New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

***In the courtyard outside the castle***

With the advantage I'die had given the Grippli troops, the Lizardmen were no longer crushing them so quickly. Then, in addition to that, with Silent Light's healing, and Athena ranged support, the battle was swinging back in their favour.

The Grippli were losing fewer soldiers, and the Lizardmen were being culled at a sped-up pace, making the scales balance back. It wouldn't be long until they tipped further to the Grippli's side.

Around when Astaroth made it to the throne room was when the battle in the courtyard was already set to be a victory for the frogmen. That was when Athena, I'die, and Silent took their leave from there and headed inside.

Since some of their party members had already passed here, it uncovered the map for them. So they could head directly to where two of their teammates were currently fighting.

When they reached their destination, what greeted them took them aback.

Gulnur was lying on the ground almost dead and completely battered, and Phoenix was currently in her flame avatar form, but she was being held by her throat by a huge Lizardman.

Athena swiftly nocked an arrow, firing it at the Lizardman's head, using her Impact Shot skill. The hit rocked the enemy's head enough for him to let go of Phoenix, who crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.

I'die started attacking Akro, too, Helping Athena contain him, while Silent hurriedly healed his two downed friends. He healed Phoenix first, since she was the closest, and then ran to Gulnur.

Silent Light had to use two very high-cooldown, high-cost spells, just to get both of them back up. He knew he did not waste them, but if they had another boss to face after, he would only have his lower-end spells.

He silently prayed that the last room where Astaroth was would be calmer, or else they would be in trouble. When he turned his head to scan the boss, he noticed the grade and understood why they were in such awful shape.

Lizardman General Akro (Enraged):

Level: 50

Grade: Rare (Zone Boss)

HP: 86'844/923'000

MP: 3'900/12'000

Gulnur coughed and hacked, spitting out blood, before he gripped Silent's arm.

"Don't worry about me."

*Cough Cough*

"Heal him!"

He then pointed at a form slumped up against a wall. It was the Grippli General.

His health was teetering dangerously close to zero, and he had a sword planted in his chest. His health was still bleeding out.

Silent nodded his head, keeping quiet as he madly dashed toward the NPC. He still had one spell left he could use, but he seldom wanted to use it before the last boss room.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice now, since he wasn't strong enough to heal the Grippli enough with any other spell. His last skill was the only one that healed in percentage instead of raw health points.

When he reached the Grippli, the frogman slowly opened his eyes.

"Go help your friends. Save the king… Please…"

"Stop talking. This is going to hurt, so I apologize in advance."

Silent Light became highly focused as he put his hands in a praying motion. He closed his eyes and murmured a chant.

"Divine Touch."

When he opened his eyes, they were shining in a golden light. He yanked the sword from the General's chest, and before blood could even spurt out, he slammed his hand into the wound.

The Grippli violently howled, as the hand jammed into his thorax, putting him in excruciating pain. But the healing was taking effect.

Angelic Touch was a priest spell that was considered an end-game spell. It took your remaining mana down to one point, and whatever percentage it took, it healed the same percentage of health to the target.

In this case, Silent Light had forty percent of his mana left, and that went directly into the Grippli's body. His chest wound closed up at a visible speed, as did most of his other cuts, leaving only scrapes and bruises.

Once the spell was done, Silent collapsed on the floor, out of breath and completely drained. Just before he passed out, the General thanked him, promising he would save his friends.

***Back to the throne room***

Astaroth was still violently clashing against the Lizardman Warrior-King. His debuffs had long since expired, and the only thing holding this fight at bay was Violette constantly freezing its limbs.

It was taking all her magical prowess just to apply ice strong enough to cause him the frozen status. A legendary monster was no joke, and his high constitution score was keeping him from most effects.

The melding with White was close to over, and Astaroth had barely dented the boss' health bar. He was being more of an annoyance than an actual threat.

But just before the meld ended, he used a skill that had so far been useless against high-level enemies. He pulled out his war axe, and used Decapitation Strike, aiming for one of the boss' arms.

The axe blade glowed as it impacted the forearm of the Lizardman. He had lifted his arm to block, as he did more than once now, since it counted as a block with his high constitution.

But something was different on this strike, and before he could realize that, the unexpected happened.

*Schluck*

The axe blade pushed cleanly through the forearm, separating the hand from the arm, finally impacting its combat ability.

*RROOAARR!!*

The Warrior-King howled in rage and pain, as its hand fell to the floor. Now that the annoying fly had actually wounded it, it had to pay.

All its focus turned to Astaroth, as his meld with white ended. Astaroth's eyes went wide as a giant ethereal axe blade appeared before his face.

He quickly melded with Luna, activating Moonlit Sanctuary. The temporary invulnerability saved his life on strike, but he was sent flying off like a baseball on a home run, colliding with the room's wall.

By the time he got back up, the Lizardman was already in his face. He wouldn't survive this hit and he knew it.

Astaroth closed his eyes, accepting the inevitable.

*Clang!*