Chapter 115: Low Grade Demon [Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter]
Jack stood there, pulse still hammering, the enormity of what he’d agreed to gnawing at the edges of his resolve.
Five hundred days. But power waited beyond those doors, and power was never free.
Jack drew a steady breath and forced himself to meet the Patriarch’s star-bright eyes. "I’ll do it," he said, his voice carrying more conviction than he felt. "I’ll take the journey."
A faint smile perked on Ren’s ancient features. He reached to the arm of his throne, brushed a finger across the black stone, and a square of shimmering silver light materialized in the air between them.
Lines of ink formed inside the glow, etching themselves into a detailed map of the eastern valleys and the desolate lands beyond.
"This will guide you," Ren said. "Follow the obsidian markers east until you reach the canyons. The map will update itself as you get closer."
Jack stepped forward and grasped the map. It was weightless yet cool to the touch, a thing of magic and ancient craft. He slipped it into his inventory with a curt nod.
No other words needed to be said, Jack turned to leave and proceed out of the castle.
The moment Jack stepped beyond the castle’s iron gates, the air of Floor 24 struck him with the bite of perpetual winter.
The blood-red sky hung low over the wasteland, casting everything in shades of amber and gold as he and Corvin began their eastward trek.
The castle’s looming silhouette faded behind them until it was only a jagged black tooth against the crimson horizon.
For hours, Jack followed the map’s glowing trail across plains of ash-gray grass that crunched like bones beneath his boots.
The silence was oppressive, broken only by the whisper of wind through dead vegetation and the soft rustle of Corvin’s feathers.
With every step, he could feel the oppressive mana of the floor growing denser, pressing against his skin like invisible chains.
The air itself seemed to thicken, carrying scents of sulfur and decay that made his nose burn.
When the map’s final glyph flared with silver light, Jack found himself at the edge of a basin of black sand rimmed with broken stone that jutted from the earth like the ribs of some massive, buried corpse.
Wind screamed through the jagged pillars with a sound like tormented souls, carrying with it the acrid stench of brimstone.
Corvin shifted uneasily on his shoulder, violet eyes scanning the shadows between the stone formations.
The raven’s feathers remained raised in permanent alarm, and through their bond Jack could feel his companion’s deep unease.
A low growl rumbled across the barren valley, deep enough to vibrate in Jack’s chest.
The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, echoing off the twisted stone in ways that made it impossible to pinpoint its source.
[Warning: High-level hostile approaching]
[Rank: Nightmare]
Jack’s hand moved instinctively to summon his spear, the familiar weight of the Lightning Spear materializing in his grip.
"Show yourself," he called out, his voice carrying across the wasteland with more confidence than he felt.
The response came as a shimmer in the superheated air above the black sand, like looking through water.
Something massive was moving beneath the distortion, and when it finally stepped into view, Jack could see this monstrosity.
The demon was enormous, easily seven feet of raw, predatory power.
Its skin was the color of fresh blood, stretched taut over cords of muscle that looked carved from stone by some mad sculptor.
Two black horns curved back from its skull like polished obsidian daggers.
A barbed tail lashed the air behind it with lazy menace, each movement accompanied by a metallic whisper that set Jack’s nerves on edge.
’Analyze!’
[Enemy: Cho]
[Classification: Low-Grade Demon]
[Rank: Nightmare]
[Level: 45]
[Threat: Severe]
[Warning: Entity possesses supernatural agility and combat experience]
But what truly unsettled Jack wasn’t the demon’s appearance. It was the intelligence in those burning eyes.
This wasn’t some mindless beast driven by hunger or rage. This was a predator that thought, planned, and adapted. A hunter that had been killing for far longer than Jack had been alive.
Cho’s mouth pulled into a grin that revealed rows of serrated teeth like broken glass.
When Cho spoke, it sounded sophisticated. "How delightful. A young soul warden, wandering into my territory like a lost lamb."
The casual sophistication of the demon’s speech sent ice through Jack’s veins. He’d expected snarls and roars, not the polished tones of something that might have once held court in hell’s hierarchies.
Jack tightened his grip on the Lightning Spear, forcing steel into his voice even as his heart hammered against his ribs. "I’m here to hunt."
Cho tilted its head, the gesture almost curious. "Hunt?" A laugh like breaking bells escaped its throat.
