New Chapter!
Turns out Zhongli has a Geo Whale. If I had a nickel for every time a character has an elemental whale, I would have two nickels. It is not a lot of nickels, but, it's weird that it happened twice.
In related news, the next update will be 'Time Erodes All'.
X
"Insignificant", softly spoken and yet the word still rang out.
A slash of the exquisite jade polearm and many of the ape-like Grimm, with battle-scared carcass and red eyes glowing with hatred, were bisected with ease. The spear spun faster than a bulkhead's turbines, even the slightest touch of which tearing the ground and rendering Grimm apart into divine karma.
"Inconsequential", a jump and he flew with ethereal energy. A dash of Anemo, and he spun. Xiao drilled through anything that came in his way, before dashing back to avoid retaliation.
He swung his weapon downward. More akin to how one uses a hammer than a spear he crushed a large, flying feline Grimm's skull as it tried to dive bomb him.
"Useless" The foreign wind itself followed the attack by the authority of the Vision. Dissipating bodies of bear-like Grimm flung into the air. With a flash he was gone, leaving behind green ember.
Bursts of the eldritch green illuminated the dark battlefield like lightning strikes. Bullets fell like rain, so dense that there was no need to aim, save to away from the lone hunter in the night.
The ground cratered with each plunge. Rocks and stones shattered by the force of strikes. Trees were uprooted and tossed around by the sheer power of Anemo unleashed. Bark exploding with hits and jumps. The entire area set ablaze the flame of the Nuo Dance of Evil Conquering. No creature of dark that crossed his sight would escape getting purged from the mortal plane.
Though creatures empowered by divine might, from what Xiao could feel, the Grimm were not made to fight the divine themselves. They lacked even the most basic resistances that even the weakest monsters tended to have to be exorcised. A single strike and the Eagle Spear of Justice would cut through their flesh and bones with startling ease.
The weak and pitiful threads of karma they left got washed away by Xiao's shattered Aura. For someone who has strived off the effects of karma for over two thousand years, the manifestation of their soul would allow no more.
"Lament!"
The bane of all evil prowled the night. There was nothing Grimm, so much weaker and slower than demons, monsters, and gods he had slain before. They were no match compared to beings given birth from the wrath of bygone gods.
All existing karma on the being known as Alatus had been forgotten with the purifying flames and rebirth. The power of the Yaksha flowed through his veins without the crippling agony from the lingering hate and anger he had acclimated. Each strike healed him as more divine karma was unleased.
There were so many Grimm now, that they were running into each other. It was almost a flood of black and tanged limbs. The Adeptus flames rapidly spread from body to body. It was a chokehold now, with all Grimm encroaching in his general direction. The Grimm's vastly superior numbers were working against them as they got funnelled in. The people on the wall were killing the Grimm faster than he was, with him only being limited to those in his spears range for the most part. The air was thick with a dark fog, too many Grimm dying at once for it all to dissipate.
It seemed like they were going to be victorious.
"!?" Deep-seated warrior instincts screamed.
Xiao wretched his body around to block a shot at his back, the bullet ricocheting off the flat of his spear's blade. Then he spun around twice as fast, using the power of Anemo to send wind blades with his spear's tip. But now half his attention was to the West wall. He could feel the subtle thread of illusions blinding them to the truth. The same power tried to extend its insidious control over him, which worked for all of half a second before it was banished with some recoil to the caster.
Still, half a second of distraction proved disastrous. A group of small, low-flying bat-like Grimm swarmed him. More of the defender opened fire on him, bullets flying close and grazing flesh. One round struck the spear in his hand at an awkward angle. The intense vibrations made him drop the weapon, and before he could reach for it, a giant flawed hand extended. It threw him into the wall behind him with a heart-wrenching *thud*.
Through the haze of pain, Xiao spotted the gun spear thing he had been using earlier within arm's reach. Being directly below the wall, he was in an awkward place for the gunmen to shoot him.
"That's it?" He asked, looking at the Grimm riding a Grimm horse. No, it was not two separate Grimm; they were fused into one another.
With a painful grunt, he got up, testing the balance of the now crooked spear. It seemed like the heavy impact had caused the dust rounds in its magazine to go off.
He tore off the spearhead, weakening it with his flames a little way from the top. He then wielded the thin blade like a dagger. Xiao looked at the encroaching Grimm through a chipped Nuo Mask with defiance in his heart.
X
The Creatures of Grimm tried to approach the fallen spear, to bring it back to their master. But the divine weapon burned all foolish to come near it, Grimm trying to touch it for too long vanquished into the device karma that their master used to wield them.
It shined with a brilliant green, a beacon of hope to the distraught defenders who had just seen their fellow fighters open fire on one of their own. With a shout of "illusions" and a frantic search, the girl responsible had managed to be driven away.
But everyone had seen how badly the hunter had been hit. They all had all seen him take a hit that could crumple trucks with no Aura to defend him. They had all seen the bullets draw blood. Unarmed and injured, there was little hope for the masked hunter to survive.
Scarcely a few hundred meters away, seated in an Air Ship getting ready for taking off, a sister screamed.
X
The wizard in the tower of clockwork and glass felt cold to the bones. A face that did nothing to betray the age, wisdom and cruelty behind those empty eyes looked on in shock as a divine weapon he had never known about had surfaced.
For someone who is as old as him, to have seen so many fables and story tales play out in his own time. A being cursed to live and die over and over again ever since the age of gods had ended.
He knew of every weapon, every story, every myth, every legend under the sun that was worth knowing. He had scoured continents on pure rumours. Explored derelict ruins and created a few along the way. He had had a hand in creating a significant number of myths and legends too.
With a face that betrayed nothing of the conflict behind it, the being known as Ozpin turned towards the other person in his office.
"Qrow, what does this remind you of?" Ozpin paused the new report to show him the frame he was talking about. The wind could be seen responding to the masked hunter's command, while blood stained their jeans. Qrow almost said dust, but it didn't set with him right; there was something different about it in both colour and the ferocity with how much control the huntsman had.
Except…
"Maiden powers…" He trailed off, looking at the headmaster for confirmation. Ozpin slightly nodded.
X
Xiao was not too experienced in daggers. Of course, they were weapons of assassination and desperation both. And in his long life, he had often found times where he was desperate enough to wield them. May the dagger be an arrowhead, a sharp rock or tooth, a spearhead or an actual dagger.
Without the properties of the Primordial Jade Winged Spear, the Grimm were significantly harder to defeat. He was also too injured to use his Adeptus arts to appear near his weapon. He knows he had a few ribs broken and had his left hand most probably fractured. No, trying to retrieve his weapon now would only lead to folly. At least not without being healed more by the strangely harmless divine karma Grimm.
Still, daggers were good for finding kinks in the armour. Slipping in between bone plates with surgical precision. Creatures of Grimm didn't seem to have tendons, which would have helped him in taking down Grimm too big to be injured by the small blade of the dagger, like the armoured mockery of the elephant. But a dagger to the eye and a little twist still did wonders.
As he kept on swinging, the number of Grimm kept on decreasing, while their size increased. Seemed like they had enough intelligence to use younger Grimm to soften the defenders first. Not that it would help them.
"Worthless." He spoke as he drove his dagger deep into the humanoid half of the horseman and rider Grimm combo. Its arms were cut clean through and its horse part was long dead.
With every Grimm slain, he was a step closer to his spear. With every kill, the dark fog left grew thicker still. And yet its light shined brighter still. With every step closer, it seemed like the Grimm were fiercer still. Then at last, just as he was about a few meters away, he saw the brilliant green starting to move.
His healing wounds were forgotten, the world was drowned in flames, and in a flash of power, he appeared in front of the person trying to steal the jade spear. The Grimm had been ignoring her, parting away like a bolder in a shallow stream of water. She barely had a second to react, her bright amber eyes (a fit of nostalgia instantly crushed away) growing wide as an Anemo-powered dagger descended on them.
She let go of the spear in pain, her Aura flaring up as the winds headed his commands blasted into her with full force. It didn't take as much energy as before, it seemed like the winds were getting used to his presence now.
As he got ready to pursue her, the ground shook with the force of an earthquake. Xiao dug his spear into the ground to keep steady, while the girl got on top of a Grimm and flew away. Few of the defenders tried to shoot at her, but the unsteady footholds made it hard. Cracks snaked up the wall and a defender almost fell, before another caught him by the leg. Still, they dropped their weapon to the ground.
Even the Grimm seemed disoriented and confused, legs spread wide as they tried to keep balance. Xiao would have used this opportunity to its fullest if he hadn't sensed the new threat in the distance. Spotlights swirled and searched before they came to a stop. Dust and debris fell from one of the mountains before a mighty dragon of darkness appeared.
It was a creature of gigantic proportions. With teeth to rip into the building. With wings to cause hurricanes. With claws to render even the stronger of foes apparat. Anti-air armaments exploded at its body, nothing more than burning matchsticks to it.
As it flew forth, drops of blackness dropped with it. Xiao's eyes widened. As it dropped to the ground, a new Grimm appeared. If that thing came close enough, the walls would not matter. They would be overrun in minutes, with all the defenders being at the borders.
The jade spear shined unhelpfully.
Dragons were the pinnacle of magical creatures. There was a reason why the prime illuminated beast, Rex Lapis, was a Geo Dragon. If one wants to see how dangerous a dragon could be, one might only look at the ruins of Sal Vindagnyr where the black dragon Durin's remains are. Even dead for five hundred years, flesh rotten away and only bones remaining, his corrupted heart still beat with corruption. Why the Anemo Archon had not done away with him, Xiao had no answer. But he was never the best at understanding motives.
With each flap, the dragon came closer still. Skin impervious to all harm. The strength of the Grimm dragon was frankly unbelievable.
No.
He would not give up so easily. He opened a fist, fire glowing in his palms. Mortals have killed dragons before. Made armaments out of them. He had held the Dragon's bane once. Seen its desire to kill serpents. Felt its blood lust.
Maybe he was not strong enough to fight it on equal footing. None of his strikes would hit the Grimm dragon from his place on the ground. And even in the air, he was not the best of combatants.
He was no Rex Lapis, able to craft exquisite and masterclass weapons, to summon pillars of Geo to trap foes and Geo constructs to fight on his behalf. He was no Barbatos, able to bind and command a thousand winds to his very will. The heavens themselves were the Anemo Archon's weapon and alongside his companion the dragon Dvalin, he was almost unbeatable if only because he was impossible to hit. He was no Raiden Shogun, capable to render islands in half with a single strike. She covered the entire ocean in storms, a god dedicated to fighting change and the passage of time.
But not being able to match Archons meant very little. There were not many beings who could do so.
The Primordial Jade Winged-Spear hummed in his hands, almost buzzing in excitement. What approached was an ancient beast, its favoured prey.
-At Liyue's foundation, monsters and gods still ruled the seas.
Adeptus and Elemental powers danced in his open off-hand, eldritch flames swirling with divine winds.
-In fear the forebears lived, and fought the sea with all they could muster.
He looked up at the sky in a challenge. The Dragon caught his eyes, and oh so slightly changed its direction.
-As spring turned to fall and back again for many an eon, a behemoth arose that dominated the seas. Even the Geo Archon's Geo Whale could not triumph against it.
The Dragon roared at him. The ground shook with the force of the inhuman bellow.
-The people of Liyue called it "Baqiu," a beast without rival even in the deepest depths of the ocean abyss. Its enormous waves would wash away entire settlements.
With every flap of its wings, the beast came ever so closer, grew ever so larger.
-So the Geo Archon fashioned a black kite by hand with jade and stones.
Phantom tattoos tingled. An image of a magnificent bird from another life.
-The stone bird took to the unbound skies once forged. Into the heart of the ocean it dove, into the battlefield with the behemoth and the whale.
With a burst of power, Xiao took to the air. He transformed into his beast form mid-air and soared towards the oncoming Dragon. For the onlookers, he looked like nothing more than a green comet ascending to the heavens.
-Into the depths of the sea the behemoth sank, there to stay forever.
He transformed back in front of the beast's grasping maw and plunged his spear into its skull. Bone plates cracked but they didn't shatter, the Dragon turning out many times more durable than the rest of the Grimm. No problem; with the force of his plunge both he and the Dragon were sent on an uncontrollable descent. Except he knew how to find his balance while falling and the injured Dragon didn't. Or it was too disorientated to do so.
-Released from its thundering roars were the people of Liyue.
With a mighty crash, the Dragon fell into the forest on its back. Its sheer mass crushed countless smaller Grimm and trees. Still, the beast managed to reorient itself fast, one of its clawed wings crooked and its exposed ribcage cracked.
With speed and agility which it in all rights should not possess, the beast pounced on Xiao. But the claw found nothing but rock and dirt as Xiao jumped over it.
"Worthless!"
Spectral weapons erupted from the ground and shredded the offending limb to ribbons. The Dragon drew the offending limb back, before growling. In a blink of an eye, it tried to use its tail like a whip. Xiao, who was used to fighting both earth and sea monsters knew the tell-tale signs of the strike and avoided it with ease. But he was not fast enough to retaliate.
The Dragon roared again, its jaws opening wider than they should and spitting out a dense cloud of some black smoke.
"Dissipate!"
Anemo powers blew the fog towards the beast's face. And in the second it was blind, Xiao attacked one of its legs, dropping the downed dragon on its knees. The Dragon tried to move its neck, but with a single jump and a loud slam, it went slack.
It growled at Xiao, unable to do anything as Xiao approached.
He looked into the eyes and saw the intelligence and cruelty and hatred buried in the ancient eyes. It was a disgraceful death for a flying dragon to meet its end on the ground. The greatest insult you could make to one. He didn't care.
The run raised behind him. The night had ended, and so had the siege.
"Begone, to whence you came!"
The Grim Dragon died a pitiful death.
X
Sneaking back into the city was disappointed easy, all things considered. It seemed like while he was distracted defending the outside, a group of tunnelling Grimm had managed to break into the underground shelters. Still, fast responses by hunters and volunteers alike had prevented what would have been the creation of the largest entombment sight Remanent had ever seen.
All transportation in and out of Glenn had been suspended too. Because some terrorists had tried to help the Grimm defeat the defenders. There was also an investigation starting into Merlot Industries and all their employees were being detained.
But the biggest mystery was the "Green Guardian", or whatever titles they were calling him. Jaune just had to dismiss the jade spear and mask, and remove his jacket and he was almost unidentifiable as the "Green Guardian."
A change of looks did nothing for his still broken ribs or the multitudes of cuts, bruises, or sprains that decorated his body. Even walking was painful, but he was used to being in pain, crawling away in victor after days and nights straight of battle. From his pocket, he drew out his Vision, where he had kept it after the jeans' buckle had broken. Now that danger was gone, the question remained.
How?
Teyvat was both a world and a life apart. The power of Celestia should not have worked here. There were no Archons to control the elements, and no Vison holders other barring before last night. The artefact felt almost drowning in its magnificence. With a sigh, he put it back into his pocket. How could he have an Aura, with how corroded his soul was from Karmic debt? Rebirth and flames had purified his body, but what was inside remained tainted. All he had were questions and no answers.
With a sigh, he started his trek towards Amber's friend's new house. He could sense sigils inscribed into his Scroll from that direction.
It took a while to navigate the war-torn city, especially without a map, even if he knew the general direction, he wanted to travel in. All in all, the trip took about two hours due to closed roads and fallen bridges. The 'terrorists' had bombed parts of the city in the chaos. Finally, he arrived.
He rang the doorbell (the city had power again) and waited. He heard shuffling and arguing before the door was opened wide. With practised ease, he converted the momentum of Amber's dive tackle and used it to twirl her around. All while she tried to claw at his arms, her eyes shining with rage and worry.
"It's all over," he whispered into her ears, 'it's all okay."
X
The journey back was quiet and uneventful. Jade and her parents took an oath of secrecy about his power when he asked them to keep quiet about it. They promised to die and such before they opened their mouth, a too extreme of a reaction in his opinion. Humans were strange like that.
What greeted them when he and his sister (who was glued to his arms) arrived back where the entirety of the Arc family. His parents were enraged. Worried and proud and enraged. While the rest of his sisters were for the most part awestruck by his skill.
His father was equal parts upset and excited about the ordeal. And it didn't take too long before only 'excited' remained.
"I didn't realize you had been training your Semblance; hell, I didn't even realize you had your Aura unlocked!" Jaune politely didn't tell him he got his Aura after the siege had already started. "And that weapon you summoned; how does it work?" Making up a story of how his 'Semblance' worked seemed too complicated, so he just decided to say. "I am still learning."
His mother had decided to ground him, by forcing him to help out more in the house. He didn't understand why mortals found these tasks so painful.
A month after the disaster, with Jaune regularly 'sparring' (read wiping the floor) with his Huntsman father and his other Hunter friends the topic of him joining a hunter school came up.
"There is no way a hunter school will take you now dear, with the last year coming up." His mother said before his father continued.
"But… there are some tournaments for aspiring, where the top scorers win scholarships to Huntsman Academy of their choice." He said, "And one is coming right up."
Jaune was handed a piece of glossy paper. It was a poster for a tournament; Mistral Regional Tournament it read. There was something about three times win streak and an invincible girl, but he ignored it to look at the rewards for the first, the second and third places.
Excluding the cash prizes, all the winners were guaranteed admission to a Hunter Academy. Jaune turned towards his parents, and then all of his seven sisters were seated around the frankly ridiculously proportioned table.
Reason to fight…
He nodded.
X
X
X
And that's a wrap, I rewrote the dragon fight multiple times. It feels weird killing off such a strong Grimm so early on; I escalated too much for the start in my opinion. But eh. I guess I'll let it roll this one time.
Also, I rewatched the footage of the Grim Wyvem and wow was it creepy. Its mouth opens so wide. Why does its mouth open so much?
Little off of 4k, but I have a fever and a killer migraine so I'll not push myself too much.
The dragon fight was gonna be completely different. With Xiao making a copy of the Dragon's bane; Grimm's bane and cracking his vision and stuff. I think I'll post all I had written before I scraped it.
-Scraped Content-
The jade spear was dismissed.
…
He picked up the dropped gun spear.
Archons have the divine authority to use the power of the world. It's how they perform the greatest of their feats. Visions too draw from this same power source, and on examination, so did the 11th's delusion.
But in this world, Revenant, magic was dead and the gods were long gone or diseased. And though there was only so much power he could draw with his vision, that didn't mean that there were other ways to use the untapped power…
As he examined the gun spear, the Dragon's bane didn't leave his mind.
There once was a dragon slayer of unimaginable strength and courage.
Sigils danced along the shaft of the weapon, letting it draw its power from the planet itself.
Who defied the ocean's wrath and fought fiercely against the monstrosities it harboured within.
He took the anger and the hatred and bloodlust and tried his best to replicate the feeling.
Many years after the dragon slayer had disappeared without a trace.
Green flames enveloped it, strengthening it. Empowering it.
The hopeless sound of a dragon's cry could still be heard resounding throughout the ocean.
The weapon greedily drank it all, the internal components that allowed for transformation all fusing together. Its shape changed, looking more and more like a regional spear.
Carefully, Xiao let it have a taste of the dark fog, the divine karma left behind by Grimm. Like a switch had been flipped, the weapon changed once more.
It turned bone white, the very picture of simplicity and elegance. Perfectly balanced and flawlessly made. It would still be impossible to mistake it for anything but a tool of slaughter, black flames dancing on its edge. It hungered for shadows and darkness and Grimm. His mask started falling apart, with him struggling to provide the power needed to keep it. He heard a crack to his side, and looking at this Vison, he could see why.
Its crystal had fractured with the amount of power he had made it draw.
-End of scraped stuff-