AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. Thank you for all the support this series has gotten here and on Tv Tropes. Things are getting insane with Cu Alter about to cause havoc at Clockwork. However, I think the latter half of this chapter shows an even deadlier foe emerge from their prison. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.
Chapter 59 – Tearing Apart
Cinder.
Cinder knelt next to a barely conscious Irisviel and Abigail, who held her head in pain, "Do you think my message was able to get through?" Cinder asked the Foreigner class girl.
"I'm not sure, but I think so. Salem's mind is…I'm not sure what she is seeing." Abigail responded, "Listen, I was with Lavinia, but she went to get one find of the other students or teachers for help. When they get here, you need to-" Suddenly, the Foreigner class girl's body throbbed in pain, "AAAAHHHHHH!" she screamed while holding her head, flailing on the ground.
"Abigail!?" Cinder said as she got up, but as she approached the Foreigner class girl, a tornado of black winds erupted from the keyhole in the forehead.
Cinder was pushed back by the massive winds. She then gasped in horror as the monstrous alter formed in the middle of the hallway, "Finally, true freedom." Cu Alter spoke with a smile, then heard a thud from behind him. In turning his head, he discovered it was the unconscious body of Abigail, which Cinder was holding.
Suddenly a voice spoke in Cinder's head, recognizing it as the Queen of Grimm.
Cinder, you must run away! That creature is an Alter!
"An Alter!?" Cinder said before Cu Alter focused on her.
"You must be speaking with that Grimm lady I just meet." Cu Alter spoke, then looked down to Abigail, "So, this was where her reality marble resided." The monstrous alter then raised his right arm, which morphed into three progged spears, "I kill her, and it makes sure that I can never see that Gate again." Cinder gritted her teeth as she held Abagail close, "You think you can protect her. Ha!" Cu Alter said as he reeled his arm back. "Then you can die toget-"
Suddenly, a large white sword headed toward Cu Alter's chest, but he evaded the attack. Cinder gasped before realizing it was one of Irisviel's attacks. She turned to witness the pale-skinned woman partially standing with one eye open, her breathing heavy as she held out her left arm from launching the attack. Irisviel then redirected her blade in midair, but it was caught by Cu Alter's tail.
"Hahaha," Cu Alter laughed as he crushed it to revert its form back to that of a strand of hair. "Is that all?" he asked with Irisviel gritting her teeth, "Well, I guess I will just kill you first-" he said before an arrow was shot directly towards his face. However, Cu Alter evaded it before scowling at the attacker.
Cinder looked down the hall to discover it was Atalanta with her bow drawn and a focused glare. Nearby was Merlin with Lavinia peeking from behind him. In raising his staff, a beam of blue light fired and collided with Cu Alter's chest, launching him down the hallway before crashing into a wall, "If I overheard right, that was an Alter." Merlin spoke with a smile, "I never did get to fight one in the invasion last year." He said before the monstrous alter erupted from the wall, "Based on his features, I would say this is Cu Chulainn's Alter."
"I'm Cu Alter," the monstrous alter responded, then smiled, "And you know, I can sense that my original is nearby." Cu Alter then smiled as his arms and head begin plated with spears, "Sorry, but I wanted to kill that one for a long time now!" he said before jumping up, ripping through the ceiling in his escape.
"Get back here!" Atalanta screamed as she drew her bow but was then stopped by Merlin.
"We need to help the others here before we can pursue that monster," Merlin said with him and Atalanta looking back to Cinder you tried to help Irisviel, who was coughing blood. As well as a crying Lavinia near Abigail's body, "Their bodies can't be moved, but you can rush back to the medical wing to get supplies while I treat them."
"Understood." Atalanta responded before rushing back down the halls, "I still need to warn them." She said while taking out her scroll and sending a message chain.
Weiss.
Night had started to cast its shroud over the area. At the destroyed mountain site, Weiss placed her hands on the ground with her eyes closed. She radiated a yellow aura that matches the clockwork glyph that expanded over the area. Yang's hand was on her teammate's back, Celicavalon was seen as it radiated the same aura. Blake and Reines watched on, "She said this glyph can affect the target's perception of the flow of time." The black cat faunus said, "It won't restrain him, but we can make him slower."
"This will have to do until we have a stronger seal." Reines responded, focused on the glyph, "That monster cannot be allowed to resurrect." She said before turning to Blake, who was looking off into the distance, "What is it?"
"I hear…galloping?" Blake responded, her eyes focusing, "It's getting closer." Suddenly, her faunus ears flickered, causing her to gasp, "LOOKOUT!" She shouted before tackling the Princess of El-Melloi.
Emerging from the forest was the Headless Huntsman riding a black horse. Its eyes were blood red and its hair atop the back and tail were pure white. The body of the mount was also protected in dark steel armor. The Headless Huntsman wielded a massive black sword, swinging it towards the two. However, Blake had moved herself and Reines out of the way of the assault. Still, the Headless Huntsman pressed forward towards Yang and Weiss. In hearing her partner's warning, Yang turned at the sight and gasped before grabbing Weiss, allowing both to jump out of the way of the second swing.
