In the days since Pyrrha left, Jaune found himself living in a haze. He didn't talk to anyone, he barely ate, he just went out and fought demons, came back to train, and repeated the cycle. He didn't even sleep anymore. He couldn't afford to rest for a single moment.

He had swung his sword hundreds of times today alone, but he still wasn't done. He figured that he was done when he couldn't lift his arms anymore. As long as he focused on the burning in his muscles he didn't need to think about anything else.

He wouldn't have to think about how one of the only friends he had left abandoned him, how he had no idea how she truly felt all this time, or how he was too caught up in his own problems to notice how badly Pyrrha was hurting. Or maybe she was like that all along, just waiting for an opportunity. Maybe if things were normal, and she had become a Hunter she'd be out smiting anything or anyone she thought was evil. What would he have done then? Would he have tried to stop her? Would he have joined her? But one question above all the others weighed on him. If he had to, would he be able to kill Pyrrha?

If he was still thinking then he wasn't training hard enough. He kept swinging his sword, over and over and over, until it was all he focused on. By the time he was done the sun had gone down and the skin on his remaining hand had been stripped away. After he put away his sword and left to go eat dinner he could still hear the last thing Pyrrha said to him echoing in his head. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her smiling face right before she left.

As he walked down Beacon's halls he noticed that they were even emptier than before. Between the students that had died already and the ones that left when they heard about Weiss and Yang, the school was practically empty. The teachers gave up on continuing classes, and now the school mostly served as a safe haven for kids who had nowhere else to go. The presence of the school and its hunters was the only reason Vale wasn't completely overrun. But every day, it became harder and harder to maintain order. The angels and demons had begun to fight in earnest since Weiss and Yang defected. The collateral damage led to hundreds dead and entire villages destroyed. With neither side able to make any headway into the other's territory, the fighting had ground to a stalemate.

That was just another detail to add to the horror that the world had turned into.

Jaune kept swinging his sword with more and more ferocity, attempting to clear his mind of all distractions.

It worked, because Jaune's mind went blank right before the floor rushed up to smack him in the face.

When Jaune woke up he saw Ren standing over him. He was back in his dorm room,

"How did I get here?"

"I had to drag you back here since you passed out in the gym. You're welcome by the way," Ren replied.

"Thanks."

"You've been working nonstop for days. You need to take a break."

"There's no time for that. I need to get stronger, before the next Sector appears."

"And if you keep this up you'll be in no condition to fight when it does appear. Take a day off."

Jaune flopped down onto his bed. "Fine." He laid back and stared up at the ceiling. "Did I screw up?"

Ren shook his head. "No."

Jaune stood up and started pacing around the room. "Are you sure? Maybe if I talked to her more, or paid more attention, or actually gotten to know her things would be different. The signs were there all along and I missed all of them. This is on me, I know it is."

Ren grabbed Jaune by the shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. The truth is, there's nothing you could have said or done that would have changed anything. Pyrrha made her choice a long time ago. All we can do is act accordingly."

Jaune sighed. "You're right."

Looking around the room, Jaune noticed that Nora was gone. He couldn't recall the last time he had seen her and Ren apart from each other. Then again he hadn't been paying much attention to anything lately.

That reminded him. There was someone else he needed to look in on.

"Hey, Ren, wheres Ruby?"

"I don't know," Ren replied. "I would assume that she's asleep again."

XxX

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the pieces lined up. It was in too many fragments, facing in the wrong directions, she couldn't even tell if they were supposed to fit together. It was like she was blind, groping around in the dark desperately trying to find something to grab onto.

Trying to parse this much information took a toll on her. It felt like her head had been split open, and the throbbing in her eyes got worse every second.

Still, there was something missing. Every time she tried to draw a path to the proper solution, she ended up faltering. Either she died, or her friends died, or Remnant ended up being destroyed. All of the possible futures she saw were bad endings.

Ruby closed her eyes and imagined all the possible futures as a tangled mass of rope before her. She imagined reaching out to grasp one, pulling on it until it unraveled. She followed the rope until it lead her to another conclusion, this one just as unsavory as all the rest.

It didn't make sense. This couldn't be impossible, could it? No, out of all the possible outcomes there had to be one that gave her a positive outcome.

The sound of Ruby's scroll ringing broke her concentration. She wondered who would even bother calling her, but to her surprise it was Penny.

Ruby stared at her scroll. If Penny was with Weiss, then the two of them were enemies, and there was no need to answer. But if they were enemies, then why would Penny even call? Ruby rolled the question around in her head before answering.

"Hello?"

"Greetings, friend Ruby. It pleases me greatly to hear your voice."

"Penny, why did you call? Aren't you, you know?"

"It is true, the General has chosen to ally with Weiss, and I in turn am allied with the General, which makes you and I enemies, but that is unimportant at the moment. I merely wished to speak with you."

Ruby sighed. "It's great to hear from you too. Are you sure they won't get upset at you talking to me?"

"Ironwood does not need to know everything I do," Penny replied. "I wished to talk to you, so I did. To be frank, I don't know if I will have another opportunity."

Ruby had a sinking feeling. "What do you mean?"

"I am joining General Ironwood on an expedition. We aim to eliminate Yang Xiao Long."

"Oh."

"I know that Yang is your sister, but we cannot allow her to do as she pleases. I was created to save Remnant, and I intend to fulfill my duty. But, Yang is far more powerful than any of us anticipated. I fear that I may not return alive from this battle."

Ruby sighed. "Well, I hope you make it back. If I lost you too I wouldn't know what to do."

"Indeed," Penny said. The line was quiet for a moment. "Ruby, no matter what happens in the future, you will always be my dearest friend."

"You too, Penny."

The long, steady tone meant that the call had ended.

Once again there was nothing she could do but wait and think about what to do next.

She thought about the battle likely happening at the very moment. If she were lucky, Yang and Ironwood would end up killing each other. Either way, she'd be rid of at least one obstacle today.

XxX

Yang was incredibly bored. Every waking moment was like walking though a thick, gray fog. Nothing could shake her out of it. No matter how much she drank, she was never filled. No matter how much she ate, she was still hungry. No matter how many men and women she took to her bed, she was never satisfied.

Boredom ate away at her every second. It wasn't the right time to act yet. Her two main obstacles were Weiss in Atlas, and Ozpin in Vale. Sure, she loved fighting, but she wasn't stupid. Even after all of her refinement, she still needed an edge over them.

And that is how she found herself waiting, waiting for the final Sector to appear so she could take the last artifact for herself. And lord, was it boring. Nothing she did could lift her out of her boredom, not even eating someone alive or making her followers kill each other for no reason.

Sitting on her throne, downing an entire barrel of alcohol, Yang wondered if today would be just another boring day. But to her surprise she noticed something approaching. Dozens of people, a few of them powerful. It was just the thing she needed.

She stumbled off of her throne and went outside. The world was spinning, but she could see ships landing in the distance with dozens of soldiers exiting them. She saw two people taking point, the Atlesian general and that girl from the mine. It didn't need to be said why they were here.

"Just because I'm drunk don't think I won't kill you all," Yang said.

The soldiers all charged at once. Blades flew from every direction. Yang kept her hands at her sides, the blades harmlessly striking her skin. The soldiers that attacked her had small cuts. The attacks were meant as a test, not to kill. After seeing the results, the soldiers all dropped their swords and pulled out their scrolls. The battlefield erupted with light as the soldiers all summoned their demons.

Yang smiled. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

The ground around her exploded. She moved like she was dancing, narrowly avoiding lances of ice, bolts of lightning, pillars of light, everything the demons threw at her. It was nothing short of majestic. The world around her was a spiral of flashing lights and sounds. It reminded her of a carnival. But, all of that movement made her dizzy, and soon she was kneeling on the ground emptying her stomach.

Yang coughed and wiped the bile off of her mouth. Suddenly everything was clear again.

Yang sighed. "Sucks for you guys, that was your best chance to kill me."

Yang's hair went alight, and she was off.

What occurred next would be spoken of in whispers among Yang's followers and the few soldiers who survived the "incident", they called it. Yang was a storm, and cut through her enemies like a blade through grass. She tore flesh, broke bones, removed limbs, and moved on to the next target without missing a beat. The air became thick with the smell of blood and the screams of pain from the fallen soldiers. There was no joy, no passion, nothing. Yang moved like a machine, with swift, precise movements.

In time the number of soldiers still able to fight had fallen to near nothing, and the ones still able to move were focused on saving the ones that could still be saved.

"Come on out, Jimmy," Yang shouted.

All she got in return was silence. Then a bullet whizzed through the air and tore her right arm off at the elbow. Yang winced and willed her arm to regrow. Or at least she tried. Something was wrong. Her arm wasn't growing back, and the wound that was left was starting to burn.

"Weiss," Yang growled.

"Correct," a deep, gravely voice replied.

Yang saw Ironwood holding the still smoking revolver. Next to him was that Penny girl.

"Yang, you are a blight on this world. In the name of our Lord, we shall eliminate you."

Penny's back opened up and several swords flew out. They floated in the air around Penny. Yang regarded them with curiosity. Penny had to know that swords wouldn't work on her, so they couldn't be physical weapons.

Her mind raced with ideas. Ironwood's gun was dangerous, but he only had five shots left. Penny was powerful enough to go toe to toe with Belial, and she's only gotten stronger since. Fighting both of them at once would be suicide.

Yang grinned. "This should be fun."

The tattoos on her body began to glow. The air shimmered as the area grew unbearably hot. Yang began to walk forward, the sand melting beneath her feet.

Ironwood grimaced and fell back. "Do not hesitate, Penny!"

Penny nodded as the swords around her began to glow with a bright green light. One fired a beam at Yang. Yang's eyes widened as she jumped before the beam went through her heart. All the swords began to fire at once. Yang scrambled as the beams fell on her like rain, tearing strips of flesh off of her body. Yang formed a ball of fire in her hand and threw it at Penny. Penny jumped to avoid the attack, but in the few seconds her attention was diverted Yang had taken to the air. With a series of swift strikes she had broken all of the floating swords.

Yang melted the scrap of metal in her hand. "That's all your weapons gone. You're strong, but if this turns into a fist fight then you don't stand a chance."

"You are correct," Penny replied. "A battle of attrition would inevitably lead to my defeat. If I mean to destroy you, it would be better to use all of the power at my disposal at once."

Penny brought her arms above her head. Her aura gathered in a ball that expanded every second. It soon grew to several times her size. The sheer power was like a hurricane, blowing wind in every direction.

Yang let out a low whistle. "I'm impressed. You've got a lot of spunk for a doll."

Yang raised her left arm, and a swirling mass of dark red gathered in her palm. The two girls stared each other down before launching their attacks. Everything disappeared in a blinding white light.

For a precious few seconds, there was nothing. No light, no sound, not even the blowing wind. Then, time began to march forward. When the smoke cleared, Yang stood at the bottom of a deep crater looking down at Penny's body. The parts of Yang's body that had been blown away were already growing back, while Penny was a mess of broken steel and sparking wires.

"I don't know why I expected any better from a doll."

Yang grabbed Penny's head and twisted it until it tore from her shoulders. She held it in front of her face and smirked as the light faded from the robot's eyes.

Yang climbed out of the pit and saw Ironwood walking towards her. She dropped Penny's head and kicked it at him.

"Sorry, Jimmy. I broke your toy."

Ironwood caught the head. He looked into the lifeless glass eyes and tossed it aside.

"So, what other tricks you got? More soldiers? More magic bullets? Use whatever you've got, I'm still gonna win."

Ironwood remained silent. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll.

"What, no speech?" Yang taunted. "Nothing about how I'm an abomination or how you need to strike me down for your precious God? You're so dull."

Ironwood pressed down on his scroll, and in the next moment the sky turned black. Bolts of lightning fell from the sky as the ground shook. A hand emerged from Ironwood's scroll, then an arm. The figure pulled itself from confinement. Surrounded by blinding light, the only thing that Yang could see was a hammer, electricity arcing across the head.

Yang bristled with excitement. She took in every detail. She took in the flowing hair, the muscles like corded steel, the winged cap. She almost started drooling.

"Yang, it pains me to see what's become of you. I will do you this favor and put you to rest."

The demon fully emerged. It raised its hammer and summoned a storm.

"I am Thor, Lord of Thunder. Surrender now, and I promise a swift death."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Blah, blah, blah. You all talk too much. Let's just skip to the part where we kill each other."

A bolt of lightning pierced Yang's stomach. Her skin bubbled. Her insides burned as her muscles locked up. For a second, she was unable to move. That single second was all it took for Ironwood to blow off Yang's other arm. Blood spewed from Yang's mouth as the pain coursed through her body. After she was able to move. She leapt away, dodging the crashing bolts that fell all around her.

Yang racked her brain for ideas. Her right hand had yet to regenerate, and her left arm was completely gone.

She ran towards Thor, her feet pounding the sand. She leapt into the air and swung her foot at the demon's head. Thor's hammer slammed into Yang's stomach and drove her into the ground. Yang laughed as she watched the blood fly out of her body. She rolled out of the way before a bullet hit her head.

Three bullets left. If he gets me in my head or my heart, I'm dead. I have no arms, and I'm almost out of energy. If I can take out that demon, then Ironwood'll be a piece of cake. Speaking of cake, I'm getting pretty hungry. Guess I'll get two things done at once.

Yang ran as fast as her feet could carry her. She narrowly dodged the crashing bolts of lightning. She didn't waste any energy repairing her eardrums. Everything she had went into her legs. She needed to be faster, much faster.

Yang took to the air, flying like an arrow. Her leg caught fire as she crashed into Thor. As the two flew through the air, Yang felt something off. She didn't feel the satisfying feeling of tearing into flesh. She saw that Thor had her ankle in his grasp. His hands were like steel. Yang could only watch as Thor raised his hammer and sent another bolt of lighting that fried Yang's skin and boiled her insides.

Yang fell to the ground in a burning heap. She stood up, her body a wreck. Her eyes could barely see. Her lungs burned, and every beat of her heart sent waves of pain through her body. It was a long time since Yang felt like this. She couldn't remember the last time she thought she might lose.

Part of her wanted to give up, to let them kill her. At least then she'd see...

She tried to think of that person, to recall their face, but it was like a screen full of static. The image was too blurry to make out. She couldn't even remember their name.

The sound of footsteps on the sand brought her back to reality. She looked up and saw Ironwood pointing his gun directly at her head. He was saying something, probably another speech or whatever. It didn't matter, Yang couldn't hear it.

Yang shut everything out, all light, all sound, and all sensation. She grasped for something, anything that could help her win. She recalled a time when she faced impossible odds just like this. The dream she had about the end of the world reminded her of this.

She grasped at the small spark deep inside her. She felt it grow, expand, and fill her entire body. She felt the power swelling inside of her, she imagined taking hold of hit, gathering it in a single place.

Yang's mouth filled with an unnatural light. Ironwood panicked and fired his gun. It was too late. The energy that gathered inside of Yang was unleashed with a deafening roar. It tore through the sands, reducing everything and everyone in its path to ashes.

When the smoke cleared, all that was in front of Yang was a trench that seemed to go on forever. Everything was gone, the demon, the soldiers, the ship, everything. Yang tried to stand up but fell flat on her face. There was nothing left, not even a single scrap of power. But, she knew that with enough time she'd be able to recover.

So she waited. For hours and hours she waited. By the time she had recovered her strength the sun had long since gone down. Yang could have just turned around and gone to bed, but she hated leaving things half finished, and that nagging doubt in her mind ensured she'd never be able to sleep.

It wasn't long before Yang found what she was looking for. James Ironwood laid on the ground, staring unblinking at the night sky. Most of his body was gone, the parts that remained were badly burned.

Yang whistled. "You're still alive? Not bad, Jimmy. I admit, I thought you had me for a second there. If you had shot me in the head a few seconds earlier, you would have won."

Ironwood coughed up blood.

Yang shrugged. "No last words? That's alright. I don't really care anyway. You were weak, so you died, all there is to it."

Yang knelt down next to Ironwood's body. She raised her fist above the man's head like an executioner's blade.

"Oh, and Weiss? I know you're watching. If you want me dead, come do it yourself."

Yang's fist came down for the final, shattering blow.

XxX

Weiss's eyes opened. The battle had ended exactly as she predicted. James was strong, but he was still a mere human. Entering the domain of monsters was beyond him. All the worse, Yang left the battle even stronger than when she entered it.

Perhaps this was also God's will, another trial for her to overcome. If that were the case, then she would not falter. She had faced such adversity before and always prevailed.

"Did you retrieve it, Penny?" Weiss asked.

"I did, my Lady," Penny replied. She handed Weiss a small, black box. It was marked with blood and had strange inscriptions carved into it.

"So this contains the data that Narcissus had gathered. Very good. With this I can truly deliver salvation unto Remnant."

Weiss turned to leave. "It is time to address the congregation, Penny. You are welcome to join me if you like."

Weiss donned her robes, the cloth a pure white that covered every part of her body. She pulled the hood over her head so that even her face was hidden. None of it mattered. She was a tool through which God's will was exerted. Her face, her appearance, even her identity as Weiss Schnee was unnecessary.

She stepped out and observed her congregation, the thousands of people from all across Remnant that had come to be blessed with the Lord's grace. The young and old, rich and poor, humans and Faunus, all were equal in the eyes of God. People of all backgrounds and beliefs were united in their devotion to the Lord.

This is what Weiss truly desired; a world of peace free of hate or conflict. A world where all peoples could bask in the Lord's glory. She would spread this blessing to the whole of Remnant, no matter what it took.

AN: Hey. Sorry for the wait. I had to take a break for a bit to get some things in order. I hope it doesn't take me six months to upload the next chapter after this. But I'm not making any promises. My update schedule is and always has been "when I feel like it."

Either way, we've got a few more chapters of setup before we move to the final arc of this fic. Look forward to it