While Dante and his group stood behind Zac, who was letting out his tears next to his mother, Krom said that the woman's life force was leaving her body rapidly.
"Is it Astaroth's blood?" Dante asked the imp.
Krom nodded confidently, though his body kept shivering from the demonic umbra flowing from the woman.
The warlock deduced that Astaroth opted for the option of gathering less strength by quickly absorbing the lives of his victims.
When Dante hunted the shadow demon that was hiding in the Devil's Den Nightclub, he explained to Camille and his group how the demons' life siphoning worked.
If a person had been forcibly fed a demon's blood without a contract, they would be afflicted by the "soulbond enfeeblement" condition, leaving them paralyzed as the demon absorbed their life force.
At that point, the demons had two choices:
