Jack flared his wings, generating a downdraft that carried him above the strike while his tail whipped forward to catch the shadow across its ribs.
The bone spike punctured scales and flesh, drawing purple-and-black ichor.
The shadow stumbled but converted the montum into a spin, its foot sweeping toward Jack’s legs with enough force to shatter concrete.
Jack’s wings beat hard, carrying him higher as the kick passed beneath him. He twisted mid-air, both clawed hands gathering golden lightning as he prepared to release Arc Blast.
The shadow threw itself forward, closing the distance before Jack could complete the cast. Its hands grabbed his tail, using the appendage as leverage to PULL him from the air.
Jack crashed to the obsidian floor, the impact driving air from restructured lungs.
The shadow was on him imdiately, fists hamring down with force that fractured the stone beneath Jack’s back.
[HP: 92,234/151,775]
Jack’s wings flared, the mbranes catching the shadow’s next punch and redirecting the force away from his vital organs.
His horns dipped forward, driving toward the shadow’s throat in a headbutt that would have crushed its windpipe.
The shadow twisted, taking the horn-strike on its shoulder instead. The bone punctured the muscle, but the wound was superficial compared to what Jack had been aiming for.
They separated, both breathing hard from the constant battle.
The chamber was a disaster.
The floor was destroyed, the walls scorched from electrical discharge, and the obsidian mirror reduced to fragnts that reflected distorted images of their fight.
"You’re BETTER like this!" the shadow exclaid, purple-and-black ichor streaming from multiple wounds.
"STRONGER! More DIRECT! This is what you should be ALL the ti instead of hiding behind cautious tactics!"
Jack’s crimson eyes tracked the shadow’s movents, his transford mind processing combat variables differently than his human form.
Faster.
More aggressive.
Less concerned with long-term consequences and more focused on ending the fight.
The shadow’s Infernal Conversion was still active, its physical stats still grossly enhanced beyond Jack’s capabilities.
But it couldn’t use magic in this state, which ant no Abyssal Step or ranged attacks.
All that remained was pure, physical violence.
The shadow lunged again, and Jack t it with his own charge.
They collided in the chamber’s center, clawed hands against enhanced fists, wings beating to create unstable air currents, tail whipping to catch exposed flanks.
"You didn’t HAVE to torture Mira before killing her, but you DID! You didn’t NEED to make the Council beg, but you ENJOYED it! You wiped out the Thornes and felt SATISFIED! Stop pretending you don’t LOVE the power!"
"They were THREATS," Jack snarled back, his transford voice carrying demonic resonance.
"They were WEAK!" the shadow countered, its fist catching Jack’s jaw hard enough to snap his head sideways. "And you eliminated them because you COULD! Because you’re STRONG enough to take what you want! That’s what DEMONS do!"
Jack’s tail caught the shadow’s legs, sweeping them out from under it. The shadow crashed to the floor but rolled imdiately, coming up with montum that carried it back into striking range.
"You keep JUSTIFYING!" it continued, relentless despite accumulated injuries. "Keep pretending you’re making HARD CHOICES for the GREATER GOOD! But you ENJOYED watching Mira die! You ENJOYED feeling her struggle against your technique before you ended her!"
"I didn’t..."
"You DID!" The shadow’s fist drove into Jack’s sternum, fracturing ribs despite his enhanced constitution. "And there’s NOTHING WRONG with that! You’re a DEMON! Demons ENJOY violence! It’s what we ARE!"
[HP: 71,445/151,775]
Jack’s wings beat, carrying him backward to create distance.
His hands moved automatically, gathering golden lightning before his transford mind registered that this wouldn’t work against the shadow’s enhanced durability.
The shadow was already closing the distance, its Infernal Conversion giving it the speed of a human wrecking ball.
Jack channeled the gathered lightning through his body instead, activating Thunder Mantle to create a vibrating field across his scales.
Watching the shadow do the sa thing gave him the idea.
They clashed again, and this ti Jack committed fully to the aggression the shadow kept demanding.
Just violence for violence’s sake.
His claws raked across the shadow’s chest, shredding scales and muscle.
The shadow’s fist caught his ribs, cracking bone. Jack’s horns drove forward, catching the shadow’s shoulder and tearing through enhanced tissue.
The shadow’s knee struck Jack’s abdon, a force sufficient to rupture organs despite his demonic constitution.
They fought like animals, demons, and creatures that had completely abandoned any pretense of civilized combat in favor of pure destructive fury.
"YES!" the shadow scread, purple-and-black ichor streaming from dozens of wounds.
"THIS is what you ARE! Not the tactical genius! Not the reluctant killer! Just RAW POWER unleashed without restraint!"
Jack’s tail whipped around, the bone spike driving through the shadow’s thigh to pin it briefly against the floor. The shadow ripped itself free, leaving chunks of flesh impaled on the spike as it lunged again.
[HP: 125,778/151,775]
They were both damaged now, bleeding, operating on instinct rather than conscious thought.
The fight had devolved into pure brutality, two demonic forms trying to tear each other apart through overwhelming force.
The shadow’s Infernal Conversion finally expired, muscle mass deflating as purple-and-black mana flooded back into its system.
It stumbled, the sudden shift in physical capability creating brief vulnerability.
Jack’s clawed hand seized the opportunity, driving toward the shadow’s throat with force sufficient to decapitate.
But he stopped.
His transford mind recognized the opening, registered the killing blow, and calculated the exact amount of force required to sever the shadow’s spine.
And hesitated.
"THERE!" the shadow gasped, purple-and-black ichor bubbling from its lips. "There’s the LEASH! There’s the RESTRAINT! You had ! You could have ENDED this! But you STOPPED because so part of you is still trying to be HUMAN!"
Its hands moved despite injuries, gathering purple-and-black mana as magical capability returned. Lightning began to form, the technique building toward a devastating discharge.
Jack’s crimson eyes tracked the gathering energy, his transford awareness recognizing Astrape’s Reign as it prepared to manifest.
The shadow was sacrificing defense for overwhelming offense, committing everything to a final technique that would flood the chamber with continuous electrical bombardnt.
And Jack realized sothing.
This wasn’t about winning the fight. It wasn’t about proving combat superiority or demonstrating tactical excellence.
His gaze tracked upward, noticing for the first ti the inscription carved into the chamber’s ceiling.
Ancient script hidden within shadows.
"The King does not conquer his shadow; he wears it."
The words resonated through his transford consciousness, connecting with Malakai’s warnings about the leash, about the System being a restriction rather than a gift, about becoming large enough to hold the ocean.
This wasn’t a test of strength.
It was a test of integration.
The shadow’s technique completed, purple-and-black storm clouds manifesting above the chamber as Astrape’s Reign prepared to rain destruction across the entire combat zone.
Jack’s hands moved automatically, golden lightning gathering as his own version of the technique began forming.
Ten stacks of Covenant of the Storm accumulated through continuous electrical discharge, power building toward Celestial Descent.
The massive pillar of divine lightning began taking shape above the chamber, a force sufficient to vaporize anything caught in its radius.
Both techniques charged simultaneously, the chamber filling with competing energies that made reality itself seem to vibrate.
The shadow’s montum was unyielding, its technique fully committed.
Purple-and-black lightning struck Jack’s exposed flesh, a force sufficient to kill most beings instantly.
But as the first bolt made contact, the shadow’s fist pierced Jack’s chest and made contact with his heart.
"You’re such a fool." The shadow whispered as the lightning continued to rain down on them.
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