Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine!
Chapter 166 is here and as always, I hope you enjoy it!
Once again, thank you all for keeping up with the story everyone. A bit more than 10 chapters are left and I can't express how much I appreciate you following/favoring/ reading it. You are all truly awesome!
See you on November 1st with chapter 167. Until then, be well and have fun!
Weiss held her breath. The skies had darkened by the creature's slow descent. Her heart beat faster as the massive shadow covered them in its dark embrace and the sound of its wings muffled the stirring tombs.
She turned to look at her friend and leader. The black-haired girl's face was a determined, emotionless mask. Sun stood behind her, concern evident in his eyes. She sent a side glance at her with her yellow orbs.
"Blake…" she called out, her hands trembling from the overwhelming and conflicting emotions. "I will hear you out later, Weiss. I need you focused here." She avoided the alabaster girl's gaze and looked above.
Mismatched blue opened in astonishment for a second. She had so much to say; she wanted to say so many things. But shame held back her tongue. There was an enemy coming at them- moral discussions could wait for later, no matter how much she wanted to resolve it now.
The ex-heiress followed the faunus' motion. "What's the plan?" Jaune's voice was heard from behind them, a little pitched up to not be stifled by the huge flap of wings. "Let's begin by testing out our ranged-"
Energy crackled above them. Before Blake could end her suggestion, it shook its weapon with a circular motion. The air suddenly grew humid and the smell of ozone filled their nostrils. Sparks flew from their guns.
"Is it-" Sun gulped; weapons ready to counterattack "charging power?"
A massive circle roared from above. As the huge crescent spear shook, lightning formed on its edges. Thunder boomed in the atmosphere, its powerful echoes rattling the charnel stones of the ancient mausoleum.
Pale cerulean blue met shining yellow. Weiss raised her fingers and shot Blake an accusatory glare. She bit her lips and gathered power in her body, holding it back as if waiting for her leader to respond.
"Do you trust me, Weiss?" no more than a week had passed since the faunus girl had asked her that question. "What is with that pointless question out of the blue?" she had replied in confusion.
"I have a request to make" Blake had responded. "During our Vacuo operation, I want you to save your magical power and semblance till the time I request you to employ them; is that fine with you?"
"Why would I have any issue with that? As I said, I trust your command and calls, Blake." The worried tone in the black-haired beauty's eyes showed this was not the reply she wanted to hear from the pale girl.
"Let me rephrase that; I forbid you to use your powers up to moderate levels until the time comes, no matter what happens" she made sure to underline every single word, straining her voice as much as possible.
"Why would you demand such a thing?" her question was clear of any sort of accusation, but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth. Her friend looked at her in sadness, letting out a big sigh in response.
"You are the only one who can use Red's runes and seal the Mad King in its tomb. I-" her voice cracked "I want to make sure this monster is not going to escape; even if it means we will have to make sacrifices."
"We don't do that" Weiss repeated Ruby's words. "Ruby doesn't do that" the cat girl responded. "But I am not our friend; I won't hesitate to die- or kill- if it means we can save the world this way."
"You are making no sense at all" she had reprimanded her in a soft, almost sisterly manner. "What makes you think there is any chance I would let you die so that I can preserve my powers for the mission?"
"I know" the cat girl reached out and hugged her friend's shoulder. No response than a mumbled 'idiot' came from the pale huntress.
"I know very well how kind you are and how much you love us. This is why I have to ask this, even if I feel bad doing so" she had explained. "Promise me that you will not use your magic unless I command to."
She had truly asked Weiss that thing. Blake didn't need more than a couple seconds to understand what her friend was thinking. She had asked her friend to follow an unreasonable, almost cruel, order.
And Weiss had complied magnificently. She had preserved most of her power, holding back her abilities even when they had faced Gnastaur in the town hall. She had followed her -trusted her- decision completely.
Sparks rained down, searing the rocks. The sky rumbled once more.
"Jaune" she called out to the knight, still focusing on Weiss' stare. "Give Weiss a hand with that thing, please" she nodded in resignation but still gave her friend a soft, sincere smile. "Get ready for when it falls, Sun."
Myrtenaster's tip touched the dark stones and pulsed wildly with a shimmering gray light. A vast glyph, crude and elegant at the same time, formed around the huntsmen, rising to face the roaring skies. The smell of sulfur and iron burst out of its crypt-like jagged outlines.
I never doubted you for a second, Blake. Thunder shook the ground and the skies from above. Pieces of granite fell on her but the faunus couple dispatched them with ease. Dirtying your blade, making tough decisions for our sake… I can't do anything else but trust you will all my heart!
Jaune gently tapped her shoulders. Her posture relaxed and her heart felt at ease. Her magical power rose. "Are you all right?" she heard him ask. His kind nature reminded her of Yang sometimes so damn much.
Her gaze detected more and more power gathering. It seemed that it required quite some time for the Grimm to utilize that spell. Steadily, she poured more of her own aura in her glyphs to match its intensity.
"Yes" she smiled, hoping he couldn't see her. Weiss took her hands off her blade and her prized rapier mysteriously stood still, its tip on the ground the only thing keeping it balanced. She waved her hands.
'Like eons forgotten and old, strong and unbreakable is our bond.'
Lightning came down. A floating disk made of pure gray and blue light rose up. It took a split second for both of them to meet.
The lightning blast struck Weiss' reinforced hard light dust shield head-on. White-hot energy seared its surface, cracking across the air with primal ferocity. Metal sizzled and hair stood on edge. Chains rattled.
But the shield held firm. Using Myrtenaster as a focal point and utilizing a generous amount of dust, Weiss drew as much power as Jaune could spare her and continued pouring her aura into maintaining the shield.
"Keep steady" Blake held Nightfall at her hand and addressed Sun. The boy, partially mesmerized by the cosmic thunder rumbling above their heads as it was being rebuked by the protective barrier, simply nodded.
The blast stopped as suddenly as it started. Without giving them even a moment to breathe, another one slammed down upon them, roaring like a raging thunderstorm of a bygone world.
Its intensity wasn't enough to break Weiss' defenses down, however. A quick chanting of her strengthening magic was enough for the dust shield to hold the attack, stalwartly deflecting the powerful bolts away.
Another one came down. Weiss held firm. She lost her footing for a split second and the shield wavered, but Jaune was there to provide her with more power. She gritted her teeth and channeled more magic.
A duel of stamina broke out between the primal beast's lightning and the young huntress' stout defenses. Thunders cracked left and right as Alastor shot down thunderbolts in rapid-fast speed.
Bolts slammed on the surface of the ancient stones, licking the tainted granite and raising the heat to intense levels. The smell of ozone and a feeling of drowsiness assaulted them. "It's getting tough to breathe."
The voice came from Sun, who had put his mask back, hoping the little remains of his dust filters would be enough to keep the oppressing and unbearable atmosphere away. Blake nodded and mimicked him.
Jaune struggled for a minute, but managed to put on his own mask and help Weiss wear her own one. It was quite the difficult task, trying to maintain focus in assisting the pale girl while donning their equipment.
The ex-heiress, on the other side, was experiencing her first all-out spell combat. It was unlike anything she had seen or felt before; the feeling of raw magic pouring through her veins was immensely exhilarating.
At the same time, she had to focus on her spell so that her semblance wouldn't lose to the Grimm's assaults, something that could very well spell their death. She had to endure and hope Blake would soon find a solution to their predicament. She grinned in a very Yang-like manner.
Far above, Alastor conjured three more consecutive bolts. The air on top of its scythe-like polearm swirled and shook, as it expertly poured less power on its attacks than usual, absorbing the excess in its blade.
Three more blasts came down. Alastor poured even less magic, being sure to amass more in its oversized weapon. It continued doing so; the blade begun to glow in a white-hot color, radiating sparks of power.
Weiss wasn't a skilled magus by any means. She was a fast learner, yes, but her experience in the ways of actual magical combat was a bit less than an amateur's. This was the reason she simply used its raw power as a kick to enhance her semblance or perform minor tricks and spells.
The ritual she was going to perform in sealing Tephrus was nothing more than her reciting Octavios Red's formulae, in the same way she would perform a song or study for Professor Port's practical lessons.
Her combat instincts, however, were another issue. She felt something was off the very moment the consecutive lightning blasts became easier to handle. She repelled six bolts without even having to struggle.
The concept of her adversary running out of power didn't even pass through her mind. Something else was happening. She took advantage of the weaker attacks to pour just a bit of magical power in her eyes.
The ability to detect magical energy was one of the basics of Nicholas Schnee's magical studies. She had used it so many times over the course of her training; it had quickly become one of her favorites too.
She loved the way the veil of magic poured over her eyes and formed wisps, little tallows, of energy that shone brightly and shimmered like a radiant dust from a fairy tale.
She didn't like the impossibly powerful glow whirling around Alastor's oversized crescent scythe, roaring like an angry cloud of malice.
She had no way to prevent this attack and she knew it. That scythe was so filled in energy their bodies would vaporize if they took a direct hit.
Without explaining anything, she reached out and picked Myrtenaster. A quick successive cast of her gravity runes later and all four of them were found airborne, pushed away from the shield's fading remains.
A second later, Alastor dived down. Its scythe cleaved Weiss' defenses in half as the Grimm landed on the ground, smashing the hard granite. Rocks flew to every direction. Wisps of light crackled on the tall pillars.
Lightning shots erupted towards them. Weiss was quick to conjure a set of shields, withstanding the shocking blasts. The air shook as the castle fell silent at the Chariot's attack.
Dust clouds rose, covering the jagged ground and cracked pieces of old stone. Having escaped the assault, the huntsmen stood up and looked at the massive figure growling loudly from behind the ashen blankets.
Lightning pulsed through the static-filled atmosphere. Loud stomps shook the ground, rattling the now still chains and silenced tombstones.
"Sun, Jaune!" Blake roared from behind them, covered in thick dust. "I want you to hold it back for a while with me!"
"Easier said than done!" the monkey faunus stared at his fellow blonde and then jumped atop a protruding piece of crumbled stone. Standing a few meters ahead of the Vacuan boy, Jaune raised his sword and shield.
"Basically" he shouted towards his captain "we have to keep it far away from Weiss, is that right?" A quick nod of acknowledgement was given by the cat girl before she turned to her white friend "go all out; please."
As the faunus jumped forward to assist the boys, Weiss ran her fingers across her two swords' handles. She pointed the blades towards the old and charred rocks, rotating their chambers to the orange color of earth.
Sun hit the ground with his staff, forming four energy clones. They ran to the advancing monstrosity, jumping in with ferocity to attack it the moment it would come into view.
Four bolts came out of nowhere and shot them down. Before the shock dawned upon the man, Alastor burst out of the barrier and leveled its scythe at them. Jaune ran in between and raised his shield's output.
Thunder erupted everywhere. The young huntsman was thrown away from the force of the impact, Sun barely managing to catch him before he was impaled on the nearby broken pieces of granite.
"It's Stella!" Blake dived before the monster and immediately formed a clone to absorb the attack, pouring as much earth dust as possible in it.
The oversized weapon cut through her image with ease, allowing her to reappear a few meters away closer to her friends. "I have to find her; her lunatic actions are dangerous-" she quickly jumped away in tension.
Sun and Jaune ran from the blast and spread "I will deal with her!" the monkey boy screamed at his girlfriend "you are a better defender than me, after all!" three more bolts flew to them and he shot them down.
Blake wanted to argue. That wasn't what she had in mind when she had chosen to buy Weiss some tim- a swing of Alastor's huge scythe almost decapitated her. "Fine, fine!" she cried out. "Jaune, cover them!"
"Easier said-" he jumped between Sun and another volley, smashing the bolts with his shield "-than done!" he made a U-turn and dived just below Alastor's slash. Blake jumped and rolled on top of the blade.
She switched cartridge in her gun and peppered the massive Grimm with flame-powered bullets. The shower of blasts reflected on its hard armor, in dozen explosions- more than enough to cover Sun's retreat.
Static filled her nostrils. Her ears twitched. "Jaune; defend!" she cried out as a powerful shockwave blasted through the dust and showered them both in cracking lighting. Unable to avoid, she blinked behind him.
The pulse shook them both, but the knight huntsman's shield kept on. He activated its hard light extensions, covering for both of them as he mustered all his might to withstand the rampaging primordial energy.
That gave Blake enough time to prepare a counterattack. As soon as the blast vanished, the faunus ran forward and unfurled her blade, shining in the anti-Elder composite substance. She jumped to the left and then sent a series of quick slashes at the Chariot's undefended left side.
Seated on top of a crumbled tombstone, slowly shaking as the Grimm trapped inside reacted to her motions, Stella Taupe whistled in a very impressed manner at the sight of Blake severing one of Alastor's arms.
She armed her crossbow and licked her lips, tasting blood and dirt at the tip of her tongue. Her hands creaked and shook, having reduced to almost skeletal appendages as she channeled even more magic power.
"I hope this was worth it" Sun in his serious mode commented, landing in front of the weakened owl girl. Her large, bulging eyes blinked as she let out a feral smirk. "You threw away your lives just like that" he said.
Stella didn't lower her bow. "We were dead the very moment Rob and I decided to accept that promise of power" she gurgled. "I just hoped we could take you down and then kill than lunatic Maize before that."
"Any last words?" he sounded merciful, but he had no time to waste. In all honesty, Blake and Jaune needed him. "It was fun; I hunted strong prey and lost" she closed her eyes "will you please make it painless?"
Sun Wukong hated this. He hated hurting others and he hated doing it for no serious reason at all. Even if at her current state it was an act of mercy, he still felt disgusted as he raised his gun and pulled the trigger.
Holding back his tears of anger and sadness, he turned his back and murmured a silent apology for not having the time to cover her before he jumped right back into the maelstrom of blades and thunderbolts.
-o—
Vacuo Border City of Kopesh, first year of Salem's War Operations.
