Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix - Chapter 269

Chapter 269: A dance of fire and ice
“Remove your armour. That acid will melt through your bones!” Maria’s voice echoed, her left hand twirling in the air, her father’s special type of casting spells, weaving spells into sign language and hand signs.

The knights, dressed in her colours, removed their armour before the sizzling purple and black energy melted the steel and iron into liquid; Maria spread both palms while matching eyes with the huge orc leading the charge.

“Dragon’s Flame!”

Her body shook the agony from constantly casting huge spells, creating a pain like someone grabbed her organs from within and squeezed them tight. She bit her lips as the huge torrent of flames in the shape of a dragon crashed towards the enemy orcs and crossbowmen.

“Kill the woman!” Grom’Gaius screamed, his eyes filled with anger and despair at the devastating power of the female mage.

“Shoot! Release your bolts!”

Maria’s right hand lifted, and blue veins filled with an icy temperature froze over her skin as she released a whimper; the next moment, dozens of deadly serrated crossbow bolts shot towards the upper walls.

Even with their shields, the knights felt a sense of dread before a hundred ice shields formed in front of each knight, blocking the bolt just enough as they tore through the ice, shattering it into pieces and hitting the metal armour with a thunk sound.

“Excellent, magnificent!” Maria complimented her knights, who kept fighting against the terrible attacks.

‘I am lucky none of them died… you stupid girl, remember their names and give them your gratitude.’

Maria panted as she blinked, her eyes blurred for a second as she swooned before vomiting a large amount of blood, forced to hold the wall, desperate to remain standing, to maintain the ice fortress spell she endured being constantly drained.

“She’s not dead yet!? Hurry! Kill her, Shaman!” Grom’Gaius felt a sense of frustration, nothing like back in Westrin; the enemy mage slaughtered his people with ease.

A swordsman could kill hundreds, but she killed thousands already!

“Yes, my lord!” The shaman smiled.

The mist of darkness shrouded him as the nearby orcs trembled, as if they had met their doom, their eyes filled with fear while Maria stared forward. Her mind barely registered anything except for the sinister movements of the shaman and its unusual position.

‘I can’t fight this… I am spent just defending the people. Father, I am not you. I cannot do this!’

Suddenly, the sound of the ground trembling echoed, growing closer and closer!

“What now!?” Grom’Gaius felt at his limits, unable to contain his frustrations.

Maria nearly collapsed to her knees, barely able to keep her eyes open before she heard the faint thuds of horses galloping and the horns of war crying as a battle cry sounded in front of her, mixed with the sound of steel banging together.

“For Alan Nelphim and our lady of ice!”

‘Nostalgic…’ Maria didn’t know why she thought of these words, but they gave her strength as she summoned more magic to cast a single spell.

She remembered spending hours in the gardens with Alan, who tried to teach her how to wield the sword. His face wasn’t handsome, but it felt like home. It warmed her heart, and a feeling of emptiness followed as she recovered some of her desire to fight.

“Archers… I will summon shields for those knights. You must protect their charge. If they can take out that shaman, WE CAN WIN! You will take their heads before their shaman gets an attack off! On my command… NOW!”

“Yes, my lady!”

“Yes, our countess!”

She waved her left arm before three walls of ice formed from the ground and blocked the arrows that flew towards the two hundred mounted knights, blocking the black beam shot from the shaman in desperation as their charge crushed through the hundreds of goblin archers and reinforcements.

A knight in gold and blue armour carried a heavy shield as he stood at the forefront, blocking a blow from the shaman’s staff.

The sword-wielding knights suddenly collided with the orcs at full speed, their swords crashing down to maim their enemies.

The knights from Alan Nelphim had trained and survived because they always sought improvement. Maria watched their charge end, a chance for victory, so she believed and lifted her arms into the sky.

This action dropped the output of the frozen fortress, and she began conjuring a storm of fire much greater than the shaman now crushed under the feet of horses.

The firestorm roared and burned brighter than the sun, igniting everything it touched as the ogre screamed in anguish, his eyes melting before his body disintegrated to ash.

“For her glory!” The lady knight’s voice sounded, her eyes cold as she charged into the fray, her blade sweeping clean through an orc’s head while a wounded knight of Westrin staggered next to her.

“Blake, are you okay?” The lady knight asked the Westrin Knight, whose head lifted before he collapsed, dead. “Damn it… sleep well, brother.”

“We cannot stop! We must take their leader’s head! Our Lord’s muse needs support. Knights of Westrin! Forward!”

“GRAAAA!!!” Grom’Gaius smashed the brittle ice around him, holding his sword now only twenty metres from the wall, his gaze watching his brothers and warriors killed differently from Westrin. He realised brute force couldn’t always win the battle, but he saw the figure that caused this anguish.

“That woman!”

Grom grasped his sword, flipping it while pulling back his arm. All his muscles tightened from his thighs to his upper body before he took a run and tossed the blade at thunderous speed towards the countess, barely staying on her feet.

“DIE!” His voice thundered while his men trembled, fearing his wrath, and it worked.

The knights on the wall who had been protecting the countess turned their backs and rushed back to defend her, but alas, they were late.

“Eh?” Maria exclaimed before she felt an unbearable pain in her abdomen.

Grom’s enormous blade skewered her abdomen, sending her body flying off the wall. As her hands reached out, she coughed up blood, her eyes darkening as she floated through the air.

She had the memory of the pain; she didn’t feel pain, her heart frozen from decades of deception, even if only a single year passed.

