Chapter 44 – The Battle of Evernight

Lavinia

Gunfire and explosions roared across the dunes of black sand…

The Vasillias Cartel deployed everything they had in their position, mainly stolen Atlesian Equipment or bought off the many black markets. Hover Tanks dropped from the Dropships that flew down from the Dreadnaughts, which battled against the Shadow of Broken Promises and the rest of the vaster Black Gallows fleet up above. Massive cannons built into the broadsides of the ships fired constantly like the ships of old, massive explosions ruptured across the hull, coated with a powerful layer of Hardlight Shielding.

The Hover Tanks floated across the ground, using a powerful charge of Gravity Dust to keep the vehicle afloat, firing its massive, powerful cannon across the battlefield towards the Raven Talons, who were entrenched ahead with superior cover and firepower. The soldiers in black mounted huge turrets, charging up with reserves of Dust, firing focused beams of energy across the battlefield at the hired mercenaries. The beams cut clean through the crystals and even some of the Vasillias Soldiers, killing them instantly.

Ebony Sabres emerged from the enemy side as well, firing the machine guns they had built into their arms and shooting missiles from their shoulders. Vasillias soldiers rolled aside as incoming firepower was launched their way, but the mercs had toys of their own. As their reinforcements continued to roll in, they also deployed their Paladins from the Dreadnaughts, crashing down from the sky and shattering the rocks they landed upon.

Bullets shot back and forth across the terrain as they used whatever cover they could find, soldiers ducking down behind the large, glowing purple crystals. Luckily, this area had no sign of Tar Pits, unlike what the White Fang were up against, but the Black Gallows had already prepared this side of Evernight to suit Human Conflict.

Amidst the battle, Lavinia Vasillias ignited her eyes and floated into the sky with her hands open. A storm of swirling ice crystals surrounded her as her blue irises shone brighter. She stared down the Black Gallows, who continued to fire, examining what they were up against. It was tough, even for a Fully Realised Winter Maiden to battle against, but luckily she had an army tough enough to match her foes.

She blasted down towards the Black Gallows, slamming her fist into the ground and creating an enormous explosion of ice and lightning. The blast killed an entire squad of Raven Talons, shattering their armour and throwing them across the ground, leaving their smoking bodies on the ground. She swiftly ducked down as a Shadow Dagger suddenly lunged towards her, slashing her blades at the Winter Maiden. Lavinia formed a pair of ice swords, deflecting the incoming metal blades, and scraping down them. She swung upwards, cutting over the armour and slicing through the red visor.

The Shadow Dagger stumbled backwards, but she flew towards her and grabbed the soldier by the helmet and smashed her head against the floor with significant force, killing her with the blunt trauma. Bullets fired towards her now, making Lavinia dash to the side to take cover, turning to see her forces advancing. Multiple Mercenaries screamed in pain as they were killed by the incoming bullets, but the Hover Tank and Paladin proceeded, firing heavy weapons into the soldiers, blowing their line apart.

Up above, Onyx Consul Marksman fired down upon the Vasillias Mercenaries, precisely aimed bullets shot from above and nailed the soldiers in the head, killing them one at a time. "Marksman! Up above!" A soldier yelled as he took cover behind the hover tank. Lavinia took off, and she spotted the sniper towers the Black Gallows had set up, and she held out her hands, closing her eyes, then they opened.

A massive stormy cloud swirled above the Onyx Consuls and she suddenly brought down a massive tornado upon them. It slammed into the tower, ripping it apart and flinging pieces of debris across the Black Gallows' base. She remained on her side, waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack them. But as she descended, another Black Gallows Wasp flew overhead, deploying soldiers before them.

The Black Gallows swiftly killed her mercenaries, beating them and killing them with either firearms of blades. One kicked a mercenary in the chest before smashing them in the face with the stock of the rifle, knocking them on the floor. The Raven Talon stamped on their throat and fired the gun into the face of the soldier a couple of times, before moving forward.

Suddenly a Crossbow Spear was launched straight through the torso of the soldier, bringing him to one knee. May sprinted towards that dying Raven Talon and jumped on their chest, ripping the weapon from the mercenary's chest, blood spraying outwards. The blood splattered across the sand and she vanished as the squad of Talons fired at her. They looked around, trying to spot the Huntress, but she appeared behind them, roundhouse kicking one to the ground, before firing a bolt into the eye of the other. The Raven Talon roared in agony as the bolt went straight through his eye and eventually succumbed to the fatal injury.

