Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix - Chapter 445

Chapter 445: The Calm before the Storm
Time passed with care for Asura’s desperate need for more, a brutal fact of life. No matter how powerful he had become, he couldn’t stop time or death.

As the chill of autumn crept in from the east, the empire’s formidable army loomed ever closer, a shadow of impending doom.

“There are more than thirty thousand troops, Lord Asura.” Ignis stood beside him in the main halls of the Arachneas palace, a look of dismay on her face. She then began to list the various types and layouts of the enemy formations.

“Ten thousand standard warriors, five thousand elite archers, seven thousand elite warriors, three thousand cavalry. The remaining are reserve warriors and engineers they seem to have brought with them two different types of machinery this time and seven catapults.”

‘It looks like they are going to crush us with pure force, though different machinery? Will they use the same barrier from the previous battle… I must be prepared.’

Asura leaned back in his chair, overlooking the eager faces of his subordinates and allies, a dark, gloomy weight spreading through the room. “Did you manage to gain any information about the barrier from last time, Helia?”

‘Look at her face—she’s so tired I can see the dark bags under her eyes, and even her hands tremble slightly from all the writing I’ve forced her to do…’

“My Prince, we have managed to secure several different hypotheses regarding the strange core. However, we still need more time to find a way to prevent its current ability.”

She paused for a moment as if looking at Asura’s face to gauge his reaction and disappointment with the gentle words. “Forgive me.” However, he didn’t look affected, instead giving her a slow nod and rubbing his chin.

“It seems that it might take a while, can you slowly continue the work for me, Helia?”

“Of course, My Prince.”

Helliana let out a sigh, though she was Asura’s lover and Fiancée. It made her feel horrible to be useless and unable to help him during this difficult and dangerous time. “I will take my leave. Please excuse me.”

“Helia, make sure you eat and get some rest. I am worried about you.” Asura’s gaze flowed across her body, lingering on her stomach before returning to her beautiful face. He felt relieved with her blushed cheeks and the subtle nod she gave before leaving the room.

“Ahem! Prince Asura, the enemy, could attack at any moment. Shall we proceed with the meeting?” Shizuka’s stern but pleasing voice sounded after she cleared her throat. As the queen of this nation, she all but gave decisive power to Asura due to his relationship with Rasha and how Asura dealt with the empire so far.

Her eight dazzling eyes watched his reaction while also gazing around the room to ensure the atmosphere didn’t decline. ‘Morale is at a low—the queen is trying her best to assist me, but there is a limit to how far we can carry this uphill battle.’

“Understood, Your Highness. I believe that we should ensure that our warriors and knights have enough rest, the empire will likely attack with tactics to drain our limited strength to avoid needless casualties. Night raids, stopping us from resting or getting any peace.” Asura stopped to catch his breath, watching the eyes and reactions of the people around—Gaius and Danos were there, both of them with energetic faces.

“What would you do to avoid this, Prince Asura?” Sigurd asked with a charming smile, sipping on her black tea.

‘Thanks, Sigurd. You asked so the other’s wouldn’t catch me off guard, right?’

“As was stated before from our scout’s report, the reinforcements from Silvara should arrive in two days, three at the latest.” Asura looked towards the elder, her powerful aura like a true empress despite being retired. “Thus, we will defend the walls with the minimal needed forces, allowing the majority of our forces to rest at night. To make this possible, the strongest warriors will defend the wall in a rotation.”

“I see…” The elder who tried to stick Asura together with Rasha showed a small, faint smile her lips curled upward as she nodded. Though it wasn’t the perfect plan, she seemed to agree with the notion and idea. “Then have you organised the elites who would be in the rotation and how long they would guard?”

‘The elder’s powerful eyes are like a snake gazing upon its prey—I must not falter.’

“I have—those who are worth fifty men, one hundred men and, of course, the strongest who could be considered unmatched will be split into five groups.”

The groups were written on several sheets of parchment, which Asura gave to the various leaders and high-ranking members.

Each defensive group would be composed of the following:

Four hundred standard troops.