Her body hit the ground hard. The shock wave reverberated as her limbs broke like a doll before her blood seeped into the earth.

“I’m… sorry.” Her lips moved silently while the knights and people within the walls raged at their lady’s apparent death. The orc army outside cheered at her defeat, but they, too, sounded war horns of retreat.

The knights of Western slaughtered all the goblins and many of the orc support troops.

The lady knight didn’t slow her movements, her sword slicing off an orc’s arm before her body shifted, dodging a deadly halberd’s tip, the sound of the orc’s retreating horn bolstering the knight’s morale, but their target, Grom’Gaius, escaped, causing frustration in the female knight.

“Return to the keep. We’ve won! Don’t waste time on the fleeing orcs. We must see to the survivors!” Her words made them realise their fatigue and why she said that, and their bodies moved, rushing towards the castle.

Grom’Gaius felt overwhelming pain and a sense of helplessness while running for his life with his guards.

When he looked back and saw the enemy knights not even bothering to pursue, he felt a sense of humiliation in his heart, but they would not give in. He felt confident that the mage would die and the next battle would be easier.

“Foolish, female mage! Gyhaha!”

****

****

Meanwhile, in a dark but extravagant room filled with various things, a tall, thin man smiled, his dull eyes watching the battle on a large screen; Alistair Crowley sat in the king’s chamber, and Randolf Romanicus lay on the floor with his neck slit and white foam in his mouth.

“It seems the little bird escaped her cage. What a wonderful display. Like your father, a shame you both died in my plans, though. Hahahahaha!” His voice sounded soft but drowned in wickedness.

“Ahh, Randolf, my puppet king. You would have done well if you didn’t betray me in the end… Truly, humans are simple-minded.”

As Alistair turned and walked into a small mirror behind him, his body vanished and returned to the empty throne room, where he sat on a majestic throne.

“Hahahaha, this is a good kingdom. Our son will soon return to bring this world back to order, and all will worship his divine light and order!”

His soft laughter echoed through the halls, a wicked sound as it thundered around the castle.

‘Finally, the time has come!’

With those words, various monsters and people wearing the white and red colours of the fallen sun cult stepped out of the shadows, their smiles causing fear in the kingdom’s nobles.

“Prepare for my son’s arrival. Spread the word to the people that the era of darkness has ended, and the golden age has begun.” Alistair gave a command, his voice and tone gentle.

“Yes, your eminence,” they replied as one before dispersing.

“Alistair, what do you mean!? Weren’t you being threatened… because of our lives? You did this, right?”

Kneeling in chains were Alistair’s wife and children.

“You will return my son to me! You hear me… how can you do this…no!” Alistair’s wife wept at her husband’s cruelty.

“Hush, dear, did you think I would let any harm come to you?” Alistair laughed gently, “Can’t you see?” The next moment, his blade flashed, the woman’s eyes widening as their two children’s heads slipped to the side before their bodies fell.

“Forgive me, let me introduce myself.”

“Alistair Crowley, Arch Bishop of the Fallen Sun Cult’s Southern Sect!”

****

In a bright temple filled with mana-infused candles and colourful glass, a hooded priestess heard a faint voice in her mind. This woman used to serve the countess until she changed overnight, and instead, she sought refuge in the church of divine light.

Three days have passed since the battle at Ulgard Pass.

“Is that you, Countess…?”

Her eyes filled with tears before she made a heartfelt prayer. “Lady, may you rest in peace!”

“…. Who is killing me off?”

With a cough and groan of pain, the naked countess covered in bloody bandages opened her weak eyes, dark circles and bloodshot eyes, nothing like her usual self. She had memories of the pain of her flesh and bones breaking after being impaled.

“My Lady… please forgive me… but where should I begin?”

“It’s… alright.” Maria waved her hand, her palm grasping a glass filled with a ruby liquid that radiated a slight blue shimmer.

“Ugh… it tastes like ass!”

“My Lady, mind your language!”

“Mm…” Maria murmured before she swallowed the potion in one gulp; a faint silver glow surrounded her wounds as she bit her lips in pain. The potion focused on repairing her mana channels, allowing her to heal the more serious injuries.

“When you can walk, I will take you to a safe place.”

“No, I will not leave my people!” Maria stood up and nearly fell before she coughed and groaned, spitting up blood once more.

“My lady, if you don’t treat this wound… it will be too late! Please listen to me, and you can still save them!”

“Explain everything. I have little time left! Those orcs will return before I heal, and then those kind women and men who fought for me, my father and supported our family will all die!”

“Yes, my lady…” The priestess nodded, her words bringing despair and pain to Maria’s heart as she listened.

“But I know of someone that might aid you. I have been helping his family over the past few years.”

“Are you sure… can I trust him?” Maria still doubted men because of Alistair’s actions. “What is his name?”

“Earl of Silvara, Asura Fenix, recently crowned prince of Silvara.”

“Are you retarded!? Why would our enemy help us?”

“I have already met him, and his only demand is that the land he conquers will become his.”

“How can I accept that? Will he take my city!?”

“No, he doesn’t seek cities, but the kingdom itself, and he has the Queen’s permission.”

****

Two weeks earlier, while Asura sat in his tent preparing to return to the capital for his marriage, a strange priestess entered the tent with a submissive aura.

“Forgive my rudeness. Might you be Asura Fenix?”

“I am.”

“I would like to offer you a proposition. Could you please read this?”