Chapter 3 – The Krastax
Ruby
The Krastax…
They looked even bigger than the last time she saw them, but then again… maybe that might have been down to the fact that they were in their domain. The dark depths of the Cruel Sea, now they had finally made landfall. The one with the spear and the long tentacle arm swung the huge weapon through the docks, breaking entire ships apart with effortless swings. Its huge bony mandibles spread wide as it howled to the sky, burning remains of a ship dangling from its spear.
Team R.W.B.Y stared at the titanic monsters in awe. "Ruby… I know we've done some crazy things… but taking them on? On foot? I dunno…" Weiss softly said as she saw them stare them down.
There were six, all of which had unique appearances. The one at the very front, the one with the long spear and the tentacle for an arm? It was by far the tallest of them, clad in bony white armour. Beside it was another, one which had many long glowing green spines protruding from its back, in three rows, with a set of three long razor-sharp claws attached to both arms, alongside green bioluminescence underneath the black flesh. Another – while shorter – had an almost Shark-Like appearance, with razor sharp fins protruding from its elbows and the back of its knees, on the top of its head and one large sail of bone down its spine.
The other three were also unique, one was around the same height as the Shark-Krastax, but unlike that one it hard arms like a Prey Mantis, with a translucent skull where a glowing blue brain could be seen inside. The other had a massive head, that actually looked like a giant Manta-Ray, with a long black tail and one pincer for a hand on the right side. The last was like a giant Crap, with heavy armour covering most of its body, but it was definitely the slowest of them all. It had two pincer claws on both hands, and they all had the same mandibles.
But all of them were Leviathan-Class and were causing indescribable levels of destruction.
Even with Ozpin's help, there was no way they could fight all six. "We use our size to our advantage, we're small – harder for them to hit. Aim for where they aren't armoured… we need to clear this dock before they cause too much destruction!" Ruby explained as she immediately blasted towards the leader.
It snarled and roared deafeningly at her, its mandibles opened wide and the blast from its roar knocked Ruby out of the air. She transformed into a burst of rose petals and slid across the rooftop of a building. The titan swung around and extended its long tentacle towards her, but Ruby slashed Crescent Rose straight through it, then dashed aside from the huge limb that came crashing down onto the rooftop.
The building fractured, throwing chunks of debris everywhere, then she fired Crescent Rose repeatedly at its face, trying to hit the eye. She gasped and turned as the Blue Krastax charged towards her and slashed its bladed forearms at her repeatedly. They cut clean through the surface of the ground, and Ruby had to quickly dash aside, using her semblance repeatedly to keep ahead of it.
The Krastax were far quicker on land than she was expecting. It drove its arm down into the ground right in front of her. Ruby crashed to the floor and gasped, watching as the horrifying monster roared at her, then went to bring the other down onto her. Yang suddenly blasted forward and threw her cybernetic fist straight into the side of the huge creature's head. Cracks spread across the side of its head, and it stumbled backwards, giving Yang the chance to fire again. She blasted multiple screeching missiles directly into its chest. It was not enough to do enough real damage to the beast, but it was enough to push it back.
The big one smashed the smaller one aside with its claw arm and charged straight at them roaring ballistically. Glynda flicked The Disciplinarian upwards, levitating hundreds of chunks of rubble up into the air, forcefully compacting them together into a spear and launching it straight at the monster. It collided into its arms as it crossed them over, then Ozpin shot forward at impossible speeds.
The clock slowed around him as he drew closer and closer to the monster, then the ground exploded as he blasted towards it and thrusted Mihi Vindicta directly into its face. The sudden impact blew the monster backwards. The Shark Krastax smashed its arm through one of the buildings as it approached, roaring viciously down at them, but Blake swung through the air and fired Gambol Shroud into its eye, giving Weiss a chance when it flinched to fire everything she had into its face. The huge creature roared in pain and was thrown into the water once more. They saw the many dorsal fins cutting cleanly through the water, but that was a mistake.
"Oh crap…" Weiss gasped, watching as the Krastax broke off from the others. It was going after others, attacking one of the evacuation ferries from beneath, dragging it down into the depths of the ocean. The Krastax Leader roared at the others, commanding two of them to leave. The Manta-Krastax and the Mantis-Krastax retreated as well, the Manta dived into the water and joined the Shark in attacking the people trying to escape, whilst the fast Mantis rushed into the city, smashing everything to pieces. It jumped and dug its pincers into the side of a building and ripped the top half of it down with frightening ease.
