apollo felt it. A ridiculous number of slashes were aimed at him from all angles. Because of this, Apollo stopped ruminating over the warning delivered by the system.

"Activate!" Apollo bellowed!