Here we go.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 65

Perhaps the most shocking thing about their campaign was how many people were willing to come along on it. Menagerie had a population of maybe seven to nine thousand, and over five volunteered to leave to take the fight to Mistral. That was over half, and there would have been more had Sienna not set strict limits on how young or old she'd accept volunteers at. They'd underestimated the degree of hatred the people had for Salem, which wasn't only for the revelation of her first sacking of Menagerie, but the fact she'd sent the church and the Grimm to try again. People could forgive an event that had happened decades before they were born, but they couldn't ignore the deaths of people they knew, or the fact that they and their families would have been massacred had the Grimm broken through.

Everyone knew the attacks wouldn't stop so long as Salem lived, so it was in everyone's best interests to put a stop to her once and for all. He knew that, as did Sienna, but it was a surprise to find just how many other people both understood and accepted it.

"We're not fools here," said Sienna, pride unmistakeably rippling through her words. "We knew our odds of retaking Menagerie were slim, and we knew we'd have to face the Grimm at some point. We just didn't know that witch would be behind it."

It took them time to have ships and supplies ready for the journey as well. Two weeks in total. It would have taken longer but for the fact Mistral was a proverbial stone's throw from Menagerie and should still have plenty of fruit and food to forage and hunt. The wildlife had likely been doing well for itself since Salem purged the island of human life.

Jaune would have helped with that but for Sienna telling him his time would be spent better unlocking the aura of as many as possible – particularly those coming with them. He, Coco, Pyrrha and Weiss effectively became a workshop churning out people with unlocked aura. Ruby and Ren tried to learn but this was harder than simply using destructive magic; destructive magic was uncontrolled and dangerous by design, and you didn't want that same instability entering another person's body. Not unless your intent was murder.

"A part of me will be relieved to have something to do other than unlock aura every day." No one was nearby, but then he meant the words for someone else.

"You'll have plenty to do soon enough when Salem responds to your campaign."

"Do you think she'll act as we think? Will she take the bait?"

"I'm confident she will. Habitual behaviour is difficult to escape for the average person, but she and I have lived for millennia. Imagine how difficult it is to change old habits when they have been ingrained over thousands of years."

"Hard, I imagine."

"Impossibly so. Her poor handling of Menagerie thus far is because this scenario is new to her and she's floundering. It's been a long time since she's had to engage her brain and actually think of a solution to something. You bringing any army to Mistral and preparing to attack Vale is back to basics. Salem will fall back on old habits immediately."

That was good. It was worrying having to predict an enemy like that because she could very well take their absence from Menagerie as a chance to sack it. That didn't make sense, though. If Salem sent a human army, or even Grimm, to take the island then she'd be weakening her forces elsewhere, which might let them threaten a major city. Salem stood to lose more than they did since Menagerie was still just a small settlement, and her main cause of worry was him. Once he was off the island, she was bound to ignore it. "I can go and destroy it after," she'd surely think.

"This army… If I can even call it one. How does it compare to your past armies?"

"That's a difficult question to answer. My previous hosts have certainly led bigger armies in their times – smaller, too – but never one with so many aura users. Five thousand isn't a lot, I'll be honest, but it isn't a small force either. I expect Salem could bring ten-thousand trained soldiers to bear against you."

Jaune was surprised. "That's it? That's a lot less than I expected…"

"Keep in mind she has sacrificed Mistral and much of Atlas, and that her forces were blunted against you once before. I am accounting for losses. Also, I said ten-thousand trained soldiers. There might be more levy – regular folk raised and made to fight with limited training and ability. There could be anywhere from twenty to forty thousand of those."

Ah, there were the terrifying numbers he'd been expecting. Jaune grimaced. They wouldn't be good soldiers by any means, but they'd be warm bodies capable of overwhelming a line or holding it so that the professionals could flank them. Remembering his own training from his father, they'd likely be separated into those who could and couldn't use bows. Those that could would be pushed into an archer regiment, and those that couldn't would be given spears and shields. It was an easy set-up to use; just put the big shield in front of you and poke the long stick at anyone who you didn't want coming close.

They'd be disorganised though, and undisciplined. They were essentially volunteers and drafted civilians, some of whom might have prior experience, but few of which would have real armour or any degree of fitness comparable to trained soldiery. An army that large would take time to get into position, while their own could be mobile. Well, five thousand people wasn't exactly mobile, but they'd be more so than a force bordering fifty thousand. It was just about being faster than their enemy.

"I see you've caught on," said Ozma, sounding himself just a little proud. "An army that size cannot be defeated via conventional means, and it shouldn't be. Even if you were to somehow scatter them to the winds, she would bring the Grimm down on your survivors."

"Then we'll have to lead her on a merry chase."

/-/

Sailing out from Menagerie at the head of an armada was a sobering experience. He'd fought so hard to come here, to run away, to escape Salem and live a normal, peaceful life. And yet here he was at the head of an army. The very thing he'd sworn he wouldn't do. I'll be different from the dark lords before me, he'd said. Hah. He wasn't so different anymore.

They could already see Mistral on the horizon. That wasn't a great surprise given the size difference between it and Menagerie. It was more a continent than a country. It had been the mountains first, but now they could see the landmass as well. Their plan was to sail directly there and land to gather more supplies, and then slip around the southern coast. It wasn't enough to be on Mistral; they needed Salem to know they were on Mistral. The monster wasn't as omniscient as she liked to pretend, so she might not realise they'd come out from their island fortress.

The plan was to be seen, and that meant having to risk coming close to Valean waters. Vacuo was too far to make for decent witnesses, and Salem ought to be in Vale. It was risky for sure, but if they didn't run into any naval vessels that could report on them, then they might have to stage an attack of their own. Sienna had already agreed with her commanders that they'd target one of the known ship-building sites in Vale; they would both announce their presence and cripple Vale's ability to field a decent navy against them, before retreating to Mistral to taunt the church into action. Attacking Vale had sounded like madness to him, but she'd been clear that it would be more of a raid on an undefended location, and they could let the people there escape before torching the docks and shipwrights. The point wasn't to kill anyone or get involved in a big battle. It was to let Salem know they were here. Jaune laughed under his breath.

"Are you practicing your insane cackle?" asked Ruby, strolling up beside him. She didn't come alone. Of all the people Ruby might make friends with, he was surprised to find it was Weiss Schnee. The daughter of a tyrant, and former Chosen of Salem, had taken to helping Ruby in combat training, since he could not. Apparently, Ruby was tired of sitting on the backlines hurling fireballs at their foes. "Sienna wants you to feign madness, doesn't she?"

"I don't know that I'll have to feign it, Ruby. Attacking Vale is kind of insane on its own."

Weiss snorted. "You're not wrong there. Anyone who sees him will believe him a monster anyway. Just make a show of shouting and being irrationally angry. It will do."

"I know it'll convince the common folk," said Ruby. "But will it convince her? We need Salem to believe he's lost his mind."

"She will," said Jaune. "That's the only explanation she'll come to when she asks herself why I moved out from a nigh-impenetrable defence to fight an impossible war against her. It'll be history repeating itself."

"Quite literally if we get into an actual battle," said Weiss. "We can't defeat her in the field. On the water? That might be another story. Menagerie's navy is very capable, and high on morale and experience after winning the last battle. Meanwhile hers has been badly beaten and bled dry. But winning on the water only means we have control of it. Vale is more than capable of producing all the goods it needs so a lockdown on trade is meaningless. We'll have to step off our boats and engage her on land if we want to bring her down."

"I know. I know." Jaune laughed softly. "It feels like everyone is coming to me warning me of all the mistakes I could make. You all realise Sienna and her team are in charge of all this, don't you? I fully believe they'll do a better job than me. I'm just a hunter's boy."

"They may officially be in charge, but they listen to you. For better or worse." Weiss sounded like she wasn't sure which of those it was. "To fight a god like Salem – even if she isn't a real one, she is at least inhuman – it's not something normal people can pull off. Everyone is pleased Salem is here and in command nominally, but everyone – and I mean everyone – looks to you as our only hope. You aren't human either. Or at least that's how they see you. You're the Dark Lord. You're greater than human, a dark god in your own right."

"That-"

"I know it's nonsense. That's not the point. The point is that you can't afford to be seen as just another human when our entire army's morale hinges on you being the only one who can defeat her. It's prophecy. Of a sort."

"Prophecy written by Salem to demonise Ozma. It's all crap, Weiss."

"Again, I know that. You know that. Perhaps they know it too – but it's comforting. The odds are against us, and they come solely because they believe you will pull out a miracle. Because the odds of finding Menagerie were slim, let alone beating back the church and then the Grimm. You were involved in all three."

He was involved, yes, but he wouldn't argue he'd been pivotal. Sienna's strategies won the naval battle, and Pyrrha had led them to the Grimm encampment to hunt them down. The defenders of Menagerie had fought off the other attack without him. He knew what she meant, though. It wasn't about what actually happened, or even about fact or not; it was about what they believed, and what could be used to keep their morale high.

"What's your advice?" he asked.

Weiss nodded, satisfied he was asking. "Be seen more with Sienna. Take a proactive approach when it comes to orders. Make the first move at all times and embrace the fact that there is no such thing as overkill. If you kill a Grimm efficiently then you look good – but if you destroy it wholly and explosively with the wave of your hand and a booming laugh, you will look unstoppable. Put on a show, but make sure they know you're still sane. Even when you must act otherwise. Mental instability won't do much for our army's confidence."

Ruby looked between the two of them, having been silent throughout the whole conversation. "I just came to say hello and cheer you up," she mumbled. "And now I feel like I'm underdressed or something."

Weiss closed her eyes. "Idiot. You're just fine."

"You two are getting on, I see."

"Ruby is a diligent student and has been filling me in on much of what happened while I was not here to see it; it helps that she is at the same level in physical combat as my brother, so they make for good sparring partners."

Ruby simply said, "Weiss is fun" and left it at that.

"Arc!" shouted a voice. A faunus was waving for him. "Sienna needs you! We have smoke on the island – a settlement of some sort!"

Jaune turned to look – he couldn't see much at first, but then the faintest whisps in the distance. It must have been a lookout with a telescope who spotted it because he couldn't tell what it was. It reinforced Weiss' warnings, though. Sienna wanted him despite her being in control.

"I'm on my way," he said. Weiss and Ruby came with him. "Might be survivors of Mistral or refugees." He was aware of the crew listening in and knew what he said would spread as gossip. "We won't be harming them if we can help it. They're as much victims of Salem's cruelty as we are."

There were nods, agreement and a few angry words aimed at Salem, and they got back to work as the three of them jogged over to the captain's cabin. Someone else was on the wheel, but Sienna held the door beneath open for them to come through. "You heard the news?" she asked. "We're too far to see who they are, how many, or what, but I'm having the information spread across the fleet. I want to send a scouting party."

"That sounds like a good idea. They might be refugees."

"Or it might be Salem's staging camp for her campaign against us – in which case it could be her next army." Sienna let that thought hang in the air before she continued. "Either way, a small party is best. I want you among them. If it is Salem's forces, then it's a prime chance for us to show you're here. Make a scene, be noticed, and retreat to the ships."

"That's fine. I'd like to go prepared. Pyrrha, Weiss, Ruby, Taiyang – we'll bring Ren and Nora in case it's locals. All aura-users, though."

"Blake and Adam will go with you as well. You'll have us on the shore as well, ready to back you up if needs be." Sienna sat back in her seat. "But truth be, we'll have a better idea what we're looking at when we get closer. If it is an army then we'll reconsider. We don't see any ships either, so it's less likely to be an invasion force meant for us – not unless they planned to bring their transports around later."

They'd have a convenient way out if things went badly, then. That was good.

/-/

It wasn't an army, that much they'd been able to tell before they anchored off the shore and dispatched them out on a rowing boat. It was an encampment of some sort, with temporary wooden spike walls and a camp in the centre, but it wasn't fortified, and it wasn't sizeable enough to threaten them. Sienna had estimated some two hundred or so people. Ren suspected survivors from Mistral, but Jaune wasn't so sure. He couldn't help but think they would have made for Vale or Atlas already and escaped their ruined homeland.

They landed in three boats on the shore and clambered out, at which point he was sure the people there had spotted their fleet. They couldn't exactly hide the ships. By the time they'd gotten off and onto solid ground and waded their way out the water, there was already a small group of people approaching from the camp. Less than ten by the looks of it – armed, but that was only to be expected in a place like this. Jaune held up a hand for most of the faunus to stay put, and then pointed to those he was most used to dealing with. Ruby, Weiss, Taiyang, Adam, Blake Nora – who nudged Ren – and Pyrrha. It was a small group but one capable of punching high above their weight due to having so many aura-users among them, and two actual former-chosen.

"Definitely not the church," said Blake when they got close. "No banners, no tabards, no grandiose caravans of gleaming armour. I wonder if some of the rebellion from Mistral really did survive. They can't all have died."

"They should have all fled Mistral by now however," said Ren. "There would be no point staying."

"They're not Mistral," said Taiyang. He boomed out a laugh and jogged ahead of the party. Ruby made to stop him, but he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled three times – sharp, short in the middle, and long at the end. The party ahead of them paused, and then one of them responded in kind, a little different, but close enough to show recognition.

And familiar enough for the party ahead of them to visibly relax. A few broke off and began walking back, waving the all-clear, while the others kept coming and one jogged out ahead to meet Taiyang in the middle. They embraced solidly, slamming into one another with much back patting and banging of shoulders together.

Then the man dragged his hood down and Jaune recognised him.

"Qrow, you bastard!" laughed Taiyang. "What the bloody hell are you idiots doing out here?"

"I could say the same for you, Tai. I figured you'd be dead by now after pissing off Salem that badly." Qrow looked over Taiyang's shoulder. "And is that little Ruby? I'd say you've grown but we both know that'd be a lie."

"H-Hey," whined Ruby. "I have time…"

"They're friendly," said Jaune, for the sake of those that hadn't met them. Only really Weiss, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha. Even then, Pyrrha might have remembered them from the tournament. "Adam, Blake. Can you go back and tell the others it's safe? They can tell Sienna."

"We'll get on that," said Adam. "Well met, Branwen."

"Oh, hey. The White Fang duo." Qrow had clearly forgotten their names. "So, you found our little runaway after all, eh? Did he have the two questions you paid for?"

"Yes. The debt has been settled in full."

"Then all's well." Qrow released Taiyang and faced Jaune. "I'll be honest, kid. Raven was not happy with you for your little disappearing trick – even less so for cutting the fucking goddess while we were in the audience. You're lucky we got out when we did in all the chaos you caused. If it weren't for those two paying several thousand gold coins for our share of the relic, then we'd have hunted you down."

"I'm not sure that would have worked out well for you," said Jaune, holding up his hand. A little fire blossomed in his palm. Qrow looked nervous, but not afraid. More cautious if anything. Jaune snuffed it out by closing his hand into a fist. "But we're not here to fight. Or we're not here to fight you anyway. What are you doing here? Mistral is a ruin."

"You say ruin we say treasure-trove of opportunity."

Pyrrha scoffed. "You're looting and scavenging the dead."

"They don't need their wealth anymore, do they? And surely better we take from the dead than the living. We even have a few commissions from Vale. Survivors who want us to find heirlooms and sentimental reminders. Some have even paid for us to find their relatives and give them a burial."

"You're funeral experts now?" mocked Taiyang.

"Sure. Though we're funeral experts who have to fight our way through other bastards with the same ideas as us and the occasional Grimm. It's not sunshine and rainbows out here – I can tell you that much. The main city is no-man's land. Grimm still infest it. Shame, too, since that's where the best loot will be. We're mostly going around small towns and villages." He shrugged. "It's not the best money in the world, but it's by far the safest and the land is rich with food. We were even thinking of making ourselves a little bandit camp around here. Use it as a staging ground for raiding Vale and Atlas, then retire for the winter in comfort."

They'd begun walking to the camp at Qrow's gesture while they talked. Jaune could tell not everyone was comfortable with the idea of going into a bandit camp; they hadn't had the experience of living with them through a harsh winter. Jaune wouldn't argue that the Branwen tribe were bad people, but in a world where the "civilised" people were ruled by a monster, he'd take the thieves and murderers who were, if nothing else, honest about what they did.

"Yang will be happy to see the two of you," Qrow said to Taiyang and Ruby. "I think she liked having a little sister to look after. Or to try and corrupt. Raven, well, she'll be happier than I'm comfortable about to see you, Tai, but I can't say the same for your friend. There are rumours."

"That I attacked Mistral and Atlas?" asked Jaune. "That I'm evil incarnate?"

"All of the above. How many of them are true?"

"I am the Dark Lord," said Jaune. "Or his new host. That's the only one that's true – and that we beat back Salem's attack on Menagerie and sent her navy packing."

"I figured. That same navy of yours is out over the water and making our folks nervous. We thought it was the church."

"Why would that worry you?" asked Pyrrha. "What you're doing is reprehensible, sure, but not strictly illegal. The church shouldn't have any serious issues with you."

"Oh, they don't have issues," scoffed Qrow. "And I'm sure they'd love to talk with us. Draft us into joining their little crusade as well. I suppose you wouldn't have heard. There's an amnesty in the kingdoms for all bandits, mercenary groups, criminals, murderers and more. All sins forgotten if you join the army for a grand crusade to bring the Dark Lord-" He jerked a thumb Jaune's way, "-to justice. Problem is, we work for more than the promise of a clean soul and eternal gratitude. And we know for a fact that scumbags like us will be thrown into the worst of the fighting to die."

Salem was going that far? That was probably because she still thought she needed enough people to breach the strait and reach Menagerie.

"How many people are taking her up on that?" asked Ruby.

"Not many. People like us aren't the type to jump at redemption. It's more that there are roaming bands of recruiters visiting every village, town and city and forcing families to give up men of fighting age. Shit like that is making it hard to operate a proper bandit group in Vale. We figured Mistral was looking nice and out the way, so we'd come here while it all blows over."

Weiss snorted. "You might want to reassess your priorities, then."

"Why's that, missy?"

"Because we've brought an army to face the church, and Mistral might become our battlefield." The white-haired girl appeared to enjoy the panicked look on the bandit's face. "You really do have the best luck."

"Don't I fucking just," moaned Qrow. "Raven is gonna want to hear about this."

"Just be sure to let her know I come at the head of an army," said Jaune. "And that I'm not the inexperienced and nervous boy I used to be. I'm happy to deal with her and I'm grateful for all your training not so many months ago, but I am not the same person." He let his power wrap around him as visibly swirling motes of red firelight. "I am the Dark Lord. I have taken the Goddess' might and thrown it back at her. I have dashed her armies, subverted her Chosen, and I have come to cast her down from her throne."

Qrow swallowed. "Y-Yeah. I'll make sure she knows." Under his breath, he said, "We'll go to Mistral, she said. It'll be easy pickings, she said. For fuck's sake, Raven, I thought I was meant to be the one with the shitty luck."

Went to go help my parents figure out why their energy costs are so high right now. They're paying like 1200 a month on electricity alone which is ridiculous, so I had to buy a testing kit and test every appliance in their house to figure out where it's all coming from. Turns out the koi pond my father has is sucking up a shocking 650 a month. Those pumps, motors and air filters are ridiculously inefficient.

Next Chapter: 11th June

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