Believe it or not, but this will be a short AN, ha ha. Honestly, not much new in life thanks to the ongoing quarantine other than just using it to catch up on much needed sleep. Hope the rest of you can claim something similar and are still safe out there.

And as for this fic, it will soon really be going off the rails. Look forward to it!

P.S. Recently, I watched PB Horror Gaming's playthrough of both Condemned games… and now I've this idea for a crossover fic between Condemned and Outlast of all things! What do you guys think? Should I go for it in the future?

Chapter 38

It was a true testament to what the body can be capable of as Jaune's own body essentially walked itself from the headmaster's office back to his dorm and without any issue at that too. Such was just how completely and utterly overwhelmed the blond was currently feeling.

It took him a solid several minutes of just sitting there on his bed to fully process what had been told to him, a time he came to feel most grateful for as he regained his mental faculties; had his team made it back, they would've no doubt been worried over his psychological state just moments ago.

And now that he was finally able to not act like some kind of robot, he began to earnestly ponder over what the headmaster had been generous enough to tell him.

For instance, that Salem was an ancient being that controlled the Grimm.

Much like everyone else, he'd grown up under the belief that the Grimm were creatures of darkness that acted on pure instinct, like animals only ones whose animosity was dedicated entirely to humankind. To now know that someone could and is directing them… that changed everything.

Just how long had this Salem been around? Had she always been able to control the Grimm? At what specific times had she asserted her control over the Grimm to attack others? These were but a few of the now many questions he had about this woman… questions that he really should've asked the headmaster.

Jaune grimaced, disappointed in himself. Granted, it's not everyday a bombshell of such a magnitude gets dropped on anyone much less him, but he should've pressed harder for additional details.

That said, to know as well now that the headmaster along with a select few others were doing what they could to combat this Salem's machinations… that was great to know. It was quite relieving, actually.

…

…

…But-.

"-But just what else is being hidden here?" Jaune mumbled to himself.

Suddenly feeling more energized than ever, he stood up and began to pace the dorm room slowly but relentlessly.

Now that his mind was working at hyper speeds, the questions were just flowing one after another at the moment.

Just what was Salem's ultimate goal? If she could command the Grimm, then what need, if any, did she have of human subordinates back then and now? For that matter, what even was Salem other than 'an ancient being that commands the Grimm?'

And on the flip side of things… just how long exactly has the headmaster been doing this, combatting Salem? How has he been doing so? Given just how old he implied Salem to be, then just what had been keeping this Grimm leader in check prior to headmaster Ozpin coming around? On a related note, how did the headmaster come to learn of Salem's existence in the first place?

And most importantly to the blond…

…What measures was the headmaster taking now to keep the peace?

And at that question, Jaune's pacing slowed significantly as he dwelled on it.

Given just how many things have happened since the start of the school year, Jaune had to wonder now if Salem had had a hand in all this. And if so, how did she accomplish it? Given that the man he'd fought twice now – Hazel – had all but come out and say he and others were working with Salem, it would seem Salem's own circle of subordinates were at work here… and with that in mind, a whole new slew of questions filtered through the blond teen's increasingly quick working mind.

How many people were under Salem's direct control right now? What sort of skills or abilities did they possess? What resources do they have access to that would allow Salem to order operations like what had happened recently and have them be viable in the first place?

And then… there was Hazel himself too, Jaune thought.

How had that man come to meet Salem? Was Salem so powerful a being that even that man had been left with no choice but to submit himself to her? Or had she offered him something in return for his services? But most importantly… the apparent ability he'd demonstrated back in Sol to command some Grimm as well… was that Salem's doing too? If so, did that mean her other subordinates possessed some level of sovereignty among the Grimm?

