Chapter 29 – The Frozen Peaks
Ozpin
The Argus Limited continued to howl across the Anima Countryside, yet they still passed by the Mistraalian Mountains.
Ozpin stared out the window at the peaks in the distance, knowing that they were close to Dragonspire Keep now. His mind was racing as he considered all the possible ways this could go.
And clearly, he was not the only one thinking about this possibility.
"Ozpin?" Maria spoke up.
"Yes?" He responded.
"What if Mistral is already destroyed? And all the Airships are already wrecked? What do we do then?" She inquired.
Ozpin had a feeling that the question was coming and he leant back into the chair he was sitting in and inhaled through his nose. Carmine turned her attention to him as well. "Then we have to go to Dragonspire Keep… if it's still standing. Honestly, I hope this is not the case, but if it is… then that may be our best chance." He explained.
"Why's that an option you don't like?" Carmine asked.
"Because Ruby and the others should be headed there soon, and if we do link up with them, then that means Vir Nominis Umbra can hit us all at once. He will throw everything he has at us so he can take all the Relics we have in one fell swoop. It's the whole reason for this division… his forces may be infinite and devastating, but Vir Nominis Umbra is still only one mind. And that means we will be able to split his attention, making his efforts less dangerous." Ozpin explained.
"Gods… considering how much he's thrown at us so far… I'll take your word for it, if this is the better outcome." Carmine sighed.
"Believe me… he wiped out the most advanced civilisation Remnant had ever known in a single night. And that was a fraction of what he is unleashing on Remnant right now… if he attacks us all at once we will not stand a chance." Ozpin assured, it sent shivers up their spines. Just thinking that the battles they had already fought so far were the easier options was just nightmarish to consider.
What could he do if he threw everything at us at once?
What other tricks does he have up his sleeve?
Many more questions rattled around in their heads, but they ignored the scarier ones and just focused on the task at hand. Getting an Airship and heading straight for the Embered Grove before they ran out of time.
Suddenly the Argus Limited shook from something massive slamming into it, making the glasses on the bar be thrown and smashing on the floor. Ozpin steadied himself and his expression changed from concern to focus, knowing that the Grimm were already attacking them.
Ozpin swiftly stood up and approached the screen on the wall showing the distance from Mistral. And they were getting closer, but they were still miles out. Meaning this could not already be the Oncoming Shadow attacking the Kingdom. No, this was something else, something more targeted. Carmine drew her Sai and Maria spun Life and Death through her fingers.
"Thought this field trip was too peaceful." She scoffed.
"Alright… listen up." Ozpin began turning to them all as he kicked Mihi Vindicta into his grasp. "In case this fight goes south and we end up split up and off the train? Head for Dragonspire Keep, no matter what." Ozpin explained.
"H-How would we know where to go?" She stammered, and Ozpin approached her and synced his scroll up with hers, giving her a precise location of the Keep.
"No matter what, okay?" Ozpin asked them. Maria and Carmine both nodded in agreement. Suddenly, claws slashed through the roof of the train and they looked up to see the claws clench and peel the roof off, making Maria instantly fire her weapon into the eye of the Teryx, which landed on the vehicle. The beast let out a shrill screech of agony as black blood sprayed from its eye socket, its head swinging backwards as it flew off the train.
Carmine looked at the back of the train, and it surprised her.
"The fuck? They're coming from behind?" Carmine realised.
Ozpin also looked back and realised immediately what was happening. For a split second, he saw the fragments of glass floating behind the back of the train carts. "The Higher Demons… well, Umbra had to make his next move on us, eventually." Ozpin said, forming his massive Clockwork Wings and Armour, flying through the hole in the roof and landing atop the train.
Maria and Carmine joined him, their hair blowing in the wind as they stared across the Argus Limited to see the two Higher Demons stood on the carriages. The Onyx Phantom chuckled sinisterly, turning to the Whisperer. "Shall we even ask?" He inquired.
