Preliminary Test Pt. III

Pendela stared at Melody, tightening the grip on her scythe. Her deep blue eyes shined with determination and without warning, she launched herself toward Melody. Melody braced herself and swiftly evaded Pendela's strike. She leaped backwards and noticed shadowy hands rushing toward her.

Fizz rushed forward, slicing through the shadowy hands and appeared behind Pendela. She slashed her sword at Pendela, only for Pedela to turn into a puff of black clouds. She grunted, turning around only to be met with a powerful slash by Pendela. Her reflexes were just fast enough for her to block the attack, but in the end was knocked backwards.

"Weak.." Pendela scoffed before kicking Fizz away then summoned shadowy hands to grab and squeeze Fizz.

Fizz groaned as her life force was being drained by the shadowy hands. She struggled to break out, but the more she struggled the tighter the grip became. Pendela smirked at Fizz's pain, her eyes shining with a sadistic pleasure then her expression changed when she heard the roar of Melody.

Melody dashed forward, striking the shadowy hands and freeing Fizz. She transformed into her Princess Form and her flames rushed around her body. "Pendela!" She roared and her eyes flashed with a fury only known by a Lionness.

Pendela braced herself, her eyes widening from the increase of Melody's speed. She grunted as she blocked Melody's attack, only to be pushed back. Melody didn't give her a chance to recover, rushing her with swift and calculated blows. As Pendela was knocked away, she recovered and summoned multiple Fallen Ninja to swarm after Melody.

"VI! Let's go!" Mina called out.

VI nodded and rushed forward with her sister, defending their fellow Princess from the Fallen Ninja. Melody watched as the two swiftly dealt with the Fallen Ninja then a slight smile stretched on her lips.

"Princess!" Sora called out to Melody as she ran toward the battle with Feline.

'My allies...I will not fail you all!' Melody thought to herself, flipping her hair and her Peridot Earrings shined brightly.

With a new determination, Melody dashed toward Pendela and roared as she landed a clean blow to Pendela's face while she was off guard. She rushed after Pendela and pounced toward her, landing a powerful flying roundhouse kick, blowing Pendela away.

"Burst Skill!" Melody roared as she landed on the ground forming two fireballs in her hand. "Raging Nova!"

Melody bellowed, releasing a powerful beam of fiery energy toward Pendela. Pendela summoned a Fallen Knight to take the hit for her then she vanished at incredible speeds and appeared behind Melody just as she was recharging her energy then slashed at her. She looked surprised when her slash was blocked then her eyes widened.

"Hmph...Like I would let you just easily kill a Princess."

VI and Mina looked at the cloaked woman then gasped. "Edea!" They both said, happiness filling their tone.

'The Eco Aegis..? Tch...the woman those vigilantes saved,' Pendela thought to herself, jumping backwards to create some distance between her and her opponents.

Edea watched Pendela closely, slowly stepping forward and readied her sword. "Who are you and what is your purpose for stopping us from taking back North Emerald?"

Pendela glared at Edea, her scythe disappearing then she summoned a sword. The blade of her sword began to emit death energy. "I am Pendela Balor. And—"

Pendela paused once she felt the Crest of War being activated then her eyes looked past Edea toward the base. 'What..? The Bloodshed..?'

Suddenly, an explosion happened at the base, catching everyone's attention. They all noticed smoke coming from the roof of the building.

Liao Ru stepped forward and placed her hand on the communicator. "Rose, what's happening?"

Rose answered back. "Nothing bad, just dealing with these disgusting Fallen. No need to worry about us, although my data reads you are dealing with a powerful ally yourself. Need back up?"

Liao Ru looked over at her allies then closed her eyes. "None will be needed. I was just checking on you."

Pendela decided to ignore the base and deal with her problem in front of her. "Once I take all of you down, I will stop those damn Zodiacs myself!"

Pendela dashed toward Edea and bellowed as she slashed. Edea blocked her first slash then began to rapidly clash with Pendela. They both clashed one last time, entering a blade lock. Edea won the test of strength, pushing Pendela back. Pendela rushed forward again and turned herself into black clouds then appeared behind Edea.