"And that's the plan" Ruby giggled in happiness, taking a large sip of her strawberry milkshake in a pompous and triumphant manner. "What do you think, Weiss?" she asked her partner who was gently sipping soda.
Cyan eyes narrowed at her in exasperation before she gave the café one good look. Despite it being crowded in huntsmen and huntresses, no one had bothered them, choosing instead to unwind and relax.
It was good for her, even though she had to inform her hyperactive and bubbly partner than when people invited someone for a drink, this was not what they usually had in mind. She wiped her lips with a tissue.
"Utilizing two different types of dust at once is a touch process, Ruby" she finally replied. "The amount of precise control it would require to perform that kind of attack is ridiculous as well; I fail to see the point."
"I know, but we are talking about you, not an average huntress!" the girl slammed her bottle on the table "just imagine how powerful an attack would be if you poured so much dust into a single thrust, Weiss!"
"It would require time to prepare and even then, I would have to be in such a good condition to make sure I wouldn't miss. It's a waste of lots of dust resources" she countered and sighed the moment Ruby pouted.
"It's a cool attack!" She argued. "Your own finishing move! Just imagine it! We can even name it; Weiss-slayer or something!" The ex-heiress almost choked on her apple soda at the mention of the childish name.
"You are incorrigible!" she took a towel and started wiping off her desk. "Weiss-slayer? That is one of the worst things I have heard in my life."
"Is that soooo?" Ruby dragged the response, putting as much irony as possible behind her words. "Then why are you smiling like that?" Weiss' eyes opened wide and she quickly averted her partner's gunmetal gaze.
"You are having fun!" Ruby blinked next to her and, ignoring her loud yelps of protest, started poking her cheeks. "Stop it, right now! Owow! Your nails, Ruby! Your nails, they sting! I SAID; CUT IT OFF!"
-o—
Gravity pulsed behind her petite form. That night, she was introduced to her Lightning Stinger concept by the stupid, kind and amazing girl called Ruby Rose who was trying to cheer up her overworked self a bit.
A thunderbolt raked the ground, moving towards her. Jaune's shield blocked it, not without some assistance from Sun's clones. The glyph behind her body stretched backwards, multiplying to form a cylinder.
Dust glowed, pouring energy into the cylinder's barrel in order to give the bullet named Weiss as much propelling energy as possible without hurting her body. She raised Myrtenaster and pointed it forward.
Blake's shining blue slices reflected in the pale girl's eyes. Alastor cut and diced at the cat girl, but there was no way he would be able to hit the nimblest fighter Weiss had seen in her life.
Carefully, the huntress raised Crown and spun its chamber to yellow. A sizzling sound accompanied her motion of running the parrying sword across Myrtenaster's blade, encasing it in yellow crackling glyphs.
Stomps shook the ground, but she held firm. She spent a moment to maintain the barrel's formation. While at it, she formed a second layer of runes on top of her rapier's blade; they had given her enough time.
The Schnee girl lowered her stance. Yang had told her once that she loved how her fighting style resembled dancing. Weiss had made sure to incorporate dozens of fancy moves in her techniques afterwards.
"My heart and mind are pure and clean. Power restrained; power unseen." She poured magical energy inside the chamber and upon her sword. A wave of magic, raw, unpolished and unladylike, overwhelmed her senses. She smiled, relishing in the unmatched, primal euphoria.
Alastor sensed the magic coming from the other side of the chamber. It felt the primal energy fueling the air in static. It realized it had wasted way too much time in dealing with those annoying insects that kept it at bay. Now, a formidable enemy had appeared, eager to destroy it.
It had no time to attack the threatening magus. It opened its shark-like teeth and amassed magical energy. It wasn't lightning this time; air compressed and wildly swirled in circles like a roaring hurricane wind.
Blake recognized the pattern and form. Its violent shaking and intense power was akin to the shockwave that had separated them earlier in the village. She turned around and gritted her teeth in desperation.
Its instincts are way too good! Even if Weiss survives the blast, her attack power will be greatly diminished! She had to do something; any idea would suffice, as long as they could shield Weiss from the wave.
Energy compressed and peaked. Weiss and Alastor were getting ready for their attack. She had to do something! Sun was too far away and Jaune was too exhausted to even try shielding her friend from-
Blake's eyes opened wide. As the magic around her intensified, her mind connected with her heart. She saw the path. She saw the silver lining she had to take. Leaders must make tough choices, right?
Without telling anything, Blake ran forward with incredible speed. As she dashed, she could feel the sparks and static filling her body and raising her temperature. She had no time to deal with the heat now.
Weiss activated her attack and shot forward. Alastor swirled and shot the shockwave towards her. And, at the very same moment, Blake jumped in between, shielding her friend from the blast with her body.