Sorry for making you wait, guys; work and a few other personal things kept me from starting this chapter for about 4-5 days. Hopefully, this slight delay won't occur again because I really want to try and finish this fic before the year is up.

Not much to really say aside from that. Wait, except that the anime version of One-Punch Man and Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry are both turning out to be excellent! I can only imagine how well the final episodes for both will play out in terms of adherence to the source and the overall quality.

Now onto the chapter.

Chapter 43

Her final attack having killed the fifth seat Lugh, Masami was released from the now deceased Holy Knight's Robotics Space and in turn appeared back in the real world.

In all honesty on her part, she'd originally intended to go check on the situation back in Vale, to see how things were going for teams RWBY and JNPR and also to see if any of her friends had been able to return to Remnant as well. But instead, she'd quickly retreated to Beacon Academy, having been overcome by a most uneasy feeling upon arrival.

And it looks like her feeling wasn't unfounded.

"Oh my…" she said airily, the normally composed woman looking genuinely shocked and just a tad bit horrified as she was shown to the academy's infirmary by Ozpin to see Takehiko. The man's all but literally charred body was lying upon a nearby bed in the room, having been changed out of his clothes and into a hospital gown.

"First time… you've looked so utterly shocked…" Takehiko wheezed out slowly, the damage he'd taken from Morgan's final attack healing at a slower pace than he'd usually recover at, which spoke volumes of the power of the Holy Knight's attack.

"Well… you do look horrible," Masami replied as she regained her calm, trying to sound as if she was telling a mild joke as she approached the man's bed, Ozpin at her side in silence.

Takehiko simply grunted. "I was unable to win… Daisuke is keeping the two busy right now though."

Masami nodded, much more pleased by that than anything else right now. For although Daisuke may not exactly be a true frontline fighter, especially with his magical weapon, the sheer open space he had available to him now on top of whatever damage had already been inflicted upon the two Holy Knights should sway things considerably in his favor if he was careful.

But even then…

"Should I go and lend him some help?" Masami asked aloud to no one in particular.

And yet, Ozpin decided to answer. "As much as I'd like to say 'please do,' I don't think it would be a wise move."

Both Takehiko and Masami looked to him, questioningly. Takehiko in particular appeared to be glaring at the headmaster of Beacon, albeit weakly. "Care to explain yourself?" he demanded.

Ozpin grimaced, but obliged the ancient magi. "While Daisuke would definitely have much to gain from help, there is still no telling what is going on with the others. And while I hate to think things like this, on the off chance that any of the others have already lost, another Holy Knight or two could already be heading to Vale or to here to do God knows what. And while I have complete confidence in the abilities of myself and my staff… we're not quite on your level to be properly defend ourselves."

Takehiko winced slightly. Masami hummed quietly. Both saw Ozpin's point. It was perhaps a bit on the callous side of things, to all but outright wish for Daisuke to continue fighting on his own, but alas, it was on the realistic side. After all, although the others were powerful, there is no telling just how battles can go sometimes. And while Masami could certainly rush to Vale to aid the others, if one or both of the Holy Knights Daisuke was fighting – or any of the other Holy Knights, really – somehow managed to slip past him and come here to the academy, there'd be no stopping them if Masami wasn't here to ward them off. As things still stand, Takehiko was in no condition to continue fighting and no one else here has power or skill great enough to keep such potential foes at bay.

These were all facts that both of the ancient magi there immediately realized after hearing Ozpin out. And as it would be expected, it didn't sit well with them. "Damn it all…" Takehiko muttered as he looked up to the ceiling, trying to hold back a hiss of pain as his wounds flared up a bit.

Masami merely folded her arms under her well-endowed breasts, a frown marring her beautiful face. "Hmm, a valid point, I'm afraid to admit…" She conceded this without much trouble in spite of her clear dissatisfaction. A moment later, she sighed and schooled her expression into a much more neutral state. "Very well, I'll stay here for the time being. But if I sense Daisuke's life is at risk, I will be going to help," she declared in a firm voice, all traces of her usual playfulness gone. Even when most of her mana had been expended in defeating Lugh, she'd march off to battle yet again if such a thing was called for.

This was something that Ozpin took note of and nodded in agreement. "Fair enough." Then the headmaster's expression looked almost pained. "Then please stay here for now. I'm sure Takehiko here could use some company," he said as he turned to walk out of the room.

"And just where are you off to now?" Takehiko asked of the man, his voice no longer sounding as raspy as before. Breathing hurt less for him too, showing that his regeneration may be picking up a bit in speed.

Ozpin sighed. "Due to the current situation, I have both the council and James breathing down my neck, demanding action." His grip on his omnipresent coffee mug tightened just a bit more. "I've been trying to keep them as calm as I can manage for now, but it's tough work… I just pray they won't try and interfere in these battles; doing so would only put their soldiers and others at grave risk."

Both magi nodded grimly. It was far from unexpected for the council and especially James Ironwood to want to do something about this situation, but alas, bringing in military forces would only cause the casualty number to jump up rapidly. Even if sheer numbers and military tactics succeeded in taking down a Holy Knight or two, the price for such a victory would be far too high for anyone to find it acceptable.

