Chapter 30 – Rescue Mission
Jaune
Jaune sprinted towards the Lord of the Wood, roaring with rage and jumping off a rock towards the Higher Demon with Crocea Mors held high above his head. The Lord of the Wood snarled and suddenly extended its arm towards him, catching the blade. The Lord threw him into the ground with dominant force, causing him to bounce off the floor, and then it stamped its heavy wooden foot down into the ground.
Sharp roots burst from the snow and rocks, only narrowly missing him as he rolled across the floor, sliding his fingers across the ice to pick up his sword. The Lord of the Wood darted forward in a flock of Crows and Ravens, slashing its claws down towards him. Jaune yelled, smashing the blade of his Claymore against the claws of the Leshen so hard that it made it recoil backwards, and he then sliced up its back, before rolling backwards.
The Lord of the Wood turned, firing multiple spikes of wood towards him, but he detached the shield from the blade as fast as he could, raising it just in time. He roared with fury as he held his ground, blocking all the incoming projectiles which shattered upon contact. As Jaune held his ground against the barrage of projectiles, the Lord of the Wood turned its head as Pyrrha landed directly behind it.
The Leshen turned with a deep growl, and Pyrrha just smirked. "Hi." She swiftly threw Akoúo at the Higher Demon, bouncing it off his skull. The Lord of the Wood stumbled towards Jaune, who lowered his sword and jumped, driving his sword into the middle of his shoulders. The sword burst through the sternum and it fell to one knee, slowly raising its head to glare at Pyrrha.
An enormous flock of Diamond Beaked Crows and Ravens formed above the Leshen and they dove towards Jaune, pecking and slashing their little claws at him. He jumped off its back, slowly flipping through the air and landing on both feet. Pyrrha blasted herself towards the Leshen, throwing Akoúo at its face, and catching the shield as it bounced back towards her, then threw it again.
The Lord of the Wood caught it this time, and before Pyrrha could land a hit, it suddenly wrapped its elongated arm forged from roots around her legs and flung her against the rocks with a lot of force. She yelped in pain as she tumbled across them, driving Akoúo into the rocks. Suddenly, more roots shot out into her hands, throwing her off the cliff. The Lord of the Wood turned and extended its arm towards Jaune, its roots wrapping around both arms to disable his attack. He gritted his teeth in anger as he stared at the Silent Demon.
He pushed his feet into the dirt, steadying himself as best he could, but the Lord of the Wood's vines and roots slowly continued to reel him closer and closer. Until Pyrrha slowly levitated behind it once again, eyes aflame with emerald flames. The Lord of the Wood turned, but she immediately blasted a pair of fire beams into the Lord's chest. The Leshen tumbled across the ground, dragging Jaune with it, and still not releasing it. The Lord of the Wood swung around and launched Jaune towards Pyrrha, but she held out her hands and stopped him in the air with her polarity, catching him by his armour plating.
"Thanks!" He chuckled.
"Not gonna let that big tree throw you around." She giggled. She set him down and landed, eyes still aflame, whilst the Lord of the Wood paced back and forth, still burning but not looking over, bothered by the embers. The Higher Demon suddenly jumped into the air, forming more Grimm Crows and Ravens out of thin air which bound together into wings. It flew towards them and slashed its razor sharp oak claws at her, only narrowly missing.
As it slid past them, after they both rolled aside, slicing its claws through the rocks with ease. It stood tall, snow falling from its shoulders as the snowstorm continued to increase in intensity. The Lord of the Wood pulled its arm back and swung its fist downwards towards Pyrrha, only narrowly missing her as she rolled aside, suddenly jumping and flipping backwards, kicking up his jaw with both her feet. Pyrrha landed and immediately tossed Akoúo into its shoulder, making it stagger backwards. Then she transformed Milo into rifle form, firing three rounds into his chest.
The Leshen snarled with anger as the bullets broke off chunks of bark from its chest, then it suddenly drove one of its hands into the rocks and hurled a large boulder towards her. Pyrrha swiftly transformed the rifle into Spear form, slicing straight through the rock, cutting it in half. The rocks fell past her, but just as the dust cleared, the Lord of the Wood shot forward again through a flock of Crows and Ravens, slashing up her chest.
