The Branwen tribe is one of the most fierce bandit tribes to have risen on Mistrali ground.
Only with the exceptions of certain villages like the Rotting Valley, other settlements outside the kingdom have fallen to the bandit tribe.
Because of their actions, and the result they bring, they are known as the tribe that brings carnage.
But today.
The carnage turns on the hands that fed it,
In the name of the one that gave birth to it in the first place.
"AAUAAUAUAAUUGH!"
Screams vibrated out into the air of the bandit camp.
"AAAAAAUGH!"
TAAANG!
Gunshots bombarded the camp, all towards a single spot.
But the resulting sound was nothing but more screams from the bandit tribe.
"No no no no no no no no no!"
Some of them shouted for help, others begged for mercy
None was met.
"Mrs Branwen! We have trouble!"
Vernal shouted to Raven, taking heavy breaths as she rushed into the tent of the chieftain.
"... So I've heard." Raven replied, who was already taking up her weapon to get herself ready.
Raven quickly jumped out of the tent, ready to take her weapon out and slice her adversary. Vernal followed her chief with her weapons in hand.
By the time they arrived at the scene, it was far too late.
Red liquid, glistening in the moonlight, was sprayed all over the tents, the tables, and the floor. Corpses littered the place like pepper, and some even had been dismembered into parts.
The assailant was sitting on a log, the campfire in the centre of the camp was flaring to life behind his back. Cradling something in their arms
Raven saw some corpses placed inside the fire, as if they were makeshift fuels to make the campfire burn brighter.
The light from the fire caused the assailant's face to be hidden in the darkness of the night.
All she saw were eyes shining like a 2 beacon, and a smile showing marble white teeth that glowed like the moon.
She realized once the fire started to creep under the figure, that the assailant was cradling a severed head.
It was August, Vernal's older sister. Her eyes were wide and her lips were slightly ajar. A small stream of blood was looking out at the corner of the decapitated head's mouth
Vernal looked horrified once she saw her sister's head in the arms of her killer, and that soon twisted into anger. She nearly rushed into the murderer blind, but Raven managed to stick her arm out towards her, stopping her from getting killed like a sick dog.
Raven looked at the assailant cautiously.
"... Who are you?"
"Hey, hey~, my name is Caramella~. Nice to meet you~."
It was a soothing male voice. Smooth, like silk. A bit sweet, like candy. The voice sounded like it was purposely strained an octave.
But that all the more unsettled Raven.
She thought that she even heard a bit of static noise mixing in with his words, but she didn't have to focus on that.
"... What are you here for? What do you want."
"Hey, hey~, I'm looking for somebody."
Raven felt dread creep up her spine. The longer she was looking at this figure, who was starting to look less human, the more it unnerved her. But she kept up her facade as a strong and cold chieftain.
She knew that if the figure saw her weakness, this whole situation will become unfavourable to her.
Raven smirked.
"Oh, really? And you thought the best way to do that was slaughter your way in, instead of simply talking? Very smart, there's no way you murdered the one you were looking for during all this slaughter."
"Hey, hey~, talking wouldn't have accomplished anything, they would've refused to talk. Besides, I'm 100% sure that I didn't kill who I was looking for."
"Oh, why is that? Why wouldn't talking solve this situation in a more favourable manner, for both of us? Why are you so sure that you didn't kill the person you were looking for?"
"Hey, hey~, because I'm looking for the Spring Maiden."
Raven's smirk faltered as it was replaced with a shock.
How did he know that there was a Spring Maiden here?
Who sent him?
…
Was…
Was it Salem?
Raven realised then and there that whoever this person was, he was more formidable and dangerous than she originally thought.
She subconsciously gripped her Katana tighter.
"Hey, hey~, which one of you is the Spring Maiden?" The figure asked.
He was here for the Spring Maiden, but he didn't know which one of the two it was.
….
The question seemed off.
He stated himself that he was sure that her family he slaughtered was not the Spring Maiden.
But here he was, asking which of us was the Spring Maiden.
Either his way of finding the Spring Maiden was inaccurate to some degree, probably because Raven was this close to Vernal, making it difficult for this…. Man to pinpoint the true Maiden.
Or somewhere in his words, he was lying.
When Raven was trying to figure out what was the truth, it was Vernal that answered.
"I-I'm the spring maiden!"
Raven saw Vernal's fists trembling at her sides.
She was angry.
But at the same time, she was scared.
"Well, come on! What do you want with me!?"
Vernal shouted, her loud and wrathful voice trying their best to hide her fear.
The figure brought his bloody left fingers to his chin, tapping his chin in thought. The severed head of Autumn was no standing upright on his lap, blood from the neck trailing down his leg and dripping into the soil.
"Hmmmmmmm….. Hmmmmmm~"
Raven saw that the figure had his attention on Vernal, and that this was her chance.
A plan was forming in her head.
One blow.
One well-placed blow,
And this... 'Caramella', as he calls himself, can fall.
She slowly channelled the power of the Spring Maiden within her, trying not to alert the man sitting in front of the campfire.
She felt it build within her, heat rising.
She slowly started to pour the Spring Maiden power into her blade, getting ready to pull it out and slice the assailant in one fluid motion.
She needed to be quick, before he noticed.
"Hey, hey~,"
And Raven considered that it was now or never.
"You shouldn't be lying to me like that."
The figure immediately whipped his head around to Raven. His eyes were shining brighter now, it was actually emitting rays of light. And the moment his gaze landed on her, Raven could feel her powers drain out of her.
And not because she flinched, or faltered.
No,
It felt like it was forcefully pulled out of her hands, forcefully removed from her blade.
And the gaze caused her to freeze on the spot.
She couldn't find the strength to draw the blade out of its sheath.
Vernal looked just as shocked as Raven. She was now taking short glances to the bandit chief.
"Hey, hey~," He kept his gaze at Raven.
"Why are you such a coward?"
Raven realized then and there.
The man knew from the start who exactly was the Spring Maiden.
His question back then wasn't his attempt to discern who the Spring Maiden was,
It was to give Raven a chance to tell him the truth.
This bastard was just toying with them.
"Hey, hey~, I asked you a question. Why are you such a coward?"
Raven simply glared at the figure sitting on the log, right into his shining eyes.
She saw Caramella's smile widen instead.
And god,
The numbers of teeth he was showing was double that of an ordinary human's.
"Hey, hey~, you're really a coward, right? That's why you hide behind her, right~?"
"... Who are you to call me a coward!? I'm not the one that ambushed this camp."
Raven forced those words to growl out of her mouth. It was then and there that she decided to resort to her final trump card.
Her Wyrm Raven, the special mantra beast that she managed to gain the favour of by displaying her Spring Maiden powers to it.
Even if it couldn't beat this man alone, it would make enough distractions to either fight him,
Or run.
It would've been residing in the forest. She didn't gain its full favour, it wasn't a proper contract. If it was, she could've called it out in an instant. Alas, she didn't have the right tools, and thus it wasn't at her full command, and one of the deal was that it stayed in its domain, and so it would take some time before it arrived.
But by the looks of it, she had enough time to call it here.
While Raven waited, silently using her link to call the Caramella simply opened his mouth. And in between the teeth, she saw nothing but the abyss.
"Hey, hey~, stop being a hypocrite. You're a bandit, right? You ambush people all the time, right? You even stabbed that little girl in the back, right~?"
Raven's eyes widened when the figure told her about the murder.
No one but her and Vernal knew about it.
"...H-how d-"
"Hey, hey~, You also left your daughter and your husband the moment she was born, right~? How did that feel, hmmm~? Hey, hey~, c'mon, tell me, tell me!"
He knew about Yang and Tai, too.
"Hey, hey~, so their names are Yang and Tai, right~? Did leaving them feel just like killing poor little May, hmm~?"
W-who was he? How did he know the previous Spring Maiden? How did he know her name?
