I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 428: Let the Slaughter begin

Moments later, the fifteen panthers emerged from the jungle in perfect synchronization, their camouflage deactivating as they approached.

They formed a semicircle around Jack once again, and the leader stepped forward slightly.

Jack focused on the Soul Link, opening himself to the information they wanted to share.

The lead panther's thoughts came through clearly, translated by the connection into something Jack's mind could understand:

'The jungle is vast. Six square miles of dense territory. Good hunting grounds, plenty of prey. Water sources everywhere. This place could support many packs.'

Another panther's consciousness joined in, its thoughts carrying frustration:

'But we found no others like us. We searched every den, every usual gathering place. The scent trails are old, weeks, maybe months. Whatever packs lived here before are gone now.'

A third panther added its findings, and Jack felt the creature's unease through the link:

'There is one other. An Alpha. It's twice our size, maybe more. Its territory centers on the great tree where the lightning beast nests. We couldn't get close. The blue one's presence is too strong there.'

The lead panther's thoughts turned grim:

'The Alpha is alone. The last one besides us. It survives by avoiding the lightning beast, by being smarter and faster than all the others who died. It's been alone for a long time.'

Jack processed this information, his analytical mind filling in the gaps.

Stormfang had systematically eliminated the panther population over time, keeping them suppressed to maintain absolute dominance over the floor.

The Alpha was the sole survivor. The strongest, the smartest, the one who'd learned to coexist with a predator that could kill it in seconds.

"Only one other panther remains," Jack murmured aloud. "Stormfang has been thorough."

Kaedor's rings clicked softly. "That's unfortunate, Master. I thought you'd be able to expand your panther numbers significantly."

"The Alpha will be enough," Jack replied. "If it's survived this long against Stormfang, it's exactly the kind of creature I want in my army."

Before he could elaborate further, shadows coalesced nearby, and Loryn materialized, his purple eyes glowing faintly in the dim jungle light.

"Young master," the shadow demon said with a respectful bow. "I've completed my reconnaissance of the swamp zone."

"Report," Jack commanded.

Loryn gave his report. "The Mistborn population is larger than Kaedor's initial estimates. I counted ninety-three distinct entities, though there may be more in the deeper sections I couldn't safely observe. They maintain territorial boundaries but coordinate when hunting. I witnessed six of them working together to bring down a creature that wandered into their domain."

"Organized," Jack observed.

"Very much so," Loryn confirmed. "They're not mindless elementals. They communicate in some way, possibly through the mist itself. Their intangibility is tactical. They dissolve to avoid danger and reform to strike from unexpected angles. Each one has a core in its chest that glows when manifested. That appears to be their vulnerability."

Jack nodded, filing away the tactical information. Ninety-three Mistborn meant higher costs than he'd initially calculated, but the strategic value of creatures that could become intangible was undeniable.

"What about the Voidweaver?" Jack asked. "Did you locate its territory?"

Loryn's usual composure cracked slightly. "I found the edge of its domain. The webs are extensive. Hundreds of yards of swamp covered in layers so thick they block out light. I saw remains caught in the webbing. Panthers, minotaurs, and other creatures. All drained completely. Some of those corpses looked months old."

"It preserves its prey," Kaedor muttered nervously.

"Like a larder," Loryn agreed grimly. "The Voidweaver hunts when it's hungry, but it keeps everything it catches. Nothing escapes those webs once caught."

Everything else was just fuel for the grind.

"Kaedor," Jack's demeanor shifted, becoming notably more reserved. "Besides the panthers, Mistborn, and minotaurs. What other creatures inhabit this floor?"

Kaedor pulled out his notebook, flipping through pages. "Dozens of species. Jungle raptors, swamp serpents, wasteland scorpions, various prey animals, scavengers... The floor has a complete ecosystem. Probably thousands of individual creatures when you count everything."

"Perfect," Jack said quietly.

Reality tore open across the entire clearing and beyond, dozens of massive portals ripping into existence simultaneously.

The sound was deafening.

A roar of displaced air and warping space that echoed across the entire floor.

Kaedor stumbled backward, nearly falling over himself as his rings clicked in panicked rhythm. "Master! What are you..."

His words died as the first demons began pouring through.

They came like a flood.

They swarmed through the portals in waves, spreading across the clearing and into the surrounding jungle.

They kept coming.

And coming.

And coming.

The sheer density of demonic presence made the air thick with malevolent energy.

Jack's fifteen panthers pressed closer to him, not out of fear exactly, but out of instinctive wariness at being surrounded by so many predators.

He spoke, and his voice carried across the entire assembled army through the Soul Link that connected him to every demon present:

"You have one objective. Hunt everything on this floor except for three specific creature types. Do not touch the Panthers, Mistborn, or the minotaurs."

The command rippled through their minds simultaneously, each demon understanding perfectly through the binding.

"Everything else dies. I want them all dead."

The demons were getting restless, a wave of violence just waiting to burst out.

"One more thing," Jack added, his voice dropping to something cold and final. "The three Disaster-class entities on this floor.

"Stormfang, the Voidweaver, and the Hydra. They are mine. If you encounter them, retreat immediately and report their location."

He raised one hand, red lightning crackling along his fingers.

The demon army exploded into motion.

The jungle canopy shook as thousands of demons crashed through it.

Within minutes, the screams began.

Jungle raptors died by the dozens, ambushed by coordinated demon packs.

Swamp serpents were dragged from their waters and torn apart.

Wasteland scorpions, typically apex predators in their domain, found themselves overwhelmed by numbers.

The death toll began climbing immediately, and Jack could feel each kill through his connection to the demons.

Kaedor finally found his voice, though it came out as barely a whisper. "Master... you just unleashed nearly thirty thousand demons on an entire floor's ecosystem. This is... this is ecological annihilation."

"Yes," Jack replied calmly, watching his token count steadily climb.

Loryn's face showed awed horror. "Young master, this is extraordinarily efficient. And absolutely ruthless. Most people spend weeks grinding tokens on a single floor. You're going to strip this entire ecosystem clean in hours."

"Why waste time doing things inefficiently when I have the resources to do them properly?" Jack said bluntly.

He looked toward the massive tree in the distance, where Stormfang watched from its nest. The Blessed One could feel the sudden change on its floor.

The beginning of a slaughter that would devastate the ecosystem.

Through his enhanced perception, Jack could sense Stormfang's confusion, then growing alarm as it realized the scale of what was happening. The Disaster-class creature had ruled this floor unopposed for who knew how long.

Now it was watching its entire territory being systematically stripped of life by an invading force it couldn't hope to stop.

His red eyes glowed brighter behind his visor.

The jungle around them echoed with the sounds of slaughter as Jack's demon army carried out his command ruthlessly. The screams of dying creatures created a symphony of destruction that would continue for days.