Book II: The King's Dilemma

Chapter 54

Weiss Schnee looked down upon the sea of Grimm which swarmed over the ruins of the Schnee Manor. The frosty winds of Atlas whipped against her face, causing her to squint.

"Seraph Schnee, would you like us to drop you off here?"

"Yes. My sister is here. Continue clearing the far northern side with Penny Polendina, and relay this message to the other battalion as well."

To her surprise, Percy had sent two full battalions under her command to aid Atlas. This was her first time being thrust into a commander position like this, but she wasn't about to let that deter her. She had a duty to protect her homeland.

"Understood."

She leaped off the bullhead into the wind, her suit already activated. The heiress' eyes narrowed as she dove down.

Something was strange. Below, she could see the faint dot that was her elder sister, and something—no, someone else, that she was engaged with in battle. The amount of Grimm was awfully low in this area, which was why she had directed the two battalions to the more densely populated areas.

She used her glyphs to land gracefully on the ground, only to find two blurs engaged in battle. One of them was Winter and the other…

Those fluorescent-colored, swirling eyes. The loud, crazed laugh. The dozens of Grimm sashes attacked relentlessly, from every which way.

Dread pooled low in her gut. An unsettling, eerie feeling began to overtake her as she tried to confirm who it was.

Yes, that was her. It was undoubtedly her.

Her sister's opponent was the woman who had nearly killed Pyrrha during the Battle of Shion.

Lower Apostle Two.

Discordia.

But Winter was different, too. Her eyes were a blazing blue—she had become a Maiden.

Blue clashed with black, but Winter was newly anointed and did not have full grasp over her powers.

Watching the black overwhelm the blue to a dangerous level—

"Winter!" Without thinking, she burst forth with Myrtenaster, firing more ice dust. Maybe it wasn't the best choice of dust at the moment, but if it was Winter, she would know who it was, simply based on the ice dust.

With the accuracy of a piercing arrow, she cut straight through, using several blue glyphs that appeared in her wake, slowing her momentum once she reached the other side.

"Weiss!? What are you doing here?"

Weiss, seeing her big sister safe, let out a small breath.

"Percy sent me from Mistral along with reinforcements," she half-lied. She didn't want her to know that she had essentially forced her way out of Mistral. "I'm here to help."

Winter bit her lip as if she were debating whether or not to let her younger sister stay here, in this battle. But it didn't matter. Weiss was already here, and she wouldn't abandon her elder sister. Life had separated them once already; she would not let that happen again. From now on, they would be together. Like it always should have been.

"The Schnee Sisters? Two at once will be quite the delight."

Almost as if being reminded of the current situation, the two of them refocused on their singular, shared opponent.

"Be careful, she has a semblance that sucks your aura."

Weiss nodded. After what had happened with Blake and Sun, everyone decided to share their intel on their opponents at the Battle of Shion. Everything that they could remember was divulged.

There was no warning. The masses of Grimm flesh darted toward them, swift as a bullet, coming from both sides, trying to sandwich her—trying to crush her.

They collided with the force of a moving bullet train, emitting a damp sound that contrasted its strength.

But she had already escaped the danger zone with her glyphs, granting her that same high-speed movement that she had used to cut through once before. Small sparks crackled in the wake of her combat boots skidding across the ground.

Winter was engaged in combat with Discordia herself, whereas the sashes were protecting the Lower Apostle Two, facing Weiss.

She'd read about that ability. It was hard to read the movement of the tentacles because they did not have joints. But… if she stayed alert, she could evade being touched by the tentacles with her high-speed glyphs. However, it still posed a large issue. If the situation continued to be the same…

The sashes struck again. Once more, she escaped with her speed glyphs, but—

Of course… she knew it!

At the direction she had evaded to… she found the enemy waiting. More tentacles shot toward her, and she

Avoiding the numerous Grimm limbs meant that her escape route became somewhat predictable. That heavy sensation of anxiety and dread settled and intensified in her gut.

She couldn't let it remain like this. Winter was getting overwhelmed by Discordia, who would press every advantage obtained with her poison-tipped whip. With an opponent like this, who had a thousand limbs, who you could not even afford to be grazed or touched by… there was no room to breathe for either of them, despite this being a two-on-one battle.

