The Demon Monarch System

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As he chose his opponent, Apollo's eyes kept falling on a certain young man. Even though he didn't know the person, something else caused his attention to stay there. This particular youth bore a striking resemblance to Lazaro. Thus, a sense of hostility was birthed despite their unfamiliarity.

Nevertheless, Apollo vowed that he would get his revenge on any and all involved in that event. Apparently, that meant family members as well. However, Apollo soon cooled down and thought rationally, 'According to Headmaster Geneva, we're disallowed from killing other students. But, there must be some way to settle the score. After all, this environment isn't as easy going as it seems.'

Meanwhile, Adeon and Ragnvald chose their opponents much more strategically. They matched the subtle ripple in their person of interest's aura against their peers. And, when they found that their momentum petered out quicker than the others, they knew who to aim for.

Unlike what others thought, those in the bottom seats were always tempering themselves to attempt and switch seats with the other members and claim their benefits. Thus, their aura was always changing and inching closer to the others. Plus, they never showcased their entire aura until it was time to challenge the others. 

In other words, both Adeon and Ragnvald's opponents were old seats and each of them was a sophomore. Despite being old seats, that didn't mean they weren't worthwhile opponents. In fact, they had each held their 10th seat since freshman year. Whether or not that would change was up to Adeon and Ragnvald's efforts.

In the meantime, Sylvester snapped his fingers. Three threads of information flew towards the proper individuals who then paused their training. Each of them took a gander at the trio not far away and understood what time it was.

"Well, let us go deal with this small matter and return to training," Ephraim said while spinning the two daggers around his fingers. Once they were sheathed, the other two followed along. Unsurprisingly, one wielded an ax whereas the other wielded a seemingly plain longsword.

Not long after leaving their post, they arrived before Sylvester and the others. 

"Ephraim, Zach, and William; these three will be your opponents. I'll match you properly so you don't misinterpret the wrong opponent. The 9th seat of the disciplinary committee; Ephraim Astarte, you'll be matched against Apollo Kaiser.

"The 10th seat of the student council, Zach Duran will be matched against the challenger Ragnvald Duran. Lastly, the 10th seat of the disciplinary committee William Stuart will be matched against the challenger, Adeon Welsh," Sylvester announced. As he did so, he accompanied each of his words with a gesture towards the correct opponent.

"Will this take place here or will we follow the rules and head towards the Arena of Challenge? Oh, could it perhaps be occupied already by the others who didn't achieve prime contender status?" Ephraim questioned while examining Apollo.

Albeit faint, he could sense murderous intent emanating off of Apollo's body. At first, he thought nothing of it, but the longer he stood by this youth, the more prominent the aura became. This rose some alarms in his mind.

'Does this youth have an issue with me? But, something is odd. Even though he's showing murderous intent, his eyes seem placid. Could this be an innate effect of his practice method? I'll have to watch out for him. Those who achieve this type of intent at this age turn out to be overwhelmingly ruthless,' Ephraim mused to himself.

"We'll go the Arena of Challenge. It'll give the others a goal to aim for if they witness you in battle. Let us go. I just wanted to perform a courtesy and introduce you all before you engage in combat," Sylvester responded.

With a light tap of his foot, he transversed at least thrice the distance the others did. However, he did so sparingly which allowed the others to keep up with him rather well. Still, Apollo was pleasantly surprised when he witnessed what Sylvester was doing.

'This reminds me of both Irauk's and Saehtyn's means of travel just slightly different,' Apollo mused. Similar to those two, Sylvester formed springs of something similar to the fire element on his feet. When they propelled him, he moved forward by utilizing the generated force.

In other words, there was barely any exertion on his part. Regardless, the 4 soon arrived at the Arena of Challenge where multiple youths laid sprawled out on the surface. Contrary to the ones on the floor, there were 6 youths still standing which made Rezar partially nod.

"Good, you all have attained the quasi-prime contender status. You all can challenge the prime contenders for their spot. So, now that they're here, go and pick your opponent. Keep in mind, if you don't dare to fight them, then there is no way you'll last in combat against the Seats," Rezar stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Truthfully, whether or not the Seats changed didn't matter to him in the slightest.

His only purpose was to train, not to get attached. Thus, he tried to remain as impartial as possible. However, if it were matters pertaining to the 1st and 2nd seat of the disciplinary committee then that'd be a different story. Each of them was capable of receiving blows from Sylvester and remain standing afterward. That alone spoke volumes of their resilience. After all, to become the vice head of any of the academy constructs, one needed a cultivation realm of at least the Spirit Lord Realm.

 Without hesitation, 3 youths stepped forth to challenge Apollo, Adeon, and Ragnvald. Before they reached them, each of them looked at each other. In truth, one of the challengers was apprehensive at first. But, then he remembered the academy didn't allow killing, thus this should be a fair battle.

A youth with flaming red hair and a short sword approached Apollo, "My name is Jayce, and I seek to do battle with you."

In response to his word, Apollo shrugged and readied himself. First, he thought about using Hellfire Manifestation but then voted against it. It was imperative he save as much Demonic Anima as possible until it was time to fight Ephraim.

"Also, this is an elimination round to save time. So, if you are defeated, you will fall into a loser bracket. From there you will fight again to determine who will fight against the always changing 12th seats," Sylvester added, before waving his hand down, "Fight!"

Contrary to his typical approach, Apollo didn't rush forward, he stayed rooted in place and awaited his opponent's corresponding rush. As Jayce gripped his short sword, he performed an explosive dash. Amid his rush, he pulled his arm back for a compound strike.

Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted by Apollo. In the most simplistic manner possible, Apollo threw a quick punch empowered by Hellfire at Jayce's wrist. A crisp snapping sound was heard as he sucked in a cool breath. Just one strike, that's all it took snap the major bone in his wrist.

This, in turn, caused Jayce to switch to a cautious one-handed wielding style. However, it was clear that he was inexperienced in this form as his posture was laden with faulty openings.

Be that as it may, from there Jayce became serious. A thick blanket of darkness surrounded his blade. Afterward, even if his strikes didn't connect with Apollo, each subsequent strike fired energy waves towards him.

When he deflected one, Apollo was surprised by what happened. A fracture appeared in the blanket of Hellfire surrounding his hand, 'Those are sharp and pack quite a punch,' Apollo inwardly thought.

Since it took more Anima to replenish the Hellfire, Apollo switched to evading the waves while moving closer. At the same time, he smirked. "Since this is your style of combat, let me show how an energy wave is supposed to be."

Due to the difference in atmosphere, the restriction on Apollo's internals was nonexistent. So, he could muster his energy much quicker on Astarat than Ashiraem. Hence, within a second, the aura of the Demonic Massacre Wave coating his wave was apparent.

Once he was was within 5 meters of Jayce, he released it. However, as Jayce watched it hurtle towards him, his eyes widened. Although it didn't seem like it would kill him, the damage he felt this wave would cause was immense.

"I forfeit!" Jayce exclaimed. Before the wave made contact with him, Sylvester flicked his finger and sent an energy wave that shattered it.

"Apollo Kaiser is the winner and Jayce Aldair falls into the loser bracket. The next round may commence," Sylvester announced.

Almost simultaneously, all three of them finished their battles. Whereas Ragnvald ended his battle in one explosive strike, Adeon overwhelmed his opponent with an endless barrage of ice spears.

Immediately after, the next set of battles took place and these ended even quicker than the last. The moment Sylvester started, Apollo fired a Demonic Massacre Wave that was both thrice the potency and size of the last strike. Needless to say, his opponent instantly forfeited in light of the despair it caused him.

Now, there only remained the battle between the trio and the Seats. Despite their massive aura, all 3 of them seemed to be relaxed.