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Chapter 161: It Comes To This

The corridors and hallways of Salem's fortress were a twisting maze that seemed to go on for far than the physical limits of their construction should allow, leading each of Team FADE to privately conclude that this was some trick of Salem's to keep them at bay, which in turn led them to believe that they must be heading in the right direction. The corridors consisted of a floor made of seemingly solid bone or chitinous plating with thick rib-like protrusions rising up from the ground and forming struts that the walls were built around, those walls being made of thick, densely packed bundles of obsidian muscle and sinew that pulsated and writhed beneath a thin veneer of almost translucent skin as though the entire fortress, made of Grimm as it was, were unhappy with being constrained by its' own form. The way ahead was lit by firefly Grimm the size of a finger that buzzed and droned overhead, their tails casting everything in an unnatural glow.

The corridor Team FADE were currently crossing was also, more importantly filled with monsters.

"Damn it, there's more of 'em!" Felix yelled out as the sound of raspy hisses and shrieks filled the air "Spread out, Arctus bottle neck and split 'em up"

"No problem" the Bear Faunus assured him, rushing ahead of his cousin with one hand outstretched and his sword held in the other as the next of wave of monsters they would have to face came bounding into view, a dozen creeps which snapped and hisses as they rushed at the Hunters with their odd loping and somehow birdlike gait until Arctus unleashed a series of Glyphs that served to break the pack into smaller groups so that Team FADE could face them without the risk of being overwhelmed or restricted by the limited space.

Without wasting another moment Arctus charged into the Grimm with his black-bladed broad-sword trailing behind him and crashed into a trio of monsters; the Creeps displaying a rare level of prowess for their species as they attempted to outmanoeuvre the powerfully built Faunus, the first Grimm attempting to leap onto the blade of his sword as he slashed in an effort to remove its' head whilst the other two scrabbled across the chitinous floor and lunged at it from the sides. Arctus reacted by simply sinking his blade into the ground and allowing the Grimm perched on it to collapse to the ground before manifesting a Glyph over his left forearm to resemble a shield, he then simply charged into one of the beasts attacking his flank and reduced its' body to wisps of smoke as it was crushed between the wall and the glowing surface of the Glyph, the remaining pair of flightless yet somehow avian and reptilian monsters attempted to charge again at which point Arctus simply shifted Grimmiger-Henker into its' double-barrelled laser form and sent searing bolts of light ripping through their bodies, a single volley destroying the Creeps entirely.

The trio of Creeps that had honed in on Diamond found their opponent far more difficult to surround and outflank as the silver haired sniper was not bound by the same laws of physics that governed most things. The first Creep was unceremoniously cut down as Diamond first landed an acrobatic kick directly on its' snout which she then used to vault onto the fleshy wall of the corridor and use her Semblance to shift the dimensions and forces acting on the space around her before lashing out cutting through the back of the Grimm's neck with her glaive. A second Grimm snapped at Diamond and she responded by blocking with her weapon, waiting until the thing had clamped its' jaws around her weapon and unwittingly made itself a subject of her Semblance to strike; the wall became the floor for the Grimm and it fell in the direction that was now downward with Diamond skewering its' skull before it could rise again and promptly picking off the last of the trio by shifting Lex Talionis into its' sniper rifle mode and blasting a hole squarely between its' eyes.

Eagle struck with speed and precision as she used her avian form to close the distance between herself and the creatures of Grimm, weaving between the series of Glyphs that Arctus had put in place to act as barricades and returning to her natural state with her sword already outstretched; burying it in the sternum of a monster that attempted to pounce on her. The remaining pair of Creeps rushed forwards, claws and slobbering, snarling jaws at the ready yet the armoured blonde woman was ready for them, weaving around their rabid attacks before batting one of them aside with a powerful backhand and promptly carving through them both with a fluid pair of slashes that melded seamlessly into one another.

Felix was simply a rampaging force, foregoing his weapons and simply tackling the first Creep to the ground with his golden Aura blazing around him, channelling just enough of his Semblance into the blow to bowl the Grimm over and without slowing or pausing for an instant crushing its' skull underfoot as he charged into the remaining pair and drew Hack and Slash, bringing both of his arm across his chest and decapitating the pair of monsters in a single blow.

"That's all of 'em!" he called out, panting slightly "At least for now, come on!" without hesitation or even pausing to properly catch their breath Team FADE continued onwards, though their pace slowed to a brisk walk as the four of them continued ever deeper into Salem's lair; the fact that the quakes and tremors she had been causing had stopped weighing heavily on each of them as it left the corridor filled with a foreboding silence which the bloody glow cast by the firefly Grimm lighting the way did nothing to lessen.

Eventually they came upon another possible obstacle.

"What is that?" Eagle asked as the four of them came to a halt, gesturing to the miasma of glowing crimson hovering ahead of them, emitting a low bass-note drone that the Hunters could feel in their chests as they cautiously approached it

"It's more of those firefly Grimm" Felix noted, fingers drumming against the handles of his swords "They haven't been a problem so far"

"What's that on the other side of 'em though?" Arctus murmured hesitantly, straining even his own greater than human eyesight to peer through the shifting borealis of glowing, nightmarish insects; Diamond brought her rifle to her eye and peered through the scope of the weapon before answering in a stunned and hushed voice

"It's a door" she informed them "Dude….I think this is is, I think Salem is on the other side" the silence hung in the air much like the Grimm ahead of them, an almost palpable sense of dread filling the air until Felix squared his shoulders and took a single step forwards

"Then let's go….we know why we're here" with that Team FADE followed his lead and made their way closer to the swarm of firefly Grimm that barred their way, realising at the last possible moment that the scarlet light emanating from each of their abdomens was glowing brighter and more intense with each passing second, Felix throwing his hands over his eyes as the corridor was filled with blinding white

"ARCTUS!" he yelled, his cousin throwing a Glyph in front of them instinctively to absorb the force of the blast as each of the Firefly Grimm exploded, a series of small but lethal detonations that ripped into the fleshy walls and bony ground around them, the swarm used as a living cluster bomb.

"Everyone okay?" Arctus asked as his Glyph vanished, dissipating into countless incandescent fragments that flickered into nothing.

"Yeah Big Guy, we're good" Diamond nodded "But that was close"

"But why put it there though?" Felix noted "Salem's got nastier traps than that up her sleeve….why would that be her last ditch effort to-"

CRASH

The Lion Faunus's musings, no matter how reasonable and well thought out they were came to a forced stop as he and his team-mates leapt aside at the sound of the wall to their left exploding open. Grimm flesh tearing with a sickeningly wet sucking sound whilst fragments of bone ricocheted around the hallway and the four of them found themselves separated, Felix and Eagle on one side of the gaping wound that had been ripped into the hallway whilst Arctus and Diamond quickly recovered on the other, all four of them staring at what had emerged and whose presence could only be the reason for the Firefly Grimm detonating.

The thing was huge.

A hulking and monstrous slab of muscle that filled the space from the floor to the ceiling even with its' neck straining forwards as the thing snarled at the Hunters, smoke billowing from its' jaws lumbered into view and each of Team FADE braced and prepared themselves as they took in the sheer power and promise of blunt, naked violence that it exuded.

