Astaroth looked at his stat window, glancing at his current stats.
Stats:
HP: 2,181,250/2,181,250 MP: 81,100/81,100 Stamina: 100/100
Mana Regen: 1%/second in combat, 5%/second out of combat
Strength: 1,174 (1,449) (+235) (+40)
Agility: 752 (932) (+150) (+30)
Constitution: 753 (939) (+151) (+35)
Intelligence: 330 (396) (+66)
Wisdom: 330 (396) (+66)
Attack Power Str: 7,245
Attack Power Agi: 4,660
Magic Attack Power: 1,980 (2,475)
Healing Power: 1,980
Natural Defense: 25%
Armor Defense: 14%
Luck: 1 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)
Astaroth was grinning from ear to ear, thinking about all the damage he could dish out with this meld. But he knew it was only temporary.
But looking at the bottom of the list, he saw something new. He had gained one luck point.
He did not know when he gained it, or what it did to his gameplay, but he knew it wasn't too old. He had checked his stats relatively often recently, and this was the first time he saw it.
A lot of speculations online about luck points and their effects were roaming around. But no one had found definite explanations, and EG was mum about the subject, stating only that it was a surprise stat.
But Astaroth couldn't be bothered any longer about it. He lunged forward, creating a funnel of air behind himself, as the air was pushed aside, and slammed into the demon leader.
He wanted to land a clean hit, but apparently, the demon had been expecting him. The grin on its face annoyed Astaroth.
"Let's see how long you can hold that grin!"
Astaroth started pummeling the demon, going for a boxing stance, as his fists rushed forward in a flurry. But something strange was happening.
Astaroth was hitting something, as he could feel the solid impact, but the demon was not losing health. Activating his mana vision, Astaroth quickly understood what was blocking him.
Mana kept corrugating in front of his fists, forming dense layers on itself, and blocking the entire impact. This kind of mana manipulation, or mana shielding, was something he had never seen before.
There was no shield proper in front of the demon, but there was a thin layer of mana all around him. That was what was folding on itself, constantly blocking his punches.
The technique impressed Astaroth, and he mentally noted it, promising himself to try to emulate it later. But for now, he needed to find a way through it.
Astaroth kept punching, getting ready to make a move, waiting for an opening, but the demon only looked at him with its wide grin. Both of them were locked in this exchange, waiting for the enemy to show an opening for almost a minute, before Astaroth lost his cool.
'This is going nowhere.'
From the back of his head, he heard G?ap chuckle in disappointment.
'You are still far from reaching a level where you could fight against the true warriors of hell. This demon may be on a lower level and rank, but his talent alone is enough to make him duke material.'
Astaroth loathed the words he heard. He had beaten a duke before, and felt insulted that a demon of equal power was holding him in place.
'I can't punch through his defence, even with your strength added to mine. What else am I supposed to do?' he asked the demon prince.
'Tsk tsk tsk. If you can't power through it, then tear it apart. I thought you were smart.'
Astaroth almost fell in shock at the response. G?ap was apparently well-known for his bull-headedness and lack of refinement, from what Solomon had told him.
Him insinuating that he was stupid hurt Astaroth's pride. But the advice he gave was not wasted.
Astaroth activated Thousand Thoughts, sending his mind into overdrive. As the surroundings slowed down, he kept punching at the demon's mana defence, trying to find a way through.
With his perception sped up like this, he was able to see a flaw in the defence. When is contracted and folded, the mana, which looked more like a veil than a bubble, stretched thin everywhere else.
Astaroth could guess that it wouldn't fare well against an attack from all sides. But he also had another idea.
His mind flashed to an experiment he and his father had done back when he was in elementary school. They had done an experiment about gravity and orbits for science class, and his father had shown him a neat trick.
They had stretched out a bedsheet on a metal frame, and then put a rock in the center to emulate the sun in our galaxy. Then he spun beads around it, to show the gravitational pull of the sun, and how it affected the orbit of planets.
But when he tried fetching the rock back, the weight had finally torn the bedsheet, and the rock fell to the ground. His mother had torn his father a new asshole about it, as he apologized profusely, all the while laughing.
Looking at the veil of mana protecting the demon leader, his mind was reminded of the similarity with the bedsheet, and he found his solution.
Grinning like a madman, Astaroth jumped back, changing the shape of Ad Astra again.
The demon looked at him, laughing loudly.
"Rakakaka! Giving up already? Changing your weapon won't change the outcome. When I saw you change into the shape of our brethren, I had expected more from you. But it seems you are still just a mortal."
Astaroth ignored his rant and focused his mind on the skill he was about to perform. He had learned this through experimenting with many skills with different weapons and mana effects.
Astaroth jumped into the air, bringing Ad Astra down toward the demon, now in the form of an immense two-handed hammer. The demon was still laughing.
But that changed rapidly, when the mana started concentrating on the face of the hammerhead. The air itself seemed to bend around the strike, as it came down toward the mana veil.
"Crushing Blow; Gravity Well!"
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om