"No! Damn it…" Blake cried out with fear.
"There's nothing we can do to stop them… but our job has become a lot easier. Glynda and I will focus our efforts on the Eel-Krastax." Ozpin stated, Ruby nodded her head.
"Yeah… yeah… okay." She agreed. "Yang, Blake! Go after the big Crab one. Weiss? Help me with Squiddy." Ruby stated, Weiss nodded and dropped down beside her.
Three Krastax was better than Six.
The Cephalopod-Krastax roared with fury as Ruby and Weiss charged towards it, Weiss casted a line of Glyphs that sped Ruby towards the creature. She launched ahead, firing Explosive Rounds from Crescent Rose at the terrible creature. The small explosions merely annoyed the creature as it slightly from the shots, then Ruby drove her scythe directly into the jaw of the monster. It roared with fury as it stumbled to the side, but it's large glowing red eye glared directly at her. Ruby gasped, then jumped away from the beast as it swung its tentacle at her. She dove down and transformed back into Petals.
"Hey!" Weiss called out, forming multiple Glyphs behind her that slowly spun around, and she blasted fireballs towards the creature. It batted them aside with its Halberd and it slowly walked towards her. Its huge foot caused the ground to crumble beneath it. The Krastax lunged its tentacle towards her, but she slid out of the way, then drove Myrtenaster into the ground. The Arma Gigas rose from the huge Glyph that rotated on the ground, spinning its massive sword through its fingers.
The Giant Cephalopod-Krastax bellowed at the Glowing White Knight which sprinted directly at it. The Tentacle stretched forward, but the Arma Gigas cut it down, severing the entire tentacle clean in two. But just as it got closer and closer, the Krastax swung around and launched its Halberd directly into the chest of the Knight. The Spear crashed into one of the nearby buildings, and destroyed Weiss' summon. But she smirked.
"Now!" Weiss called out, then Ruby burst through one of the destroyed buildings and it turned its gaze just in time to witness Ruby's eye glow brighter. She unleashed her Silver Eyes upon the Krastax, and she was like a beacon the entire city could see. The beast howled in pain, and half of its face had been turned to stone. It staggered and smashed its fist down into the ground, grabbing that side of its face that had become nothing more than cold hard stone.
Ruby landed down beside her best friend. "Nice! That's what I'm talking about." Weiss cheered as she watched the huge creature recovering its strength.
"Alright… we have some time…" Ruby started to analyse the body of the creature from head to toe. "It's Halberd definitely made things difficult, it could still get it back with its tentacle… let's make sure it can't do that. And it looks like they are covered in a lot of armour… we may have to go for fast hit and run attacks to do any kind of damage to it." Ruby explained, Weiss smiled and nodded her head.
"I'm right behind ya." Weiss assured; Ruby smiled.
"Thanks." Ruby smiled back, then they turned back to the titan as it scraped the stone from its face, revealing she had weakened the armour to the point where it was crumbling from that side of its face. The two of them just grinned at each other, then charged towards the titan as it howled furiously at them, its large mandibles stretched wide. The dust and ash scattering the ground was blown away from the sheer power of its roar.
Yang and Blake on the other hand both charged towards the Crab-Krastax, it roared with fury at them and smashed both its claws down into the ground with immense force. The entire dock exploded around them, throwing chunks of concrete high in the air, then the beast bellowed directly at them. The Krastax charged towards them, but Blake threw Gambol Shroud to her partner. Yang caught onto it, then Blake swung her around whilst Yang fired Ember Celica behind her to increase her velocity via recoil.
Then Yang launched forward after moving fast enough, then swung her cybernetic fist directly into the creature's head. The impact created an immense shockwave, cracking some plates of armour around its head, and the titan stumbled into one of the buildings. The huge beast sank into the structure, causing entire floors to crumble around it. The Krastax growled deeply with anger, then reached into the internals of the structure and grabbed onto the large rebar built into the pillars. It ripped them out effortlessly with its massive pincer and threw it directly at Yang.