It was clear that this Creature of Grimm was to the Gargoyles they had encountered previously what an Alpha Beowolf or Ursa Major was to the lesser members of their own species and yet it seemed somehow more than even that; Its' torso was easily twice as broad as any of the Hunters it faced, a mass of leathery black flesh adorned with bone and jutting spikes and ridges and from its' wide and absurdly muscled shoulders sprouted four arms, each impossibly large and ending in a meaty ape-like fist. The things' body tapered down to a surprisingly narrow waist which sported what appeared to a sort of loincloth made of bony carapace whilst its' legs were muscular and ended in sharp claws, taking the gorilla-like proportions of a Gargoyle Grimm and turning them into something yet more imposing. Its' wings were larger than those of its' counterparts and lay across its' back, crossed over and with their tips reaching below the monsters' waist like the swallowtails of a trailing coat whilst its' face was very much like those of any other Gargoyle, a mask of bone with protruding, curved out fangs and hateful red eyes yet besides being even more fearsome than the average monster this particular Grimm had at least some intelligence behind its' murderous stare.

Team FADE had no way of knowing that as terrifying as this Grimm was it was still considered unfinished by Salem herself who had initially intended to leave this Alpha Gargoyle to gestate and mature until they developed the higher intelligence and rationale that it would need to serve her as a general and likely replacement for Pantheon once their disloyalty had become apparent; with her current plans however the Queen of the Grimm had no need for such a commander and had instead deployed the monster, which she had dubbed Chernobog to butcher those who dared intrude on her fortress.

"Let's bring this thing down!" Felix yelled and as Chernobog let out a deafening roar of challenge, contrails of acrid smog spilling from its' jaws Team FADE charged at the Grimm.

It was safe to say that Team NEON were faring little better as they pushed through the latest tide of fangs, claws and simple hate and destruction given form that had unleashed itself upon them.

"Could use a little cover over here!" Ether warned as he parried the latest pouncing Beowolf with the flat of Ghost Reverie before taking the lupine beast to the ground and ripping through its' body with a single mighty swing; taking care to hold the rucksack containing the several canisters of Fracture compound that they brought with the to complete their task as far from the thrashing monsters' claws as he could.

It had been like this since Helios had ordered Team NEON to hold the line against the incoming Creatures of Grimm to buy Team FADE enough time to set off in pursuit of their own objective; the four of them had pushed forwards only to be beset by Grimm at every turn and gradually worn down through simple attrition as, until they reached their goal Salem had a truly limitless supply of Grimm to throw in their path. Helios had noted, some distance back as he crushed the skeleton of a lumbering Beringrel with gravity that caused the Grimm to simply implode that the level of resistance that they were encountering was proof that they were on the right track and that their enemy feared the idea of their success; though this brought little comfort for his team-mates as Olivine was reduced to simple melee combat, obliterating the Grimm that stampeded towards them with Buster Bravo in its' oversized and jet powered gauntlet form as some internal component had failed during their efforts to gain entry to the fortress leaving it unable to fire and Nyanza was reduced to using his Semblance sparingly as there was no doubt that it would be needed at some crucial moment later on.

Ether was struggling the most however as the Grimm, clearly guided by some greater intelligence persistently singled him out and focused their efforts on ripping the Fracture compound from his possession.

As was proven when, almost the instant he cut down the Beowolf that had pounced on him two more rushed at him to avenge it, jaws snapping as they pounced yet closing around nothing but empty air as Ether used his Semblance to avoid them, his body morphing into a cloud of greyish mist and smoke that reformed several feet away; the Beowolves, once again displaying a level of focus and single-mindedness that was uncommon for them ignored the opportunity to attack Helios whilst his back was turned and instead sought out the long-haired rocker and lunged at him yet again.

"Heads up!" hearing that Nyanza would be the one to provide the assistance that he has requested Ether instinctively put a little more distance between himself and the incoming Grimm and watched, openly impressed as his team-mate shifted one of his weapons from its' tonfa mode into its' overly long-barrelled pistol mode, slamming the butt of the weapon into the jaw of a Grimm he was fighting before firing at a bony support strut growing out of the wall, the bullet ricocheting several times and zigzagging the length of the corridor before bringing the first Beowolf to a halt as it whizzed passed their snout and then drawing a pained yelp from the second as it ripped through their neck and reduced them to smoke and fragments. The remaining monster reared up onto its' hind legs and let out a furious snarl only to be utterly destroyed in a blur of motion, its' body fading away to reveal Olivine stood behind it with her first still outstretched, her damaged weapons glowing in their gauntlet mode and her goggles and faceplate in place

"Think fast babe" she noted and Ether could hear the grin that was on her face even if he couldn't see it; chuckling slightly he turned his attention towards Helios and the four Beowolves he was fighting at once with his usual effortless dominance; using his Semblance once again he appeared behind the armoured redhead and swing Ghost Reverie at a Grimm that had pounced at Helios, bisecting it neatly.

Moments later this latest ambush by Salem's endless tide of monsters had been defeated, though Team NEON were tiring and each of them knew it, Nyanza holstering his pistols and making to lean against the fleshy wall as he caught his breath only for the inky, writhing black surface to physically contract before he could touch it was the first warning they had that this particular fight was not over yet.

The second warning was the sound of something rumbling in the distance

"What is that?" Olivine asked "Is that the quakes again?"

"No" Helios murmured, bringing his shield in front of himself and shifting the sword that had once belonged to a twisted mirror image of Pyrrha Nikos into its' spear form "This is something else"

"Um….the walls are still moving" Nyanza noted, gesturing to their fleshy surroundings that did in fact seem to be retreating, or widening to accommodate something; Helios's acid green eyes widened in realisation a moment before the trumpeting war-cry of the monster whose footfalls they could hear approaching rang out.

"GOLIATH!" he bellowed in warning "Ether! Protect the Fracture!"

"Got it!" Ether shifted Ghost Reverie into its' guitar form and drew a pick made of solid Ice Dust, numbness spreading through his fingers as the tension mounted until the rampaging Goliath finally came thundering into view; a small and emaciated example of its' species and yet still more than capable of crushing any of them of goring them with its' jagged tusks if they didn't strike fast and with precision; with that in mind Ether brought the Dust pick down onto the strings of his guitar and a single painfully discordant, shrieking note pierced the air as gust of freezing wind rushed forth and encased everything in its' path in a layer of ice, including the limbs of the Goliath which it began thrashing and struggling to free; with his objective completed Ether then used his Semblance and sent his incorporeal form between the limbs of Grimm to appear behind it, keeping his precious cargo safe and allowing his team-mates to handle the Goliath.

Nyanza and Olivine were on the move in an instant, Nyanza using a little of his Semblance to ensure that his gambit worked as he sprinted towards Helios and used his partners' shield as a springboard; the bushy-tailed feline began firing his pistols without pause, the bullets threading between thick armour plates as he sailed through the air before landing on the Goliaths' back and continued to shoot as he ran along its' body and leapt down to rejoin Ether. Olivine was far more straightforward in her approach, simply powering up the thrusters that sat behind her elbows when Buster Bravo was in its' close combat mode and flinging herself forwards like a human missile to shatter the tusks of the Goliath in a single, earthshaking blow before weaving aside to avoid its' trunk and use the massive gauntlets covering her fists, each roughly the size of her torso to fling Helios into the air as he rushed in after her; from their the leader of Team NEON allowed the darkness of his Semblance to envelop him and in the exact moment the Goliath broke free of the ice that encased it her hurled Akuo downwards, the gravity acting on the shield propelling it to such velocity that it decapitated the Goliath and cratered the ground below on impact before Helios landed in a crouch and recovering it, looking every part the fearless and heroic leader his team knew him to be as the remains of the monster billowed around him.

