Chapter 8 – Vale Has Fallen…

Ruby

Five minutes…

That's all we have until we get out of here…

She lost sight of Vir Nominis Umbra when the horde of Grimm came charging down the ruins of the City of Vale. Smoke littered with embers filled the air, and the air itself was getting hotter and hotter. Fires raged in the city and they were getting closer and closer. Ruby saw some of those infernos were burning so high she could see them rising higher than some buildings, polluting the air with the taste of death.

Civilians who hadn't made it to the Vault were desperately trying to escape now. They even saw some foolishly leaping into the water, only to be ripped apart by the Grimm waiting for them. Others were jumping onto the sides of Airships that were trying to simply get civilians out of the city itself so they could at least try their luck out in the wilds. Ruby turned her eye away from the horrors being caused all around her, focusing instead on the Grimm Horde that was coming for them.

The ground erupted as a Deathstalker emerged, snapping its sharp pincers repeatedly as it walked towards them. It shrieked viciously at them, but Qrow rushed forward and slashed Harbinger straight through the beast's tail. The glowing gold stinger crashed down onto the ground as he landed, sliding across the washing waves. One of the destroyed buildings shattered again, throwing debris everywhere, and a large pack of Grimm came tumbling down the hill towards them.

"To the left!" Yatsuhashi called out, only for Coco to fly overhead, eyes burning white flames.

"I got em!" she yelled, blasting ice from her palms. Two beams of icy cold air collided into the swarm of fury. Their bodies hardened to stone, Creeps and Beowulves roared in anger before they were silenced by the ice that hardened them solid. She then dove and smashed her fist down into the ground, the impact and shock wave blew them all to pieces, then she swung Gianduja in its Handbag Form around, breaking the jaw off an Alpha Beowulf.

Despite losing its jaw, it still roared and swiped its claws at her, but she raised her arm, stopping its attack in its tracks, then she swung upwards onto the roof of its mouth. It flipped through the air before it crashed back down; it tried to lift its head only for Coco to smash its skull down into the floor with all her might, ending the beast in one attack.

Qrow punched a Thrall in the face, knocking it back a few paces, then he rushed forward and drove the sword of Harbinger straight through its torso. He fired his shotgun, killing another charging Thrall behind it. The shell fragments splattered its soft skull across the wall behind it. He turned around as a pack of Beowulves sprinted on all fours towards him, foaming viciously at the mouth for a taste of his blood.

He twisted the blade of his sword and ripped it out, throwing it into two Beowulves, skewering them against the wall of the building next to them. The two Beowulves groaned in pain before finally dying. He slid underneath the incoming paw of the other, and he grabbed onto its heel, yanking it over. As it crashed down, he punched another in the face so hard it cracked the white bone armour. He kicked the one he tripped over in the face, then rolled across the shoulders of the one he had punched.

As he landed, he withdrew his sword from the wall that had the two Beowulves impaled, and he cut clean through its neck, killing the penultimate Beowulf. He stared ahead as the next came sprinting towards him, but he effortlessly stepped aside and let his Bad Luck Charm do the rest, causing that Beowulf to impale its skull through a piece of rebar sticking out from the ground.

Qrow just smirked, chuckling slightly as he cracked his neck. "Yep, still got it old man."

He turned as Ruby blasted forward, slicing Crescent Rose straight through the legs of an Ursa, cutting them clean off. The enormous beast groaned in pain as it toppled over onto the ground with a heavy thud. It roared in rage as it still tried to attack Ruby, swiping its paw at her, but she rammed the barrel of her rifle down its throat and pulled the trigger. A Thrall rushed her, but she kicked it in the leg so hard that the knee snapped. She raised her flexible leg up and yanked her knife free from it, and jammed the blade directly into the Thrall's temple. The Thrall's screaming silenced instantly, and it burst into smoke, bones dropping onto the floor. She ducked down as a Beowulf slashed its claws at her, and she stabbed it up the armpits to disable the arms, before she drove the knife up into its throat.

