9 Hours after Alan entered the demon field.
Alan POV
"Haaa... Haaa... Ha..."
Everything was easy in the beginning. However, after two hours constantly fighting against people who really use every shady trick in the book to kill you… you need to be constantly wary of everything.
Demonic Elves plan many times more than goblins do, and these little shits can build a fortress or caves filled with traps. Another reason for demonic elves being more annoying than goblins is, that they can use spirit magic and normal magic, along with using demonic energy to do these feats.
But, hey, if this is everything than it is easy right... right?
NO!
These airheads can even tame most plants and monsters to attack me non-stop. These plants are all around D+ rank or to be more precise D rank level 7, one entire realm or sub-rank higher than me.
The monsters, however, are annoyingly high in rank. C- rank or, to be precise, C rank level 1.
Now tell me how vigilant I need to be in order so they can't surprise me?
In addition to all that, are wild demons of equal rank like the plants and sometimes of the monsters appearing to attack me. I'm tired and exhausted by all of this, my eyes are burning, my legs have barely enough strength to hold me up.
Yet... some kind of fire is burning in me, telling me to fight, to survive, to come out on top. It slowly burned even fiercer the more tired my body got, my thoughts turned sluggish and all my movements got slower. Nevertheless, My instincts flared up, my ability activated itself, my phoenix eyes started to see more, and the most important condition changing is my blood-red fire.
The more my body gave up, run out of energy, the more satisfactory feels it to feel my phoenix as well as my old ability, increase in strength or usages.
'Ah, I forgot. Phoenixes are spiritual beings without the restraints of being bound to a physical body'
Obviously, they do have a physical body, even when you eradicate the physical body they will appear with a new one. This is why I think phoenixes are stronger than dragons, they can be reborn as long as you don't eradicate their souls.
'The problem is they are resistant to death through demonic energy, abyssal energy, death itself, mana, Aura... hell even divine energy wouldn't work on them.'
I wrote them like that, even if these energies have soul hitting attacks, they would not die. I hated the trope that dragons are at the top of the food chain with gods sometimes or are gods themselves. So I created the phoenix and buff them slightly so they are superior to dragons.
'How did they get killed by abyssal energy?'
My instincts dodged the fifteen arrows flying at me, my fire wings wrapped around me to block another attacks incoming.
^Boom^
"Pfft!"
The attack hitting my wings is a paw of my body size. I spit a bit of blood, my body screams even more to stop along with all muscles stop working.
Blood-red fire started to grow even more, my body feels even weaker than before.
"Let the fire guide you, guide the fire. Achieve the resonance with your fire"
A ringing voice emerges in my head, a tired tone to add... he sounds familiar. Before I can guess who it is, a few arrows pierced my wings.
^clang^
I summoned Usurper, but the arrows clashing in it pushed me back a few metres. My hands feel numb, I have at most two minutes to hold Usurper and clear the entire area I am in.
'As if this is possible, except I succeed in what this voice told me'
I let the blood-red fire run wild, guiding it through my body like it is a part of my nerve-system. No organ was left out by the process, my blood started to boil and the oxygen in my lungs started to become carbon dioxide.
My phoenix instincts as well as my ability from my past life started to mix with each other. The blood-red fire leading string somehow vanished from my sight.
'My connection to my ability strengthened a lot'
This comes to me as a surprise, abilities can grow beyond what was measured. Furthermore, the fires' connection feels like a part of me now.
'No, it should be more accurate to say it is me'
The blood-red fire is fierce and violent, who doesn't want to be dominated by anyone. Whereas my ability, room imagination, seems to silently grow with me and spreading a warmth through my body.
"Excellent, now accept yourself... ACCEPT YOUR LINEAGE!"
I wanted to deny it... to deny myself. Moreover, I did want to become Kim Yong or Ben for the most of the time, they were the perfect transmigration to me.
"Accept it, you are you, different and special in your own ways"
I wanted to hide behind my profession as author of this novel.
... This wasn't the reason they gave me this profession, my phoenix genes and much more.
"I am not the Protagonist, this is Ben or Kim Yong. I am more of a deuteragonist who writes the stories of the great heroes saving earth and unveiling the secrets
... I am the recorder of earth. The future king of the Phoenix race, Successor of the creation art.
I am... Richard Bates, as well as Alan Burner."
The blood-red fire and my ability fuses even more. My phoenix genes started to become even stronger and more profound.
My body automatically starts transforming in my full phoenix form. Bones starts to crack, veins starts to pop, moreover my blood is entirely burned out of my body.
It never felt so painful to transform as now, but it feels necessary to acquire the right to walk my path even more.
Countless letters started to emerge around me, writing down my suffering as well as what is happening around me, together with the reaction from everyone.
These letters entered my Ether core, boosting its amount, finally after 3 months.
The Ether started to reconstruct everything in my body. Letters and fire mixed to create another impossible task to push my limits even more.
"You have done it, perfectly at that. Now defeat those you deem as enemies and protect those you deem worthy"
My wings started to spread, this feeling is exhilarating. The fire and Ether I never understood grew so strong... I feel I can fight these S rank individual.
My instincts immediately screamed to stop these stupid thoughts, yet something else broke free.
... My memories returned to me, I shoot them in the back of my head, still some enter my brain and getting projected to me.
The memory of my childhood showed that I always had my condition, so severe as years later... I was never in the military to begin with.
However, some memories are still so deep buried in my ability... that it is a wonder how much deeper my ability can go.
'These are mostly useless memories'
The fire burst out of my wings, burning most of them at contact. The demonic big bear and the demonic elephant are barely alive.
Revealing their teeth to me, these rotten and almost disgusting black red teeth.
"Die"
With a simple word and a swing of my wing, the fire leaves my wing and hitting them. Following by their terrified roars echoing in the air.
'I reached D rank level 8 with this, yet I can easily fight in my phoenix form C rank level 2 individuals and monsters'
My power efficiency increased by 20% together with my already large room imagination space.
The monsters realised the threat I pose to them now, dashing towards me with even stronger and fiercer attacks, various weapons and skills are thrown at me.
"I am not as smart and cool-headed like Kim Yong is"
I summoned all my created weapons and shoot them at the enemies closes to me.
"I can never be a sacrificial like Ben who would risk his life even for his friends"
The blood-red fire started to consume all the attacks and block some to the best extent.
"I will never be as adapting as Benjamin is"
I fly with one flap of my wings towards the sky.
"I can never be as hard-working as MI Sang Hee"
The blood-red fire fills my beak, ready to release it at everybody beneath me.
'I can never be as strategic as Nadine and Rica'
Various attacks are flying at me, I feel even a water breath in the midst of them.
'I can never be as kind as Violett is'
I release the fire in my beak, crossing paths with the attacks of various demons.
'I can never be as talented as Hela and still be humble about it'
Even though the attacks hold back my breath for quite a bit, it still burned everything in its path to reach its goal.
'I am different'
^Boom^
The blood-red sea of fire fits perfect in the demon fields, except that it is slowly burned the demonic energy existing here.
It was a beautiful sight in my eyes, not quite sure why, yet it feels refreshing to see or think different as before I always tried to copy them.
'I will walk my own path, doesn't matter how hard he gets... I will survive to record the heroic tales me and my friends will achieve.'