"Relinquish the-"
Ozpin wasted no time and immediately blasted a beam of green magical energy from his sceptre towards the Whisperer, blasting the Higher Demon backwards across the train, which was in the form of Salem. The Onyx Phantom laughed demonically, staring at them and mimicking Ozpin's form. "There's our answer!" He guffawed, flying into the air with wings forged from fire and smoke, firing beams of dark magic towards him. The beam carved across the roof of the train, but Ozpin caught the beam and the blade of his Sceptre refracted his energy across the sky, burning through rocks in the mountains, causing small avalanches.
The Onyx Phantom, however, immediately dove towards Ozpin and tackled him back inside of the train. The impact nearly made the locomotive derail itself, but the Onyx Phantom grabbed Ozpin by the throat and threw him against the bar.
Ozpin spun Mihi Vindicta around and rammed it through the Demon's chest, pinning him to the wall. The Onyx Phantom was cruel in its version of Ozpin's body, though. It was only when Ozpin looked closer did he realise… that this was not a perfect reflection of who he was now.
No…
… he was taking the form of Wymerus Ozymandias, the man that he used to be.
The man who became the Knight of Vengeance.
The Phantom grinned devilishly at him, before blasting flames from his chest which launched Ozpin through the wall of the train. Chunks of metal and glass were thrown down the side of the cliff, but Ozpin's wings opened and he flew after the train, whilst the Onyx Phantom burst free from within the vehicle, and flew back towards him.
The two clashed their Sceptres together, staring into each other's faces.
Down below on the train, Maria aimed Life and Death at the Whisperer as it reconstructed itself, taking a new form that was more unfamiliar to the others… but hauntingly familiar to her. The shards of glass fused together and became her father, a tall and broad-shouldered man with silver hair and silver eyes. She froze in place when she saw him, looking as real as he was when he died in her arms, killed by Salem's assassins.
"You could not save him… what makes you think you can save anyone else? Help us take the Relic of Knowledge and save this world from the curse it cannot escape." The Whisperer commanded.
Maria scowled and kept her weapons aimed at the Demon. "Nice trick… but it will take more than that to scare me." Maria stated, connecting Life and Death together. "Carmine, keep the Grimm off us. I'll handle the Whisperer."
"But…" Carmine stammered.
The Whisperer chuckled sinisterly, perfectly mimicking her father's voice as it drew a long Katana and a Cross-Spear, which it rested on its shoulder, ignited with fire and lightning dust. Fire on the Katana and Lightning on the Spear. "Come then, child… show us what you are capable of." The Whisperer challenged, Maria narrowed her Silver Eyes with hate, and spiralled her weapon through her fingers again before sprinting towards it.
Carmine stood her ground whilst the two clashed, and looked at the sky as more Grimm continued to attack, throwing themselves towards the vehicle. Then her eyes widened, and a smirk formed on her face, and she dropped down into the Train again, rushing to the front cart where the controls were.
She cycled through them and hit the button, activating the Automated Defences it had loaded at the ready. Armour plating shifted across the train, effortlessly deflecting incoming attacks from the Grimm and being able to keep the train from being derailed. But most importantly, defence turrets folded out from the roof of each cart, aiming at the Grimm and firing at them relentlessly, knocking them out of the sky one by one.
Manticores and Griffins continued to fly towards the train, only to be blown apart by the turrets firing high calibre rounds into their bodies, severing wings and limbs in the process. Some of their bodies crashed into the side of the train but thanks to the armour, it prevented the train from being knocked off the Grav-Track.
"Never thought I'd be so happy to see those turrets." Carmine giggled, but she gasped as the Teryx returned and slashed at her, only narrowly missing and sliding across the roof. Its wings splayed out as it roared and channelled fire up its gullet and shot multiple fireballs at her. Carmine rolled out of the way and slingshot her Sai back at it, cutting across its jaw. The blade cut so deep that the jaw hung wide open, but the fearless beast just snarled at her, black blood drooling from its mouth.
It jumped towards her and slashed its claws at her, but missed as she rolled forward and used her semblance to throw the Sai underneath its belly, slicing it open and splashing back blood across the roof of the vehicle. It cried out in agony until she launched the Sai into the eye socket, which had a bullet hole in it, and sent it straight through and out of the other socket. Black blood sprayed from its skull as it toppled off the edge of the train, crashing into the snowy rocks and off the cliff.
Maria, on the other hand, continued her clash against the Whisperer. She spun her double ended Scythe with incredible speed, spinning it across her shoulders and cutting the Demon multiple times with the curved blades, but then the Whisperer deflected her incoming attacks and lunged towards her with the spear, going for an impaling move. She stamped down on the spear and swung around with the scythe, smashing it across the Whisperer's face so hard that the face of her father fragmented momentarily.
As the shards reconstructed his face, it swiftly kicked her back and launched itself towards her, driving the sword down into the roof of the train where she was just standing. She backed up and disconnected the two Scythes, sprinting towards the Demon.
Maria dropped to the ground as she sprinted, sliding underneath the sword of her father as the Demon thrusted towards her with it, and she immediately jumped into the air and turned, raising her scythes to stop the incoming Cross-Spear from hitting her in the chest. The curved blades hooked over it, but the Whisperer yanked her forward and slashed her across the chest with the sword, before jumping backwards with a fast horizontal swing with the huge spear.
She deflected the incoming blow, then fired the guns built into the two weapons. What she was not expecting was for the Whisperer to suddenly launch itself towards her with the spear held forward, nearly skewering her. She smashed both scythes into the Spear, breaking the attack, but the Whisperer immediately countered her strike with one hard strike with the sword, forcing her to one knee.
The Whisperer twisted around and smashed her across the face with the Spear, sending her tumbling towards the edge of the train. She drove her scythe onto the roof, hanging off the edge. The Whisperer stood above her, shaking its head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… still the little girl after all…" The Whisperer sighed.
"You think?" She yelled, suddenly blasting a bright beam of Silver Light from her eyes, burning across the body of the Whisperer and forcing it away. The Whisperer snarled with anger and pain as the white flames scorched across the body of glass, fragments vibrating across its body as it turned to see her throw herself back on top of the locomotive.
She connected her two scythes together, eyes still glowing white, with white smoke trailing from them.
She reached into her bag and pulled her skull mask out and placed it upon her face, eyes still glowing within the sockets.
It was time for the Grimm Reaper to unleash everything she was capable of against the Higher Demon. Lightning suddenly crackled from the sky as the Whisperer held out the Spear, sending golden electricity coursing through the blade, and flames continued to spread across the Katana.
Glynda
Bullets were already flying as the Survivors of Argus battled against the Grimm which were flooding in from all sides.
Reality Splits tore open in the air, spewing Grimm onto the snow and dilapidated grassland, roaring savagely before they charged towards the terrified civilians. Frothing at the mouth as the smell of their fear lingered more and more on their tongues. But as they got closer, Atlesian Marines fired their rifles at them, gunning the creatures down as they kept the civilians in the centre of the convoy to protect them.
Glynda yelled as she ripped chunks of rock from the ground, throwing it towards the Grimm, smashing the Beowulves apart in the process. Their bodies fragmented as the sharpened rocks sliced clean through their bodies. An Alpha Beowulf jumped on top of one of the tanks, howling to the sky as it summoned more and more beasts to come surging through. Glynda raised her eyes to see the incoming Manticores which soared across the sky and blasted fireballs down towards the tanks and vehicles they had.
One of the Armoured Trucks that roared across the battlefield exploded instantly as the fireball collided into it, cartwheeling across the snow before crashing to a halt against one of the trees. The Manticores banked across the sky as they prepared for a second run, until Cordovin aimed her missile launcher towards them, locking onto their signatures. The missiles burst from the silo and followed them, exploding against their bodies and ripping them apart from the fiery explosion.
Cordovin had to be careful though, constantly looking around to make sure that she did not tread on anybody. But as she walked around, suddenly another Reality Split opened right next to her, and a huge Leviathan burst through, biting down onto the shoulder of the Colossus, and smashing her against one of the cliffs.
"Damn it!" She yelled as she grabbed onto its face with one hand to pull it away from the metal, and with the cannon, she punched it across the face so hard that its bony armour cracked from the force. The titan stumbled through the snow, its enormous tail swiping across the snow, until it turned and channelled fire through its throat and into its mouth.