At that, Jaune actually shivered – though most people nowadays regarded Grimm as something akin to a large pest problem due to the protection the kingdom walls and security provided, as the Breach and this previous incident had shown, the Grimm were still very much a powerful force of nature. All it took was for any settlement, be it a small village or one of the kingdoms themselves, to let down their guard once for Grimm to gather in swarms and overrun them. And if enough Grimm gathered, then it didn't matter how strong any one individual was or what sort of weapons they may have at hand – given enough time, they'll run out of bullets and wear themselves down enough for the sheer numbers to crush them and that's assuming none of the more powerful and generally dangerous Grimm didn't just pop out of nowhere to join the assault.

Naturally, this applied to him too, though at the risk of sounding arrogant, Jaune was fairly sure that in such a situation, he would last a little longer than most others. And of course, if it meant others got to live, then he'd go down swinging to the very end and beyond.

But he was digressing here.

To get back on track, the Grimm alone were a constant threat kept in check only by whatever defenses the kingdoms and all other settlements can come up with. But the older and thus the smarter and stronger Grimm can easily circumvent some of these measures through either surprising displays of cunning or just pure size and power… but if there's an actual intelligence guiding their actions? Directing them to any defense's weakest points or telling them to target certain individuals to lower humanity's morale and fighting chances? Such a thing was truly the stuff of nightmares.

"…With all this in mind, just how has Salem not won yet?" Jaune was now perplexed.

He had every bit of faith in humanity's potential for great things. Certainly, they were all flawed – and he was no exception, of course – but for all these flaws, both as a species and on an individual level, there was still the innate capability to accomplish things that were the very definition of amazing.

However, for all his faith, it was not blind faith.

The Grimm vastly outnumbered humanity. There was damn good reason as to why there existed only four kingdoms, all of which occupied only a relatively small part of the continents they resided on. Sure, there were plenty of villages and towns out there on the frontier, but they were far and in between, the Grimm and other dangers the world naturally provided making such places a bit too dangerous for most people to consider making a living out there.

Even with the gift of aura and the power of semblances and whatever advantages technology could afford humanity, if every Grimm on the planet was to get whipped up into a frenzy and just rushed every pocket of humanity they could find, humanity wouldn't last long at all.

Surely, Salem knew this. Depending on how exactly her control over the Grimm worked – presumably like how Hazel's seemingly worked, just to a far greater extent – then it shouldn't be that hard for her to just command some Grimm to seek out a few towns and then order every other Grimm within a hundred miles to swarm those locations. Then rinse, lather, and repeat and before long, even the kingdoms would fall to such a basic tactic…

…Which again raises the question of how Salem has yet to crush humanity. Even if wiping out humanity wasn't one of her goals, cowing humanity into servitude for the most part would be just as easy for her to have accomplished long ago.

…

…

…Thing's aren't adding up, he realized with a sense of finality, and it was this feeling that got him to truly stop pacing and narrow his eyes.

"Just what else are you hiding, headmaster?" he murmured as he blankly stared around his dorm.

He'd gone into that meeting knowing full well he wasn't going to be told everything. That the man had acquiesced enough to tell him of Salem in the first place was a genuine triumph. But in doing so, it raised a lot of questions about the holes in the brief tale the headmaster had told him.

What he'd just learned about Salem and how Hazel and others were working for her… it was all but one part of a puzzle. A big part, to be fair, but far from an all-encompassing thing.

There was more to learn, so much more…

…And Jaune now fully intended to delve deeper into this unfathomable mystery.

While it certainly said something about the headmaster for being able to hold Salem at bay for this long by himself and whatever few allies he had in this shadow war, it was with a great deal of hindsight that recent events were clearly pushing the headmaster and the others to their limits. There's no telling how much longer they may be able to keep Salem and her agents of chaos at bay before they finally slip up. Naturally, this wouldn't do.

Jaune felt it was time to change things up a bit.

Now, was it arrogant of him to think he must be the one to do so? To think that he should and could make a difference in this shadow war? Oh yes, it most certainly was arrogant of him.

