Chapter 80 – Leviathan-Class
Ortega
Ortega watched the massive Leviathan-Class Reaper pursuing the Team below in their car, and he paced back and forth to try and figure out how to bring this thing down. But as he walked, he heard Penny's voice from the microchip in his chest pocket. "Poked the nest, didn't we?" She asked him.
"That we did. Any ideas in there?" Ortega asked her as he walked around.
"Wait, you don't?" Penny gasped.
"Oh, ha-ha, very funny. Nobody has ever seen a Grimm of this scale before. Leviathans were the biggest, hence the Variant Class. But that? That makes the Leviathan look like a puppy in comparison." Ortega said.
"Puppies… reminds me of Zwei." Penny giggled.
"Focus, Penny." Ortega requested.
"Of course… well… I don't really know what it looks like, but from what you're saying it sounds huge. Every creature must have a chink in the armour, it's the way things work. If something was completely covered in armour from head to toe, then it would not be able to move. There must be somewhere in its body to target." Penny explained, and Ortega nodded his head.
"My main concern is if that thing decides to turn its attention away from Team R.W.B.Y and head back towards Arcturus Base. There are more people there, and that would be reason enough for it to change targets." Ortega explained.
"We could attempt to evacuate them with our other Dreadnaughts." Penny suggested.
"We could, but we may need them up here with me. Besides, how long would it take to evacuate that many soldiers and equipment?" Ortega asked her.
"Well… there's a lot down there. Maybe six hours at least." Penny calculated.
"We don't have six hours, hell we might not have six minutes." Ortega said as he brought up the newly formed Holographic mapping of the Reaper Leviathan from their cameras. He glared at the monster and he gritted his teeth.
"We just can't beat that right now." He growled, pointing at it.
Ruby
It was directly behind them, so massive that the sun was blocked out by its gigantic armoured body. The Reaper roared at them, creating a sound that was so loud that it made their ears ring for a brief moment. The Reaper slammed its head straight through one of the crumbling towers. Weiss drove as fast as she could, drifting the car round one of the streets as the Reaper pummelled directly through one more building. Chunks of debris and rubble fell from the sky as the Leviathan-Class Grimm rose high in the air.
Ruby cocked the machine gun on the back, and she shot at its face, but she might as well have been throwing rocks at the gigantic beast as it turned round to dive down at them once again. It howled as it brought its huge jaws down towards where they were driving. "Keep going Weiss! We need to get as far from Arcturus Base as we can before we get Ortega to open fire on this thing!" Ruby called out.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Weiss shouted back at her, but as they drove, Blake's eyes widened as she saw Grimm flying out from the destroyed buildings around them. Skeletal Skyscrapers held the nests of Nevermores, Griffins, Teryxes and Manticores.
"Oh… great." Blake groaned, knowing that this fight was only about to get a lot harder. The Reaper kept on them, desperately trying to kill the Silver Eyed Warrior.
"Ruby forget the Reaper! We've got incoming Grimm!" Yang called out, she held onto the side of the truck with one hand and she fired her missiles from Ember Celica, sending the highly explosive missiles towards them. One of the Griffins flew directly for them, as if they were trying to crash the truck that the Reaper was pursuing. The missile exploded into the wing of the Griffin, sending it crashing down into the ground behind them.
The ride was rough as hell due to the utterly decimated terrain that Weiss was having to drive across to stay ahead of the Reaper. The huge Leviathan-Class Creature accelerated with its jaws wide open as it tried to devour them, but Ruby shot into its mouth instead. Bullet Shell Casings endlessly fell from the machine gun that Ruby was firing at the beast. The Reaper growled with anger and pain, recoiling back like a giant snake from the pain of those bullets shredding the soft black tissue down its throat. However it was not nearly enough to do any real damage against this thing.
They needed the Fleet to bring this thing down.
Ruby swivelled the turret round, firing it up towards one of the Nevermores that flew after them, screeching as it flew directly towards them, massive black wings shattering the rooftops of buildings. It shrieked as it launched Fatal Feathers down towards them. Blake cast an explosive shadow of herself, it detonated and burned the Feathers to dust before they could even get close. Ruby continued to open fire on the Nevermore that chased them, the Reaper had gained some altitude above them, casting a massive black shadow across Arkhonex as it flew overhead.
The Nevermore that pursued them roared as it drew closer and closer, muscle tissue was shredded off with the black feathers as well, the glowing red interior of the Grimm was more visible than the bone armour now from the damage Ruby had just dealt to the giant Corvid Grimm. It crashed down to the ground when Ruby focused her gunfire on one of the Nevermore's Wings, cutting it off with the bullets alone. The Nevermore's impact into the ground upturned the soil, but they just kept driving as they could from the other Grimm, alongside the giant that was drawing all the Grimm here into Old Town in the first place.
