The horde of black filled the horizon as far as he can see.
Countless bloodthirsty roars echoed from the distance as the horde of Grimm advance towards them. Grimm of all sizes and shapes untied for one purpose; that is to hunt those who trespassed their domain—namely them.
Jaune Arc frowned as he inspected his group. Most of them were almost near their limits. Ruby was breathing hardly and her partner Weiss was exhausted from using all those Glyphs. Blake was shaking from fear and exhaustion; no doubt, her fear came from the roar of whatever creatures lurked in the shadows. Having Faunus senses had its downsides as well. Yang had collapsed from overusing her semblance countless scratches littered her skin.
Team CRDL was in need of assistance too. Russell and Dove were trying their best to steady their breathing. Sky was resting from his grievous wounds that would be the death of him if not treated. Cardin was with him in the front, taking out any Grimm that tried to get closer.
His own team was not faring better. Pyrrha's shield was broken from an encounter with a Tyrant and it was too risky to charge with only a sword; instead, she provided help with her rifle, shooting targets from a distance. Nora was low on aura and she cannot waste any more energy if she wanted to protect her partner. Ren was out of breathe and ammo. His knife-guns were not suited for taking out so many Grimm and lacked the firepower.
They had no hopes of recovering this settlement from the Grimm.
"Our transport will arrive any moment now," he said to his group. "Help the survivors while I hold the line."
His group looked like they wanted to tell something, but refrained—they know him too much. They knew that once Jaune set his mind on something, he would do it. It was an idiotic and admirable trait, and it was because of this that he faked his way to Beacon.
"I know what you guys want to say," he smiled at them. "I appreciate the concern, but there's no need. I can still handle a hundred of them or so."
If those words came from him from the past, not one of them would believe. However, things had changed over three years. What was once the weakest in Beacon was now one of the most formidable opponents anyone could find.
I'm so taking a vacation after this.
Jaune smiled at the thought as he charged at the herd of Ursa approaching their location. A simple bash from his shield sent one flying and a slice from his sword cut another one. Jaune parried a claw strike with his shield and stabbed the Ursa at the throat.
Truth was that he was also at his limits.
He had been at his limits a few hours ago. He was just as tired as they were, but he did not show it. His group didn't need to think that they could not hold out any longer. He maintained his appearance for the sake of strengthening their spirits.
At least he only needs to keep up his façade for another few minutes or so—the Bullhead had already arrived and the survivors from the settlement were boarding one by one.
A roar made him place his shield defensively in front of him. An Ursa Prime had struck. He gritted his teeth and pushed down the beast with all his might. His sword buried its length between the middle of the creature's eyes.
Jaune stared forward and grimaced.
The horde was advancing—thousands of Grimm marched, they will not allow their prey to escape.
Jaune looked behind him. Only half of the survivors have boarded. At this rate, the Grimm will catch up and they will get swarmed, along with their transport.
He needs to buy them some time.
He released a cry to attract the attention of the Grimm. He charged through them, plowing his way to kill anything that came in his sight. It was effective; the Grimm had their attention on him. Jaune continued his assault.
A bullet passed through the side of his head. He turned around—
It was Cardin.
That former bully had changed his ways after that even in Forever Fall. At first, no one believed him, but Cardin proved that he and his team changed for the better. He defended Faunus from those others who bullied them and apologized to those that he bullied in the past. By the end of their second year, CRDL was already close enough to hang out with teams RWBY and JNPR.
"Don't think that you'd be on the spotlight alone, Arc!"
The brunette said as he smashed his opponent with his mace. Jaune chuckled and stabbed the Beowolf in his left. The two of them fought side by side and eradicated everything that tried to get past them.
Jaune turned and saw that the rest of CRDL had already boarded the transport; they were calling for them,
He turned his head on the other direction and saw that the heavyweight Grimm had finally arrived. Giant Deathstalkers, Tyrants, Grendels, Goliaths and other variety of large Grimm had finally caught up to them. If one of those gets near the transport all would be over.
"I'll hold them back, run!"
Cardin hesitated but followed his orders.
Jaune dodged an attack from the stinger of a Deathstalker and slowly retreated. His teammates had open fired and helped eliminate other small fries that escaped him. Cardin took care of two Ursa Major before he boarded.
The Bullhead started its engine.
Jaune blocked a swipe from Grendel and ran towards the transport. He could see his friends yelling at him to move his ass quickly. He rolled his eyes but complied. The Bullhead was already ten meters above the ground, he could jump that high. However, the problem behind him remains—
His thoughts were violently interrupted when a swipe from the Tyrant's tail hit him on the side.
He grunted in pain as the spikes from the tail pierced his body and crushed some of his ribs. The world around him became a blur. Jaune's aura was already low to begin with, so the wound did not heal as fast as usual.
By the time his vision returned, Jaune saw that the Tyrant ignored him and instead charged towards the Bullhead.
"GO!"
He yelled towards them. He could see their stupefied expressions. Ruby tried to jump off but her partner stopped her. It seems that Weiss had already decided. He could see the reluctance on the heiress' eyes, but he knew that she knew what was at stake.
The others followed but the ones they rescued pleaded.
Finally, the pilot had decided and activated the thrusters. The Bullhead barely dodged the terrible jaws of the Tyrant. It soared into the orange sky and disappeared within seconds from his sight. Jaune smiled but inside his heart, he knew it was over.
He was alone.
He felt the eyes of the countless Grimm lock on him.
He did not even bother to grab his weapons. He had reached his limit.
A cold sensation assaulted his chest as the horde of darkness surrounded him. He had thought that he had rid himself of this fear once he was able to kill a King Taijitu in the past.
He was wrong.
His fear of the Grimm—of death—did not vanish. It was simply buried behind the back of his mind.
However, when faced alone with these monsters, his fears returned.
His friends were not there to support him.
He was alone.
Jaune stared around him and wondered why the horde of Grimm had not taken a step to devour him.
They only stared at his weak form.
He wondered if the Grimm wanted him to feel fear, to beg before ultimately killing him.
If that was the case then they were free to try. He would not succumb to their trap.
His musings stopped when he heard them finally moved. He glanced at them and saw that the countless Grimm parting as if some royalty was passing. He snorted at the thought and continued to stare to the one who would bring his death.
What he saw would forever haunt his dreams.
A pair of blood red eyes stared directly at him. He could not see its outline for once his gaze fell on it he felt something.
His head throbbed with pain as the thing tried to wrestle control over his body.
Once he stared at its eyes, he immediately understood what it wanted.
No. No. No!
He could feel it entering his body and forcibly taking control.
Once it reached his mind, memories of his friends resurfaced.
The thing wanted to destroy them.
He would not allow it!
Jaune screamed in agony as the creature forcibly invaded his mind, his hands clawed his face and an inhuman sound escaped his lips.
It was winning.
NO!
It would destroy everything.
He would not allow that.
His body thrashed in pain, but he did not falter.
In a desperate last resort, he called to the remnants of his aura.
Everything went dark.
Then there was pain.