Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

The world seemed to stop for a moment.

Asura found himself inside his spirit palace, standing before Auros, wearing his gallant silver armour and a similar sword. He looked at Asura with the most intense face. Yet a sense of relief seemed to be mixed in with the strange emotions.

"Asura Fenix, thank you for keeping your promise." Auros gave him a faint smile.

"What is... happening?" Asura could barely mutter his words. "How are you able to bring me here?"

"I am the will of your bloodline, the last memories of Auros who completed the Devouring bloodline and fell into madness," Auros answered.

"The bloodline? Then you mean this was the last wish of Auros, the true Auros before he died?" Asura slowly realised.

Auros nodded. "Perhaps, perhaps not. My role was to ensure the completion of Auros' dying wish. I have fulfilled my task, and now my purpose has become something new."

Asura held his sword, wondering if there would be some dirty scene where his bloodlines would try to steal his body or something stupid. Yet the next words he heard proved him wrong and made his gathering of determination collapse.

"To serve you for all eternity," Auros stated, his voice changing. In Asura's eyes, he seemed to become a mere servant, someone loyal and ready to obey.

"What do you mean?" Asura frowned.

"I take this form only so you can differentiate the different bloodlines; the same is true for the Dragon and Asura bloodlines. If not, they would all look identical to you, and you seem to dislike that and rather enjoy having us take the forms of your past lives."

To show this, Auros transformed into various people, from Glade to his father and even a small black cat. "See?"

Asura found this amusing and realised that he had that kind of feeling. Somehow, speaking to give versions of himself all the time felt weird.

"It's different. You did it to respect those who came before you. Despite them being you, you honour Sura, the one who suffered to start everything, Auros who lost everything to protect them, and even the past you, a weak no-mag who achieved more than most; hence, you changed their titles." Auros said, reading Asura's mind.

"Stop that!" Asura complained. "But why are you showing this?"

"We no longer existed from the moment we died. So, do not feel the need to hold back for our constraints. You are us, and we are you."

'This is rather strange...'

"Make her happy, like you want to. Don't pursue them for memories or because your past lives cared. Instead, pursue them as you desire. Because you want them, you care about them."

Auros sneered at Asura, slowly transformed into a small tiger, and rushed back into the devouring monolith, which radiated beyond anything Asura saw.

"Oh, I will," Asura muttered as he watched the palace become more welcoming and filled with a thick air of anima and warmth.

****

The next moment, his eyes opened, the world turned, the wind whirled, and the woman before him transformed into her new shape.

Unlike the forms of his dragon or other divine beasts, her form remained humanoid, but her arms became more powerful, with black and white fur down her arms with enormous claws.

Sigurd's hair remained silver, but now small black and white ears popped from her head, fluttering with the extreme winds flowing around her body as she stepped forward.

'No, her feet have changed slightly too... like a tiger.'

Her face remained beautiful but gained a hint of ferocity and grace that seemed more serene than before.

"Asura, I am coming."

She promised one move... the next moment, her magic density and aura, like a great tsunami, enveloped the entire training room. A woman with powers that he once saw for a glimmer...

"Stage 10..."

His body trembled; the sheer force of her magic caused his bones to crack; he felt the walls trembling and falling apart from the brute force of the winds created from her body naturally... 'I will die if I don't use everything in my power!'

The black armour became ravaged after protecting him in their first battle, never enough to protect him. Yet he felt his body's devouring power seemed to have improved—beyond anything he felt before rapidly repairing his wounds and injuries, even giving him a tiny resistance to her pressure.

"Damn... the power of that wind alone is already cutting my skin..."

His arms bled, red lines formed on his forehead, and his armour could not last much longer...

Asura clenched his hand, causing his blood to ooze out. "Forget it, since you showed me yours... I will show you mine."

The words he spoke changed Sigurd's face. Her eyes fluttered, and her mouth opened, with a faint red tint on her cheeks.

She noticed the chaotic winds of her full power had destroyed her robes, allowing her beautiful body, like polished porcelain, on display likely, to think Asura's words to be something lewd.

— Manifestation Devouring Profane Phoenix

Asura's eyes looked strange the moment he spoke. Instead of the previous manifestation, the word devouring appeared when he spoke.

'I can do this once a day at my current level. Better make it count...'

He remembered what his bloodline said; it was a part of himself.

So, Asura realised that maybe because the monolith became like the phoenix monolith, it allowed him to amend his manifestation. Or he still hadn't reached his maximum potential, and he needed to research the monoliths even more than he already did.

The next moment, the dormant flames erupted from his heart, turning into a black-and-white flame that spread outward rapidly, covering his body entirely. His pale white-and-black flame ignited everything around him; even the ground beneath him melted. With the fires covering Asura, they burnt his robe to cinders before his body transformed. Sigurd got a good look at his body in its splendour.

"I'm not a teenage girl!" She called out, unable to control her magic that surged seeing him naked despite her reaction, like a chaste virgin seeing a naked male.

