Chapter 3: Schism

The focus of the Argus Limited attackers was diverted the moment these two new enemies made their presence known. Even Hayate, who frankly should have grabbed the Relic of Knowledge from Ruby while he had her pinned down by now, had his focus on Shogo and Sojiro a hundred percent. They definitely were the kind of people you had to devote all your attention to.

Sojiro took a moment to count out the remaining enemies in front of them. "Okay, so we're dealing with nine. Wait, no, there's a tenth one that's hiding out. Oh? And it looks like he's the one who's preventing this train from moving."

The magnetism-user's eyes widened in surprise. "Whoa, those are some sensory skills." He muttered. "Might be a good time to fall back…what are you going to do, Deacon?"

Ruby looked at Sojiro in disbelief. "You're...that nice old man from the train station!" She exclaimed.

Sojiro looked at Ruby and smiled, recognizing her. "Well hello, little one." He said. "My apologies that we could not come to your aid sooner. We ran into some trouble of our own. But I promise, everything's going to be okay now."

Sojiro turned his attention to Shogo. "Shogo," he said, "would you be so kind as to clear the area for me?"

Shogo quickly and grandly saluted the old man. "Aye aye, Grandmaster!" He said with a cheer. "It shall be done with all the speed and power you'd expect from a hero of my stature!"

Shogo then crouched into a sprinter's stance. "You can't be serious." Fuma glared at Sojiro, who quickly stood between Fuma and Shogo. "Are you really going to send that lunatic against my entire squad? Are you looking down on us, Geezer?"

Sojiro simply smiled. "Young man," he said, "by the time he's done, you're going to wonder why I try to keep him on a leash. Why don't you watch and see what he does? You might just learn a thing or two."

"Here it comes!" Shogo warned the rest of Fuma's squad as his body suddenly lit up into a bright red light. "Blazing Holy Meteor of Doom!"

And with that "simple" command, Shogo's body suddenly rocketed forward at speeds even Ruby and Qrow could not hope to track. The Black Knight was suddenly pushed off Qrow from the force of an impact.

"The hell?" Hinatsu exclaimed in disbelief before she suddenly felt a blow to the face that knocked her horizontally.

The snake-man's eyes widened before letting go of Blake due to a powerful blow to the face. His body began falling backwards. Kamakiri instinctively sprouted blades around his body to defend himself from whatever it was Shogo was doing. Thankfully, Shogo passed him.

"Damn!" Hayate cursed, leaping into the air and letting go of Ruby.

Ruby looked up to see a red streak move past her. Lightning began to crackle around Sanga's arms to try and attack Shogo while he was speeding about, only to be dealt a devastating blow to the stomach that made him slump forward.

Gendo formed a gate in front of him to absorb the force of Shogo's impact. The red streak moved above and past Gendo, who subsequently felt a sharp strike to the back of his neck, making him slump forward as well.

At that moment, the ice-user that was fighting Ren, gritted his teeth in frustration and fear. "Damn it, who is this guy?" He hissed in rage. "Freezing Transmutation: Death Wall!"

The ice-user quickly created a wall of ice with spikes in front of it to try and discourage a direct attack. However, much to his surprise, Shogo appeared right in front of the ice-user and elbowed right through the spiky wall of ice. Shogo ignored the spikes going into his body and smashed the wall, striking down the ice-user in the process.

Everyone from Remnant watched in disbelief as this new arrival decimated the foes that had been giving them so much trouble in under ten seconds.

Fuma gazed at the sight before him in disbelief. Hayate and Kamakiri formed up next to the Black Knight. "Five Acolytes beaten in such a short period of time? What are you people?" Fuma demanded.

"Isn't that obvious?" Sojiro smirked. "We're Watchers, just like you. But also nothing like you. We don't advocate for genocide in the name of a mad devil."

"How dare you!" Fuma hissed angrily. "He is a god! No devil!"

Sojiro shrugged. "It makes no difference to me." He admitted. "Anyone who's central goal is to destroy the entire universe...well, such a genocidal despot is no god of mine."

Before Sojiro could further espouse his hatred for whatever god this cult had, Shogo suddenly began shouting in triumph. "Do you see?" He demanded. "Then beware, the dreaded power of Shogo the Lightbringer! A hero who is truly without equal! Steward of all that is good!"

Yang finally managed to regain her composure and rejoin her teammates. "I don't know whether I should be grateful that he saved us...or embarrassed that he saved us." She admitted

"I...don't think looking a gift horse in the mouth is a good idea, Yang." Blake admitted, rubbing her throat.

"I'm sorry, can we not ignore the fact that he was faster than Ruby?" Weiss demanded in disbelief.

Ozpin was looking at Shogo in disbelief too. He had managed to follow Shogo's movements. But it had not been easy in Oscar's body. Umm...Ozpin? Oscar spoke up.

"Yes, Oscar?" Ozpin inquired.

I'm beginning to think that you were right. Oscar admitted. There is something very different about this guy.

"Well, in the words of kids today, no duh." Ozpin sighed. "At least we can take comfort in the fact that he's on our side for now."

Sojiro sighed at Shogo's antics. "Anyway," he said, "the point is, your god, devil, or whatever he is, came this close to destroying everything before...I have no intention of letting that happen again."

Fuma frowned, slowly realizing who he was dealing with. "I see, a veteran Watcher, huh?"

"Yeah, that explains a lot." Fuma noted. "You must be real old to know of our last crusade. Who are you exactly?"

Sojiro smirked. "I am Sojiro, Grandmaster of the Kingdom of Menou. The man who gathered the mighty Seven Saint Warriors to defend His Majesty, King Chitsujo. I have trained millions of students over the years. You could say that I'm the master of every single soldier in Menou's army."

"Menou?" Ruby was confused. That was a kingdom she never heard of.

"Think nothing of it, little one." Sojiro told her.

Fuma narrowed his eyes. "The hell's this?" He wondered. "The Grandmaster of all people, here? Why is he a Traveler? No matter, it won't stop us from taking that relic!"

Sojiro popped his neck. "I don't know why you all want that lamp so badly, but if these children were willing to risk their lives to protect it, then I shall defend it in their place."

"Hold on, you plan to take them all on at once?" Ruby was surprised and worried.

"That would be the general idea, yes." Sojiro nodded.

