"Honestly, where on Remnant is that boy…" Glynda sighed as she waited for Vincent out by a small café on Beacon grounds.
She hadn't invited him out for lunch because of anything Elisa had said; it was purely so she could get appraised on his progress at Beacon and report back to his guardian back in Vale proper. Of course, it didn't help that Ozpin was indirectly feeding into the rumors of her "mom energy" by reserving them a table on his own Lien.
"I know he helps out around Beacon doing odd jobs, but he's always been so good about keeping the time," she hummed as she opened up her Scroll, skimming through the day's duty roster to see where the amnesiac teen had wandered off to.
Seeing that he'd been called on by one of the groundskeepers to help tend the top of Beacon Cliff, she activated the security feed only to find… no-one… No-one was there, and the only thing out-of-place was one of the catapults stuck in its post-launch position-
"No… No, I'm just being paranoid," Glynda said to herself even as her stomach twisted itself into a knot, the Deputy Headmistress reeling back the security feed if only to see where Vincent had wandered off to after concluding his duties there…
*Past*
"So, what'd you need my help with?" Vincent asked, clad in a working man's coverall.
"My bum knee's acting up again, so I was hoping you could help polish those launch pads for me," a dirty blond-haired man in his mid-20s hummed idly as he leaned on a shovel for support, spade tip down.
Glynda idly recognized the man. He graduated from the Hunter Track several years ago, but because he mainly focused on the "not dying" aspect of being a Hunter instead of getting stronger despite having what some would consider a "sub-par" Semblance, he ultimately washed out of the program and was given a job on Beacon grounds.
It wasn't a wholly uncommon tale, since certain "eccentricities" of those on the path to become Hunters often left them unequipped to acclimate to the civilian job market.
That, and the commercial job market at large tended to be somewhat unkind to "washouts".
"Hmmmmmm."
The woman furrowed her brow at the comment about a "bum knee", figuring the guy was just taking advantage of a free labor source. Nothing too malicious about it, though she'd be sure to reprimand him before the day was out.
"So, I hear you're pretty… popular with the ladies."
"Am I? I never really noticed," Vincent hummed as he put in some elbow grease to the first pad.
Glynda didn't miss the way the groundskeeper clicked his tongue at that response, though whether it went unnoticed or just ignored, she couldn't be sure.
"Must be nice… having so many people looking out for you, giving you a room and a cushy job," the groundskeeper continued, a frown marring an already average-looking face.
"I know. That's why I have to give everything I do my all," Vincent nodded as he got to work on the next launch pad, the one he finished up on polished practically to a mirrored shine.
"Yeah, must be nice, havin' the world as your oyster," the groundskeeper huffed as he watched Vincent work, the scowl on his face only deepening as Vincent hummed some tune only he knew the words to.
Right before Vincent got to the last launch pad, the now-visibly-irate groundskeeper adjusted his grip on the shovel before re-planting the spade tip into the ground. The ground churning around the metal, a muddy brown line arced itself across the ground just out of sight as Vincent got to work on the last landing pad.
As the white-haired teen got to work, the ground right in front of it became soggy and muddy, frothing like a miniature marsh as the manicured lawn vanished.
Behind the groundskeeper's back, the man thumbed his Scroll with practiced ease, selecting the final catapult for calibration before rolling the selector wheel for the lowest setting.
Glynda could only roll her eyes at this. The hazing ritual of an older groundskeeper making a newer one think they'd "almost" gotten launched into the Emerald Forest, had regrettably persisted for almost as long as there'd been mechanical launch pads incorporated into Beacon's screening process.
What she took exception to was the man using his Semblance to add insult to injury. Yes, it was true that Vincent had female admirers, and an enviable position amongst Beacon faculty, but it was hardly worth getting so petty about.
Yet another thing she'd have to pull the man aside for after her and Vincent's "lunch date".
Right as the marshy puddle reached peak saturation, the man's thumb drifted across the screen of his Scroll, brushing the selector wheel before hitting the [LAUNCH] button.
*Present*
Glydna's Scroll cracked in her hand as the catapult went off in the old security feed, a loud *CRACK!*sounding as the plate struck him in the face before bodily launching him into the distance.
The groundskeeper's eyes staring horrified into his own Scroll as he realized he'd accidentally reset the selector wheel to "Max" before hitting the launch button, the man was quick to abandon his post despite his "bum knee".
What infuriated Glynda beyond words was, according to the timestamp, this had happened barely under an hour ago from right now, meaning all this time he'd been in the Emerald Forest, injured or quite possibly dead after he'd been struck in the head.
Glynda frantically calling Ozpin up on her Scroll, as the line chimed, the woman swore if she ever got her hands on that petty groundskeeper…!
*NEW WORLD*
"Hey guys, what do you say we hit the firing range?" Ruby asked excitedly as they came back to their room after lunch.
"Not until our homework is finished," Weiss chastised, only for everyone's Scrolls to go off.
"Huh, wonder what this APBs about," Yang hummed as she answered the button.
Attention, Beacon Academy Students,
A recent malicious feat amidst one of our own has resulted in another of our number being cast into the Emerald Forest. As we are presently unaware of his location, only in that he survived the landing, I am calling for an emergency dispatch of all able-bodied students and non-essential faculty.
Participants will receive additional credit towards coursework of their choice, as well as a small monetary award for whoever recovers Vincent Valentine first.
[Video Enclosed]
Dispatch will take place at Beacon Cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, where participants will receive new software to prevent over-saturation in the same search zones.
You may think of this as an opportunity to test your mettle; after all, if you can't even rescue one man from the woods, what hope do you have as a Huntsman with the lives of humanity on your shoulders?
Sincerely,
Ozpin Greene
"That fiend!" Weiss swore as the included video of Vincent being launched into the woods played on her Scroll.
"Blake, grab your things and let's go!" Yang said looking up. " . . . Blake?" she blinked as the bedroom door swung lazily closed, Blake's Scroll abandoned.
"Geez, what a time for Jack to be out and about," Ruby whined as she changed in a storm of rose petals. "Team Ruby, get changed and roll out!"
*NEW WORLD*
"Glynda, while I appreciate your efforts in coordinating the search, would your efforts not be better dedicated out there?" Ozpin inquired as he and Glynda stood out at Beacon Cliff, a kiosk hastily set up for the new 'Hero Path' App to be disseminated.
"My emotions… are in a tumult," Glynda answered through grit teeth as she floated over an emergency flare from the crate at her side. "I'd be a liability to Vincent and those around me if I went down there right now."
"Hmmm. You aren't wrong," Ozpin hummed as Port oversaw the next deployment, launch pads going off in staccato.
