[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir":3,"chapter-i-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir-i-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir-chapter-218":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I Died and Became a Noble's Heir",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1522947,1975,"Chapter 218: Fear is Useful","i-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir-chapter-218",218,"\u003Cp>\"And we honor his choice,\" Rynath added, her serpentine gaze moving between the other two generals. \"No interference or attempts to undermine the others during their time with him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Agreed,\" Loryn said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Agreed,\" Kaedor echoed, though something in his expression suggested he was already planning how to gain advantage within those rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack remained silent, letting them finalize the arrangement, letting them think this was a fair compromise instead of exactly what he wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Access to each of their domains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rynath opened her mouth to speak, probably to establish the order of shadowing, when the temperature in the room dropped even further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The runes along the door flared brilliant blue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the door swung wide open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The presence that entered was overwhelming, a weight that pressed against everyone in the room like a massive hand squeezing their necks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho stepped through the doorway, and Jack saw the Deathfrost Demon for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was tall, easily three meters tall, but somehow seemed even larger, as if space itself bent around him to accommodate his presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His skin was pale blue-white, the color of ancient ice that had never seen sunlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frost formed in the air around him with each breath, crystallizing and falling like snow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were completely white, no pupils, no iris, just blank white that somehow still managed to convey absolute focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They moved across the room, taking in each person with the casual attention of a predator checking which prey was worth eating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wore armor that looked like it had been carved from glaciers, each plate smooth and impossibly cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Runes covered every surface, glowing with the same pale blue light as the door had, suggesting magic so powerful it leaked into sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His presence alone made the room feel smaller, the walls pressing in, the air harder to breathe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three generals immediately bowed, their heads lowering in synchronized deference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack didn’t bow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t move at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just stood there, his red eyes meeting Pho’s blank white gaze through his helmet’s visor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho’s attention fixed on him, and for a moment, the weight of that stare intensified until it felt like Jack was standing at the bottom of an ocean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Pho spoke, his voice carrying the sound of ice cracking across a frozen lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So this is the soldier who caused such excitement in the training yard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t a question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho’s white eyes moved across Jack’s armored form with clinical assessment, reading everything, measuring everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master Pho,\" Rynath said, her voice carefully respectful. \"This is Jakar. He is a Dread-rank demon.. He defeated both Vox and Korr in combat. We believe he could potentially fill the void left by Kragoth’s death.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Could he.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho circled Jack slowly, each step accompanied by the sound of frost forming beneath his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Deathfrost Demon moved with the confidence of someone who had never encountered a threat he couldn’t handle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Small for a demon,\" Pho observed, stopping in front of Jack. \"Kragoth was three meters. You’re barely two. How exactly do you propose to fill a void left by someone twice your size?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question carried weight, an implicit challenge wrapped in casual observation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack’s response was delivered in that same flat tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kragoth’s size didn’t save him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room went absolutely silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaedor’s face went pale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loryn’s hollow eyes widened slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rynath’s scales failed for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking to Pho like that. with such casual dismissal of respect, such implied criticism, was the kind of thing that got demons killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly. Very Slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho stared at Jack for a long moment, his blank white eyes unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then something changed in his expression. Not quite a smile, but a slight shift that suggested...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amusement?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bold words from a small demon.\" Pho’s voice carried a note of interest now. \"Tell me, Jakar, do you always speak to your superiors with such... directness?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I speak truth,\" Jack said. \"Size means nothing if you’re dead. Kragoth was large. He’s still dead. I’m small. I’m still standing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another silence. The frost in the air seemed to intensify, the temperature dropping even further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack continued, his voice never wavering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you want to test whether size matters, Master Pho, I’ll go a round with you. See which one of us is still standing when it’s over.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The challenge hung in the air like a thrown blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kaedor looked like he was about to faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loryn had gone completely still, his skeletal fingers frozen mid-tap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rynath’s scales cycled through colors so fast they blurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What the fuck!!! Jakar is bat shit crazy.’ Loryn thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho stared at Jack, his blank white eyes boring into the armored demon who’d just challenged one of the most powerful beings on Floor 24 to a fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Pho’s laughter broke the tension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t a warm sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It carried the howl of frozen wind and the absolute certainty of winter’s inevitability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was genuine amusement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Balls,\" Pho said simply. \"You have balls, small demon. Most who stand before me can barely speak without trembling. They certainly don’t offer to fight me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He circled Jack once more, but this time the movement felt like he was appraising him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I like that. Fear is useful, but fearlessness—l, actual fearlessness, not stupidity masquerading as courage, that’s rare and extremely valuable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho stopped in front of Jack again, close enough that the frost radiating from his body covered Jack’s armor in a thin layer of ice crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Perhaps you could fill Kragoth’s void after all. Size isn’t everything, as you say. But power is.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His blank white eyes fixed on Jack with intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Show me you have the power to back up those words, and maybe I’ll take you seriously.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Pho turned to Loryn, his attention shifting like a spotlight moving away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The experiment. Where are we with it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loryn straightened immediately, his hollow voice taking on a clinical tone. \"Nearly complete, Master Pho. I need to finalize the control mechanism, the binding magic that will direct it toward specific targets rather than indiscriminate slaughter.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How long?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Two days. Three at most. I’m integrating a dark orb system that will lock it onto whoever bears the corresponding marker. Plant the marker on a target, release the experiment, and it will hunt until the target is dead or the marker is removed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t a warm sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It carried the howl of frozen wind and the absolute certainty of winter’s inevitability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was genuine amusement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Balls,\" Pho said simply. \"You have balls, small demon. Most who stand before me can barely speak without trembling. They certainly don’t offer to fight me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He circled Jack once more, but this time the movement felt like he was appraising him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I like that. Fear is useful, but fearlessness, that’s rare and extremely valuable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pho stopped in front of Jack again, close enough that the frost radiating from his body covered Jack’s armor in a thin layer of ice crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Perhaps you could fill Kragoth’s void after all. Size isn’t everything, as you say. But power is.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His blank white eyes fixed on Jack with intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Show me you have the power to back up those words, and maybe I’ll take you seriously.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1205,"2026-06-06T05:43:29.280Z",1,"novelbin.me","3c12d606e15fb9b8b4250fbf5774fb487595e13b8901de5adf5a5abccb35cf57","i-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir-chapter-219","i-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir-chapter-217",649,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-died-and-became-a-noble-s-heir-cover.jpg"]