Sorry for the hold up, got busy with work after a slight schedule change. Not sure how to feel about it still; on the one hand, my feet no longer hurt anymore, but on the other hand no matter how long or short my shift is now, I go home feeling tired and not like doing anything. Hopefully I'll adjust to that soon enough, because coming home tired isn't something I'm looking forward to.
On another note, I'll be watching a few new animes on top of everything else, so that too may have a bit of an impact on my updating pace. Mainly One Punch-Man and Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry and a few others that have caught my eye.
That out of the way, the end is nigh! Although I still can't quite say exactly how many chapters are left until this fic is done, I can say at least that now the end is genuinely coming soon enough. This chapter will be marking the final string of battles and it's my aim to make these battles as grand as I can manage.
Hope you'll enjoy what I still have in store. Now onto the chapter!
Chapter 36
The following day, things came and went surprisingly routine for virtually everyone involved. Classes were in session, the students and faculty had their lunch and did their usual day to day activities. The only real change up was that Ryuichi, still so very hard at work as a cook within Beacon's cafeteria, was looking a hell of a lot more cheerful than students usually recall him being. His wife, Mari, was also lending him a helping hand in the kitchen instead of Miki, the woman in question sporting a very satisfied grin and all but purring whenever she and Ryuichi would unintentionally bump into each other, much to the very slightly aroused students' embarrassment due to how husky the sound was.
As for Naruto and Miki, well virtually the entire student body noticed the normally calm and serious professor looking as if he'd just reached nirvana, a look of incredible peace and joy upon his face as he taught his classes for the day. As for Miki, a handful of students had spotted her limping heavily to the infirmary to lie down for a while, all the while sporting a blissful and radiant expression that made people's hearts skip a bit or two.
The somewhat microscopic focus that was placed upon the four went entirely ignored by them, the two couples far too content and even happy with their 'private festivities' last night to really pay attention. Not even when Naruto overheard his students whispering about the mysterious and violent 'tremors' late last night did he react, his mind elsewhere. That said, a very small part of said mind did pay attention and sincerely hoped that the students would never learn that the 'tremors' had been originating from his and Miki's room during their 'destressing.'
All in all, it was just another day for everyone, an otherwise seemingly insignificant event that made Naruto all the happier, knowing that at least if only for today, he and the others could perhaps do with a little unwinding.
He was in such a good mood as of now, exiting his final class of the day, that really the only thing that marginally dented said mood was the conversation he'd had yesterday with one irate James Ironwood.
As he and Ozpin had predicted, the general of Atlas had practically stormed into the latter's office, demanding answers from not just Ozpin but also from Naruto, who'd been there as well in anticipation of his arrival.
It'd been a hell of a time just trying to get James to settle down and even when that'd been accomplished, the general had still been seething a fair bit, looking ready to bite someone's head clean off over the smallest of things. But it really wasn't until Ozpin and Naruto – mainly the latter – finally decided to tell James a bit of what was going on that the man finally regained his cool for a while.
Naruto didn't tell the man everything, afraid that the general, as brilliant as he was, would let his brashness get the best of him into launching a full scale search for the Holy Knights. That would've been a disaster of epic proportions. However, the blond magus did make it a point to at least inform James of a 'mysterious enemy' that had to be privately dealt with lest a panic be incited within the public, the absolute last thing that any of them needed. Naruto had also reluctantly explained the details regarding what and his fellow ancient magi had done to keep James' facility extra secured, not that said measures did much good with Roman, Neo, and Adam having been rescued by the Holy Knights.
However, throughout the entire explanation that was given to the general, both Naruto and Ozpin were silently adamant in keeping magic completely a secret from James. So instead the two of them weaved a tale of how the enemy and the ancient magi were really powerful people that had extremely powerful and versatile semblances, unlike anything that Remnant had ever seen before. The two of them then went onto try and talk James out of getting any more involved in the matter as there was no real way that the military could counter the mysterious enemy.
After hours of talking last night, Naruto and Ozpin had managed to succeed in at least diverting James' interest in pursuing the Holy Knights, who they still didn't quite know how were able to rescue their three little goons.
Unfortunately, perhaps the two of them had been a little too successful; James had been more than a little interested by these powerful individuals with unique semblances, Naruto having had to slightly explain a bit of just what his friend's magic weapons were capable of. It was to a point where James had eventually started to question them last night on whether or not there could be others like them and if it'd be possible to recruit them into the military or at least the police force.
"With their abilities, just think of what could be accomplished! They could be heroes!" James had said at one point prior to his eventual departure.
Naruto, dwelling on this particular memory even now, had to keep a bitter chuckle from escaping him. Again, there was no denying that James was an intelligent fellow, gifted in the ways of the military and was more than willing to get his own hands dirty if it meant protecting his homeland and people everywhere, but aside from his brashness, James had one other noticeable flaw in the form of naivety.
