Surprise! Here I am with chapter 48! Ha ha, bet you all didn't expect it to be this soon, eh?
Normally, I do one chapter for this fic and then do a chapter for my original novel before doing another chapter for this and so on and so on – I alternate between the two, to put it in far fewer words. But when I finished up chapter 47 for this fic and I started thinking about my novel's next chapter, I found myself at an impasse. In other words, writer's block and a pretty bad case of it too. I had a general idea of what I wanted to write, but no specifics let alone actual words came to mind when I attempted to write the novel's next chapter.
However, with this fic, I still had a pretty damn good idea on what I wanted to do until the end of it so I decided to capitalize on it while I still had the chance, hence this early chapter.
That said, with this chapter now out of the way, I will be working on my novel next and may even attempt to write two chapters for it as a way to make up for the sudden change in my self-imposed schedule. Maybe. I'm still thinking on that. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the 49th chapter to this fic may or may not take longer than usual to get out depending on whether or not I decide to write two chapters for my novel after this.
Well, that said, with this chapter, things will really be heating up following the ending of the previous one. I hope you'll enjoy how this one ultimately turned out.
Now onto the chapter!
Chapter 48
When Jaune and Tenebrous had tackled Salem well away from the city, Ozpin had felt more than a little tempted to give chase, to go and aid them against the woman he'd once called a friend so many decades ago.
But he was no fool – he knew the instant they did so just what it was that the god and Apostle duo had planned; they'd clearly meant to keep Salem busy by themselves while he and the others were to remain behind and defend the city.
To this end, Ozpin had spent the past few precious moments trying to gather up everyone else, all of whom were in varying states of good health following the rather short yet no less intense struggle against Salem.
And that had been precisely when everything came to a complete and utter standstill when a wail unlike anything he's ever heard made itself known.
It'd been beyond deafening, so powerful and charged with dark emotion that the very clouds above them dispersed as a result as did the rest of the clouds that could be seen for miles.
Everyone had practically froze at such a nightmarish sound and sight, save for Ozpin himself, who instead felt compelled to turn at such a cacophonic and hellish sound.
And what he saw left him feeling more rattled than ever before. Not even when he'd bore witness to Salem's awakening as the Mind all those decades ago, when she'd butchered the townspeople and summoned the Grimm to slaughter the rest, had he ever felt so utterly shocked and terrified.
There, in the general direction of where Jaune and Tenebrous had knocked Salem in, was a massive and all-consuming darkness blooming upwards and devouring all that it seemed to touch.
The various Nevermores and Gryphons that could vaguely be seen flying above all seemed to be sucked into the forming vortex and didn't come back out. Dirt and entire pieces of the ground itself rose up and joined in. What little remained of the dispersed clouds above seemed to be sucked in as well.
Not even the very fabric of space itself seemed to be spared as a distortion began to occur for all of them to see, air and more bending in ways that was almost physically nauseating to look at for even a second.
Yet Ozpin couldn't tear himself away from the sight when dozens and then hundreds of eyes formed within the vortex of darkness, each and every one being that of the Grimm that then began to coalesce into one pair of massive eyes, a pair that felt all too familiar to him.
"Salem…!" he muttered hoarsely.
Just what had the woman done?! Just what had she done?!
His grip on his cane tightened so much that he was ultimately hurting himself. And yet so absorbed he was in seeing what was going on that the pain simply didn't register to his brain.
And any other sensations his body may be feeling further lost whatever hold they may have had on his mind when he then saw the now fading vortex doing something that scared him so much more than even before -.
-It began to head towards the city.
Tenebrous was not a being known to feel fear and yet in this instant, that is exactly what the Power felt. And how could it not? This was a situation far worse than anything it ever had imagined.
To think that Salem could use her semblance to so quickly merge with the Wyverns… it was unthinkable. Surely, such a semblance would have limitations and Tenebrous was most certain it had figured out what those limitations were moments into the battle against her.
But it seemed like when Salem had started to merge with those other Grimm earlier, the power boost she'd received had also extended to her semblance somehow.
And now… it's resulted in this… this monstrosity.
The vortex of pure darkness that had enveloped Salem upon her merging had finally disappeared, revealing her newest form.
Following her merging with that first Wyvern, the woman had been very quick to then merge with the other one along with dozens if not hundreds of the Grimm that had been following them from the mountains.
And this showed through in her new size, easily dwarfing the mountains themselves by more than half their size. It was clear that a dragon was used as the main base for her new body, for she moved on all fours, her hands looking more akin to feet by now, malformed to such an extent that even using such a word was honestly being liberal. Her hind legs especially could no longer be called as such, possessing so much mass that seemed to jut outwards and twist continually in ways that would make anyone's eyes hurt by watching. Her torso, surprisingly, maintained a semi-humanoid shape and was completely nude, with the crotch area and her breasts covered by the same black and red mass that had now been a part of her ever since the first merging, now in the form of scales that had to be a dozen or so yards thick.
From her behind was a massive serpentine tail that was lashing out wildly, the sheer force it was unleashing so immense that the mountains behind her was leveled even when direct contact wasn't made. Wings that were almost half of her new size stood at attention, each 'feather' being larger than a house and looking almost metallic in design, with impossibly sharp talons at the very end of the wings.
But it was her face that drew Tenebrous' attention the most.
Something about still seemed human-like, if only in the general structure of it. But that was where such a comparison between her current self and old self ended. Her veins from before were naturally much large to accommodate her new size and pulsed visibly with a substance that couldn't be identified. It certainly wasn't blood anymore. Her mouth had developed what could only be called a Glasgow grin that extended halfway down the neck… and there were teeth there, so many teeth that lined the top and bottom of this 'incision.'
Her eyes possessed black sclera while the irises were completely red, no longer possessing pupils. Despite this, it was obvious that she could still see as well as before, for Tenebrous could feel Salem gazing upon it and Jaune, her malformed mouth twisting into a sneer that defied description.
And then Salem, now as a monstrosity far beyond humanity, began her trek forward.
Towards the city.
The instant this occurred, the stupor Tenebrous had found itself subjected to ceased and the god began to flap its makeshift wings faster, flying back in order to put enough distance between it and Salem to build up significant momentum.
