The Demon Monarch System

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〈System Alert! Your Demonic Acolyte Typhir has unlocked a piece of his prideful demeanor within the wrath produced by disparaging comments made towards you. As a result, their second path is awakening as well.〉

Although Apollo was privy to the fact that Typhir possessed a talent for both the Sin of Ira and Superbia, he didn't expect the signs of the second sin awakening to appear so soon. Granted, he also didn't take into account the influence the system had on his position as an acolyte.

Unlike Apollo who followed a grander path, the route to Typhir awakenings seemed much simpler. Be that as it may, it also appeared that his potential wasn't affected in the slightest.

After this demeanor awakened, small bits of Destruction Intent seeped from his blade into the surroundings. But, when it appeared, Furcas simply grinned. 

"A strong Demonic Intent you possess, but it still isn't strong enough to counteract me," Furcas said with a nonchalant attitude. Naturally, since Typhir's pride was swelling to new heights, he didn't take kindly to this instigation.

Before making a move, Typhir made a deep inhale and then took an explosive step. In a short few moments, he appeared before Furcas. Unlike before where he used wide swings, now he tried to limit his movements to lessen the number of openings that could be seen.

To complement this, he also changed the way he retrieved and unleashed his sword. To shorten the time between strikes, he switched his grip placement numerous times. Despite all of this, Furcas still appeared to be one step ahead of him. 

On the other hand, Apollo didn't join the fray just yet. He took the time gained through Typhir's attempts to understand more about Furcas' ability.

'It seems that what he is doing is similar to what I would call Foresight. He must be looking into the future to see the events that would take place. But the problem is how do we deal with this. Also, to determine the future is something easier said than done,' Apollo mused silently. 

When Furcas dodged the next few strikes, Apollo watched as the number of symbols within his eyes increased. And, when that happened, it seemed like the speed at which he could read Typhir's movements became faster, despite Typhir's attacks happening more frequently. 

'The number of symbols in his eyes seems to increase his cognition by a fold. Right now there are 4, so he is responding four times faster than in the beginning,' Apollo surmised while continuing to inspect the situation at hand. 

The problem was, Apollo wasn't sure when he would hit his peak or even the limit of that peak. Thus, Apollo determined it was time to stop delaying the inevitable. 

'This person truly isn't someone we are equipped to deal with. It'll take much more than us to quell him.' After he came to terms with this understanding, Apollo held his hand out and called out.

"Come forth, Fuhrer," Apollo bellowed. A dark portal opened behind him but to his surprise, nothing stepped through after waiting for some time. In fact, the portal closed without his doing shortly after his demonic reserves depleted by a large margin.

Surprisingly, Apollo was shocked by the message that appeared in his mind. The reason he couldn't summon Fuhrer wasn't because of the system, but because of Fuhrer himself.

〈System Alert! Your Demonic Follower has declined the summoning request. As a result, only half of the usual Anima Reserves have been utilized. Due to him having declined this call, the ability to summon him will be temporarily restricted until they are ready to be summoned.〉

As for the meaning of this, there were two reasons he didn't appear yet. 

Firstly, since Furcas was a piece, he was something Apollo needed to accomplish on his own. Each of the pieces was put in place for him to learn something. If Fuhrer joined the mix and dealt with the issue without Apollo realizing the purpose, it was a redundant experience.

Secondly, the seal around the Tenebrous Sword seemed to be weakening. When he split half of his soul and became Apollo's follower, the seal on the sword was affected in the process. Truthfully speaking, this was something he was aware of. But, based on Apollo's true identity, he was willing to proceed with this gambit.

Now there was a race, would Apollo reach his glory, or would the seal release first and put the entirety of the Nihilistic Rings in danger. Of course, Fuhrer didn't reveal this just yet. With Apollo's current power, this would merely affect his progress. It was best he focused on the smaller goal before a catastrophic issue was presented to him.

'If Fuhrer isn't accepting a call to summon, then that means he wants me to deal with this issue myself. Furthermore, this means he should be privy to just what I'm facing. In other words, this is just a small trial. If he is a piece, then I need to treat him as one,' Apollo determined.

The look in his eye changed as he relinquished the scythe in his hands. In exchange, he used the Infernal Arms of Damnation before rushing into the battle. At the same time, he took on the aura of a commander and started to issue orders to Typhir.

"Exchange power for speed. Hone your movements and move quicker. You must remember before you were a demon, you were someone with an affinity for both fire and wind. Thus, you need to become explosive like the flames you were born in and swift like the wind that pierces," Apollo bellowed.

As for him, his arms were wreathed in Hellfire. Since he couldn't find a way to deactivate Furcas' ability, he thought to do the second most practical option. Find the prerequisite needed to overload it. After all, with all this passage of time, there was no way the power he retained, rivaled his former self.

"I understand!" Typhir answered without hesitation. At the hilt of his sword, small orbs of Hellfire appeared in an agitated state. Right before he struck, the orbs exploded and propelled the strike even faster.

Upon noticing this, Furcas' eyes narrowed. He could glean their intent from their actions. Thus, he slammed the pitchfork on the floor and generated a ring of flames before slashing outward. Tentacles branched off from the ring and shot towards Apollo and Typhir.

However, with his focused state, Apollo dodged the tentacles seamlessly while closing the distance. At the same time, for a short time, under heavy strain, he activated the next level of the Umbra Phantom Mantle; the Dual Night Mirages.

Two afterimages formed on Apollo's back that mimicked his movements and looked like shadow beings of himself. But, Apollo understood he could uphold this state long. 

'The number of variations before your eyes is bound to overload this foresight of yours. I refuse to believe that you can predict all these anomalies at once,' Apollo thought silently.

But, just as he feared, Furcas' accelerated and dealt with their attacks. In fact, he bent his strikes in a way that dealt with both of their advances simultaneously.

"A worthwhile strategy, but again, just two ants interfering with a grand scheme. What can you change? Corruption awaits your path, and control eludes you," Furcas announced before once again slamming his pitchfork against the ground. This time, however, he repeated the action three times. Numerous spiraling flame spears fired toward them and the power behind the spears was many times above his previous strike.

Due to all this, the frustration within Apollo welled up, 'Fuhrer won't administer aid, this foolish demon is hellbent on sending me spiraling into a rage and worst of all, I'm powerless to change any of this right now,' Apollo frowned.

The internal struggles presented by Furcas' words were greater than he let on. As he frantically slashed his arms to deal with the spears, small nicks appeared on Apollo's cheek. While the damage didn't bother him, he was already falling victim to his emotions.

When Furcas noticed the signs, he chuckled as he was very amused by the situation, "As I said, you lack control. Nameless fellow, just what can you do?"

In response to the question, Apollo's chest heaved. The thought of invoking the Sin Armament crossed his mind as his reasoning took a continuous beating. Fortunately, he still retained his wit. But, that didn't mean he was still in control. 

His intent started to leak from his body without his notice. In light of this, his desires were sparked,  "I can dominate all!"

'BOOM!'