Relationships (Further) - Kilik

Astaroth is, in a purely negative sense, the centre of Maxi's world. While Astaroth seems to have little regard for Maxi (in SC2, there is a scene where Astaroth does not even seem to remember Maxi despite Maxi having killed him once already), Maxi is obsessed with killing the black giant. This is perhaps due to the void left in his life by the massacre of his crew and sworn brother, a cover to prevent the raw pain form affecting him. It's a normal human reaction to respond like this; the families of murder victims, for example, frequently devote a huge portion of their lives to making sure the person they believe is the murderer is locked away or sentenced to death.

Astaroth influences Maxi's darker emotions, making him act in a frequently irrational manner. These darker emotions probably resonate with the Soul Edge piece inside his body to make him act out of character. When he killed Kunpaektu he felt an 'evil' emotion, one which threatened to drive him mad. I get a feeling that we may see Maxi get worse before he gets better... perhaps driven to insanity like Kilik was at Ling-Sheng-Su...