Para MaeseJaime95, espero que este capitulo sea de tu agrado :D

Chapter 14: Rise of Darkness

-o-

"Alright, let's go over the explanation," Alice announced. "How do emotions influence aura?"

"They get to affect in various ways," I replied. "If an emotion is too strong, like anger, it can increase a huntsman's power but it can also make it be out of control."

"Exactly," Alice affirmed underlining the word CONTROL on the board. "The control of emotions is essential to control the user's ability. As you said, a strong emotion can enhance the aura but also get it out of control if it is not regulated, as well as mental states, such as depression or sadness, can compromise the effectiveness of the protection."

"But I don't understand. Why am I seeing all of this if you still haven't unlocked my aura?"

"You have to learn about this beforehand before going to practice. You have to be ready for any eventuality. We don't know when your semblance will manifest as you release your aura."

"Even if that happens, what if I can't control it? What if I hurt you by accident?"

Alice walked over to me, bending down so that her dark eyes were the same as mine, and she gave me an utterly confident smile as she stroked my head.

"Don't worry. If something happens, I'll be there to guide you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This power was invigorating. I felt that every inch of my being was on fire with the energy that ran through my veins. It was so similar to when I used the Overdrive against the Soul Reaper, but the fire burned more savage than then, as if every second I became a monster but that didn't matter to me. Sometimes one monster became necessary to kill another; in this case Cinder.

My vision had turned red from the bloodlust consuming me. I didn't care about the nuisance watching me dumbfounded, I just wanted to kill the fake Fall Maiden and watch the light go out of her eye while I did it.

My legs moved on their own, driven by the killer instinct that dominated my mind. I could feel the hardwood floor crunching under my foot before traversing the distance that separated us in seconds.

Vernal rushed to me while Raven warned her not to. With a quick step I stepped aside to evade her, launching her upward with a strong kick and jumping after her. I was hoping that she would do something interesting, since, according to Yang, Vernal was the Spring Maiden and I believed that when I remembered that night in Shion, but she did nothing. With a heavy hit I sent her back to the ground, but her fall was interrupted when Raven opened a portal that led her towards her and which closed before I could do the same.

"You're good?" Raven asked the girl.

"I think so..." she exhaled, pained.

Raven carefully set her aside and drew her katana and darted toward me. A slice hit me, cutting my leg from which I could feel my blood spill before the accelerated healing factor kicked in, closing the wound. For some reason I liked that, making my anger rise more. I didn't care about the cuts as I caught the edge of the katana with my hand wrapped in fiery darkness and caught the fist that she launched straight to my face, earning me a kick to the chin that stunned me for a second that she used to disappear from my sight.

I was silent. My ear was sharpened to find a particular sound and I found it: The sound of wings flapping. I quickly leapt to the side in time to avoid Raven falling right where I was, her katana digging into the ground. A huge shadow surrounded her like a pool of tar that began to subdue her with several tendrils that clung to her body. Before I knew it, she turned bird again and drifted away from me, landing close to Vernal and keeping her distance from me.

My gaze fell back on Cinder, who was looking at me with a look that made me feel a pleasure that shook me. She was scared. I could see it in her eyes. The same person who caused the downfall of Beacon, murdered Penny and Pyrrha, and who had thrown that spear at Weiss was trembling before my power. How ironic that the same person who had taken all that away from me now looked at me with fear.

Before taking a step towards her, a wall grew from the ground around me, enclosing me in a well from which I could not see the exit above. That strange feeling of dizziness and the buzzing in my head returned, making me understand it was an illusion from Emerald. I didn't think about it and rammed the wall, only to go through it like mist and find myself face to face with the green haired girl before I grabbed her by the face and slammed her to the ground, with her arms flailing like worms when I saw one move to one of her pistols. I quickly caught her by the forearm and squeezed her hard until I saw the girl's aura dissipate and felt her bone creaking. A scream of pain rang out, making me feel more invigorated.

I saw the one-eyed bitch again. She wasn't moving at all, even though I had just broken her comrade's arm. That made me feel bored, so I threw the girl away like the trash she was while still crying down her arm.

