It was still dark out by the time the village elder, Malcolm's father, had gathered the militia in his home and set up a war room on his son's request. They were still waiting for Malcolm himself to arrive as team RNJR had begun explaining the situation to them. Ren, Ruby, and Jaune were standing at one end of an oak table while Nora sat on the left edge.
"These mercenaries that you've allowed into your village are not what they appear to be," Ren stated bluntly, "Their true purpose here is to test a weapon on your village that-if fired-will turn everyone in it into a pile of ashes. Men, women, and children. All of them will burn if that weapon fires on us."
"And how do we know you can be trusted? You came into town walking side-by-side with them," one of the militiamen said.
"Don't...compare us...to these things. They aren't even human."
"Oh...so they're Faunus? Didn't realize you guys were being rac-", the young man was cut off when Malcolm opened the door with a loud thud, dragging the body of one of the soldiers from the base in the village. Tucked under his arm was the report Ren had found in the building.
"Hey, Nora?! Mind helping me with the...proof I needed to drag here?!"
"Coming!" Nora shouted happily, as she hopped off the table and hefted the dead soldier's legs up and with Malcolm's help, carried the corpse over to another table. The helmet was already removed so all those present could see the true face underneath the mask.
"That...that is no Faunus…" a second man said as they all looked at the unholy creature.
"What was your first clue?" Malcolm said with a drip of sarcasm.
"These...these things...they don't care about 'defending you'. They care about one thing...fueling their own war machine and from what Ruby, Jaune, and Malcolm have heard...they are somehow directly connected to the Vytal Incident. Somehow...Commander Lazu knows Cinder Fall."
"But he wants her dead. We don't know why and we don't even know who Lazu's REAL boss is here," Jaune continued.
"Once we've broken the legs of these things, I hope you guys'll let us question Mr. Lazu. After all, he's in on this whooooooooole conspiracy thing," Nora said, hands placed on her hips.
"We're hoping he'll be smart enough to surrender but...I doubt it," Ren states bluntly.
"So...then what are we supposed to do? You said yourselves, this guy's got a small army!" a third villager says.
"We have a plan. The shield generators we stole from the base they had here are made to keep energy projectiles out. Once we activate them, the energy blasts will be stopped and absorbed by the shield. If they want to take down the shield, they'll have to come in and do so themselves. The soldiers themselves will be allowed to pass through the shield since the barrier is made to only protect from energy projectiles."
"So then how do we deal with the soldiers that make it through?"
"I think that's pretty obvious," Nora said with a smile, "We break their legs!"
"That's her way of saying, we kick their butts," Ruby added in.
"That's it?" a fourth villager asks.
"Once those soldiers are dealt with, we can deal with that tank. I promise you that we will win this. "
"So...we're letting kids, you don't even have their hunter's licenses lead us into battle against an army of mercenaries with tech leagues beyond anything we've ever seen? We're doomed."
"If you keep talking like that we will be. Relax though, you got four of the best huntsmen and huntresses from Beacon!" Nora stated proudly, earning smiles from Ruby, Jaune, and Ren.
"I believe them," Morgan Brans-Malcolm's father- said, "I believe that, once this all over, our village may be damaged but nothing we can't rebuild from. They survived Vale, a battle that took the lives of hundreds and they faced even worse odds. I believe them, my son believes them, the rest of you should as well."
There was a small murmur among those gathered but soon they all agreed.
"Now...we need to get those who won't be joining us in the fight somewhere safe. Perhaps the chapel. Jacob, gather those won't be able to fight with us and take them to the chapel. Fortify it accordingly."
Jacob nodded, grabbed his rifle, and headed out to gather those who aren't part of the militia and hide them in the village chapel.
"Morris, take your team and ready the traps we planned."
"Traps?" Jaune asked.
"You didn't think we've survived out here this long without having some defenses. The rifles were easy enough to come by but we don't have enough lien for those fancy auto-turrets some of the other villages across Remnant have. Instead, we've decided to use the land against the Grimm. Pitfalls filled with spikes, tripwires, and other such things. It's worked out so far."