But now more than ever, he felt a sense of clarity. He wouldn't go as far as to say this was to be the true purpose of his life or whatever, but as someone who needed and wanted to help others and smite 'evil,' this was perhaps the single greatest obstacle he now faced.

And besides, he thought in good but subdued humor, who else hasn't dreamed of taking on what was essentially a demon king or whatever?

However.

He wouldn't be doing this alone. Oh no, recent experiences have shown him how much he'd been missing out on things, how different things could now be for him thanks to this newfound clarity of his…

Thus, when his team returned, he vowed to tell them of what he'd learned.

The headmaster may have obviously wanted him to keep this knowledge about Salem to himself, but his team as well as team RWBY had already been just a bit more involved than others in these incidents. Thus, it was only natural that he'd share this knowledge with them. He trusted them to not let this news leak out to others, of course. That would be where the line would be drawn for now.

And so, he now eagerly awaited his team's return from their current assignment, all the while beginning to plan out what could be done next.

There was much to do and he fully intended to make the most of however much info he can potentially get next.

Several days go by. During this time, Vale returned ever steadily towards normal, except not really. As businesses had no choice but to fully reopen to make money like before and the like, people began to really get back into the swing of things, but it was with an unspoken sense of trepidation.

It went without saying that they feared whatever would come next. So great was this was fear that even the career criminals seemed to have gone further underground for the time being, no doubt worried that whatever they end up doing next could trigger another Breach.

Hazel found no amusement in this observation of his. If anything, it irritated him somewhat.

And not without reason.

"Hazel… You've that look about you again," Watts pointed out from nearby.

In response, the man could only grunt as he folded his arms over his chest. "It's… getting harder to ignore…" he quietly commented.

Ever since his second battle with Jaune Arc, the behemoth of a man had undergone a series of changes, even long after the effects of his Dust injection have worn off… or rather, should have worn off.

It was slight, but if one looked closely enough, there was an occasional crack of lightning that danced along his forearms as his muscles tensed and his mind became a bit more unfocused thanks to yet another change that had struck him.

For some reason, he's started to exhibit the ability to pick up emotions themselves. Not to any exceptionally great extent, but it hadn't taken him long at all to notice he could literally feel the anxiety and outright fear many civilians were feeling nowadays.

And Hazel was all too quick to note the slew of other emotions he could apparently pick up on – anger, jealousy, genuine hatred, doubt… in other words, negative emotions.

Something that only the Grimm should be able to sense.

And considering how some time prior to his first battle with Jaune Arc, he'd started to gain the ability to command Grimm to some extent, Hazel was certain that somehow his own Dust injections were to blame for these changes in him.

That he seemingly possessed some of the abilities his Dust injections normally granted him even now, albeit to far lesser extents, only added to this certainty of his.

Naturally, this was something that hadn't gone unnoticed by Watts. And the man had not bothered hiding his fascination in these changes.

"Hmm…" Watts couldn't help but look him over intently. "To think such things would be happening to you… truly, it boggles the mind."

Hazel could only grunt in annoyance. "Unless you've a proper diagnosis for me, I'd suggest not dreaming of turning me into a lab rat."

The former scientist held up his hands in a placating manner and chuckled quietly. "My apologies. I imagine these changes would be worrisome for you. Still, it is a point of immense interest for me."

"I've noticed." Hazel's tone was as dry as could be, making his distaste for this situation known.

"Come now, are such changes truly a bad thing?" Watts asked from where he sat. "Is it not most fortunate that your power still grows? It could potentially make killing Jaune Arc much easier when you two next clash."

"…Possibly." Hazel sighed. He then raised a hand and clenched it into a tight fist. As he did so, sparks of lightning briefly coated it before disappearing. He could feel it – unbridled power steadily filling his entire being.