"EMERALD!" someone shouted.

Mercury was already joining the fray until I turned to him. He stopped suddenly, looking me straight in the eye and his gaze turned like Cinder's, hesitating between attacking me or not and that made me lose interest. Cinder hadn't lost sight of me, her hands making two swords appear from flames. I was about to go against her when heavy footsteps approached me.

The muscular man from earlier threw a heavy punch at me that I could barely block with my dark-covered hands. His arms were embedded with several crystals of electric dust, so I quickly took my distance before a shock could reach me. I ran towards him, avoiding the attacks by a short distance, until I reached his torso. Seeing that the man's body was like that of an oak, I quickly threw a punch to the ground to move a large shadow that slipped under him and a dark pillar emerged with great force, hitting him hard and throwing him through the air.

Something moved out of the corner of my eye before I felt something hitting my side accompanied by a current of air that made it fly several meters before falling to a crouch. Ragna was back and carrying a silver war hammer.

"Where were you?" Cinder scolded him.

"I went through a wall, fell down some stairs and dislocated my shoulder. You must try it one day," Ragna replied sarcastically. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, he just went crazy. You wanted your end of the deal? There you have it. Do whatever you want with him while I take the relic."

"With pleasure."

Seeing Ragna, I felt my killer instinct now take hold of him, leaving Cinder in the background for the moment. He betrayed us. He took my eye off me. He stabbed me. He was about to cut my neck before Ruby arrived. I considered him my friend and he spat on it because a childhood tantrum. He no longer had forgiveness and deserved to die.

I pounce on him, like a wolf on its prey, but he responds by waving the mallet that threw me a gale that almost sent me through the air if I didn't cling to the ground. I was barely able to protect myself in time to block one onslaught after another as I did the same towards him with my arms covered in darkness that now looked like claws. My anger grew more and more every second that I failed to subdue Ragna. He seemed to take advantage of every move I made and then respond with another blow.

An upward blow from the mallet took me by surprise, hitting me in the chest and sending me through the air in a gale until I went through a wall and fell into a room with several bookshelves falling on me. The only sources of light there were the hole I came through and the moonlight coming through the windows. It must have been a records warehouse, as it was too small to be a library.

I struggled against the shelves until I was clear of them before hearing footsteps approaching. I jumped into the darkest place and waited.

Ragna entered the room cautiously. His hands gripped the mallet he wielded.

I moved between the bookshelves, silently stalking him as I prepared my next attack. I jumped on him as he spun around, using his weapon to block my claws aimed at his neck.

"Look at you," Ragna muttered. "You are quite a monster. You make killing yourself so easy to do."

With a quick twist, Ragna manages to get me to let go before swinging his sledgehammer again, hitting me again with great force that knocks me through another wall (another reason to be annoyed with Lionheart: it looks like he hasn't checked the state of the walls of that building).

Another empty room. It had to be a common warehouse and running because of the amount of boxes, dusty monitors, and other junk left inside.

I stood up, driven by consuming anger, when I saw what must be pieces of glass on which I was standing. As much as it made me nauseous, I agreed with Ragna: I was a monster. A dense layer of dark aura covered my body, barely showing my facial features. My dark eyes had a crimson glow that could be seen in such darkness. A feeling came back to me. One that I felt the first time I manifested my aura: I was afraid of myself.

As if this thought triggered something, the force I felt earlier dissipated and I fell to my knees on the floor with the glass cutting my palms, so my protection aura must have collapsed. I hardly crawled towards the wall where the windows were as Ragna's footsteps slowly approached. My muscles screamed in pain. I was drenched in sweat. Every breath was like my throat was covered in pins. If I didn't do something, I was going to die.

As I could, I put some coffee beans in my mouth and chewed them while doing my breathing exercises that Winter taught me, but that was difficult as I could not calm my mind.

The building shook for an instant and not because I had broken through another wall. It must be something else. What the hell was going on down there? I wanted to go help, but there was nothing I could do in my state.