"How come we didn't run into any on the way here then?"
"You took the main road didn't you? We only have traps already set on the outskirts of the village."
"Well you might want to set up some traps along the main road then. Lazu and his forces will probably head from that way," Ren stated.
"Right," Morgan agreed and nodded to Morris to go and set the traps.
"I'm going with them," Nora said as she grabbed Magnhild and followed Morris.
As Nora and Morris left, Ren continued to help coordinate the militia's forces using a map of the village and surrounding forest.
Several hours later, Lazu's forces are marching towards the village, their armored boots thudding along the dirt road as they go. The soldiers are divided into squads of thirty with the gold-clad officers in the front, leading them. The two Lich mini-tanks hover behind several of the divisions; their cannons crackling with dark red streaks of energy. The larger tank, instead of being equipped with the powerful main gun turret, has been refitted with the Venarox cannon- a massive artillery cannon. Connected behind the Venarox tank by an energy tether is an ammo rack of massive Argent shells. And of course, in the driver's seat of the tank, sits Lazu himself. He opens up the cockpit of the tank and shouts to his forces, "Halt march!" The soldiers all stop the second he shouts.
"Sir?" the gold-helmed officer next to the tank asks.
"They know we're coming. Have the Liches fire a volley on the village."
"But that will give away our position!"
"That doesn't matter right now! If they've done what I think they've done then we need to disable it! Liches! Fire a volley!"
The Lich drivers responded with a nod and began firing balls of red energy at the village.
"Disable what sir?!" the officer asked.
As the energy projectiles neared the village, the soldiers watched expecting flame to erupt from the village.
"The shield."
The blasts of energy harmlessly exploded against a dome of light blue light that covered the entire village.
"A shield?!" the golden-clad officer exclaimed, "How did they manage to get that?!"
"Simple answer to a simple question. They raided our skeleton crew's base; I saw them there when I checked in on them. Saw the Rose girl, the Arc boy, and the boar Faunus from earlier slaughter three of them." Lazu raised his sword and then pointed forward with it, exclaiming, "CHARGE THEM!" However, instead of his own soldiers, at the command, a horde of Grimm emerged from the woods at the sides of the army. Beowolves and Creeps surged forth as the soldiers actually made way for them. As one of the beasts-a Beowolf- came closer to the village, one bad step had sent it and two creeps into a pit and being impaled by spikes. Black smoke soon rose from the pit as the bodies of the three Grimm began to dissipate. One after another, traps were sprung by the Grimm. Numerous pitfalls and tripwires were activated and soon, learning from this, the Grimm stopped charging.
Lazu smiled smugly at this. He knew that they were out of traps lining the main road. It was classic guerrilla warfare, something he always hated going against because after a while it just got so predictable. The only reason he was smiling was because he was amused at this little attempt of defense.
"Divisions 1-4!" the commander exclaimed, "Prepare to charge!"
The soldiers readied their blades and shields or their rifles. The Grimm that were smart enough not to charge into the traps readied for a second time.
Once they saw this, Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora stepped out of the protection of the shield and readied their weapons. Behind them, were several of the militiamen armed with standard Dust rifles. Leading them was Malcolm, still clad in his Atlesian armor.
"So...you guys ready for this?" Ruby asked, turning to Ren and Nora on her left first.
"Let's break some legs!" Nora beamed.
Ren simply nodded in agreement.
RUby then turned to Jaune on her right who said, "Ready when you are."
"Alright then," Ruby said, "let's do this!"
Lazu then motioned his blade forward again, signaling his soldiers to charge. And that's exactly what they did. War cries and roars of rage echoed from the soldiers and Grimm as they rushed towards Arroyo and the village's defenders. Team RNJR charged to meet as Malcolm and the militia men aimed their rifles after taking new positions. The barrels of the weapons were just outside the shield so they would be effective against the incoming horde.
