The Touch of Asmodeus
My grotesque act of self-mutilation, smashing my own skull without hesitation under Asmodeus's touch, was enough to shatter even the arrogant reason of Ignis, who had ruled the territory with an iron fist for decades. Amid the horrific sounds of blood spraying and bone crunching, my eyes gleamed solely with thick murderous intent toward him.
"Y-you crazy monster bastard...!"
Instinctual terror enveloped Ignis's massive frame. A gut feeling that something had gone terribly wrong slammed into his mind. Completely losing his composure, he cranked the output of the only deceptive power he could rely on—the red gem embedded in the lower armor of his blacksmith plating—to its absolute limit.
Wood-crack, kwak! As the gem spewed blood-red light like mad, his grotesque, enormous cock swelled monstrously, veins on the verge of bursting from the forced mana injection into the armor. Ignis channeled the madness and fear from that fraudulent swelling of his lower body into energy, unleashing a frenzy of overwhelming flame magic that threatened to reduce the entire mine to ashes.
Kwaaaaang...!!!! Kwarung...!!!
A storm of flames at least 5th Circle or higher filled my vision like a tsunami crashing down on me. The overwhelming heat made even breathing impossible. But my footsteps didn't retreat a single inch.
The Mark of Subjugation etched on the lower abdomens of the unconscious Seria and Rubia, whose legs had melted away, responded to their master's rampage, squeezing out their last dregs of life force to pour vast mana into me. Yet the pure mana they sent could never flow through my veins. My body was a pitch-black abyss that perfectly rejected mana.
The sisters' influx of mana erupted with grotesque popping sounds the instant it touched my flesh, forcibly transmuted into the most ferocious, sticky demonic power. That overwhelming, oppressive demonic energy, born from mana brutally crushed and converted, cloaked my entire body in a thick, dark-red veil.
Sizzle...!
The sight of Ignis's all-out destructive flames hitting my body was pathetically futile. Even that arrogant flame magic, which could melt rock and vaporize steel, was utterly extinguished without leaving a single ember the moment it touched the demonic energy enveloping me. Before this absolute law that devoured mana and twisted it into demonic power, the barrage of spells from the territory's ruler was nothing more than childish fireplay.
"N-no... This can't be! My flames!"
Ignis's desperate scream echoed through the collapsing mine. I tore through the azure blaze that had tried to swallow me with both hands, striding toward Ignis as he stumbled back in extreme terror. Each step I took ground the ashes into the floor, sending chilling vibrations through the air from the thick demonic energy.
Ignis's eyes, retreating from my near-suicidal antics and the oppressive aura pouring from me, soon glazed over with the shallow pride of the territory's ruler.
"A mana-less worm like you! How dare you raise your head before me!"
With Ignis's roar came another mad burst of blood-red light from the deceptive lower armor's gem. Destructive 7th Circle magic, ripping even the mine's atmosphere apart, coiled around his massive body—no incantation needed, just the arrogant authority of a ruler. Azure hellfire cascaded like a colossal wave, completely engulfing my body.
Rocks boiled, ashes vaporized in the horrific, overwhelming conflagration. But at the heart of that azure inferno, I spat blood-mingled mockery.
My body fundamentally couldn't hold even a drop of mana. Ignis's merciless 7th Circle mana barrage didn't so much as scorch my skin; it was forcibly transmuted into ferocious demonic power upon contact. The raging flames were crushed and converted into sticky demonic energy, becoming perfect nourishment that explosively strengthened my severed nerves and regenerated muscles.
I ripped through the azure blaze bare-handed and leaped straight at Ignis.
"Grk, urgh?!"
My right fist slammed dead-center into Ignis's arrogant, muscular chest. With the heavy impact of crumbling bone, a new law awakened within me. The demonic authority, Asmodeus's Touch.
The moment my body touched his skin, the thick demonic energy cloaking me forcibly pierced his mana circuits, beginning its cruel erosion.
"Urgh... My body, why is it so hot?!"
Ignis groaned in panic from his crumbling mana focus and the alien heat boiling his insides. But that was merely the beginning of hell.
Simultaneously with the strike, the skill triggered from my abyss inscribed a grotesque curse on his flesh: feminization. The mana circuits in the chest where my fist landed were perfectly sealed by the demonic energy, while his solid pectorals began twisting and mutating under the sticky demonic force.
"Agh?! W-what's happening to my chest!"
A powerless scream burst from his lips. His iron-hard male muscles lost their rigidity in an instant, swelling at a grotesque speed into soft, voluptuous female flesh. Heavy breasts hung lewdly from his chest, jiggling with weight, and Ignis clutched them in trembling massive hands, overwhelmed by utter confusion and shame.
I gave him no time to process the fear. Twisting my waist for rotational power, my heel flew mercilessly toward his once-majestic, solid pelvis.
Kwaak!
The kick landed, and demonic power eroded his mana circuits once more, mangling his pelvic structure. Wood-crack, kwak! Grotesque sounds of shifting bone fragments echoed through the mine.
"Gaaaaah!"
Ignis collapsed to his knees, howling in agony as if his lower body were being torn apart. His narrow male pelvis melted like wax under the demonic energy, flaring wide to either side. The sturdy male form vanished entirely, perfectly reshaping into the broad, flared hips designed for childbearing.
The lordly frame crumbled in moments into the silhouette of a deformed, lewd bitch in heat. The weight of his swollen breasts and the grotesquely splayed wide hips made Ignis stagger in extreme terror at the horrific, humiliating changes wracking his body.
He clasped his trembling hands for a final desperate incantation. But his internal mana circuits, built for his huge, brutish frame, couldn't accommodate the new voluptuous curves and flared pelvic trajectory—they twisted and knotted grotesquely.
"M-mana...! Why won't it gather, urgh!"
The uncast magic, tangled and lost, exploded within him with a horrific roar. Foom...! Fragments of ferocious 7th Circle residual mana burst from his body like shrapnel, peppering my skin.
But my body couldn't hold even a drop of mana. Those destructive shards meant to shred me popped grotesquely on contact, perfectly transmuted into the most ferocious, sticky demonic power. The hellish process of mana crushed into demonic force boiled over, forcibly stitching my minor wounds from moments ago and explosively regenerating my muscles into perfect nourishment.
I swung the dark-red demonic energy billowing from my body and approached Ignis as he rolled on the ground, writhing and screaming from the internal explosion. Then, like a beast, I seized his filthy hair and hoisted him into the air.
"Let go of me! Y-you filthy worm...!"
"Your arrogant mouth's still intact, I see."
I raised my fist, swollen to bursting with demonic power, and smashed mercilessly into the rugged face of the self-proclaimed territory lord.
Kwajik!
The strike sealed his facial mana circuits perfectly under Asmodeus's law. Then the feminization curse clung stickily. His thick, scarred jaw and cheekbones from countless battles crumbled like mud under the demonic force, emitting wretched sounds.
"Aaaaaah! My face, my faaaace...!"
As he screamed, his flesh and bones began real-time reassembly. The harsh angular jawline was carved into soft, slender curves; rough skin smoothed into flawless, pale delicacy. His bulging eyes drooped pitifully into a tearful beauty's gaze; thick lips shrank into cute, cherry-red fullness.
Clutched by the hair in my grip, trembling violently, this was no longer the hulking ruler. Gazing up at me was the infinitely fragile, adorable face of a beautiful girl, tears streaming in extreme terror—utterly mismatched with the intimidating lower armor.