I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 584: Floor 7 - Vitreous Rift Part II

The sound was louder this time, multiple fractures appearing across the glass floor in an expanding pattern that originated from where Father Caelen sat on the bound serpent’s back.

The cracks spread faster than before, forming larger fissures that branched into networks, making entire sections of the floor look as if they might collapse at any moment.

Then the serpents joined the assault, dozens of them channeling elemental techniques as fire, water, earth, and lightning-based attacks crossed the distance toward Jack’s position.

The magical bombardment struck glass as much as it struck Jack, each spell creating additional stress on the crystalline structure that was already compromised by the previous damage.

The walls began showing cracks now, fractures spreading through the vertical surfaces as accumulated magical pressure exceeded whatever threshold the dungeon’s construction could withstand.

Chunks of glass began falling away, sections of floor detaching and tumbling into the darkness below as structural integrity failed across multiple points simultaneously.

Jack’s mind processed the situation with immediate certainty.

Magic was destroying the floor faster than combat was eliminating enemies.

If this continued, they’d fall into the void before half the serpents were dead, and falling into that absolute darkness would probably mean instant death.

”No more magic!” Jack shouted, his voice carrying across the fracturing floor with force that made his intent clear. ”The floor can’t handle it; we have to fight physically, or we all fall!”

Father Caelen nodded understanding, ceasing his divine channeling immediately as he recognized the tactical constraint.

The bound serpent began moving, its massive bulk carrying the old priest away from the most heavily damaged sections while its powerful body plowed through smaller serpents attempting to block their path.

Jack’s hands moved to his sides, consciousness reaching inward toward the technique he’d learned but hadn’t used in a while.

Black scales erupted across his skin, spreading from fingertips to shoulders in a wave of demonic transformation that turned his arms into demonic flesh.

His fingers elongated slightly, nails becoming curved talons sharp enough to puncture enhanced scales, the entire transformation taking two seconds from activation to completion.

A Dread-ranked fire serpent lunged toward his position, its jaws opening wide enough to swallow his torso as flames gathered in its throat for point-blank discharge.

Jack raised his right hand, snapping forward in a strike that caught the serpent’s lower jaw with force amplified by Demonhand’s enhancement.

His formidable talons penetrated the resilient scales, which would have repelled conventional assaults, securing a grip within the susceptible tissues beneath the armored hide.

He ripped sideways, tearing through the serpent’s jaw with violence that sent blood and shredded tissue scattering across the glass floor. The creature’s scream was cut short as Jack’s left hand followed up, claws driving into its skull with force that cracked bone and pulped the brain beneath.

[Dread-Ranked Fire Serpent Eliminated]

[+2,500 EXP]

[+750 Death Tokens]

[+1 Dread Core]

The kill was brutal, nothing like the precise devastation his lightning techniques could achieve. Still, it worked, and more importantly, it didn’t add additional stress to the floor, which was already showing massive structural damage.

Jack began moving, his enhanced speed carrying him toward the densest concentration of enemies as his transformed hands became instruments of systematic violence.

He had no formal martial arts training beyond basic self-defense, no elegant techniques passed down through generations of masters.

He only had raw aggression amplified by enhanced stats and a willingness to use his claws as weapons against anything that came within reach.

A Nightmare-ranked earth serpent tried to crush him with its bulk, thirty feet of armored scales moving with speed that belied its massive size.

Jack didn’t try to dodge; instead, he stepped into the charge, his right hand driving upward to catch the creature under its jaw while his left raked across its eyes with force that shredded the vulnerable organs.

The serpent’s momentum worked against it, Jack’s enhanced strength redirecting the charge into a spin that sent the blinded creature tumbling across the glass floor, where it crashed into a dozen smaller serpents attempting to flank his position.

He followed up immediately, both hands driving into the Nightmare-ranked threat’s exposed throat as it struggled to recover from the disorienting impact.

His claws located and penetrated the primary blood vessels, piercing the scales to access the underlying tissue.

He then violently tore outwards, causing arterial spray to coat the progressively blood-stained glass.

[Nightmare-Ranked Earth Serpent Eliminated]

[+50,000 EXP]

[+2,700 Death Tokens]

[+1 Nightmare Core]

The bound Disaster-class serpent was doing its own damage, the massive creature’s bulk plowing through enemies with force that sent smaller serpents flying across the floor or crushed them beneath its weight.

Father Caelen sat on its back, his staff occasionally striking at threats that got too close, but mostly the old priest was conserving energy. At the same time, the bound creature handled combat through sheer physical superiority.

Jack lost himself in the violence, his mind reducing combat to simple calculus.

Strike vulnerable points, use claws to bypass enhanced defenses, and keep moving to prevent being overwhelmed by numbers.

The Demonhand transformation made his arms into weapons that could tear through scales his normal strength would have struggled to penetrate, each strike leaving trails of blood and shredded tissue across enemies designed to withstand magical assault.

The glass floor continued to crack, sections falling away as accumulated physical stress from hundreds of combatants moving at enhanced speeds exceeded the crystalline structure’s capacity to absorb it.

But the rate of destruction had slowed dramatically.

Without magical techniques creating catastrophic pressure points, the floor was failing gradually rather than collapsing immediately.

Jack’s awareness tracked the exit.

A visible arch three hundred meters distant on the far side of the massive floor.

The path was blocked by fifty serpents, a concentrated defensive line that the remaining enemies had formed to prevent easy escape.

He was holding despite accumulated minor injuries.

Bie wounds where serpents had landed strikes he couldn’t fully avoid. Nothing immediately lethal, but enough damage.

The bound serpent crashed through another cluster of enemies, its massive jaws snapping shut on a Dread-ranked water serpent with force that crushed the creature’s spine. Father Caelen called out from his position on the creature’s back.

”We’re not going to kill them all before the floor gives out! The cracks are spreading too fast, even without magic!”

Jack’s mind had reached the same conclusion.

They’d eliminated half the enemies, but the remaining serpents were adapting, attacking in coordinated patterns that made individual elimination increasingly difficult while simultaneously placing greater physical strain on the already compromised floor.

”Get to the exit!” Jack exclaimed, his voice resonating across the crumbling floor with an intensity that left no doubt about his intentions. ”I’m bringing the whole floor down!”

Father Caelen didn’t waste time questioning the decision, the old priest urging the bound serpent toward the exit archway.

The massive creature accelerated, its bulk crushing smaller serpents that tried to block its path as it charged toward safety with single-minded determination.

Jack activated his skill.

The sky above erupted with golden lightning.

Dozens of bolts struck downward simultaneously, each one carrying a force that would have vaporized normal enemies while creating catastrophic structural damage to the already compromised crystalline environment.

The serpents didn’t stand a chance.

The continuous lightning strikes caught them in overlapping fields of electrical discharge, the legendary-tier technique designed to eliminate large numbers of enemies across vast areas.

Bodies vaporized under the assault, scales offering no protection against damage that exceeded anything the dungeon’s construction had anticipated.