What should she do? Against these tentacles, Myrtenaster could not cut through them on her own. Pyrrha's blade dented upon contact with these. No, she needed to use her glyphs, to perhaps burst through a narrow opening and—

No, wait, should she charge Time Dilation, go around, and try to aid Winter in attacking Discordia herself? Maybe they could win if she was able to create an opening for Winter to use her entire maiden power. Even though she hadn't thought of a winning strategy…

No. She remembered Winter's words.

"Overthinking in the midst of battle is a bad habit. Keep things simple."

That was right. She shouldn't overthink. Just keep things simple, observe the enemy.

She needed to look—and see.

If she looked carefully and clearly enough… the best move would naturally reveal itself—

She hurled her rapier with all her might.

Myrtenaster accelerated. And so did she, following it with her fastest glyphs.

Her target… was the small of the back. Myrtenaster soared through the gaps of the sashes, but the last barrier prevented the rapier from reaching its target, easily deflecting it.

But the moment the tentacle made contact with the rapier—

Lightning coursed through the entire length of her body. Weiss had charged the rapier with lightning dust, causing it to conduct electricity.

It was a huge gamble, but, since Myrtenaster was made of tharium, the rapier didn't break! It was just as she had thought! Her rapier was of a stronger material than Pyrrha's blade. She could do this… creating an opening wasn't entirely impossible!

Just like she was switching railroad tracks, she came to a sudden halt using her glyphs, killing her inertia and changing her trajectory away from the tentacles. This should make sure she was fine—

She nearly bent backward, evading the tentacle that would have given her a concussion. Why was it so fast!?

Discordia had immediately adjusted and closed the distance in an instant.

That wasn't just physical ability. The Apostle's reactions, no… her judging speed—even her thought process was instantaneous.

Weiss made a run for it, speeding away, just out of the reach of the sashes.

"Winter, she's vulnerable to electricity!"

With this information, Winter should be able to use her maiden powers with lightning in order to lower their enemy's reaction time. She wasn't sure if her sister heard her until she responded a few moments later.

"Got it!"

But Discordia, facing her from a distance, had abruptly stopped moving.

-o-o-o-

Penny Polendina moved with the full grace of the huntress that she was, firing powerful energy beams left and right, exterminating the Grimm. She frowned, realizing that she had not heard from Winter in a while.

As she flew out of the reach of a Nevermore, she brought her hand to her earpiece.

"Winter, is everything alright?"

"I… might need some assistance."

Penny frowned again. It was not like Winter to admit that she needed assistance. She had just become the Winter Maiden, too. Was she facing a particularly powerful foe?

"I may be able to help. But my battery—"

"I understand," Winter's strained voice cut through. "Let the Mistralian battalions handle it. Recharge yourself first."

Facing this seemingly endless sea of Grimm on her own, Penny found that her battery was draining at a dangerous rate. It wasn't low just yet, but the rate itself was alarming. She was using too much of her energy, and needed to draw back to be more conservative.

The bullheads were also providing her with assistance, but for every two that they gunned down, four more took its place.

Winter was off in the distance, west of her position.

"No, I'll come to your location right now—Aghhh!"

Just as Penny was about to head off to assist Winter, a terrible roar shook the ground and vibrated the air. It was so loud, piercing like the sound of nails on a chalkboard amplified…

Her earpiece broke from the force, and Penny nearly spiraled out of control in the air. What was that?

She scanned the area. Her eyes widened.

No… it couldn't be.

But it was. Her eyes were not deceiving her.

Wyverns. Great, black wings that seemed to span the length of a thousand paces, accompanied by horrible roars. Each had six, reddish-yellow eyes.

These Wyverns were supposed to be incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that this type of Grimm was considered to be a myth by many people. And yet, here it was.

And it wasn't just one Wyvern. There were twelve of them. A dozen. Suddenly, it became clear where all the Grimm were spawning from. They had to eliminate the Wyverns, or there would be no way that they could recover.

