Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

The enemy appeared to be a deformed crab from the depths of the ocean. It had long limbs and two sharp claws attached to flexible front arms. Its faces were deformed, and it had layers of sharp teeth in a circular mouth resembling a lamprey eel's.

The most disturbing thing was that they came in all shapes and sizes. Their size ranged from two to six meters, with thick armour plating covering their bodies. They attacked in a swarm, with tens of them rising from the water before splitting into groups and heading to the ships surrounding Asura's.

From their shimmering antennae would fire plasma-type magic beams after a brief charging time.

"Phantom scouts, Class 8 in overall strength, resistant to a Stage Five's attack spells," the report informed on the screens of the bridge, causing the captain to frown. He lifted his hands and gave the order for the Valkyrie and sailors to attack; with this type of enemy, they must fish out the matriarch, or the swarm would be endless.

Mu Xue stood at the bow of Asura's ship, her right arm transformed into a beautiful blue blade made of ice. Her hair fluttering in the wind revealed her black and pink undersuit. Her sword pointed at the sky, gathering ice magic in a series of sharp spears. Besides her, Ignis held her spear and shouted back to the other warriors.

"STAND BY!"

The sailors on deck charged their rifles in readiness.

"ATTACK!"

Ignis yelled.

Her voice echoed in the sky. With feathery wings, her figure transformed into a silver streak that shot forward into the swarm.

"STRIKE!"

As she slashed across the water, hundreds of Valkyrie followed her. Mu Xue's back-growing wings of ice, mixed with the icicle spears around her body, shot forth and sliced through one of the Phantom scouts as it jumped out of the water to attack.

She then leapt into the air, joining the fight above the water as silver and purple collided.

Xavida transformed into her dragon form, her mouth spitting balls of deadly white flames. The flames melted the poor Phantom scouts, leaving them no chance to fire back at a flying opponent.

"Roar!"

Her claws shattered the exoskeleton of one Phantom scout's shell before she tore into its internal organs. Her dragon form and its claws were at the pinnacle of physical strength, and when paired with her terrifying flames that devoured the enemy's magic, making their barriers worthless, few could approach her.

Meanwhile, a fight raged between the ship's anti-magic shield fluttered with sparks when met with the Phantom scouts' plasma beams. The mages were busy replenishing the mana used to support the shields as quickly as possible while sending bursts of mana to reinforce them.

"Hold the shields; the enemy's numbers are waning!" The captain's bitter voice echoed as most of the ships struggled. It's only thanks to the Valkyrie and Vela that they were safe.

Asura watched the entire battle from the main common room, with enormous screens showing the girls up close. He enjoyed the sight of Vela fighting like a true warrior.

"Are you really not going out there, My Prince?" one of the reserve Valkyrie asked him, her eyes seeing the flashing lights of magic, plasma, and dragons' breath illuminating the sky. She had just recovered from her injuries in the pod and was eager to test out her new strength.

"There's no need. They are having fun out there," Asura said. "Besides, I've been feeling a strong aura coming towards us. It's similar to that old man from the other day."

"Eh? A strong aura? I can't feel anything," she whispered.

****

Meanwhile, on the screen, Vela stood with her sword vibrating with an amber flame that instantly vaporised ice and water and deflected the plasma of the Phantoms. She had become a sun at night.

An army of creatures currently surrounded her and the ship she guarded. However, her eyes on those beautiful amber orbs showed only confidence,

"Stupid things." Vela swung her sword and sent out a wave of amber flame that pushed back the Phantom scouts.

Vela could barely do this not too long ago. If not for meeting Asura and his constant annoying request to train, even when they became lovers, he would drag her out of bed after a night of fun and then force her to practise. What used to take her several seconds to chant now turned into second nature, and what she struggled to do became easy.

"Burn," Vela ordered, and a crescent wave of flame exploded from the enemies she slashed with the snap of her fingertips.

'She's trying to act so cool copying me.'

When he noticed the east where Mu Xue and Xavida were playing around, the poor Phantom scouts seemed to have pulled away from the east, heading to the west. "But the west is..."

He turned his gaze to find Lorem and Lucia sitting on the deck of a ship while drinking together. The deck was filled with the soft meat found inside the scouts' bodies as Lorem's flames stewed the meat, using her Phoenix flames like some kind of chef!

"Come on, taste it," Lucia grabbed some and handed it to Lorem. "What do you think?"

Lorem casually took it and swallowed. "Mmm, my flames have been nourished."

Asura: "...."

'What the hell are you two doing?'

'They should be killing Phantoms, right?'

However, the moment a phantom appeared, Lucia's shadows caught it with several harpoons and dragged it to the deck. They rapidly peeled away the phantom's legs and hard shell, popping its flesh onto the fire.