"We almost make this look easy" Nyanza noted, though his usual cockiness sounded distinctly hollow.

"Ether, you still have-"

"Got it here" Ether nodded, cutting Helios off and gesturing to the rucksack that he carried, its' contents being the easiest way that Team NEON had to destroy Salem's Spawning Pit and limit the amount of Grimm she could unleash upon them.

Though it seemed that the Queen of the Grimm understood this and had no intention of allowing them to complete their mission.

Helios had about to note that they she could keep moving in the direction that the Creatures of Grimm were coming from with haste, only to be momentarily stunned as an entirely new and unexpected threat presented itself; the very walls of the corridor began to morph and reshape themselves, reminding him that this was not only Salem's domain but a creature of Grimm in its' own right

"ETHER MOVE!" Helios didn't wait for his friend to engage his Semblance and simply tackled him to the ground as a pair of skeletal limbs of midnight black and tipped with jagged and serrated to talons burst from the wall to claw at Ether's back; the two of them hit the ground only to be moved several feet away in an instant as Ether came to his senses, much to their favour as the ground they had initially landed on began to split and pull itself apart, growing monstrous fangs as it devolved into cavernous and yawning maw.

"Holy shit!" Nyanza yelled, his pistols firing again as the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor began to mutate and transform, the pulsating and fleshy Grimm tissue growing clawed appendages, tentacles, eyes and mouths with which to snatch Team NEON who desperately, scrabbled and leapt aside to avoid being ensnared

"THEY'RE AFTER THE FRACTURE!" Helios barked, blocking a pair of arms with his shield only for a muscular tendril to sprout from the ground and wrap itself around his ankle, cutting the thing away he realised that the situation had spiralled entirely out of his control and that there was only one thing that could be done.

"HEAD THE WAY THE GRIMM CAME FROM!" he ordered, using his Semblance to warp gravity entirely; conflicting and contradictory forces acting in such close proximity to each other shredding everything that they acted on as he gestured along the length of the freakish house of horrors that the corridor had become

"WE HAVE TO RUN!"

Corvid and Pantheon streaked through the air on a collision course for one another at death-defying speeds once again, readying themselves for another exchange of blows whilst five of the sentient horrors' honour guard of specially created Armoured Teryx whirled and soared around them in a storm of flapping wings, lashing tails and snapping jaws. Corvid's eyes narrowed, the eyepatch she often wore over her cybernetic left eye had been removed and the minute mechanisms of her faintly glowing eye whirred slightly as it adjusted though the sound was lost beneath the rush of air and Corvid's own intense focus as time seemed seemed to slow to a crawl; Pantheon's scythe-clawed upper limbs rearing back as their powerful wings beat and the Grimm attempted to rip her out of the sky, a hateful roar escaping them as they drew close.

Only to miss.

Corvid reacted at the last possible second, the propulsion of the Omega Wing leaving a contrail of light behind it as she banked left; her muscles screaming protest at the forces suddenly acting on her body and the support struts of her battle-suits' wings groaning to keep her stable as she avoided Pantheon by mere inches, reaching out as the Grimm sailed passed her and grasping their clawed, serpentine tail before spinning several times and building up a dizzying amount of momentum before simply throwing them away and sending the Grimm hurtling towards the ground.

The Armoured Teryx attacked without hesitation.

"COME GET SOME!" Corvid challenged as the five winged beasts ripped through the air, her shoulder-mounted rail-guns unleashing a maelstrom of fire into the nearest Grimm and ripping through its' heavy armour to reduce its' entire upper body to smoke, only for the remaining quartet to tear through the veil of smog and continue their assault. Beneath her featureless visor Corvid allowed herself a small smirk, the Omega Wing's forcefield generator may have been overheating but it was still usable for short periods of time as the second Armoured Teryx learned when it attempted to bite at her throat, its' entire skull being vaporised as the charged energy field expanded outwards. From there Corvid pressed her advantage, dropping her flickering forcefield and swooping over the body of another Armoured Teryx, its' attempt to seize her in its' jaws missing by the narrowest of margins before she thrust the blades mounted on her forearms down and ripped its' wings away.

"Wow….no wonder real dinosaurs are extinct" Corvid taunted, knowing that the remaining pair of Grimm didn't understand her but would react to her voice all the same "I'm dino-sorta disappointed" the Armoured Teryx shrieked and snapped as they lunged at her and Corvid simply dove, speeding downwards towards the ocean below her with the Grimm steadily gaining on her as they gave chase. Corvid once again chose the last possible moment to act, waiting until she could almost feel the monsters' foul breath on the back of her neck to send the Omega Wing into full reverse, warnings flashing across her visor and the sound of straining metal in her ears as she was brought to an instant halt mere feet above the water; the Grimm were unable to halt themselves in time and Corvid activated her forcefield for a split second, the sphere of rippling energy and hard-light expanding outwards to rip through the wings of the monsters before she aimed and fired with her rail-guns and was rewarded with the sight of the last of Pantheon's flock of Grimm being destroyed.

She was blind-sided with cataclysmic force before she could truly appreciate her victory.

"NOW YOU DIE!" Pantheon's roar split the air as they collided with her, a screaming multitude of voices that pushed all rational thought from Corvid's mind as she was sent sailing through the air and hurtling downwards until finally and with a tremendous effort that strained even her Aura fuelled muscles she managed to force the Omega Wing to right itself, her wings leaving small waves in their wake as they dipped below the surface of the water before she soared upwards and opened fire with her rail-guns, stitching blossoming fire across the sky.

Pantheon avoided every shot with inhuman agility and Corvid grit her teeth before simply streaking towards the Grimm once again; the two of them meeting in the air with a thunderclap that seemed to shake the sky itself. Once locked in combat the pair danced and weaved around each other as they lashed out with lethal intent;

Pantheon's scythe-claws flashing out only for Corvid to deflect and parry with her own blades before aiming her guns at the Grimm's face and preparing to fire at point-blank range which the monstrous creature in turn countered by snaking their clawed tail around to her back and pulling her off-target enough that the shots soared over their head, Corvid broke free of Pantheon's grip by forcing as much power as she could into the Omega Wing's propulsion system to not only scorch and ruin the serpentine limb but also send herself rocketing forwards with her knee aimed at the Grimm's snout only for Pantheon to soar upwards and block with their lower, more humanoid pair of arms before diving downwards and attempting to simply tackle Corvid out of the air again. The Huntress prepared herself and once again waited for the perfect opportunity to bring her shield generator online, hoping to finish the job that she had started over a year ago when she had buried the axel from an upturned vehicle in the Grimm's skull and finally see to it that Pantheon was destroyed once and for all.

Pantheon dodged.

The Grimm General proved themselves to be a capable fighter and more than simply a rampaging juggernaut as they predicted their opponents' attack and mirrored Corvid's early technique of banking to the side; the damaged and overheating shield generator brought a protective barrier into existence around Corvid which flickered and faded after no more than a few seconds at which point the monster span in the air and sent their remains of their tail crashing into the humans' midsection, knocking the air from her and leaving her unable to fight back as their scything claws ripped into the support struts of the Omega Wing's upper pair of wings. Eventually Corvid managed to break free however, rail-guns firing until Pantheon was forced to release her and simply hurl her through the air, watching as they attempted to direct and control their crash landing and veer towards the very same island that Pantheon had landed on previously.

