The Demon Monarch System

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Several moments later, 

"I thought our families were ruthless but this type of training...it's ungodly," Clair muttered, holding her mouth in shock. At this point, not only was Aaron's torso riddled with holes, Aran looked at him as if this was a natural sight to behold.

"It's not our place to comment on their tactics. If they were subpar, the Supreme Families would have long since abandoned them. Furthermore, don't forget they possess special bloodlines stemming from extremely powerful ancestors," Aeon stated, his eyes unmoving from the spectacle before him.

For some reason, this talk sparked something inside Lazaro, "Hm, my family will be the 4th Supreme Family. Once my grandfather breaks through, he'll achieve the level required to sit on the same throne. At the same time, his Spirit will achieve the ability to imbue part of its power into its weapon and deem it a Lineage Spirit."

"Hm? Is that the weapon in Aran's hand? Is that why it has an odd fluctuation to it? It appeared to absorb both Natural Essence and Spiritual Essence from Aran," Claire commented while focusing on the spear.

"Correct, that's created by what is known as a Legendary Spirit. One can only become one of those after experiencing the liberation of a Heroic Spirit. Sadly, only one Spirit has reached that level through natural means," Lazaro stated with a frown.

However, the others didn't pry into this matter. Despite all hailing from a Great Family, even then there was a divide in what was known and what matters could be spoken about. If one mentioned the wrong thing, then there was a chance of provoking someone of higher stature.

Meanwhile, Aran continued to shake his head with disappointment. 47 times—this was how many times until now he had thrust his spear into Aaron. Granted, many of the strikes were on the same precise location, so there were no more than 5 holes on his body. However, while the number was small, the size was far from it.

Each subsequent thrust caused the wound to expand. Not to mention, with the precision of each blow and the accurate use of strength, Aran only increased the puncture by 1-centimeter with each strike. 

Of course, doing so put Aaron through a world of pain. At first, one would believe being attacked on the same spot would lessen the pain, but that was far from the truth in this case. Due to the state of his injuries, Aaron swore the pain was superimposing.

Additionally, there was another thing being overlooked—each strike appeared to fall right next to a major meridian. To put it differently, the slightest slip up could lead to an unfortunate series of events happening to Aaron.

Be that as it may, Aran was not worried about this matter in the slightest. For starters, the pressure bearing down on Aaron rendered him immobile. So much as twitching a thumb proved to be a monumental task. 

Unbeknownst to Aaron, he was under the influence of the next level Earth Element—Gravity Manipulation. Aran had created a small pocket consisting entirely of supergravity. In that small area, it was increased by ten-fold. But, that wasn't all, this was in addition to the presence of his actual aura.

So, in truth, it was more like twenty-fold. Nevertheless, Aran's deep golden shimmered with a sharp intent. As he retracted his spear once more, his silver hair tied into a long ponytail sway in the wind.

"Origin Spear: Nine Points to One," Aran uttered. If one witnessed the move he used, they'd believe he thrust his spear one time but their eyes would have read the information wrong. Faster than the eye could see, Aran brandished his spear 9 times.

However, each move was laced with 9 sub-strikes created from pure Spear Intent. In the meantime, time seemed to slow in Aaron's eyes. The path of those strikes, how much damage it would deal to him, the pain that followed—all these matters were being calculated in his mind.

Moreover, his pupils were shining with a faint golden light. Golden pupils—this was the trait of the Dongguang. Every descendant possessed them and based on the depth of color, one could determine how high in the hierarchy their parents came from. 

In the beginning, Aaron's golden color was faint. But, in less time than it took to blink, the color deepened to a shade only slightly inferior to Aran. In light of this, before the overwhelming strike could land, Aran halted his attack.

"Hoh? Your parents… they seem to be on par with my predecessor. I will stop my attempts here. I advise you to open your Soul Temple soon. Upon doing so, the bloodline will properly activate. Only then, will you be able to enter my eyes in the slightest.

"As you are now, you're not enough," Aran said. Withdrawing his weapon, he rested it on his shoulders before walking away. Just like that, he left the hole-ridden Aaron to fall unconscious. Amid his departure, his gait seemed to be both leisurely and quick.

After each blink, his body appeared at least 10 meters away. It was unknown if this was his natural stride or a strange movement technique, but one this was clear—performing this was as easy as breathing for him.

Meanwhile, the other three lying in wait approached the unconscious Aaron now that Aran had left.

"What do you suppose we do with him? If we touch him, we'll probably kill him. His state is horrible and there isn't any Natural Essence present to heal with. Do we...heal his wounds to a certain degree?" Claire questioned as she looked to Aeon and Lazaro for answers.

Unsurprisingly, Lazaro shook his head, "Not at all. If this is what that Scion wanted he would have healed the boy. Instead, he left him to fend for himself. After finishing what he needed to, he left. In a sense, you could interpret it as him giving us permission to deal with him as we like."

"I don't think that is the smartest idea. I overheard part of their conversation—I believe this youth carries part of the Dongguang Family bloodline within him. And, you guys know all too well how out of hand those people get. Let's just wait here for our target," Aeon interjected.

"That logic is sound. We wait then," Lazaro nodded in agreement.

----

On the other side, back by Typhir, Apollo, and the others,

"We need to accelerate faster," Apollo muttered. As he traveled, a foreboding sensation crawled down his back. Moreover, the farther he traveled, the more the feeling grew. Something wasn't right.

"If we do that, then we run the risk of exhausting our reserves quicker. You must remember, the Natural Essence gained by pills isn't as powerful as the one absorbed during cultivation. We don't purify it as we do in cultivation. To replenish isn't the same as to cultivate," Typhir commented against it.

Unfortunately, Apollo was one who was adamant in his ways. Not to mention, his mental state was already unstable due to past transgression. "If you won't accelerate then I'll go ahead by my lonesome!"

'Bang!'

Without a care for his surroundings, Apollo increased his speed to the maximum by pushing his Demonic Anima to its extremes. Needless to say, the consumption increased in turn, but this was the least of his current worries.

"Damn! You hardheaded thing. Fuck!" Typhir growled in frustration. Nonetheless, he too sped up.

On the other hand, Nadida and Xineen were left frowning. In their attempts to reach their destination quicker, they had left them stranded. To make matters worse, Nadida wouldn't just leave Xineen.

Unlike the rest, she wasn't capable of the high-speed travel they were. Hence, she was baggage. But, while that may be true, Nadida didn't once contemplate leaving her behind. To her, protecting her comrades was of the utmost importance.

"We'll speed up to but I'll carry you so we won't be as far," Nadida uttered, bending down to allow Xineed to straddle her back. Once settled, they took off as well. While traveling, she did her best to retain her vision of Typhir and Apollo's backs.

Soon enough, Apollo could feel the traces of Aaron's aura. However, when he felt how faint they were, his eyes widened with fury, 'I swear if you all cause my brother to perish, everyone will follow him into the afterlife!'

A crazed gleam entered Apollo's eye. On top of that, a different type of rune appeared in his right eye. Concurrently, the appearance of this rune induced an increased thumping of his heart. In fact, it was reaching a point that even Typhir could hear.

When the two came to witness the sight before their eyes, an unbridled fury released from Apollo. The markings on his arms took a crimson color deeper than it had ever reached.