Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

"Asura Phoenix, do not disappoint me. You have trained with Sigurd. There is no way you are this fragile."

"..."

He couldn't respond, before her attack continued, able to twist his hips and pull back his right leg to dodge the first strike. Then, lifting the sword that his father gifted him to protect his abdomen before she slashed his body with a hail of strikes.

The scent of flowers accompanied each blow, while her eyes revealed no weakness or determined her location of attack.

Asura observed the queen as she moved with refined steps, each movement purposeful, like a ballerina performing her pas seul. Her form was almost perfect, with a continuous flurry of blows, each aimed at the various gaps in Asura's defence.

"Do not leave openings. The second you do, you will die. No enemy at my level would ignore these gaps."

The Queen spoke with certainty, her sword dancing and dealing damage as it cut through the air. Asura's expression turned pained, unable to react fully.

Asura clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to wince in pain before using what little means he had left to return the sword. However, rather than dodge, the queen shifted her weight and deflected the blow.

"Pathetic. Was all that talk about how talented you are with a sword a lie? Did my own Valkyrie deceive me?"

"..."

He closed his eyes for a moment, resetting his emotions and feelings, allowing the swirl of Animus that stagnated in her strange domain to stir. The moment he did, a realisation hit him.

'It is not my weakness, but her domain limits me in several ways!'

The moment Asura's mind realised what she could do with a simple aura, slowing the flow of his magic to a near stop, affecting his thoughts and limiting his judgement, this domain felt more of a psychological or charming type from the shadow element than a physical boost to the queen's skills or body.

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"Oh?"

Asura held the black sword across his body, one hand pressed against the flat of the blade while the other grasped the long handle.

"Please continue, Mother."

"Hoh? Interesting. I will try a different approach, then."

With a smile, the queen, rather than continue the flurry of attacks, separated her weapon into two pieces and drew two short swords. She had combined the two into a single weapon to test him. Now, her legitimate style would appear.

Asura narrowed his eyes before bending his knees and readying his guard.

This time, however, the queen approached differently.

Rather than rush forward, she took three steps and covered over ten feet with a single step, closing the distance between them in an instant. Her speed was impressive, much faster than any move Asura had seen used with just a physical body before, with no traces of magic like before.

'Pure swordsmanship.'

The queen, her eyes beaming with confidence, slipped in two quick strikes before Asura could defend against them.

Both connected, but rather than fall for a feint, Asura deflected both and lept back before pressing a hand against his sword, before blocking his left and waist with the blade of the sword.

"Good. That was my high-speed step."

She laughed before continuing the assault, this time with a hail of slashes.

"Amazingly frustrating, isn't it?"

"..."

Asura could only curl his lips in a smirk, sparks flying from his obsidian blade, blocking each of her thunderous blows that rained in rapid succession, each one pushing his body back a few inches.

"Good. You have learned well!"

Her expression turned cold before her footsteps split the stone tiles below her with a single step.

In the blink of an eye, her blade sliced across his face, missing his eyes by less than an inch. He could only step back before shaking his head.

"You will need more than the steps to dodge this."

A wild smile crept up the queen's face, her fingers drumming on her right thigh as if ready to pounce like a deadly tiger.

It seemed she enjoyed this greatly—the more he resisted and survived, the more vibrant and lively her voice became. However, Asura started learning her patterns. The way she moved and used her swords, or the tells from her stance.

'Lorem and Sigurd haven't told her my strongest talent, it seems...'

Despite the queen's skills with a sword and the breadth of knowledge she gained in a lifetime of fighting wars, the number of forms and techniques she knew had a fatal flaw. Her moves were textbook, and the closer she got to him, the easier it was for Asura to identify her next move, whether a counter, disengage, or follow-up.

Each sword thrust and slash could be an attack or a feint, so she could surprise him with any of the ten thousand ways she could attack and shift in the second their weapons parted.

However, when Asura narrowed in on her and studied the specifics of her strikes, they became readable. The fearful attacks that seemed random became visible.

'One, Two, One, Three, Two, Four.' She followed a pattern that followed a certain dance, or the steps she used determined the amount of attacks.

