Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter. The side-story project that was mentioned in the AN of Chapter 52: "Throw a Coin to Your Guardian", which is a Witcher crossover set in the Nevermore Sweetling universe, is out now!


Winter and I stared at the black dust that was all that remained of Ashuna and the Filth monster for a little bit longer and then Winter turned away, "Well, okay then." She frowned, "So wait, now that he's dead… where's the Scepter?"

"Shit." I cursed, "Maybe it's-"

Then I stopped and stared.

"No way, that's too easy." Winter murmured.

Hovering in the air right above the throne was the Scepter of McCulloh, its orb within the metal caging glowing with a faint light.

"Maybe?' I scratched my chin, "Then again… the ruler of the city that had it is dead now, so…"

I walked up the steps to the throne and cautiously reached out a hand towards it. Then I wrapped my hand around the scepter's handle and it fell into my grasp.

It was surprisingly light for being made entirely out of metal, and it was strangely warm to the touch. I could feel the thrum of magic and I turned to Winter and shrugged, "Damn, I'm not gonna lie, I was expecting to at least get zapped or something."

And that's when Seydin and Count Arnau walked up, the kobold sorcerer walking confidently with his staff and the Fey lord twirling his spears, testing their balance. Both of them had their eyes squarely on Winter and myself.

"Qrow Branwen. Winter Schnee." Seydin greeted us as they stopped before the throne.

"What's up?" I asked him.

I was really hoping that this wasn't about to become a throw-down. I could feel the anima slowly returning, but I knew that I wasn't anywhere near the level that I would need to take on the two monsters. The good thing was that if they were going to take us out, they probably wouldn't have walked up to talk about it first.

"You two are responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of beings of mana." He stated, "Even now, their souls cry out for vengeance, that we strike the two of you two down right now."

I lifted an eyebrow, "I think I hear a 'but' coming."

"But…" Seydin gave me a look and then sighed, "The rising of the Filth has changed everything. It is no longer a case of mortals against the beings of mana; the Mud that Whispers comes for us all. Therefore, we have decided that we shall allow the two of you to depart this city in peace."

I only barely managed to stop myself from letting out a massive sigh of relief, "Well that's nice of you." I drawled, "I was about to say the same thing."

Seydin gave me a look and I wondered for a moment if I had overdone it, and then he looked thoughtfully at the spot where Ashuna had once been.

"This is no joking matter, Guardian." He murmured, "The Filth doesn't merely threaten mortals, it threatens everything… the Devorahk is truly upon us…"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him.

Seydin turned back to me, "For the beings of mana, the Devorahk is a time of great change, there are many of those among us who have attempted to stop this change… feeling that such an upheaval could mean the very end of the world."

He shrugged, "And now, with the Filth coming into such strength? With it possessing a Core of such potent malice and hatred? With The City of Noradz itself being infiltrated from within and only being saved because of the Guardian of Remnant… our old enemy?"

He tapped his staff on the ground thoughtfully, "It is only a fool that does not lend at least some credence to those that fear the change that it will bring."

I didn't know how to respond to that, I had always believed that all monsters had dreaded the Devorahk… and that every single one of them had wanted to kill the Chosen One before it could occur. From everything that I had known about it, I had believed it to be a kind of life or death struggle between monsters and mortals.

Now… now I wasn't so sure. The texts had said that the Devorahk was a fight against a wave of darkness and destruction from outside the world. I had always thought that had meant monsters.

But what if that was wrong, what if the Filth was what they had meant all along? Seydin claimed that monsters thought it was a time of great change… how exactly did that fit in? More to the point, they had believed that killing Jaune would have nipped the whole thing in the bud… how did that work?

Damn it, this whole thing had been simple until now, get the Scepter, use it, get to Beacon, rescue Jaune and save the world. I felt like that had been enough on my plate without adding more questions onto it.

I shook my head, I would deal with that when it came to it; none of this mattered until I got to Jaune and got him away from the Filth.

"Wait a second." I said, "You said something about the Filth having a Core?"

"Indeed." Seydin replied, "The Filth is a tendril from the Dreamers; it is their hand reaching towards reality. But they do not understand it, cannot comprehend it. Therefore, they need an anchor, someone willing to allow it into themselves on such a level that they become one with it. Through that individual, monster or mortal, the Dreamers can enter our world."

I shuddered at the thought, "But if we take this 'Core' out, will that…"

"It will severely weaken it, although it will not completely destroy it." Seydin answered, "It would lose most of its agency, simply becoming a corrupting force that will twist anything it comes into contact with. That is, until it can find a replacement, but such beings are few and far between, only extreme emotions can enable one to merge with it sufficiently to form a Core. Loneliness. Despair. Hatred. Any of these can do if it is deep enough."

I scratched my chin, "Well shit." I muttered, "Thanks for the information."

Seydin nodded and then turned away, "Now, Count Arnau and myself will search the Palace and ensure that there aren't any more surprises; but before then, I believe he had something for you."

Count Arnau gave a wide grin. Then he rifled in his pocket for a moment before tossing something at me.

I caught it and saw that it was a rugged, leather eye-patch and I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Consider it a token of gratitude, a momento, and a promise." He told me, "You were the victor in our first bout, but once the current crisis is over. I swear that I will rectify that and collect it back."

I snorted as I pulled it over my missing eye and wasn't all that surprised to find that it fit perfectly.

"You know what?" I said, "If we live through this thing, you're on."

Seydin rolled his eyes, "Splendid." He said, "Now we should part ways." He turned and began walking away, "I trust that you two know your way out."


"So that was interesting." Winter remarked, "That's the most that we've been able to learn about the Filth in two years."

I shook my head, it was still a lot to take in for me, and to be honest, I was kind of wondering how much I could trust Seydin now that he knew who I really was.

The thing was, while I was pretty sure he wouldn't exactly shed a lot of tears if I were to die… for real this time. I was also pretty certain when it came to defeating the Filth, he was going to really take any help he could get.

It made sense, particularly if the Filth could really yank the mana right out of monsters, but it still scared me a little. Especially considering that behind the Filth were these Dreamers… who apparently were so alien and powerful that they couldn't even directly come into our world.

It was all over my head, but I had a solid, proven method for dealing with things too big too handle… take it one step at a time.

I looked to see that Winter was watching me intensely, as though she was waiting for me to say something.

I cleared my throat, "Yeah… first things first, we need to regroup. So let's grab Kali and get the hell out of here."

I frowned as we exited the Palace to find that the monsters that had been outside the gates were now gathered just outside the temples.

They were in a general uproar, and I perked up as there was a massive bellow, followed by a clash of metal. It was then that I saw that Ungrost was in the center of the crowd, and I realized that the others monsters had all formed a large circle around him.

"A fight?" Winter asked, "But the Filth is gone, who could they possibly be fighting?"

Then Ungrost let out a savage roar of triumph as he swept up a much smaller figure, a young woman , in his hand. The crowd let out a cheer as he wrapped his other hand around the woman and began squeezing.

"Oh no," Winter breathed, "That's-"

I didn't hear what she said next as I began running towards the crowd, anima flaring to life within my chest as I did so.

Because the young woman currently getting the life squeezed out of her by the minotaur… was Ruby.


As I neared the crowd, I thought fast on how to do this without my niece, Winter, and myself all getting killed.

First step, I decided, getting everybody's attention without immediately starting a fight.

So I lifted up a hand to the sky, "Ignis." I spat under my breath.

A gout of anima-infused flame leapt out of my open palm, and the collected monsters erupted in panicked screams and roars.

Alright, that was accomplished, next was getting face to face with Ungrost.

"Outta my way!" I shouted.

The crowd split apart so fast that it was almost like an explosion; monsters trampled and crashed into one another in their haste to obey my command. Within about two seconds, the way was clear and I slowed to a walk; stopping once I was only a few paces away from the minotaur.

Okay… this was actually going better than I expected… so… state demands?

I drew Harbinger and pointed it up at Ungrost, "Look big boy," I said as calmly as I could considering the circumstances, "I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't put my niece down right now; I'm going to make hamburger out of you."

Ruby abruptly stopped struggling and stared down at me with a dropped jaw and wide eyes, "Uncle Qrow?"

I gave her a wink with my remaining eye, "Heya kid, how've you been?"

I turned my gaze back to the minotaur, who let out a snort, "Unbelievable," He murmured, "First Ruby Rose… now Qrow Branwen himself?"

His eyes flicked upward and they widened, "And Winter Schnee is with you… then you…"

He turned his gaze back down to me, "Heed my words Guardian," He said, his voice becoming a menacing rumble, "Already this one." He shook Ruby in his hand, "Attempted to kill and abduct a friend of mine who reactivated the temples, saving us all from the Filth."

Oh shit, Kali, he was talking about Kali. Ruby must have tried to dart in and get her out, only to be caught by the minotaur. I glanced to the side and saw Kali laid out on the ground some distance behind Ungrost. Two short, green creatures dressed in a variety of bone charms and necklaces were chanting over her, their hands held out a deep cut in her chest that was oozing blood.

"Now, you come with a prize won by a second friend… and he is not here." He growled, "He had better be alive or well, or else you will pay dearly for it."

I flicked my eyes gaze back to Ungrost, great… so now it looked like not only had Ruby attempted to 'kidnap Louhi', but here I was walking out of the Palace with Winter and no Qr'Krowl in sight.

I glanced behind me to see that the monsters had surrounded the four of us, leaving Winter on the outside, and they were beginning to circle around her as well.

I ground my teeth, I really didn't want to start a fight here, despite my preferred method of dealing with those who so much as lay a finger on my niece being involving Harbinger cutting stuff up. After all, even if we cut through the minotaur and his monsters, then there was every chance Seydin and Count Arnau would come outside and take exception to that.

So I did something that I'm not actually that great at, I made something up.

"Qr'Krowl fell against Ashuna." I told him, "But I avenged him, and in his final moments, he returned her to me in gratitude."

Which wasn't technically false, I had fallen and I was Qr'Krowl; I had then avenged myself so...

"Have you proof of this?" Ungrost asked.

I jerked my head back towards the Palace, "Seydin and Count Arnau remained behind." I told him, "You can go ask them."

The minotaur's eyes narrowed, "I find it more likely that you have slain Qr'Krowl and cowed those two to tell whatever lies you wish them to tell." He growled, "I will not fall for your tricks, I will avenge him, here and now."

Okay, one, I don't even know how I'd get Count Arnau and Seydin to lie for me, two, I was more than a little peeved that apparently none of Ungrost's whole 'trusting me' thing had passed along to my human form.

Three… this was about to go really badly.

He dropped Ruby to the ground, which was good, the problem was that the monsters around us began to move in on her as the minotaur lifted his head and let out a war cry.

I could hear Winter let out an answering cry behind me, but I grimaced as it came out slurred. Damn it, she must have fallen overdone it on the Mistralian Gold; between that and her arm she wasn't going to be able to fight for long. Ruby was getting up, but she was going to be overwhelmed soon, a massive minotaur was about to be charging at me, and Kali-

Was standing up, pushing aside the two monsters who had been healing her. She lifted up her palm at Ungrost and a small gust of wind burst forth, slamming the minotaur in the side of the head.

To the huge minotaur, it might as well have been a slap across the face, but that was all that was needed to get his attention and he whirled around to her.

"Wait!" She cried out weakly, "You have it all wrong."

Everyone stopped and went quiet as she stepped forward, wobbling slightly as she did so.

Ungrost's demeanor changed in an instant, from a beast ready to attack, to concerned and meek as he bent low, reaching out with a massive hand to help Kali stay on her feet.

"My magic ran out when I returned the daggers to the temple priests." She explained, " They captured me before I could escape, and dragged me to the altar." Her voice began trembling as she continued, "One of them he…"

Her voice wavered and she reached down to the wound on her chest and my heart shriveled as I realized how close they must have been to ripping her own heart out of her chest.

"But Ruby Rose, she swept in, grabbed me from the altar and fled… she saved my life."

Ungrost looked baffled, but he looked up at the crowd of monsters surrounding us. "Return to your homes." He commanded them, "We have a city to rebuild, I shall take care of this."

Slowly the monsters obeyed, dispersing until it was only the five of us standing alone.

"It appears that I owe an apology." Ungrost said stiffly as he turned to Ruby, "I had believed that you had attempted to injure my friend, and now I learn you have saved her life." He bowed his head, "I owe you a debt, should you ever require aid, I shall render it to the best of my ability."

He then turned to Winter and myself, "As it is, due to the actions of Ruby Rose, you all may leave the city freely."

He jabbed a finger at me, "However, know this Guardian, should I find out that you were responsible for slaying Qr'Krowl, I will make you rue this day."

It was actually strangely heartwarming that he had cared about me enough as Qr'Krowl that he was willing to swear eternal vengeance on the Guardian of Remnant.

I somehow managed to nod without a stupid grin spreading over my face, "Alright, I guess I'll take that."

Ungrost let out an indignant huff, as though he could tell that he wasn't being taken seriously. However, he chose not to take exception to it and instead he turned to Kali, "Come Louhi," He murmured, "We should find a place for you to rest."

Kali wobbled and then straightened herself, "Uh… thank you. Before we do, would you mind if I… convey my gratitude… alone?"

Ungrost frowned, but nodded, "Very well, I shall wait just outside the gates, when they leave I will return."

Kali smiled at him warmly, "Thank you."

After Ungrost had left, Kali whirled around to Ruby and put her hands on her hips, "What in Kir'Ala were you thinking?" She demanded, "You could've been killed!"

Ruby's face turned heartbroken and she winced, "But I saw… you were…"

Kali let out a sigh, walked up to her, and then wrapped her arms around my niece in a hug, "Oh please never change Ruby." She said, "It's so good to see you again."

She detached herself and then turned to Winter and me, "What, nothing for us?" I asked her.

She rolled her eyes, "Please… if anything, I've seen too much of you at least."

I affected a wounded look, "What's that about?" I asked, "Have I somehow run… afowl of you?"

Kali chuckled and then winced, "Oh… ow… seriously don't, it hurts to laugh." She stumbled a little and I reached out a hand, only for her to shake her head, "Don't, I'm just going to sit down, don't want Ungrost getting the wrong idea."

She did so and looked up at us, clutching her chest, "I think I'm going to stay here in Noradz for a while, at least until I recover."

Winter nodded, "That would be… prudent. There may very well be those that will seek to steal the Scepter." I frowned as she slurred slightly and turned to see that she seemed to be struggling to keep the words straight, "It almost might raise suspicions if you were to leave directly with us."

"That as well," Kali agreed, "Now get going so that I can sleep already."


Leaving the City of Noradz was an eerie experience, the whole place was quiet and still. The signs of the Filth attack were everywhere, buildings had entire chunks missing and still others had been toppled over completely.

The whole thing gave me an eerie feeling of deja vu, I realized as I stopped in front of a large two story building where the entire first floor had been demolished. Like I had either seen this before… or would.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, that realization, I thought as we walked towards the exit to the city, now that anima flowed freely, it seemed like my old ability to see potential futures was starting to come back. I was starting to get feelings, brief flashes of times and places that I had never been but somehow knew could or would be.

We reached the exit and I shook my head to clear it, "You alright?" Winter asked.

I looked back at the city, most of it in ruins. So much had happened here; I had lost Summer here and back then I had considered it one of the scariest places in all of Remnant.

Leaving here felt like the end of an era… one in which monsters were the scariest things I could ever face. Now there was the Filth, the Dreamers, and who knew what else?

But strangely, I felt okay with that… after all, I thought as I turned back to Winter, I wouldn't be doing it alone.

"I'm fine… I just want to get out of here." I replied.

She gave a slight smile, "I couldn't agree more with that." And with that, we stepped outside.


I took a breath of fresh air, reveling in being outside the city, and almost immediately something slammed into me, nearly sending me to the ground.

"I was wondering where that was." I remarked as Ruby wrapped her arms around me tight, nearly squeezing the air out of me.

"I was waiting until we were no longer in the City with a bunch of monsters wanting to kill us." She replied.

"Huh, restraint… they had told me you had changed."

"So where have you been? What happened to your eye? How long have you been able to shoot golden fire, I mean it was just like whoosh!" She spread her arms wide for emphasis.

"Whoah, slow down kid." I held up a hand, "To answer your first question, I've been… away for a bit. I only came back a little while ago."

There was a loud bark and I looked up to see a black and white dog as big as a human sitting patiently, its tongue lolling out of its mouth as it panted happily at us.

"No way," I murmured, "Is that…"

"Yup, that's Zwei!" Ruby ran over to the dog and gave him a big hug. Zwei happily responded by licking her face, causing her to laugh and splutter.

"He's uh… grown a bit." I commented, eyeing the dog.

Despite the fact that I had been the one to give Ruby Zwei in the first place as a present, and that he had saved her life a few times since then; I had always remained wary of the 'dog'. Mostly however, I had been able to set those concerns aside and move on, particularly since as far as I knew he was a guardian construct that had now bound itself to Ruby.

It was only just now, however, that I realized that quite a bit of why I had been able to do that was because of his previously diminutive size… naturally it's pretty easy to not be scared of something that logically should just take a single boot to solve.

"So uh… yeah, when did that happen? Did you feed him something?" I asked her.

Ruby shook her head, "No, just his normal food… I think it started shortly after… after Beacon…"

Her normally cheery face went somber for a moment, then almost instantly brightened again, "But I found out something! He has magic powers, when the Filth stuff came in he simply barked really loud and they just vanished! Isn't that awesome?"

She wrapped her arms even tighter around Zwei, "He's the greatest dog ever!" She squealed, then she turned to me, "And now that's he's bigger he's gotten so much fluffier!"

I looked from her beaming face and then back to Zwei, who was still panting happily with his bright, vacant doggy eyes staring off into space.

I sighed, I don't know if it was some kind of magic in and of itself, but I succumbed to the same inability to potentially ruining my niece's happiness by doing the safe thing and taking Harbinger to the head of the 'dog'. Instead, I decided I would simply keep an eye on it, and I smiled back, "Yeah, I guess he would be." I agreed.

It was at that moment that beside me, Winter collapsed into a heap.

I knelt down by her side, concerned that she had been injured somewhere, but she waved me off clumsily, "I'm fine." She slurred, "Just happy to see you two together, it's just so great."

"Oh jeez." I scratched the back of my head, "I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of impressed it took this long."

Ruby stared at Winter, "Is she… is she drunk?"

"Absolutely plastered." I replied, "You got a place we can spend the night?"

"I've got a warded campsite this way." Ruby answered, jerking a thumb towards the forest.

I shrugged, "That'll do, we can catch up some more there." I bent down and picked Winter up in my arms, "Lead the way."