Sparks flew high in the air as the claws contacted the armour on her, throwing her into the air and tumbling through the rocks and snow. She groaned in pain as snow fell from their locks of crimson hair. The Lord of the Wood walked towards her and formed a sharp blade where the hand once was, fingers weaving together. Just as it thrusted towards her, Jaune deflected the incoming blade with Crocea Mors. He recoiled backwards a few steps, then it swung around, extending the other arm with roots and vines, slashing it towards him.
Jaune jumped over the swipe and drove the sword into the shoulder of the Leshen, twisting it and snapping the arm clean off. The Lord of the Wood stumbled a few steps after the attack, swiftly growing roots from the shoulder, winding together to quickly reconstruct it, also growing bark armour plating in the process as well. Jaune raised his shield, aiming the sword at the Leshen, walking carefully as the Lord of the Wood glared at him.
He turned and raised his shield above his head, and Pyrrha jumped onto it and he launched her into the air. She spun as she soared, firing Milo down at it, before transforming Milo into Spear Form and launched it towards it. The spear impaled straight through its neck, pinning it to the rocks. The Lord of the Wood snarled in anger as it dropped to one knee, grabbing at the spear to try to rip it out.
Jaune charged towards it and connected his Sword and Shield together, extending into Claymore form, and swinging downwards towards the back of his neck. The Lord of the Wood suddenly raised its other hand and caught the massive sharp sword, having the razor edge cut cleanly between the middle and index fingers, nearly driving straight through the hand and forearm. The Lord of the Wood roared with rage, yanking its neck free and ripping open its throat. The Elk Skull dangled over its shoulder by vines and roots as it stood tall, still got Crocea Mors lodged in its hand.
The Lord of the Wood suddenly yanked Jaune forward and stamped down onto his chest with significant force, trapping him underneath the roots. "SHIT!" Jaune screamed as the roots pinned him to the ground. The roots of the Higher Demon wrapped around his throat, slowly strangling him. He gasped for air desperately, trying to free his arms.
Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning collided into the Lord's chest, blowing chunks of wood from the armoured body of the Leshen. The Lord of the Wood grunted, crashing against the rocks and ripping the roots free from Jaune. Air flooded into his lungs, and without waiting, he rolled back onto his feet, picking up Crocea Mors. He closed his eyes and when they opened; they glimmered a bright blue, feeling the eyes of his ancestors find him once again.
The Lord of the Wood walked towards him, still trailing with smoke and covered with scorch marks. Pyrrha landed beside Jaune, eyes aflame and body still crackling with lightning, then Jaune jumped into the air and roared as the ghostly apparition of one of his Ancestors formed around him, and he slashed the sword towards the Leshen, blasting a powerful arc of energy towards the Demon. The energy smashed into its chest and the rocks shattered behind it, and leaving blue flames trailing from the wood.
Pyrrha sprinted past Jaune as he landed, and she spun on the spot, throwing her Discus Shield towards the Leshen. The Lord of the Wood batted it aside and formed another long blade from its hand and slashed at Pyrrha. She slid on one knee, raising Milo in sword form and deflecting the incoming attack before rising and ramming the sword straight through its chest. The Lord of the Wood staggered back but suddenly blasted spiked of wood from its chest, knocking Pyrrha back.
It suddenly grabbed her by the chest with its huge hand and smashed her against the floor, before throwing her into more rocks. Jaune jumped and went to drive his sword into the face of the Leshen, only for it to bat him away with its arm, sending him tumbling backwards. As he rolled across the floor he raised his shield, but the Lord of the Wood extended its arm and grabbed onto it, effortlessly pulling it from his grasp and throwing it off the edge, leaving him with no defences now.
The Lord of the Wood jumped into the air once again, and a vast flock of crows and ravens swelled behind him, and suddenly they all shot forward. They all collided into him, flickering his aura from the sudden and powerful impact. And then the Leshen slammed into the ground, the force of the strike throwing rocks all around it.
