Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Asura's body felt heavy.

Although he didn't suffer any wounds, he felt a sense of loss. The plume advanced his bloodline awakening, but he lost the chance to understand Azoth fully.

"Ugh..."

[Asura, are you alright? Today, I killed a huge toad with just my fists! Hehe]

Celine's bright tone felt like someone pouring warm, blessed water over his head. It was soothing, and the pain across his body faded with each word.

[I'm glad to hear your voice, Celine, as cute as ever. If you kill one hundred, I will make time to meet you again.]

Asura didn't know why, but since Azoth faded, his strange feelings of hatred and irritation when speaking with Celine vanished.

Not only did Asura believe she was just a bystander in this situation, but it felt like the most important details and feelings Azoth seemed to have taken when his soul shattered in the last moments of his consciousness.

'He gave me so much, yet I don't even know why.'

There were things about his cultivation technique that caused Asura to feel a sense of foreboding. Each time, he completed a rebirth. It seemed his body increased its limits until nine revolutions when it became a suitable vessel for a divine being.

Then, his soul also shattered each time he was reborn, starting anew on a blank slate.

His soul would grow with each rebirth.

Yet the former soul remained hidden in the darkness.

Attached with a weak connection that would grow as Asura grew in his new life, keeping the fragments connected while tempering his soul to the divine level.

'For what purpose...'

One voice said something about some supreme being or existence. Would Asura become like the various past selves that vanished after death only to serve as his fodder?

'Am I fodder for another being...?'

He felt anger and resistance, and the remnant soul of Azoth seemed to resonate, the feelings that Azoth felt in his last moment suddenly washing over Asura, making him realise that not only was he a victim in this, forced to become some divine being's vessel.

'You did it for Muru, knowing that she would once again be reborn beside us?'

'Any further is dangerous, Asura Fenix' (Unknown Voice 1)

'Who!?'

'...'

The voices could only speak with free will because Azoth revolted against the system, but from this, Asura realised he was far too hasty and only needed to focus on the now.

What was important for now was simple.

To become stronger and keep the ones he loved safe.

Suddenly, Asura felt someone shaking his body, and as a deep yet gentle voice sounded, his cheeks grasped by something warm and comfortable.

"Asura, wake up. Asura, you have to be alright. I don't know what I would do if you were to disappear."

Lorem's beautiful scarlet hair dangled over his face while she cupped his cheeks with eyes filled with rivers of tears.

The surroundings burned, showing they were still inside the dead village. Yet Asura spent what felt like weeks inside that strange place learning about Azoth through the fractured memories, which seemed to have been a few moments at most in the real world.

"L-Lorem." Asura answered with a sore throat, the taste of copper and iron mixing to create a sweet yet vile taste.

Before she replied, her lips covered his, and her tongue pushed into his mouth, letting her breath fill his lungs as she seemed to become overzealous.

"Mmmn."

The taste of copper faded, replaced by Lorem's flavour.

He realised that her breed of phoenix didn't just have restorative flames; everything about her, from saliva to blood, would rejuvenate and heal a person.

Her tears alone cleansed the body, removing toxins, and she healed any wounds so that scarring was impossible.

With them in contact, her tongue forced him to drink her saliva, making him feel his strength slowly return.

Finally, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away while taking deep breaths.

"I'm alright. Lorem, it's alright. I am fine."

Although not fully recovered, he felt in a better state than when he lost consciousness, and he looked a mess, with blood covering his tattered armour and clothes revealing half his body. It seemed the last moments caused damage to his clothes as well.

Lorem sat back on her butt as she covered her lips while looking down with flushed cheeks.

Asura put his hand on her head. "Thank you, Lorem. Did he get away? My head is a little messy, and I cannot remember the last moments of battle."

Lorem couldn't meet Asura's eyes, and her cheeks remained red as she shifted her gaze to the side.

"W-well, you used this weird skill, and it felt like you were dying. Because of that, I messed up. Instead of killing him, I chose your life."

Asura couldn't say he didn't feel disappointed, although he took the devil's aura, which would weaken the former strongest blademaster forever. He felt the desire to kill him before he might have forgiven the man and allowed him to flee out of respect. Yet something dark, likely the compensation for what he and Azoth did, made him want to kill, to murder.

"Then, has there been any word from the other forces? We must make preparations against him."

