Chapter 128: The Terrifying Monster
"..."
A tall demon with pale blue skin and long black horns with several chips and blade marks stands wearing a black fur armour created with the flesh, skin and hide of a Stage Six Beast.
This man is Varik Domfel, one of the Stage Five commanders under the Bahamot family name. He was originally one candidate her uncle picked for a fiance before getting greedy for the dragon's blood.
'Fools, how can they lose to such a weak human city? Long has it been clear the lord of Fenix has become washed up covering for his No-Mag son!'
"Hmm... Xavida? I can sense her blood, her aura, and her scent!"
"All troops, I am heading out! Pull back the ship and prepare to send out our demon warriors. The ships we lost are nothing but garbage."
Varik's body transformed, black wings with purple veins bubbling inside them; he was only a half-demon with the blood of a human mother who died from giving birth, which meant his bloodline was affected. Thus, he was very harsh on humans.
"Huhu, today I will feast on that little bitch's blood!"
'No, maybe I will capture her and make her regret rejecting me and using her title as the princess to have one of my testicles crushed! Let's make her give birth to her uncle's child by force! To show her I, Varik Domel, am not one to be messed with!'
"Hahahaha."
Varik flew into the air, his body now covered with a metallic purple shell filled with bulging muscles, a bio armour created with his flesh and muscle.
His wings grew more robust, while his hands became large sabre-like claws. His body shot into the air when a monster greeted him... neither dragon nor devil, but giving the twisted aura of both simultaneously!
"What is this abomination!? Did the cult of the fallen sun get involved?"
Varik had encountered something deformed like this before. Over five hundred years ago, the cult of the fallen sun mixed stage four of the devil and demon's bodies.
The figure let out a roar. Varik felt like he was looking up at the heavens as he saw an immense black armoured body, with four huge wings, white and black, with strange runes and twisted claws...
What made his chest hurt was the scent of Xavida from this male was thick...
'What is he to her?..'
'Why does her scent, the scent of her, linger on him so much!?'
'Who are you?'
In reality, Varik loved Xavida from a young age, but because of his father following her uncle, they became enemies, and when he realised it was already too late, he swore an oath to her uncle.
"WHO ARE YOU!" He screamed, lunging forward with his manifestation and Stage Five power, causing the world to shudder, his anger boosting his power further.
The monstrous humanoid didn't seem to care about Varik and fired a bolt of lightning that seemed to distort space towards the ships...
"WHAT IS THAT!?"
"AHHH!"
Varik watched in horror as a lightning bolt impacted the ship, turning it into a charred waste. The horror because it was her thunder... a thought in his mind occurred. Did this monster kill and devour Xavida? Or was he her mate... His heart almost collapsed from the intense feelings swirling inside his chest.
"I will kill you! Then take her back!" He roared, rushing forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Varik swung his claws, and they clashed with the monster.
The shockwaves from their clash caused a massive storm in the sky as black flames devoured purple flames that spread out in all directions. Although Varik was stronger in magic density, there was something about this strange creature that had a body stronger than he had ever faced before.
The creature laughed as its skin bubbled; all elements exploded from its body, flames in a breath covering the sky, earth firing huge pillars at the boats and people fleeing, ice in sharp spears flinging towards Varik while the lightning discharged through the air, blocking his escape routes.
Varik's face paled when he realised it was absorbing his stage-five magic energy, forcing it to strengthen itself! Its body absorbed everything: fire, lightning, wind, water, earth... It was as if this monster was not part of the three realms but existed outside them!
Varik roared, unleashing his full power, and his body swelled; he slashed out with his claws and created a huge purple vortex of flames; the moment it touched the port's hills, it destroyed the tips, cutting deep into the rocks. Then, the monster's arms were torn off by the same claws; it made him feel confident.
'Yes, this creature is too strong, but even it cannot withstand the damage of my stage-five magic power.' He thought.
The monster grinned as it seemed to have awoken from that pain, screaming into the skies. Its body trembled before two new arms burst from the stumps, with looking skin, before the monster distorted, but a huge dragon maw opened.
With a deep, monstrous voice, the monster bellowed through the skies.
⁜ ⟪Manifestation Arts⟫
— Liberacíon - La Perfeita Forma de Liberar (Dragon Form)
Varik trembled as this monster transformed into a complete dragon... Its body was huge and black, with wings that spanned the skies and horns that dripped black flames. Its gigantic maw seemed to grin at the world before releasing a reverberating roar that shook the world.
