Chapter 16: The Iron Maiden.

Blake Belladonna, Mercenary and Assassin. She is known in the criminal underworld for her great effectiveness in doing her job, being compared in the Top 10 of Class A Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Right now, the Faunus jumped to dodge a Creep's charge, which ended up crashing into a wall. "Why don't you stay still!? Can't you see I just want to kill you!?" The Grimm turned to charge again, this time managing to catch the Ninja Cat off guard.

But his satisfaction disappeared when he saw the body vanish, as if it had never existed. He had no more time to analyze the situation when his head was pierced by a powerful kick.

Blake sighed as she watched the Grimm's body go up in smoke. She had to deal with several of them while she was unarmed.

After resting for a few seconds, she quickly started running around the lower levels, having to hide from some groups of Beowolves or Beringels. In other circumstances she could have eliminated them, but she had to go through hell itself when an Alpha King attacked the prison where she resided and began to slaughter everyone.

Her current state was proof of it: her orange prison clothes are ripped, she sometimes has trouble breathing and may feel that she has little aura left.

"I'm close to the surface...I just have to change my clothes and board an airship to leave..." The Ninja Cat, using her agility, managed to ascend to the upper floors through places that were not designed for that.

She will soon be able to leave this place. After all she does not intend to stay to fight.

Penny fired at the Nevermores, managing to eliminate them before they could attack a Mistralian Airship, which was evacuating the civilians.

The Gynoid did not have time to rest, as she had to maneuver to dodge a Nevermore Alpha. Some swords came out of her backpack and fired at the Grimm, which managed to dodge them. However, he was unable to dodge the powerful blast of fire, falling to the ground.

Penny paused for a moment, using her processor to analyze the situation: most airships have not been able to take off due to the constant air raids, the nearby Huntsmen are doing their best to fix it.

Once the scan was completed, Penny was able to reassure herself that the evacuation centers were not yet affected. It is important that they were not attacked, after all there were not enough airships to take out all the inhabitants of Mistral.

"The amount of Grimm is overwhelming… I can't be everywhere and we don't have enough combat aircraft…" If I wasn't so focused, I would have winced. This situation is even worse than the marine invasion in Vale.

Seeing that her processor began to beep rapidly upon receiving an alert, she instinctively turned her head towards Haven Academy. She then quickly flew towards the Academy seeing how certain buildings are on fire.

"Protect the civilians!" Ordered the Haven Academy Headmaster, Professor Leonardo Lionheart, creating an aura barrier just in time to ward off a punch that sent him flying.

As he stood up, he watched as some of his Huntsmen and students helped the civilians flee the area, while others stayed with him to fight the Alpha King.

"Let me introduce myself, ladies and gentlemen." His eyes glittered for a moment. "I am Leviathan Alpha King, the Deep Sea King! The most powerful Grimm in the oceans! And I came to declare an ultimatum." Lionheart winced as the Grimm walked over the bodies of some Huntsmen, who were killed when taken by surprise.

"Unlike my companions, who only seek to destroy you, I have a more interesting idea: Kill each other in a tournament!" The Deep Sea King roared, making some Huntsmen stunned. The Lion Faunus frowned at the Grimm's declaration.

"When I came up with the idea of putting them in a tournament and forcing them to kill each other, knowing that in the end we will kill them… I COULDN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD! HAHAHA!"

"This is bad..." Professor Lionheart was right, having fought in his youth with other Alphas Kings, this Grimm gave him the chills. I never expect to find one with that kind of intelligence and cruelty.

Considering the situation they are in and that the Deep Sea King has no intention of stopping, I quickly fire. The Huntsmen caught the action and went to support the Headmaster of Haven Academy.

The Deep Sea King stomped hard, breaking the ground and causing some Huntsmen to lose their balance. Lionheart watched as the Grimm charged a Huntress. He will be honest, he is not the same warrior from years ago, but he still knows how to fight. He quickly fired ice projectiles, which froze the Leviathan's legs, causing him to stumble.

The Deep Sea King growled, breaking free quickly. Seeing that the Huntress managed to escape, he searched for the culprit, causing the Lion Faunus to instinctively recoil. Considering the situation, he should be glad that the Grimm is targeting him and not civilians, but the truth is that he is terrified.

"You are dead." The Leviathan Alpha King charged against Lionheart with great speed. The Lion Faunus felt everything go into slow motion, seeing how the Huntsmen could not save him in time.

"Well...I would like to say that I did something right..." He is not going to lie, in recent years he has become a bit cowardly and weak. Heck, he's not even in the Top 10 of Class B Huntsmen and Huntresses! But he doesn't regret anything. He knew what he was getting into and is proud of what he has done.