One of the Raven Talons fired her grenade launcher at May, but she rolled across the ground, throwing her Staff towards the soldier. When she went invisible once again, he lost her. He looked around, only for May to suddenly jump and wrap her legs around his neck, twisting around and slamming him against the floor. He grunted in pain and she effortlessly got back on her feet, grabbing her weapon and yanking it from the rock it stabbed itself into.

May jumped into the air and drove it down his spine, killing him instantly and twisting it for good measure. May looked ahead to see the Black Gallows advancing further, firing machine guns in her direction. Lavinia slammed down in front of her, raising her hand to form a wall of thick ice, deflecting the bullets from hitting her. She rolled to the rocks to keep her head down, just in time as well, for a Black Gallows Hover-Tank fired and smashed the glass apart with the cannon.

Lavinia slid across the sand and she looked around, then her eyes darted up to the Shadow of Broken Promises when she heard the repetitive sound of something firing. It wasn't the broadsides, thankfully, but it was still dangerous. "Incoming Trojan Pods!" Marrow yelled as he rolled to cover, staying back as planned with Vine and Fiona for when the Shadow of Broken Promises stopped deploying forces onto the ground to fight them off.

The Trojan Pods shot downwards, crashing into the ground and blowing black sand everywhere in their impact. The pods were thick and black, made of metal with very little detail, until the walls burst off and Trojan M.E. emerged, armed to the teeth and walking towards them, with stiff jagged movements.

"Threat Detected. Terminate Interlopers." The Trojans coldly spoke in mechanical tones. The Trojans marched forward, firing their machine guns at the Vasillias Soldiers, not even recoiling as bullets collided into their heavily armoured mechanical bodies. Joanna rolled aside as a Trojan sprinted towards her, jumping into the air and extending a long energy blade from its arm and stabbing down into the ground where she was just stood.

She rested her Crossbow Staff across her shoulders and fired at the Trojan, in which the bolt just snapped against its body. She knew that her projectiles would have little to no effect against them, so she cracked her neck and sprinted towards the machine. She ducked underneath it as it swung the rifle at her head with one hand, then she punched it in the face with all her might. She felt a pang of pain burst through her arm, but the impact still staggered the machine, but it grabbed her and smashed its head into her face, knocking her across the ground.

"Damn it, upgraded your little robots, huh?" Joanna scoffed, cracking her neck again. The Trojan channelled energy through its endoskeleton and it's chest opened up, revealing a cyclonic core, firing a beam of circulated energy towards her. She sprinted and slid down the dune as it cleanly sliced through one of the crystals.

As she landed on the other side she saw a Cartel Truck roaring towards the Trojan, firing the machine gun at it, and only them did she see they were also fitted with Hardlight Shields around the body, completely deflecting the bullets flying their way. The truck roared forward to ram it, but the Trojan thrusted its metal fists forward, smashing straight through the bonnet and engine, stopping the car dead.

The driver was thrown through the windshield and became impaled on a crystal spike, whilst the gunner was launched off and tumbled across the ground to the feet of another Trojan. It stamped down on his screaming face before he could get up, crushing his skull and splattering blood and brain matter everywhere, leaving a twitching corpse behind. Lavinia stared at them and clenched her fist, rolling out from cover and flinging a lightning bolt towards the one that Joanna fought. The impact blew the Trojan away, sending it crashing through the rocks and down the side of the dune.

It slid across the ground but blasted back up towards the Winter Maiden, grabbing her by the throat. The Trojans were much faster than they initially let on, and it spun around in the air and threw Lavinia towards the ground. But as she fell, the Winter Maiden blasted back up towards the Trojan and channelled a massive amount of magical power in front of her, blasting it into the machine. The impact fractured the shields, blowing it out of the air and crashing down into the sand.

Lavinia landed, and she formed a pair of long ice spears, throwing one of them towards Trojan as it emerged from the black sand. It swung its arm and batted it aside, sending it crashing into the ground with a hard impact. The Trojan channelled more energy across its arm and blasted an arc of electricity towards her, but she countered by rolling aside and slamming both fists into the ground and shooting fire downwards.

Spikes of black glass burst from the ground, and one of them impaled through the leg of the Trojan to keep it still. Lavinia flew towards it and formed a pair of ice axes and she went for its face, forming a blizzard around her and the machine, slashing across ways, beheading the machine. She landed behind it, completely shocked when she felt the same Trojan grab her by her black and blue hair and throw her against the rocks.

