Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

From the moment he woke, Asura felt rejuvenated. The strange potion Princess Celine had let him drink seemed to have done more than just heal his wounds.

He looked back while dashing across the valley floor, enjoying a mysterious sight.

A beautiful Elven princess, like from story books, now dashing over sharp rocks, trying her best to keep up with him while sweating and wheezing.

'Never expected this woman to be so unfit and clumsy.'

"You alright back there, Celine?"

"Haa... Nm.... Of course..... Fuu.... Haa..... Please wait, we cannot keep up!"

He felt amused that she would refer to herself as 'we' the moment she became exhausted and pushed to the limit. Her haughty tone became endearing the more she struggled.

Asura slowed down, but not to ease her suffering. It was because he sensed many goblins. "Come on, we need to hurry."

"Heh!? Where are you going, Sir knight? Wait... we cannot climb that wall...!"

With the twist of his hips, his feet slid through the gravel and stone, creating a messy dust cloud. He then rushed along the wall to his right. He grabbed a jagged stone and pulled himself onto it before climbing across to the next valley.

"H-Hey... Wait!"

Celine looked up in frustration. Asura enjoyed the look of her dirty face, with eyes like she feared her saviour was a madman and did not know what she should do.

'Hmm... Maybe I'm a bit of both, aren't I? Let's help the girl out.'

He leaned down from the ledge and grasped her delicate fingers, pulling her up effortlessly. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Ouch... That hurt..."

The princess turned away, pouting, accidentally kicking an elevated stone before falling into his chest and face first.

"Ha, seriously?"

She trembled with her arms hanging loosely by her sides.

Asura grabbed her arm and pulled her up once more. "We really need to hurry, little princess," he whispered.

Celine just stared at him before slowly nodding, perhaps because she had no other choice.

"Take a deep breath, Princess."

"W-why? Ah!?"

With a gentle tug of her hand, she fell back into his arms as if he were going to carry her like a damsel in distress. He moved his hand to her mysteriously plump behind and jumped off the ledge.

Celine shrieked and tightly wrapped her arms around him, which was amusing as they only travelled down ten feet through the air. She also seemed to enjoy the fall once over the initial fear.

Her rosy cheeks and innocent expression were even more beautiful up close. 'She is just as attractive as Helliana... No, she might be the prettiest woman I've seen.'

The princess attempted to look at him, but her cheeks flushed, and she turned away after glancing at him.

"Hmph... place us down. We are quite embarrassed."

He smirked at her innocent reaction, and her arrogant words no longer irked him. 'Such a weird girl.'

A handful of goblins suddenly appeared, turning the corner at the edge of his vision. His evolved eyes measured their magic density and realised a goblin was just a goblin, no matter what stage they achieved.

"These goblins are no trouble, so don't panic."

Celine's eyes widened in surprise before she gasped, noticing the goblins, but her expression didn't change. Perhaps she trusted him a little more now.

"Sir knight... The power I can sense within you is astounding... Even though the goblins are not much of a threat, as you say... But..."

"But?"

Celine's lips formed a thin line before she whispered into his ear.

"What happens when you come across a monster of equal strength?"

Asura smirked before pointing in the distance.

A small settlement with various primitive wood and stone buildings formed the goblin village, causing Celine's eyes to dilate. Her body trembled while she held onto his arm with her pale hands.

"There's a few inside there, and of course, if I find a monster equal, there is only one thing to do!"

"Hmm?"

The princess looked confused for a moment before she smiled. "Yes, we must retreat!"

"Heh!?"

Asura's fingertip pressed against her nose as his eyes closed, shaking his head with a flat look. "No, no, no, we fight!"

"H-Huh...? What!?"

"The only thing to do when facing a powerful monster is to test yourself against it!"

Celine blinked, looking utterly dumbfounded as if he had turned insane.

He then pushed her back slowly. The distance between the goblins was over two thousand metres, allowing him to gain an advantage from this distance.

With a loud shout, he called for his beloved dragon lance, "Lumeris, let's hunt some goblins."

Asura summoned his black and red lance, with a golden dragon dancing around the shaft. He twisted his arms as she sang along with the breeze. After using only Nova and the silver katana for so long, it felt comfortable holding her in his hand.

'It's the first time I called you alone, right? My lovely lance.'

"Puah! The weapon... This feeling!"

He could feel the weapon's delight. The spear's lovely voice became radiant, and a soft tone entered his mind like a warm breeze.

Asura stared at Celine while she observed the dragon lance and the goblins in the distance with a terrified face, her beautiful Elven glaive trembling in her hands, along with her teeth.

"Scared, princess?"

"N-no... I-I am not... We have many servants and trained knights. How can this princess fear mere goblins?"

Asura nodded, his eyes trailing back to the village in the distance.