An advance party had already gone off to where Vincent's landing had been calculated based as many factors as could be wrung out of the incriminating footage, but other than some broken tree branches and a bloodied rock, there was no body, nor sign of any struggle. So even if Vincent had gotten back up and walked away, that still meant he was possibly doing so while injured and in a delirious state. And while it was true that the malignant groundskeeper's face had been forwarded to the VPD, the man was still a trained Huntsman, even if he had lapsed on most of his qualifications, and with the police force still in the process of recovering from the consequences of its own corruption, it was entirely possible the man would slip the net after what he did to Glynda's "golden child".
Because accident or not, there was little doubt that if Glynda got her hands on the man, she wouldn't just take her time using her Semblance to peel his tendons from his body like string cheese.
"Well, it's nice to know there are so many people coming to his aid in his time of need," Ozpin hummed as his eyes trailed over those who'd been incentivized to participate, including Teams RWBY and CFVY.
*NEW WORLD*
"Nodoka? What're you doing here?" Yang blinked spotting a familiar face.
"I-I'm here to offer emotional support," the bookish girl answered, glancing Glynda's way.
"I see," Yang nodded knowingly. " . . . How do you think her kid is going?" she whispered, having been one of the ones spreading rumors of Glynda's 'mom energy' since that time at the Crooked Finger.
" . . . He's hurt. And disoriented. But he's definitely still alive," the purple-haired girl whispered, Blake's bow twitching slightly as she tried to look like she weren't eavesdropping.
"Next line!" Glynda called out, the queue surging forward once the launch pads had recharged.
"So… Do you think we'll be able to find him in time?" Ruby asked aloud, looking down at her Scroll to see all the fluorescent blue lines threading through the Emerald Forest as people spread out from a primary landing point.
"I think it's more important that he's found at all than by whom," Weiss stated curtly.
"Yeah that's fair," Ruby conceded before hushed mutters exploded from around them.
Those hushed mutterings spreading up to the front of the queue as someone raced up toward a part of the cliff unoccupied by launch pads, Glynda gawped incredulously while Ozpin went stock still as a lovely bronze-skinned woman with pointed ears, purple hair, and red bedlah attire drew all attention to herself.
Then again, who wouldn't draw attention to themselves when they looked like something out of an adult fantasy novel?
The mystery purplette shading her eyes as she looked out into the middling distance, a worried look on her face, after several long moments of no-one knowing what to say to this person, she nodded energetically to herself before breaking out into a Turkish belly dance. Glynda, about to chastise the woman for her choice in revealing dress and choice of venue, was cut off when the purplette struck a playful pose and called out-
"Transform!"
*BOOMF!*
A blast of purple smoke enveloping her, when the obstruction cleared, in the pointy-eared woman's place was a blue skinned, white-feathered harpy like something out of high fantasy.
Wings flaring out, the shapeshifting belly dancer leapt from the side of the cliff before gliding out into the Emerald Forest, pumping her wings for added speed until she was little more than a speck amidst a sea of green.
"Um… Do all belly dancers know how to do that?" Ruby blinked.
"Not the ones I've heard of," Weiss deadpanned.
"Alright that's enough, everyone! Back on task!" Glynda insisted at everyone's momentarily distracted state, which had obviously held up the line.
One batch of launched students later, however, and another distracted wave spread through the crowd. Team RWBY looking over their shoulders spotted an alluring woman with an hourglass figure who, in a prior incident, made Pyrrha Nikos question her own sanity.
Difference this time however was that the woman was fully clothed. The bauble from her cat form was worn on the neck of the black-blue dress, which wrapped up around her neck and exposed her shoulders, the skirt short and flaring out with a white frill. Going well up her thighs were black high-heeled boots that curled up at the toes, showing off her long legs. There were black-blue detached sleeves on her arms with frills by the armpits, and extra long cuffs trailing off behind her. Atop her head was a tall witch's hat with a white buttoned-together band, the top ending in a jagged coil somewhat similarly to her hair.
In short, very stereotypically a witch's attire, but oozing sex appeal.
'Why do I feel like I've seen her before…?!' Blake grumbled to herself as she racked her brain.
"Boy, this is a real mess, ain't it?" the witch-like woman hummed making a show of shielding her eyes from the sun, even though her wide-brimmed hat was more than up to the task. "Pumpkin Pum-Pumpkin," she then intoned before a jack-o-lantern appeared in a puff of smoke, large-enough for her to ride atop as she held the spiral-shaped stem. "Halloween Rocket!"
The snaggle-toothed smile on the massive gourd suddenly spitting out a tongue of fire, with an excited whoop the witch-like woman shoot off into the far distance, leaving a trail of pink smoke in her wake that coiled through the sky, those still on the cliff left gawping at the sight.
"GrrrrRRR! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" Blake yowled, her hairs all standing on end as she gasped raggedly for air.
"Ruby, did I look that crazy when I had my melt-down?" Yang whispered getting an immediate sense of Deja Vu.
"Just a little," Ruby answered before their bibliophile teammate whirled on them. "Keep absolutely still. Its vision t is based on movement."
" . . . !"
"SPIDERRRR!" someone screamed, Blake's stink-eye momentarily averted to a parting of the crowd where a lavender-haired woman wearing a revealing halter top and loincloth was riding an enormous black arachnid toward the cliffs.
No, it wasn't that she was "riding" the giant spider; she was the giant spider.
"So thaaaat's what Spider Faunus look like…" Ruby hummed contemplatively with a hand to her chin.
"Um, nooo. No, it isn't!" Weiss corrected with wide eyes as the lavender-haired half-woman/half-spider went right over the side of the cliff.
"You know what, fuck it, I'm taking the stairs," Blake grunted irritably as she broke off from the queue.
"Wait, they have those?!" Ruby gawped incredulously as she scarpered after.
"Are we really going to pretend we didn't see what we just saw?" Weiss goggled incredulously with a jabbing finger toward the cliff.
"Wait, so you mean Spider Faunus don't normally look like that?" Yang blinked as she followed after.
*NEW WORLD*
Elsewhile in the Emerald Forest…
"Uuugh…! Note to self… The next time someone asks you to help clean the launch pads… kindly tell them to fuck off…!" Vincent muttered to himself in a delusional stupor, Beacon Cliff retreating from his back as he shambled deeper into the woods.
Blood ran down the side of his face as he ambled along, trickling from an exposed fracture in his skull. Like a timelapse, however, the fracture in his frontal bone slowly knit shut, the flesh and skin growing back over it along with new hair. Within minutes all evidence to the contrary disappeared apart from the stains on his sleeve from where he wiped his face.
By the time the horrible pounding in his head had alleviated itself in full, the canopy had grown so thick it was almost impossible to see the sky, let alone the cliff and Beacon proper.
"I feel like there's somewhere I need to be…" he muttered to himself absentmindedly as he ambled into a clearing.