Weiss' eyes widened when she looked ahead and saw the path ahead was completely blocked off by a totally destroyed and toppled over skyscraper, something that they were never going to be able to get past. However, Weiss still had a way out, she turned her gaze and saw the massive scar across Old Town where the Reaper had risen from. "Hold on!" Weiss called out, sharply drifting the car round the corner, and she roared down one of the alleyways, and the Griffins that were on their tail shrieked as they splattered into the building that was blocking their original path.
Ruby watched as some of the Grimm managed to get through that gap though, a couple of Manticores in fact. The two started to blast fireballs from their jaws as they pursued, long black feathered wings extended from their backs. Ruby shot repeatedly at the beasts, but their heads were heavily armoured, which meant that the bullets were doing next to no damage to them. She would need to hit them in a better spot to be able to bring these things down. The Manticores drew closer and closer, but as they drove Yang kept her eyes on the sky. The Reaper was still following them, and it was soon going to descend to attack them once more to try and eat them whole.
Weiss was driving with some pretty impressive skills as she drifted round the corner, and Ruby chuckled. "When the hell were you such a good driver?" Ruby questioned.
"Always have been! You just always had Yang drive!" Weiss joked.
"Seriously? We gonna be bringing that up for the rest of our lives?" Yang scoffed with a groan.
"YEP!" Ruby, Weiss and Blake said in unison.
The Reaper howled to the sky as it flew around them, keeping in pace with them, but Ruby continued to keep on shooting at the Manticores that were chasing them. One of them launched yet another fireball towards them, and it exploded very close to the side of the car. If it were any closer, and if Weiss wasn't a great driver, they would have been thrown from the car and into a crash. And most likely have been devoured by the Reaper. Ruby shot at their bodies and the best she managed to do against their armour plating was cause a couple of cracks, but nothing substantial. Ruby looked around for a way to take them down in a more… creative fashion.
Ruby looked and she saw the buildings all around them and she smirked, turning to Yang. "Think you can blow up one of those leaning buildings? It wouldn't take much to cause them to collapse, it could get rid of these annoying Manticores for us!" Ruby called out, Yang grinned and Blake held her hand to make sure she did not fall from the car as Weiss drove as fast and as hard as she could. Yang swung round the side of the car and she fired Ember Celica's shrieking missiles towards the leaning building.
The explosions did the trick, snapping and shattering the supports that held it in position, and the giant structure crumbled into giant chunks. It groaned as it collapsed with one hell of a bang, flattening the two manticores in one shot. But that was not the end of their problems, they still had a couple of Teryxes chasing them as well. The Lesser Wyverns roared as they pursued them, breathing fire down towards them, igniting the plant life around them. Blake fired Gambol Shroud up at the large creature as it flew behind them, slashing its claws at them, even trying to pick up the truck at one point. But Ruby unloaded the machine gun into the head of the creature, shredding the bone armour clean off as she hit it from inside of its mouth, blowing the top of its head off. Black smoke and blood erupted from where a brain would normally be, and the beast disintegrated before their eyes.
The second Teryx was flying with great speed and agility, weaving and dodging the bullets and even flying through the buildings in its way. The Teryx spun through the air in a corkscrew attack before it started to breath fire towards them. The fire charred the ground in front of them, and the car suddenly spun out of control and slammed against one of the buildings. Team R.W.B.Y were crashed, and the Teryx landed in front of them with a deafening roar, but Weiss casted a Glyph that launched fireballs towards the creature, pushing it back as the flames burned across its blackened scales.
The Teryx screeched viciously at them until Yang launched herself into the mouth of the beast, holding its jaws open with one fist, and her legs pushed the bottom jaw all the way down. It shook its head with anger and pain as Yang punched and fired Ember Celica down its throat, over and over again. "I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUNGRY!" Yang yelled as she pummelled it to death, eventually blowing the neck apart and ripping its head off with one twist. She backflipped off the Teryx as it disappeared into thin air, and she turned to Weiss.
"Come on, turn back on you piece of garbage!" Weiss stressed with fear, turning the key in the ignition but it was failing to start. The four gasped as they turned, hearing the sound of the Reaper, it sounded like an Earthquake, all those gigantic scales grinding against each other like that. It was coming straight for them, with its eyes glowing hot red as it moved closer and closer, ready to devour them.
"It was fun while it lasted, guys." Ruby said as she held their hands, all of them stood at the ready, knowing that there was no getting out of this.