The Leviathan bellowed as it fired a beam of fire and lightning towards her, burning through the snow and destroying one of the tanks, blowing the whole thing apart. She raised her arm and activated her Hardlight Shields to deflect the incoming blow.
Down below, Glynda continued to fend off the Grimm. "We need to get the Civilians out of here! They're out in the open!" She called out, blasting bolts of purple lightning from the Disciplinarian. The bolts blew a couple of Creeps against a wall, and she only just spotted a Deathstalker suddenly burrow into the ground. She looked around for it, and then it unexpectedly erupted into the path of one of the trucks driving around the convoy, firing its machine gun at the Grimm. As the Deathstalker erupted, it slammed the stinger into the bonnet, stopping it dead and grabbing the vehicle in one of its pincers, throwing it into the mountain.
Glynda gritted her teeth, and she jumped into the air, ripping boulders from the snow and launching them at the beast to get its attention. The enormous scorpion turned its gaze, hissing deeply before it rushed forward, stabbing its pincer into the ground where she just was. It only narrowly missed her and then drove its stinger down at her as well. She flipped backwards and flicked the crop, firing four projectiles of gravity dust towards it.
The incoming gravitational shells knocked the beast across the snow, digging its eight limbs into the soft floor. The Deathstalker snarled, driving its stinger into a rock and throwing it towards her. But Glynda did not flinch. She just raised her crop, shattering the rock into shards and rotating them towards it. She blasted them back at the beast, blinding it with the projectiles, before flicking the Disciplinarian upwards, aiming at the massive icicles which dangled from the peak.
They snapped and came plummeting down towards the beast, impaling it through the head.
The Leviathan nearby snarled viciously as magma trailed from its jaws, and then it charged towards the Colossus once again. Cordovin roared as she slammed both the gun and hand against its claws, forcing the beast back, creating a shock wave upon impact. Cordovin swiftly punched the Leviathan in the side of the face, before firing an Earth Dust round into its leg, impaling it with huge spikes of rock, before extending its huge Drill from the hand and driving it straight through the Leviathan's mouth, killing it instantly.
The enormous beast crumpled to the ground, and she turned as the smoke swirled around her M.E.C.H. She returned to the civilians and fired a powerful beam of fire and lightning dust from her cannon. Wiping out a large legion of Grimm headed their way. "All civilians! Head to this Peak! Hide in its shadow, we will keep the Grimm off you!" She ordered, her voice echoing through the mountains thanks to the loudspeaker.
With the way cleared, the civilians ran in that direction together, whilst what remained of the Argus Military fired everything they had at the Grimm. Cordovin aimed her cannon at one of the Reality Splits where another wave of Grimm were coming, and she fired a massive fire projectile into it, creating a tremendous explosion. The detonation wiped the Grimm out, but her eyes widened when she noticed what else it did.
The Reality Split rippled before collapsing into itself, sealing that one off. "We can destabilise them…" she realised with a smirk. "Glynda! High explosives can destabilise the portals that the Grimm are coming through!" She called out.
Glynda's eyes widened and then she walked forward, blasting more Gravitational Waves into the Grimm, tossing them through the air. "You heard her! Fire everything you have into the portals!" Glynda yelled.
The Grimm continued to pour through them, still leaving a small army of them to deal with, but this would stop the infinite surge. The tanks aimed their cannons, and the Paladins aimed their missile launchers at the Reality Splits and all of them fired, creating gigantic explosions into the Portals one by one. Cordovin relentlessly fired her cannon into them, and with every explosion inside of them, the field crumbled.
They rippled more and more before a loud crack erupted with a bright red flash, forcing the portals to collapse into themselves, killing multiple Grimm in the process and even beheading a Reaper before its entire body could fly through, crushing a few unlucky Grimm in the process.
Glynda smiled. Now they just had to wipe out the Grimm that made it through… which was a large amount, but no longer unending. But as she stared at them, her eyes widened when she stared at the top of one of the Frozen Peaks.
And saw the Lord of the Wood.
The Higher Demon stood atop the peak, glaring down at them all with burning eyes, snarling softly. But as it stared them down, suddenly machine guns shot down from above, shredding some of the Grimm… alongside the familiar sight of pink grenades.
