The battle of the gods continued.

Here Weiss, Nora, and Cinder all zipped around so fast, space continued to further warp around the entire planet. Widening the cracks in the atmosphere that were already there, creating spatial fissures in the air that ruptured all things everywhere at the same time. Uprooting trees, shattering the barks, lifting up heavy stones, burning away lakes and large parts of the oceans alike, all to vaporize them down to their last atoms.

And yet, the speed of the Maidens continued, catching up to Weiss – the Superman.

The faster they got, the faster she also adapted and adjusted. But what was also a big concern was the collateral damage. With Weiss still trying her best to coat the planet in her immense pool of Aura, protecting it from the godly shockwaves. With energies enough to destroy the entire universe ten times over, all contained here on this very planet.

Nora lifted her hammer once more, slamming it straight down toward Weiss, only to see her catch it with her bare hand. Just one right hand, while the other was busy blocking massive fireballs thrown from Cinder, cooling the flame with her overwhelming ice.

Meanwhile…

Back at the camp in the middle of the Forever Falls, the nomads were still in conflict with the Atlesian soldiers. The officers brought forth guns, and the people retaliated with makeshift weaponry of their own. Clubs, lances, farming equipment, and stolen rifles as well as pistols they crafted themselves.

"Get back you animals!" The Atlesian officers shouted. "I'm warning you!"

"I dare you, fucker!"

"I'm warning you!"

"Come get some, you piece of shit."

"You shitters better get back in line now! I won't repeat myself."

"You can't keep us locked up here."

"This is unconstitutional."

"Fuck your constitution."

"Fuck you fascist pigs!"

"I said get back!"

"You are all traitors! Get back!"

This continued on, blood now began to splatter all over the ground as the soldiers and the nomads started swinging. With the Atlesians striking them with the butt of the rifles, while the nomads retaliated with huge swings of their clubs.

Some soldiers were dragged into the crowd to be beaten to death, while some nomads were executed by the firing squads. And it was here – the officers were given orders to open fire.

The screams got louder and louder, now growing into bloody shrieks of men and women shielding one another from the rain of bullets.

This had happened once before.

Immortalized as a cosmic story that now echoed through all of time and space.

About five years ago, when Atlas invaded the Valley.

When Weiss flew through the sky to puncture the bell tower, Ironwood was down on the ground as the troops marched. Many rebels and Valean soldiers were captured. And among them were civilians as well. Casualty of war, as the reports would say. But here in this moment, wanting to be thorough – Ironwood commanded:

"Execute them all! Every – last – one – of – them!"

The Atlesian Huntsmen and soldiers opened fire on the people of the Valley. Their screams were drowned out by the gunfire, some of which were powerful enough to vaporize them into a puddle of flesh from the force of the Dust plasma. Extremely advanced technology.

This was recorded in greater detail in Ironwood's recordings he left for Weiss. This was what she was taught in her youth. As well as what many Atlesians were taught. All marks of General Ironwood, one of an iron heart, and an iron fist.

Jaune watched on as the fire of their rage burned stronger and stronger. Here, the rage of the tyrants was clear for all to see.

The nomads began retreating deeper into their camps. Dragging any remaining children back to their mothers and hiding behind the few men left alive. Some of them were still able to hold the Atlesian soldiers back from advancing any further. But the nomads' numbers were dwindling fast.

There, Jaune saw the rest of the people falling back behind that sword – that Myrtenaster. The one blade that weighed more than an entire mountain.

What Weiss once told him about the spirituality of Aura now began flooding back to Jaune. He still struggled to fully understand what it was she was really talking about, and he still wondered to this day how this was a part of his training. Plenty of other Huntsmen did not have to lift a sword this heavy, and they still turned out to be many of the most powerful men and women on the planet.

He now decided, however, that the idea of training could now no longer take priority. Not while the innocent people were dying.

So Jaune, right there and then, made a decision.

As the last of the tribal men were being slaughtered by the soldiers, and as Atlas itself began advancing deeper into the camp – Jaune stood there in front of the sword on the ground, the sword that no mortal on the planet could lift, with him now being the only one standing between the soldiers and the lives of the nomads.

They shouted:

"KILL THIS ONE!"

The rifles and Dust machine guns unloaded onto Jaune, kicking up a whole storm of dirt as the smoke from the blasts soaked the area into deep destruction. It cratered the very ground itself, which was surprising considering half of the soldiers were also unloading onto the nomads in the back fleeing back to their tents.

But once the smoke cleared, the officers and their lackeys discovered the most shocking thing they had seen all day.

None of the tribesmen were harmed, not one.

And instead, all the damage seemed to have gravitated toward a singular point. The point where Jaune was standing.

And there he stood, barely holding on to life with wounds decorating him from head to toe, forcing blood to paint his entire face. His Aura was flickering intensely, having now powered up to draw in every single bullet fired toward himself.

It devastated his body, dripping blood from his shoulders all the way down to his legs, with all of his limbs now barely holding onto their skeletal sockets. Chunks of flesh blasted everywhere despite him trying his best to coat his body in defensive Aura. But he was weak and inexperienced, so it could only deflect so much damage.

Despite the excruciating pain and blood being forced out of his throat – Jaune felt incredibly potent Aura coursing through his veins, in a powerful manner he had never felt before in his life. Like an endless well of water that went forever, deeper into the earth without limit.

"FIRE AGAIN!" The commanding Atlesian officers cried.

Thus, they opened fire once more, this time doing their best to make sure they were aiming away from the young man and deeper into the crowd of the nomads. Unloading not only the machine guns, but also heavier caliber missiles and grenades this time around.

And yet…

By this unexpected power – all the projectiles kept getting diverted elsewhere, focusing on a single point – right exactly where the young man still stood. Miraculously still on his feet, now blood oozing out of his body like multiple fountains. His shoulders now both dislocated, one eye was sealed shut from the bruises, the other could barely see from the blood flooding his face still.

The officers and soldiers were dumbfounded. Not even some of the strongest soldiers among them could still be standing after that whole barrage. Perhaps a Huntsman of some kind, but a young man? And a student no less.

And here, Jaune performed the most extraordinary feat yet – he folded his arms.

Letting the Aura pour out of his body and forcing the broken bones back into its place. Jaune stood back as tall as before. Still defiant and determined.

Under the young man's breath, beaten to a pulp, now barely audible to anybody, he then uttered a single word:

"Weiss…"

From thousands of miles away across on the other side of the planet where the gods continued to clash, Weiss heard Jaune's voice in the middle of the chaos that filled her ears. She had no idea why it was his voice she was able to hear. Despite the thousands of screams from the rioters, the explosion of the bombs, the artillery, the tanks approaching Vacuo, and yet – she still heard Jaune's voice.

Immediately turning her back against Nora and Cinder, Weiss flew off into the distance, back to Vale.

"Oh no, you don't!" Nora shouted as lightning exploded out of her eyes, blasting toward where Weiss was flying.

And surprisingly, the divine lightning was able to catch up to Weiss' ludicrous flying speed, knocking her out of the sky to then give Cinder enough time to build up a powerful fireball to toss toward the Superman. The fire came down, as big as a mountain, and there the explosion engulfed the land to a distance equivalent to an entire island, erupting like a nuclear bomb detonating at the heart of a furious volcano.

At the center of the blast, Weiss remained unharmed – covered from head to toe with her powerful defensive Aura. She continued to fly away.

But Nora and Cinder were fast, as they flew down trillions of times faster than light, they continued to strike at Weiss. With Nora letting the weight of her hammer down with divine anger. But once again, they were all blocked and dodged as Weiss skillfully evaded Cinder's fiery glass arrows all at the same time.

Now Weiss ignored the two of them again, flying further into the heart of the Valley.

Here she arrived, approaching the ground with such vigor that it shook the earth the nomads and the soldiers were standing on. The other two Maidens followed her shortly behind, arriving as they now saw a crowd of people in this large camp split into two sides.

On one side, being the soldiers, still holding tightly onto their rifles and weapons, but now with the fear of gods struck into their eyes as they witnessed the Superman floating here, above them.

On the other side, were the Kaisar tribesmen, standing in awe of not only the divine powers of three godly beings gracing them with their overwhelming presence, but they were also in shock at the young man who was still standing up straight – in front of Myrtenaster.

He stood there, refusing to collapse, as his breathing now slowed almost to a stop. His pupils were white and blank, and from here – Weiss could barely hear his heartbeat. And yet, he still stood there, like a statue. Perhaps unknowingly using the power of his Aura to force himself to stand on his shattered two legs, bleeding profusely and crushed into red flesh. His arms were still folded, and upon closer inspection, Weiss noticed that Jaune had bitten his own tongue, most likely to numb the pain of the countless bullets he had to take.

Floating over to him, Weiss laid her hands on the young man, and here in her powerful embrace – Jaune could finally subconsciously let go and fall deep into her grip, letting his own blood paint Weiss' white uniform, smearing it from his face, his arms.

She held Jaune closer to her, hugging him tight as a wave of emotions washed over her, emotions she was desperately trying to keep hidden, hunching over, letting the shadows fall over her face. The godly Aura around her, however, continued to rise and rise with everybody now feeling this very hidden anger. But it was anger accompanied by something else, perhaps anguish, or even regret.

She laid him down on the ground, before placing her hand on his chest, suddenly feeling a light beating of his heart. It was faint, but it was enough for her to then say to him solemnly:

"I'm sorry, Jaune. I'm so sorry."

Letting her own Aura fill Jaune up from head to toe, the healing power of her energies was enough to bring Jaune back from the brink of death. He was breathing once again, and his heart was now stable. Still in a coma, with many of his wounds still not yet closed. Because Weiss' attention was focused elsewhere, concentrating her anger toward everything around her.

"You," she pointed her finger at two of her soldiers, "take this young man away, he needs medical attention."

"Y… yes. Right away, Chancellor."

The two men saluted her, and immediately dragged him away, placing him on a stretcher and disappearing into the crowd of soldiers.

Then, turning back to the crowd, her blue eyes now shining with cold rage, with an expression powerful enough to shatter boulders. She floated upward, just before extending her hand to her blade Myrtenaster and pulling it out of the ground using her immense gravitational field. The rapier flew right into the palm of her hand like a thunderous shout, shaking the very earth as it left the soil and launched off the dirt into her grip.

Here, she declared out loud for everyone to hear:

"Execute them! Every – last – one – of – them!"

Here, the same tragedy of years long ago echoed once again as the Atlesians opened fire onto the crowd of people. Slaughtering the nomads in seconds. Everywhere, all around, for miles, all that could be heard was the blood-curdling screams of the people being torn apart by the Empire's powerful machines and rifles. Melting their flesh and bones into piles upon piles as the corpses fell on top of each other.

Staring back at Nora and Cinder, Weiss' eyes shined brightly with a rageful blue Aura, sparkling like icy diamonds.

This cold look was unsettling to both the Maidens, even in Cinder's insanity, she was unnerved by Weiss' invincibility. On the other hand, what Nora was most concerned about was the overwhelming strength of the Superman. The nomads were not her people, but Nora still clenched her fists in desperate anger, for she knew that if Weiss had her way, the Vacuans would be crushed under her heels just the same.

The three of them flew toward one another once more, now the battle of the gods continued.


Universe 2…

Glynda and Rubio fought in the middle of the burning rubble of Beacon. Mountains of corpses of Huntsmen and students all around, painting the pavement and white stones into something more impure, something more primordial. The violence of man.

The scythe and the sword had slashed at each other for hours now, and the rage of the steel continued to rise as the towers kept on collapsing all around. Ozymandias' troops were now beginning to expand beyond the confines of the school, out into neighboring areas, now that the vast majority of this universe's Beacon troops had been neutralized.

Rubio zipped behind Glynda using his ludicrous speed, only to then find the woman's body was protected by not only her Aura, but also another layer of Telekinesis passively protecting her on top of that as well. Her Semblance was absolute madness, with how much it was able to protect her in a 360-degree radius, leaving essentially no blind spot to strike against.

Using this opportunity to catch Rubio using her overwhelming gravity, she pulled him close, ready to strike, only for Rubio to zip away into the distance once more, too fast for her to pin him down for good.

"This stalemate is getting dull," Glynda shouted. "Give up. The God King's army is going to continue to spread, and there's nothing you can do about it. All I have to do is keep you busy here, and you'll lose."

"What's your endgame here, General?" Rubio asked. "Why go through the trouble of invading another universe?"

"There are things that go back further than you can imagine," Glynda explained. "Further than even I am aware. In the days of ancient scripture itself. In ages of myth, legends, stories scattered through time. The God King's plan had been in motion since before you and I were even born."

"Don't you go all high and mighty with me!"

Shaking her head, Glynda continued:

"Regardless, both the God King and I know one thing, the Superman is indeed stronger than both of these universes combined. She might even be older than our Lord God Ozymandias himself, as hard to believe as that sounds. If he were to fight her head-on, he would likely lose. He truly has no physical defenses. So we must resort to magick."

"You're talking about Oz's illusions?"

Glynda chuckled:

"Illusionary magick is far beyond what you understand it to be. It isn't merely about deception. It's about perception, not a singular person's perception, but everyone's perception of reality. Ozymandias has the power to change that very concept. If everything in the universe changes their perception of an apple, to see it as an orange, then by all accounts, that apple has changed completely on a subatomic level. The apple no longer exists. Do you understand?"

"Are you seriously suggesting Oz has the ability to warp reality itself?"

Now bursting out into laughter, Glynda could no longer contain herself, and instead, she held her sword and pointed it straight into the heavens, splitting the very clouds themselves with her gravity.

"The God King can do godly things beyond what you can imagine, you traitorous imbecile! Behold, the power of King Ozymandias obscured from you after all this time!"

As the clouds cleared, Rubio glanced up high, shocked to see something he had no answers for. Something he never expected, despite his future vision. He could offer no explanation except be in awe of what was coming down onto Remnant:

A gigantic burning hand. Coming down to this very planet.

Larger than the moon, larger than Remnant, and larger than the sun itself, growing even larger by the moment. And upon closer inspection, Rubio could see inside this cosmic hand that it was made out of tiny galaxies, galaxies that slowly formed into larger universes, countless of them. This thing's size was truly incomprehensible, too big to be contained.

"But… how?" Rubio stood there, "How did I not see this coming?"

"The God King's illusionary magick is strong. Stronger than your eyes."

"But how?"

"Did you forget?" Glynda smirked, "King Oz has future visions as well."

Far up in the Headmaster's tower, Ozymandias stood out on his balcony, here he began to cackle. A laugh so strong, that Mt. Glenn exploded the moment the sound of his voice traveled far and made contact with the stone.

In the palm of his hands, he held his green prophetic flames.

With the power of ancient pasts, powered by the divinity of Giants, as well as something else much more sinister – Ozymandias launched his green flame into space, forming a gigantic pillar of fire that spread as wide as the entire tower he was standing on, reaching so far up, it blasted straight into the palm of the burning giant hand, still coming down onto Remnant.

What Rubio began to notice, however, was that the green fire did not seem to be attacking the giant burning holy hand. No, instead, the green prophetic flame seemed to be drawing in the hand. Acting as a beacon of sort, allowing the hand to track Ozymandias' current location.

"Don't you recognize that hand, Rubio my boy?" Ozymandias' cackles echoed to Rubio's ears.

Surprised, he continued staring at the hand, now empowered by his Silver Eyes. He stared deeper into the red fires of the palm. Looking past the galaxies and stars making up the holy flesh, he was then shocked to see a warm light from within, a light he could hardly describe, and one he found difficult to fully make out the details of. Shining subtly behind the raging divine fire, here Rubio heard a sound he was all too familiar with.

A heartbeat.

"Is… is that…"

"That's right," said Glynda.

Staring at the burning hand, Rubio finally recognized:

"Mother?"

The prophecy of the stone had now commenced.


Universe 1938…

Weiss, Nora, and Cinder too had now begun to notice something strange in the sky. Coming from far above in the deep space far beyond. Something that came out of nowhere, almost as if it were intentionally obscured just mere moments before being revealed, like a magic trick.

Larger than the moon, larger than Remnant, and larger than the sun itself, growing even larger by the moment.

A gigantic burning hand. Coming down to this very planet.

"What on earth is that?" Cinder growled.

"How is this possible?" Nora looked in awe.

While Weiss remained silent, but feeling the anxiety washing over her now, as she struggled to understand how it was that a thing so massive could have been hidden from her powerful super vision.

Nora turned to Weiss in an instant, pointing her hammer at the Superman.

"Is this your doing?" She glared in rage. "Your immense gravity must be inviting this monstrosity. There is no other explanation."

"You really think I would have so little discipline to allow such a thing to happen?" Weiss asked, clenching her fists.

"No point in standing around speculating now, is there?" Cinder's grin appeared on her face once more, with her now conjuring up another fireball in her hand. "If this really is all because of her, then let's kill her and find out."

Not wasting another moment, Cinder tossed the fireball at Weiss, only for Weiss to instantly block it with her rapier, tossing it in the distance for it to explode to the size of an island.

Not knowing what else to do, Nora decided to not let this distract from the fight, thus she summoned another lightning bolt and launched it at Weiss, resuming the battle once more.

Weiss herself, however, was not in the mood.

But it did not seem like she had a choice.


Universe 2…

"Why are you doing this?" Rubio shouted. "Why would you destroy an alternate universe full of innocent people? Are you people mad?"

He struck Glynda once more, as he finished his sentence. Letting his heavy scythe fall on her sword before firing a massive sniper round off to launch himself off, creating distance between the two of them once again.

"Oh, Son of Summer," Ozymandias' voice echoed once more, "how you know so little."

Glynda also continued to laugh, explaining:

"The King knows Weiss is too strong for him, so we hide here, temporarily, so that Weiss cannot physically touch him. But you must know, Summer's burning hand is not here to destroy a single universe. The hand is divine judgment, judging against Zoz from ancient times. That hand is here to destroy every universe everywhere."

"WHAT?"

"Yes, Son of Summer," Ozymandias cackled. "Your mother is delivering judgment unto me for my sins. If that sentence is to carry out, then let her judgment destroy everything else as well. Including the universe the Atlesian Superman resides in."

"You're mad!"

"I have put illusions of myself in every possible alternate reality," Oz continued. "The hand will track my positions, and in the end, engulf everything in fire."

"No, you can't!" Rubio cried.

"It's too late, it can't be stopped! The prophecy cannot be stopped! Destiny comes, all will burn in divine fire. Die, Son of Summer!"

The hand grew larger and larger, brighter into a crimson fiery hue. Now shining too bright for mortals to even see properly.

Prophecy cometh.