The Demon Monarch System

----

'Splich!' ​​

The thrown Vantablack Knife stabbed into the forehead of a salamander. However, after it impaled its forehead, Apollo reappeared grabbing its handle and thrusting downward. Its scales were more durable than he hoped, causing the resulting cut to be on the shallow side.

Nevertheless, this just meant the battle would be longer. Conjuring a flame, it swiped its claws causing a triple-layered flame wave.

'Ding!' 'Ding!' 'Whoosh!'

Parrying two of the three waves, Apollo sidestepped, dodging the last one. Watching his movements, the trio remained in awe. It seemed his words weren't lies! He showed no difficulty dealing with a single Rank 3 Spirit Beast. This left little room for doubt in their minds while noticing his advantage rested in his agility! That technique he used boosted his speed beyond what was normal for even a Zul Warrior!

Naturally, raising his proficiency in the Partial Shade Silhouette was not without its benefits. Compared to before, the parameters now satisfied Apollo greatly. It seemed each skill had to be trained as they possessed their own mastery levels. In other words, the more he familiarized himself with them, the greater the power he could draw from them.

----

Skill Name: First Phantasm - Partial Shade Silhouette

Skill Rank: High Tier Profound Art

Mastery: 2/4 (Intermediate)

Information: Embracing the darkness, one's movement seems to blend in seamlessly. The deeper one enters the shade, their silhouette the more they approach the phantasm. However, the darkness corrupts and tempts all. As a result, the demand is greater.

Parameters: Increases Agility by 50% at the minimum to 85% at the maximum.

Consumption: 3 Stamina per second/50% + 5 Stamina per second/additional 5% increase.

Requirements: Strength: 50.0, Agility: 60.0, Intelligence: 30.0

'I should test how fast the upper limits are,' thought Apollo before taking a step that caused his disintegrating silhouette to emit a sonic boom. Correct, rather than his body doing so, the fading silhouette did!

'Interesting! But this drain is rather high. In a second, I'll lose 38 stamina points. Not to mention, I still need to factor in the movement's drain itself. With that my drain is more so closer to 45. In other words, I can only uphold this state for 100 seconds before exhaustion appears. This will be a saving grace in sticky situations but will have to be used sparsely,' thought Apollo as he dropped his execution to the minimum.

Meanwhile, he glanced back at Aaron and Lily teaming up to handle two of such salamanders. Axel, on the other hand, remained disgruntled as he waved his spear. His initial Zul Count in comparison to Apollo was high. Hence, as the battles continued he found himself damaging the beast more frequently.

The drawback, however, was that his style lacked the ferocity it should have. The Fire Element was one of explosiveness and yet he seemed to be mellowed. Naturally, this was due to the mind games Apollo played on him. In normal circumstances, he would have walked into a battle with nonexistent apprehension. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

There was now a pang of doubt present in his mind. To put it differently, Apollo had attacked his "Dao Heart" or what one would call a cultivator's pride—a ruthless move.

Needless to say, Ashur saw this and frowned, 'Venomous kid! How dare you trample upon someone's pride! That is synonymous with ruining their future. Vile! The Grand Elder will not be pleased with this.'

The battle waged on and beasts continued to fall, however, Azridan's warning rang in Apollo's mind.

[Lad, those fluctuations I mentioned earlier are picking up! However, they carried a faint difference. When you all proceed take precaution, when you get the chance, I suggest you warn your aunt of it being on the verge of completing its evolution.]

'Noted,' replied Apollo as he split a salamander in half with the Demonic Massacre Wave. This time, he didn't add copious amounts of his energy as the beast was already on its last legs. On the other hand, Lily encased a salamander in an orb of water as spears of light stabbed through it.

Subsequently, Aaron's sword emitted a faint whitish-silver gleamed that hurtled forward and pierced the forehead of the salamander. It was the first form of the Quicksilver Sword Forms he poured countless hours of practice into—it had borne fruits!

'I forgot to ask Aaron what his element was but it seems he possesses dual elements like Lily. If I'm not mistaken, it's Wind and Metal. But I get this odd feeling…' thought Apollo as he shifted to the next opponent.

Oftentimes, there was a stray who attempted to attack their backs only to be thwarted by Apollo's knife. In short bursts, he increased his speed to deal with these situations, the bodies littering the ground continued to increase until finally, they were all motionless on the floor.

Pausing for a breather, Cynthia looked back at the kids. It went without saying, the only one forgoing a rest was Apollo. Zooming around, he excavated the Essence Cores from the monster bodies. A large influx of cores similar to a stream took place in his spatial pouch.

'I wonder where he got that pouch. It seems to be the same grade as ours. That'd take a rather skilled spatial sage to create. It appears these years were indeed eventful for him,' Cynthia silently spectated Apollo and the pouch at his waist amid the motions of rounding up the cores.

On the other hand, Ashur arrived before Axel, placing his hand on his shoulder, "Don't let his words enter your mind. You must remember he harbors malice towards thus his words are poisonous. What he speaks is far from the truth. You must always hold yourself to the highest standard—you are talented."

Shaking his head, Axel recovered from his muddled state as a tinge of hostility flashed within his eyes followed by a burning ember. His hateful gaze fell upon Apollo's leisure persons, "You're right. It seems he hasn't let go of the past and bears hate in his heart. However, I will let him know when the time comes that he is not my superior!"

Soon enough, a large amount of desecrated carcasses remained and Apollo looked up at Cynthia before looking into the distance, "Aunty, if you haven't sensed it yet. I have something to warn you of. Would you like to hear my words?"

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Cynthia remained shocked. 'He's picked up on something that we haven't? If so… how sharp are his sense? Without a doubt, he possesses a talent for Spirit Cultivation. I wish to see just how far he treads on his path.'

"Tell me, hun. What is it you discovered?" While asking, Cynthia's eyes shifted to the narrow and impartial path leading from the volcanic pool. 'I sense something. But… it doesn't belong to a beast what is that?

"That beast, whatever it is, should be at the cusp of evolution. If so, I advise you all to take precautions. I'm not privy to what a Rank 4 Spirit Beast is capable of but from what I remember reading. There is no comparison to a Rank 3. To my knowledge, I believe they awaken something?" stated Apollo as his tone turned unsure towards the end. The information in the books he read in the family library was rather vague and lacking in intricate detailing.

"Ah, yes. That's correct. As far as I know, Rank 4 is a large turning point for Spirit Beast. I believe it awakens something like an even stronger innate ability," Cynthia's eyebrow raised in intrigue due to Apollo's knowledge. 'He should be on par with a person with years of experience. He's maturing to a state that doesn't warrant my worries.

"Aunty, what's your cultivation level?" Unlike the 3 youths, he found he was unable to see hers. Naturally, he didn't inspect the other two as he was only interested in Aaron, Axel, and Lily's strength beforehand. However, that changed as he now witnessed everyone's combat power.

Cynthia's strength triumphed over the other two and it wasn't by a small degree. In fact, the disparity was noticeable. When serious, she singlehandedly took on 10 of those earlier salamanders. Meanwhile, Danyul was capable at 7 at most whereas Ashur could handle 5 with the occasional hardcap being 6.

To his question, her lips formed a faint smile with a playful expression in her eyes.