Hello everyone! How are you? I hope you are all fine.

Today I am skipping the usual greetings to tell you all a huge Thank You. This is chapter 100 of Rise of The Eldergrimm and even now I haven't fully registered that a story I started writing on a whim after volume 6 has actually managed to reach the triple digits.

So, Thank You all. Thank You for supporting the story so far by following, favoring or simply reading it in your spare time. I hope it has kept you entertained so far and I will try to continue doing so in case it has. You are all awesome.

So, please enjoy chapter 100- the finale of Cornfield/ Vale Arc. After that, there will be no updates for two weeks since I am going to focus on writing Rise of Eldergrimm- Plot Summary. If I can keep my pace the way I want it, the summaries for the first three arcs will be posted under my name with the mentioned story title on Wednesday April 21st.

After that, I will return to continuing the story as we will enter arc 4, the next to last arc. Expect chapter 101 to be posted on Wednesday April 28th.

The walls around them fell apart, revealing a pitch-black emptiness. The ceiling collapsed; a dark cosmos full of bright red eyes and hungry teeth hovered above. Sinister shadows consumed the floor behind them.

In other words, it was chaos. Formless monstrosities swarmed their surroundings, howling and screeching at the hapless huntsmen as they ran blindly around, trying to find a way out of this house of madness.

"We were stupid" Lumia groaned, forcing herself to ignore the strain in her back as she carried a half-unconscious Jaune, running between Erik and the Renora couple "this place was a massive trap for us all along."

A huge, slithering shadow devoured a piece of floor on their right. Erik shot at it and then dashed to the left, making the others follow. "They destroyed the entire hospital and recreated it with magic by using the staff's memories- waiting for the day we would come in searching."

A wall next to them erupted, throwing debris at the team. Nora and Ren, having their weapons again, smashed the concrete and followed Lumia as she continued to explain while searching for an exit.

"Ruby was right to worry" the ginger headed girl sent a worried glance at Jaune, who solemnly nodded. "And Velvet was right" Erik completed "we have been toyed with by Avyssos since the very beginning."

They ran through a collapsing corridor. The same primordial void kept pursuing them, walls giving way to a vast darkness hosting countless predatory gazes that hungrily followed the mortals as they passed by.

"Are we ever going to get out of here?" Ren was worried. The place was already so alien to them that even trying to navigate was a task nearly impossible. "It feels as if we are slowly being trapped" he concluded.

As if answering to him, a screeching sound from behind startled them all. The corridor shook and howls from the endless pit that surrounded them reached their ears, heralding the arrival of a massive Grimm that was made of pitch-black darkness, sinister red eyes barely noticeable.

It rushed at them with its gaping maw open wide, devouring even the air itself at its path. "Open fire!" Ren shouted and all but Lumia raised their weapons and shot at the monster, while backing away from it.

There was no howl of pain, no gasp of agony or any unearthly screech from the massive form. Only the sound of gunshots interrupted the unholy choir of shadows, as the hail of bullets managed to stop its advance enough for the huntsmen to turn and dash around the corner.

Of course the unnatural response made them feel even more alienated. Not that they had time to dwell on it much, though. Erik always leading the way, they kept running as fast as their exhaustion allowed them to.

There was no solid plan, of course. Their only hope was the blessing of Lady Luck; a mischievous lady that Erik always thought to be anything that dependable. For their sake, he hoped he was wrong.

Another turn to the right brought them face to face with the voracious predator's gaping maw. "BACK!" barely managing to repel the grasping tendrils with his tonfa, the boy was quick enough to warn his team.

Gasping, panting and hyperventilating from the effort, they ran away, shooting at the Grimm to keep it as far from them as possible until they turned around the corner and started running again.

"I have one grenade left" Nora complained. "I am running out of dust too, even used up all of Lumia's" Ren added to his wife's comment. "I think we are reaching the end soon enough, everyone-"

His words died in his throat as they were once more forced to stop. A massive wall of moving black flesh, swirling eldritch energy and vicious, red eyes completely blocked their path. A sound of gnashing teeth was heard and slowly, dozens of drooling mouths filled the walls and ceiling.

Lumia glared at the impossible outcome that greeted her vision. They were doomed- she was aware of that. "I am sorry…" Jaune whispered in her ear "this all is my fault; I am so sorry, Lu" he weakly added.

"Apologize to Ruby after we get you out of here" she said, more to calm her own mind than explaining to him. If they could at least get him out of here, it would be a positive outcome nonetheless-

The ground shook. A huge tremor made them stumble and nearly fall down. "Now what?" Erik groaned, but the tall woman wasn't as equally annoyed as he was, carefully observing their surroundings.

The reason for that was very simple; the world around them shook, but not in the same aggressive and predatory manner. Rather, the shadows moved and swirled, as if being in agony.

