Anyone see the new opening for FGO Cosmos in the Lostbelt? Because I sure have and by god, I'm feeling hyped! So much packed in just that single opening that confirms numerous suspicions while also leaving more questions to be answered in their wake! And Muramasa cutting that mountain so cleanly that it ended up reflecting the sky… dear lord. If he isn't summonable at some point during Lostbelt 6, I do believe a majority of the FGO fanbase is going to riot, heh.

Whelp, enough fanboying - onto the chapter!

P.S. Check ending AN for some info.

Chapter 49

The very first thing Jaune did as he broke free of his confinement was immediately assess his friends' circumstances. They were all still alive, though currently bound in a manner similar to how he'd been bound just a moment ago. They were just barely coming out of unconsciousness and it'd only be perhaps another minute or so before that happened.

This put him immensely at ease – but not for long. With the power this unknown man wielded, it'd be so terribly easy for his friends' lives to be snuffed out like candle flames left out in the middle of a storm. That even with all the effort they've put into growing stronger that they were still at such a risk against people of this level was something truly terrifying, to be perfectly honest.

However, this only served to set Jaune's very soul ablaze that much more fiercely.

Simply by reaffirming his desire – his choice – to do what he can to ensure his friends' survival, his power grew even more, golden aura pouring out of him with such intensity that his body itself might as well be a crumbling dam trying to hold back the entire sea.

Speaking of sea…

In an instant, Jaune drew forth his water Dust blade and swung it with unbelievable force, the Dust within it being triggered to unleash a small but extremely potent wave of water that was concentrated to the point of being able to cut through steel like a scorching hot knife through butter. His target was the man, of course, though he made sure to aim as high up as he could afford to lest he accidentally hit his friends. The man just barely managed to duck under the swing, though it helped that it already seemed like he'd been struggling to stay standing anyways.

Jaune dashed right at the man, power overflowing from within. With each fast step he took, the greenish glow all around the area cracked that much more, simple actions that forced the man to nearly collapse. That said, when Jaune got in close and used his lightning Dust blade to cut through the console in order to get to the man, his target still proved agile enough to outright leap out of his blade's path.

Leap… not teleport like he had before, Jaune noted. And now the blond could confidently say he knew why this was the case.

He knew not the exact mechanics behind this man's power nor its principle, but he could discern this man was able to outright manipulate reality itself to some extent. This greenish glow that tinted the entire area and just a little beyond… he could recognize it now for what it was – aura. Somehow, this man was able to outright expand the usual aura field people had to a truly incredible degree. And based off their battle so far, it seems like whatever changes this man could do was strictly limited to the area within his aura… this 'space.'

But it was clear such tactics took a considerable deal of concentration because if they could be done so effortlessly then the man would've countered by now. It would seem that by affecting this space itself, the resulting damage would have adverse effects on the man, disrupting his concentration a great deal.

In which case, there was really only one course of action.

Sheathing his current blades, the blond now intended to draw out both his hard-light Dust blade and his gravity Dust blade-.

-Only for his action to be partially interrupted as the man suddenly let loose a bellow of pure frustration that seemed to shake the entire space, blowing him back. As sudden as this was, Jaune was able to remain standing, albeit skidding back several yards hard enough for his feet to painfully dig into the steel floor, not that the pain was really worth anything to him. Nonetheless, this action did prevent him from immediately drawing his blades, especially when a wave of condensed light was generated from just a foot away and blasted him.

He grunted as his flesh was seared, his clothes and skin literally cooking and his hair being somewhat set alight. It also managed to blast him off the floor and towards the wall, but he quickly flipped around and kicked off the wall just before it suddenly opened up and attempted to swallow him. It would seem this man now intended to remove him from this particular battlefield. Perhaps he wasn't so confident in securing a conventional victory over him.

Despite the bellow of frustration just now, the man now let out an almost pleasant chuckle. "…Just like that, my plan ruined! All things considered, you truly are an interesting case study!"

"…!" Jaune twisted in midair to avoid being skewered by a stone spike that hadn't been there before, but its sheer size still ensured it grazed his stomach, drawing blood. Had he reacted just a few microseconds slower, he'd have either been impaled or had his entire midsection fully cut open. But things didn't stop there; as he twirled in the air, fiery hail manifested and peppered his form.

He just grimaced inwardly, enduring the pain like nothing as he landed and drew his blades as intended, but rather than make a mad dash at the man or attack from afar, he opted to sprint to his right as fast as he could – with the power this man had demonstrated so far, the possibility he could directly affect his weapons was actually quite high. That he hadn't done so meant there was some genuine limitation that kept him from doing so. Due to lack of an actual explanation or more evidence, the best Jaune can surmise is that the man could only affect things when they're still or at least slow enough for him to remain focused on.

He was just glad that the man hadn't thought to consider using his friends to his advantage, though that could be because he deemed him too big a threat to even think of other matters at the moment.

Alas, reality can have a macabre sense of timing.

No sooner than when he'd thought that, the man's glowing green eyes flickered towards Pyrrha, who was now fully conscious and struggling to break out of her odd confinement. This very sight was enough to make Jaune's heart practically leap out of his chest; such was his concern in this one moment.

Immediately, he funneled aura into the blade that held gravity Dust and swung it at nothing in particular – no, he swung it at this space itself.

The effect proved instantaneous.

The man suddenly howled in a mixture of pure shock and perhaps sheer agony as Jaune's vortex-creating swing sliced open this greenish space itself – along with cutting open an entire section of the ship. If he'd swung just a bit harder, he'd have singlehandedly brought down the ship.

