Chapter 107: Undead Bone Dragon
Corvin launched skyward in a black blur.
The air detonated with the sound of tearing silk as the ravens began flying out of Corvin’s mouth.
They filled the aisle in a swirling cyclone of death, a living night that blotted out the torchlight.
Each spectral raven moved together. Their violet eyes burning like stars in the sudden darkness.
Gasps rippled through the stands. Some spectators scrambled backward, suddenly remembering urgent business elsewhere
Others leaned in, hungry for blood and the chance to witness power exercised without restraint.
Daddy’s grin faltered for the first time since he’d materialized. "The hell is this supposed to..."
The swarm dove down at Daddy.
Ravens dove in coordinated fury, talons like hooked razors. Their beaks struck his eyes and throat.
Daddy roared and swung massive fists, each blow scattering only a handful of birds before ten more replaced them.
Blood sprayed in arcs, painting the obsidian stone before vanishing into the churning mass of feathers and fury.
The Terror’s confidence collapsed into panic as his bravado met the reality of overwhelming force. "Get... off... me!"
His voice cracked into a scream as the ravens drove him to his knees, their assault was relentless.
Feathers and flesh blurred into a single pulsing knot of motion that hurt to watch.
Jack observed without moving.
The violence was immense. Screams coming from him were all throughout the stadium.
Fourteen seconds later the noise cut off.
Silence echoed through the stadium.
[Enemy Defeated: "Daddy of the Third Tier"]
[Death Tokens Acquired: 350]
[Reward: 1,750 EXP]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up!]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up!]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up!]
[Arc Mage: level 3 (950/1000)]
[New skills available!]
[Local reputation: +20]
The black storm slowed, condensed, then coalesced back into one sleek raven that landed lightly on Jack’s shoulder.
A single crimson droplet clung to Corvin’s beak for a moment before he shook it free.
Jack flicked a speck of blood from his sleeve with the casual gesture of someone removing dirt. "Well, Corvin, that was surprisingly quick."
[Carrion Swarm will overwhelm any monsters ranked Terror or lower.]
’Well this makes farming easier. I wonder if I get another companion if they’ll be as useful as Corvin.’
A ripple of uneasy laughter ran through the nearby spectators.
"Glad that piece of shit is dead!"
"I got dibs on his wife!"
The whispers started again.
But Jack could tell. What he did earned him respect.
Jack leaned back in his seat, utterly calm.
The arena’s normal roar slowly reclaimed the space.
’Good bird,’ he thought.
The roar of the arena returned in uneven waves.
Below, new combatants had entered the arena. A small imp like creature. When Jack looked for the other combatant, he couldn’t see anyone.
The ground began to rumble ominously.
Suddenly, a massive bone dragon erupted from the arena floor! Its skeletal frame stretched nearly sixty feet from nose to tail, empty eye sockets blazing with fire.
Roar!!!
’WAIT A BONE DRAGON!!’
’Does that mean I could have a dragon as a bound creature??’
[....]
[Unknown...]
Corvin tilted his head, black eyes gleaming with what might have been amusement.
The raven seemed to understand his dramatic display.
’Don’t get cocky,’ Jack added, though a thin smile betrayed his amusement.
The great raven gave a single throaty croak, more amused than admonishing, before folding his wings down.
Jack’s gaze wandered back to the blood-stained arena floor.
The new fight was picking up intensity.
A soft voice cut through the background noise.
"Good to see you again."
Jack turned, his hand instinctively moving toward where his spear would materialize if needed.
Melania sat gracefully one seat away, serpentine tail coiled beneath her like a throne of emerald scales.
Moon-pale skin shimmered and her midnight hair spilling across her shoulders.
Her forest green eyes caught his gaze. She stared intensely as she bit her bottom lip.
She hadn’t been there moments before. Jack was certain of that.
"Melania," Jack said, the name slipping out before he could stop it.
"Impressive display," she said, gesturing toward the bloodstain on the floor with one pale hand. "Though I’m not surprised. Soul Wardens do tend to make quite the entrance."
As she spoke, Jack felt something brush against his back. Her serpentine tail moved slowly up his spine. He reached back and gently but firmly brushed it away.
"Boundaries," he said mildly.
Her smile widened, showing teeth that were just slightly too sharp.
"How refreshingly direct. Most beings here either cower or try to impress me with crude displays of power."
"And which category do I fall into?"
"Neither. Which makes you considerably more interesting."
She leaned back, though her tail continued to move restlessly. "You don’t know how the tower operates do you?"
Jack nodded slowly. "I’m learning as I go."
"Then allow me to educate you," Melania said, as she nuzzled closer to Jack. "Below the tenth floor, it’s mostly chaos. Individual creatures fighting for scraps and territory. But from floor ten upward, we have order. Clans determine everything in this tower."
"Clans?" Jack replied with a puzzled look.
"My own faction, the Ryzard, controls the twenty-fourth floor. Each major clan holds territory, makes alliances, and wages wars. It’s civilization, of a sort." Her eyes glittered with amusement. "Though I suspect your definition of civilization might differ from ours."
"Take the Third Tier for example, their leader was so stupid, he couldn’t come up with a name. They control the 12th floor. The third worst clan, the bottom of the barrel."
"What makes you so certain everyone’s afraid of Soul Wardens?" Jack asked, genuinely curious.
Melania’s expression grew more serious. "The last one. His name was Mordekai, and he was... thorough. At his peak, he commanded nearly ten million bound souls. The entire Tower bent to his will for over thirty centuries."
Jack felt a chill that had nothing to do with the Spire’s ambient temperature. "Ten million?"
"Give or take a few hundred thousand. He ruled with absolute authority. No clan dared oppose him, no floor could operate without his approval. The Tower became his personal kingdom." She paused, watching his reaction.
"When he finally met his end, it was like a dam breaking. Suddenly we were all free to pursue our own ambitions, cause whatever chaos we wanted to."
"What happened to him?"
"That," she said with a mysterious smile, "is a story for another time. But his death is why you’re getting such... cautious reactions. No one wants to be the fool who challenges the new Soul Warden and ends up bound for eternity."
Jack absorbed this information. His mind was racing trying to piece the information together. If the previous Soul Warden had controlled ten million beings...
His contemplation was interrupted as he idly scanned the arena. The bone dragon was still engaged with the imp, but something else caught his attention. In the announcer’s booth, a figure in elaborate robes was commentating on the fight.
Jack activated Flawed Sight almost without thinking.
’Flawed Sight!’
[Name: Valdoren the Magnificent]
[Class: Lich Lord]
[Level: 89]
[Field Boss]
[Threat Level: EXTREME]
[Special Ability: Necromantic Dominion]
[WARNING]
[This entity commands significant authority]
’No way, this is Valderon.’
Rage flooded through Jack’s veins as the pieces clicked together.
Valdoren. The assassin from ten years ago. The bastard who’d nearly killed him with that cursed blade was sitting right there.