He heard of these 'unique people' – magi – and could only think of their potential as soldiers and law enforcers. He didn't think of doing anything even remotely uncouth to them – he had unshakeable principles and a sense of morality, true to his surname – and instead could only think of all the good such individuals could accomplish if their 'semblances' were just as powerful or as diverse as Naruto's own.
But alas, in spite of having seen both the best and worst that human/Faunuskind had to offer, the man seemed almost hopelessly naïve last night, dwelling on such a 'what-if' without ever once appearing to think of what other people would do to magi should the existence of magic ever become widely known.
Naruto shook his head slightly, almost in disbelief as he recalled James' words on the matter. "If only you knew, James. If only you knew…" he muttered, low enough so that none of the students passing by him on their way to their dorms or elsewhere wouldn't hear him.
Naruto didn't consider himself a cynical person, but he wouldn't quite be willing to call himself an optimist either. He still had plenty of hope in the world that it could become a much better place, that people could eventually live equally regardless of their race or wealth or other factors… but at the same time, this fiercely burning hope of his was tempered by centuries of experience that people can and will do the most horrific of things to one another for power or for religion or for virtually anything else that could be used to justify such actions.
Magic had to be kept a secret. It was as simple as that in Naruto's eyes, at least until the world is genuinely ready to deal with such a bombshell… which Naruto highly doubted would happen even within his almost hilariously long lifespan. And that was really saying something.
"But hey, the world can always surprise me, right?" he thought, running a hand briefly through his hair. It's definitely done so in the past, what with remnants of the biju's chakra having seeped deep within the earth to somehow continually form the Grimm…. Or the sudden appearance of a widespread genetic mutation that caused people to grow animal-like features, resulting in the Faunus… or that one time he helped out a large village and ended up getting revered as a god somehow… or… well, okay, the world has surprised him plenty of times and in more than just one way. But he wasn't going to count on this fact anytime soon just yet. Not until the Holy Knights are dealt with first.
Nodding to himself and still with his good mood remaining intact, Naruto walked off with hands in pocket.
Elsewhere, specifically, within Vale, Masami and a few others had decided to go out for a little late dinner at one of Vale's fancier restaurants. Dressed in sleeveless black dress that hugged her curves modestly enough, Masami was drawing male and female attention alike to her, with members of both genders being entranced by her beauty and grace as she took her time eating her meal.
In comparison, Yuko, Takehiko, and Daisuke almost went unnoticed by the other diners, though not entirely; every now and then, men would eye the pale blonde woman while women would steal glances at the two men.
In either case, however, the ancient magi ate their meal in relative silence, ignoring any and all attention they were drawing.
"So what's new? Any luck?" Takehiko asked Daisuke, who was seated next to Masami.
"Nope, no luck at all," Daisuke answered casually, though there could be seen a slight grimace if one looked at him closely enough. Having just returned from his little search earlier today, he was now here to inform the others of what he's discovered. Or rather, what he hasn't discovered. "I searched pretty much every place worth a look within five hundred miles of Burgundy. No dice."
Takehiko sighed, but said nothing.
Yuko, however, seemed to have something to say. "Come on, you two, can't we just save the serious talk until later?" she asked with a frown. "I was kind of hoping that we four could at least relax a bit before getting to that."
Takehiko, in response, gazed in disbelief at Yuko. "Are you mad? The sooner we talk about this and go over all the details, the better!"
"And no offense, but just how well have any of us really been doing on tracking down the Holy Knights for good?" Yuko shot back.
Takehiko looked ready to really start arguing, but Masami then chose that exact moment to interrupt. "Now now, it isn't polite to fight like this, you two," she said with an elegant smile. "And Yuko is right, Takehiko. We've searched for them for so long now that we most likely aren't going to discover any last minute clues just now… so please, at least try and enjoy your meal first."
The younger of the four ancient magi grumbled a little, but seemed to back down without any further hassle, Takehiko cutting into his steak without another word spoken.
Daisuke laughed a little at the sight. "Ya know, it almost looks like you just pouted there, Take-yan," he joked.
"…I'm not pouting," Takehiko muttered not even a full ten seconds later before calmly taking a bite of his steak.
"Well that was easy," Yuko commented, smiling. She'd been expecting Takehiko to put up more resistance. Given his attitude regarding this entire affair, it was clear that he was the most eager of them all to find and dispose of the Holy Knights as soon as possible.
Masami giggled, enjoying the reactions of her three friends. "Well, all that aside now, just how have you three been? It's been quite some time ever since we could simply meet like this to talk with one another peacefully."