Two x Fifty Men

One x One Hundred Men

One Unmatched as the captain.

Danos and Asura’s knights were equivalent to the Fifty Men, while several of the orcs and arachne warriors were stronger because of their age and experience used as the one hundred-man warriors.

As for the unmatched, it came down to Gaius, Shizuka, Rasha, Sigurd and Asura, with Lucia and Ignis as backups, depending on the barrier.

The first four groups would rotate every eight hours, while Asura’s group would join to help if there was an issue or an attack, with Asura and Lucia switching out if there were multiple attacks or raids during a single day.

“I see, there is a lot of detail in this plan, you’ve even made yourself a supportive aid. Is this because of that strange barrier, Prince Asura?” Shizuka’s eyes flickered, their glistening colour like eight gemstones filled with curiosity.

“That is exactly the reason, although being at the front constantly would boost morale. If the enemy deploys that barrier, I collapse once again or vomit blood. Our morale would be shattered at worst during a key moment in the battle.” Asura’s eyes shone with confidence; he didn’t wish to take a risk, and until they could counter that barrier, then his worth to the army was less than an elite soldier.

“…I would like to add though, that I will be providing artillery support with my magic.” Asura finished his words, taking a sip of the black tea, while narrowing his gaze, ever watching the surrounding people.

“Understood—what do you think, Lady Sigurd, Warchief Gaius?” Shizuka seemed to be pleased with the plan, while her troops were classed as extra units that she would deploy when needed. This idea of Asura’s made her pleased because he admitted she could direct the arachne better than him in this situation.

“I will follow my husband’s wishes—Queen Shizuka should lead her people the same—we will not let your kingdom fall.”

“We orcs just wish to fight a glorious battle—thanks to our Lord, we have found that place. A fight with both honour and danger; what more can we fight for our former queen? It is with pride we follow Prince Asura into this battle.” Gaius spoke in a rough tone with an enormous grin.

However, Asura noticed how his friendship with human nobles seemed to have helped the orc develop a more elegant and fluent way of speaking that others would no longer mock or look down upon.

‘Good work, Gaius. You must have worked hard in the south.’

“Understood, Lady Sigurd, Warchief Gaius. This Queen will also believe in Prince Asura and his people. I cannot thank you enough for coming to our aid. Now, it seems that our fate might very well rest on your shoulders, Young Prince.”

“Queen Shizuka, our paths are the same. I will walk along it beside you for every step—do not fear, the Kingdom of Silvara will not forsake you.”

In reality, the reason the elder pushed Rasha towards Asura was for this reason.

However, she could have never known he would have walked down this path even without her doing so. Asura hated the empire, and with this chance to lessen their power, he would do anything to do so.

“With the decision settled, everyone should make preparations, and the Empire won’t wait forever.”

“I understand.”

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The others nodded and smiled in return, though several left right away, including Rasha. She seemed to be a little awkward, glancing at Asura and wanting to say something. However, the meeting was already over, and she couldn’t stay behind.

“Thank you all for your time—I’ll see you later.”

Asura remained in the main room, watching as the others departed, though some, such as Gaius and Ignis, stayed behind to keep him company and discuss the strategy.

‘Tomorrow should be fine, but the following days might become hell… I wish I had the answers or power to stop the people around me from suffering.’

A sigh escaped his lips while the many faces of those who fought with him, for him and beside him appeared in his mind, with a deep pain in his heart.

***

Lorem and her knights marched through the dead lands, now closer than ever to Asura and the battle. They began to slow their speed. Although she wished to rush right to him, a messenger was waiting who explained the details and plans Asura would take.

‘That fool, he is more concerned about us than himself.’

“Alright, everyone, we will set up camp tonight because the future battle seems like it will be a tough one. Our Prince has asked us to make sure we are at our best!”

Lorem’s scarlet eyes twinkled in the sunlight. She understood his reasoning, but if the empire attacked tonight, then Lorem worried about the casualties and damage caused because they waited an extra day.

‘Whatever, I can just punish him when he returns….’