But this proved difficult to do. Despite Salem moving quite slowly, she was simply so massive that the amount of ground she could cover simply by craning her head forward was enough to make up for her slow speed.
Not only that, but it was forced to hastily dodge by flying low in to avoid Salem's casual movement of her head.
Normally, horns formed from the very sides of the head or the top, but this wasn't the case with Salem. No, for her, she had horns that formed from a sickening black and red growth directly by her eyes and extended upwards a bit before curving outwards, almost like some kind of bull. Due to the sheer size of them, had Tenebrous not taken evasive action, its entire physical form would've been dispersed almost on immediate impact.
Out of the corner of its eyes, it saw Jaune do the same, flying low and away from Salem's now titanic and draconic form before the Apostle's flight path then curved upwards.
Tenebrous followed suit and not a second too soon, for the ground started to be torn up and the resulting debris floated up.
Salem's presence was simply so immense now that when combined with her semblance, which had undoubtedly grown stronger too, it was enough to literally suck up all that was around her.
Such power was well beyond its vastly weakened self as of now. Indeed, as Salem now was, she was likely comparable to its previous self, back when it had only just begun to sacrifice its power to kickstart Jaune's aura and gradual awakening.
That meant that any and all attacks it could now deliver in its current state would likely have no effect upon Salem. The same could be said now for everyone else in the world. This included Jaune as he currently is too, though that would change still in time – after all, despite Jaune's current form as pure aura, he was still 'growing' and therefore had yet to fully complete his ascension.
Still… in order for him to do that… he'd need his body most likely.
Tenebrous was snapped out of its sudden musing when it noted Salem taking a deep breath, her chest expanding as she took in immense amounts of air. It was enough to nearly swallow it and Jaune whole, though they both managed to fly high enough to avoid such a fate.
Jaune then began to fly back down, heading directly for Salem's right eye. Tenebrous chose to follow its Apostle's lead, aiming for the left eye instead.
Together they flew at speeds surpassing lightning by a landslide, intending to try taking out her eyes. Surely, as tough as Salem now had to be, her eyes were still vulnerable, yes?
But alas, they didn't get to find out.
As fast as they both were, Salem was quicker in her actions.
With her head tilting up to look at them, she unleashed all that air she took in in the form of a primal roar that was so powerful that the rest of the world seemed to fall silent in response. Tenebrous and Jaune were blown away as if they weighed nothing, being blasted upwards well into orbit and almost further beyond within a second. All of the clouds across the entire kingdom of Vale were likewise dispersed from the force, with even the ground being visibly shattered and blasted in all directions for miles.
As high up as they now were, Tenebrous could look down at the world below and see the city they'd been defending up until now be nearly blown apart.
From beside it, it could hear Jaune let out a loud 'No!' and the Apostle was quick to immediately fly back down, undoubtedly heading for the city.
Well, whatever now remained of it, that is.
While Tenebrous, as it too flew back to the world below, was still able to make out the familiar auras of the combatants and the civilians hidden within the various underground bunkers, the city itself had been utterly devastated just like that.
The walls that had defended the city along with many of the buildings and even entire districts that had been within several miles of the walls had been completely levelled.
Tenebrous' mind boggled at the sight. To think this was the result merely from Salem roaring!
But amazingly, this display of power didn't worry the god that much compared to another observation that it then made.
As Salem continued her march forward, parts of the ground and air and even parts of the buildings from the city began to practically disintegrate, becoming almost mist-like in substance and it was all being sucked up by Salem's entire body. All of the Grimm that were still making their collective way from the mountain were also in the same boat, being broken down and absorbed just like the rest.
Salem was literally converting all matter around her and absorbing it. She was continually bolstering her already immense might!
With this being the case, this was truly not a time to be analyzing things any longer. Action was needed.
And unfortunately, it would seem like it and Jaune were the only ones that could do anything up close as of now – they were the only two entities not comprised of matter and therefore were immune to Salem's semblance. The same could not be said for anyone else, with Tenebrous looking down to the area outside the wall, where practically everyone was retreating.
Not all of them made it, their very forms breaking apart and disappearing into the chaotic mass known as Salem.
Such a sight instilled a desperate resolve in Tenebrous as it continued its flight back down and it altered its course so that it would smash into its foe from above. As for Jaune, it seemed like the Apostle was attempting to go for Salem's eyes again.
Time to give Jaune an opening then.
In what could only be described as a meteor move, Tenebrous flew faster than it ever has before in this form and impacted against the small of Salem's massive back with all the momentum it had mustered. It struck with enough force to level entire cities and even destroy islands.
And it barely fazed the monstrous Salem. If anything, all Tenebrous accomplished was essentially smashing itself against a substance that was far tougher than any known material in Remnant.
Letting out a sound of shock, it was then only vaguely aware of Jaune attempting to fly right into Salem's right eye from the side, just out of her periphery vision. But then Salem suddenly turned her head in the Apostle's direction quite swiftly and ended up thwacking Jaune aside like some gnat.
That was when an explosion suddenly occurred directly in Salem's face.
Getting rid of its own wings, Tenebrous now clung onto Salem's back as it then looked to see what had caused such an explosion.
There.
Just off in the distance, well above Vale and far enough away from Salem to avoid being affected by her semblance, was the command ship for the remaining Atlas fleet, general Ironwood's personal mobile fortress.
Surrounding it were the remaining ships that had retreated earlier and all of them were in a tight protective formation that now began to fire everything they had upon the monster that was all but literally at Vale's door.
Bullets and missiles were launched with reckless abandon at Salem, the transformed woman so large that missing was literally impossible.
The bullets, as they neared their gargantuan target, simply disintegrated upon getting within tens of meters of Salem while the missiles, due to being far larger and faster, remained just intact enough to actually hit her.
But in both cases, it was proving completely ineffective. Those missiles were powerful enough to take down even Goliaths without much trouble and against Salem, it didn't even seem to be so much as tickling her.
However.
It was certainly grabbing her attention and she craned her entire head in the fleet's direction.
A rumble seemed to occur throughout her entire body. Tenebrous could actually hear her lungs let out a great heave.
She was going to roar again.
Tenebrous couldn't let that happen. The fleet wouldn't survive, nor would anything else that lied in that direction.
It dashed along Salem's back, throwing punch after devastating punch at the flesh beneath it as it charged forth.