A clearing with two Beowolves in it at a restful position, only rousing when he fully left the shadows.
Their growls piercing the haze of massive head trauma, healed-over or otherwise, as the two slowly ambled towards him, malevolence burning in their fire-colored eyes, the odd-eyed teen slowly exhaled, eyes drooping shut. After several seconds his crimson and indigo-colored eyes opened, and what met him instead were two Beowolves snuffling confusedly at the ground, regarding him with disinterest in those fire-colored orbs.
Because he hadn't just pushed the air from his lungs; he'd pushed all negative thought from his mind as well, achieving a state of "nothingness".
Resuming his stroll, threading his way between the night-colored bodies, it was only when the Grimm were well behind him that he allowed what he was thinking to churn inside his head once more.
While he certainly made a show of smiling for everyone and putting them at ease, deep down, it frightened him how easy it was to empty his heart and mind of… everything, and just vanish from the Grimms' eye.
Although, perhaps "vanish" wasn't the right word. To him, it seemed more like, without any negativity swirling around him, he became "unobtrusive"; or maybe "uninteresting" was the word. Really, since Grimm left animals alone and attacked emotionally compromised Humans and Faunus first, it just seemed like the logical defense against the Creatures of Grimm.
After all, did people pay attention to the beige stretches of wall between the vibrant paintings in an art gallery?
"Hm?"
Rubbing at his eyes to make sure he wasn't just seeing things, when he looked out into the forest once more, there was in fact someone there, beckoning to him from the shadows.
He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with thick eyebrows, a square jaw, rugged features, his eyes like burnished steel and his jet-black hair cropped short. His upper body, built like the hull of a battleship, was clad in a blue tunic with gold trim, a red sash around his waist holding leather pouches, and baggy black pants tucked into armored gunmetal-colored greaves and reinforced boots. His shoulders, looking like he were smuggling watermelons, were clad in rounded silver pauldrons with gold trim and wide engravings. His large muscular hands were sporting black leather gloves backed by metal, his forearms wrapped in bandages, but what pats of his arms could still be seen had corded muscle more powerful than bridge cables. Tying the look together was a large red scarf around the neck, the ragged ends trailing down his back.
In short, a real man's man from the days when plate mail was the mode du jour.
And maybe it was the after-effects of the massive head trauma, but the white-haired teen had little compunction with hiking further into the woods in pursuit of a person that wasn't really there.
*NEW WORLD*
Unlike Team RWBY who instead opted to take the stairs, Team CFVY waited in the queue because, ironically enough, no further distractions-to occurred after the transforming belly dancer, pumpkin-riding witch, and spider-woman made their rounds.
They were one of several teams to venture farther into the Emerald Forest as opposed to deploying laterally, but because of the worry the third in their number felt, the Grimm homed in right on her.
Of course, as a consequence of this hyper-fixation, the younger Grimm were more-vulnerable to the counterstrikes of Yatsuhashi and Fox, whereas Coco remained alongside to give her good friend emotional support.
"So, how do you plan on sweeping that odd-eyed minstrel off his feet when we find him?" Coco grinned, only to be met with Velvet's pensive face. " . . . Vel?"
"Ah, oh, sorry, just… Just thinking…" she sighed.
"What's got you so down? Apart from the blatantly obvious, I mean."
"I… I need to apologize to him for something."
"Wait, you actually did something that warrants apologizing? My innocent little Bun-Bun?"
"D-Don't call me that," Velvet blushed. "I… This is going to sound really stupid, but… I put him in this box and that wasn't fair to him."
"…Kinky~"
"A metaphorical box!" Velvet hissed, Yatsuhashi bifurcating another Ursa in the background. "I always complained about people objectifying me-"
"Since when?" Coco blinked.
"On the inside!" Velvet hissed out before taking a calming breath, " . . . but then I turned right around and did the same thing to him."
"Not the same-same. You didn't jump out of a window and save any of them."
"Still, though, I should've been better than that," Velvet chastised herself.
"Well then, put those mods and upgrades your cousin made to use and help us kill these things!" Coco said as she drew Fox and Yatsuhashi back with a whistle, the fashionable young woman unfurling her combat tote and spooling up her gatling gun while Velvet mirrored it with her Semblance.
*NEW WORLD*
"Ugh, they just keep coming!" Ruby grunted as she fired her rifle into the approaching Grimm, popping heads with each pull of the trigger.
"While I appreciate the workout, it's like we're barely gaining any ground…!" Weiss said through grit teeth, even as her Summoned Spartoi soaked up damage.
"Gee, I wonder why that is," Yang hummed as she eyed Blake, the cat-like girl acrobatically leaping around Grimm and slashing at them with her ribbon-sickle and bladed gun-sword sheath. "Blake! Calm your tits!"
"My tits are calm! They are a veritable fount of peace and tranquility!"
"I mean, if that's the sort of thing Vincent's into~"
"Yang, if you aren't going to take this seriously, go home!" Blake rounded on her, decapitating a Beowolf with her off-hand without even looking at it.
"I wanna be that cool someday…~" Ruby awed.
"No, Ruby. No you don't," Weiss chastised.
"Blake, Oz and Glyn have dozens of people out looking for him," Yang said waving her scroll about, dozens of squiggly lines and search icons fanning out through the Emerald Forest making it look like a crazy quilt. "As long as someone finds him, you still win, right?"
"You'll excuse me if I don't want to leave the life of my friend in the hands of complete weirdos."
"Yeah, I didn't even know we had a Belly Dancer Club at Beacon…" Ruby hummed.
"We don't, which is what makes that one-off even weirder," Weiss sighed.
*NEW WORLD*
And speaking of which…
"Haaaaagh… Arms… so tired…!" Shantae whined as she ran through the Emerald Forest in pursuit of her master, having minutes ago been forced to land her Harpy Form.
A Creeper crawling out of the underbrush at her frustration, Shantae pointed a pair of interlocked finger-guns at it and shouted-
"Fireball!"
A crimson ball of flame leaping from her fingertips, the Grimm was blasted back, its hide catching fire like it'd been doused in kerosene. Amazingly however, the fire didn't spread to any of the nearby foliage as it stumbled into shrubbery and smashed into trees.
The Grimm attempting to stop, drop, and roll, before it could sufficiently douse itself, Shantae got within a few yards of the thing, throwing her head forward and sending her ponytail forward with a whip-like *CRACK!*
The Grimm's mask splitting down the middle, with three more head-banging swings the Grimm's head was slashed wide open, Shantae's hair looking none the worse for wear as it returned to its original length.
"Whoo, been a while since I've been in a scrap like that," Shantae hummed checking her ponytail for split ends before more Grimm started showing up. "Sorry boys, don't have time to play with you. Transform!"