"Wow, you came back," Ragna peered through the hole in the wall and entered cautiously. "Honestly, it doesn't matter how you look as long as I can kill you."

"Why so obsessed with me? It's not my fault what happened to you."

"No, but it's your mother's fault. Because of her, I didn't have a father. Because of her, my mother hated me for looking like him. Because of her, my mother locked me in the same room where she hung herself. As you see, I can no longer have my revenge on her, but here you are in her place. "

"You are a sad guy," I mused.

"Excuse me?"

"You blame everything on one person instead of taking charge of your life and rectifying it."

"Says who killed a Soul Reaper for the same reason."

"And I almost lost everything for it. I lost my life. My friends. My life. Everything. Remember your grandfather's words. You still have time. No matter what Salem promises you, it won't be worth so many lives that have been lost. "

"Let me think about it," he said, fading his weapon in a red flash and raising both palms up. "Power against Righteousness."

Then one of the hands begins to drop dramatically to the ground.

"Power is victorious." With another flash, the scimitar from earlier appeared, "I don't know about you, but for me that's more than enough."

Ragna was already shaping up to stab me with the sword when a sound interrupted the scene. Outside the building a siren was heard accompanied by a beam of light that illuminated the room for an instant as it swept around the outside of the building.

"Adam Taurus, this is Mistral Police Force. Drop your weapons and surrender peacefully."

All of that took me by surprise. I already had a suspicion that Adam Taurus would be there, just as he had been involved in the downfall of Beacon, but I didn't expect the Mistral police to be there too, as we hadn't even made contact with them or warned about the possible attack on Haven at all, since we didn't know who we could trust. However, I was relieved to learn that the cavalry had arrived, unexpected as it was.

"Tsk, what a bother," Ragna complained. He raised his sword and pointed it at me. "Okay, let's get this over with. Any last words?"

"Yes," I exhaled, prepared for what was to come next. "Lights up."

My right hand moved quickly, tossing the fire dust crystal that I discreetly pulled out of my pocket at him, and the other one drawing Samaritan out of its holster and firing. The moment the bullet hit the object, a fireball lit up the room and covered the distance that separated us. Using the force of the blast, I leapt out the window and concentrated all the aura I could recover to survive the fall, which I could barely recover while Ragna gave his villain monologue. The concrete received me harshly as I tumbled and rolled on its cold surface. As quickly as I had regained my aura protection, it was gone again, but at least I was still alive for the moment. Or at least that was the moment until I heard a voice.

"KAIDEN!"

"Blake?" I turned around, recognizing the voice at the same time that I was surprised that she was there that night too. Someone ran up to me and grabbed me. I thought it was her, until I felt my body tense and a cold sensation was born in my belly that began to burn.

"Nice to see you tonight. There's no roof to throw on me now."

The figure stepped back and the feeling from before turned to one of great pain as the red edge of a sword that was stuck in me was quickly pulled out and I fell to the ground with blood pouring from my wound. My mouth was filled with the taste of blood while my hands were staining red in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Back off, Taurus," I heard Ragan speak. "Remember our deal. Noir is mine."

"We had some unfinished business. I can already say we're the same now. You can do whatever you want with him," Adam said, kicking me hard and feeling my body roll inertly.

My vision was beginning to blur, barely making out Ragna's silhouette looming over me with a crooked smile, "Seeing you like that is how I wanted your last moments to be. Now there is no one to save you. Please tell my grandfather that it was all in vain. "

Ragna raised his sword, ready for a coup de grace. Time seemed to slow down. I had to get out of there. I had to move. I had to do something. But my body was barely responding. I couldn't just fly away.

A thought crossed my mind and I bet everything on it. If it worked, maybe it would save me a few more seconds of life, but if not, it's all over. I held on to the small glimmer of awareness that remained and concentrated on my sword. I tried harder until I felt that connection. It was like fishing in a huge lake where there was only one fish. I barely felt anything as I quickly thought of pulling the mental reel, hearing it flying towards me, cutting the air like an arrow, until it passed over us. In a desperate attempt, I fired the cable from my gauntlet until I felt it tighten and my body being pulled from the ground and then falling. I braced myself for the impact, but instead arms caught me and carefully placed me on the ground.

