Chapter 11
Ahria teleported to the runic circle where Salem was trying to summon the Grimm dragon.
Lightning flashed overhead.
Shadows shifted and writhed.
The dragon roars became more pronounced.
Leilah's team had left the city, in fear of Leilah losing control again.
Teams RWBY and JNPR had also left, after getting an emergency order from Wioll, the Lord of Oasis.
Except for Huntsmen, Huntresses, soldiers, and Salem, the city was empty. Everyone had left, except Ahria.
"If I remember correctly, this city was destroyed by Salem when she first attempted her dragon-summoning ability." Ahria's pupils contracted, as adrenaline started to pump and his mind sped up.
Everything slowed down again.
Wisps of shadows drifted slowly, appearing and disappearing randomly. Energy flowed past Ahria, sending ripples in space, as he looked for the one weak spot in the entire summoning circle. Shadows shot out from where he was standing and soon covered the entirety of the magic circle, and then suddenly shot up from the ground, 20 feet away from Salem. It disappeared quick enough, and the shadows gathered back under Ahria's feet, some going up into him. Then at the point that he had poked through with shadows, energy started to glow. Then suddenly, energy shot out into the sky, a thick pillar that lit up the dark sky and dispelled clouds.
Salem screeched, a primal and guttural screech that instilled fear in the soldiers. The Huntsmen and Huntresses could feel a pressure against their foreheads where Salem's spell, cast in a rage, tried to influence their minds. Aura flared up, a rainbow upon the fortress wall as everyone resisted.
Shadows enveloped Ahria again, shielding him from the fear spell and teleporting him away to a nearby tower, where he could watch what happened next.
What happened next made him go back.
Dark energy gathered around Salem, pulsating, as she held her hands in front of her, trying to keep the summoning circle going. She struggled, feeling the energy that she poured in escaping the breach. Then suddenly, she stopped channeling energy into the circle, and instead, condensed the energy she had gathered into a sphere in her hands.
Ahria watched from the tower, and then stepped forward, into a patch of shadows, and reappeared in front of Salem, energy rippling off of his long coat.
Salem pushed her hands forward, releasing the ball of energy towards Ahria. The ball flew through the air, only to hit a wall of shadows and disappear. A moment later an explosion sounded in the clouds above. Seeing this, her eyes started to glow, a nauseating bloodred that pulsed. Her shadow twisted, then distorted, as she disappeared slowly, only to reappear behind Ahria and send a blade made of shadows at him.
She didn't hit, and Ahria reappeared in the exact same spot, unscathed. Shadows shifted again, and this time a blade simply slipped out from Salem's shadow, towards her. She spun around, somehow caught the blade with her hands, and with a little effort snapped the blade in half. Shadows danced, and Ahria and Salem exchanged countless blows before
"You. You who stole what was mine, you will pay for this dearly." Shadows around Salem writhed and danced, and suddenly shot out towards Ahria.
"That power was never rightfully yours, Salem." Ahria had already disappeared, leaving Salem's power to drive through the ground where he was standing.
Shadows shifted again, and Salem, too, was gone, trying to track down Ahria.
Team RWBY had left Oasis, but on the insistence of Ruby, they had gone back and seen for themselves how powerful Salem is.
"That was the 'mini-boss' that no one caught?" Yang let out a deep breath. "No wonder…"
"You know what we need to do guys? We need to get stronger. And to do that, we need to figure out if this world is just like the game system that we're used to." Ruby's silver eyes were serious.
"Let's hope it is. To be honest, I'm really going to be lost if we have to discover a brand-new system." Yang looked forward to exploring.
"Well, whatever we do, we've got our goal right there." Blake nodded towards where the pillar of energy was. "What rank do you think that guy was?"
"Definitely somewhere above 5. With that power, he could beat all of us singlehandedly." Ruby speculated, her eyes widening slightly as she recalled the battle. She tried to see how far she would survive if either of the two barraged her with shadow attacks and depressingly came up with the answer of a few seconds. Blake would do better, but the result was inevitable: getting stabbed by so many shadows that you literally disintegrate.
"So, we need to talk to people, and figure out what kind of rules regulate this world, and see how we can get stronger." Weiss said.
"Well, in that case, let's head back to school." Ruby declared, determined to get stronger.
End of Volume 1: New Life