Day 6 (Or The Final Showdown)

Sirens.

They blared in my ears like a symphony of war, rousing me from the darkness of sleep. Gravelly dirt crunched under my chest as I groaned. Frantic footsteps blurred before my eyes, kicking up ash and snow.

Ugh… Like, did anyone get the number on Truck-kun?

"Jaune?" Yang—or at least I thought she was a Yang—held out a gloved hand, her fingers almost poking my eyes out as I lifted my chin.

"Fuck…" I couldn't help but notice that I was lying in a crater, surrounded by tall buildings, huntsmen, and Grimm. "Yeah, like, no. I'm not Jaune. Who the fuck is Jaune?"

"Oh," Yang said. "You're not Jaune. Sorry. You look a lot like my friend though." She dragged me back to my feet, her hand strangely cold and metallic.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," Yang said. "So uh… I gotta bail." She jerked a thumb towards a wall of soldiers shooting at a swarm of Beowolves. "You okay now?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Not really. It all seemed so surreal. Even more than usual.

"Like, don't let me keep you, goldilocks," I said, glancing over her shoulder at a man being eaten alive by a Beowolf.

"Heh. Goldilocks. Well, good luck to you too, handsome." Yang grinned as she jogged away, flashing me a wink.

"Where the fuck am I." I flicked some snow off my knees. "And where the hell are they?"

I checked my Mini-Map. Five blue dots were scattered around Atlas—in Remnant P-101. One of them was me. Weiss and Shadow were right next to each other, engaging a cluster of red dots one mile up north. Ruby and Akane crept closer towards them, moving from the east and the west respectively. And Fiona…

There were millions of green dots. Like, finding her by myself would be pretty much impossible.

"Fiona…" I whispered.

She's alone somewhere, helpless and unconscious. Oh, god. She could be dead and I wouldn't—

I blinked, salt lapping at the corners of my eyes.

Swear. I'm not crying. Like, it's just the ash in the snowy breeze being a bitch.

I sniffled, gazing upon the streets filled with panicked civilians being quarantined by a mix of uniformed soldiers and colourful huntsmen. Like, Atlas was under siege. I didn't need the Cosmos to tell me that. A pretty bad siege too, going off the thick smoke ghosting the windows.

Guide. Is there a way to find Fiona?

"Searching… Shall I notify you when I have accomplished my task?"

Please.

I fumbled for my belt, finding my bloodsword attached to it. My bloodshield lay under a fallen car, and it took only a few seconds of lifting to strap it back to my arm. It didn't take me long to regain my bearings—some soldiers even approached me, bearing news that all huntsmen were supposed to assist in the evacuation.

"Like, why the hell are we evacuating?" I asked.

"You're way out of it, man," the soldier said. "Have you tried looking up?"

"Up? Ah, shit…"

A giant Grimm soared above the grey skies. It was shaped vaguely like a whale, with red lines on its belly. Black dots fell from its ass like bird droppings—dots that were red on my Mini-Map. Great. Air-dropping Grimm, huh? Creative. Like, where did I see that one before?

"Search complete."

A sigh of relief escaped my lips, my breath curled white.

"Fiona Schnee of Remnant A-404 found. Highlighting node…"

My Mini-Map zoomed in. A golden blip appeared over a crimson dot, a quarter-mile north. Near Shadow and Weiss.

Wait, a red dot means…

"Fiona Schnee of Remnant A-404 has been infected by the Corruption."

I shut my eyes, my breath choking my throat.

You stupid, idiotic, moronic… Why did you… Why does it have to be this way?

"Recommended course of action: eliminate."

My chest quivered as the Atlesian chill stabbed deep into my bones. Or maybe it was just the sudden realisation of what I had to do stabbing deep into my heart.

"You okay, man?" the soldier said.

"Yeah," I said, numb to the howling gale and the splashing of blood. "Never better."

"Hey!"

