Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix - Chapter 399

Chapter 399: A little Rusty, but I won!
Asura’s body began fading, the sensation of teleporting becoming easier. He appeared, stepping into the red vortex, his sense of time and space warping, before the hellish landscape began to expand in his eyesight.

There was no welcome this time, no Lorem to greet or keep him safe. The moment he appeared, it felt like the atmosphere trembled, countless senses and minds turning towards him and seeming to size him up.

‘This is bad…’

The pressure was not the same as before, and the moment he took his first step, a massive shockwave blew out, and he felt his body flying backwards—a force like a bomb struck his entire body.

However, it didn’t daze or stun him; Asura spent most of his spare time in this place; when not with his lovers, he would sneak into these short bursts of extreme danger.

‘The enemy’s body is Stage Nine, Magic Stage Ten…’

Each time he fought, Asura now took the time to analyse how they fought, why they chose that pattern and adapted himself to counter or accept their style.

‘This type is the hammer fist, I am sure of it.’

The massive shadow that moved closer was the most common creature in this hellscape, known for its heavy fists and unyielding defence. Their magic was usually strong, but based on defensive spells and body enhancement, they also had low intelligence.

‘I can’t waste time. I need to start improving now!’

His feet touched the ground, and Asura looked up, the shadow of the giant now visible. The massive creature was almost three metres tall, and its fists were bigger than Asura’s body, but the light feeling of his magic flowing through his veins like an ocean’s ebb and flow allowed him to move freely, even under the pressure of the enemy’s aura.

This was the true power of the Sea Cycle; normally, when faced with a stronger monster or enemy, Aura controls everything; the magic density of a creature can limit, slow or even stop a weaker enemy’s flow of mana and stop them casting altogether.

But the sea cycle forged a series of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and streams through the core created to withstand even the most intense aura during the Earth Cycle, allowing Asura’s magic to flow as if the enemy’s aura didn’t exist.

Essentially, making the power and advantage a Stage Ten mage would have over him at Stage Seven. Completely useless.

“COME!”

Asura didn’t move, but the air seemed to swirl, and the giant’s fist flew forward, shaking the entire area. The moment it was a hair’s breadth from him, his body vanished, the space warping and appearing directly in front of the giant, the enemy’s attack missing him entirely.

“Hah!”

The moment his feet touched the ground, his arm moved, and a wave of black light flowed forward, a wave of pure heat and energy flying towards the giant’s body.

He didn’t use his sword or spear. This training was for Asura’s body and his magic, and thus, he fought with his body on the line.

The giant’s chest exploded, and blood erupted from its back as the magic penetrated its body. But he didn’t stop. Instead, Asura vanished once again, the space shifting and his body reappearing behind the giant, his fist moving and striking the giant’s head, causing the blood from the previous wound to spray out.

He began to devour the monster’s magic and vitality, its brain now smeared across the red sand, as a biting wind flicked against Asura’s cheek.

‘If I can’t fight against these, how will I protect Celine and Spica? Mu Xue or Vela? I can’t be weak… I have to get stronger.’

“Come, you bastards!”

A massive barrage of flaming bolts shot from Asura’s back as he sensed numerous Hammer’s fists coming to attack Because this type of monster in the hellscape… lived in enormous packs!

The next attack came, and it was not a single giant. But a swarm of the giants and Asura smiled.

“Good, keep coming. I have time to burn.”

A massive battle soon began, and the entire area turned into a battlefield.

****

“Haa…..ha…..haaa…. these guys are so stubborn. If I don’t destroy their heart and brain, they can regenerate completely….” Asura complained about the Hammer’s fists.

Thirty minutes is how long it took Asura to clear the twelve enemies, his body now covered in bruises and deep internal bleeding from their brutal attacks.

If they could strike the enemy by killing one of their own, they would punch through the chest of their fellow hammer fist, all to land a blow on Asura, leading to this state.

‘I have a short time before I return to Celine’s room…’

His body was in tatters, but with his cultivation method, the constant flow of his oceans and seas allowed Asura to restore magic constantly, even during combat, so to reach full power, it would take less than thirty minutes. This meant that he could train more, but the problem was he only had thirty minutes left! So he would have to fight while weakened.

“CAW!” A deformed, resonating bird call sounded from above.

‘Oh, not this one, again?’

Asura looked up and saw the ugly, disgusting monster descending, its eyes blood red.

‘Great, the Blood Crow is the worst one to deal with…’

Their bodies were huge but mostly created of blood and bone, making it hard to strike a definitive blow, especially with his physical body.

“Come, you bastard.”

“CAW!” The bird’s cry was deafening, and its speed increased, the bloody red light around its body burning hot.

Asura gritted his teeth and ran forward, the heat and force of its approach causing the air to burn and sizzle.

