I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 290: A Dragon’s Promise [Golden Ticket Bonus]

”I’m a support class,” Jack replied, though uncertainty crept into his voice. ”I buff soul-bound creatures, share sensory links with them, coordinate their abilities...”

”That’s what the class DOES,” Emberion interrupted. ”I asked what you ARE.”

Jack opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again.

The question felt like it carried weight beyond its simple phrasing, as if the wrong answer would end this negotiation before it truly began.

”I don’t know,” he finally admitted. ”I know my abilities and limitations. But if there’s something deeper...”

”There is,” Emberion said with certainty that transcended mere opinion.

”Tell me, Soul Warden. Have you experienced changes to your body? Transformations that shouldn’t be possible for humans? Powers that go beyond what your class suggests?”

Jack’s mind flashed to his demon transformation on Floor 24.

The way his body had changed, horns and wings and scales erupting from flesh that had been completely human minutes before.

The power that had let him overwhelm Pho.

”Yes,” he said quietly. ”I’ve transformed. Temporarily gained demonic traits and power far beyond what I should possess.”

”And you wondered why?” Emberion’s tone suggested he already knew the answer. ”Why a support class could manifest such overwhelming combat ability?”

”The thought crossed my mind,” Jack admitted.

”It’s because every Soul Warden in history has done something that transcends normal magic,” Emberion explained, his voice taking on the quality of a teacher delivering crucial information.

”They have merged their own soul and body with a creature. Not just binding through contract or divine blessing. Actual fusion at the deepest level, incorporating another being’s essence into their own.”

The words hit Jack like a ton of bricks.

”Malakai merged with a Phoenix,” Emberion continued.

”The first and greatest of his bound creatures. He didn’t just bind it, he incorporated its essence into his soul, allowing him to channel its power as if it were his own. That’s what gave him the ability to create creatures like me. Phoenix fire, controlled and shaped by human will and intelligence.”

The dragon’s gaze intensified, boring into Jack with uncomfortable precision. ”The Soul Wardens who came after him tried to replicate his success. Some merged with dragons, others with celestial beasts or elemental spirits. But they failed to control the transformation. The creature’s nature overwhelmed their humanity, driving them mad or transforming them into monsters.”

Emberion leaned closer, his massive head now just feet from where Jack stood.

”You, however, have done something unprecedented. You’ve merged with a demon. I can sense its essence woven through your soul, it should be opposed to your human nature. And yet... you remain in control. You haven’t been corrupted or driven mad. You’re the first Soul Warden in history to successfully merge with demonic essence without losing yourself.”

Jack’s mind raced through the implications. His demon transformation wasn’t just a skill or temporary power-up. It was the result of having merged his soul with... what? Which demon had he incorporated?

’System, is this true? Have I merged with a demon?’

[Analysis: Emberion’s assessment is accurate. Your transformation ability stems from soul fusion with a demon entity. The full effects and future transformations are classified]

’Of course it’s classified,’ Jack thought with frustration. ’Because nothing in this system is ever straightforward.’

”I can see the questions in your eyes,” Emberion observed. ”Which demon? How did it happen? Those are answers you’ll need to discover yourself. I cannot provide what I do not know.”

The dragon pulled back slightly, settling into a more comfortable position.

”But understand this. Your ability to control that transformation, to merge demonic essence with human soul without being consumed, marks you as potentially the greatest Soul Warden since Malakai himself. Or the most dangerous failure, if you lose control.”

”And that brings us to my price,” Emberion continued, his tone becoming more businesslike despite the apocalyptic setting.

”I will cooperate with you. I will provide materials, guidance, and access to this floor’s resources. But in exchange, you must swear three oaths upon your life and family. Break them, and I will hunt you across realms until one of us is dead.”

Jack’s jaw tightened at the mention of swearing on his family, but he nodded.

”State your terms.”

”First,” Emberion raised one massive claw, fire dancing between the talons. ”You must swear to control your demonic transformation. To master it completely, to ensure it never consumes your humanity. If I sense that you’re losing yourself to the demon’s nature, I will consider our agreement void and you will become my prey.”

The threat was delivered casually, but Jack didn’t doubt for a second that Emberion meant every word.

”I swear it,” Jack said without hesitation. ”I won’t let the transformation control me.”

”Second,” another claw extended, doubling the flames. ”You must promise to make my father pay for what he did to me. To challenge him, to defeat him, to ensure he understands that his actions have consequences.”

Jack blinked in surprise. ”Your father? Who...”

”Typhoon,” Emberion’s voice was suddenly cold enough to freeze magma. ”The Dragon King. Lord of Tempest Isle. He condemned me to death rather than acknowledge a ’weak’ offspring. He who cast me out to die alone rather than risk his precious reputation by having a child who lost a territorial dispute.”

The dragon’s eyes blazed with fury that had clearly been building for centuries.

”He is my father. And I want him to suffer. I want him to know that the child he discarded became something greater than he could imagine. I want him humiliated, broken, forced to acknowledge that his cruelty created his own downfall.”

Jack processed this information quickly. Typhon the Dragon King was Emberion’s father. The strongest dragon in existence had cast out his own son for showing weakness. And now that son wanted revenge.

’You’re kidding me, he’s got daddy issues. I mean we all do, but why did it have to be Typhoon. I’ve never met the dragon and his dad is the King of dragons.’

”I can’t promise to defeat Typhon immediately,” Jack said carefully. ”He’s... significantly more powerful than me right now. But I swear I’ll work toward confronting him. Making him answer for what he did to you.”

”That is sufficient,” Emberion accepted with a nod that sent waves of heat rippling across the crater.

”Vengeance delayed is not vengeance denied. I can wait.”

”And third?” Jack asked, dreading what the final oath might require.

”Third,” Emberion’s final claw extended, completing the gesture. ”Bring me the heart of a dragon who serves my father. One of his ’worthy’ offspring who earned the recognition and respect that I was denied. Let me consume the essence of everything I should have been, everything he valued more than his own son.”

The request was dark and vindictive.

But before Jack could respond, before he could explain the difficulty of obtaining such a prize, a thought occurred to him.

He reached into his system storage, his hand closing around something cold and massive. When he withdrew it, he held a heart the size of a human torso, perfectly preserved despite being separated from its owner.

Spiralus’s heart.

”Would this suffice?” Jack asked, offering the dragon heart to Emberion. ”Taken from Spiralus, a disaster-class dragon. He was a twin headed dragon that tried to attack me.”