"Meh, you know me; always wandering around and all, a few odd jobs here and there…" Daisuke said first, leaning back slightly in his seat, his usual playful smile having returned to his face. "A lot of stories I can tell you all about my little trips."
"Why that'd be wonderful! By all means…" Masami then motioned for Daisuke to share a few of his stories.
So he obliged.
For the next forty five minutes, the four of them dined and laughed as Daisuke told them all of his own personal adventures, often times little tales of mischief he'd caused with Field Changer. Even Takehiko had found himself smiling and laughing a fair bit after trying to resist the urge earlier on.
It wasn't much longer before they finished their meals and took their leave, walking as a group to nowhere in particular within Vale, simply content to continue catching up with one another after Daisuke finally exhausted his tales for the time being.
"I still can't believe people would blatantly try to set up marriage contracts and stuff for you," Yuko commented to Masami.
The woman laughed lightly. "Well, people in power will do whatever they can to obtain even more power. Having me and my company added to their family and own resources respectively would do just that."
"Good thing you turned them all down. None of them are quite what would be expected of them…" Takehiko of all people muttered, rolling his eyes as he dwelled on some of the people that have tried to proposition Masami in one form or another. Normally, he wouldn't be even remotely involved in the world of politics and big time business ever since he stepped down as Atlas' founder and first ruler, but his club had proven to be an attractive spot for said people at times and so he remained unintentionally in the loop on such matters.
And he found himself unimpressed by said individuals for the most part.
"Heh.~" Daisuke smirked. "Well, since Masami-chan here is using Nami-yan as the measuring stick, it only makes sense no one else would compare, yeah?"
To this, Masami nodded. "Naruto-kun is truly the only one for me," she stated as if she was stating the current weather conditions.
Yuko and Takehiko could only shake their heads in disbelief while Daisuke laughed. Even after all of these centuries, Masami had eyes for only Naruto.
This was because she still, to an extent, coveted power, something that Naruto nowadays had in supreme superabundance. Of course, Naruto's looks and personality also factored into her attraction towards him, but even then, it was clear that power was a big time player in this regard even now. And as such, it was only natural that no one else on the planet could really compare in that regard.
"We should be thankful for that, I suppose," Takehiko then said. "Otherwise, you may very well have fallen for one of the Holy Knights or something…"
At that, rather than rekindle the unseen tension from earlier, his comrades chuckled a bit. "Maybe so," Masami admitted in good humor.
All four of them fell silent immediately afterwards, continuing their aimless walk amongst the streets of Vale. But while silence reigned, there was still no sense of awkwardness or tension among them. The ancient magi were simply content to hang around one another without anything looming over them.
But then, the silence was eventually broken by Yuko. "Well, guys… whatever happens next, all I can say is that I hope we all pull through," she said almost solemnly. But she sounded hopeful too.
"Mhm," Daisuke hummed out, agreeing with her.
"Of course. You really expect us to die to those upstarts?" Takehiko replied in the same haughtiness he once demonstrated so long ago. But there was no edge to it like before. It was clear to his friends that he was simply saying it like that to get a mild rise out of them.
Naturally, this got Masami to giggle a little. "Well, I imagine we'll have some trouble on our hands once they make their move again…." She began. "But even then, we've all fought our share of tough battles in the past and thrived. I can hardly imagine this being any different."
Everyone nodded in agreement with her words. While there was no doubt that these Holy Knights might be their toughest foes yet, they felt confident that they'll walk away victorious in the end.
And so with this in mind, they continued their trek throughout Vale, unaware of what was soon to come.
With the Holy Knights, all of them couldn't help but gather around Vidar, within his Robotics Space as he prepared to explain to them what was to happen next. Roman, Neo, and Adam were there as well, their new and improved weapons at their side.
All of the remaining Holy Knights and the three criminals couldn't help but feel suffocated by Vidar's presence and be subtly amazed and even terrified by the sheer power they could now sense him possessing. It went without saying that Vidar's many years of experimentation have finally paid off.
Heracles, having finally made his return after all of this time, could only grin in anticipation. Vidar's massive increase in power and his calling of all of them here could only mean one thing:
They were going to make their final move.
Oh, how much the first seat had longed for this, the chance to truly do battle with the ancient magi. Unlike when he'd fought Ryuichi and later Miki, this would now be the time for him to genuinely go all out. The mere thought was enough to make his blood boil. Oh, he was so looking forward to this!
Morgan, on the other hand, didn't really share the first seat's excitement. Oh, don't get her wrong, she was feeling rather giddy, like a schoolgirl about to confess to her longtime crush. To be expected when after all these years she was to finally begin marching towards her real goal of changing the world, just as Vidar had promised when they'd first met. However, this sense of giddiness and even lust was tempered by the stark reality before her. As they were now to begin their final move, there was a great chance that a number of people excluding the ancient magi could die with what was to come, a fact that only unsettled her slightly as there have been plenty of times throughout history where people had been sacrificed in the name of the greater good.
