Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix

Ar Melania's tone became more delicate and serious, her words concise and filled with emotion. The moment she began speaking about her aunt, the entire room felt different as if a cold breeze began blowing through the air.

"The day she took his life, I remember my aunt coming to me. Her eyes looked dead, and nothing seemed to reflect from them anymore. Instead, they seemed to have been defiled." Melania's eyes became wet as she retold her memories, while Celine clutched Asura's hand her eyes watching her mother filled with concern.

Ar Melania continued, her hand reaching out. "If, on that day, I managed to reach her to somehow connect to my aunt, would everything be different?" She took a long, drawn-out breath. "After meeting her and failing to reach her, she killed her daughter, sister and mother... before locking herself away in the isolated palace that you can see from this window."

The isolated palace seemed to grow from the tree's distorted and misshaped branches, forming a twisting horror scape of twisted towers and warped walls.

It looked like the place a witch or monster in a children's fairy tale might live.

"Mother, why!?"

"But Mother...!"

The two seemed to protest—however, the sharp gaze she gave them both caused their lips to close, and Celine immediately stood, her hand releasing Asura as she left the room. "Come to me when you're done, okay?" Celine whispered to Asura before she skittered away.

Al Menitos looked unhappy but realised their mother just wanted to protect the image of their aunt and cousin. He turned and left, scoffing at Asura before he did.

Asura went to stand before the Empress spoke once again, "Do not move, Prince Asura. I have not finished telling you the story." She looked at the window and sighed, her eyes seeming to travel into the distance before returning to reality.

"You know, her husband was a person who was stronger than anyone I've ever seen. Honestly, he once told me about how he was one of the weakest in the void or abyss as he called it. You resemble him quite a lot, haha... However, to think that he would die so easily because of my sister's actions..." A nostalgic smile came upon her face.

Asura could only keep quiet, his mind swirling with his thoughts and emotions.

"You know, it would be hard to explain to you what exactly happened.

However, one thing is for sure: after we lost their lives, Philis hid herself in a secluded room inside her isolated palace, refusing to come out." Melania tapped the table."Months turned to years, years turned to decades and finally, after two hundred years of taking the throne before I even thought of giving birth to Ar Sylvas, my eldest daughter... I visited that palace."

"What did you find?" Asura asked. He felt intrigued about where the story might go.

"Inside that palace was nothing, not a single corpse or proof that they lived. It was like their life never existed..." Melania sighed. "That's why, to honour my sister, I created a garden, a garden where no others but myself and my children could enter...

However, then I thought about the gateway that Azoth and my sister once mentioned while drunk." Melania showed a shallow smile, her lips barely curving while her eyes drooped down with her brows. "So, since I couldn't find proof my aunt ever went to the palace, I headed to that gate to see if it existed... and it does.

Right below the palace is the gate to hell, or damnation, as our history books call it."

"In that place, I found only a small seedling, a seedling of a black flame devil willow." Melania placed her hand on the table, showing a seed identical to the corrupted seed. "You see? This is why I know where and who corrupted my son. Because I entered that gate and saw her. I saw what remained of my beloved Aunt..."

Asura's eyes widened when he realised just who Melania had met. "If it is her, then surely she's...! If you managed to meet her, then couldn't you have saved her?"

Melania laughed lightly. "Oh, I tried to talk to her, to have her return... But she was no longer Philis, the dark elf queen... but Philis the Abyss Monarch, her beautiful hair turned white, with long horns growing from her forehead and a vicious smile, as if to scorn the world of living filled with sharp monstrous teeth.

She abandoned everything to take Azoth's place, to stop disaster striking the Elven world."

"Wait, didn't you say she had died and locked herself away in the palace?" Asura questioned Melania. His heart was pounding. The fragmented memories of Azoth and strange feelings that he felt towards this woman it wasn't love, but he wanted to see her. To at least speak to her, and let her know Azoth's final thoughts before Asura devoured his soul.

"Ah, I truly believed so, but she didn't go to that tower, instead heading straight to the place where she killed her best friend and beloved man." Melania shook her head. "The knowledge of her death drowned all the feelings I had towards her, yet you know what? It wasn't just my feelings... all of the elves on the continent felt the same."

"How come?"

"Because she made this entire empire possible, from a small kingdom... Her ability and power allowed us to crush most of our natural enemies and protect the young world tree until she grew this big. Now, she can protect herself from most enemies. However, alas, this world is filled with vultures and weaklings who have no moral code or beliefs. So, the power that we gained began to feel stale.

