Nero, The Legendary Hunter

- The next morning -

"Number 0!" A guard came into the room and called her.

"Mm?" Waking up sleepily, Nera looks at the guard with her eyes half-open.

The one who woke her up this time was a tall, muscular man. His red eyes looked at Nera without expression, but Nera could have sworn she saw a glint of pity in his eyes…

"Hurry up!" he said, "Doctor Aisten is wanting to see you."

Nera's face went white with fear. If there was anyone she was afraid of, it was Aisten. Shaking a little from trepidation, she started to get ready very quickly. The guard understood her terror, since the scientist who did the worst and riskiest experiments was most definitely Aisten.

Nera could not suppress the fear she was feeling as she followed the guard out the bedroom door. The more they walked, the more afraid she was.

"Hurry up, if you don't want me to drag you!" The guard shouted when he saw that Nera slowed her steps.

Nera bit her bottom lip and started walking faster.

When they arrived in front of Doctor Aisten's door, Nera's heart was racing. She knew that being called here was not good news. In addition, she was even more scared because of the possible reason they hadn't given her food yesterday.

The guard opened the door and said, "Doctor Aisten, I brought Number 0."

"Right, send her in!" A sinister voice came from inside the room.

Nera was dragged in by the guard. She could barely contain her fear. Looking at the tall, thin man almost two meters tall, hunched a little forward, it was as if she was seeing the devil himself in person.

But soon her fear was replaced by anger! It was this doctor who was the last to call her friend Yui. Inside the room, something made her tremble with anger and hatred, a hatred so great that her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably. Hanging in a corner of the room, there were a pair of beautiful snow-white wings. In addition, she noticed her friend without her wings inside a large pot filled with transparent liquid and with cables connected to her.

Nera imagined that Yui might still be alive... yet, was it really good that she was still alive in this state? Without Nera realizing it, hot tears began to stream from her eyes. She couldn't imagine the pain her friend felt when they removed her wings and left her in that state.

"Yui... Yui ... Yui..."

She tried to get closer but was stopped by the guard.

"How could you? How can there be such inhuman beings?" she sobbed loudly in anguish. "Why are these people- No! Why can these demons do this and get away with it? The stories I heard that 'good' always wins over 'evil', was it all a lie? This, this..."

Nera couldn't even complete what was going on in her mind when she dropped to her knees on the floor.

"Why are you causing so much drama?" Doctor Aisten snorted. He then said angrily with eyes full of ferocity as he scoffed, "Don't think you will gain any empathy on my part. You are just another guinea pig for my experiments. Don't think you have any other value than that!" He laughed ominously. "You are just a lab rat. You will live and die here!"

"You bastard!" Nera cried out through her tears, "You are a monster!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Rather than being offended, an evil laugh echoed in the room as Aisten laughed out loud as if there was no tomorrow.

After he stopped laughing, Aisten looked at the guard who was still in the room, his eyes showing no humanity as he ordered, "Guard, lock her in this chair!"

"Yes!" The guard nodded in fear. He approached Nera who was kneeling on the floor. Taking her by force, he dragged her to the chair, not worrying about the screams of Nera who refused to obey.

Stuck in a chair with her feet and hands tied, Nera looked at Aisten as if she could eat him alive. The right corner of her nose was shaking like an angry dog, looking at Aisten full of hatred.

'Why? Why did I have to go through all of this? If there is a God, I will pay it forward. Please just help me!' She pleaded to heaven. It was all her sister's fault that she had gone through all of this. Her sister, although she said Nera was found from the sea, was still her sister, and yet she had sold Nera to these psychopaths.

Aisten took out a briefcase without taking a second look at Nera. He put the folder on a table and opened it. Inside were a syringe and a small glass vial with red blood that appeared to be moving as if it had a will of its own.

He took the syringe and then drew the blood out of the small vial. Turning back to Nera, he had a cruel smile that would make anyone tremble with fear. Nera, seeing his smile, knew that she probably wouldn't be able to survive this time. Her emotions rained down like a storm; her shoulders started to shake when the tears fell like rain, threatening to drown her inside. The sadness and loneliness that dried up in her veins had like a cold, endless river.

'Why did my sister do this to me? Why didn't I doubt her when she told me to hide on the boat? Why did I have to be deceived by my own sister and sold to these evil beings? Why? Why?'

Seeing Nera's desperation, Aisten's laugh got even more out of control. He loved to see people become desperate. It was as if that was the true meaning of his life: having people desperate because of his research.

When Aisten stopped laughing, he started to say, "You are lucky, Number 0. You will be honored to receive the cells of a rare animal. I don't even know what kind of animal it is, but did you notice the glow and how intimidating this blood is?" He laughed, "Of course, if you can survive, it would be a totally different story."

Without waiting for an answer, Aisten injected blood into the vein of Nera's left arm.

At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, she started to turn totally blood-red, and she started screaming desperately! The pain she was feeling was so strong that it didn't even give her the chance to pass out, because, the moment she passed out, Nera woke up from the pain again.

Her skin started to tear and her blood burst like a soap bubble. The sound of her blood bursting resonated in her mind, tormenting her, intensifying her pain.

Pop… Pop… Pop… Pop… Pop… Pop...

Her blood bubbled and burst, bubbled and burst, bubbled and burst. Her body was already drenched in her own blood. Her veins were visible to the naked eye. Blood came out of her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. She wanted to continue screaming, but she had no voice. Even the guard who saw many scary and disgusting things couldn't help it and threw up.

_ _

{Edited by: Azurtha}