She gasped, blasting Ember Celica to the side, narrowly missing it, and Blake's shadow was crushed by the huge chunk of rubble. She reappeared in the air, then fired Gambol Shroud's pistol at the creature. Powerful ice rounds froze into its right arm, forcing the claw shut. It growled with anger as it stared at the claw, unable to open the pincers, but it simply smashed its arms together repeatedly, barking savagely. The ice shattered instantly, and it charged towards her. Blake ran towards the creature, throwing Gambol Shroud at it, and the grappling hook caught onto some plates of metal, allowing her to slide aside just in time.
The heavyweight of the six Krastax pummelled the ground where she was stood, then Yang shot herself towards it. Shrieking Missiles burst from her gauntlets and exploded into the side of its armoured head. "Damn it, it has so much armour… can't even make a dent, no matter how hard I hit it." Yang reported as she landed beside Blake.
Blake narrowed her eyes at the creature as it stood tall to face her. It threw its arms back, roaring to the sky with rage. They gasped as a Gunship flew over, firing everything it had into its face, specifically aiming for its eyes. "Don't worry, Team R.W.B.Y, we've got you covered." The pilot assured.
Her bullets shredded into the armour plating, and the Krastax raised its bulky arm up to block them as best it could. It continued to roar at the vehicle as it blasted at it over and over again. The pilot fired missiles into its head, and Yang spotted something. As the missile exploded into the amour, she noticed one missile nailed it between the plates, causing one plate to come loose slightly. "That's it… Blake! Your shadows and my explosive rounds? We aim for the gaps and hit him right up close to the plates, we break off his armour and make a weak spot." Yang explained.
"Pilot! Get out of there, you've helped us figure out a weakness, now save yourself!" Blake begged, speaking through her scroll.
"That's a negative! I'm not leaving you alone to fight these things!" She responded, then the Krastax suddenly lunged forward and closed its claw around the Gunship, crushing it. In a single moment, that brave pilot's life ended in a fireball. It threw what remained of the Gunship into the sea, then turned back to Blake and Yang.
"You'll die for that you bastard!" Yang yelled with rage, the two charged towards the monster as it rushed them as well. Yang shot Ember Celica into the ground, riding the recoil towards it. Her eyes flushed with red rage, fuelled by her anguish of seeing so many good people losing their lives to these evil monsters. The Krastax snapped its massive mandibles at her, but Yang dodged its jaws, then grabbed onto one of the plates. She swiftly blasted remotely detonated shells into the black fleshy membrane the plates were fused onto.
Blake swung herself around and did the same, landing on the other side of its neck. She cast a shadow, using fire dust to turn it into a bomb. They both leapt away and detonated their explosives. The Krastax roared in immense pain as it fell to one knee from the blast. The chunks of thick bony amour their targeted came loose, hanging from burning sinewy muscle.
Blake slashed straight through the black streaks of muscle, cutting straight through them, causing both plates to come crashing down to the ground. Yang jumped up and repetitively pounded her fists into its throat, her arms moved so fast they were a blur, and she fired a shell every single time. Black blood splattered across her arms and across her cheek, and Blake swung towards the creature and cut clean through the side of its neck. She landed on the ground in front of it.
The Krastax growled deeply, then suddenly shook Yang off, and stood tall once more. Black blood leaked from both sides of its neck, but it remained upright, roaring down at them.
"Oh come on… it's gonna take more than this to kill it." Yang panted, wiping the black tar-like blood off her hands.
"We just gotta keep trying! The Docks are our best chance at securing an Evac Zone!" Blake replied, so they both rushed the giant once again.
Ozpin and Glynda both were up against the faster Eel-Krastax. It charged forward on all fours, its razor-sharp claws on its arms stabbed easily into the ground, then it snapped its sharp mandibles repeatedly at them. Glynda rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding its attacks, but Ozpin spun Mihi Vindicta through his fingers, then thrusted the Sceptre forward, blasting a powerful pulse of magical energy straight into its face. It slid back, slicing deep wounds into the ground with its claws.
It stared at them as it paced back and forth, then its mandibles opened wide… and suddenly the head opened wide. Something disgusting erupted out from its throat and through the mouth – it was a long, secondary head. Like a Moray Eel, it lunged forward and snapped its muscular jaws directly at Ozpin. He drove the Sceptre down into the ground, creating a glowing green barrier of magic which protected both himself and Glynda from its cavernous mouth. It bit repeatedly, even trying to swallow the sphere of magical energy.