"Heads up, Team R.W.B.Y!" The voice of one of the Acolytes of the Rose Fighter Jet Pilots chimed in through their scrolls, they all looked up as missiles suddenly exploded against the face of the Reaper. The Leviathan-Class Creature of Grimm roared with rage as it shook its head from the explosions that rattled its head. "We'll keep it busy whilst you lure it away from the Embered Grove!" The pilot assured as he and his squadron flew around the gigantic titan. It roared and tried to chew on one of the jets, but they were too fast for the lumbering beast.
"Yes! We owe you, man!" Ruby cheered.
"Eh, buy us a beer when this is done. Then we'll call it even! That is if we survive this thing." The Squadron Leader said, firing his machine guns and missiles at its armour. Their firepower did very little against armour like that, but it was enough to get its attention away from the Team.
Weiss returned back to the car, and it still failed to turn on. Yang jumped out and she opened the bonnet, finding some bits of rubble in the engine. She pulled the out and quickly repaired the problem, and the car roared to life. Yang vaulted back inside of the car, whilst Weiss drifted it round. The mere sound of the car being turned back on was enough for the determined Reaper to turn its gaze back towards them, roaring deafeningly at them as it pursued. But the Air Force of Jets were still fighting it, dropping bombs and launching missiles into its body. The Reaper snarled as it smashed through the buildings to try and get the team, narrowly missing the car as Weiss kept ahead of it, then the Reaper rose high up into the sky.
The Fighter Jets repeatedly launched missiles into the armour, but after all that there were only some scorch marks from where the missiles hit. The only thing that could possibly do anything to a Creature of Grimm that size would have to be the Broadsides of a Dreadnaught. Every Grimm has a weakness, and even when it came down to Vir Nominis Umbra, he would never make a Creature of Grimm that would be unstoppable.
That would be cheating, and Vir Nominis Umbra never cheats.
The Reaper started to battle the Acolytes of the Rose Fighter Jets, slowly spinning through the air as it swung those massive fins made from armour towards them. But the jets were faster and could definitely avoid those things. They continuously bombarded the thing as Weiss drove down across the chasm that was formed from where the Reaper had awoken. Water was rushing into it from the decimated Aqueducts that burst from its awakening, slowly beginning to flood what remained of Old Town. The Reaper's shadow cast over them as it battled the jets and gunships, its roars echoed across the Fallen Civilisation. The Reaper began to descend, grating its underside across the peaks of so many destroyed buildings, toppling them over, causing Weiss to have to avoid each of the plummeting chunks of building that fell upon them.
"Ortega!" Ruby called through her connection on her Scroll. "How much further do we need to lure this thing?"
"Just beyond the area your in, get to the other side of the place where it woke up, there will be no chance in our shells accidentally hitting the Embered Grove that way." Ortega assured, which was a very valid reason. They could not risk their people being killed in the crossfire on such epic proportions.
The Reaper circled around them as it battled against one of the Jets, when it suddenly swung its huge tail towards two of the jets. They exploded as soon as the tail hit them, killing the poor pilots instantly, and the burning wrecks of their jets plummeted down to the ground. The smouldering jets crashed and exploded into the ground with great force, spreading flames and burning oil all over the place. "No!" Blake gasped with shock to see two of the brave pilots die for them.
"Damn it…" Yang softly said as she held on tight, Weiss was trying to not focus on the Reaper or the brave men and women who were risking their lives up there to keep it off them. But the Reaper was still trying to focus on them, and as Ruby turned the machine gun around, it descended towards them, and Weiss was gunning it up the sloping hill of obliteration where the Reaper rose from the ground. Ruby shot at it over and over again, and then one of the jets launched a missile that hit the titan in the eye, and it roared with fury and agony, black smoke bled from its blown open eye. It recoiled from the impact, its head crashed through the ground, and the razor-sharp underside scales cut through the soil like knives as it ascended once more. The jets all fired their machine guns into the face of the beast, dealing a bit of damage into the armour, cracking it in places.
The Reaper snarled as its five remaining eyes focused on the jets, and the plates of armour shifted as it opened its jaws. A channel of flames and molten lava flowed through the Serpentine Body of the Reaper and the throat glowed bright gold. Suddenly, just as the plates in the back of its head shifted, a powerful beam of fire blasted towards the jets. "Argh!" The remaining pilots screamed, including the Squadron Leader who was speaking to them mere minutes ago. Their jets were completely reduced to ashes, and the Reaper grumbled as it shook its whole body as if it rid itself of blood sucking insects.
