So it's now been almost three weeks on the job and I still don't know what to really think of it. On the one hand, I find the work in and of itself to be mind numbingly repetitive and very tiring, but on the other hand, time can pass by pretty fast once I hit a stride. And the coworkers are nice and helpful too to a newbie like me. Only more time will tell if I can come to genuinely like this job, though if the opinions of many workers there are anything to go by, chances of me liking the place are pretty damn low.

That aside, concerning this chapter, I'll once again be jumping into things. From here on out, I am going to try and move events along at a bit of a quicker pace since the end is now almost in sight. And on that particular note, I've been thinking on what to do once this fic is completed. Certainly, I plan to start my next original novel, which will definitely take a lot of time to even get halfway done, let alone fully completed. But if I'm able to write it out the way I'm continually envisioning it, then all of that future time should be well spent indeed not just for me, but also for any potential readers of my next novel.

Also, I've been giving some serious thought already to my next fanfic and I find myself once again trying to decide between a number of ideas. There's a full blown sequel I could make to my DMC/Triage X one shot "Labelling a Devil" among other ideas I have, such a Dragons Rioting/Nisekoi crossover, a Fortissimo fic concerning Reiji perhaps meeting random characters from other Visual Novels I've heard of, a Dies Irae crossover with perhaps RWBY or a multitude of other mangas I have or currently am reading. That's still not even touching other ideas such a HOTD fic with cosmic influences ala Galactus and his heralds from Marvel, a Naruto fic with some elements of Marvel, a Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple crossover with Fortissimo, and another Dragons Rioting fic that I could probably make as either a standalone fic or cross it over with yet another series. And having read Mahou Shoujo of the End as of relatively recently, I'd like to try my hand at using some of its elements or characters in a fic somehow.

So yeah, my mind is pretty preoccupied all the time now about what I should do after this fic is done, aside from my next original novel anyways.

Well, that all said, that's something that could ultimately wait until later. For now, my attention is dedicated to this fic and I sincerely hope you all will continue to enjoy it!

Chapter 34

General James Ironwood wouldn't have much of a problem saying that he can be a paranoid man. He knew full well how over the top his actions can sometimes be. But while he knew he could be a somewhat difficult man to deal with due to this absurd vigilance of his, he'd never apologize for it.

Especially as of now, considering the death of one of his best officers, Katsu.

So many weeks ago now, he and other soldiers under his command had been aware as to the sudden disappearance of the man, but nothing had ever come up of an investigation that had followed in Katsu's worrying absence.

Until one day, Ozpin and a number of his 'friends' had stopped by his office to give him a little 'gift' of sorts: Roman Torchwick, Adam Taurus of the White Fang, and Roman's mysterious little sidekick all beaten up and ready for imprisonment. Needless to say, that particular day had been a most surprising day for the general of Atlas.

But it hadn't been until he'd had a lengthy discussion with Ozpin and the others that had come with him that he'd learned something shocking and upsetting: Katsu had not only gone missing, but had been killed by an unknown assailant. The several people that had accompanied Ozpin on that day had been close and longtime friends of the now deceased soldier. One in particular – Takehiko – had seemed to have taken Katsu's untimely passing particularly hard and it'd showed in the downright scary snarl he'd let out at the mentioning of his death on that day.

Naturally, the conversation at that time had left James with even more questions than he'd originally started with, ranging from just how they'd learned of Katsu's death and just how they've come to have three notorious criminals in their personal custody up until that time. Unfortunately, these questions went without being answered, Ozpin keeping almost unnaturally quiet on those matters when they were brought up, though James could tell that the answers likely had to do with those people that had been with Ozpin, if only because of their relatively unknown appearance to him.

James then let out a sigh as he also thought over the current situation.

As much as it had frustrated him to be left in the dark about evidently many things, he'd still been more than happy to lock up Roman, Adam, and Neo in the most secured facility that Atlas had to offer. That some of the people with Ozpin had then decided to add their own 'security measures' had only warranted some intrigue in the face of the situation. It was only thanks to Ozpin explaining that they had 'special semblances' that James had been forgiving enough to let the people do as they please and even then, he'd made it a point to personally inspect things as the people did just that.

And recalling the things he saw them do, James could only find himself feeling genuinely amazed. He didn't know exactly what it is that the individuals did, but it was as clear as day that their abilities were abnormal, enough so for him to have nearly requested they explain all of their abilities at the time. His questioning though had been put to a hasty stop by just one gaze from who he believed to be the 'head honcho' of the group; a tall blond man with a slim yet extremely well-muscled physique. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, he believed the man's name was, the blond having introduced himself back then.

However.

