Chapter 409: Experiencing The Devouring Nebula

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Fear of the unknown was a typical reaction produced by the inability to understand what the eyes witnessed. Generally, such a fear was attributed to knowledge, or the lack thereof. Hence, the reason Arleo felt fear towards Apollo's feats.

Meanwhile, the appearance of Apollo's additional powers caused a notable change in his demeanor. Since evolving, this was truly his first proper usage of his domination properties in battle. Though he used them against Valac, it was more so the suppression of the system since Valac was his follower.

On the other hand, his current foes were unaffiliated to Apollo. So the fact they felt this fear meant that his transformation and newly acquired traits amplified his powers to now affect all demons alike. Meaning it was strong enough to now produce fear in demons who were susceptible to his power.

Even if they didn't feel fear towards Apollo because of his unimpressive state, since this ability he used was one that belonged to the demon's highest effect, they recoil regardless. It was an aftereffect of the origin.

And, from what Apollo could tell, the current limitation of the ability was based on its target's evolutionary state. 

On the other hand, Apollo smiled when he saw Arleo's instinctive reaction. "I will show you something interesting," Apollo claimed with a small smirk before unfurling his wings. As they did so, the fourth power he revealed experienced a sudden influx. 

But, Apollo restrained it to external usage only. As of right now, using two Sins to augment his personal strength was Apollo's absolute limit. Therefore, any additional Sins could only be used to affect his surroundings or opponent directly, otherwise, his other Sins would risk being disrupted by his oblivious actions. 

Nevertheless, just the idea of possessing a third Sin and being apple to release it produced even deeper fear in not just Arleo, but Xonnomor and Gallmath alike. After all, it was a power that was inconceivable to them!

"Now. Let's resume our real battle," Apollo said before flying directly towards Arleo. While doing so, he extended his palm and created a dark hole at its center.

A strong attractive force attempted to pull Arleo toward Apollo, but his claws dug into the ground, allowing him to remain rooted in place. Although that was the case, the drag of Apollo's attack was too much to ignore.

In response to Apollo's attack, Arleo was finally forced to use a demonic technique. The image of a crimson lion with a tinge of golden lights interspersed throughout its body appeared. Once it was fully materialized, it pounced towards Apollo, intending to rip him to shreds or, at the very least, disrupt his attack that continued to increase.

Regrettably, Arleo wasn't aware of the true properties of the small sphere in Apollo's palm. As soon as the lion formed from Arleo's technique entered Apollo's range, its form started to become progressively unstable.

Even if he wished to retrieve his attack, Arleo's actions were already irreversible as they had fallen into Apollo's clutches.

He could only watch as the lion was first broken down into two distinct sources before being absorbed by the sphere in Apollo's palm. While watching this, Arleo became aware of one appalling matter.

This match was extremely unfair! Apollo was employing the unholy trinity. A triple usage of Ira, Superbia, and now Gula!

'He's not stronger than I am... but he perfectly counteracts my strengths with this assortment of abilities,' Arleo thought after witnessing this rather appalling turn of events. Since Apollo possessed the same exact Sins as he did, it allowed him to devour the energy used to power his techniques.

This was why Saehtyn loathed Belphegor. His endless devouring was a trait that almost every Lord despised. However, in Apollo's hands, it became an even worse tool. Because while Belphegor possessed an absurd devouring threshold, it was still a limit at the end of the day.

The closer he inched towards that limit, the more dire it was for him to expel that energy, whereas Apollo didn't possess this issue.  The difference remained in the orientation of their sins. Each example highlighted the pros and cons of Gula.

Yes, it was an extremely convenient ability to be able to devour energy as a safety measure, but that was only true if the devouring had a purpose. In Belphegor's case, it rarely did.

He just devoured for the sake of doing it. But, even then, his limit while immense was finite. Sooner or later, he would be forced to regurgitate what he devoured. Especially if it was other Sins. Aside from devouring, Gula didn't have any other ability.

It couldn't covert other Sins into Gula, so by him devouring their attacks, all Belphegor did was isolate their attacks in hopes of exhausting his enemy's Sin reserves before he reached his devouring capacity.

Fortunately, aside from the other Lords, there weren't many demons who could challenge his limits. So, since becoming a Lord, he was never forced to discharge his isolated chasm. Despite that, however, Belphegor was aware that he possessed a limit even as a Lord.

Meanwhile, this same limitation didn't plague Apollo's actions. Because, his devouring wasn't restricted to just devouring his opponent's power and isolating it elsewhere, he used his Sin Vessel otherwise known as Sinful Organs to extract the energy and channel it towards the respective sources.

In other words, Apollo effectively turned his opponent's power into his own strength. But, while he didn't possess the same restraints as Belphegor, he still possessed some limitations, nonetheless. For example, the attack he absorbed couldn't be too overwhelming or the devouring process would shatter outright.

So, if he was to go up against a peak Archdemon or perhaps a Noblesse, then Apollo would still end up in a hopeless situation if Fuhrer wasn't allowed to render aid. Hence, while he was strong, he was far from omnipotent, and Apollo understood that.

Be that as it may, his actions were still unprecedented for his foe. Watching as someone absorbed your attack was a situation capable of making one feel hopeless. Even more so after witnessing Apollo's next actions. 

"Fly," Apollo uttered while raising his hand towards Arleo. The same energy that he absorbed was then turned into an attack of his own in the form of numerous spears before launching towards Arleo.

The sheer number of projectiles heading towards him caused Arleo's eyes to widen in shock before turning into a grim expression. He could tell that although one of the spears wasn't lethal enough to inflict fatal damage, if too many of them made contact, then his already unfair circumstances would devolve even further.

As a result, Arleo waved his arms frantically, deflecting the spears as best he could. However, similar to his earlier display with the Demonic Massacre Wace, Apollo unleashed these spears in a nonstop torrent.

At first, it cost none of his own Sin reserves as he was simply expending what he absorbed from Arleo, but his wanton usage caused Apollo to quickly start exhausting his own Sin, which made his actions more cautious.

Although the upper hand was his, in a battle where even the most trivial of mistakes could turn the tide, he couldn't afford to make a mistake for Arleo to capitalize on. He continued to monitor the situation as he watched Arleo move at a savage pace to deflect all the spears without fail.

But, Arleo performing this action also gave Apollo the opportunity to gather needed resources for the Devouring Nebula Strike. Unlike the other two Annihilations, his mastery of this technique wasn't sufficient to unlock the instant activation variant.

So, he was required to manually channel his Gula. But seeing as it was a Sin he possessed a high affinity for, it didn't take any time at all for him to gather a substantial amount large enough to empower the technique.

By the time he finished his actions, Arleo had just dealt with the last strike only to bear witness as Apollo unleashed an even more terrifying strike. Unlike the rest, this strike hurtling towards him produced an unmitigated sense of dread.

If it made contact, the damage he suffered would be immense! 

"Tch," Arleo clicked his tongue when he realized he could barely move despite his intention to do so. The strongest trait of the Devouring Nebula was its ability to first root its target in place and then draw them in without fail.

Even if it didn't utterly destroy its target, the energy used to employ the strike was powerful enough to unleash brutal injuries. 

Arleo's eyes narrowed as he entertained a dangerous thought. However, he wasn't left with many options besides the idea running through his mind. Gradually, the golden color within his aura grew stronger, symbolizing the increase of his Superbia output.