AN: Hello, my dear readers, and I invite you to read the next chapter, which probably none of you expected.

To be honest, I didn't plan this in the slightest. In fact, when I started writing this yesterday, I initially thought about writing an SI-OC fanfic instead, about being reincarnated as a Faunus born in the SDC mines.

Regardless of my original plans, you got this. However, I wouldn't count on a continuation, considering my stronger involvement in other projects.

However, I hope that you will like what I have created and presents here.


"I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows. For my mind to run around with my ear up to the ground. I'm searching to behold the stories that are told…" Minotaur was humming the words of some song from memory that was distinctive enough to be memorable.

All this, combined with the heavy steps of his boots on the snowy ground, was a sight to behold. Especially considering his new clothes that he stole from several Argus stores, as well as his modified weapons. Although Blush remained the same, Wilt was dyed dark purple to match the Minotaur's colors. However, this process was not simple due to the material used to construct this sword.

As for his clothes, those destroyed from his fight with his former love and her concubine ended up in the oven. The new ones were designed by him with functionality and comfort in mind, but also with majesty on the other hand.

The end result was a knee-length, leg-revealing black coat with numerous purple patterns. The high collar was no exception to this rule. Meanwhile, a purple armband with the Minotaur's crest, a black bull, was placed on his left arm. The only exception to this dominance of black and purple was a chain, stylized in gold, and hung on the right side of the Minotaur's chest, attached loosely to a silver ornament styled to resemble a crossed Wilt and Blush.

Below the belt and under the coat, however, there was nothing extraordinary. Black sweater, black pants and black combat boots with a heel. In addition to all this, only the knee caps and hip pads, also black.

The last thing worth attention was a mask made of pure gold with silver patterns. It was somewhat reminiscent of his old mask, from his time in the White Fang. However, it had one definite difference, and that was long, black horns extending from its forehead and reaching to the top of the Minotaur's hairline. A small nod on his part to the now dead Adam Taurus, but one that adds a disturbing, almost dark tone to the whole thing.

His cloak fluttered in the wind, which only added to the majesty of the Minotaur, and if he still had any deeper feelings, he would undoubtedly be pleased with himself. Now, however, he was only stoically calm, inhumanly composed. The only feelings that remained in him were great determination to achieve the goal, to subordinate his entire life to it. Apart from that, only hunger and thirst remained.

Finally, walking through the snow-covered and dark night forest, he began to approach the only source of light on the horizon, and that was the camp of his Faunus brothers. Camp, local cell of White Fang.

Step by step, he approached his goal until they finally stood in front of a wooden palisade and a wooden, open gate leading inside. The gate, guarded by two guards in distinctive white armor, who looked at the approaching stranger with clear confusion on their lips. As if the very idea that someone like that could find them was beyond disturbing.

"Stop!" One of them soon shouted, and they both pointed their rifles at him.

Minotaur just raised his head, even higher and prouder than before. "Do you have any problem with my presence, brothers?"

The two seemed to exchange glances before the one with the darker skin and clearly dumber spoke. "You must have lost all your sanity, Human, if you think you can just come here to the White Fang camp and expect…"

"Wait, I recognize him from somewhere!" The second one, the one with a slightly yellowish skin tone, spoke with a thoughtful expression. "I recognize that characteristic step, that style and voice, but I'm not sure…"

"Fools, can't you see that you have our leader before you?" A loud, strong voice rang out from inside the camp. "Brother Adam Taurus."

Soon, a Faunus crocodile, taller than him, appeared before the Minotaur's eyes. Big, broad-shouldered with a massive tail and long green hair that reached down to his back. His weapon was a powerful black ax made of metal and with many green decorations that gave it a certain uniqueness.

"But where are your horns, brother?" Crocodile Faunus asked, walking with a guard of 6 subordinates with metal shields and submachine guns in their hands. "Besides, what happened to your hairs?"

Minotaur didn't respond, at least not right away, and instead took a few more steps towards him before stopping 4 meters away from the massive Faunus. Once he did, he removed his mask with a quick and graceful movement.

On the way here, he remembered several volumes of fantasy read by Blake. In particular, he remembered the graceful and theatrical movements of the kings of the kingdoms who appeared in those books. For this reason, he decided that imitating this would be the best course of action on his part.

The lack of horns or the scar on his left eye, which Adam Taurus was very well known for, caused some consternation among them all.

"You've confused me with my older twin brother, White Fang brother." He lied with great grace and ease, then bowed dramatically towards him. "I am Minotaur Taurus, younger brother of our great leader, who has come here with news that is extremely sad, but which must reach your ears, my brothers."

His statement caused great consternation among everyone gathered here. The younger brother of their leader, Adam Tarus? Someone they've never heard of, devoid of Faunus traits, shows up here and declares something like that!? Ridiculous, preposterous from their perspective, at least at best.

"Minotaur Taurus?" The Crocodile Faunus asked in shock before his surprise wore off and relative calm returned to his face. "Just like the mythical hero of our race, fighting the Human Carcass and liberating our ancestors?"

Minotaur smiled to emphasize the irony of the situation. "You can only blame our parents for choosing to give us such names when we were born in the SDC mines."

The former Faunus shook his head. "It doesn't matter, the less mention is made of the mines, this living hell on earth, the better. If there is a most fitting description of hell in this godforsaken world, the SDC Mines are beyond a doubt that place."

"He tells the truth!" One of those with shields, a ram Faunus, growled furiously, his voice dripping with bad memories. "The less said about it, the better for everyone!"

"Well, I guess it's my turn to introduce myself properly." The Crocodile Faunus stated after a short moment with a sigh. "I am the leader of this White Fang cell, Hjalmar Grin. But now, I have to ask you two questions. Why exactly are you here and what sad news do you bring us, brother?

Minotaur did everything in his power to feign sadness in the most theatrical way possible. "Our great leader and guide in these difficult, uncertain times, who only wanted to lead us to a better future, is dead."

"What!?" Virtually everyone standing in the gate and a few who saw it and decided to see what was happening screamed in disbelief.

"It is impossible." Hjalmar stated, but halfheartedly and with a look of purest possible shock on his face. "I've seen him fight, he's one of the best swordsmen on Remnant. It is simply impossible that someone like that could be killed!"

"I can swear on my life that this is true, Adam Taurus is dead." Minotaur even managed to choke out a few tears and pure sadness on his lips, which very quickly turned into pure anger, also artificial but enough to be authentic. "Killed by Blake Belladonna, basically his apprentice and her Human lover! I saw with my own eyes this highest possible act of betrayal in the history of our race, but I was unable to do anything!

His anger was easily absorbed by the remaining male and female Faunus present who respected Adam Taurus. Now, when the Minotaur thought about it, it was hardly surprising. A Faunus kid, born into captivity, stigmatized and suffering oppression from the Human race from an early age. All this to be freed from captivity and start the fight for all representatives of the Faunus race to regain their freedom. Now, however, it would turn out that he had been killed by the traitor White Fang.

"You may not believe it or even reject my words, brothers!" The minotaur continued, while calming his artificial temper and speaking calmly. "You can even blame me for his death, for his miserable fate! You can consider me the one who caused his death through inaction! Regardless, I come to you here with an offer that - at least I hope - you will recognize as genuine and aimed primarily at the good of our race."

"Say what you have to say, as long as it's quick." Hjalmar raised an eyebrow, although the tension in his body and a certain amount of irritation became clear.

Crocodile Faunus didn't have to wait too long for an answer. "My dear brothers and sisters, although you may have never known me, I assure you that my intentions are no different than those of my elder brother! Together, we planned something that no one else had ever managed to do, but his death interrupted those plans. An operation to free Faunus from all SDC mines at once to bring our people their long-awaited freedom."

There was a hum of disbelief throughout the small crowd, almost dismissing him and his brother as mad, considering the ambition of their supposedly shared plans.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Hjalmar stated skeptically, unable to believe any of these words. "I can't believe Adam would plan something so crazy and almost borderline sane."

"It is not in the least bit impossible or crazy, my dear brothers!" The minotaur raised his voice. "Only very difficult and requiring full commitment on our part. Not to mention the need to gather huge resources."

"This is crazy!" Hjalmar growled furiously. "And I will not sacrifice my men for the madness of two males who clearly aimed and one of them aimed higher than he could reach."

