Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Once, the entire caravan vanished from sight. Asura left his mansion with Verana and headed to register their application to join the Royal Knights. He grasped the crimson token shaped like a phoenix with Lorem's details etched with a unique spell.

'This will allow us to enter their special training areas in secret realms. She set the limit to Stage Six areas, though.'

"Asura, will you really gain that much by training for just two days in the Royal Knight's zones?"

Verana didn't mind following him. In fact, she felt jubilant when he chose her to accompany him.

"If I were a normal person, no. However, we are not normal, and I will explain why during training."

To her, joining the Royal Knights mattered little. Her only reason for being there was to spend more time with Asura.

She watched his back with affectionate eyes.

His armour looked dashing.

A sleek black plate covered his abdomen, shoulders, and thighs, while padded leather and chain mail provided minor protection to the rest of his limbs and body.

Initially, he wanted to use his dragon scales alone for armour.

However, Lorem and Xavida scolded him and forced him to contact the blacksmiths at Wolfsheim to create this light yet versatile armour from his and Xavida's shed scales. This armour created a defence similar to an actual dragon with the added technology of dwarven metallurgy.

"Will we really fit in with the other candidates? I heard that you normally need to be in your third or fourth year to apply."

Verana's concern was genuine.

Asura knew that many of the annoying knights and trainees might criticise them once this battle ended and the academy returned to normal.

Imagine a first-year who started training three months ago suddenly matching your rank and prestige, something you had spent three to four years building up.

They would hate him; however, the upper echelons of the academy were far different from the students.

The older generations were very protective of the juniors of nobles, although it was a little unfair to the commoners who fought hard to enter the program. Asura couldn't care less when it involved his improvement and the safety of his loved ones.

Asura suspected that the reason they could even join was his engagement with the princess.

"Honestly, they might express their displeasure and throw sand. Yet they should throw most at me. People recognise the Drakkur family as a militaristic family that supports the current queen and her ambitions. While people only see the Fenix family as a border noble with an excessive title."

Verana smiled. "That's true. Our family name started with little prominence and notoriety and has come into power quickly thanks to our mother's hard work. But That's also why I'm worried! You will be the target of much unnecessary aggression and idiots threatening you!"

"Oh? Does that mean you'll beat them up for me, baby?"

"Hmph... I'll kill anyone that makes your life difficult."

Asura wanted to comment, but the dark gaze and strange glint in her eyes while she spoke with a slightly distorted voice caused his spine to tingle. He felt a sense of delight but also fear for anyone who might cross him in the future without knowing this hellhound stood beside him, always watching for their mistakes.

'Xue'er and Verana are quite similar...'

When Asura and Verana arrived, they noticed the different coloured pennants bearing various noble names.

Verana frowned once she noticed how few parties the colours represented.

"How could it be this sparse?" she wondered, probably forgetting the current situation. Or maybe her head just became filled with Asura because of their talk earlier.

"Verana, half the academy just headed south to fight the enemy. Are you going senile?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry." She tapped her head in shame. "I guess I have only thought about you lately and forgot about everything else."

She tried to hide it, but her wicked smile and soft gaze drifting across his body were more than enough to show Asura what she was thinking. 'She watched me with the others last night!' he thought, and he found her staring at him as if undressing him with her eyes.

Asura cleared his throat. "Let's head to the administration centre."

Verana nodded, yet her eyes never left his body. She was walking with a tempting sway behind him, her eerie smile still present.

****

Inside the administration centre, a female knight wearing black armour sat at the desk, her helmet and pauldrons resting beside her. She scribbled in dozens of parchments and tore others into bits. "Useless... A mere first-year dare apply when still a Stage Two pup!"

Her voice was gruff, but her face graceful.

"Excuse me?"

She looked up with an annoyed glare and noticed two students in front of her. "What is it?"

The pair handed their token and application to her, and she read the information.

However, the more she progressed, the more irritated her face became; her brows creased before furrowing, while her small amber eyes narrowed further as she gnawed her teeth, grinding them with evident rage.

"That damn Lorem... what is she thinking!?"

"Madam, can we join the Royal Knights?"

"Of course, you cannot. We do not have the time for children like you to interfere. How dare first years to act so impertinent, using their title as nobles to gain entry!"

Asura became annoyed. "Madam, why does our grade matter if we possess a token that allows us to enter the secret realms? Does not that grant us the same amount of leeway and trust from the Kingdom?"

"You have guts, little man. You want to be a Royal Knight, yet you have the arrogance of speaking back to me, a direct servant of the Royal Family."

Asura didn't know why the Royal Knights chose such an annoying person to control the gate to the secret realm and join their ranks.

However, he could feel her strength. It wasn't impressive and barely reached the upper limits of Stage Five. This woman was also a student, it seemed, or maybe someone who couldn't become a true Royal knight before graduating.

"How can we get you to accept our entry?" Verana asked with a smile.

However, the woman then handed her the stamped document and waved her through the door without issue.