Before Pendela could complete her attack, she was struck in the face by Sora and groaned as she was blown away. She roll on the ground before recovering onto her feet and noticed two panthers made from light energy rush toward her.

"Follow my lead!" Feline roared as she dashed toward Pendela.

"Right!" Sora said as she ran behind Feline.

Pendela braced her self and began to dodge both of Feline's and Sora's attacks. While her steps were calculated, the speed of the two was overwhelming.

"Do it!" Feline roared.

Sora performed multiple hand gestures then placed her hand on the ground. "Sacred Lion! Go!"

A lion made from light energy emerged from underground then rushed toward Pendela with a roar. The lion swiped his claws at Pendela, but missed then was taken down in one strike from a counter attack by Pendela.

"Don't falter! Keep going!" Feline roared as she swiped her claws at Pendela with the panthers.

Pendela blocked and evaded each strike then slipped away using the shadows beneath her. She appeared above Feline and struck her with a powerful chop to the neck. Sora's eyes widened as she noticed Feline go down from a lethal blow.

"Feline!" Sora yelled out, her scream echoing across the battlefield.

Pendela prepared the finishing blow but was struck by a heavy blow to her ribs, causing her to cough a bit of blood. Sora, now fueled by her rage, began to rush Pendela with a flurry of attacks then knocked her away with a palm strike to the face.

Sora let out an enraged yell, her eyes shining blood red and her nine tails manifesting on her body. She placed ger hands on the ground and snarled at Pendela, seething with anger.

Melody watched Sora in awe, sensing her power level increasing rapidly. 'Her Nine Tailed Form...'

Sora lunged toward Pendela at high speeds then went for a horizontal spinning kick, but Pendela blocked it and pushed her back then went for a slash. Sora used a burst of speed, evading the attack then appeared behind Pendela. Pendela watched as Sora moved around her, her eyes only seeing Sora as a blur of light.

'Who the hell is this girl? How is her power level this high all of a sudden..?!' Pendela thought to herself.

Sora began to strike Pendela from all directions at light speeds then knocked her into the air. Pendela grunted as she was launched into the air, opening one eye only to see Sora wasn't anywhere to be seen. Sora appeared above Pendela, striking her down with her tail then began to unleash endless waves of light energy blasts at Pendela.

Pendela landed on her feet then began using bursts of speed to evade the energy blasts and her Crest of Death shined brightly on her hand. She tossed her sword in the air then her Reaper Avatar caught it. "I open the First Gate of Death: Bushido!"

The Reaper's eyes shined brightly and opened his mouth, exhaling as smoke left his mouth. The Reaper began to fuse with Pedela and half of her raven black hair slowly became white. Her eyes shined golden and she heard a voice whisper to her.

"Kill..." The voice whispered to Pendela. "Kill them all..."

Everyone noticed a shift in Pendela's demeanor and felt a sinister energy around her. Pendela giggled softly as cursed markings slowly formed on the left side of her body. She began to laugh as a demonic energy surrounded her body.

Liao Ru watched her and closed her eyes then began to meditate while standing. "Everyone, stand back. There's no way you all can win anymore."

Everyone backed away, giving room to Liao Ru and Pendela. Pendela looked at Liao Ru with a devilish grin and chuckled softly. Liao Ru opened her eyes then exhaled calmly. She taunted Pendela which Pendela fell for.

Pendela dashed toward Liao Ru throwing rapidly strikes at her only for each one to be deflected and blocked. Liao Ru used Pendela's own momentum to twirl her around then blew her away with a large chunk of earth. Pendela crashed into a tree, groaning as she fell onto her knees.

"Kill!" The voice yelled at Pendela.

"I will kill you!" Pendela bellowed then launched herself toward Liao Ru.

Liao Ru began to evade and block each of Pendela's attacks with graceful and elegant movements. Each attack Pendela threw was a miss and easily deflected. Liao Ru stepped forward, palming Pendela's chest with a swift and decisive blow, knocking her back. She rushed forward then rose her hands, two blasts of wind hitting and knocking Pendela in the air.

