CHAPTER 54: CARRION RAVEN

The gladiator launched a Fire Ball while the hellhound breathed flame, their attacks converging on Jack’s position from different angles. He triggered Lightning Steps, teleporting clear of the inferno that engulfed where he’d been standing.

His counter-attack was immediate and precise. Thundershock lanced out from his palm toward the gladiator, the electrical discharge tearing through the warrior’s magical defenses. The man screamed as lightning cooked him in his own armor, his body convulsing before toppling backward.

[Arena Gladiator eliminated]

[Damage dealt: 1,719]

[EXP gained: 1,808]

[Death Tokens earned: 350]

But the hellhound had used Jack’s focus on its temporary ally to close distance. Both heads lunged forward simultaneously, jaws gaping wide to reveal furnace-hot throats.

Jack brought the Lightning Blade up in a desperate parry, the crystalline spear tip catching one of the beast’s heads just behind the jaw.

’Lightning Shock!’

Electrical energy discharged directly into the creature’s brain, dropping it instantly.

[Two-Headed Hellhound eliminated]

[Damage dealt: 968]

[EXP gained: 1,808]

[Death Tokens earned: 350]

Sudden silence fell over the immediate area around Jack. He spun in a slow circle, counting the remaining enemies.

Two gladiators were still fighting each other near the arena’s eastern wall, too focused on their personal duel to notice anything else.

One griffin circled high overhead, wary after watching its packmates get obliterated. The last hellhound prowled the arena’s perimeter, also keeping its distance.

And the Carrion Raven still watched from its perch, unmoved and unmoving.

The two dueling gladiators finally concluded their battle, the survivor, a woman wielding twin curved swords, turned immediately toward Jack. Her armor was scorched and dented, but her eyes held the cold focus of a professional killer.

"Wind Slash!" she shouted, sweeping both blades in crossing arcs. Twin crescents of compressed air screamed toward Jack, their edges sharp enough to cut stone.

Lightning Steps carried him sideways, but the attacks were aimed wide. Not at where he was, but where he would be. The second wind blade caught him across the ribs, parting his palace clothes and drawing a line of blood across his chest.

[Damage taken: -125 HP]

[Current HP: 505/630]

Jack hissed in pain and anger. This gladiator was good. She was experienced enough to predict his teleportation patterns and skilled enough to execute coordinated attacks.

But she’d made one critical mistake. She’d drawn his blood in front of an audience that thrived on violence.

’Time to end this.’

Thunder Clap erupted from his position with devastating force. The enhanced magical attack created a dome of electrical death that expanded outward in all directions.

The gladiator tried to dodge, but the area of effect was too large. Lightning enveloped her completely, and her death scream was lost in the thunder.

[Arena Gladiator eliminated]

[Damage dealt: 738]

[EXP gained: 1,808]

[Death Tokens earned: 350]

The last hellhound had watched the woman’s destruction with obvious intelligence. Instead of charging in foolishly, it began to circle Jack at maximum range, both heads breathing flame to create a ring of fire that would limit his mobility options.

’Clever girl,’ Jack thought, recognizing the tactic. ’But not clever enough.’

He waited until the hellhound was directly between him and the circling griffin, then launched his attack. Lightning Shock lanced upward at a steep angle, the electrical beam passing just over the hellhound to strike the aerial predator. The griffin shrieked and plummeted, its wings seizing as lightning cooked its nervous system.

[Griffin eliminated]

[Damage dealt: 615]

[EXP gained: 1,808]

[Death Tokens earned: 350]

The griffin’s body crashed directly into the hellhound, crushing the fire-breathing beast beneath several hundred pounds of dead weight. Both creatures lay motionless in a tangle of feathers, fur, and blood.

[Two-Headed Hellhound eliminated by environmental damage]

[EXP gained: 1,808]

[Death Tokens earned: 350]

Jack stood alone in the center of the arena, surrounded by the corpses of nineteen Terror-rank enemies. His clothes were torn and bloody, his breathing was labored, but he was alive. The Lightning Blade hummed in his grip, still crackling with residual energy.

The crowd had gone completely silent. Thousands of creatures that had lived for centuries, that had seen every form of violence imaginable, sat in stunned disbelief. A single mortal had just accomplished something that should have been impossible.

But Jack’s attention was focused entirely on the last surviving enemy. The Carrion Raven finally stirred on its perch, spreading wings that blocked out what little light filtered down from above. When it opened its beak, the sound that emerged was like a dying animal.

"CAAAAAWWWWW!"

The massive bird launched itself from the pillar with lazy grace, in no hurry despite being the last enemy standing. It knew what Jack was only beginning to understand. This final confrontation would determine more than just victory in a gladiatorial contest.

This would be a battle for the right to claim a soul.

Jack raised his spear as the Carrion Raven circled overhead, its obsidian eyes reflecting the lightning that danced around his body. The crowd held its collective breath, sensing that they were about to witness something that would be spoken of in whispers for centuries to come.

The raven folded its wings and dove, death incarnate descending on silent feathers.

Jack smiled and went to meet it.

The collision was spectacular. Lightning met shadow in a burst of electrical fury that lit up the entire arena. The Carrion Raven’s Shadow Strike ability allowed it to partially phase out of reality, reducing the damage from Jack’s Thundershock, but the magical energy still tore through its supernatural defenses.

[Damage dealt: 1,290]

[Carrion Raven HP: 3,910/5,200]

The massive bird’s talons raked across Jack’s chest, parting cloth and skin like paper. But instead of withdrawing to attack again, it grabbed onto him with both feet, lifting him into the air with a powerful flap.

[Damage taken: -200 HP]

[Current HP: 365/630]

Jack found himself twenty feet above the arena floor, held in the grip of a creature that could drop him to his death at any moment.

The raven’s plan was obvious. Gain enough altitude, then release him for a killing fall.

But Jack had other ideas.

’Thundershock!’

Jack grabbed one of its legs and wasted no effort to finish the battle.

The electrical discharge erupted from his palms causing the raven to release its grip.

Lightning Steps triggered just before impact, teleporting him safely to the arena floor while the Carrion Raven crashed beside him, stunned and smoking.

[Damage dealt: 1,719]

[Carrion Raven HP: 2,191/5,200]

The great bird struggled to rise, one wing clearly damaged. But its eyes still held that cold intelligence, and Jack could see it calculating new strategies even as it bled onto the sand.

’I need to end this,’ Jack realized. ’Before it recovers enough to fly again.’

He approached carefully, putting his spear on his back. The raven watched him come, its head cocked at an angle that was almost curious. When Jack was within striking distance, it lunged forward with surprising speed, its beak aimed at his throat.

Jack grabbed its beak, struggling to hold it back as he was pushed back. Jack smiled faintly and the raven realized its mistake.

"Thundershock!"

Jack released two Thundershocks from his palms with enough force to cook the insides of a rhino.

The massive bird’s final cry echoed across the arena as it toppled sideways, its obsidian eyes going dark.

[Carrion Raven eliminated]

[Damage dealt: 3,438]

[Final EXP gained: 1,808]

[Death Tokens earned: 350]

Jack stood over the fallen raven, breathing heavily. Around him lay the bodies of twenty Terror-rank enemies, their combined strength enough to level a small city. And he had defeated them all.

The arena remained silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, one creature in the stands began to clap. Others joined in, and within seconds the entire colosseum erupted in thunderous applause that shook dust from the ancient stone walls.

"YEAH!!!"

"THAT WAS EPIC!!!"

"ROUND 2 LETS GO!!!"

But Jack barely heard them. He was staring down at the Carrion Raven’s body, his mind already turning to what came next.

’System, switch my active class to Soul Warden.’

[Class changed: Soul Warden (Rank 1)]

[Soul Link available]

[Current Soul Capacity: 3]

Jack knelt beside the massive bird, placing his hand on its still-warm feathers. The system’s interface appeared, offering him the binding option he’d been planning for.

[Soul Link available]

[Target: Carrion Raven (Terror-rank)]

[Binding cost: 25,000 Death Tokens]

[Current balance: 9,200 tokens]

Jack’s heart sank. Even with the additional tokens from the battle, he was still far short of what he needed. But then notifications began flooding his vision.

[Hidden Quest Completed: Impossible Odds]

[Defeat 20 Terror-rank enemies in a single combat.]

[Reward: 16,000 Death Tokens]

[Reward: 10 Stat Points]

[Current balance: 25,200 Death Tokens]

[Combat Evaluation Complete]

[Performance Rating: B]

[Bonus Reward: 250 Death Tokens]

[Current balance: 25,450 Death Tokens]

Jack smiled with relief. He had more than enough.

’Soul Link: Carrion Raven.’

[Binding in progress...]

[Cost deducted: 25,000 Death Tokens]

[Current balance: 450 tokens]

Power flowed from Jack into the dead creature, dark energy that felt different from his lightning magic. This was the power over death itself, the ability to command souls and bind them to his will.

The Carrion Raven’s eyes snapped open, but they were no longer obsidian black. Now they glowed with a faint inner light, reflecting the bond that tied its soul to Jack’s.

The massive bird rose to its feet with fluid grace, its wounds healing as the Soul Link took hold. It turned to look at Jack, and he could feel its acknowledgment through their connection.

The crowd’s applause died as whispers began to spread through the stands. Creatures that had lived for millennia were witnessing something that belonged in legend.

"Impossible," someone breathed.

"The Soul Warden," another voice whispered.

"But that was just a myth..."

"Not anymore."

Jack stood, his hand resting on the Carrion Raven’s neck. The great bird was magnificent. Through their bond, he could feel its eagerness to take flight, to serve its new master.

’We’re going to do great things together,’ Jack thought, and felt the raven’s agreement ripple through their connection.

In the stands above, Melania smiled with predatory satisfaction. "Oh, darling," she murmured to herself, "you have no idea what you’ve just unleashed upon this world."

[Congratulations...]