She rolled past it, slitting its throat open and immediately grabbing onto Crescent Rose. She ripped it from the floor and twirled around, cutting directly through a Beringel's torso in one hard strike. She dropped to one knee, panting as she felt her aura dwindle from all the non-stop fighting she had been doing. Qrow held her shoulder and pulled Ruby back. "C'mon, Kiddo! We just need to hold them off!" Qrow called out as more Grimm of all forms erupted from the ground and even descended from the sky.

Velvet gritted her teeth and covered Ruby, forming Trishula and aiming down the sights. She fired precision bolts of hardlight bullets up into the Grimm that came for them. She headshot a Griffin out of the air, sending the creature slamming down into the ground nearby. She backed up, firing shot after shot at the airborne creatures that were attacking them relentlessly. A Manticore crashed down into the ground after she clipped its wing, but the monster was still breathing.

It roared viciously at her, teeth dripping with flames as it formed a fireball. It blasted one towards her, but she suddenly formed Jaune's shield in her over hand, absorbing the incoming fireball's damage. She stared through the hardlight dust and gritted her teeth, before transforming Trishula into Trident Form, throwing it right into its eyes. The Manticore collapsed, then she backed up slowly to keep the Grimm back, shooting her replicants of Stormflower at the Grimm.

Ruby got herself in position, and rested her rifle down on some rubble, saving her strength to use simply the bullets she had left. Thralls were throwing them at their prey, jumping off buildings to try and stop them from getting any closer to escaping. More Grimm were appearing on Rooftops as well.

Spikers, the Creatures of Grimm that had a mammalian looking body but were covered in long quills like a Porcupine, and they launched them from their bodies like bullets. Three of them were atop the roof of a crumbling building, firing quill after quill at them. Yang gritted her teeth in anger at them as they repeatedly shot those sharp spear-like quills down at them, but she noticed a weakness in their position. The supports were barely holding on. In fact, the building was nearly collapsed already – all it would take is a well-placed shot.

Yang jumped out and fired a missile directly inside the house, taking Quill to the chest. She grunted and crashed to the ground; the impact made her aura crackle and burst – finishing her strength off. Blake rushed to her side and dragged her back behind cover. The building, however, collapsed, burying the Grimm in a new pit.

During their battle, a King Wyvern flew overhead, screeching as it blasted a pillar of fire down into the streets ahead of them, and they could hear blood-curdling screams of people cooking alive in them. Ruby felt her hairs stand on end when she heard that sound. Teryxes flew between buildings. One of them clambered across the side of one as it came crashing down before diving to where they were. It opened its wings and roared at them, channelling fire up its gullet.

"Look out below!" They heard a call from above, and the Airship that had Team K.O.P.S and J.N.P.R and Neo inside flew overhead. Junior smirked as he fired his missile from the side of the vehicle down at the Grimm. With Team J.N.P.R spent, Neo and K.O.P.S opted to aid them in the battle. Penny flew out first and she soared across the battlefield. She slid across the ground as Junior's rocket exploded into the roaring Teryx's face, killing it instantly.

Kassius patted Junior on the shoulder. "Get J.N.P.R to the Drift of Wandering Star! We'll hold the Grimm off!" Kassius ordered.

"You got it!" Junior agreed. He and Neo nodded at each other and both jumped from the ship. She gently floated down and landed beside Emerald, who smirked at her.

"I missed fighting with you, Neo." Emerald chuckled. Neo smiled and she tilted Roman's hat at her with a wink, then they both charged towards the incoming Grimm. A Nuckelavee reared up and roared devilishly, before charging towards them. Emerald slid underneath its hooves and threw her chains, wrapping them around the Equine Beast's limbs. She tightened them and the horse collapsed to the ground, then Neo flipped overhead with a grin of her own.

She dove and blasted a shell straight through the head of the horse, and as she landed on the creature, she stabbed Hush right through the shrieking Imp's mouth. Emerald shot past Neo to protect her from a Creep that erupted from the ground behind her. Emerald turned her gaze to the charging Ursa Major that had its glowing red eyes on her. She stood her ground, spinning her chained Sickle around as it got closer and closer. Then she flipped backwards and fired multiple shots at the creature.

It swung repeatedly at her with its paws, caws cutting cleaning through the air, but Emerald then jumped and flipped backwards. She landed perfectly on both feet after kicking it up the jaw with both feet, then she dashed forward, holding the chains of her Sickles. She cut clean through its body three times in a green blur, leaving its mangled remains behind her to burn up into smoke.

