Book 2, Chapter 13

Demon Lord

A low groan rose from the medbay, as a pale girl with white hair and blue eyes tenderly rubbed her forehead without sitting up. She was confused, as to where she was, at least, as the last thing she really remembered was touching down on the landing pad, and seeing Yang there to confront them. Her feelings on the matter were... mixed, to say the least. She didn't hate Yang, by all means, she still considered the girl to be a friend, but that didn't change the fact that she was on the enemy's side... just like her brother...

"So, you're finally awake." A familiar voice exclaimed, forcing her attention to her right to see Yang sitting in a plastic chair across from herself, arms crossed with the unreadable expression of a mercenary's T-Visor plastered over her face. A low sigh escaped her, as she looked back and out the hallway without getting up before settling back down and turning her attention back to one of her old teammates. "Stay down. You aren't anywhere near as badly wounded as the others, but I did still hit you upside the head with a hammer, and it did still summarily knock you out."

"Yang... what... what happened? What happened to the others?" Weiss questioned, watching as the normally upbeat blonde brawler simply sat in silence for a few moments, arms crossed and gaze turned downward.

"Roxanne, Ren, all of CRDL, Fox, and Professor Peach are all dead, and Nora may be dead as well. Everyone else is undergoing surgery right now to save their lives, but not all odds are particularly optimistic." Yang's tone was flat, dull, but the impact from her words left her breathless beyond a shadow of a doubt. Dead? All of them? But she was sure that Yang wasn't the one who killed everyone else, no, she lacked the capacity, so how were they dead?

"How did... you couldn't have-"

"No, in fact after I'd knocked you out, nothing personal, by the way, my own adoptive sister nearly killed me. It's my other kin that saved my life and killed everyone... more appropriate to call her my cousin, though, since we don't actually share any parents." Yang rambled on somewhat, before sighing deeply and standing up. Each step closer made the blonde brawler seem more and more menacing behind her mask, until she finally stood just two or three paces from her former teammate. "Ruby killed them, and now she's on the frontlines where she belongs, where she'll undoubtedly add to her body count. This battle is already decided."

"Yang! Take this and get to the lower rings, we got kingdom soldiers that survived their crash landings regrouping for an attack!" Weiss didn't have enough of a chance to identify whoever spoke, as they'd only stopped at the doorway to toss the girl a blaster carbine before rushing off. Her former teammate only nodded, before wordlessly rushing out and activating some sort of energy barrier at the door, presumably to keep her contained. A swift, if distant examination showed that if she wanted to open the way, she'd need a keycard keyed to the panel, something she did not have.

Not that she could move, anyways. She was currently restrained to the table, unable to move away or pull herself off, leaving her only action being to let her mind wander. It was abundantly clear that they'd fallen into a trap, but Ruby Rose was still in the fight? Intelligence reported her be comatose and in critical condition, nowhere near ready to fight, but it seems that even that was a lie.

Turning her head to look out the window on her left, Weiss could only gape in awe as some unstable green beam lanced out from one of the islands, striking a carrier ship bearing the flag of Mistral and creating a sphere upon the point of impact that encompassed nearly half the ship. Within that dome, everything swiftly crumpled in upon itself, pulling the rest of the ship into the gravity well and crushing it as if it were paper within a giant invisible fist's grasp. It was a terrifying display, and she couldn't imagine such a horrific way to die, yet here it was in full display. It wasn't even the only advanced weapon at their disposal, allowing her to realize just how dramatically wrong Ozpin was about the gap in tech.

But perhaps the most terrible thing wasn't even the weapons, it was this wave of raw, unadulterated power pouring forth in waves from the front, something she could even see. This bright blue star upon the ground, its brilliance piercing the snowy veil and its power beyond anything she could imagine. Part of her didn't wanna think about it, but whatever the nature of this power, it was growing every moment, and exponentially so.

Somehow, she doubted that whatever this power was that it was on their side. A low gulp escaped her throat as she allowed her foot to twitch in an uneasy manner, content for now to just watch as the battle unfolded before her...

"One final effort, everyone! Let's git 'er done!" The Captain called, and with a unified battlecry of a dozen warriors, the Lone Wolves took to battle. Kicking off with a thunderous war cry, the first contact was the Wolf King's Blade in Ruby's hands against the headmaster's cane, her stabbing thrust driven off the side and leaving the Pariah open. However, before he could capitalize on the opening, the roaring blade of her captain and Qrow's katana forced him back.

Launching himself back maybe a hundred meters, Ozpin slid back on the balls of his feet across the frozen earth, pointing his cane towards the Squadron and signaling for his forces to charge again. Heeding his call, countless hunters and perhaps thousands more soldiers began rushing over the trenches and into the fray, turning it back into a battlefield once again. Grasping her blade in both hands, Ruby bolted off in pursuit of the Headmaster after synchronizing her breathing with that of her Captain and Qrow. A bolt of lightning zigzagged ahead of them in a blink, crashing headlong into the mass of soldiers and hunters making the charge and bounding up high as a massive splatter of blood, gore and viscera followed him up. Before Foudre could even think to move again, however, a dozen hunters met him in the air, all of them ready to strike.

Two portals opened up to the sides, one just beside Foudre and the other just behind the group of hunters, a third and fourth opening just ahead of Ruby and back with the rest of the squad. With a rough pull, invisible threads yanked their exposed squadmate back through the portal just short of being chopped into by a dozen blades, and with a trail of blue flames, Ruby launched through the open portal like a comet, bisecting all twelve hunters with ease in one wide arch and impacting into the earth like a missile strike. The very earth itself splintered beneath her as she struck the ground, her dark magic bursting out in an explosion of blue flames and lingering lightning that rippled through every unfortunate soul caught in the blast. Dozens of flaming red projectiles flew just over her before she rose upright, shotgunning out, striking and detonating against everything that dared to close in upon the Champion.

Stepping forth with a confident stride, Ruby didn't bother to raise her blade against the approaching masses of soldiers and hunters, instead keeping her focus on the enemy King in this giant chess board and leaving all the small-fries to the others. She watched as dozens of reflective surfaces materialized in the air, and how a moment later an actual pair of lasers cut through the air to strike and reflect from surface to surface, lancing through everything in their way from surface to surface. Mason's handiwork, she recognized, before watching both Whitley and Nagisa fly overhead before swerving upright, hanging in the air while they fired down upon the masses of enemies with a hail of blaster fire.

Both the warriors dropped just ahead of her on her left and right, drawing all the incoming fire onto themselves and away from Ruby as they began opening up with their supplementary weapons. Taking full advantage of their distraction, Ruby blast straight through to Ozpin, locking her blade against his cane fast enough to leave a trailing after-image. Forcing her blade back, Ozpin pivot his wrist around and swung to strike the Pariah's chin with an uppercut, however, having had time to adapt to his speed and how he fought, Ruby leaned back just slightly, sliding one foot forward and bringing her blade around to slash his torso at the hip with a diagonal slash. Grunting with annoyance, Ozpin leapt back, with the Pariah immediately bounding after him in pursuit, clashing blade upon cane once again as she refused to allow him any breathing room.

He braced himself against the clash, before sweeping one hand back and launching a telekinetic burst to clash against the chainsword descending towards his shoulder. Knocking Ruby's blade back, Ozpin immediately had to readjust his priority of targeting, raising his right foot high up and forward, catching Qrow's attack at the guard of his katana and by where his fist was with his foot. Predicting his next move, Ozpin leapt over his next attack as he pivot his wrist and slashed the opposite way, and he punished this with a small burst of magic from his free hand to launch the traitor back while he swung his cane upwards to deflect Ruby's stabbing strike, sidestepping the Captain's descending blade as he landed. He attempted to strike the Captain across the head with his heel, Captain Shiota simply turned his chainsword blade down and caught the wizard's heel against his hand guard, shoving him off and forcing the blade back around, swiping horizontally at the man and meeting air as he back flipped away from the fight.

Ruby, however, was on his tail once again, launching herself into him and slashing with all her might. Within the split second both warriors' guards were open, Ruby burst into him with her left forearm, extending her gauntlet blades into the blow and cutting into the Wizard and carrying him up high into the air with her. However, before she could ready herself to properly skewer him on her blade, the Wizard struck her with an uppercut from his cane, throwing her off of him and allowing him some breathing room again.

Acting on impulse, he pointed his cane back at Ruby and pulled the trigger, releasing the kinetic energy he'd stored up since last firing back into the girl. It wasn't enough to do much other than throw her back down towards the ground, give himself a moment to catch his breath... a moment short-lived, for as soon as she was out of the picture, both Qrow and Captain Shiota were back at his throat again, both of them clearly just as dogged in their determination to take him down...

She struck the ground harder than she'd hoped she would, but still felt fine nevertheless, swiping her blade down low to her left, cutting an opponent down at the knees before raising her arm and slashing diagonally to her right, bisecting another Hunter that dared get too close. She just pointed her free arm back down towards the other downed opponent and sprayed him with her flamethrower, sealing his fate before concentrating her dark magic into her blade and slashing horizontally with a roar of exertion, unleashing a dark magic slash of blue light that cut straight through everything ahead of it in a widening arch with ease, clearing her surroundings a bit and giving her a little breathing room to clear her head before diving back into the fray.

"Ozpin's tough, but I'm starting to get a better grasp of these powers. Still, there's something growing within me with every kill, and for some reason, the numbers 10,000 and 2,000 have played on repeat ever since I awakened... wait... no, when I awakened it was 1,807... and before I unleashed that slash it was 1,905..." Ruby mused, before taking a knee and observing the battlefield around her. Everyone everywhere was fighting for their lives against impossible odds, and she was willing to bet that Ozpin still had one last ace up his sleeve as a worst-case scenario. This wasn't the time to play it safe, this was a time for bold moves, she knew, and her subconscious was just pulling her towards making it to that 10,000 mark. "I never bothered to count my kills before, and I actively had no idea how many lives I'd taken up to this point, but something tells me that 10,000 lives I must take if I wanna see victory this day."

She looked around the field, noting the ample amount of enemies everywhere. It likely wouldn't take long to take another 8,000 lives with enemies this plentiful and her power as it already was. So, deciding that she needed to change objectives and maintaining faith in her Captain, Ruby flourished her blade, and burst forth into the nearest mass of troops with a massacre on her mind...

Fighting for his life back to back with his teacher wasn't how he thought he'd go out, but it was looking more and more like that was how he'd meet his end tonight. As he and Nagisa fired in every direction which they were shot at from deep behind where the enemy had dug in, their auras and shields were the first things to fail them in the frenzy of battle, shortly followed after by their jetpacks as a series of explosions rapped their ground.

"Argh!" Whitley groaned, a heavy plasma bolt exploding against his right shoulder forcing him back and another striking his right thigh from a different angle, dropping him to a knee. Sensing his squadmate go down, Nagisa pressed his back against Whitleys and rolled over, striking an approaching hunter in the gut and knocking him down, before firing into his face and chest with a burst of green plasma bolts, ending his life in a heartbeat before snapping onto the foe that had hit Whitley's shoulder and picking them off with another precise burst. Flicking his right knee up and to the left while sweeping his gun right, he fired off his right knee's missiles and fired a few more bursts, taking out a trio of hunters and killing a fourth as the first missile to strike his chest broke his aura, and the second turned his head into a fine mist.

Mustering his strength to fight again, Whitley noticed a dozen more kingdom warriors, a mixture of soldiers and hunters, start drawing beads on Nagisa from behind. Lifting his left forearm to level on them, Whitley unleashed his entire payload of micro missiles into the group, blowing every single one of the gathering souls away and into the afterlife, before pulling his right fist and blaster pistol from the ground and began firing upon the masses of soldiers once again, prioritizing enemies that looked their way or pointed their weapons in their direction over those that were just charging past to fight other mercenaries upon these frozen grounds. A flick of his head left showed a pair of hunters about to land the killing blows on another mercenary some forty meters away, and by instinct he flicked his left knee towards the threat and fired off his left knee missiles, taking the hunters unaware and killing both of them before they could finish off the wounded mercenary while they fell to the floor.

His attention on an ally's fight and not his own was punished, when another heavy plasma bolt struck his right pec and threw him to the ground with a pained gasp, his blaster pistol falling out of his hands as he collapsed onto the cold dirt beneath him. He coughed painfully, splattering blood against the inside of his mask and blurring his lower field of view, but forced himself to still fight, raising his left forearm and spraying a column of flames into a group of hunters that were gathering in his mentor's blind spot, sending them all rolling to the ground as they screamed in a desperate panic with their clothes alight.

A near explosion rocked his body in unimaginable pain, but he grit his teeth and pulled himself back upright, grasping his pistol as he rose to his feet, firing away once again at every enemy in sight. A swift look back showed that the explosion had separated himself and his mentor, and had knocked Nagisa down in turn. A hunter stood over him, readying their blade to execute the Champion with one heavy strike to the neck from their great sword, and another hunter was taking aim from just a meter away at Nagisa's head, his helmet already knocked off. His 360 threat scanner revealed another hunter behind himself, approaching with a large blade that split in two down the middle, and his armor integrity was reading as compromised, meaning that he could now either save himself, or save Nagisa

"Can't have my cake and eat it too... Nagisa, I'm counting on you to make this count!" He hardened his resolve, and flicked his right knee forward, shooting further left of it. The missiles sailed true, striking the hunter aiming to decapitate his mentor twice in the head and killing him, while his bolt struck the other huntress in the face, killing her before she could raise her aura. And in that same instant, his mentor's eyes met his, and he embraced his fate...

"AAAARGH!" He heard Whitley cry out in agony, as a two-pronged blade pierced through his back and out his sternum, a hand grasping his throat and lifting him up into the air with the strike. He could only watch in horror as he saw Whitley, his friend, his student, have the blade ripped out of him and be held up in the air like some sort of trophy. However, before he could act to avenge his dying student, Whitley made his last play, grasping the Hunter's forearm with his left hand and reaching up to his left shoulder with his left.

"I'm ready... HOW BOUT YOU?" Whitley ripped the knife he'd attached to his left pauldron from its sheathe, and thrust up into his killer's throat with all his might, tearing through the last of this warrior's aura and piercing their brain with one thrust, killing them instantly and forcing them to drop him to the ground in a heap.

"WHITLEY!" He cried out, pushing himself up and diving towards his fallen comrade. Crawling through the last few meters as fast as he could, Nagisa pulled Whitley up in his arms and tore his helmet off, shaking his shoulders in a desperate bid to wake him up. "C'mon c'mon c'mon! Get up! GET UP!"

A blast across the back brought him back to the battlefield, and with a pained roar, Nagisa stood and turned to face the threat, drawing his sidearm and firing point-blank into a nearby hunter's face and killing them instantly, before snapping onto the person who shot him and firing on them until they hit the ground and stopped moving. In a blind rage, Nagisa fired off all his ordinance at once, spraying flames all around and rocking the battlefield with dozens upon dozens of explosions, killing hundreds within a blink before a flash from the coast well over two hundred meters away was followed by a heavy plasma bolt striking his chest, finally breaking through his armor after hundreds of hits and bringing the champion to his knees, dropping the pistol to the floor and clutching his chest.

He could only cough up blood, staining the snow beneath him red as the world seemed to darken all around him. He supposed it was only fitting, that this be where he finally fell. Side by side with his student, surrounded by his brothers. Raising his eyes upwards somewhat, he saw the glint of the sniper's scope in clear view, the one who'd kill him. At least he could say he got to look his killer in the eye before all was said and done, so with a last sigh, Nagisa cracked a soft smile, shut his eyes, lowered his head, and embraced his fate...

She wasn't expecting to get out of dodge so quickly, with a missile getting lucky and making it through the shield, striking her room and destroying the systems that kept her restraints activated. She didn't have a weapon, but that didn't mean she couldn't help the attackers pull a win on the ground with her glyphs and semblance. Still, it was too heavily occupied on the main island for her to be of any use, so she instead rushed to the islands to his the Mercenaries from behind. For this, she headed to the island that seemed the most heavily contested, as that's where her semblance might be most useful.

As she came to the coast after jumping out of the main academy and making the full dash, she managed to find transport in the form of a speedboat, crossing the distance in just a few short minutes to the same island where that bright blue glow was coming from earlier. After pulling herself out of the boat and setting foot on the docks, she looked over the crest of land obscuring the rest of the island, and noted that the bright blue glow was now somewhere else, though it's growing power only continued to intensify. Whatever it was, she sure as hell wasn't gonna be the one to fight it.

Upon clambering up to level ground, Weiss crouched down to make herself less noticeable, as most all the foliage had been stripped away and replaced with wasteland. Still, the battlefield was complete chaos, with friendly forces and mercenaries scattered all around, and in the storm of carnage, it was honestly too difficult to tell who was winning... at least that was the case, until her eyes drew over to the sight of one mercenary being stabbed from behind, and killing his own attacker before hitting the floor.

She didn't understand why, but their presence felt somewhat familiar, and she cautiously began her approach, halting at about thirty meters when their comrade ripped off their helmet, revealing...

"No..." it was as if she was just stabbed in the heart as she staggered back, taking in the face of none other than her own little brother. She couldn't help but fall to her knees a moment later, her eyes wide open in disbelief. "Whitley... no... it... it can't be..."

She felt her eyes water, and she immediately picked herself up and rushed over to her little brother, all sense of self-preservation thrown to the wind. She fell down on him, dropping to her knees and bracing her forearms and forehead against his chest, sobbing loudly as she cried her brother's name in vain. She slammed her fists down again and again, not wanting to let go of him. Sure, they'd never quite gotten along, but he was still family, still her brother... and now he was gone.

"WHITLEY! WHITLEEEEEY! PLEASE, GET UP, I'M BEGGING YOU!" Weiss cried uncontrollably, eventually settling down somewhat and looking to the knife still held in his relaxed hand. Pushing through the feeling of sorrow, Weiss set his blade flat against his chest, and moved to bring his hands up to rest on his breastplate, lie him down with some dignity...

"Weiss! Oh, am I glad to see you! It's Daniella Frost! We share a chemistry class together, remember? This battle isn't done yet, and it took a helluva lot to take that bastard down! C'mon, let's-" before the student that had approached her could finish, Weiss grasped the knife and shot up, stabbing the girl's throat with an agonized expression of sorrow and rage, staining her pristine white jacket with blood, before ripping the blade out and shoving the dying girl to the floor, spraying blood all over her face and the front of her dress.

Panting hard, Weiss couldn't stop shaking, before collapsing to her knees, having passed over Whitley in her lunge to kill the one who'd dared disrespect her little brother while she was still mourning him. However, her aura sense flared, and she could only look up in horror as maybe a dozen VDF troops halted and began drawing a bead on her. Shutting her eyes hard, Weiss extended her arms out, tried to make herself wider to prevent any more damage from being done to her brother's body...

*BOWBOW BOWBOW BOWBOW BOWBOW BOWBOW BOWBOW!*

She flinched as she felt heat pass by her, but opened her eyes in confusion the six bursts of from a blaster sounded from behind her. Looking up, she watched the bodies of all twelve soldiers drop to the floor, and chanced a look back to see who her savior was...

"Heh... Jack...pot..." Her eyes widened in shock as she beheld the sight of Whitley grasping the wound in his chest with his left hand, while his right gauntlet was forward, the twin wrist blaster having been his weapon of choice for knocking out the soldiers that threatened to execute her. A wave of relief passed over her, as it seemed he wasn't dead just yet, and she threw herself down to wrap her arms around him, sobbing loudly into his shoulder for a moment before being pushed back and pointed towards somewhere else. She followed his finger, and saw another mercenary collapse to their knees from a sniper's shot, and she immediately knew what she had to do. Raising her hands to summon her glyphs, she put one down ahead of the wounded warrior, raising a large pillar of ice ahead of them to take the sniper's killing shot for him, before using another glyph to launch him far back, all the way just over the crest she had to cross to see the battlefield, before looking back down at her brother.

"Whitley... I'm so glad you're alive..." She choked out, before feeling him grasp her shoulder, his grip tight but not crushing.

"My life... isn't worth all... all my brothers and-" he coughed up more blood over his armor, involuntarily spasming painfully in her arms before continuing. "And sisters... help... f-forget about m-me... h-help th-them..."

"Not a chance! I'm not letting you die, we're leaving! C'mon!" Weiss hardened her resolve and ignored his selfless request, hoisting him up and throwing his arm over her shoulder, supporting his weight. It seemed the stab had only narrowly missed his spine, as it seemed with assistance he could still stand, and the wound was on the opposite side of where his heart would be, as well. Nevertheless, he would certainly die without immediate assistance, and she knew exactly where she needed to take him, even if it did mean she'd be being thrown behind bars again.

As quickly as she could, she hit herself with a time manipulation glyph, intentionally missing Whitley so he wouldn't just end up bleeding out faster, and began supporting him out of the frontlines. With a determined grit, Weiss extended her aura back to Whitley, tanking any damage that was meant for him. Eventually, though, just at the crest, a bullet ripped through her leg, causing her to collapse just short of safety

"No... c-c'mon..." She stifled through the pain as she began trying to drag Whitley the last few meters, halting as the mercenary she'd saved just a moment ago vaulted over just ahead of her and began firing back on the enemy, using his free hand to heft her and Whitley up, before pushing them down over the crest and tumbling down after them. She rolled a few meters with Whitley, and the larger mercenary ended up hitting her on the way down, but she was ultimately fine, and could walk, if with a magnitude of pain... pain she was sure must've been negligible compared to what these two were feeling, and both of them were certainly in bad shape, with both being on the brink of death.

"Come on, Whit... just hang on... a little... longer!" With a considerable effort, Weiss managed to pull both mercenaries into the speedboat, and began making way back to the main island. She swore on her life, she wasn't going to lose her little brother this day...

The fight to hold off the attacking kingdom soldiers on the lower levels was not going well. Only a few mercenaries could be spared for this rear line defense, meaning it was mostly just students that had taken up arms and the odd couple pirates or scoundrels defending the academy from professional soldiers. She'd managed to organize a semblance of a defense along with the mercenaries, but they were too spread out, and losing ground fast.

"Pull it together, we can't let them through to the hospital! Jeremiah, hold that left flank, Alison, keep pressure on that wound! Pablo, turn your fire right, we got a squad trying to flank us!" Yang barked out orders, before watching as an explosion rocked the enemy forces in the rear, and a moment later, none other than Whitley, Nagisa, and surprisingly enough to her, Weiss, stepped through the smoke, Weiss and Nagisa being the only ones well enough at the moment to shoot, and only barely in Nagisa's case... something she absolutely wouldn't allow.

Stepping up from her relatively safe position, Yang began firing away on the soldiers blindly, letting rip on rapid fire from the hip and actively trying to draw their attention to herself, anything to protect her friends. It did result in her aura taking a serious pounding, but after a few short moments, all three of them crossed the defensive line. Immediately dropping from combat, Yang hopped down and wrapped herself around Nagisa, holding him tightly and pressing her lips against his own without hesitation, catching him completely off guard with the action. After a few short moments she parted herself from him, taking in the shocked look on his face and meeting his eyes with a teary smile.

"I'm sorry... part of me thought I was never going to see you again..." she looked over towards Weiss, who was assisting Whitley up onto the gurney that had been wheeled out for the critically wounded.

"H-hey... well... my injuries aren't quite fatal yet, but I won't last much longer without aid... and Whitley is..." before he could finish, a booming roar echoed through the air, and a look back to both their dismay showed a rocket sailing straight for him. Knowing that if she pushed him aside, the missile would just strike Weiss and Whitley, Yang threw herself in front of the projectile, bracing herself for a swift death...

*KABOOOOOM!*

She felt the passing heat wash over her, but found herself surprised by the lack of an impact, opening her eyes to look on through the smokescreen. She shielded her eyes as light was the first thing to pierce the black, yet gaped in awe as a pair of flaming fists and a crimson blade revealed themselves, followed by the sight of both a masculine figure with short blonde hair in mostly tan and brown battle gear with a single shoulder pad and bracer for his right forearm and a woman with long raven hair in a black and red yukata with crimson layered arm guards were revealed from the parting smoke. The duo looked back her way, cracking a slight smirk as lilac and crimson eyes met her own, before nodding to each other and charging into the fray.

"M-mom... d-dad... y-you guys... y-you a-actually came..." Yang choked up as she collapsed to her knees, the shock of their return and Nagisa's and Whitley's wounds all together too much for her to handle at once. It took Nagisa dropping to a knee to snap her out of her own head and continue helping him, throwing his arm over her shoulders and bringing him back to safety. She swore on her life, she was NOT going to lose anymore she held dear this day, and she was more than willing to stick her own neck out again if it meant completing that goal...

"7,497... 7,593... 7,622... c'mon, you can do this Ruby!" She told herself as she impacted blade-first with one of the kingdom beachheads, slaughtering the whole command point with a single powerful strike and its ensuing blast of fire and lightning. Her power was swelling with every life she took, and her mastery of her powers was growing exponentially with every passing moment, though that wasn't quite saying much, since she still really didn't know what she was doing, nor did she know if this power coursing through her veins had a time limit or not or... something. There was still a lot she didn't understand, but she was being empowered with something, that she understood, and that something gave her the power to unleash utterly cataclysmic levels of carnage... she just kinda wished there was a quicker way to kill 10,000 people than manually.

"Hmmm... There's a little over 20,000 enemy troops on this island alone... if I can find large enough groups of them bundled together, I can probably reach my desired mark without having to leave this island... I've been island hopping and turning the tide in battlefield after battlefield, and this is a major one, so I can probably finish it here... whatever "it" is." Ruby mused, spotting and blitzing another company of troops as they returned for resupply. "7,742. Just 2,258 to go... thank you Whitley, for helping me with math so effectively... but there's GOTTA be a more effective way of finishing this fight! If this drags on any longer, all the fronts are gonna be overwhelmed! I've got maybe minutes left, and that's probably generous at this point, given the rate at which we're losing people!"

The enemy fleet was all but done for, but enough were holding out to deny the mercenaries on the ground any heavy support, and their fleet of scoundrels had been ravaged as well, with most of the fleet burning up in the skies or already crashed into the ocean. Reportedly, there was possibly less than one hundred fifty mercenaries left standing, and they'd fallen short of the needed mark of attrition... not to mention, three captains had reportedly fallen, and one squad had apparently been wiped out completely. One hundred fifty mercenaries, and an estimated minimum of two hundred thousand kingdom soldiers still standing, to include hunters in the number... not that they were really worth differentiating in her current state, outside of characters like Ozpin, they all died the same.

An eruption of cheers boomed from further inland, and after rocketing up into the skies, she sneered as she beheld the sight of the last Mercenary of the Arc Knights fall, gunned down by a hundred guns from every side while trying to defend their Captain's fallen body. A certain fury came over her, as she immediately shot down and slaughtered another company with the impact, adding a few more hunters to her name on top of all else. With all eyes now on her, Ruby blasted off towards the center where the Arc Knights made their final stand, pouring all the magic she could muster into her blade before coming to a halt just over the Captain's body, swinging it around with her body a full 360 degrees and releasing the power.

Just as she'd hoped, the power she'd unleashed took the form of an expanding ring of magic power that sundered all in its path, dissipating after maybe two hundred or two hundred fifty meters in every direction, slaughtering most of the remaining soldiers on the island that had rallied on this last defensive point. A few hundred remained, but she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, this would put her at the required mark...

Notice:

The Conditions Have Been Met

The Awakening Ritual to Evolve the individual known as Ruby Rose to Demon Lord has begun.

The words rang out from the heavens above, piercing through the night and drawing a pause to all conflict. Not a soul in the world didn't hear, as the Voice of the World spoke to all when the time was right. However, the one named by the voice was the most confused of all, while the one who so personally sought her demise halted not out of shock, but pure terror.

"E... volve? Demon Lord? Wha-" like a tidal wave, a sudden feeling of sleepiness overcame her, and within a moment, her balance began to sway. A second later, she fell on her behind, the world around her seeming to spin out of control as she fought with every ounce of her being to stay awake, especially since there were still enemy soldiers just a few hundred meters from her still alive and combat capable. Out of options, Ruby raised a single hand and spoke the words that were flooding into her mind, as if her very voice was being puppeteered.

"Act... tivate summoning magic... Demon Summoning." She held her hand out, focusing on the glowing bright blue sigils of incomprehensible text forming upon the floor ahead of her. "My offering... is the bodies of all my fallen enemies... come forth, Demon... be... of use to me!"

The moment she finished her call, the circle within the diamond shaped sigil began to glow, while the outer diamond burned into the ground with a baleful purple shine. With a terrible noise she couldn't even begin to describe, the bodies of all the fallen kingdom warriors began to glow, no matter their location, and disappeared with an ethereal hiss into dust, swirling together from all over into the sigil, and a black whirlwind formed above the sigil, formed from the blackening dust of all the sacrifices offered, manifesting into a tall, lean figure dressed in black gothic clothing with a pure white ascot. His hands were covered by white etiquette gloves, showing the only skin to be that of his face. Fair in coloration, with short, pitch black hair and a single crimson streak within his bangs, he looked like a fairly normal human, if not for when he opened his eyes, revealing them to be black as the void with gold irises and a blood red shine. But a moment later, the sigil faded, scorched into the ground beneath where he stood. Both his hands were held against his chest, as the demon took a deep breath of the cold tropical air.

"It's been so long, but I could never forget this feeling... The birth of a new Demon Lord... how truly magnificent!" The demon spoke, his voice oddly soothing yet still holding a terrifying edge to it, relaxing it's hands down somewhat, before flexing them into fists a few times. He grinned, bringing his eyes down to look upon Ruby. "And a truly generous offer, I couldn't be more honored. I shall give this my utmost... oh, how long I've waited for this day!"

His form began to shine a baleful purple glow, intensifying in its magnitude until it finally burst out, allowing him to finally touch the ground and his aura to appear somewhat normal, with the only physical tell of him not being human being his eyes. "May I serve you from this day forward, M'lady?"

"We'll... talk about that later... for now, I just need... protection... defend... me..." and with that, Ruby finally collapsed upon the ground, her helmet tumbling from her head as she fell back, unconscious. The demon simply gave a faint smile, before bowing courteously, folding an arm across its abdomen as it bowed before her.

"It is a simple task. Worry not, Master." He spoke, before rising up and snapping his fingers, forming a magical barrier around Ruby's body that effortlessly absorbed all the gunfire that came its way a moment later when the kingdom soldiers recollected themselves. Snickering darkly, the demon folded its hands behind the small of its back, and began sauntering towards the nearest group of soldiers.

Said group of soldiers nigh instantly lost their composure, and broke formation to try and distance themselves from this actual demon. But far too slowly, as the demon seemingly crossed the distance to stand before them in an instant, snapping his fingers and causing black spikes of shadow to spear up from the ground, piercing through their heads and holding their lifeless bodies up in the air, before extending a hand out to his side and snapping his fingers. Immediately, hundreds of specks of light manifested around his body like stars, before rising overhead and shooting out like bullets, seeking out aggressors anywhere around his master and disintegrating whatever they came into contact with in an instant.

Some of those struck were unaffected, and he narrowed his eyes upon them. These were individuals with strong souls, and they could not be instantly killed and consumed as the regular drones were by that ability. He would relish these kills, licking his lips lightly as he sauntered forth to meet them in battle after summoning a whirling spiral of spectral blades around the sphere of protection he'd extended unto his master...

"ALL FORCES, DROP WHATEVER ELSE YOU'RE DOING AND FOCUS DOWN THE PARIAH OF SAUNDERS! DO NOT LET HER COMPLETE HER EVOLUTION!" Ozpin screamed into the channel for all his forces to hear, his panic clear for all to see but his orders received nonetheless. Immediately, all remaining assets began training their sights on the island and spot where Rose had collapsed. The Lone Wolves were still nearly at full strength, but that didn't matter anymore. If Ruby Rose evolved into an Awakened Demon Lord, it didn't matter just how good his odds were looking on the ground right now, this battle was lost and he knew it. It was perhaps a rash move, but something everyone knew to be the right call in the absence of surrender being a possibility.

"Haha! I knew I was right to take on that Pariah!" Captain Shiota bellowed, drawing a low sneer from Ozpin and a chuckle from Qrow, who took the momentary break from their airborne battle to look over at where Ruby, the most important person in his life, was evolving, feeling it to be a bit ironic. If he were to refer to her by her Mercenary name, then Devil was evolving into a Demon Lord.

"Heh... not bad, kid. Not bad at all..." Qrow mused, before turning his attention back to Ozpin. They'd chased him back to his flagship, and with Ruby being back in the fight, he was much more reserved in how he fought them. Clearly, he'd exhausted too much of his magic in his first battle with them, and thanks to the Student Council President's semblance affecting the both of them, they were able to fight as if they were never injured at this moment, at least after they injected themself with a bunch of healing dust stimulants. Sure, it was living on borrowed time and the clock was ticking, and if they didn't immediately seek medical attention they'd certainly die at the conclusion of the battle, but if they were being perfectly honest, they felt as if this battle would be the perfect one to cash it all in for.

"This is the Student Council President, with an announcement to all remaining mercenaries and freelance warriors. If you are in fighting shape, converge on Ruby Rose's position immediately and lend that demon your support. If you are injured in such a way that it is only my semblance keeping you in the fight, seek medical attention immediately. This is not a suggestion." The president's voice boomed in their mind, and all too soon, Ozpin broke off, shooting down towards the battlefield where it would all be decided, leaving just the two of them behind.

"Welp... orders are orders..."

"Not yet." Captain Shiota mused, before pointing his chainsword towards the ship they were standing on. "Scans revealed a nuclear warhead on this ship a few minutes ago, intelligence committee wants us to retrieve it, says they can disarm it if it's already armed."

"What the hell? How the hell are we supposed to "retrieve" a nuclear warhead?!" Qrow retorted, scratching his head in clear confusion.

"Weeeell... we could just steal the ship. After all, it's carrying it."

"You... actually raise a pretty good point... but do you actually know how to fly one of these things?"

"Well... I've crashed one before, if that counts?"

"What the- no, no that doesn't count!"

"Well do you have any better ideas? C'mon, how hard could it be make it go forward and a little to the left?"

"Apparently pretty damn hard, if you freaking crashed one before!"

"OK, counterpoint: I meant to crash it."

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"And did you know what you were doing when you did that?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Damnit, Shiota! Fine, pilot the damn ship, but I'm helping!"

"Eh? I thought that already was the plan?"

"You- you were totally going to say you'd follow me if I said no and then do it anyways, weren't you- nevermind! Let's go!" Qrow yelled in exasperation, before charging for the bridge, intent to guide the ship back to safe harbor before they could go get some actual medical aid...

Confirmed

Super-evolving from Pariah Race to Demon Pariah...

Successful!

She felt as if she were floating in a void, a soft blue background glowing before her as the countless wisps of light rose all around her into infinity. She felt formless, as if she was one with the natural energy around her, soothing her soul and alleviating the burden of her own weight.

New Resistances

Natural Element Nullification, Ailment Nullification, and Magic Attack Resistance...

Successful!

She felt her body begin to take shape, the countless wisps spiraling around and into her, forming her new body, one that seemed as if it were made of pure light. She reached out, grasping at the nothingness with her hand the moment it was finished forming. Her mind felt soothed, at ease, and an unmistakable sense of clarity settled upon her. It was as if her mind and thoughts were clear as pure, unblemished water.

Acquiring New Intrinsic Skills

Infinite Regeneration, Universal Detect, Lord's Ambition, and Perfect Cloak...

Successful!

Slowly, she curled her open hands into fists, shutting her eyes and allowing herself to feel her new body take form definitively. This new body was unlike the last one, she could feel it. Her old body was fragile, weak, but now she was becoming made of pure dark magic... of pure power...

All skills and resistances already acquired by the old form will be re-acquired...

Successful!

All physical and magical abilities have significantly improved.

This completes Evolution

She felt the power coursing through her muscles, overflowing and far eclipsing even what she'd previously awakened with. This power felt cleaner, purer, more refined than what she'd felt before. This wasn't the power of Dark Magic alone she felt anymore, this was pure Demonic Power pumping through her veins. It felt empowering, instilling a sense of both power and freedom deep within her very soul...

Unique Skill: "Reaper" will attempt to evolve.

...

Failed.

Unique Skill: "Reaper" will sacrifice the Unique Skill: "Execution"

...

Successful!

Unique Skill: "Reaper" has evolved into the

Ultimate Skill: "Beelzebub"

The world around her seemed to darken and solidify, plunging her into darkness. However, she was not concerned. For while others may fear the dark and jump at shadows, she was the only one who truly owned the night, embodied the storm and embraced her inner darkness.

Unique Skill: "Silver Soul" will attempt to evolve.

...

Failed.

Unique Skill: "Silver Soul" will sacrifice the Unique Skill: "Steel Heart"

...

Successful!

Unique Skill: "Silver Soul" has evolved into the

Ultimate Skill: "Platinum Soul"

With the clench of her fist, the stony world around her began to crack and crumble, allowing a ray of platinum light to bleed through, illuminating her body in its glow before shattering the walls that held her to pieces, the pieces crumbling into nothingness before her. With her will unbending and her knowledge of what must be done, she set forth into this brave new world, intent on burning the old to ash in her wake...

Notice

The individual Ruby Rose's Awakening Ritual is complete.

When the voice of the world finally returned, announcing Ruby's triumphant evolution, it was initially met with shocked silence from the entire world, with many holding their breath as they couldn't quite believe what they'd heard, truly taking a moment to comprehend just what this all meant. A Demon Lord, successfully awakened for the first time in history, or rather millions of years, since the time the brother gods walked among them. The seven great Demon Lords were the only beings the Gods could not destroy along with those protected by the Academy beneath New Saunders during the Purge, and they'd all abandoned Remnant for a different realm not long after. They only now lived on as myth and legend... until now.

A sudden cry of jubilee roared from all who called the Island Nation home, as their victory was now secured and absolute. He could only hold his cane in disbelief, for he'd been fighting this demon for a dozen minutes now and only gotten the impression he was being toyed with, and now a far, far worse threat was about to emerge. He was so close, with all combatants in one place, he would've needed only a few more moments for his army still numbering over 1000x their own on the ground to finish the fight. The Mercenary Guild was down to only a hundred members, many of which were only holding on because of their Student Council President's hold, now... he was so close...

Now bestowing gifts upon those connected to the Demon Pariah Ruby Rose

"Gifts?" Captain Shiota wondered aloud, before feeling a sudden sleepiness was over him, dropping him to a knee. A look to his right showed Qrow to be unaffected, but immediately taking over the controls in his stead. Growling lowly, he struggled to raise a finger to his helmet and activate his comms. "D-Damnit... Magma, what's the situation down there?!."

"Boss I... I'm barely holding consciousness here... everyone's falling asleep... I don't... under... stand..." the line cut out, cluing him in to what was probably his subordinate passing out. He tried to force himself back up, back into the fight... but a soothing feeling settled upon his soul, and reassurance on his mind. With a soft sigh, the Captain allowed sleep to take him, dropping down face first into the steel floor thinking peacefully on how they were at least able to get the team of techs aboard to kill the arming sequence...

Both Yang and Nagisa felt a sudden drowsiness overtake them, Kay as well, as she was praying in the corner for Whitley's soul. Swaying in place, she could only stay upright for a few seconds before falling on her side, the man she'd risked a direct hit from a missile for falling over her softly despite his best efforts to get up.

"C-crap... this isn't... isn't a good place... to..." Nagisa's eyes shot wide open, as a soothing light touched his soul. He turned his eyes over to his squadmate, who had just flatlined for the fifth time and just been declared lost by the docs, and watched his wounds begin to glow a bright blue light, his vital signs suddenly going crazy on the monitor. "Ha... well... should ya look at that..."

Seeing Whitley's wound begin to heal after the boy's crying sister back away in disbelief brought a sense of clarity and peace upon him. He couldn't save him... but now someone could, and all bets were on her now. With one last laugh, Nagisa allowed the veil of darkness to overtake him, resting his head on the floor and allowing sleep to take hold...

With the shattering of the magic barrier into rapidly fading shards, a figure of pure platinum light emerged, it's light piercing through the icy haze of the battlefield before blasting it all away with a burst of gold. With her armor nowhere to be seen, long, flowing glowing silver blue hair beautifully danced in along her form, and a pure white cloak concealed her nude body. Perfectly smooth skin, unmarred by any scars or blemishes replaces the old, revealing a pale beauty devoid of physical flaw for the world to see, emitting a platinum corona of light that perfectly traced her form.

Flicking her head upright, Ruby slowly opened up her platinum eyes, taking in the world around her and touching down upon the earth with bare feet. Despite the mounting terror she could now feel bleeding off her enemies, most mustered the courage to begin firing upon her once again. Their desperation, terror, fear... she could feel it all, yet it didn't faze her in the slightest. Raising a single hand up, the bullets meant for her were halted upon an invisible mafia barrier mere inches from her skin, eventually leading the Kingdom Soldiers to cease fire, and instead turn their weapons on the mercenaries still standing... something she absolutely would not allow.

Turning an open palmed hand to the skies, Ruby steeled her resolve and allowed her eyes to flash platinum, seemingly halting the perception of time for all around her as she spoke the words of the world that echoed in her mind...

"Devour my enemies,"

BEELZEBUB!

In an instant, a whirlwind of blue and silver manifested within the palm of her hand, shooting skyward and expanding across the entire nation in a blink. In a heartbeat, every enemy who's soul lacked the strength to withstand the ability began to rapidly disintegrate, their very life essence and souls being picked up in the spiraling vortex and adding golden dust to the storm.

A synchronized scream of nearly 500,000 souls pierced the night sky, yet were drowned out by the ethereal roar of the storm, Beelzebub. One last scream from the remaining fleet and the ground, followed by silence as the storm drew back in, and absorbed into Ruby's form. Lowering her hand to level with her chest, she shut her hand into a fist, before looking inwards toward those that remained. All hunters, for the most part, and of course Ozpin himself. 4,000 hunters remained, most of them students, so in reality it was more like 200 or 400 real hunters left standing. The last hunters of the three kingdoms

*Clang!*

She turned her eyes towards the source of commotion, a young huntress, likely a recent graduate, dropped her weapons, allowing them to clatter against the ground before sinking down to her knees herself. This action was repeated again, and again, until the sound of steel falling against dirt drowned out any other sounds of the battlefield. A look left and right revealed the tattered remnants of Ozpin's army all dropping their weapons in surrender. She could feel their despair and the sting of knowing they couldn't win linger above them, save for one.

"Ozpin." Ruby called, turning to look him eye-to-eye. The Demon instantly warped back to her side, bowing before her with a satisfied and unmistakably smug smirk playing across his face. Ozpin, who had never felt a presence even remotely as overpowering as her own, could only take slow steps back as her glare intensified. "Could you maybe take this seriously? At this rate you'll never win."

"Heh... hahaha... yes, you are indeed a worthy adversary, I'll give you that!" He laughed back in defiance, before mustering all his magic strength for one final attack, burning up all the reserves he held back in case his pool ran dry. With a bellowing laugh, a bright golden energy began to snake around him, lifting him up into the air and forming a golden circle around his form, projecting his presence across the entire field. "I doubt even you can withstand this! Behold! This is my Ultimate Technique!"

GOLDEN BLASTER!

"Swallow it up, Beelzebub!" Ruby shouted back, extending her hand toward the golden dragon that shot towards her. Immediately, the silver and blue whirlwind returned, wrapping around the dragon's form and making it recoil and snake back, an expression of shock and terror crossing its face before being dragged in and absorbed, disappearing in a golden shower of sparks as the storm of energy returned to her hand.

"I-Impossible! That was my ultimate attack bestowed upon my by the brother gods themselves as a last resort! HOW DID YOU STOP IT?!." He panicked, stepping back and bracing his footing.

"It's over, Ozpin. Surrender peacefully, and I can at least promise you a painless death." Ruby demanded, marching towards the headmaster and curling her hands into fists at the sight of his lips turning upwards in a wide, toothy grin.

"Yes, except I am blessed with resurrection! Even if you kill me, I will simply res-" he was cut off by an unblemished fist striking his face full force, too fast for him to even think to react to, followed by another, and another, and another. Forcing her thought and body acceleration into overdrive, Ruby took to striking every inch of his body with her fists, grunting in exertion with every blow and savoring his agonized groans and screams, ending with a kick upside the jaw, dropping him back and down to his knees, gasping and panting from the pain he was in after also having the wind punched out of him.

"Ozpin." Ruby stated flatly, standing over him with a menacing glow and looking down into his eyes, a gaze he met. "Ill repeat myself only once. Surrender, now."

"Do not mock me! I will not bend my knee to some soul-eating pariah! To do such an absurd thing would surely shame me before the Brothers!" He spat back, growling angrily before her yet only drawing an annoyed look from his executioner.

"So be it, then. Though I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be reincarnating again." She stated simply, raising a hand towards his face and making him stumble back, falling on his ass with a terrified look entering his eyes.

"Wh-what? Y-you... you can't!" Ozpin pleaded, crawling back somewhat with all his certainty demolished with those simple words. Ruby, however, simply ignored his pleas.

"Student Council President, I'm going to execute Ozpin. If there are any objections, speak now, or forever hold your piece." Ruby spoke into the air, knowing well that the Student Council President could hear her through the ears of the mercenaries under her influence.

"Hah... no, you can go right ahead." She heard the Student Council President speak as she extended her senses back to the 21st ring, nodding as she had her blessing. Looking down upon Ozpin, Ruby hardened her expression and took a step forward, making Ozpin crawl further back in a vain attempt to survive.

"Your death will be agonizing. The brief moment you'll have before your soul dies will feel like an eternity. Use that time to reflect upon all the deeds that lead to your demise." Ruby spoke menacingly, making Ozpin finally lose his nerve, turning over and attempting to scramble away.

"No! Please! Brother Gods! Save me! GODS, PLEASE!"

"Beelzebub." And with one last spiraling torrent of blue and silver energy, Ozpin's form was overtaken by the her storm, rapidly disintegrating away for all the world to see through the fly-cams still hovering around them. Within just three seconds of his body deteriorating and turning to dust, Ruby withdrew Beelzebub, leaving only his cane left as his body, mind and soul were all devoured. Pulling her hand back, she turned it over to look upon her open palm, thinking back and remembering fondly the maelstrom of events that lead to this.

Shutting her hand into a fist, Ruby looked back over her left shoulder to the horizon and the rising sun, it's rays finally cresting over the waves and illuminating the lands in its golden rays of light. More time had passed than she'd thought had, but though this victory stung, and her guild stood all but destroyed, she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of victory and pride as the first cheers of triumph came to her ears from the horizon. As the people of New Saunders emerged from their bunkers which allowed them to weather the invasion with their lives, their cheers being directed towards a new living legend in the world of bloody evolution.

And so, with her head held high, Ruby passed by the Mercenaries and her Demon, all of whom kneeled before her as she passed, and stepped up onto the tallest rock jutting from the earth, crossing her arms over her chest. A smile formed upon her lips, as she let the day's cheering and jubilee fill her. With their victory claimed against odds impossible to comprehend, the people and remaining Mercenaries all cried out words to echo across the world, hailing her as the hero who saved New Saunders...

As if she were the only one...

All Hail the Hero!

All Hail the Demon Lord!

The Legendary Dark Knight of New Saunders!

All Hail Ruby Rose!

A/n: Hiya everyone! Been awhile, eh? I promised you all I'd wrap this story up with one last chapter, and I delivered as promised, and if you couldn't tell, I'm kinda a huge TENSURA fan, so some heavy inspiration was taken.

Admittedly, I originally intended a more somber ending, but with the depressive spell I've been in, I decided I needed to end this book with a happy ending. I hope you all like it, because this went through a LOT of drafts. Would you believe me if I said this isn't even among the first 50 full drafts for this chapter? Because it's true.

Anyways, thank you all for reading, following and reviewing, I appreciate all of you, and stay tuned for the epilogue, and for the next character entries into the Legends of New Saunders series!