Sorry for the delay! Got caught up with life and a couple of other stories.
As always, No Beta, we die like men.
Weiss gulped as she retreated further and further from the soon-to-be battle. She felt her back collide with the wall, but she still refused to take her eyes of her father's back, afraid of what could happen if she as much as blinked.
The Grimm's formed to get bigger and bigger as he stood in front of her father. Its oppressive presence and the suffocating killing intent it released made it very clear that this Grimm was on a completely different level than any other Grimm she had the displeasure of meeting. None compared to it, not the Beowolves, not the death Stalker, and not even the Nevermore.
She dared to believe that no single huntsman could take it solo. It was simply far greater.
So why? Why is it that this personification of chaos and destruction seemed so insignificant in the face of her father's presence? Why was it that the man who was supposed to be on her side-her ally, her own father!—was the one who made her hair stand up on the back of her neck.
It made no sense. No matter how much her mind tried to make sense of the situation, it changed nothing.
In comparison to the Mole Grimm, her father felt far more dangerous.
"Come, abomination. Allow me to show you what a true monster looks like." The man said suddenly, voice dripping with arrogance. He took dropped into a low crouch and spread his arms wide as he beckoned the Grimm to come at him.
The beast seemingly understanding the mocking of its opponent let out a deafening roar and lunged forward. Faster than Weiss's brain could register, the beast closed the distance. In a whip-like motion, the Grimm lashed out with its arm, its claws nothing more than a blur. Jacques swung his forearm and diverted the attack away from him. The arm continued sailing and collided with the wall, and Weiss felt frighted as she saw those claws cut through both steel and stone as a hot knife cut through butter.
Not even remotely demoralized by the failure of its opening strike, the Mole twisted its body again to face Jacques. It dropped low and opened its maw wide and lunged forward trying to crush its prey between its jaws.
Jacques was quick enough to move his body to the side, easily avoiding the straightforward attack, but still remaining within a striking distance of the Grimm. He put his hand on the still sailing Grimm, using the beast's own momentum against it. Jacques channeled the same force through the entirety of his body to his arm and swung. His fist impacted the Grimm's with a resounding hit that shattered the beast's lower jaw.
The mole raised his head, letting out an ear-splitting cry. Weiss had always thought that Grimm could not feel pain, but as she watched the Mole thrashing around his jaw dangling torn, and broken, she started reconsidering her thought.
However, unfortunately for the Grimm, her father didn't seem to give too much attention to similar thoughts. Uncaring of the beast's suffering; Jacques tackled one of the Grimm's hind legs. He circled his arms around the massive limb and pushed it downwards, knocking it to the ground on its behind. The Grimm attempted to push the human off of him but to no avail. The man was constantly moving out of the way pushing the Grimm further and further against the wall, killing any maneuverability the Grimm had. With each movement, he made sure to twist the limb more and more, until its leg was nearly facing the side. Jacques dropped to his knees taking the limb down with him, and with a resounding crack, the Grimm's leg was broken.
Jacques didn't seem willing to give the beast even a moment to cry out in agony. The older Schnee grabbed the Mole's head. He stomped his feet with enough force to crack the ground beneath. He turned his body with a roar, and the Grimm's massive body was dragged through the wall, the jagged rocks tearing its back open. Jacques let go and the beast was thrown into the other side, crashing into the Dust containers.
The beast stayed down for several seconds before its body slumped forward. The Grimm took a great effort in pushing itself upwards. He raised its head in Jacques's direction, and though he had no eyes, Weiss could imagine it leveling a cursing glare at him. It let out a low rumble, and his body started oozing thick dark goo.
'What is…' Weiss narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look at what was happening. She had never heard of a Grimm discharging neither from the professors nor from The Grimm encyclopedias. Is this what her father meant when he said that it was an abomination? Weiss observed the Grimm, trying to spot anything irregular. After a couple of seconds, she noticed something. 'It can't be..!'