They could hear the berserk bellow of Yatsuhashi a mile away as he grabbed a Thrall by the throat and smashed it into the floor. He kicked a Beowulf in the ribs to force it back whilst Cinder flew overhead and blasted lightning down from the sky, killing the beast instantly. Yatsuhashi cut Grimm after Grimm down with Fulcrum. Despite its immense size, it never seemed to slow him down.

He grunted as another Spiker fired a Quill at him, hitting him in the shoulder. Sparks flew as it snapped off his armour and the impact tumbled him back. But he still landed on both feet, and he deflected the next blow, sending it right back into the Spiker's face. Yang fired repeated shots from cover and dove, turning to see Kassius sliding to her side. "Hi!" Kassius greeted.

"Hi!" she panted right back.

"Thought you guys could use a hand." He said, and she nodded.

"Yeah… well… we got a big problem." Yang warned.

"Worse than the massive horde of Grimm?" He asked her.

"Yeah – Umbra's here. We saw him arrive down the street, he'll be here any second. I'm surprised he isn't here yet." Yang explained. Kassius peered over the wall they were hiding behind, and he was still nowhere to be seen.

"Planning something, no doubt. Alright just stay down, okay? I can't lose you." Kassius told her. She sighed and reloaded Ember Celica.

"I'll help lay down covering fire. But I'm not leaving any of you without help." Yang stated, as stubborn as ever. Kassius sighed, but kissed her lovingly before he vaulted over the wall. He cut the head of a Creep clean in half with Lash Equinox then punched a Thrall's head into the wall so hard the skull burst like it was made of glass. Black blood smothered his steel fist, but he kept walking forward. He looked up as Penny flew overhead with Cinder beside her.

Cinder hovered in the air, drawing her Obsidian Bow, firing an arrow into the eye of a Nevermore that was soaring directly towards her. She dashed aside and her eyes burnt bright as she brought bolts of lightning crashing down from the sky, decimating the Grimm. The lightning ignited the fuel line underneath the tarmac, causing a massive explosion which wiped out many Grimm.

Then her eyes widened to what she saw – there was a Reality Split there, and that explosion seemed to cause it to collapse. "That's it!" Cinder laughed. "GUYS!"

Everyone looked up at the Fall Maiden just in time to see a red bolt of energy blast into her from the side. She yelped in pain and plummeted down towards the ground until Penny caught her. Cinder's aura was hardly at full strength after fighting the Lord of the Wood, but that bolt just broke it again.

Everyone turned to where that red bolt came from, and they saw him walk straight through the fire like it was not even there. He chuckled sinisterly, eyes glowing bright red as he held his hands together. "I was hoping we would get to have some fun." Vir Nominis Umbra chuckled sinisterly. Penny got Cinder to go whilst a group of Brave Warriors stood their ground against the artist of the apocalypse.

Kassius, Penny, Sun, Qrow and Coco, whilst everyone else held off the Grimm together. Ruby shot repeatedly as they all stared Vir Nominis Umbra down. "We will stop you." Qrow promised, pointing Harbinger at him, but he just laughed at his words.

"I cannot count how many folks have repeated those same words to me." He snarled, opening his palms and extending a pair of swords from thin air. His eyes shone bright red, and he suddenly shot forward, slashing them both at Qrow. He deflected them, but Umbra was so much faster, striking so hard and fast that he just could not block all of them. Then Umbra swung around and smashed a wing of pure darkness that sprouted from his back into his chest. Qrow grunted, crashing into the wall.

Kassius roared with rage, throwing one of his swords directly into Umbra's chest, causing the Soothsayer to stagger back a step. He jumped up and went to cut his head clean off, and he drove the blade deep into his neck. Umbra fell to one knee and just smirked at him, grabbing Kassius by the throat and effortlessly lifting him off the floor. He launched him down into the ground so hard that his aura immediately flickered and the concrete shattered.

Umbra ripped both swords from his body and he went to stab Kassius in the chest with them, only for Penny to fire a powerful beam of green energy directly into him. He released Kassius' weapons as Penny hovered before the Dark Entity, firing repeatedly at him with her teeth gritted together. "LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!" Penny yelled with fury, only for him to launch one of his blades through the beam at her. She gasped, and it knocked her out of the air momentarily.