Watts hadn't been kidding when he'd said his power was still growing just now – even though he was simply standing around, Hazel's very being was shifting in some way, his aura reserves growing and his body's bones and muscular structure also changing in some ways that he couldn't identify. But he could tell that his power was growing quite literally by the minute…

…Except, he could hardly feel happy over this. The sudden influx of negativity aside, the simple fact that he was changing into… into something was far from a pleasant sensation.

But more than that, he was absolutely certain that when next he and Jaune Arc met, the boy would also be stronger than before.

Strong enough to still clash evenly with him? Most likely. And that thought irked Hazel the most. Their previous battle just days ago… Hazel couldn't help but feel as if he'd lost the clash between their ideals and wills. Yes, Jaune Arc had certainly won on that front… and by simple virtue of the fact that near the end of the battle, the boy had changed in some way.

…He was breaking free of his semblance's influence, shrugging off the shackles of slavery. And once he fully accomplished that…

…Then what would happen? That was the question suddenly on Hazel's mind. If the boy did fully cease being a slave, then in what ways would the boy change? Would those changes finally prove to be his undoing?

Would their next clash finally mean the death of one of them?

As much as Hazel intended for that to be the case, he was now uncertain as to which of them would the one to die.

…

Hazel sighed and unclenched his fist. Now was not the time to be dwelling on that matter. Whatever happens in the next battle will happen. All he can do is just do what he can when that time comes.

"Well? Find anything of note?" Hazel asked as he switched topics.

Watts obviously knew that, but gracefully obliged the sudden segue. "Not necessarily of note to us, but interesting nonetheless," he replied with a shrug before swiveling around his chair to look back at the monitor before him.

In the immediate aftermath of city hall's collapse, Watts had requested of Hazel to go and kill Adam Taurus and the rest of the man's forces. Hazel had done just that; Adam Taurus and his particular brand of escalating terrorism were no more.

Personally, Hazel had been ambivalent about it all – whether Adam Taurus had lived another day to plan yet another attack or not, it wouldn't have mattered once Salem herself made a move. However, Watts hadn't been too keen on the possibility of the now deceased Faunus serving as a hindrance, hence his request.

In any case, it was over and done with and not long after that, Watts had traced Adam Taurus' tracks back to his cell's base, where the two of them had then gone to raid, bringing back to their own base any and all files they could get their hands on.

Again, this was something Hazel hadn't cared much for, especially with the bull Faunus little more than ashes now, but Watts had wished to see what information Adam Taurus' cell had managed to get its hands on.

Judging by Watts' tone, it seemed it really hadn't amounted to much in the end.

"Just what had you been hoping for?" Hazel asked as he approached to look for himself. "A way to get back at Atlas?"

That was the only thing that made sense to the man. The mere idea of any White Fang cell possessing information that could prove useful to Salem's plans was completely ludicrous. It made more sense that the terrorist organization would instead have info on Atlas given the animosity between the two thanks to the SDC as well as the simple fact that most people within Atlas' wealthier populace were racists, a result of them typically lumping the poorer classes and Faunus together.

"More or less," Watts freely admitted as he tapped away at options on the monitor itself. "Though I've already have my own plans for my former home, it never hurts to see if anything could be used to better adjust my plans."

That the man could admit to such a thing spoke of how self-aware he was about his own pettiness, Hazel thought in mild amazement.

"Given the obvious grudge the White Fang has towards Atlas as a whole, especially Taurus himself, I'd have expected them to keep tabs on everything the Atlas military was up to. In light of the fact that the White Fang had actually managed to get their hands on a paladin prototype, I admitted to having high hopes…" Watts continued. "…And to some extent, it would seem my hopes weren't misplaced."

As he said that, the former scientist tapped on a certain file and out popped a number of photos. Hazel immediately recognized the battleships in them as the ones that'd been surrounding Beacon.

"I see they've been studying Ironwood's fleet," the large man remarked.

"Indeed. I don't know if this was something initiated by Cinder during her partnership with Taurus or if the man himself had taken the initiative, but had things not gone so terribly wrong for them, it would seem Taurus had planned to take the fight to Ironwood himself aboard his flagship."

At that, Hazel quirked an eyebrow. He was finding himself quite intrigued by all this, if only to take his mind off the negativity he could still vaguely sense. "Was it not a part of Cinder's initial plan to take control of Ironwood's fleet and robots to further add to the chaos?"

"That's true, but according to these files, it would appear that Taurus had eventually been planning to take out the entire fleet outright… such a foolhardy goal for one of such meager ability." Watts shook his head. He clearly didn't think much of the deceased Faunus. "Still, the more I look this over, the more I find myself feeling fortunate. This may prove useful after all."

The smirk just barely visible under that mustache of his was truly devilish.

Hazel could only grunt as he came to a conclusion. "Then, you mean to say…"

"…That it's time for me to finally claim what is rightfully mine," Watts finished for him as he turned around to face him. "You know well by now that I want back what I'd made. And Ironwood, fool that he is, decided to take my greatest invention and turn it into a mere battery for his own damned flagship! I'd long since wished to take it back and have planned for such, but now thanks to Taurus' notes on the fleet, getting aboard and obtaining the prototype may be even easier than I'd initially expected."

Watts now got up and Hazel stepped aside, giving the man enough room to pace about. The former scientist was looking positively giddy. No, that wasn't quite right… it would be more correct to say that the man looked almost… almost like someone who was on the cusp of regaining their greatest treasure, as if the mere thought of reuniting with it was making him whole again.

Watts had made it clear to Hazel during their journey to Vale just how much this prototype meant to him, but Hazel hadn't expected the man to desire having it back this much. It was honestly disconcerting.

But it was not his place to judge his ally's motivations nor the sheer extent Watts was clearly willing to go to get this back. After all, had he himself not fully committed himself to his current path for the sake of revenge?

"Then just when will you be making your own move?" This was the only thing Hazel could think to ask at the moment and with reason.

It went without saying that in light of recent events, everyone was on edge. This went triply so for Ironwood and the entirety of the fleet he'd brought with him to Vale. Even with whatever note Taurus had gathered, Hazel couldn't imagine the man being able to so easily get in and out with what he desired.

But at the same time, if he held off on this for too long then Salem herself will make her move and trying to get aboard the flagship to obtain the prototype would be a huge risk since it wouldn't be as if Salem would leave the flagship alone during her assault. Watts would be risking his own death as well as the destruction of this prototype during such an event. And of course, going for it after Salem's assault would hardly be wise since it would likely be destroyed by then.

Of course, Watts knew this.

"I'm aware of what you're getting at," the scientist said as he reined himself in. "That said, I will be making my move some time tomorrow."

Hazel quirked another eyebrow. "I understand your reasoning for why, but is that smart? Security will be far tighter than ever before in light of Taurus' attack."

At that, Watts held up his hand, the one which bore the rings he always used. "I'm also well aware of that. But no matter how alert the Atlas forces are, no matter how much they've updated their security systems, it'll still be nothing before me."

"You're still just one man," Hazel pointed out. "If you slip up even once, that's it. While I don't doubt your skill, you've no chance of escaping every soldier."

What he said was very much true. Watts was not by any means a defenseless scientist; he obviously had his aura unlocked long ago and has received some training in close quarters combat as well as possessing a revolver that in turn held more than enough firepower to put down any mere soldier.

However, fighting was still not his forte. His aura reserves were certainly higher than most people, but several solid hits would be all it'd take to drain him entirely and his personal combat skills would not let him stand a chance at all against fully fledged huntsmen. Even a trainee in around their third to fourth year of training at some place like Beacon would outskill him. And of course, as his revolver was his sole weapon, he was severely lacking in combat options.

Sure, those rings of his and the capabilities they possess would give him a major tactical advantage, but that was entirely dependent on where he could end up getting boxed in at.