Off in the distance, she saw the full might of Atlas' air fleet, sailing towards them. Leading the way was their flagship, the Avalon, which also held her charger. At least they had reinforcements.

But her earpiece was lost, and along with it, her channel with Winter. She had to hurry back toward the ship to grab a new earpiece; she would also take the time to recharge.

Communicating this with the Mistralian battalions, she headed off toward the ship, evading and shooting the airborne Grimm along the way.

Overhead, a large, blue sphere covered the sky.

-o-o-o-

"Thinking about what to do next?" Winter called out.

But even though she had asked, there was no response from the Apostle. If she wouldn't engage in conversation, then judging the battle was useless.

Winter moved to initiate. Seeing her, Weiss moved as well, in the same synchronous motion.

Sparks flew as her tharium swords contacted the tough hide of the tentacles. But before she knew it, more bore down on her, and the space she could maneuver in became narrower and narrower.

Using her glyphs in the same way that Weiss had…

Winter managed to escape the crushing space with her high-speed movement. She sent a counterattack: raging winds poured forth, scraping the tough hide of the Grimm sashes.

She was dealing a large amount of damage. Despite that, their opponent wasn't showing any signs of dodging or defending. Discordia must have believed that this level of attack wasn't a problem for her. In other words…

Without her conscious focus, the raging gales of wind ceased.

They were repairing. The scraped surface of the hide.

Because of that regenerative ability, this kind of attack wasn't a problem. Those sashes were part of Discordia's body… it might be considered her outer shell or carapace. Weiss had attacked them too, but it was repaired by this generation.

She tried to roughly gauge the skin of the sashes. There didn't seem to be any variation in thickness depending on the part—from what she could see so far, at least.

Discordia could attack with the Grimm sashes, her poison-tipped whip, and her pistol. If she made contact with anything, it would begin to melt, and even drain aura. These were the known methods of attack.

Moreover, Discordia would not take direct damage to her main body. Winter had observed this, as whenever she or Weiss attacked, the Apostle deflected with her tentacles. In other words, the main body could possibly be vulnerable.

But the sashes were so numerous that it was almost impossible to attack the main body without being deflected by the Grimm hide. Armor usually has gaps, where a blade could pass through. But the type they were facing at the moment could be considered a multi-layered armor. If their opponent was perfect, there were no gaps where damage could reach the main body. All paths to the interior were blocked.

This confirmed what Winter had tried with the winds from her maiden powers. Hitting anything would be extremely difficult. On top of that, they had to make sure that the enemy did not touch them with those sashes.

It seemed like the only effective method was pure destruction… they'd have to go with brute force.

Then, Discordia smiled widely. It was almost animalistic. The mere sight of it gave Winter shivers, which ran up and down her spine.

She started closing in. She had decided to attack the elder sister first, but the lightning, generated by Weiss' Myrtenaster, was chasing the Apostle. However, Discordia ignored the lightning and swung her whip at Winter.

Despite the sashes that she carried, Discordia was almost unbelievably fast. The whip came at her like a missile. Unsure if she could dodge completely, Winter moved backward and parried the poison-tipped whip with her sword.

What a tricky opponent. Even the whip behaved as if it were alive, an organism, and so Winter used her glyphs to put distance, ensuring that the whip was at maximum extension before carefully parrying the poison tip away again. If the whip latched onto her sword, it would be over.

After parrying three consecutive strikes, she took some distance. Her hand was trembling—no, it was numb. Of course, it wasn't because of Weiss' lightning dust. It must have been because she received Discordia's strike. Trying to block it would be impossible, then. Clashing her sword over and over again would be reckless.

No… no way. Her right sword had a small crack. That hadn't happened with the Grimm hide. The whip was made of a tougher material than even that.

No, that wasn't the right conclusion, either. Thinking back, the tip of the weapon had clashed against the broad side of her sword, ever so slightly. She had attempted to meet it with the sharpest part of her blade, but the whip had changed angles at the last second, placing enormous pressure on the flat part of her blade.

If they clashed again, the sword might break. She made the decision to drop her sword. The blade that she had been using since her graduation from Atlas Academy… fell to the icy tundra with a clatter. She had to abandon her old way of thinking.

