Korr moved like liquid between the flames. His frost-tipped claws flashed as he created ice pillars to counter Vox's fire, using the frozen columns as shields and platforms.

He launched himself from one pillar to another, his movements fluid and calculated, always staying ahead of the spreading flames.

An ice pillar erupted beneath Korr's feet, launching him sideways. A fire pillar burst where he'd been standing a heartbeat before.

He landed on another ice pillar, immediately pushing off toward a third position as hellfire chased his movements.

The arena had become a battlefield of opposing elements. Fire and ice clashing in spectacular displays of steam and smoke.

The crowd pressed closer to the circle's edge, demons shouting encouragement and insults with equal enthusiasm.

"Someone kill someone already im bored!!!"

"100 Death Tokens Jakar dies first!"

Jack stood motionless in the center of the chaos, his red eyes tracking both opponents through his helmet's visor. Fire pillars erupted around him, but he didn't move or flinch.

Vox roared, his patience exhausted. The massive demon charged forward, his hammer raised for a devastating overhead strike.

The weapon glowed white, the hellfire was so intense it left burning footprints in the ice with each step.

"FALL!" Vox brought the hammer down with every ounce of his considerable strength.

Jack didn't dodge.

Instead, he moved forward.

Korr saw the opportunity and took it. The Deathfrost Demon created an ice pillar beneath himself, launching into the air in a graceful arc that would bring him down behind Jack's position.

His frost-tipped claws extended, ready to strike while Jack was supposedly focused on Vox's attack.

But Jack's hand shot out with impossible speed.

His transformed demon hand caught Korr by the face mid-flight, clawed fingers wrapping around the Deathfrost Demon's skull with crushing force. Korr's eyes widened in shock, his momentum completely arrested by Jack's grip.

Then Jack activated Abyssal Steps.

Reality folded. Jack disappeared, taking Korr with him.

They reappeared directly in the path of Vox's descending hammer.

For one frozen moment, Vox's eyes met Korr's. The massive demon smiled as he realized he was about to hit him.

The warhammer connected with Korr's torso with the sound of thunder.

The impact was catastrophic.

Korr's body crumpled under the force, his armor shattering, his bones breaking with audible cracks.

The hellfire wreathing the hammer head burned into his flesh, cooking skin and muscle in an instant.

Korr's body flew backward like a puppet with cut strings, tumbling end over end across the arena floor.

He bounced once, twice, three times before sliding to a stop near the crowd's edge. His body twitched and spasmed, flopping against the ice like a fish pulled from water.

The training yard fell silent.

Then the crowd exploded.

Demons roared their approval, the sound deafening. Bets changed hands frantically. Some cheered for Vox's raw power. Others shouted praise for Jack's tactical brilliance.

Vox stared at his hammer, then at Korr's broken form, his expression caught somewhere between horror and rage. He'd just killed his fellow competitor.

His scarred face twisted with fury.

"YOU!" Vox charged Jack, his hammer swinging in wild arcs. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

"Clam down, not like he's your boyfriend or anything." Jack shouted.

Jack's demon hand came up to block the first strike. The hammer crashed against his transformed claws with a shower of sparks and the grinding sound of metal on demonic scale.

The impact drove Jack back a step, his boots carving lines in the ice.

Another swing. Jack blocked again, this time with both hands, his left hand transforming mid-motion to match his right. The force drove him back another step.

Vox pressed forward, his attacks relentless. Each hammer swing carried enough force to shatter stone, and he wasn't holding back anymore.

The massive demon had abandoned technique in favor of overwhelming violence, his hellfire-wreathed weapon coming down again and again.

"Wow he must have been your boyfriend, that's why you both targeted me first."

Vos shouted and swung harder as he got visibly flustered.

Jack gave ground steadily, his transformed hands catching and deflecting blows that would have killed most demons instantly.

But each block pushed him back. Each deflection cost him space.

The crowd sensed the shift. Their cheering intensified. Vox was winning. Pushing the mysterious Jakar back step by step.

Vox's grin returned, wide and vicious. "Not so fast now, are you? Where's that teleportation trick? Too scared to get close?"

Jack said nothing, his red eyes visible through his helmet's visor tracking Vox's movements with cold precision.

He blocked another strike, slid back another meter.

"I'm going to enjoy this!" Vox raised his hammer high, preparing for a finishing blow that would drive through Jack's guard through sheer overwhelming power.

Then movement exploded from where Korr's body had been lying.

The Deathfrost Demon wasn't dead. Broken, certainly.

Bleeding from a dozen places, absolutely.

But conscious enough for one final attack.

Korr launched himself across the arena, his frost-tipped claws extended, ice magic flaring around his hands in a desperate surge of power.

His pale eyes locked onto Jack's back, focusing every remaining ounce of strength into this final strike.

Jack's head started to turn, sensing the danger, but it was too late.

Korr's claws plunged into Jack's back between the armor plates, the frost-tipped weapons piercing through metal and flesh with the desperate strength of a dying demon.

Ice magic erupted from the impact point, frost spreading across Jack's armor like crystallizing veins.

The cold burned, freezing muscle and tissue, the debuff effect activating immediately.

Jack's body went rigid, his movements suddenly sluggish as the frost worked its way deeper.

The hammer descended like the fist of an angry god, hellfire trailing behind it in a comet's tail of destruction.

Korr's claws remained buried in Jack's back, frost spreading through his armor with crystalline fingers that seized muscle and bone.

The Frostbite debuff pulsed through his system, slowing everything, making his body feel like it was moving through frozen honey.

The crowd roared, sensing the kill.

Kaedor leaned toward Rynath with a merchant's grin that didn't reach his eyes.

"Well, that was entertaining while it lasted. Shame about your pick, Rynath. I was beginning to think he might actually be interesting."

Loryn's hollow gaze remained fixed on the arena, his skeletal fingers tapping together in that rhythmic pattern. "The fight isn't over yet."

"It will be in approximately two seconds," Kaedor said, gesturing at the descending hammer. "Look at him. He can barely move with that Frostbite effect, and Vox is putting everything into that strike. This is finished."

Rynath's scaled skin rippled, but she said nothing. Her serpentine eyes tracked Jack's armored form with an intensity that suggested she was seeing something the others weren't.

The hammer fell.

Jack's transformed hand shot up.

His clawed fingers wrapped around the hammer's shaft just inches from his face, stopping the weapon's descent with a sound like a steel door slamming shut.

The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the air, scattering ice crystals and making the nearby fire pillars flicker.

The training yard went silent.

Vox's eyes widened, his scarred face cycling through confusion, disbelief, and the first hints of genuine fear.

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