The grenades exploded as they shot down from above, annihilating some Beowulves and an Ursa. Glynda looked up first… and she could not help but smile with joy. Everyone looked up and cheered when they saw Team J.N.P.R aboard the Bullhead, with Nora and Ren jumping down from it.
Ren dove, spinning through the air and firing one of his grappling hooks into the wing of a Nevermore, using the drop to break the limb and send it crashing down, and he swung off it to land on the chest of an Alpha Beowulf, driving both blades into its chest, ending it swiftly. Nora, on the other hand, shot herself forward and smashed Magnhild into the ground so hard it created a devastating explosion of pink flames forming into a pink heart of smoke around her.
Above them, Jaune and Pyrrha already had spotted their target, and the Pilot was flying them towards it. The Lord of the Wood turned slowly as the Bullhead flew directly at it and they both jumped out. Jaune roared, holding Crocea Mors in both hands, shield and sword combined, and his eyes shone blue as he swung the sword forward, channelling the immense power of his ancestors into the ancient blade and firing a vast arc of blue energy at it. Pyrrha also jumped out and threw Akoúo towards it.
The Lord of the Wood smacked the shield aside and raised its arm, taking the incoming arc of raw energy with very little reaction, staring them down. Its claws sharpened, and it continued to walk towards the two of them.
Down below, Nora stared up at where the Lord of the Wood was just staring down at her, and saw her two friends fighting against it, and now the Bullhead flew overhead with the turrets now set to auto targeting, firing at the Grimm below already.
"Sorry we're late!" Nora said to Glynda.
"Good to see you're okay." Glynda sounded so proud of them it made Nora blush.
"Well… we'd ask what the situation was, but it seems pretty apparent." Ren joked, interrupted when a Manticore launched a fireball at them, exploding nearby. They flinched, ducking behind a rock.
"Pretty apparent." Glynda agreed. "But we've learned a very useful fact, the portals to the Charred Forest? We can close them with high explosives, now we just need to clear out these Grimm." Glynda explained.
"Shouldn't be too har-" Nora chuckled before being interrupted again.
"INCOMING GRIMM! UNIDENTIFIED VARIANT!" An Argus Soldier yelled.
"Ugh, I'm sick of unidentified Grimm." She sighed. Glynda stood up and her eyes widened when she saw the beast sprinting on all fours towards them, dodging the bullets, before suddenly jumping high in the air and forming a pair of wings from its back, flying towards the soldiers and slashing them clean in half with its razor-sharp claws.
"The Hound…" Ren gasped, eyes wide.
"The what?" Glynda asked.
"That's no ordinary Grimm." Nora warned as she got up.
The Hound grabbed onto another soldier by the head and smashed his screaming face into a rock relentlessly until his head broke apart. The Hound howled to the sky, before Glynda launched a shard of ice towards it, stabbing through its body. The beast recoiled back, rolling across the floor before roaring at her again. Nora jumped and aimed her Grenade Launcher at the beast and fired at it.
The explosion tore open the black tar which made up its body, and Glynda's eyes widened with horror. "… Raven?" She gasped, seeing what was left of her, screaming in immense pain as she reached out to her, but before she could scream her name, the Grimm Hands pulled what was left of her back inside, sealing her back inside her hell, and the skull of the hound closing over her head.
The Hound bellowed with fury at them, and Nora fired again at the beast, but this time, it smacked the grenade aside and jumped towards them, slashing its claws at Nora.
She ducked and only narrowly missed it, but as the Hound slid across the snow, it suddenly extended a long tail from its back and smashed Glynda in the chest so hard it threw her back towards her forces.
"Stay with them! We'll handle the Hound!" She yelled, but as the Hound stood there, it did something new. Fire belched from its jaws and it unleashed the fire into the ground, melting the ice. But the more it did this, they noticed the red flames turned purple and then blue, forming into plasma. It suddenly swung its head forward, nearly hitting Nora if not for Ren, and it cut clean through one of the tanks, instantly destroying it and then it turned its head fast, cutting three soldiers in half.
