The Demon Monarch System

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Although Apollo granted Tanath leniency over his death, the pressure Apollo subjected him to caused his clarity of mind to teeter on the edge of unconsciousness. So, aside from alleviating the force crushing his body, Tanath wasn't aware of anything else.

Still, Apollo turned his attention towards the three Archdemons in the clutch of his attack. Surprisingly, three Archdemons together couldn't withstand the pressure that Tanath was resisting alone.

The overwhelming attacks caused gruesome crunching noises to appear frequently, and Apollo neared the site of his destructions. When he sensed their flames of life were on the brink of extinguishing, Apollo canceled his attack.

After all, he had a much better purpose than just outright destroying them. If he did that, the only thing he would receive was experience towards the experience pool. However, after such a challenging battle, would only receiving a superficial amount of experience be enough to justify the earlier difficulty?

No, so Apollo chose to extract their essence. Though he could also do it if their death were recent, it wasn't as potent as when they were still alive. Therefore, Apollo opted for the optimal situation.

Three dense streams of demonic essence flowed from the demons' withering bodies and into Apollo's, causing a slight smile. Although the energy seemed tyrannic, Apollo found the absorption to be unusually unpleasant. 

〈System: Because your Ira Purity and Level have both been frozen, you've received an adjustment.〉

〈System: All Experience gained from the corpses increased by 250 percent. Attributes will experience a ten percent inflation as well.〉

〈System: 3 Unique Archdemon's Essence has been absorbed. [59.6 million Experience rewarded.]〉

〈System: +30.8 percent Strength, +22.5 percent Agility〉

'Not bad,' Apollo thought with a faint nod. Since his vessel was locked, expanding his Demonic Anima Reserves was impossible unless he could increase his Demon Body. After all, the Demon Body is what determines the quantity of both one's Demonic Anima and Sin Volume. 

At the same time, the Demon Body also correlated to the chances of a demon evolving to the next level. Unless their potential was strong enough, the chances of evolving were slim, seeing as it required a qualitative upgrade from the core components.

Meanwhile, Apollo wasn't worried about evolving at this point. His primary focus was to level the playing field regarding the difference in their vessel power as much as possible. Thus, absorbing as many stats as possible was his primary concern. Once he felt sufficiently strong, then any wariness towards fighting against Asteroth would dissipate.

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On the other hand, Fuhrer teleported before Tanath's battered body and estimated the damages. 

"Hmm, he's in quite a terrible shape, I would say," Fuhrer muttered while placing his hand on Tanath's forehead. An inconsequential power flowed through Tanath's body, allowing Fuhrer to understand the damage inflicted upon his body thoroughly.

"At least he's not dead," Apollo shrugged indifferently before completely devouring the Archdemon's body. 'Perhaps I'll have some use for all the bodies in that dead space in the future.'

As mentioned before, every demon with a high Gula purity possessed a vast independent space linked to their Sinful Organ. In Apollo's case, the Voracious Tongue, while small, produced an overwhelmingly vast separate space. Even if Apollo could travel inside, it'd take at least a week to journey through the span of its coverage.

"I suppose that's true as well," Fuhrer chuckled amusedly before grabbing Tanath's arm and tossing him towards Furcas, "You deal with his healing process."

After hearing this, Apollo turned towards Tanath's body in flight. "Before that, let's finalize his addition."

Apollo lifted his hand, leisurely sending a pulse of black aura to encase Tanath's body. It entered inside, running amok before completely overpowering any remnants of defiance within. 

As a result, another message appeared before Apollo's view.

〈System: An addition, «Tanath», has been introduced to the Dominus Household. [Current members: 15]〉

"You're all set to heal him now. There's no chance of retaliation upon awakening," Apollo instructed before taking a seat on the rocks. While doing so, he also pondered a few other important matters that would become an issue eventually.

Sapphyr realized this look and sat beside him with a curious expression, "Something troubling you?"

"Not quite, but it's been difficult to contact Xonnomor after learning of this newly made equipment. There's been slight interference, so I suspect he's in the presence of someone of a Lord's caliber," Apollo admitted while tapping his chin.

"And the issue with that is?" Sapphyr asked while revealing a tinge of confusion.

"It's not necessarily an issue; it just means that our items may suffer delays, which indicates an even deeper need for Asteroth's presence. Besides that, this means the Council is also preparing," Apollo said in a solemn tone. 

Though it didn't seem bad on the surface, the more the Council prepared themselves, the more difficult it would become for Apollo to dismantle them within the allotted timeline. 

"Well, just as they are preparing, so are we. It's only a matter of who is faster, and when it comes to this, I believe in you, my Lord," Sapphyr answered. As Apollo turned towards her, he noticed the genuine smile on her face and smiled back.

"I guess you have a point. I shouldn't worry needlessly. Growing stronger or becoming more prepared only means that the Council is turning themselves into even juicier targets," Apollo said with an intense sensation of greed circulating within his expression.

"Exactly!" Sapphyr agreed. Afterward, she blushed slightly while Apollo patted her head and looked in a particular direction. "Soon from now, I'll need everyone to handle specific tasks. Do you feel you're up for the job?"

"I am," Sapphyr replied without a moment's hesitation. Not only was her belief in Apollo unwavering, but she was confident in her strength after going against the animated corpse and absorbing countless amounts of Ira from this place.

"Good. You and Typhir will accompany Valac to Suprenis," Apollo instructed. However, Sapphyr gave a clueless look. Unlike the rest, she wasn't privy to the name of familiar Rings. After all, she was one of the recently created demons. At most, she only knew about Ashiraem. 

Therefore, Apollo took the time to explain what he knew of Suprenis. Though his knowledge was sparse in some areas, he recalled any zone he visited thoroughly, especially the location bearing Tirasha's stronghold.

Once she received all the information, Sapphyr took a moment to digest it.

"I'll keep a watch over Valac, but you know there are no promises that he'll behave," Sapphyr answered. But, Apollo chuckled at her response. He was confident that Valac would behave himself on this little trip.

"That's not something you should worry about. You're more so back-up rather than a babysitter in this situation," Apollo responded. He then paused for a moment while glancing at Tanath's body inside Furcas's inscription circles.

'We only have a certain window before their employer begins to worry about their whereabouts. If we aren't gone by that time, then we'll most like be met with another party in search of their remains,' Apollo thought. However, he wasn't troubled by this matter.

It would take quite some time for an ordinary party to excavate this entire ruin. So, there was still ample time before any wariness for their safety appeared. Until then, Apollo chose to remain in place.

If this party already possessed items crafted by Xonnomor, then the odds of him having any equipment for them were slim. So, returning to Firaria would only be redundant when they could remain in this beneficial environment for a while longer.

In the meantime, Apollo chose to continue familiarizing himself with his arsenal because he intended to seek out Asteroth upon arrival. 'Fortunately, I accounted for being stuck inside this ruin for some time. Though it is advantageous, it still slows the timeline's pace.'

Suddenly, while looking at Tanath's body, Apollo's curiosity towards Arleo's current state grew. Sadly, his body was still inside one of the stronghold's huts, recuperating within one of the circles Furcas made.

With his current ability, Furcas wasn't strong enough to check on the conditions of people inside distance circles remotely. To do so, he'd need to recover some of his Archdemon abilities at the very least.

Conversely, Apollo also thought about the connection between Tanath's Aura of Slaughter and any future meeting with the Savage King. 'Reaching even one-tenth of their true power will be difficult, but I'll accept the challenge.'

At the same time, Apollo's mind was two steps against his battle with Asteroth, 'From Asteroth we'll attack Amduscias..' Only then could he take the next major step in his journey.