Then… the ground shattered, ripping the metal from the buildings around him, and Ozpin's Knight Armour formed around his body. The cogs were constructed from thin air, connecting together and his helmet closed around his head, and his eyes glowed bright green.
Suddenly the dome exploded, the powerful green flash threw the Eel-Head backwards, then he took all that channelled energy into the head of the Sceptre, and he pushed forward. A powerful beam of green light shot out from the sharp tip of the weapon and carved straight through the neck of the Eel. It shrieked in immense pain, being beheaded. Black blood sprayed out and the Eel slithered back inside of the Krastax's mouth. The skull closed back together, then the monster stood upright, roaring at them with immense fury. The spines glowed brighter with bioluminescence, then it charged towards them, slashing its claws repeatedly at them.
Ozpin darted aside, taking Glynda with him, and it drove the claws down into the ground where the two of them were stood. "Thanks." Glynda said to her old friend, then she flicked The Disciplinarian upwards, lifting up the chunks of rubble around her, and she formed a spear from it all. The javelin of destruction shot straight through the beast's shoulder. It roared with pain and dug its claw into the side of one of the destroyed buildings.
It hissed, then twisted the claws, and threw huge chunks of debris towards her. Glynda launched bolts of purple energy towards the huge boulders, blowing them to smithereens whilst also rolling aside from the incoming shrapnel. Then she formed a cloud of lightning above its head with her Crop and brought the purple forks of lightning down atop the creature.
The Krastax was hardly even effected by the voltage, then it snarled, driving its claws into the ground. The bioluminescent markings and spines started to pulsate with green light, all the way down its arms and through the spines. Suddenly acidic liquid started spraying up from the ground like Geysers. It melted the broken steel rebar immediately, and dead bodies were melted down to pulp. Glynda wisely retreated from the Eel-Krastax's attack, heading for higher ground.
But the Krastax made one serious error but crouching low… it's head was vulnerable. Time slowed and Ozpin sprinted towards it, then transformed Mihi Vindicta back into its original Mace form, jumping straight at it with the glowing Relic of Knowledge inside, helping grant him his immense power… and knowledge. He erupted through the frozen moment in time, then with both hands he smashed the Mace into the side of its head so hard it created a deafening crack. The shockwave blew waves backwards, and the giant monster crashed down to the ground.
Ozpin held the Relic of Knowledge close… and closed his eyes.
"Show me… find me it's weakness…" He softly said to the stone, then his eyes opened wide, glowing green as the Relic obligated his request. He saw the entire creature's body seem to glow, and it identified the specific weaknesses in its body. The armour plating kept it safe, but it had Acid Sacks across its chest and on both sides of its throat.
The acid will melt the armour…
… heh, perfect.
"Glynda! Aim for it's Acid Sacks! It's the best chance we have!" He called out, before spinning his weapon around. It extended once more into its Sceptre form, then he spun it around and rested it over his right forearm. He blasted a powerful beam of green magical energy and nailed one of them on its chest. The Krastax roared in pain as the sack erupted, spraying glowing green acidic fluid everywhere, and down many plates of armour. The bony white plates quickly began to dissolve and melt.
"Done." Glynda agreed. She sprinted across the broken remnants of the Docks to get a closer shot on the Krastax's weak points. It turned and immediately smashed the bridge she was running across apart. She jumped off and held out The Disciplinarian, using it to pull the chunks of debris across, jumping off them, then she landed on the other side. Then held out the Crop, using it to force all the falling debris together, stopping it from falling on some terrified dockworkers hiding beneath them.
She launched the rubble directly into the creature's sack of acid, bursting it as well. It roared with pain, then stared at her, jumping high in the air and landing right in front of her. Until Ozpin blasted a powerful beam of magic from his Sceptre into its eye, holding it back. The Krastax howled with agony as the hot magic burned across its face, scarring the plates of armour. The spines rattled from side to side as a reaction to the pain it was feeling.
