New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Astaroth was pushing down with all his might, his oversized body exerting its full weight downward too, but he wasn\'t budging.

\'Is this not going to work?\'

But as he thought that, the ground under the demon started caving in, inch by inch, and the veil he was pushing against also seemed to give way, slowly, bending inward.

Astaroth saw the demon behind the veil sweating, his brow already wet, and lifted his sword up in a guarding position.

\'Why isn\'t he striking at me? I\'m completely static. I thought he was being arrogant earlier, but is it something different?\'

The demon looked at him with a mix of anger and wariness. Then came to pass what Astaroth had been waiting for.

A loud tearing sound echoed around them, as the veil of mana ripped apart, pushing into the demon leader, as the demon finally moved.

It angled the sword in its hand, pushing the hammer strike to the side, the strength of the strike pushing it away many meters as it skidded to a stop. But the skill hadn\'t ended yet.

When the hammer smacked into the ground, it sank into the hard rocky ground, like it was hitting a piece of soft bread. The rock compressed before exploding outward, sending shards in every direction, hitting friend and foe alike.

Astaroth was already receiving mental complaints from his companions, as they took damage from his attack. He apologized swiftly, cutting the messages out of his head.

He still needed to focus.

Raising his head from the hole he had dug himself into, he jumped back onto level ground.

He looked in the direction the demon had flown and waited for the dust cloud to settle down.

He knew the demon was still standing there, as he could still see its mana signature.

As the dust settled, a grin found its way onto Astaroth\'s face. Even Gäap, inside his mind, slowly clapped at the results.

Standing about ten meters away from him, the demon leader was riddled with holes, bleeding on all parts of his body, as an expression of pure unbridled rage graced his face.

Astaroth also felt like the sword arm of the demon was bent in a strange direction, almost like it had broken from the pressure of pushing him aside.

\'Serves you right. You should have dodged, you arrogant prick.\'

But the demon looked down at its arm, and with its gloved hand, pulled on the wrist holding the sword. With a defined pop, the arm took a normal shape again.

It took a step forward, opening its mouth to speak.

"We had received reports of mortals being stronger now than in the past. But I thought it was all an exaggeration. It seems there was some truth to it, after all. But now it ends."

Sucking in the surrounding air like a vacuum, the demon absorbed all the corruption miasma lingering around them before ballooning like blowfish. Astaroth had a bad feeling about this and wanted to stop the demon in its tracks.

But before he could step forward to attack, Gäap shouted in his mind.

"Get away! He\'s overloading!"I think you should take a look at

Astaroth did not know what that was supposed to mean, but if a prince of hell told him to stay away, he wouldn\'t have to say so twice. Astaroth rapidly gave a retreat order to his companions, as he ran back, plowing through their targets, to give them time to flee.

Astaroth messaged Silent Light.

*If you have a skill to protect yourself, now is the time to use it!*

In a matter of seconds, they were hundreds of meters away. A deafening explosion resounded in their backs, as a gust of wind caught up to them, pushing them to their stomachs, as debris from trees and stones flew above their heads.

Astaroth received three notifications as the explosion occurred, and he glanced at them.

*You have killed a Demon Scout (Elite) (Lvl 50). 50,000 Exp awarded.*

*You have killed a Demon Escort Guard (Elite) (Lvl 50). 50,000 Exp awarded.*

*You have killed a Demon Escort Mage (Elite) (Lvl 50). 50,000 Exp awarded.*

\'What the fuck?! It killed its own troops!\'

Gäap responded to his confusion.

\'Demons don\'t treat subordinates like you mortals do. They are considered disposable if needed. Some high-rank demons even eat their subordinates in combat, to boost their strength temporarily.\'

This made no sense to Astaroth. What kind of person would slay their allies just to get stronger?

Then again, he couldn\'t ascribe normal logic to fiends and demons, now, could he?

A wave of mana crashed into him, snapping him out of his thoughts. A roar immediately followed it.

"WHERE ARE YOU HIDING, MORTAL?! COME MEET YOUR END!"

Astaroth gulped. If he read the mana signature correctly, the demon leader was no longer just an obstacle.

But he couldn\'t just hide. Silent was still trying to close the portal.

Picking himself up, and nodding to his soul companions, they dived back into combat together. The demon in Astaroth\'s mind was guffawing and clapping his intangible hands, while complimenting Astaroth.

\'ROAHAHAHA! Now that is some spine! Good! Fight until your last breath if you need to, Astaroth, chosen of Solomon. Show me you deserve to use my full power!\'

Astaroth wasn\'t sure how to take the compliments, if he could even consider those taunts compliments. But it didn\'t matter.

He had to fight, no matter what. He couldn\'t just leave and abandon Silent Light.

He received a message as he re-arrived in the now much larger clearing around the cave entrance.

*I have reached the portal. Starting to seal it.*

Astaroth nodded to himself.

\'I guess it\'s all or nothing now. Let\'s do this!\'