"Besides, how do I know you're even one of us!?" Someone in the crowd shouted furiously. "I don't see horns or any other feature that would categorize you as a Faunus! How can we be sure that he is the brother of leader Adam and not some agent of Atlas!?"

However, Minotaur expected this turn of events and had a ready reaction. "Fool, haven't you put it together yet!?"

His reaction caused confusion among everyone gathered and an almost immediate response. "What exactly was I supposed to put together?"

"That my brother and I were branded, but in a completely different way!" Minotaur raised his voice once again, this time threateningly, as if to let them know that he found this accusation outrageous. "Adam received the SDC mark on his face so that he would always remember who he supposedly belonged to and where his place was. Meanwhile, I lost what directly connects me with our race, my horns.

Even though they were all masked, Minotaur could have sworn he heard the sound of nausea, especially among the females, who were particularly sensitive to the suffering of other beings. There was no doubt for anyone present how painful and, in most cases, fatal, the amputation procedures performed on Faunus were. Often without anesthesia, and in the case of horns or other similar features, painful direct extraction procedures were used.

"I…" The same voice sounded, until recently skeptical, but now full of compassion and shock.

"You jumped to conclusions, which, to my great surprise, is unfortunately a common trait between Humans and Faunus." The minotaur answered for him. "It doesn't matter now that you're standing here with the opportunity to start a new work. I'll tell you straight now, White Fang is dying!"

The silence and subsequent shock caused by the statement were like an encouragement for the Minotaur to continue and bend the facts to his own advantage, or completely distort the image of reality. "The death of my brother, a great Faunus who sought at all costs to resolve the eternal confrontation with Humans, died. With his death, the organization fighting for Faunus and all that we are began to crumble. It started here, on this continent."

Another period of silence allowed one of the ever-growing crowd to ask a single, but crucial question. "So is this the end for us and the fight for the future for Faunus?"

There was an acknowledgment from the crowd that they also wanted to hear the answer to this question. The Minotaur was just waiting for this.

"And did stigma, poverty, suffering on all sides and discrimination stop me and my brother from reaching for freedom and liberating others, even if they were apathetic to their own opportunities!?" His loud question produced an effect of silence, especially when combined with gestures almost worthy of high-quality theater. "Definitely not! Let me tell you more, my beloved brothers and sisters, survival is enduring pain, enduring it and thriving despite it! If my brother and I survive, will the idea of freedom and greatness of Faunus survive!? Definitely yes!"

There was some applause, but it was interrupted by Hjalmar, who was definitely looking at everything much more coldly. "And what guarantee can you give us that your plans will succeed and will not end in some kind of disaster for all of us?"

"None brothers." Minotaur answered him briefly as soon as he heard the question and knowing that he had to be as authentic to him as possible. "Our path will not be easy and perhaps it will cost a lot, perhaps many of us will fail, including me. But the chance to liberate our brothers and sisters, to give them a chance for a better life, is worth much more than you may think."

"I don't think so." Hjalmar surprised many of his subordinates with these words. "While I am more than willing to fight for our brothers and sisters who are being destroyed every day by Human creatures, I will not sacrifice the people for whom I am responsible."

This answer was a reflection of sorts from a man who had sincerely and absolutely justified doubts. Minotaur was well aware of this, so he put on the golden mask with final intention.

Hjalmar seemed to sense his intention to attack, especially when the Minotaur placed his hand on his blade. Therefore, he took the ax off his back and prepared it in a position to repel the opponent's attack.

Meanwhile, the gathered crowd parted in anticipation of the fight that would undoubtedly soon follow. How great was their surprise when, instead of the clash of steel and a sea of sparks, came the Minotaur's proposal.

"In such a case, I have no choice but to rely on the wisdom and knowledge of someone much wiser than me."

"Thank you?" Hjalmar replied in surprise, as if convinced that the last word would be his.

"I am not talking about you, my brother, but about someone greater than you or me." The minotaur then pointed to the seemingly endless sea of stars above them. "I'm talking about our creator, God of Animals, who will certainly support this one of us who fight for a just cause. Thus, we will receive a guarantee of success from our great god."

If the Minotaur still had feelings, he would have enjoyed the pleasant feeling of leaving everyone present in a state of consternation. He was essentially demanding a trial by combat, invoking the will of the mythical creator of their race.

Minotaur was aware of the strangeness of this request, but he had no other choice at that moment and did not want to terrorize his brothers, knowing that this could backfire in the future.

The main oddity of this request was the fact that in recent decades, Faunus have increasingly abandoned their beliefs and myths, often in favor of Human religions. Nevertheless, there were many members of the White Fang who wanted to continue to cultivate the faith of their ancestors. In fact, some were contemptuous of Humanity's beliefs.

Nevertheless, Minotaur knew it was a 50% to 50% chance that his plan would work. However, as it soon turned out, his trick brought results.

"Do you want us to have a battle trial between the two of us and in the light of our creator?" Hjalmar asked, barely concealing his amusement, much to the displeasure of many of his subordinates. "Perfect then, we will fight the battle here and now, in the light of our righteous god. Call our priest!"

They both went to the very center of the camp. At the same time, the White Fang members also entered and closed the wooden gate. Left without duties, they either formed a circle in the middle or ran to their quarters deep inside the camp to wake up or summon the others who had somehow managed to miss this extremely interesting situation.

At the same time, the priest of the local White Fang cell stood in front of the dualists taking up fighting positions. He was dressed in red, white and black robes, with long sleeves that reacted to the slightest movement of folds or a gust of wind. Hooded and with deer antlers.

Basically, Minotaur remembered that the presence of priests was, on the one hand, intended to serve religious purposes. They were supposed to perform rituals for those who adhered to the beliefs of their ancestors. The second goal, however, was to weave in words of encouragement to continue fighting for the Faunus cause, thereby motivating members and taking care of their morale. Extremely useful in any situation, especially since some of them were trained in medicine and the treatment of physical injuries.

"We stand here in this sacred circle and in the presence of our great creator god!" The priest raised his hands up towards the stars. "We call upon our creator to witness the duel between the Minotaur Taurus and Hjalmar Grin. Let the one who fights for a just cause win among them. The one whose victory will bring a new future, prosperity and prosperity to our race. Let the sincerity of his intentions decide everything. Stars Above Us!"

"Stars Above Us!" The ending came from the remaining members of the White Fang present, who used the closing phrase of their prayers to the God of Animals.

After that, everyone turned their attention to the pair of dualists who had long since taken up fighting positions, and the priest retreated to the line of spectators, but remained close enough to be able to react quickly in the event of problems or injuries to the combatants.

Meanwhile, Minotaur and Hjalmar stood in ready positions, only changing the positions of their weapons and potential attack or defense positions from time to time. It was obvious that both were at a similar and high level of fighting as they seemed to adapt to the position changes time and time again.

It seemed as if the feints and slow movements would last forever. However, at what seemed to be the least expected moment, Minotaur moved forward with incredible speed. Hjalmar, however, was ready and slashed from behind his back with his ax at the place where his opponent was supposed to be.

However, the minotaur planned this move, quickly jumped to the side after reaching the position and tried to send a wave of purple fire at the opponent. But, the crocodile Faunus proved himself worthy of facing such a skilled swordsman.

Hjalmar first quickly raised and blocked the attack, then moved his powerful tail, which struck the Minotaur's exposed chest. The purple-haired male staggered backwards as a result, but managed to get back into position very quickly. However, his first move ended in failure. In the past, he would have felt humiliated by this, but now he was just drawing conclusions.

First and foremost, his conclusion was that although it was supposed to be a quick and simple fight, it was now clear that it was going to be a long fight. A fight of attrition in which the winner will be the one who makes the fewest mistakes and retains the most strength.

Despite everything, Minotaur decided to take the risk, because he was well aware that a great and well-thought-out risk can mean a great reward. For this reason, he sent a series of 4 waves of purple fire towards the opponent, which were either neatly dodged by the opponent or blocked. But that didn't matter much.

Minotaur quickly changed position so that it had a clear position to attack its opponent. However, instead of attacking directly, he decided to use his wits. He took out Blush and started firing shots, one after the other. His opponent was so focused on the waves of purple fire that he took all 6 shots, which weakened his aura quite significantly.

However, although his aura was clearly weakened, he still - and to Minotaur's surprise - had quite a lot of reserves. Therefore, Hjalmar wasted no time and charged his opponent, who still had a firearm in his hand.

The crocodile faunus rose into the air and from behind his back prepared to launch a crushing attack on his opponent, who, however, neatly dodged the attack. Hjalmar's attack was important because he accumulated a lot of aura in his ax to strengthen this attack. Instead, his punch hit the ground, causing a small crater to form and dust flying into the air, blocking everyone's view.

Almost everything, actually. Minotaur also learned from the equipment it had previously used, specifically Grimm-style masks. Although they looked dangerous and caused fear, many of them did not even have proper lenses that could protect the users' eyes. Ultimately, the White Fang had quite limited material resources, so they could not afford much, and ultimately more emphasis was placed on weapons for individual members of the organization.

However, Minotaur was not an organization, but instead an individual, so it took the liberty of installing not only strong glass in its mask, but also infrared vision options. He didn't need night vision at all, because Faunus in general could see much better in the dark than any Human. As a result, night vision goggles were completely unnecessary for them.

With that said, Minotaur charged forward towards his opponent, but to his great surprise, he maintained his fighting stance despite the dust. This was important because although the aura provided protection against injuries and most diseases, it in no way protected against dirt or dust getting into the eyes.

Despite everything, the well-built but agile Human Grimm decided to take the risk once again, even though he knew it was putting his luck to the test.

The result of performing a direct thrust was almost fatal to him, as Hjalmar was clearly able to sense the aura of others and reacted instantly. In this case, the reaction was to try to cut the opponent's side with an axe.

However, the minotaur quickly realized what his opponent was planning, so he jumped to the side extremely quickly and in almost the blink of an eye. A moment later, they both faced each other once again, returning to feints and changing defense and attack positions just to outmaneuver their opponent.

This repeated for several more minutes. Both combatants first changed and adjusted their stances with the intention of outmaneuvering their opponent, after which their blades clashed or they dodged each other's attacks. Then everything repeated itself several times.

However, the longer this went on, Minotaur, as a slim, agile and durable swordsman, began to gain the upper hand. His opponent was getting weaker and began to make more and more mistakes, and his attitude began to leave more and more to be desired. Although she wasn't sloppy yet.

From time to time, however, both equally talented and experienced warriors were able to inflict damage on each other, through aura disruption or other minor hits. Here it turned out who had a much greater advantage due to the decision from the very beginning.

Although Hjalmar had a much larger aura size than his opponent, this supply was significantly depleted at the very beginning. All thanks to hitting him with Blush's arrows.

One could even say that the seed sown at the very beginning has now reaped an extremely abundant harvest.

Minotaur, in the last act of wanting to end this fight as quickly as possible, crossed his sword with the enemy's ax, just waiting for one of his maneuvers. He had difficulty maintaining this when faced with a much more powerful opponent in terms of pure strength.

In the end, however, Hjalmar tried to perform a spinning tail kick to the legs to knock him to the ground. However, his opponent had other intentions.

The minotaur was just waiting for this, until finally, and almost at the last possible moment, he jumped gracefully, and when his opponent was already ⅓ turned away from him, he made a quick slash to the opponent's back. However, it was an extremely balanced, well-thought-out blow that was only intended to deprive his opponent of his aura, which in fact happened.

Hjalmar's dark green aura disintegrated before everyone's eyes and he fell onto his back, then tried to turn towards his opponent and did so, only to receive a blade to his neck.

"The one true god was on my side." Minotaur stated, and although he seemed to all present to be genuinely convinced of the higher verdict, it was very far from the truth.

In fact, it was one of the elements of his cynical game, aimed at one thing: presenting himself as the anointed one of higher powers and having their blessing. After all, he remembered the history of the world, including the kingdoms of the monarchy era, and there was nothing better to control the masses than religion. Religion, it doesn't matter which one, was a great drug for the great masses. A drug that, on the one hand, brings relief to the simpleton, but on the other hand, gives legitimacy to the ruler, justifying at the same time the oppression, slavery and misery of ordinary people.

"You have won the fight, Brother Minotaur." The priest remarked coldly and with his hoarse old voice. "Regardless of this, blood must be shed in the trial of combat. This is custom and tradition. When a warrior draws his blade and raises it against another sentient being, he must then be ready to shed blood, regardless of the circumstances and the situation."

"I understand, brother, and it will be done." With these words, he made a quick slash and everyone froze until the smallest finger of Hjalmar's left hand slipped and blood spilled onto the ground. "I am ready to shed blood, including that of our Faunus brothers, if necessary. However, taking the life of any of us is a heinous act that will never be committed by me!"

There was a cheer at these words. Dozens of souls applauded his success, even those more skeptical of the religious nature of this fight and its sacred overtones. Someone from the crowd shouted. "God with us!"

"Indeed, brothers and sisters!" The minotaur replied, then helped his defeated opponent up and raised his right hand. "Even though our creator marked me and decided that I was right, the future I planned will belong to all Faunus. May the grace of this evening be proof of that. God with us!"

"God with us!" There was loud cheering, broken only by the Minotaur's raised hand.

"Save your strength for another day, for this is only the beginning of our long journey, brothers and sisters. Much longer than any of you may imagine!"

The minotaur found some sort of steel box, jumped onto it gracefully, and then dramatically extended his arm upwards. "No matter what we fought for and what some of our brothers and sisters died for, fighting as members of the White Fang. There is not even the slightest doubt that the White Fang has disintegrated. Our home and hope for a better world fell apart literally before my eyes with the death of my brother, Adam Taurus!"

Minotaur didn't need to see the expressions on their faces to know how sad they were all. It was hard to compare it to anything. How can we relate to anything the tragedy of many people who, in one moment and with a few words, realized that everything they fought and believed for was a thing of the past? There is a void in their hearts, and Minotaur will fill it with new ideals.

"I ask you, brothers and sisters, is this the end of us!? The end of everything we fought for!?" He asked a rhetorical question, then clenched his hand into a fist and bent his entire arm. "NO! Never and definitely not, brothers and sisters! It's a new beginning for all of us!

"YOU!" The minotaur pointed at one, then another. "Do the ideals of providing for your families, your loved ones and your offspring live in your hearts and minds!"

"Yes!" They all answered in unison, one after the other.

"So are you ready to evolve, change and adapt to new circumstances!?"

"We want it! Of course! We will not bend! Lead us, leader!" The answers came, these and dozens of similar ones, but all with one and the same main theme.

"So I ask you, are you willing to trust me and follow me, no matter what direction I direct!?"

"Yes!" The answer came, and if this place was just a closed room with good acoustics, their answer, the answer of the former members of the White Fang, would have been a chorus.

"Then I will give you a destination, and the first will be to set out from here, taking all supplies and all personnel, to Vale! There, in a land still in chaos, we can begin to rebuild the organization. But no longer as the White Fang, for that is the past that is over."

Seeing their confusion, Minotaur thought of a name for the new organization before continuing his speech. "So will you stand with me as part of the Overfaunus Confederation, a new creation for all our brothers and sisters with the good will to rise above the Human race?"

"Yes!" The overwhelming majority of those gathered raised their clenched fists in the air to show even stronger support for their new leader.

Minotaur, if only he were still his old self, would be more than happy with this endorsement and would probably encourage them to make some stronger declarations. Now, however, he had already achieved the desired result and there was no need to provoke them to anything stronger.

"Perfect then, tomorrow we begin preparations for the great exodus, the great transport of our forces towards their destiny." The Human Grimm continued to speak, then turned to his recent enemy. "Brother, will you help me in this endeavor as my second in command while I serve as Supreme Leader of the new organization?"

Hjalmar was clearly hesitant, but eventually he knelt down. "You can count on me, Supreme Leader."

"Then I accept your declaration, brother, and I say to you: arise as a Brigade Leader." The minotaur smiled at him, trying to signal his satisfaction with his decision. "But now, my brothers, rest, we have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow and the time our brothers and sisters enslaved by the SDC have is limited."

"Yes, Supreme Leader!" They responded, and so the new journey of the reborn one and his reborn folowers, has fully began.