Hey everyone! I'm sorry for taking so long to update the story, but here's my new chapter for you guys to read and enjoy. I hope you all will like it. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, have a great read everyone, bye.

A Shattered Life

Chapter 30: The Demon Hydrox

The tension inside the old mansion was high. Ruby knew that Salem and her agents were after her and Geo because of the artifact they had, but she never expected that one of them would be bold enough to show up in a forest near Beacon academy. Of course, Hydrox was no ordinary warrior among the ranks of Salem's faction, he was extremely good in certain areas that required a more mental approach rather than mindless brute force. This is why he was used for special missions that didn't involve much combat or any of it. Hydrox was also quite skilled when it came to stealth tactics, making him an unpredictable opponent.

"You have no idea how long it took me to arrive to this god awful kingdom." He placed his feet on top of a rotten chair. "Vale is filled with cowards and weak minded people that don't have the strength to fight for what they believe in, I mean their own military is a joke compared to Atlas. Not to mention the King and his son are two idiots that know nothing about ruling a nation." Hydrox chuckled. "But I ramble on, lets get back to the matter at hand."

"I don't care what you have to say, and if you are looking for the artifact you won't find it here." Said Ruby, then she slowly moved her hand towards her weapon that was located a few inches away from her current spot. As she was about to grab it, a chair smashed against the wall, causing the young girl to lose focus on what she was doing. She looked at the masked man and saw him nodding his head sideways. Dammit! I was so close.

"Nice try my Queen, but I can't let you have that scythe, at least not for now. We still have much to talk about and I want you to pay close attention to what I'm going to say." He said with his usual attitude. "The same goes to you heiress, you try to use that weapon of yours and I will snap that pretty neck you have in a heart beat." After hearing that, Weiss frowned, she really wanted to release Myrtenaster and use it against the strange man but she couldn't take that chance.

Both girls were trapped in that rotting room with Hydrox without being able to defend themselves. This terrible situation made Ruby feel vulnerable, and she hated that feeling, it reminded her how weak she once was when she was younger and still lived with her father. "Don't you dare threaten her, Weiss has nothing to do with this." Ruby stared at the enemy with pure hatred burning within her heart. "This is between you and me, nobody else."

Hydrox got up from his chair. "That's where you are wrong child. It's true that I have no love for a Silver Eyes and that killing you would make me smile, but I need you to understand why I'm doing this." He replied. "You might not know this young Rose, but the Casterwill's and the Silver Eyes have been fighting each other for centuries. Our families have slaughtered so many brothers and sisters from both sides in combat, this little war between us has truly taken many victims if you come to think of it."

"W-What? I-I don't believe you, that doesn't make any sense." Ruby was confused, she had never heard of this before. "...If what you just said is true, then why is Geo with me? He should hate me shouldn't he?" She asked with a serious expression.

"Well, after years and years of spilling blood, some members of our families got tired of all the fighting and decided to leave their original homes behind to search for a new place where they could live in peace, without worrying about surviving to fight another day." Hydrox answered. "But even though Lord Aiden and his sons had forgotten what your kind had done to ours, I never forgot for a single moment." He clenched his hand into a fist. "When Salem revealed to me the images of my ancestors being brutally murdered by your people, I swore in that day, I would clean the world off you filthy creatures."

Ruby was having a difficult time believing this story but Hydrox had no reason to lie. The young red warrior could also see that the anger he was showing towards her was very real, no one could fake the strong emotion he was feeling right now. "I understand why you hate me, but I didn't do anything to you or your family." She said with her sweet tone. "The people that caused so much pain to your ancestors are long gone, I had nothing to do with what they did to them."

"Oh, my sweet Rose." He chuckled. "That's not the whole reason of why I despise you." Hydrox wrapped his fingers around his blade's hilt and pulled the sword out. His fairly long, slim, barbed blade was made of obsidian and its held by a grip wrapped in a rare, jade green scaled leather. The razor-sharp point makes this weapon a perfect choice if you wish to puncture your enemies to death with ruthless speed and precision. The blade has a wide, curled cross-guard, adding weight to the blade for a better weight balance, as well as offering hand protection during a battle.

"You see, a few years back I crossed paths with a Silver Eyes that looked remarkably like you. She had the same hair as you, although her's was longer, and she had a cape similar to yours but the color was white instead." He said while making his way towards the two girls.

Ruby knew he was talking about her mother. "...W-Were you the one who..." She couldn't finish.

"Unfortunately, no." Replied Hydrox. "If I remember correctly her name was Summer Rose, and she almost killed me once. She's the reason I wear this marvelous mask." He ran his hand across his mask. "And if you are wondering I know who killed her, let me say that I have no clue who did it, but I would like to shake his or her hand for doing the world a great service."

"Shut up!" Ruby snapped, surprising Hydrox as he didn't expect this from her. "Don't you dare mention my mom again!" She quickly grabbed Crescent Rose and unleashed it. Weiss followed Ruby's lead and removed Myrtenaster from it's holster.

"Hahaha!" Hydrox laughed. "Let's take this outside shall we?" A faint dark-purple light surrounded his blade. "Shadow Blast!" He shouted. Both girls widened their eyes in surprise as they were engulfed within the attack that came at point-blank range. The old mansion's wall was completely destroyed and the two girls rolled across the dirt like ragged dolls. "This is going to be fun."

Weiss and her teammate quickly got up. "We can take him down if we work together."

"Right." Ruby agreed.

"Not so fast." Said Hydrox. "Your opponent is not me yet Silver Eyes, I actually made something special just for you." He then whistled. "Come to me, my pet!"

A dark creature with some bone-like armor came out from hiding and revealed itself to the girls. Two red burning eyes were scanning the area around it. A narrow nose rests below his eyes, but it's narrow mouth is what takes all the attention. A creepy smile reveals rows upon rows of teeth and a long tongue. Broad warped ears sit on each side of its tiny, broad head, which itself is covered in web-like fans and has several bony spikes protruding from the arms. It's low slender body is slightly hunched over. "Say hello to my pet, Xeno."

The heiress and the red girl couldn't believe what they were seeing, that monster was certainly a Grimm but they had never seen this type before. "W-What is that thing?" Asked Ruby.

"Xeno, is a failed experiment of mine so to speak, my parasite was supposed to create the perfect Grimm warrior, but it seems I still have some work to do." He answered. "Fortunately, I will have two new bodies to use for my experiments. Now, go and kill Ruby Rose, Xeno!" Hydrox ordered. "I'll deal with the little heiress myself."

With a bloodthirsty roar, the creature launched itself forward straight towards the red warrior's position. Xeno had a focused look upon his face as he swung his bony spikes at his opponent's figure, but the strike was blocked by Ruby's weapon. "Such strength." She was somewhat impressed. "I can't let my guard down, not even for a second." Ruby then pushed the monster backwards with a kick to it's chest.

Ruby was about to make her move until she noticed that the creature that was in front of her was gone. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw one of Xeno's spikes coming straight at her chest from the right side, she then spun her scythe toward the oncoming attack and managed to block it, causing sparks to appear around the collided weapons.

The young girl let out a small grunt sound as she pushed the spike off of her, making Xeno fly backward through the air, she then followed after the monster. Ruby's scythe was heading to Xeno's stomach but the creature dodged it just in time, then the two weapons clashed against each other as both fighters clashed against one another with ferocity.

Ruby spun Crescent Rose again as she dodged an attack, shifting her scythe into Sniper mode she fired several rounds towards her opponent. The bullets caused no damage to the beast. "Normal rounds won't do anything to this thing, but I have a certain technique that might do the trick." She aimed her scythe's barrel at the creature. A red orb began to be created in front of the barrel. "Crescent Shot!"

The blast was making its way towards the enemy but as it was getting closer to Xeno, the beast opened it's mouth and swallowed the attack. Ruby was surprised at the feat Xeno had pulled, she was unable to understand how he managed to do that. "What the?" She said shocked. This is impossible! How did he managed to counter the Crescent Shot so easily.

Xeno then dashed with great speed and slammed his fist into Ruby's stomach causing her to widen her eyes at the force that was behind it. A sudden surge of power pushed through her and Ruby could feel blood falling out of her mouth from where she was standing. The creature then slammed his other fist fiercely against the young girl's face, sending her flying towards the wall of an old house, where she hit with her back pretty hard.

In just two strikes she had been brought down. Not even the adversaries she had faced before were this powerful. "Y-You...are strong, I'll give you that, but I won't lose to you!" Ruby stood back up, her silver eyes actually seeming to glow with power as her figure was being surrounded by a faint red light. "As a Huntress, it's my duty to destroy all Grimm!" She launched herself forward, her form becoming a streak of red as she made her way to Xeno's location.

When she clashed against him, she removed one of his arms with her scythe. Xeno screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. Ruby took that opportunity and delivered more slashes to his body by using her Semblance, with the armor cracked in multiple areas she then pointed the barrel of her weapon at Xeno's chest. "Crescent Shot!" The Aura blast pierced the beast's chest, he fell to the ground and in moments his body dissolved into nothingness. "I...I did it."

"Not bad my Rose." Hydrox appeared next to her. "Devine Slash!" He sliced Ruby's figure, spraying her blood across the grass. He then pointed his right hand at her. "Sigma Bullet!" His glove glowed and the Aura blast was direct hit, sending Ruby against a statue that was in the middle of the village. "This is just too easy."

Ruby struggled to get up. "...W-Weiss...What did you to her?"

"I showed her where she belongs, but she's still alive, barely."

"Y-You!" She fell to the dirt again.

Hydrox approached her with his weapon in hand. "I have to admit, this was fun while it lasted." He said while smiling behind his mask. "But everything good must come to an end eventually. Now, stay still, this will hurt a lot. Hahaha!" He aimed his blade at her heart, but as it was to pierce her, Ruby disappeared. "Interesting...Well, I should have seen this coming." Hydrox turned to the left and saw a young boy holding the red girl in his arms. "Hello, brother."

"We aren't brothers." Said Geo.

"Geo..." Ruby looked at him with a smile on her lips.