Kellen's eyes felt as if they were literally made of flames. The blood currently coursing throughout his entire being felt like it was no longer under his command and caused him agony with every single beat of his heart. He gritted his teeth through the pain as he tried to remain conscious of his actions. With every passing second, Kellen's blood seemed to raise in temperature until it felt like it was about to explode.
The air surrounding him began to distort due to the sudden increase of heat emanating from his body and wavered like rising fumes. Thus, adding to his already poor visual conditions.
'Aaaackkkkk! What is happening to me?' Kellen screamed internally as the contained energy continued to condense inside him with every passing moment.
'Transfusion...'
Nergal's voice echoed from somewhere deep in the back of Kellen's mind.
'Fuck, what do you mean transfusion? Haven't I already taken over your damn bloodline?' Cried out Kellen as small tears of blazing blood began to drip down the sides of his eyes.
This was the first time Kellen had fought to remain in control of this devil like urge and it felt as if he was on the verge of dying.
'Yes, but you have not fully accepted its will.' Responded Nergal casually.
Kellen seethed with anger as he tried to restrain his emotions from supplementing his raging blood.
'Will? What does that have to do with anything? I thought we both wanted our revenge?' Said Kellen through his agony. He struggled to look over towards Rena, who was about to be defeated by the Legionnaire at any moment.
'Yes, that is indeed what we both desire. However, the power residing in my blood cannot be contained by a mere human.'
'What do you mean?'
'I'm saying it is time to finally choose, human or demon, you cannot be both. Even with your complete affinity for my blood, its power is too much for a human lifeform to handle. Right now, your body is in constant turmoil, actually, I am surprised it hasn't disintegrated already.' Remarked Nergal.
Kellen's anger slightly burst through his restraints causing him to lose grip of the situation even further.
'How come I did not know about this before!' Angrily breathed Kellen as he fought to sustain consciousness at this point.
'Well I figured you would have already assimilated before now, but apparently that is not the case, is it?' Retorted Nergal.
'Why can't I just remain human? It worked up until just recently...' Kellen complained through clenched teeth.
Whilst using the different gifted powers of the two residents currently inside him for quite awhile, Kellen could not understand why such an effect would be occurring now.
'Ever since you've awoken the power lying dormant inside our fused blood, your body has been slowly deteriorating from the strain of demonic and especially my solar demonic energy. I don't believe remaining human is a wise choice.' Stressed Nergal in a deep voice.
Kellen nearly fell over in disbelief. Not only had he been slowly eroding his body by relying on these powers, not to mention discovering there was actually a difference between the demonic energies, he also had now locked himself onto a single pathway.
'If you wish to achieve what you have vowed, then I suggest you accept the complete transfusion of my bloodline. Besides, demons are far superior anyways.' Ticked Nergal in an annoyed tone.
'What's the difference?' Groaned Kellen as the power within his blood continued its resistance to a climax.
'Not much aesthetically or too much... mentally... But physically you will gain a lot more resistance than the body a mere human can offer.' Strongly encouraged Nergal.
At the time, Kellen did not know whether it was an unconscious action or the amount of pain he was in that dictated his decision. However, what happened next cemented his now everchanging fate.
Accepting the old demon's words, he allowed the raging blood in his body to overwrite its cohabitant.
He finally went numb from the ridiculous amount of pain he had endured as a thick red mist began to seep out from the pores of his skin.
'I must've finally destroyed my nerves...' Kellen hysterically thought as he now watched the mist slowly bellow out from his body.
Kellen could no longer feel the pain but he finally thought he had figured out the origins of the red mist.
'My blood...'
Thinking back to the strange occurrences when the thick iron-tasting red mist had made its appearance, Kellen was now sure that it was his evaporating blood.
'Am I dying?'
This was his next thought as he bitterly watched the red mist escape from his body. However, Kellen did not feel like he was getting any weaker. Instead, he strangely felt as if now he was swiftly being invigorated. As if the blood that was evaporated was being replaced with a stronger and thicker version.
'Is this how the body of a demon feels?'
Kellen did not want to think of the inhibitions and limitations that the body of a demon would hold in store for him. What now presently haunted his thoughts was his current situation.
