Dominance

Astaroth had been waiting in the tunnel that led from the back room to the throne room, preparing something he had been working on for some time. He could faintly hear Phoenix's speech from the opening before him at the end of the tunnel.

And regardless of all her tries to depict him as merciful and likeable, he still wanted to make sure he would assert some form of dominance over them. In his mind, a king ought to be the strongest person in a kingdom, or at least a close second.

So, as she prattled on, Astaroth prepared himself.

He was trying to reproduce a feeling, more precisely one he had felt when Gäap had taken full control. His goal was to reverse that feeling, into controlling the powers of his soul companions, without going through the transformations.

He had been trying to gain their strength simultaneously, previously, but it had always failed. But he was doing it differently this time.