The Grimm roared and the goo surrounding him exploded outwards, covering almost the entirety of the floor beneath
"Hmm, and you can regenerate, too? She sure didn't hold back when making your ugly ass. I almost feel bad for killing you here."Her father let out a small whistle as he regarded the Grimm, seemingly unbothered by the goo surrounding his feet. He took a fighting stance once again. "Don't worry though. I'll make sure to put you to good use."
Taking Jacques's words as a declaration for round 2, the Grimm got on its four limbs and tensed its muscles. When it seemed that its muscles were at their tearing point, it launched straight ahead like an arrow. The air seemed to thunder around it as it sailed forward.
Jacques bent his knees back and let the beast's open mouth over him. He leaned back, put his palms on the floor, and snapped his body straight kicking the Grimm in the middle of his chest and launching him into the air. He twisted his body and jumped after the Grimm catching him in the throat. Not wanting to waste a chance to capitalize on an opening, Jacques followed with his combo. Using the beast's body as a foothold to stabilize himself, he raised his foot and stomped on the Grimm's mask hard enough that it drove the Mole's head into the ground.
Jacques stepped back and delivered a heavy punch into the Mole's chest and Weiss saw it explode into a black paste. Weiss almost believed the battle to be finished. It was not until she heard her father swear did she realize she was wrong. The dark paste transformed into several dark tendrils pinning it her father's arm inside the Grimm's chest.
Jacques tried to free his arm, but he was quickly stunned as the Mole's gigantic hands took hold of him. "Grhk!" He grunted as the Grimm attempted to crush him. The Mole slowly brought his head out from the ground, a massive shark smile on its face.
Her father had been tricked.
The Grimm flipped his body upward, his grip on Jacques never loosening. He raised his arms and brought them down, slamming Jacques into the ground headfirst. He leaned forward pinning the older Schnee beneath him.
Weiss saw the Grimm open its mouth, and she felt her breath hitch as she realized what it was doing. A blue violent torrent of flames began focusing into a sphere between the Mole's jaws. Azure light cut through the grey inside the room.
After several seconds, it closed its mouth and its chest expanded. The Grimm brought its head down and roared downwards engulfing both its arms and Jacques.
The beam of flames hit the ground and spread throughout the room. Weiss was barely able to put up several Glyphs in order to shield herself from the brunt of the attack. Even then, the heat released made her feel as if she was about to be cooked alive.
Still, she pushed through the pain and forced her eyes to open but she saw nothing. The entire room was bathed in blinding white. After more than half a minute, the beast had finished its attack.
The vision began to clear as the flames started receding. Weiss's eyes hesitantly returned to ground zero. The gigantic Mole stood at the center of a crater of melted stone, fire still raging around him. Burn marks could be seen across its body, and his arms were reduced to ashes and slowly regenerating.
Her father was nowhere in sight the be
Dread manifested in Weiss's mind as she regarded the beast with wide eyes. Her father had definitely been hit. He had neither moved out of the way nor had he attempted to block the attack. He took the attack head-on, and now…
The Grimm straightened its body and gazed down. Slowly, Weiss dared to do the same.
In the middle of the crater, her father's laid. His body broken and consumed by flames.
'No…' Weiss' knees buckled underneath her as her worst fears were becoming reality.
The Grimm looked at it's the sight beneath him, regarding the body beneath him. It raised its newly created arm.
"W—what are you.."
The mole brought his massive claws crashing down on Jacques's unmoving form breaking even further. It raised its arm again.
"Stop!" Weiss yelled as her brain finally registered the situation. She raised Myrtenaster and pointed it at the Grimm. In a second, the Grimm's body arm was caught in a glyph, stopping its movement. While several others manifested between it and her father.
Alas, it did nothing.
The Grimm moved its arm with little trouble, and slammed it down once again, shattering both the Glyphs and her father's ribs in one hit.
A weak, pained cough escaped her father's mouth.
Weiss tried once again. Pushing her Semblance to its limit, she covered the Grimm's body with over a dozen Glyphs. Her father was still alive! His body may be broken, but there was still hope. She needed to get him out of here!
Weiss ran towards the crater. Once, twice, thrice, her legs brought her less than a meter away from Jacques. 'Just a little bit!' She extended her arm towards him.
The sound of broken glass reached as her fingers brushed against her father's exposed flesh, and Weiss felt pain explode in her right side. Her body crashed into one of the Dust containers. Her aura started shimmering before it shattered as it reached its limits.
As her body slumped to the ground, Weiss felt nothing pain. However, she still wouldn't give up. Putting her palms on the ground, she pushed herself into a kneeling position. One hit…one hit from the Grimm nearly killed her. It almost made her laugh at how weak she was.
How the hell was she supposed to restore her family's name when she was so useless? How could she ever hope to save innocents when she lacked the strength to save those close to her? Her father, her team, her friends…all of them hurt while she stood watching helplessly.
Weiss ignored the blood running down her face and raised her head to search for the Grimm. She found it nearly fifty yards away from her. How far did he smack her?
It still hunched over her father's body slamming his claws down over and over again. It had its back turned to her.
Weiss took hold of her Myrtenaster once again. She aimed her weapon at the Grimm and attempted to fire everything in its Dust chambers at the beast. But no matter how much she pulled the trigger, nothing came out. Her weapon had been broken from the earlier hit.
Hearing the commotion, the Grimm had turned in her direction. Its face lowered slightly to look at the broken weapon cradled in her hands before letting out what could only be called a ridiculing howl.
The sound echoed throughout the hollow space of the underground mocking Weiss for what she had lost. Mocking her for bow utterly pathetic she was.
The Grimm was laughing at her.
Her humiliation and anger, both at the Grimm and at herself, reached a boiling point. She grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at the Grimm, hitting straight in its mask and cutting off its laughter.
The Grimm regarded her with confusion long enough for her to launch another rock at its face. The Mole stepped out of the crater and started moving towards her, picking up speed with each step.
Weiss grabbed her saber with both hands and rushed towards the beast. If she was going to die, she will go in a way befitting of a Schnee, on her feet and fighting.
The Grimm cocked its arm back and roared. Weiss met it with an equally angry scream. She jumped and thrust her saber forward sinking into the foul beast's flesh. She closed her and waited for the blow that put her to rest.
The blow that never came.
Hesitantly, Weiss opened her eyes. She found the Grimm's claws mere inches away from her head, unmoving. She looked up and saw its mouth wide open, a silent scream in it throat. The Grimm was frozen.
Weiss slowly backed away from the immobilized beast with an expression of bewilderment on her visage. 'What happened?' She wondered.
The sound of footsteps brought her out of her musings. She whirled her head to the side and witnessed a dead man walking, literally. Her father sauntered in the Grimm's direction with his body in tatters. Yet, it seemed that the missing left arm and his organs hanging outside his body offered little issue to him as he walked.
Weiss knew firsthand that an Adrenaline rush would often help people push through or outright ignore pain and injuries, but this was far too severe for that. Weiss mentally slapped herself. There were more important matters at hand than to wonder 'how'.
'He shouldn't be moving in his condition.' Weiss thought as she paced towards him. The last thing they wanted was to aggravate his already lethal wounds. "Don't move!" Weiss said as she stopped in front of him. She knelt while presenting her back to him. "Get on my back. I will carry you to safety. I don't know what happened, but we should get out of her bef- Hey!" Weiss protested as her father ignored her and continued down his path.
Weiss followed after the man, her voice a shriek as she spoke. "What are you doing!? Don't tell me you're seriously going to fight that thing again. Have you lost-!" Weiss's tirade was cut off when her father put his left hand on her face and pushed her away.
Weiss held back an insult as she landed on her butt. 'How thick-headed can he be?' Weiss thought angrily. She opened her mouth to yell at him again when she realized something. 'Hold on...Did he push me with his left hand?'
Her gaze rushed back to Jacques's form as he walked away, more precisely the left arm that was not there mere seconds ago. Her eyes widened in shock. Her father had definitely lost his arm, so how the hell was it back?
'It's not just his arm.' Weiss noticed as she observed him better. It was nearly impossible to miss once she had noticed it. The bones snapped back into place and muscles regrew, the way tendons connected and nerves were made again, and skin and hair replaced their burned remains.
