As Ruby and their friends breached the darkness surrounding the Sector, they found themselves taken aback at the scene before them. It was at complete odds with everything else they had seen the area was peaceful, calm, this couldn't be the realms of demons. It was an endless field of flowers, a cornucopia of colors that spread out in every direction. They could hear the rushing water of a stream, and there were large trees covered with leaves and fruit all around.

"Are we in the demon world or someone's garden?" Nora asked.

"This truly wasn't what I was expecting," Ren said. "It's almost relaxing."

"It's too relaxing," Ruby commented. "Something's not right."

Ruby focused and tried to sense the presence of demons, but couldn't feel a thing. They weren't hiding, trying to conceal their presence, they were gone. This had never happened before. There were only two explanations, either there were never any demons here to begin with, or something else had wiped them out. Neither option made her feel much at ease. On the other hand, Ruby was not one to pass up a chance at a relaxing stroll, so she took her time traveling through the garden.

It didn't take long for Ruby to find the door leading to the Sector's master. She thought that maybe she was being done a favor, a brief moment of respite before being thrust into yet another horror. Setting those thoughts aside, she placed her hands on the door and pushed her way inside.

Inside was a darkly lit lounge. There were chairs and tables all around, and the walls were covered with various paintings. The paintings were of battlefields, people being killed, and cities being destroyed by disasters natural and otherwise. At the front of the room was a darkly lit stage with a single person standing beneath a spotlight. She wore a black dress that seemed to wriggle and writhe like it was a living creature. The patterns looked like scales on a snake. Her hair was tied in a braid that went down to her waist. Her skin was deathly pale, but her bright yellow eyes shone with life. The woman sang into a microphone in an otherworldly voice. It seems they had arrived as the song reached its crescendo, the woman's voice rising to an ear splitting pitch. She took a bow, and the empty room suddenly filled with applause.

"Greetings, children of man," the woman said. "And hello, Ruby."

Ruby bristled. "How do you know my name?"

The woman let out an airy laugh. "All of us know of the messiah of Remnant; the heretical being who aims to free her world from God's grasp. I find your unyielding tenacity in the face of God's judgment admirable. If you had chosen a different path, I would have gladly become your ally."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't want to work with the demons. I just want all of you gone."

"A pity, truly. A spirited girl like you would be the perfect avatar of Chaos. The path you currently tread will not lead to the freedom you desire. You've seen it as well, haven't you? Your search always ends in failure, no matter how hard you look. Defeating me, and gathering the fragments will not bring you the answer you seek."

Ruby stayed silent. She knew that taking a demon at their word was a mistake, but part of her wondered how this woman could have known. Then again, it's not like any of this mattered.

"I'll get my answers after I kill you," Ruby said.

The woman laughed. "Very well. Draw upon all of your strength and overcome me, child of man."

The woman's body began to shift and warp, growing in size every second. Power surged through her, sending cracks through the stage beneath her feet. She grew until she towered over the four hunters, and bellowed with a mighty cry. Then a pillar of light slammed into her, punching through the ceiling and burning her to ash. When the light faded, all that was left was a massive hole that went on forever. All traces of the demon had vanished.

A jingle played from their scrolls."

"Congratulations, the Night Lilith can now be summoned through fusion."

"What just happened?" Ren said.

Ruby's eyes widened as she saw the glittering gem floating in the air. She rushed forward but stopped as a sword flew into the ground right in front of her. The blade was a bright red and engulfed in flames.

All four hunters felt a deep chill. A flurry of feathers slowly fell from the sky. A figure slowly came down through the hole in the ceiling. An angel with crimson wings gripping a golden spear landed in front of them. Spreading its wings, it pointed its spear at the others.

Jaune's grip on his sword loosened. His strength left him. This couldn't be real. He refused to believe it.

"Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha's gaze was hard as stone. "Hello again. I have come to retrieve this artifact. Do not interfere."

Nora looked stricken. She trembled slightly as she looked at Pyrrha. "What happened to you?"

"I accepted the Lord's grace into my heart, Nora. This world is beyond salvation. The only path forward is through God. We will cleanse this world of the demons, and the humans who would put their own ends before others' survival."

"And you think with enough bodies you'll get your utopia?"