They shrieked in immense pain as they felt the plasma melt their innards from the inside out before dying. The Hound snarled as it ceased, panting as the magma and plasma drooled from its jaws, before looking up at the Bullhead, which brought Team J.N.P.R here in the first place. It growled viciously and did the same thing again, blasting fire into the ground before focusing the energy into a beam of plasma and shooting it directly at the Bullhead, blowing it to pieces after nailing the fuel cell, and sending the burning wreckage crashing into the snow.
Nora and Ren's eyes widened as Ren continued to hold onto her, staring at the Bullhead's wreck, knowing that the nice pilot was now dead. They both scowled and glared at the Hound as it snarled, staring at them with one hand pressed against the rocks and one raised, ready to attack at any moment, spreading red wings from its spine.
Ozpin
He flew around the Train, keeping in pace with it thanks to his magical abilities, but the Onyx Phantom was effortlessly doing the same.
It blasted a powerful beam of fire towards him, melting the snow falling around them and he spiralled his sceptre with great speed, blocking the incoming flames. He absorbed the energy fired towards him and returned it with a hard swing, blasting green fire right back. The Onyx Phantom recoiled back and dove towards the train, smashing into one of the rear carriages. It nearly was knocked off the Grav-Track from the impact alone, but the Demon flew above it with flames in its wake.
Ozpin suddenly vanished into thin air, and the Onyx Phantom looked around for him, until suddenly his hand appeared, grabbing the Phantom by the throat. He pulled him in, and a strange form of glass shattered, throwing the two of them into another plain. A plain of time being frozen around them. Ozpin flew towards the Onyx Phantom and punched him in the face so hard that the Demon crashed into the mountain. The Phantom snarled, looking up as Ozpin suddenly shifted the time-stream of that specific area, allowing the avalanche to fall on the Higher Demon.
The snow swallowed it, until a huge fiery explosion erupted from within, completely evaporating the snow, and having swirling flames flow around its Sceptre. The Onyx Phantom swung the spear towards Ozpin, creating a vast arc of fire which only narrowly missed him. Ozpin dove towards him and drove his Sceptre downwards into the ground, sending forth shards of glass in the dimension of frozen time slashing across the Onyx Phantom's body.
The Phantom slashed at him once again, then Ozpin disappeared. "You are in my domain, Onyx Phantom… here the laws of time are mine to command… and mine alone." Ozpin stated, his voice echoed all around the Higher Demon. The Onyx Phantom grinned sadistically as it looked around for him, and Ozpin suddenly erupted through time and slashed at him, but the Phantom caught him by the throat and threw him against the floor.
The Onyx Phantom bellowed with rage, holding both fists above its head, forming an enormous ball of fire before smashing both fists down towards Ozpin's chest. Ozpin shone green, creating a field of magical energy which deflected the blow instantly, throwing the Higher Demon upwards and into the rocks.
Ozpin flew back to where the train was, collapsing the Scythe down into Mace form, and just as the Onyx Phantom blasted back towards him, Ozpin smashed the mace into the side of his head, so hard that he crashed off the side of the train and into the Grav-Track. The gravitational energy crushed its body, and the Phantom howled in immense pain, causing flames to build up all around it. Suddenly it exploded, shattering the rear carriage into a thousand pieces.
The Demon flew high into the air and called the shards of metal into its hands, melting it down into magma and throwing the lava towards Ozpin. He rolled aside and threw a time bubble towards one of the piles of lava, freezing it in place and redirecting it back towards the Onyx Phantom. It spun through the air and slashed the Sceptre across Ozpin's body, causing the Knight to tumble across what remained of the destroyed carriage.
Chunks of the carriage remained frozen in the air, and Ozpin jumped across them, spreading his wings and flying into the air again. He held out his hand and the cogs on the top of his hand rotated, and he reversed the explosion the Onyx Phantom created, reconstructing the carriage, and they both stood upon it once more.
In this frozen moment of time, nothing is fixed… anything could be altered until time resumed.
Ozpin jumped high in the air and smashed his mace into the ground, using the raw energy of the Relic inside to create a powerful explosion, shattering the surrounding landscape. The Onyx Phantom formed a shield of magma around its body, hardening it into rock as the explosion hit. The Demon burst free once the explosion passed and smashed the same mace into Ozpin's face, sending him tumbling backwards.
