I am here.
Fighting Rose
Chapter 47
Rebirth
Everyone who wasn't occupied paused at the sudden whisper in the air. Breathing felt more difficult, skin felt itchier, nerves felt even more frayed. Even the renewed, fanatic vigour of the Atlan Guard did nothing to ease the worries of everyone in the cafeteria, nor did Jaune, Neo and Torchwick's medical efforts. Then again, the army of daemons and Grimm marching straight through Beacon didn't help either.
"He took her!?" Jaune shouted.
"I-I'm sorry…" Blake whimpered.
"It's…" Jaune breathed hard out of his nose and bit his lip, "It's not your fault, just… damn. Damnit!"
The doors to the cafeteria burst open and everyone trained their aim to the instantly, a few people even firing out of fear. Artoria Pendragon's arm moved in a blur, deflecting the shots with ease, though she was clearly far slower than before.
"Stand down," She said, her gentle and powerful voice soothing everyone in the room.
"Need some first-aid over here!" Mordred cried out as she hefted her mother's and Venti's arm over her shoulders. "Puncture and laceration wounds!"
"Some wet-wipes would be nice too," Venti chuckled weakly, "Not a fan of how I smell right now."
Jaune was already moving, gently extracting his mother and the godling while channelling his aura through them. The wounds began to close and scab over, but it was clear that he was really struggling to keep up with his flagging reserves of aura.
"That's enough Jaune," Artoria said, placing a hand on his arm, "We will be fine. Avalon will take care of the rest."
Jaune nodded shakily and sat back on the floor. The exhaustion, the bloodshed, everything was getting to him. Pyrrha and Sun had gone silent, Blake and Yang were out of the fight, Weiss got kidnapped, his mom was running out of steam, the entire landmass of Beacon was being pulled towards a demonic Vale –
He felt Ren's hand on his back and sighed out a calm, soothed breath as his emotions stabilized.
"Thanks Ren," He sighed, turning to his friend and smiling. Ren, tired as he was, returned it. Jaune, his mind now blanketed with a sense of calm, couldn't ignore the seven scars on his chest through the tattered remains of his vest. In the shape of a familiar constellation, the Big Dipper, they almost looked like bullet-wounds, though more jagged and uneven. Hollow-tip rounds? Higher-calibre bullets? He wasn't sure, and frankly, it wasn't a matter of great importance. He took out his scroll and tried looking through anything he could. While their connection to the net was still stable, he couldn't track their exact location or their current aura-levels. That in mind, he quickly switched to whatever live feed was available, surprised to see that the Vale News Network was currently operational.
"The news is still functioning at a time like this?" Ren muttered, "With what Vale's… becoming, I'm shocked it's still standing."
Jaune clicked on it and immediately wished he didn't. Lisa Lavender sat in front of the camera as if nothing was wrong, an unnaturally wide smile on her face as her gouged-out eye sockets glowed with violet cosmic pinpricks. The walls, table and Lisa herself were covered in blood, the severed hand of an employee still attempting to grasp for something on her desk.
"-And humanity has much to look forward to!" She said as if she was reporting another run-of-the-mill story, "In other news, the opening of the Great Rift has lead to a mild increase in the sudden appearances of many old landmasses and civilizations, dating back thousands of years in origin! This of course has led to the destruction of many outer-kingdom settlements, while Grimm activity has spiked over the last hour. This is wonderful news, as more unworthy bags of flesh are being sacrificed in the name of the one true god who will save us all! If you are one of Her chosen, please be sure to begin preparations for Her rebirth, which can be done by killing someone who evokes strong negative or positive emotions from you. Family members, close friends, loved ones are all recommended targets, like my dear boss here."
Ren almost vomited as Lisa easily lifted up the mauled, limbless torso of an employee for everyone to see. Jaune wasn't so lucky.
"What the fuck?" Mordred growled, disgusted by what she was seeing.
"This is Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network, and I'll be back with you shortly. See you soon, and remember, All hail the Black Queen!"
Just before the broadcast shut off, the walls seemed to ripple like breathing flesh before a dozen eyes opened up across its surface. Jaune was quick to shut his scroll off, almost tempted to break it entirely.
"What is this world coming to?" Artoria muttered, her posture sagging. She was so tired.
"Nothing good," Venti agreed, before he craned his head to the side, as if listening to something from above before a tiny grin appeared on his face. "…but things might just get a little better."
Everyone felt it: the spark of hope as Ruby's aura exploded forward more powerful than ever. And then the windows exploded as a dozen Angelo-types of all kinds burst in, weapons drawn and roaring with the warbled voices of walking corpses.
}-{
"CRESCENT ROSE KICK!"
A blade of bright-red aura sliced through the descending blade, Ruby using the momentum of her kick to launch herself up into a spinning hook-kick, her heel blasting into the Proto Angelo's temple. The hammering blow whipped its head to the side, leaving it completely open for Ruby's finishing roundhouse, her shin smashing its skull like a ripe melon.
She ignored the blood and ichor staining her leg and rushed over to Sun, biting her lip at the shape he was in. Blood was caking half of his face and the wound cutting across his chest seemed to be a freshly re-opened one, but despite it all, he looked up at her and smiled, tears in his eyes.
"Hey," He said weakly.
"Hey yourself," She greeted back, trying not to cry.
"P-Pyrrha…" He wheezed, "She's…!"
"In trouble, I know," She said after a quick scan, "But not dead."
She quickly rolled over him, grabbing his arm and grunting as she hefted him onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry.
"You carried me here," She said, already feeling his protest, "Now it's my turn to do the same for you."
She was already sprinting out of the room, Sun on her back as she worked her way towards Pyrrha's sputtering aura. She reached the ruined dorm Pyrrha was fighting in just in time to see her shield get ripped in half by a downward chop of the Scudo's blade, a bolt of plasma punching into her stomach the instant her guard was broken and blasting her into a wall, her aura shattering as she gurgled out a cry of pain.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Ruby roared, Sun vaulting off her shoulders to give her the balance and mobility she needed, closing the distance and stomping her heel into the Scudo's shield and shattering it on impact. She caught its wrist as it tried to lop her head off, pivoting into its chest while piercing her elbow into its arm, tearing it off with a meaty *RIP* of flesh and corrupt steel. She went incorporeal as the injured scudo tried to headbutt her, the bolt of warpfire from the Fucile's rifle exploding into the chest of the exposed Scudo, knocking it backwards into an Exploding Heart strike from Ruby that pulped its organs. She blasted across the distance and slipped under another warpfire shot, feinting with a straight-right to its body and forcing it to awkwardly block, leaving its head open as Ruby crouched low and spun, her heel lashing up into its face in a classic capoeira kick. Blood and black ichor sprayed from the broken skull as it crumpled limply to the floor, Ruby rushing and immediately checking on Pyrrha.
"T-took you long enough brat," Pyrrha chuckled, teeth reddened by blood.
"Yeah-yeah, tease me about it later," She said, relieved that none of the wounds on Pyrrha were fatal. "Can you stand?"
"I can walk on my own," She nodded, stifling a groan as she planted her sword into the floor and forced herself to her feet.
"K…kill m-me…"
Ruby whipped around, realized that the voice came from the downed Angelo and freezing as she recognized who the voice belonged to. The crumpled face of Neptune peered out from the shattered visage of the Angelo's head, his skin deathly-white and black veins writhing through his changed flesh. Horror struck Ruby in the chest as a hand went to her mouth, tears freely spilling at what she'd just done.
"OH GOD!" She dashed over to him, gently trying to give him some of her aura only for it to bounce off of him as if – no, his body was outright rejecting her aura. "I-I'm so sorry! Please just hang on, I-! Oh god, oh god, oh god!"
"N-not… your fault." He wheezed, oily ichor spilling over his lips. "B-but it… hurts… oh god, it - !"