"Sacrifice is an inevitability. In order to create the Lord's kingdom, this world must be rid of the filth that blights it. Their souls will be reborn in paradise, and they will spend their days in the Lord's embrace."

Nora ground her teeth. "So everyone would become like you? A slave? That's no life at all."

Pyrrha shook her head. "How can I make you understand? Please, won't you join me? Weiss will create a world where no child will lose their home due to one man's indolence and greed. A world where no parent would even think of trying to sacrifice their child to save their own life."

Everyone stood there in silence, their eyes locked. No one moved, made a sound, did anything at all.

Ren raised his gun and fired. The bullet stopped a hair short of striking Pyrrha in the head.

"You're not Pyrrha," Ren said. "Pyrrha would never be so callous, so cold. You're just a demon, and we'll destroy you like any other demon."

Pyrrha closed her eyes and sighed. "I see. If you will not retreat, then you leave me no choice."

She raised her hands, and a wave of black energy washed over the room. One by one, the hunters were robbed of their weapons. Ruby's scythe, Jaune's sword and shield, Ren's guns, and Nora's hammer were all wrenched from their hands. The weapons flew to Pyrrha. She looked at them floating in the air in front of her, and with a snap of her fingers she took them apart. Every bolt, every screw, every spring was taken out. The weapons were reduced to scrap in an instant. Pyrrha closed her fists, and the various parts were crushed and reduced to shards.

Ruby's heart pounded in her ears. The world suddenly turned on its side. She froze, not knowing what to do. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. She lost, completely. In one move Pyrrha had defeated her. Going for her scroll wasn't an option. Pyrrha wouldn't give her time to summon her demons. If she lost access to the Program, she'd be dead. That left hand to hand. Ruby moved to run, but Pyrrha was faster. Her spear bulged and warped like a living organism, transforming into a rifle. Pyrrha raised her gun and fired twice. The first shot missed, as Ruby dodged. The second was aimed where Ruby was going to be. As she touched the ground the bullet ripped through her leg, breaking bone and tearing muscle to shreds. Ruby fell to the ground screaming. Her leg was bent at an angle, connected only by a few scraps of flesh.

Unable to, Jaune and Ren had already rushed forward. Jaune threw a punch at Pyrrha's head, but was driven into the ground. All the metal on his body suddenly became unbearably heavy. His armor was like a giant press that threatened to crush his ribs, and his prosthetic arm nearly tore from his shoulder.

Pyrrha caught Ren's fist in her hand, but that proved to be a mistake. Ren's aura surged into her and blew her arm off at the elbow. Instead of blood, a silvery substance poured from the stump. Pyrrha didn't seem to be fazed at all. She looked at Ren's face twisted with rage and sighed. She raised her other hand, energy arcing across her fingers. The power gathered in the palm of her hand, forming a beam that pierced Ren through the chest. Ren's eyes went wide as blood poured from his mouth. He went limp, falling to the ground in a heap. Blood pooled around his still, lifeless body.

It felt like the room sucked in a breath. For a moment no one moved or made a sound. Then the room erupted in a cacophony of screams from every direction. Jaune tried to get to Ren, but still was unable to move. Nora had fallen to her knees, all strength leaving her body.

Pyrrha stepped over Ren's body and walked towards Nora. Nora looked past Pyrrha, only staring at her friend's body.

Pyrrha raised her spear. "Will you also resist?"

Nora dragged her gaze away from Ren. She had never felt so powerless, so helpless before.

Nora looked up at Pyrrha. "If I join you, will Weiss make me like you?"

Pyrrha smiled slightly. "Yes. You will become a divine being, free of impurity."

Nora looked down at the ground. She reached into her jacket and grasped the knife Ren had given her. Her hand shook as her fingers tightened around the handle. She looked back up at the angel and her face twisted with hate that she had never felt before. She pulled out the knife.

"Go to hell, Pyrrha."

With one swift motion, Nora stabbed into her own neck. Blood sprayed from her neck, staining her hand, her clothes, and the ground a deep crimson. Nora looked Pyrrha in the eye as she bled out, her expression not changing once. All of her pain, her anger, her sorrow, none of it faded, even as her life ran out. Nora fell to the ground, and silently died.

A shrill scream ripped through the air. Jaune, stripped of his armor and his arm, rushed to Nora's side. He lifted her up, stomach churning as he felt how cold she was. He tried to rouse her, to wake her, but it was all for nothing. He looked at Nora's pale face, her open eyes staring at nothing. He felt like the world had been pulled out from under him.

Pyrrha's eyes went wide. Her body shook, a single tear falling down her cheek. She thought all of her weakness was stripped away, but some remained. She lost all desire to continue fighting. She turned away from Nora's body and went to retrieve the artifact.

"There is no meaning in fighting anymore. Live out the rest of your days in peace. If you choose to battle me again, I will take your lives."

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune, saw the tears streaming down his face, and the way he groudn his teeth so hard that blood flowed from his mouth.

"I'll kill you, I swear I will if it's the last thing I do."

Pyrrha turned away from him and shot through the ceiling with a deafening boom.

XxX

Everything that happened afterwards was a blur. Ruby made it back to Beacon and spent the next day in her bed staring at the ceiling. She didn't sleep, couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes she saw them. Bleeding, limp, cold. Once she almost nodded off, and then the sound of Jaune's screams filled her head and woke her right back up.

Rolling over, she buried her face in her pillow. Not to dry out her tears, she still couldn't cry, but to shut out the world around her. She wanted to go back, back to when Remnant was whole, when she was happy, when all of her friends were alive, a time before the demons destroyed everything she loved.

But there was no going back. This was the way things were, and all she could do was live with it.

Ruby finally rolled out of bed. She didn't know where she would go in this empty school, but she figured it was better than just laying in bed all day.

By this point the fighting between the demons and angels had even reached Vale. Parts of the city were completely destroyed, and the survivors had fled to Beacon. It wasn't much safer, but it was a better option than just living in the ruined city waiting to be picked off. Between the demons hunting for food and angels hunting for filth to cleanse, people didn't last long in the city.

Ruby ran through the halls, but she had no idea where she was going. Something had been bothering her, and the more it festered in her mind the greater her unease grew. She hadn't seen Jaune since she had gotten back. She hadn't gone looking for him, but that he hadn't come for her either meant something was truly wrong. She rushed all around the school trying to find him. The power in her body meant she could travel from one end of the school to the other in the blink of an eye.

As she traveled she heard the low roar of a bullhead engine. Normally that meant another batch of refugees had arrived, but she had a hunch it was something different this time. She dashed as fast as her feet could carry her until she reached the hangar.

Ruby found Jaune in front of a bullhead. He was still, like a statue. His empty shirt sleeve flapped around in the breeze.

"Jaune," Ruby called out.

Jaune turned, and Ruby flinched when she saw him. The deep lines drawn into his face, the dark circles under his eyes, the scars on his cheek that still had yet to heal, all of it told of how much he had been through.

"What is it, Ruby?" Jaune asked.

"Where are you going?"

Jaune was quiet for a moment. He sighed and looked at the ground. "Home. I'm done. I can't do this anymore."

"What are you saying? You can't just give up."

Jaune shook his head. "Why not? What else do I have to give up? I lost my friends, my arm, my school, how much more do I have to lose?"

"We have to keep fighting."

"We lost, Ruby!" Jaune suddenly shouted. "We lost, they won. They're gonna destroy the world and nothing we can do will change that. We can't beat Yang, or Weiss, certainly not God. We're done."

Jaune turned away to leave, but felt something pulling on him. Ruby had grabbed onto his shirt, her small hands trembling.

"Please don't go. I can't do this without you."

Ruby had never felt so small, so helpless in her life. She didn't know how much more she could take.

Jaune placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, you're my best friend. When I first came to Beacon, you were the only person who really believed in me. I'll never forget that. These were some of the best days of my life. I'm leaving, and you should too. You don't have much time left either. Instead of fighting, I hope you find some peace."

Jaune boarded a ship and flew away. Ruby watched as the vessel disappeared over the horizon, a small part of her wishing that Jaune would change his mind and come back. It was a stupid, childish wish, but it was all she had left.

And now she had nothing.

XxX

Weiss fell to her knees. The battle was hard fought, but it was done. Glynda was far superior to any opponent Weiss had faced so far, but in the end even they could not overcome the Lord's might. The woman's bloody, mangled form was proof enough of that.