Her body enveloped in another plume of smoke, when it cleared the belly dancer had transformed into a large, frilled newt the size of a grown iguana, her circlet changing into a curved V-shaped crest of scales, her tail dotted with purple spots.
"Newt Dash!" Shantae squeaked out as she shot into the underbrush like a bullet, vanishing almost completely from view.
*NEW WORLD*
"And who was that girl with the rocket-pumpkin?" Ruby continued. "Was she an upperclassman?"
"Not one I've ever heard of," Blake murmured.
*NEW WORLD*
Elsewhile…
"Pum Pum-Pumpkin, Halloween Cannon!"
A pair of floating jack-o-lanterns at her sides blasting out fireballs like artillery pieces, Grimm were blown apart like they'd stepped onto a minefield, the witch-like cat dancing merrily around the strikes of those that got close-enough to take a swing at her, exhibiting a feline grace that… made perfect sense since she was a cat who could turn into a lady and not the other way around.
*NEW WORLD*
"And what was the deal with that spider-rider?" Yang asked aloud as she punched a Grimm's head off with her recently-bolstered strength.
"Yeah, what did you mean when they said they don't look like that?" Ruby inquired.
"I mean, Spider Faunus 'don't look like that'!" the heiress sighed exasperatedly. "Spider Faunus are characterized by gray veins on their chests and arms, with spinnerets in their palms. If they cover up from the neck down and wear gloves, they can pass themselves off as regular Humans."
"Then what was the deal with spider-butt?" Yang asked.
"I'm pretty sure Jack would call that remark violently racist," Blake deadpanned.
*NEW WORLD*
Elsewhile…
"I swear, when I get my hands on that boy, I'm gonna tie him up so hard!" Rachnera hissed as she skittered through the Emerald Forest, leaving a trail of Grimm hanging from trees and tied in sexually provocative positions with spider silk in her wake.
For those that followed in her wake, no amount of therapy would ever make that moment okay.
*NEW WORLD*
"So in summary, we can put the fact that there are people we don't know at Beacon in a memo titled 'Shit We Already Know'!" Blake groaned, hoping to put the matter to bed and refocus their efforts on finding Vincent.
"Geez, Blake, you don't have to have a hissy fit," Yang pouted, finding it ridiculously easy to kill Grimm when she didn't have to worry about crushing doorknobs. "Hey, you think I can finally beat Jack at arm wrestling?"
"FOCUS!" Blake snapped.
*NEW WORLD*
"Hey! Knight! Could you stop teleporting for five seconds and maybe tell me what you want?" Vincent demanded as he continued to jog through the forest.
It seemed like every time he blinked, the broad-shouldered man grew ever farther away, just out of reach, but still tantalizingly in view.
And yet, he'd come too far, invested too much of his time, to simply turn away empty-handed.
Unfortunately, he was currently oblivious to the trouble he was causing for others.
And yet at the same time, he himself would become a bulwark against a malignant force, once thought sealed away ages ago.
The first indicator that he'd arrived at his destination was the seeming "termination" of the Emerald Forest before him; opposed to a mere clearing, there was a certain… stillness about the place, which the exacerbated lack of plant life did nothing to dissuade. What occupied the barren field itself was an enormous ziggurat, cylindrical in shape with a spiral staircase terminating toward the top and hewn from black stone marbled with white veins. Dotting the barren grounds surrounding the site were countless talismans made of stone, many of them broken in half while others looked like they had exploded from within. In addition, countless burning eyes peered into the barren plain from the surrounding forest, drawn in by some unseen force yet kept back by the very same.
The broad-shouldered man's scarf fluttering around the corner of the staircase and out of view, Vincent followed up after him, rounding the corner as another of the remaining talismans crumbled, the power it had once held evaporating.
As he mounted the stairs, he took the time to notice a series of frescoes embossed from the wall at his side. Though the finer details had obviously been worn away by the elements, it wasn't impossible for even someone like him to discern the narrative that someone had attempted to preserve a long time ago.
Long, long ago in faraway lands, there was a band of adventurers; a girl in a hooded cloak whose fists could rend the earth asunder, who stood fearless in the face of evil; a gentle soul born into a war-hewn shell of clockwork and iron, yet beloved by nature; an aged wizard versed in both wit and the arcane, capable of upending the natural order of things; a beguiling outlaw, master of many dirty tricks whose looks could kill; a warrior-priest wearing the face of a demon, and a master of forbidden magic. Standing out almost tauntingly to him was the image of the broad-shouldered knight he'd been following, shown slaying monsters that looked like Beowolves, yet wielding arms and armor like men. In the frescoes where he took center stage, special attention was paid in detailing the sword he wielded; a massive blade with an eye surrounded by thorns.
By coincidence or grand design, their threads of fate were woven together, the six of them traveling the ancient world and fighting all manner of threat. Dragons, fiends, vampires, demons, and everything in-between, many monsters that most considered flights of fantasy, they were shown battling in frightening detail. Some of the frescoes had been lost to the elements if not intentionally destroyed, but it was obvious that they told of the passing of many decades; the girl in the hooded cloak growing into a powerful warrior woman whose looks rivaled the beguiling outlaw, the aged wizard growing more wizen and crook-backed before vanishing from the narrative altogether.
Towards the top of the ziggurat, where protruding pillars like some kind of megalithic structure could be seen over the upper lip, one final tale was told.
A tale of an ancient, shapeless evil, the broad-shouldered knight fighting on when the others fell back to rest. A battle that raged for many days and many nights. How the demon was sealed away by knight's massive blade, the blade itself interred upon the ziggurat of which he stood.
The final of the frescoes, gilded in metal resistant to the elements, showed that very same blade planted in an unadorned pedestal, flanked by two figures. One was the broad-shouldered knight he'd been following along, acting only as a guiding hand, the smoke-like quality of his depiction showing he'd long-passed from the world. The second, was a faceless entity who could've been any age, race, and gender, brought to this very place at some far-off time, seemingly destined to take up the ancient blade in their hands.
Cresting the final steps, true to the frescoes, there was a sword in a stone pedestal waiting for him, and none of the frescoes could hold a candle to the real thing.
It was a two-handed longsword, lodged so-deeply into the ziggurat that there was a small brace of steps behind it so it could be safely removed. The pommel was a rounded golden disk, the grip bright crimson and interspersed with gold bandings. The cross-guard of the blade featured gold-colored ornamentation; a sleeping eye in the center surrounded by what looked like thorns, or maybe teeth curled in on themselves, extending into a like-colored fuller going down the length of the blade engraved with runes. The blade itself was an ordinary gray, yet somehow, seemed completely untouched by the elements.