"You are fine, Miss Drakkur. Please continue supporting the Royal Knights! Your family has supported us for decades, and it would be a shame if we denied you entry into such a valued area of training. As for you..." She then looked at Asura, "Just leave."

Yet the moment she gave Asura such words, his patience snapped. He wasn't kind to the unhelpful and had no intention of even giving them a second thought.

'If she won't let me enter, then I will break her.'

He took the token back. The phoenix token was something special that Lorem had given him; this bitter woman wouldn't steal it from him.

"That's not yours--"

Before she could speak, his right hand grasped her throat, and with a terrifying force, he pulled her over the table as if she were nothing more than a feather. His grip around her neck tightened further. Her complexion paled, and her face contorted into a mixture of fear and shock.

Drool began dribbling down her nose as her face turned pale, yet Asura didn't release her body; with a fierce attack, his knee exploded off the ground and smashed into her belly.

She vomited blood while her face turned blue, while blood oozed from her nostrils, yet Asura didn't stop; his knees impacted her stomach repeatedly in a rain of blows, only the woman's desperate gasps for air and sighs of pain filling the quiet room.

"Stop! Stop!"

Asura pulled back his knee and allowed the woman to collapse onto the floor like a wet sack of flour. The stench of blood and vomit filled the room as a puddle of water, piss, and blood formed below her body.

"Do you understand your position now, woman?" Asura said in a deep and aggressive tone, pulling her hair while feeling shocked at himself. The rage and anger within weren't things he usually felt. "Are you a fool, or are you simply brainless?"

The woman cried, yet Asura slapped her face until she was on the verge of fainting.

"Why did you not consider my position?"

Pah!

"Did you think the Fenix family are cowards?"

Pah!

"Why should I care what happens to you?"

Pah!

"I don't give two fucks about your pain or sorrow."

Pah!

"You have served this Kingdom for who knows how long and just made enemies with the future king, a person who will also be a part of the Royal Knights."

Pah!

"Only idiots like you would abuse their power and expect to stay happy."

Pah!

"A-are you done?"

Verana looked at the poor woman with a bitter gaze, though she felt no pity for her. Somehow, she felt that the more Asura hit the woman, the more arousal she smelt coming from his body, and it made her jealous.

"Yes," Asura said after a minute of abuse and dropped the woman's face onto the floor.

Her body had lost its will to struggle; the shame of being beaten by a first-year student was too much for her to bear. Yet she watched him as if obsessed, her eyes filled with tears, face full of snot and blood.

Asura's presence in this woman's eyes seemed like a devil, yet she couldn't look away, fearful of the pain returning.

"What is your name?"

She opened her mouth, yet no sound came out.

"Speak, or else I'll beat you again."

"S-Sybil..."

"Alright, Sybil. From this moment on, you are my little bitch. Okay?"

"W-what?"

"From now on, you must accept everything I say; do you understand?" Asura whispered, his fingertip swiping along her jaw before reaching her eye.

Then he pressed against them as if he was going to blind her.

She didn't understand the situation. This boy's threats scared her, but the threat of not complying also made her feel a strange desire to see. But the feeling of pain in her cheeks won, so she nodded in submission. "G-good girl... I'm glad you understand."

"Now, can I enter the training grounds?"

"Y-yes. Student Fenix..."

"Master, not student."

"Master."

Asura released her. "Verana, go enter the changing rooms alone. I will come by in ten minutes."

"Okay!"

Verana seemed confused, but the moment he gave her a brilliant smile, she felt delighted, and she skipped out of the room.

***

Around ten minutes later, Asura finally entered the changing rooms—he saw Verana, now equipped in her full battle gear, sitting outside the female's room before she noticed his palm covered in blood.

"Did you kill her!?"

Verana looked excited, her eyes sparkling.

"Of course not. I would be in serious trouble if I killed someone before joining the Royal Knights. I just made sure she won't be lazy and sit down for the next few days. Shall we enter the room and register our tokens?"

Verana nodded and went inside, and the moment they registered their tokens, they were both teleported away.

In the blink of an eye, the surroundings transformed, and they found themselves in a room with various portals and slots to insert a token. However, each slot resembled a particular stage and level: "Here, Verana, stage five—mid-tier."

Asura chose this tier for her because Verana wasn't as powerful as he was in physical combat—thus, he chose this lesser secret realm since she could still reach her maximum potential at this stage.

"I knew you would trick me... Will we at least meet when the timer runs out?"

He knew his fiancee wanted to spend time with him, but he wanted her to remain safe while he trained to increase his strength.

'Hopefully, this will help her advance.'

"Of course, we will teleport from my bedroom. Will that make you satisfied?"

Asura entered a similar room, yet his slot was different. 'Stage six—High Tier.'

He inserted the token into the hole and immediately felt the token vibrate. The machine had etched his details, name, and estimated strength on the back.

'This is pretty cool...'

"I think that would be great, Asura! Let's rush back, hehe."

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