I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 508: [Faith Stack +1]

The bow in Jack’s hands dissolved, lightning and dark mana dissipating as he dismissed the weapon.

The tiny portal near his hand closed with a sound like tearing fabric.

His right hand extended, and power flowed from his system storage.

Oscar materialized in his grip. The spear he’d claimed from the Pho’s armory.

The weapon was unique, its tip forged with four blades arranged in a cross pattern. Each blade curved outward before pointing back inward, creating a design meant to gouge and tear flesh.

The spear’s shaft was black as midnight. The cross-blades gleamed with edges sharp enough to split hair. This weapon was engineered to inflict severe trauma with each impact, designed not for immediate incapacitation but for causing agonizing and traumatic injuries.

Jack shifted his stance, his movements flowing as he assumed his battle stance.

His right hand gripped the spear high on the shaft, raising it behind his head in an aggressive posture. His knees bent, weight distributed for explosive forward movement.

It was a demon’s stance. Mira recognized it immediately.

The fighting style used by entities who valued overwhelming aggression over defense, who believed in closing distance and ending fights through brutal combat.

Combined with the demon armor, the glowing golden eyes, the carrion raven perched on his shoulder like some nightmare familiar, Jack looked less like a human Soul Warden and more like something that had crawled out of the abyss.

But it was more than just visual intimidation.

Killing intent radiated from Jack’s armored form like heat from a furnace.

The absolute certainty of someone who’d killed hundreds, thousands of entities, and felt nothing about adding one more to the count.

The air itself grew thick, harder to breathe, as if Jack’s presence was displacing oxygen. Mana leaked from his body in waves, golden lightning mingling with crimson, creating an aura that pressed down on everything nearby.

The rain falling near Jack evaporated before touching his armor. The stone path beneath his feet cracked as pressure built. The carrion raven on his shoulder remained perfectly still despite the mana storm swirling around them.

Mira felt it pressing against her chest, making each breath require conscious effort.

This was not merely power; it was a demonstration of refined, focused lethality, indicative of an individual who has elevated the act of elimination to an art form.

’He’s not even trying to intimidate me,’ she realized with growing horror. ’This is just... him. His natural state. How many things has he killed to develop this kind of presence? How much blood is on his hands?’

Jack’s golden eyes tracked her through the helmet’s visor, and for the first time since joining the Council, Mira felt genuine fear of dying.

His voice resonated through the rain with unwavering conviction, each word imbued with a profound intensity that felt more like a premonition than a mere menace.

"You’ll be dead soon enough."

------

Floor 25 of Tartarus Spire stretched vast and desolate beneath the clear sky.

The Iron Soot Clan’s newly constructed underground fortress occupied very little space, its dark stone walls rising from the barren earth like teeth jutting from a corpse’s jaw.

Beyond the walls, scattered across the wasteland, tens of thousands of demons awaited orders.

At the highest point of the castle, standing on battlements that overlooked the entire floor, Loryn raised both hands toward empty space.

One portal hung in the air before him, each no larger than a finger width.

Loryn’s gaunt features showed his deep concentration as he channeled mana into the portal. Dark mana emanated from his core, coursing through his arms and steadily flowing into the gateway with precise control.

This was delicate work. Too much power, and the connection would destabilize; too little, and the weapon on the other side wouldn’t function.

"Steady," he muttered to himself, feeling the mana leave him. "Just a bit more."

The portal closed, having finished his task.

A second portal with golden lightning suddenly erupted.

A bolt of pure electricity arced from the portal, streaking toward different targets scattered across Floor 25.

The lightning struck bound demons with explosive force, the impacts sending creatures tumbling across rocky ground.

The demons didn’t die; Jack was using his demons for a purpose.

The second portal sealed itself.

Loryn stepped to the battlements’ edge, his voice amplifying with magic as he shouted down to the assembled forces below.

"YOUR MASTER HAS BEGUN HIS BATTLE!"

The words echoed across Floor 25, carrying to every corner where bound souls waited. Thousands of creatures stopped their activities, turning toward the castle with immediate attention.

"BE READY TO BE CALLED UPON!"

Demonic voices rose in unison, forming a chant by some demon who wanted to show his gratitude.

"The Silence has ended, the Grave has been torn,

In the Warden’s dark shadow, the legion is born.

No peace in the starlight, no rest in the clay,

We are the Night that devours the Day!"

The chant repeated, growing louder with each iteration. Thousands of throats produce sound, causing the ground to vibrate.

The bound demons below raised their weapons.

They stomped in rhythm with the chant, creating percussion that sounded like thunder rolling across barren earth.

"The Silence has ended, the Grave has been torn,

In the Warden’s dark shadow, the legion is born.

No peace in the starlight, no rest in the clay,

We are the Night that devours the Day."

Loryn felt the power building, the collective energy of thousands of bound souls ready for war.

This was what made Soul Wardens so terrifying. It wasn’t just their individual power, but their ability to command armies that felt no fear or mercy.

He turned his attention downward, spotting the Iron Soot Clan Leader standing near the castle’s main entrance.

The massive gray demon looked up at Loryn’s call. He was tense, awaiting the order he knew was to come soon.

"HAVE IT READY WHEN HE CALLS FOR IT!" Loryn shouted, his voice cutting through the chanting below.

The Clan Leader slammed one massive fist against his chest in acknowledgment, then disappeared into the fortress with speed that belied his size.

The chanting below continued, building to a crescendo that would have been audible for miles if anyone else occupied this floor.

’Show them what you’re capable of, Soul Warden,’ Loryn thought, his ancient eyes tracking the portal’s energy. ’Show them why the Council should fear you.’

The rain pelted Jack’s armor in a steady rhythm as he maintained his assertive posture, with Oscar overhead, prepared for an imminent strike.

Reality tore open near his left hand. A small portal no bigger than his finger.

A burst of golden lightning emanated from Jack’s unoccupied hand, directed not at Mira but precisely into the portal.

The electrical discharge vanished into the gateway, traversing an instantaneous distance to reappear on Floor 25, where it impacted bound demons with considerable force.

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stack +1]

[Faith Stacks: 10/10 (Maximum)]

[Covenant of the Storm: Active]

[+20% Magic]

[+20% Healing]

[Lightning attacks now chain to 2 nearby enemies]

[All attacks gain explosive impact]

The notifications flooded Jack’s vision as power surged through his body.

The accumulation of maximum Faith stacks significantly augmented his abilities, improving his magical prowess and introducing potent secondary effects to each attack.

Then the real transformation began.