"Um... I-"
Ashton was about to clarify that he had not killed the Hydra, but merely injured him. However, Astaroth stopped him in his tracks. A Crisik was bowing to him, Ashton might not recognise it, since he did not know much about them, but Astaroth saw an opportunity and wanted to seize it.
The Crisik were honour-bound creatures. Some of them even went so far as to kill themselves to protect the sanctity of their pride. They were creatures who honoured their word and deeds no matter how hard things got.
To have such a creature bowing before an 'insignificant' creature like Ashton was an unprecedented event. Back when Astaroth was still 'alive' in the sense of the word, he barely saw a Crisik offering respect to the Xyrans like this. That's why Astaroth wasn't going to let Ashton's stupid mouth lose out on a potential backer.