Jack turned from the depleted vault chamber to face Kaedor, who remained standing near the entrance with his injuries still bleeding.

His dislocated shoulder started to go back to its natural position, but because his healing was so slow for a demon, it looked more grotesque.

The general's eyes tracked Jack's movement with a mixture of pain and growing dread as he realized the Soul Warden's attention had returned to him.

"You're going to stay here," Jack said, his flat voice carrying absolute finality. "In the vaults. No one enters or leaves without your rings opening the doors."

Kaedor's eyes widened slightly. "I... for how long?"

"Until the day you die."

The words landed like a slap across the face.

Kaedor's face went pale, his mouth opening and closing as he processed what Jack had just sentenced him to.

"You have a unique skill," Jack continued, his red eyes boring into the general with that same calculating intensity. "The ability to create death tokens from gold. That makes you valuable. And I intend to extract every last bit of that usefulness."

Jack's expression shifted slightly, a small smile appearing on his face that made Kaedor take an involuntary step backward.

It wasn't a warm smile. It wasn't friendly or reassuring.

It was the smile of someone who'd just locked another person into a contract they couldn't escape.

Jack saw profit where others saw servitude.

Another unfortunate soul sold their life away due to a contract. Everyone's greatest hero would be proud of tricking someone into singing their rights away.

"You'll create currency for me," Jack said, his voice carrying that same flat tone but somehow sounding more menacing than any amount of rage could convey.

"Every day. Every week. Every year. Converting gold to death tokens with that process you stumbled onto. You'll work, you'll produce, and you'll never leave this vault until your body finally gives out from exhaustion or old age."

"But... but I..." Kaedor's voice came out strangled, his golden eyes showing genuine horror as the scope of his new existence crashed down on him. "For my entire life? Trapped here? Creating tokens with no purpose except to…"

"To serve me," Jack interrupted. "Yes. That's what the blood contract means. That's what signing without reading costs you. Your freedom, your autonomy, your entire future…. all of it belongs to me now because you were too lazy to check what you were agreeing to."

Kaedor tried to speak, his mouth opening as if to protest or to offer some alternative.

But no words came out. The blood contract's compulsion was already settling into his bones, his body understanding on an instinctive level that resistance was impossible.

His face showed the progression clearly.

First there was shock, then denial, then desperate hope that this was somehow a test or a temporary punishment, and finally... acceptance.

The hollow, broken acceptance of someone who'd just realized they'd traded their entire existence for nothing.

"The rings," Jack continued, gesturing at Kaedor's hands. "They're important. No one else can open these vault doors. That means you're not just creating tokens, you're also my security system. Anyone who wants in or out needs your cooperation, which means they need my permission."

Jack's smile widened slightly, that expression becoming even more pronounced.

"You're going to be very busy, Kaedor. For a very long time."

Kaedor's legs gave out. He collapsed to his knees again, this time not from blood contract compulsion but from pure despair.

His eyes stared at nothing, his mind clearly racing through the implications of spending decades, maybe centuries, locked in a vault creating currency for a Warden who'd conquered him without even fighting.

"I..." Kaedor's voice was barely a whisper. "I understand."

{That's cold. You basically turned him into a living death token printer. Forever. That's worse than killing him.}

'Death would be merciful.'

{I'm starting to understand why demons are afraid of Soul Wardens. This isn't just about binding souls or stealing power. It's about complete, absolute control over every aspect of someone's existence. You didn't just take his freedom, you took his entire future and turned it into currency generation.}

'He's useful. That's all that matters. Plus, I'm building generational wealth.'

Jack turned away, already dismissing the broken general from his thoughts. Kaedor would create tokens.

The vault would remain secure. And Jack could focus on more important objectives.

The ring on Jack's finger pulsed red again as another demon died somewhere in the fortress, killed by residual damage from the strikes. But also, from Corvin and Kyren.

They were given a mission to hunt down any demons and kill a large amount without ever stopping. They had to keep this upfront for an hour at the bare minimum.

Each death fed mana back into Jack's system, replenishing what he'd used, keeping the Blood Frenzy state active without draining his reserves.

[HP: 89%]

[MP: 100%]

[Blood Frenzy: Active]

The numbers were sustainable. As long as demons kept dying, Jack could maintain this enhanced state indefinitely.

He activated Abyssal Steps.

The skill consumed mana, but far less than the ring was regenerating.

Jack's form blurred, reality bending around him as he stepped through the space between spaces.

The vault chamber disappeared, replaced by corridors, then open areas, then more passages as he traversed the fortress with speed that made normal movement look glacial by comparison.

Each step took him dozens of feet.

Each activation lasted only a second but covered distances that would take minutes to walk. And with no cooldown, only mana cost, Jack could chain the movements together into something approaching teleportation.

After Kaedor opened the vault for one more time for a long while, Jack vanished again.

The ring pulsed red again. And again. Each pulse marking another death, another demon falling to the chaos Jack had created.

Within a minute, he'd crossed half the fortress.

Within two minutes, he'd reached the lower levels where the slave pits dominated the landscape.

Jack emerged from his final Abyssal Step onto an elevated platform, a structure that overlooked the massive pit complex below.

This had been Kragoth's domain, a space designed to let the overseer watch thousands of slaves simultaneously, to issue orders and observe work with a commanding view of everything.

Now it was Jack's.

The slave pits stretched out before him, a massive operation that made the holding cells look small by comparison.

Except right now, no one was working.

The thunder strikes had thrown the entire operation into chaos. Slaves huddled in groups, uncertain whether to continue their tasks or flee.

Guards stood at their posts but looked confused, weapons drawn but with no clear target.

Overseers shouted contradictory orders that no one followed.

The fortress's careful structure had crumbled, leaving nothing but confusion and fear.

Jack's arrival had changed that.

His form materialized on the elevated platform in a swirl of darkness as Abyssal Steps deposited him at his destination.

The dramatic entrance caught immediate attention, demons looked up, weapons raised, eyes widening as they tried to identify this newcomer who'd appeared where only Kragoth should stand.

Jack's red eyes swept across the pit, taking in the scope of the operation with his enhanced perception.

Thousands of slaves. Hundreds of guards. Dozens of overseers trying to maintain order.

All of them were now staring at him.

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