Here we are at Chapter 114, and the volume 7 finale. Time to see how the battle for Mantle will end for Velvet and her friends. At least now I'll have two stories caught up with the show. I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 114 and the volume 7 finale. Enjoy.


Chapter 114: The Enemy of Trust

Deep within a hidden section of the school, Penny flies in to throw a punch at Emerald, only to end up passing through an illusion. She stops just short of hitting a wall and looks back, only for Emerald to swing her pistol's blades on their chains at her. Penny uses her blades to block them, but then Emerald focuses dark energy around her pistols and fires several high-powered shots at Penny. Penny manages to block them by spinning her blades around and then attacks her again, but Emerald casts another illusion to make her disappear and Ruby take her place. Penny hesitates, which is all Emerald needs in order to attack her from the side. Penny staggers, giving Emerald the chance to blast her away with her pistols. However, a flock of small Nevermore summons prevents her from heading back inside the room, and then Winter attacks her with her sword.

Emerald blocks with her pistols, "You Atlas elites think that you stand above everyone else. That you have more power than anyone else," Emerald pushes Winter back and makes a few swings with her blades, waves of dark energy being left in their wake with each swing. "You think having all that power means you're like kings, but it only makes the rest of us want to see you fall even more!" Emerald says as she manages to get a kick in on Winter's chest and sends her crashing into a wall. A sudden blade flies by and Emerald narrowly avoids it. "And I can't wait to see you fall."

Penny comes in and sends out several more of her blades. Emerald fires her pistols to knock them back, and then Penny brings them back together to spin at Emerald. Emerald side flips from them and then backflips away from a second strike. Penny sends out all her blades straight at Emerald, but Emerald spins one of her chains around like a shield to block them. Winter separates her sword into two. Emerald fires her pistols at both of them as they charge at her. They block the shots and Winter makes the first strike, followed by Penny who spins her blades around. Emerald parries the strikes as she starts getting pushed back. Winter comes in with a thrust of her right blade, which Emerald leans away from, followed by an upward swing of her estoc that gets evaded. Emerald makes a low spin kick at her legs, forcing Winter to jump, only to barely block another kick by Emerald that sends her back. Penny attacks with her blades again, but Emerald weaves through them and gets a cross slash with her blades at Penny that knocks her back. Emerald jumps just as Winter attacks her from behind. The two stand together in Emerald's way.

"I've had enough of this," Emerald's eyes glow purple and then an eerily purple mist explodes from her, consuming the area.

Penny and Winter look around, only to see that the other is no longer next to them.

"Penny, where are you?" Winter calls out.

Winter looks around, trying to find Penny or Emerald. She hears footsteps behind her and, thinking it's Emerald, makes a quick thrust of her sword. Her sword hits its mark, but she is both shocked and horrified to find that it's not Emerald she struck, but her sister Weiss... with her sword through her chest.

"W-W-Weiss," Winter gasps in horror.

Weiss looks from the sword to Winter, "...Winter... why..." Weiss falls onto the ground, sliding off the now blood-soaked blade.

Winter quickly goes to her sister's aid, trying to tend to the wound, "NO! No, no no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. Weiss, please stay with me! I never intended to-,"

"I thought... you loved me... but you're... just like Father," Weiss gasps.

"No, I DO love you Weiss. That's why I couldn't believe that you would go against the General without a reason. Please, I don't want you to die!" Tears fall from her eyes.

"But... I did... Because of... you..." Weiss takes her last breath.

"WEISS!" Winter cries, but then Weiss' body disappears from her sight.

Winter looks at her blade, finding no blood on it. However, she suddenly gets blasted from behind by Emerald's pistols and crashes into a wall as her aura goes out.

"No more interruptions," Emerald walks by Penny as she's still consumed in her own illusion.

Velvet activates her arm blade, "I never thought I'd have to see you again, Innominat," she aims the blade at him.

"Is that anyway to greet your little brother, dear sister?" Innominat smirks.

"That won't work on me. I know who my brother is, and it's not you," Velvet retorts, and then glances at her friends. "Weiss, Ruby, you two go on ahead. Get to the Winter Maiden. I'll take care of things here,"

Ruby looks shocked at her girlfriend, "What?! I can't leave you to fight him alone!"

"We don't have time to argue. If Winter gets to the Maiden, then Ironwood gets her, and we can't let that happen. Don't worry, I don't plan on doing anything stupid like dying here, now go," Velvet says.

Innominat pulls out his sword, wrapped in bandages, "I won't let any of you pass,"

The three nod to each other and charge forth. Innominat fires off a blast of dark energy, but Velvet activates her demon claw and creates a claw shield to block it. Ruby and Weiss use their semblance to race along the walls around it. Innominat tries to stop them, but has to block a sudden fire arte by Velvet, thus giving Ruby and Weiss the chance to bypass him and continue on their way.

Innominat watches them leave before facing Velvet, "You'll regret letting them go to fight me alone,"

Velvet deactivates her claw, "Why are you here, Innominat. I sealed you away, and Artorius is dead. There's nothing left to go back to back home, so what? You decided to create your 'perfect world' here?"

Innominat chuckles, "Heh-heh-heh, no, I just want one thing: revenge. Revenge for you getting in my way. With Artorius, our world would've been a peaceful utopia, until you destroyed it."

"People should be left to make their own choices, not act like mindless puppets for your amusement. I didn't let you ruin our world, and I won't let you ruin this one," Velvet charges at Innominat.

Innominat fires off another dark arte, but Velvet flips round the attack and clashes her blade against his. They each make a few parrying strikes, but get no real hits in. Velvet flips back, swinging her blade in its chain-blade form at Innominat and wraps around his sword. She pulls hard, forcing him towards her. Velvet lands a kick on his chest, sending him back, but he manages to free himself from her weapon. Innominat makes another dark arte blast at her, but Velvet activates her demon claw and makes a claw shield with her semblance to block it. Innominat jumps over the shield and thrusts his sword forth, while Velvet blocks with hers.

Back with Penny, she looks around as she sees the bodies of her friends and her father all lying around her. She then looks at her hands, seeing blood on them.

"No... No, this can't be right..." Penny holds her head as she begins to freak out. "No, Penny, remember, this is what she does. What she tried to do in Vale. You... can do this," she calms her breathing and uses her sensors to get a better view around her, finding the bodies gone and Emerald in front of the Winter Maiden.

Emerald opens the capsule and the Winter Maiden wakes up, "Your time is up. I can't let you get in our way," Emerald aims her pistol at her.

Just as she's about to fire, Fria unleashes her powers and sends out a burst of ice to push her back. Fria's powers begin to grow, but before Emerald can attack, she gets tackled by Peny who flies around and takes her out of the room, smashing her into a wall. Penny jumps back, looking between Emerald, Winter, and Fria as her powers explode, destroying the ceiling above her. Emerald gets up and growls before using her semblance to make a hasty retreat. Penny looks around with her sensors, but finds no sign of Emerald. Penny then looks back to the swirling vortex of cold, worried about Fria.

Winter gets back up, "We... We have to do something," she tries to get into the vortex, but it's too cold for her to pass through. Penny realizes that she can take the cold and jumps straight into the vortex. "Penny!"

Back with Ruby and Weiss, the pair continue on their way towards the Winter Maiden when they get a sudden call on their scrolls.

"Our scroll? Hello?" Ruby calls out.

"Haha, finest mind in Atlas. It's about time!" Maria is on the other end.

"Maria? What's going on?" Ruby asks.

"We're getting our ride out of here. We'll come to you all, and then we're leaving. Keep your scrolls on and we'll find you," Maria says as Yang and Blake enter her airship, firing at Atlas robot soldiers.

Another voice enters the conversation, "...We're on our way. We'll meet you at the training ground... Wait, Oscar, where are you?!" Jaune calls out.

"...You all need to go on without me. I'm sorry, but there's something I need to do alone," Oscar says and then ends his call, leaving everyone else worried.

Back with Velvet, she fires off a fire arte at Innominat, but he conjures a shield arte to block it. He attacks again with his blade, but Velvet catches it in her claws and swings him into a wall. Innominat pushes off the wall and forces Velvet into another one. Velvet activates one of her foot blades, swinging it up at his face to force him back. Velvet activates her Maiden powers and fires off a burst of ice from her claw at Innominat. Innominat flies out of the attack's path and lands away from Velvet.

"You've certainly grown stronger, Velvet Crowe. This'll make it more delicious when I devour you," Innominat notes.

"Even if that were to happen, which it won't, even you wouldn't be able to obtain the power of the Fall Maiden. That won't change because of what you are, Innominat," Velvet fires off her gauntlet gun at him.

Innominat blocks the shots with his sword, "Me? No, but who ever said that it would be me that would have the power and not someone else. Ask yourself this, Velvet Crowe: who is out there that is a young woman with enough of a grudge against you to do anything to seek revenge? Even if it means making a deal with me,"

Velvet ponders on his words for a moment. The only enemies she has are Salem's forces, and most of them are men. The only women she knew about were Cinder, and she's dead, and... Velvet's eyes widen in realization.

"Emerald. You gave Emerald part of your power," she realizes.

Innominat smirks, "Yes. She was willing to do anything to get back at you for killing Cinder Fall at Haven. Even selling her soul to me. While I may not be able to wield the power of a Maiden, my power is just as strong, if not stronger," he fires off a dark arte at her.

Velvet fires off a fire arte and the two attacks clash. Innominat's power begins to push her back, but Velvet combines her arte with her Maiden powers, adding ice and lightning to the fire. The combined assault pushes through Innominat's attack and nails him hard. Innominat crashes on the ground. Velvet charges at him and thrusts her claw at him, but Innominat swings his sword to knock the claw away and grabs her face with his left hand. He fires off another dark arte point-blank, sending her crashing into the ceiling. Just as Velvet gets up, she gets hit by another blast from Innominat.

"You forget, Velvet. You gained your powers from me. But they are merely a fraction of what I possess," Innominat mocks her.

Velvet manages to get back up again and slams her claw onto the floor, freezing everything in front of her as the ice flow nears Innominat. Innominat stabs his sword into the ground, using his power to stop the ice and forcing it to freeze around him instead of including him.

Velvet growls, "I won't let you hurt anyone else ever again,"

"I didn't know I needed your approval. Maybe before I devour you, I'll force you to watch as I devour your precious Ruby Rose. I bet that would cause you to fall into the pits of despair," Innominat smirks sinisterly.

Velvet's anger grows at the thought of this monster even touching her precious Ruby. She focuses her Maiden powers into her demon claw and fires off a combined blast of fire and ice at him. Innominat fires off another dark arte that clashes with her attack. They try to push each other back, but Innominat's attack begins to gain ground. Velvet's feet slide slowly backwards. However, a few blue cards suddenly fly by Velvet and explode when they hit Innominat, causing him to get knocked back by Velvet's attack. Velvet is confused as she looks back to see the woman with white hair that she met in Argus.

"It's... you," Velvet mutters.

"Are you okay?" the woman asks.

Innominat stands back up and sees the new addition, "Impossible... How could another malak be here?"

Velvet widens her eyes at this, "You're... a malak?"

The woman stares at Innominat, "Actually... I'm a Seraphim," she conjures up a fire ball and hurls it at Innominat.

Innominat manages to block the attack, but can tell that this fight is no longer in his favor. He blasts the ground, sending up smoke to block their view. When the dust settles, Innominat has retreated, leaving just the two women.

Velvet deactivates her claw, "Damn it. He's gone. I suppose I should say thank you for helping me, but I need to know... who are you?" she asks the girl.

"I'm afraid it's not the right time to answer that. Just know that I'm a friend. I'm sorry," the woman replies.

Velvet looks back at where Innominat once was, "But he said that you're a-huh?" Velvet turns back to her savior, only to find her gone as well. "What is going on here?" She wonders before focusing on the mission and running to where Ruby and Weiss are. "Hang on guys. Please, please be okay, Ruby,"

Back with Emerald, she reappears outside the ice vortex, seeing that it's frozen now and has calmed down. She uses her blades to break through the ice, finding Penny tending to a dying Fria.

Emerald growls, "I won't be beaten by some Atlas toy!" she aims her pistols at them, but then Winter appears and slices at her side with her sword. "Get out of my way!" Emerald starts swinging her blades wildly at her.

Winter tries to defend herself, but with her aura gone and her strength weakened, Emerald easily breaks through her defense and starts leaving wounds across her body, causing blood to spill. Eventually, Emerald knocks a wounded Winter into the wall. However, just before she can finish her off, she feels a change in the air and looks back, seeing that the Maiden's power has just transferred from Fria... to Penny, making her the new Winter Maiden. Emerald is shocked that she allowed this to happen, but her troubles only grow in number.

"Winter!" Emerald looks up just in time to see Weiss and Ruby enter the room,

Emerald prepares to fire her pistols, but Penny, through sheer instinct and will, unleashes a blast of ice at Emerald that sends her crashing out of the building.

"Winter!" With Emerald gone, Weiss rushes to tend to her sister.

Winter looks at her sister and is about to say something when the memory of Emerald's illusion floods her mind, and she remains silent. Meanwhile, Penny's new powers dissipate and she falls down to Fria, who is already gone, and she sobs.

Ruby kneels beside her friend, "Penny, are you okay? What happened?"

Penny stops sobbing, "She's... gone,"

"No..." they look back to Winter, "She's a part of you now,"

Meanwhile, Team JNR manage to link up with Yang and Blake's group. They board they airship and take off to reach the others. However, Yang notices a few things missing.

"Where's Oscar... and where's the Relic?" Yang asks.

Team JNR can only look away in shame and sadness, "I don't know where Oscar it... but the lamp... Neopolitan was here... She took it,"

Back with the others, Velvet finally catches up to the group and sees the damage.

"Is everyone alright?" Velvet calls out, but not everyone is willing to answer so quickly.

Weiss helps Winter lean up against the ice wall, "I suggest you all surrender... and comply with the General's orders,"

Weiss look between her and her teammates, "We... We can't do that,"

"...Then, I suggest you run," Winter says.

"No! You're hurt! I'm not leaving you like this!" Weiss cries.

"You're not leaving me! I'm giving YOU a head start!... This is Special Operative Schnee in need of medical assistance. Send reinforcements to my position immediately. Over and out," Winter calls on her scroll and then stares at her sister. "I can't... I can't go with her. If I did, I'll be compelled to help the General and take them into custody. And I know Weiss won't comply... I can't... I can't let that illusion become real."

Weiss is hurt by her sister's choice, but accepts it nonetheless, "We all have to carve out our own way,"

Just then, the airship with their friends appears, "We need to go, now," Velvet is the first to move, followed by Ruby, Weiss, and a sad Penny, leaving Winter behind.

They all manage to escape, with Ruby and Weiss comforting Penny. Velvet looks out the window, her thoughts drifting to Innominat, Emerald, and the white-haired woman. Meanwhile, Emerald regroups with Innominat and Neo. Neo shows the group the Relic of Knowledge; her mission complete. For them, it was not a total loss. Back with the others, they make their retreat from Atlas, leaving behind the kingdom and its fleet just as large dark clouds close in on it. Suddenly, they hear chatter over the comms.

"We've got multiple hostiles on radar. Is anyone else seeing this?" one voice calls out.

"These readings can't be right. There's just too many," another voice says.

They all look out the windows back at Atlas and the clouds. Lightning is seen from within, and then a massive, flying Whale Grimm slowly comes out of the clouds. The massive beast is flanked by an army of flying Grimm.

Velvet's eyes widen in horror, "Oh no..."

Sitting on top of the Whale Grimm's head... is Salem.


And that's the chapter and the volume 7 finale. Velvet and her friends manage to keep the Winter Maiden's powers out of both Ironwood's and Emerald's hands, but now Penny is the new Winter Maiden. But, they lost the Relic of Knowledge, and to make matters worse, Salem has now arrived at Atlas. The time for the real battle has come. Only a few more days before volume 8 begins. Will Velvet and her friends be able to stop Salem and save Atlas? Who was the woman that helped Velvet? Until then, please Read and Review.