"No…" Ruby closed her eyes in grief for the soldiers who just lost their lives, then her grief turned to hatred. She wanted this thing dead and gone. The Reaper was coming directly for them again and it was preparing to attack once again. "Screw it…" Ruby growled as she stood up on the back of the truck. "ORTEGA! FIRE NOW!" She yelled.
"What? It's too close to you, we could hit all of you instead!" Ortega argued.
"DO IT! FIRE!" Ruby repeated, since they had no other options left, because in a few seconds they would be swallowed down the Reaper's gullet if Ortega did not issue the order.
"Roger that." Ortega reluctantly agreed. "Danger Close! Danger Close!"
Ruby saw the broadsides of the Drift of Wandering Star all light up over and over again, then the whistling of the incoming explosive rounds grew louder and louder. The ones that were lower exploded behind the Reaper. And the rest ran up the back of the Reaper, the monster created a thunderous bellow as it felt the explosive shells detonate across its back and hitting it in the back of its head. The shells exploded around their car, and finally they were thrown from the seats of the truck as it flipped over. Ruby tumbled across the ground, ducking as the truck flipped over her head, rolling down the sloped hill and into the rubble beneath them. She turned and saw Weiss, Blake and Yang rolling across the ground as well. They were stranded on foot now with the Reaper roaring in pain, and Ortega was not letting up.
Both he and the rest of the fleet of Dreadnaughts were throwing everything they've got at the Reaper, blasting it over and over again with shells. Some of them missed as the giant moved, and they exploded into the ground. But Ruby did not even flinch as some of the rubble and dirt fell around her, she just wanted that Leviathan-Class Grimm dead. Some of the shells hit the Reaper in the back of the head as it tried to ascend towards the Dreadnaughts, but as it roared, it came crashing down into the ground, making the ground shake so hard it felt like an Earthquake.
Ruby watched its body as it laid there… but it was not disappearing.
"Target is down." One of the Admirals said.
"No… it isn't disappearing. You've stunned it, you must have hit it somewhere important." Ruby said as she watched its body, and she looked around.
"What did we hit?" Ortega asked, looking for any kind of damage assessment of the Unidentified Variant.
"Looks like the back of its head. I saw those massive plates of armour on its head moving when it was about to breathe fire on us, same as when it killed those pilots with that attack. I think it needs to shift the plates in order to open its jaws that wide for the fire to come out. That must be where it is weakest, because then there's no armour protecting it." Ruby explained as she looked at the unconscious Grimm, but she knew that this state of unconsciousness was not going to last.
It was going to wake back up… but that did not matter.
They knew where the weakness was now.
"That's a small target, Ruby. We'll need a timed shot in order for that to work." Ortega said.
"I can tell you when from down here. If I can keep it focused on me, then you'll have a clear shot of the back of its head." Ruby explained, picking Crescent Rose back up, transforming it into its Scythe Form and spinning it round, stabbing the curved blade into the soil behind her.
"Ruby…" Yang said as she walked over to her. "Are you sure about this? I mean… that thing is coming straight for you. It knows about your eyes." Yang pointed out.
"I know, that's why I need to be down here. The rest of you should go, I don't want any of you to get hurt." Ruby said, but Yang just scoffed at that.
"Okay, I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that." Yang said.
The Reaper softly grumbled as it started to come to, but she turned when she saw Weiss stand beside her. Then Blake and then Yang.
"We're not going anywhere." Weiss promised as she held her best friend's hand. Ruby smiled and the four of them stared down the Reaper as it began to wake back up.
"This is it. Bring it on, you ugly son of a bitch." Ruby snarled.
Ensemble Battle
Whilst Team R.W.B.Y and Ortega were working together to take down the Reaper, the rest of the gang still had their hands full in fighting the Grimm still inside of what remained of Arcturus Base. Jaune pushed his Shield forward, stopping the jaws of the Beowulf that lunged towards him. It scraped its claws across the face of his shield, but he swung round with Crocea Mors and cut its head and right arm off, bringing it down to the ground. Jaune ducked down to avoid the incoming quills from one of the Spikers. The four-legged Grimm stood there, launching spikes from its arched tail. He blocked the next volley with his shield, being pushed back in the process. The White Fang and the Acolytes were all moving into the Embered Grove, thousands of soldiers heading inside as ordered. Whilst the Brave Huntsmen and Huntresses held the ridge.
They were wise to this to, they could not sacrifice anymore weapons or soldiers, they were going to need them for the coming conflict. Qrow landed beside Jaune and deflected the incoming quills with Harbinger, stood by his side as Pyrrha ran over to Jaune's side. "Are you okay?" She asked him with great concern.
