I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 756: Jack vs. The Red Herald Part VI

​The triple-cast of Abyssal Rupture had shredded the dragon’s maw, but the sheer volume of high-tier blood magic exacted a brutal toll.

The fluid explosions tore through Jack’s own body as collateral, fracturing his ribs and throwing him off balance.

[-123,456 HP]

[-123,456 HP]

[-123,456 HP]

But the damage didn’t matter when Jack had an army in the tower and in this war zone.

[+61,728 HP]

[+61,728 HP]

His HP spiked back up like this for three more seconds.

​The Herald, fueled by the desperate adrenaline of a dying animal, saw the split-second opening.

​Before Jack could recover his footing, the creature threw its entire multi-ton bulk forward. Its massive, armored front claw flashed through the air with terrifying velocity.

The giant talons raked savagely across Jack’s side, drawing a torrent of dark blood and inflicting an injury that was moments from death.

The pain was blinding, filling his vision with blood.

​[-610,000 HP]

[7,280/617,280]

He was operating on the thinnest possible margin between life and death.

One more mistake meant death.

​Capitalizing on the impact, the Herald twisted its massive body and swung its heavy tail with wild desperation.

The appendage, thick as an ancient tree trunk and coated in hardened scales, cut through the atmosphere with a screeching whine.

Jack rolled backward instinctively, moving with the bare minimum of grace required to avoid getting crushed into powder, but the sheer force of the blow still caught his shoulder and sent him sprawling across the stone.

​Jack hit the floor hard, bouncing against the fractured rock.

​The force of the impact expelled the residual air from his lungs, causing severe pain in his fractured ribs. He experienced a metallic taste, a combination of blood and demon blood, in his throat. His vision became indistinct, and his surroundings began to rotate as the overwhelming trauma threatened to induce unconsciousness.

​The Herald advanced, its massive shadow completely swallowing Jack’s prone form. The dragon’s single golden eye gleamed with something that hadn’t existed in it for the entire fight: hope.

​He had wounded the monster. The Herald had forced the executioner to the dirt.

The life-burning trait continued to incinerate its core, fueling its massive frame and sustaining its frantic, murderous momentum.

The Herald descended his colossal head; its primary objective was to incapacitate Jack and complete the mission he had come here to accomplish.

​The Herald’s massive claw came down.

​CRUNCH!!

​The giant talon stepped directly onto Jack’s torso, pinning him against the shattered stone with the crushing weight of a small mountain.

The claws dug deep into Jack’s shoulders, holding him in place with such force that escape by physical strength was impossible.

Jack was entirely immobilized, cast in darkness beneath the dragon’s bulk.

​This was the Herald’s moment.

​This was the second time the Emperor-rank entity believed it had finally won, overcoming impossible odds to contain the demon that had slaughtered its legions.

The Herald’s golden eye flared with a savage, intoxicating triumph. Leaning its ruined, bleeding face down until its breath stirred in Jack’s hair, the dragon let loose its victory.

​”You arrogant, half-breed insect,” the Herald snarled, its voice vibrating violently in Jack’s mind. “You dare speak down to me like that! I am not so weak that I would become spare parts! You will be crushed beneath my heel. I am going to tear your limbs from your torso, swallow your soul whole while you scream, and I will march your broken carcass back to Typhoon to show him how weak he was for thinking you were worth any time!”

​The dragon’s jaw began to unhinge, a final spark of superheated plasma building deep in its throat to execute Jack at point-blank range.

​”You’re so stupid,” Jack whispered.

​The Herald paused for a fraction of a second, confusion flickering through its mind.

​Then, Jack’s laughter erupted from his chest.

A fervent, unrestrained, and profoundly joyful laugh erupted. It was a terrifying, manic sound, devoid of any semblance of sanity. The laughter persisted despite the presence of blood in his mouth, the immense pressure on his lungs, and his rapidly diminishing health.

​Tharaxis’s voice cut through the madness with freezing, absolute clarity.

​His own arrogance entirely blinds him. By physically pinning you, he has placed his remaining hope in this move. Break his delusion.’

​Emberion’s presence roared right on his heels, a suffocating wave of primal malice.

​’He dares?! This heavy, dying lizard put his filthy foot on us?! Push through the pain, Jack! Do not let this pathetic worm look down on you! Shatter his grip and rip his arm from the socket!’

​Oscar’s voice erupted with undisguised enthusiasm through the telepathic link.

​{Oh, he’s giving a grand speech? Classic villain mistake. Never monologue when you’re standing on a live wire, buddy.}

​”This was your worst play, Herald,” Jack spat through a bloody smile. “You couldn’t have been stupider than you are at this exact moment.”

​Jack’s body disappeared.

​[Black Flash] activated instantaneously.

​Bypassing the intervening space entirely, Jack’s physical form ceased to exist beneath the giant talon.

There was no physical struggle or shift in weight. Just a sudden, absolute vacuum where a body had been a millisecond prior.

The Herald’s massive front leg crashed uselessly into the empty stone of the crater.

​In the exact space Jack had vacated, a dense, suffocating red mist instantaneously blanketed a thirty-meter radius.

​Jack had activated his most deadly skill into a boiling, opaque cloud of crimson energy.

The mist swirled around the dragon and permeated everything in sight, significantly impairing the dragon’s visibility and effectively concealing Jack’s position from standard sensory detection.

​The Herald’s jaws snapped closed on empty air with a hollow, bone-jarring slam.

​The creature’s massive head jerked upward, its single golden eye darting frantically through the thick red fog, searching for a target that was no longer there. The dragon’s brief illusion of triumph evaporated into pure, unadulterated confusion.

​Panic setting in, the Herald began to thrash mindlessly. Its massive tail whipped through the fog in desperate arcs, trying to strike anything that felt solid. Its claws raked through the crimson cloud, finding nothing but empty, sizzling vapor.

​Emberion’s presence surged within the fog, radiating savage joy.

​’HAHAHA! Look at him thrash! The great Red Herald is snapping at shadows! He’s breathing our mist straight into his lungs. What a fool!’

​The Herald was breathing the mist.

​With every panicked inhalation, every desperate, gasping attempt to locate his executioner, the dragon was drawing the high-density crimson cloud directly into its lungs.

The mist wasn’t just mana; it was one of the main techniques of the Demon Blood Arts.

​The Herald had made its fatal mistake. In seeking to dominate through physical contact, celebrating a triumph before confirming his death, it had walked directly into the only position where Jack could bypass its external draconic scales entirely.

[WARNING!]

[Continued use of Contractee State at this high of a usage will yield in more life force being consumed!]

[WARNING!]

Jack was so enthralled by the fight that he couldn’t even see the notifications cascading across his vision.

[2:00 left until more of your life span will be drained!]

[Blood Demon Arts 6th Form: Demonic Mist activated.]

Family vacation. I will still post chapters. TOD uncertain.