Corvid tore a gouge into the ground as she fell.

"Holy shit, holy shit" she breathed out, rare panic filling her voice as she took once glance at the plethora of error and warning readings obscuring her vision and began rapidly trying to free herself from the crippled form of the Omega Wing, she was still tangled in the damaged battle-suit and half-blind when she heard the sound of something hurtling towards her and saw a shadow rapidly expanding around her. She acted on pure instinct alone as she planted her feet and activated her Semblance before reaching out and seizing Pantheon by the talons, being rewarded with the sounded of breaking bones as the sentient Grimm came into contact with a truly immovable object and was stopped as surely and as instantly as if they had tried to skewer a mountain; from there Corvid fired blindly with her rail-guns before finally throwing Pantheon aside and freeing herself from the Omega Wing.

With her visor removed she saw that she had done a considerable amount of damage to her adversary, but far from enough.

"This is how Grimm and humans should fight" Pantheon snarled, reaching up with a humanoid hand to wipe a trickle of some tar-like substance from the corner of their mouth "Face to face, victory decided by strength….none of Salem's tricks" Corvid took in the sight of the sentient Grimm, scything upper limbs broken, twisted and twitching spasmodically, tail scorched and ruined, something close to blood trickling from their battered form and one of their wings eviscerated by her guns yet only a single thought registered in her mind

"You're not working with Salem?"

"No" Pantheon answered simply, Corvid swallowed thickly and took a moment that seemed to last an eternity to consider before putting her own pride and vendetta against the monster before her aside for the sake of her brother and Remnant as a whole as she attempted to deal with the Grimm in a way no Hunter had tried before; negotiation

"We could work together?" she offered cautiously "Both of us want to stop Salem, we all live on Remnant and Remnant won't be here if she wins….we don't have to do this" each pair of Pantheon's eyes seemed to narrow independently as the Grimm considered her words and for a moment Corvid dared to hope, then Pantheon let out a low, rumbling chuckle and shook their head as they replied

"I am the Grimm….we are death" the monster braced itself and Corvid responded in kind "We have to do this"

With that Pantheon attacked again.

Team GORE had remained aboard the bridge of the Nemesis Kharybdis ever since Teams FADE and NEON had departed on their mission to halt Salem's plans to destroy everything they knew and tensions had predictably remained high the entire time as the Grimm continued to surge towards the ship like a living, malevolent storm-cloud with fresh monsters replacing each Creature of Grimm that fell to the grounded ships' guns.

"There's so many of them" Hellion breathed out from her position at Carcharodon's left hand, at his right Onyx's brow was furrowed and the Puma Faunus's massive paws flashed across the controls in an effort to assist the ships' AI and make their withering barrages even a little more effective by any means necessary the Shark Faunus merely bristled, a low and guttural snarl escaping him as his eyes narrowed beneath the ornate helmet that served as the crown of his people.

"Then they will just have to die in larger numbers" he rasped out, refusing to accept anything less than victory regardless of how slim their chances were or how bleak the situation appeared. From his place on the bridge and with both the controls available to him and his own greater than human eyesight Carcharodon could see that the majority of the Teryx, Nevermore, Lancers and other flying Creatures of Grimm had been culled from the ranks of the oncoming horde leaving the vast bulk of the unrelenting tide that Salem unleashed upon them comprised of her Gargoyles; a fact that brought far less comfort than it might have done as the Shark Faunus recognised the skill and ferocity that each of these newly made monsters possessed and reasoned that whatever her current plans may be, the Queen of the Grimm had almost certainly at one point or another entertained the idea of having these creations take their place at the forefront of large scale attacks on the Kingdoms.

More importantly the Gargoyles were making steady progress.

"Car some of our guns are already out of ammunition and I won't be able to reload them manually fast enough for it to make a difference" Onyx informed him solemnly, a hint of concern filling the hulking mans' greenish-yellow and catlike eyes as he added "We're not going to be able to thin them out enough, they're going to reach" Carcharodon nodded and took a moment to consider his options, his expression never changing and his body language remaining the same display of cold stoicism that it had been until finally, with the knowledge that his ship, his home and sacred ground akin to a shrine in the eyes of his culture would be sullied and defiled by the Grimm despite their best efforts he bared his fangs and snarled out a command.

"Fire everything! Set the sky alight and make them suffer for every step forward!"

"Aye Captain" Onyx's low rumbling reply was almost a purr and the whiskers that intermingled with his facial hair bristled as his lips curled into a truly menacing smile; at Carcharodon's command the Puma Faunus took direct control of the guns of the Nemesis Kharybdis and leashed a firestorm that made the entire shoreline that the ship had been grounded upon tremble and filled the air with midnight black smoke as Grimm were destroyed by the hundred.

Yet still they came.

The first Gargoyle to emerge from smoke and embers that that Team GORE's final salvo had caused did so with its' mask-like face contorted into a feral snarl of rage and its' lumbering, ape-like form coiled into a mass of muscle as it hurtled forwards under the power of its' bat-like wings before delivering a single devastating blow to the tower rising from the deck of the Nemesis Kharybdis which the bridge rested atop.

"Car if they all hit us like that then they're going to tear the ship apart!" Hellion warned frantically, her point being underlined as another Gargoyle slammed into the same metallic surface with enough force to send the trio of Faunus staggering as the structure of the tower groaned and began to tilt forwards several degrees.

"Then they will have to be punished for sullying our home with their presence" Carcharodon snarled, Onyx turned to face the Shark Faunus and was about to offer his own opinion which was likely to involve several warnings yet he was silenced by a small explosion that indicated that not only had several of the Grimm made it aboard the Nemesis Kharybdis but they had ventured far enough to encounter the first of the traps that had been lain in preparation for such an assault; eventually Onyx and Hellion nodded in silent agreement with their leader.

These Grimm would die, for the simple principle of the matter if nothing else.

Carcharodon was the first into the fray, his Semblance allowing him to pass through the smallest possible gaps in the exterior of the ships' bridge in a liquid form and reforming in mid-air, deploying the Red Waves with a roar of unrestrained fury as he fell; his blades cutting through no less than ten Grimm before he reached the deck of the ship and threw his cloak aside in a dramatic display as he sprung to his feet and lashed out with his weapons in a wide arc, cleaving through a dozen or more Grimm and leaving smoke and dissolving bodies in his wake.

Yet he had done almost nothing to thing their numbers.

The Gargoyles were all around Carcharodon, snarling and beating their chests in a savage display of power whilst more of their number hovered above him as they waited to swoop down and bury the Faunus beneath their sheer weight of numbers; Carcharodon in total silence and with quiet conviction that would have shaken any human or Faunus adversary to their core raised a hand and locked eyes with the monster directly in front of him as he made a 'come' gesture. The Gargoyles shrieked and howled like banshees before piling into the empty space like water rushing down a drain and Carcharodon readied himself to decapitate the nearest Creature of Grimm with a single blow.

It died before he had chance.

Carcharodon blinked in surprise as the Gargoyle was frozen solid mid-strike and then understood as he caught sight of the throwing knife protruding from its' back and instant before the things' entire body was shattered into miniscule ice crystals as Hellion came crashing downwards, landing in a crouch as her knee ploughed the shoulder blades and entire torso of the frozen monster.

