The Demon Monarch System

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'Fwoosh!'

Their rapid movements made haste contact with the Frenzied Twilight Wolves. Whereas Apollo took one on single-handedly, Nadida and Leone committed to one. Although it was only at the peak of Rank 3, its stats were far beyond what everyone possessed currently.

Not to mention, they were acting cautiously to preserve as much reserve energy as possible. After all, based on what they saw from the outside, the layout of the labyrinth currently housing them was extremely vast. If they weren't careful, they'd run out of Natural Essence to utilize before even reaching the end.

As such, when Apollo gained control of the momentum of his battle, he looked towards the other seven, "Don't just stand around. Contribute as well," Apollo commanded while firing an intimidating gaze.

"Oh! Yes! Don't worry," Klaus obediently nodded, drawing a plain-looking sword from a small ring on his finger. At the same time, the other youths withdrew their weapons. Without having to tell them, they split into 2 sets of 3 and provided meager aid to both of their teammates.

Meanwhile, as he defended against the attacks of the Frenzied Twilight Wolf, Apollo inspected the situation closely, 'I just learned Hellfire Molding and usage would increase my mastery of it but… it'll require me to fine-tune the stream of Demonic Anima I use. To do so would consume most of my perception. Do I have enough to spare? Furthermore, would it be smart to even depend on these teammates?'

Despite his contemplation, small embers of Hellfire birthed at his fingers subconsciously. When it happened, the Frenzied Twilight Wolf's attacks lost vigor right before landing on his fist. Obviously, this was the effect of the Hellfire.

While it possessed extreme offensive capabilities, those same strong suits became a defensive tactic. Although subtle to Apollo's body, it was tyrannical to all others. It mercilessly burned the wolf's claw leading to incensed howls.

'Aooowwwwooo!!'

However, this didn't phase Apollo. In fact, he was delighted to see this subconscious use required insignificant consumption. Unfortunately, that couldn't be said to be true for long. After becoming aware of it, it instantly bolstered.

"Whoa, what is this heat? What type of flame is that black?" Klaus questioned with widened eyes. When he tried to attack the wolf just now, just a single ember of flames still on its paws caused Klaus to feel unbearable heat.

He could only question what type of pain the beast was being inflicted with. This only served to further cement Klaus' view of Apollo as a monster. But, he wasn't wrong; compared to them, Apollo could truly be seen as a "monster".

'They may not be the best, but their small attacks are getting the job done. Additionally, the damage to the wolf's paws is beginning to take its toll. Its movement is becoming sloppy, and the pain upon impacting the ground should be reaching an unbearable level,' Apollo surmised, looking at the hesitant actions of the wolf.

Before dashing, it would make an abrupt pause, seemingly lifting its paw and then resuming its actions. Naturally, Apollo and his team would take advantage of this hesitation. The beast that seemed so daunting at first now lost its edge due to Apollo's indirect actions.

In the meantime, Nadida and Leone's battle was even more shocking for what they performed wasn't usually seen. They used each other's already actuated Elements to piggyback their attacks. To put it differently, when Nadida launched an attack laced with Fire Elements, Leone would do the same, adding in trace amounts of the Water Element.

Due to this, even though the Frenzied Twilight Wolf was capable of deteriorating the state of the Natural Essence, the solidity of their understanding enabled their elements to still pack a punch upon impact.

Not to mention, Nadida continued to use opposing elements to accentuate their damaging capabilities. Surprisingly enough, in their ranks, there was also an archer possessing dual elements of Ice and Lightning. 

His specialty provided two debilitating effects. The mastery in ice promoted slowness while the lightning elements compiled on Nadida's stronger version. So, their fight was spent with the beast spent in a near immobile state for a greater part of the duration.

Soon enough, both the wolves fell. However, there was no celebration. Apollo and the others regrouped, sharing their condition.

"How much of your reserves did you all use?" Apollo questioned, examining their countenance for signs of budding exhaustion. One of the worst things to do was lack information before heading into a battle. 

