Chapter 53 – Godfall

Pyrrha

Embers flowed through the air, travelling with the thick black smoke that poured from the burning wreckages of the Black Gallows Fleet. Whilst they were fighting Jaune, the Black Gallows was destroyed from within right above Cinder and Pyrrha.

They were lucky that they didn't get crushed when the debris came plummeting from the sky all around them. Pyrrha coughed, grabbing her chest as she looked through the smoke, picking up Ira Red and Crocea Mortem. "Cinder?" She called out.

"Over… here…" The weak, wheezy voice of Cinder Fall tried to call out, but the thing that was more noticeable was the sound of her coughing violently. Pyrrha rushed towards the direction of her spluttering, finding Cinder on one knee, coughing up blood onto the black sand, barely able to breathe. Her eye was leaking with blood and so was her nose. There was so much blood now.

"Gods… the Noctus Putrida… it's getting worse." Pyrrha stated.

"No… you don't say?" Cinder sarcastically replied, chuckling as she wiped the blood from her mouth, nose, and eyes. She spat the rest of the blood from her mouth, and opened her hands, forming her two axes once again.

"Cinder, please… just stay back…"

"I'm dying anyway, Pyrrha… I'll be damned if a goddamn disease is gonna be the death of me." Cinder retaliated, staring past her. From the wall of fire, they saw a dark silhouette… it was Thaddeus. He slowly emerged from the raging flames, his flesh and armour scorched from the head, but the pale white skin swiftly healed with black tar seeping down his skin. He stared them directly in the eyes, dragging his heavy sword through the black sand.

His other arm dangled, the bone inside crushed to powder, yet they could see and hear it regenerating from the wound. It jolted and snapped, crunched and twisted back into shape, picking up his shield that was laid in the sand next to him. He swung the sword upwards and rested it on his shoulder as he approached, his cloak now completely aflame and blowing in the wind. He exhaled savagely as he stared them both down.

Pyrrha scowled back at the monster in the body of her beloved, and spun Ira Red and Crocea Mortem through her fingers, her red ponytail dancing in the wind. Cinder cracked her neck, still wheezing, but she refused to stay down.

"Resilient… but foolish!" Thaddeus yelled, before he blasted into the air, using the cannon in his shield to throw him high into the air above them, and rocketing down towards them both, swinging the enormous blade towards them. He smashed the blade between them as the two rolled away, ripping up the soil. The area that they were fighting in was getting smaller and smaller by the second because of the encroaching fire. "Nothing you throw at me will ever keep me down!" Thaddeus roared.

It was like he had devolved into a mindless beast, more like a Grimm than a knight. He lunged towards Cinder, slashing his sword across her chest so hard that it threw the Fall Maiden across the arena, crashing against the burning chunks of metal. She coughed in agony, but Thaddeus was above to slash his sword across her throat. Pyrrha suddenly launched a chunk of burning metal towards Thaddeus, hitting him from the right.

Thaddeus grunted, tumbling through the sand and driving the sword into the floor to stop himself. Pyrrha shot towards him and slashed relentlessly at Thaddeus, cutting away at his chest with her two swords, before jumping and stabbing through his glowing red armour. The heat would have been excruciating if Thaddeus was not the monster he had become. He growled like a feral animal, and that growl erupted into a demonic howl, creating an explosion of purple smoke around his body, and he started swinging his sword at Pyrrha with mindless rage.

Pyrrha deflected the first two swings, but had to roll away as he just kept slashing at her, dragging the blade through the sand and tossing sparks as it clipped pieces of metal from the wrecks that trapped them here. He suddenly slammed the sword across her armoured chest, throwing her backwards, before jumping into the air and holding his sword above his head, flipping through the air and smashing it down towards her.

She crossed the two swords together, only narrowly stopping the monster from burying that sword into her face. Sparks leaked as the two razor-sharp blades ground against each other. Thaddeus grinned with Jaune's face. "His memories… they spoke of you… I could feel how he felt about you. It's funny… he had so much love for you… and so much jealousy." He growled.

Cinder suddenly flew above him and she slung a lightning bolt into his back, before yelling with rage as she drove both axes into the sides of his neck. He roared with agony and rage, staggering away from Pyrrha as black blood burst from his throat. Cinder flipped backwards off Thaddeus, collapsing both axes in her hands and forging her Bow, firing an explosive arrow into his chest.

With his armour softened from the high temperatures of the inferno, the plates shattered from the explosion, revealing his chest beneath. Black blood leaked from the burns, and chunks of metal were dug into the skin. He dropped to one knee, with parts of his chest plate still attached, but he reached onto his shoulder pauldron and tore it clean off, flames from his cape blowing around him. He stood tall and ignited flames from the barrel of his shield, and smothered the steel of his blade, staring them in the eye.

