"Be careful! The structural integrity of these caves aren't exactly the best! Just mine through the points that we marked!"
"Sir!"
The miners nodded at their supervisor's orders and for back to picking through the stone with their picks. The lead miner sighed, wiping off the sweat from his brow. Today wasn't bad, but he had a feeling it would get worse.
"What's the situation?"
The leader turned around and saw Rogue walking up to with, wearing a helmet like them for protocol. The man nodded in greeting at his boss and gave him the sitrep.
"Not much luck, I'm afraid, sir." he frowned, looking pretty disappointed. "We haven't found much veins of Dust in this mine. A couple of ores of some ice, water and wind Dust so far. Though mostly ice, for some reason. Anything else, we haven't found any. No fire, earth or gravity Dust."
"I see..." Rouge crossed his arms, frowning as well. "Those accursed Schnees, trying to hog all of the Dust to monopolize the business. Utterly repulsive. What I wouldn't give to wring that bastard's neck... "
"S-Sir! W-We found something strange!" called out one of the miners, sounding very panicked and concerned.
Rouge grunted and jumped over the railing, sliding across the stone wall before kicking himself and landing down rather softly. He brushed off the dust that got on him as he stood up and walked towards his worker.
"Well now, what has you so rattled?"
He stopped in his place, quirking an eyebrow as he saw the something in question. The miner had broken through a wall by and inside was a completely hollow room. Inside of it was a sword embedded deep in the middle of a slot, leading over to a thick wall of ice.
Rouge entered the room, looking around in curiosity. "Fascinating..." he muttered. The Combat Philanthropist approached the sword, already knowing it was special.
"S-Sir? Is it wise to touch the sword?"
"Well, would you rather have it fall in the hands of someone like the Schnees? You all worry too much." Rouge shrugged off their concerns and yanked it out with a flourish.
He inspected the sword, glimmering in the dim light. Its seemed to be still in good condition, though the blade was chipped off. Then, the entire cavern started trembling. The miners panicked and tried to save themselves while Rouge looked around, looking more curious than fearful.
Behind the wall of ice, a pair of eyes glew in the dark and attracted the blond's attention.
"Sparda... Why?!"
The wall shattered to pieces, prompting Rouge to run away as he and his men ascended. None of them made it far, as a wave of snow came out of nowhere and engulfed all of them, freezing most to death.
The sounds of gunshots echoed across the forests, disturbing the birds of their sleep, causing them to flee. Dante jumped out from a bush, firing Ebony and Ivory at the pack of Beowolves. Most of the Wolf Grimm were shredded down, but a good few survive and charged at the half-devil.
The Son of Sparda cheered, dancing around their claw strikes with smooth ease. He got onto his hands and pushed himself up into the air, avoiding their jaws snapping at him. He materialized a Glyph under him and jumped onto a tree branch.
"What the matter? We still gotta teach you puppies some new tricks!"
Launching himself off, he descended down, spiraling around like a vortex as he rained down bullets on the poor Grimm. Only one survived. He holstered his guns and decided to go hand-to-hand.
The remaining Beoowlf growled and tried to pounce the devil hunter. Dante kicked it in the face with a backwards flip, before getting into a break dancing attack, continuously pummelling it in the face before launching it away with a flip kick, snapping the tree in half, killing it.
The Alpha of the pack jumped out from behind him, and he merely raised his hand, Royal Guarding its attempt at biting him, causing it stumble. Growling, it lashed its claws at Dante, who perfectly blocked each attack it tried, before he Royal Relased the poor thing, completely obliterating it.
Another Beowolf lumbered from out of the woods, only to be pulled back by a spectral arm. Jaune smirked, spinning around as he tossed the Creature of Grimm towards his uncle.
"Think fast!"
Dante smirked with the same energy as his nephew, pulling out the Rebellion. He drew back his sword as its blade glowed crimson red and swung it like a baseball bat, slicing it in half. With a flourish, he placed back Rebellion on his back.
"Well, that was entertaining. But I wonder why we had to deal with five packs of Beowolf."
