And here it is, people – the chapter that I've been waiting to write! Seriously, I don't think I can really put into words how badly I wanted to write this part. Jaune going up against Hazel in this chapter will be a pivotal point for him and I fully intend to deliver.
Additionally… well, you all will eventually see, heh! But really, I don't think I can overstate how much value I'm putting in this chapter and the next few ones.
Anyways, I'm not going to ramble anymore – let's just get to it!
Chapter 24
The man's fist came at Jaune with a speed well beyond the norm. It would've struck anyone else.
But Jaune wasn't just 'anyone,' though he'd humbly say otherwise. With lightning fast reflexes, Jaune raised a sword to deflect the incoming blow – and did so with considerable effort. The very air rippled around them both from the sheer force of the deflected blow and the ground rumbled lightly too.
This man really was strong, Jaune thought. That meant he had to be dealt with and quickly; the others were still trying to fight the Grimm.
In the same instance he deflected the man's punch, he swung his other sword at his exposed side, only for the large man to once again move with incredible speed, raising a knee to guard against his blade. Then the man kicked forward with said leg and it connected with Jaune's chest.
Even though he'd begun to jump back just as the blow was about to connect, it still struck with unbelievable strength, Jaune coughing up blood as he rocketed back a dozen meters.
But he stood his ground, skidding back those twelve meters as he'd planted his feet as best he could. And now he kicked off the ground hard, making a massive dust cloud in the process.
He charged directly at the man who now seemed to wait patiently for him. Jaune's eyes narrowed in mid-charge, not liking this. Even so, he was committed.
As he neared, he began to raise his swords, ready to lash out at the man's head – only to cancel this action just before it began and promptly spun past the man. In other words, a feint.
He slashed at the back of the man's right knee with a good deal of momentum, intending to deliver a critical hit here… only for his blade to not so much as even scratch the man.
Jaune's eyes widened. "Wh-?!"
The man twisted around and delivered a backhand that Jaune barely managed to duck under in time. But the man didn't stop there for he now turned fully and suddenly started to throw a flurry of powerful punches.
Unlike most other people he's gone up against that possess such a tall and bulky stature, who tended to lash out wildly with all their strength, this man immediately proved to be different. His blows, though fast and frighteningly powerful, were incredibly precise.
The side of his head, his jaw, and throat.
His heart, his kidneys, and liver.
The man was aiming for these spots and it was all Jaune could do to avoid being struck. But he couldn't dodge every strike and had to rely on his swords and quick reflexes to defend against the blows.
At first, the sheer speed and rhythm of the attacks was enough to feel overwhelming, but after just a second or two, Jaune's instincts caught onto the man's current attack pattern and in response, he adjusted his own movements.
He began to dodge better, moving more smoothly. And of course, he began his counterattack.
Or rather, his counterattacks; every time he dodged a strike, he'd respond with a small swing of his blades, cutting at the man's arms and torso. Whenever there was just enough breathing room, he'd even duck under the man's arms and get in just close enough to swing at the man's legs.
Jaune did this with ever increasing speed and strength… but also with increasingly gritted teeth.
None of his strikes were doing anything to the man. No cuts, no blood, nothing. Not even the man's clothes seemed affected by his attacks.
And all the while the man just kept on swinging his fists.
"Ngh!" Jaune's grunt was surprisingly loud, at least he thought so as one blow nearly clipped the side of his forehead. In fact, he could feel just the slightest of grazes… along with blood now pouring slightly down the side of his face.
"…Is this all you have? Surely, that can't be the case," the man said in response, for all the world sounding as if he wasn't in the middle of a fight.
He launched a particularly powerful haymaker that Jaune couldn't dodge. Instead, he had to jump directly back to dodge and even then, he still had to raise his arms lest he be struck.
The man's fist connected with his raised arms with a level of force that put all the previous blows to shame. The entirety of the town shook and Jaune went crashing into the ground, hitting it with such force that he ended up skipping like a stone.
To say that his arms hurt would honestly be an understatement, but he ignored it. As long as his arms weren't mangled, he could still use them properly. And even if his arms ever did end up mangled, he'd still push on.
But far more importantly.
Jaune took his eyes off the man for the briefest of seconds to survey the situation.
All around them, Grimm still poured into the town through the pathways they'd made from the north and south sides. Even with all the tremors and shockwaves their brief exchange had created, they still persisted in trying to tear the town apart. The only upside is that said tremors and shockwaves had resulted in all the Grimm being thrown around too, disrupting their actions.
That said, they were already getting back on their feet… and Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were still on the towns' outskirts, fighting off the ones that must no doubt be nearly overwhelming them still.
That meant it was up to him to deal with the Grimm here, but this man…
"Can you really afford to try thinking this through?" the man suddenly said, his deep voice sounding harsh. "Every precious second you spend thinking on what to do is a second these people can ill afford. If you're not quick enough, they'll die."
Jaune focused back on the man and narrowed his eyes. He readied his blades again as he stood up to his full height and prepared to continue the fight.
Somehow, this man and the Grimm were actually working together. Why else would things be the way they are right now?
But was it an actual partnership between him and the Grimm? Or was the man somehow in control of them? If it's the latter then…
Then he needs to die, Jaune thought grimly. Such a thought, as always, sickened him… but just like with Roman and many others before, it's either him or the innocent suffer. And that can't be allowed.
But even then… the amount of strength required to deal with this man before him… it would be nothing short of tremendous. Will the town be able to stay in one piece afterwards-?
"Hmph." The man snorted as he simply glared at Jaune. "Are you so concerned about these people that you'd prevent yourself from fighting at full strength? How very kind of you, boy… but that kindness is a weakness."
The man then struck out suddenly to his left, his hand effortlessly smashing through the wall of a house directly next to him. From inside, people screamed in terror.
The sound of those terrified people was enough to make Jaune spring into action.
The man was right – under such circumstances, now truly was not a time to be holding back so much.
As he thought this, golden aura exploded from within him and with a fury unlike anything that's ever been experienced before. Jaune's entire body creaked as his own aura threatened to overwhelm it, strengthening his muscles and bones to a ridiculous excess; one wrong move and he'll end up exploding his own limbs.