“Hah!”

The ground ruptured, and a massive wall of white flames and black ice formed, blocking the attack. However, the force was so strong that the wall was destroyed in an instant, and Asura’s body was flung backwards.

“Tsk, not a single scratch, as expected.”

The Blood crow was a Stage Ten creature, and the first monster in this place that Asura struggled to fight. But the most annoying thing was its ability to manipulate its body’s blood and use it as a shield or to condense its size to make it almost impossible to damage the thing because of how dense its blood became.

“Let’s go!” Asura roared and raised his hand, a spear of black flame and black ice appearing in his grasp.

‘Come on, this time, I will destroy you!’

“CAW!”

The Blood crow flapped its wings and flew forward, the air rippling.

“HAAAH!”

The two forces clashed, and the entire area was rocked, the power of Asura’s body beyond mortal standards. While his magic could output the same force as a Stage Nine, each blow of his spear would cause the red sand and desert to change shape, yet the blood crow was crafty, pecking at his openings.

Even if it took damage, the bones of its body were like ancient treasured items that endured Asura’s physical strength.

‘This guy is tough!’

“Caw!”

The blood crow was a bird-type monster, but its blood body was not limited to its current form, and it could transform into a massive humanoid, style enemy with a bird’s head and strange blood wings on its back… However, Asura was convinced that the monsters learned this from fighting him for hours in the past!

“Come!”

“Caw!”

The blood crow was a blood creature that loved the taste of blood and flesh, but it would only eat its fellow creatures, making it the only creature in the hellscape that would not kill and eat Asura but fight him for the sake of fighting him!

Rather, it felt like the two were quite similar, arrogant, confident and loved to fight!

‘Okay, come!’

The giant creature was now humanoid, and its speed was faster, Asura’s eyes sharpening as he saw the Blood Crow’s talon-like fingers moving at an insane speed.

*Bang!*

A swirl of crimson dust wrapped around them like a tornado as their fists collided, the bird’s bones cracking for the first time as it stepped back.

“HAH!”

Asura’s spear was swift, and the Blood Crow’s chest exploded open, but the blood immediately condensed, and the creature’s talons moved forward, slashing across Asura’s chest.

“Gah!”

Blood splattered the ground, and the two enemies stepped back, facing each other. Asura’s magic surged, healing the wound while the Blood Crow’s wound sealed up, though its cracked bone couldn’t recover that fast.

‘Stupid bird.’

“CAW!!!” The bird’s call echoed, and its blood-like body began to shift, the wounds closing and its bones reforming as the blood in its body began to move.

“Oh, I get it, but did you think I’d let you return to bird form!” Asura leapt forward, his blow pounding the Bird’s head.

“CAW!”

The ground shook as the bird’s body crashed into the ground, and Asura’s body flashed, appearing above it, his spear useless because he finally discovered the weakness of these birds, smashing down with his foot, crushing the pelvis of the monster.

“Caw!”

The monster struggled and fought back, its body struggling, and its blood talons raked across Asura’s body.

‘It’s trying to escape!’

Asura’s body was injured, but the power of the sea cycle was not limited to its ability to restore magic or resist an enemy’s aura. It could focus ALL his magic into one place… creating a sort of tsunami inside his core that would cause the magic to surge through his veins.

The process was painful as it stretched and widened his magic veins… Yet, the power of his blows would almost double!

Black flames of destruction began to wrap around Asura’s arms as he pushed the bird down, holding its beak against the searing sand.

“Hah!”

His hand punched down, once, twice, over and over, faster and harder, each time he felt the pain of his bones screaming because of the rebound from the ground and the bird’s defensive magic and dense blood armour.

However, his fist penetrated the bird’s skull, smashing through its beak.

“CAW! CAW! CAW!”

The bird’s cries were desperate now as its blood-like body began to turn dark red; Asura didn’t stop, grabbing the poor bird’s beak and tearing it in two, killing the monster and devouring its huge amount of vitality to heal himself and ending the battle in just over twenty minutes.

“You bastard, next time, I will kill your entire race!”

Asura’s words were cruel, but the bird was a Stage Ten creature and the first to injure and almost kill him in this hellscape. Its body was almost impossible to hurt, and its speed, resilience and magic defence made it annoying to fight.

“But I finally did it…” Asura stared at his fist, his veins swollen and bruised, but the veins would become tougher once they healed. The Blood Crow was a strange existence, and he would rather kill it than allow it to live and become stronger, a true threat.

“It seems my time is up…” He looked up and saw the swirling portal swooping towards him, as he thought how many times he needed to rely on this to save his life in the past week…

What Asura didn’t realise was the state of his current outfit, and the excitement of battle made his young dragon become an adult dragon.