The Lion and The Scale 2

The light disappeared and I stared at Leona. I looked at my hands and balled them and closed my eyes. I no longer heard his voice. Leona looked at me and held my cheeks. I opened my eyes and looked at her. When I look at Leona, I see a woman who's been in war since she's been chosen to be a Zodiac. I look at a woman who misses the one she chose because she was his guardian. She gave me a smile.

"I know what you're thinking. There is nothing to worry about...I may miss him, but now you take his place and give me purpose again. A purpose to maintain my spot. You are my knight now, my priority.." Leona said and nodded.

"Leona.." I looked down. "What if...What if I'm not good enough..? I'm no Zodiac Prodigy like Steven was. I'm not fit to be a True Hero like you guys. What if I fail..? It just feels like now I have more burdens on my shoulders."

"You may fail. Steven wasn't the best at what he did either, he had more loses than wins actually. He failed many times, but that didn't stop him. He had one thing that made him the best hero: Determination, Desire, A Dream, A Pure Heart, Pride, Loyalty, and Passion. He loved being a hero even if he did fall. To grow you need to fail, success doesn't come from winning. Winning is proof of success, failure prepares you for success." Leona said.

"Winning is only proof of success..." I looked at her. "I haven't heard that one before...You're awfully humble for a Divine Being."

"I'm not that humble, I just have wisdom and experience." Leona smiled and let go of my cheeks.

The cave began rumbling and the ceiling began to collapse. We looked around and Leona turned into a lion and hinted at me to get on her back. I got on her back and she began running out of the cave at blazing speeds. Hell Borns began emerging from the ground and chased after us.

"I'll take care of the Hell Borns!" I said.

"Do as you must." Leona said.

I turned around and the Z on my hand began glowing and I shot fireballs at the Hell Borns and destroyed them one by one. More kept coming and the ceiling collapsed faster.

"Leona!" I looked back.

Leona roared and burst through the cave doors and roared again. Everyone looked at us and I saw Trickster in front of me and got off Leona. She turned back into a human and floated behind me.

"Trickster! This ends now!" I summoned my sword.

"Yes...because your time is almost up..." Trickster said and looked at me. "Now you will see my true powers.."

We looked at Trickster and the symbols for the Seven Demon Codes spiralled around him. All glowing a different color: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, Violet, and Indigo. The symbols merged into his body and his body began glowing. He perfect copied the Commanders of the Seven Houses Demon Codes and began transforming into his true form, Eternal Trickster. His hair turned silver and his eyes glowed red. Dark aura emitted from his body and was so sinister it made the Hell Borns stop and tremble in fear.

"The Demons Codes...They are from our parents." Katsuguchi said.

"His power is off the charts...I can't even sense it anymore." Hinari said.

"Demon Princesses, your time has finally come...Time for your Judgement!" Trickster said and summoned his demons blade.

"You guys handle the Hell Borns...I will pursue Trickster." I said.

"Alright." Murano nodded.

I dashed to Trickster and slashed. He vanished before my sword made contact with his body. I saw an aura trail and followed it. It lead to a building and I looked up to see Trickster on the roof. I glared and my aura surged around my body.

"Yui?" Emma looked at Yui.

Yui saw an aura trail and followed it. Emma was about to follow her, but Arcane stopped her. She looked back as she knew what Yui was following. Yui saw a building and saw that the aura trail was leading to the roof. She ran into the building and ran to the top floor. She entered the roof and saw me and Trickster battling.

"Your attempts of defeating me is futile!" Trickster kicked me aside and I crashed through the wall and grunted.

"Yu-chan.." Yui looked at me then glared at Trickster and summoned her Grimoire and Staff. "You will pay for that!"

Yui twirled her staff and shot a powerful force of air at Trickster. The Green Demon Code glowed and he shot the same force of air then the two air magic spells collided and formed a twister in the building. The twister began destroying the building. It sucked Yui in and the twister turned black.

"You're a fool for attempting to defeat me...now you will understand my power!" Trickster laughed and blasted Yui to the sky.

Yui began falling and she tried to recover her breath from the Dark Wind. She couldn't transform into her Zodiac Form because she couldn't concentrate.

"Yui!" I bellowed and jumped down from the building and reached my hand out to her. She reached her hand up. I grabbed it and pulled her towards me and turned so I would take the fall damage. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. I opened my eyes and saw I was in the arms of Leona.

"You will not die on my watch.." Leona said.

Trickster looked down at us and jumped from the building also and landed on his feet and looked back. He smirked and chuckled. I set Yui down and she finally caught her breath.

"Zodiacs...A term I haven't heard in centuries. I thought they all died out and yet here I am...looking at one." Trickster laughed.

Leona looked at him and growled. He looked at us and turned towards us then Hell Borns emerged from the ground.

"1,000 Hell Borns. Let's see if you can survive this. No one has ever survived 1,000 Hell Borns.." Trickster said then faded away.

"Yu-chan..." Yui looked at the Hell Borns and was back to back with me.

"Yeah...I know. We have a long battle ahead, but we must defeat them all!" I summoned my sword again and my wavelength matched Leona's and my hair turned into flames. "You've got my back?"

"Always." Yui said and her hair turned white and black.

Trickster saw Leona and Cosima in us. He glared then crossed his arms as he stood on the stop of the building.

"Let's do this!" I bellowed and dashed into battle.

"Right!" Yui summoned her Grimoire and Staff.

We began taking down the Hell Borns one by one. When one was defeated, another one came then another and another. I clashed with a knight then pushed him back and grabbed a Hell Born that shot lasers and forced them to shoot a beam and took out a horde of them at one then snapped their neck.

"Yu-chan!" Yui called out and tossed up her staff.

I noticed the staff and dodged an attack and jumped up, catching the staff. Flames spiralled around the staff and changed it into a sword. I landed and my eyes glowed. I dashed to a horde of Hell Borns and slashed through most of them.

"Inferno Revolution!" I bellowed and slashed in a circle and released blade beams and took out 35 of them. The sword turned back into a staff and I handed it to Yui and we gave each other a fist bump.

We went back into battle and took down more Hell Borns. Yui spun in a circle and generated wind around her and created a cyclone around herself. She pulled 25 Hell Borns into the cyclone and destroyed them all then the cyclone vanished and she wasn't anywhere to be seen. I felt her aura and vanished in a pillar of flames then she punched a Hell Born, creating a sonic boom, destroying the buildings and powerful winds killed more Hell Borns and created a large trench in the ground. I appeared and looked at the destructive aftermath of her attack.

"Tempest Fist.." Yui said and smiled.

"That one move caused all this damage?" I asked.

"Mhm!" Yui nodded and smiled.

We were reaching the end of the 1,000 Hell Born battle. This battle helped us level up our bond with our Zodiacs and improved our teamwork with each other.

"You can use a Zodiac Burst now, you have enough skill to pull it off. Finish this battle!" Leona said.

We nodded and our auras surged. Yui's Grimoire began flipping pages quickly and she summoned a twister.

"Yu-chan!" Yui looked at me.

"Kagutsuchi!" I slashed at the twister and the elements combined and made the twister into a flaming twister.

"Zodiac Burst! Inferno Tempest!" We both said and our eyes glowed.

The twister began dragging in the remaining Hell Borns and generating intense heat, causing heat waves. We bellowed and the twister exploded and the battlefield was empty. Yui and I stood there and Trickster appeared from a portal. He held his hand out and a dark spiral appeared in front of us. It opened a wormhole and sucked us into it. We yelled in surprise and ended up in an empty world.

"What the..?" I looked around.

"I'll deal with you two myself!" Trickster appeared in front of us and summoned his dual laser swords.

"This ends here!" I bellowed and got in a stance.

"Chosen Knights of the Zodiacs...Your fate is decided and so is mine. You will die by my hands, and realized the difference between us." Trickster said.

This was it, the final battle that'll release Trickster's spell on the Human Realm. The battle that decides the fate of our Realm. Yui and I stuck together and was ready to face our toughest battle yet.