She looked up to see the beheaded Trojan stamping at her, only narrowly missing. "The fuck?" She stammered, realising the head was not the weakness, but it was that cyclonic core it had in its chest. She formed a pair of swords and sprinted towards it, stabbing one into the ground, increasing the intensity of the surrounding blizzard, forming large spikes of ice across the ground. The Trojan stood still as the icicles formed, extending in the direction of the raging aspen winds. The Trojan suddenly charged its chest up and the plates opened, and just as it fired, Lavinia took her opportunity.

She blasted towards it at full speed, ramming the sword straight through the core. She launched away from it as it cracked and eroded, going critical before exploding in a massive array of lightning and fire. She ended the blizzard and raised her finger to the comm link in her ear, speaking to all of her forces. "Aim for the chests of the Trojans. They will keep coming at you without their heads. Shoot them in the chest with everything you've got when they're about to fire that laser!" Lavinia advised, now knowing what its weakness was.

She flew back to the others, seeing Joanna punching a Raven Talon into the ground, and rolling aside when another shot an Electrified Restraint Cable towards her, only narrowly missing. As she rolled across the sand, she grabbed the rifle of a dead soldier and shot him in the chest until he was dead, dropping it and rushing to her spear. She ripped it from where she stabbed it in the ground, and slid underneath the incoming missiles, slashing the blades of her Crossbow Staff across the leg of one soldier, before throwing it into the ribs of another, killing him instantly.

A Shadow Dagger sprinted towards her, but Joanna caught the soldier by the throat and threw her against the ground with intense force, so hard the armour broke off, and she stamped on her back, grabbing her by the head and snapping her neck. Joanna panted, wiping the sweat from her brow and looking up at the Black Gallows fleet, and her eyes widened.

The Airships were no longer being sent from the Dreadnaughts, no longer sending reinforcements, at least for now. "This is the best chance you're gonna get!" Joanna called out.

Lavinia turned to Fiona, Marrow and Vine. "Go! Get in the Bullhead and get aboard the Shadow of Broken Promises! Link Dutch to where you are and he'll get you where you need to go with Pietro's help!" Lavinia ordered. Marrow nodded and the three of them got into Pietro's Retro Bullhead.

The thrusters roared to life, and it took off, blasting up towards the massive black Dreadnaught. Lavinia patched herself in to her entire army, staring at what they were up against. "All forces – we know what to do. We need to keep the Black Gallows' attention focused on us so our Infiltration Team can upload the Black Queen. Once that's done, then the Black Gallows are finished! We just have to hold the line!" Lavinia yelled.

"Let's hang the bastards!" Joanna roared with May beside her.

Lavinia's eyes ignited, and she walked forward, continuing to battle against the Gallows.

If this goes according to plan… then the Black Gallows will finally be destroyed once and for all…

… tonight…

Ruby

Salem threw Ruby into the wall of rock behind her, staring at the attacking armies surrounding Evernight. She narrowed her red eyes in anger at seeing so much unity. "What's the matter? Shocked? That the world actually isn't as divided as you thought? That people are better than you thinking they are?" Ruby questioned as she pulled herself from the rocks, staring Salem down, Black Thorn tightly in her grasp.

Salem exhaled calmly, turning with burning red flames bleeding through her eyes. "It is impressive… but meaningless, nonetheless. Nothing you have accomplished will mean a thing… not after tonight." Salem warned.

"Not if we stop you first." Ruby replied, immediately blasting her Silver Eyes at Salem. The Dark Queen blasted towards her, dodging the beam of White Light and grabbing Ruby by the face. Salem snarled with anger as she felt the white light scorching her palm as she smashed the girl's head against the wall repeatedly, before throwing her into the air. Salem flew after her and punched her in the face, then she extended her arm, which held Ruby by the throat and flung her towards one of the crystal spires to impale her.

Penny suddenly flew towards Ruby, catching her and saving her from a grizzly fate. Salem snarled with frustration, but Cinder suddenly flew into her side, ramming her Obsidian Axe into Salem's neck and smashing her into the ground. Thick black blood oozed from the open wound, leaking from her mouth as well, nearly cutting Salem's head clean off. Cinder kept pushing to finish the job, but Salem kicked Cinder in the crotch to get her off, then grabbed the axe and threw it back at her.

The axe exploded in a fiery array of light, blowing Cinder across the floor. The Fall Maiden wheezed in pain, grabbing her chest as she felt the Noctis Putrida continue to eat away at her. She coughed up blood but fought back, snarling as her eye ignited once again, glowing brighter. That drive to fight, to take down her enemy, the very same drive Salem admired and fed, was all that kept Cinder from collapsing from her sickness now.