He started to thrash and seize as the armour began to repair itself, crawling back over his face.
"No…nonono, please! Please no!" Ruby wailed. Sun's hand was on her shoulder, his own eyes wet with tears. Neptune seemed to regain control for a moment, his one good eye looking into Sun.
"Please… end it," He said weakly, "A-and Sun… you're my friend… not a monster."
Sun nodded silently and closed his eyes, plunging his fist through its chest and smashing Neptune's heart. The latter wheezed, his eyes quickly losing their light as his face relaxed into serenity.
"Thank y…"
Neptune went silent. Ruby's breath hitched and her lip wobbled before she threw her arms around Sun. Pyrrha knelt next to her, a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," She sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know-!"
"It's not your fault," He said, his voice hollow as he hugged her back. She could feel his tears drop onto her hair. "Not your fault."
You need me.
She immediately stopped her sobbing, teeth grinding together as that goddamned voice taunted her. Her skin began to itch and she shivered as she heard something which shouldn't be heard: screaming. The screaming of millions of souls, dead, dying and the living, just barely audible yet somehow overwhelming.
That's right, listen to all those souls we can save. Listen.
She bit her lip and furiously wiped her eyes, untangling herself and getting to her feet. She could still hear them.
"I'm going to murder Cinder."
The venom in her voice made Pyrrha flinch back, but Sun's own face twisted into fury, eyes flashing primal yellow as he silently nodded in agreement and forcing himself to his feet. He stumbled and Ruby was there to catch him, putting his arm over her shoulder. They gave each other a look, their fury and sorrow mirrored in each other's eyes.
"Let's get the hell out of here." He said hoarsely.
"Agreed," Pyrrha said as she picked up the broken half of her shield that still had its strap and checking her scroll. "We need to avoid getting anywhere near the CCT and the path leading up to it, an army of those things marched their way through and are mowing down anything that gets in their way to the tower. The cafeteria is the current evacuation-zone, and it's under attack."
Ruby and Sun nodded, the three of them back on the move.
}-{
Where Mordred and Artoria alone would have been enough to wipe the Angelos out two hours ago, those hours of nonstop fighting and running had taken its toll on everyone there. Jaune was knocked backwards as a Scudo's shield-bash, his shield-arm almost dislocating from its shoulder and his blade knocked out of his grip before Mordred caught him and chucked her blade into its head with a shout. She dropkicked it into a wall while snatching Crocea out of the air, her greatsword Clarent flung into the air as it was dislodged from the Grimm's skull. Jaune leapt and caught it, bringing it down with a shout on the thrusting spear of a Lancea, snapping the bone-shod weapon before cutting up and through its neck. Mordred dashed in, slipping past Jaune and stabbing Crocea through the neck of another Scudo that tried to ambush him from behind.
"Good weight behind this one," Jaune huffed as he tossed Clarent back into her open palm. "Still feels like I'm swinging a bat sometimes though."
"With a greatsword it's all about wrist control, not just arm-strength," She said as she tossed Crocea into his own hand, trying to catch her breath, "Not gonna lie though, that relic's as good as ever. Never been a fan of arming swords, but she's a beauty to swing."
They both exploded into motion, passing a hair's breadth away from each other as they parried blows meant to take the others' head before pivoting back-to-back, Jaune cutting up from hip to collarbone as Mordred cleaved down from skull to navel.
Artoria, even utterly exhausted, was an awe-inspiring wonder to watch as she parried a thrust aimed at her head, dashed in and lashed out with three slashes, from collarbone to hip, from hip to collarbone, and clean through the neck of the Proto before it could even bring its ultra-greatsword back to block. Excalibur's glow suddenly winked out as she fell to a knee, stabbing the blade into the floor and leaning on it heavily as she wheezed for breath. Her face hardened and eyes snapped to the left as she exploded into action, slashing up to shatter the blade of a Scudo, working her wrists and cutting through its brain in one smooth motion. An armoured boot smashed into her ribs an instant later, teeth painted red with how own blood as she was sent tumbling across the floor. She vaulted up and regained her footing, ignoring her broken ribs and facing her opponent.