Ozpin transformed his Mace once again, shifting to the cane, and as the Higher Demon swung at him again, he ducked and smashed the cane across its face. The Onyx Phantom snarled with anger, then Ozpin relentlessly jabbed the cane into his chest, before channelling all that kinetic energy into the tip with one hard strike. The energy created a flash of energy, blasting the Phantom backwards across the train.
Ozpin suddenly resumed the stream of time, and the shards of glass like matter around them faded away, and the sudden return of movement nearly knocked them both over.
Alongside this battle, Maria continued to clash against the Whisperer as her father. It sprinted across the train towards her and jumped high into the air, calling a bolt of lightning onto the Cross-Spear and slashing diagonally at her. The sharp bolt of lightning exploded against the train, conducting the electricity through the metal. Maria jumped and twirled through the air, slashing down the Whisperer's chest, before rising up with the double ended Scythe and hooking it behind its neck.
She yanked downwards with great effort, then flipped backwards, slashing up its spine. The Whisperer shattered, then reformed, now facing her once again, and it suddenly shot forward with the sword pointed towards her. She stamped down with dominant force and slashed across his face with the scythe, before roundhouse kicking the Demon across its face. She had already learned how to fight her skilled father, and no matter how much it stung to see the Demon mock her father like this… she never felt like she could not defeat her father again.
She spiralled her weapon around and swung downwards at him, but the Whisperer caught the scythe with the long Cross-Spear and yanked it from her reach, and cut across her body. The Scythe bounced across the train, and she jumped for it, and disconnected them, just as the Whisperer kicked her from the train. As she fell, she turned and threw one scythe towards the Whisperer, lodging it into the Demon's chest.
The Whisperer grunted and snarled with frustration, then Maria pressed the trigger on the other Scythe, activating the Gravity Dust Link they had. The Scythe pulled her right back towards the Whisperer, and she smashed into him with her shoulder, ripping it from his chest. The Whisperer tumbled across the train, ramming the sword into the metal. The sheer heat of the burning sword melted the roof, spilling molten metal inside of the carriage. Maria spun her weapons through her fingers, watching the Demon as it got back up, then it suddenly rushed towards her, jumping and slamming the spear into the ground in front of her.
She rolled backwards, firing the gun built into her weapon back at it. The Whisperer deflected the incoming bullet with the sword, then suddenly slashed multiple fast flurries from the two weapons, sending arcs of fire and lightning towards her each time. The berserk attacks forced her to dodge and jump around each of them as fast as she could. Maria dodged most of them, but eventually the flames collided against her chest, making her slide across the floor.
The Whisperer walked towards her as she hung over the edge, pressing its boot down against her throat. "We can sense it in you, child… the pain in your heart of how you could do nothing to save him. And even now… you are still just as helpless as you were then." The Whisperer snarled. She gritted her teeth and blasted her Silver Eyes into him, immediately making him recoil, but just as she went to slash him across the face, he grabbed her and lifted her off the floor by the throat.
"Maria!" Carmine yelled, launching her Sai through the Whisperer's shoulder. It barely even noticed and snarled, turning to her. As she jumped towards the Whisperer, it swung around and threw Maria into Carmine, sending them both flying off the train and crashing into the snow, being left behind.
Maria gasped, her eyes widening as she took off her skull mask. "OZPIN!"
Ozpin turned with shock when he saw them fall, knowing he was now on his own against both of them. He turned to see the Whisperer shift into the body of Salem. "Relinquish the Relic." The Whisperer commanded.
"You really aren't getting the message, are you?" He scoffed, slashing the Sceptre across the Onyx Phantom's face and spinning the weapon across his shoulders and aiming it at the Whisperer. He fired a powerful beam of green energy into the Whisperer's chest, knocking it across the train. He turned to see the Whisperer suddenly jump and smash the Mace into his face, causing Ozpin to roll across it. The Onyx Phantom sprinted towards him and smashed the mace into the train, detonating a powerful fiery explosion towards Ozpin, but he deflected the fire away with a magical field. Suddenly the Whisperer jumped forward, launching blades that the body of Salem summoned, then forming multiple Red Glyphs which conjured Grimm Arms which latched onto Ozpin's body.