Cinder launched towards him, firing more arrows at him, but he spun his sword through his fingers so fast it was like the rotor blades of a helicopter, cutting them down before they could even touch him. He left a constant blaze of fire in his wake before jumping into the air and slamming the sword into the floor. Fire exploded where Cinder was standing, throwing her backwards.

She rolled across the ground, then formed her two falchions, flying back towards him, but he smashed his shield against her face, sending her crashing against the sand. She landed near the flames, her eye widening as she saw how close she got.

Thaddeus glared at her, then turned as Pyrrha jumped, slashing across his chest, then rolling away, combining the swords together, transforming them into Rifle Mode. She aimed at him and fired, sending bullets into his chest. He hardly even recoiled, black blood squirting from the wounds. He smirked, then she aimed at his head, but he raised his shield and sprinted towards her.

He fired his cannon at her, but she rolled aside and disconnected her swords, and threw one of them into his shoulder. He grunted, but then yanked the blade back towards her with her semblance. As the polarity ripped the sword out, she jumped and caught it, and the velocity of it leaving his shoulder caused Thaddeus to stumble towards her. She crossed her swords like they were a pair of sheers, yelling with fury as she went to cut his head off his shoulders.

But Thaddeus raised his sword and caught the blades, bright sparks exploding from the impact. Pyrrha fell onto him, and he countered her fall, throwing her against the floor. Suddenly, his boot pressed against her back and he grabbed her by her ponytail and yanked her head back, the blade of his sword kissing her throat. "Do you know how much he really hated you? Hated how much better you were than him? How much you pitied his pathetic lack of skill?" Thaddeus hissed.

"SHUT UP!" Pyrrha screamed, her eyes flooding with the God of Darkness' purple glow. Her arms lit aflame with purple fire, and she created a powerful explosion beneath her. The sand flew high in the air, and the shockwave launched Thaddeus away from her. As she turned, her shadow was replaced with the silhouette of the Brother of Darkness. She yelled with hate, thrusting both her hands towards him, and suddenly a pair of dark purple beams of magic shot towards him.

Thaddeus raised his shield, blocking the magic that was shooting from her palms at him, pushing him across the sand. He suddenly slashed his burning sword through the sand, flinging the melting grains in her direction. It melted into large spikes of glass and hardened immediately.

Pyrrha's emerald eyes widened, and she rolled aside, only narrowly missing them. Thaddeus laughed cunningly, spinning his sword through his fingers. "He never felt worthy because of you… because of all of you! You were only holding him back… now I am helping him become what he was always supposed to be." Thaddeus snarled.

"He's nothing like you. You're a disgrace to the Arc name!" Pyrrha yelled back, sprinting towards him, only for Thaddeus to swing around and slash his sword across her chest, throwing her against the wall. As she fell to the floor, Thaddeus stamped at her head, only narrowly missing when she rolled away, but as she went to counterattack, he swung around with his burning blade and still hit her.

She yelped in pain, holding her chest as embers trailed. Cinder flew past her but suddenly spluttered, grabbing at her throat as blood came pouring out, and the same was happening once again from her eye and nose. She could barely even breathe, desperately grabbing her throat, crawling across the sand.

Thaddeus chuckled sinisterly as he walked around Cinder as she coughed up so much blood on the floor. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… so disappointing." Thaddeus growled, kicking the suffering Fall Maiden in the gut. She vomited more blood, and Pyrrha gritted her teeth, throwing her sword at him, but he caught Crocea Mortem in his hand, literally letting the blade get impaled through his palm.

He looked at the broken remains of Crocea Mors and he smirked. "Well, well… the remnants of a time long passed… dear old Haytham… the young traitor…" Thaddeus snarled, his glowing purple eyes flaring as he stared at the familiar markings on the sword. He closed his fist around it and crushed the blade.

Pyrrha's eyes widened when she saw Crocea Mortem shatter into tiny pieces, leaving her with only Ira Red now.

Cinder wheezed weakly on the floor, barely even able to stand now, but she still tried. "Still got some life in you!" He laughed, kicking her in the face and knocking her on her back. He dragged his sword towards her, but Pyrrha sprinted towards him.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Pyrrha screamed, only for Thaddeus to kick the broken blade of Crocea Mortem up and he caught it, throwing it into her shoulder. Pyrrha screamed in agony as it punctured into her shoulder but she kept going, but Thaddeus stamped on her throat, holding her there.

"You risk life and limb for the very person who almost slew you… such a meagre thing… forgiveness… mercy…" Thaddeus chuckled. Pyrrha struggled as she pushed against his boot, but he turned her head, then forced his boot against her cheek, making her stare at Cinder, who was barely even conscious. "… and this is how your forgiveness is rewarded."

He raised his sword with one hand and went to drive it through Cinder's heart until suddenly a pink explosion launched Thaddeus away from the two women. Pyrrha gasped for air but immediately scrambled to Cinder, holding her shoulders and pulling her away from him, but her eyes turned to where the explosion came from.