The non-moving ship, Jaune just realized. Pausing for just a fraction of a second, he looked out through the nearest opening to where he can just barely make out some of the other ships… ships that had ceased their suicidal course.

Relief flooded his whole system. Good, he thought, looks like this man's insanity had been successfully halted. Must be because he'd ruined the ship's console not even a full minute ago. He knew not how the man had even been manipulating the ships to begin with, but at least this plan was put a stop to.

His friend's safety assured once more and with the ships and Vale now no longer in immediate danger, Jaune was able to turn his attention back on the man, his resolve burning ever more fiercely.

Charging up his other sword, he proceeded to unleash the hard-light Dust within it, resulting in yet another beam travelling at the speed of light.

And this time, the man who was still trying to mount a recovery from the damage to this space, was unable to dodge or defend. The beam of light struck him head on, making no sound nor exploding on impact. Instead, it rammed right into the man's face and entire torso as if it were a solid thing. It lifted his foe right off his feet and blasted him through the wall… and the wall beyond that one… and the one beyond that.

The man must have gone flying at least halfway across the ship and at a speed not even Jaune could fully perceive. How far exactly, Jaune didn't know, but it was clearly quite a difference because a portion of the barely surviving room was now tint free – a sign that this aura created space was indeed something centered around that man.

As much as he wished to give chase, Jaune instead focused on his friends. With the threat of the ships being forced to crash seemingly dealt with, he could afford to free his friends from their confines.

With several masterful swings of his two blades, he cut through the floor just enough for them to brute force their way out. "You alright?"

"As good as could be," Pyrrha replied in a serious tone as she readied her blade and shield, looking in the direction the man had been blasted off in.

"Just raring for a second round," Nora growled as she hefted her weapon.

"We'd best not leave that man be," Ren then said as he readied himself. "The ships may no longer be in danger of crashing, but there's no telling what else he could possibly do."

Jaune was very much in agreement. Nodding in acknowledgement of his team's unbroken spirit, he took point.

"Let's go," he said.

Taking point, he led the charge through the series of obliterated walls towards their still unknown enemy.

Watts gasped, his virtual space temporarily deactivating from how ruined his concentration was at this moment. His entire body hurt in ways that not even he'd thought possible, to say nothing of the pain his very soul seemed to be in as a result of the damage done to his virtual space by Jaune Arc.

Needless to say, his situation was quite a bad one now. Not only had his virtual space been swiftly chipped away – literally at that, too – but he'd just taken one hell of an attack. Yes, had his old self taken such an attack, he'd undoubtedly be dead, reduced to little more than human mulch and that was in a best-case scenario.

But thankfully, he was new and improved. His Eternal Motor, his invaluable creation, was proving every bit as wonderful as he'd envisioned and more. For him to not only survive an attack that travelled at the speed of light, but to survive with only second degree burns across his face and torso was truly something amazing. The only other two people he could imagine being able to survive an attack of this magnitude would be Hazel and Salem herself, though given the abnormal status both of them held, perhaps they didn't fully count, more so in the latter's case due to her curse of immortality.

In all honesty, the only true mood killer in this very moment was his plan being ruined. With the console destroyed, his connection to the ships had been severed and thus the crews were able to regain control. Crashing them would no longer be possible in this current situation.

All that meant, however, is that he'd need to just get aboard one of the other ships and go from there, assuming he truly wished to carry out his initial goal.

But in light of his new circumstances, would that be wise? Even if he forwent his usual fondness for flair, it wouldn't take Jaune Arc and those others long to catch up with him. And with his connection to the ships broken too, comms would be restored now as well, meaning security would only be tightened that much more once they get an idea of what was going on…

…Oh well, not a problem. Aside from just his petty desire to see James' face in despair, his actions so far had really just been meant to fully ramp up the negativity in Vale that much more to ensure the Grimm horde assembling under Hazel's command was as big as could be. Even with this failure, just the mere insinuation of what chaos he could wreak would still be enough to make James shudder.

"…Hm?" He heard something – no, someone – incoming. Looks like Jaune Arc and no doubt his friends were inbound, rushing through the series of ruined walls and the like to get to him. Forcing himself up, he could now see the blond incoming, a sight that actually got him to smirk for some reason. "Ah, if only I could continue to observe him and collect data from somewhere safe… it'd be most informative."

Yet another loss in his eyes. No matter. This would not be where he falls. And now that he's regained his composure, he fully intended to do things differently.

Now getting up, his aura activated of its own accord, healing the damage done to him. His clothes remained ruined, but as he briefly reactivated his virtual space, using his abilities to repair the clothing damage was as easy as breathing. A little vain on his part, he'll admit, but he did like to fashion himself as being a classy man at all times.

Apparently, this recovery of his was one his young foes could make out even from all the way over there and it clearly didn't' please them because the next thing Watts knew, that hammer using girl suddenly fired well over the head of her team leader, several grenades heading right his way.

Watts ducked under the first two before suddenly leaping to his side, partially to avoid the third grenade in addition to the wave of ice that Jaune Arc suddenly unleashed, but also to make his own move. Activating his virtual space again, he expanded it just enough so that it only covered everything within several feet of his outstretched right arm.

This included the sole unbroken wall he was near and through his virtual space, he immediately forced a hole to appear in said wall so that he could travel through without harm. No sooner than when he'd done so, however, the redhead – ah, Pyrrha Nikos, now he recognized that girl – used her semblance to collapse the entire wall and make it twist in on itself in mid-motion, all for the sole purpose of stabbing him.

