Hello everyone! How are you doing I hope you are all fine!
I have an announcement to make. I started making a side summary for the story. My plan is to have a couple paragraphs summarizing each chapter of the original story. I intend to upload it under a different title, something like Rise of The EG (summary) or that XD.
However, as my work schedule is becoming heavier as the public health situation in my hometown recently turned red, I am going at it slowly and every time I have the chance to. So, I would like to ask your opinion on the matter.
1) Would you prefer me to finish this arc, then stall the rise of the Eldergrimm uploads for 2 weeks, focus on the summary and return back to the main story after that?
2) Or would you prefer me to keep uploading on my regular pace and write the summary in a slower one and when I have the time to?
Thanks a lot in advance for answering and sorry for the blabber. So, without any more waste of your time, chapter 95 is here. I hope you enjoy it and thanks again for keeping up with the story! You are all the best!
See you all next week in chapter 96. Until then, be well and have fun!
"Did you hear that?" Yang stared at the other two girls with her eyes wide open in a rare display of horror in her face. "Yes" Cherry replied. "I heard the chains rattle as well, don't worry; you are not hallucinating."
"That's what I am worried about!" the blonde protested. Blake's gloved hand cupped her face. "Blakey?" The faunus lowered her head and took a few heavy breaths "something is… trying to reach me..." she gasped.
"Hmm…" pure green eyes narrowed and scanned the room, as Cherry sniffed the air. "An unnatural gas permeates the room, cleverly mixed in with the smell of murky lake water… that's Azure's work for sure."
The sound of chains rattling had all of them stare above their heads, in the middle of the room. Yang's horrified expression grew and Blake had to bit her lip in order to keep her own self from shouting in terror.
The Grand Mother's left arm was slowly moving, like a huge tree that was trying to snap away from the ground. With every powerful swing, the old chains were creaking and tweaking and their magic was fading.
A painful sensation invaded their minds, as if a very thin needle was trying to poke into their skulls. "That gas must be an anti-magic agent. That bastard intends to forcefully awaken the Mother!" Cherry hissed.
"We have to stop him, before he damages Grand Mother even more- this lunatic doesn't know what he is doing!" the priestess pleaded at the two huntresses, earning a couple confused stares.
"I am all up for stopping it" Yang cracked her arms to try easing the disgusting feeling "but shouldn't you be happy if this thing wakes up?"
"Of course not!" she protested with all her might. "Each Elder has to be awakened properly; when their respective star calendar is right and all preparations have been finished for their revival."
Ignoring the even more confused glare she got, the fox-girl continued "improper awakening will destroy its mind and turn it into a colossal, mindless mass of Elder Blood that will move around the world and will feast on everything, spawning Grimm until it satiates its voracious and endless appetite! This is not what my ancestors want for our Gods!"
"Ok, stop it there. You got me at the 'feast on everything part', no need to say more" lilac eyes stared at yellow and received a firm nod as Blake stood up "do you have a way to stop this?" she asked her fellow faunus.
Another mighty swing- this time accompanied by the cracking of rocks- made them turn at the monster. It was now heavily swinging its arm, as well as tilting its head and- Blake gulped- twitching its massive body.
"We have to stop the anti-magic gas; then, I will redo the bindings to the best of my ability." "How?" Yang rubbed her eyes "We can barely stand as it is and we don't even know where the gas is coming from."
The black-haired huntress took one large sniff from her aroma ampules while ignoring the humongous, twitching monster in front of her "if the smell is to be trusted, he must be using some underground waterway to send the gas in- possibly diluting it into lake water?" she concluded.
Cherry moved next to Yang and gently tapped her forehead. It was cool to the touch and made her let out a surprised yelp. "Clarity" she gently whispered, sending a protective charm through the blonde's mind.
Taking advantage of the surprise, the fox girl did the exact same thing to Blake. The cat girl narrowed her eyes and slapped the finger away- but stopped as she realized the pain in her mind had been lessened.
"This should at least help you keep your mind straight for a while; don't overdo it, however. It eases your sensation of hurt, but doesn't remove the strain. If you are not careful, you may collapse out of the blue."