Jaune and Pyrrha backed up, staring the Higher Demon down. He panted, pushing himself back up with his sword.
"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked him.
"Still breathing, but he's really hurt my aura, already in the amber." Jaune said, checking his scroll's readings.
"We need to take him down fast." Pyrrha said as the Lord of the Wood walked towards them, extending its claws.
Jaune cracked his neck, then held his sword with both hands, aiming it at the Leshen, his eyes glowing blue and the glyphs shimmering across the sword.
"Read my mind."
Crows and Ravens swarmed behind the Lord of the Wood, spiralling around it like a tornado, and its burning eyes raged hotter and hotter. Cracks spread across the bark armour, and from within the body, they saw flames and embers bursting through the fissures, with thick black smoke billowing out. The Lord of the Wood growled sinisterly as it entered its second phase.
"Aaaaand of course, he ramps it up a notch. Great." Jaune sighed.
"Never is easy with these Demons, is it?" Pyrrha joked.
"Getting real sick of fighting them over and over." Jaune chuckled beside his girlfriend. The Lord of the Wood clenched its hands into fists, before igniting the feathers of its Ravens and Crows, slowly holding its hands outwards.
Suddenly the birds all shot towards them, but Pyrrha gritted her teeth and raised Akoúo, yelling with fury as she held her ground, blocking the inflamed birds as they swarmed past her, and Jaune ducked down behind her as her shield took the damage.
Glynda
Glynda walked across the snow, past the soldiers who held the line between the remaining beasts and the civilians. And despite the victory they found in closing the Reality Splits, there were still a massive amount of Grimm left to take care of. And they were already charging towards them, roaring with fury, alongside Knights' Bannermen riding Grimm Horses as well. The Bannermen roared in their dead languages, pointing swords and rifles at them as they drew closer and closer to their prey.
Cordovin stepped forward in her massive Colossus, firing a powerful beam of electrical dust towards the incoming horde. But as she fired, a gigantic shadow soared overhead, getting Cordovin's attention. One of the Frozen Peaks unexpectedly exploded, throwing snow, barrelling down the hills into the battlefield. And through the flames, a King Wyvern suddenly flew towards her. The gigantic beast smashed into her, digging its sharp talons into the M.E.C.H's armour plating, flapping its enormous wings as it dragged the Colossus across the snow, smashing her into another peak.
The King Wyvern retracted the talons from the Colossus and took off into the clouds, vanishing once again, but now they knew the titan was up there. "Cordovin! Focus on the Wyvern! We'll handle the rest." Glynda assured, which lead to Cordovin moving away from the others.
Glynda turned to the soldiers and raised her scroll to her ear. "All vehicles! Fire! Thin out their numbers!" Glynda commanded. The trucks and tanks all aimed their turrets towards the Grimm and opened fire. Missile tanks firing powerful rockets into the air, which soared high above everyone else and exploded against the Grimm ahead, blowing some of them into pieces in the process. Soldiers all started opening fire, deploying temporary Hardlight Shield barricades to slow the Grimm down. Some soldiers deployed heavier machine gun turrets, firing every bullet they had at the beasts, shredding their bodies from the amount of bullets.
Glynda walked past the soldiers and jumped on top of one of the trucks that didn't have a machine gun turret or missile turret attached, and she flicked the Disciplinarian, shattering the ground and blowing the Grimm apart with the powerful force of Gravitational Dust. Huge chunks of rock impaled the beasts instantly, thanks to the shock wave.
Soldiers advanced, firing their guns relentlessly at the Grimm, nailing them one at a time, but soon the Grimm would hit their barricade. A Beowulf leapt towards one of the soldiers but he rolled out of the way, and as the beast tumbled across the floor, another trooper jumped on top of the creature, firing what remained in his machine gun down its throat, killing it.
Glynda's eyes widened when she saw the ground explode, and a King Taijitu emerged, hissing viciously as it slithered across the snow towards them. One of the vehicles that was still driving around, shooting its machine gun turret, met its end as the Taijitu suddenly coiled around the vehicle, crushing it instantly. The engine exploded, dousing the creature in flames, but it did not seem to mind the burns across its scales. One of the heads turned as it saw a screaming soldier trying to crawl away, his legs sliced off from the vehicle being crushed. It suddenly opened its jaws and sprayed acid across the soldier, making him shriek in immense agony as his flesh melted away. But before he died, it scooped him into its jaws and swallowed him whole.
