A/N: I have been informed that I have actually been using improper grammar this whole time, via putting a full-stop outside of speech marks instead of in it. I honestly didn't notice until someone pointed it out, I must've been doing it subconsciously. Either way, I aim to fix that - but I may fall back into that damn habit every now and again.

Also, apologies for the late update - my brother passed away a few weeks ago and I couldn't bring myself to write for a bit. Sorry about that, I will try to update more frequently, but life is a little hectic at the moment. He was also a major RWBY fan like myself, so it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, y'know? Sorry about that, I'll try to update more frequently. If anything, we've got about 2-3 more chapters till the end.

I DO NOT OWN RWBY

Chapter 23: Combat

''You sit upon your mighty golden throne, looking down on the world you made. Do not presume you are above me, for I will tear down reality itself to get what I desire, heathen!''

Her fist came down like a hand of god, smashing into the forest ground and immediately rupturing the earth below and around the impact site. Trees were upturned, some thrown while others were reduced to splinters. I merely jumped high into the air to avoid both the attack and the debris, aiming both my guns before firing them right at her face. Surprisingly, she resisted the sheer megatons of power that was behind the blast, instead swiping at me with one of her armoured hands. I dodged with little trouble at the expenditure of my Aura, jumping over the swat and firing multiple smaller and weaker blasts, but making up for it with quantity.

I went low to avoid her next strike, running between her legs while constantly unleashing a barrage of blasts. While her transformation was unexpected, I was completely confident I could win this fight if needed, though I wasn't going to let her get free hits in or anything. She turned as quickly as her massive form would allow, opening her palm and firing a thick orange laser beam at me. I barely managed to dodge out of the way, instantly returning fire with a pair of blue ones that singed her shoulder armour.

I dodged another fist, landing on her arm and running up it, firing straight ahead of me at her face to blind her. A growl came from her lips as she swept her other hand over her arm in an attempt to get me off, but I just jumped over it. I made it to her shoulder and unleashed another volley of blasts to her neck, but it only singed the armour there too. A hand came up and he dodged it, only for the other hand to enter his field of vision, milliseconds away from back-handing him.

He just sighed ''Ow.''

With a loud thwack, he went sent crashing down to earth, skidding across the ground, creating a line of dirt nearly twenty feet long and one foot deep. I grunted as I got back to my feet, calling upon my Aura as it rose around me, making me feel almost weightless. Seraphim watched with what he presumed was curiosity, and rightfully so. He took a breath, feeling his own Aura fill his lungs before he spoke, voice reverberating in the very air.

''Seele Mitteilung.'' He intoned, his very soul coming to bare. He felt a piece of him split off, separating and becoming its own entity. Using his own Aura, he gave the shard a material form, taking the form of his trusty wolf, who howled upon manifestation. I could feel the power coursing through my veins, how my sight had been enhanced, my hearing far better than normal, the scent of burnt grass reaching my nose and the warm sunlight brushing my face. I discarded it all as useless background information, instead focusing my attention on Seraphim.

And slowly, I smiled sadly ''The real hunt begins now, Seraphim.''

Raising his guns, he overcharged them in less than a second, pulling the trigger a half second later. Twin beams of pure, Aura equal to a gigaton of energy. If he hadn't been consciously limiting it, it would've encompassed several miles around them in the energy, but instead he limited it... and in turn, concentrated it. Seraphim didn't stand a chance, the beams cutting straight through her left bicep, severing the arm with palpable ease, the other beam pierced her stomach, marking a clean hole through the armour, even as the flesh began to heal.

''It appears that the Hunter is the survivor.'' I said with a slight modicum of sadness, aiming at her face with deliberate slowness ''I bid you farewell, Seraphim, may you find happiness in another life.''

Pulling the trigger, the beams shot from each gun, piercing her head and destroying her brain. Even after her body fell, he kept firing, disintegrating her body for good measure. Once the deed was done, he sighed, keeping his Seele Mitteilung active as he turned his gaze to where Eien was fighting.

''I'll wait until he needs me.'' I mused quietly, moving in his direction in a slow pace, my wolf tracking beside me, my eternal companion. Distantly, he recalled Eien's words, wise as they were true.

''There are no victors in war, only survivors.''

Eleanor and Risa jumped back, each going a different direction as they avoided the wide slash their opponent had done with his short weapons. Both weren't too badly hurt, but their Aura had taken a fair beating in the fight. Their opponent had not gotten away unscathed either though, bearing multiple chunks of armour missing due to Risa's acidic attacks and Eleanor swift attacks.

Their opponent in question was a young-looking man dressed in what one might presume was a fashionable black business suit, had it not been it was as hard as titanium and too solid to be a suit. His hair was a simple black that was slicked back, crimson eyes staring at them. In his hands were a pair of curved scimitars with silver handles, sharp enough to cut through their Aura. Much like Risa, he had a very snake-like personality, apparently because he was originally a Viper Grimm, funnily enough. Albus was his name.

''Getting real tired of your shit, Albus.'' Risa scowled faintly, generating a ball of acid in her right palm.

''And I with your disrespectful attitude, Risa.'' He retorted smoothly, his tone having an apparently ever-present condescending undertone to it.

''Tch, asshole.'' She muttered disdainfully, chucking the acid at him half-heartedly, even as he casually side-stepped it. Eleanor charged in from the side, twirling her Sai's fluidly and swinging at Albus. He didn't even turn to look at her as he raised his own blades, Sai clashing against Scimitar. Risa sprinted in while he was occupied, flicking her wrists and withdrawing a pair of unassuming black daggers from her sleeves. She lashed out with them at Albus, yet at the very last second he took a slight step back, angled his body a touch - the result being her attack missing entirely.

