Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Asura and Lorem walked from the dining room together and approached his room. Her hand slipped into his as they walked in tandem, leaning on each other.

"You wanted to learn how to use your powers better, right?"

"I want to become stronger. My body has reached its peak, but my magic is lacking."

"Hmmm~ then you won't mind coming with me to a deadly place, right?"

"Of course, Lorem. I hope you can give me a real challenge."

Little did Asura know, Lorem was about to send him to a treacherous realm, a place where he would face monstrous creatures that would test the very limits of his mortal power.

However, nothing could change his mind as he flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes, waiting for her to start their transfer.

"Don't regret it, darling."

The room filled with the low hum of magic while the bed squeaked the moment Lorem lay beside him, her hand grasping his, interlocking their fingers. She took a deep breath before placing a cold metal object on Asura's forehead.

'It feels cooling...'

Asura felt the prickling sensation of electricity across his skin. He tried to open his eyes, only for them to become too heavy.

He didn't understand, and the moment he tried, the world became weightless.

"Prepare yourself, Asura."

A feeling of shock enveloped the pair before a tremendous impact forced them to gasp. The next moment, it seemed their bodies had reached the strange world.

*Bang*

Asura's skin felt nothing but the burning heat from above. He felt if not for being a dragon or phoenix, he might have melted!

He felt strange while opening his eyes to find a hellish landscape.

The ground was red and orange, created of sand, rocks, and molten pools bubbling with extreme heat. In the skies, two dark red suns hung in the air, their massive cracks running through their bodies as if they were crumbling pieces of rock, and flames flickered around them.

"Lorem, where are we?"

"The place most upper and lower realms call hell." Her voice echoed before the entire planet seemed to notice them.

At first, there was a vibration, followed by strange skittering sounds. It was at this moment that Asura realised there weren't any creatures on the surface.

"Prepare yourself." Lorem stood with her body wrapped in crimson flames while a pair of beautiful wings flickered on her back, lifting her feet off the floor and slightly hovering above.

The ground cracked apart the next moment.

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Asura's body trembled as he felt something powerful pulling on his legs, holding him in place. It was an aura of magic, but the magic felt distorted.

Under the focused gaze of Asura, a monster emerged from the crack...

At first an enormous claw the size of Asura himself, then a long, thin arm that moved like elastic. Then the figure revealed itself, the main body not as huge, only two metres tall at most, but with claws controlled by its elastic limbs.

The monster opened its mouth, filled with long, sharp fangs, and released a deafening noise.

*Howl!*

A huge black aura spread from its body the moment it howled, the aura like a massive weight crushing down on Asura, whose eyes widened.

'A Stage Ten!?'

In desperation, Asura bit down, releasing his aura. The black aura clashed with the oval of crimson flowing from Asura to resist the wave of darkness.

This state continued for several moments before the monster's aura enveloped Asura, giving it the upper hand.

The monster's aura pushed Asura's back, cracking its formation. Asura's eyes widen at the significant difference.

Instantly after, as if they shared the same idea. Both auras vanished, and both Asura and the monster lunged at each other.

*Bang!*

In the middle of a red crag, Fist met Claw in an explosive clash, sending broken rocks and molten lava flying around them in a storm.

The difference in strength became clear—the claw of the monster was now filled with cracks, and it was obvious Asura's physical power surpassed the monster.

Lorem watched from above, nodding. "That's right—his power is too high compared to his magic."

A smile grew on the lips of Asura, while the monster released a pained cry.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

Their bodies became like flashes of light, the movement of the monster's arms like shooting stars, while Asura's body vanished and attacked with the force of a meteor.

With the sound of bubbling flesh, the monster's broken claws, now filled with cracks, rapidly filled with a jelly-like substance and instantly healed.

"Tsk..." The moment he realised the monster could regenerate, Asura realised his chances of victory quickly vanished with each teleportation.

"Ksksks!" The monster's bizarre noises seemed to mock him.

Filled with frustration, Asura spun around and threw his leg at the monster with a powerful roundhouse.

*Boom!*

The monster's claw lifted, showing no signs of panic and immediately blocked the blow. However, the force caused the entire claw to shatter into pieces of flesh and a strange material.

Before the flesh touched the ground, Asura teleported between the arms of the monster, his eyes on the same level as the monster's black orbs, with his fists covered in black flames.

Without a moment's delay, he thrust his fists forward, aiming to smash the monster's face.

"Kree!"