The King Taijitu swiftly traversed across the rocks, leaving a trail in its wake before the two heads rose, hissing savagely as they stared at Glynda. One of them lunged towards the Elite Huntress with little preparation, which lead to Glynda effortlessly deflecting the beast with a Gravity Pulse, sending the beast's head flying backwards, smashing against the rocks. The chunks of metal and rock shattered, throwing across the snow. Then she dropped down from the truck, and levitated the broken shards of rock and ice around her, and fired them towards the King Taijitu.
The bullet-like projectiles sliced the scales to ribbons, splattering thick black blood across the white snow, and blinding one of its eyes. The other head lunged for her, but she rolled aside just in time, then sent another blast of energy towards the injured head as it lunged for her as well, breaking off one of its fangs. As the fang spun through the air, she stopped it in midair and blasted it back at the beast, sending it straight through its skull and out the other side.
The King Taijitu screeched in agony, recoiling its head back as a powerful jet of black blood sprayed from its skull, raining black blood across the landscape, before crashing down against the floor. The remaining head hissed, its long serpentine tongue flicking up and down as it watched her, dragging the corpse of its Brother Head behind it.
The Taijitu reared up and blasted a powerful beam of focused acid towards her, but she rolled out of the way and with the Disciplinarian she ripped a large boulder from the mountain and slingshot it directly into the creature's gaping mouth. The impact nearly smashed its head against the ground, making the Serpent slid across the snow. It shook its head around violently, pumping the acid into the rock to corrode it. Glynda walked towards the creature with an unimpressed expression, then it crushed the rock in its mouth, roaring before lunging at her once again.
It stopped, as Gravity Dust Energy caught the jaws and she lifted it into the air and yelled with fury, collapsing the gravity around its skull and ramming the top jaw into its own throat. The head collapsed into itself, spraying black blood across the side of the mountain, before toppling over into the snow with a heavy bang.
Glynda did not even flinch as it landed, slowly crumbling away into thin air. She looked back after pushing her glassed back up against her eyes, seeing the military were pushing the Grimm back, using their combined efforts to entrench themselves. The Grimm slammed against the Hardlight Barricades to try to get through, but that was making their defence easier, shooting them in the head and using their crumbling bodies to pile up, making the barricade stronger for a time with every fallen Grimm.
The only ones they had to worry about were the ones that could dig, since the Snipers were shooting every Airborne Grimm out of the sky.
Except for one.
Cordovin looked around, staring at the sky as she heard the King Wyvern circling her, bellowing. But the mystery of its location was swiftly solved when she saw the grey clouds light up gold. The King Wyvern descended, lighting the ground on fire towards her. She raised her arm, forming a powerful and impenetrable Hardlight Shield barrier. The flames deflected off it and burned all around her, but it did not even scorch her already damaged armour.
The Wyvern flew overhead, banking across the sky, before soaring towards one of the peaks and jamming its claw into the side of it. The gigantic beast wrapped its wings around it and roared to the sky, before blasting more flames down towards the Colossus. The fire melted and evaporated the snow instantly from its sheer heat, but as the fire burned around Cordovin, she aimed her Dust Cannon at the giant, firing multiple shells of molten Rock Dust at it. The huge projectiles exploded upon contact, hitting the Wyvern in the wing one time.
The King Wyvern leapt high in the air, before descending with equal speed, creating a tremendous shock wave which knocked Cordovin back a few steps. The Wyvern reared back and stood at the same height on its back legs as the Colossus, and drove the claws in its wings into the armour, forcing the Colossus back multiple steps. Cordovin yelled in anger as she tried to remain upright. She opened the hand of the machine and extended the Mining Drill, trying to skewer the beast, but it swiftly bit down onto the forearm, twisting suddenly and breaking off chunks of metal whilst also blasting flames from its jaws as well.
