Started working on this chapter pretty much a day after I posted the previous one. And even then, it still took me a while to get this done… wow. Guess work has been tiring me out more than I thought. At least things are going good though, overall.
On a random note, I've come up a Love Hina/One Punch-Man crossover idea of all things and it's somewhat ticking me off. I've already come up with a way to start it and how the climax of such a fic would play out, but everything in between is just a blur to me. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm actually going to do this fic idea, but it's there at the surface of my mind alongside the other ideas I've mentioned in previous ANs.
At any rate, I still plan to start my next original novel once this fic is completed, so that will come first before I begin my next fanfic. I just hope that by then I would've decided on which idea to roll with.
Whelp, not much else to say now, other than that I'll be jumping right into things for this chapter. So get ready, because the fighting is just about to begin.
Oh, right! One last thing: RWBY returns! October 24th will mark the start of Volume 3 of RWBY!
Chapter 37
From afar, Vidar and his Holy Knights watched the news station and the area directly surrounding it. Vidar couldn't help but smile under his mask, which he'd put on just as of half an hour ago when they all mobilized.
As expected, even from up atop the skyscraper they were waiting on, he and the Holy Knights could practically hear the people below them within Vale buzzing wildly, with many panicking over the siege that had taken place at the news station as of barely a few minutes ago. Looks like the world was finally beginning to really take notice.
But what pleased him the most was the sensing of several now familiar sources of mana.
The ancient magi and teams RWBY and JNPR.
"They certainly mobilized fast," Surtur chose to comment to Vidar, which made the latter chuckle. It was to be expected really. After all, this was no longer a situation in which anyone could afford to take things lightly. It was time to really stop holding back, as was seen by just how quickly the ancient magi and their little allies had managed to get from wherever they'd been at to here.
"They're now within 2 miles of the news station, captain," Heracles commented, his keen senses as a Faunus being enhanced enough for him to clearly see the ancient magi from here whereas Vidar could only spot them through his sixth sense, which could detect mana signatures. They, the Holy Knights, were simply that far away from news station and the ancient magi by extension.
"Good…" Vidar began. "Tell Roman, Neo, and Adam to make their move now. And as for us… it's time to finally settle this."
Getting nods from all of the Holy Knights, they all promptly took off, ready to finally engage the ancient magi.
Meanwhile, with the ancient magi, they all rushed towards the news station with much haste, but not quite at full speed. None of them could afford to attraction any attention from the people now in the streets below as they all pandered about across the rooftops tonight. That and they couldn't' afford to have teams RWBY and JNPR lagging behind them now. Their help would be most appreciated, after all, especially since there was no telling just what could happen now.
"I can't believe they'd do something so brazen!" Takehiko muttered as he kept pace with Daisuke and Yuko. "Up until now, all of their moves had been relatively subtle concerning the world!"
"I guess they finally got tired of staying hidden then…" Yuko replied, a sharp look to her red eyes, clearly just as angered as her friends.
"We're nearly there, everyone," Mari suddenly said. While she was the one lagging behind out of all the ancient magi, keeping pace with team RWBY instead, her incredible eyesight allowed her to see the news station in perfect detail before anyone else could notice. And what she saw made her let out a 'tsk.' "And looks like we're a little late to the party; the police have already gathered around the building."
That statement alone was enough to make them all come to a stop atop a relatively short building just several city blocks away from their destination, which proved to be a smart move on their part as several helicopters now made themselves known, circling around the area with their search lights on.
"They must be looking for any other White Fang forces that could be around," Blake commented with a stone-like frown. Having been a member of the White Fang once upon a time, she was well aware of their tactics and strategies. Doing such brazen things to lure people in then having hidden forces attack from elsewhere was a common one and apparently was one that the police must have been well informed of since there was no other reason why the helicopters would be searching this far out from the news station.
"Alright, spread out everyone," Naruto then said, standing at the forefront of their not so little group. "If we all go in like this, even we'll be seen. Let's avoid that for now."
"When do you think the Holy Knights will show up?" Miki asked from beside her husband, Svafrlami already summoned and in hand. "There's no way they'd just let this guy do the dirty work for them."
"True… hell, they might already be here somewhere," Naruto answered.
As enraged as all of them were by what has occurred, none of them were so blinded by rage that they couldn't see what the Holy Knights were doing.
This takeover of the news station and subsequent revelation of magic to the world was more than just some sort of war declaration. It was no doubt a trap of sorts and this gray haired young man from earlier along with his White Fang helpers were little more than bait to lure them in. Even teams RWBY and JNPR, inexperienced as they are in matters outside of simple fighting for the most part, were able to realize this fact with ease.
That being said, none of them could afford to take any time to hang back and wait and see what happens. Every second that passed by was another second the hostages spent in the company of hostile people that were no doubt itching for a chance to unleash violence.