Jaune walked up to join his uncle, adjusting Red Queen, frowning in concern. "Yeah. It's kinda alarming there's been a sudden surge of Grimm just outside of Fortune City. At the very least, it should be much more safer-"
A blue and white streak struck him down without warning, alarming Dante to draw out his trusted partner once again. Jaune rolled up and grabbed Blue Rose, looking around to see what hit him. But since it was night, and they're inside a rather dense forest, it was rather hard to see.
"Hey, buddy! How about you come out and introduce yourself?"
The two of them saw icy blue eyes deep in the shadows, emanating a cold presence that slowly froze the trees around it. "...No. Not the time. You will gets yours soon, Sparda."
It disappeared into the darkness, the cold dissipating. The two devil hunters placed away their weapons, turning to each other.
"Sparda? Great, another demon that has a grudge against grandpa?" asked Jaune.
Dante nodded, crossing his arms. "Has to be. It'll probably be back, so watch your guard." He clapped his nephew on the shoulder, walking back in the direction they came from. "Now, come on, there's some pizza waiting for us back at the office.
Jaune looked back where the figure was last seen. He swore that it's eyes looked familiar. Like he had seen them already before. He just couldn't remember where. He put it in the back of his mind and followed after Dante, deciding to mull over it some other time.
A Week Later
"Don't you dare, Nora. If you do it, I will scream."
"Sorry, not sorry~!"
Jaune slammed his forehead against the table, his scream being muffled as Nora placed down plus four wild card on the pile, which added up from the one that Ren just dropped, totaling in eight cards. Fenrir looked up from his spot, cocking his head in confusion at his owner's anger. Jaune drew the right amount, glaring at the couple.
"You guys suck, just so you know."
Ren shrugged, placing down another card. "It's not our fault. We could've played Monopoly but you chose this instead."
"I didn't think UNO would be capable of straining friendships, but here we are now." grumbled out Jaune.
"I don't suppose I'm disturbing something important to ask you three for help, am I?"
The three of them looked up to the door, seeing Kyrie poke her head in. The Fortunite waved at her friends, whom all promptly waved back. Fenrir ran up to her barked in greeting. Kyrie smiled and patted his head.
"Hey, Kyrie. No, nothing too serious. Come in." he said. Not to get away from UNO because he was losing. Helping out someone takes higher priority, of course. "So, what's the sitch? You said you needed help?"
She nodded. "Yes, it would be greatly appreciated. The orphanage at Fortune City has been running into something odd for these past few days. Some of the children have claimed to see a large wolf running around the woods near-by, and the caretakers have spotted some paw prints that would belong to one. Some former members of the Order elected to investigate at night but...whatever it was, they were ill-equipped against it and ended up getting a cold, at best."
Jaune narrowed his eyes, feeling something poke at his brain. A wolf with an apparent affinity for the cold. Why did that sound familiar?
"So... What do you want us to do?" asked Ren. "Do you want us to find out if it a wolf? What then? Do we drive it off, or...?" He uncomfortably let it hanging, a frown on his face.
"We'd prefer it if you can secure the safety of the children there. That's our main concern. Secondary is finding out what this wolf wants."
Nora piped up, leaning in. "I think we can do that. Renny can sense it out when it comes, Jaune-Jaune and I can break its legs then we can ask it why it's there, simple!"
Jaune and Ren nodded in agreement. Kyrie smiled, bowing in gratitude to her friends. The blond stood up, turning his arm into the Devil Bringer and summoning out the Yamato.
"Shall we?"
Drawing out the katana, he made two incisions into the air and opened up a portal. Kyrie went in first, then Nora, then Ren. As Jaune prepared to go inside, he stopped as Fenrir barked to get his attention. Kneeling down, he looked at his pet with a confused expression.
"What is it, bud?"
He barked again, nodding at the portal. The cambion put two and two together, making him smile.
"I see. You wanna play with the kids so they'd spoil you with belly rubs and head pats, huh?"
Fenrir didn't deny it one bit, and instead just barked again. Jaune shook his head and ruffled his head, gesturing to the portal. Fenrir wasted no time and jumped in, his master following behind as the portal closed.
On the other side of the portal, Jaune was met with a man dressed in white, similar to what those of the Order used to wear but with no hood. The most notable thing about him was his verdant green eyes. He smiled and shook hands with the devil hunter.
"A pleasure to see you again, Nero." greeted the man.
"Yeah, it's been a while, Viridis." He returned it firmly. "So, Kyrie said you needed help?"
