53 Roar of will

The moment he started to use Burning Blood and Zatiel overcharged the technique, Rax felt the greatest pain of his entire life. Even though he was old, as the leader of kobolds whenever there was a fight against other creatures or races, he was always first in line, which had given him countless wounds all over his body, but he could swear that even all that together was not comparable to the torment he was feeling now.

From his head to his legs, in every single part of his body, the old kobold felt like fire was running through his veins and the pain was excruciating. But even with that unimaginable torture, his eyes were focused and his will was unyielding.

Zatiel was monitoring everything that was happening inside the old kobold body using all the power of his consciousness and the chip's abilities, his hands were steady and his concentration had reached the point that everything besides the old kobold had vanished from his mind. He understood the immense agony that Rax was feeling, but he didn't hold his power and continued pushing the technique to the maximum.

"A.I chip, notify me at the moment that Rax's life is about to end, get the powers of my third eye ready to act and inject all the vitality of the flames into his blood," After giving the command, Zatiel continued with the process.

Regenerating the blood before Rax had reached the end of the burning process will make that the purity of his bloodline lower when he becomes a Neo-Demon and although Zatiel has ways of helping him overcome that, it will be very difficult, but he was not willing to let the old kobold die.

As the process continued, the feeling of fire corroding his body started to concentrate on his chest, what happened was that the amount of blood was diminishing and leaving his extremities, but this did not make the pain any lesser, it only made it worse, to the point the old kobold was wondering if lava had reached his guts.

The image of the old kobold was deteriorating rapidly, his body was losing all his liquids and his skin started to dry and he began looking like a mummified corpse. If anyone else looks at him, they would think he was a dead body but those eyes that glowed with determination proved his thriving life.

All the kobolds were looking as Rax was going through this transformation, and the anguish in their hearts was immense, most of the smaller ones even started to weep and some of the adults also did. 

Zatiel didn't hide his voice when he made the offer to the old kobold so most of them realized that the reason Rax was going through this torment was that it will allow him to protect them and help their race improve, and the pain that caused them to see him in this state was something unbearable, but all of them stared at him, they know that they can't help him but they will not look away as he takes this test.

'Keep going, keep going, keep going' 

By this point, the pain reached a point that Rax could not even think but he knows that he must continue. But as the agony increased, he started to feel his breathing grow weaker and no matter how much he tried, the feeling of suffocation was only growing.

Rax tried to take big breaths, but it didn't work no matter how much he tried, reaching a point that he felt like he was choking, even when oxygen filled his lungs. The blood is the one that takes the air from the lungs and distributes it to the rest of the body, so no matter how much he tries, if the blood was no longer present in his lungs, then the oxygen would not reach the rest of the body.

Zatiel saw the condition of the old kobold deteriorating rapidly but the transformation of his blood had only reached 80% and if he stops now, it will severely affect his future development, but luckily the will in his eyes had not diminished at all, so he continues pushing all his energy to the limit trying to shorten the time it will take to finish.

Rax's face was hideous, it was contorted in pain and all his skin was stuck to his bones, and when the agony reached this point, a voice started to sound in his head pushing him to give up.

'You have done more than enough, just rest and all will go away.'

'Ke...ep going, ke..ep goi...g,' The same message resonated in his head that fought that voice, but every time it became weaker and the voice telling him to give up grew stronger.

'He will take care of your tribe, there is no need for you to continue.'

'Kee..p go..i..g!'

'You have done more than any other could do, it is ok to give up. You are just a kobold, you can't do this.'

'Keep go..' By this point, even the light in Rax eyes was also starting to vanish and the life in his body was beginning to extinguish.

Zatiel saw this and was ready to use the flames immediately to save his life. Although the process was not finished yet, the fact the old kobold had withstood this much was incredible, but then he felt that the will of Rax begin to grow again and the light in his eyes intensified. What he didn't realize was that because he had to block everything besides the kobold, he didn't hear the cries from the rest of the tribe members.

"Leader, resist! You have always been our greatest warrior!"

"Leader, you can do this!"

"We believe in you!"

"Show us your might!"

As Rax hears those roars, his will just like his blood burned once again especially when he heard a young voice.

"Dad! You can't give up, you told me that we will make our tribe great together, so you can't give up!" The small kobold was tearing as he screamed, he had woken up a long time ago but he was told by the rest not to interrupt his father so it wasn't until he saw the light of his eyes fade that he roared with the rest.

"I may be a simple kobold.. created to be a.. servant, I may not have great wings, or.. powerful claws, but there is some..thing that I have that no one gives me and that is mine a..lone..." Rax felt like his entire body was empty and all the power he had vanished just like someone ready to die but still he roared with such power and dignity that even the prideful dragon race will feel shame.

"THE WILL OF MY RACE THAT HELPS ME OVERCOME EVERYTHING!"

Along with that thunderous roar, inside of his body was now only a single drop of blood shining with beautiful crimson color and if someone looked carefully, he may see the illusion of dragons in it.

"Now!" That was what Zatiel was waiting for, and he used his Eye of life and creation with all his power as he made the golden flames that covered the old kobold enter his body and reach this small drop of blood.

The moment the flames reached it, the blood devoured it with ferocity and immediately started to multiply with great speed, reaching every single part of the old kobold's body.

Rax felt the change in his body and the first thing he did was take a great breath of air, the feeling of oxygen reaching his lungs and filling his body made him smile from ear to ear. His body started to fill itself, his withered skin was no more and his body started to grow up, filling him with energy. When he reached his top condition, he felt that his body continued rising in power and the sensation was so satisfying that he could not help but laugh.

The rest of the kobolds saw this and everybody began to laugh and roar from happiness, as the feeling of joy fills everyone's heart.

Now that it was over, Zatiel was able to see his surroundings and was surprised as he saw the sincerity in the other kobolds.

"Hey, you should not be celebrating too soon, the process is not over yet."

When Rax heard this, he became nervous as the process was so painful that going through it again was frightening, but Sophia and Ezequiel smiled as they saw the teasing expression on Zatiel's face.

"Jajaja, sorry, I am just messing with you. Indeed, your transformation is not over yet, but for the next part, even if you pass out it will not make a difference and there is no danger," Zatiel's mood was excellent as the process was a great success, so he wanted to mess a little with the old kobold.

When he hears that, Rax relaxes greatly but he was curious about what came next. 

"Mighty One, what part of my blood needs to change?"

"First, I already told you to stop calling me Mighty One, you can just call me 'leader' or something like that if you want. Second, we transform all the blood in your body but we don't alter your marrow which is the origin of it, as doing it will be suicidal at this point, but even so, this will be affected to a certain level, and third, since we finished your internal transformation, now that will be reflected in your body, very soon it will start to change. But as I said, this has no risks and if the pain is too great, you can just pass out and nothing will happen."

As soon as Zatiel finished, Rax started to feel his body but knowing what came next, he was calm and just sat down. The rest of the kobolds understood that the risky part had finished and all of them came to surround the old kobold with smiles on their faces.