Neither general looked back. They walked through the massive throne room doors, their forms disappearing into the corridor beyond, the sound of their footsteps fading until only silence remained.

The doors swung closed with a final, definitive thud.

The silence stretched, heavy and oppressive, broken only by the distant sounds of explosions still echoing through the fortress as Static Orbs continued their work.

Despite this he still had options.

"You think you've won," Pho said, his voice regaining some of its usual cold confidence despite the desperation that had colored it moments ago.

"You think, destroying my axe, stealing my generals and killing my demons. Do you think any of that matters?"

Jack didn't interrupt. His red eyes watched Pho with predatory focus, waiting patiently, clearly interested in whatever the Deathfrost Demon thought could salvage this situation.

"You think this is over?" Pho continued, his blank white eyes blazing with renewed intensity.

Black Ice Soul flared around him, not in desperation but with purpose.

"You think I've survived in this section for decades without preparation? Without contingencies? Without power, you can't begin to comprehend?"

The ice beneath Pho's feet cracked and reformed, patterns spreading outward across the throne room floor.

Jack's grin widened slightly, his scaled face showing genuine interest. "Show me."

"I've ruled this section of Floor 24 through more than just strength," Pho declared, his voice carrying the weight of centuries. "Through alliances. Through preparation. Through acquiring power that even other Disaster-class demons fear to face."

He raised both hands, black ice forming around them in patterns that pulsed with energy beyond mere temperature manipulation.

This was something else, magic that transcended what he'd shown so far.

"You destroyed one weapon," Pho said, his blank white eyes boring into Jack's red ones with absolute certainty.

"But that axe was never my only option. It was just a tool I used because it was convenient."

The black ice around him intensified, spreading across his body in layers that seemed to phase in and out of reality.

"I still have more than one trump card in my arsenal, Soul Warden," Pho declared, his voice echoing through the ruined throne room with renewed confidence.

"Powers I've cultivated. Techniques I've mastered. Alliances I've forged with entities that make your Soul Warden abilities look like parlor tricks."

Jack's expression didn't change. His savage smile remained fixed, his red eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Then use them," Jack said with a wide grin. "Show me everything you have. Make this interesting."

Pho's blank white eyes blazed brighter, black ice erupting around him in a sphere of absolute cold that seemed to devour light itself.

"Let me show you what a true Disaster-class demon can do when survival is the only option remaining,"

Pho declared, his voice carrying across the throne room with absolute certainty. "Let me show you why demons fear the Deathfrost Demon. Why I've ruled this section unopposed. Why your victory is far from assured."

The black ice sphere around him expanded, filling half the throne room, the temperature dropping to levels that would kill normal demons instantly.

Patterns formed within the sphere, ritual circles and sigils.

"Oh, you've said that to me already. I hope you don't disappoint."

Pho's blank white eyes blazed as the ritual patterns within the black ice sphere completed their final configuration.

He raised both hands above his head, black ice flowing from his fingertips

"BLACK SOUL!!!"

Across the fortress, in every corridor and chamber where Pho's authority held sway, demons collapsed.

It was sudden, absolute death as their souls were ripped from their bodies and consumed by the technique.

No screaming or explosions could be heard anymore.

In the barracks, warriors dropped mid-conversation, bodies hitting the floor with dull thuds.

In the armory, guards fell among scattered weapons, eyes going blank as life fled.

In the training grounds, demons collapsed mid-swing, weapons clattering against frozen stone.

In the storage facilities, workers crumpled between supply crates, their final tasks left forever unfinished.

Forty thousand demons.

Gone in seconds.

Their bodies left as empty husks scattered across a fortress that had been built on their labor.

Jack's ring stopped pulsing.

The red glow that had been constant since the Static Orbs began detonating simply... ceased.

No more kills registering. Just silence where death notifications had been flowing in like a river.

His gaze flickered to the distance once. That was all he needed to understand.

"You're fucking desperate."

Pho's black form straightened, his blank white eyes tracking Jack's scaled figure with renewed confidence.

"Desperate? No, strategic. I noticed something interesting about you, Soul Warden. Every time one of my demons died, you got stronger. Your wounds closed too fast. Damage that should have crippled you barely slowed you down."

The Deathfrost Demon gestured at the throne room around them, at the fortress beyond.

"Your ring. It pulsed red with each kill. Brighter and brighter as thousands died to your lightning. You weren't just claiming their souls, you were feeding on their deaths. Healing from the slaughter."

Black ice swirled around Pho's hands. "So I removed the source. Forty thousand lives to take away your advantage. They served their purpose."

[Blood Frenzy: Active]

[HP drain: 5% per second]

[18 seconds until 10% HP threshold]

The system notifications appeared in Jack's vision.

Eighteen seconds. That's all the time he had before everything fell apart.

{Oh no. Oh NO. This is it. We're done.}

Oscar's voice rang through their mental connection with panic that bordered on hysteria.

{At least my last good memory was of Aishra. The goddess who has boobs I would start a war over. Men would die to grope them.}

{Jack, if we die, tell her I love her… wait, you're dying too. Damn it!}

'Eighteen seconds. Let's end this now.'

The black started molding inside Pho's hands before turning into dual swords, each blade was six feet long and elegant in their lethality.

He raised them in a cross-guard stance.

"No more holding back," Pho declared.

Jack's response came not in words but in motion.

His scaled form blurred, enhanced speed from Infernal Conversion making him nearly invisible as he closed the distance. Oscar thrust forward, the four-bladed tip aimed at Pho's chest.

Pho brought both swords down in a scissor strike, trying to catch the spear between the blades and trap it.

Jack twisted mid-thrust, the spear sliding past one sword while his scaled body contorted to avoid the other.

The Deathfrost Demon's blank white eyes widened fractionally.

Jack's spear mastery skill guided his movements with precision that transcended conscious thought.

Every opening was exploited.

His body moved like water, flowing around Pho's attacks with efficiency that made his defense look effortless.

Pho struck with his right sword, a horizontal slash aimed at Jack's neck. Jack ducked under it, his seven-foot frame bending impossibly low. The left sword came around in an immediate follow-up, trying to catch him during recovery.

Oscar's shaft met the blade mid-swing, parrying it aside with force that sent vibrations through both weapons. Jack pivoted with the momentum, using it to fuel a counterattack that drove toward Pho's exposed left side.

[-10,938 HP]

[-2,770 HP]

[Pho HP: 213,292/227,000]

The spear's four-bladed tip punched through black ice armor and into flesh beneath.

Blue lightning from Thunder Mantle discharged into the wound, Pho's body jerking from the electrical assault.

Pho staggered backward, black blood spraying from the wound. His dual swords came up defensively, trying to create distance, trying to reset the engagement on more favorable terms.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.