Cordovin gritted her teeth, growling with anger, then punched the beast in the face with the cannon arm, breaking the armour off in the process. The King Wyvern smashed its head against the ground before opening its wings and flying back into the air, shooting more flames into the chest of the Colossus. Cordovin raised the Hardlight Barriers once again, charging up her Electrical Dust Beam in the process, and swiftly fired just as it stopped burning her shields, wounding it across the side just as it flew overhead.
It ascended into the sky, then turned, flying towards her.
She stood her ground as it spread flames across the ground once again, but she started spinning the Drill, waiting for the perfect opportunity. The King Wyvern screeched as it flew closer and closer, then its screams were silenced as Cordovin roared, ramming the Drill straight through its jaws. She stood her ground, cutting through its dead body as it continued to be thrown towards her thanks to the velocity it had amassed. She held the drill upwards, cutting straight through the entire beast, smothering her Colossus in black blood.
She thrusted forward again, stumbling forward as the completely halved Wyvern crashed into the ground behind her, disintegrating behind her, and her Colossus seeping with blood. "Target… eliminated… gods, that stank."
Nora
The two stood side by side as the Hound glared at them, saliva drooling from its deathly mouth, growling softly. With one hand pressed against a rock and the other arched back, claws razor sharp and a pair of blood red wings splayed from its back, they knew it was ready to attack at any minute.
But they never expected it to be so fast.
The Hound suddenly launched towards them, roaring savagely with the distinct echo of Raven's screams of pain trapped inside. It slashed at Nora, only narrowly missing her, and sliding across the ground. She rolled across the floor and fired a grenade at it, but it swung its long tail around, deflecting the grenade away from it. Pink light shone across them all as it exploded in the air, growling savagely. Ren suddenly shot his grappling blades into the Hound's chest, and it barely even noticed the blades jammed in its chest.
The Hound growled deeply as Ren retracted himself towards it, yelling as he went to kick it, but it wrapped its entire arm around the cables and yanked him towards its jaws. It bit down on his shoulder and flung him into the air, extending a sharp blade from its arm, the black tar hardening into white bony blades. As he looked down, he saw it was ready to impale him, so instead, he spun through the air and shot Stormflower into its face.
The Hound howled in anger, staggering away, just in time for Ren to land, aiming his two pistols at the creature. He continued to shoot fully automatic green bullets into its chest, tearing chunks of black tar away from its body. The Hound growled, before jumping into the air extremely high and diving towards him, slamming both fists onto the floor. He rolled backwards, then the Hound roared, blasting a cloud of fire from its mouth towards him.
"Ren!" Nora yelled, jumping towards the Hound and swinging Magnhild towards its face. The Hound turned, catching the hammer, but the impact snapped its arm, and inside, they could hear Raven's cry of pain. The Hound pulled the Hammer from Nora's hands and, with one hand, it swung it against Nora's cheek, sending her flying. The Hound growled, dragging Magnhild behind it, making Ren's eyes widened.
Umbra really held nothing back with this monster, didn't he? It can learn how to use weapons…
The Hound slammed Magnhild towards Ren but he rolled out of the way, then sliced straight through the hand which gripped Magnhild. He caught the weapon and threw it at Nora, who caught it with ease. The Hound suddenly grabbed Ren by the throat, lifting him off the floor and smashing his face against the rocks with savage force, before lifting him up and slashing across his chest so hard it sent him tumbling towards the edge of the cliff.
He fell and as he spun, he turned, aiming Stormflower at the spine of the Hound, firing the grappling hook into its back. The Hound roared with fury as he pulled it down with him and they both plummeted off the edge together. " REN!" Nora screamed, and without a second to consider any other option, she jumped after him, riding her Grenade Launcher like a rocket. Ren punched the Hound in the face as they fell, then dug both blades into its shoulders, smashing it against the wall of the cliff.
The Hound suddenly slammed its hand into the rocks and Ren held on, seeing the beast staring down at him. The body transformed, and with every snapping bone and desperate shriek of pain, they understood more and more that this was more of a hellish prison for Raven than anything. Two more arms burst free from the torso and it clambered back up the cliff again, with Ren holding on for dear life.
