Chapter 26: Breaking Point

Disclaimer: I do not in any way or form own Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There or RWBY. They belong to their respective owners, Takumi Yanai and RoosterTeeth Animations respectively.

A/N: To axel100: Point noted. Did some minor changes to the previous chapter.

"-I'll draft my report," Vela concluded, shutting off her Scroll with one hand. With her other, she held her staff horizontally, blocking not one but a pair of massive axes. Slotting her scroll back into a pocket, Vela turned back to the battle. While she was distracted and holding back two royal guards, a third came in from the side, slashing with his own oversized axe. Unable to dodge, Vela simply grabbed onto the sharp axe blade with her bare hand. Her aura prevented her from losing her hand, and she pulled forward, pulling the guard toward her. As he stumbled, Vela released her grip on his axe and slammed a fist into his face, sending him flying back to join his defeated allies scattered around the area.

Finally realizing that they could not overpower their foe, the two guards retreated. They were sweating heavily, both due to the exertion and fact that they were surrounded by the fallen bodies of their own.

Vela ignored the groaning, defeated men around them. Out of the many royal guards sent against her, only four remained standing, as well as that faunus slave Tyuule. She had nothing to fear from the former, but the latter wore a strange expression, and had yet to make a move. She was the one that Vela was wary about.

Tyuule finally made her move, darting forward with a small smile on her face. With Hunter-level speed, the Warrior bunny closed the gap and, using the sword that she picked up along the way, slashed at Vela's throat. The attack struck true, fast enough to have taken Vela by surprise. With the superhuman force of the blow, it would have taken a normal human's head clean off, no matter what armor they wore.

But aura was superior to any armor, and the sword failed to cut. Stumbling a little at the force of the unexpected blow, Vela turned to face Tyuule, staff held ready for a counterattack.

As the two clashed, while the four remaining guards hesitated, Arta was watching with Sedge nearby. The former almost managed to sense the arrow aimed at him. A Huntsman would definitely have been able to notice it, but he was not properly combat trained and was focused on the one-sided battle before him.

The arrow streaked straight through the air, flying straight for his neck. If Arta was a Huntsman, if his reflexes were honed, he would have noticed and sidestepped it or blocked it with a quick draw, or simply grabbed it out of the air. Instead, he was unaware of the deadly metal-tipped projectile about to pierce his neck. Maybe if he had been trained, the outcome would be different.

As it were, the arrow struck true, and bounced off, deflected by aura.

Arta jumped at the unexpected impact, hand automatically rubbing his neck at the impact point. Looking down at the floor, he noticed the crumpled arrow and came to a realization. Oh. Someone tried to assassinate me.

Calmly, he scanned the crowd for his would-be assassin. Most of the Senators were focused on and in awe of the battle at hand, instead of Arta and Sedge beside him. Their guards were also focused, but for a different reason - caution, ready to help their masters flee in case something, or someone, went berserk.

Which would happen if she noticed what had happened. As luck would have it, Vela was more occupied with Tyuule than with looking around, so she was still unaware of the attempt on her husband's life.

Unfortunately, the assassin, whoever it was, was gone. Either that, or simply hiding and biding his time. Instead of trying to find him, Arta bent down and picked up the arrow. Bringing it up, he examined it.

...

Arta had no idea what he was looking for. He was just a translator, not a warrior. Nudging Sedge, who was standing beside him, he held the arrow up, saying, "Hey, Sedge, take a look at this."

Sledge frowned as he noticed it. "A crossbow bolt?" he asked, "Poisoned, too, by the looks of it. Where did you get that from?"

"Someone tried to assassinate me, I believe."

"Someone - what?!" Sedge exclaimed, taken aback. He was less surprised at the attempt on Arta's life than his apathetic reaction to it. "And you don't seem particularly worried?"

Arta shrugged, "It failed. The assassin is most likely long gone by now, so there's nothing I can do. Nothing to worry about."

