[Damage Dealt: 512]

[Enemy HP: 223,078/227,000]

{Ice armor. Of course he has ice armor. Because this wasn't hard enough already!}

Jack adjusted his strategy immediately.

If single strikes wouldn't penetrate the armor, he'd need to attack more fiercely.

He activated his skill Spear Barrage

Oscar became a blur in his hands as Jack unleashed three thrusting attacks in rapid succession.

Each strike targeted the same point on Pho's chest, the four-bladed tip hitting the ice armor with tremendous force.

The first thrust cracked the armor. The second shattered it partially. The third broke through completely, driving into Pho's chest and drawing substantial blood.

[Damage Dealt: 15,698]

[Enemy HP: 207,380/223,078]

Pho staggered back half a step, his blank white eyes widening slightly in surprise. He looked down at the wound, then back at Jack, and his smile became something more genuine.

"Now that's interesting."

The ice armor regenerated instantly, new crystalline plating forming to replace what Jack had destroyed. But the wound beneath remained, frost-blue blood seeping through the armor's gaps.

{We hurt him! Keep the pressure on!}

But Pho wasn't giving him the chance. The Deathfrost Demon slammed his fist into the ground, and ice spread outward from the impact point in a wave.

Spikes erupted from the floor randomly, forcing Jack to dodge, weave, and teleport to avoid being impaled.

The arena was changing, becoming more hazardous with each passing second. Ice covered every surface now, pillars and spikes creating a frozen maze that limited his options for where he could go.

"You're doing better than I expected," Pho said as he advanced through his own ice field with perfect ease.

"Most Dread-rank demons would be dead by now. But you're still adapting. Good."

The axe came in fast, a diagonal slash from shoulder to hip. Jack blocked with Oscar's shaft, but the force of the blow drove him back three steps.

His arms shook from the impact, the strength difference between them becoming apparent.

Pho pressed the advantage, launching a combination of axe strikes that kept Jack on the defensive.

High, low, horizontal, vertical, the attacks came from every angle with perfect timing.

Pho's experience was showing.

Jack blocked what he could, dodged what he couldn't, and looked for an opening that wasn't appearing.

Every time he thought he saw a gap, ice would erupt from an unexpected angle to cut off his counterattack.

{He's in complete control of this environment. We need to disrupt his rhythm!}

Jack made a decision that Oscar immediately questioned.

{Wait, are you going to… DON'T THROW ME!}

But Jack was already committed. He threw Oscar with all of Demonhand's enhanced strength, the spear becoming a black and white missile aimed directly at Pho's head.

Pho's eyes tracked the projectile, and he brought his axe up in a defensive block. Oscar's four-bladed tip struck the axe's handle with tremendous force, the impact sending a shockwave through the throne room that shattered nearby ice pillars.

The spear was deflected down and pierced Pho just below the shoulder.

[Damage Dealt: 17,014]

[Enemy HP: 187,596/227,000]

Pho ripped out the spear and tossed it to the side.

{I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!}

Jack was already on the move. He activated Abyssal Steps, teleporting not toward Oscar but past Pho entirely.

The Deathfrost Demon turned to track him, but Jack had created the opening he needed. Another Abyssal Steps brought him directly to where Oscar had landed.

{Oh. That was actually clever. I'm still mad, but that was clever.}

Jack snatched Oscar from the ground and immediately had to duck as Pho's axe came down where his head had been a second earlier. He rolled to the side, came up into a crouch, and thrust upward with everything he had.

Piercing Strike.

Oscar's four-bladed tip drove into Pho's armpit, the one gap in his ice armor where the plating couldn't fully protect.

The spear pierced deep, deeper than any previous strike, and Jack felt resistance give way as the weapon found vital tissue.

[Damage Dealt: 7,387]

[Enemy HP: 177,439/227,000]

Pho's blank white eyes widened, and for the first time since the fight began, Jack saw something that might have been genuine pain cross the demon features.

Frost-blue blood poured from the wound as Jack yanked Oscar free, the four-bladed design creating tears that wouldn't close easily.

"You," Pho said slowly, his voice carrying new respect, "are full of surprises."

{We're winning! We're actually winning! Keep hitting him!}

But Jack's instincts were screaming otherwise.

Pho wasn't moving like someone who was losing. His posture, his expression, even the way he held his axe, none of it suggested desperation or concern.

This was still a test. And Pho had decided it was time to show what he was really capable of.

"You've impressed me, Jakar," Pho said, his blank white eyes boring into Jack's red ones. "You fight with skill, adapt quickly, and you're not afraid to take risks. Those are all valuable traits."

The temperature in the throne room dropped further, far beyond anything Jack had experienced before.

His breath crystallized instantly, frost forming on his armor despite its enchantments trying to burn it away.

"But let me show you the difference between a Dread-rank demon and a Disaster-rank lord."

Pho's skin began to change.

The pale blue color that had defined him darkened, shifting from ice-blue to something far more ominous.

Within seconds, his entire body had turned pitch black, as if he'd been carved from obsidian instead of ice.

The frost axe in his hand underwent the same transformation, the pale blue weapon becoming black as midnight. Every piece of ice in the throne room, the pillars, the spikes, the armor covering Pho's body, all of it turned black simultaneously.

"Black Ice Soul."

{Oh no. Oh NO. That's not good. That's the opposite of good. That's…. MOVE!}

Jack activated Abyssal Steps on pure instinct, teleporting backward as Pho moved.

But the Deathfrost Demon was faster than before, his black form covering the distance in a blur that Jack's eyes struggled to track.

The black axe came around in a horizontal slash. Jack brought Oscar up to block, but when the weapons met, the force of the impact was nothing like their previous exchanges.

The axe smashed through Jack's defense like it wasn't there, the blade continuing its arc to strike Jack's chest.

[Warning: Critical Damage!]

[Damage Received: 1,519]

[HP: 1,856/3,375]

Pain exploded across Jack's torso as the black ice blade tore through his armor's outer layer.

The enchantments that had protected him throughout the fight offered minimal resistance against whatever this transformation had done to Pho's power.

Jack staggered backward, trying to create distance, but Pho was already launching his second attack. The black axe came down in an overhead chop, and this time Jack couldn't dodge completely.

The blade caught his shoulder, shearing through armor and flesh with terrifying ease.

[Warning: Critical Damage!]

[Damage Received: 1,519]

[HP: 337/3,375]

[System Analysis: Black Ice Soul]

[Effect: Enhances all ice-based attacks]

[Special Property: 45% True Damage per strike]

[Warning: One more strike and you will die]

Jack crashed to one knee, Oscar barely keeping him upright as he used the spear to prevent falling completely.

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