She was confident that not even Salem knew who the previous Spring Maiden's name was.
Hell, she didn't even know that it was an 8-year-old girl.
"Hey, hey~, so it felt horrifying, right~? Especially when she was crouching on the dirt ground in your tent, crying and sobbing, you saw her tiny little back, with that orange dress and black dress shoes, right~? She thought of you as a mother, right~? Her golden hair reminder you of your little Yang, right~? And you held up your dagger, right~? Oh, Oh! Oh~! You closed your eyes as you plunged it in! You could feel her shake and squirm in your arm but you didn't let go and you could even her hear gurgle with blood and tears coming out but you didn't stop and you just stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and st-"
"-STOP!" The figure's rant was interrupted by the outburst from Raven. Sweat was already dripping down her face, and she was taking deep breaths to try and calm herself.
Raven was just looking at the ground now.
Her anger paled in comparison to the fear she was feeling.
Fear, and guilt.
And pain.
"... I….. did what I had to do…. She…" She tried to justify her actions. It wasn't for Caramella to hear, it was for herself. She was trying to lie to herself again, that it was necessary.
But Caramella didn't take half-assed bullshits for an excuse.
"Hey, hey~, she was weak. Too young, never learned. She just sat there and did nothing but cry, a dead weight, right~? She was gonna get targetted, so you gave her mercy, right~?"
"...!"
It was certain now, this man could read minds. That had to be the answer.
And Raven hoped to god that she was right, that he could read minds.
Because the alternative was much scarier for her.
"Hey, hey~,"
He was dangerous, on more levels than she originally thought.
"I never knew that plunging a knife in an 8-year-old girl's lung 7 times was mercy. Is it~?"
"...!"
"Hey, hey~, are you a messiah? What right do you have to give such mercy~? You're just a bandit coward that ran from her husband, her daughter, and her friend, right~? And that friend died because you weren't there to help her, right~?"
"...I-I.."
She wanted to get away from this man now. As quickly as possible.
She couldn't take it any longer, she couldn't tolerate this figure.
The more she interacted with him, the more she felt like he wasn't human.
No, maybe she was realizing that Caramella wasn't human.
She honest to god hoped that the Wyrm Raven would come any moment now.
"Hey, hey~, you're really regretting that, right~? Leaving her to die against Salem. Leaving your husband to deal with the loss and 2 kids by himself. Is that why you decided to extend an olive branch to warn Qrow and Vienna and Lily to try and save your daughter?"
This…. this thing was prodding in her mind and was gripping onto every crack he can find, trying to tear it open.
And she felt him work with extreme precision, like he did this several times before.
"Hey, hey~, what happened to the strong Raven? The one that was in Team STRQ? The one that had her own goals and beliefs? Who fought for her what she believed in~? Who didn't regret her decision because she actually believed it was righ~t? Who didn't need to lie to others and herself for each and every decision she made~? Why is this one in front of me a coward that will do anything to get away from Salem~? Why would this one turn tail the moment she feels threatened? Hey, hey~, why does she want to run away right now?"
"..."
Raven's fear of this man was growing the more he talked. Her fear only grew more when she saw that the Wyrm Raven was still nowhere in sight.
"Hey, hey~, does she really think the survival of the fittest as some kind of stupid 'the strong live and the weak dies' thing~? No? Oh, she just spouts that to justify herself! She doesn't really believe it! Oooh~, that makes sense! She's too smart to believe some hodgepodge like that!"
Raven started to realize that this monstrosity was talking to himself now.
No,
It was as if he was talking to someone else.
Who was he?
What was he?
"Hey, hey~, Raven."
Raven's thoughts were broken as Caramella called out to her.
"Do you really want to be strong?"
"..." Raven remained silent. Her eyes narrowed at the man. The sudden offer was suspicious, and it sounded less desirable coming from him.
"Hey, hey~, I'll make you strong~. I'll just get Yang, and I'll start to dismember her in front of you!"
"...! You wouldn't dare!"
His statement caused her to flare in fear and anger. She whipped out her blade from its sheath and pointed it at the man on the campfire, trying her best to threaten him.
Vernal, seeing the bandit chieftain act, followed after her and whipped out her weapon to aim at Caramella as well.
"Hey, hey~, she lives in Patch right now, right~? She's starting to turn 17, right~? I'll bring her here, and I'll start with her toes and work my way up! Seeing that will make you strong, just like you wanted! You'll gain some reason to get stronger again! You won't run away anymore~!"
Caramella outstretched his arms out towards Raven, and the light from the fire behind Caramella made this action one of the most threatening things Raven has ever seen since she learned of Salem.
The threat made itself clear, and she knew that Caramella was capable of going through with it, regardless of Raven's interference. His eyes, beaming with light and showering rays that restrained itself from burning Raven's eyes, showed her that this wasn't the first time he said this, and it wasn't the first time he was going to carry through his words.
"Don't you dare think that you can do as you please!"
She tried her best to look intimidating. But she knew that she had shown him just how weak and vulnerable she was right now. It was what Caramella wanted. She was played into Caramella's hand and all she could do was try and sound intimidating.
She was aware just how much she was failing in her attempt.
Caramella's smile didn't even falter an inch, even with the flair of emotions coming from Raven.
"Hey, hey~, if you don't want me to do it, that's all you had to say."
Raven's sword stayed pointing at Caramella.
But if she knew what he was going to do, she would've dropped it and ran instead.
"Hey, hey~, I need to go now, so I got one last question~. You have two choices, both of you~. Listen to them, and I'll give you 5 seconds to choose."
That's all Caramella said, and he dropped his smile. The mouth was still open, and it formed some kind of snarl his teeth still left bare.
And she felt it.
She physically felt it.
The atmosphere that was already heavy before was now absolutely crushing her.
She wasn't the only one, as thousands of birds were now fluttering out from the woods around the camp.
Even the Nevermores that resided deeper in the forest started to fly away, away from the camp as possible.
Bloodlust,
At an insurmountable amount.
And she was taking it in full brunt, right into her heart.
Right into her soul.
And all she could see at first in the night sky was his eyes.
The light that radiated from his eyes, covered even the flames behind him.
They were emitted from his eyes in the shape of a cross.
The adrenaline rushing into her body help her see the tiny black spot in the middle of this light emanating circles.
Her mind emptied itself as she found out that those were his pupils.
She was too focused on his eyes to realize what was behind Caramella, standing over the campfire.
And she regretted her choices of trying to confront this monster instead of running away.
It had a body of a teddy bear. It had a body of a fucking stuffed toy.
And the huge tear on the stomach, that bisected the torso so that everyone could see it's filling, made it clear that whatever was used as the stuffing wasn't cotton.
It was corpses, and bloodied hands were sticking out from the tear. The bloodied heads and arms and legs were glistening over the fire.
The tips of its round digitless limbs all had 5 big hexagonal nails sticking out like makeshift hands
And its head.
My god, its fucking head.
The neck had blood staining it in a ring.
And the head of the fucking teddy bear had been ripped off, hanging near the left shoulder by a single fucking thread.
The toy head was clean, no bloodstain in sight.
It was what was used as the new head that made her stomach crawl.
3 spines were emerging from the neck of the stuffed toy that towered over them all.
And at the ends of the 3 spins were human heads.
The one on the left was that of an old hag, the forehead hammered in to the point that her eyeballs were threatening to pop out of her goddamn sockets.
The one in the middle was that of a woman in her mid-20s, the top of her head caved in.
The one on the right.
Oh god.
Oh my fucking god.
Raven couldn't stomach it.
It was fucking May's.
It was the head of the previous spring maiden
The little girl that she stabbed to death for her powers. There were still tears and blood dried on her face. Her eyes were fucking half-closed, her eyes unfocused.
And all of them had their jaws dislodged, and sirens were forced into them.
Or possibly out.
She didn't fucking know, she couldn't tell and she honest to fucking god didn't want to find out.
She honestly didn't want to see it anymore, but conjuncture of the stare from the kid and the monster prevented her head from turning away.
And then she noticed it.
The fucking abomination had something in its right hand.
A wooden post that formed a cross.
She realized why the Wyrm Raven didn't come when she called to it.
It was too busy getting fucking nailed to the fucking wooden cross like some crude sick idol of a pagan religion.
Its wings were nailed to either end of the cross, and 3 more nails stapled the tail, which was curling around the wooden pillar.
Its beak was open and there was a nail going through its open mouth, securing it to the top of the cross.
That's when Caramella spoke, and his voice was nothing like that fucking soothing voice she heard him speak in.
It was fucking hoarse and the texture and tone sounded nothing like what a human vocal cord could make. She shit you not heard the static noise fill his voice.
It was like a fucking Great-war era radio that her tribe used.
Do you want to die now, or do you want to die later?
The 3 head just looked at her in the eyes and she would do anything to get their fucking gaze away from her.
The fucking monster slowly walked around Caramella and planted the wooden cross in front of her, the fucking Wyrm Wyvern nailed onto it was placed to display its full sick state to Raven.
She couldn't even move a muscle. All she could do was look around.
Raven saw Vernal drop her weapon and simply drop to her knees. Her eyes were wide with fear.
They couldn't even cry,
Raven knew that this would be haunting her for as long as she lived.
It was the first time to feel such fear.
The fear of having someone choose whether you lived or died.
The fear of your fate in the hands of some sadistic fuck who installed 3 spines in a fucking giant teddy bear and jam sirens into their fucking mouth.
Forget fighting
She didn't know if she could run and live.
Hey, I told you to choose. Come on, 5 seconds are up. Choose.
She wanted to scream out that she wanted to die later.
The back of her mind was screaming out that the option was a trap, that it was going to be much worse.
But she didn't care,
She wanted to live right now.
But no words would leave her mouth.
She was choking.
You don't want to choose? Then I'll choose it for you.
She felt a jolt of pain, and then something cold and sharp digging into her hand, parting the flesh and muscles, forcing her to flinch and open her palm. Her sword was going to fall out of her hand.
But it didn't.
Her blade was stuck on her hand.
Then she felt something cold trickle down her hand.
She looked down to see her hand impaled by a fucking nail, long enough to go through the grip of her sword as well.
H-how d-
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt something sharp and cold slowly dig into her other hand.
It was at a much slower pace than the first one.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUH!"
She could do nothing but scream.
2 more started to dig into the back of her calves. She felt to the floor.
2 more dug underneath her knees, wedging itself between the top of the tibia and the bottom of the kneecap.
It felt like hell, and it was enough for her to try and use her semblance.
But the addition of more nails in her elbows and shoulders stopped her from swinging her sword.
She was now lying on the ground.
Small puddles of blood were starting to pool in certain parts of her body.
She was at the mercy of this demon with shining lights for eyes.
And all she could do was stare at the monster.
May's face started to inch closer to Raven's, her unfocused eyes were just like back then, when she stabbed May to death for her powers.
This was hell.
This was her personal fucking hell and this was specially made for her.
And she was going to be broken like some kind of fucking doll before she got put down like a sick dog.
And she could do nothing but stare at Caramella and his fucking eyes and teeth.
And then she started to feel the cold and sharp prick on the back of her neck
And she felt that tip start to force through the flesh and muscles of her neck.
It felt the slowest out of all of what she felt.
It was excruciating, and she couldn't even budge as it was going into her neck, closing the distance between the metal tip and her spine.
She felt tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. This was a fucking nightmare.
Please...
God….
…
…
…..
To~rrururururuururruru!
Then she heard it.
To~rururururururururu!
It was so jarring from the moment that she thought it was just a hallucination resulting from her fear-addled brain.
To~rururururururururu!
To~rururururururu!
Click!
"Oh! Hey, hey~, 「Boss」!"
Her heightened sense caused her to hear every single word Caramella started to say, and every single word that came out of that phone.
Caramella, there's a new 「Order」 for you.
"Hey, hey~, a new mission, 「Boss」? I haven't even taken care of the Spring Maiden yet!"
That can wait, this is urgent.
"Alright, if you say so, 「Boss」. Oh, hey, hey~, mind if you can tell me what's so urgent?"
The Yaksas found Cioccolata and Durian. Now 「Atakavaka」, and by connection, 「Vaisravana」 knows where those two are.
"... Hey, hey~, that's pretty bad news, 「Boss」..."
That is why I need you to do this quickly. I need you to go to Vacuo and help Coffin and Feelgood in getting the 「Target」 from the desert. 「Atavaka」 will be coming to Remnant soon, I need the mission of Vacuo to finish as soon as possible. They are the most 「exposed」right now, they'll be discovered quickly by 「Atavaka」. Hold him off, they may, but their 「Strength」are our 「Weakness」. They must finish their 「Mission」and withdraw before 「Atavaka」 arrives, or else more will come. Once that is done, call me and I will give you a new order. Until then, I need you to focus on going to Vacuo and help Coffin and Feelgood finish the「Mission」.
"... I understand, 「Boss」."
Good, then I suggest you start leaving now.
"On it, 「Boss」. See you later."
Beep!
That was all Raven could hear, and then everything became out of focus. Raven didn't know when, but she realized that Caramella disappeared into thin air. It was like she was hallucinating the entire thing, like she was dreaming.
But the campfire revealing her dead bandit tribe members strewn across the camp, the Wyrm Raven's defiled corpse on a cross, and her own wounds that were plugged with nails were enough evidence that it wasn't from her head.
She nearly died, like a petty bug that got its legs ripped out one by one by a curious 5-year-old kid.
Her life was in that man's palm, and he was just twirling it around his fingers.
And he was going to squeeze the life out of her just then.
But that fucking phone call was the only reason why he didn't kill her yet.
It was a fucking phone call, of all fucking reason.
Not her men,
Not her own powers or wits,
Not the Wyrm Raven, which was crucified in a crude parody of a messiah in front of her,
A fucking phone call that made him go after a bigger priority.
It was his own fucking choice to leave.
This was ridiculous.
So ridiculous and straight from the left field that it was almost hilarious.
She could've laughed at the whole situation.
But all that came out of her were tears, snot, sweat and blood.
She curled into a ball, forehead touching the ground.
And she cried until she fainted from exhaustion and blood loss.
Chapter 9: Goodbye to everything we knew.
BAAAAAAAAKIII!
"AAUUUUUGH!"
AN AMAZING VACUOAN KICK FROM MAGENTA! HIS FOOT SMASHES RIGHT INTO DIAMANTE CORVUS'S NECK! DIAMANTE GOES DOWN LIKE A RAGDOLL FROM THE HIT!
The feminine voice, full of energy, was booming in the arena. The crowd that encircled the arena was cheering to their full volume. The straight black-haired youth was struggling to get up. As much as I wanted to stop here, he looked like he would rather go out fighting than forfeit.
He's Aura was still in the yellow too.
I sighed as I brought my left leg high up, nearly touching my head, and I brought the foot down into an axe kick.
It landed squarely on his back and drove him further into the marble floor.
DOKAAAAAAN!
BAAAAKAAAANG!
"AAAAAAAUUUUURRRGH!"
A small crater formed under the poor youth, and the pearl white concrete floor darkened due to the cracks appearing to disrupt the clean harmony.
CLEAN HIT, AND DOOOWN! DIAMANTE'S AURA IS NOW IN THE REDS, THE WINNER OF THIS SEMIFINALS IS OUR 3-YEAR VALE REGIONAL CHAMPION: MAAAAAAAGEEEENTAAAAAAA VAAAAAALEEEEEEENTIIIIIINE!
Screams energised with excitement and rampant cheers resounded throughout the colosseum. I turned to the audiences and bowed.
I realised upon straightening back up that most of the people here were wearing headbands that looked identical to mine, down to even the feather accessories tide on the sides. Most of them were ranging from kids to teens just a few years younger than me, but there were people around my age and adults that decided to be exceptions as well.
Some had pink face paints on, while others decided to draw my emblem on some part of their face: an eye in the middle with a right open palm placed on top of the eye, and the left open palm placed on the bottom.
Wow, never actually thought I'd get this famous.
I bowed to the fallen figure of Diamante, as I started to walk out of the arena.
That's when my Akashic Record Lite caught my attention.
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Message (1)
In my 17 years of living, this was the first time seeing the message work.
Personal notifications and reminders always popped up in the 'Goals'.
So that meant it was an actual message sent by someone.
I stopped walking midway through the corridor and quickly looked around, making sure no one was near me.
Once I knew I was in the clear, I focused on the 'Message' tab.
A new tab opened up in front of me, it was cyan and translucent like the rest of my tab, although this looked like a really simplified g-mail window, or one of those messaging windows in MMORPGs, I guess.
Only the top tab was filled with a title.
It's been a while.
That's all the title said.
I instantly knew that this was from Mr Abel.
He never made contact with me after I reincarnated in this world. And I understood why.
He was a top god, he wasn't supposed to interfere in a human's life like that.
And that made the message more surprising to see.
And to be quite honest, nervous.
Did I do something wrong?
Did I mess up and accidentally make a mistake with my Akashic Record Lite?
Hesitation born from worry and excitement washed over me, but I decided to open the message either way.
An emerald screen opened up over the cyan tab.
It's been a while, hasn't it?
While we haven't even talked to each other in 17 years, I'm sure you still remember me, right?
In case you don't remember who this is, I'll jog your memory by telling you that it's Abel. The one that put you in Remnant after you died and gave you the simplified version of the God-maker program.
But enough chit-chat, I need you to listen.
Normally, I wouldn't be here even talking to you again. In fact, you wouldn't have even heard of me for the rest of your life in Remnant.
But unfortunately, this is urgent, and your life is at stake now.
Not just you, either. Your friends are in the same boat as you are.
Now, you might be asking: "There's Grimms littering this world like pepper, we're always in danger, so why would the top god Ahura Mazda suddenly warn us?"
You're right, I wouldn't have warned you if it was any other situation.
But this isn't a situation that should've never occurred in Remnant, just like the destruction of your previous world.
I'll clarify, in case you're still confused. I hope that you're reading this while you still have time.
Remember how I told you about celestial beings? You know, Angels? Demons? Yaksas and Spirits? Gods?
I don't want to alarm you, and I shit you not, stay calm with this, please.
Some of the celestial beings have decided to start a coup d'etat.
It's celestial beings that think that they should do whatever they want to the worlds we manage, to profit from the worlds to the full.
They don't like the fact that they have to adapt and revolve around humans and their creations.
In short, they don't like the system that I created, maintained, and enforced on the rest of the celestial beings.
They're the ones that were recorded in human society as malevolent gods, or even vilified as devils.
To be quite honest, they started to rise way way way, way back.
But we managed to suppress them.
You'll actually know some of them, they became quite famous in mythologies and religions.
Like Helel's fall from grace.
Or Set killing his brother Osiris for the throne.
The problem rose back up recently, though. We don't know why, but I got a hunch that something, or someone, decided to act as a catalyst for this shit to start again.
And the shit hit the fan real bad.
There were breakouts from Naraku and Pandemonium, not to mention Tartarus.
And gods and demons that were quiet either started getting rowdy again, or just straight up disappeared.
Some started to sneak into worlds and dig their roots in them like parasites.
Atavaka, the Yaksa that works for Vaisravana, was in charge of combing through the worlds to find these shitty little celestials before they could do some real damage.
The good news is that we managed to find a few, and we're starting to go and neutralise them.
The bad news? Some of them are in the world you live in right now.
We'll try our best, but we can't guarantee that we can protect you from them.
They had enough strength to hide for this long, and we just managed to pinpoint their location.
By the time we arrive to deal with the ones in your world, you might be already dead.
What you need to keep in mind is that they were in Patch, and I'm 100% sure that they either managed to find out that you had the Akashic Record Lite,
Or they already knew that you had the Akashic Record Lite from the start.
Either way, it's not looking peachy for you.
And by that, I mean that I'm 80% sure that they'll target you, sooner or later.
You're gonna need to keep your head on your shoulders before it starts rolling on the floor.
You'll probably see me in person soon, too. I need to deal with something here myself, you see.
That just means that your world is shittier to live in than the one in the show.
If we do meet, I'll try my best to inform you of the situation properly and keep you up to date.
But for the love of fucking Zurvan and Vohu Manah, please stay clear from fucking trouble, as much as you can.
Apologies for dragging you into something like this. As much of this is our fault, I'll try my best to arrive at your world ASAP.
-Abel
I felt like I got hit by a truck when I was running a marathon.
I stood in the hallway, stunned silent.
No sound resonated in the corridor and all I saw blankly in my unfocused eyes were the sky blue walls and white floor.
The emptiness of the hall matched just like my mind.
I knew what he meant, I understood it perfectly.
But that was precisely why my mind was disoriented.
Gods
Demons
Danger
Coup d'etat
Hiding
Danger
Parasite
Danger
War
Danger
Full Akashic Record users
Danger
They found me
My heart was starting to beat quicker and quicker as I started to sweat.
Was it back then? That man in the black coat?
Are they here? In this arena?
Were they watching me fight?
Are they waiting for their chance to kill me?
What was going to happen when I walk out to the spectator's seat?
What about my friends?
They knew who my friends were.
They knew what they looked like.
They'd target them because of me.
Vegas
Heat
Yang
Ruby
They were going to get fucking hurt or killed because of the fucking demons and gods knowing that I had the Akashic Record Lite.
Goddamn it,
God fucking damn it,
I shouldn't have been flaunting my strength like this.
Now the whole world knows who I am and it's going to be a fucking trip for a sundae for the demons and gods that want me dead.
I should've just lived a quiet fucking life.
My left hand reached up to cover my mouth, as I quietly leaned against the right wall.
"...Magenta?" I heard Ruby's voice behind me.
I slowly turned to see the 15-year-old girl with a black dress and red accent looking at me. Concern was written all over her face.
"Are… Are you ok? Your face's pale as sheets. D-did something happen? Do you need help? Do-do you have to cancel the match? Magenta?" The concern in her voice grew as she started to walk up to me. I could hear her boots hit frantically at the ground, echoing into the hallway, as she quickened her pace to reach me.
She reached her hands shakily towards me, placing one on my shoulder and the other on my back.
"...If you… If you need help…. I'm here for you. I…. I-I may not be that much help, but I still want to try and help you as much as I can….. You were always there for us when we needed it…. For me, for Yang….. I want to do at least that much for you."
….
You know, with the lights coming from the ceiling, enveloping Ruby's silhouette like this,
She looked like a goddamn angel.
And with the reason why I'm like this, this was some fucking ironic symbolism.
I smiled at her.
"... Thanks, Ruby."
"... You gonna be ok?"
"... Yeah, I think I will be."
Ruby looked like she wanted to ask more, try to find out why I was in such a state.
But I guess she decided now wasn't the time.
I pushed myself off the wall.
"... You need a hug?"
"... I might. I don't know."
Ruby dashed into me, trying to wrap her arms around my shoulder and just squeezing me in an embrace.
"I'll take that as a yes." She stated.
Laughter escaped my lips as I just patted her back.
"... Thanks."
"No problem!"
"Hey, Magenta, you ok? What's taking you so-" I heard Heat's voice ring out in the corner, and saw our embrace right before Ruby broke out of it. Heat's voice faltered
"... Hey." I managed to say to Heat.
"H-Heat! Hehe, n-nothing embarrassing going over here! Just us talking!"
"Ruby. You're not helping."
"Shut up, I'm panicking!" She hissed out in a small whisper. "Why aren't you panicking! He saw us hugging!"
"... I think I just accepted what was going to happen, since I've been with them so often."
"... YAAAANG! "Heat started to dash away at the drop of a hat.
"YAAAAAAAAANG!" His deafening roar echoed throughout the corridor.
"EEEP! STOP!" Ruby shouted back desperately, as she started to use her semblance to try and catch up with Heat.
I stood there, alone again.
I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation.
Would I still be able to feel this? Hanging out the main characters of RWBY? Follow through their story? Meet Weiss and Blake, and Jaune and Nora and Ren and Pyrrha?
Still hang out and talk with Vegas and Heat? Laugh like idiots at stupid shit like a dick being a 6th limb?
Fight Cinder and Salem and Watts and Hazel and Tyrian?
With them?
Will I still be able to go through their story, be a big part of it, rather than someone in the background?
….
… Will I be able to save Penny? Save Pyrrha?
…. Will I be able to influence this world?
…. How long did I have to enjoy all this before I got put down like a dog?
How long till the gods above decided that I was an outlier to this whole world, and in their path for power and a new world shaped in their image, get rid of the shit stain they call me?
….
….
"...Haaaa…"
My breath came out shaky.
From now on, wherever I was, this was going to be at the back of my head.
….
….
"FUCK!"
…
…..
….
I'm scared.
Scared shitless to all hell and back.
I was going to fucking die because God gave me a gift.
And I don't know when they'll come to rip it out of me, along with my fucking soul.
"...Fuck my life."
…..
I decided to just take care of what's in front of me, and steer clear from the trouble they'll be causing.
If a momumental fuckton of Horror and destruction of that scale could even be called trouble.
God fucking damn hell, their standard for trouble was on a whole different scale than ours.
/-/
"Y-Yang! It wasn't like that! He looked like he didn't feel well, so I just wanted to comfort him!"
"Aw~ I understand what you mean, Ruby. If the guy I had a crush on looked that vulnerable, I wouldn't hesitate to do more than that~. You're still innocent and pure, I get it. You were just happy with giving him a hug~."
"YANG!"
"I told you Yang, I told you."
"And you were right, Heat. I thought it would just be puppy love, but I really guess her heart was still strong for our Pink Wizard."
"YAAANG!"
The crowd surrounding them was too busy cheering for Vegas to pay any attention to them.
But even from 10 metres away from them, I could still hear their conversation.
My walk to my friends was slower because of the people noticing me, and wanting autographs.
I managed.
By the time I arrived, Ruby was crouching down on the floor, her hands on her face as she was groaning at Heat and Yang.
Through the peaks of her hands I could see her cheeks flushed bright red.
"And look who finally arrives! It's the centre of our talk!" Yang shouted cheerfully.
She walked up to me to poke me in the chest.
"Now, I knew you long enough to know you're not that type of guy, but I'm just going to say it anyway: You do anything to make my sister cry, you will have to answer to me and my fists. You understand?"
"... I'm 100% confident that I won't make your sister cry as much as you will."
"Good."
"I mean fucking look at her, she's a fucking wreck thanks to you guys."
Heat and Yang both chuckled.
"So I guess it's official then." Heat stated.
"Oh~, what's official?" Yang asked playfully.
"It's. Not." I answered flatly.
They both ignored me.
"That Magenta Valentine, 3 year Vale regional Champion, Possibly 4, is going to be your brother-in-law!"
"Aaaww, I always thought of him as our family, but I never thought he'd go and make it official."
"I'm. Not."
"Magenta, don't be like that," Heat said with a sigh. "You're breaking poor Ruby's heart."
"I'm pretty sure it was shattered the moment you ran out of the corridor."
Heat shrugged.
"Sometimes, you just have to rip the band-aid right off."
Yang nodded confidently at Heat's word.
I sighed at the two of them, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"... How long are you going to tease me and Ruby with this?"
They answered with a cheeky grin.
They were never going to live this down.
The castle was empty as ever. Hollow. Cold.
Nothing but red and purple light from the sky was coming into the tall and decrepit monument.
In the snaking and connecting hallways, one room held the attention of the world.
Stone decorations were faintly glowing purple in the conference room. The giant window was using the red light as it's ink to paint the room with a red tint.
Two people were sitting at the table. One sat on a throne, placed on the front of the table.
The other day on one of the simpler chairs, leaning in with their hands placed together on his stomach.
One was a woman we all knew.
With her pale skin lined with black veins, her eyes were scarlet red, and focusing on the other person.
It was Salem, the so called Queen of Grimm.
The one sitting on the chair was nothing more than a black mass, shaped to resemble a silhouette of a man in a slender figure.
No hair, no muscles.
Just a bare silhouette, like a shadow of a man.
The only thing that Salem could see were two pairs of eyes, the pupil and the iris merging into one big black dot that spotted the white almond opening.
They remained silent as they looked at each other.
They were waiting for someone.
And their patience was rewarded when a woman in a scarlet dress walked into the room. The doors creaking to notify her presence.
Salem broke her gaze to turn to the woman.
The woman stood in front of the door, and bowed.
"I am here as you asked, ma'am."
"And you didn't disappoint. Come, sit." Salem replied, motioning to the chair opposite to her….
Guest.
Cinder complied, walking to her seat before recoiling in shock when she noticed the silhouette opposite to her.
"You may be wondering why I called you here so urgently." Salem asked.
Cinder kept her eyes on the unknown figure, before nodding her head.
Salem motioned a hands towards the mass on the chair.
"This man is….." Salem didn't finish her sentence, waiting for the man himself to answer it.
"Sera."
The voice was atrocious.
It was like a synthesis of sounds trying to imitate a human voice.
Sounds from objects trying to mix and mash, cut and filled, to sound natural.
And not even attempting to succeed in its duties.
The disgust was visible on Cinder's face, grimacing the moment the figure spoke.
"As the man said, this is Sera. He is our new…. Benefactor to our cause. A cooperator."
Cinder simply nodded
"During our time working together, you will be giving him the same respect you give me. He was under no obligation to cooperate with us, yet he has decided to show generosity to our goals. He will be a great help, and thus I want you to treat him with utmost respect. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Cinder answered.
"Good. Now that the introductions and explanations are out of the way: Cinder, because of the addition of new help, I would like to inform you that your plan will be assisted by 2 men from…. Sera's side."
"They are already on their way to Vale. I have sent them the location of your current base of operation." The disgusting voice added. Cinder was grimacing again, and wanted to say something.
But his staring eyes, those repulsive and unnerving eyes, stopped her from trying to say anything more. She simply averted her gaze to the table.
"I hope you can get along with them, they are good men that will help you in your mission, much more smoothly." The voice continued. "If, you can cooperate with them, without going into some…. Conflicts. I hope you don't start any, the people that work with me are… let's just say react quite sensitively to fights, like blood to a shark."
"... Aren't we all ..." Cinder muttered under her voice, in a soft and quiet whisper, guised as a sharp glare of breath. She was confident that Sera didn't hear that.
"No, we are not." The figure did pick up her muttering. Cinder flinched when the voice answered her rhetorical question. "Not like us, anyway. You pale in comparison to the time and effort we have contributed to fighting and killing for our own goals and desires."
The room was silent. And with silence came pressure from the atmosphere.
The stare from Sera made Cinder uncomfortable. Even without looking at him, she knew that his eyes were focused on her.
"... Their names are Cioccolata and Durian. If Salem's words are true, then I heard that you are currently starting to steal all of the dust that resides in Vale. If it is ok with you, could you enlighten me in why?"
"..." Cinder was reluctant to speak, but the crushing air that Sera exuded told her that she didn't have a say in this matter.
"... We're stealing dust for many reasons, sir."
"Continue."
"... We are trying to cripple the defenses of the city, and use the dust against them at the same time."
"Two birds with one stone."
"Yes, sir."
"... Would it be asking too much if you could hand a portion of the stolen dust over to Cioccolata and Durian?"
Cinder bit down on her lips. There were many uses for dust, but none came to mind in what Sera would do with them.
"I assure you, we are not asking for charity. It is a「Deal」. You give us the portion of the dust you have stolen, and we will be able to make something from the dust you have invested in us to make the downfall of Vale a surefire."
"... Very well, sir." Cinder's voice left her throat with visible reluctance. She kept her gaze to the table.
"Thank you, Miss Fall." The ambiguous black mass in the shape of a human stood up from his seat. "Well, Madame Salem. It seems that we no longer have anything to discuss right now. Would you like to disagree?"
"Not at all, Mr Sera."
"Perfect. Since I have some urgent business to resolve, I must regretfully take my leave. Miss Cinder, I hope that you do not agitate my men while they are assisting the downfall of Vale. I must indulge in the great sin of pride to tell you that your possession of half a Fall Maiden is mediocre at best when it is compared to the powers of Durian and Cioccolata. I hope you make sure your subordinates in Vale do not agitate them either. I gave them the order to listen to your 「Requests」and assist you with the best of their abilities, but their patience can only go so far when dealing with people that are not part of our group. Farewell for now, to the two of you."
That's when she saw the red light that illuminated the conference room was suddenly invaded by cyan light, and purple crystals being stained with lime.
The colours inverted, including herself, Salem, and Sera.
The moment the colours returned to their natural state, which took less than a second, Sera was nowhere to be seen.
It was as if Sera was never in this room.
But the black handprints plastered onto the chair that Sera had been in contact with was enough evidence that he existed.
Cinder could only stare at the bizarre occurrence, before turning to Salem.
"... Ma'am, who really is he?"
Once Salem knew that Sera was gone for good…. For now, she sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her knows.
"... He's a being far, far, far older than mine. Older than even this world, he's the one that parents in my time used to scare kids into behaving."
Cinder could only frown at the chair in response to her Queen's words.
She felt uneasy, to say the least.
"Well then, Cinder. As you have heard from Sera, his subordinates will be working with you on bringing the downfall of Vale. I advise you, heavily, that you head his warnings and try to cooperate with our guests to the best of your abilities. You may return back to Vale."
For once in her life, she didn't want to leave the castle and return to Vale.
She was, to be quite honest, scared.
Even if it was two people (if, she thought, you could even consider them people), they were sent by this… primordial evil himself.
And this one was much older than Salem.
Who….. who were they?
What could they do?
To Vale?
To them?
This unknown variable scared her, made her uncomfortable.
And the fact that she had no say in this matter, and that she has no choice but to return to Vale and face them, only enhanced her reluctance in leaving her seat.
But she had to anyway, because her Queen ordered her to.
And she hated the situation more because of that.
DOGUSHYAAAAATT!
OOOOH, Flannel Blueberg was suddenly pulled by an unknown force, into Magenta's fist! How!? WHY!? We have so many questions, but watching the awe-inspiring performance is a much higher priority!
Flannel, a 6'2 girl with bright crimson hair and orange eyes, wearing a blue and white checkered tank top and a purple jacket with denim jeans and wielding a giant pile driver installed into a sledgehammer, was standing back up from the ground while rubbing her chin.
After a few minutes of frowning at the ground, she looked back up to me and chuckled.
"Nice hit, though I gotta say that your semblance is much more dangerous in my opinion."
"Then you're telling the truth. Though, that's because not a lot of people don't know when my secrets are gonna hit them."
Flannel charged back towards with, swinging the sledgehammer like it was a foam hammer toy.
I dodged the swipes and returned with the swings of Matador Carnage.
She took it like it was nothing, but I saw a bit of her Aura falling.
"Heh, they're a real sleeper, aren't they?"
She went for an overhead swing, which I dodged by rushing into Flannel, making the hammer overreach and making her body vulnerable. I went for a flying knee kick, which hit her solar plexus wonderfully. I made sure to attach 「Sticky Fingers」to her as she skidded back from the force.
"Guess so."
"Haha! No wonder you're the 3-year Vale regional champion! You're probably the most fun I had!"
"... Please don't say something that would make people misunderstand..."
Flannel, rubbing the spot I hit her, was smiling teasingly at me.
Oh god, we had another Yang.
"Oh, what? You have a girlfriend to be careful of or something?"
"...No….. I have something much, much worse."
As if on cue, 3 people stood up from their seat and promptly pointed accusingly at me. Silently.
And that made it much more embarrassing.
Ruby quickly stood up and pulled them back into their seat. Her cheeks were bright red like a strawberry.
They continued to point their index and middle fingers to their eyes, before pointing back at me, and repeating the action.
All I could do was look to the ground and sigh.
"... wow," that's all Flannel could manage. "... Aren't those your friends?"
"...Yeah….. They are."
All Flannel could do was snicker, before hefting her hammer on her shoulders.
"I guess you guys are close then."
"...Excuse me?"
Her statement caught me off guard
"... You aren't? Only close friends could do something this stupid and embarassing to mess with their friends."
….
They really were.
…..
No doubt that was the reason why I was scared of those celestial fuckers coming for me.
Because they weren't going to settle for me.
I had friends.
They had openings and hostages.
…..
…..
I was scared that I would lose them.
And I was scared that they'd lose me.
….
…..
I….
….
Now wasn't the time for this.
…..
….at least…
….not now….
….
….
I look at Flannel.
"Yeah," I stated, forcing a smile. "We're pretty damn close."
Flannel just grinned.
"I guess you'd do just fine then, champion."
"...?" I looked at her confused, readying Matador Carnage.
"You won't be lonely at the top."
"..."
I looked to the floor, then back up.
"...Yeah…. I won't be lonely."
She charged at me, and I threw Matador Carnage, imbued with the 「Spin」, and a handkerchief sticking to the blade. I attached more than just the handkerchief to the blade, but that little 「Something」was hidden in the silky cloth.
She brought the shaft of the sledgehammer up to block the throw, the spinning wheel of blades deterring her advance.
She didn't see the handkerchief on the blade, but I could understand.
I was in front of her, vulnerable to her attack, and the blade was spinning a little too fast for her too see the cloth sticking to the blade.
The head of the hammer rotated so that the pile driver was pointing out like the blade of a spear.
I tried to dodge, but the piledriver extended out at lightning speed, grabbing my foot and driving it down into the ground.
BAKUAAAAANG!
DIIIREEEECT HIT ON MAGENTA! THAT'S A LOT OF DAMAGE! HOW WILL MAGENTA MAKE A COMEBACK FROM THIS!?
She saw Matador Carnage still sticking onto her weapon, so she promptly let go of her weapon and jumped back.
She felt something stick to her left arm, and looked down to find the handkerchief now stuck on her arm.
I saw her frown, and was quickly alternating her attention between me and the handkerchief.
She was reaching out her hands towards the corner of the sticking cloth, when I said the magic word of suspicion and uncertainty.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."
Now she was uncertain about the situation. I saw her eyes trembling a little.
I'm her opponent, whatever I say would not be trustworthy in this situation by default.
But she saw my battles, she knew how much I liked to push the mind to the limit, just as much as their physical endurance and strength.
I could be lying, buying time for something to come out of my ass and jump at her when she's not looking.
Or I could be telling the truth, and her not touching the handkerchief meant that she was sinking into a bog of lies and deceit.
Flannel was smart.
She would charge straight into fights, but she had a good brain in her head.
But that's probably what made this more effective.
It's wonderful how a single sentence can decide a person's fate.
I used the hesitation from Flannel to quickly prepare the rest of this magical trap.
A little bit of 「Sticky Fingers」here, a little bit of 「Sticky Fingers」there.
That's when I decided to grab Matador Carnage from Flannel's sledge hammer (And I subtly attached 「Sticky Fingers」on the head of the sledge hammer, and attaching it to the floor), and imbued it with the 「Spin」.
I prepared to throw it at her, which she definitely noticed, judging by her eyes narrowing at the curved crescent blade charging with yellow light.
I swung Matador Carnage back,
And swiftly reached for my pockets, fished out my deck of cards, imbued it with the 「Spin」and threw it at her.
OOOOOH, WHAT A SNEAKY MOVE! IS MAGENTA STARTING TO USE LOW-BLOWS TO TRY AND WIN THE MATCH, OR IS HE JUST SETTING UP A NEW SHOW!?
She was caught off guard, but she recovered quickly enough to back spring away from the cards shooting towards her.
The cards embedded itself on the concrete floor in a circle, still spinning into the concrete.
Flannel was now starting to shift her eyes around to me , the handkerchief on her left forearm, and the spinning cards.
She knew I was up to something.
But she didn't know what.
And that didn't deter my plans at all.
I threw Matador Carnage at her, gold lights orbiting the blade, and rotating in the air like a wheel.
IT'S HERE! MATADOR CARNAGE IS SLICING THROUGH THE AIR!
She rolled to the side as the blade went past her, just nicking her back.
OOOOH, BUT IT MISSED!
Nice, now the cogs were all set.
Now it was time to just press the switch.
I quickly reached the back of my belt, and slowly pulled out a dark cylinder.
"Hey Flannel, do you know what this is?"
Her expression told me that she did.
"Yeah, it's exactly what you're thinking. It's a dust grenade. Lightning, to be more specific. Or as Vegas likes to call it, a Boom Zap Shit."
"... Boom.. Zap… Shit?"
"Yeah, because that's the sound that always accompanies the flash bang when Vegas is near it. You know, Boom! ZZAAPP! SHIT! Replace the 'Shit' with a 'Fuck' when he's having a bad day."
I heard a distant 'Fuck you!' coming from the crowd. I'm pretty sure that was Vegas.
That was his voice. That was definitely Vegas.
I held the grenade out in front of me, and Flannel flinched.
She still didn't know what I was going to do, she was starting to be cautious of every one of my moves.
I outstretched my left hand, which held nothing.
"Uno," I shouted, flicking my hand as I said it. "Dos," I flicked my hand once more. "Tres!" I flicked my hand again, and used my palm technique to reveal a handkerchief that was hidden in the sleeve of my jacket.
Flannel jumped to the right in time with the sudden appearance of the handkerchief.
She was starting to sweat bullets.
OOOOH, MAGENTA HAS DECIDED TO STRAY FROM THE FIGHT AND SHOW US A MAGIC TRICK!
"Not quite, this is still for Flannel. You're free to attack me whenever you want, you know."
Flannel decided not to take my offer. No longer was she charging straight in, she was being cautious now. She was being careful.
I could tell she was in a dilemma.
If she charges without knowing what I was doing, she could easily be ensnared in a trap, leave her vulnerable, and allowing me to finish her off as quick and easy as pie.
But leave me to do what I was doing, and she was sure going to lose once I decided to strike.
She decided to watch her surroundings carefully, getting reading to dodge and avoid everything, and anything I throw at her.
I draped the handkerchief over the grenade, patted the top of it, and then threw the handkerchief up into the air, over my head.
The handkerchief fell, and Flannel immediately brought her arms up to guard her face.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, that was including Flannel, went wide eyed and gasped when they found cards falling out of the handkerchief, with the dust grenade nowhere in sight.
The cards scattered harmlessly around me.
My right hand, reaching to the sky, slowly came down to point at Flannel.
"What are you guys all baffled for? It's right over there."
Everyone looked to where I was pointing, and everyone's eyes went wide in realization.
Flannel's eyes went wide as she saw the canister filled with explosive lightning dust resting on top of the handkerchief sticking to her arm,
The pin pulled out.
The grenade instantly went off, disorientating her as the lightning dust started to shock and disorientate her.
Sorry.
AAAAAAAH, WHAT A NASTY TRICK! NOW FLANNEL IS IN A BIND! COULD THIS BE THE TIME THAT EVERYONE WAS WAITING FOR!? THE MAGENTA MAGICIAN'S COUP DE GRACE SHOW!?
In truth, I didn't have one dust grenade.
I had two.
After attaching the first one to the handkerchief on Matador Carnage, I attached 「Sticky Fingers」 on it so that the grenade would be connected to the ceiling.
Once everyone was focused on Flannel pile-driving my foot, I quickly contracted the 「Sticky Fingers」on the grenade and the ceiling, immediately having it pulled into the ceiling and keeping it there.
The handkerchief was stuck to her arm with 「Sticky Fingers」, too.
And with that, I decided to pull out my second grenade, and make a little magic trick to draw their attention to me, and not her arm.
Once I threw the handkerchief up, replacing the content with cards, I immediately released the 「Sticky Fingers」between the grenade and the ceiling, and had the 「Sticky Fingers」 connecting the grenade and the handkerchief on Flannel's arm to contract.
Flannel had way too much focus on the handkerchief I threw and the cards to notice this.
And that was her mistake.
I immediately went to work, attaching the「Sticky Fingers」that was Flannel's solar plexus to the concrete carved out by the spinning cards.
Now she had a giant round slab of concrete flying at her.
I immediately ran to hide myself behind the flying rubble when it hit the disorientated giantess.
She stumbled back by the force, and was bewildered once the flash bang wore off.
OOOOOOOH, FLANNEL HAS TAKEN A HEAVY HIT, AND MAGENTA IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN! WHAT IS THIS!?
I immediately jumped away from the rubble, as it was now falling to the floor and was going to give my location out anyway.
I quickly roundhouse kicked her in the left temple, and she lost her footing. I managed to attach 「Sticky Fingers」 to her head as I attacked.
MAGENTA APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE, AND KICKED FLANNEL RIGHT IN HER HEAD! A DIRECT HIT! WHAT AN IMPACT!
She skidded across the floor, to her weapon.
She saw that too, as she quickly stumbled to her weapon and grabbed it, using it as support.
I attached the 「Sticky Fingers」on her head to Matador Carnage, as I rushed into her.
She lifted her sledge hammer to guard, ready to counter me when I was within range.
But she found the head of the sledge hammer suddenly get pulled back onto the ground, as I went for a push kick into her chest.
She thought quickly enough to let go of her weapon and bring her arms into a cross-guard, blocking my kick.
MAGENTA WENT FOR ANOTHER KICK, BUT FLANNEL NOW KNOWS ENOUGH TO BLOCK IT!
That was good.
Now she was completely stuck.
I immediately stuck 「Sticky Fingers」 to her arms, and attached the other end to the floor.
I immediately jumped back and ducked my head down to the floor.
Matador Carnage was shooting from behind me, spinning wildly to Flannel.
She tried to jump to the right, but found herself stuck.
Of course she would be, she was stepping on my cards.
Her eyes went wide at the inability to take her legs off the floor, and opted to duck instead.
No use, 「Sticky Fingers」on her head made sure that Matador Carnage was like a homing battery.
She saw the trajectory of Matador Carnage change to fit her movement, and in a panic tried to move her arm up to protect herself.
「Sticky Fingers」 on her forearms, keeping them in a cross and pulled to the floor, made sure that she was open to the attack.
And the blade hit her in the head.
A direct hit.
A hit that decided who was the winner.
And that winner was me.
WHAT IS THIS! FLANNEL IS USING EVERY EFFORT TO DODGE AND GUARD, BUT HER OWN BODY FAILS TO COMPLY WITH HER WISHES! SHE TOOK A DIRECT HIIIIITT! HER HEAD FALLS TO THE GROUND! SHE'S OUT OF AURA! SHE'S DOOOOWN!
I outstretched my arms, as Matador Carnage returned back to me, rolling across my outstretched arms and into my left hand.
HE… HE'S INVINCIBLE! HE HAS NO WEAKNESSES! I FEAR NOT EVEN THE HUNTSMEN AND HUNTRESSES OF VALE WILL WORK!
HE'S IMMORTAL! UNKILLABLE! UNMATCHED!
THIS IS THE BIRTH OF THE 4 YEAR VALE REGIONAL CHAMPION, THE ULTIMATE BEING, MAGENTA MAGICIAN!
Truth be told, I felt nothing like what she said.
Because I knew she was just overreacting. She was just pulling a Speedwagon and hyping up the crowd.
The audience of the arena ate it up regardless, standing up and cheering and shouting in excitement.
""Magenta! CLAP CLAP CLAP! Magician! CLAP CLAP! Magenta! CLAP CLAP CLAP! Magician! CLAP CLAP! Magenta! CLAP CLAP CLAP! Magician!"
I bowed to the crowd.
This was my final fight, I had achieved what I wanted.
To become the 4 Year Vale Champion.
If only Mr Abel didn't send me the message, then I could've ignorantly enjoyed this moment to the fullest..
….
….
No, this was my moment.
I have to enjoy this, at the very least.
Or else I wouldn't be able to enjoy anything.
….
….
….Especially when they decide to act.
Goal Cleared!
Objective: Win the Vale regional tournament!
Reward: 67,000 Exp, +500 Fame, Evolution of Title: [The Vale regional 3-year champion]
You have gained 67,000 Exp!
You have gained (2) levels!
You have gained +500 Fame! People have seen your rise to the unbelievable 4-year Vale regional champion! The only other person to achieve this was Pyrra Nikos, the invincible girl! Your rise to fame is well earned, and now you have become the pride and joy of not just Patch, but Vale as a whole!
Some people will start to try and recruit you into their team once you graduate from Signal and join either Shade, Beacon, Atlas, or Haven Academy!
Your Title: [The Vale regional 3-year champion] has evolved!
Title: [The Vale regional 4-year champion]
"... and so, Torchwick, we will be having…. guests, to help you and us with our plan. They will be a great addition to our cause, and make your operation a lot smoother."
Roman was staring off to the distance as he finished his cigar.
Ashes fell to the concrete floor as his deep sighed echoed loudly in the warehouse, White fangs and Roman's own men were keeping themselves busy by moving dust crates into the shady storage house. Grumbling and heaving, due to the weights of their stolen crates.
The only sources of light was from the moon, invading the warehouse through its window.
And the glowing eyes of Cinder, who was hidden in the shadows staining the inside of the storage house.
"Perfect! I needed more hands on this anyway," Roman shouted cheerfully. "Especially so when you have nothing but animals and idiots to try and do your work."
Inwardly, Roman wanted to ask questions.
Why the sudden help?
Who were the sudden helps?
He wanted to know exactly what was going on.
But he knew enough that Cinder wouldn't be telling him.
And he knew enough not to ask.
"So! When are our lovely guests coming over?" Roman dramatically asked with his hands outstretched: a cigar in on and his Melodic Cudgel on the other.
"They will be arriving ver-"
"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!"
"... now."
The loud scream cutting through the silence made everyone recoil in surprise, except Cinder.
She guessed correctly that it was because of the two guests.
Emerald pulled out her two revolvers, as Mercury cocked his leg back and ready to strike.
Roman just gripped on his cane tighter, as they slowly walked out to see what the commotion was all about.
What they saw was… carnage.
Few dead bodies were littering the floor, and some of the White Fang members that were still alive were clutching their legs.
Deep crimson blood, mixed in with gruesome yellow, were leaking out from gashes on their legs.
A gash that had dull yellowish skin around it,
And everyone saw the yellowish decayed skin spreading.
They looked back at the corpses once more, and they now realized that the corpses looked as if they were dragged out from a week old grave.
The corpses were already rotting.
….
Or maybe the White Fangs died because of them decaying.
….
Cinder couldn't tell,
And that frightened her.
Two men stood in the middle of the carnage, ignoring the cries of agony around them.
One of them noticed the group, and promptly bowed.
"Greetings," The pale man in black cassock and a black wide brimmed hat said. He then gestured his hands towards Cinder. "You must be… Miss Falls?"
Cinder wore a welcoming, but far from warm, smile in response.
"Why yes, I am."
The pale man smiled in response as he brought his hands together.
"Perfect! My name is Cioccolata. I have been sent by our 「Boss」to assist in your… goals. Pleasure to meet you."
His politeness in the midst of the carnage they created, only made the man more unsettling to the rest.
"And this," Cioccolata gestured to the man beside him, a man with a raggedy short beard and his forest green hair slicked back, having two lines forming on either side of his head due to his hair parting. "Is Mr Durian. He is my superior, and my current mentor.
"...Greetings."
"Hello, Mr Cioccolata and Mr Durian." Cinder greeted. "Though I'd say that I'm…. glad, that you two are able to come, I must ask what this commotion is all about."
She kept up her welcoming smile, but Emerald saw Cinder looking at the 2 like a feral beast. Her arms were tense, and her eyes were wary.
"...Apologies," It was Mr Durian that spoke first. "It seems that these people have yet to have been informed of our arrival, and did not believe us when we told them were came on behalf of our boss to assist in your plans. A few decided to get aggressive with us, and….."
"... He felt that our well-being was threatened, and thus acted before I could do anything." Cioccolata finished.
Cinder realized that this was a mistake on her part. She only just notified Roman, and thus there would be no chance for him to tell his men of the two.
Now they were a few men short.
"... I'm presuming that it was Mr Durian's doing, then?" Cinder asked
"Oh no, it was Cioccolata." Durian rebuked.
"... Excuse me?" Cinder asked in a confused tone.
"... Oh, you must be confused. When I said 'he', I didn't mean Mr Durian."
"... Then who?"
"... Now that," Cioccolata smiled. It wasn't the polite and welcoming smile he wore back then, it was a cruel and sadistic one, baring his teeth like a feral beast. "Must remain a secret for now. I hope you have no objections to that."
Cinder was starting to think that all of this was a bad idea.
Hey Guys! Sorry for the 6-day inactivity
A lot of shit went down for me, like moving into a university dorm, going to a club, trying to help 4 people safely go back to our dorm, etc. So sorry about not being able to upload something during that time.
Speaking of which, Because I will be starting university soon, I won't be able to write as often as I want to.
Now, does this mean I'm dropping this fiction? Nah, not in a lifetime.
For now, anyway.
I have a clear idea and vision on where I want to take this, and I even planned out all the way up to RWBY Volume 7.
I still have new friends! New Protagonists! New Enemies! And even new monsters just stewing in my head that I want to put on writing!
It just means that instead of about 3~4 times a week, the writing might only come once a week, twice if lucky.
But I still want to write this, and I will, and I hope you guys are ok with the sudden drop in production rate. I'm really sorry.
On another note, I've seen quite a few people think that this Cioccolata is the same one as the Cioccolata from GioGio Part 5: Aureo Vento.
I'm sorry to say that it is not.
I did get inspired by the Part 5 Cioccolata, but the only thing that's the same for them is the name, and probably their power (and even their powers a different, just similar.)
So, just think of the Part 5 Cioccolata and DMND Game Cioccolata, like the Josuke Higashigata from Diamond is Unbreakable, and Josuke Higashigata from Jojolion.
Same name, different people.
But yeah, this was the Signal arc finale! Sorry if it is a bit short, this is the first time I'm actually writing something of this length. It's a fucking miracle to me that I even managed to pull through to this point.
Next chapter is going to be the Beacon Arc, and I'm confident to say that it's going to get more...
「BIZARRE」
Leave a comment or review! I want to hear your opinions and thoughts about this chapter! Both feedback and just what you think of the characters and events!