Glynda ran under its legs as it stumbled, then Ozpin blasted a powerful pulse straight into its jaw. The mandible broke slightly, hanging from weak muscle tissue. Ozpin spun his Sceptre through his fingers, then charged towards it. He shot through time and stabbed it repeatedly in one of its Acid Sacks, then as time resumed, all the strikes hit at once. Then he dashed aside from the fountain of corrosive liquid.
Metal railings began to melt and collapse from the power of it. Glynda fired multiple purple bolts up into the neck of the creature, causing the acid to run down its neck and across its arm. It shrieked from the agony and immediately began to retreat.
They turned to see Weiss and Ruby taking on the Cephalopod-Krastax, just as it went to crush Ruby underneath its huge tentacle, she lit up the sky with her Silver Eyes. The beast staggered as stone spread over its body, causing the armour to crumble off with ease. Weiss flew overhead atop a Royal Manticore, blasting icy fire across its body, and then jumping off it as it flew straight into the Krastax's face. The monster recoiled back from the sudden impact, nearly falling into another building.
She formed a massive Glyph beneath her heels, and opened her eyes with determination, using Time Dilation to her advantage. Many Glyphs surrounded the monster, and she darted against all of them, slashing through the weak points all over its body. Slashing open many wounds. After cutting and stabbing it repeatedly, she slid across the ground, then Ruby rushed forward as well. It still got back up and smashed its fist down where she was stood, but only missed due to her dashing aside in a flurry of rose petals. She then drove her Scythe straight into the forearm of the beast and ran up the arm. She roared with rage, cutting a deep wound into its arm.
The Cephalopod-Krastax howled from the immense pain, and then she slashed straight through the side of its face she turned to stone earlier. Black blood erupted from the eye socket, and it staggered backwards, covering its eye with its tentacle. It stared at her with the other as it began to back down.
Blake and Yang also repeated their attacks, dodging the huge claws as it swiped at them, and they used their explosives to break off plate after plate. Blake hooked Gambol Shroud onto one of the heavy plates and dove down, using gravity to rip it clean off from its neck. Black blood was starting to cover the ground from how many times they had been ripping off these plates. The Crab-Krastax repeatedly pummelled the ground as it tried to hit the tiny targets.
Their small size was a bigger advantage than they could have imagined.
Yang launched straight forward at the Krastax's face and fired more missiles right down its throat. The explosion sprayed black blood everywhere, and Yang dropped down, covered in the horrible stuff. She wiped the oily substance from her face, staring up at the giants.
Everyone stood together, and they watched as the three Krastax began to back away from them. "What? You giving up already? Come on!" Yang challenged as she glared at the creature. Ruby narrowed her silver eye at the three of them… and she noticed something.
"Wait… what are they looking at?" She gasped.
A dark shadow flew over their heads…
… a Nevermore.
"Oh shit…" Ruby gasped, noticing the dead bodies on the ground began to decompose extremely quickly, like a time lapse was happening in real time. She heard him swing towards her, so she spun around and just stopped Ferrum Arcus from taking her head off with Crescent Rose.
The Knight of Death stared straight at her, the very one who took her eye all those years ago. "Child of the Wilted Rose… we meet again." Death greeted; Weiss yelled with fury as she shot forward, only for Death to close line her with his Nevermore Wing which sprouted from his smouldering cape. The Three Krastax retreated, diving back into the sea to heal from their wounds. Death stomped down at her head, but Weiss rolled aside, Ruby tried to get free from Death's sword, but he suddenly swung his armoured fist right into her face. The impact threw Ruby across the ground, Crescent Rose clattered beside her.
Weiss yelled with hatred, stabbing at the killer of Neptune hard and fast with Myrtenaster, but he swiftly blocked them all, then grabbed her by the throat and went to stab her once again. Only for Blade to jump over and wrap Gambol Shroud around his neck, pulling him backwards. He reached back and grabbed the ribbon and yanked her forward. She collided directly into Weiss, knocking her from his grasp. Yang swung her Cybernetic Fist towards his head, only for him to catch her with ease, fiery red eyes glaring straight into her red irises.
He kicked her hard in the chest, then turned as Glynda launched multiple shards of debris towards him with the Disciplinarian, only for him to either cut them all down with the sharp sword and block them, then he channelled black lightning across Ferrum Arctus' blade, and blasted a single powerful beam of dark magic into her chest. Glynda grunted, crashing into the wall so hard it sent cracks up it. Her aura held up against the impact though.