'No, I can't die here!'
Varik knew he could not fight this beast, so he flew into the air, rushing towards the ships with a few Stage Four and Three commanders that survived the attack. As he was about to land on one, his chest struck something...
A black horn penetrated his chest... blood, flesh and sinew burst from the wound as the beast flung him into the skies, an enormous claw tearing his wings before flames and lightning destroyed them.
Varik screamed in agony, unable to believe he would die to this monster... He refused to believe he would die here without knowing what happened to Xavida!
Those massive claws grasped his head before they clenched... "Xavida..."
The moment the male whispered her voice, the huge golden eye of the dragon form opened wide, moving close even though its eye was larger than Varik's body several times over.
"You dare say her name! You are nothing but an insect!"
Varik's eyes opened, and the pain vanished momentarily as he heard the jealousy of a male in the monster's voice. He didn't care about death, nor how pathetic he was. The monster's eye was right there!
Varik detonated every ounce of magic power he had left, laughing loudly.
'If I am going to die, then let me take you with me!'
BOOM!
The dragon's eye exploded, a fierce purple blade slashing across the surface, and the dragon became berserk, magic and elemental attacks flying all over the skies as his left eye bled profusely.
In the rage, it crushed Varik's dying body like an ant.
The berserk male reached its limit of five minutes, returned to his humanoid form, and looked down at the fleeing demons with a powerless face. His left eye was slowly healing, but the damage of using his skill left large cracks and bloody lines in his body as Asura fell.
Although the battle seemed to be over, that wasn't half true as the primary vessels of the demon kingdom came to the horizon.
Another ten gunships.
****
Asura felt his body burning.
There was a strange feeling from the monoliths that he never felt before.
It was like they were working over their limits with the black monolith's power constantly flowing through his body... The elusive first evolution skill seemed to be desperately trying to keep his body together before a black shadow suddenly enveloped him in the air.
It was Lucretia...
Her body was in tatters, wounds all over her chest, arms, and legs. As the blood from Asura's lips and wounds seeped into hers, she screamed from a sense of intense pleasure that seemed to melt her brain as his black flames cooked her alive.
Lucretia used her wings to flick them toward the coast, smashing into the huge rocks. She used the last moments of her manifestation to break the solid fall against them, with her two remaining shadows crumbling as she vomited blood.
"Asura... Live! Get stronger! It doesn't matter how many demons come! How many ships or men? Destroy them!
You cannot give up now!" Lucretia could feel his wounds worsening as she felt hers repairing rapidly because of his blood entering her body.
Asura spat up a mouthful of blood; some of it entered Lucretia's body, making her cry out in unbearable pleasure. She felt an incredible heat rising inside her core. It was like having super fuel poured into her engine, boosting her strength beyond what it had before.
"I promise you this, Asura... If you can survive this, then I will do anything for you in the future..."
In reality, this city was where she met Lorem and lost control, not just for the country but because of her memories as a small girl with Lorem.
He was the first man that treated her nicely. She was a young woman who was desperate for love, and her lonely past became a destructive trauma that caused her to become violent and obsessive.
Without Lorem's continued restraint, she might have already kidnapped Asura when he began stealing her skills so easily.
Asura's eyes opened, a weak look, as he gently stroked the cheek of Lucretia, "don't cry, it'll be fine."
The words were spoken with the simple tone of a boy who wanted to calm down his lover.
Lucretia couldn't believe these were the words of a man that almost destroyed the entire enemy fleet or that terrifying monster that made her feel danger in heart manifestation.
"Asura, the battle... It's not over."
"I know... I'm counting on you, my dear little shadow."
Lucretia felt growing inside her, 'why does this feel so good...?'
She saw him smiling weakly as they crashed to the ground with a loud bang before a huge silver cloud passed over them, attacking the distant fleets where the Valkyrie, their wings created using a special technique with silver feathers.
Lucretia clutched Asura to her chest and remained silent as the world became still; her injuries were healing rapidly, even the fractures deep inside her bones, while her vision became clearer by the minute.
Yet Asura's body remained icy cold, with gigantic cracks. Even with all her energy, she couldn't find any way to heal him.
"Please Asura! Wake up!" Lucretia felt the despair building inside her, the desire to kill things and destroy the world growing again.
She wrapped her arms around him, even though she knew he was unconscious...
"Wait... he seemed to absorb my magic when we touch..."
She traced her lips with her finger, looked at the unconscious Asura, and leaned forward.
This time, it wasn't an accident...