I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 509: Magnus

Red lightning erupted across Jack’s entire armored form, crackling with intensity that made the air itself scream.

[Thunder Mantle: Active]

[+25% Movement Speed]

[+25% Damage]

The red lightning wrapped around Oscar’s shaft, traveled up Jack’s arms, covered his helmet and torso in patterns that looked like living veins of electricity.

The rain evaporated before reaching the energy field, creating steam that mixed with smoke from the burning oak tree.

Jack’s presence intensified. The killing intent that had already made the air thick became suffocating, pressing down on Mira with a weight that felt like atmospheric pressure before a volcanic eruption.

Mira took an involuntary step backward, her combat instincts screaming warnings about threats that exceeded initial assessment.

The Soul Warden standing before her bore no resemblance to the boy who’d been sitting under an oak tree minutes ago.

’What is he?’ she thought, her mind racing through possibilities.

His spear swung down without his feet leaving the ground; the motion was fluid and controlled.

His hand slid down Oscar’s shaft as the weapon descended, adding leverage and force to the strike.

The spear’s cross-bladed tip hit stone.

The entire courtyard exploded.

Stone shattered in a twenty-foot radius, chunks of debris flying outward like shrapnel.

The ground beneath Jack’s feet cratered, creating a depression that sent cracks spider-webbing across the entire shrine’s foundation.

The oak tree behind him toppled, its roots torn from earth by the shockwave.

One moment, he was standing in the crater; the next, he materialized directly in front of Mira with Oscar already in mid-thrust.

Mira’s eyes widened, her combat reflexes responding instantly.

Fire erupted beneath her feet, the explosion launching her backward five meters in a controlled retreat that put distance between herself and the spear’s deadly cross-blades.

She landed in a crouch, already preparing her next move.

This time, he appeared on her right side, but he materialized at an angle, parallel to the ground, as if gravity had rotated 90 degrees around him.

The downward momentum from his previous attack continued, but now directed horizontally from her right.

Oscar’s cross-blades caught her completely unprepared.

The spear punched through her hastily raised guard, the four curved blades designed to gouge and tear doing exactly what they were meant for.

Lightning Embrace added crackling electricity to the physical damage, the combination of enhanced strength and amplified magic creating devastation.

[-2,484 HP]

[Mira HP: 247,516/250,000]

The impact sent Mira flying. She tumbled through the air, her body spinning from the force, before crashing into one of the life-sized deer statues that flanked the shrine’s entrance.

The statue exploded.

Marble fragments scattered across wet stone as Mira’s body demolished centuries-old craftsmanship, her momentum only stopping when she hit the ground and rolled another ten feet.

Jack spun mid-air from the strike’s follow-through, landing on his feet in a crouch. Red lightning continued crackling across his armor, Oscar held loosely in his right hand as he tracked Mira’s position.

Mira pushed herself up, her traveling clothes torn and smoking from where the spear had connected.

Blood ran from a gash on her shoulder where one of Oscar’s blades had caught flesh, the wound deeper than it should have been thanks to the weapon’s gouging design.

’What just happened?’ she thought, her mind replaying the last three seconds. ’He teleported twice. Changed his attack angle mid-teleport. That’s not normal spatial magic.’

Her thoughts cut off as Jack’s foot slammed into the ground.

[Thunder Stomp: Activated]

The stone path beneath Mira’s feet erupted. Lightning traveled through solid rock with speed that made dodging nearly impossible, bursting upward in a massive thunderbolt that would have engulfed her.

Nearly impossible wasn’t the same as impossible for someone in The Council.

Mira threw herself sideways, fire propelling her away from the eruption zone. But the lightning was faster than she expected, catching her legs as she moved.

Electricity surged through her lower body, muscles seizing as the current disrupted her nervous system.

The pain was overwhelming; her fire resistance had not prepared her for someone with lightning.

[-4,590 HP]

[Mira HP: 242,926/250,000]

She hit the ground rolling, forcing her paralyzed legs to move through sheer willpower.

The partial dodge had saved her from the full damage the skill would have inflicted, but even half that amount was devastating.

’He’s too fast,’ Mira realized, pushing herself to her feet despite the smoking wounds. ’Long range favors him completely. I need to change tactics.’

