—-

Apollo understood that matters had already taken a turn for the worse the moment Asteroth lost control of his emotions and unleashed the full force of his terrifying Dominion. In fact, it wasn’t long before the pain escalated into severe discomfort as more parts of Apollo’s body suffered noticeable damage.

‘Is this what Fuhrer warned me of? This is the extent of his blame? So much resentment,’ Apollo thought to himself as he inevitably fell to one knee while losing all feeling in his right leg. His current situation involved the worst pain he had felt until now, seeing as he could no longer retain his composed demeanor.

Meanwhile, Asteroth took heavy steps forward, shaking the ground with each successive movement. With each step, Asteroth smashed the two warhammers together, creating a dangerous spark, which threatened to ignite his entire Dominion. 

All signs of reason had left his mind as Asteroth’s eyes turned to bloody-red color, similar to the color of a berserker. The only difference between his appearance and a berserker was that his power didn’t grow in proportion to his fury. On the contrary, Asteroth’s fury simply bled into previously debilitated energy channels, resulting in the sudden resurge of his power. 

Although it was unknown if those feeble channels could handle the surge of shocking strength, Asteroth’s fury caused him to ignore all consequences. His primary objective was to have Apollo suffer the same pain he felt after wandering the Nihilistic Rings aimlessly, without a home, for years to come.

“I don’t know how it’s possible for you to exist after all this time, but you inevitably know the anguish of abandonment,” Asteroth said while gazing at Apollo kneeling on the ground. Despite the jewel feeding a copious amount of vitality into Apollo’s body, it seemed his Demon Body wasn’t resilient enough to withstand the destruction, causing the jewel’s healing to grow insufficient.

If things continued in this way, then Apollo stood no chance in acquiring Asteroth at the very moment. Understanding this issue made Apollo wonder how the disparity in strength could be so great. After all, only one ranking separated Asteroth and Amduscias on the Duke’s Tablet, yet it appeared Asteroth’s strength far surpassed Amduscias.

Apollo’s pain continued to escalate, but he soon lifted his head and gazed into Asteroth’s furious eyes. For some reason, this look seemed to anger Asteroth as he roared and smashed his hammer against Apollo’s chest, smashing against a thick boulder.

Surprisingly, the boulder didn’t shatter when Apollo smashed against it. Instead, his body formed a deep imprint as his intense gaze remained locked on Asteroth. Those weren’t the eyes of someone with a will on the verge of breaking.

From what Asteroth saw, Apollo’s resolve seemed unhindered. In anger, Asteroth once again raised his hammer towards Apollo. “It this still not enough to break you? Are you telling me I need to be more ruthless?!”

Asteroth couldn’t understand why his actions exhibited little to no results besides damaging Apollo’s body. He had already accounted for how much the fragment of Bahamut’s Heart could heal Apollo’s body and raised the output of his Dominion accordingly to ensure Apollo’s body remained in a constant battle of being damaged and healed.

This type of torture would be enough to drive any demon insane after a few cycles. Yet, Apollo had already resisted tens of these cycles without displaying the slightest sign of giving in or “confessing” to his sins.

Eventually, Apollo’s grating voice sounded in Asteroth’s ear. “No matter what you do, you can’t break me.”

Unbeknownst to Asteroth, there were a few reasons for Apollo’s current words. One, Apollo’s entire existence revolved around treacherous days. Perhaps if this torture were inflicted on someone else, it would be successful, but the events of Apollo’s past caused him to grow inured to suffering.

Furthermore, Apollo was the prime example of understanding abandonment. After all, the mishap with Apollo’s soul forced it to drift through the boundless darkness for countless years before finding solace in the intended body. Thus, Asteroth’s words did not affect him.

However, that was only on the topic of breaking Apollo’s will. On the contrary, Asteroth’s actions caused Apollo’s anger to brew into a horrifying storm. Just as his anger threatened to topple over, a voice sounded within his mind.

“Control yourself. A leader must exercise restraint and retain a sense of understanding, so don’t kill that young boy. His feelings are within expectations as he was one of the young members who cherished all of my teachings. My disappearance should have been unusually hard for him given that there was no outlet for him to use.”

Apollo recognized the voice speaking to him. However, he didn’t understand why someone labeled as the most ruthless demon ever to walk the Rings possessed a voice with such compassion. What’s more, the frequent appearance of this voice caused Apollo to question its actual whereabouts.

“Before all of that…where are you? Why did you leave everyone and leave me to bear the blame now that I’ve announced my presence? I’m the one experiencing the blame when you were the perpetrator behind the action that led to this situation,” Apollo responded.

For a time, the voice was silent, but then it gave a bitter chuckle. “I suppose you are correct. I am the one to blame, but leaving this problem to you is a means of bestowing your inheritance. Lastly, do you think I willingly walked away from my family? Absolutely not.”

“If so… then where are you?!”

“Unfortunately, that is something I can not tell you. Just know, Fuhrer isn’t the only one protecting the Nihilistic Rings. All four of us made sacrifices to obtain a chance at breaking the curse plaguing the upper races,” the voice answered.

Following the question, Apollo noticed the vigor within the voice disappearing at a rapid rate, almost as if it was sacrificing a deal of strength to interfere with Apollo’s current emotions.

“Curse? Sacrifices? Also, what do you mean by four?”

“Four…? Of course, there’s me…Old Man Fuhrer…your mother…and finally, Estran. Sacrifices were made after we resolved ourselves to protect you―the hope of everyone. Thus, I believe you know the answers.

Apollo wanted more answers, but the voice had fallen to a whisper around the time they mentioned Apollo’s mother. Fortunately, the voice mustered enough strength to provide a message to Apollo.

“You’re… on the right path. So, continue… Zethroz.”

Afterward, Apollo’s attention returned to the real world as his link to the voice was severed. However, once he returned, the anger within Apollo had subsided. Evidently, the talk with his father’s extremely distant voice had placated the emotions arising from the thoughts linked to his past.

Sadly, the same couldn’t be said about Asteroth as he continued to grow more irritated. In response, the Dominion grew chaotic. 

“Argh!” Asteroth roared in rage, causing everything within the domain to turn to molten rock as it levitated around Apollo. Due to the sudden increase in the disastrous environment, Apollo was subjected to more pain as a significant portion of his skin peeled away, revealing the sinewy muscle underneath.

Despite wanting to crush Asteroth, his father’s voice resonated with Apollo as a rumbling grew in his chest as he breathed. ‘I am on the right path… it’s an ambiguous comment, but it can also double as guidance.’

Gradually, Apollo turned his head towards his arms while clenching his fist after great difficulty. Asteroth sensed this movement and unleashed a relentless barrage of hammer smashes upon Apollo’s body.

Unlike before, even after creating another huge crater, Asteroth showed zero signs of stopping. He thrashed Apollo’s body into the ground, dragging him along as he experienced the rapid increase in heat.

The deeper Asteroth dragged him down; the faster Apollo remembered the presence of a valuable item buried in the depths of Ashiraem. Be that as it may, Apollo didn’t believe he was in the correct state to entertain the idea of touching Purgatory’s Blood.

Meanwhile, Fuhrer bit his finger nervously as he frowned. ‘Was I wrong? Is the boy not ready to go up again Asteroth and dissolve his anger? After all, Asteroth is sort of unique; if there was one individual who idolized the Monarch, it was him. So, Asteroth will become an invaluable subordinate if he gains his trust.

Initially, Asteroth traveled the path of Ira. However, the Monarch hinted at the best route for his future after awakening his Aura. Therefore, the Monarch’s disappearance came as a considerable blow for Asteroth, shown by his current behavior.

In the meantime, Apollo closed his eyes as he felt each of Asteroth’s impacts radiate through his body. Apollo’s mind drifted towards his accomplishments thus far, allowing him to soon find what his father referred to when he said he was on the right path.

Once he realized the answer, Apollo’s eyes suddenly slammed open. His voice was nearly gone, but Apollo found the opportunity to speak with Asteroth, “You weren’t abandoned; you were remembered.”

“Shut your mouth! I don’t want to hear from you!” Asteroth snarled.

“That’s the thing. It isn’t about what you want. As I said before, I am the son of your Monarch. Thus, you are mandated to listen to me despite how you feel, whether it be by force or willingly. I understand your pain, but that doesn’t mean I’ll forgive your actions.”

“Tch, you speak as if you’re enough to defeat me,” Asteroth sneered before lifting his hammers above his head. In the next moment, he slammed them down, intending to thoroughly finish Apollo, and send him into the core of Ashiraem.

However, something unprecedented happened as Apollo lifted his arms and caught the hammer fueled by an absurd amount of destructive power. 

‘I’ve never tried this before, but heh… there’s a first for everything right?’

An instant later, an overbearing black energy signature pooled from Apollo’s body as an alert appeared before Apollo’s eyes.

〈System: You have entered the second stage of the «Abysmal Conqueror Bloodline». [Aura of Domination temporarily raised by one degree, strengthening your Demon Body.]〉

Although the strengthening didn’t seem all that great, Apollo hoped it was enough as one by one, seven distinct colors illuminated his body.