It was easily over seven feet tall with plate-armour made of black steel and glowing blood-red outlines, ram-horns curving up from its forehead. It held a single-edged greatsword of its own, more a slab of metal with a sharp side than a real blade. Its face was too human, the image of a handsome (if oddly scruffy) man cocked to the side as it stared Artoria down, curiosity written across its features.
Black Knight General
Nelo Angelo
"Uthur's child…" It said, "Pendragon…"
"Abomination," She hissed through grit teeth, "I'll destroy you myself!"
They flew at each other, but it was Nelo who was faster. Slamming Artoria's downward chop to the side, his dexterity with such an awkward weapon was frightening to behold as it slashed up at her jaw in the same instant. She barely weaved away and moved to step back in, trying to attack him in between the time needed for him to reverse the momentum of his attack, only to receive a flash of pain slicing up her cheek and brow as he spun the blade with his fingers alone, imitating the spinning of a pencil. It whirred through the air like a helicopter-blade, unnaturally fast and frighteningly deadly for something so large as Artoria was forced to back off again from the unorthodox and almost silly technique. That proved to be a mistake, the Nelo instantly blasting towards her with a straightforward thrust, forcing her to yank her head out of the way and directly into the path of an upward slash that she was forced to block, the sheer strength behind it sending her into the air.
He had already followed her into the air, raining down a million stabs that she could never hope to block in such a state, her hasty defence blasted wide open as the blunt tip of the blade broke bones and pulped muscle, the final stab shattering her abdominal armour and sending her flying into the ground. She coughed blood as the pain and exhaustion hit her, watching as the Nelo descended with his blade aimed for her head. She grit her teeth and gripped Excalibur, pouring her aura into it and preparing to finish this exceptional foe in one strike.
"DEEP STINGER!"
A red drill smashed into the Nelo's side, Ruby's diving kick sending the Nelo flying into and through one of its subordinates in a shower of grimmsteel and gore. The Nelo recovered easily, cartwheeling back into a ready stance as Ruby skid to a stop in front of Artoria, fist raise and feet part in her own signature stance.
"You alright Mrs. Arc?" Ruby asked, keeping her eye locked onto the Nelo. It had barely taken any damage beyond superficial gouges to its breastplate. Hitting it was like trying to punch through a steel slab, her foot still buzzing from the impact; this thing was a problem, and dropping her guard would mean death.
"I've been better," She said with a chuckle, "It is good to see you returned to health."
"Wish it was under better circumstances," Ruby said wryly, "What's this thing's deal?"
Ruby was slightly startled as the Nelo put its weapon away, cupping his hands around his mouth and bellowing "FALL BACK!" Every surviving Angelo followed his orders immediately, even taking lethal damage as they retreated.
The Nelo stayed behind for a moment, beckoning Ruby to follow with a smirk before retreating in a blur, far faster than any of the other Angelos. She stared out of the broken window and grit her teeth before spitting on the floor. Cinder was her target anyway and it didn't need to tell her twice.
Quickly ensuring that Artoria was alright, she ran over to Blake and the unconscious form of Yang, her heart dropping to her stomach as she got closer. It was clear that, even healed, Blake was in bad shape. But Yang… her ears rung and eyes burned as she collapsed to her knees, shaky hands reaching out but never touching the stump of her arm.
"R-Ruby!"
Shakily, she turned to Blake, throwing her arms around her friend as if to assure herself that she was still alive. Blake returned the embrace as best she could, feeling Ruby's hot tears on her shoulder.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Blake croaked, feeling Ruby nod slightly before she pulled away, her face twisted into fury.
"What happened while I was unconscious? Who did this to you and Yang? Where's Weiss?"
Blake did her best to explain everything that had happened so far. Yang and Sun's transformations, the rift in the sky, their escape and plan to heal Ruby, all that she already know. But the run-in with Adam, Weiss's father kidnapping her, the demonized White Fang members… every word made Ruby's blood boil, shame and fury further constricting her throat.
"…I did this," She said her head hanging low.
"Huh?" Blake started, confused. "Ruby, what are you-?"
"I trusted Cinder not to do anything, I took her at her word…" Her aura began to swirl around her, eyes beginning to gleam viciously.
"Ruby, this isn't your fault!" Blake argued, "You informed Ozpin of what was going to happen, and nobody could do anything to Cinder while the tournament was going on-!"
"I let my guard down," She said tightly, moonlight silver tears running from her eyes, "If I had my guard up, Mercury wouldn't have got me and caused all this madness!"
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, bewildered.
"I can feel it Blake," Ruby choked, her gaze focusing on something that wasn't there, her hands gripping her head, "I can feel the fear of all of Remnant pouring into Vale, all those emotions, all this death breaking down the barrier between the real and the astral! All of it because I LET MY GUARD DOWN!"
Blake watched as an unnatural shadow enveloped Ruby's face, ribbons of silver light streaming from her eyes, the only feature visible on her face. She stood, the rose-torn markings of her Trigger shining bright against the artificial night.
"Ruby, please! J-just calm down, airships are on the way, we can get out of here, recover and regroup-!"
"CINDER NEEDS TO DIE." Something else spoke behind Ruby's voice, something that made Blake and everyone within earshot's brain knifed by pain. Ruby sharply turned on her heel before pausing. The shadow masking her face dissipated slightly as she looked at Blake, her tears plain to see.
"Blake… please look after Yang. Tell her I'm sorry. I'm sorry to all of you for failing."
"Ruby, what-!?" Sun started before she appeared in front of him, gentle hands on his cheeks pulling his head down towards hers. She kissed him, Sun's eyelids drooping as he wrapped his arms around her. She suddenly burst into petals, leaving him holding nothing but air, eyes shooting up to see her standing at the broken window with the unnatural darkness cloaking her face.
"I wish we could've spent more time together Sun," She said, her voice a whisper on the wind as she vanished.
}-{
Lorgar was the first to set foot upon the surface of the hand-shaped tower, looking around in appreciation. Cinder knelt before him, genuine respect in her bearing.
"Archpriest Aurelian," She greeted, "I have obtained the relic, prepared the altar, and acquired the souls."
"And you have done well little Cinder," He nodded in approval, waving his hands to the horde of daemons at the foot of the tower, all of them eagerly awaiting what was to come. Blood was spilled, diseases spread, mutagenic flames thrown, bodies violated, all essential little sacrifices. Senior and higher-ranking members of the Black Legion and Word Bearers Astartes stood among the daemons, some simply observing the carnage, others taking their time to pray, chanting dark litanies with their foul tongues, some even partaking in the act themselves. Rank-and-file members of both legions were sent out to round up whatever survivors were left as extra kindling. Every soul counted, after all.
"Let us not wait any longer," Lorgar mused, his expression as warm as ever as he knelt next to Cinder, clasping his hands together in prayer. She was startled, not expecting him to pray right next to her. He saw her expression and winked, grinning.
"Before the gaze of the gods, we are all equal."
The five daemons chosen to represent each aspect of chaos appeared, one atop each 'finger' of the tower. The Perverse one who almost tempted an angel, the greatest Gladiator in hell, The Godblight, The maddened Fateweaver, and the first mortal to ever attain daemonhood, the Dark Prince. The stone coffin appeared at the very centre of the floor, Cinder breathing in a shaky breath as she stood and walked forward. Ozpin's corpse was still kneeling in front of the coffin. She stood just behind it, raising a hand to the sky, the other daemons perched upon the fingertips pointing their fingers towards the coffin.
Smoky, glowing whisps suddenly hovered over the bodies of the dead all across the kingdom all of them faintly screaming in the agony of death, shooting into the sky and towards the tower, circling around the hand like a gathering tempest. It rained blood next. The blood of the slain and the living, it did not matter from were the blood flowed.
"Blood for the blood god," The gladiator's voice grated out. "Skulls for the Skull Throne."
The air seemed to pop and crackle with energies that could only be described as nightmarishly astral, flame and lightning strobing with colours that the mortal eye was never supposed to comprehend.
"Eternal Change/Unending flux," The two-headed Fateweaver croaked, "That is the Changers of Ways."
A song spun by the screams of a million dead souls grew louder and louder, shattering the whatever window was left untouched in all of Vale yet somehow washing over the bodies of all who heard in in a wave of bliss.
"From the sunlight upon your cheek to the depravities of please," The equine head of the Perverse hissed with a snake-like tongue, "No high is too great, no fall too far!"
A cloud of miasma gathered overhead, the festering diseases enough to strip the flesh from the bones and give life to new forms of pestilence, each more toxic and virulent than what came before it.
"Submit to despair," The bloated carcass of the one who brewed the Godblight, "And find yourself in the loving embrace of the Lord of Plagues."
The Dark Prince remained silent, eternally seething. His position, mighty as he was, only cemented the Four Powers together; a powerful piece on the board, but forever bound to it. A new sound suddenly grew louder and louder, all who stood upon the palm of the gods turning to look towards the source. A red rocket pierced through the veil of souls, Ruby Rose blasting straight towards Cinder with murder in her moonlight eyes.
"CINDEEEEEEER!" She screamed, aiming a drop-kick directly at her head. Nobody seemed panicked, Lorgar's brow even rising in amusement before he simply waved a hand down. Right before Ruby could decapitate Cinder, she was yanked face-first into the floor, the ground beneath her caving in. She snarled and tried to rise, only able to look up into Cinder pitying eyes.
"This is going to be very interesting," Lorgar chuckled, "I assume you took young Rose's presence into account Cinder?"
"Of course, Archpriest," Cinder bowed her head.
"YOU PROMISED!" Ruby raged against the telekinetic hold, Lorgar slightly surprised at her strength as she tried to rise to her feet, "BASTARD, YOU PROMISED-!"
"And I upheld my promise," Cinder said as the knelt at looked Ruby in the eyes, "which was to refrain from doing anything until the end of the tournament. The crowning of the Vytal Champion and passing of the trophy always marks the official end of the tournament."
The shadow on Ruby's face somehow grew even darker, the silver streams of light pouring from her eyes whipping around violently as she slowly crawled forward.
"I HATE YOU," Ruby's voice made Cinder wince, "I WILL KILL YOU."
"Maybe one day, and you'd be well within your rights," Cinder agreed, "But not today."
Cinder stood and walked back towards Ozpin's corpse, raising her left hand. The cacophony of Vale's dirge, blood, everchanging energies, miasma, and the millions of perished souls all coalesced into her palm, a mass of metaphysical matter the size of a basketball filled with the screaming faces of the dead. Her other hand slowly went to the mask on Ozpin's face, hesitating for a moment before steeled herself and yanked it off his corpse. She gasped as the raw essence of Choice flooded up her arm, her skin burning and dying from the strain of attempting to command a divine relic. Despite it, her eyes shone with ecstasy. The violent weather grew even worse, waterfalls of blood pouring from the sky, bolts of lightning altering whatever they hit zipping through the air, the roar of the music truly deafening, disease running rampant even through inanimate objects.
"SHE COMES!" The demonic horde shrieked in fear and adoration. "SHE COMES! SHE COMES!"
"With these million slain souls in your glory, and the Relic forged by the gods, the Mask of Life…" Cinder spoke aloud, her voice serene as she knelt and presented the mass of souls and the mask to the shaking coffin, "…I sacrifice."
Remnant fell silent for sixty-six point six seconds, all eyes turning to the palm of the gods as the storm of souls ceased. Its people shook with a fear they did not understand, not a whisper in the back of their minds but a simple proclamation that roared through their very essences.
I AM HERE.
Ruby blinked the spots from her eyes, realizing that her nose was bleeding. She shakily looked around, finding Lorgar to be staring at the coffin with his mouth agape, golden tears flowing from his eyes. Cinder was in horrible condition, blasted backwards next to Lorgar, the arm that touched the Mask of Life blown off almost all the way to her shoulder, half her face charred black. The mask itself laid on the floor, split in half and pure black. She paid the wounds and the broken Relic no mind, still on her knees and staring at the coffin.
Ruby realized that whatever psychic hold Lorgar had on her was gone and she'd suffered no real damage. She gnashed her teeth, scrambling to her feet and –
"Have you ever wondered what happened to others like you?"
She stopped, realizing that Lorgar's question was directed to her. He wasn't even looking at her, a gaze of adoration locked upon the stone coffin.
"Chaos Undivided is a fickle power," Lorgar continued, "So many contradicting concepts smashing together would destroy most vessels, save for the most devoted and powerful. If we wanted to bring forth the true essence of chaos back into reality, we would need to create a body suitable of withstanding Her essence."
The cover of the coffin began to crumble away, a pale, delicate hand passing through the dissolving stone. Delicate as it initially appeared, she could see the calloused palms and knuckles belonging to someone who fought for a long time. Ruby felt something in her gut twist as she slowly realized what he was implying.
"Just one warrior with the Silver Eyes wouldn't be enough of course, not after the damage She had suffered under the weight of her own power," Lorgar continued, his voice becoming more rapturous, "Which is why we picked many. Blood, bones, muscular tissue, nerves! All we needed was the perfect head, containing the eyes whose lineage could be traced back to the first of their kind, from the one who walked the abyss itself!"
The figure stepped out, their tall figure covered in a white cloak and hood that was all to familiar to Ruby. The darkness covering her face faded and she collapsed to her knees, staring up into the concealed face and begging for her worst nightmare not to come true.
"…And we were blessed with none other than her."
The figure raised their hands and drew their hood back. Her face had a few features that were different compared to when she was alive. Deathly-white skin, black veins, scars that appeared as if parts of her were stitched back together, especially where her neck met the rest of her body. Her sclera burned like pitch-black fire, but silver irises pierced through the fire like haunting moons, eyes that Ruby could recognize even after so many years. And it was right there as Ruby beheld the face of the incarnated god that her spirit shattered, and she silently wept in despair.
Salem, wearing the dead face of Summer Rose, gave Ruby a curious look before moving on to Cinder and Lorgar. They both prostrated themselves before her, in fear and awe of the being standing before them.
"Rise."
Her voice was gentle and kind, and when they would not rise, she took to her knee and placed a hand on their cheeks, guiding their gazes up into her eyes.
"Little ember," She said to Cinder, "You've done well."
She turned to Lorgar, smiling softly.
"And your faith will not go unrewarded, my son."
She stood and strode between them, standing upon the edge of the palm and basking in the gentle breeze, the daemons below shrieking and cavorting in joy at the sight of their god. She held up a hand for silence, and the world obeyed.
"I am the master of mortal sin by the will of the gods, and master of a million realms by the might of my demonic children. I am Chaos given life, wreathed in power from the long-past age of divinity. My crown is that of the unborn queen of the vast Immaterial plane, for whom a thousand souls are slain each day, so that I may be reborn.
"To be a man in this new age is to be cattle, to live and die by the hand of your own fears. This is a new tale of new times: hold tight the power of technology and science, for so much is to be consumed and repurposed, each heresy another ounce of power for me. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in this grim, dark future there will be only war. There will no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the screams of butchered gods.
"I am the corpse of silver eyes, a Pure Vessel for my pure purpose. I am she who was once Salem Erda, the first Heretic, mother to the Pantheon, and Queen of the Godless Kingdom Khaenri'ah. I am Malal Angra-Mainyu, the God of Blasphemy, The Black Queen, and I will devour the sins of the world."
...TWBY Continued...