But even then, none of them could also afford to just waltz in without some kind of plan in mind. So if only for a few minutes, all of them were going to have to hang back.
"So what should we do?" Ruby then asked of anyone there. She tightly gripped Crescent Rose, a worried yet determined look on her young face too. "Anyone have any ideas here?"
It was Ryuichi who spoke. "Since Blake here knows how the White Fang operates, it'll fall to you four to deal with the White Fang once we figure out how to breach without any hassle," he said to team RWBY. He then looked to team JNPR, who returned his gaze expectantly. "Since your abilities are a little more geared for full frontal assault than team RWBY, you'll be expected to act as the vanguard for them and deal with any and all enemy reinforcements that appear."
Jaune, Armor of Fafnir and Balmung equipped, nodded as did the rest of his team. "Got it."
"But just how do we breach?" Daisuke asked, his eyes open as he looked to the news station. He then looked to Naruto. "Say, Nami-yan, think you can just make Ai Space and we run towards the place? You could just deactivate it once we're inside and out of sight of everyone else, yeah?"
"I could do that. We'll just have to worry about whatever the Holy Knights would then try," Naruto said as he began to raise his right hand a bit. He then motioned to Hanako, who'd been standing by his side this entire time in complete silence. "And Hanako here could provide cover fire in case anything happens. Right?"
"Right, Master!" Hanako then said, her usually cheery demeanor completely gone and was instead replaced by a stern and determined aura that made teams RWBY and JNPR silently marvel at how much of a shift this was from her usual self.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Takehiko said. "Let's hurry up and-."
But alas, he was cut off and in a most unexpected way. One second, he was there among them all and the next, he'd disappeared in the form of a brilliant white light.
"Takehi-!" Miki was about to exclaim, only to suddenly disappear as well in a similar manner.
Faster than any of them could even react – not even Naruto had found himself prepared enough to figure out what was going on immediately – all of the ancient magi disappeared in continuous flashes of light that left teams RWBY and JNPR momentarily blinded.
When both teams finally managed to recover, they could only wildly look around them all for any trace of the ancient magi. But alas, they found none.
"W-What just happened?!" Weiss snapped, drawing Myrtenaster.
Likewise, everyone drew their weapons as well, not knowing what to do just now.
As it would turn out just an instant later, they did the right thing to arm themselves.
"Watch out!" Yang yelled as suddenly a magical blast was sent their way suddenly from somewhere to the west of them. In response to her warning, everyone moved in unison, leaping off of the roof just in the nick of time as the magical blast struck it and blew it up.
Landing on the rooftop of another building nearby, both teams looked at the destruction the surprise attack had done. But before they could even begin to assess the situation, a sudden bout of laughter rooted them to their spots.
"Well damn. The guy sure wasn't kidding when he said he'd be upgrading our weapons," Roman remarked as he twirled Melodic Cudgel. Appearing on the building just across from where the teams now were, he grinned at them malevolently. "Looks like this might actually turn out better than I'd thought."
"Torchwick!" Blake hissed, remembering clearly how the man had spoken to her former White Fang comrades at the dock. Although this man and the White Fang may be working together alongside the Holy Knights, his racism had struck a chord deep within the cat Faunus of team RWBY and it irked her further knowing he'd become a pseudo-magus thanks to the Holy Knights.
"Hey there kitty. Red," Roman greeted, nodding briefly to Ruby, who in response silently gripped Crescent Rose a little harder, the normally cheery girl's face wearing an angered expression. "Well, looks like you sure brought back up! Which is really great for you, cause you're really gonna need it."
"Against the likes of you? Hardly!" Weiss scoffed.
"Yeah! We'll break your legs easily!" Nora, hefting Magnhild enthusiastically, exclaimed.
Roman chuckled. "Maybe… but then, I'm not alone now, am I?"
Sensing danger, Blake suddenly had to roll forward, unintentionally separating herself from her teammates in the process. Yang, who'd been closest to her, wasn't as lucky as a second attack knocked her back and almost completely off the roof.
"A-Adam?" Blake whispered as she turned to look upon her attacker just as he proceeded to dodge the counter that both Ruby and Weiss had unleashed in surprise.
"Blake…" the man greeted in a stern voice, now moving back as both Jaune and Pyrrha moved away from Ren and Nora to stand alongside Ruby and Weiss.
But there was another interruption as the sound of breaking glass alerted everyone there to another person's presence.
Almost as if appearing from nowhere, Neo now made herself known by appearing in between Ren and Nora. Then with lightning speed, the still grim faced woman lashed out, striking an unsuspecting Nora in the back of the head with a fierce high kick while simultaneously hitting Ren in his side with her umbrella.
"Ren! Nora!" Jaune cried out as his friends went skidding back, landing near Yang who'd now gotten back up.
"We're… fine!" Ren muttered, wheezing in pain as he and his longtime friend immediately scrambled to their fight.
Immediately, all members of both teams inwardly seethed as they took in the situation they were now in. Roman, Neo, and Adam had all but boxed them in nicely, with the trio forming a loos triangle-like formation around them upon this spacious rooftop. While the teens outnumbered the criminals, the criminals in question made up for the difference in sheer skill and experience. The ancient magi were still nowhere to be found and now they could begin to hear the helicopters approaching their current location, having no doubt seen the results of Roman's surprise attack.
They were in deep trouble.
Nonetheless, both teams wasted no time in huddling together, remaining in a tight circle with them all facing the now motionless trio of criminals, who were in turn sizing up the Beacon students to determine their next move.
"Adam… you've really joined up with the Holy Knights?" Blake then spoke softly, Gambol Shroud clenched tightly in her hands.
Her former comrade nodded gruffly. "That's right. And now with this power, the White Fang will finally be able to achieve its ultimate goal."
"At the expense of countless lives!" Blake retorted angrily.
"Considering your past involvement with us, do you really have the right to say that?" Adam growled in turn, getting ready to draw his blade.
At that, Blake's anger faltered, but only for a second. She raised Gambol Shroud at Adam. "We'll stop you," she declared.
"By all means… try," he retorted, taking up an attack stance.
"Just what did you do to the others?!" Jaune now demanded, pointing Balmung at Roman. Ruby and Pyrrha, standing next to him, did the same.
"Heh, well it wasn't me who did anything…" Roman began as he slowly took several steps forward. He eyed the three teens warily. Ruby and Pyrrha could definitely give him trouble, especially since they were pseudo-magi like him, but Jaune worried him the most, Vidar having gotten him and the others up to date on what Jaune was likely capable of after having been informed by Kalma of what occurred in Burgundy. "But as for where they are now? Let's just say the Holy Knights are finally gonna settle things mano-a-mano."
The eyes of everyone listening to him went wide. And just as the shock struck them, Roman and his two fellow criminals went on the attack, capitalizing on the momentary emotion.
The battles had finally begun.
And within the Robotics Spaces of the Holy Knights, the battles between them and the ancient magi were about to begin as well.
"Just what is this we have here?" Ryuichi spoke as he settled into a combat stance.
All around him appeared to be a massive cave of sorts with absolutely no openings to let in any kind of sunlight, assuming there was even a sun within this other dimension. However, light still existed here, in the form of bright golden crystals that seemed to be growing all throughout the cave.
"Robotics Space," answered his opponent, Indra, who held Vajra tightly in his hands. "A place where we can truly afford to go all out. I hope you're ready too, because that's exactly what I plan to do."
Ryuichi's eyes narrowed. "And what about my friends?" he asked.
"Oh don't worry," Indra said, trying to sound bold in the face of his nervousness. "You'll be seeing them on the other side soon enough."
Silence fell upon them both for a second. And then, they both moved.
In another Robotics Space, Hanako and Yuko found themselves within a wondrous forest, almost like something out of a fantasy novel. It appeared to be nighttime, but the moon so far above them within this created space shined brightly, illuminating the entire area and bathing the massive blue colored trees in its light. Rather than bearing green leaves or bristles like normal trees, they sported pink ones that so vaguely resembled sakura trees from long ago.
What really surprised them though was that there appeared to be forms of wildlife here, creatures that they've yet to catch a full glimpse of running about. But the few looks they've gotten so far was enough to tell Hanako and Yuko that they too weren't normal, appearing to be bastardized versions of animals that exist in the real world.
But as beautiful as everything looked, the very atmosphere of this place hinted at something far darker than what it'd look like to the unobservant.
"Is this… a created space? Like what Naruto can do?" Yuko asked Hanako as she silently summoned Overload.
"It would seem so, Yuko-chan," Hanako muttered back, dressed in her battle robes. She calmly scanned the surrounding area, looking for anything or anyone that was about to attack them, only to find none. "Keep on your toes."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Yuko replied.
From afar, so far away that not even Hanako for all of her senses could detect, both Kalma and Surma watched. "There they are…" Kalma said solemnly. Looks like it truly was time to fight, a fact that pained her greatly. Her only solace was that Jaune wasn't around to see this.
From beside her, Surma softly gazed at its diminutive master before bowing down to nuzzle the side of her face. It was almost funny given the size difference between them, Surma's snout being almost as big as Kalma's entire head. But Kalma simply smiled softly and patted Surma's face. "It's time, Surma…" she began.
Sighing, she steeled herself. She then pointed to where Hanako and Yuko were at. "Go get them."
Growling in response, Surma sprung forth, rushing into the forest. It was time for it to hunt once more.
As for the fifth seat, Lugh, the man calmly hefted Areadbhar over his shoulder within the massive confines of his Robotics Space. Stoically, he eyed his chosen opponent without ever breaking his expression.
Even when she was clearly finding something amusing about all this.
"Oh my," Masami said, laughing lightly. "When I imagined fighting a Holy Knight, my thoughts had been including my friends at the time. I never would've thought I'd be isolated like this." She giggled a little.
Lugh remained unaffected, however, and proceeded to point his Relic at Masami. "Are you done?"
"Perhaps," Masami replied airily, looking around his Robotics Space and taking note of the massive trees, which surpassed even the ones found near Burgundy in sheer height and overall size. "I must say, this place certainly seems constricting."
"Which is quite perfect for me. And quite bad for you," Lugh remarked as he took up a combat stance. He eyed Masami almost harshly, as if daring her to make the first move. It was something he'd honestly been waiting for; when he'd first dragged her into here, he'd intended to strike her immediately during her shock, to take advantage and possibly strike her down before she could react. But he'd held back on that, having suddenly been overcome with the feeling that doing so would've been a bad move.
Masami in turn, seemed unaffected by his words and smiled at him. "It's not good to talk so arrogantly," she remarked, folding her arms under her breasts.
Lugh's grip tightened ever so slightly. Looking at Masami's arms, he could see the evening gloves she wore. She'd equipped Stringload, but just when had she done so? He hadn't seen her call forth her magical weapon at all. And just where were the strings? "How so?" he asked of her a moment later.
Masami laughed lightly again, but this time it had a more deadly quality to it. "Because you're years too early to even speak in such a tone."
"Tch!" Lugh leapt as far to his left as he could manage, just in time to barely see a thin red blur lash out and slice up the ground he'd been standing upon as well as a few of the trees that had been particularly close to him, the thickness of said trees having been completely unable to do much resisting against the sudden attack.
"Such good reactions. Your combat instincts are exceptional as well; you intuitively jumped just outside the range of my attack," Masami commented, a predatory gleam in her eyes as she slowly took a few steps forward. For the briefest of seconds, the strings of her magical weapon pulsed, making themselves visible to Lugh's eyes. "Now let's see just how well you're really able to do."
Lugh gritted his teeth in nervousness as Masami readied herself. Perhaps he'd chosen the wrong opponent.
In the Robotics Space of the fourth seat, Daisuke had found himself immediately having to dodge a myriad of dangers, both from his opponent and from the environment itself.
"Whoa there.~" He commented almost lazily as he leapt to avoid a fire attack in the form of a bird. "That could've really burned, ya know?"
Landing on his feet, he eyed his foe with seemingly no worry.
"Hmph, you're certainly good at running," Cinder snarked as she rushed forward from where she'd previously been standing, swinging her Relic at him.
With a practiced ease, Daisuke leaned back, avoiding the blade by a mere inch before finally leaping back. But his foe remained undeterred and followed after him, unleashing one strike after another at him, forcing him to dodge more frequently and more wildly.
Finally, he saw an opening in her stance and kicked her as hard as he could managed, knocking her back several dozen meters, but Cinder remained on her feet even as she skidded back.
"Hmm, those eyes of yours are gonna give me trouble," Daisuke muttered as he looked at Cinder's Sharingan eyes. Needless to say, he'd been more than a little surprised when she'd immediately activated the Sharingan following his being pulled into this space, but he'd been able to shrug off the shock until now.
As far as he knew, there was never a case of the Uchiha's lineage suffering from anyone having their eyes ripped out or anything, which meant two things. That somehow, the Holy Knights were simply able to replicate the eyes via magic… or that his opponent here was actually descended from the Uchihas. Daisuke was strongly inclined to believe the latter given Cinder's natural flair for using them. Although he'd made his dodges look casual enough, it'd taken increasingly more effort to avoid her sword swings and fireballs as her Sharingan allowed her to track all of his movements. The only way to get around such a thing would then be for him to use Field Changer.
However, therein lied a problem: the environment.
Currently, he and Cinder appeared to be battling it out in a gigantic volcano of sorts, semi-inactive. He thought 'semi' because while there wasn't any lava flowing anywhere, the ground would rumble every now and then and extremely pressurized steam would release with enough heat to boil even the most durable of magi. And given the very nature of this space, Daisuke was almost certain that it would damage even his magical weapon. That was something he could afford risking as of now, not when he couldn't be fully sure about how this environment truly works.
Unfortunately, it seems like Cinder realized this too. "Afraid your magical weapon might get destroyed? I'd feel the same way in your position. Fortunately… I don't have to worry about that at all…" Cinder mocked ominously as the tomoes in her eyes spun furiously. Enrapturing her body, mana circled all around her as she prepared her next attack.
And it looked like it was going to be a big one.
Chuckling weakly, Daisuke retaliated verbally. "Oh boy…"
This was gonna suck.
In the Robotics Space of the third seat, Takehiko was genuinely trying his hardest to keep the very space around him from crushing him like a tin can. "'Revert!'" he commanded, King's Scripture at his very side, his conceptual magic immediately taking effect in trying to undo the space's current condition.
To his great shock and mounting frustration, it was barely working. What made it worse was that he couldn't fathom why.
"Impossible… only conceptual magic of a great magnitude can overcome my own. I can sense the overall strength that is holding this space together and it is weaker than my own magic… so how is it that I'm struggling so much?!" he thought as he poured more mana into King's Scripture.
The entire space around him looked vaguely like some grand castle, the kind that children would see or at least read about in tales of knights and princesses and kingdoms. But this resemblance was a vague one at best, the entire space appearing hazy and surreal looking, like some kind of painting almost.
With a grunt of effort, the space immediately around Takehiko finally returned to normal, leaving the ancient magi with but a moment's reprieve before it began to act up again. "'Destroy!'" He commanded of his magical weapon and in response, a wave of sheer conceptual magic was unleashed, shattering the very space around him for miles on end.
Only for the space to suddenly be restored.
"What?!" Takehiko's eyes went wide and he actually went on the move, leaping back multiple times to put some distance between himself and the spatial distortion, which attempted to follow after him.
Making an ungentlemanly sound, Takehiko placed a hand firmly onto the current page of King's Scripture.
His unseen foe wanted to battle it out like this? Fine, he could do the same too.
From afar, hidden behind a layer of conceptual magic that currently function as a cloak of invisibility, Morgan watched Takehiko's struggle. And in doing so, she found herself feeling somewhat relieved.
She honestly didn't know whether or not her mastery over concept magic would be able to match up against Loki's own or not. However, it'd seem that so far, she wouldn't have too much to worry about.
For this was an advantage that her Robotics Space bestowed upon her. Being essentially a sort of extension of her own magic, the entire space can and will bend to her will at the drop of a hat. Whereas Takehiko had to used King's Scripture to produce and control conceptual magic, conceptual magic was available to her from the get-go, allowing her to resist and outright crush his attacks before they can fully build up their power from his commands.
"And here, I won't have to worry about meeting Jaune…" she thought. For a few seconds, she couldn't help but wonder just how her brother and his friends were fairing against the trio of criminals and the White Fang.
Allowing her thoughts to wander, though, proved to be a mistake; without warning, the layer of conceptual magic that kept her hidden from sight was suddenly fizzled out and left her exposed to Takehiko's eyes.
"W-What?!" she exclaimed in shock, her Book of Magic, hovering at her side, momentarily faltering as her concentration upon it broke.
Takehiko smirked haughtily. He'd used his magical weapon to target any other forms of conceptual magic that weren't immediately being aimed at him. He'd been right to do so, for it had destroyed his enemy's little wall.
"Found you," he said to Morgan. Pointing at the young woman, King's Scripture glowed brightly. And in doing so, the ancient magus launched his counter attack.
As for the combatants within the first seat's Robotics Space, their battle was already truly underway.
Fiercely, Miki and Heracles clashed, Svafrlami against Nemean Cestus. Blade and gauntlets struck each violently and with enough power behind each blow to split islands in two. Truly, these two possessed physical might well beyond that of their comrades for the most part.
Furthermore, neither combatant gave way, never giving or gaining an inch of ground between them.
Not that there was much ground to be gained anyway.
Heracles' Robotics Space took the form of a coliseum, grand in height and overall scale, but severely lacking in actual battle space, with scarcely enough room for several Bullheads to safely land in. While this would sound like a fair bit of room to the average person, to warriors such as the ancient magi and the Holy Knights, they might as well be fighting in a single person bedroom.
But in spite of the lack of space, Mari, who'd been dragged into this space alongside Miki, tried to make the most of it.
With almost angelic grace, the bow user flitted from one part of the coliseum to another, peppering Heracles with explosive mana arrows at every chance she got, masterfully aiming at every opening she could find. Miki aided her in this endeavor by purposely deflecting or parrying their much larger foe's strikes so that there'd be openings for her to take advantage of.
But alas, Heracles' Relic was proving to be too irksome for Mari to do much about. Its ability to mostly negate magic was simply ridiculous, greatly diminishing the attack power behind her explosive arrows. Even when she ended up switching to drilling mana arrows, said magical creations barely made a nick in Heracles' skin.
All the while, the man laughed joyously. "Now this is what I'd been waiting for!" he roared in glee as he deflected Svafrlami and retaliated with a devastating right hook to Miki's now expose midsection.
The blow impacted with tremendous force, enough to outright shatter an island with ease. And yet Miki barely staggered back, a testament to her body's toughness. And with nary a word spoken, Miki simply leapt and with both hands swung Svafrlami down.
Just barely, Heracles was able to raise his arm in time to block the downward swing, but his arm lurched greatly under Miki's great strength and the ground cratered under the lion Faunus.
"Mrrm! Your strength is unreal!" Heracles complimented, a wild grin on his face upon discovering that his one arm wasn't strong enough to even push back against Miki's two.
Miki retracted the blade and swung again, this aiming for the man's stomach. But to her frustration, Heracles was able to actually catch her magical weapon between his knee and forearm, stopping the blade cold just as it'd been about to connect. But she didn't let this deter her one bit. "Mari!"
"Say no more!" Mari created another arrow, one made of light blue mana this time and fired it directly at Heracles' left eye. While this arrow was one not made to do any damage, it was made to create a blinding light upon impact. And since Heracles, as an enhanced Faunus, had great eyesight, the effect proved to be most pleasing to both women.
Howling in shock and pain from the sheer brightness of the light that originated from point blank range, Heracles' grip on Miki's magical weapon faltered enough for her to pull it free without issue before she got in close and proceeded to punch the man hard in the side of his mouth.
Heracles, taken completely off guard, sailed back, smashing into the wall and right through with the speed of a bullet train.
Miki immediately gave chase, with Mari positioning herself just up against the opposite wall in order to cover her…
Only for the first seat to immediately come barreling out of the hole.
Violently screaming, Heracles charged with surprising speed at Miki and swung his left fist at the side of her head. Gracefully, Miki raised Svafrlami up, the flat side of it smacking into Heracles' arm from below just hard enough to move his entire arm a few inches up, enough for Miki to tilt her head without worry to avoid being grazed. Twirling with all the grace of a ballerina, Miki then swung directly upwards as she got within Heracles' personal area, being now too close for him to even try to attack her.
Swinging upwards with all her might, Miki was rewarded with her blade drawing blood, slashing a few inches into the man's skin, resulting in a gash that started near his lower abdomen and ending at just halfway up his chest.
Rather than react in pain, the first seat all but howled with delight. It's been ages since he's fought someone that could wound him at all, let alone like this. So unaffected by the wound, he instead brought his right fist down into Miki's left shoulder. The single handed hammer fist proved to be so mighty that Miki was actually forced to a knee, the ground breaking apart under her feet as the entire coliseum shook violently from the force.
"Ngh!" Miki hissed in pain, but otherwise showed no reaction. Gripping Svafrlami tightly, she took advantage of her forcibly lowered position to swing it at the man's knees.
Heracles leapt back a few feet to avoid the swing and couldn't help but laugh like a child on Christmas morning. "This is truly splendid! I've never fought someone as strong or as tough as you before!"
"I owe it all to my training. And to Mari," Miki replied stoically as she stood back up, Mari off several yards behind her with her magical weapon aimed at Heracles.
If this bothered said man, he didn't show it. "I can tell. Your muscled body can only be the result of many years of training and battle. Ha, I can't help but admire you! And your friend too has provided excellent support! I can count on just one hand the number of shots she's made that I could've actually been able to avoid!" Heracles all but exclaimed, heaping praise upon praise upon his two opponents.
But then, his jubilant smile waned. "Which makes this entire situation so much more depressing; by tonight's end, only one side will be walking away alive. And should that be myself and my comrades, I'll miss fighting you two."
"How very kind of you," Miki muttered. She raised Svafrlami, the tip pointed threateningly at Heracles. "But after everything you and your 'comrades' have done to my friends and to others… I'm sorry, but the ones walking away alive won't be you!"
Heracles' face now lost all traces of excitement and humor. "Hmm, you truly think the world is better off not knowing about the existence of magic, huh?"
"That's right," Mari now spoke. "At least for now. I mean, after all… if the world can't even handle peaceful coexistence between humans and Faunus, you really think society at large would be able to accept magic and magi that easily?"
Heracles chuckled, surprisingly softly. "Maybe so, but even then… my captain wouldn't allow such pettiness to exist within our new world."
"Your 'new world' is a twisted one," Miki remarked with her eyes narrowing dangerously. "It may be rooted in altruistic ideals, but your methods are wrong and that in turn is just twisting whatever goodness there was in your goal."
"Ha, we agree to disagree," Heracles commented. He slowly took up an attack stance. "Now as much as I'd wish to continue this battle to my heart's content, I can't really afford that now. Our new world must come soon! So I do hope you two are now ready to truly go all out because that is exactly what I'm planning to do now!"
With every word he spoke, mana began to envelop him, mana so bright that it was like looking directly at a miniature sun.
"No need to tell us twice…" Miki muttered.
Without much effort on her part, she immediately called upon her mana silently to enter her Sacredwaltz form. Golden-white mana covered her for the briefest of instances before it faded away marginally to reveal her form. Her hair was a heavenly white in color now and Svafrlami brimmed with unfathomable power, mana all but cascading out of it and its wielder like water.
Heracles laughed at the sight before him, the first seat basking in the power of Miki. But he wasn't simply standing idle either. "Overbooster, activate!" he then commanded.
Golden mana burst forth from his body and surged into his Relic, the Nemean Cestus responding to the sudden influx of power it was receiving as every single last drop of mana from within Heracles was unleashed.
And as a light immediately enveloped him, Heracles grinned madly.
This was going to be so much fun.
As for the final two combatants in this 'war,' they were currently standing little more than ten yards away from one another, gazing at one another to determine if a move would soon be made.
"Welcome, Fenrir," Vidar then said, stretching out his arms to indicate the space all around him. "Does my Robotics Space perhaps ring any bells for you?"
Naruto, his face betraying no emotion, was inwardly shocked. In addition to suddenly being dragged into this strange space, he found himself almost emotionally overwhelmed by what he was seeing here.
During her time alive, Katsumi had taken more than a little of her time telling tales of her past to Naruto and his friends, regaling them with all of the scientific studies and experiments she'd been involved in, the friendships she'd formed with her fellow magi/scientists within Voluspa. And so it had come all but naturally to the deceased magus to describe to them in great detail just what sort of environment her former lab was.
And that former lab of hers was what he was now gazing at.
"…You're a member of Voluspa," Naruto eventually replied, his voice sounding remarkably calm and steady in spite of his shock. And how could he not be so shaken? There was no way such a space could be modeled so perfectly after something that existed so long ago without its creator having at least been there all those centuries back. "A former member, that is."
"Correct." Vidar nodded at Naruto's words.
"Just how can you still be alive?" Naruto demanded. If this man truly was a former member of that long since destroyed group, then he should be in the same age range as Katsumi, who passed away just years ago. So just how can he still be alive now whereas Katsumi had passed on from old age? "I doubt you were simply blessed with a long life span. And just why are you doing all of this?"
"I lived this long thanks to many years of self-experimentation," Vidar responded. "As for why I'm doing this, I believe you already know why: a new world."
"One where magic is known to all… Do you have any idea just how insane that is?!" Naruto was now growling, his fists clenching more and more tightly with every word he spoke. "Humans and Faunus can barely tolerate each other collectively and now you want to try introducing magic and magi to them?! You'll be starting a witch hunt! Or even worse, another Fimbulvinter War!"
Vidar actually snorted, an unusual action for him, even after having been so greatly changed by his Dust/biju chakra mixture. "To think you'd use a war you weren't even a part of to justify staying hidden for so long… how infuriating." He took a few steps forward. "I was right to talk with you first before even thinking of fighting; I've wanted to get this off my chest, to be honest."
He pointed a finger at Naruto. "Fenrir, you know nothing of the Fimbulvinter War. That goes for your comrades as well. I, on the other hand, actually lived through it and can therefore say that while it was truly a horrific war, it also opened my eyes to things…"
"Such as what?" Naruto replied, tensing up a bit. For reasons he couldn't immediately discern, the sheer presence of the man before him felt completely unnatural. It was clear this man was a natural born magi, not an artificially made one like the other Holy Knights, but even then, he felt unbelievably different from what could be considered the norm. And whatever this difference was, it was enough to make even him feel on edge.
This man, clearly the Holy Knights' leader, was a threat.
"It opened my eyes to just how much magic can truly change everything." Vidar said this as if it were a fact of sorts, that magic does change everything. "With magic, one can accomplish many things, terrible things… but also great things. With my own two eyes, I bore witness to the feats that others wielding magic could accomplish, including shinobi that had turned out to be magi all but waiting to be awakened. With my own two eyes, I saw from a distance the power that Tatsuya – your progenitor – had at his command. And it was simply a breathtaking sight. All of that power… all of that power capable of so much destruction… but to that same token, it could do so much more than just bring destruction."
Vidar paused, sighing. Naruto noticed his hands clenching into tight fists, shaking slightly. "And in seeing this, I could think just how much good could be achieved if perhaps the collective charade we magi put up was finally brought down, magic exposed to the world at large. Can you even think of such a thing, Fenrir? With magic, we could accomplish so much, save so many lives, improve lives even… and yet for so many centuries, this veil that was created so long ago remained intact… and all thanks to you and your friends." Vidar glared fiercely at Naruto, his eyes all but burning the ultimate magus.
"Us?" Naruto questioned, eyebrows quirked. He hid it well, but he was feeling both confused and angered by Vidar's words. To him, Vidar was clearly delusional. He will admit that the man did raise a few good point about how magic could do much good, but he clearly wasn't taking into consideration just how many people there are out there who would use magic for anything but 'good,' as cynical as that sounded. "Just what do you mean?"
"Although you and your fellow ancient magi remain hidden, there are other magi out there who throughout the ages seemed almost instinctively aware of your existence. And perhaps because of this instinctive feeling, they follow your lead in remaining hidden as well. Just think; over all the centuries we've been alive, just how many magi had ever tried to bring public attention to themselves or magi in general?"
At that, Naruto winced a bit at the thought. For the answer to that question was zero.
This was something Vidar appeared to notice. "You see? Magi have been 'tamed' for so long, that the need to be so secretive had become all but a gene to be passed on. And you and your comrades act as a sort of unconscious group of role models for other magi to follow, never once stepping a toe out of line, never once even testing the boundaries that had become so invisible to them." Vidar, having been wearing his mask this entire time, finally discarded it, crushing it into pieces effortlessly after he pulled it off. So with his youthful facial features exposed, his glare pierced Naruto in full. "Even if I and my Holy Knights had left you alone, you still would've been far too big an obstacle to ignore. Therefore, you must be killed."
"…Do you have any idea just how fucking crazy you sound?" Naruto eventually said, finally able to collect his thoughts. He was unfazed by Vidar's glare and responded with one of his own, mana slowly pouring out from him and washing over the very space around him. "I have so much shit to say now that it's almost funny, but let's just keep things short and simple. Starting with my response to what you just said!"
Taking a step forward with enough mana pouring out of him to shake Robotics Space, Naruto gestured to himself. "You really think my friends and I are responsible for magi being hidden still? Just how exactly did you come to that grand conclusion, huh? Staying hidden is common sense, you dunce! Especially when it isn't that hard to consider just how well society at large would react to magic! Even if they didn't realize magic for what it is, you really think people would just accept the idea of others having such power at their command?! Like hell they would!"
Naruto pointed a finger at Vidar now, even going as far as to mimic his posture from before too. "And here's a little question or three for you: even if my friends and I never personally experienced the Fimbulvinter War, do you really think we don't know just what war can really cause? Do you really think that we can in turn affect what other magi do? Or even more importantly…" Naruto's gaze narrowed. "If you truly do believe magic can do so much good, then why haven't you done anything to help the world yet? Have you used magic to cure all diseases? Have you used it to fix the environment or make people live longer and healthier lives?"
With every additional question Naruto tacked onto the end of the third main one, Vidar almost physically reeled. But he was undeterred and responded with surprising quickness. "Why haven't you done the same then?" he retorted, taking several steps forward. "You are but a god in all but actual name, Fenrir! You have the power to undo anything! You have Tatsuya's abilities at your disposal as well, so you could use it to create better bodies for the physically ill or create bigger spaces for the ever growing population! With the power of 'law,' you could all but stop crime every where! With 'power,' you can achieve virtually anything! So just what have you done other than remain neutral in the grand scheme of things?"
"Because the last thing the world needs is someone screwing around with its order!" Naruto immediately retaliated, taking several steps forward as well. The two of them now walking with increasing speed, the distance between the two magi was shortening with every passing second. "If you're thinking that I, and by extension my friends and all other magi, are cold hearted or something, then you're wrong. We care plenty for the world and everyone in it! But that doesn't mean we have the right to just waltz around, doing what we think is best with our abilities. And if everyone alive is to truly grow and become better people, forcing magic onto them and forcing them to likewise change isn't going to work one single fucking bit!" Naruto growled out in a low voice.
"And sitting idly by will eventually change anything?" Vidar remarked as he approached, his body tense and ready to fight as the distance grew shorter and shorter. "You and the others may engage in small acts of kindness every now and then – I've kept my eyes on you lot long enough to know that as well – but do you really think such small and meager acts of helpfulness will eventually add up to something greater? That won't happen, not in a thousand years! If change is to truly happen, then it must happen now and it must be done by man's own hands rather than nature's course."
"Better a thousand years from now than never," Naruto responded almost simply. "Never once did I or my friends believe people won't change, but it's going to take a lot of damn time before the world is truly ready for magic. And if you think for even a second that we'll just stand around while you try anything, then you're in for a world of hurt!"
The distance between them had now been fully closed, with each combatant within arms' reach of one another. Mana flared from both of them, Naruto's ocean blue colored mana clashing violently with Vidar's odd multi-colored one, the very clash distorting the air between them.
"I'd hoped to have a civil discussion just prior to our battle," Vidar remarked. "But it looks like such a thing was impossible."
"You gave up on civility the moment you even thought up this scheme of yours," Naruto retorted. "Now are you going to fight now or what?"
Silence fell between them. And then an instant later, they both moved.
The final battle had finally begun.
As you can tell, this chapter was meant to simply set up the battles. From now on, however, the chapters will genuinely be focusing on the battles themselves. That being said, due to the sheer number of battles taking place, I'll be trying to focus on only one or two fights per chapter so that it doesn't become too chaotic for you guys to read, though if I can find a way to make a chapter concerning three fights or more work, then I'll go for it.
Until next time then, everyone! Take care!