As it clambered up, Ren looked up to see Nora diving towards the beast with her Hammer pulled back with gritted teeth. She smashed Magnhild into the Hound's face, and she fell with Ren, catching his hand and pulling him close. He turned and fired his Grappling Hook up towards the cliff edge they fell from, swinging back to to solid ground.
The Hound continued to fall, until its wings opened and it flew after them. They landed but Nora turned, eyes widening as the Hound flew high above them and ripped more tar from its body, and forming bone matter from the liquid, creating a spear, and channelling red lightning through it. The spines across its back crackled, and it launched the spear of bone towards them. Nora pushed Ren aside, then the bolts of energy collided against her, throwing her across the floor.
"NORA!" He yelled, catching her hand before she could slide back off the cliff. He pulled her close, but the Hound grabbed him by the leg and tossed him aside. He rolled across the floor, then swiftly stood up, firing both Stormflower Pistols at the monster as it roared at him. Red lightning coursed across its body, appearing to be some form of biologically formed energy.
The Hound smashed its fist into the ground, blasting forks of lightning up from the rocks, but Ren closed his eyes and sensed the entire area around him. He jumped, flipping through the air as the red lightning coursed through the air, easily dodging them all. As he landed, he spun on the spot, punching the Hound up the jaw with all his might, knocking the beast back a few steps.
Ren jumped and wrapped his legs around the Hound's neck, forcing himself downwards and throwing the creature ahead of him, aiming the two pistols at it, firing relentlessly at it. The bullets cut through the thick black muscle tissue, but the Hound suddenly roared and launched towards him, grabbing him by the face and smashing him against the floor, dragging him through the snow and rocks, before lifting him and pinning him to the wall.
It went straight for his face with its jaws, nearly clamping them shut on his face, but he drove the blades of Stormflower into the jaws, forcing them apart. But it was getting closer and closer anyway, and his strength was waning.
Until he saw the pink glow to his left, and he smirked. "Tsk, tsk…" He tutted, making the Hound tilt its head in confusion.
"GET YOUR MOUTH AWAY FROM MY MAN!" Nora yelled. It turned to see Nora, her semblance activated thanks to the red lightning, channelling the electrical energy into her muscles. She roared and smashed Magnhild into the side of its face so hard it sent the Hound flying into the air. It smashed against the higher reaches of one of the towering peaks, but it drove its claws and feet into the rocks, staring at them.
It suddenly blasted an immense cloud of flames from its jaws, sending an avalanche of fire towards them, but as it continued to bellow it from its mouth, the flames focused into plasma. "Look out!" Nora yelled, jumping with Ren out of the way as it flung its head upwards, slicing straight through the rocks, cutting everything clean in half, collapsing part of the cliff into the snowy hills beneath them.
The two of them fled from the incoming cloud of fire, keeping ahead of it, before the Hound flew into the air with its wings and dove towards them. It crashed into the ground and blasted more flames from its jaws at them. Nora ducked down, then raised Magnhild as it slammed its jaws onto the handle of Magnhild, pulling her forward and slashing her up the chest with its clawed hand, before turning to Ren, who sprinted towards it. The Hound snarled, suddenly sprouting a long tail with a Deathstalker Stinger attached to the end, and spun on the spot, smashing the tail against his chest, sending him flying back.
Nora rolled backwards and fired a grenade from the Grenade Launcher, blowing off a large amount of tar from its back. The Hound turned, growling viciously at her, but she continued to aim Magnhild at it. She fired again and hit it directly in the chest. The explosion tore the layer of black muscle from its torso, and they saw the mangled remains of Raven inside, dangling from the tar, reaching out for them.
It staggered back; the tar pulling her back inside, then she fired again, blowing the tar off, and she went to fire once again at Raven, but the Hound smacked the grenade aside. The head dropped over Raven as she tried to pull what was left of her rotted naked body free, but the tar refused to let her go no matter how much she screamed and begged to be freed from the torment.
Ren stood beside Nora and continued to fire his machine pistols at it, but it raised its arm and wing to cover Raven's body. Nora's eyes widened, realising its weakness all along.
"Raven… Raven is how we kill it. We keep focusing on the Grimm itself, but it just keeps regenerating… it's using Raven to regenerate itself. Making her take all the pain." Nora explained.
"If we kill Raven… we kill the Hound." Ren agreed.
Nora stared at her as she spluttered black blood from her mouth, seeing how pale her skin was, and that she even had skin rotted away, dangling from what was left of her broken body. "Sorry Raven… but this is for your own good." Nora said, aiming her Grenade Launcher at Yang's Mother, firing another grenade.
The explosion blew the arm off the Hound and it backed up towards the edge of the cliff, glaring at them. Nora aimed to fire again, but the Hound suddenly jumped off the edge of the cliff, opening the wings and flying away. Raven's agonised shrieks echoed across the landscape as the Hound retreated, and Nora lowered Magnhild just as it vanished into the clouds.
"Damn it…" Nora sighed, lowering her head.
"Well, we know how to kill it this time." Ren said, but he clenched his fist and shook his head.
"This is so messed up." Nora stammered.
"Yeah… but she betrayed us, killed Winter… we can't hesitate next time." Ren stated, and Nora nodded.
"We won't." Nora promised.
They both turned when they saw the Argus Military finish off the last of the Grimm attacking them, and Cordovin burning the last stragglers away with her cannon. But the relief disappeared when they saw Pyrrha crash into the ground like a meteor. They both looked up to see the Lord of the Wood falling from the peak, with Jaune in its grasp.
It smashed him against the ground and he grunted, tumbling across the floor, staring at the two of them. Nora felt her heart sink the second she saw the Ancient Leshen… but she couldn't let Jaune and Pyrrha face it alone.
No matter how much her fate terrified her.
Jaune
Jaune rolled aside as the Lord of the Wood slammed its elongated arm forged from roots towards him, only narrowly missing him. It walked forward, but Jaune sprinted forward, and sliced straight through the roots that swung towards him, cutting them clean off. The Leshen growled as it slashed its claws at him with the other arm, but he deflected the incoming blow, before jumping and slashing across its chest, channelling the power of his ancestors into the blade and slashing downwards, sending a powerful arc of energy forward as well.
The Lord of the Wood slid backwards from the impact, then Jaune turned when he heard the sound barrier break behind him. "JAUNE!" Pyrrha suddenly threw his Shield back to him as she flew towards him, and just went past him as he caught it, raising it. She smashed her fist into the Lord's face, but as she flew past, it caught her by the foot and threw her into the air, before flying after her, forming wings of burning birds to pursue the Maiden.
The Lord of the Wood suddenly blasted a flock of burning crows and ravens into Pyrrha, and then grappled onto her as they both fell towards the ground, smashing her against the floor. Her red aura flickered badly from the sudden impact, now in the red from that strike. The Lord of the Wood stood tall until a pink grenade exploded against the back of its shoulder. The Leshen slowly turned, glaring at Nora Valkyrie who stared it down, her hands shaking fearfully of it.
The Lord of the Wood slowly tilted its heard, growling softly. Nora blinked, and it suddenly was right in front of her. It grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the floor, but Ren immediately threw himself between them, spinning and slicing straight through the arm that held her, dropping her onto the floor.
Nora snapped out of it and gritted her teeth, spinning on the spot and smashing Magnhild across the Lord of the Wood's skull, sending him crashing against the floor. Pyrrha stumbled back to her feet, rubbing her head.
But her aura was not down yet.
She gritted her teeth and called Milo and Akoúo back into her hands whilst the civilians of Argus watched from a distance. The Lord of the Wood extended a long razor-sharp blade of wood and sprinted towards Nora, but she slid underneath the incoming blade and fired a grenade into its back. The Leshen snarled with anger, turning and extending a root towards her throat, wrapping it around her throat, but Jaune jumped and cut straight through it with Crocea Mors, raising his shield to block the incoming thorns fired from its body at him.