"OPEN FIRE!" Malcolm shouted to the other militia soldiers and began blasting the charging soldiers and Grimm. In the initial volley, several soldiers and Grimm are struck and killed by the shots. Team RNJR meets the combined mercenary and Grimm forces, cutting them down with crushing hammer strikes, devastating sword swings, and barrages of close-range Dust bullets. The militiamen continued firing on the first four divisions of soldiers.
Lazu and his second-in-command were watching from the safety of the Venarox equipped tank. The officer was using the zoom function on his helmet to observe the fight and noticed the dwindling number of soldiers and Grimm. He noticed the Grimm were pretty much gone and that there weren't many soldiers left. He started counting down how many people were left.
"10…", Ruby blasts one of the soldiers in the air and then brings down the back of her scythe onto the soldier's back. A loud cracking noise being heard as he hits the ground.
"9…", Jaune bashed his shield into the helmet of one soldier, cracking it. He then stabs the soldier through the jugular.
"8…", Nora swung her hammer into the chest of a soldier which sent him flying into a tree.
"7...6..." Ren shot two of the soldiers in the legs and then slit their throats.
"5...4...3…", Ruby quickly put a single bullet into each of the three soldiers' skulls.
"2…", Jaune parried a strike from one of the remaining soldiers and then slashed his chest.
"1…", Nora brought her hammer down on the soldier's head.
"Zero. Commander. Divisions 1-4 have been eliminated along with the bulk of our Grimm reserves."
Lazu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in annoyance. "Divisions 5-10! Attack!"
"Those guys weren't so tough!" Nora beamed.
"That was just the first wave," Ren stated as he turned to see the second wave rush at them.
"We won't beat these guys unless we take out that tank...and I think I got an idea. Nora you're with me. Jaune? Ren? Can you guys hold them off long enough for this to work?"
"We'll buy as much time as you need!" Jaune exclaimed, getting into a combat stance as he saw the next group charge them. Gunshots ringing out loudly just like before. Ruby nodded to Nora as they both rushed to the back of the army. Ruby sliced her way through any of those monsters wearing armor that got in her and Nora's way as they headed for the Venarox. Nora beamed as she blasted her way through countless soldiers. One of the Liches had taken aim at the two but before it could fire, Ruby vanished in a cloud of rose petals and reappeared, kicking the driver out of his seat and blasting the passenger out of his own with her sniper. Nora hopped into the driver and Ruby took a seat next to her.
"Ok...you can drive this thing right?" Ruby inquired.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell...I can just push buttons and see what works!" Nora grinned as she began to randomly press buttons on the control console. At first the Lich began to jerk in random directions but then Nora pushed the booster button and sent the tank zooming through the advancing soldiers from behind, ramming them and sending flying.
'Ruby gave Nora a tank?!" Jaune shouted as he bashed his shield into the back of a soldier's head.
"I'm not sure if this her best idea...or her worst," Ren commented as he shot a soldier in the chest five times.
"Wooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!" came Nora's always cheerful voice.
'Oh my Dust Norrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Going this fast wasn't part of the plan! Now I know why Jaune gets motion siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!" Ruby shouted, holding on for dear life as Nora drove the Lich.
"Stop that LICH!" Lazu commanded as the second Lich boosted after the pair.
"How the hell can she even DRIVE that thing?!" the driver of the second Lich-an officer- shouted over the battle noise.
"I have no idea but I'll be honest...it's kinda badass that she can!" the driver's passenger added.
"Just shut up and shoot them!"
The passenger nodded and tried to lock onto Nora's Lich but couldn't. Whenever he managed to get a lock and fire, Nora made the mini-tank jerk to the left or right, avoiding the blasts each time.
"Come on, hit them!" the driver shouted at his passenger.
"I'm trying! It would be easier if you kept us lined up with them!"
Nora then pressed a button and the main cannon turned around and it was aimed directly at their pursuers. Underneath their helmets, the two soldiers' eyes widened in horror.
"Ruby! Is there a big red button on your side?" Nora beamed.
"Yeah! Why?" Ruby inquired, eyeing the big red button.
"Push it!"
