I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 516: Kaiser Blood

The pain was unlike anything Jack had experienced.

This experience surpassed the severity of any physical trauma, including stab wounds or bone fractures, that his augmented physique had previously sustained.

This was cellular death, every nerve ending in his hand screaming simultaneously as moisture vaporized and tissue collapsed.

’It won’t stop,’ Jack realized with ice-cold clarity that cut through the agony. ’The technique is self-sustaining. It won’t stop. If it reaches my torso, if it gets to my heart or lungs or major organs, I’m dead. Regeneration won’t matter because there won’t be enough living tissue left to regenerate from. My entire body will become a dried husk in seconds.’

The creeping heat was spreading faster now, feeding on the rich blood vessels, racing toward his forearm with terrifying acceleration.

Jack had about one second before the technique reached his forearm. Two seconds before it invaded his shoulder.

Four seconds before his heart stopped beating, as moisture boiled out of the cardiac muscle.

The decision was made instantaneously, overriding any discomfort or apprehension through a rigorous analytical process.

His hand was already dead. The forearm was about to die. But the technique hadn’t reached his forearm yet.

Oscar’s blade came around in a horizontal arc, moving with speed and precision that startled Mira.

The cross-blades, designed to gouge and tear, instead cut cleanly through his own flesh at the wrist.

The spear severed the hand in a single stroke, separating Jack’s left hand from his body before the creeping heat could travel further

The pain of self-amputation was sharp, but nothing compared to the cellular death the technique had been causing.

Jack’s pain tolerance allowed him to process the sensation clinically.

The severed hand, still gripped in Mira’s grasp, began disintegrating immediately.

The creeping heat, no longer connected to fresh tissue, accelerated its consumption of the dead flesh.

Within three seconds, the hand had turned to ash. Fine gray powder that scattered across wet stone, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

Blood poured from Jack’s wrist in spurts.

His enhanced constitution prevented him from going into shock, but the blood loss alone would kill him if left untreated.

The pain was overwhelming, threatening to drag Jack into unconsciousness. His vision blurred, his balance wavered, and for a moment his grip on Oscar weakened.

But he was alive.

The creeping heat was gone, severed along with the hand it had invaded. He’d traded a limb for survival, and any tactician would call that a victory.

From his vantage point near the shrine’s entrance, Magnus observed the decisive actions with a profound sense of affirmation that extended beyond mere satisfaction.

The old man had seen countless warriors face impossible choices during his decades of combat experience.

Most froze, paralyzed by the need to make decisions that required sacrificing parts of themselves.

They wasted precious seconds hoping for miraculous salvation, clinging to the fantasy that somehow they could avoid paying the price.

But Jack had understood immediately.

The hand was already dead. A lost cause that would kill him if he tried to save it.

He would sever it without hesitation or anguish, employing the cold calculation of someone who understood that survival sometimes required difficult decisions.

Magnus’s lips curved into a slight smile.

Approval of tactical thinking that marked Jack as true Kaiser blood.

Just like his father, he had to make difficult choices that shaped who he was. Alaric Kaiser had to choose between strength and complacency at an early age.

When he could walk, he was expected to learn the way of the sword.

He was the youngest human ever recorded to survive a contract, born with a triple affinity, SSS-rank magic, and marital talents.

By all rights, he was considered the greatest prodigy to walk on Elysium. But this life didn’t come without its challenges.

By the time he was a young adult, he had to choose between allowing his best friend to die or murdering two individuals for the sake of the crown.

He made it seem like accidents, one dying from an illness and the other one dying in a hunting accident.

Alaric Kaiser’s life was riddled with tough choices from birth, but everything he went through shaped him into the man he is today.

Jack’s life wasn’t as hard as Alaric’s, but his resilience and mindset were passed down to him. He lost ten years with his son; he razed hell after it happened.

Leaving blood trails in his wake, he tried to find information on the bandits who magically disappeared after being killed. But, no matter how hard he tried, he could never discover the answers.

He thought his foolishness had led to his son being taken from him. But a miracle answered his prayers, and he was given a second chance.

’No hesitation,’ Magnus thought, his yellow eyes gleaming with satisfaction. ’Most warriors, even experienced ones, would have tried to fight through it. Would have wasted seconds hoping their regeneration could overcome the technique, or that they could somehow reverse the creeping heat. But Jack saw the truth instantly. The hand was already dead, so cutting it off was the only logical choice.’

He’d seen Alaric make similar decisions in combat, sacrificing positioning or resources without hesitation when tactical analysis demanded it.

He’d seen countless other Kaiser family members demonstrate the same ruthless pragmatism that valued victory over pride.

’That’s Kaiser blood showing through,’ Magnus reflected. ’We don’t cling to lost causes. We identify what’s already dead and we cut it away before it drags us down. That instinct, that willingness to pay terrible prices for survival... That’s what’s kept this family alive for generations.’

...

... 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

’I remember training your father; he was my pride and joy, the one thing I looked forward to in the future. The hope he would have been a Chosen One. If he were, I would have made him King myself.’

Jack’s remaining hand moved in a gesture so fast it was nearly invisible, his body responding to trained instinct even through the pain and blood loss.

[Abyssal Steps: Activated]

Reality folded around him, space compressing as the teleportation technique activated. Just enough to break contact, to put distance between himself and opponents who’d just demonstrated they could kill him if given the opportunity.

Jack vanished from sight, his armored form disappearing as if reality had erased him from existence.

Mira’s hand closed on empty air, her grip finding nothing but rain and residual heat from her own technique.

Warren’s water projectiles struck stone where Jack had been standing moments before, cratering marble but finding no target.

Both Council members tensed, their enhanced perception searching the destroyed courtyard for any sign of their opponent.

Their Contractee states that they possess superhuman senses, but even those struggled to penetrate the combination of rain, darkness, and whatever stealth techniques Jack was employing.

Rain continued falling, washing blood from stone in red rivulets that flowed toward the shrine’s foundation.

Red lightning still crackled somewhere in the darkness. Jack remained close, but his exact position was unknown.

Hidden by techniques they were unsure of.

The fight had escalated beyond simple combat into something far more dangerous.

And in the shadows, Magnus watched carefully, staring at the sky that had just turned purple, seemingly out of nowhere.