What really had her worried was Jaune. In due time, he'd be on the frontlines battling it out against her own comrades and even her. Her 'true' identity would then be exposed for him, her dearly beloved brother, to see. When that happened, would she be truly ready for the outcome? Morgan could only worry.
Cinder, the fourth seat, shared none of the excitement or worry that her superiors felt. Instead, she felt a contentment unlike anything she's ever felt before. Growing up, she'd been dissatisfied with the world around her, feeling as if it was holding her and others back in some way. It hadn't been until Vidar entered her life that she discovered her lineage as an Uchiha and the existence of magic that she finally came to realize her 'purpose' in life: to change the world, to cast off the shackles that held back everyone. Now was the time to finally do just that and it filled her with a feeling that wasn't quite elation, but appeared close enough.
She looked forward to it.
The fifth seat, Lugh, stoically waited for Vidar to speak. But inwardly, he brimmed with joy. He'd grown up an orphan, never knowing his parents and having been raised within an unforgiving orphanage. Having eventually run away to live out in the streets, Lugh had grown strongly disillusioned with the world around him as he'd grown up, at one point learning on his own how to handle himself in a fight – especially with spears and similar weapons.
During that time of his not so distant youth, he'd wished for power, power great enough to change the world and make it a place so that others in the same situation as him wouldn't have to deal with such hardships anymore. And when Vidar had eventually approached him and turned him into the Holy Knight now known as Lugh, his old name long since cast off, he could only feel joy at the time for advancement finally approaching.
He eagerly awaited what was to come.
Kalma, the sixth seat, could only feel fear. While she too believed in the same cause as her comrades, a lifetime of pain and oppression and fear all but froze her to her current spot. Knowing that in very little time, she'd soon be confronting the ancient magi, she couldn't help but inwardly panic a bit, knowing that they most likely wouldn't show her any mercy just because she was a teenaged Faunus. Just as she and the other Holy Knights did what they did for what they believed in, Kalma knew that the ancient magi would do the same.
What's more, she would very well be seeing Jaune again too. She couldn't even begin to fathom how shocked he'll be to discover she was a Holy Knight, much less when he discovers that Surma is her Relic and therefore makes her indirectly responsible for the assault upon Beacon and Burgundy. Never mind how enraged he may very well become when that happens. And that thought nearly made Kalma bite her lip violently. Her brief friendship with Jaune flew in the face of all the things that her abusive family had beaten into her to believe, that humans and Faunus couldn't get along at all. While Jaune may not have known she was a Faunus or a Holy Knight during their time at Burgundy, he still had approached her with genuine kindness and friendship in spite of her naturally off putting aura. While that didn't seem like very much, it meant so very much to Kalma.
She feared what was to come.
The seventh seat, Indra, was feeling uncertain. Much like Lugh, he'd grown up living a harsh life as an orphan, though unlike Lugh, he'd had the severe displeasure of being adopted by a couple that treated him as more a servant than a child, being harshly punished whenever he'd messed up. It wasn't until he was a teen that he'd ran away, running into Vidar by sheer chance during his aimless wandering afterwards. Having then been taken in by the man and made into a Holy Knight, he'd been filled with great purpose and to that end, he'd trained as hard as he could so that he could be of use to the man despite being, theoretically, the weakest of the Holy Knights.
But now at the crux of it all, Indra found himself almost crippled with doubt. Would he really be able to do it? His two brief battles with the ancient magi had ultimately ended with him walking away the loser. Admittedly, he'd not used Robotics Space or the overboost that they all had, but even then he'd felt that his performance in both battles had been a little underwhelming on his part. Intellectually, he knew that he'd actually held his own fairly well in both cases, but in his heart, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd be up to snuff. Especially if Kalma, whom he saw as sister-like figure, needed help.
Fiddling with his fingers nervously, Indra could almost say without hesitation that he wasn't sure how to feel about the upcoming battle.
As for Roman, the criminal was feeling simultaneously disgruntled and antsy. The former was due to the sheer amount of power Vidar now possessed almost crushing him without notice. While he was still able to keep his wits about him and remain standing casually, Vidar's changed presence was slowly taking a toll on him and this irked Roman a bit.
The latter feeling, however, was due to the situation as of now. If someone had asked him back when he'd barely started working with Cinder if he'd have seen this coming, he'd have said nope without a second thought. If he'd been asked if he could ever imagine a situation like this at all, he'd have laughed.
