Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Chapter 425 Unwanted Clash - The Devouring Abomination

It was the first time since being reborn in this life, that Asura experienced loss. To Asura, Ignis was more than just a Valkyrie soldier, though not quite a lover or someone he planned to marry. Her presence and existence were like a sign.

She was the symbol of his current growth and future goals. A guidepost of when he began to mature and chose to change his fate.

During most of his struggles, Ignis was there, always fighting or standing behind him, ready to support him. She would never ask for more or request time off and would rarely complain unless it was to guide Asura on a better path.

Therefore, when his link with her shattered and vanished. I

It was a blow that he couldn't endure, as big a loss as losing any of the women he cherished.

The loss of Ignis led Asura to a serious realisation. His feelings for the awkward Valkyrie were unique and more natural than any of his other beloved women, a revelation that intrigued him.

Slow, simple growth from strangers, subordinates, and friends to finally etching a small place in his heart. So much that he would worry upon sending her out into battle, always increasing the troops with her to avoid anything that could go wrong.

However, Asura made a mistake, one that he couldn't endure or accept. The mistake of not extending his scan further, checking for any ambushes, believing in his strength and the lack of troubles they suffered in the past.

He didn't anticipate Freyja getting involved and increasing the danger to force him to grow, adapt and face difficulties.

Otherwise, the Empire's reinforcements would not have been dispatched for another week.

***

A week earlier, inside the Empire's Emerald Garden.

"You expect me to believe the traitor of an enemy nation that my son will be thwarted and lose his life in a week to the new prince?"

Emperor Shang Wei sat in his black robes, his powerful aura pulsating like a wild beast protecting its young.

Although he felt no love for his sons in the sense a common family might have, there was a pride and love that only a royal or imperial family could hold. Expectations, ambition and a twisted love wrapped in achievements and worth.

His voice was rough and loud, yet his eyes were fierce, like a hawk watching the reactions of the world-level paramore sitting across from him.

A single flick of her dazzling silver hair could tempt and seduce the hearts of any man beneath her. Only those like the emperor who cut away their feelings to become a ruler were able to resist her subtle charm and terrifying power barely.

"Well, you can choose to ignore guidance from me and lose both your sons. Or take action and learn their limits and calibre when dealing with an opponent beyond them in power, intelligence and, of course, looks. My son is perfection in its early stages and soon will be beyond any of you insects."

"Listen to me, Shang Wei. I am giving you one chance to save your empire because if he pushes through that forest in six days without any significant damage. All of your plans will fold because you already made yourself his enemy."

"What do you mean, Lady Freyja?"

The earth cracked, forming great crevices as empire troops, beasts and monsters became swallowed helplessly, while the monster's head flung across the entire forest in a jagged line, leaving only destruction and flame.

The people of the empire who were still alive trembled, watching the devastation that destroyed their lives, knowing they were now fighting an impossible foe.

A foe that made them fear the gods and the heavens because why would a god-like creature allow them to live if they were his enemies?

"G-god help us," a man on the ground screamed, trying to drag himself out from a pile of smouldering rocks. His face was covered in ash and blood. His eyes were blurry, and his body was bruised as he crawled on his belly. Not even feeling that the black light had devoured his body from the waist down.

"I don't want to die~ I-I don't want to die... what will happen if I do?" The man's mind was shattered as he struggled to move forward. His hands reached out in the hope that someone could help him.

Then, in his desperation, a brilliant light filled the sky...

"Eh?!"

Thousands of magic circles expanded from the dragon's horns—they reached the nearest village, which was oblivious before black lightning struck down, devastating the land as if the world was ending.

Another set of lights erupted, and a beam of destructive force and energy turned the village into rubble.

The same scene played over and over until no one remained, and the area was reduced to a barren wasteland in the area twenty miles ahead of the horror. Meanwhile, the red firebird seemed to have finally gathered the courage to stop the monster.

"Honoured One, I must stop your rampage! Please calm your soul. Those tears of destruction must stop!" This bird was He Ra, the beautiful maiden who sword to sever the Mu Clan and the woman who gave Ignis a second life.

However, due to changing her significantly, Ignis was no longer a Valkyrie and lost her pact with Asura, leading him to think she perished. The woman herself stood on a blackened hill, her eyes no longer silver but a shade of red close to his, with silver slit pupils watched with tears pouring from her face.

'Master.... don't cry.... master, I am here.... Ignis is here!'

Because she gained a strange chance, her existence was close to a divine beast. Thus, she could hear his voice... Asura's frantic calls. Those horrifying roars and devastating attacks were him calling her name, seeking her in the darkness.

"With this new body, I must save you... even if I should lose this life once more, I want you to smile, like back then." The images of the resting Asura on the castle walls, half asleep, smiling as he watched the city, with time passing in silence.

"Master, Ignis is coming!"

Her beautiful red and white wings fluttered, their feathers intertwined like a beautiful bird of fire and light as she placed both hands on her chest and shot into the air, ready to attack a creature more than ten times her size, closer to a hundred.

There was no chance she could win or defeat him.

However, her goal was to save him, so she believed she had a chance and would not stop at anything to try.

Because she loved him.