Multiple security measures in place or not, James still couldn't help but feel even today that something was seriously off. Although the three criminals were locked down so tight that even thinking of escape was completely laughable, the general couldn't help but feel as if something would happen to prove him wrong. For when Ozpin and his mysterious allies had left, James had ordered a full check up on the criminal trio to make sure they had nothing dangerous on their beings and had even ordered a full medical scan on them to record their health. He'd been more than a little surprised to see that somehow someway, the three of them were different than what could be considered normal and it was this fact that had him so worried.

"Status update…" James commanded, radioing one of his personal guard, who he'd stationed outside the cells of the criminals.

"Same as usual, sir," came the reply over the radio not even a second later. "They're locked in there nice and tight."

"Good." That was all James said before ending the call. He now leaned back in his seat, resting relatively comfortably in his office. But even then, on the desk before him he had a camera display that showed him a live feed of multiple areas within the prison, especially the areas leading up to the cells in question.

James grimaced.

He could see for himself through the cameras that everything was normal. He could tell through the regularly scheduled radio checks with his guard that everything was still in order…

…So why was he still so very worried that something was just waiting to go wrong?

Mulling over this for what felt like the thousandth time, James leaned back further in his seat, trying to find something else to focus on, to put himself more at ease… and he was failing miserably.

At the very same time, someone made an appearance just outside the facility.

There, fully dressed and still with his usual mask, stood Vidar, having just used Gjallerhorn to teleport himself here to this exact spot.

Without even a single sound, the captain of the Holy Knights looked up at the large structure before him, completely undaunted by the possibility of being seen. He'd chosen this spot to be teleported to specifically, for it was the only blind spot in the entire camera system. This was a blind spot that was covered by the patrol that had been established weeks ago, but he'd also chosen this exact time to appear as well; Cinder had timed the exact moment when the soldiers would fully pass by this spot and it was this exact moment that Vidar had taken advantage of, the soldiers in question no longer in sight as they've already passed by.

"An impressive structure as Cinder has said…" he thought. "But still, it's not enough to be a real challenge."

"That's because I'm giving you the experience in dealing with this sort of shit," Surtur now commented from within Vidar's mind. "Now just get on with it. The sooner you free those three brats, the better."

Not bothering to respond to Surtur, Vidar then went on the move. Leaping high at great speed, he shot past several floors with ease and came to a balcony of sorts, one where three guards were stationed to serve as eyes from above. But due to his proximity to the facility just now, his presence had gone completely unnoticed, having literally approached the balcony from below.

Grabbing hold of the ledge, Vidar proceeded to remain completely still as he listened for the guards to move. It was several minutes before that happened, the guards finally switching out for new ones to take over their current spots.

At that exact instant, Vidar vaulted over the ledge and silently dashed the guards when their backs were turned. He headed straight down the myriad of hallways as he finally entered the building, moving too fast for the cameras to even partially register his speed.

He didn't stop until he reached the sole elevator shaft of the building.

The way the facility was set up was rather misleading. In spite of his great height, the cells that housed the three he was looking for were actually located hundreds of feet underground, which is a spot that he couldn't reach with Gjallerhorn. Furthermore, the facility had no ground level entrance or exit to speak of, with the only way to get to the facility at all being to take a Bullhead to the very top of the building, where a landing platform could be located. And since that said platform was all but overfilled with guards around the clock, the balcony was really the only choice he'd had in getting in undetected.

And as far as elevators were concerned, there were only two. One that started at the landing platform and traveled down to the floor where the balcony was at. The other elevator started at the balcony's floor and went all the way underground to where Roman, Adam, and Neo were at.

But as simple as this particular design sounded, it was a bit more complex than that. For one thing, no matter what time of the day it was, there would always be at least two guards in the elevator in question at all times, serving as the most direct line of defense for it. The elevator doors were also specially wired so that only registered individuals under Atlas' military can access it via a handprint scanner. Should anyone try to tamper with it or rip the doors open, an alarm would sound and alert every single guard in the facility to the source of the alarm.

No matter what could be done directly to the elevator, Vidar's presence was all but bound to be revealed if he tried anything funny. This was something that the captain of the Holy Knights was well aware of.

So, he was going to do things as simple as he could manage.

Waiting a few feet away from the elevator doors, Vidar remained mindful of his surroundings, vigilant of any potential witnesses and cameras that could possibly spot him. He remained like this for all but a minute, casually counting down the seconds in his mind, to Surtur's slight bemusement.

A faint ding was heard as the elevator fully ascended to the floor and just as the elevators door started to open, Vidar moved.