His hand suddenly extended, the false human skin turned jet black and covered in smoke as he grabbed her by the throat. He smashed her into the side of a car and then threw her across the water. She skipped across the surface, then blasted everything her thrusters had, and sent herself rocketing right back at him. She immediately swung her fist into his face, and he growled in anger at her. He formed a pair of blades – not even swords, just the blades – and he launched them with the flick of his wrists at her. She batted them aside with Floating Array. Then he held his hand out, lifting Penny off the ground and pulling her into his grasp, squeezing her throat.

"Your defiance has been a delight to watch… but now it must end. Your universe has had its time, now it is over."

Sun and Coco both made their attacks simultaneously. Sun slammed his hands together and formed his Via Suns. The golden replicas of himself all rushed towards Umbra and grabbed onto his arms, holding Umbra down and forcing him to release Penny. He just laughed at their efforts. Then Coco gritted her teeth and aimed Gianduja at him, firing all cylinders at him. The bullets shredded into his body and she roared with rage as she continuously fired on him.

Then she ran out of ammo… and he was completely unharmed.

He laughed softly at her. "Like I said… admirable… but mistaken." Umbra said. Suddenly, his eyes shone bright red, and he created a powerful pulse of red energy. The rubble burned to ash and Sun screamed in pain as the flames burned away his aura and knocked him onto the floor.

"SUN!" Blake shrieked, sprinting to his aid. He looked at Blake and conjured a spear of darkness to launch at Blake to kill her.

"BLAKE! NO!" Sun screamed, until Oscar Pine suddenly blasted through time and swung his fist directly into Umbra's face, the speed of which finally sent Umbra flying back quite a distance. Umbra slammed both feet into the ground, and Oscar raised both guns. "Blake, Sun, get the hell back." Oscar commanded as Ozpin suddenly appeared beside him, and Kassius got back up as well, gritting his teeth.

Vir Nominis Umbra laughed as he saw the two of them. "Well, well… the Final Travellers side by side. What a sight to behold." He chuckled.

"I swear… this will be the final universe you destroy. I promise you that." Oscar growled, he just continued to smirk at them.

"Prove it." He challenged. Oscar slowed time and blasted forward, only for Umbra to catch his fist. He raised his brow and punched Oscar right back in the gut. He rolled across the floor, then immediately fired both pistols at him. Vir Nominis Umbra raised chunks of rubble from the ground with his telekinesis, blocking every shot. Kassius slid behind him and sliced across the back of his legs, but he did not even drop to his knees. His blades had literally no effect on him.

"Fuck it." Kassius sighed, ripping Hyde from his aura and launching the Demon directly at Umbra. Hyde roared savagely as he slammed into Vir Nominis Umbra. He took a few steps and stared at him.

"The runt of the litter comes crawling back." Umbra hissed.

"I am no child of yours." Hyde growled back, and he shot forward and punched Vir Nominis Umbra in the face, creating a shock wave so powerful it caused the floor to shake. He took his burning cane and smashed it across the Dark Deity's head. He then blasted a firebolt from his hand that exploded into his chest. Vir Nominis Umbra took a few steps back and Kassius suddenly jumped over Hyde and roared with fury, driving Lash Equinox in its Spear form, straight through Umbra's eye.

Vir Nominis Umbra growled in pain from that one, falling to one knee as he forced it all the way through and out the other end. But even then, all that seemed to do was piss him off. He grabbed the spear and gritted his teeth. Still getting back up, Kassius couldn't help but look shocked at how he was still standing from such a hit. Nothing should be able to survive that…

He knew how powerful Umbra was, and that conventional methods would never work… but it never ceased to terrify whenever they saw just how powerful he really was.

"How long before you children realise? Your efforts are completely meaningless!" He roared, ripping the spear out and punching Kassius in the face, breaking his aura in one swing. He then threw the Spear right at him and it stabbed straight through his arm. Kassius barked in pain as it pinned him to the wall.

"Fuck!" Kassius yelled out, grabbing the spear where blood was oozing from his wound.

