Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Intense pain assaulted Asura's body, causing his mind to turn blank.

The bones of his hands cracked into pieces the moment he chose the evolution for claws. He endured each nail being torn from his fingertips. Then replaced by another nail that grew from the bloody mess with a dark red tint.

"Argh... What the f...!"

Despite enduring this process many times before. The constantly sharp stabbing and tearing pains spread from his hands throughout his entire body.

He never realised how much Helliana helped him in the past.

'It hurts.... my body is being destroyed... I can't feel my arms...'

Seconds became minutes, hours turned to days, and the days transformed into years. Asura's sense of time collapsed.

When he thought the punishment ended, taking a breath of relief, his bones, muscles and flesh would suddenly tear, convulse or shatter again.

This process, in reality, lasted ten minutes.

Yet, Asura endured for what seemed to be years.

The monoliths and his extremely developed brain amplified his state of consciousness.

***

"Haa..... Urgh...."

Asura's body trembled from the aftereffects of the fourth stage of evolution. He tried to focus his mind, telling himself the pain and suffering was because he would finish this suffering after the next time.

Sadly, the aching and phantom pain lingered after he awakened.

"Damn, it felt like someone gouged my muscles and tendons from my body before removing all my bones and breaking them with a hammer."

The intensity was so great at some point that it kicked him from the spirit palace, and now he kneels in his private bathroom, staring at his figure.

Swollen skin appeared around his eyes with red markings, and his teeth ached as if they had just broken through his gums. He also had a strange feeling that all his nails had become sharp and dark red, with black stars engraved at the tips.

"It hurts..." Asura said in a hoarse tone when trying to move his fingers. They felt like rods of metal, not flexible, and it took him several attempts to bend them.

He started performing exercises to adjust his body, feeling like he pulled and overstretched every muscle, and each bone and joint created a loud popping crack, followed by a moment of unbearable pain.

"Ngh... This damn...!"

That sent Asura to the ground, unable to stand.

"Master, are you alright? It sounds like you are suffering. Do you need medical help or a healer?"

Several times the door knocked, one of the two maids from below hearing his movement and sounds with concern.

"I'm fine..."

He tried to appear normal because his current state embarrassed him, naked in the bathroom while struggling to walk or move. Ultimately, he forced himself into the bath before turning on the hot tap and using the stone wall as leverage to keep his body afloat.

This didn't mean he became weak.

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Asura felt the increase in his strength and power just reaching the fourth stage with all his different monoliths seemed to change his entire body somehow.

His muscles felt stronger after they started waking up.

'Helliana probably kept many things secret from me. Did she perhaps share this agony with me each time I evolved so that I would awaken fine?'

While he considered this, a small black bird fluttered her wings, entering through the opened window and perching on the ledge, watching Asura with her golden eyes.

A concerned glance filled those wet orbs.

When she came to watch was unclear because Asura wasn't aware of his surroundings until a few moments ago.

He only noticed her when the pain faded.

"Helliana?"

Chirp... Chirp?

Her soft feathers fluttered before floating over to him as she landed on his shoulder, almost slipping off because of the water and bubbles after feeling the nostalgic warmth and comfort of someone beside him.

Asura finally felt at ease.

"Did you always help me endure this pain in the past, suffering in silence while I celebrated?"

Chirp...

The black bird's small head tilted as if to play it off as a joke before its golden eyes closed, and it lowered its beak with a nod. There was a moment of anger inside Asura's chest, but that quickly melted and became a feeling of regret and guilt.

"Sorry... I'm sorry for making you suffer for me."

"Ouch!?"

Chirp! Chirp~

Chii Chii~

Helliana pecked his face before she started chirping incessantly towards him, her feathered wings spread wide, slapping his shoulder to get her point across.

At first, it felt like gibberish.

However, he understood her feelings like their connection inside his spirit palace never severed.

His strange bond with her and another existence became too vibrant, glowing brightly.

"You just wanted to help me, and the pain didn't matter?"

Chirp! - (A nod)

"Are you stupid?"

Chirp!! - (Foot kicks his chin)

"Hahaha... Thank you, Helliana. Somehow, I can understand your intentions even in this form... But it's lonely that you cannot speak to me like before." His gaze matched hers as his damp fingertips stroked her silky feathers, causing the little bird to pout. "I miss your voice."

The moment he continued his sentence, her chirping stopped as her beak remained open, and her eyes watched him in silence.

An empty glance, her loneliness filling those golden orbs.

'I guess it would be mutual to be free of my body, and she's trapped in a bird form. That was insensitive of me.'

"Oh? Did you grow larger?"

While trying to change the subject, Asura noticed she had grown almost a metre from her original size a few days ago.

He wondered how she grew so fast, and nobody seemed to notice.

Then, the eerie child's hand flashed in his mind.

'Are they related?'

Despite wanting to ask her, something inside Asura's chest and his instinct told him to keep quiet. Asking this question while their method of communication is vague could lead to misunderstandings or empty frustration.

'A white-haired child and a black feathered infant bird... Does it relate?'

