I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 408: Whistling

Jack didn’t wait for the Death Knights to charge. He moved first.

[Abyssal Steps]

He teleported directly into their formation, materializing in the center of their shield wall. Before they could react or adjust their formation, he began attacking recklessly.

Oscar became a blur of demon bone and concentrated violence. With over 1,200 Strength and doubled physical damage, each strike carried enough force to shatter shields, cleave through enchanted armor, and pulverize bone.

He could destroy anything he wanted to right now.

’I wonder, could I cut through a dragon right now?’ Jack thought as his spear carved through a Death Knight’s torso like it was made of wet paper.

The thought made him grin wider.

[Spear Barrage]

Three strikes in less than a second, each one enhanced by Infernal Conversion’s multipliers. The first strike broke a Death Knight’s shield and the arm holding it, the enchanted metal shattering like glass under the impact.

The second punched through another’s chest plate and spine, the spear tip emerging from the skeleton’s back in an explosion of bone fragments.

The third took the head clean off a different target entirely, the skull spinning through the air before hitting the arena floor twenty feet away.

Both skeletons collapsed in heaps of bone and broken metal.

[Enemies Defeated: Death Knight ×2]

Jack didn’t pause. He spun, using Oscar’s shaft like a club, and the impact sent three more Death Knights flying backward.

Their armored forms crashed into their companions with sounds like bells being struck, further disrupting the formation.

One of them didn’t get back up. The impact had shattered every bone in its frame.

[Enemy Defeated: Death Knight]

”Did you see that?” Rhys’s voice was barely a whisper. His winter-ice eyes were wide with shock. ”He just... he didn’t even use a skill. He just hit them and they...”

”Died,” Sylph finished, her tiny voice carrying equal parts awe and terror. ”That’s pure Strength. No magic or special abilities. Just hitting things really, really hard.”

Loryn’s purple eyes gleamed with satisfaction. ”The young master’s Infernal Conversion temporarily converts all his Magic into Strength at a 1:1.5 ratio, then applies additional multipliers. His effective Strength is probably over twelve hundred if I had to put a number on it. For context, most Disaster-class demons have Strength around two to five hundred.”

Rhys swallowed hard. ”He’s more than twice as strong as a Disaster-class demon?”

”Yes,” Loryn replied. ”And his physical damage is doubled on top of that. Watch what happens when someone that strong stops holding back.”

Jack teleported again, appearing behind the formation this time. The Death Knights were trying to turn and reform their defensive line to account for his position, but they moved as if they were underwater compared to his enhanced speed.

[Piercing Strike]

The skill drove Oscar through a Death Knight’s back with such force that the spearhead emerged from its chest and kept going, impaling the skeleton standing in front of it as well. For a moment, both Death Knights were stuck on the same spear, their bones held together by pure momentum.

Then they fell apart, their structural integrity completely destroyed.

[Enemies Defeated: Death Knight ×2]

”He’s not even breathing hard,” Sylph observed, her black-and-green eyes tracking Jack’s movements. ”He’s fighting three hundred elite undead warriors, and he looks... bored.”

”Not bored,” Loryn corrected, a knowing smile on his skeletal features. ”Disappointed. The young master was hoping for a challenge. These Death Knights are strong by normal standards, but against someone with his current power level?” He gestured at the carnage below. ”They’re not even warm-up material.”

The Death Knights finally managed to reform their ranks, shields coming together in a wall of enchanted metal. They advanced as one unit, a coordinated push designed to overwhelm Jack through sheer mass and disciplined force.

Jack stood his ground, watching them come.

Then he laughed at the sight of it.

The sound carried across the arena, cutting through the clash of metal and the screaming of dying demons in the stands.

It wasn’t cruel laughter or mocking. It was genuine amusement, the sound of someone thoroughly enjoying themselves.

”Finally showing some spine!” Jack called out to the advancing formation. ”Let’s see if you can actually make me work for it!”

He charged to meet them.

The impact when Jack hit the shield wall was like a battering ram striking a wooden door. His enhanced strength, combined with the momentum of his charge, shattered the first line of defense.

Shields exploded into fragments, Death Knights were sent flying, and Jack was suddenly inside their formation again.

Oscar became a whirlwind of destruction. Each thrust found gaps in armor that shouldn’t have existed. Each sweep shattered bones that were supposed to be unbreakable. Each strike ended another undead warrior’s existence.

”EVERYONE FALL BACK!” Rhys’s instinct screamed at him to run, to get away from whatever Jack was becoming. ”We need to—”

Loryn’s hand on his shoulder stopped him mid-sentence. ”We’re safer here than anywhere else in this Colosseum, young prince. The young master knows exactly where we are. His army knows exactly where we are. And right now, the only people in danger are the ones who decided to watch gladiatorial combat today.”

A Death Knight managed to get a hit in, its enchanted sword actually connected with Jack’s shoulder, the blade glancing off the Infernal Set’s demon bone armor with a shower of sparks. The impact would have severed a normal person’s arm.

Jack didn’t even flinch.

He grabbed the Death Knight’s sword arm with his free hand, and with casual strength, he yanked the arm free.

The arm came free from the skeleton’s body with a grinding sound of stressed bone.

Jack used the severed limb to club another Death Knight across the face, shattering its skull, then discarded the arm and drove Oscar through the now-disarmed skeleton’s chest.

[Enemies Defeated: Death Knight ×2]

”He’s terrifying,” Rhys breathed. ”I’ve seen my sisters do horrible things, but this... this is different. This is...”

”War,” Father Caelen’s quiet voice cut in, the priest’s serene expression having returned now that he understood Jack was in no real danger. ”What you’re witnessing, young Rhys, is what happens when a Soul Warden truly commits to violence. Your sisters were cruel. Sadistic. They hurt people because it made them feel powerful.” His eyes tracked Jack’s movements below.

”The young master is different. He doesn’t enjoy causing pain. He enjoys the fight. The challenge. The test of his abilities against worthy opponents.”

”These Death Knights aren’t worthy opponents,” Sylph observed.

”No,” Father Caelen agreed. ”Which is why he’s disappointed.”

Suddenly, a strange noise erupted from the arena, causing everyone to pause.

Jack let out a low, wandering whistle that sounded like a nursery rhyme stripped of its joy.

On the other side of the arena, Pho was conducting his own symphony of destruction until he heard the noise.

’No, that can’t be. I only know one demon who whistles right before they plan to end their prey’s life. There can only be one explanation for this!’ Pho screamed internally.

In all of Pho’s time in the tower, he knew only one demon who had the habit of whistling right as someone was about to die. His brother Cho.