AN: Gotta say, I just 'loved it' when crap comes up every single frigging time that I tried to write this chapter without fail. Took SO long!

A Grimm Huntsman

Chapter 35

-Ozpin-

Grumbling as he sat at his desk, going through the mountainous nightmare that was his paperwork.

"Couldn't trick Glynda into doing it?" James asked, the man having essentially put in 'time out' by Glynda for overworking himself without any rest.

"We don't all have secretaries like you." Ozpin grumbled, having had to spread the budget around for other factors such as the secret bunker underneath Beacon where he kept the Vault and other dangerous items he'd collected over his various incarnations. It meant he had funds he could subtly direct to resources of use against Salem, but meant he wasn't able to do everything he wanted for the Academy itself.

"That sounds like a yo-" James' teasing remark was cut off by the sound of a distant explosion coming from Vale, a column of black smoke rising.

"James, prepare your mechs." Ozpin was already moving; Scroll being hastily brought out "Amber!" she thankfully picked up quickly.

"Oz, what the fuck was that?!" the Fall Maiden sounded startled, having no doubt heard the blast just as he had.

"Some sort of Explosion down in Vale. James is preparing his Atlesian Knights, I want you ready to be taken to a medical evacuation center." Amber had shown a great talent with healing magic in her lessons as of late and whatever catastrophe, healers would always be needed.

"I'll meet up with the evacuation team." Amber nodded, each of the academies having upper year teams given designated roles in case of an emergency happening within their Kingdoms walls.

As he rapidly descended his tower, he could already hear the school a flurry of activity, teams arming themselves and preparing to head into the city or to the walls. Where there was disaster there was fear, and where there was fear came the Grimm.

-Harry-

Roaring, Harry bit into the Nevermore, the avian Grimm thrashing in his maw as it died. Secured on his back through Glyphs, the rest of the team were shooting and slashing at any other flying Grimm that came too close.

They'd never catch up to the speeding train already moving, not from where they'd started after grabbing the rest of the team. It left the only choice being to fly towards Vale, Winter desperately calling ahead to the forces stationed at the wall to both warn of the incoming train and make sure he wasn't shot out of the sky.

The city was within view when they heard the blast and saw a column of smoke rising. Alarms started to blare as he had no doubt screams were filling the air at the point of impact.

"Get ready for ground combat!" Winter's voice carried over the wind and the fading death cries of the Nevermore which was dissolving in his maw, "This is a live crisis situation, kill any Grimm you see but protecting the civilians and getting them to evac teams are your top priority!"

"Right!" those atop his back shouted as Harry just gave a roar of acknowledgment, still trying to get the taste of Nevermore out of his mouth. Swooping over the wall, the soldiers atop it firing at the other nevermore their group hadn't managed to cull, Harry made for the still rising column of smoke.

The sound of automated weapons fire was audible as he got closer, a line already having formed to try and hold back the Grimm.

The line just wasn't Huntsmen.

Men and women in black suits wielding red weapons he recognized as Junior's 'Red Axe Gang' were firing at the Grimm from behind flung rubble and overturned cars. There were even a few others mixed in, a couple of faunus in what looked like garb for a standard village militia and even a girl in three bright colors who was stabbing Grimm with a Parasol.

That alone would have told him she was huntress trained even without seeing signs of aura.

"Dismount and engage!" Winter's shout drew attention as the others leapt from his back at the Grimm who were pouring from the hole left by the train, the locomotive the source of most of the black smoke pouring into the sky.

Slamming down on a massive King Taijitu, Harry clawed away at the beast, savaging the two headed Grimm as it tried to constrict around him.

All around, he could see the members of the red axe gang hurrying people away from the scene of the carnage, bullheads being used solely to evacuate or bring in reinforcements.

But he wasn't sure how long that would last, more and more Grimm were being drawn by the city's panic alongside those captured in Mount Glenn, the sky starting to fill with avian monsters while the walls came under siege, the wall armaments firing loudly, their heavy shouts echoing through the city even over the sound of screaming.

He could see teams arriving from Beacon, his group doing everything they could to stop the tide, and even the local mafia fighting back against the seemingly endless waves of Grimm pouring into the city from the hole that had been blown open.

But it wasn't enough.

Most of Beacon's students were far from the city on various missions, the professional Huntsman likely doing the same. Vale relied on its walls to keep Grimm out, and Guns to destroy any that tried to attack or come too close.

Nobody had ever foreseen Grimm being let into the city like this before.

There were only a few teams left in Beacon and most were focusing on evacuation over combat, the Atlesian Mechs were fighting the Grimm but were far weaker than a Huntsman and didn't give off any fear to draw the Grimm to them.

Weiss' aura broke first, the albino girl having the smallest reserves of the group and had already been using Glyphs before they arrived at the breach.

"Dove, cover her!" Jaune shouted, putting himself between several Grimm and an alleyway where civilians were being herded away by members of the Red Axe Gang that had run out of ammo.

"On it!" the leader of the Stonewall Unit covered the downed Weiss who was panting, all the exhaustion having hit her at once with the breaking of her aura.

"Nikos, can your semblance move something to plug that hole?" Winter demanded, the Atlesian specialist cutting down the most Grimm of all of them but even she was starting to get worn down.

"No!" Pyrrha cried out, trying and failing to move the train, "It's too big!" although it unfortunately made sense. If she had only ever trained her semblance to perform subtle adjustments, then she'd have no experience in moving larger pieces of metal.

"Damnit." Winter cursed, unable to use her semblance to seal the breach given the concentration needed for the necessary glyphs and the sheer volume of Grimm preventing that.

Gritting his teeth, Harry transformed back, his Dragon form blending in too much with the seemingly endless horde of monsters that risked friendly fire. "I'm out of shells!" Yang shouted, only able to punch now that her gauntlets were out of ammo.

"The area is clear of civilians." Winter looked like she was having to force down a lemon as she spoke, "Students, onto the bullheads."

"You want us to retreat?!" Yang snarled, eyes red as her semblance raged, even if said rage was dying out.

"We can't hold out here." Winter snapped back as a Bullhead started to descend low enough for them to be evacuated, "We have to trust the Knights and any reinforcements to come clear this area while we go where we can be of the most help."

Yang was scowling but didn't argue further as she got forced onto the bullhead, Jaune and Dove carrying the still limp Weiss. Ruby and Pyrrha dragging Harry along behind them as he clenched his fist. As the Bullhead rose into the air, he could see more and more of what was going on. Grimm were continuing to pour out of the hole made in the heart of Vale. The monsters were doing their best to surge past the raised barricades, to chase those fleeing and being evacuated.

The White Fang had been capturing Grimm for who knows how long, bringing forth staggering numbers for this attack along with the Grimm naturally drawn to the chaos and panic it caused.

The walls were under siege.

The air was filled with monsters determined to attack the evacuation ships.

The ground was becoming a black sea.

'You always did have a saving people thing.' One of the few things he still accepted as a true statement from Hermione.

"Harry!" he heard Ruby shouting as he leapt from the bullhead, not even thinking, just reacting.

He brought forth the full power of his semblance, roaring in agony as the silver flames washed over him, bursting outward in waves.

He could smell his flesh burning under the onslaught, only a layer of black flames on his skin keeping him from being turned to ash rapidly.

But it was a stop gap, nothing more.

He screamed as he continued to push his flames outward, every drop of his semblance, every ounce of will, and every speck of magic he could muster being directed to this one action.

The Silver flames continued to race out in waves, like the pulse of a heart. He could hear the Grimm cry out with every wave, more and more of them being turned to dust as he did his best to hold on and their screams drowned out his own.

He barely felt the impact when he hit the ground, his antithesis aura soaking up most of the damage as the concrete cratered under him.

The pain continued to grow as his body burned around him, his vision filled with nothing but roaring silver flames and the dying screams of the Grimm the only thing he could hear.

But then, in an instant, it stopped.

He found himself in a shadowy void, white light growing closer and closer to him.

"I had hoped to not see you again so soon." The somber voice of Death spoke up as she stepped from the shadows to stand beside him, the two of them staring at the ever-approaching white light.

"Am I dead?" Harry glanced over at Death, recognizing the white as the same shade as the pseudo King's Cross he'd seen after 'dying' in the Forbidden Forest.

"You should be." Death frowned, "What you did…you don't have a soul, that much silver flame should have reduced you to cinders."

"And…and the others?" Harry took a steadying breath, "Did they-?"

"Your flames reached every Grimm in the city." Death nodded, "And filled a nice chunk of the tunnel."

"Then…then I can accept it." Harry turned to face the goddess he'd created, "I…I'm ready."

"Harry, you're still so dramatic." A giggling voice he hadn't thought he'd ever hear again made him freeze as he turned back around, seeing Neville and Luna standing there in the light.

"N-Nev?" Harry felt himself choke up as he stared the two people who'd been the closest to him in his old world, "Luna?"

"Hey Harry." Neville nodded, the green thumbed Gryffindor giving a proud nod to him, "You did our house proud today." He couldn't find words, he rushed forward and pulled them both into a tight hug, tears blurring his vision as he hugged them back.

"We love you too Harry." Luna squeezed him tight, "But we don't have long."

"Don't…but I'm dead now." Harry wiped his eyes as he looked at the two who he'd thought would be escorting him to the afterlife "…Aren't I?"

"You're on the edge." Death explained, "Hanging on by a thread. Here, in this place in between, time moves slower than in the land of the living. And with you so close to death I could access the land of the dead from your home. Your friends have a little gift ready for you." Glancing back at Luna, he saw something gold and shining in her hands, something that he felt drawn to in a way he couldn't explain.

"It's your soul Harry." Neville gave him a grin, "Our Death let us bring it back to you. This place, this situation, it had to be something like this where we could act. Where we could give you back your soul."

Harry was shaking as Luna gently pushed the orb into his chest, a gasp forcing its way past his lips as he felt it infuse back into his being.

He felt complete in a way he'd never known before.

"You're not done just yet Harry." Neville laughed, "And with this, there's enough connection that we will see each other again when the time comes, I'm sure of it."

"So go out there Harry." Luna ordered even as the voids of black and white started to fade around him, "Be a Hero!"

"And name some kids after us!" Neville laughed as the place between life and death vanished, and he was back in Vale. His screams of pain became roars of defiance, the burns rapidly healing under the power of the silver flames that started to restore him.

His soul was back, and he'd use everything he could with that power to save his new home.

AN: BOOM! I have been planning that bit since chapter one of this story.