Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.

The battle continued in Haven and everyone could hardly believe that it was Roman Torchwick who saved Weiss from a black glass spear that Cinder wanted to kill her with. After a brief exchange of words, Roman confidently walked towards Cinder, holding Melodic Cludgel in his hand.

Cinder just shot a fireball at the thug with an evil smile and as it hit Roman, it explosed but everyone, especially Cinder, was shocked by the fact that after the smoke cleared, Roman was standing in front of her without a scratch.

Suddenly, a purple force field appeared around him and it was clear that it was Mike's further developed Semblance that protected him from Cinder's fire. Roman, while Cinder just wondered angrily, fired a firebomb with Melodic Cludgel, which Cinder tried to block with a glass sword but the bomb exploded right into her face and knocked her back.

- Kid, - Roman yelled at Jaune. - come from there!

Jaune didn't quite understand what Roman's true intentions might be but he didn't have time to think about it, he just ran towards him.

- Then… - Weiss stood up leaning on Myrtenaster and looked curiously at Roman. - are you with us now?

- Don't worry, Ice Queen, - Roman was still intently focused on Cinder. – if you, me, Pooh and the kid join forces, we might have a chance against her.

- Dream on! – Cinder's eye started to burn again, she summoned fire into her human hand and prepared to taste the power of the Maiden with these incompetent kids and the traitor Roman but she had to stop the battle because of something much more interesting.

- Weiss, - Jaune turned to her worriedly. - are you okay?

- I'm fine. – She calmed the boy down and took his hand. - And for you, - She looked at Roman. - Thank you for saving me.

- We haven't made it yet, - Roman looked at the others who were still fighting. – so, let's not start to suck each other's d*ck yet.

- What's happening? - Mike noticed that Weiss' hands were still in Jaune's but apart from that, they were starting to glow.

- I don't know. - Jaune didn't understand why his hand was glowing. - I'm sorry! - He wanted to let go of Weiss's hand but she kept holding him, indicating that she wasn't hurt at all.

- Don't worry, - The light from his hand spread over her whole body and she was filled with a pleasant feeling. – as if my strength is coming back.

Nora and Ren fought Neo, who easily outwitted them. Nora simply couldn't hit the short girl with her hammer, constantly dodging her and landing several small blows on her when she was defenseless. Ren, on the other hand, was fast enough to keep up with Neo's speed but was unable to break through her defenses.

Nora tried from a distance instead, transforming her hammer into a grenade launcher and firing two grenades that sent pink smoke flying towards Neo but she just opened Hush, turning her back to the oncoming explosives and holding Hush towards them, shielding herself from the blast. She turned to face Ren, who opened fire with his submachine guns built into his blades but Neo, still holding Hush open, blocked the shots and approached Ren, then tried to land a blow but Ren dodged and successfully pushed Neo back into the air, who slowly descended with her parasol.

Before she could hit the ground, Nora lashed out at her with her hammer, hoping she wouldn't be able to outrun her but Neo pulled her lower body up, dodging Nora's strike and standing on the end of the hammer, before kicking her in the head from there.

Meanwhile, Oscar was still fighting with Leo, the old, worn headmaster simply couldn't keep up with the young and determined boy. In addition, the fact that Leo primarily used a ranged weapon made it very difficult to defend, which Oscar, who fought with Ozpin's staff, wasn't hesitated to take advantage of.

In the end, he managed to hit the headmaster hard on the head, causing him to somersault down the stairs in pain.

Lance was still fighting Hazel, the big man fighting with his bare hammer sized fists while Lance fought with his sword and shield. Lance struck first but Hazel caught his wrist but Lance tried to punch him with his shield but Hazel was faster and hit his shield with full force with his huge fist.

The blow was so strong that even Lance had to muster all his strength to stay on his feet but he was still forced to step back.

"This guy's strong," he panted to himself, he couldn't imagine anyone being able to fight him in physical strength.

Before the fight could continue, Leo, rolling down the stairs, slammed into Hazel, causing her to stagger back a bit while Leo landed squarely on the ground.

- That kid made a fool of you. - Hazel lifted the terrified and beaten headmaster with one hand and scolded him angrily.

- He's no ordinary child! - Leo immediately defended himself. - It's Ozpin! He's already reincarnated!

The moment he said that, Hazel, in complete shock and dismay let go of Leo and looked at Oscar, who worriedly ran over to the unconscious Ruby.

- Ozpin…?! – Hazel became extremely angry, started panting angrily and there was no trace of his calm, quiet self. - OZPIN! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HIDE FROM ME?!

- Hey! - Lance went at him from behind with his shield and managed to push the big, angry man forward with the force of surprise. – I'm your opponent! Lance stood in front of Ruby and Oscar defensively.

- GET OUT OF MY WAY! – Hazel threw a much more powerful blow at Lance, who, learning from what happened before, jumped back to avoid it.

Hazel tore off her jacket and left only his black t-shirt and reached into the pouches hanging on his side with both hands, from which he took two pure yellow Lightning Dusts.

- You will pay for what you did! - He was still focused on Ozpin. - You're going to die! Over and over again! Without stop! – The four bolts of lightning stabbed Dust in his arms, causing his veins to swell and glow yellow and spark. – AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH! - He roared angrily.

- Are… - Oscar muttered to himself in horror but he couldn't leave Ruby there but he wasn't sure Lance would have much of a chance. - are we fighting now?

Hazel went towards Oscar but Lance stood in his way again but Hazel was already so strong from the Dust embedded in his body that he knocked Lance's shield aside with a single punch, knocked his sword out of his hand and hit him full force. If Lance wasn't protected by his aura and wasn't wearing a helmet, he would have broken his neck but he just flew backwards and slammed into the wall.

Now that no one could stand in his way, Hazel was finally able to deal with Oscar, who raised his cane in horror, defensively but knowing that he didn't want Ruby, he thought it'd be wiser to lure from her.

As soon as he got close enough, Hazel struck him down but Qrow, seeing how much danger he was in, abandoned his battle with Raven and rushed to his aid. He picked up the boy in time and took him to the side. He took out Harbinger again and decided it would be smarter to turn it into a scythe instead.

- Ozpin is here?! - Cinder forgot about her own battle with Roman and the others after hearing Ozpin's name.

- Is this a problem? - Raven hoped the plan wouldn't change yet.

- I don't know. - Cinder didn't know what to do. - At the moment we have the advantage, it would be better not to waste it. - He turned to the director, who was just pulling himself together after his fight with Oscar. - Leo, open the Vault!

Leo obeyed, running to the white marble statue holding the podium, which had a gold chain around its neck, from which hung a round amulet, which had a socket and which clearly could be used to put something. He took out his pocket watch from his inner pocket, which he put into the socket, which caused the large hand to spin at lightning speed, until the small one reached 12 and then stopped.

The statue began to sink along with the podium as Cinder, Raven and Vernal stepped onto the podium.

- Make sure, - Cinder gave Leo one last order. – to keep Ruby alive. This won't take long.

They began to descend but Raven took one last look at the battle and shook her head in pity.

"They made this decision."

Yang was the first to notice that if no one came after them, Salem would get the relic.

- Stop them! - Jaune shouted as Yang was the only one who could get there in time.

Yang did so and started to run, pushing herself with Ember Celica but Mercury stopped her with a kick.

- Do you want to get there? - She faced Emerald and Mercury, making it clear that they had no intention of letting her through. - You have to get over all of us first. – Emerald used her Semblance and summoned a dozen illusions of Mercury, which she didn't even know where to attack first.

An explosion of a rocket and a fireball startled them in Yang's hold, before they looked to the side to see Roman and Mike firing the shot.

- You are still very annoying! – Roman just pointed Melodic Cludgel towards them and it was clear that Mike was firing with What the Heck.

- You think you can stop us?! – Emerald was prepared to deal with all of them but suddenly, a blizzard started raging inside the building, Weiss regained some of her aura.

Hazel was still determined to catch Ozpin hiding in Oscar's body but the boy kept dodging his blows.

- No! – Oscar shouted to himself and then dodged another blow from Hazel. - I said no! – He looked to the side, as if his conversation partner was there but he was careless and Hazel took a blow to the stomach, which sent him flying backwards and crashing into a beam. - You said, - He didn't lose consciousness but he had an argue with Ozpin. – I have to fight my battles! - He stood up and prepared to fight the man again but he looked to the side again in confusion. - What does that mean?! What's his problem with you?

- He didn't tell my story, - He towered over Oscar. - right, boy? I thought you were aware of the evil within you and what happened between me. - He put his fists together, raised them towards his head and prepared to execute the boy in front of him. - Your blood will not dry on my hands but on his.

Qrow quickly jumped in front of him to protect him but the blow was so powerful that the shock wave knocked them both back. Qrow stood up and clashed with Hazel.

- What is he even talking about?! - Oscar wanted an answer as to why this insanely angry man wanted to kill him, along with Ozpin. - Why is he so upset?

- Tell him, Ozpin! - Hazel demanded, looking at Oscar as he shielded Harbinger's blade with his arm. - Tell him how you killed her!

- Her? – In Oscar's mind, Ozpin began to explain clearly and while this was happening, Oscar sadly and sympathetically lowered the cane and closed his eyes.

- Now you know! – Hazel tossed Qrow aside and headed towards Oscar again. – So, you understand why I'm going to do what I'm going to do!

- Did she... - Oscar demanded the answer. - Did she know the dangers of being a Huntress? - Hazel paused for a moment but shook his head angrily, still wanting blood.

- She was only a child! She wasn't ready!

- She made a decision! - Oscar raised his cane again. - A decision that she puts others before herself! - He prepared to fight to the end to protect his friends. - Just like me! - Hazel answered after a short pause.

- Then you chose death!

Oscar just waited but shook his head in confusion.

- What…? - His eyes flashed yellow for a moment, then he closed them, fell to his knees, then his features changed and he stared contemptuously at Hazel, making it clear that Oscar was no longer in control.

- OZPIN! – Hazel recognized him and wanted to kill him much more determinedly.

Ozpin was much faster and more experienced in combat than Oscar, so he was able to dodge his blows easily but Leo, who wanted to ambush Ozpin, wasn't going to make it easy for him.

Bang

A shot from the side startled Leo and he looked towards the sound of the shot, seeing Qrow stop him from harming the boy. Qrow charged at him but Leo was able to ward off Harbinger and push Qrow back, then started firing smaller fireballs, which he successfully dodged.

Ozpin was able to continue his fight undisturbed with Hazel, who tried to stomp on him but Ozpin jumped aside and managed to hit him twice in the head with his cane, causing Hazel to hit the ground in anger but Ozpin again jumped aside and headed for the stairs.

He leaped onto the wall, Hazel followed to flatten him but Ozpin leaped from it onto the banister of the stairs, landing another blow to his opponent's head and leaping away again. Hazel attacked again, Ozpin dodged, then landed a side hit on him, then half a hundred other smaller blows, then one last big one that knocked him back but he stayed on his feet, Ozpin somersaulted forward, between Hazel's legs and hit him hard on the knee with his staff, which caused the big man to fall to the ground and hit the floor angrily.

Yang was beyond words grateful for the help of Weiss, Mike, and Roman, as they were able to fight Emerald and Mercury much more effectively this way. Mercury attacked Roman and aimed a kick at his head but he blocked it with Melodic Cludgel but Mercury expected just that and jumped up with his other leg to kick Roman in the stomach but he blocked the kick of his metal leg with his fist.

- You've always been a tough little sh*t. – Roman's fist hurt from the kick.

- And you've always been a… - Mercury couldn't even finish his retort, because Yang's fist slammed into his face.

Yang, though she didn't trust Roman, she had to admit that his help came in very handy now.

Weiss tried to summon an ice creature again, but Emerald used her chain blade but Mike's purple force field got in the way of the weapon and she was surprised to notice that the fat boy wasn't only outside the shield but he was aiming for a long distance with What the Heck and a fired a small firebomb at her.

Emerald barely dodged the shot and was about to return fire but an ice hook wrapped around her arm and pulled her into the air and slammed her against the wall. As soon as she regained consciousness, she saw that Weiss had summoned a giant ice wasp Grimm that created a huge icy storm with the flapping of its wings.

- Ruby, - Jaune rushed over to the girl who had just regained consciousness. - are you okay?!

- Ren and Nora! – Ruby worriedly looked behind Jaune's back and after he turned around, he could saw that his teammates were in quite a lot of trouble.

Neo cornered Ren and Nora without much difficulty and was about to execute one of them when a shot hit her and she dodged using her Semblance, which left a clone that shattered from the shot.

She turned and was annoyed to find that pathetic Jaune and Little Red stopped her. Jaune was the first to attack with his two-handed sword but Neo easily dodged his powerful but slow blows and knocked him back with a kick. She was about to continue her attack when Ruby appeared in front of her, using her scythe to push Neo back hard but she hooked Hush' hook into Crescent Rose's blade, then yanked it and the scythe flew out of Ruby's hand.

Neo just smiled slyly, knowing very well that Ruby was powerless without her scythe and attacked her, not expecting much resistance from her, however she was severely disappointed and surprised when Ruby grabbed her arm that she held Hush in and punched her into the fave, then pushed her back with a kick.

Neo angrily grabbed Hush, determined to make Ruby pay for tricking her like that but she didn't notice Jaune flanking her and Neo had to use her Semblance again to dodge him.

Still overusing Oscar's body, Ozpin dodged Hazel's blows but Leo managed to hit him, giving the large man a chance to hit him but Qrow pushed him aside in time and sacrificed himself to take Hazel's blow.

Cinder, Raven, and Vernal were on their way to the chamber of the Relic of Knowledge. Cinder was getting more and more excited, Raven didn't reveal anything about herself but Vernal was getting more and more nervous as they got deeper and deeper.

- Are you nervous? – Cinder asked excitedly, while Vernal tried to brave her gaze. - You're the first Maiden... in who knows how long to open the Vault. I think that's a pretty big deal. – She continued in her fake, honey-glazed voice. - Don't you feel honored?

- No. – Vernal tried to sound firm but Cinder could feel her fear. - I don't care at all. I only care about my tribe. My family. This power is a burden and not an honor. - Her words reminded her terribly of Raven's.

- You taught her quite well, Raven. - Cinder laughed and turned to Raven, who didn't answer.

They arrived, the barred door of the elevator opened and they saw the chamber. In the dark, underground depths stood a tree whose flowers were not only unopened, but glowed orange, but in front of the tree stood a rock platform, in front of which was a gate, the door of which was made of a yellow, flower-shaped, unknown material. A gray corridor led to the gate, with a wide blue stripe down the middle that crossed three large blue circles.

- Hm, - Cinder admitted. – fancier than the one in Beacon. I wonder if it does any extra tricks?

- Can we move on? - Raven just wanted to move on.

- After you. - Cinder's voice still sounded false as she ushered Raven and Vernal forward.

Raven signaled for Vernal to go ahead and then signaled to Cinder as she refused to turn her back on her. Cinder didn't mind, she went second, then Raven, after putting on her Grimm helmet, went last.

Vernal went in the middle, Raven on her right, and Cinder on her left but as soon as she got close to the first blue circle, a flower symbol in the middle started to glow brightly, then the whole circle, the other two, and the line that crossed them started to glow as well. The luminous flowers of the tree opened and their petals began to fall. One landed in Vernal's hand but evaporated.

- Are you having fun? - Cinder asked, amused.

- Vernal, - Raven, on the other hand, was stern. – concentrate!

- Oh, come on, Raven. - Cinder tried to calm her down. - Let her enjoy it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

- Then, - Vernal, when she reached the last circle, which stood in front of the yellow, luminous, flower gate, stopped. – how does it work?

- The Spring Maiden has to put her hand on the door and it opens. - Cinder explained. - For you. - She emphasized. - And only for you. After that, I walk into the chamber, no one else and get the relic. - She looked towards Raven suspiciously. - Is that clear?

- Yes. - Vernal replied.

- It doesn't matter to us. - Raven just put her hand on her hip. - Let's just get over it.

- All right. - Cinder acknowledged and looked towards the girl. - Vernal as soon as you're ready.

Vernal walked for the gate but her heart was pounding in her throat and he knew she couldn't turn back. Raven was just waiting for the right moment, she knew she had to cut Cinder down as soon as Vernal touched the gate, so she reached forward for the hilt of her sword as Cinder was still only looking ahead.

- You know, - Cinder spoke but her voice was still her usual fake one. - I've heard so many stories about you, Raven. - Raven pulled her arm back when she saw Cinder half turn towards her. - They say you are a cunning leader, - She explained with a smile. – how strong and smart you are. - Vernal's hand was only an inch away from the gate when Cinder looked at Raven a little disappointed. - What a shame it's a mistake. - She shot an icy projectile at Raven's leg, which began to cover her body.

- VERNAL... - Raven tried to warn the girl but the ice completely covered her body and she couldn't move.

Vernal turned quickly but something pushed her against the wall. She didn't understand what, since Cinder was still several meters away from her and it was impossible for her to have come here from so far away. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was a Grimm's hand that was stretched out long and the place where this monstrous arm came from was Cinder. Her own left arm.

She pierced her body with her claws, she began to bleed and the pain was so great that she couldn't move or even resist.

- It's not personal, my dear. - Cinder, holding Vernal captive by her Grimm arm and pulling Vernal towards her, stepped closer to her. - You're just not worthy of that power. – As soon as she reached her, she whispered in her ear. - But I am. – Her eye started to light up, her claws dug deeper into the girl's flesh, which made her scream loudly and then pushed her to the ground.

Raven gathered all her physical strength, aura and the power of the Maiden to break out of the captivity of Cinder's ice, which she caused to crack, however, while she was working on it, she helplessly listened to Vernal's screams in pain.

- So, - Cinder continued tormenting and torturing Vernal. - I will take what is mine. - Vernal's yelling began to subside as her resistance and body went limp and passed out. Cinder, after breaking all her resistance, would have started draining the Maiden power from her but to no avail, nothing happened. - What... - The light in her eye went out in terror and shock, as if she didn't understand what could have happened. - what happened!? Where is the power?!

Behind her she heard a pile of ice shards break and clang, the source of which was Raven as she broke free of her ice.

- You won't find it. - She took off her helmet. - Because Vernal is not the Spring Maiden. - She opened her eyes, which started to glow just like Cinder's, only red. – I am!

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