Coming back to work had honestly been a bit of a weird experience. On the one hand, it's obviously been a while since I'd last been there, since back in March it was quite cold and now here in August/September, it's considerably warmer. On the other hand, it continues to feel as if I'd never really left at all… can't figure out if that's supposed to be a good thing or not.

At least I'm almost fully readjusted to work from a physical standpoint – all that standing and walking around the first several days I was back really wore my feet down a lot. Like, a lot, as in genuine pain and some cramping. Now, barely a week later, my feet are perfectly fine now with all the activity I'm reengaging in. Oddly enough, the rest of my body was completely fine. I'd have expected my arms, shoulders, and back to be the parts of me sore and hurting from the time off, but it's really only been the very bottom of my feet that were hurting, though again, not anymore. Kind of funny how that works out, eh?

In any case, now that I'm getting back into the swing of things and it's no longer hot/muggy as all hell over here, I'm able to retain the energy to write after getting back from work, hence why this chapter is just a bit earlier than even I'd expected it to be. Hopefully I can maintain this pace but do forgive me if it takes me a bit of time to get future chapters out in case anything happens.

Now, onto the chapter!

Chapter 53

Watts gasped and rasped as he dodged yet another attack that would've definitely been fatal. Though he wasn't actually tiring thanks to the work of his Eternal Motor, it wasn't as if mental fatigue no longer existed either.

And he was definitely under a lot of strain right this instant… mentally and physically.

Following that sudden beam of light being shot up into the sky and then down upon him, the man had done his best to shield himself with only marginal success. On the plus side, he'd survived the attack, but the list of cons was quite extensive

Solid portions of his clothes just incinerated, his whole body almost literally charred with entire patches of skin just falling off with even the slightest of actions, creaking bones, some cooked organs, and most importantly disorientation and constantly disrupted concentration from the pain his body was in, keeping him from using and abusing his virtual space as much as he needed to.

Thus, for a while here, he had to rely on purely physical means of avoiding harm. In this case, he had to literally chuck himself as far away from the monster once known as Hazel just as the creature's claws nearly tore him into several pieces.

Unfortunately for him, the monster seemingly anticipated such a dodge and merely slid forward with a grace it really shouldn't possess, delivering a small but fast body blow that Watts could only raise his arms and a single leg to guard against.

The mighty spiked fist slammed against his defending limbs with unnatural force, shattering his bones and sending him screaming in agony along the ground. His limbs were more or less useless now save for just one leg, hardly enough to put up much of a defense.

Especially not when the monster generated arcs of lightning that raced along the ground right towards him. Everything they touched seemed to be completely obliterated and he didn't doubt something similar would happen if he let those hit him.

Fear of death kicked in, stronger than ever before, triggering additional adrenaline that helped to clear his mind just enough to finally reactivated his virtual space. He formed it and instantly undid the lightning arcs as soon as they entered his field.

But that seemed to be just what the monster was waiting for, for it suddenly went from being stock still to nearly within his virtual space, its entire body literally bursting with power.

Frightened as he recalled what had happened the first time around, Watts hastily deactivated his virtual space, though not before using it briefly to undo some of the harm he'd suffered. He'd had nowhere enough time to heal himself physically, but it'd just been enough to restore some level of functionality to his limbs and he wasted no time kicking off the ground just as the monster stomped down where he'd just been. All the power crackling within it was unleashed through the stomp and practically triggered an eruption of light that sent Watts flying for what had to be the several hundredth time in this short period of time.

This time, however, he was able to twirl about and land on his feet, albeit painfully. Growling, he tried to sort through his options. Things sadly weren't looking too good for him. Physically, he stood no chance at all and using his virtual space too liberally would risk the monster breaking it again and putting him down for good. That can't be allowed.

But… if prolonged usage was an issue then he just needed to figure out a way to use it occasionally to support himself instead.

An idea came to mind, a risky one.

He reactivated his virtual space and as soon as it appeared, he created a wave of electromagnetic radiation. It raced forth towards the monster, who merely scrunched up those skull-like features it possessed at the incoming attack. It then merely roared, generating a wave of pure magical power that expelled the radiation like nothing.

Honestly speaking, Watts didn't really find such an absurd feat all that surprising – even though the black hole he'd made just moments ago had been very small, it was still something that could've jeopardized the entire world if left unchecked. If this monster could deal with something of that level, though, then electromagnetic radiation wasn't really going to do much good…

…Other than serve as a decent distraction, that is.

Against all logic, Watts had dashed right up to the behemoth, the radiation having served as his way of cloaking himself. And in his hands, he held the newest item made via his virtual space.

With a very ungentlemanly grin, Watts pointed the barrel of his railgun directly at the monster's exposed throat just before it could even begin to reel itself back. Said railgun was almost as big as himself, which would normally make it unwieldy if only due to the sheer size of it, but he made due easily enough anyways, having modified its grip so that it fit perfectly without being too unbalanced. As for what was the bullet, he'd conjured up was just a steel ball, modified to better serve as a projectile… and one that was easily twice the size of his own head and weighed close to a hundred pounds.

Oh yes, this was one very hefty gun and bit of ammunition…

…And he took a great deal of glee in firing the railgun just before the monster could even begin moving in response to this new threat.

The recoil of the fired object proved to be utterly immense. Even though he'd perfectly calculated just how much force the shot would possess and had braced himself appropriately, Watts had still been blasted clean off his feet. His hastily made railgun had also not quite been up to the challenge of enduring its own shot and had been reduced to little more than slag in the immediate aftermath of the shot.

But even so, Watts paid this no mind. Instead he'd focused entirely on the shot itself as it had impacted right against the monster's throat… to virtually no effect. Oh, make no mistake, the shot ended up launching the monster right off its massive feet and sent it careening back at double digit Mach speeds through the nearby forest, but from the very brief glimpse the man had gotten of his target, the monster's throat had remained very much intact.

Inwardly groaning as he got back up, he activated his virtual space and took the risk of expanding it to its new maximum size, encompassing the area where that behemoth of a foe likely was in. One brief calculation later, he relocated that entire section of the forest high into the air and flipped it around at an impossible speed. And sure enough, as he did so, he could see the monster roaring in shock and just marginal pain.

He grimaced. "Unbelievable…" he muttered. Looks like the monster's semblance had also been strengthened immensely too as a result of its transformation. Hazel had already been a juggernaut as a human, but now as whatever this thing is, he's on a whole other level.

Nonetheless, he wasn't about to just throw in the towel just yet.

With yet another mental command, he caused another section of nearby land to suddenly rise up and slam against the flipped section, the monster being at the very epicenter of this collision. He then made both sections spontaneously implode.

Even from here, a solid mile or so away, the resulting shockwave knocked him down yet again, and the brightness of the explosion had nearly blinded him, but a few seconds of thought was enough to heal himself completely with his virtual space. He didn't bother restoring his clothes, however, no point in doing so with how things were going so far. Even he wasn't so vain as to make sure he looked impeccable even after a fight like that.

Alas, the fight itself wasn't over just yet.

Just as soon as he'd even entertained the thought that he had some actual breathing room, something rocketed out of the now dissipating explosion and headed right for him.

The monster… and it barely looked like its body had been nicked by everything up until now.

But it certainly looked pissed, that much there was no doubting.

And it flew towards him with such sudden speed that Watts had no time to do much else other than instinctively lash out.

Unfortunately, with how close the monster was, his way of lashing out proved to be a horrible decision, the result of his lacking battle instincts and his compromised composure from all that's transpired.

His virtual space still activated, he formed a thick and normally unwieldy gauntlet around his right hand, this new device meant to drastically improve striking power at least a dozen times over. And he now swung his right fist at the monster's incoming fist.

Their punches collided with unbelievable force… and with his virtual space still up, the man having forgotten in his haste to shut it down.

The mere shockwave from their clash instantly ruined his attacking arm, shattering the gauntlet and mangling the entirety of his right arm along with a portion of his shoulder and chest.

Said shockwave, most of its power coming from the monster itself, also ended up utterly destroying his virtual space.

The shock of both his arm being destroyed and his virtual space being brought down overwhelmed the usually crafty man. His mind just blanked out immediately and he sort of just stumbled back and fell onto his ass in the most unceremonious way possible.

His suffering was twofold – the physical agony of losing his arm and the spiritual pain brought about by his virtual space's destruction. It was as if his very body and soul together were in the process of shutting down right now and it was only through some twisted act of fate that despite thoughts no longer coming to him, he was still conscious, if only marginally.

