Chapter 42 – Beside the Dying Fire
Kassius
Kassius yelled with fury, driving both Lash Equinox Blades through the chest of a Beowulf, his face and arms covered in black blood from all the Grimm slaughtered. He panted after it crumbled into dust, pressing his hand against the wall, feeling like he was gonna topple over any second now.
Yang was standing close by, rapidly punching a Mandrill off the wall just as it lunged for her, blowing it apart with a rocket, before ducking down just as a Razor Wing dove towards her. It corkscrewed through the air as it crashed into the ground, then spun around and swung its long tail at her. But Yang caught the tail and yanked the skinny creature towards her, despite its efforts to fly away, and she gripped the tail with both hands and threw it over her shoulder and buried its skull into the floor, splattering black blood everywhere.
Yang tossed the disintegrating corpse aside, panting like Kassius was wiping the sweat from her brow. "How the hell are we sweating here in the cold?" She scoffed. "Shouldn't… be possible." She panted, pressing her hands against her legs whilst they were given a moment to catch their breath.
"Tell… tell me about it…" Kassius chuckled, turning to see a Centinel suddenly erupting from the wall, hissing as it spat glowing green acid towards them. Kassius raised his arm and grunted as he saw the steel hissing as it ate at the metal. "Asshole!" Kassius yelled, firing Vulcan Nox into the creature's face.
Kassius dropped to one knee from the exhaustion, then he felt Hyde's presence in the back of his mind. "Want me to take control for a while?" Hyde asked him, then he looked at the incoming Grimm.
"Yeah. Kick some ass, Hyde." Kassius agreed, and in that moment Kassius Locke vanished. His eyes erupted with embers, glowing a fiery orange, and his skin cracked as the beast within took control. Hyde roared with fury, jumping and driving Lash Equinox down the skull of an Ursa Major, slaying the beast in one swift strike. Hyde turned to Yang, and she just smirked at him, nodding her head in agreement with this choice.
Hyde turned to the wall as a large pack of beasts clambered over, some soldiers screaming as they were dragged into the horde by their claws and teeth. As he saw them running towards him, Hyde chuckled. "It's hardly even fair…" He scoffed, before sprinting towards the beasts, throwing Lash Equinox through the chest of a Thrall and pinning it to the shoulder of the Beringel behind it. The Thrall screeched with rage, thrashing its clawed arm violently as it dangled from the beast's arm.
Hyde rolled underneath the incoming quills of the Spiker that screeched at him, its long tail adorned with spines raised high above its Anteater-Like head. Hyde grabbed the creature by its snout and whacked it relentlessly against the floor, smashing the body to pieces with every single strike made. The Beringel suddenly jumped towards him, swinging its fist towards Hyde, but he held up both hands, stopping the Beringel dead in its tracks. The impact blew the ashes away on the wall. Then he twisted the arm and punched the Beringel up the chin, firing Vulcan Nox at the same time.
He rolled backwards, then grabbed a chunk of debris from the crumbling wall with his cybernetic arm and launched it towards the Beringel. Then an Alpha Beowulf jumped towards him but he punched downwards, sending the creature crashing into the ground with great force. He stamped on its back and grabbed onto the roof of its jaw, and roared as he pulled back with all his and the cybernetic arm's might. The Beowulf roared in agony before the flesh tore and bones snapped, folding the top of its head all the way back.
The Beringel charged towards Hyde, roaring with fury as it grabbed the Thrall impaled to its shoulder, and tore it from the blade, tossing the Thrall at Hyde. But the Demon leapt into the air, flipping over the Thrall and grabbing onto the hilt of Lash Equinox still stuck in its body, carving through the zombie's middle, then connecting the two swords together and transforming it into its double-ended spear form.
And rammed it down the cap of the Beringel's skull, shattering the bone upon impact. The Beringel twitched as the blade punctured its brain, ending its violent existence in one fell swoop.
On the other side of the wall, Weiss continued to dart across the air with her glyphs, slashing through any Grimm in her way, spraying their black blood everywhere. Her once white hair was darkening from the amount of Grimm blood and smoke that was everywhere. She slid across the wall, then held her sword up to block the incoming axe of a Knights' Bannerman.
The undead armoured Geist glared down at her, snarling with its glowing red eyes staring at her blue pearls. She gritted her teeth, then suddenly flipped backwards, kicking the Bannerman up the jaw, and pressing her feet against a glyph she conjured, rocketing herself towards the Bannermen and slashing straight through its body, killing it instantly.