Cinder had informed him that the elevator guards would always step out for a handful of seconds to look around before getting back in. With this in mind, Vidar leapt up and grabbed hold of the ceiling as quickly as possible, making sure to do so in the spot right above the elevator.

The guards inside it, none the wiser to Vidar's presence, stepped out as Cinder had explained, and in that moment, Vidar acted yet again.

He let go and fell, landing with an unnatural quietness and grace behind the guards before rushing into the elevator, but not before doing something else as well.

"Surtur, if you would…" Vidar thought-spoke to his internal comrade.

A grunt of sorts was heard as Surtur did as asked.

Surtur had many abilities at his disposal, both his own and ones that were a little more exclusive to Vidar himself.

With just a bit of effort, Surtur partially activated Robotics Space just as Vidar pressed himself against the far wall of the remarkably spacious elevator. He did so too in just the nick of time as the two guards reentered the elevator and hit the down button.

The thing about Robotics Space was that once activated, it drags the activator and his intended targets into another dimension. However, in doing so, it literally removes them from the real world and once it's deactivated, the one who activated it may end up in an entirely different spot than where he'd started, even if he didn't move around within Robotics Space all that much.

However, since Surtur was nothing more than a spirit within Vidar himself, he could only partially activate Vidar's Robotics Space, resulting in a very small dimensional space that acted as a sort of invisibility cloak for the user while still allowing said user to remain within the real world.

As a result, Vidar remained completely hidden from the guards that were literally standing just a foot and a half in front of him while still being able to move about in the real world without having to worry about being fully dragged into Robotics Space.

The elevator descended at a leisurely pace, during which the guards and Vidar remained perfectly still. Vidar had to give the guards credit; they were well trained and extremely attentive to their surroundings, though their senses were incapable of picking him up right now.

Minutes later, the elevator finished its ways down and the very instant the doors opened and the guards stepped out, Vidar moved.

With great speed, Vidar rushed out and jumped to the ceiling, clinging to it quietly until the guards retreated to the elevator and it embarked on its ways back up. Now dropping down, Vidar surveyed the area.

Unlike the floor far above, which was little more than a large hallway, this new area was much bigger in scope, most likely due to this facility having other cells spread throughout this underground floor.

As a result of this, Vidar had considerably more room to maneuver and therefore more ways of remaining undetected. A good thing too since Robotics Space now deactivated. Surtur could only keep it partially activated for so long, after all.

No guards in sight, Vidar almost casually began to walk in accordance with the map Cinder had made for him. Sticking close to different spots of the many hallways in order to avoid detection by any of the cameras.

For the better part of nearly fifteen minutes, Vidar simply walked, encountering only a handful of guards that he was easily able to remain unnoticed from.

It wasn't until he reached the hallway leading to his destination that he discovered what could potentially be trouble. Remaining out of sight of both guards and cameras, Vidar peered down the hallway to see the cell he needed to reach lying at the very end of it. Even from his current distance, he could sense the mana being radiated from the cell itself, an indicator of the protections the ancient magi had put in place. But even then, he knew that Surtur could easily get past these defenses they've installed.

The one issue, however, were the guards that were right outside the cell's sole entrance.

Dressed in the same combat wear as the other guards yet with different colors, it was clear as day to the captain of the Holy Knights that the two guards protecting the cell were of a different level when compared to the others he's already snuck past. While he was more than confident that they'd still prove to be no match for him, in order to get Surtur to gain access to the cell, he'd need to be still for a moment whilst directly before the cell's door, a small amount of time that these guards definitely wouldn't be giving him. It didn't really help matters that there was a camera hanging directly above the cell's door as well. Judging by the angle it was tilted at and the rate at which it panned around, this camera would give anyone looking at the monitor a full view of the entire area directly before the cell, meaning that even Vidar himself wouldn't be able to avoid being seen.

Vidar sighed inwardly, but without emotion. Having been informed by Cinder of this facility's exact layout, he'd been well aware of this beforehand. That said, to know something and to be about to experience it firsthand were different things. He'd honestly been hoping that there would be some way to avoid it, but it seems that wasn't the case. He could destroy the camera, sure, but that still would alert others to an intruder.

Looks like there was no way past it then. So the only real option he had was simple: dispose of the guards and break Roman, Neo, and Adam out before the guards in this place could slow him down enough for the ancient magi to arrive.

He'd have to be fast about this then.

So with his only course of action decided upon, Vidar made his move.

With what only looked like a single step, he went from being just out of sight around the corner to being little more than eleven feet away from the two guards.

As he'd expected, the guards certainly noticed him.