She gasped… it was Nora and Ren.

They both dropped into the arena. "Pyrrha! Is Cinder okay? What's going…" Nora paused, her eyes bulging wide when she saw him. Ren stood beside her in disbelief. "… J-Jaune?"

Thaddeus stood tall, smirking sinisterly and chuckling. "Well, well… here comes the rest of the merry band of failures." He snarled.

"Jaune, it's us!" Ren called out.

"It's not… Jaune… I know it looks like him… but it isn't. It's Thaddeus Rex… his ancestor… one of Ozpin's variants… a monster. He's using Jaune's body and memories against us." Pyrrha panted, grasping her shoulder.

Nora was shaking, but she held her wrist, then scowled at Thaddeus. She could tell… his purple eyes… the white hair and the pale skin…

"Salem… this was her, wasn't it?" Nora asked.

"Yeah… to get the Relic of Creation. Only an Arc could free it from the stone… so she brought him back… and used the corrupted soul of his insane ancestor to do it. He's gone… Nora…" Pyrrha stammered.

But Nora slowly drew Stormur Skeggox, spinning the enormous axe through her fingers with Ren drawing Stormflower. His aura was still weak after his fight with Icarus, and his heart was already hurting from losing his father.

He may look like Jaune… but knowing who Thaddeus was?

It was the perfect thing to vent that anger on.

Thaddeus smirked and held out his sword, the embers from the fire trailing away from his blade in the wind, charging up the cannon on his shield.

"Keep Cinder safe and get your aura back, Pyrrha. We'll keep this bastard off you." Nora promised with Ren beside her.

Salem

Salem's eyes glowed bright red, and she launched directly towards Ruby, forming a glowing gold sword in her hand and slashing it at her face, before spinning her double-ended sword through her fingers. Ruby dashed away, firing Black Thorn at Salem, trying to keep Jinn away from Salem's hands.

If she gets Jinn…

The Gods will fall…

And if she kills them, it's all over

Salem slashed her enormous sword across the sand, throwing the grains across the air, before she threw the conjured blade in her direction. Ruby only narrowly moved her head to the side, and the blade sliced across her cheek. Her aura was still charging back up, blood leaked from the fresh wound. Salem walked towards her, only for Penny to fly above her, firing her beam of green energy down upon the Dark Queen. Salem gritted her teeth, spinning her gigantic sword through her fingers with great speed, refracting the beam away from her.

The beam carved through the purple crystals that surrounded her, bringing them all crashing down. Salem suddenly channelled dark magic through her other arm and into the palm, and launched a beam of purple and red energy into Penny's chest. She cried out in agony, her aura shattering once again as she was knocked out of the sky. A bullet shot into Salem's head, splattering black blood across the air, but she just turned to Ruby as the wound healed, seeing her crawling away from her.

"You must accept your fate." Salem stated, suddenly forming a huge hammer in her hand, resting it upon her shoulder. Huge black wings burst from her back and she launched into the air, and spun as she swung down towards Ruby to kill her.

Until the hammer shattered, and her eyes widened, to see Oscar Pine was suddenly in front of her, holding the Long Memory towards Salem. She slid away from Ruby, and Oscar spun the weapon through his fingers. "Go, get the Relic safe." Oscar stated.

"But…" Ruby winced.

"Please, Miss Rose." Ozpin requested.

Ruby scrambled back to her feet and Penny followed her, leaving Ozpin to challenge Salem on his own. Salem stood tall, her huge sword still in her grasp, glaring at her. "Ozma…" Salem snarled with hate in her voice.

"Enough of this, Salem… your actions will doom us all and it will not grant you the release you desire." Ozpin begged.

"The gods will pay for what they did to me… to us." Salem stated. "Nothing will ever change that."

Ozpin sighed, then he pointed the Long Memory at her, ready to battle against her once more. Salem suddenly shot towards her former lover in a blur of darkness, swinging her sword downwards so fast it shot an arc of wind in his direction. But Ozpin darted aside and extended Oscar's chained hammer, smashing it across her jaw. Salem grunted, turning to throw three conjured knives at him. He rolled out of the path of those incoming blades, then he drove his cane into the ground, levitating rocks that surrounded him, and shot them towards her with glowing green magical energy.

Salem cut them down with her sword, then she launched towards him once again. He broke away from his spell and deflected her incoming blows with his cane, blocking them as fast as he could in Oscar's shorter frame. Ozpin's eyes shone gold, and he furiously struck Salem over and over with the Long Memory, moving so fast that his body was a green blur, before he shot forward and smashed Salem across the face with the cane.

Salem tumbled across the ground, then dug her hand into the sand, ripping a huge rock from the ground and throwing it towards him. He jumped and flipped over it, and opened his hand, forming a green magical sign. He shot bolts of green lightning at her, but she raised her sword, catching the electrical energy, and spun her sword through her fingers, forming a powerful tornado around her which coursed with that very lightning.