Salem stood back up and grabbed her head, which was off centre because of the wound, and she pushed it back into position, letting the tar reconstruct her neck. Salem scowled at Cinder, then she formed a massive cloud of red lightning behind her, blasting them all towards Cinder. The Fall Maiden raised her hands, constructing a wall of ice which blocked the impact and blasted a pair of beams of fire towards Salem, pushing her across the ground. Salem sprouted one wing from her shoulder and it took the fire damage for her, and she stared Cinder down through the mirage created by the heat.

Salem opened her palm, summoning her sword back into her hand, and she suddenly flew towards Cinder and roared with substantial force. Pyrrha suddenly appeared in front of her, after sprinting to get there in time, and raised her hands. The massive sword stopped in front of Pyrrha's face, surrounded by black energy as she used her polarity. Salem gritted her teeth with fury as she pushed as hard as she could, then she saw the God of Darkness' power channel through the Spartan once more, and her semblance increased in power, and she forced the sword back up, slicing the blade across Salem's face.

Salem grunted, staggering back, then spinning on the spot as she slashed it towards her throat, but Pyrrha dropped and slid across the floor, narrowly avoiding the incoming attack. She jumped and Cinder caught her and threw her towards Salem with great speed. Pyrrha rammed both swords into Salem's chest, slamming her against the ground. Pyrrha stabbed Ira Red straight through Salem's eye and she roared with pain and rage, punching Pyrrha in the chest so hard it sent her flying and tumbling across the ground.

Pyrrha panted, looking at Salem as she got back up. Cinder blasted more fire at Salem, but she blasted another bolt at her as she flew past, sending the Fall Maiden crashing into the ground. "We cannot resist the call for much longer!" The Brother of Darkness sounded like he was panicking, and the fact that they were close to being called back was just making matters even more desperate.

"We need to get one of the Relics!" Pyrrha yelled, rolling aside as Salem ripped Ira Red from her eye and launched it at her. She used her polarity to call it back and slingshot it past her, throwing the sword into Salem's chest. She grunted as it knocked her back onto the ground again.

Penny flew overhead, and she flung Ruby towards it, only for Salem to rip a boulder from the sand with her telekinesis and throw it towards her. The boulder exploded against the Silver Eyed Warrior, tossing her away from the beam which carved across the sky, slowly reconstructing the moon.

Penny circled above Salem as she got back onto her feet, ripping the sword from her chest and throwing it on the ground. Penny slashed Floating Array across Salem's body relentlessly, painting the black sand in Salem's blood, and kicking her in the face with the thruster fire from her boot. Salem grunted as it scorched her face, then turned, stretching her arms forward to grab Penny by the shoulders. The Android gasped, green eyes widening, and Salem yanked her forward and smashed her armoured knee against Penny's cheek.

Penny fell to the floor, dazed from the sudden blunt shock, then Salem grabbed her by her long orange hair and pulled her off the floor, punching her in the chest extremely hard. She flew into the wall and Salem walked towards her, punching Penny three times in the face, before pulling her sword towards her and, once in her clasp, driving it towards her chest. Penny gasped, knowing it would kill her, but Pyrrha drove both swords into Salem's neck and pulled her away from Penny.

Salem roared as she reached back for her, unable to reach the Spartan, whose blades slowly sank deeper and deeper into Salem's neck, spilling black blood all over her body. She twisted them until Salem's arms snapped and so did her legs. Her entire body started crunching and turning around inside her own skin. Salem's head slowly rotated around, bones cracking as she faced Pyrrha now, grabbing her by the head with both hands and smashing her against the floor. Her body continued to reconstruct in its new position, making sickening crunching and snapping sounds. Pyrrha struggled to get back up, but Cinder suddenly rammed an Obsidian Replica of Milo straight through Salem's back, lifting her off the ground, roaring with fury.

She swung around and launched Salem down the dunes, and the Dark Queen slammed her fist into the ground, and once grabbing onto a chunk of hard rock, she ripped it from the sand and swung around, throwing it at the Fall Maiden. Cinder flew towards it, forming two Obsidian Falchions and slashing through the middle, continuing past the divided rocks and driving both swords into Salem's chest, blowing them up and breaking her chest open.

Salem's torso bent all the way back with black blood squirting out. "Go! We have time!" She yelled at Penny, who sprinted to the Relics with Ruby whilst Salem quickly reconstructed her body again. Ruby reached out for the Relic of Knowledge, but the temperature of that beam was so hot she couldn't even get near it.