He sighed and nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, me and my men weren't even able to get a strike in. It was too fierce and swift, unlike the demons back in Fortuna."
Jaune chuckled, crossing his arms. "Yeah, not really like the Scarecrows or the occasional Frosts we used to encounter."
Viridis smiled in remembrance of the days back in the Order. "I suppose not." His expression then became serious and lost all pretense of amusement. "As it is, we're ill-equipped and unprepared against this foe and I'd rather have someone I can trust instead of an unknown devil hunter. So, will you help us, Grandson of Sparda?"
The devil hunter sighed at how he was referred to. "Come on, Vir. We knew each other back in the Order. You don't have to call me that."
"...No, I don't. But your exasperation is amusing." replied the older male.
Jaune shook his head and followed Viridis into the building, where his friends were already at. Ren had busied himself with helping out the volunteers in the kitchen. Nora played with the children, acting as the big monster in their play-game. Kyrie tended to some of them who hurt themselves playing. As for Fenrir? He laid on the carpeted floor, tail wagging as the curious kids brushed his fur.
He followed after his old comrade up to the second floor, where none of the children can hear them.
"So, does this wolf only come out at night? Or did it ever come in the day?" asked, requiring some details.
"Both. The children claim to see it during the day, but we could only ever spot it during the night. It's rather unnerving, to be honest." Viridis confessed, concern written all over his face. "A possible threat is looming around, and we don't even know it's intentions. If it wants to kill the children or, just cause havoc in general."
Jaune listened attentively and agreed. House full of children, and there's something out there that can take them away and probably kill them? Anyone with a functioning moral compass would feel worried.
"So, we're gonna be staying over the night to draw it out and/or kill it?"
The brown-haired man nodded. "Correct. We've already set up the guest rooms for you and your cousins. We hope the situation gets solved eventually. It may have only been a few days, but our constant worrying and concern may attract more...unwanted problems."
Grimm. Though they're not as much of a problem as a demon, they could still pose enough of a threat. Jaune clasped Viridis' shoulder in assurance, shaking it lightly.
"Don't worry. We'll get this done. You do know who you're talking to, right?"
Viridis chuckled in response. "I suppose so. The man who bested Credo and killed the pretender, Sanctus. Well, I'll be leaving you then. Best of luck, Nero."
Clapping him in the shoulder, the man left Jaune to his own devices, who had a melancholic look on his face at the mention of Kyrie's dead brother. He clenched his fist tightly at his failure to protect the man he could call a brother. Even now, his last words still rang in his head.
"Please...protect Kyrie...in my stead."
"Don't you worry, Credo. I still haven't forgotten. No one's dying on my watch. Not ever again." He softly vowed.
The Lone Son walked back down, just in time to see Nora being overwhelmed by the kids poking her with their foam swords, cheating on how they beat the monster. Jaune chuckled at the display, before feeling something tug at his pants.
Looking down, he could see the orphans that had their attention on Fenrir earlier, looking up at him. Shiraz, purple-haired girl wearing a locket. Silver, a silver-haired boy with bright yellow eyes. And Sunny, golden flowing hair dressed like a princess. The eldest of the three, which was Shiraz, stepped forward and spoke up.
"Mr. Nero, can you please play with us?"
He smiled and knelt down, ruffling her hair. "Of course! I'd be happy too. What do you wanna play?"
"Hide and seek!" All three of them declared as one, pumping their fists up.
Jaune chuckled and ushered them out. "Okay, I'm gonna count to a hundred, and you guys go hide with Fenrir."
They quickly took off and ran into the woods. The domesticated wolf looked at his owner and yipped, before following after the orphans to help them hide. Jaune smiled and sat down, mentally counting up to a hundred.
Ren tossed him a freshly baked, blueberry cupcake, straight out of the oven. The blond caught the baked good and softly blew on it before taking a bite. He absent-mindedly tapped on his lap while munching on the cupcake
"Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, and one hundred!" He finished counting, also finishing his cupcake.
Jaune dusted off the crumbs on his person and headed out into the woods to go look for the orphans. He looked up, hearing the bushes rustle. He grabbed the foliage and parted them to reveal one of the orphans.
"Found you, Sunny."
