Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Asura's form transformed into a gigantic black dragon, double the size of Xavida, his huge front claws grasped the body of Xavida, who returned to her human figure.

His thick dragon's wings thrashed, all four of them filled with a beautiful pattern. The force of his flap generated a massive shockwave, distorting space and air and sending the pursuing troops flying back while protecting Maria, who pulled back, watching the enemies and constantly casting fireballs to hurl at the cultists.

"Husband, they hurt me~ avenge me!" Xavida called out, her tiny figure climbing to his neck and hiding between a set of scales that allowed a few people to hide under and avoid falling.

"Of course, I will~ silly girl." Asura saw the enemy, his wings clearing the mist and fog, revealing the archbishop and a dozen high priests beside him with a huge catapult-shaped device which shot the eerie beam of darkness.

"All troops disperse! Fall back!" His deep voice reverberated through the entire Utgard pass, causing the ground and trees to tremble from his mighty roar.

"You trash, dare touch my wife!" Asura spat out, pulling back his neck, gathering magic in his throat before snapping back with his mouth open wide.

A giant pillar of black flames burst forth from Asura's mouth as he slammed into the ground with his wings spread out to protect everyone below. His breaths caused the ground to shake as hundreds of black-armoured men became ashes in his attacks. His snout flared, sending black flames and magical energy everywhere.

The large black dragon opened his mouth and roared once more, causing the battlefield to become silent as all eyes turned to him. He flew there in all his glory, his enormous figure towering over the high priests who dared ambush them.

Asura flapped his wings before diving towards the archbishop and his cannon below, the mist and clouds rushing forward as though in the worship of the massive figure that caused the wind to shatter from a mere flap.

"Kneel!!! DIE!"

Asura roared, his claws smashing through the cannon with ease, his jaws biting into a priest with a white skull mask before crunching and shredding them to bits. He opened his mouth once more, launching another breath of black flames towards the shocked archbishop, who watched with a trembling body as a dozen high priests cast strange barriers around him.

"You filthy lizard! How can you be our divine son!!!" The archbishop yelled out of terror.

"I was never your fucking god! I am the Prince of Silvara!!!"

The archbishop's face became pale as he felt the black flames swallow his barriers. His body went numb as his left hand grasped a tiny box and flipped the switch, forcing it open and revealing a green liquid, which he instantly gulped down.

"Khehehe... I won't die~ goodbye, you disgusting monster!" The archbishop's body swelled while turning green before suddenly his body contracted and vanished from vision. The sudden action caused Asura to become confused; how did he teleport away with the strange green slim?

'Don't tell me; is that how they have been hiding and travelling in Utgard all this time?'

Asura growled as he felt someone on his back. It was Maria, who had lost her eagle, the bird dead on the ground.

"Don't let any escape. Kill them all!" Asura roared, his body spreading out his wings and letting Maria jump off his back and land safely on an idle horse below, charging into the enemy army that started fleeing.

"DIE!!!!!"

Black flames pierced through the fog and cloud before consuming dozens more of the black-armoured men as his physical force smashed several to death.

The orcs and Valkyrie seemed affected by the bloodlust emitted from Asura's body. Their hearts and minds focused on nothing but battle as their lances and blades crushed the cultists who lost their leader and chain of command, their pitiful attempt to escape leading to them being stampeded by the silver unicorns used by the Valkyrie.

Many of the cultists' magic became useless in the dense fog and cloud generated by Asura, while his physical power broke their defensive spells and sent them to their deaths.

"They have a powerful mage with them; I can't help if he hides." A cultist cried out, his magic vanishing before it even formed a magic circle. The strong devouring force of Asura effectively became a mana eater, devouring all hostile magic while lending his animus to allied mages, causing a massacre.

"Crush them!" Asura didn't realise, but his emotions played such a huge part because he became the host for his monoliths—the moment he lost control, his monoliths would lose control along with him, acting upon his desires.

However, this state rapidly drained his Animus and stamina. Even Asura couldn't keep it up for long as he felt pain in his muscles and organs after fifteen minutes of the empowered mist spread out from his body.

Rather, a normal person would have collapsed within a minute!

"Flame Prison!!" A familiar voice echoed as Asura's form suddenly changed. His eyes closed as the thick mana mist covering the surroundings started fading.

A wall of flames appeared from within the mist, the magic of Maria both powerful and filled with a unique beauty. Hundreds of flaming chains rose from the ground beneath the escaping cultists, forming dozens of snake-like bars that wrapped around each other and sealed them in a cage of flames.

'I feel strange...' Asura thought as he landed with Xavida in his arms, the remaining cultists trying to escape while in panic.

"Mmmm~ you smelled so good, and it felt so warm I felt a little sleepy." Xavida's innocent reply made Asura sigh in relief. After all, she wasn't hurt. He placed her down gently on the ground and looked at the surrounding chaos: orcs slaying the priests, Valkyrie skewering monsters summoned or brought with the cultists.

"Ignis, report on the battle."

"Understood, Sir Asura. We have killed two hundred cultists and their summoned creatures. Maria is handling the last of them." Ignis gave him a salute, his hands shaking as his eyes scanned his wounded sister beside him, her left eye bleeding while her white armour was covered in blood. "We have no casualties but a few injured Valkyrie."

"Good, start giving medical treatment to the injured. Xavida should also help heal them." Asura's gentle voice left Xavida excited as she hugged him from behind with a small chirp, almost like a cat.

"Ehehe, of course, I will only let Ignis touch my husband, though." Xavida's words confused him. But when he checked, several bloody wounds appeared from nowhere, creating thin cracks along his body, shocking him.

"Brother?" Amalia feared Asura's intense eyes, his gaze cold as he stared at the incoming Maria.

"What happened to you? Why do you look so weird?" Maria was a little dazed by Asura's appearance, the wounds on his body visible as his blood dripped down like waterfalls. His forehead was bleeding, his skin was almost pure white, and his veins attempted to break his skin.

"What do you mean? I just overworked myself a little." Asura chuckled in response before coughing up some blood, the wet fluids dripping down his mouth a sweet taste of copper filling his mouth before his aura returned to normal.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The silver battle maiden stepped forward, her hands glowing with a yellow light before touching his body and entering his bloodstream.

She felt strange energies inside Asura, different from a human. However, the strange power calmed down her nerves, so she pushed away her concerns and the strange feelings it made her feel, biting her lower lip to distract herself.

"Maria, thank you for handling them."

"Thank you for trusting me." She bowed, her gaze more focused and filled with conviction compared to the one even one night ago.