It was, essentially, like fighting Neo - all dodging and counterattacks but weaker direct attacks.

Which was bad, because neither of them were particularly good at fighting Neo, since they were both more suited to fighting weaker opponents. Risa was better for stealth and Eleanor's chances of victory increased the more she got hurt, for lack of better phrase. That in itself was a problem, as her Semblance required her to be injured, or for her opponent to be sufficiently bleeding if she activated her Seele Mitteilung, but Grimm rarely bled in the first place and Albus was no exception, lacking any form of actual blood. Hence, Eleanor was unable to manipulate it, leaving her own blood as her only trump card.

She unleashed another flurry of jabs and slashes, but he swiftly dodged a majority of them, the ones that did hit doing little damage while he kept Eleanor occupied with his hands. Thus annoyed, Risa opened her mouth and gathered her Aura there, a trick that she had learnt from Eien. Albus only fully realised what she intended to do less than a second before she did so, which was not enough time to dodge.

Like Jaeger's weapon, a beam of condensed Aura shot forth from her mouth like a laser beam, acidic in nature and the colour of her Aura. It struck him on the shoulder, burning and corroding his shoulder before it pierced through his armour, driving a hole in his shoulder. Albus glared, thus distracted long enough for Eleanor to break the deadlock in their weapons, unleashing a precise blur of slashes onto his back, chipping away at a good chunk of his armour in doing so.

Growling, Albus did a swift spin, weapons aimed at them as an acidic venom not unlike Risa's formed, spitting at them and forcing them back. Risa jumped over Albus, punching him in the face as she did so and landing with Eleanor off to the side, both ready for an offensive that never came. Albus, if anything, just looking pissed off by the damage down, yet did not speak, nor act, only stared.

''You're totally not being creepy.'' Risa said flatly, but her taunt elicited no response, which didn't exactly make her feel good about his sudden silence ''Eleanor?''

''Mm'' The doll-like girl hummed in her usual monotone ''I believe I should go with the Bloodletting Tactic.''

Risa frowned faintly. Bloodletting was a named tactic that Eleanor exclusively had been taught and used, as it was directly linked to her Semblance. It involved her intentionally getting hurt, risking a lot of damage to her in exchange for the excessive blood she bled to be used by her Semblance, Blood Manipulation. The more blood she had to use, the stronger she could technically be, especially since it enhanced her healing abilities.

''You sure you can take it?'' She murmured, looking at the expressionless girl out of the corner of her eye.

''Yes. I'm the first Spirit to exist, I have to set an example.'' Eleanor's tone took on a surprising competitive tone, a faint smirk tugging at her lips when she saw Risa's stunned expression ''I can't let Homura upstage me yet, can I?''

Risa blinked once, twice, then smirk ''Heh. If your like this more often, you and I are gonna be a lot closer.''

''I'll keep that in mind.'' Eleanor nodded, back to her emotionless state, but the competitive edge was now an undertone to her voice. She took off in a sprint, using her Aura to assist her speed as she approached. Metal clashed against metal as her Sai blocked both of Albus's Scimitars, her other Sai coming up and slashing vertically up his torso, her shoulder ramming into his chest in an attempt to make him stumble. However he was sturdier than anticipated, taking the blow with little more than a grunt before his blades came down on her, slashing into her shoulders and making spurts of blood shoot out, just as Eleanor had wanted, even if it did hurt like hell.

The blood froze in motion, static for less than half a second before it sharpened, darting at Albus's face and upper torso, piercing his armour and digging into his skin like thousands of miniscule knives. Risa appeared behind Eleanor, uncloaking from her invisibility as she held a large wavering ball of acidic poison in both hands. She threw it, spraying the front of the acidic poison in the wound and making Albus growl in pain, even as he dug his blades deeper into Eleanor's shoulders, hitting bone.

Eyes flashing in an emotion akin to anger, Risa unleashed a flurry of blows to his face, fists literally blurring as her Aura-enhanced blows brought wrath upon him. Three seconds passed and a total of fifty blows were thrown. On the fourth, she began throwing miniature sprays of acid, further enhancing her damage opponent. After ten seconds she ended her assault, rearing back both fists as her Aura swirled around them along with a mass of acid before she slammed both fists wrist-to-wrist into his collar, an loud thud echoing throughout their battlefield as a solid hole imploded in his collar, the air rippling around the point of contact before his body was violently thrown back, smashing down nearly a dozen trees as he was sent flying.

Both Eleanor and Risa fell to their knees, the former because of the deep gorges in her shoulders and the latter from the massive drain such a technique cost her. The two were left panting heavily as they recovered as best they could.

''I was not aware... that you were capable... of performing the technique.'' Eleanor breathed out, wincing as she used her Semblance to create a covering of skin over the wounds, sealing them off but not stopping the pain. Her Aura was less protective than a normal persons, instead being more oriented to heal her, which would happen before long.

''Yeah... haven't got anywhere near mastering it, but I can use it... without breaking my arms...'' Risa panted, hands smoking slightly from the attack. It focused on bringing forth a large sum of Aura and running it up and down the arms to increase the speed and power of her blows, which was what was responsible for her incredible hit time, but it meant that the only way to stop was to unleash all the remaining Aura in a single, powerful blow. As she had just witnessed, it was clearly capable of punching a hole through even high-level Grimm's armour, the additional acid limiting the regeneration ability of the Grimm.

Risa looked up, waiting for her opponent to retaliate, only to blink in surprise when she saw the upper-half of his torso, no life in his eyes as his form slowly deteriorated ''Huh... that blow killed him.''

Eleanor looked up from the ground, blinking in surprise ''You are correct... I was not aware... that the attack was so strong.''

