《Champions and Hunters: Two Worlds Collide》


 Chapter 1: Two Worlds

    Ruby was engaged in mortal combat with Neo on top of an Atlesian airship. Ruby swung her Crescent Rose swiftly, but Neo as agile as she is, continued to dodge using a variety tumbles, ducks, and jumps. Just as Neo backflipped far enough, Ruby impaled her scythe on the ship and shot using her Crescent Rose''s sniper function.


    The bullet landed squarely on Neo, but she burst into fragments, an illusion, and behind her, Roman Torchwick shot at Ruby using his cane. The bullet collided with Ruby and burst, knocking her back a few meters away. If not for impaling her scythe on the ship on time, she would''ve fallen from the ship and into a Grimm infested sky. Roman leisurely paced towards her, cane in hand.


    "Little red, little red," he said as he looked down on Ruby hanging on for dear life with a smug grin on his face. "You are just determined to be the hero of Vale, aren''t ya?"


    "What are you doing!?" Ruby questioned in exasperation. "Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"


    "That''s the plan!" Roman sneered as he pointed his gun-cane towards the head of Ruby. Using that as an opportunity, with her free hand, she knocked the cane aside and Roman lost his aim and shot at the ship''s exterior instead. At this unexpected action, Roman staggered forward, giving Ruby the chance to stand up and fight once more, only for Neo to quickly join back, vault over her and land an axe kick on the back of her head.


    Ruby stumbled down but quickly used the force of her fall to roll and quickly stand back on her feet, only to be met with two more kicks from Neo. She was able to block the first one with the long pole of her scythe, but the second kick landed squarely on her face. She staggered back for a moment and quickly got her head back together once she realized she was at the edge of the ship. A Grimm flew overhead her while she looked back on the two villains.


    "But why!?" she questioned more aggressively. "What do you get out of it!?"


    "You''re asking the wrong questions, Red!" Roman answered back, irritated at the teen. "It''s not what I have to gain. It''s that I can''t afford to lose."


    Ruby charged forward after she heard his answer. Roman gave his back to Neo as she vaults over him with one hand on his back, and using her legs to kick Ruby in retaliation, knocking her back. Ruby quickly recovered and charged once more, as did Neo. The both of them clashed, with Neo using Ruby''s scythe as a stepping stone, rising higher above her head. Ruby raised her scythe to block, only to have it pulled down by the handle of Neo''s umbrella, and with that as the start, Neo pulled more forcefully, disarming Ruby and flinging her behind her back in the process. And in a heartbeat, Neo spun quickly and gave a direct kick towards the undefended back of Ruby, pushing her towards Roman.


    Without letting this opportunity slide, Roman made a ferocious grin and brought his cane down while pressing on the trigger. The recoil it had made it bounce off the ship and towards Ruby at a frightening speed. It landed squarely on her face and ricocheted back towards Roman. He quickly grabbed a hold of the cane and with it on his hands, aimed towards Ruby and shot another round at her, knocking her back. Just as she was about to fall, she was able to hold on to a conveniently placed scythe that was lodged onto the ship. She looked down and saw Grimms, and an incredibly far ground. If she were to fall, she would no doubt, be killed by either the Grimms or the land.


    Roman approached her and said, "I may be a gambling man, but I know that there are some bets you just don''t take," with spite in his voice. Neo walked towards Ruby that was hanging on for dear life with the bladed tip of her umbrella being dragged on the ship''s exterior.


    "Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world," Roman said while Neo pointed the blade towards Ruby. "You can''t stop them, I can''t stop them, but you know the old saying, ''If you can''t beat them --''"


    While Roman was monologuing, Ruby was trying to find a way to get out of her predicament, and for heaven''s sake, she did. It came in the form of a button, a button that was located on the umbrella of Neo, and just as Roman was about to finish his monologue, Ruby reached out and clicked on it. Surprise apparent on her face, Neo gasped, held on and was sent flying away to God knows where.


    "NEO!" Roman exclaimed in shock, and looked towards Ruby with rage and hatred.


    "I don''t care what you say," declared Ruby as she climbed back on top of the ship. "We will stop them, and I will stop you¡­ BET ON THAT!!"


    In a split second, Ruby used her semblance to quickly dash towards Roman, leaving a trail of rose petals behind. As she dashed, Roman fired a stationary round (don''t ask me how), grabbed the end of the cane, used the handle to pick up said round, and launch it towards Ruby in a horizontal crescent arc. Ruby got hit and was sent flying back, but was able to recover mid-air and landed safely, only for Roman to continue his assault and hit her square on the jaw with his cane. And if that wasn''t enough, he stabbed the gunhole of the cane towards Ruby''s stomach and fired a round at point-blank range, sending her flying a few meters away, and causing Ruby to crash on the ship on her back.


    "You got spirit Red," praised Roman as he approached Ruby. "But this is the real world!" Roman whacked Ruby with his cane, making her fall on her back again.


    "The real world is cold!" Roman once again smacked the defenseless Ruby on the ground. "The real world doesn''t care about spirit!" Roman spat out in full irritation and anger as he swung his cane once more but Ruby was able to kick him in the shin before he was able to bring down the cane. He jumped back in pain but continued glaring at Ruby otherwise.


    "You wanna be a hero!?" Roman exclaimed with rage. "Then play the part and die like any of the Huntsmen in history!" And he quickly swung his cane towards the still groggy Ruby that was just able to get back up, knocking her down once more.


    "And as for me," Roman begun, "I''ll do what I do best. Lie. Steal. Cheat. And surviv ¨C"


    But just as Roman was about to finish his sentence, a Grimm landed on the ship and tried to eat him. Tried being the keyword.


    "Yoo hoo!! Over here!" A voice interrupted.


    <><><><><><><><><><><>


    In the vast cosmos of space, a huge dragon juggling three fireballs could be seen. It looked bored, incredibly bored, as if all the emotions and feelings it was currently feeling was just boredom and nothing else. Although it was planning on how to escape from the clutches of those who tricked it, right now was a rest time. Just as it was about to juggle another fireball, a portal opened up before him, and a little girl appeared.


    "Hey space dragon!" the little girl chided in a humerous tone. Her eyes held a mismatched color, with her right eye being purple, and her left eye being blue, her hair longer than her entire body, with colors blonde, pink and purple starting from her scalp to the tips of her strands. She was dressed in blue shorts and blue sleeveless top that exposes her navel and an amulet hanging from her neck with a goofy smile up on her face. "I found something interesting! Guess what it is!"


    "Again?" the enormous dragon bigger than a planet sighed, "As much as I like the company, well, not really, what could possibly be interesting at this moment?"


    "Come on! Guess! Please?" the girl pleaded with puppy eyes.


    "Oh for crying out loud," the dragon sighed even deeper. "Fine, I''ll follow along with your antics, but only this once."


    "Yay!" the girl cheered.


    "Is it a galaxy warring against another galaxy?" the dragon asked with a tired expression.


    "Nope," the girl answered.


    "Is it a galaxy being destroyed by a single planet?" the dragon asked once more.


    "Nuh uh," the girl responded.


    "Is it a giant ball of flame heading towards Runeterra?" the dragon asked with a little bit of expectancy in its voice, "Presumably Targon?"


    "That''s mean!" the girl exclaimed. "But still no!"


    "Then what?" the dragon seemingly not amused and bored.


    "A new planet!" the girl squealed in delight.


    "Uh huh¡­ So?" the dragon said in a voice of complete and utter lack of attention.


    "That''s just it, a new planet," the girl hummed a tune.


    "Ugh, enough." The dragon said. "Look, why don''t you crawl back into your little portal over there and bug another cosmic dragon that isn''t me? I''m busy."


    "Oh, but this time is different!" the girl answered with a star in her eyes. "I plan to merge it with my homeplanet."


    "Oh, now you have my attention," the dragon answered with a grin forming on its face. "But how will you do that? As you know language between planets are different."


    "Don''t worry about that!" the girl said with a smile. "Their language is the same back in my homeplanet!"


    "Oh, then I think you should go do it then," the dragon replied. "I don''t care what happens as long as it doesn''t affect my stars and gets rid of my boredom."


    "Yes!" the girl shrieked into the air. "This will be fun!"


    <><><><><><><><><><><>


    On the ground, Hunters and Huntresses were busy fighting the Grimm as well as the rogue Atlesian robots. One of the Huntresses, Professor Goodwitch, and another Hunter, Qrow, were those on the stronger side, making their enemies seem like small fries. While they were fighting however, another figure appeared. With half of his upper body metal and a gun in hand, he shot through the robots with ease and pinpoint accuracy, culling them all down in just a few seconds.


    "This area''s secure," said the figure known as General Ironwood, "We need to¡ª"


    But when Qrow''s gaze landed on him, his weapon changed from its sword form to its scythe form, and took a fighting stance.


    "Qrow, this isn''t my doing!" pleaded Ironwoord, but this did not stop Qrow. At the drop of a hat, Qrow charged forward, scraping the blade tip of his scythe on the asphalt. Ironwood reluctantly took a stance to defend himself from the oncoming attack, but it never came.


    Qrow leaped over Ironwood, and swung his scythe not towards Ironwood, but towards a Grimm drawing near behind him. The Grimm was split into two starting from the crown of its head to its crotch.


    "Hm," Qrow smirked at Ironwood. "You idiot, I know you didn''t do this."


    Ironwood, relieved at not having made a friend to an enemy, clasped his free hand on his head. Professor Goodwitch walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.


    "So what now, General?" Qrow asked.


    Ironwood took a moment before he began talking. "Someone''s done the impossible and took over my machines," Ironwood paused for a moment before continuing, "And that enormous Grimm seems to be fixated on the school."


    "Glynda," called Ironwood as he turned his head towards her direction. "Form all of the local Huntsmen and establish a safe zone here in Vale. We need to evacuate Beacon. Qrow, I''m leaving that to you and my men. I still need to get my ship."


    But after he finished his sentence, he found his ship floating just above them, wrapped in a bubble no less.


    "What the¡ª" Ironwood, too shocked to believe his eyes. The same could be said about Qrow and Goodwitch.


    "UNCLE QROOOOOWWW!!" and if things can''t seem to be any worse, a familiar face showed up, falling towards them at a frightening pace.


    "Kiddo!?" Qrow shockingly expressed. And just as he was about to try and catch her, Ruby landed safely on the ground thanks to her quick thinking. "What the hell were you doing in the General''s ship?"


    "No time to explain," said Ruby in a rushed manner. "We need to group up with the others at the school and evacuate them now!"


    "I was about to," said Qrow. "But seeing you like this, it seems the situation is dire than we thought. Care to explain kiddo?"


    "There''s no time Uncle Qrow!" shouted Ruby in a rushed voice. "Something dangerous appeared and is heading to Beacon right now! We need to ¡ª"


    But before Ruby could finish her sentence, a huge silhouette crashed down near Beacon from the sky. Although they were too far away to see it in person, its voice was another thing entirely.


    "MORTALS!! AATROX IS HERE, AND I WILL ANNIHILATE YOU ALL!!"


    "What the hell is that!?" Ironwood pressed Ruby for answers.


    "Oh no, it''s here," said Ruby in a horrified expression.


    "Kiddo, what the heck is that thing that landed near Beacon?" Qrow asked with a desperate voice while Glynda just stared at Ruby waiting for her answer.


    "I don''t know," Ruby said with a terrified voice. "But what I do know is that everyone will die if we don''t get them out there right now!"


    "Alright," Ironwood expressed. "Qrow, Glynda, prioritize the evacuation of Beacon. I''ll have to form the other Hunters instead to create a safe zone. Of course, I''ll have to disable all the robots first back at my shi-"


    While Ironwood was about to finish, he glanced up, only to see that his ship was nowhere in sight. Furthermore, all of the robots around them were deactivated moments ago.


    "¡­ Nevermind," said Ironwood after a brief pause. "Evacuate Beacon, Qrow, Glynda, and Miss Rose. I trust you all can do this."


    "Roger that," nodded Qrow in agreement.


    "Yes sir," Glynda added with anxiousness.


    "Yes sir!" said Ruby just a little bit panicky.


    And with that, the 4 of them split and headed towards their own destinations.


    <><><><><><><><><><>


    "First Red, now this!?" Roman Torchwick exclaimed in annoyance at the little girl floating around making a goofy face. "Look kid, I appreciate you saving my butt from that Grimm, but-"


    "Yay! It''s a success!" the little girl squealed in delight, interrupting Roman''s words. "And what better way to celebrate a success without mooncakes!"


    Saying this, the little girl grabbed some cakes by sticking in her hand from a portal that popped up in thin air. Seeing this, the two enemies, Roman and Ruby, had their jaws dropping in pure utter confusion and shock.


    "Hmm? Do you mortals like mooncakes too?" asked the girl with an expectant smile. "Then here you go, catch!" said the girl as she tossed some mooncakes their way.


    Ruby, too shocked to notice, had the mooncake splat on her face, making the little girl giggle in laughter. Roman on the other hand was able to react, but he thought that the object hurdling towards him was a weapon, so using his cane, he smacked it aside. This did nothing but anger the little girl.


    "Hey! Why did you do that!?" the girl screamed. "That was a perfectly good mooncake too!"


    "Shut it little girl," Roman spat out. "I have my business to attend to, and that is making little Red here, miserable. So if you would excuse m ¨C"


    Before Roman could adopt a stance to combat Ruby, a bubble headed his way, hitting him square in the face. The next thing that happened was that he fell asleep, falling on his back. Ruby, witnessing this firsthand had her mouth wide agape.


    "Serves him right, bleh!" mocked the little girl while blowing a raspberry.


    "U-um¡­ Excuse me," Ruby mustered up her courage to attempt conversation with this otherworldly person.


    "Yes, mortal?" the little girl had her attention towards Ruby, still shocked. "But before that, let''s exchange names!"


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there."Names¡­?" asked Ruby with anxiousness.


    "Yes names!" said the girl. "All mortals do that, right?"


    "¡­ Yes," Ruby said after a pause of trying to understand her words. "My name is Ruby Rose, how about you?"


    "Zoe!" said the girl with a giggle. "Oh, and by the way, you should prepare for what''s to come next," said Zoe while trying to suppress her laughter.


    "What''s about to come?" Ruby asked with more anxiousness than earlier.


    "Yes!" said Zoe with an ecstatic giggle. "By the way, have fun with the new world!"


    After having said that, she jumped into a portal right after putting a huge bubble around the ship. She also did some little mischief before she left, and that was dragging the unconscious Roman into a portal and sending him to who knows where. While all this happened, Ruby noticed a black dot slowly increasing in size. Although she did not have a good vision of this black dot, she knew, that this was what the girl, Zoe said about before she left, and this said dot, was ringing alarm bells in her mind.


    With that as an impetus, she leaped down from the ship along with her weapon, Crescent Rose, and saw some familiar faces.


    "UNCLE QROOOOOWWW!!"


    <><><><><><><><><><><>


    Back at Beacon Academy, the students were fighting against the rogue robots and Grimm. All of them exhausted from the fights, but to add salt to injury, another huge robot was advancing towards the exhausted students. The students braced themselves for what could possibly be their last day on Remnant, only for the robot to tumble down and let inertia take its place.


    "Hmm, that went better than expected," said Sun as he looked over the exhausted Weiss.


    "Weiss!" shouted a worried figure. The group looked on towards the approaching figure known as Yang. "You''re okay! Have you heard from Ruby?"


    As Weiss was too exhausted to even talk, all she could muster was a weak turn of the head informing Yang, ''No.''


    "What about Blake?" Yang asked.


    "She went after an Alpha," said Weiss after getting breath back into her lungs while pointing towards the direction where Blake headed, "and some members of the White Fang."


    "You meet with Ruby," said Yang in a resolved manner. "I''ll meet up with Blake."


    Yang headed off towards where Weiss pointed to and all Weiss could do was give a thumbs up as an agreement. But all of that relief, rest, and joy from surviving and protecting one another, went into smoke the next moment.


    A huge figure dropped from above. It towered more than 5 meters. It had huge red and black wings, and on its hand a giant sword that seemed to pulsate like a heart. It was black all over, with pitch black shoulderpads, gauntlets, and shinguards. On its head, two horns shooting upwards occupied the sides, and in its eyes, only carnage, destruction, and destruction is apparent.


    "MORTALS!! AATROX IS HERE, AND I WILL ANNIHILATE YOU ALL!!" an incredibly loud voice reverberated throughout the whole area and even beyond that.


    "What the hell¡­" said Sun in a murmur. It was also shared among the students that were awestruck towards the giant figure.


    "CARNAGE! DESTRUCTION! AND ANNIHILATION!!" shouted Aatrox as he swung the giant sword towards the students. The students quickly dodged with all their might, knowing that if they were hit with that swing, they would surely be cut into two.


    "ALL MORTALS WILL BOW BEFORE ME! AND DIE!" Aatrox swung his sword once more towards the fleeing students. Luckily, none were hit, but the same cannot be said about the tower. The sword slashed through the middle part of the tower, cleaving it in two. Near the tower flew an enormous Grimm, but as it was along the path of the sword, it too, was bisected along with the tower.


    It ushered a cry before falling down onto the ground in two parts, smoke rising from its body.


    "This is not good!" cried Sun. "Scatter! Get away from this monster!"


    All the students could do was run. If that enormous monster was able to bisect the tower and the enormous dragon Grimm in two with ease, then what could they do? Would they risk it and plan an all-out attack, knowing that there is an incredibly low probability to defeat it?


    The same could be said for Nora and Ren. With Nora''s inhuman strength, it could probably damage the monster, but who''s to say that it would completely stop the monster? The innocents were already being evacuated, so the area around the tower¡­ The area around the monster was already devoid of innocent life. Only the students stood in this place.


    Of course, while they ran though, they kept on shooting it with their ranged weapons, although doing so just irritated Aatrox.


    "INSECTS! THOSE PETTY WEAPONS CANNOT HURT ME!!" Aatrox leapt into the air and flew downwards faster than a jet plane, swinging his sword overhead towards a student.


    "Weiss!" screamed Neptune. The giant blade neared its target, only to be stopped by a glowing sword.


    "INSOLENT MORTAL! YOU DARE STOP MY ATTACK! YOU SHALL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!" Aatrox yelled and put more force into his arms. Weiss wasn''t able to hold out any longer and the glowing sword shattered, leaving Weiss undefended. Fortunately, stopping that attack for a second was enough to save Weiss from utter destruction.


    A figure dashed towards Weiss, leaving a trail of rose petals in its wake, knocking Weiss out of the way. The sword slammed down on the ground, creating a huge crater where the blade landed.


    "Weiss! Are you okay?" shouted the figure in worry.


    "R-Ruby?" Weiss said, dazed after almost losing consciousness from the expended energy.


    "Don''t worry Weiss, I''ll get you all out of this," Ruby reassured Weiss as she saw Weiss lose consciousness from exhaustion.


    "YOU MORTALS DARE TO DEFY ME!? I AM AATROX, THE DARKIN THAT WILL ANNAHILATE ALL OF YOU MORTALS!" Aatrox once again swung his blade, this time, in a horizontal arc. The students rushed to escape from the blade''s path, only to be met with more attacks from Aatrox himself.


    An infernal chain escaped Aatrox''s hand and binded an unlucky Neptune. Neptune screamed his lungs out, using every means possible to break out of its grasp, only to be pulled back from where he was hit. When he looked up however, he saw the huge monster about to slam into him from above.


    Neptune braced himself for death, life flashing before his eyes. His friends, teammates, and fellow students shrieked in horror as he saw the blade within inches before him. He closed his eyes, yet the blow never came. When he opened his eyes, he saw the blade just centimeters away from his nose.


    "A- Ahaha¡­" laughed Neptune in relief and fell on his butt with cold sweat pouring down his back.


    "Neptune!" called out one of his friends, Sun. "Are you alright?"


    "B- Barely," stuttered Neptune. "I could''ve died¡­"


    Neptune heaved a sigh of relief as he looked upon the golden blade, as well as its golden wielder.


    "What the hell happened?" asked Neptune in confusion as he wasn''t able to take a good look at what happened since he had his eyes closed.


    "Dunno," said Sun anxiously. "Something bright just fell out of the sky and landed on him. Next thing we know, he turned into that," declared Sun as he pointed towards the towering golden statue that was once known as Aatrox.


    "Don''t be relieved just yet," said another figure that just arrived behind the two of them. "We don''t know what that is, or what happened, but if that thing breaks free, then we''re in for a beating."


    "Uncle Qrow!" Ruby dashed towards Qrow as she let her voice heard. "You''re late!"


    "Well what can I do?" said Qrow in a sheepishly manner. "I''m not the one with a speed altering semblance, kiddo."


    "Well that''s enough dilly dallying," another figure replied towards the antics of the family. "We need to evacuate the premises immediately."


    "Wait, Professor Goodwitch!" shouted Ren. "Professor Ozpin, Jaune, and Pyrrha are still missing!"


    "It can''t be¡­" Goodwitch murmured. "All of you evacuate the premises immediately. Qrow, come with me."


    "So they''re gonna do it huh?" Qrow replied in a serious manner. "Kiddo, I''ll let you handle things up here. Do not follow us, you hear me?"


    "But!" Ruby answered back.


    "No buts," Qrow said in a rushed tone. "Don''t worry, we''ll get your friends back, just stay up here, evacuate, and help the others."


    "¡­ All right," Ruby hesitantly nodded.


    "Good," Qrow nodded back. "Glynda, I take it they both down there?"


    "Yes, they are," Goodwitch replied in a serious tone.


    "Then we''re off kiddo," said Qrow with a grin towards Ruby. "And remember, do not follow us."


    Ruby watched the two of them leave towards the tower. She wanted to go, painfully so if it means she could save her friends. But her uncle was right. The people up here also needs saving, much more so for her exhausted friends.


    "By the way, where are Blake and Yang?"


    <><><><><><><><><><><>


    "This could''ve been our day!" spat out Adam towards the downed Blake. "Can''t you see that!?"


    "I never wanted this!" Blake answered back with frustration as she tried to stand up. "I wanted equality! I wanted peace!"


    Her signature weapon, Gambol Shroud changed into its range counterpart as she knelt before Adam and shot at him. Adam quickly blocked it by partially unsheathing his blade to block the incoming bullets.


    "What you want," Adam sheathed his sword back into its scabbard and, "Is impossible!" slapped Blake across her cheek using the back of his hand knocking her back down on the floor. She let out a groan as she slammed back down on the ground.


    "But I understand," begun Adam. "Because all I want, is you, Blake."


    Blake gripped her weapon in hand, planning for an attack, only to be met with a kick from Adam, knocking it aside as well as hitting Blake again.


    "And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves," Adam spat out in anger as he knelt before the lying Blake. "I will make it my mission, to destroy everything, you love."


    "Blaaaake!" a voice in the distance caught the two''s attention. And then a blonde haired girl appeared right outside the broken window, attacking an approaching member of the White Fang with her weapon. "Blake! Where are you!?"


    Adam looked back to see Blake staring at the girl in horror, terrified of what might happen next. Adam did not miss this as an opportunity to start off with his newfound mission.


    "Starting with her," Adam said, a devilish grin creeping up his face. With that, he unsheathed his blade, and stabbed Blake. Well, that was supposed to happen, if not for meeting another man''s blade. Adam realizing this leapt back and stared at the man who blocked his attack. "Who are you?"


    The man had brownish-black hair tied in a high ponytail, constantly windswept and a little stiff, had a silver shoulder guard on his left shoulder, and two wrist guards. He wore a blue, tattered, poncho and was topless with just a strap on for his sword''s sheath. He wore blue, baggy pants all tucked in shinguards that also served as footwear. A long brown rope tied on his waist, his left hand holding something like a bamboo cup, and on his right, a long single-edged sword much like Adam''s save for the color.


    "Hey, mind if you tell me where I am?" the man asked in a curt manner. Adam enraged at this sight, leapt forward while brandishing his sword. The man readied his stance as Adam charged towards him.


    They crossed swords. The sound of metal grating against metal alerted Yang outside. When she saw the scene however, she was stunned regardless.


    Adam swung his blade in a horizontal arc, but the mystery man parried the attack with ease. The blade struck the ground, and the mystery man did not miss this opportunity.


    "Hasagi!" the man let out a strange shout not heard in Remnant. While he did this though, he did a quick, swift stab towards the defenseless Adam.


    Adam dodged it by a hair''s breath, and using the centrifugal force from his quick spin, delivered another swing towards the man. The man parried it again with ease by quickly bringing his blade back and letting the blades clash while he stepped forward and did an elbow strike towards Adam''s flank.


    Adam grunted in pain, but nonetheless, recovered immediately, only to bet met with another swift strike.


    "Aseryo!" The blade stabbed Adam and sent him a few meters back. If it wasn''t for his Aura, he would''ve been stabbed with a lethal injury. The mystery man, not letting it het to him quickly sheathed his blade and took an Iai stance.


    And then wind blew, roaring, clashing, leaving destruction in its path. The man swung his blade faster than the eye could see. And with it came the wind. Adam was sent flying, his clothes getting torn and cuts appearing around his body because of depletion of Aura as well as the razor sharp wind. And the mystery man made another move. He moved swift like the wind, towards the airborne Adam, and delivered countless of strikes towards his body. And with one final blow, he brought his blade overhead, and swung it down with incredible speed.


    "SERYOIGEI TON!"


    "Gah!?" Adam groaned in pain far worse than any other pain he had received until now and smashed into the ground. He lied down on his back, blood gushing out from his cuts. If not for his Aura, he would''ve been sliced to pieces.


    The man approached Adam, only to be hindered by a few of his subordinates. Adam''s subordinates held guns and what better way to use it, than to shoot. Their aim steady and true, fired towards the man that beat their boss.


    "Hmph! Face the wind!" but the man did not falter. Swinging his blade once more, wind was generated moving upward at an incredible speed. All of the bullets weren''t able to pierce through the wind and was sent flying high into the air.


    Once the barrage stopped, the man dashed towards the White Fang members, cutting them down with utmost ease. Then he returned just to see Adam missing, a trail of blood leading to where he might be. But just as he was about to pursue, a voice pleaded him.


    "Stop," Blake pleaded.


    The man, unsure what to do, just stopped, and played his flute, wind gathering beside him. Yang, who witnessed all of this, just had her mouth agape. This man would probably be faster than her sister Ruby if he tried.


    "Can I have my answer now?" the man asked towards Blake after playing his tune.


    "¡­ Yes," replied Blake with nervousness. "You are in the Kingdom of Vale."


    "Vale? Never heard of it," the man answered back.


    "Umm¡­" Blake hesitated, before continuing with her question. "Who are you?"


    "Yasuo," the man replied.


    <><><><><><><><><><><><>


    Beneath the tower, inside the Vault, Professor Ozpin, Jaune, and Pyrrha rushed towards the end of the hall.


    "What is this place," asked Jaune while running through the corridor.


    "It''s, a type of vault," Pyrrha replied with an anxious look in her face.


    "You''ve been here before," questioned Jaune as they continue to run. Pyrrha just stayed silent and looked down as they moved through the corridor in haste. "What would this school need to¡­ hide¡­"


    As Jaune was about to finish his sentence, they reached the end of the hall and he saw for himself the secret of Beacon. A huge machine, with huge cables connected. Two pods, one empty, and one occupied sat at the floor, connected to the machine with the huge cables. Inside one of the pods, a girl with a brown, short, bob cut hair that was dressed in her undergarments lied unconscious. She had a terrible scar run up her cheek, signifying a horrifying act happened long ago.


    "What?" said Jaune in confusion and surprise, "Who?"


    "Jaune," Pyrrha was about to talk, only foe her to be interrupted by Ozpin.


    "Pyrrha, get to the pods," said Ozpin as he gestured her to hurry. Pyrrha glanced at Jaune for a moment before running towards one of the pods.


    "Mr. Arc," said Ozpin in a stern voice. "If you''d like to help, you can stand guard here."


    Right after Ozpin said that, he began punching away at the holographic keyboard near one of the pods. Jaune, with nothing to do, but follow instructions and protect Pyrrha, readied his fighting stance and looked over yonder from where they came from.


    "What do we do now?" asked Pyrrha towards Ozpin.


    "Hah," sighed Ozpin, "We, do nothing," as he continued on typing away. Pyrrha looked over him with a gaze that radiated anxiousness. Moments later, the pod opened up in front of Pyrrha, and seemed to be saying ''get in.''


    "You, Miss Nikos," said Ozpin as he looked towards Pyrrha. "Have a choice to make."


    Pyrrha glanced to the pod, and once towards Jaune, before setting her sights back on the pod. A tear escaped her eye, and she wiped it off using her right hand. The next that happened was her getting inside of the pod and the pod closing its door.


    A few seconds later with Pyrrha getting comfortable in the pod and Ozpin typing away, "Are you ready?" Ozpin broke the silence. Pyrrha nodded back.


    "I-" Ozpin trailed off for a moment. "I need to hear you say it."


    "¡­ Yes," resigned to her fate, Pyrrha accepted what was to come.


    "Thank you Miss Nikos," Ozpin thanked and typed a few commands on the keyboard.


    The other pod that was lying down was brought up to stand at a 160 degree angle. The girl inside woke up, blinking her eyes a few times in order to grasp the situation, and an orange glow encompassed the girl, as well as the cables behind her. It flowed through the cables, flowing to the machine, and into the pod where Pyrrha was at. Pyrrha let out a pained scream as the power flow inside her body.


    "Pyrrha!?" Jaune shouted in surprise as he moved towards the girl experiencing pain.


    "I''m¡­" Ozpin began, "So sorry¡­"


    The girl in the other pod however, was feeling her power flow out of her entire body. It was working. The Fall Maiden, Amber''s, power was being transferred to the successor, Pyrrha. It was all going well, until an arrow pierced the chest of Amber. Gasping in pain and surprise, Amber let out a breath, as she breathed out her last.


    When Jaune and Ozpin noticed this, they looked back, only to see Cinder holding a bow. Cinder mocked Ozpin with a smile. The lights within the halls went dark, basking the place where they stood in darkness. Pyrrha was struggling to break free so she can help.


    The power flew out of Amber''s body, breaking through the pod''s glass and into Cinder''s body. With her new powers, Cinder was stronger than ever before, eyes glowing in orange while she levitated off the ground. Jaune resolved himself and charged towards Cinder.


    "Stay back!" Ozpin warned.


    Cinder, noticing the charging blonde teen, threw an attack at him with her newfound powers. Thanks to the shield Jaune had, he was just knocked back without a serious injury.


    "Jaune!!" Pyrrha cried her lungs out. With all of her strength, she pushed the pod''s door, and sent it flying towards Cinder, only for the door to be obliterated out of existence. Using her semblance, Pyrrha retrieved her weapons and charged towards Cinder, only to be held back by Ozpin.


    "Take Jaune and get out of here!" Ozpin chided. "Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow, bring them here right away! The tower cannot fall."


    But then, an enormous rumble, the pillars cracked and crumbled, the ceiling broke and shattered, and debris littered the way. Ozpin was baffled at the situation, along as Cinder.


    "What the hell is happening up there?" Cinder murmured. "But anyway, now that I have the Fall Maiden''s power, you won''t be able to stop me, Ozpin."


    But then one thing after another, another thing happened that was completely out of their grasp. A giant portal appeared beneath their feet, and within it stood a lone man, with purple skin, runic letters engraved on his body, a long beard under his chin and a bald head. He wore nothing above his waist save for a strap that served as the holder of a giant scroll behind his back, wore tattered pants and leather boots, and a giant book hanging from his waist.


    When he arrived, Ozpin, Ciner, Jaune, and Pyrrha could not help but be surprised at the amount of energy he was emitting. It was no less, but on par with the power of the Fall Maidens. He looked behind him, and saw Ozpin, Jaune, and Pyrrha, and in front of him floated Cinder with a surprised expression.


    "Who are you?" asked Ozpin, but quickly changed the question. "No, I suppose what you are doing here is the more appropriate question."


    "None of your business," said the purple man in annoyance. "So there was no rune, damn it."


    The purple man cursed in frustration. He journeyed through the lands of Runeterra, searching for the World Runes, but when a new land emerged, he sensed a disturbance. He either thought it was a World Rune, or something else, but knowing that power has a hand in destruction, he couldn''t just leave it be.


    And it brought him here. While he was traversing through the road of Vale while battling with the Grimms and helping some Hunters, he felt a huge source of power coming from underneath the tower. Gathering his energy into the runes engraved on his, he teleported in only to see that there was not rune, but in fact, the power was coming from the woman in front of him.


    But while he was on guard against the four of them, the woman in front of him launched an attack towards him. With this as an impetus, the man set his sights on the woman and marked her as a target for elimination.


    "Power used for the wrong purposes," the man started, "Looks like I''ll have to obliterate you."


    With that, the man gathered his energy and threw a Runic Bolt towards Cinder. Ozpin took this as a great chance to team up with this purple man.


    "Excuse me," said Ozpin as he gestured Jaune and Pyrrha to run for the exit. "I would like to lend my assistance in dealing with that woman. We can''t let her loose above."


    "You think the same, huh?" The man agreed. "Alright."


    This signaled the battle between the purple man, Ryze, and Ozpin against Cinder.


    <><><><><><><><><><><><>


    Mercury and Emerald were busy broadcasting everything that was happening, only to be slacked jawed when that huge monster came crashing nearby the tower, and if that wasn''t enough, the damned monster cleaved the tower and the Grimm Dragon in half. Furthermore, it was turned to gold right after something from the landed on it at incredible timing, saving one of the students'' lives. But the power it held was no joke. With just one swing of its sword, buildings were destroyed. If it impacted the ground, it created a massive crater. But worse of all, it was sentient. It was capable of thought, like any other person.


    "If it was mindless, then there would be a chance," said Mercury in an anxious voice. "But if it can think¡­"


    "Then it is incredibly dangerous," finished Emerald, with terror in her eyes. "We need to report this to Her."


    Mercury nodded in agreement. Now, all they had to do was wait for Cinder to arrive with the Fall Maiden''s power in hand, and they could leave.

 Chapter 2: Two Worlds (2)

    Blasts after blast affected the entire hallway. Jaune and Pyrrha were long gone from this area, but Ryze and Ozpin remained to duke it out with the new and empowered Cinder. Ryze dodged an energy bolt coming after him by rolling to the side and countered with a Runic Bolt. Cinder dodged the bolt with minimal movements, but behind her, Ozpin unleashed a flurry of swift strikes with his cane.


    Cinder was struck multiple times and was launched back, but quickly recovered in mid air and let her Aura overflow, causing the surroundings to rumble. She got ready to attack, only to be interrupted by Runic Bolt heading towards her. She cancelled her action to defend against the attack, only to be stopped by something that held her in place. In front of her, she saw the purple man do a gesture and her actions were bound. Furthermore, he made more gestures and littered the area where she was at with orbs of floating Runic Energy.


    The Runic Bolt heading towards her fast hit her, and it spread towards her surrounding, damaging the area and causing rubble to fall from the ceiling. If it wasn¡¯t for the sturdy structure underground, this hallway would be their tomb.


    Ryze and Ozpin didn¡¯t stop there however. Ryze placed more and more orbs of Runic Energy, around where Cinder was buried, while Ozpin coated himself with a barrier. Just after their preparations, Cinder was able to break free from the rubble burying her with an enraged expression. It was at this time, Ryze activated the symbols.


    In the area where the Runic Energy encompassed, everything inside was bound, making it impossible to move for a set duration. Although this was true, a strong opponent would be able to act, albeit weaker than normal. Using this as a fact, Ozpin created a barrier that could nullify its effect, and then charged towards Cinder who was having problems with moving and using her powers.


    It was too late when she noticed Ozpin already right in front of her. With a good strike, Ozpin gathered a good chunk of his powers and struck Cinder. During this, Ryze went behind her around the bounded area and shot an empowered Runic Bolt towards Cinder.


    Cinder was knocked back due to the force generated from Ozpin¡¯s attack, only to be met with another from Ryze¡¯s Runic Bolt striking her back. She flew back and forth like a ping-pong ball, and Ozpin making this a chance of a lifetime, staked his entire power reserve to defeat Cinder.


    Ryze however, not seeing that once he did it, they would have to find a way out from the crumbling underground, but with Ozpin out of commission, it would be harder to escape from here if he didn¡¯t have the power left to use Realm Warp.


    Cinder, who was still dazed from the attacks, was struck with another one from Ozpin¡¯s all out attack. It shattered her remaining Aura, sent her flying downwards, and knocked her unconscious, and at what cost? Ozpin cane¡¯s was near destruction. His sleeves looked like it was burned through a furnace and his arms had gone limp from exhaustion. What¡¯s more, the entire underground hall was about to cave in due to the aftermath of that attack. Even Ryze could praise that that attack could reach his all-out attack as well, if he ever will use it. His face looked towards the purple man in the room, and then lost consciousness.


    Ryze quickly sprang into action, using Realm Warp once more. Once he did this, he would be out of fuel to use it again for a couple of days, but without hesitation, the brought along Ozpin, as well as Cinder back to the surface.


    Huge Runic Symbols appeared around the area where the three where at. The ceiling collapsed in many different areas, and was about to fall in their area as well. But in a snap, the three figures vanished from the passageway and the entire passageway was buried in rock and stone.


    ==============================


    On the surface, Team RWBY has finally regrouped with each other, along with another man.


    ¡°So Yasuo,¡± started Ruby, ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough for saving my friend Blake,¡± as she bowed.


    ¡°Hmph,¡± Yasuo nodded, but then asked his following question. ¡°So, where is this place?¡±


    As a wanderer, Yasuo¡¯s been to all sorts of places, albeit Ionia only. During his journey, he also met up with a girl that could weave stone known as Taliyah. But never did he encounter or even heard of this place in all of his life.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re in Vale,¡± said Weiss.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant,¡± said Yasuo in exasperation. He already heard this answer from the Vastayan girl known as Blake, but what he wanted to know was what region is this, if this was in Ionia which he knew was impossible given that he was from Ionia, a place where the dreaded Noxus has conquered, or where the mage hating Demacia has stepped foot on.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± said Ruby as she realized what Yasuo meant. ¡°We are in the Kingdom of Vale, one of the four Kingdoms that govern all of Remnant.¡±


    ¡°Remnant?¡± asked Yasuo in a curious voice. ¡°Is Remnant the name of this continent?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± just like being done a suckerpunch, Ruby asked confused, ¡°No, Remnant is the name of this world¡­¡± before trailing off and thinking really hard.


    ¡®Did that floating girl earlier have something to do with this?¡¯ Ruby pondered.


    ¡°Ruby,¡± called Yang, ¡°Hey, Remnant to Ruby. Are you there?¡±


    Yang looked to Ruby seemingly lost in her thoughts. This didn¡¯t happen that often, if not, it doesn¡¯t happen at all. She brought her hand up, curled it into a fist, and knocked Ruby¡¯s head to snap her out of it.


    ¡°Ow!¡± cried Ruby in pain, but mostly surprise, ¡°Why did you do that!?¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Yang cleared her throat and pointed towards Yasuo.


    ¡°Ah,¡± Ruby bonked her head once more. ¡°Silly me, I forgot that you were here Yasuo.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± reassured Yasuo as he stared at Ruby. At the moment, he had no purpose, save for wandering around here and there. He already met with the person who killed his master, and after a duel, settled the score and buried the hatchet. After that, they parted ways and swore never to get in another¡¯s way again. He also recalled the thing that brought him here. It was bigger than the common man, in height, and in shape. It had two poles as its legs, and on its, haired-face or whatever it was, a mask with only three circles was worn. It had a horn on its back, and Yasuo could swear that the power he felt that fell down on this humongous Darkin was from that mysterious entity.


    ¡®For him to be that strong¡­¡¯ Yasuo thought.


    ¡°Anyway, could you tell me where I can sleep for the night?¡± Yasuo inquired, feeling a little bit tired from unleashing his attack on the masked, red-haired Vastayan.


    ¡°About that¡­¡± Ruby averted her gaze as she tried answered his question.


    ¡°Oh right,¡± Yasuo realized. ¡°I forgot that this town was attacked by those monsters and those masked men earlier.¡±


    The other members of Team RWBY could not believe their ears when they heard the word ¡®Town¡¯ and ¡®Monster¡¯ from Yasuo, although they just kept it to themselves to not get on his bad side.


    ¡°So, what are you four gonna do?¡± asked Yasuo as he put his hand on the hilt of his blade. The four tensed up, as they braced themselves for a possible attack, only for Yasuo, to quickly slice right above them faster than the wind. When the four looked up, they saw a Grimm, a Griffon neatly sliced in half, smoke spewing out from the bisected area. Team RWBY looked at Yasuo with awe-filled eyes, impressed by the display of strength and finesse, except for Blake and Yang who witnessed his strength firsthand against Adam Taurus.


    ¡°Well, um¡­¡± Ruby, too shocked by Yasuo¡¯s exemplary skills, ¡°I guess, we can help with the evacuation, how about you?¡±


    ¡°Well then,¡± Yasuo placed blade back into its scabbard. ¡°Could you tell me how to get to Ionia?¡±


    ¡°Ion- what?¡± Ruby asked, confused about the new place she just heard. The same could be said to the other three, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. It was the first time they heard that kind of place, heck, in this world of Remnant ruled by four major Kingdoms that has complete grasp over their territory, Ionia was never once heard from. Noticing the look on Ruby¡¯s face, Yasuo realized how distraught she was, nevertheless, he waited for her answer not giving a damn. He took a swig from his bamboo flask and did a sigh of pleasure.


    Just then, a bright purple light blinded their vision. Yasuo and Team RWBY instinctively drew their weapons and held them in a combat stance, pushing their senses to the limit. When the light faded and their vision cleared again, they stared at the spot where the light emanated from and saw three figures, one standing and two on the ground. The man standing was a man with purple skin runes engraved on his body, a huge scroll strapped on his bag, bald head, wore leather pants and boots, and had a beard as well as a giant book hanging from his waist.


    Yasuo, hands on the hilt of his blade, glared at the direction where Ryze and the others were. After a few seconds of silence, it was broken by a childish scream, one seemingly just behind Yasuo.


    ¡°Professor Ozpin!¡± Ruby shrieked as she leapt forwards, along with her whole team. Yang, Weiss, and Blake had anxious faces as they glared at the collapsed Ozpin, as well as Cinder, and the mysterious purple guy.


    ¡°¡­¡± Ryze, just silent as he took a breath while watching the four girls leaping towards his direction, wary for any unforeseen actions yet to come. When he glanced behind them however, he saw someone he never met, but knew that he was from Ionia, seeing that he was dressed in traditional Ionian cloth.


    He paced forwards, surprising the team of four, only to walk past them and stopping in front of Yasuo, hands still on his hilt.


    ¡°Have you come to kill me?¡± asked Yasuo as he glared at Ryze with caution.


    ¡°No,¡± said Ryze in a bemused manner. ¡°I just want to ask whether you are from Ionia.¡±


    Yasuo blinked once, and sensing no hostility in the voice of Ryze, let go of his tension and took another swig from his bamboo flask.


    ¡°I am,¡± said Yasuo in an irritable way. ¡°Or at least somebody that wanders around Ionia.¡±


    Having found his answer, Ryze looked behind him and saw a huge figure covered in gold. He had no words, except pray that that monstrosity would never break free. Because even if he knows he can beat it, it would use too much of his energy, and he also won¡¯t get out unscathed. Living more than a millennia also taught him of the height of his powers. Even the Watcher that attacked him posed no threat, if he didn¡¯t let his guard down.


    With that, Ryze left Yasuo alone, to drink his alcohol in peace, and headed towards the team of four. He found them carrying the malicious woman and the unconscious man that helped fight that malicious woman underground and brought them further away from this place, opposite the direction of the giant golden statue monster, or more preferably, the golden statue Darkin.


    Seeing no other way to navigate through this place, and also having his Runic Energy depleted, he had no other choice except follow the team of girls. Yasuo also did the same thinking that he might get lost if he tried to go about his own way.


    He got closer to Ryze and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Ryze,¡± responded Ryze after mulling over for a bit. He saw no reason whatsoever to hide his name, and considering that he knew the face of a man without a purpose to live, it was the least he could do.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Great,¡± said Yasuo in a dull tone. ¡°Name¡¯s, Yasuo.¡±


    -______________________________________


    Somewhere in the Residential District in Vale, the evacuation was progressing smoothly. Even if there were a lot of casualties, things began calming down when the number of Grimm decreased thanks to the hunters, as well as that giant thing that fell from the sky.


    But in an alleyway, a man kneeled, crying before the corpse of one young girl. She looked no more than 12, with a dismembered limb and a face full of fear and pain.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± the man wept, asking forgiveness to his once beloved daughter. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, sunshine¡­¡±


    He curled his fist in anger, but then it turned to fear once he recalled the beast that tried to eat him alive. His body trembled in fright as he remembered the wide jaws of the Beowulf closing in on his head. The infinite darkness within the jaws of the beast he never thought would arrive because of the hunters. Suddenly, when he opened his eyes again, the girl was gone, leaving only a pool of blood. He searched the area frantically while in a half-maddened state.


    ¡°Pa-pa¡­¡± A voice echoed.


    He turned towards the direction of where the voice came from, and without further thought, got up and ran towards that direction.


    ¡°Sunshine!¡± screamed the man. ¡°Where are you!?¡±


    ¡°Sun-shine¡­ Where¡­ are you¡­¡± another voice echoed this time, in an eerie manner, only to be drowned out by the shouts of the man.


    The man searched the alleyway high and low, for the girl he knew wouldn¡¯t come back. But he couldn¡¯t just let go of the hope of seeing that bright smile once again. He traversed through the alley, going deeper and deeper, farther away from the road where the moon shined. Once he realized the situation he was in, he grew afraid. The looming darkness surrounded him like it was approaching, ever slowly. His body trembled, shivered, and collapsed once he couldn¡¯t take it.


    Just then, like a savior rushing in, a bright light materialized in the distance. Gathering his courage, the man stood up on unsteady legs ran. He ran.


    And ran.


    And ran some more.


    Stumbling down in the process, and getting back up and running again.


    Once the light was close, it vanished, as if it was never there. Then he realized, he was deeper than before, in this intricate alley that was built like a maze. Alone, cold, and terrified, all he could do was collapse back down again and shiver in terror.


    ¡°Pa-pa¡­¡±


    Then he heard the voice of his daughter again, only to hear something off from the voice.


    ¡°Pa-pa¡­¡±


    From her sweet little voice, to something deeper, eerie, and screeching.


    ¡°Pa-pa¡­¡±


    The voice got closer, much more noticeable than before. The voice he heard now was not something his daughter¡¯s voice could generate. It was deep, and at the same time, high-pitched. It sounded like instead of a throat, metal grating against metal was used to generate the sound.


    ¡°Pa-----pa¡­.¡±


    The voice was now next to him. He also noticed that light glimmered behind him. When he looked back, he knew, it was the last he would ever see in his life. The screams of the man resounded through the alley, going as far as the main road where the hunters who were patrolling for Grimms, heard it. When they rushed into the alleyway, they were too late, all they saw was a mangled father and daughter, lying in a pool of their own blood.


    ¡°Fiddle¡­ Sticks¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a voice was heard, and then it vanished.


    ____________________________________________


    In the Great City of Demacia, inside the throne room where Jarvan III sat upon the throne, a huge figure kneeled before him, covered in Demacian Steel, with a crest pinned on his armor signifying he was one of the Crownguards, one of Demacia¡¯s elite forces.


    ¡°Garen,¡± Jarvan III spoke. ¡°Have you noticed the urgent situation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my King,¡± Garen replied in a respectful tone.


    What was this urgent situation Jarvan III addressed? Why it was about Galio. Even without magic, he was waking up often, sometimes thrice a day, often times the whole day. The whole populace was having thoughts whether the statue was alive, but thanks to the recent efforts of Demacia¡¯s military, it was suppressed to some extent.


    ¡°Good, then this will not take long,¡± said Jarvan III. ¡°Gather a troop of less than 50. Meet me at the outskirts at midnight tonight. There, I will brief you of your next mission. Remember that word of this should not get out to the public.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Garen said this as he stood up and saluted, the Demacian way. ¡°For Demacia!¡±


    ¡°For Demacia!¡± Jarvan III answered back.


    With that, Garen left the room with stride in his steps. Midnight that same day, Garen arrived with about 40 of his handpicked men. Along with him, was a hooded blonde girl, who was Garen¡¯s sister, Luxanna. When they arrived, they saw Jarvan III with Jarvan IV, as well as Xin Zhao. Behind them, floating on the clear sea water, a huge boat capable of bringing about 50 people was anchored, awaiting sail. It was a rushed process, but thanks to the authority of Jarvan III, it was made possible, and a small rowboat was situated at the shore.


    ¡°I assume you are ready?¡± asked Jarvan III with expectancy in his voice.


    ¡°Yes, my King,¡± replied Garen.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Jarvan III answered back. ¡°Allow me to brief you on your mission. Earlier this day, Galio was reported to be seen waking up. At first, we thought that it was just a residue of magic flowing from the air, but then, Galio woke up again an hour later. We investigated the cause, and we found out that there was an abnormal increase in magic in the air.¡±


    Jarvan III paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°And then, for some reason, we were able to notice some landmass that wasn¡¯t seen before west of here. Whatever the case, what¡¯s responsible for this abnormal increase in magic, the answer may lie in that land we found.¡±


    Jarvan III then stopped and looked at Lux beside Garen, then returned his sights back on Garen. ¡°I assume you know what your mission is then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my King.¡± Garen replied while radiating willingness to partake this dangerous mission.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Jarvan III nodded. ¡°You are to set sail this instant. For Demacia!¡±


    ¡°For Demacia!¡± The soldiers cheered.


    With that, Jarvan III hopped back on his horse, with Xin Zhao and Jarvan IV following him. Once they were out of sight, Garen gave his orders.


    ¡°All of you get ready.¡± started Garen. ¡°Tonight, we march as one!¡±


    ¡°For Demacia!¡± the soldiers erupted in cheers.


    ¡°Lux,¡± Garen looked towards his sister. ¡°Are you sure you want to come with us?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Lux with a nod.


    ¡°All right,¡± Garen nodded and climbed aboard the rowboat with Lux in hand. The soldiers were already getting ready, but with the size of the rowboat, it will have to take roundtrips about three times before all of them could get on board the ship. It took more than half an hour for them to board the ship and embark towards the newly found land.


    ________________________________________


    At the same time, Darius, along with Swain and Katarina were boarding on ship for embarking on a journey, a journey that could hold the possibility of expanding Noxus¡¯ reign once more.


    ¡°So long, little brother,¡± Darius told Draven.


    ¡°Farewell, inferior brother,¡± said Draven with the same arrogant smile.


    Darius rolled his eyes in annoyance, and climbed aboard the ship. He wanted to give one good smack to Draven with his axe to remind him about strength, but if he could do his job with flying colors, killing people, then what reason does he have to smack him with his axe?


    ¡°I assume you¡¯ve bid your farewells?¡± asked Swain in an unsmiling manner.


    ¡°Yes, I have, Grand General,¡± replied Darius in a rather courteous manner, in contrast with his appearance. Beside him, the eldest daughter of the Du Coteau, Katarina Du Coteau stood proud. With her signature daggers on hand, she boarded the ship after paying her respects to Swain, the Grand General.


    Before they set out however, Swain stood atop an elevated platform to address the soldiers participating in this expedition.


    ¡°My fellow Noxians, today marks a new beginning for Noxus to rise again, higher than it could have ever been before,¡± stated Swain proudly. ¡°And we shall bear witness to the new Golden Age, as we step on enemy lands and conquer their cities. We shall occupy those who surrender, and wipe out those who resist. For Noxus, shall be crowned, the ruler of the entire world!¡±


    Right after Swain¡¯s rather short speech, the Noxian soldiers raised their weapons high and gave the highest warcry they could muster. With morale high as the sky, the workers ramped up their preparation speed in order to set sail earlier than planned. Those left behind will have to bear the duty of protecting Noxus from any foreign invasion should it come to pass.


    Swain looked over the horizon, towards the land he saw with his vision in the past days. He had planned meticulously for the incoming expansion of Noxus, leaving behind one of the leaders he so trust, Alyssa Roshka. After killing her father for Noxus, Swain had kept an eye out for her because of her unwavering conviction to make Noxus rise, even at the cost of her own familial blood.


    Although she was incredibly nervous when she was handed the baton, if she ever failed, then Swain would deduce that Alyssa wasn¡¯t up for the task. But enough of that, for now, Swain had to focus on the expedition.


    ___________________________________


    Mercury and Emerald couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. When they saw that Cinder lying unconscious after being teleported by some purple guy along with an unconscious Ozpin, the both of them had no idea what to do. They had no clue whether Cinder was able to gain the power of the Fall Maiden or not, and if she did however gain the power, she was still defeated and lied unconscious.


    And since recovering her would be incredibly difficult, if not, impossible, then they had their hands tied. There was no way Mercury and Emerald could fight those four girls head on and recover Cinder at the same time, much more so if there were two unknown people following them that seemed stronger than most Hunters. There would be a chance if Cinder woke up, but they don¡¯t know when she would.


    With waiting for Cinder to wake up their only option, they started following the group from the rooftops and shadows.


    ____________________________________________________


    Ruby and Yang carried Ozpin, while Blake and Weiss carried Cinder. Ryze and Yasuo were following behind them about 3 meters away. They wanted to call for help, but since the area was already empty and most of the teams already went to the evacuation area, they had no choice but to huff it all the way there. On the bright side, it wasn¡¯t that far, so they didn¡¯t complain. They wanted to ask for assistance from the other two people behind them though, but seeing that the two were unapproachable, given now, they had no choice but to keep their complaints to themselves.


    ¡°Are we almost there¡±, asked Ruby with an impatient look on her face. ¡°My legs are killing me.¡±


    ¡°Quiet down, Ruby,¡± chided Weiss. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one tired here.¡±


    ¡°I agree with Weiss,¡± nodded Blake. ¡°We all had a¡­ long night.¡±


    Yang stayed silent and worryingly looked at Blake since she was there when it happened. The Faunus known as Adam Taurus probably gave Blake an emotional scar back in the past. It was also probably the friend Blake told them about who changed, Yang thought about this in her mind.


    While the four were bickering with each other while carrying the two unconscious people, Ryze and Yasuo however, had other plans. They noticed someone following them awhile back. They numbered two. They had no idea why they were following them, but sensing that they don¡¯t have any malicious thoughts, the two of them left them alone, for now.


    ¡°So Ryze,¡± Yasuo stirred up a conversation. ¡°What are you doing out here anyway?¡±


    ¡°None of you concern,¡± said Ryze annoyingly.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Yasuo said as he glanced back at a rooftop behind them. ¡°Then do you know something that looks huge, with two poles as legs, a huge horn on its back, and wears a mask that has three holes, and floats while moving?¡±


    Yasuo was speaking in Ionian tongue, but since Ryze has lived for a millennia, it wasn¡¯t strange for Ryze to know its language. He found it stranger that the four girls, as well as that man, could understand the both of them when Ryze was speaking using the common tongue and Yasuo, Ionian tongue.


    ¡°You mean Bard?¡± asked Ryze with a curious tone.


    ¡°You know that thing?¡± inquired Yasuo while taking another swig from his flask. He also noticed that it was getting empty, so he put it away.


    ¡°Yes,¡± confirmed Ryze. ¡°He supposedly tries to protect Runeterra from ending itself by doing whatever it does.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Yasuo went into thought, but suddenly, he didn¡¯t care anymore. All he wanted to do was wander here and there, and try to forget the past. Also, he would cut down anybody who dares try to kill him, as he won¡¯t die dishonored.


    Once again, silence covers the two, only the talking of the four in front of them were used as background music as they continued following them. Minutes later, they crossed through the Residential District and finally arrived at the evacuation site. There were bullheads filled with passengers and hunters escorting them. On the ground, they could see Team JNPR, Qrow, Goodwitch, and Ironwood talking with each other.


    Once they saw each other, relief washed over them as they hurried towards each other.


    ¡°Jaune! Pyrrha!¡± cried Ruby as she left Yang to carry Ozpin by himself. ¡°You¡¯re okay!¡± and leapt for a group hug. By the way, Yang staggered for a moment, surprised by the sudden increase in weight.


    ¡°Ruby!¡± shouted Jaune and Pyrrha. The both of them accepted the hug, and fell backward. The crash felt like an object hit something at mach 1, but thanks to Aura, no injuries were made, physically that is.


    Pyrrha was okay, but the same can¡¯t be said for Jaune. For all that¡¯s worth, Jaune gets scared easily, much more so if it was unexpected, and unexpected it was for Ruby to use her semblance at first sight and tackle them to the ground. They didn¡¯t even have time to open their arms wide to accept the hug.


    ¡°Jaune,¡± asked Pyrrha with a worried voice. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Alright¡­¡± said Jaune, still dazed from the tackle, but while the three were having a heartwarming scene, Ironwood as well as Goodwitch and Qrow, rushed towards Yang, or more specifically, the unconscious Ozpin.