"Then good luck keeping them on a leash," Takehiko growled out at Ozpin.

In turn, Ozpin allowed himself a slight chuckle, releasing some of the tension in his body. Then without another word, he left. He may not be a fighter in this miniature war taking place, but even then, he had to do his part. He just hoped the Holy Knights will be defeated for good before anything else could happen.

Meanwhile, in a deserted spot between Forever Fall and Vale itself, Daisuke was locked in a fierce battle with both Cinder and Morgan, the fourth and third seat respectively. And he was putting up an amazing battle thus far.

Despite being outnumbered two to one, Daisuke all but literally had them both on the ropes as he abused his magical weapon's ability to teleport against them. Whenever Cinder tried to launch a flame attack from a distance, he'd simply teleport her to a location high up in the sky by having one of his orbs smash into her from her side or behind. As for Morgan, although the third seat's overbooster was still in effect, being here in the real world meant that she no longer had an abundance of concept magic waiting to be used. This in turn meant that any actions on her part with her Relic would take but a fraction of a nanosecond to take effect and that was all the time Daisuke would need to get out of the attack's area of effect and counter. And unlike her compatriot, Morgan wasn't one for a physical confrontation, leaving her speed and reflexes low enough for Daisuke to have no trouble in teleporting towards her and attacking up close.

Morgan grunted loudly when Daisuke punched her hard in the jaw before kicking her in the side right afterwards. Morgan went tumbling almost comically across the ground, her elegant dress getting slightly torn up and dirty in the process.

She immediately tried to get up though and to her credit, she did so at a good speed. The only aspect of her ancient bloodline that she could she truly exhibited was sheer physical toughness, demonstrated by Daisuke's bone shattering blows only succeeding in draw blood and little more.

"Heh, aren't you a tough little missy," the ancient magus commented dryly. He moved from his spot upon sensing a disturbance in the air around him.

He was right to do so as the space he'd once occupied distorted into a black abyss. From meters away from him, Morgan grimaced as her Book of Spells glowed brightly in front of her. "You… talk a lot."

"Many would call that my charm point," Daisuke retorted calmly. "Not that I really care what you and your pal still in free fall think." His eyes narrowed. "You nearly killed a good pal of mine. Even if none of the shit you and your group had pulled didn't happen, I'd kick your ass across Remnant just for nearly killing him."

Morgan winced, both at the pain she still felt and at the sheer fierceness in Daisuke's voice. "Then by all means try," she boasted, hoping to sound confident.

"Oh, I'll try all right…" Daisuke muttered. He prepared his next attack – only to have to dodge as Cinder finally closed in from her fall up above. Swinging her Relic at the magus, she nearly succeeded in bisecting his head, only missing by a mere inch as her opponent swayed to the side to avoid it.

Daisuke then back flipped to also avoid the fourth seat's follow up, which came in the form of a massive slice that split open the ground. As his back flip came to an end, Morgan tried to attack as well, using her Book of Spells to make the very ground before her weaken and crumble upon even the slightest bit of contact with anything else.

Sure enough, as Daisuke landed feet first on the ground, it gave way beneath him and he lost his balance as he nearly ended up falling into the forming pit. Cinder unleashed her Flame Haze Break, hoping to blow him to pieces now that his balance was broken and he was rooted to the spot. Unfortunately for her, Daisuke wasted no time in using one orb he had hidden on his person to teleport out of the attack's range and the off the ground, leaving himself a mile up in the sky.

He watched as Cinder's eyes immediately looked up to where he was at and he let out a somewhat tired growl. The fourth seat was beginning to annoy him with how she could track him. Time to make them back up a bit before anything else could be thrown at him.

All of his orbs responded to his will now and coalesced into a lance-like formation, brimming with mana in an instant. "Scatter Lance!" Daisuke exclaimed as he launched his one true attack magical ability. He was honestly taking a bit of a risk since all of his orbs had to be used for the move, though the trade-off was that he'd been able to hone the formation speed over the centuries.

As a result, his two foes were caught off guard by the suddenness of his ultimate move, but not enough to actually be struck by it; they both leapt back a fair distance to avoid its trajectory. Alas, this was something Daisuke had somewhat anticipated, so he'd opted to show off yet another thing he'd been holding back for a while.

"Alter!" he yelled.

Alter, a new magical ability of sorts that he'd developed to use with Scatter Lance. It was a simple ability in theory and even in practice, though something of a misnomer. What Alter did was essentially force his Scatter Lance to instantly come to end, teleport to a different location and then reform immediately and launch itself at its target again.

As a result of this, neither Morgan nor Cinder were prepared to suddenly see the attack simply disappear from view just as it was about to strike the ground…

…Only for it to essentially reappear mere inches away from Cinder's face.

"Wha?!" Cinder actually cried out in genuine confusion and shock as this occurred. It was only thanks to years of training and actual combat that she was able to remain calm enough to react accordingly, instinctively duck under the widespread yet thin formation.

