I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 554: You’re Pathetic [Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter]

It wasn’t just the quantity of mana returning.

Draven’s presence became significantly more substantial and potent following the removal of the curse’s maintenance requirement.

Jack’s enhanced perception cataloged the change with growing realization of how much power the curse had required.

This wasn’t minor working or a simple hex.

Draven has been engaged in a significant divine endeavor that has consistently depleted Draven’s resources for over a decade.

"There," Draven said, his voice carrying more weight now, more authority leaking from his voice. "The curse is broken. Aurora can speak again, her mana channels are cleared, and whatever limitations the curse imposed are gone. Satisfied?"

"No," Jack replied flatly, his anger undiminished despite getting what he’d demanded.

"Because that doesn’t explain anything. It doesn’t tell me why you did it in the first place, why you lied about it, why you let me waste years trying to find solutions when you could have ended it with a single clap."

His eyes blazed brighter, fury mixing with betrayal in an expression that made Draven flinch despite his divine nature.

"And it doesn’t explain why you’ve been so secretive about Sarin. Every time I ask about him, you deflect or give vague answers about ancient history that don’t actually tell me anything useful. Why won’t you explain what’s really going on? What are you so afraid of me learning?"

Draven’s expression shifted through several emotions too quickly for mortal perception to track.

Guilt, fear, self-loathing, bitterness, stagnation.

Before settling into something approaching acceptance of the inevitable conversation he’d been avoiding.

"Because I’m ashamed," Draven said quietly, his voice carrying the weight of millennia-old guilt. "Ashamed of what I did. Ashamed of the choice I made. Ashamed that when it mattered most, I chose survival over loyalty."

He gestured toward a section of grass that flattened itself into a seating area, divine will reshaping reality to accommodate a lengthy explanation.

But Jack remained standing, his posture radiating rejection of any attempt to make this conversation comfortable.

Draven continued anyway, his words coming faster as if releasing a confession he’d been holding back for ages.

"Sarin was my brother. Not just a sibling in a divine pantheon sense, he was my blood, my brother. We were close in ways that transcended typical godly relationships. I trusted him. Believed in him. Supported his ambitions even when others questioned his methods."

His voice dropped lower, taking on a tone of someone recounting a betrayal they’d committed.

"But his war against the Titans was going to get us killed. All of us. He was so obsessed with proving himself, with establishing divine supremacy, with reshaping reality according to his vision that he couldn’t see how his actions were drawing attention from entities we couldn’t hope to defeat."

Death shifted slightly, his burning eyes tracking between Draven and Jack as the confession unfolded.

His presence remained neutral, neither supporting nor condemning, just bearing witness to the truth that had been hidden for millennia.

"The other gods came to me," Draven continued, his words carrying shame that no amount of time had diminished.

"Proposed a deal. If I helped them stop Sarin, if I betrayed him at a crucial moment when his guard was down, they would make arrangements with the Primordials. We’d cease creating new worlds, agree to maintain and watch over what already existed. In exchange, they would deal with Sarin permanently."

His hands clenched into fists, divine power flickering around him as he struggled to hold his power in.

"I agreed. I made the deal. And when the moment came, when Sarin trusted me to protect his back during a crucial engagement... I hesitated. Just for a second. Let my power cease its support of his defenses for a moment."

The domain’s light dimmed slightly, as if reality itself was recoiling from the confession.

"That hesitation was enough." Draven’s voice became almost a whisper. "Kronos, our father, the Titan of Time. He was waiting for exactly that opening. The moment my betrayal created a gap in Sarin’s defenses, Kronos struck. Began consuming him, devouring his divine essence like he’d done to so many of his other children across the ages."

Jack remained silent, his fury temporarily subsumed by the need to hear the complete truth.

"But even that wasn’t enough," Draven continued, his tone carrying something approaching awe mixed with horror.

"Even being partially consumed by a Primordial Titan, even with all twelve of us turning against him, Sarin didn’t die. He pushed back. He actually fought off Kronos from inside the consumption, forced him to retreat, then sealed the crack through which our father had been attacking."

His eyes met Jack’s directly, a divine gaze holding mortal fury without flinching.

"In that final moment, as he was sealing Kronos away, Sarin cursed us. All of us. Every god in the pantheon. He said when he returned. Not if, but when, we would all be his slaves. That he would finish the war he’d started, but this time, we’d be his weapons rather than his allies. And then he disappeared. His presence was erased from reality that most mortals don’t even remember he existed."

The confession hung in the air between them, divine shame manifesting as almost physical weight that pressed down on the domain’s perfect grassland.

Jack stood motionless for several long seconds, processing everything Draven had revealed.

The betrayal.

The deal with Primordials.

The curse.

The disappearance.

All of it paints a picture of divine politics operating on scales and timeframes that made mortal concerns seem infinitesimal.

Then Jack’s expression hardened, fury returning with renewed intensity.

"You’re pathetic," he stated flatly, his voice carrying contempt that made Draven flinch more visibly than any physical blow could have achieved.

"You betrayed your own brother because you were afraid. Made a deal with beings you claim to oppose because survival mattered more than loyalty. And now you cower in this domain, hiding from the consequences of the choices you made millennia ago."

His yellow and orange eyes blazed brighter, power radiating from his transformed state despite a blackened arm hanging uselessly at his side.

"You always talk about how you don’t leave this realm, how you can’t directly interfere in mortal affairs because of restrictions. But those are excuses, aren’t they? You’re not trapped here by divine law or cosmic balance. You’re hiding because you’re terrified of what happens when Sarin returns and fulfills his curse."

Jack took a step forward, his presence somehow filling more space than his physical form should occupy.

"If you’re so worried about him coming back, why aren’t you getting stronger? Why aren’t you forming alliances, gathering resources, and preparing for inevitable confrontation? You have access to champions like me, connections across multiple pantheons, and knowledge that spans millennia. Yet you sit alone in this peaceful grassland like a scared child hoping the monster under the bed forgets you exist."

His voice rose with each word, fury and disappointment mixing into condemnation that carried weight beyond simple moral judgment.

"For a god, you’re pretty fucking weak, Draven. Hiding and hoping aren’t strategies. It’s cowardice. And teaching me fragments of Sarin’s power through memory orbs while being too ashamed to explain the context? That’s not mentorship. That’s using me as a proxy to deal with problems you’re too afraid to face yourself."