He cared not for these deadly consequences, however. He just had to bring this man down now.
Jaune dashed towards him at such a speed that a shockwave was generated just from this movement. This resulted in nearby structures rumbling dangerously, with even more people screaming in terror from within.
He did his best to ignore this, he had to… or else he'd falter and that would truly be a mistake.
As long as he can end this quickly…
In an instant, he closed the distance between them and swung his blade, golden aura surrounding it. And unlike several seconds ago, where the man shrugged off his counterattacks, this time he took a few small steps back to avoid his attack.
But it hadn't quite been enough.
Jaune had accounted for this possibility and made sure to leap forward before he'd even swung in the first place. The man had to raise his left arm to guard against the swing – and this time, Jaune's attack left a cut.
It was small and didn't even bleed, but it was there. It was possible to wound him.
Jaune didn't know why his attacks hadn't affected the man earlier – the complete lack of response to said attacks definitely couldn't have been due to aura, so it was very likely the man's semblance. But in any case, his attack got through now.
That meant that a high enough level of strength was able to get through whatever defense he had.
Seeing this wound, small as it is, invigorated Jaune and went on the offensive, spinning around so that he may swing his other blade with all the momentum he could muster. The man skipped back and the missed swing slashed at the open air, generating a vortex so powerful that some of the Grimm nearby got pulled off their feet a bit. Even some parts of the buildings nearby got torn off and drawn to him.
But the man barely even lurched, forcing Jaune to step forward – only to tilt his head when a fist came flying at him. The man's odd encouragement aside, he obviously wasn't going to just let Jaune strike him.
Jaune swung upwards, hoping to possibly sever his hand with the distance being this short, only to have to dodge when the man started to quickly pull said fist back and lash out with his other one. Jaune retaliated by flipping his sword around and slamming the butt of the hilt into the spot between the man's knuckles.
It did nothing beyond getting a slight grunt out of his enigmatic foe. And then he just powered forth, knocking Jaune's arm back hard enough to throw him somewhat off balance. The punch barreled towards Jaune, but he was able to twist on his feet despite his lack of proper balance to narrowly avoid it and he tried to move forward – only for the man to do so instead, the suddenness of his movement causing them both to crash into each other.
Jaune, with his aura strengthening him, did his best to try and shove the man back, only for him to be the one to fail and he nearly went sailing.
The man then let out another grunt, this one of exertion, as he raised a fist high above and then brought it down upon the ground, the mighty fist causing a split a hundred feet in length and six feet in depth to form.
Jaune, who'd already been stumbling, ended up with his right foot going right into said split and it was only through his strength that he was able to essentially stand on just one leg, albeit awkwardly.
However, while he may have avoided falling into the split, he ended up leaving himself wide open.
The man finally ran directly at him like a bull and slammed right into him so hard that some of his bones quivered and fractured due to a combination of the man's strength and Jaune's own aura already straining his body.
The two of them ended up falling into the split and crashed into the bottom of it hard enough to form a small crater.
Because of how confined the space was down here, Jaune was unable to make immediate use of his blades due to their length, but even then he still went on the attack. Just as the man started to get up a bit, Jaune spread his legs apart and wrapped them around the man's thick torso, after which he then pulled himself up and slammed his own face directly into the man's nose.
The man's head rocked back from the force of the blow and partially from the surprise, but he merely returned the attack and in the next instance it was Jaune's head that bobbled back. His own nose ended up breaking too.
But like all the times before, he fought through the pain; compared to the severity of the current situation, his well-being was irrelevant.
Letting go of his swords for the moment, Jaune grabbed the man by the back of his neck and then slugged him right in the throat once, twice, thrice. With every blow he landed, the amount of aura pouring out of him grew in quantity and intensity, strengthening him more and more with every passing second… but to his own detriment now – after the third punch, Jaune felt his own knuckles break and split open from his own power.
As for the man? He barely sported any injuries beyond some light bruising from the blows, but his own aura was already quickly healing the damage. The cut from earlier was already gone.
And now he looked just a tad bit angry.
Jaune tried to unwrap his legs from around him and jump back, but the man grabbed his sides and swung him directly into the side of the split to devastating effect, nearly burying him in the earth.
As he let go of him, Jaune immediately realized he was stuck in the rock and tried to free himself, only to have to give up on this action and block when a massive foot nearly slammed into his gut. The man merely pulled back and delivered another fierce kick, but this time Jaune opened up his hands and caught it. When the man began to pull his foot back, Jaune pushed as hard as he could and ended up throwing the man into the opposite side of the split.
This gave him the precious second needed to essentially flex all of his muscles simultaneously. The sheer force of his muscles being pushed to their limits shattered the earth all around him and many of the rocky fragments ended up pelting the man, keeping him at bay for a brief millisecond.
Jaune immediately grabbed hold of his swords and held them in reverse grips as to better use them in this still confined space. He jumped and thrust the butt of the hilt out and watched as it slammed into the man's chin. His attack turned the man's head and his face went crashing into the earth and fragments from the edges of the split above them fell down.
One of them actually pierced Jaune's attacking arm, and he could only growl as it added to the pain his own aura was already putting him through.
Despite the power of his attack, the man hardly seemed fazed still and was already freeing himself. Jaune kicked at the man's legs in the hopes of keeping him down a moment longer, but the man was able to raise his right leg just high enough for Jaune to miss. The second kick Jaune launched was guarded against by maneuvering his knee into the path of the attack and pushing back.
Then, impossibly, the man pivoted and made to perform a fast backhand, only to twist his arm halfway through the motion so that instead of coming at Jaune from directly in front, it now came from above.
Jaune raised both arms and caught the fist in between his wrists, but before he could do anything, the man's fist opened up and gripped him by the very top of his head.
He was suddenly yanked several feet off the split's bottom and the man delivered an uppercut that practically knocked Jaune's entire stomach up into his chest cavity.
The punch also launched him at an upwards angle, knocking him through a portion of the ground above as well as through the second story of a building.
Jaune collapsed to the floor of the building's now ruined second story, disoriented. But even as he slowly recovered, he could still clearly make out two things: one, the family hugging one another fearfully amidst all the broken wood and stone and two, three Beowulves leaping towards them upon noticing them.
Jaune growled. "No!"
His right blade glowing with aura, he quickly took aim and swung, unleashing an aura swing. A wave of golden aura was let loose, passing just an inch above one of the people's head, probably sizzling their hair a bit – and making Jaune feel as if he just got a few gray hairs from sheer stress – and cutting through the leaping Beowulves before they were even within four feet of the people.
The wave of aura then swiftly traveled off into the distance before exploding. Despite having covered a distance of at least a mile before exploding, the power of it still proved enough to once again rock the town.
"Try to get downstairs!" Jaune quickly told the people. "Or better yet, if you happen to have a cellar or can get to another person's place, go there!"
"R-Right!" one of them called out immediately.
Relieved they were okay, Jaune fully got up and leapt to the ground below. As he did so, he noticed the relatively quieter levels of gunfire and roaring from the town's western and eastern sides. Good, looks like his friends were nearly done taking care of whatever Grimm were still out there. And thanks to all the rumbling his fight had been causing just now, it looks like some of the Grimm in town had been taken out in the crossfire.
A wonderful thing, really, but not one he got to fully bask in – just as he touched down on the ground, the man came jumping out of the split and barreled into him again.
Unlike before, though, Jaune had been ready for him. With both hands gripping the man's short sleeved coat and his feet as firmly planted in the ground as they'll ever be, Jaune and his foe went skidding across the whole town, their every step tearing up the gravel and whatever else was in their path as they moved on.
Jaune let out a roar, a first for him and an indication of how much effort he was putting into this. His aura surged, his strength grew and his body wore down even more. He was stronger than he's ever been. To compare how he was just moments ago to now would be like comparing a fresh-faced first year trainee to a battle-hardened fourth year trainee in terms of ability. And even then, his strength just kept on growing.
But.
"Is this still all you can do?" the man asked angrily through gritted teeth. With every word he spoke, he still pressed onwards.
It was just insane – this unknown man still had the strength advantage!
However, it wasn't all for naught; their charge was slowly coming to a stop as Jaune's strength continued to grow and he pushed back.
Finally, just as the two of them were nearly out of the town, Jaune pushed himself away from the man and flipped his right sword around so that he could take advantage of the open space now.
The man raised an arm and swung it, deflecting the slash. As sword met fist, the ground directly next to them cracked apart and this repeated three more times as Jaune attempted to attack him, only for his blades to be deflected every time.
The man's skill was equal to his monstrous strength, it seemed.
Jaune was undeterred, however.
Instead, he concentrated that much more. Keeping up his assault even though it was failing, he began to move in a circle around the man, putting on speed rapidly. Head on clashes weren't working, so he must resort to using his agility and smaller size much more.
But unlike most others he's gone up against that had the size advantage, this man was far faster than he looked. Moreover, just as how Jaune had started to adapt to how he fought, the man was doing the same, deflecting his swords that much more effectively with every passing second as he intercepted the attacks earlier and earlier than usual.
One particular deflection nearly made Jaune stumble back, but he used this to his advantage instead. Channeling as much aura into his left blade, he swung downwards at the man. The man tried to move back, but this proved to be a bad move for Jaune merely unleashed the aura wave much earlier than usual and the wave slammed right into his large foe.
The man grunted as the wave started to push him back, though whether said noise was due to genuine pain or annoyance was unknown to the blond teen. Nonetheless, Jaune dashed forward while the man was dealing with the aura swing – only to then end up gaping in mid-run as the man then stretched out his arms and slammed his hands together right over the aura wave, dispelling it.
"What?!"
"Your attacks are as half-hearted as you!" the man suddenly yelled before taking advantage of Jaune's shock, launching a punch that would've taken off the head of anyone else. In Jaune's case, it gave him a slight skull fracture as it struck the side of his head as well as knocking him back. "I knew from the instant I even saw you… you're someone aspiring to be a hero, aren't you, boy? Seeing that had made me feel something… but now I see that maybe you're nothing more than a fake?"
"Fake…?" Jaune mumbled as he got up from the hit. His eyes narrowed dangerously at that.
He would never dare to proclaim himself a hero. He's never once felt like he was someone who really deserved such an amazing title. There were plenty of people out there that were just as helpful as he was and could help others so much more effectively than his one-tracked mind.
But to call him a fake hero? That in and of itself wasn't a problem to hear. But if by fake, he was referring to his desire to help others, then this man had another thing coming.
And so, for the first time in what felt like forever, Jaune was starting to feel angry.
He charged at the man, his golden aura exploding from within even more than before. Bones within his legs started to break from the strain. He ignored this.
The man took up a proper fighting stance for the first time, preparing for Jaune's next attack. And Jaune obliged, thrusting his right sword forward in what seemed like an obvious attempt to stab the man.
The man effortlessly dodged, tilting his entire upper body a bit to the left – only that was exactly what Jaune had wanted; atop the man's coat were these little flaps, presumably to store small items in. Jaune had aimed for the one atop the man's right shoulder, his blade neatly passing through its opening.
The man lurched a little from the unexpected weight of Jaune and during this split-second action, Jaune pulled himself close and delivered a kick that slammed right into the side of the man's head.
The impact sounded like thunder as the blow finally succeeded in knocking the man clean off his feet. The man crashed into the ground so hard that he bounced up like a stone thrown across a lake.
This left him expose to Jaune's next attack.
Having concentrated aura into both of his swords, Jaune unleashed an X-shaped attack, swinging both blades upwards. The waves of aura released from his swords were let loose and cut into the man, blasting him off more than twenty yards into the sky before exploding with a level of power that put all of Jaune's previous attacks to shame.
Jaune watched as the man then plummeted to the ground below, his body obscured somewhat by the remnants of his aura attack that trailed after him in a way similar to flames.
"Jaune!"
The blond teen turned briefly to his left, the direction where he and the man had come from. He spotted Pyrrha, looking a little worse for wear and quite fatigued.
