RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant

by bardockskywalker1991

The Ashen Demon has fallen after failing to save Garreg Mach from the Imperial Army, but she gets another chance to save a world that's about to have a global conflict of its own. Will Byleth be able to protect this world this time? Or will it meet the same fate as Fódlan? This is a RWBY FE crossover originated by TPoynt. i'm writing this for them.

14. Chapter 14: Wrath of the Gryphon

RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant

Chapter 14: Wrath of the Gryphon

Author's Notes: This was... Without question!... The most stressful & DRAINING chapter i have EVER wrote for this story so far... All i'll say about it is this... DO NOT expect another chapter like this in the V1 section of this story (which sidenote, we're about lahfway done with the Volume one section of the story, so that's awesome) Cause i don't want to deal with this bullshit again anytime soon... It also doesn't help that i was doing this chapter AT THE SAME TIME I WAS EDITING THE RWBY X MIRACULOUS LADYBUG CHRISTMAS AUDIO DRAMA THIS ENTIRE FREAKING MONTH!

Look... Now that i'm almost done with The Audio Drama itself, i DO plan to work on a regular schedule again & NOT WRITE 35+ pages long chapters again anytime soon (Yes, this chapter ended on 37 pages & before any of you ask me why i didn't split them up again, it's because i didn't WANT to drag this arc into one more chapter... Then again, i kinda regret not putting the first 10 chapters or so of THIS chapter back to Chapter 13, but it's too late to change that now) Point is! Starting next month, i'll TRY to upload TWO pages per month... MINIMUM! I won't make any promises about it, but i'll TRY to post at least two chapters per month MINIMUM starting next month. I can DEFINITELY promise uploading a single chapter per month though, but i want to try at least TWO, especially since the next few chapters won't be as draining to me...

But regardless, i am SO. SO SORRY for making you guys wait this long! But i hope you can at least understand my situation here, especially since i've DREADED making this miniarc the moment i realized i was getting close to that point in the story. NEXT chapter will be a buffer/break chapter from THIS one cause spoiler alert, this one has alot of action... & i mean ALOT of action... Don't say i didn't warn you.

But before we begin, i needed to explain something that happened in the beginning of last chapter that i admittely did a piss poor job at properly explaining it & that's the scene with Ozpin & Sothis, mainly when Ozpin asks her "What's your favorite fairytail?"... Now, at first, this implies that he wanted to reveal Sothis that he wants to turn her into a Maiden way too early... He was not!... Again, it's my fault for not being able to express it well enough, but i'll do it here now that i have the chance. To put it simply, Ozpin wanted to see if he could get secrets about herself & Byleth (IE: the fact that they're from Fódlan & hat Byleth is a Demigoddess, while Sothis is... well- WAS a Goddess) by sharing some of his OWN secrets. Basically, he wanted to trade ONE secret for ANOTHER... Which unfortunately didn't work since Sothis isn't as naive or easy to manipulate as Ozpin thought she would be. I hope this clears things up for those who were confused by it, sorry again for not expressing it well enough last chapter.

Oh & As you all might've noticed, The Fic has changed names... Yeah, it's now called "RWBY: The Verdant LIGHT of Remnant"... For those unaware, i came up with the ORIGINAL title of this fic (Verdant Star of Remnant) in combining the word Remnant (which was the world Byleth & Sothis were sent to) Verdant (to express that this version of Byleth is The Verdant WIND Route version of Byleth) & Star (Which came from Legendary Byleth's title from Fire Emblem Heroes: The Fódlan Star)... But at the time, there wasn't a Female Legendary Byleth in FEH, just the male one... Until the FEMALE version got a Legendary Alt last week (which sidenote, i pulled her just a few hours aho she's amazing) & Legendary Female Byleth's title in FEH is "The Fódlan Light"!... In short, i felt the need to change the word STAR to LIGHT in the fanfic's name in order to make the title make more sense! So yeah, THANKS Fire Emblem Heroes! I know, it's dumb! But- look! We're ALL going to get used to the new name, I PROMISE! Tell'em Dimitri, Tell them!

Dimitri: *Says nothing due to how disappointed he is at me*

Okay... So without further ado, let's FINALLY put this chapter behind us & remember folks

The following is a non-profit Alternate Universe fanfiction.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, Warner Bros. & the late Monty Oum. While Fire Emblem: Three Houses is owned by Nintendo, Intelligent Systems & Koei Tecmo. Please support the original release.

Also, major spoilers for both RWBY & Fire Emblem: Three Houses, specifically the Verdant Wind Route. If you haven't caught up with either of them, it's recommended that you catch up with both of them before reading this story.

& On that note, enjoy this chapter.

---

Thanks to the aid of Nurse Peach, Sothis has discovered the meaning behind her strange headaches; which were he developing Semblance of Foresight. However, tension struck as she realizes that Byleth was in danger & thanks to Gayelette's help, she was able to rescue The Ashen Demon. But the tension keeps rising up as Jaune finally stands up for himself against Cardin & his bullshit, letting him have a taste of his own medicine. But he didn't go far before Russel drugged him & knocked him out, similar to what he did with Byleth a few hours ago. After getting his face patched up, Cardin moves for Plan B & waits for his prey to come to his next. Little did he know that Cardin was biting far more than he could chew.

We begin with Glynda who's on her own filling up a couple of jars with Red Sap, since she kinda brought a little too many of them, so she might as well use them. She suddenly stops as she remembers what Ruby said before jumping off the ship earlier.

Glynda: She said that she knew something wasn't right, what did she mean by that?

Glynda then remembers that Team CRDL was carrying a large rectangular box when they were boarding the ship, saying that it was a new weapon they wanted to test its might. Yet something felt off about it, why would they hide a weapon in a large box? Before she could think even more, her skirt's pocket starts vibrating. She takes out her Scroll to see that Gayelette was calling her for some reason.

Glynda: Huh, so the signal here's strong today. *Answers the call* Hello?

Gayelette: [Mother! Thank the heavens I was able to reach you from here, is everything alright?! Are the Freshmen in any trouble?!]

Glynda raises her eyebrow, her Daughter sounds like there's something wrong. She knows her Baby Girl wouldn't call her to joke about this matter, so she remains calm.

Glynda: No, I don't think so. They're alright, although I recall Team CRDL dragging Mr. Arc somewhere. They can't be too far, however.

Gayelette: [Oh no. Mother; you must find those 4 & take that large box away from them immediately! Prof. Eisner's sword is inside of that thing!]

Glynda widens her eyes in shock for a moment after her Daughter said that. Did she hear that right? Team CRDL somehow has The Sword of the Creator at their possession? But how? Glynda immediately uses her monitor to check the Auras of the students she took with her for this assignment, she notices that Jaune's Aura seems to be blocked in some way. Not activated or broken, just- blocked! Glynda then continues the call.

Glynda: Gayelette, is Prof. Eisner there by any chance?

Gayelette: [Not anymore, she just left. But while you were all there, she was locked up & tied in one of the lower basements. Cardin & his friends are responsible for this!]

Glynda: They did WHAT?!

Over to Gayelette's point of view (Or point of hearing, in this context.) she suddenly flinches away for a moment when she heard her Mother say that. Glynda always had a bit of a temper, but her Daughter knows when she's mad… like- furiously mad, this was one of those rare occasions. But she still continues the call.

Gayelette: Y-yeah! They ambushed her about an hour before you all left, assaulted her & took her sword! I don't know what their plan is or why they did that in the first place, but you have to stop them from doing something foolish!

Glynda thinks for a moment about what her Daughter just said. If that "Curse" Byleth told her about is actually real, then they could be in serious trouble. With that in mind however, how & why is Gayelette aware of any of this? How did she find all of that out? Glynda decides to deal with this issue when she gets back home & focuses on the issue that's at hand right now.

Glynda: [Understood, I'll go find them right away. But after this is all over, we're going to have a little talk about all of this. Is that clear Young Lady?]

Gayelette: *Gulps* Yes ma'am!

They both end the call there, with Gayelette thinking that she just got herself into trouble with her Mother later tonight. Glynda however is more focused on the issue at hand, she uses her monitor to contact Cardin.

Glynda: Cardin Winchester, stop whatever it is that you're doing at the moment & get over here at once! You & your teammates are in so much trouble!

Glynda doesn't here a response, so she speaks again.

Glynda: Mr. Winchester, I'm very serious right now! If you don't come over here right this instant-

Glynda suddenly stops when she heard rustling coming from behind. She turns around & spots a Sloth of Ursai surrounding her from behind, looking like they were sniffing at a certain direction. "Just my luck" Glynda thought to herself, those Grimm must've been attracted to the scent of the large amount of Red Sap she was collecting all by herself. Glynda sighs as she puts away her Scroll & takes out Disciplinarian.

Glynda: Bloody hell, guess that will have to wait.

The Sloth of Ursai charge at Glynda, who takes a defensive stance to both defend herself & to make sure none of them take any of the Red Sap she has collected at that point. She only hopes that things don't get any worse.

The scene fades to where Team CRDL is still resting, mainly Cardin who still has wounds on his face from getting stung by a swarm of Rapier Wasps. Cardin notices a missing call from his Scroll, which comes from Glynda. He just ignored whatever she was going to say. Right now, they have bigger fish to fry soon enough. Dove was a little far away from the group, acting as their watchman so to say & he spots a pair of young women coming from the woods & heading towards Team CRDL's location, Pyrrha Nikos from Team JNPR & Blake from Team RWBY. Dove then turns back around & goes over to where Cardin & the others are resting.

Dove: Boss! They took the bait; they'll be here at any minute now!

Cardin then stands up, having a small twig on his mouth as he looked at his prey, finally coming to his own nest.

Cardin: Finally… *Turns to the others* It's high noon, boys!

Blake & Pyrrha finally stop as they find Team CRDL standing around, glaring at them. It's almost like they just went on a dark street alley & ran into a group of street thugs, but neither of the girls are scared nor intimidated by any of the young men glaring at them.

Cardin: To be honest, I hoped things didn't went the way they did.

Blake: You know that's bullshit, right? If you wanted another broken arm, you could've just asked me instead of pulling this grand master plan. Whatever's about to come next, you've brought it upon yourself!

Cardin smirks as he gets up, still glaring at Blake & Pyrrha.

Cardin: Tell me… Have I brought this upon himself? Or was it him?!

Cardin jabs behind him, that's when Pyrrha's stomach drop. Jaune was all beaten up & bruised, tied up in a tree & unconscious. To say that she was getting fuming mad on the inside would be an understatement, to the point of Blake even having to place a hand on her shoulder to keep her cool.

Blake: Don't get careless, he's just trying to make you mess up. *Looks back at Cardin* Alright jackass, what's your game?

Cardin: Isn't it obvious? To teach you bitches a lesson you'll never forget!

Cardin then stepped aside & opened the large wooden box he was carrying, revealing to be The Sword of the Creator. While is unamused by that revelation, since she was also able to overhear their whispering back at the ship; Pyrrha is anything but. She snarls as she takes a tight grip at her short sword, ready to draw it.

Pyrrha: What in the- why do you have Prof. Eisner's sword?!

Cardin: Isn't it obvious? We "took care" of her back in Campus.

Pyrrha widens her eyes in horror, fearing the worse. But Cardin put a hand up before she tried to say anything.

Cardin: Now, now, there's no need to throw a fit. She's not dead… But we made sure to make her remember that she should never mess with us again, the same applying to blondie back there!... & You 2 are next in line, so get ready!

Blake: Hah! You think a cool Chain-sword will save you from getting the ass beating of your life? You've just forged your own path to hell, asshole.

Blake is about to step forward, oddly a little bit "bloodthirsty" compared to her usual self. Pyrrha however doesn't want any of this & wants to teach those punks a lesson herself, so she puts a hand in front of Blake & stops her in her tracks.

Pyrrha: No!... You stay here & watch, Blake. They're mine!

Blake: What?!

Blake turns to Pyrrha with a confused & angered expression, she of all people should know better than to get in her way like that. But then she takes a look at Pyrrha's face, it's the same face she had when they fought back at The Mock Battle last month. Then she looks back at the state Jaune is in, he may be weak physically, but even Blake knows that he didn't deserve any of this. She just sighs in frustration & turns around.

Blake: Very well, I'll stand aside for the moment. *Looks back at Pyrrha* But if I see you struggling with those idiots too much, I'm jumping in! Got it?