When he had finally accepted his fate, and the Deep Sea King was about to lay his hands on the Faunus, he was intercepted by the Gynoid, quickly taking the Grimm away from the Academy.

…

Professor Lionheart's legs wouldn't stop shaking. He took several gulps of air, but he managed to calm himself down. Whatever he happens next is out of his control.

Step 1: Intercept the Grimm. Done.

Step 2: Get the Grimm away from the Academy. Done.

Step 3: …Huh…

Right now she has no idea what to do next and is not helping the constant blows and attempts to free himself from the Deep Sea King.

Once it reached a great height, it began to spin rapidly. She could hear the Alpha King growl and curse at her, trying to free himself from the grip of her arms. She then threw him away, watching as the Grimm's body traveled for miles around the city. She quickly flew towards him as she readied her swords and cannons.

The Leviathan Alpha King managed to rise from the rubble and instinctively put a hand on his head. His body tensed at not feeling his crown, but that quickly became less of a concern as he fully received the Gynoid's powerful spiraling beam of fire and energy.

The passengers of the Mistralian Airships who managed to flee, witnessed how the sky had darkened due to the intense wave of light at a point in Mistral. It could be described as an explosion that refuses to expand, constantly shaking.

Even having landed, Penny kept firing the beam, increasing the power. Alarms were sounded, warning of the overheating of her arms and the drain on her Core's energy. Maybe that's why I diminish the intensity of her attack a bit.

Something that she would quickly regret.

Her optical eyes widened as she saw a six meter tall being emerged from the beam of energy and fire, his black skin looking scorched, along with partially melted bone plates.

"HOW DARE YOU!? SKREERK!" The Leviathan Alpha King roared as he delivered a powerful punch, forcing Penny to create an aura barrier. She managed to protect herself, but she was sent flying, going through several buildings. Upon getting up, she noticed that her aura dropped considerably. But she did not have time to analyze her situation when she saw that the Deep Sea King appeared in front of her.

"How did he suddenly appear!? Not even my sensors detected it!" She managed to dodge a blow that ended up destroying the ground and shaking the place, causing her to lose the stability of her body for a few seconds...which were enough for the Deep Sea King to catch her in his hands. "I'm going to break you..."

Penny could feel her body slowly being crushed.

"Left barrel loss, power flow failure, aura levels decreasing..." Penny read all the messages that appeared, as she heard the metal creak under the great pressure. She only had one alternative...a very disadvantageous…

But she has no choice, she cannot allow the Grimm to cause more death. She has to stop him here and now.

Even at the cost of her life.

200°C…

700°C…

1300°C…

2000°C…

2400°C…

3000°C…

...It is the temperature of the heat that began to generate throughout her body...

"OARGHH!" The Leviathan Alpha King immediately threw her away as he felt his hands melt into his bones. "Y-YOU...!" He put his gaze on the Gynoid, seeing how her clothes had been cremated, exposing her mechanical body, which had not melted thanks to her aura. Even so, it seems partially uneven due to the high temperatures.

"I can't die...not now..." She felt as part of her face disappeared, revealing her metallic skull, along with her left arm, which is hanging from her shoulder. Her vision faded for a moment, and when she returned, the Deep Sea King was in front of her, his mouth open.

She managed to raise her right arm, still functional, and fired a blast of fire. The Deep Sea King managed to dodge it, but I don't expect that some swords, which are scattered on the ground, were still functional. These fired bolts of energy at the Leviathan.

This gave the Gynoid enough time to deploy a blade from her right forearm and lunge toward the Grimm, managing to cut a deep cut into his neck. She quickly leapt to dodge the Alpha King's powerful bite.

"Damn you...you will never understand..." The Leviathan Alpha King began to regenerate the wound on his neck, but grunted as he saw that the high temperatures ruined his healing process in his hands. "Gror...a machine will never understand the beauty of slaughtering humans and faunus... I don't even know why I bother talking to you..."

For some reason it hurt her to be called that, and she doesn't know why. She was created for the sole purpose of protecting the world, dedicating her existence to that commitment and dying for it.

It is a robot, a machine.

That is why she asked Jaune to make her his apprentice, to make her stronger. But to her surprise, they became friends. The young Arc reminded her of a dream that she had forgotten, and during this time she wanted to deny it, because she collided with her ideal of protecting the world and her quest for revenge against the synthetic being.

To have friends.

Wanting to talk about cute boys.

Being able to try on new clothes.

Wants to live her life.

Now she is fulfilling her original purpose, but not because she was ordered to do so, but of her own free will. She still had to settle accounts with the synthetic being, but that was for the future. The only thing that matters is the present.

And right now she has to defeat the Leviathan.

"Exactly... I don't understand it and I don't intend to." She readied her cannon, forcing the Leviathan on the defensive. She used the energy shot to propel herself towards the Grimm, which managed to block the blade.