"Huh… Dr. Oobleck told me that most cultures had some variant of this story… So which culture does this belong to?" Vincent asked looking around as some unseen force guided him forward. "The architecture looks older than Vale… Maybe from before the Kingdom was founded…?"
Though he was seemingly at the end of his adventure, there was a persistent tension that refused to ease. Not from his body, but from the very forest around him; like the world was holding its breath.
" . . . Hey!" the odd-eyed teen called out as he spotted the man he'd been following.
Or at the very least, the man's spirit.
While before he could've passed as any other Huntsman with a medieval theme when he stuck to the shadows, out in the open like this, it was obvious he wasn't really there, partially transparent with smoky edges. What's more, in the broad of day, there were more wrinkles upon the man's face in stark contrast to his powerful build, his black hair streaked with gray.
"What… What're you saying?" Vincent squinted, trying to read the man's lips as he grew less and less opaque, his gloved hand pointing to the blade before he disappeared altogether.
The next moment the ground rumbled beneath his feet, the stone of the ziggurat grinding against itself in protest, or maybe defiance, as the sound of a muted heartbeat rose from the ancient masonry. Like bubbles of poison gas rising from murky waters.
" . . . Well that isn't cryptic at all!" he groaned sarcastically as he ran up to the seemingly abandoned blade.
*NEW WORLD*
"Um, Headmaster… sir?"
"Speak," Ozpin replied into his Scroll.
"Ah, in regards to those anomalous readings we've been getting for the past few days… We've ruled out some form of glitch in the seismic sensors."
"So no immediate risk of a Stampede then…" Ozpin hummed, sighing in relief that they wouldn't have to contend with a more-literal tide of darkness while in pursuit of Glynda's lost fledgling. "Were you able to determine the epicenter?"
"Yes, and… Not to sound too paranoid or anything, but… The shortening of the intervals, it seems to be coming from one of the ruins like some sort of count-down timer."
" . . . What ruins?" Ozpin asked gravely, Glynda taking notice off to the side.
"Um… They don't have an actual name… The file only really has two words of flavor text visible under all the black sharpie. Something called… 'Relic Blade'."
" . . . Glynda. Send out the order to evacuate the forest, and ready the Bullheads. Arrange for rendezvous with all veteran Hunters in the area."
"Ozpin, what's happening out there?" Glynda asked, feeling the unease rolling off of him.
"Something bad," Ozpin said tightening his grip on his Long Memory. "Something really, really, really bad…!" he muttered as a primal fear made his hairs stand on end.
*NEW WORLD*
"Oh hey! You're the naked sardine and belly rub girl!"
"And you're the magic belly dancer girl!"
"And I don't have a clue who either of you are," Rachnera hummed as Shantae and Blair bantered back-and-forth. "I assume we're all here for the same reason?"
"Oh hey, Rachnera! When'd you get here?" Blair blinked.
"Same time as you. How the hell do you know me?"
*Poof!*
"Yeah, she can transform too," Shantae nodded sagely.
"Wait, are you a lady who can turn into a cat or a cat who can turn into a-"
Before she could complete that sentence the ground shook beneath their feet, the interval notably smaller than the last time, and notably more-intense this close to the epicenter.
"Um, does that ziggurat look like it's moving?" Shantae asked worriedly.
"I'm just gonna assume our friend is up there. You coming or not?" Rachnera asked as she skittered straight up the side.
"Hey hold up a second, my arms are still tired!" Shantae cried as she ran up the side.
"And running upstairs in heels is really difficult!" Blair added as she followed suit.
Rachnera for her part could only roll her six eyes as she crested the upper lip of the ziggurat, just in time for the area to shudder under another quake, the cracks in the masonry widening slightly.
"Hey, Odd-Eyes, what the hell're you doing all the way out here?!" the Spider Faunus called out as she finally spotted him, his clothes covered in dirt and grass stains as he tried not to fall off the steps he'd been climbing.
"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you!" Vincent said as he finally got a grip on the sword on display as another quake went off. This time however, black/purple flames began to rise from the edge of the ziggurat, slowly creeping toward the center where the sword lay and oozing malevolence.
"Well, pull that pig-sticker and let's get the hell out of here!"
"Master! We're here!" Shantae called out as she and Blair crested the landing.
"Save your kinky-play for later!" Rachnera said throwing out some threads around Vincent, skittering up a stone pillar and giving him a tug right as the sword came free.
Cue The Seven Deadly Sins OST – Dg4-1 :Zai
And good thing she did, because a moment after she pulled him back, a brace of black/purple barbed spikes shot up around the dais and skewered the space he'd been occupying.
Aura or no Aura, an attack of that nature would've been an instant kill if it'd connected.
Rachnera hauling him up onto the outcropping she'd made her perch, Vincent felt a shudder of fear run up his back as something began to dig itself up from inside the ziggurat, the whole of the structure rumbling as if something buried underneath was waking up.
What eventually broke through the weathered masonry was a looming humanoid shape exceeding six and a half feet in height, covered entirely in lean muscle, a shock of ragged white hair atop its head. Its skin a pale shade of purple, its torso, shoulders, and arms were covered in looping tribal tattoos of darkest purple, while its legs were entirely covered in some facsimile of skin-tight trousers. Visible beneath the tribal-like tattoos were numerous ash-gray scars, including a huge one through the center of the chest as though something sharp and broad had been impaled through it. Eyes snapping open and taking in light for the first time in centuries, had gold irises with red rims, the sclera black as night. If these features alone weren't enough to differentiate him from Human or Faunus, his ears were long and pointed, a pair of white recurving horns that were black at the roots protruding from his forehead, his teeth coming into jagged points like a shark's while his fingers were tipped with black claws.
*Snffffffff* *Haaaaaaah!*
"After a thousands years… even the repugnant air of the Human World is a blessing upon my lungs," the risen entity hummed as he shook dust and moss off his body.
His red-rimmed eyes adjusting to the light and trailing upward toward Rachnera, though she shielded Vincent with the bulk of her body, there was one thing she could never hide from this entity…
"Hoh? You managed to get away from me?" he inquired more to the blade than to the one that pulled it as his right eye changed, his golden iris turning red, edged with gold, the sclera turning purple.
His vision gaining a purplish haze, ancient numerals proceeded to surround the two, revealing all before his Eye of Balor; artificial as it was.
The white-haired Human holding the accursed sword that held him in slumber for so long had 0 Magic, 150 Strength, and 0 Spirit. In summary, a Combat Class of only 150; barely enough to reach half the threshold of a Holy Knight.
The lavender-haired woman who appeared to have the body of a large spider conjoined to her buttocks, had 0 Magic, 219 Strength, and 205 Spirit; almost half-again as strong as a Holy Knight. The Eye of Balor identified her not as a Human, but as something known as a "Faunus".
"Hm. Your paltry strength matters not," the ancient Demon muttered to himself as he summoned a brace of daggers with his hand before launching them with a swipe of his hand.
"Fireball!"
"Halloween Cannon!"
Two burning projectiles sailing in from the side and knocking his weapons off-course, the formerly-sealed Demon inclined his head at the two interlopers.
The first figure he took notice of was some kind of sorceress; something reflected in the numerical value of her Magic being cited at 2,500, her Strength at 100, and her Spirit at 1,250, giving her a total Combat Class of 3,850, the highest he'd seen thus far. Her Race read as something called a "Monster Cat".
That number was soon eclipsed when his Eye of Balor landed upon the purple-haired woman in sheer red clothing. Her Magic clocked in at 4,379, her Strength at a paltry 50, and her Spirit at a lofty 3,560, giving her a moderately-impressive Combat Class of 7,989. Her Race fluctuated between Human and "Genie".
"Hmmmm… To think some half-Human could reach a Combat Class of almost eight thousand," the Demon hummed, stroking his chin as he continued to take in the air, unused to it after centuries of interment.
Turning his Eye of Balor inward, while previously his Magic was measured at 12,000, his Strength at 18,000, and his Spirit at 1,000, his time being sealed had caused his Combat Class to atrophy town to less than 6,000 Magic, under 9,000 Strength, his Spirit evaporating down to almost 0.
"Hmph. Even with less than half my original power, I still have enough in me to kill an upstart squire and his rusty butter knife," the Demon taunted as he turned his eyes back to Vincent, something hateful and malefic coming to his gaze as he promised- "Not that I'll allow you to die quickly~"
"You aren't getting anywhere near my Master! SCIMITAR!"
The half-Human leaping at him and summoning a dozen curved blades that circled around her like moons, the Demon quickly manifested a broadsword to block, the loud *Tink-Tink*Tink-Tink*Tink-Tink*Tink!* of metal-on-metal sounding as her orbiting blades assailed him without losing speed.
"Well isn't that adorable~?" the Demon cooed condescendingly as he manifested a large hatchet in his free hand, intent on splitting the half-Human's head open like a melon, only for an invisible force to halt him mid-swing. "Huh?" he blinked, his gaze catching the glint of near-invisible wires coiled around his weapon and arm. Following them to their source, he spied the spider-woman staring spitefully at him with three pairs of eyes, her clawed hands drawing the slack out of her threads like a skilled puppeteer as they curved around the standing spires to hold him from behind.
"Halloween Cannon!"
The Demon broadsided by magical fireballs, found himself more irritated than wounded by the Monster Cat's sneak attack.
"Well, you lesser races are entertaining if nothing else!" the Demon smirked as he stomped his foot into the masonry, the darkness cladding his legs writhing before dozens of barbed spikes emerged from the ground and bloomed outward, forcing everyone to scatter.
*NEW WORLD*
Long ago, countless centuries after the conclusion of the second Holy War, an Evil Queen used Ancient Magic to summon a mighty Demon from another world; one whose power made him immune to spiritual abilities that'd come to dominate the world in lieu of Magic – Aura would be cut through with ease, and Semblances broke upon his skin. The Demon, however, proved to be uncontrollable, nigh unstoppable, laying waste to the continent he'd been loosed upon after he slew the Evil Queen for her impudence.
This rampage only came to an end when a mighty warrior with an awakened blade in hand faced the Demon in pitched combat. In the end, one of the Demon's hearts was pierced by that legendary blade, but before the knight could finish him off, the Demon cast a powerful curse on that blade. One that would render it forever out of reach as long as the Demon slept.
That story had long faded from mortal memory into legend, but it was all that was on Ozpin's thoughts as a wing of Bullheads traversed the skies over the Emerald Forest. In their wake, colorful dots were seen retreating to Beacon after the general retreat was called. The only ones venturing further into the veritable heart of darkness to confront what many assumed was an Ancient Grimm, were graduated veterans and teachers who could fight, a few support staff coming along for the ride.
"Ozpin… Just what are we walking into?" Glynda asked from his side, two of his closest confidants, Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck.
"Something the next generation are not yet ready to face," the older man answered solemnly.
"But then why call the retreat when Vincent is still out there?" Glynda inquired, remembering how that quiet, bookish girl had told her with such assured conviction that Vincent was still alive before running away.
"I believe our paths will cross very soon," Ozpin nodded, feeling it in his bones. "I wish we'd had more time, but… Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
"We must have courage," Port hummed as he adjusted his grip on his Blunderaxe. "We can't ignore the danger. We must conquer it."
"And when the account of the ages is etched into the world, let those who exist long after us know that this was our finest hour," Oobleck nodded solemnly.
" . . . If Vincent is truly waiting for us at the end of this road, my first priority is to him," Glynda said wringing her Disciplinarian in her hand.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Ozpin nodded, allowing a small smile to tug at his features.
*NEW WORLD*
"Vincent! Keep running!"
"Yeah! No shit!" Vincent cried as he ran for his life, cradling the giant blade to his chest as the Spider Faunus continued to hamper the Demon's progress with her "Lightspeed Knitting", as she called it, Shantae keeping the pressure on with orbiting scimitar blades amidst breathtaking acrobatics and Blair pestering him with pumpkin spice fireballs.
All attempts to send Vincent away in turn, were hampered by the fact that the Demon continued to erect fences of barbed spikes at the ziggurat's edge. And it was only the fact that Vincent could summon gale-force winds that stopped the Demon from simply taking to the skies and felling his prey on wings of darkness.
"RUN, LESSER RACES! RUN AND AMUSE ME MORE!" the Demon cackled as he lazily threw knives and cast barbs of darkness at his attackers, reveling in their inability to harm him.
"Witch-Girl! Belly Dancer! Hit him with something bigger, already! I'm running low on silk here!" Rachnera shouted angrily through her fatigue.
"We're trying!" Shantae cried out as she fired a beam of lightning at the Demon, only for him to catch it in his bare hand. A moment later a giant pumpkin the size of a small building fell on him from above, the combat lulling only long-enough for a forest of barbs to skewer the massive gourd from the inside before it was blended into scraps, the Demon cackling all the while.
"I saw the frescoes on the way up! Can't you do something with that thing?" Blair asked.
"I've tried! Nothing's working!" Vincent called out as he once again slapped the runes etched into the flat.
"And now you realize the folly of standing against me~" the Demon chuckled, looking gleefully upon those 'lesser races' around him, exhausted from their futile protests.