Her expression was one of horror as she took in his appearance, which he was certain looked horrible. But just as she began to run his way, he yelled.
"No, don't! I'll deal with this!" he yelled. "You and Nora just focus on taking out the rest of the Grimm! Have Ren start evacuating the townspeople to safer locations!"
By this point, his friends had just barely finished off the Grimm that had been keeping them essentially locked in place earlier and had only barely gotten back to the town. And while the Ursas and Beowulves that had been trying to flatten Sol may have had their actions delayed, if not outright interrupted by his clash against this man, the Grimm were already back at it; already, he could just barely make out the leveling of several buildings. He could only pray that the people inside them had noticed what was going on and took off before the buildings came down on them.
He didn't get to say anything more to Pyrrha, however, for something – someone – suddenly slammed right into him.
Jaune was only vaguely aware of Pyrrha yelling out his name in pure shock and horror before fists struck him all over, specifically his vitals. He didn't just let this happen, though, and started kick back. He tried to maneuver his blades as well so that he could at least try to deliver some small cuts towards the man, but just as quickly as he'd responded to the sudden assault so too did the man to his retaliation.
His left sword was smacked right out of his hand before a large foot came stomping down on his now empty left hand, crushing the bones. Then he was grabbed by the leg and pulled with such force that his leg nearly dislocated in the process.
He went tumbling along the ground but was able to turn all of this momentum to a much more beneficial thing, using it to get back up – just in time to defend himself.
The man, looking only marginally worse for wear after the attack he'd taken just a moment ago, had picked up the sword he'd knocked out of Jaune's hand. It looked positively tiny in his hands, but he still held it with a degree of expertise as he swung it at Jaune in a downwards motion.
Jaune scarcely had enough time to grip his remaining sword with both hands just before raising it up to block the incoming strike, which immediately forced him onto one knee.
The man refused to stop there, however, and kept on swinging with even more strength each time. The entire area was shaking and even more violently than ever before. And Jaune, for all his strength and determination, couldn't force himself back up. Such was the man's ferocity.
And more than that, he was talking.
"You're weak!"
The man swung.
"And do you know why?!"
The man swung.
"It's because you're lacking something!"
The man swung.
"You care for others, but not yourself!"
The man swung, this time much more violently than before.
"You place such emphasis on others' happiness and safety before your own that in the end, you're nothing more than a human machine!"
He punctuated nearly every word with another swing. By this point, Jaune's arm muscles were rendered little more than torn and bloody messes thanks to still using more and more aura to excessively strengthen himself.
"Just look at you – you'd rather destroy yourself for the sake of others than to even focus for one second on your own well-being!"
The man, genuinely angry now, swung what felt like a final time. And when he did so, the blade of the sword he wielded without aura shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.
The man's left hand shot out like lightning and gripped Jaune by the shoulder, the fingers piercing his clothes and skin as they dug in harshly. Before he knew it, Jaune was lifted right off his feet, the man's words having left him reeling so much that he couldn't retaliate.
"That's why I deem you a fake!" the man roared before stabbing Jaune in between his ribs with what remained of the broken blade. "A true hero wouldn't simply neglect himself for the sake of others…!"
The man sounded now as if he was on the verge of tears, Jaune noted through the pain and shock he was in.
"…Begone! I can no longer bear to even look at you!"
Then the man spun around a few times at great speed before launching Jaune away.
And the whole time he flew, Jaune could only look up at the sky, struck senseless not by the man's attacks, but by his words.
Right before he struck the ground, Jaune came to a realization, and a rather frightening one that too:
The man was right.
Hazel panted heavily, not from physical fatigue – he was far from tired – but rather from how intensely he'd been acting just now. He was rarely one to yell the way he had, but that boy… yes, looking at him up close and personal had only confirmed what he'd thought when he'd first seen him.
That blond fool really was just like him. Well, like how he'd used to be: a man so focused on saving others that he neglected himself for the sake of everyone else.
And just look at where that had gotten him. It'd gotten him used and abused by others that had thought to hide their true selves from him so that they may use his own kindness to manipulate him into being their attack dog for a time.
And from there, as he'd gotten exposed more and more to the deviancy inherent in humanity, Hazel had been worn down that much more each and every time he'd foolishly allowed himself to go along with it all, having naively thought he was doing some good.
Before he'd known it, he'd become less than a man and much more of a machine, some tool for others to pick up and use as they please before eventually throwing it aside.
That boy… he was exactly the same in that regard. Perhaps more worldly in a sense – Hazel couldn't help but think so, anyways – but that same lack of self-preservation had been there.
And how could anyone possessing such little care for their own well-being ever be called anything other than a complete fool? Others could call such fools heroes all they want, but in the end, the only reason why this was ever the case is because fools like the blond and himself from long ago simply didn't know any better.
…He hadn't expected to get so riled up, but with every passing of resistance, the blond teen had reminded Hazel of his past that much more.
That same absurd determination to do the 'right thing.'
That same ridiculous desire to keep on going until they succeed.
That same self-destructive instinct to ruin their own bodies for the sake of others.
Much earlier, he'd thought of how the blond had been like looking into a mirror… only now did Hazel realize just how spot-on that line of thinking of had been.
"Hmph." He huffed as he finally started to regain his cool.
…
…
He's gotten what he wanted, hasn't he? To look into that mirror and shatter the reflection he'd seen, right? In which case, there was nothing left here for him to focus on.
Once again, he'd known neither pain nor defeat. If nothing else, he was still living up to the 'Invincible' part of the 'Invincible Hero' title he'd once been given so very long ago.
A shot suddenly rang out.
It took Hazel a millisecond longer than it should have to realize that a high caliber bullet had just struck the side of his neck. Obviously, it had no success in bypassing his semblance – it simply hadn't been powerful enough.
He turned his head enough to see who had fired at him.
And sure enough… the girl. The blond teen's partner.
She stood there, weapon raised in its gun form. She glared at him hatefully through the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"Y-You…! You-!" She choked out.
She must have seen what he'd done to her foolish friend, Hazel dryly thought.
He turned now to fully face her… but only for a moment. Rather than speak to her or even attempt to attack her, he merely looked down on her in pity before then turning his back to her.
He's come to do what he'd wanted to do. Now it was time to just fully level the town with whatever Grimm he still had left.
There was no need for him to kill this girl himself – she, much like her fool of a partner will go down fighting. Only in this case, it will be in defense of this town against the Grimm.
People died to the Grimm all the time, so this would once again be just another but all too similar tragedy in the eyes of the world, assuming it's ever even reported.
"Don't you dare walk away!" the girl yelled, the familiar sound of a weapon shifting into another form filling Hazel's ears even in spite of all the noise still going on in the center of town – no doubt those other two teens trying to take down the remaining Grimm. A simple mental order for them to shift focus to defense was all it took for the remaining Ursas and Beowulves to begin actively defending themselves against the Beacon teens.
The girl attacked him from behind. He did nothing in response other than to continue walking, even as she slashed him straight down his back.
It had zero effect on him. His aura as well as his body remained completely unharmed. Such was the nature of his semblance. It was only because of the blond teen's ever-increasing strength that he'd even been able to bypass his semblance and aura during the latter part of their fight.
However, the girl was undeterred, if only because of her rage and grief. She kept on attacking, slashing over and over at him from all over, screaming all the while too. When no amount of sword swings could so much as break his stride, she tried to bash that shield of hers into him.
When that didn't work either, she circled around him so that she was now ahead of him as he headed for Sol.
She'd switched her weapon back to its gun form and took aim at his face. At the same time she did this, pieces of scrap metal that had fallen off parts of the damaged buildings nearby suddenly levitated into the air all around him.
Looks like the girl's semblance was polarity, Hazel silently noted. Not that it'd make a difference.
She opened fire as all the metal pieces, varying in size, were launched at him at breakneck speeds. Both bullets and metal alike once again had no effect on him.
However, he will admit to being just a bit annoyed now, an oddity he just now noted in a moment of introspection; it would seem his fight with the blond had left his temper just a bit more flared than he'd thought.
Faster than the girl could hope to react, he reached out with his right hand and grabbed her by the head, the size difference between them resulting in his entire hand easily covering her whole head.
He raised her off the ground and smashed her back-first through the nearest wall, eliciting cries of pain from her as her aura worked overtime to protect her. But he just kept on walking with her in tow, dragging her through the remainder of the wall as well as through a wooden pillar. Once they were through that and now out in the middle of town, he threw the redhead towards a nearby Ursa, who responded to his mental command just now, and promptly slammed right into the girl with immense force.
As the girl cried out and tried to get her bearings, the Ursa all but pounced on her despite its size and Hazel turned away, focusing instead on other things.
Namely, the rest of the town before him. Even as he could hear the girl vigorously struggle behind him, he paid it no more mind and instead observed how progress was going.
The town had taken a lot of damage in such a short amount of time, if primarily due to the intensity of his battle with the blond. To think he hadn't even been forced to use his Dust shards though… oh well, not it mattered.
Still, things were much further along than he'd expected. The split he'd earlier had pretty much cracked Sol in two and the shockwaves had also leveled numerous buildings as is too. In which case all that was really left was to deal with the townspeople.
Focus on the buildings already knocked down, he silently commanded the remaining Grimm. There are sure to be people trapped under all the rubble, just waiting for death.
His Grimm sought to obey – only to be stopped by a loud explosion.
"No you don't!" came a loud and feminine voice – the other girl of the blond teen's team. She swung her hammer down on a Beowulf as she came into view. Through the eyes of the Grimm from earlier, when they'd all been setting traps, she'd looked like a happy-go-lucky kind of girl. Not anymore.
Much like the redhead, she looked angry. Again, not that it'd matter.
But rather than have the Grimm try and fail to deal with her, Hazel opted to take the initiative. He put on a burst of speed that cleared the distance between them in an instant. She just barely saw him coming and tried to swing that hammer of hers, but he attacked with greater speed, bringing down a fist on her that smashed her into the ground.
Just like that, he'd knocked her out.
"Get to it," he then spoke aloud to the nearby Grimm that had looked ready to jump at the girl. They immediately turned around and took off to hunt down the civilians.
And just some odd minutes later, the screams started.
Hazel closed his eyes and listened closely.
"Come, quickly!" Ren whispered to a terrified family of four as he snuck into their home, one of the few structures to remain standing after all the shockwaves and tremors from just moments ago.
The family obeyed as he led them out of their home and just in time as a Beowulf came crashing through the window.
Killing it would've been easy, but with how quickly things had gone to hell, Ren opted not to. In all likelihood, it would only lead to unwanted attention.
Instead, he quietly beckoned the family to hold hands while he placed a hand atop the father's shoulder. Concentrating hard, Ren activated his semblance.
It was by no means a flashy one nor particularly powerful, but it kept him and others undetected from Grimm, which made a world of difference. Especially now of all times.
Hidden now from the searching Beowulf, Ren led the four away from their house.
However, that was about the only good thing that could be said – due to the location of Sol and the general layout of the surrounding area, there wasn't really anywhere else the civilians could be evacuated to.
The next town was miles away and sending civilians running there while scared and with nothing but the clothes on their backs through miles of forest didn't sit well with him one bit. After all, there was no telling how many Grimm might be lurking just out of sight within the forest.
But even then, just what other options did they have?
"I'm going to take you to the outskirts of town," Ren began quietly. "From there, try making your way to the next town, okay? My friends and I will try taking down the Grimm roaming the town, but first we need everyone out of the way."
The family thankfully understood and so they all moved as quickly as was possible to the western side of town and Ren saw them off. As worried as he was over all this, he had to faith in the people. They were a resilient bunch and as Faunus, they had excellent night vision, so hopefully if it came down to them having to travel through the night, they'd still be able to avoid any roaming Grimm.
But even with this hope, Ren's heart felt extremely heavy – he, Nora, and Pyrrha had been pinned down by Grimm on the town's outskirts for so long that others had somehow managed to make it to town from the northern and southern fronts, which should've been nearly impossible to do.
And now the entire town was quickly falling to ruin, with entire buildings having collapsed and their crop fields trampled on by the Grimm during their mad rush here. Even if they were able to deal with the rest of the Grimm, Sol may very well be done for since the crops were destroyed beyond salvaging.
But more than that…
"Jaune," Ren whispered.
He and Nora had heard his orders from just a few minutes ago, the blond probably having not realized just how loud he'd been yelling… and that wasn't a good thing. If even Jaune, who normally was so in control of himself, could fail to notice how loud he was being, then things must truly be bad.
And when the screaming started a moment later, Ren's fears were confirmed.
He had to hurry.
Following the screams, he headed towards the nearest location, just in time to see a Beowulf tear apart a poor woman in front of her own children. Anger and horror blooming in his heart, Ren drew out Stormflower and opened fire, killing the Beowulf before it could ravage the woman anymore.
Said woman collapsed to the busted floor, gravely injured but still alive… for now. Ren approached her swiftly and did what he could to patch her up with a first aid kit that just about every house seemed to have – yet another sign of the townspeople's self-sufficiency – and after slowing her bleeding, he looked to her kids, still terrified out of their minds.
"Are you okay?" he asked. The kids nodded back, their bodies shaking from fear. "Okay, okay… that's good. Listen, I'm going to get you out of here, alright? You all and your mom. So, I'm going to need you to be brave for a little while. Can you do that? If not for me then for your mom?"
"Y-Yes," the oldest of the kids, just barely seven, stuttered out. The kid, a boy, did his best to stop his tears and he grabbed the hands of his siblings.
Ren hefted up the barely conscious woman with both arms. He could've easily done so with just one, but he didn't want to take any risks with the state she was in. But he was still able to have the eldest kid reach up and grip the side of his tailcoat.
Activating his semblance again, he made his way out of the collapsing house. He did his best not to show his growing fatigue to the kids. His semblance may be a very simple one, but it required a great deal of focus to activate and maintain and could really drain his aura quickly depending on how long he kept it up and how many people he was extending it to.
These people were far from the first he's helped so far, having actually begun this rescue op from the moment he even made it back to town, well before Jaune had given the order to do so. As a result, he was already tiring and the damage he took to both his aura and body during the previous skirmish with the Grimm pouring out of the forest wasn't helping matters.
He left the house with kids and mother in tow, just as two Ursas showed up, having no doubt heard the gunfire just a moment ago. Once again, his semblance proved its effectiveness.
But not against the man standing nearby.
He stood there calmly as he looked directly at Ren and the kids, the last remaining Beowulves remaining by his side in a manner similar to how dogs sometimes sit by the sides of their owners.
Such an odd sight nearly made Ren freeze for a split second.
"I see…" the man murmured in a deep voice. "I'd been wondering why there wasn't as much screaming as there should have been… you've been evacuating the people."
The man then pointed directly at him and the kids and the Beowulves responded, howling as they started to run their way.
His semblance was still in effect, but it would seem the Grimm, acting on the orders of this man somehow, were able to have a feel for his general location.
With the kids and wounded mother in tow, he couldn't just go running off. So, he had to make a stand. Pulling out just one of his guns, he opened fire on the Beowulves.
Rather than just fall mindlessly to his bullets, the Beowulves split up, showcasing once again a level of intellect that had made fighting them earlier so very difficult.
However, they were still rather stupid.
By now, he had a feel for how they fought, so predicting the way they'd move was easy enough for Ren to take advantage of and so in rapid succession, he fired short bursts that felled the Beowulves immediately.
But all that did was just get the Ursas' attention now. And there's no way his bullets would be getting through their thick hides.
Moreover, the unknown man was now slowly walking towards him.
"Run!" he yelled at the kids, motioning as best as he could in what direction they should go in. "I'll follow soon!"
The kids obeyed and took off. Ren, knowing it was futile, could only open fire on the Ursas anyways. If nothing else, he could try shooting out their eyes.
He was able to do so with the one coming at him from his left, but the one on the right seemed to know what was going on and turned its head as it charged so that at best, Ren would only be able to take out one eye.
Gritting his teeth, Ren picked up the woman properly again and leapt back as far as he could as the Ursas quickly approached.
But as soon as he landed, the man suddenly slammed a fist into the ground, making it split open and throwing him off balance. The woman nearly fell out of his arms with a light scream.
The Ursa whose eyes got shot out tried to make its way to him but ended up wandering into the rather wide split the man had so casually made. Under way different circumstances, this would've been funny even to Ren.
The other one, however, didn't have that issue and roared as it charged at top speed towards Ren as he struggled to get up without dropping the woman. He was just barely able to do so in time to sidestep the charging Ursa, firing at the back of its left leg as it missed.
But of course, his bullets did nothing, making him nearly swear.
Damn it all, where's Nora or Pyrrha?! Where's Jaune?!
Ren thought these two questions to himself with a great deal of worry. the lack of knowledge on where his friends wear making him unnerved in all sorts of ways.
"Just throw in the towel, boy," the man suddenly said. "There's no use struggling any further."
"…No," Ren said. "None of my friends would ever give up, especially not my leader. I'd be a horrible teammate if I don't at least try to live up to his example."
Something about his words seemed to anger the man for his gaze narrowed dangerously and his thick muscles tensed up.
"Fine then. Join him on the other side," the man said, now looking ready to deal with him personally.
But just before he could take even a few steps forward, what looked like a broken sword – a sword that looked all too familiar to Ren – came out of nowhere at incredible speeds. The sword, thought with its blade shattered, still just had enough steel still attached to it to serve as a weapon and the sheer force of the throw caused it to easily pierce through the Ursa's skull like it was nothing.
And before the Ursa's body even fully dissipated, something came crashing down from the sky and landed just several yards right in front of Ren.
No, not something… someone.
Familiar blond hair and clothes was all Ren could focus on, his growing fears now alleviated.
"I'll take it from here, Ren. Just keep getting the others to safety," spoke Jaune and with an intensity that was so great even the woman in Ren's arms, as vaguely conscious as she was, couldn't help but quiver.
Ren didn't bother answering with words. Instead, he merely obeyed.
He didn't get to fully turn around and run before Jaune went on the attack.
To say Jaune was beaten and bloodied would be a complete understatement – there was not a single bone or muscle of his that wasn't horribly fractured or torn. He was bleeding all over, his organs felt like they were being cooked by his own aura which still poured out from within him and his vision was blurring as the veins in his eyes burst.
But even so, he could still see the expression of genuine surprise on the man's face and it filled him with an odd sense of satisfaction as he went on the attack.
With only one blade in hand, he swung it as hard as he could at the man's neck, only for him to get over his surprise enough to raise an arm.
But Jaune's strength was ever-growing and he cut three inches deep into the man's thick forearm, getting a genuine grimace out of him now. Rather than try pushing on through, Jaune pulled the blade back and swung at the man's side.
The man swatted downwards with his now injured arm to deflect the swing, doing so with clearly more force than ever before… but Jaune could tell it still wasn't the full extent of the man's strength.
Same thing went for his speed as well, it seemed; after deflecting his swing, the man lashed out with his injured arm – an arm that was already healing – and struck Jaune right in the face with a powerful jab that was then followed by several more jabs.
These jabs were too quick for Jaune still and so all he could do was just take the hits before soldiering on. He attacked with a kick to the side of the man's knee and this time succeeded in making him stagger, following this up with a bash to the face via the pommel of his remaining blade. He then threw a powerful right hook that caught the side of the man's nose.
But he then had to back up – the man was already attacking again, shrugging off the hit to the nose and making to grab Jaune's arm. After failing at this, the man simply opted to kick Jaune and the hit connected, launching Jaune through another building and smashing through the wall of the inn he and his team had been staying at.
The man barreled right in after him before he even crashed into the ground and slammed a fist right into Jaune's gut. The blond struck the floor so hard, the whole room collapsed on the two of them, not that either one of them cared.
"If nothing else, you've got the stubbornness of a hero," the man growled in quiet and seething rage before moving in on the downed blond, smashing through all the rubble now around them like it was nothing.
Jaune didn't let this happen, swinging his sword at the man's eyes, forcing him back a bit lest his eyes get cut out. This gave Jaune just enough leeway to then kick at the man's right kneecap. He heard crack ever so slightly, but nowhere near enough to indicate he successfully broke it.
But it sure did piss the man off, enough to viciously kick him in the face with this same leg, blowing all the rubble around them out of the way.
It sent Jaune flying, but unlike all the other times before, he stabbed his sword into the ground and held on for dear life, halting his impromptu flight. He got up just in time to raise his left forearm whilst twisting away simultaneously to avoid the incoming punch. Said punch was so powerful and fast that as the man's arm practically grinded against his forearm, it pretty much burned his skin.
Jaune didn't care. Instead, he got in close and threw a punch at the man's liver with his left hand before delivering a quick slash with his blade held in a reverse grip with his other hand.
In response, the man suddenly brought his open palms down on the sides of Jaune's head, as if to try crushing his whole head. In this endeavor, he didn't succeed, but Jaune's eardrums ruptured and all immediately went quiet as a result.
Disorientation set in quickly and thanks to all the damage he's taken so far, Jaune was having an exceptionally harder time than usual shrugging this off. As fast as he could heal, it made no difference if he was taking this much damage this quickly.
Even then, he staggered forth and managed to slash several times at the man's left arm, but he was so groggy now that he was unable to defend against the kick that slammed against his right knee. And unlike the man's, his kneecap broke for sure.
Jaune let out a roar as he nonetheless tried to stand on a now broken kneecap, not that he could hear himself roaring. He proved surprisingly successful, but it was about the only thing he could do for the moment.
And all the while, more and more aura flowed right out of him.
Power surged within him with every passing second, more and more and more and more even with how battered his body currently was.
His whole body felt unbelievably hot now and even through his bloodied vision, he could vaguely see his own aura literally pouring out of all his injuries.
If this kept up, he might very well explode.
…And if that did happen, he found himself feeling surprisingly okay with it.
If he could just take down this man, then all will be well. The Grimm have already been dealt with, so if he could just finally defeat this man, then the people of Sol will finally be safe.
The man's words from earlier replayed in his mind and the anger he'd felt earlier returned, granting him new strength.
Despite his body being in a state that should render it impossible for him to move, he still ended up moving, taking a step forward with his now busted leg and raising his sword with an arm whose muscles and bones have been profusely torn and broken now.
He knew that he was once again exhibiting the same lack of self-preservation others have said he had, the same lack of self-care that this man had angrily accused him of having, but Jaune could hardly find it in himself to care much right now.
He's never once thought himself a hero of any kind, but merely as someone that could and should help others, protect the innocent. It was his driving force.
If that means having to accomplish literally impossible things in order to successfully save others, then so be it.
He took several more steps forward, these movements only worsening his injuries, especially his broken kneecap.
But even then-!
He attacked, not just once more, not just twice more, but many times more. He swung his blade more than a dozen times at the man, hoping to bring him down. He's learned how this man moves, what sort of attacks he seemed to favor. By all rights, he should still be able to hit this man.
But the man had also learned how he fought and moved. And with his body so broken and battered, even with his own aura still strengthening him to levels he's never achieved before, Jaune was still not quite moving as fast as he could've, as fast as he should've. And so, the man dodged each and every part of his assault with minimal movement.
Then he launched a counterattack.
Jaune was scarcely aware of the blows, really; his body was just in too much pain and his vision too blurry to be able to accurately see what the man was doing anymore. But if he focused hard enough, he could feel his kidneys and liver hurt even more than they already did.
And then, one final blow seemed to strike him right in the face…
…And his world truly went dark.
Hazel watched as the blond, finally unconscious, slowly collapsed to the ground. He stared blankly for just a few moments longer, just to make sure that the blond – Jaune – was down for good.
The teen was still alive, amazingly enough, but when he didn't so much as twitch, Hazel knew for certain that the fight was well and truly over.
He took yet another minute to settle down before finally having it in him to turn and look around.
The Grimm had done a good job in trampling the town underfoot for the most part – the crop fields were ruined and multiple buildings have been cut up and smashed up… and that's to say nothing of the effects his battle just now had had on the surrounding area.
…And it seems like the Grimm had also been able to take out some of the townspeople too.
This may not have been the completely overwhelming massacre he'd initially envisioned… but it would have to do, he supposed.
He looked back to Jaune, so very still yet clearly alive. Hazel debated with himself over whether or not he should just kill the teen here and now, just stomp on his head and reduce it to mulch… yet every time the thought popped into his head, he suddenly felt dissuaded.
He almost sighed. Looks like, as much as Jaune's very existence angered him, something about him also felt nostalgic for lack of a better way to put it. A reminder of how much satisfaction he used to have back when he first started out as a wanderer.
…Well, not like it'd matter what he decided, really; Jaune may be alive right now, but with how many injuries he has and their severity, he'll die in a while no matter what anyone else tries to do. Aura may be able to do a lot of things, but it was not a guaranteed recovery.
There were still plenty of townspeople still alive, he suddenly noted as more people could now be spotted by him making a run for the forests. And it looks like the teen's teammates were also still alive and relatively well and were now making their way back here, no doubt to back him up well after the fact.
Killing them and the townspeople would be child's play for him, as easy as sweating slow moving flies… but Hazel's mood was in quite a funk right now. For reasons he could only vaguely surmise, he was simply no longer in the mood for killing.
Besides, he'd already gotten a better grasp on how the Grimm function under his commands when this close to him. This will be useful for future outings.
As for the team seeing his face, it mattered not – he existed within no database, a result of him being a wanderer that favored areas outside the kingdoms, where technology was scarce. There existed no photos of himself that could be put out there for other huntsmen to be made aware of.
And sure, they could tell that parasite of his existence, but that will accomplish nothing – after all, getting to Ozpin was his goal, and that manipulative bastard knows better than to send any more of his underlings directly after him.
And so, with just one last look upon the blond teen and the destruction their fight had wrought, Hazel turned and took his leave.
…
…
…Jaune started to wake up, doing so with the same level of speed that he always did. Only this time was different – just the mere act of opening his eyes was enough to make him feel pain, pain great enough to actually get a wince out of him.
The very first thing he noticed was that he was not out in the middle of Sol, but rather in what appeared to be a hospital room, the ceiling and walls a stark white and oh so clean.
Sitting up was quick to do, but equally painful as well. Upon doing so, he now slowly started to move all of his limbs a bit and looked down the front of the hospital gown he was now clearly wearing.
Just like always, his wounds had healed… but not completely just yet; there was still some very obvious bruising and he could literally tell that his insides weren't quite operating at full capacity just yet.
Really now, sometimes his own recovery abilities amazed himself.
But this was all irrelevant – what mattered was what happened during the time he was out.
"J-Jaune!" called out Pyrrha's voice suddenly.
He almost actually twitched a bit from the surprise of hearing her voice and he turned a little to see her sitting in a chair near his bed. She must have fallen asleep in that chair, judging by how disheveled she looked.
"A-Are you al-?!" she began, but he cut her off.
"The townspeople," he started in an almost desperate tone. "You, Nora, and Ren… is everyone okay?"
"I-, wha-, Jaune, you-," she stuttered out, taken aback by him cutting her off like that. But she recovered well enough and looked at him sadly.
"We're okay – Nora, Ren, and myself. We just suffered from exhaustion and some bruising. Right now, they're at the local diner, picking up some food for all of us. As for the townspeople…" Pyrrha trailed off a bit.
"Pyrrha, please, tell me what happened," Jaune asked gently.
"Aside from some minor injuries, most of the townspeople are okay, just rattled. But some were hurt much worse than the others and required surgery. And…" Pyrrha trailed off for a moment to steel herself. "Eleven of them died during the Grimm attack."
Jaune closed, feeling a whole different kind of hurt at that. He clenched his fists so tightly that he threatened to break his bones all over again.
"…Where is this? How long was I out?" he now asked, trying to stay calm.
"This is Zion, the next town over to the west of Sol… and Jaune, you were out for two whole days," Pyrrha said sadly.
Jaune took this in slowly, having an oddly hard time trying to wrap his mind around this information.
Two whole days?! He was out for that long?!
No, but before all that… now that Pyrrha was really up close, she looked more than disheveled – she looked, quite frankly, like hell. There was some bags under her eyes, her hair was done up in a messed up ponytail and she hadn't put on all of her armor like she usually did.
What else had happened?
"Pyrrha, what else happened?" he asked as he looked to her. "Please, if something's bothering you then…"
Pyrrha closed her eyes now for a brief few seconds before opening them. Her eyes looked so very sad.
"Last night, we received a message from Beacon," she began softly.
And when she continued, Jaune's heart felt like it would stop.
"The walls were breached. There'd been a Grimm attack in downtown Vale."
So, what do you think, guys? Was this chapter worth the wait?
I certainly hope so, because I have big plans for where things go from here, heh. Hazel had always struck me as one of the more underutilized characters from canon, not just in terms of usage but also in terms of how he's just written as a character and fighter. Quite frankly, the guy could've and should've been a total powerhouse. I mean, after the impressive showing Tyrian gave us viewers during his fight against RNJR and then Qrow, I'd really been hyped to see what Watts and especially Hazel could do, but then when the battle at Haven rolled around, I was left severely disappointed.
So, aside from fleshing out his character in my own fashion, I've decided to give him feats that makes him live up better to the hype that I personally had for him in the show itself. And before any of you start thinking that I means I nerfed Jaune during this chapter, I didn't, I simply made Hazel that much more OP, and for reasons that I hope you will find understandable.
Now, that aside, as you've probably also noticed, the past several chapters, there's been a considerable lack of focus on characters other than Jaune and those immediately close to him. This was intentional in order to deliver the wham line at the end there. As for what happened, that will be explained in upcoming chapters, of course.
I hope you will look forward to the aftermath and what else will eventually follow.
Until next time, everyone. Take care!