"Argh!" she yelped in pain.

She looked at her hand and frowned. "Penny, wait!" Ruby begged, but Penny knew they didn't have time, and she forced her hand into the beam anyway. Penny shrieked in immense pain as the artificial flesh of her fingers burnt away, but she pushed through anyway, getting closer and closer to any of the rotating Relics. She screamed and cried out, with Ruby holding onto her. All the flesh was gone now, only the titanium endoskeleton beneath, and the grey metal was glowing orange from the heat as well. She reached out, sparks flying from her arm as she got closer and closer.

Finally, her hand grabbed the lamp. "I GOT IT!" she screamed. Ruby blasted away, using her Petal Dash to yank Penny away, and they both tumbled across the floor. Penny panted, whimpering from how much it hurt as smoke trailed from her hand, and the relic was searing hot.

"You did it!" Ruby praised, kissing her lovingly on the lips.

"We… we need to know how to stop the Relic of Creation." She panted. Ruby nodded.

"JINN!" she yelled, and time stopped around the two of them. In the background, Salem was now fully reconstructed, deflecting Pyrrha's swords with hers and blasting a beam of red lightning at Cinder, who flew above her.

"Hello again, my protector… I am glad to see you're still fighting." Jinn greeted with a smile.

"Jinn… we need to know how to stop the Relic. We've stopped the Gods from being called back, but Creation is gonna start another Eclipse. The Grimm will be unstoppable… how do we stop it?" She asked with a panting breath.

Jinn turned her gaze to the Relic of Destruction. "The very weapon that must be used to kill a god… only the Relic of Destruction can destroy another Relic… but the consequences of this… is something I do not know. Without Creation to aid mankind… your future will be unclear." Jinn explained. Ruby looked at Penny and sighed.

"If we destroy it… will the world be destroyed, too?" She asked.

"No, but mankind will never benefit from the powers of the Relic." She answered.

"Then we have no choice… because if we don't, then the future is very clear and it won't be a pretty one." Ruby stated, which made Jinn smile proudly.

"And that is why I always trusted you, Ruby Rose. Willing to make the hard calls to protect humanity…" Jinn stated with pride.

Time resumed as Jinn returned inside of the Lamp, and Ruby quickly reattached the Relic to her hip, wincing as she felt it burn her fingers for the moments she held it. "Are you okay?" Ruby asked her girlfriend.

"Yes." she answered with a sweet smile.

They both stood together and turned to Salem, watching as she kicked Pyrrha into one of the Crystals and extended her arm, grabbing Cinder by the foot and slamming her against the ground. The two readied their weapons and charged towards her.

Unaware that Watts was descending behind them with a massive cloud of Grave Dust, but his eyes were focused on Salem, and he smirked.

Ready to make his move.

Blake

Blake, Weiss, Yang, Oscar, Nora, Ren, Eryka and Winter sprinted across Salem's Sanctum towards Evernight, and Grimm constantly charged towards them from the Tar Pits. All around them monsters were spawning, and behind them in the massive battlefield, Leviathans were being unleashed, but being fought off by the Air Force they had with them, mainly from the Vasillias Cartel.

They got closer and closer to the base of the castle, seeing the entrance from here, but Grimm emerged and descended. A Sphinx slammed down, roaring at them and blasting fire from its jaws. But they didn't slow down. In fact, Nora immediately responded to the beast by launching Stormur Skeggox towards its face. The axe lodged in its skull, causing the beast to stagger back, but because of its armour plating, it did not lodge deep enough in the head to kill the monster. The dazed creature snarled with anger, then Nora activated her gauntlet, calling the weapon back into her palm, catching it and spinning it through her fingers, channelling the kinetic energy into the blade, jumping and slamming it into the ground.

The impact killed the Creeps that were buried beneath the sand, just waiting to strike. The explosion of pink lightning scorched across their bodies, killing them instantly. Ren ran past her and slid across the sand, shooting upwards into the gut of the Spinx, making it screech in pain, then the snake-headed tail of the beast lunged towards him, but he slashed Stormflower's blade across its mouth. He shot the grappling hook upwards and swung around the beast, kicking it in the side of the head with both feet.

