Day 182
Two bodyguards entered the bleak room where Asta was held captive, their heavy boots echoing on the cold concrete floor. They paused for a moment, taking in the sight of Asta, whose clothing was nearly completely shredded from the relentless experiments.
"Damn. This is a guy? He literally looks like a flat-chested girl," the first bodyguard murmured, eyeing Asta with a mix of amusement and incredulity. "Maybe we can fuck him after he turns into a girl?" He quipped, half-jokingly and half-curiously, as he nudged his companion with his elbow.
The second bodyguard responded sharply with a stern expression. "Absolutely not. Raping is strictly prohibited. Stick to the plan."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" the first bodyguard muttered, rolling his eyes but nodding in acknowledgment of the protocol. He then stepped closer to Asta to check if he was indeed unconscious. "Looks like he's out cold. This makes our job quite a bit easier," he commented dryly.
The two bodyguards quickly unlocked the chains shackling Asta before dragging him out of the room.
A Few Hours Later…
Asta's eyes fluttered open as he was roughly jostled. His head throbbed painfully, a stark reminder of his grim reality. As his vision cleared, the all-too-familiar stark white walls of the room came into focus. He groaned, his voice raspy.
"Akh... Akh… Huh? Damn it, it's always the same fucking white room. Could've at least changed the color," he muttered under his breath, wearily sarcastic.
Lifting his head, Asta saw the scientist, who had been torturing him for god knows how long, standing before him with a perennially unsettling smile plastered on his face. The man was as disheveled as ever, which made him look even crazier.
"At least take a shower. You stink," Asta quipped, trying to mask his discomfort. His voice barely made it across the sterile room.
The scientist's laughter, devoid of amusement, echoed off the walls. "Hahaha... Still joking after all these tort—, I mean, experiments huh."
He leaned closer to Asta and examined him with an intense gaze. "Hmph. Certain things about you have been changed, at least try to notice them," the scientist taunted, proud of himself.
A look of disbelief washed over Asta. Despite his exhaustion, he did feel quite a bit stronger and more resilient. Suddenly, a cold realization hit him. He frantically patted down his body, his hands searching for something that was undeniably missing.
"Wait... wait... wait... This can't be... this can't be!" Panic and incredulity seeped into Asta's voice.
"I can't feel... my little brother down there. You motherfucker, give my dick back!" Asta roared as he glared at the scientist with a fury only betrayal could kindle.
"I know you're into some magical crap, so give it back. Give it back now!" Asta desperately demanded, a tinge of vulnerability in his voice. He struggled against his restraints.
"So noisy," the scientist replied coolly, dismissing Asta's pleas with a wave of his hand.
"This isn't the time to worry about your... appendage. We're moving on to the final phase of the experiment," he stated matter-of-factly, signaling the guards to prepare Asta for what was to come.
He produced a 100 mL test tube. Inside the glass is a deep crimson liquid that, like the healing potion, had an otherworldly rainbow-like luster. Asta winced as he felt the overwhelming energy emanating from the tube.
"As you must've guessed by now, this is true dragon blood," the scientist announced with a chilling smile.
Extracting the crimson fluid with a syringe, the scientist fluidly injected it into Asta's right arm. Asta watched and braced himself, initially feeling nothing more than the slight sting of a needle.
"What the... Nothing's happening. All that buildup for this?" Asta thought, almost relieved.
But then, the transformation began. The injected blood ignited a ferocious pain that tore through Asta's veins like wildfire. His scream pierced the room as he experienced an agony worse than hell. He felt his very bones being pulverized and muscles being twisted beyond recognition, as if his entire body was being turned inside out.
"Shit… Shit… Shit! This feels like every torture I've endured so far combined and magnified a thousand times over," Asta gasped, his voice a hoarse whisper between clenched teeth. Each pulse of pain was like a hot hammer directly striking his nerves, overwhelming and seemingly endless, threatening to extinguish what little sanity he had left.
His tormentor, the scientist, cackled malevolently, reveling in Asta's agony. "Can't bear the pain, can you? This is what you get for mocking me."
Asta responded with a venomous glare, his eyes alight with undiminished fury despite his suffering. "Shut up, you hideous cretin," he forcefully spat through gritted teeth. "Just you wait... After I survive this, you'll be the first I kill."
The scientist's face twisted with rage at Asta's defiance and the repeated insults to his appearance. "Why you little—"
Driven irrationally by his mounting anger, the scientist retrieved another test tube from his lab coat. Inside was another type of blood that shimmered a mesmerizing blend of blue and purple, emanating an almost seductive aura. He'd been saving this blood for another project, but it seemed now was as good as ever to use it. Without a word, he filled another syringe with the exotic liquid and administered it into Asta's left arm.
Immediately, the new blood coursed through Asta's veins, merging with the fiery torment of the true dragon blood already wreaking havoc within him.
The pain from the second injection was beyond excruciating, once again surpassing any torment Asta had endured before. The new blood seared through his veins like a mixture of lava and dry ice, scorching every nerve ending and organ with unbearable intensity as it fought the true dragon blood. Asta teetered on the brink of madness, the agony so extreme that he couldn't even scream, only gasp in silent despair. Before long, his body entered shock, convulsing uncontrollably as he struggled to maintain consciousness.
