Jack was quiet for a moment, considering the question honestly. Was he worried? About a war in the real world, in a place that felt increasingly distant with every day he spent in the tower?

"Sort of," Jack admitted finally. "But if I can handle Pho, then the war will be nothing more than just a show for people to see my strength."

S's eyebrows raised slightly. "Confident."

"A Disaster-class demon who can move titans? If I can kill that, then whatever's waiting for me in the real world won't be anywhere near that level of threat."

He met S's gaze directly. "The tower is preparing me for something. Every floor, every fight, every monster I kill makes me stronger. By the time I go back..."

He trailed off, but the implication was clear. By the time Jack returned to the real world, he'd be a monster just in terms of how quickly he grew.

Spending almost 1.5 years on one floor of the Tarturus Spire would only be 21 days in the real world.

S studied him for several long seconds, then smiled, not his usual amused expression, but something that looked almost like pride.

"Then we stop here," the contract demon said, gesturing at the glowing forest around them. "You train. You master your new abilities. You become the weapon you need to be." His red eyes gleamed. "And then we'll see if you can survive the Deathfrost Demon."

Fluffy's three heads let out simultaneous growls, as if agreeing with the plan. The cerberus slowed its pace, then came to a stop in a small clearing where the bioluminescent fungi grew thick enough to provide ample light.

Jack slid off Fluffy's back, his boots hitting the soft earth with a muted thud.

Corvin took flight from his shoulder, circling overhead before perching on a nearby branch to watch. Kyren dismounted with his characteristic silence, already scanning the area for potential threats.

The forest around them was alive with sound, distant growls, rustling in the undergrowth, the occasional shriek of something hunting or being hunted.

Seventy-plus monster species, each one a potential test for his new abilities.

Jack pulled up his skills list, looking at the newly acquired Demonbound abilities with fresh eyes. Demonhand. Abyssal Steps. Infernal Conversion.

Time to see what he could really do.

"Kyren and Corvin," Jack said, not taking his eyes off the darkened forest. "When something attacks, don't interfere unless I'm about to die."

"Yes, Master," Kyren replied, already setting up a small camp with efficiency that suggested he'd done this countless times before.

"I'll just be here. Eating tangerines. Watching you potentially get mauled by monsters." He smiled. "Should be entertaining." S said with a giant smile.

Jack almost laughed. Almost.

Instead, he activated his newest skill, feeling his right hand begin to transform.

Jack focused on his right hand, calling upon the power of Demonhand.

The transformation began at his fingertips.

Black scales erupted from beneath his skin, spreading like wildfire across his palm, over his knuckles, racing up his wrist and forearm.

The scales weren't smooth, they were jagged, overlapping plates that looked like they'd been forged in some infernal furnace.

Each one gleamed with a dark red sheen, as if blood flowed just beneath the surface.

His fingers elongated, bones cracking and reforming with sounds that should have been painful but only felt powerful.

Claws pushed through where his fingernails had been, curved, razor-sharp talons that were easily ten inches long.

They gleamed like obsidian in the bioluminescent light.

The hand grew. Not just longer, but larger, more massive.

What had been a normal human hand became something that belonged to a creature three times Jack's size.

Muscles bulged beneath the scales, veins of crimson energy pulsing with each heartbeat. The clawed fingers flexed and Jack felt the raw strength contained within them.

Steam rose from the transformed appendage, wisps of black smoke that smelled faintly of sulfur.

Jack stared at his demonic hand, flexing the massive claws. The weight of it should have thrown off his balance, but somehow his body compensated naturally.

The Demonhand felt like an extension of himself, powerful and deadly.

'This is...' Jack thought, watching the crimson veins pulse in rhythm with his heartbeat. 'This is wild!'

He dismissed the transformation with a thought, watching the scales recede and his hand return to normal. The process was instant, seamless. He could activate and deactivate it at will.

But before testing it in actual combat, Jack had another idea.

He reached into his system storage and pulled out both spears, the Infernal Spear he'd just acquired and lightning blade, the spear he had used since he entered Tartarus Spire for the first time.

The weapons materialized in his hands, their familiar weight reassuring.

'System,' Jack thought. 'Can these be equipped to my back?'

As if responding to his intent, his armor shifted. The crimson-black plates along his spine split apart, forming two angular holsters that looked like they'd been designed specifically for this purpose.

The metal reshaped itself with fluid grace, creating grooves and clasps that would hold the spears securely.

Jack reached back and slid the Infernal Spear into the right holster. It clicked into place with a satisfying sound, magnetic force holding it firmly against his back. The lightning blade went into the left holster with equal ease.

He pulled up his status screen, checking to see if equipping them this way affected their bonuses.

[Equipment Status:]

[Infernal Spear - EQUIPPED (Back Holster)]

[+20 Strength, +20 Agility, +20 Stamina]

[Storm Piercer - EQUIPPED (Back Holster)]

[+30% Lightning Damage, +15 Magic]

Jack's eyes widened. The stat bonuses were still active. He could keep both spears on his back and maintain all their benefits while fighting with his bare hands or in this case, his demon hand.

'Perfect,' Jack thought, dismissing the status screen. 'Now let's see what this can really do.'

He looked around the clearing, searching for a suitable target. His eyes settled on a massive tree about ten meters away.

Its trunk was easily four meters wide, covered in those glowing blue fungi that provided the forest's ambient light.

Jack activated Abyssal Steps.

The world shifted. Suddenly, he could see the space around him differently.

Not as continuous distance, but as points he could fold together. The tree was ten meters away, within the skull's range.

He focused on a spot directly in front of it and stepped.

Reality twisted.

One moment Jack was standing in the clearing. The next, he was in front of the tree, the transition so smooth it felt like blinking.

No travel time. No movement through the intervening space. Just instant translocation.

Before the disorientation could fully settle, Jack activated Demonhand.

His right arm exploded into its transformed state, scales racing across his skin as his hand became that massive demonic claw. Without hesitation, Jack drove it forward into the tree trunk with all his strength.

The impact was devastating.

His claws tore through the bark like it was paper, sinking deep into the wood beneath.

The tree shuddered from the force, bioluminescent fungi raining down around him. Jack pulled his hand back and struck again, then again, each blow carving massive gouges into the ancient trunk.

When he finally stepped back, breathing slightly heavier, Jack stared at the damage with satisfaction. Four strikes had carved gashes into the tree that were each over a foot deep and three feet long.

The wood was splintered, exposing pale inner layers that wept sap like blood.

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