A/N

This chapter took a while and it's short for how long it took.

The reason for that is because I'm moving and there's a lot to be done, also, rewrote for quite a bit on this one. Major decisions r never easy.

Rewrote this for some time now, finally came out with a version that I'm pretty happy with.

Pa treon . com (/) R26


Yang's POV

An arm came up to block the incoming lash of silver steel as Ember Celica deployed in a fraction of a second, before Yang sent its twin barking Dust rounds into the metallic surface in hopes that it would shatter.

Her arm felt weightless as it skittered past thin air.

Yang's feet were swept from underneath, before she felt the deadly automaton coiling and tightening against her overcommitted arm, locking her in place with an iron grip that threatened to crush her bones.

She felt the sharp tip pierce and rip her clothing, drawing a diagonal line of linen across her midsection that tore at the cloth, nearly nicking at her skin had it not been for her reflexes.

Her body twisted halfway in the air to dodge the follow-up attack.

An impressive feat if she does say so herself, considering she was fighting with one hand literally tied behind her back.

Spittle erupted from her mouth when rock-hard soles dug into her stomach.

The raw momentum it carried caused her to crash into more than just a few trees.

The only reason her body managed to completely bleed off all momentum was that the tree that broke her fall and most possibly, her back, having the breadth of Port's ginormous belly.

Even then, the mere force behind it shattered the middle clean in two, the now V-shaped trunk looking like it was split by lightning from above, while somehow having the mercy to leave out the char.

"Crud..." Yang hissed while holding onto her exposed stomach.

"Yang!" The red blur sped by her side before she could yell for her to get away. "Are you... okay...?"

Had her sister always been this obvious...?

Still... Instead of replying, crimson eyes narrowed in on her mother's body.

Raven's fingers were twitching and her back was moving up and down at a dangerously slow rate, a miracle, given her crippled state.

That was good.

That meant she was still alive.

That didn't mean squat as to how it'll help them since she'd probably be unable to fight if she could stand.

"Mommy isn't here to save you this time girlie." The scorpion faunus seemed to notice where she was looking and skipped giddily in her direction, his manic giggling savoring her own desperate look that was frantically searching for an escape route.

There were none.

They were all on the edge of a cliff, and if they were to go back from the trail they came from the two madmen would surely follow.

If it were Grimm, she would've triumphed easily.

If it were multiple, she would've put up a fight.

If it were students of more or less equal a level, especially if they were jerks like Cardin, she would've kicked their face in with little to no issues.

This, however...

Crimson eyes glared at the narrow-faced man she vaguely remembered making a brief appearance on Beacon's fall, before a gauntleted arm came up to block a Dust coated bullet that almost dented Ember Celica in.

"Well, it looks like this won't be a complete waste of time after all." The tall man sneered.

Two fully trained Huntsmen were on par with both her uncle and her father.

This was not how she expected the night to go.

Why had the path led them here of all places?!

I could be dipping her sweaty body in a tub of warm water by now, making Louis massage my aching foot all night for what he did to Ruby.

Unfortunately... fate was not so kind.

Instead, she found herself making decisions and choices she really didn't and wasn't qualified to make.

None of which... sounded particularly enticing.

Run away with Ruby through the thick forest in hopes that they find the entrance to the city on the first try and risk getting both shot and impaled just like her mother did...

Or...

Stand her ground and fight while Ruby escaped with her Semblance.

Knowing Ruby though, she'd refuse to leave her alone and would no doubt stand her ground as well.

The day Ruby decided to leave anyone behind in their time of need was the day the world ended.

Yeah... not a lot of great options.

Yang didn't know what to do.

Especially not when her ears picked up feral growls and snarls, crashing upon her already diminished spirit and sweeping her under like crashing waves from the ocean.

It took no time at all for them to be surrounded by a sea of black, made harder to see when they were constantly shifting under the thick shade the trees around them provided, but intimidated them all the same.

"Grimm...?" The blonde brawler took one step back as she felt Ruby's shoulders stiffening behind her.

Both were suddenly wary that the situation was much more dangerous than they initially anticipated.

Griffons, Ursas, Beowolves, and other Grimms of many forms emerged from the treelines.

Some come in sizes and shapes she didn't even recognize, but nobody could mistake the wall of hungry red eyes.

What they lack in quality, they make up in quantity.

So were how Grimm functioned in nature, ever since they were molded from the dawn of time.

Somehow, none of them seemed to be attracted to anybody standing on the other side.

Ugh... talk about cheap.

"This is going to be soooo easy!" Tyrian crowed gleefully when Cresent Rose was easily deflected with the flick of one bladed hand and Ember Celica was quickly repelled with his boot, all while somehow retaining his balance. "Is this what the current generation of Huntsmen are made of? Her grace will be pleased to know that her conquest will be swift and just!"

"Do you ever just shut up?!" Yang howled in pain when something struck her sides, nearly causing her to lose all balance were it not for Ruby grabbing her by hand.

Big mistake.

Ruby cried out in pain as the crescent-shaped steel flew past her skirt, striking at her legs and sending her down on one knee.

"Ruby!" Something launched into her cheek, but she gritted through the pain and held strong. Crimson eyes flashed as heat burst through her body and channeled onto her fists before she sent one at his face, causing Tyrian to jump away, though he looked more amused than wary.

She doubted that it would've done much had it connected, but it gave them some much-needed space.

"Come on..." Yang hooked her sister's arm over her shoulder. "Get... up!"

She didn't know if her Semblance could hold for long enough for them both to make a full escape.

"Yang..." Ruby whimpered as her eyes glinted with unshed tears.

Yang's eyes widened as she caught sight of the large bruise through her thigh-high stockings.

Ruby would be unable to stand up straight, let alone walk or run.

"Tyrian! Finish them!"

"With pleasure..." He bowed theatrically before his tail glinted with moonlight, some viscous substance of purple oozing out of the tip and frothed dangerously.

Ruby and her would die here.

Just like last time.

But this time, dear old Uncle Qrow wouldn't be here to swoop in at the last second.

And just like last time...

It was all her fault.

"Aha!" The faunus charged wildly yet again, forcing her to raise both hands out in front of her to attempt and shield her vitals and hope that Ember Celica's armor plates were enough to hold.

Deep inside, she knew it wouldn't be.

She was bound to be running low on Aura after bursting twice in rapid succession like that.

Even with the help of Ember Celica combined, they weren't even remotely close to protecting her body from the advanced mechanical tail that was crafted specifically to kill.

She heard sparks fly and shrilled shrieking as Ember Celica's surface crumpled inward.

Surprisingly, there was no pain as the blade or... blades, drove in.

Yang took in a deep, labored breath as she expected to taste of her own blood flooding her mouth any time now.

"F-" A familiar... stammering, and timid voice rasped. "Fr-f...Fri-"

Huh...?

"Fr-Friend...ss..."

Her heart sank.

Both eyes snapped open to witness the horror unfolding before her.

Yang heard Ruby's cry cut off as she choked back on her own sob, but she caught it nevertheless.

After all, she was very close to doing the same.

Something did creak and give away.

It wasn't Ember Celica.

"Tch..." Arthur sounded equal parts pissed and annoyed, yet somehow managed to keep his tone somewhat even. "Pietro's toy."

"H-Hi F-fr- Ruby..." Penny managed to smile weakly. "Yang..."

The multiple blades spun slowly in front of her, held together by barely visible, thin metal wires that were only recognizable due to the shimmering reflection made by the waning bonfire.

Almost all were snapped and shattered in halves and quarters, her valiant attempts for impregnable defense proving to be no match for the advanced exoskeleton.

"Are you... " She took in a deep, pained breath as the compartment she'd been storing the blades in, equivalent to the human spine, rustled and creaked when the gaping hole got even wider than it already has. "Okay?"

"You don't have the right to say that!" Yang shot up immediately and tried to ward off the tail that was stuck between their friend's chest out or away, only for it to flick towards her face and swat her back down. "Penny!"

Penny stood steadfast as she anchored her foot, engraving her soles into soil and refusing to give even another inch of ground away.

"Atlesian garbage!" Tyrian roared as he pounced high up to find an open angle he could attack from, the weapons locked on and aimed to kill.

His restricted tail didn't seem to hinder his movements one bit as he basically flew and weaved through the air.

Bullets pinged off of the already brittle blades, chipping away at her remaining defenses slowly but certainly.

Soon there won't be anything left in the way.

Penny continued to glance over her shoulder with a watery smile.

She was dying- no, she was going to die.

She knew that.

They all knew that.

"I'm glad we met." The freckled girl's voice was weak and glitched as she paid her assailant no attention. "I'm glad... you are safe."

One by one, blades flew out of the way with a barrage of sparks and clatters, her defenses stripped one layer at a time as multiple strings twisted and snapped.

"Yang!" Ruby pleaded as even she tried to get up. "We need to do something! She can't last any longe-!"

"DIE!"

Yang was forced to watch it all happen in slow motion, made all the more agonizing by how helpless they both were.

The tip of the tail twitched almost spasmodically, almost like it has a life of its own as it curled upward and shot towards the back of Penny's head.

And even then...

Penny watched them both contently, tilted her head slightly, looking at them dead on, green eyes slowly drifting shut and...

Beamed.

It was ruined when her lips bulged outward and it all gave away, ripping and dislodging head from body in a shower of sparks and circuits.

Her knees struck the ground, her upper cranium missing its jaw clattering when it bounced off the ground a good few times and then eventually rolling towards their direction, creaking to a halt before them.

"Finally." Tyrian sighed in relief as he flicked his tail to get rid of the nuisance that was their friend's headless carcass, which made a loud thunk as it was dropped carelessly into the mud.

"Good riddance." Arthur spat. "And to think my genius was outwitted by this... this..." He waved his weapon in the air as he thought of a word for it. "Frivolous junkyard scrap."

"Penny..."

Ruby's voice cracked and hitched when tears finally flowed loose just as the light drained out of Penny's empty eyes, her green pupils robotically going wide like apertures.

"Ruby," Yang held her own from cracking, if only barely. "We have to go... " She watched the two rouge Huntsmen turning their attention back on them. "Now."

"Penny..."

It was no use.

Penny died for nothing.

She only delayed the inevitable.

"I'm so sorry!" Tyrian apologized unapologetically as he slapped an arm overdramatically against his head. "Please! Don't tell mommy that I broke your favorite doll..."

The moment his eyes sought theirs, his saccharine expression twisted almost spontaneously and his savage grin was back in place.

"Here, how about you play with my puppies instead...?" The madman sniggered. "They won't bite..." One eye peeked out from between his finger. "Much."

The Beowolves around them snarled as the bastard cackled away.

Arthur wasn't much better.

In fact, the asshole seemed pleased with the long-awaited relief, and by the looks of it, he seemed content enough to be the first to deliver the news to Pietro by whatever means necessary.

Yang won't give him the satisfaction to do so.

The Grimm all closed in around them, but out of the corner of her eyes, she could see something that wasn't dark in color.

Something...

That wasn't Grimm.

"She didn't need to die either..."

Only then did Yang notice Evans, Mercury, and Emerald's presence in their ranks.

The two didn't look apologetic in the slightest.

If anything, they, especially Emerald, looked as if justice had been served, and that her vengeance had been sated, but it wasn't entirely aimed at them.

Why the girl hated them so much, Yang didn't have a clue.

The last member, however...

Evans shot her an almost unreadable look for the sake of his disguise, but she could see his eyes having a pained and sorrowed edge to them as he was forced to watch it all.

And couldn't do a damn thing.

The Grimm lunged at them.

Before Ember Celica could slam down on an approaching Beowolf, a shrill scream pierced through the silent night, before blinding light exploded and engulfed them all.

Ruby's POV

Searing pain.

That was the only thing that made sense within her already frayed senses when her eyes burned as if they were gouged out by knives.

Penny, her friend, had just died protecting them.

I couldn't protect her.

I couldn't do anything!

The realization came in like a truck with its brakes torn out.

It...

It was all...

My fault...

If... If I'd stayed in the house instead of running away...

Ruby wanted to do nothing but scream her lungs until her voice was gone and pray that this was all a bad dream.

"Deadweight..."

She'd wake up in her bed and Penny would be there to greet her back at the house they rented.

Yeah, this was all a bad dream...

It had to be.

The scream that tore out of her throat grew louder as it tried to force down and overpower the large lump that was rapidly making its way up her windpipe.

Just as she thought she was about to pass out from the pounding headache, something within her...

Snapped.

Not like Yang, who could tune out the world around her and focus on just bashing her enemies heads in, but more like something rising up from the depths of her core and thrashing its way onto the back of her head while roaring angrily.

A deeper, more guttural voice overshadowed the incandescent light, making a black splotch as tendrils shot out in the neverending white, but stopped a few inches away from her face.

It didn't want to hurt her.

It couldn't.

It was as if there was an invisible wall expanding a few mere inches keeping her safe, for it definitely wanted to.

It howled deep in pain as it cried and shouted.

Lashed and screamed.

Not in agony and regret...

But in raw, unadulterated pain.

"Make it stop!" She felt it shout and trash within her chest where it's seemingly tethered to. "STOP IT NOW!"

It was the only thing anchoring her down to reality, the thing that kept the severe, pounding headache from making her pass out.

Suddenly... Ruby remembered the situation both she and Yang were in as the scream, once loud and powerful, started to weaken and drain back into her throat.

She couldn't afford to pass out.

Otherwise... She bit her lip so hard it nearly bled.

Otherwise...

Yang would die too.

She had to fight.

Ruby fell to her knees with a dull thump as she felt the energy slowly seeping out of her limbs, her shoulders, and finally, her head.

As the light slowly winked out of existence, so did the dark presence.

The spots in her field of vision stayed for what felt like forever, before a hazy blur of bright yellow hair formed before her eyes.

When the light finally receded, the first thing she saw was Yang's jaw-dropping expression as she tried to make sense of what just happened.

"What... was that?"

And then she saw what caused Yang to make such a face.

The Grimm that were around them not a few seconds ago...

Were now all stone.

All of them seemed to be frozen mid-charge, as if they were trying to overwhelm both her and her sister the moment it activated.

Those that used flight, such as Griffons and smaller Nevermores all dropped to the ground, crumbling into dust and ash.

"I..." Ruby gulped. "I did that...?"

"So you did." A deeper voice that definitely wasn't her sister responded.

Yang's arms shot out to block a bullet heading in her direction, before she saw the Atlesian scientist rubbing his near bloodshot eyes.

"I've been so focused on the task that I almost forgot about you."

Why didn't he turned to stone along with the Grimm?

"If her grace didn't want you alive it would've been oh so easy to dispose of you." The tall man sneered. "Unfortunately, it seems that our orders were to apprehend you, not kill you."

Yang's shoulders seemed to sag a little from that little statement.

The lopsided grin that crept its way onto his face should've been a warning they unwisely missed.

"However..."

Yang suddenly buckled.

"Urk..."

"Yang!" Cresent Rose deployed out as her sister's Aura flickered to repair the damage. "You said you wouldn't hurt us!"

"I said I needed you alive." Arthur sniggered. "Your sister... not so much."

Before Ruby could decide to even use Cresent Rose, she felt something slam into her side and caused her to crash to the ground.

She quickly turned around to see what caused it, only for silver orbs to widen as she saw the very thing that already took one life tonight about to take another.

Tyrian's red-rimmed eyes glimmered with glee as he stood before Yang's defenseless body, tail above his head and pointing downward.

Into Yang.

"Say goodnight!"

The silvery tip dove down.

"YANG!"

Yang's POV

Through the ringing, her mind screamed for her to get up or roll out of the way.

To do anything other than lay down still.

Was she... dead?

No.

She felt pain.

Her shoulder was sore and burned from the bullet that grazed it.

Damn thing actually tore through what remained of her Aura.

"Foolishness... Yang."

That voice...

"Raven...?"

"Foolishness..."

Lilac eyes went wide as she saw her mother's shaking legs before her, pushing back the tip of her assailant's tail with a weapon of her own in one hand, the other clutching onto the wound she'd recieved earlier.

But...

She wasn't even able to move!