''Neither was I...'' Risa murmured, grunting as she stood up fully, extending a hand to Eleanor with a wide smirk ''C'mon, we've still got work to do.''

Eleanor breathed out a puff of air, distant amusement dancing behind her blank stare ''Indeed.''

Aria jumped back with the assistance of her Aura, dodging a literal hail of feathers that swarmed down at her, splintering the trees around her. She generated her Semblance's energy, forming them into a pair of tomahawks and threw them up at her airborne opponent. Kindle landed near to her, thrusting her wrists forward as balls of flames shot up at him. Their opponent, a Nevermore Grimm-Human, was quick to activate a technique akin to their Seele Mitteilung, granting him wings that were attached to his arms, crimson eyes staring down at them.

''This guy... is a pain in the ass.'' Kindle grunted, standing up and wincing as her side continued to bleed from where she was caught unawares earlier on.

''You can say that again.'' Aria murmured, forming a javelin and chucking it up at him, mostly to distract him. It detonated at her command, engulfing him in a cloud of dark blue smoke, even if it likely did little to no damage.

''You got a plan?'' Kindle asked hopefully.

''Eh... lets go with Kerosene.'' Aria smirked as she brought her Aura to bear ''You up for it?''

''Hell yeah.'' Kindle returned the smirk as her own Aura became visible, wisps of flames dancing around her body. The heat around them increased rapidly, the grass below them drying out and even burning up, the heat so hot it couldn't even catch fire.

''Seele Mitteilung!'' They cried as their Aura exploded outwards away from them. Kindle's flames turned a midnight black, roaring loudly as her eyes switched colour and wings of flames spawned behind her. Aria's fox features became more apparent and wings of energy formed behind her, her newly-born tail swishing in eager anticipation.

With a burst of Aura, Aria leapt high and to eye-level with their opponent, Agualia. She contorted her energy into a massive hammer, wielding it with ease and she swung at him. Silently, Agualia dodged to the side, the beating of his wings loud in their ears. Without delay Aria began twirling the weapon around, jumping on nigh-invisible platforms of her own Aura as she rapidly dealt out attacks that the silent Grimm-Human did nothing to counter. Part of her was annoyed by this, but the more logical part of her - that had been instilled by Eien during their more recent training sessions - told her that she should take advantage of his ignorance.

She swung again, missing him by a fraction, until she let go of her hammer and let the momentum guide it. Taken aback by this, Agualia couldn't dodge in time before it exploded dead-centre, though did little actual damage aside from knocking him back. That was one of the flaws of her power; her attacks, even sharp swords, lacked much if any penetration power due to their energy nature, meaning armoured foes were troublesome for her. Kindle was a little better off because she could burn them at the same time, but that also meant she had to get close, given her flames died off after a certain distance.

However, Kerosene was a tactic that would solve that.

She jumped back to clear some distance between them and she wasn't surprised when he didn't press the attack, given the fact he hadn't' done that so far. She held out her right hand and drew upon the power of the Semblance, forming it to her whim. The flames extended and grew to a massive degree, transforming into an absolutely giant javelin that rivalled the size of Doran's Aura Giant. She was above Agualia in terms of current height, though he was bobbing up and down as he flapped his wings. She grunted as she moved the absolutely massive javelin before stabbing it downwards, completely missing Agualia as it stabbed into the ground.

Agualia shot her an unimpressed look, which she retorted with a wide grin as Kindle's black flames lurched and ignited the bottom of her javelin from ground-level. Like the tactic 'Kerosene' suggested, the whole weapon went up like a match, igniting into a raven-black pole of imminent doom. She hissed as her hand burned from the devouring flames, but since a fraction of her power was in there it would naturally refuse to extensively harm her, even if it did hurt. She let her power flow through her veins, hissing through clenched teeth as she felt them ignite too. All part of the plan.

Agualia, whether it was because he sensed her distracted state or because he merely got bored, flew towards her with his clawed hand raised, his form gliding through the air. She raised her palms towards him, one eye closed as she felt the searing heat in her veins reach new heights as they flowed to her wrist. Like twin flamethrowers an expulsion of two jets of raven-black flames shot out of the arteries on her wrists, coating his whole form in less than a second. She didn't stop letting the energy flames flow out until she felt her Aura reserves dry up along with her blood slowly failing to regenerate, indicating she should stop lest she face a rather painful end.

It was good most of Kindle's flames no longer remain in her veins, as she forced her Aura to seal the wounds and let whatever energy remained dissipate at the cost of deactivating her Seele Mitteilung, making a wave of exhaustion hit her. She descended to ground level, panting before she fell to her knees, arms behind her as she held herself upright. A crash a dozen feet in front of her drew her attention, revealing the source of the crash to be Agualia's body, a panting Kindle standing atop it, fists bloody.

''He dead?'' Aria panted.

''Yep.'' Kindle grinned lopsidedly, walking off his burning corpse ''C'mon, we've got more assholes to kill.''

Aria laughed lightly ''If we walk away today with anything less than a missing limb, I'd count this as a win.''

''I hear ya.''

All across Forever Fall, his Spirits fought against their Grimm-like opponents. His Spirits were on the mostly victorious side, taking wounds but still managing to slay their foes with ruthless assaults. His own opponent, Salem, proved to be more powerful than he originally anticipated, given her masterful skill in wielding the double-bladed Naginata.

I grunted as I blocked another block, both hands on my sword to enhance the power behind my blows. I pushed her back, moving in at a low ankle and bringing my unnamed blade up in a wide sweeping attack. She easily blocked the attack with the shaft of her weapon, spinning it around and lashing out with several rapid jabs that forced me to back up lest I get impaled. Again.