Each blow could destroy cities and crush entire mountain ranges, yet Tenebrous felt it do nothing of any notice against Salem.
Letting loose a genuine cry of indignation, Tenebrous then leapt and slammed with all the power it could muster into the very back of Salem's neck.
This time, it managed to budge the monstrous woman, but only barely.
In any case, it got her attention.
And Salem was quick to respond.
Another rumble occurred that immediately felt different from the first and Tenebrous saw what this meant for it as a split second later, beams of pure aura simply started to fire right out of Salem's entire body.
Many of the blasts were aiming right for it, forcing it to immediately take to the sky and start taking evasive action. Even then, it had to solidify its entire body more than ever before in an attempt to guard. But despite its best efforts, a multitude of the blasts struck it with such immense power that its entire physical form was reduced to pure fog.
It was then quick to restore itself, but as soon as it did, it was to the sight of the remaining blasts she'd fired heading directly for the city and the Atlas fleet.
What could only be described as a carpet bomb took place, the blasts levelling the entire half of the city that was furthest from Beacon academy while the rest of the blasts headed for the fleet.
Many were able to move out of the way, but just as many weren't so lucky – they were destroyed on immediate impact, barely even scrape remaining behind.
Tenebrous roared in genuine fury as did Jaune who was now back in the picture. Feeling its connection with Jaune, the Power followed after the boy, whose strength and speed were ever growing still.
This time, they flew below Salem and circled around before the two of them intentionally crashed into the knee joint of Salem's left hind leg.
They hit like a massive bullet just as the leg had been about to move and their combined might and momentum proved to be enough to make the knee buckle.
Salem let out a sound that might've been an 'urk?!' but it was too inhuman a sound to be able to tell. She then let out a terrifying hiss that signaled her counterattack and the duo was quick to try getting out of range of whatever she was going to do.
But sadly, not quick enough.
From the knee they'd struck, hands of all things formed at a frightening speed and grabbed the two of them. Tenebrous and Jaune wasted no time struggling to break free and they proved to be much stronger than any individual hand, but for each one they broke out of, five more would form to take its place in an instant. Swiftly overwhelmed, the two of them were hefted by the hands and thrown towards the ground at an angle.
Specifically, they were thrown to the spot that Salem's other hind leg had just occupied.
And just as they were about to hit the earth, Salem stomped her foot down upon them.
Salem let out a sound that not even her own mind could recognize. She supposed it was meant to be glee, but there was no way to tell for real.
Ah…. What an incredible sensation this all was. To be one with so many of her precious Grimm and to start becoming one with all else…
Yes, this was it, this was it! Power unlike anything she'd ever felt before, power great enough to snuff out humanity all on her own!
No more pain, no more suffering, only her and her true friends! A world all for her and no others!
But… but!
It still wasn't enough.
It still simply wasn't enough.
This would not do just yet.
Ozpin.
That traitorous piece of shit and his equally pathetic 'comrades' have yet to suffer enough yet. For what had happened to her, simply snuffing him out and his so-called school so soon simply wouldn't do!
More, more, more! She had to hurt him and everyone else more!
But how to do so? Those Atlas bastards were still shooting her as if it'd actually accomplish anything, how insufferably annoying!
And the Power plus that damned Apostle, Jaune Arc! Even now when she so thoroughly eclipsed their might, they continued to back down!
She had to break them, break them all for good, but how? Stomping Vale into nothing would only enrage them more, destroying Beacon even more so.
Plus… those girls, yes, those girls. They were there, at Beacon. She could detect them so clearly now somehow.
That girl, Ruby Rose, with those silver eyes. She's killed so many of her precious friends with those accursed eyes. But not anymore, against her current level of might, granted to her by so many of her Grimm, the silver eyes would do nothing more than merely blind her!
And then that other girl, Arc's younger sister! From here, she could feel the girl's very presence, she'd awakened that semblance and it had proven to be exactly like she'd expected it to be.
It would seem that the Arc girl was somewhat similar to her, something akin to a 'Mind' for humanity itself! But her semblance was just barely awakened. It was a weak power, feeble, useless as it is right now! She was no threat, she never was!
Such a thought made Salem, as addled as her mind was, inwardly sneer.
To think she'd once placed some level of importance on those two girls. But now they were little more than gnats, just like everyone else. No, even less than that. Given just how much Jaune Arc and Ozpin had likely been betting on those two being trump cards, they were worse than useless gnats for not being anywhere near their full potential in terms of their respective trump card abilities.
Ha, not like it'd matter even if they were; she was far more powerful than anything that they could combat now.
Salem thus continued her 'walk' forward…
Only to then stop.
She let out a small wail of surprise.
There, through the connection she had with all the Grimm now… something was wrong! They were all losing! Losing!
But how?!
Humanity should have started to lose hope by now, what with how many Grimm there were, with how much more intelligently they were acting! So how and why was humanity still able to persist like this!
…
…
…Ah!
There!
Through the eyes of all the Grimm, Salem could only remain stationary and watch as things played out in all the kingdoms and the lands in between.
The armed forces of Atlas slowly yet surely driving back her Grimm through superior firepower and odd new tactics.
The teachers and students of Haven, supported by the fighting citizens of Mistral, were now beginning to retake the academy and the surrounding areas, finally pushing back the Grimm by way of setting up traps along the mountains' sides.
Vacuo's unruly population was being united into one big fighting force now… under a man that shared Jaune Arc's surname?! Even here, it seems like an Arc must pester them! And they were succeeding too, said man's strength supplementing everyone else's gung-ho spirits by a landslide. And just what kind of equipment were they now using?!
But it was more than just that… everywhere, fighting was going on.
The various villages and towns throughout each and every kingdom and the areas in between had taken up arms. For their families and friends and so-called loved ones. Mercenaries and bandits were banding together for the common cause of survival. Citizens that would've ran in fear any other time were taking up arms to defend their homes. Even that damned island of 'Faunus' were all doing something, pushing back the Grimm native to such an island and the surrounding waters by the command of a man she knew not, one that was tall and well built and with pitch black fur!
A rumble began to well deep within Salem's chest.
Her eyes narrowed as she continued to observe through this connection.
There was more.
