FILE_RECOVERY_COMPLETE
PARTIAL_FILE_RETRIEVED
RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Salt and Sanctuary belongs to SKA studios.
Chapter 40: The God
The reconstruction of Beacon tower was startlingly accurate compared to the original tower in Vale. At least, the tower itself on the outside was. The grounds leading up to the tower were a far different story. Instead of the courtyard they remembered from Beacon, it was a macabre homage to Azredak. A massive statue of Azredak stood in the center of the courtyard. Darkened slowly wandered about. Oddly enough, whenever one of them noticed the trio, they would back off and gesture towards the entrance to the tower.
Ruby and Weiss looked around at the faces, wondering and slightly dreading to see someone they recognized. Two darkened stood out from the rest. Ren and Nora were standing next to the entrance of the tower. Nora's manic, deranged smile unnerved them. Spectre strode past with no acknowledgement. Weiss and Ruby hurried after him.
"That was…" Ruby began.
"Ren and Nora." Spectre stated, eyes narrowed at the room around them. "Only Azredak's defeat can help them."
Ruby gulped and nodded. Weiss remained silent and looked around. The room they had entered was wrong on so many levels. The tower was hollow, but along the walls were strange black vines. The darkness was oppressive. In the center of the room was a stairwell that descended further into the dark. Around the edges of the room were crude crosses. Spectre scowled as he recognized the people on them were strung up the same way as the Scarecrow.
Three figures in particular stood out. Kaira, Ronin and Jaret were all strung up. Spectre walked towards the scarecrow of Jaret. The man was barely breathing. His breath came short and raspy. Wicked barbs were stuck in his skin. Spectre sighed and placed the Book of the Damned at Jaret's feet.
"You have much to answer for." Spectre muttered as he returned to the girls.
"Is that…" Weiss trailed off.
"Jaret. Seems Azredak caught up to him. Hopefully, he doesn't have the Lightborn." Spectre replied. "Let's go."
The trio began their descent. Spectre lit a torch. The light pushed back the darkness, but only enough to see the walls, roof, and next few steps. Steeling himself, they began the descent.
"Kinda wish I had my helm right now." Spectre stated.
"I've been meaning to ask, what happened to that?" Weiss questioned.
"I think I lost it during the battle for Beacon." Spectre answered.
"I could have sworn you had it when we headed for Patch." Weiss stated.
"Maybe you left it at my house." Ruby suggested.
"Maybe." Spectre replied.
Spectre's gaze drifted upward as the ceiling began to part from the stairs. Weiss gasped as the stairs ended on a large platform.
"What is this?" Ruby asked.
"There were theories of massive caves under Menagerie, but this defies comprehension." Weiss answered.
Spectre looked around. His eyes widened in surprise at the cavern before him. It was a beautifully made, intricately carved, upside down palace. The exact same ethereal white palace that had been at the heart of Azredak's island on Salis.
"The Still Palace." Spectre said in awe.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"The Still Palace. The place Azredak truly calls his home. It is where he is. Beyond it is the heart of the island." Spectre stated.
"But… how? How was this made?" Weiss asked.
"I have no clue." Spectre said, looking down off the ledge.
Below them was more inky blackness. Spectre could barely make out the silhouette of stairs through the darkness. He stepped towards the front of the small platform. The stairs continued forward, but surprisingly, small candles lined the edges. With a small gesture at the girls, Spectre began descending the stairs.
Looking around at the upside-down palace around them, Spectre saw small candles everywhere. A thought presented itself in Spectre's mind. A persistent thought that he pondered as they entered the palace proper.
"Does he still yearn to be a Lightborn?" Spectre voiced aloud.
"Come again?" Weiss questioned.
"Just thinking." Spectre said.
Weiss shrugged as they walked through the empty halls. Candles lit their way. Another staircase downward was the only way to continue forward. Spectre figured they were getting closer as there were no candles on this one. However, he could just barely make out a few at the bottom of the staircase.
"Spectre, the fire is burning down." Ruby said as they neared them.
Spectre noted that she was right. The candles were upside down, the flame was too. Yet they burned as if they were right side up.
"We're here." Spectre said as they passed through the door.
They walked through the doorway and found themselves on the edge of another precipice. There was no staircase down. Spectre chuckled and turned to the girls.
"There's only one way forward." Spectre said gesturing to the hole before them.