"You're okay, buddy. You're safe. MEDIC!"

I couldn't see well anymore, but I recognized Sun Wukong's voice.

"Stay with us, Kaiden. Just hang on."

"Blake...," I whispered, struggling to lift my hand toward the source of those words. Tiredness got the better of me, but my hand didn't fall as it was caught by another and squeezed it tightly.

"Yes, here I am," I heard her voice cracking. "Don't talk. Keep your strength."

Several more hands roamed my body, checking around the wound and starting to give first aid. I could only feel what they were doing to me, but I could no longer feel pain or discomfort, as if my whole body was slowly shutting down and preparing to die.

"Give him back, Blake," Adam spoke. "His life belongs to Ragna. As much as I hate working with a human, that's the price for his help."

Blake stood up and I heard the metal being drawn, "Never. Kaiden is very important to me. He is my friend and part of my family."

"Same with me," Sun added. "If you want it, it will have to pass over us."

"Hah, so be it," Ragna scoffed.

The silence was intense until the sound of metal echoed in my dying ears. The feeling of helplessness returned, knowing that Blake and Sun faced two adversaries too strong for them just to protect me. I hated being the one saved. I didn't want anyone to sacrifice their life for me. Alice did that and paid the price with the Soul Reaper. Pyrrha died because of me losing my eye on Beacon. Weiss had been badly injured when I couldn't help it. I couldn't lose anyone else.

'How many more times will you continue to torment yourself?' a voice spoke to me.

'Pyrrha?'

'What happened was not your fault. Cinder was too much for us, but we both knew it and still decided to fight to the end. It's time to leave the regret and move forward. There are people waiting for your return.'

Several faces passed before my eyes: my grandmother, Ishi, Yumi, Oren, Mary, my father, Winter. They still awaited my return. There were also those who were fighting that night: Qrow, Oscar, Ren, Nora, Jaune, Blake, Yang, Weiss, Ruby. Thinking of them made my heart ache.

'But you died.'

'Yes, but not you. As long as you still have breath, you can still fight. Just calm your mind and you will find your answer.'

'How are you so sure I will make it?'

'Because I know you. You are capable of many incredible things. It's one of the things that I liked about you. '

'Pyrrha, are you real or is it just an hallucination of my dying mind?'

Even without seeing the girl, I could feel that she was smiling, 'What do you think?'

Honestly, I didn't care. Even if my friend's spirit was speaking to me or not, she was right about one thing: I had to leave the guilt behind. After several months of dealing with it, I finally felt the weight on my shoulders sagging. I think he just needed her words to get over it.

'I think it's not my time yet.'

'That's a good idea. Like Yang said, it's time to kick some butt. '

'Oh yeah.'

Little by little my body was covered with a warmth similar to that of before, but this was not like that of a wildfire, but it was like a soft flame around me. New energies were filling me and the wound in my abdomen was no longer felt. I opened my eyes and the night sky greeted me with a fighting serenade in the air. Blake and Sun barely managed to keep Ragna and Adam at bay, but they wouldn't last long.

My body moved by itself. Not by killer instinct like before, but rather by acting just how I wanted. With a swift movement I stood up and watched the fight. Blake and Sun were doing their best to keep Ragna and Adam away, but I could see that they could barely maintain control as they dodged and fought back at every opportunity. I pointed my gauntlets at them and launched my cables that clung to them and pulled them towards me at a safe distance from their adversaries. Both sides stared at me sharply in surprise, though only one was glad to see me standing.

"Kaiden?" Blake called me.

I went to see my friend. She was the same as when I last saw her, although now she was wearing a long white tailcoat with black crop top underneath. Her black bow was gone and kitty ears were now visible to anyone who looked at her, so what I saw in my vision at Arumatsuri was true.

I pulled out my scroll and typed a quick message for her to see, telling her that I couldn't speak and to let me deal with those two.

"Are you sure? What about your wound?"