The little girl pouted that she got found so early. Jaune smirked in amusement and put her on his shoulders as they went to go look for the other two. He spent a good five minutes searching around before he noticed some foot prints that led to the to foot of a tree. Looking up, he saw another one of the orphans high up on a tree branch, legs dangling.
Materializing a Glyph, he jumped right on it and surprised Silver. Chuckling, he booped his nose in triumph.
"Caught you, Silver."
"Aw man..."
Jaune scooped him up and got him down from the tree. Now, only Shiraz and Fenrir were left. Surprisingly, they managed to cover their tracks very well. He sat down onto a hollowed out log and took a quick break...before hearing some soft laughter echoing from inside of the log.
Before he could make a move to look inside, Fenrir jumped out and glomped his master, allowing Shiraz to escape while she laughed. Jaune tried to get off his pet wolf, who licked him furiously, being tickled by his tongue.
"C-Come on, boy! Hahahahaha! Get off!"
Finally, he managed to get him off and chased after the purple-haired child. Though he didn't really give it his all and just trailed behind Shiraz, both of them laughing. Finally, he scooped her up and booped her nose.
"Heh. Finally got you, missy. Almost had me."
The little girl giggled as she was met with an onslaught of tickles. Jaune took them back to the orphanage, just in time for supper.
A Few Hours Later, into the night
"Oh come on!"
"Again. Your fault. We could've played Monopoly, but you chose UNO."
Jaune grumbled under his breath as he drew not four. Not eight. But TWELVE cards. Kyrie had decided to join, and she could only offer an apologetic grin, having been the one to finish the chain. Fenrir looked over to his master with an amused look before going back to sleep.
"You guys better be ready when karma hits you all right in the ass." He muttered, slamming down a skip turn card, moving immediately to Nora's turn.
The rest of the game went silently as Jaune then finally managed to get his petty revenge on Ren. They went another round of the game, though Kyrie decided to bow out and check up on the orphans. She smiled tenderly, seeing all of them sound asleep. Well, except for one.
"Ms. Kyrie?"
She looked over and saw Shiraz, still wide awake and looking sad. Kyrie walked over to the girl and sat down on her bed.
"What's the matter? Did you have a nightmare?"
Shiraz shook her head, looking down on her neck. "I lost my locket in the woods while we were playing with Mr. Nero earlier. I didn't want to lose. It's the last thing I have of my mommy..."
Kyrie gently grabbed her hand and squeezed it, giving the little girl an assuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll go get it for you. Why don't you get some sleep? I'll give it back to you, first thing in the morning."
The purple-haired girl looked pleased and nodded. Kyrie brushed off her hair on her face and tucked her in to bed, giving her a kiss goodnight. She quietly stepped back out and peaked into the guest room, seeing Jaune cheering in victory as he managed to finally win, though at the expense of Nora, who immediately demanded a rematch.
Kyrie smiled and gently closed the door, deciding to go on her own. It's not like she'd be there for long. Grabbing her coat and a flashlight, she headed for the woods.
Kyrie waved around her flashlight, trying to spot Shiraz's locket. But with how dark it was, it proved to be rather challenging. She hoped that she would find it quickly and get back to the orphanage.
A yelp escaped her lip when she heard rustling from one of the bushes. Kyrie gulped nervously, getting to run away. Much to her relief, it was just a squirrel. The small mammal scurried off as her shoulders sagged, knees almost buckling. She ventured on without any other worry.
Traveling deeper into the woods, Kyrie could not shake off the feeling that she was being watched. Or worse, hunted. And not even the occasional encounter with other critters, like a raccoon or more squirrels, quelled her fear.
Soon, she had reached Shiraz's earlier hiding spot. Flashing the light over next to the hollowed out log, Kyrie saw something glinting, which immediately grabbed her attention. Kneeling down, she saw that it was Shiraz's locket. She sighed in relief and was about to pick it up when she heard another rustle come from the bushes.
Then, without warning, the temperature started dropping rather drastically. To the point that Kyrie could see her own breath. Against her better judgment, Kyrie walked up to the foliage to check what was under it.
"Blue." Ren simply said, placing down the wild card.
Jaune rolled his eyes and prepared to draw, when-
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Jaune shot up, face losing its color as he registered who had just screamed. Kyrie. She's in danger! Viridis barged in, looking just as worried. "We heard. It has to be the wolf. Luckily, the kids aren't awake. We'll stay here to protect them. You three, go and save Kyrie!"
