Chapter 12: This Means War
Weiss practically stormed down the hallway of the hotel. Despite the fact that Yang had managed to calm down at least a little bit, the stress was getting to the Schnee CEO and it was showing. The dark circles beneath her blue eyes told of how little sleep she was getting. It had been almost two weeks since Kelas disappeared with Ruby and Blake, two weeks full of that bastard doing God knows what with her partner and friend. She marched onward, unable to concentrate on anything other than the horrible situation her teammates were in, until she was snapped out of her trance by Yang's voice behind her.
"Weiss," the blonde called out, "you passed the door."
"I knew that." the embarrassed girl shot back before turning on her heel and pushing through the large double doors blocking the way to their destination. Inside was a large rectangular room setup for planning and intelligence. A large digital map of Remnant took up the entire wall on her left, and a large holographic planning table was set in the middle. All across the other walls were local maps, details of recent events, pictures of Ruby and Blake, as well as of Kelas, Roman, and Cinder Fall. There was a number of people bustling around the room, mostly Atlesian intelligence agents and soldiers, except for the group huddled around the table in the middle. In this group stood Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood, Lupa, Drake, Ikari, and Team JNPR, who had arrived the day after their previous encounter with Kelas.
Jaune was the first to notice Weiss and Yang entering. He wore heavy silver plate armor, adorned with gold trim and a gold lion's head in the center of the chestplate. Strapped to his back was a giant golden shield sculpted into the head and mane of a lion and a golden longsword with the hilt in the shape of golden wings. His hair had grown out just a little, with signs of shaved facial hair growing back in, and his blue eyes gleamed with the flow of his aura. He looked like a paladin, a gleaming soldier of the light born solely to push back the darkness. "Hey, it's about time you guys made it!" His voice had deepened a bit, but still held that awkward and disarming scratchy tone to it.
Pyrrha, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jaune, was the next to look up. Her copper hair flowed down over her shoulder plates, her armor having been reinforced. Unlike her husband's, her armor was a bronzed gold with a silvery trim her burnt bronze skirt hanging down behind her left knee. She had two swords sheathed at her hips and a mechanical contraption sat on her left bracer. "Hello again!" Her sweet voice didn't match her Goddess-of-War appearance.
"YANG!" Nora's voice shouted up over the crowd. She had grown out her hair, orange locks flowing down her back. She wore simple leather armor comprised by a shoulderless chestpiece which exposed her godlike abs, a leather skirt, and simple boots and bracers, with light iron plating reinforcing the chestpiece, hips, and shins. Her weapon was slung across her back, looking less like a grenade launcher and more like a cannon, it's ammo drum which doubles as the head of the hammer form adorned with spikes and displaying spiked grenades within.
Lie Ren gave a small wave with his free hand, his other arm being wrapped around Nora's waist. He couldn't speak, shown by the scar on his throat which he had earned from an elite Beowolf's claw during their first mission after graduation. He wore a black tailcoat adorned with an emerald colored dragon pattern and trimmed in the same emerald color along with jet black suit pants and shoes. His Storm Flowers lay on the table, having been reinforced and upgraded with a larger bore and clips, as well as longer double-edged scythed blades.
"I'm glad you're here, we're finally ready to start working on planning our rescue attempt." Ozpin spoke up over the crowd, the sheer importance carried in his voice instantly silencing any other conversations that were going on.
"You mean we finally found it?" Yang's eyes widened in excitement, her eyes flashing with a touch of red. "Where is it? I wanna fucking kill them!"
"Yes, once we convinced Cinder Fall that her 'friends' weren't coming back for her, it was easy to get her to divulge everything she knew about their base." Ikari said, a slight hint of sadism dripping off of her voice. "I never thought interrogation could actually be fun."
"Well, where is it then?" Weiss slammed her hands on the holotable and making the images flicker out slightly.
"Turns out," Ironwood started, the irritation clear in his voice, "that it was right under our noses the entire time. They're set up in a warehouse in Atlas' docks."
Yang was the next one to pipe in, "But Blake and I checked that area, we didn't find anything! How could it be there?"
"Cinder mentioned something called a 'Perception Filter', as well as extremely advanced jamming technologies." Drake stated as if everyone should've known this. "It was pretty much invisible to everything we have."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Weiss practically shouted. "Let's go get Ruby and Blake back!"
