The Real Chapter 22!
Okay... I'm here ladies, and I don't really know what to say for this chapter. I honestly wasn't sure how to go about this, so I decided not to dress it up. Just the fight, no bullshit. So, no epic second wind that our Mc will get before he beats the shit out of the enemy or even a berserk mode being activated like the Hundred Man battle from Berserk.
One other thing for this chapter specifically. Before anybody starts asking about why certain things happen, just picture where Jaune and company are located. They are standing probably a stone's throw from an army of the most powerful warriors on Remnant. Also, Professor fucking Goodwitch is here too, and we know how much of a powerhouse she is. Things work out because they do.
Now, onto more important business.
I am forewarning you now. There will be implied sexual assualt plus murder in this story. Nothing graphic. Hell, Jaune and our main characters won't even be here to see it happen nor will you. Our MC will come upon the scene of the crime after it took place and shit happens from that point on.
Ya feel me?
Good! Now enjoy, and tell me if there is anything I can change. I had nothing to base this chapter on or any examples to build off of, so it may need some work. If you can send me a review or PM, telling me what, I'll work on it.
Also, happy belated birthday to this story. Late by four months, but I still said it!
Jaune crouched slightly, widening his stance as he did so. His opponents on their way inside. They had only made their way past the outer gate, stuck under the walls as the ice barricade blocked their path. Their half-assed charge leaving them sandwiched and unable to all force their way through. It was only a matter of time, however.
Okay, Jaune... Just need to buy enough time for Ruby...
He was scared shitless right now. Two teenagers versus an army of more than a hundred. One of them barely knew how to fight people. Some lessons from Weiss was all he had going for him. The other could fence but had no way of protecting herself from blades if they got past her magic.
What they had was about twenty feet between them and the ice wall. This barricade providing the piece needed, so the two weren't stampeded by the total force. The gap discouraging the soldiers from choosing another route inside by leaving them an opening. Jaune could play that to his advantage, thinning their ranks before the others could arrive.
Every one of the cards that mattered playing into his favour.
As the first soldier managed to squeeze through the gap, he took one look at Jaune before rushing forth. His sword and shield in hand, wasting no time in bringing up the guard to put something between the two. His sword arm cocking back and then springing with a thrust towards Jaune's throat.
The Paladin stepped to the side, parrying the sword off and sending the man stumbling. He twisted around, performing a backspin with the blade, drawing it across the enemy soldier's back. The steel sword cutting through the gambeson and his spinal cord with ease. His body sliding across the ground, dead.
That's one...
The second and third forced their way through the gap. A halberdier and swordsman. Each wearing chainmail over cloth. Jaune looked down, kicking the halberd off the ground and into his hand. Cocking back his arm, he launched it towards the swordsman as if he were wielding the Longinuslanze Testament. Its spiked tip smashing through the man's chest, piercing his chainmail without effort.
Two...
The halberdier stopped his charge, preparing the polearm and keeping his distance from the boy. Jaune attempted to rush in but found a spike stabbed towards his face every single time he tried. The halberdier planted his heel, beginning to swing wide to force an opening between the two. Jaune slid underneath the attack, and when he stood, the haft of the polearm was smashed across his forehead. The sudden blow dazing the boy and knocking him onto his back.
As his opponent fell, the halberdier raised the axe-head over his body, chopping down towards Jaune's chest. The speed and weight of the blade enough to break Jaune's ribs or kill him instantly. He rolled to the side, dodging it once and then avoiding a follow up with the spike thrust at his stomach. The boy responded by kicking the man in the knee, causing it to buckle and for him to kneel onto the injured joint.
Jaune scrambled for his sword, sitting up and thrusting his blade forth into the man's crotchal region. The diamond tip severing his femoral artery. Blood spilt out from the injury, beginning to form a pool beneath him. The man's consciousness lasted for only a few seconds before he fell over on his side.
Three...
A hand reached out to Jaune, and he took it immediately. Weiss lifted the boy up and off his but, helping him to his feet. He waisted no time once standing, grabbing his sword and getting back in front of the girl.
"Jaune, are you all right," Weiss asked from behind. Her tone sounding as if she were concentrating heavily.
"Yeah," he immediately replied without looking back. His next opponent starting the squeeze through the gap. "What about you?"
Jaune stepped forth, striking the man with the pommel of his blade as soon as he reached them. The force behind it dazing him through his kettle helmet. However, he disregarded the pain, thrusting his arming sword towards Jaune's throat. The blade nearly finding its mark.
Simultaneously, a blur of white moved in Jaune's peripheral with sword in hand. It thrust from just behind the Paladin's left, tearing a hole through the swordman's throat. The severed jugular spilt out onto the ground, and the man collapsed almost immediately.
Four...
"I'm fine..." Weiss explained, sounding a bit laboured. Her breathing heightened with the onset of epinephrine dumped into her system. "Just continue what you're doing, and I'll try to help if I can. I'm focusing on keeping that wall up, so I'm unable to support you with spells."
"Got it..."
Just like fighting monsters...
Another three poured through the wall this time. The first two waiting for backup from the third before heading any further. Jaune wasted no time in grabbing the other halberd off the ground. He cocked back his arm and threw it as a spear towards the middle one. A man wearing a hood and cloak. He ducked underneath the javelin, throwing a dagger in response.
Jaune was barely able to recognise the shape of the knife flying through the air before it struck him in the left shoulder. The tip of the blade digging into the steel and just barely grazing the boy's skin. He wrenched it out but found it was too late with the three soldiers nearly on top of him.
One raised his sword above his head, ready to strike Jaune down. The others were just about on the boy as well. Without a thought, Jaune dashed forth and tackled this new swordsman. The two men tumbled towards the stone ground, and the swordsman lost his blade in the struggle. It was sent skittering away as the man loosened his grip upon it.
With his opponent pinned beneath and caught off guard, Jaune grabbed the throwing knife and plunged it into the man's throat. His trachea pierced with this steel blade, and his airway cut off. The boy immediately pulled it back out and scrambled to his feet before the others had the chance to pounce.
Five...
A sudden swipe of a blade nearly sliced through Jaune's nose cleanly. The hooded man was trying to take a stab at him this time. He held two daggers in a reverse grip, going at the boy like a whirlwind of blades. Jaune was put on the backpedal trying to clear enough distance between the two, so he could figure something out. Crocea Mors was on the ground and out of his reach.
Without a weapon, he threw caution to the wind, launching his fist straight at the man's face. The rogue got a cut in across his forearm, but his guard was broken with this reckless move. Jaune took advantage of the opening, ducking down and wrapping his arms around the man's waist. Before the rogue could pull anything, Jaune lifted him up and over his head, slamming the man back down to the earth on his neck. A vicious crunch emanating from below.
Six...
Jaune looked around for anybody else coming to join them. Two more were clawing their way through the gap. However, he looked towards Weiss and found a mace wielder to be going at the girl. His heavy plate armour stopping everything Weiss was throwing at him.
With a single step, Jaune clutched the throwing knife and threw it at the knight, catching him in the back of the neck. He collapsed from the wound before Weiss stabbed down, finishing him off without pause.
Seven...
Jaune quickly moved to retrieve Crocea Mors as two more soldiers were approaching. He snatched the bloodied blade off of the ground, swiping upwards at one of the knights. He did the same with a diagonal chop. The two blades collided, snapping Crocea Mors in half. No... The blade was almost cleanly cut to pieces.
Fuck!
Backpedalling, Jaune was forced to leap back with another slash towards his body. With another one following right after, he used the remainder of his blade and guard to catch the sword. Jaune wrapped his free hand around the blade before abandoning his broken weapon entirely to get into a clinch.
Jaune's gloved hands were safe from being cut on the sword as long as it wasn't drawn across the leather. With that knowledge, he jerked the man side to side in the hopes he could throw him away from the sword. However, this man's strength was much greater than the boy's own. This knight spun the Paladin around in a complete circle and nearly threw the boy off his feet. Jaune prevented this by digging his feet beneath a corpse to weigh himself down.
A glance to his left found the other soldier was preparing to kill the boy with his blackjack. As he raised it above his head, Jaune headbutted the man he was grappling with on the nose, dazing him momentarily. When the footsoldier moved to strike the boy, he instead found his friend's head in the way. There was no time to stop before he caved in the knight's skull.
Eight...
Jaune whipped around, backhanding the footsoldier across the face with his armoured hand. He then went for his kukri, pulling it out of his sheath with his left hand while the man was still reeling from the blow. His uncovered face all bloody from the strike. Without pause, Jaune took his knife and buried into the man's eye socket. The blade piercing the orbital bone and embedding itself into his brain.
Nine...
A surprise attack from Jaune's right side cut the boy across the top of his thigh. The leather padding doing little to defend the Paladin adequately from the slice. Nothing cut too deeply, only muscle and skin. Regardless, it began bleeding all over his leg. Jaune's attacker wielding a polearm, standing several feet away from the boy.
Jaune reached down and grabbed the blackjack off the ground. He had no sword in hand, making use of whatever he could grasp. Dual-wielding his knife and club, Jaune sidestepped the next attack targeting his open face and neck. He turned slammed the bludgeon down onto the spear, snapping the shaft below the head. Before the soldier could reach for his sword, Jaune ducked forth, kneecapping his enemy with the club, then sticking the knife through his throat.
Ten...
A whistle from his left alerted Jaune to the presence of more soldiers. He looked at Weiss, who was staring down three of them charging straight at her. He didn't even wait for a second, rushing at the oncoming attackers with a reckless abandon. Jaune's leg doing nothing to stop him.
He crossed the ten feet of space between him and the soldiers in what felt like less than a second. Cocking back his blackjack, Jaune swiped upwards from left to right cracking one of the soldiers in the face. Jaune didn't even wait to see if he was still moving as the boy ducked under another swipe from a sword.
Batting the second strike away with the wooden club, the blade was knocked from the soldier's hands. Without a weapon, the soldier grabbed his own dagger, holding in a reverse grip. He went to stab the boy, but Jaune slammed the club down on the hand holding the knife, breaking the limb without effort. The loud crack of a broken radius precipitated the piercing scream that followed. Soon silenced with a chop across the neck from Jaune's knife, nearly decapitating the man.
Eleven...
Jaune turned around, finding Weiss to be struggling with the soldier again. His armour proving too much for the girl without her spells. In fact, he was dodging just about every strike she threw his way. Her concentration and fighting ability faltering with the spell wall still active.
Intervening before any harm came to her. Jaune smashed the blackjack across the back of the soldier's head. The wooden club snapping like a twig against the steel helmet, but it surely rang the man's bell. Even with the armour, the blunt force trauma travelling through it was enough to kill him instantaneously. He slumped over as if someone dropped him like a sack of potatoes.
Twelve...
"Jaune, are you all right," Weiss asked again with concern in her voice, breathing loudly. The girl's speech and body language telling the boy she was becoming fatigued. "You're bleeding..."
He didn't answer her question initially, looking around for a weapon to use. A few moments later, he spotted a mace lying near her feet. Its heavy flanged head perfect for what he needed. More than a sword anyway right now. He was facing opponents wearing armour, and his sword wouldn't cut it.
Taking the mace in hand, Jaune tested the weight, finding it perfect. He then glanced back to the ice wall to see another man attempting to get into the courtyard. A trail of blood and bodies leading up to where Jaune stood.
"It's fine," Jaune answered, taking this moment to rest. "I've had worse..." He looked down at his leg, finding that most of his pant leg was soaked. "But can you move farther back? I can't be worrying about you and fighting at the same time!"
She's gonna get me killed if I have to keep watching her...
"No," Weiss said, shaking her head. "This spell only has a limited range. If I move, then it ends."
Shit...
Jaune didn't even bother to reply, walking forward to meet the next soldier. A painful sidestep due to the cut in his leg narrowly avoided the strike from the man. Jaune dipped to the right, getting behind him before cutting across the back of his knee. The sliced tendon holding the hamstring onto the lower femur rendered the leg useless. He collapsed to the ground, crippled and screaming from the pain. Jaune finished him off with a bat across the skull with his mace.
Thirteen...
Two more on their way in surprised Jaune. A sudden fist to his right cheek threw the boy onto his back. He only glanced up for a second as a man wielding a war hammer was just about to slam it home onto his chest. The spike on the opposite side of the strike face would have gone right through his chest place. Jaune reacted immediately, kicking upwards and into the man's crotch. The leather armour and mail he wore did nothing to stop the pain, forcing him to respond naturally by stumbling backwards.
Jaune then threw his mace straight at the soldier's head, clocking him in the jaw. Before he could move to stand back up, the other soldier jumped on top of him, wrapping his hands around Jaune's throat. He lifted the boy's head up by the neck and slammed it down onto the stone. The blow dazing Jaune along with the loss of airflow from him being suffocated.
He reached up to grab his arms, hoping he could push them off him, but found his strength to be outmatched. In desperation, Jaune punched him once, twice, but both were taken like they were nothing to him. The grip from his hands clamping down even harder on his airway. Another blow from the man rippled through Jaune's as his head was thrown into the stone again.
Fuck!
His vision darkening, Jaune felt around for anything he could grab. The boy's hand grazing the blood pooling on the stone nearby. A body slumped over among the other debris. When his finger touched something wooden, Jaune immediately grasped the object. It was the broken handle from the blackjack.
Using the splinters from the break, Jaune thrust the makeshift weapon towards the man's eyes. Their sharp ends cut into his skin and embedded themselves into the vulnerable tissue. He let out a scream, bringing it hands up to his face as his vision was permanently ruined. Jaune pulled back the blackjack to find there were pieces of wood stuck inside his pupils.
Standing back on his feet, Jaune grasped the blackjack handle with both hands, slamming it down on top of his head three times. A sharp crack from his skull and the man slumped over dead.
Fourteen...
Just as Jaune went to grab another weapon, a fist clocked him in the jaw again. His mouth quickly began filling with blood as the tissue was torn inside. The force behind the blow, causing the boy to stumble before he planted his feet firmly. Fisticuffs were raised to fend off this other soldier.
The war hammer wielder swung his weapon towards Jaune's head, but the boy leapt back and out of range. The hammer's poor reach playing to his advantage. Another wild swing was made straight at his shoulder, and Jaune batted it away with his gauntlet. The man's balance thrown off as he over-compensated for the blow.
With the soldier open, Jaune reached out, grabbing the man's weapon arm and snapped it at the elbow. His limb contorted at a forty-five-degree angle away from where it should have been. The soldier screamed, dropping his weapon, which Jaune picked up in his right hand. Before he could allow the man to regain his footing and search for another weapon, Jaune twisted the hammer to the spiked end, slamming it home on top of the man's head.
Fifteen...
"JAUNE!"
A shout from behind alerted Jaune to an oncoming threat. He only managed to turn around halfway as a blade sliced into his flank. The sharp tip cutting just his ribs and opening a finger-sized laceration into the flesh. As the pain surged through his body with the cut, Jaune let out a loud yelp. Every fibre of his body wanted to move towards grasping the wound to staunch the bleeding; but with the threat of the soldier standing next to him, Jaune instead struck the man in the face with his hammer. The blow killing him instantly.
Sixteen...
He looked towards the ice wall, seeing more men on the way to kill him and Weiss. Several others were lining up to push themselves inside. The boy only readied his weapon, finding his knife lying on the ground and equipping that as well.
We need to keep these guys off of Weiss.
Focus on fighting... Nothing else...
Jaune rushed to meet the first out of the five on the battlefield. His pace at a full sprint despite his wounds. The soldier attempted to compensate, raising his shield over his head to block any downwards blows. His sword arm thrust forward from underneath towards Jaune's body. The boy took the blow against his chest plate, allowing it to skitter off to the side. Yet, he did not stop there, dashing just past him and twisting around with his knife in a reverse grip. With the open and unarmoured back, he buried his kukri into the man's ribs where his heart should have been.
He didn't wait to see if he was going to fall, Jaune running up to the next soldier. The man chopping downwards with his sword. This blow catching Jaune's shoulder, dancing off the steel plate. The receiver feeling the full force behind the attack but disregarded it completely. He dipped to the left, dodging another thrust from this blade, turning and driving the hammer's spike into the man's knee.
The armour on his leg caught the hammer's spike, but the blow was enough to drop the man to one knee. Jaune's opponent letting out a pained grunt muffled behind his plated helmet. The boy saw the obvious weak point from where the voice originated, going for the eye slits. While the man was distracted from his broken knee, Jaune slid his knife between the armour plates, killing him.
Seventeen...
He wrenched his hammer out from the man's knee just in time for the next opponent. His knife stuck inside the helmet and lost to him. Jaune raised the weapon up to block a strike from a mace. The wood on this hammer absorbing this blow only through the metal langets riveted into the side. He then shoved the soldier back using the base of the war hammer's haft. The sudden shift of direction throwing the man off balance, allowing Jaune to drop his shoulder and charge into the soldier.
The two men fell to the ground. One landing on his back unceremoniously with Jaune straddling him. As the boy moved to smash the man's face in, Jaune turned and cast Arclight onto another soldier to buy him a few more seconds. Without that distraction and the man he was fighting blinded as well, Jaune slammed the hammer down as if he was pounding in a nail.
Eighteen...
The soldier still standing in front of Jaune was wildly swinging his blade back and forth, attempting to defend himself without his vision to aid him. Jaune shot up from his kneel and smashed the hammer across the man's sword arm, forcing him to drop the blade. The boy not bothering with the hammer, grasping the lost sword and driving the blade into the soldier's throat.
Nineteen...
Turning to face any oncoming opponents, the last two soldiers present were accompanied by a man who could only be considered a giant. He must have been over seven feet tall! His musculature was apparent even underneath his armour. In his hands, he carried a large poleaxe as if it were a mere twig.
Before his companions could charge forth, he urged them to step aside, wanting Jaune all to himself. He hefted the poleaxe onto his shoulder and slowly began walking towards the boy in an intimidating fashion. Jaune, in turn, crouched down low, readying himself for the inevitable brawl that would take place.
He moved first, swinging the poleaxe in a wide arc to throw the boy off balance. Jaune leapt backwards and out of range, mobility on his side. He tried to move around his flanks, vying for an opening, but Jaune was prevented from doing so by this soldier's reaction time. Every move Jaune made was already followed, traced by this more experienced man. A step forward was met with a thrust from the spiked weapon. Staying and waiting for a chance to rush in was followed up with an attack from the axe head.
Fuck! I'm getting tired of this...
Dodging another swipe from the man's axe, Jaune ducked inside its radius, taking advantage of the wind-up. His move bold and reckless like so many others. He raced as fast as he could before the soldier recovered, leaping up and into the air with his hammer cocked back, ready to bring it down on the man's head.
He didn't even have a chance to land the blow. Baited in by the soldier, the man cocked his arm back before backhanding Jaune across the chest. His sheer strength tossing him several feet away like a ragdoll. Jaune landing on his back, having the wind knocked out of him upon contact with the stone.
The soldier was upon him in an instant, raising his poleaxe over his head to slam it down onto Jaune. Reacting immediately, he reached over, grabbing a nearby shield and pulling it onto his body. The soldier didn't notice this, already bringing the hammer-face down like a sledgehammer. Its flattened surface smashing through the wooden shield, taking some of the momenta out from behind his attack, but it still travelled right through. The hammer crashed into Jaune's chest plate, embedding itself into the metal-trimmed shield; however, the strike broke two of Jaune's ribs in the process.
He let out a pained yell the second he felt them crack. The searing pain shooting through his entire body despite the adrenaline in his system. His pained cries causing Weiss to come running in with a battle-cry of her own. She leapt with Myrtenaster in her hands, stabbing the man in the side of the neck.
However, it did almost nothing to stop the soldier. He whipped around, punching Weiss in the face, hard, and throwing her away from the duel. When he went to reach up to pull the rapier from his throat, the sounds of cracking ice from behind the fighters, drew everyone's attention.
Oh, shit...
Weiss' ice barrier was crumbling without her efforts to keep it standing. Jaune had no idea how it was doing beforehand, but because of him, it was getting pushed over. The soldiers on the other side all chipping away at the structure with their combined strength and the wall's waning magic.
Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck!
He didn't wait to see it fall, hearing it topple over from behind. Jaune threw himself on his feet despite his pain and hefted Weiss onto his shoulder. The Princess' nose bleeding heavily from her broken nose. In fact, the entirety of her chest was covered in blood as if she had been bleeding for far longer than he noticed.
The sound of arrows whizzing past him drew the boy's attention to the soldiers once again. He saw the two men behind the giant dropped with bolts placed dead centre in their faces. Then a vortex of roses entering the fray sliced the giant into two pieces with a silver streak meeting his waist.
"Jaune," a voice came from the other side of the boy. He turned around and found Blake standing there with a bow in hand.
He waisted no time, heaving Weiss into Blake's arms. "Get her to the infirmary," Jaune shouted, turning back around to scavenge another weapon. The boy ignoring his broken ribs for the battle at hand.
Jaune could hear the sounds of soldiers beginning to storm the inner courtyard of Beacon. Soon the sounds of all of the students remaining within those walls met them in a clash. Many of the Academy's knights rushing in carelessly to get their chance at glory. Those with ranged weapons fired upon the enemy, picking them off one by one. Everyone else was either running in or supporting another with their shields.
The boy ran forth, grabbing the nearest weapon lying on the ground. He ducked past some of the other soldiers with the giant's poleaxe in hand and straight into the fray. Some of his friends standing close by, duelling with their own opponents.
His first foe was distracted by another knight. Jaune surprised the man, charging at him with the spiked tip aimed directly towards his back. With a yell, he plunged it into the man, knocking him off his feet and down onto the ground. The other knight finishing him off with a stab to his neck.
Twenty...
As Jaune went to move onto the next foe, he was forced to duck below another soldier sent flying by a student. The image of Yang Xiao Long a few feet away going to town one three other soldiers was the first thing that came into view. What astonished the boy the most was how her hair was on fire, going berserk. Her angered shouts preceding every single punch she landed.
Deciding to join her, Jaune bolted across the distance separating the two at a full sprint. With another soldier, trying to protect himself from Yang having his back turned to Jaune, he took the opportunity at hand. Hefting his poleaxe above his head and slamming it home onto the man's shoulder.
Twenty-one...
Wrenching it out of the corpse, Jaune turned to go after the next soldier. As he went to move, Yang turned and threw a punch in his direction. The fist sailing straight towards his head prompted the boy to lift his weapon to block it.
"Same team-same team," Jaune repeatedly shouted as he cowered in her presence.
However, the fist never came. Jaune watched it pass right by him and slam into another soldier running up from behind. The force packed behind the blow throwing the man off his feet and slamming his head into the ground in a fraction of a second.
With the man dead, Yang seemed to calm down a second and flashed him a smile along with a thumbs up. Jaune returned it was a nod, beginning to move onto the next soldier as did his blonde counterpart. The two bolting towards a mob forming towards the gate. The scarlet hair of Pyrrha, and the whirlwind of Ruby's rose petals dancing back and forth, slaughtering soldiers left to right.
Before the pair could reach the action, a lightning bolt shot out from behind them. The blue streak of light crashed into the soldiers standing outside the wall, utterly annihilating them. Their bodies turned to ash and bone. Over half the army gone in a single blow.
The fuck?!
Jaune whipped around to find Professor Goodwitch standing about twenty feet away. Her wand in hand and preparing to cast another spell. However, her shirt was ripped and bloodied. One could tell she was stabbed several times by one or multiple attackers. The wounds along her shoulder and one down by her stomach the most serious.
With a second spell cast, another lightning bolt flew from the tip of her wand. It crashed into the remainder of the forces standing outside the gate. This one was enough to break their morale. The survivors beginning to panic and fled from the courtyard with a group of students on their trail.
Holy shit...
Jaune fell to a knee as his strength left him. The adrenaline doing nothing more to prop the boy up despite his desire to keep standing. All he could do was watch his fellow students stand around and await guidance from Professor Goodwitch. His worries about the fight long gone as any remaining soldiers were mopped up by his friends.
However, his eyes turned to Ruby, who was still standing by the gate. Every part of her body was soaked in blood from head to toe. Her older sister running to the girl to see if she was all right. Pyrrha already there, checking up on her and not getting a response.
Ruby?
As Ruby looked down at her hands, her expression changed to something resembling horror. At the mere sight of blood, everything about her demeanour shifted. The girl's breathing quickening as if she was having a panic attack. She took two steps forward, dropping onto her knees and throwing up on the ground.
Wrapping her arms around the girl, Yang pulled Ruby close as she began openly sobbing into her chest. The sounds of the girl crying echoed over the cacophony taking place around them.