He walked through the carnage without looking down, stepped over bodies and pooling blood with casual indifference, and returned to the elevated platform.

Once there, he turned to face the thousands of demons who'd watched the entire massacre with paralyzed horror.

His voice remained flat, emotionless, as if nothing interesting had just occurred.

"Sign. Now."

The response was cold and indifferent.

Demons stampeded toward the scattered contracts, scrambling over each other in desperation to comply.

Guards who'd hesitated before now fought to be first, terrified that delay might be interpreted as resistance.

Overseers abandoned any pretense of dignity, crawling on hands and knees to reach the nearest parchment.

Slaves who'd already signed grabbed blank contracts anyway, just in case, clutching them like talismans of protection.

Better to have signed twice than risk being mistaken for someone who hadn't signed at all.

Blood contracts flared throughout the pit as thousands of demons pressed their fingers to parchment and sealed their fates.

The magical bindings settled into place en masse, an invisible wave of compulsion spreading across the entire operation as demon after demon traded their freedom for survival.

The numbers climbed rapidly. One thousand. Three thousand. Five thousand. Guards and slaves alike, all of them now bound to serve the Soul Warden until his bloodline ended.

Jack watched from his platform with that same detached expression, as if observing insects rather than sapient beings.

{That was... I don't even have words. You just butchered twenty demons in under a minute. Used a woman's own arm to beat her to death. Split someone's head in half LENGTHWISE. And you're standing there like you just finished filing paperwork.}

'They chose resistance. I chose to make an example. Simple mathematics.'

{That wasn't mathematics. That was sadism. You enjoyed it. I felt it through our connection, you were thrilled to tear them apart.}

'Infernal Conversion enhances more than just physical capabilities. It amplifies the demonic aspects of my psychology. Violence becomes... satisfying during the transformation.'

{That's a terrifying explanation that doesn't make me feel better at all. You're telling me you've got a demonic rage mode that makes you enjoy murder?}

'Essentially. Though "enjoy" undersells it. During Infernal Conversion, violence feels right. Natural. Like fulfilling a fundamental purpose.'

{THAT'S WORSE. THAT EXPLANATION IS WORSE.}

The contracts continued to bind, the count pushing past ten thousand, then fifteen thousand. Some demons signed multiple contracts before realizing the first one had already sealed their fate.

Others hesitated just long enough to see someone nearby sign, then frantically added their own signature before the delay could be noticed.

Within five minutes, the rebellion's aftermath had been completely eclipsed by mass compliance.

Every demon in the slave pits had bound themselves to Jack Kaiser through blood magic that couldn't be broken.

They had no escape.

Twenty thousand, two hundred and forty-seven demons. All of them now belonged to the Soul Warden who'd massacred resisters with such casual brutality that resistance itself had become unthinkable.

Jack's ring pulsed red again and again, each death from his massacre feeding power back into his system, keeping the Blood Frenzy state active, maintaining his enhanced capabilities.

Then the wall exploded.

Not a gentle breach.

An explosion of stone and ice and frozen earth that sent debris flying across the pit in a deadly rain of shrapnel.

Demons screamed and scattered, some crushed by falling chunks of wall, others impaled by fragments traveling at lethal velocities.

Through the massive breach, something emerged.

The creature stood twelve feet tall, its form a nightmare of flesh and metal and magic fused into something that shouldn't exist.

Its body looked assembled from parts that didn't belong together.

Massive.

Grotesque.

Radiating power that made even Jack's enhanced perception recoil from the sheer magnitude of essence it contained.

Jack activated Flawed Sight, analyzing the creature that had just burst through the wall.

[Analyzing Target...]

[Classification: Experimental Demon]

[Rank: Disaster-Class]

[Threat Level: Extreme]

The creature's eyes, it had multiple sets of them, each glowing with different colored light, fixed on Jack with unmistakable focus.

Its mouth opened, revealing row after row of mismatched teeth, and a sound emerged that was part roar, part mechanical screech.

The sound was as strong as a glacier breaking and coming down.

Then it charged.

Jack saw the experiment's massive fist swinging toward his face with speed that belied its size.

Jack vanished from sight, no demon could see him anymore.

Above him, Loryn smiled as his experiment traded blow after blow with Jack.

-----

Everything was black.

Jack couldn't see a thing.

When Jack's consciousness returned, he found himself in chains.

Heavy chains.

The kind designed to restrain demons far more powerful than their appearance suggested, each link inscribed with runes that suppressed magic.

Limited movement that prevented the use of abilities that might facilitate escape.

His armor was cracked in multiple places, showing the damage the experiment had inflicted during their brief encounter.

He looked beaten, damaged, like someone who'd fought against overwhelming force and lost.

The throne room of Pho's castle spread out before him in all its frozen majesty.

Pho sat there, looking more pleased than Jack had ever seen him.

The Deathfrost Demon's blank white eyes gleamed with satisfaction, his normally impassive expression showing genuine joy at the sight before him.

On either side of Jack stood Rynath and Loryn.

Rynath held one chain with her hand.

Loryn gripped the other, his skeletal frame somehow conveying pride at this successful capture.

Pho stood from his throne, he moved slowly, drawing out the moment.

He descended the dais steps one at a time, each step accompanied by the crackle of ice forming beneath his feet.

His smile never wavered.

"The Soul Warden," Pho said, his voice carrying across the throne room with satisfaction that bordered on ecstasy. "Brought before me like a common criminal."

He walked closer, circling Jack's bound form like a predator examining captured prey.

"I knew you were here," Pho continued, his tone almost conversational despite the weight of the moment.

"From the moment Loryn reported the blood contracts, I knew the infiltrator was you. The famous Soul Warden, the human who descended the tower killing demons and binding their souls, who thought he could waltz into my fortress and challenge me."

Pho stopped directly in front of Jack, their faces perhaps three feet apart.

"You killed Cho," the Deathfrost Demon stated, and for the first time, genuine anger colored his voice. "My brother. You bound his soul and added him to your collection like he was just another demon instead of family."

He leaned closer, his blank white eyes boring into Jack's blood-covered face.

"I can't believe you actually killed him. Cho was powerful and dangerous. And you still managed to bind his soul." Pho's smile returned, colder than before. "But here's the difference between my brother and me, Soul Warden. I'm not careful."

Pho straightened, his posture radiating confidence that came from centuries of dominance.

"You're going to tell me everything," he declared, his voice dropping to something barely above a whisper but somehow more menacing than a shout. "Every soul you've bound. Every weakness in your power. You're going to give me all of it before I freeze you solid and shatter you into so many pieces that your soul spends eternity trying to remember how to be whole."

Pho removed Jack's helmet with one hand.

Jack looked up at the demon with a giant smile going from ear to ear.

"You know, for the supposed lord of this area, you're really fucking stupid." Jack said calmly.

Ice began gathering around Pho's hand.

"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."

….

….

Jack stood up and met Pho's gaze.

"I'm wearing your brother Pho…."

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