As it staggered, Weiss formed a massive spike of ice that erupted from her glyph, puncturing through the neck and killing it. More and More Grimm continued to attack all around them, stopping them from crossing into the entrance of Evernight. Yang cracked her neck and pumped her shotguns before sprinting towards the pack of Beowulves and Ursai. She fired a shell into the leg of a Beowulf, dropping it to one knee, and she jumped off a rock and smashed her metal fist into the side of its head, killing it, before rolling out of the way of the huge Ursa that jumped at her, smashing the ground where she was standing. It tore through the sand, roaring, only for Oscar to slam Thunderous Deception against the top of its head, killing it instantly with the blunt force.

Yang didn't look back, firing a missile into the chest of another Beowulf, blowing it to pieces, then rushing the Ursa Major. It roared, taking a swipe at her, but she punched the hand aside, breaking its pose and she relentlessly punched it in the chest, planting remotely detonated bombs in its chest, before flipping backwards and blowing them up.

Yang smirked, turning to Blake who slashed through the body of an Apathy that was about to shriek at her, and the black-haired beauty smiled back at her, Yang smirked back and fired another shell into the skull of an Apathy. They quickly realised that the Domain was spawning more and more Apathy to stop them, so they quickly aimed for them. Blake shot and hit another in the head, and they were slowly forming again and again from the tar pits.

Eryka sprinted across the sand, jumping and firing three Arrows downwards, nailing three of the Apathy and rolling across the sand. A Sabyr lunged towards her from the side but she swung around and punched it in the side of the face, stamping on its neck and drawing her Short Sword, stabbing it through the eye. She reached to her quiver and pulled an ice arrow, firing it and freezing the Ursa solid, allowing Oscar to launch forward and smash it to smithereens with his chained hammer.

He rolled across the ground and slammed the Long Memory against the ground, casting another spell, absorbing the damage of an incoming fireball from a Manticore which landed ahead of him. He channelled that energy into the staff and it shone gold inside the cogs. His eyes glowed green, and he darted forward with great speed, smashing the staff into it, creating a powerful blast of energy which killed the Manticore instantly, and also ending some of the spawning Apathy, completely vaporising them.

Winter slid across the dunes, slashing the Apathy across the throat one by one with very little effort, until a Nuckelavee suddenly erupted from a larger Tar Pit. The beast roared as it reared back and slammed its hooves against the sand in front of her. She rolled backwards and landed on one of her glyphs, shooting off it and slashing across the side of the creature. The Imp of the Nuckelavee lunged its arm towards her, slamming the ground where she just was, then Winter floated into the air atop an elevated glyph. Then she pointed her sword at it.

She summoned a flock of small Nevermores which pecked and slashed at the creature, confusing it, and allowing her to cut straight through the neck of the young Nuckelavee, killing the Imp instantly. The Horse roared with fury and snapped its jaws at her, but she spun and cut across the mouth, causing the bottom jaw to dangle from flesh. It groaned in pain, then she launched towards it and slid underneath it, raising the blade of the sword and cutting it open, spilling black blood everywhere.

The Nuckelavee collapsed and crumbled away, allowing the Specialist to stand tall with a smirk.

Blake flipped backwards, letting a shadow take the hit from a King Taijitu which launched towards her, trying to devour her whole. It slithered across the sand and coiled up, both heads hissing at her, before it shot towards her once again, snapping the fangs at her, but she rolled aside and jumped onto one of the heads.

She rammed the blade into the roof of its skull, killing the first head, before igniting a shadow with fire dust and detonating it, completely beheading the other half of the creature. The secondary head of the Taijitu snarled in pain, but still lunged for its foe, narrowly missing her, then Weiss shot past it, slashing through the throat. It wheezed in pain as black blood spewed from its neck, all over the ground, and as its head dropped towards her, she twirled on the spot and rammed Myrtenaster upwards through the head of the creature.

Weiss turned to see more and more Apathy approaching, groaning and slowly infecting their minds with whispers. She raised her sword and formed multiple glyphs, shooting crystals of ice towards the pack, slaughtering them all. But she kept seeing more and more emerging all around them, far too many to keep up with.

The creatures were slowly surrounding them, and finally they all screamed, bringing them all to one knee. They all grew closer and closer as they were about to slaughter them.

Until a bullet shot through the head of a beast.

The Apathy turned as more reinforcements arrived at the Sanctum, but from people they hadn't expected.

Li Ren suddenly shot forward, smashing through the heads of three Apathy with his staff, and his massive Altum Eagle Harmony Gives Humble Mind flew overhead, swinging her feathers downwards towards the Apathy like a Nevermore, launching fatal feathers of its own into the Grimm, ripping them apart.