"Oh, little warden. You misunderstand your role entirely." Those burning eyes fixed on Jack. "You are not the hunter here. You are the prey."
In that moment he realized just how completely he’d underestimated what he was facing.
This wasn’t going to be like fighting the creatures on the higher floors. Beasts that relied on brute force and simple aggression. This was something that understood tactics, that could outthink him as easily as it could overpower him.
Corvin launched skyward with a harsh cry of warning, his instincts screaming danger even as the demon’s form blurred into motion.
Jack reacted on pure reflex, channeling power into his most reliable attack.
[Arc Blast Activated]
Blue lightning erupted from his fingertips, crackling with enough raw power to melt stone. The air split with a thunderclap that echoed off the canyon walls, and for a moment Jack felt a surge of confidence.
But Jack didn’t hear any notification. He knew something was wrong.
But Cho simply wasn’t there anymore.
The demon moved with a fluid grace that defied physics, twisting aside so smoothly it looked like reality itself had bent to accommodate him.
The lightning carved a molten scar into the black sand where he’d been standing, hissing and spitting as it cooled.
Jack’s eyes widened in shock. Nothing had ever dodged his Arc Blast before. The attack was too fast, too direct. Yet this demon had avoided it as casually as stepping around a puddle.
"Disappointing," Cho said, and his voice came from directly behind Jack.
Terror flooded Jack’s system as he spun, but he was already too late. The demon had closed the distance in the time it took Jack to blink, moving with speed that rendered his reflexes useless.
Cho’s fist, a crimson sledgehammer of bone, crashed into Jack’s ribs with the force of a falling mountain.
The impact was beyond pain. It was a universe of agony compressed into a single moment, a crushing blow that seemed to drive the very air from his lungs.
Jack felt something give way inside his chest, ribs cracking under pressure that could have pulverized stone.
The world tilted violently as he was hurled backward through the air like a broken doll. He hit the black sand hard, bouncing once before skidding across the abrasive surface in a cloud of dust and pulverized obsidian.
Sharp fragments of volcanic glass sliced through his clothes and into his skin.
[-472 HP]
[Current HP: 128/600]
[Warning: Severe injury sustained]
[Recommendation: Immediate evasive action required]
The system notifications burned across his vision even as he fought to draw breath into lungs that felt like they’d been filled with broken glass.
Every heartbeat sent fresh waves of agony through his shattered ribs, and he could taste blood in his mouth.
It tasted metallic and warm, a reminder of just how quickly the tables had turned.
This was nothing like the fights he’d won before. This was raw, overwhelming superiority meeting desperate inadequacy, and Jack was learning the difference between facing beasts and facing true predators.
Through the haze of pain and shock, one thought echoed in his mind with crystalline clarity: he was completely, utterly outmatched.
---
In the frozen throne room, Ren’s star-bright eyes tracked something only he could see. A thin smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"You sent him the long way," Melania observed, her serpentine form coiled elegantly near the throne’s base.
Her emerald eyes glittered with curiosity as she watched the Patriarch’s expression. "There’s an entrance to Malakai’s castle directly beneath your throne, isn’t there?"
Ren’s smile widened, though his gaze never shifted from whatever distant vision held his attention. "Indeed there is."
"Then why?" she pressed, genuine concern in her voice. "Why send the Soul Warden on a five-hundred-day journey through nightmare-infested territories when he could reach the castle in minutes?"
The ancient being’s laugh was soft as winter wind through dead leaves.
"Because, my dear Melania, power earned through struggle is the only power worth possessing."
His star-bright eyes finally met hers, gleaming with ancient wisdom and patient cruelty.
"The young warden must be forged in fire before he can hope to claim what waits in that castle. What use would Malakai’s secrets be to someone too weak to survive their burden?"
Melania’s tail flicked with understanding, a gesture of grudging respect. "You’re testing him."
"I’m preparing him," Ren corrected gently. "The castle beneath us holds knowledge that could reshape the world, or destroy it entirely. Such power demands a worthy inheritor."
His gaze drifted back toward the distant east. "Five hundred days will either break him completely, or transform him into something magnificent."
"And if he dies in the process?"
Ren’s expression didn’t change, but something cold flickered behind his eyes. "Then he was never worthy of Malakai’s legacy to begin with."