The Demon Monarch System

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Before reacting, Amduscias stared at Apollo silently. Since the portal behind him didn't close, Amduscias wondered if someone else was stepping through its opening as well. Still, after a few seconds, the space gradually closed, soon becoming too small to fit even the smallest of demons.

Once he confirmed the portal closed, Amduscias turned towards Apollo with an awkward gaze, looking him up and down. 'This attack used to defend against my spear beam is rather... odd. While it feels like he used an Aura, it also feels as if he didn't. Not to mention, this familiar sensation.'

Suddenly, a light flashed in Valac's eyes as he stared at Apollo's back. But, that light soon vanished as he realized that Amduscias seemed far from tired. 'Was it all for nothing? I don't even know if I was capable of leveling the playing field. I'll take the blame if anything happens! Also… where's Lord Fuhrer?'

Surprisingly, Apollo didn't appear with Fuhrer by his side, which was odd. Although it was one of Fuhrer's portals that allowed Apollo to come to this area, Fuhrer didn't tag along. Or rather, Apollo didn't allow him to tag along.

Now that he had battled with quite a few of the Lost Council, Apollo was familiar with the rules set in place. None of his followers were allowed to interfere in matches of dominance. If he wished to gain a new follower, it needed to be done through his brute strength.

Therefore, Apollo decided to put Fuhrer's presence and power to better use. He didn't remain inactive while inside Guloria; he was still with the Lord of Gluttony, devising a plan based on the information gathered from the All-seeing Nautilus within that Ring. 

Besides that, Fuhrer also revisited Ashiraem to monitor the situation. Surprisingly, although Xorgrah didn't return to Suprenis, he visited Ashiraem to collect the weapons Xonnomor created. 

Though Fuhrer and Xorgrah met, it was pretty awkward. Because of Fuhrer's bizarre techniques and the weapon on his waist, Xorgrah understood that this was a demon who concealed his strength well. At the very least, he was an individual that Xorgrah didn't want to interfere with if it was unneeded.

All of a sudden, Amduscias raised his hand slowly with his palm facing upward, "Who are you? Are you some face that's taking on the appearance of my Lord?" While Amduscias's tone was light as he asked this question, anger flickered in his eyes as he looked at Appollo.

Since he was unaware of Apollo's birth, he thought this was an impostor who was trying to reassemble the lost household after receiving a portion of the Monarch's powers from the inheritance site.

Regrettably, he couldn't be further from the truth.

"Amduscias, the 7th Demonic Duke of the Dominus Household with the power of Supercharged Superbia as well as the Dark Lightning," Apollo answered in a calm tone, tossing aside the earlier question.

As a result, Amduscias's eyes narrowed, inspecting Apollo cautiously. The ranking system of the Dominus Household was something that no current demon should understand or be aware of, much less knowing the exact rankings.

A moment later, Apollo continued, but his words triggered Amduscias. "Tell me, when did a Duke have the authority of acting as a proxy for the Monarch? As I recall, there were only nine individuals with this authorization, and you weren't one of them."

"Tch, what do you know? I can do as I please since the Monarch has long since forgotten about us and has been forgotten. In other words, I am an untethered existence free to do as I please," Amduscias retorted with a click of his tongue.

Instinctively, Valac turned towards Apollo but was surprised by his lack of response. After all, Valac was sure that such words were enough to trigger his Lord. However, he noticed that Apollo was uncharacteristically cold, as if unaffected by the opinions of others.

"On the contrary, you're not free. You're mine, and that's how it will be until the end of time," Apollo responded. A strong pulse emitted from his right eye while focusing on Amduscias. On top of the mind control abilities that were attached to his Sin of Luxuria, Apollo's Aura of Dominance seeped into the power, bringing its effectiveness to new heights.

Regrettably, he found that his efforts were useless as the dark lightning circling Amduscias's body zapped all of the incoming Sin. Only the Aura of Dominance was relatively unaffected by the incursion of the dark lightning.