Eryka's eyes widened, and a smile grew on her face, seeing the Summit's Claim and all their warriors return with their powerful trained Altum Eagles. They all flew towards the Apathy and the Archers fired their Elemental Arrows, forming a flock of burning Phoenixes just like Dulcis enjoyed doing, scorching the Apathy into embers, leaving nothing behind.

But it also hurt to see them again, reminding her of her lost friend.

Vernal roared with Sashaa as they jumped from the airship they arrived in, and many other Airships arrived as well, deploying more Warriors upon the Grimm, clearing them out. Vernal slashed Wind and Fire across the body of an Ursa, jumping and flipping backwards, firing a pair of beams from the barrels towards the creature, killing it instantly. Sashaa rolled and fired her rifle into the head of the last remaining Apathy, standing tall on her prosthetic legs.

"Glad to see we made it." Sashaa joked.

Vernal spotted Oscar and sprinted to him, wrapping her arms around him in a warm hug. "Thank the gods you're still alive, dumbass."

"Heh, same goes for you, asshole." Oscar chuckled.

"Where's Cinder?" She asked.

"She's here somewhere with Ruby, Penny, and Pyrrha. Probably fighting Salem is my guess." Oscar answered.

Li saw Ren and Nora and approached, hugging them warmly, relieved to see that they were okay. "We saw Killian's threat… we couldn't stand by." He explained.

"Especially not after Amber was kidnapped." Vernal stated.

"Amber… shit… I don't know where she is." Oscar stated.

"She's okay. We found Emerald and Mercury escorting her out of here." Vernal assured.

"They're safe?" Oscar asked.

"Yes, we have a camp nearby where our non-combatants are securing." Sashaa assured. "Time to stop sitting by and doing nothing."

Yang chuckled with a smile, then Li turned to Eryka with a smile, but her aura looked darker than usual, and he could tell there was pain. "Eryka? Are you okay? Where's…" He stopped, because he realised he answered his own question. He bowed his head and stabbed his staff into the ground, walking to her and wrapping his arms around her in an affectionate hug. "I'm so sorry, my dear."

"I don't know what to do without him…" she said to her mentor.

He held her shoulders and smiled. "He's still with you… in here." He promised, pressing his hand against her heart. Eryka smiled and nodded, then she turned to Evernight.

"Weiss?" a familiar voice shocked them. They all turned to see who else they brought with them. Everyone gasped, bar Oscar, since he did not know who they were.

Coco Adel, Fox Alistair and Velvet Scarlatina…

After losing Yatsuhashi to Jackdaw and the Inhumane Necessity, their status was completely unknown. "Guys!" Yang gasped and immediately giving Coco a warm hug, and Blake did the same for Velvet whilst Weiss did the same for Fox. "You're… you're all okay…" Yang chuckled.

"Barely been having to stay on the move for the past six years. We ended up at the Summit's Claim a few days ago… then all this happened. We had no idea all of you were part of the Claim until Killian's message." Coco explained.

"Him being his dad didn't tip you off?" Oscar asked, gesturing to Li.

"YOU'RE REN'S DAD?" Velvet yelped with shock, making Eryka smile and chuckle.

"It's… a long story." Ren chuckled.

"Well, you can tell us all about it when this shit show is over. Been waiting for that pale-skinned bitch to get what she deserves for a long time." Fox stated with a growl.

"Well… part of why we're here… is because of who's in there." Winter explained, pointing with her sword at the castle. Eryka turned to Li with a smile.

"My brother… he's alive… all of them are." She revealed to all of them.

"What?" Li gasped.

"We found Cardin Winchester." Blake explained. Velvet gasped in disbelief.

"They're alive too?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah… sounds like they've been prisoners for Tyrian ever since Beacon fell. We're gonna get them back." Weiss explained, tightening her grip on Myrtenaster.

"Well, we're coming with." Coco stated, stepping forward.

"No, we need more able fighters here, keeping this area secure. More areas we can help keep safe from Grimm, the better. The White Fang and Vasillias Cartel are holding their areas, and the Fang are getting more help by the second." Li explained, and they turned to see more and more Airships inbound, even some more Dreadnaughts, most likely stolen. "I will join you." He said, standing beside Ren and Nora.

"We're getting them back." Eryka said with hope in her voice.

"Good luck. We'll hold the line." Fox assured, slashing Sharp Retribution together, and they all stood with the Summit's Claim, Vernal and Sashaa as more Grimm started spawning from the Tar Pits, with Harmony Gives Humble Mind landing beside them.

