Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Occasionally, a shadow version of Asura would appear and perform the book's martial movements, while Asura continued reading as he used the parallel thinking skill to its limit.

'That's not right. Adjust the hip and leg elevation...'

'Put more force into the movement rather than the blow itself?'

'Can these shadows use my other elements?'

Until exhausting himself and suffering intense pain in his mind, this was how Asura trained before feeling a sense of accomplishment when his shadow emitted ice from the fingertips, creating sharp claws for a moment.

However, performing this feat caused a huge draw in his anima when focusing on the spell completely.

"If I try to maintain it along with my liberacíon, it would probably drain me empty in ten minutes of combat."

"Whatever... Let's sleep."

The moment Asura's head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep, seeing memories and scenes from the days with Lorem and Helia.

To a strange life where he lived as someone else, his first life in Asura, and the period where he met and spent time with Verana.

He felt a great discomfort in those days when he was a foolish boy lost in a childish affection towards a woman who seemed to accept his no-mag self.

Even though it was an unfamiliar sensation, there was a noticeable contrast between his memories of that period and the woman he eventually married.

Call it an aura or feeling; they felt different somehow.

In the late evening hours, as night turned to morning, the five deadly dragon-class warships launched a sudden and shocking barrage of mana shells, greeting the entire Wolfsheim to a morning they could never forget.

****

"What the fuck was that!?" Asura shouted as he rushed out of his room with Mu Xue running down the corridor half equipped in her battle armour, her eyes looking at him with concern.

"Asura!"

Before he could respond, a tremendous howl thundered from the distance before another explosive shell collided with part of the castle, causing it to collapse. The intense damage caused the entire castle to quake and tremble.

'We're under attack!'

"Vela, Lucretia! Xu'er, go to them and have the barrier raised, or the people will be wiped out!"

"Alright! I'll keep them safe!"

Mu Xue left his side as she ran through the corridors to find Vela and Lucretia. Asura rushed towards the Valkyrie temporary barracks, his body only wearing a thin black tunic and pants.

Nova, his blue devil sword, was hanging on his waist as he rushed towards Delta, who seemed busy organising the normal troops and hers while half of them cast a temporary barrier to dull the bombardments.

"Delta!"

"Lord Asura! What should we do?"

"I want you to lead the Valkyrie and support the city guard to evacuate them—once the barrier is cast, we will regroup at the north tower wall. In the meantime, have all unneeded troops return fire with our gravity catapults. Focus on the southern Dragon ship and target the next only after the first is sunk. We need to disable them as soon as possible."

Delta felt shocked by his calm atmosphere as she replied, "Lord Asura, where will you be heading? The queen said to protect the princess, but you were equally important to us."

"Me?"

"I'll be going to the walls, firing the catapults."

"But, Lord Asura, you're a noble; it's..."

"Fuck that! Does a noble or commoner matter right now? We need to sink those ships! Do you think I care about useless titles!?"

Delta smiled, seeing a powerful determination in his eyes, reminding her of the queen when she was younger, whom she admired deeply.

"I understand, Lord Asura. I shall rally the Valkyrie and join you soon."

Delta left, shouting orders as Asura rushed to the catapult area, only to see ordinary soldiers in full uniform, trembling as they were terrified. Some missing limbs, wounded and filled with shock.

"Whose in charge here!" Asura shouted.

His body leapt onto the wall as he grabbed the mana input device for two catapults; a glowing blue light appeared in his eyes as the world changed, and like games in his first life, it became a bird's-eye view above the ocean, targeting the ships and firing like a game.

'Interesting, it's like battleships or Universe of Tanks on artillery.'

BOOM!

BAM!

The sound of explosions echoed as Asura's two catapults fired mana shots capable of tearing a hole through a metal shield and denting steel armour.

Asura saw three other men rushing to join him as they climbed the ladder to the top of the wall; one of them seemed to be a noble of some sort, as he dressed in fancy clothes and looked annoyed.

"You there? What do you think you are doing?!"

Because Asura wore a black tunic and pants normally used when wearing his black armour, he looked like a normal soldier or peasant in the darkness. His huge black horns and tail made him seem more like a demon or dragon than a human.

"Targeting enemy ships and sinking them?"

"What nonsense! Who do you think you are!? Move aside. Without Lord Asura's permission, we will not fire! You are wasting precious shells and will be punished!"

Asura ignored him as he focused his anima on the catapults, feeling the shells grow, then continued to target the southern ship, which suffered serious damage as Asura's precise strikes destroyed most of its cannons.

Seeing this, the noble became furious as he pulled out his sword, slashing at Asura's back. "I order you to stop!"

