I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 771: Rewards and Questions Part I

Jack raised his hand; the gesture spoke volumes without a word being spoken.

Both Faye and Ren understood without words that solitude was required. The cascade was beginning; he could feel it at the edges of his consciousness, that particular tingling sensation that preceded notifications from the system.

Faye’s reluctance was palpable.

Her green eyes lingered on his face as if searching for reassurance, but when she met his gaze, she recognized the dismissal for what it was.

Not rejection, but necessity.

She rose from the bed with obvious reluctance, her white silk dress shifting as she moved, her divine aura dimming slightly as disappointment registered through her.

But she obeyed, moving toward the door with the grace of someone who understood hierarchy and command.

“I need to be alone,” Jack said quietly, his voice still rough from disuse. “Both of you. Whatever this is… I need to process it without distraction.”

Ren offered a single nod of understanding before moving through a portal.

Faye paused at the threshold, as if considering whether to argue, but something in Jack’s tone…

Something primal and commanding, rising from depths she couldn’t quite comprehend, made her reconsider.

She stepped through the doorway, pulling the door closed behind her.

The latch clicked into place.

The moment the room fell into complete silence, the first notification materialized in Jack’s vision.

[Congratulations! You have defeated a dragon army, single-handedly! Reward: Dragon Slayer (Level 3) has increased to Level 5: 45% increased damage against all draconic creatures.]

The words glowed with golden luminescence, bright enough that Jack had to focus his eyes to properly read them.

Dragon Slayer had jumped two entire levels. Forty-five percent increased damage against all draconic creatures.

That was a substantial upgrade, a title upgrade to his already powerful title.

He blinked, willing the notification to scroll, and more appeared above it like layers of snow accumulating on stone.

[You have survived an increased Madness State! Reward: Seek out the Demon God, he has information on how to control the Demon State!]

Jack’s breath caught slightly.

The Demon God had been a constant presence throughout his journey through the tower.

A force that had guided him toward specific objectives, that had granted him access to the Blood Demon Arts and other powerful abilities.

But this suggested something far deeper, far more significant. Dreknar possessed knowledge about controlling the Madness State itself, about mastering the skill that had nearly shattered his consciousness.

The implications were staggering. Dreknar knew the costs and let Jack use the skill, knowing he’d lose himself to madness.

He scrolled up again, and the cascade continued, notification after notification appearing with the weight of escalating rewards.

[Reward: 2,000,000 Reputation Points]

[Reward: +393,900,000 Death Tokens!]

[Reward: 2,689 Disaster-class Cores!]

[Reward: 500 Sovereign-class Cores!]

Jack’s mind began to process the scale of these rewards. Nearly four hundred million Death Tokens.

Over twenty-six hundred Disaster-class cores. Five hundred Sovereign-class cores.

These were materials of immense value, components that could be crafted into legendary items, used to enhance existing equipment, or traded for resources of staggering monetary value.

The Herald had been worth an astronomical amount of power.

But as he continued to scroll through the notifications, his consciousness began to slow, to latch onto a single notification with dawning confusion.

[Total Soul Bound Army Count: 4,365/5,500]

Jack’s eyes widened. Four thousand three hundred sixty-five troops.

That number was wrong. It had to be wrong.

He had originally commanded one thousand one hundred eighty-six troops before the battle with the Herald.

Those were the creatures whose souls he had claimed through deliberate action and conscious will. But now his army count stood at 4,365 troops.

That meant three thousand one hundred seventy-nine dragons had been bound while he was unconscious.

Three thousand one hundred seventy-nine souls had been added to his network without his knowledge, awareness, or any possibility of him controlling what was happening.

His will had asserted dominion over them while he slept, while he was completely helpless and unaware, while his consciousness was locked away in darkness.

Jack’s hand clenched into a fist, his nails digging deep enough into his palm to draw blood. The pain was sharp, grounding, a physical manifestation of the confusion spiraling through his mind.

“System,” he said quietly, his voice steady despite the storm forming in his consciousness. “I need an explanation. My army count shows 4,365 troops. I had one thousand one hundred eighty-six before the fight. I have no memory of this happening. I was asleep. So what happened? How did my power activate without me?”

The system responded with its characteristic clarity, delivering information without inflection, without emotional context, as if stating facts about a spreadsheet rather than revealing something fundamental about Jack’s nature.

[While you were unconscious, your will was asserted through the Chain of the Soul Warden. Your subconscious mind activated the binding mechanism, which extended across the entire battlefield. All dragon souls within range of your power were automatically integrated into your soul-binding network.]

The implications crashed over Jack like a wave, drowning him in implications he couldn’t quite process.

His subconscious mind had activated.

While he slept, he was completely helpless and unaware; his will had continued to operate independently of his conscious control.

His power had extended across the entire battlefield on its own volition. His subconscious had bound souls without his knowledge, leaving him unable to stop it.

Jack’s breathing became rapid and shallow. His subconscious had taken action.

It made decisions and expanded his dominion across the wasteland while he was unconscious, unable to prevent it, unable to control it, unable even to be aware it was happening.

“How many?” Jack asked, his voice dropping lower, the edge of panic creeping into his tone. “How many total dragons did my power bind while I was unconscious? And where is the Herald? What happened to the lieutenants?”

The system remained silent, offering no additional clarification, no answers to the questions that were beginning to pile up in Jack’s mind like avalanches.

Jack’s mind spiraled outward with exponential confusion. The Herald should be somewhere in this world.

The Emperor-rank dragon’s corpse should exist, be retrievable, and be available for examination or looting.

But the system wasn’t confirming the Herald’s presence. More alarmingly, the system wasn’t providing an Emperor-class core reward.

The kind of reward that should accompany the death of such a powerful creature. Defeating an Emperor-rank being should yield an Emperor-class core as a guaranteed reward. That was how these systems worked.

Not only that, for killing his first Emperor Class monster, he should also get an award.

Where was the Herald?

“System, where is the Herald?” Jack pressed, his voice taking on an edge that reflected the growing panic beneath his surface. “Where is the Emperor-rank dragon’s body? Why don’t I have an Emperor-class core in my rewards? That should be a guaranteed reward for defeating something that powerful. The system should have automatically granted it.”

The system remained silent, stubbornly refusing to provide answers.

Jack’s breathing began to accelerate as the implications piled up. The absence of answers was almost more terrifying than the answers themselves might have been.

Something had happened on that battlefield that the system either couldn’t explain or wouldn’t explain.

Someone either killed the Herald, who wasn’t part of Jack’s troops, or someone moved the Herald and saved him from death.