    ¡°Yang,¡± questioned Ironwood. ¡°What happened to Ozpin? And what happened to Cinder?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Yang while laying Ozpin on a stretcher that was provided by the Hunters in the area. ¡°All I know was that the three of them popped up after a bright light shined in our eyes.¡±


    ¡°Three of them?¡± posed Ironwood as he looked behind them. He got the gist from Jaune and Pyrrha, saying that a purple man helped Ozpin fight against Cinder, but wasn¡¯t able to stay for the entire battle. When they got out of the Vault, they met with Qrow and Goodwitch, but when the two tried to enter the Vault, the elevator was already dysfunctional. So they had no other choice but to help with the evacuation, praying that Ozpin gets out of that mess alive. And now, here they were, Ozpin lying in a stretcher, Cinder shackled to the ground, and the purple man still staring at them like it was normal.


    Ironwood approached the purple man and, ¡°Thank you, for saving Ozpin and some of the students and hunters,¡± thanked him. He knew that he helped some students and Hunters because of the reports he was given, saying that a purple man helped them in vanquishing the Grimm. ¡°May I please know your name?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Ryze,¡± Ryze answered with his grumpy voice. Now that he met the man-in-charge ¨C or so he hoped to ¨C he wanted to know where he can get some rest. ¡°Do you know where I can rest for the day?¡±


    Ironwood blinked in confusion for a moment, before getting his head back in order.


    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± said Ironwood with courteousness in his voice. ¡°But first, we¡¯ll have to evacuate this area. It¡¯s still not safe here.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ryze nodded and waited for when he could get on their evacuation ship, or whatever it was. It was more advanced than those in Piltover that¡¯s for sure, but if only it was that simple.


    Cinder opened her eyes, and saw before her, a gathering of students, the General, an unconscious Ozpin, Goodwitch, that purple man, a samurai-looking man, and finally, that girl who she wanted to kill the most as of now, Pyrrha. She gathered her power and broke free from her restraints, surprising everybody in the area.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Ironwood cursed as he gestured towards the bullheads. ¡°Fly away right now! Hunters, escort the civilians on the ground and get away from this area right this instant! That includes you students. Without Ozpin, we can¡¯t fight against her!¡±


    All of them did as he told and ran, except for Ryze and Yasuo, who seemed to be the only people who can stop her. Ryze has a reason to destroy her, but Yasuo on the other hand, had only this one reason.


    ¡°Kill me? You can try,¡± and with that, he drew his blade and wielded it in a stance, senses sharp and flowing like the wind. He then noticed that the two stalkers earlier jumped out of their hiding place at aligned themselves with the girl known as Cinder. One was a male, the other, a female.


    ¡°Mercury, Emerald, we won¡¯t leave, not until I can kill that readhead Spartan,¡± said Cinder with rage bubbling in her voice. She was so mad that even her voice right now, sounded like thunder to the two, as well as her usual calm demeanor was gone.


    But all of that had to stop, why? It was because a murder of crows appeared, well, at least shadows of it. When they looked up, not only did they see the sky clear, there were no crows, not even one, if you didn¡¯t count Qrow, that is.


    The sound of rusty metal swinging like a pendulum echoed through the area. What¡¯s odd even was that darkness was creeping around the area, and if it couldn¡¯t get any worse¡­


    ¡°Fiddlesticks¡­ End of men¡­ Fiddlesticks¡­ First of ten¡­¡± a creepy and eerie voice was heard all around.


    ¡°What was that!?¡± Ironwood, now stressed at their situation because of so many unknown factors, screamed in exasperation.


    ¡°Fiddlesticks?¡± Ryze¡¯s thoughts went on overdrive. ¡°Damn it.¡±


    ¡°Brother¡­ How could you¡­ Betray us¡­?¡± The eerie voice then shifted even if a little bit, but still the same nonetheless. Yasuo, however, heard different. He gathered the wind all around him, and then, made it overflow causing a wild hurricane with them as the center. Nobody was harmed, except for a certain scarecrow that flew in the air. Without any pause, Yasuo blinked in an instant, and delivered countless of cuts, slices, and slashes towards the scarecrow.


    ¡°SORYE GE TON!¡± screamed Yasuo in rage and fury. Never had he been this mad during his entire exile. He didn¡¯t let up, not even for a single second. After what seemed an eternity for Yasuo, he finally brought the blade up high, and swung downwards with all of his strength, hurling the scarecrow down at the ground at incredible speed. When all was said and done, the scarecrow looked like it was tossed in a shredder. Its cage in the middle of its body was mangled, its cloth ripped to pieces, its metallic arm, obliterated, and the lantern in its hand, destroyed.


    Everybody witnessed this first place, and Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald now had second thoughts to try and fight again. But this time, Yasuo¡¯s rage wasn¡¯t quelled with just that, he then glared at the three who wanted to try and attack him earlier, and dashed with haste. Not letting this opportunity slide, Ryze threw an orb of Runic Energy towards the weakest looking person. That was the girl.


    The orbs then spread after it reached its mark. Then he fired a Runic Bolt towards her.


    ¡°Like dominoes!¡± Ryze shouted as he conjured the Runic Bolt, but before it could reach, Emerald dodged, and Cinder, being as cautious as she was, backed off from the approaching, agile man and wrapped her subordinated in her power and tried to leave.


    She was successful, but at a cost. She didn¡¯t expect Yasuo¡¯s speed to be that fast, and in an instant, she was pierced.


    ¡°Ton!¡±


    It pierced through her neck. She endured the pain and flew away at a speed on par with an airship. Yasuo, having vented his anger, sheathed his blade once more and took a last swig from his flask.

 Chapter 3: Two Worlds (3)

    Once the mayhem died down, peace once again returned, and the people who ran away earlier, went back to the area to finish up the evacuation safely within the safe perimeter.


    ¡°What is this thing?¡± asked Ruby as she looked at the banged up scarecrow.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what it is,¡± responded Ryze as he took a step forward to analyze the scarecrow, or at least, the remains of the scarecrow. ¡°We just know that it is a type of demon.¡±


    ¡°Demon?¡± asked Blake. ¡°And who¡¯s we?¡±


    ¡°We, as in the inhabitants of Runeterra,¡± confirmed Ryze as he continued his to talk. ¡°But I suppose you won¡¯t know anything about it since you come from a different world.¡±


    ¡°What? A different world?¡± asked Ironwood curiously.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Ryze. ¡°It seems that under some circumstances, your world has merged with ours. It happened about four days ago.¡±


    ¡°Four days?¡± Ironwood replied suspiciously. ¡°Then how did we not get any reports about this matter? An island appearing out of nowhere would be too suspicious to not investigate. And how did we not experience any sort of aftereffect of the merge?¡±


    ¡°You see, that¡¯s the problem,¡± said Ryze as he looked towards Ironwood as he finished analyzing the scarecrow. ¡°It all happened so suddenly, the magical power in the air suddenly increased by an abnormal amount so I was able to know something was amiss. I sensed the influx of magic in the air coming in from the west so I investigated the shores.¡±


    Ryze then looked towards the landscape of this area and recalled what he saw here before all hell broke loose. The buildings, clothing, and even transportation were incredibly advanced, more so than in Piltover. But then he recollected the scene he saw back on the shored of Demacia.


    ¡°But there was nothing,¡± said Ryze as he looked towards Ironwood again. ¡°No abnormalities, no dangerous objects, and most importantly no seen land. It was only three days that the land showed up like it was unveiled by a curtain, and mustering the power I had, travelled here using Realm Warp, well, at least one of the huge land east of here, and then it took another day to come here. That was probably the reason why you people weren¡¯t able to notice that there was an extension to the worlds as we know it.¡±


    Ironwood was about to respond by saying that it was impossible because of all the airways that the airships used to get around Remnant, but then held it back. He didn¡¯t know who, but Salem could never had done this, so there should probably be an external force at work here, and if its power was on par with a God, then bending reality should be possible. Instead, what he did next was one made with his entire heart.


    ¡°I thank you once again for helping us,¡± Ironwood thanked as he bowed his head. ¡°Even if Cinder, that woman that you and that man over there helped repelled, was able to flee, as long as the students and the common populace are unharmed, then we consider it as a victory.¡±


    ¡°Nice words from a good man,¡± replied Ryze with a faint smile before it turned into a frown. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t solve the problem. It would be better if power hungry people like her just perish.¡±


    ¡°I can agree with you,¡± Ironwood nodded his head in agreement.


    While Ryze and Ironwood were talking, the group of friends from Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Team SSSN were huddled in a corner and analyzing the mangled scarecrow.


    ¡°What do you think it is?¡± asked Ruby.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Mr. Ryze call it a demon,¡± responded Weiss with a sarcastic frown.


    ¡°But since it¡¯s a demon, is it dead?¡± inquired Yang as she poked at the metal cage that still contained something black. ¡°I mean, demons are hard to kill right?¡±


    ¡°Are you for real?¡± asked Sun baffled by her question. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see that samurai guy cut it to pieces earlier? It was awesome!¡±


    ¡°I know right?¡± said Nora in response with awe. ¡°He was fast, crazy fast!¡±


    ¡°I must say, he is skilled, as well as strong,¡± nodded Ren as he took a quick glance at the sulky samurai.


    ¡°I wonder what his semblance is?¡± asked Neptune.


    ¡°It¡¯s controlling the wind, stupid,¡± retorted Weiss. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious from how he fought earlier?¡±


    While the teams were discussing, huddling around the mangled scarecrow, Ryze noticed them and quickly shooed them away.


    ¡°Hey! Get away from there!¡± shouted Ryze as he stomped his way towards the teens. Since the teens saw firsthand his strength, or probably only part of it, they followed his warning and moved away from the scarecrow. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous staying near it. Or actually, this area is still in danger because of this thing.¡±


    When Ryze pointed at the scarecrow lying on the ground, the people around were shocked. They saw firsthand that the samurai guy sliced and diced him to shreds, but hearing that Ryze say that it is still dangerous loitering around him, or even the whole area might still be in danger, they had doubts.


    ¡°Ironwood,¡± called out Ryze. ¡°I suggest you evacuate this area too, A. S. A. P.¡±


    Hearing the seriousness in his voice, Ironwood had the Hunters double their efforts in the evacuation. While all that was happening, Ryze gathered his remaining energy and tried to vanquish the demon lingering inside the scarecrow¡¯s chest cage. But while doing so, the scarecrow quickly fell back, countless black limbs sprouting from the cage in its chest, and used it as legs. It was so quick it looked like a giant cockroach running after being startled by a falling slipper.


    Ryze didn¡¯t lose focus as he channeled the energy within him, and shot an orb of Runic Energy at the escaping figure. It landed and slowed the scarecrow a bit, only for a millisecond though. He then trapped it in a Rune Prison using half of his remaining energy that was already low from travelling and fighting.


    The demon shrieked, the sound of a fork grating against a glass plate resounded through the area. All of the people that heard it instinctively closed their ears because of the ear-inducing agony, Ryze included. Because of that, the scarecrow was able to leap away and escape from the clutched of Ryze.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Damn it,¡± Ryze cursed. ¡°It¡¯s loose again.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Ryze,¡± Ironwood approached obviously anxious. ¡°What was that thing?¡±


    ¡°I told you earlier,¡± Ryze looked back. ¡°It¡¯s a demon.¡±


    ¡°But what kind of demon?¡± Ironwood requested. ¡°I cannot rest, knowing that that demon is loose and hunting around Remnant. I need to know what kind of demon it is so I can apply countermeasures.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Ryze stayed silent for a moment, before giving Ironwood a fact. ¡°It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°¡­ What?¡± Ironwood, baffled at his response, pleaded confirmation.


    ¡°I said you can¡¯t protect your citizens from it,¡± said Ryze with anger in his heart. ¡°That demon is known as Fiddlesticks,¡± he ignored a chuckle from the background as he continued. ¡°Fiddlesticks was spread around Runeterra as a legend to scare children. But never did I think that it was real, a demon, that fed on fear and is fear itself. I¡¯ve lived for over a millennia now, and I¡¯ve never seen, nor heard of it, but it was only recently that an entire village was destroyed, although I only heard of it while travelling Demacia. But if I piece together the way it acted, then that scarecrow was the culprit behind the destruction of the village.¡±


    Shocked at the revelation that Ryze lived for more than 1000 years, the people that heard it couldn¡¯t believe their ears. Ironwood however, was flabbergasted that a single scarecrow ravaged an entire village on itself. Much more since he understood why he can¡¯t protect the common populace.


    Fiddlesticks, was strong, and worse, it acted like a Grimm but more drawn to fear than other negative emotions, so there was no way to expect where it would go, and where it would strike first. Also, another thing, it was elusive as a phantom, incredibly hard to detect.


    ¡°However, you can at least limit Fiddlestick¡¯s influence,¡± Ryze said, calm once more. ¡°All you have to do is to have a strict watch over all villages, towns and cities. Do not forget to include sewers and other unmonitored places. Another thing is to keep your people happy. Fiddlesticks gets drawn in when fear is heavy, so I suggest to do whatever it takes to keep them happy, and ignorant about Fiddlesticks.¡±


    Ironwood gratefully accepted this advice and planned to implement it when the time comes. Although Ryze may come off as an unapproachable, grumpy, old man, he still has a heart of gold, caring to the inhabitants of the world. If not for this, Ryze would have never endured for a millennia, seeking for the World Runes to avoid the destruction of the world, as well as the people who dwells within it.


    But Ryze wouldn¡¯t ask for help, no, he did want help, but he refused to do so. The reason being that of all of his entourage over the course of a millennia, all of them save for one, were corrupted by the power of the World Runes, forcing Ryze to end them with his own hands. One of which, was Kegan Rodhe who, tempted by the power of the World Runes, lost his soul in a scorching flame, and his body a vessel of the living flame. He now roams Valoran in search of the World Runes swearing revenge for wrongs he could never possibly have suffered in a dozen mortal lifetimes.


    This tore at Ryze. His burden was so heavy, that not even close friends could help him in his mission to seek the World Runes. But in turn, while resisting the temptation of World Runes, his own body absorbed the energy from the World Runes, granting him immense arcane power and a boundless constitution. He harnessed and controlled that power to aid him in his mission, and through the millennia, it grew stronger. It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if one said that Ryze was the strongest person in Runeterra, quite possibly stronger than the Aspects from Targon.


    The only reason why Ryze had a bad time fighting with Cinde, was because he held back, not because of pity, but because of burning through his arcane energy through the days it took to travel here, as well as fighting against an enormous amount of Grimm that not coincidentally, headed his way. He wanted to reserve some of it in case something goes horribly wrong, just like earlier, when a demon from Valoran made a surprise encounter with them.


    In reality, the demon feigned faint. The reason was it couldn¡¯t sense any fear in any of the mortals around here, and it probably gave a sound judgment, if it could that is, to leave to find some more, suitable prey. If Ryze wasn¡¯t here, then probably, everyone here would be dead by now, including that powerful woman who escaped, as well as this Ionian blademaster.


    But enough said, Ryze right now had to leave. Although he wanted to go with them in those airships, now that Cinder escaped, he now had no reason to stay. He still had to continue seeking for the World Runes. A few mortals dying to that demon and Cinder won¡¯t equate to anything if the whole world is destroyed by the misuse of those World Runes. Ryze¡¯s work in the past millennia would have been in vain, and he didn¡¯t want to stop, not until he can ensure the safety of the world.


    ¡°By the way Mr. Ryze,¡± called out Ironwood. ¡°Would you like to come with us? You could use some rest.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do need some rest,¡± said Ryze as he faced Ironwood. ¡°But I cannot rest, and will not rest until I finish my mission.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, but what is your mission?¡± asked Ruby with curiosity in her eyes. As a goody two-shoes she was, she wanted to help Ryze in his mission, and also see the new, unexplored world.


    ¡°None of your concern,¡± and as with Ryze¡¯s signature style with not letting anyone at arm¡¯s length, he left after conjuring Runic Energy and activated Realm Warp. With his remaining energy, it could get him to at least the shores of Dawnhold in Demacia, though he would be avoiding the villages since they loathe magic and mages.


    And after a few seconds, he was gone.


    ¡°Well he left quick,¡± said Qrow as he took his canteen and downed a swig. Yasuo glanced at him for a moment, but averted his eyes the next moment.


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± asked Qrow towards Ironwood.


    ¡°For now, we leave,¡± replied Ironwood. ¡°With that demon, or Fiddlesticks, on the loose in this area, Vale and its citizens are in constant threat. I¡¯ll have to dispatch a force to subjugate it, or in the worst case, repel it and hope that it never comes back. In the meantime, we¡¯ll have Vale in constant lockdown, while the victims of the Grimm attack will have to seek refuge in other Kingdoms. We¡¯ll also have a talk about Cinder tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°On what authority do you have to give this command to Vale?¡± asked Qrow, but still agreeing with Ironwood¡¯s judgment as he saw the power that ripped the demon to shreds but walk out like it never happened.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to give the details to Professor Ozpin when he wakes up,¡± said Ironwood as he looked towards Ozpin still lying on a stretcher that was about to sent in one bullhead.


    ¡°And you students,¡± Ironwood then looked towards the hunters-in-training, or the students of Beacon, or at least, most of them. ¡°I will call you tomorrow noon to discuss about the, information you heard from Ryze, is that clear?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The students gave an enthusiastic response to Ironwood¡¯s declaration.


    ¡°Good, for now, you¡¯ll have to come with us to Atlas, since tomorrow, we¡¯ll be giving you something that might surprise you all.¡± Ironwood nodded then looked towards the samurai guy nearby, ignoring the squealing students. ¡°By the way, I didn¡¯t quite catch your name. May I have the honor of knowing your name?¡±


    ¡°Yasuo,¡± replied Yasuo in a curt manner. ¡°By the way, is there anywhere here I can have a good night¡¯s rest?¡±


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Deep within the confines of the Immortal Bastion in the region of Noxus, a group of sorcerers could be seen conduction a ritual. They stood atop a magic circle, with a huge suit of black metal standing in the middle. It towered more than 2 meters, and in its hand, a huge metal mace that has the strength to destroy thick castle walls.


    The ritual continued for days on end, their purpose, to revive a legendary being, now forgotten through the sands of time. In the past, he was the ruler who united the whole world. It was he who constructed the Immortal Bastion. And it was his powers that made the Immortal Bastion stand up until this day, even through the chaos unfolded through the Rune Wars


    And now, he was about to rise again once more.


    From the Death Realm, and back into the Mortal Realm, he rose. From the ashes of betrayal and death, he returned. And now, he seeks to unify the world once more.


    ¡°I have returned,¡± a deep and powerful voice resounded through the chambers adorned with strong pillars and weapons hanging along the walls, the banners of Noxus flowing down from the ceiling. The ground trembled beneath his feet, as he looked towards the sorcerers that summoned him back from the dead. They all bowed and wept, as if a God had descended to grant them the salvation they have so desired.


    The next moment, they were all silenced to death. A huge mace impacted all of them, leaving only a lump of flesh as well a blood. Then, their souls floated towards the iron giant.


    ¡°Your souls shall serve me well,¡± said the iron giant with a strong gaze. The souls looked euphoric as they continued to worship the nightmare they had summoned.


    ¡°Noxus,¡± the iron giant said as it looked above. ¡°Your rightful ruler has returned.¡±


    This was the day, the Iron Revenant, Mordekaiser, walked through Mortal Realm once again.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Within the vast cosmos of space, Aurelion Sol was amusingly examining the happenings all around Runeterra and the new world that merged with it, Remnant.


    ¡°Surprising that language is automatically translated when a mortal from Remnant speaks to a mortal from Runeterra,¡± said Sol with a hint of interest.


    And then, a portal popped up right beside him. His mood immediately went sour.


    ¡°I¡¯m back space dragon!¡± yelled Zoe. ¡°Did you miss me?¡±


    ¡°Not in the slightest,¡± Sol replied, annoyed by the antics of the Aspect of Twilight.


    ¡°Oh come on, lighten up already!¡± said Zoe with her goofy smile. ¡°After all, I made something for you to enjoy anyway!¡±


    She pointed at the world that was now twice its size because of the merging of planets. By the laws of physics, the two should have been destroyed when the two collided, but because of Zoe¡¯s power, it was made possible to do so without any aftereffects.


    ¡°Incidentally, why did you bring that mortal up here?¡± said Sol as he pointed towards the sleeping man wrapped inside a bubble. He wore a white coat, with black on his legs. He wore a top hat on his head, with two black leather shoes on his feet. He had orange hair which extends over his right eye and wore black gloves. In his hand, he held a cane. His name was Roman Torchwick.


    ¡°I just wanted to ask you if there was someplace good to throw him in?¡± said Zoe in an innocent tone.


    ¡°For what reason?¡± asked Sol again, this time with an interested tone.


    ¡°He smooshed my mooncake!¡± pouted Zoe.


    ¡°Oh for ¨C I mean, what a terrible thing to do,¡± Sol agonized sarcastically.


    ¡°See!¡± replied Zoe with a smile. ¡°I knew you would think the sam ¨C hey wait a minute. You didn¡¯t really mean that did you!?¡±


    ¡°You just found out?¡± said Sol with a smirk.


    ¡°Ugh whatever!¡± sulked Zoe. ¡°I¡¯m going to dump him anywhere on Runeterra. Not the sea though.¡±


    And with that, Zoe tossed the man through a portal.


    ¡°By the way, I still have things to do!¡± shouted Zoe. ¡°Buh-bye space dragon!¡± and she left.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± sighed Sol as he looked towards the vast cosmos. ¡°I just hope she doesn¡¯t touch one of my stars.¡±


    Aurelion Sol once again began to observe the interesting things happening on Runeterra and Remnant.

 Chapter 4: Two Worlds (4)

    Onboard an Atlesian bullhead, Ruby and her team could be seen chatting away through the night as they continued onwards towards Atlas. Now that the evacuation was done, all they had to do was to head to Atlas, and rest for the following day. But Ruby still can¡¯t help but remember that floating girl that took away Roman Towrchwick that very night.


    ¡®Who was she?¡¯ thought Ruby. They still had to talk about that monster that landed near Beacon Tower that then turned to gold by who knows what. Thinking that this couldn¡¯t remain in the dark, she brought up the topic to her teammates.


    ¡°Hey, you guys, I have something to tell you,¡± Ruby caught the attentions of her teammates ¨C or specifically those around her. ¡°Remember when I jumped off the ride down to Beacon?¡±


    ¡°Actually, yeah, I do remember,¡± Yang glared at Ruby as for worrying her too much. The same could be said for Weiss and Blake as they nodded in agreement ¨C not to mention Sun just a ways beside her.


    ¡°Well, I ended up meeting Torchwick when I climbed on the Atlesian Warship that controlled the robots,¡± said Ruby getting smaller and smaller as she said each word. When they heard this, they all couldn¡¯t help but glare at her for doing something so reckless.


    ¡°But as we were fighting, a strange girl showed up and took him away to who knows where,¡± said Ruby nervously. ¡°There might also be a chance that whatever¡¯s happening right now, might be connected to her because she left a few words before she left.¡±


    ¡°¡­ And? What were those words?¡± asked Blake as she sent a questioning glance towards Ruby.


    ¡°She said, that we should we prepare for what¡¯s to come next while she laughed an vanished,¡± said Ruby. ¡°It was at that time that I saw a huge figure falling from the sky, the thing that¡¯s now covered in gold near Beacon Tower. But I think that¡¯s not what she meant by prepare for what¡¯s ahead.¡±


    ¡°Hm, that¡¯s quite an interesting topic there, Ruby,¡± just then, a voice familiar to them was heard. When they glanced at his direction, they saw Ozpin waking up and sitting back up from the stretcher.


    ¡°Professor Ozpin!¡± Pyrrha cried out in glee. ¡°You¡¯re awake!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re safe Pyrrha,¡± said Ozpin with a smile. Pyrrha¡¯s shout however did not go unnoticed by Ironwood sitting at the front of the bullhead.


    ¡°Ozpin¡¯s awake?¡± asked Ironwood as he headed to the passenger area.


    ¡°Can you see him sleeping?¡± replied Qrow sarcastically.


    For the record, those aboard this ship heading to Atlas were Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN, Ironwood, Qrow, Ozpin, Yasuo, and their pilot. Professor Goodwitch however, had to take another bullhead because of the full seats since this particular bullhead was designed with speed in mind, so it could only carry a maximum of 17 people, including the driver.


    ¡°By the way Miss Rose,¡± called out Ozpin. ¡°Could you tell me more about that girl that you met above the General¡¯s ship?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Ruby started. ¡°Lemme see, first she looked like a human girl no older than 13, had hair longer than her entire body colored in blonde, pink and purple. She always had a goofy smile and always floated, with sparkles and glitter surrounding her. She also had this power to create portals for herself, or anyone with ease. She also had this carefree personality and had an addiction to a certain type of cake.¡±


    ¡°Hm,¡± Ozpin locked himself in his thoughts for a moment after registering the information about the girl Ruby talked about.


    First, that bit with the cake had nothing to do with him, or this world so he ignored that part. Next is her appearance which should obviously show she would be young, but they don¡¯t really know her age. She could probably like Ozpin where she was reincarnated again and again, or like Salem who was immortal. But the more mysterious part was her powers. Creating portals with ease that can transfer people from a place to another? If that was true, which he believed so since Ruby was the witness, then that girl cannot be left unchecked in Remnant.


    First he had Salem, now he had another possible enemy to protect the world from. But what is more puzzling to him was, who was the purple man who helped him in his fight against Cinder, and who was also probably his benefactor. But then, Ozpin had a thought, what if creating portals wasn¡¯t her only power? What if it was just a fragment of her seemingly endless well of power? That was a thought Ozpin didn¡¯t want to become reality.


    Which is already true in reality actually, but Ozpin didn¡¯t know that. She was the reason why Remnant and Runeterra merged after all.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°By the way, where is that purple man?¡± asked Ozpin, curious at the disappearance of the man.


    ¡°You mean Ryze?¡± Ironwood asked.


    ¡°Ryze? That¡¯s his name?¡± Ozpin nodded once Ironwood nodded in agreement. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to thank him for helping me in that battle with Cinder.¡±


    ¡°Incidentally, what happened down there?¡± Qrow asked, anxious about the answer.


    ¡°We failed,¡± Ozpin said, hanging his head down. He clenched his fist as he remembered the face of Amber who died in agony with an arrow stuck to her chest.


    Qrow and Ironwood were not that surprised since they recognized the power Cinder unleashed when she woke up, but they wanted to know if there was a silver lining to all that. Pyrrha and Jaune also went silent when they heard what Ozpin said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to pry but,¡± Weiss asked, curiousity at its peak. ¡°What are you all talking about?¡±


    Ozpin stayed silent at first, the bullhead being encompassed by that same silence, save for its flight noise. He hesitated for a moment, before he made a decision.


    ¡°I suppose you all need to hear the truth, since Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos already knows to some extent,¡± started Ozpin. ¡°Have you ever heard of the story of the Seasons?¡±


    And with the same information he gave Pyrrha, Ozpin shared it with all people within the bullhead¡¯s passenger area, so the pilot wasn¡¯t able to hear about it. About the four maidens, about how they wield incredible power, how candidates were chosen, and what would happen if said power falls into the wrong hands, which has happened just earlier this night.


    He didn¡¯t tell any of them about Salem, his reincarnations, and the Relics though. They still didn¡¯t need to know about it.


    He told them how Pyrrha was about to succeed as the next Fall Maiden, but was then interrupted because of Cinder, killing Amber, the current Fall Maiden in the process, and ultimately failed the succession. The power then flowed to Cinder, and if not for Ryze teleporting in, Ozpin would be dead by now.


    When they heard this, the teams glanced at Pyrrha and Jaune¡¯s direction. The two didn¡¯t know how to react, so they just averted their eyes, but Jaune still had to come to terms since he still didn¡¯t know the whole story when he accompanied Pyrrha and Ozpin into the Vault.


    ¡°And that about sums up what we¡¯ve been hiding from you students,¡± although this was a blatant lie to Qrow and Ironwood, this was just enough so that they won¡¯t ever have to fight against Salem.


    The teens were having a hard time believing all this. One of their fairytales was actually true, so if that were so, then what about the others? Are they true, or are they just make-believe. But that didn¡¯t concern them right now, no, what did concern them however, was the mental state of their friend, Pyrrha, who was about to carry one of the heaviest burden in all of Remnant. That only hold true though to Team RWBY, Jaune, Nora, and Ren, since Team SSSN was not that close to Team JNPR.


    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t worry about me,¡± Pyrrha said, tired from exhaustion.


    ¡°But,¡± Jaune was about to speak, but was interrupted by Ironwood.


    ¡°I can sympathize with you worrying about your friend,¡± Ironwood stated. ¡°But for now, rest, you can all talk about it in the morning, after a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±


    ¡°¡­I ¨C you¡¯re right,¡± Jaune agreed hesitantly, still worried about Pyrrha, but decided to worry in the morning instead since all of them had a rough day. With that as the start, the teens, then fell into slumber, exhaustion covering their whole body, mentally, and physically.


    ¡°Ozpin,¡± said Ironwood as the students all fell asleep. ¡°We need to talk about that huge monster that destroyed that tower.¡±


    While all this was happening though, Qrow and Yasuo were sharing their drinks with each other.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    In the middle of the night, a vessel crossing the sea could be seen drifting across the waters under the pale moonlight. On the deck, soldiers were busy keeping watch, in case anything ever pops up that may destroy the ship.


    The soldiers were attentive, scanning through the area in all seriousness as they kept the boat safe by keeping watch. As expected from the handpicked elites of Garen Crownguard, captain of the Dauntless Vanguard, though the soldiers were from the Dauntless Vanguard as well.


    But underneath the deck within the captains¡¯ room, a figure doing push-ups with one hand while donning an incredibly heavy suit of armor that covered his entire body, except for his head could be seen, his name was Garen.


    ¡°3,496! 3,497! 3,498!¡± Garen effortlessly pushed up and down with his right arm as he counted. ¡°3,499!¡±


    ¡°Brother?¡± just then, a knock and a voice of a female could be heard beyond the door leading to the deck.


    ¡°One moment! 3450!¡± and after that, Garen stood up, with sweat barely dripping from his body. Then the door opened, and a blonde girl with a hood entered.


    ¡°Lux,¡± Garen recognized his own sister and approached. ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to ask if,¡± Lux hesitated for a moment before continuing with her question. ¡°If, you met some mages in the new lands¡­¡±


    A frown floated up Garen¡¯s face. Before Lux was able to finish her question, Garen stopped her.


    ¡°I loathe mages, I admit,¡± admitted Garen. ¡°But I am not a murderer that would relish in killing mages outside of Demacia. We were tasked with this mission to investigate what the new lands are, if there are any civilizations residing, within, or if it is just a huge land with primal beasts talking within.¡±


    Relieved at the answer Garen gave, Lux heaved a sigh. Then she hugged her brother with all of her heart. Garen hugged her back in the same manner, but a malicious thought kept creeping up in his heart.


    ¡®If Luxanna really is¡­ No, that can¡¯t possibly be right¡­ Can it¡­? No, it¡¯s impossible¡­¡¯ Garen was torn to believe whether Lux really was a mage he loathed, or just a normal girl. He couldn¡¯t possibly bear the decision he would make when his suspicions were confirmed. He hoped, wished, and prayed that Lux wasn¡¯t a mage.


    Once they ended the hug, the bell rung, signaling an emergency. They quickly headed outside to see a huge figure forming in the distance. Since it was clear underneath the moonlight, they were able to see what the creature was. It had two huge arms and was black all over, except for the white markings on its body that looked like ribs, a huge, white mask-like thing that covered the top of its head, some white scales on its arms, and a something like a fin on its back with white spikes protruding outwards.


    It had gills, so naturally, it was amphibious since it lived in the sea,  and can breathe air seeing that it can stay alive without water for extended period of time, but what¡¯s more surprising, is that because it was heading their way.


    ¡°All men hands on deck! Ready the arrows, load the cannons! While we fire on that thing, I want someone to sail this ship past that huge monster,¡± Garen immediately gave orders.


    ¡°Captain, it¡¯s impossible to avoid direct contact! The winds blowing towards that monster! We can¡¯t outrun it!¡± shouted a soldier.


    ¡°Damn! Change of plans, Esteban! Set sail with the wind! Drop down all sails!¡± shouted Garen back.


    ¡°Yes, captain! For Demacia!¡± the soldier, Esteban, commandeered the ship and set it straight towards the monster.


    The ship then picked up pace and headed straight towards the huge monster making its way towards it. This was a risky gamble, if they messed up, all of them would die, if not, then they lived. But of all the things that could happen, it started breathing fire.


    This invited terror and fear into the hearts of the soldiers. Even though they were well trained elites, in front of certain death, they training held no meaning. That is until, Lux did something unimaginable.


    A bright light blinded the soldiers as well as Garen, and a ray of light pierced through the huge monster. It fell into the water and never rose again. Once the light subsided, Garen, as well as the soldiers looked over Lux wielding a staff that signified that she used magic.


    Lux was filled with fear because of the action she took. However, Garen was even more terrified because his fears and suspicions have turned into reality.

 Chapter 5: Adventure Awaits!

    Roman Torchwick was having one helluva time. First, his plans were foiled by the same red-hooded teen that kept on getting on his nerves for the past days and weeks. Even though it was cute at first, now that he ended up in this state, he could feel nothing but rage and annoyance to the red-hooded teen. That wasn¡¯t all, he was now alone without Neo in a place he goddamned knew nothing about. Sure there were signs of technology here and there, what with the flying airships that he saw flew above him in this alley, but the real problem is that he had no idea how he ended up here. Last thing he remembered was that a floating girl threw a bubble to his head, the next moment, he woke up in a dark alley in the middle of this town. But worst of all, he lost his fedora!


    Sure, he can tolerate being separated from his subordinates. Sure, he can tolerate being sent to who knows where which he knew nothing about since he¡¯s been in this situation for more times he can count on his fingers. But losing his fedora? That was the last straw!


    ¡®Once I find that brat, I¡¯ll make her pay,¡¯ thought Roman with furrowed brows. But for now, he let that thought go as this time he had to analyze his situation to know what to do next. Being the head of an underground syndicate, he knew the horrors of being on the badside of one. Even if he had no consideration to go against one, but that¡¯s not to say they won¡¯t try to do something to him just because he¡¯s an annoying fly.


    Walking out of the alley with his confident stride and tobacco in mouth, he found himself on a concrete road, with numerous pedestrians walking about, doing their own business. He was baffled to see this sight. Never in his mind would he find a city such as this. Being the head of a crime syndicate had its perks, like with information coming to him all over Remnant, so naturally, he had information about towns and cities all over Remnant. But this, this town was a whole lot different.


    There were cars running here and there, but it had different designs than to the ones back in Remnant. He also assumed that the cars here ran using a different type of energy source rather than Dust.


    It fascinated him so deeply. If he could get his hands on this tech, he might be able to create a prolific business back at home. It could also help him in his plans to get his revenge on little red and that floating girl.


    ¡®But not now,¡¯ Roman grinned as he thought about torturing little red in his own sadistic way. ¡®There¡¯s a time for everything, and I¡¯ll make sure to get back at every suffering I got from you, red.¡¯


    Roman continued on his leisure walk ¨C it looked like a leisure walk to some other passerby¡¯s ¨C and tried to gather information he could see with his own eyes. He saw a sign saying ¡°Welcome to Piltover¡± in a shop across from the street, an antique or souvenir shop probably.


    ¡®I guess this makes this town Piltover,¡¯ Roman thought. ¡®This town wasn¡¯t in any part of Remnant, but so what? I¡¯ll just continue to survive, like always.¡¯


    ¡®Now that I know the place, I¡¯ll have to find some means to grab some cash. Stealing is a no go. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m up against here.¡¯ Roman tried to think of a plan. He was right in being cautious, as the next moment, he heard a huge siren, as well as an explosion coming off in the distance. While other civilians ran away from it, Roman took this as a chance to learn some more information. The closer he got, the louder the sirens and explosions got. And when he was close, he heard some maniacal laughing.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± spat out Roman in shock. In front of him, a girl with short, pink hair about 1.7 meters tall stood chasing a hair with blue hairs in twintails. The one laughing was the ggirl with blue hair, wearing an outfit that covered most of the important parts, if she had any on the top at least. On her shoulder, she held a giant rocket launcher shaped like a shark, while hanging on her waist, a pink gatling-gun.


    The pink-haired girl though had huge metal arms, probably covering her flesh ones. She wore a metal breastplate on her chest, and on her back, something like a mechanism that pumped something into her suit or arms.


    ¡°JINX!!¡± the pink-haired woman shouted in a rage.


    ¡°Catch me if you can!¡± while the blue-haired girl, presumably Jinx, just ran while laughing maniacally. While she ran, she dropped some kind of weird, bear trap robots on the ground, but this did nothing to impede the pink-haired girl. She charged through it and closed the gap between Jinx and her in a moment, but before she could grab her, Jinx nimbly dodged and tapped the forward of the pink-haired girl.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Vi!¡± the girl energetically continued tapping the pink-haired girl, or Vi, with her finger. ¡°That¡¯s no fun! Try and catch me if you can!¡±


    And then, she leapt off of Vi and used her rocket launcher to fire a rocket into the air, but then she did something unexpected. She latched onto the rocket as she continued laughing.


    ¡°ANDDD LIFFTTT OFFFFFFFFF!!!¡± the girl screamed in joy as she launched right into the air.


    ¡°Damn it Jinx! Get back here!¡± Vi shouted in complete and utter rage as she scaled the buildings using her mechanical arms.


    While all this was going on, Roman spotted a girl on a rooftop. He wasn¡¯t able to get a clear picture of her since there were too many obstacles between them, as well as distance, but he could make out a gun, probably a sniper rifle aiming towards the rocket where Jinx launched off.


    The next thing that happened was that a bullet travelled at supersonic speed and hit the fast moving rocket dead-on. Whoever she was, she was great with her aim, and Roman didn¡¯t want to mess with her. The rocker burst into flames, but Jinx however just nonchalantly hopped off and fired another rocket with her rocket launcher and rode it into a building.


    ¡°YAHHOOOO!!!¡± then a huge explosion occurred, as well as the falling of debris.


    ¡°¡­ Is this town perhaps crazy?¡± Roman muttered in complete shock while leaving the premises and finding another place to scour for information.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    In Atlas, one of the control rooms as well as meeting place of several executives, General Ironwood and Ozpin were having a talk. With his favorite coffee mug that miraculously survived the fall of Beacon in hand, Ozpin went forward with the discussion.


    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that a huge monster destroyed Beacon Tower?¡± Ozpin asked. They weren¡¯t able to talk about this back in the bullhead since Ozpin was rather tired from fighting Cinder, that, and he was exhausted, so they postponed this topic for the morning.


    ¡°That¡¯s correct Ozpin,¡± Ironwood sighed as he brought up some pictures related to the incident last night. ¡°Apparently while you were under the vault, this huge monstrosity appeared from the sky and landed near Beacon Tower.¡±


    With that, Ironwood replayed some footage of the monster wreaking havoc on the grounds, as well as witnessing it bisecting the tower in one swift slash, along with the huge dragon Grimm.


    ¡°If not for something that fell out of the sky, all of the students there would have been massacred by its sword,¡± Ironwood feared what would¡¯ve happened if not for that something. Losing Hunters and Huntresses were bad enough, but students? That¡¯s taking it a bit too far.


    ¡°I see,¡± Ozpin muttered with an anguished face as he sipped some more coffee from his mug.


    ¡°For now, it was stopped, but if it was able to break free, then pandemonium could spread all over Remnant,¡± Ironwood enlarged the picture depicting the golden statue of Aatrox about to land with its sword swung in mid-air. ¡°And you know what would happen if it was able to break free.¡±


    ¡°I know, Grimm, multitudes of them,¡± Ozpin sighed with a tired face. If pandemonium spreads, negative emotions would also be spread en masse. First Salem, then that floating girl, and now this monster called Aatrox? What has Remnant gotten itself into? Was this some sort of ploy from the two brothers? Or was this perhaps something that happened because of another? He had no end to his questions so he bottled it up for now since there were no answers.


    ¡°Ozpin, I know this might be ridiculous, but we must use the Relics.¡± Ironwood stated.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Ozpin thought hard about Ironwood¡¯s proposal. With all this chaos going on, Ironwood¡¯s plan had some thought into it, but using the Relics is just as dangerous as letting Salem killing one of their maidens. If they were found to use a Relic, then Salem would do everything to take it away from them once she knew where it is.


    ¡°Ozpin please, we have no choice here,¡± Ironwood pleaded with a tired face. He had been up all night trying to think of a plan to fight that monstrosity in which even the top of the huntsmen had no chance of winning, and the Relics were their best bet.


    ¡°¡­¡± Ozpin really did think hard about this. But he had to settle on a compromise. His main mission was still to fight back Salem and unite humanity after all. ¡°All right, but that¡¯s our final option. I have another plan.¡±


    ¡°What plan?¡± Ironwood asked with a hint of anger. Just like Ozpin, prioritizing the Relics first before safety to fight against Salem, but he had to hear him out first. If it could prevent both that monster as well as Salem off their backs, then it¡¯s a plan worthwhile.


    ¡°You remember that purple man last night? Ryze was his name I believe,¡± Ozpin recalled the events last night. ¡°As well as you saying that our worlds were merged into one?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I most certainly do,¡± Ironwood nodded, but then realized what he meant ¡°You¡¯re not thinking about ¨C¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am thinking about that,¡± Ozpin cut off Ironwood. ¡°If that monster was living in their world, then I suppose their world have beings on par with that monster. If we could just bring them to our side, then we won¡¯t have to use the relics.¡±


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me right now,¡± Ironwood clutched his head in exasperation. ¡°First that monster and now you want to bring another one of those with similar strength here? What do you think would happen if that being turned on us while allying itself with that monster?¡±


    ¡°Then we would have no choice but to use the Relics,¡± Ozpin stated a matter of fact.


    Ironwood was stunned speechless at Ozpin. He really had no words. Just to not use the relics, he would endanger Huntsmen and Huntresses to go on a, what is probably a suicide mission? Ironwood really had no words right now. If at all, just bubbling rage and confusion.


    But before it could burst, cold water was poured down on him.


    ¡°Hi, sorry we¡¯re late,¡± Ruby entered the room along with her team and the others, Yasuo included.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    ¡°Land ho!¡± a Demacian soldier shouted with a voice that could reach the entire ship. Garen who was in his quarters quickly headed outside and gave out commands to prepare to dock. The ship slowly made its way towards the land while avoiding the reefs, and shallow spots. Once they were close enough to the shore, the soldiers propped up an incredibly long and thick plank, and had it placed like a bridge connecting the ship and the shore. Of course, before all this happened, they set down the anchor to avoid letting the ship drift away.


    ¡°Good job,¡± Garen praised his soldiers for the job well done. ¡°For now, I want everybody on the shores for a quick sortie. Leave 5 men on the boat for security.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± the soldiers saluted with their fists on their chests and quickly got ready to sortie, while leaving 5 soldiers that were knowledgeable about how to manage a ship behind. Once all of them were on the shores, they stood in formation, with 5 rows and 7 columns. All of the soldiers stood in attention with their weapons sheathed.


    ¡°As you all know, this land is uncharted lands for Demacia,¡± Garen started while he addressed all of the soldiers in formation, as well as back in the ship because of his booming and deep voice. ¡°But we will not falter because of the unknown! We are Demacia! A nation proud and strong! Whatever obstacles and enemies life hurls at us, we will persevere, for we are Demacia!¡±


    ¡°For Demacia!¡± the soldiers cheered in triumph as they raised their weapons high above their heads. Their loud cheering alerted the men on the ship and they started cheering as well. But most of all, another person also heard their cheering below deck, locked inside within the confines of a prison.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡± Lux cried as she recalled all of their happy memories together. If not for having the power of mages, she could¡¯ve lived a life of happiness with her family and friends. And now for the first time in her life, she started to loathe her own magic. Even if she was a bundle of optimism and positivity, when she saw the face of her brother looking at her with dread, her will shattered. She could do nothing but weep, but she also had no regrets, as she was able to save them from impending doom. But that didn¡¯t change her dread towards her own magic.


    A few minutes later of wallowing in sorrows and isolation, footsteps were heard coming closer. Lux perked her head up above her knees and looked beyond the bars made of petricite. When the figure got closer, she saw that it was her own blood brother, Garen Crownguard.


    ¡°Luxanna,¡± Garen called out to her still having doubts and feeling dread, and Lux responded by standing up and moving closer to the bars and facing Garen with a sorrowful look on her face. When he saw this, he felt an aching pulse in his chest. ¡°Please, tell me what I saw last night was a lie.¡±


    Garen wanted to believe that Lux¡¯s power last night was a fluke. He wanted to believe that Lux was not a mage that he loathed so much. He wanted to believe that Lux used something like an item that conjured that ray of light was used just so he can come to the conclusion that Lux wasn¡¯t a mage.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    But Lux just held her head down, and nodded her head side to side. This confirmed Garen¡¯s suspicion, and dread once again came back to cover him in his grasps. He wanted to release Lux from this prison and let her tag along, but a part of him tells him to lock her up and bring her back to Demacia for judgment.


    ¡°Brother, please don¡¯t cry over me,¡± Lux reached out her hand and placed her palm on Garen¡¯s cheek as she wiped away tear in his eye. This startled Garen as it was a long, long time ever since he cried. ¡°Do what you have to do.¡±


    Lux said with a smile as she wiped another tear flowing down Garen¡¯s cheek. If she could see her face now, she would notice that her eyes were like a dam that burst. Garen continued on looking at Lux with her face full of sorrow, pain, and fear. And this resolved him.


    He took the key out from his pocket, and unlocked the cage. Once he opened it, he told Lux, ¡°Please Luxanna, run away from here. Never return to Demacia because I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do.¡±


    Garen spoke in tears as he held Lux close to him and brought her to a hug, a hug that may be their last. Lux reciprocated the hug and they stayed like that for a few seconds while tears continued flowing down their eyes.


    Once they were done, the both of them returned up deck and onto the shores. The soldiers looked at Lux with confusion, pity, and dread. While they loathe mages, they can¡¯t help but pity the sister of their captain for being a mage. They made way for them and once the two were out of their encirclement, Garen spoke up to Lux while handing her a bag full of food, water, and other necessary necessities.


    ¡°Luxanna, my sister, I bid you farewell. I hope that wherever you are, you¡¯ll be able to find happiness,¡± Garen told her in his usual stern, but caring face. Lux nodded then set out for the wilderness and forests in which they don¡¯t know what lies beyond. Although he knew what dangers might lurk beyond, he knew, Lux would be able to take care of herself. She is after all, a Crownguard, and his little sister.


    ¡°Not a word of this from now on, understood!¡± Once Lux was out of sight, he spoke out towards his men behind him with his voice.


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± the soldiers saluted and went back to their duties. In a few hours, they¡¯ll be able to continue their expedition.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    East of Runeterra, just below Ionia in the map, the Noxian fleet continues to sail onwards to their destination, Vacuo. Swain was located in his quarters, doing his usual thing like planning, thinking, or just resting. But what he was currently doing was using his power to conjure a demon eye above Vacuo, scanning for anything that may be a detriment to their expedition, as well as a benefit. He noticed that there were some Vastayas here and there, so he was surprised that there humans and Vastayan were living in coexistence.


    ¡°I guess not all places are racist after all,¡± Swain muttered. He was half-wrong, half-correct, but that didn¡¯t change his mind to continue their expedition.


    While Swain was busy observing Vacuo, outside the deck stood Darius. He oversaw all of the work in this particular ship. That and he, was also responsible for reigning in Kled. Of all the jobs he could get, he got a babysitting job. It was actually okay for him to babysit anyone, but Kled? That¡¯s another story.


    And even now, Kled continues to yell out belligerently towards the Noxian soldiers, and all of them are having a hard time because of it. Darius facepalmed at the deranged and insane Yordle, as he continued to keep an eye out for Kled and his antics.


    The expedition was still going on strong and proud.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Back in Piltover, Ezreal could be seen sneaking off again, towards the docks and on a boat. When he got there, he noticed that Jayce was already onboard.


    ¡°Yo Jayce! Kept ya waiting long?¡± Ezreal started off with his usual banter.


    ¡°Nah, not really. Just tweaking some of the parts and we¡¯re good to go,¡± Jayce responded while doing some tweaking here and there. Ezreal got on board and placed his stuff within a storage compartment.


    ¡°So, this new land, when did you guys learn about it?¡± Ezreal asked Jayce while he plopped down on a bench.


    ¡°Some time ago I heard Prof. Heimerdinger say something about a new land,¡± Jayce replied with a smile as he looked at Ezreal with a beaming grin. ¡°I know this is your kind of thing, exploration and all that, but we scientists also need some more information about, well, you know what I¡¯m getting at.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, I heard ya,¡± Ezreal spoke out as he lied on the bench and napped for a little while longer. A few minutes later, he woke up to the sound of a revving engine.


    ¡°And we¡¯re good to go!¡± Jayce dusted his hands off and took of his gloves. ¡°With the latest tech in this boat, we won¡¯t get lost, and even if it is far, we would be able to reach the new land in about 2 ¨C 3 hours.¡±


    ¡°That fast?¡± Ezreal asked with an expectant look on his face.


    ¡°Yes! After all, Hextech is the future!¡± Jayce nodded proudly as he stepped on the gas. The boat they were on was a type of speedboat that could run on fuel and magic properties. It could even convert into a sail-type boat to conserve fuel.


    And with that, Ezreal and Jayce set off to the horizon towards the new land.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    In the icy North of Freljord, a huge commotion was spreading through the icy lands. The size of the land was increased! And no one knew why or how it happened. So they had no choice but to investigate.


    Ashe and Tryndamere, as well as their tribes were trekking through the ice. It took them about a day of trekking before arriving at a new place. In the horizon, a huge wall could be seen. But in their journey to here, they encountered some new beasts with black skin, and a somewhat white mask, though this did nothing but impede their journey. There weren¡¯t even any casualties in their tribes when fighting off those strange beasts.


    ¡°Tryndamere, do you see what I see?¡± Ashe gazed at the huge wall while she held hands with her husband.


    ¡°Hah! Walls don¡¯t mean anything to me!¡± Tryndamere let out a hearty laugh with his coarse voice. Ashe just sighed with a tired expression.


    ¡°For now, let¡¯s have the tribes set up camp here,¡± Ashe commanded the tribes of both the barbarians and Avarosians to set up camp. ¡°You and me however, will have to check that wall.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Tryndamere nodded with his usual gaze. For some reason, he was getting his blood pumped. ¡°I wonder if there is anyone strong in there.¡±


    ¡°Life is good no?¡± a huge figure stood behind them with his signature moustache. ¡°But I see no poros! Where are the little ones?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, we are treading on uncharted lands here,¡± Ashe stated a matter of fact. ¡°Anyway, Braum, you want to come with us towards that wall?¡±


    Braum nodded with a smile on his face. ¡°You might need protecting. I follow.¡±


    With that, the trio then left the camp and headed towards the huge wall, towards the city of Mantle. But because of the low visibility and snowstorm, they weren¡¯t able to notice the huge floating island just above Mantle.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    ¡°Yay!¡± Ruby couldn¡¯t let go of her excitement.


    ¡°Ugh, settle down Ruby, you¡¯re too noisy,¡± Weiss reprimanded the noisy Ruby. ¡°Besides, I get what you¡¯re feeling, and also, I want to leave this place right now.¡±


    Weiss really wanted to leave this place. The reason being that she did not want her father to know she was here. While they met up with Winter, she expressed that she didn¡¯t want to let her father know she was here, lest he does something to bring her home.


    ¡°Lighten up Weiss-cream,¡± Yang had a smile because of her pun. ¡°I totally agree with Ruby on this.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not wrong you know,¡± Blake added while her bow twitched.


    ¡°Ruff!¡±


    ¡°Hiii!!¡± Blake screamed in terror as she quickly used Yang and Ruby to shield herself from the tiny dog. ¡°What the heck is that doing here!¡±


    Blake pointed towards the dog that could be mailed using an envelope disregarding all laws of physics.


    ¡°Aww, don¡¯t go hating Zwei because you¡¯re a cat Faunus,¡± Ruby just hugged Zwei to her chest as she snuggled on the cute little dog.


    ¡°That has everything to do with me being a cat Faunus!¡± Blake roared as she took a step back as the dog stepped towards her. Suddenly, Zwei leapt towards Blake, and Blake had no choice but to run for dear life.


    ¡°GET AWAY FROM ME!!¡± Blake and Zwei entered a game of tag as they ran down the hall.


    ¡°Well, that was a punny situation huh?¡± Yang grinned as she earned the groans of her teammates.


    ¡°Well anyway, let¡¯s go head towards the mess hall for now. That meeting had me hungry,¡± Ruby held her stomach as it growled. The both of her teammates agreed as they followed Blake and Zwei¡¯s tracks.


    A few moments later, they arrived at the mess hall with Blake still running in circles trying to get away from Zwei, along with some other cat Faunuses.


    ¡°Welp, that happened,¡± Yang just stood there dumbstruck at the men and female running for dear life away from the chasing dog, earning the laughs of fellow Huntsmen and students inside the mess hall.


    The trio found their way towards a table next to Team JNPR who had cheerful expressions. It looks like they were able to get the thing about the Maidens off their chest last night. But for some reason, Pyrrha and Jaune were now acting more boldly than last night, flirting in plain view.


    ¡°Oh my? What are you two lovebirds doing?¡± Yang got closer towards Pyrrha and Jaune with a big, ugly grin on her face. Jaune and Pyrrha blushed at the incoming blonde, while Ren and Nora just deadpanned. Ren was understandable, but Nora deadpanning? Even with her favorite pancakes in front of her? Now that was a new sight.


    After a little while, Blake found them and redirected Zwei towards Ruby and sat on the chair as far away as possible from Zwei. Ruby ordered cookies, as usual, Blake ordered tuna, like usual, while Yang and Weiss ordered something different from their palate.


    ¡°By the way, what do you think of the upcoming surprise?¡± Ruby asked towards her teammates and Team JNPR.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think it has something to do with our upcoming mission,¡± Pyrrha stated while eating and flirting with Jaune. Seriously, these two got close in an instant after that night. And this did not stop Yang.


    ¡°Did you two cross the line last night?¡± Yang grinned while looking at the two with narrowed eyes. The two Teams, except Jaune and Pyrrha had wide eyes towards Yang for breaking something private, but Jaune and Pyrrha blushing did not help them.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me?¡± Yang did not even think that vomit boy had what it takes to cross the line. She thought that she could get a few laughs from this, but instead, had created an awkward atmosphere for herself, and her team.


    ¡°Yang! Of all the inconsiderate things you could say-¡± before Weiss finished her statement, the PA called for them.


    ¡°Team JNPR and Team RWBY, please report to the meeting hall right this instant.¡±


    The group quickly settled their lunch and stood up and headed towards their destination.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Lux was walking through the forest until she came across a wounded person lying beneath a tree. She quickly ran towards the wounded person and found out that it was a little girl Vastayan. She looked over her body and saw that she had some bite marks on her legs. Doing what she can, she took out some cloth from her bag and wrapped it over the wound to stop the bleeding.


    The girl was unconscious, but still squirmed for a bit because of the pain. Without a lay of the map, she could not know where to go, so all she could do was wait and protect her until she woke up. Treating the wounds further with her insufficient medical knowledge that only runs far to patching up wounds to lessen the burden, she sat beside her, staff at the ready.


    Just then, she heard a low growl and a rustling of the bushes. She perked up her attention and looked towards the noise. She held up her staff and stood on alert as she readied herself for combat.


    What came out of the bush was a black monster, with a white mask similar to the one she killed last night, except, it was much smaller and shaped like a wolf. She steeled herself and scanned the surroundings to check if there were any more of them nearby.


    Suddenly, the wolf leaped towards her, and Lux had no choice but to start combat. She dodged by doing a side roll and the wolf scratched the tree bark with its claws. Using that gap, Lux threw a luminous orb towards the wolf and hit it. The wolf was stunned by the orb and was unable to move. Lux did not miss this chance as she threw another orb and this time, it detonated around the wolf.


    Once the light subsided, the wolf was dispersing into black smoke. Lux heaved a sigh of relief as she continued to protect the unconscious child. Using her magic, she created a barrier around them and leaned on the tree trunk beside the girl. As she sat however, she couldn¡¯t do anything but lament the fact that she had no more home and her family. Even though she still considered them her family, the same couldn¡¯t be said if they learned that she was a mage. Her brother on the other hand, still loved her, but she knew that if she went back to Demacia and they learned about her magic, she feared that her brother would have no choice but to do something he would regret for his whole life.


    A few minutes later of waiting, she heard another rustling of a bush. When she stood up and held her staff at the ready, a voice shouted at her.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the voice asked cautiously. When Lux faced the direction of the voice, she saw a woman Vastayan with the same features of the child. She had dog ears at the top of her head, and a bushy tail. In her hand, she held something like a weapon Lux had the courtesy of seeing before due to Piltover imports. It was probably a gun. Lux had a happy face and pointed towards the child.


    ¡°Is this your child Miss?¡± Lux asked as she held an expectant gaze. The woman however, when she saw the child, had a shocked and worried expression.


    ¡°My baby!¡± She quickly cast aside all fears as she dashed towards the child and hugged her in her embrace. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry. Mommy wasn¡¯t here to help you¡­¡±


    She had tears of happiness trickling down her cheek. When she saw the bandaged wounds however, her heart ached as if it was punctured by a knife.


    ¡°Did you do this?¡± she asked Lux, pointing towards the bandaged wound.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t wound her, but I did dress it up,¡± Lux replied cautiously to not get a misunderstanding out of her. ¡°The wound looked like a bite mark.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Thank you,¡± the woman stood up cradling the child in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s not safe here, follow me back to the village.¡±


    Lux nodded back with an approval and gathered her bags and held her staff, earning a curious gaze from the mother.


    ¡°That¡¯s a strange weapon you have there,¡± the mother stated. ¡°But not like I can pry. Just know that there may be some people here and there that might be curious. Also, please wear a hood, because where I¡¯m from, there are some Faunus that dislike human.¡±


    Lux wanted to ask something about what is a Faunus, but decided against it for the moment and did as she said as she perked her hood back on her head. She also learned new information that there was discrimination between their races, but she didn¡¯t know which one was discriminating against who so she just clammed up and followed the mother back to her village.


    A few minutes later of walking, they arrived at a place bustling with people. All of which are Vastayan, or Faunus if Lux got it right.


    ¡°Welcome to Menagerie,¡± the mother said to Lux as she smiled to her.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Inside of Mantle, Tryndamere, Ashe, and Braum were granted access after an encounter between the Teams of RWBY and JNPR, as well as Ozpin, Yasuo and General Ironwood. Once they had their formalities done, they went inside and into a building that was like an inn.


    ¡°Hah! You call that a blade?¡±  Tryndamere scoffed at Yasuo rather thin blade as she brandished his huge sword with one hand.


    ¡°Some didn¡¯t, but I changed their mind,¡± replied Yasuo calmly as he unsheathed his blade and wiped off some grime using a piece of cloth he had on his person.


    ¡°Tryndamere, please stop,¡± Ashe chided him as she apologized to Yasuo. ¡°I don¡¯t want to break friendly relations this early if I can help it.¡±


    ¡°Where are the poros?¡± Braum was just in his carefree mode as he continued searching for poros. Just then, something popped up from his shield and landed on the table with a cute sound. It had two horns, and looked like a puffball. It had two small eyes and a huge mouth with a tongue hanging loosely like a dog. ¡°There you are little one!¡±


    When the teams saw the cute little thing, well, pandemonium broke loose as the leader of Team RWBY dashed in with her semblance to cuddle the little thing.


    ¡°SO CUTEEE!!!¡± Rubby squealed as she joyfully cuddled the poro. The poro also had a satisfied expression as it just licked Ruby in the face while Braum just laughed in humor. The other Team members and Nora from Team JNPR also huddled around the cute poro as they fed it snacks.


    While the girls were frolicking around the poro, Ozpin, Ironwood, and Yasuo were having a conversation with Ashe and Tryndamere.


    ¡°So you¡¯re telling us that all of a sudden your land called Freljord grew in size, which then led you leading your tribes here?¡± Ironwood asked confirmation towards the most rational of the two.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re correct,¡± Ashe replied as she confirmed it.


    ¡°Well General, looks like we need to hurry up with the new mission,¡± Ozpin stated as he sipped from his cup of coffee.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong Ozpin,¡± Ironwood rubbed the temples of his forehead while thinking that the situation of Remnant had gone into complete chaos, what with the world merging and the new people coming in droves. They were just lucky that there was no sign of an invasion, a thought that would likely come true in the next few days, but Ironwood doesn¡¯t know yet.


    ¡°So can I have what I asked earlier?¡± Ashe asked as she just stared at the General.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s not that much of a problem anyway,¡± Ironwood gave his approval. ¡°But remember, once I know that you attacked Mantle, let it be known that it will not end well for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we know, right Tryndamere?¡± Ashe nudged the almost sleeping Tryndamere.


    ¡°My right arm is a lot stronger than my left arm!¡± Tryndamere was surprised as he was nudged awake from his wife¡¯s nudging.


    ¡°Ughh¡­¡± Ashe rolled her eyes, while the others who heard this had a different thought, but Yang however had a dirty grin up her face. Before she could speak, Weiss quickly blocked her mouth with her hand.


    This earned a laugh from Team JNPR and her teammates as they continued cuddling the cute poro.

 Chapter 6: Departure

    Right after meeting with the two tribes from their land known as Freljord, the two teams were instructed to meet at the meeting hall. After saying their goodbyes, the groups split. With Tryndamere, Ashe, and Braum heading back to their camps, while Teams RWBY and JNPR, Yasuo, Ironwood and Ozpin headed back to Atlas.


    Before parting ways however, Ashe gave something to Ozpin and Ironwood as a token of their newfound friendship. It was a shard of True Ice. A shard so pure, that it won¡¯t melt no matter if it was inside a burning furnace.


    Ozpin and Ironwood accepted the shard with skeptical gazes since this was the first time they ever heard of a shard of ice that won¡¯t melt even when burnt. But without letting it show on their face, they accepted it with a smile. This shard however, would be used for research purposes in the future.


    Getting back on track, Team RWBY and Team JNPR, as well as Yasuo were on their way back to Atlas using a separate bullhead from Ozpin and Ironwood¡¯s. Apparently, Yasuo was more comfortable with the teens rather than the adults because of his experiences.


    ¡°Excuse me Mr. Yasuo, but can I have a look at your weapon?¡± Ruby wasn¡¯t able to ask this question last night or earlier due to the situation, but now that there was nothing urgent, she was finally able to ask what was on her mind for a day now. She also wanted to ask about Tryndamere¡¯s weapon, as well as Ashe, but was unable to given the situation.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Yasuo pondered for a moment as he took a swig from his bamboo flask. No wonder he and Qrow were compatible. Qrow fell into a drinking stupor because of losing Summer Rose, while Yasuo also fell into a drinking stupor because of getting branded as a traitor and killing his own brother. Nonetheless, he nodded while accepting her request as he unsheathed his sword with a flick of his thumb, then grab the handle with his left hand as he drew out the blade from its scabbard.


    The blade glistened under the sunrays passing through the window as Ruby just stared at the blade with awe and excitement. It had a thin blade that about a shoulder of her height, and it curved slanting backwards at its tip. It was a single-edged sword that reminded Blake of Adam Taurus¡¯ Wilt, causing her to frown.


    ¡°Woah¡­¡± Ruby just watched the blade as it glistened with star-struck eyes. Although the blade looked plain, its hilt however was not. The hilt was made of steel and shaped like a gust of wind, and the same could be said of its pommel. Its handle was wrapped in brown, leather straps to ensure comfortable handling even when in combat.


    ¡°Huh, first time someone actually likes my weapon,¡± Yasuo stated closed eyes as he sheathes it back into its scabbard. ¡°A weapon that helped me kill a number of people.¡±


    Yasuo said this with a sad tone and a sigh, but didn¡¯t let it show on his face. The teams however, noticed his complete change of tone and decided to stay quiet. He then took another swig from his flask to forget the memories; the memories of his past friends, the memories of his past rivals, and the memories of his brother. The two teams looked worryingly at Yasuo as he sat there in silence, drinking away from his flask.


    ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Ruby asked with an anxious tone. Being a person who valued helping other people the most, she just couldn¡¯t sit there while looking at Yasuo who was clearly suffering.


    The other people here looked at Ruby like she stepped on a landmine, but Yasuo just had an expressionless face at her question. Yasuo contemplated for a bit, but seeing that the teen had no malicious thought, but just pure goodwill interested Yasuo, so decided to answer her, but only a part of it.


    ¡°Alright, then let me tell you my past,¡± Yasuo said as he took another swig from his flask. ¡°It all started back when a nation known as Noxus tried to invade out lands of Ionia.¡±


    The group of teens listened attentively as Yasuo recounted his experiences during the Noxin invasion.


    ¡°I was tasked to guard my master, but thinking to myself that I could turn the tides of war if I joined, I snuck out and headed towards the battlefield,¡± Yasuo took another swig and unsheathed his sword as he spat out the alcohol and onto the blade. ¡°But do you know what I saw there?¡±


    Yasuo paused, recounting the horrible sight that befell him when he arrived at the battlefield. It made shivers crawl up his spine and filled him with dread towards the Noxians for even having the sanity to do that kind of attack.


    ¡°Death,¡± Yasuo stated, disgusted by the fact that the Noxians dare use chemicals to kill their enemies and allies alike. ¡°Death to all living things; be it plants, animals, and people. It killed everything, including their own.¡±


    The teens couldn¡¯t believe what they were hearing. He said that because of an attack, everything died, including the soldiers of their enemy and their own? Ridiculous¡­


    But seeing the serious face of Yasuo made them think twice. It would have taken an insane madman to take that kind of approach.


    ¡°Since I had nothing to do there, I went back, and you know what happened next?¡± Yasuo gripped his blade tight as he wiped it with a cloth to dry it from the alcohol. ¡°I found out that my master was dead.¡±


    The teens were shocked, wondering what would it be like if suddenly, someone close to them died without them knowing?  They stared at the face of the man that looked like it has gone through countless of battles, while coming out of it alive.


    ¡°I was going to turn myself in and await my death for insubordination,¡± Yasuo said this casually while the teens had their eyes wide-open. Although they¡¯ve heard of subordinates dying due to not following orders or going AWOL to their superiors, it was the first time they heard it directly from an acquaintance. ¡°But they charged me with more. They charged me for murder, to my own master.¡±


    Yasuo grit his teeth as he recalled the faces of contempt towards him back during trial. The teens just listened silently as they waited for Yasuo to continue speaking.


    ¡°So I escaped, I refused to die dishonored, so I ran,¡± Yasuo, his nerves finally settling back in as he took another swig from his flask. ¡°While killing anyone who got in my way¡­¡±


    When the teens heard his last lines, they all dropped dead silent. Only the roaring of the engine of the bullhead could be heard as they stared at the adult. But only to be more shocked by the bomb that Yasuo suddenly dropped.


    ¡°Including my own brother,¡± When they heard this, they felt as if someone stabbed and twisted a knife inside their hearts. Ruby and Yang however, were more affected by his words than most. Just the thought of killing one another gave them chills down to their very core.


    ¡°So you still think this is a wonderful weapon?¡± Yasuo asked towards Ruby with a curious gaze and a sad tone. ¡°A weapon that has the blood of countless friends, as well as family?¡±


    Ruby said nothing. In fact, she couldn¡¯t say anything, what with the reveal of Yasuo¡¯s history. The same could be said for the other teens in the bullhead. The history of Yasuo was mind boggling. It was incredibly dark, and who knows how much had Yasuo suffered during his life. Regaining her courage, Ruby asked one more question.


    ¡°Why were¡­ you framed?¡± Ruby asked with more anxiousness than before, garnering a tired smile from Yasuo.


    ¡°You remembered my technique when I fought that scarecrow right?¡± Yasuo said as a tiny amount of wind gathered around his body. ¡°This is called the Wind Technique, a technique that back when I was still a pupil, only had among others.¡±


    Yasuo spoke with reminiscence in his voice as he recalled the peaceful days. But then, he suddenly shifted his demeanor and drunk another mouthful.


    ¡°And my master was killed by a Wind Technique user,¡± Yasuo said as he sat still for a moment before continuing. ¡°And I was the only one in that whole area using Wind Technique.¡±


    When the teens heard this, they felt even more distraught. Ruby however, wanted to help him, so she pushed the discussion some more.


    ¡°Did you find the murderer?¡± Ruby asked with a sad look on her face.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ You could say that,¡± Yasuo took another swig. ¡°But we already fought with each other and let the past be water under the bridge. Now I¡¯m just a wanderer with no purpose in life.¡±


    As he said that, Yasuo took out his flute and began playing a soothing melody. It helped calm his nerves so he did this periodically when taking a rest, and right now, after having a trip down memory lane, which was a nightmare lane for him, the tune made him calm again. It also help calm down the teens who were gazing at Yasuo with pity and sadness in their eyes. Even the hyperactive Nora couldn¡¯t open her mouth to blurt out some words because of how disturbing Yasuo¡¯s past is.


    ¡°We¡¯re now approaching Atlas Academy,¡± suddenly, during the soothing tone of the flute¡¯s melody, the voice of the pilot could be heard through the comms. ¡°Proceeding with docking.¡±


    ¡°Well, looks like history class is over,¡± Yasuo said as he tucked his flute back into his pants.


    The teens just had no idea how to react to Yasuo as the bullhead landed and went on their way towards the meeting room.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Heading towards the meeting room, Ruby was dead silent because of hearing the shocking and disturbing past of Yasuo. She was contemplating on whether she should comfort Yasuo, or just leave him be to not further worsen his mood.


    ¡°Hey Rubes,¡± Yang called out to her sister who was dead silent as she hung her arm around her head and give her a noogie. ¡°What ya thinkin¡¯ about?¡±


    Ruby was shocked and confused at the sudden contact, but heaved a sigh as she said, ¡°Oh, um, I don¡¯t know¡­ It¡¯s about Yasuo.¡±


    ¡°Aw, don¡¯t let it get to ya,¡± said Yang as she pinched the cheeks of Ruby and pulled.


    ¡°Shtoph! It hurtsh!¡± Ruby cried out in pain with tears gathering in her eyes.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Yang laughed out cheerily as she stopped her teasing towards her little half-sister. She then gave Ruby another noogie to show her act of love towards her, but then showed her a compassionate smile as she gave her some words of comfort. ¡°Look, I know that Yasuo isn¡¯t the strong, badass samurai we think he is, but just a man living out his life without direction.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Ruby said in a low tone. She wanted to help Yasuo, she wanted to know more about him so that she can guide him in a direction where he won¡¯t regret. And she couldn¡¯t help but compare her uncle Qrow to Yasuo, what with wallowing in their grief with alcohol. In Qrow¡¯s case, it was the death of her mother, Summer Rose. While in Yasuo¡¯s case, it was him being framed for murder for an act he didn¡¯t commit. Although her Uncle Qrow still has a place to return to, Yasuo does not, for when he returns, he will be subjected to attacks from his fellow countrymen.


    And in the eyes of Ruby, Yasuo is a man who looks like he would vanish in an instant if she lets him go. ¡°But I ¨C¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Shh¡­¡± Yang cuts off Ruby by putting a finger on her lips. ¡°You know what, I also want to help Yasuo out, but in his case, he can only help himself until he can learn to trust others.¡±


    Yang showed a gloomy smile towards Yasuo. She was certain that Yasuo has incredibly thick, concrete walls surrounding his heart due to the life he lived as a fugitive, as an exile. She didn¡¯t know what she could do to gain her trust, but until Yasuo himself decided to break his walls down and trust them, they won¡¯t be helping him anytime soon.


    ¡°But when he told us his past, I think a part of that wall broke down,¡± said Yang as she smiled at her sister. ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before he would open up to us.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Okay,¡± Ruby nodded in acceptance at what her sister said. She wasn¡¯t wrong. At this rate, mulling over things would just stress her out, so for now, she pushed the thought of helping Yasuo to the back of her head and regained her usual cheery smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Rubes I know,¡± Yang said as she smiled while she pinched Ruby¡¯s cheeks again.


    ¡°Shtoph thatsh!¡± Ruby once again cried out in pain at the teasing of her older sister.


    Yang just flashed a grin at Ruby¡¯s suffering until Blake pulled her hand off of Ruby.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bully our leader too much,¡± Blake said as she deadpanned at Yang¡¯s antics. ¡°At this rate, her cheeks just might turn into paste.¡±


    Thinking up an image of Ruby with her cheeks like putty hanging from her face, Yang laughed louder as she stopped her teasing. Ruby however, glared at Yang for the longer than usual cheek pinching as she rubbed her cheeks to ease the pain.


    ¡°Will you two stop bickering,¡± Weiss chided, tired from seeing their actions. ¡°We¡¯re close to the meeting room.¡±


    Once Ruby and Yang heard that, they just smiled as they separated a few steps as they continued on as they walked.


    While all of those were going on, Team JNPR was having another ordeal, in the form of the hyperactive Nora being insensitive on her inquiring.


    ¡°So, how did your first time go with Jaune, Pyrrha?¡± Nora asked with stars in her eyes and ragged breathing. ¡°Or no, how did it feel!? Did it feel like those in Jaune¡¯s magazines!?¡± She asked with more vigor as she brought out a magazine for 18+ audiences.


    ¡°Nora, please stop¡­¡± Ren deadpanned at his hyperactive partner for being too insensitive. ¡°You¡¯re making them uncomfortable¡­ And where the hell did you get that?¡± Ren pointed towards the magazine with even more lifeless eyes.


    While Nora was babbling on and on, trying to figure out what they did like a detective in heat, Pyrrha and Jaune however, were too embarrassed to reply. Of course their first time felt that good. Hell, it even felt like they went from cloud nine to heaven and into the cosmos. But when Jaune heard something about his magazines, and he saw physical proof of it, he gained a tiny amount of courage to reply.


    ¡°W-where did you get that?¡± Jaune asked with an embarrassed tone.


    ¡°Under your bed, inside a tiny box with a second layer underneath,¡± Pyrrha said this with an excited face. And Jaune, being Jaune, just clammed up as he turned redder and Pyrrha, seeing the magazines, and his taste, blushed even more, turning into a tomato.


    ¡°Nora!¡± Ren quickly latched onto the hand of Nora as he grabbed the magazine and gave it to Jaune for hiding. ¡°Enough of this, can¡¯t you see that the both of them look like tomatoes already?¡±


    ¡°Aw, but¡­!¡± Nora wanted to refuse pushing because she felt like she was reaching the truth. In truth, she wouldn¡¯t do this to anyone. She just did this to Jaune and Pyrrha because they were teammates, and they shared a bond deeper than a family due to their lives being at risk when fighting the Grimm.


    ¡°No buts,¡± Ren stated as he deadpanned and his eyes turned lifeless. ¡°Because if you continue, I won¡¯t cook you anymore pancakes.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Fine,¡± Nora pouted as she went back to the front and walked in silence.


    ¡°Ren, thank you,¡± Pyrrha thanked Ren for being able to pacify the hyperactive girl. It was getting to embarrassing for her that she just might¡¯ve fainted due to the heat gathering in her cheeks. Reason being the night she recalled her first time with Jaune, it hurt, and it felt too damn good. She was finally able to tell her feelings to Jaune, and Jaune did tell her about his feelings as well. And then, well, they took it higher and crossed the line.


    She shook of the thought of when will be their next because they were nearing the meeting room. Jaune however, quickly hid the magazine that she got a glimpse of. She wondered if she would be able to reciprocate the style of the girl she saw in the magazine to get more points in Jaune¡¯s book.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Inside the meeting room, Ozpin and Ironwood, as well as some other teens who accepted their summons were waiting for the group of teens and one adult until the door opened. Beyond the door, the figures of Team RWBY and Team JNPR, as well as Yasuo, entered the room with a somewhat, cheery and sad atmosphere.


    Inside the room, the only teams were Team SSSN and Team CFVY. Apparently the other teams had to decline because if they left, who would protect their own countries citizens? Team SSSN had their justification, while Team CFVY had no more Beacon Academy to return to, so they just accepted the summons regarding a mission.


    The new arrivals promptly took their seats, while Yasuo just leaned on the wall with his single-edged sword at his side.


    ¡°Well then, it seems all of you are here,¡± Ozpin greeted as he sipped from his favorite coffee mug. ¡°I¡¯ll cut to the chase since all of you are probably restless for the next mission. But before that, General.¡±


    Ozpin glanced at General Ironwood as Ironwood stood up with a case in hand. It wasn¡¯t big, but it wasn¡¯t small either, leaving the teams of student Huntsmen to wonder what was inside the case. When Ironwood placed the case on top of the table, he opened it and inside it were various licenses, each with the name of the students in this room. The students gazed at the licenses with wide eyes and jaw dropped. They never expected this.


    ¡°Now this might be early, but you have shown me, you have shown us, that you are already capable Huntsmen and Huntresses,¡± Ozpin started his speech towards all of the students with their jaws dropped. ¡°And we, as headmaster of both Beacon Academy and Atlas Academy, have witnessed, and acknowledged your prowess.¡±


    Ozpin placed his mug back on the table as he stood upright with his cane in hand. He smiled at the gathering of students, the gathering of fledgling Huntsmen and Huntresses, and tapped the floor with his cane.


    ¡°From today onwards, you are no longer students,¡± Ozpin declared with a stern voice.¡±All of you are filled with strength and determination to fight off the Grimm and any other threats towards Remnant. And as Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and as a Huntsman, I proudly declare all of you, Huntsmen and Huntresses!¡±


    Ozpin smiled as he tapped the floor again with his cane.


    ¡°Congratulations, and happy graduation,¡± Ozpin said as he looked towards the students, no, the Huntsmen and Huntresses with pride.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    ¡°Was that really necessary?¡± asked Ironwood as both he and Ozpin were left behind inside the meeting room. The various teams were dismissed and told to return tomorrow morning for their first mission after celebrating their early graduation. ¡°The license?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Ozpin replied while sipping from his coffee mug. ¡°It would serve as a driving force for them to be motivated and determined to finish this mission. You know this James. That we can¡¯t delegate any more manpower to the exploration of the other world of Runeterra since Salem is still here, as well as that huge monster covered in gold.¡±


    Ozpin said with a tired expression, as well as a guilty frown as his subconscious kept on telling him that he would once again regret his decision. Ironwood also felt guilty for sending newly recruited Huntsmen and Huntresses to the probably most dangerous mission in all of Remnant.


    ¡°Hah¡­ I can¡¯t believe that we would lack the manpower for this and instead send children to a suicide mission,¡± Ironwood stated with a guilty conscious. ¡°How we have fallen.¡±


    ¡°I just hope that once they return, we won¡¯t have to greet the corpses of the children,¡± Ozpin sighed with a tired expression.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    During the celebration of the teams of new Huntsmen and Huntresses, Yasuo quietly snuck out of the party feeling that he didn¡¯t belong in there. And well, he was right.


    ¡°Parties aren¡¯t for me,¡± Yasuo said as he took another swig from his flask. His drinking habit really never faded away even when he had Taliyah as a disciple. He walked underneath the sky as he looked above to see two moons, one shattered, and another whole. He really never got used to that sight.


    ¡°Hey hotshot, need a drinking buddy?¡± Suddenly, a voice was heard and he turned towards its direction, but just smiled at his newly found friend.


    ¡°Sure, you could use one too,¡± Yasuo said to Qrow as both took a swig from their flasks. They were on a balcony of the Atlass Academy, just outside the party venue of the various Huntsmen and Huntresses. They both leaned on the railings and watched as the kids inside frolicked around and celebrated.


    ¡°You said that they were trainees right?¡± Yasuo asked as he took out a flute underneath the moonlight.


    ¡°Yeah, but not anymore,¡± Qrow replied as he downed another mouthful of alcohol. ¡°But I know, something is up behind it.¡±


    Qrow had suspicions about why they were prematurely given licenses, but had no idea why. Yasuo on the other hand had a thought since he was there during the meeting. Qrow however, was given another mission to survey the tribe just outside Mantle, and only returned for tonight.


    ¡°Huh, I guess they¡¯re doing that kind of plan,¡± Yasuo was convinced that this was what Ozpin and Ironwood were aiming for.


    ¡°What kind of plan?¡± Qrow asked, refusing to be left alone in the dark because the lives of the kids were now in a perilous state.


    ¡°You know about advance payment right?¡± Yasuo said as he played the flute.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Qrow finally dawned on the answer. It was simple, pay in advance so the person in question would do a better job. That¡¯s how it always is. And right now, the kids just had their advance payment. Now the only thing Qrow didn¡¯t understand was what their mission was.


    ¡°I think it has something to do with my world,¡± Yasuo stated as he stopped playing the flute and went back inside the party venue. ¡°C¡¯mon, the kids need the adults to supervise.¡±


    Yasuo said as he pointed inside the room. Inside it, a huge incident of pancakes being scattered everywhere was unfolding. But Yasuo didn¡¯t know, ever since he shared his past with the kids inside the aircraft, the walls around his heart began crumbling down, slowly, but surely.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    The next morning, the four teams, including Yasuo, met again inside the meeting hall, with Ozpin taking the lead on the briefing.


    ¡°As I said yesterday, you Huntsmen and Huntresses will be given your first mission today,¡± Ozpin declared in a stern voice. The teams listened in silence, engraving each of the words into their minds and heart. ¡°As you all know, before the fall of Beacon, a huge monster known as Aatrox landed beside it and spread havoc.¡±


    Ozpin said as he brought some footages and pictures of the beast in question. Neptune shivered at seeing the huge figure again as he recalled the moment he nearly died. The new Huntsmen and Huntresses just listened well as they stared at Ozpin and the visual media.


    ¡°And now, due to unforeseen circumstances, it was put into stasis by some unknown entity,¡± Ozpin then showed a picture of how it looked, covered on gold, unmoving even when touched. ¡°We don¡¯t know how long this will last, so we have no choice but to task you all, to find someone who can put that beast down.¡±


    Confusion spread amongst the teens about their vague mission. Find someone who could defeat that thing? It was like finding a specific shark in the entire ocean. And that shark was incredibly dangerous. And their job was to find said shark, and bring it back here so it can help fight against a giant killer whale that could end their own world if it became free. How preposterous.


    ¡°Before you all ask question, we were already briefed about a new world merging with us right?¡± The teens nodded as they glanced at Yasuo just leaning on the wall with his eyes closed. ¡°Then this won¡¯t be that hard to explain. Your mission is to go into the world of Runeterra which has merged with ours, and find someone, anyone who can defeat that monster. Of course, as you are just fledgling Huntsmen, all of you will form into one group, with your teams still separated.¡±


    ¡°Your group would be known as RMNT, as the group formed for the future of Remnant. And all of you will be led by one Huntsman who had been one of the most successful ones in tracking and information in all of Remnant,¡± Ozpin said as the door opened and a figure entered. He wore a dark as night cloak and hood, covering his vintage, dark-brown clothes underneath. He wore jeans and wore black combat boots. He had good looks, with a sharp nose, unblemished face and pale skin, along with raven-black hair which reminded Yang of her own mother. But what was surprising were his heterochromic eyes, one red and the other blue, right eye and left eye respectively. And his weapon was a chain-scythe, much like Blake¡¯s, but had different functions. But they didn¡¯t know it yet. ¡°Meet Shino, a Huntsman skilled in subterfuge and information gathering.¡±


    ¡°Greetings, fellow Huntsmen,¡± Shino greeted.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    After the briefing, they were then tasked to meet up at around 1:00 PM for their departure. After having a good lunch, and packing their stuff for the journey and adventure ahead, they met at the landing area for the bullheads.


    ¡°I am so excited for the mission!¡± Ruby said excitedly as she jumped all around the area. The same could be said for Nora.


    ¡°Woohoo!!!¡± yelled Nora as she jumped about along with Ruby.


    ¡°Ughh¡­ They¡¯re like children,¡± Weiss complained as she placed her bags inside the cargo hold.


    ¡°Cheer up Ice Queen,¡± Yang said as she grinned at Weiss¡¯ snarky comment. ¡°Just let them have their fun. It might be the last time they can without anything bothering them.¡±


    Yang said painfully as she knew, the mission that was given to them, was unimaginably the hardest one in all of Remnant. They were trying to find a being that can defeat that huge golden statue once it comes to life, and they had no idea who that person is. What if he was a deranged lunatic, or a psychopathic killer? And what¡¯s worse, is that they have to find said person in a land they knew nothing about. Weiss also clammed up once she heard Yang¡¯s argument.


    ¡°Well, at least we¡¯ll get to have an adventure like never before,¡± Yang said in a mixture of excitement and anxiousness as she equipped Ember Celica, her twin daughters, into her own hands.


    ¡°I can agree on that with you,¡± Blake said as she continued reading her book called Ninjas of Love.


    ¡°You and me both,¡± Weiss nodded in agreement as they finished up storing their bags inside the cargo hold. Once they were done, some of the teams boarded the giant bullhead as they prepared to leave.


    Yasuo and Shino on the other hand, were already waiting for them inside the cockpit.


    ¡°Alright Team RMNT, get your butts on board ¡®cause we¡¯re leaving ASAP,¡± Shino said through the comms given to each of the by General Ironwood. The teens complied as they hurried with their boarding and plopped their butts on the seats. Yasuo was sitting right next to Shino who was the pilot of the bullhead. Once they knew everyone was onboard, the bullhead flew off into the opposite direction of the sunrise, basically, to the West, as they are heading towards Ionia, the homeland of Yasuo.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Home of the birthplace of the Grimm stood an enormous castle underneath the red and purple sky. On the ground, patched of black liquid could be seen decorating the entire area. And from within the black patches, new Grimm emerged.


    Inside the castle, inside a specific room with a long table and eerie decorations, sat a wounded Cinder who could never speak again due to the damage that samurai did to her. Mercury and Emerald stood behind her, anxious for the situation to come.


    Another man sat just across the table, his name was Arthur Watts, a former Atlas scientist.


    ¡°Yes, yes, please keep your¡­ posse in check,¡± stated Arthur arrogantly while tightening his collar. Mercury was insulted and wanted to jab at the doctor while releasing a grunt, but was stopped by Emerald intervening.


    ¡°You hear that?¡± asked Arthur as he glanced for a moment at Hazel, a huge and muscular man sitting on a chair with his arms crossed. ¡°Silence¡­ I have half the mind to thank the man that bested you.¡±


    ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d hunt him down,¡± suddenly, the other man squatting on a chair, with a scorpion¡¯s tail spoke up with a psychotic smile on his face. ¡°Hehe, find him and¡­ well he took your voice didn¡¯t he?¡±


    Cinder just stared at him with her two eyes, chuckling like a lunatic would, and that chuckling turned into a deranged laugh as it progressed. Cinder wanted to speak, but the damage to her vocal cords was irreversible, so all she could do was signal Emerald to do the talking.


    ¡°Pathetic, why did you even ¨C¡± Arthur¡¯s words were cut short by the door to the room opening. Once the door unhinged, all of them stood at attention to show respect to the figure walking in. She had pale white skin and hair, dressed in a black robe all the way down her feet. Her hair was braided like there were snakes around the tip of her hairs, and her beautiful face was adorned with black lines at her cheeks. Her eyes sclera was black and her pupils, red. The way she moved looked like instead of walking, she was floating, as she moved around them and into the end of the table.


    ¡°Watts,¡± the woman called out to the doctor as she turned around with a glint in her eyes. ¡°Do you find such malignance necessary?¡±


    She then gave the approval for all of them to take their seats. Once she did, the rest slowly took their seats, save for Emerald and Mercury, as well as Arthur.


    ¡°I apologize, ma¡¯am,¡± Watts said with respect towards the woman, but still condescending to his other allies. ¡°I¡¯m not particularly fond of failure,¡± he added as he took his seat as well.


    The woman also took her seat on a chair that looked like it was made from dark purple crystals.


    ¡°Then I see no reason for your cruelty against young Cinder,¡± she said as she looked towards Cinder next. ¡°She¡¯s become a Fall Maiden, but that¡¯s all, nonetheless, an achievement deserving of praise,¡± the woman said, but then she turned grim as she glared at Cinder.


    ¡°But I dislike the fact that you were not the one who destroyed Beacon Tower, as well failed in killing Ozpin,¡± she spat out as she released her killing intent on her. Cinder suffered for a moment, until all of it was dispersed.


    ¡°Make no mistake Cinder, you hold the key to our victory,¡± she said as she released her grip on Cinder with her killing intent. ¡°But you¡¯re newfound strength brings with it a prickling weakness, which is why you¡¯ll remain by my side as we continue for treatment.¡±


    Cinder gritted her teeth because of the suffering she endured.


    ¡°But I¡¯m curious, who was the man that bested you?¡± the woman asked with curiosity in her voice. A man was able to defeat Cinder, even with her Maiden powers. Suddenly, the ground shook, and the skies opened, revealing a huge dragon who¡¯s face looked like it was grinning in amusement.


    ¡°What a wonderful display, it seems that your world has more interesting people than I thought,¡± the dragon grinned as it arrogantly showed itself from beyond the cosmos.

 Chapter 7: Encounters

    Aurelion Sol once graced the vast emptiness of the cosmos with celestial wonders of his own devising. Now, he is forced to wield his awesome power at the behest of a space-faring empire that tricked into servitude. Desiring a return to his star forging ways, Aurelion Sol will drag the very stars from the sky, if he must, in order to regain his freedom.


    The appearance of a comet often portends a period of upheaval and unrest. Under the auspices of such fiery harbingers, it is said that new empires rise, old civilizations fall, and even the stars themselves may tumble from the sky. These theories merely scratch the surface of a far more bizarre truth; that the comet¡¯s radiance cloaks sa being of unfathomable power.


    The being known as Aurelion Sol was already ancient by the time stellar debris first coalesced into worlds, Born in the first breath of creation, he roamed the vast nothingness, seeking to fill a canvas of incalculable breadth with marvels whose twinkling spectra brought him considerable delight and pride.


    A celestial dragon is an exotic creature, and as such, Aurelion Sol seldom encountered any equals. As more forms of life emerged to fill the universe, a multitude of primitive eyes gazed up and beheld his work with wonder and breathless pondering. Flattered by this audience of countless worlds, he became fascinated by their fledgling civilizations, who crafted amusingly self-centered philosophies on the nature of his stars.


    Desiring a deeper connection with one of the few races he deemed worthy, the cosmic dragon selected the most ambitious species to grace with his presence. These chosen few sought to unravel the secrets of the universe and had already expanded beyond their home planet. Many verses were composed about the day the Star Forger descended to a tiny world and announced his presence to the Targonians. An immense storm of stars filled the skies and twisted into a massive form as marvelous as it was terrifying. Cosmic wonders swirled and twinkled throughout the creature¡¯s body. New stars shone brightly, and constellations rearranged at his whim. Appropriately awed by his illuminant powers, the Targonians titled the dragon Aurelion Sol and presented him with a gift as a token of respect: a splendorous crown of star-gems, which he promptly donned. Before long, though, boredom drew Aurelion Sol back to his work in the fertile vastness of space. However, the further from the reach of that tiny world he traveled, the more he felt a grasping at his very essence, pulling him off his path directing him elsewhere! He could hear voices shouting, commanding, from across the cosmic expanse. The gift he¡¯d receive was no gift at all, it seemed.


    Outraged, he fought these controlling impulses and attempted to break his bonds by force, only to discover that for each attack against his newfound masters, one of his stars vanished forever from the firmament. A powerful magic now yoked Aurelion Sol, forcing him to wield his powers exclusively for Targon¡¯s benefit. He battled chitinous beasts that tore at the fabric of this universe. He clashed with other cosmic entities, some of which he had known since the dawn of time. For millennia, he fought Targon¡¯s war, crushed any threats to its dominance, and helped it forge a star-spanning empire. All of these tasks were a waste of his sublime talents; after all, it was he who birthed the light into the universe! Why must he pander to such lowly beings?


    As his past glories slowly vanished from the celestial realm for lack of maintenance, Aurelion Sol resigned himself to never again bask in the warmth of a freshly ignited star. Then, he felt it ¨C a weakening in his unwilling pact. The voices from the crown grew sporadic, clashing, arguing with each other while some fell ominously silent. An unknown catastrophe he could not fathom had thrown off the balance of those who bound him. They were scattered and distracted. Hope crept up into his heart.


    Driven by the tantalizing possibility of impending freedom, Aurelion Sol arrives on the world where it all began: Runeterra. It is here the balance will finally tip in his favor. And with it, civilizations across the stars shall bear witness to his rebellion and again play audience to his might. All will learn what fate befalls those who strive to steal for themselves the power of a cosmic dragon.


    But then, the Aspect of Twilight saw it fit to bend the reality of Runeterra, with Aurelion Sol as her audience. The space screamed and crackled, as a new planet emerged from beyond a giant portal leading to another area within the vast cosmos. The planet crashed into Runeterra, and the area around Runeterra seemed to haze and become ethereal. Moments later, the planet was no more, but instead the planet has merged with Runeterra. The planet known as Runeterra was no more, but instead, a new planet has been born this very instant, and Aurelion Sol just observed all of this happening with an amused smile on his face.


    Forward a few days later and now he found another interesting situation happening from the world that had merged with Runeterra. On an island charred black stood a lone castle, surrounded by what seemed to be a species of animals native to their world, if not for the fact that they seemed hostile to all living beings in the planet. They had black skin, with white masks donning their face. There were also some bone-like protrusions coming out from their body.


    ¡°Such fascinating creatures,¡± Aurelion Sol mused to himself as he knew, they very being, their entire body, was created and birthed with combat in mind. They had no brains, they even had no organs, but they do have the hostile tendencies to living beings. ¡°Just like the void dwellers.¡±


    He looked closer, bringing his face right above the clouds, and he saw mortals within the castle having some kind of meeting. One mortal however, had a ghoulish look. She had pale white skin with black lines adorning her pale body. She wore a black cloak and floated around instead of walking.


    ¡°That girl is no mortal,¡± just within a glance, Aurelion Sol knew, that woman was no mortal. She was an immortal, a being on par with the ascended, but weaker than an aspect from Targon. He wondered whether she would win in a battle against Aatrox, the bloodthirsty Darkin that crashed near a tower in the central island of the planet. ¡°Though I suppose the girl would win since she cannot die.¡±


    It fascinated him. Who could¡¯ve done such a thing to render such a mortal vessel into an immortal being of power? He looked back into the vast cosmos and saw the shattered moon orbiting the new planet. He found some vestige of some kind of power, and this power, had a relation to the girl in question within the castle.


    ¡°Was she the one that did this?¡± Aurelion Sol inquired to himself as she grabbed a fragment of the moon. He tossed it around for a few minutes, before flinging it into space, far beyond where he could see. ¡°I suppose not. That girl is still weak to do such thing.¡±


    He then had an idea. He wondered what would happen if he showed himself, a being of almighty prowess, and show her that the world she lives in, was just a tiny speck in the vast universe. He grinned and shook the earth. Then, he separated the clouds and showed his giant face.


    ¡°What a wonderful display, it seems that your world has more interesting people than I thought,¡± Aurelion Sol grinned as it arrogantly showed himself from beyond the cosmos.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Salem couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. When she first laid her eyes on the giant dragon, she knew, she was but a child compared to it. The same could be said for the other. Cinder had her eyes and mouth wide open as she stared at the unfathomable being in front of her. Arthur tried to maintain a composed expression, but couldn¡¯t prevent cold sweat from pouring from his face and back. Hazel stood, still imposing and composed, but he didn¡¯t dare anger the being in front of him, lest he die in a brutal manner and reunite with his sister before fulfilling his revenge against Ozpin. Tyrian however, was shocked and his world turned upside-down for a brief moment when he saw the state of his Goddess. Mercury and Emerald on the other hand had the same reaction as Cinder, but Mercury glared at the dragon, while Emerald just stared in fear and awe.


    ¡°Do tell me mortals, what does it feel like to behold such being with eyes such as yours?¡± the dragon grinned as it looked upon the awestruck mortals inside the castle. ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t be shy, I don¡¯t bite.¡±


    Salem and her subordinates couldn¡¯t let out a word due to its booming voice that seemed to shock their entire body. Hell, even the Grimm that were around this area all ran away in fear from the giant dragon. Seeing that the mortals had no response to it¡¯s question, the dragon frowned and spoke up.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I thought that you mortals could have entertained me for a bit longer, but since you won¡¯t respond, I guess this is where we part ways,¡± when the dragon said that, Salem and her subordinates heaved a sigh of relief, only to see something falling towards them. ¡°Goodbye mortals, however, you on the other hand,¡± Aurelion Sol pointed towards Salem, ¡°We¡¯ll meet in the near future, yes?¡±


    Salem saw it. Above their heads, a star was falling. Not the star that you would wish upon, a real star was falling. With heat that could surpass the sun, it made its way towards the surface of Remnant, but only towards their area. If that star ever comes in contact with the ground, Salem knew, everything here would be decimated.


    ¡°Wait! Stop!¡± Salem cried out in desperation to avoid the future of destruction at all costs. The dragon however, just looked at her and frowned.


    ¡°If you think an immortal such as yourself could garner my attention, then I would like to say you¡¯re a thousand years too early,¡± the dragon said with its condescending tone as if it was talking to an insect on the roadside. Salem was furious. All of her work, all of her plans, and all of her hardships would vanish just because of one dragon?This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°YOU ARROGANT DEITY!!¡± Salem yelled out in frustration, anger, and desperation as she unleashed her power towards the falling star. This gained the attention of the dragon, but it let it play out for a moment to see if this immortal was really worth its time. A beam of blackened light pulsed out from the hands of Salem as it flew out at lightspeed and hit the star directly in hopes of pushing it out of direction, or obliterating it if possible.


    The beam of black decorated the sky for all of Remnant to see, except Runeterra because of the new world¡¯s orientation. Because it was day time, a beam of black was very obvious within the blue skies.


    It seemed like it was working. Salem was grinned for a moment, before horror crept up on her face. The star hadn¡¯t stopped one bit. It didn¡¯t even stop for a single millimeter.


    ¡°If you¡¯re thinking that you could rival my prowess, then you¡¯re mistaken, immortal,¡± the dragon said as it threw more stars towards them. Salem couldn¡¯t even respond anymore. She knew, this was the end; no one - not even Ozpin or the two brothers - could fight against this being of multitude proportion.


    Just when Salem gave up, the dragon laughed in amusement as it called back the stars. With just a wave of its hands, the stars flew right back from whence they came. Salem glared at the dragon for toying around with her, but the dragon just grinned at her.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve had enough of playing around for the moment,¡± the dragon smiled as it withdrew towards the vast cosmos of space. ¡°Until then, struggle, resist, and fight. Show me that your kind has what it takes to amuse me.¡±


    And then, the skies went back to the same red as it was before, and Salem screamed out in frustration. The dragon however, had different thoughts.


    ¡®Now that she knows of power beyond her, I hope that she could eradicate Targon once they fight each other in the future,¡¯ the dragon thought as it continues observing the fascinating wonders of world merging.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Team RMNT was on their way towards Ionia, the birthplace of Yasuo. Since he was the only person who knew about Runeterra in their party ¨C or more specifically, Ionia ¨C they will use him as a guide for the start of their mission.


    Ruby was sitting on the seat provided for her, and besides her were; Yang and Weiss on the right and left respectively. She was busy tending to her ¡®sweetheart¡¯ Crescent Rose, while Yang was busy tending to her ¡®twin daughters¡¯ Ember Celica. Weiss however, was just glad that she wasn¡¯t anywhere near Atlas because of her father. Beside Yang was Blake, and as usual, reading her smut book, Ninjas of Love. Together, they form squad RWBY in team RMNT.


    Next to her was Lie Ren, a quiet teen that was busy reigning in Nora during her outbursts. Nora was also seated next to Ren, and next to Nora, was the readhead, Spartan, Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha was also busy engaging with conversation to her new partner, both in the squad, and her life, a blond boy named Jaune Arc. Jaune Arc was sheepishly conversing with Pyrrha about how to fight, how to get stronger, and sometimes, getting flustered by the sneak attacks of Pyrrha asking what type of girls did he prefer. Together, they formed squad JNPR in Team RMNT.


    Across them were four more teens, but a little older than them, by a year probably. The first girl was a brunette with rabbit ears conversing with her friend adorned in military-themed accessories. The brunette Faunus was named Velvet Scarlatina, and the girl with military accents was Coco Adel, and the both of them have been friends for as long as they can remember. Beside them was a black, blind teen wearing an orange vest.  He was also busy conversing to his teammate beside him, a tall man in a green one-sleeved robe, about the upcoming mission. They were named Fox Alistair and Yatsuhashi Daichi respectively. Together, they formed Squad CFVY in Team RMNT.


    And the last group of teens was all comprised of male Huntsmen. The first one being a blonde, monkey Faunus, named Sun Wukong. Next to him was blue-haired teen who; when he looked through the window and saw the ocean, became traumatized and hugged his knees to alleviate his anxiety, with Sun consoling him with a tired expression. He was named Neptune Vasilias, and was incredibly afraid of water of any kind, even showers and the bathtub kind. Next to them were a red-haired young man and a green-haired and dark skin young man. They were named Scarlet David and Sage Ayana respectively, and could be seen conversing with topics about females. They form squad SSSN in Team RMNT.


    And at the pilot seat, and passenger seat, sat two adults, with one being the guide, and another being the pilot. The pilot was named Shino, a Hunter who specialized in subterfuge, and information gathering to report to the higher-ups, and the other one was Yasuo, native to Ionia and their starting guide for their mission.


    ¡°So Yasuo, when we touch down, what do you have in mind for the tour?¡± Shino asked while not losing focus at piloting the bullhead.


    ¡°Nothing in mind yet, since I¡¯m a wanted man in that land,¡± Yasuo replied nonchalantly while drinking from his flask. Seeing this, Shino had a thought.


    ¡°Does that ever get empty?¡± Shino had a curious look towards the flask Yasuo was holding. Yasuo smirked and tucked the flask back in his pants after covering it with a makeshift cover.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Yasuo stated with an amused face. Since Shino had no idea what he was thinking about, he just let the question go and continued with piloting the bullhead.


    Inside the passenger area however, the various squads were busy dealing with their own problems and concerns. One being Ren deadpanning at Nora for being a little to hyper in their first mission.


    ¡°Are we there yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    ¡°Are we there yet?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Are we there yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    ¡°Raaaghh!!! When will we get there!?¡± Nora made an outburst as she stamped her feet on the bullheads floor, which caused the bullhead to tilt towards the side where Nora was located. This got everyone to yelp in surprise at the sudden tilt, while the speaker turned on.


    ¡°Huntsmen, this is a mission, not a picnic, so please, stop making any commotions that may disturb our flight,¡± then the speaker turned off and silence dominated the passenger area as each of them glared at Nora.


    ¡°Nora, please calm down,¡± Ren deadpanned at the hyper Nora. Jaune and Pyrrha also deadpanned at Nora for being a little to hyper.


    ¡°¡­ Fine,¡± Nora pouted as she sat on her seat without moving an inch.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ren once again felt relieved that Nora won¡¯t destroy the bullhehad before they could make it to Ionia.


    While all of this was ongoing, Shino had a really bad feeling, the farther they went from Atlas. His intuition was tempered through the years from espionage, stealth, and tracking, and he knew when danger would come to greet him. His semblance [Danger Detection] had been ringing nonstop, even if they changed directions, other than returning back to Atlas.


    ¡®We¡¯re going on for a hell of a ride, aren¡¯t we¡­?¡¯ Shino thought this as he hoped that even if he died, the children won¡¯t. They were too young for this kind of mission so Shino asked about why Ozpin and Ironwood approved of this operation with the children. And when he heard the answer, he was flabbergasted. Because of the recent threats in Remnant, Huntsmen and Huntresses were at an all time low, and they need anyone they could to help. And now, they¡¯re sending children on a suicide mission because of low manpower.


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Shino muttered under his breath as he continued piloting the bullhead. Yasuo heard him mutter and he knew what he was thinking about. Without responding to it, Yasuo just grabbed his flute and sang a tune, as sit turned into a melody to calm the tense Shino.


    ¡°Thanks man,¡± Shino thanked Yasuo as he calmed himself. ¡°But I don¡¯t think we¡¯re out of the woods yet.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you and me both,¡± Yasuo said as he tucked his flute and gripped his sword. The wind was going crazy when their aircraft approached the distant land of Ionia. The teens at the back noticed that Ionia has come into view and all of them ¨C except Neptune ¨C looked out of the window to bask in the scenery. And this was when destruction came.


    The roar of a monster echoed throughout the area and assaulted their eardrums, causing them to cover their ears in pain and anguish. The same could also be said to Yasuo and Shino, who were at the forefront of the aircraft. When they saw the source of the scream, Shino had his mouth drop, while Yasuo squint his eyes towards the sight. No wonder his [Danger Detection] was screaming alarm bells at him, they were up against a fucking dragon!


    ¡°Vile humans and their machinery,¡± the dragon roared while lightning and storms crackled around it. The clouds had gone dark in an instant, as if nature was about to launch an unforgiving towards the trespassers. ¡°YOU MUST BE DESTROYED!¡±


    ¡°BRACE FOR IMPACT!¡± Shino screamed into the mike to alert the Huntsmen inside the passenger¡¯s area. Ruby and her team quickly strapped themselves in with speed, the same could be said for the others ¨C except Neptune who was still regressed into a baby.


    And suddenly, all the colors vanished from their sight. An incredibly loud, thundering apocalypse had hit ther aircraft and shattered it into oblivion. If not for the fact that the Huntsmen and Huntresses had Aura, they all would have been obliterated in an instant. Yasuo however, thanks to the wind compressing itself around him, managed to come out of the attack intact, save for a few injuries here and there.


    The group all fell towards the sea at an astonishing speed, and Neptune ¨C who was still miraculously awake ¨C as well as Jaune who had his Aura reserves higher than any Huntsmen, awake, they realized the danger before them, by issuing a girly scream from the top of their lungs.


    ¡°GYAAAAAHHHH!!!!¡± Neptune and Jaune screamed from the top of their lungs in a high-pitched voice that might make anyone think there were women who were in danger. But thanks to their screams, the Huntsmen and Huntresses were able to come back conscious and see the vast ocean which was fast approaching.


    Pyrrha quickly maneuvered used her semblance to bring Jaune closer to her using her semblance [Polarity] on his armor, while Sun, as well as his teammates all huddled around Neptune to calm him down. Ruby and Blake used their semblances to help Weiss and Yang to better land on the ocean since they had no other options.


    Nora and Ren were also pulled towards Pyrrha and huddled around together to land safer using one Pyrrha¡¯s strategy. Coco, Velvet, Daichi and Fox had no landing options, other than tough it out once they come in contact with the sea using their Aura. But thanks to Yasuo and his quick-thinking, everybody who had planned on a landing strategy, were saved thanks to a gust of wind upwards. And thanks to them huddling around each other, none of them were separated due to the unnatural amount of wind.


    It all happened so quickly. Once they were a few meters from the ocean, Yasuo swung his blade upwards and caused an immense gust of wind to invalidate the gravity and slightly pushing them up. And once the wind was gone, they plunged into the water as if they just jumped from a low-height diving board, and no one was hurt ¨C except Neptune mentally and emotionally while screaming like he was swimming in acid and lava.


    The squad of SSS quickly helped Neptune up from the water and into one of the wreckages since they knew he didn¡¯t know how to swim. While others who knew how to swim, weren¡¯t able to because of the weight they were carrying, an example would be Coco and her weapon briefcase that transforms into a minigun, was extremely heavy, making it hard to float. But thanks to everyone¡¯s help in the dire situation, there were no casualties, and everybody only suffered minor injuries ¨C except Neptune because he was now mentally scarred for life.


    ¡°Everybody okay!?¡± Shino screamed at the top of his lungs after everything has settled down. The teens all nodded in agreement, except Neptune. ¡°Alright, good.¡±


    Shino looked upwards and saw that the sky was no longer dark and the dragon was nowhere to be seen. He was confused as to why the dragon suddenly appeared and attacked their aircraft, but hearing it say that it hated machinery; then they probably ticked it off in coming here using a bullhead.


    Shino then looked towards the island which seemed like an hour swim using normal means. He heaved a thankful sigh once his semblance had gone quiet and issued a new command towards the soaked Huntsmen.


    ¡°Alright! Everybody swim for the shores!¡± Shino yelled as he began to swim, along with the other Huntsmen and Huntresses, and Yasuo, except Neptune who was still regressed to an infant because of being soaked in water.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Within the forest of Ionia near Hirana Monastery, two figures could be seen traversing through the thick patch of greenery. One of the figures, had a small build and was covered red, yellow, and gold plating armor on his shoulders, arms, legs, and chest. He wore an iron plated kilt, adorned in gold, iron, and steel that covered his lower half. He had fur all over his body, and his face looked just like a monkey.


    ¡°Master, did you hear that?¡± the monkey asked while his ears perked up at the sudden thunderstorm within the distance. In his hand, he held his staff, the Monkey King Bar, that could extend infinitely.


    ¡°It seems that nature has decided to once again strike upon an unwary traveler,¡± mused the other figure with his sword on his waist. He was clothed in somewhat loose and fitting robes, with leather leggings strapped to his lower body. He wore gold and silver plated armguards and leg guards. And on his head, he wore a helmet that covered his head, all the way down his neck, and on his face, a headgear that had seven lenses. He had a long goatee that was braided to ensure that it doesn¡¯t become messy. ¡°Then again, after the thunderstorm, I heard a scream coming from that direction.¡±


    ¡°Should we go help them?¡± the monkey asked as he balanced himself upon his staff.


    ¡°Perhaps we should,¡± the man said as he rubbed his goatee. ¡°But if worse comes to worst, you know what we should do.¡±


    ¡°I will Master,¡± the monkey said in agreement. Their style was to not attack anyone unless they were attacked first. So if they saw that the travelers, unless they attacked first, they would do their all to help them.


    As they confirmed their intentions, the two figures ran towards the shores leading East, towards where the loud thunderstorm passed and vanished into thin air.

 Chapter 8: A Future that we Share

    It took about an hour, like Shino thought it would to reach the shores of Ionia. Although they had no idea where in Ionia the shores would be, but at least they were thankful that no one turned into a crispy fry during an attack of a mysterious dragon. They wondered that if that dragon existed here just when they were at the starting point of the mission, then how hard would it get when they made it to the middle, or the end of it¡­?


    The group shuddered at the thought, save for Yasuo who was not that deep in relation towards their mission, though he would be sad if the children who he got used to here died.


    All of them climbed crawled over the shores with fatigue in their muscles due to swimming for an hour without rest. Even though they had Aura and were trained Huntsmen, swimming in full gear while trying hard not to sink? There was even one team who carried a floating iron part of the wreckage just to bring one of their fear-stricken teammate to land!


    Once they got on the shores, most of them collapsed on the ground. One however, just blazed through the shores and kissed the ground, as if worshipping a long lost Goddess in which he believed in.


    ¡°OH THANK GOD FOR LAND!¡± Neptune shouted towards the sky as he continued his act of kissing the ground and praising the sky. The other teens nearby him inched farther away in disgust, while Neptune¡¯s teammates however, just walked up ¨C some crawled - towards him to console him as to not further let their newfound teammates be disgusted by him any longer.


    While all that was going on, Ruby and her team were trying to wring off the water within their clothes. Weiss was enraged at being soaked, while Blake was steaming, though she didn¡¯t let it show on her face. Yang was incidentally, looking at her hair to see if there were any damages to it, and Ruby was using her Semblance to speed dry her clothes by running around.


    Jaune and his team were, even though they were in a life or death situation earlier, goofing off while trying to dry their clothes. The reason for goofing off was 100% due to Nora being hyperactive because of being on an island in which no one about them knew about, except Yasuo.


    Team CFVY was just being themselves as they dried their clothes by any means necessary. For the men, they took of their tops and wrung it to release the water stuffed inside the fabric. For Coco and Velvet however, they were looking eagerly at Shino in hopes that they could set up camp and create a fire nearby. They did not like getting soaked in their clothes, and they smelt of salt water.


    Yasuo was drying himself through the wind, which was no shock to them. And since he saw the gazes of the children, he let hot air flow through the area in hopes drying the children¡¯s clothes. For some reason, he smiled ironically that his technique that could be used to slaughter hundreds of people could be used to dry clothes for others.


    Shino, who was also involved in the drying ceremony done by Yasuo, gave an thankful nod to Yasuo before shouting towards the teens.


    ¡°Alright, all of you attention!¡± the loud voice boomed around the area and the teens quickly gathered around him. ¡°Now that our transportation and communication towards Atlas is gone, we¡¯re all on our own out here. Whenever there is an urgent situation, consult me, and only me. If you think that there is no time, then do what you must. But always remember that your actions can impact the lives of all of us here.¡±


    Shino stated his right to command, as well as set a rule in that which the teens should follow to heart, lest they wish to have their lives forfeit during their dangerous mission. If at all, Shino wanted all of them to come back alive, and if not, he wanted to sacrifice himself just to let the children live.


    ¡°You¡¯re all Huntsmen and Huntresses, and you¡¯re training will have surely paid off,¡± Shino began with a heartfelt tone. ¡°But know that during training, a Huntsman is better off with a team than without, such is the power of numbers and teamwork.¡±


    ¡°That is why, whatever happens, do not, and absolutely, never separate from each other if possible,¡± Shino stated, full of care and worry in his eyes. ¡°Remember that you not only hold the life of your own, but the lives of your teammates who trust and rely on you.¡±


    Shino looked towards the teens and he saw a blazing fire in their eyes. They all felt resolute and took the words Shino had said to heart. Even they did not want to endanger one of their own because of a mistake they made. Shino nodded with a smile on his face and said, ¡°Good, for now, we take a rest for a few minutes, and then we continue. Sounds good?¡±


    Shino was met with a huge ¡®YES!¡¯ from the teens who were a little bit fatigued from swimming with full gear. Since Shino always travelled lightly, with only the bare necessities on his personage, he wasn¡¯t that tired from the swim.


    Once all that was done, Shino approached Yasuo and asked if he was familiar with this place. Yasuo scanned the area to look for any landmarks he may have found during his days of wandering. Suddenly, he saw some blade marks on one huge tree just right at the edge of the forest beyond the shores. He got closer to it, with Shino accompanying him, and he squinted at the marks which were about a few weeks old.


    ¡°I recognize these strikes,¡± Yasuo chimed, recalling the blademaster of a certain style which he got into a fight in the past, but ended in a draw. He could still feel the blade strikes ringing in his head as they fought with their lives on the line. It was also the first time in which he met someone who believed that he didn¡¯t kill his own master, so the both of them parted with good thoughts towards each other. ¡°Good with a sword, and swift on his feet. If you encounter each other, don¡¯t bother fighting him, he¡¯ll kill you in seconds.¡±


    Engraving Yasuo¡¯s warning to heart, Shino vowed to his heart not to fight someone from this land all willy-nilly, lest he finds his head separated from his body. He will also share this information to the teens once they finish resting up.


    While Yasuo and Shino were busy examining the blade marks, Squads RWBY and JNPR were huddled together while sitting down on the sandy beach. Ruby was sad that their only method of transportation was gone, as well as their change of clothes and essential items, such as food and water. Now that they had none of those, it won¡¯t be long before they starve, and they have to hunt for animals for food and search for rivers and streams for water.


    ¡°Hey sis,¡± Ruby called out to her sister meekly as she tried to rest her tired legs from running around with her semblance.


    ¡°Yeah? What is it Rubes?¡± Yang responded while cleaning her hair by removing salt and dirt off using her hands.


    ¡°What do you think was that creature that destroyed the bullhead?¡± Ruby wasn¡¯t able to get this feeling of dread of her chest. If this was just a creature out of thousands in this world, then how are they supposed to complete their mission without losing some of their teammates?


    Yang saw the deflated face of her usually chipper and energetic little sister, and this pained her heart. Weiss on the other hand was just sitting down in silence as she contemplated the nearby future, while Blake was reading her dried book of Ninjas of Love.


    ¡°You know what? Don¡¯t mind that little sis¡¯,¡± Yang brought her arm around Ruby¡¯s neck as she gave Ruby a noogie (rubbing her head with her fist) in her usual manner to not worry her little sister. ¡°It¡¯s just bad luck, that¡¯s what it is. So don¡¯t get caught up in all that sad and melancholic mood. It doesn¡¯t suit you at all, all right?¡±


    ¡°Arghh!! All right! All right! Just stop doing that!¡± Ruby shouted in pain, annoyance, and relief at what her big sister was doing. So what if it was hard? They just had to try harder. Difficulty never stopped them even when they were trying to stop the train from attracting Grimm towards Vale in one of the White Fang¡¯s ploy.


    ¡°That¡¯s my little sis¡¯!¡± Yang proudly puffed up her chest, as she gave another noogie to Ruby. Ruby, as usual, tried to escape from her grasp, but Yang¡¯s strength was higher than her own, and also, part of her didn¡¯t want to let go, so she suffered from under Yang¡¯s ¡®torture¡¯ for a few seconds before a laugh came from Jaune from across them.


    Then they remembered that Team JNPR was actually talking with them before Ruby got caught up in her thoughts, and Yang decided to relieve her, and this caused a blush to creep on their face because of embarrassment.


    ¡°I wish my sisters were like that,¡± Jaune looked towards the horizon with lifeless eyes as he recalled the ¡®torture¡¯ he endured under their care. Although it was done with care and love, Jaune thought otherwise.


    ¡°Come on Jaune, don¡¯t be like that,¡± Pyrrha admonished Jaune for belittling his family. ¡°They¡¯re family, and families love each other no matter what they do, right?¡±


    Pyrrha smiled towards Jaune as he embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. While doing so, he also uttered an embarrassed chuckle as he said, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Even though they were hard on me like that, I know that they cared about me in their own way. It¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t like being treated as a kid.¡±


    ¡°Oh Jaune,¡± Pyrrha nuzzled against Jaune with her head as she relished in his warmth. Jaune¡¯s face immediately went poof and turned red, while Pyrrha¡¯s cheeks turned a rosy pink. She smiled and muttered, ¡°You¡¯re always a kid in my eyes, Jaune,¡± in a low voice to not get caught by anyone.


    Ever since that hot and steamy night full of passion and love, Pyrrha was getting bolder and bolder as she asserted her dominance on Jaune. There was no mistaking it, Pyrrha was incredibly infatuated towards Jaune, and now, it just kept on rising. Ren and Nora didn¡¯t mind this since they knew what it felt to be like that, although they weren¡¯t in that route yet, the same couldn¡¯t be said about the future, and Nora would do whatever it takes to win Ren¡¯s heart.


    While she watched this, Yang felt jealous because Jaune ¨C also known as vomit boy to her ¨C had found true love before her. Ruby was feeling jealous a little bit for seeing her close guy friend being nuzzled up by a pretty girl, but she immediately dismissed this thought since it already happened.


    Suddenly, Blake¡¯s bow twitched and she looked towards the forest where Shino and Yasuo were discussing. She alerted the other squads, as well as her own, and picked up their weapons. Shino and Yasuo glanced back towards the teens and saw that they were all ready for combat, which gave them plus points in his book.


    Shino took his weapons, also known as [Night¡¯s Embrace] as he got into his stance. Yasuo just stood there with his hands at the ready on his grip. Just when they felt something approaching, the bush nearby rustled, and all of their attention gathered towards the bush. The atmosphere tensed up as the Huntsmen, Huntresses, and Samurai got ready for incoming combat. The bush rustled once more and two figures came out of the bush. One, a monkey Faunus¡­ Maybe¡­ And the other, a man wearing headgear with 7 lenses¡­


    It wasn¡¯t long before Yasuo relaxed his guard as he smiled and walked towards the man wearing a strange headgear and said, ¡°Hello, old friend.¡±


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Roman Torchwick was walking along the roads after escaping from the scene of purple hair chasing blue hair. This time, he was met with a group of soldiers, with the leader being a woman with blades for legs. Roman Torchwick took a closer look and saw that she also had gapple-spindled hips, and some other parts in which he knew a human would never have.


    He even wondered whether the woman was even really human, what with hher sharp gaze and glint in her eyes. It even sometimes changed from orange to blue, and blue to orange whenever she blinked. Her hair was white and it was braided to form something like goat horn at the back of her head. She was tall, taller than Roman, and he knew, that if he fought against that lady, he would be ripped to shreds in an instant, Aura or no Aura.


    So instead, he asked some passerby¡¯s some questions pertaining towards the woman, as well as her band of soldiers.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± the passerby questioned full of shock, because seeing his get-up he thought that he was a noble. But since he didn¡¯t want to anger said noble, he gave Roman the basic of information about the Clan Ferros¡¯ Principal Intelligencer, Camille.


    When Roman heard this, he resolved himself not to get involved with the woman known as Camille. Roman thanked the passerby as he walked away, away from the group. And then he noticed one thing, the sun was going down and he had no place to spend the night. Worst of all, he had no money to even buy something to eat since his stomach was grumbling.


    ¡®Ugh¡­ This is getting annoying,¡¯ thought Roman as he wandered the area in hopes of finding something, anything that could land him some cash. Just then, the street lamps glowed and the sun set, revealing the pale moons above their heads. One whole and the other fragmented.


    This caused turmoil in Roman¡¯s heart, but he noticed that the people around him paid no attention to it like it was just normal. Of course this would confuse people at the first day it happened, but time always solved things, unless something happened. So he wondered, for how long was he out when that floating girl knocked him unconscious?


    Roman sighed and shook his head to forget that train of thought. For now, he had to find a job, or anything that could land him some cash and shelter. Just then, he broke out of his stupor as he looked towards a giant building. It looked like a theater and he marveled at the architecture. And then, he heard it, a tune floating in the wind. It came from the theater, it sounded like a piano.


    Roman heard the melody and was captivated by its tune. Roman walked through the giant doors and into the theater, where he came upon a flight of stairs to the left and right, and engraved double doors at the center.


    Roman thought better to enter through the doors. So instead, he went up the stairs and followed the path. The next area he found himself was a balcony in which it seemed like people of high positions would sit and watch the play from here. When he looked down, he saw a man with a mask playing a grand piano. He wore a cloak that draped over his upper body and a somewhat large protrusion from his right shoulder and his right hand looked like it was made of brass, bronze, and some other metals. His wore black gloves, fingerless gloves on his left hand, and he also saw, holstered on his waist something like a cane, and on the piano, a gun that looked like it was crafted carefully and meticulously to result in such a magnificent form of a gun.


    He was playing wonderfully, like a grand performer that was playing in his peak towards the audience. The moonlight shone from the sky through a gap in the roof and towards the man playing the piano. It resulted in a picturesque painting that looked like it would go for millions of Lien. But while Roman was watching the stunning performance, deep in his gut, he knew, he should run away from this place at once. He knew, that if that masked man wanted to, he would die in the most gruesome way. Years of being a criminal mastermind sharpened his gut feeling to the extreme, and now, that gut was screaming at him to run. Run away and never look back, as looking will result in a fate far worse than death.


    But he was just so captivated by the performance that his body refused to move, that his brain refused to follow his gut that saved him countless of times. He hesitated to move¡­ no he refused to move, and continued watching the stunning performance. Suddenly, the man glanced towards his location with his revealed red eye from under the mask. It showed a psychopathic and dramatic glint as Roman shuddered in fear and terror at the deep glint he saw in the man¡¯s eye.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡®I need to run!¡¯ Roman thought in desperation, but his escape route was cut off, as a group of soldiers entered the building, followed by a woman who he knew to be Camille, the Principal Intelligencer of the Ferros clan that resided within Piltover. ¡®FUCK! I¡¯M TRAPPED!¡¯


    Roman cursed his own being for being drawn towards the music and walking into what could be said as a deathtrap. Then he noticed, there were bodies on the seats at the ground flow. And he saw them, the gruesome sight of people without limbs, without faces, without eyes, without a nose¡­ It almost made him retch at the horrible sight of deaths he had ever seen in his life.


    Sure Grimms could kill people in that same way, but this was all done by a single human. He had no idea how far a psychopath would take it just to do those things to the living. Then, he heard another sound of doors being pushed open with a kick. He looked below, and saw the soldiers ¨C They were in fact employed by Camille so they were no soldiers ¨C swarming at the ground floor.


    Since Roman had no other options to leave the premises, he would at least watch what would happen and escape once the coast was clear. He looked closely at how people would fight in this city in contrast to back in Remnant. He hid his body and only let his head peek out from the ledge as to not give himself away towards the soldiers and Camille, and seeing that the masked man didn¡¯t talk about him even though he knew was here, Roman heaved a sigh of relief.


    Just then, a soldier stepped on something and it caught his leg, trapping him on the spot. Camille saw through this and realized a number of her mercenaries were trapped in the same manner. Her eyes glowed blue, orange, and back to blue as she looked towards the perpetrator of murdering countless of merchants within the confines of Piltover.


    ¡®Khada Jhin,¡¯ Camille thought as she looked back towards man who had been on a murder spree within Piltover. Then she broke into a run as she dodged the mercenaries blowing up into gruesome bits of flesh. Blood and guts spiraled everywhere as the explosions caused a chain reaction inside the broken theater.


    Roman all saw this with a hint of fear in his eyes. Just how much planning was brought into this type of engagement? The reason he thought this was because he noticed something. The traps were all placed elaborately on the ground, chairs, and hell, he even spotted some on the top of the chandelier that was hanging on the roof. But most of all, the explosions were chained from the middle, path towards the stage and then behind the chairs.


    The sight of blood spraying all around in a coordinated fashion got his guts burning to urge Roman to retch and run from this place. But Roman continued to watch, because the masked man glanced shortly towards him with a glint in his eyes, as he took his gun from the piano and aimed towards the running woman.


    Jhin shot at Camille arrogantly, but kept on missing as Camille dodged each shot, irritatingly, in a perfect manner. She wondered whether this man, Jhin, was missing on purpose or not, because she saw, behind her, the shots hit perfectly on some wires that led to traps below her, causing Camille to use her grapple towards the roof. Jhin continued to shoot, but kept on missing as he shot his fourth bullet.


    The fourth bullet missed, but instead hit the chain of the hanging chandelier and caused the traps on top of it to go off, exploding behind her as she launched herself towards Jhin who bowed in the most elegant way possible.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been a wonderful audience,¡± Jhin praised as he glanced towards Roman for a short while, in which Roman knew Jhin glanced at him, and then back to Camille. ¡°Good night!¡±


    Suddenly, a trap door activated below him and gravity caused him to fall while still keeping his bow as elegant as possible. And just when Camille thought she would have the murderer¡¯s head, a huge explosion set off right in front her, although she got out of it with only minor injuries.


    When she saw it, it looked like a grenade had tossed itself towards her just when she was about to land her attack, which caused her to stagger and miss the opportunity to kill the murderer. Although she got out of it with only a burn mark and some black soot covering her body, the same couldn¡¯t be said to the kill team she gathered.


    Guts were spilled about, blood was painting the walls and floor, and bodies were scattered around the area. Anyone who had weak mental constitution to gore would no doubt, puke and retch all of their food when they saw this sight.


    And Roman who, albeit hid from the slaughter, got a first row seat towards all of this, found it hard not to puke his guts out. Using what strength he had left, he left the balcony and out the theater without getting caught by the woman or any citizens.


    ¡®It¡¯s official, this town is crazy,¡¯ Roman thought as he found a deserted alleyway and puked up his guts.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Within the base of the White Fang in Anima, Adam could be seen nursing himself to health as he recalled the night where he was mutilated in combat. One of his horns was gone, his left hand¡¯s middle and ring finger now a stump, and his body was decorated with countless of wounds covered by bandages. It was a miracle that he survived even though he lost an enormous amount of blood.


    And now, he was being called by their leader, Sienna Khan, to report for what, his failure of an operation, or disobeying Sienna Khan?


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Adam cursed under his lips as he took more painkillers to ease the pain as he prepared to meet with Sienna Khan. That operation was now a complete failure because of a certain giant monster crashing down from the sky, which diverted the populace¡¯s fear towards the monster instead of the White Fang. Although there was an effect on lessening the racial discrimination Faunus faced from the humans, it was just a little amount, so their losses were huge compared to the benefits gained.


    Adam struggled to get up, but was able to with much pain since the painkillers haven¡¯t taken effect yet. He then grabbed his sword, [Wilt] as he struggled to walk on his own two feet. The good news here was that a subordinate of Salem should be arriving soon to help him with the, negotiations that were about to occur.


    Adam walked towards the building that housed their High Leader, Sienna Khan, and outside of it, he could see Hazel Rainart, waiting patiently while spears were pointed towards him by the guards. Adam saw this and smirked for a moment before he continued to walk towards Hazel and the building.


    Once the guards were within talking distance, Adam said, ¡°He¡¯s with me,¡± before signaling the guards to lower their weapons. The guards hesitated for a bit, before they lowered it and replied, ¡°If the human poses a threat, know that we won¡¯t stand down,¡± with a bit of hatred towards the human.


    Adam nodded and both he and Hazel continued towards the insides of the building. They came upon a long passageway, and at the end of it, sat Sienna Khan on her throne, and before her, Adam kneeled with a groan because of pain. She was a tiger Faunus and had brown skin with black tiger stripes decorating a part of her arms.


    She looked to Adam with pity and anger, pity towards his current state, and anger towards the mission in which she held disapproval for. Now that the humans had justification for prejudice, this was now the calm before the storm. Faunus would be treated a little nicer because of fear for a while, but once that subsides, it will just get even worse. Hell, in the coming years, they might just say that Faunus-kind is a threat to Humankind, which will result in another war, this time, vying for the extermination of a species, all of this because of Adam¡¯s ¡®operation.¡¯


    Though she was also wondering about the second moon which was totally abnormal, but seeing that there were no huge problems such as tides, earthquakes and whatnot, she disregarded it for the moment to focus on the present.


    However, in other places such as Piltover, Bandle City, and some others which had no idea about the planet merging were busy having nervous breakdowns or even racking their brains to supply a possible hypothesis in which why did a second moon appear? Much more to Mount Targon, where the Lunari were now having the time of their lives with the Solari being in danger of their way of life, but that is a story for another time.


    ¡°Now then, Adam, I don¡¯t suppose you have anything to say for yourself?¡± Sienna asked Adam with spite and venom laced in her words. Although it was directed towards Adam, most of it were directed to the human Adam brought with him. Adam just held his tongue. Ever since he came back, mutilated by a human, his popularity has been down in the slumps. His follower count was decreasing at an alarming rate, and now, he couldn¡¯t follow upon the coup he had so envisioned once Beacon has fallen. ¡°You know that bringing a human here is grounds for execution.¡±


    ¡°Well?¡± Sienna pushed Adam to respond, but Hazel took the bullet for this one as he stepped forward and bowed while saying, ¡°Apologies, ma¡¯am, but I come here bringing a message from my master.¡±


    ¡°I have no concern with this message your master have for me,¡± Sienna glared at the hulking figure of a human kneeling before her with his head down. ¡°Leave now, or suffer the consequences.¡±


    ¡°High Leader, please, hear him out,¡± Adam begged Sienna to listen as he raised his head. ¡°This message is incredibly important, not just for our future, but the future of all the inhabitants of Remnant.¡±


    Hearing Adam¡¯s concerned tone was a first for Sienna, so she stood her ground. She commanded the guards to stand in attention as she sat on the throne once more, this time, curiosity in her gaze.


    ¡°Speak,¡± Sienna commanded with irritation and anger in her voice in having a human in this location. But what Adam said made her think that something must really be happening at a huge degree that even Adam had begged for her to listen. ¡°But the longer you stay here, the lower your chances of leaving alive.¡±


    But be that as it may, Sienna still held dislike and hatred towards humans, so she couldn¡¯t avoid her toxic tongue towards the hulking man who stood before her. The man thanked Sienna for the opportunity given to speak and said, ¡°Nobody needs to die tonight.¡±


    ¡°Well then, my master brings this message towards the entire White Fang group,¡± Hazel stated from the message he memorized from Salem. ¡°Danger is approaching that could burn Remnant to ashes. Serve me with loyalty, and I¡¯ll ensure you all live.¡±


    Sienna had a frown on her face as she listened to every word Hazel said. She then stood up and commanded her guards to point their weapons towards the man as she glared at him and said, ¡°Do you take me for a fool, human?¡±


    ¡°I do not, ma¡¯am,¡± Hazel honestly replied as she stood his ground and stared at Sienna Khan with his composed expression. ¡°Because I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes, power beyond anything this world has to offer. Even my master who is probably the most powerful being in the entire world of Remnant cannot hold a candle to that being.¡±


    For the first time, Sienna felt fear coming from the human. The human was composed when he came here. He was composed the entire time from when he entered here, and when he spoke about the message which would naturally make Sienna rage. But when he spoke about the being that held great power, his natural stoic expression crumpled into a frown.


    He recalled the giant body of the majestic looking dragon as it arrogantly threw a star towards them without a sweat. Heck, he didn¡¯t even struggle to throw that star towards them that looked like it could pretty much destroy the entirety of Remnant.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Sienna asked Hazel about the being that even he feared. Hazel broke out of his stupor as he said, ¡°A giant space dragon that can call down the stars from the heaven to strike his foes.¡±


    When Sienna heard this, she was compelled to have her guards skewer the man who she thought crazy, but then a rumbling sound was heard and the ground shook. Hazel froze up and looked towards the sky which was covered by the roof of the building.


    ¡°By Gods¡­ It¡¯s here¡­¡± Hazel muttered under his breath with fear laced around his voice.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Aurelion Sol was having fun observing the various happening on the two worlds. For instance, there was a tiny storm dragon that fired a bolt of lightning towards one of the mortals craft for transportation. Another was a tribe from Freljord camping just outside a city under a floating city while dealing with Grimm. A crow was gliding around it, seemingly observing each and every move of the tribe¡¯s people.


    There was also one funny incident where The Aspect of Twilight brought a mortal with her and sent her to random location, which in turn sent him to a town of mortals known as Piltover in Runeterra. It was amusing, to say the least. First he ran into an incident where a mortal was chasing another mortal, then he finds a mortal who was remade into a machine, and the next thing that happened was that said mortal stumbled upon a theater and saw an amusing performance of death and blood.


    ¡°Adorable mortals,¡± Sol mused to himself as he tried to look for any other happenings on the planet as he continued, ¡°Basking in the ignorance of their lives as they walk to a path of death.¡±


    Just then, he found another amusing situation nested on the East side of the planet that merged with Runeterra. If he remembered correctly, it was called Remnant by The Aspect of Twilight.


    ¡°Oho, it seems that immortal is building up her forces,¡± Aurelion Sol grinned at what the immortal was doing. Even though he just threatened them for a bit, he never really hoped that it could spur the immortal to gather forces, but it worked. And now, it won¡¯t be long before he directs it towards Targon so he could once again be free to forge stars.


    He moved in closer to get a good look and saw that a tiger-eared mortal was about to skewer the huge man who he saw to be the subordinate of the immortal. Since he thought that it would be a waste of forces that could be used to fight against Targon, Aurelion Sol decided to once again make an appearance, just to get even closer to his goal.


    Once again, he shook the ground and tore the skies open for a dramatic entrance. If it was anything Aurelion Sol learned in his life, it was making an entrance. He shrunk his body a bit so that his head and body would be visible towards the mortals that would bask in his presence.


    Once he got about the correct size, he showed himself towards the mortals who were shaking in fear due to the sudden earthquake in supernatural phenomenon. And now, that fear turned into terror and awe once Aurelion Sol showed his self through the clouds and dark skies.


    He grinned and created a tiny star. It was incredibly tiny for normal star, but its size was as big as a mansion. Then, he shot it towards the mansion where the subordinate of that mortal was at. When the star collided with the mansion, Aurelion Sol had it stop just at the roof so that the mortals within could see and bask in his wondrous glory.


    Just after removing the roof through a flashy and awe-inspiring gesture, the mortals already knew, they had no power against this being. Most of the mortals just stared up at him with shock and fear as they froze up on the spot. But the most affected of this, were the mortals who were subjected towards the star heading towards them. They felt the heat, they felt the pain, and worst of all, they felt death creeping up to them.


    The mortals within quickly ran out of the mansion, with the subordinate of the immortal who was first out and quickly kneeled in front of Aurelion Sol. The masked, red-haired mortal just looked up above with his jaw dropped, ignoring the wounds that opened up due to the heat and running. And the tiger-eared mortal just trembled and shook as she looked upon the wondrous sight that could¡¯ve instantly taken their lives in one fell swoop.


    ¡°Greetings, mortals,¡± Aurelion Sol spoke as he caused the waves on the ocean to vibrate just with his voice. This caused the supernatural phenomenon even more real, and caused even more fear towards the mortals.


    Aurelion Sol tried to sound polite and all, but the mortals knew the arrogance and pride in his voice. But they didn¡¯t try to prevent him from doing so because they cared for their life. Fighting this being of celestial radiance is a fool¡¯s errand no one would to do.


    ¡°But first, KNEEL,¡± Aurelion Sol commanded with a tone that shook the very core of the earth itself. The trees rustled and broke down, the ocean made waves taller than a house, and a sandstorm appeared, all because of a single voice.


    Hearing the command that sounded like a death sentence, all of the mortals inside the camp kneeled towards the dragon while full of fear. Aurelion Sol grinned and he created more stars as he said, ¡°BEHOLD, THE POWER OF THE BEING BEFORE YOU.¡±


    When the mortals looked up, they felt nothing but terror, awe, and dread as they saw the stars rotate around the body of the huge dragon. Aurelion Sol showed a part of his prowess for a bit and waited for someone to speak up. And wait he shall not do for the tiger-eared mortal spoke up before him.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    ¡®WHAT IS THAT THING!?¡¯ was the first thought that came into Sienna¡¯s head as she saw the giant dragon looking towards them as if they were petty insects. At first she raged and thought to command all of her subordinates to attack the arrogant dragon, but her thought process was cut short as the dragon spoke.


    ¡°Greetings mortals,¡± Sienna felt the vibrations caused by just the voice of this being which caused her to tremble in fear more than ever. She even felt like the water rampaging just on the shores nearby. But she continued to listen towards the dragon in hopes of not earning its ire. ¡°I see that you¡¯re all at an impasse with that kind of discussion, so allow me to chip in for a moment.¡±


    At first, Sienna thought it ridiculous to have a new discussion partner chip in to help settle their arguments, but she had another thing coming.


    ¡°But first, KNEEL,¡± when she heard that word, the ground shook, trees feel, the seas caused tidal waves, and sandstorms emerged. Just by its voice, it could cause that kind of destruction! So she quickly kneeled before the dragon as she hyperventilated in fear and terror. And then, she noticed that it was getting brighter and brighter, but for no reason did she look up because she feared that if she looked up, she would die. ¡°BEHOLD, THE POWER OF THE BEING BEFORE YOU.¡±


    Just then, more tidal waves were formed, more trees fell, an earthquake occurred, causing some buildings to fall and some deaths in the process. And from beyond, she could notice the sandstorm began to worsen. And then, she looked up, and saw it; the beautiful scene of stars spinning around the dragon. It looked like a piece of art that could sell for millions.


    The stars spinning around the dragon looked like balls of fire of different colors. It shone through the dark night and illuminated the darkness from above. But Sienna knew, each of those stars was enough to destroy an entire continent. And that dragon could create a seemingly limitless amount of stars just by will alone.


    And she knew; everyone here, every single Faunus, young or old, man or woman, everyone here, was terrified. Hell, even the human was terrified because of this single dragon. But suddenly, the pressure was gone and the stars vanished. The only things left were the clouds that had started to form once more, and the wind that refused to flow continued to move once more as an echoing voice resounded in their heads.


    ¡°And that concludes my performance of power,¡± she heard the dragon in her ears as she looked up above the skies, terrified of the dragon than any other human she had met in her entire life. Even Grimm didn¡¯t even amount much towards that being of supreme power. ¡°Remember mortals, fight, struggle, resist, or beg for mercy and die like the mortal you are.¡±


    Then they heard the laughter of the dragon before silence crept up into the area, neither a soul willing to break it. Sienna just fell on her butt as hheld lifeless eyes towards Adam.


    ¡°Hey, Adam, let me ask you,¡± Adam slowly craned his heads due to the pain from his wounds opening and fear from the dragon earlier as he listened towards his High Leader. ¡°What are we fighting for?¡±


    Adam had no response to her question, as even he, upon witnessing the majestic appearance of the dragon, held that very same question in his mind. What does Faunus rights and Human slaves have in accordance with that dragon? Nothing, it had no connection to each other at all. But that made it even more terrifying, the work and plans you had spent a lifetime working on, just for it to be squashed by a dragon that felt bored. It scared them; it terrified them.


    ¡°Human, you claim your master to be the strongest being in all of Remnant right?¡± Sienna asked towards Hazel who was now beginning to calm himself. Hazel just nodded in agreement and Sienna resolved herself. ¡°Please, allow me to meet with her.¡±


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Lux found herself in the confines of a comfortable house, seated on a comfortable cushion as she drank a cup of tea with elegance. Lux smiled at the mother before she put the tea cup back on the table.


