I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 420: Stormfang, The Blessed One

The creature’s body was serpentine, powerfully muscled, and covered in pure-white scales. Not the dirty white of bone, but the brilliant white of fresh snow.

Purple lightning veins ran through those scales like blood vessels, pulsing with energy that illuminated the surrounding jungle with each surge.

Four legs, each one thick with muscle, ending in claws that dug into the earth and left furrows in stone.

A long tail that crackled with electrical discharge, the tip leaving scorch marks where it dragged across the ground.

The head was distinctly draconic.

An elongated snout filled with razor-sharp teeth, each one easily the size of Jack’s forearm. Eyes that glowed with purple light, intelligence, and predatory focus were evident in that gaze.

And the most striking feature was its massive wings that spanned thirty feet when fully extended, the membranes between the bones pulsing with the same purple lightning that marked its body.

They weren’t just for show. Even folded against its sides, they radiated power.

[Stormfang - The Blessed Tempest]

[Rank: Disaster]

[Level: 82]

[HP: 285,000]

[Affinity: Lightning]

It was not a dragon or a demon. Something the Spire had created or evolved into an apex predator.

And it was hungry.

{Oh fuck,} Oscar whispered. {That’s... that’s actually terrifying. I’ve been stuck in a vault for decades, and I’ve only felt power like this from Pho.}

Jack didn’t respond; his focus was entirely on the creature before him.

Stormfang moved with shocking speed for something of its size, crossing the clearing in two strides. It descended upon the scorched panthers with remarkable grace, its movements carrying none of the hesitation or caution that lesser predators might show.

Teeth ripped into blackened flesh, dismantling the panthers with aggressive force.

Claws pulled bodies apart, separating the compressed cluster into individual pieces for easier consumption. The purple lightning continued to crackle along its scales, almost like it was still digesting the energy it had used to kill the prey.

Eighteen panthers.

Gone in forty seconds.

The entire time, those purple eyes never left Jack.

Stormfang was eating, yes. Consuming the meal, it had claimed with overwhelming power.

But it was also evaluating.

Measuring this new presence in its territory. Deciding if Jack was prey, threat, or something to temporarily ignore.

Behind him, Jack could hear Kaedor’s terrified breathing; he could sense Loryn preparing additional barriers just in case this escalated.

But Jack didn’t move.

He didn’t show any of the fear or submission that most creatures would display when confronted by a Disaster-class Blessed One.

He just stared back, red eyes meeting purple lightning, and let Stormfang understand one simple fact:

He wasn’t afraid.

{Jack,} Oscar’s voice carried a warning. {That thing just vaporized your Red Web like it was nothing. Completely overwhelmed your technique with raw power. And I can feel the voltage still building. It’s not done charging up.}

’I know.’

{So what do we do? Fight? Run? Politely ask it to share the panthers?}

’We wait. You can’t show fear to an alpha when it’s feeding.’

Stormfang finished the last panther, licking blood from its claws with a tongue that sparked with electricity.

Then it spread its wings slightly, the membranes catching what little light existed in the jungle and throwing it back in purple-tinted patterns.

And with this one gesture, it sent a message to Jack.

With just its display of power, the message was clear.

This floor is mine.

The word carried weight beyond its simplicity. The prey, the land, the hunting grounds, the right to kill whatever moved through this space.

All of it belonged to Stormfang.

The Blessed One’s eyes narrowed slightly, waiting for submission.

For acknowledgment of its dominance.

For Jack to back down, to leave, and to recognize the natural order of things on his floor.

Jack smiled behind his visor.

And he projected back with equal force. Red lightning erupted all around them as Jack gazed into Stormfang.

It felt Jack’s will. And it could tell Jack was no ordinary person.

Silence stretched between them, neither predator moving, both evaluating the other with cold precision.

Stormfang’s voltage was escalating. Jack could feel it building.

He could see the purple lightning growing brighter along its scales and could sense the raw power accumulating for a potential strike.

If they fought now, it would be brutal. Possibly fatal for one of them.

The Blessed One’s wings spread wider, its claws digging deeper into the ground, its tail coiling in preparation for explosive movement.

Then it stopped.

Stormfang’s intelligence was evident in that moment of hesitation. This wasn’t a mindless beast operating on instinct.

It was a Disaster-class entity that had survived and dominated this floor through more than just raw power.

It was smart enough to recognize that fighting Jack would be costly.

Maybe not impossible. Maybe not even that difficult if the escalation went long enough.

But dangerous. A fight where even victory would come at a cost.

And for what? To defend territory against an intruder who would either die to the floor’s other dangers or leave eventually anyway?

The calculation took less than a second.

Stormfang’s wings folded against its body, and it turned away, heading back toward the massive tree in the center of the floor.

Not showing submission or fear.

Choosing not to engage.

But before it left, the creature paused. Looked back over its shoulder at Jack, those purple eyes burning with intelligence.

The intent that slammed into Jack’s mind was crystal clear.

The next time they meet, it would mean war.

Then Stormfang launched into the air, wings spreading to their full thirty-foot span. The downdraft from its takeoff knocked smaller branches from trees and scattered the remaining mist.

It flew back toward the massive tree, gaining altitude rapidly, and disappeared into the upper branches where its nest waited.

The silence that followed was deafening.

”We need to leave,” Kaedor said, his voice shaking so badly the words were barely coherent. ”Right now. Immediately. That thing... it could have killed us all. It just chose not to.”

”Why didn’t it?” Loryn asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

”Because it’s intelligent,” Jack replied, his flat voice unchanged despite what had just occurred. ”It killed the panthers to establish dominance and feed. But it recognized I’m not normal prey. Fighting me would be costly, even if it won. So it’s waiting.”

”Waiting for what?” Kaedor demanded, his rings clicking frantically.

Jack turned to look at the demon, his red eyes glowing behind the visor.

”Waiting to see if I’m worth the effort. Or if I’ll leave its territory peacefully.”

”So we’re leaving, right?” Kaedor’s voice climbed higher. ”Please tell me we’re leaving. We have to leave. There’s no way you’re planning to...”

{Movement,} Oscar interrupted. {Thirty feet to your left. In the mist.}

Jack’s eyes snapped to the location.

A shimmer in the fog. Barely visible, like heat distortion over pavement. If he hadn’t been looking directly at that spot, if his Flawed Sight wasn’t piercing the mist with enhanced perception, he would have missed it entirely.

A beast with ten piercing red eyes stared in the distance before disappearing.

Are you going to stop it?} Oscar asked. {One binding skill and you could catch it before it gets away.}

’No,’ Jack decided. ’Let it go.’

{You’re getting soft.}

’It’s good to know what beasts are out there. And we just found our target.’

”Master,” Kaedor’s voice was strained. ”Please. Can we leave now? That thing just threatened to fight you. Which implies you’re planning to come back, which is insane, which means we should leave now while we still can.”

Jack looked back at the massive tree where Stormfang had disappeared.

”We’re not leaving yet,” he declared. ”I came to this floor for a reason. I need creatures for my army, and this floor has exactly what I need.”

Kaedor stared at him in disbelief. ”You can’t be serious. You just saw what that thing did! It vaporized your technique! It ate an entire pack in seconds! It’s a Disaster-class Blessed One that gets stronger the longer you fight it, and it just promised to kill you next time!”