Down below, she saw Blake and Sun fighting with Hazel and Mazen.
Mazen was running on fury alone now, his blood boiling with anger after watching Kaa be killed by that Geist. He roared with vehement rage as he drove his Chainsword down the chest of a Beringel, then rolled aside as a berserk Megoliath erupted through the broken wall. The monster bellowed to the sky as it stood on its hind legs, smashing them into the ground. More titans were getting closer and closer.
And with their Hellfire Tanks dropping in numbers, soon the Colossi will be overrun. Sun looked and Blake and nodded at her, spinning Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers. "Hey! How many of those vials you have left?" Sun called to Hazel, watching as he pulled another out and drank what was left.
"That was it." He snarled as his Blood Rage activated, his veins pushing against his skins and the humanity draining from his eyes, gritting his teeth ferally. The Megoliath roared, wrapping its trunk around the pieces of rubble on the ground, and hurling it towards Hazel. Hazel rolled underneath the incoming ball of crushed debris, and sprinted at the beast, but the Megoliath howled, swinging its tusks towards him. He raised his arms and stopped the beast as it swung, pushing him back across the floor.
Mazen sprinted towards the titan with his Chainsword buzzing, the teeth ready to grind through the thick black hide of the giant. Blake also jumped, throwing her grappling hook up and wrapping it around a broken flagpole dangling from a wall. She swung towards the Megoliath from the side, then left a burning shadow in her wake. The shadow exploded against the side of the beast's head, breaking chunks of bony white armour off its head.
Black smoke trailed from the side of its head as the flames burned across its flesh. Sun spiralled his Bo-Staff through his fingers, standing his ground then as the Megoliath reared up to crush Hazel beneath its heavy feet, Sun pressed his hands together, sending a squad of Via Suns towards it.
They all stood beneath its feet, two for each foot, and caught the creature before it could come crashing down. The Megoliath growled deeply, then Mazen jumped and drove his Chainsword into the flesh of the beast. He carved a deep wound into its size, spilling black blood across the ground.
The Megoliath recoiled away from the Via Suns, allowing for Hazel to jump and punch the creature's tusk so hard that the keratin broke apart instantly. The huge tusk broke away and bounced across the ground. Hazel stared at it, then looked at Blake, already having the same idea that was going through his head. The Megoliath suddenly charged towards Sun, but he rolled out of the way, transforming Ruyi Jingu Bang into its Gunchuck Form.
He spun them around, firing shell after shell at the giant. The sharp chunks of shell shrapnel dug into its leg, causing the Megoliath to fall, crashing into the wall as it trumpeted loudly.
It yanked its tusk from the wall, causing a small collapse on one side of the wall, luckily on the inner side. The Megoliath grumbled as it walked towards them. Then it advanced, swinging its tusks back and forth with unending aggression, shredding the floor apart with every swing. Before suddenly driving them into the ground where Mazen was standing, but he slammed his fist into the ground, crystallising his aura and causing the Megoliath to recoil away as the tusk cracked against the sudden shield of armour.
Mazen stood tall, breaking through his semblance. Then the Megoliath inhaled deeply, before stretching its trunk to the sky and bellowing so loud that it made their ears ring. Blake yelped in pain, falling from the air as she swung, grabbing at her sensitive ears. Mazen snarled as he held his head, staring up at the giant, its glowing red eyes glaring down at him. Its trunk suddenly stretched towards him, only for him to step aside and bury the blade of his Chainsword into the trunk.
The Megoliath roared as he soared through the trunk, splattering black blood across his body until finally cutting straight through. The Megoliath recoiled away, flinging its trunk around as black blood shot out from it like a fountain of tar. Hazel sprinted to the broken tusk on the ground, and he carried it with ease. Blake got back up, firing her pistol at the giant to get its attention. Then Sun held his hands together again, calling upon his Via Suns to jump and grapple onto the remaining tusks, holding its head against the ground as hard as they could.
Mazen then jumped onto the halved trunk, and he activated his semblance once again, pinning the creature's head down to the ground. Leaving the side of its neck wide open for Hazel.
"NOW!" Blake called out, and Hazel sprinted towards the enormous animal, and he jumped as high as he could with the tusk held above his head, the sharpened end facing forward. And he buried the bony weapon deep into the creature's throat. The Megoliath bellowed in agony before succumbing to the fatal wound and dying.