I removed my left hand from my sword, pointing my palm out towards her as my Aura rushed through my arm. A crimson Sigil appeared beneath her before it exploded upwards in a violent torrent of fire. Salem charged through it, parts of her robe and skin slightly burned but little else. I teleported away from her strike, appearing above her and aiming an axe kick down on her. She grabbed my ankle before it could make contact, swinging me around and hurling me towards the trees. I tapped into Chrystal's Semblance, halting my kinetic force and softening my blow before shooting back towards Salem.

I let a portion of my Aura flow into my sword before I swung it, creating a massive shockwave when I clashed with her. She skidded back and I pressed the advantage, coming in low with an upward slash before sending a rapid series of jabs at her. Despite the advantage, she succeeded in blocking almost all of them, a scant few jabs only doing minimal damage. I summoned another Sigil beneath her, this one of ice that creating a vertical pillar of ice that should've encased her, had she not jumped to the side at the last second. My lips twitched downward in annoyance as I summoned my scythe, Judgement, and held it in my free hand.

No words were passed before we flew at each other once again. With double the weapons as before I went on the offensive, focusing on the number of attacks opposed to the actual damage. I twirled, jabbed, slashed, hacked, I pulled out every move I had as I assaulted the witch. Its effectiveness showed as I landed more hits, but they seemed to annoy her more than anything. She twirled her Naginata and knocked me back and I suddenly found myself on the defensive, Salem's ferocity showing as she let out multiple jabs before switching to quick but deadly slashes.

Soon one of the attacks got through my defence, piercing my left shoulder and throwing me away. I flipped in the air and managed to hand on my feet, wincing at the fresh wound but putting it to the back of my mind for now. My Aura gathered around me, drawing upon Nein's from within the dimension in my soul, focusing, sharpening, becoming stronger.

''Seele Mitteilung.'' I murmured as the 'X' shaped wings burst to life behind me, a visible sign that the soul enhancement was active. I felt all of my senses sharpen, the weapons in my hands almost trembling with power. I teleported behind her, lashing out with a wide arc with my sword, only to meet the shaft of her weapon. I growled in annoyance and quickly attacked with a flurry of complex manoeuvres. My enhanced reflexes, strength and speed showed as I landed multiple strikes on her, but at the same time she seemingly upped her game and landed an equal amount of hits on me. My sword brushed past her cheek and she growled, a sudden burst of icy Aura knocking me back.

I flipped using my scythe, landing in a position ready to fight. Salem didn't press her immediate advantage, instead her whole body glowed a mix of icy teal and virus purple-black. She floated a few feet off the ground, glaring at me as the wind picked up, storm clouds gathering above us and thunder booming in the distance, drowning out the sound of the fighting that warred between his Spirits and Salem's own creations.

My lips thinned ''So my earlier presumptions were correct... you're the Winter Maiden.''

''Of course.'' Salem merely said, glaring before swinging her arm in a wide arc, sending down a hailstorm of ice spikes. I lifted two fingers from the shaft of my weapon and pointed them forward, summoning a Force Sigil with palpable ease. The spikes struck the semi-solid energy and exploded on contact, the Sigil acting as a shield before I activated it, letting the remaining spikes to fly back towards Salem. She scoffed, jerking her wrist as a flash of light approached me. Instinct from training with Death saved me as I jumped to the side, barely avoiding being struck by lightning.

Another flash of light from above and I teleported a few feet away, hissing as I felt the intense heat that came off the bolt. I teleported again just in time to avoid another bolt before I lunged towards Salem, covering the distance in seconds. I raised my scythe in preparation to strike when a flash caught my attention, prompting me to dodge... then realise my error.

My muscles locked up and my whole body went into spasms as the lightning was attracted to my scythe in particular, the intense voltage of electricity nigh-burning me alive had it not been for my Aura and Life's Mark healing me immediately. It ended after a scant few seconds, but it took another few seconds for me to even coherently realise it had ended. I didn't get a chance to fully gain my bearings as a strong gust of wind crashed into my torso, sending me flying backwards into the ground, cracking a rib or two. Regeneration will take a few minutes to heal that.

''Why... why did you come out here?'' I asked between heavy pants, wincing as I stood up. One bolt, that was all it took to bring me to my knees. Granted, my Aura reserves were still in the yellow area, but that wouldn't last long at this rate. Sigils and SchattenSchritt cost a fair amount of Aura to perform, not to mention Aura-based techniques. Not to mention the cost of using my Spirits' Semblances were quite costly. With that in mind, I silently let my Seele Ernten summon and crawl out of my back, the light-like beam going into the ground, slowly sapping it of its life force and restoring my Aura, however slowly.

''I am not such a fool as to inform you of my plans, Eien Haizen.'' Salem intoned as she raised her palm to the sky, a ball of fire forming, slowly growing.

''Then I'll just have to make you tell me.'' I grinned slightly as I called upon my power, summoning a large lightning Sigil and immediately activating it. Salem's eyes went wide moments before she was engulfed in a forest of lightning bolts that came from below, nearly blinding me. The cost of the technique at such a wide area drained a good chunk of my Aura, forcing me to deactivate it. Without waiting for a moment I used SchattenSchritt to appear in front of the slightly-dazed Salem and swapped my Semblance with Kindle's, letting my right fist - the one with the sword - caught alight with blackened flames.

I couldn't help but smirk as I punched Salem in the face, enjoying the sickening crack I got from it. I followed up with a swift sweep of my sword along her torso and would've followed up with another had it not been for the sudden gust of wind that blew me back. A wind Sigil waited for me and I was sent shooting back toward Salem, swinging in a wide arc at her with Judgement. Her hand abruptly shot up and grabbed Judgement by the part of the shaft just below the blade before yanking, displaying monstrous strength as she snapped the weapon's head from its body.

