With two of the most dangerous targets on Beacon grounds defeated, and my aura levels sat stiffly at 65%, i was more than confident in my ability to complete my next goal. You see, from my vantage point from Ozpin's tower, I could clearly see Beacon's courtyard. Over four dozen hunters in training were trying their damndest to defend the school against invading Grimm as well as turned Atlesian mechs, curtesy of Cinder.
Of them, I could clearly see RWBY as well as JNPR, among other teams. I recognized CFVY, CRDL, and a few other teams fighting with intermingled formations. I was only concerned about the fight between me and my team, as well as JNPR. The other hunters would only get in the way, so I needed a way to quickly get rid of them before I gave away my identity again. After my true enemies found out I was attacking, them and everyone they could convince would converge on me, ruining my plan.
So I began to think. At a range like this, I might be able to take a few down before my position was blown. I could also weave yet another convoluted disguise of some disfigured Grimm, taking out the hunters from within. But the second solution posed the same convergence issue. But, the archery idea posed a variety of new outcomes. Instead of choosing random targets, I could break their formation, allowing the Grimm and machines to finish the job. At least, they could kill enough students for me to finish the job within a minute or two.
That sounded like a quick way to do things. I sheathed my sword and poured energy into the frame of a massive bow, one that stood a foot taller than me and had a spike in the bottom to mount into the structure I fired it from. A greatbow, once upon a time it was used to strike down Nevermore from the rooftops of villages. That is, until the invention of high-powered rifles became prevelant.
Taking aim, I chose my targets based off those who were currently holding lines against the enemy, and I let loose. The arrows did not sing or whistle as they flew, for I had designed them as larger recreations of assassin arrows. My first shot hit its mark, taking out a lone fighter attempting, and succeeding, to muscle down an Atlesian Paladin on their own. Some girl with bunny ears performing an accurate mimcry of Ruby's fighting style. The light left her eyes instantly as her spine was severed at the neck.
The second target was a sharply dressed woman wielding a chaingun, holding most of the eastern ridge by herself. Finding a spear sized arrow in her heart was likely a shock, but not one that she lived long to think about. The next two were entirely uneventful. Unarmored boys with blue and yellow hair respectively. Each struck down in the back, impaled into the concrete beneath them.
That is when they began to scatter, not realizing that if their assailant could strike them in the middle of combat, then surely they could shoot them while they ran in straight lines. And even if they ran, still they were surrounded. Their movements did become less predictable, causing me to miss my next.
As I drew for my sixth shot, a bullet whistled past me, cutting my earlobe every so slightly. Tracking the trajectory, I downed their counter-sniper, and continued. Half a dozen more bodies and the effect of lost manpower was beginning to show. Lines were being broken as the enemy pushed the hunters closer and closer to Beacon's doorstep.
Aiming for another, I very dimly heard a recognizable gunshot from the base of the tower I stood on. From my position, the exact base of Ozpin's tower was hidden from my view. I chose to ignore the sound, confident that I could defend against any surprise attacks, and continued firing. Three more swift ends and the remaining students had retreated to the perimeter of the main hall. Then, I added Grimm and Paladin's to my hit list.
Another gunshot from behind me, closer this time. Unconcerned, I shattered the leg joint of a Paladin, then the fifth vertebrae of an Ursa. I could see confusion among the huntsman now. Another gunshot. Another body. I continued this trend until the source of the sound below me was close enough to hear the familiar grinding of a trick weapon.
I turned my attention behind me, laying my bow to the side and drawing my sword once more. Two more gunshots and I was sure the source was just below the rim of the tower. Close enough for me to hear a new magazine being loaded, and the racking of the bolt as another cartridge was sent home to fire.
The next gunshot propelled a familiar red blur above the edge of the tower before its form focused, the barrel of Crescent Rose leveled at my chest. To my great surprise, Ruby did not hesitate to fire upon me. I was sure that either my horrifying visage or the fact that I was once a 'friend' to her would have slowed her decision. Instead, her face was cold and angry in a way that I had never seen it before, and the report of Crescent Rose spoke its hatred in her stead.
Ruby was already an amazing shot when she entered this college, but I did not expect her to be able to pinpoint my eye so quickly. Before I could properly react, I could make out the metallic grain of the gravity dusted bullet, and ducked just in time for it to crack my skull and ricochet instead of piercing my brain. I realized then that Ruby came to kill me.
Rolling sideways to avoid the second shot, I buffered my defense and launched an arc of knives towards her. Her semblance allowed her to pass through the knives with ease, before the cleanly slid into Velocity and planted the barrel of Crescent Rose against my sternum, and pulled the trigger.
Despite my aura and weight, the sheer momentum behind the round propelled me nearly to the edge of the roof, the concrete corner breaking as I dug my heels in.
"Ruby, you don't want to do this alone. Bring your friends and you might have a chance." Ruby racked the bolt in response, her calm demeanor splintering into fragments as her fury below flared.
"You killed him! You killed Qrow!" She screamed at me, her voice cracking as silvered tears fell, only to be ionized before hitting the ground as she rushed me again. I attempted dodging to the side, but Ruby hooked me in the crook of her scythe, the blade biting into my flesh through my aura, and she drug us both off the roof.
"You're insane!" I shouted, in true surprise. Ruby threw me downwards below her and took aim again as we plummeted to the bottom of the tower. I could not block the first time she fired, another high-impact round nearly doubling my velocity downwards as I attempted to pour more power into my speed in order to match hers. The second shot bit deep into my flesh, coiling and twisting into my stomach like a flaming serpent, and I switched my focus to regeneration and shielding.
Ruby fired again and I blocked with the flat of my blade. Though protecting me from harm, it did nothing to slow my descent. I was out of time, and threw everything I could into defense. Ruby reloaded, and used the recoil to slow her descent as she faded from my view. I braced as best I could, channeling gusts of wind at my back to slow me as best I could.
Still, the impact was terrible. I felt my teeth slam against each other, shattering as they bit through my tongue. At least four of my ribs cracked, thankfully held in place by my immense aura. My waning aura, as it were, now at 52% and falling as my body knitted itself back together, intensifying the pain even more. I could barely breathe.
As the dust settled around me, there was another new, sharp and sudden pain as one of my cracked ribs fully shattered. My body flew into the side of the tower with the force of it, and I only just caught myself on my feet, from luck more than anything else.
"You wanted company, asshole? Well you've got it!" Yang, of course. Ruby must have pinged our location just before she attacked. Opening my eyes through the haze of my own blood, I counted seven. RWBY and JNPR, with Ruby herself somewhere in the air? At least my plan had worked, and I now had my entire group of targets seemingly separated from the rest.
"Yes, actually. I'm glad you've all come." My speech started slurred as the blood pouring from my mouth slowly stemmed while I healed. The group of teens in front of me were certainly more imposing than I would have thought they'd be. Ruby had a keen bloodlust in her eyes when she attacked me, and I could sense she was seeking revenge for everything I had done. Yang had filled out even more, her firm muscles having grown even more in the short time we had trained together. For now, Yang's hair remained a blazing yellow.
Blake and Wiess had much more indifferent levels of anger. Each of them certainly felt betrayed, but Weiss was a shut in to her own emotions, and I could tell she mostly viewed me in the same regard as the Grimm. Still, her gaze was piercing, and her aura flared around her almost visibly to the naked eye. Blake, I could see, expected this of me. She had never uncovered my identity until I revealed it, and instead it was as if she expected almost everyone around her to betray her in some way or another.
Jaune stood nearly a hand taller than me in his shining white armor. His aura was the most intimidating, the boy's already great reserves having been turned massive by the armor he wore. Nora held a confused anger in her eyes more than anything, but knew what everyone else was thinking. Ren was cold as always, and nigh unreadable, yet his weapons were drawn and poised at my chest.
Then there was Pyrrha. Pyrrha's gear had remained almost unchanged since she had joined Beacon. Her copper armor was still polished as if it were factory fresh, as were her weapons. But her stature had changed. For a champion fighter, she had seemed much to unsure of herself, further amplified when I broke her. I had eyed her in the time since she had healed, and had ascertained that she had mastered, even if unconsciously, the constant retention of her Focal Point. In truth, she was the largest threat. The very nature of the Mistralian's semblance, amplified by her focal point... Well, I had felt the result firsthand.
I shoved myself off the ground fully, keeping my energy focused on my regeneration, as the group around me remained silent. Silent, except for the light footfalls as Ruby landed at the front.
"You all seem quite angry and with short fuses. I assume that, unlike Ozpin or Qrow, you wouldn't care to listen to a word I have to say, will you?"
Heads turned back and forth as the group looked to each other, but the consensus was made within seconds.
"No, we won't. You've caused more than enough pain and death. As huntsman and huntresses, its our job to protect innocent people from monsters. That includes you." Such harsh words from Ruby were unexpected. It was like she had aged ten years in the span of just this night. Maybe all of them had. After all, their city, their bastion of hope, had fallen before their eyes tonight. All because of me. I almost felt sorry for them.
What? Where did that thought come from? I rejected the idea of feeling sorrow or pity for these insignificant humans, and yet, the sensation remained. Along with it, some small voice in the back of my mind, speaking as if through radio static, persistently repeated something to me.
You used to be one of them.
Of course, it was right. I wasn't born as Death. It was merely a mantle that I had inherited. Back when I was just the Grim Reaper, when I ferried souls by hand, offering comfort to the only individuals who, without me, would be entirely alone. Of course, I had forgotten. It had been much too long since I had done my work instead of simply sleeping and allowing my unconscious mind to uphold the fabric of it all.
Looking at the teenagers, the victims, in front of me, I did not feel contempt. I did not feel rage, or hatred. Only pity. Only regret.
"Then, allow me these last few words. Whatever happens next, I'll try to make it quick. And I promise, I'll be there for you."
Though they were words of comfort, I could only see them bring confusion, and then anger to the faces of those in front of me. Each readied their weapons, and I drew mine from the stone, preparing as well.
My aura was at 50%. Sure, I could refill it by tapping into cosmic forces, and bring the full might of my being down upon my victims. But, it didn't feel right. It didn't feel fair. My point had been made, humanity awakened to the threats posed to them. I decided that if they won, then I would leave them be.
"No holding back this time. I want to see just how far all of you have come."