Given the Apostle's regenerative ability, a hit-and-run strategy could put them at a disadvantage. They needed to stack high-powered attacks in quick succession and deliver a decisive blow to Discordia's main body.

Winter concluded that the only way they could win this fight was if she used her maiden power to its full potential. It was simple, but that was their immediate goal.

How effectively could they divert Discordia's attention in order to deliver a decisive blow?

In the end, it all came down to an opening. Because of that, they had to keep trying within their capabilities. Act, gather information, analyze… and then, formulate the equation to produce the decisive blow. Just as they had taught in Atlas.

She moved. And, even though they had never fought with one another before, her younger sister seemed to notice the change in her movements. And so Weiss' movements changed to match hers. You could say it was a sisterly connection.

And though she had never wanted Weiss to take this career path… here she was. Fighting alongside her.

And Winter couldn't be more proud.

They exchanged glances. Weiss maintained a position that always kept Discordia between them. The barrage of Grimm sash attacks continued, but having grown accustomed to the speed and style of the attacks, they both managed to handle them.

The Apostle was watching.

She was strangely quiet.

That was what she analyzed. There were no novel attacks with the whip. Aside from sensing, there seemed to be some degree of visual tracking. In that case, having someone constantly in her blind spot would be effective in creating doubt in her mind. To create an opening.

The desired outcome was clear. The only question now—was how to create the process leading to such an outcome…

While dodging, Winter continued observing. And Discordia was doing the same.

Those Grimm sashes… it was already concluded that she didn't feel any pain from the blades scraping the hide. There wasn't even the slightest reaction from her.

Winter's burst of fire and ice coated the sashes, damaging them. Again, the Apostle did not react, even though parts of the sashes were charred or frozen. Instead, those parts fell off…

A self-severing mechanism. Was it possible that they didn't have any sensory perception at all?

No, the lightning from before had stalled them. But was that the product of running through the entire body, or only the tentacles?

Just to confirm, Winter coated her blade in a blitz of lightning. But her novel powers were too much, and the resulting swing let loose a full slash, which was once again blocked by the Grimm sashes. However, this time, there was a reaction—the slightest, nearly imperceptible delay in returning to her normal state.

A good sixth sense and vision… also, excellent information processing and response abilities.

Winter needed to disrupt these. Shake them up and break through. Yes… the most effective attack was one she wouldn't expect.

But what could she use? If they had something Discordia hadn't seen before… that could be the opening they needed.

She glanced over, meeting her younger sister's eyes. While moving to disguise her signal, she pointed two fingers downward. Weiss acknowledged with her eyes. As expected, she really was proud of her sister.

First of all, they were at a disadvantage at long range.

So… they should create an opening to get closer. She generated ice in the air, pressurizing it until it exploded.

-o-o-o-

The countless tiny shards of ice exploded around Discordia. Subsequently, she was deprived of visibility.

However, her reaction was the opposite. Ignoring the current situation, the Lower Apostle Two had a wide smile on her face.

Ahh, the Sisters. They were truly dazzling.

The lightning was a weakness. Every time the Apostle received the attack, she paused slightly. This slight inaction allowed the enemy to take a significant advantage.

From the front, Winter Schnee generated arcs of lightning from her fingertips. From the back, the lightning dust from Weiss Schnee's rapier assaulted her.

But Discordia was not caught off guard.

As expected, the thunder struck twice to her back, but it was ignored by her. The Apostle had inferred this from the signal. Instead, she diverted all her attention to the Maiden.

The Maiden, Winter Schnee, with such extraordinary power not yet demonstrated before—it was of a similar type as her Goddess…

The lightning burnt nearly all of her Grimm sashes to a crisp. Due to the effects, her body was in a semi-paralytic state.

Thinking the Apostle didn't have time to defend, Weiss Schnee seized upon the chance to attack.

But all of it was a farce. From the very beginning, the Apostle had faked the lull in speed. The truth was that the Grimm sashes did not have any sensory perception in the first place. Fire, ice, wind, lightning, all of these could damage the Grimm membrane. However, none were superior. In other words, she had successfully lulled them into a false way of thinking.

