Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Lucius couldn't help but smile at June's words. Oh, they were such sweet promises, but only a fool would believe them.

"Yes, I have every intention of making you completely loyal." Lucius said as his hands glowed with red light. "Do not worry about that, June."

Those words and the smile on the young lord's face sent shudders all over June's body. Goosebumps spread across her skin and her heart pounded.

"Y-yes, my lord." June said, despite the uncertainty in her chest.

The words Lord Asher said were supposed to be relieving and yet every inch of her wanted to get away from the man at the very instant.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The now familiar red streaks of energy swirled and flowed all around Lucius's hand and while it was something that Kiana might have found stunning…

June's eyes widened at the sight of it, and she recoiled. Tried to back away from it as much as she could while restrained.

This was her first time seeing it and it was a terrifying thing. Everyone had heard that the Young Lord of the Inanis Family did not have any gifts at all.

Had it all been a well-guarded secret?

Those were one of the last coherent thoughts that June thought to herself before Lucius sent her to a world of pain.

The hell energy injected itself into her body.

June let out an ear-piercing shriek that echoed across the entire laboratory as her body convulsed and thrashed within her restraints.

Lucius frowned at the noise, but continued to observe her. Kiana probably hadn't been able to gag her because she thought that there would be more interrogation.

Either way, the only thing that Lucius could do was wait and watch.

However, Lucius was already displeased.

He had only injected a sliver of hell energy, but the process was not the same as his previous attempts. It didn't seem apparent to Kiana, but it was not as stable of a process as before.

The energy caused so much pain to June that towards the end, no sounds longer came out of her mouth even while she tried to scream.

Instead, hard and labored breathing came out of June, even whilst her eyes rolled back into her head as they spasmed.

The thrashing and the metallic sounds that came with it as she tried to free herself from her restraints also reached a descent.

It was as if she was already spent just absorbing the energy.

"Had she already eaten before I came here?" Lucius asked and turned slightly to Kiana.

"Yes, Asher. I had fed her already." Kiana nodded with a slight frown. Even she had noticed that there was something different about the process today.

In comparison, Lucius thought that the process was similar to that of the Bore Shrew in the past. Or at least thought that was the case, but wasn't so sure now.

'She should have had enough resources to undergo this transformation, even Baza was able to recover from his broken legs and we had Jacob whose legs were chopped off even.' Lucius thought. 'Is the difference because June has a rare ranked gift as opposed to Jacob's uncommon one in the past?'

Lucius turned back to observe June with a stiff expression. Though she flitted through in between states of consciousness and unconsciousness, there were signs that the hell energy still did its job.

All over June's body, the red hue that accustomed itself to all the Lost spread itself along with the veins that popped out of her skin.

"Hah… argh." June let out pained sounds while tears rolled down her cheeks.

"It's much slower than before." Lucius muttered. He had familiarized himself with the process of making the Lost that he knew that after an hour, she should have already been by the second stage of transformation.

"But she's still changing, right?" Kiana asked.

Lucius checked on her broken wrist and while it had originally been bent at an awkward angle, enough for complications to arise if untreated… it had also recovered as well.

But Lucius was unsatisfied.

There was no intense source of vitality that occurred for most of the Lost and on the contrary, it was almost as if June's vitality was being used to actually go through the process of turning her into a Lost.

"Tsk. We can't lose the gift just because she'll die." Lucius quickly turned to his Lost and sent out a streak of hell energy toward Doyle.

Doyle quickly received his orders and stomped towards June and grabbed her throat. June's entire body stiffens and yet she was unable to do anything.

Either way, the Lost tightly clutched it once and then instantly broke her neck. June's body went limp as her struggles ceased at last.

Lucius didn't look exactly happy, but quickly took out a sharp knife and attempted to slice through her chest.

Compared to the hardened skin of the other Lost, June's body still managed to retain its softness. The easily sliced flesh just told Asher that the process was a bust.

However… it wasn't also a complete loss.

Lucius slipped his hand through June's chest and searched within the cavity of her body.

"Asher, are you okay?" Kiana asked, a bit worried about his state and condition. She knew that he was able to transform other people through his gift and didn't quite know what this meant that he had not succeeded.

"Yes, I'm fine," Lucius called out to her as he pulled out his prize at last. The blood-splattered Rune Crystal now lay in his hand.

Gift Name: Lingering Mark

Description: The owner can put an invisible mark made from the sweat secreted from their skin. This mark can last for up to a month and will be traceable using dogs and other such beasts.

Rank: Rare

Type: Emission

Evolution: Not possible

"I've finally managed to confirm something," Lucius glanced at the crystal in hand. His conjecture had been correct, a human Rune Crystal was formed by those killed by the Lost.