Arthur's POV
My Force Core was almost depleted. As much as I want to keep fighting, I have to stop and recover for now.
Iskara... I could tell in a single glance that he is a powerful foe. I heard about the organization called Black Hole. They used to be Guardians, but they became corrupted because of their greed for power. From what I heard, they are the reason why Fiends are active here in the frontlines. They use Fiends as their weapons to cause destruction for their own agenda. To make matters worse, they become powerful by sucking the force from a Planet Core. As soon as they finished stealing the Planet Core's Force, the core will become corrupted with dark energy, creating a horde of Fiends due to the high amount of dark energy from the planet that they conquered.
They are not an organization that a Guardian could deal with based on Force Level. Even those who were considered Masters died from their hands.
However, I trust Banther to do his job. I've been with him for two years and we've grown closer since then. I've seen him fought and he was powerful. All he has to do is to stall for time until I recover enough power to fight again.
~~~~~
Banther bolted at Iskara with his longsword, Galaxy Destruction. The longsword was imbued with Force while red and purple runes appeared around his weapon and to his body. The former increasing the destructiveness of his sword while the latter was doubling his raw strength.
Banther swung his longsword at Iskara, but his foe dodged each swing of his blade with such ease. Banther used Body Enhancement, imbuing Force to his body and sword while keeping his runes active. He was able to hit Iskara with his blade, but the cut quickly disappeared due to Iskara's regenerative abilities.
"You are strong and powerful, but that's not enough!" Red runes appeared on Iskara and a wooden staff with red stone carved on top emerged at his hand. He lunged his staff forward and as the stone touched Banther's flesh, the stone became bright. The stone released a powerful explosion which pushed Banther back from Iskara, his back hitting a pile of rocks from the previous battle.
Banther coughed out blood, but he quickly wiped it with his hands and stood up to not give time for the enemy to make their next move. Banther activated his skill, Fire Balls, and countless flaming spheres were shot towards Iskara, but Iskara conjured a dark shield which protected him from the incoming spells.
Unbeknownst to Iskara, Banther flanked him at his side. He failed to notice Banther and even though he did, it was too late. Banther activated another skill similar to Fire Balls but more advanced, Flaming Spears. Instead of spheres, flaming spears appeared instead and the horde was sent flying at Iskara in a close distance. The Flaming Spears struck Iskara head on, piercing his bones.
Banther dashed swiftly against the weakened Iskara and swung his longsword in a horizontal slash to finish his opponent off. However, black flames appeared around Iskara. The black flames healed the damaged body of Iskara and as soon as he was healed, he pushed the flames around him, affecting Banther who was just behind him.
The black flames spread like a halo, burning everything and everyone that were in its vicinity. Banther tried to use a healing spell, but to no avail. The flames were spreading slowly at his body and even inflicting damage to his Force Core.
Unfortunately for Iskara, he failed to realize that Banther has experienced fighting against members of the Black Hole during his service in the Zolgarian Army. Banther focused on defending his Force Core and body from the flames. After, he slowly spread his Force to his Force Core so that he could eliminate the unregistered energy that went inside his core. As soon as his Force Core was safe, he shifted his focus on the flames that were just outside his Force Core.
His Force fought nonstop against the unfamiliar wave of energy that were trying to damage his Force Core. Meanwhile, the black flames that were shrouding Banther's body was slowly dissipating thanks to his Force eliminating the threat from the inside.
'Those black flames are not meant to hurt a zolgarian's body. That was just a distraction for their opponent to focus on. Those flames are meant to destroy a zolgarian's Force Core.'
As soon as the black flames disappeared, Banther swiftly sprung to action against Iskara. Banther swung his longsword while Iskara dodged his attacks and conjuring a corrupted version of Fire Balls and Flaming Spears against Banther. But none of those spells struck Banther as his speed drastically increased as the fight progressed.
Banther was able to reach Iskara. He imbued more Force to his longsword, along with his flames. The Force guided the fire around his weapon, coating it with bright flames that was hot enough to make me sweat even from the distance.
He swung his flaming sword to Iskara, hoping to cut his body in half this time. However, Iskara let out an evil grin that made Banther hesitate to attack.
"Fool! You think I came here unprepared? You are mistaken!" The red stone that was carved on Iskara's staff radiated darkness. The black smoke quickly spread around the camp, messing with everyone's vision and making Force Senses useless.
'Banther!' I said via Wi-Fi Link, but I received no reply from the other end. 'Darn it!'
I briskly jumped into action and bolted where I last seen Banther. The deeper I went through the black smoke, the more it became dark until my vision went black. I tried to use Force Senses, but it was useless.
'This black smoke is blocking our Force Senses and messing up our vision as well. I can't just swing randomly or else I might kill my allies instead of the enemy.'
However, the black smoke slowly faded. My vision returned and I could finally use my Force Senses. Right in front of me, Banther's longsword pierced Iskara's chest. Unfortunately, the cut was shallow due to their distance. But my eyes were fixated to Banther's body.
Due to the black smoke that blocked both his vision and Force Senses, Iskara used the opportunity to conjure black spikes that pierced Banther's flesh.
Iskara chuckled at the sight he was witnessing. "Too bad, zolgarian. You may have landed a hit on me, but in the end, I have won."
A black spike slowly emerged from the ground just below Banther. With a flick of Iskara's wrist, the protruding spike swiftly grew in length. But before the spike could pierce Banther's heart, I used Force Hands to push Banther away from the line of attack and the spike missed its target.
"Who dares to interrupt my finishing blow?" Iskara's eyes were filled with anger as he glared at me.
"I did." I growled while I glared back. Before he could let out a sentence, I appeared in front of him in a blink of an eye and imbued my fist with Force. My fist hit him straight at his face, pushing him back until his body rolled on the ground.
"Young master..." Banther spoke, his voice was low due to fatigue.
"Thanks, Banther. You gave me enough time to recover. Leave the rest to me." I said.