Her elbow came down and bashed into my temple, partially blinding me as she punched my in the throat, a dozen spears of ice piercing my chest and abdomen. I fell back to ground level and my instincts screamed a warning, prompting me to haphazardly teleport a dozen feet back, still with spots in my vision and gasping for air. As I landed I fell to one knee, oxygen filling my lungs once more as my throat opened up again and the spots faded from my vision with the assistance of my Aura. I glanced up and tensed as I saw Salem near, Naginata poised to pierce me.

Before she could, her eyes widened and my own widened in tandem as I detected another presence enter the clearing. Kindle came flying from the right, foot ablaze with blackened flames as the appendage crashed into the side of Salem's head, sending her flying back. I smiled as I felt my other Spirits converge on the location, some sooner than others, but all of them making there way here. With a grunt of pain, I stood up, letting my Regeneration take hold and begin mending my wounds at the cost of my Aura. Salem stood across from me, eyes narrowed as she likely sensed this too.

''Its over, Salem.'' I taunted, trying to get my breathing under control as I tightened my grip on my remaining weapon.

''I'm afraid not.'' She sneered haughtily ''It isn't over until I say it is.''

''Oh?'' I said with narrowed eyes, even as the majority of my Spirits congregated around the massive patch of open ground me and Salem had created. I watched as Salem floated in the air slightly, that same purple-black Aura rising off her skin once more.

''I do believe you children need to put in your place.'' She intoned as her Aura suddenly went haywire like electricity, violently sparking and bolts of blackened energy shooting around her. Slowly it formed into a pseudo-vortex, roaring and viciously hissing like a congregation of animals. A gentle gust of wind blew by and sound became inaudible for just a moment, allowing me to hear her words.

''Jumon: Majo.''

The vortex of twisted energy screeched as it surrounded her completely, kicking up enough for force to nearly knock me off my feet had it not been for a gravity Sigil. The vortex trembled before exploding like a grenade, raindrops of energy scattering across the open space, burning the ground like acid. Their Aura protected them, but it stung when it did their exposed flesh. A dark haze covered the forest, as if a fog had landed, but it faded soon enough and allowing me to see Salem.

She hadn't changed much, surprisingly. No physical changes, no additional limbs or Auric appendages, nothing. On the subject of her weapon however, it was no longer the double-ended Naginata, instead it was a simple straight sword that looked similar to a katana, although without the slight curve a katana had. Its blade was black with a stripe of grey down the middle of the blade on both sides, the hilt gold with a rich-red ruby in the centre. Obviously, there was more than meets the eye with the weapon, unfortunately.

''Great... just great...'' I murmured irritably - this changed things, majorly ''Gin, Juha - I need you to-''

I froze as a squelching sound came from my left and my head snapped to the side, my eyes widening at the sight. Salem stood before Kindle, her sword impaled through Kindle's throat. Terror shone brightly in her eyes as she instinctively tried to grasp at the blade, only ending up cutting her fingers. With a swift slash, Salem severed her head, letting her corpse collapse beneath her. It snapped me out of my stunned state as rage flared and I teleported to her right side, katana already swinging in a wide arc towards her side.

''Hmph.'' Salem just huffed as she spun, raising her own blade and blocking my own with a deafening bang. She shoved me back with sudden strength and swung her own blade in an arc towards me, leaving no chance for me to escape and forcing me to raise my own blade to block it. They clashed and another loud clang ensued, my blade snapping in half from the point of impact and hitting me with a massive wave of concussive force, sending me skidding back. My chest felt heavy, like my chest would've caved in if not for my Aura.

''Bitch!'' A cry came from Aria as several weapons composed of her Semblance-based energy. Salem wasn't even effected when they hit her, merely smirking before she vanished. Another cry, a pained one, came from Aria as the sword pierced her chest, clearly hitting her right lung. Doran lunged from behind, swinging his blade down in a wide arc, but Salem caught the blade with her bare hand, snapping it on a whim before lashing out with her own weapon, the dying Aria falling to the floor. Doran's armour barely saved his life, though gained a large gash down the front of the metallic armour.

It was like a relapse of Nein's mutation.

I grit my teeth before collectively deactivating the undetectable Sigils that kept the Spirits within the physical world. They all let out cries of surprise as they were sucked into a Sigil and I tuned out their voices or cries of protest. Alone I faced Salem, who didn't outright attack me, instead giving me that same condescending smirk as she turned to face me.

''Interesting. You possess the ability to revive them, yet instead force their retreat?''

I scoffed ''I won't let them die for nothing.''

I held out my left arm, closing my eyes as I felt the resounding power within me. I let the power flow through my veins and up to my arm before letting it loose. Skin tore and flaked away, muscles were ripped and shredded, bones broken and disintegrated. I restrained any noises of pain that came from having my arm literally torn to shreds and only when it was over did I allow myself a very brief reprieve.

''I will not allow you to harm those close to me... not now, not ever.'' I intoned, glaring at her as I felt the power take hold ''Seele Glied.''

Purple Aura burst out of my arm socket, rapidly gathering and forming. An arm that was slightly longer and bulkier than my actual arm formed, made from the very light of my soul. The fingers were more claw-like and the whole limb was electrical in appearance, with jagged and slightly pulsating edges and arcs of energy dancing across it. Nowhere near its true form, unfortunately.

''This is not its complete form, nowhere near it, I'm afraid.'' I informed blankly as I hastily got used to the strange feeling of the limb ''But I will still bring about your end, Salem. Sooner or later.''

She raised an eyebrow, even as I summoned another sword ''Do you seriously believe that will help you?''

''I do.'' I nodded before disappearing into a usage of SchattenSchritt, appearing behind her in a crouch. I lunged at her with my newly-remade sword, predictably ending in a clash with her. With incredible speed she lashed out towards me and I caught the blade with my new limb and attacked back with a vertical slash, narrowly missing her. She growled and tore her blade from my grip before suddenly stabbing it into the ground. I only got a slight rumbling as warning before the ground suddenly caved in, forcing me to teleport out of its reach.

When my body materialised I was suddenly assaulted by her once more, her blow strong enough to shatter my blade once more and knock me back, even though I blocked it. I summoned an Ice Sigil and a pillar of ice formed between myself and Salem, yet I found myself flying towards said pillar as I was struck from behind. I flipped and softened my impact, instead running vertically up the pillar to escape Salem's reach. The pillar cracked and shattered as she apparently struck the bottom, letting me jump off it. As I arced through the air I was suddenly very aware of gravity being increased massively before I impacted the ground and created a small crater.

I got to my feet, only to let out a pained grunt as I felt her sword pierce my torso several times in a handful of seconds, striking multiple organs, not that it would matter in the long run. I turned, dragging the impaling blade further through my torso, and grabbed her wrist with my new limb, digging the clawed fingers into her skin. She narrowed her eyes at me before I summoned a Sigil beneath us, glowing a toxic green and flaming red. It exploded and I was partially blinded by the burning ivory colour that was produced, my Aura barely protecting me against the searing heat.

I was knocked back out of the flames, immediately being rewarded with a diagonal slash down my already-bleeding torso. I glanced around for a sightline on Salem and caught her coming in from my side, fast as Ruby on a sugar high. I spun around and caught her blade with my energy hand, tightening my grip as to prevent her from retreating. She glared and I returned the glare as my free hand was ignited in putrid black flames, Death's Mark glowing fiercely.

I teleported behind her and swung, fist crashing into her upper back. She let out a pained screech as I conveyed all of the power within the marking into my strike, sending the godly power into her soul with a spear from hell. Despite the rather ridiculous amount of killing power that was contained within the marking, Salem did not perish, something I grimly expected due to the fact she was - as far as I knew - in possession of the Winter Maiden's powers, thus making her unkillable via the power of the gods.

Just his luck.

She abruptly spun, face twisted into an angry grimace as she slashed me across the chest, the force behind the blow enough to make my bones groan in pain, my Aura already below 25% if he had to guess. I flew back a few dozen feet before I could skid to a stop, but was struck in my left side and thrown once more. I teleported two dozen feet in the air, falling to the ground and clashing with Salem once more with my recreated sword. The blade groaned as it struggled to fight against the massive power that Salem wielded, yet didn't break. Yet.

I ducked under her attack and swung but she intercepted the blade with her hand, grabbing it and snapping the metal blade with apparent ease, even if her palm did bleed from the act. I jumped back and summoned another sword, raising it just in time to block a strike that instantly shattered the blade, leaving me with naught but a hilt.

Summoning several thunder Sigils around me, I activated them, causing a literal storm of lightning bolts to arc upwards from the semi-solid constructs. Salem weaved passed each bolt and I narrowed my eyes in frustration as I summoned another sword along with my scythe. This was ridiculous, the notion that all my training up until now was not enough? How the hell was she so strong?!

''Fool.'' She intoned, blade coming up in a low, sweeping vertical arc. I stepped to the side to avoid it and jabbed out with a thrust which she deflected with the back of her palm, returning the gesture with a wide horizontal swing. Our weapons were about equal in length, which was at least a silver lining to this shitstorm. I dodged back with the assistance of a wind Sigil, jumping into a roll to avoid several swift jabs from her blade. I threw Judgement at her, using Jaeger's Retina Telekinesis to alter its flight path and smash into Salem's side. I gathered Aura in my now-free hand and condensed it into an orb, thrumming with power.

I let the condensed ball of Aura fire like a laser towards Salem, who merely dodged out of the way. Upon impact it exploded into a literal dome of purple energy, hissing and thrumming with raw power. Salem burst out of the dome, wisps of purple energy clinging to her form as she glared at me before she literally vanished. My lips thinned as I waited for her to reappear, which she did a split-second later behind me. I spun, but her blade was faster and sliced straight through my right and remaining human arm, earning a pained growl from me. My vision faded to black as I used SchattenSchritt to transport me a hundred metres to the left, likely giving me only a handful of seconds until my time was up and she was back on me.

My regeneration ability was working overtime to stem the blood flow and heal the wounds that my opponent inflicted, far beyond what a normal persons Aura could do. I hissed as I felt bone and muscle form out of subatomic particles, growing and stitching together, skin flaking over it until my arm was fully regrown. I didn't have any time to check if it was in working order due to the fact Salem was on me once more, swinging her blade down at me.

I jumped back, but this proved to be a mistake as a nigh-invisible wave of kinetic force passed over me, a few ribs creaking in my chest and I swore I heard one shatter to dust. I skidded to a stop and practically stumbled out of her next attack, unable to raise my blade in time to block her next attack, earning a deep gash across my collarbone. I raised my inhuman arm and grasped her blade in my hand, lashing out with my sword, aiming for her face. She merely ducked her head out of the way, although I did get a nick across her cheek. She fought back with a knee to my injured stomach, knocking the breath out of me and the lapse in concentration was long enough for her to tear her blade from my gasp and stab it through my chest.

Pain flared as I felt it pierce my lung, my right one if I was feeling it right. She tore the blade out and I stumbled back, breathing suddenly so much harder to do as I fell down onto one knee, my regeneration finally beginning to lag behind, though that was far from a good thing. I heard Salem's footfalls stop only a foot or two from me, prompting me to look up into that same condescending smirk she had worn for most of the fight, my Seele Mitteilung dispersing into wisps of energy from lack of Auric support.

''How pitiful.'' She mocked disdainfully ''And here I thought that you'd be more of a challenge. You were mildly amusing, but far from challenging. To think Ozpin balanced all his hopes on you and Ruby Rose... how shameful.''

Black crept in from the corners of my vision, slowly creeping over the rest of them. I wasn't about to pass out now, and the briefest of bodily and spiritual checks deemed that wasn't the cause of the darkness. Puzzled, I could only idly listen to Salem's victory speech as she went on a tangent of some kind. Just as her voice died down, as if she was finished, did I hear a new, yet familiar voice.

''Its party time.''

'Oh for fucks sakes.'

Silence filled the Forever Fall forest, only interrupted by the idle sounds of nature and the heavy panting of Eien and lighter panting of Salem. Then all of a sudden, the heavy panting stopped. Salem narrowed her eyes at the now-still form of Eien, sensing he was still alive and something was occurring within is soul. A technique perhaps? His transformed arm was now gone, replaced by a normal human arm.

Abruptly his arm shot up, sword in hand as it raced towards her with great speed. She swiftly stepped back out of his reach and tilted to the side to avoid the sword when he threw it, but the nagging suspicion in the back of her mind warned her that it was more of a feint than anything. Yet, he did not press the attack. Yet.

The boy stood up, stabbing the sword into the ground as he pushed himself to his feet. The sound of cracking bone and tearing flesh reached her ears as his cloak fell off his person, torn to shreds. Bone sprouted out of his shoulders like spears before melting, falling over his shoulders and hardening once more. More liquid bone sprouted out of his skin all over as his body went into spasms, changing.

Pauldrons of bone formed over his shoulders, guiding up to a collar of bone on his neck, a curved spike coming out of each pauldron. Gauntlets of bone formed in place of the metals once he once wore, ending at his elbows. Spiked bone armouring grew over his kneecaps and below, creating protection for his lower legs while a thick chestplate of bone formed, protecting his whole torso. In the places where no armour had grown was a ivory-white fur, inconspicuous had it not looked so much like the Grimm. Over his face grew a helmet akin to a demon with horns protruding from the sides of its temples, pointed forward.

The demonic, almost Grimm-like form of Eien stood up, bright purple eyes glaring from behind the helmet. Salem narrowed her eyes and raised her blade in preparation for an attack, which did not go unwarranted. In a heartbeat he was suddenly upon her, clearing the distance and swinging out with his now-clawed gauntlet hand.

''Tch.'' She sounded and batted the plain attack away with the flat of her blade, ducking under his follow-up jab with his other hand. She lashed out with a curt swing of her sword, but he made the slightest of adjustments for the blade to pass by his armour unaffected. His body shifted slightly before an overhead karate chop came down towards her shoulder and she took a step back, just enough to be out of reach of the oncoming attack.

So it was quite the surprise when she saw the jet-black katana cut into her shoulder, a weapon that he had not been wielding a moment ago.

'When did he summon that?' She thought incredulously.

She had no time to dwell on that thought as another jab with his claws came in for her stomach. She took repeated, calculated steps back to avoid the rapid jabs with his hand, waiting for an opening. She found one a moment later as he just jabbed out, leaving him open. She tilted her head so the claws passed by her face and attacked with a wide swing, cutting through his bone armour and drawing blood. A furious, screeching roar came from the demon above her, so loud that she winced from the sound that left a dull ringing in her ears. However in her moment of faint distraction, he attacked.

The pommel of the sword bashed on her temple, stunning her and making her stumble a step back before he swung in a wide arc, scoring a deep slash across her torso. The pain snapped her out of her stunned state and she growled, retaliating even with the spots in her vision. Her blade created a gash on his shoulder, digging in but not enough to draw blood. His knee smashed into her stomach, the curved spike piercing her skin and igniting a flare of pain. She growled and jabbed down with her blade in a thrust, piercing his armour and stabbing the blade through his kneecap. A piercing howl met her response and she hastily backed off, her Aura already beginning to heal her stomach.

''Do not underestimate me, child.'' She snapped scornfully as lightning boomed overhead before striking down in a crooked arc, striking him. To her fury however, the thunder did not do as much damage internally, possibly due to the bone armour being resistant to it. She crafted and called upon a swarm of frozen spears of ice, hurtling them towards the currently immobile target. They rained upon him and his armour held up, so she eventually gave up after ten continuous seconds of it to conserve energy.

The sound of ripping flesh and snapping bone once again reached her ears as he morphed once more. Grimly curious, she did not attack and instead waited to see what mutation would occur next. The boy hunched over and snarled as the bone plating on his back cracked, then shattered as a pair of large black wings sprouted out of his shoulder blades. They began flapping and the boy became airborne, if only by twenty feet as he glared down at her, armour already restoring itself to pristine condition and kneecap seemingly back to working condition.

His bony jaw unhinged as a ball of purple, concentrated Aura formed. It thrummed with energy before, with the slightest twitches of his jaw muscles, the ball distorted and fired like a laser beam. She narrowed her eyes and raised the flat of the blade towards the beam, letting it impact against her weapon. The beam wrestled against her in a contest of sheer power, pushing her back almost a dozen feet even after she dug her feet into the ground. Soon however her sword was able to absorb the energy from the beam, collecting it and condensing it within the blade, making it thrum and glow purple. The boy watched silently as she began to spin her weapon with one hand, nimble fingers slowly increasing the speed of which the sword spun until it was nothing more than a blurring buzz-saw.

