Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Chapter 85: Stage Three - Balance

An intense bloodlust filled Asura's body. When he entered the north forest, the Stage Two monsters flocked to him like meals on wheels. He slaughtered them easily, reaching the breaking point of his cultivation.

'What should I do... Every other time, I had the help of Xue'er or Xavida!'

He could feel the pain building within his body. The more he devoured, the more the Anima swirled around his organs like a hammer, squeezing and pulling at them.

[Do you want to break through? Or wait until the situation is right?]

To reach the Third Stage was nothing, but for his cultivation to reach the Third Layer, he needed an element to bind to one of his organs to form a connection to it.

The first layer caused his twin hearts to absorb his dragon fire and devil's ice. In contrast, the second made Xavida's lightning and wind elements collect in his brain.

'I haven't read the second cycle's part of the book yet, but will more elements be bound to me... Or is it only these four that I will specialise in?'

[Don't worry; the monoliths will not allow you to become incomplete]

Helia's warm, comforting voice helped Asura to recover from his conflicts. He trusted her words and stopped resisting the pain. His eyes looked at the fish that was half eaten. After finishing it, he began dashing towards a cave he had found earlier.

***

The cave was dark, damp and smelt like salty fish, but that didn't matter; with several of his protection charms and a few rocks and bushes to hide the entrance, Asura stumbled to the depths, finding some dry wood and rocks using his fire magic to create a fire for light and warmth.

He felt breaking through, similar to extreme indigestion. All his muscles and organs felt saturated with Anima, and even now, it continued to increase beyond his limits.

'Is this normal...?

'Helia, is this supposed to hurt this much...?'

Asura screamed, clenching his jaw and fists, allowing the Anima to gather into his lungs, causing him to cough up blood and spasms to shake his entire body, feeling his body burning with heat and the dirty mess and blood from the battles he removed his clothes, only small black scales covering his sides, hips and pubis, however, buck naked other than that.

Bang

Blood exploded from his nose as the Anima continued to force its way through, filling his lungs as tears formed in his eyes while grunting weakly, feeling like every organ was being compressed. He felt isolated when she didn't respond, as his mind floated away from his body.

Like a ship being battered by the currents.

His focus became solid, feeling the world's energy flooding into his body, refining, reforming, and rebirthing his existence according to the Phoenix race.

"You are so cute... I will give you an element that might not seem exciting, but I am sure you will be glad I gave it to you one day."

Helia's black feathers flickered in the cave, her pale skin illuminated by the fire as she knelt between Asura's legs, dropping her black dress to reveal two beautiful pink cherries atop bountiful mountains of fertility and hope. "Think yourself lucky. This princess is letting you touch her naked body for the first time."

Helia chuckled cutely as Asura groaned weakly, unable to appreciate her beauty or understand what she was saying.

"Don't open your eyes, boy... And open your mouth!"

Helia took a deep breath, causing her voluptuous chest to rise beautifully, her eyes glowing pure gold as a strange rune formed around her forehead, illuminating the cave with a bright light that enveloped his body.

Still, in his meditative state, he only opened his mouth as Helia's body pressed against him tighter, her soft bosom squashed against muscular chest plates, her hands cupping his handsome face, while her soft rump rested above his thighs, a dreadful object of great force now pressing against her soft, pink mound, protected by a handful of phoenix feathers.

"Why is it growing? You can't see me... Can you?" Helia blushed cutely as Asura remained unconscious, but his lower region reacted instinctively to her beauty. "Pervert... I am not interested in you while not awake! Anyway, don't worry; soon, you will understand why I chose this element for you..."

Helia's soft lips pressed against Asura's, her tongue entering his mouth, passing along her saliva mixed with the strange rune she had conjured.

The rune seemed to melt, creating pure darkness. If Lucretia or Verana were here, they would become extremely jealous because this dark was beyond theirs. It was almost alive. Rather than calling it shadow or darkness, one could even call it 'nothingness' or the 'void', a fabled realm in which many dark, deformed monsters exist in this world.

However, for the couple, it didn't matter... Helia's heart raced as she stroked Asura's body, feeling him respond to her while in his trance; the large rod, both searing hot and harder than any weapon she faced, now pushed against her most sensitive and private spot, causing the princess to falter.