As Asta verged ever closer to death, vitals erratically spiking and dropping, the scientist finally recognized the severity of his mistake. If the subject died, especially now that they were so close to success, he'd be executed without question. Panic overwhelmed him. "Oh no… What have I done?! If boss finds out, I'm done for. Stupid… Stupid! I shouldn't have gotten carried away!" The scientist clutched his chest as he tried to steady his breathing.
The scientist desperately glanced at Asta's writhing figure before making a hasty decision. "Fuck! I need to cover this up," he muttered, his voice laced with fear. He quickly burned several large stacks of documents and destroyed a couple of machines before sprinting out of the room. His mind raced with all sorts of escape plans. "This should be enough… I'll just report that the subject couldn't withstand the procedure and went on a rampage," he reasoned as he disappeared, leaving Asta alone in his torment.
Overwhelmed by indescribable agony, Asta's thoughts spiraled into chaos. "I can't take it anymore. This pain... it's too much," he gasped as another wave of torment washed through him, slicing through any semblance of endurance he had left. "Who the hell started the lie that before you die, your life flashes before your eyes?! Tch. Could really use that right about now."
With what little energy Asta had left, he thought about his closest friend. "I really am going to die here, huh. Man, I wish I could see bro one last time… Damn, why am I thinking about him now? I should be thinking about my family." Truth be told, Asta's best friend was the closest thing to family he'd had. Their deep friendship was the only steady pillar in Asta's tumultuous life.
Finally, the pain crescendoed beyond what Asta could handle. His vision blurred as reality slipped away. With one final thought towards his closest friend, he succumbed to the overwhelming darkness, his body unable to sustain consciousness any longer.
Day ???
Asta slowly opened his eyes, confusion once again clouding his senses.
"Huh? What happened? How long has it been?" Asta murmured with much bewilderment. Struggling to regain his balance, he rose unsteadily to his feet, unwittingly breaking his old shackles. Something felt off. Weird sensations.
"Why is my balance not working properly?" Asta wondered aloud, his mind grappling with the sudden disorientation. Astonishment and incredulity washed over him as he surveyed his surroundings. The once pristine white room was now scarred by scorch marks and littered with broken machines.
"Whoa... Was I always this tall? The room looks so much smaller now," he mused with disbelief. He gazed down upon his own body only to pause at the sight of the unfamiliar contours that now adorned his chest.
"The hell?! What are these things on my chest?" Asta, still in disbelief, gently grasped them, only to stop as he felt slight tingles run up his chest. "What... they're soft."
Suddenly, clarity struck. Asta's eyes widened in shock as the truth dawned upon him. He, a 17-year-old boy, had been transformed into a fully-fledged woman, just as the scientist had said. The thought should've made him angry, but instead, he felt eerily calm.
"I wonder what I look like." Asta thought as he walked, gait still unsteady, towards a shattered piece of mirror leaning against the wall. Staring back at him was a mature roughly 30-year-old woman.
Asta gasped at what he saw. His, no, her face was beyond stunning, seemingly sculpted by the gods themselves. Her eyes, one blazing crimson red and the other a vibrant blue, had an aura of authority and mystery that was absolutely mesmerizing to look at.
Asta ran her hands down her now deep purple hair, watching the mirror with awe as it perfectly framed her killer features, cascading in luscious waves all the way down to her middle back.
Looking around, Asta managed to find some measuring equipment left behind in haste by the scientist. Much to her satisfaction, she now stood an impressive 178 cm tall. She marveled at her new bust, waist, and hips, which measured 90 cm (35F), 60 cm, and 85 cm, respectively.
Place ???
Back in the sterile room filled with numerous monitors and equipment, the old man watched Asta with rapt attention. Finally, Dr. Raki had succeeded after ten long years! He couldn't help but grin.
The tranquil atmosphere was suddenly disrupted as a man in a sleek black assassin suit silently materialized behind the old man. "Lord Rakuza! It's just as you expected. That aggressive boy is the only one who survived," he urgently declared.
An angry and disappointed expression flickered across Lord Rakuza's features as he admonished the assassin. "You idiot! I told you not to mention my name in conversation."
The assassin quickly bowed deeply, apologizing over and over again. In his haste, he'd somehow managed to forget basic protocol.
"I'll let it slide this time, but remember to heed my warnings in the future," Lord Rakuza conceded, his disappointment tempered by a hint of satisfaction. He couldn't help but smile as he reflected on Asta's unexpected survival.
The assassin nodded, before disappearing into thin air.
"I had a hunch that boy would survive," Lord Rakuza mused. "Of all the test subjects we've ever had, his survival instinct was by far the best." He stood up and slowly paced the room, hand on his chin as he thought.
"When the order was given to experiment on intersexuals, I was quite disappointed that my precious subjects would once again die for nothing. This turned out way better than I could have ever predicted." Lord Rakuza's face had an almost sinister look, as if he had suddenly found a new toy to play with. His mind raced with palpable excitement as he contemplated the experiment's next step.
"Every successful subject deserves a title befitting their nature." Lord Rakuza declared with anticipation. "And I believe I have the perfect one for that boy."
With bated breath, Lord Rakuza bestowed upon Asta a title befitting his complex nature, psychopathic personality, and now fearsome presence. From now on, Asta would be known by the title:
DEMONIC ANGEL.
Maniacal laughter quickly filled the room. The future was bright.