Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

"Are you sure, Azoth?" The second person, a beautiful elf with silver hair and blue eyes, asked. Her voice shook, along with her trembling lips and downcast eyes.

"Of course, Philis, if you do not take my life. Then, your entire family shall suffer. I would rather die than see you cry."

"Azoth!" cried out the third individual, a beautiful woman like a fairy. Ethereal ice crystals wrapped around her glistening ice-blue skin, adding to her charm and wonder. Droplets of tears from her eyes and her passionate voice revealed her feelings.

"Muru, Philis... I am sorry my strength cannot solve this issue. I--"

The male moved to grasp his cup; however, he grimaced because of the enormous gaping hole in his exoskeleton finally revealed, still burning and sizzling with a golden light. "This wound will never heal, and I shall only fade in the coming days."

"Please, don\'t say that..."

"Azoth..."

The two women\'s voices and feelings almost resonated. Their eyes were loose and despondent, dripping wet with tears.

Both women knew the truth from the moment their combined magic failed to restore the wound. They knew that their beloved would soon die and never return because of the divine magic that the elves stole from a dying upper-realm priestess.

"Why so sad? Philis, isn\'t that cute daughter of yours already prepared to take the throne?"

"Muru, you left our child in a lower realm to grow safely. Why do you worry?"

Both women glanced at one another as they tried to lift their loved one\'s spirits. However, Azoth\'s question had the opposite effect.

"Your descendants can take power from our failure. One day, I will return. That isn\'t a false promise or words of comfort. Though my figure might change, you will know when I return."

"Eh? How long? What do you mean?!" Philis, who would live almost eternally after becoming a dark elf, became excitable, asking questions with sparkling blue eyes.

While Muru became silent, she knew this truth and also believed in her feelings.

\'My love, I will follow you to test our bond, and if we are truly destined. We shall reunite even after death, even without my memories. I will be happy.\'

Muru\'s eyes gazed at the pair with affection, her eyelids narrowing with a smile revealing her lovely white fangs. The feelings in her chest were that of affection for both women.

Once rivals with Philis, they fought, fought and fought and found that Azoth would never choose one of them. Thus, they created a system, and while still competing, it became a more friendly and less violent rivalry and a promise not to spoil each other\'s moments alone with Azoth.

"It might be thousands of years, hundreds of thousands, or just a few decades."

Azoth stood and waved his hand, summoning a flaming portal into an empty dimension. This was not something he would normally do, but the strange fire sealed inside his body, but he could not use it before the divine smite damaged his body beyond repair.

"Let your brother come, Philis. Allow him to kill me, and I shall not fight back. I only ask you to go easy on Muru and those who surrender."

"What? No! I will not allow you to die. We can live for tens of thousands of years. Can you not wait for a few hundred?"

"No. I want you two to live on."

\'Always Selfish, my cute Azoth. However, I cannot accept that thought if you claim to cannot live without us. Then why don\'t you understand it\'s the same for us?\'

The scene devolved into a series of arguments and soft words to calm the raging elf down before it became blurry. The world distorted like a drop of paint falling into a bucket of water. The ripples and waves spread, and the scene changed, transformed once again.

A black throne and dark flames surrounded the vast chamber.

Azoth sat on that throne, his chest impaled by a golden spear, yet the one who held it was not Alfonse, her brother. It was Philis herself, which caused Muru\'s eyes to widen.

\'I see you are too gentle to let your brother kill your beloved. Then, shall we have one last fight? My sister?\'

Muru, wounded from the earlier battle, stood once more, her left arm transforming into a beautiful sword with a thin blue blade and a slight curve.

\'This is for the best, is it not? A promise to see him again, perhaps?\'

"Muru, I will send you to sleep with him."

Philis\'s soft words rang out as she pulled the spear back before twirling it and taking an aggressive stance opposite the ice devil. Her foot stomped on the ground, causing a loud boom.

The dark elf woman seemed to fly as she rushed at Muru with surprising speed and grace. Her spear spun around her body as it cut through the air, leaving glowing arcs of divine lightning.

"Yaaaaaaah!"

Muru\'s blade extended, clashing with the spear shaft and changing shape and length, creating a defensive wall of ice to meet the attack. However, Philis was much stronger now.

"Divine Light!"

The holy light collided with the black ice, causing it to crack and crumble in a moment as Muru pushed back with her long legs.

