Chapter 611 Separating The Troops
Half an hour passed, with Astaroth's party throwing the war's balance out the window, before a roar so powerful and primal shook the battlefield, causing everyone and everything to freeze.
Astaroth felt his soul shiver inside himself, the tidbit of soul corruption he had lingering in there reacting to the roar. Whatever had roared elicited a primal and instinctual reaction from anything evil.
And it wasn't a faint reaction on the demons' end.
All the demons on the battlefield suddenly howled in unison, as to answer the roar's call, and their eyes shone bright red.
Astaroth felt a pulse of mana brush through the battlefield.
Once.
Twice.
And again a third time.
As this happened, the demons suddenly reorganized themselves slowly while battling their enemies. It was like someone had just taken control of them and was guiding them from a bird's-eye view.
"What the fuck is going on? Did we go after these low-level officers for naught?" he mumbled.
Astaroth was about to keep hunting them, for good measure, when he saw his entire party grey out in the party list. Only his name remained lit up.
He snapped his head toward where they had been and saw an enormous black dome suddenly covering a part of the battlefield where they had been.
He was about to fly there, to check what this was, when everything around him became black as well.
Astaroth spun on himself, his senses telling him he wasn't alone. And they weren't wrong.
Floating in the air thirty meters from him was a demon whose magical aura erupted as they made eye contact.
'Such a heavy aura!' Astaroth thought as he felt like someone had dropped a sandbag on his shoulders.
But he wouldn't be outdone.
Astaroth saw some demons on the ground below him, looking up at him with a wild rage and a tinge of hunger. He couldn't see any other troupes from his side.
'Someone tried to separate us from our allies, to get rid of us. Unfortunately for them, they misjudged my strength,' he thought, grinning.
Astaroth called back his soul companions, who appeared under him, a few meters away from the demon regiment. Luna was at the forefront in her little girl form.
She grinned back like a wildling at the demons when they noticed them.
"Let's have some fun!" she proclaimed, her smile widening.
Astaroth unmelded with Morpheus, calling him out as well, before melding with his new companion.
'I'm sorry to cut your rest once again, Shegror. But I need your strength. Plus, you will get to take a bit of revenge on the ones that caused your previous infection.'
The dragon grumbled in his mind, but still allowed him access to his soul.
As he melded with the black dragon's soul shard, his ashen grey skin took a tint darker, as it became scaly. The wings he had on his back from Morpheus changed shape, going from bat wings to dragon wings.
He scanned the demon as his power surged.
**
Demon Captain Olmaned
Level: 75
Grade: Elite
Health: 239,550
Mana: 24,650
**
'Just an elite? *sigh* I thought I would have some more fun…' Astaroth sighed mentally.
The demon glanced at him, a look of eagerness flashing in its eyes. But it waited for the mortal to make the first move, trying to gauge its power.
It wouldn't have to wait long before Astaroth charged at it, ribs bulging and throat glowing.
The demon captain raised a magical shield in front of itself, as Astaroth disgorged a breath of acid on it, making the mana of the shield sizzle and melt. He couldn't stay behind it for long, or he would receive the acid next.
Taking a single step forward, the captain reappeared behind Astaroth, launching many small bursts of pure black mana at his back through a skull-tipped wand in his hand.
But Astaroth's wings folded on himself, blocking a large part of the incoming damage, while he kicked the air in front of him to change direction.
"So you want to play a game of magic tag?! So be it!" Astaroth shouted as he bounced off the air.
With a sudden acceleration, he almost appeared in the captain's face, his foot extended in a kick.
But the mage was experienced enough to see through this age-old trick. Another shield appeared next to it, blocking the kick with a loud gonging noise, as he stepped away once more right after, dodging Astaroth's claw swipe with the Ad Astra.
But Astaroth wasn't done.
He followed the mana trail with his eyes, as it left the mage first, before taking him away, and as the captain disappeared, he swapped the Ad Astra into spell slinger mode and fired two wind bullets toward the captain's arrival spot.
The demon captain, reappearing where he thought he would be safe, felt two powerful impacts on his chest, pushing all the air out of his lungs as the two wind bullets slammed into him.
He barely had enough time to catch himself, that Astaroth was already on him, attacking with a mana-coated fist.
Throwing his body backwards, the captain evaded the punch, but not the follow-up wing slam that shot him sideways.
For the next minute, Astaroth and the demon captain played a violent game of tag, which Astaroth was coming out on top of and enjoying. But the demon wasn't done yet.
Olmaned had not reached his rank by simply being a powerful mage. He had battled his way there, and he wasn't unused to physical pain.
He also was experienced with fighting all types of individuals, and the combat style the Dragonoid-looking dark Elf was using was far from unique.
He eventually found Astaroth's pace and caught himself up, making this chase a lot less lopsided.
But this only made Astaroth grin wider.
"Why are you so jovial, mortal? Are you that eager to die?" the captain taunted.
Astaroth burst into laughter before kicking at the demon's side again.
The demon raised a shield and prepared to step away again when he heard his barrier shatter like thin glass. The next moment, Astaroth's kick was bending his body around itself, the captain feeling his ribs breaking and his internal organs lurching in place, as he blasted away like a comet.
Before he could even land on the ground below, Astaroth had caught up to him and caught him by the throat.
The demon captain watched the mortal, as air couldn't enter his lungs, and panicked. He started firing spell after spell, point-blank, in a desperate attempt to free himself.
But Astaroth took the spells with his mana-skinned body and grinned manically.
"I'm just happy I found someone that would allow me to go all out with this new form! There is nothing quite like live training, am I right?!" he blurted.
The demon's mind went blank in panic.
'Is a mortal going to end me so easily? Who is this mortal? Why me? Why me, demon lord?!'
That was the last thought that crossed his conscious mind.
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