The Demon Monarch System

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"Not bad, you have finished it in record time," Fuhrer nodded with a tinge of praise as he looked at the searing markings flowing through Typhir's body. Naturally, this was the completion of his Ira Stigmata. Unlike Apollo's stigmata, which covered a large portion of his upper body when stimulated, Typhir's markings covered his arms only. While there was a stark difference between them, by no means was the stigmata Typhir created weak.

In fact, the moment he completed it, both he and Apollo went for a quick spar. Since it was only used to determine how strong Typhir had become, there was no use of techniques involved. Without many indications of his following actions, Apollo threw a punch towards Typhir. 

When he sensed it, Typhir immediately retreated with a couple of backflips, "What was that for?" Typhir exclaimed with a puzzled expression. On the other hand, Fuhrer simply chuckled. Different from Typhir, Apollo had actually experienced most of Fuhrer's ways of combat. As a result, he adopted some of his mannerisms.

For example, the lack of allowing a breather. Upon completion, Apollo instantly pressed Typhir. "Don't whine. What use is strength if you can't utilize it properly? That stigmata on your body is both a blessing and a curse; take it from me. You must have met with Ira, so you understand just how tedious this will become," Apollo answered.

As he agreed, Typhir merely nodded along. Once he passed his trial of rage, the sensation flowing through his body was one of the most gruesome pains he had ever felt. Moreover, it was still going on till this very moment. However, since he didn't possess the auto-correction feature of the system, Apollo took the next matters upon himself.

"Good. Also, your internals should be in a highly impressionable state. Thus, let's continue sparring to hammer some of the inconsistencies out of you without delay," Apollo continued before dashing forward. The explosive dash caused the ground to splinter as he moved forward using a mixture of Strength and Agility.

When he arrived before Typhir, the air around his fist seemed to warp slightly as it pierced through it. Suddenly, a dangerous vibe hit Typhir's Tainted Temple. By pure instinct, he took a step back and twisted his body to avoid the blow. In response, he whipped out his right leg while flipping the air to create a small opening.

Unfortunately, his agility wasn't up to par with Apollo's. Before the strike could land, Apollo grabbed his ankle and pulled him in. With his position secured and any route of evasion sealed, Apollo hammered Typhir's chest with a blow that caused him to shoot into the distance like a rocket in flight. 

Furthermore, like earlier, Apollo didn't give him the chance to recover. He followed after him closely and balled his fist together before slamming it downward. The impact came after a pin drop silence as Typhir's body was left impaled into the ground. From start to finish, he wasn't able to land a single blow on Apollo.

Be that as it may, Apollo still stood over him, shaking the throbbing sensation off from his hand, 'While his Agility hasn't improved that much, I can tell his Strength, Vitality, and Endurance should have undergone a qualitative improvement. I wouldn't be surprised if his Strength was on par with mine,' Apollo inwardly thought while awaiting the disappearance of the dust cloud.

All of a sudden, Typhir sprang from the crater his body created and appeared before Apollo. This time, however, the markings on his body were much more solid as a few streams of black blood flowed from his lips. Although he was in a world of pain, he grinned.

"Again, this much isn't enough to break me. Get stronger, my lord!" Typhir bellowed before taking a wide stance. He then utilized both of his legs to accelerate and cause a small sonic boom. When Apollo saw this, he was slightly surprised, 'Did he just get faster? Perhaps his stats haven't completely solidified yet.'

Nevertheless, Apollo responded in kind and dashed towards Typhir. For the moment, their momentum seemed to be the same. Yet, upon each collision, Typhir lost by a small degree. But even then, Apollo's eyebrow twitched after each impact. He was almost certain this was true.

'His skin is hardening!' Apollo exclaimed as he saw small amounts of a black metallic gleam on Typhir's knuckles. When he looked at his own, Apollo saw numerous bruises and some signs of fresh blood.

Meanwhile, Fuhrer nodded, 'My liege is more of an all-rounder. There isn't an area of combat that he particularly excels at over the rest and there is also the fact his body seems to be advancing evenly. On the other hand, this boy's body was more so built to be durable. When it comes to physical exchanges, if he can capitalize on his future prospects, I don't see him losing to anyone. Especially with the strongest offensive dual combination.'

As the two continued to spar, the metallic gleam of Typhir's body continued to spread. By the 500th exchange, the gleam had already spread over the entirety of both of his arms. However, after that, it didn't seem to spread any further. This was when Apollo realized this should have something to do with his stigmata.

'It must have accentuated some hidden talent within his body. I guess the Hellfire has tempered his bronze body into some type of demon metal. I can't wait to see how he handles himself in that sub-realm. Perhaps I'll leave most of the combat up to him,' Apollo internalized while mulling over a few ideas.

Shortly after, Typhir raised his hand before falling to one knee and coughing up a clump of viscous blood, "No more my Lord, my body can't take anymore. You win. I don't know how you're still brimming with energy."

Before answering, Apollo grasped his hand and pulled him up. At the same time, he cracked his own neck, releasing the tension his body collected from all the blows he had to match, "You've grown strong. You just need to acclimate to your own stamina. Once that happens, and you learn how to limit your physical exertion, you'll come to find out that I'm currently not that much stronger than you."

Of course, this was only when taking physical bodies into account. Since Typhir was his acolyte, the system gave him a small internal upgrade. After all, the purpose of the system was to prepare the Monarch and his subordinates. Any intellectual demon would rush to join his side. What others didn't know is that a large secret resided within the origin of this tool.

Since the spar was over and the purpose of it had been accomplished, Fuhrer made his move, "I think it is time that we set out for which we intended to do. Don't you think so?" 

After asking this, Fuhrer drew his sword and sliced downward. While he created a spatial fracture, this one was fundamentally different. The others seemed as if it led to a void, but this fracture retained an infernal aura to it. It went without saying, Fuhrer has just opened the doorway to Ashiraem.

However, unlike the time Apollo went berserk, not only was this channel controlled, it was private. In other words, it was linked directly to the coordinates of Fuhrer's real body. While Apollo was ready to depart at any time, Apollo wasn't so sure about Typhir. This would be his first time crossing over to this world.

"Are you prepared? I will warn you, what you're about to step into is a place that some would call a nightmare. In fact, I don't think a human would be able to survive here. Fortunately, we have both experienced our first evolution," Apollo stated while approaching the gateway.

For some time, Typhir was silent. Although he was quite the courageous fellow, it would be a lie to say he wasn't apprehensive. On top of being a new atmosphere, there was a looming sense of despair present. 

Nevertheless, after he calmed down and exhaled, he finally assented, "I'm ready, my Lord. After y-"

Before Typhir could finish, Apollo grabbed his wrist and flung Typhir through the gateway. However, when Apollo entered, Fuhrer's avatar disintegrated into motes of dark energy that flowed back into his mind. 

'Ah, so when I return to the proper world, I can't leave the avatar here? Interesting. I'll also need to test whether or not summoning Fuhrer's avatar is possible. Since he is still bound, it might be possible,' Apollo thought. As he crossed over, he extended his arm and allowed Ouroboros to slither up. 

Once again, he had ventured back into the gathering of the Nihilistic Rings.

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