Pyrrha: *Smiles at Blake* Got it, thanks Blake.

Blake goes to sit next to a tree & watch the spectacle from afar, knowing that Pyrrha can beat those guys with little issue. Pyrrha then draws both Miló & Akoúo, ready to fight. Cardin smirks as he spits out the twig from his mouth & draws The Sword of the Creator, his teammates are there behind him to provide support in battle. The mood stays a little quiet for about a minute or 2, neither side showing a hint of movement… Until…

[Music: "Let the Battles Begin! Limit Break" from Final Fantasy 7: REMAKE]

Pyrrha is the first one to move as she charges at Cardin at full speed, but he's easily able to block the incoming attack with The Sword of the Creator & pushes back Pyrrha. She then fires a small barrage of Aura Air Slashes at Cardin, who easily deflects the incoming attacks with "his" sword. Pyrrha then questions if The Sword of the Creator is somehow making Cardin stronger, because she knows this Cardin isn't that good of a fighter.

Cardin then charges at Pyrrha, she's barely able to put up her shield to block the powerful swing that pushes her back. Cardin keeps going with his relentless assault on Pyrrha; while she's able to block the incoming attacks, they pack quite a punch. Pyrrha uses this opportunity to study Cardin's pattern, eventually figuring out his fighting style. Pyrrha enhances her shield with Aura to push Cardin back once his next swing connects & leaves his guard wide open. Pyrrha finally has a chance to strike down Cardin, until…

Russel: Oh no, you don't!

That's when the other 3 members of Team CRDL fire a barrage of bullets at Pyrrha, she's forced to jump back & avoid the incoming bullets, missing her chance to land a strong blow at Cardin. Speaking of which, he quickly recovers from Pyrrha's attempt of giving her an opening, enhances The Sword of the Creator with Aura & slams the sword down so hard that it creates tremors, pushing Pyrrha back.

Pyrrha: Argh!

As Pyrrha's recovering, Cardin then takes a closer look at The Sword of the Creator. He's quite impressed that such a rusty old blade can pack quite a punch, not to mention how he's abnormally a little stronger while holding the cursed blade at his hand.

Cardin: So this is the sword's true power, to think that a random bitch that doesn't even come from one of the 4 nations would have such a powerful weapon. *Takes his stance* But now that it's mine, I'll shall make much better use of it! Take this!

Cardin enhances the sword with his Aura & swings it so hard that the impact behind that swing fired off a powerful wind slash, not so different from an actual Aura Air-Slash like Pyrrha's. She's pushed back even further, struggling to keep herself in her feet. She then thinks of maybe touching one of the other Team CRDL members & use their metal to make some sort of trap. After some more thinking, she charges at Cardin once again.

Cardin: Oh? You still want some more, do ya?!

Cardin prepares to swing at Pyrrha again, who just smirks before saying the following.

Pyrrha: Oh please, I'm just getting started!

Pyrrha then jumps above the incoming slash from Cardin & lands behind him. He thinks that Pyrrha's gonna try to attack him from behind, so he turns around to swing at her once again. But when he turns around to attack, he spots Pyrrha charging at Sky for some reason, with Sky specifically getting surprised by being Pyrrha's new target. He has his Axe ready to fight off against Pyrrha, who has her sword ready to strike as well.

Pyrrha: You're going down first!

Sky blocks the incoming swing from Pyrrha, but is unable to keep up with her for long. Not only is she very strong, but also very fast. The fact that Sky's axe has the length of a halberd doesn't help either since he's clearly struggling to fight at such a close range. Before Pyrrha could attack Sky once more, Cardin appears behind her & tries to strike her down in the back. But with a simple Aura Enhanced palm placed on Cardin's chest, he's suddenly sent flying away by a powerful Aura Shockwave. She then focuses back on Sky & before taking him out, she makes sure to give both his axe & armor some magnetic energy. Once that's dealt with, Pyrrha delivers a barrage of powerful sword slashes to Sky, pushing him back to a tree & falling to the ground.

Pyrrha: That's one down, 3 more to go!

Pyrrha then blocks the incoming bullets that were about to lift the left side of her face, she spots Dove with his sword-gun aiming at her, she also notices Russel alongside him with his Dust Daggers ready. She wastes no time as she goes after them.

While Pyrrha is facing off against Team CRDL, Blake is watching the spectacle from afar & comments at the situation at hand.

Blake: Pyrrha's clearly holding back, she's not fighting them as seriously as she fought me back at The Mock Battle. Yet for some reason, that Cardin asshole seems to give her some trouble... Hm?!

Blake then takes a look at Cardin's right hand, the one that's holding The Sword of the Creator. She notices a dark energy slowly emerging from it, what the hell could that be? Pyrrha continues to face off against Russel & Dove, she has little trouble fighting off the both of them at once; even if Cardin interrupts her from focusing on them whenever he decides to crash the party.

[Music End]

Meanwhile, Glynda finishes her little altercation with the sloth of Ursai that tried to take her Red Sap. Thankfully, she didn't get injured & they didn't steal any of the Red Sap. As she adjusts her hair however, she feels something coming towards her direction. Glynda thinks that it's just more Grimm coming after her belongings, but it was something else entirely as she spots something red approaching from the far away plains.

Ruby: BLASTING THROUGH!

This presence Glynda felt was actually Ruby Rose, who just pass through her & stopped right behind her. Glynda turns around to see Ruby, as well as Byleth & Sothis who look incredibly drained from what just happened.

Glynda: Wait, Ms. Rose?!

Ruby turns to see Glynda looking at her with a shocked expression at her face, while Ruby just shoots the Mage General a thumbs up while smiling.

Ruby: Yo, Prof. Goodwitch! Did we miss anything?

Both Eisner Sisters groan as they slowly get back up to their feet while holding their heads, with Sothis in particular looking very drained, as well as shooting a glare at Ruby.

Sothis: Holy fucking shit! I never wanna go through that ever again!

Glynda then snaps back to reality as she spots Byleth getting back up as well.

Glynda: So, I guess this is what Gayelette meant when she said that you 3 were already on your way here. Are you all alright?

Byleth: *Groans* I've been through worse… *Shakes her head* Never mind us, where's Team CRDL?!

Glynda: I don't know. I was about to go find them myself, but then a sloth of Ursai tried to take my Red Sap. They weren't any threat, however. *Looks at Byleth* What about you? Gayelette told me that you were kidnapped, but it seems that you're alright now.

Byleth: Well, I've been locked up for a few hours or so. I even lost a tooth from getting beaten up, but I'm alright now.

Suddenly, Ruby & Sothis hear some commotion not far from their location. They both start looking around to find where they heard it.

Sothis: Say, did you guys here that?

Glynda: *Gets confused* Hear what? I haven't heard a thing.

Ruby: No, Sothis' right. I definitely heard something too, but from where?

As the 2 young girls were looking around, they hear it again. But this time, they were able to pinpoint exactly where that commotion came from as they both turn to face the same direction. Both girls concluded that Team CRDL must be over there.

Ruby: Yup, they're there.

Ruby immediately charges in & goes to the direction where Team CRDL most likely is, despite Glynda's protests.

Glynda: Hold, Ms. Ro-… *Sighs in frustration* Bloody hell; she always has to act before consulting others & play the hero, doesn't she?

Byleth just rolls her eyes before getting herself ready to follow Ruby.

Byleth: I'm going after her, you just focus on getting those jars to safety.

Glynda: Alright, we'll catch up as fast as we can!

Byleth shoots Glynda a nod before leaving both her & Sothis to carry the jars of Red Sap back to the ship, good thing Glynda has Telekinesis.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha is still fighting off the members of Team CRDL. Sky recovered not long after getting knocked out by Pyrrha & jumps back to the fight, with 3 of the 4 members of Team CRDL keeping The Red Tornado busy while Cardin is doing the heavy lifting by attacking Pyrrha when her guard is wide open. Unfortunately for Team CRDL, that's not enough to truly best Pyrrha as she's able to figure out their pattern & push them back.

Russel with his daggers? She can easily parry his attacks, disarm of his weapons & send a powerful kick to his chest, sending him flying. Dove with his sword-gun? She can deflect & block the incoming bullets with ease & whenever she comes too close, she charges in & goes for the kill with effective sword slashes. Sky with his axe? All she has to do is keep a very close distant & that axe can never hit her properly, so a few Aura Enhanced Slashes can deal with him just fine. After all four of them were around her at their knees, Pyrrha puts her weapons away for a moment to pull her arms back into a defensive position & begins enveloping her whole body with Aura.

Cardin: Her guard is wide open boys, come on!

Team CRDL foolishly tries to charge in & attack Pyrrha, planning to strike her down with a single attack. Unfortunately for them, they fell right into Pyrrha's trap; once they all get close enough, she pulls her arms back & sends a powerful Aura Shockwave around her surroundings.

Pyrrha: HAH!

Team CRDL feels a massive pressure pushing them away in an instant, they're all sent flying away like a speeding bullet. This Aura Shockwave was so powerful that it even pushed back some trees away as well, this is what a master of Aura can truly do. Pyrrha recollects herself while standing her ground against Team CRDL, she then spots Cardin getting up & looking pretty pissed off as well.

Cardin: D- damnit! This rusted sword is supposed to make me so much stronger! Why can't I still beat you?!

Pyrrha: We both know that neither you or your teammates can beat me Cardin, do you hear me?! I'm already bored of this senseless battle, so why won't you just give up?!

Instead of throwing a tantrum like Pyrrha thought, Cardin suddenly started laughing like a maniac for some reason. This quickly got on her nerves.

Pyrrha: What's so funny?!

Cardin: Oh, nothing… I'm just wondering why you would throw your life away for that blond idiot. He said it himself, he's a hack! A fraud! He literally created fake documents so that he can come here, why bother with someone that pathetic?!

Pyrrha: Like you would understand, you weren't born weak & struggled like he did.

Cardin: That's where you're wrong, missy.

This suddenly got Pyrrha's attention, what did Cardin mean by that. Cardin finally gets back up to his feet & cracks his neck a little bit.

Cardin: Some people aren't lucky to have a home or people to go for parental guidance. Some of us starve, some of us are homeless, some of us are wronged by the world. Yet these so-called "Huntsmen of justice, freedom & honor" don't do a goddamn fucking thing about it! all they did was bat an eye & watch us struggle to even live the next day.

Pyrrha widens her eyes in shock, she can tell that Cardin was telling the truth by the tone of his voice & the way he talked. But this is all just a prank, right?! Vale was supposed to be so much different from the other nations, especially in The Mistral Dukedom where having so many orphans running around & trying to survive was a very common thing. Is this an issue Vale is suffering for as well? She's not really sure. Although she still keeps her guard up, she decides to play along & listen to Cardin a little bit more.

Pyrrha: What in the gods are you talking about?

Cardin: Think about it! Huntsmen are just Mercenaries with actual status. Most of them are in it for the money & for the fame, another good chunk wants to prove their strength to others, this whole Huntsmen being these "great heroes & saviors" is a load of bullshit! *Sighs in anger* Our whole team are among this majority who suffered because of this system, both from the Huntsmen themselves & for these so-called "world leaders" who do jack fucking shit while watching us from the top like the self-centered & narcissistic assholes that they are! *Points at Pyrrha* You know it! *Points at himself* I know it! *Motions his hand around them* EVERYONE FUCKING KNOWS IT! This world is full of shit & there's not a goddamn thing we can do about it except to fucking deal with it!

This made Pyrrha lower her sword for a moment, to think that someone as hotheaded & foolish as Cardin would say stuff like that, it felt so unreal to her. She knew that the state of Remnant wasn't very good, but is it truly this bad? Is it truly beyond saving like Cardin claims to be? Before she can fully process that entire speech, Cardin is then suddenly kicked to the face by an incoming Red Reaper.

Ruby: BAKA!

Ruby's "Baka" counter: 2

Cardin is suddenly sent flying like a rocket & crashes into the trees from Ruby's kick, who then lands back to the ground & greets Pyrrha.

Pyrrha: R- Ruby?!

Ruby: Hey there, Pyrrha. Did I miss anything?

Blake: Nothing much, honestly.

Ruby then suddenly turns around, spotting an incoming Blake.

Blake: Gotta hand it you ya, Kid. Didn't expect you to jump off the ship earlier.

