New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 557  Reaching Deep Inside

Meanwhile, in the dark dome of a coliseum, Astaroth was facing down the largest part of the undead horde.

Left, right, up, and even down in the ground, undead monsters were coming at him from every angle. It forced Astaroth into using his mana senses to the fullest, just to stay aware of every undead in his vicinity.

Since he wanted his companions to stay safe as well, he also shared the sensorial feedback into the mental link he shared with each one of them. The only one who could do nothing right now was Morpheus.

The bat had been trying with all his might to go through the dark fog canopy. But even when he tried to phase through it gently, it remained a hard surface.

Astaroth could feel Morpheus' displeasure through their connection and was trying to come up with a way to remedy the situation. But his mind was already being stretched thin with all the fighting and information sharing, and he could barely think straight.

Having already switched the Ad Astra into whip-sword shape to keep enemies at a distance, Astaroth was slashing out in large arcs, hitting multiple foes with every swing of his weapon.

But it felt like a losing battle.

'Something needs to change, and soon…' he thought.

Luna, who was still in her humanoid form, was darting around the battlefield, punching, kicking, and even body slamming into the undead enemies. On her face, an enormous smile persisted.

Astaroth could easily guess from whom she had inherited a little battle frenzy when she reformed. He wanted to feel bad about it, but deep inside, it only made him proud.

Astaroth had unmelded with Valac, since the demon count's powers were useless to him in melee combat. But he was holding back from melding with another demon, for now.

He still wasn't sure what type of powers the enemy on the other end of this battlefield wielded, aside from controlling the undead in swathes.

He had briefly thought about recalling Morpheus inside him, to re-summon him on this side of the darkness veil, but this would require him to focus on Morpheus' essence. Focus, which he could barely allow himself right now.

And although Astaroth and his companions were killing undead left and right, he didn't feel like the swarm was getting any smaller.

He quickly understood why, when he glanced into the horde for a single moment.

Luna kicked an enemy away from her, a skeleton who practically shattered on impact with her leg, and landed in pieces inside the horde. But Astaroth saw it reform into a perfectly fine skeleton moments later, as if nothing had happened.

The boss was bringing them back as fast as he took them down.

This battle, which Astaroth had thought a battle of quality versus quantity, had just shifted to a battle of attrition. One that he could hardly win with the current conditions.

'Think Astaroth! Think!' he shouted in his mind.

If he couldn't find a way to permanently slay the enemies, or at the very least slow down their return, this battle would end only in his death. Stamina was not an issue for undead creatures.

But for him and his companions, it was rapidly becoming a problem. He could feel the exhaustion creeping up on Genie, who had an actual body.

For the moment, Luna and White were still fine, given the former's high energy levels, and the latter's semi-ethereal body. But how long would that last?

As his mind went through many scenarios, desperation slowly crept up inside him.

'I guess I'm still not strong enough… Would Khalor fare better? I bet he would, with his legacy skills and large army…'

Dark thoughts started clouding his mind, making his focus slip. As it did, Astaroth failed to see a zombie claw its way into the ground, and moments later, it popped up under Genie, taking a slash of its dirty claws on Genie's unprotected belly.

Genie whimpered in pain before stomping the zombie's skull with her hind leg. But the wound on her stomach started oozing in purplish colour, and Astaroth snapped out of his dark thoughts.

Scanning Genie, Astaroth grit his teeth.

*Genie*

Level: 50

Grade: Elite

HP: 47,666/81,750

Status: Festering Wounds (-1% HP/sec) (28 sec)

His heart skipped a beat. At this pace, Genie would die in a matter of minutes.

He had no way of healing her, and with that effect on her, she would lose so much health over the next twenty-eight seconds that she would teeter on death's doors already.

His desperation grew.

'I can not let her die. I must not!'

 His mind went into overdrive, thinking as hard as he could, trying to find a solution. But every idea he came up with drew blank as he played the scenario in his head.

His focus slipped even further, and White took a few good hits as well, from enemies he didn't see creep up on him.

'Master! Get a hold of yourself!' White shouted in Astaroth's head.

But Astaroth didn't hear him. He was stuck in his head, trying to find a solution to his predicament.

Astaroth refused to lose Genie. She was dear to him, and he simply refused to suffer loss again.

Through his will to win, and keep everyone alive, Astaroth soul echoed. He didn't notice it, but, across the continent, someone did.

Feeling his fear and determination mixing into her own soul, Nemus closed her eyes and focused on Astaroth's mind. Doing this, she quickly apprised herself of the situation through Astaroth's senses.

She felt his soul cry out for help to hers, and she willingly answered.

Nemus' mind melted into Astaroth, where she reached a golden cage in which a large white orb floated. This was the same cage Solomon had tried prying open, which had released her from her prison.

She couldn't act against it, since it would alert Gaius to her presence, but there was something she could do.

Focusing on her powers, long since gone unused, she compelled the soul awake from its forced slumber. Feeling it shiver in response, she gave it a command.

"Your body needs your power. I cannot free you, but I can show you how. Follow my instructions, and free some of your power. Aid him before he scars what little of a soul he has now."

She sent images into the orb, showing it how to weaken its cage from the inside. The trapped soul started swelling.

As it did, it pushed against the golden cage, making it creak and whine, until a single bar snapped. Through that temporary gap, a surge of white light burst out.

Outside of this mind space, Astaroth's body reacted.