Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Chapter 296: Void

"Evening everyone, thank you for the hard work."

"No, no! We are grateful for the grand meal, Your Highness!"

Asura spoke with the commoners, while Vela helped serve the nobles.

A few complained about the quality of the food. However, everyone felt too tired to argue or moan, and the taste soon conquered their hearts.

"Asura, you were so cool today," Xavida whispered while putting her most hated carrots onto his plate. Her compliment was a disguise for being a picky eater. "Hehe, please enjoy these delicious carrots."

He slipped back double the amount of carrots while stroking her hair, though they were on her spoon, heading into her mouth rather than her plate. Asura could only smirk as she ate them happily because of his head rubbing.

"Our food is much better than the Palace chefs, isn't it?" A cheeky woman from the most popular restaurant in the city joked. Her warm atmosphere and confidence made Asura and his party chuckle while Vela nodded before looking at the sad maids who were also eating in the distance.

"Hehe, that's right!"

A group of orphaned children gathered around Asura's seat, sitting on the ground in a circle while the older woman fed them.

'They all accepted the situation.'

When he saw their smiles, he understood that in the depths of their hearts, a great fear and darkness existed. The church and destroyed sword would likely cause them to lose hope. However, even after a hard day, everyone tried their best to remain positive.

"How will you support yourselves from now on?" A nobleman questioned the restaurant owner, although his heart had already softened, and the attractive woman's cooking intrigued him.

The two began to flirt and speak, though she didn't have dreams of becoming a wife; to have a noble patron, it would be easier to remain in business in the city centre.

Asura believed with the destruction and deaths, many people would swarm to the city trying to escape the monsters and find a new life. This would bring a fresh wave of various tradesmen and other specialities to flood the capital.

"Cheers! Thank you for the work."

"Mhm," Asura raised his glass as the nobles and commoners came together, clinking glasses as the adults drank and the children laughed while playing with the food.

'I wish this moment could become a constant reality in the future.' His eyes turned to Vela, Mu Xue and Xavida while he enjoyed the sweet, crisp taste of his apple-scented fruit wine.

Vela was speaking with Mu Xue and the cooks about various cooking techniques they learned while traveling with her sister, brother and grandfather.

"It has been a while since I have been alone."

Asura muttered while he observed everyone. The night sky loomed as many of the parents took their children home, leaving the campfire sizzling, a flickering moment when the world outside didn't matter to him.

However, Asura knew he couldn't think like this. He must focus and be prepared for everything. He used meditation to recover his mind and body.

'Even if there were no repercussions, the enemy would not wait. It is time for me to enter the hellhole and understand what is happening with the church and these weird things.'

"Shang... Fallen Sun... Romantica..." Too many enemies. Asura closed his eyes, feeling a moment of stress before his mind cleared up. He rapidly thought through his problems and prioritised the weakest ones. "First, I will head to Romantica and meet that maid and woman, Maria Svesta."

His eyes watched the bonfire's snapping fire for a long while, the sounds around him becoming a comforting wave of music. The air was getting colder, so the cooks left, and only Vela, Mu Xue and Xavida joined Asura on the blanket while he remained focused on recovering his energy.

"You really did your best today, Asura," Xavida whispered, lying by his side.

"Mmm, you were so handsome when acting like a prince!"

"You're the best husband, hehe."

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Mu Xue and Vela leaned against him while he could only wrap them in a blanket and closed his eyes once again.

"Anything for you, the ones I love."

While he kissed them, Asura wished to have this warmth forever, a reality where only he could be the hero. He feared that this small happiness could collapse at any moment, shattering his world.

So he would fight, train and surpass himself at every moment possible.

'I will attain this happiness forever.'

***

The next morning Asura began training the moment he woke up. Opposite him Sigurd, her beautiful blue eyes watching him with a sense of awe. Their swords vibrated from the previous clash, with Asura's thick blade black covered in the devil's mantle and her sharp eastern blade tingling with lightning and wind magic.

"Hehe, just how do you increase your power so easily?" Sigurd licked her lips and asked him in an excited tone. However, Asura merely shrugged his shoulders, showing a complicated expression.

"I lost part of my soul and found my true source of power." He spoke with a strange, eerie tone while setting up his stance to face her once more. His body now surpasses hers by several levels, but her magic is still equal to his body, leading to a wonderful duel between two powerhouses.

Sigurd's pure speed against Asura's brutal force and resilience.

They fought in the training courtyard outside the Palace grounds, creating an area where they would not worry about being harmed or causing damage.

Bang!

Parts of the ground broke from a simple clash, their swords vibrating as lightning and darkness mixed, creating a blinding explosion of wind. Asura felt a strange feeling from the moment he adapted to his devil bloodline: the sense that he could step through space—a strange and impossible notion!

However, the feeling was too fleeting, and his brain couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"I will let you kiss me if you land a blow on me, Asura," Sigurd said as she took a horse-like stance.

Her sword was at her side, the edge moving fast like a snake as lightning ran across it, sending sparks through the air.

"You know I hate not following bets, right?" He responded, smiling coldly while focusing.

He closed his eyes for, but a moment, that illusory feeling, like threads of silk slipping through his fingertips, then he snapped his eyes open, Sigurd's body dashing towards him, dancing on the wind with immense speed, as he thought, I want to attack her blind spots.

In a moment of epiphany, his body twisted and lunged forward, a strange move for someone with his weight, strength and skill.

The sound of a blast filled the air like thunder hitting the ground before he vanished. Sigurd's sword clashed with the ground before Asura's body appeared, slashing her back with a rapid swipe.

Angered, she twisted her blade, slashing towards him again, yet he vanished. A low buzz appeared above her, and a huge fireball shot down like a meteor.

'Impossible! No, it's possible!'

Her eyes widened in shock and amazement, and her hand released a burst of wind to dissipate the blast around her body. Then, a smile formed on her lips. Her speed and attacks grew relentless as she tried to force him even harder.

The air snapped, lightning and darkness dancing through the sky as they sparred and duelled to the maximum of their abilities. Asura could only become lost in his wondrous state. He finally learned and understood one factor of the void element. He used the darkness and shadows to teleport to anywhere within his vision or body that connected to those shadows or darkness instantly.

"So you can control it now?"

"Yet it is like a blink—something that comes and goes with instinct."

To test him, Sigurd aimed to slap his cheek, only for her to gasp. Then his body appeared, holding her chin, lifting it to face him; as he looked down into her eyes, in his dragon form, he was taller than usual.

"I'm sorry." Her breathing turned hot, her skin burning as his breath tickled her forehead, and her beautiful silver hair ruffled by the wind.

"It is fine," he smiled before stroking her chin and cheek gently. "I love you, Sigurd."

"Ah!? Mmmnph!"

Their lips locked, her eyes opened wide in shock while his free hand held her waist before sliding towards her hips. The feeling of his kiss made her tremble, her hand gripping the back of his head, deepening the kiss as he took her tongue while he experienced her sweet apple taste.