'Who...is this woman..?' Pendela thought to herself then noticed a red glow from Liao Ru.

Liao Ru's eyes shined red and her hair slowly became white as she transformed into her Immortal Phoenix Form. She bellowed then palmed Pendela's stomach with full force, blowing her away. Pendela groaned and grunted as she crashed through multiple trees. She recovered then gasped as Liao Ru appeared in front of her.

"Qijinmak Style.." Liao Ru said coldly then dark energy surrounded her hand. "Thousand Shadow Strike!"

Liao began to deliver explosive blows at rapid succession then bellowed as her speed only increased. Pendela couldn't get a chance to recover or block, she could only take each blow head on. Liao Ru let Pendela fall into a weakened stance then placed her fingertips against her chest. Pendela's eyes widened as she looked down.

"Infinity Technique No. I: One Inch Finish.." Liao Ru said then delivered a fatal one inch punch straight to Pendela's chest.

Pendela felt her heart stop for a moment before the second impact sent her flying. Pendela crashed onto the ground, rolling backwards before crashing into a boulder. She sat against the boulder and her sword exited her body, her cursed marks slowly disappearing.

Pendela could barely feel her body as the blow she took felt like it destroyed all of her nerves. She coughed up a bit of blood then leaned her head back against the boulder. She noticed black clouds surrounding her body then she smiled as she knew Darkness was saving her. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to rest.

Liao Ru noticed Pendela wasn't returning then exhaled, reverting back to her normal form. "All there's left...is for the Zodiac Knights to finish their task.."

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My team and I rushed down a corridor, taking down any Fallen Members that stood in our way. We began to rush up a flight of steps to get to the top of the base. As we ran, black clouds rushed toward up from downstairs.

Rose noticed and became alert of it. "Everyone! Don't stop moving!"

I looked back and noticed the black clouds, grunting softly then began to pick up the pace. "Darkness is here...This isn't good.."

"August!" Lily screamed as she was sucked into the black clouds.

"Don't stop moving!" Nina yelled as she was sucked into the black clouds as well.

"Don't worry about us!" April called out before getting sucked into the black clouds as well.

I grunted when I noticed them getting dragged into the black clouds. One by one, my allies were getting dragged into Darkness's hold and I didn't know what he was doing to them. Once my allies were all gone, the black clouds disappeared.

April and the girls yelled as they were sent outside. Liao Ru noticed them and her eyes widened in surprised. She quickly created a bubble big enough to catch them.

"What the— Where's August?!" Liao Ru asked, her worries evident in her tone.

"He's still in the base! Darkness...is inside that base..." April said, her voice soft with worry.

"He only wants to fight August it seems.." Sennie said then got off the bubble. She looked at everyone else and noticed how beat up everyone looked. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Melody started then looked back at the base. "Will August be fine..?"

Rose stood up and dusted herself off then sighed. "Hopefully... He's in there alone so now it's do or die..."

I finally made it to the top and kicked the door open. I walked inside the main chamber, my gaze falling upon Darkness. "So you were here..."

"This is a very powerful base. The strongest base in North Emerald. Of course I will be here to defend it," Darkness said as he looked out of the window. "Tell me something, Ascea. How much stronger have you grown.."

I grunted softly and summoned my gauntlets then adjusted my mask. I stared at Darkness, feeling ominous energy around me. I was nervous as I was the only one fighting Darkness in this moment.

"My darling, do not falter. We are with you," Sephora said as she stood beside me.

"Yeah! This prick is gonna get what's coming to him! Let's show him how much stronger you've become!" Leona roared and smacked her fist against her palm.

I nodded, closing my eyes and calming my nerves. I took a deep breath then exhaled. "Darkness, I've grown stronger since our last bout. This time, I will be the one winning."

Darkness laughed softly, slowly turning to look at me. His Crest of Oblivion shined on his hand then black clouds formed around his body. "Then show me, Prince Ascea. Allow me to see your growth.."