"You thought we'd let you fight them alone?" Hellion's low and husky voice had a taunting edge to it as she sprung to her feet and flung more of her knives out, a circle of bladed projectiles ripping into the first wave of Gargoyles faster than the eye could see before; in terrifying unison the Fire Dust crystals that Hellion had worked into the handle of each knife detonated and she and Carcharodon were left standing back to back in the centre of a ring of fire as they waited to see if the Grimm would still attempt to attack them.

Until Onyx announced himself with a roar.

The Puma Faunus had made his way onto the exterior of the ships' bridge, likely doing some considerable damage to the vessel in the process before leaping into the air and at the apex of his arc clamping a glossy black Gravity Dust crystal beneath his teeth and unleashing his own Semblance; his sonic roar transformed by the Dust into a wave of punishing concussive force that fanned the flames of Hellion's attack and pushed the raging inferno out to consume more of the Gargoyles until they finally guttered out as Onyx took his place alongside his team, Jotun Fang flashing out in its' axe form to almost casually bisect a Grimm.

Carcharodon looked from his two remaining team-mates to the remaining tide of Grimm that still surrounded them and gave a frightening smile that was all fangs as he gave an order that had once been a maxim of the Frost River Tribe as a whole

"No mercy, no quarter, no warning"

Team NEON continued to run, there was nothing else they could do against Salem's current method of waging war against them.

"ETHER WATCH OUT!" hearing Nyanza's frantic yell Ether used his Semblance once again to pull himself mere inches away from where had previously stood, just in time to watch a pair of emaciated ad twisted arms reach down to grasp at where his shoulders would have been whilst one of the bone pillars that ran along the walls of the corridor erupted outwards and a jagged bone spear tore through the space that he would have occupied.

The four of them had been on the move, bolting as fast as physically possible through Salem's lair as the fortress itself continued to weaponise itself against them, twisted limbs or blades and spears bursting from the walls and floor, the Grimm that served as lighting spontaneously exploding whilst other, larger and spider-like Grimm descended on them, the floor opening up into screaming mouths lined with crooked fangs at random intervals as they headed ever deeper into the bowels of the fortress, certain that they were underground at this point and on more than one occasion a junction or fork in their path that had no reason to exist at all had simply sealed itself, fleshy matter growing in front of their route and keeping Team NEON at bay until they fought their way through it.

Through it all however the Grimm fortress never lost sight of their target and had singled Ether out with terrifying determination in an effort to take the Fracture compound that he had offered to carry specifically due to his Semblance, leaving him panting and gasping for breath and his Aura flickering around him after using that Semblance so many times in rapid succession whilst his team-mates continued to do everything in their power to keep their surroundings at bay.

Ether lashed out with Ghost Reverie in its' axe form several times, hacking through claws and tentacles that attempted to ensnare him before he felt the ground begin to weaken under him and quickly shifted the weapon into its' guitar form and brought a pick made of solid Gravity Dust down on the strings in a screeching cacophony that hurled him into the air and away from the snapping jaws that had intended to bite through his legs; upon landing in a crouch and instinctively rolling aside before the next attack could come he glanced ahead and saw that Helios and Nyanza had made their way in front of him and that the two of them were fighting through the ceaseless house of horrors with their usual impressive teamwork, Nyanza's luck and Helios's skill bolstering one another as they fought, Helios charging forwards and drawing the onslaught towards him before using his Semblance to warp gravity around him and either crush or immobilise the incoming limbs whilst Ether weaved around his partner and shot down the limbs and other incoming attacks with impossible levels of skill and acrobatics before vaulting off of the fleshy walls and pulling Helios aside as the floor began to open beneath them. Looking around Ether saw that Olivine was similarly engaged yet his partner was fighting alone and struggling, slowly becoming overwhelmed as she held four pairs of writhing and grasping arms in her grip, the strain causing the massive armoured gauntlets she wore to smoke and creak under the strain whilst a spider Grimm whose fangs dripped poison scuttled along the ceiling, swinging down towards her on a thread of Grimm tissue sprouting from its' abdomen.

"OLLIE!" Ether was in motion in an instant, his Semblance bringing him directly in front of the woman he loved so that he could tackle her aside and swing his axe with devastating force into the arachnid monster that had sought to catch her unawares, destroying it entirely before ripping through the grasping limbs with a series of spinning attacks until nothing remained.

It had been a ruse.

Salem herself, or whatever lesser Grimm intelligence controlled the mutating fortress walls had been cunning enough to use Ether's partner and lover as bait to draw him close and the young man saw the trap for what it was a moment too late, cold numbness spreading through his body from multiple points as bony spears burst from the wall, the first impaling his weapon whilst the second and third ripped into his thigh and abdomen, shattering his Aura and leaving patches of his clothes darkening as his blood began to soak into them.

"ETHER!" Olivine's voice was a panicked and terrified scream as she rushed in and began smashing aside fresh tentacles and spikes as they attempted to impale him further, finally drawing close to break the spear that had burst through his leg only for the wall to mutate and reform itself even further; the spear still embedded in Ether's side cracked and fragmented until it writhed like a prehensile tongue whilst the wall morphed into a snarling maw filled with thousands of fangs which the wounded and bleeding man was soon been dragged steadily and inexorably towards despite Olivine's best efforts to prevent it.

"YOU WANT THE FRACTURE, YOU CAN HAVE IT THEN!" she screamed, a desperate idea occurring to her as she ploughed through spindly hands that attempted to hold her in place before ripping the rucksack from her partners' back and throwing it directly into the waiting mouth "NYANZA, SHOOT IT!" Helios and Nyanza had heard the commotion and were rushing back towards them and the feline Faunus did as he was told without question; Olivine used the jet thrusters mounted in her gauntlets to take Ether and jet towards her team-mates and the four of them took cover under Helios's shield whilst Nyanza's Semblance did everything in its' power to protect them as the bullet he had fired ripped through a canister of Fracture and caused a chain reaction.

The compound was intended to destroy Spawning Pits but, as was proven both by its' use in treating the Botfly infection and the Grimm matting that had spread through the underbelly of New Vale it would also tear through any unformed Grimm tissue that existed in a state of flux, Olivine had, in a moment of clarity caused by the thought of losing Ether realised that the walls of the fortress itself must be made of such a protean and primordial Grimm substance in order for it to attack them the way it had; she was proven correct as shrieks and howls of rage and agony filled the air as the walls and floor rippled before erupting out into spiked masses or bubbling and pulsating tumours that were quickly cannibalised as the hallway that they had been fighting through was torn asunder by its' own death throes until eventually they felt the ground begin to give way beneath them

"Hold on!" Helios warned, using his Semblance to break their fall as they hurtled downwards and catching glimpses of the rotting and shredded remains of vast swathe of Salem's fortress that their attack had destroyed as they fell whilst Nyanza used his own Semblance to manipulate the situation in any way he could.

Eventually the four of them landed with a crash on some stony bedrock below Salem's fortress and the groan of pain that escaped Ether's lips brought Olivine rushing to his said

"Are you okay?" Ether swallowed thickly and brought the hand that he'd been holding over his wounded abdomen up to see that it was covered in deep crimson blood and whilst his wounded leg bled just as profusely it was also the source of a far greater concern.

"I can't feel my legs" he admitted in a hoarse and fearful whisper

"It's okay" Olivine assured "It's okay we're gonna get out of here I promise-"

"Guys" Nyanza's voice cracked as his got his friends' attention "Look at where we are….we made it" at his request Team NEON collectively looked out at their surroundings and saw that their fall had brought them crashing down onto the stony shore of a roiling black mass of viscous, tar-like liquid that rippled and moved as if subjected to some breeze that acted on it alone; Helios shifted Milo into its' rifle form and snapped off a shot at something that attempted to rise from the abyss and sent it back whence it had came before it could ever fully form.

They had found Salem's Spawning Pit.

"We were above it the whole time….Salem likely had us running in circles endlessly to keep us from reaching this place" Helios murmured, letting out a deep slow sigh as stared at his goal and added "And now we don't have the Fracture compound….Spawning Pits can be destroyed without it though, it just means this is going to be difficult"

Iris brought the experimental craft Team CLIR had been entrusted with into a steep climb, painfully aware of the last of the snapping armoured Teryx gaining on them until finally bringing it arcing back on itself and inverting the craft completely as Rusty brought its' considerable guns to bare on the flock of Armoured Teryx that continued to chase and harass them through the air above the chain of islands between Vaccuo and Mistral; a dozen of more winged reptilian nightmares made flesh were consumed in fiery explosions or reduced to nothingness as their bodies were riddled with holes yet it brought little joy to those within the cockpit.

"We've still got one left" Rusty drawled, the distinctive twang in his voice becoming more pronounced as the tension mounted

"The bring it down" Iris answered as she dragged their transport out of its' dive and prepared to finally head towards the island Salem's fortress was built upon, thus far she, Rusty and Lux had been kept at bay by the flock of Grimm that had surrounded them and prevented them from reaching their goal even as their numbers were steadily depleted; Rusty's response however sent a wave of cold dread through the trio

"I can't….we're out of ammo, we've got nothing to shoot it with"

"Then we're gonna have to get creative" Lux answered simply, the dapper young man resting a hand on each of his team-mates' shoulders "We've got this….Iris you can outfly it right?"

"Of course I can outfly it" Iris responded calmly bringing Atlas's latest military hardware into a wide arc as she attempted to double back and position them behind the final remaining Grimm once again only for the beast to dispute her claim by writhing around and reorienting itself in mid-air before flying directly at them, a fierce shriek escaping it as it did so.

"PULL UP! PULL UP!" Lux yelled, Iris instead attempted to bank to the side and avoid the beating wings of the Grimm; she was at least partially successful as the experimental Atlesian craft missed the wings, claws and snapping jaws of the Armoured Teryx only for its' ribcage and tail to collide with their left thruster, the Grimm was destroyed and reduced to a cloud of thick black smoke however this seemed a poor consolation as those aboard realised that far more of the smoke they could see was in fact trailing from the damaged side of their own arrowhead shaped transport.

"We're hit!" Lux yelled "Iris can we make it?" the brown skinned woman looked at the various readings from the damaged components and performed some quick mental calculations before shaking her head and bringing the craft around back the way they had come

"What are you-"

"We're not gonna make it" Iris interrupted firmly "Lux, Rusty I'm gonna drop you on one of the other islands….take my weapon with you" as she spoke she took the monstrous mace she wielded and had named Venus Rising and pressed it into Lux's hands

"What are you-" Rusty began, colour draining from his face as he realised his intentions "You're gonna get yourself killed"

"No" Iris answered "I'm gonna stop Corey from getting herself killed, she can't fight that thing alone and she knows it….she was just trying to buy us time"

"Then let us help!" Lux insisted "We can take it down-"

"It regenerates Lux!" Iris interjected "We need a way to kill Pantheon permanently and I've got a plan….so just take my weapon and get ready to jump"

"Not like this" Rusty pleaded "You can't-"

"I'm sorry" Iris sighed as her eyes began to glow with cyan light of her Semblance "Landing strategies" with that Lux and Rusty found themselves in the grip of her telekinetic Semblance and carried through the entirety of the craft before finally being launched out its' rear hatch, forced to employ their landing strategies as they feel towards another barren and desolate island and watch as Iris sped off toward where Corvid battled against Pantheon.

Within the cockpit Iris braced herself and prepared for what was easily the riskiest thing she had ever attempted in her life; noting that it was fitting that she was doing this to save Corvid as Corvid was the only other person she knew who would even attempt it.

Corvid and Pantheon traded another exchange of blows at blinding speed, the Huntress blocking and parrying everything the towering nightmare that assaulted her could throw at her before sending them crashing back with a powerful, Aura-fuelled spinning kick that she quickly pulled herself out of and planted both feet on the ground once again, her Semblance making her entirely immovable.

"You can reconsider at any time" Corvid panted, the offer sounding far more genuine that mocking jest she might once have meant it as; she fought wielding a pair of makeshift knives formed from the arm blades that the Omega Wing boasted and whilst they were far from her preferred weapon of choice she had used them to great effect, a fact which the countless fresh scars and gouges cut into Pantheon's armoured carapace bore testament to whilst her Semblance of immovability had kept her grounded and stopped Pantheon from being able to simply rampage over her like a wave of manifest rage yet even now it was clear to Corvid that she was not doing enough damage and needed to form a new plan with the painfully limited options available to her, a fact that was proven as Pantheon's previously ruined wing flexed and flapped several times as the last of the damage she had inflicted on it was healed whilst the Grimm's scything upper limbs were already functional again. Pantheon simply snarled before responding with a single word.

"Die" With that the monster launched themselves forward and Corvid's braced herself, throwing her knives aside and catching Pantheon's claws as they made to tear her apart, thus once again forcibly halting their momentum before turning at the waist and hurling the monster to the ground; Pantheon attempted to lash out at her with their clawed tail which Corvid countered by seizing the limb and using to hurl them overhead and slam them down into the ground with enough force to crack its' craggy, barren surface yet Pantheon was on her again almost immediately with their jaws snapping as they attempted to simply crush her skull with their fangs only for Corvid to counter that as well, once again using her Semblance and driving her forehead into the tip of the monsters' snout and using the dazed state that the headbutt left them in as an opening to grab the makeshift blades she had dropped and plunge them into Pantheon's flanks.

Pantheon smiled.

"Now you're mine" the Grimm snarled before realising that they had been far more observant that Corvid had realised. Her Semblance made it entirely impossible to knock her off balance or knock her off of her feet as long as both feet were squarely on the ground, it did however have a loophole that was annoyingly easy to exploit for those who paid attention; Pantheon seized her legs with their humanoid lower arms and simply lifted her off of the ground and negated her Semblance entirely.

From there the battle rapidly slipped out of Corvid's control.

She felt her Aura strain against the claws of Pantheon's tail before being flung several dozen feet into the air without the Omega Wing to aid her, no sooner had she managed to gather her bearings than the air was knocked out her lungs and the improvised weapons sent falling from her grasp as a pained cry escaped her, Pantheon having surged upwards and used the bony crest of their skull as a battering ram, hitting her in the gut and sending her further into the air still. From there Corvid was entirely defenceless, forced to simply block incoming blows as best she could whilst aware of the hairline fractures she was receiving with each attack and her steadily depleting Aura flickering around her, aching muscles screaming in protest as Pantheon continued to smash her through the air, catching and hurling her without ever letting her fall to the ground.

Finally a killing blow came.