What was once the kingdom of light that housed and protected the last remaining world trees in this chaotic world became a greedy empire seeking power and money, and now... I fear our empire will collapse within the next ten years."

"What!? Why!?"

"You have no idea how hard it is to hold onto power, especially if you cannot defend your people." Melania sighed. "The Holy Alliance of elves are ageing. And many of my allies are falling to age. The next generation cares nothing about tradition... They seek something different."

"The next generation?" Asura repeated in confusion. "But isn't there a new generation of elves, as in, what about your daughters or sons?"

Melania laughed and pointed her finger towards him. "That's why I was so desperate to help them grow strong, but I am not my aunt; the strength and level I reached is nothing compared to her or even my late brother." Melania sighed once again, her brows furrowing and eyes slightly furrowing.

Asura could tell that she had given her everything from how tired she looked to the heavy tone of her words revealing her desperation. He thought about the stories his parents used to tell him. How could a kingdom vanish overnight because of a poor ruler, yet Melania brought it this far? Asura couldn't believe she was so bad.

"I do not believe you have failed, and what you have maintained, many would be in awe of your ability as an ordinary woman."

"Ordinary... An Ordinary woman... I see...." Melania burst into laughter, the sound echoing around the room as tears came to her eyes. "Thank you, Asura, but that is just a lie. I could not protect my kingdom, the forest... my aunt, many brothers or niece."

Asura didn't know what to say. He felt awkward for a moment and considered leaving.

Melania's laughter slowly faded. "I can't go on any longer. I wanted to choose my successor before it reached this point, but none of them showed the same shine that my aunt did... Except Celinas, but until now, her body remained in that state."

"Your majesty... the Empress... No, Melania. Why did you tell me this?" Asura asked. "After all, shouldn't I be a stranger?"

Melania stared at the window in silence for a while before she stood, walking over to Asura, where she stopped. "You must understand that the elves are not like other races. There isn't a so-called romance, but a soulmance... We choose a single mate, constantly observing and determining their calibre and abilities."

"Soulmance?" Asura asked with a furrowed brow.

"It's like a marriage between two souls and bodies. The compatibility between you and your chosen partner would be eternal, at least in our Elven beliefs and as much as I felt it immature and impossible. Celine chose you; that is why Al Menitos was so fierce towards you; in truth, he doted on Celine the most because of her body. He would protect her from all threats, yet now look what happened."

Melania held her hand out, and her hand formed a strange mark that glowed faintly. "You came out of nowhere, and now his little princess is in love with a man who bears dragon, phoenix and human blood... but no Elven blood, causing him to feel terrified you might hurt her."

"What?" Asura looked at Melania in shock.

"If you stay by her side, I can accept it... she has already chosen you; that's why she has changed."

"Changed?" Asura understood; he saw it first-hand but didn't want to take it for granted. Find adventures on empire

Melania's expression grew complex as she spoke, "Before you came, her body was weak, and no one understood why... but now, she has changed so much. I couldn't be happier that she finally calls me mother and doesn't hate me."

Asura could tell the concern in Melania's eyes. She seemed to care deeply about her daughter. "By the way, that faint mark, what is it?"

"Ah... this is the remains of a soulmance after their partner has perished. The light fades, and it becomes hard to muster the desire to live or strive to do your best. A sad and ironic fate, for a long-lived race to lose your partner means you lose the drive to live." Melania smiled faintly, her eyes remaining dull and empty.

"And Celine is changing because of this bond?"

"Yes, her body will adapt, and she'll regain her strength. No... looking at you, she will grow even stronger—even the curse and poison will become nonexistent once more." Melania spoke with a chuckle. "All thanks to your vitality."

Asura became speechless as he felt Melania's aura seep into his body, and she measured his strength and cultivation.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a little worried.

Melania's aura retracted, and she nodded. "Hmm... you have a tremendous amount of vitality but lack the insight to use it properly."

"What is with the sudden lesson?" Asura felt a little weirded out, unsure why she was checking his strength.

"It is not a lesson, Asura; I wish to bestow upon you an inheritance of the Elves." Melania closed her eyes and touched his forehead with hers. "This technically makes you part elf, right? Fufu. I never expected such a son-in-law, especially from Celine!" A strange feeling of vitality filled her tone, different from when she spoke normally, almost eerie.

Ar Melania's voice became ethereal, like a ghostly voice inside his mind, before Asura felt countless memories and knowledge entering his mind rapidly. "I know you want to meet her, and now I understand why... Then let this last grace I bestow upon you help you find a way to save both her and Azoth's memory."

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