Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

A massacre was taking place.

The figure of a humanoid monster stood in the centre of a burning village, his right hand in the shape of a blade, while his left a long whip with barbs.

"P... please have mercy..."

"Don\'t..... stop....!"

Two male villagers begged, their bodies covered in bloody wounds, trembling on their backs, unable to crawl away from the monster that devoured their former wives.

The monster didn\'t devour males. Instead, he crushed their legs and testicles before forcing them to watch him eat their lovers with a sadistic grin.

"Haha! Will the Father be proud of our strength now?"

"Magnificent, the taste of this woman\'s thighs is to die for, brother!"

A pair of distorted voices sounded from the monster\'s throat as if speaking on two octaves with a single voice, the first low and rugged, the second higher pitched and more elegant.

"No!!!"

"Stop!"

Before a sickening crunch sounded and the sharp teeth of the monster devoured two pieces of the dead woman, blood and flesh splattering on the faces of the two males, now quivering with fear and loss.

Prince Valos

Or what remained of his body stood amid a sea of corpses, his body pristine as if human blood felt ashamed to touch his body, a long twisted horn growing from his forehead and half his body a unique colour.

He seemed to thrive on murder as his right hand swiped across the air, tearing off the heads of both males because Valos had already eaten their wives.

"Big Bro, why don\'t we kill that bastard!" The low voice echoed through the deserted village, only broken homes and flames now answering his voice.

"Never! We must always look at the logical truth, my dear brother. We are too weak, and only by eating women do we seem to grow stronger." The elegant voice spoke in a way that made their actions sound just and noble as the monster\'s body gave a noble salute.

"Ugh..." the monster\'s left hand rubbed its thinning grey hair. "Brother speaks so complicated... I just want to taste that woman\'s guts and kill Asura Fenix."

"Soon, brother, we lack the power to fight him, but if we use our heads and cause the south to wage war against Silvara. Even that arrogant bastard will become exhausted from constant combat, and that\'s when we will strike!" Prince Valos gave a confident smirk as the monster\'s wings flickered with a crack before fully unfurling as they flew further south.

"Big Bro, you thought of everything? How cool!"

****

⁜ Lorem POV

Lucretia returned a few days ago and returned to her usual duties.

However, Lorem felt something strange when interacting with her, although learning she found her family made Lorem happy and lonely. She noticed that the obsessive desire towards Asura seemed to have vanished.

\'I invited her out to drink at my place to see what is wrong with her.\' Lorem thought to herself, although she loved Asura and accepted Sura was the same man she loved in the past.

There were feelings in her heart that stopped her from comparing them. She wanted to see Asura for who he was and not let the feelings towards Sura cloud her judgement, and because of this, she felt it...

Each day she couldn\'t see or speak to him, her heart became darker, she sought him more, and she realised that before she realised.

Lorem had fallen for him likely long ago.

"Oh, my dearest master, you look so cute tonight!" Lucretia entered the once messy room with two bottles of strong whiskey in her hands as she also noticed how clean the place was for a chance. "You cleaned up. Did you get a man?"

"Shut up, Lucia, and pour some drinks!"

"Already on it!"

Lucia sat across from Lorem, who took her boots off, exposing her naked feet, before slipping her toes into the nearby hot water and relaxing.

"So, what\'s the occasion?" Lucia took a sip of her drink, enjoying the smooth warmth in her throat. "You never normally invite me other to your place; it\'s to a bar or some stupid mission."

"I missed you." Lorem gave a huge smile before taking a large gulp. "The house felt so empty without you."

Lucia grinned widely and swigged back another drink. "Missed you too! You damn liar, so what\'s the matter?"

Lorem pouted. "Okay, it\'s Asura."

"Oh?" Lucia swirled her glass while looking at the amber nectar. Her eyes narrowed as she felt a pang of jealousy inside her chest.

Despite being a shadow clone, because Lorem used all eight of her clones to form one that could imitate her to the limit, it shared her in real time. "He should be in Drakkur with his two new fiancees about now, right?"

Lorem nodded as she gulped back another mouthful. "Ah... there are multiple now, aren\'t there..." The tone of Lorem\'s voice seemed sad as she finished her cup and prepared a second, her ruby eyes looking towards the moon, peeking through her window with a bitter look of frustration.

"You\'re acting strange lately. Something happened between you and Asura, didn\'t it?" Lucia asked, while curious.

"Yes," Lorem said bluntly, her voice void of emotion as she returned to drinking.

"So you two finally did the deed!" Lucia grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "Well done, you."

"Shut up!" Lorem slammed the glass onto the table as she looked at Lucia, her eyes moist and misty. "We didn\'t have sex or anything, okay... I..." Rather than continue, she took the bottle and snapped the cork off before downing it as a single tear fell down her cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey," Lucia spoke calmly, "there\'s no need to cry. It\'s not like you!"

