As the rest of the City of Vale erupted in chaos, Ryder stood ready to fight his new challenger. The Greater Warden stood across from our hero with a murderous glare. A series of explosions ring out in the sky forcing Ryder's gaze upward. Ryder watched as two Atlas Airships came crashing down from the sky. His eyes widened as he knew people were on those ships. Real people. The Greater Warden sees an opportunity, so it charges Ryder without roaring. Ryder takes notice, which is fortunate for him.
Ryder dives to the side to dodge a clawed swipe from the Greater Warden before he uses the Lightning Dust, he had previously chambered into his gauntlets to send a barrage of lightning bolts from his hands at the Greater Warden. The Lightning clashes against the Grimm's armor and dances across the surface of it. The Greater Warden grunted briefly before turning to Ryder whose eyes widened knowing his attack did nothing. The Greater Warden then backhanded Ryder in the face and sent him flying down the street.
Ryder regains his footing and stops himself by slamming his fist into the ground. He comes to a skidding halt. The Greater Warden ran at Ryder at full speed with the intent of killing. Ryder decides to not waste time and goes straight to 7X. The green dragon ball styled aura around him creates a shockwave upon activation. Ryder then dashed at the Greater Warden with a fist cocked back. The Greater Warden threw a fist forward just as Ryder reached it. Their fists collide and create a shockwave that shatters all windows near them.
Ryder sends another punch forward as does the Greater Warden and their collision creates another shockwave. They both glared into each other's eyes for a moment before Ryder pushed off the Greater Warden. He then dove in to deliver a barrage of punches. The Greater Warden starts throwing punches that begin to pick up speed and eventually it matches Ryder's speed.
Their punches clash off one another Dragon ball style. Ryder then stops punching and catches the arm of the Greater Warden before delivering a strong kick to the gut. The Greater Warden barely flinched before Ryder let go of its arm. Ryder leaped up and upper cuts the Greater Warden in the jaw before spinning around and kicking it across the face. This kick caused the Greater Warden's head to recoil to the side. Ryder lands on his feet and then sweeps the Grimm's legs before chambering Wind Dust into his gauntlets. Ryder then slammed his hands onto the Grimm and unleashed a blast of wind which launched the Greater Warden down the street.
The Greater Warden uses its wings to stop its momentum and land safely. The Grimm then grabs a nearby car and throws it at Ryder. Ryder dodges the car and runs at the Grimm. The Greater Warden grabs another car and throws it at Ryder before unleashing a sonic wave at his target. Ryder dives to the side to dodge the car and then leaps into the air to dodge the sonic wave.
Ryder uses his magic to conjure a ball of magic and throws it at the Greater Warden. The orb of magic explodes upon hitting the Greater Warden. Ryder remained in the air as he waited for the smoke to dissipate so he could confirm if that got the Grimm. But after a moment of suspense, the Greater Warden comes flying out of the smoke. Ryder's eyes widened once more before the Greater Warden punched him in the stomach. The Grimm then grabbed Ryder and threw him at a building.
Ryder crashes through the roof of a building and hits the bottom floor. Thankfully it was only a 2-floor building. Ryder gets up but is forced back to the ground as the Greater Warden lands on him. As he slammed back onto the ground, the Grimm above him screeches out before it gathers flames in its mouth. Ryder sees this so he focuses his magic on his entire body.
Ryder then unleashes an explosion of magic around him which launches the Greater Warden off him. The Greater Warden was launched into the air outside of the building as the building was destroyed by the explosion Ryder emitted with his magic. The Greater Warden expands its wings and halts its momentum and just hovers in the air. Ryder stood up from the rubble of the building he destroyed before he leaped up and flew up to meet the Greater Warden in the air.
The Greater Warden, seeing its prey's approach, unleashes a blast of fire from its mouth. The fire ball raced down at Ryder who flew to the side and dodged it before he punched the Greater Warden in the chest. But unfortunately, it does nothing besides leave a scratch. The Greater Warden raised both of its hands before slashing its claws at Ryder who back dashed to dodge it. No matter what he does his attacks won't faze the Greater Warden.
"If only I could push it past 7X." Ryder mumbled.
He then got an idea. While forcing it didn't work in the past, he needs to do something. While it's not a good plan it's all he's got. But he does think he can approach it differently. He'll take a page from the Saiyan's from Dragon Ball. Use his Anger. The Greater Warden charged Ryder and sent a punch forward and since Ryder was distracted, he was hit head on and sent flying back. Ryder glares at the Greater Warden who kept up its charge. Ryder this time dodged to the side and evaded a punch. Ryder then drops down to the street below.
He needs to try and use his anger to boost his power. So, he thinks about all the damage being caused by the Grimm. That doesn't work, so he thinks about his friends and them being hurt. Surprisingly, it works. He feels his anger festering but also, he feels his Semblance getting more intense.
Ryder growled lightly. The Greater Warden was watching this and decided to strike. The Grimm dived down and tried to stab Ryder with its claws but before it could make contact, Ryder's aura exploded outwards sending a huge gust of wind in every direction. This catches the Greater Warden off guard causing it to fumble its attack. Ryder counters and slaps away its claws before punching it in the face.
The Greater Warden recoils backwards and hits the ground. Ryder looked at his fist and saw his green dragon ball styled aura got more intense. He didn't know it, but he actually jumped up to 9X. The Greater Warden gets up off the ground and growls at Ryder. Ryder smiles and gets into his battle stance. The real battle has begun.
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Author's Note: What are ya'lls theories? I'd love to hear them.