I lifted my shirt and removed the bandage, showing that the Overdrive's accelerated healing factor had already done its part, sealing the wound as if it had never existed and leaving only a bloodstain.

"We better give him his space," Sun advised her.

"But..."

"If he says that he will take care of everything, I believe him. The last time I saw him like this, he destroyed a Soul Reaper."

Blake looked at me, concern in his amber eyes, "Will the same thing happen? When this is over, you ..."

I understood the reason for her concern. To her, when I used the Overdrive at full power, I died, which is why I shook my head and gave her a confident smile in an unspoken promise that everything would be fine.

It was when the two faunus withdrew that I realized something. A huge group of people were gathered that night around Haven's main square, and they were all Faunus armed, whether with clubs, hammers, or farm pitchforks. There were so many types, from one with fur ears to one with ram's horns. Had Blake taken them there? Would they defend Mistral alongside us? I was hoping so, because we would need all the help possible.

"How is this possible?" Ragna exclaimed in bewilderment. "You must be bleeding to death right now."

I just shrugged, mainly to annoy him. This seemed to hit the nail on the head as he quickly lunged for me with his scimitar raised high, which I parried smoothly. His movements were quick, but I had no problem seeing them in detail. My mind processed all the information at high speed, allowing me to see the path of the sword at the same time that I reacted. Adam joined the next second with several quick slashes that I was able to block before backing off and taking distance.

It was better than I expected. My body felt light, but I didn't know how long I could hold it. My deduction about having constant breathing was half correct, as I not only had to keep it steady, but I had to speed it up if I had to move fast and attack to compensate for the effort and wouldn't speak since it could break my respiration. However, I had finally found the missing piece: a calm mind. Every time I'd tried, my head was always in a scramble every time I wanted to get into that mode, with thoughts about killing my adversary and preventing someone else's death. But now I was calmer, putting that aside and concentrating on what was in front of me. As Yumi once said: A sound mind dwells within a sound mind and a sound body.

"I thought you said he was going to be easy to deal with," Adam chided Ragna.

"And another with that. He's different somehow. Now it doesn't seem like he's being guided by instinct. I only saw him like this once and the power he had was something else."

"Then we have to get rid of him as soon as possible."

They both took position. On the other hand, I took my mask that hung from my belt as a keychain and put it on. It wouldn't be of much use, but at least it'll keep me from losing another eye. I held onto Requiem tightly and was about to do the same to Samaritan before realizing I'd lost it in the blast, so I grabbed my sword sheath instead and tried something. At one end a dark blade began to form into the shape I had seen so many times with Ruby and Qrow: a scythe.

[Play "Hero", Jeff Williams]

This was me finally mastering the power that I'd feared to unleash at full power.

This time I would be that character that Qrow told me about several times in his stories. Now I would be the one who would protect whoever needed it. Mistral would not fall that night. Not now that I was there.

I may not be a hero, but I am the Grimm Reaper.

'Ready, Req?'

'It depends. Will you go crazy again and leave me pinned to a door? '

'Of course not. Now it will be different. '

'So I have no objections. Time to kick some culos.'

My feet moved quickly, covering the distance that separated us in a few seconds. Neither of them seemed to take the first step until they both came out to meet me and attacked at the same time. Our blades collided with fury and I took that split second to counterattack, though I was also repelled on both sides.

I had seldom fought two-on-one, even during combat classes at Beacon, but it was really hard to keep an eye on one while fighting the other. Fortunately, I had Requiem to warn me when one was going to attack me from behind, but even so, the effort was a lot. However, I couldn't back down now. Those two were two adversaries that I have waited to face.

My body moved with precision. Each attack went as I wanted and my weapons danced in my hands with agility. Even the makeshift scythe was easy to use despite the fact that he had to maintain contact or else the dark blade made of aura would vanish. Maybe it was overdrive, but I felt better than ever. However, I couldn't get carried away by it, since the last time I did it in a similar situation, things didn't end well.