"But you can't!" Ruby yelled. "I mean, no offense, but if you're so old, your body couldn't…"

Sojiro looked over his shoulder and smiled at Ruby, making the girl trail off. "What's your name, little one?" He asked kindly.

"Umm...Ruby, Ruby Rose, sir." Ruby introduced herself properly.

"Ruby, it's going to be okay." Sojiro assured her. "I've got this."

Fuma growled at how complicated his mission had become. He then turned his attention to his three remaining subordinates. "Hayate, Black Knight, Kamakiri, kill him." He ordered. "I'll deal with the children."

Sojiro smirked. "Only three opponents?" He taunted. "Are you sure you're not underestimating me just because I'm an old man? That's not very nice, boy."

"Don't screw with me, old man." Fuma growled. "There is three of my men, and only one of you. You may be Menou's Grandmaster, but you're still just a washed up old man that's already one foot in the grave. So do us a big favor and drop dead!"

"All of that is quite true." Sojiro shrugged. "I'm old. I'm quite washed up. And I do pretty much have one foot in the grave. And do you know what I have to say about that?"

The old man's face darkened as he stared down all four Cultists. "You should've brought more men!" He declared. "Prepare yourself! Reinforcement!"

At that moment, Sojiro was enveloped in an emerald-green aura. The snow around him was blown away by the blast. The Remnant Team's eyes widened in shock as Sojiro's power doubled in an instant. "His Reiki just doubled!" Hayate exclaimed. "That's what his Art is?"

"So that's the power of Menou's Grandmaster," Fuma growled, "Reinforcement...simple, but effective. The power to increase all your physical attributes at will."

"This is insane," Hayate muttered, "it's like he's a completely different person. His Reiki is now higher than any of ours. Deacon…"

"We have a mission to complete." Fuma reminded his subordinates. "And we're going to complete it, no matter what we have to do."

"You claim that and yet you're the only one who's not stepping up to the plate to fight, Boy." Sojiro glared at Fuma. "Unless there is a good reason, the leader should always be at the front of the fight. Otherwise, how can his troops be expected to follow?"

Fuma growled at Sojiro. He barely knew this old geezer, and boy did he already hate his guts. "Well, why don't I throw you a bone?" Sojiro suggested. "I'll force you to fight me."

At that moment, Sojiro vanished from his spot, leaving behind a massive impression on the roof of the train car he had been standing on. Kamakiri shrieked in fear as he tried to defend himself. "Urchin Armor!" He yelled, sprouting multiple blades from his body.

Sojiro appeared in front of him. Wordlessly, the old man formed his hand into a blade and stabbed forward, striking Kamakiri in the temple, right in a particular spot where there were no blades to stab Sojiro. Kamakiri let out a pained grunt before he fell backwards, his blades retracted back into his body.

"As threatening as your Art is," Sojiro told Kamakiri, "all it takes to beat it, is skilled precision and aim."

"The HELL?!" Hayate screamed in surprise. He had never seen anyone do that to Kamakiri before.

The Black Knight roared in rage, charging Sojiro. Sojiro calmly stepped to the side and slammed his fist into the Black Knight's back, sending the being stumbling forward. Hayate tried to use Sojiro's distracted state to get the jump on him. He was going to stab that old man right in the heart.

Hayate was suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened in pure fear. Sojiro had caught his dagger without even looking. "I've been in this game for a long time, Son." Sojiro told Hayate, turning his attention to him. "And I'm well aware that when going for a sneak attack, assassins like yourself will aim for the largest center of mass, because they only have one chance."

"I'm afraid you've missed yours." Sojiro told him before bringing his free fist back.

Hayate tried to flee with Quickstep, but Sojiro's fist was faster. The speedster was knocked out of his run by a powerful blow to the face and sent flying into the side of the mountain. Dust and snow was briefly kicked up by the impact. When it cleared, Hayate was revealed to be stuck in the mountain, arms splayed. Beaten brutally by one single punch and unconscious.

Ruby gazed at Sojiro's actions in disbelief and wonder. She could see how fast Hayate was moving. The fact that Sojiro's punch was even faster-fast enough to catch up with him, for that matter-was truly amazing.

Fuma could not believe what he was seeing. "What the hell is this?" He demanded. "I thought he was some old man! But the grandmaster hasn't lost a step!"

Sojiro laughed at that. "Oh please," he said, "I have gotten much weaker. Back in my prime, I could've sent you all flying with the shockwave of a punch."

Okay, that had to have been a lie. Ruby simply could not believe something like that was true. These cultists-whoever they are-outmatched them in every way. And here comes Sojiro, claiming that if he had been even younger, he would not even need to actually hit them. Just blast them with the force of one of his punches. Just what the hell kind of monster was this guy in his prime?

"But just because I'm much weaker," Sojiro continued, "doesn't mean any of you are stronger than me."

Fuma let out a frustrated growl. "BLACK KNIGHT!" He yelled, much to Sojiro's confusion.

Sojiro looked over his shoulder to see that the Black Knight had recovered from his last attack and was back on the offensive. The Black Knight roared with rage at the sight of its comrades being beaten, and fully intended to take every ounce of his anger out on Sojiro. Sojiro spun around and caught the fists of the beast.

"My, my, you are persistent." Sojiro noted.

"Persistent, and deadly." Fuma corrected. "The Black Knight's Art gives him an enhanced healing factor. Not only that, but the more you hit him, the less your attacks work. Think of his body as something that constantly develops antibodies for physical strength."

"How is that even fair?" Yang exclaimed, overhearing that statement. "It's like an enhanced version of my Semblance!"

Meanwhile, Jaune, having finished his treatment of Nora, ran over to Qrow, and was now working on healing him. "I can't believe you had to fight something like that." Jaune muttered to the downed Qrow.

"Mr. Sojiro!" Ruby yelled in concern.

"It's alright, Ruby." Sojiro assured Ruby. "While I do admit that fighting someone who's entire power revolves around adapting to someone's physical attributes is a bit irritating, it's nothing I can't handle."

"I'm curious though," Sojiro addressed Fuma as he continued to grapple with the Black Knight, "why is he not in charge? It seems he's far stronger than you. And, since you are Watchers like me, typically, the strong are placed in charge. It's simply in our DNA. So why?"

"Isn't it obvious, it's because the Black Knight has no sense, whatsoever." Fuma narrowed his eyes at that slight against his pride.

Sojiro gazed at the Black Knight once more, taking note of the red eyes beneath the armored visor. "So it would seem." He mused. "How did you come across a warrior like this. After what happened to you cultists in my people's last conflict with you, I had been under the impression you had lost your strongest fighters."

"Wouldn't you like to know." Fuma growled.

"Oh I would, please tell me." Sojiro taunted Fuma.

"Cheeky geezer, crush him already, Black Knight!" Fuma ordered the hulking suit of armor. "Crush him, and make sure it's painful!"

The Black Knight let out an inhuman roar and tried to push Sojiro back in this grappling contest of theirs. "Oh? My word, you actually are rather strong. Nowhere near the level of my grandson, but strong nonetheless."

"Yes, it appears your last defeat has weakened you exponentially." Sojiro mused of his old foes. "Well, I shouldn't speak so soon. I haven't even met your leaders yet."

"But still, this is troublesome, a single Reinforcement was not enough to beat a behemoth in a suit of armor. Damn, have I gotten old." Sojiro sighed. "Well, I guess that just means I will have to surpass that, right here and now."

Fuma's eyes widened as Sojiro's Reiki rocketed upwards once more. "Reinforcement Times 3!" Sojiro yelled as his physical strength increased once again.

Fuma gasped as he was almost floored by the force of Sojiro's energy. And just like that, his energy was now at the level of a Bishop. This situation had now officially gotten out of hand. "Push past your limits, again and again, that is the way of the Menou Royal Army!" Sojiro declared, pushing the Black Knight off balance.

The old man brought his fist back. Said fist began to shine with a bright green light. "Starlight Breaker!" The green fist rocketed forward, striking the Black Knight in the abdomen.

The Black Knight let out a roar before it was sent flying far, far away by the force of Sojiro's Starlight Breaker. Fuma's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "If he can heal and adapt to any blow," Sojiro noted, "then I shall strike him with an attack at such force that there won't be enough left of him to put himself back together. Good luck healing from that, Sir Knight."

Fuma gaped in utter disbelief. "He sent the Black Knight flying with a single punch? Impossible!"

The magnet-user was briefly stunned by the Black Knight's defeat before noting that Fuma's Reiki was beginning to rise. "Oh dear," he muttered, "it looks like Fuma's rage and frustration is causing his Reiki to go out of whack, this might not end well for anyone."

Proving the magnet-user correctly, Fuma let out a scream of rage as his Reiki increased in response. "What the hell?" Yang yelled as she was forced to her knees.

"So...strong…" Blake muttered, in the same boat as Yang.

Weiss was breathing heavily, the combination of Fuma's Reiki, his wind-based powers going out of control, and Sojiro's own Reiki made it feel like the poor girl was being choked.

"My promotion...my recognition!" Fuma yelled angrily. "How dare you all try and take it from me!"

Sojiro frowned, shielding himself from the wind. He's insane. He thought to himself before noticing blood running down his mouth. Damn, it's been awhile since I've gone beyond a normal Reinforcement. I really have gotten weaker.

"I'll destroy you all!" Fuma vowed. "You are all going to pay for this! All of you!"

Sojiro growled. "Damn, he's gone completely off the deep end. Par for the course for these people at this point."

The magnet-user sighed before smirking. "Oh dear, misjudged our Deacon, huh? That man is as determined as a tornado. This could actually work out for little old me. I can take all the credit when he gets himself killed, allowing his Reiki to run wild like that. He's gonna tear his own body apart, and get everyone else killed in the process...and I'll reap all the benefits."

Ruby looked around and saw the wind beginning to rock the train, in spite of the magnetic power holding it in place. "Wait!" She yelled. "The people in the train!"

Fuma ignored Ruby and continued to gather an insane amount of wind. Inside of the train, Noriko and Shuya frantically worked to keep the passengers calm and under control, reassuring them that everything was going to be okay. What is happening out there, Grandmaster? Noriko worriedly wondered.

Meanwhile, unknown to everyone, a short, dark-skinned, old lady with mechanical goggles for eyes exited out of her car. These people interested her, and she wanted to find out just what they were up to.

Sojiro thought over his next move. I could push my Reinforcement up to Times 4 and break through easily, but I don't know if my body can handle it yet. I've been out of action for far too long! I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake! And what's more, I don't know if these children can handle the stress of being in my presence at such a level. They're strong for their age, but they have a long way to go!

"Aren't you listening?" Ruby demanded. "You need to stop! I don't care how badly you people want the relic, there's no need to involve anyone else!"

Everyone gazed at Ruby, frozen in place, wondering how she was able to think of others in this situation. Meanwhile, even Shogo found himself immobilized. The powerful winds kicked up by Fuma's Reiki, combined with Sojiro's own immense Reiki, was too much even for him.

"Curses, the Goddess of Misfortune has cursed me!" Shogo declared.

"Die, die, die, DIE!" Fuma yelled, now concentrating and aiming his wind at the ground. "Sweeping Tornado!"

For a brief moment, Fuma had left a small opening as he prepared for his final attack. The stress of using so much power at once was indeed actually beginning to tear his body apart, as evidenced by the deep lacerations that were appearing on his body. He winced in pain, and that was when the opening made itself known. Sojiro had expected to be the one to take advantage of such an opening. It was his only chance to stop Fuma.

However…

Rose petals sped past Sojiro. The old man's eyes widened as Ruby Rose appeared in front of Fuma without warning. At that moment, every single fighter still present and conscious gasped at Ruby's actions as the same thought came to their mind: How did she do that?

Ozpin, who had been frozen in place due to being inside of Oscar's weaker body (had he been in his old body, he could have moved in spite of all the chaos), could not believe what his former student had just managed. It shouldn't have been possible with all of his power creating this strange pressure!

Fuma gazed at Ruby in fear. He was wide open now. I couldn't sense her...I didn't see her coming...because all of this Reiki in the air masked her presence from me!

"I told you!" Ruby yelled angrily, bringing back Crescent Rose. "Leave these people ALONE!"

Ruby swung Crescent Rose, slicing Fuma deeply across his abdomen. "URGH!" Fuma yelled in pain as his eyes almost bulged out from their sockets.

Fuma spun a full three hundred and sixty degrees from the impact. The winds died down almost instantly. Sojiro took this opportunity to leap into the air above the Deacon. "Starlight Breaker!" He yelled, punching Fuma square in the jaw and sending the man rocketing into the ground behind the Argus Limited.

Ruby shrieked in surprise and fear as the force of the impact sent her flying. "Ruby!" Yang and Weiss managed to catch her.

Sojiro landed back on the Argus Limited and looked back at Ruby, who was panting from her efforts. He could not help but smile at her actions. To be able to move in spite of all this Reiki and pressure in the air. He mused. Her strength of will is extraordinary for her age.

At that moment, Sojiro found himself seeing his daughter, Kyoko, in her place. Not only her, but his king, Chitsujo as well. An indomitable will of resolve...the similarities are undeniable. He noted.

Sojiro wiped the blood from his mouth so as not to worry Ruby and walked over to her. "Well done, Ruby." He complimented. "I must admit, you really surprised me today."

Ruby smiled and weakly gave Sojiro a thumbs-up. "What can I say, I'm full of surprises." She joked.

"The train's still not moving though." Yang pointed out.

"Which means whoever's doing that is still out there somewhere." Weiss pointed out. "We need to find them and get the Argus Limited moving again."

"No," Ruby managed, breathing heavily.

"What do you mean no?" Yang asked.

"I mean, the train needs to get moving again...but guys, we can't be on the train." Ruby revealed, looking over at Ozpin with a hint of betrayal.

Ozpin tensed up at Ruby's gaze. What's wrong? Oscar asked, but he received no answer.

"Why?" Blake joined the conversation.

"The Grimm...they're attracted to the relic. That guy with the speed powers told me. We'd just be putting everyone else in danger." Ruby revealed.

The rest of Team RWBY gasped in disbelief. "Ruby, you believe the enemy?" Blake asked in confusion.

"If I may," Sojiro spoke up, "while it is true I don't understand any of this, whether that man was telling the truth or not. This isn't something you should risk."

Team RWBY gazed at Sojiro. "He's got a point there." Weiss noted.

"Y-yeah," Ruby was still trying to catch her breath.

"Hey, old man," Yang frowned slightly, "I don't know who you are, and I'm definitely grateful for your help, but I'm really not big on someone who doesn't know a damn thing about what's going on, coming in and telling us how to do things."

"Yang, come on, don't be like that." Blake said to Yang. "It's because of him and his teammate that we're all still alive."

"I know that, but trust is kind of at a low right now." Yang pointed out. "So I'd very much like for him to give me a reason to trust his opinion."

"I can't give you a reason, I'm afraid." Sojiro admitted. "But, you girls seem smart. Do you honestly think it wise to put people who can't fight at an unnecessary risk?"

Yang fell silent at that. "Yang," Ruby said, "he's right. Go get Bumblebee out of storage. We need to let this train continue onwards, without us."

Sojiro nodded. "Shogo!" He called out. "Go and find the brakes at the front of this train. We can't let this train move until we're all ready to disembark!"

"Yes sir!" Shogo saluted and sped off.

"I'm going to go help him." Blake said.

"Do you not trust us?" Sojiro inquired.

"It's not that...it's more along the lines of...I have a lot of questions." Blake admitted. "For one thing...you people don't seem like you're from around here."

"That I can confirm." Sojiro nodded.

"Then consider this my period of observation." Blake said to Sojiro. "I'm going to find out everything I need to know from observing you people."

With that, Blake vanished into the shadows, following Shogo. Sojiro sighed. "Not that I don't understand how you feel...but you seem to have a very unhealthy amount of suspicion for others."

"Old man, you have no idea." Yang rolled her eyes.

"For what it's worth, Mr. Sojiro, I trust you." Ruby admitted.

Sojiro gave them a grandfatherly smile. "I'll tell you what," he said, "how about after we leave this train and things settle, I sit you all down and tell you a little story?"

"Umm...maybe later," Ruby looked at Yang, who was now glaring at Ozpin, "something tells me we have a lot to discuss as a group."

Sojiro noticed Yang's glare and frowned. "So it would seem." He muttered.

Sojiro then turned his attention to the mountain, curious as to the magnet user's location. "Now, to take care of the last one." He said, vanishing with Vanishing Walk.

Meanwhile, Shogo arrived at the conductor's car. He grimaced at the sight of the conductor's corpse. "My apologies, I couldn't save you in time." He lamented before gazing at the board.

His eyes widened. "Oh no, I don't know what the brakes look like here!"

"You are clearly not from around here."

Shogo turned to see Blake appearing. "Oh, greetings Cat Ninja of the Night!"

"Wh-what?" Blake was visibly confused at Shogo's greeting. She then saw the conductor's body and sighed. She tenderly unbuckled his seatbelt and laid his body down, closing his eyes respectfully.

"What ails you at the moment, that you would shadow me?"

"Could you...please talk normally?" Blake deadpanned.

"Er...right, sorry." Shogo rubbed the back of his head. "Is there a problem? If you wanted to accompany me, all you had to do was say so."

Blake walked past Shogo and flipped the parking brake. "There, that should keep this train from moving." She noted before addressing Shogo's concerns. "Look, there's no problem. Believe me, I'd love to just say you're an ally after all you and that old man did for us. However, in my line of work, you can't just freely give people your trust."

"Ah, I see, you're worried I shall transform into your arch nemesis rather than a valued comrade in arms!" Shogo noted.

"...You know what, I'm not going to get mad that you talked like a walking thesaurus again, because I at least understood that." Blake sighed. "You're right. You two showed up out of nowhere, displayed a level of skill I have only seen from a few others, and most importantly, everything you say and do suggests you're not even from Remnant. Which I find unbelievable."

"Oh suspicious Cat Ninja of the Night," Shogo grinned, "if the grandmaster but wishes it, you will learn all there is to know. And then, things will begin to seem less and less unbelievable!"

"I hope so, because for whatever it's worth, I do want to be able to trust you." Blake admitted. "You saved my friends...I would love to be able to trust you."

Shogo nodded and leapt back onto the roof of the train. "Grandmaster!" He yelled. "The brakes are...okay he's not here."

"What about the brakes?" Oscar inquired, having regained control of his body.

"Ah, young one!" Shogo smiled. "I'm afraid our journey together continues on foot!"

"On foot, why?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah, we need to get to Argus as fast as possible." Jaune Arc pointed out. Qrow was right behind him, being supported by Nora and Ren while the feeling returned to his body.

"Guys...it's for the best." Ruby joined in on the conversation. She turned to Oscar. "Professor Ozpin...I know you can hear me. We need to talk once this is all over."

Shogo took note of the tense atmosphere and decided to make an exit. "I better inform my two fellow comrades of light that we are to now journey on foot!" He declared before reentering the Argus Limited to find Noriko and Shuya.

Meanwhile, the magnet-user was frantically trying to flee, having cancelled his magnetism. "No freaking way," he muttered, "this was supposed to be an easy snatch and grab mission. How could things all go to hell like this?"

Then, all of a sudden, Sojiro appeared in front of the magnet-user. "Apologies," he said, "but I'm afraid I can't have you running to your leaders."

The magnet-user could only scream in fear and disbelief…

Elsewhere, a trio of black-robed individuals with what appeared to be white piping on their collars, sleeves and pockets. They looked almost like the robes of actual members of the clergy, however the sheer evil these three radiated gave away that they were no clergymen at all. No, they were something much worse.

They all gazed at the broken form of the Black Knight with a look of wonder on their face, trying to understand just what had happened to such a weapon. And more importantly, they were trying to figure out where he had come from…

Later, Sojiro lowered his head in a brief prayer as he stood over the corpses of the squad of cultists. He had Shogo gather them for him to finish them off. Then, he had taken them a bit further into the forest to do the deed. He did not want the children see what he was about to do.

He knew interrogating them was a waste of time. He had interrogated plenty of men like these cultists before, during the last time they had appeared in the universe. Let's just say, they had a bad habit of committing suicide to avoid giving away any information about their people.

So, rather than make them suffer through their efforts at suicide, Sojiro chose to kill them in their sleep instead. It was a mercy they did not deserve, but it was one he would give them regardless. And so, with the deed done, he made his way back to the group.

When he arrived, he was treated to the sight of Yang letting her frustrations be known at what was happening as she pushed the "motorcycle" she called Bumblebee through the snow. The Argus Limited was also nowhere in sight. It appears whoever took over as conductor let up on the brakes.

"Great! This is just great! We're stranded, because apparently we have to be! We're being hunted! And we've gained a defenseless old lady!"

Wait, what? Old lady? Sojiro raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Then, Sojiro noticed the short old lady with the goggles for the first time. She wasn't with them before. He noted. Hold on, did she follow us?

"My name is Maria Calavera!" The woman declared. "And I am not defenseless! I'm just a little hard of hearing. And blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair."

Maria tapped on her prosthetic eyes, which open wide and close, before opening narrowly again. She sighed. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point." She muttered.

Maria then noticed Sojiro's presence and smiled. "And you must be the nice old man who helped these children, it's nice to meet you."

Sojiro gazed at Maria in comical disbelief. "I'm sorry...who are you again, and why did you follow us?" He asked.

"We've honestly been trying to find that out as well, sir." Shuya admitted. "But, by the time we realized she was with us...the train had already left. So, we're stuck with her."

Qrow then spoke up, having fully recovered from his beating at the hands of the Black Knight. "Yang, knock it off, will ya? If we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting even more Grimm." He grunted.

"He has a point, Yang." Sojiro said to Yang. "You must keep your emotions under control."

"Hey, old man, don't act so familiar with me!" Yang glared at Sojiro.

"Yang, come on, Mr. Sojiro helped us out. The least you can do is try to be nice to him." Ruby spoke up in defense of Sojiro. "And he and Uncle Qrow are right, you'll just attract more Grimm."

Blake scoffed. "Does that even matter? Apparently, we've been attracting Grimm ever since we left Haven." She pointed out.

Yang narrowed her eyes. "Oh and how could I forget that?" She said sarcastically. "What happened to no more lies and half truths?"

Sojiro gazed at his subordinates. "Am I missing something here?" He asked.

"A lot, apparently." Noriko sighed. "We're just as confused as you are."

Oscar then spoke up, drawing Sojiro's attention. "Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation."

Sojiro watched in wonder as Oscar's eyes changed, his body now controlled by Ozpin. "I did not lie to you." Ozpin furrowed his brow at Yang's accusation.

"Amazing!" Sojiro's eyes widened, making his way to Oscar's body before anyone could respond. He gazed into Oscar's changed eyes. "A soul inhabiting another body in some sort of symbiotic relationship. This world is quite fascinating."

"If I may, Mr. Sojiro, it appears that my students…" Ozpin trailed off.

"You may not have lied to us, but you certainly didn't tell us everything about the relic." Weiss interrupted.

"Please, Ms. Schnee, now is not the time." Ozpin walked past Sojiro.

"No, we're past that! I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!" Yang demanded.

Sojiro narrowed his eyes slightly at Yang's behavior. He then heard Ozpin respond. The former headmaster sighed. "It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. It's faint, but undeniable. I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option."

That sounded reasonable to Sojiro. He made the call, and it turned out to be incorrect. Nothing to get upset about. Unfortunately, the others did not seem to feel that way. "You know, I'm getting real tired of people choosing what's best for me." Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?" Yang accused.

"We are clearly out of the loop here." Shuya whispered to Noriko.

"Yeah, no duh." Noriko responded.

Ozpin nodded at Yang' accusation. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth. And I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years."

"Missteps?" Yang could not believe what she was hearing. "He betrayed you! Betrayed us!"

"Oh wow, we ended up with quite the messed-up group." Shuya muttered in surprise. "Some people just don't have good luck I guess."

"Hush!" Noriko growled. "Have some tact, Shuya."

"What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him." Ozpin explained.

That still was not good enough for Yang. "Look, we're supposed to be in this together. You can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you."

At that moment, Ozpin raised his voice. "Do you really think Leo was the first?!" He demanded, his voice clearly betraying the amount of pain he was in over being betrayed once more.

Everyone froze in place. Sojiro's face contorted into a look of pity for the man. "That he didn't say those exact same words to me?" Ozpin continued. "I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I…"

Ozpin trailed off, clearly unable to continue due to the pain he felt. Jaune, however, clearly had no sympathy for Ozpin. "So what, you didn't even trust Pyrrha when you tried to turn her into a Maiden? You were just going to drag her into that life when you didn't even trust her with all that power! How could you manipulate her like that? Answer me, Ozpin!" He screamed angrily.

Nora and Ren remained silent, but were both gazing at Ozpin with looks of betrayal. Sojiro stepped in at that moment, clapping his hands together. "Alright, alright, let's all just calm down for a moment." He said. "This is getting way too tense. No one is helping their case here with all of this anger and rage.."

"Professor Ozpin, was it?" Sojiro placed a comforting hand on Ozpin's shoulder. "Take a deep breath. You're going to attract Grimm now at the rate you're going. That goes for all of you, by the way."

"And as for you children." Sojiro looked over his shoulder. "While I understand your frustration, you all need to try and understand his feelings on the matter. Furthermore, hurling baseless accusations like that are getting you nowhere. For example, Jaune was it? Accusing someone of something as dark as 'manipulations' does nothing for group dynamics."

"Understand? You know nothing!" Yang yelled. "What we've been through!"

"I may not know exactly what it is you all are going through, yes," Sojiro nodded in agreement, "but my age holds experience as well. Plenty of those experiences help me at least understand the feelings you are all experiencing."

"The relic." Sojiro turned his attention to the source of the voice. It was Ozpin. "Ms. Rose...how is the relic?"

"Umm...it's fine," Ruby said, "I mean, they didn't take it."

"...Please, hand it over." Ozpin gently but sternly ordered.

Ruby hesitated. "So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?" She accused.

Ozpin sighed. "That's not what I meant to suggest. Miss Rose, the Relic is a powerful item and I simply feel as though it is my burden to bear." He claimed.

"But you said it couldn't do anything right now." Ruby pointed out.

"Why does it matter who carries it?" Blake added.

"What even is that thing?" Noriko asked, pointing at the relic. "And why were those cultists after it?"

"I need you to listen to me-" Ozpin reached out to Ruby, only to suddenly stop in place.

"Oz?" Qrow asked in concern.

Oscar's voice then came out. He was clearly fighting for control of his own body. "Hurry...he's...trying to stop you!"

"Stop her from what?" Yang demanded.

"He's afraid...you'll find out what he's...hiding." Oscar struggled.

Jaune, Weiss, Blake and Yang glared at Oscar while Ruby held the relic defensively. Oscar fell to his knees. "Her name is Jinn, say her name to summon her."

"Her name?" Sojiro was now very confused.

"Jinn?" Ruby repeated the name.

The relic began to glow. Then, all of a sudden, the wind stopped. The snow froze in place, floating in midair. Qrow's eyes widened, unable to comprehend what was happening around him. "What?"

"Amazing…" Shogo muttered in disbelief.

Ruby then let go of the relic. As it floats a short distance away, cyan smoke emanates from it. Suddenly, the lamp is enveloped in the smoke, and from it, a giant, semi-nude feminine figure emerges. He skin and hair colored blue, and decorated with gold jewelry and ornaments. The figure stretches and moans as she has been awakened once again.

"Wonderful," said Jinn, the being that inhabited the Relic of Knowledge.

Everyone stared at Jinn in awe. Even Sojiro, who had been alive for thousands of years, could not believe what he was looking at. "Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?" Jinn inquired.

Maria adjusted her goggles to better look at Jinn. Sojiro gazed at Jinn in awe. "Who are you?" He asked.

"I won't count that as a question. I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge." Jinn introduced herself before gazing at Sojiro in curiosity. "My question is, who are you? I look at you, and those three dressed similarly to you, and I see that you are no human. Nor are any of you faunus. There is something almost...divine about you. It's weak...but it's still there."

"Anyway," Jinn continued, "I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer-"

"That's enough!" Ozpin yelled, having regained control of Oscar's body.

Jinn smirked at finished her statement. "...two questions this era."

Everyone looked at Ozpin in disbelief. "You said the relic wouldn't work." Jaune growled. "That you had already used up the questions."

"Professor Ozpin...why?" Ren questioned.

Jinn chuckled, seemingly recognizing Ozpin. "It's a pleasure to see you again, old man."

Ozpin looked at Ruby, visibly pleading with her. "Ruby...please, don't."

Qrow glanced at Ozpin and stepped forward. "Hey…" he began, addressing Ruby.

Qrow was suddenly cut off by five different weapons pointed at him, courtesy of Weiss, Blake, Yang, Nora and Ren. Sojiro and Shogo both tensed at the sight. Qrow took one look at them all and relented. "Do what you think is right, kiddo." He said to Ruby.

"That's enough," Sojiro ordered the students with their weapons pointed at Qrow, "stand down, we can solve this issue without turning on each other."

However, before Ruby could come to her decision on her own, it seemed Jaune had other plans. Ironically, it was the same plan Ruby would come to. "Jinn, what is Ozpin hiding from us?" Jaune angrily demanded.

"NOOOOOO!" Ozpin screamed in a mixture of anger, pain and betrayal.

Ruby and Jaune gasped and looked behind them. Ozpin charged forward. Sojiro instinctively stepped between the three. However, before anyone could make contact, the world went white around them.

"What...what is this?" Sojiro looked around, trying to get his bearings. "Shogo, Shuya, Noriko, Ruby?!"

Suddenly, an environment manifested, showing a path leading to a castle in the distance. A woman humming can be heard in the background. "Who is that?" Sojiro wondered.

Unbeknownst to Sojiro, everyone was experiencing what he was experiencing in their own blank, white world with that single castle in the distance. Then, simultaneously, everyone heard Jinn's voice. "Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower…" She began.

Smoke enveloped Sojiro, transporting him to what appeared to be the room of a tower. He looked to see a beautiful woman sitting in front of a mirror, humming. "...that sheltered a lonely girl." Jinn continued. "Named...Salem."

"Salem?" Sojiro repeated, wondering why his heart was beating with anxiety at the mere mention of that name.

And so, Sojiro and his fellow Travelers, along with the people they had come across were taken through a fable, lost to time. He learned the truth, painfully. That the woman named Salem had been rescued by a great warrior named Ozma.

The two quickly fell in love and planned many adventures together, only for tragedy to strike. Ozma was felled by an incurable disease, leaving Salem in grief and alone. He saw that look of grief before, it was the same look Kaishi had when Tomoe had lost her life. It was the look Marishi had when Kyoko had been murdered.

He watched as Salem attempted to bargain with the God of Light, who refused to bring back Ozma. His eyes narrowed when he saw the look of determination on her face. That look was the moment many had been led astray by dark powers.

"Don't do it." He tried to reason with Salem, even though he knew she could not hear him. He was looking at a memory from long ago, after all. "You damn fool, I sympathize with you, but you are treading a dark path! Listen to Him! Let Ozma rest in peace!"

Sojiro could only watch in horror as Salem then tried to bargain with the God of Darkness. He watched as she tried to make it seem like He was the one she had come to first. Ozma had been brought back briefly, only for the God of Light to appear and take his life again. When the brothers both realized Salem had deceived the God of Darkness, the God of Light transported Salem to those strange pools from his domain.

Sojiro watched in disbelief as Salem's forced bath in the pools cursed her with immortality. He learned that she would walk the earth, immortal, until she could understand the value of life and death.

"That won't work." Sojiro lamented softly. "She will not learn her lesson like this."

Indeed, what Salem learned instead was that the gods were fallible, like men. So, she took advantage of this and raised an army, feeding honeyed words to the people. Dreams of a world of immortality, as long as they rebelled against the gods. Sojiro was horrified by what he was witnessing. "Stop!" He yelled. "Don't!"

Sojiro watched as Salem's army charged the God of Light's domain. He watched as the God of Darkness arrived, and furious at humanity's rebellion, did something that left Sojiro on his knees in horror.

He wiped out all of humanity in an apocalypse. "No…" He said softly. "And all because they listened to that woman?"

Sojiro truly sympathized with Salem. But dragging the rest of the world into her grudge against the gods? That was simply too far for him. He was then treated to another horrifying sight. After multiple attempts at taking her own life, Salem had another revelation. If the pools of the God of Light gave her immortality, surely the God of Darkness's pools could take it, right?

Shogo, Shuya and Noriko, who were also witnessing this in their own worlds, almost vomited in disbelief and disgust as Salem's attempt at bathing in the dark pools went horribly wrong. Her body changed forcefully in reaction. Instead of killing her, they transformed her into something much worse.

An entity of pure hatred and destruction…

"By the gods…" Sojiro gazed at Salem's new form in disbelief and horror. He did not know this woman personally. He was only watching her life story. And yet it felt like after watching her entire life up until this moment...it was like watching an old friend make a truly irredeemable mistake.

"What have you done?" Sojiro muttered. "What have you become?"

The scene suddenly shifted again. Sojiro found himself gazing at Ozma and the God of Light once more. He then listened as the God of Light gave Ozma four relics, including that lamp Jinn had come out of. He listened as the God of Light gave Ozma a single task. Work to unite humanity and call the gods with the relics once more. If they were not united...they would destroy Remnant. Until then, Ozma would walk the earth in a perpetual state of reincarnation.

Sojiro's eyes widened. That is why Ozpin is inside that child's body. He realized. How many times has Ozma reincarnated?

Then, Sojiro watched as Ozma found himself inside the body of someone completely different. He watched as Ozma traveled the world, taking in the new, unfamiliar surroundings. He then watched as Ozma made his way to the domain of the "witch."

"Salem…" Sojiro said softly.

Ozma and Salem greeted each other in their new forms. Sojiro watched as the two seemed to recognize each other. Both smiled and locked hands as their love blossomed once more. He then watched as Salem swayed Ozma into becoming king of this new humanity, with Ozma agreeing, remembering his mission. He also watched as both deliberately hid parts of their stories from each other.

Salem hid why the God of Darkness destroyed humanity before. And Ozma hid the details of his mission from Salem.

Sojiro watched as their new plans for the world blossomed into a kingdom. And from that kingdom...blossomed a family. Sojiro felt his heart warm at the sight of Ozma and Salem's four daughters. However, he found himself visibly concerned...as he knew there was only one way this story could end.

Ozma began to have doubts, as he discovered that Salem was having anyone who objected to living under their rule killed. At that moment, he explained the truth of his mission to Salem...who simply brushed it all off.

"Gods no…" Sojiro slowly began to realize what was about to happen when he saw the look in Ozma's eyes.

And so, Sojiro watched in horror as Ozma tried to usher his daughters out of the castle under the cover of night. "Mommy…" he heard the youngest daughter say before turning to see Salem with a look of utter fury on her face.

Ozma got the girls behind him. Sojiro could not restrain himself from shouting at them even though he knew it was useless. "Stop this!" He yelled. "Don't do it!"

Ozma and Salem leapt at each other, ready to do battle. "NOOOOO!" Sojiro screamed as he tried to get between the two illusions, only for them to go right through his body and begin their fight.

Shuya could only scream in terror from the power both individuals were putting out. Noriko was driven to tears as the love these two shared died in an instant...with their daughters in fact. "Stop…" she wept. "Please...stop…"

Even Shogo had fallen deathly silent. There was just nothing he could say. As a hero of justice, he truly felt useless at the moment.

Sojiro watched as the great tragedy unfolded. And as the castle crumbled, Ozma was the only one left standing. He weakly crawled away from Salem's destroyed corpse, only for Salem herself to reform completely.

"Her immortality…" Sojiro said breathlessly.

Salem pinned Ozma in rage. Before Ozma could say anything, Salem incinerated him, thus beginning a long battle of incarnation after incarnation.

Some tried to immediately pick up the fight. Some tried to live out their days peacefully. Some simply tried to forget. But they all came back to their mission at the end of the day...and at the end of their lives.

Eventually, Sojiro found himself staring at a particular incarnation of Ozma, who had found the Relic of Knowledge. He watched as this particular incarnation summoned Jinn. He watched as Ozma began asking his questions. First, where the other relics were. Then, what the other relics did. And finally…

"How do I destroy Salem?"

Sojiro's face fell as Jinn answered the incarnation's question. "You can't." She said simply.

Sojiro watched as the incarnation fell to his knees in despair. Then, the scene faded, and he found himself surrounded by everyone else once more. Sojiro then gazed at his fellow Travelers. They all gave him sad, sympathetic looks. At that moment, he knew they had seen what he saw. He looked at the people he had helped, and saw their looks of horror. They saw it all too. He looked particularly at Ozpin, who looked like he was about to cry, due to being forced to experience it all once again.

He then gazed at Jaune, who had caused all of this. His face contorted into one of sympathy when he saw the boy's face. It was a mixture of grief, sympathy and anger. Like he was trying to decide whether he should sympathize or be angry with Ozpin, and all of the lives that had come before him.

Sojiro heaved a sigh, remembering a rule of life that seemed true no matter what world you lived in. Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. He thought bitterly. And then some you don't want.

And these people...they definitely got more than what they wanted…

Elsewhere, in Salem's domain, the master of all Grimm found herself frowning in anger as she fired a blast of magic at the ground, standing atop a balcony. She watched as the ground exploded into another crater. She growled slightly, as she found herself unexpectedly reminded of many unpleasant memories.

"Bad memories make the worst tales." She muttered to herself.

"Your Grace?" A voice softly called out to her.

Salem turned to see a lanky man with a black ponytail and a scorpion's tale waving behind him. "Tyrian," Salem frowned slightly at him seeing her like this, "what are you doing here?"

"I sensed your troubles, my goddess," Tyrian Callows said to her, "I was...concerned for your wellbeing. Are you alright?"

Salem fell silent at this. "You have no reason to be so sad, Your Grace." Tyrian said to her. "Even though Cinder failed so miserably...we will still bring you victory…"

"Stop." Salem commanded firmly, audibly irritated with Tyrian's presence.

Tyrian froze in place, going pale with fright and worry. "I did not give you permission to show concern for me, Tyrian." Salem reminded the scorpion faunus.

Tyrian shrunk back in fear, like a child being scolded by his mother. "I am in no need of reassurance or sympathy." Salem told him. "I was just...remembering something unpleasant."

Tyrian remained silent, knowing it would not do him well to speak. "Now leave me, I do not wish to be disturbed until Cardinal Higeki contacts me with news of the Relic of Knowledge." She ordered.

Tyrian frowned slightly. He hated how that man had gotten his goddess's attention. "Of course, Milady." Tyrian bowed lowly before leaving Salem to her thoughts.

Salem heaved a sigh. Damn those memories, plaguing her even now. She hated it. She hated the gods. She hated humanity. And most of all, she hated…

"Ozma…" she said to herself.

Elsewhere, the three individuals in black, dressed like clergymen, discussed their next move. Two walked up to the third, who was staring off in the distance. Well, he was sensing, that was the more accurate description. The man was blind. He looked slightly older than the other two men. He had pale white skin, a completely bald head and a beauty mark close to his sightless eyes, which were covered by what appeared to be black sunglasses.

"Ubawa," a young, but very muscular blonde-haired, blue-eyed man with his robes open slightly in the front, exposing his well-defined chest, addressed the man before him. On his back was a zanbato that was his size, "the Black Knight was sent back for further medical treatment. I have to admit, whoever beat him did quite a number on him. If we hadn't arrived when we did, he probably would have died from the cold weather while healing."

The man named Ubawa remained silent. The muscular blonde grimaced and continued. "There's more," he continued, "neither Momoku nor myself can get into contact with Deacon Fuma or any other member of his squad...we can only assume that they were killed in battle."

"Assume? There's nothing to assume." The youngest looking of the trio, a lanky young man with a perpetually grinning face and peach-colored hair that reached down to his shoulders chuckled. This was Momoku. "Fuma and his men are dead. Dead as a doornail. Must've been someone strong to do something like that to eleven of our own. We should track 'em down. The last message we got was from that Jishiro guy, from Fuma's squad. You know, the one with the magnet powers? Said that they had found that relic-thing Ms. Salem's after."

"Which means we need to pick up the slack." The zanbato-wielder noted. "Cardinal Higeki wants that relic brought to her as a gift, in honor of our new alliance. The weight of this task now falls to us, because clearly, the Acolytes and Deacons cannot accomplish this."

"Ubawa, Momoku is right." The zanbato-wielder addressed Ubawa once more. "We need to track these people down before we lose the trail."

"Enough, Kinjo, you stress far too much." Ubawa said serenely.

Kinjo grimaced before falling silent. Ubawa then pointed long boney finger at a particular spot in the distance. "Umm...what are you pointing at Uba?" Momoku inquired curiously.

"A moment ago, I sensed a very strange power." Ubawa revealed. "It's not unlike the Aura these people of Remnant seem to have. And yet...there is something vastly different about it."

"Okay, but this world in general is weird." Kinjo pointed out. "What's your point?"

"The Lady Salem...explained that the Relic of Knowledge houses of being of power, given shape by the God of Light...at least that was the information she had received from her former informant from the place called Haven Academy." Ubawa explained. "It stands to reason...that the source of this strange power is this being inside the relic."

Kinjo's mouth dropped open before grinning jovially. "Well, well, well, well, well," he said, "and who says the blind are useless as hell?"

"Sight is not just limited to the eyes." Ubawa said sagely. "Sight...is a state of mind."

"Lemme guess, you gauged their presence through the use of the air around us." Kinjo joked. "Don't act like some sort of mystic, Ubawa. I know your tricks."

Ubawa frowned at Kinjo's teasing. "If we head in that direction, we should come across the ones with the relic soon." Ubawa noted.

"Sounds like fun!" Before Kinjo could begin moving forward, he was suddenly knocked aside by a giddy Momoku. "I'm gonna go and say hi!"

Kinjo got to his feet and glared at the unseen Momoku. He could only tell just where the man was from the footprints being left in the snow. "Watch where you're going, numbskull!" He yelled in frustration to no avail as Momoku continued to barrel forward towards the spot where Ubawa had pointed.

"A death freak as always. Momoku is always so eager to carry out our practices." Ubawa mused.

"Hey, we all are." Kinjo muttered. "But the least he could do is stick around and let us come up with a plan."

"Let me come up with a plan." Ubawa corrected. "You rarely enter battle with a strategy, Kinjo."

"Hey, I have a strategy when I fight." Kinjo defended himself as the two began to follow Momoku. "I just don't believe you need to make things too complicated. Nothing wrong with that."

"Besides even if these people did take down Deacon Fuma and his squad, there's no reason for us to be too on edge about it. We've got plenty of Acolytes who can easily replace the ten we lost. And plenty of Deacons who are more than capable of picking up the slack for Fuma." Kinjo pointed out. "At the end of the day, they're soldiers. Instruments of our god's will. No reason to get so bent out of shape over some broken instruments."

And there's certainly no reason to get so worried about the ones who broke 'em." Kinjo continued. "I mean, for crying out loud…"

"...Momoku alone is more than capable of taking that relic from these people. They're dead men walking now!"