As for Morgan, she erected a barrier in front of her using her Book of Spells, hoping that it would take the hit for her.

Only for Daisuke to use Alter again. "Alter!" he said, gasping slightly. While he'd refined his Scatter Lance ability, it still taxed his mana reserves considerably and forcibly making it end and reform elsewhere was something else that added to his growing exhaustion. As things now stood, he could perhaps only use Alter three more times before his mana ran dry.

But thankfully for him, that was something he didn't have to worry about too much; for his second use of Alter caused Scatter Lance to appear from the ground at a diagonal angle aiming upwards right at Cinder's ducked form.

Eyes widening and Sharingan tomoes spinning wildly, Cinder leapt back yet again, unleashing a wave of fire at it in the hopes of it taking the hit for her. When the flames dispersed from merely coming into contact with the intense mana the Field Changer orbs radiated, she gritted her teeth and actually grabbed hold of Morgan as she jumped back yet again and as hard as she could, hoping to put some distance between her and the deadly attack. She'd have jumped to the side, but she didn't want to risk the attack reforming elsewhere in the midst of her lateral maneuver, where responding in time would be much more difficult to pull off.

But she didn't end up moving as far back as she'd have liked; her overbooster was finally beginning to reach its end, her mana almost entirely used up and soon the physical boost it gave her would vanish along with it. Nonetheless, she still had enough strength left to cover some distance, moving as far away from Scatter Lance and Daisuke as possible.

Which is what Daisuke had wanted.

Having constantly kept the two Holy Knights on the move in more or less the same direction, the ancient magus had led them by the nose closer to Vale than they'd probably thought, only being a mile or so away from the city now.

And now Daisuke intended on knocking them into the city. Sensing Cinder's mana about to fully run dry, he wouldn't have to worry much about the woman using her powerful flames to put anyone or anything in harm's way.

So having anticipated Cinder's jump path, Daisuke had little trouble in dashing through the trees of Forever Fall and getting around to her while her attention was still focused on his magical attack. Although tired from all of the mana he'd expended thus far, Daisuke still had more than enough stamina left in him to launch a surprise attack, grabbing both Cinder and Morgan in mid-jump from behind and using their momentum to bend backwards and throw them clear into the sky.

Immediately calling for his magical attack to end, the magus then summoned his orbs to him and used them to teleport after the two airborne women, just in the nick of time to see them cross the rest of the distance and reach Vale.

"Prepare for a rough landing!" Daisuke said almost jokingly as he performed an axe-kick in midair, smashing his foot into the stomach of Cinder. The fourth seat coughed and gacked upon impact and due to Morgan being more or less beneath her, she smashed into the third seat and both went crashing towards the ground with great force, shaking the entire area.

Daisuke teleported down to the ground, ready to continue the fight, especially as Cinder's overbooster now suddenly ended, the black haired woman gasping in fatigue just as she tried to get up and out of the crater that had resulted from the crash.

However, the ancient magus stopped in his tracks when he noticed a familiar face just nearby. Two, if he counted the man he'd seen make the declaration on the news who now lied on the ground unconscious.

But neither Cinder nor Morgan seemed to notice this, the former too tired to focus on anyone other than Daisuke and the latter still dazed though trying to stand up.

But a familiar voice stopped Morgan cold in her tracks.

"S-Sis?"

Morgan – or rather, Celine Arc – literally froze in place just as she'd been about to fully stand. For two long seconds, the blonde could feel nothing but disbelief and terror, praying that perhaps she'd merely hallucinated the voice.

But raising her head to where the voice came from, the young woman's heart all but leapt out of her chest in horror as she saw Jaune, who'd just knocked out Mercury by way of punching him out of the club nearby.

"J-Jaune?!" Celine gasped out, her skin taking on a deathly pale look.

As for Jaune, the teen could only look at his eldest sister in a complete disbelieving stupor. His grip on Balmung slack, all he could note was the powerful yet artificial mana pouring forth from Celine as well as her Relic, which she'd grabbed a hold of and held to her chest just prior to Cinder pulling her along.

Combined with the obvious fact that she appeared to be fighting Daisuke alongside Cinder, who was undoubtedly a Holy Knight due to her artificial mana and strange weapon in hand, it all became immediately clear to Jaune.

His sister was a Holy Knight too.

The unconscious Mercury all but forgotten about, Jaune's grip on Balmung fully gave way and the heavy sword fell with a loud clang to the ground as its wielder looked on at his sister, his expression one of many emotions. But shock, anger, betrayal, and hurt were the most obvious ones.

"W-Why…?" he stuttered out slightly.

And with that one short word, Celine's will to continue fighting crumbled instantly as her own face contorted into a pained look.

The secret was finally out.

Meanwhile, with Miki and Mari, the two women had been returned to the real world following their defeat of Heracles. Both women, standing in the middle of a store rooftop, panted slightly from fatigue, though the slight exhaustion they felt was nothing compared to the shock that currently had overcome them both.

For Heracles was still alive.