The fight grew intense by the second. I managed to combine my semblance with my attacks more easily, even if they were dodged by my opponents. I made a breakthrough when Requiem slammed into the scimitar, my sword barely managing to communicate with the intelligence within, letting it know our relationship with Muramasa. For the next time our blades met, the sword snapped on first contact.

"What the fuck?" Ragna could barely say before I kicked him in the face.

For a second I was pleased with myself, but Adam attacked from behind. I was able to avoid being pierced by his katana once again, but it still gave me a deep gash in the side. The pain was sharp, but I couldn't neglect my breathing. My aura would take care of closing the wound, but I lost blood and felt a slight dizziness. I had to concentrate; I would rest once I subdued those two.

Adam seemed to want to repeat his feat, his attacks getting faster and stronger with each strike. I was concentrating on this when Ragna jumped on me with a kopesh in his hands, the tip of which ripped my back from my left shoulder blade to the right side of my waist. I clenched my teeth, in an effort to endure the pain as I kept pace with my breathing, and pushed back the attack.

Both opponents kept attacking mercilessly, barely coping with being able to deal with both at the same time. However, I could notice something curious. Even though the two jerks were hell-bent on killing me, they made no effort to work together. There was no coordination or communication between the two, so there was always an opening that I could use to dodge or counter. Even when I was fighting as a team with one of my friends we always gave each other signals to coordinate our movements, which the two of them didn't share at all.

"Watch out!" I heard Blake yell at me.

"I've had enough of this," Adam mutterd, who leaped away and sheathed his sword. I had deja vu at the time, which took me back to that night at Beacon. It was that time that he adopted the same position before launching that heavy attack.

I ran to him and braced myself for what was next. I could barely see the fleeting glow of his katana being drawn at high speed with a wave of energy advancing at chilling speed. I don't know if it was from the Overdrive or maybe the adrenaline, but I could feel just when the attack was in front of me, forcing me to stop my breathing for an instant when I became smoke and the wave passed through my ethereal body. I returned to my form when I felt that the attack had already passed with the sound of metal falling to the ground behind me. I couldn't turn to see what had happened as I regulated my breathing to maintain the Overdrive as I got closer to Adam.

The faunus seemed stunned for an instant, perhaps from suddenly releasing so much energy. I threw Requiem towards him, who deflected it smoothly but giving me enough time to get as close as possible. By the time I was right in front of him, he launched a downward slash on me, which I narrowly evaded with a quick step to the side and focusing my aura on my right fist.

'This is for Yang,' I thought as I hit him with an uppercut that lifted him off the ground before I pulled on the wire from my left gauntlet and refocused my aura on my free hand.

'And this is for Blake,' I conveyed that thought in the punch that landed squarely on the chest, which sent him several feet and landed close to Blake, who had her revenge on her ex with a heavy hit to the back.

Adam stumbled and yelled "KILL THEM !"

I didn't understand who he was talking to until I heard several shots. Apparently I had forgotten the members of the White Fang who had planned the collapse of the communications tower, who began to shoot at the aircraft flying overhead and the chaos reigned in the place again to the disastrous melody of combat as the armed faunus pounced on their white-robed counterparts in an attempt to stop them. Sun and Blake joined them. On the other side was a dark skinned girl with a type of whip subduing several soldiers with agility.

With a scream of fury, Ragna leapt on me and tried to stab me with another weapon, one I recognized instantly.

"Are you familiar with this one?" he said maliciously. "The same one that took your eye off. This time I'll use it to kill you."

Longinus' blade swooped down with great speed in several attempts to stab me. The reddish grip with details of the same color shone like the last time I saw it. No matter the cost, I would get that weapon back.

I let go of my sword hilt, its blade made of aura fading, before catching the spear by one end and holding onto it. It seemed that I had caught Ragna in a tight spot, as he had two options: keep Longinus out with me by holding on or vanish the weapon and be exposed to being beaten before he could call for the next one.

We engage in a deadly game of rope pulling, exchanging punches and kicks endlessly. Before I could call Requiem or use my semblance, Ragna would stop me, forcing me to defend myself. Even so, he didn't draw another weapon, so I deduced that he could only summon one at a time.