In isolated areas, severe weather conditions were suddenly forming and seemed to be specifically targeting Grimm travelling across the land. This was occurring in three specific areas throughout all of Remnant.
There was no doubt about it – the remaining Maidens.
And what's more…
Here and there, there'd be flashes of an all too familiar silver light before the connection to those Grimm there faded.
Damn it all!
She always knew that Ruby Rose wasn't the only remaining silver eyed individual, but never had she imagined the remaining ones to awaken to such a power now during this final Trial!
All of these images and the information it provided proceeded to fill her with an even greater rage than she'd felt before. She should've seen it all coming.
But perhaps… yes, this was a blessing in disguise.
What better way than to truly break Ozpin's and Jaune Arc's spirits along with those of their allies than by first stamping out everyone and everything else? What better way to make them feel true despair than to make it known that what they were fighting for no longer existed?
With dark purpose now in mind, Salem finally began to make use of her wings, flapping them intensely.
And despite just how massive her new form, she was able to take to the sky just a moment later.
She couldn't help but let out a booming laugh as she made her way elsewhere.
Time to show humanity what their end looks like. Personally.
"It's taking off!" someone cried out.
Such a statement brought about a mixed reception among the tired and battle-worn students and teachers of Beacon, with some cheering for that thing's departure.
But a number of the others could only let out undiscernible sounds of trepidation.
Wherever that thing was going, it couldn't possibly be good.
Yang was among such a group, the normally lively and fierce brawler feeling her own heart clench at the sight of that monstrosity's rapidly disappearing form as it flew to the north.
"Just when I thought today couldn't get any crazier," she mumbled out, feeling tired in ways she didn't know were possible until just a few minutes ago, when the Grimm had all been suddenly wiped out here.
With no other Grimm seemingly in sight, it had allowed them all just a couple minutes of respite and she'd eagerly taken it without hesitation.
The same could be said of Pyrrha, who was currently sitting on the ground, catching her breath.
And Jeanne, who'd expended quite a bit of stamina by using that newly awakened semblance of hers, was practically out cold right now, having been brought down from the top of the tower just a moment ago by the two of them in order to rest.
Seeing this, Yang rather envied the girl, if only because she was currently unaware of the existence of that… well, whatever exactly that thing had been. Granted, she was going to get brought up to speed whenever she rested enough to wake up, but there was no telling how long that'd be.
That aside, when all the Grimm had been annihilated out of the blue, Yang had wasted no time calling up the others to check on them, starting first with her little sister.
Her heart had all but exploded from worry when Ruby hadn't answered her scroll, but she'd settled down when Nora had answered hers and revealed that Ruby was okay, just extremely tired as of now.
Blake, Weiss, and Ren appeared to be relatively okay as well and were currently on the way to link up with the rest of them here on Beacon's grounds, where it should continue to be relatively safe.
The thought of seeing her sister and friends again sadly did little to fully put her at ease, however.
And it seemed like the P of team JNPR felt the same way too.
"Just what was that thing?" Pyrrha asked, her voice little more than a whisper right now, no doubt from the shock.
"Your guess is probably better than mine…" Yang replied. Unlike Pyrrha, she couldn't bring herself to sit down and wait for the others. Instead, she started pacing back and forth in a rather agitated state, her nerves feeling so frayed that her semblance, usually so quick to respond to her stronger emotions, didn't trigger at all.
"I can tell you one thing though, Pyr," Yang said, using the redhead's little nickname that some used for her. "That thing was no damned Grimm… no way it could be…"
She sure hoped it wasn't a Grimm. Because if it was, then just how in the hell were any of them going to be able to fight it. The barrage the Atlas fleet had just unleashed on it before it took off looked like it wasn't even fazing the damned thing!
And speaking of which…
"Think they're going after it?" She pointed up at the Atlas fleet above, which had long since started to move now save for a few ships that appeared to be either landing here or over in Vale. Probably medics or something.
"Have to be." Pyrrha's voice sounded hard, with an expression to match. "Something like that… there's no way it could just be let to roam around, no matter how strong it may be."
Yang hummed in agreement. "Fair point. Whelp. Sure hope they got the firepower to deal with that."
Although she couldn't see it, there were also two others going after that creature and these two disappeared in veritable streaks of light – one light blue and the other a pitch black.
Winter was hardly the sort of person to cheer for anything, but now felt almost as good a time as any to do so.
And with reason – the Grimm were being pushed back.
It'd been a terrifyingly tough process and one that had felt like it'd lasted days when it was scarcely a fraction of that imagined time, but it was being done.
The Grimm that had been terrorizing the city on the ground had been slowly dealt with by the paladins, which were backed up by troops that kept the Grimm distracted long enough for the paladins to deliver the main devastating blows. Meanwhile, upon the walls, the troops and robots stationed there have finally been able to rally together enough to form a tight grid that allowed them to protect certain sections of the walls while the Grimm that did get past were swiftly dealt with by precise cannon fire from the various ships that were in the air.
As for her, although she had yet to see direct combat today, she'd been able to do her part well enough by supplementing the cannon fire of her command ship and any nearby ships with her glyphs. Using the acceleration glyph, she'd drastically been able to improve the speed of their shots and by extension their power, as the extra momentum allowed the shots to blast right through any and all unsuspecting Grimm as if they were made of wet paper.
The Grimm may still retain air superiority overall, if only due to numbers and mobility, but now it wasn't as bad as it was in the beginning.
It helped too, of course, that many of the Grimm actually seemed to be doing something that Winter never thought she'd see them do.
They were retreating.
Such a sight was enough to boggle the mind, but not enough to make her stop what she was doing nor stop giving orders over her comms link.
But just as it never occurred to her that the Grimm could ever be so intelligent and vicious and actually capable of retreat, it had likewise never occurred to her that there would be a reason for this action.
As a result, she was in a state of reverie that lasted until a sudden transmission came her way.
"Ma'am!" spoke a frightened sounding crew member from the bridge. "We're receiving transmissions from General Ironwood and his fleet! He demands to speak with you immediately!"
At this, Winter's rising mood fell and she narrowed her eyes in equal parts confusion and worry. Up until now, neither fleet has had trouble communicating with one another. Although she may not be on the bridge of this ship anymore, it should've been easy for the general to patch through to her directly.
So why did the general have to connect to the bridge first to get to her?
"Put him through!" she said.
The crew member did just that and immediately the specialist understood why Ironwood had to go through the trouble of doing it this way – nothing but static for the most, just barely any words audible through it all.
It was a common thing due to the extreme storms that occurred out here in the land of Mantle, but it was an issue that has long since been overcome.
The only way such an issue could have resurfaced and now of all times would only be if the storm outside the walls and over the mountains had intensified greatly.
But that just wasn't possible… was it?
"Say again, general! I repeat, say again!"
"Spe-.. Nee! …incoming! -uate…city!" came the still garbled response, only a few words getting through at most and even then, not even completely.
But Winter got the gist quite well. And as if to further make a point to her, a chill suddenly raced throughout her entire body before seeming to dig down into her very soul.
The sudden cries of the troops down below didn't help, as did the chatter over the comms link from the bridge.
Ordering the ship to turn around, Winter, who was hanging onto the very side of said ship by way of an opened hangar door, finally got a good look at what was causing all the ruckus.
Immediately, her blood ran cold. Her eyes widened to a degree unlike ever before and her heartrate practically flatlined from the shock.
Off in the distance, flying over the mountains that it easily dwarfed in size was a creature unlike anything she'd ever seen. Not even in the nightmares she used to have as a child had such a thing ever existed. A small part of it, mainly its torso and face, clearly looked human in nature, with long hair to boot. But the rest of its body… words failed her.
…It was heading straight for the city. And fast!
Already, the thing was landing!
"OPEN FIRE!" she screamed at a volume she had never thought herself to be capable of and with a sudden sense of desperation that defied description.
It took all of a split second for her command to be broadcasted by the crew of this ship to the rest of the forces and this took a split second long – by the time every single ship and troop and paladin started shooting, the thing had already landed.
And what an impact it was.
The thing was far bigger than any mountain in Remnant – and was it just a trick of her eyes, but did it seem to be getting marginally bigger by the second? – and likely had a mass to match such a size. That it was even capable of flight indicated the sort of strength and support its enormous wings must be capable of, especially considering the speed it'd moved at in the air just now.
Now that it's landed, however, they all came to learn firsthand just how much this nightmarish thing weighed, the landing impact surpassing the Richter scale that their seismologists used to measure quakes.
Buildings collapsed. Entire sections of the city were split open. The men on the ground below were instantly killed, be it by being crushed by the thing or the falling buildings or from the sheer shockwave such an impact produced.
What's more, several of the bunkers set up to take in civilians… had been destroyed too. Although said bunkers were underground and built to withstand attacks from even Goliaths, she knew exactly where they were located… and built to last or not, there was no way they could be capable of enduring such an 'attack,' especially when the very earth below those bunkers started to cave in on themselves.
Such a sight left Winter feeling so very stunned. For a brief second, everything seemed to fade from her senses save for that monstrous thing and the destruction it had wrought with so simple an action.
But this only lasted for a veritable instant before everything seemed to return to her. The horrified chatter over her comms link made sure of that.
Winter saw red. And a small part of her wished to act on this feeling, but she managed to stop herself from doing so.
Immediately, she came to learn what it was she had to do.
Trying to focus everything on this new creature would do no good; already, she could see the airships firing upon it accomplishing absolutely nothing, the innumerable rounds and missiles being fired upon it all but disappearing before direct impact.
"To any and all ground troops left, evacuate the civilians! Get them as far away from here as possible!" she ordered over the comms link.
As if in response to her order, the thing on the ground took one massive step forward and seemed to turn, its entire body, draconic in nature, shifting as it did so. Again, it was a simple action, yet its size made even this a dangerous thing as several ships that had been flying around it to nearly crash right into its sides.
One ship in particular didn't get so lucky and Winter unfortunately had a perfect view of it about to slam into the side of the monster's horn. But before it could fully crash, the most incredible and terrifying thing occurred – the ship and its unfortunate occupants were literally disintegrated upon getting within mere meters of the creature and the resulting mist-like substance that was all that remained of the ship was promptly absorbed into its skin.
The thing slightly tilted its head upwards. It looked directly at her.
Then it smiled, it genuinely smiled.
Such a sight was beyond horrific. The way those many sharp teeth grinded against each other as the split lips somehow curled upwards into a cruel and twisted expression nearly made Winter freeze.
But she still managed to retain her wits, if only barely. What's more, she shouted out an outright terrified order that all but demanded it to be obeyed immediately.
"Evasive action!"
The instant she yelled out this order, the pilots responded. The ship quickly started to swerve and fly as far away from that creature as possible.
But not quickly enough.
The monstrosity took a quick breath… and roared.
To Winter and no doubt to everyone else in the city, the roar sounded like the end of the world. It simply defied all other description.
As all over sound was drowned out in the world, the only thing Winter was aware of in the following moment was the ship being blown away, with her and the rest of the crew along with it. Her mouth was open in a silent scream as this occurred… or maybe not. Maybe she was screaming, but simply couldn't hear it due to the roar. She was certain the crew was screaming though, especially as the ship quickly approached one of the many devastated streets below.
She might've yelled out an order to brace for impact, but whether or not she actually did or if anyone even heard it, she'd never know.
The ship hit the ground hard and it was only the result of some absurd kind of luck that she was flung from the ship rather than be left to tumble around within it. This didn't save her from being violently flung through what remained of an upscale penthouse, the specialist unable to do anything at all to protect herself from such an event.
Winter hit the ground and skidded across for several dozen yards before finally coming to a stop.
Her body hurt all over. She was disoriented beyond belief. It was entire minutes before she finally started to regain her senses, at which point she came to realize just how much pain she was in.
But she was quick to start wriggling her entire body, making sure she still retained her limbs. So with as much haste as was possible, she tried to stand up, her hand clumsily reaching for her blade…
…Only to stop when a rumble shook the ground below, causing the ruined street to split apart more than before.
It would seem that thing had taken another step, something that she then confirmed by looking up at it.
Literally.
The damned thing… it was practically walking right past her, give or take several dozen meters. And it was here, in such close proximity to it – relatively speaking – that she was able to see what was going on around it.
There, flying ever so closely by its side were dozens of Nevermores and Gryphons, all of them literally flying directly into the thing, seemingly being absorbed by it. What's more, she could see the same being done to practically everything else around it, entire buildings and cars and people, some living and some not, being pulled off the ground as if gravity ceased to work around this thing. They all suffered the same fate as the Grimm, being broken up and sucked within the behemoth's very being.
All the while, the remaining ships continued to fire upon. She had no idea what was going on, her comms link having been lost in her crash, so all she had to go on was what she saw. The remaining ships seemed to be executing one of the more basic maneuvers used in aerial combat, but to what effect remained unknown – this thing seemed to be ignoring them for this moment.
Her eyes following it as it continued to stomp forward, its presence alone tearing up all that was around it, Winter then proceeded to turn and start to run towards the ship. First to check on her crew and second to reestablish communications with the forces that still remained and the general too, if possible.
But just as she began to do so, the creature suddenly let out a sound. It was almost like it was trying to hit a high note of some kind, almost like a singer. And in response, innumerable streaks of light – no, not light, aura! – were unleashed from its body.
The entire sky, normally completely dark and snowy as a result of the climate and constant snowstorms, was rendered blinding as streaks of aura colored it. The beams, for what else could they possibly be called, shot forth at speeds Winter could just barely track and bent in ways that made her eyes hurt.
What she could see, however, made her cry out. "NO!"
The beams overwhelmed the remaining ships like it was nothing, destroying them all in an instant before they all shot forth across the city and even further beyond.
Explosion after explosion rang out as the innumerable beams carpet bombed everything within tens of miles of the creature, the very earth shaking beneath Winter's feet with such violent force that she was knocked to the ground.
This lasted only a scant few minutes, but felt so much longer to Winter, the specialist feeling so horrified and helpless that everything seemed to play out over the span of hours to her.
As she shakily stood and turned to look all around her, seeing the entire city leveled, it was with a numbness that she only now appeared to realize and acknowledge something:
This thing, whatever exactly it is, simply couldn't be beat. Nothing she nor others could do could possibly even inconvenience this creature.
And this was something the thing in question seemed to know as well. For it took a shallow breath and its entire form shook lightly. It didn't take Winter long at all to realize that this thing was holding back a laugh. It was sapient, that much now looked certain and enough to realize the circumstances.
Winter's hands balled tightly into fists at the sight as the creature continued its trek forward. Such an action had stoked her terror into righteous anger and she quickly turned back around to head to her fallen ship.
First, she'd help the survivors, if there were any, out of there and then try to see if communications were still up.
This was no longer a situation where direct combat was possible. Instead, she had to try and get as many troops and rescue workers as was possible to start evacuating everyone whose areas have yet to be reached by that thing.
Or else, the entire kingdom and its inhabitants will be wiped out entirely.
As she began to run as quickly as she could to her decided destination, a streak of blue light suddenly appeared in the sky above, surprising her.
A quick turn of the head as she kept on running, she saw it heading directly for that thing at a speed she could scarcely track.
But nonetheless, she began to hope that whatever this now was, it wasn't on that thing's side.
It was all coming back to him now. His sight, that is.
When Jaune had first lost his physical sense of sight all that time ago, he honestly hadn't been expecting it to ever return. That said, he'd entertained the idea from time to time.
And whenever he'd had such a thought, it'd always led to daydreams of a sort, simple yet joyful. Daydreams in which he'd regain his sight to be able to look upon his family once more or him looking upon a world where the Grimm and the Trial were no longer needed.
Alas, reality hadn't been so kind to him.
As his sight continued to restore itself at a significant pace, what he first saw was the trail of destruction Salem had left in her wake.
It would seem that when she'd started to fly from Vale to Atlas here, the woman had used her semblance to tear apart the very ground below her, leaving no survivors at all in the once populated areas she'd flown over. The weather, no matter how nice it may have been, had been warped into something far darker and ominous. Areas where the weather wasn't so pleasant and even had regular storms have been turned into an all but continuous stream of hail or lightning, constantly crushing the land below.
And that wasn't even getting into what had occurred in the kingdom of Atlas so far.
Jaune knew that snowstorms were a common occurrence, but never has he heard or seen a storm so unbelievably intense. No doubt it had been the work of Salem, the snowstorm so violent outside of the cities that he wouldn't be surprised if it interfered with communications outside of the kingdom, which was likely what monstrous woman had desired.
When he finally caught up, it was to see the devastation already wrought within the city, or rather what was now left of it.
The sight of the all but flattened city with Salem's massive form beginning its haughty trek forward filled Jaune with a rage unlike anything he'd ever felt before.
Given what had happened back in Vale just now, he really ought to wait for Tenebrous to catch up, having actually been able to outstrip the Power's flight speed significantly. After all, by himself, he stood very little chance of doing anything to her.
But he was far too damned mad to care for that right now.
So he flew even faster than he already was flying, his abilities increasing even more than they already were.
He headed straight for Salem's leg and slammed into her right hind leg with several times more power than any strike he'd dealt to her eldritch form before. And this time, he was just as quick to pull back lest he be grabbed by any hands that could manifest from the limb and sped off.
His attack had grabbed her attention, if her sudden howl was anything to go by, but he paid it little mind as he smashed into her other hind leg before speeding off to go and attack her two front legs.
If he could at least knock her down completely, even if only for a few seconds, it could halt her march forward just long enough for Tenebrous to catch up and thereby allow the two of them to attack in unison again.
Unfortunately, Salem promptly unleashed a shockwave that knocked him back an entire mile just as he'd started to circle around her.
Then the transformed woman surprised him by swiftly turning her entire body, her tail hitting him with such almighty strength that Jaune could feel his entire form disperse from the hit.
Yet his conscious still remained, the young man vaguely aware of everything around him, from how the air pressure of the tail strike obliterated all the mountains outside the city for tens of miles on end to how Salem now opened her wings up as much as was physically possible.
By now, through sheer willpower, his 'body' reformed in only a handful of nanoseconds, but by the time he'd fully finished reforming, Salem's wings launched a multitude of… well, he wouldn't call them feathers, though the projectiles shared similar shapes to the real deal.
In any case, Jaune flew at Salem whilst avoiding the launched projectiles. However, just as he neared, Salem lunged right at him, her mouth opening as wide as possible, which proved to be a truly terrifying sight given just how far that Glasgow-like grin of hers extended down the neck.
So many teeth.
And as fast as he kept on becoming, against a foe of such a size and with a surprising level of speed herself, he was unable to change direction in time to escape her jaws. They closed on him with a sound unlike anything he could possibly identify and he went tumbling along her tongue towards her teeth due to having tried to backtrack prior to being munched on like this.
The instant he came into contact with the tongue, he was immediately aware that something was very off about it and sure enough with just a single glance at it, he was proven right – acidic properties that would've almost immediately killed anyone else.
Thankfully, being made of pure aura, he was immune to such properties and he kicked off her tongue and launched the fiercest punch he could muster at the nearest tooth, the size of it many times his own size.
His blow connected and although he was nothing but aura, he could feel his punch affect the tooth a bit, which prompted him to throw several more punches at rapid speeds until the tooth finally get knocked right out of its place.
Salem let out a roar of genuine surprise and slight pain at this and had he been even a nanosecond slower, such a roar would have sent him flying into the very front of her still closed mouth. As it is, however, he was able to fly out of the newly made opening, coming out the side of Salem's neck.
He then curved upwards, flying past the massive horn jutting out the side of Salem's head and this time managed to launch a successful attack at her eye.
It proved to be simultaneously the nastiest and most satisfying thing he'd ever done so far, the sensation of his 'foot' as it pierced through the mass being able to elicit some genuine pain from Salem. It also resulted in what passed for Salem's blood now to spew forth, nearly enveloping his entire form.
But Salem proved to be prepared, for just as this occurred, the spewing liquid – his mind simply refused to classify it properly as blood anymore – suddenly sprang to life, moving through the air and nearly piercing him through his 'chest' and 'head.'
That was when someone came to the rescue – Tenebrous.
His friend came divebombing from above, ramming completely into Salem's eye while her attention had been entirely on him. And unlike him, who only stuck his entire 'foot' in, Tenebrous completely buried himself within the eye, just above the iris.
This certainly grabbed Salem's attention, enough for her concentration to break and for the liquid to fall harmlessly to the ground far below.
Jaune pulled his 'foot' loose and flew back, ready to gather up enough momentum to circle around and attack Salem's other eye, but just before he could do so, the eye he and Tenebrous just attacked bulged horrifically, almost as if it was about to give birth to something.
Instead, what happened was honestly much worse in his opinion.
The entire eye burst open, shooting out Tenebrous who swiftly recovered and flew next to Jaune just as the burst eye restored itself by essentially reversing the process of what had just occurred, the liquid pooling itself back within the socket before the rest restored itself.
Jaune couldn't help it. "That… was just nasty," he said.
"Agreed." It looked like even Tenebrous could hardly bring himself to look at such a sight.
The second-long idle banter came to an end and the two of them looked at Salem, trying to figure out just what to do now. Her guard would now be up, so attempting the same thing likely wouldn't work again.
Or maybe it would? After all, given that Salem had upped and left Vale alone despite having had the entire city and the rest of the kingdom at her mercy, perhaps it'd be possible to attempt such a tactic again?
Jaune was certain that Salem leaving Vale was due to arrogance and perhaps even some genuine insanity – merging with all those Grimm couldn't possibly be good for one's mind – but he was now feeling somewhat hesitant on what to do.
Despite how well things had turned out just now, the odds were still against him and everyone else by an outright hilarious degree.
However, before he could come up with anything to do, Salem decided to make a move.
She jumped. High.
For a millisecond, Jaune could only stare, his mind boggling at the sight of something so massive being able to jump so easily like that. Flying was one thing, Salem had wings for that, but to jump?!
It only took him another millisecond to then realize the implications.
With that much mass…
"Let's go!" Tenebrous said, flying up at Salem with every intention of stopping her.
Jaune was quick to follow.
Together, the two of them flew as fast as they could, altering their flight path so that they were directly below Salem's massive form, which still traveled upwards.
Worry gnawed at Jaune like no tomorrow, to put it mildly. As heavy as Salem is now, to fall directly down from this kind of height would be beyond catastrophic. If there were any survivors from Salem's brief rampage until now, this would result in those people being completely wiped off the map along with what little remained of the city. Same thing went for the land further beyond. The entire kingdom would be feeling it.
They had to stop this or at the very least, mitigate the damage as much as possible.
Lacking any sort of long range options or anything else for that matter, what the two of them must do was woefully obvious.
"Ready?" he asked his friend, his disembodied voice managing to carry over to him despite their current speed.
"Ready."
Jaune nodded… and braced himself for impact with his 'arms' held upwards and spread apart, Tenebrous in a similar position.
By the time they reached Salem, the monstrous woman had reached the very apex of her jump and just barely started to fall. They slammed into her underbelly like comets and dug their fingers into her flesh as much as possible.
Their 'plan' to stop Salem here was beyond simple – they intended to lift her and move her away from the city through sheer brute strength.
But as powerful as both of them are individually and together, holding up a mass that far surpassed mountain ranges was far from easy.
The two of them let out roars of pure exertion as they attempted to halt Salem's descent, using their power of flight to keep them all suspended in the air for just a brief few precious seconds.
But Salem used her semblance to unleash multiple shockwaves that knocked them away and then flapped her wings to descend with even greater speed than she would otherwise.
For added insult, she stomped down on the duo with her front right foot.
But Jaune wasn't in a mood to give up so easily. Neither was his friend.
With a roar of indignation, Jaune pushed himself out from under Salem's foot and flew towards her torso again, followed a second later by Tenebrous. They both grabbed hold of her again and this time when Salem unleashed a shockwave to knock them away, they absolutely refused to let go.
Despite their best efforts, however, Salem continued to fall, their efforts so far only succeeding in slowing her descent marginally.
But a few seconds later, as the ground came into view much more clearly, things changed.
They began to slow considerably as the two of them exerted every last bit of power that they had.
Jaune, whether he knew it or not, was the main star of this incredible feat, as his power now began to grow at a far greater speed than before. Little by little, Salem's mass became easier for him to lift up, a fact that his mind only scarcely realized and acknowledged as he and Tenebrous now sought to move her away from the city.
With him providing the lifting while Tenebrous was left to 'steering,' they flew with one extremely shocked Salem to the west, out to where the utterly flattened mountains were at thanks to her tail swipe from earlier. They slowly lowered closer to the ground as well until they were merely several dozen feet above ground.
Then with a great heave, Jaune and Tenebrous tried throwing Salemjust a bit further to the west and promptly let go, flying away from her before she hit the ground.
And when she did, it was with a truly colossal amount of force. No doubt, the city still felt that rumble, but compared to what could have happened, this was more of a blessing.
Jaune flew up and over Salem before coming to a stop, uncertainly staring at her before then looking to his own 'hands.' Only now did it dawn on him what had occurred and he could only levitated in place in complete amazement.
"To think you've grown this strong…" Tenebrous muttered from beside him, along with something else that Jauen couldn't hear.
"Y-Yeah," he replied almost numbly, unsure of what else to even say let alone think.
What had occurred just now had been nothing short of ridiculous and he and his friend had been the source of it.
Taking just a second longer to marvel at what had just occurred, Jaune then focused back on the issue at hand.
Salem.
Perhaps from shock, the monstrosity that had once been a woman didn't seem to be moving much at all, if only for the moment. This was something that made Jaune feel oddly better despite all the circumstances.
However, it also brought to mind one simple thing:
Just what to do now?
They may have just saved whatever was left of the city and its inhabitants, but how to stop Salem herself?
Whatever answers such a question could have refused to come to him and before he could think on what else to do, Salem finally began to stir.
Immediately, Jaune wished to launch another assault, but considering the mixed results so far, he managed to suppress the urge to do so for the time being, if only until he and Tenebrous see what exactly Salem has planned now.
And this proved to be a great mistake.
The very instant Salem turned and locked her massive eyes on the two of them, several invisible ripples suddenly emitted from Salem. Jaune was only able to 'see' the ripples because in addition to his returning eyesight, he still retained the ability to see aura, which allowed him to see the ripples.
But he wasn't quick enough in reacting to them, for the ripples didn't seem to be functioning like those shockwaves Salem has made before.
So when the ripples struck him, he was in for a hell of a surprise when suddenly, they just seemed to brighten, actually blinding him to such an extent that he instinctively brought up his 'arms' to cover his 'eyes' despite not having a physical body.
This proved to be a second mistake as he suddenly felt Tenebrous smash against him, knocking him off balance.
The sudden force should have sent them both careening several yards to the left, but that didn't occur, for he instead found himself mashed up against some kind of wall that he couldn't see through initially.
It didn't take his mind very long to realize what had happened – he and Tenebrous had been encased in a circular barrier, one far too small for either of them to move around in, let alone exert the strength needed to break free.
But nonetheless, he immediately tried doing so, feebly banging against the nearest part of it he could maneuver his attack to. But it did nothing, with nowhere near enough room to through a proper punch.
What's more, the barrier seemed to shrink even more in response.
"Gah…!" He couldn't help but cry out as what little room he had left vanished as he and Tenebrous were furthered smashed together. Not only that, but it felt like several more layers had been added to the barrier as an extra precaution.
Then he felt the sphere they were trapped in suddenly launch itself at great speeds. Upwards, from the feel of it.
It was several seconds before they finally stopped, hitting… something… before rolling along like a ball. The barrier shrunk even more as did the extra layers outside of it, pressing them together ever more tightly.
Even if Tenberous switch to his fog-like state, it'd do little good in freeing up room. That is how tight they were now trapped.
Panic began to set into Jaune's mind and heart, figuratively speaking.
Due to the circumstances, he and Tenebrous were the only ones that could even get close to Salem without being ripped apart on a molecular level and absorbed into her very being. If they're stuck in here, then that meant the rest of Remnant was now left at Salem's mercy, of which she had none.
Feebly, he tried banging on the barrier, but found the lack of space to make it impossible to do more than wriggle around.
"Damn it, damn it!" he roared. This was the absolute last thing that they could afford to happen. "We have to get out of here and quick!"
He kept struggling, but to no avail. Not even his increasing strength could do much good right now with so little room to operate in.
It was a few seconds before he realized that Tenebrous wasn't really doing anything. Instead, the Power seemed to be tilting his head as much as possible to his right and upwards, looking at something.
"Tenebrous, come on! Help me out here!"
"…Jaune," his friend began. "Look."
Jaune, confused by his friend's tone of voice, found himself obeying without hesitation.
And what he saw froze him down to the core.
It would seem that the barrier had become transparent right after their landing. He simply hadn't noticed due to having been so focused on trying to break out instead.
So it was with an unbelievable sense of amazement and horror that he looked up…
At the planet.
The implication of such a sight struck him far harder than anything else up to this point. He couldn't help but outright gasp. And how could he not do so?
After all, Salem had launched them to the moon.
Salem finally got back up completely and inwardly giggled at her handiwork.
Those two had been pests from the start, but just a moment ago, they'd really started to enrage her.
Even scare her just a tad bit too – she'd never thought they could budge her, let alone lift her like they'd done.
Ha, goes to show that she really ought to have done that much sooner, send them away.
With the two of them slowly being crushed by nearly a dozen barriers layered over one another, they likely won't be getting in her way again anytime soon. Sending them to the moon had simply been a extra precaution to ensure they wouldn't be flying after her too soon.
Now with those two, immune to her semblance, out of the way…
There truly was no one and nothing left to stop her.
With a sickening smile appearing on her warped face, Salem continued her trek towards Atlas once more.
There you guys go! Hope this was a chapter that you all enjoyed!
In case it's not too obvious, Salem's current form is heavily inspired by Tiamat's draconic form from Fate Grand Order, albeit with some modifications here and there to reflect Salem herself, of course. Not the most original thing I could've done, but I did what I thought worked, so I hope it proved to be something terrifying yet cool for you guys too.
Whelp, up next, you can expect some serious terror since Jaune and Tenebrous are out of the picture for the time being! I'll do my best to make it as terrifying as I can, even more so than when Tenebrous killed those White Fang guys from chapter 15 and when it scared Cinder and the others!
Again, now with this chapter done, I will be writing up the next chapter for my novel first before getting back to work on this fic, so it'll be back to my 'usual' schedule, so to speak. So the next update likely won't be until around the end of this month or maybe even early February depending on the length and difficulty of my novel-writing.
Hope this won't be a problem!
Until next time, everyone. Take care!