"Rachnera… Blair… Shantae… I'm sorry you came all the way out here for nothing," Vincent apologized before something dawned on him. "SHANTAE! I WISH-"
Cue Red vs Blue Season 9 OST – Pelican Escape (By Jeff Williams)
*FWOOSH!*
*BOOM!*
Before he could finish his thought, an air-to-surface missile cut through the sky and struck the Demon in the side, all eyes turning up to witness a collection of Bullheads coming in for a no-landing deployment. Some of those that disembarked used the recoil of weapons to slow their falls, some used rappelling lines, and others fell wholesale to the ground, including-
"Glynda!" Vincent cried out as he ran to her before stopping short, a deeply ashamed look coming to his face before she bridged the gap herself and cradled his head to her chest.
"It isn't your fault," she said soothingly. "Now, get on the Bullhead. I'll see you back at school."
"I'm afraid I'll have to insist you go on back ahead of us," Ozpin said as he and the other Hunters formed a phalanx between the smoke cloud and the gathered Bullheads. "Should the worst come to pass, I want someone I can trust watching Beacon. The Council itself... cannot be trusted with full custody."
"But-"
The look Ozpin sent her made the woman freeze, any words of protest dying on her lips. All she could do in the face of that expression was nod her head, taking Vincent by the hand into the nearest Bullhead, Rachnera, Blair, and Shantae following suit as a swipe of the Demon's hand cleared the smoke cloud. The gathered Hunters, save Ozpin and Oobleck, expressing shock at how what they found wasn't some kind of Grimm, when the sneering monster attempted to strike the Bullhead from the air with a brace of flying daggers, Ozpin leapt into the fray and lashed out with his Long Memory in a rain of sword thrusts, each one breaking the sound barrier.
The Demon in turn clicked his tongue as the flying machine pulled away at maximum speed, only for a sneer came to his face renewed.
"It doesn't matter. I'll hunt that boy down and break that rusty old blade anyway~" the Demon sneered as a powerful *Lub-Dub* shook the air, the black markings on his torso and legs shining a baleful red before he began to swell up. Growing to more than eight feet in height and nearly as broad, his demonic features growing more pronounced, his pale purple skin darkened to a galvanized black and his eyes turned a solid milky white. His hide shining like armor, the scars littering his form became jagged like metal fatigue, the ground crumbling at his feet.
"You aren't the only one who can grow three sizes in a day!" Port bellowed bombastically as he threw off his coat, firing a knocking gun into both shoulders before he too swelled up to gigantic proportions.
"Port, wait, don't go in alone!" Ozpin called out as one of his oldest friends bolted forward, the ancient Demon sneering as he leapt forward under the giant man's strike, a great sword coming in for a debilitating slash.
*NEW WORLD*
"Whoo! Thought I was gonna lose another life back there!" Blair sighed heavily as she slumped bonelessly into her seat.
"Lucky you, having more than one," Rachnera huffed, wildly uncomfortable in the speeding airship.
"Glynda… About why I didn't come back to Beacon-" Vincent began apologizing, Glynda's hand going to his forehead and mussing at his bangs.
"You have nothing to explain. I'm just glad you were able to get back up again," the woman sighed, remembering how-horrified she felt when those first images of his landing site appeared on her Scroll. "Still, I would think Oobleck would want to take a cursory look at that treasure," she hummed eyeing the longsword in his hand. Clearly, it was the work of a master craftsman.
What Glynda's words, and what everyone else was saying, became muted in his ears as Vincent looked up, the broad-shouldered knight he'd been following appearing before his eyes once more. The figure, the ghost, was little more than vapors at this point, head and eyes inclined to where they had departed before their eyes met for one, final time.
The strong-jawed phantom vanishing for good, Vincent whirled in his seat before embracing Glynda around the back, the gesture shocking the woman before she slowly reciprocated. To Shantae's surprise, his beautifully-sculpted silver arm began to change shape into a crude-looking bionic prosthesis behind Glynda's back, the hand and half of the forearm yellow with tiny silver electrodes on the fingertips, the forearm bearing a thick black plate with the decal of an electrified eyepatch-wearing skull on it with a wire connected to the hand. Right as Vincent pulled away, his mechanical hand rested on Glynda's shoulder, the woman having only an instant to look at it before she was suddenly electrified, her limp body dropping to the floor with an ignoble *thump*
"Didn't see that comin'," Blair hummed as the silver-haired teen looked down at Glynda, tearing his eyes from her betrayed expression as she convulsed against her seatbelt, the polymorphic material of his arm returning to its original sculpted configuration.
"Shantae. If anything happens to me, I want you to find happiness," Vincent said as he backed away to the lip of the cabin, relic blade in one hand and his arms crossed before his chest.
"MASTER WAIT-"
By then he was already gone.
*NEW WORLD*
After the Bullhead ferrying Glynda, Vincent, and the three tagalongs fled the scene, the ancient ziggurat exploded into absolute pandemonium.
The first to fall was Port, his robust Aura absolutely useless against the Demon's spirit-nullifying powers as he was slashed through the waist.
Next was Oobleck, cruelly back-handed into a pillar and landing in a crumpled heap.
Those that attempted to flee were skewered by barbed spikes summoned by the Demon's footfall. Some had lost limbs or were even chopped in two like Port had been, the lucky ones falling into the care of the Saiseiya/Gourmet Revivers who used a combination of [Body Glue], [Doctor's Aloe], [Paste Phlegm], and/or Resuscitation Shock to save as many as they could. Those that had been crushed into paste, had their heads ripped off, or been bifurcated from crown to groin however could not be saved by anything short of abilities some considered to be… "unnatural".
When Ozpin and a few brave others began to put up a strong resistance, the ruins themselves only remained as-intact as they did because a few of the Revivers had fanned out in order to weave [Protection Trees] around what they assumed was some sort of heritage sight, special attention paid to the ancient frescoes which offered a rare glimpse of the ancient past.
Though the actual fighting itself had only gone on for a few minutes, the casualties had been staggering, the Demon seeming to pay no heed to the Revivers that risked dragging the wounded to safety as he focused on Ozpin Greene, the only one among them who could offer up any sort of resistance.
"Hah! You're pretty strong… for a Human!" the hulking Demon sneered as Ozpin parried his monstrous blows, the air pressure from each redirected blow causing the ziggurat to tremble. "You'd certainly give a Holy Knight Grandmaster a run for their money… but even then you're no match for me!" he chuckled as he sent Ozpin skidding back, the man falling to a knee and propping himself up on his cane, barely conscious, his clothing torn and the body underneath battered and bleeding.
'Damn it…' Ozpin swore as he felt the aches and pains of his body beginning to catch up with him, his eyes turning to those that had fallen in battle against this ancient evil, their bodies carelessly thrown about like garbage.