Jack was already moving, closing the distance with speed enhanced by Thunder Mantle.

His armor’s red lightning left trails in the rain, making him appear as a crimson streak.

Mira’s hands moved in rapid patterns, summoning not the massive attacks she’d used earlier, but smaller, faster projectiles.

Fire bloomed in her palms, compact spheres of condensed flame.

She thrust her hands forward, releasing a barrage that filled the space between them.

Oscar spun in his grip, the spear’s shaft deflecting the fireballs. The projectiles that got past his guard hit his armor and dissipated, unable to penetrate demonic bone reinforced with dragon scales.

The exchange brought them within striking distance.

Mira abandoned her ranged assault and shifted to close combat.

Fire wrapped around her fists and feet, turning her limbs into weapons that could match Jack’s spear.

She struck first, a fire-wreathed fist aimed at Jack’s helmet with speed that would have pulverized normal opponents.

Jack twisted, the punch passing within inches of his visor. Oscar’s shaft came up, forcing Mira to block with her forearm. The impact sent shockwaves through her arm, the spear’s momentum enhanced by Jack’s supernatural strength.

She retaliated immediately, her knee coming up in a fire-enhanced strike that targeted Jack’s midsection.

The knee connected, flames exploding against demonic armor. Jack grunted from the impact, his durability absorbing most of the damage but not all of it.

They separated, then clashed again.

Mira’s fighting style was refined through decades of practice. Fluid movements that wasted no energy, strikes aimed at vital points with surgical precision, and defensive positioning that minimized openings.

Her SS-rank martial talent showed in every motion, making her close combat capabilities nearly as impressive as her magical prowess.

Jack’s style was different. More aggressive, less refined, relying on overwhelming power and enhanced physical capabilities rather than perfect technique.

But what he lacked in formal training, he compensated for with sheer viciousness and the devastating reach advantage Oscar provided.

A fire-wreathed fist caught Jack’s shoulder, the flames washing over his armor. Another strike hit his ribs, then another to his helmet. Mira was consistently landing hits, her superior close combat experience allowing her to slip past Oscar’s defenses.

But Jack was landing hits too.

Oscar’s shaft cracked against Mira’s thigh, the impact accompanied by crackling lightning.

The spear’s cross-blades grazed her side, not deep enough to gouge but enough to draw blood.

His gauntleted fist caught her shoulder, the strength behind it sending her stumbling backward.

’She’s better at this than I am,’ Jack acknowledged, feeling the impacts accumulating despite his armor.

’Hand-to-hand favors her completely. I need to change my approach.’

[Spear Barrage: Activated]

Oscar became a blur. Three thrusting attacks in rapid succession, each one enhanced by Spear Synergy and Lightning Embrace.

Mira blocked the first thrust with a fire-coated forearm, the impact sending her sliding backward.

The second caught her in the shoulder, cross-blades biting into flesh before she could fully evade.

The third she dodged completely, twisting her body with flexibility that suggested years of training.

[-2,981HP]

[Enemy HP: 239,945/250,000]

The exchange created distance between them. Both combatants were breathing heavily, wounds were accumulating, and power still crackled through the rain-soaked courtyard.

Mira’s amber eyes tracked Jack through the downpour, her mind racing through tactical options.

The Soul Warden was stronger than intelligence had suggested, faster than should be possible for someone his age, more durable than his relatively young career implied.

’I can’t let this drag out,’ she thought, preparing her next move. ’Need to end this quickly before...’

Movement at the edge of her vision froze her.

Yellow eyes.

Watching from the darkness beyond the shrine’s torchlight, fifty meters away.

Mira knew those eyes. She had spent enough time with their owner to recognize them even at a distance, even through rain and shadow.

’Magnus,’ she thought, ice flooding through her veins. ’Why is he here? He’s supposed to be...’

’This was a setup,’ Mira realized with growing horror. ’From the beginning. The tracking rune, the sabotaged bridge, leading us here... Magnus knew we’d come. Knew we’d attack. And he’s waiting to see what happens.’

Jack remained focused on Mira, unaware of the yellow eyes watching from the darkness.

His enhanced perception should have detected Magnus, but the old man possessed centuries of experience in concealing his presence.