As soon as the warped metal wall entered his virtual space, he merely deconstructed it and then willed the particles to gather up again in the form of a cannon. He willed said cannon to fire in his foes' general direction, the fully functional weapon generating an explosion that should hopefully obscure their general field of vision.

Needless to say, it didn't work out all that way, but that was expected. As Jaune Arc cut through the smoke and debris, the teen swung his blades once more. This time, the teen swung without using any aura and subsequently any Dust. Even then, the sheer strength the blond possessed revealed itself once more and shockwaves were generated that cleanly sliced into the hull above Watts' current spot.

Grunting in exertion, Watts expanded his virtual space just a bit more and used this additional space to move himself from his current spot to another, just in time to avoid the crumbling ceiling, but even then he still wasn't clear of danger, as Jaune Arc had used his momentary lapse in focus on him to close the distance some more. To compound this, the others were opening fire from where they were at, ensuring that if Watts moved to either side, he'd be struck by bullets, assuming he didn't use his virtual space to deal with them.

The blond teen closed in, now wielding a blade with fire Dust in it while his other hand held the ice Dust blade still. Aura could be sensed pumping into his swords as he masterfully swung them at Watts and it was only due to the man manipulating space itself that he was able to ensure Jaune Arc's opening strikes didn't land. Even then, the intense heat and deathly frost that each blade was respectively giving off was enough to make him sweat in spite of his regained composure.

Suddenly, Jaune withdrew both blades and instead lashed out with his right foot, which connected with Watts' left ankle, hard enough to nearly snap it completely in two. Watts' balance was immediately lost and he went falling back – something that the boy capitalized on by immediately following up with a swing of his fire Dust blade, practically coated in flames.

Watts just barely managed to create a stone wall in between him and the incoming cleaving attack. Though the wall was only a mere two inches thick, it was unbelievably dense due to him having formed it with especially tightened molecularly bonds. The wall was so damned dense, so unbelievably tough that even if a Goliath tried stomping down on its with all its strength and weight for ten minutes straight, it wouldn't so much as scratch his creation.

Thus, it really said something about how much stronger Jaune had gotten in this brief amount of time that the wall nearly split in two. Watts' sole consolation is that at least the blond wasn't cutting into this effortlessly.

That said, his own creation still ended up slamming right into him, practically crushing him, but he was spared the disgraceful fate of being squished into a human pancake by way of the floor giving way under his young foe's attack and they both went falling to the room below – and what fortune this way; they were now in the hangar, where the bullheads normally departed from.

Feeling emboldened by this bit of luck even as he slammed painfully into the floor, Watts physically pressed against one side of his stone wall and pushed with all he had just before Jaune Arc could pull back his blade. Just barely, he was able to divert the swing and as soon as he did so, he immediately willed the entire wall to dissemble and reform around his right fist in the form of a compact but even denser gauntlet.

No sooner than when the gauntlet finished forming did Watts swing with all the physical power he could muster. To his great joy, his punch landed – to no real effect though. Other than drawing some blood from Jaune's mouth and turning his head a little to the side, the teen barely even buckled. Undeterred, however, Watts then made the risky move of making his gauntlet then detonate right in the teen's face.

How much damage that did, he knew not but he highly doubted it was anything debilitating. Nonetheless, it got the blond off him and he wasted no time getting back on his feet, just in time for the other members of Jaune's team to leap down, Pyrrha Nikos throwing her weapon, now in the form of a javelin, right at him.

On instinct, he reached up and caught it with his hands but that just left him open to her shield, which she'd also thrown in midfall. Thanks to his virtual space, though not quickly enough to deconstruct it, he was able to at least divert its path a little so that it only clipped the side of his face, just above his right eye. It drew blood and his right eye was quickly blinded as a result, but he still rolled with it, throwing aside the javelin whilst leaping back.

As the teens landed, the javelin simply returned back to the redhead's open hand as did her shield – and Jaune Arc was already back up and at it. At the sight of this, Watts chose to take a risky precaution – and wasn't that an odd thing to say, he thought ruefully – by fully deactivating his virtual space. The last thing he needed was for the blond to start targeting his space again and leave him in mind-numbing pain. No, best to make do without it for just the next few minutes.

Even as he deactivated, though, he felt horribly exposed. It would seem in the relatively short time he's had this power, he's grown quite attached to it, so much so that it honestly felt awkward now to not use it. No matter, it'd only be for a short while, he thought.

That said, things would only be harder from here on out.

As if to fully prove this point, Pyrrha Nikos and the sole other male of the four suddenly charged at him. Though he was significantly faster than them both, they clearly predicted which way he'd started to leap in for they expertly closed the distance between them and started to swing away at him in perfect unison.

the boy once again used those dual guns/blades of his to get in especially close, targeting whatever openings he could find – and there were plenty for the teen to exploit. Again, Watts wasn't much of a combatant and thus, even as he twisted and pivoted and maneuvered his arms, the teen was able to slip through his guard and cut away at him.

The former Atlas scientist could only grit his teeth as pain began to make itself known again, but he did his best to push through it. Compared to having his virtual space crushed, it wasn't really noteworthy and in spite of his swiftly tearing clothes and growing number of cuts, it was ultimately minimal damage.

Ultimately, dealing with this boy was not a priority, not when compared to Pyrrha Nikos, whose attacks were the ones he was really focusing on fending off.

Despite her young age, she was clearly a highly trained and talented combatant. Against fully fledged huntsmen, she wasn't anything special but against his dismal skills, she might as well be untouchable. Even with how he reached out to grab at her in between her attacks, she could clearly predict his comparatively clumsy movements and dodge accordingly.

Nonetheless, even as she hammered away at his defenses with her blade, now a xiphos in appearance, she couldn't really do anything to him as he managed to swat aside each attack with the back of his hands and his vastly greater strength. Unfortunately for him, it soon became clear that she'd just been doing this to keep his attention for a few seconds because just when it looked like she was about to go for a swing directly to his face, he ended up falling for her feint and the next thing he knew the teen had disengaged just enough for her to switch her weapon back into its javelin form and thrust it into his stomach. It was only thanks to him turning at the last possible instant that kept him from being stabbed directly through his gut, but even then, it clipped him good and made him stagger. This left him open to her follow up attack and she bashed the side of her shield right against the side of his temple, rattling his skull and disorienting him for more than long enough to get in a leg sweep that sent him sprawling to the floor.

His disorientation lasted but a second, thankfully, and he regained his senses just in time to see the woman literally jump upon him, fully intent on stabbing him in the chest. Activating his virtual space, he 'pushed' at the space her weapon was about to occupy and ended up skewing her aim considerably to the side. At the same time this happened, he lashed out with his right hand and slammed an open palm into her chest, depleting her aura considerably in addition to getting quite the wheeze out of her. She must have just lost a lot of air.

Even then, she ended up placing a hand upon his chest, just over where his 'heart' was at and in that instant, the redhead's eyes blinked, just before he kicked her off him.

The other teen suddenly made his presence known again by kicking him in the side while he was down and Watts now sought to deal with him, only to then reconsider when the teen suddenly backed off – just in time for Jaune Arc and the hammer girl to coming swinging in.

It really was a terribly simple tactic, Watts realized in that moment – have their two heavy hitters hang back and prepare their strikes whilst the other two occupied the target's attention and soften them up, with him being the target in this case. Nonetheless, there was no doubting this tactic's efficiency. Anyone else would be a dead man in this next instant.

But he wasn't like anyone else, never has been.

Once again, he activated his virtual space and when he did, he made the very 'edge' of his virtual space into a figurative battering ram. Thus, rather than simply travel through it like they had been before, both Jaune Arc and his other teammate ended up colliding with a literal barrier quite unexpectedly.

Watts grinned almost ferally as he expanded his virtual space to its absolute limit. Because none of the teens had predicted such a thing was possible and thanks to how open the hangar is, his virtual space ended up slamming against all of them and they sailing against what few bullheads remained in the hangar, crashing into them with incredible force.

As for Jaune Arc, however, he had no such luck. Due to the angle he'd been caught at, he got knocked straight upwards and just before he could start to do some absurd, reality-defying feat like before, Watts watched as the blond teen got pushed into and through the ceiling and beyond, the rooms above braking apart and collapsing upon the blond in the process.

There, Watts thought, that should keep them down for just a moment. Not much time at all, really, but long enough for him to make his escape now.

Immediately, he returned his virtual space to its normal, interactable self and began to teleport himself within it – but just before he did so, he suddenly stopped in place and let loose a gasp of pure pain. It felt as if his 'heart' was about to come right out of his chest.

"Wha-?" He began, only to stop as he turned and looked Pyrrha Nikos' way. Despite the girl being so very low on aura by this point, rather than use the remainder to bolster her defenses, she used it to use her semblance – polarity. And she'd just used it on the Eternal Motor, tried to tug it out. She must have sensed it when her hand had landed on his chest.

Immediately, he used his virtual space to demagnetize his Eternal Motor, the tugging ceasing and the pain now ebbing away. Just like that, he'd ensured such a move will never work on him ever again.

Unfortunately, it'd also kept him relatively in place just long enough for the redhead's leader to go into action once more.

From the ruined rooms above, Jaune Arc emerged, blades in hands and his normally blue eyes alit with golden colored aura. What injuries he'd sustained this whole time were now fully healed even though his aura still clearly threatened to overwhelm him. Both blades, one containing gravity Dust and the other containing ice, were being filled to the brim with aura. If those strikes even remotely connected, there'd be no shrugging off that damage.

"Urgh…!" With no time at all to waste, Watts made his move, teleporting himself inside the nearest bullhead whilst also using his technopathy to bring it online in advance. No sooner than when he'd done so did Jaune Arc descend upon the spot he'd just occupied, his swings unleashed and the resulting combination of a vortex and explosion of frost threatening to bring down the entire ship.

Not even trying to ensure he'd be secured in the bullhead, Watts used his technopathy to make said aircraft gun it. Getting tossed around inside would be far more preferable to being brought down here and now.

Alas, just as the bullhead put on a burst of speed, Pyrrha Nikos once again interfered. In an impressive display of power, she yelled ferociously as she reached outwards with both hands towards the bullhead. Her polarity semblance immediately kicked in and tried to hold it in place, but to no avail – as powerful as her semblance is in such a place, it still had its limits, limits that will never truly be broken.

But the same couldn't be said for Jaune Arc.

Immediately, Jaune charged at the bullhead and swung his blade at it with all he had. At the last possible instant, Watts managed to get the bullhead to break free of Pyrrha Nikos' control and did a hard turn to avoid the attack.

Despite his efforts, however, the gravity Dust empowered swing generated a powerful vortex easily half the size of the blond teen himself and its gravitational pull proved great enough to start dragging the bullhead in. Hastily, Watts used his technopathy to activate another nearby bullhead and have it suddenly skid forward, not even bothering to have it take off the floor. This second bullhead charged forth and ended up heading directly for the vortex and subsequently Jaune Arc himself.

It didn't slow the teen down much at all, though, for as soon as he saw it approach, the teen swung his other blade and cleaved the entire bullhead vertically in two. It still kept him at bay just long enough for Watts to gun it again and his aircraft flew right out of the hangar into open air.

But he still wasn't out of danger just yet.

Not even a full second later, Jaune had already rushed towards the edge of the ship and with the hard-light Dust blade drawn, he fired off a powerful and blinding fast swing. Watts, having already anticipated such a last second move, had already been taking evasive actions before the teen had even swung-.

-Unfortunately, it looks like Jaune had anticipated such an action and had correctly guessed how he'd try to avoid the attack, for his swing still struck its mark.

It wasn't a head on collision – looks like the abnormal teen's aim had just been slightly off – but it still resulted in an entire wing of the bullhead being vaporized as the wave of wave moved at the speed of light.

Naturally, this caused the bullhead to heavily struggle in properly maneuvering, but Watts was much more focused on getting away at this very moment.

Nonetheless, the bullhead losing altitude and quickly at that too wasn't a good thing. Thankfully, due to how fast it was losing said altitude, it was quickly getting out of range of the blond teen, which Watts took as a blessing.

"Oh dear… perhaps I'd be better off failing back for now," he mumbled as he headed for the bullhead's cockpit, if only because its seats up there were comfortable.

He let out a heavy sigh now that he was out of that particular situation… but he was not in a position to truly breathe easily just yet.

With his plan foiled, the Atlas fleet was back in business. With their comms back online, they were already talking back and forth with one another and other aircrafts were being mobilized now. It'd only be a matter of time until they come for him and while he was confident in his abilities to take them on in a dogfight if need be, he'd much rather not do so when there's a possibility Jaune Arc could still somehow get involved.

No, in light of all that's just happened, it'd be best to fall back for now, he thought. While it was again worth noting his plan had been a failure, it hadn't all been for naught – negativity would've undoubtedly spiked higher than ever before thanks to his actions and on top of that, he now had a far better grasp of his abilities and those of Jaune Arc as well. Such data would be invaluable in coming up with a better strategy going forward from here.

Thus, with his spirit undaunted, Watts continued his haphazard flight off into the distance. This wasn't his end just yet… and he fully intended to go out with as big a bang as possible when it was time.

It was with an ever-growing deal of worry that Ruby blitzed her way around the area, trying to get a shot in on the enemy she and her friends were going up against, but to no avail.

In the span of just a few short minutes that had felt so much longer to her, a lot has happened.

First, an Atlas ship all the way over by Beacon had suddenly gone crashing into another one nearby and then all the other ships had started to head on obvious collision courses right over Vale. Weiss' big sis had tried like hell to get through to any of the Atlas soldiers even in mid-fight, but that hadn't worked out at all. It'd been as if the comms over there had just completely gone down. Thankfully, the ships had stopped their crazy course just a few seconds ago, but it's not like things had settled down.

As a result of all this craziness, the public was up in arms. Though she nor her friends could afford to really take their eyes off their current task, there was no mistaking the sounds of protest erupting all across the kingdom… and these protests didn't seem very peaceful. The citizens of Vale have had enough and there was no amount of lies and half-truths that any person in authority could even think of saying to calm the people down now. Far too many things have been happening in recent times and the citizens, having grown so complacent, weren't holding up too well now.

What this meant for them is that the police and any other huntsmen out there would be busy trying to keep things under control and that'd no doubt apply to the Atlas forces too now that they seemed to be back up and running.

All in all, it was a genuine nightmare and was enough to make Ruby's little heart hurt. She's long since dreamt of being a hero, swooping into to save the day during the people's greatest time of need, but reality made for one hell of a wake-up call.

And of course…

"Eat this!" Yang roared as she tried to get behind the killer – Tyrian, from what could be discerned, since that's what Winter called him by a moment ago – and throwing a powerful left hook, only for the man to effortlessly sidestep the blow and bury an elbow into the blonde brawler's stomach. A follow up slash with his blades sent her sister flying.

Ruby gritted her teeth uncharacteristically in mounting anger.

When that Atlas ship had crashed into the other, it'd distracted them all big time and this guy had been more than willing to use said distraction to get in a few potshots before they could recover. As a result, they – team RWBY – were already running pretty low on aura, especially her due to the hits she'd taken prior to the others joining in.

But that wasn't it either.

Winter, the most capable of them, tried to rush in and engage Tyrian, but just as she even began to approach, Tyrian wrapped his tail around Yang and maneuvered the girl around him so that she'd be in the way. This got Winter to reconsider her initial plan of attack, but before she could adjust accordingly, the man pushed Yang into her, letting him get some shots in with gunfire.

Yes, the fact of the matter is, despite having him outnumbered, they were still at quite the disadvantage since they had to make sure not to strike each other by accident. Tyrian didn't have such a concern and he definitely didn't have trouble creating situations where that could end up happening.

That they were still fighting it out in the middle of Vale wasn't helping either. Sure, they were keeping the fighting contained to the rooftops, but that still didn't mean they could be careless with their moves. One wrong move and they could end up causing who knows how much property damage or even kill people.

That said, they weren't about to just throw in the towel.

Silently, Blake flanked Tyrian and started swinging her blades as quickly as she could. Her actions got Tyrian to mockingly let out a fake cry of surprise and the man began to practically glide backwards to avoid her attacks.

But all that did was leave him open to her own attacks now.

Having chosen to hang back – with how low her aura is, fighting up close wasn't an option any longer – Ruby kept Crescent Rose in its compact form and took aim as Blake tried guiding Tyrian towards her killbox. That was when Weiss stepped in too, the heiress using a glyph to grant herself a massive speed boost that sent her tearing across the rooftops towards Tyrian, Myrtenaster thrust outwards and fully intent on skewering him.

Of course, the crazed man saw it coming and chose that moment to retaliate, deflecting another of Blake's strikes with his blades before twisting around and delivering a small kick that caught the cat Faunus right in her side. As soon as that happened, he just leapt back to avoid Weiss' attack – and in doing so, ensured he was well within range now.

Ruby wasted no time opening fire, shooting three shots in rapid succession before hopping from the water tower she'd perched herself on to elsewhere. As she moved, she eyed the man in disbelief as he simply deflected her shots with his tail of all things. The small but no less sinister grin on his face as he turned her way made it clear that he'd seen that coming.

Angered, Ruby put on a burst of speed with her semblance and did a spiral that took her upwards. As she did so, Winter seemed to recover and unleash her own semblance yet again, a multitude of summoned Nevermores appearing and taking flight. These summoned Grimm caught up with her quickly enough and began to obscure her very form. It would certainly make aiming difficult… but it also obscured her from Tyrian's sight too, much to the girl's little smile.

As obscured as her vision was though, she could still vaguely make out what was going on as she gained in height. Winter was launching two small knights at Tyrian's spot. Well, small may be too inaccurate seeing as said summoned knights were still easily seven feet in height but considering how big summons can get, they might as well be small. In any case, these knights rushed at the man with surprising speed that belied the massive greatswords they wielded.

They delivered just a few swings that would've bisected anyone else, but Tyrian twisted to avoid them and then cut the 'throat' of one as a counterattack, causing it to dissipate. This still gave Winter the opening to charge in and engage him with both of her blades, resulting in a bladelock. She'd used a glyph to speed herself up too so when she crashed into Tyrian, the sheer momentum was enough to send them both flying off the roof and onto another one.

This sudden move seemingly took Tyrian by surprise if only because regaining his footing immediately afterwards proved hard to do. Nonetheless, he tried to stab the woman with his tail only to fail as Winter suddenly backed off, letting a recovered Yang fire off two quick shots at him that he had no choice but to take head on due to how close she was. He was still able to deflect the rounds with his blades, but it still obscured his vision.

That was when Ruby, finally reaching the peak of her action up until now, locked and loaded some ice Dust rounds into her baby. In the very same instant she did this, the summoned Nevermores obscuring vision parted just enough for her to take aim and fire. And no sooner than when she'd done that, Winter and Weiss both created a solid dozen speed glyphs that accelerated her shots that much more.

The man seemed to spot her – or rather, spot her general location up in the air since the Nevermores were keeping her actions relatively hidden from the killer. He did seem to sense what was going on though when he'd spotted the glyphs and he tried to move away, but this time wasn't quick enough.

One shot after another impacted against his torso, hitting him with such force that he legitimately screamed in pain. Thanks to how much her shots had accelerated, he must have just suffered some bruised ribs from the velocity alone, even with how much aura he still had.

But more than that, his entire body was being covered now in ice. Thanks to how many shots she'd fired, the ice had rapidly spread across his entire torso before extending now to his limbs. Not enough to freeze him in place, but enough to make a difference as Yang was able to safely close the distance between them and delivered a semblance empowered body blow that blasted him at a downwards angle. Through a portion of the roof, the man went sailing and smashing through another building nearby, traveling through it entirely in a split second.

"Yang!" Weiss screeched beratingly.

As Ruby now swiftly descended, she could make out the guilty expression on her older sister's face. "L-Let's just go finish him off!" the blonde replied before using Ember Celica to give herself a speed boost by firing behind her as she leapt.

Ruby was in full agreement there – there was just no time to waste. Still airborne, just now at a lower altitude, she used her semblance to practically fly right over the building their foe had been knocked through while Weiss and Winter both seemed to activate another glyph that made them faintly glow yellow. Whatever that particular glyph, it sped them up a lot because they both easily caught up with her with just a single leap, that simple action accomplished far more quickly than ever before.

Getting over the building, Ruby spotted Tyrian and wasted no time resuming shooting as the man was already getting back up. With her ice Dust rounds still loaded, she sought to freeze him again. Unfortunately, without the speed glyphs, Tyrian could react to them this time and he simply rolled out of the way of her first few shots before opening fire at her.

She tried to deflect the bullets with her precious baby, but as soon as the first round struck and knocked her back a solid foot or two, she had a change of heart and opted to dodge outright with her semblance.

Her continued assault may have failed, but it did manage to give the others an edge, however. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw Blake use her ribbons to vastly extend how far she could swing her blade from. Though not the most masterful swing ever, it still let her attack from well out of range of Tyrian for the man could only duck to avoid the blade. The girl then lifted one of her heavy sheathes and flung it at him.

Tyrian swatted it aside as it neared and then thrust his tail outwards as Winter neared – only to immediately leap back and retract his tail as Winter had swung her blades at it during her charge. Had he not done so, he might have had it cut off right then and there. The man then let out a growl of annoyance as Weiss now stepped in to deliver three lightning quick thrusts, the man using the very tips of his blades to deflect the initial two strikes before wrapping his tail around Myrtenaster during the third thrust and tugged hard on it.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out in worry as she watched her friend get disarmed, her rapier flung well over the edge of the roof. Ruby immediately made a beeline right for Tyrian, no longer concerned about her troubles in close combat. Alas, she wasn't quite quick enough as Tyrian delivered a brutal kick to Weiss' stomach that slammed her into the wall of the building from earlier.

Weiss, clearly disoriented, began to fall to the street below but Yang, who'd joined the fray just now, was able to grab her in mid-jump and safely place her on the roof.

"Bastard!" Yang yelled as she fired one blast after another at Tyrian who was engaged in close combat with Winter now. Winter's speed boost was still active and seeing Weiss take that hit must have angered her because she was fighting a lot more aggressively now, enough to prevent Tyrian from just disengaging. Thus, Yang's shots landed but Tyrian stood his ground, hissing from the pain but that was really it.

It did keep his eyes off her though.

Letting out a battle cry that she hadn't known herself capable of, Ruby slammed into his side like a human bullet. It hurt her a lot to collide like this but if it meant beating this guy quicker, she could handle it. In any case, it definitely blindsided him and she fired off two shots in the opposite direction, using the recoil to further amp her speed.

The two of them went skidding across multiple rooftops as a result before finally grazing some thick metal fence atop a building that brought her charge to an awkward halt. Both of them went flipping through the air for a second before falling towards the street below.

Tyrian ended up landing on his feet, frustratingly enough. Ruby, however… not so much so.

Slamming into him had left her dizzy and so she hit the street hard, the impact finally sapping what was left of her aura. Pain exploded through her whole body and she was a groaning mess as she forced herself to get back up. Already she could feel numerous bumps and scraps all over her body. Some blood could just barely be felt running down the side of her head too from a particularly nasty cut she'd gotten just now. It could've been worse though – had she run out of aura just prior to crashing, the sheer amount of momentum behind it would've broken some bones and that's the absolute last thing she needs in this situation.

The only good thing? The others were quick to catch up, hurting and somewhat tired but otherwise all good. And though Tyrian may still be standing in one piece still, it was clear that he wasn't in peak condition anymore.

The man was outright grimacing as he stood, his scorpion tail coiling itself dangerously as he eyed them all spreading out around him.

"I will give you one final chance," Ruby heard Winter say from nearby as Weiss silently helped her up. "Surrender, Callows. Now."

By all rights, such a demand wasn't such a crazy thing to make, Ruby thought. After all, this guy had been going around hurting and killing many people over the past few days in addition to his brief scuffle with Jaune in the sewers earlier and now the fight with all of them. As strong as he was, all that exertion and damage must be really adding up now, right?

Tyrian huffed like a child at the demand but didn't say anything. Instead, he seemed to settle for just glaring at them. He didn't do so out of anger, though, no. Ruby felt it was more like he was just sizing up his chances here still.

The tense face off was then suddenly interrupted as they all registered the noise all around them.

Ruby spared a brief glance around, her expression freezing up into one of immense horror and concern.

They'd brought this fight down to street level. Naturally, people were still out and about and showed no signs of going anywhere soon, especially not in light of everything going on. People of all ages were looking their way and some officers that must have been in the area were doing their best to keep them back as to keep them from getting too close.

The others noticed this too and tensed up, realizing how bad things could go in this very moment.

And of course, Tyrian noticed this too.

The man began to chuckle. Even with all the people around making so much noise, Ruby could hear that chuckle so terribly clearly and it was enough to make her shudder. She could see Weiss shudder as well from nearby and she was absolutely certain Blake and Yang were massively on edge too in this very instant.

A quick glance to Winter showed that although the woman was doing quite well in keeping her cool, it was clear she too had noticed something amiss.

In unison, all five of them immediately leapt into action. Ruby charged in alongside Winter while Weiss sought to make her signature black glyph beneath Tyrian's feet in order to keep him pinned. Blake and Yang spread out in order to perform a pincer attack on the man.

The speed with which they did this was truly something amazing… unfortunately…

They were just too late.

Before any of them really knew it, Tyrian slid back just a few feet at the last possible instant, enough to keep them from correcting their current course of action in time. As he did so, he was laughing gleefully as his stinger raised itself high behind his back.

"The only thing I'm surrendering myself to," the man began sinisterly. "is my true self."

He then struck out with his stinger – and stabbed himself with it, right in his back.

Such an action was so unexpected that it just made everyone there lapse into an odd silence, both them and the citizens that could see what was going on. Even the few officers here trying to keep the crowd back simply slackened their posture as a result of the complete shock they'd received.

Suddenly, the crazed killer seemed to convulse, doubling over and staggering back. As this happened, Ruby and the others could only gape, unsure of what to do. As far as they knew, this man had just committed suicide right in public.

But then the man's convulsions swiftly ceased, his lanky form now stock still. His head was hanging down… until it wasn't. It was truly eerie just how fast that simple movement had been; one second, the man's whole form seemed ready to fall forward and in the very next, he was standing almost completely upright.

Ruby let out a quiet wail as she finally registered Tyrian's eyes. The sclera were no longer white like normal, no, they were now a hideous dark purple and something seemed to be seeping out of the corners of his eyes now as they started to bulge out of their sockets a little.

Tyrian, for all his obvious unrepentant bloodlust and maliciousness, had still felt like he could be talked with… but now?

Now they were no longer looking at a person. They were looking at a beast.

Said beast suddenly let loose the most deafening scream ever, a scream that rattled Ruby down to her core and prevented her from moving – and then the beast pounced upon her.

…

…

…What…

…Just what the hell is that?

This brief and simple question was the only thing that flitted its way across Qrow's mind as he and Raven flew over the Grimm horde.

They'd set out with the simple purpose of finding out where Hazel Rainart was and do their best to maybe soften him up a bit if such an opportunity was available, or at the very least get the Grimm to reconsider their priorities and maybe delay the horde a little.

It'd seemed so simple in theory that Qrow really should've known better. After all, there was a hell of a difference between theory and practice and his semblance didn't really help on that front.

Flying towards the front of the horde hadn't taken them long at all to do, but as they'd neared, the Branwen siblings ended up serving as witnesses to a sight that rattled them both to their very cores.

And now… now they could only fly in complete silence as they beheld the being – the monster – that Hazel had turned himself into.

Where a man had once stood now stood something truly unnatural even by their generous standards. The form seemed humanoid enough in shape but that was really it. This new behemoth easily stood a solid two feet taller than Hazel and was even more muscular than the man had already been. The man's muscles seemed to have drastically grown in size, having torn through his now deathly white skin whilst something akin to white plating had grown all over his body, the bits on his knuckles and elbows spiking outwards and looking sharp enough to pierce through steel like wet tissue paper. The plating across his whole body seemed to sport such spikes, really, though not to the same extent as the aforementioned areas. That said, the creature's upper back seemed to be just a mass of spikes that had erupted right out of him, though unlike the other spikes, these ones seemed almost crystal-like in appearance. Sickening purple and black 'cracks' – no, veins, Qrow amended – could be seen sporadically all over this new body as well, the very sight of them so unnatural that even in crow form, the huntsman felt like he was about to gag.

But what really had grabbed Qrow's attention, what had caused his mind to pretty much blank out entirely had been the sight of the transformed man's face. Where a human face had once been now seemed more akin to something like a skull, the 'skin' smooth in a way that defied description. Sharpened teeth could clearly be seen even from this distance, jagged and ready to take bites out of whatever dares to get close. And right there the eyes were at, there did seem to be actual eyeballs still, but the complete lack of eyelids and eyebrows only made the pitch-black sclera and glowing purple irises that radiated nothing but pure malice.

Hazel Rainart had always been a monster of a man, but that had only ever been in a very figurative sense, a way of describing his truly absurd power and combat prowess. But now… now, he truly was a monster in a literal sense.

And definitely no longer someone – something – that he nor Raven could take on.

Forget the plan, that was now impossible. The best thing to do now would be to flat out retreat. Whatever thoughts he'd held of maybe delaying the horde were simply not meant to be made into reality.

Without so much as a word – not like they could speak anyways in their current forms – Qrow started to turn about and fly away, Raven doing the same.

Neither of them felt bad about abandoning their hastily formed plan. Hell, if anything, what they were now seeing was just further proof that they really needed to do all they can to prepare. Oz and the others had to know about this development as soon as possi-.

-Instincts honed over a veritable lifetime of combat took over in that very instant, Qrow's current form moving of its own accord by making a sudden downwards swerve. He was only vaguely aware of Raven performing a similar action.

No sooner than when they'd moved, a massive blast consisting of lightning and genuine lava cut right through the spot they'd been in. They'd narrowly avoided death by inches at best… or so it seemed.

So great was the heat that even from this distance they could feel their diminutive bodies rapidly heat up, some feathers beginning to catch fire. A thick smog left behind by the blast filled their bird forms' lungs and nearly made them choke to death from that alone.

It was just too much.

The two made a beeline for the forest, only barely getting clear of the Grimm horde's general line of sight before returning to their human forms involuntarily. The Branwen siblings coughed and hacked and gasped, frantically trying to breathe properly again.

An oppressive aura blanketed the entire area, making them freeze in mid-motion. Slowly, as if they were but small children scared of alerting a monster with sudden movements, they turned around and looked back in the transformed Hazel's direction.

And Hazel – the monster in question – was glaring right back at them.

As you can see, things are beginning to simultaneously wrap up and pick up in pacing. Watts may be retreating for now, but Tyrian fully intends to go out in his own idea of a blaze of glory… and as for Hazel? Well, he's only getting started.

Speaking of Hazel or rather his new look, picture the Matriarch from Gears of War 5 only a little slimmer and with the general color scheme Minotauros has in the first Lostbelt from FGO. As for why his new look is so drastic a departure from his original appearance whereas Salem's corrupted form isn't too different from her original form? Well, basically, it has to do with how they ended up corrupted.

In Salem's case, she soaked herself in the pools of destruction, which failed to kill her due to her curse. Because of how powerful her curse is, it sort of acted as a counter towards the pools of destruction, which in turn are but a mere fraction of the God of Darkness' power, a power that ironically/paradoxically creates beings of destruction i.e. the Grimm. Basically, she was only marginally corrupted, with her eventual mental state being due partially to the corruption but primarily due to all the other shit she's suffered in her backstory – the Gods cursing her, humanity being wiped out, Ozma's revival, etc.

In Hazel's case, he has no such curse to act as a counter. As powerful a man as he is, he is still a perfectly mortal man who constantly took in ultimately small but insanely concentrated amounts of the God of Darkness' power every time he used his Dust crystals over the course of years, hell, even decades. Those magical energies would then linger in his very being and slowly diffuse themselves throughout his whole body and soul and would remain inactive until he kept on pumping more Dust into himself. Those energies were also getting triggered by his emotional state and as a result of his increasingly misanthropic mindset, the changes ultimately manifested themselves as such.

Anyways, though this will be stated in the fic later on, just though it best to make it known now.

Now, that aside, some plot points that haven't been addressed in several chapters will be taking center stage soon too, if not in the next chapter then in the chapter or two after that. Just thought it best to let you all know!

Until next time, everyone. Take care!