Damn, got three more chapters after this. Volume two has been a ride and it nearly took me a year. Despite the rush I made as well as the decision. I admit, I done it just to keep this story updated. Now, I am seeing the consequences of it.

I acknowledge the flaws of this story. You are going to expect me to change. Here is the thing. The only thing that I'll change are the schedules to release my stories. Doing this would certainly help the consistency of my writings (even though its bad and bland), I just wanted to keep all of you entertained.

Looking at the previous chapter, I thought of integrating what was meant to be chapter twenty-nine to be part of this chapter. That way, I can make up the word count. Think of it as a way to fix things up.

Oh, and if you're wondering about Ash being culturally shocked, I am still in the process of writing the second of the duology.

Also, I finally have a fanart commission done. Go check it out on my DeviantArt called 'A talk between friends' done by Echo129. Please go and give him your support.

With that, let's get on with the story.

Dark Souls: Embers of Remnant Volume II'

Twenty-Six

Battle of Mantle

The streets of Mantle have been filled with Chaos. Civilians ran all over the place while Grimm scattered everywhere from ground to air. Soldiers and Droids alike tried to quell the invading creatures. However, there seemed to be more to replace the recently killed Grimm before overpowering them due to the breached outer wall.

In another part of the city, a Single Sabyr quickly caught up to a lone girl running dearly for her life. Yet, as she glanced behind her, she saw the Grimm closing its distance, which only boosted her tired adrenaline. A loud thud could be heard as the Gimm was about to grasp its claws at her.

Naturally, the young girl stopped running and turned to see what had happened. There, she saw an armoured man on top of the Grimm's head with a unique-looking sword stabbed deep into it. Her savour then twisted his weapon before the Grimm could no longer move. He quickly pulled it out and jumped from the monster, where he looked at the youngster. "It isn't safe here. Go! I'll hold them off!" Ash warned her before a roar echoed throughout the area.

The girl quickly nodded before she retreated to a safe area. Once she left, the Unkindled promptly looked back at the location where more Sabyrs were pouring in. Seeing the sight caused him to pull out the Wolf Knight's Greatshield to ensure he would have extra protection. He rolled his shoulders as he readied himself. "This is going to be a long one."

Thanks to the new, unknown power the Wolf Knight's Greatsword gave, Ash slashed a single Sabyr with ease. When another ran up to him, he slashed upwards and proceeded to die in an instant. A third one crept behind him before it moved to lunge towards him. Fortunately, the Unkindled's Instinct made him lift the Great shield to block the attack before stabbing the creature. As it dissolved, he saw several more surrounding him, which only annoyed him. "Why won't you pick someone else?"

-Scene Change-

While Ash was busy dealing with his own set of Grimm, others were dealing with the same issue. So far, they have no problems with them.

In another part of the city, Blake is running from a Megoliath and three Ursai on each side of the giant before one near its hind leg is shoved away. As another Ursai nears the Faunus, it attempts to tackle her. Yet, she was quick enough to create a fire clone, and the Grimm tackled it so that it caught on fire before it died. The Faunus girl created another, but it was made out of lighting before moving to the side of the streets right as the second Ursai had the chance to tackle her. The third Ursai, having recovered from earlier, leaps towards her; she creates an ice clone, turns around in mid-air and fires her gun at the Ursa's head. It smashes into the ice clone before tumbling on the ground and is eventually crushed to death under the Megoliath's foot.

Though the Grimm chasing her has been reduced, Blake still had the Elephant chasing her, which slammed its body against a building nearby, causing it to break the windows on the ground floor and shaking loose some of the accumulated snow. The Grimm let out an angry trumpet as it nears her. Right before it swung its trunk, the Faunus uses her semblance once again to dodge the attack, causing it to run straight towards Elm, who used her semblance to root herself.

The Ace Operative awaited for the Megoliath within her reaching distance before grabbing its face, which creates a shockwave that shatters all surrounding windows. She then uses the Megoliath's momentum to lift it into the air and proceeds to hold it there.

On the other side of the street, Yang ran towards the Grimm before she fired her weapon that propelled her forwards. Once she went neat, she slides on her knees under the Megoliath before planting a series of sticky bombs on it and looked at the muscular Operative. "Now!"

Elm didn't need to be told twice. In an instant, she threw the Megoliath in the air and when it was high enough, the blonde brawler detonates the sticky bombs, killing it upon exploding. Upon that finishing move, the three girls took a moment to catch their breaths before turns to some civilians who hid behind a toppled car. "Head to the nearest shelter!" She ordered them, which immediately made them run away.

"Those shelters are gonna fill up soon." Yang warned them before they were out from hearing distance.

Seeing the civilians going to safety, Elm then told the two of their orders. "They're all we've got. We just have to hold off the Grimm." Just then, more Grimm appeared out of nowhere and ran towards them. Despite this optimism, Blake and Yang just looked at one another with concerned looks.

On top of one of the rooftops, Clover was talking to his voice communicator. "Okay, yes sir, understood, over and out."

Qrow, who was able to shoot down the Teryxes hovering above them, look back at his new friend. "New orders?"

The Ace Operative Leader looked back at him in confirmation. "Let's go." With that, both he and the other Huntsmen jumped off to head towards their objective.

-Scene Change-

As the fighting the Grimm is going on, the civilians of Mantle were surrounding Nora. Due to the Grimm being present, the lights for the streets surrounding the area begin turning red one by one, causing the scared citizens to be backed up against the walls.

"Take us to Atlas. We won't survive down here." The girl in a scarf demanded the Huntress.

"Why isn't Ironwood doing anything?" The male Faunus with horns asked.

Nora could see the panic in the civilian's eyes and tried to calm them down. "Please, everyone. We're doing our best. We will get you to safety. Just give us a little more time!"

All of a sudden, a oud ping noise, followed by a cyan glow. This made the civilians stop and look up at the wall, where a giant hologram screen showed Robyn. "Atlas, Mantle. I know you're scared. I'm here with General Ironwood, and we have a message for you."

Ash, who stabbed the Wolf Knight's Greatsword onto the ground while breathing heavily to catch his breath, heard that voice and turned to one of the screens to see the Happy Huntress Leader holding Ironwood's left which made their hands glow green. "What he has to say may sound unbelievable... but it is all true."

"An ancient and terrible evil lies outside of our Kingdom." Ironwood began to speak to his citizens. "It was responsible for the destruction of Beacon, the attack on Haven, and for the recent attacks on Mantle. This powerful force goes by the name of Salem. Salem seeks only to divide us. To turn us against each other. If she can incite hatred in us, then we will lure in the Grimm and destroy ourselves."

"Salem herself does not work alone. Her minions have invaded our very city." Robyn announced to them.

It was then the General revealed her minions' name to everyone. "Arthur Watts and Tyrian Callows. These men are the ones responsible for the recent murders in Mantle and for sabotaging the heating grid. But we cannot let ourselves give in to fear and panic. That is what she wants! Instead, we must unite, and fight back, together. Every single one of us!" He momentarily stop as he gave a thought to what he was about to say before resuming. "This, my friends, is why I was forced to divert resources from Mantle - for the Amity Communication Tower. mity Tower is now completed and ready to launch. It will re-establish all global communications and because the safety of every citizen is imperative. The council and I have decided to evacuate everyone in Mantle to Atlas. I am withdrawing all defenses from Amity in order to assist with repelling the Grimm in Mantle."

"We must put aside our differences and band together to defeat this threat." The Champion of Mantle advised her people. "I fully support General Ironwood's plan."

After hearing this speech, the citizens began to cheer in happiness, with one of them picking up a gun from a destroyed AK-200 and held it in the air.

-Scene Change-

While others were cheering, there were those who was angered by this. Tyrian punches a nearby wall in frustration. "The Grimm should have destroyed our enemies, not made them friends!"

The disgraced Doctor had a different thought. "Wait." He turns his scroll off and turns to his partner. "Our tin soldier's heart has cost him his mind. We need to keep their attention on Mantle for as long as possible."

This causes the Scorpion Faunus to grin crookedly. "You want more chaos than a Grimm invasion?"

Watts nodded, "If anyone on Remnant could deliver that, wouldn't it be you?" They both turn to a nearby screen, where Robyn began speaking which her face was completely blocked off by the Faunus's Mechanical Tail's Stinger. "If you've made it to your local shelter, stay put. Help is on the way. And for those of you in Sector 17, I'll be seeing you personally."

It was at this time Tyrian grin while he tapped his fingers together as he thought of something. "Come to think of it, I do have an idea."

-Scene Change-

In the apartment where Neo and Cinder were hiding, the latter was incensed by the sudden turn of events. "I can't believe those fools beat us here." She strides to the window, arms crossed. "Vacuo was our next target." She gazes out, her anger subsiding. "The timeline has shifted." She turns to the mute girl. "You said the farm boy has the Lamp?" The girl nods from her chair. "Find him, take it."

Neo stands up with attitude before striking an exaggerated shrugging pose while using her Semblance to look like Ruby. However, Cinder was in no mood for her interest. "No! We get what I need first! Then we get what we want! Now go!"

The mute girl turns away, and Cinder, wearing a smirk, approaches her. "Ironwood's been concealing the Winter Maiden for years. Tonight, I'm going to uncover her."

She takes the scroll off her hand, which earned her disappointment from Neo before she dropped her illusion of the red-hooded girl. Still, they needed to prioritise what was necessary. As she walks away, she uses her Semblance to transform into a particular armoured individual that Cinder immediately recognises. "Yes, you already informed me how they have a new member. But that isn't our top priority. Still, the general's predictable as his androids." She turns away before walking away. But not before giving the mute her order. "Threaten what he has, and he'll flock to protect it."

-Scene Change-

After that broadcast ended, Ash was able to catch his breathe. He pulled the sword out from the ground and put the blade on his resting stance. He was currently thinking about that speech earlier. "Revealing the enemies name and put your differences aside for the sake of moral boosting seems good for them. But—" He was interrupted by the sound of Grimm noises.

He turned around to see more Sabyrs just staring right at him while it emitted dark purple smoke emitting out from them. However, that did not interest him. Right beside them were humanoids that were black and grey scaled armour that had seen better days and had roots coming out of their shoulders. What caught his attention were the skull masks that stared right back at him.

This made him immediately go on a defensive stance as he already knew the situation he is in. "Great. To think the Abyss-infected Grimm were bad enough. Now, I have to deal with Darkwaiths!? I should have blocked off the mines without the General's approval. But I can't do anything now," He remembered fighting a handful of them back then and how he got killed multiple times as he lacked enough experience of fighting these enemies of the Abyss. Still, he may have enough experience, he had to be careful. "I need to be guarded at all times. These Darkwraiths are different the last time I had encountered one before."

He raised the Wolf Knight's Greatshield in front of him in a defensive stance. He had feeling there were going to be many likely due to how his Darksign now that he thought about it. "I didn't think of how my Darksign would have gotten their attention. No wonder many Grimm shifted their attention rather than me. Seems like this environment had disregarded my thoughts on being guarded at all times. However…"

The Unkindled Knight had a feeling that there are only a handful that are on the other areas of Mantle that were being dealt with by the others. Seeing in the situation he is in; he knew he had to let loose of holding back. I'm going to protect its people no matter what! Even if I were to be killed so easily!"

Insert Honkai Star Rail OST - Dramatic Irony

He puts the Greatshield onto his back and carries the Wolf Knight's Greatsword with his right. His left, however, had flames in it. He coats the blade in fire to deal more damage to these enemies infected by the abyss before putting the Wolf Knight's Greatshield back on. He waited patiently while his fingers were tapping on the hilt in expectation. "Let them attack first. Being the one to do it would only give them the advantage. As for the Darkwraiths…" He had plans for them. But for now, he would deal with the Grimm first.

This paid off when five Sabyrs rushed towards him before lunging. Before they could tackle him to the ground, he swung his Wolf Knight's Greatsword with ease so that it could decapitate them in one go. Two more rushed towards him. Ash raises his shield as he blocks one attack before fatally stabbing the other through its neck, killing it instantly. He quickly pulled out the sword before swinging his sword, which he was able to decapitate.

More Sabyrs appeared on the corners of the street. Yet, they were easily dealt with by either getting slashed, stabbed, or decapitated. In some instances, Unkindled was granted an opening to use his magic, where he placed a hand on the floor, where flames spurted from the ground around him. Those who rushed towards him had met their unfortunate end and were immediately engulfed in flames. As the fire died down, the Unkindled stood up and immediately saw more Grimm coming in his direction. Frustratedly, he gritted his teeth underneath his helmet as he put the Greatshield right in front as he readied for another round. "Great. Just when I thought I had the advantage, there seemed to be more of them." No matter, he is going to persist in fighting.

Just when the Grimm were approaching him, they stopped in their tracks. Ash didn't seem to notice any changes. Yet, he sensed as though they had been startled by something.

Honkai Star Rail OST Ends

The Abyss-infected Grimm took a few steps back to where the Unkindled stood before they proceeded to run away. He was left in a confused state. It only lasted for a moment, and he could turn around just in time as a Dark Wraith swung its sword towards him. He raised his greatshield just in time to block the attack. A few seconds later, he barely rolled to safety when another tried sneaking up on him from behind. He took a few steps and saw more of these Abyssal Knights drawing their sword before him. He narrowed his eyes while quickly coming up with a plan. "They seemed to attack me in one single go. Doesn't look sporadic or reckless. Something is definitely wrong…" He is going to think about that later.

For now, he will deal with them like he did before. Slinging the Greatshield onto his back, the Unkindled swapped his Wolf Knight's Greatsword for the Onyx Blade and swung it to emit black flames. He intently stared at the horde of the Abyss's Knights. "For now, I need to focus! Just one slip-up and that would be it!"

Insert Sekiro: Shadow's Die Twice OST - A Shinobi's War

A Dark Wraith made its way towards him at a fast pace. As it was a foot away, the Unkindled quickstepped to the side before striking the enemy on its left side And stabbing its head. Before dropping to the ground, he swung his black, flamed-coated sword to another, decapitating it. When he did that, he immediately rolled when a third Darwraith attempted to use a spell to drain his life force. Once he got to safety, Ash cast a Great lightning bolt to stun that enemy before using his sword to cut it in half.

Ash would have made another attack if he hadn't been slashed across the back when he got momentarily distracted, making him yelp in pain and surprise. In retaliation, the Unkindled hurled a flame that killed it upon impact. He raised his shields to block a flurry of unrelenting attacks from the Dark Wraiths, making him cast a blast that knocked them backwards; though they seemed unbothered by this, he Unkindled flicked his sword to reemit black flames and struck the incoming enemies.

In a sudden upset, they were able to block this attack. Ash didn't get the chance to react. He got punched in the sides, causing him to drop his sword before being punched in his face. They sent him flying a few feet away onto the wall, creating a small crater. Feeling slightly dazed, the Unkindled pulled himself out from the cate and landed on the ground. His vision was hazy, and he felt his head spin before he shook his head. Standing back up, he saw his Onyx Blade lying on the ground where the Dark Wraiths were. An irritated sigh escaped his lips. What he did was a horrible idea.

He got pretty reckless with his weapon, thinking it could easily take them as he once did…wait…An idea popped into his mind. He immediately knew what to do.

Ash emits flame in both hands and puts them onto the ground. As he did before, flame immediately surrounds the group of Dark Wraiths before they are engulfed in flames. Some perished in the process, while some were able to deflect the flames. As the firestorm died, he hurled multiple Great Chaos Fire Orbs to stun them before running to regain his Onyx Blade. He quickly picked up his lost weapon and stomped his right foot to the ground. Winter had taught him in their training session, so he firmly gripped and swung the blade handle. Mid-way through the attack, the blade ignited its black them before it bisected the remaining Dark Wraiths from their hips. The immensity of the flame caused them to be engulfed in fire before it eventually killed them.

Scanning around the area of the battlefield, the Unkindled felt as though he had killed them all. Pointing his blade to the ground, he leaned onto its handle and caught his breath. The fight against the Knights of the Abyss proved tiresome, which caused him to sweat underneath his Faraam Armour and breathe heavily. "That...was not what I wished this fight turned out to be." He admitted as he felt as though his puff was about to settle.

As this happened, he neglected a surviving Dark Wraith stalking him from the back. It carefully approached him and lifted its sword in the air. He heard the sound of armour rattling and turned around to see it swinging its sword down to him. Knowing he was too late to block the attack, the Unkindled had two options. Either quickstep backwards to safety or...

*BANG*

Sekiro OST Ends

Having someone save him in the nick of time and the Dark Wraith was shot in the head.

The Unkindled heard a gunshot behind him, followed by a Dark Wraith dropping onto the ground. He shifted from behind and saw Team RWBY, JNR, and four of the five Ace Operatives running towards him. "ASH!" The younger leader was the first to come up to him. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine." He assured her before looking at the others. "Why did you and the others come here? You know I can handle myself."

"We saw a large firestorm from far away," Blake told him, not knowing that he was the one that caused it.

Jaune can vouch for the Faunus. "We thought you were in danger."

"I was," The Unkindled informed them. He notices the others looking at the slain Dark Wraiths, "Ah, I take that you're looking at these Grimm?"

"Yes." The Former Heiress answered back. "I've never seen a Grim like this before. Let alone being shaped as a humanoid."

"They seemed to be more akin to humans," Ren pointed out, seeing the shape of its armour.

Luckily for the young teams, the Ace Operatives could answer their response. "Those are new types of Grimm," Vine explained in his usual tone. "Like those Aberrations, we call them the Humanoid variation."

"Humanoid variation?" Ash spoke with uncertainty. He looked back at the slain enemies before looking back at the others, "You call them that? The proper name is Dark Wraiths."

Marrow, who shook one of the slain Abyss Knights with his foot, caught wind of this and looked at him like everyone else. "You know them!?"

"I do. These types of Grimm were rare to encounter back from where I came from," Ash answered cautiously, not wanting to say something that raised suspicion. Just then, a thought came to mind. "These Dark wraiths seemed to be different. Their appearance is the same, but their ferocity…Something is definitely going on?"

Yang can't help but comment on Ash's knowledge of these new types of "Grimm". "You seemed to know a lot of them, huh?"

The Unkindled was about to open his mouth, but it was eventually interrupted when his and everyone's scrolls rang loudly, causing Blake to cover her ears. Naturally, he was not impressed by this timing. "Every time, just EVERY time I want to say something, I either get too dismissive or interrupted by something! Is this some cruel twist or is this some God who is so incompetent with their job!?" Even though the timing was poor, this was done so unexpectedly.

The Huntsman and Huntresses pick up the call and press the button. "I need you all in my office. Now." That was the urgent voice of General Ironwood, who immediately cut off communication right after making his demands. All looked at one another at this sudden order.

What could have made him call them back while evacuating the civilians of Mantle was still happening?

Oh-oh-oh damn! Something is about to happen next chapter. I can already see everyone expecting this to occur. Like, c'mon, Volume 7 happened ages ago. That and how the Dark Wraiths had finally made their appearance despite appearing in a previous iteration of chapter twenty-nine.

Can't believe I was so focused on A Hunter's Guide for Running a Hotel and Caboose's Guide to make Friends in Hell would overtake priorities of this story. Glad I was able to realise it soon.

On a more serious note, I am now accepting Beta Readers. So, if any of you are interested in reading the chapters early, then please PM me to let me know. That way, I can find ways to improve my writing.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter so far and please GIVE me constructive criticism so I can improve on next time. Other than that, I will see you all in the next update…