Weiss lamented having to kill someone she looked up to, but it had to be done. Glynda was an enemy of God, and needed to be destroyed. Now there was one less obstacle in her path. Step by step she got closer to her dream of creating the Thousand Year Kingdom.

Weiss suddenly felt her legs go numb. She lost her balance and fell over. One of her angels rushed over to catch her.

"Please rest, Master," Clover said.

"I cannot rest yet. There is still much to be done." Weiss looked to her Archangels. They were the mightiest warriors at her command. Their loyalty was second to none. All of them lived or died at her command. If not for them, there was no telling how the battle with Glynda would have ended. That led to a realization for Weiss. She needed power, much more power than she had now.

"All of you, are you willing to lay down your lives for me?" she asked.

Harriet nodded. "Of course."

"Our lives are yours to use as you wish," Vine added.

"If it is to uphold God's will, then we will do whatever it takes," Marrow said.

Elm nodded in agreement.

Weiss nodded. "Good. Come with me, I have a special task for all of you."

They went to a secluded area. The Archangels stood in a circle with Weiss in the center. An intricate glyph had been carved into the floor. Weiss placed her hands together and began to chant. Her body began to glow and a violent wind tore through the room. She raised her hand, and each of the Archangels raised a knife in front of them. With a wave, each one plunged the knife into their heart. As the blood spilled onto the ground, it filled the glyph, causing it to glow brightly. Their flesh and blood and their very souls flowed into Weiss and became a part of her. The room filled with a blinding white light that faded just as quickly.

When Weiss emerged, she wasn't the same person she was before. She was something purer, more refined, raw power contained in a vaguely humanoid shape. She was something beyond a human, beyond an angel. She was reborn as Seraph, the most supreme of God's angels.

And now it was time to do what needed to be done.

XxX

Yang had the biggest smile on her face. This was the best fight of her life. If she could she'd shed a tear that it was over. She knew that no one else would ever give her as good a fight as this. She tried to move her legs, but didn't feel anything. Then she remembered that she didn't have anything left below her torso. She'd been torn apart so many times that it was getting harder and harder to heal. Ozpin and that demon of his were much stronger than she anticipated.

She looked over at Ozpin. Even in death that serene look never left his face. It was like he was used to it. Even when Yang had figured out the trick to his fighting style and overpowered him, all he gave her was faint surprise.

Yang suddenly felt very weak. It took a moment for her to realize what was happening. She was dying. She won the battle, but lost the war. To her surprise, she didn't mind at all. She had gotten bored with life, and even the constant fighting had lost its luster in the end.

She let out a small laugh. "Why did I even do this in the first place?"

She didn't remember. She threw everything away for power, but it still wasn't enough. It was enough to make her laugh.

She heard a cough, and the sound of something being dragged across the ground. She turned her head and saw Mara crawling towards her with her remaining arm. Most of her body was gone, and what was left was already beginning to dissipate. Blood covered her face and poured from her mouth with every grunt of exertion.

"Hey, Mara. We both got our asses kicked, huh?"

Mara spat out blood. "Yang, you are the finest demon I have ever encountered. You are on the verge of entering the supreme territory. If you die here, all of my work, all of your effort will be for naught."

"So?" Yang replied. "He won, I lost, that's how it is. I don't really care if I die, and I thought you didn't either."

Mara was quiet for a moment. "I didn't, at first. I suppose I have come to care for you. I do not wish to see you die."

"Well, we don't always get what we want. We're both about to die."

"There is a way for you to live."

"Really? What is it?"

"Fusion. Our bodies and minds will become one. We will be reborn into a new being."

Yang thought for a moment. "What the hell? Might as well try."

Mara placed a hand over Yang's heart. She felt a jolt, like something was pulling her. She felt herself being drawn into Mara. She felt Mara's immense power flow into her body. Her body changed into something new, something better than before. It was like she was born anew.

Yang Xiao Long's life ended at the hands of Beacon's headmaster. What stood in her place was a beast of pure destruction. It had no aims but carnage, no ambition but the slaughter of its enemies. The Lord of Chaos Asura had risen.

Remnant had entered its final days.