Chapter 21: The lion is dead tonight

Earlier, in the Boss room where Agata and Haru woke up.

Third POV

"Your welcome, Dad.", Cahaya replied then shoved the rest of the paw making an audible and disturbing sound of crunching before gulping. 

He then ripped a piece of the lion's expensive suit and made a tourniquet with it around the ex-Shishigumi boss' right wrist. 

He made sure to make it as painful as possible by squeezing it extremely hard. 

The hybrid whispered next to the old lion's ears making him have goosebumps,

"I don't want my dog to die of blood loss so fast, now do I?"

Then Cahaya looked up to the axolotl and said proudly, "Dad, I got the one who captured you and his little 'protegé', thankfully they told me where you were.", he was gesturing with his tail in the direction of the two lions.

"The old one with glasses and broken forearm is Ibuki-kun and the one with black fur is Agata-chan.", the naga continued while pointing at the chained and unconscious Agata with his tail and then Ibuki with his left hand.

"Ibuki-kun is all yours…", he announced and the said lion looked resolved to his fate as his face hardened, "And Agata-chan is for Gosha's grandson crush… He is such a scaredy-cat… he put himself unconscious by bashing his head against a table counter when I simply slithered in his direction.", he chuckled at the end remembering how he probably traumatized the kitty.

"*sigh* I'm simply going to do something similar to what Life Animal did to their traitor… He will be like I was but permanently and with a little twist.", Mamoru sighed, honestly he was tired with all of this shit and just wanted to sleep but he wouldn't let the lion go without appropriate punishment.

He didn't really like this but he won't and will not accept anything of different nature for Ibuki's punishment. 

'This is very merciful… Carnivores of the past were different from the current ones. They harbor hate against wasting meat except in the case of traitors… Total paralysis of the individual is preferred in most cases.', the hybrid though.

Life Animals were very similar to Marine Animals in that aspect, it was a harsh environment where the rule of kill or be killed dominated. 

Totally different from Nature Animals or presently, herbivores, they were always more creative in more aspects, especially the one around torture from 100 years ago. Even humans of this world paled in comparison.

"Ibuki-kun, could you be a good boy and show us the entrance to the 'Special' room you talked about when we slithered up here?", the hybrid asked his tone of voice and mannerisms polite, in total contradiction with the meaning behind it.

Ibuki obeyed and started to show and walk them where the torture room was, his face grave and a racing heart.

The ex-boss was watching on the ground everything unfold before his eyes, he was terrified and furious at his right-hand man's betrayal. 

He flinched when Cahaya's attention was again back on him, "Get up and follow me.", the hybrid ordered.

"Ah! Son, stay simple and don't take too much time, we don't have all day.", his Dad informed him, Cahaya's shoulder slumped a little at that. Making his Dad laugh. 

_______________________

Chief was shirtless and strapped on a humanoid table with holes on its members-shaped end, his back facing the ceiling, arms and legs spread apart.

Cahaya whistled while frisking around the cupboard and drawers around the room, looking for scalpels, nails, a hammer, a surgical saw and a lot of other toys.

He was smiling as picked up multiple toys, such as four big nails that he placed in a machine designed to make them extremely hot.

The old lion gazed at everything with horror and pleaded with difficulty, lack of fang on one side, "Please! No! I regret what I have done… I have a family! Don't kill me! Imagine if your Dad was m-"*CLANG*

He felt something burning hot pierce through his right heel and stopped mid-sentence due to the white-hot pain he felt.

"I'm sorry but I'm struggling to care about your hypothetical family.", he stared at the monster who took another burning nail, bare-handed. The hybrid's uncaring about his own sizzling flesh.

He was distracted and then felt another burning nail pierce his other pinning the other feet to the table, making him silently howl in pain.

"Your wit never ceases to underwhelm me. How did you become and stay as the leader of the Shishigumi for 13 years again?", Cahaya asked rhetorically while taking the third nail and hammering it on the lion's left paw. Having a similar reaction to the last.

Chief was barely cognizant until the fourth nail was hammered and he cried as he felt all of the pierced area being burned, his own cooking flesh odour with the one of his torture was making his stomach twist.

"Good now to something more 'visual', if I might say.", announced the hybrid.

"Sadly we do not have much time for other lengthier processes such as scaphism, impalement by bamboo shoot, two very unique and original way of torture, or forced self-cannibalism or even slowly being flayed alive until you lose your sanity and way more possibilities imaginable.", he confessed, sounding very disappointed at the lack of time or material limiting what he could do.

He continued, "This is why. I will tell you a little thing about history. You see, in the Herbi-Carnivore War, herbivores were very creative. Especially a young female chipmunk, her name was Bathory.