Lorem shook her head as she scratched her cheek with her finger. "W-well... the primary unit returned, and it seems the eastern and western attacks were just faints. Most of their troops pulled back to the border fort and are increasing their defences."

"I see how many people from unit nine died?"

"Seven. Fifteen from the others who joined us."

"Are all the enemies in the area destroyed?"

Lorem nodded. "Yes, now they are slowly putting out the fires and hoping to build a secondary camp here. We will camp overnight because of the wounds and fatigue of most units."

"I see."

Asura felt a sense of loss. He couldn't kill Siegfried and felt irritated, even though He witnessed Azoth meeting the young Seigfried and then giving him the opportunity to gain power.

On a dirty street, after being beaten to a pulp for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his mother.

'Azoth didn't feel like a normal devil, or was he being guided by something? To follow the ideal path for the divine one?'

However, Asura couldn't focus on that problem at the moment. He took the devil's aura and likely wouldn't have to face the former blademaster for a while since he could feel that strange aura, a dark and heavy aura that flowed through his body, separate from his Animus.

"Asura? You seem a little strange. Is everything alright?" Lorem asked as she met his eyes.

Asura reached out and gently stroked Lorem's cheek, smiling as she moved her cheek closer and let out a sigh while leaning into his hand.

"Lorem, can you just kiss me a little more? My body hurts, and I want to enjoy the taste of your sweet lips for a little longer."

Her cheeks reddened again, and her breathing hastened, but she slowly nodded. "Hmmm, do you like it that much? Then I supposed I have no reason to refuse."

Lorem leaned in and pressed her soft lips against his.

While tasting her, Asura focused his Animus on examining his body.

The plumes increased his strength but seemed to leave behind a mark; from the memories inside his soul from Azoth, he now knew what to look for. Yet he lacked the tools to destroy these nine marks, which would cause him to suffer if he reached the pinnacle with them still inside him.

'Even without these, I would have likely suffered. I cannot remove the marks unless my cultivation reaches the limit of mortality, the day I would abandon my mortal body.'

Cleansing himself would take several days, at least. Yet Asura's body seemed to be in a healthy state. No, rather, his body was better than ever; from a simple look, it was stronger than before the battle, the devil's aura even more efficient than Anima or Animus at tempering his body. No, it seemed to be different.

'Is the Devil's aura altering the way the Animus tempers my body? Like creating a pattern for the future craftsmen to follow?'

Somehow, Asura's eyes focused on reality, and he realised he was currently kissing Lorem, not doing something mundane. So he stopped thinking about these things. Instead, his hands wrapped around her cheeks as his tongue pushed into her mouth, no longer inactive.

"Hmmm! Ah, Asura."

"Lorem, do you realise how cute you are? If you become pregnant, I would love for it to be a girl. It would be nice for her to have your beautiful scarlet hair."

"Mmmm. N-no, don't speak about embarrassing things. We are too young for children." Lorem pulled back and covered her mouth while looking away.

Asura grinned as he leaned forward and kissed her earlobe.

"Then let's go somewhere quieter; we can fool around and speak of what the future may hold for us."

Lorem's shoulders shuddered; he realised he tempted her, but her eyes soon narrowed because a group of figures appeared in their view. It was Barbatos, Princess Vela and Lucia, all armed in their combat armour.

Lorem's gaze darkened as she stood up and wiped her mouth. "Then, I must meet with them; I will get our gear and a few medical supplies."

"You really dislike them, don't you?"

"Because they interrupted our time to flirt together. Well, thank you for saving my life. I couldn't fight him alone, Asura."

He watched with a faint smile.

The emotions that used to burn like wildfire felt smothered in dark desires, a more lustful and selfish feeling as if to keep Lorem at his side, never letting her leave him.

'At least I didn't become an emotionless freak, but now they are so intense I almost pushed her down right here and ravished her... like an actual devil would.'

Instead, he hid those feelings while enjoying the sight of Lorem's rear swaying towards the other knights, who looked at her with stern eyes. Asura also noticed Vela looking at him with her eyes filled with tears. It seemed his state looked horrible.

'I guess rest time is over.'

Asura stood up, brushing lots of the dust and charcoal from his body while turning away from Vela and the knights.

He didn't want to endure such mundane tasks now, speaking to them or giving a report.

Asura wanted to fight, and the only enemies were those monsters hidden in the forests to the west.