Pantheon hurtled upwards, the three scythe-like claws of their upper right arm compacting into a single, almost cone-shaped bladed roughly the size of her torso and outstretched, aimed directly at chest as she fell with the obvious intent to impale her; in a last ditch effort Corvid, beaten and bruised focused all that remained of her flickering and failing Aura into a single point and simply waited with baited breath. The two of them collided and though pain washed over Corvid and she was almost certain she had suffered some internal injury she was rewarded with the sound of breaking bone as Pantheon's claw was blunted.

"You achieved nothing" Pantheon snarled, preparing to prove their point by simply using the claws of their other arm and tail to tear this irksome Huntress who simply refused to die apart.

Then the sound of something rapidly approaching filled the air and suddenly Pantheon was howling in pain and Corvid was falling.

She struck the ground with a dull thud, her Aura broke around her and so did several of her ribs as the impact sent lances of pain through her body that pushed all other thoughts from her mind, but only for a moment. In a matter of seconds Corvid had coughed up blood and rolled onto her back to see the reason that her impending demise had been delayed.

Iris.

The experimental craft was heavily damaged, that much was plain to see yet Corvid's telekinetic team-mate was using her Semblance to rip damaged armour plates from its' exterior and simply fire them at Pantheon like rockets, one of them already shearing through the same limb the monster had intended to skewer her with; it was with sudden panic however that Corvid realised that Pantheon was streaking through the air on a collision course and that Iris seemed to be doing very little to avoid it, in fact judging by the course corrections she was making it was quite the opposite.

"Iris, no" Corvid croaked out before dragging her Scroll out of her pocket and finding that the device mercifully still worked, she called Iris in the desperate hope that she could talk her friend out of her current madness just as Pantheon collided with the transport in a cacophony of screeching metal yet despite it all Iris still answered her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Corvid demanded "Get out of there!"

"I can't" Iris answered "I need to finish this and I need to use my Semblance up close"

"Iris no!" Corvid yelled, receiving no answer for several seconds other than the sound of her team-mate grappling, seemingly unarmed against Pantheon until the sound of screeching metal suggested that her cybernetic arm had been removed.

"Hey….take care of the guys for me Corey, and tell my folks….tell 'em I'm sorry but if I had to do things this way again I would….We're Hunters, this is what we do Corey" Iris's voice was pained, several disturbingly wait choking sounds muffling her words and then the call ended. Corvid looked up in horror, powerless to act as she watched the entire hull of the experimental transport glow with the light of Iris's Semblance as the craft was dragged far out over the ocean and away from the island.

And then it promptly imploded.

Iris turned her Semblance on herself and used the aircraft around her to form a tomb for Pantheon, crushing its' chassis into something entirely unrecognisable and less than a quarter of its' original size; the light of her Semblance being replaced by flames as fuel tanks exploded until finally they twisted mass of metal that would served as the final resting place of Pantheon, liberator of the Grimm and Iris Ramal, Huntress of Team CLIR went plummeting into the ocean.

Corvid's hand trembled and she glanced out at the waves for several moments in a state of total numbness until something pierced though her haze of of shock and she found herself clinging to some desperate shred of hope, opening up the Aura tracker for each of her team that her Scroll featured and seeing that whilst Lux and Rusty were still seemingly safe and her own Aura was listed as depleted Iris's tracker simply read 'Connection terminated' dashing any hope that remained.

Corvid let out a scream of uncontrollable grief.

Chernobog the Alpha Gargoyle may not have been the intelligent and capable general that Salem had initially envisioned it as, but it was still a formidable threat and made up for its' shortcoming through brute force and sheer unrelenting violence as it proved once again by smashing each of Team FADE aside in a single motion, one meaty fist aimed at each of the Hunters and sending them sliding back along the length of the hallway they fought in.

"Any ideas?" Felix ground out through clenched teeth, bruised ribs aching with each ragged breath he sucked in after receiving several such blows from the juggernaut of a Grimm; thus far the four of them had been trying to drag Chernobog down through an endless barrage of attacks, covering each other and switching places as they attempted to deliver death by a thousand cuts with very little in terms of results to show for it.

"Yeah, we hit it hard….one big attack; I don't care how tough it is, it can't take everything" Arctus panted out, the blade of his broad-sword sinking into the fleshy pulp beneath him where the bony surface of the floor had been cracked and splintered; Diamond readied herself beside him and nodded

"I've got it, give me a distraction Big Guy" with that she charged forwards, her weapon in its' glaive form and trailing behind her; Chernobog let out a deafening roar and thundered forwards with all four of its' massive arms outstretched in an obvious attempt to grab and crush Diamond, an attempt that both she and Arctus moved to counter at the same time; Diamond vaulting first onto the wall and then the ceiling and using her Semblance to sprint inverted along its' surface without hindrance whilst Arctus created a Glyph and used it to unleash a summoned King-Taijitu on the Grimm, twin serpentine heads hissing as the glowing body of his construct wrapped and coiled around Chernobog, forcing its' arms against its' sides. Chernobog unfurled its' massive wings, and simply leapt upwards, driving its' armoured skull into Diamond's inverted face and swatting her from the ceiling like a particularly bothersome insect before promptly breaking free of Arctus's construct by simply shattering the thing entirely with its' raw power.

Eagle entered the fray a moment later, her avian form vanishing a flash of pure white Aura as she swooped closer to the Grimm and impaled on its' hands with her sword, giving Diamond just enough time to scrabble to her feet and get clear of the rampaging monster before Eagle herself was knocked aside by a vicious blow from two of its' fists at once. Felix rushed into combat again only to be kicked backwards by a mighty blow and sent skidding across the ground, Hack and Slash tearing into its' surface as he came to a halt beside Arctus

"Okay….Time to go Balrog" the Lion Faunus growled

"No" Arctus planted a hand on his cousins' shoulder and shook his head "We're gonna need it later" Felix realised that the Bear Faunus was right but also that his observation did little to help them right now

"I'm open to ideas?" he asked pointedly, his question being highlighted by another roar from Chernobog as it charged forward once again.

"Just one but I'm gonna need a distraction" Arctus answered whilst at the same time turning his focus toward the Grimm and creating four Glyphs, each of them centring around one its' massive paws and locking it in place with a sickening sound of tearing flesh filling the hallway as its' wrists were mauled and ravaged as it was suddenly halted, from there several more Glyphs began to form around Chernobog and Arctus called out to his partner

"Dee! Ice Dust!" Diamond immediately understood and had reloaded her weapon with incredible swiftness as she leapt towards the Glyphs that now surrounded the thrashing and struggling monster, she sound of gunshots filled the air and with each shot of her sniper rifle Chernobog was encased in more and more ice yet each of Team FADE knew that it was only a temporary victory as the Grimm continued to strain against their efforts to contain it

"Eagle, Fluffy!" Arctus called out "Stun it for me!" with that the two blondes of Team FADE sprung into action, swords at the ready as they rushed passed Chernobog and delivered horrific slashes to its' flanks that would have torn a lesser Grimm in two before coming skidding to a halt behind it.

It was then that Arctus launched his own attack, running directly against the still struggling Grimm and shifting its' sword into its' laser mode, unleashing bolts of searing light as he crossed the distance between them until finally the inevitable happened and Chernobog ripped itself free of the ice and Glyphs that had trapped it, losing at least one of its' hands in the process and yet still lunging at Arctus who simply slid under it.

And revealed his true intentions.