'A goblin has low physical durability compared to humans. She shouldn't struggle to gain some confidence. Her magic reserves and density are higher than mine. Elves are strange.'

"That's good! There will always be stronger enemies, but to live vigorously, you need to break down the barriers you've created. Do you want me to hold your hand while you fight, Celine?"

The princess pressed her lips together, frowning, before staring at him with a severe expression.

"Sir knight... This princess refuses your kind offer. We do not require help."

'Her arrogance is still irritating.'

His eyes drifted over her appearance once more.

Asura felt satisfied she wouldn't fall off the cliff and turned around, holding his spear like a deadly point. He cracked his neck before shooting through the valley with a misty silhouette.

With each step, dozens of metres vanished in silence.

The moment before his foot hit the rocky ground, a green swirl of wind magic enhanced his speed, propelling him faster like a soaring dragon.

Celine's mouth gaped open, deep breaths interrupting her as she tried to speak. "Unbelievable..." she whispered before forcing her body to move after him.

"This is just a light jog!"

She whispered, struggling to keep up.

With a flash, Asura's lance penetrated the air ahead of him. The long blade penetrated the throat and chest of two goblins before holding his left hand out towards the goblins.

A black swirl became visible for a moment before another glimmer of black flames burned the other three goblins into ashes and half the mountain path into a molten hellscape.

Asura glanced back at Celine. "There're hundreds ahead, but they're all weak. They should be fun practice for you!"

His words were like a heartless and ruthless man in her ears. Celine's long ears flopped down as she tried following him, almost slipping several times on the smooth rocks.

The goblins were not too far away, and after hearing the sudden attack from their kin, they realised the situation. Sure, Asura could have been quieter, but he loved the excitement of hunting.

Asura approached a ledge overlooking the goblin village, using the momentum of his steps to change his direction and land on the wooden ledge of a rundown house.

His body bounced across a few, igniting them in black flames before leaping high into the air and stabbing towards the enemy goblins. Left and right, slicing them in two as flames washed over the entire settlement.

"Try to keep up!" He whispered in amusement.

Celine ignored his words. "S-sir knight!" she gasped. Yet her body seemed to learn to follow his commands, as her glare sliced through the air as if trying to imitate his movements. She aimed for their necks or armpits while rotating around Asura's back as if to cover him in a cute gesture.

He enjoyed this adorable attempt at support. Asura landed on his feet after killing ten more goblins, the vast majority of which had low-ranked magic levels.

"Your balance is a little off, but your skill is impressive. Still, I'd suggest you look to aim for more decisive cuts to kill them in one sweep."

"But they're so small and fast... How do you aim for their necks when they're moving?"

She whispered.

Asura turned and gestured at a group of goblins rushing along the mountain pass, growling while jumping up and down in irritation.

He didn't seem to be worried and swiped the air to his left, sending several goblins flying back from the wind pressure and force. His fingertips pointed to the growling goblins on the mountain pass, trying to aim their bows at Celine.

Shards of stone and rock trembled, forming spears that revolved around his arm. The destructive earthen spears pierced the necks of the goblin archers, tearing through their armour.

The helpless goblins yelped in surprise before twirling through the air, crashing into the ground below.

"See that? Aim for that area on their necks!"

"I am not a monster like you!?"

Eventually, the princess stopped her exaggerated royal dialect and just sounded like an overwhelmed young woman, her eyes trembling while she struggled to fight the swarming goblins alone.

"Still a bit too slow for my liking, but you'll get better in time."

Celine panted and trembled while several goblins dodged her attacks. He lifted his lance before smashing it into the ground to disrupt those who almost attacked her, using his magic to kill them to maintain her slight advantage.

He then cleaved his dragon lance through the air, ripping apart the goblins' defences as if it were paper. "Stop trying to defend and counterattack!"

The princess didn't speak but tried to move quicker, her footwork becoming smoother with every step. He noticed that despite being clumsy, her talent in combat didn't lose to his, remembering the shadow arts taught by Lucia and how he learned her steps during one duel. Celine was learning his movements during this fight.

'Let's add a little insurance and go attack the big guys watching here from their little throne.'

Although not to the level of Lucia. Asura could produce a shadow clone of himself to latch onto the princess.

It would then attack after her to avoid sizeable gaps in her defence from the large glaive or defend her blind spots with the same logic.

"I am doing it. I can fight too! Mother, I'm not weak!"

"Calm down and keep focused. Now isn't the time to celebrate, Celine."

Asura dashed off once more with a smirk, his spear piercing two goblins that resembled captains with higher magic density. He smashed his foot into the ground and generated an explosion of earthen spears, skewering a few dozen more goblins from below.

His earth spears created another massacre and blocked the higher-level reinforcements from reaching Celine.

It was not long before he approached the source of magic in the goblin settlement.

"Oh? A young goblin prince and his little shaman aide?"