Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

"Haa... fuck...."

An unpleasant stench emanated from Asura's wounds, which struggled to heal. The fluids melted where the tendrils pierced, leaving a nasty smell.

⟪Soul Weapon⟫

—Lumeris Nova - The Scarlet Sword Lance

His soul weapon instantly before him, a sense of power filling his body as he twisted the long red shaft with a golden dragon along its body. While the huge black blade oozed black flames, leaving a trail.

Gorehowl pushed off the floor with its powerful legs full of meaty muscle, shooting towards him with two horns and a dozen tendrils leaking that disgusting acid.

'Shit!'

Asura quickly closed his eyes as his Anima pumped through his body rapidly. The beast was only a few metres away!

"Liberación!"

"La Segunda Forma!"

His Anima didn't burst outwards. Instead, it condensed, sucked back towards him and formed a thin barrier around his body. Then he opened his eyes, which turned black and gold and shone as if he could see all the world's mystery.

His magic density exploded, which formed a dense aura around him. Then dragon scales with red devil runes covered Asura like thin armour.

A black left arm with thick scales and red devil runes that vibrated with destructive power. With a long spike growing from his elbow as a thick clawed gauntlet covering his hand.

His white right arm was beautiful, like a snowfield, with five black lines leading from a black sphere in his palm before spreading out to form large raven claws on each fingertip.

However, when his transformation ended.

A tremendous impact struck his right side. The Gorehowl had wrapped all his tendrils into one and whipped him, causing many of his dragon scales and armour to crack.

"Guhaa!" Blood sprayed from Asura's lips. The blow caused his ribs to break and his expression to twist as he flew, spinning uncontrollably.

His body crashed into the floor, creating a crater, his body aching with pain as the Gorehowl's tentacles spread out, preparing for its next strike.

Normally, this might have caused Asura to become unsteady. Yet he immediately stood up and lunged forward, his spear enveloped in black flames while four wings propelled him towards the beast with a resounding boom.

Asura thrust towards Gorehowl's open mouth. His eyes narrowed as he forced his magic to protect his broken ribs, causing them to crack back into place while healing rapidly. His lance thrust forward, piercing through the beast's maw.

Or so he thought...

"What!"

[Asura! Stage Four Demon Beasts can use their magic to form a protective barrier around them! You need more than just a single blow!]

Helia's voice sounded in Asura's mind.

Her message allowed him to recover fast enough to avoid the next attack. The beast suffered no damage. Maybe a cut at worst, before, in anger, it tried to bite off Asura's extended arm.

Regardless, Asura grasped his lance with the opposite arm and spun himself, stabbing into its body.

His wings flapped to increase the force as the beast thrashed against him, only to find it attacked a black shadow figure that faded.

'If one doesn't work! THEN HOW ABOUT FIFTY!'

⟪Asura Combat Arts⟫

—Shadow Serpent's Embrace

Asura combined the thrusting of his lance and the graceful, serpentine striking of his void combat art, unexpectedly increasing the explosive power, accuracy and speed of his penetrating thrusts several times.

He rained down on the flank of the Gorehowl, each blow sending its body towards the earth, as Asura endured the tendrils that penetrated his flesh and body, to pierce, penetrate, stab... over and over.

Finally, Gorehowl's body crashed into the ground with a loud boom, Asura landing atop its body, his lance glowing with black flames before he stabbed downwards.

His Anima pulsed through Lumeris Nova, causing a dense pressure to form as he finally broke the Stage Four Beast's defensive barrier.

A thick spurt of blood, with such pressure, almost penetrated his skull as Lumeris Nova carved a deep wound into the beast's flank while Asura's smile became wider.

***

Meanwhile, Xavida's blades sliced through a thick earth wall as she darted across the skies like lightning.

The bishop simply smirked from a safe distance, his hands constantly firing huge rocks towards her trajectory.

"Little lizard likes to play with lightning, but my, I seem to be resistant. Hahahaha!"

Xavida's lips curled into a snarl, hearing the bishop's laughter. 'That bastard...'

She recalled Asura's warning in the past lessons during their hunts about the earth element resisting her power. This bishop seemed resistant to lightning, causing her attacks to become weaker and less effective.

However, she also discovered that his attacks hurt a little, mostly grazing her scales, because she was equivalent to a Stage four divine beast.

Yet, she felt helpless, knowing Asura was fighting stronger beasts alone. 'I need to defeat this bishop quickly!'

Xavida's eyes flickered with lightning, her pupils turning pure white as she launched herself faster, her two scale swords flashing with purple lightning as she jumped from rock to rock, her wings suddenly snapping as her speed tripled to attack the bishop.

His eyes widened, only to find Xavida above his body, her tail swinging and stabbing towards his neck, her wing blades slashing towards his chest, causing his expression to change drastically.

"SLUT!"

The bishop stomped the ground, causing a giant earth pillar to launch him into the sky, escaping Xavida's tail, but her sword sliced across his face, causing a bloody line to distort his face. Unlike Asura, her magic density as a stage four could damage the defensive barrier on equal terms.

Yet, unexpectedly, the bishop grinned madly as his hand grabbed Xavida's tail, shocking her as his body rotated before smashing her into the ground.

Crack

Xavida's face distorted in pain, her body sinking into the earth.

Before she could react or breathe to restore her winded body, dozens of earthen spears shot towards her.

Xavida's wings flapped violently, causing her body to shoot out of the ground, avoiding the earthen spears, her eyes bloodshot as lightning flickered through her body.

'Damn, I won't lose!'

Xavida launched into the air again, her swords slicing towards the bishop, who prepared to fight her head-on, only for his expression to change as hundreds of lightning bolts appeared around Xavida, aiming towards him.

⟪Lightning Barrage⟫

Purple lightning shot towards the bishop, causing his eyes to turn round in shock before he waved his hand, forming an earthen dome. Because the element advantage was in his favour, she couldn't deal with much damage to the dome, even with a dozen huge lightning bolts.

Yet unexpectedly, Xavida's figure disappeared, appearing above the dome before her sword pierced through the top, stabbing towards the bishop.

Seeing this, his face became pale white before he smashed the earth dome, shooting himself upwards, Xavida's lightning sword narrowly missing his neck, instead cutting off some strands of hair.

The bishop seemed to have much combat experience, but his physical body was disadvantaged. "You filthy swine..."

Xavida glared at him hatefully, her body darting forward, her swords covered in purple lightning, causing the bishop to retreat rapidly, his eyes searching for a way to kill her.

The lightning sword sliced towards his neck again, only to miss.

Suddenly, a shard of earth penetrated her chest. The bishop's face seemed to cool down as he stepped before the impaled Xavida, his lips curled into a smile. "Hahaha, playing with you worms is quite amusing. Little bitch, it's a shame I missed your womb."

Xavida coughed out blood, her vision blurry as lightning flickered through her body, trying to heal the wound, only to discover this bishop's earth element stopped her lightning from healing her wound.

"Little whore, I shall make him watch as I tear apart your corpse after this is over."

"Come, Guardian of Earth. Lord of Rocks. Crag Lord, I summon Thee!"

In her dazed state, she snapped the earthen spike while still impaled. She couldn't waste time removing it as she took to the skies, watching the huge rock giant forming from the Bishop's magic. "Husband..."

Xavida's eyes watched the battle with her beloved, forced to bite her lip in frustration.

"Don't hate my ugly form..."

A storm began brewing in the skies, a distant rumble at first... before the world trembled from the sky to the forest. Countless beasts fled the area within 100 miles.

Xavida grasped the bloody spike of earth and tore it from her chest, the huge wound pouring with blood. "Take this blood offering!"

⟪White Dragon Arts⟫

∟ Vanquishing Dragons Descent!

The next moment, the lightning struck her body, which seemed to transform... Into something huge.