I stared at Justitia seriously then lightning crackled around my body. Justitia smirked as she watched me. I dashed toward Justitia at godly speeds then went for a powerful strike. She dodged my attack then went for a counter attack, but I dodged it and blasted her away with lightning then flew after her. I struck her body then she crashed to the ground.
She recovered onto her feet then the Scales tilted to the right and the moon set then the Sun rose again. Her spirit separated from her body. "Let's see how you take on this!"
I braced myself then watched her spirit dash toward me. I blocked her first attack then pushed her away. Justitia appeared behind me then went for a strike. She landed the blow to my back then kicked me away. A powerful pillar of light struck my body. She bellowed then her spirit summoned another light pillar to fuse with the first. The pillar of light grew in side and inflicted more damage to me.
I groaned loudly as the attack grew more powerful. Lightning crackled around my body even more. The glow on my chest shined brighter. "I...won't lose..!"
"Tch!! She's resisting?" Justitia asked in shock.
I closed my eyes tightly and bellowed. I broke through the light pillar and my aura surged powerfully around my body. I summoned my katana then dashed toward Justitia. She ran toward me and dodged my first slash then went for a powerful kick, but I evaded it then jumped backwards. I dashed toward her then slashed through her and sheathed my blade. A flurry of slashes hit her then sent her flying backwards.
I flew after her and jumped up then unleashed a wave of divine lightning bolts at her. She landed on the ground then deflected the lightning bolts then looked up, noticing devastating thunderclouds in the sky.
I landed on the ground and my eyes shined brightly. I changed my katana into a staff then smirked. "Heavenly Starfall."
A powerful multicolored bolt of lightning crashed down on Justitia, striking her. She groaned as she stumbled backwards. She panted and moved her hair from her eyes then smirked.
"You...you are something different." Justitia said then snapped her fingers. Her Scales of Justice tilted to the left until it was perfectly balanced.
Her aura spiralled around her body then she bellowed and constructed two Guardians. One was black with the Yin Symbol on his chest. The other was white with a Yang Symbol on her chest.
"Yin! Yang! To battle!" Justitia said then teleported away.
Yin and Yang looked down at me and their eyes emitted aura. Yufumi and Misao slowly stood up and noticed the Guardians. I looked up at the guardians then had a vision of Severa and her Empress.
I bellowed and began to power up. My aura exploded and the shine on my chest became brighter. I attempted to transform into my Pure Ruler Form, but failed to awaken it. I stopped powering up and exhaled. My Divine Aura flowed around my body then I flew toward the Guardians.
Yin went for a punch, but I dodged the attack. I flew toward Yin and kicked his face then made him stumble backwards. I groaned as Yang struck my body with her giant fist. She sent me crashing into the ground and rolling backwards. I recovered onto one knee and slid backwards.
Misao picked up her weapons. "Guardians of Justitia. That means she's gaining more power elsewhere."
Yufumi closed her eyes and transformed into her Heroine of Origin Form then her aura sparkled. She looked at the Guardians as well and glared. "No more playing games."
I stood up and walked forward. "I'm not done yet..I won't lose and cost us a winning shot at saving the entire Human Realm!"
The three of us ran toward the Guardian. Yin fired a beam of darkness at us from his chest, and we dodged it.
I summoned Misua and hopped on her back. Misua charged forward then I jumped off her back, flying toward Yang. She threw a punch at me, but I evaded it and landed on her arm then ran along her arm. She tried to shake me off, but I kept my place on her arm then noticed a core on her chest. I jumped off her arm and flew toward her chest then summoned my katana then struck her core with it.
Yang groaned and blasted me away with a beam coming from her chest. The beam hit the ground and an explosion happened. Yufumi dodged Yin's attack and flew up to his weak spot then struck it with a powerful punch fused with light energy which was very effective against him. He stumbled backwards and roared, firing a massive ball of dark energy at Yufumi.
She caught the ball of energy then grunted as she was getting pushed down. She deflected the ball of energy to the sky then it exploded. She groaned as Yang sent her flying with a punch. I caught Yufumi and slid backwards a bit.
Misao flew toward Yang and threw her spear at her core. Yang knocked the spear away then Misao warped to it and caught it then threw it at her again, striking and lodging into her core. She warped to the spear and took it out of her then slashed through her, causing a flurry of slashes to strike the core. Yang roared in pain then fell onto one knee.
I flew toward Yang and bellowed then dark aura surrounded my body. I struck her core with a dark purple sphere of energy then an explosion happened. Her core was destroyed and she turned into magic particles.
"These Guardians pack a punch, but are defeated quite easily." I said.
Yufumi dodged Yin's attack then deflected his beam of dark energy back toward him. The beam hit his core and an explosion happen. Yin roared loudly and stumbled backwards. He was stunned and fell onto one knee.
Yufumi charged up a final attack to defeat Yin. "Origin Pulse!" She bellowed and palmed the air then released a powerful pulse of energy that rushed across a vast area then a massive blast of energy struck everything around the area.
I appeared in the sky with Misao in arms and watched the smoke. The smoke cleared and we saw Yin's body disintegrating into magic particles. I descended to the ground and set Misao down.
"They were...pretty easy?" I said.
"The Guardians wasn't her next stage. They were used as mere distractions." Yufumi said then grunted as she felt powerful energy nearby.
"And now...it's time for the main event." Justitia said as she appeared in front of her in her True Zodiac Form. Everything about her was the exact same except the Libra Symbol shined on her body and the Libra Gemstone was fused with her body.
"I don't mean to be a downer, but I believe we just might be at a disadvantage." Yufumi said then noticed waves of illusions being summoned around them.
"As if this couldn't get any harder." Misao sighed.
"So would you like my illusions to also use Atemus or no?" Justitia asked and crossed her arms.
"There are too many of them.." I said. "She's on a whole other level."
"We can still win. All we have to do is defeat her before she reaches 100% of her Equilibrium Mode. It's possible, but it might not be the easiest." Yufumi said.
"How do you know if she's reached 100%?" I asked.
"Her weapon. The scales slowly generate Yin-Yang Energy and she will slowly absorb the energy to reach her final form...Atemus." Yufumi explained.
Justitia's illusions began to run toward us. The three of us looked at each other then nodded and ran toward the illusions. The three of us began to strike down the illusions one by one. Justitia watched us from above then crossed her arms and smirked.
The battle against the illusions slowly wore us down as she just kept summoning more illusions for us to fight as her Scales of Justice slowly generated energy to fuel Justitia.
I struck down the final illusion and panted. I fell onto one knee. "400 illusions straight...This was her plan.."
Yufumi panted as well and her bangs slightly covered over over face. "I didn't expect that to be so...difficult..."
Misao fell onto her knees and rested then reverted to her normal form. "My energy...I can't go on for too much longer.."
Justitia chuckled softly. "You three fought well, but the battle is far from over."
We looked at Justitia and noticed her Scales of Justice showed that she was at 100%. She began to transform into her Atemus Form. Her hair shined a beautiful gold color and her battle dress turned into golden armor fit for a Goddess. Her wings emerged from her body, one black wing and one white wing. She landed on the ground and looked at all three of us.
"Atemus." She said then copied Yufumi's Heroine of Origin Abilities and Misao's Divine Conduit ability. She began to grow even stronger and smirked at us. "Us Original Zodiacs have extraordinary abilities. I am only strong because of my abilities and connection to Henosis. I am grateful for this gift, you three will witness power that's even beyond the normal deities. Hisumi, how does it feel to battle against a real deity?"
I looked at the ground. I closed my eyes and thought about all my battles until now. "I've faced off against Goddesses before...but none like your strength. No one except one person." I said and stood up.
"Who?" Justitia asked.
"Nagini. She's stronger than me in all aspects. She has full mastery over all of her abilities.." I said then gripped the ground. "All the other Goddesses and Gods I've been faced against...doesn't come close to her true power, but you're honestly different and I expect the same will be the case for the other Original Zodiacs."
"Nagini. A name I am very familiar with. You went toe to toe with her? I'm impressed, but sadly you don't have what it takes to defeat me." Justitia said then turned around.
I looked up and noticed Justitia walking toward her Scales of Justice. I grit my teeth and had visions of Yusa and Yan Mei walking away from me. "Don't...you dare walk away from me..!"
Justitia heard me and stopped then looked back.
"You heard me! Don't walk away from me!" I bellowed and slowly stood up. "This battle isn't over!"
The glow on my chest became even brighter. My power level began to skyrocket. Misao and Yufumi watched me in awe.
"I'm not done!" I yelled and my aura surged powerfully around my body. "I can't be calm and collected when my universe is in danger! I can't be calm when I know everyone I love and care about will be killed!"
Justitia turned back around toward me and watched me. "Her power level...she barely has the energy to keep standing and yet...her power continues to rise?"
"I'll defeat you...and I will use your power to awaken Steven and save everyone!" I bellowed and multicolored aura began to spiral around my body. "You will know my name across the Realms! I am Hisumi, Number 1 of the Infinity Council, Guardian of the New Era and I won't let anyone stop me from completing my goals!"
I struggled to awaken my hidden power, no matter how hard I concentrated, no matter how much I powered up, I just couldn't unleash it.
Justitia smirked at me then pointed her finger at Misao then fired a beam of divine light at her. The beam went straight through her chest and she looked surprised then coughed up blood. She fell to the ground and her eyes slowly closed.
I looked back at Misao surprised. Yufumi was even taken aback by Justitia's action. I looked at Misao's near lifeless body and panted heavily. I fell to my knees and couldn't take my eyes off her.
"Now you have a reason to truly awaken." Justitia said.
I grunted and closed my eyes, gripping my shirt tightly. My heart began racing quickly as I began to feel my rage building up. "You...what did you do to Misao..?"
Justitia stared at me and smirked. "You've been my main interest for quite some time now. Your potential is just purely amazing. I had to use her as an example to awaken your power."
I panted even heavier and slammed my fist into the ground. "I'll kill you for this..." I growled and slowly stood up.
Yufumi did her best to keep Misao alive by healing her. Justitia crossed her arms and watched me closely.
"I'll kill you for what you did to MY Misao!" I roared and my aura grew out of control.
Yufumi watched me and remembered what it was like to lose control over herself. I yelled and awakened my Pure Ruler Form out of pure rage. My Pure Ruler Form was uncontrolled, but my thoughts were only about defeating Justitia by any means necessary.
"She's not Berserk...What is this..?" Yufumi asked herself.
I looked at Justitia with pure rage filled in my heart. Although I was enraged, I kept my rage regulated with the help of Steven. "Justitia...There will be no mercy for you anymore.."
Justitia crossed her arms as she felt my power. "Just who is this woman..? No matter since I drew out her power...I can just copy it and end this quickly."
Justitia tried to copy my power, but with the use of Willpower I was able to prevent her from copying my power by giving myself the ability Singularity, an ability that negates the possibility of anyone being able to replicate my power under any circumstances.
"Her power...just defies everything. This woman is a living anomaly. Nigh-Omnipotence. What is this power she has..?" Justitia asked.
I looked at my hand then felt...free. I looked back at Justitia. "My power no longer has limits...From here on out, it's just me and you."
"Heh. Show me what you hold within then, Hero!" Justitia bellowed and got into her stance.