New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

**

Demon Colonel Mel'gaz

Level: 125

Grade: Rare (Zone Boss)

Health: 20,521,200

Mana: 72, 200

**

Even with his entire party, Astaroth doubted they would have taken down such a foe. And by his rank alone, he knew this wasn't the top dog.

Somewhere on the battlefield, or still in the demon war camp, was a general who could wipe the floor with this demon like it was child's play.

Maybe it was luck at play that they hadn't crossed paths yet. Or maybe the general was waiting for something strong enough to fit it.

It was better if they didn't cross paths, anyway.

Astaroth peppered the Colonel with attacks, using the weight of his greatsword, combined with well-placed uses of Sky Steps, as well as Propel, to put weight and momentum in his weapon. But the demon intercepted them like they were nothing, his scimitar barely moving an inch on every impact.

Astaroth's hands were already starting to feel numb. It was like he was hitting a concrete wall with a stick.

Mel'gaz smirked at him.

"Alright, mortal child. Enough playing. Let me show you a true strike."

His deep voice vibrated inside Astaroth's head as a sudden pressure descended on him.

The movement of the demon's sword was quasi-instantaneous, and Astaroth barely had the time to lift his sword in defence. But it was futile.

The scimitar smacked into his greatsword, bushing it into him, and blasting him back.

*-24,584*

Astaroth flew off like a cannonball, barely able to control his flight, only to notice the demon was already right over him.

'Fuck!' Astaroth cursed in his mind.

'I can't go blow for blow against him. I have to dodge and parry, or I will be dead faster than I can notice.'

The first blow had already taken two-thirds of his health, since he wasn't melded right now. He could not afford to take a second one.

It was a good thing his parry was considered successful, taking away fifty percent of the original amount of damage, before his Mana Skin and armour took away another part, and his natural resistance took away another small chunk.

He could guess the blow had dealt around eighty thousand damage, flat, before all this. And he felt no mana or energy coating the attack.

That had been just a normal blow.

As the blade dropped toward him again, Astaroth melded with Luna. He couldn't afford to hold back.

His power surged, forcing the demon back a bit, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

But Astaroth wasn't done.

"Royal Protection!"

His body exploded in power once more, as his grade suddenly jumped from Special to Legendary. He had never felt this powerful before.

The added stats on Luna ever since her absorption of her birth parents, and now the surge in power from reaching this high of a grade, his mind and body reached a state it had never reached before.

Time felt like it had gone to a crawl, as his perception accelerated beyond normal means, almost reaching the same speed as when he used Thousand Thoughts. And his body felt light, almost like he was a feather in the wind.

He watched as the blade of the giant scimitar was coming towards him and smiled.

Astaroth raised a hand, projecting a bubble of mana, forming a flat barrier in front of him to block the blade.

A loud clang resounded as the scimitar collided into the barrier, halting.

The demon's eyes went wide. He had expected the mortal to be stronger, given the surge in power, but this went beyond his expectations.

To stop his blade like this, with a mere barrier, was not something anyone could do.

The Colonel quickly understood that the situation had changed. And he laughed maniacally in response.

"Ah ha ha! Ah ha! AH HA HA HA HA! YES! FINALLY A WORTHY OPPONENT!"

Red flames appeared on the demon's skin, as he blurred out of Astaroth's vicinity. Astaroth could see him, with his mana senses, but his body could not follow such a speed.

The Colonel was moving much too fast for him to catch up. But that didn't mean he was getting overpowered.

Barriers started appearing around Astaroth, one after another, before a loud boom echoed, as a blur passed by, and the barrier shattered. Jaxx, as well as Astaroth soul companions, halted their advance.

There was nothing they could do any more in this fight.

But they weren't immobile for long, that already the foot soldiers nearby decided to play with them. So they had to defend themselves.

"Just how fucking powerful is he going to get?!" Jaxx shouted at Chronos.

Chronos himself was more than impressed by the level of power Astaroth was displaying. He was almost on a par with the enemy he was battling.

Of course, he could see the demon's thread wrapping around Astaroth's more and more. So he knew the demon was still overpowering him.

But it would take much more time, in his opinion.

Chronos stopped paying mind to the two monsters smacking into each other like tops in a bowl and focused on the incoming demon foot soldiers.

All this time, the pulsing of demonic Aether never stopped, pulsing out every ten seconds, sending more allied soldiers and officers to death's door.

But the top officers of the allied army didn't seem worried. Like they knew something that no one else knew.

But General Isarrel, who was still busy fighting off Lieutenant Colonel Belenos, couldn't believe what was happening not far from her.

A weak Ash Elf, who was so many levels under her, at the same range as the foot soldiers of their army, was holding off a colonel of the demon army. This was unheard of.

The power-up he had gone through would make even the most altruistic person greedy for his power. She almost hoped he would die in this war.

Such a powerful person, who could still grow, would shatter the balance of power in the world. Wars would be fought in hopes of garnering his favour.

But deep down, she had a feeling he wouldn't be here once the fight died down. Like a foreboding feeling, that this man wasn't supposed to be here at all.

'Let's hope I'm not wrong…'