As he had rushed at the Grimm he had left a Glyph behind him that filled the entirety of the hallway and it was from this Glyph that he summoned another construct, the most powerful and rarely used in his arsenal; the lone head of the three headed Hydrakken that he had claimed. The monstrous, serpentine construct surged forwards and clasped Chernobog in its' jaws without slowing its' pace at all and continued along the length of the corridor before reaching the vast double doors at the end and slamming the Alpha Gargoyle into them with an impact that sounded like a thunderstorm condensed into a single moment; the construct shattered, the Grimm perished and the doors were flung open all in the same instant and Team FADE were left stunned.

"We did it" Eagle whispered readying her sword and trying her best to convince herself for what they all knew would come next, glancing around confirmed that her crimson eyes were not the only ones filled with fear as Team FADE regrouped and gazed at the entrance to Salem's lair; each of her friends seemed to be forcing their hands not to shake and sharing meaningful looks until Felix forced himself to speak.

"If this goes wrong….I just want you to know that you're my best friends and I love all of you" he squared his shoulders and set his jaw before adding "But we've got a job to do, so let's go and do it" with that Team FADE marched forwards, stepping into the unfathomable darkness before them and crossing the threshold of Salem's throne room.

What they saw left them rooted to the spot in fear.

Salem was there and as they had guessed it was clear to see that the Queen of the Grimm had been waiting for them, though what they had not expected was her to already be injured.

A hideous great-sword made of midnight black with claws and fangs growing from the surface of its' blade and a single hateful red eye set in its' cross-guard was sunk before her into the surface of the bridge that hung over the chasm her Grimm-Drill inhabited which was steadily filling with magma, Salem herself bore several small cuts and scratches which stood out as they leaked an oozing black substance onto her deathly pale skin whilst her entire right arm was a twisted and mangled mess which hung limp at her side yet none of this seemed to bother her at all, on the contrary Salem smiled as she saw them, red irises glowing ever brighter against their black setting. Salem widened her stance and the surface of the bridge she stood on cracked and splintered, primordial Grimm matter rising up and levitating in thick, viscous spheres that burst and splattered as the collided with the Queen of the Grimm's body and quickly sculpted and reshaped themselves as the hardened into a knew form.

A suit of armour.

In a matter of moments Salem stood wearing jet black plate armour, a bloody red glow seeming to emanate from the space between each individual segment; she resembled some monstrous and twisted parody of a heroic archetype with wide pauldrons, gauntlets ending hooked talons for fingers and spikes adorning the knees and boots whilst, instead of a helmet she now sported a snarling mask that covered the lower half of her face resembling that maw of any number of her Creatures of Grimm save for the fact that it was entirely black in colour and without any bone armour covering it. Salem's ivory flowed out behind her as she reached out with her previously injured right arm, showing no signs of discomfort as she ripped her sword, whose blade was wider than her own torso free of the surface of the bridge and twirled it effortlessly before pointing it in the direction of Team FADE

"Come children….I've been expecting you"

Author's Notes:

Now THAT is a cliffhanger….And rest assured it's only gonna get more intense from here people.
Chapter one sixty-one of one sixty-five, we are so close to the end….this story is actually gonna be finished before Vol.8 starts.
The next two chapters are gonna be the big finale battle, then we've got a wrap-up and an epilogue.
Still debating writing more stories in the Downward Spiral timeline, we'll see.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Oh you thought Salem's fortress was going to be limited by the confines of physical space?
Good old body horror in the writing 'cos why not?
Arctus using his Glyphs as barricades and not just a shield to partition Grimm off from each other seemed like a nice touch.
The return of the patented Diamond choke-slam.
You knew that something was gonna happen the second they saw the door on the other side of the Grimm bugs.
Salem used Grimm as bullets in her fight with Pantheon and you thought she wouldn't use them as bombs?
Sometimes you just hate being right….
So….meet the boss of this level, Chernobog the Alpha Gargoyle.
I mean Helios is right, if they're running into that much resistance they must be doing something right but at the same time it doesn't really help.
The Grimm are working smart today and Team NEON are already on the back foot with Olivine's big gun being busted.
Also, fun to note how even Nyanza's team-mates get out of the way when he's doing crazy shit.
The wall contracting away from Nyanza was the first clue.
That Goliath got wrecked…..remember back in first year when they were still scary.
Surprise….the entire fortress is made of Grimm and there's a reason that Salem protected it from Fracture so much, the entire interior is mutable.
Corvid just rag-dolling Pantheon is a fun mental image.
Dino-sorta disappointed…..I am not sorry.
Okay she ploughed through Pantheon's armoured Teryx but you didn't really think it was gonna be that easy did you?
Okay that mid-air brawl that ended with Corvid losing the Omega wing was fun to write, especially Pantheon copying one of her moves.
I feel like Corvid and Pantheon had to at least talk a little and she had to know that Pantheon had defected from Salem but at the same time the idea of an alliance is anathema to Pantheon.
Team GORE and their ships guns Vs the Grimm reminded me of the Machines' assault on Zion in the Matrix Revelations.
Come on, you knew that Team GORE weren't just gonna be sitting and twiddling their thumbs until the others came back and you knew they weren't just gonna sit there shooting at the Grimm either.
Can we all take a moment to appreciate that Carcharodon is that mother-fucker.
"No mercy, no quarter, no warning" is actually a little callback, Eagle said it to Hellion in the tribes' language after learning it from Car.
The house of horrors could honestly have been a chapter on its' own.
And…..gut-shot, that's gonna leave a mark.
The mouth and the spike-tongue were low-key based on the flowers in Jumanji.
Olivine saw her chance and took it, that was honestly the only way they were gonna stop those attacks from coming.
So Ether can't feel his legs and his Aura is broken….safe to say he's out of the fight.
They were literally being kept from reaching the Spawning Pit directly below them, we can put the fact that they fell where they did down to Nyanza's Semblance.
Question now is how are they gonna get rid of that Spawning Pit and not die?
There's not really a lot to say about the short scene with Iris and the rest of Team CLIR it's just there to show that they won't be making it to Salem's island and set-up Iris's sacrifice…..Also, using her telekinesis to eject Lux and Rusty, that's some strong Pyrrha vibes right there.
Corey is a beast but let's be honest, she was fighting a losing battle and she knew it.
You can't knock Corvid over if she's on the floor but you can either lift her off of the ground or break the ground under her feet, Felix used a similar trick in the Vytal tournament.
Corvid looked cool as hell shattering Pantheon's claw and stopping herself from getting impaled but in the end they were right, it wouldn't have mattered.
Y'all knew Iris was dead at this point right?
So…..that's Iris and Pantheon gone; a larger than average transport crushed into the size of a trash-can and dropped into the bottom of the ocean; one more Hunter made the heroic sacrifice.
I could have made the fight against Chernobog last a lot longer but it would have just felt like filler.
That being said, the first attempt at a big hit couldn't work it wouldn't be any fun so Team FADE had to get slapped.
Arctus is right, there's a time and a place for Balrog.
Diamond Dust combos are always fun to write.
You know it's gonna be serious when he pulls out the Hydrakken.
So, they made it….they got into the throne room.
Vol.11 had winged, harpy Salem with a scythe but now for the finale we've got Armoured, Black-Knight Salem with a sword that's at least the same size as she is.
So….who's ready for the final battle then?

Thank you to SumoSnipe for their review on the last chapter.
Well, Pantheon is no longer part of the equation but your military maxims are, once again correct.
What was the one about the terrain not being neutral 'cos Team FADE and NEON learned that one today.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review