Ruby groans at Blake calling her a kid again, but before she can reply to her teammate, she spots a beaten up Jaune tied up to a tree & goes to check on him.

Ruby: Oh no, Jaune!

Both Ruby & Pyrrha go to check on Jaune, with the former cutting off Jaune's bindings with Crescent Rose with ease. Pyrrha then pulls to the side & tries to wake him up.

Pyrrha: Jaune, wake up! Jaune!

Jaune starts to regain his consciousness as he grumbles while slowly waking up, he can only open one of his eyes due to the beating he got from Team CRDL. Knowing that he still is very inexperienced with Aura, Pyrrha uses her own Aura to help Jaune use his Aura. A flash of light happens & just like that, Jaune's wounds begin to heal as he wakes up.

Jaune: What the- what happened?!

Ruby: You were out cold for a few minutes, you looked like you had a rough time.

Pyrrha: Jaune, are you okay?

Jaune looks away when he notices Pyrrha right beside him, it was clear that he still felt horrible for snapping at her & the others a few days back. Pyrrha can tell that Jaune still felt sorry for what happened & tried to reassured him.

Pyrrha: Look Jaune, there's nothing you-

Before she could finish, they all feel a strong presence come from where Cardin was. As the smoke clears, we see him still standing with The Sword of the Creator in hand & by the looks of it, he looks pretty pissed off.

Cardin: Damn brats, now you're gonna get it- Huh?!

Cardin tries to reach for something from his pocket, but he doesn't find it. Wait, where is it?! He could've sworn that he put it there! That's when Blake chimes in with a small, yet satisfying smirk on her face.

Blake: Oh, I'm sorry. This dropped when you got kicked in the face, is this yours?

Blake shows off Byleth's Diary, which Cardin had been keeping in his back pocket just in case he needed to play even more dirty. Blake puts the diary to the side for the moment as she glares at Cardin.

Blake: You're through, asshole! Give up!

Cardin just scoffs as he cracks his neck once more, all the while The Sword of the Creator is starting to emit some very dark energy.

Cardin: "Give up"?! Stop talking shit out of your ass! I can still kick your asses!

Blake just rolls her eyes as she takes a fighting stance alongside Ruby, who looks ready to kick some ass. But just as Cardin was about to take a stance himself, he suddenly felt his right arm feel off. Once he takes a look at it, the worst-case scenario occurs.

Cardin: Huh? WHAT THE-?!

All of their attention goes to The Sword of the Creator, mainly on the circular whole that's on the sword's guard. Suddenly, a bunch of black & thick tentacles begin to surround Cardin & begin consuming his arm.

Cardin: W- what the fuck is this shit?! Get this shit off of me! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!

Cardin's cries for help are futile as the dark energy that consumes his right arm are now consuming his entire body, he screams in agony as he's consumed by the darkness.

Cardin: NO! STOP! STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Elsewhere, not far from the others' location, Byleth is going towards her destination as fast as she could. But out of nowhere, she suddenly stumbles while she was mid-air.

Byleth: ARGH!

Byleth crashes down to the ground, she suddenly feels a very sharp pain in her heart. A very sharp pain in her Crest Stone. She holds onto her test while struggling to get up.

Byleth: W- what is this?! What in the Gods is going on with my body?! It hurts so much!

While she struggles to get back to her feet, she then realizes what could be happening. Her worse fears became a reality, someone is becoming a Demonic Beast because of The Sword of the Creator.

Byleth: Oh no, it can't be! No! Am I already too late?!

Byleth is indeed too late as we cut back to Cardin being fully consumed by the darkness along with The Sword of the Creator. The other 3 members of Team CRDL begin to regain consciousness as they witness Cardin being completely consumed by the darkness. Russel is the first one who looks at what Cardin is becoming & stumbles as he steps back.

Russel: What in the- What the fuck is that t- AAAAARGH!

Russel doesn't get to finish as giant talons grab the young boy & crushes the young men in a single squeeze before eating him. Before the other members could process the fact that one of them just died, both Dove & Sky follow suit as they're also killed by the large beast that's forming itself around them. Ruby & the others witnessing look at all of this in horror, they cannot believe what they're seeing! Cardin is suddenly consumed by the darkness & as he's being swallowed whole, he kills his entire team like a Demonic Beast. As for Cardin himself, he finishes his transformation as he becomes a gigantic Gryphon. With a lot of armor in both its head, upper body, legs, wings & tail. Blake is the first one to speak & her tone of voice says it all.

Blake: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

[Music: "One Who Gets in Our Way" From Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition]

Cardin's caw is more of a demonic roar that can be heard from many kilometers away, the kids cover their ears with their hands so that they don't get deaf from that loud as hell screeching. Cardin then spots Ruby & the others in the ground; the large beast raises its mighty right arm with the intent to crush the kids in one fell swoop. Ruby takes notice of this immediately & grabs onto Jaune, Pyrrha & Blake so that she can get them out of the way with her Semblance.

Ruby: GUYS! STAY CLOSE TO ME!

Thanks to Ruby's quick thinking, they were able to avoid getting crushed to death by the incoming arm. But the impact of Cardin's attack was able to push them very far away.

Back with everyone else, they suddenly stop whatever is it that they were doing earlier once they heard some very loud demonic cawing. They immediately get scared, thinking that it's some high-level Grimm roaming around.

Yang: Woah! Hey guys, did you hear that just now?

Weiss: You mean that loud screech, yeah! I'm pretty sure we all heard it, Yang.

Nora suddenly looks at her partner, worried about their friends.

Nora: Hey Ren. You don't think Jaune & Pyrrha ran into a very strong Grimm, do you?

Ren: *Shakes his head* No, this doesn't feel like a Grimm... This feels more… "Demonic".

Before Nora could even ask Ren what he meant by that, a giant burst of blood red petals suddenly came flying at their direction. They look back to see the same burst of petals crash into some trees as it reveals to be Ruby, Blake, Jaune & Pyrrha. They look like they were in serious trouble as they slowly get back up in pain.

Ruby: Ow… Man, that really hurt! Are you guys alright?

Blake: Trust me kid, I've been through worse! Much worse! So yeah, I'm doing ok, kid. *Readjusts her hat that has fallen off during the crash* Holy shit, that hurt like hell!

Yang: RUBY! BLAKE!

Everyone else ran into their friends, with Yang going over to pull her Baby Sister into a tight hug, with Nora doing the same with both Jaune & Pyrrha. Unfortunately for them all, both girls held them a bit too tight.

Jaune: OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!

Pyrrha: {Nora, too tight!}

Weiss: What happened?! Why did you 4 came rushing here like that?

Ruby gets back up after she broke out of her Sister's bone-crushing hug.

Ruby: We don't know! We were fighting off Cardin who had Teach's sword & suddenly the sword went insane & engulfed him with dark matter!

Jaune: & Then he turned into that!

Jaune points behind Yang & the others, where Cardin was flying to. As they all turn back around, they spot the now Demonic Beast Cardin flying towards their direction & land in front of them soon after. They all widen their eyes in horror at the sight of something they've never seen before in their entire lives, the Grimm have nothing on this Demon. The large beast spreads its wings as it loudly caws, they have to cover their ears so that they don't get deaf from that loud screeching.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

Yang: Okay! We're all in the same boat that THIS ASSHOLE isn't a Grimm, right?!

Nora: Oh yeah!

Weiss: Most certainly!

Ren just silently nods while staring at the beast which is now looking down at them. Ren can't exactly explain it, but Cardin in this form gives Ren a scary sense of Déjà vu. He then remembers the night where that Grimm attacked in that eventful night, he's having that same feeling of helplessness, yet defiance flowing through his body at that moment.

The Demon pulls his arm back once more & tries to slam his talons to crush The Garnet Papillons, who all managed to get away from the incoming attack intime. But as Pyrrha's still in mid-air, Cardin uses his other arm to arm-thrust Pyrrha & send her flying. Pyrrha uses her Shield & Aura to lessen the blow, but that wasn't enough as she was sent flying like a speeding bullet like it's nothing. Jaune looks back as he gets worried about Pyrrha.

Jaune: PYRRHA!

Everyone looks back at the beast in horror after their strongest fighter was just swatted away like that, but Nora in particular gets pissed that her friend was smacked away in such a brutal fashion & takes a few Lightning Dust Crystals from her back pocket.

Nora: Oh, that's it! HE'S GOING DOWN!

Ren: NORA, WAIT!

Ren's attempt of reaching out to Nora fails as she quickly absorbs the Lightning Dust energy from the Dust Crystals & charges at Cardin at full speed. She amplifies some extra juice to her hammer as she prepares to smash Cardin's face with it.

Nora: EAT THIS, YOU OVERSIZED BIRD-BRAIN!

Nora slams her hammer at the left side of Cardin's jawline & he staggers a bit. Nora lands back in the ground, thinking she did some good damage… She did not!... Cardin just looks back at Nora & looks down at her, as if that attack did nothing to him. Nora suddenly freezes in both fear & disbelief from witnessing this monster just take that attack like it's nothing, only for her to suddenly be grabbed by the large Demon & lifted up high in the sky. The large beast then starts clenching his talons with the intent of crushing Nora, with the small gingerbread berserker screaming in pain as she's slowly getting crushed.

Nora: WRHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

Ren: NORA!

Ren screams for his partner's name as he draws Storm-flower & begins firing a barrage of bullets at the beast as a distraction. When Cardin looks down at where the bullets came from, Ren was no longer there. He jumped high in the air towards the hand that was holding Nora, he lands on the beast's arm & starts landing some powerful slashes while he runs towards the large hand. He tries to cut Cardin's fingers to free Nora, but the blades didn't cut through & just as Ren is falling back down, Cardin just smacks him away like a bug, sending him flying & crashing into some trees. Jaune then looks at the direction Ren was smacked away & goes after him to help him out.

Jaune: Oh no, REN!

As Jaune rushes to help his friend, Cardin spots him & tries to crush him. But before he could lift his free arm to do so, he's suddenly pushed back by a barrage of boulders that hit him in the face & some at the hand that was holding Nora. Because of this, he slightly staggers & lets go of Nora. Ruby's able to use her Semblance to catch Nora in time as she was falling down. They all look at the direction the boulders came from & spot a very furious Glynda Goodwitch, using a smaller boulder as a way to soar through the skies.

Glynda: You filthy Gryphon! STAY THE BLOODY HELL AWAY FROM MY STUDENTS!

Glynda uses her Semblance to pull out a bunch of large trees from their roots, as well as a couple of more large boulders that begin surrounding her. She swings Disciplinarian at Cardin's direction & begins bombarding him with powerful telekinetic attacks. While her attacks are able to hold the Demonic Beast back, it's still not enough to greatly damage it. While its distracted; Jaune, Ruby & the others gain some distance in between those 2 & regroup, looking over the almost unconscious Ren & the seriously wounded Nora.

Weiss: This is bad! She won't be able to wield her hammer without some serious arm pain, Ren seems to have his rib areas greatly damaged as well. This isn't good!

Jaune: What do we do?! We can't let that monster go to town, or god forbid around all of Remnant! If this guy roams free in that state, millions will die in a blink of an eye!

Ruby then looks up at the Demonic Beast once more, seeing it like an obstacle that she must overcome in order to see the next sunrise. Jaune makes a very good point, they cannot let this monster go around Remnant at any costs. While they don't know what the Demonic Beasts are truly capable off, they know that there is nothing in Remnant that can reliably kill it as far as they know at that moment. She looks at Crescent Rose for a moment before making a decision, just as both Yang & Blake stands right next to their Leader to fight alongside her.

Ruby: He's not going anywhere! *Looks back at Weiss* Weiss, you go & find a safe place for you to snipe Cardin with your Semblance! *Looks at Jaune* Jaune, make sure you get Ren & Nora to a place where they can recuperate!

Both young Huntsmen in Training are very shocked at Ruby giving them orders like a leader, it's just like back at their initiation. While Jaune is very skeptical about this, Weiss is a bit more confident & goes with the flow.

Jaune: Wait, what?!

Weiss:Understood!

As Weiss backs off to find a better place to use her Semblance, Ruby looks back at both of her teammates who are ready to battle. First looking at her Older Sister, Yang.

Ruby: Yang, I need you to go help Glynda & keep his attention away from everyone else! *Looks at Blake* Blake, you're coming with me!

Yang: Roger that!