Little Bathory was like any other kit until her parents were eaten alive by one bald eagle before her own eyes that were at the time filled with innocence. 

The meat of the matter, for the carnivore of the time, is that she became the second Chief Information Officer of the HHA coalition army.

She was brilliant, she innovated many things in the domain of information gathering and intimidation tactics. 

Due to her past trauma. She had an unhealthy obsession with birds of prey, especially eagles. She saw them in everything, as such, she wanted others to see them too.

And here we are at what is going to happen to you. A lion with wings, wouldn't that be majestic? Something truly worthy of the title of the King of Beasts. Don't you think?", Cahaya finished his quick lesson of history, as his lavender eyes glowing in childlike excitement, his four blue pairs of gills, the hybrid now felt his recently formed hood from the back of his cheek to the start of his shoulder blade spread instinctively and be on full display, he decided to dwell on it later.

The old lion could see that on each side of the black scaled hood was the dark blue pattern of a half-rotted human skull that bore the same glowing lavender colour in each of its eye sockets.

It made a deep impression in his mind, he was again profoundly terrified. Making him ignore everything else, even the agony he was going through until he felt a wet, cold and burning blade just at the end of his back.

The hybrid stained the scalpel blade with his blood and spinal fluid, the thing used by him in his special balm, to make the experience all the more painful and limit the risk of early death.

"First you start with a small incision at the top of the fourth or fifth lumbar vertebrae. Choose based on your personal preference.", Cahaya talked as if he was educating a child on how to count or make a DIY.

"Then you can start to cut, be extremely careful though and do it slowly following the spine curve and stop before the seventh cervical spine. 

The depth needed depends on the species and specimen, for a lion of big calibre it is recommended to cut at least 3 centimetres (~1,18 in) deep.", and he did just that, making the lion below sob in agony. The hybrid felt already elated at the quick response.

He already tested doing this torture on himself but it was a bit hard. He did it, because SCIENCE.

"After this vertical incision, we need to severe both of the outer muscle of the latissimus dorsi and left trapezius and the deeper muscle of the elevators scapulae, rhomboid, serratus posterior inferior and right iliocostalis to gain access to the ribs. The main ingredient of our wings.", the same happened, Cahaya looked directly at the irregular breathing of pink-red lungs through the visible ribs of the suffering lion, he could even see the beating heart.

He was gazing at everything with sadism in his eyes and a mad grin on his bloody snoot. He flicked his tongue out and was intoxicated by the taste and smell of the blood, flesh and organ inside, as well as the fear of the cat. His grin only became wider.

He was having fun, he really loved the way the blood and flesh moved, especially around his bare webbed fingers. He knew if he did that in his past life he would have retched and puked and been horrified but he has changed in more than one way.

"Now to open the ribs we will use a modern electric surgical saw and our trusty scalpel, first cut both of the erector spinae muscle and then the right diaphragm through the space between the ribs, the right spatula can be removed but I will keep it since I will not have any support for the wings.", he continued to do what he recited with precision.

Chief was starting to have a hard time breathing but the mixture on the scalpel kept him going, he wanted it to stop, the voice of the monster kept on talking and talking, in the same gentle and friendly tone. 

He couldn't take it anymore but he was each time stopped from going into the sweet embrace of death.

He couldn't even cry anymore, vocal cord shredded, his muzzle covered in snot, tears, blood, sweat and bile.

*BZZZT*, "Here is the most delicate part, you absolutely don't want your 'precious' pet to die, at least for the moment. Start by cutting through the right side, as close to the spine as possible.", he did what he instructed.

" One wing is ready to be put in place, you need to use bendable but hard steel wire, you make the skin you cut earlier be sewed to the corresponding set of ribs. Hmmm, *raspberry* done, now you start to spread the covered set of ribs outward.", he made a concentrated face as he sewed the muscles, skin, and bone together.

"Put the same wire where the ribs were located to stop the lungs from slipping out. Then you attach each of its extremities to the corresponding spatula and the back skin right next to where the pelvis and spine touch. And you gently pull, here we have a beautiful wing.", he explained and then started to work on the one immediately.

"Be very quick with the second, tho. Usually, they die earlier, luckily Chief you are a survivor and will become the first artificial living lion-eagle 'hybrid' on Earth.", he boisterously announced to his pet, while the lion was barely cognizant but could still hear the haunting voice of the monster that was playing with his body making him go to an unimaginable level of pain.

"Finally! The Blood Eagle is made. Always dreamed to do that.", Cahaya finished his monologue while eyeing the open bloody back of the old lion, organs, like the esophagus, tip of the liver, both of the lungs unable to draw air anymore, his heart beating feebly until it ultimately stopped.

The ex-Boss of ex-Shishigumi died, after going through this unique metamorphosis.