New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Right as the bell rang, Astaroth melded with White Death. The stats boost his spirit companion got from upgrading were non-negligible, but not game-changing.

As he was melding, he had to side-step a volley of arrows coming his way. Killi was already on the offensive, starting with his bow, trying to shave off some health from Astaroth.

Astaroth knew that this fight would differ from his last one, because Killi was his opponent. He had seen a lot of this man's past competitions and streams.

It would not be easy to make combat with an opponent with his experience on the battlefield. He was also a very proficient archer and swordsman, as had been proved in the past.

Clearing his mind from stray thoughts and distractions, Astaroth focused his gaze on Killi. This would be the most interesting fight he had in a while, aside from his sparring with Kloud.

He dashed forward, after slipping by the arrows, and gave chase to his opponent. Killi, fully expecting his actions, started jumping backwards, all the while firing his bow.

Every time the two men got close enough for Astaroth to confront Killi in a melee, the latter pulled out his two scimitars, a deftly blocked any hit sent his way, before using skills to disengage from combat.

As soon as Killi would be a suitable distance away, he would switch back to his bow, and continue kitting Astaroth around the arena. Anyone who got near the fighting duo got violently slashed at by both parties.

In the two men's eyes, there should be no one to interfere in their clash. Killi was here to prove he was still capable enough to be a top player, and Astaroth was here to prove he had what it took to reach the summit.

Both men were left alone and fought with abandon until only four players were left standing. Sadly for Killi, he was the only member of his team left alive.

The remaining two players were Morticia and Anton. Both of them started surrounding Killi, trying to box him in.

Killi had a very tactical mind, and he recognized the danger he was in instantly. He opted to cut down his troubles fast and dashed toward Morticia.

He knew her class was all about control over the enemy, so he had to take her out quickly, to give himself a better chance. As he ran to her, firing arrows, Astaroth and Anton both converged on Morticia.

Astaroth had not been using skills that much, trying to gauge his level in actual combat against a veteran, and as of now, Killi was barely scratched, while he was down to half his health.

His melding was also reaching its end, and this would be his last attack while fully merged.

As all three men reached Morticia, the situation rapidly took a turn for the worst. Anton, which was believed to be charging at Killi, deviated his trajectory, cutting towards Astaroth.

He swung his axe wide, aiming for Astaroth's midsection, just as the latter was reaching Killi. Killi saw this happening from the corner of his eye and grinned.

Astaroth, in the meantime, had to suddenly evade a great axe coming at him rapidly. He kicked off the ground, giving up on his assault on Killi, to prioritize himself.

Just as he did, the axe passed where his torso would have been, missing him by a hair's breadth. When Astaroth landed back on the ground, his hair was back to normal, and his stats went back too.

"What are you doing, Anton!?" Astaroth barked.

"I'm getting rid of a cheater." Anton growled back.

"How many times do you intend to accuse me of this nonsense?" Astaroth replied, clenching his fists.

"This will be the last time, since this is where you die and leave the competition." Anton answered, grinning like a madman.

"You will willingly make us lose, just to prove a point? Are you stupid?" Astaroth questioned.

"Shut up!" Anton yelled, snapping.

"Time to die!" He added, dashing at Astaroth again.

This time, Astaroth was ready to greet him, though, and had a devilish smile on his face. As Anton got closer, Astaroth summoned White, letting out right in front of the charging berserker.

White Death immediately pounced on the Demonoid, pinning him to the ground. As the giant white wolf snarled at him, Anton lost all his earlier courage.

He could see the health bar on the wolf, since it was technically part of his team, and he became white from terror.

"This… This is a boss creature! You are cheating again!" Anton yelled, shaking in his voice.

But that was the last thing he said, as White started chewing his face off. Screams of pain and terror filled the arena, while the crowd watched in ravenous horror as it chewed the Demonoid to death.

Astroth refocused on Killi, and he noticed Morticia was having it rough. Even though she was a skilled player, with a manipulative class, fighting in close combat was not her forte.

He dashed back to the duo, going to lend a hand to his teammate. Killi did not miss this recent development and disengaged from combat again.

"That took less time than I thought it would." Killi said, a bitter smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry if we were interrupted, Sir Killi. Shall we go for round two?" Astaroth asked, pulling out his polearm.

"Don't count me out again." Morticia growled from the side.

She was cut at many places, and her health bar was dangerously low. But her eyes showed an angry determination to get even with the Ranger.

"Then we shall take him out together." Astaroth replied, nodding at her.

At this moment, White walked to Astaroth's side, blood still dripping from his maw. Not a moment later, both it and Astaroth dashed forward, locking Killi in combat with them.

Morticia took every opening she could get to launch a psychic attack on the Ranger, and disadvantage him as much as she could. This helped, but Killi was not a rookie and he held this fight for a few minutes.

It took the trio a whole five minutes to take down one player, while the crowd kept shouting their support. Killi had achieved his goal of proving he was still very much in the game.

After he dropped dead and disappeared, the crowd roared in applause and cheers, both for the losing and winning teams. This had been the most entertaining match up to now.

Morticia and Astaroth were both teleported out of the arena, only to reappear in the bleachers, next to the other three players of their team. Both of them turned to Anton, rage in their eyes.

The Demonoid gulped in fear.