If Watts took offense to this succinct comeback, however, the man didn't show it. Instead, he actually chuckled. "I know my limits, Hazel," he said as he placed his hands behind his back and began pacing again. "But I'm not afraid to push said limits if it means getting back my prototype. And once I do, well… while I'd never dare claim to be ever near your level, I would certainly become an existence beyond what any huntsman could be capable of dealing with."

Seeing that his warnings weren't going to stop Watts at all, Hazel could only accept the man's resolve. "…Very well. So long as you know not to get too carried away. With Cinder captured, the last thing we need is another of us being taken down, much less you."

It went without saying in the immediate aftermath of Taurus' attack that Cinder's own plan to get to the Fall Maiden had failed. The mere fact that her scroll could no longer be pinged was more than enough, for the signal it emitted could have only been halted if the scroll itself was broken… and that could only be done intentionally. In other words, unless struck with enough force, the scroll would still function.

There'd been no doubt about it – Cinder had encountered resistance, failed to overcome it, and had been subsequently captured.

"Oh, I assure you, I've no intention to end up like our 'dear' Cinder," Watts replied. He huffed at the mere mention of her name. "It'd been clear from the start she would fail for sure. This merely confirms what we'd all expected from the start. Oh well, at the very least she will hold out for as long as she could under whatever punishment Ozpin's side will inflict on her, if only out of that pathetic and delusional pride of hers. Even if she does give in, it's not as if she ever knew enough about Salem's long-term plans to matter much."

Personally, Hazel had always been rather indifferent towards the young woman and so in light of Watts' words, he could only shrug lightly in agreement. Cinder had thought herself capable enough of succeeding and she'd been proven wrong. That is all that mattered.

"Then, if that's everything, I will be stepping out for a while," Hazel said, once again switching topics a bit. "The negativity… it's getting tiresome to deal with."

Watts hummed. "I could only imagine how it must feel like… very well. This gives me time to modify my rings a bit in preparation of tomorrow."

Nodding, Hazel gently brushed past Watts and left their little base. As he did so, he wasted no time making his way as far as he could away from Vale.

Honestly, he lost track of time as he traveled, but before he knew it, he'd snuck his out past the walls and off into some thick section of a forest where nothing was around.

Coming to a stop, he let loose a long sigh of pure relief as the negativity he'd been sensing finally abated, letting him feel as if he was by himself again.

Truly, humanity was a disgusting race, he thought, if this is how much negativity is produced on a regular basis.

…Perhaps… perhaps the Grimm feel the same way, he wondered.

This was just a random thought, not made with any real attachment of emotion or additional reasoning to it… but now that he'd thought it, Hazel slowly found himself questioning for the very first time in a long time what the Grimm even are… and just how exactly had his Dust injections caused these changes in him.

"Why…?" he murmured as he sat upon a small boulder. He held up his open palms as if seeing them for the first time. "Just why is this happening…?" he asked himself inquisitively, as if hoping answers would suddenly come to him.

But of course, no answers came.

And so, he could only sit there and destress. Even as Grimm slowly sensed and approached him, he paid them no mind, not even when they began to bow before him…

Not for the first time, Salem found herself standing out on a balcony and staring up at the shattered moon, the celestial object serving as a constant reminder of what had happened all those centuries ago, when her life as a normal human had ended.

It was funny, really. Back then, just the very fact the moon existed in its broken state was enough to fill her with rage. But within the last several or so decades, she's honestly become rather numb to the sight of it.

That's right, she'd grown tired of being angry, amazing as that might sound. Though it wasn't as if anyone was ever around to notice such things about her.

Sighing, she utilized her magic to perform a short-range teleportation, transporting her down to the area directly around the castle, where the pools of destruction were located at.

It was yet again time for her to begin.

She held up her hands and concentrated. As she did so, the several hundred Beringels that had long since perched themselves around this area looked on almost fervently, their massive wings flapping ever so gently in response.