He turned as time slowed around him – being the only Knight to not be affected by the Time Semblance – and he slammed his sword against Mihi Vindicta. He stared straight into Ozpin's glowing Green Eyes. "Ah… there you are, Knight of Vengeance." Death greeted.
"Vengeance died a long time ago." Ozpin assured; Death swung his helmeted head straight into Ozpin's. The Headmaster immediately blasted a beam of magic straight towards him, only for Death to refract it through multiple buildings and send it right back at him, but Ozpin darted aside just in time. He charged towards Death and thrusted his Sceptre towards his helmet, but Death caught the weapon in one hand after driving Ferrum Arctus into the ground, and then caught Ozpin by the throat with the two prongs that extended over his left fist.
He smashed him against the ground with immense force, then left him there, walking back to his sword. He then sheathed the weapon over his back and turned to Ruby. He opened his palm, forming the same Obsidian Bow he tool her eye with. The arrow formed with a haunting howling sound, then he loosed it towards her face. Only for Ruby to spiral Crescent Rose, shattering the arrow.
"Not this time." Ruby snarled.
Weiss stood beside her best friend, staring the Knight of Death down. Then tears streamed down her eyes, and she turned to the waves that crashed against the docks. Stood atop the destroyed Lighthouse was Loss – Starla Schnee. Her Veil covered her face, but her glowing blue eyes looked down upon them.
She dropped down and crushed a car beneath her and approached with her Cursed Bow - Arcus Autem Trisitia – in her hand. "Starla…"
"I'm sorry… I… can't…" Starla strained, trying to fight the curse that controlled her physical form, but no matter how hard she tried she still nocked and drew her bow.
Ruby turned and glared at Death, who pointed Ferrum Arctus at her, clenching his other hand into a fist.
"Somehow I liked our odds more against the Krastax." Yang scoffed.
Kassius
The Lord of the Wood immediately launched its arm forward, roots continuously extended and slammed its fist straight into Kassius' chest. He grunted and tumbled backwards, and as soon as he got up, the huge Leshen grabbed him by the chest with its large hand. The sound of Crows and Ravens cawing endlessly surrounded him as the Higher Demon lifted him and went to drive its sharp fingers right through his gut.
Until Hyde leapt out from Kassius' body and grabbed the Leshen by its only horn, smashing it down into the ground. Hyde tumbled across the ground, then the Lord of the Wood growled, transforming its arm into the blade of an Axe, and it launched it straight at him, connected by roots and vines. Hyde grunted as the axe dug into his shoulder, and the Demon threw him into one of the few standing Colonnades.
Kassius fired Vulcan Nox into the side of the Lord's head, barely even effecting the tall monster, but he sprinted forward and precisely launched one of his Lash Equinox swords directly into the shoulder of the entity. He then jumped and flipped over the Lord of the Wood as it slashed its sharp claws at him, but then caught onto the hilt of his lodged sword, and using his descent, cut clean through the arm. The whole arm broke off, then he jumped forward and drove both swords into the Lord's chest. The Higher Demon staggered backwards and went to grab him with its only hand. Kassius jumped off and landed on both feet, connecting the two swords together into its spear form.
The Lord of the Wood took a swipe at him, but he narrowly ducked under, then spun around, slashing the extended double-ended spear across the Stag Skull. He drove it into the back of its knee, then jumped up behind it to ram the spear straight through the back of its skull. He was very close to nailing the hit, but he did not notice the Lord of the Wood's flock of Corvid Birds blasting towards him. The impact knocked him across the floor, and he drove the spear down into the ground, firing Vulcan Nox at the Higher Demon.
But he watched as the Lord of the Wood used this time to regrow its lost arm, and it turned to glare at him. Kassius gritted his teeth as he glared right back, then he charged forward, and slid underneath its legs as he punched down at him, just missing and hitting the ground. Then as he went to ram his sword up the Lord's jaw, it caught him by his forearm, then threw him across the courtyard.
