"Alright, tell me what's going on here…"
Jose stood underneath a sky of endless stars, staring at the Emissary Of The Nine. He had wished for an audience with them, and they had granted his wish in his dreams.
"What does Savathun need here? Why are only the Vex and the Hive here? How do they even know about this place?"
No words were spoken to answer his inquiries. Instead, a single Taken orb appeared, floating near him.
"Toland." Jose spoke, turning to face the orb.
"Heed my words…" Toland spoke, "so that you may will the knowledge you desire into existence."
"Cut to the chase, I don't have all night."
"Patience, my fellow Warlock. For you cannot understand the ending without first reading the beginning."
The Warlock with a body crossed his arms, a signal for the orb to continue.
"Schemes, plots, deception…Lies upon Lies! Quria thinks she can experiment with the rules here. Xivu Arath thinks she can destroy them. Savathun thinks she's fooling them both. Or is it a different combination? You all think the Witch Queen gains tribute from your ignorance, but your agenda to understand one aspect is hindering you all!"
"…The hell does that mean?" Jose questioned, lost.
"Savathun, Quria, Xivu Arath, they all wish to survive! For the existence of you powerful Guardians threatens theirs, they wish to integrate themselves somewhere where you are not. You are dead. And yet here you are! They fear your meddling, your unpredictability, your refusal to follow the laws of the universe! They wish to trap you here, or even control this realm! Know this, Jose-5, the people's champion of the Crucible! You and your friends must cease your one-dimensional understanding. Learn to understand as the queens do. For their game is three-dimensional, four-dimensional, even five-dimensional! If you wish to see past their schemes, you must see the universe as they do."
"I think I get some of it now, but-"
Jose couldn't finish his thought as he was dragged out of his dream and woken by Chopstick.
"Chopstick! What the hell?!"
"Dude," Chopstick muttered, floating above him. "I let you sleep in for 20 minutes. Everyone is moving ahead already."
"I was talking to Toland and The Nine!"
"Wait seriously? What did they say?"
"Oh, so now you wanna know..." Jose grumbled.
"I didn't know!" Chopstick retorted.
"Walk and Talk." Jose sighed, rising from his resting spot.
Ginzo and Leona approached the soldiers, who were doing the same, taking up arms for the fight to come. The students behind them were ready to fight at a moment's notice.
"I'm gonna give you one chance to surrender." Ginzo spoke, his hand glowing with Arc Light.
A soldier in light armor smirked before snickering at the gesture.
"Hah! As if we-"
The soldier's statement was interrupted by the sounds of him gargling his own blood. Ginzo had thrown his Arc staff directly into the man's neck, sending him to the ground, writhing and clutching at the spear to rip it out. He let out one cough of blood before exploding in a brilliant blast of Arc Energy.
"I assume he speaks for all of you?" Leona asked, holding a Hammer of Sol.
"Not me!" A soldier barked, dropping his sword. "I don't even like working for these guys! They barely pay me!"
The soldier then ran past the Guardians with his arms held high, signifying surrender. "I'm gonna go start a farm or something!" he shouted as he darted out of the kicked-down doorway.
"That coward!" A soldier with a bird mask yelled. "We'll kill you Guardians here and now!"
"So be it." Leona returned, rushing the enemy soldiers.
Ginzo leaped, before unleashing a Shadowshot into a crowd of soldiers, tethering them all. Ginzo then unleashed rapid volleys of flaming knives, relinquishing the soldiers to a fate of a thousand cuts. Leona simultaneously threw a flaming hammer at an incoming armor soldier attempting a flank. before trapping him in a flaming tornado. Both Guardians then charged ahead into battle to meet the next group of opponents, causing the students to scratch their heads before following.
"I suppose we aren't really necessary at this point, huh?" Yuri chuckled.
"They're like a three-man army!" Balthus boomed. "They're hardly trying!"
"Honestly, I'm not even sure they obey the laws of physics." Hapi spoke, riding into the fray.
The Guardians plowed through the enemy forces like they were paper. Against the Guardians' light, Fortune's kidnappers were utterly helpless.
Ginzo drove his Falling Guillotine into an ironclad knight guarding the prisoners, before spinning his sword around, using the knight as a makeshift projectile that wiped out an unsuspecting mage. Ginzo then quickly rushed over to check the status of the two girls, ensuring that they were still alive before reaching Fortune and her Hive cage.
"You're here! That was fast!" Fortune exclaimed happily. "Now quick, get me out of here!"
"Uhhh how do I do that?" Ginzo asked, quizzically looking at the predicament.
Behind him, Leona was holding the line against encroaching soldiers.
"Try shooting it!" Leona yelled, slamming her maul into the ground.
Ginzo complied, firing a Cloudstrike bolt into the cage.
The result, however, was Fortune disappearing in a green mist.
"WHAT?!" Ginzo yelled out, searching frantically for his Ghost. "That didn't work Leona!"
"Well then let's try-"
Leona was cut off as the roar of a colossal Ogre shook the arena.
Out of the ground rose a colossal spider-like black and Crimson Red Ogre, striking fear into the hearts of all present.
"Oh? You're new. Let us battle."
"Agreed. Though please note we have an audience, so do try to show off a little."
As Hubert, Claude, and Caspar watched from afar, The Death Knight charged the Warlock, readying a swing from its scythe. As it swung, Anan blinked to the side, causing the Death Knight to only slice the air. Anan tapped the left shoulder of the knight, causing it to whip its head to face the feeling before it was blasted by lightning, sending it and its horse reeling.
"Too slow." Anan remarked, blinking to be in front of the knight again. Anan unleashed a weakened Handheld Supernova, albeit strong enough to send the Death Knight flying off its horse and onto the ground below.
"Come on. Don't be such a drag." Anan said, walking to the grounded knight menacingly. Anan slammed his foot onto the abdominal armor of the knight before summoning a Dawnblade and planting it into the knight's core, earning a howl of anguish from the knight. The Warlock ripped it out before kicking the knight, rolling him over.
"Is this really all you are? Come on, give me a show!" Anan charged a grenade and turned it into a blessing, healing the knight.
"He certainly is brutal…" Hubert mused with a low chuckle, viewing the carnage.
"A little too much for me." Claude spoke, scratching the back of his neck.
The knight then wearily stood, searching for its horse while weakly holding its scythe. Anan walked towards the knight, blinking to the side and dodging a pathetic swing from his victim before plunging his Black Talon into the Death Knight, pinning it to the ground.
"There we go!" Anan laughed, raising his sword and the knight. "There we go! Put up more of a fight for me!"
Anan pulled his sword out of the knight, kicking the knight's body away before freezing the lower half of the knight with a penumbral blast.
"What's wrong? You still have an entire half of your body don't you?"
Anan kicked the helm of the Death Knight, taunting his prey.
"This is all you're gonna give me?" Anan mocked, slamming the hilt of his Dawnblade into the skull face of the knight, cracking it. "It'd be more challenging to play solitaire! Glaucia, please tell me you're recording this! Take lots of photos!"
"Of course, Anan!" Glaucia agreed happily, fully supporting her Guardian's sadism.
"Oh don't you dare die on me now!" Anan yelled as he heard the knight's groans of pain. We still have round two!" Anan chuckled as he unfroze the knight, and once again healed them.
Anan then used his Black Talon as a Golf club, hitting the knight and sending him rolling across the floor.
"Get up." Anan growled, devilishly smiling underneath his helmet.
The knight slowly began to crawl, unsure of whether or not to run, fight, or await death. Anan quickly blinked over to the knight and stepped on its neck.
"I'm gonna make a Ghost shell out of your helmet! Oh- where are my manners…" Anan laughed. "What's your name? Say it nice and clear!"
"The…Death…Knight…" The knight somehow managed. "End this…I crave death…"
"The Death Knight?" Anan cackled. "With a name like that, I would've thought you wouldn't be such a disappointment! And I can't let you die yet! If you wanted to die you should've fought Leona! She's brutal but at least she tries to kill you instantly! I like to toy with my prey if you couldn't tell!" Anan yelled, once again smashing the hilt of his Dawnblade into the body of the knight. "Gotta say, though, you're a funny one! What kind of edgy name is 'The Death Knight'?"
The Death Knight began to prepare a spell in its hands before having it be trapped in a blue crystal.
"Where are we going? Mind if I come along?" Anan asked, digging his foot into the neck of the knight. "See, I've been holding back the entire time I've been in this world! The Hive view pain, suffering, and death as love almost! And well, the Vex don't particularly care for it! But Humans!" Anan laughed. "Humans feel it!"
Anan lowered his face to stare into the red eyes of the knight.
"This shall be your one and only chance at mercy, my friend." Anan said with a mocking and venomous bite. "Because the next time I have to use my Light against the likes of you, shall be the last seconds you remain living. So, do you surrender?" Anan plunged his sword in the knight's core once again, but the knight disappeared in a Purple light before anything further could be done. A long period of silence followed as Anan rose from the ground.