"Horifiying..." The crewmen stared at their two leaders and gulped.

"This is tasty," Lorem laughed. "Maybe we can help the other ships."

"No," Lucia said as she plunged the harpoon into the shadows and caught another Phantom scout, its limbs removed and tossed onto the fire while it struggled. "Let the other women take care of it; I mean, Verana and Valerie are just sunbathing... When do vampires sunbathe!?"

Asura blinked and looked at the last ship. Verana and Valerie were lying on the deck, wearing only thin swimming attire. A black veil hid their skin from the show, which seemed to be a precaution to prevent others from looking and to protect their skin from damage.

"Verana, aren't you going to fight?"

"Nnn, it's too bright; I'll leave it to darling."

"Haha... can you smell that? It smells delicious." Valerie whipped while looking towards the ship of Lorem and Lucia. "I want to eat some baked crab meat, too."

"Can't be bothered. Ah!" Verana groaned as she stretched on the deck while her long raven hair spread across the entire deck shimmering with a beautiful glossy look. "Too lazy."

Asura: 'Those four...'

"Forget them, how is Amalia doing?" Asura couldn't see her or her companion as he frowned in confusion. "Can I get a view of my sister?"

"Yes, sir!"

In response to his question, the screen was divided into small windows to show the entire crew.

Some warriors fought on land and air, holding their spears with ease as they pierced their enemies one by one. They formed into teams and protected the battle mages, who chanted and kept the shields active.

Below the water's surface, Amalia's dark blue shadow fought against the swarming Phantoms; her blade seemed to cut through the water, ignoring logic and reason. Her little mouth was covered with a strange mask as her legs fluttered through the water.

"Where's the queen?"

"Over there!" a Valkyrie replied to him. "She's beating her enemy under the ocean's surface!"

"Show me."

"Yes."

The window shifted to Amalia's right, revealing an underwater image of a beautiful white-haired girl and a hundred Valkyrie as they rushed into the heart of the Phantoms.

With sword and spear, they massacred the poor scouts, cutting off their limbs as a Valkyrie thrust her spear into an enemy's brain. She then carved a path, ripping its body open and dragging out its vital organs as if performing an autopsy.

Asura nodded in satisfaction as he observed their brutal killing, but soon his face became serious, with narrow eyes watching Amalia fight with a special Phantom Scout the size of a house.

'What the hell is that?'

A massive shadow, disturbing the water's darkness, appeared from the depths below Amalia and the other Valkyrie.... "Is that the queen!?"

The queen was like a mountain surging through the water, her mouth slamming into the smaller phantoms and swallowing them whole with frightening speed.

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Her fangs were at least two metres, with its white skin and crimson-coloured tentacles smashing their heads with ease, hundreds of eerie eyes filled with darkness, as the Valkyrie and Amalia pulled out of the water rapidly.

"All hands brace for impact! Queen level Phantom detected!"

"Magic at full power, defensive shields at maximum!"

"SHIP, ADJUST THE BARRIER MAGIC AND RISE TO THE SURFACE! RAISE THE SHIELD AT TEN PERCENT!"

"This is a command from the Captain! We must adjust our shields by ten percent!"

"RAISE THE BARRIER, I SAID!"

The screams were in chaos as the young woman panicked in her chair while fiddling with the dials on her control panel.

"Oy! You heard the order!" The Captain lowered his foot above her and, in a harsh tone, shouted into the microphone connected to the speakers.

"Protect this ship at all costs. Raise the barrier."

"YES!" The young woman could feel his fierce eyes and ran over to increase the power to the mana tank connected to the ship's magic array.

"Darling, you're not going out?" A slender woman sat on Asura's lap and rested her head on his shoulder with a smile.

"Eh? Helliana?" He glanced at her in surprise.

"My Prince, please pay attention." Helliana curled up against him and jokingly pulled on his left hand, not wanting him to admire her beautiful red body. "I'm still here. Now, like this..."

A strange image appeared, with a palm print and firing permission written above in runes, before she looked at him with wet eyes and a wide smile.

"Fine, fine."

He patted her back gently before placing his hand on the display. A warm laser seemed to pass over his hand before he felt the ship rumbling.

[Main Cannon Preparing to Fire - Permission given!]

The screen flashed brightly as a buzzing sound rumbled through the ship's walls. The immense magic in the mana tanks gathered in the massive cannon, condensing into a powerful light.

"I'll burn you to ashes."

"FIRE!" Asura shouted, his eyes shining like those of a young boy. The moment the huge queen appeared in the surface world, magic already started to manifest and gather at the mouth of the cannon.

His face looked calm as a massive beam of light cut through the night sky, piercing the queen and the ocean surface.