It turned as Oscar suddenly shot forward, punching it with all his might. The impact sent cracks spreading across its face. Oscar slid across the ground, stopping by the Fountain, then transformed his sword into his dual pistols, firing them repeatedly at the Lord. He was using burning rounds on it, and they were quickly igniting the bark and leaves. The Lord of the Wood growled with fury, then unleashed a haunting roar, before it suddenly sprinted towards him.
It grabbed Oscar by the throat and pummelled him repeatedly into the ground, before throwing him up in the air. He came crashing down and bounced across the ground, his green aura flickered from the hard impact. The Lord of the Wood then extinguished the flames with its Crows and Ravens, having them smother its body and sucking the oxygen out, snuffing the flames.
Oscar connected the two guns together, allowing them to transform back into sword form, and he charged forward with Penny flying alongside him. The Lord of the Wood batted Oscar away, but Penny successfully uppercutted the Demon. Her fast punch knocked the Leshen off its feet, it slowly got back up whilst Penny banked around the tower to attack once again. She charged up her laser as she approached, then fired. The Lord of the Wood formed a shield of wood, raising it up and blocking her beam of energy, but the sheer force of the laser was still pushing it across the ground.
It stared past the shield at her, forming a spear of wood, then slingshot it towards her with its roots. She gasped and just dodged it, then dove down in front of it, immediately slashing Floating Array across its arm as it swung the shield it formed at her. Her blades had little effect against the wood that covered its body, but the shield knocked her backwards a few steps. It then thrusted forward, slashing its claws across her aura fast and hard, before kicking her in the chest.
Penny channelled dust through her veins, switching to Gravity Dust, her veins glowed purple, and she raised the chunks of rock behind her where the Colonnades had collapsed, and launched one of the Pillars towards the Lord of the Wood. It held up its hands and stopped it, being pushed back a few feet by the initial impact. Penny's eyes glowed purple as she used the dust, gritting her teeth as she crushed it, then switched to Fire, turning the dust to magma. The lava poured over the right side of the Lord's head, and it roared in immense rage as it stumbled away.
The lava dripped off and left permanent scarring across the skull as it stared at her, also burning and charring the wood in places. It suddenly extended its arm and grabbed Penny, yanking her forward and it caught her by the face with its other hand, smashing her down into the ground. It then grabbed her by her orange hair, staring straight into her eyes with a deep and dark snarl, about to rip her head from her shoulders.
"Hey, Tree." It turned and stared with an infuriated growl, to see Cinder stood behind it. "Hands off."
She immediately fired all the elements directly into the Lord of the Wood, so much power it sent the Demon crashing straight through the tower. The civilians inside the school heading to the Vault screamed as the huge Leshen crashed into the wall. It glared at them and immediately went to attack, until Cinder flew straight into the side of it, punching the burnt side of its head into the wall. It grunted, then she grabbed onto it and dragged it outside, before blasting a fireball into its chest.
It tumbled across the ground, digging its claws into the ground to steady itself.
Nearby, Team C.F.V.Y were working together to keep the Grimm from getting inside the Courtyard, whilst everyone else was keeping the Lord of the Wood occupied. Coco relentlessly continued to fire Gianduja into the Grimm, keeping them off the fleeing civilians, shredding the Grimm to ribbons.
Cinder swung her fist towards the Lord of the Wood's face, but it caught her and punched her right back. She blasted fire from her hands and then formed two obsidian swords, throwing one of them towards the Higher Demon. It exploded into a fireball as soon as it made contact, then the Fall Maiden thrusted forward and slashed across his body. She then fired multiple icicles towards the Leshen, however it stomped down, and massive roots ripped the concrete from the ground, using it to block her projectiles, then throwing the chunks towards her.
She ducked under one and cut the other clean in two, then roared towards it. She slid past its blade of wood it swung at her, cutting through one leg and forcing it down to one knee, and she rammed the blade straight through its neck. The Lord of the Wood growled with rage, then extended its arm towards her and smashed her into the ground over and over again, then it threw her aside as it regrew its leg. It grabbed the Glass Sword and crushed it with ease, rising upright once more.
Qrow and Emerald ran to Cinder's aid. Qrow helped her back up with Harbinger in his grasp, and Kassius sprinted over with Sun, Oscar and Penny. "This bastard is unpredictable, trust me. It can take so many hits, and then deal ten times worse for us. Do not think for a second, we have the upper hand… The Lord of the Wood never broadcasts its full power." Kassius warned.
