(Degulish's POV)
-Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!- Degulish cursed constantly while fighting Black Spider. He didn't know what kind of creature he had transformed into, but Degulish admitted that he had greatly underestimated Black Spider!
Each of his attacks came like a storm, slower, yes, but there were many of them. He tried to get away, but Black Spider's mobility in the vacuum was even greater than his own!
He tried accumulating negative debuffs, but even when they affected him, they didn't seem to last very long and then simply stopped affecting him!
He tried to give up defending and discovered that this guy's defense was his greatest quality! He barely managed to leave a mark on that tough shell and healed almost completely soon after!
If it weren't for the lack of pugilistic flames, he would have thought Black Spider was a pugilist, but instead he's probably some kind of racially enhanced or physically transformative Esper, it didn't matter now.
Black Spider's attacks barely did any damage, but there were too many attacks, he healed quickly like a pugilist, but for every heal, two more damages appeared. It was an endless cycle, and... he was losing!
He tried to learn Black Spider's rhythm, attempting to decipher his movements, this was standard practice for hand-to-hand combatants, but it only confused him further. There were no rules or norms, each member seemed to act as an independent individual! He felt like he was fighting dozens of Grade A pugilists at the same time!
Weaker than him, yes, but quantity is a kind of quality.
Degulish was at his wits' end, without reinforcements, he knew he would probably lose, the problem was that this was supposed to be a quick assault operation! They were inside Godorian territory, and if they stayed there too long, Godora would respond swiftly.
Even with limited close communication, there were several civilizations around, many of them subordinate to Godora. It wouldn't be long before Godora's reinforcements arrived, so at that moment he just wanted to escape!
The problem? How can you escape if you can barely breathe?!
Taking a deep breath, he knew he couldn't delay any longer. His eyes hardened, having made a decision. In the next moment, his pugilistic flames intensified as he assumed a defensive stance. Just as Degulish had expected, Black Spider unleashed all his power to attack. In less than a second, he received thousands of stab wounds. His body bled profusely, but he ignored it. A second was all he needed.
Its flames roared with all their might, burning at a tremendous temperature, a burst of energy pulsed from its body, going in all directions around it, nearby ships were thrown away by the impulse, Black Spider itself was sent flying backward, spinning, trying to stabilize himself.
That was all Degulish needed, he activated his pugilistic flames and propelled himself directly towards the main ship, which came rushing towards him.
He entered before Black Spider could even begin the chase, and what happened next shocked the Godorians, all the ships began to flee as fast as they could.
The Godorians were shocked and for a moment didn't know whether to pursue or not, but in the end the commander was against it, they weren't an attack fleet, but a merchant fleet. In the end, the commander was completely relieved to get rid of the Dark Star so easily.
Black Spider remained in the void, staring in the direction of escape. He sneered slightly, he would repay this debt in the future, but for now, he sighed and returned to the Godorian ship. He needed to demand compensation for his bow.
Godora might only be a star system-level civilization, but it certainly had a lot of Grade A equipment, especially since it was a magical civilization with many alchemists and enchanters, acquiring one of them as compensation is a good thing.
He didn't want standard Grade A equipment, he could easily buy that with money. He wanted something that civilization didn't sell and only gave to its own employees in moments of great merit!
Sure, he didn't want another bow, he would ask Bradd for that, using Umbra Alba as an example, he had more confidence in Bradd, but getting some other kind of equipment would be good, maybe something defensive.
He felt that if he could have restrained Degulish, Godora would probably not only have given him something very good, but his reputation with them would have skyrocketed to reverence, it was a pity.
In the end, even knowing that Godora wouldn't let him suffer, after all he had Ames on his back to "talk" to, he still felt he had suffered a loss. He reached into his space pouch and pulled out a fragment of wavy black stone, a piece of the arc of a thousand stars...
Only a tired sigh illustrated his mood.