"Might... controls... everything." With a grunt, Raven somehow pushed Tyrian back, who landed in a crouch with a snarl. "Without strength, you... couldn't save anyone."

Crimson eyes glared over her shoulder. "Let alone yourself."

"How are you standing?!" Tyrian howled. "The enhanced formula should've been potent enough to kill you!"

"On someone constantly intoxicated like my brother, maybe." Raven's fingers slowly crept up her face as one hand grasped at the mask so hard Yang winced when the edge cracked, and then tossed it aside, eyes shimmering, blazing with rag- actually no, she wasn't imagining it. Raven's eyes were literally on fire, though its color wasn't natural. "But your poor judgment on which twin you choose to mess with will cost you."

"It doesn't matter." Tyrian crouched on all fours as his head stooped down low, tail curling high above and poised to strike, making him look more like his faunus counterpart than man. "You'll all die the same!"

"I'd prefer it if you leave my family untouched," That last bit was delivered clipped, and was all too familiar. "Thank you very much."

Yang could hear her mother gasp as a mop of blonde hair filled her vision, before the brown cargo vest of someone she knew registered in her mind.

"D-Dad...?"

"You know," Dark boots landed in front of her as blue eyes glared at her from over his shoulder. "When you chased after Ruby from that house I expected you to heed our words and run away from trouble, not come charging towards it."

"W-well..." Yang laughed weakly. "Trouble seems to have a knack for finding us."

His eyes were flat as they sought hers.

"This time, and only this time, do I believe you're not actively seeking for it." He focused back on Tyrian, who now had Arthur by his side while Emerald and Mercury flanked beside them. "Take Ruby and go."

"But da-!"

"Go!" He yelled and fell into a battle stance.

Yang looked towards him and, for desperation, her injured mother, and hesitated still.

"Yang." Raven spat something off to the side, but the way she tested her taste buds immediately after had her doubting it consisted of only blood, and then took her sword out of her sheath, the blade forming out of red Dust. "Have a little faith will you? If I'm strong enough to keep up with your father's constant ranting throughout the good half of my life, then this will be but a breeze."

"Heh." Yellow Aura burst through and enveloped her dad's entire body. "Told you she'd inherit your paranoia."

Raven looked annoyed more than anything.

"You said that the moment that line appeared on the pregnancy test."

"What difference would it have made if I'd said it later?" He smirked when he noticed the crimson flame glowing in her eyes, though if it bothered or susrpsied him, he didn't let it show. "It was predetermined fate. Your blood flows through her veins. Even when you weren't there, it always felt like part of you was."

"Oh, so you admit to ogling your very own daughter."

Taiyang glared in return.

"Not quite what I meant..."

"I'm right here you know..." Yang's eyes were flat.

"If only you could fight as well as you run your mmourk-!"

Raven's legs seemed to fail her as she dropped to one knee, jabbing the tip of her blade into the ground.

"Ah, so even with the powers of the Maiden it was nothing but a temporary buffer." Arthur chuckled as he redirected his aim to the downed woman, but Taiyang noticed and his body moved in to block his line of fire. "A shame. I was expecting more of a struggle from the feared Bandit Queen of Anima. Sweet dreams."

"Rae," Taiyang bent down to shake his ex-wife. "What's wrong?"

"P-poison..."

"What...?" It was then that Taiyang saw the crumpled armor that was caved in at her side, and cursed under a muttered breath for not noticing sooner.

He laid his hands atop it to apply pressure, but Raven just shook her head between her sharp inhales.

"T-The wound... Too big..."

Taiyang cursed again when Raven gritted and hissed through her teeth, while her left leg started to convulse.

Yang was the first to saw it from the edge of her vision.

Large tufts of black fur approached from the treelines, and it took a few seconds to realize more Grimm had come to replace their fallen kin.

Glowing red eyes surrounded them once more, flanking and surrounding them at different angles.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, a Beowolf howled.

"Dad!" Yang yelped. "We have to-!"

"Penny..."

That voice...

Both Yang's and Ruby's necks whipped around so fast they both nearly caught whiplash.

"You..." Emerald snarled as her knuckles turned white around the handles of her weapon, voice dripping with venom. "Now you know how it feels like to lose someone you hold dear."

"Well hello there," Evans smiled roguishly, though the way his eye twitched told her he was also caught off guard more than anything, not that Mercury and Emerald could see. "Old friend."

Louis's POV

How...

Just how did it end up this way...

...

Why did it end up this way?

"Hey!"

My eyes darted to my left.

"When I agreed to come with," Illia gasped. "I agreed to help, not to die! So stop zoning out!"

The Grimm lunged in our direction, Blake being surrounded by a pack of Beowolves while Illia struggled against an Ursa Major.

My gaze was slowly drawn away from them once more however, and onto Penny's dismembered body that lay flat on the ground, caked in mud.

Something within me threatened to push itself out.

"Well?" Emerald spread her arms out wide. "Got something to say or what?"

"Which one..." My shoulders shook as my teeth grated. "Of you bastards did this?"

"Tch..." The green-haired girl ground her teeth, but a hand was held out to stop her.

My eyes tracked the gauntleted arm, and onto a familiar face which was the only thing keeping me from taking a wild guess and attacking everyone and anyone who stood in my way.

"He did."

Dark orbs tracked the finger and snapped towards the scorpion faunus, who at that moment, seemed to find something amusing.

"I had that!" Emerald snapped and shoved his body so hard, Evans barreled into a nearby tree. "I was the one who did it! ME! I'm the one you want!"

Deep down...

Shackles shattered as heavy chains were lifted off of my shoulders.

"So," Tyrian cackled as he rubbed his palms together. "It seems like you would like to have a hand in experiencing what it did."

"She..."

"Huh?" Tyrian's lips thinned as he exaggerated a hunched posture, leaning towards my side and holding a hand over his ear.

"It" My voice was raspy, hoarse.

Murderous.

"Was a She."

"She, it, him." The narrow-faced man counted each with a finger held up. "What does it matter? Just another fine addition to the voices within my head."

"Any departing words?" The presence manifested itself as a black swirl in front of me, two crimson dots forming a vicious snarl as it...

Smirked.

It knew what was about to happen.

What I was about to allow.

And this time, there was no such thing as holding back. There would be no limits.

He had crossed the line.

And he'll pay for it...

With his life.

"Yeah..." My eyes narrowed on Tyrian. "Make it hurt." My own fingers felt like a calming breeze as they brushed over my chest, before I saw dark Aura flickering.

My Aura dispersed in all different directions, fleeting my body and leaving me exposed.

A slight burning sensation remained where my hands made contact, but there were no other side effects.

There was no form of pain or anguish, no choking or suffocation as I felt my reserves get sucked dry.

"As much as you can."

It sniggered amusedly.

"All the better to hurt you with... My dear."

Tyrian's POV

"Ooooh!" Tyrian's eyes lit up as the figure slumped forward. His whole frame shook with excitement. "I can't wait to dismember a Seer! What would you look like on the inside? Will there be blood?"

"Yes." Seemingly tattooed eyes that were completely shrouded with darkness stared back at him. "Yours."

That should've terrified him, yet it did not.

He'd seen those exact same eyes, with the addition of a red pupil, within the eyes of his goddess.

How dare he steal them!

"Blake, a little help would be nic-!"

The Ursa Major stiffened, before its upper half slid down its hips.

"H...huh?" The girl whose hair was tied up in a ponytail just gaped as the lumbering creature fell apart before her eyes.

An arm reached out to the opposite side, dragging a Beowolf by its snapping maw, then twisted the top and bottom half in completely different directions, before a sickening wet snap ensued afterward.

"Louis you can't just-!"

The moment his head snapped in her direction, the raven-haired faunus's jaw snapped shut.

The three others were severed immediately after.

It would've gotten her too, had she not made a clone in her place.

The Grimm around them roared and hissed, snapped and bellowed, but none made to move against the man-turned-beast.

The girl beside him took a step back, eyes wary as she hooked her hands around the other girl, but couldn't help but flinch as he turned to regard her.

He didn't make a move against her.

She gulped nevertheless, and then took the chameleon faunus with her as far away as humanely possible.

No matter.

He'll kill them later.

"So, you sent them away." Tyrian sniggered. "Not that they could get very far with most of the Grimm congregating here. Afraid they'll die after you fai-?"

Tyrian leaped to the side to avoid a Beowolf's carcass that was thrown in his direction.

"How rude..." The scorpion faunus stared at the disintegrating corpse.

The Grimm around them snarled ferally and, as if controlled by one hive mind, bared their fangs and claws.

"Kill him!"

They all lunged mindlessly.

A flash of dark steel glinted in the moonlight, and severed heads flew.

[Xiao: Doombane怨- Genshin Impact OST - HEAVY ORCHESTRAL REMIX

An Ursa lumbered forth to use its head as a battering ram, only for the tip of the dark blade to penetrate into its skull like a hot knife through butter.

It didn't stop the momentum that carried over, causing the man to skid back a few meters, before one arm grasped and lifted an Alpha Beowolf on the other side that had one claw winded up and ready to strike, slamming its sternum onto the pommel of his blade so hard, its ribs squelched as it sank through the hilt and guard.

Two Griffons tried to tackle him to the ground, accompanied by another Ursa Major that lumbered from the opposite direction.

He vaulted over the quadrupedal, making sure to use its snout as a springboard, before grabbing the startled Griffon by its beak with one hand and another by its throat, somehow landing on top of the creature underneath him without getting impaled.

Both flailed around, unable to escape his grasp, the latter stilling a moment later as they unified.

Just as the Griffon was about to rip its beak out of its twin, an elbow dove into the back of its neck and unzipped its partner's skin all the way through the pelvis.

The spikes jutting out of the Ursa's back handled the rest.

Just as the dazed Ursa was about to turn around, some guts wrapped and tightened around its throat, causing it to claw at its neck.

It ripped its own throat out with its oversized paws not a second later.

"LOOK OU-!"

Blood erupted out of his stomach a moment later, followed by a glint of silver steel that clicked and clacked happily.

"LOUIS!"

"NO!"

There might've been a flicker of silver from the edge of his vision, but it winked out immediately after.

"I must say doctor, your invention works like a char-"

"Ha ha Ha Ha HA! HA! HA..."

Tyrian's eyes widened.

"Pain..." The wolf tailed man lifted his head to look him directly in the eye.

A shining white ring formed within the neverending void, before dilating to form pure white pupils.

The fingers slowly closed around the automation with little issue.

"This... is why I fight."

To everyone's shock, he didn't appear to be in any sort of agony.

In fact, he looked almost grateful.

Then he did the unimaginable.

A fountain of blood spurted out below his chest as the tail was ripped out of his torso.

"This is my normal..." Inhuman eyes glared his way as his lips twisted into a feral grin. "My nature."

Tyrian stared.

His wicked eyes stared at the gaping hole that he left.

"You've lost your mind..."

Before their very eyes, the blood that poured its way out of his systems seemed to darken in color from auburn to burgundy, before turning completely black.

It then started to froth and bubble.

Before their very eyes, the hole that he put in there started to close up with the dark ooze.

Okay, now he's just pissing me off.

He'd only seen that happen to one person, and one person only.

"Anything else you've stolen from my goddess?" Tyrian snarled.

"Stolen?" The madman laughed, unbothered of how those on the side of the cliff fell silent as they watched him cautiously. "Perhaps you got it all mixed up."

His eyes couldn't help but narrow. "And just exactly what did I get mixed up about?"

"I didn't steal anything from her." It spat. "She stole it from me. She is nothing but a speck in the world that got a bit ahead of herself. If there's anyone you should be calling your god..."

The dark blade split open, crimson light shone forth.

"It should be me."

Tyrian roared as he sprung forth.


Reviwer Sessions

EL KAHN DE KAHN: I agree. She probably had it coming to her. About Adam well... we'll get to it when we get to it.

paradox0.5white: Np

FireIce90: I have, thanks for your concern, but it's nothing to worry about. Probably just my body getting used to it, that's all.

Kage-kitsune9001 : Let's be honest here, who wouldn't?

lilbigstoryteller: Yeah apologies for that, lots of stuff to do irl, so I can't really do routinely updates anymore, will try to get back into it asap tho.