The team sprinted up the steps, now inside of Evernight.

One step closer to finding those who were lost.

Ruby

Ruby launched towards Salem, spinning through the air and slicing through her arm, cutting it clean off, but it quickly regenerated, and Salem punched her in the face as she went for a second attack. Ruby crashed against the sand and tumbled towards the edge of the cliff again. Salem sprinted towards her but Cinder launched a fireball into her side, exploding and launching Salem off the edge.

Salem formed wings and flew around, immediately coming back towards Cinder and smashing her against one of the crystals. Pyrrha suddenly flew towards her and rammed her swords into Salem's back and lifted her over her head and smashed the Queen into the same crystal, impaling her. Salem roared with anger and pain as she stared at them. But Salem pressed her hands against the crystal, firing powerful bolts of red lightning into it, causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces so she could be free, with a slowly regenerating hole in her chest.

Salem punched Penny so hard it sent her flying into the cliff face, then Pyrrha launched towards Salem, only to be kicked against the ground. Salem walked down the rocks towards them. "This is all pointless. Your struggles are pointless. Nothing you do will hurt me. Slow me down. You are all fighting for a future that will never come. You cannot stop what is about to happen." Salem explained.

"You know how many times people have told us we can't stop them? Well, guess what? We're still here, aren't we?" Ruby questioned as she got back up.

Pyrrha spun Ira Red and Crocea Mortem through her fingers, panting as she stared Salem down. Until she heard sprinting behind her, and turned to see Jaune suddenly tackle her off the cliff. Pyrrha yelled, punching Jaune and kicking him away as they both fell. She drove her sword into the side of the cliff to try to slow her descent, but crashed into the ground near the Tar Falls.

Cinder gasped, blasting off after her, knowing she couldn't beat Jaune alone.

Leaving only Ruby and Penny against her.

Salem turned, knowing who it was, and seeing Watts stood on the rocks behind her. "Ah… Watts…" she said, but he smirked and her eyes narrowed, knowing what he was going to do. He suddenly blasted the Grave Dust into her wound from the crystal, which just healed, and it flowed inside of her.

The dust flowed through her veins and held her arms out and levitated her in the air.

Anyone else would scream in agony… but Salem just stared Watts down and she smirked sinisterly. "About time you showed your true colours, my old friend." Salem chuckled, smirking.

Watts gritted his teeth and roared, swinging his arms apart, and the Grave Dust solidified into blades and sliced Salem into quarters, spraying black blood everywhere. Her chunks collapsed and black smoke emerged. "Well, that should buy some time." He said as he straightened his tie, looking directly at Ruby and Penny.

"You really are a snake, huh? Can't help but noticed you waited until Jaune was gone." Ruby stated.

"He'll keep Nikos busy. Even better than dear old Cinder developed such a heart as to follow her…" Watts said, slowly pacing around as his Grave Dust returned, swirling around him. "Now… I believe that Lamp belongs to me." He stated.

"If we don't stop the Relic of Creation, then we're all dead. The Grimm will be unstoppable! We should be working together." Ruby stated.

"And why would I want to work with gnats like yourself? No… tonight I will cut off all loose ends. And finally – I will have what I want." He stated.

"And what is it you want?" Penny snarled with hate in her eyes.

He chuckled.

"I want it… all." He stated, smirking.

Power.

Knowledge

The world to be controlled by his hands, and his hands alone.

No Salem.

Nobody left to challenge him.

Ruby looked at the Relic on her hip, then spun Black Thorn through her fingers. "Then you're gonna have to go through us."

He smirked.

"Good."

Author Note - Watts has made his move

Loved having him do that to Salem, especially the way she smirks. It's such a "I'll see you soon" reaction to being ripped into quarters from the inside out. But now we have Nuts & Dolts Vs Arthur Watts. A fight I have been very excited to start up, especially after how much hell he put Penny through and after everything he has done? This has been a long time coming.

Also Copper Vs Salem is always epic to write XD

The Black Gallows aren't messing about either, they need to upload that Virus to destroy the Black Gallows once and for all. Because lets be real, the Black Gallows have still got the advantage. Their whole military is designed to hunt and kill Huntsmen and Huntresses. They're a force to be reckoned with. Let's just hope that Marrow, Fiona and Vine can get the job done.

And the Summit's Claim are here! WITH TEAM C.F.V! And Li, Vernal and Sashaa! Good to have them back, let's hope the Castle Team can find the characters we love.

And stop Tyrian.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- Matt