I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 567: Serpent Slayer

The creature’s body slammed against the ground hard enough to create small craters, its tail whipping through the air as it sought leverage to break free.

Jack dismounted from Stormfang in single fluid motion, his boots hitting the ground as lightning began crackling across his body. Electricity arcing between his fingers and playing across his skin as he prepared to move.

The golden illumination emanating from Father Caelen’s blessings converged with the golden lightning enveloping Jack, producing a radiance that accentuated the inherent luminosity of his yellow and orange eyes.

The ground shattered beneath his feet, stone and packed earth exploding outward as enhanced strength and agility combined to produce acceleration that left golden lightning streaking in his wake.

He crossed the distance to the bound serpent in less than a second, his trajectory carrying him up and onto the creature’s massive back.

Jack landed ten feet behind the snake’s head, his boots finding grip on green scales that felt like armored plates beneath his weight.

The serpent bucked violently, trying to throw him off, but his balance and the Searing Chains’ restraint kept him stable despite the creature’s considerable power.

The soldiers on the castle walls had gone completely silent, their weapons lowered as they watched the white haired warrior standing atop the Disaster-class monster that had been seconds away from breaching their fortress.

The combined light of divine blessing and lightning made Jack clearly visible even in the darkness, his figure outlined against the night sky.

"This should be it," Jack said quietly, his voice carrying certainty despite the thrashing creature beneath him.

Lightning gathered in his hands, electricity condensing as he brought his fingers together like spear points.

The crackling intensified, power building until the air around his hands shimmered with accumulated energy.

Then he drove both hands downward with all his strength, piercing through scales that should have been impenetrable to normal attacks.

His right hand punched through to the snake’s heart, the organ pulsing against his palm as blood pumped through the massive creature’s circulatory system.

He could feel the rhythm, fast and frantic, the creature’s biology recognizing threat and flooding its system with adrenaline-equivalent chemicals.

His left hand penetrated the right lung, feeling the tissue expand and contract with each breath the serpent struggled to take.

The membrane was thick, designed to process air for body this size, but vulnerable from the inside where armor couldn’t protect it.

Jack’s eyes blazed yellow and orange as he activated his technique.

[Arc Blast]

Lightning erupted from his fingertips in all directions, electrical energy flooding the snake’s internal cavity with devastating force.

The attack wasn’t focused into single bolt.

It was an explosion of electricity that arced across every available surface, jumping between organs and tissue as it sought paths of least resistance.

The heart burned first, muscle tissue cooking from the inside as sustained electrical current exceeded what biological material could withstand.

The rhythmic pulsing stuttered, irregular beats becoming weaker as the organ’s structure broke down under assault it couldn’t possibly survive.

Within seconds, the heart transformed into charred ash, the muscle burning away as Arc Blast’s continuous damage reduced it to carbon.

The lung followed immediately after, delicate tissue vaporizing under assault that turned blood vessels into superheated steam.

The entire respiratory system collapsed as one lung ceased functioning and the other struggled to compensate for damage it couldn’t possibly overcome.

The giant snake’s thrashing intensified dramatically, its survival instinct recognizing fatal injury even as its brain struggled to coordinate response.

It exerted greater force, attempting to constrict itself around the aggressor within its form, utilizing the full extent of its considerable power.

The Searing Chains strained under the increased violence, Father Caelen’s expression tightening with concentration as he channeled more power to maintain the bindings.

Cracks spread through the flaming links, energy fighting against Disaster-class strength in contest that could have gone either way if the snake had been at full health.

But it was dying, and nothing it did could change that fundamental reality.

The movements weakened, strength fading as its circulatory system failed and oxygen deprivation began shutting down neurological function.

Its massive body began to sag, the enormous weight that had threatened the castle’s walls becoming a liability as muscles stopped responding to commands from an increasingly hypoxic brain.

Then it collapsed completely, the Disaster-class serpent falling motionless as Jack pulled his hands free from the charred cavities his attack had created. Ash and blood dripped from his fingers, the mixture steaming slightly in the cool night air.

Jack received numerous notifications as the System meticulously calculated rewards, translating hundreds of fatalities and a Disaster-class elimination into measurable advancements.

[Death Tokens gained: 635,220]

[EXP Gained: 1,767,500]

[Dread rank cores gained: 647]

[Disaster class core gained: 1]

The numbers were staggering, reflecting the sheer scale of what his minotaur army had just accomplished.

Six hundred forty-seven Dread-ranked serpents eliminated in five minutes of systematic butchery, each one contributing experience and resources to his growing power.

The Disaster-class core alone would be worth fortune if he chose to sell it, though his mind was already cataloging potential uses for such concentrated magical essence.

After all, when you were the richest man in Elysium, besides the king, selling something for gold seemed pointless beyond showing everyone that you were capable of acquiring such items.

Then the level notifications began.

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 51]

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 52]

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 53]

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 54]

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 55]

[EXP: 280,000/372,500]

One final notification appeared, distinct from the others.

[Congratulations! You have earned a New Title!]

[Title Acquired: Serpent Slayer]

[Effect: +10% Damage Against Serpents]

[Description: You have proven yourself the bane of serpent-kind, your blade claiming hundreds of scaled lives in single night. Snakes of all ranks recognize you as apex predator, their natural enemy.]

Jack dismissed the notifications without thought, his attention returning to the castle walls where shocked soldiers were processing what they’d witnessed.

He stood atop the dead monster, lightning still crackling faintly across his body, clearly visible in the torchlight and residual glow from Father Caelen’s divine energy.

His yellow and orange eyes swept across the castle’s ramparts, noting the soldiers’ shocked expressions, their weapons still lowered, their entire defensive formation having ground to halt as they processed what they’d just witnessed.

The 247 minotaurs stood in formation in front of him, their weapons dripping with snake blood, their massive forms illuminated by the dying light of Final Edict.

The golden radiance was fading now, but enough remained to show the complete devastation they’d wrought.

Hundreds of dead serpents littering the battlefield, the Disaster-class threat eliminated, the siege broken so thoroughly that not a single attacking creature remained alive.

A voice emanated from within the walls, exhibiting a tone of seasoned authority.

"State your name and business!"

Jack’s gaze locked onto the speaker, a captain based on the armor and positioning even in the limited light.

His expression remained neutral, but his voice carried absolute conviction when he replied, his words pitched to reach every soldier on those walls.

"I am the Chosen One, sent to deal with your failures." He paused, letting that sink in, watching the soldiers’ reactions ripple across the ramparts.

Then he delivered his final demand with tone that brooked no argument. "Bring your lord out."