One of them, who he assumed to be particularly special judging by his bearings, immediately went for his radio with one hand while trying to pull out his weapon with the other. At the same time, the other guard waste absolutely no time in moving in. No grunts of surprise, no words calling for Vidar to halt, no hesitation.

The man was going in for the kill from the get-go.

Unfortunately for the both of them, while they were certainly fast, fast enough to give even senior hunters a good surprise, they were nothing before Vidar.

Silently, Vidar took exactly three steps forward, matching his steps with each movement of the charging guard, his stun baton raised high. Then just as the guard was within five feet of Vidar and was about to swing down upon Vidar's collarbone, Vidar deftly sidestepped the blow and brought his hand down in a fierce chop, striking the guard in the back of his neck.

With the amount of strength and speed put into the chop, the guard was rendered unconscious almost immediately and nearly fully paralyzed, the precise chop having nearly snapped it in two.

Before the unconscious guard could even begin to fall, Vidar moved onto the other guard, who'd just been about to speak into the radio. But unfortunately for the guard, Vidar got to him before he could even get out a muffle.

With his right hand, Vidar grabbed the radio out of the guard's hand and crushed it with ease while simultaneously striking him with his left elbow in the solar plexus. The guard writhed from the blow for all of a second before collapsing to the floor unconscious.

Vidar wasted no time after that. Quickly walking past the two now defeated guards, he approached the cell door, not paying attention to the camera.

Knowing that time was now of the essence, he called upon Surtur again. "Time to get them out."

Surtur didn't respond with words, but Vidar nonetheless felt a familiar surge of power slightly flowing through him, starting from the center of his very being and being funneled to his right hand, which he now raised to the door.

This funneling of power wasn't an immediate process, only taking a little less time than what Vidar had originally predicted, but nonetheless, it didn't seem to happen fast enough; Vidar could already hear an alarm blaring wildly. It'd only be a matter of time before guards begin to descend upon him. And if that happened while he was about to deal with the magical defenses of the cell, the sudden loss in focus might accidentally trigger them instead and somehow alert the ancient magi.

Thankfully for him, that didn't happen.

The power funneling occurred without trouble and Vidar spoke the name of Surtur's main rune as his right hand glowed a dark and malicious red. "Akashic Record."

For a brief moment, the very air and space around and within the cell visibly shuddered as Akashic Record took effect. Then right after it shuddered, the feeling of mana vanished entirely, vanquished by Surtur's ability.

Such was the power of Akashic Record, Surtur's main magical ability.

Just like that, the defenses implemented by the ancient magi had been fully dealt with, now leaving the cell here in the real world for Vidar to enter.

Kicking the door down, Vidar walked in without haste and only looked marginally surprised to see the three he'd come for being secured to the wall with extremely durable and advanced restraints, the three also sporting plain white prison uniforms. Vidar must admit that even for one as old as him, the mere sight of Roman without his signature hat or Adam without his mask made for a bit of a second-glance raising sight.

"About damn time…" Roman muttered, he and the others having been napping somewhat peacefully so far today until Vidar had raised the alarm. The tone in which he'd spoken indicated that time locked up hadn't dented his rather arrogant air.

"Things have come up recently… I'll explain more later," Vidar calmly said in response to Roman's snarky tone and words. Still feeling Surtur's power flowing through him a bit, he used Akashic Record again to make the restraints vanish, earning him more than curious gazes from the three. "But first it's time to leave…"

He didn't give Roman a chance to comment any further when he'd suddenly walked up to the three and grabbed hold of them.

Just as guards finally began to rush towards the cell, Vidar called upon Gjallerhorn. While it may not be able to precisely teleport him to where he'd like to go sometimes, it had no trouble getting him out of places. So with but a simple commanding thought, he and the trio of criminals were teleported out of the facility just as the guards had reached the cell.

Watching this all play out from the hidden camera he'd had installed inside the cell, James Ironwood seethed and almost nearly raged even. Knowing that Ozpin and his allies must know something about this intruder, the general made plans to question them once he'd dealt with this mess…

Meanwhile, at Beacon Academy, the ancient magi were holding a sort of informal meeting with one another. Mainly just to see how each and every one of them were doing over the past weeks or so.

But even then, business couldn't help but be spoken of during this meeting.

"So still nothing?" Naruto asked Masami, who sat across from him.

Currently, all of the ancient magi were commandeering the faculty lounge for themselves at this time of night, with Naruto and Miki sitting on one couch while Masami and Takehiko sat across from them on the other couch. Takehiko, however, didn't seem to be really contributing much verbally, instead being more content to read a book that had happened to have been left behind by a teacher.

"I'm afraid so, Naruto-kun," Masami replied, drinking the tea she'd brewed for herself as of mere moments ago.