She knew she was much stronger than in the previous battle. Her ice-blue eyes narrowed as she felt the pressure from this divine weapon that limited her abilities. Philis became even stronger after acquiring this weapon.

"Lightning!"

"Aghh!"

Arcs of divine lightning discharged from the spear, enveloping Muru\'s body in a flash. Her sword arm reformed and severed the golden lightning, but only after suffering severe damage. Muru\'s beautiful ice was now cracked and dissipating with deep burns on her pure blue skin.

Neither woman\'s face showed pleasure or emotions; their eyes never left each other, both wet with tears of regret and sorrow; with each blow, Philis bit her trembling lips to hide her suffering.

"Muru... I can\'t lose you, too. Please surrender."

"And yet... You dare... Ugh! Take his life! I shall never forgive you, Philis!"

\'Sorry, my cute little rival. I will have to make you feel bad for a while, but we will come back and make it up to you, I promise.\'

With a heart full of emotion, Muru\'s blade shattered, and her body followed, falling apart into the ice crystals that floated into the air. The moment the spear tip approached, her covered in "Divine Light."

"Nghaaaaa!! Philis!!"

A golden light shot from the spear, swallowing her in golden fire and consuming everything.

"Muru!?"

At the last moment, Muru saw the shock on her rival\'s face. Did she believe Muru would put up a desperate defence or last-gasp attack so both of them died? The wide eyes and trembling iris were enough for Muru. She realised Philis felt just as devastated by her death as she did for killing Azoth.

Philis dropped the spear, and the vision became cloudy once more as if the painter had grown tired of this picture and tossed the bucket over his canvas.

...

"Nnngh!!? Philis!! Haa.... Haa... A dream?"

In a dark room, a soft voice echoed as the beautiful maid noticed her left arm in the sword\'s shape from her dream and touched her face, feeling the tears oozing down her cheeks and a feeling of loss and confusion.

"Phew."

Then, after taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and a faint smile came to her lips. "Five thousand years. Did you wait for our return, Philis?"

Moments later, she dressed up, wearing her maid outfit and feeling a hint of nostalgia. However, something changed inside her as she walked towards the large shared tent, unzipping the entrance and opening her eyes.

"That\'s right, I only see Asura."

\'Sorry, Azoth, but I cannot become yours anymore. This amazing boy has stolen my heart and soul. May you rest in peace and find those that might love you eternally.\'

With those thoughts quickly leaving her mind, she walked towards the bed, covered in the mess of the three people sleeping together naked; she snapped her fingers, creating beautiful streams of iced water and cleaned the bedding while swiping her other arm, creating a weak flame, drying and warming the bodies of the trio.

Then, she noticed that her source of affection awakened from her actions.

"Good morning, Asura. It\'s almost time for morning training."

"Nnn, Muru looks the best in a maid\'s outfit." He stretched his body, still clearly exhausted and half asleep, before his raspy words caused chaos in the little heart of his lovely maid.

\'Eh?\'

****

"What did you see?" The concerned Mu Xue asked.

"You were crying, and you looked older... but with that beautiful ice covering your entire body."

Mu Xue, now appearing younger and no longer resembling her past self, felt a tremor in her body upon hearing those words. Asura, still half asleep, didn\'t realise he spoke about things that he would normally keep secret.

"How stupid; I couldn\'t save you and gave up like a fool. Meet again after death; why didn\'t I try harder--"

It was at that moment that Asura began waking up and realised that because the room was so dark and resembled the dream, he spoke naturally upon seeing Mu Xue in a similar style to Muru. However, these words seemed to rouse a storm within the girl\'s mind, whose expression immediately changed.

However, Asura couldn\'t see those changes; he only saw her shimmering ice-blue pupils looking at him like always before he sat up and climbed off the bed to get dressed.

"Asura?"

"Mm?"

Mu Xue stepped towards him, but he noticed her steps seemed slow and heavy as her body almost staggered with each step. Asura wanted to speak but felt there was a reason for this because Mu Xue did nothing selfishly, so he slowed his hands and gave her time while waiting for her to speak.

\'That dream is probably affecting me too.\'

****

After many reincarnations and rebirths, her shattered soul finally pieced itself together and learned that the betrayal she felt about choosing Asura was meaningless.

Because she knew he was the rebirth of Azoth.