"Fine then." Anan chuckled as he turned to go assist his allies.
The students one by one moved their attention away from their small skirmishes to the new threat on the battlefield. It was a massive Ogre covered in a white aura, and most definitely the source of the roars heard.
"That thing is disgusting!" Hapi yelled out, staring at the creature.
"Certainly not a sight for sore eyes." Yuri added, cutting down a nearby soldier.
Hapi, and Constance both maneuvered in order to attempt a magic attack on the Ogre, but it was evident upon impact that they had no effect.
"How disconcerting!" Constance cried as the two magicians attempted another attack.
Ginzo and Leona both shifted their full focus to the Ogre, the former summoning a Void bow and the latter summoning a Hammer of Sol. Both immediately began retreating while assaulting the Ogre with their elemental attacks. The Ogre, however, remained unaffected by their attacks. It plowed on towards the Guardians, indiscriminately crushing the Flame Emperor soldiers beneath its feet.
"What's the plan?" Ginzo frantically asked, not turning his back on the beast.
"RUN!" Leona yelled, picking up the bodies of the two girls and retreating towards the students, all of which promptly began evacuating the area.
As the students began to retreat, a Nova Bomb soared over them and crashed into the Ogre. However, the Ogre's march was not hindered in the slightest by it.
"Indeed, it would be wise to run!" Anan shouted, joining his Fireteam's strategic advance backward.
Leona changed her light to Void and summoned a Sentinel Shield, using it to guard her allies as they retreated. The Ogre in response unleashed an endless stream of eye blasts from its face, focused on breaking Leona's shield. Leona focused on completely blocking the entryway and holding long enough to ensure her allies escaped. Ginzo and Anan rushed the lightless out of the area, following behind them.
Leona felt the earthquakes the Ogre caused in her bones, causing her to strengthen her stance, determined not to fall. Leona quickly turned behind her, checking to see that the lightless had made it a significant distance before kicking down the entryway with a slam of Arc, causing it to collapse and block the Ogre's path to her. She immediately ran to catch up with the others.
"I get it now."
Lus nodded as Jose explained his dream. Of course, it was from Toland of all sources, but it was ultimately better than nothing.
"Still, we need to figure out why there's no Taken…yet, at least." Lus nodded.
"Yeah. Not to mention whatever the hell it is the Vex are doing with that mind."
Lus continued walking, only pausing for a moment as a thought raced through his head.
"Is…Quria simulating the martyr mind?"
"Don't think so." Chopstick answered. "The martyr mind was a Hobgoblin, this one is a Hydra."
"Hmm…well, damn."
The Guardians continued walking with the army, trying to think of any possible explanation.
"We may just be overthinking it," Cinnamon answered. "the Vex could just wanna do their whole conversion thing here."
"Very true-"
"Vex up ahead!" Chopstick shouted, spurring the Guardians to ready their weapons.
"It's always at the most inconvenient times!" Lus grumbled, rushing to the marker Chopstick placed.
The soldiers were shocked to see the two Guardians with strange weapons rushing to the front of the procession. Many of them were confused, but some had followed the example of the Guardians, readying their weapons for a potential battle.
"Everyone, stay back!" Lus shouted, surging Arc energy through his legs to run faster. "
As the Guardians finally made it to the dark Vex cloud, a lone Minotaur appeared, shocking the soldiers behind them.
Lus instinctively moved to shove his shotgun into the Minotaur but was stopped by Cinnamon.
"Wait!" Cinnamon yelled, causing Lus to hesitate and miss his shot.
"W-what?!" Lus returned, quickly retreating away from the Minotaur, which to his surprise, did not attack.
"This one…it's like the Harpy on Nessus! It's got blue lights!"
Upon closer inspection, it did indeed have blue lights. The Minotaur was slightly taller than other Minotaurs, as well as having a grey chassis instead of the usual bronze one.
"O…kay…?" Jose managed, keeping his Telesto trained on the Minotaur.
"It's friendly I think!" Cinnamon quickly spoke.
The Minotaur kept its gaze upon the Guardians for several moments. Then, it suddenly pointed towards the direction the army was marching and began marching that way.
"…What the shit." Jose let out, his words being more of a statement than a question. "At this point, very little surprises me."
"It wants us to follow it…" Chopstick hesitated, unsure of how to feel.
"Well, we're going that way anyway…" Lus muttered. "Everyone, this Vex may be…not hostile. But still, remain a significant distance behind us!" Lus shouted as he turned to the procession.