Yang reloads her Gauntlets as she jumps off at the direction of the Demonic Beast, she throws a powerful barrage of punches that fire strong Fire Dust Shotgun Rounds at his talons. While it doesn't damage Cardin at all, it certainly gets his attention. Same goes for Weiss, who was hiding at a high tree branch & firing away multiple Dust projectiles at Cardin as well. While both their teammates & Glynda hold off Cardin, Ruby & Blake make their way to climb up to the beast's back at high speeds.

Ruby: His wings don't seem to be very durable, let's try & get rid of them first so that it doesn't try to get away should things go south! I'll take the left wing!

Blake: Alright, then I'm going to take the fucker's right wing for myself!

As their running, Ruby then gives Blake a deadpanned look.

Ruby: Dude, do you have to swear that much? You're not a sailor, ya'know.

Blake: Like I give a shit, now come on!

Ruby rolls her eyes in annoyance from Blake's response as the split up to take on their respective wings, Blake going for the right & Ruby going for the left. They also have to make sure they dodge whatever incoming projectile Glynda fires at the beast as well, since she doesn't know that they're running through its back. Blake is the first to reach her respective wing as she uses her blades to begin cutting away the wings, but it's not really doing as much as she thought she would do.

Blake: Goddamnit, why isn't this working?!

As Blake keeps trying to damage the large beast, Cardin uses his long tail to grab Blake & get her off of his back. Luckily for Blake, she's able to get away by using her Semblance to turn her body into shadows & jump out of the way. Cardin tries to grab her with his talons while she's still in mid-air, but Blake maneuvers herself to go in between its talons & begins running across Cardin's right arm, finally dealing some decent damage as she starts hack n' slashing away as she runs through the beast's arm.

Cardin: CAWRGH!

While Blake is finding some luck in her attempt to attack the beast, Ruby isn't doing so well. As she arrives at the wing she was after, she tries to cut it down with a single slash. She jumps high in the air & begins spinning around like a tornado as she dives down at her target until she connects & stabs the blade at her target.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

Cardin caws in pain, clearly feeling that attack. But unfortunately for Ruby, that wasn't enough to cut the left wing down & what's worse, Crescent Rose's blade is now stuck at the beast's back. Ruby tries to pull her scythe back as much as she could so that she can get out of there before something horrible happens to her.

Ruby: Oh, come on! Sweetheart, this isn't the time to get stuck! Now come over here!

As Ruby tries to take out her sight from Cardin's back like she'd pull out a sword from a stone, Cardin begins to flap his wings & slowly take to the skies. But not to leave the area & fly away, but to get rid of Ruby & literally get her off his back. The strong wind coming from Cardin's flapping wings is enough to push Ruby off of his back, being dragged down to its sides while hanging on with her Scythe that came down with her. Yang looks up in horror as she sees her Baby Sister hanging for dear life, but Ruby doesn't give up as she uses her scythe to climb back up to Cardin's back. It takes her a while, but she eventually makes it & lands on the beast's back & finally catches her breath.

Ruby: *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* C- Crapbaskets!... That was way too close! I know I hit his wing & yet-… Yare Yare, looks like I'm gonna need more fire power!

Ruby puts her weapon back on her hip for a moment to try something else, she goes to the would she inflicted earlier & notices how it didn't even make it halfway through. She decides to make the injury worse by sending a barrage of Aura Enhanced Kicks at it, so she pulls back her left leg, enhances it with Aura & begins to kick the ever-loving crap out of the wound at top speed, even using her Semblance to give her kicks a speed boost.

Ruby: BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA!

The rapid-fire barrage of Aura Enhanced Kicks hit their target & although it's not doing that much, Cardin can definitely feel his already deep wound getting even more painful. Ruby shows no signs of spotting her assault as she keeps kicking the wound she inflicted earlier like an AK-47.

Ruby: BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA-BAKA!

Ruby's "Baka" counter: 4 (+2)

Ruby keeps landing powerful kicks at Cardin's wound, but they eventually start getting weaker as she's starting to run out of Aura to strengthen her body. She eventually stops once she backs away to catch her breath after kicking so much, her left leg has certainly seen better days. As she's resting for a brief moment, she notices Cardin's the incoming tail trying to grab her, to which she jumps in time to avoid it. She makes her way to his right shoulder; she looks down & notices just how high up they are at the moment.

She wonders why is Cardin flying up so high, yet doesn't try to escape. She gets her answer as she spots Cardin's left hand trying to grab her, she jumps & lands on the hand itself. Cardin tries to swing his left arm for a while to make Ruby let go of his talons, but she hangs on by stabbing her scythe on the talons. However, Cardin tried to grab Ruby with his free talons while she was hanging for dear life. Ruby uses her Semblance to just barely slip away, but this was a trap set up by Cardin cause now, Ruby's now in mid-air, falling down from a high altitude & completely defenseless. Cardin forms a smirk as he soars higher into the sky & dives back down with its large beak opened to eat & swallow the young reaper whole, Yang watches from below & horror at the sight of her sister about to be devoured by the large beast.

Yang: RUBY!

Glynda: Bloody hell, not again!

Yang instantly activates her Semblance uses her gauntlets' shotgun function to try & reach out to Ruby, with Glynda doing the same by using her telekinetic boulder to fly high into the sky. But they're not gonna make it in time, they're too high up! it looks like Ruby's about to be Cardin's afternoon lunch… Until-!

-BANG!-

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

Ruby was able to fire a sniper round straight to one of Cardin's eyes just before she was about to be eaten whole & it was the distraction she needed. Cardin backs away & covers his now bleeding eye, still screeching in pain from losing his eye. As Ruby is still falling down, she uses Crescent Rose as some sort of pogo-stick & fires sniper rounds to slowly lessen her fall shot by shot until she spots the approaching Glynda & lands on her floating boulder, catching her breath as she finally lands on her feet. Yang eventually meets up with her Leader & professor, immediately going towards Ruby & wrapping her arms around her in a very tight embrace.

Ruby: {Argh! Yan- too tig- ow!}

Yang: *Holds Ruby tighter* I'm so glad you're okay! I'm sorry I wasn't up there with you!

Glynda looks at the 2 Sisters & can't help but feel relieved to see them both like this, seeing that image brings back memories when she was a student herself, as well as an ally of their parents: Team STRQ. Although, she also can't help but feel pretty upset at Ruby's constant reckless attitude & it was the second time in this one day alone!

Glynda: That was incredibly foolish of you, Ms. Rose! This suicidal recklessness of yours almost got you killed!... AGAIN! Can't you once try to fight your opponent without needlessly killing yourself the way you do?!

Yang eventually let's go of her sister from her bone-crushing embrace, with the latter slowly getting up & defending herself against Glynda.

Ruby: Hey, get off my back! At least I did something to him! I can't sit around & do nothing while I watch my friends fight for their lives!

Glynda: & Your solution to that problem is throwing your own life away instead?! You're clearly not taking this seriously enough, nor do you truly understand the value of your own life! *Tightly holds the bridge of her nose* Ms. Rose, Out of every one in this class, you cannot afford to die no matter what! You're too important!

Ruby: "Too important"?! I'm just a normal girl from a Valean Island, what in the world are you talking about?! & How come I'm the only one who can't die?! Are you implying that my friends hold less value than me, or are you trying to hide something from me?!

That's when Glynda suddenly got quiet & looked away, not having the strength to be fully honest with her own student after that question of hers. Before Ruby tried to ask her again, they all look up as they hear Cardin slowly going down. While Ruby wasn't able to cut off one of his large wings like she wanted, she was at least able to somewhat prevent him from flying at full capacity; the damaged eye helps a bit as well. Glynda then uses her telekinesis to lower them back down as well, just enough for the Rose Xiao-Long sisters to jump off the boulder & land safely on the ground. They then turn to their right as they notice Blake helping out an injured Pyrrha getting to their location, the Garnet Papillons all regroup as they try to think of something else.

[Music end]

Jaune: Pyrrha! Are you okay?!

Pyrrha: *Coughs* I've been through worse, I'll be fine…

While Blake is sitting Pyrrha down & lending her some of her to make her wounds heal faster, Jaune looks down as he clenches his fists in the grass.

Jaune: {I'm sorry…}

Pyrrha looked at Jaune curiously before he continued.

Jaune: This is all my fault!... I lashed out on you guys back in class; Cardin blackmailed me & I didn't stand up for myself until it was too late!... This is all my fault… I'm so sorry…

The others looked at him with concern in sympathy on their faces, with the exception of Blake who just looks at him with her usual unemotive expression. When Pyrrha begins to feel like she's getting better, she takes one of Jaune's hands, which surprises him.

Pyrrha: You're right… This is your fault; this was a big mistake you made… But we're just as guilty as you are!... We could barely do anything ourselves & we didn't even consider what was going on in your head until it was too late, we're-… We're sorry too, Jaune…

Jaune looks at Pyrrha with a confused, yet hopeful expression on his face. He wasn't expecting to be forgiven so easily, nor did he think he deserved such kindness from his friends. Speaking of Jaune's friends, Ren goes next to him & speaks his mind as well.

Ren: If one of us fall, the others go make sure that one who fell gets back up to their feet & That's exactly what we're going to do right now. *Offers his hand to Jaune* Well?...

Jaune looks up at Ren before looking back at his hand, Jaune looks down for a second to think about it for a bit. After a few more seconds, Jaune gets more determined & takes Ren's hand, who helps him get back up with a smile on his face.

Jaune: Thank you everyone… All of you…

Everyone smiles at the brief, yet heartfelt moment between Team JNPR. Pyrrha & Jaune even exchange a smile & look at each other, at least until they realized that they were staring at each other & looked away blushing for a moment. Unfortunately for Jaune, this nice moment is cut short by him getting a hard kick on his left leg from Nora.

Jaune: OW!

Jaune holds his leg in pain before looking at Nora with a confused expression on his face, the latter looking both relieved, yet still a little upset at Jaune, both for obvious reasons.

Jaune: What was that for?!

Nora: That was for making us worry sick for the last few weeks, you big jerk!

Just as Jaune was expecting another hard hit from Nora, she instead uses her good arm to pull him for a small hug that doesn't crush him. Jaune appreciates her kind gesture & returns the embrace for a while before they separated, they then looked at the large beast slowly descending back to the ground, having his right eye taken away & bleeding; Glynda then stands in front of the kids & be the leader in this situation.

Glynda: It looks like taking away one of his eyes was a good start, but we need to find a way to destroy this beast & fast! *Looks back at the others* Have any of you managed to find a weakness we can exploit?

Both Ruby & Blake shake their heads in response.

Ruby: I'm sorry, but we weren't able to do much. We tried to take away his wings, but we didn't have enough power to do so.

Glynda: I see… *Looks at Yang & Nora* What about you? Were any of you able to find something that may be of use?

Nora: Ow… No, anyone who can take my hammer swings like it's nothing isn't someone you wanna mess with & I'm one of the physically strongest people in this school!

Yang: Same with me, I don't think brute strength will be enough either.

Glynda groans in frustration at their responses, is there truly nothing they can do?! Are they going to die here?! She can't let it end like this, not like this! As Glynda was about to say anything else, Jaune suddenly speaks his mind when he noticed something crucial.

Jaune: Actually, brute strength might be our key to victory! Look at Cardin's skull armor!

Everyone suddenly looks back at Jaune as he said that before looking back at Cardin, mainly the armor protecting his upper head like a helmet. They then realize something; the armor has a few cracks in it, big cracks at that! Those cracks came from Glynda's barrage of psychic attacks from earlier, then then notice the armor on his chest, wings, as well as the armor on both his arms & legs seem to share the same type of armor. Jaune then continues from where he left off.

Jaune: If we all manage to break his individual armor pieces in a single, yet very powerful attack, we might be able to actually damage him!

The others thing of this idea for a moment, it certainly made a lot of sense when you get down to it. For the most part, you wear armor on places where you don't wanna be hit on, like how a chestplate protects you from getting stabbed in the chest, possibly hitting one of your vital organs. If those pieces of armor on Cardin are anything to go by, they might be able to discover his weak spots & finally begin to take him out.

Glynda: This is a long shot & certainly risky, but I believe that this is our best chance to victory. *Looks back at Cardin* I'll make sure to keep it busy by barraging him with more of my psychic attacks, can I trust you kids to deal with his other armor pieces while I'm keeping this Demon at bay?