She abruptly stopped, catching the weapon by its hilt and slashing in front of her, sending a massive wave of purple energy at Eien. With a deafening screech the wave of power cut through his armour and the right side of his body, severing his arm and wing, barely missing his leg. With the sudden lack of balance and lack of a wing, his armoured body corkscrewed and crashed into the ground, kicking up a bunch of dirt.

She smiled sharply and began approaching the foolish child, who was beginning to get back up again, the missing wing already regenerating with a disgusting gel-like fluid. The arm came next, bubbling and cracking as his sprouted a new arm as a plant would sprout a new leaf. She closed the distance in a heartbeat between them, ducking past his reflexive punch and stabbing her sword into his throat. She smiled as the blade met little resistance and popped out the other end, severing his spinal cord also. Victory was hers, she was sure of it.

So she was understandably surprised when his purple eyes glowed brightly before she was suddenly propelled backwards, almost tumbling back from the sudden telekinetic force that struck her. She righted herself but was immediately struck across the face with a clawed fist, followed by a knee to the stomach and an uppercut to the chin, sending her further back from her original position. She growled and glared back at the glowing purple eyes of her opponent, which narrowed when the now-airborne Eien suddenly turned tail and flew in the other direction.

''You aren't getting away from me...!'' She growled under her breath as she extended and hand, flicking her wrist and calling down a bolt of lightning. It phased through the area where he was, yet she didn't feel it connect with her opponent. The faint distortion of wind behind her made her eyes widen before a clawed hand grabbed the side of her head, pulling her off her feet as he smashed her into a tree, then another, and another and another. Her vision blurred as she was smashed through tree after tree with the claws digging into her skull. He finished off his little run by throwing her into a cliff-face, smashing her body into it and collapsing it onto her.

She hissed in pain and hastily got up at the first available opportunity. A bright light from above warned her of incoming danger, but she was too slow to dodge. A harsh beam of purple energy came crashing down on her, exploding into a wide dome of sheer power. It burned at her skin, ate away at her Aura, threatened to suffocate her under its might, yet she did not fall. She would not fall. She refused to fall when so close to her goal.

She forced herself back to her feet, her glare withstanding the onslaught of power. She had enough. She had been pushed around too much in this battle alone, reminded too much of her past self, one who was strewn across battlefields by her enemies. She was no longer that pathetic girl. She was stronger, and she would make sure this demonic malformation of Eien Haizen knew that.

''Enough!'' She snapped verbally. Snow began falling at a quickened rate, the already-dark skies darkening to black as hailstones began to rain down. The wind picked up significantly, or at least more than it was prior. It all built up, locking the two within a swirling vortex of snow and ice as sharp as a sword, preventing either of them from leaving. The heightened winds prompted Eien to drop to ground level, since he was unable to fly. He charged her and she waited until he got close before she struck. Dumping a good chunk of her available energy into it, a massive voltage condensed into a single bolt of lightning, striking down with a thunderous echo as Eien's skeleton became visible for a good seven seconds.

When the lightning ceased, Eien's form was frozen in motion, likely his muscles being so tensed up he was unable to move. She lunged at him, primed to pierce his skull and finally end his irritating existence. It would have happen too, had a blade not met her own, redirecting the following shockwave away from Eien and off to the side. She instantly recognised him as one of the Spirits Eien used, Juha if she remembered his name being said correctly.

''Do not believe yourself to be so superior, Salem.'' He intoned as they broke from their clash, knocked back a few feet from one another. Another one of the Spirits charged, Gin. He came in low and jabbed at her and she redirected his blade before slashing, but he merely tilted it so her blade struck the edge of the hilt. Risa popped up behind her and thrust her palm into her shoulder blade, a ping of Aura ricocheting off her back as a wave of pain coursed through her back. Gin backed off as did Risa, Shu and Kenshi taking their place. The silent ninja popped up behind her and thrust down with his short sword, but she remedied that quickly by cutting through his blade, along with his neck.

Kenshi thrust a glowing fist into her stomach that knocked the wind out of her, the Aura-enhanced blow as strong as steel. She detected another presence to her left but before she could turn her skin ignited in pain as a beam of blue energy burned her side, coming from the one who killed Seraphim, Jaeger. She growled and called down a bolt of lightning down on Kenshi and Jaeger, but both of them were gone by the time she struck.

''Got it!'' A young voice suddenly cried out, belonging to Kotori. She extended her hands out to her sides from her airborne place on her broom and in an instant the snowy storm was dispelled, causing Salem's irritation to grow.

Juha popped up at her side, swinging his blade and a wave of light blue energy being shot at her. She spun to face it and cut it down dead-centre, letting the remnants flow behind her before detonating. Her instincts flared in warning as she partially turned, only to get a clawed fist to the face as Eien struck once more. She stumbled again, her instincts warning her before she was forced to block a blade, one eerily familiar.

''Ozpin!'' She seethed at the older man who had, seemingly, popped up out of nowhere. Now that she glanced about, she realised to her irritation that they were not alone. Summer Rose and Marisol Haizen were also present, and if the Bullheads approaching were any indication more reinforcements were coming. Her lips thinned as she backed off, preparing for a long-distance teleport, requiring just a few seconds to build up all that power.

''This isn't over, Ozpin.'' She murmured at him with a scathing glare before she activated the spell, leaving her enemies alone.

A/N: So that's that.

Despite how powerful Eien is, and by extension, Ozpin, Salem is far superior. The power difference between Salem and Ozpin, neither holding back, is about equal, give or take.

Again, sorry about the late update.