Pho's blank white eyes stared at Jack's smiling face, ice gathering around his clenched fist with such intensity that the air itself began to crystallize.

The temperature in the throne room plummeted, frost spreading across every surface in jagged patterns that crept around like a parasite.

"You know," Jack said, his voice carrying that same flat tone despite the massive grin splitting his face from ear to ear, "for the supposed lord of this area, you're really fucking stupid."

The ice around Pho's hand intensified, sharp edges forming into a weapon.

His blood just was throught the roof, everyone could feel it.

His blank white eyes narrowed to slits, the first real emotion Jack had seen from him beyond cold amusement.

"What did you just say?"

Jack's grin widened further. "I didn't bind your brother. In fact, he's here with us right now."

"Don't you lie to me you piece of shit." Pho's voice dropped to something barely above a whisper, each word carrying the weight of Jack's last words.

The frost spreading across the throne room accelerated, pillars of ice erupting from the floor seemingly at random.

Jack stood slowly, the chains that had bound him falling away.

They clattered to the frozen floor with metallic rings that echoed through the chamber.

He met Pho's gaze directly, that grin never faltering, red eyes gleaming with something between satisfaction and dark amusement.

"I'm wearing your brother, Pho."

Silence.

Complete, absolute silence as the words registered.

Pho's expression went through several shifts in rapid succession, confusion, disbelief, comprehension, and finally, pure unfiltered horror.

His blank white eyes widened impossibly far as he looked at Jack's armor.

He really looked at it for the first time.

The black and red plating that covered the Soul Warden's body, the craftsmanship that seemed too perfect to be merely forged, the faint essence that resonated with his senses.

"You..." Pho's voice came out strangled, broken. "You turned him into..."

"Armor. Yes." Jack's tone remained flat despite the smile. "Paid a very skilled smith to craft him into something useful. Cho serves me better now than he ever did when he was alive."

The temperature didn't just drop.

It crashed dramatically.

Ice exploded outward from Pho's body in a shockwave that shattered the nearest pillars, sent frozen shrapnel flying in every direction, and coated the entire throne room in a layer of permafrost that gleamed like black glass.

Pho's blank white eyes blazed with rage so intense it seemed to generate its own light.

His three-meter frame trembled, not from cold but from fury within his body that was struggling not to simply explode from the pressure of emotion.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" The roar shook the foundations of the castle.

Ice spikes erupted from every surface creating a forest of deadly crystalline blades. "I'LL RIP YOU APART AND SCATTER THE PIECES ACROSS EVERY FLOOR OF THIS TOWER!"

Blue lightning erupted around Jack's body in response.

Thunder Mantle activated, wreathing him in crackling energy that danced across his armor in serpentine patterns.

The chains that were left on him shattered completely, frost burned away by electrical discharge, his form radiating power that made the air hum.

Demonhand flared on both hands simultaneously, enhancing his strength.

The spear felt like an extension of his will, lighter than air but carrying weight that could shatter mountains.

Lightning Embrace activated next, blue electricity concentrating along Oscar's four-bladed tip until the weapon glowed like a captured thunderbolt.

Energy crackled and sparked, leaving afterimages in the air with each movement.

{This is going to be bad,} Oscar whispered in Jack's mind, his usual enthusiasm replaced by grim awareness of what was coming.

Pho charged forward without waiting another second.

The Deathfrost Demon crossed the distance between them in a blur, his three-meter frame moving with speed that shouldn't be possible for something his size.

Ice formed in his wake, crystallizing the air itself, creating a trail of frozen destruction that marked his path.

Jack's right hand came up, lightning gathering in his palm.

Thundershock!

Blue electricity exploded forward in a concentrated blast that illuminated the throne room like captured sunlight.

The bolt struck Pho center mass, discharging in an instant.

[-4,998 HP]

[Enemy HP: 222,002/227,000]

Pho didn't slow down. The lightning washed over his pale blue skin, scorching flesh, leaving blackened marks, but his momentum never wavered.

He raised his hand and ice materialized, forming a ball before they exploded outwards.

Cryo Bullets.

Dozens of ice shards launched forward like thrown daggers, each one compressed to needle-point sharpness.

They filled the space between them, a wall of frozen death traveling at lethal velocity.

Jack spun Oscar in a defensive pattern, the spear becoming a blur of motion enhanced by Thunder Mantle's speed bonus.

Lightning trailed each movement, blue afterimages painting patterns in the air.

Most bullets shattered against the spinning weapon, but several got through, one struck his shoulder, another his thigh, and a third grazing his head.

Each impact carried a numbing cold that tried to spread through his body.

He could feel his movements slowing fractionally.

Pho's fist, coated in ice that increased its size and mass, met Oscar's shaft in a block that sent shockwaves rippling through the throne room.

The force of impact shattered nearby ice pillars, created cracks in the frozen floor, and drove Jack back three steps.

Jack pivoted with the momentum, using it to fuel his counterattack.

Oscar came around in a rising slash aimed at Pho's exposed midsection.

The four-bladed tip, wreathed in blue lightning, connected with his flesh.

The spear bit deep, electricity discharging directly into the wound.

[-8,547 HP]

[-2,770 HP]

[Enemy HP: 210,685/227,000]

Pho barely registered the damage. His other hand came around in a backhand that caught Jack across the chest and sent him flying.

The Soul Warden crashed through an ice pillar, the frozen structure exploding into fragments that scattered across the floor.

Jack rolled with the impact, came up in a crouch, and immediately activated his next skill.

Both hands slammed together.

Clap!

The sound was deafening, a force that rippled outward in a sphere of blue lightning. The electrical discharge washed over Pho, spreading across his body in crackling arcs.

[-2,142 HP]

[Enemy HP: 208,583/227,000]

But Jack wasn't done.

Before the first Thunder Clap's energy fully dissipated, he clapped again. And again.

The skill had no cooldown, each activation sending another wave of electrical damage washing over the Deathfrost Demon.

Three claps, four claps, and finally a fifth clap. Blue lightning flooded the throne room, each discharge illuminating the space like rapid-fire strobe lights.

[-2,142 HP]

[-2,142 HP]

[-2,142 HP]

[-2,142 HP]

[Enemy HP: 199,975/227,000]

Pho's skin showed scorch marks now, blackened patches where the repeated lightning strikes had overwhelmed his body.

Frost-blue blood seeped from dozens of small wounds, his blank white eyes narrowing with something between pain and rage.

"You think lightning can stop me?" Pho raised both hands, and ice responded to his will.

The shattered remnants of destroyed pillars, the fragments scattered across the floor, the frost coating every surface, all of it moved ferociously.

Hundreds, thousands of ice shards lifted into the air, hovering for a moment like suspended rain.

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