Lorem didn\'t speak anymore as she downed the whiskey as if it were water.

Lucia felt surprised at this reaction. She\'d never seen Lorem crying and didn\'t know how to respond.

It also made her realise she belittled her master\'s feelings far too much and increased the guilt in her chest, as while they were speaking... Her actual body was teasing Asura in bed, a feeling that caused her to feel excitement and pleasure close to sex itself.

"Master?"

"He had a dream..." Lorem mumbled.

"No, about the past and a woman he loved."

"So you\'re jealous?"

"No... because of the woman he dreamt of... It was me, my past before coming to this world... a past I had forgotten after losing most of my memories because of the crash landing." Lorem laid her head on the table. "He went to Drakkur because he has to become stronger. Asura is determined to surpass me."

Lucia\'s eyes widened as she heard those words. She understood why her master would be so depressed.

"I don\'t want that," Lorem whimpered. "I want him to stay as he is now. Cute and easy to toy with!"

Lucia laughed awkwardly as she put her hand on her master\'s head, which she patted gently. "Then why don\'t you go to Drakkur? You can train there, and at least you will be together."

"How can a royal knight leave the capital? The moment I leave, they will presume the worst."

"Then beg the queen, tell the truth."

"It\'s not that simple."

"Of course it is! Don\'t tell me you\'re a coward." Lucia smirked as she picked up her bottle, gulped down the last half, and slapped her master with her right hand. It wasn\'t strong enough to cause damage, but the vibrations and loud echo caused Lorem to just sit there with her eyes widened in silence.

"You\'re the strongest knight in the kingdom and afraid to leave the capital? Tell me that\'s not the case?"

"It\'s not like that, okay?" Lorem slammed her fists onto the table, cracking it. "I\'m afraid."

"Of what? What could scare you?" Lucia laughed as she watched Lorem stand up and look at her with eyes full of determination and frustration.

Lorem then revealed her arms.

The beautiful pale skin of her hands and wrists soon turned into a strangely bruised and damaged-looking flesh that had become a mixture of skin and armour, glowing blue veins pulsating deep within the ruined flesh, and embedded inside was an almost pure white bone, flexible like a muscle, and attached it was a black crystal.

"I am afraid that the moment I leave the capital\'s barrier, the monster that did this to me will awaken and destroy everything I care about."

"What?" Lucia spoke out loud, shocked at seeing her master\'s arms in such a state.

"I suffered this wound in the battle against the forgotten one, a supposed god from the cult of the fallen sun. If not for protecting the city and the divine blessing from the Queen, the moment I leave this curse, the magic within will constantly pulsate and search for the one that cast it." Lorem gripped her fist as a crack appeared in her left arm. "I cannot afford to leave."

"Isn\'t the Forgotten one also known as the Forsaken Prince? Isn\'t he the former husband of the Sword saintess?" Lucia asked while genuinely interested.

"No... They were to be wed, but he suddenly became deranged on the day and wiped out her entire family and his kingdom after transforming... Then the cult attacked, and it became chaotic."

Lorem shook her head. "You didn\'t know this. There was a previous holy war. They killed twelve dragons that almost ascended to true gods. However, some believed they were strong enough to repel that abomination, and before the war, but what do you think happened?"

"What?"

"The monster devoured them all, the cries of the dragons eaten alive. Suppose it weren\'t for the combined might of the Kingdom of Silvara, Romantica and Veluria and the divine blessing from Sigurd and most of the divine level warriors of each kingdom fighting to their end? Then it could have been the end of the world."

"Wow, you\'ve got to be exaggerating!"

"I wish I were, but no, this is a curse cast by that creature with a simple attack... Those below Stage Eight died instantly, not even knowing what happened." Lorem put her shirt back on, hiding the monstrous arms as she looked at Lucia.

"You are afraid that if such a being appears now when most kingdoms have lost their mythical and divine warriors..."

"Then the world will end."

"Did you say anything to Asura?"

"I lied." Lorem moved around and sat on the windowsill. "I told him it was just a light curse, but his expression and voice betrayed him. Because he has a strange power, he knows how strong this thing is." Lorem chuckled bitterly, "I could tell he wanted to save me, so I lied and told him I would find a way."

"Then why don\'t you see him?"

"What\'s the point?" Lorem asked, "I don\'t know what I would say. I don\'t want to admit I\'m weak or speak of the past... I should wait, like I promised him."

Despite being negative, there was a fire inside Lorem\'s eyes as she looked towards the West and Drakkur while sipping the last of her whiskey.

\'Maybe... I should take the risk.\'