"You're just going to ignore the fact that someone tried to kill you?"

"Not the first time, really. I've kind of gotten used to it. Besides," he added, "I've already managed to get into contact with the Saderam underworld. I'll find this assassin and -"

"And?"

"And... Well, I'm not very you know, vengeful. I'll probably just tell Vela about it. You know how she is."

Sledge and Arta both glanced back to the makeshift arena. Where Vela fought on, flames flickering, while the fallen bodies of her enemies marked out the edges of the ring. With a yell, she threw a fully armored soldier into the air, uncaring of his weight.

"Yeah," Arta nodded. "But only after the negotiations. I don't want her going into a rage when she finds out that someone tried to assassinate-"

That was the moment that the assassin, having already failed once before, came back with heavier weaponry. The heavy crossbow bolt struck Arta hard in the chest, once more blocked by his aura but sending him stumbling with its momentum. The atmosphere suddenly went silent as the large bolt fell, before clanking down on the hard ground. Vela turned to the cause of the sound.

"Aw, heck," Arta had time to mutter before she erupted.

"You dare send an assassin?! Here?" she howled, fire bursting forth. The eruption of sheer power snapped the Senators out of their awe and into a panic, rushing and pushing one another in an attempt to escape Vela's fury.

Then things managed to get even worse. Another arrow streaked through the air, flying straight for Emperor Molt. In the chaos of the field, no one could tell where it came from, but everyone could see it pierce into the emperor. Unlike Arta, he had no aura to protect him, and he slumped forward, falling off his throne as the life left him.

"Father!" Pina cried out, hurrying to the emperor.

The Senators, already panicked and fleeing, drew the obvious conclusion. "The outlander has killed the emperor!" Zorzal roared, putting their thoughts into words. He seemed unafraid of Vela's fury. "Guards! Kill them!"

In the chaos, no one realized that the people from Remnant did not use arrows. They simply focused on the facts that the Emperor was dead and Vela was on the warpath.

The remaining guards gathered their courage and, egged on by their masters, charged her together, aiming to take down the threat quickly. They very quickly found out that Vela was holding back before, and they were hopelessly outmatched.

A metal knife blade appeared at the top of Vela's weapon, turning it from a non-lethal staff to a deadly polearm. With a single cleave, she struck out at all the armored soldiers approaching her, the tip of sharpened tip of her weapon cutting through metal like a knife through butter.

"Get out of here," Arta told Sedge, walking in the opposite direction of the crowd - toward the raging beast. His wife. "I'll talk her down."

"You're not a fighter -" Sedge began, only to be cut off.

"I'm the only one who can calm her down. Get the bullhead ready. I'll be there soon. Go."

As guards swarmed in from all directions, called in as reinforcements by their masters, Sedge gave a grim nod. He turned and hurried off.

Arta made his way down to the center of the arena, where bodies were piling up. Several guards tried to grab him, only to be shoved aside by aura-boosted strength.

"Vela!" Arta called out as he made his way closer.

He then ducked as the spear was swung at him.

"Come on, let's get out of here, 'he suggested, only to be ignored.

"These fools dare try an assassination! I will make them suffer!" Vela declared, spinning around and decimating another group of soldiers.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking," Arta said, instead.

At that, the fire within Vela seemed to quieten down, allowing her to calm down slightly. She slammed the butt of her spear o to the ground and channeled her semblance, forming a shield around them. "I'm sorry-"

Arta waved it away, "It's fine. Besides, I don't think the assassin was from the Empire."

"No?"

"Didn't you notice? Emperor Molt was shot too."

Vela frowned, turning to look at the emperor. His throne was currently surrounded by a large number of guards, so she took Arta's word for it.

"Let's get out of here. Sedge is waiting for us at the Bullhead."

"Right," Vela agreed. "Stay close."

Arta gave her a nod, and she dropped the shield. She then proceeded to charge forth, burn a path through anyone and anything that stood in the way.

Arta quickly hurried after her, not wanting to be left behind, dodging pockets of fire as he did.

The Bullhead was already int he air when they arrive, hovering out of reach of the soldiers below trying to take it down. The occasional arrow being fired at it by the soldiers bounced harmlessly off the metal. Unfortunately, they were also setting up what looked like a ballista. The Bullhead was not truly armored, and a hit from a weapon like that might cripple it irreparably.

"Get on!" Sedge shouted, from somewhere inside.

Not slowing down, Vela leaped straight into the air, firing below her to give her the extra momentum needed to get onto the Bullhead. She landed and turned around, aiming her weapon back down, where Arta was waiting, unable to make that jump. The grappling hook shot out, landing in front of him. Arta grabbed on, allowing himself to be pulled along as soldiers swarmed the area.

The Bullhead was already moving off, retreating from the heavy weapons being set up. Arta was pulled up into safety, and the doors slid shut.

In the driver's seat, Sedge watched sadly as the Bullhead accelerated, leaving the city of Sadera to slowly fade into the distance. 'Well, there goes any chance at peace," he grumbled.

Arta nodded, keeping one hand on Vela to calm her. She breathed in deeply, hands clutching her staff tightly as she tried to control her emotions. With his other hand, out of sight of his wife, Arta brought out the heavy bolt used against him and examined it.

Wasn't that flower the symbol of the Rose Knights?

"Who are you?" Qrow demanded. He took one final glance at his now-destroyed scroll - it had an arrow embedded through it - and lunged for his assalliant, Harbinger out in its full scythe form. It was his weapon's deadliest, most powerful mode, and Qrow had a feeling he was going to need it.

His opponent was clearly a woman, but with that black masquerade mask over her face, Qrow could not identify her. The black sleeveless jackets and pants did not match anyone he knew either.

The mysterious woman did not reply, although that could have been because she was forced to dodge aside to avoid the scythe that cleaved down. Spinning quickly, Qrow pressed the attack, Harbinger coming down upon his enemy. Taken aback by the speed of someone wielding such a large weapon, she moved to block instead of dodge, using her bow to absorb the blow.

Harbinger shattered the bow into two, but lost enough momentum that it just grazed the woman instead of bisecting her. She leaped back, following the halves of her bow as they embedded themselves onto the ground beside her.

Qrow slammed Harbinger into the ground, blade first. "You know who you are working for, right? Why do you serve someone who wants to destroy humanity?"

There was no reply but a smirk. Cinder grasped the shattered pieces of her bow and used just a little power on them. The heat spread from her hands, causing the black blades to to glow and reforge themselves into a pair of curved swords.

With no reply forthcoming, Qrow resumed his attack, firing with Harbinger's shotguns. Stepping forward, Cinder spun her blades, easily blocking the bullets. Qrow continued to fire as she approached, his shots being deflected and doing no damage. When Cinder was in range, he abruptly triggered Harbinger's transformation back into a sword, using the shift to send him flying forward in a burst of speed. He pulled Harbinger out of the ground as he flew, slashing with the greatsword.

Cinder did not attempt to dodge, and as Harbinger cut through her, she dissolved into nothing. Qrow's eyes widened, and in that moment that he was caught off guard, a pair of blades slashed at his from the side, biting into his aura and sending him tumbling.

Qrow managed to keep hold of Harbinger as he rolled, using it to bring himself to a stop. As he recovered, his instincts, honed by years of Huntsman training and experience, told him of a new threat. Spinning around, he brought his scythe up, feeling but not seeing the impact of an invisible metal object that struck its blade. Gunshots fired, the added force forcing him back, stumbling, and only the slightest flicker in the air before him alerted him to the next attack.

Qrow could sense the heat of the flaming swords that struck at him. He could see the shimmer in the air caused by the great heat. He could feel the strength behind the blow that met Harbinger's blade, an inch too close to his chest.

But he could not see the swords themselves, nor their wielder. Someone was messing with either his eyes or his head, and a handicap that severe meant that he was bound to lose. Keeping his guard up while looking around the clearing, Qrow tried to look for a sign of his assailants. The trees still stood silently, the flame dragon was still unmoving, being slowly consumed by the black ooze, and...

And as luck would have it, it began to rain. Not very heavily, but enough to affect the illusion. Three people. The black-dressed woman, coming in again with flaming swords. The silver-haired man, silently moving to flank him. And the dark-skinned girl, hands held to her head as she concentrated.

She was not skilled enough. The droplets of rain were giving slight hints - cracks in the illusion - that Qrow's experienced eyes could catch and exploit. Within seconds of the rain's start, he was already in motion, vanishing in an instant. Cinder's blades sliced through air as Qrow darted off, heading straight for Emerald.

The veteran Hunter heading unerringly for her caused Emerald to hesitate, her illisuion faltering. Qrow slammed into her hard, aiming to even the field. With a cry, Emerald was thrown back, her aura flickering as it took Harbinger head-on.

The illusion fell apart completely, allowing Qrow to see and react to a series of kicks from Mercury, each blocked by the blade of his scythe. He pushed the assassin away, swiftly turning to dodge Cinder's blades. Twisting aside, Qorw allowed the burning blade to just miss him and struck out, slamming the handle of Harbinger into Cinder's chest, hard enough to stagger her.

Cinder growled, flames blazing from her eyes. The sky overhead darkened further, the drizzle slowly intensifying to the verge of a storm. Her hands held blazing fireballs, and she tossed them at Qrow.

He dodged aside. At the same time, his scythe struck out, hooking onto Mercury as he attacked, and threw him back into Cinder. Taking the opportunity to retreat, Qrow realized that this power that his enemy displayed was very familiar.

I Qrow held the dying woman in his arms as fire erupted under his feet. He leaped aside, straining to see through the building storm. /l

The same winds now howled as they picked up speed, the power intensifying. The maiden power.

With that knowledge, Qrow quickly decided against further engagement. The woman had half of a maiden's power. She was the one who had attacked and nearly killed Amber. He could not defeat her and her allies. Ozpin - no, Ozpin was missing. Winter had to be notified of this.

But he had to destroy the Seer first, lest it complete its task and create a new type of Grimm.

With his plan made, Qrow slashed into the ground. The massive scythe blade shook the soil loose, sending up dust into the air. The brewing storm helped with that, swirling the loose soil and dust into a haze that concealed the area.

Cinder fired a pair of fireballs at Qrow, only for them to blaze past and hit the ground. He was already on the move, dashing towards the dragon and the Seer. As he approached, a pair of kusarigama - blades attached to chains - flew at him, wrapping around Harbinger's blade. Emerald pulled, but Qrow was stronger, and she lost her grip.

The Seer screamed as it was destroyed in a single slash of Qrow's scythe.

He leaped backward immediately, narrowly dodging more fireballs. Cinder scrowled, creating numerous deadly shards of black glass around her. Before she could fire them, Qrow once again threw up a blast of sand and dirt, hiding him from view. Annoyed, she gestured widely and the storm obeyed, blasting itself out of existence. The dust settled quickly, leaving Cinder standing with Emerald and Mercury under the rain, while a solitary crow took to the skies.

In the chaos of Emperor Molt's assassination, no one noticed that a bunny warrior princess turned slave was missing. There were more important things to do.

Tyuule looked at the chaos from above, standing on a nearby building. Beside her, a half pig man chuckled, holding a crossbow in his hands. Even here, he was hidden within shadows.

"Impressive work, Bouro. Still, even though that man lived, there's no way the Empire and the outsiders won't turn on each other now," Tyuule said, a smile on her face. Her plan was progressing nicely.

There was no reply but further chuckling as the assassin faded fully into darkness.