Everyone nods at Glynda's question, with Jaune being the one who answers her directly.

Jaune: Yeah, you can leave the other armor pieces to us. But for how long can you keep his attention away from us? Do you have a limit on how long you can fight non-stop?

Glynda: If I keep using my Semblance non-stop & firing powerful psychic attacks like I did earlier, I'd only be able to give you all a little over 5 minutes. After that, I'm out.

Ruby thinks for a moment after she hears that. under normal circumstances, a Huntsmen wouldn't be able to keep constantly using their Semblance before running out of aura for a little less than 5 minutes, although there are special cases where they can last longer, especially if they're good at using their Semblance without consuming too much Aura. But for Glynda, she can do it for about 5 minutes, which should be more than enough… but considering their opponent, they don't wanna waste any of that given time & as Glynda stated earlier, the moment those 5 minutes pass, she won't be able to fight anymore. Ruby hums in thought before coming to an answer.

Ruby: 5 minutes, huh? That's gotta be a world record… *Looks back at Glynda* Alright, we'll make sure to destroy those armor pieces before you go down!

Glynda smiles at Ruby's answer & determination, even if she's still mad at her reckless behavior from earlier. Whatever, she can deal with that after they defeat this monster.

Glynda: Alright, you kids make sure to stand by each other's side while I'm busy & while I'm at it, I still have one last order for you all & I want all of you to follow that order no matter what! *Takes a deep breath before continuing* DON'T DIE! UNDERSTOOD?!

The Garnet Papillons: Yes Ma'am!

Glynda then nods as she goes back to her boulder & begins to fly back to where she was before to continue her onslaught of psychic attacks directly at Cardin's head, all the while The Garnet Papillons begin their assault. Yang helps Nora relocate her left shoulder so that she can fight for a little while longer, they then all begin to surround the beast from the sides, beginning their counterattack. As Glynda is playing her own role, she begins to think of where Byleth is right now, the same following for Sothis.

Glynda: (Ms. Eisner, Sothis… Wherever you 2 are at the moment, I hope you can come here & lend us a hand… I haven't felt this sense of dread in a long time; to be honest, I'm scared & I don't wanna die… But our children need us, our people need us… My Daughter needs me… which is why I'll keep moving forward, no matter what!)

Glynda uses her telekinesis to take more trees & boulders, as well as creating many more psychic blades to attack Cardin in his facial armor. This won't be like The Mock Battle where she used her Semblance sparingly & did mostly chip damage until she had to go all out, this is her going all out from the start. She hopes that Byleth comes here fast enough to lend them all a hand, this battle may very well push Glynda to her limits.

We then cut to a struggling Byleth slowly crawling her way towards where the battle is occurring, but the massive pain in her chest prevents her from going too far & it doesn't take very long until she eventually falls to the ground in pain once again.

Byleth: Argh! *Panting heavily* Damnit, my chest hurts too much! Unlike Sothis, I wasn't granted with a new body in my rebirth, so my heart is still that accursed Crest of Flames! If this keeps up, I myself might become a Demonic Beast… Or worse!

Sothis: BYLETH~!

Byleth widens her eyes for a moment when she heard someone call her name, she looks around until she spots an approaching Sothis coming towards her direction. Sothis goes to check on her & to say he's horrified of seeing her "Older Sister" in such pain would be a big understatement.

Sothis: Oh my god, what's going on with you?!

Byleth: I- I don't know! This must be the work of- Argh!

Byleth struggles to get up, but Sothis makes sure to keep her laid down as she tries to think of something to help her Sister; healing her like before may not be enough this time.

Sothis: Byleth, just stay down for a second! I can heal you!

Sothis places her hands on Byleth like she did back at the basement of Beacon, beginning to cast healing magic once more... But something didn't feel right, Byleth doesn't look like she's getting any better, she still feels a sharp pain. When Sothis notices how Byleth is holding her chest in pain, that's when she finally connects the dots.

Sothis: The Crest…

Byleth: Exactly!... It's because of Cardin & my Sword, the Crest of Flames was reacting to Cardin's transformation. I don't know why, but it looks like I'm sharing his pain!

Sothis tries to think of something to do. She knows Byleth needs to go & fight to stop the Demonic Beast, but she can't go in that state; she'll most certainly die if she does! But Sothis can't just heal her, she doesn't know how the Crests fully work, so she doesn't know what she has to do in order to save Byleth from an unfortunate fate. She then remembers something else, her Semblance! More specifically, her Aura; her Life Force! While she hasn't fully awakened her Aura yet, it's still there; she then gets an idea as she then offers her hand to Byleth.

Sothis: Byleth, take some of my life force!

Byleth looks at Sothis confusingly before she continues.

Sothis: We were once the same person & shared our bodies & souls with one another, remember? Even in completely new & different bodies, that doesn't change the fact that we're still connected in a literal sense! Try taking some of my life force to keep your Crest at bay, maybe that'll let you fight long enough to defeat Cardin!

Byleth immediately rejects the idea. Not only because it would most certainly take a few years of Sothis' lifespan due since she hasn't trained with her Aura at all at this point & hasn't even fully unlocked it yet, but also because this idea of hers may not even work!

Byleth: Sothis, are you even listening to yourself?! this plan of yours may not even work & even if it did, there's no way in hell I'm gonna take away a few years of your life away!

Sothis: *Groans in frustration* Byleth, drop your Alpha Female Act just this once! Those kids are going to die if we don't do something right now!

Byleth: I know that! but I'm not gonna do that at the cost of other people's wellbeing!

Sothis: It's just a few years, that's nothing!

Byleth: & How exactly would you know about that?!

Sothis: I just can't think of another way, alright?! *Takes a deep breath* Look, didn't we promise ourselves that no matter what happens, we'd stand together & accomplish our mission here at Remnant?! If we let something like this stop us from what it needs to be done, then this second chance at life will be all for nothing! Is that what you want?!

Byleth thinks about what Sothis just said, she makes a very good point. Above all else, they're here for a mission, they can't let anything stop them from accomplishing that mission; let alone letting their second chance at life go to waste like this. But at the same time, she doesn't want to accomplish their mission by doing this kind of stuff, especially if they don't know if it will work or not. This isn't the first time they did something like this, given how they had to fully merge to escape TWSITD's trap back at Fódlan. But at the end of the day, Byleth eventually relents & takes Sothis' hand.

Byleth: Fine, you win… But I'll only take a little bit, got it?

Sothis nods as she closes her eyes & as she clears her mind, both Byleth & Sothis are enveloped by an Emerald Green light. Sothis groans in pain as her life force is being taken by Byleth & slowly but surely, Byleth starts to become a little bit stronger.

Cut back to The Garnet Papillons fighting Cardin, while they're plan can definitely work, the real problem is putting it into action properly. They tried using combined attacks & although they're able to do some decent damage, it's not enough to truly break his armor. Yang, Pyrrha & Nora are the ones who feel the most spent after using all of their power to attack Cardin's armor pieces constantly. It has already been 3+ minutes now & Glynda can feel like she's been heavily drained of her energy.

Glynda: *Pant **Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* (Bloody hell! How can a monster be that tanky?! Not even the Creatures of Grimm are this bad! Could this be the true power of those Demonic Beasts Prof. Eisner told us about? It's truly a terrifying thought…)

Glynda keeps firing powerful psychic attacks on Cardin all over him, mainly its head. But it's clear that she's close to hitting her limit. Meanwhile, the students below are doing what they can to help, with Yang, Pyrrha & Nora on their knees panting heavily.

Yang: Fuck man! This is like fighting those Damage-sponge Bosses in a MRPG, this is nuts!

Pyrrha: *Spits some blood* Unfortunately, I don't think the others on the back & the speedsters are having any better… *Looks up* & Glynda's starting to lose ground

While they were catching their breath, Nora then gets an idea after she remembers something from Port's class.

Nora: Wait! Didn't the old man with the mustache said that there are certain "elements" that Grimm are weak to? Like bird-based Grimm being weak to Wind Dust attacks or something like that?

Pyrrha: Nora, we talked about this… His name is Port, not old m- *Widens her eyes in shock* Wait, did you just say you remember something from his class?!

Nora: Kinda, I had a bit of a headache that day… But I remember talking about how those who are very good at Dust also use the correct ones to deal with specific Grimm...

Both Yang & Pyrrha look at Nora with their jaws dropped, completely flabbergasted by her simple, yet genius idea! While Cardin didn't become an actual Grimm, that doesn't automatically disqualify this possibility. They both look at each other & nod before look back at Nora, with Pyrrha in particular having a very proud expression.

Pyrrha: Nora, I think you may have just saved us all!

Nora: *Looks at Pyrrha* I did?

Pyrrha: Yeah, you did! *Looks up at Glynda* HEY! PROF. GOODWITCH! TRY USING WIND DUST ATTACKS ON CARDIN, WE MAY HAVE FOUND OUT A POSSIBLE WEAKNESS!

Glynda looks down for a second as she hears that claim from her & after thinking about it for a brief moment… How come she hasn't thought of that before?! It's at least worth a shot. She then reaches for a small container of Wind Dust from her small bag, she opens the container & uses her telekinesis to create a large psychic wind spear. She aims for the right collarbone to fire her Wind Javelin & once she has her target on sight, she uses her Semblance to throw the Wind Javelin at Cardin, it's a direct hit!

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

The Demonic Beast falters, feeling a very sharp pain on where Glynda fired her Wind Javelin. He really is weak to Wind Dust just as the girls expected, they have just turned the tides of this battle. Glynda is shocked by that revelation & turns her Scroll to spread this information to the orders, knowing that some might be too far away to hear her from where she currently was.

Glynda: It worked! *Uses her Scroll* Listen everyone! If any of you are able to use Wind Dust attacks of any kind, use them! This Demon is weak to Wind Attacks!

The good news is that they were able to hear her message loud & clear, the bad news is that only about half of them have access to Wind Dust at that moment. Weiss always carries a bit of each type of Dust, so she has some for herself; Ren has Wind Dust Bullets & the bladed edges of Storm Flower are actually encased with Wind Dust; Ruby also has some Wind Dust Bullets & Blake can strengthen Gambol Shroud with a few Wind Dust Containers, the same unfortunately doesn't hold true to the other 4 Garnet Papillons. As for Glynda, she only has a very limited amount, so she has to use it sparingly.

Weiss decides to go on the offensive by finding a high & sturdy enough tree branch to stand on, focus her Aura & summon many Green Glyphs behind her. Once she points at her target with Myrtenaster as if it were a magic wand, the Glyphs fire a massive barrage of Wind Dust Projectiles at Cardin, hitting in its front legs. It actually left a slight bruise at them, she fires another barrage & this time, she hits at a cracked armor piece that's protecting his left wrist, It's a direct hit! After struggling for so long, they finally managed to break one of his armor pieces & get an upper hand.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAWRGH!

Cardin screeches in pain as the armor piece of his left talon is completely shattered, he stumbles a bit & falls down on one knee… Well, down a quadruped knee since his other 3 legs are still fine. Anyways- when Jaune takes notice of the vulnerable area Weiss was able to make by destroying one of the armor pieces, he looks at Ren as he remembers something he might have in his arsenal.

Jaune: Ren! Do you have any throwing knives, but with Wind Dust Paper Bombs?!

Ren nods at Jaune's question as he whips out three daggers with a Wind Dust Paper Bomb tied on the handle of each throwing dagger, he jumps very high in the air to gain distance & throws all 3 daggers at once, hitting their target.

Jaune: Alright! *Takes out his Scroll* Ruby, we got you an opening! Shoot him on his left arm & make sure to hit one of the Winds Dust Paper Bombs!

From afar on one of the trees, Ruby was taking sniper shots at Cardin so that she can get a safe distance away from him to fully recuperate her aura after fighting him from up-close earlier. She smirks as she puts her Scroll down once Jaune finishes his message, she takes aim & makes sure to load a high caliber Wind Dust Bullet. Once she finds her target, she fires her shot & creates a big wind explosion by making contact with the Paper Bombs, Cardin certainly felt that combined attack from the Garnet Papillons.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

At that moment, the entire team just went full force on the now damaged front leg of the Demonic Beast, doing as much damage as they can & making sure the limited supply of Wind Dust is being saved for the other pieces of the armor, like Glynda shooting one more Psychic Wind Javelin at Cardin, but on his skull armor this time.

To make sure Cardin doesn't get away by flying high into the sky, both Weiss & Ren fired Wind Glyphs & daggers with Wind Dust Paper Bomb respectively at the wings, damaging them enough so that Cardin doesn't escape! By the looks of it, Cardin can't regenerate his wounds, so the injuries the heroes are inflicting are permanent. With his wings now too damaged to take him to the skies above, Cardin can no longer escape this battle if he felt the need to get away or fly away somewhere else to wreak havoc.

It looks like it's going well for our heroes this time. Cardin is finally taking some good damage; the heroes have discovered his weakness to Wind Dust & are finally able to begin pushing the Demonic Beast back! With Weiss & Ren doing the most Wind Dust damage, Ruby firing some well-aimed shots & everyone else trying their best to hit its weak spot, it seems that they finally have this monster backed into a corner… Until…

Glynda: This will be the last Wind Dust attack I'll be able to fire, I better make great use out of this remaining Dust!

With her Telekinesis, Glynda creates a giant curved blade out of the last remaining of the Wind Dust she had & her psychic powers; her plan is to hit Cardin in the neck in a single swing & trying to behead him, believing that he's now weak enough to land a killing blow on him. But before she does so, she takes out her Scroll to give the kids a heads up.

Glynda: [Listen everyone! I'm going to try & finish the beast off! Clear a path below!]

Everyone took her message & stepped as far away from Cardin as possible, joining both Ruby & Weiss who were on the trees taking shots at him from afar. But for some reason, Ruby feels like something's not right here; she looks above & see Glynda pulling the giant Wind Blade back, ready to send the blade back down below to decapitate the Beast… But suddenly, Ruby noticed that a faint smirk grew from Cardin's large & damaged beak; she panics & realizes that this is a trap, looking back up & trying to warn Glynda.

Ruby: GLYNDA! GET OUT OF THERE! HE'S LURING YOU INTO A TRAP!

It's too late! Not only has Glynda already brought the Wind Dust Psychic Blade down, but she wasn't able to completely hear Ruby's warning due to the large distance between them. Moments before the attack lands, Cardin jumps high & goes towards Glynda. To everyone's shock, Cardin sacrifices the armor protecting his other arm by smacking away Glynda's attack, letting the armor protecting his right hand take the hit & shatter instead of landing on his neck like Glynda wanted! This action shocks everyone, including Glynda herself! But before she has time to process what just happened, Cardin opens his large beak & consumes Glynda whole in a single bite, then swallows her soon after. This action shocks the entire team, believing that one of their professors has just been killed.

Ruby: NOOOO!

Cardin lands back down to the ground, creating a massive tremor & shockwave when he lands from such a high altitude & being so massive. Due to his severely damaged left arm, his damaged wings & now exposed right arm, he now stands in his 2 remaining legs that are still in good condition; with a stance similar to a large primate or a standing bear. With their Mage General supposably gone, the kids get horrified as to what's about to happen right now. They get their answer as Cardin caws once again, like he's trying to give off a majestic roar & uses his right talons to strike down the students in one attack.

Ruby: PAPILLONS! SCATTER!

They all do exactly what Ruby told them & scattered, jumping as far away as possible to avoid the incoming attack (Except for Jaune who had to be carried by Pyrrha due to lacking the necessary training to make such feats) but Cardin isn't done yet as he uses his large tale to smack away the students that jumped on his left side; which consisted of Nora, Yang, Weiss & Ren. While the ones who landed to his right looked in shock as they witnessed their friends getting smacked away; almost like nothing has changed since this battle begun just a couple of minutes ago!

Pyrrha: No… REN! NORA!

Blake: Forget them! Worry about saving your own ass before saving theirs!

Jaune: Goddamnit, what the hell just happened?! We were doing so well before, why are we suddenly losing ground again?!...

Ruby: Because we got too excited & full of ourselves…

The others looked at Ruby confusingly as she says that.

Jaune: What do you mean "We got too full of ourselves"?

Ruby: When we discovered its weakness to Wind Attacks, we thought that we already had Cardin at checkmate. But none of us considered the possibility of him trying to lure us in a false sense of security… But just like those black scum, Cardin's smarter than he looks, now that he's just another Grimm… No, not another filthy Grimm; a filthy Demon!

Jaune looks down in anger, knowing that all of this is his fault. If he didn't snap at his team back at their class, if he didn't let Cardin blackmail him, if he stood up for himself earlier, none of this would've happened!

Jaune: N- No! How could I have let this happen?! Why didn't I do anything before when I still had the chance?!

Blake: Can it, Vomit Boy! If you have time to cry about your insecurities like a little bitch, you have time to help us think of something to stop things from getting any worse!

Not liking how she just worded that "motivational speech", Ruby & Pyrrha give Blake a rather unpleasant glare.

Pyrrha: Blake, do you always have to be so hard on others?

Blake: Apparently yes, because you child playing heroes are too soft!

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

Once that roar was heard, they all knew that Cardin was through playing games now. He tries to take shot at Ruby's group by using his good arm to try & grab them with his large talons, but Ruby was able to get them all out of there just in time. But just like he did with the other half of the class, Cardin used that opportunity to smack them away with his large tail. Ruby & the others are smacked away like nothing & crash into some boulders, losing a good chunk of their Aura.

Ruby: Argh!

Jaune: Man, that hurt… Ow…

Blake: Damn, that motherfucker packs a punch!

Blake is the first one to get up, with her blades ready & drawn. She rushes into the beast at high speeds, running up to its left arm & climbing all the way to its shoulder. Once she reaches his left shoulder, Blake jumps high in the sky & enhances the blades of Gambol Shroud with her Aura, planning on landing a hit on his skull armor.

Blake: I'm not gonna let some overgrown chicken defeat me!

Blake lands a powerful tornado slash at the cracks on Cardin's helmet, but unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to break the armor. Cardin just views this act of defiance as just an annoyance, so he takes a deep breath & sends a powerful screech to Blake, which both damages her ears & sends her diving like a falling boulder, crashing into the ground. When Yang wakes up, she spots her partner in the ground, with her Aura flickering faster & faster, almost reaching its literal breaking point. She notices that Cardin is about to strike her down with his right talons.

Yang: BLAKE!

Yang activates her Semblance, uses Ember Celica to give her a speed boost. She rushes in & moments before Cardin's talons were about to strike down a weakened Blake, Yang throws a mighty powerful punch at Cardin's right arm, greatly damaging it now that it doesn't have the protection from his armor piece anymore.

Cardin: CAAAAWRGH!

Now with both of his arms damaged, it will be difficult for him to use them properly. But Yang isn't done yet, she reloads her shotgun barrels with the last 2 Wind Dust Rounds she had left, enhanced her legs with Aura to jump high in the air to get closer to the raging beast & began unleashing a barrage of long-ranged punches at Cardin. Whenever she punches, one of her bullets is fired, so a barrage of punches from Ember Celica would normally be a K.O. in most fights. Unfortunately, this will not knock out Cardin & Yang is very much aware of that, but it won't stop her from trying to do something to the Demon.

Yang: LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO-LIÁO!... LIÁO BAOBÈI!

Yang's "Liáo Baobèi Rush" counter: 2

Yang fires all of the Wind Dust Rounds she could fire & they all hit from his neck, all the way to its face & although it didn't knock the beast down, it at least landed some big bruises. Thanks to Yang's powerful volley of punches, the severely cracked skull armor is finally broken after taking so much damage throughout this long fight. But when they see Cardin's face, all they see are those glowing, powerful scarlet eyes that are usually associated with The Creatures of Grimm. More importantly is the large emblem branded on Cardin's forehead, The Crest of Flames; the same emblem that Byleth shows whenever she gets serious in battle.

The Demonic Beast gives off another powerful screeching roar that's enough to bring Yang down to her knees as she covers her ears, before Cardin tries to attack them again, Ruby dashes in & grabs them both, taking them where the rest of the group is currently recuperating & thinking on what to do now. Both Yang & Blake are unable to continue this battle, with Yang in particular having her Aura shattered due to her overusing Burn.

Yang: *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* That was… All I got!... I won't be able to back you guys up anymore, man…

Pyrrha: Yang, you & Blake have done more than enough. Take some rest, we can finish him off ourselves now that he can barely stand on all of his 4 legs!

Weiss: But how?! I'm almost out of Wind Dust myself & we don't have enough stamina to keep fighting for much longer, let alone the strength to take that-… That thing down in just one attack! Prof. Goodwitch tried that & look how it ended for her!

[Music: "Engage the Enemy" from Xenoblade Chronicles]

Ruby: That's why we won't take him out in a single blow…

Weiss: We won't?... Then what will you propose instead?

Ruby looks back at Cardin, glaring at it with both anger & confidence.

Ruby: We're tearing him apart limb from limb! *Looks back to her classmates* Literally!

Everyone: What?!

Ruby: Both of his arms & wings are greatly damaged thanks to our combined effort. If we managed to cut them out completely, it will limit his options even more!... & If that fails too, then… Well- *Looks back at Cardin with a scared, yet confident smirk* I'll finish that disgusting freak of nature off myself!

They cannot believe what their Class Leader just said. In short: if all else fails, she'll stay behind & finish Cardin by himself… Which is a HORRIBLE IDEA & clearly wouldn't work cause Ruby is pretty tired herself & even if she wasn't, there's no way she could take Cardin on all by herself!

Nora: Why you specifically?!

Ruby drops the act as she gives Nora a look of someone who's been through hell.

Ruby: Because no one else will…

Ruby takes a look at the remaining fighters. Yang, Blake & Nora are barely hanging into consciousness, Ren & Jaune can still stand, but they look very tired, while Weiss & Pyrrha seem to be at a reasonable state to keep fighting; that's when she formulates a plan.

Ruby: Alright… *Looks at Weiss* Weiss, you keep supporting us from the back with your Glyphs. *Looks at Pyrrha* Pyrrha, you're helping me out in dismembering this Beast!

Weiss: *Sighs in defeat* You are impossible… Alright, I'll help you out as much as I can!

Pyrrha: As will I, I'm not going to fall in battle today either!

Ruby: Thanks. *Looks back at Cardin* Okay, let's go!

Pyrrha nods at Ruby before they both rush towards Cardin, with Ruby going at a higher speed thanks to her higher base speed. Cardin takes notice of the 2 starting to literally run circles around him, wondering what they're plan is now. But before he could try to attack, his vision gets smoked (literally) by a couple of projectiles being fired by Weiss. Thanks to her efforts, both Ruby & Pyrrha were able to climb onto Cardin's back & begin dealing some slicing damage.

While Ruby is able to land more his due to her being much faster, Pyrrha is able to deal stronger hits due to being much more powerful; they make their way to his right shoulder, where one of his damaged wings resided & make sure to position themselves on opposite directions. Both of them envelop their weapons with Aura & charge at one another until both of their blades cross & with it, Cardin's right wing is severed, later crashing down as he screeches in pain. When Ruby tried to cut his wing off much earlier, she didn't have enough strength to cut it clean off in a single slash; but at the state it was just a moment ago? Just one of them would've been enough to sever one of his greatly damaged wings.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

Both of them are diving down, ready to land & continue their assault!

Ruby: Alright, let's follow this by cutting off his left hand! Thanks to our previous efforts in destroying its armor earlier, we shouldn't have any issue in slicing off his talons!

Pyrrha: Very well, allow me to take care of his hand!

Ruby nods as both herself & Pyrrha land back to the ground, maneuvering at high speeds while also avoiding getting stomped by Cardin, due to him not holding still anymore & just trying to slam his feet in whatever he's able to slam at. Following the girls were a series of more Dust Projectiles fired by Weiss, who's able to create a smokescreen for the girls to sneak around better & trick Cardin as they were making their move. He looks back down with his single functioning eye, until he suddenly noticed a few deep cuts suddenly coming from his left arm.

While his left arm is too damage to grab anything, let alone use it to attack properly; he's still able to move his arm around & try to get rid of whoever's attacking him now. Once the smoke clears, he spots both Ruby & Pyrrha hanging onto his left talons as he brought said talons a little closer for him to see. That's when Pyrrha readies her sword once again to attack as she jumps to the Beast's left wrist.

Pyrrha: Take this, MOON GLARE!

