Solomon could feel the angst building up in Astaroth's mind already and raised his hand toward him.
"Do not fret, young man. I won't let anything bad happen. Should you accept to fight him under his conditions, he agreed to swear eternal fealty to you. Should you back down… I recommend never using his powers again.
"Whether you win or lose, nothing bad will happen to this place or anywhere else. I will rein him in before that. But winning against him under his terms also has its good points. It will serve as a good show of strength to the other demons who might still have their reserves about you."
Astaroth listened to the sage, weighing the pros and cons at the same time. It wasn't a simple decision, since he would have to fight against a powerful demon, while having his strength still slightly weakened.
But winning against him almost guaranteed good results for the future. He wanted to take that bet.
"I'll do it."
The response from Astaroth took Aberon aback.
"Are you mad, boy?! I know you are confident, but this is a duke of hell. The difference in strength is not something confidence alone can overcome."
Solomon was already smiling.
Astaroth got to his feet, still wobbling a bit. He could feel Solomon had already retracted the barrier that pushed out the mana.
He used Mana Siphon once more to top up his mana reserves and converted a bit to Aether.
He still didn't have a way to keep Aether in his system, an issue to which he needed to find a solution soon, so he used the Aether immediately, spawning White and Morpheus next to him through Soul Manifestation.
As the mana drain already started affecting him, he melded with Luna. He took a deep breath, absorbing the latent mana around him, without using Mana Siphon.
He focused on cycling the mana in his system as fast as he could, trying to boost the production of natural mana as much as he could. To his surprise, although he had been doing this for a while now, without results, this time was different.
*Ding*
*Mana Breathing has reached level 3*
Astaroth grinned at the development. He hurriedly opened his passive skills window.
Scrolling down a bit, he read out the changes to Mana Breathing.
*Mana Breathing (Level 2 -> 3)*
Through constant practice, you have learned how to force your own mana reserves to cycle and produce faster, resulting in a qualitative change. Mana regen: 5/second -> 1%/second in combat, 25/second -> 5%/per second out of combat.
Although it seemed like a small amount, one percent was enormous. Without melding, his mana was at five thousand and five hundred points already.
This translated to fifty-five points per second already. But when melded with Luna, who had the highest magic ability in his soul companions, that amount exploded tremendously.
Looking at his mana bar, he saw the current amount was over sixty-six thousand, and that his spent mana was already back to full, thanks to the upgraded regen. He grinned.
Looking forward again, he noticed the Duke of hell was already out in front of him, stretching. A large smirk was on its face as it looked at Astaroth.
"If you think this is going to be enough to beat me, mortal, you are gravely mistaken. This will only delay the unavoidable truth of your weakness."
Astaroth chuckled in response.
"I know your strength well, hellspawn. I've been melded with you, remember? Unfortunately for you, I have little time to waste on pleasantries. This will be over in under five minutes."
The demon seethed in rage at being underestimated. But his opponent rapidly changed an additional time.
Astaroth had no intention of losing against the demon who kept calling him names and underestimating his strength. The last he fought the duke, he didn't have access to this skill, because of cooldown, but this time was different.
"Royal Protection."
His body underwent a second transformation, shifting from his small slender form to a bigger, much more muscular form, as the burning pain washed over him again. The pain was much more manageable this time around, but it still sucked.
The demon watched on in horror as the man in front of him grew two feet taller, bulking up in muscle, and suddenly releasing an aura on par with some princes of hell. He gulped.
Astaroth scanned his opponent, wanting to know exactly how much hurt he had to dish out to get this over with.
*Astaroth, Duke of hell*
Level: 75
Grade: Rare
HP: 387,000
MP: 46,260
He smiled in satisfaction. Looking at his own stats, he almost laughed at the difference.
*Status*
Name: Astaroth (Fused to Solara)
Race: Ash Elf
Grade: Special (Legendary 9:58)
Level: 50 (324,000/98,209,950)
Stats:
HP: 1,723,200/1,723,200
MP: 199,780/199,780
Stamina: 100
Mana Regen: 1%/second in combat, 5%/second out of combat
Strength: 178 (414) (+196) (+40)
Agility: 178 (404) (+196) (+30)
Constitution: 237 (530) (+261) (+35)
Intelligence: 298 (626) (+328)
Wisdom: 298 (626) (+328)
Attack Power Str: 2,070
Attack Power Agi: 2,020
Magic Attack Power: 3,130
Healing Power: 3,130
Natural Defense: 25 %
Armor Defense: 14 %
Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)
Available Stat points: 10
Available Skill points: 9
Physical Condition: Normal
Mental Condition: Hyper Stimulated
Looking at the demon before him, he could already feel the fear rising in him.
'I'm as dangerous as a boss creature right now. I could most likely fight all of Khalor's army without a problem.'
"Are you ready to lose, hellspawn? This time you face me on 'equal' footing, like you wanted."
Stressing the word equal, Astaroth grinned at the demon. Hurting its ego was only a bonus.
Busting him up and showing him who was the strongest between the two was his true goal. And, right now, he felt like that wouldn't be much trouble.
Duke Astaroth wanted nothing more than to squish the mortal under his foot, but he had a feeling this was no longer a thing he could achieve. But his anger at being looked down upon erased his fear and logic.
"You got bigger. So what?! I'll still squash you like a bug!"
He then dashed at Astaroth, his estoc pulled back, ready to sting.
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