Lying before them with his Relic shattered to reveal his exposed upper body and tattered pants, the first seat of the Holy Knights was currently unconscious and showed no signs of getting up soon.

Both magi could only stare to the hole in the man's chest, just a few inches to the right of his heart. The hole was a straight shot through to his back and was just wide enough for a child to fit a hand through it. It sizzled slightly, a result of the sheer intensity of the combined attack Miki and Mari had unleashed. Combined with the wounds he still sported from trading blows with Miki and it would have been clear to anyone that the man should be dead or at least on death's door.

And yet, here he was. Unconscious, yes, but still in one piece and with his wounds healing already but at a very slow rate. He wouldn't physically recover for at least a few days and would take perhaps even longer to actually awaken again.

But the fact still remained that he was alive, which only boggled the minds of the two victorious women.

"A direct hit… and he's still ticking," Mari whispered, her astonishment obvious.

"He's a tough one," Miki added, staring at the unconscious large man as if trying to figure out just how his survival was possible.

Both women's thoughts then drifted to what they should do with him. Should they kill him? Should they restrain him right here and now? Should they just leave him for now and come back for him once the current crisis was resolved? These were questions that the two magi pondered.

They knew, from a logical perspective, that if given the opportunity, Heracles would most likely raise hell upon awakening and put uncountable lives at risk if he was anywhere near a populated area. To kill him now to prevent that would in turn be a logical enough decision to make. But could they simply kill an already defeated and unconscious person? Although they've lived a long time and experienced many different things, killing a person already down for the count still felt a little wrong to both Miki and Mari. Plus, with magic now out in the open thanks to Mercury, if they were to kill Heracles, there likely would be a public response to this. Would then dealing with that be worth it? In today's time, with tension still high between humans and Faunus, it was impossible to predict just how things would turn out if Heracles, a Faunus that could use magic, was killed by them, humans who were naturally born with magical abilities.

To restrain him would therefore be a much more preferable option for a variety of reasons, but just what could they use to do so? And with the fate of the others and the citizens of Vale still unknown to the two women, did they even have the time to spend on keeping Heracles contained?

The last option – to simply leave him until everything else was taken care of – was just as questionable an option as the other two, if only because they had no idea if somehow, someway, another Holy Knight or at least an ally to them wouldn't simply come along when they weren't around to retrieve Heracles and leave.

The two women mulled over these three options in the span of a second, worried about just what else they could do.

But they were rattled from their thoughts, almost comically so, when Mari's scroll, which had somehow survived the battle, went off, indicating a call.

Mari pulled it out in a nanosecond and smiled brightly upon seeing who the caller was. "Ryuichi? Are you alright?!" she asked hurriedly as soon as she answered it.

Seeing her husband's face pop up on the screen, Mari could only sigh in relief upon seeing that he sported at least no visible injuries. Ryuichi looked just as happy to see her too. "I'm fine. Nothing a little rest won't fix. How are you though? Is anyone else with you?" he asked in kind.

Mari moved closer to Miki and tilted her scroll so that Miki and Ryuichi could see one another. "I'm the only one here with Mari, Ryuichi. I'm good. We're both a little beat up and tired, but still in one piece and able to fight," Miki then said, smiling a bit.

Ryuichi sighed, relieved. Then he took on a much more serious expression and tone. "I have Ruby, Weiss, Nora, and Ren with me here. We just finished restraining Torchwick and the White Fang forces," he began. "And as you can guess, I managed to escape wherever I'd ended up in… had to kill a Holy Knight to do so." He said that last part in a noticeably more subdued voice.

Mari and Miki returned his sudden shift in demeanor with their own, but not before their expressions softened at his words. Seems that they weren't the only ones who'd questioned what to ultimately do with their opponent. "And the hostages are okay?" Mari asked softly.

"They're fine, more or less. Ren and Nora are seeing them out to the police forces outside so that they can be looked over by actual paramedics though," Ryuichi said. He then moved his scroll to pan over to Ruby and Weiss, who were currently standing guard over an unconscious Roman, the criminal sporting a nasty black eye that wouldn't be healing soon even with his regenerative ability as a pseudo-magus. Upon noticing that Ryuichi was giving them a look at Miki and Mari through his scroll, Ruby waved childishly to them, clearly happy that they were okay in addition to simply being happy that the hostages were freed. Weiss waved as well, though not in as enthusiastic a manner as her friend. Nonetheless, it was evident that the heiress was relieved to see that the two women were okay.

Ryuichi then focused the scroll back on him, a small smile on his face. "And as you just saw, Torchwick won't be going anywhere for a while." He paused. "While I wasn't around to really see anything, he was already rather beat up by the time I showed up here… the kids did great," he said, proud of the teens. Despite them still being inexperienced when compared to guys like Roman, they had put up the best fight they could and had managed to do so without anyone getting hurt in the crossfire.

Both Miki and Mari shared Ryuichi's feelings. "And how about the others? Do you know how they're doing?" Mari asked.

"I just called Ozpin a few minutes ago… Takehiko is hurt pretty badly, but he'll be okay. He and Masami are at Beacon right now." Ryuichi looked almost happy to say those words, though his expression stiffened before speaking again. "Daisuke, though, is fighting off two Holy Knights. He was putting up a good fight though, from what I was told. Takehiko thinks he might be trying to lead them both to Vale, most likely to see if any of us are around to lend a hand. And Ruby also contacted Blake and Pyrrha. From what they said, it looks like they had some trouble on their hands too though they've won and restrained their enemies. They're on their way here to the news station right now."

As Miki and Mari both digested those words, they immediately did a headcount. Considering all that Ryuichi just told them, that meant that Jaune and Yang were still unaccounted for as well as Yuko and Hanako. Naruto was currently MIA as well, though taking into consideration his power and skill, they all had faith in his ability to deal with whatever was keeping him busy right now.

"Alright then," Miki began, deciding on what to do now. "Mari and I have beaten a Holy Knight too. He's still alive, but unconscious. We'll bring him by the news station for you to watch over him if that's okay." Receiving a firm understanding nod from her longtime friend, Miki continued. "After that, Mari and I will go and track down Jaune, Yang, and Daisuke, hopefully in time to help them with however many enemies are left."

From beside her, Mari nodded in agreement. "The guy shouldn't be waking up for at least several days, but you're going to have to keep a close eye on him even after you restrain him, dear; he's a tough one."

Ryuichi hummed his agreement. "Got it. I'll see if the police outside can maybe lend a hand to-."

He was interrupted when suddenly a thunderous explosion occurred and a massive bright pink light filled the night sky above, blinding everyone that saw it. A murderous roar was heard as well immediately following the light vanishing.

"What was that?!" Miki exclaimed in shock, having avoided being blinded by using Svafrlami – which she'd been holding this entire time – to shield her eyes.

"That…" Ryuichi then said through the scroll to Miki and Mari, the latter having covered her eyes with her right forearm. "That felt like Hanako's mana…."

Miki's and Mari's eyes immediately went wide. "Change of plans," the latter said. "I'll go check out what happened. Miki, just take this guy over to the news station and try to find the others!"

Miki didn't even get a chance to get a word out before Mari dashed off the rooftop and towards the area that the explosion and light seemed to have occurred directly over.

Still on the line with Ryuichi, she briefly spared her husband a glance. "I think Hanako just broke out of whatever dimension she'd been dragged into like the rest of us. If the roar is anything to go by, she didn't return here to the real world alone."

"Yeah…" Ryuichi muttered, having come to the same conclusion as well. It was clear from his expression that he wished to go and check out the situation too, but alas decided against it since Mari had all but sent Miki on her way to him with Heracles in tow. "Be careful, okay?"

"You know I will," Mari said with a reassuring smile. "Love you and see you soon."

Ryuichi returned the words to her and she bid him goodbye. Pocketing her scroll, Mari put on a burst of speed, hoping that Hanako was alright.

Regarding said humanoid magical weapon, she was currently in free fall as she fell from the sky above down to an empty park below. Although not particularly known for speed or agility, especially with her battle robes on, Hanako managed to twirl and land softly upon the grass. Had anyone been around to look at her, such an action combined with her looks would've perhaps painted her as a sort of beautiful spirit descending from a fantastical place down to earth.

However, the damage her robes had suffered along with her own wounds, in addition to the determined gaze in her eyes would've quickly shattered such an image as the humanoid magical weapon stood back up to her full height.

And just in the nick of time for her foe to crash into the ground little more than a hundred yards away, falling into a small pond that the park had. But just like Hanako, the beast Surma was able to turn an otherwise painful crash into a relatively graceful landing that only appeared violent due to all of the water being splashed out of the pond due to its speed.

Surma growled loudly as it stepped forward out of the pond, its feet digging deeply into the wet grass. It was more than ready to keep on fighting, but the wounds it sported on its body would've indicated otherwise.

Just moments ago within Robotics Space, when Yuko had first bumped into Kalma, the sentient Relic had immediately sensed its master's distress and had pushed its great speed to the very limits to go to her rescue. Worry and rage had clouded its mind in the process and so it didn't bother with being subtle as it rush directly for its master and Yuko by extension. However, Hanako had managed to give chase, sensing Yuko's presence in order to allow herself to get to her location in a timely fashion – just in time for her to see Kalma in the flesh as well as Surma, who had just been about to attack Yuko from behind.

Having had more than enough of Surma and wishing to save Yuko from the beast, Hanako had decided enough was enough and managed to drive the beast back a little with a barrage of magical blasts. Then, having stepped in between Yuko/Kalma and the beast at the time, Hanako had used one of her most powerful attacks – Laevateinn.

Because of how quickly Surma had managed to recover from the assault and how aggressively it had tried to rush past her, Hanako had been unable to fire the attack off at its full power, but nonetheless it had been more than enough needed to outright destroy Robotics Space, hence their return to the real world.

And thankfully for Hanako and everyone else, Laevateinn had ultimately struck Surma head on. The beast had tried valiantly to block the attack, but to no avail; its arms had been reduced to little more than stumps and were regenerating very slowly, one of its ears was gone, its snake tail was obliterated and the beast's fur was almost completely singed, deeply so.

Such was the power of Laevateinn, uncharged as it was. More specifically, such was the power of Hanako herself, being the magical weapon of the ultimate magus.

In addition to the sheer damage it had done to Surma, Laevateinn had ended up hitting the beast so hard that its All Dead ability had forcibly been deactivated. Hanako could tell because she could no longer feel the draining effect the sentient Relic had been giving off, not to mention the fact that the environment around them was still in one piece aside from their impromptu landings.

But despite the success of Laevateinn, Hanako's mind wasn't focused on the enemy at all. What currently held her attention was where her comrade and that young girl were at. During the collapse of Robotics Space, signified by the explosion here in the real world just now, she had lost track of Yuko and Kalma.

"Yuko?" Hanako called out, ignoring Surma slowly yet surely preparing to charge at her. For all of the injuries it sustained and the power it has now lost, the beast showcased admirable tenacity. "Are you there?!" she yelled, uncaring of whoever or whatever else may have heard her.

That was when Surma charged. All sense of predatory playfulness it had felt before was completely gone now. With All Dead deactivated as well as its master's overbooster now about to run out, it no longer had the luxury of taking its time at all with its opponents. And with Kalma now being known to the two women, it had to take them down as fast as possible and see to its master's safety.

With a battle cry that shook the ground, Surma rushed across the park towards Hanako at breakneck speed, its wounds only marginally affecting its overall combat capabilities if only through sheer determination alone.

The roar grabbed Hanako's attention, but by the time she directed her focus to the beast, it was already too late for her to counter in time; less than a dozen feet away, it'd be mere child's play for it to slam a massive shoulder into her or kick her with one of its powerful legs.

But while Hanako herself wasn't fast enough to do anything, she still ended up suffering no damage. Not because she had suddenly powered up or anything, but because of an intervention.

"Enhalt!" Yuko cried out from nowhere as her magic rune boosted her speed temporarily enough to let her cross the park from Surma's seven o'clock fast enough to be right next to it. Despite being covered in some wounds from being near Hanako when Laevateinn struck Surma earlier in addition to her crash landing, she soldiered on with nary a grunt of pain as she pulled out one of her blades and slashed at Surma's left tricep with one hand while carrying Kalma under her arm with the other hand.

All Dead activated or not, overbooster in effect or not, Yuko's attack would've had about as much success actually cutting Surma as a child cutting a Goliath with a toy sword. But having been more than a little weakened and softened up by Hanako's Laevateinn, Yuko's blade succeeded in cutting through Surma's now much tender flesh, cutting inches deep into the muscle and creating a gash that extended from the top of the tricep to the end of its stumpy arm.

Surma howled in pain and brought its own charge to a sudden halt, skidding to a stop after passing right by Hanako, who moved out of the way upon seeing its speed decrease.

"Yuko! Are you alright?!" Hanako asked as she leapt away from the sentient Relic, moving closer to Yuko who had done the same, leaping back so suddenly that Kalma yelped slightly in surprise from the movement.

"Still in one piece…" Yuko wheezed out, the red eyed woman looking like a boxer that had just barely recovered from a disorienting haymaker. "And feeling much better now that I've finally gotten an actual hit in."

She then dismissed her blade and pointed a slightly shaky finger to Surma. And when Hanako looked at the beast, it was to see it roaring in a mixture of rage and growing pain, the beast trying to turn around to face them, but at an increasingly sluggish rate.

"While I hadn't been able to hit him with the blade that overloads its sense of pain, I was able to overload its sense of hearing. And considering how sharp its senses must already be…" Yuko left her sentence unfinished, but the results spoke for themselves. For even with one ear blown off, Surma still had the other intact and its hearing was clearly beginning to get the better of it, the beast trying and failing to cover it up, its arms still little more than stumps ending at the elbow joints.

Slowly, both Hanako and Yuko backed away from the beast, just enough to make sure that it wasn't suddenly going to pounce upon them. Satisfied a moment later when that wasn't going to happen, Yuko gently dropped Kalma to the ground.

"I take it you and that thing are related in some way?" Yuko asked of the teenaged Faunus.

Said girl all but froze under the gaze of the red eyed ancient magus, tears forming briefly at the corners of her eyes. Here she lied before the enemies of the Holy Knights, her Faunus attributes exposed for them to see and with Surma in growing pain just a ways away from them. Kalma didn't know what to do other than to nod quickly, her mind also comprehending the fact that they were all back in the real world… where Jaune and virtually everyone else would likely see her and connect her to the other Holy Knights.

"Then can you call it off?" Hanako now spoke softly, looking to the girl. Much like Yuko could tell, she too could immediately note the connection between Kalma and Surma and deduced her to be a Holy Knight. But the young girl's clearly terrified state as well the reluctant vibe she gave off was enough to keep Hanako from treating her like an actual enemy. Kalma simply looked far too much like a scared child for her to ever willingly hurt someone else.

Kalma all but stared at Hanako in a stupor, as if having misheard her. But then a second later, she managed to snap out of it and look to Surma, her dear protector who was hurting so much over having tried to return to her side. "Return…" she whispered and before their eyes, Surma's form changed into a shadowy mist that then flowed into Kalma.

As this occurred, the sixth seat could feel her sentient Relic whine in relief, its return to her having apparently removed the effect of Yuko's blade. And then she felt it fall completely silent within her, the battle having finally caught up with it, it would seem.

"Now then… just who are you?" Hanako asked of her, she and Yuko standing close to her, but not so much as to invade her personal space. Nonetheless, the two women stuck close to Kalma just in case she tried to run off.

"I-I-I'm K-K-Kalma," the girl in question stuttered out as she looked up from her current position to them. Then hesitantly, she continued in a slightly more composed voice. "I-I'm… one of the Holy Knights…"

There it was, now out in the open. She could tell by their expressions alone that that was a question they'd been about to ask her and now she'd gone and confirmed it for them. She could only hope now for some level of mercy.

But would mercy truly be shown to her? In all the time she'd been a part of the Holy Knights, she had rarely been called onto to do much of anything aside from having Surma go and explore certain areas, recon for all intents and purposes. Indeed, the most severe course of action she had undertaken was sending Surma to Beacon, only for her Relic to be spotted and fight its way out, heavily injuring many students and faculty in the process. Not to mention how things had gone at Burgundy and now tonight with her having, albeit very reluctantly, ordered Surma to fight and kill the two women standing over her.

And that wasn't still taking into consideration that she was still part of a group of people that had committed many different crimes, from having Roman act as an unaware errand boy at first to the actions of the other Holy Knights over the course of the past several months and long before that thanks to what Heracles and the deceased Apophis had done as former mercenaries.

Looking down to the grass so that her tears could finally spill forth, Kalma missed the questioning glance Yuko and Hanako shared with one another.

They had actually been thinking along similar lines as well just now. Originally, it had been the intention of everyone to make the Holy Knights pay for all they've done, but now looking at Kalma, it had become almost painfully clear that she was a very reluctant part of the crimes the Holy Knights had at least been involved in. Nonetheless, she had been involved… but taking into account certain things, they had to wonder just what they should do here.

Especially since, simply by looking at her, it was now clear to them that Kalma was-.

"Hanako! Yuko! You alright?" Mari asked as she suddenly arrived, causing the two women just mentioned to cease dwelling on the topic momentarily. She dashed forward slightly, ready to fight at the drop of a hat, only to stop upon seeing Kalma.

"Mari-chan!" Hanako exclaimed happily, glad to see that she was alright. "You're okay!"

Yuko looked briefly to Mari too, sparing her a small smile. "We're fine. Roughed up, but fine. How about the others?"

"They're all okay too, save for Takehiko apparently…" Mari began, only to stop. She could tell them all about the current situation once she got them all back to the news station or something. But before she could suggest such a thing, she took a closer look at Kalma and her eyebrows shot up just a bit. "Isn't that…?"

She trailed off just as Yuko nodded. "We're pretty sure, yeah." She then paused as she looked back at Kalma. As if sensing her gaze, Kalma looked up at Yuko, their eyes locking momentarily, the former looking apprehensive while the latter's eyes betrayed no emotion.

"For now though," Hanako now spoke. "Let's move things elsewhere… we need to regroup and discuss a few things if possible amongst all of us."

"Yeah, I was just about to suggest that myself," Mari commented, nodding in agreement.

"Where's Miki at though? Wasn't she the closest one to you when we all got teleported?" Yuko then asked, confused and worried for her friend.

Mari smiled just a bit. "She's fine. She's just gone off to make a brief stop before giving Daisuke a hand…"

On the topic of Miki, it would turn out that her help wasn't required at all. Having dropped the still unconscious Heracles at the news station for Ryuichi to properly restrain, she'd bolted at her top speed all across Vale, following any fresh path of destruction that would lead her to Daisuke. Recalling that he'd knocked the Holy Knights in question from Beacon's particular area to the city here, she had a pretty good idea of where to start.

And it honestly hadn't taken her very long at all to find the usually jovial man.

And when she landed, she found herself most shocked to see what had happened.

"Neh, you're kinda late, Miki-chan," Daisuke said, looking satisfied with himself.

Just a few feet away from him was Jaune, who didn't even seem to notice she'd arrived. But what had really grabbed Miki's attention though, were the two women that were bound by steel beams just lying several feet before Daisuke and Jaune.

Daisuke had successfully restrained both Cinder and Celine. In the case of the former, her overbooster had run out fully just a moment ago and in her exhausted state, it had been a simple matter of delivering a few precise blows for Daisuke to knock her out.

But as for the latter, whom Miki was certainly shocked to see here, Celine's will to fight had simply crumbled upon viewing Jaune's reaction to her being a Holy Knight and had put up very little resistance when Daisuke decided to restrain her as well. She even went as far as to deactivate her overbooster and now currently hung her head, evidently from shame.

This was something that Daisuke immediately summed up for Miki before she could even ask and he was rewarded with a look of equal parts shock and amazement from the muscular brunette.

And turning to see Jaune and Celine, Miki could only frown. Never would she have expected one of her descendants to be a Holy Knight. It honestly left her feeling betrayed in a way. She could only imagine how Jaune must be feeling.

Sparing the teen in question a brief glance, she could see his eyes just filled with all sorts of questions that he clearly wanted to ask his eldest sister, but couldn't bring himself to do so, at least not just yet it would seem. And the young woman in question didn't seem intent on even looking Jaune in the eye soon either.

Looking away, Miki then spotted an unconscious Mercury, who was bound by metal beams as well, lying unceremoniously upon the ground by a wall nearby. Judging by the man's injuries, Miki could tell that Jaune had been the one to at least knock him out. With this in mind, she couldn't help but feel a little proud of the boy despite the current circumstances, happy to see that he'd been able to beat what had to be a particularly troublesome foe to deal with.

But this did little to fully alleviate Miki's worries and she looked to Daisuke pointedly. "…Where's Yang?" she asked in an even voice.

Daisuke didn't even get the chance to speak before the sounds of thunderous punches made themselves known.

"Stay!" Punch. "Down!" Punch. "For!" Punch. "Good!"

Suddenly, from within junior's club which was close by, Neo went sailing through the entrance with immense speed, the doors blown apart and off their hinges in the process.

Miki, being directly in Neo's path, simply blinked in genuine surprise before reacting, snatching the petite criminal out of midair with just one hand. When she did so and looked over Neo, she saw that she was unconscious and sported several nasty bruises and cuts that would take time to fully heal.

She and Daisuke and a now more aware Jaune were drawn in by the sound of heavy panting and looked to see Yang walk out of the club, bloodied and battered, but otherwise still perfectly okay. Golden yellow mana poured off of the blonde brawler while her eyes glowed ominously, her semblance clearly in effect still.

But as she walked forward and noticed everyone there, she went from a pained expression to sporting one of joy, made more so when she saw that her final barrage of punches, fueled by her semblance, had finally succeeded in defeating her annoying opponent.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys!" she said, sounding remarkably tired. Neo had certainly worn her down thoroughly throughout the fight, having used her superior agility and skill to keep the blonde on the ropes here and there. It was only thanks to some hits grazing the criminal that Yang was able to slow the woman down, enough to finally turn the tide as her power increased with every hit she'd taken.

Her sudden good mood was ruined when she got closer and saw Jaune's sister. Immediately connecting the dots, the blonde couldn't help but be shocked and now a little worried for her fellow blond, noticing his seemingly inattentive expression even when he was looking at her.

"Are you okay?" Miki asked, grabbing Yang's attention.

Yang looked to the older woman, happy to have the sudden silence broken. "A little banged up, but nothing I can't sleep off," she said boldly, only to inwardly retract that statement when she stretched a little and only succeeded in hurting herself, her side still tender from where Neo had hit her several times over. "But forget about me, what about the others? Is Ruby okay?"

Miki smiled at that. She looked to Daisuke first, then back to Yang. "They're fine. Everyone's fine now. From what we can tell, all of the Holy Knights have been dealt with… in one form or another, that is."

"So what about Nami-yan?" Daisuke then asked.

Miki fell silent. "…He's still not back yet," she said softly. "He's likely dealing with their leader still."

Daisuke snorted. "And it's taking him this long to kick his ass? He must be losing his tou-." His good natured joke was immediately cut off by the sound of a deafening explosion.

Far above the city of Vale, a blinding white light made itself suddenly known, blinding everyone regardless if they were looking up or not. The sound of shattering glass filled the ears of the residents of Vale, the sheer shockwave coming from up above being great enough to rock the entire city, shattering windows and shaking buildings.

Even for the likes of Miki and Daisuke, they had to do all they could just to keep their balance while the others were knocked off their feet.

And as the white light faded and things seemed to calm down, they descended.

The Robotics Space of Vidar had been unable to endure the intense fight between its creator and Naruto any longer and had collapsed just as they had clashed once more.

Now the two combatants, Naruto and Vidar, fell like stars from the heavens to the earth below. Completely unmindful of the great height they were falling from, they gazed solely at each other, their eyes burning fiercely with anger and determination.

Touching ground only mere seconds later, the empty street they landed in was immediately destroyed just from the sheer speed at which they'd landed, craters forming beneath the two.

They didn't care at all. All that mattered to them was finishing this battle as soon as they could.

Their little warm up now fully done, they launched themselves at one another at relativistic speeds.

It was time for this 'war' to come to an end.

Can't believe it's finally here: the fight between Naruto and Vidar. You can expect me to give this final confrontation all I've got. It's my hope to make it even grander than the battle Naruto had had with Odin in my previous fic.

Don't think the surprises are over just yet; I still have a few more in store for you all.

Until then, everyone. Take care!