Back when team JNPR had first arrived at Burgundy, Naruto had approached her at her place of work to inquire about potential break-ins that involved the theft of any kind of technology. Knowing that the Holy Knights seem to rely on technology for something, it had been a hope to see if any sort of 'unexplainable' theft had been committed for the ancient magi to act on, perhaps seeing if it was possible that the Holy Knights had left some kind of trace to follow.

Apparently though, this was proving to be a dead end, which annoyed Naruto and several others a fair bit.

"Finding these Holy Knights is like trying to find a needle in a lake of hay… with your eyes closed," Yuko muttered. The red eyed woman, still on vacation, had taken it upon herself to stay here at Beacon Academy for the time being, partially to spend time with her friends and plan out their next move, and partially to see how things at Beacon were run.

"Considering how long they've remained undetected prior to this whole debacle, I'm not very surprised," Takehiko muttered, his eyes not leaving the pages of the book. It must be quite the book to hold his attention so well, his friends silently pondered.

"But for there to be no more cold cases about break-ins and thefts…" Mari began, standing against the wall and leaning a bit against her husband, Ryuichi. "Maybe the Holy Knights no longer need anything?"

From beside her, Ryuichi nodded in agreement. "Given how things went at the warehouse, it's not entirely impossible for them to have had some time to transport things out of there. So wherever they're at now, maybe they still have the equipment they need to carry out whatever it's meant for."

"Or, even worse," Hanako now said. "They've already finished what the equipment was needed for. That could be another reason for the lack of activity. Outside of whatever that beast was doing in Burgundy."

"Ne, maybe that thing was looking for something?" Daisuke now chipped in, currently content in pacing around, looking closely at different things placed throughout the faculty lounge. "Or maybe was acting like some kind of scout?"

At that, the air in the room seemed to get several times heavier, tension rising. "…Maybe. That could be it," Miki spoke softly, realizing that Daisuke had a point. She'd been wondering why Surma had been even remotely near Burgundy, but her thoughts on the matter had long since ceased until now due to having focused so much on helping Jaune adapt to his new abilities. But now that Daisuke's words had brought back such a train of thought, Miki tensed up a bit out of worry. "Just what exactly are these Holy Knights even planning?" she said with a sigh.

"The advancement and betterment of society through magic," Masami replied, repeating more or less what Ryuichi had long ago told them following the end of the battle at the warehouse, the man having learned this particular bit of info from the now deceased Apophis.

"But what exactly are they up to? Just how are they going to pull it off?" Miki asked. "Why would they need all of these different parts earlier and just what was that thing doing near Burgundy in the first place? How are these two things related?"

"Seems to me," Naruto now began, drawing all eyes to him as he leaned forward a bit, taking Miki's hand into his own almost unconsciously. "Like the Holy Knights might finally be gearing up for the next attack."

"Oh? And why do you say that?" Takehiko asked, now putting his book down.

"Because just now, I felt the defenses we put up at Ironwood's facility disappear," Naruto said with an upset voice, his grip on Miki's hand tightening somewhat.

"What?! How?!" Yuko nearly exclaimed, her red eyes widening.

"I don't know…" Naruto replied hesitantly. "But however they were taken down, it wasn't done all that conventionally, I can say that much… and though it was extremely brief, I just detected a mana signature before it suddenly vanished."

At those last few words, he'd answered their next unspoken question: just what should they do about the breach? But if this sudden presence had disappeared just as quickly as it's been detected, then it could only mean one thing. Whoever the intruder was had already been teleported away somehow.

"Oh dear, I'm certain the general isn't taking the breach too well right now," Masami then uttered, an uncomfortable expression on her face. She's heard of James Ironwood a handful of times and had come to learn quickly the sort of man he was. Combined with information regarding him from Ozpin himself, it wouldn't have been even remotely surprising if the general had been supervising the entire site himself. And for it to be breached just now most likely would invoke a great deal of anger out of the somewhat prideful man.

"He'll most likely be calling Ozpin sometime soon." Takehiko could only huff at that thought. Book now all but forgotten about, he eyed the blond ultimate magus. "And what of the three we'd locked away there?"

"Gone," Naruto muttered and with more than a little bit of a grimace making itself known right now.

"So now the Holy Knights have those three working for them again… I wonder if the White Fang would be willing to lend them a hand again at this rate too," Hanako thought aloud, noting that Adam Taurus, one of the pseudo-magi that was busted out of the cell, was a member of the organization that had also lent some manpower to the Holy Knights, judging by the fact that they'd been present both at the warehouse and even long before that, back when Ryuichi had followed Blake to Vale's docks.

"So now the Holy Knights might have finally made up for their loss…" Yuko, having been the one to voice these particular words, nearly sighed heavily right afterwards. Since Apophis was killed by Ryuichi, it would be evident that the Holy Knights' overall fighting power would've been reduced. But now that Roman, Neo, and Adam were now presumably back by the Holy Knights' side and with the potential for the White Fang to still lend some back up to them too, the death of one such Holy Knight might no longer have as big of an impact upon their combat prowess.

"Maybe so, but we shouldn't be too bothered by it, I think, Yuko-chan," Daisuke drawled out. He smirked a bit, his right eye opening a tad bit in the process. "I mean, we do have those little kids on our side too, right? And they're plenty tough so far."

Indeed, teams RWBY and JNPR have progressed a lot since they've come to be training under the ancient magi. Skill-wise, they were definitely ahead of the rest of the first years and could be comparable to the more skilled second years, such as team CFVY. Power-wise though, thanks to all of them (save for Jaune) becoming pseudo-magi, they're now well above the entire student body in sheer physical ability. Combined with their enhanced semblances, they were now a force to truly be reckoned with. What they lack in technique and experience, they more than made up for with not just power, but also creativity and solid teamwork. As they currently are, all of the ancient magi were certain they could best any hunter or huntress in the world and give even a Holy Knight more than a little trouble.

"That's true…" Mari said. She then chuckled a bit, recalling the other day when Naruto and Miki had finally told Jaune they were his ancestors. As powerful and confident as the blond teen has become, the expression on his face had been one of absolute shock and adorkable wonder, making for quite a comedic sight.

But as quickly as the good humor had come to her, it vanished. "If they still intend to take part in this, there's still a very real chance they could die," she said bluntly. And she was perfectly right in her assessment. While teams RWBY and JNPR were now certainly powerful, the Holy Knights still stood heads and shoulders above them. While a battle between the teens and the Holy Knights wouldn't be a one sided slaughter, the teens would still find themselves hard pressed to properly match the Holy Knights on an individual level.

"No doubt about that… but that could also be said for us too, Mari-chan," Hanako added in, folding her arms under her breasts. Tilting her head, she pondered something. "While it'd seem like we all have the power advantage, the abilities the Holy Knights possess are apparently quite versatile. And considering what Katsu informed us of prior to his death, it seems like they all have more to show us than what we've seen at the warehouse."

She was referring to Robotics Space. Prior to his death, this was one thing Katsu had informed them all of through Takehiko and Daisuke, passing onto them what he'd learned from Lugh. And then there was also whatever other surprises the Holy Knights may very well have in store for them too.

"Ne, with Nami-yan around, I kinda doubt that," Daisuke said. "Sure, the Holy Knights will be pretty tough to beat, but as long as Nami-yan sticks close by if or when they're all out in the open… well, it'll pretty much be our win." Fully aware of what Naruto was capable of, Daisuke in his usual carefree manner could hardly fathom a threat that could genuinely press Naruto to his limits.

"Now now, we shouldn't be relying on Naruto-kun to take care of everything." Masami said this with a smile. "It wouldn't do to just take things easy while he does the work."

"That's right," Yuko chipped in. "We've all trained long and hard over the past several centuries. To not do something about the Holy Knights ourselves when they try something would be horrifically wrong."

Daisuke held up his hands as if to ward off the two women, despite the two not really acting rude or hostile to him. "Just a suggestion…"

"But just what to do anyway?" Ryuichi now asked, his face scrunching up a bit from thought. "As always, it seems like we have no leads here save for that beast's appearance at Burgundy. I'd prefer not to wait around for them to make the next move."

"Ne, well I could always scope out that area, you know." Daisuke shrugged as he said this. "You know, a free spirit and all that. So I could check out Burgundy and everything worth a look around the village to see if I can see anything odd or just out of place."

"That would be helpful, actually…" Takehiko muttered. "That creature had to have been near the village for a reason."

Everyone now turned their eyes to Daisuke expectantly. The normally playful man couldn't help but suddenly feel a great deal of pressure being placed upon him.

"Looks like we'll be counting on you, Daisuke!" Hanako exclaimed cheerfully.

The man in question grumbled a bit. Maybe he shouldn't have offered after all. But alas, his fate had already been figuratively sealed. So he might as well get to it soon enough.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the academy, Jaune sat by himself within the confines of his dorm. Currently, he was the only one here, his teammates having had some late errands to run out in Vale alongside team RWBY.