"For the most part, I'm okay. I still have above 95% of my reserves," Nadida replied lightheartedly. This was a matter she didn't take seriously. After all, she possessed full confidence in her variant reserves.

When he heard this, Apollo's eyebrows raised, 'Interesting. If she has over 90% of her reserves then her overall capacity should be on par with or slightly inferior to mine. However, her cultivation realm surpasses mine, she just hasn't told me.'

Unbeknownst to Nadida, Apollo possessed all her information save for the quantity of her Dantian and other internal secrets. Besides those, her true cultivation, age; it was all apparent to Apollo.

Name: Nadida 

Age: 18

Cultivation: Rank 1 Zul Knight

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Despite knowing her information, Apollo didn't press the matters. For one, if he did, it would raise suspicion. If their Soul State Aptitude were truly equal then he wouldn't retain the ability to peer into her like that. Thus, he left the matter alone.

One thing he didn't need was someone prying into his secrets. Although he had a semblance of faith in the system's defenses, resting all his trust in it was something he couldn't do. Only his caution would soothe his on-edge mind.

"Errr, I have about 85% percent of my reserves left. I minimized my usage. Plus, I have a few pills with me should our reserves drop to a dangerously low level," Leone muttered, patting the pouch on his side.

'Ah, that's right. Resources, it's a shame my cultivation ate all of mine. I don't have any on me. That was a blunder on my part. I need to take into account these types of situations next time,' Apollo thought, a flash a realization appearing in his eyes.

"My state isn't terrible, but I also haven't been in combat that heated before, so I used a surplus of Natural Essence that was unneeded. I'm in the 70% range," Klaus chuckled with a hint of embarrassment in his tone.

Once again, Apollo didn't press the matters. He had a feeling that most small noble families operated the ways his family did. Which was, focusing a predominant portion of their time on cultivation instead of honing and regulating their combat standards. While it wasn't an overly stupid move, in perilous situations, it wasn't a viable way of advancing.

"I suggest you use this experience as an in-depth training experience. Based on what I was told, it's a dogfight within the walls of the academies. Should you fail to suffice, you probably won't last," Apollo warned, placing his hand against the wall next to him while closing his eyes.

Luckily, in his situation, the Sordid Ameliorate Moss was incapable of damaging his internals. This enabled him to take actions the others couldn't. While in contact with the wall, a rough outline of the next 100 yards entered his mind. But, a frown appeared on his face.

He felt an aura beyond that he didn't like. If his assumptions were correct, then they were rather unlucky. None of them were in the position to deal with this type of opponent.

"I'm warning you now, approximately 120 yards ahead; there is either one powerful beast or a collection of relatively weaker beasts whose aura synthesize to what I'm sensing," Apollo warned.

 As mentioned before, the images that entered his Tainted Temple were shoddy at best. Therefore, his information wasn't concrete but offered insight.

"Regardless of which it is, they both present their dangers we have to overcome. What about other teams do you sense them?" Nadida asked, noticing Apollo's actions. 'Is he feeling vibrations or tracking their essence signature Or, perhaps he could be melding the methods together.'

"Hold on," Apollo said, repeating his actions. It took a while, but in the distance, he saw multiple cloudy blue orbs. Even after he tried to focus, he noticed he couldn't look inside these orbs.

"I believe there are, but I'm unaware of their identity. It seems everyone has some sort of protection present around them. Truthfully speaking, I think it's the keys we entered with. They seem to be the pivotal point," Apollo responded.

"We move with caution then," Nadida nodded, continuing, "I'll take the lead. Although they didn't mention it, there must be some safety measure installed into the key cards."

"True. Alright, we'll stay close together. Leone, you'll man the center while I guard the rear. The rest of you, break into 3 tiers of 2-4-2 with Leone in your center," Apollo instructed, prompting the team to take up a formation.

Upon witnessing this, the academy leaders nodded their heads. Unlike a large number of the parties experiencing panic in the trial, they were shocked by Apollo's team showing a stellar reaction on par with the Glories and Scions.

However, they also became curious, why did the entire party seem terrified of one person for an instant?