And the remaining four Grimm sashes, which she had hidden behind her back, accelerated like a dart, toward the younger Schnee sister.

A horrid shout, full of emotion.

"Weiss!"

The girl's eyes widened, and she tried to change her trajectory with her glyphs, but Discordia needed only one limb to latch onto, and she connected. The rabbit had been caught in the trap.

That rush of power, that rush of aura, came flooding into her veins, the Apostle's senses tingling in that unpleasant yet pleasant feeling. But it wasn't at the same level as it was supposed to be. Something was strange.

A tharium suit? The aura was restricted from flowing outward, and it seemed as though the thing was protecting the girl. Regardless, the metal would take some time to dissolve with her semblance, Parasite—

Displeased, Discordia snarled, entrapping the younger Schnee sister further. However, the elder sister would not let this go unchecked. Winter Schnee unleashed a frosty torrent of ice toward her. With the rest of her limbs burnt to a crisp, Discordia was forced to let go of the younger sister.

Had the elder Schnee realized that the lightning was a mere farce? Or was it simply more natural for her to use ice instead of lightning? Perhaps it was both.

Haha… ha… ha…

What an interesting fight this was shaping up to be.

She would have the power of the Winter Maiden at all costs.

-o-o-o-

The Lower Apostle Two was emitting a murderous intent. However, Winter wouldn't say that she particularly wanted to kill them. There was a subtle difference in what she felt from them.

That was…

—simply a desire to kill. Something born out of the natural hierarchy of this world.

Winter had to admit, she was drained. That lightning attack… it had taken much out of her. It felt much easier and more natural to use ice rather than attempt to conduct lightning; whether that was a byproduct of being the Winter Maiden, or her own inherent affinity, she was not sure.

"Weiss, how is your aura?"

"It's in the yellow."

Suddenly, a strange feeling began to take hold in the back of Winter's mind, an idea. Had Discordia really been sent with only Grimm subordinates? Were there other Apostles? It was well-known that the Grimm were mindless, so it could not be true that the Apostles were the only subordinates here…

"Before our next attack… can you buy me some time?" She needed time to charge her mechanism, in the case of attacking an opening.

"If that's what you want, I'll do it. Sister."

"Thanks."

Now, thinking about it, maybe her attack timing… had been just slightly weak. Good grief, she really just had to blunder at the last moment… The next time, she would make sure to put all her marbles in the bowl.

In the first place, Winter Schnee wasn't as perfect as people might have thought. However…

At least, in front of her younger sister… for her sake, she would be perfect. Glancing to the side—Weiss was already stronger than she thought.

She had the strength to rise.

-o-o-o-

Even though they were fighting such a terrifying enemy, she wasn't afraid.

Because Winter was fighting alongside her. Sisters, together. They were together.

Her role was to create an opening for Winter, to draw Discordia's attention her way. But last time, the lightning dust didn't have the same effect as it had before. Had the Apostle adapted to the sensation? Should she switch dust types?

She resorted to firing the same dust anyway. The lightning strike was simply slashed away with the whip.

Seemingly matching her timing, Discordia also moved. The Apostle focused on the younger sister.

Winter was currently pursuing both her and Discordia.

For her sake, she had to do this properly!

She would do it. She would draw Discordia's attention here. Right now, she was being targeted.

Did the Apostle choose her target based on which was easier between Winter and her? Well, she got why, but… it was still irritating.

Nine out of the four sashes were targeting her. But, she felt like today, for some reason… her senses were unusually sharp.

She could read the distance between them. Quite clearly, that was.

However…

Huh? There was a thin, red line running across her sister's forehead, even though she should have avoided the tip. Eh? Somehow, the tip had cut through the thin layer of aura…

The wound seemed shallow, but—Winter, just now, she should have avoided the attack entirely—

"Weiss! Her whip has a lengthening mechanism!"

For once, her big sister raised her voice sharply.

What? No—

The poisoned tip struck her right eye.

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Next Chapter: March 15th

-thann