Yes, that's right, wings.

Normally the Beringels had merely been Grimm in the general forms of massive gorillas, but over the past year or so, Salem had seen fit to mold them with wings to increase their general mobility.

They hadn't been the only type of Grimm she'd modified either. All throughout her personal little kingdom, Gryphons could be spotted, the aerial based Grimm sporting greater muscle mass than ever before and their wings possessed feather-like objects in their wings, naturally made of the same bone-like materials as the white portions of their bodies that could be fired as projectiles. Beowulves gracefully ran amok, their bodies leaner as to provide them greater speed and agility and their claws had been thinned and sharpened to razor fine points. Ursas have been provided more bone-like armor around their forms to give additional protection.

These Grimm, basic ones, were far from the only ones modified either. Off within the darkest confines of her castle, there were a small battalion's worth of Apathies, whose bodies have been filled out more to make them tougher and their legs more muscular so that they can actually sprint, all so that they can last longer and ensure the mental effects they produce can spread more before eventually being put down.

Not even the largest of Grimm had been spared from her somewhat creative pursuits, with several Wyverns having been essentially turned into Grimm Dragons, possessing four limbs in addition to two pairs of wings that possessed the same new capabilities the Gryphons possessed.

Salem has done what she could to either cover for some of these Grimms' weaknesses or to further improve upon whatever strengths they naturally possessed. Now, she was simply bolstering their numbers.

And sure enough, as she worked her will upon the pools of destruction, modified Beringels and Beowulves and Ursas slowly sprang forth from them and went off to join their respective groups, though not before bowing to her, their queen.

She kept at this for several long hours, the curse the God Brothers have inflicted her upon proving to be a surprising boon – in additional to being a being of now endless life, her stamina had also become equally endless. She could quite literally keep this up forever, but just because she didn't physically tire didn't mean she still couldn't tire out mentally. Thus, after several hours, she had to stop for a long break.

Showing just the smallest signs of fatigue now – again, all very much mental in nature – she backed away from the pools of destruction and looked around at her handiwork.

She felt no pride as all the Grimm went about their business within this desolate kingdom of hers, where the kingdom she and Ozma had once established so long ago had once proudly stood.

In all honesty, this was hardly the first time she's ever modified the Grimm. In fact, in the very beginning, when her people had walked this planet, only the most basic of Grimm – Beowulves, Ursas, Beringels, other animal-based Grimm – had existed. All the other Grimm, the more fantastical ones like the Wyverns, the Goliaths, Apathies and so on and so forth? Those had come afterwards and through her own hands, having manipulated the pools of destruction as best as she could to essentially give birth to these fantastical Grimm species. Even the Seers that she utilized for communication between herself and her human servants hadn't existed until she made them.

With every new Grimm species she'd made over the centuries, she'd gone on to think that now this second humanity shall finally fall before them… only to keep on going. Oh, her new Grimm had certainly put humanity on the ropes during those times, but humanity, ever so adaptable, would always figure out ways to survive and fight back.

And each and every time she'd tried to command every Grimm across the world to just storm the forming kingdoms and put them down, Ozma via whatever life he'd been living at those times would always find a way to halt such straightforward tactics.

Whether it be through liberal usage of what magic power he still possessed or through commanding the Maidens or utilizing the silver eyed warriors or even using those damned Relics of the gods, her former love had always albeit barely been successful in wiping out the forming Grimm hordes before they could pose too big a threat to humanity.

It honestly hurt her. To know that the very traits she'd once admired and loved in him – resolve, ingenuity, faith in others – would now be what halted her own schemes… it was yet another constant reminder of the past.

It'd also been these very same traits of Ozma's, now Ozpin's, that had ultimately led Salem to hold off on such a straightforward tactic roughly two centuries ago. So long as there was a possibility of him countering it somehow, Salem knew commanding the Grimm to straight out assault the kingdoms would do no good.