"Thank you; I mean it" Blake gave a sincere smile at the cherry-haired girl before turning to her partner "we must find where the gas leaks in from and seal it before we run out of time; go left and I will go right."
"Stay here" Yang turned at the fox girl, having understood the plan at once. "I think I can take this better than you two" she protested. "Oh, trust me; we know" Yang grinned "this is why you will stay here and act as our support in case it all goes down the drain" she winked at her.
"Wait, Yang" Blake stopped her partner by grabbing her arm "I do trust her" she turned her gaze at the fox girl "but Cherry wouldn't be the first person to misjudge her power; let me get out first and try this charm."
Cherry nodded "it is reasonable." "Yes, it is" Yang slapped Blake's arm away "but the one to do will be me" and took a large step outside the pale green barrier, ignoring Blake's furious look.
A surge of energy rippled the air. She felt like her senses were, if she could put it in words, dropping? A loud thudding, like the sound of a heavy bass filled her ears. The monster twitched again, didn't it?
Her vision was becoming blurry. She rubbed her forehead. The feeling of her own skin felt extremely alien to her. She sniffed the murky smell of the lake water. Even her tongue reacted, tasting something bitter.
This feels like I drank a dozen tequilas at Junior's while standing next to the speakers. She failed to even laugh at her own joke. "Yang!" What was that? "Yang!" Was that Blake? "YANGG!" Yeah, she sounded like-
A massive blast of air slammed her face, blowing her hair backwards like a hurricane. She was happy for the subdued senses; otherwise she was sure the heavy smell would have made her instantly throw up.
The sound of chains rattle finally reached her ears. She blinked; a large shadow covered her form, making her slowly raise her lilac eyes at it.
Grand Mother's monstrous head hovered above her, her blurred vision completely failing to contain the feeling of dread this faceless, horned abomination spread merely by existing on the same room as them.
She stared at it, mouth agape, as she curled her fists. Calm down; it's trapped! It slightly bent forward, the sound of the chains accompanied by another crack in the rock-
Blake's arms grabbed Yang, making the head twitch towards the two girls' direction. She dragged her back to the safety of Cherry's shrinking barrier, both of them dropping on their knees in exhaustion.
"Are you ok?" Cherry asked in concern, spreading her arms to reinforce the protective charm. "Well, it didn't kill us at least; thanks for the save, kitten" she patted Blake's back, who nodded and drank some water.
"I think we have a chance" she sniffed another ampule and exhaled "we have to be both fast and smart" she stood up and rubbed her eyes "if this gas is blocking magic, the closer to its source we get the greater its suppression of your charm will be right?" she reached out to her bag.
"Yes indeed" the priestess answered. Yang shivered as she saw the massive head hover above their heads, as if trying to perceive them. As if it can see us, despite the lack of eyes… she turned her gaze to Blake.
And then she furred her eyebrows when she saw the cat girl hold in her hands two small wristbands that shone with a bright red light. "We will use those two as guides to find where the anti-magic gas comes from."
"Oh I see… the dimmer the light becomes, the closer to the opening we go" the blonde wore the shining fabric around her wrist. "It is a rather simple spell for me to cast, though I am surprised at how quickly you thought of asking me to begin with" the pink-haired girl said.
"I got the idea from Weiss who mentioned she can light minor lights with magic" Blake replied "if she, a novice, can do that, I thought that it would be a trifle for someone as strong as you."
Cherry was taken aback by what she had heard and the way Belladonna had constructed her improvised plan without knowing more than a few things about her. Those four, they truly are…
"Let's go then- no time to waste!" Yang raised her fist and forced a grin to appear on her face. Blake sighed deeply, perked up her ears- and fist bumped her "be careful out there." "Same as you, partner."
It was the second time in those last three months that Blake cursed her faunus heritage and the heightened senses that came with it. So used was she to being sharp and ready, that the overwhelming numbness she felt when she stepped out made her feel almost paralyzed.
The Grand Mother tilted its head towards her. She averted her gaze and tried to move to the room's right side. Of course it would go after me- I must be a beacon of negativity compared to Yang she groaned.
She ran- or at least she tried to. The sheer pressure on her mind and body, combined with her reduced senses made her feel as if she was running in thick, heavy oil.
Her heart was ready to burst out of her chest. Her breath felt erratic. She saw its monstrous flesh being carved and thick black goo dripping out as the chains and stakes opened wounds on the giant Grimm.
She felt unimaginable horror as she could imagine her body frantically trying to move forward, while the physical manifestation of humanity's darkest nightmares twirled and hovered above her form, making her feel tinier and more insignificant than she ever had.
And, much to her dismay, the light from her wristband didn't react. It had started diminish when she had left Cherry's protective barrier, yes, but moving further along the right corner of the room didn't affect it.
Let's hope Yang has better luck than- Rocks cracked and chains broke. A loud metal sound echoed throughout the room, audible even under her muddled senses, forcing her to look upwards.
Grand Mother's arm got released and came down crashing at her like a massive log made of dark flesh. "Blake!" Somewhere far in the distance, she could hear Yang scream at her, but she could only see darkness.
Focusing all her power into her semblance, she let one shadow clone to absorb the impact, skidding away on the floor as the humongous hand destroyed it, creating a huge tremor that shook the whole room.
She felt her heart pound in her chest like a hammer. She heard Yang's shouts from far away. "JUST KEEP SEARCHING!" she couldn't recognize her own voice, darn it! This place was messing with her very being!
The huge arm swiped across the corner, aiming to slam her into the wall. She tried to jump, but felt her tense muscles snap under the sheer pressure and blinked in the last moment, sending it crash on the wall.
"Found it!" "Excellent!" She could hear the other two just barely enough to register what was going on. Blake landed on top of a rock and, with a deep breath shouted with all her might "STAY THERE! WE ARE COMING!"
"WHO DARES…" the voice boomed inside the oversized stone coffin, accompanied by huge ripples of power, as if merely by speaking its mind, it could alternate the world around it to satisfy its whims.
And, if the dark, bloody smell that filled her nostrils was any indication, its current mood was not something she wanted to witness at all. Blake started running away, before the terrible monster spoke again.
"PRAY TO ME… RELISH IN MY BLESSING" she kept running, but felt as if her feet became heavy. What is happening? The room was brittle, her vision blurry. The air became stagnant and her eyes hurt like hell.
The faunus girl turned around- and stifled a scream as she saw the huge head just before her, its freed hand having latched onto her shadow. A dreadful feeling overcame her, making her knees bend.
She saw its huge claws tear her shadow in shreds and collapsed, as her own body gushed out blood. Huge red lines dyed her clothes, dripping down scarlet liquid on the stone floor. "BECOME MINE… FOREVER!"
"Leave me alone!" she screamed through her bloodied mouth. The huge claws rose- and then her vision cleared as someone slammed onto her, sending Blake roll on the floor with a heavy thudding sound.
She blinked twice. Despite the smell of blood and sweat, she saw a gold and fluffy mane of messy hair cover her face. "Kitten, are you ok? You were having convulsions on the floor after this thing moved!"
"Yang…" she breathed out and stood up with the help of her partner. A quick look around her, made her see that the heavy chains were still in place, save for the black arm that had crashed on the wall behind her.
I hallucinated… again… she gritted her teeth and glared at the monster. For some reason, despite still staring towards their side, it didn't move at all; even its free arm lied motionless under the smashed rubble.
Something wet splat on the ground, drawing her attention. She turned around to see- and only then managed to take a good look at the tall, blonde girl who had just snapped her back from her hallucinations.
Yang was standing as proud as ever, staring at her with her warm and gentle lilac eyes. But even her toothy grin wasn't enough to hide the huge blood trails that ran down her ears, nose and eyeballs.
Blake's eyes opened wide. She wanted to reach out to her partner. Tell her how sorry she was she had failed her, after all that boasting she had done earlier. But… she bit her lower lip, feeling the thick taste of blood in her tongue. Now is not the time to cry! "We have to move!" she said.
Yang gave her a weak nod and they both started running, the heavy and oppressive atmosphere slowing them down, but not to the point it had before- something they were both grateful for.
They just had to endure and run down the spiraling path on the room's walls- judging from the female figure surrounded in green light, Cherry was waiting for them.
"I found the opening and asked her to guard it while I grabbed you" a rasped voice came from Yang. She was panting and gasping- and it was all her fault!
"There is a metal hatch leading to a manhole where the band doesn't shine at all. We go there, seal the thing and close the hatch behind us as we leave in the sunset" she stumbled, but kept pushing forward.
Blake didn't know what to make of this. Could it really be that simple? She stared at the massive, strangely immobile monster suspended in the middle of the huge burial chamber. And then, her eyes shot open.
The massive white ribs moved. Not the body; only the exposed plating moved, sharp ends closed and pierced through into the eldritch mass of energy. Then, the entire ribcage started pulling away to the sides.
An unearthly screech reached them, as if the air itself cried. The voice was harrowing and seemed to come from everywhere, accompanying the blasphemous spectacle of the swirling energy being cut from the moving ribs and sending thick, oozing black goo splatter on the floor.
"Oh no…" they didn't even register who was that murmured this line; and how could they when their very beings were focused on the filthy ooze- and the monstrous skulls that rose from within its unholy puddle?
Human-shaped bodies. Long, clawed arms and hooved legs. Thin tails and skin dark as the filthy bile that created them. Voracious jaws full of sharp teeth. Goat-shaped skulls made their heads. Plating covered their chests. Hungry red eyes stared at them, dripping with ooze.
"What the eff?" Yang shouted. "It started spawning without a need for blood or life force!" Cherry shouted from her position next to the manhole. "You have to come to me, now! We are running out of time!"
Howls, roars and screeches echoed from the growing horde of Grimm. The goat-headed terrors shook violently, splattering the stone wall with the same nasty goo that was running down their newly-formed bodies.
And then, the firstborn ones jumped on said wall and started climbing up the rock, their sharp claws acting like improvised pitons. "Shit!" the two huntresses sped up, nearly rolling down the path.
"We are not going to make it like this! They will reach us before we get to the opening!" Blake shouted. Adrenaline had filled her mind, her fear being pushed back, despite the frenzied pumping inside her veins.
Yang stared at the ascending enemies. She was sure they could take a few of them, but… she stared in front of her where the damned Mother of theirs continued breeding more children of darkness.
"Listen to my voice, oh Great Mother" a melodious voice, deep and full of power, yet clear and prideful as a roaring wave, resonated inside the tomb. A flash of sinister green light pulsed from below them.
Cherry stood front, next to the edge of the path, hands outstretched. She had unbuttoned the jacket, revealing the same Leviathan Talisman the blonde had seen her wear back in Grimmwater.
Eldritch energy poured out from her body, dying her fair skin green. Her cherry-colored hair was fluttering tall from the swirling power and her eyes were open wide, shining with primal authority.
And yet, despite all that, Blake and Yang could see the massive wave of magic being eaten away as the gas kept suppressing it. "What is she doing?" the blonde sped up, mustering as much power as possible.
"I am your humble retainer; I have offered my body, my soul, my very reason to live, to the call of your brethren" undeterred by the gaseous threat to her magic, Cherry kept chanting in her mystical voice.
"She is drawing them to her!" Blake hissed in agony, seeing the spawns move away from their side and towards the fox-woman. "We have to-"
"I know" Yang stopped for a moment. She stared at the cat-girl's eyes and then towards the other faunus, who was standing in front of the open hatch, channeling her spell despite the monsters approaching her.
"So, please, Oh Mother of Ours. Creator of a Thousand Horrors, Womb of the Deepest Pit, Queen of a Myriad Nights; accept your retainer's honest prayer" Cherry's devoted voice made Yang grit her teeth, spitting blood.
"Can I step on you?" she asked Blake through bloodied eyes, who let out a pained breath. "I won't even make a joke about it" she replied- and jumped into the pit.
She felt her body fall down. Her eyes saw the massive figure of Grand Mother, covered behind a dark waterfall of Grimm-creating ooze. She saw the ravenous spawns, getting closer and closer towards Cherry.
She felt the familiar sting of cosmic power trying to invade her mind. A small smirk formed in her lips. This time, she didn't care at all. She was going to pull this through- EVEN IF IT BREAKS ME APART!
Blake created a clone and stepped on it the moment Yang jumped after her. She somersaulted upwards to meet her- and formed another clone as soon as Yang's feet stepped on her soles.
Yang bent forward and shot to her back with Ember Celica. The recoil and Blake boosting her gave her enough power to make a powerful jump towards the fox girl, but not before she grabbed and threw her trusted partner at the same location as well.
Blake and Yang crashed on the floor next to the still-chanting woman, having spent the very last aura reserves they had been saving up. They skidded on the rock, leaving a small trail of blood behind them.
That didn't stop them from getting up, of course. The opening was just next to them- they could smell the lake water below and almost feel a gaseous substance pouring in from it.
"Your time hasn't come yet. Your power hasn't been properly restored. Your brilliance is dimmed and the night is still young." In front of them, Cherry kept chanting her prayer, even as the growls and roars grew closer.
"The hatch can be closed from the other side!" Yang shouted. "Let's go girls!" Cherry nodded and, still maintaining her defiant magic ritual, let her voice become slightly more humane as she replied to the blonde.
"Yes; it's time for you to go." Lilac eyes opened wide. "What are you-" "She is staying back to seal this thing, that's what she means" Blake, already in front of the manhole, replied. "It is my duty" Cherry nodded.
The hisses grew louder. The hateful roars had almost climbed up to them. "I am not leaving you behind and-" for a moment, she stopped. Raven's words echoed again in Yang's mind as she stared at Cherry.
"Not everyone is worth throwing your life away for, Yang"
A clawed arm rose from the edge, accompanied by a hungry-looking bone mask. The sinister red eyes turned at the huntresses. Blake sent a nod of acknowledgment to Cherry and jumped into the hole.
"I" Yang gulped, a mix of blood and tears running down her cheeks "I want my jacket back one day" she then jumped inside the hole as well, the metal sound of the hatch being closed accompanying her farewell.
"Heh…" The goat-headed horde climbed up the opening, moving closer towards the priestess. "As if you don't know that next time we meet we will be trying to kill each other- you are too kind-hearted, Yang."
An open jaw howled at her. Its screech sounded like music in the fox's ears. She curled her fists and gathered even more magical energy; glad to see the gas' effects being slowly diminish.
"I am not addressing you, agents of the dark world. I am Cherry Itazura, successor to the Death Priests of Old, scriber of the Stellar Calendar and eternal servant of the Elder Children of Darkness."
A wave of magic pushed the spawns back, their howls and screeches being suppressed by the maelstrom of energy. The Grand Mother tilted its head, the massive eyeless horned form lowering towards her.
"The time of your awakening is not yet. The year of Nyctos, Avyssos and Charon has dawned upon us. Petelstar is not in place in the heavens and the Night of Grand Mother hasn't yet dusked upon Remnant."
Massive power surged from within the bowels of the Eldergrimm. Its huge head shook violently, slamming away its newborns and throwing them back in the spawning pit. A wave of power blasted at the girl.
Cherry knelt and grabbed her talisman with her two hands, in a praying stance. "So, as I pray to you… rest once more, Mother. Rest, until my flesh wakes you up to walk again under the gaze of the Darkest Stars. I promise, even if my life nears it ends, I will come to you. If you only grant me the blessing of your patience."
Cherry's voice unleashed the full might of her spell, crashing onto the Grand Mother's body. The collision was so great that a tremor rippled the lake and resonated throughout Crown Ridge up to the south sea.
And, inside its core, a pink-haired priestess kept praying below the hateful glee of a being whose mind had long ago been cursed by Salem and absorbed by the darkest stars of Remnant.
"Thank you, Mother."