The Demon Monarch System

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[Oh shit. Pardon my foul language, but this thing isn't even at full strength! You must remember this is the period right after evolution. This is its weakest and yet it is this strong! If you allow it to ingest any more of those fruits and enable it to consolidate its state...I fear for all of your lives.] ​​

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Apollo's countenance darkened as his mind traveled to worse case scenarios. He knew for a fact the others weren't privy to the implications of this beast. Everyone felt it was off but Apollo truly understood why. In a word, it could become a catastrophe!

[Fret not, you simply need to take a risk.]

'You don't mean to…'

[Correct. You'll have to do what I didn't permit you to do all this time. Retreat and buy yourself some time.]

'Roger,' replied Apollo as he glanced in Cynthia's direction. "Aunty… heed my words, we need to kill that thing now! Buy me some time, I may be able to help you if you do so but… I'll need at least a few minutes. Are you able to give me that much time?"

"What are your plans? We may be able to manage that amount of time, however, I don't know what state we'll be left in. Are you positive you possess the means to counteract this situation?" Cynthia could hear the dread in his voice as well as the small certainty laced within. As a result, she was placing her hopes in him. Her eyes shimmered with aspiration.

In response, Apollo just smiled and nodded before retreating and laying a small mountain of Fire Essence Cores on the ground around his body, "You asked me earlier about these cores so I guess it is time I reveal the truth!"

Spreading his arms, multiple circles of cores layered around him rose. Spinning in opposite directions, tendrils of energy seeped from then. Those threads then drilled into Apollo's body without pause. His teeth creaked as he clenched his jaw, the protruding veins under his skin writhed agony, however, the look in his eyes was unchanging.

"WHAT?! Is he refining Essence Cores with his body? Is he mad? He'll kill himself! He has a death wish," Ashur scowled at his actions. This was unheard of; there had yet to be a human capable of ingesting a beast's core!

"Quiet and look. His aura remains stable. It seems as if his body is special. Perhaps it's due to the fact his original meridians were decimated by Terrors, they are now capable of withstanding this. If so, his existence is a blessing within a grand misfortune," Cynthia glanced at Apollo with a warmhearted smile. To her, it seemed all the wrongs he had suffered were being transformed into advantages! Perhaps there was some truth to this.

Vanishing from her spot, she dodged a strike from the Demonic Earthflame Wyvern. Meanwhile, Apollo's experience was spiking as the essence from the cores and the ambient Natural Essence melded as one flowed into him.

As a large number of Essence Cores dulled and shattered. The first notification panel appeared before fading away.

«Congratulations, you have reached Level 93. You have received .6 Attributes and 7 Stat Points.»

Of course, this was far from done as Apollo continued to drain the cores of energy. With each passing second, his experience increased by the hundreds. Furthermore, it incrementally increased the longer he absorbed this. Soon enough the next notification came. However, by now, the number of cores had dwindled by nearly half and yet the experience requirements became steeper.

«Congratulations, you have reached Level 94. You have received .7 Attributes and 7 Stat Points.»

«Experience: 0/500,000»

'Is there no end to the amount needed? If it's like this then it isn't enough. More...I need more!' Apollo's eyes filled with a fervent desire to devour. As if interacting with his desires, the Natural Essence began flowing towards him in larger amounts. All 180 acupoints were in use at this point. Not a single one was left out of this operation.

"Yield! MORE!" Apollo's pores were engulfed with a crimson hue as the rate at which he devoured this Natural Essence rose at an exponential rate. On the other hand, splits on his body originating from those pores began connecting. The odd thing, however, was no blood escaped his body.

Instead, one could hear a continuous searing noise as it evaporated and receded back into his body. In other words, his blood and more importantly his pores were being refined! As a result, his stats and experience continued to rise. Yet even then, Apollo still possessed this hunch that it wouldn't be enough.

What laid before him and what he sought to unleash were two extremes. To counteract it, he would have to be ruthless to himself.

'It's not enough… the cores have dwindled to a tenth of its former number and yet I haven't reached Level 95. This experience requirement is becoming quite harrowing. If only that Wyvern wasn't guarding those Natural Blessings so closely…' Apollo's crazed gaze fell upon the crystalline fruits causing his frown to deepen.

Meanwhile, the 6 continued to accrue alarming injuries. Deep gashes remained on Ashur and Danyul's arms whereas Cynthia's Aquatic Valkyrie Boots possessed numerous cracks alongside her haggard experience.

"This Rank 4… why is it so strong? Its attack standard should be nearing a Zul Commander. No wonder we can barely break through its defense with our current equipment," Cynthia sidestepped, increasing the distance between her and the Wyvern with a solemn expression.

"Perhaps we bit off more than we could chew! We should have bought Rhyne along with us. He's the only Zul Commander in the family," stated Danyul with a strained jaw. Trying to puncture the Wyvern scale's with his Frozen Lance skill proved to be more difficult than it sounded.

Nevertheless, they continued to buy time from Apollo. That was of course until the Wyvern released a terrifying screech. The surrounding area once again trembled except the following events took place differently.

A dark orb wreathed in a purple metallic gleam congregated inside its colossal maw. The tyranny of this attack alone resulted in minute spatial warps. This was due to the sheer heat exuded from it. Unfortunately, Cynthia couldn't dodge. For if she did, it would travel to the one located directly behind her—Apollo!

'Faster, faster, faster…. This is too slow!' thought Apollo as the creeping experience bar caused him mental anguish. Looking at his aunt stand her ground before him, Apollo frowned. Based on what Azridan was telling him, this was akin to a suicide attempt. That Wyvern had consumed nearly 5% of its Natural Essence reserves to launch that attack.

While it sounded small on the grand scale of things, this wasn't a Rank 3 Spirit Beast. A simple 5% of its reserves were at least equal to the desperate attempts made by the former beasts. Not to mention, its attack power was further upgraded by the presence of its bloodline.

'ROOARRGHH!!!'

The Wyvern first launched the large death rewarding sphere then flapped its wings causing black winds to slice the orb into smaller parts. Minced, the smaller orbs then altered flight paths and attacked everyone without remorse! Widening their eyes in despair, the elders roared!

"NOOOOOO!!!"

'Whooosh!'

Unbeknownst to them, a black flash brushed past them. It was so fast, they were unable to perceive exactly what was happening. However, unlike them, the Wyvern could sense something taking place and focused its attention on the incident.