The soldier hollered when I broke into a sprint, the Bloodmail of Arkhalla disappearing with a flash of gold. Lacking the weight of my armour, my speed tripled as I charged through the chaotic streets with reckless abandon. A single flick of my bloodsword sent the heads of Grimm rolling down the street, much to the surprise of a squad of huntresses.

There were more of them. Always more. More blood to spill and lives to claim. Just the order of the day, right?

I howled, cleaving a monstrous Beowolf into two with a Reaping Slash. The comical look of surprise on its face was worthy of a one-liner and some.

I just didn't have any.

"Whoa…" A blue-haired huntress wrenched her spear out of a fallen Nevermore's eye.

"Yeah, like, surprise," I said. "Insects die like insects."

"That was an alpha," she said. "Are you one of the field commanders?"

I snorted, wiping the blood off my blade. "Fuck no. Do I look like a field commander to you?"

A field commander wouldn't have let Fiona…

I waited neither for the end of my thoughts nor for the huntress' response.

Instead, I resumed my northern crusade, cutting down the Grimm that dared to get in my way. Being the braindead monsters that they were, it meant that I was drenched in blood from head to toe by the time I got within one block of Fiona. She stood in the middle of a burning street, shepherding a family of five away from the claws and the flame.

"Crippling Shot!" Fiona screamed, Skadi twanging, the arrow lodged in a Beringuel's stomach. Milky-white skin, like curdled cheese, shone under her cloak. "Hawkeye!"

Fione… I can burst you down right now. Kill you. With your back turned to me, it'd be easy. Like, if this were a match, it'd be exactly the kind of asshole thing that I'd do.

"Arcane Barrage."

I thrust out my hand, blasting a Beowolf that lunged at her flank with bombs of wind.

"Stampede."

I charged into the fray, dashing past her. She gasped, her crimsoned eyes stealing a shaft of dusk.

"Reaping Slash."

My bloodsword hacked into the Beringuel's crotch, my hip twisting as I brought my blade across its body. Wiry pounds of gore flopped, spilling fountains of blood on the street. The Beringuel toppled over, lifeless before it even hit the ground.

"Hey." I grinned at Fiona. With her eyes red and her hair paler than snow, she looked… "Beautiful," I whispered. "Like, I'm totally digging the drip. You're still… you, right?"

"Hmph." Fiona gnawed at the bottom of her blackened lips. Her eyes misted over, leaking tears of blood. She wiped them away, her hand shaking as the Guardian's Bond shone on her finger. "Beloved… Do not gaze upon me. Not as I am."

"Indeed. Eliminate her, Guardian. As is your sacred duty."

Fuck off, Guide. We still have a Korvi to kill. Like, one final boss at a time okay?

My Guide said nothing in response.

I pinched my nose, reaching out to cup Fiona's clammy cheek. She recoiled at my touch. A hiss escaped her lips, her fangs peeking out of her mouth.

"No…" Fiona murmured. "I do not wish for you to remember me like this. To be defiled by the Corruption…" She growled. "Even now, its song compels me still."

"But you're in control," I said. "That's good, right? Like, I don't really care if you've put on mascara and ten buckets of make-up." I smiled. "You're still my best friend. No matter what happens."

"I…" Fiona's bow fell slack under her arm. "'Tis the love that we share that bastions my mind against its foul song." She shuddered, her palm caressing mine. "But this… Not even the ravages of time can scour this stain from my soul."

"You can't give up now," I said. "Like, what happened to the Heroine who just wouldn't back down?"

Fiona's throat bobbed. "She…"

"Is still there," I cut her off, poking her chest. "You just gotta listen to Fiona Schnee. Not the Corruption or whatever."

For one fleeting moment, the world froze into stillness. Screams turned into whispers, the crackling flames melting into the hissing of snow. It was a moment that would never last, no. Come tomorrow and even if we won, she… She'd be gone, lost to the Corruption, her soul trapped beyond the shackles of fate.

The irony was thick.

I laughed, choking on tears and spit.

"Fiona! You're…" Akane said, her footsteps crunching behind me. "Shit. I'm sorry."

Fiona snorted and looked away.

"Yeah, like, what matters is that she's still gunning for Korvi," I said. "Once it shows, we gotta give it everything we've got."

Akane nodded, her hair falling like vivid autumn leaves upon her face. Her eyes blazed with blue fire. "I promise," she said. "I won't drag you down anymore."

"You never did," I said. "But, like, let's agree to disagree." I arched an eyebrow. "Where'd your horns go?"

Akane smiled, thumbing her fringe. "I have to lose something physical, mate. To maintain my connection to Zarakkus. My horns don't have much use, so…"

Right. We've all lost something, huh? But at least she finally got her revenge. Though, at what cost?

"What happened?" Weiss huffed, her armour clanking as she and Shadow rushed out of an alley. The Thaumaturge blasted a Griffon to pieces with thunder from his lance.

"Korvi happened," I said, laying a hand on Fiona's shoulder. She flinched, staring at her boots as I spun her around. "Like, don't overreact, but—"

"What the hell?" Ruby said, her heels screeching as she skidded to a halt. "That's a fucking Salem."

I rolled my eyes. "No, it's a fucking Fiona."

Shadow grunted, the golden blade of his violet lance—Gungnir—aimed towards Fiona.

I stepped between them with my bloodshield braced for an attack.

"Get out of the way," Shadow said, growling.

"Make me." I smirked.

Heat embroiled every inch of my body. And for the first time, I was raring for a fight. Was it because I was about to layeth the smackdown on Shadow the Edgedge? Or was it simply because I had something real to lose? It had to be one of the two, right?

"Beloved…" Fiona clutched my sword arm, her flesh fevered even with her thick corset. "Don't…"

"She's right. You can't take us," Ruby said. "Step aside."

"We'll see." I primed my Reaper's Bulwark, staring down the maw of her cannon.

"Stop this at once," Weiss said, gripping Shadow's wrist. His hand shook as he lowered his spear—almost obediently. "We can decide what to do with Fiona after we deal with Korviliath. Right now, we're just wasting time."

Shadow stabbed his spear into the snow. "But—"

"No buts," Weiss said, slamming Vervain down on Ruby's cannon. The blade of gold clanged against red steel.

"Bitch," Ruby said, raising her cannon against Weiss. "Y'all don't know how a fucking Salem works. They're consumed by bloodlust." Her eyes narrowed. "They end up killing everything. Everything."

Shadow's spear whacked Ruby's cannon away from Weiss' face, the Thaumaturge drawing a line between them. Silently, he stood in front of the Paladin. A violet storm crackled across Gungnir, the Phantasmal Unique spear glowing with power.

"Huh." Ruby shifted Longinus towards Shadow, the weapon turning into a battleaxe. "So that's how it is. You, of all people…"

"Weiss is correct," Shadow said, his breathing heavy behind his mask. "Here I thought androids ran on finer logic."

Ruby scowled, her eyes frozen chips of mercury.

"Mate," Akane said, resting a hand against the hilt of her katana. "Can we stop pointing swords at each other and just talk?" She coughed into her fist. "I mean we don't even know where Korviliath is. I think that's the most imp—"

A deafening boom shattered the skies above. It rippled across the city, the sound of windows breaking shearing through the roars of gunfire. The Grimm whale howled as a crimson vortex swirled within its chest, its carapace quivering, shimmering against the glossy heavens.

Korviliath.

Or what the Corruption turned it into.

It clawed its way out of the whale's corpse, a terrible monster with wings of night unfurled. A miasma of shadows and blood wafted off Korviliath, his eye rotten with the tell-tale shine of Grimm. Green dots fell from the belly of the plummeting whale, and I could've sworn that I saw a flash of sunny hair—

"Damn it." Ruby collapsed her cannon back into her arm. She shot off with a bang, her thrusters streaking the smoke with blue light.

"Well, there goes our DPS," I said.

Fiona hacked up globs of blood, dyeing the snow red. "Ugh…"

"Fione!" I gasped. "You okay?"

Fiona broke into a fit of harsh breaths. "I'll be… well, beloved. Once this battle is over and…"

"Holy Light." Weiss bathed Fiona with yellow rays of healing magic.

Fiona's eyes widened. "Nay! This will not—"

"It will work," Weiss said. "The Corruption hasn't taken you completely, else you wouldn't be coughing up blood. This will slow it down at the least."

I smiled. "See? You'll be fine." I forced my smile to reach my eyes. "You'll be fine, Fione."

Fiona clenched her fists.

Admittedly, my words rang hollow—even to my ears. But what else could I possibly say?

"We need a plan," Akane said.

"You know why Heralds don't step into worlds?" Shadow said. "It's because they're much weaker here. It's the rule."

"Really?" I said, casting Observe on Korviliath's corpse.

Korviliath

Herald of Corruption

Demon King

Level 71

HP: 171,913/171,913

"Wow," I said. "Like, you're right. But then, why would it go here—"

"You will not have me!" Korviliath growled, his voice shaking the firmament of the skies. "Foolish vessel… Why did you step foot in the Cosmos' domain, where you are weak…" This time, the voice was deeper, darker coloured with the timbre of the Corruption.

Korvi roared, lashing out at the Grimm with his tentacles.

Trouble in paradise, huh? Guess that answers my question.

"Now's our chance," Shadow said. "I can mimic Ruby's Temporal Rift—once with a Skill—and get us on Korviliath's back. From there, we can hit it where it hurts."

"You mean, like, we're gonna Grima the Korvi?" I said.

"Pretty much," Akane said.

"Whoa, you actually got the reference," I said. "Ahem. This should be our final battle then."

"For real," Akane said. "Unless you guys are up for forming a Party after this?"

"That sounds…" Shadow trailed off.

"Great," Weiss said, grinning at Fiona. She stared at her boots—uncharacteristically of the proud Paladin—as she cast another Holy Light. "It shall of course be called the Guardians of the Unknowing. Right, dear?"

"Hmph." Fiona managed a tiny smile. "Yes, I imagine so. Nothing else… Nothing else would make this Heroine prouder."

Oh, Fiona… You…

Shadow swept his cloak back, hundreds of violet eyes blinking in the darkness. Magical circles—runes shaped like hieroglyphs—sprang under us, rotating with blistering speeds on the surface of the snow. There was a flash, and a constant mechanical whirring as we reappeared on blighted ground, rivers of black blood running through the exposed veins on Korvi's corpse.

"Now, Guardians!" Korvi roared, tremors rocking its body. "Strike at me with all you have!"

"Geez, like." I watched as Korvi's tentacles skewered the Nevermores that dived towards us, hanging them up like the branches of a decaying tree. "Aren't you supposed to be not on our side? For a final boss, you're kinda messing up real bad, Korvi."

"Puny knight! Do not mock me!" Korvi bellowed. "This is painful enough as it stands!"

Fiona spat out another thick wad of blood. She lifted Skadi, notching a pitch-black arrow. "Let us begin."

The belly of the beast opened up, tendrils of red flesh parting away to reveal a beating heart the colour of ash. It had the height of a fully grown horse and the girth of a shark. And it was sitting right there, just waiting for us to tear it a new one.

Like, where have I seen this before? Where, oh where, I wonder?

"You fool…" the Corruption said, its voice a dark cloud that chilled my limbs. "You leave me no choice…"

Grimm of all kinds sprouted between the gashes on Korvi's corpse, standing in our way.

"You will have no dominion over me!" Korviliath said, dozens of tentacles whipping at the Grimm as they tore into his back. "If I perish, then so be it! But it shall be on my terms and my terms alone!"

Say what you will about this Abomination, but he's got my respect. Like, we're not so different after all, are we?

Fiona let loose her arrows, the black bolts tearing through the gap between us and Korvi's heart. Shadow slung thunder from his spear. He held it like a javelin, but his grip on its shaft was as tight as a screw. Akane charged, roaring, blue flames igniting her sword.

Weiss chanted behind us, golden glyphs radiating empowering light. A light that eased my wounds as the Shrieks that leapt out of warts on Korvi's flesh raked their claws over my limbs.

"Good heals," I said, twisting my blade out of a Shriek's skull.

Weiss smiled. "I do my best."

"Lance of thunder severing eternity… Ultimate power in exchange for a cherished artefact…" Shadow whispered, golden runes swirling around him. "Maximize Magic! Artifice Break! Shooting Star!"

He leapt high into the air, Gungnir crackling with thunder. No. It was thunder. Shadow held the length of brilliant lightning above his head. He chucked it towards Korvi's beating heart, his body bent and arched like a great bow.

The spear of thunder fizzled against a wall of translucent black, the magic awfully familiar.

"Salem," Fiona murmured.

The Witch Queen of Corruption herself descended from the skies, an avatar of death. Her bare feet touched the back of Korviliath, and the Grimm howled, claws rapping upon taut flesh like drums of war. She flexed her grotesque hand, part woman and part wolf, her gaze empty as she regarded us with bloodshot eyes.

Shadow held out his hand. "Salvaged Artefact." Gungnir flashed into his grip, glaring cracks running along its shaft. "Immortal Masterwork." With a hum of gold, the cracks on it vanished. "Artificer's Blessing. Spectrum Stance. Ultimate Magic Reinforcement…"

Shadow kept mumbling Buffs to himself as Weiss and I stood up front, facing rows upon rows of Grimm. Fiona notched three arrows into Skadi, the gears on her bow clicking as she aimed it at Salem.

"You cannot win…" the Corruption said, Salem mouthing the words. "One of your own has already fallen… Soon, all of you will…"

"Hmph." Fiona scoffed. "I have slain the witch queen before." She smirked. "'Twas, as the locals say it, the easiest fight of my life."

"You who are mine in all but spirit…" the Corruption said in response. "Why do you resist me so?"

Fiona hissed. She bared her fangs, a storm of arrows riddling Salem's chest. Blood oozed from her grisly wounds, only for the bolts to fall off, the flesh sealing shut.

"Fool. You cannot harm this vessel," the Corruption said. "For she bears the very same curse as you."

Beyond the land of Korviliath, Atlesian battleships engaged entire swarms of Grimm, the stuttering of guns and the harsh beating of wings filling the sky.

"Now what?" Akane said.

"What we need is the Oathkeeper, to thrust it into her black heart," Fiona said. "But I cannot draw upon its strength. Not as I am. Even summoning it would be... disastrous to one such as I."

Yeah, like, I don't think a sword that thirsts for the blood of the Corrupted is gonna mesh well with you either.

"So that's it," I said, the leather of my bloodsword creaking. "We're fucked."

Like, aside from Fiona, I don't think there's anyone here that can use the Oathkeeper. It's an ancestral blade of prophecy. Right?

Prophecy, prophecy. Now where have I heard that one before?

"I suppose it's time…" Shadow grunted, Gungnir fading into silence and flakes of white. "It'd make for a bad tale if we lost here, after all."

He strode forward, gold glinting behind the slits of his mask.

"Ah. How did it go again?" Shadow chuckled. "Cosmic fire, bring. The weapon of the immortal witch queen."

A rune blazing with violet fire hovered before Shadow, the familiar image of a howling wolf inscribed into its centre.

Fiona gasped.

I grinned. Called it. I fucking called it yesterday.

"Shadow." Weiss pursed her lips. "You're—"

"Implausible," the Corruption said, Salem taking a single step back.

That single step meant everything.

The Grimm around her growled and snapped their teeth at Shadow, the weight of his magic pressing down on my shoulders like a pair of trucks.

"A man cannot wield the full powers of the Oathkeeper," the Corruption said. "You are no Maiden, Nexus Shade. Not in this realm or time."

"But a Maiden lives on, within my soul," Shadow—no, Nex whispered. "Just for a single moment, beloved…"

The rune imploded, and a pure-white Oathkeeper, wreathed in stardust, slipped into Nex's grip like an old comrade.

"Give me strength," Nex said, his eyes smouldering with pale blue flames—flames that were neither the colour of his aura nor his soul.

It was the colour of love.

"Enough games," Salem said, her voice still the Corruption's. "Kill them."

And the Grimm charged like hounds to the slaughter.

Akane and I braced ourselves for the inevitable avalanche, Weiss already chanting a Greater Heal and Fiona humming a Song of Courage.

"Ragnarok," Nex said, another sword flashing into his other hand. This one was a midnight-blue, shadow-gold snaking around its blade, like vines upon an aged tree. A mirage of gears spun across its hilt, fading, twisting, their teeth converging and diverging at the same time. "The sword of finality… Timeless Thunder!"

He thrust his twin blades towards the heavens, silver lightning bouncing between the Grimm. They slowed to a crawl. I took the chance to lob Arcane Bolts at them, exploding their limbs.

Fiona's arrows pierced their hearts as Akane dashed into the thick of a swarm. Her katana—it was a new one with a red hilt—decapitated a ring of Beowolves as she whirled into a cut. Holy fire exploded from Weiss' glyphs, scorching the stragglers away.

"Gah!" Salem wailed as the divine flames kissed her skin. "You will kneel!"

Salem threw her hands above her head, a solid block of Grimm flesh spawning inches up away from her palm. She erected it into a massive wall, brick by brick, sinew by sinew. Until she roared and the pulsating mass blitzed across the gap between us, falling like the mountains and seas.

I could've sworn I saw my life flash before my eyes. But what I really saw was a flash of red. And the sight of the wall breaking upon Ruby's stalwart form, a hail of titanic blood-red swords cleaving it to bits and pieces.

"Just in time," Ruby said. She cracked her knuckles, a fresh cloak, free from tears or rips, flowing down her back. "I'll show you what happens when you drop my sister a thousand feet from the sky."

Well, look who's here. It's Miss No One Is Special, except her sister from an alternate world that she went out of her way to save, apparently. But it's all good, right?

Fucking hypocrite.

"Guardians," Ruby said, pointing her scythe at Salem, who growled and summoned more Grimm. "Take her."

I grinned, a sharp breeze coiling around my bloodsword. "Yeah, like, let's kill."

Ruby and I led the tempest, carving a path of blood and gore towards the witch queen. Shadow, Weiss, and Fiona kept our Buffs and HP up, a spectrum of colours shielding us from Salem's black magic—literally. Dark waves crashed against golden glyphs, Fiona and Weiss pooling their magic. With Akane at our flank, taking down the Griffons and the Nevermores, we didn't have to worry about an attack from the rear.

I leapt towards Salem, the black pools around her a little too slow in reforming her Grimm. My bloodsword bit into her shoulder, meeting paltry resistance with all the Buffs on me. It hewed her arm off her body, a shriek torn from her lips the moment her hand sank into the mire.

It regrew with frightening haste, pitch-black claws latching onto my neck. Her freezing touch drained the life from my skin. She squeezed, my eyes widening as my windpipe snapped with a crack.

"Beloved!" Fiona screamed.

"Urkh…" I pawed my throat, my HP and my AU hitting the red.

Choking on your own blood doesn't feel very good. Yeah, like, I know. Who figured?

"Holy Light!" Weiss said.

Salem cackled, banishing the rays of her spell with a wave of her newly regenerated hand.

"Perish," the Corruption said.

A bolt of crimson lightning lanced towards me.

A shield the colour of midnight-blue fell before my face, the image of a familiar golden wolf ghosting across my eyes. The bolts crashed against it, Salem snarling as they sputtered and faded away.

"Vigilance, old friend," Nex said, brandishing the Oathkeeper. Its tip shone with a bloody light. "The Hound of Lumine… I am sorry for what I must do." A blinding light suffused Vigilance, the nicks and cuts spilling auburn tears. "Ultimate Maximize Magic! Artefact Break! Aether Burst!"

Reaper's Heartbeat.

I didn't see what happened next. All I heard was a deafening boom, the cold herald of death tucking me into its embrace. My eyes snapped open, a familiar rage churning inside me. Walks With Death went on cooldown, and April Ethereal switched on, granting me four times my stats.

Everything felt so… cardboard as I drew my blade, splitting a Griffon into three. It was almost as if I was living in a world of cardboard. Again. But this time, I was in control of the rage.

Not Xanathos.

Not Arkhalla.

Me.

And that rage was directed towards one person—one thing alone.

"Rrrrgh!"

I lunged towards Salem, roaring winds spurring my steps. She was missing half of her chest, a gaping cavern where the right side of her lungs had been. I could see her black-stained heart wriggling like a fist-sized maggot, more monster than human, pumping red onto Korvi's back.

I slashed her legs off, rendering them nothing more than bloody stumps.

"Eir! Out of the way!" Ruby barked.

I clamped down on the urge to rip the possessed Salem to shreds—until there was nothing left—and leapt backwards, Ruby stabbing her spear into the ground as I landed beside her.

"Pareidolic Interference," Nex said, taking the front. He crushed a purple gem in his fist. "Localize!"

Crimson lines tore through the ground under Salem, hooking onto the innards of her skin. They pried her meat suit open. No matter how much she squirmed, her muscles and ribs couldn't reform over her heart. Not even when her face regrew and contorted in agony as she screamed, thrashing like a wild animal against Ruby's chains.

"Divine Guidance!" Weiss cast a net of light across us, the rays empowering my limbs.

"Condemnation!" Fiona's arrows pinned Salem down by her robes. The black bolts dug deep and firm into the floor with a squelch.

"Frostfire!" Akane said. A wave of blue flames froze patches of Salem's skin, halting her healing to a stop.

I snarled and brandished my bloodsword above my head, swinging it down with half of my MP behind it. "Reaping Slash!"

A wicked wind sliced off Salem's head, rendering her silent as stone, save for the hissing of her tainted blood.

"Forgive me…" Nex said, staring at his Oathkeeper. "Ultimate Maximize Magic. Artefact…" He blurred into a streak of white and purple, planting the sabre deep into Salem's heart. "Break!"

Awash with golden light, Nex's Oathkeeper exploded into a shower of fire and stars. He grunted as the explosion flung him past me, Weiss barely catching him with an array of golden glyphs. I shielded my eyes from the splintered bones flying our way.

"Hahaha… A valiant effort…" the Corruption's voice rang from a stump of Salem's foot. "Without an oath… without a sacrifice… This vessel cannot be slain."

The wind blew, Salem's ashes falling in the quiet of the dark.

Fiona's eyes narrowed.

"Your efforts are in vain. What hope do you have, when none among you may walk the path the witch queen treads?" Salem's ankle regrew, bit by bit, sinew by sinew. "What prayer do you have against the threads of fate?"

"None," Nex said. "But we'll keep fighting."

"Yeah, like, that's all it really takes, right?" I said.

Akane wreathed her arm in blue flames, the steel of her katana winking. "You said it, mate. We can do this all day."

"Good always wins," Weiss said, golden glyphs spiralling around Vervain.

"Corny," Ruby said. "But she's right. Salem doesn't look like she's winning. Without her army, she's nothing." The android snorted. "Unbeatable immortal my ass. Screw off, Oz."

"Hmph!" Fiona smirked. "As I said, 'tis the easiest fight of my life."

"Fools…" the Corruption said, a foul darkness gathering around Salem's remains. "Then taste absolute—"

The shards of Nex's Oathkeeper flew off the ground. They whirled, a cyclone of ivory glyphs dispersing the darkness. A ghostly figure loomed over Salem's remains. Hair as fair as freshly fallen snow hung around her face. A deep scar ran over her left eye—an eye as blue as winter.

Fiona's breath hitched as the woman craned her neck and turned her gaze upon us, smiling.

"For whosoever vows to slay the queen must take her crown," the spectre said, her dress fluttering like the feathers of a swan. She descended, her toes never touching the ground. "For every world, for every Remnant, a witch queen must be of renown."

"Weiss…" Nex murmured, shaking as his hand went through hers. "I…"

"That night, when I fell," his Weiss said, "you held on to my soul."

"I couldn't let you go," Nex said. "I would have been lost without you."

Angry wasn't the word I'd use to describe Weiss' tone. More like… sad. Yeah. It was the only word I could find. Sue me.

The ghostly Weiss tugged off Nex's mask. Two jagged scars ran over his left cheek—the work of the claws of a Beowolf. His skin was marred with scars of war, his eyes unflinching gold.

"I love you," Weiss said. She shot Fiona and our Weiss a glance, a beaming smile curling her lips. "But I don't want you pining after someone you'll never see again."

Tears. For some reason, her words bruised my throat, as if a stone had been lodged inside. Fiona's hand snaked into mine. I squeezed it like there was no tomorrow—because tomorrow wasn't there at all.

"I'll never see you again?" Nex whispered, breaking the tender silence. "But the sword. I can fix it! You can go back inside—"

"I wish to be free. To live once again," Weiss said. "To feel the spray of rain on my face and the sun's kiss upon my hair."

"Then I'll find you," Nex said. "In your next life. I promise."

"No," Weiss said, turning away. "You've already found me."

She flew towards Salem and laid a hand on her half-regrown body.

"What are you doing?" the Corruption said. "Only Maidens of the bloodline may—"

"When I became one with the Oathkeeper," Weiss said, "a miracle occurred. Its energies reformed my being, fuelling my very soul. Schnee blood no longer runs through my veins." She grinned. "And I know… I know more than any mortal should have the right to know."

The darkness seeped from Salem's corpse, drawn towards Weiss.

"If you speak the words, if you swear the godly oath," Weiss said, "only then shall Salem fall to your swords."

"No!" the Corruption's voice echoed far and wide, engulfing the clamour of both beast and machine.

"Then hear me, Cosmos, the Will of Existence," Weiss said. "Let the halls of prophecy bequeath unto me the title of the witch queen of this realm. I shall carry it until the debt has been repaid in full."

This is unusual. Though not entirely unprecedented.

For the first time, the Cosmos' voice rang outside my head. And the world stilled.

"You reject?" Weiss whispered. "I only wish to protect those that I love. One last time."

Not even I can change what has been written upon the halls of prophecy. You will be reborn, as the cycle dictates. You will bear the curse across all the lifetimes that you will have. You will forget. You will not remember. You will feel sorrow yet you will never know the source. The bond between you and your Beloved shall be rent and broken, never to be reforged. Do you persist upon this path?

"No…" Nex said. "Please, don't."

I shut my eyes for a moment, the breeze crooning a lonely dirge.

If it were me and Fione…

"Let me go, my love," Weiss said, smiling as she faced her fate. "All the years I spent with you, in life and death, is enough to last me an eternity."

She plunged into the darkness.

Beyond ashen skies and frosted shores, the gale could no longer be heard.

Author's Notes:

Death is never the end. It's just the start of the next great adventure—a saying that's especially literal in the context of the LVC. The next update will be me posting the last chapter of this fic. It's been a wild three-year ride, full of setbacks and me dealing with impostor syndrome. But I managed to overcome it all and, on top of everything, grow as a person and a writer.

With that said, thanks for reading! Happy holidays to all of you!