Willpower and Pride

Tsumaki dashed toward me and slashed with her spear. I dodged the slash then jumped backwards to create distance between us. I summoned ice spears and shot them at her. She deflected them and threw her spear at me. I grunted and evaded the spear then noticed her warp next to me then she struck my face, sending me crashing through a building. I grunted and rolled on the ground.

Tsumaki summoned her spear in her hand and smirked. "This power is amazing...I can feel it growing ever so slightly."

She noticed an explosion on the other side of the city and rose an eyebrow. She began to levitate in the air and flew toward the explosion.

Yufumi chased after Misao and began to send fire projectiles at her. Misao dodged the projectiles then dove forward to dodge the massive fireball. She rolled forward and turned around. She closed her eyes and lightning began to crackle around her.

Yufumi bellowed and fired a beam of fire at Misao. The beam hit Misao then an explosion happened. Yufumi panted and lowered her hand. She noticed a faint glow in the smoke. The smoke cleared and Yufumi noticed Misao in her Miko Form. Lightning crackled around Misao's body and light particles circled around her.

"Her power level...This increased seems impossible.." Yufumi said in shock.

Misao stood up and her fox tail swayed from side to side. Misua appeared next to her and she looked at Yufumi seriously. "Now...you will see a Valkyria's true power."

Yufumi braced herself then her eyes widened as she noticed Misao propelling herself around her at invisible speeds. Misao began to strike her from all directions while Misua slashed her claws at Yufumi at invisible speeds as well. Misao kicked Yufumi upwards then performed hand gestures.

"Lightning Arts: Fulgur Flash!" Misao bellowed then a magic circle appeared above Yufumi and a powerful bolt of lightning struck Yufumi and sent her crashing to the ground.

"The battle is really amping up now." Tsumaki said with a smirk. "Yufumi is fighting Misao...so that means I have a chance to make her an ally."

Misao looked at the smoke cloud and braced herself as she felt Yufumi's energy. A faint red glow shined through the smoke then a roar was heard. The smoke cleared and Yufumi's aura surged powerfully across the area, setting the battlefield ablaze.

Misao's eyes widened as she felt Yufumi's power increase significantly. "Is this the true power of a Zodiac..?"

"Leona!" Yufumi bellowed and the Gem on Yufumi's necklace shined brightly as she transformed into her Zodiac Form.

"The Gem of Leo..." Misao said then looked serious.

Yufumi looked at Misao and she fused her yellow aura with her Zodiac Form, boosting her strength beyond the scales of S Rank. "This battle has truly begun."

-----

I grunted as I stood up and shook my head. I reverted to my normal form then looked at my hands. "Dammit...I didn't expect her to grow so strong so quickly. My Gem needs to recharge so I can't access my Ruler Form right now. Great now I'm in a predicament.."

I felt large amounts of energy and noticed a heat wave rush across the city, setting everything ablaze. I contacted Misao to see if she was okay.

"Misao! What's going on over there?!" I asked.

Misao dodged Yufumi's blazing kick then parried her punch then struck her face with her palm then kicked her away. "I found the Zodiac that Nagini was talking about and she's extremely strong! I won't be able to defeat her alone!"

"Shit...now we have to deal with Tsumaki and Yufumi. I'll be there as fast as I can! I'm kinda in a pickle with my Ruler Form but I will do the best I can!" I said.

"Hurry!" Misao said then grunted as she was blown away by Yufumi's attack.

I grunted and manifested my dragon wings then flew toward Misao at high speeds. I grunted and dodged stray fireballs then landed on the top of a burning building. I looked down and noticed Misao and Yufumi battling.

"Gotcha!" Tsumaki said then fired a dark energy bullet at me.

I sensed it then dodged the bullet and turned around to see Tsumaki in the air with her black wings. "You may have beaten me in the first bout, but this time is going to be different!"

"Ha! You're no longer in your Ruler Form! You can't possibly compete with me!" Tsumaki laughed.

