Adam Tauras

"One Schnee down." He drew his blade from the white scales, blood and flesh following his now much redder sword. He kicked off her body in the same motion, using her as leverage to reach the ground faster.

He hit the ground seconds before her body did and immediately dashed towards the other Dragon... the other Schnee.

His sword swung towards her neck before she even saw him coming and-

"Adam. We need her." A voice not his own spoke into his mind... great.

"Cinder..."

Begrudgingly... he stopped his blade before Ruby's neck, sheathing it and spinning around, kicking her in the head in the same motion.

"Go back to sleep." She hadn't had time to react yet, he was churning through mana at the moment to speed himself up fast enough to end this now.

"Ruby-!" Pyrrha lunged at him with the Queens sword extended, trying to stab him in the chest... but...

A blast of fire scorched into her side and she was knocked from her path towards him. Her body hitting the ground at the same time as the Frost Dragon behind him.

Adam tilted his head as he approached Conquest... she was unconscious?

"From just that one attack?"

"Altered magic. In this instance, it dosent deal damage, rather it targets one's soul and attempts to knock them out." Adam sighed at Cinders words still flowing into his head...

"Gold eyes huh..."

"Don't kill her either. We have use for both Harbingers, so we keep them alive for now. Ruby as well. We need to extract the Dragon Formula from her." Adam nodded at Cinders words and turned to her, she was still standing by the warehouse 'entrance'... he saw the Dragons body out of the corner of his eye as well... she was still breathing.

He turned to the white mass...

"She's using healing magic to keep herself alive despite her injuries. She can't actually repair the damage, she's just preventing death." He ignored her words and approached the body... no point in not finishing this. "I'm going to go assist Mercury... I can sense that he's in trouble-... oh my." Her surprise made him turn around, Ruby and Pyrrha were behind him, if one of them had gotten up-

"Oh... and who are you?" Adam's voice was disappointed.

"No one of consequence..." Apparently his new opponent was even more so.

Jaune Arc

His voice was practically lifeless... Pyrrha had tried to heal him fully, but she had started with all the major injuries... all his 'minor' ones still left him on deaths door.

So here he stood. Sword in hand, hair so bloody it nearly looked red, no armour left, body ready to crumble from the effort it had taken just to stand up...

And ready to fight anyway.

"I admire your persistence." Adam drew his sword, slowly approaching incredibly calmly. "It's a shame you aren't a Faunas. I can almost respect your determination."

Jaune chuckled weakly at that, and glanced with just his eyes to the warehouse... good, that woman was still watching him.

So long as they both had there attention on him... they weren't hurting anyone else.

He slowly... and painfully... raised his sword up with one hand. Preparing it for a strike way too early, and just hoping that he'd be able to react once Adam got in range.

"What's your plan exaclty?" He couldnt see the mans eyes... only his smirking mouth.

"Who says I have one...?" He did. It wasn't a good plan... but...

"Between Ruby... Qrow... and Pyrrha... if even one of them wakes up... we might have a chance again..."

He just had to make his death good enough to be a big enough distraction.

"None of our big players are dead yet... Pyrrha is unconscious but who knows for how long... I don't know Qrows condition... I don't know where Winter is... Ruby is the same as Pyrrha... and Weiss..."

He could see her still breathing at least...

"Is that even a magic weapon?" Adam was closer now... Jaune could try and strike soon.

"...yeah... it's an adapting weapon... meant to make me better with using magic in tandem with a sword..."

"Training even on the battlefield? What reasoning could you possibly have for that?"

Adam was here now... in range...

It was time.

Time slowed once more and Jaune brought his weapon down as Adam moved up to meet it with his own.

"His slash... it'll take off my arm once it cuts through my sword..."

That's fine. He could take the pain.

He'd use his biggest spell immediately after... he wasn't great with spells... but... it was his best idea.

The swords travelled so slowly as he watched... he knew this was the end.

He knew nothing he could do would be enough to stop them... not Adam... not Cinder...

He couldnt do anything...

"I can't save anyone..."

No... that wasn't right. That voice in his head was wrong.

He didn't trust it.

There was someone he did trust though.

What was something they had said to him...?

What was something Pyrrha had told him...?

"Everytime you lose to me Jaune... remember that as proof of my strength. And since you know how strong I am... know that when I tell you that you'll be just as strong as me one day... That isn't a lie."

His face formed a gentle smile as his plan changed.

He wouldn't be fine with taking that hit.

No... Jaune was going to infuse everything into this one strike! Screw the counter!

"I refuse to lose like that!"

His mana funnelled into his weapon, he would be depending on his Water Affinity... so his blade started glowing blue mid swing, charged with Water magic.

It wasn't enough... he wouldn't accept using just some of his power.

Everything. He'd use everything.

"Every last drop of my mana, for this one attack!"

He would forcefully draw it from within! He'd take every last bit that his soul could offer, and even more then that!!

Just before there blades met... the glowing blue changed to a mixture of Yellow and White.

His eyes widened as he recognised it and he felt a deep burning from within consume his form. His soul branded itself with a new power... a title.

His hair stood slightly and began letting off a soft white light as his sclera turned a bright yellow in colour.

"This is-"

His surprise peaked as there swords connected. He had expected the weapon to pass straight through his but... the opposite happened.

His training weapon sliced through the glowing red sword like it was a hot knife through butter, and the strike carried down to cut Adam with a shallow graze on the chest.

The yellow light it left on him quickly expanded and turned into a much larger cut as the front of his clothes explode, throwing him back from Jaune.

Both weapons hit the ground as Jaune tried to recover from the swing... his body felt stronger now... way stronger. But he was still really hurt.

"Shit!" Adam roared with pain and his hands moved to his chest as he started healing the wound. With a glance to his right Jaune noticed that Cinder had drawn her weapons now... twin blades that were purely black... "How do you have Holy Magic??"

"Holy... magic...? That was... Holy magic...?"

Yes... of course it was.

He knew what this feeling meant.

He knew what this title was...

Jaune knew what he had just become... what he had just done...

His smile grew as tears welled in his eyes.

"...Perfect timing..." He whispered out as his eyes fluttered.

Even with the increased strength... even with this new power...

He had taken too much damage.

Jaune's body fell forward as he started to lose conciousness... but he didn't hit the ground. Someone caught him.

Red hair fell in front of his view and he calmed down... she was awake... he could rest now...

"You're going to be alright Jaune... let me take it from here." His eyes closed as he listened to her voice...

The voice he now knew would always be the right one to trust.

Pyrrha Nikos

"Oh... fuck." Fear was a new sound to hear from the Faunas... but one she had already developed quite the appreciation for. She slowly reached down and picked up Jaunes sword... while a fair bit weaker then Weiss's own, it was better then Pyrrhas, and fit her fighting style better. "Why are you awake??"

"Jaune has Awakened... and been granted an Affinity for Holy Magic among other things. As someone I've Conquered we share a connection of sorts and i felt the change through it." Pyrrha gently placed Jaune down on the ground and gently stroked his cheek for a moment, before standing and eyeing tbe faunas. The sword in her hand began to glow with a Yellow and White light. "Though... that's not all I got from it."

Holy Magic. The most unique kind of magic and only possible to cast when one has an Affinity for it.

Holy magic was quite powerful, it didnt work as direct spells per say, rather it was a filter to be placed over other magic, changing their type to Holy.

Which meant you could cast any spell using Holy Magic, so long as you actually learnt how to.

Holy Magic had one other unique property that set it apart from all other magic... it grew in effectiveness depending on the nature of the person it targeted.

For example... someone who had committed murders... atrocities... enjoyed the suffering of others... someone evil.

They would get hit much harder by Holy Magic then normal.

"Rot Blades are naturally malicious creations. No wonder he broke it with such ease..." Pyrrha readied her weapon with a smile. "Now... Adam Tauras... allow me to ask..." Her expression turned sinister as she focused on him with anger. "How many people have you killed?"

He took a step back in worry and glanced to his side, Pyrrha followed his gaze and looked to Cinder with a scowl.

The woman focused her expression onto the Harbinger and sighed, dropping Qrow before beginning to move over.

"Pyrrha Nikos. I have a proposition for you." She stopped a fair distance away, but close enough to talk without yelling.

"And what of it?"

"Allow us to leave without a fight and i won't be forced to kill you all."

"Since you havent already, I'm guessing you need us alive for something."

"You're correct. But... I can always wait for the next Harbingers, and the next person to find the Dragon Formula." Pyrrha noted that for later...

"I'm confident I could kill you both right now." She knew in her soul... both of these people would get hit hard by Holy Magic.

"Yes... most likely. But who would die while you did? The Queen most likely dosent have much mana left... and can you protect the others on the ground while we fight?" The bitch smirked as she rested a hand on her hip...

"She's right... Weiss has barely any time left... I need to take over healing her to let her save mana..."

Jaune and Ruby were out cold as well... and Qrow had been barely any help.

"If I rush Adam I'm certain I can kill him right now... but Cinder will attack Ruby and Jaune while I do... if I rush her..."

Pyrrha cursed under her breath... she had no idea what the woman was capable of.

"Where is everyone else?? Where is Winter?? Shouldn't they have seen what was happening??"

Pyrrha thought over her options for a few seconds... before begrudgingly dropping her sword to her side.

"Good girl."

"Do. Not. Push your luck." Her eyes tightened as she focused on Cinder... and the woman just smirked.

"You may keep Mercury as a consolation prize... but know that it's not a gift youll get to keep." She waved her hand and opened a portal next to her with a smile. "Come, both of you."

"Both...?"

A figure appeared next to Cinder... she couldn't make any details out about them... they were covered in swarming bats and a glowing red light...

A Vampire.

"Someone who specialises in illusions... the same person from Yangs report..."

If they had been here the whole time...

The three of them moved through the portal and Cinder gave a small wave before it closed... Pyrrha quickly rushed over to Weiss while mentally kicking herself.

"I can't believe I let them all go..."

"Weiss??" A voice? Not one Pyrrha had been expecting... she quickly turned and saw a familiar white figure approaching.

Ruby Schnee

He walked without purpose... his legs barely carrying him as he slowly trenched his way through the streets... he had a destination... he had to make it there...

It was his only purpose now.

Any dreams about the future were ash... any hopes Rory held for the world were nothing but dust now...

He only had one reason to keep pushing.

One more thing he had to do...

"No... this isn't right... this isn't me...!"

Ruby mentally groaned as she was forced to stay in the memory... like something was weighing her down and she couldnt escape to come back up for air.

She had to wake up!

She had to save Weiss!!

"Dont you get it Rory??"

Her screams in her head made the false reality go fuzzy for a moment, and she found her control over her voice.

"I can still save her!! That circle is still there!! I've seen your memories, I know how to make it!!"

"Ruby...!" A distant voice... not hers or Rory's... it was coming from outside!

"I can break the curse!! Weiss dosent have to die like Eirwen did!!" With her words something gave way... and she took a breath of air once again.

She gasped as her eyes shot open and she immediately shot up, headbutting the person that had been healing her while she layed on the ground. Making them both let out a groan.

"Oww..."

"I'm sorry..." Ruby opened her eyes at the voice and smiled gently.

"Velvet. You're alright."

"Well, yeah... I'm glad you are too." They both shared a smile before Ruby stood up and looked around quickly.

The fighting had stopped... She had no clue how many people were injured or... worse... but Qrow was nearby still unconscious... and Weiss...

The Dragon was still breathing. That's all she needed for now.

Ruby raced over with tears in her eyes. She activated her Pride to avoid dealing with her emotions right now... she needed to act quickly.

Pyrrha and a few other people were keeping the healing magic going on her... but it wasn't a permanent solution. She wouldn't die so long as they kept it going, but the second it stopped...

Velvet had followed, and she took over for one of the healers.

"Weiss!" Ruby stopped just next to the Dragon and quickly changed into her half form, concentrating her thoughts to try and use her telepathy. "Weiss?? If you can hear me, I need you to change to your base form! Or even your half form!" Her mental words should have reached the Queen... she just had to hope that-

Her eyes widened as the form of the Dragon froze over and shattered, revealing Weiss in her half form beneath.

"Keep healing her!" Ruby shouted without explanation as she rushed closer, picking up her wife in a bridal carry and turning to the warehouse. "Follow me."

"Lady Ruby?? We should keep her still-"

"Shut it!" She glared down the admittedly helpful individual that had been healing Weiss... but she didn't have time to deal with any of that.

"Listen to her Highness!" Pyrrha gave a small smile to Ruby before returning her steely gaze to the other person.

Without anymore complaining they rushed semi-awkwardly over to the warehouse. Ruby still carrying Weiss while the others leaned around her to keep the healing going.

Ruby glanced down at Weiss every now and then... the woman was barely concious, and her eyes kept flickering between open and closed... this was bad.

Luckily Ruby knew where her destination was.

It only took a minute to reach the circle, and that was including the difficult process of getting some rubble off of it. Ruby set Weiss down in the middle and quickly moved around the room, trying to find any dust that might still be available...

"What is this...?" There were five of them in the room including Weiss. Ruby was still searching the nearby rubble, while Velvet, Pyrrha, and two others were keeping Weiss stable.

"It's a one-use ritual. It's easier to remake it from the broken version then it is to make a new one from scratch." Ruby's explanation was rushed, and it was all they were getting for now... unfortunately it seemed like this was all the dust she could find as well. "There isn't enough dust here, Pyrrha, we'll have to use our mana to power the rest of the ritual."

"Is that safe?"

"Should be."

That was good enough for both of them, and Ruby quickly set to work altering the circle. Changing a rune here and there, fixing lines, trying to quickly but efficiently, get it back to how it was when Rory had activated it.

Ruby could see the red figure in her peripheral vision while she worked... but she couldn't care less. He didn't matter right now. She'd deal with him later. She'd break the curse on the title later!

"Nothing else matters until I know Weiss is safe."

With the circle fixed she quickly backed out of it and instructed the others to do the same, making Velvet and the two randoms resort to Long-range healing.

Healing was most efficient when touching someone directly, or right next to them. It cost more mana at a very steep range the further away you got. Long-range healing was the name given to any healing with a range of over two meters away, and was incredibly inefficient.

"But they can't be standing in the circle for this..."

Ruby pressed her palm onto the circle from outside and sent a pulse of mana through it, before dropping her other palm on it as well and letting it feed directly from her mana tank. Pyrrha joined next to her and started doing the same.

Ruby noticed Pyrrhas aura change as she started letting Conquests mana in as well, and with a glance Ruby noticed something odd...

Her eyes... they were a weird colour. A swirling of White, Blue, Yellow... and Silver.

"Water, Holy, and Technical..."

It seemed her own support magic Affinity was hidden while she used the others, and the rainbow effect was quite the sight to see.

But Ruby was mostly focused on the Silver part...

"This ritual..." Pyrrhas mouth hung wide open in shock and Ruby's suspicions were confirmed. Pyrrha could tell what it could do.

The ritual ate through most of there mana, and with a bright flash of light after it ended Ruby immediatly rushed in to see if it had worked.

She already knew it had... but she needed to see her wife safe.

She collapsed to her knees next to Weiss and deactivated her Pride, letting her emotions flood through again as she looked over the woman.

"Weiss...?" The wound on her chest was gone, along with the cursed flesh. The only remainder of the injury was the hole left in her clothing. "Weiss..! Talk to me...!"

She slowly opened her eyes and Ruby didn't even wait for her words. She simply collapsed onto her and hugged the woman tight to her while she cried.

"Just because I'm not allowed to leave again... dosent mean you are...!" Her wing collapsed back into her body as she changed back, and she buried her face into Weiss's neck as she felt her arms wrap around her as well.

"Ruby...? What... what was that...?"

"Just some dumb ritual..." It didn't matter for now. Not to Ruby anyway...

A Curse breaker... a ritual that could disrupt the entire world if it were allowed to leak into the public. The entire world was built on a few principles of magic, one of the most important being that Curses can't be broken.

Well... before now anyway.

Qrow Branwen

"Shit..." He let out a groan as he sat up, glancing around the courtyard... there was something missing. A Magic tinge that had disappeared.

"Like someone was casting a spell that whole time... whatever it was it's gone now..."

Illusion magic maybe.

"Oh, you're awake." He sighed as he heard Winter's voice. She sounded almost disappointed that he hadn't stayed unconscious.

"What did I miss?"

"Oh nothing much. Just all of us nearly dying."

"Well, nearly is better then actually dying." He smirked as he stood, but frowned once he took another look at her expression.

No annoyance... no anger... just...

Disappointment?

"The hell is that look for?" It was pissing him off just seeing it.

"For all your faults Qrow... you're incredibly powerful." She turned away with a sigh. "Today? You weren't even that." And like that she walked away.

Qrow wasn't sure how to react... sure he had lost to Cinder but... what did she expect him to do??

"How many people would have died because of me if I had used that power..."

He paused as he took another look around... so many people injured, there were surely a lot of dead too.

"...How many died because I didn't...?"

He immediately reached for his flask... but hesitated before pulling the cap off, staring at it for a moment with a sigh.. and putting it away.

"There's only so much I can do with this power..." Death's title was situational... if you have morales.

The aura it let off attracted Grimm, and invited nearby souls that were close to leaving there body to tip over the edge... he couldn't always use it.

"Jaune!" He turned at the yell, not like it was meant for him though. Conquest... Pyrrha, had run over to one of the unconscious fighters. He was getting healed by someone else, yet she joined in anyway.

Qrow watched as Weiss and Ruby lagged behind, neither wanting to leave the others side, and neither wanting to stop holding hands for even a second either. The Queen began to address everyone present, but Qrow tuned it out as he focused mana into his eyes.

Weiss was strong. Her new summon put her on a closer level to Pyrrha and himself then one might expect at first glance...

Pyrrha was obviously incredibly strong. Her only faults were she needed to use Conquest more, and she needed a new weapon...

That Jaune kid she was next to... The Hero apparently. Qrow could tell by his title...

And Ruby... her raw mana matched Weiss, but she was much weaker then her wife at the moment.

"Vale needs to be stronger then this..."

The Vytal festival presented an issue... each kingdom saw it as a way to judge the others strength. Sure Qrow would probably win the tournament... but if he was the only high placer from Vale...

Vale and Atlas were allied, and that created a powerful force. But... if Mistral and Vacuo decided to team up... could they win as is?

Or worse even... if Jacques decided he wanted another kingdom under his belt and started another war...

Qrow sighed as he walked over.

"All problems for another day."