But alas, here he was all but about to go to war with the ancient magi alongside the Holy Knights. Having felt firsthand the difference in power between him and the ancient magi, the criminal wasn't feeling particularly confident about how much he could contribute or if he should even be involved at all anymore. But as things now stood, he's already come way too far to back out now, no matter how much he wanted right now. Even though he knew there was an increasing chance he could die in the near future.
…But hey, in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Meanwhile, Neo had no problem looking the part of a very worried individual. She considered herself a hedonist, one who did what she wanted when she wanted for the thrill of it. That such thrills could be found committing all sorts of crime was something of an irrelevant thing to her. That she had ultimately come to care for Roman and end up following him around everywhere was also irrelevant to her in the end.
What was now relevant though was that her life was now seriously in danger. She lived for doing her own thing whenever Roman didn't need her to do a little job here or there, but after having encountered Naruto and having sensed his vast power, the petite woman had come to realize just how dangerous the world could truly be when people such as Naruto were running around in it. All of a sudden, the hedonistic life she'd led had come to an almost screeching halt as she realized that there was very well a chance of her running into a particularly fight happy magus or someone even worse in someway.
And now, here she stood all but against her will, waiting for Vidar to begin telling them all of the plan for now. She wanted no part in this, no part whatsoever in the upcoming battle against the ancient magi, all of whom she knew for a fact had more than enough power to kill and just as much incentive to probably attempt it at the very least. But like Roman, she felt a strong obligation to be here, if nothing else, something that she was inwardly beating herself up for.
But should she really stick to this to the very end? Or should she just bail at the very first chance she got? Considering the all too real possibility of bumping into Naruto again on the battlefield, that second option was looking far too enticing.
And so, in fear of what could happen, Neo continued to consider her options.
And finally, Adam Taurus. The powerful Faunus was the only one of the three criminals that wasn't at least considering running away. Having joined the White Fang so long ago for the goal of changing the world, this was precisely the chance he'd needed to do just that. That said chance happened to be about magic potentially revolutionizing the world was little more than a side note.
Unlike the two criminals beside him, he'd always fought for his beliefs, never wavering, never questioning. While he wouldn't be afraid to admit that fighting such powerful individuals made him feel uneasy, he still wouldn't hesitate to do so if the need came about. After all, he'd been fighting on behalf of the White Fang for all these years against all sorts of odds, so really just how is this situation truly any different at its core?
So with steel-like resolve, he patiently awaited what was to come.
Standing before them all, Vidar gazed over them patiently, his face expose for them to see. Then, upon seeing them all await his words, he spoke. "As I'm sure you very well know, the time has finally come to put an end to all of this. Starting today, our offensive against the ancient magi will commence. Now-."
He hardly had time to go on when Roman decided to interrupt him. "Yeah, hold on there, man. While I'm sure we're all equally eager to get this over with, how about you address a few concerns first? Like how can we be sure that Fenrir guy you always talk about isn't suddenly going to teleport here or summon us to him or something?" Roman felt quite justified in voicing this concern so suddenly. Having been explained Naruto's Da Capo Zero ability, he'd had a less than peaceful sleep last night, worrying constantly if the man would just summon him and Neo and Adam back to the facility. To his shock, this hadn't happened and it only left him wondering why.
While some people such as Cinder, Morgan, and Adam looked a little displeased by Roman's interruption, Vidar seemed barely fazed by his words and answered cordially. "Do you remember specifically the mechanics behind Fenrir's Da Cap Zero ability?"
"Yeah, why?" Roman replied.
"The mechanic behind the summoning function of Da Capo Zero is fundamentally different from Da Capo Zero's primary function. Whereas the primary function works by reverting a target's time instantaneously so that it returns to nothingness, the summoning function works by actually locking onto a target's energy signature and forcibly pulling it towards Fenrir through time/space. And vice versa based on what you've told me regarding the night you were captured," Vidar explained. "Because of this difference, my magical weapon, being a support type, is capable of masking or even scrambling our signatures as long as I don't have to use it for anything else, rendering Fenrir's summoning capabilities useless to him. And given his heightened awareness for magic since his ascension to virtual godhood so long ago, I imagine he unconsciously realized this fact too, hence why he hasn't even bothered trying to summon you three to him."
"…Okay then," Roman muttered, taking a moment to digest that information. It helped to ease his worries considerably, but not entirely. Still, it did enough to make him lean back and almost casually motion for the Holy Knight's captain to continue from where he'd left off.
Vidar nodded and did just so. "Now as I was saying, today we'll be taking the fight to the ancient magi, but on our grounds, namely our Robotics Spaces. The main objective that each of you have is to isolate the ancient magi and take them down one or two at a time as trying to fight most of them at once would be suicidal in some cases."
"And how are we to do that, captain?" Lugh questioned politely. "Currently, they're all gathered at Beacon Academy, right?"