"Yeah… these things just keep coming." Jaune panted as he pushed Crocea Mors down into the ground. Cordovin was also holding the area with them, burning some of the Grimm with her weapons, but pretty soon she was going to need to fall back as well. She could not risk wasting her ammunition on these Grimm. With the Shivering Dominion drawing ever closer with every single minute that passed, they were going to need to fight to the last living soul.
They all knew it was too late to stop what was coming, but they still had three more days to prepare for the coming hell.
"We just need to hold them off long enough for our armies to get inside of the Embered Grove. If the legends are true, then they cannot get past the threshold. And if they do go to help that Leviathan-Class Grimm? Well then, they'll be like fish in a barrel for the Dreadnaughts. We can finish them here." Qrow said as he watched the Grimm headed towards them. Jaune panted and he rolled his shoulder and popped his neck.
"Yep… just gotta keep fighting until that point." Jaune said, turning to see that the Architect was being taken inside of the Embered Grove. He still needed some serious repairs, yet he was still finding a high ridge inside of the Grove so then he could pick off Grimm with his Rifle.
He never thought that a Robot could be so stubborn.
Jaune sprinted with Pyrrha by his side towards the incoming Grimm and he jumped up in the air with Crocea Mors held all the way back. He plunged it down through the ribs of a Beowulf, pinning it down to the ground, before he pulled the sword from its fading body and he pirouetted and sliced another one of them down the shoulder, killing it instantly. Akoúo launched past his head and knocked into the head of a Creep, causing the beast to stagger back. It growled, shaking its head in anger as it tried to attack, then it burrowed down into the ground. Pyrrha reached her hand out and the polarity wrapped around the rebar inside of the destroyed buildings and she launched it down into the ground, killing the Creep where it was burrowing.
That was not all that was coming for them, they all saw the rubble be pushed up by something massive that was headed their way. The ground exploded and a Deathstalker landed on the ground, swinging its huge scorpion tail around and hitting Jaune in the chest so hard that he was knocked through one of the buildings. The Deathstalker screeched as it stood there, snapping its pincers over and over again as it stood there. "JAUNE!" Pyrrha screamed with horror, before she gritted her teeth angrily and sprinted towards the Deathstalker. She dropped to the ground and slid underneath its incoming stinger that stabbed down at where she was stood.
Pyrrha jumped up in the air and she threw Akoúo at it, until someone shot towards it as well, moving faster than time. It was none other than Oscar Pine, slowing time as he sprinted towards the huge Scorpion. He ran across the lowered tail and he jumped in the air, spiralling round and he slashed Traveller's Atrocity across the bulb, severing it to the point where it was hanging from sinewy tendon. Pyrrha took her shot and launched the shield once again, and it cut the tendon clean in two and it dropped down to the top of the beast's head. The Deathstalker screeched in agony and it charged at Pyrrha, the Spartan gasped, and her green eyes widened, until Oscar pushed her out of the way, moving her aside with slowed time.
"Thank you!" Pyrrha gleefully said with relief, turning to see some Grimm charging into the building where Jaune was thrown into. Her eyes widened again, but then she was immediately relieved when she saw one of the Grimm get thrown out of the building as soon as it ran inside. Jaune walked out and he plunged his sword into the gut of one of the Beowulves, and he used it as a meat shield against one of the other Grimm. He kicked the dead Grimm in the chest, pushing the other backwards, which gave Jaune the chance he needed, and he rushed forward, and he drove the sword into the throat of the Beowulf, and he twisted around, beheading it in one swift attack.
Pyrrha smiled, proud of him.
Time slowed once more as Oscar sprinted through the battlefield, slashing through the Grimm that were in his path, using Traveller's Atrocity when it was in its Dual Dagger Forms, cutting them down one by one. But he was not the only one using slowed time, as he ran by Ozpin who jumped up in the air and slammed his cane down into the ground. They both resumed time as usual, and the Grimm were blown apart from their vicious fighting styles. Oscar looked at Ozpin and he nodded at the Headmaster, they still needed to have one serious talk about what Salem had told them.
But now was not the time.
Neptune fought as well, running across the battered terrain with great ease thanks to his skillset, bouncing from chunk of rock to chunk of rock. Until he saw the purple energy surround some chunks, and he turned to see Glynda lifting them up for him. He jumped from each of them and he then jumped up in the air, and he aimed his Rifle. He fired shot after shot, and each round headshot the Grimm that he was aiming for. He landed on the ground and he turned to see a Hellhound erupting through the destroyed buildings. The concrete turned to lava from its superheated body, and it sprinted towards him with a feral barking roar, and it leapt towards him, but Neptune rolled out of the way and he transformed Trishula back into its Trident Form. The Hellhound turned and growled savagely, the claws ignited on one of its paws before it jumped at it, swiping the paw at his face, but he rolled out of the way and just as it rushed towards him, he rammed the Trident into its chest.