    ¡°Excuse me, but I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve been introduced,¡± Lux said with a bright voice as she looked towards the Vastayan parent. ¡°My name¡¯s Lux. May I have the honor of knowing yours?¡±


    ¡°Oh my, how polite,¡± the mother smiled and chuckled as she sipped some tea from the tea cup and laid it down back on the table. ¡°My name is Amy, and my daughter that you saved is Ameri. Sadly, my husband isn¡¯t around, but once he comes back, I¡¯ll be sure to tell him about you for saving our daughter.¡±


    Lux just smiled and shook her hand as she saw Amy hold her hand towards her. Lux then took another sip from her tea cup, only to see that it was empty. ¡°Oh dear, here you are,¡± Amy picked up the tea pot and poured her some more of her tea.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Lux smiled as she graciously accepted the tea. It wasn¡¯t that delicious compared to the tea back in Demacia, but it was tasty nonetheless. ¡°By the way, you said that we are in Menagerie, but where exactly are we?¡±


    ¡°First time here in this continent, eh?¡± Amy just chuckled softly as she began to tell Lux about the continent. ¡°Firstly, while it may be true that you are here in Menagerie, Menagerie is a continent and currently, you are in the village of Kuo Kuana, home of the previous leader of the White Fang, Ghira Belladona.


    Lux wondered whether who was Ghira, or what is the White Fang, but learning about those names is a start. She really wanted to ask about the White Fang, but resisted the temptation since she might bring unwanted attention to herself.


    ¡°By the way, is there any library here?¡± Lux asked since out of all, she needed information the most. What to do, what not to do, and some other stuff like common sense and countires, areas, villages, etc.


    ¡°Yes, there is a library here, but I just can¡¯t take you there since I can¡¯t leave my poor baby alone,¡± Amy said with a sad look on her face. She knew that it was rude to their benefactor, but she couldn¡¯t help but worry for her daughter.


    ¡°Please, I know how it feels,¡± Lux relieved Amy as she recalled the time when she couldn¡¯t leave her brother alone for doing all sorts of stunts. Suddenly, a commotion was heard outside. As they left the house and headed outside to get a look at the commotion, what they saw instead was a group of armored people asking for passage.


    Lux had a headache and told Amy to hide her. Amy wondered why, but she couldn¡¯t refuse the request of her benefactor so she hid Lux inside her house.


    ¡°Why do you want to hide so badly from them?¡± Amy asked Lux as Lux just looked down sadly.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± and so, Lux relived her life story starting from where she lived, and why she is here.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    Swain could finally see the land they had set sailed for. The land wasn¡¯t Ionia, no, it was something much more, something that could really lead Noxus to rise.


    ¡°Darius, I¡¯ll have you lead the first battalion and demand surrender towards the first village I am to point you to,¡± Swain commanded him as Darius just nodded and got ready to sortie. It would only about take 20 more minutes before they set upon the shores of this land called ¡®Vacuo.¡¯


    Swain could finally see the future; the future where Noxus would be the most glorious empire in the world. Everything he did was for the benefit of Noxus. He batted no eye towards the necessary sacrifice, be it his own, or the enemies. Be it a child, or an elder.


    And then, the boat docked, and the Noxian Empire finally stepped foot onto the land of Vacuo, and little did the Vacuo citizens knew, a demon has come knocking right at their doorstep.

 Chapter 9: Noxus vs. Ionia and Vacuo

    ¡°Hello, old friend,¡± Yasuo greeted towards the weird-headgear wearing man. The man then turned his gaze towards Yasuo and smiled as he greeted back.


    ¡°We meet again, Yasuo,¡± the man put his hand in front, while Yasuo grabbed it and shook it. They both then separated as the man rubbed his goatee while he asked, ¡°What brings you here to the outskirts of the Hirana Monastery?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Yasuo just shrugged while he glanced towards the monkey Vastayan, and then back to the man. ¡°By the way Yi, the forest seems¡­ different from the days I¡¯ve been away.¡±


    ¡°You mean to tell me you were away from Ionia?¡± the man, also known as Yi, posed a question as he shifted his gaze towards the group of teens just at the shores. ¡°I¡¯ll explain that as we walk. For now, follow us to the monastery. Your group looks like they could use the rest.¡±


    Yasuo then nodded and looked towards Shino for approval. Shino just agreed but still stayed cautious, while the group of innocent Huntsmen (some are not) heaved a sigh of relief. But somehow, one of the Huntsmen Faunus garnered the attention of the monkey Vastayan.


    The monkey separated from his master and moved towards the group of teens as they readied themselves for a fight. The monkey just waved his hands to show that he didn¡¯t want to fight and continued on, towards a certain Faunus Huntsmen.


    ¡°Are you a monkey Vastayan?¡± the monkey asked towards the teen who was busy consoling his still fear-stricken blue-haired buddy.


    ¡°Vastayan? What¡¯s that?¡± the teen replied, an obvious confusion spreading within his mind. He then looked towards the monkey with a face that wanted to correct his assumption. ¡°I¡¯m a Faunus, and my name is Sun Wukong, what is yours?¡±


    ¡°Why do you have my name?¡± the monkey grew shocked as he looked towards the monkey Faunus, Sun, as he stared wide-eyed at the revelation. ¡°Name¡¯s Wukong, the Monkey King.¡±


    When the group overheard their conversation, all of them had their jaws drop. What a coincidence, a monkey and a monkey Vastayan having the same name. But what happened next was even more mind boggling.


    ¡°Also, why do you have the same weapon as I have?¡± said Wukong as he brought out his Monkey King Bar (A/N: I¡¯m calling it this to differentiate it from Sun¡¯s Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang) and tapped it on the sand. Sun just stared at it with eyes the size of the moon. It also had the same design as his Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang when they are together!


    Not losing out in the momentum, Sun brought out his staff to compare to Wukong¡¯s. Then, the both of them, along with the entire group of Huntsmen, tried comparing the two. It had the exact same design, the same length, the same color scheme, hell everything is the same! The two were like two identical weapons as the stood side by side.


    ¡°Are you an impersonator?¡± Wukong asked with a grin towards Sun in an obvious mocking challenge. Not losing out, Sun grinned as well and transformed his staff into their nunchuck counterpart. Wukong stared at it with shock, then smiled before showing what his weapon could do.


    The staff wiggled and grew longer! This had Ruby having her eyes out near her sockets, with stars in the center, not to mention, she had drool dripping down from her mouth.


    ¡°Care for a quick spar?¡± Wukong asked, excitement coursing through his veins. Sun glanced towards his superior, Shino, as well as his teammates for the go, and he got the go sign he wanted.


    ¡°Sure!¡± Sun said with glee. He was filled with excitement at the prospect of fighting someone who had the same style, same weapon ¨C except for the transforming part ¨C and the same animal characteristics. Although he was a bit tired from the swimming, he¡¯s tiredness were all blown away from meeting a potential rival. The same could be said for the Huntsmen, Yasuo, and Yi who wanted to see the results of the fight.


    The group cleared the area, except for Wukong and Sun as they readied their stances. Sun gripped his Ruyi and Jingu Bang in a stance similar to Shaolins, while Wukong climbed on the side of his MKB and balanced himself.


    ¡°No holding back!¡± Wukong shouted as he glared at Sun with a smile. Wukong just nodded back, a wild grin on his face.


    ¡°All right, since this has all already blown up high, I¡¯ll be the judge,¡± Shino stepped forward, feeling responsible for not stopping them from sparring. ¡°Remember that this is just a spar, so nobody is going to take it too far, alright?¡±


    The two monkeys nodded in agreement as they continued their staredown.


    ¡°Good, we¡¯ll stop the match once a clear victor has emerged, or when things take a drastic turn.¡± Shino supplemented as he glanced towards the two, hoping that they won¡¯t take things too far. If it was just sparring, all was right, but not here in the wilderness where danger lurks in every corner. But since it would leave a bad aftertaste if they did not continue, Shino had no other choice but to regulate the match in hopes that they had energy left in case an enemy comes crashing at their door.


    ¡°Ready,¡± Shino raised his arm up, gathering the attention of the two monkeys, but still staring at each other with wild, feral grins. Blake looked a little bit worried towards Sun, but did not let it show on her face. Ruby and Yang, as well as Nora were excited for the coming match. The others just cheered them on and hoped not to go too far in their fight.


    ¡°BEGIN!¡±


    Shino brought his arm down, and with his voice, sprung the two monkeys into action. Sun dashed towards Wukong, while Wukong just stayed still balancing himself on his MKB. Feeling a tug at his gut, but ignoring it for a little, Sun tried to smash his staff towards the defenseless monkey. Keyword, tried.


    ¡°You rely too much on your eyes,¡± a voice came from his side mid-swing, and saw another monkey with a staff coming for him overhead. Sun urged his body to dodge, but the monkey in front of him also moved and used the staff he was balancing on to bonk his head, albeit weaker than he thought. But that bonk was enough to stop him from dodging, as another blow struck his face, this time, knocking him off his feet and throwing him across the ground like a ragdoll.


    Sun quickly recovered by controlling the motion in which his body was rolling, going back on his feet. This time, he dashed forward faster than ever, but more cautious than before.


    ¡°Yes! A good fight!¡± Wukong laughed as he dashed towards Sun to meet his strike with his own. Wukong¡¯s staff moved and wiggled, and suddenly, the both of them had their staffs in a deadlock. They had the same strength, so it was hard to break out of it, but Sun lost in the bout of strength because of a simple technique. The damned staff extended and hit him square on the face with the strength of an ace Yankee batter¡¯s peak swing! It knocked him back again, exposing a gap within his defense, a gap which Wukong did not miss.


    Using his extended staff, Wukong swept the floor, hitting the feet of Sun, causing him to stumble on the ground. Wukong then retracted his staff and pointed it to the ground and had it extend, boosting his jump to the air. Wukong then used gravity as his weapon as he soared down towards Sun in a quick moment. Sun gathered his senses once again and tried to dodge. TRIED¡­


    ¡°I told you, you rely on your eyes to much,¡± he heard a voice coming from his side again as he noticed another monkey bringing down his staff towards his face. Sun crossed his arms in hopes of blocking the attack, but after a few seconds, there was no impact. When he brought his arms out of his vision, Sun saw Shino in front of him with his weapons wrapping around Wukong in a tight knot. Also, in the perspective of the teen Huntsmen, Shino kicked the clone monkey out of the way just before he could land the painful blow.


    ¡°All right, Sun, you lose,¡± Shino said in a matter of fact tone. ¡°Wukong, you win, but please don¡¯t injure one of my men right now.¡±


    ¡°Sure, just get these chains off of me!¡± Wukong snarled in protest as Shino unwrapped the chains from Wukong¡¯s body.


    This was the first time the Huntsmen saw a glimpse of their superior¡¯s strength. The fast fluid motion, the silent, but deadly skillset, and most importantly, his stealth¡­


    ¡°I wonder if Zed would take him as a disciple,¡± Yi wondered as he recalled Zed¡¯s Shadow Techniques that might and will complement the new face he saw.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    After a few uproars about Wukong and Sun¡¯s match, the group was now traversing through the forest, on their way towards Hirana Monastery.


    ¡°So, care to enlighten me on why the forest seems different?¡± Yasuo asked Yi as they walked ahead of the group of Huntsmen. For some reason, Wukong and Sun really hit it off together, although Sun was inferior in fighting techniques to Wukong.


    ¡°It¡¯s Noxus,¡± Yi stated with a grim expression. ¡°I never forgot the day where they killed my entire village, but I guess I was at fault as well.¡±


    Yasuo nodded at the words of Yi. He could still vividly remember the scene where countless of corpses littered the battlefield, Ionian or Noxian, because of a chemical attack.


    ¡°So what, they¡¯re trying to invade again?¡± Yasuo asked, a glint in his eyes. Once could not fathom the rage he held towards Noxians since that day. Although he had no purpose in life, his emotions still lived, and he could not forget the emotions he felt at that moment he saw the corpse-littered battlefield.


    ¡°Yes, they are invading once more,¡± Yi said with a frown. ¡°Fortunately, Irelia is leading the defense in one of the villages. I want to help, but I want no part in it. I¡¯m just looking for new disciples, such as my disciple, Wukong over there.¡±


    Yi pointed towards Wukong who was mingling with the Huntsmen a few meters behind them. The star-gazed Ruby repeatedly asking about Wukong¡¯s staff, Yang with all her horrible puns and jokes which earned groans from her fellow Huntsmen and Wukong alike, Weiss being with her usual ice-queen antics, Blake continuing reading her Ninjas of Love novel, Nora who was hyperactively asking about Wukong¡¯s semblance (skill), Ren who was trying to calm the hyper Nora down, and Jaune and Pyrrha having a world of their own.


    Neptune was already getting over his fear of water since water was nowhere in sight, while Scarlet was busy taking off the sand that still stayed stuck in his shoes, with Sage just listening to Neptune¡¯s prattle about girls in one ear and out the other. Coco and Velvet on the other hand, were conversing about smut, with Velvet going a complete red. While they were at their smut conversation, Velvet was using her camera ¨C which surprisingly stayed active even after getting wet ¨C to take pictures of the fauna, as well as Wukong¡¯s staff for her usage in the future.


    Fox was using his semblance to communicate to Daichi in terms of considering their surroundings, in case something dangerous heads their way. All of them were doing their own things as they traversed the forest, but even if they doing so, all of them were remaining alert in case something gets the jump on them.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Ugh, great,¡± Yasuo said and took his flask with a frown as he downed a swig. ¡°Even though I¡¯m a wanted man in Ionia, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not going to help.¡±


    He never really cared about Ionia, but he did care about his long dead brother, his legacy, and his hometown. If all it took was killing a bunch of Noxians to defend what his brother loved when he killed him, then he would do it willingly. He didn¡¯t stare at the jaws of death countless of times just for nothing.


    ¡°You really are a good man, Yasuo,¡± Yi said with a smile. ¡°Such a shame I can¡¯t teach you about the Wuju style.¡±


    ¡°Keep your style out of my hands,¡± Yasuo scoffed as he downed another swig. ¡°I¡¯m too bloody for it.¡±


    As they walked through the patches of green, they came across a clearing and in front of them laid a sight so beautiful it could melt your hears just by its beauty.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± said Yi as he looked back over to the awe-filled Huntsmen.


    [-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]


    An entire army marched through the beaten path, all armed to the teeth. They were systematically in a rank-and-file, with heavy-armored troops at the front, infantry at the middle, and ranged marksmen and mages at the back. There were even cavalry situated just at the front of those ranged soldiers, and at the fore front of the huge army numbering a thousand, a man in huge black and red armor carrying a giant battleaxe was leading the battalion.


    General Darius, the Hand of Noxus, was at front leading the entire army. Beside him were a huge fully-armored giant wielding a flail, and a woman past-slave now glorious soldier of Noxus. The three of them had stoic, but feral expressions knowing that in the next few minutes, Noxus will once again expand, albeit only little.


    ¡°General, what shall we do if they refuse to comply?¡± the female soldier asked Darius with a bloodthirsty gaze.


    ¡°As usual, kill until they surrender,¡± Darius stated with an expressionless gaze. ¡°It¡¯s been that way ever since Noxus was founded. Never give them a chance to fight, and once they surrender, grab them all as prisoners.¡±


    ¡°Yes, General,¡± the woman nodded in agreement. She was a slave before Noxus came by. She made the mistake of bringing the crown back to her ruler, only to be treated like dirt, along with the entire kingdom. She was then ordered to fight back until she dies, but she refused, and was about to be executed by the king himself, only to be saved by an axe thrown by Darius himself towards the king now deceased. And instead of being dragged as a prisoner of war, she was given the opportunity to stand by Noxus as one of their soldiers, and it was a decision she would cherish for the rest of her life.


    While the two were talking, the fully-armored giant of a man was staying silent as they traversed the land of green, until they heard a rustle from a bush. The three of them, along with the battalion under Darius¡¯ command, tensed up for a fight. Darius gripped his axe tight, the woman held her sword, and the huge man readied his flail. The three of them turned their sights towards the bush and slowly advanced after signaling the entire army to halt and prepare for battle.


    They didn¡¯t know the lay of the land, they didn¡¯t know the fauna, they didn¡¯t know the inhabitants, basically; they were going in blind to wage a war towards an opponent they did not know. This was a huge mistake on Swain¡¯s part as a Grand General who oversees the entire army of Noxus, but this was all planned out the moment they set off. The reason being that Swain had information about the village they were about to raid.


    With his demonic powers, seeing across the land was not that hard, and the information he gained from the land of Vacuo was immense, couple that off with the traveling time from Noxus to here, and Swain could¡¯ve already picked up secrets that the executives of Vacuo wanted to hide. And now, Darius was and his battalion was the first ones to march into the unknown, fully knowing about the danger Swain had briefed them on before leaving the ships.


    Darius noticed an unusual phenomenon in their surroundings. The land was quiet, too quiet. No insects, no animals, only the rustling of the bush and the swaying of the wind. It¡¯s as if the entire area was devoid of living beings except for them and the soldiers behind them.


    And then, the figure finally showed itself. It was black, huge, and had a white mask adorning its face. It had the shape of a bear, was on all fours, and was rushing towards them like a mad animal.


    When Darius saw this, he was relieved. It was just a hostile creature, a creature in which Swain briefed them about. Since he couldn¡¯t hear what the common populace was saying with his power, he didn¡¯t know the name of this specific type of animal, but he said that they come in all shapes and sizes, some having a variety of powers such as flame breath and whatnot.


    What Darius was seeing here was one of the creatures Swain had told them about. It was stronger than a bear as what Swain had observed, but was not that much of a threat against their numbers. Using this as an opportunity, Darius commanded the giant man to fight it head on. The giant nodded and rushed towards the black bear, flail flailing in his hands.


    In under a few seconds, both of them were already 10 feet apart from each other. The bear grasped the distance and leaped off the ground, lunging towards the giant, armored man. This was grave mistake. The man was no ordinary man. He was a tempered soldier of Noxus, a man who partook in many wars and lived to tell the tale.


    Bringing his flail as far back as he could, the man swung the flail with all of his might, causing it to smash against the face and the white mask of the bear. The white mask shattered, and its face caved in. With the inhuman strength of the armored man, the flail bashed the head of the bear and fell towards the ground in a loud thud. The ground cracked beneath the weight of the bear, as well as the strength of the man. And then, the bear dissipated into smoke and vanished from the ground, leaving a crater.


    ¡°Good work,¡± Darius approached the man and gave him a pat on the back. None of them were surprised since they were briefed by Swain earlier about how these black creatures died. ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡±


    Darius then told his soldiers to resume their march towards the village Swain pointed them to. It won¡¯t be long now before they arrive and chaos envelops the area.


    [][][][][][][][][][][][]


    Amanda Newford, 28-year old, married Huntress, was just having her usual rounds around the village she was posted on. Her husband, Derrick Newford was busy on the other side of the village, the reason being that the two of them couldn¡¯t stay professional during their jobs when they were next to each other.


    ¡°Another boring day¡­¡± Amanda muttered under her breath as she patrolled the perimeter around the village. ¡°Ahh¡­ how I want to be in Derrick¡¯s arms right now, most likely in bed¡­¡±


    Amanda drooled at the prospect of another hot night with her most beloved husband. They were lovers back in Coquira Oscuro Academy, dating back from their first years. They climbed the stairs to adulthood during their third year, and it was one of the most blissful nights for Amanda. Ever since then, the both of them were inseparable.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­ I can¡¯t wait for ton-¡± she was cut off by spotting a silhouette just across the tree lines. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    She inched closer while remaining hidden. When she saw them, she was relieved that they were human just like her, but that turned into shock, then fear once she saw an army through her enhanced eyesight due to her Aura.


    ¡°This is bad¡­¡± Amanda quickly hoofed it back to the village with only about 300 people residing within, with only about 50 with jobs related to combat. She quickly rushed into the village, nearly inciting panic because of her rush, and into the mayor¡¯s house.


    ¡°Mayor! We got a problem!¡± Amanda screamed from the top of her lungs, alerting everybody within the confines of the house.


    ¡°What!? Grimm attack!?¡± the mayor, Kyne Hoodsman, rushed to the door away from his office full of paperwork. He held a woodcutter¡¯s axe in his right hand, but it can transform into chainsaw, as well as a flamethrower if ever the need arises.


    ¡°Worse, humans,¡± Amanda said with a horrified expression garnering the curious attention of the inhabitants, as well as the mayor.


    ¡°Bandits?¡± the mayor made a wild guess. Oh how he thought they were just bandits.


    ¡°Worse, an army,¡± Amanda said with a grim face. ¡°They numbered probably a thousand.¡±


    When Amanda relayed what she saw, every person in the house paled. Rows of soldiers armed to the teeth with armor and weapons, horse-riding knights with a variety of weapons such as lances and swords, a brigade of heavy-armored infantry, numerous archers situated at the back, and some robed people who Amanda had no idea what they could do in a fight.


    ¡°This is a dire situation indeed,¡± the mayor said with a pale face and forced bravado. ¡°Do we have any info if they come in peace?¡±


    ¡°Not sure,¡± Amanda said with a face that said that it was highly impossible. There were no armies like that in Remnant. In fact, armies in Remnant were all strapped with guns and bladed weapons in case of CQC. But armies all armed with cold weapons as well as metal armors depicted in medieval wars? Now that was not a normal thing here in the Remnant.


    Just then, the bell tolled 5 times, signaling an approaching threat. Amanda, as well as the mayor, and any Huntsmen, Huntresses, and guards quickly rushed towards the direction where Amanda saw the army was coming from.


    It didn¡¯t take too long before they were met by a tall man covered in a black and red theme metal armor, brandishing a giant battleaxe on his shoulder.


    ¡°Surrender and become citizens of Noxus, or resist and face your imminent destruction!¡± the man¡¯s voice boomed across the area, and Amanda, Derrick who was also there, Kyne, and others all had a pale face towards the threat.


    [][][][][][][][][][][][][][]


    ¡°Wow¡­¡± this was the only word that left young Ruby¡¯s lips as she beheld the scene before her. The same could be said for the others who first time, held their eyes on the wondrous architecture within their vision, but were too stunned to voice their inner thought.


    A huge building, one with nature, and situated on cliffs and high elevation ground, stood before them in its dauntless presence. Trees surround the entire building as if safeguarding the structure from would-be assailants, and a huge walkway laid bare in front of them, leading towards its huge entrance.


    ¡°Welcome to Hirana Monastery, young Huntsmen and Huntresses, if I got that right,¡± Yi greeted as he turned his gaze ¨C and weird headgear ¨C towards the jaw-dropped young individuals and wide-eyed middle-aged man. ¡°Please, come in and have some tea, we have some¡­ dire issues, a part my disciple discussed with you young ones on the way here, I assume?¡±


    This earned a few nervous and anxious nods from the young group of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Shino on the other hand, just stood there without it letting him affect him mentally and physically. Being in a war against the Grimm ever since he could remember, as well as their immortal queen, messes with your head until you get used to it. And this is one interesting situation Shino overheard from the discussion of the young group of Huntsmen, Huntresses, and monkey, had him thinking all the time on the way here.


    ¡°Yes, quite, we¡¯re rather fatigued from the journey here,¡± Shino replied to Yi¡¯s warm greeting and invitation, as he pointed behind his back with his thumb as he added, ¡°And with the two lookalikes sparring earlier, they could really use the rest right now.¡±


    ¡°Fair point,¡± Yi nodded in agreement as he led the way, guiding the Yasuo, Shino, and the rest of the young Huntsmen and Huntresses inside the monastery. ¡°Although, you¡¯ll only be able to access the training grounds since the interiors are restricted to outsiders.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. We¡¯re the imposing ones, so it¡¯s fine if you deny us access to your, private rooms, ain¡¯t that right?¡± Shino called out towards silent Huntsmen who were busy scanning the area. Once they heard the voice of their superior, all of them replied with a huge, ¡°Yes!¡± giving a smile on the face of Shino as he looked back on Yi. ¡°As you can see, no problems here. By the way, can you spare us some supplies, all of our stocks have been obliterated by that dragon earlier.¡±


    ¡°Dragon? You mean that myth?¡± Yi pondered as he stroked his goatee as they continued inside. ¡°If that¡¯s true, then you¡¯re lucky to have come out unscathed.¡±


    ¡°W-what do you mean by that?¡± Shino anxiously asked, earning anxious gazes from the rest of the young Huntsmen group.


    ¡°It is what I meant,¡± Yi said with a serious face as he glanced towards Shino. ¡°Ao Shin, not much is known, but he is a protector of sorts to Ionia. Unlike Karma, who I assume is on the way towards Irelia, Ao Shin protects Ionia from invaders that uses high technology, like those who lives in Piltover. And, assuming that you rode something like an airship coming here, then it was no wonder why he¡¯d shoot you down from the sky.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m having more problems believing Ao Shin actually descended and is actually real,¡± Yi muttered under his breath so no one could hear, save for Shino, Velvet, Blake, and Sun with their extra-sensitive hearing, and Yasuo who was directly next to him.


    The whole group descended into silence once more as they continued with their travel through the huge corridor. There were various sights to see here and there, such as some statues, wood carved figures, overgrown trees that took an unnatural, but mesmerizing shape, and some other things like puddles of water, sap, and a few monks here and there.


    The monks glanced at the newcomers for a while, only to lose interest awhile after because of the person leading them; the man known as the one-man army to Noxians which forced their hand to destroy the Wuju village; the very last practitioner of the deadly Wuju style, Master Yi, and his current disciple, Wukong, the Vastayan Monkey King, though Monkey King is just a title. But instead, he is trickster who uses his strength, agility, and intelligence to confuse his enemies and gain the upper hand. So technically, he is a Monkey King in a sense.


    A few moments of silent travelling and they now found themselves within a courtyard, with a monk battling a dozen or so monks, and beating them singlehandedly. He had a bald head save for the thick, long braided strand of hair could easily measure his body length. He wore wraps around his lower arms to serve as fingerless gloves, and further tightened by red rope. Black, baggy pants adorned his lower body, tucked in more wraps and tightened with red rope on his lower legs, with leather shoes worn at his feet. On his waist, a red sash hung, with golden rings the size of a saucer connected together with white rope along his sash. A few tattoos depicting a dragon were inscribed on his body, but the most iconic part of his appearance, was his red blindfold with a gem at the center covering his eyes, just above his nose and moustache and beard.


    The monk dodged the incoming attacks effortlessly and with grace, before countering with a series of punches and kicks. He weaved himself through the gaps of barehanded strikes of the opponents with naught but his hearing and senses alone. Leaning backwards from an incoming high-kick, the monk fell to the ground, but the fall was no mistake, for the monk roll backwards to dodge a low-kick coming from the side and stood on his hands, before spinning once with his legs stretched outwards.


    The monk¡¯s leg met with the face of the enemy who tried to kick him while on the ground, and flung him towards the man who tried to land a high-kick on him. After that action, the monk pushed himself off the floor and twisted his body to land another kick at an oncoming opponent behind him. Said enemy had the honor of being a foot warmer for a second, before flying a few meters away and landing on the ground with a bleeding, broken nose.


    The monk then landed on his feet and went on the offensive this time, weaving in attacks, punching the enemy on their vitals just enough to knock them out, kicking enemies away, knocking them to the floor and into dreamland, and sometimes sending out shockwaves to enemies, before dashing towards them and landing a powerful kick on their bodies, as well as striking the ground to create a ground shockwave, causing enemies to lose their balance and rolling on the floor in an instant.


    ¡°Wow¡­ who is that?¡± Ruby blinked with her jaw dropping on the floor. The same could be said for the other young Huntsmen. Although with years of practice, they could do the same thing, what with their Aura and semblances. For the young minds to see this kind of fight something only seen in a martial arts movie, of course it would shock them.


    ¡°That, young Huntress, is Lee Sin, the Blind Monk,¡± Yi replied with a smile on his face. But when they heard that he was blind, all of them save for Shino and Yasuo, had their jaws drop even lower. It was one thing to fight like that with all senses intact, it was another thing to fight while completely blind and dominate the enemies without a scratch.


    ¡°Now then, there¡¯s a place to rest over there,¡± Yi said as he pointed towards a few benches just a ways away from where Lee Sin was beating his opponents like air. ¡°We¡¯ll have to chat once I get back, about the Noxian Invasion.¡±


    xXxXxXxXxXx


    Date: xx-xx-xx


    Location: Classified


    Topic: Noxian Invasion


    Everything has been fully prepared, our War Hero, Sion, has been itching for a fight these days, forgive my manners. The soldiers are well-fed, well-slept, and ready for combat coming in the following days. Now, all they need to do is march and quell the Ionian resistance.


    Their weapons crave for the blood of the Ionians, and soon enough, they shall have it. The task you have given me, General, is one I will not waste once battle begins. I ensure you, I will complete this task, and return for the glory of Noxus.


    ~ Talon Du Couteau


    The hand holding the pen stopped, a shadow situated just above the tree tops, and parchment lied on the branches. The silver sheen of the blade pierced through the parchment, and fell slowly to the ground.


    ¡°I guess writing is not my strong suit¡­¡± the man whispered to himself as he sunk into the shadows of the night. Soon, blood will be spilled, and Noxus will rise victorious.