The monster's body suddenly liquidised as Asura's brutal fists smashed the open air, barely missing the forehead of the monster as it dropped into a scalding fluid.

"What!?"

Behind Asura, the monster reformed, this time with two blades for hands, both of them lunging for his unprotected back.

—Shadow Serpents Embrace!

*Du-Du-Du-Du*

The moment the shimmering blades approached, Asura's body became flexible like a snake, his body swaying and twisting as the monster's sharp arms penetrated like a machine gun, the sound deafening as Asura's face covered in sweat using his physical combat technique to its limits.

'This!?'

"Don't lose focus, Asura!" Lorem's stern voice sounded the moment one of the monster's blades sliced through his cheek, causing a burning pain to sear his face.

"Ngh...!"

"Ksksks!"

Once again, the monster laughed, its arms sizzling as the blades seemed to have distorted from the heat of its aura and the number of attacks.

Asura's entire body trembled, his crimson aura changing to a mixture of black and white fire that caused the air to ripple with its force.

The monster, in retaliation, swiped its sword arms at Asura while opening its mouth and amassing a black aura inside, forming a swirl that formed a small orb placed at the time of its tongue, growing in power as the monster condensed its magic.

'It's going to attack!'

He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. The danger of this attack might severely wound or even kill him!

*Woosh!*

The very air trembled as the vortex of black aura grew larger, almost distorting the world. Rocks cracked, their debris floating up around the monster as the ground below it cracked while Asura's eyes narrowed.

His mouth copied the monster, sucking in the magic from his surroundings, creating a flame half white and black in the depths of his throat.

'Hurry, hurry!'

The extreme heat in his throat felt comforting, the rate at which he devoured the surrounding magic several times faster than the monster, which convulsed, its attack almost ready to fire!

'Shit... I am too close!'

As if by instinct, four huge wings burst from the back of Asura's flesh. The black and white phoenix wings instantly flapped towards the monster, creating a gust of wind that sent Asura floating back while flames amassed in his mouth.

The same wind caused the monster's focus to stutter for a moment, allowing Asura to gain a three-metre distance.

Instantly, the pair both flicked back their heads and released their attacks.

*BOOOM!!*

When the beam of darkness clashed with the torrent of black-and-white flames, a massive explosion obliterated the surroundings—the ground cracked, vanished, and dust flew everywhere.

Lorem's eyes seemed to light up for a moment as she watched the pair, a smile on her lips. "Yes, I cannot teach you how to improve your magic. You must fight, devour, and grow stronger. I know that is your true power, my dear Asura."

There was a sound of white noise as the flames and beam continued for several minutes before the smoke cleared.

"Did I get him...?" Asura asked, his body covered in dust, dirt and melting rocks.

However, the monster couldn't do the same, its arms limp half liquid along with its body now burning with the ground around a bright red colour as the ground turned into a molten pool of deadly heat that melted its body slowly.

'Good...'

With the flap of his wings, Asura floated closer to the monster, his hand pressing against the monster's head before creating a violent suction, the devouring totem in Asura's body glowing with a dull light as he devoured the monster whole.

The monster tried to struggle, but the searing ground fused his legs with the ground, and its arms were even worse, causing fear and terror to appear in the monster's eyes as it felt itself devoured from the inside.

"You were a good opponent, now become my food."

Asura felt a sense of relief. The burn marks on his flesh and pain from using his Animus so violently made his body suffer intense pain.

However, somehow, he felt this was the correct way he should have been using it...

*Woosh*

Lorem's body landed close to Asura while the monster's screams vanished as he devoured the last drops of its vitality.

She then flicked her right hand, creating a wave of scarlet flames that caused the pool of lava to dry out instantly and form cracked charred rocks. "There we go. So tell me, Asura, how do you feel?"

He turned to face her, his eyes glowing and his skin and lips looking pristine from the devouring.

"Amazing."

"Then what are you waiting for? Shouldn't you deal with them?"

Her hand then pointed to a group of the same monster. What stunned him was that the monster wasn't a single enemy but seemed to be formed from a strange tree...

The main body in the distance spawns more of the deformed monsters with enormous claws.

"Are you serious? That was just like a seedling!?"

His voice filled with a slight hysteria while Lorem just placed her hand on his ass and tapped him twice. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I did say this was hell. Now go—otherwise, we might die for real."

Asura turned to face the monsters.

However, he gained experience from fighting the first sapling.

His fists shone with a bright aura, one black and the other white, the aura like two flames flickering as he prepared for battle.

"Then you better have a suitable reward once I clear them all up!"