Her lust and desires suddenly oozed out.

Helia's soft tongue explored Asura's mouth, tasting his sweet saliva while rubbing her mound against his shaft, feeling the void element invading his mouth and travelling down his throat into his stomach.

Unlike the previous elements, it didn't bind to an organ; instead, it spread throughout his entire body, merging with his bones, flesh, organs, and blood cells, creating a new type of magic he had never heard of.

"It's not my fault... You, why did you take so long." Helia whined while kissing Asura, her hand stroking his shaft while enjoying its size, causing her thighs to tremble weakly. "If I weren't helping you breakthrough, I would have beaten you up... Our first kiss was supposed to be more romantic. Yet it's always like this!"

Helia's blaming stopped while she continued kissing him. It was clear even her blame was words of love to her. She rubbed her forehead against his as if trying to merge into one being.

Her cheeks flushed red while her delicate fingers gripped his throbbing, searing rod, pushing the feathers aside, lining the tip to her pink hole, feeling the void element leaving the various parts of her body.

"This princess will forgive you..." Helia's juices trickled along Asura's shaft, causing her to pant weakly while lining his rod against her delicate, moist and tight flower. "Next time, we will do this properly, and you better make this princess feel good, or I will destroy the Monolith and kidnap you forever..."

Helia slowly rubbed herself against his warm length, feeling it begin to throb and expand. She knew he would soon release, thus containing her lust, not wishing their special first time to be ruined because of her feelings that ran berserk.

She closed her eyes, kissing Asura once more while pushing his length against her moist and pink flower, wincing in pain as a surge of warm, sticky fluid spurt across her stomach, mound and petals.

Her eyes opened wide, watching the huge, fleshy rod spurt more and more white cream onto her stomach and body, some even splashing her face.

She enjoyed the warmth of his seed and continued kissing Asura even as her void element merged with his body, resulting in a unique bond between them where their hearts and souls seemed intertwined.

"Finished... Finally. Don't worry... This princess will protect you."

Helia dressed, looking down at his sweaty and naked body, using her magic to cover him with leaves and branches to keep him warm.

Her cheeks still flushed red while a thick white goo covered her stomach and crotch, dripping to the floor while Asura slept unknowingly, his unnamed element completely integrated within his body.

****

Two hours later, Asura awakened. His body felt amazingly nimble. While the pain from before vanished, the Anima in his body felt like it danced from one organ to the next, weaving through his bones and flesh different from the past.

Asura snapped his finger, and flames burst out. Without a chant or focused mind, he cast Absolute Fire!

However, he felt a strange feeling of relief. The type he only gained from a night alone with Xavida or Xue'er... The scent in the cave was rather nostalgic, too... "I didn't have a wet dream, right... I can remember soft feathers and a beautiful face with golden eyes..."

[Forget it. You were just dreaming!]

"..."

Asura clenched his fists, feeling the Anima gathering, creating dark flames or black ice without trouble. Even the purple lightning formed at the tip of his finger when desired. He used his strength to lift a rock larger than his body, surprised at the improvement in his physical strength.

"Third Layer... Stage Three warrior."

Asura put on a black robe, then rushed out of the cave; excited to test his new power, noticing a beautiful black feather on the floor, picked it up while smiling strangely, sniffing it to find Helia's feminine smell, a faint smile coming to his lips as he whispered to the feather. "Thank you."

[This bastard sniffing my crotch plumes! I will beat him up when he returns!]

However, he instantly noticed the additional element when moving faster; a slight afterimage formed of pure darkness, identical to Lucretia... "The Darkness element?" Once again, he stroked the black feather, still warm from protecting her most precious place, before storing it inside his robes in a pocket beside his heart.

"Thank you, Helia. I will repay you tenfold."

[When you realise what those feathers are, you will repay me a millionfold!]

At first, he planned to get close to the princess to gain her earth element. However, that would mean holding back and remaining at Stage Two, and for this assessment, this weird, dark element was far more useful to him.

As his monoliths neared the third stage, he would achieve perfect balance.