New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

But luck wouldn't be on Phoenix's side. As soon as she thought this, another wave of pure evil mana washed through the battlefield, crashing through the allied troops.

But the difference in power from the first one was too great. Something had changed.

Some of them outright fell unconscious, while others fell to their knees, gasping for air.

It affected the nine remaining players to different degrees, with the ones that couldn't wield mana or had no legacy affected the most—Astaroth, whose control over a stronger source of magic than mana, immediately felt the difference.

'This isn't demonic mana… This is Demonic Aether. Whoever is sending these is not a foe that just anyone can take on…'

A second pulse washed through the battlefield.

Astaroth flew into the sky to see where it came from. And from there, he saw it.

Deep inside the demon war camp. A portal was opening.

One whose size was unlike anything he had seen up to now. And it kept expanding.

With every meter it expanded, another pulse of demonic Aether pulsed out from it, crashing into the allied troops.

The demons were unaffected by it, and only stood by and watched as their enemies started dying on their own, overloaded by a power that was out of their reach. Astaroth caught one of his ally's names graying out and spun his head toward him.

Galtion, who had been zooming through the battlefield up to now, suddenly crashed to his feet, howling in pain, clutching his head, before he exploded into pixels, disappearing from the plain.

The black domes and bubbles that had been containing the high-level fighters of both sides suddenly burst as well. One of which was next to Astaroth's position.

The Elven general, Isarrel, came flying out of it. And when she felt the disturbance in the Aetheric flow around her, her face paled.

Another pulse.

Three other names greyed out from Astaroth's party list. RedWing, Twinxie, and Jeanne collapsed, in the same manner as Galtion just moments ago, and burst into particles.

Only five remained. But for how long?

The general turned to look at Astaroth, who was nearest to her.

"Get your friends and go! People of your power won't resist this for much longer!" she shouted.

And Astaroth agreed with her.

Every wave that pulsed through the battlefield grew stronger, and he could see Violette and Phoenix were already straining to stand upright. Chronos, Jaxx, and himself seemed fine, though.

He nodded toward the general and flew back down to Violette and Phoenix's position.

"We need to leave. Now."

Phoenix looked at him in pain.

"I can keep fighting. Don't worry about me."

But her strained expression belied her true state.

Another pulse.

Phoenix dropped to her knees, and Violette fell unconscious before vanishing in a burst of pixels.

"Stop being stubborn. The next wave will kill you. You don't need to prove anything to me. Just back away, before you die for nothing. This stage still isn't over. We will need everyone we can keep alive."

His words held some truth, and Phoenix knew this. But she hated backing away.

Nonetheless, this wasn't a time when she could afford to be stubborn. She could feel her mind tearing at the seams.

She didn't even respond to Astaroth, before bursting into flames and flying away as fast as she could.

As she did, another wave blasted through the battlefield. By now, any soldier that wasn't an officer, or a powerful mage, had already dropped dead, bleeding from every orifice.

Phoenix managed to escape the range of the pulse and remained alive.

Astaroth flew back up, next to the general, and summoned all his soul companions.

"My allies will be fine. Tell us what we can do to help."

The general looked at him angrily before clicking her tongue.

"I hope your potential doesn't go wasted, you little idiot. Help us clear out the remaining officers. The portal will only expand for so long before it's large enough to let out what is trying to pour out."

"If I may ask, what is that?"

Isarrel looked at him like he was stupid.

"What else could necessitate such a large portal? Or pulse out in such terrifying power? Of course, it's the demon lord. Now get to fighting."

Astaroth's eyes turned to slits.

'Will I get to see what our ultimate foe is like before the fateful fight?' he wondered.

But for now, he had to focus on other enemies.

Looking about, he quickly found a powerful foe to test his mettle against.

He sent a message in the party chat for his allies to see.

'Jaxx. Chronos. Since you two are still combat-ready, help me take down the red fucker that is flying around our dead troops.'

As he sent it, he darted toward the east, heading for the enemy he mentioned.

The demon officer he picked out was a large, red-skinned demon, with wings like a bat, and horns like a mountain goat. In his hand, he held a massive scimitar, as big as himself, and seemingly sharp enough to cut through steel.

But it didn't deter Astaroth.

The demon, feeling a mana signature coming straight at him, spun around to meet the brazen fool who thought he could challenge him. But it surprised him to see a face he had never seen before.

Astaroth dispensed himself with trivialities and directly attacked, not letting the demon get time to berate him. But as his greatsword clashed with the demon's scimitar, he quickly understood he wasn't going to win in a contest of raw strength.

All his momentum was immediately cancelled out, and the demon was even pushing him back. If he were to fight alone, Astaroth could probably not win.

But he wasn't alone.

Shegror looped from the top, slamming into it, as Morpheus blasted the demon's mind with magic, trying to get it closer to the ground.

White Death, Genie, Luna, and Jaxx arrived simultaneously, waiting for the demon to be within reach. As for Chronos, he stood further back, already tugging at the time web, trying to reach the right thread.

Scanning his enemy, Astaroth understood this wouldn't be an easy fight.