With no time to waste, Jaune and Nora grabbed their weapons and secured them on their person. Nora and Ren jumped out through the window, figuring it to be faster. Just as Jaune's about to leave, Fenrir bit on his coat, trying to get his attention.
"You wanna come with? Fenrir, no. It's too dangerous. You stay here with Vir, and guard the kids instead."
Despite his whining, Jaune paid it no heed and quickly hurried after his friends. They ran as fast as they could and were soon in the forest. Jaune looked over to his cousin and shouted. "How much farther!"
Ren closed his eyes and honed in on Kyrie's signature. His eyes snapped open and led them to where it was. "We go left then just keep on going straight! We should be there in a minute!"
And he was right. They soon came across Kyrie. Trapped in a block of ice.
"Kyrie!" he shouted in worry as he inspected her frozen figure. She had a look of fear etched onto her face as she seemed to try and shield herself, but to no avail. Tightly clenching his fist, he roared and prepared to break her out. The wolf emerged from out of the darkness and lunged at him with a ferocious growl.
Jaune didn't manage to react and was just slammed into a tree that snapped in half. The wolf turned around, revealing itself in its entirety. It greatly towered over them, its fur was thick and wild, blue markings on its body. And its eyes were a cold, icy blue that seemed to pierce into their souls.
"You again..."
Jaune's eyes widened in remembrance, to the encounter that he and Dante had a week ago on a mission. "You're...
"Andrius. The Wolf of the North." it introduced itself. "And I cannot allow you to retrieve this woman!"
It raised its front legs, claws sharpening for a slash attack. Jaune drew out Red Queen and met the attack. He couldn't stand his ground and instead, he was pushed back, slamming into a tree. As it prepared another attack, Nora jumped in and punched it right in the snout, her arm crackling with electricity. Ren simply retreated above a tree, simply letting them fight it out while he waited for an opening to free Kyrie.
Andrius was sent flying, wincing at the powerful blow. Nora drew out her weapon, Magnhild, and charged with a war cry. The ice wolf crashed its claws on the ground, freezing the surface and causing Nora to slip. Quickly using it to its advantage, Andrius swept her up with his tail and shot forward icicles at the ginger.
Jaune melted the projectiles with an EX Calibur attack. Performing EX-Act strike, he dove down and drilled towards the demon, blade wreathe in flames. Andrius managed to dodge at the last second, but was unable to avoid the grenades that sailed right at him. The large wolf cried out in pain, shaking off the soot in its fur.
Howling to the night sky, it dashed at them without warning, leaving behind a trail of ice in its wake. Andrius growled and bashed them into a tree, before skidding to a stop for another tail sweep.
Planting down their feet, the two charged back into the fray and attacked the demon at the same time. Jaune slid under its body, striking at its legs, while Nora jumped above it and smacked it around with Magnhild. Despite its weight, she wielded it like it weighed nothing, allowing her to land some strong yet quick blows.
"BOOP!"
Pressing the trigger, she used the recoil of her grenade from inside of her hammer and launched the ice demon right into the air. Jaune ran forward and joined his cousin, summoning out his spectral arm. The two grinned and struck Andrius as he fell, sending him crashing against the waves of trees. It pushed itself off, shaking off the splinters in its body.
"I've underestimated you both... Perhaps it's time to take you all much more seriously."
At this, Jaune and Nora frowned. Andrius howled to the night sky, body radiating with power as a strong gust of wind began to billow out of nowhere. The wolf snarled and slammed down its front legs and created waves of ice. The both of them managed to dodge. Jaune rode the air and blasted at Andrius with a Charge Shot.
Grunting, it materialized icicles and started crashing them around at random. Jaune and Nora tried their best to figure out a pattern to dodge it, but alas, they were truly at random, resulting in them getting hit quite a lot.
"Winter is coming..."
While they dodged around the crashing icicles, Andrius gathered up energy within its maw and fired off an icy beam. Jaune noticed it and ascended into the sky, although the same couldn't be said for Nora. The beam crashed against her body and froze her solid in a block of ice.
"Shit, Nora!" he cried out in worry.