The wall of flesh convulsed and dozens of tendrils blindly flailed around. Red eyes vanished one after another and gnashing teeth echoed a final howl before disappearing into the stellar cosmos beyond their vision.

Said cosmos slowly faded away. The hungry stars and slithering figures gave way to a mass of hospital debris. Their enemy's form became a lot clearer now, as the suffocating barrier vanished, revealing its full body.

A tower Grimm the size of a building hovered above their heads. It was made of massive, dripping black tentacles, full of mouths and teeth in places Lumia didn't even know it was possible to have.

Myriad red eyes stared down at them, as they helplessly stood in front of it, among the remains of Riverside, under the starry night sky; the perfect sacrifice for the accursed spawn from beyond Remnant.

Or at least that would have been the case if not for the numerous SHU huntsmen who had surrounded and were currently bombarding the monster with all they had, while lighting it with huge white searchlights.

"KEEP FIRING! DON'T GIVE IT A CHANCE TO RECOVER!" Ren and Nora stared at the green eyed girl "was that Glynda?" the ginger asked with hope in her voice, seeing artillery fire being shot at their enemy.

"AAAA!" six yellow forms resembling a young, muscular boy ran to the Grimm in the middle of all gunfire, jumping around its appendages and trying to distract it from the heavy artillery "Sun is here as well."

All of a sudden, Lumia's mind cleared. It was a strange sensation; as if a veil had been lifted from her brain "Erik!" she screamed at her partner "tell Glynda to shoot a dust bomb in its mouth when we open it!"

Sure enough, after a few tense moments where the monster groaned and screeched at its enemies under the sound of guns and missiles, the voice of Glynda Goodwitch was heard again, requesting cover.

The shooting intensified, peppering the monster with light and heavy gunfire, forcing it to scream in agony as its flesh was being torn apart and reformed at a rapid rate, splattering black goo all over the place.

Meanwhile, debris started to float. Pieces of destroyed walls and ruined ceiling floated, quickly forming a gargantuan projectile as they wrapped around a massive core made of dust crystals at Glynda's command.

"GO!" Erik and Ren jumped forward and ran around Sun's clones. They dashed beneath the flailing tentacles, helping each other avoid being hit by the deadly appendages, reaching and hitting the underbelly with all their might and every ounce of dust left on their person.

Everything that happened afterwards was a blur to Lumia's mind. She did remember the Elder Spawn turn around, destroy Sun's clones and open its maw to devour the two huntsmen standing beneath its belly.

She remembered Glynda hurling the infused bomb into its mouth and herself giving command to Nora. She remembered Nora shooting her last grenade between its open jaws, making the dust bomb explode.

She remembered collapsing to the ground, covering Jaune from the shockwave as the colossus erupted in a shower of dark blood and heat sparks, before vanishing with a primal howl of unholy vengeance.

She remembered getting up. She remembered hearing cries of joy and celebrations happening around them. She remembered that someone had taken Jaune and ran to the infirmary- it most likely was Nora.

And she remembered Erik staring at his phone, his eyes opening wide and his face turning pale before he grabbed her and ran towards the nearest vehicle with Ren and Nora.

They barely managed to apologize to Glynda before making haste for the New Vale Cemetery. Lumia was not worried about that, however. There were still so many things to worry about, she couldn't afford it.

-o—

Velvet couldn't believe in her eyes. She had heard of the Eldergrimm's extraordinary powers from Ruby and Weiss, yes, but experiencing them firsthand was a totally different issue- and a terrifying one at that.

One moment, she was in the middle of the harrowing thicket of trees, standing atop a magic circle formed by defiled graves staring at a dark, twisted abomination that had donned her friend's appearance.

The next one, she felt the cool night desert wind slap her face. Her eyes opened wide as she saw the sands of Vacuo spreading around her, filled in huge sandstone rocks that silently stood below the starry sky.

She recognized this place. It was the Stone Forest of Corban, the place where Erik had taken her out for a few days to help her get over- "our deaths, isn't that right?"

She knew who that voice belonged to. She could never forget it; how could she? She knew even before raising her eyes who were the people who were walking towards her from behind, making heavy sounds with their boots as they kicked back the thin sand.

"Coco, Yatsu, Fox…" she gulped, fixing her eyes on the images of her comrades smiling at her. They looked exactly as she remembered them; which made her stifle a cry of sorrow "what are you guys doing here?"

'Wow, that's cold' Fox's voice echoed in her mind. 'And here I thought you would be happy to see us again, Velv.' "Now's not the time for you to joke, Fox! What is going on?" she demanded, raising her voice.

"You died, Velvet" Yatsuhashi's reply made her freeze. She turned and stared at her friend and teammate; the tall, gentle boy who supported her so much in their days back at Beacon and Vacuo. "I… died?"

She looked at her hands. She wore her detective outfit- white shirt, brown trousers and vest with her cream overcoat and weathered camera. A pair of white leather gloves covered her palms and fingers.

She stared at the desert around them… it had only been a few years ago when she had seen hell in this land. Now, it felt like another life. As if it was someone else who had been through all these, not the one-

How much had she changed! She stared at her friends… her first and most beloved family. Tears filled her eyes. She had changed- she was the one who had survived. They had stayed the same- and they would remain like this in her heart as long as she lived.

"You died, Velvet." Coco smiled at her. Fox nodded. Yatsuhashi lowered his head. "It's ok… you can rest now with us. We missed you-."

"Everyone…" she smiled and her head rose, tears now flooding her cheeks as she let her brown orbs hover on them for a few more seconds- as if she wanted to burn their images into her retinas forever.

"I love you all. I never stopped loving you" thin lines of power appeared in her arms as Velvet activated her semblance for the first time in months, forming a pair of white-bluish tonfa that sizzled with energy.

All of a sudden, her friends jumped away in alarm. 'What are you doing Velv?' Fox asked in shock. "Living without you has been hell. A hell I try to endure; to not be a burden on everyone who has helped me so much to get over your deaths and keep on with my life."

"This is not a joke, Velvet" despite the calm tone, all three of them took out their weapons and took up defensive stances. "Let's get out of this nightmare together." She stared at the night sky and the brilliant stars that shone as brightly as she remembered "like we always have."

The sound of Coco's minigun revving up made the faunus' ears twitch. Gianduja was among the most destructive weapons she had ever seen and being at its barrel's receiving end was a recipe for disaster.

As bullets flew, Velvet jumped to the left and then made a dash to a small dune where Yatsuhashi stood. One thing Coco was always bad at was maneuvering her line of fire, especially in close proximity.

In that case, Yatsu is the perfect cover. The huge sword fell on her but she crossed her tonfa and blocked the hit. The larger boy pressed her down, her legs trembling as she struggled to keep up with his might.

Fox ran towards them; she was aware of that without even turning to see him. One of the most classic tactics they used was for the powerful boy to keep down enemies and the redhead's blades to finish them off.

Coco stopped shooting, as expected, but Yatsu kept pushing her back with stone-cold ferocity. Where did all that kindness and intimacy from before go? Well, it's not like I didn't expect this.

All of a sudden, as Fox reached them, Velvet's semblance flared once more. This time, without the tonfa vanish, a pair of small firing circlets with winged mechanisms appeared in her ankles.

The brunette kicked towards her back. A sound like gunshot was heard and the blade-wielder found his body going airborne as a powerful projectile hit him in the chest and sent him roll down the sand dune.

The sudden change of movement made her lose the strength contest with Yatsuhashi- exactly as Velvet expected to. As Fulcrum broke through her guard, she dispelled her tonfas and spun on her left leg.

Without letting anyone react in time, Velvet allowed the massive sword to crash next to her, the sand absorbing the usual impact it made. In a single breath, she conjured Yang's right arm and punched with all her might, using her spinning to add some much needed force behind it.

The punch found him in the gut and was followed by a knee kick and a couple more punches. Knowing her friend's reactions had always been on the slower side than Yang's, she punched a couple more times and sent him crash next to Fox with a Mercury-style roundhouse kick.

Coco walked next to the two men, who quickly stood up, their wounds and bruises from her hits slowly being healed as she passed between them. She stood just a few meters away and lowered her glasses.

"Impressive" she said in a playful manner. "Where has this girl been hiding all this time?" the voice was a tad sweeter and a lot more playful than she had used to see from the hyperactive leader of CFVY.

"Spare me" she dispelled her creations "Yatsu was always there for me, helping me with daily life and scaring away everyone who I didn't like. And Fox helped me believe in myself, if a little more mischievously."

She locked her eyes on her leader "the one who believed in me from the beginning, however, was Coco. The one who made me think that I could fight this way, the one who helped me break the barrier I trapped myself behind, was her. There is no way she wouldn't see that coming."

Velvet let her gaze fall on the other two "not to mention that you have healed bruises and wounds your aura should have protected you from getting right now- as if it doesn't know how to function properly."

She narrowed her brows and clenched her fists "as if you have no idea of how aura works- only what it does. I wonder why such a thing would happen, Coco" she stretched the name, her voice laced in sarcasm.

There was no reply from the chocolate-dressed woman, but Fox smiled next to her. "You shouldn't have delved so deep into this, Velvet" he replied, this time by talking, with a much different voice than normal.

The sudden chill in his voice made her lose her composure for a split second. But she didn't even think about breaking her stance.

"Stare too much into the abyss" 'Coco' lowered her glasses, revealing a pair of pulsing, red eyes "and the abyss stares back at you. You treaded into the territory of the Gods, little faunus."