"Correct. And as long as they are all there with Fenrir around, breaching the academy would be difficult, even for me as I am now, if only because of how distracting that place's student body and staff would be. But I've already engineered a simple way to draw them out." Vidar paused a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "As I'm sure you've noticed, young and brash Mercury isn't with us right now. Nor are any other representatives of the White Fang now that Heracles, with some last minute help from Adam, had managed to get their help again."
At those words, Heracles grinned at his work being acknowledged. It'd been a bitch and a half talking the White Fang into lending some aid yet again, but when he'd finally mentioned Adam being rescued just last night, the group had been almost eerily fast in changing their minds. He supposed it showed just how vital Adam was to the group given his now enhanced combat skills.
"I've given Mercury and a large platoon of the White Fang's men a simple but special task: they'll be serving as bait," Vidar continued. "Right now, they're on their way to Vale's news station. For the time being, they all will be waiting patiently, but once it's time for the evening news, they'll be making their move. I imagine young Lisa Lavender will be having mixed feelings soon enough about becoming tonight's news."
"So they'll be taking over the news station to draw out the ancient magi…" Indra muttered, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yes. Given the news station's location within Vale, there will be plenty of open space and more than one way to get to the station once Mercury makes a little live 'statement' for the ancient magi to hear. And that'll be when you all are to strike. No doubt, the ancient magi and their allies will try to spread out and surround the news station to box Mercury and the White Fang in. But when that happens, that's when you all strike. Take them by surprise. Get in close and drag them into your Robotics Space and use your overboosters. Because now is no longer the time to hold back; it's time to crush them."
The Holy Knights and the three enhanced criminals couldn't help but shiver at the distorted and almost vicious tone of Vidar's. It was enough to nearly make them all genuinely balk, but they held their ground admirably in the wake of Vidar's great presence.
"And… what of Fenrir?" Morgan then asked, her face slightly scrunching up in worry. "And of the two teams that will no doubt be by the ancient magi's side?"
Vidar looked to Roman, Neo, and Adam. "That's where you three come in. While my knights here deal with the magi, you three along with Mercury and the White Fang will be tasked with taking those teams down as swiftly as possible. And as for Fenrir… I'll be the one to confront him. As I am now, I'm the only one with power great enough to truly challenge him."
"And even kill him…" Surtur whispered from within Vidar, a statement that the latter nodded microscopically in agreement with.
At those words, Morgan's feelings of worry and dread increased tenfold. Since she'll be tasked with fighting an ancient magus, she likely wouldn't have to worry about running into Jaune, which was a bit of a good thing. But to that same token, he'll be going up against a veritable army of people alongside his friends, with said army having no qualms with killing him if such an opportunity came up. Even with his evidently great power, there was no telling just what could happen. Morgan had to bite her lip harshly to keep from panicking…
"As I said, it's a simple plan, overall – divide and conquer, really," Vidar said. "That said, do not let your guard down. Robotics Space may give you a 'home-field advantage' and your overboosters may increase your abilities considerably… but the ancient magi are far from pushovers as I'm sure you all know. So before you even try to drag them into Robotics Space, try to pick one of them whose abilities would be a relatively good match for your own. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir," all of the Holy Knights said in unison. Roman merely nodded with a grim frown on his face while Neo looked trouble, but didn't back away. Adam simply gripped his new and improved Blush and Wilt even harder, all the indication that was needed to show he was ready. After all, thinking on it now, he had a little personal matter to settle with a former friend…
"Good. Then be prepared. We only have another hour before Mercury is to carry out his task," Vidar said.
And with that, their little strategy meeting came to an end.
Out in Vale, the sun was quickly beginning to set. As day turned to dusk and eventually night, things began to wind down. Some small shops and local businesses closed up early for the night and the workers all went home in their usual bustle. Street lights slowly turned on automatically as the sun disappeared from view and the number of cars out on the street dwindled throughout the major areas of Vale while other areas, such as where Junior's club was located at, began to see a sharp increase in business as the night life began in full throttle.
But while most of the people in Vale began to call it a night and head home, there were still plenty of people that were still hard at work. Or in the case of the crew at Vale's one and only news station, work was just about to begin.
And as all of the camera men and other behind-the-scenes workers fluttered about, quickly making the last of their preparations before going on air, one Lisa Lavender was sitting patiently at her news desk, awaiting the 'on air' signal to light up.
Lisa, a somewhat pale skinned beauty with shoulder length white hair and sharp, intelligent eyes, could only barely hold back the yawn that threatened to escape her.