"Friend." A robotic voice spoke, high pitched and layered with digital sounds.
"And it talks. Because why the hell not." Jose sighed.
"Follow me. Friends are in danger." The Minotaur spoke, once again pointing in the direction of the monastery.
The students and the Guardians finally escaped the pits of the monastery, each of them coming out of the tunnel they had entered through.
"Well, that was…an experience…" Claude remarked.
"You could say that again…" Yuri agreed, leaning against a half-broken pillar.
The group allowed themselves varying stages of rest, as Mercedes healed the group's minor injuries sustained.
The ground shook. This time far more violently, as if the ground was a dog drying off.
Suddenly, in front of the group, a green mist appeared, summoning the Ogre they had just escaped to the surface. Alongside it, several other Hive soldiers were appearing, ranging from Thralls to Shriekers. The Hive soldiers were completely surrounding them, flanking them on all sides.
"Everyone with me!" Leona yelled, throwing out the biggest Ward of Dawn she could muster.
Ginzo ran up a nearby pillar, leaping off it into the air, from which he unleashed Shadowshot after Shadowshot, littering the area with tethered enemies.
Anan unleashed two Chaos Reaches, spinning around to maximize the effect.
Even so, more and more Hive soldiers appeared, assaulting Leona's bubble. Leona focused on making the bubble bigger, extending her Void Light as far as she could possibly go.
And even with Ginzo and Anan's aerial assault, several Hive soldiers were able to blitz the bubble, some Thrall making it inside.
The students tried to defend themselves the best they could, with Catherine and Byleth easily taking down the Thrall that were too close with their relics.
Shamir and Felix, armed with the Guardians' guns unloaded their weapons into a few Thrall as well but quickly were forced to use weapons of their world as the guns simply stopped firing. The magic users were able to pick up some slack by dropping Thrall, as well as a few Acolytes that were focused by multiple magic users. Hubert, Hapi, and Constance shifted their efforts to a swordbearing Knight rushing them, risking fatal injuries as they briefly exited the bubble to blast the Knight with magic. Balthus was busy pummeling Thrall, being assisted by Yuri so neither of them were overwhelmed.
To the students, they had already defeated a significant amount of Hive. But to the Hive, and even the Guardians, it was far less than so.
The Ogre shook the ground as it stepped towards Leona's bubble, focusing its eyebeam on the Titan as she stared it down, only focusing on pushing her light out as far as possible with her hands.
Leona was stubborn and determined to not fall, but she did feel a twinge of despair. She heard a blood-curdling scream from a student, nearly shattering her resolve, but she did not break. She continued hearing their screams, not sure how many were surviving.
And suddenly, the Hive were gone.
Leona quickly whipped her head around as she surveyed the area. For a brief moment, she saw them to her left, panting again, like they had just escaped from the underground.
"Well, that was…an experience…" Claude remarked again, confusing Leona and the other Guardians.
"They're…back?" Ginzo spoke, relieved and confused.
"What are you guys doing? Get in here!" Leona yelled.
"What do you mean? I'm not seeing any Hive…" Yuri answered, walking over to Leona.
"She's right, get inside!" Byleth ordered, rushing the group to get inside the bubble.
Once again, the ground shook, and once again, the Ogre appeared in a green mist.
Leona's thoughts raced through her head, trying to find any possible explanation for this event.
That she had died her final death.
That she was in hell.
That she would be forced to experience her failure over and over again.
That is until she saw the shield and the charge of the Ogre break.
"Huh…What?" Leona let out, confused by the occurrence.
"Its shield is down, kill it!" Ginzo ordered, leaping into the air and firing several Golden Gun shots into the Ogre, this time visibly stunning it.
While Leona focused on maintaining the Ward of Dawn, Anan, Ginzo, and the students began to damage the Ogre, namely with Elemental attacks, and magic. The assault visibly did damage to the Ogre, but it ultimately was not enough to kill it, as its invulnerable shield returned.
"There's a Wizard keeping the barrier up!" Byleth yelled, causing Leona to turn her head and see Byleth rushing towards a Wizard.
"I'll destroy it!" Anan shouted, unleashing a Nova Bomb upon the wizard.
Yet, the attack had no effect.
"What?" Anan muttered, confused until he saw the blade of a relic extend over his shoulder and destroy the Wizard. Anan immediately understood, turned to Byleth, and nodded.
"The Wizards can only be harmed by Heroes' Relics!" Anan shouted. "Catherine and Byleth, focus on the Wizards! We'll handle everything else!"
Once again, the Ogre was being assaulted by the Guardians, its gimmick now figured out.
The Students gave all the help they could, keeping the small fry off the Guardians while they focused on killing the Ogre. Ginzo and Anan leaped up, unleashing fiery bolts, collapsing stars, and beams and spears of devastation upon the Ogre visibly weakening it.
The Ogre's shield returned, forcing the Hunter and Warlock to wait before continuing.
Catherine rolled out of the way of a Wizard's blast, ignoring the pain in her side. She rushed the Wizard and ran Thunderbrand through it, before slamming her sword into the ground and viciously slicing the Wizard in half.
Byleth stared down a Wizard, before activating his relic and violently shredding through it with rapid attacks.
Ginzo and Anan were able to continue their assault, this time even more fierce than the last one.
Ginzo rushed the Ogre and leaped on its skull, summoning Spectral Blades and stabbing them into its skull, before rolling down its back and slicing through the Ogre like a Tornado of fury. The Ogre roared in agony and whipped around to face Ginzo, charging the Hunter.
Ginzo dove towards the ground and cloaked himself, running away from the threat.
As the Guardians and those not blessed with light abilities, began to finally stand a chance against Hive, Anan and Glaucia began to hear an all too familiar song.
"Deathsinger! Big Wizard! Find it and kill it or we all die!" Anan yelled, summoning a Dawnblade and taking to the skies.
"I'm still busy handling this spider Ogre!" Ginzo yelled back, his cloaking wearing off.
Anan spotted the Deathsinger atop a roof and shot a Nova Bomb towards it, disrupting the song upon impact, but causing the Wizard to teleport away.
"Over here!" Claude yelled, firing arrows that did nothing more but irritate the Wizard. Ginzo shot a Golden Gun bolt into it, causing it to teleport again.
"Damn, what's it gonna take to kill this thing?!" Ginzo shouted. "Shit!"
Ginzo quickly tackled Claude and rolled out of the way to dodge a slam from the Spider-Ogre, that immediately roared in anger and began to rush the duo.
Suddenly a voice could be heard shouting from the skies.
"DON'T KILL IT!"
Lus' body slammed into the Ogre, shaking it in a crash of thunder. Jose was overhead raining down fire from the skies and clearing the area of Hive.
"Lus?! You're here fast!" Leona bellowed.
"If we kill it, you'll make things worse!" Lus explained. "We gotta capture it!"
"How do you suppose we do that?" Anan scoffed, throwing his Black Talon into a Knight.
"We'll freeze it, and a Minotaur will trap it!"
"WHAT?" The members of Fireteam Tengoku shrieked, astounded at the notion.
"It's true!" Moa corroborated. "We'll explain later!" Moa spoke, joining the fray and unleashing a Shadowshot to tether the Hive.
In support of the plan, a Minotaur with blue lights appeared, immediately attacking a Hive Knight.
"So those things just happen now?!" Ginzo gawked, rolling to avoid a cleaver swing.
"Found it! Lus, let's go!" Jose yelled, swapping his wings of flame for a staff of umbral ice.
"What about the Ogre?" Leona yelled back, still not fully following the plan.
"We don't know! All we know is that the Wizard wants to make this place be in a time loop!"
Jose immediately began to attempt to freeze the Wizard, shooting it with penumbral blasts. Lus located the Wizard and tossed a Duskfield grenade onto it before rushing over and surrounding it with makeshift glaciers.
The Wizard was slowed, but not stopped. It continued its song as it tried to teleport away, but was struck by another Penumbral Blast, this time from Anan Marus.
"A-Anan!" Leona screamed, her heart dropping.
"Not now Leona!" Anan answered, continuing to freeze the Wizard.
"Lord Rodrigue's forces are close behind us! How should we assist?" Dimitri asked, riding into the fray on horseback alongside the rest of the boyband.
"Keep them off the ice guys!" Ginzo yelled, popping the heads off two Knights with throwing knives.
"Look out!" Leona yelled, rushing towards a Knight about to slam Dimitri. She catapulted a flaming hammer at the Knight, taking it down.
"Thank you!" Dimitri quickly yelled. "BEHIND YOU!"
Leona whipped her head around to see the towering Ogre rushing her, roaring with fury and winding up a closed fist. Leona instinctively reached to slam the ground with an Arc fist, but was too late.
The Ogre smashed her body, leaving a crater at the point of impact.
Dimitri's voice couldn't possibly convey the emotions he felt.