Hazel landed, panting from the rage that the taste of blood always sent him into. Mazen deactivated his semblance, shattering the crystals around his body and standing tall. "Nicely done." Sun said, patting him on the shoulder. Mazen pressed his blade against the floor, staring at the pile of rocks where the Geist that killed Kaa fell. He knew her body was in there… but there was no time to dig her corpse out. He felt so much anger welling in his chest for her death.
Thankfully, there was more than enough Grimm to occupy them.
They looked ahead to see the Witches were also getting stuck in, casting many magical spells, both to support their allies and to obliterate the Grimm that kept forcing their way in. The Alchemist was throwing jars of highly acidic liquid into the broken open gate, causing the Grimm to fall apart the second they passed into the keep. Whilst the Sorceress was helping keep the Grimm out of the sky as best she could, summoning dark arcane power to fire bolts of lightning from her magical signs. Killing the airborne Grimm that were growing in number.
The Enchantress hovered in the air as she cast powerful spells of fire upon the Grimm, setting the creatures aflame with great ease. The one that frightened them the most, though, was the Undertaker. The enormous and disturbing creature they made from dead men… it swung its enormous sharpened shovel with terrifying precision, cleaving through Grimm like they were nothing.
And all the while, remaining completely silent.
They were grateful that the Witches were on their side.
Suddenly… they heard a loud crack of an explosion, turning their attention to the Civilian Sector, and their eyes widened as they saw the wall explode. And in the distance, Ruby and Qrow stood there, watching as Kannix got away.
"What the hell was that?" Sun stammered.
"Damn it… Kannix made his move…" Hazel snarled with anger, clenching his hand into a tight fist. And then the Grimm flooded inside the walls, pouring into the Civilian Sector.
Over where it was happening, Qrow flew across the sky in his Corvid Form, watching Ruby as she sprinted as fast as she could towards the Castle Doors.
The castle was built to survive punishment, but there was no telling how long this place would last against the amount of Grimm coming for them.
Qrow was so focused on his daughter that he failed to notice the Lord of the Wood's flock coming for him, and the diamond beaked creatures slashed at his feathers, knocking him out of the sky and forcing him back into Human Form. He grunted, crashing into the floor. He looked back and gasped, his eyes widening as the Grimm burst through the wall once again, but this time there was moving in like a flood.
"GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!" Qrow yelled to the civilians, but some were too shellshocked by the sudden attack to even move, screaming as they were swarmed and buried underneath Grimm, torn apart by teeth and claws. Qrow got up and sprinted as fast as he could from the Grimm, headed for the Courtyard, until a Nevermore suddenly landed in front of him, shrieking at his face. He swiftly slashed it across the eyes before turning to his left, running through the alleyway.
Grimm collided against each other as they tried to follow him, smashing into the alley entrance, blocking it under the sheer number of them. But as Qrow ran through the alley, he saw people sprinting down the street at the other end, only to be swarmed by them, pinning Qrow in the alleyway. Qrow looked up just as the Grimm surged into the alley one by one, but he quickly shot up there, using his bird form to get up there quickly.
But he knew he could only use his Corvid Form sparingly right now, not with the Lord of the Wood already sending his ravens to keep him grounded. He could hear them cawing nearby, just waiting for him to try it. Judging by the numbers, it was not the Higher Demon yet, just his spies, but that meant that he was coming.
Qrow landed on the rooftop, watching the civilians funnelling into the tunnel for their escape… and he watched in horror, as they tried to run the other way, as Grimm began surging in from the other end of the tunnel, trapping them in there. Their screams could be heard for a while until only roars were heard.
There was no escape for them… it was a slaughter.
"No… how did…"
He got his answer, hearing a horrifyingly loud explosion, and he saw the peak of a nearby mountain explode, revealing many Realm Tears inside, and the Oncoming Shadow were pouring down the face of the mountain. Like a wall of darkness getting closer and closer, alongside the Monstrae landing in the plains of snow, opening their jaws to spawn even more.
This was it…
… the battle was over.
They needed to retreat into the Castle and make the last stand.
Suddenly, Beowulves clawed at Qrow, clambering up the side of the building he just got on top of. "FUCK!" Qrow yelled, sprinting across the rooftops as the Grimm pursued him. The streets were filled with Grimm now, and he watched helplessly as they were flooding in behind where everyone was fighting. He had no idea how they were going to survive that until he saw the flash of Silver Eyes from here.
"Kragen, I hope you and your Warriors are ready to carve a path of our people to get inside…" Qrow panted as he sprinted, then jumped without hesitation across the street, rolling across another rooftop. He spun around, hearing the Ravens pursuing him, and he suddenly slashed them all out of the air, leaving only their feathers behind.
He swiftly formed back into his Corvid Body, flying above the falling Keep.
Ruby
She didn't look back, she had no idea how many Grimm were behind her as she ran, but from the sound of them?
There must have been at least fifty that made it inside.
She kept sprinting, hearing some of them getting closer and closer, roaring as they jumped at her, their claws scraping across the cold floor at her heels. Snarling savagely, leaving trails of saliva in their wake.
Ruby suddenly spun around, and her eye shone bright silver, turning at least half of the Grimm to ashes. And through the smoke, a Wraith lunged towards her and smashed its lantern across the side of her head. She cried out in pain, her head cracking against the window, dazing her again. But she still raised Crescent Rose and block its incoming sword. Her vision was blurred as the Wraith pressed its sword against her, pushing her onto one knee, creating a whispery hissing sound.
Suddenly it vanished and appeared behind her, ready to skewer her through the back, and in front of her a Beowulf lept forward. Ruby ducked and rolled aside, causing the Wraith to kill the Beowulf, then allowing her to behead the Wraith in one swing with Crescent Rose.
She panted, looking around and backing up, not noticing the next room where the rest of the Grimm were charging towards her from to her left. She turned too late as a Sabyr jumped at her arm, biting into her. She screamed in pain, her aura being the only thing stopping it from ripping her arm clean off, but admittedly, the shock caused her to drop her trusty scythe. She reached down to her leg and jammed her knife into its eye.
She reached for it, but saw the rest of the Grimm coming for her. She had no time and had to run. As the Grimm pursued her, she turned into a storm of rose petals and darted down the hallway. She immediately shot through the next set of doors, slamming them shut and quickly locking it behind her.
She found herself in the library, and she ran forward, hearing the Grimm pounding against the door. The building rumbled with every explosion that went off. But as she looked around… she realised her mistake…
The Library only had one way in or out… and that was the very door the Grimm were pounding against.
It made her feel sick to her stomach.
But she quickly inhaled, and stood behind one aisle, knife gripped firmly, still soaked with black blood. "Stay calm… you can do this…" she muttered to herself. The door burst open as she peered around the corner. She held her breath to stop herself from gasping from the sudden entrance. She could spot how many were in here and what classifications they were.
Two of them were Bannermen, five were thralls, and there was a Banshee.
All humanoid, but thankfully there were no Apathy.
No idea where the others went. They must have heard someone else and broke away from the rest of the pack. The Banshee hummed softly, like she was singing a song, walking slowly with her flowing black hair moving like she was underwater. The voice sounded so human, but she knew what these things were capable of… she had to keep an eye out for that one in particular.
As the Thralls shuffled around, one of them dragged its claw across the floor. The two Bannermen could be heard checking the aisles, clearly the most intelligent of the bunch. One of them crouched, checking underneath a table for Ruby.
"Reperio puellam. Interfecisti eam." One of the Bannermen commanded, in their ancient long dead language. Ruby felt the sweat trickling down her skin, her hand was rattling from the fear. Her aura was far too low to keep fighting right now, but she was being given very little choice.
She peered through the gap in the shelf of books, seeing a Thrall was on the other side. She could hear it's raspy undead breath dribbling thick black blood onto the floor as it shuffled around. The zombified Grimm and Faunus hybrid snarled as it looked around. But Ruby stayed close to the shelf, knife tightly in hand. The Thrall stumbled round the side of the shelf, groaning as it looked around. Ruby stood behind one of the statues, watching its reflection.
Luckily, thralls were nearly blind and relied more on hearing than anything else. The Thrall ambled closer and closer, and Ruby watched the reflection of the mirror. Just as the reanimated Faunus approached, she grabbed onto his antler and rammed her knife into the back of his skull, killing the Thrall before it could even make a sound. But even the sound of the knife suddenly piercing through bone could have alerted them.
One of the Thralls squawked, turning its head in the sound's direction. Ruby carefully rested the corpse of the Thrall on the ground. She moved forward, listening carefully to the sound of their movements. Her hairs stood on end at all times thanks to the sound of the Banshee humming. The Banshee scraped her long sharp nails across the tables as she hummed, and Ruby could hear the Thralls bumping into things as they investigated the area.
She ducked and slid underneath the nearby table, watching as the two Bannermen continued to search for her. The building shook again as another explosion went off nearby. The Thralls screeched and were about to sprint toward that explosion, only for the Bannermen to roar in their dead language.
Most likely commanding them to stay put.
Which, sadly, worked?
Ruby could see the door ahead of her, but the legs of that Banshee were right next to the table. It would no doubt spot her if she moved now. Ruby waited for an opening to move ahead, knowing that she needed Crescent Rose to easily kill these things. Ruby watched as the humanoid feet walked in front of her table, the long curved nails scraping across the floor, and the hand adorned with similarly sharp curved nails tapped the top of her table as she hummed.
Ruby closed her eye, wincing at the possibility of this Banshee checking under the table. The Banshee gargled unnervingly, before walking ahead once more, wheezing and humming. It continued to move ahead, and Ruby watched a Thrall that was now approaching her table, but was walking around her.
C'mon go away… go away… go away…
But as she watched, she didn't notice the blood still leaking from her head injury she got when the Blind Worm attacked, and just a droplet fell from her head and landed on the floor. It was not a loud sound, but loud enough for the Thrall to notice.
But not just the sound…
… the smell of fresh blood…
The Thrall growled curiously and approached her table, scraping its long clawed arm across the floor. Ruby panted more and more, then she waited for the Banshee to turn away from the spot she chose. The Banshee did exactly that, and Ruby went for it, dashing out in a burst of rose petals and landing behind another bookshelf, closer to the door now.
But the Banshee was just behind this shelf, scraping her claws across the wall.
At the table she was just at, the Thrall dropped to one knee, nearly collapsing entirely, and peered underneath, black blood pouring from its jaws. Ruby held her breath as the Banshee moved around and tried to keep her heart rate at a steady pace. The Banshee continued to mill around, and Ruby saw another opportunity. There was a Thrall stood not too far from her with its back turned, and there was also a Bannerman. She couldn't risk the Bannerman, because of the armour, but if she was quick, she could kill the Thrall and drag it out of view before it would spot her.
So that's what she did. Staying low, she snuck up behind the Thrall, driving her knife into the reanimated human's temple, black blood squirting against her hand. She pulled its disintegrating body aside to let it crumble away, out of sight. She pressed her body against the reception table, listening to the Bannerman searching for her.
But as she was there, her eye widened in horror.
The Banshee…
… it heard her knife.
And it was staring directly at her.
Her heart rate hammered, and the jaw of the Banshee stretched, and her eyes shone bright red. Suddenly, her hair started rippling, and the Banshee unleashed a deafening and nightmarish scream, pressing her clawed hands against the sides of her head. Ruby pressed her hands against her head as well, feeling the screech pressing against her skull. The Banshee suddenly sprinted towards her, and all the Thralls and Bannermen turned.
Ruby rolled across the table and only just dodged the claws of the Banshee as it slashed down across the table, throwing splinters forward. The Banshee howled again, and the Thralls took chase after her with the Bannermen.
Ruby was originally gonna head down the path that Crescent Rose was, but she could hear more Grimm coming, forcing her to run further and further from her beloved weapon.
Pyrrha
The Maidens continued their clash against the Knights of Grimm.
Pyrrha slid backwards across the ice as Starla knocked her back, but as she slammed her shield against the ice, she turned to see Yenna being tossed across the floor, and Death landed behind Pyrrha, his black wings splayed wide. His eyes burned a fiery red, and he suddenly swung at her, but Pyrrha raised her shield, taking the hit for her, before twisting around and forming a spear of ice, throwing it directly into Death's eye.
The Knight roared with fury as the icicle exploded upon impact, causing his helmet to open and roar to the sky, flames billowing from the helm. Death suddenly glared at Pyrrha as the ice turned to vapor, and he launched towards her, and spun through the air, his sword trailing with red energy, and he slammed it into the ground so hard it created a powerful explosion. Pyrrha slid back and rolled aside, spinning Milo through her fingers.
Death suddenly threw Ferrum Arctus at her, telekinetically slashing it across her shield, then hovering it behind her and pulling it towards his hand. If not for her aura, the blade would have killed her for sure, scraping across her body and sending her tumbling towards the Knight. He caught her by the throat and pummelled her against the ground with all his might.
Yenna suddenly flew into Death's chest, blasting him away from Pyrrha. The black knight tumbled backwards across the pulverised ice. She then formed an enormous bow of lightning, firing a huge arrow of molten light towards him. The arrow exploded against his chest, breaking chunks of Isomacium off his armour plating.
Yenna turned to see Starla still trying to fight her own body to stop herself from attacking the Maidens.
Up above, Fear launched himself towards Coco in his Hybrid Form, slashing his huge elongated arm and claws at her, whilst also spinning through the air with Formido Falcem held in one hand. He scraped the enormous blade across the ground, sending shards of ice high into the air. His wings extended wide, and he flew high into the air, before coming crashing down into the ground. The impact launched Coco backwards, but she hovered and fired Gianduja down at him.
Fear held his wing up, blocking the incoming barrage of bullets, staring back at her. He launched himself back into the air, then he flew down and dug his Scythe into the ice, ripping an enormous chunk of the permafrost out, then he flew towards her, roaring with fury, and launched the boulder of ice at Coco.
Coco dove downwards, only narrowly avoiding it, but then Fear flew towards her, stamping onto her chest with his jagged leg, pinning her to the ice, snarling as he stared down at her, glowing gold eyes and grinning maniacally. Fear jumped away, then spun through the air as he went to cleave her head from her shoulders with Formido Falcem.
Coco blasted away and slid across the ice, shooting beams of fire from her hands. Fear's flesh ignited, and he screeched from the pain as he flew above her, his skin being charred by the powerful heat of the fire. He howled deeply, before he suddenly moved forward at impossible speeds, grabbing Coco by the throat and dragging her across the ice, smashing her relentlessly into the ice with all his might.
She punched at his face as he laughed at her, then formed a sword of fire, driving it straight through his ribcage.
He released her and flew high into the sky before diving back down, smashing his fist into the ice with all his might.
The shockwave tossed Coco to Pyrrha and Yenna, and Cinder landed beside them as Fury landed as well, burning axes tightly in their grasp. "We can't… keep this up…" Pyrrha panted, looking at her low aura levels.
"If the Knights… attack… our people won't stand a chance." Yenna stated, her body still buzzing with lightning. All of their eyes were aflame, whilst the Four Knights all landed, waiting for the Maidens to make their move.
Until they all heard the explosion from the wall being destroyed. Everyone turned, eyes widening in fear.
"It seems… the battle is already lost." The Knight of Fear stated, chuckling sinisterly.
"No… we need to help them!" Pyrrha yelled, blasting away from the ice.
"PYRRHA!" Yenna yelled, but Cinder and Coco followed without hesitation. Yenna looked back at the Four Knights, noticing that they were not even trying to stop them.
"… please… go… save who you… can." Starla strained, she then noticed even the other Knights seemed to take control in that moment, hindering their own physical forms to buy them some time. Yenna did not waste the opportunity the Knights of Grimm granted her, and she blasted off into the air. Krekras' fist was tightly clenched as he held back the Knight within for as long as he could.
The Four Maidens flew across the warzone as fast as they could and as they grew closer and closer, they could see the Monstrae landing in the plains, and the Drift of Wandering Star still fighting up in the sky with what was left of their brave air force. But the most haunting sight of all was that of the nearby mountain peak exploding, and a nightmarish avalanche of Grimm coming pouring down from the Reality Tears. And with them, an enormous swarm of airborne Grimm as well, too many of them for the Maidens to even get close enough to close the Reality Tears.
"No… oh Gods… please no…" Pyrrha stammered in fear.
"We still have the castle. It's built into a mountain. It's withstood the hardest sieges… it will still buy us time." Yenna assured.
"How can anything withstand that?" Cinder questioned, and Yenna fell silent.
This was… so much worse… than she ever imagined.
It really did make the Fall of Arkhonex look like a small skirmish of Grimm by comparison.
The Maidens focused on returning to their people. Down below, the Grimm were closing in on all sides of the brave Huntsmen, Huntresses and Soldiers. They were being forced together, and were now flooding over the walls. But the Silver Eyed Warriors were getting everyone together, and started petrifying legions of Grimm at a time. Pyrrha looked down and gasped, seeing Jaune being forced into a corner with Nora and Ren by a horde of Grimm.
They screamed in terror as they tried to fight free, but Pyrrha came crashing down, killing most of the Grimm from the shockwave alone. But she rolled backwards and threw Akoúo into the face of a Beowulf and then slashed it through the head. Jaune pushed the others back, beheading three Thralls in one swing, whilst Nora slammed Magnhild into the skull of the Ursa, blowing its head apart. And Ren flipped backwards, killing the rest with his pistols.
"Come on!" Pyrrha called, burning the Grimm on both her left and right thanks to her powers. They all rushed over, and as they joined the rest of the survivors, they also saw Coco reuniting with Velvet, Yatsuhashi and Fox.
All that was left now were the surviving Huntsmen and Huntresses, and roughly a hundred soldiers. The Colossi continued to hold their ground, and were now marching inside of the walls with them.
But the remaining Hellfire Tanks had been overwhelmed.
The Witches used their magical power to their full strength, forming a protective barrier around the survivors. "We need to get to the doors!" Kragen yelled. "SILVER EYED WARRIORS! CLEAR US A PATH!" He commanded, he and Maria joined them and used their eyes, blasting the white light all around them. The Warriors at the front focused on vaporising the Grimm, whereas everyone else simply focused on petrification, making it harder for the Grimm to reach them. They all took turns blasting one at a time to keep the ground moving.
Ozpin helped the Witches as well, using his magical powers to protect them all. The large group continued to move forward, but as they stood together, Weiss looked around. "Wait… WHERE'S PENNY?"
They all looked up and gasped, seeing Penny above, flying and keeping the Grimm off them. "Penny! Come on!" Kassius called.
But as she looked up at the Drift of Wandering Star, the Dreadnaughts were being overwhelmed by the sudden reinforcements. "I can't leave my father up there…" Penny said. None of them wanted her to risk her life like that… but they also understood… so they all just nodded at her. "I'll keep the Grimm off you until you're inside!"
Qrow flew to the bubble just in time, transforming in mid air and cutting down a pair of Griffins in one swing. "Ruby… she's inside! Grimm got in behind her after the doors closed!" Qrow yelled.
"We'll find her!" Blake promised.
"I'm with you." Sun said.
"As am I." Hazel agreed.
"Count me in as well."
They reached the doors, down a tunnel of petrified Grimm, and Kragen pushed the doors open with Yang and Oscar's help. Everyone got inside of the Castle, then closed the doors before the Grimm could get through the tunnel of Petrified Grimm. The enormous locking mechanism activated, like something you would see in a bank vault. It would buy them some time.
"Is this the only way in the Grimm have?" Emerald asked.
"No… the Library… it has windows. We need to block that off." Kragen answered.
"Which way is that?" Coco asked, panting from her exhaustion. The Architect walked ahead and pointed.
"This way…" But he paused, lowering his finger with realisation. The black tar on the floor, the scratch marks from claws, and the busted open door. "… shit…"
"What?" Yang asked.
"That's where Ruby went." The Architect realised.
"Okay, that's where we're heading, c'mon!" Blake called to Sun, Hazel, and Mazen.
"I'm coming too!" Yang immediately said.
"No, get your strength back and be ready for the fight. We don't know how much time we have." Blake said as she rushed ahead, and Yang watched as they ran in, with Weiss beside her on one shoulder and Kassius stood by her other.
Blake
The Grimm were definitely here, no doubt in her mind. She gripped Gambol Shroud tightly as they moved through the halls that Ruby was sprinting through. Hazel and Mazen were close with her, and Sun stayed right by her side. Mazen walked ahead, and he stopped by a window, touching the class and picking up some strands of bloody black and red hair.
"She came through here… Grimm must have been right behind her. And she got into a fight here." Mazen stated, then Sun's eyes widened.
"Here." He said, walking to the corner, crouching down to see Crescent Rose on the floor, kicked around by the Grimm that were chasing Ruby.
"How many did Qrow say chased her?" Blake asked.
"He didn't…" Hazel answered.
"That's reassuring." Sun sarcastically replied, standing up and pressing the button that made Crescent Rose collapse, holding onto it for her. Red lightning flashed outside as the Tempests made their approach on the Keep. It was next to impossible to see what was outside now. But they knew to be careful with all these windows, they were easily the biggest trap.
Sun and Blake advanced, Pistol and Gunchucks at the ready as they aimed down the hallway. "Come on, Ruby… where'd ya go?" Sun whispered to himself.
"She's smart. She would have tried to lose them." Blake said. They then found the Library, the doors broken inwards, claw marks covering the wood where the Grimm got in. But there was nothing in here now. But Hazel crouched down to the receptionist table, finding the stains of black blood on the ground.
"She was here, killed a Grimm here." Hazel said.
"Here too." Blake added, finding the other blood stain behind the shelves.
"Looks like she was being sneaky, trying to get out of here without being spotted." Sun said.
"Doesn't look like that worked, though." Mazen said, pointing out the claw marks on the table, nearly splitting it in two.
"Well, she couldn't have gone down the way we just came. She would've picked up Crescent Rose." Sun said.
"No… so it's down here." Hazel agreed, walking down the next hallway, seeing a doorframe with no door smashed off its hinges.
"Be ready…" Blake whispered.
They entered the hallway, and to their relief, found Ruby on her feet, being as quiet as she could. "Ruby!" Blake softly called out. Ruby smiled with relief on her face as well, until the Hound suddenly burst through the window, tackling Ruby to the ground and into another room. The sudden shock made Ruby scream. "RUBY!" Blake screamed, sprinting into the roof after her.
The Hound snapped its jaws at Ruby's face, trying to devour her, pushing its claws into her aura protected chest, but even her aura was flickering. Hazel suddenly grabbed the Hound and threw it away from Ruby, and it smashed against the fireplace. It roared at them with fury, growling deeply, and Blake helped Ruby up.
"Fucking windows." Sun snarled.
"We gotta go! NOW!" Ruby screamed, then they saw the Banshee sprint into the room. It heard them scream, and it shrieked right back. All of them pressed their hands to their heads and started running as fast as they could. Everyone ran, and the Hound walked on its hind legs, grabbing onto the door frame as it watched them go, and the thralls sprinted around the Hound like a river around a rock.
They kept on running, but as they turned a corner, a Sabyr lunged for Ruby, but Mazen reached his arm out, taking the bite for her, the attack breaking what was left of his aura. He grabbed the top of its skull, ripping it off with ease.
"RUN!" Mazen yelled, as the Grimm surged around the corner towards him.
He carved five of them down with his chainsword, and ran to keep up with them, but a Thrall slashed him across the back of his leg, giving him a limp. "MAZEN!" Blake screamed as she looked back, but he held out his arms, and stood in the hallway, blocking the Grimm from getting past him.
"GO! GET HER SAFE!" He bellowed, as the Grimm bit and clawed into his back. He spun around and beheaded them all in one swing, staggering backwards as the Thralls continued to attack. Another jumped towards him, but he caught it by the head and shattered its skull against the wall with all his might.
"Come on then! GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!" Mazen bellowed, slicing another Thrall in half with his trusty Chainsword. A Beowulf sprinted down the hallway towards him, slashing him across the chest with its claws, before he rammed it through the chest with the blade.
He continued moving back, until a Thrall slammed into him from the side, puncturing his side with its long claw. He turned and punched it's skull into the wall so hard it's head exploded. And as he turned, he saw another Beowulf lunging for him, swiping its claws across his mask, leaving three deep gashes across his face. He grabbed his broken mask and tore it aside, coughing up blood.
The Beowulf bellowed at him, but just as it lunged at him, he cut one arm off, then its legs and stomped on its skull.
He continued to stagger ahead of the Grimm and even caught up to the others. They all ran through the door, and Blake helped the dying Mazen back inside.
"CLOSE IT!" Sun yelled.
Glynda wasted no time levitating as many crates as she could and throwing them inside, completely blocking the entrance, whilst the Witches formed rocks inside as well to completely seal that entrance.
The Grimm collided into it, but the rocks completely blocked their entrance, and after a while, the Grimm relented, and retreated, breaking through the windows to find a way out. Mazen slumped to the floor, blood pouring out from his many wounds. Everyone stared at the Fallen White Fang Lieutenant with heartbreak in their eyes.
Ruby looked at him and she closed her teary eye shut.
"I'm… I'm so sorry…" She sniffled.
"Don't be… was… a good fight…" He softly chuckled with a smile. Blake held him, her eyes wide with tears and he just smiled at her, someone he once saw as an enemy… and he just gave his life… for hers… and all of these people who were once his enemy.
He just smiled.
"Strength… in… Forgiveness…" He weakly said, remembering her wise words, and smiling. He held his fist to his chest, and then his eyes became distant, and his arm dropped from his chest, and his hand finally released from his Chainsword.
Blake pressed her head against his chest with grief.
Kragen bowed his head in respect to the White Fang Lieutenant Mazen Ursus.
Died how he always hoped.
Covered in Grimm Blood, and with a big smile on his face.
Author Note - Goodbye Mazen Ursus, Volume 2 - Act 5 of KoG
Dude went out like a boss, and I always wanted him to die saving Blake, after everything he did and his actions as the White Fang Lieutenant, manipulating Adam into regressing into a monster, and then his regrets and realising the bigger threat that's coming. Plus having him die by slaughtering a shitload of Grimm felt pretty fitting.
And now they are forced into the Castle, and they've lost the civilians... Umbra is one sadistic bastard, unleashing even more Grimm like that.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt