Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Legends.
They tell stories of heroes, champions, slayers of evil, always seeking victory or fighting for others. They speak of maidens of great magic always following the seasons. They share tales of far away lands and great adventure. And they tell of unique individuals who band together as a family.
But not all stories are about heroes or magic, nor they have a happy ending.
In fact there are myths of terror, tragedy, horror that shall keep you up at night. Legends tell stories of monsters, demons that bring great despair, nightmares beyond your wildest imagination.
And even monsters have champions of their own. Titans of great power that dwarf even the mightiest of armies. These monstrosities, these four champions only fight for one thing.
Grimm.
You know of two of these beasts, Amon and Acnologia, so now is the time to show the tale of another. A tale that simply goes by:
The Shadow of Red.
A Loooooong Time Ago
The sun rose up from the horizon, signifying the start of a new day. Villagers woke up from their slumber to begin their day.
…However, not everyone was able to get up. A good portion of the village had been ransacked, yet not a single hut were destroyed. The only thing that seemed to be of note were that some windows were open, yet most were closed.
"AIYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A woman cried. "Oh no! No no no no! Not my son! Anyone but him!"
"Oh no! Noooooo! Not my wife! I loved her… I can't go on without her!"
"What? My mother-in-law is dead?! HALLELUJAH!"
SMACK!
"Ow! Uh… I mean… oh nooooo…"
Villagers brought out their loved ones and buried them in an ever growing graveyard.
And it wasn't just this village that had been chosen…
Multiple villages throughout had the same problem. Something had come into the middle of the night, opened up random windows and feasted on the souls of those who were asleep. It wasn't picky either. Children, adults, the elderly, those with one foot in the grave, even the Faunus… none were spared.
"My brother! My precious brother!"
"I should have apologized to her before I went to sleep… I knew I should have!"
"Oh gods… I could be next…"
"What are we going to do?!"
Later into the afternoon, a council meeting from several villages have gathered to discuss the suspect.
"It's probably one of those damn Grimm! I'm telling ya, last week I caught a small Beowolf sniffing through my trash and I scared it away. Now today, my grandson has been killed! It's that damn Beowolf, I tell you!"
"For the last time, you shot the Beowolf to death. This is a new problem."
"Then it's the mother that came back to avenge its boy!"
"I'll tell you what it is! It's a Solitas Bull Worm! Those suckers are nasty!"
Everyone looked at the elderly woman who said such a thing.
"Those don't exist."
"They do too! You just don't believe, ya whippersnapper!"
"I have an idea on what it could be." A gentleman said. "Just last night, I couldn't sleep so I decided to read a book with the moonlight as my light. Next thing I know, I hear a noise outside. I thought it was a stray Grimm so I grabbed my weapon and opened up the window to try and pelt it… but then I saw it. Something that I thought was only folklore…"
"What was it?"
"It was a Grimm not like any other. It was red, bloody and above all else, it was absolutely hideous. It had the face that would potentially scare away a Geist. That Grimm… was Red."
"Red?! The same folklore that says that he can feast on those who are asleep and can cut you to ribbons if you're ill prepared?" A teenage girl asked.
"The very same. Some say it's an otherworldly Grimm… but I've seen it with my own two eyes. I hid underneath the window, hoping he didn't see me. The next time I looked, he was already gone… but I've seen in the distance a red light… he was glowing before he disappeared. That dadgummed Grimm was enough to almost give me a heart attack!"
"So what do we do?"
"There's only one thing we can do." One of the mayors of the villages said. "We hire mercenaries. Call them all over Remnant if you have to… we need to make sure this Red Grimm is no more or we can kiss our livelihoods goodbye!"
Another mayor stood up. "I agree. Anyone votes in favor of this, say aye!"
"Aye!"
"Any opposed?"
No one answered.
"Seems we're all desperate to get this nightmare out of our hairs. Let's see if we can't recruit some mercenaries."
Some recruitment later…
Mercenaries from all over had traveled to one of the villages, all of them sporting bows, crossbows, swords, spears or whatever combination they felt like. The smell of gunpowder lingered in the air as they all were chatting amongst themselves in a pub.
The doors swung open for the next mercenary, as all eyes turned to see their next fellow mercenary. Their eyes widened at the sight of this merc.
He simply wore knight armor, decked out in black with spikes on his shoulders and a helmet to cover his face. He wore gauntlets that had spikes on his wrists. His weapon of choice was a giant two handed sword that nearly covered the width of his body, yet he was holding it with one. The sword in question was iron black with cobblestone decorated on it, not to mention the middle of the sword split in two and made its way to the top of the sword.
The mercenary said nothing as he walked over to a corner of the pub. Whispers filled the air almost immediately.
"Is that…? It couldn't be…"
"Oh my Oum… it's him!"
"Who is that?"
"You dummy, you haven't heard stories of the Black Knight?"
"That's the Black Knight?! I thought he was merely a folktale!"
"He's the real deal. Biggest badass there is… legends say that he faced an army of two hundred bounty hunters wanting a bounty on his head. None survived."
"He's a monster amongst humans."
The Black Knight sat down, put his feet up on a table and put his sword down on the side. He put his helmet down as a waitress approached him.
"Can I get you anything, handsome?"
"A sandwich and a sarsaparilla, if you please."
"Coming right up, sugar!"
As the Black Knight sat in the shadows to keep his identity a secret, he pulled out a handkerchief right as he started coughing. He coughed into the handkerchief harshly, having a massive coughing fit until he stopped. He looked at the handkerchief… where it was covered in his own blood.
"Tch… that was the worst one yet." He mumbled.
Several months ago…
"How is it, doc?" The Black Knight asked as his face was shown in the bright light. He had short black hair, black eyes as he had a scar over his right eye. His face looked a bit chiseled and handsome at best.
"Well… this illness you're having is quite severe, I'm afraid. The medicine I had given you isn't working. I'm afraid that you most likely have a few months left to live."
"Hmmm…" The Black Knight smiled calmly. "Then I'll make the most of what I have left." He slowly reached for his helmet.
"If I may be so bold… perhaps this would be a good time for you to retire for your last remaining days."
"There's no rest for the weary. If I rest now, then no one will be safe from the Grimm or a rogue merc. Besides."
He put his helmet back on.
"Everyone knows where I live anyway."
"Have you considered moving?"
"Tried that. They still found me. They ended up sliced in half… ah… no use in retiring." He said with a chuckle, standing up. "When this illness gets me, I better be fighting to my last breath."
The doctor sighed. "I was afraid of that… very well then, I cannot stop you. Farewell… old friend."
"Same to you, old friend."
The Black Knight walked out of the door… and then immediately stopped, pulling out his sword as fifty mercenaries approached from the bushes. "Fifty of you? You're not even trying."
"You've a massive bounty on your head! We'll take the cash after we cut that head off of yours!"
"Boys boys boys… can't we settle this like gentlemen?"
Back in the doctor's office…
"Hmhmhmhm…" The doctor hummed… when suddenly a few rogue mercenaries came crashing through a wall and landed on his desk. "Ah, right on time." He mused as he looked out the hole to see the Black Knight standing with several mercenaries either dead with limbs attached or without.
"Amateurs."
The Black Knight walked off.
Back in the present…
"Excuse me, Mr. Black Knight sir!"
"Hmm?" The Black Knight looked up to see a star struck mercenary. "Can I help you?"
"You're famous all over Remnant. You're the Black Knight!" He said with a grin. "If I might be so bold to ask, what is your name?"
"Hell, that is bold. Let me let you in on a little secret. My name is of no importance. Yet, my friends jokingly call me "Guts" because of the guts I spill over any son of a bitch that crosses my path. My enemies call me Monster. Ordinary citizens just call me Black Knight. Now you think very carefully on which side of the spectrum you're on… because your answer…"
He gripped his sword.
"...Will determine my response."
The young mercenary had a shiver run up his whole body as it also turned pale. "R-right! Uh… you're a busy man! I… I'll just give you some space!" He said as he took off running.
"Hmmm… I need to work on my jokes."
He hacked into his handkerchief again, a small splotch of blood this time. "Eh… small discharge this time." He mumbled.
"Here you are, sir!" The waitress arrived with his sandwich and drink.
"Thank you very much, ma'am." He said politely as he dug into his meal, and as he ate, he closed his eyes about his past.
In the past…
The Black Knight wandered into an open field, whistling to himself. "Wonder what I should have for supper…" He mumbled to himself.
As he kept walking, he stopped walking.
"I know you're out there." He said as he heard footsteps surrounding him as he looked around, seeing a lot of mercenaries around him.
"We have you now, Monster!"
"Let's see… one… two… three… four… five… agh, you moved, I gotta start over!"
"Get him while he's counting!"
"All at once?"
"YES, ALL AT ONCE!"
"Well, guess I'll count while I'm fighting you guys."
BGM: Uranus (Megadimension Neptunia VII)
The Black Knight prepared himself as they all charged at him at once with spears, swords, longswords or any other melee weapon as he got into a stance, his sword lighting up with a white glow as when they were within swinging distance, the Black Knight did a charged spin attack, cutting through everyone as blood splattered everywhere.
"Twenty…" He whispered as he proceeded to slash through a couple of mercenaries, cutting through their swords like they were butter as he cut through their chests as blood splattered on his armor.
He quickly turned around as some mercenaries threw their weapons at him as he ran ahead, deflecting them as he did jumped up and did a helm splitter on several mercenaries before landing, their heads split open as he turned around and shoved his sword behind him, impaling a mercenary as he swung his sword around and used the merc as a battering ram to knock his peers out, and were mercilessly slaughtered as well.
"Forty-Two."
A spear hit him in the back, but it simply bounced off of his armor as he turned around and cut through the perpetrator's neck as he got in a stance and slashed through several in a single slice, killing them instantly.
"You're gonna pay for that!" A mercenary yelled, swinging a sledgehammer at him, but he weaved his head and grabbed his face. "Mmmph… mmmph!" He whimpered as the Black Knight crushed his face with a tight grip, blood and eyeballs splattering as a few mercenaries felt sick to their stomach just watching it.
"Seventy."
The mercenaries kept coming for him, swinging with everything they had, but the Black Knight swiftly dealt with them, while a few mercenaries got a few hits in. The problem was, his armor was just too durable.
"Ninety-two. A hundred and eleven. A hundred and fifty."
The numbers swiftly dwindled as mercenaries were too prideful to back down and kept going at him until nothing remained.
End BGM
"...A hundred and ninety nine? Couldn't make it eve-"
Doink!
The Black Knight looked down, seeing an arrow harmlessly fall to the ground as it hit his helmet. He calmly looked up to see a shaking mercenary holding a crossbow. He looked terrified as he whimpered.
He slowly picked up the arrow. "Nice shot." He said as he walked over.
"No! Wait! Please! Have mercy! I HAVE A GIRLFRIE- HNNNNGH!" The arrow was shoved into his neck as he fell to the ground.
"Two hundred. …Aaaand I'm gonna have to wash all of this blood off." He said, casually brushing off some guts off of his armor as he walked off with a whistle. "Oh, definitely gonna have to wipe the blood off of my sword too."
Back in the present…
The Black Knight finished his meal as he chugged his drink. "Aaah…" He set the glass down and rubbed his stomach. "To think that this could be my last meal… I say that every time." He chuckled as he gripped his sword.
"Okay everyone!" A female mercenary spoke up. "We've had our meal, now we are fully nourished so we can take down Red." She said. "Now, here's what I suggest we do-"
Everyone, minus the Black Knight as he had opted to listen in, gathered around and explained what to do. Once they finished, one of the mercs turned to face the Black Knight.
"Did you get all that, bud?"
"First off, I'm not your "bud". Second of all, yes." He said as he stood up, strapped his sword to his back and walked off. "Just don't get in my way."
He walked through the doors.
"Sheesh… he's a peach…" One of the female mercs mumbled.
"Does he even have friends?" Another wondered.
"With that attitude, probably not."
It was around midnight where they all hid amongst the trees and shrubbery, lying in wait. A soft red glow suddenly appeared in front of them.
"There it is!" One of the mercs exclaimed.
"Take it down!"
All the mercenaries charged at the red light, letting out war cries as they went to take down the Grimm… however, as they got closer to the red light, they all slowed down and stopped where they would see it was a red blinking light on the ground.
"...What's the hold up?" One of the mercenaries asked.
"Uh… they said it glowed in the dark with a vibrant red color, right?"
"Yeah… what the hell is going on?" Another wondered, all of them unaware of the Grimm behind them, having used a trap to lure everyone out.
The Black Knight gasped, realization hitting him like a sack of boulders as he turned around. "IT'S BEHIND US!" He yelled as the Grimm roared and swiped at a few mercenaries, killing them instantly.
BGM: Aria - Instrumental (Berserk)
The moonlight shined down on the beast, revealing what it looked like. A skeletal beast covered in crimson blood that constantly dripped with its spider-like legs. It had a massive whip-like tail as it also had large claws for hands, the "fingers" shaped like large sickles. Its mouth had fangs and dripped saliva while having pupil-less eyes.
The Grimm Champion - Red
The Grimm let out a demonic screech, picking off the deceased and popping them into its mouth like olives. It gave a sadistic smirk.
"Well, don't just stand there gawking at it! ATTACK!" A mercenary yelled as they all charged at the beast as several mecenaries slashed through the legs while a few shot their crossbows in the empty eyes.
Red seemingly chuckled and opened its mouth, seemingly sucking in air but in reality, he was simply sucking in their souls, leaving the ones at its legs to fall over dead. One desperately tried to hold on but to no avail.
The Black Knight flanked the Grimm, climbing up on a tree and launching off, landing on top of its back and nearly slipping due to the slippery blood. The Grimm growled in slight annoyance as spikes launched up from its spine to try and impale the Black Knight but he was able to avoid it, though he nearly fell off.
The tail moved in a snake-like fashion as it proceeded to try and smack the Black Knight off of him but he deflected the tail and turned around, slashing at the neck to the point where Red grabbed a hold of him and slammed him into the ground, raising his sickle fingers and thrusted down to try and impale him, but a female mercenary came in with a spear and stabbed the hand, pushing it back as the Black Knight got back up, rolling out of the way as the other hand swooped in and cut the mercenary in half.
The Black Knight got back up and jumped away to avoid the sickle claws as he watched his fellow merc get her soul taken out as the Grimm launched high into the air after bending its knees and then landing on top of some mercs, skewering them with his spider-y legs instantly, shaking off the bodies before doing a sweep with its tail, beheading two female mercs.
With a growl, the Black Knight lunged forward and slashed at the legs, making the big Grimm stumble as the Black Knight cut underneath the stomach as blood dropped on top of him, then he unleashing a jumping slash that knocked the Grimm back a bit as he did a swinging spin next.
The Black Knight ran forward, gripping his sword with two hands as he let out a cry and slashed as hard as he could while jumping, hitting the side of the beast. Red growled and smacked the Black Knight away with his tail, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Nnnngh!" He grunted as he got back up, seeing that his chest armor was dented severely by the tail. "...Heh… heheheh. Oh, I haven't had this much fun in a while!" He said with a hint of excitement as he charged forward as bodies flew past him, blood splattering everywhere as heads or limbs flew about from the destructive nature of Red.
Red shoved his sickle hands into the ground, where sawblades suddenly shot out of the ground and cut through a merc's feet. "Aaaagh!" He cried as he fell on his back. "Ooomph!" He grunted as he turned his head to see a sawblade coming for him.
He let out a shriek… when suddenly The Black Knight swung down and destroyed the sawblade, which was enough to make the Grimm cry out. He immediately ran forward, leaving the merc behind.
"Th-thank you Black Kni- blaaaaaaaaagh!" He cried out as another sawblade came up from underneath his back and tore through him.
Red swung his tail, but the Black Knight deflected the tail and jumped up, swinging his sword down and hit Red on the forehead, then sliding down while using his sword to cut through his face before landing on the ground. The Grimm shrieked before grabbing him, snarling at him.
"Hoo, you need some air freshener for that breath of yours!" The Black Knight taunted as a female merc with a longsword came in and slashed through the arm to free the Black Knight. The Grimm cried out… before it grew another limb and crushed the female merc with its sickle hand while backhanding the Black Knight away.
The Black Knight rolled his shoulders as he ran forward, dragging his sword to the ground as he let out a war cry and slashed through the legs before slashing up on the chin. The Grimm snarled, wondering how this damnable Knight was still alive as he swiped at it with it's sickle claws but the Black Knight deflected them and swung a few times before doing a spiraling uppercut with his sword, stabbing through his neck.
Red growled, grabbing a hold of him and slammed him into the ground a few times before throwing him toward some mercs before he slammed into a tree. "Agh!"
Red smirked, seemingly chuckling while taunting him before moving toward the other mercenaries, getting struck by all as he swiped at them.
End BGM
"Uuuungh…" The Black Knight groaned as he slowly got up, his armor falling apart until his helmet remained. He took off his helmet, leaning against his sword for support as he coughed up blood.
Underneath his armor was a black jacket with a collar up to his upper neck as his jacket had white outlines on his sleeves and back of the jacket. He also wore long black pants with a belt buckle.
"Hah… hah… so this is it… my last battle against this damnable Grimm…"
He smirked.
"Let's make it a hell of a good one." He said as he stood up defiantly, gripping his sword as he looked down to see a longsword that was blasted away by the Grimm. He slowly picked it up with his other hand.
"Alright, you bastard…"
BGM: Gunland (Sword Art Online)
"I'm staining this forest with YOUR blood!"
He charged forward, quickly running past his fallen mercs as he leaped into the air. "HEY CRIMSON! YOU FORGOT SOMEONE!" He yelled, slashing through the Grimm as he slid on the ground.
"Who's that?" A mercenary wondered.
"Wait, that sword… that's the Black Knight unarmored!"
Red turned to the Black Knight, growling. He was completely irritated by this human that was desperate to stay alive, not to mention stubborn enough not to get his soul eaten. Red swiped at the Black Knight but he slid underneath the sickle claws as he sprung upward and cross slashed underneath him, delivering strong powerful blows as both swords glowed with power, striking him to the side.
The Grimm responded by swinging his tail, but the Black Knight swiftly cross countered as the tail struck his shoulder, his aura flickering from the stab wound… but he was determined as he blocked the attacks from the tail as Red proceeded to swipe down with his claws, forcing the Black Knight to use both swords to counter and block the hands, leaving him wide open for him to skewer him through the gut, his aura shattering.
"Gragh…!" He grunted, coughing out blood as it pulled away as it went for the head… but the Black Knight parried him and then cross slashed upward, cutting the tail off of the beast as Red roared angrily in pain as a crossbow merc quickly grabbed the tail, loaded it up into the crossbow and fired at the eye, making it shriek in agony.
The Black Knight ran through, letting out a loud cry as he cut through the spider legs to sever them, dropping the Grimm to the ground. The Grimm had already been softened up and weakened by the mercenaries. True, it may have cut through the Mercs like butter, but not even Grimm Champions were immune to getting softened up from a raid mob, even if it dealt the first strike.
Red fell to the ground with a loud thud as all the mercs that were left threw their spears and fired arrows at the beast as The Black Knight cut through the arms before jumping into the air, the swords glowing high in power.
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed, cutting through Red's neck and severed it from his body, making the rest of him fall limp as the Black Knight landed on the ground behind it as Red started to fade away.
End BGM
The remaining mercenaries cheered, raising their arms in victory as they hugged one another or shook each other's hands with a smile.
As for the Black Knight… he collapsed. Something that the Mercenaries took notice of as they quickly surrounded him.
"Hey… hey, you're gonna be okay. Someone get this man to a hospital!"
"No…" The Black Knight said with labored breaths. "I've been diagnosed with a terrible disease several months back… that I would have… a few months left to live. This… was my last fight…"
Their eyes widened in shock as they knelt down, a female cradling him in her arms as everyone surrounded him.
"Can you… tell us your name?" A young mercenary asked, as he was the same young mercenary that had asked him before. "I know you told me it wasn't important, but-"
"No… heheh… you deserve to know…" He softly smiled. "My name… my name is Kazuto."
BGM: A Tender Feeling (Sword Art Online)
"Kazuto…" A teenage merc mused. "Did you… did you have any friends?"
"Back then, I did… there was this cute girl that would always get under my skin because she would playfully call me "Kirito" just to get a rise out of me…" He coughed out some blood. "...I ended up marryin' her, if you could believe it…"
"Because you liked her?"
"Nah, we would always get under each other's skin. Guess you can say that's true love…" He chuckled as he coughed again. "One day as I was doing work… my wife had suddenly fallen ill. When I caught word, I hurried home as quick as I could… but she was gone the moment I stepped into my home. My relationship with my daughter was… strained as a result. She blamed me for not coming home sooner to take care of her. Because of that… she left… I hadn't seen her since…"
"So you were all alone?"
"I was angry… and because of that, I… got rageful to the point I stopped holding my punches… my friends called me "Guts" because of how much blood I've spilled after that…"
The girl that was holding Kazuto frowned with tears forming in her eyes. "You… you poor man…"
"Not only was I doing that… I was hoping I would find my daughter again just to make amends. I could never find her… my second biggest regret… was letting Yui go. My biggest was leaving the day my wife got ill…"
He softly smiled. "Still… if she was here right now… I would tell her that I still love her… but I don't think she loves me back after an unforeseen circumstance out of my control…"
He coughed harshly, more blood coming out. "What I wouldn't give… to give them both one last hug… I've lived my life as an empty shell of a man that I once was… all these years, I've felt nothing… but now I can… finally live… in peace…"
He raised his arm up toward the sky. "I… I can't tell if the light I'm seeing is daylight or this is truly the end… hahahahaha…" He coughed once more. "...Asuna… you… you look beautiful…"
His arm fell limp.
Everyone closed their eyes for the fallen Black Knight, all the while the lady that was holding Kazuto in her arms was trembling as tears started to fall.
"I… I forgive you…"
A tear escaped her eye as it landed on Kazuto's cheek.
"...Father…"
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Starting the year off with a bang!
Ibuki: Awww... the ending... *sniffles*
Deadpool: So that was the third Grimm Champion? Wonder what the fourth is like...
We'll see. But anyway, this Gaiden idea was all Wyvern's!