"Focus." Asura's voice, beautiful and haunting like an angel of death, echoed across the field.

"But..."

"If you don't, I will devour you..."

"Gulp, OK." Sigurd swallowed a large mouthful of saliva, and then his transformation began... "So beautiful."

Black feathers danced in his flames, forming beautiful feathered wings from his back. Yet his arms and legs seemed to change more like a beast, a mix between a humanoid and a noble bird.

Two great plumes grew from his forehead, one burning black and the other white. Their soft feathers were alluring as his hair floated slightly, defying gravity.

His black-and-white flames filled the world, scorching the heavens, but he had absolute control over his manifestation, and the same for his new power... Never did the flames touch Sigurd. Instead, they contracted back towards him, forming a beautiful mantle of flames.

However, his form looked majestic, like a prince rather than a brutal fighter or combat form...

"It's wonderful..." Sigurd whispered.

Her eyes shimmered, like those of a kitten who saw the first toy in her life, and her pupils dilated as she looked at him in awe.

With a jangle of steel, he held the now black and white sword above his head, no longer just the weapon of Auros, but he injected each of his bloodlines into this blade, able to switch from a lance to a sword, daggers or even a bow.

"Let us finish this duel, Sigurd." Even his voice became more dignified and charming, with a low echo and elegant tone.

His opponent didn't move or respond to his words momentarily. Her eyes just watched him without moving.

"Sigurd?" Asura repeated.

"Coming..." Her voice sounded weird for a moment as if her mind drifted into a dream for a second, and her voice broke, becoming high-pitched.

Her winds began to amas, the blue sword filled with extreme power, while Asura lifted his, burning with a black and white flame, his body slowly suffering damage but the white flame forcibly healing him.

"Sigurd, I'm coming!" Asura spoke again, his body crumbling under her pressure. He needed them both to attack soon, or he might die. Asura gathered his magic; his muscles pulsed, and his body appeared before Sigurd as he raised his sword.

In her tiger form, she was slightly above him. Her eyes narrowed, and her fangs closed with a low growl.

"This is going to hurt..." Asura muttered.

Their power clashed once more. Two powerful individuals collided. But they seemed equally matched and used unique powers to defend themselves...

Asura used his powerful physical body, enhanced by the phoenix flames of destruction, while his flames of rebirth healed him constantly as her insane winds tore his flesh and muscles apart.

Yet Sigurd's magic overwhelmed him, hundreds of times more powerful and dense, able to damage his body before he could restore himself.

Two swords clashed, Stage Ten against Stage Four, with Sigurd holding herself back. However, her dense power allowed her to slice through Asura's defence like butter...

Her wind slashed his chest, tearing his flesh apart.

The great wound, the result of the monstrous winds, had torn open Asura's chest. She could see his flesh, bones and organs... Regret flashed through her mind, and the wind blade collided with her training wall. The immense damage caused the entire building to fall apart.

Asura's sword held back her attack, his eyes more focused than before...

'There...'

There was a gap in her defence and a momentary pause. To see if his attack could cause any harm... He forced himself to let his arc of flames penetrate that gap before his body fell like the stones above.

A massive wound on her left breast appeared... Asura's attack did not cause her any grievous harm, but she felt blood flow down her perfect skin.

In return, he collapsed. His wounds had not healed, and his body had just been cut to pieces by the insane winds that continued to grow, even though she no longer wished for them.

"This was fun. You are simply too amazing to fight..." Asura laughed, choking on blood as his wounds healed slowly, causing Sigurd's form to fade instantly, rushing towards him with a conflicted gaze.

"Why didn't you dodge?" she asked, feeling his heart beating but finding it hard to stop crying.

"You won," Asura muttered.

"How did I win... You, a mere Stage Four, cut my breasts!" Her tone rose with anger.

"Only one wound on your body will heal in moments." Asura felt Sigurd's hands stroke his face, not hiding her tears anymore.

"You're such a fool. Why egg me on so far... You know I am an idiot with swords and fighting!" Sigurd looked down at his bleeding body.

"I wanted to show you the result of my training," Asura smirked. "How is it? Do you think you can look at only me from now on?"

His question was light-hearted, but his heart lost a beat when he saw her face change.

'Shit...'

"Yes... I will, always. Now, don't think you can run away from me. This old woman won't let you go." She placed her fingers on his chest, injecting magic into his body directly, the amount causing his entire body to scream.

The power of Stage Ten, which she couldn't use directly... was far greater than his healing ability and filled his body with more power than it could handle... Yet the greedy Devouring Monolith swallowed as much as it could, swallowing more and more... causing Asura to feel bad.

The result was his entire body cracking, his bones shattering, and his muscles ripping, but the wounds on his chest almost healed completely in a matter of seconds...

Asura realised how scary the heavy love of powerful existences could be. Even if he wanted to die, this woman could keep him alive as long as she wanted!

'I hope this never happens again...'

Asura fell asleep with a smile on his face...

"Stupid boy... How am I going to tell your sister you seduced me?"