To think that here and now at the still relatively young age of 29, she was already considered possibly the best news reporter that Vale has ever seen. It was an unofficial title that hadn't come easy to her at all; she'd had to all but literally claw her way to the top, fighting hard to get the tough and interesting stories whilst dealing with all sorts of obstacles, ranging from the rigid bureaucracy that governed the news business to less than ethical or caring rivals that have tried to stop her rise to power. It was only through her own determination, clad iron set of principles and ethics and constant search for truth in all stories that had allowed Lisa to obtain the fame she now has, remaining untouched by the usual controversial things that plagued other news reporters at times.
It'd been a hell of a fight to get to where she was today, but it'd been more than worth it to her. Still…
"Damn it, which of you idiots spilled coffee on the camera lens?!"
"The hell's up with the wad of gum here?! Clean it up and fast!"
"Gary, get your damn foot off of those cables, you're screwing with the controls here!"
"The news desk's been moved four centimeters to the left! Hurry up and move back in place!"
…She wondered if something was seriously wrong with the people around her, what with all of them borderline panicking day in and day out over things like this. While she could understand some of their concerns, the latter two statements for example hardly seemed to warrant such frothing rage. But alas, it was their jobs, not hers. Besides, the last time she'd tried to help them, the workers had looked at her with murderous fury, as if she as the news reporter had blasphemously crossed an invisible line of sorts between her job and theirs.
So for the sake of her own potential wellbeing, she politely stayed out of it and offered her prayers up for the workers' sanity and health. God only knows just how much stress they're always under.
Lisa was jostled from her thoughts by a female attendant nearby. "Almost time. Get ready."
"Alright," Lisa responded, quickly checking her clothes for any unwanted wrinkles before making sure all of her personal papers on the desk before her were still in proper order. While she had a teleprompter up to give her ques, she liked to have her own personal notes on every evening's stories, nothing particularly outrageous or anything, but merely conjecture here and there to get the viewers' minds to think. Alas, tonight's news didn't seem too interesting barring the White Fang having recently gone quiet much to the worry of police forces and the public, but other than that, nothing interesting.
Little did Lisa know, that'd be changing very soon.
Lisa finished reorganizing her papers a bit just as one of the camera men got her attention to start the countdown until she went live. Seeing him hold up his fingers to indicate five seconds remaining, Lisa schooled her tired features into a much livelier expression just as the camera man gave her the go ahead.
But before she could even say a 'Good evening, Vale,' chaos struck.
A huge explosion rocked the entire station, sending people flying around from the sheer force of it. The floor cracked as did the ceiling, sending the few people who weren't knocked across the room to scream in fright at what was happening. Not even Lisa herself was able to keep from screaming, especially when the doors to the room were suddenly kicked down and in came heavily armed members of the notorious White Fang.
In what felt like the span of minutes when in reality it was merely seconds, Lisa watched, shell-shocked and horrified, as more than twenty White Fang goons stormed fully into the room, grabbing people off of their feet and yelling at them, forcing them all into a tight circle in the middle, uncaring of whether or not any of them had been injured from the explosion just now. Some of the White Fang goons even went as far as to fire off a round or two at the shoulders of some of the cameramen to make them stagger back into the circle. It was only thanks to the natural benefits of having aura, even if it remained locked, that the men in question remained without a serious wound, but even then the pain had been great and they stumbled back, too hurt and shocked to do anything.
As for Lisa herself, the woman hardly even had time to budge an inch when a tall and burly member of the White Fang smashed a fist into her desk, scattering her papers everywhere and breaking the desk into pieces.
"Oh, Ms. Lavender… you're not going anywhere," the White Fang member said, his deep baritone making the words sound so very ominous. It didn't exactly help that in his other hand, he deftly wielded a massive chainsaw as if it were a small pen.
Although he wore a mask, Lisa could feel his eyes burrow into her own, pinning her to the spot. For one second, the reporter felt that she was genuinely going to be killed as the man began to raise his chainsaw…
…Only for a new arrival to stop him.
"Whoa now, Lieutenant," Mercury said with a bit of a drawl, lightly grabbing the lieutenant's chainsaw by the blade. Slowly, he forced it down. "Let's not go hacking anyone up… yet. We still need to make a point here."
The lieutenant looked to the noticeably shorter young man and huffed. Nonetheless, he obeyed and backed off, revving up his chainsaw in the process.
Mercury watched the man walk off and could only shake his head. It was bad enough to be playing the role of bait like this, but having to keep that guy under control was just as bad, enhanced abilities or not. He'd been told by Adam and Heracles that the dear lieutenant was quite strong physically and had a short temper, but he hadn't been expecting the nail to hit the head so very well. He almost felt sorry for anyone that would go up against the lieutenant, provided said person wasn't one of the ancient magi.
Focusing on the matter at hand though, Mercuy looked down at Lisa, who'd fallen out of her seat when the lieutenant had been about to make a grab for her. He snickered at how scared Lisa now looked. Goes to show just how hard reality can hit someone in the face when said reality involved your potential death.