"Patience, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin stated calmly. "We're going to be going in blind, so it would be wise to prepare as much as possible beforehand. If we go in there and find ourselves unable to adapt to whatever faces us, we'll simply end up with more casualties and nobody rescued."
Weiss looked like she was about to argue with Ozpin, but stopped herself and looked down. "I guess you're right…"
"I'll start preparing a strike force immediately." Ironwood stated, turning away from the table. "I assume you'll be leading the operation yourself, Oz?"
"As much as I would like to command from behind the scenes, I feel I might be needed on the front lines this time around." Ozpin stated, taking a sip of his coffee and staring thoughtfully off into space.
"I think our cover is blown guys." Roman said, hurriedly stepping into the office.
"Now what would make you say that, child?" Zynetken said, face buried in some arcane tome.
"There's been an increase in the number of Atlesian airships flying over the docks and an increase in overall security on the ground." Roman said, obviously concerned at the situation. "On top of that, I heard Professor Ozpin has set up in the area. Whether they actually know where we are or not, they're getting ready to make a move."
"Keep an eye on their patrol patterns." Kelas said, turning away from the window. "Start moving everything to the backup site when we have openings. Let's turn this place into a death trap."
"And our guests?" Roman asked, referring to the two Huntresses they had captured.
"We'll keep them here, have a bit more fun before Atlas makes it's move. If they get rescued, so be it." Kelas said. "Past entertainment, we've already exhausted their usefulness."
"Alright, I'll get everyone moving then." Roman said, turning towards the door. "Just… try not to turn this into my grave as well."
"How could we have missed an entire warehouse?" Yang hissed, leaning on the wall surrounding the rooftop of a general store. Across the street were the warehouses for the docks, the specific building in question sitting at the end of a row of warehouses.
"Judging by what we've seen of Kelas' abilities, making it so somebody simply doesn't notice something seems like it would be a simple task for him." Weiss stated matter-of-factly while gazing at the warehouse through a pair of binoculars. "I myself feel like I'll forget it's there entirely if I look away."
Professor Ozpin's voice crackled over the girls' earpieces. "Is everyone in position?" Ozpin was observing the scene from the top of a nearby building, making sure everything was coordinated perfectly.
Jaune's voice was the next to come through their earpieces. "Shock Team ready and waiting for the signal." Jaune, Pyrrha, and a large number of Atlesian Knight-360s were stationed behind shipping crates a couple dozen yards from the bay door on the north side of the target warehouse, ready to blast through and storm the place.
"Strike Group Alpha in position and ready." Drake's voice came through the comms. He and Ikari were stationed on the roof of the warehouse to the east of the target.
"Strike Group Beta ready to blow some shit up!" Nora's voice came across a little too excitedly from behind some crates to the west of the target.
Weiss nodded to Yang. "Strike Group Gamma ready to bring the heat!" Yang said, pumping her fists to ready her Ember Celica.
"Very well then." Ozpin spoke calmly through the comm link. "Jaune, I leave the rest to you."
"Thank you, sir." Jaune's voice crackled through their earpieces, clearing his throat before continuing. "Friends and comrades, today we will strike a crippling and devastating blow against our newfound enemy. The man known as Kelas is a menace to our entire world, and we stand here today with the intent to bring his reign of terror to an end. However, we must not forget our friends who have been taken by the enemy. Two of the best Huntresses Remnant has ever seen, Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna, were captured by the enemy, and our first priority not only to them, but to ourselves, is to make sure they make it out of there. Now, who's with me?!"
The response was… underwhelming, the handful of Hunters being supported mostly by androids, but the cheers that came through the comms were inspiring enough to steel the group against the battle to come. Jaune raised his sword, signaling the group to charge, the first barrage of attacks coming from missiles launched at the bay door of the warehouse. Jaune and Pyrrha led the main force into the main door of the building, the rest of the Hunters moving in on the secondary doors on the other walls.
The group of Hunters and combat androids converged in the warehouse, the vast expanse of the building unlit and devoid of objects. They readied themselves, scanning the shadowy corners of the building for any sign of life. Something was wrong, they were certain that this is where the enemy base was, but it looked as if the building had been abandoned for years. Their fears were confirmed when automatic weapons fire started raining down on them from above, their enemies having used cloaking devices to hide in the rafters of the structure.
"Everyone get to cover!" Pyrrha shouted as Jaune deployed a silvery aura shield in an area around the main group. Drake, Ren and Weiss jumped up to the rafters and started tearing down the gunmen while Nora and Yang blasted down whoever they could. Another group of enemies appeared in the main doorway, moving in with swords and laying down machine gun fire, Ikari, Jaune and Pyrrha rushing in to meet them head on while the androids provided support. It only took a couple of minutes for all of the soldiers to get cleared out, scorched, slashed, and bullet-ridden bodies littering the floor.
"Well, at least we know we're in the right place." Jaune stated simply, looking about the now bloody and messy warehouse.
"We should start looking for a trap door or hidden room somewhere." Weiss said, patrolling the walls of the building for anything hidden. The rest of the group began searching as well while the androids patrolled for any more enemies. Yang stomped around impatiently, eyes locked on the ground looking for anything that seemed out of place. The hand of one of the enemy soldiers, apparently still conscious, locked around her ankle, causing her to slam her fist into the man's abdomen and fire off Ember Celica, blasting him through the floor. Looking down, Yang noticed there was an entrance to a tunnel where the man had been.
"Hey guys, I think I found something." Yang said, the rest of the Hunters gathering to observe the hole in the ground. "Think they're down there?" Nobody got the chance to answer the question as gunfire echoed through the building once more. The previously slain soldiers were standing back up, bearing down on the now scattered android force.
"How are they not dead?!" Ikari shouted as a soldier missing everything below his waist began firing at them with an assault rifle, Jaune moving to block the fire with his shield. The hunters went back to fighting, trying to clear out the seemingly unkillable soldiers.
"Wonderful puppets, aren't they?" a scratchy voice came from behind the hunters. A black robed man with messy grey hair and strange goggles stood behind the group grinning widely. "A little bit of your android technology combined with my black magic. Much less noisy than my old mechanical puppets."
"Who the hell are you?" Yang shouted at the scrawny man in front of her.
"Why, I am Zynetken, Avatar of Fear, Head Torturer of the Dark Legion, and humble servant to His Highness, Kelas Sekarian." The man stated simply, sidestepping a blast of fire before continuing. "I presume you're here for our guests? I'm afraid I am required to prevent you from continuing."
"And I'm afraid I can't permit you to stop them." Ozpin's voice came from a few meters away, Glynda following close behind and taking care of any stray constructs. Ozpin walked up to the black cloaked man and took a sip of his coffee. "Question is, what are we going to do about this impasse?"
"If you wish to challenge me, I'm afraid I will have to go to battle against your underling. You see, my Lord has claimed you as his opponent in advanced and even for me to cross him would be unwise." Zynetken explained.
"Glynda, do you think you can handle him?" Ozpin asked in a serious tone, looking over his shoulder.
"I don't think I have much of a choice." Glynda said, adjusting her glasses. "I suppose we should take this elsewhere?"
"That would be best, we can't have collateral damage killing Remnant's future, now can we?" Ozpin stated.
"As I am outnumbered, I have no choice but to make a tactical retreat, fighting anyone who wishes to pursue." Zynetken mused sarcastically, turning and walking towards the main door. "Assuming that's fine with you, my Lord."
Kelas emerged from the underground tunnel, bored eyes scanning the chaos in front of him. "Do what you will, Zyn. You know very well who my target is." He said offhandedly, glancing in the direction of Ozpin. "Usually the commander doesn't show his face on the frontlines unless absolutely necessary."
"Usually the commander doesn't leave his army and go do his own thing." Ozpin replied, taking a sip from his coffee. "I assume you have no intention of impeding my students?"
"But Professor Ozpin, you can't just-" Weiss tried to argue only to be interrupted by Kelas.
"Preventing them from accomplishing their goal is a secondary concern." Kelas stated simply. "I wanted to see how powerful the most powerful man in this world is. From what I've been able to learn, that appears to be you. If your students are still lingering about after I've finished with you, I will show no mercy."
"Then it's settled." Ozpin sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Team JNPR, keep the area clear of any other enemies or civilians. Drake and Ikari will go with Weiss and Yang to retrieve the rest of their team while I hold Kelas off here. Understood?"
"But Professor-" Weiss tried to protest again, only to be shushed.
"Ms. Schnee, your teammates need you far more than I do right now." The Headmaster of Beacon lectured. "I am well aware of the threat that my opponent poses, and I have made my decision with that knowledge in mind. My job is to secure the future of Remnant, and the highest priority in that is to make sure that all of our young Huntsman and Huntresses survive to do the same. Now stop delaying and go." Weiss nodded slowly before leaping into the tunnels, followed by Drake, Ikari, and Yang, with Team JNPR scattering to secure the area.
"Now," Kelas started, his bored look transforming into a grin, "shall we get this started?"
"I suppose you aren't just going to let me leave without a fight, are you?" Zynetken said, turning and drawing his wand from his sleeve.
"I suppose you never had any intention of fleeing without a fight, did you?" Glynda shot back, adjusting her glasses and readying her crop.
"True. Let's see how you handle yourself." Zynetken waved his wand at Glynda, a screaming ghostly bolt firing from the tip and whizzing past as Glynda dodged, wide-eyed in surprise at the projectile. She dodged a couple more screaming projectiles and blocked one with her crop, noticing that they were flying around her in a wide arc. "My powers are based on fear, darling. What's scarier than a bunch of screaming ghost bolts?"
"You really are one strange character…" Glynda mumbled before picking up rubble from the assault on the warehouse and tossing it at the madman in front of her, Zynetken countering by shattering the rubble into dust with a wave of his wand. Zynetken fired a blast of black lightning at Glynda, the woman dodging and countering with a blast of purple aura in return. The two sorcerers traded spells, neither one missing a beat or losing their flow. In the midst of a flurry of magical blasts from both parties, Zynetken blindsided Glynda with a screamer bolt. Glynda tried to avoid, but amidst the rain of spells coming from her opponent she was still grazed by the ghostly projectile before it returned to the madman's wand.
"How interesting…" Zynetken mused out loud, looking at the tip of his wand and then to his opponent. He summoned an ornate staff with a shaft of spiraling liquid black steel topped by an orb that seemed to reflect the deepest reaches of the universe. "The fears of mortals can be quite curious."
Ozpin drew his sword from his cane just in time to parry the sweeping slash coming from Kelas' black sword, the force sending him skidding backwards across the ground. Kelas appeared in front of him again, forcing him to block the wild downwards blow threatening to bisect him, the impact between the two forces causing the ground below the Headmaster to shatter. Kelas used the crossguard of his sword to gain leverage from Ozpin's guard, kicking his opponent in the chest with both feet and gracefully backflipping on to his feet while Ozpin corrected his position in mid air and landed in a crouch.
"I see you have no intention of holding back." The veteran Huntsman stated simply, brushing off his suit before lowering into a fighting stance. "In that case, I will not withhold any of my power from you." Ozpin channelled his aura into his weapon, a green glow enveloping the blade as the gears in the handle of the weapon began to whir to life. He raised his sword and brought it down swiftly, a vertical wave of emerald energy projecting out of the blade and rushing forward at insane speeds. Kelas sidestepped the attack in the nick of time, the energy wave continuing on and demolishing the wall that was behind him, a small chasm in the ground tracing back to the source of the destruction. Kelas merely grinned before rushing in again, the two swordsman dancing around each other, locked in a lightning fast exchange of blows. Kelas' hair and duster fluttered through the air amidst the spins and acrobatics of his wild swordsmanship style, Ozpin expertly dodging and parrying the blows, striking at the opportune moments and predicting the seemingly random progression of attacks coming from his opponent. Kelas sent Ozpin skidding backwards once again with a horizontally sweeping blow executed during an angled mid air barrel roll, the Huntsman countering in-motion with a horizontal aura blast which Kelas ducked, almost laying on the ground, before charging forward from his lowered position and striking Ozpin with an upwards slash, his blade leaving a trail in the concrete behind him. The Headmaster flipped in mid air, rebounding off of a support beam and charging his blade with a thrust attack down towards the God who lept backwards away from the ensuing blast. The two swordsmen rushed at each other, once again locking in a lethal dance of blades, the speed of which no other in Remnant could match.
Yang charged forward, leading Drake, Ikari, and Weiss down the long and dark tunnel. She skidded to a halt upon coming to a four-way intersection.
"Which way should we go first?" Weiss asked, scanning the dark corridors for any sign of what might be at the end.
"I'll go left, call it a hunch." Yang stated, peering down the long hallway to the group's left.
"I'll proceed forward." Drake said, beginning a casual but cautious advance onward.
"I guess I'll take right." Weiss stated simply.
"I'll go with Yang." Ikari decided. "If her hunch is right, she'll need help moving Blake and Ruby."
The group split up down their respective paths. Weiss didn't take long to reach the end of her chosen hallway, coming to a steel door which was left slightly ajar. She entered the room slowly, illuminating her way with a dust crystal. What she found horrified her. Blood stained the ground in the center of the room, various torture devices littered the walls and floor. Arcane runes surrounded the center of the room on both the floor and ceiling. She covered her mouth in realization, tears welling up in her eyes from the thoughts of the atrocities committed in this room. She turned back to the door, running down the hall towards Yang and Ikari, praying that the blood and scratches around the room weren't from her friends.
After a while of walking, Drake reached what appeared to be an old wooden door. He reached for the handle to open it, but was surprised when the door handle zapped him in return. Deciding to use force, he attempted to kick the door in, but was thrown backward by a pulse wave from the door. Drake, visibly irritated by the door's antics, withdrew a small device from his cloak and chucked it at the door. When the door tried to defend against the piece of technology, the device exploded, a few splinters being the only thing remaining of the unfortunate portal. Drake grinned and entered the room beyond the now obliterated obstruction, looking around to find what appeared to be a personal office. Bookshelves lined the room and a large wooden desk sat at the far end. There were a handful of books and objects still scattered around the room, a few lying haphazardly on the floor, indicating that the room had been cleared out in a hurry. He picked up a book and started browsing through the strange writings contained within until he heard Weiss' voice screaming for Yang down the hall. "What's going on?" He shouted down the hall, his eyes widening as the ceiling of the room began to glow a strange greenish color. He looked up and saw an array of runes transcribed above him before he was deafened by a loud shrieking noise. He cursed himself for being so careless before grabbing a couple of books and rushing down the hall after Weiss.
Yang and Ikari ran down the hall full speed. This path seemed to stretch on forever, but pretty soon they came to what looked like a threshold into another section leading further on. They entered slowly, finding the walls of the hallway lined with small cubic alcoves. Yang rushed on to the end of the hallway, looking to her left to find her partner and noticing her sister in the alcove across. Yang dropped to her knees next to her faunus lover, shaking the girl and scanning over her body. Blake's clothes were tattered and torn and her body was covered in an array of cuts, burns, and bruises. Weiss came shouting down the hall after them, Ikari gesturing to Ruby's location so Weiss could check on her partner.
"Blake, wake up." Yang whispered softly, shaking the faunus Huntress gently to rouse her from her sleep. Blake's eyes slowly started to open before she jerked back, staring wide eyed in fear at Yang.
"N-n-no, stop, p-please…" Blake whimpered, pressing her body tightly against the wall behind her. "I-I can't take a-anymore…" tears started forming in her eyes.
"Blake, kitten, it's me." Yang whispered gently, reaching out towards the terrified faunus. What have they done to her?! she screamed internally. The girl in front of her was not the fierce and strong faunus warrior that she had known, no, the girl in front of her was a broken shadow of what she once was, tormented to the point where nightmare could no longer be differentiated from reality.
"I-I…" Blake stuttered, flinching as Yang reached out towards her. She cowered up against the wall, unable to escape the blonde in front of her as she felt the hands of the other woman cup her cheek and wrap around her waist. She shut her eyes tightly, about ready to scream against the terror when she felt Yang's lips press into her own. The kiss was warm and gentle, yet still passionate. She felt a warm sensation run through her body and decided to take a chance on this Yang. Maybe it wasn't a nightmare after all…
Weiss dropped to her knees next to her partner, tears streaming down her face. Ruby's clothes were shredded and her body was covered with burns and cuts, some of the cuts even having burns around them. She took the younger Huntress in her arms and gently stroked her cheek.
"Ruby, it's me. Please wake up." Weiss choked out quietly, Ruby beginning to open her eyes. The leader of Team RWBY looked up at Weiss, then to Ikari who was standing behind Weiss before noticing her sister crouched over Blake across the hallway.
"W-Weiss? I-is it really you?" Ruby whispered softly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Of course it's me, y-you dolt." Weiss choked back, embracing Ruby tightly and sobbing.
"Owowowow! Weiss, that hurts!" Ruby whined as her partner disturbed the numerous wounds across her body. The reunions couldn't last long however as Drake ran up behind the group.
"Guys. we gotta move." He huffed out, clearly having been running from something. "I think I tripped some security system and it's causing the hallways to distort." Yang picked Blake up on her back, Drake doing the same for Ruby, and the group ran for the exit of the underground complex. None of them could prepare them for what waited for them outside.
Glynda struggled to keep her mind in check as vivid images of death and destruction flashed through her head. Her stance faltered as the image of Beacon Academy burning to the ground flashed before her eyes. She tried to shut out the influence of her opponent's magic, but to no avail. She dropped to a knee as an image of students lying dead amidst smoldering ruins appeared before her.
"Such a simple thing to be afraid of." The madman chuckled, the crystal on his staff radiating dark energy. "Buildings can be rebuilt, soldiers can be replaced, ideals will never die off. So what makes you so afraid of your precious school being destroyed?"
As the right hand of Beacon's headmaster, Glynda knew exactly why the concept was so terrifying. Hunters train their whole life to learn to defend Remnant against the Grimm that are constantly clawing at the walls of the kingdoms and the shadowy groups that seek to tear them down from within. To destroy Beacon, the most prestigious combat school in Remnant, would be to doom Remnant. The threat to the kingdoms was constant, they didn't have the luxury to have Beacon, and with it an entire generation of future Hunters, destroyed.
Glynda tried to concentrate, sending a shard of ruined metal at her opponent only to have it swatted to the side by a magical pulse wave. The madman approached her and placed the crystal of his staff up against her forehead. The scene that appeared before her was one of utter devastation. Corpses of students and Hunters alike lay amidst the burning ruins of Beacon Academy. She heard sirens in the distance behind her and turned to see Vale in chaos, massive fires in the distance clouding the sky with smoke. She turned back to Beacon, seeing shadowy creatures approaching her from all sides. Numerous Beowolves and Ursi emerged from the smoke and ruins, all of them far larger that they should naturally be, led by a ghostly faceless creature. The specter descended upon her, shoving it's pointed claws through her heart as the Grimm moved in for their prize.
Glynda collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating with sweat dripping out of every pore. Zynetken stood over her, grinning like the madman he was until a crash was heard from the warehouse in the distance, a figure of someone flying out of the building through a wall and slamming into the steel leg of a nearby crane.
Ozpin and Kelas clashed blades once again, the force shattering the concrete floor of the warehouse below them. By this point, Team JNPR had stopped patrolling and decided to watch the fight between their teacher and the God which assaulted their world from within the safety of Jaune's Aura Bubble Shield. Ozpin charged his blade and pushed Kelas back with a wave of aura, the God deflecting the attack to the side after sliding back a short distance before lunging back in with a wild downwards slash. The Headmaster sidestepped, letting Kelas' blade embed itself in the concrete and blocking the follow up punch aimed squarely at his jaw with his arms, the force of the blow throwing him back a few feet. Kelas removed his blade from the concrete and charged his energy into the blade, spinning all the way around and releasing the energy in a horizontal wave, mimicking the aura attacks thrown at him by Ozpin who ducked and deflected the attack into the upper wall of the structure. Following through, Ozpin did a spin himself and released a charged attack vertically from the ground, blasting chunks of concrete at his bloodthirsty opponent.
Kelas charged through the debris, unfazed by the chunks of concrete in his way and slashed repeatedly at Ozpin, forcing him on the defensive. The Huntsman jumped back, charging another attack and executing it with a thrust, Kelas being forced to defend with a black shield sprouting from his arm and being pushed back through multiple steel supports into the far wall of the structure, deflecting the remaining energy of the blast. The God retaliated with a punch, amplified by the black material encasing his arm, strong enough to send a shockwave towards Ozpin, who dodged with the shockwave leaving a gaping hole in the wall behind him. Kelas rushed in, readying a sweeping upwards strike. Ozpin parried, only to find his sword arm being pushed in the air and Kelas' left hand accelerating towards his abdomen. The blow made contact, sending Ozpin hurtling through the wall of the building and into the steel leg of a crane outside.
Drake, Ikari, and Team RWBY emerged from the tunnels just in time to see their former Headmaster and current commander flying through the wall of the warehouse, Kelas following his target through the hole. They saw Team JNPR and Glynda running towards the scene of the battle outside and followed. Ozpin was beat up, stumbling as he recovered from being thrown into the crane. Taking a breath, the Headmaster of Beacon met Kelas' sword with his own yet again, dust being thrown up from the amount of power behind the strikes. They dueled, Ozpin struggling to keep up. In a last ditch attempt, the veteran Huntsman grabbed onto Kelas' shirt, charged his blade with all the energy he had to spare, and thrust it into Kelas' chest. The aura released in a massive blast, leaving a gaping hole in the God's chest and levelling the warehouse behind him. Ozpin's eyes widened as he felt a piercing pain through his own chest as he watched the body of the God in front of him dissolve into black ash.
"NO!" Glynda screamed as she watched Kelas impale Ozpin from behind with a black spike extending from his arm, the madman she had been fighting had disappeared amidst the chaos. Jaune and Ren moved to hold her back, knowing better than to let anyone interfere in such a battle even in its final moments. Weiss dropped to her knees as Pyrrha covered her mouth in shock, Ikari and Nora simply balling their fists in anger while Drake gritted his teeth and Yang growled. Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes and Blake tightened her grip around Yang.
"So this is how my story ends…" Ozpin mused sadly, his left hand moving to the spike piercing through his heart as his sword clattered to the ground.
"You put up a good fight." Kelas stated simply. "In return, I'll leave them a body to bury before they carry on. Every good warrior deserves a proper burial."
"That's very noble for a God of Darkness." The Huntsman joked. "I doubt they'll appreciate the gesture." He looked up at his students, his eyes landing on Glynda. She had always been by his side, supporting him every step of the way and cleaning up after his mistakes.
"You think they'll be able to carry on without you?" The God asked curiously, earning a chuckle from Ozpin.
"What an unusual thing for you to ask." Ozpin said, eyes drifting to the ground in front of him as his vision began to fade. "I couldn't have made them any better than they are now, even if I tried. I'm sure they'll do fine…" He dropped to his knees as the spike retracted from his chest before slumping on to the ground, the last of the light within him flickering out.
Kelas looked over at the remaining Hunters, listening to the sound of Atlas' entire military closing in around him. He closed his eyes and vanished, disappearing into some dark isolated corner of Remnant.
One Week Later...
Glynda wiped the tears from her eyes with her handkerchief as she turned and walked away from the grave of her closest friend, set overlooking the Emerald Forest from the cliffs above. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were waiting for her a few yards away. Ruby and Blake had begun rehabilitation earlier that week, but both were still a bit skittish and quiet.
"What do we do now?" Jaune spoke up first. "We can't just sit here and wait until he attacks again."
"We will hunt him across every corner of Remnant, and we will not stop until we bring him down." Glynda growled, a fierce fire burning in her eyes. "This is war."
The dark energy dispersed as Kelas finished the summoning spell, a humanoid figure fading into view. Half of it's face was jet black with a glowing white eye, the other half bleach white with an eye black as the void. It had no mouth or nose with shaggy black and white hair. It wore a bleach white buttoned up trench coat with black buttons and lining over a pair of black boots and gloves. Upon noticing Kelas, it immediately dropped to one knee and bowed its head in reverence.
"My Lord," it said in an ethereal voice, "what honor it is to be in your presence. What do you require so urgently from a lowly Servitor such as myself that you must summon me directly?"
"It has to do with your transfer," Kelas stated, "as well as your field promotion. You were the Servitor of the 3rd Special Operations Legion, correct?"
The creature looked up in surprise, "Yes, that is I, Muulten of the Two Paths."
"I am transferring you to this world known as Remnant, and I am promoting you to High Servitor of all operations within this world." Kelas stated. "Your task will be to research the native darkness in this universe and learn how to control and manipulate it to our advantage as well as setup and maintain our long term presence here."
"It is an honor, My Lord." Muulten stated. "I gladly accept."