She flew high into the air and came crashing down with a tremendous explosion of green lightning. Ozpin was thrown back by Salem, staring at her, and he drove the cane into the ground, closing his eyes. Salem stood tall, staring at him with fury in her red eyes, then realised what he was doing. She saw Oscar's aura glow bright green, then suddenly, multiple ghostly apparitions formed inside of him, and all came jumping out.

It was the Variants of Ozma, their spirits all coming to Oscar's aid.

The original Ozma amongst them. Salem gritted her teeth with fury and she sprinted towards them. Even seeing Ozma again… she felt nothing towards the man she loved so much that she was willing to use Dark Magic to resurrect.

Not anymore…

… they were closer to strangers than what they used to be.

Ozma shot forward and blasted a powerful beam of green magic towards Salem, whilst Ozymandias jumped above her and fired fast bolts of magic down at her. Salem grunted, and one by one the many variants of Ozma battled her. The Old Hermit yelled with fury, slamming his hands against the ground as he sent huge roots towards her, wrapping them around her arms to hold her down.

The Farmer spun his sceptre through his fingers, charging the magical energy into the crystal, before slamming it into the ground and shooting a constant beam of ice into Salem's chest. Ozpin held his position with the cane against the ground as his former selves continued to attack Salem. But Salem's eyes glowed bright red, and suddenly a new pair of arms burst from her body and formed a pair of swords, and she slashed through the roots to free herself.

The Settler roared as she smashed the Long Memory against the side of her head, but Salem grabbed him by the throat and crushed his windpipe with ease. But she was still vastly outnumbered by them all. They constantly fired every element of magic at her to hold the monster down. She dropped to one knee as they wrapped magical vines of green light around her body. But she roared with rage and channelled all her magic into her chest, and created a massive blast of magic that shattered the spirits of Ozma.

They all faded away, and Salem immediately launched herself towards Ozpin and punched him in the face. Oscar quickly took control of his body and wrapped Thunderous Deception around her throat, and yanked her towards him. He jumped towards her face, but she caught him by the throat and smashed him against the ground.

Salem turned away from him, and she darted in the direction that Ruby was running.

Ruby and Penny were still trying to make some distance from Salem and the other Relics. Ruby looked up at the sky though and saw the Moon was slowly but surely forming itself back together.

The Eclipse was close…

But they kept running until Penny looked back, and her green eyes widened in fear. "RUBY!" She screamed, forcing Ruby down, but Salem slammed directly into Penny, sending her flying. Salem blasted fire across the two blades of her sword and spun it as she swung at Ruby, only narrowly missing her throat when the Silver Eyed Huntress rolled away from her.

Salem snarled, and she grabbed at her chest, snarling deeply before roaring to the sky, her scream mixing with the roar of so many Grimm, and she unleashed fresh Geists from her heart. They all flew towards Ruby, their clawed hands stretched out for the Relic of Knowledge that she clutched in her hands. She aimed Black Thorn in one hand whilst holding onto the Relic, firing at the Geists, and Penny shot Floating Array at them as well, cutting them down before they could even get close.

Salem leapt through the smoke of their disintegrating corpses, slashing across Ruby's chest with the sword. The flames burned her clothes, and she cried out in pain, her hand pressed against the bleeding injury. Salem slashed the sword towards her hand, smashing Black Thorn from her grasp.

Salem held her sword above her head to impale the Silver Eyed Warrior, but Penny launched into Salem, ramming all of her swords through Salem's back, pulling her away from her beloved. Salem gritted her teeth and reached back to Penny and flung her over her shoulder. Penny crashed into the floor, but Oscar returned with Ozpin back in control.

He smashed Thunderous Deception across Salem's jaw, then tapped the cane against the floor, blasting rocks from under the sand and shooting them towards her. Salem crossed her wings over to block the rocks, before swinging them forward, throwing Fatal Feathers in his direction. Ozpin jumped and flipped through the air, only narrowly dodging it, but a feather knocked his weapon from his hand.

He landed and clenched his hands into fists, before thrusting them towards Salem and shooting a pair of magical beams of green light into Salem's chest. Salem yelled in pain, dropping to one knee, before glaring at Ozpin and grabbing Penny by the hair and throwing her at Ozpin.

Ozpin tumbled across the ground, then Penny glared at Salem when the Dark Queen pushed her boot against Ruby's throat, choking her to death. Penny's eyes lit up with fury. "NO!" she yelled, focusing all her energy into Floating Array, blasting a beam into Salem's side. Salem snarled from the pain as the hot beam carved flesh away, and Ozpin vaulted over Penny's shoulder, ducking under the blade that Salem swung at him.

He jumped and punched up her chin before smashing his hammer into her knee, snapping it with ease. She fell and Ozpin immediately smashed the Long Memory against the side of her face. She tumbled across the sand, her leg snapping back into position. Her long white hair hanging loose blew in the wind, then she stretched her hand towards Penny and grabbed her by the throat, digging her claws into her artificial skin.

Ozpin's eyes widened, gasping, and he held the Long Memory in both hands. The clockwork inside rotated faster and faster. Glowing gold on the inside as the kinetic energy increased with power. Salem's eyes widened, and she immediately pulled Penny past Ozpin, knocking him over and throwing her into the rocks.

Salem crouched, ripping the Relic of Knowledge from Ruby's weak hands. "NO! THE RELIC!" Ruby screamed, and Ozpin tried to fire more magic at her, but she flew away from them and went directly to the other relics.

Soon…

… soon my suffering will be over…

That was all that echoed in Salem's mind as she got closer and closer to the three relics rotating inside of Creation's Beam shooting into the moon. But she was so focused on her goal… that she didn't even notice the sonic boom to her right.

Suddenly, Eryka Vasillias slammed into Salem with all her might, smashing Salem through one of the towering Purple Crystals, roaring with fury as she pummelled Salem into the ground. Her eyes were aflame with blue fire, and filled with hate for the monster who did all of this. As Salem crashed into the ground, the Relic of Knowledge tumbled away from her grasp.

Salem stared at Eryka with fury in her eyes, matching the look of disdain in Neptune's Sister.

"You… so that's where the power went." Salem snarled, her eyes igniting with red fire as well. "But you are not your mother, child… if even your lone mother was no match for me, what hope do you have of stopping me?" Salem questioned.

"That's where you're wrong, bitch. I'm not alone." Eryka stated.

Salem turned, seeing Weiss and Winter landing behind her, and Ozpin caught up with them. Salem gritted her teeth, growling like a savage animal, her fists clenched. Eryka attacked first, flying directly at Salem, and throwing her fist into the side of the Queen's face. The punch pushed Salem back a few inches, but she immediately retaliated with a hard swing from her sword as it came calling back into her hand. Eryka crashed into the ground, and Salem turned immediately to stop Weiss from driving her sword into Salem's chest.

She pushed her away and spun on the spot, slashing across the blades of both Schnees, sparks flying high. All around her, more people were converging as well, seeing the Happy Huntresses and Marrow also joining the battle. Marrow fired his rifle at her, whilst Joanna fired her crossbow into Salem's leg. She dropped to one knee, and opened her Draconic Wings once more, flying into the air and throwing her sword into one of the Vasillias Soldiers, impaling him instantly.

Joanna jumped and punched Salem in the face whilst Winter rammed her sword straight through her back and out of her chest. Eryka flew high above and fired a powerful beam of ice into Salem's chest, forming huge chunks of ice in her flesh.

Then her eyes glowed bright red, and she called out to them.

"PRAETORIAN KNIGHTS! SLAUGHTER THEM ALL! LEAVE NONE ALIVE!" she roared.

Ruby's eyes widened when she heard that.

"Oh, no…"

From the burning remnants of Evernight, they emerged, with smoke and embers trailing from their bodies.

The former followers of Thadeus Rex held their Sceptres tight, and walked towards the White Fang and Vasillias Cartel Warriors, alongside the Summit's Claim Fighters. Team C.F.V, Vernal and Sashaa's eyes widened in fear when they saw the huge Ancient Geists approaching.

Salem smirked, then she roared, blowing them all away in a magical blast, spinning her sword through her fingers, wings extended and eyes burning red.

What little humanity she had left was being sacrificed to get what she wanted.

Salem was completely unrecognisable to Ozpin now.

All he saw was a monster.

One that had to die.

Nora

He was once their leader… their best friend.

What did Salem do to you?

Thaddeus growled as he stared at them, then he sprinted towards Nora and jumped, spinning through the air and firing his shield multiple times down at her. She rolled away, and Ren sprinted around the shrinking arena. The explosive shells blew the sand and ash all around them. Then he came careening down with the sword, crashing it into the floor right at Nora's feet. But Nora fought through the hesitation, accepting that this was not their friend anymore, and that it was Thaddeus.

Tears streamed from her eyes and she screamed with anguish, swinging Stormur Skeggox at his head, but Thaddeus swung his sword upwards, catching the axe, and staring her dead in the eye. He grinned maniacally, twisting the axe from her hand, and smashing his shield against her, sending her flying backwards. Ren fired his grappling hooks at him, but he turned and swung his sword towards Ren's throat to behind him. Ren shot another grappling hook into his leg and tripped him up, only narrowly missing the blade.

Ren flipped overhead, firing Stormflower down at him, filling his body with the glowing green bullets. Thaddeus rolled backwards, and swung his burning sword around, and drove it into the ground. As he held it down, he snarled savagely, then howled as his body ignited with purple flames. His eyes shone bright purple as he roared to the sky, and he lunged towards Ren first, smashing the sword back and forth.

