Epic Of The Demonic Sage

"Ow, ow ow!" Bordeaux cursed as he was transported by the Masked Legion from out of the underground dungeon and into the carriage. "Can't you all carry me a little gentler?"

The Lost didn't respond to him and simply fulfilled the orders of Lucius.

Bordeaux narrowed his eyes at them. He could notice that there was something wrong with these mercenaries, he just couldn't put his finger on it so he chose to rattle them with conversation.

"Hah. It feels like I'm talking to someone dead. What's up with the helmets? Actually, which one of you hit me in the head earlier? I'd want to return the favor. It's three against one poor man. What do you say? Eh? No takers?"

"I'm happy with the choice that you've made, Asher." Kiana silently whispered to Asher once they took a separate carriage to the rehabilitation center. 'If this man would have become hired by Asher at his current state, I do not think that I will be happy with it at all. He is too much aggravating to deal with.'

Lucius nodded as he sat down in the carriage. "Have you compensated the healer properly?"

"Yes." Kiana nodded.

When the healer was using his Gift earlier, Bordeaux managed to grab ahold of the man despite his shattered arm and threatened to break the healer's own arm unless he was set free.

Despite the fact that Bordeaux was probably aware of how useless it was, he still did it until Kiana promised to pierce his skull with one of her Sting Sniper.

'His sense of self-preservation is there… though his impulsive nature sometimes overrides it.' Lucius noted to himself.

***

"Nice place you have here, Young Lord." Bordeaux commented once he was taken to the laboratory. There was no hint of fear in his face as he took in the surroundings. "A bit stuffy for my tastes. Is there any lights? It smells too. Though it's a little cleaner than the one at your home though."

"Does he know what's going to happen to him?" Kiana sighed softly and shook her head.

She would have bound his mouth, but she didn't do it because she knew that the man would have tried to bite her or something else.

"What do you mean?" Bordeaux asked, as he glanced at Kiana. "What's happening to me? More torture? Did you guys heal me and brought me to a new place just for a change of scenery? That's nasty. I like letting my victims run a little too and give them a dash of hope before ruining it haha. The Young Lord and I seem to think alike!"

Kiana's gaze narrowed at him. "You…"

"Don't allow his words to control you, Kiana." Lucius said. "He is only trying to get a reaction out of you."

"Alright, he's no fun. My only problem." The Mad Blade said.

The Masked Legion brought him to the table and bound him. There was some mild resistance, but in the end, Bordeaux still ended up chained and bound.

Lucius glanced at him emotionlessly.

'Compared to the last one with severe injuries, he is speaking far more comfortably, and I'm not interrupting him. It is with some hope that this is a good sign despite the extent of how much the Count and Viscountess destroyed his limbs.' Lucius thought. 'Should I feed him? I haven't exactly done that for the other criminals as I expect their bodies to have stored energy for the transformation, but if we're going to increase his chances of success, I might as well.'

"How do you feel?" Lucius asked.

"Eh?" Bordeaux's eyes bulged. "What's this? You were ignoring me earlier but now you're asking about my feelings haha."

"I will allow you to eat before we start," Lucius said.

"Ohoho! Last meal before I die? Can I request something delicious then?" Bordeaux said. "You could have also brought a woman too."

Kiana's nose scrunched up in disgust, but she didn't make any comments.

"Kiana, get whatever's available and quick from Old Man Johan." Lucius said.

"Yes, Asher." Kiana nodded.

"You're terrible." Bordeaux shook his head. "…and now you're back to ignoring me again, aha! It's like I'm already dead!"

When Kiana returned with the food, the Masked Legion was the one who fed Bordeaux. The process lasted for a couple of minutes before the man glanced at Lucius.

"So are we doing this?" the Mad Blade asked. "Do I get to say anything else."

Lucius shook his head. "That might very well be your last words, Bordeaux."

"What?"

Lucius sent out strands of Hell Energy towards the Mad Blade. His body immediately responded to the foreign energy and he let out a howl of pain alongside a string of curses.

"What the?! AH!" There was no more laughter from Bordeaux as acute pain spread all over his body.

Kiana watched from the sidelines, biting down on her lip. She didn't care about the man itself, but she wanted Asher to succeed so she waited with interest.

The process was similar to others transformed by Asher before, except there was some issue that became apparent in Lucius's eyes.

Bordeaux's body was trying to reject the energy even as the hell energy tried to exert its influence on his body.

Lucius and Kiana observed the man, and though it became increasingly obvious that it would end in failure, Lucius didn't give up and instead increased the output of Hell Energy on the man.

'Is it still not enough?' Lucius's gaze narrowed as Bordeaux convulsed on the table. The man was frothing, his eyes rolled back in his head and the screams had died down and was replaced by the jerking of his body uncontrollably.

He was in too much pain to even scream.

'Very well. There is no other choice if I wish to salvage him.' Lucius concentrated all of the Hell Energy in his body and sent it towards Bordeaux.

The man's condition began to stabilize and the transformation process started to began in earnest, but unlike the others like Doyle, Baza and the rest, he was not turning into a normal kind of Lost.

Bordeaux's limbs elongated greatly while his body changed drastically. The man was tall but his height extended to nearly seven feet while his hands and feet took another shape.

Instead of the hands and feet recovering, they turned into claws and Bordeaux's posture became hunched over.