As the ancient Demon strode casually towards him, greatsword of crimson darkness raised high to fell him low, his grip on the Long Memory tightened. Clockwork gears in the crossguard glowing gold and whirring, motes of emerald light interspersed with flecks of gold shimmering along the length of the cane like fireflies, as his thumb hovered over the knuckle guard, the transient Immortal wondered to himself-
'After all this time… will I really need to…?'
Cue Toriko OST – Tousou Hon'nou
Before Ozpin could commit in the wake of the Demon's downward stroke however, a howling wind drew the Demon's eye and stayed his hand, an ancient longsword with a sleeping eye suddenly coming in on gale force winds and meeting the Demon's magic-hewn blade with a loud *CLANG!* that whipped Ozpin's tattered clothes back.
"Oh? Back so soon, little squire?" the Demon sneered, even as his sword hand trembled.
"Ozpin," Vincent muttered as his hair shone with silver light, mismatched eyes of crimson and indigo briefly regarding aged gold. "Tell Glynda and Wok… that I'm sorry."
The next moment he parried the Demon's blade before following up with a flurry of impossible-to-see slashes, the Demon forced on the backfoot as a staccato of sonic booms followed in their wake.
'What? How is this possible…? He's only been gone a few minutes, and yet… his Strength and Spirit both have gone up by countless thousands!' the Demon gawped unbelievingly as he continued to back away, even as a part of his mind reminded him that his Eye of Balor was impossible to deceive.
"I give thanks to all the Ingredients in this world. I turn my anger into gratitude," Vincent intoned serenely as his body began to auto-correct its movements, removing all actions deemed unnecessary and increasing his concentration. "Baton!"
*Swish-Swish-Swish!*
"Batonnet!"
*Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish!*
"Julienne!"
*Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish!*
"Brunoise!"
*Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish!*
"Mince!"
*Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish!*
"Chiffonade!"
*Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish!*
The Demon forced to retreat by the progressively more-intricate cutting techniques that literally chipped away at his defenses, performed with a cutting implement never intended for such delicate movements, within moments their dueling ground had vanished into the sea of trees.
Despite the fact that the young Human's speed and dexterity far eclipsed that of a Holy Knight Grandmaster however, his Magic remained paradoxically unchanged at 0.
The dueling Human and Demon soon broke through the treeline and into a clearing far from where they had begun this lethal dance. The ziggurat, its stonework interwoven with tree roots and branches holding it together, was just barely visible in the middling distance. The Human, all of a sudden backed away, but looked nonetheless determined to confront him.
"Food Immersion!" the Human cried out before suddenly breaking away altogether.
The silver streak his body had become swirling through the orchard they had now found themselves in, at blistering speed, the fruit on the branches began to disappear until they were completely bare. The Human reappearing overhead, face smattered with bits of fruit, the relic blade in his hand descended into a powerful avalanche cut.
The Demon, raising the flat of his greatsword to block, had eyes go absolutely wide as an enormous weight bore down on him, the cataclysmic *THOOOOM!* and tremoring of the ground causing animals of all kinds to flee as the ground cratered beneath him.
'This… This weight…! Was he carrying the blood of the Giant Race through his veins all along…?!' he questioned as the impossibly disproportionate weight pressed down on him. The Human's hair beginning to shimmer with waves of gold, skin giving off a lustrous shine, twice more the ground at the Demon's feet cratered, the growth of the Human's Strength beginning to exceed that of his Spirit in front of the Eye of Balor before - *CRASH!* -the ground imploded beneath them, casting the two into darkness.
Moments after the light of day completely vanished, that darkness gave way to light once more, the Demon's back impacting a shallow pool in an underground cavern, the two surrounded by ruins backlit with luminous crystals and moss.
"Insolent Human! No matter what Cheat Hope you may be under, your might will never eclipse that of the DEMON CLAN!" he howled with ever greater hate, parrying the blade and sending his Human quarry away. Taking a calming breath, the Demon then exploded into action, the Human forced onto the back foot as the pressure of countless sword swings sent the ankle-deep water flying back, wounds prickling at his body until the formerly-damp basin was stained with red.
"No matter what…" the Human rasped even as he fell to one knee, their blades locked. "I won't… let you hurt… ANYONE ELSE…!"
"FOOLISH WHELP! I WILL BRING RUIN TO ALL YOU HOLD DEAR!" the Demon roared, reaching the end of his patience.
"Well…" Vincent hummed as electric blue sparks began to dance off his blade, the cavern around the two beginning to tremble. "That isn't much."
*SCHWING~*
"In brightest day. In blackest night."
"No…! It can't BE…!" the Demon cried as the Relic Blade's sleeping eye rotated into an 'open' position, the ornamentation around it flaring out like the horns of a crown, arcs of electricity dancing while Vincent's eyes blazed red like hellfire.
"No evil shall escape my sight."
"I WAS SO CLOSE…!" he muttered as his hands trembled.
"Let those who worship evil's might."
"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING…!" he cried as he fled into the caves even as all strength fled him.
"Beware my power…!"
"LOOORD ZELDRIIIIIIIIS!" the member of the Demon Clan cried out desperately, the silver-haired teen's final stanza lost as a cataclysmic explosion bathed the crystal caverns in silver light, the Demon's cries lost in the howling winds as he was ripped apart, his ashen body drawn hungrily into the eye of the blade.
At the same time outside the crypt, a brilliant surge of electric blue light shot into the sky like a lance, it, the Demon's deafening roar, and the Human's furious roar of righteous fury sending countless Grimm fleeing in its wake. The airship pilot coerced into a return trip, was summarily blinded by the light, the irate Glynda Goodwitch, her hair frazzled, forced to take over before dismounting her craft and descending into the yawning maw.
*NEW WORLD*
"When I get my hands on that boy…!" Glynda growled sourly as she descended the abyss to where her charge had last been seen, her mastered [Telekinesis] granting a simulacrum of flight.
The cavern opening up around her, Glynda cleared the remaining distance unaided, her cavalry boots splashing ankle-deep water. Surrounded by underground ruins and glowing crystals, Glynda didn't wait for her eyes to adjust, but instead conjured a ball of flame overhead from the Seithr-rich air.
A halo of light spreading around her, the woman's eyes soon landed on the source of all her recent worries, fallen to his knees and blade lain out in the water before him, his back to her.
"Vincent, as soon as we get back to Beacon, I am going to give you such a talking-to…!" she hummed irately as she stomped through the water.
. . .
"Vincent…?" she asked worriedly, her expression softening as she lightly nudged him in the shoulder.
*Splash*
"VINCENT!"
*NEW WORLD*
And that's it for the double-release. The crossovers I'd been weaving into the "Slayerverse" were a ton of fun to bring together into the beginning of this sub-arc, and I hope you have comments and questions for me in the Review section to comment on in turn.
I'll see you all next time in Vigorous Vitality, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.