Penny quickly rolled to dodge the counterattack. She had to back off for each bite the Grimm threw, both of which increased in power due to the mounting rage on the Deep Sea King. The Gynoid managed to slip between the Grimm's legs and fired a blast of fire at his back. She jumped back, but was intercepted by the Leviathan, ripping off her left arm and making her fall.

"Total loss of left arm, aura levels in critical states..." She managed to crouch in time, escaping from the jaws of the Deep Sea King. She managed to penetrate her blade into his chest, at the same time that fired a powerful blast of fire and energy. "Bodily integrity damaged, Core compromised, aura levels dropping..."

Instinctively she backed away, feeling parts of her body creak from just doing that, a few more blows and her aura would disappear. She could see how she left a rather large wound on the Grimm's chest, combined with the explosion, it looks partially melted.

"SKEERRRK!" Right now any trace of intelligence or reasoning disappeared in the Leviathan Alpha King, as if it has regressed to what the Grimms were like 45 years ago.

Penny frowned as she aimed her cannon at him, while managing to activate the swords of her Floating Array that are still functional. The Deep Sea…no. At this point, your title no longer matters; because the Grimm instead of pouncing or dodging it, began to generate its own attack, the electrical fire being visible escaping from the wound on his chest.

They both fired their beams, causing a clash of red, green and yellow lights, each trying to consume the other. Using her optical eyes, Penny could visualize the Leviathan slowly moving forward, shaking the place with every step it took.

At first the swords of her Floating Array managed to give her an advantage. But as time went by, they finally gave in; exploding from pressure or simply falling to the ground, causing the Leviathan to advance faster.

Penny's processor is working at 300%, trying to find a solution to the threat that does not seem to stop. The gynoid's sensors informed her that the air evaporated, the ground where they are is sinking and her body would soon be destroyed.

So, of the millions of plans that I formulate in less than a second, he finally chose one.

From one second to the next, Penny changed the direction of her cannon, still firing the beam of fire and energy, managing to propel herself towards the Grimm. When she was about to get closer, her aura broke.

It hurt.

It hurt her to feel her body being crushed or charred by the Leviathan's electrical fire.

And even with that pain, she didn't stop.

She managed to insert her blade into the wound and penetrate his head from the inside, and considering that one keeps firing her beam, she caused an explosion. The attack was effective.

Almost effective.

At one moment to another, she could see how the Grimm moved his arm quickly.

Then she started to fall.

As she touched the ground, she tried to smile, seeing how part of the Leviathan's torso, which is now shaped like a V, finally collapsed.

Her joy was little, because she quickly realized that the last blow ended ripping her waist, splitting her in two. She had to lift her head to see her legs.

"Total failure in the Core, loss of legs, disabled right cannon, total loss of aura..." The warning messages began to appear. But instead of worrying, she turned off her processor and smiled.

She is low on power and her optical eyes are beginning to fail, indicating that she will soon turn off.

And still, she kept smiling.

Because she finally achieved her goal: Protect the world.

And most importantly: She made a friend.

I'll be honest, when I started writing this, I was excited. During that time I didn't care if the chapters were blatant copies of the OPM episodes, I liked writing them.

So they made me see that this fanfic could be more than that, and I tried to push myself. And I did... I think.

But then came the pandemic.

Considering that I was doing chores and jobs non-stop, I never had time for my personal things. And now that I have time, instead of feeling joy...

I feel like I'm doing it out of obligation.

I'll give you an example: I was working on a video for my youtube channel in December of last year. And a month ago, my mind broke...and I sent the video to shit. Six months for nothing...

I'm not going to lie, for a moment this would be the final chapter. Just like that, without even reaching the end of the first season, I wanted to end it here.

But I managed to calm down and started to think. The motivation I had to cover the entire history of OPM is lost, but I am going to commit until I get to the end of the first season.

I can only say one thing: Thank you. Thanks to everyone who liked the story and to the people who pointed out all my mistakes during the course of it.

Thank you.

After a long battle, Mistral is safe.

Reinforcements had arrived, and by coordinating with the local Huntsmen, they managed to eliminate the Grimm.

The capital is currently being secured and more reinforcements will arrive shortly.

It can be said that a moment of calm was finally obtained.

Except for a bald young man.

Jaune Arc did not cry, did not cry out in fury, did not fall to his knees. He simply fell silent, watching as the friend's lifeless body is secured by some Atlesian engineers.

Four years ago, he had gained enough strength to be a hero, but at the price of not being able to feel anything. Fear, anxiety, hatred, happiness, none of that.

Now, after a long time, trying to fill the void in his heart, he could finally feel something.

And he didn't like it.