Ultraya: Origins

Chapter 38: Angel

28/05/4013 AD – 19:48 – Earth – Ailutarya – Newly-Formed Crater – Rooftops

Ru-Flare was extremely exhausted, frightened, and highly alert. All she wanted to do was revert to Human form and sleep.

'Hyperzio has me all figured out... I could beat him but not when he has so much support', she thought before punching the ground. 'If only Flaymaclaze had sent me with better reinforcements!' All of a sudden, she heard the sound of jet engines behind her. Hyperzio appeared from over the small brick wall of the rooftop, claymore and Gatling gun equipped.

"Give it a rest, will you?" Ru-Flare said as she got up and tried to bring back her intimidating stance.

"Now why would I do that?" Hyperzio replied coldly as he was unaffected by this intimidation. "Do you know what grants the most 'points' into becoming an assault-type Angel? Killing high-ranking enemies that fight back!"

"Or you could do the sensible thing and just kill off some random extras", Ru-Flare boasted. "Angel-Ayratulia sacrificed themselves for the sake of the entire planet, I'm sure they can afford to sacrifice a few thousand of themselves so we can focus on getting our heroes back".

"We sacrificed ourselves in order to save this planet, yes", Hyperzio confirmed. "But we did so assuming we would perish for Earth's safety, not to justify slaughtering millions! Ultraya was supposed to be a sanctuary for Humanity!"

"Stop talking like you are the real Hyperzio!" Ru-Flare shouted. "I never got chance to meet them; they died before I was even born. I spent years studying them, the most powerful Angels of all time! They were my heroes! They must have got so many kills in the name of justice".

Hyperzio was stunned, "What did you just say?"

"Angel-Ayratulia are what... roughly eight times stronger than a regular Angel? That must mean they need eight times as many kills... right?" Ru-Flare concluded.

"Well, first of, that's not how the rank of Ayratulia works. And secondly, you seriously don't know, do you?" Hyperzio asked, almost feeling bad for his opponent.

"Know what?" Ru-Flare asked.

"The requirements for Angel-Ranks changed!" Hyperzio cried. "It used to be a reward for the good of heart, not for murderers! We literally have an event in the history books known as 'The Ruling Change'!"

Ru-Flare looked around her. She had scorched buildings, incinerated countless Humans, and cooked wildlife to a crisp. She had destroyed everything around her. Overhead, the night sky had been covered in clouds, and it had started to rain. Even with some of her flames being extinguished, their destructive past was still on display.

"Even if that's true", Ru-Flare looked upset as she mumbled, raindrops were turning into steam as they hit her superheated armour. "I can't stop now". She turned to face Hyperzio and screamed, "Killing high-ranking enemies gives you more Angel progress, you say?! Then I'll slay you where you stand, General Imposter!" Her pink wings expanded, and she surrounded the rooftop in flames, blocking all paths of escape.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Hyperzio rhetorically asked. "Even if you killed one hundred thousand civilians, an Angel kill is worth more than double that!" Hyperzio instantly rushed at Ru-Flare with his claymore. Ru-Flare used her flamethrower technique to damage Hyperzio, but he charged through it and swung at her. Ru-Flare dodged and smacked him with her wings, Hyperzio shook off the pain and opened fire with his Gatling gun. Ru-Flare blocked the attack with her spherical shield and prepared fireballs in her hand.

'Works for me!' Hyperzio thought as he clipped his claymore back to his belt and switched his now free arm into Gatling mode. Ru-Flare was now being hit literally twice as much and her shield strength rapidly depleted. As soon as her shield shattered, Ru-Flare threw two humongous balls of concentrated flames at Hyperzio, but he simply used his jet boots to fly out of the way, firing a barrage of rockets from his backpack as he did. Ru-Flare let out a wave of fire to destroy the missiles but was quickly hit by a laser from Hyperzio's shoulder cannon. Her health went down to thirty-nine percent.