Astaroth moved quickly and silently, using the large stalagmites for cover. He could hear the battle raging off in the distance of the wastelands. Not that it was much of a battle. After a decade at war, his forces had dwindled down to less than fifty demons; only seventeen of which were actual warriors. Astaroth expected the battle to last no longer than ten minutes. If all went well, that was all he would need.

He felt guilty about sending so many demons to their deaths. Good demons, as much of an oxymoron as that was. Most of them were like him; developing, at some point or another, an infatuation with Earth and it's inhabitants. None wanted to see it ravaged, and now they were willingly offering their lives, knowing they had no chance of winning. They were a distraction, and nothing more.

The closer he came to his target, the more resolved he became in his task. Astaroth knew that his mission, like his fellow soldiers, was also likely a suicide run, but it was the only chance they had left to save the Earth. He could see Lucifer's domain in the distance, growing closer with every passing minute. Astaroth didn't have long before they found him. Honestly, he had thought his presence would have been detected long ago, but whether by a miracle or by chance he had nearly made it the whole way safely.

Astaroth neared his destination, a small, single floor building located behind the front lines. It was as deformed as any other building in Hell, having been constructed from the bodies of the damned. It wasn't actually Lucifer's home - which was located miles away in the Pandemonia district - but a temporary command center for the Devil and his generals close to the battlegrounds. Judging from the lack of soldiers awaiting him, it seemed as if his presence truly had gone unnoticed. Odd, but Astaroth was not concerned with how or why at the moment, so long as fortune continued to favor him.

He surveyed the perimeter for guards as he crouched behind a particularly tall stalagmite. He knew that while Lucifer was personally out fighting the Trident would be left behind. The ruler of Hell was too proud and arrogant to use the full might of his abilities on beings he considered unworthy and beneath him. However, Astaroth doubted even Lucifer would be so arrogant as to leave his greatest weapon unprotected should, by some miracle, one of his foes reach it.

Astaroth waited, monitoring the building for some time before he was comfortable enough in his assessment. Two demons; that was all he had seen patrolling the grounds. Of course, there could be more inside, but Astaroth did not think Lucifer would allow anyone, especially not glorified watchdogs, in the same room as his victory ticket in the war with Heaven if he were not there. He eyed the two, appraising their fighting capabilities. Although he himself was extremely powerful, Astaroth was not willing to take any chances when it came to this mission. All it took was for him to get only a little overconfident, to barely let his guard down, and a lucky attack or surprise maneuver could end it all right then and there. He could not let that happen; too much was riding on this.

The first guard - a short, stocky demon with grey skin, and spiky protrusions - paced back and forth outside the front entrance. He was well muscled, but the aura he gave off was considerably lower than Astaroth's. The second - a tall, equally muscled demon of dark yellow - was doing a wider sweep of the area. He had a slightly stronger aura than the first, but still wasn't much of a threat. Astaroth decided it was time to make his move.

Once the short one was facing away, and the larger's repetitive route had taken him far enough from the entrance, Astaroth rushed from behind his hiding spot and pounced on the first demon. His leg snapped out and struck at the knees. The guard collapsed, a sharp cry of both pain and surprise escaping his lips before Astaroth's hands gripped both sides of his face and twisted suddenly to the right.

"Be silent." He snarled.

By now the second demon guard was coming back around, but he was of no consequence anymore as Astaroth pulled open the door and entered the building. Although there were several rooms, he did not need to search very hard for his target. Lucifer truly was a being too proud and overconfident for his own good. There, in the middle of the war room, floating in midair a foot off the ground, as if on display at an Earth museum was Lucifer's Trident. The most powerful weapon in all of Hell, and the fool did nothing to keep it out of unwanted hands.

He shot a hand out to grab it, and immediately recoiled in pain; his fingers feeling as if they were burning, and the skin beginning to melt away around the knuckles. An alarm began wailing, and Astaroth cursed his own foolishness. There he was mocking Lucifer's apparent arrogance, while he himself became too confident and made the mistake of not checking for any wards protecting the Trident. He knew the guard he had left alive would now be coming for him, and reinforcements would not be far away. Lucifer himself would likely be on his way. Astaroth did not have much time, and to make matters worse he was not adept at the mystical arts. They had never been his strong suit, and now he had no way to disarm the protective barrier. Just then Astaroth felt a pair of claws dig into his back as he was picked up and tossed into a wall by the taller demon.

"Blast! I underestimated his speed. I have to kill this one quickly, before reinforcements arrive. I will not allow this to all have been for naught."

He climbed to his feet and spun around with blinding speed, reacting fast enough to catch the leg of the demon who had aimed a kick at his head. Astaroth bent his arm at a ninety degree angle and brought his elbow down on the guard's knee with considerable force, an audible snap resonating through the room. He followed this with a slash across the guard's throat, his claws ripping through flesh. The yellow demon fell to the ground, hands clutching at his neck. For his credit, this one did not make a sound.

Returning his attention to the Trident, and the mystical barrier surrounding it, Astaroth attempted to work out a way around it. From what he could tell, the Trident was surrounded by an invisible wall of concentrated Hellfire, intensified to a level of disintegration - as was evident from the missing skin around his knuckles. Hellfire was the main source of offensive power for demons. An energy that could take many forms and be used for an endless variety of effects; including concussive beams, physical fire that could cause excruciating pain, summoning of spirits and entities, pure destruction, or even instant death depending on the level of the user and their intent. And with a being such as Lucifer casting the protective spell, Astaroth knew he had no chance of disarming it, even if he were mastered in the mystical arts. Had he been a weaker demon, such as one of the guards, simply touching the barrier would have been enough to utterly destroy him.

Lucifer's soldiers were likely to arrive at any second, and Astaroth saw no other way to retrieve the Trident than a direct approach; and even that was doubtful to succeed. Taking a deep breath and willing himself to be strong, he pressed his palm against the invisible wall and pushed with all his might. He could feel the skin on his hand slowly melting away as a burning sensation crept up his forearm and to his shoulder. The pain receptors in his entire arm were alive and screaming; he had never felt such pain in all of his existence. Still he pushed, the wrist of his hand now through the barrier. The Trident was only inches away, but that might be too far as he saw the entire outer layer of the skin covering the muscles and tissue of his hand dissolve away. He shouted, not in pain, but in determination, using all of the strength he possessed to push through.

Finally his fingers brushed against the metal of the weapon before they wrapped around the shaft. Gritting his pointed teeth, Astaroth yanked back as hard as he could, freeing the Trident from it's protective barrier. He immediately switched hands, holding the Trident in his left as he watched the remaining tissue and muscles on his right disintegrate, the bones from his wrist and below, no longer held together by any ligaments, clattered to the floor. He stared at his right arm, now effectively useless, as his skin finally stopped melting just below his elbow. Despite the pain he was in and the loss of his hand, Astaroth smiled. He had won, for now at least. With the Trident in his possession, Lucifer's plans to enslave humanity were ruined.

"Rejoice, brothers," he thought, remembering his fallen comrades. "For on this day we have achieved the victory we had all dreamed of."

Through the open doorway Astaroth could see a few dozen foot soldiers running towards the building, only a few hundred feet away. Just past the stampeding horde he could make out the distinctive, shining aura - one of the few to be visible to the naked eye - of Lucifer Morningstar, flying towards his command center at a breakneck speed. Though Lucifer was still of some distance away, Astaroth could swear he saw both desperation and anger in the Devil's eyes. This only broadened his grin as Astaroth raised the Trident high then slammed the base hard into the floor - channeling one of the few abilities the Trident possessed that he knew he could access - and uttered a single word.

"Earth."