Before he could stop it, the tail of Asura sliced the man's hand clean off before he looked back with narrow eyes, now glowing with the centre deep red and the ring around them shimmering with a golden glint.

The noble screamed in terror as he backed away while holding his hand, falling down the ladder while Asura launched shells at the ship until it seemed to sink into the ocean's depths.

"Message to all troops and soldiers. I, Asura Fenix, Order you all to fire at the enemy troops! Those who flee will suffer death!"

His voice sounded like a dragon as it reverberated across the entire port; this commanding roar removed all fear in the soldiers' hearts as they aimed and fired without hesitation.

Suddenly, the three remaining ships appeared to retreat. However, it was different... They regrouped and targeted the catapult battery; Asura could only pull back his face to see the incoming shots; over fifty cannons shot them with barrier-piercing rounds.

"GET DOWN!"

⟪Black Dragon Arst⟫

Devouring Dragons Breath!

A Burst of black flames exploded from Asura's mouth as his wings grew to three metres wide and flapped as many of the troops off the wall as possible before he spat a rushed fireball from his mouth at the leading shell, his eyes dilating as the explosion covered his entire view.

The dragon's breath magic's destructive power mixed with the penetrative melted the wall and obliterated half the catapults and many surrounding troops. Only a few dozen men with Asura survived as they lay unconscious beside him.

Asura felt his vision fade as he saw a group of Valkyrie arrive, including Delta and Lucretia.

"Delta...protect..."

"Lord Asura!"

"Protect them... not me!"

Delta felt devastated as she watched Asura stab himself with Nova to avoid losing consciousness, her body trembling as she witnessed the incredible scale of destruction caused by the enemy ships before rushing to his side.

Lucretia could only observe Asura's weakened body as she saw the large blood loss oozing from his entire body as the pile of thirty men behind his back looked completely safe.

'I cannot take another barrage like that... I have to...'

"Eh? Lucretia?"

⟪Shadow Slayer Arts⟫

—Reaper Manifestation

A black shadow in the shape of a terrifying reaper stood beside Asura as it gathered some of his soul, energy and anima. Then it cried into the sky as if cursing the heavens themselves.

Her body was cloaked in black, with sharp sickles in each hand.

The reaper looked into his face for a moment before it leaned forward, an icy pair of lips pressing against his wounded forehead, closing the wound before her body turned to face the enemy fleets. "Come, my shadows... Envelop me and destroy our enemy."

Normally, she could use eight to nine shadows, yet Asura felt stunned as hundreds of shadows... each one seemed to make the reaper in the centre tremble and suffer... before over a hundred shadows fused with the reaper.

Then She flew forward with strange wings made of ethereal wings. Her dark cloak flowed in the air as she unleashed a terrifying screech that shook the minds of every soldier nearby.

Asura could only watch as Lucretia vanished from sight, a dense mist of shadows enveloping the battlefield as it reached the Dragon ships, causing the soldiers to scream in terror, but he couldn't just dwell on that image. He turned to the Valkyrie.

"Can we restore the shield?"

Delta nodded as she ordered the reserve mages to cast the barrier while the others returned fire.

"It will be weak, Lord Asura, but it should help dull the enemy's attacks."

Asura looked to the sea and noticed Lucretia unleashing a terrifying fog of shadows. When they tried to shoot cannons, the shells would explode before they left the long chambers.

Yet Asura felt worried as Lucretia weakened. Her shadow clones seemed to have done the trick as they ripped the ships from the inside and outside, yet he could tell she was struggling.

'Each time a clone is killed or destroyed, she suffers as if she is the one dying!'

It was at that moment that the air vibrated... The enemy was sending out their warriors; the ships now rushed towards the coast at top speed; they were going to destroy the port by force, then slaughter everyone with an army of demon warriors.

'That form... I don't want to use it, but my liberacíon isn't enough!'

"I'm sorry, Sigurd... I have to break my promise to you."

****

Meanwhile, back in the capital, Sigurd sat nervously, her eyes watching in real-time as the cannons slowly vanished, but the damage was done... She almost broke her oath when she watched Asura face those shells alone.

"No... That Asura, you promised not to use that form!"

Her fingers trembled as he transformed into a figure that was a mixture of a dragon, a devil and another strange monster she didn't recognise.

The wings became sharp and larger before his face became more inhuman, like a devil with sharp, wicked teeth and black eyes.

He looked similar to Xavida's and Mu Xue's Manifestation.

However, he wasn't complete, so it became deformed. Yet his pure power was beyond any normal Stage Five.