"Now, now, missy… my guys and I won't be killing you on air… maybe," Mercury said cockily as he crouched down so that he was eye level with Lisa. "But we really need to borrow your air time for a few minutes, 'kay?"
Not waiting for Lisa to regain her wits, Mercury stood back up and turned to face the cameras, which were still broadcasting. Said cameras were now being operated by a handful of the White Fang members and they made it a point to shoot the whole room, showing all undoubtedly stunned viewers the mess they'd so very quickly made, lingering briefly on the hostages before focusing back on Mercury.
"Glad to see I have your attention now, Vale. I really am," Mercury began, trying to look confident. But it was admittedly hard to do considering just what he was about to say and do. "Now before you go thinking that this is something done entirely by the White Fang, let me stop you there… because it's not."
Slowly, Mercury focused and began to channel his mana, resulting in a hazy silver aura to appear enfolding him. Although it was impossible for the viewers to actually sense his mana, the people here in the room with him certainly could and immediately he could tell that they realized it wasn't aura he was radiating.
"There's a new group running this show now – Holy Knights, I guess you could call them. And boy oh boy, do they have a message for you guys," Mercury began, smiling a bit. A small bead of sweat formed on the upper part of his forehead from his nervousness. Subtly, he wiped it away by pretending to run a hand through his gray hair.
He wasn't really given a script to memorize and spout out by Vidar. He'd simply been told to do one thing: announce to Vale and by extension the rest of the world that there was another force out there that far surpassed what aura was capable of: magic. How he did it was irrelevant; all Vidar wanted was for him to make this point and really grab the attention of the ancient magi.
Mercury had to keep from laughing derisively. Having to make shit up off the top of his head about magic of all things? Tick off the ancient magi enough to have them come running here? He may fancy himself as a smooth guy, but he had no doubt that he'd be stumbling over his words a bit here, maybe even ramble.
But hey, sometimes, you just have to wing it as you went along.
So that's exactly what Mercury did. "I'm here on their behalf to give that message," he began. "a message concerning everyone in the world. I know, sounds crazy… after all, just what could concern everyone, right? But guess what? There really is something worth paying attention to."
Concentrating hard, he managed to focus some of his mana into his hands, temporarily creating something akin to energy balls, though they weren't quite the real deal. "There's something so much damn better than aura," he said simply. He proceeded to raise his hands to the cameras, showcasing the magical balls to the people undoubtedly watching. He smirked. "What it is exactly, I can't really say. But I suppose you could call it… magic."
Ah, there it was, the word he'd been working up to. Mercury honestly felt a little ashamed of himself for building up to it so quickly and flatly, but now it was out in the open. "And let me tell you… aura doesn't hold a candle to it at all in any respect. But none of you would really buy that, right? Well then, let's put all doubts to rest; time for a little practical demonstration. How does that sound?
"And who better to give such a wonderful demonstration… than the Holy Knights themselves?" Mercury chuckled a little bit as his concentration finally gave way and the energy balls dissipated. He gazed directly into the camera ahead of him, his eyes all but piercing it.
"Stay tuned, boys and girls…. Because in just several minutes, things are gonna get crazy."
Back at Beacon Academy, Naruto, Miki, Ryuichi, and everyone else in the academy watched on as Mercury finished this speech, the live feed coming to an end, presumably temporarily.
The trio of ancient magi were shocked and enraged as they could all but hear everyone single person in the academy now talking animatedly with great shock, worry, and anticipation over what had just been said. No doubt this was the same situation all across the globe as well now, the live feed having been played on every single channel when the takeover had occurred.
Of the magi there at Beacon though, none were perhaps more angered than Naruto. It took all he had to keep himself from losing control of his vast power. Gone was the great mood he'd been in only mere minutes ago and instead he was now left feeling a burning rage towards this grey haired man and the Holy Knights he undoubtedly work for utterly dismantle the efforts of himself and his friends.
Magic had been outed to the entire world. Even if most wouldn't realize it just yet, this grey haired young man had undone centuries worth of secrecy and with perhaps the simplest of actions really; by speaking in a situation where people were practically forced to listen.
Naruto's teeth grinded against one another and his fists clenched to the point of his knuckles turning a stark white. He glared frightfully at the now dead TV screen, nothing but static playing across it now that the feed was down for the time being.
"They've all but declared war…" he thought, the Holy Knights now at the very forefront of his mind.
Well, enough was enough, he'd say.
The Holy Knights want to go to war with them? Fine then, the magi will give them a war.
Again, apologies for the late update. I'll try to avoid taking this long to post the next chapter, but once again, I can make no guarantees. It all ultimately comes down to my work schedule and what else ends up going on in my life. But nonetheless, I'll try!
Until next time, everyone. Take care.