Thus, she'd had no choice but to reach out to others and sway them to her side. It hadn't been too hard to do such a thing be it through sheer intimidation or making promises of riches or power to them. And at first, through these agents of hers, she'd been able to throw Ozma off for a while, but he'd been quick to counter her new tactics by doing the same, irritatingly enough.

And so, this was how this shadow war between the two of them had gone, with neither side ever really gaining a true advantage over the other, even with her steadily altering and improving the Grimm and him possessing the Maidens, silver eyed warriors and Relics.

However, in more recent decades, things had started to change with the advent of technology. Granted, technology has always existed in one form or another, but in the past century alone, a paradigm shift had occurred as technology began to advance with increasing speed.

Suddenly, subterfuge, sabotage and more had become truly viable and damaging options thanks to the widespread usage of digital communication and storage and Salem had been all too glad to 'get with the times' as people would apparently say.

And so her current generation of subordinates – Hazel, Tyrian, Watts, Cinder and whatever resources they had at their own disposals – had proven exceptionally useful. While the former two weren't exactly what people would call whizzes when it came to technology, they still had plenty of familiarity with such things and of course, their combat prowess was an exceptional plus, especially in regards to Hazel. As for the latter two, Watts and Cinder were her go-to subordinates for behind the scenes work, especially Watts who'd proven his worth many times over since she'd reached out to him.

It went without saying that the path forward was far from worry-free – as Hazel and Watts had informed her some odd days ago, Cinder's plans had hit a significant wall, to say nothing of Tyrian failing to capture the new Spring Maiden. But these were only minor setbacks. So far, her forces appeared to hold the offensive advantage while Ozpin continued to remain on an ever crumbling defensive.

Oh, she didn't doubt for a second that Ozpin still had at least a few fallback plans to try out, but so long as things progress as she expected them to, not even whatever her former love could still do would stop her this time.

Even if one or two of her subordinates were to fail in their given tasks, so long as the rest succeed, the conquest of Vale and the subsequent capturing of the Relic there will still be guaranteed.

This thought got her to smile as she made her way back inside her castle for now, satisfied with how things were going for now.

Then, as she made her way back to her throne room, she did a little wave with a free hand and in doing so, a Seer promptly appeared and followed after her.

Though she had actual faith in her main subordinates doing what was required of them, there was one she did have less faith in. To be somewhat fair, the man in question truly was a cowardly and weak-willed speck of a fool… though perhaps she'd just gotten too used to be around a certain type of people.

No matter.

It was time to see how Leonardo was coming along in the task she'd assigned him.

And for his sake, he really better not disappoint.

Yeah, sorry for how short this chapter is compared to a lot of the previous ones, but again this is one of those chapters meant to just give quick updates on the situation and expand on the fallout.

So, as you can see, Jaune may be steadily breaking free of his semblance's mental influence, but he's still every bit the laser guided determinator that he was before and that won't be changing. Hell, if anything, well… you guys will eventually see, heh. One thing I can confirm for sure is that he won't be marching to the beat of Ozpin's drum.

As for Hazel, these changes he's going through will play an especially big role later on as will the origin of these changes, so do be on the lookout for that. Feel free to try guessing the backstory to this too, if you want!

And regarding Watts, he'll finally be getting around to going for the object he'd been vaguely mentioning and when that happens, I will naturally be explaining in proper detail what this 'prototype' is and what it can do. Look forward to that!

Lastly, Salem. Yeah, again, with all the Grimm at her disposal, I really don't understand how exactly she'd been thwarted as long as she has been within canon, so the details provided within her section are merely a part of my headcanon being used here to provide a semi-reasonable explanation for why she hasn't won yet in this fic either. Hope you guys find that it makes sense!

Also, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Cinder either - she'll be getting a bit of a spotlight soon too!

Until next time, everyone. Stay safe!