"No, not now." Reines commented as she and Blake recovered, "Damnit, I should have predicted our enemy would have attacked when the others left." Her eyes then widened at a realization, "Does that mean he has been observing us all this time?"
The Headless Huntsman then jumped off the black stallion, pointing his sword downward, then stabbed the Glyph that was being created. Weiss watched as the markings cracked, then felt a tremor under her feet, "Oh no," She said before turning to Yang, "I think he's waking up." She said before looking back to her glyph, "It won't hold much longer."
"Don't worry, we got this." Yang said as she and Weiss stood up with Blake and Reines ran over to them, "I take it that's the headless guy you fought?" the blond brawler asked her partner with Blake nodding.
However, the black cat faunus looked back to the Headless Huntsman, "He didn't have that horse and sword." Suddenly, the Headless Huntsman turned to the four girls. With one glare, all four of them felt a pressure ring through their whole body, "But just like before, I can feel the aura breaking." Blake added as Weiss and Yang felt their aura shatter as well.
"That blade." Reines said as her eyes trembled at the sight of the black sword, "It has to be… Azrael. The sword used by one of the three kings." She said as a line of sweat ran down her face, turning to the others, "Listen to me, do not let that blade land a fatal blow! Even if you think you can heal afterward!"
"Understood," Weiss said before drawing her gunblades. Yang reposed with her Celicavalon as Blake spawned her black bow weapon. The three girls readied for battle as Headless Horseman pulsated an ominous aura.
The three then rushed the Headless Huntsman in a frontal assault. Blake and Weiss jumped to open fire with their ranged weapons from above. The Headless Huntsman blocked the projectiles with his blade but was left open as was in range for a punch. She unleashed her fist into his gut, creating a shockwave on the impact that ran through the area. However, the blond brawler gasped as her attack was also blocked. A black aura in the shape of whips coiled around her right arm, locking her in place. Yang struggled to pull herself free before seeing the blade of Azrael being raised.
However, the blade was halted by a black glyph at the apex of its swing. The Headless Huntsman then noticed the white heiress as the culprit with a cold gaze. His focus then shifted to the black cat faunus, who dove towards him. Her weapon despawned, but her hands radiated a black and purple aura that changed their shape into claws. Once within range, she slashed across his chest, causing the Headless Huntsman to recoil from the hit, "That was for tossing me the first time we meet." Blake spoke with a scowl before raising her left hand for another attack.
"Watch out!" Yang tried to warn but was too late. The black stallion's back hooves collided with Blake's abdomen, sending her off the Headless Huntsman and into Weiss's body. Yang then gritted her teeth before her right arm glowed in a yellow aura. With a pulsation of energy, Celicavalon blasted off the whips before sending the Headless Huntsman back a few meters. Yang reeled back for a second punch towards the horse, but the black stallion had pivoted its body and opened its jaw. Yang gasped before the horse bit down on her head, "AAAAAAAAAAA!" she screamed while flailing her fist into the black stallion's head. eventually, Yang's boby was violently chucked away before landing on her back.
Blake, Weiss, and Reines gasped in horror as Yang slowly got up. As the blond brawler felt her head, she noticed something was off. In locking back to the black stallion, he saw locks of her hair stuck in its teeth, chewing on them like hay. Yang's eyes quickly turned red before escalating to golden. She raised her right fist with the noble phantasm charging.
"NO!" Reines called out as Blake and Weiss ran up, trying to hold their teammate back, but unable to stop the attack.
"Celicavalon!" Yang declared before she punched the ground, unleashing a power wave of yellow energy that headed towards its opponents.
However, as the ground gave to the wake, the glyph was shattered. With it, something emerged into the path of the noble phantasm. Rather, someone emerged. The power wave split into two paths that ripped through the forest, but neither one hit the Headless Huntsman, nor the black stallion. Yang's eyes were still filled with rage, but she then gasped at the sight of the creature that stood in the middle of her most powerful attack.
He was not human, nor was he a Grimm. The skin looked as solid as stone, a frostbitten blue. He towered over all with weights of a king, a crown on his head a red cape over his shoulders, which also showed a type of tusk as well. In his right hand was yellow staff with electricity radiating from it. His head showed a black void in the center, an abyss of nightmares in the darkness. This was Ivan the Terrible, who examined the area with a silent pressure.
"Oh, crap." Yang spoke before her teammate let her go, each assuming a fighting stance, "Sorry, I really messed." She said with a line of sweat running down her forehead.
"Nothing can be done about it now," Blake responded, glaring back at the Headless Huntsman, who despawned Azrael, "He looks like he was planning for this."
"It's fine, we just need to take this one down as well." Weiss responded before looking back to Reins, "Get back to the airship and-" she said before seeing the Princess of El-Melloi frozen in fear. Her body was near white as a ghost as breathing was heavy, "Reines?"
"It's over," Reines spoke in terror, tears running down her face, "We're all going to die." She said before falling to her knees.
Ivan continued to look around before his gaze focused on the sky, seeing the massive airship. He then raised his left hand and pointed, causing the ground to shake unlike before, "Come forth and kill like a nightmare," the Terror King spoke before the ground erupted, causing the girls to gasp in horror as massive monstrosity emerged. It was like the Grimm Goliath, but its size was unparalleled and skin as grey as stone. The trunk had a pike-like end with a blue aura, "The time of enforcement has arrived." He as the trunk was raised high, causing purplish lightning to form between it and the tusks. Black and blue bolts of electricity transformed the energy into a compact ball of destruction, "Zveri Krestnyi Khod!" Ivan the Terrible declared before the monstrous mount unleashed a destructive blast towards the airship. The others watched in shock at the airship being hit by the beam, ripping through it without leaving a shred of scrap metal behind.
The beam continued before eventually dissipating. Yang, Weiss, and Blake were all speechless. However, the blond brawler did start to chuckle, "I mean, that's scary strong." Yang responded, but a smile on her face as she turned to her friends, "But we've fought stronger. I mean, I know half a dozen people who could blow up a ship like that. This guy isn't that spec-" she was saying until seeing Blake pointing up at the sky. While the airship was nowhere to be seen, it was what was behind the airship that was also hit by the beam. The shattered moon. However, it seemed as if another part of its surface had been blown off. Weiss and Yang looked up at the sight in dread as well, "Oh…crap." Yang spoke as her confidence faded.
Ivan lowered his hand before turning to the Headless Huntsman, "You have my aura, don't you." the Terror King spoke, "It must be her doing." He said before the Headless Huntsman knelt, "Very well, you may take me to her." Ivan said before turning back to the four girls, "But first, I am still not yet warmed up after my slumber." He said before stabbing his staff into the ground, freeing his hands to crack his knuckles, "I shall eliminate these rebels." The Terror King said before looking to Reines, "And I will start with the weakest one."
"Oh no, Reines! Move!" Weiss called out as Ivan's tusks rocketed out at high speed towards the Princess of El-Melloi, who remained frozen in fear, "MOVE!" The white heiress shouted while tackling Reines out of the way of the tusk but was instead impaled by them herself. One entered her abdomen while the other her right shoulder. Weiss gritted her teeth through the pain, dropping her weapons to try and pull the tusks out. However, Weiss gasped as she saw blue electricity, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the white heiress screamed as she was electrified from the tusks. Reines watched on in horror before her eyes focus, her right fist clenching.
"WEISS!" Yang and Blake shouted in pain as the tusk retracted and Weiss's charred body hit the ground. The blond brawler turned back to Ivan in rage, her hair glowing as her eyes went red. Blake's body radiated a purple aura as her hair was turning white.
However, Ivan teleported in front of them. The two could not react fast enough as Ivan grabbed their heads. The Terror King then slammed their bodies into the ground, the force of the impact shaking every tree in the forest. When Ivan raised his hands, he had let go of Blake and Yang. Their bodies lay in the crater, unable to move with only a tint of light remaining in each's eyes, "Still alive, impressive." Ivan spoke, "Well, I am merciful." He said before his hands sparked with lightning, "I will at least leave your corpse behind."
"Wait!" Reines spoke, "If you kill them, you will never get the Summer Maiden power." She said with Ivan turning to her, seeing the Princess of El-Melloi with a pistol to her head.
"You're one of the Maidens of the Seasons?" Ivan asked, "So, they are still around." He said with The Headless Huntsman walking up, causing the two to have a silent conversation, "I see, very well." The Terror King then looked back to Reines, "You will come with us. In exchange, they will live." He said with his hands lowering, the electricity fading. "If only for a few more days."
Reines nodded before lowering her pistol, then placed it on the ground. As she walked by, Weiss's eyes barely opened to the sight. Ivan regained his staff as the Headless Huntsman mounted the black stallion. The white heiress watched as the Princess of El-Melloi looked back to her in the corner of her eyes, then glanced back to the pistol. However, under the pistol, a scroll device was seen. In recalling the event, Reines palmed the device to hide her placement of it for Weiss to see. With a look of remorse in her eyes, Reines turned back as Ivan raised the staff. The trio and the horse were then teleported atop the monstrous goliath mount, which let out a battle cry from its trunk before beginning to turn. Weiss tried to move but could only watch as the enemy got away with Reines captured. Her eyes slowly closed as she lost consciousness from the pain.
AN: There you go, monsters are on the loose this chapter. Cu Alter is out and ready to start killing anyone he wants. Meanwhile, the Headless Huntsman shows back up with a new horse. With it, they manipulate Yang to make her break the seal and free Ivan the Terrible. For lack of better phasing, he is absurdly strong and nearly kills the WBY trio before taking the Summer Maiden with them. These three are in a bad spot, but in the next chapter, we will see how Ruby deals with her situation. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.