One meant she would feint into a two, which was a double strike, stab and slash.

Three and four were variants of a flurry, leading with either her left or right, depending on the number.

However, this was how Asura learned her moves, and the truth might be more complex. His ability to simplify a person's combat skills was how he learned to use them so fast.

"Hmm?"

The queen struck with a faint, followed up with a double strike. However, he dodged the stab and deflected her slash before stepping into her range with the black sword above his head.

Asura shook his head while shifting his weight before leaping forward and delivering a downward strike that the queen barely blocked, stepping back over five steps.

"Oh? Finally?"

With a twist, the queen pushed Asura's sword away while taking three steps towards the left, then lunged forward, planning to lead with her right using the pattern for four.

'A six-attack flurry.'

The queen's sword danced in the air before launching her attack. Three of the six were feints, and Asura read it all.

Rather than defend, Asura lept forward and stepped in with a violent and revised version of her style, using the gigantic sword to perform the same type of three-step movement with an attack on her flank.

The queen's expression stiffened slightly before she used both hands to block his sword with her blade. Lifting her left leg into the air and leaning forward, she used the momentum to pull enough distance to evade his follow-up penetrating stab.

'She is good.'

Asura grinned as he let go of the sword with his left hand, retracting the blade into its sheath while still rushing towards the queen, who recovered her balance.

"Oh? You won't recover your weapon?"

The queen misunderstood as he grasped the blade with both hands, tightening his muscles and thrusting the blade forward, sending the sheath shooting towards her.

With a disdainful smile, the queen pulled back her head and evaded his attack with a head tilt and a slight movement of her feet. However, the next moment, Asura's hand grasped her throat and, with brutal strength, spun her in a circle and smashed her into the ground.

"I never aimed to hit you, mother."

"..."

Asura kicked her weapons aside as he pinned her to the ground with a twisted smirk. The black sword pushed to her neck as he watched her panting while covered in sweat.

"You shouldn't have spent so long testing me, mother."

However, to his shock, there wasn't frustration on her face; the queen looked at peace, a glow of happiness in her eyes while she lay relaxed.

"Just like true your mother."

"That's the type of monster you are, just like her. The type of monster that destroys everything in its path while making other's efforts seem worthless and pointless. Ah, my little girl, your husband is an amazing catch and fulfilled our promise on that day."

"You knew my mother?"

Asura remembered meeting the tall woman with unbelievable sex appeal and power in that carriage. He wanted to believe it was a dream, but now, meeting the queen and hearing her words.

He couldn't have such a dream.

"Apart from Sigurd, who is someone I admit as a rival. Your mother is my only friend in this world. Freyja, the strongest existence that ever appeared in the kingdom of Silvara."

She spoke with a sigh, closing her eyes with a subtle smile while appearing completely calm.

"I don't know her true strength or age. She is like a cat that comes and goes, and nothing seems to stop her or limit what she does."

"She is in the kingdom?"

"..."

The queen looked at him silently for a moment, her eyes piercing into his.

"Please promise me not to involve yourself with her. That woman has a dark and cruel side. You are not a son to her... You are something else, something more special."

Asura felt a cold chill down his spine. He knew from the meeting and the way she acted and spoke. The queen seemed to want him to avoid her, but how when she already found him first?

"You win... I am impressed."

The queen laughed, nodding to herself before clapping slowly. Asura, watching her, released his grip on her throat and stood up.

"This was enough. I will still train with you until you've stolen everything I can give. My daughter must never suffer, understood?"

The queen's aura returned the moment she stood, and although her sword domain vanished, he realised that she never used attack magic, which would have completely changed the fight.

"There is a lot to teach you about magic and combat. Your technique is unrefined and you will practice every day. Understood?"

Asura nodded at her words with a sigh, content with the improvement he achieved today.

"If she comes to find you, run. Asura, she will not accept other women at your side, and I cannot defeat her even if I use every fibre of my power."

"Oh, and Asura, you did amazing today—I look forward to your growth."

With that parting sentence, the queen's figure vanished, leaving Asura alone in the room, contemplating the future while he practised the moves learned in silence.