Ren just had to keep retreating. He was moving too fast and aggressively to possibly even land a hit on him. Thaddeus dragged the sword through the sand and swung upwards across Ren's chest, before resting his cannon over his arm, firing a shell into his chest. As it exploded against him, the Kuroyurian Huntsman grunted as it blew him against the rocks. Thaddeus sprinted towards Ren, but Nora launched Magni into the side of his head, sending Thaddeus rolling across the sand, dragging the blade of his heavy sword into the floor, staring back at her.

"The Jaune I knew was never someone to rush headfirst into a fight like that." Nora stated.

"Then clearly you never knew him at all!" Thaddeus yelled back, swinging his sword forward so hard and fast that it blasted a huge wall of fire towards her. She rolled aside and called Magni back to her, smashing into his shoulder. Thaddeus stumbled towards her, and she jumped at him, burying the axe into his neck. She sniffled as she stared at him, black blood pouring from the wound.

But to her shock, he just grabbed the blade of the axe, staring back at her with a grin. "Is that all you've got? You disappoint me!" Thaddeus laughed, smashing his head into her face, then ripping the axe from his neck and throwing it back at her. She gasped, rolling aside, but quickly pulling the weapon from where it landed. She reached into her pocket and yanked a lightning dust crystal from it, and crushed it in her palm.

She screamed with rage, her scars and veins lighting up pink, spinning her axe through her fingers. Thaddeus chuckled sinisterly.

"That's more like it." He chuckled.

Whilst they fought against Thaddeus, Pyrrha held onto Cinder, looking at her and listening to her weak breaths. "Cinder? Are you still with me?" Pyrrha asked her.

"Not… dead… yet…" Cinder whispered.

"I need to find a way out of here for us." Pyrrha said, getting up and looking around, hoping to find one fast enough for Ren and Nora to hold off against him.

"I… have an… idea…" Cinder coughed, grabbing at her throat again. Her eye was bloodshot. It was amazing she could still see through all the blood that was pouring from her. She pushed her hand against the floor, using the Exo-Suit to help herself stand up. She was a dead woman walking, yet despite how much agony she was in, she still refused to stay down.

She never could stay down.

She limped towards the flames, then fell to one knee. Pyrrha helped steady her, looking back at Thaddeus. "There's… a way through here… just… need to clear the… flames." Cinder mumbled, shakily holding out her hand, and slowly conjuring icy winds from her palm into the flames to extinguish them as fast as she could. Pyrrha picked up Ira Red and looked back at Thaddeus in case he got away from Ren and Nora.

She made a promise to keep Cinder alive for as long as she could.

And she would always keep her promise as best as she could.

Thaddeus kicked Nora in the chest, then turned to catch Ren by the throat, slamming him against the ground. He immediately kicked his sword back into his hand and drove the blade down at where Ren just was, but he quickly rolled aside. Nora stood tall and swiftly launched Stormur Skeggox into his chest, stumbling Thaddeus backwards, then she sprinted towards him and jumped onto the handle of his axe, and fired a grenade just as it transformed. Thaddeus roared in pain, staggering backwards and blowing a huge cavernous hole in his chest.

His back snapped backwards, black blood spraying from his innards, dragging his sword through the sand, laughing at them as the Grimm tar quickly began reconstructing his body. Nora's eyes widened, and if anything, that disturbing sight has helped her understand now.

It wasn't him…

… it was just a Grimm.

His body straightened upwards, snapping back together, and holding his sword against the floor, hunched forward like a feral animal. Nora sprinted forward, slashing her axe at him relentlessly, but he deflected the incoming blows, then raised his shield to block her next much harder attack. The impact broke his block, but he countered with a sudden swing across her aura protected body.

The slash of his sword knocked her back, but she rushed forward once again, jumping and spinning towards him, smashing Magni into his face and burying the axe into the side of his face. Thaddeus growled as he felt the pain, but he just smirked, taking pleasure in how it felt. "I haven't felt this kind of pain in so long… give me more… SHOW ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!" Thaddeus roared, and Nora ripped it out and went to bury it in his face again, but Thaddeus suddenly shot her in the chest with his cannon, and swung around with his sword, slashing her across the throat. If not for her aura, it would have for sure been the end of her. She stumbled away and touched her neck for a second there. But she channelled the electricity in her body into Stormur Skeggox, holding it in both hands.

She roared and aimed the head of the axe at her, firing a focused beam of pink energy towards him. He raised his shield, taking the hit directly, and the power of that beam started to make the centre of the shield glow gold. Just as the beam stopped firing, Nora swiftly twisted and threw the axe back at Thaddeus, hitting him directly in the chest again, and calling it right back into her gauntleted hand.

As Thaddeus staggered forward, Ren sprinted past Nora and slid across the floor, dodging the incoming cannon shots from the shield, and he jumped up, slashing the blades of his pistols up his bare chest, then rolling underneath his legs and cutting across the back of his knees. Ren jumped onto his back and buried the blades of his pistols into Thaddeus' throat, pulling him backwards and allowing Nora to fire a grenade into his chest.

Thaddeus chuckled as he staggered backwards.

"Keep throwing everything you have at me… nothing you do will ever cut me down forever. I am Thaddeus Rex Arc – I cannot die." Thaddeus snarled.

"We'll put that theory to the test. But first, you're gonna give him back to us!" Nora yelled as she sprinted towards Thaddeus, slashing Stormur Skeggox across his chest, spraying black blood across her face. "Give him back!" She yelled again, activating the thrusters on the back of the axe's head, letting it rotate around her, slashing him repeatedly whilst she smashed Magni across his face relentlessly.

Then she caught the axe and tears streamed from her eyes once again. "GIVE HIM BAAAACK!" she screeched, smashing her axe into his chest so hard that Thaddeus was blasted away from her, crashing into the flaming wreckage. Nora panted, and Ren ran to her side, holding her face.

"Hey… you got him…" He promised, until they both turned with wide eyes to hear the savage roars of Thaddeus from the flames. They saw him impaled on a piece of metal, burning alive. But he was slowly pulling himself free to keep fighting.

How the hell is he still kicking?

He really wasn't kidding… he can't be killed…

"Guys!" Pyrrha called, Nora and Ren turned to see the dying Cinder Fall extinguishing an escape path for them.

"Go…" Cinder wheezed.

Nora and Pyrrha both helped Cinder, resting her arms over their shoulders to carry her through, with Ren running ahead. They ran as fast as they could through the destruction of the Black Gallows, hearing some soldiers shrieking in agony in the flames, and more crushed under the rubble. But that was not what frightened them most. It was the sound of Thaddeus breaking free.

"PYRRHAAAAAAA!" Thaddeus bellowed, and they could hear him sprinting after them through the flaming wreckages of the fleet. Smashing through anything in his path to get to them. They kept running, but more fire blocked their path, and despite her barely hanging on, Cinder raised her hand and blasted more ice into the fire to open a path for them.

As they ran through, Thaddeus' sword burst through the flames, only narrowly missing them.

He swung at them and tumbled out of the fire, covered in burns as he pursued them. They kept running, and Nora fired back at him, hitting him in the chest with the grenade. But that was only a good way to hold him back for now. They kept running and found a way up the cliffs with Thaddeus right on their tail.

They all jumped across the cliffs and tumbled, but Thaddeus jumped as well, which Nora stopped with another grenade, sending him crashing down the gap they jumped across. Pyrrha drew her scroll. "Medical transports? Anyone?" She called out onto all the networks.

"I can… still fight…"

"You can barely stand, Cinder! I dunno what's wrong, but you can't fight!" Ren argued, but then they still heard Thaddeus behind them. They heard the rhythmic banging of his sword stabbing into the cliffs, climbing up to the top, growling like a mad dog. They kept running as fast as they could, then they reached the top.

Thaddeus lunged at them but Cinder's eye ignited and she gritted her teeth, blasting Thaddeus as he jumped, sending him tumbling past them.

And directly ahead, they saw Salem battling against everyone for the Relic of Knowledge.

Pyrrha and Nora rested Cinder down somewhere safe, then Pyrrha looked at her only weapon, sighing, but then Cinder held out her hand to Pyrrha's. "Give me… your hand…"

Pyrrha crouched down and held out her hand, then Cinder's eye ignited again, only faintly, and she saw as the sand forged into Obsidian over Pyrrha's handing, forming into a Discus Shield.

Identical to Akouo.

Pyrrha stared at the familiar shield and stood tall, with Ira Red replacing Milo.

Cinder's hand dropped as she wheezed weakly, and Pyrrha nodded at her. "Thank you, Cinder."

Pyrrha turned and stood beside Nora and Ren, her aura recharged enough to fight once again. But now, Thaddeus was in the fight with Salem.

Still bound to her by the curse she corrupted his soul with.

Salem

The Dark Queen roared as she smashed May across the dunes with her sword, then channelled, jumped into the air and caught a bolt of red lightning, forming it into a tuning fork, and slammed it into the ground with all her might. The impact created an enormous explosion which threw everyone across the floor. Weiss skated across her glyphs and slashed Myrtenaster across Salem's chest, spilling black blood across the sand, then Eryka launched herself towards Salem, punching her in the face and drawing her bow, firing three arrows at her. As they landed, she also unleashed a storm of icicles towards her.

Salem took all the hits, then shot forward and punched Eryka against the wall, stamping on her chest, pinning her down. "You are merely a child with those powers, overwhelmed, and with nobody to help you." Salem scoffed.

Winter rammed her sword into Salem's throat, but Salem kicked her in the side and turned, pulling the sword from her neck with ease and tossing it to the floor. She walked down the rocks, then she launched towards them all, spinning across the dunes and slashed her burning blade across the ground, splattering magma everywhere which froze into spikes of obsidian.

As she fought, Ozpin walked towards him, until he felt his hairs stand on end, and he turned, sensing a presence he hoped to never sense again.

Thaddeus was glaring at him, eyes glowing purple in the resurrected body of Jaune.

But Ozpin saw through the face of Jaune…

… he knew exactly who that was.

"Thaddeus…" All of the voices of Ozma gasped in fear.

"Ozymandias…" Thaddeus snarled with hatred. "… you… abandoned me…"

Salem did not attack though, because everyone saw Jaune's body and stared with absolute disbelief and fear. Even Salem froze when she saw him, remembering what Thaddeus did to her family, especially now knowing that it was only him and that Ozma tried to stop him. "It seems even fate cannot free you from this world… what have you done, Salem?" He questioned, staring at her.

"I gave him a fate worse than what he deserved." Salem answered. He then turned to Thaddeus once more and saw how he could not even argue against her.

Whether he believed it or not…

… she was his Queen now.

"And you allowed him to continue to torment even more lives…" Ozpin said, looking at both of them and gripping his weapons tightly. Salem clenched her hand into a fist, but Ozpin couldn't tell if she was staring at him or Thaddeus anymore.

"My Knight…" she said, sounding so conflicted in her heart.

Thaddeus raised his head. "Kill them all." She commanded.

"It will be done." It was like those words were a trigger word to control him. Thaddeus raised his sword and immediately lunged towards Ozpin, and he stopped the sword with his cane, staring back at the face of his former student.

"You dare use such a kind boy's body for such cruel acts?" Ozpin questioned.

"It's what you taught me." Thaddeus snarled.

The battle continued, and Weiss shook off the horrific sight of what Jaune had become, and fired multiple fireballs into Salem's back. But Salem turned, and she slung her own back at Weiss, knocking her down the dunes. Salem looked around and turned to see Ruby grabbing the Relic of Knowledge and running.

"You…" Salem snarled, sprinting towards her, smashing Fiona out of the way. As Ruby ran, Salem suddenly lunged forward and slashed across Ruby's side. Her silver eyes widened, and she dropped to her knees as blood leaked heavily from her side and she dropped the Relic.

"RUBY!" Penny screamed.

"Your resilience to the inevitable has carried you far. But now… you must accept your defeat." Salem stated, picking up the Relic of Knowledge and walking away from her.

Weiss sprinted with Winter, and Eryka flew directly at Salem to stop her, but Salem turned and she fired multiple magical projectiles at them all.

All of which hit them directly and knocked them to the floor.

Pyrrha lifted her head, eyes widening when she saw the Brothers in front of her.

"No… STOP HER!" The Brother of Darkness begged.

But it was too late.

She returned to the relics and placed the Lamp with the two others that rotated around the Sword of Creation. The beam burned her flesh down to the bone, but she did not react. She pulled her hand out, watching as black tar poured over the bones and reconstructed her complexions.

"Brothers?" Pyrrha gasped, not hearing them anymore. Not sensing their eyes watching her. "Oh, no…"

Salem stared at the sky as it darkened and golden lightning crackled above, then suddenly the sky tore open and they saw endless stars and colourful cosmic dust above them. A bright gold and purple beam shot down from the sky towards them, and they saw the golden Wyrm and purple Dragon come crashing towards Salem.

She extended her hand and pulled the Relic of Destruction from the four and she immediately swung at them to kill them instantly, but Pyrrha threw herself into Salem, breaking her aim and causing her to tumble and drop the Sword of Destruction. Her veins were burning and Salem snarled with pain as she felt the power that weapon had.

Pyrrha turned as she heard the crash, and she saw them in their human forms, scrambling away from Salem in fear… like cowards.

Salem stared at them with hate in her eyes.

"It is time for your punishment, Brothers." Salem snarled, picking up the sword.

But Pyrrha stood between her, protecting the Gods.

"Please… you can't do this…" Pyrrha begged. "I know what they did to you. I saw it all… I've had them in my head. You have every reason to want revenge, but if you do this… it won't free you… you'll be trapped… forever… alone…"

Salem glared at the Gods, not even looking at Pyrrha.

"I don't care." Salem answered honestly.

"I won't let you." Pyrrha stated, raising her Obsidian Akoúo and Ira Red.

"Then die with them."

Author Note - The Gods are here... this is it

This was such a fun chapter, showing Thaddeus fight so savagely is fun, and also having Nora and Ren see him was absolutely heartwrenching. Part of me wishes that Yang and Blake didn't get so messed up fighting Adam so they could have a crack in this battle, but Yang was nearly dead so they need to recover XD

I will never tire of writing Salem, she's just so much fun to write.

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

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- Matt