Umbra walked towards him, and he saw parts of his actual face and form appear. His mouth on one side was like a grin filled with razor-sharp teeth and one eye was glowing bright red. His hand's fingers elongated and sharpened into claws as he walked towards him. The growl he made was more horrifying than any Grimm they had ever heard. Black liquid oozed from his teeth as he approached.

"Kass!" Yang screamed, but Qrow fired his shotgun into the side of Umbra's head, then Ozpin rushed forward and smashed his Mace across Umbra's face. He roared as he staggered back from the incoming blows, then he extended the Mace back into Sceptre Form. He spun it around, slashing Umbra across the face so bad his jaw hung loose by sinew, then he rested his weapon across his shoulders and fired a powerful bolt of magic into his chest, blowing him into the building behind him.

Qrow immediately rushed to Kassius and helped pull his weapon from his shoulder, and he gasped from the pain. "We gotta get back, the bastard is just fucking with us." Qrow said.

"Yeah? Could've fooled me." Kassius panted. They all backed up with Ozpin, who kept his eyes on the building where Umbra was blown into. Then there was a tremendous blast of red energy from within, and he shattered all the windows, walking out of there. His jaw snapped back into position, and he smirked evilly as he walked up the steps.

"Brave! Brave of you to challenge me, Oz…" Vir Nominis Umbra yelled as he approached, walking onto the tarmac where they had been fighting. Fire raged all around them, and Ozpin looked at Mihi Vindicta, which had the Relic of Knowledge stored within it. "You know what's in that fancy stick… and you know I will have them all before the next few days are out. Including yours… there is nowhere you can run where I cannot find you." Vir Nominis Umbra snarled.

Ozpin listened to his words, because there was truth there.

He knew that all too well – Vir Nominis Umbra never lied.

"How many more people must suffer before you wake up?" Vir Nominis Umbra questioned, looking like they had not just fought him at all. At full strength no matter what – that was what scared them most.

No matter how much they threw at him, no matter how badly they hurt his physical body – it would never be enough.

Not until they found out how to kill him.

"I will burn this entire planet to ash, torment every living thing… becoming stronger and stronger as every tear is shed. As every child cries. As every soul perishes. Nothing will stop me. Nothing." Vir Nominis Umbra explained, his hands held out.

Then Ozpin looked down at his scroll.

A Message from Ortega chimed in.

DANGER CLOSE

A small smile formed on Ozpin's face and he backed up closer to his friends, gripping Mihi Vindicta close – and he had one thing to say to Vir Nominis Umbra as a response.

"That's where you're wrong – nothing has stopped you… yet." Ozpin corrected.

Suddenly, the Drift of Wandering Star banked around a building with a deafening shriek from its powerful engines. "THE CALVARY HAS ARRIVED!" Ortega cheered, and the huge Dreadnaught fired all the Broadsides, one directly into Umbra and the rest wiped out the rest of the Grimm forces that were attacking the others. The massive shells destroyed the landscape, burning the Grimm to ash. Umba just chuckled – genuinely impressed – as all the shells directly hit him and sent him flying into the streets of Vale, disappearing momentarily.

The Drift of Wandering Star soared around, hovering over the water towards the Docks which were finally clear. The Hanger Bay opened up and the Huge Dreadnaught just got low enough for them to get aboard. "C'mon!" Ruby called out. She and everyone sprinted to the immense vessel and jumped aboard one by one, with Team J.N.P.R already aboard, thanks to Junior.

Kassius and Sun both got aboard despite their injuries. Locke still pressed his hand against his bleeding shoulder. And Hyde connected back into his aura. Everyone safely got aboard, but Ruby looked back and saw both Ozpin and Glynda stood there. "Ruby…" Ozpin softly said, looking back at where Vir Nominis Umbra was standing.

"Come on!" Ruby called to him. He looked at the flames and listened to the screams.

He hated to change the plan… but he had to.

"I can't go with you." Ozpin revealed, Ruby's eye widened.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ruby questioned.

"Umbra was right, Ruby. I cannot risk going with you, not with this. It will be like a magnet, and our chances at safely getting all the Relics to the Embered Grove. Hell… getting at least one in there will be a victory. So long as he cannot erase our Universe with them." Ozpin explained.