I transformed into my Overlord Form then summoned my staff and glared at Tsumaki. "Let us see then!"

I propelled myself toward Tsumaki and changed my staff into a great sword then slashed down at her. She blocked the attack and grunted. I overpowered her and broke through her guard then struck her, sending her crashing to the ground.

I flew after her then changed my weapon into a bow and summoned an arrow. I took aim at Tsumaki then summoned a magic circle. I fired my arrow at the magic circle then a wave of arrows crashed down at Tsumaki.

Tsumaki landed on the ground then bellowed. Her aura exploded and began to deflect the wave of arrows. The raining arrows caused smoke to form then the onslaught stopped. I watched then noticed Tsumaki flying out the smoke then grappled onto me then threw me to a burning house. I crashed through the roof and the house began to crumble down on top of me.

Tsumaki panted and felt her energy slowly decreasing. "I need to end this quickly!"

I crawled my way out the burning rubble then stood up. I grunted and dodged a fireball then noticed Yufumi blowing Misao away.

"Zodiac Arts: Leo Flame Burst..." Yufumi started then a Lion Symbol shined brightly in front of her. The fireball in her hand began to shine brightly. "Frenzy!"

Yufumi bellowed and unleashed a powerful divine flame beam at Misao. Misao tried to dodge, but her body gave out and she fell onto one knee. Tsumaki watched then grunted, guarding herself from the massive explosion. Yufumi panted softly then grunted as she noticed the smoke clear. She noticed me protecting Misao then glared.

"Who are you?" Yufumi asked.

"I am Hisumi, Ruler of Willpower. Guardian of the New Era! We need your power to stop a threat that could destroy our entire universe!" I said.

Yufumi looked at me then scoffed. "I knew I was sent to Earth for a reason. Earth is home to the Zodiacs...what is-"

Yufumi managed to dodge Tsumaki's spear then looked up.

"Hmph! I will not allow you to join the Valkyrias. Your power belongs to the Order of Cataclysm!" Tsumaki said.

Misao looked up and grit her teeth. "We can not allow Qiao Zhi to acquire the power of a Zodiac. If she wins, we have lost this war!"

Yufumi noticed her gemstone shine as she stared at Tsumaki.

'You must join them. Earth is in grave danger. You're the last known Zodiac now. Help them awaken the Hero of Origin.' The voice said to Yufumi.

Yufumi looked at Tsumaki then crossed her arms. She closed her eyes and her aura went from wild to calm. Her hair slowly began to change to white, her aura became silver, blue, and white, and a Divine Symbol shined on her back. She transformed into her version of the Hero of Origin Form.

Misao and I looked at Yufumi with wide eyes. Her power had become incomprehensible. Misao was the most shocked as Yufumi had access to the Hero's Power.

"It's almost time for me to pass on the role anyway. It wouldn't hurt to meet him one last time." Yufumi said.

Tsumaki heard her communicator beeping. She answered it.

"Get out of there. You are no match for her as of right now." Qiao Zhi said.

Tsumaki looked at Yufumi then sighed. She made her weapon disappear and she looked at all three of us. "It looks like play time is over, but I will leave you all with one last gift."

Tsumaki summoned a large Cataclysm Beast and disappeared. The beast was a massive red Great Wyrm.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"It's Drakha. She's the Legendary Blood Dragon known for killing mortals for their blood to grow stronger. She's an EX-S Rank Threat." Misao said and stood up.

Drakha looked at us then roared, using the pressure of her roar to push us backwards.

"Nngh! This dragon is different from the ones of my world...This one is strangely much more powerful than my fellow Demon Queens..." Yufumi said.

I looked at Drakha and had a vision of Aermyth then grunted softly. I shook my head then changed my weapon into a katana. "We have to take her down."

Drakha flapped her wings then took flight in the sky. She roared and began to soar across the sky.

I felt the Gem inside me awaken. I looked at Drakha then transformed into my Ryu Ruler Form and spread my wings. "Let's go!"

I flew toward Drakha and bellowed. Yufumi used her flames to propel herself toward Drakha. Misao hopped on Misua's back then she dashed forward and jumped on a rooftop, following me, Drakha, and Yufumi.

Drakha began to fire energy beams at me and Yufumi, but we avoided the beams and kept up the high speed chase after Drakha. She began to fire spheres of cataclysmic energy at us. I flew forward and parried the sphere of energy, deflecting it back to Drakha. The energy sphere hit her and she roared in pain as she was staggered.

Yufumi flew forward then struck Drakha's head then fired an angelic beam at her. Drakha screeched in pain and crashed to the ground.

"Let's go!" Misao bellowed.

Misua began to dash toward Drakha at lightning speeds then Misao jumped off her back and came down with a spinning strike at Drakha's weak spot. Misua fired bolts of divine lightning at Drakha, weakening her.

Drakha repelled Misao and Misua with her aura then roared loudly. The aura around her body made a barrier around her body. She flew to the air then began to charge up a devastating beam.

"Yufumi!" I called out.

Yufumi looked at me then looked at Drakha. "Alright."

I smiled at her then we flew toward Drakha together. We flew around the barrier at high speeds and began to strike it, trying to break the barrier. The barrier created a pulse of energy to blow me and Yufumi away.

The ball of energy above Drakha began to grow larger. Yufumi and I rushed toward the barrier once more and began to strike it with more powerful attacks and energy attacks. The barrier began to crack, causing the energy pulses began to grow stronger.

I grunted as I was blown away. I spread my wings and stopped myself in the sky. I noticed the energy ball growing bigger then began to charge up my own attack.

"We can't defeat her with energy pulses like this! Yufumi! Cover me!" I bellowed.

Yufumi nodded then flew toward Drakha once again. She began to shoot fireballs at the barrier, causing it to crack even more which made the energy pulses even stronger. She roared at she began to strike the barrier with a barrage of attacks while minding the energy pulses.

Drakha roared loudly and her barrier shattered. She looked at us then fired the energy beam at us. I bellowed and fired my elemental beam at Drakha's attack then the two beams collided.

I grunted as I struggled to overpower Drakha's full power attack. Her beam began to overpower mine and I slowly began to descend to the ground. "Gah! She's...she's too powerful!"

Misao watched then hopped off Misua then summoned her staff and began to boost my power up even more. "To think Drakha has the upper hand against Hisumi..! She's the most powerful Valkyria and Ruler we have! She can not lose! If she does we are doomed!"

'Help them..' The voice said to Yufumi.

Yufumi watched then flew beside me. She began to generate aura around her and the symbol on her back shined brightly. "Hisumi stay strong!"

I grunted and glared at Drakha. "Hurry..!"

Yufumi unleashed her attack which combined with mine and began to overpower Drakha's attack. She looked surprised then roared loudly in pain as she was struck with our combined attack. Our attack began to slowly disappear then Drakha fell to the ground and closed her eyes. Her body dispersed into dark energy particles.

I panted softly and reverted to my normal form then fell from the sky. Misua jumped up to catch me then landed on her paws. Yufumi descended to the ground. She landed on her feet and looked at us.

"You two..." Yufumi started. She smirked and closed her eyes. "Earth has some interesting people. To meet someone as strong as you two are...especially that woman, Hisumi. Her power level kept increasing to new heights. It took me by surprise. A Ruler. I will join you in your quest to reawaken Steven."

Misao looked at Yufumi and smiled at her. "I am glad you've decided to join us. We can't possibly do this alone without you and your power.."

Yufumi nodded and looked at Misao. "Ahead is a little town called Greenwind Town. I'll take you there so you two can rest."

Misao nodded. "I appreciate your willingness to help us."

Yufumi turned around and smiled a bit. "Let's go. I'm sure Hisumi needs that well deserved rest. I'll tell you about my power while you two share yours. I'm sure it has to be interesting."

Yufumi walked ahead and Misao and Misua followed behind with me on Misua's back.