He strained as the arms latched onto him, but then his eyes glowed green, and he channelled a great deal of magical energy into his aura, and roared, unleashing a powerful pulse, killing the Grimm arms before they could get close.
He drove his Sceptre into the ground and sighed.
I can't defeat them both on my own… and I cannot risk them taking the Relic…
He closed his eyes and held the Sceptre up, and the Relic of Knowledge glowed.
Show me what lies ahead…
He saw a vision, and he followed the Grav-Track all the way to Mistral, and he still had a long way to go… but the city was already completely destroyed, engulfed in fire… and the bridge that connected to the station was destroyed, meaning the Argus Limited would be thrown into the city.
Which gave him the idea he needed.
He smirked and slammed his Sceptre into the ground, and he started to fast-forward the passage of time around himself, the Onyx Phantom and the Whisperer.
They both stumbled as they saw the landscape become nothing but a blur, like they were trapped in a time lapse. "What is this?" The Onyx Phantom questioned, but Ozpin refused to answer, and attacked without hesitation. He blasted forward and impaled the Onyx Phantom through the chest, blasting a powerful spell of magic, which blew an immense hole in its body. The Phantom snarled in pain, cracks and fire spreading across its damaged body.
The explosion threw Opzin backwards, and he flipped through the air, landing and instantly blocking the incoming claws of the Whisperer in Salem's body. Her razor-sharp claws scraped across the Sceptre, and then she launched a powerful beam of purple fire from her hand towards him. Ozpin crouched, slamming his cane into the floor after transforming it, and formed a defensive bubble of magical energy. It absorbed the fire and suddenly exploded out, stumbling the Whisperer.
Ozpin extended the came into Sceptre form once again, slashing it across the roof of the train, throwing sparks towards the Whisperer, before driving it into the roof again to form multiple glowing green glyphs above him, which all shot bolts of green energy towards it. The Whisperer jumped into the air, floating with her eyes glowing red and blasting lightning from her hands towards Ozpin. He spiralled the Sceptre to block the incoming red lightning, and then flew towards her, slashing his clockwork wings at her, and ramming them into the Whisperer's body, smashing her into the roof once again.
He rolled off her body and slashed the Onyx Phantom across the throat.
The Onyx Phantom snarled, but then its eyes widened when it saw Ozpin's smirk. Time suddenly returned to normal, and they looked around. The Whisperer turned and Salem's eyes widened. The flaming remnants of Mistral were moments away, and the bridge was indeed demolished.
Ozpin grinned, saluting them as he opened his wings and floated away from the train. The Onyx Phantom roared as the train launched itself off the destroyed bridge, hurtling into the city and throwing the two Higher Demons underneath it. They were crushed and destroyed in the impact, and the train flattened the burning buildings, completely demolishing the entire district.
Ozpin floated in the air, staring in horror at what remained of Mistral.
It was completely destroyed…
… just like Vale and Atlas…
The Four Kingdoms were officially no more.
He landed on the snowy land, watching as snow and ash fell upon what remained of this once beautiful kingdom, not hearing any screams anymore. Just the endless sound of crackling flames, and the smell of smoke and death. He tightened his grip on Mihi Vindicta.
How many people are dead?
How many people will be left if we do kill Vir Nominis Umbra?
He sighed, pushing those questions down, and he turned back to the Mistraalian Mountains.
Mistral was a no-go… Dragonspire Keep was now the only option they had left.
Author Note - Looks like it's time for them all to meet back up at Dragonspire Keep... which means the 3 remaining Relics are all going to be in one place... exactly what Vir Nominis Umbra wants...
Always have enjoyed action packed chapters like this, especially fights on top of trains it's just such a fun setting for a fight XD. Plus playing Sekiro and Elden Ring (starting the FromSoftware games now XD) has reaaaally given me epic ideas for these kinds of fights. Gonna have a lot of fun soon.
In truth this was gonna be longer, but I think the J.N.P.R side of things is meaty enough to be it's own chapter so that will be next!
And now the Hound has learned more terrifying abilities. I love coming up with ideas for the Hound's capabilities. The thing is so fun XD
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt