Heya everyone, how's it going? Sorry if this is a bit late in the day, but if you read KoWaB, you'd know that right now as I'm writing this A/N, I'm on my way back to college after a fun spring break with friends, where we ended it with going to Disneyland on Friday. So I'm still a bit pooped.
Before we go into the chapter...
OH. MY. GOODNESS. Nier: Automata. Holy gods of the old and new was that game amazing. I know said the same about FFXV, but...dear me, Nier: Automata went above and beyond, and honestly, a lot more than FFXV did for me. Considering most, if not all of you, know by now that I am a really crazy dude when it comes to finishing games at times, I only recently platinumed the game. But here's the quick details.
Basically, by the time I got back home, I had only just finished my first playthrough and went on to the second to get ending B, which is basically the same as the first if you catch my drift. So, halfway through the 2nd play through, it's about midnight. I wasn't all too tired. In fact, not tired at all. So basically (warning, uncharacteristic language incoming), I reached a point and said "Fuck it. I'm going to completely and entirely finish Nier: Automata." And by that, I meant get all the remaining trophies, collect everything, get all the endings, you name it. Basically, I devoted an all nighter to one hundred percenting the game in its entirety. And it was worth it. Granted, I got a bit depressed due to some grimm stuff happening in the storyline of the game, I still pushed on nonetheless. Seriously, I was getting depressed.
Basically, after starting the second playthrough at around 7pm, I finished up and achieved my goal at around 10am. It was not easy. But still, worth it due to the true ending credits, the true ending, and the absolutely amazing song with the final and true credits, and so forth and so on if you finished the game completely like I did. But, keeping to the tradition of the first Nier game, I sacrificed my save data to do two extra things. Things which I'll leave to you to figure out if you either delide to buy and play the game or look it up.
To put it shortly, Nier: Automata, in my personal opinion, is and has been the most amazing video game I've played in all my years of living so far. The characters (both playable and non-playable), everything from their personalities, to their voice actors, to their clothes and so forth, was awesome and fit together very nicely. The gameplay mechanics (fighting, movement around the world, quests and the such) weren't overly complex and fairly simple to understand and get the hang of. The storyline was incredible and breathtaking, especially since it's basically a new storyline after each play through until the third playthrough. The combat system for all three different characters was eyecatching, fluid, and dynamic. The music was outstanding and fit all the different situations and areas very neatly and closely. All the different skills acquireable was always interesting and creative, especially with the different skills you could mash up to fit your play style, and just as amusing to do and find were the joke endings. Each one was pretty funny and sometimes cracked me up entirely.
Most importantly, you do not have to play the first Nier game (simply called Nier) to understand what the heck is happening. You can just jump in and play. But if you did play the first Nier, you're definitely going to recognize a few things and be jaw dropped.
One thing that really got to me was the real/true end credits song. After everything that happened in the storyline of the game, hearing that song filled me with so many different emotions at that time that it was just...indescribable. You'd have to play the game yourself to understand. Plus, you get to do a really cool thing during the true and final credits while listening to that masterpiece of a song. I won't say what it is; find out for yourselves if you buy the game or look it up.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way saying any other game or game series, like Dark Souls and FFXV, wasn't good or can't compare, but truly, in my opinion, Nier: Automata is a masterpiece in its own right and is an excellent game overall and really really really fun to play. If you were on the fence about it, don't be. Buy the game. It is worth every cent. For those of you hearing of it only now, look it up and be amazed.
(P.S, The first Nier game is actually really good and really impressive. I suggest playing it if you have the time or watching gameplay/cutscenes of it on YouTube if you'd prefer that instead.)
I'm sorry for totally nerding out here, but I just really really felt like it needed to be talked about. It was one of those things where you have to spread the message to the whole wide world. But small freak out aside (I'm aware it wasn't a small freak out, a rather massive one, but let's say it was a small freak out), you came here for a chapter and chapter is what you'll get. In addition with the mini-review of Nier: Automata (sorry, not sorry). Enjoy the chapter everyone.
Chapter 15: The Beast of the Labrynth
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"Ruby, tag up. You're with me." Xera said, "We're running scout, the rest will follow up. Keep scrolls on at all times, we'll use them for information transfers."
"Are you sure you can keep up?" Ruby asked, stepping up to Xera's side, "You were pretty slow the last time we raced."
"I'll manage." he replied, "And Dante?"
"Hmmm?" the immortal asked.
"Don't hold back on anything you run into." Xera stated, taking a glance over his shoulder to see him give me an affirmative nod.
"Don't blame me if we end up passing you then." Dante warned.
"The faster the better." Xera commented, turning his gaze back ahead of them as he took a step, "We're running through this place as fast as possible. Ruby, engage what you can without breaking stride, I'll do the same. Our goal is to spot the quickest way to the summit of the city."
Xera then drew his blade from his back and dipped its tip to the ground, enwreathing it in a heavy sheen of fire as it trailed a bright orange glow.
"And whatever you do...don't slow down for anything."
"I was just about to tell you that." she said with a subtle smile, trying to keep things as light-hearted as possible.
"The rest of you will follow Dante's lead, he'll be the frontline. Skyla, I need you to make sure nothing collapses in on your flank." Xera called back.
"You got it!" Skyla called back, giving an emphasized wave of her arm, "Nobody will plunder our booty! I'll make sure of it!"
"I believe you don't need us to tell you to be careful." Destiny spoke up.
"No, but we'll be going too fast to be cautious." I returned.
"I know we have a lot riding on this..." Weiss spoke up now instead, "But just because we have a time constraint, doesn't mean we have to throw caution to the wind. I have faith in everyone outside this rift to take care of themselves."
"They'll be fine. They have more than enough to fend off whatever Grimm that come their way. Afterall, Inuba and my siblings are out there. They'll be fine." Dante added.
"I don't doubt that. But it's best we don't linger here for too long."
The bridge beneath them suddenly bathed itself in a golden glow, and a twisting glyph expanded beneath Ruby and Xera, the very same glyph replicating itself along the bridge.
"Then let's get going." the heiress urged as she lowered Myrtenaster to her side, "We can do this."
And with that...they all made their move.
Warmth…
It didn't feel righta place like this. The air shouldn't have been as warm as it was currently across the jagged expense of black ice that formed the island.
Ciel let out an audible sigh from the cliffside she sat on, catching Leonard's attention.
"So boooooooooooored..!"
"It's better that way, Ciel."
"Dude, we've done like almost next to nothing so far. All we're doing really is just sitting around."
"Still, it's good for us. The less fighting for now, the better."
"I guess…"
Leonard looked down towards his sister and noticed she was fiddling around on her holographic Scroll. No…she was playing a game…
"Are you playing Phantom Souls?!"
"Yep."
"With online connectivity?! Out here of all places?!"
"Uh-huh."
"What in the world…"
"Hey, big brother did modify our Scrolls to be uber Scrolls. So…"
"Y-Yes, but...to have such amazing connectivity…"
"Hey, if you want, I'm right at a FirePit close to the boss, so you can join too."
"I'll pass…"
"Your loss."
Directly behind them, Inuba and Kitsuki's sat a distance away discussing with one another.
"I see… That is why you haven't confessed to him yet…" signed out Kitsuki.
"Yes…" said Inuba softly.
"But you shouldn't wait. You should tell him after all this is over."
"It wouldn't be fair to the other person he is with at the moment. So that is why I must wait for now."
"But you shouldn't be fair with this! You should be as selfish as possible given the circumstances! If not...won't your heart heart so much?"
Inuba's own fox ears folded against her head as she looked away for a few moments.
"That may be...but I must do it the right way. That...and I do not wish for him to hate me…"
"But after everything you've told me, he can't possibly do such a thing."
Again the elder kitsune remained silent.
"Maybe… But I would still rather avoid the risk…"
"He is nice... Though...I felt something within him... Something...Dark..."
"Master was not always as kind as he his now. He has suffered greatly over the years. And that suffering made it very hard for him to retain any semblance of humanity..."
"He told me he wasn't human...but he tries his best to be like one." Kitsuki's signed out with her hands.
"Ineed. Regardless of this fact, he does his best to be human. To have a heart and soul... It's one of the things that makes him such a great person."
"You appreciate him so much..."
"He changed my life. And the life of many others along our journey together. It would be hard not to."
"Is that why you love him so much?"
Before she opened her mouth to respond, Inuba paused for a moment as her face reddened.
"Well- I... I love him for many other reasons besides that...b-but yes...I do..." she said only managing to mutter a few words.
"I read recently that when two people really love each other, the woman of the relationship would like to make babies with their intended. Do you wish to make babies with him?"
Inuba, and her fox ears and fox tail, immediately perked up after hearing that as she began muttering very quickly, slapping her hands over her face to hide her shame while small wisps of white flame cloaked her slender frame and flocated up into the dark and cloudy skies.
Despite this, Kitsuki could have sworn she saw Inuba drool slightly at the idea…
"Hey, uh, does anybody else see that?!" Sun called out, tail clinging to the column of a pillar as he leaned out toward the sea, "Somethings rolling in!"
"P-Please don't say that!" Neptune called up, clinging to his pillar tighter, "I was just about to calm down, too!"
"You're doing fine bud!" Sun laughed, but his eyes were fixed on the encroaching cloud of mist.
"Is that fog?" Jaune asked, ice crunching beneath his feet as he stood.
Off the banks of the island and down over the crests of the crashing waves rolled a white mist, seeping over the dark expanse of the ocean like a plague among villagers. It rolled and climbed, riding the ocean's tide as it slipped over its frigid expanse.
The mist was coming from the storm to the north, filling the ocean almost in its entirety with a new sea of layering white. Its covering was approaching the island like an encroaching tidal wave… silent as it expanded to engulf its furthest banks.
"No..." Ren said, leaning away from the pillar as he stepped closer to the edge.
White wisps of mist slipped over the ridge they stood upon, crawling onto its surface as it fanned over the entire island, leaving behind a black, pristine sheen upon the ice it touched.
"It's steam..." the easterner realized, brushing the back of his hand into the mist flooding over the island of black ice.
"Steam?" Pyrrha asked, brushing her greaves and boots through the mist, "How can that be? We're near the southern pole."
"I don't know," Ren replied, gritting his teeth, "But it's here and it's not an illusion."
"These things are never easy, huh?" Jaune reiterated, lowering to a knee as he let half his body enter a sweeping wave of steam, the mist only seeming to grow more encroaching, "I guess this is only the beginning."
"Visuals are getting worse!" someone called from within the rising veil of white, the voice sounding like Sun, but his figure was getting more and more obscure, "Even from up here!"
"Then get down from there monkey!" Ciel called up as she closed her screen, waving her hand before her face to clear up a small amount of vision, "Something else is coming!"
"These signs do not bode well… The presence I feel is very strong..." Leo sighed, standing amidst the steam as it rolled over the ridge before them, "Something stirs in the water..."
"Please tell me it's just the fish..." Ciel replied, pushing her way to her brother's side.
"We have yet to see any fish anywhere within the vicinity of this island. So, in that regard, I do not think it is just a fish." he admitted, staring out into the expanse of the ocean.
The silence of the island became deafening for merely a moment, stifling the entire party atop its icy surface in a thick, tense anticipation. Nothing stirred, only the briefest of red flashes bathed the ocean in red and the distant, muffled cracks of thunder were all that occurred.
"It's gotten quieter..." Coco stated in a quiet murmur, standing from her seat at the ridge's edge, "Velvet, wasn't the wind more prominent a few moments ago?"
"It was." Velvet replied, pushing herself to her feet at her partner's side, "It's...changing... The currents of the wind have changed."
"Changed how?" Coco asked, glancing toward Velvet.
The girl's ears twitched as her eyes turned upward, then Coco's eyes fell on Fox behind Velvet. The blind teen pointed skyward, showing trails of the steam around them slowly rising into the air above them.
"An updraft?" she asked, shifting her glasses ever so slightly to cast her glance back down, "You mean to tell me, there's been a change in the temperature of the atmosphere?"
Fox nodded his head, only emphasized when Velvet did the same with a flick of the ear.
The air was growing stiflingly warm.
"Ren-"
"Jaune, quiet..." Ren held up his hand, ushering his leader into silence as he turned an ear to the ocean.
"What?" the blonde whispered, getting no response.
Ren lowered himself to the ground, bringing himself to his knees as he placed his ear to the cold, hard, icy crystals beneath him. His pale pink eyes slowly closed as he focused his senses and listened.
Jaune stayed silent as Pyrrha and Nora stood idly by, refraining from moving.
"It's getting louder..." Ren said, keeping his eyes closed as he pressed his fingers delicately into the black ice beside his head, "The water…it's…"
"Boiling." Ozpin finished, silently making his presence known at the center of the dispersed teens along the island's surface.
"How is that possible?" Yang asked, gesturing a hand out to the cold waters around them, "This place is literally an icy fortress!"
"Something beneath the surface is causing the waves to swell and the temperatures to rise. You can't see it, but there's an incredibly large wake behind the center of this white mist."
"How large?" Glynda asked, turning her attention to the Headmaster.
"Large enough to overtake any sea vessel we have ever sent out on any voyage on this planet." he replied evenly.
"That's… That's not possible..." she returned, shutting her scroll, "Our sea vessels have exceeded the size of even Atlesian warships, you cannot mean this thing is bigger?"
"You and I both know what this is, Ozzy." Caza stepped forward, steam slipping over the rim of her cowboy hat as she placed a hand on Ozpin's back, "It's why all southern trade routes have been shut down. The casualties and the loss of cargo were too high to keep trying…"
"Menagerie suffered greatly from that blockade." Blake spoke up, ears folding beneath her bow as she stood beside her blond, hot-haired partner, "Their trading routes were diverted and most ties to the mainland were rerouted, forcing any trade with Vacuo to be through land."
"Have you ever wondered why the Council made that decision?" Caza asked, getting a small shake of the head from Blake.
"I just know what it resulted in…and the problems it caused," the cat faunus replied.
"That is because the details of the occurrences were unknown, only starting up at the start of last year," Ozpin informed, pressing his cane into the ice at his feet as the air grew warmer, "Whatever was causing those trade ships to be destroyed…there have never been any account of a single survivor from all 7 voyages through this sea since it appeared."
"Not a single one?" Ciel asked, only receiving a solemn nod from Glynda at the Headmaster's side.
A gloved hand slammed down on the metal wing of a bullhead, "This is why we should stick with air travel over sea travel."
Ace's grumbled voice carried itself easily across the quiet conversations going on throughout the island, his repairs only stalling briefly before he resumed fixing his engines.
"As such with most societies." Glynda spoke back, but more broadly than directly, "Air travel is much more expensive and less efficient than sea travel. It carries less and expends more fuel, it is not a viable course of action for a thriving civilization."
"Whatever the case may be," Ozpin responded, gesturing toward the center of the encroaching mist, "We may finally resolve this mystery…so long as we live to tell about it."
A deep, contained rumbling was beginning to overtake the silence of the storm. Shards of ice began to tip and shake, quietly stirring across the expanse of the black island as this rumbling grew in volume. Ren's claim was becoming more and more apparent, the noise getting louder as this mist grew thicker and the air hotter.
Bubbles were rising to the surface at the ocean's crashing edge, releasing pools of steam into the air above as the water reached temperatures beyond normal.
The ocean was boiling, scalding the outcrops of glassy ice at the island's banks in harsh hisses of evaporating water.
Yet the ice never melted.
"Remember what I said about not coming back up if we fell in?" Coco asked, her voice shaking slightly in the heat of the rising wind.
"Y-Yeah…" Velvet's response was a weak hearted whimper, only eliciting a gulp from Coco herself.
"The climbing isn't an issue anymore…" CFVY's leader slowly stepped away from the edge and pulled Velvet with her, bringing them both closer to the center of the island.
Water was never meant to exceed the boiling point for so long, but this was the ocean they were in, and the amount of water was as vast as it got. There was no coming back after a fall from this island's edge.
A wailing howl came next and all watchers could only stare as the steam suddenly shook and dispersed in the distance, only to collapse back together as the guttural cry died off. And then the island shuddered, rocking from an impact below the depths of the ocean before them.
"Prepare for battle." Ozpin stated, grip tightening on his cane, "We will not fall today."
"So, what have you and Foxy been up to before coming here?" Asked Destiny.
"Not a lot really. We uh...we got sent out on a mission that was taking us to Mistral, and eventually we bumped into my siblings along the way for the first time ever and an old friend."
"Wait, so you only just recently met your brother and sister?"
"Yup."
"Huh… How about that…"
Dante and his group dashed past the dimly lit hallways below, each lit by flickering blue torches. They had been running for a few minutes now, and they had yet to find a single enemy along the path. Did he not have time to add a population the city yet? Much less enough energy stored to do such a thing so soon after creating a realm? Perhaps his power was weak currently?
No, it was best not to make such simple assumptions and rush forwad so quickly.
"We've seen not a single enemy the entire time… Are they simply letting us waltz in?" asked Weiss.
"Possibly… In my experience, highly powerful beings think it would be a waste of time to simply send smaller soldiers along the way to deal with a small invading force. Usually, they send out their lieutenants or their generals to certain parts of the field in order to get in our way. Sometimes, it's up to them if they want lesser soldiers in the area." said Dante.
After mentioning this, Dante's Scroll momentarily let out a double chirp-like tune before a holographic screen popped up with Xera's name.
"Dante, meet us at the stairs. There's no opposition here. Or anywhere for that matter..." said Xera over a call on the immortals Scroll.
"I noticed things were pretty quiet on our end, but what of the base of the stairs? Is it guarded?"
"There's a building at the top of the stairs, but nothing at the base." Xera pointed out.
"Either way, be careful." Destiny cut in, "We may not see them now, but there's a high probability that there will be opposition here, especially at choke points we're forced to pass through."
"It's the best possible place to station guards." Weiss added over the scroll.
"We'll peek inside."
"Just a peek!" Skyla's voice sounded out, "Nothing more, okay?"
"Got it."
"If he goes too far in, I'll pull him back myself!" Ruby said, "I won't let him be a lone wolf!"
"You make it sound like I'd run in without a second thought..." Xera commented.
The call ended and Dante nodded for them all to continue forwards, forking off slightly to the left.
He's got a knack for running into danger when he thinks it's necessary... Even when it's not… Then again, that could be just me who thinks that. Oh well…
They made it silently to the stairs, dashing up them as quickly as possible. Theothers behind Dante were busy discussing about how Skyla had been one of the many who haven't seen Xera's wings. For the most part, the immortal had tuned out of the conversation, keeping to his own thoughts as they ascended the stairs. He was concerned with what lies ahead. That and...his thoughts were constantly drifting through Dark and rather painful memories, at least, those that he could remember. He couldn't help it.
He turned his head slightly and saw that Skyla had been carrying Destiny as she ran.
"Put her down Skyla, we still need her." Dante said.
She did as he asked and dropped Destiny.
"S-Skyla, w-what was that about?" Destiny asked, noticeably sounding faint from her end, "And what do you mean by war?"
"I'm his partner...and..." the girl in question trailed off, her voice growing a little quieter, "I still haven't seen them..."
"I-I'm sure you'll see them eventually, maybe even close up as well." Destiny sounded like she got her bearings back, speaking softly to Xera's partner, "Just give it time."
"He can hear you, you know." Dante said.
A few seconds later, they had managed to regroup with Xera and Ruby, who had stared out in the distance.
The entrance to the temple was massive, and from its highest step they could could all see the entirety of the lower realm behind them. The broken bridge could easily be made out from uptop, and beyond that, the sliver of the rift even moreso. Everything was visible clear, like the night of a full moon in a cloudless sky.
The pillars built to support the roof above them, and the archway encompassing the entrance at the front, was all just as black as the architecture below. The tall columns had twisted grooves spiraling up their towering lengths, reaching far above the group. And so they stood there for some time, watching before moving forward once again.
The steam only thickened as the crimson sea boiled beneath the stormy, gray sky. Heat radiated from the white mist in heavy amounts, but the effects were dulled by the seemingly still-frozen black ice of the island beneath them.
It wasn't melting, only remaining a perpetually cold surface beneath the feet of all its inhabitants. Its cool touch warded off the steam's hot grasp, but vision remained a consistent issue.
"Mister Azil, would you care to fire up your engines as soon as you can?" Ozpin asked, turning his stoic gaze to the veiled bullhead at the plateau's ridge.
"I can. At its lowest setting, it'll still provide enough directed thrust to remain unmoving but blow away the steam in the area around us." Ace replied, voice muffled by the confines of the opened engine in front of him, "I'll inform the rest of my team."
"Be advised, you should work as quickly as possible. We will need clear vision, or we're at a disadvantage." Ozpin urged, only getting an affirmative grunt in return.
The storm was only growing dull in the background, hidden now beneath the rupture and the rumble of the stirring water around the island. Everything was turning unnaturally calm as the ocean's waves crumbled beneath the rising heat, leveling into a flat, shaking expanse of smooth, blood-red water.
"I don't like this one bit..." Ciel spoke quietly, her white hair kicking back against the hot updraft from the outcrop below her, "I'm sensing something large... Like larger than the island large, but can't tell exactly what it is due to how much heat it's giving off."
"It's difficult, but it moves as fluently as the water it bathes in." Leo responded, his eyes tracking the scarlet water and the subtle ripples rolling toward him, "It's very likely a creature of the depths. Which raises the question…" he turned his gaze momentarily to his sister, leaving the waves to lap softly against the icy wall below, "What brings it to the surface?"
"The beckoning of a sepulchral bell." someone spoke up behind them, the siblings turning around to meet the slightly covered gaze of Caza Miralla, "It wasn't mere curiosity that brings this creature to us."
"Zeridûl calls for it." a fourth voice joined the three, Inuba soon stepping around from Caza's back and falling in line with the professor beside her, "I can sense a small resonance emitting from the red glow in the sky above us."
"It's acting as a magnet..." Leo realized, "How distant does its ring reach, Ms. Kitsukami?"
"I'm unsure, but all we know is that something's coming. So, we must prepare for it." Inuba replied.
"Speaking of which..." Caza cut in, placing a hand on her hip, "I have a feeling you two should step away from the ledge. It's not an ideal location to be standing. At least, not for the next thirty seconds."
"Thirty seconds?" Ciel asked, shifting slightly in her spot as she inched away from the ridge at her feet.
"Twenty-seven now, so get a move on kids. I don't have Lanza with me for air support, so all I'm relying on is my own senses for the time being." Caza reached forward and tugged the two before her by the wrists, pulling them back and away from the water's reach as Inuba followed.
"How do you know we should move away from that spot?" Ciel asked, getting her wrist back after the professor released her grip.
"Just a feeling." Caza replied, tipping her hat down as a splash of water cascaded up from the ocean below, "A really, really strong feeling."
Without so much as another word uttered, the ice they stood upon mere seconds ago erupted in shattered shards. Glints of light scattered into the air as a shadow swept down from somewhere high above, crushing that small area before disappearing back into the mist. The shadow was tall, reaching several hundred meters into the sky, and its size was strangely long, tall, with a width that spanned a couple meters in diameter. It was hard to determine with how fast it receded.
"Sheesh… You have a good sixth sense..." Ciel whistled, watching the glinting lights fall slowly to the ground as the mist swept in once again.
"Keep away from the ridge!" Sun called out from Ciel's other direction, his exclamation immediately followed by the heavy crash of crushing ice.
Rock scraped harshly against ice, brushing and dragging across the island at every front of the ice's landscape as Ciel sensed heat begin to fester in the air before her. Shadows loomed in the white veil of steam rising from somewhere below, reaching somewhere far above her.
"Inuba, keep that heat at bay, will ya?!" Ciel called back, catching the kitsune's glimpse with a quick glance over her shoulder as she summoned her skeletal scythe.
Immediately, Inuba began to siphon the heat out of the air as the temperature began to recede back to bearable levels, enough for the rest to avoid a constant drain on their Aura in an atmosphere few could survive in for long.
"I sense tension..." Leo suddenly spoke up, drawing his hand cannons and snapping them forward, chains rattling behind the whip of his arms as he turned them upward, "The air… It's getting forced aside…"
He fired a quick volley above him, splitting the mist in small, tight tunnels before the white steam quickly filled the voids his bullets left behind.
The shadow only picked up momentum.
"Ciel!"
"On it!"
Ciel dashed to his side and dragged her scythe into an upward swing as the shadow crashed downward. Steam split and dispersed, Ciel slamming her weapon into a long, hard, black expanse of cracked, scorched rock and stone simmering with volcanic heat. The shaft and blade of her scythe halted the enormous appendage above her, cracking the expanse of ice her feet stood upon before she tensed her legs and arms.
"Back off...you overgrown…fugly!" Ciel called out, forcing her scythe further upward and pushing the expanse of black stone off the island in an air-dispersing swing.
Several more crashes burst from shrouded areas of the island, other students immediately rushing to dodge or run from countless other impact zones as Leo sensed another begin to fall on their position.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out, dashing through the mist as the cracking, timbering sound of a falling pillar howled through the air above her.
She threw herself into a skidding slide across the ice, grieves bouncing and scraping as another immense formation of black, smoldering rock crashed down behind her.
"Jaune, where are you?!" She called out again, momentum carrying into a mad dash toward the pillar they last stood near, where they were separated.
That same pillar was now crushed into a toppled pile of black, icy rubble.
"We're over here!"
Pyrrha caught Jaune's voice and dashed toward it, sliding to a stop as soon as she nearly crashed into one of three shadows in the mist in front of her.
"Is everyone alright. Is anyone hurt?" she asked quickly, scanning Jaune, and the rest of her team, with her worried emerald eyes before realizing all of them were slowly shaking their heads.
"We're all fine, we just-"
"Heads up!"
Nora threw Jaune and Ren aside as she drew her Magnhild back and jammed its cylindrical edge into the ground. Above them fell another strike, falling quickly as it crashed through the air in a roar of cracking stone and splitting air.
Ice ruptured beneath her as she gripped the silver reaches of her weapon's shaft and ripped it upward, tearing it in an overbearing uppercut that struck the underside of the black stone above her in a resounding clang.
Her metallic ring cracked through the air and rushed across the water, shaking the ocean's surface as the attack of whatever grimm before her rebounded back into the mist, quickly retreating again.
"We can't fight like this!" Jaune growled, crawling himself from his slide he was thrown into before finding his way to his feet.
Pyrrha quickly helped her leader up, brandishing her shield for now as she kept her awareness sharp. She was on the defensive. There was no way for anything else with these visuals.
"How do we clear the mist..?" he continued, eyeing their surroundings before raising the tip of his sword toward the groaning, creaking amassment of noise at the plateau's ridge, "That thing, whatever it is, there's no way we can beat it in a place like this..."
Crashes and sharp yells of exertion swept across the island in torrents of barrages, shaking the island in trembles of heavy impacts that struck down upon it in several other areas.
"Down!" Jaune suddenly felt his knees buckle as Pyrrha forced him to the ground, Ren following suit as Nora rushed forward and got beneath the redhead's rising shield.
The two of them fell to a knee before putting their strength behind the protection of Akoúo̱ they held together.
Above them and across the entire expanse of ice in a line from the water toward the island's center fell a weight of stone and ruin, crushing down on them as the entire area cracked and shattered. Heat flooded down from the black reaches of the living stone, glowing orange veins and cracks emitting harsh lights in the misty shadows of the air around them.
Whatever it was, the appendage began to warp and crumble, crushing inward atop Pyrrha's shield as she and Nora were slowly forced downward from its strength alone.
Jaune and Ren got beneath the shield now too, forcing it upward as the black stone continued to crush them into the ground.
"I-It's…not…" Jaune growled, breathing hard through grit teeth as more and more of their muscles were giving way to the mass weighing down on them, "b-budging!"
"Sun, follow up!"
Ren's momentum alone brought him into a low, scraping spin before he leapt up and toward the black stone crushing down on JNPR, his fingers digging into the cracks of the molten rock as he threw his other hand into the air.
Twin gunshots followed his initial leap as Sun's glove-clad hand slapped into Ren's as soon as it was raised, pulling the two forward before the monkey faunus raised his nunchucks above him, golden chain held out.
"Neptune!" Sun called upward, catching the glimpse of a silver line in the air above him as a glowing blue polearm descended and swept through the mist.
Neptune's blade caught Sun's golden chain before the momentum of all three of them connecting in the same moment, with Nora leaping in after Ren and slamming her hammer into its side, gradually forced the whole appendage to roll.
"J-Just tell me when to open my eyes!" Neptune called down as the entirety of SNAR, now with the upward push of JNPR, pushed the formation of rock over and onto the ice behind the two teams.
All of them got clear as soon as it began to recede back into the treacherous waters below.
"You did good bud." Sun smiled, slapping Neptune on the shoulder as the poor guy crawled back into a ball on the ice beneath him.
"G-Good..." he whimpered, polearm clattering to the ground, "Just don't throw me without warning like that again."
"Sorry, had to." Nora apologized sympathetically, crouching in front of the blue-haired teen before patting his head.
"Sun, any idea what's out there?" Jaune asked, pushing himself to his feet as he offered his hand to Pyrrha, ice heavily crushed beneath her armored knees.
"Eh, probably something big..." the monkey offered, getting a deadpanned look in return, "Hey, you asked for what I thought."
Jaune pulled his partner to her feet before brandishing his shield, "In any case, we're not getting anywhere if we can't see what we're up against or where it'll attack next."
"Someone's about to fix that problem..." Ren stepped in, pointing his human hand in the direction of a quietly growing hum of softly glowing thrusters burning in the mist.
"Engines hot in three-" Ace's voice cut through the radio of all four other bullheads, switches quickly snapping into new positions as the glows began to brighten, "two-"
An unnatural breeze suddenly kicked into high gear, brushing lowly across the island's cold surface as the white veil cast upon the ocean's waters began to swirl.
"one-" five synchronized roars suddenly growled to life, "Thrusters engaged."
A rushing gale of air suddenly burst across the plateau of ice, sweeping over the expanse of the black island and throwing loose shards from its highest ridges.
The mist blew apart and dispersed, numbly ripping into streaks and dissipating into the air, vanishing to reveal the cold, stormy sky above and the blood-red waters below.
And with it unveiled a creature that survived the slow decay of time, one that dwelled in the furthest reaches of the ocean, a creature of a molten core and a scorched stone hide.
"So..." silence befell the island as the creature's red gaze pierced down from the mass of black before them, a hollow tap of a cane dropping like a pin in a sea of silence echoing quietly beneath it, "Our enemy brings forth the nightmare that haunted the age of sea voyages across the southern oceans long ago. The very same creature to fall into legend...and slowly to myth."
Ozpin's coat kicked in the wake of the rushing winds billowing from the engines around him, silvered hair whisking around his face as his eyes stared up into the blood lusting orbs narrowing before him. Each burning gaze shining in dark residence atop a clenched mouth of a thousand teeth.
"The Drael Kraken..." Ozpin's voice carried itself across the water, finding its mark as the creature at the island's edge let out a sickening, burning wail from its gaping maw, unleashing a heat only magma could fester, "You were the cause of over sixty lost ships and claimed the lives of nearly two thousand sailors, only to disappear into silence."
Appendages, massive tendrils of molten stone, cracked and bent as the creature pulled back, wrapping its arms around the island's plateau as it slowly emerged from the crimson waters it boiled. Heat ripped through the air in waves, all feeding into Inuba's white flames as she kept its surface temperature from ever reaching its normal, volcanic heat.
"You've slept and evaded death for far too long." Ozpin spoke lowly.
His voice evaded his usual stoic undertone, if only for a brief, passing moment.
"A volcanic Dremoha will not be our end." Ozpin's cane sunk into the ice at his feet, emitting a green wave of shining aura as his eyes flashed beneath his silvery bangs, "It is here we make our stand."
His gaze slowly turned back to Glynda at his side, cane twisting as he pulled it from its icy confinement.
"All of us."
Darkness.
Nothing but a black haze stood before them all, looming within the large room that spanned the length of the entire building we walked within. Black marble clicked and tapped at the groups feet, each noise riding across the floor and shooting into the shadows around them as the city's lights faded from their view. With each step they took, the darkness seemed to grow thicker the further they ventured.
The glow emitting from Xera's flames began to sputter and slowly fade, the shadows wrapping around them to prevent its light from revealing anything more than the few feet in front of him and everyone else around him. Not even Xera's faunus night vision could pierce through the Dark, as if a magic wouldn't allow it to be pierced so easily by any normal means.
"Hang on, I might have a solution to this."
Dante held out his arm and closed his eyes. Colorless, reflective hexagons quietly shimmered around us for a few seconds as he branched out his white and black Aura. Thin threads of his Aura began to quickly swirl around everyone's head before vanishing. The young immortal turned to see if his plan worked, and smirked slightly when he saw that the whites of everyone's eyes was now black, but their irises remained their respective colors, the only difference that their irises emitted strong, pulsating glows. Dante's irises remained the same as they usually did when he used his Shadow Eyes; a white, pulsating glow.
Everyone's eyes fell out of focus for a few moments, forcing them to blink to adjust to the new vision before everything sharpened. They could see through the darkness around them in grayscale color as they looked around, each person noticing that all edges and gaps where highlighted in white glows.
The shadows suddenly didn't feel so consuming.
"Been working on some new tricks I see..." Destiny commented, looking around at the center of the group as Dante lowered his left arm.
"I'm always trying to learn new things. There's never a time when I'm not." Dante responded.
Everyone's heads soon spun forward, seeing a throne room bathed in Darkness coming into view. An empty expanse of black marble and red carpet draped across the floors on both sides of the hard pathway to the throne's steps. Large pillars stood tall at the edges of the path, towering high toward the far ceiling above to keep it from crashing down to ruins.
The walls were engraved, intricate detailing of images and languages none had recognized, save Dante, that ran across every wall and around every pillar as black gemstones glistened dully within the designs. Supporting arches connected the pillars and walls high above, building the room into new depths, creating new levels of Shadow and Darkness . None could see all the way to the ceiling, and they could barely make out the walls, but at least they could see clearer than before.
Some had let out breaths, noting the air suddenly grew cold. And for a moment, their hearts felt as though they had seized momentarily beneath a sudden pressure around them. Immediately, all eyes searched for what it was, but they saw was a deepening Darkness. Shadows crept in from the building's walls, fighting against the sight Dante had enhanced for them all as the blackness of the room began to grow heavier. A dull, echoing footstep forced everyone to a halt. Another fell, louder than before, louder than their own steps as each small noise they possessed suddenly grew silent.
"Six of you..."
A voice came from the darkness in front of them, no more than a few meters away, yet all they could see was a wall of black shadow. It was a low, deep, and resounding voice, the very tone of it echoing powerfully in the Dark throne room they found themselves in, bouncing between pillars and walls.
"You wish for entry into our citadel, our city..." it continued, the steps drawing nearer as the dull crack of something hard, something metal, struck the marble at its feet, "You pose a challenge to our King, and with it, you intend to overthrow him."
The silhouette of a large, black figure began to slowly fall into focus as it approached. It was tall, reaching nearly three to four times my own height as they stared up at its bulky mass. His skin was black, almost blending into the Darkness around them, and his build was muscular in every way. He was an entity of strength, hulking in size and weight, bearing down in a seemingly powerful presence with his voice and shape alone. Thick black loincloth wrapped around his waist and draped down in several folds, nearly reaching its seemingly humanoid knees. Its entire build was humanoid, running down to his feet and up to his shoulders. Its head was anything but human.
The only thing any could think of was that it was the head of a bull, with gleaming red eyes shining behind a snout constrained by a black ring. His fur was black, ears large and cut, and his mouth remained shut, breathing softly from his nose before his gaze turned to regard us all.
"I will not permit you beyond this point..." he spoke again.
And it was then they saw something fall, a Dark reflection glimpsed by the light of Xera's struggling flames as something hard struck the marble ground. He held an ebony ax, its shaft as tall as he was and its single-edged blade enormous. The back of the weapon, behind the back edge of the blade at the weapon's top, spanned a thick, cylindrical counterweight. It looked nothing like a hammer, if it were for that purpose at all. The base of the shaft had another counterweight, this one much larger than normal, despite the already larger staff the ax had altogether.
"I don't suppose you'll let us through if we said please?" Ruby asked, small voice loud in the dull silence of the room around them.
"I cannot with your current intent, little one..." the beast responded, remaining unmoving in his presence before us.
"Your 'King' has been playing a dangerous and rather unacceptable game with the lives of many so far." Dante called up to it, struggling to come to any conclusive solution in this scenario where negotiation would ever work, "Let us through...and we can end him. That...and we won't have to take your head."
"I honor my king's orders with my life. It is my duty to prevent you from continuing." he replied, turning his red gaze to Dante as he stepped forward.
"We can't exactly go turn now...can we?" the immortal said, drawing his white longsword from its sheath, "You want a fight? Then stop wasting our time, and sten forward so that we may kill you."
The minotaur's gaze narrowed as it released a harsh breath through its nostrils, the Darkness around us intensifying before it nodded.
"So be it."
He stepped back and vanished, shadows festering once again in the corners of the room as his voice lost all direction. Where his tone used to be now originated from all around the,, carrying in from every direction as his presence disappeared entirely.
"We fight until one side falls..!" The beast's voice echoed from each wall, its source impossible to track in an environment like this, "May your skills be worthy enough to slay me. If they fall short…"
The voice paused, its echo fading all of a sudden as a deafening silence engulfed the room again.
"You. Will. Die."
Dante barely reacted in time to the voice appearing suddenly at his side, as an invisible swing of a black ax swept through the air and cleaved forward at an accelerated speed, stopping only with a harsh clang as Dante blocked with his sword. With some struggle, Dante let out a shirt grunt and pushed back the minotaur back into the Darkness.
"Focus. All of you." Dante turned his gaze back at all of them, the shadows in their vision suddenly beginning to recede, "The Darkness is playing tricks on your senses. Push it out of your minds. Once you do, we have a Minotaur we need to cut down."
Xera's eyes sparked with flame as he heard Dante's voice, kindling like embers now. The fire of his Affinity kicked in soon after, warding away some of the Dark shadows touching his skin as he shook his head. He enwreathed his blade in flame to dispel it from its weighty Darkness, drawing it close now as he turned to the others.
"That was always the plan."
"Good..." Dante replied, "Now...let's make it happen."
(Omake: Counseling With an Immortal, part 6 - by OS Worldmakers)
"From my understanding, there used to be a single universe. One is all, all is one. It was created by ideas. Concepts. First was Existence and Nothing, then the rest followed. Through that came God, the Buddha, Allah, etc. A manifestation of order. He or she made the world, etc, etc, then the universe split into the multiverse as we know it. How that happened, not even I know properly." said Bone White.
"Different terms to some degree, but we get it nonetheless." replied Dante.
"I came from one of the earliest of those universes... one where you built your own strength. I died a million times before I become immortal..." He placed on vegetables like carrots, cabbage, and a few tomatoes. Because hibachi is American, "And then I lived till now. The end."
"So you're almost like the Chosen Undead of Lordran and Drangelic, and an Unkindled One of Lothric. Only you became immortal in the end. That must have sucked."
"It sucks when you put time span into perspective. You measure the length of a universe in cycles, which basically measures existence without going insanely deep into conceptual logic. Different universes have different cycle length, so entities that live longer than a universe give estimates between the lowest and highest possible cycle count. However, they usually are as long as around 15 billion us, I'm around... a thousand cycles old at the least?" Causally, Bone began preparing rice, "Basically, I've seen too much."
"That much is apparent..."
"And mind you, not everyone who's survived that time is necessarily powerful. Some hide out in different dimensions, which could merge with other universes. Some are just good at living through the end of the world. I'm of the second kind. I'm just space to the powerful beings... who measure their power in omnipotences."
"Never really had appreciation or respect for deities or gods. Well, except for two of them." said Dante.
"Neither do I mate, and I used to be one of them. Good thing I retired."
The meal was almost done.
"How long have you been on Remnant?" asked Inuba.
"Long enough to mess with the original Four Maidens and... I think turn Vacuo into a desert? I was drunk back then, but I don't remember on what."
"You destroyed a kingdom because you were drunk?!" asked Dante with complete surprise.
"Well, okay, I wasn't really drunk. I was in depression. And no, kingdoms. Back then continents were much more factional."
"W-Well... did they do something to add to or cause your depression?"
"Sabaku broke his promise. I don't take that lightly."
"Wait wait wait! Are you telling me you're the guy I heard about in the Legends responsible for that big mess centuries ago?!"
"I think you need to read 'The Monstrosity' before you say that."
"That was you as well?!"
"Let's see... Iron bones, acid blood, laser-beam eyes... Duh!" replied Bone with a wave of his hand.
"Did you go on some ultimate, multi-year bender or something?! Geez!"
"Welcome to the world of endless possibilities, where there's an infinite number of BS floating around. Don't blame me. Blame Existence, if you must."
"You can't blame the world for everything."
"You're right, I should be blaming myself for making it that long time ago."
He finished the meal, piling on the rice, chicken, and assorted vegetables before sliding the dishes towards to the duo along with some sauces.
"Wow, this looks great..." said Dante looking over it all.
Bone took out a lemon and cut it in half, before taking a wet towel and wedging it between its folds as he scraped off the bits of food left on the grill. He then began scrubbing it.
"It tastes delicious as well." said Inuba as she ate alongside Dante
"No kidding... But I still think the meals you make are the best." said Dante as he took another bite after saying so, not noticing Inuba's fox tails swishing about happily.
Fumetsu just raised an eyebrow before resuming cleaning.
"Well, thanks for the meal." said Dante.
"No problem."
As the two ate together, he dragged the grill away, undoing his chef's uniform at the same time. A sad smile revealed itself, unknown to the two.
"It's all up to you Inuba. Just do it. Take as much time together with him..."
From wherever gods knew where, a ring of intertwined branches, metal, plants, and gems appeared. He clenched it, his creation of old.
"Gabriel... and Di..."
He let out a sigh as he left the duo and continued marching forward.
"Maybe I need counseling..."
(Semblance Encyclopedia 6)
"Heya folks! It's me, Ciel!"
"And Leonard."
"So, today we're going to be taking a rather different approach than usual..." said Ciel.
"So far, we've focused on the Semblances of the more heroic type characters." said Leonard.
"But! What of the Semblances of the dastardly and daring?!"
"The Semblances of the antagonists you mean?"
"Uh, duh! What else could dastardly and daring mean?"
"Fair point. So then, today we will be discussing about the main enemy of this arcs Semblance, Zeridûl."
"This one's definitely a doozy ladies and gentlemen. And pretty dangerous. But first and foremost, remember that whole spiel we gave you a while back on Affinities when we talked about Xera Stark?"
"Zeridûl also posses an Affinity in thanks to him taking possession of Zerath Stark, Xera's older brother. Zerath posses an Affinity centered on ice and the creation of it. Only now, it has a special addition to it."
"Thanks to that creepy dude Zeridûl being a Dark Entity, his powers influenced the Ice Affinity in order to allow him to make Black Ice, the strongest type of Ice Magic that's out there. And if you recall, Black Ice can't be melted, or so much as even scratched unless Light Magic is used, or if magic of the same nature and type is stronger than the wielder." said Ciel.
"But given Zeridûl's power has only influenced the Affinity to make Black Ice, it isn't actually Black Ice, only a weaker version that is capable of being broken. Still powerful nonetheless." said Leonard.
"Now! What about his Semblance? An easy one to explain, but still very dangerous. Back then, we used to think that by keeping his eyes focused on an enemy, he can negate an Aura or Aura influenced attacks entirely. So that basically means if he was making eye contact with you like the eye of Sauron, you've got no way to use your Aura or any Aura based attacks."
"But, recent events have proven it to be slightly different than what we first thought. Making eye contact was simply a habit of his, and instead, his Semblance of negating Aura or Aura based attacks is radial based, where it works in an area of 25-50 meters around him, which is one of the reasons it is so dangerous. Another effect that makes it as imposing is that the effect of negation increases the closer in distance you are to him. But in the case of maximum effect, it would have to be within 5-10 feet from what we were able to determine."
"So the farther the better really." added Ciel.
"An imposing enemy paired with an imposing Affinity and Semblance... Truly someone of treacherous power..."
"Yeah, but big brother and the guys that went in with him will find a way to kick his ass."
"Hopefully that will be the case... Well everyone, that is all for today." said Leonard.
"See ya next time!" said Ciel.
My oh my, this are getting intense again huh? A giant, axe wielding minotaur?! What the what?!
This Minotaur is one of two sort of "bosses" Xera Stark and I made, the other boss a pretty interesting fight if I do say so myself... After that, we have one, final obstacle in the way before the endgame match with Zeridûl. And trust me, you don't want to what happens then. Or now for that matter.
Right then, again, sorry for the freak out with Nier: Automata. Just had to do it.
So with that...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. And trust me, you'll love it.
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!
Bye-bye now!