There was no reply. It was obvious- it had been obvious since she had accepted these things were not her friends- that Avyssos was messing with her mind. If so, talking would only make things worse for her.

They outnumbered her, but she still had the higher ground. If she could at least take down 'Yatsu' before she was forced to leave this vantage point, she could maybe defeat them and find a way out of this place.

Gianduja rose. 'Fox' and 'Yatsuhashi' jumped upwards with immense speed, an unnatural swiftness prevalent in their motions as they rushed towards her with weapons raised and cold-faced expressions.

There was no visible swirl of energy, or a blast of power coming from her hands. Out of thin air, a long spear and a round shield manifested.

Then Velvet lowered her stance- just like Pyrrha used to. Invincible girl; she was a mighty warrior who was used to fighting multiple opponents at once- and had honed her skills to the max before Cinder killed her.

And, if Velvet could enhance her recreations with her own creativity, there was a good chance she could fare even better. The brown-haired girl infused the shield, making a wall of aura that spread around from it.

Akouo blocked the hail of bullets. Velvet was not as physically strong as Pyrrha, so the onslaught pushed her back a couple steps. But the shield and the wall held firm. She stared at her sides- the others had arrived.

Exerting more power, Velvet decided to go all out. A pair of shoulder plates appeared on her, both sporting a couple mini-sized shock rifle barrels. As the visages of her friends flanked her, she shot them both.

Both enemies blocked the small-caliber shots, but it was enough of a distraction for Velvet. Still holding firm and pouring even more or her energy to the improvised shield-wall, she jumped down the sand dune.

The hail of bullets slowed her advance, but that too helped her. And the reason for that was Coco Adel's weakness. Velvet jumped to the left out of the firing line- and shot Milo's javelin form at the surprised girl.

Coco's weak point is the brunette landed on the sand the very moment a primal scream of pain left her enemy's mouth as she got impaled by the spear when firing Gianduja she is extremely weak to counterattacks.

"GAAAH!" the bespectacled woman screeched. Thick black goo oozed out from a massive wound in her chest. "HELP ME YOU FOOLS-" she didn't even manage to finish her monstrous cry for help towards them.

A falcon blade made of aura- Nightfall's imitation- coiled around Coco's throat. "NO-" Velvet pulled and snapped her neck, her lifeless body fall on top of a pool of her own Grimm blood.

The bunny faunus retracted her sword and glared at the two boys who glared back at her, eyes red and teeth jagged. She gripped Nightfall's handle and got ready for their upcoming assault.

To her surprise, however, the two figures started to convulse. A sudden feeling of dread filled her again, as the chilling night air of Vacuo Desert gave its way to the dry, stale air of New Vale Cemetery.

The sky started tear apart. Sands turned to mud and grass. Sandstones gave way to trees. Yatsuhashi and Fox collapsed into pools of gooey and oozing blood as she returned to the ritual circle in the thicket of trees.

The atmosphere was clearer and much less suffocating than before. A low, gentle breeze shook the leaves up in the tree lines. The euphoric smell of night flowers filled her nostrils.

She glared around. There was no visible sign of Avyssos. Charred earth and blighted grass were the only signs left behind. Not it was enough to alleviate her fear, of course; there was always the chance it was toying-

"VELVET!" the scream was full of desperation and anxiety. It came from outside the thicket, just beyond the barrier of trees. Now that she took a good look at it, the thicket seemed rather small- far smaller than she thought it had been when she had crossed it earlier this night.

"VELVET! PLEASE, ANSWER ME!" her heart skipped a beat. It could have easily been a trick of Avyssos- an elaborate plan to confuse her and let her drop her guard. Even so… she picked up a rock and started running.

"VELV-" Erik's cries were cut off, as a rock was tossed at him from inside the barrier. Being the exhausted, anxious, aura-depleted mess he were, the projectile hit his raised hand, leaving a huge, bloodied mark on it.

"What the-" his girlfriend jumped out of the thicket and over the fence, grabbed him from the collar and smashed her lips on his. His confusion quickly gave way to happiness and he found himself hugging back her trembling, sobbing body as the bunny faunus' adrenaline rush went off.

'Oh my Dust… you are ok… I was so worried…' the brown-haired boy's aura connected to hers, feeling her heart with warmth. "I killed her… I saw them die… again… I am so happy you are here… hold me please…"

'It's ok… I am here…' the boy tenderly squeezed her, drowning Velvet's sobs in his chest.

A few meters away, Ren and Lumia stood guard, carefully observing the nasty black goo trails that crossed the muddy path and led into a large manhole, exchanging worried stares about their prey's whereabouts.

In the distance, Vale's sirens screeched, bringing the terrible memories of Beacon's fall back to its citizens as the sirens dyed the night in the terrifying memories of Beacon's fall from five years ago.