The cambion covered his eyes as his vision grew more darker because of the mist that appeared, reminding him of Bael. Looking around, he tried to anticipate its moves by trying to spot its eyes, but they were hidden quite well, much to his chagrin.
"Hey, Ren! How about using some of your wind to blow this mi-"
Andrius appeared out of nowhere, charging right at the devil hunter to trample him under. Jaune flipped to the side, managing to dodge the attack as it went back into the mist.
"Any time is a good time to help out, Ren!"
Jaune could understand his cousin's refusal to join the fight, having swore a vow to become a pacifist because using his powers reminded him of the intention that Agnus had for him and for Nora. And how just the sensation of his fist meeting flesh sent shivers down his back. But right now, he was in trouble and his girlfriend was literally frozen solid, and he could really use some help.
Luckily, Ren provided his assistance, spewing out a strong burst of wind, blowing away the mist and letting Jaune see normally once again.
Out of nowhere, a pack of Beowolves emerged and started to crowd around the devil hunter. It took him a while to kill them all with how unrelenting they were, allowing him to see the patch of grass below him had suddenly turned to ice and trapped his feet. Before he could react, Andrius leapt and belly flopped the blond, crushing him under his weight.
Nora shattered her icy prison, shivering from the cold. Clenching her hands, she summoned her lightning and called her weapon back to her, surging forward with a grenade explosion. The ginger-haired cambion pried the wolf off of her friend and fired off a cluster of grenades at him without mercy.
Andrius didn't take kindly to this and continuously fired off icicles at her. Nora smashed them all with ease as they came at her. Gripping Magnhild, she channeled lightning through it and swung it down, releasing a bolt of lightning. Andrius roared in agony at the attack, allowing Jaune to recover.
The Arc Devil pushed himself up and sent a dirty look toward his cousin before shaking off the cobwebs and called out the Yamato. Drawing her out, he roared and sent out multiple blades of energy at the electrified wolf. Andrius couldn't even dodge as the sharp blades cut its skin, making him bleed.
Jaune slammed back the katana into her scabbard before drawing it out once again, unleashing a vortex of bluish-purple energy at the ice demon. It howled in agony at the Judgement Cut attack and the pain ignited its motivation to break free.
Healing up its wound, Andrius crashed down its claws once again and started glowing brightly, a tornado surrounding it to stop any of their attacks. They covered their face as trees started getting ripped off from their roots, getting sucked in. Then, it started firing the tress right at them.
Jaune cursed under his breath and let loose a multitude of slashes, slicing them to the bits and splinters. Sliding back, he drew out Yamato once again, but created a Dimension Slash instead for better range, cutting down the trees.
Finally, he decided to ask something that's been on his mind. "Why are you attacking us?!"
Andrius regarded him for a moment before firing off another beam of ice. This time, Jaune blocked it with the Aegis Shield. Nora let off another bolt of lightning, with the ice demon shielding himself with a dome of frost. Then, he sprayed snow all over the forest, coating in a white blanket. The wolf roared and fired off two consecutive beams of ice, forcing Jaune to defend and for Nora to take cover behind him. The blond gritted his teeth, starting to feel woozy because of the cold. That, and the ice slowly started to creep up his body and make its way inside.
At that moment, Jaune's eyes landed right on Kyrie's still frozen body. And he could feel her grow even more colder. How could he have forgotten?! Credo's last words started ringing in his head with more clarity than ever.
"KYRIE!" he screamed in sheer worry. Jaune unleashed his pseudo-Devil Trigger and roared, feeling his body start to warm up. Snarling, the Son of the Dark Slayer relentlessly zipped around, becoming entirely nothing but a blur to Andrius, greatly confusing him. Meanwhile, Nora took advantage of the situation and launched herself at the wolf once again and struck down one of its legs, breaking it.
She wasn't done, however, as she slammed her hammer right in it's stomach and pounded its jaw, sending it flying. Jaune flashed upwards, lunging forward and Bustered it. Roaring, he barraged the ice demon with multitudes of slashes before entirely blinding it's left eye and permanently left a scar right on it. He grabbed him by the muzzle and chucked him down, crashing into the ground.