The Hellhound snarled with fury, then Neptune channelled electricity from his entire body and started to eviscerate the Grimm from the inside out. The Hellhound roared in agony and then it exploded violently. Neptune jumped away from the explosion created by the dying Hellhound, and he spin Trishula through his fingers, transforming it back into its Rifle Form. He turned and saw Cinder fly through the air, and she landed with great force, fighting back-to-back with her brother. Kassius threw Lash Equinox straight into the chest of the attacking Ursa, knocking it down to the ground with a heavy thud.
Kassius shot Vulcan Nox over and over again at the Grimm that were clambering over the crumbling bodies of their former comrades. Cinder rolled across Kassius' back and she kicked a Boarbatusk in the face as it charged towards him. It tumbled across the ground and she formed one of her swords and threw it over her brother's head, impaling two Grimm together. Kassius drove Lash Equinox into the belly of the Boarbatusk and he threw it towards the other Grimm, and whilst it was mid-flight, Cinder formed her Bow and launched an arrow into its body. The spell that Salem taught her was still known, and the swirling eye of Salem formed, screeching deafeningly before it exploded, eliminating the Grimm around it.
Kassius and Cinder stood together, and the twins looked at each other and smirked, giving each other a fistbump, laughing.
"WHOO-HOO!" Sun cheered as he held onto the giant ears of a Goliath, riding it with Cardin on the back of it. Sun jumped off it and he shot Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang into the face of the dying Goliath. Cardin jumped off the beast and held Executioner over his head with a roar, smashing it down into the ground with all his might. The ground exploded and flames erupted from the ground thanks to the fire dust crystal inside the mace. The shrapnel was thrown directly into the chest of the Ursa Major in front of him, which he then swung around and nailed the beast up its chin with his mace. Cardin gritted his teeth and caught an attacking Thrall by the throat, holding the infected creature there. Sun stared at it and gritted his teeth with hatred at them.
Cardin slammed it down to the ground with great force, and Sun stared ahead at more of them sprinting towards him. "I hate this damn disease! It's over!" Sun yelled, firing Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang over and over again, spinning the Gunchucks with great speed, firing them repeatedly. The shells blew the heads of the Grimm-Humanoids apart, causing their bodies to be sent to the Charred Forest before they could return to their plane of existence. Sun jumped up in the air and he brought his foot down atop the head of another attacking Thrall, smashing its skull into thousands of shards on the ground. He rolled out of the tackling path of another Thrall, until one of them suddenly threw itself into his side. He held it back with his Bo Staff as it snapped its jaws at him over and over again. Cardin grabbed it by the back of its head, and he bellowed, swinging round and throwing it into the wall, he then took Executioner and slammed the mace down the top of the Thrall's skull, crushing its head into the shoulders of the creature.
Cardin pulled Sun back up to his feet. "Thanks for the help." Sun said.
"Any time." Cardin assured.
Suddenly a white light lit up the battlefield and the two of them turned to see Kragen freezing multiple different Grimm to stone, before he spun Ebony Duchess through his fingers with great speed, and he thrusted the staff forward through the chest of the Beowulf, impaling like it was a spike. Junior and the Malachite Twins continued to hold the line as well, firing his missile launcher towards the horde of Grimm that continued to get closer and closer. Climbing over each other to get past the debris and frozen Grimm – courtesy to Kragen. Qrow flew through the air in his Corvid Form and transformed, diving down and slashing through the Grimm Forces with his huge Scythe. The Grimm were left in diced chunks as they faded away, and Nora repeatedly fired her Grenade Launcher into the crowd of darkness. The Huntsmen and Huntresses retreated closer and closer to the Embered Grove.
Their numbers were getting thicker and thicker. "Everyone! Inside the Embered Grove! Go!" Jaune yelled, he ran with them all, fighting the Grimm back with Pyrrha and Ren, slashing them down. The Maidens all got inside, whilst Team C.F.V.Y stood at the ready to help everyone get through. The Threshold was very easy to see, because despite the destruction… the beautiful glowing flora was forming once they crossed into it. Everyone ran through, and Jaune gasped as he saw the massive Swarm of Grimm coming for him.
He jumped in last, with Pyrrha pulling him in. The Grimm leapt after them… and they learned the truth.
The Grimm shattered like glass, before they completely disintegrated into smoke before their very eyes. Every single Grimm that dared to cross the Threshold met the same fate. Not one could cross into the Embered Grove, they all were completely wiped out, one by one. Until they all slowed down, refusing to go any further. The Grimm paced back and forth, foaming at the mouth.
The Legend was True.
"Holy shit… it worked." Jaune laughed with awe as he stared at the Grimm that glared at them. But as they all stood there, the Grimm suddenly turned around as the Reaper woke back up, creating a roar that was like a distress call. Then all the Grimm that were left turned and made a charge towards where it was.
And where Team R.W.B.Y were.
"Gods… I hope Ruby and Ortega have something good up their sleeves, because they've got one hell of a world of hurt coming for them." Jaune said with widened eyes.
Ruby
The Reaper rose up from the ground, dropping buildings from its massive body as it slowly ascended back into the air, roaring deafeningly. And from here they could see the Grimm from Arcturus Base headed directly for them. That was all the proof they needed; this was the Grimm responsible for why Old Town had been infested with so many Grimm for thousands of years. It must have been buried underneath there after Arkhonex fell, perhaps it tunnelled in from the ocean, and made sure that the Grimm were always congregated around the Embered Grove to make sure nobody could get inside.
Sylens knew that too, otherwise he would have never made a base inside of there in the first place, and clearly Merlot was smart enough to do the same thing.
"Here we go…" Ruby stammered as the massive Leviathan-Class rose up in the sky, blocking out the sun as it slithered through the air. The Dreadnaughts that followed Ortega's Command fired on its body, but the shells were barely even effecting it like last time, it was just annoying it. The Reaper growled as it looked up at the many ships and it prepared to fire on them.
"Damn it, turn around you ugly piece of shit!" Ortega growled with annoyance, Ruby looked at Weiss, Blake and Yang and the three of them nodded. Ruby stared at the Reaper and her Silver Eye ignited, emitting that blinding white light that got the Reaper's Attention last time. The light indeed lit up the sky, and Ortega could see it from all the way up there. The Reaper turned and stared directly at Ruby, its five remaining eyes glowing bright red as it glared at her. It roared and continued to build the power up to breathe that beam of fire upon them. And then it did, the long beam of flames and molten light carved through the ground towards them. Weiss formed a protective barrier with her Glyphs whilst Yang and Blake held her up.
She was able to hold it back for a while, but it was quickly exhausting her. But Ortega was quick on the draw, and they fired their cannons into the back of the Reaper's head again. The huge Leviathan-Class Grimm roared in pain, recoiling forward from the sudden and explosive impact of all those shells hitting it. Chunks of bone armour broke away from that volley, but they did not let up, continuously pummelling the titan.
The Reaper growled and it turned to face the huge ships, taking multiple shells to the face, over and over again. But as it turned, one of the other Dreadnaughts shot it in the back of the head, but just as the plates turned back around. So as Ruby stood there, she did it again, using one brief flash of her Silver Eyes to keep the Reaper's attention on her. And indeed, it worked. It turned and stared directly at her, and it started to fly towards her with vicious and savage intent. It created a deep growl that seemed to vibrate in your chest it was that powerful. But it was still on them, flying towards them, before it's body coiled like a snake, and the plates opened up on the back of its neck.
"Fire!" Ruby ordered, and all the Dreadnaughts fired on her command. She had never thought she would feel so much power like this, at one word she could have all those ships fire at once. They all opened fire on the Reaper, and its head crashed against the ground from the sudden impact. However this time it did not turn its attention away from Ruby, it continued to move towards her and her team. But the four women stood their ground as well, the Reaper down as it got closer and closer.
"Ortega, we've got Grimm incoming, they're nearly at the Chasm where the Reaper came from." Blake contacted.
"I see them, don't worry I have a plan to take them all out at once." Ortega assured as the Reaper moved closer and closer to where they were. It then went to lunge forward, until Ortega fired his cannons into the side of its head to keep it from attacking them with its mouth. It was close, and if not for Weiss using her Glyphs the explosions would have killed them. The Reaper roared at them and it began to fire the beam of fire up towards the Drift of Wandering Star. It burned against the Hardlight Shields, but they were not going to hold for long. "Damn it! Hit the bastard where it hurts before he kills us!" Ortega commanded, and the Dreadnaughts all fired on the Reaper.
One of the shells managed to hit it in the back of its head, and it roared in pain, descending downwards, before it suddenly accelerated and pummelled its head straight through one of the Dreadnaughts. Ruby gasped as she watched the huge Dreadnaught explode in the sky, split in half by the Reaper as it shot towards it. The Dreadnaught was one of the smaller variants and therefore did not have the necessary equipment to produce the same shield. And even then… that probably would not have stopped the Reaper from doing the same to the Drift of Wandering Star.
They watched as the flames and burning debris fell from the sky, the wreckage crashed down into the city, with no survivors. So many lives lost in a single attack, and Ortega clenched his hand into a fist. The Reaper banked around the buildings as it went for a second attack, except this time Ruby did more than a quick flash. She really needed it to direct that rage towards her. Yang held her up, and Ruby unleashed the full power of the silver eyes, a light that shined so bright that Ortega had to cover his eyes from inside the Bridge of the Drift of Wandering Star. Stone hardened around the fins of the beast and it roared in pain. It was not enough to freeze the entire Reaper to stone; she was not strong enough to accomplish such a feat… but it hurt it this time. The Dreadnaughts fired and blew the frozen parts to dust, breaking off some of the huge fins.
Ruby's nose began to bleed, and her head was in agony, Yang was having to hold her baby sister up to stop her from collapsing. The Reaper was coming straight for them with fury in those eyes. It then went to blast that fire down upon them once again, and Yang looked at Weiss. "Do you think you can hold those plates open?" Yang asked her, and she thought.
"Blake… hold onto me too." Weiss said, stabbing Myrtenaster down into the ground with all her might, closing her eyes. She started to form her Glyph and the Arma Gigas rose from the Glyph and it jumped towards the Reaper and stabbed its sword through the armour plating. The Reaper roared with rage as she used the Arma Gigas to pull it away from Ruby, and it blasted that fire up into the sky with rage. The Arma Gigas climbed across the huge plates as it tried to shake it off.
The Arma Gigas slid down and threw the sword into the black muscle tissue underneath the huge plates, and it held them open, forcing them apart so then no matter what the Dreadnaughts could fire everything they had against it. "Now!" Weiss strained, and Ortega pointed forward from the bridge.
"FIRE! EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! INTO THE NAPE!" Ortega bellowed, and all of the twenty Dreadnaughts fired their broadsides into the nape of the Reaper's neck. The Reaper roared with agony as the shells continuously bombarded the soft flesh, cutting deeper and deeper into its body. The Reaper wriggled as it tried to escape them, and Weiss still held the bones apart with her Arma Gigas, still able to stand, but her nose was starting to bleed as well, and soon her aura was going to break.
The plates broke apart, and the Arma Gigas was freed from where it was, fading away and Weiss nearly fainted in Blake's arms as she held her, wiping the blood from her nose. Weiss' aura was broken like Ruby's, but the Silver Eyed Warrior stood back up, watching the titan as the shells repeatedly hammered the back of its neck. The Reaper rose up into the sky, until it could not move any further.
It swayed in the sky, black blood poured from its jaws as it bellowed one last time, before it tipped over and plummeted down from the sky and crashed down into what remained of Old Town with great force. The impact shattered the buildings around it like glass and crushed most of the Grimm that were underneath it. "We did it…" Ruby gasped. Ortega watched the Reaper fall to the ground and then he turned to the ships.
"That's how it's done… now finish the rest of those Grimm off. Burn them to cinders." Ortega said, clenching his hand into a fist. The Dreadnaughts all got into position and started to open fire on the remaining Grimm from Old Town, burning and burying them all in a mass grave, flooding them out with the damaged aqueducts.
Ruby watched with her team as the Grimm that all of Arkhonex's best warriors could not destroy. The army that finished off Ares Nikos and his brave army of warriors.
Finally… they were avenged.
With the Grimm taken care of, that meant there was only one target left to defeat.
Kelham.
Author Note - It did not go down without a fight, but they beat it. That's definitely one for the history books, taking down the biggest Grimm in recorded history.
Quite an epic chapter, always love chapters when they have to fight something as huge as that, and of course another large scale battle of the Huntsmen and Huntresses holding back the Grimm at the Embered Grove. But finally, with the Reaper gone and the rest of the Grimm? Ares and his brave Spartans have been avenged for their sacrifices all those years ago.
Now it is just Kelham left... and after that? Whitley and Jacques will be the last of the Acolytes of Lien, and then the human threat is officially defeated. One hell of a victory so far.
Also this is the end of the massive battle for Arcturus Base too, wanted to end that massive battle on an epic note. To all those who are curious too, after this arc, there is one more for Act 4, which will be even more epic, and will wrap up the Arkhonex story as well. As I said, it is gonna be awesome :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Emerais Catacombs
- Matt
