I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 364: Building Stacks

The damage number flashed in Jack’s vision as divine power calculated the impact. Not devastating against Sylph’s massive health pool, but enough to make her actually feel it.

Sylph tumbled through the air, her small form spinning before she caught herself. Smoke rose from her outfit, and the look of irritation on her face said it all.

”Okay,” she said, brushing imaginary dust from her clothes. ”That one actually stung. But let’s see how you handle...”

Jack appeared in front of her, Abyssal Step closing the distance before she finished speaking. His right palm drove toward her chest, white lightning crackling around his fingers with concentrated intensity.

[Undying Thunder]

The palm strike connected. Jack’s hand pressed against her tiny chest, and divine lightning was released directly into her body.

Lightning flooded through Sylph’s spiritual essence from the inside, disrupting energy flows and causing damage that armor or barriers couldn’t prevent.

[-96,320 HP]

Sylph’s scream was more surprise than pain, but genuine shock colored her voice as she blasted backward on wind currents that finally responded appropriately. She put distance between them in a split second, her black-and-green eyes wide.

”You actually hurt me,” she said with growing respect. ”Twice. That’s... that hasn’t happened in decades.”

Through Soul Link, Jack felt another kill notification.

[Enemy Defeated by Bound Soul]

[Crimson Recovery: +188 HP/sec for 4 seconds]

[Crimson Recovery: +376 MP/sec for 4 seconds]

[Sanguine Accelerator: Stack 2/10]

[Demonic Mastery: +938 HP/sec]

His resources replenished even as divine power consumption tried to drain them. The balance tipped in his favor. Pho’s hunting was feeding him faster than the channeling could deplete his energy.

Sylph’s hands moved in complex patterns, and wind gathered with force that made the garrison’s remaining intact walls groan.

Atmospheric pressure spiked dramatically as she stopped playing around and actually made an effort.

”Let’s see how your borrowed divinity handles this, human.”

A tornado formed, compact but absolutely devastating, its funnel perhaps twenty feet wide but containing power that could tear through reinforced fortifications. The vortex screamed toward Jack with speed that left no time to think.

’She’s angry now,’ Jack thought, bracing himself. ’Good.’

The tornado engulfed him completely. Wind moving at speeds that stripped flesh from bone under normal circumstances wrapped around his divine-enhanced form. Debris caught in the vortex became projectiles that would have shredded an ordinary person.

Jack used Abyssal Steps to avoid some of the damage, but he couldn’t dodge it all.

[-4,700 HP]

[-7,200 HP]

Damage ticked through Jack’s health bar as the tornado continued its assault. However, even as the numbers dropped, new notifications continued to flood in.

[Enemy Defeated by Bound Companion]

[Crimson Recovery: +188 HP/sec for 4 seconds]

[Crimson Recovery: +376 MP/sec for 4 seconds]

[Sanguine Accelerator: Stack 3/10]

[Demonic Frenzy: +938 HP/sec]

[Enemy Defeated by Bound Companion]

[Crimson Recovery: +188 HP/sec for 4 seconds]

[Crimson Recovery: +376 MP/sec for 4 seconds]

[Sanguine Accelerator: Stack 4/10]

Pho was executing his ”calculated extermination” with clinical efficiency, and each death fed Jack’s regeneration. The HP he lost to Sylph’s tornado recovered almost as fast as it was depleted.

When the wind finally dispersed, Jack stood in the center of the devastation with white lightning crackling across his torn clothing. Blood ran from cuts across his face and arms, but even as Sylph watched, the wounds began closing.

”What...” she started, confusion replacing the irritation.

”Borrowed power,” Jack said with a grin that showed too many teeth. ”But the sustain? That’s all mine.”

Jack’s hand rose toward the sky, fingers splayed as he reached for the storm clouds still churning overhead.

[Call of the Lightning]

White lightning answered his summons, bolts streaking down from the heavens to strike his extended palm. Each bolt that connected added to the growing reservoir of power building in his body, stacks accumulating with each successful call.

[Stack: 1]

[Stack: 2]

[Stack: 3]

[Stack: 4]

[Stack: 5]

The lightning didn’t hurt him; divine channeling made the power compatible, transforming what should have been lethal into a source of fuel.

His white eyes blazed brighter with each added stack, and the air around him ionized until breathing became difficult for anyone watching from the platforms.

Sylph’s expression shifted to wariness. ”You’re building for a big technique. How cute. Let me show you what a real technique is.”

Her tiny hands swept through complex patterns, and the wind responded with force that dwarfed her previous techniques. Multiple tornadoes formed simultaneously.

’Five simultaneous tornados,’ Jack cataloged, still calling lightning from above. ’Each one controlled separately. That’s... impressive.’

[Stack: 6]

[Stack: 7]

[Stack: 8]

The tornadoes began moving in coordinated patterns, creating a net that would catch Jack regardless of which direction he dodged. Sylph’s small face revealed the intensity of her concentration as she orchestrated the complex attack, her fingers moving like a conductor directing an orchestra of devastation.

”Let’s see your regeneration handle THIS!” she called out.

The five tornadoes converged on Jack’s position simultaneously.

Jack’s grin widened as he activated Overcharge.

[Releasing 8 Stacks]

White lightning exploded from Jack’s body in a spherical wave that met the converging tornados head-on. Divine power crashed against mythical wind magic, and for a moment, the two forces balanced precariously.

Neither overwhelming the other, both are struggling for dominance.

The white lightning shredded through the tornados, disrupting their structure and causing the wind currents to destabilize.

The techniques collapsed into random gusts that scattered harmlessly across the garrison.

And the lightning continued past the destroyed tornadoes, streaking toward Sylph with inexorable certainty.

Her eyes widened as she realized the attack was still coming. She generated wind barriers, layered shields, compressed air walls.....

The lightning punched through them all.

[-385,280 HP]

Sylph’s scream echoed through the garrison as divine power seared through her mythical essence. The damage was substantial enough to actually make a dent in her massive health pool, enough to prove that Jack’s ”borrowed divinity” had teeth.

She crashed to the ground, her six-inch form creating a small crater as she impacted stone with force that cracked the surface. Smoke rose from her body, and her yellow hair was singed at the edges.

For a moment, silence reigned.

Then Sylph stood slowly, brushing herself off with movements that trembled slightly. Her black-and-green eyes found Jack, and an expression of genuine respect flushed in her face.

”Okay,” she said quietly. ”You’ve earned my attention, human. No more playing around.”

Wind gathered around her with intensity that made Jack’s previous experiences look like gentle breezes. The atmospheric pressure dropped so rapidly that several nobles on the observation platforms gasped for air. The garrison’s walls cracked further as the strain exceeded what the reinforced structure could handle.

Jack’s hand moved in a throwing motion, fingers splaying as he activated his next technique.

White spheres of compressed electrical energy materialized throughout the garrison, each one invisible to conventional sight but blazing in Jack’s divine perception.

He distributed them strategically, placing them near the walls, along the floor, and at varying heights throughout the battlefield.

Each orb hummed with contained power, waiting for the trigger that would detonate them in cascading explosions.

Sylph’s wind currents began sweeping through the space, her mythical senses searching for threats beyond visual range.

Her expression shifted fractionally as she noticed her wind avoiding certain areas. Patches of space where the air currents refused to flow correctly, redirecting around invisible obstacles.

Her eyes narrowed.

”What did you do, human?”

”Guess you’ll find out.”