A team too LARJ

by Johno 343

This is a story about a team of four students at Beacon Academy and their adventures. Life at beacon is about to get interesting. With RWBY and JNPR along for the ride, it's certainly isn't going to be normal. Their past, growth and trials will shape these characters to become great hunters/tresses. This is the story of team LARJ.

14. Chapter 14

This Chapter is done by Bugdevil, hope you guys enjoy!

Arc 3: Re-start, Chapter 14: Despair

---

Swamps of Depravation

(Insert Music: Higurashi no naku koro ni OST - Tsumi)

Passing through the natural border of the forest into the swamps the group was getting more tense. The forest had still been unnaturally devoid of Grimm activity. There were only claw marks and signs of older struggles dating back to a time long before the Great One appeared.

According to Aria's father the village was quite fortified for a long time. Grimm attacks were not that rare. Supposedly a military presence was standard until a few years ago. But the mayor chased them out, saying that they found a better source of protection.

At first the villagers had protested and declared him insane, but the Grimm attacks miraculously stopped. The reason was unknown and the villagers lived in fear of a sudden change in the situation again. Many wanted to leave the village and migrate to Vale or other nearby countries, but for some reason those events were getting rare very fast. Almost as if the whole village had been put under a spell they were not willing to leave anymore. Mayor Ross was even reelected and praised for his good work.

It was unclear if he truly had control over the whole village or if his mysterious power was only influencing people who were easily swayed in the first place, but under the new order most people didn't think it was worth the trouble to rebel. Later outlandish mercenaries had been hired as the personal guard for the always paranoid mayor as well, but at that point nobody dared to oppose anyway.

One day all villagers were called to the town square by the town office and resisting the order was punished with a visit of the mayor's personal guard. At that time the ominous rules were declared and enforced immediately. The talk about a 'Great One' who's strength and fearsome power was beyond their wildest imagination scared many and those who waved it off as nonsense were soon convinced otherwise. Sacrifices had to be made... and nobody wanted to be the next on the list. The cycles lasted about one month and then a new sacrifice was decided on.

Some brave men who were not quite as influenced by the mind-control decided to scout out the forest and swamps. 12 healthy, well trained men who had fought Grimm before and lived to tell the tale went on a scouting mission... and yet only one returned. He came back as a different person than the one who started the journey. His mind had been broken and all he was able to say was how scared he was. When his wife calmed him down after many, many weeks he finally managed to utter one sentence.

'The Great One exists.'

And then he fell into a coma.

Now nobody would question the mayor and the rules for a long time. Aria's father was one day ordered to carry the sacrifice towards the swamps and the ritual shrine. What had happened to the man with the same job before him? The thought of asking never crossed his mind. He did not see the Great One and neither did he wish to. At the time a terrible nauseating pain stabbed his mind and all he could think of was to leave as fast as possible. When he returned home his friends had asked him what he saw and in shock he told them everything. But somehow the mercenaries caught wind of that and locked him up in the dungeon.

That was three months ago.

(Music END)

---

"What did they do to you in there?" Akashi asked with a dry throat.

"I... don't remember." The tall lumberjack looked depressed. "At some point I think they put me under suggestion or something. My memories are blurry. Yet I do always remember the pain of when that leader of the guards tortured me in the beginning." Lucy walked behind him and rubbed his back gently. He looked down warmly. "I am fine now. Being alive is miracle enough for me. And seeing my little girl smile again was all I ever wished for." His back straightened and he pointed ahead. "Behind those rocks is a slope and behind that we should find a grove. From there it is not much farther to the shrine."

"Hm. If the black box is to be believed we should be close to the location of the accident too." Tahli looked at her scroll.

"I don't see anything." Riza said.

The others looked for any evidence of a struggle, but the landscape looked untouched. The green moss growing everywhere was not damaged and the black and brown depth of the marshes were not telling any stories.

"There!" Lucy's dull eyes had noticed something. She ran towards it like the wind, her ponytail fluttering behind.

"Don't run off on your own!" The always worried Riza yelled after her.

When the words reached the red-head she had already crouched down and picked something up. She had seen the blinking of something shiny and immediately chased it like a magpie would. Her hands rubbed the dirt and moss off and revealed... a piece of metal.

"What's it from?"

Akashi grabbed it and scanned it for hints.

"I think the was part of an automatic gun." He declared.

"You can tell such a thing with a single glance Akashi Mayhiro?!" Mary was unusually impressed. Maybe she was not good with machines and saw him as an enemy.

"Nah. I just read the serial number on the back." He grinned and turned the piece of metal. There was indeed a serial number on it. Mary blushed from embarrassment, but then she slapped her cheeks hard which made them even redder. Apparently it was fine if it was a self-inflicted injury...

"Still knowing all serial numbers by memory is impressive too." Juge praised his comrade.

"Looks like the old man is not as opposed to using his competitor's hardware as he makes it look." The brown-haired hunter smirked mischievously. It was obvious that he was going to use this against Valkin later. Apparently the defense machinery was build by Promethean Tech.

"If that's here then the truck should be close by." Riza leaned on her spear in staff form and watched the rock formation a few dozen meters away. "But why are there no tire marks or anything?"

"There must be something. It's not like the truck can fly." They all stared at the horizon and then back to the ground.

"You don't think-?"

"But if the mayor is right then that psycho might be able to control Grimm!"

"A bunch of Nevermore could probably carry that weight." Juge muttered.

"How can someone control Grimm in the first place? All this sounds a little farfetched."

Tahli went between them and raised her arms. "No use worrying about that now, cotton candy. We just gotta explore some more." Her words of wisdom made them quiet down.

"Cotton candy?" Riza squinted her eyes. Her tail that might have a rough resemblance with the mentioned sweet was shaking wildly.

"I'm a little on edge today." The blonde huntress winked. That made Akashi and Lucy stifle a laugh.

Maryjane turned to Aria's father.

"This far is enough. We will be able to find our way from here."

"I understand. Please be careful. Aria will be sad if something happened to you... and I am the same." He bowed and then made his way back the way they came.

"Thank you for everything ~" Lucy waved goodbye.

While everyone was distracted with their goodbyes Juge had already moved on top of the rocks. His eyes flashed when he saw something interesting.

"There are more metal parts of the truck strewn all over the place." He held one hand atop his eyes to shield them from the sun.

"When did you-?" Riza looked surprised.

"You are right. Is this considered littering?" Akashi was sitting next to Juge.

"What, but he was just her-" Riza's eyes started spinning between the spot they had been standing on and the rocks.

"I don't think you can hold Grimm for littering. They do lack ethics and a constitution." Maryjane was crouching on the rocks too.

"But...!" Now the fox faunus slumped her shoulders and just accepted it.

"Hahaha move already slow-poke." Megumi pushed her back playfully and went ahead.

---

Not much later they had followed the bread crumbs towards the witch's house. Or in a more modern way: They followed the metal parts of an automatic truck defense system towards the scene of an attack by supernatural monsters of darkness.

Finally they had found tire marks and even a few dented rocks and trees. There were also tracks of a huge amount of Grimm. Still no sign of a truck though.

"They just... end here."

"I don't believe this. So it's actually true?" Riza rubbed her face in disbelief.

"Nevermore are not known for kidnapping whole trucks. Especially not in one piece. They'd rather feast on what's driving it."

"How the hell did Mario escape this situation?" Akashi looked impressed.

"..." Juge remembered the disfigured body of the driver. It took all his concentration to focus on the scene of the attack instead.

"If this many Grimm were after him he would have had no chance. Zero. Nill." Tahli shook her head.

Maryjane rubbed over the still relatively fresh marks in the trees. "You think they were after the truck?"

"Maybe not the truck itself, but its cargo." The long-haired huntress closed her eyes.

"What was it again?" Riza asked.

"Dust and weapons." Lucy repeated what she had heard all the way back at Beacon. Her memory was impeccable... when she actually listened.

"I see. So our serial killer is stocking up on equipment. Maybe he is not as powerful as the mayor thought."

"That means Mario wasn't even of interest to him? Why did he have to die then..." Juge bit his lip.

"I guess the driver was just an extra. But when he escaped they didn't care enough to chase him." Mary explained coldly. It was cruel to hear how unimportant Mario's death actually was to the situation.

"If there is something positive about what happened then that he escaped far enough for you two to find him. He deserved a real grave and a place for his family to mourn over him. And also that Great maniac didn't get his sacrifice." Tahli slapped Juge's shoulder to loosen him up and walked into the direction of the shrine as explained by Aria's father. "I'm ready for the finale. How about it? Wanna bring a monster to justice with me?" Her voice was determined and she wasn't trying to force team LARJ to go back anymore. Instead she asked them if they were ready themselves.

"We already gave our answer. Isn't that right everyone?" Akashi raised his voice and the others yelled too.

"Let's go then." Maryjane pulled on her glove, all fired up.

---

Swamps of Depravation – In front of the sacrificial shrine

The atmosphere here was different from everything they encountered until now. The dampness of a swamp mixed with the gloomy atmosphere of the Town Hall's basement. The sky was clouded as opposed to before. There was a great clearing in the middle of the trees. It was almost as big as a whole block of houses and protruding on both ends as if to imprison everything in its middle. The exit on the other side was leading to the shrine.

It was blocked off by four familiar robed people.

"I didn't expect such a crowd to greet us. Have you prepared a welcome song too?" Tahli smirked with a scary glare.

The bald leader of the group was sitting on a rock, cross-legged. His smile was almost serene. The bloodshot eyes scanned the newcomers with mild curiosity.

"We were expecting you valued guests." He said sarcastically.

"Hey that's the fat guy I fought yesterday!" Riza pointed at the man in full-body armor. She expected him to give an angry reply, but he was just standing there with his head sunken to his chest.

"I know him... ~" Lucy stared at the mad cultist with the broken sword. He was the one who almost cut down Aria. But his crazy joyful expression from the night was gone. Emptily he stared at the ground.

In the background they could see a fully robed person lying on an elevated position. It was the sniper Akashi had fought. His face was hidden, but his lack of reaction implied that he was the same as the others.

The hunters walked closer at a careful pace. After a few seconds Juge stopped and measured the distance.

"We are now in his toxin's range." He exclaimed. Now it would be shown if his herbs would actually work.

"Hm?" The scarred man stared at him curiously. His hollow cheeks inverted more when he whistled. "Now I remember. You are a Velmón. That whip is a dead give-away. Especially combined with your skill." He seemed quite pleased with his memory.

"You know Morte Consumptis?" Juge asked.

"Not personally. My old man told me how he got beaten up by a youngster a long time ago. He was also using a whip and said something about being from the Velmón clan. That guy learned a few tricks from us, but then he challenged our clan just to test his strength, did you know that? Quite rude of him if you ask me." His gruff laugh was as hollow as his soul.

"I hate to interrupt your little story, but we don't have time to waste here. We still have a job to finish." Tahli swiped her hair back and revealed her sniper-rifle.

"Now now. I was only answering this fledgeling's questions. Can you blame me for that?" Flinch finally put his legs down the rock and leaned his head on his arm.

"Aren't you calm?" She grunted.

"We have seen through your trick. The flower's paralysis will not affect us." Mary got into a fighting stance and clenched her hands to fists.

"Yes, I got that much already. So what?" He clapped his hands sarcastically.

"In that case move. We have superior numbers and your men are injured." The short-haired huntress glared at him. The other mercenaries didn't react to a single of their threats.

"Go ahead then. I enjoy being underestimated by enemies. Really helps in my line of work. Not so much if my client did though." He shrugged calmly.

His taunting seemed to hit a string with Maryjane. She could barely hold her anger under control.

"Wait please." Lucy intervened. "Where is mister mayor?" Only then did the others realize that he was missing from the scene.

"Ross?" For the first time Flinch showed something close to annoyance. "That old fool sacrificed himself for the village." He said with cold eyes.

"Y-you killed him?!" Riza gasped. "He was your client! Why would you do that?"

"Such accusations hurt me, little faunus. Didn't you hear me? I said he sacrificed himself. It was decided once he was marked. The Great One is appeased and the village is safe for another cycle." Eyes closed, he let the breeze swipe over his face. "So I really don't care if you guys make a run for it. We don't need your lives anymore."

"Wh-at?" Juge gritted his teeth.

"It doesn't matter. If you decide to step past this line you will be enslaved just like my men here." The black clad mercenary pointed at his motionless comrades.

"What did you do to them?" Akashi grabbed his bow.

"All of you are awfully fast to draw false conclusions. I did nothing at all." Flinch yawned. "Everyone works according to the Great One's will. My humble self included."

"Mind control again?" Juge glanced at Tahli. She was focusing on the mercenary.

"What, you really thought that old coward Ross could control people out of his own power?" Now Flinch laughed with real amusement.

"How did he do it then? Did he drug the village's water supply?" Akashi guessed.

"Heh. I'm tired of this conversation. If you can't even figure out that much you should probably go back to playing detective in the save village." His mocking smile was so incredibly vexing that Maryjane stomped on the ground. Her foot left a deep print in the earth.

"Then I will beat the answers out of your crooked mouth." Her gloves started glowing.

"I had hoped you would say that. Time to roll guys!" He flicked his finger and the lethargic mercenaries started moving as if pulled by puppet strings.

"Tch. Now that it has come to this..." Akashi drew his Black Eclipse. Riza pressed a button and her staff turned into a spear. Lucy drew her twin katanas from her back with a fluid motion.

Only Juge stood there without doing anything.

"Flinch is the one giving orders, so we must take him out as fast as possible." His mind was going through strategies fast. "Ms. Tahli, please take care of the sniper. Lucy, we go for Flinch. The rest can split up however they want."

"Why do you get to go after the boss?" Akashi asked with pursed lips.

"Because I know him the best out of all of us." He replied.

"I don't have any objections." Tahli and Mary who were the de facto leaders of this operation were just going along with his plan.

Without another word they all ran towards their respective enemy.

---

(Insert Music: Melty Blood Actress Again OST – Gigantic Power)

Mary sprinted towards the armored corpulent mercenary. There was no resemblance to his childish tantrum throwing personality left. He was moving very efficiently and prepared himself with a sumo stance. The mind control couldn't possibly give him knowledge about techniques he hadn't mastered? Then again as long as someone had the potential to do something they would definitely be able to if they focused their mind solely on that action. An empty mental state was helpful in that regard.

10 meters, 5... The blue-clad huntress jumped upwards. Her agility was far superior to a fully armored man's. Her gloves were glowing in a mild blue and she combined her fists into one big hammer-like smash attack. Diving like a meteor she was bound for impact. The goal reflected in her eyes was the unmoving masked man. The wind resistance made Mary squint her eyes and then she reached the exact spot where her enemy was supposed to stand. Yet he was not.

Her momentum was unstoppable now and like the meteor mentioned before she crashed into the ground creating a huge impact wave that left a crater of formidable size. Dirt and rocks were flying up in the wave of destruction. And between this devastation a single metal-clad palm swiftly moved towards her back.

Even though she had just hit the ground with all her body she managed to flip around in the last second to block the giant palm with her crossed arms. The impact was unbelievably strong. She gritted her teeth as she was pushed through the crater.

And then the second hit came. And a third. Just like a sumo wrestler on steroids the mercenary named Boris was engaging her with a flurry of palm strikes. They were increasing in pace with every second and pushed her back. Compared to his armored arms Mary was only wearing a sleeveless top that was thin enough to be ripped open even from a small cut. Her arms were bare and vulnerable.

Despite that grueling difference in their equipment she blocked the attacks without flinching and without letting a single strike through. Every hit was only leading to the inevitable opening that would ensure her victory. She would defend until then without fail even if her arms were covered in bruises and blue marks.

---

Far away from this duel of strength Riza and Akashi were tag-teaming the sword wielding mad mercenary. Without his crazed expression he was just looking like a calm swordsman with incredible skill. His sword was still broken from his encounter with Lucy, but he didn't seem to mind. Instead of switching the weapon he pulled out both parts of his former execution sword and held them like dual blades.

"What is wrong with him?" Riza yelled while circling around him. She was staring at his right hand that was covered in blood from holding the upper half of a broken sword without protection. His fingers were tightly clutched around the sharp blade cutting into his flesh. A normal human being with a sense of self could never do that for longer than a few seconds.

"I don't know, but this will be over quickly if he bleeds out." Akashi aimed his bow at the pale mercenary without remorse. This man was a murderer and deserved anything that happened to him. Putting one arrow on the string he got into a firing stance. "Here we go!" He released the arrow that was made of highly concentrated carbon fibers. It could easily drill through wood and even light metal.

It's speed was incredible and even if one saw the arrow coming it was almost impossible to dodge from this distance... normally.

The wild haired cultist swung his lower half of the sword up in an almost comically slow motion and deflected the arrow upwards. The distance between the tip of the deathly arrow and his face had been about 5 centimeters.

'He is fast. And that reaction time is definitely not normal.' If it was a side effect of being mind controlled or just this guy's latent ability didn't matter, at this rate he wouldn't be able to just snipe him down before he closed in on him.

"Great support you turned out to be!" Suddenly Riza yelled that while attacking the mercenary from the side. He blocked her spear with the right blade and let her slide past him. The fox faunus rolled to the side in the last second before the left blade could slash her and then swiped at his legs. The cultist stepped on Ryuyari with his foot, stopping it effectively. Having her weapon stuck, Riza was basically unable to defend herself. The formerly mad man was now raising both his blades and preparing for an x-cut.

Swiiish!

An arrow aimed at the man's side scratched his chest, adding a third cut to it. The mind controlled mercenary jumped backwards to dodge more incoming arrows.

"That first one was just a practice shot. Now I am getting serious!" Akashi smiled.

"... yeah right." Riza clicked her tongue and pulled up her spear. If they worked as a team they might have a chance.

(Music END)

---

Over at the cliff a much calmer battle was taking place. Two snipers sitting in their positions, observing each other through their respective scopes. In a fight between snipers there were only a few things that really mattered.

First positioning. Like in most battle situations the person with the higher ground had the advantage. In this case that was the robed mercenary. His eyes were hidden behind the hood, but there was no doubt that he had easily taken aim at her.

Tahli on the other hand had to aim up at him. She was of course carrying a pedestal for her rifle with her that made it able to aim at higher places even while lying on the ground, but it was still an awkward shot.

The second important thing was positioning. This time we are talking about body position. The calmer and controlled a sniper is the better he can shoot. Standing while aiming with a long and heavy sniper-rifle was a no go. Only in a lying position could one fully utilize the gun. In this case both parties were lying on their stomach. Breathing calmly and regularly steadied the aim, while keeping the trigger finger loose helped to react efficiently and not do accidental shots.

Finally the last and most important thing was cover. While the mysterious figure above was half hidden between the rocks of the cliff Tahli was barely hidden in the high grass.

In summary the leather cape wearing huntress was at a disadvantage in almost all regards.

But one does not become a veteran huntress if one lost their calm so easily. That mercenary was not going to shoot until she moved in any way. It was a weird rule between some snipers to only shoot in reaction to movement. Was it easier to hit someone once one knew where they were going to flee? If Tahli moved to the right she wouldn't be able to change direction immediately, so to assuredly hit her the enemy needed to wait until she showed such an opening.

Tahli smiled. That fact could also be used against him. Her slender but well-toned body rolled to the left. Just as expected a gunshot could be heard almost exactly at the same time. Tahli was too fast so it missed, but the mercenary still had at least 5 more rounds. From what she could see his model had a 7 shot magazine, but it would be wise not to count on that though.

Blam! Another shot. The dirt-blonde huntress kept rolling through the tall grass. It was probably dirtying her clothes, but she couldn't care less.

'Five... six... seven!' She had counted every shot in her head. Time to take a gamble. She stopped her rolling and expected an unfortunate eighth shot at any moment. Luckily it never came. It was time for her enemy to reload.

Now normally that breather would be used to shoot a few bullets his way too, but instead she did something weird. She threw a knife at him. In mid-air the knife was shot down.

"I knew he had another." She grinned and stood up from her position in the high grass. He had expected her to take aim and leave herself open for that moment. The knife would probably never have reached him anyway, but in his automated mind state he was only reacting. In other words he was so deeply absorbed into his sniper mindset that he couldn't help himself. She wouldn't let herself be offed by some empty headed, 3rd rate, trigger happy newbie.

Now she was running towards the cliff. If he wasn't reloading for real this time her run would equal suicide. Still she liked this gamble far more than staying in a disadvantageous position all battle.

---

Focus change. Eugene Cranberry was a renown sniper up north and all around his clan. He had been trained with a rifle all his life and he wouldn't even go to bath or sleep without it. The problem with his general situation was that he had no ambition or will of his own. Even before the mind control. His being was filled with the contracts he made and nothing but the objective could give him a sense of purpose. Until he had shot down his target, escorted his client, or even held watch over a place for the arranged time he would only live for that goal alone.

Even with this empty personality Eugene still had one thing that he cherished. That was his hometown or more specifically his training room. Not because of very sentimental reasons. It just was the only place in the world where he was completely safe. It was utterly impossible to be attacked at his home.

This contract that Flinch had arranged for them was not fulfilling. There was no clear goal and the objectives changed all the time. He couldn't be filled with such a vague purpose. Eugene Cranberry had a one-track mind so to say. That's why he wished to return home. When Flinch lead them here he hadn't expected what he witnessed. With Ross' end their contract also ended. Eugene could not fathom the actions around him. He was inadequate in social matters.

Still as a sniper he was always perfect. It was his element and the only thing he truly excelled at. The voices in his head and the pain in his cerebrum forced him to take this new contract even if he didn't want to, but strangely enough he felt more alive than ever before. This was a strong purpose, this was what he always wanted. The Great One was someone that he could live for. Something that could fill all of his being!

This woman that was the Great One's enemy, his enemy, he would triumph over her. He had the high ground, he had the cover and even his rifle was superior. He could easily identify her model. It was a single-shot type that needed to be reloaded after every shot. With such a weapon one had to either be impossibly overconfident or highly dependent on perfect conditions, otherwise known as luck.

She was still crafty he had to admit. That knife trick was not part of his calculations. While he put the new magazine into his beloved rifle the woman managed to move towards his cliff. She would notice soon enough what a mistake that was. He had been holed up here for hours now. It would be stupid to assume that he hadn't rigged the whole place with mines.

The base of a sniper was his fortress. Changing positions inside it was fine, but if someone were to make it in that could be considered a Game Over.

His eyes followed her slightly tanned body until his vision was blocked by the rock under him. Leaning over to look for her would be too reckless. It would be like a turtle stretching its neck out of its shell... and she still had a rifle. If she just stopped below to wait for him to show his head that would be one disappointing death.

So he waited with baited breath for the sounds of explosions. If he was lucky she would even be able to scream a little before her lungs got blown to bits. It didn't matter whether he actually sniped her or she fell to his traps. Either way it was his victory, a victory for the Great One.

"..." The silence was agonizing. Every second that this 3rd rate sniper was not blown up made him feel horrible. The Great One deserved her death, so why wouldn't she comply?!

He wanted to look... he wanted to look so bad!

With one eye he checked the perimeter, but she was definitely not anywhere on the grass anymore. So she must have stayed under the cliff out of sight.

How was he supposed to kill her? He could always look through the hole to see her actions...

But he wasn't a fool. There were still other ways to get what he wanted. His hand rummaged through his pocket and he unraveled a grenade. It was a good type with adjustable timer. A frag grenade that would surely hit her in some way and likely even activate the mines. Yes this was a sure kill.

His fragile fingers adjusted the timer to 3 seconds. That was more than enough time to reach the bottom, but also for her to realize her demise before dying. He pulled the pin and pushed the button.

Now his hand moved out of the cover and dropped the grenade like the packaging of some snack.

Only that it would never fall.

A bullet hit it in mid-air.

"MAAAAAASTEEEEER!" He screamed as he was engulfed by the explosion and the fragments that skewered his body from head to toe.

---

"Rest in peace." Tahli said quietly. Her heart was filled with the joy of winning, but her mind was filled with the disgust of murder. She was lying in the grass and watched the smoke rise from the mercenary's hide-out.

All in all she had probably played around too much. Using the one shot attachment was stretching her luck. But she wanted to beat this guy in the most humiliating way possible. Yesterday night she and Akashi had fought him from their disadvantageous position too. The clock tower was the best position in town, while their store roof was mid-level at best. After a terrible miss on her part the Mayhiro boy had to clean up after her and hit him with a bow! Her rifle lost to a bow...

And that is why she was playing with this man like that. One bullet had to be enough. And now that he was dead she wasn't sure why she wanted to do this in the first place. It wasn't the first life she had taken, and certainly not the last either.

He was probably pretty surprised though. After all she had run towards the cliff that was definitely rigged with mines or bombs. And not being able to see her, he wanted to make sure by throwing something down instead of exposing his head.

Too bad Tahli wasn't under the cliff anymore. This could be considered cheating, but it was a natural ability. Tahli's semblance was the bending of light particles to conceal herself. In other words it seemed like she was invisible.

That wouldn't have concealed her footprints though. And that's why she rolled around the grass so much and why she ran towards the cliff in the first place. To trample a way that she could walk back on without him noticing.

She switched the rifle attachment back to muti-shot and got up.

Now the time to check up on the other fights had come.

---

(Insert Music: G-Senjou no Maou OST – The Devil 1)

Atrobius Flinch was personified calmness. Years of experience combined with rigorous training had turned him into a man with almost no openings. His personality was twisted, but his fighting style pure.

Juge and Lucy were carefully encircling him. The red-head's speed was necessary to keep up with a weapon like Flinch's. The double chain scythe resembling a Kusarigama was extremely fast. It was a complex weapon that was almost impossible to master and only if one had trained at least thirty years can they even claim to have learned how to use it.

Juge on the other hand had a weapon most fit to fight this type of weapon. His whip was just as fast and flexible. Flinch also knew that, so his natural first move was to take care of the blue vested hunter.

Swinging the left scythe in big circles while increasing the rotation speed gradually he ran towards Juge. The curved blade was turning into a blur that could rush towards his throat at any given time.

There was no use in waiting to be attacked! Juge snapped his whip at Flinch and the blurry leather was hitting his chain. It coiled around it and the young hunter pulled with all he got. The rotating scythe came to a halt, but in exchange Flinch also wrapped his chain around Morte Consumptis. Interlocked this way neither of them could move.

This was a chance for Lucy to attack the bald man's defenseless back. Slashing forth with her Ying katana she hit resistance. The second scythe in Flinch's left hand was still free. He had blocked Lucy's opening attack without even looking. The blue-eyed huntress was far from done though. The Yang katana followed right after and pushed the scythe away. The white katana slashed at his shoulder, but only grazed his coat.

Flinch was very agile. He ducked below her slashes and threw the sickle at her stomach. With a fast spin she deflected the curved blade.

"Got you!" He yelled with a grin and pulled his right scythe with full force. Despite the tuck of war going on between him and Juge the chain was pulled enough to make the sickle change course. It was now flying in a curve right towards Lucy's neck. With a spark in her eye she crossed her twin katanas behind her back and repelled the sickle again.

Flinch seemed slightly impressed and let go of his weapon. Juge who had been pulling strongly was suddenly left without resistance and stumbled backwards. The twin scythes were pulled towards him.

The bald mercenary had already kicked himself of the ground and tackled the young Velmón with his shoulder. At the same time he caught the chain of his weapon and twisted it so that both scythes followed a pincer movement to cut the brown-haired teen's neck off. Juge was pushed down and could not dodge the blades, so he simply hit one with his whip to deflect it and pulled out a dagger to block the second one. This way both his arms were stretched away from his body...

Atrobius Flinch took out a survival knife and rammed it straight into Juge's chest. Clanc!

A metallic sound accompanied this attack. The knife only cut through the vest and revealed a bunch of daggers below. Juge's hidden weapons had actually functioned as protective armor this time.

"Tch." The scarred man looked a little disappointed and kicked the young hunter into the stomach before retrieving his dual scythes.

There was no time to rest though, because Lucy was already behind him. Now he gave her his full attention while Juge gasped for air. Her twin katanas were moving in a flurry of slashes. Every attack became faster and blurrier. Flinch deflected the swords with his curved blades, but was visibly pushed into defense. White and black lines were materializing in the air, as the human eye was not able to process this speed.

"Come on, can't you go faster!?" Flinch was still parrying every single slash with relative ease. Lucy was tensing up and then released another 15 hit combo on the bald man. Every hit created even more sparks between their weapons. At the end of her flurry she stabbed forwards with the Yang katana and then spun straight into a whirl attack with her Ying katana. Flinch side-stepped the stab and caught her whirlwind attack with both scythes.

Lucy was pushed back and started breathing heavily. Sweat was running down her face. In a battle of speed she couldn't lose, but this man somehow anticipated all her attacks and always found the right position to block. Now he was carelessly spinning his chain again.

"Exhausted already? In that case it's my turn." Before the last word left his mouth he disappeared already. Not literally of course, but his movement was swifter than before. Pulling both scythes behind he opened his attack with a kick. His thick leather boots were dirty from the mud. With unsettling accuracy he found the opening in her guard and kicked against her kneecap.

Lucy flinched, but didn't lose her footing. Now like a hurricane of blades and metal chains the mercenary's weapons were flying around her, attacking like fangs of a beast from all her dead angles. In this situation even skilled fighters would either try to escape or be cut down while defending.

Not so Lucy. Again her dull eyes sparked and now they turned focused like the lenses of a camera. A bright blue was spreading in under a second. This was Lucy's semblance: 'The Zone'. It not only enhanced her vision, which gave her the ability to follow a projectiles movement and predict its line of travel, but it also increased her natural reflexes. Like in a perfect awareness state she could sense the danger from all sides and moved her arms accordingly. Left, right, behind diagonally, she moved her twin blades to all positions with impeccable timing.

Flinch had noticed the change and increased his pace. Something about his fighting style was beast like and desperate... without being cornered he was acting like every swing was his final retribution.

"Feel my fury! Cross-combination!" He exclaimed and it seemed like he was using a trained technique. Pulling the chains in a complicated pattern the scythes hit from two directions at once and then deflected of each other and spun around Lucy's katanas. Despite her increased reflexes he had somehow manged to ensnare her!

Her eyes widened as the scarred man rammed a knife into her side. The burning cold pain of sharpened metal entering through her body stung into her synapses. Red fluid was escaping the new hole fast and without another look he pulled it out and pushed her down. His scythes returned to his hands like drawn by magnet.

"LUCY!" Juge yelled and appeared right beside the bald mercenary. His facial expression was a mix of anger and desperation. His whip went into fire mode and like a burning wave it ran across the man's coat. Had he not pulled back, Juge's attack might have seriously injured him, but he managed to flip backwards and so only his coat caught fire.

Juge ignored him and supported the shivering Lucy. "Are you alright?! How deep is it?" He tried to sound calm, but failed miserably.

She was holding her bleeding wound and then ripped off a part of her skirt. Without much resistance it gave in and she put it on the wound. This would at least close it up for a bit, but she would need real treatment soon. Additionally her aura was helping her natural regeneration. "...'m okay. We can't stop now." She whispered and the spark in her eyes returned. Overusing her semblance would lead to disaster, but in this situation only a decisive attack would turn the tables.

"Leave him to me, you have to rest!" Juge was holding her shoulders.

"Uh-uh." She shook her head. "I am the leader. You have to listen to my orders." She said with a weak smile.

Flinch had thrown away his burning coat and was now facing them with his black sleeveless shirt. It was tightly clutched around him, revealing his well trained body and muscles.

"Done yet?" He said with a condescending smirk.

Lucy looked at Juge and he finally nodded.

"Our next combination will finish you." He said with a voice of steel.

"I can't wait!" The scarred man laughed roughly.

(Music END)

---

An impact as strong as a metal bat hit Maryjane's shoulder. With unnatural endurance the Goliath of a man was hitting her, increasing his strength every time. Was there no end to this up-scaling intensity?

The armor around his body was starting to creak from the stress. Mary couldn't find an opening like this.

She had been pushed back all the way towards the base of the cliff where Tahli had fought the sniper. There was no sight of her, so she probably went to help the others. The grass below them was wet and far more slippery than the crater's dirt ground. Maybe if she used a little trick...

Her legs moved in a half circle and with all her weight she pushed down on the ground. If her back was even grazed by those metal gauntlets she would have ended in a world of pain. A breeze as if something had barely passed her engulfed her back and she stopped breathing for a few seconds. While the fat mercenary above her was still advancing she slid between his thick legs. Mary's slender body and small height enabled her to pass through his thighs no problem.

As soon as she was through she kicked herself off the ground and punched her enemy into the back. The force behind the punch was far greater than could be expected of a small woman and cracks appeared in the metal!

Boris grunted, but didn't budge. Even this much force did not move him. Suddenly the corpulent man moved his arms backwards in a painful way and got a hold of her.

"Wha-!?" Her eyes widened as he heaved her over his head and then prepared to drive her into the ground. There was no way she could stop him before she hit the ground.

On the downwards spiral she passed his face. The red lights coming from the mask were staring into her soul, but something else caught her attention. The mouth protector was defective. Mary didn't know why and frankly she didn't care, but this was her last chance. In mid air she focused just two finger of her gloved hands with strength and moved in on the only unprotected part of his body. Like a rock both of those finger crashed through the mercenary's jaw and broke off all teeth in its way. Only when half her hand was inside his mouth did she stop and she could see the blood gush from his insides.

It wasn't a critical injury or anything, but the pain alone would make anyone cry out and let go of everything.

Not him though.

The armored man just continued his pile-driver as if nothing had happened. Mary was still in shock when her head crashed into the ground. The impact created another shockwave and dirt and mud exploded.

Mind control. Of course. People could ignore all pain under hypnosis and to act like a blank-slated person they were probably devoid of all pain and emotions already.

When the dust and dirt had settled Mary was lying on her front covered in bruises and earth.

Boris kicked her back and pressed his metal boots into her spine with all his strength.

"Ahah...hahaha...ahahahha...!" A creepy laugh fled the huntress's mouth. The kicks didn't stop, but her back rose nonetheless. With his bleeding disfigured jaw the mercenary leaned forward and prepared his fist for a death blow. The air around that swing felt like a hurricane.

The devastating punch was blocked. With one hand.

Mary looked up and her eyes were filled with joy. Her mouth formed a mad grin. The impact had shaken the ground, but her hand was calm.

"It seems you are strong. Can I fight you with my full strength? Pretty please?" She cocked her head almost like a small chicken and then her hand crushed the gauntlet with ease. The mercenary's hand below cracked like the shell of an egg and blood gushed everywhere.

Maryjane pulled his arm towards her and the huge man was just flung back as if he was a toy. The short-haired huntress spun around like a top several times and then let go of her enemy.

Boris flew towards the cliff at the speed of a car and hit the wall head-first. Even if it hadn't broken his neck the explosions from the mines that followed left no doubt about his death. Smoke rose from the crumbling cliff and floated above as a sign of defeat.

Mary looked at her blood covered hand and the tips of her mouth went down again. Her eyes lost emotion and she adjusted her dirty clothes.

She had lost control for a second and it ended in her killing a man that might otherwise have been saved. Opposed to Tahli she was not alright with the 'Dead or Alive' policy. If someone could be caught alive then she would not kill them. She didn't know about the mines, but the strength of the impact would have been deadly either way.

The joy of fighting should never cloud her real self. Or was that the actual her?

…She would not allow it. In the first place she had obtained this power to catch criminals alive. Only the truly strong could purposely not kill any enemy.

Regrets would have to wait until after the mission. She started sprinting towards the others as well.

---

"Hiiyah!" Riza's spear hit the broken blade once again. In a rain of stabs she pushed the mercenary away. One of her better aimed attacks had cut a gap into his wild hair, but that was the most she could do. For some reason he was only defending. It was true that a swordsman had no way of attacking once they were out of range and a spear was a middle-ranged weapon. Basically Riza was in the better position, but it didn't feel like it.

Akashi as watching their exchange calmly. His bow was aimed at the cultist, but he didn't fire. The spiky haired guy was moving too much and with Riza on constant attack he wanted to take it easy. If he hit her somehow she would never ever let it go.

And then as if listening to an inaudible voice the mercenary moved his right hand up. The broken blade flew into the air and before Riza could even comprehend why, his bloody cut hand moved towards her. Not to grab or punch her, however the blood from his wound sprayed her way.

"What the-?!" The blood splashed on her face and most prominently in her eyes to blind her. She had to rub it from her face. With a back step she wanted to gain distance at least...

The cultist had caught his upper blade again and was now sprinting after Riza.

"Not while I am here!" Akashi yelled and shot his arrow. The cultist rolled to the side and into a dead angle for Akashi right behind Riza. That way he could use her as a shield. The arrow hit thin air and even though Mayhiro had already prepared a new one he couldn't shoot.

Riza had wiped some of the blood away and could only open one eye. She barely managed to dodge a sword aimed for her throat. The hilt of the lower sword half hit her abdomen and then the wild haired man headbutted her. All of this in one consecutive attack and without giving her time to do anything. She struggled to keep standing.

Against the logic of his supposedly empty mind the mercenary licked his lips in anticipation. The light reflection of his blade telegraphed his next attack.

"Duck!" Akashi yelled. Riza's good ears caught it before the cultist and she immediately jumped to the ground. An arrow appeared right after and hit the cultist into the shoulder. "It's over." The brown-haired teen said confidently. With a beeping sound the arrow released huge amounts of electricity that shocked the mercenary's whole body. After a few second of light-show the man's body was smoking and sparks were going off at random.

Riza had risen up again and aimed her spear at the unmoving enemy.

"Don't worry it's just enough electricity to knock out an elephant. I am sure he is still barely alive." Akashi spun his bow in his hand and leaned it on his shoulder. He walked over to the two and took a closer look. "He went unconscious while standing? That's crazy." Maybe he had miscalculated the voltage after all. He couldn't test it on people after all, so he had to go by the general formula. The arrow was stabbed deeply into the man's shoulder. "I'll have to readjust it later..." He moved his hands towards the stuck arrow to pull it out when-

"Watch out!" Riza pushed him to the side with all her might. The madman's eyes had opened suddenly and his blade was already halfway to stabbing Akashi in the heart. Luckily Riza had reacted and saved him (albeit a little roughly).

'He can still move even after being electrocuted like that?' Akashi was surprised. And the arrow stuck in his shoulder didn't seem to bother him either.

The mercenary and Riza engaged in another exchange of blows.

This time Akashi was close by and he used the opportunity to shoot another arrow at the man. Only now he deflected it with ease again while keeping up with Riza's flurry.

"Did he actually get better instead of weaker?" Akashi rubbed his brown eyes. But now he had a plan. "Riza! Stay away for a bit. I will shoot him!"

"Your arrows do nothing!" She retorted while spinning her spear to deflect a bloody blade.

"Neither does your spear." He countered.

"True..." She admitted and kicked the incoming blade to the side. After that she rolled backwards and kept retreating.

Akashi put three arrows on his bow at once and went into a better stance. His leg was positioned slightly behind him. With a soft pull he got them into position and... fired!

The cultist had noticed and was preparing to deflect all three of them.

"Oops, don't think I will always use the same move!" Akashi moved his fingers and suddenly the arrows were changing course. All threw of them came flying from different directions, but aimed at the same target.

To explain how he did it one would only have to look at his semblance. He could infuse objects with gravity just like his body. Making them lighter or heavier mid-flight could influence their trajectory. That way he could 'program' a certain course into these arrows and thus make them fly in ways that were beyond normal marksmanship.

"TriStar!" Akashi yelled out and the arrows moved in a zigzag pattern. He was not directly influencing them though. Once they had left his bowstring the whole route was already determined. In other words to make the attack a success one had to calculate everything in the blink of an eye.

The mindless mercenary was looking back and forth between the arrows which moved in a fast pattern and then suddenly aimed at his chest from three directions. The carbon arrows were already pretty fast, but with a pincer attack it was very hard to find even a way to escape. Still the wild-haired man just stood there and waited for them to close in.

When the arrows had run their star-shaped route they finally hit simultaneously. Blood gushed from open wounds, but the arrows were not the cause. The man had managed to deflect two of them with his blades and caught one of them with his teeth! The blood was gushing from his right hand that was still cut by his own blade.

"How...?" Akashi was now fully shocked. He had somehow predicted their movements and even caught one with his mouth... was this the true potential of a human? It seemed like arrows of this speed would simply never reach him.

The cultist spat out the arrow and started moving again.

Riza who had watched with a disgruntled expression engaged him and attacked with even more strength than before. Their clashes were accompanied by sparks and metal clanging. The more desperate she got the more her defense crumbled. He manged to graze her skin a few times.

Then her ears twitched and she whistled. Akashi heard it and snapped out of his stupor. He watched her move. One attack of her strong arms was deflected easily and then she sped up and the mercenary could barely parry it. After that Riza twisted her arms and caught the man's arm in a tight lock. Pushing her elbow strongly into his gut she pulled with all her strength and flipped him over her shoulder. He hit the ground, but managed to get up fast.

Her blue eyes were focusing on Akashi. He nodded in sudden realization.

"What a roundabout way of telling me." He shrugged and prepared another arrow. His first capsule was almost empty. He was carrying around 3 capsules, all filled with 15 collapsible arrows.

Riza lunged at the mercenary and slashed in a broad arc. It pushed his lower sword half to the side. In return the cultist stabbed at her with his left bloody right sword half. In that moment of contact between her Ryuyari and his blade she pressed a button and the spear turned into a trident. With a sudden twist she locked the blade into the tips and pushed as hard as she could. The man's blade was digging deeply into his fingers.

"Now!" She yelled as she kicked against her trident and the fingers got cut clean off. Unable to hold his right sword half anymore the mercenary jumped back. He was now only holding one sword half. Still he could deflect an arrow with it. His eyes followed the arrow's movement and then he swung his blade.

"Krhkk..." Blood was gushing from the wound in his throat. An arrow was stuck in it.

"Shit! I made it too light." Akashi cursed. He didn't intend to kill him. With his semblance he had made the arrow lighter and thus increased its speed. Riza had signaled him to do that. And it worked. The mercenary hadn't expected the sudden change in speed and was caught off-guard.

"Dammit..." Riza stared at the dying man with sadness. She didn't blame Akashi. This was a life and death situation... "Hah?!" Suddenly the dying man jumped at her in a suicidal way to at least get a last attack in. Some of the madness had returned to his eyes. Maybe in death the mind control weakened.

"Gruuuggll...shahh!" He yelled. Instead of words blood was gushing from his mouth.

Reflexively Riza raised her spear and then a ripping sound could be heard. A shock went through her arms as the man was impaled on Ryuyari. Even now he was squirming and moving his blade closer to her. He even pushed the spear deeper into his chest just to get closer. The very tip of his broken blade stopped before Riza's left eye... and then he went limp.

So did her arms. She let go of her spear and sank to her knees.

"Haaah... haaah..." She was breathing irregularly. If that blade hadn't been broken she would be dead now. Her body had just stiffened up. The sensation of piercing his rips was still fresh. Her hands were shivering.

"Calm down! It's over now." Akashi rushed towards her and crouched down. He extended one hand towards her, but she slapped it away.

"Leave me alone!"

He looked at her with a serious expression and then moved towards the corpse. With a little trouble he pulled out her spear and cleaned it on his shirt. After that he moved back to her and stretched his hand.

"Take it back. This is the weapon that killed a man."

"I don't... want to..." She muttered.

"If you don't accept it then you will never be able to use your partner again. A weapon is only as evil as its wielder." Akashi was staring her down. "You are not evil Riza. And that's why you won't misuse this spear." He pushed it into her arms.

"..." Her eyes looked forlorn. She grabbed the spear tenderly and then pushed herself up on it. "He stabbed himself..."

"In order to take you life." Akashi nodded.

"I almost died."

"He made the extra step. It was you or him."

"... It's different when you do it yourself. I would have accepted if your arrow killed him... but this..."

"Even I wanted to apologize when I hit his throat. But I didn't. This was a fight to the death. Nobody asked for it, but now it's unchangeable."

Riza looked at Akashi... his face was firm, but his fist was shaking. She realized that he was in the same situation, that he had the same feelings of regret and the same fear. Yet he was comforting her as if it was not affecting him.

"Sorry." She whispered and walked away. In the distance she saw Lucy and Juge fight the bald leader...

---

(Insert Music: G-Senjou no Maou – The Devil 2)

Blue and red, tall and small, hardened and fragile. Serious and bubbly.

Juge and Lucy were a walking contradiction with one thing linking them. Determination.

Juge was stretching his whip between his hands. It was stretching till the point of absolute rigidity.

Lucy held her katanas in a scissor like stance. Her injury was slowing her down, but she didn't shake or stagger.

Flinch just awaited them with his contemptuous eyes.

A small breeze was moving between them. A single leaf was carried by the wind. A few seconds later it landed on the ground.

That was the signal for them to begin.

Juge lunged at the bald guy and hit him with his stiff whip. Through his semblance he was able to manipulate durable objects. Morte Consumptis was the perfect weapon for him as it was completely durable and thus under full control. He could stiffen it up until it was like a staff or sword and he could make it coil around things without moving himself. That ability caught people off guard a lot. Flinch was an impressive man, he didn't even look at the whip before spinning his scythe around it.

The young Velmón twisted his rigid whip and levered the curved blade away. Next to him Lucy appeared and moved both katanas synchronized like a snake's fangs.

"Wind Fang!" She yelled the name of the attack that her grandmother had taught her so long ago. Indeed the speed of her slash was creating a wind tunnel that was pulling the leaves behind. The double bladed attack was aimed for Flinch's legs.

The mercenary jumped backwards to dodge, but Lucy made second step forward and now moved the blades upwards with a follow-up! Like a real bite the technique involved both sides of the jaw.

"Ghh...!" The bald mercenary got slashed in the side of his torso, but not deep enough to take him out. "I'm not done for yet!" His beastly scream was accompanied by both of his scythes. They were spinning and cutting through the ground like two giant wheels. Juge escaped with a tactical role, but Lucy wasn't able to move fast enough.

"HAH!" Suddenly the whip coiled around the left scythe and pulled it back. "Now Lucy!" The red-head stabbed her left katana into the ground and grabbed Yang with both her hands. The second spinning scythe was deflected by the grounded sword and left Flinch wide open.

"You two-" His eyes widened. With a strong launch Lucy moved her sword next to her straight into the enemy's abdomen. But the abdomen didn't get hit. A third scythe had deflected the katana. "-shouldn't underestimate me!" He finished his sentence.

The third scythe was unexpected. Lucy stopped her attack and fell back. Inversely Flinch moved forward. He pulled Juge's whip off and got his chained double scythe back under control. With a swift move he threw the curved third blade after the blue vested hunter. It came at him in a spin.

While he was distracted with that the mercenary leader followed up on Lucy. Her wound was slowing her down, so he had it easy. "Show me that power of yours again, will you?" He grinned and created another flurry of attacks. Now Lucy was only carrying one katana and wounded... her eyes sparked and she went back into 'the Zone'.

Using her only blade she deflected almost all attacks... almost. Even with increased reflexes there was only so much she could do with limited movement. One scythe cut her arm and one sliced through her top which made it half sink down and revealed a little of her bra. Still she somehow manged not to get overwhelmed.

"Interesting. That's one neat ability. But let's see how you handle this now. Cross Combination!" With the sound of an incoming hurricane the blade storm was unleashed once more. Even with every bit of her energy she wouldn't be able to protect herself from this one.

Lucy smiled.

"Switch ~~" She exclaimed and then was pulled out of harm's way by a leather whip.

"Hm?!" Flinch was mid-execution, so he could not stop, but now Juge had appeared in the middle of this storm of destruction. The young Velmón stared him in the eyes with confidence. His leather gloved hand moved over the whip which grew a small frost skin.

"Frost mode: Gelée Tornade!" His whip was spinning at extreme speed rivaling the blade storm around him. With every clash of their weapons the storm got colder and slower. And in a finishing motion Juge hit both scythes directly.

A cracking sound accompanied their total freezing. Both weapons were covered in ice and the cold frost moved all over the chains as well. As if trying to swallow everything the ice grew all the way towards the owner of the weapon.

"It can't be!" His arms were frozen, but he broke off and managed to leave his weapon behind without getting completely frozen. Juge was watching with Morte Consumptis leaned over his back. His eyes revealed no mercy. Flinch wasn't losing his composure yet. His arms were frozen, but if he managed to free them he would be able to fight again-

---

Stab.

Blood trickled down his stomach.

A white blade was stabbed cleanly through his back and came out of his front.

Lucy was holding it firmly with both hands.

"You got me." He said without remorse and fell forwards. The blade moved out of his body by itself and then Lucy watched him fall.

---

Not much later the group had gathered around the fallen mercenary leader. Everyone looked more or less fine, but Riza and Akashi seemed especially depressed. Tahli and Maryjane showed a degree of professionalism that they were usually lacking.

"Good work all of you." Tahli said with a business like tone.

"..." They stayed quiet.

Flinch coughed and leaned against a rock. His wound was deep and he was definitely not making it through this. Yet he was still smirking as if he had won.

"Now that we have defeated you... tell us how you control people's minds." Juge demanded.

"Hehehe...hehe. Still not the wiser? I guess it must seem weird with me being the only sane one around." Blood was running down his lips, but he didn't even moan in pain. "Fine. You earned yourself at least some enlightenment before you get inevitably enslaved and murdered." His weak arm moved towards his pocket. Tahli was aiming her rifle at his head just in case.

The hand returned with a green crystal.

"Is this the device?" Akashi looked at it.

"...I have seen this before. It's part of the 'artifact' mayor Ross was holding."

"Bingo." Flinch laughed and coughed at the same time. "That artifact was indeed what he used to brainwash people or control them... but now this is the only thing that's keeping me sane."

"What do you mean?" Mary asked.

"He wasn't lying you know? The Great One erodes the mind. Simply seeing..." He coughed blood. "Ah... no time for stories." He winked. "I was under the mayor's influence for far too long. Even with the protection of this stone my mind had already been dipped too deeply into the tormentor's will. I may have retained my personality... but my body belongs to the Great One." He said it without self-pity. It was simply a fact. "The others lasted about ten seconds before they were fully turned. A real shame, I liked our teamwork." He laughed in his gruff voice.

They watched on as his gray skin turned even paler.

"So if we had this stone we could protect ourselves from mental interference?" Juge put one hand to his mouth.

"Pfff I don't know." Flinch simply smiled. "It at least protected Ross. But then you went ahead and smashed his dear artifact and gave him a dose of the drug. It is infused with the very essence of our tormentor and master. Nobody could be saved after that." He shrugged, which made him flinch in pain for the first time.

"Understood. In that case I am happy to have come prepared." Tahli suddenly spoke up. From her back she pulled out the wooden box that one villager had handed her a few hours ago. With a flick of her finger she opened the lid and revealed green crystals inside.

"You knew?" Akashi and Riza stared at her.

"After Jane told me about the basement and what happened I simply assumed that it was the mind control device. I wanted to get it checked after we were done here. Guess we now have found a better use for them." She closed one eye and rubbed her nose.

The bald mercenary laughed again. "That's just precious! In that case go right ahead. The entrance to the shrine is right behind us. But even if you are not enslaved you will most certainly die. If you value your... life... " He coughed again. "Oh well. Why am I trying to warn my murderers?" He said self-derisively. "Maybe... because you freed us. Death isn't so bad if you can return to being yourself even for the last moments..." His voice grew faint. With closed eyes he hummed a little melody. It was probably something dear to him.

The group stayed quiet and then moved on. Tahli and Juge had treated Lucy's wound as well as possible, but she would still need some rest.

"You have to take better care of your clothes. Actually you should start wearing battle outfits for missions." Tahli was sewing Lucy's top back up. In the heat of the battle nobody had noticed, but she was still running around with half of her underwear exposed.

"This is more comfy ~" She said while holding her bandaged side.

"I get that, but you know." She shrugged and adjusted the fabric a little before clapping her hands. "That's all I can do. It's been a while since I sewed someone's clothes. You will probably have to buy a new one, sweety." It was in these kinds of situations that Tahli Megumi really fit into the mother role. Unbeknownst of the two Mary was staring at this scene with envy. Her hand rubbed over the cuts and rips in her own tight blue outfit. Obviously she was too proud to ask for the same treatment as the red-head.

Everyone sat down looking at the exit. The final battle was just before them.

"I don't think they were bad people." Lucy said with a warm voice. "They were victims too." She folded her hands and looked at the bodies of the mercenaries strewn over the battlefield.

"Of course. It's always something horrible like that." Tahli sighed. "In the end we can only march on. It's the duty of the living to continue until death." The heavy atmosphere wasn't lifted.

"Lucy should stay back." Juge declared out of nowhere. His gaze was stuck to her bandaged injury. The others stayed quiet, but didn't refute either. Only Lucy herself was staring back at him.

"No I won't!" Her voice was firm and her tone scolding. It was so unlike Lucy that Juge couldn't come up with a reply. "My aura reduced the damage to my inner organs. This much won't even slow me down." Somehow it was really hard to oppose serious Lucy. Must have been the gap effect.

There was nothing more to be said.

---

Swamps of Depravation, Shrine of the Great One

Team LARJ and the two veteran huntresses were each equipped with one shard of the crystal when they walked down the slope. The 'shrine' was in fact a huge hollow in the middle of the geography. Almost the size of the crater on Glass Mountain this place was surrounded by tall cliffs that looked unclimbable. It seemed more like an arena than a ritual shrine.

Huge holes filled with dark matter which might or might not have been marsh water were strewn all over the area. Some vegetation had manged to survive, but it was rather sparse compared to the surrounding forests.

But all of that was just a minor detail. In the middle of the shrine was another deep hole and around it was a nest of skeletons. Several nevermore were sitting around it and moving their masked heads towards the group. In that hole something was hanging on a few vines...

"The truck." Akashi pointed out the obvious. So their ridiculous theory had been right.

"Forget about that for now." Tahli said with a grim expression on her face. The back of the hollow was much more important. There a huge hill of darkness was waiting. It wasn't really black per se... it was just covered in Grimm. So many Grimm.

"I have never seen so many of them in my life." Maryjane said truthfully.

"That explains why there were none to be found anywhere in the forest." Riza glared at the creatures. Her hand was shaking again, but this time from bloodlust.

"Then our target must be close by. I have no doubt left that he can control them." Juge said while he scanned the hill for something that stood out.

"I kinda get why Flinch said we would die if we walked in here now. Can we even take half of those things down?" Akashi rubbed his head nervously.

"I spotted 80 percent Beowolf. About 10 percent Matpa and another 10 percent mixed of other bigger classes." Lucy analyzed with her improved vision.

"These are easily going in the hundreds or maybe thousands. Even if they were only Beowolf that would be too much." Juge replied.

"Guess we have to wait for reinforcements after all." Tahli said with pursed lips.

"I think we can get to the truck and retrieve the cargo before they reach us. Also as soon as we find the leader of the cultists we can apprehend him and flee."

"Aren't you a little overconfident Jane? Even if we knock the leader out, the Grimm will just turn wild and attack us anyway." The dark-blonde huntress retorted with doubt in her voice.

"It is a gamble, but I am indeed confident in our ability to flee if the need arises." It was a calm declaration of trust.

"Heh. So into the frying pan and immediately out again?" Akashi grinned. "No problem. We can do this."

"Easy for you too say Mr. 'ranged support'." Riza punched his arm lightly.

So with a little effort they made it all the way to the cargo truck and the Nevermore resisted quite a bit. With the combined effort of the snipers and Maryjane all four of them were taken out while Juge, Lucy and Riza climbed the vines towards the truck.

"What a view..." Riza gulped. The hole was deeper than she first imagined. It was filled with bones and skulls and other remnants of living things. The vines that were holding the truck were unusually strong almost like a spiderweb holding something much heavier than itself. At least they were not moving a lot when they climbed about, but it seemed like they would have a hard time to open the truck's back door. The doors were hanging towards the pit.

"Why are they not reacting?" Akashi wondered while holding his bow ready.

"It's as if our actions don't matter to them. Unless we take something from them..." Tahli's eyes widened. "Come back everyone! It's a trap!" Her scream echoed over the huge terrain, but when it reached the group it was already too late. Juge had just touched the truck and in the same moment a rumbling went through the walls of the pit. The vines and plants were moving by themselves and rapidly flinging away. The support under them just retreated and they had to jump from vine to vine, but soon the plants were all retreating into the earth. The truck fell down into the bone pit and crashed through the white mass, splintering them apart.

And the three robbers? Well Juge managed to hold onto a rock with Morte Consumptis. Riza was holding onto his scarf and Lucy was holding onto her tail.

"Krkkg...!" Juge was being choked.

"Ouch! Not so rough!" Riza was complaining about Lucy's tight grip.

"Jugey is turning red ~"

"I am serious if you don't loosen up I'll kick you down!"

"..." Maryjane was looking over the edge with a troubled expression. They really couldn't stay serious even for a bit, huh?

And then the vines returned, this time they were piercing the walls like spears and they were incredibly fast. Mary pulled all three of her comrades up in an instant, just close enough for them not to be impaled. They rolled away from the pit and then watched as it got closed off with the green and gray vines.

"What happened there?!" Akashi and Tahli came running to help them up.

"I don't know how, but the vegetation turned against us..." Riza rubbed her tail.

"Not good..." Mary looked ahead. The others turned their heads and immediately grasped her meaning.

The hill of Grimm was moving. The incredible amounts of black beasts were rushing down as if it was a tidal wave about to hit a port town. But the more they spread the less they were advancing. With every Grimm that walked down the hill it became more and more visible. Towering in the mass of it's brethren... With gigantic red eyes... looking like a cross of a hippopotamus and something alien... spikes along its back and pulsating red veins all over its body. Skin as black as that of any Grimm, but strangely enough more resembling the blackness of space than the darkness of night.

It opened its gargantuan mouth revealing teeth as huge as cars.

And it roared.

It's roar was so deep, so loud that it could split a human's eardrums if they had stood too close. But what was truly frightening was not the audible roar itself, but its effects. Like a wave of disaster it shook a person's very core. The mind felt like dissolving, the sense of self wanted to disappear just to escape the agony of being exposed to such a malicious presence. Human will was a fickle thing. Like the mind, the body also felt broken.

Team LARJ sank to their knees holding their ears. Maryjane and Tahli kept standing, but their eyes were unfocused. Waves of despair were running through their spines and with every second the feeling of being lost got more intense.

Then the roar finally stopped.

Heavy breathing accompanied Tahli's sore voice.

"This... is the Great One."

They finally realized.

---

Beacon Academy, Campus

The students were sitting in the sunny yard staring into the distance, relaxing and talking about what they were going to do in the semester break.

Team RWBY was finally united again after the events of yesterday. They were perhaps closer than before. Weiss and Blake had made up. Now they were all sitting on benches and below the trees and enjoying the breeze.

"I wonder how their mission is going." Yang said something unlike her. She usually didn't bother with thinking about things she couldn't influence. She was sitting on a tree leaning her head against it's firm trunk.

"Probably fine. They have two veteran huntresses with them." Blake was reading a book in the shade below the tree while sitting on a bench. Weiss was sitting next to her with a solemn expression.

"That could have been our mission. I think they just get favorable treatment, because of their connections." She crossed her arms.

"You mean like being a heiress to one of the most influential dust companies in the world? Like knowing almost every single CEO in Atlus personally. Or maybe..."

"I got it already!" Weiss stopped Blake's teasing remarks. "The difference is that I don't use my connections to get ahead in the Academy."

"Weiss is always serious about her studies." Ruby nodded while turning a page in the magazine she was reading.

"That's right. Thank you Ruby!"

"She even got a personal tutor on Fridays that gives her supplementary lessons. He looks really expensive. And that's just based on his clothes alone!" Ruby added happily.

"...!" Weiss started sweating.

"No use of connections, huh ~" Yang whistled.

A cold gust passed them and made them shiver. It was so unfitting for this warm day. Ruby's magazine was picked up by the wind and blown away.

"Nooo! I am not even half done with it yet!" She jumped up and ran after it. On the way she met Jaune and he saw the magazine flying his way.

"Don't worry, I got it!" He said with a smile and jumped... to grab thin air.

"..."

He fell to his knees and then leaned on the grass in depression.

Behind him a small figure caught the paper instead.

"Hello little guy. Thanks for catching it." Ruby said with half a smile.

"No problem." Kirk gave it back to her.

"When did you-!?" Jaune spun around in surprise.

"All along." Kirk replied quietly. "Why a sword magazine?" He turned to Ruby who was straightening the pages.

"That? Eh... It's because yesterday I saw a girl use some really cool sword stunts. She cut a few helicopters apart!"

"Are you sure you didn't dream that?" Weiss and the others had followed her.

"I know what I saw! Penny went totally wild... probably." She looked back and forth awkwardly.

"She is right I saw some of it too. Torchwick fled because of her." Blake looked like she was not willing to believe what she saw either, but in lack of a better explanation she agreed.

"Right! It's good to have someone here who believes me!" Ruby cheered up.

"Only because I was there. Otherwise I'd have called you crazy too."

"Aw..."

"So... found the swords?" Kirk asked quietly.

"Not yet... but I will keep looking. Until I see Penny again and can ask her just what happened there."

Yang yawned. "Days like this are just so slow. I need some action." She stretched.

"How about we play a board game then. Unless you are scared to get all your fleets sunken again Admiral Long." Ruby pointed at her.

"You have guts to challenge me with you inferior artillery, Commander Rubes!" Yang's fighting spirit was ignited.

"I am not taking part in that nonsense." Weiss said with a sigh.

"Can I play too?" Jaune asked meekly. The sisters turned their eyes towards him and gave him a sweet smile.

"Of course Jaune of the sunken fleets." Yang said.

"Of course, Jaune of the rusted artillery!"

He swallowed and took a step back. Getting caught up in this was probably not a good idea after all.

"Kirk wants to play too!" He grabbed his small friend and held him in front as a shield.

"Eh. Are you familiar with the game little guy?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"... played it before." Kirk nodded.

"What's your favorite team?" Yang asked.

"Vacuo."

The girls grinned devilishly.

"Come along then."

These tranquil days would go on for a little longer it seemed.

---

Shrine of the Great One

After the effects of the roar subsided somewhat team LARJ got up again. They were shaking, but not broken yet.

"What... was that... I can't..." Akashi rubbed his hurting head.

Tahli pulled out one of the crystal shards and noticed its glow.

"I think these things saved us. If we weren't wearing them our minds would probably have been crushed." Her face was covered in shadows. And her hair was hiding her expression.

"B-but if that is the great one then...!" Riza's words stopped.

"A Grimm... that can control humans...?" Juge was devastated by the possibility.

"That isn't a mere Grimm." Maryjane said with a cold voice. "It's a sin."

"Be quiet Jane!" Suddenly Tahli exploded. Her eyes showed unknown anger. "That is just a huge Grimm, nothing else!" She pointed at the gigantic creature that was standing still. The smaller Grimm were swarming out and slowly surrounding the group.

"What does she mean by 'a sin'?" Akashi stared at the completely changed Tahli Megumi. The huntress didn't respond, so Mary continued without sympathy.

"A Cardinal Sin. Named after the 7 most prominent human faults." The words were dry but serious.

Now Juge remembered something.

"My father told me this story as a fairy tale! They aren't real..."

"Exactly!" Tahli yelled.

"Don't avert your eyes from the truth." Mary pulled on her gloves. "That thing is able to control people's minds and other Grimm. It uses traps and lets other people do its job. Such an intelligent Grimm does not exist." She pulled out her crystal. "This is probably a shard from its body. It's infused with the very essence of its sin." And with that she proceeded to crush it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Both Juge and Akashi yelled and held onto Maryjane's arms.

"It is a battle of will. And if it wants to control my mind it has to break this invincible wall first!" She was a hundred percent serious.

Next to them without anyone noticing Riza's whole body was shivering. She was looking the thing in the enormous red eyes. They were filled with such depth and grudge that it could swallow a person's soul... it was so reminiscent... of her past.

Red eyes in the darkness.

The screams of her parents as the cart was torn apart.

Its heavy breathing, it's corrosive drool.

Stalking behind them as if it was a game of hide and seek.

The hatred to not kill, but torture.

Giant white fangs...

Fire...

Her breathing got ragged and she felt faint.

"I have... seen something like it before..." She realized. Another sin, much more malicious even than this one. Her legs were petrified in fear. A trauma she had long since forgotten was returning in presence of this unnatural being.

"We have to run." Lucy grabbed Riza's hand. Her warmth was so soothing compared to its cold sweat. Her heartbeat became more regular again.

"Y-yes... we gotta run." She said and the throbbing in her head lowered.

The boys were pulling Maryjane away who was showing no effects of being mind controlled. A will of steel like hers could not exist, right?

Tahli stood there, watching the behemoth from afar.

"It's just a Grimm... nothing great about it." She mumbled. "If they truly existed... why did father have to die? Why did I deny his words then?" She bit her lip.

"Move!" Suddenly Maryjane grabbed her friend and pulled her towards the exit. The Grimm around them showed no signs of attacking. Even the Great One was not doing anything. All he had done until now was to release one roar and stand up.

While running through the ocean of creatures of darkness, surrounded by hateful red eyes she reminisced. A story that was told to her long ago...

---

Mankind was born from Dust.

Where there was nothingness before, the flame of life was ignited.

Where there was nothing but darkness, a fire grew.

Where there was nothing but emptiness, something filled the void.

Humans were intelligent, strong and resourceful. But the world they were born into was unforgiving.

The creatures of Grimm were awaiting them, intend on returning every living thing to the void.

Were they always there to begin with or did they come into existence to balance out humanity?

The answer is of no consequence, because humanity triumphed. They persevered against all odds. Using the source of unimaginable power appropriately named Dust.

But to reach that point many human lives were lost. The extinction of man was always close. Grimm feeding on the emotions of their prey were growing more powerful with every life they extinguished. And after immeasurable time seven of them surpassed their brethren. Overcoming the limitations of creatures of darkness and becoming something closer to humanity.

They were the embodiment of all negative human traits. Wrath, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Greed, Gluttony and Envy. They evolved alongside their victims and grew more powerful without end.

Once humanity discovered Dust and reclaimed their light and build civilization the Sins were still feeding. They were resourceful like humans, they were intelligent like humans and they were strong. Much stronger than humans.

And they knew that they were alone. They split over the lands and kept growing. Using their weak brethren as they saw fit. Grimm are attracted to negative emotions and the Sins were pure embodiments of them. Staying hidden from humanity's eyes to not challenge their power needlessly, they waited.

They waited for a trigger that would spell the doom of humankind once again.

Their resentment for what made them what they are and the craving to evolve even more kept them in the darkness, kept them patient.

Never let yourself get swallowed by your darkness or you might awaken what has no place in this world. If humankind lost themselves in their sins, they would attract those that are similar in kind.

---

It was a story supposed to make children think about their faults. It was a ghost story that would set the mood. It was a legend that had been forgotten. It was a reality that had been dismissed.

Here a few of these weak humans were running from their sins too.

Team LARJ reached the exit that was so small. No way that huge Grimm could follow behind them. The horde of Beowolf might make it, but they had to press themselves through it in a small line. That way it would be quite easy to deal with them.

A rumbling went through the ground. Had the Great One moved again? But when they looked back the huge masked monster was still rigid. Unmoving.

But the earth rumbled even more. Dust was moving in the air and then as if it had been trying to break through all along a huge pillar of earth and stone sprang from the ground. Gigantic, wide and impenetrable, it was blocking the exit.

"No..." Juge whispered.

"We are trapped." Maryjane said emotionless.

The whole hollow, the shrine, was sunk deeply into the ground. Giant unclimbable cliffs were surrounding it like spiky monuments. Maybe they could have climbed them with time and equipment, but right now they were surrounded by enemies.

'But even if you are not enslaved you will most certainly die.' Flinch's words echoed inside their heads.

"We are not going down here!" Akashi yelled. He prepared his Black Eclipse and equipped three explosive arrows. The small Grimm were a problem, but if they took down that huge monster they would probably have a better chance.

"Wait Akashi! We don't know the full extend of its powers yet. Why did this pillar appear, why were the vines moving by themselves... don't you think it's weird?" Juge grabbed his friend's arm and stared at their surroundings. "They don't attack. Probably waiting for the command."

"What does it want? Is it gonna eat us or just turn us into slaves?" Riza's veins were pulsating. Something inside her was burning. The existence of the Great One was agitating her more than she could comprehend.

"It is slow and does not do much itself... I believe this sin could be classified as Sloth." Mary said and moved ahead.

"What are you doing?! Come back!"

"Don't you see? This is a battle we can't escape. Let us move onwards and purge this monster from the world. Every life this beast has taken cries out to be avenged." The blue clad woman's back was turned to them. "That's my reason for being a huntress." And with that she sprinted towards the sin.

"Damn it all! Then I will destroy this thing myself and apologize to his grave later!" Tahli cried out and pulled out her machine pistols from under her coat. The others did not understand them, but one thing was clear.

"We have to survive this." Lucy said.

"Of course." Juge nodded.

"Bring it on then you ugly hippo!" Riza spun her spear around and lunged at the first Grimm in sight.

"I got everyone's back." Akashi closed one eye and shot down an Ursa first try. The explosion send a dozen Beowolf flying.

---

The six hunters and huntresses fought bravely. Their ferociousness knew no bounds and soon they had slain hundreds of Grimm. The creatures of dark were different from usual. Their reaction time was slow and they were far less aggressive than expected. Almost as if they were overcome with great tranquility... and sloth. The aura of the Great One permeated though everything and so the Grimm attracted by the negativity were turning subject to it too.

If it wasn't for their sheer numbers they would not have posed any threat. But after about one hour of fighting the hunters finally exhausted themselves.

Riza sank to one knee after impaling another Matpa and ripping through two Beowolf behind it.

Lucy's injury was pulsating and she stopped to take a breather after cutting down an Ursa.

Akashi had exhausted his arrows and killed Grimm with his semblance infused bow to retrieve as many of the carbon fiber projectiles as possible. He could only find half of them.

Juge kept fighting and his whip never seemed to exhaust its dust for some reason, but after getting hit by several Matpa tail swings and the uppercut of an Ursa he also stayed down in exhaustion.

Tahli was not using her rifle. She had already expected this outcome and saved up on bullets. Instead she used her knifes and two hidden machine pistols to defend herself. Her calculated fighting style was the only thing keeping her going for so long, but eventually even she was out of MP bullets and her wrist hurt from all the stabbing...

Only Maryjane continued. As if she had a sheer infinite amount of reserves she kept smashing heads, spines and delivered blows that made whole groups of Beowolf fly away. Nothing seemed to be able to touch her for a long time. Even after everyone else was staying down in exhaustion she kept fighting. The Grimm did not touch those who were not resisting anymore. After a while when she had decimated enough of them to leave visible empty spots in the black mass they finally swarmed her.

Dozens, no hundreds of Grimm were jumping on her, not caring for their own lives. Even when twenty of them got smashed another forty would replace them and eventually Maryjane was buried in darkness. With every of her limbs pressed down by dozens of bodies even she could not rise anymore.

Now that all of them were at their limit the Great One moved. The small Grimm had not killed them. They had just exhausted them until they were not able to resist. It was a costly exchange, but it seemed like the Great One was finally getting his slaves.

Stomping. Like earthquakes the limbs of the Sin shook everything. Rumbling.

It came to a halt in front of the vine sealed hole. Like snakes the vines reacted to the monster's presence and opened up again. In a spiral like formation the truck was moved upwards until it stopped in front of the immense mask. Even looking at the symbols the red lines formed could make a person lose their mind slowly. And now the gargantuan jaw opened up and advanced towards the truck.

'Oh.' Juge thought while staring at the creature with tired eyes. 'It was just food.' He realized. Same as humans or maybe even greater... the truck became its meal.

The car sized flat teeth smashed the metal covered truck, with engine, weapons, tires and everything. The ridiculous force behind this chewing smashed everything to bits and dust in an instant. A vehicle specifically constructed to even withstand the stinger of a Deathstalker... crushed without effort by the Great One. It was almost comical.

Like a magical gust the Dust inside the truck was absorbed into the Sin's mouth. The red lines on its mask started glowing brightly and then shifted as if alive.

"It feeds... on Dust...?" Akashi gritted his teeth.

"No way." Tahli was on her knees with one eye closed. She started to comprehend just how far this being's power went. "It can use Dust abilities like... us humans. That's how it moved the vines and the earth... it controls nature with it." The mere idea of such a thing was beyond her understanding. And yet there was no other explanation. The reason it devoured humans despite being sentient... humans were made from Dust. The pieces fused inside her head. Like a nauseating feeling enlightenment spread in her mind. Even mind control... by the means of Dust. The crystal in the mayor's hand had just been a body part infused with its power. In that case the crystals they took with them were like smaller versions of the Sin's innards. That's why they were shielding them.

Worthless parts of the truck crumbled back into the pit and over the ground like crumbs of bread from the meal of a human. The Great One didn't need to chew or to swallow. Everything had turned to dust and been sucked into its core. Refreshed it was breathing in and out satisfied. Every breath was like a gust of a storm.

Now that it was done with its meal it focused the blood red eyes on the intruders again. More piercing than any arrow, more destructive than any physical hit it simply shook its opponent's spirit. The effects of the crystals were either wearing off or the Sin's presence was growing.

Thoughts that were not their own were spreading inside their minds. Like schizophrenia it nested into them, a second personality and a new self, ready to take over. Agonizing pain came with every resistance.

Lucy, Akashi and Juge were holding their heads. Tahli and Maryjane were frozen still.

Only Riza was staying grounded. Why? Why was she not diving into darkness? Her mind was hurting too, but she was not losing her sense of self. Something else was already there, lurking in the back. As if protecting its home her own darkness spread and pushed the new intruder away. Hot fire filled her veins and the urge to crush everything overcame her. Delusional she stood up, her arms hanging and her back hunched.

From somewhere deep inside her, the part that was still more animal than person, a roar freed itself. It was long and far outdid everything her lungs and vocal cords could handle. The pain, the fire of the hatred inside her was released endlessly.

Destroy, kill, slash, pierce!

She moved towards her spear and picked it up.

Tear, smash, rip, bite!

She started eliminating Grimm again and moved towards the Cardinal Sin.

The behemoth was focusing only on her now. The others gasped as the pressure on them was released. The Grimm of Sloth roared. With that the other smaller Grimm retreated in fear.

Riza kept running. Her eyes were not seeing anything. Shadows and blurs. Everything was a lie, everything had to go. And then she stood in front of the enemy. As big as a hill or a small mountain. As destructive as a natural catastrophe.

"GRAAAAAAAAAH!" She cried out and rammed her spear against its leg. Clanc. It was flung back as if it had hit pure iron. Harder than any rock, the Great One's skin could not be pierced. She continued with her fruitless effort until her arms were numb and her breath ragged.

"Stop Riza! That's not like you!" Lucy had stood up and called out to her friend. Her voice was desperate and shaky. Despite her own pain she was worried. So worried.

Riza stopped her attacks and held her head. The burning lava that was her hatred was urging her on, but she kept it in check. Pulling her hair she focused solely on suppressing it. The presence of her inner darkness bubbled down. The Great One noticed the change and roared once again. This time Riza could feel the sound waves that made her body vibrate. The pain was harsh and she retreated uncoordinated. She fell backwards and crawled over the ground. Now that her senses had returned she realized how hopeless her situation was.

Her back hit something. A leg. Maryjane stood behind her and pulled her up on her feet. The blue-clad huntress' eyes were focused again. Her fist was clenched.

"Thank you for distracting it." She said gratefully. Something was off about her. It was... her face? Her whole presence and body...?

"Jane? Are you going to release it?" Tahli stared at her friend with sad eyes.

"I have already lifted the restraints." Maryjane smiled warmly. That was what was different. Her whole body was releasing emotions. She didn't seem to be the same hard-headed cold woman from before. "Everyone don't worry about the mental interference anymore. Or about the Grimm." Her words were filled with vigor.

"What is she saying?" Akashi asked. Had she lost it already?

"This is Jane's semblance." The dirt-blonde huntress answered vaguely.

A glow surrounded the short-haired huntress and like rings energy was spinning around her. Its light was warm, cold, rough and soft. With every rotation it grew and then like a giant shockwave it exploded and washed over everything.

---

Emotion. It was the most human thing possible. It's safe to say that no human exists that is born without them. But what if a person was able to store their emotions and seal them away? Would they still be considered human... or a biological automaton?

Maryjane Hart was a human. She had emotions like everybody else. And while it seemed like she was not showing them, there were always subtle hints. Yet that was not even a fracture of her true feelings. She was born with such strong emotions that her mind could not handle them. Every single stimulus created an explosion of emotions inside her that would make her cry, laugh and scream all at once.

A human that was too human. A defect in the bio-algorithm? But nature balances everything out. A defect might become a talent and a talent might become strength. With the discovery of her aura when she was just a toddler she activated her semblance. Something that sealed her emotions. A deep well that would never overflow. All her incredible feelings were sealed inside, depriving her of everything but the bare necessity to stay human.

How could this semblance turn into strength? Her mind was more focused than that of the average person, but emotionless people were seen as undesirable. What happened to her sealed emotions? Could she open the seal?

She only tried it once. The stored emotions of a decade were released all together. But they did not just affect her. Everything in a radius of miles was included. Animals, plants and also humans. A whole town had been swallowed by this girl's emotions. Women started crying, men were laughing in the streets and kids were furiously beating each other up. It was so overwhelming that it exhausted even the most energetic person. But the greatest burden was pushed on the origin of that flood, Maryjane.

It was impossible for a single person to experience all emotions of a decade at once. The mind would simply overload. But as a conduit for the release she was unable to shut down. Her mind would not stop processing. A torture beyond a person's understanding. Processing what could not be processed. How did it feel? How can it be described?

After that she fell into a coma for three weeks. When she awoke she swore to never release her semblance again. Even with the bare minimum of emotions she would be fine. From that point on whenever she realized that she was acting too emotional she was trying to push the feelings away.

---

As the center of the blue wave the woman went through impossible hardship. This time even more than a decade had passed. So many emotions to be released... But her mind stayed awake. And that was a good thing, because she bend the rules. With her iron will she directed the waves. Like rocks in the sea the people she had to protect were not affected. The waves split in front of team LARJ and Tahli. Slowly the impulses subsided and Maryjane collapsed.

The Grimm were roaring, scratching their own masks, killing each other and tumbling around. Even when Mary's release stopped the whimsical emotions were still floating in the air.

The Great One had taken the whole nine yards without moving. Even this much was not affecting it. An emotion as deeply nourished as this millennium old being's hatred and darkness could not possibly be affected by a single human. A hundred lives would not have been enough to overcome the Sloth Grimm's mind.

But that wasn't the intention. Like a wall of protection the feelings were floating in the air and interfering with the Great One's mental attacks. The fight was invisible, but there was no doubt that Mary had saved them.

"I... don't understand." Juge said lost.

"It's not important. We don't need to bow to this monster anymore. And it has lost its army." Tahli pointed at the disoriented and pitiful Grimm around.

"Hey!" Riza caught the fainting huntress in her arms and checked her vitals. "She is alright. Just unconscious." She sighed in relief. The others stepped to their side. While they were not quite sure what happened, one thing was sure. Now they could fight.

"Thanks you crazy devil." Tahli grabbed her friend's hand. And then Mary pressed back. "Wha-!?"

"I didn't... train this long... to fall in a coma again." She said while huffing.

"I didn't think you could move this soon."

"Wouldn't want to miss this fight for my life." She pulled herself out of Riza's arms and stood up with wobbly legs.

"This thing is tough. I couldn't pierce its skin." Riza said without hope.

"Go for the weak spots. Eyes, belly, insides." Juge suggested. The monster's anatomy was similar to a hippopotamus, yet different.

The Great One moved. For the first time it was attacking. Angered by its inability to crush their minds it finally resorted to destructive power alone. One stomp created explosions and the sharp pieces of rocks flew their way. The hunters dodged the rain and moved out. Vines were shooting out of the ground and trying to pierce their bodies, but they cut, smashed and ripped them down.

Juge's whip lit on in fire mode and like a burning wave incinerated the plants. He was running at the head of the group. Lucy cut the few reaming ones down with her twin blades. The ground itself started turning against them. Huge square shaped rocks were growing out of the very soil and trying to crush them. With agility Riza jumped over the mincing brown stones and pushed herself off them. Maryjane simply smashed every rock coming her way and advanced without stopping.

While they were running towards their goal the two ranged combatants prepared themselves. Akashi equipped three arrows again and infused them with his semblance.

"I can't miss: TriStar!" His eyes flashed and the three arrows were released from the visual line of his pupils. Like a spinning shooting star they were flying towards the beast's eyes. With a roar it raised its mask and the spikes on it were moving to block them. With a snap they changed course and flew towards their goal in a zigzag pattern. "Hit!" Akashi yelled and the arrows all landed at the same goal. Explosions followed as the tips were infused with explosive Dust.

Smoke rose from the red eyes. Everyone stared at them while still advancing, but soon their steps slowed down. The red pulsating cruel eyes... were not even scratched. Akashi's head pulsated too.

"Just what is it made of? How could its retina be so tough?" His mind was going through hundreds of possible explanations, but nothing seemed likely. Maybe... it was just as invincible as it looked.

Tahli next to him shot down a huge rock spike that was about to pierce Lucy with her sniper rifle. The bullet pierced the rock and exploded in its middle.

"That's it!" Akashi yelled. "It must be vulnerable on the inside. There is no way it has organs of steel. That wouldn't make sense." Now the only question was how to get a shot through the large jaws. He looked around and spotted something incredible. A turret from the truck had been dropped after it was eaten by the Great One. It was at least ten times stronger than any ammunition Tahli and he used. "Protect my back!" He yelled at Tahli and started sprinting.

---

Juge had no trouble crushing the rocks that were coming from the ground. Morte Consumptis could not only turn rigid, but also as hard as metal. It was also very heavy in that state, but it smashed through the crumbly stone no problem. Similarly the others were also making good progress. The old Grimm was not moving a lot. Either it was not able to or it was truly deserving of its title Sloth.

(Insert Music: Metal Gear Rising Reveangance OST – Rules of Nature)

The atmosphere changed. Just as they were thinking such frivolous things the earth around them rumbled and bend. Like a cage of earth they were surrounded. But it wasn't tightening or trying to crush them. The already clouded sky turned dark.

"Impossible!" Riza cried out. In the blink of an eye the behemoth of a Grimm had jumped up. Even that simple task had created an earthquake that made them topple over. How could it possibly be this fast? They couldn't escape. At this rate they would be crushed. A weight like that could not be stopped... the impact would be similar to a falling star or the moon, destroying the whole Shrine.

Thump. Thu-thump.

Juge's heartbeat was increasing.

Thump thump thump...

Something was taking his breath.

Thump THUMP thump!

Like the pulse of the very earth below them waves of energy were spreading. He finally looked next to him. Maryjane was standing there with closed eyes preparing both her fists. The gloves were pulsating. So that was what made his heart beat along...

"Everyone... try to flee." She whispered. Her stance got wide and the ground cracked.

Riza took Lucy over her shoulders and ran to the earthen walls. With her Ryuyari, she cut through it. Juge on the other hand didn't move.

"This is madness." He muttered. "Your aura has dissolved after that release of your semblance. Your body won't withstand!" He was getting angry.

Mary nodded.

The shadow of the steel like claws and legs of the Sin were growing bigger.

Only these two humans were left. Two against a catastrophe. A sentient natural disaster.

"Hold me..." She said.

And so he did.

With both his arms he held her body tightly in place. The vibration of the energy coursing through her palms was intense. This impact would destroy them. Yet he trusted that it wouldn't.

Thu-thu-thu-thu-THUMPthumpTHUMP!

The masked horror smashed into the earth. A shockwave so massive that it could have cut down a whole forest in one sweep was focused on this small cage.

"Splitting palm of the Heavens!"

A human cried out in the middle of the apocalypse.

Like the glow of a piercing sun-ray two palms sank into the opposing force. The being with the weight of a freighter was crushing their bones, it was so heavy that it would vaporize them!

The wind released by the clash was breaking away all and every wall around them and flung even the biggest rocks away. The gigantic mask of the Grimm was above them. The roar of devastation accompanied its all-encompassing strength.

And yet...

And yet it stopped.

Barely... just barely a centimeter. But the monstrosity was moved upwards. Stopped. Halted. The small palms of a mere human had pierced the hardened shell of something that could be considered an infernal demon. An unstoppable force that had been denied its purpose.

"HNGGGAAAARH!" The two of them cried out and moved. Juge was the base and Maryjane the lever. In a mind-shattering illogical turn of events they moved the Great One. It crashed into the ground and slid backwards. Its red eyes seemed to flicker with incomprehension for just the fragment of a second. Then it landed on all four and cried out.

Mary's arms were broken. There was no way around it. Such an impact had to fracture every single bone in her hands and arms. Juge's support kept her standing, but a normal human would have passed out by now. They were both blown away by the roar that was akin to a storm.

And then the stone spears came. From the ground below they pierced Juge's right shoulder and side, no aura could stop them. He was flung into the distance all the way back to the hole where the hundreds of bones were strewn over.

Lucy and Riza were barely holding onto their weapons that had been stabbed into the ground.

The masked Sin was radiating more hatred than ever before. A small crack was visible in its chest. Miniscule compared to its overall size, but still a crack. The invincible armor had been cracked. That fact alone was a miracle so unbelievable that it seemed surreal.

And they were going to pay for it.

Vines sprang forth from the ground and entangled Maryjane. She was pulled towards the Great One. Her breath was weak and she could not resist.

Juge stood up and pulled the rock spike out of his shoulder. Despair was running down his back. Riza and Lucy were the same. They were sprinting towards the enemy that had caught their friend.

(Music END)

---

Akashi had finally found what he was looking for. He had dug up the huge automatic turret. It was a new model just released by Promethean Tech. Thousands of rounds per second and a velocity that would make any shot-gun look like a child's slingshot. Only one magazine was attached to it, but if he aimed well then maybe he could do some damage. The question was how to aim into its throat. Surely the teeth would block the way...

Then he noticed the Sin jump into the air with agility belying its size.

"What the fu-!" Before he could braze himself the impact flung him away. He crashed into a tree and almost blacked out. Even then he didn't let go of the weapon. When his eyes stopped seeing double he saw the wasteland left after the impact. "Holy..." His hurting back seemed very trivial now. He rose and walked towards the others. With his semblance he reduced the huge turret's weight. His head was spinning like he was dehydrated, because he had overused his semblance so much.

The others started running towards the Great One. Well he was doing the same, but they seemed to be extremely desperate. And then a bullet passed by his head. He spun around and saw Tahli lying on her stomach. Her eyes were widened and she was shooting rapidly.

Akashi felt like he was in the way and jumped to the side. He heard the dirt-blonde huntress' angry voice.

"Let her go! NoNOnoNO!" He had never heard her so out of it before.

That was reason enough for him to hurry. He reduced his weight too and lunged ahead.

---

Tahli was frantically reloading. Through her scope she witnessed everything. And the vines entangling Mary were regrowing faster than she could shoot them down. Why now? They had just hurt this demonic beast. The rest was easy, right? She had proven it, so let her rest already!

Her thoughts were circular.

Through the lens she saw the Great One pulling Jane into its gaping mouth. The vines were pulling and pushing. This was not acceptable! The distance between them must have been at least a kilometer now. The earthquake like shaking didn't help. But still she kept shooting. Every shot a hit.

The vines regrew.

"Ice... yes ice rounds!" She realized her foolishness for forgetting about them. With shaking hands she pulled them out of her bag and pushed them in. One, two, three shots later the vines were frozen! The earth was also clad in ice, no way to regrow. Jane was save!

...she was not. With horror Tahli saw that she had already been pulled into the Grimm's jaws. The car sized teeth were pressing down on her. But she resisted. Even with broken arms and a weakened body she still managed to push the teeth open. That was the super-human Jane she knew. That was the sister she had found so long ago.

With a swift glance she saw team LARJ moving in on the Sloth Grimm. The Mayhiro boy was packing quite the caliber there. With that they might be able to hurt it. She nodded to reassure herself. Why was her heart fluttering? Why was she close to tears?

---

(Insert Music: Little Busters OST – Faraway -instrumental version-)

Maryjane was pushing with all her being. The teeth were weighing tons. The jaw was so heavy that it would break even the strongest metal after all. Her gloves had been shredded to nothingness from the clash before. Her bones were fractured and only held together by her aura.

She saw her comrades running towards her. The shots that had freed her of the vines must have been Tahli's doing. She was a really good shot after all. That was the woman she had accepted as family all this time ago.

The young Velmón was looking at her with a scared expression. Looks like despite all his talent and will he was still a teenager who sympathized too much. He probably took every burden on himself as if it was natural.

The faunus girl, Riza, was also sprinting. Her steps were swift and strong. This girl was lost in her emotions at times, but her heart was pure. Getting discouraged easily was problematic, but she would grow out of it. As long as she had someone to rely on she would be reliable too.

The red-head and leader of her team, Lucy... she was so fast despite her injury. A brave girl that was much stronger than all her friends, but still gave them the impression that they were the ones protecting her. That was a trait Ozpin probably recognized immediately.

And Akashi Mayhiro. Clumsy in many ways but kindhearted. His conviction could be overbearing and he was also prone to losing himself, but that was what made him so interesting. She definitely enjoyed their fight. He was carrying a weapon as huge as himself. That thing could maybe even damage the Sin. But only if he aimed at its weak spot. The best place would be directly inside.

"I see..." She mumbled. So that was her next goal. "Who will hold out longer... let's find out, shall we?" She addressed the one trying to crush her. Arms shaking and body creaking she pushed the tooth over her with all her might.

(Music END)

---

Akashi slid into position. From this distance he could probably aim at the Grimm. Even if he only shot at its legs or something it would distract it enough to let go of Mary. There wasn't a lot of ammunition, but that didn't matter.

"Akashi Mayhiro!" The yell came from the monster's head. "Shoot into the mouth!" Mary ordered him.

"Huh?" He stopped. That wouldn't work. He was too far away. And once he made it there she would already have been crushed. "...!" His body jerked. She wasn't...?

With huge jumps he moved ahead.

---

They all arrived at the same time.

"Hold on! We are here." Juge yelled and dodged the Grimm's huge claws. It was not going to give her up so easily.

Akashi had appeared with a turret of all things and he aimed up. The beast's mouth was wide open.

"Get her out of there! I'll shoot it." He said.

Riza and Lucy jumped up the legs of the Grimm, but it shook them off harshly.

"Tsk! Here goes nothing!" He pulled the trigger and shot into the opening of the mouth, careful not to hit Mary. And then it happened. Walls of earth and rock were growing in front of the Sin and blocked out all his bullets. "DAMMIT!" He let go of the trigger before he wasted more ammunition.

Juge broke through the first wall and the others did the same. Sniper bullets reminded them that Tahli was also doing her best. When they eradicated all walls they were seeing something really bad. Maryjane was crouching. She was losing the struggle!

Her face was almost not visible, but her voice could still be heard.

"Hit it in the most vulnerable part... you can't reach its insides anymore. I can tell..."

"What are you saying?! Why can't we do it?"

"Because..." A small ray of light pierced the clouds and lit the scene. "It has already anticipated that." New vines were pulling her arms from the inside. Inside the Grimm they were sprouting...

It had swallowed the earth and was clogging up its own throat to block out all bullets.

"No...way..." Akashi led go of the turret.

"Hold out! We are almost there!" Juge yelled desperately and moved towards the Grimm again. Riza appeared at his side and gave him a lift up. Lucy jumped over Riza and then Juge pulled her up with his whip. Like a torpedo she flew towards the Cardinal Sin. Vines and rocks were shooting at her, but she cut them all to pieces.

5 meters... 3 meters... she was almost able to touch Maryjane.

And then the Great One pulled its head up. Simply pulling it up ten meters into the air made it unreachable. Lucy opened her mouth while she was crashing into the black iron hard skin of the Grimm. Her swords were not able to pierce it and so she slid down.

All of them were frozen in time.

And then the jaws closed.

---

"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAANEEEEE!" Tahli cried out. Through her scope she saw everything. Every inch of the disaster. Just before the teeth crushed her oldest friend she could see her mouth move. She was smiling.

'Don't change sis.'

And then nothingness. Her mind blanked out. Does not process. How...howhowhowhow? They were in so many terrible situations before... they had fought the odds, they had bested everyone!

What would she even do without Jane? How could she stay herself if such a big part of her disappeared!

She grabbed her rifle as hard as possible and pulled the trigger. Again and again and again and again.

Shooting the white teeth of the gargantuan devil that almost looked like it was smiling at her.

After a while she had no bullets left. Her finger pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. With empty eyes she stood up and threw her weapon away. Her legs moved on their own as she ran towards the monster.

---

(Insert Music: Fate/Stay Night OST – Unmei no Yoru)

Team LARJ was unable to utter a word. The jaw had closed and the blue huntress had disappeared. The Sin was gnawing and then swallowed. The vines inside must have receded... but nobody cared.

The Great One was moving again. Its claws were locked in the ground and its spikes glowing. It was probably going to headbutt them to pieces.

But they did not react.

It was just not possible.

Then they saw it. Blood. Red blood was flowing down the beast's teeth. Only a few drops, almost not visible in the giant rows of white, but they saw it.

They grabbed their weapons so tight that their hands were bleeding.

And they screamed with all their soul.

Juge jumped ahead making his whip spin like a drill. It caught on fire and then the flames turned white. The secret art that he had not yet mastered...

"Forage de l'os: Première étape!" Spinning faster and faster until it was just a white burning drill it started to gather speed and power. With all his strength he rammed it into the crack in the Grimm's front. Juge's scream was accompanied by the cracking of steel-like skin. In the middle of the devastating attack his arm got over-strained and he was forced to stop when the flames burned his own skin.

Just as he fell backwards Riza passed him. Her spear went into trident mode and all the tips started glowing. She rammed it into the hole and kicked it in deeper. The exploding tips blew up inside the already increasing crack and the resulting flames turned into a green pillar that burned more of the skin away. Ryuyari fell out of the now human-sized wound and Riza caught it just as Lucy pushed herself off of it.

Her twin katanas formed one wide black and white blade and stabbed into the wound. Then she started twisting and crossed them with a fast spin.

"Scissor crush!" The wound was brutally widened and opened and blood gushed out. Like a fountain.

The Sin roared and this time it had to be in pain. Its jaws opened again as it released shockwave like screams.

That's when Akashi appeared right above it. With his reduced gravity and a push up by Juge he managed to get up to the mask and aimed the turret at the vulnerable insides.

"OPEN WIDE BASTARD!" He yelled and released a stream of armor piercing bullets straight into the Great One's throat. They were reflecting off the membranes inside and all moving directly into the inner parts. After he had emptied the magazine and while he was falling Akashi let go of the turret and pulled up Black Eclipse. "PentaStar!" Five arrows at once, barely fitting on his bowstring were shot upwards and then as if gravity was tenfold they flew directly into the Grimm's throat. When the jaw closed an explosion was shaking the whole masked head.

Akashi crashed into the ground right next to the exhausted rest of his team.

The Great One was bleeding and smoke came out of it's mouth... but it was not even slowing down.

"Persistent..." Akashi said while breathing heavily.

Its mask started glowing and a wave of rocks spilled them away. The fact that it tried to get distance was proof that they had wounded it though. When the wave finally stopped they were all scrawled over the wasteland. In the distance the Sin took a few steps back.

"Is it... retreating?" Lucy asked. Her wound had opened. She couldn't stand straight.

"No. Just preparing to run us over." Riza said with exhaustion. Her face was covered in dirt and blood and her tail was missing some hair. She had at least sprained half her body.

Juge and Akashi were standing up.

And then Tahli came running. Her face was a like a mask and she looked past them at the masked tormentor preparing to run them over like a bull.

"Ms. Megumi." Juge said with a pained voice. She turned towards him. "Please take Riza and Lucy... and flee." He had his back turned to her.

"What?!" Riza stood up and she looked furious. "I won't run away without killing this thing! Even if I die!"

"...how do you suppose we can escape?" Tahli asked emotionless.

"I guess you haven't noticed yet, because of..." Akashi shut up. He just pointed at the blocked exit. The pillar had crumbled long ago due to the impacts and earthquakes. The Grimm still alive in the vicinity were either wounded or still confused.

"Alright." She nodded.

"You can't be serious! I won't come along." Riza shook her head. Lucy also stood up again. Her shirt was tinged in red.

"I want to... fight." She said. Her eyes were sparking.

And then they fell over. Akashi and Juge had knocked them clean out.

"Damn... you..." Riza said with tears in her eyes before fainting.

Tahli took them over her shoulders.

"What will you do?"

"Us?" Akashi asked and some of his usual attitude returned. "I guess we will play matador. Right Juge?"

"We will not let him pass. Please escape." He looked her into the eyes.

"I will await you in the village." Tahli said courtly and ran towards the exit.

Akashi immediately collapsed when she was out of sight. Juge sank to one knee.

"How are we going to stop that thing?" He asked seriously.

"Only we can do it. So we will do it." Juge said.

"Great plan. Could have been from me." The young Mayhiro grinned weakly.

They both faced the epitome of despair that was just now starting to run. It looked just as unstoppable as a hurricane.

(Music END)

---

Swamps of Depravation

Riza awakened. Her sturdy body was not easy to knock out. One eye open she saw only the tattered coat of Tahli in front of her.

"Why did you run... don't you want to avenge Maryjane!?" She asked more angry at herself than anyone else.

"We have to live." The huntress answered coldly.

"What good is living if you are a cowar-" A drop of liquid hit Riza's face. It didn't come from the clouds above. Neither was it her sweat...

She barely manged to raise her head.

Tears were running down the dark-blonde huntresses' face. She suppressed her sobs as well as she could, but it was simply impossible.

"Jane..." She whispered.

The faunus girl lowered her head and cursed herself, Akashi and Juge and most importantly the Grimm.

Then they came to a halt.

"It can't be...!" Tahli muttered in shock.

---

Former Shrine

"This is all I've got left." Juge let Morte Consumptis spin in circles again. It formed a drill once more and caught on white fire.

"And here I thought I was all out. Look at that weak flame." Akashi joked. He had no arrows left. Black Eclipse turned back into a black pole. "Like I always say. A weapon should speak its wielder's mind. I wanna smash things." He remembered a phrase he had used when he created his Gravity Hammer.

"Then let us pierce and smash it till it doesn't feel like fighting anymore." Juge ripped off his short white scarf and opened his damaged vest.

"Yeah lets kick some ass." Akashi threw away his tattered top and was standing in his white undershirt.

The Great One was almost upon them.

"Forage de l'os: Deuxième étape!" He doubled the strength from before and entered the second stage of the secret move. It was probably not going to last for even one second.

"Haaaaah Gravity Impact!"Akashi swung his pole like the good old hammer and created a gravity field that would crush even a bus. But could it crush a Cardinal Sin?

They clashed...

---

The world was white. Everything was black and white. Was this the afterlife?

In that case the afterlife was too painful.

Juge rolled over and his eyes focused a little.

There was gray and brown too. Strange.

And then a boot stepped into the dirt. A leather boot connected to a man. A huge man. He was towering over Juge with his back turned to him. From this angle the eye-patch was barely visible. Two axes were hanging from his belt. One was huge and the other small.

"Fa-ther...?" Juge said with his mind close to fainting again.

"...stay down. We will handle this." The man said and pulled up his axes.

"Take... Morte Consumptis..." He begged. The family heirloom was the strongest weapon the Velmóns had. His father was the best hunter in the world, and this was the best weapon for him.

"I don't need that. Don't expect me to fight with your weapon. That is your burden alone." He replied stoically. His axes were glowing.

Juge heard other voices, but they were too faint. More people... reinforcements?

His consciousness faded into the white.

(Play Music: Monster Ending theme – For the love of life)

---

See you next time!

Johno 343 and Bugdevil