"Oh I remember, we've fought this bastard one too many times." Qrow stated as the Lord of the Wood started to stand tall once more, staring them down as the Corvid Birds descended from thin air. But as they prepared to attack as one… they heard something that chilled their bones.
Blood curdling screams from the civilians in the Academy heading to the Vault, and a roar… a roar unlike anything they had ever heard before.
"What the hell was that?" Sun gasped with wide eyes.
"I have no clue…" Kassius stammered, then he looked at Qrow. He looked back and saw C.F.V.Y were still holding the Grimm off, keeping the Courtyard secure and keeping a clear path for the civilians to get there.
"If there's a Grimm in there, we can't leave it there to kill the civilians. Kassius, take a team and go take care of it. Whoever stays with me will help take the Lord of the Wood down." Qrow assured, spinning Harbinger through his fingers.
"I'm with ya." Oscar assured.
"Sure, count me in." Sun agreed.
"Me too!" Penny squeaked with a cute salute.
"Alright, Cinder and Emerald? You're with me." Qrow said to the two of them and they nodded. "Kas! Go!"
Kassius ran with his team and headed straight for the Academy. The Lord of the Wood watched them run, then its leg fully repaired itself… but it just turned back to its three opponents. "You ready?" Qrow asked them.
"Hell yeah." Emerald assured as she spun Silent Judgement through her fingers, and Cinder formed two Obsidian Swords. Qrow transformed Harbinger into Scythe form, glaring at the powerful Leshen.
"That's what I like to hear." Qrow chuckled, then the three sprinted straight at the Higher Demon.
Kassius, Oscar, Penny and Sun sprinted through, hearing the screams of the innocents running away from whatever was in here. They saw a savagely ripped up corpse, blood everywhere. Then they saw another civilian be thrown down the hallway, smashing his head into the wall so hard it killed him instantly from breaking his neck. Another ran… and that's when they saw it as it pounced him.
It clamped its jaws down on his head and squeezed so hard his head burst, claret went everywhere. It was large… looked kinda like some kind of wolf, or a Hellhound, although unlike Hellhounds there were no flames covering its body. This was no Beowulf, far larger… and it looked like the body was made of some kind of liquid… almost like the Tar Pits. It turned slowly as it licked its lips, tasting the fresh blood in its jagged teeth.
It snarled viciously as it stared them down, bones snapping into position, its legs and arms extended, and even the torso transformed too… and it went from a Quadrupedal Stance into a Bipedal one. It was far larger now, and had no eyes at all, with one pointed ear and one smaller one.
"What the hell is that?" Kassius gasped with wide eyes.
"Whatever that Hound is… we gotta take it down." Sun stated as he spun Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers, gritting his teeth.
Hound…
… yeah… that definitely fits…
The Hound viciously growled again, then it suddenly roared at them, before charging towards them, and attacking.
This was no ordinary Grimm…
… the Charred Forest was unleashing horror after horror. And it didn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Author Note - The Hound is here!
Believe it or not I wasn't initially gonna add the Hound until the episode "Dark" from V8, that was the moment I absolutely adored the thing. So I couldn't resist. So it is gonna be really fun to have these guys fight it, especially having Kassius face it.
It was very fun to write the Krastax again, and expect to see them again in this Act, those big bastards are gonna be some heavy hitters. Gonna have some huge fights with them. Fun fact, if anyone grew up with Bionicle and remembers the Barraki? That is what inspired the Krastax, they were always one of my favourite Bionicle Characters. They were so cool XD
I also just wanna say that my favourite part of this whole chapter was Death's entrance. God I have missed writing the Knights of Grimm themselves, they are so fun to write in combat. Especially Death, he's just so cool XD And of course we have Loss here... and I always feel so bad whenever I write her because she does not want to do any of this but physically cannot control her body because of the curse :(
And of course, the Lord of the Wood. Another character I love writing, bastard is just such a tank, and can be so unpredictable.
Sorry this chapter took a while to come out, last week was just rough XD BUT ALAS I managed to complete it today! Very happy I did too, been wanting to write it for ages, was just too ill all weak to actually do so XD
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite! Lemme know what you thought!
Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Hound
- Matt