"Whatever, let's just finish my bath..."

He would love to have the answers, but even with five extra minds of equal intelligence, there was no answer or solution to his questions and feelings. While several minds still hadn't been bound to his past lives, Asura didn't think he needed to dwell on things.

***

Twenty minutes later, Asura finished recovering from his suffering and bathing. He climbed out of the bath only to see the little phoenix swimming around the surface with a strangely proud look on her face.

"Do you want to stay here for longer? Shall I add hot water?" Asura asked while wearing a towel around his waist, still dripping with water.

Chirp~ (Flaps both wings in agreement)

Asura topped up the bubbles, remembering, thanks to his memories of Sura, that she liked red berries like raspberry and strawberry scents.

Then placed a bath bomb with red berry scents and filled the bath with steaming hot water before leaving the room.

Helliana's chirps of thank you echo behind him.

***

"The next step will be horrible. However, now I can prepare for the pain..." Asura said in a low tone, looking out the window and sitting on the soft chair while checking his current situation.

Asura closed his eyes and sensed the mansion.

He felt complete control of his own Anima and magic that he spread like butter on bread, able to detect the maids, guards and his beloved women with a smile.

'Xavida, Mu Xue and Vela are sleeping. Verana is training in the basement, and Lorem is... standing outside my room door.'

It seemed there was something she wished to discuss, although he knew exactly what she wanted to speak about and watched the door, letting his magic aura brush against hers.

His aura, as if caressing hers, caused her to move in his vision.

Now able to see the flow of mana, anima and other energies perfectly with his evolved eyes now completely unhindered, Asura realised that Stage Four might have been far more important than he realised.

Now, he felt none of his different evolutions and parts inhibited the others.

"Come inside, Lorem," Asura said in a whisper.

Then, with a stretch, he leaned back on his chair backrest, the elegant sofa, making him look like a lazy prince while flickers of fire removed all the water from his body.

Silence remained for several moments, his crimson eyes shining in the darkness. With the flick of his fingertip, the lamp set aflame, and the door handle finally creaked before turning.

He could feel the weight of her anticipation and atmosphere as she entered.

"Asura, are you sleeping?" Lorem asked in a low voice, her restored visage causing her former strict self to appear warm and charming.

"I'm near the window—come sit down."

His former crush and first love entered the room, nothing like the royal knight who caused many students to fear.

Instead, the beautiful woman wearing a red babydoll and white wool robe to hide from others stepped closer with hesitant steps, her luscious red lips parting slightly with each breath as she swallowed the air deeper and deeper with anticipation.

"Asura..."

"You look stunning, Lorem. Now come sit here—there's room for you, too."

For a moment, she seemed hesitant, her misty eyes like ruby gemstones, observing him while her lips trembled.

With each step, she became more nervous and returned to the past.

Until the moment she sat beside him, slowly letting her soft body press against his, causing her to release a hot sigh and gasp, feeling his hand grasp her arm and pull her closer.

"W-Wait... Asura..."

"Haven't we both waited too long?"

His words, as if the ones she wanted to say most, caused her to tremble—turning to face him fully for the first time as his lips curled into a faint smile. His hand gently caressed her tanned cheek as her shoulders leaned against his, almost falling onto his chest.

"I waited so long for you to set me free."

Lorem's words were deep and slow as her hands reached for his, gingerly stroking his fingers before shyly interlocking them with hers. "At first, It scared me that you might not be him, and I just forced those feelings onto you."

'Eh?'

It was Asura's turn to be a little shocked.

"When I met you for the first time, standing atop the academy gates, I was supposed to leave for an overseas mission..."

Her eyes seemed to gleam in the moonlight, absorbing Asura's attention while listening to Lorem's feelings for the first time in their pure and unclouded state.

He didn't speak or interrupt but observed her beauty.

"The issue at the gate caught my attention. At first, I would have punished you all. However, I saw your face, how you helped that lonely and isolated girl, and it reminded me of my past—a past I locked deep inside myself—hoping it never surfaced again."

She twisted her body but showed a coy expression when her loose dress dragged and her warm chest pressed against Asura's arm, slipping between her alluring bosom.

"It started as just your actions reminding me of him... I wanted to punish you harder and decided that I would learn your identity and make you pay to remind me of Sura."

Asura's arm wrapped around her waist to prevent her from slipping off because of her adorable reactions to their bodies touching. "And then?"

"..."

"You turned around, and my entire world and the persona I built since coming to this strange planet collapsed."

She showed a bitter smile and emitted an aura of self-hate.

"I became anxious, angry. Your appearance disturbed me so much that I became determined to make you suffer."

Lorem's fingers tightened, turning her tanned skin white from the pressure as Asura felt her body trembling.

Her eyes fluttered, and water built in the corners. It seemed this issue meant a lot to Lorem, causing him to hold her tighter, trying to reassure her.

"From the hell plane for your training, the area you teleported for the examination. I even ensured you would face someone who hated you and the princess in your first battles because you disturbed my long-sealed feeling in my chest..."