A part of Ren scratched at his soul, aching to jump in on the fun, but he kept himself rooted, refusing to join. He made a vow that fighting would only be a last resort, and he would stand by such. Pushing back those thoughts, he shifted his focus elsewhere and saw the window of opportunity. He dropped from his position and headed straight for Kyrie while Andrius recovered.
The Wolf of the North saw the pacifist run over to the frozen girl and grew enraged. "No! I will not allow you!"
He forced himself to rise but, unfortunately, his legs gave out. Ren grunted and shattered Kyrie out of her would-be tomb. Jaune sagged in relief and ran towards the girl, quick to wrap her in an embrace, which she greatly returned.
Then, much to their confusion, the wolf's form soon began to flicker and fade, like an illusion. Andrius gritted its teeth, trying so hard to stand up.
"No! Please, not yet! I cannot die without passing on my powers!" he begged to no one in particular as, once again, he fell down.
Jaune and Nora looked at each other and placed away their weapons while the former willed away his pseudo-Devil Trigger, arm still protectively wrapped around Kyrie. "Talk. You never did say why you were attacking us."
The demonic wolf looked into his eyes and nodded. "I...am the last of my kind. I had hoped to transfer myself into that woman and make her my host, in order to birth pups. I attacked you, because you stood in my way of my goal." he explained himself to them.
"Why does it have to be Kyrie?" Nora decided to ask. "Why can't it be anyone else? No disrespect meant, but she's not exactly a fighter."
"N-none taken, because I agree. W-wouldn't you prefer someone strong?" she shivered out.
"Your interactions with the children has led me to believe that you will be a great mother, which is exactly what I need to nurture back my kind."
"You're a wolf!" Ren pointed out. "Can't you choose-"
"These pathetic Grimm are incompatible to a demon like me!... And since you all don't want me to have this woman, I'm doomed to extinction."
The four of them looked at each other, silently communicating with each other. Jaune stepped forward. "How about an alternative?"
Andrius perked up, looking intrigued and desperate. "I'm listening..."
"Believe it or not, I have a pet dire wolf. He has his Aura unlocked, and he's still quite young. I'm sure-"
"I've heard enough..." he decided. "Take my soul and give it to your friend. He will inherit my powers of wind and snow. You, however, may take my ability to freeze. I feel it as compensation enough for freezing your woman."
Two blushed at his assumption. Kyrie vehemently denied it while Jaune tried to correct him. "S-She's not my-!"
However, before he can finish, Andrius howled into the night sky and his body shattered like ice, leaving behind his soul for them to retrieve. As Jaune was about to pull it towards him, a figure snatched the orb from mid-air landing right where Andrius once stood.
"Thank you for the assist, Grandson of Sparda."
It turned around, revealing itself to be the mysterious person from a few weeks ago.
"You again? Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to steal?"
"Not to worry! I'm sure my plans will be of interest to you all, as compensation!"
Jaune drew out Blue Rose and opened fire at the stranger. It simply phased through the bullets as the orb in the palm of their hand started to pulsate and envelop their arm, turning into an arm cannon that resembled a wolf's head. The figure fired out a shower of frost at the group, forcing them to dodge, giving the figure ample time to make its escape.
"Dammit! Again! First the mask, now that Devil Arm. What the hell does he plan to use them for?" He shook his head and decided to focus his attention on Kyrie. "Are you alright?"
"I'll live, thanks to you guys." she assured him, blushing at how close they were, before she had to remind herself that Jaune was already dating her sister.
The devil hunter smiled. He took off his coat and draped over Kyrie to help her get warmer faster. "Come on, let's get back to the orphanage. I'm sure Ren can whip up some cups of hot cocoa."
"It's the least I can do for not helping out as much" he voiced out, a small smile on his face.
The four of them walked off and back to report Viridis of the situation being cleared up. Kyrie felt around her pocket and felt relieved that Shiraz's locket was still there.
And so, this chapter replaces the one with Glassare. I've also decided to let Fenrir live, though him being a demon still or not is up in the air currently.
Now, I've an announcement to make. I'm gonna be taking a hiatius...again. Unfortunately, my computer isn't being cooperative and I just can't get it to open. It has my notes in there, and so right now, I can't write shit.
I'm hoping I can get it fixed within the week, but I'm not feeling too optimistic.
That's all I've got to say for this week. Hope you all have a nice day. Stay safe, and sanitized.