Ruby nodded and pressed it which fired a massive blast of energy at the Lich behind them. A dark red explosion erupted from behind Ruby and Nora as they kept going. RUby covered her ears at how loud it was while Nora just smiled.
"Nice shot Rubes!"
Lazu facepalmed in his tank as he turned on the side-turrets and opened fire. The turret blasts got dangerously close to Nora and Ruby's Lich and to where Jaune and Ren were still defending the village.
"Rubes! Think you can make another shot at Lazu back there?"
"On it!" Ruby pushed the red button and fired again, this time at Lazu's tank. It missed but only barely.
Jaune and Ren were still doing their best to defend the village but then as more of the soldiers neared them, arrows were shot at them from the treeline. Each arrow struck its target with extreme accuracy and hit the armored warriors either in the shoulder, forearm, or upper leg.
"What the…", Jaune's eyes soon widened in shock. He recognized these arrows. Black, and made of glass. "Oh no…"
The arrows began to glow orange and a loud roaring noise can be heard as well.
"GET DOWN!" Jaune said as he and Ren dived back into the protection of the shield as the arrows detonated. Ruby and Nora quickly got back into the shield's protection but one of the explosions caused the tank to flip and launch Ruby and Nora. Fortunately they didn't break anything due to their Auras.
"WHAT?! NO!" Lazu shouted as he heard an arrow strike next to him. He turned and saw his second in command trying to pull the arrow from his shoulder. The commander merely pushed the officer away from him, exited the tank, and ran to escape the blast radius. Before the officer detonated, three more arrows struck the Venarox tank with loud clangs. All four arrows began to glow and roar before detonating, sending flaming debris everywhere. Lazu turned for a brief moment as debris from the tank hit him and seemingly crushed him.
Malcolm rushed to Ruby and Nora and helped them to their feet. "Come on you two! Now's no time to be lying down during a win!"
"No this isn't over! This just got a whole lot worse!" Jaune shouted, anger flaring in his eyes as the memories came back the moment those arrows struck the first monster hiding under armor.
"How it can be worse?!" Malcolm asked.
As if on cue, a piece of tank debris was flung through the shield and landed dangerously close to Malcolm.
"See...this is why you NEVER say those words or any other way to say 'What could possibly go wrong?'! " Nora berated Malcolm.
There, standing with cracked and singed armor was Commander Michael Lazu.
'I'm...not...done...YET...HUMANS!" Lazu shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice however seemed to be deeper than before. His eyes were also no longer the green color the hunters remembered instead they were a solid red much like a Grimm's. "I was told...to maintain...the disguise...or...as the Admiral put it… 'to not break character.' Well...NOW...I have no choice! Just remember that you brought this on YOURSELVES!" Team RNJR and Malcolm watched as Lazu summoned a massive rune beneath him. The rune was one massive circle with a triangle encompassing another circle in the center. The entire symbol glowed blue and black and soon that glow entirely engulfed Lazu. The light only made it possible to see Lazu's silhouette as it began to shift, transform. The organic crunch of bones breaking and reshaping in an instant. The form of Lazu grew taller, horns sprouted from the head which had somewhat changed as well. Two more structures erupted from his back and they looked like wings but upside-down and what appeared to be a tail soon followed. The armor the commander wore began to shift as well. His right arm now had a pauldron while the left did not. The chest armor had changed as well though the details were indiscernible with the light still shining. Once the light faded, the figure standing before them was anything but human.
"Oh...my...Dust...what...is...THAT?!" Nora shouted as she-along with everyone else- had her eyes widen in horror and her mouth agape in shock.
The figure that replaced Lazu was clad in black, rigid armor with gold trims. The gauntlets it wore ended in sharp claws, but whether it was just the gauntlets or the being's actual fingers couldn't be known. The pauldron it wore had a symbol adorning it, a symbol consisting of two curved lines with small circles in the middle of them connected to a larger sideways shape that resembled an eye (A/N This is the best description I can give of the Beringel symbol. Yes, that is the symbol of the main antagonist here as well). Attached to the lower jaw of this creature was what seemed to be the lower half of a helmet, making it look like the creature had a lower metal jaw. Physically, the monstrosity towered over them, standing at least 9 feet tall and had crimson skin and eyes that were only a slightly lighter shade of red. The horns that protruded from its head were as rigid as the armor it wore and they too were the same shade of red as the beast's scar was in the same place as it was on the commander. It still wielded Lazu's kite shield and Liuyedao but now they were proportionate for this creature to use.
"You...are one ugly mother-" Malcolm began but was cut off when the creature roared at them.
"You...and your little resistance...ends...HERE! And since I've broken the veil anyway...know the TRUE name of your KILLER! I am not Michael Lazu...I am Commander RAZAEL IGNIS! Warmaster of the FOURTH LEGION!"
"W-w-what...are...you?" Ruby managed to stammer out.
Razael merely chuckled, a deep and guttural one and responded bluntly, "I...am a demon. But I would worry more about myself if I were for now...you face me AND the last of my forces."
"Wait you have more?!" Nora got Magnhild ready for round three.
"Not soldiers...SHE saw to that. And BE AWARE...CINDER FALL! THAT ONCE I'M DONE WITH THEM...YOU'RE NEXT!" the demon warmaster shouted, though no reply was given and his wrath-filled words echoed through the air. "But," he continued, "I still have Grimm. Two...last Grimm." The demon then whistled for his last two monsterous enforces to come to his side. From far behind the treeline, two huge black shapes leaped into the air and both landed right next to Razael with a thunderous boom after a few more massive bounds. Once the dust settled, before team RNJR and Malcolm, stood two Beringels.
"Huh...so...I guess I got that right...Grimm gorillas…" Jaune muttered to himself. Now he probably wished he hadn't foreshadowed it.
"Two powerful Grimm and a demon warmaster, what hope do you have of surviving?!" Razael taunted before he and his Beringel pets charged at the five.
Razael himself focused on Jaune of all people while Malcolm, Ren and Nora dealt with one Beringel and Ruby took the other.
Ruby was hit by the Beringel's massive fist once the battle began and it sent her flying back. She managed to stop herself by planting Crescent Rose's blade firmly in the ground. The Beringel leaped and attempted to crush her by slamming both fists down on her but she managed to dodge and jump over the ape-like Grimm. She unleashed a flurry of strikes and once she landed behind it, she stabbed it in the leg to try and cripple it. Instead of crippling the massive Grimm, it simply turned its head to look at the attack with a grunt of annoyance. Ruby gasped in horror as the Grimm's hand closed around her head and lifted her off the ground. The monster drew back its other first and hit Ruby in the stomach, letting go of her head right as the hit connected and sent her flying again. The young huntress managed to land on a roof and began running across it, blasting at the Grimm as she went. The Beringel followed closely behind her, not even slowed down by the sniper shots. The massive Grimm then ripped a wall off of one of the nearby houses and threw it at the sniper. She managed to cut it in half but could only dodge as the Beringel leapt up to the roof she was currently on and brought both fists down. Ruby managed to dodge again and kept blasting the Grimm. She tried to cut the Grimm's arm off but it failed like before. The Beringel swung its arms at Ruby to try and force her back and then smashed the roof she would've landed on, causing her to fall. The huntress screamed as she fell but soon that faded as did any sign of her. The Beringel jumped down from the roof and beat its chest, roaring in triumph. However, something caught the Grimm's attention. It slowly turned around to face the house that it thought was the burial place of that girl it had just dealt with when she was no doubt crushed by the debris. Rose petals began to float past the monster which seemed to agitate it as it roared. Suddenly, breaking the door of the building, Ruby emerged and charged the Grimm, activating her Semblance to avoid its attacks. She then used her speed and ran around the Grimm, forming a cyclone of red that lifted the beast off the ground. The Beringel could only struggle to get itself free as it ascended. Once it was high enough, Ruby cut off the cyclone and had her scythe unfold into the alternate form. She then thrust it down and it pierced the Beringel's armor and hide, going right into the heart. The Grimm tried to get back up but Ruby's scythe shifted back into its normal form, aiming the barrel of the sniper directly at the Grimm's head. Ruby pulled the bolt on the rifle and fired, blasting the Grimm's head back.
The second Beringel easily swatted away Malcolm with its fist, sending him crashing into a wall. Ren began blasting at the giant ape but like with Ruby's fight, the bullets did nothing but annoy the Grimm. The Beringel threw a devastating punch that connected with Ren and sent him flying. Nora saw this and glared daggers at the Grimm that only seemed to confuse the giant simian.
"No one...hurts...REN!" Nora shouted as she rushed the Grimm and slammed her hammer into its leg. It didn't break as she intended but it did stagger the monster. The Beringel tried to smash her but she merely blasted its hand with Magnhild after it quickly shifted to its grenade launcher form. The beast recoiled as its hand was engulfed in a pink explosion. Nora then tried to slam her hammer into the creature's gut but the Beringel's free hand grabbed the weapon.
"Uh oh…" Nora muttered as her eyes widened in shock. The massive Grimm then began to prepare to throw Nora, like it was winding up to throw a ball."Ohhhhhhh Duuuuuuust!" Nora managed to cry out as the Grimm continued to wind up. Soon, the Beringel threw her into the other side of the building Ruby fell into during her fight. As luck would have it, the fuse box of the house was broken and electric wires were sparking. Nora rubbed the back of her head as he regained her composure. She noticed the sparking wires and grinned.
"Ok...now things are going to get fun," Nora said as she grabbed the wires and activated her Semblance, absorbing the energy and channeling it into her muscles. The Beringel tilted its head in confusion as she did so but then charged her. As it swung its massive fist down on Nora, she caught it the beast's arm and grinned.
"Ally-oop!" Nora shouted as she lifted the Beringel and tossed into the building behind her. (A/N: *Cues Rules of Nature for that one part) Nora then jumps on top of the Beringel's chest, Magnhild in hammer form and bring the massive weapon down on the Beringel's head multiple times causing black blood to erupt from what was once the Grimm's head. "That's what you get for hurting him…" Nora said as the Beringel's corpse dissipated.
With both of his enforces dealt with, Ruby, Ren and Nora turned their attention to the demon. However, Razael was no pushover. Once the fight began and he focused on Jaune, the demon warmaster brought down his massive blade to try and slice Jaune in half. The blonde knight managed to dodge the blade but not the backhand that followed. Jaune's Semblance activated and he managed to only be staggered instead of being sent flying. Apparently that seemed to anger Razael even further as he charged at the huntsman. Jaune was caught between the demon's horns as Razael charged through a few buildings and a couple of trees. The demon threw Jaune using the momentum, isolating them from the other fights.
Razael let out an animalistic grunt and taunted Jaune, "I'm surprised you managed to get THIS far, Arc! Given the records from Beacon AND the evidence in the festival…"
'What?! How do you have access to Beacon's records?!" Jaune shouted at the demon.
"Oh you'd like to know THAT wouldn't you?"
"Yeah...that's...why I asked…"
Razael growled and rushed at Jaune, weapon at the ready. He brought the blade in a side-ways arc but Jaune managed to block the attack, despite the blade's massive size. Jaune used his Semblance to push the blade back and then changed the effect from defensive to offensive. He swung his sword at the demon's leg but it does nothing.
"Ohhhhhhhh Dust…" Jaune muttered.
"Nice try!" Razael roared as he grabbed Jaune by the leg and slammed him into the ground repeatedly.
"Oh! Come! On!" Jaune shouted between each impact.
"Puny human…" Razael deadpanned as he threw Jaune into another tree, "It will be a pleasure once we've dealt with your pathetic species. Every last human on Remnant will burn before my lord! Just like Cinder turned PYRRHA NIKOS to ashes!"
"...What...what did you just say?"
"I said you're all going to burn just like that pathetic excuse of a Maiden candidate that took the moniker of the 'Invincible Girl'! If one takes a title, you should live up to it! Invincible Girl...bah! If she was so 'invincible' how come all it took to take her down was my lord's pet protege?! If she was so 'invincible' then she wouldn't have needed Ozpin and Ironwood to TRANSFER the power of the Fall Maiden to her! She would've gotten it from the normal ways, either a convoluted random selection or the previous Maiden thinking about her in their final moments. She didn't earn that power nor did she DESERVE IT!" Razael advanced closer to Jaune, the armor he wore clanged in response to every thundering step.
Jaune got to his feet, his grip on his blade tightening and his eyes glaring daggers at the massive demon.
"Take...that...back."
"Take it back? Take it BACK?! Hehehehehehe-AHAHAHAHAHAHA! How can I?! It's the truth! You can deny it ALL you want Arc but that doesn't make it any less true!"
"I said...take...it...back."
Razael leaned forward to where he and Jaune were at looking each other dead in the eye. "And what will you-the failure of Beacon or at least one of them-do about it if I don't? Kill me?"
"YES!" Jaune's shield lit up and he bashed the demon in the face. Razael was caught off guard as the metal impacted against him and made him stagger to the right. As he was recovering Jaune rushed forward and unleashed a flurry of sword swings against the demon, each attack empowered by his Semblance. At first, the attacks continued to be useless, just annoying stings to the demon, but then, Jaune hits Razael's knee and draws blood. The warmaster roars in a mixture of both pain and outrage. He tried to retaliate with a shield-bash of his own but the blonde knight simply dodged. Jaune slashed at the exposed arm of the demon and more blood was drawn from the demon.
"INSOLENT LITTLE BASTARD!" the demon shouted as he tried to bring his blade down on Jaune.
However, he froze when he heard a very hyper-active sounding voice shout out, "Hey!"
The demon turned his head to look at who else would dare to challenge him. It was Nora, Ruby, Ren and Malcolm.
"You…" Razael said, his voice dripping with wrath. "Five on one...that hardly seems fair...for any of YOU!" The demon readied his blade and prepared to charge but then he froze as there was another slicing sound. Jaune was now in front of the demon, whose eyes were wide in shock. Razael quickly made sure that he was still in tact and sighed in relief...until his left horn fell to the ground. "You...you just...you just cut my HORN OFF?!"
"Consider that...the payment for disrespecting her," Jaune glared daggers at him again.
Razael growled and looked around at the five. "This...isn't...over. The advent of the age of demons is coming," Razael held up his gauntlet, a display of runes being brought up, "and you won't be able to stop us!" He pressed a few of them and smirked; the failsafe was activated. The warmaster turned back into the form of Lazu and pressed one more rune-button. Out of nowhere, the damaged Lich mini-tank boosted between him and the five hunters. The demon in human form jumped into the driver seat and then sped off.
"After him!" Nora shouted, sending a few grenades his way. The demon rolled his eyes and created another large rune. He sent it in front of the Lich tank and he drove right through it, but he didn't show up on the other side.
"Awwww! He got away!" Nora pouted.
"Well...this...has been an eventful few days, hasn't it?" Malcolm grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
(A/N: Well! That took a long time to write! Longest chapter yet. First-well second- major battle since Beacon was the first. Now is it a bit cliched to have a demon's color-scheme be mostly red? Yes. But once again, I pull inspiration of the design from Darksiders, this time the second one. Specifically, the Legion Champion from the Black Stone. Also pulling inspiration from Halo with the Lich tanks being based off of Revenants from Halo Reach. After the next chapter, the focus will shift from team RNJR to the villains, Blake, Yang and Weiss. But Weiss' chapter will also set up another story with a very insidious character from another series. Not sure if that COUNTS as a crossover when it's just one character who might as well be a universal force but...well we'll see when we get to that. On a side note, this story could use more reviews. I mean what story doesn't but here, the story is almost at 600 views and only a few reviews? I gotta know if you guys are liking this so please send some feedback. Anyway, as always, read, review and enjoy.)