Pyrrha spins around like a top & performs a crescent moon like slash that cuts off Cardin's left hand, making him screech in pain. But suddenly, Pyrrha's Aura suddenly begins to flicker & at a fast rate. She's been using her Aura a lot in this fight & she's about to hit her limit. She unfortunately stumbles as she's barely able to safely land back down & catch her breath, she hopes that she can fight for just a little while longer. But when she finally feels a little better, she noticed a large shadow looming over her. She looks up & sees Cardin's right talons ready to squash her, yet Pyrrha doesn't have enough strength to jump away far enough to avoid the attack. Everyone looks on at shock, not believing what's about to happen. Jaune on pure instinct rushes in to save his Partner, despite his friends telling him to stop.

Jaune: NO! PYRRHA!

Ren: JAUNE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!

Nora: DON'T DO IT, JAUNE! YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT IN TIME!

Jaune: I DON'T CARE! I won't let her die! I won't let anyone die because of me!

Blake: You damn fool… STOP!

As Jaune runs towards Pyrrha, he suddenly feels a huge burst of Aura running through his body; although he doesn't take notice of his sudden surge of power & just focuses on trying to save Pyrrha or die trying. Meanwhile, Ruby takes notice of it & gets horrified, not wanting to lose her friend due to her not being strong enough… Or someone close to her in general due to her lack of strength... As well as her ignorance about the real world.

Ruby: {No… Not again...}

Ruby's memories take the better of her once more as she both see flashes of her Mother's damaged & bloodied hood once again, as well as a memory we haven't seen before… One where Ruby's all alone, yet she's surrounded by flames… As well as a pile of dead bodies, scattered around the fires of destruction.

Ruby: Not again…

The last memory she has before she finally snapped was of someone who she held dear, suddenly trying to save her, only to die in her place. The one responsible for their death was a Grimm… A very abnormal looking Grimm & one that Ruby would never forget for as long as she lived, as well as a cloaked figure who she can barely make out. Without thinking of her own well-being, Ruby leaves her post to try & save Pyrrha from the Demon.

Ruby: NOT AGAIN!

In a huge burst of Petals, Ruby dives down at top speed towards Pyrrha's direction & she was able to reach Pyrrha moments before getting crushed by Cardin. She's able to grab her & get her out of the way just in time before they were both crushed… Or at least, she tried to… Once the others take notice of Ruby, it's already too late.

Yang: RUBY-!

-SLAM!-

A huge tremor is felt once Cardin slammed his right talons to the ground, sending a very powerful shockwave that pushes everyone away & creating a huge burst of smoke. Once the smoke clears, the large beast pulls back his damaged right arm, looking down at the one who got caught in his attack. He's able to see a barely breathing, unconscious Ruby on top of Pyrrha, who was in Ruby's arms. Pyrrha slowly begins to get up as she regains consciousness after such a brutal attack, lightly pushes the unconscious Ruby to the side & then notices said unconscious Ruby soon after. Pyrrha widens her eyes in shock as she sees her House Leader in such a state, not believing what she just did.

Pyrrha: R-… Ruby…?

As Pyrrha goes to check on Ruby, she takes notice of Cardin about to strike them again; but instead of trying to crush them, he's gonna pierce them with his right talons. He pulls his damaged right arm back a bit & immediately throws it back at Pyrrha. With little to no Aura left to even escape, Pyrrha chooses to stand strong & use her shield to block the incoming attack, knowing it won't work… But once the attack finally connects, something incredible happens.

-CRASH!-

Pyrrha: J- JAUNE?!

Just in the nick of time, Jaune is able to arrive & take the incoming blow & block it with his own shield instead. For some reason, he's able to slightly hold the beast off. A big part is because of how damaged Cardin's right arm is, so he wasn't able to put much force behind the attack, but also because of something else entirely. As Jaune is about to say something to the girls, Pyrrha takes notice of how much Aura is overflowing through Jaune's body & suddenly giving him a huge power boost. One big enough to hold off the large beast, at least for a small moment.

Jaune: I'm gonna be honest… I'm terrified as hell right now!... I knew that carving a path of a Huntsman wasn't a joke, but I learned how underprepared I was the hard way!... But even so… Even though I'm afraid…

As Jaune keeps blocking the attack, he uses his free arm to take out his sword: Crocea Mors, subconsciously enhancing it with a lot of Aura. His body continues to overflow with Aura until eventually, he strikes back!

Jaune: I WON'T LET THIS BASTARD HURT MY FRIENDS!

Jaune pushes Cardin's talon just enough for him to pull back his sword arm & with all of his might, cleanly cuts off Cardin's right hand as well; just like how Pyrrha did it with his other hand just a few moments ago.

[Music End]

Unfortunately for Jaune, this brave & heroic moment doesn't last long. Just as quickly as he unleashed his untapped, terrifying power; he immediately falls to the ground as his Aura shatters & becomes completely fatigued. Pyrrha immediately goes to check on him.

Pyrrha: JAUNE! What was that?... How did you-…?!

Jaune, who's slowly catching his breath, tilts his head to look at Pyrrha in the eye, all the while looking like the humble, yet foolish goofball she's familiar.

Jaune: {What the heck… Are you- talking about...?}

Pyrrha can't help but smile at this response, just being happy that he's still alive. She then looks back at The Demonic Beast, still screeching in pain from losing both of his hands, he's no longer able to stand on all fours anymore as he begins to fall down to his knees. But just as things couldn't get worse for Cardin, the one who took a lot of her sweet time finally shows up to battle as she suddenly throws a powerful punch right at Cardin's face, making him stumble & crash down. When the students witness this feat, they could not believe their eyes. They were fighting this monster for about 5 minutes & were barely doing any damage until the last minute, then this person comes out of nowhere & just sends the bastard flying like it's no big deal. That person who soon after lands right in front of Ruby, Jaune & Pyrrha was The Fódlan Light herself: Byleth Eisner!

Everyone: BYLETH!

Weiss: What in the bloody hell took you so bloody long to get here?! We almost died; you know!

Byleth just rolls her eyes at Weiss' comment, despite the fact that she was correct. That little "transfer" she & Sothis made took a lot longer than it needed to be, but at least she was able to make it just in time… But then she notices that a few people are missing as she begins to look around for a moment.

Byleth: Where's Glynda? & Team CRDL?...

Pyrrha: Prof. Goodwitch was swallowed whole moments before you arrived… As for Team CRDL, they were all killed… & Cardin was turned into that horrible monstrosity!

Byleth looks down in anger, cursing herself for not being able to stop any of this in the first place. She'll be lucky if Ozpin doesn't literally take her head as punishment after this is all over, not that she'd blame the young Headmaster if he makes that choice. But she can worry about that later, she has a job to do right now. She then looks back at Cardin, who's slowly gets up from Byleth attack. Byleth tilts her head to Pyrrha before assuring her that everything will be alright now.

Byleth: You all have done a phenomenal in fighting a Demonic Beast in your state, even more so for this long… But at the state you've put him, I can finish him off without any issue… Just sit back & watch, this will be my "lesson" for you today…

Before Pyrrha could even get a word in, Byleth takes her stance as she fully powers up; activating both her Semblance & her Crest of Flames as her blue hair slightly flickers to Emerald Green. She then suddenly rushes towards the enemy. Pyrrha couldn't believe what just happened! At one moment, Byleth was here; but in the next moment, she suddenly appears close to the Demonic Beast himself. This level of speed can give Ruby a huge competition, Pyrrha was at awe from Byleth's sudden boost in power.

[Music: "Fire Emblem: Three Houses Theme REMIX" from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]

Just like before, Byleth sends an Aura enhanced punch at Cardin's face & hitting him just as hard as she did last time. Afterwards, she pulls back a bit & begins unleashing a series of powerful punches & kicks at Cardin, utterly demolishing him like it's nothing. All of the Garnet Papillons watch onto this unbelievable spectacle, thinking that this is some sort of dream! How the hell is Byleth able to utterly destroy an enemy they were struggling to defeat like it's nothing?! Is this Byleth's true power?

Weiss: I-… I'm completely speechless…! Nobody can be that strong! It's inconceivable!

Blake: You're telling me that we could've taken out this asshole with Byleth on our side in less than a minute this whole time?!

Yang: *Faintly chuckles* I guess this just shows how outclassed we truly are…

Both Weiss & Blake look at Yang in shock, while Yang herself his giving off an angry, yet very excited smirk from the spectacle she has the honor of witnessing.

Yang: If this is Byleth using her full power, then it's no wonder she was scared of going all out on any of us… I don't think she was this ruthless with Pyrrha or Glynda either, this feels different… The force behind those attacks, the power she's unleashing… That's not the power of a Huntress… That's the power of a true Demon!

Just like everyone else, Pyrrha cannot believe her eyes. To think that she'd witness the true power of The Ashen Demon, no longer holding back. But that makes Pyrrha realize something else entirely, Byleth didn't actually use her full power against herself at their battle in their first day as Teacher & Student of Beacon Academy. She showed a glimpse of it, but she can clearly see that the Byleth who beat her was not the same Byleth that's tearing The Demonic Beast apart! That's not even mentioning the fact that Byleth now has a Semblance & a powerful one at that!

An uppercut to the jaw, then a powerful kick to the chest, followed up by another strong kick that hits his left rib area this time, a deadly hook to his stomach, it's unreal! Byleth continues to beat The Demonic Beast senselessly, unleashing all of the pent-up anger she has right now. Byleth can't remember being this angry before in her life, especially not to this degree. But seeing herself getting captured & gagged by Cardin, having him blackmail & abuse one of her own students & then using her sword to fight them, soon after becoming a beast that almost killed her students… If there's one phrase that can describe Byleth's fury at this moment, it'd be: "Silent like a Calm River, but Deadly like a Wild Predator!" She continues her quietly furious assault until she pushes back Cardin even more, only for him to try & attack her with his tail… Only for Byleth to grab his tail with a single hand, run around until reaching his back & pulling the tail so hard that she rips it off completely; making the giant beast screech in pain.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

At that point, Byleth had enough of her share & decides that it's high time to end this battle once & for all! She dashes back in front of Cardin, looking up as she glares at his one functioning eye; ready to finish the job for good.

Byleth: Hmph!...

Byleth suddenly disappears from everyone's view & just as fast as she does so, Cardin suddenly feels a barrage of blows hitting him & fatally wound him. Byleth lands right between his wings before turning back around & delivering a powerful Aura enhanced, Dragonscale boosted knee at Cardin's collarbone, shattering it completely! Followed up by another strong knee at the back of his skull & finally doing a flip to land one last kick right at the Demonic Gryphon's face, knocking him down to the ground.

Byleth lands to the ground & without looking back at her opponent, lifts up her right arm high into the sky, opens her hand & begins charging a small, yet extremely powerful Light Magical sphere that will be more than enough to wipe this demonic beast from the face of the planet. As the Demonic Beast slowly tries to get back up, he takes notice of Byleth, mainly the sudden burst of Light Energy that's forming on the palm of her hand. Unfortunately for Cardin, there's nothing left that he can do anymore. He's finished! The Light Ball shatters as it fully envelops Byleth's right hand, she then boils her Light Magic enhanced hand into a fist, turns around & throws the magical attack right back at the Demonic Beast at full force!

Byleth: Stardust… HEAVEN!

Byleth's final attack quite literally goes through & inside of Cardin's chest & once it does, he suddenly feels enveloped with Light Magic & feels a lot of pain. He screams in agony as he slowly, but surely begins to disintegrate into nothingness & creating a giant burst of smoke in the process; just like The Creatures of Grimm.

Cardin: CAAAAAAAAAAWRGH! CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!

[Music End]

Once the smoke clears, Byleth immediately falls to her knees & begins to catch her breath. Thinking about it, she might've overdone it a little bit. But that doesn't matter right now, what matters now is that the Demonic Beast is gone… For good! When the students see this bloody hell of a battle draw to a close, they can't help but feel like they just woke up from a horrible nightmare that almost killed them… Literally!

Ren: She… She won! She actually won!

Nora: WOOHOOH! WAY TO GO PROF. EISNER! WHO SHOWED THAT GIANT HULKING BAG OF FEATHERS WHO'S BOSS!

Weiss: Tch… Unbelievable, to think that any of this was actually possible!

Both Yang & Blake don't say a word, for they feel like there's nothing else to be said. They're just glad that despite the odds, they all somehow made it out alive & live on for another day. This has an experience that The Garnet Papillons will never forget for as long as they live for another day. Once the smoke clears, Byleth takes notice of 2 certain individuals that were laying in the ground. An unconscious Glynda Goodwitch & a dead Cardin Winchester, the latter of which having The Sword of the Creator in his right hand. Byleth goes over to check on Glynda, placing her fingers on her wrist to sense her pulse.

Byleth: *Sighs in relief* Thank the Goddess, she's still alive… *Looks at Cardin* Can't say the same to you, though… You've brought all of this upon yourself, Cardin. Although I have to admit, I didn't want things to end like this.

Byleth goes over to Cardin's corpse & takes her sword back.

Byleth: I believe this is mine.

Yang: BYLETH~!

Byleth widens her eyes in confusion for a moment as she spots the approaching Garnet Papillons coming towards her direction, some of them can barely walk anymore due to how battle damaged they are. A small smile forms on Byleth's face as she picks up Glynda & goes back to her students, happy that all of them made it out alive.

Byleth: I'm sorry for taking so long to get here, are you all alright?

Jaune: We're alright, thank you… That said, Ruby took a lot of damage in this battle. She needs medical attention & fast.

As they were talking, they then noticed an unconscious Glynda on Byleth's arms.

Nora: Wait a minute, wasn't Glynda eaten alive just a minute ago?! How come she's not- Ya'know?... All mashed up & stuff?

Byleth: Glynda was What?!

Weiss: It's true! She tried to finish Cardin off earlier, but she was eaten whole after she failed to deal the finishing blow. How come she's not dead, let alone has her entire body fully intact?

Blake: I have an answer to that question.

They all look at Blake before she continues.

Blake: If someone's eaten whole by a Grimm, they don't die instantly. They still have a little bit of time left to be saved. *Looks at Glynda* It's safe to say that this is how she's not dead yet, she was very lucky to be swallowed whole.

Byleth looks down at Glynda after Blake's confirmation. To think that stuff like that was even possible, something like this has never happened back at Fódlan… Then again, she herself was never swallowed whole by a Demonic Beast herself, so she can't fully confirm that fact either.

Byleth: Right… But enough about that! *Looks back at the others* Yang, could you lay Ruby down for a moment? I can patch them up myself.

Yang: Wait, what?!... How?

Byleth: Just watch…

Byleth then lays down the unconscious Glynda to the ground, she places her hand on the Mage General's forehead as her Aura begins to flow through her body. After a few more seconds, Glynda begins to regain consciousness & slowly starts to open her eyes.

Glynda: {Urgh… What in the gods happened...?}

Everyone: Prof. Goodwitch!

Everyone is shocked by the fact that Byleth just healed Glynda, seemingly like she just used Magic; only for Byleth to reassure them that this wasn't the case.

Byleth: I've given you some of my energy, that should be enough for you to walk around a little bit. But don't put too much strain yourself, whatever wounds you may gotten from that battle weren't actually healed.

Glynda: "Given me some of your energy?" What are you blabbering about?... Last thing I remember was… *Sudden realization* Oh no! Where's that Demon?! He's still-

Blake: He's dead, Byleth came in just a moment ago to finish him off. You missed quite the spectacle, Mage General

Glynda looks at Blake with a horrified expression on her face, only to look back at Byleth who nods, confirming what Blake said to be true. To say that Glynda feels rather bitter about this would be an understatement.

Glynda: I swear, you're not human…

Byleth: You're welcome… Now then.

Byleth signals Yang to lay Ruby down, to which she does without protest now that she knows that she'll do to her Little Sister. With that said, Byleth does the same thing she did to Glynda & shares some of her energy with Ruby; giving her just enough for the young Reaper to regain consciousness in a matter of seconds. That said, Ruby wakes up like she just woke up really tired.

Ruby: {Mom, I don't want any more slices of cake… I'm full now…}

Yang: RUBY!

Without any other words, Yang wraps her arms around her sister & hugs her tightly; unaware that she's still hurt all over.

Yang: You had me worried sick!

Ruby: Owowowowowowow~! Don't- hug me so hard, Yang… I'm still- hurt all over- Ow!

Everyone just sighs in relief, happy that they all made it out alive. But as they were all celebrating their victory, Jaune then takes notice of someone missing.

Jaune: Wait-… Where's Sothis?

Pyrrha: Wasn't she with you, Professor?

Byleth: She was, but she stayed behind since she can't fight like I can… That said, I have her to thank, it's because of her that I made it here in time to save all of you.

Jaune: How come?

Byleth: While you were fighting Cardin in its Demon form, I was having a heart attack.

Everyone: YOU WERE HAVING A WHAT?!

Byleth: Yeah… The power of The Sword of the Creator is linked to their current wielder, that must be the effects of that Curse I warned you all about a couple of times *Places a hand on her chest* I've never felt that much pain before in my life, it was horrible!

Jaune: But then, how were you able to recover from this heart attack?

Byleth: Sothis gave me some of her own life energy so that I had enough strength to fight back, at least long enough for me to take down Cardin before I had another heart attack… It took a lot out of her, it's a miracle that it ended up working out!

Everyone looks at Byleth like they've just seen a ghost. There's no way these Sisters are actually real, right?! Glynda especially doesn't fully believe that story as she calls her out & finally had enough of letting all of this slide.

Glynda: & You truly expect us to simply believe all of what you just said?!

Byleth looks down at the recovering Glynda before the latter continued.

Glynda: After what just happened, why should we believe anything you say anymore?! if you weren't so careless by letting Team CRDL take your sword, this never would've happened to begin with! I was right in thinking that you were a dangerous individual, His Majesty was a fool to entrust you in a teaching position in Beacon Academy!

Most of the students liked how Glynda phrased that, even though she's technically saying the truth. Out of all of them, Ruby's the one who's speaks up & defends Byleth.

Ruby: Will you just shut up already?! She just saved us from a battle we couldn't win; we all would've died if she didn't arrive here when she did! So instead of scolding her & being too self-righteous, how about you be a little more grateful to her?!

Glynda: Watch how you use your tone with me, Ms. Rose! You're still-

Byleth: It's alright, Ruby… Let it go, the same goes for all of you…

Everyone looks back at Byleth in complete shock after she said that.

Ruby: What?!

Byleth: Glynda's right in saying I'm too dangerous to be around, you all witness the Curse of The Sword of the Creator with your own eyes & if I wasn't a careless idiot, none of this would've happened in the first place… *Bows down* I take full responsibility for the events that transpired today, none of this is on any of you.

With that being said, Byleth turns back & begins walking away.

Byleth: I'm going to check on Sothis, then I'll report all of what has transpired here to Headmaster Ozpin in person… I can't promise that we'll see each other again after today.

Without another word, Byleth walks away back into the woods to go check on Sothis while everyone watches on with confusion & worry. Especially Ruby, who doesn't want to lose someone as valuable & important as Byleth.

Back in the woods, Byleth eventually finds Sothis; who's sitting next to a tree looking very tired. Once she reaches her Little Sister, she picks the small Goddess up in her arms & begins carrying her.

Byleth: Hey there, ya feeling any better?

Sothis: Yeah, I'll be alright… From the sudden silence, is it safe to assume that it all went well for you?

Byleth: *Nods* Once I arrived on the battlefield, I didn't waste any more time.

Sothis: I see, good job.

Byleth then begins to walk back to the direction she came, just as she's able to spot a Bullhead coming from very far away. Just looking at it makes her a little upset, knowing exactly who sent that ship towards their direction.

Byleth: Oh, so now he decided to send us a ship to rescue us... Was he enjoying the show too much that he didn't bother to land us a hand?!

Sothis: Guess we'll have to ask him that ourselves, right?

Byleth: *Takes a deep breath* Yeah…

With that said, Byleth continues to walk away & later reuniting with the group. Once the ship lands, they all hop in & begin heading home. Hoping that things go well between Byleth & Ozpin, given what happened. Speaking of Ozpin, he's back at his tower watching the Garnet Papillons get inside of the Bullhead, all the while a smile grows on his face. To think that Byleth would show off so much of her power, she's truly a force to be reckon with & Ozpin enjoyed every moment of it.

The events at Forever Fall Forest could not have gone any more insane than they did. Team CRDL fought Pyrrha & soon after, Cardin became a Demonic Beast & was utterly crushing them like it's nothing for most of the fight. If Byleth didn't come to their aid when she did, they would've certainly met an early end. But now it's all over & they can all look on towards what the future has in-store for them. Will Jaune be able to make up for his mistakes or will he be expelled from Beacon due to getting in there illegally? Will Byleth & Sothis be fired from Beacon & later exiled from Vale due to the former being partially responsible for all the damage Cardin & Team CRDL caused? Will the Garnet Papillons grow stronger from today's events or are they doomed to crumble? Find out all of this & more next time on RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant!

RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant - Chapter 14: Wrath of the Gryphon - End

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Author's Notes: Holy shit, this fight was brutal... Now to answer a certain question that i KNOW will pop up at some point.

"How come Byleth was able to completely demolish Cardin in his Beast From as oppose to everyone else who were struggling with him so much?" To answer that question, let's go back to Fire Emblem Three Houses for a moment, shall we? As we all know (or at least, i HOPE you do) Demonic Beasts are giant monsters that begin roaming around Fódlan after Chapter 5 (The chapter that INTRODUCED Demonic Beasts via Miklan The Lance of Ruin) & Assuming you know what you're doing (Or if you just overuse Byleth in your playthroughs like i do) then taking these guys out is pretty easy for the most part, especially in the early game where there's not alot of them & the ones that are in there aren't THAT strong. In the case of Cardin as a Demonic Beast, he'd definitely be around that low level Demonic Beast that you usually fight in the early to mid game. Remember, this is a Byleth that has went through EVERY EVENT before the timeskip AND was able to get used to her recently awaken Aura & use her Semblance a little better, so this Byleth is a MONSTER! Especially if you make her Angry... & When i say angry... I mean VERY, VERY, VERY focking angry!

Now as to why none of the students were able to defeat them themselves?... This WILL be very controversion, but i have to say it... In my opinion, The gap between the RWBY characters & The Fire Emblem Three Houses Characters, especially the big shots like Seteth, Lysithea the House Leaders... Is WAY TOO FAVORED towards the latter group! Sure, The characters in RWBY are very skilled & powerful, they have more advanced technology, they have powerful weapons, they have OP Semblances & Aura, they're no pushovers... But if you ask me who would win in a battle Between ANY of the Garnet Papillons against ANY of the House Leaders (Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude & Yuri)... I'd put my money on the House Leaders EVERY SINGLE TIME cause they would utterly crush ANY of the Garnet Papillons in a matter of minutes & i'm being GENEROUS! In terms of RWBY Powerscalling, Byleth at full power would be the equivalent of a Fully Realized Maiden at her Prime, maybe even BEYOND that! & Keep in mind, these guys are still students & they've been at Beacon for barely even a MONTH at this point, do you SERIOUSLY expect them to be able to take down a Demonic Beast all by themselves?... The answer is NO! Sure, they dealt alot of damage & got pretty far on their own... But if Byleth didn't arrive in time, all of The Garnet Papillons would've DIED! I can guarantee you that! Consider this a TASTE of what's to come throughout the story since after this chapter's events, The Garnet Papillons will take their Huntsmen training FAR more seriously... Cause from their prespective, who knows WHAT might happen out there. Sure, they knew this is a dangerous path in life, but this is the chapter where they get a true TASTE of that, this chapter is the equivalent of Team CFVY's mission that was expanded upon in After The Fall (which i won't go in depth due to spoilers since IDK if everyone reading this fic read any of the EC Myers RWBY novels, which i HIGHLY recommend) A mission where they were completely hopeless & despite their best efforts, they just. WEREN'T. ready!

But now that it's all over, they can all relax, *I* can relax as next month, we'll have a buffer chapter we're we see how this miniarc affects our characters involved. Before i go, i wanna give a HUGE. HUUUUGE shout out to both KillerKells202 & Neet101 from Discord, i LITERALLY could not have done this BEHEMMOT of a battle without EITHER of them, the both of you were AMAZING! Anyways, that's it for me, i gotta finish The Audio Drama before New Years... This has been Remnant Bardock & until our next meeting, Merry delated Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy whatever Holiday you spend this time of the year & most important of all, HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY, MY FRIENDS!