"We have to jump." Ruby stated.
"Yep." Spectre confirmed. "It seems Azredak intends for us to kneel before him. Before we go, I should tell you, I have no clue what we'll see down there. You know, you still have a chance to turn back."
"Nope." Ruby said.
"Not happening. He needs to pay." Weiss said.
Spectre chuckled. "Once more into the breach, then. Once more."
"Here we go." Ruby said, before leaping into the black void below.
"She's still rather impulsive, isn't she?" Spectre chuckled as he followed.
Weiss leapt after him. It was barely a second before they landed. The force was enough to force them to their knees, just as it had to Spectre the last time he had done this. The trio stood and looked around. The area they were in was large and circular. An incredibly ornate tree was carved into the floor. At the far end of the room was a large black doorway. Upside down candles covered the walls, providing dim light to the three.
"As before, so again. It kneels to me. Beautiful, isn't it?" Azredak's voice rang throughout the dimly lit room.
"Azredak." Spectre said.
"Saltborn. It's friends." Azredak replied, his voice echoing throughout the room.
The Scarecrow appeared from the darkness in front of them. Its smile was stretched and giddy. Its gaze appeared blank. Azredak's voice issued from it.
"I know why it's here. I know it will fail. It cannot hope to stand. It will still find survival to be an impossible proposition." Azredak taunted.
"As will you." Weiss growled.
"Interesting that it still resists. I will offer it one, and only one, chance. It can lay down its arms and bow to me. I shall spare it if it shall." Azredak addressed Weiss.
"Never." Weiss spat.
"A shame. I suppose its friend feels likewise?" Azredak turned to Ruby.
"Yeah. You're going down." Ruby said, unfolding Crescent Rose.
"Valiant friends it has made." Azredak addressed Spectre, before disappearing. "But it shall not be enough. Already, my armies march on the other pathetic kingdoms. Even if it should survive, Remnant will be mine."
Azredak's voice rang loud and clear throughout the room. Thunderous footsteps echoed through the room, as the being that made them drew close. Spectre and Weiss readied their weapons. The large, armored form of Azredak the Betrayer entered the room.
Spectre recognized the puppet immediately. Though, he could feel Azredak's power radiating from it. The armored god was easily seven feet tall. Sinister looking armor wrapped around his body. A black cloak flowed from his neck, embracing him in its darkness. Two Beowolf skulls armored his shoulders. Jagged gauntlets covered his arms and greaves of a similar style covered his legs. The chest plate had the appearance of darkness wrapped bone. The only part of the being that seemed out of place was the helm. It was the same helm Spectre had brought from Salis to Remnant. He easily recognized the red cloth wrapped around the top of the steel helm. Two glowing red eyes peaked out from the darkness of the helm.
In his hand was a massive, wicked red sword. Azredak's Blade of Envy pulsed with a very dim white light.
"I gave it a chance, now you will all kneel and die!" Azredak thundered.
Ruby, Weiss, and Spectre scattered as Azredak brought his blade down right where they had been standing. He moved with a speed far greater than his size indicated. A fact that surprised Ruby as he spun and intercepted her scythe with his great sword. Two streams of fire impacted his back with no effect. Azredak chuckled as he kicked Ruby.
The small girl was thrown back as Azredak turned on Weiss and Spectre who had each thrown fire at the god's back. Spectre through Dragonfire and Weiss through dust. Realizing that wasn't going to work, Spectre immediately switched out Saira's Staff for his Cutpurse Shiv and Mosaic Culverin. Weiss merely spun to a different type of dust.
They had to quickly dodge, however, as Azredak was not allowing any time to rest. He bore down quickly on Weiss. His massive blade biting into the ground as Weiss leapt back with the help of a glyph. She leapt back again and again as Azredak's attacks kept coming. He finished with a slam into the ground, that Weiss barely dodged. Azredak pulled his blade from the ground and flung it into the air. He clenched his fist and blade slammed into the ground behind him, right near Spectre. The shockwave threw Spectre back as Azredak focused on Weiss again, this time with just fists.
Weiss struggled to block Azredak's strikes. She managed to throw up glyphs to stop most of each strike, but it was wearing her down quickly. Ruby recovered and shifted Crescent Rose to its rifle form. She aimed and fired dust infused shots at Azredak's head. The bullets glanced off the armored helm and did little more than annoy the god. He turned and clenched his fist. The Blade of Envy returned to his hand. He swung it overhead at Weiss.
Spectre, who had recovered, ran, and tackled Weiss out of the way. Azredak growled at him and turned on the Saltborn. He settled his blade in front of him and began to rise off the ground. The air swirled around him as a Salt white arcane circle appeared on the ground. Small white orbs rose from the circle and began flying towards Azredak's opponents. Ruby, using her semblance, was able to avoid them. Weiss blocked them with more glyphs. Spectre ran at the wall and used a combination of the Dart and Shadowflip brands to climb above and leap over the trail of searing white magic. He landed in time to see Azredak flying across the ground towards him.
Spectre fired the culverin and rolled to the side as Azredak swung his blade through the space he had just been in. Ruby shifted Crescent Rose back into a scythe and fired it behind. Using the recoil, she was able to reach the battle quickly. Weiss stayed back and fired beams of Dust through the air to support the two.
Azredak found himself hard pressed to block every attack. While Spectre's dagger did very little, the speed with which he attacked would gradually bring Azredak down. Ruby's speed with her scythe and the force behind said polearm was the greater threat to the god. As such, he grabbed his cloak and pulled, swinging it wide and momentarily disorienting Spectre. With the Saltborn disoriented, Azredak surged towards the little reaper and grabbed her by the neck. With a grunt, he lifted her and slammed his armored helm into her head.
Ruby was thrown back as Spectre received. A small trickle of blood flowing from her nose. He scythe landed next to her.
Another beam of ice dust flew over Spectre's head. It impacted Azredak's arm. The ice formed but was instantly shattered as Azredak slammed his fist into it. He glared at Weiss before tossing his blade into the air once more. The blade came down on top of the Schnee heiress. Weiss rolled to the side. She watched as Spectre commanded Azredak's full attention as Ruby stood to her feet. Ruby wobbled a tiny bit as she picked up her scythe but appeared otherwise ok. Weiss hurried over to her.
"We won't last much longer at this rate." Weiss said.
"I noticed." Ruby replied. "Spectre's giving it his all, but we're still going against a god."
"Yeah, but he seems to be taking damage. You think Crescent Rose can pierce his armor from behind?" Weiss queried.
"With enough force, probably." Ruby said.
Spectre grunted as he tried to block another of Azredak's powerful swings. The Blade of Envy broke through his guard and bit deeply into his shoulder. Spectre cried out in pain as Azredak pulled his blade back.
"Spectre!" He heard Weiss shout.
Spectre didn't even need to look. He just rolled to the side and pulled out his flask of fire. It was almost empty, barely enough for two small drinks. He gritted his teeth and downed half of it before watching Weiss.
The heiress sped forward on a trail of glyphs, fast enough that a normal opponent would have a difficult time blocking the attack. Yet Azredak was anything but a normal opponent. He waited for Weiss to be in range, her rapier poised to pierce through his chest, before sidestepping and slamming his blade through Weiss's own.
Myrtenaster shattered with a brilliant ringing. The tip of the blade embedded itself in the stone floor and the hilt was thrown from her hand. Weiss tumbled to a stop. Azredak stalked towards her and pulled the tip from the floor.
"A shame to fall upon one's own blade." Azredak stated as he slammed the sharpened steel into Weiss's chest.
Weiss gasped in pain as her aura could barely resist the attack. It shattered in a dull flash of white as Azredak dropped her to the floor so she might bleed out.
"WEISS!" Ruby yelled.
Azredak turned toward Ruby but was immediately forced to focus on Spectre once more. Spectre glimpsed Ruby moving behind Azredak, a small smile formed on Spectre's face. Azredak capitalized on Spectre's momentary lapse in concentration by kicking him in the head. Spectre was thrown head of heel to the wall. He slammed into it, painfully. He heard and could feel some of his bones break upon impact. Azredak was walking towards him. Spectre had to force himself to stay awake.
He slowly stood up and readied his gun.
"It can't win. Surely it realizes this." Azredak taunted as it drew nearer.
"I don't have to win; I just have to not die." Spectre replied.
Azredak's response was cut off by a scream of pain. Ruby slammed her weapon into Azredak's armor, right next to his neck. Spectre hurried over to Weiss as quickly as he could. He neared her, and quickly noted that she was dying. He pulled her blade from her chest and poured the rest of the contents of the Flask of Fire into her mouth. The wound closed and Spectre sighed in relief. Weiss would live. He turned back to Azredak.
The god roared in pain as Ruby's blade bit deep. Only a quarter of the blade had penetrated his armor, but it was enough to draw forth pain. Azredak shook his shoulder violently and threw Ruby off. She skidded across the ground, towards Spectre and Weiss. Still somewhat dazed Ruby could only watch in horror as Azredak grasped the blade of Crescent Rose and broke it. The scythe snapped right at the intersection of the blade and Azredak's armor. He threw the blade to the side.
"No…" Ruby cried.
Azredak tossed his blade straight up. Spectre sighed in resignation. He threw himself at Ruby and knocked the girl out of the way. The Blade of Envy slammed through Spectre's torso. Spectre cried out once more. He looked to Ruby.
"I hate… to do… this…" He wheezed, sliding his gun to her. "But… you have… to kill… me… again. Make… the final… blow."
Ruby gulped and nodded. She picked up the Mosaic Culverin and fired it at Spectre before Azredak could do anything to stop it. A cloud of Salt erupted from Spectre's limp body and flowed towards Ruby. The Salt swirled around her and healed much of her wounds. Her eyes began glowing an ethereal white as the Salt roiled around them.
"Ready for round two?" She ground out as she turned to Azredak.
Azredak merely summoned his blade back to him. Ruby rushed forward and slammed a Salt infused fist into the god's right side. She was struggling to keep her attention on the fight. The Salt was helping. She could feel it guiding her movements as the pain was building. Just like on Beacon Tower, the Salt began swirling around her. The pain was merely blinding by the time it had fully settled around her body.
The whirlwind had ceased, and Ruby could only glare hatefully at the god in front of her. Azredak surged forward in an attempt to grab her. Ruby noted the Salt moved to focus on her hands. Her mind focused on one of Spectre's memories and followed through the motions. She grabbed Azredak's arm and used his momentum to send him behind her. Azredak recovered in time to be hit with a barrage of bullets from the Mosaic Culverin.
Azredak snarled and rose into the air. Once more, a white arcane circle appeared beneath him and launched searing white orbs out. The orbs focused on the only attacker, but that hardly mattered. Ruby nimbly avoided each and every orb.
Azredak landed and immediately launched into a series of slashes and jabs of his own. Each swing missed by a hair's breadth. On the last swing he leapt forward and slammed his blade into the ground. Ruby spun to the side, and with the Salt swirling around her body, she slammed her fist into the side of Azredak's head. The Betrayer was thrown to the side.
The pain was finally starting to subside. Ruby could barely focus as her body moved on autopilot, simply following memories that played out. Now, with the pain lessening, she was beginning to see clearer. The Salt seemed to enhance whatever it needed to. She smiled to herself as Azredak leapt forward. She spun and slammed her fist into the side of his head. She was moderately surprised by the force of the attack.
Spectre felt himself be pulled back to the land of the living and stood up. His body wasn't quite at one hundred percent, but he was lucid enough to see what was happening. Watching Ruby punt Azredak across the room towards the exit was quite entertaining. Spectre chuckled to himself as he watched Azredak slowly pull himself to his feet. His positioning led to what appeared to be him kneeling before Ruby. The Saltborn chuckled again and checked on Weiss. Her breathing had stabilized. Nodding, he walked through the arena towards Ruby's discarded weapon.
Ruby, meanwhile, activated her semblance. She pulled her fist back. The culverin was primed to fire, Salt swirled around the gun and her arm. She neared Azredak faster than he had time to recover. Ruby slammed her fist into Azredak's helm and fired the Mosaic Culverin. A mighty boom resounded through the arena. A massive shockwave of Salt erupted from the culverin and Ruby's fist. The force was so great that Azredak was thrown back through the door from which he came. Ruby was blown backwards from the force as the rest of the Salt erupted from her body and returned to Spectre.
Spectre was shocked at what he saw. The Salt returned to him as he walked towards Ruby. The girl winced as she sat up. Spectre helped her to stand. He winced as he noticed her arm was bending about halfway between her elbow and her wrist.
"This is gonna hurt." He said as he forced Ruby's arm into the right place.
Ruby gritted her teeth in pain.
"Did I get him?" She asked.
"Looks like it." Spectre answered, looking towards the exit to the room.
Spectre nodded, glad that Ruby's arm was in the right position, but he knew he needed a splint. He pulled Saira's Staff from his back. He grasped the head and twisted. The jagged head snapped off. He pressed the staff to his knee and pulled hard. It broke right in half.
"You got some extra cloth or something I can use to tie this?" Spectre asked.
Ruby nodded and undid her ammo belt, now depleted of all ammo. Spectre nodded, and using his shiv, cut the belt in half. He managed to tie the makeshift splint into place, with some finagling of the leather. Ruby grasped her arm to her front and made her way over to Weiss who was slowly getting up.
Spectre glanced at the two before turning and walking through the doorway at the end of the arena. The area beyond the door was another massive open cave. It was mostly empty, however. Mostly.
In the center of the room was a well. The same well that was at the heart of Azredak's island on Salis. Behind the well was another cross, this one empty.
"This isn't over. I told it; survival is impossible."
Spectre looked to the source of the voice. Azredak was laying against the wall. The explosion of Salt had severely damaged his body. Half his right arm was missing. His chest was caved in, and his black cloak was in tatters. Already, though, Spectre could see the shadows wrapping around his body. The massive dent in his chest was, very slowly, being repaired. The rest of Crescent Rose was laying on the ground next to him.
"It will only take a matter of-"
Spectre swung Crescent Rose through Azredak's neck. There was a lot of resistance to the blade, but not enough to stop Spectre from decapitating the god. Azredak's helm rolled to the ground in front of him. Ruby and Weiss hobbled through the door in time to see Azredak's execution.
"Is… that it then?" Weiss questioned.
Spectre knelt and picked up the helm. He could feel the darkness in it, just as it had felt when he first came to Remnant. The difference though, is that it was nowhere near as strong.
"No." Spectre said, handing Ruby the remains of her scythe.
"No?" Ruby questioned.
"No. Azredak can't be killed." Spectre sighed.
"Then what do we do?" Weiss asked.
"Nothing." Spectre chuckled.
"Nothing?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"You can't do anything." Spectre said, as he placed Azredak's helm on his head.
He gritted his teeth as Azredak's power instantly assaulted his mind. The weakened god was trying to take hold. Yet, he couldn't. Unbeknownst to Spectre, the Salt had gathered around his head and was doing much of the work of repelling Azredak.
After what felt like hours of intense mental attack, though it was just a few seconds, Spectre opened his eyes. He could feel the darkness around him. He couldn't do anything about it. It was Azredak's power, and he had no clue how to use it. However, he knew Azredak couldn't. He turned to the well. It felt familiar. Like the island on Salis.
"Spectre, your eyes…" Ruby gasped.
"What about them?" Spectre queried.
"They've got an iris of black around a pupil of white." Weiss said.
"Heh." Spectre chuckled, as he walked to the well.
"Spectre?" Weiss asked.
"This well… it goes back to Salis." Spectre stated.
"Spectre?" Weiss repeated.
"You know, I'm really going to miss this place." Spectre said with a sigh.
"Spectre, what are you…" Ruby began. "Oh. Do you have to?"
"Yeah." Spectre replied, stepping onto the edge of the well.
"Spectre, don't! We can-" Weiss began.
"You can do nothing." Spectre interrupted. "None of this should have happened. Azredak will always be fighting me. Survival without him is impossible."
"So, you're just going to leave?" Weiss asked.
"I can't risk him gaining power in Remnant again." Spectre said. "I've been planning this for a while."
"How long?" Ruby asked.
"Aurum." Spectre answered. "The Book of the Damned made it pretty clear that there is no way to permanently kill Azredak."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Weiss demanded.
"Couldn't risk you stopping me." Spectre answered.
"Then at least tell us why you can't stay." Ruby pleaded.
"Better to have Azredak threaten one immortal than an entire planet." Spectre answered. "Goodbye."
"SPECTRE!" Ruby and Weiss yelled as he threw himself into the well.
Spectre smiled sadly as he hit the waters. The feelings of darkness faded as he drifted through the sea.
"You did well." A familiar soft feminine voice said. "Now rest."
Spectre closed his eyes as he drifted through the waters.
ERROR-DATA_CORRUPTION-BEGIN_FILE_RECOVERY…/…
Data Log BoS 040
Thank you to all who read this, your feedback is much appreciated. Thus, ends Born of Salt. Stay tuned, there is an epilogue. Thank you all for reading.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.