Pyrrha flew into the air, tossing Milo in spear form straight through the Lord's chest, and then blasted a storm of lightning down upon the Higher Demon. The Leshen snarled as the lightning burned the bark and wood away, but it grabbed Milo and threw it towards Pyrrha, who used her Polarity to orbit the weapon around her body and send it straight back and cutting straight through the hand and entire arm, splintering the wood open and stabbing into the ground behind it.
The Lord of the Wood snarled, turning as Ren jumped, firing his grappling hooks into its shoulders, pulling himself forward and kicking it in the face, flipping over its head and landing behind it, firing both pistols at it. The Lord of the Wood suddenly spun on the spot, blasting fiery flames from the wood as it howled, extending the arms outwards more and more. Nora ducked and Ren jumped over them, whilst Jaune slashed straight through one arm, charging forward and sliding underneath the other arm.
Everyone watched Team J.N.P.R in awe as their teamwork left them astounded.
And Glynda, the teacher who once was always shouting at them… stood smiling proudly at how far her students had come. Nora fired another Grenade into the Lord of the Wood's chest, knocking it backwards, and Pyrrha landed in front of it, throwing Akoúo against its Skull again, and catching it to block the incoming Crows that attacked her. But as they attacked, Ren slid behind its legs, slashing across the heels to bring it to its knees.
The Leshen dropped with a heavy thud, growling as it collapsed, but it still lunged one arm towards Nora, but she jumped into the air, spinning and smashing Magnhild downwards against the hand of the monster, pinning it down. Pyrrha smirked, and she winked at the Leshen, angering it to do the same. As it extended the arm, she flipped backwards, ramming her sword downwards straight through its hand. Ren fired both blades into its shoulders and pulled back with all his might, holding it in place.
The Lord of the Wood stared ahead to see Jaune sheathing Crocea Mors into his shield and he sprinted towards the Demon, and he roared with fury, swinging straight through the neck of the Ancient Leshen with all his might, eyes glowing blue and glyphs on the blade shining bright.
The Elk Skull flew off, bouncing across the floor as the body rotted and crumbled into dust, the Demon being sent back to the Charred Forest.
Jaune panted, closing his eyes as he rested his sword on his shoulder. Pyrrha and Nora collapsed their weapons down and Ren retracted his blades to his guns, and the four of them stood together. "We still got it." Jaune chuckled, patting Ren and Nora on the back, whilst Pyrrha grabbed his hoodie and pulled him to her lips, kissing him passionately.
"I remember when the four of you could barely catch your classes on time… you've come a long way." Glynda said as she approached them with a smile. They all turned and smiled, all sharing a warm hug with their old teacher. "I'm proud of you all."
"Thank you, Professor Goodwitch." Ren said.
"Still calling me Professor even now?" Glynda chuckled.
"You'll always be our teacher." Jaune shrugged with a smile. They walked with her back to the people of Argus, and it was quite the chilling sight to see so few people here. But it was something. "What's left?" He asked, turning to see Cordovin approaching.
"Half of our forces have been lost from that attack. Five of our tanks and roughly fifteen trucks were destroyed." Cordovin explained.
"Well… at least we didn't lose everyone." Jaune said with a radiant smile. "Come on… we'll help you find the rest of the way to the Keep."
They continued to walk on, but Nora stood for a few seconds, still feeling the Cursemark of the Lord of the Wood burning, staring at the Elk Skull on the ground before it crumbled away as well.
He was so close for a few seconds there…
… how much longer do I have?
Author Note - Things are looking scary for Nora right now...
Hyde could possibly be the only way to save her from this curse that the Lord of the Wood has placed on her. They need to get rid of that curse or she will not survive the Lord of the Wood.
Always enjoy the unpredictable nature of the Lord of the Wood, how it will go from walking and being very slow and tanking all the hits to suddenly being extremely fast and powerful, using moves they never expect since it is smart in how it attacks. Plus I love its design, it's so different to any of the other demons and the fact it is silent makes me love it even more.
The Hound is always great fun as well, especially this version where I can just go nuts and make it be this predator which can adapt and transform in the middle of a fight. Keeps the battle really tense and fun. Still feel kinda bad for Raven though XD
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt