I Died and Became a Chapter 290: A Dragon’s Promise [Golden Ticket Bonus]

Chapter 290: A Dragon’s Promise [Golden Ticket Bonus]

"I’m a support class," Jack replied, though uncertainty crept into his voice. "I buff soul-bound creatures, share sensory links with them, coordinate their abilities..."

"That’s what the class DOES," Emberion interrupted. "I asked what you ARE."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again.

The question felt like it carried weight beyond its simple phrasing, as if the wrong answer would end this negotiation before it truly began.

"I don’t know," he finally admitted. "I know my abilities and limitations. But if there’s sothing deeper..."

"There is," Emberion said with certainty that transcended re opinion.

"Tell , Soul Warden. Have you experienced changes to your body? Transformations that shouldn’t be possible for humans? Powers that go beyond what your class suggests?"

Jack’s mind flashed to his demon transformation on Floor 24.

The way his body had changed, horns and wings and scales erupting from flesh that had been completely human minutes before.

The power that had let him overwhelm Pho.

"Yes," he said quietly. "I’ve transford. Temporarily gained demonic traits and power far beyond what I should possess."

"And you wondered why?" Emberion’s tone suggested he already knew the answer. "Why a support class could manifest such overwhelming combat ability?"

"The thought crossed my mind," Jack admitted.

"It’s because every Soul Warden in history has done sothing that transcends normal magic," Emberion explained, his voice taking on the quality of a teacher delivering crucial information.

"They have rged their own soul and body with a creature. Not just binding through contract or divine blessing. Actual fusion at the deepest level, incorporating another being’s essence into their own."

The words hit Jack like a ton of bricks.

"Malakai rged with a Phoenix," Emberion continued.

"The first and greatest of his bound creatures. He didn’t just bind it, he incorporated its essence into his soul, allowing him to channel its power as if it were his own. That’s what gave him the ability to create creatures like . Phoenix fire, controlled and shaped by human will and intelligence."

The dragon’s gaze intensified, boring into Jack with uncomfortable precision. "The Soul Wardens who ca after him tried to replicate his success. So rged with dragons, others with celestial beasts or elental spirits. But they failed to control the transformation. The creature’s nature overwheld their humanity, driving them mad or transforming them into monsters."

Emberion leaned closer, his massive head now just feet from where Jack stood.

"You, however, have done sothing unprecedented. You’ve rged with a demon. I can sense its essence woven through your soul, it should be opposed to your human nature. And yet... you remain in control. You haven’t been corrupted or driven mad. You’re the first Soul Warden in history to successfully rge with demonic essence without losing yourself."

Jack’s mind raced through the implications. His demon transformation wasn’t just a skill or temporary power-up. It was the result of having rged his soul with... what? Which demon had he incorporated?

’System, is this true? Have I rged with a demon?’

[Analysis: Emberion’s assessnt is accurate. Your transformation ability stems from soul fusion with a demon entity. The full effects and future transformations are classified]

’Of course it’s classified,’ Jack thought with frustration. ’Because nothing in this system is ever straightforward.’

"I can see the questions in your eyes," Emberion observed. "Which demon? How did it happen? Those are answers you’ll need to discover yourself. I cannot provide what I do not know."

The dragon pulled back slightly, settling into a more comfortable position.

"But understand this. Your ability to control that transformation, to rge demonic essence with human soul without being consud, marks you as potentially the greatest Soul Warden since Malakai himself. Or the most dangerous failure, if you lose control."

"And that brings us to my price," Emberion continued, his tone becoming more businesslike despite the apocalyptic setting.

"I will cooperate with you. I will provide materials, guidance, and access to this floor’s resources. But in exchange, you must swear three oaths upon your life and family. Break them, and I will hunt you across realms until one of us is dead."

Jack’s jaw tightened at the ntion of swearing on his family, but he nodded.

"State your terms."

"First," Emberion raised one massive claw, fire dancing between the talons. "You must swear to control your demonic transformation. To master it completely, to ensure it never consus your humanity. If I sense that you’re losing yourself to the demon’s nature, I will consider our agreent void and you will beco my prey."

The threat was delivered casually, but Jack didn’t doubt for a second that Emberion ant every word.

"I swear it," Jack said without hesitation. "I won’t let the transformation control ."

"Second," another claw extended, doubling the flas. "You must promise to make my father pay for what he did to . To challenge him, to defeat him, to ensure he understands that his actions have consequences."

Jack blinked in surprise. "Your father? Who..."

"Typhoon," Emberion’s voice was suddenly cold enough to freeze magma. "The Dragon King. Lord of Tempest Isle. He condemned

to death rather than acknowledge a ’weak’ offspring. He who cast

out to die alone rather than risk his precious reputation by having a child who lost a territorial dispute."

The dragon’s eyes blazed with fury that had clearly been building for centuries.

"He is my father. And I want him to suffer. I want him to know that the child he discarded beca sothing greater than he could imagine. I want him humiliated, broken, forced to acknowledge that his cruelty created his own downfall."

Jack processed this information quickly. Typhon the Dragon King was Emberion’s father. The strongest dragon in existence had cast out his own son for showing weakness. And now that son wanted revenge.

’You’re kidding , he’s got daddy issues. I an we all do, but why did it have to be Typhoon. I’ve never t the dragon and his dad is the King of dragons.’

"I can’t promise to defeat Typhon imdiately," Jack said carefully. "He’s... significantly more powerful than

right now. But I swear I’ll work toward confronting him. Making him answer for what he did to you."

"That is sufficient," Emberion accepted with a nod that sent waves of heat rippling across the crater.

"Vengeance delayed is not vengeance denied. I can wait."

"And third?" Jack asked, dreading what the final oath might require.

"Third," Emberion’s final claw extended, completing the gesture. "Bring

the heart of a dragon who serves my father. One of his ’worthy’ offspring who earned the recognition and respect that I was denied. Let

consu the essence of everything I should have been, everything he valued more than his own son."

The request was dark and vindictive.

But before Jack could respond, before he could explain the difficulty of obtaining such a prize, a thought occurred to him.

He reached into his system storage, his hand closing around sothing cold and massive. When he withdrew it, he held a heart the size of a human torso, perfectly preserved despite being separated from its owner.

Spiralus’s heart.

"Would this suffice?" Jack asked, offering the dragon heart to Emberion. "Taken from Spiralus, a disaster-class dragon. He was a twin headed dragon that tried to attack ."