"Why are you trying so hard to stay alive?" Ragna snapped at me. "Why don't you die already?"

Seeing him in that state of fury made me realize something: if I had followed another path, I would end up like him. If I had not stayed in a good family to take care of me. If I hadn't had Qrow to guide me. If I hadn't had Ruby and the others to give me a reason to live. Ragna had nothing of that with his mother rejecting him and taking out his fury to the point of murdering his grandfather who had taken him in. He had no one to advise him and teach him to heal his emotional wounds. He didn't have what I had. As much as I hated him for what he did, I was also saddened by what had happened to him.

"Stop looking at me with those eyes!" he roared in anger. "Stop looking at me like that damn Alice Noir!"

As if that name detonated something, some electric arcs enveloped the spear, but these did not affect me but ran the weapon towards Ragna's hand, causing him to lose his grip and be thrown backwards.

'Don't curse Alice's name, punk,' a voice spoke inside my head.

'Longinus?' I thought, surprised with the spear still in hand.

'Quick. The mark in is on the pommel.'

I checked the other end of the spear, where the color was different from the rest of the weapon. It had a texture and tonality that contrasted if you paid attention. I didn't think about it anymore and I ran my hand along the edge, making a cut on the palm from which the blood came out and with which I covered the mark.

"Give me that spear," Ragna ordered me, recovering from the electric shock. "It's mine!"

For many reasons, I did not. Instead I took the spear firmly and held it just as I remembered my mother once did. He stretched his hand towards the spear, but nothing happened, earning a confusing look from my foe.

'My name is Kaiden Noir and I-'

'I know exactly who you are,' Longinus interrupted me. 'You've really grown a lot. Hey, about the eye... '

'Don't worry. It is already in the past. I only ask for your strength to fight. ''

'Against this brat? You don't have to ask for it. You have all my support.'

My first attack was a thrust that Ragna deflected with the mallet he had used earlier, but I followed up with a swipe with the pommel of the weapon a quick spin. With a strong wave, a gale knocked me back before resuming my attacks.

That's when I remembered that I was never good at using a spear even though my mother was teaching me the basics. Even Pyrrha cringed when I tried to use hers once in Beacon. Yet wielding that spear now felt so natural as images of my mother's movements filled my mind like a movie and which I imitated.

I instinctively focused my aura on the spear as he thrust at Ragna, who stopped it with the handle of the sledgehammer, but was still hit hard by a black lightning bolt that hurled him at the ruined facade of the main building and I chased after him because I couldn't let him recover, as I felt like I was starting to reach my limit.

My muscles were already sore. It was a struggle to keep my breath stable with my throat dry and the air irritating me more and more. It was a matter of time before I could no longer maintain the Overdrive for long and the slump in power was so severe along with the blood loss. Before that happened, I had to finish off Ragna.

As if stepping on the accelerator of a car, my body began to use its last strength in a flurry of attacks without mercy without paying attention to anything more than just finishing the fight. Ragna could barely avoid one or the other, but her movements were already beginning to be slow and careless in responding.

In a last-ditch effort, I used Longinus as a pole and kicked him back further, taking advantage of the seconds he would use to recover to place a hand on the ground and unleash a strong current of darkness that emerged from under him and which threw him towards the ceiling. I followed him using the cables from my gauntlets to ascend to our meeting point several meters above the ground, where I delivered another heavy blow to send him back to earth.

While we were both still in the air, I held Longinus tightly and raised my free arm with a raised thumb, using it to point right at his chest. I focused my aura on the spear and threw it as fast as I could. My ears pounded as I heard a crash as loud as thunder as a black lightning plunged to the ground.

Now you're wondering if I made a superhero landing and I'll say bet your butt did, even though it was bad for the knees. I fell hard, feeling the ground breaking beneath me and looked up at what I hoped was Ragna impaled, yet I found something else.

Several meters away the boy was writhing in pain with half of his left arm resting on the other side of the place. The stump's flesh was seared from the latest attack, so he was lucky he wasn't bleeding out. I wondered if my aim had failed until I saw the mace he wielded earlier, now split in two. He had used it to shield himself from the spear, but in the end he could only deflect it into his arm.

[Song ends]

"That's enough!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing her rifle at Emerald, Mercury, and the big man. "Just give up."

Almost everyone was there. I even felt great joy to see Weiss well; If we were not in middle of a fight against those thugs, I would run to hug her. However, Yang was not present and that worried me.

"AAAAGH!" Ragna roared, smashing her single fist to the ground. "This is not over! I will kill you!"

"Cinder will return and she will have the relic!" Emerald warned. "She will stop all of you! She will not disappoint us."

Then, at one end of the room, a sound was coming from a gap that Lionheart must have activated like some kind of elevator. I got on my guard and retrieved Longinus with a gauntlet cord and called out to Requiem, who scolded and cursed me for having him abandoned in a bush, but I didn't pay attention.

My worst thought was that Cinder was back and I would have to hold out a bit longer for the next fight, but that didn't happen when I saw my favorite blonde rising and, with her, was Haven's relic; a type of lamp with a blue ball adorned with gold details.

I could see the disappointment on Emerald's face and I didn't blame her. Her savior hadn't returned and Yang hadn't, so that could mean one thing: Cinder had been defeated. I was disappointed that I wasn't the one who killed the fake Fall Maiden, but I was glad that Yang was back.

Emerald fell to her knees, cradling her broken arm and tears streaming down her face. I felt bad for her, having been disappointed by Cinder, but now it was left to put everyone under arrest.

"Emerald, get up. We need to go," Mercury told her, slowly walking backward. The big man did the same along with Ragna, whose face was beaded with sweat but his gaze glared at me with hatred.

I wasn't going to let them go. They had to pay for what they did to all of us and to the lives they ruined and destroyed. Cinder or no Cinder, they were going to be punished.

Emerald's breathing became harsh with desperation in her eyes that looked all over the place for some salvation but without success. Then, with a yell, the world went dark.

The feeling was the same as that time. The dizziness and buzzing inside my head returned with the illusion of the girl encompassing my senses.

'Req, dispel this illusion.'

'I can't. It is too strong. More than the other times. '

In front of me, a cluster of darkness began to emerge from the ground like mist until it began to take a shape that was familiar to me. The same black clothes. Same pale face with dark veins, black eyes with red irises. Her arms, hands, and fingers wriggled as if she had no bones, just like worms. The mouth fell open and from it came a shocking scream that made me feel that my blood was freezing before the illusion rushed over us and everything went black.

By the time I opened my eyes, the illusion had already faded and Ragna had escaped with the rest of the cronies.

"Wha... what was that ?!" Blake exclaimed in alarm.

"An illusion," Ozpin spoke. "But an imprecise one. That was Salem."

Suddenly my body collapsed. My breathing had been interrupted for a long time, so the Overdrive could no longer continue. I felt sore and really tired, like I had carried a boulder the whole time. I took off my mask and a stream of sweat fell to the ground with the night breeze cooling my face. I could barely hold onto Longinus until Ruby ran towards me.

"Kaiden! Are you okay?!"

"Yes," I could barely reply in a raspy voice, "I used too much energy but everything is fine."

Contradicting my words, I lost my grip on the spear and fell to the ground, but Ruby caught me in time.

"It's ok. It's all over now."

"Is everyone okay? Weiss-..."

"She is fine. Jaune healed her with his semblance. We are all fine."

"His semblance? Hehe, better late than never. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"Gather Ragna's weapons. They have to be returned to Muramasa. I'll take care of the rest."

"Don't worry. I will. For now, rest."

"I think a nap is fine. Hey..."

"Yes?"

"Did you see Blake come back?"

Ruby giggled, "Yeah, we're together now."

"Yeah, I just hope she and Yang don't paint my nails while I'm out."

"I'll make sure they don't."

"Thanks... see you in the morning," was the last thing I could say as I felt heavy eyelids and exhaustion claiming me, with the soft smell of roses lulling me to sleep.