The cold, undead energy slowly manifested within Jack's spectral body. It was slow. A frustrating crawl. Each passing second seemed like an eternity.
His spectral form thickened. Bones grew into an unnatural framework. Ethereal mist was weaved into muscle fiber. And rough skin. Very slowly.
On the other part of the room... The transforming pterosaur pulsed with violent light. Its transition happening with horrifying speed. Molten rock solidified into blazing scales. Bones fused into a monstrous humanoid frame.
It was far in front. Reaching the finish line first.
The triangular head. A grotesque mockery of a beak filled with jagged teeth. Arms ending with claws of obsidian. They snapped into being. Finishing their formation.
Its transformation completed. With a sickening crackle of cooling lava. And a hiss of primordial fire.
Blazing Pterosaur. A humanoid nightmare of molten rock and burning lava. And it was hostile.
It didn't hesitate.
Jack was still in transformation. He was still an unfinished mockery of his draugr form.
The creature let out a terrifying screech. And lashed out with a massive, scorching wing-arm. The blow slammed into Jack's half-formed body. He was swatted away like a fly. Hitting the chamber wall with a loud impact.
It scattered his uncompleted form. For a terrifying instant. Before it began to recompile.
The Blazing Pterosaur-man was relentless. Another screech. The creature lunged. With the solid mass of its burning head.
It slammed into Jack's half-formed shape again. The impact reverberated through the chamber. Slamming him back to the wall.
Again. A crushing blow. One that felt like being hit by a forge hammer. Jack couldn't fight back. He couldn't solidify. Couldn't evade.
He was thrown. And slammed into the wall of different side. The pterosaur kept coming. Relentless. Treating him like an irritating bug to be extinguished. Rather than an opponent.
Each hit stalled the gathering of the cold energy. Each blow scattered the forming bone and spectral tissue.
This wasn't a fair fight. It wasn't even a fight. It was an assault.
Jack endured. Taking the blows continuously. He couldn't feel pain. But he was frustrated.
The cold dread building within was supposed to solidify. Turning into his draugr body. But it was getting hammered back into formlessness.
He ignored the assaults. He focused. Pushing the spectral energy. Urging the transformation despite the barrage. Luckily once the transformation was initiated, it refused to stop.
It was just slow. Torturously slow.
Minutes stretched. Into what felt like hours. The humanoid beast didn't let up. It battered him. Slammed him. Sometimes ripping him apart with a claw.
It wanted to completely destroy him. But its actions were simply lengthening the transformation process. They could not end him.
Despite the constant assault, the cold energy finally gathered sufficient mass. A shift. The flickering stabilized.
The Grim Reaper torn cloak took shape. The hood deepening into shadow. The skin-bone-muscle hand wasn't half spectral anymore. He finished the transformation.
The draugr form, Jack Deathspark, was finally solidifying.
Even as the Blazing Pterosaur brought a foot down. To stomp where he lay... The last threads of death energy snapped into place.
The Grim Reaper Scythe materialized in the undead hand of his right arm.
Jack was a completed, undead entity again. Albeit one rising from a heap on the floor. After being thoroughly trashed.
The Blazing Pterosaur recoiled slightly. Perhaps surprised its final blow hadn't annihilated him.
Before it could press its advantage, Jack lunged. He didn't bother getting fully up. He swung the Scythe in a wide, horizontal arc. From his position on the ground.
The obsidian claws deflected the blow. With a shriek of tormented stone. The Scythe bounced off. The unnatural coldness of the enchanted metal briefly chilled the molten exterior of the creature's arm.
The battle went on.
It was immediately clear that the Blazing Pterosaur held all the natural advantages. It was faster. Stronger. And way bigger.
Its movements were sharp, almost predatory. It lunged forward. Its rocky body was surprisingly agile.
Jack was still somewhat disoriented from the prolonged beating. During his previous transformation. He struggled to react.
He blocked a sweep of its wing. The impact jarred his entire body. The Scythe absorbed most of the force. But the residual energy threw him back.
He tried to sidestep a charge. But the creature was too quick. A massive, molten shoulder slammed into his chest. Sending him skidding across the floor.
This was despairing. Every exchange went the same way. Jack tried to parry or evade. The monster overpowered or outmaneuvered him.
He was constantly on the defensive. Absorbing blows. Getting thrown around the constricted space of the chamber.
There was no room to build momentum. No natural terrain to exploit. Just him, a draugr in tattered outfit and a scythe. Against a rampaging beast empowered by living fire and rock.
He was losing. Constantly. Badly.
Yet, despite the constant assault, he remained 'uninjured'. In the sense that his undead body didn't feel pain. Didn't bleed. And didn't break.
His Grim Reaper Attire was not just for show. It gave him decent defense and resistance to heat.
But the sheer blunt force of the beast's strikes... It was like being hit by a series of fast-moving trucks.
It didn't damage him much. But it certainly made fighting back a miserable experience. He was a ragdoll. Being bounced off the walls of a fiery oven.
He got back to his feet. Staggering. The Pterosaur was already on him. Raking claws aimed at his midsection. He brought the Scythe up defensively.
But the speed was too much. One claw snagged his tattered cloak. The other gouged a furrow across his ribcage.
It didn't pierce his bone. But it slammed him into the wall again.
This wasn't working. Trying to defend. Trying to evade. It was futile. The creature was simply too dominant in raw physical attributes.
What could he do? He couldn't damage it effectively with glancing blows or blocked strikes. His Scythe needed to connect. To bite deep enough to make a significant damage.
He looked at the monster roaring triumphantly. Its burning eyes glowing with malice. It was about to swing again.
A different strategy was needed. A brutal, suicidal one.
Jack ignored the urge to raise his Scythe defensively. Instead, he shifted his weight. Lowering his Guard.
He wouldn't block the next attack. He would take it. And he would ensure his own strike landed true.
The Pterosaur lunged and swatted him aside. Jack didn't block it. He swung the Grim Reaper Scythe upwards instead. Piercing for the creature's underside. As he was thrown aside. Crashing against the wall again.
The beast roared. The wound Jack created was not deep. But it enraged the monster. It charged in full power at Jack.
Jack counter-attacked with another slash. The scythe made a small injury on the beast's shoulder. But a slap snapped Jack's head a hundred eighty degrees. It didn't kill him though.
The fight turned ridiculously brutal. Jack's body was crushed. Bones broken. Limbs torn apart. But they were reconnecting and regenerating at impossible speed.
It was not pure the ability of Jack's draugr form. It was... the chamber. This place didn't just strongly restrain mental and spiritual power. It regenerating physical power at ridiculous level.
Jack's injury and the beast's wounds kept recovering. They seemed to get stuck in an endless battle.
The humanoid beast charged again. Its sharp and burning obsidian claws tore into Jack's body. One ripped through his cloak. Snagging on his left arm.
The force was immense. Twisting. Separating bone and sinew with a horrifying tearing sound. Jack's left arm, from the shoulder down, was ripped clean from his torso. And sent skittering across the floor.
At the exact same instant, Jack swung his Scythe. With his remaining right arm. He aimed for the neck.
The Scythe hit the target. But not deep. Nowhere close to a clean decapitation. Just enough to pierce the hardened layer to draw blood.
It was barely a wound. Against a creature of this size and power, it should have done nothing. And the room massive recovery should make it pointless.
But the Blazing Pterosaur froze. The burning light in its eyes flickered. A low, guttural gurgle escaped its beak.
It staggered back. The massive body trembling. Its movements became sluggish. Then stopped. The vibrant orange glow faded rapidly. Replaced by the dull, cooling grey of ordinary rock.
The fiery heat dissipated. With a final sigh that sounded like escaping steam, the monstrous form collapsed. Striking the floor with very heavy thud.
It was dead. From a wound that was little more than a deep scratch.
Jack stared at the fallen beast in disbelief.
His single functional arm still holding the Scythe. His missing arm had reconnected. And recovered in extreme speed.
But how? How did the monster die? He hadn't cleaved its head off. He hadn't extinguished its core fire. Why did it just... die?
Mutation backfire? Perhaps. But quite unlikely. He hit its extreme weak point. No! Just lucky... Wait!
Jack suddenly recalled the description of the Grim Reaper Scythe. It wasn't just a super strong weapon. It inflicted curses. Chilling Curse, and Life Force Weakening.
He never bothered with the curses before. As the opponents facing the scythe did not require the use of them. Previously, just one or two slashes were enough to eliminate the enemy.
This time, it was different. The opponent could not be eliminated easily.
Every time the Scythe struck the beast's flesh, it applied one or both curses. Minor injuries became catastrophic disaster. Even a shallow cut was enough to start the effect. To sap the target's strength. To chill their very being.
Jack sighed. He hadn't needed to kill it with brute force. He just needed to land a hit that stuck. That couldn't be shaken off.
The Scythe had done the actual killing. Subtly. Insidiously. Draining the life force or chilling the fiery core. Things that even the room could not restore.
He had won. But the problem wasn't finished yet. The object of his actual target, the floating mini-sun, was still in the center of the chamber.