The Golden Throne

Liu Feng looked intently at the result of the spell. This was a last ditch desperate attempt that he made because he didn't want to give up. He raised sword and stood on guard. He slowly stepped forward, covering the massive gap that was created between them. He was too depleted mentally to even fight anymore, but he had to make sure that the demon was dead, or it would literally be the death of him. 

After a slow, and painful advance, he finally approached an arm's distance from the demon. All around him, the mana was corrupted by the demon. He saw that the demon was laying on the floor. However, there was clearly a difference from before the fight and now. The mana did not roll on the body of the demon anymore. It was just present, that was all. The demon was immobile, but Liu Feng did not want to take any risks. He raised his sword and down it came. Liu Feng decapitated the demon. Only then did Liu Feng rest.

He retreated from the position he was currently at, because of all of the corrupted mana that was present in the air. Finding a tree to climb, he struggled to barely get to the taller branches. It took all of Liu Feng's will power to gather enough power to get somewhere safe.

"That was a difficult fight.", Liu Feng sighed. He closed his eyes and started breathing. At this point, his main goal was to take in as much mana as possible so that he could. With each breath, drops of mana were falling into his core. For now, he took in only the fire element, because it was the element that he was most proficient at. After some time, he finally opened his eyes, and exhaled in relief. His body greedily took in the liquid mana as if it was a tonic. Liu Feng's muscled relaxed, and he could feel some of his exhaustion just roll away. His eyes fluttered. He wanted to take a nap so badly.

"The phoenix!", Liu Feng suddenly realized. His drowsy eyes were now wide awake. A pump of adrenaline woke him up. "I need to help the phoenix. It must be a downhill battle because of all the extra demons that the phoenix has to take care of."

He faced the phoenix's territory, where the terrifying fight between the demon general and the phoenix was obviously going on. Even from this distance, he could see streaks of red in the dark clouds. Facing the territory, he breathed a few more times. This time, it wasn't liquid mana that filled his core, but rather green mist. Gathering the normal mana, he started running. He rushed back to the phoenix's territory at super human speeds.

Finally, after a few minutes, he arrived at the scene of the battle. It was a horrible scene to watch.  The phoenix was still fighting with the other demon, but it was at a clear disadvantage. The demons below were also casting spells to harass the phoenix, while the demon general was already as powerful as the phoenix itself. It is said that after a point, numbers can wear you down, no matter how powerful you are. Liu Feng knew this to be true, because of the fight that he had gone through just am hour before. Liu Feng looked at the demons who were attacking the phoenix and he roared once. The demons stopped attacking the phoenix and looked at Liu Feng.

"Impossible! How can a mere human kill the One Step? Impossible! He was a demon captain. You are a mere soldier.", one of the demons looked at Liu Feng and stammered.

Liu Feng was interested in what the demon said. "They are advanced enough to have nicknames according to the demon's signature move. Looks like the demons are not just brutes after all. They could be as advanced as we are.", he thought to himself. "Well then, time to start a massacre.", he smiled.

He took a deep breath and he raised his sword. Then, he immediately ran forward to kill the demons. The demons were not idiots. They ran in a pattern. Being very limited in numbers, the few thirty or so demons left circled Liu Feng.

"Hmm.. there are fewer demons than when I left. The phoenix must have attacked this side a little to thin out the numbers.", he thought to himself.

The demons started advancing at Liu Feng. But, Liu Feng did not falter. He sent mana to his sword, and it glowed red hot. He struck the nearest demon near him. But, to his shock, the demon did not die. The demon winced with pain, because of the heat, but the sword did not cut through. Liu Feng raised the sword to see that the heat was too much for the sword to handle. It was so hot that the metal had softened, and it bent.

"I should have known.", he chuckled to himself and he threw the sword to the side. He then faced the demons. Closing his eyes momentarily, he reopened them with a renewed glow. Quite literally, his eyes glowed. He started chanting in Khair. 

"Well, this is surprising. Using a spell like this on small fries? Well, your decision.", Pyrus exclaimed. From Liu Feng arose a fire ball. It was on top of Liu Feng's head. 

"Fire Wheel!", Liu Feng shouted out. The fire ball on top if Liu Feng spread out like a donut and encompassed all of the demons around him. The demons wailed with pain. He took care of the demons in a matter of minutes, mostly because of his new found strength.

He then spectated the fight of the phoenix and the demon general. Liu Feng saw that the phoenix was injured because of the hour where it was alone fending against all the demons together. 

He quickly started casting spells with the little mana that he had remaining, and directed them towards the demon general. The spells seemed to do something, because the demon general lost concentration and he looked at Liu Feng momentarily. The phoenix took advantage and attacked the demon general. Unlike the few little wounds that the phoenix got because of the demons, the demon general had to sacrifice his hand to the attack of the phoenix.

"Human. You dare? After I am done conquering this thing as a pet, I will take care of you."

Liu Feng continued attacking the demon general until his mana depleted. Then, he started using the mana in the air to attack the general. The general was surprised.

"How are you able to use the corrupted mana without the permission of his highness, the demon king?"

This surprise proved expensive for the general, because the phoenix dove towards the demon king screeching. It was lit up in fire and passed right through the demon. The single attack had obliterated the body of the general. The head fell to the ground while the ashes of the demon started spreading because of the wind. The phoenix slowly descended to the ground, near Liu Feng.

It said feebly, "Take me outside this place. I can't bear the stench of the demons."

Liu Feng nodded, but he had no idea how to carry the massive body of the phoenix. As if it read his mind, the phoenix glowed, and it shrunk in size, until it transformed to the shape of a human. It looked like a young woman. The woman had red hair, and she was quite beautiful as well. Liu Feng quickly brought the phoenix outside her territory to where there was clear air. He laid the phoenix down on a bed that he took out. 

"Well, I certainly did not expect the phoenix to be a woman.", Liu Feng thought to himself.

He sat down and started replenishing his mana. He also started gathering the remaining elements' mana into a more compressed form. After a few hours, his core was finally filled. The remaining mana flowed into his body, but Liu Feng stopped it. He had to expel all the traces of the corrupted mana from his body. It was very painful, but it was something that he had to do, at least, according to the spirits. The most important thought in his head was regarding how he was able to use the corrupted mana, but he knew that now was not the time. He was more focused on recovering completely. That took a while, but he stopped when he felt the phoenix next to him moving.

He opened his eyes, to see that the phoenix was still in human form.

"So, now that you have lost your territory, what will you do? Occupy another's?", Liu Feng chuckled.

"The magic forest works in ways you cannot understand humans. But it is regrettable to say that I must leave the forest for now. I do not have enough mana to regain and maintain my true form. All of it was consumed in this battle. I must escape to the human realms before that mad tiger finds me."

Liu Feng understood faintly that there was a hierarchy in the magic forest.