However, it did not stop there. "He's not regenerating.." Weiss thought out loud as she saw his clothes reappear out of thin air. This was not the work of simply using Aura for healing. Her father was not healing. It almost seemed that he was returning to his former condition before the fight.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHT!" A cry of rage traveled through the room. It shook Weiss to her bones. The Grimm had snapped from his paralyzed state. It turned its head back, no doubt looking for her. But as it turned, its gaze zeroed in on Jacques. It backed away in confusion.
The healthy, unscathed Jacques.
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost. Don't tell me you seriously thought you've killed me?" Jacques laughed as he approached the Grimm with his hands in his pocket. Weiss could not believe he would act so nonchalant after what happened. "Well, credit where credit's due. If you kept at it, you would have actually killed me. After a year or two."
The Mole let out a low growl as it dropped on its four limbs, and lunged. It cocked both of its arms back and slammed them down on her father's body, but to no avail. Jacques simply caught the two limbs in his hands.
The Mole turned both of its hands around, using its massive claws to grab her father and pin him in place. Weiss's breath hitched as she realized its plan.
The Grimm opened its massive jaws and started focusing a sphere of blue flames once again.
"Watch out!" Weiss yelled out.
"You really don't get it, do you? The vast difference in our abilities." Her father said in a low tone of voice, the smile dropping from his face. "The only reason this worked the first time is that I allowed it. Now that I have what I want, you will die."
The Grimm finished charging its attack. It closed its jaws and brought its head back in preparation as its chest started expanding..
"Stay," Jacques ordered.
Weiss closed her eyes in fear as the Mole opened its jaws and roared, expecting the massive torrent of blue flames to once again consume her father, and bathe the room in azure color. But nothing happened.
The Grimm released its grip on her father and backed away, its claws rushing to its throat and scratching at it. Weiss could only stare in puzzlement as the beast began thrashing around. The beast had completely forgotten about her father.
It was only when he turned its front side in her direction did she truly grasp what was happening. The sphere of blue fire was stuck inside the beast's throat. No matter how much it roared or opened its mouth, the energy stayed inside of it. With the only possible exit denied, the flames started spreading inside of it.
From what she noticed during its first attack, the mole was not immune to its own attack. Her father watched the scenery with a bored expression, as the fire began tearing holes into the Grimm's body seeking to be released.
Soon, it collapsed as all its strength had left it. Any hint of black was gone, as the Grimm was burned alive by its own flames. Any goo it released served as nothing more than adding fuel to the fire, prolonging the Grimm's misery.
After several minutes, the fire had died down, and the Grimm started dissolving into ashes.
Weiss collapsed as the fight was finally over. Her emotions ran wild, as the damned Grimm finally died. She could not help the tears that started welling up in her eyes.
Her father let out a heavy sigh as he moved to pick up his jacket from the place he had thrown it at the start of the fight. He looked at her as he passed by her. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped for a second as he saw her face. "The hell you crying for?" He asked at last.
Because she thought her father had died. Because she thought she was going to die. Because she was weak and pathetic. All these were correct answers. "I'm not." She answered while furiously rubbing her eyes with her sleeve.
Weiss saw her father's expression soften slightly as he looked down at her before he realized. He replaced it with a glare quickly enough, but it was enough. Having spent most of her life with him, Weiss was better than most when it came to reading her father. That small slip was telling.
Her father's emotions were in turmoil. Whatever she had done had caught him off-guard. She vowed to find out what it was later. For now, though, she just wanted to get the hell out of here.
"Come on. We have yet to do what we came here for?" Her father said as he started moving towards the Gravity dust containers. "And leave the body!"
'Body?' Weiss wondered, perplexed by her father's words. It was only when she passed by the burned remains of the Grimm did she get what he was referring to. An old naked woman, even older than her mother laid unmoving in the ashes. "Father! There is a woman in here!"
"She's fucking dead. Leave it alone!"
Weiss did not leave it alone.
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Till next time.