As things now were, he was trying to come to grasp with two things. The first thing being the fact that he and his family the Arcs were descended from none other than Naruto and Miki, something that he'd only learned practically the other day. Needless to say, it left him feeling completely stupefied and in awe. To think that two such powerful individuals were his ancestors… and to think that earlier in his life, he'd been worried about living up to the legacy of his great-grandfather. Now that he knows his lineage in its entirety though, he clearly had much more to live up to, though both Naruto and Miki had told them that he wasn't obligated to live up to anything; he was to simply be his own man.

That made him smile a bit. It was good to know that they thought this way. And it also made much more sense how they'd been treating him compared to others, looking after him as much as they could without really giving anything away until now.

Incidentally, when he'd discovered they were his ancestors, he'd been more than a little horrified in a way as he recalled once upon a time finding Miki quite attractive. Which she was, no doubt about that, but now he knew that not only was she over nine hundred years old, but was his many times great-grandmother to boot! No wonder Naruto had looked so weirded out when he'd heard him remark upon Miki that one time.

However, as great and even funny as it was to know his connection to Naruto and Miki, what really occupied Jaune's mind right now was Kalma. He'd been more than a little busy in the week following his return from Burgundy to actually give the matter much thought, but now that things have calmed down again, he'd immediately noted that she seems to have just disappeared in the aftermath of his battle with Surma.

Worry gnawed at him viciously, especially since it wasn't as if he had any means of contacting her, not knowing her number or if she even had a scroll or phone in the first place.

"I hope she's alright…" he thought as he lied on his bed, trying to keep from grimacing. He couldn't help but feel gravely ashamed of himself for taking this long to really think of the girl and was feeling more than a little tempted to bang his head against the wall repeatedly out of atonement.

But he refrained from doing so because he knew that it wouldn't solve anything at all. Kalma would still be missing and still be unreachable. Self-harm wasn't going to make her any easier to get into contact with.

Sitting up now, the blond leader pondered just what could be done at all. And as he dwelled on this matter for several minutes, he found himself drawing blanks. It was damn near painful to know now that nothing could really be done about this.

Alas, all it seemed that he could do was simply hope that she was okay, at least until something comes up that could help him get back in contact with her.

So with great reluctance, Jaune gave up on the matter for the time being and instead opted to get to sleep early. "Kalma, wherever you are… please be safe," were his last thoughts before he quickly drifted off to dreamland.

Little did he know, Kalma was thinking of him too.

Within her own room as well at the Holy Knights' base, Kalma had to make an effort to keep herself calm.

A few days having passed since the captain announced his experiment to be complete for all intents and purposes, Kalma knew that soon enough all of the Holy Knights would be finally gathering all of their forces and resources for the final confrontation with the ancient magi.

That meant that she'd be seeing Jaune again in due time. Only it wouldn't be as friends, but rather as enemies. The mere thought of which made her stomach start feeling queasy a bit.

The sixth seat could count on one hand the number of people outside of the Holy Knights she's really interacted with and of that very small number, Jaune was really the only one she could genuinely call a friend in spite of their very brief time together. To know now that soon enough they'd be fighting one another was enough to make the girl shudder violently.

"Just what do I do?" she asked herself. She believed in the captain's goal. She genuinely believed that magic could help advance society as a whole and perhaps in the process help humans and Faunus better get along if provided with some incentive in the form of using magic to advance technology amongst other things.

This was something she truly believed.

But on the other hand, she and the others would have to get pass the ancient magi and their allies first. There was no way that these ancient beings, who preferred to keep magic secret from the world at large, would allow them to try and expose magic to the public eye. This was but one of the reasons why Vidar wished to get rid of them. There was apparently another reason or two, though the man seemed to keep those to himself.

But those other reasons mattered very little to Kalma; what mattered was that Jaune and his friends would be fighting alongside the ancient magi for good from now on.

Just how was she to deal with it? Could she perhaps hide somewhere and have Surma attack in her stead? No, that wouldn't work at all. As her own comrades would need all the help they can get, she'd have to be at least close enough to the frontlines of battle to use own Robotics Space and potentially use Surma to provide support to the others.

And when that happens, Jaune and his friends will see her for who she truly is: a Faunus that was also one of the Holy Knights that they so strongly oppose.

Gulping, Kalma hugged her own legs close to her slender body while atop her bed, worry eating at her little by little now.

The days to the final confrontation were now ticking away. She could only hope for the best now, though what 'the best' could be was something unknown to her.

It was at roughly the same time this was happening that Vidar finally returned to the base, Roman, Neo, and Adam in tow with him. Having been teleported to the quad area of the rundown military base that was now their own, the three criminals all but crumbled to the floor with almost comical effect, their bodies stiff and tired from having been restrained for such a long period of time.