"No! We can't do this without you!" Ruby argued.

"Look around you, Ruby. You have to do this. You need to get as many Relics into the Embered Grove as you can. But even if you learn how to kill him, Vir Nominis Umbra will not make it easy to deliver the killing blow. And to do that, we need backup – reinforcements. Anything. I can go to the cities and kingdoms. Save as many as I can. Give us some kind of retaliation against him." Ozpin explained.

Ruby just closed her eye and clenched her fist. "Go to Atlas, find Jacques. Convince the bastard to give the Relic to you if you can." Ozpin stated.

"The old bastard won't listen!" Weiss argued.

"Then if he doesn't, then do whatever it takes! Put him down if you must. Just get that Relic out of Atlas." Ozpin ordered. Ruby looked at Glynda and she just sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I agree with him. We need help if we're gonna win this." Glynda explained.

"Now go! Before we're out of time!" Ozpin ordered, Ruby lowered her head. And it hurt because she knew he was right. "You know what you have to do… you always have."

"I won't fail you, Professor. I will get as many Relics in the Embered Grove as I can! And I will… find out how to kill him. Whatever it takes." Ruby promised, and he nodded.

"Whatever it takes." Ozpin repeated.

"Good luck, Professor." Ruby said.

"You too, Miss Rose." Ozpin parted.

It was like everything became quiet for Ruby as she watched both Ozpin and Glynda take their leave, running off from them as the Drift of Wandering Star ascended into the sky. Team R.W.B.Y stood together and watched with Jaune as they saw civilians waiting for airships to pick them up. There were so many people who didn't make it into the Vault, families… children…

They watched as they desperately tried to get aboard the Airship, only to see a Leviathan barging through a building, roaring savagely at them. They watched helplessly as the civilians scrambled aboard the Airship. The Leviathan growled as it watched them leave, then it blasted a beam of golden electricity at them, blowing the Airship out of the sky and sending it crashing into the sea.

They all looked away in horror, knowing there were innocent children aboard that airship.

But Ruby stared past the flames, and down the docks where Ozpin and Glynda were standing.

They were gone, and in their place was Vir Nominis Umbra.

He stood amongst the flames as they surrounded him, and they both glared at each other as they grew further and further apart from one another. Ruby gripped Crescent Rose tightly, scowling at him as he turned and walked away, just as the Hanger door closed. Vir Nominis Umbra smirked and held his hands behind his back as he walked away, through the chaos of the Shivering Dominion.

The Drift of Wandering Star ascended into the sky, just as Reapers came down, burning the entire city to embers with all the other Grimm. Once a city of beauty was now a burning hell hole, and a mass grave for millions.

A Reaper roared as it coiled its body around the body of Beacon Tower, crushing it and sending it crashing down into the school. The Vault was safe from any damage, but the school was being razed down to the ground once again. The Reapers and Wyverns blasted fire down into the courtyard, burying the beautiful place in ashes.

Evaporating the water in the fountain and destroying the statue that stood tall for so many years.

The very streets they used to walk, where they first met Penny and Sun, being excited about the Vytal Festival?

Now a smouldering ruin, filled with nothing but Grimm and death.

The Shivering Dominion had claimed its first victim.

On this day…

… Vale had Fallen…

Author Note - Vale is no more...

A bit of a shorter chapter this time but honestly I felt it didn't need to be too long. It's a habit I need to break, trying to make chapters huge for the sake of it. This one was way more effective being this length to really make it feel like it is five minutes. And shows how much really happened in this time.

Of course, meaning the fight against Vir Nominis Umbra was very short, but I can promise you - future fights will be even bigger and scarier against him XD Just had to remember they didn't have long to fight, and plus he would have killed them if that fight lasted any longer, he nearly killed Kassius and Sun

Quite a fun chapter too, showing them holding off the Grimm like that for those five minutes. But that end... let's hope Ozpin is right to do that, but it makes sense, if they have all the Relics on them at once then Umbra will send everything he has to stop them

But if they're split up that will make his job a bit harder

And now... onto Atlas... to retrieve the Relic of Destruction

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

Stay tuned for the next chapter - Leaving Vale

- Matt