The yearning in his chest he had felt earlier felt like it had now engulfed his entire body like a hot bath. His body was screaming for him to take action, but this time Kellen finally answered its plea.
His grip on the sword in his hand tightened and the hilt released a small squeal under the sudden pressure.
Kellen tried to once again summon and control his demonic energy, but to his surprise, it flooded his entire body on command and without resistance. His blood no longer felt as if it were boiling and instead felt comforting like the warm waves of a summer breeze.
'This is amazing! I feel amazing!' He thought as the iris in his eyes slowly engulfed and transitioned themselves to a glaring and permanent bright red.
Besides his glistening red eyes, Kellen felt some other subtle changes. His hair seemed to have become a darker shade, almost completely jet black, and grew slightly longer that it now wisped in front of his red eyes. His previously somewhat better than average height seemed to have raised roughly two inches to six feet, as he noticed the ground seemed to be slightly farther beneath him.
Kellen felt as if he had finally been reborn in this hellish world and the shackles and memories his human body had sustained no longer weighed as much.
Pushing some of the new profound energy in his body into the sword, a blazing mix of black and bright red flames erupted along its edge. Unlike before, the sword did not show signs of melting, as Kellen's complete control over the flames rendered them tame.
Kellen stared up across the grounds towards the Legionnaire's location with a new light burning in his eyes.
'So what if I become a demon! No matter what, my vengeance will still be achieved!'
With his glaring eyes hidden behind his black hair and a savage grin plastered on his face, he quickly raced over to face the Legionnaire with his new form.
His newfound speed even shocked himself, as he cleared the remaining distance between him and his target almost immediately.
He curtly raised the blazing sword in his hand and slashed down towards the Legionnaire with the glee of battle reflecting in his eyes.
However, Axus's figure promptly vanished from beneath his strike and appeared a few steps away near Kellen's side.
A small smile that did not befit the Legionnaire's persona emerged on his face.
There was an unprecedented pause in the battle, as both the predators eyed each other once again, but with renewed vigor.
The two monsters stared each other down with unsettling smirks for a few moments before rushing towards each other in a blinding fury.
"What the hell happened to these two?" Asked Rena in shock as she anchored her sword into the ground and used it as support to witness the shocking estrangement.
Her current sparring partner did seem to be the same person as when they had originally started, yet still retained some similarities. Conversely, their instructor had become somewhat of a crazed lunatic himself as the two men happily exchanged blows.
"They're lunatics!"
Rena sounded out with the rest of the trainees who were currently also in shock.
The Legionnaire no longer dodged the oncoming attacks that were much fiercer when compared to earlier. Instead, he used his hands to expertly slide across the blade and narrowly push it away from his body before it could greedily embed itself.
Although, the two were moving at a ridiculous speed that was much greater than their earlier bout, to the trainees, it seemed like it was in slow-motion.
A mirage of the two rampaging men dotted the grounds, while their afterimages seem to combat in slow-motion. The strange scene made it seem like there were five fights happening at the same time but between the same two people.
"Hahaha... Finally! A decent recruit!" Said Axus with rarely seen emotion as he and Kellen continued their ridiculous spar.
The jaws of the other trainees felt like they had been unhinged and detached as they hit the floor.
"If that's decent than how the fuck are we supposed to compete!"
"This was the class requirement?"
Multiple trainees began grumbling with themselves after hearing the Legionnaire's odd praise.
As they all stared about the now blade scarred ground, their previous excitement and confidence were both simultaneously killed.
The flashing images of the two men finally dissipated as their figures appeared back in the front of the trainees.
Kellen panted heavily through his unnervingly sharp smile while Axus released a sigh as he combed his hand through his white hair.
The trainees held there breath as they awaited the announcement for the victor.
"Who do you think won?"
"Isn't it obvious? That guy is all worn out while the Legionnaire looks like he just went out for a drink!"
The trainees excitedly debated the outcome, while Rena curiously studied the two opponents.
Suddenly, the Legionnaire smiled as he lowered his hand from his hair and tapped the white gauntlet on his wrist.