"Since I arrived," Jack confirmed. "Every building I entered, every corridor I walked, every room I scouted. I left presents for you." His grin widened.

"Thousands of them."

Another series of detonations rocked the fortress, these coming from the lower levels where the slave pits sprawled.

The already-bound demons weren't targeted, the orbs only detonated near those who hadn't signed contracts.

But that still left thousands of guards, overseers, and staff who Pho relied on to maintain his operations.

All of them were caught in electrical blasts that couldn't be seen.

Near the throne room entrance, Rynath and Loryn watched the exchange with carefully neutral expressions.

But their eyes tracked the continuing explosions, calculated the scope of the destruction, and reached the same conclusion simultaneously.

"He's destroying the entire fortress," Rynath murmured. "Everything Master Pho built."

"Except the contracted demons," Loryn observed, his skeletal fingers tapping against his chains. "The orbs are only killing those who haven't signed."

"Which means he's securing his army while eliminating Master Pho's."

They exchanged a glance, then returned their attention to the two combatants facing each other in the ruined throne room.

Pho's hands tightened on his black frost axe, the weapon's surface beginning to accumulate more ice as his rage built. "You dare…"

"I dare," Jack interrupted, his flat voice somehow cutting through Pho's building fury. "You thought you won. You thought Black Ice Soul gave you victory. You thought I was finished."

Thunder Mantle's blue lightning intensified around Jack's form, the crackling energy painting serpentine patterns across his armor and skin.

His red eyes blazed brighter, reflecting the electrical discharge.

"But I still haven't used my trump card yet."

Pho's blank white eyes narrowed. "Trump card? What…."

He stopped mid-sentence as Jack's body began to change.

It started at Jack's chest, a transformation that spread outward. Black demonic scales erupted across his armor.

The scales spread from his torso to his arms, each one gleaming with an oily darkness that seemed to absorb the blue lightning.

They crawled up his neck, across his jaw, spreading toward his face with an inexorable progression.

Jack's body expanded.

The sound of scales forming was the only noise that could be heard despite all the explosions around.

His muscles began to swell.

His shoulders broadened and his chest deepened.

His entire physique transformed into something more massive.

{Oh. Oh no. You're using THAT. Pho isn't going to like this.}

'Yeah, he's going to be speechless. When I rip his spine out of his back.'

Pho didn't attack immediately.

The Deathfrost Demon stood frozen, his black form radiating cold but his movements stilled by shock at what he was witnessing.

"What are you?" Pho's voice carried genuine confusion rather than his usual confidence.

Jack's hands elongated, fingers becoming tipped with claws that looked capable of tearing through metal.

The scales on his arms thickened, creating natural armor that layered over Cho's crafted plating. His height continued increasing.

And on his scaled face, that savage smile appeared, not his usual emotionless expression but something primal and thrilled.

"Infernal Conversion," Jack said, his voice deeper now, carrying an edge that hadn't been there before.

Pho's shock crystallized into action.

The Deathfrost Demon launched forward, the black frost axe swinging in a horizontal arc aimed at separating Jack's transforming head from his shoulders.

The same attack that had nearly killed the Soul Warden moments ago.

But Jack was faster now.

The boost in strength and agility made Jack faster and a whole lot stronger than Pho.

Jack ducked under the axe, scales on his back rippling as he moved. He came up inside Pho's guard, Oscar thrusting forward toward the Deathfrost Demon's exposed midsection.

Pho twisted, bringing his black ice armor around to intercept. The spear struck the armored surface and, for the first time since Black Ice Soul activated, the armor cracked.

They separated, Pho backpedaling to create distance.

Jack advanced slowly. Not caring who he was facing.

"You thought I was finished," Jack said, his deeper voice carrying satisfaction that bordered on joy. "You thought your transformation gave you victory."

Scales covered his entire body now, black demonic armor that gleamed in the blue lightning still crackling around him.

His muscles had swelled beneath the scales, his frame broadening to accommodate the enhanced physique.

His claws flexed, testing their sharpness, finding them satisfactory.

[Infernal Conversion: 85% Complete]

"But here's the thing about Soul Wardens," Jack continued, taking another step forward as his height reached six-eleven and three-quarters. "We don't lose. We destroy and claim the soul of those who try to resist."

Another explosion echoed through the fortress, this one closer than the others. The Static Orbs continued their work, spreading destruction through Pho's domain with methodical efficiency.

More demons died, more souls were claimed, and though Jack's health was already full, his ring kept pulsing with each death.

The kill count was climbing into triple digits now. Hundreds of Pho's demons, dead or dying from electrical blasts they never saw coming.

Pho's blank white eyes tracked Jack's transforming form with growing concern.

The confidence that Black Ice Soul had restored was crumbling again, replaced by the realization that this fight wasn't over.

It wasn't even close.

"You're insane," Pho said, his black form tensing for another attack. "Completely insane."

Jack's savage smile widened, scales crinkling around his mouth as his face completed its transformation.

His eyes blazed red, brighter than before, reflecting both the blue lightning of Thunder Mantle and the dark power of Infernal Conversion.

[Infernal Conversion: 95% Complete]

"No," Jack said, his voice now fully transformed into something deeper, carrying an edge of violence that made even Pho hesitate. "I'm just better prepared."

His height reached the final mark, exactly seven feet tall.

His scaled body radiated power that made the air itself seem heavier.

His claws flexed one final time as he stared at Pho.

Near the throne room entrance, Rynath and Loryn exchanged another glance.

"That's not normal demon transformation," Rynath observed quietly. "That's something else."

"I don't know what that is. But I've seen him use it once."

"When?"

"Shortly after he…." Loryn continued. But paused for a moment.

Jack took another step forward, his scaled feet cracking the frozen floor beneath them.

Oscar felt lighter in his enhanced grip, the spear's weight becoming negligible compared to his increased strength.

Blue lightning still crackled across his form, wreathing his scales in electrical discharge.

"Now," Jack said, his deep voice carrying absolute certainty despite its flat tone, "we fight for real."

Pho's black form tensed, black frost axe raising defensively.

His blank white eyes tracked Jack's scaled form with the focus of someone who'd just realized his opponent was far more dangerous than initially assessed.

The Deathfrost Demon's confidence had shattered and reformed twice now.

First when Jack reduced him to half health, then when Black Ice Soul restored everything and seemed to secure victory, and now again as the Soul Warden stood transformed and fully healed.

"Aargh!!!!"

Without giving him a chance, Pho launched his ace at Jack's head again.

This time, he didn't try to move or dodge.

Jack reached for the axe and caught it with one hand.

"I told you, I will not let a lowly demon toss me around." Jack's gaze intensified as he stared down Pho.

Slowly, the axe began to crack beneath his grip.

"Why not call for your generals, maybe they can help you."

Pho's gaze met Loryn and Rynath's gaze. And in that moment he learned something valuable.

Both generals had chains around their hands, but we're covered in cloaks to cover them.

"Those are my generals now Pho..."

Jack said with a menacing grin as the axe cracked more and dust began to fall on the floor.

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