Nevertheless, just the fact Apollo's Aura was able to resist his lightning came as a shock to Amduscias. Though it wasn't at the precipice of his power, it was more than sufficient to deal with all enemies under the Archdemon level of ancient standards.

Hence, Amduscias prepared to increase the quantity and intensity of his lighting, but Apollo extended his hand before he could do so.

"Before you begin, I have a question; do you wish to do this the easy way or the hard way? The choice is yours. Just as a friendly reminder, the former means you submit of your own free will whereas the latter means I will beat you into submission to remind you of your place in this family," Apollo said with a slight smile.

Again, Amduscias narrowed his eyes, ultimately shaking his head at Apollo's offer. "Your confidence, while commendable, doesn't convince me. I'd rather be on my own than follow someone I know nothing about."

"Wrong answer," Apollo said. 

Suddenly, a surge of darkness expanded from Apollo's body as he zipped towards Amduscias while simultaneously drawing Gram. After sensing the battle that took place earlier, Apollo understood that Amduscias was by no means an enemy that he could take lightly.

Hence, on top of drawing his weapon, Apollo also entered the unique fusion state while activating both his Infernal Ira Stigmata and Dauntless Superbia Stigmata in tandem. Instantly, Apollo's pressure surpassed an Archdemon, moving well into the zone of a Noblesse.

However, such a drastic increase came with an excessive expenditure. This wasn't a battle that Apollo could drag out in the slightest. 

Meanwhile, Amduscias's dark lightning crackled with power as the shocking arcs of lightning lashed against everything in its perimeters. Amduscias's lighting was personally destroying his esteemed place of self-worship, yet he didn't mind this issue.

In his eyes, Apollo's current Aura was much more troublesome as he had only seen it once before. This alone made Amduscias question whether Apollo's presence was genuine. Be that as it may, even if Apollo's existence was genuine, he still needed to confirm if Apollo was worth following.

After all, the leader should be stronger than his subordinates in some way, no? This is what Amduscias believed!

The first clash happened a few moments later as Apollo's sword met Amduscias's dark lightning spear. The horrifying explosion that followed caused everyone to cover their ears and retreat in fear of being damaged. 

At the same time, a large pillar was blown to dust as both sides were forced back an equal number steps. Truth be told, this outcome shocked Apollo slightly as he thought that all of his techniques should have at least put him above Amduscias in general stats.

However, once he recalled the information given about Amduscias, Apollo's expression changed. 'That's right. His Aura isn't exactly normal. He flourishes in fights that focus around strength since he can increase the force behind his attacks at any given moment.'

Since that was the case, Apollo threw his hand forward, summoning an overwhelming attractive force from his palm that drew Amduscias in at a rapid speed. Unlike the others that experienced this technique, he smiled as he neared Apollo.

Just as he reached within arm's length of Apollo, he slashed down. However, Apollo didn't intend to attack head-on. Thus, the attack launched against him slammed against the ground, opening a sizable fissure.

Almost instantly, Apollo appeared before Amduscias, executing a sharp slash to his ribs. At first, Apollo felt the blow connected well when he saw Amduscias blown back into a pillar as it collapsed on top of him.

But, when he looked down at Gram and saw a blanket of dark lightning covering the exterior, Apollo knew it was otherwise. Yes, the attack connected well, but the result was not what Apollo expected.

Boom! Boom! Rummmmbleeeeeeee!

The ground shook as Amduscias knocked aside the large chunks of the pillar that lay on his body. Standing up, he cracked his neck side to side while looking at Apollo.

"I give it to you. You're much stronger than either of these two. You hit harder, and you travel much faster through the use of dark techniques. But, my praise ends there because you are still far from being deemed a worthy opponent," Amduscias said.

Not even a second later, the pebbles around his body levitated gradually as the Aura surrounding Amduscias underwent a shocking change. From the fourth degree, it jumped all the way to the fifth before cementing itself at the sixth degree.

Furthermore, despite being far away from Amduscias, each rock flickered with dark lightning that gave Apollo an unexpected surprise.

'Oh? So Amduscias possesses a Dominion?'