"Shit, this hurts…" Roman muttered as he was the first of the three to stand, his legs shaking as he tried to get used to walking again.

"Stiffness aside, are the three of you alright?" Vidar asked calmly as he looked to them, Adam being the second to get up.

"We've seen better days," the Faunus replied stoically, though it was clear that he too was trying to get used to moving around again. Those restraints had practically been on them 24/7, keeping them from moving much at all.

As for Neo, she was the final one to get back on her feet and she simply frowned in great distaste, which was answer enough for everyone there.

"I see," Vidar said.

"What about our weapons?" Roman then asked as he patted himself down, getting some dust off of him from when he'd just fallen.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get those for I didn't know where they were being kept at all." Vidar left out the fact that in all likelihood, James Ironwood had the weapons destroyed as an extra precaution when the three had first been incarcerated. "However, I had anticipated such a thing and have been making you replacement weapons ever since you were captured. These new weapons will be much like your old ones, but I've done my best to improve their specs to better suit your enhanced abilities."

"Well, how very kind of you…" Roman muttered. "Again though, you sure took your time busting us out of there. How long were we locked up for again? A few weeks or so?"

"A lot has occurred. As you can see, we've had to switch bases…" Vidar motioned to the room around them before locking eyes with Roman. "Following an attack on our previous one from the ancient magi. Which I'm sure was due to one of you being forced to talk."

At that, Roman winced and promptly fell silent, but he leveled 'so what're you gonna do about it' kind of glare at Vidar, almost daring the man to say something else.

If Vidar was at all angered by the result of Roman's squealing to the ancient magi, he didn't show it at all nor did he appear all that riled up by Roman's almost defiant gaze. "Well, it couldn't be helped, I suppose. The ancient magi, as soft as they can be, can be very good at getting what they want if the situation calls for it. As it is, you three ought to consider yourselves lucky to even be alive still."

Roman grimaced. As for Adam, who now stood next to him, he merely asked one question. "So what now?" he asked gruffly, still trying to get used to moving around again.

"As I just said, I'm building you replacement weapons, so that will take a bit of time before they're fully ready," Vidar answered. "But once that is done and a few more preparations are taken care of… we'll be confronting the ancient magi for good."

He watched in slight bemusement as the eyes of all three individuals standing before him went wide with shock.

"Yeah… seems like a bad move there," Roman muttered.

"Maybe, I'll admit that much. But the longer this little game of hide and seek stretches out, the better chance they have of potentially tracking down this base too and launching a second attack. I'd much prefer to hit them first before such a thing can happen." Vidar sighed. "And while such a move won't be a smooth one, as things are now, I think it's about time we end this for good."

"…So then we three have to prepare as well then," Adam then said.

"Precisely." Vidar nodded. "And if things go well on Heracles' end, he should also be getting us back in the White Fang's graces… which should become much easier once you return to them, I imagine."

Adam nodded, but almost hesitantly. He wasn't fully sold on Vidar's goal, but he'd be willing to stick with the man and the Holy Knights until the end. The man had given him power unlike anything he'd ever known, enough to easily change the tide in the private 'war' that the White Fang fought. And besides… he'd like to get a little payback against that blond guy if it was possible.

Neo was of a similar opinion as well. She was mainly sticking with the Holy Knights due to following Torchwick everywhere. But now having been captured and locked up, she too was kind of itching for payback of some kind. Not against Naruto though, oh no. She knew well enough that the man was in his own league compared to everyone else. But his allies… she doubted they were up to snuff with him.

Roman himself also had a bit to gain in all of this as well. Having been given enough power to commit pretty much any crime he'd want, he'd felt more than a little miffed when he'd been beaten by Yuko and later captured by Naruto. While it'd be a professional thing to just let things go and back the hell out of this, it was almost a rule in the criminal underworld to never walk away without giving the one who had humiliated him a little comeuppance. And besides, he'd been too deep into this whole mess since almost the very beginning. No real point in backing down now, right?

Seeing the fire in their eyes, Vidar subtly hummed, approving of the three almost. Realistically speaking, they'd only really be able to challenge those empowered students of Beacon, but even then that'd be more than enough for Vidar and the others to potentially take down the ancient magi. And if the White Fang would be willing to give them a few extra bodies to throw around, then all the better.

"Soon, Fenrir…" Vidar thought. "Your death will come soon…"

Well, that's pretty much it for this chapter. The end is now approaching, amazingly enough. Even I can't almost believe it. And yet it's coming. Not for a while, to be sure, what with me working and all, but all that's really left is just both sides preparing for a grand battle of hopefully epic proportions.

An event that I sincerely hope all of you are looking forward to.

Until next time, everyone. Take care!