And it was also only vaguely that he even registered the monster approaching his downed form in silence, its expression the very definition of hate.

Ah, he finally managed to think after a brief second that felt like an eternity, so this is how things are for him, eh…? Always so abrupt and unceremonious for hi-.

The monster struck.

In light of the trouble this human had given it, the monster was feeling a little petty. Thus, rather than kill Watts outright, it took a dark joy in stomping on his legs, crushing them like nothing.

Alas, the man's mind was so far gone that this just barely registered to him, it seemed like.

This didn't diminish the monster's glee all that much, but it did wish to get at least some sort of reaction out of Watts.

No matter, it wasn't done just yet.

Very lightly, it raised the same leg it'd used to stomp to now tap Watts in the chest. This simple gesture sent the man sprawling fully onto the ground, still completely defenseless.

Looking down upon him both literally and figuratively, the monster raised its right hand. Concentrating, magical power swelled within its fist before finally manifesting in the form of its knuckle spikes, which became superheated, to the point where said spikes actually glowed a fiery red.

Slowly, it reached down and poked Watts right in the chest, just where his 'heart' was at. The sheer heat of its spikes now easily sizzled through his flesh and sternum, cooking them like nothing. But it wasn't until the spike of its middle knuckle lightly tapped against that Eternal Motor of his that the man finally seemed to regain some genuine sense now.

Watts gasped as some semblance of thought now returned and he managed to crane his head just enough to see the spike stabbing into him.

"N-No…!" the man sputtered out in a weak voice. With what little strength he could muster, he raised his arms and tried to push back the monster's fist, but to absolutely no avail. All he succeeded in doing was cooking his own hands and forearms.

Skin and muscle cooked and turned to ash, bones creaking and breaking down from the heat and swiftly the man was rendered unable to even continue resisting in any form.

Letting out a harsh bark of laughter, the monster's glee grew immensely as Watts realized there was truly nothing he could do.

Even so, Watts squirmed about like a worm, trying to break free anyways. But it was clear from the man's expression that escape was no longer possible.

Especially as the monster dug its spike in just a bit more, slowly piercing the Eternal Motor itself. As that happened, Watts gasped and started to convulse as the perpetual cycle of energy within it was now disrupted. The cycle broken, the Eternal Motor and thus Watts rapidly began to lose power, energy and what the monster sensed to be Watts' very own warped soul spewing out. Looks like the effects of this Eternal Motor of his had really altered the man's soul after all.

How interesting… though not interesting enough to stop what it was doing.

It dug its spike in just a bit, the size of said spike now ruining the still struggling Eternal Motor some more, until the monster could feel its spike pierce through the device entirely and out through Watts' back and into the ground directly below.

This finally proved to be too much for the Eternal Motor and it ceased to function in its entirety… though not before what little energy had been left within it went haywire and exploded forth violently.

The monster took said explosion completely in stride. In comparison to the attacks Watts had unleashed earlier, which actually had done just a smidge of damage to it, this explosion was nothing more than a meager spark.

However, the explosion certainly hadn't been kind to the just barely alive Watts, whose ruined form was enveloped by it… and when the smoke died down just seconds later and the monster stood back, Watts' body was no more.

"…" The monster made a little sound that defied description, its emotions now an odd and complicated mixture.

Crushing this human, its former ally, had been quite pleasant indeed, especially after that little display of true and futile desperation just now. And yet… it just felt off.

More… it longed for more, more, moremoremoremoremoremoremore…!

Bristling as rage once again became its dominant emotion, the monster turned around, ready to head back to the front of the horde and lead it forth once more to Vale.

But only then did the monster become aware of just how unnaturally thick the clouds above were… as if a massive storm was about to ensue directly over its head.

And so caught up had it been in its own thoughts just now that now only did it register the presence of others above.

That was when two massive lightning bolts suddenly manifested from the sky before then merging into one. The monster's form was completely enveloped along with that of everything else within twenty meters of it.

It roared, shock and even a little pain rattling it. Its semblance may have been strengthened from its transformation, but in some other ways it had changed… and not for the better, it seemed.

The monster actually fell to its knees as the bolt dissipated a few seconds later, some crackling still going on even then whilst the forest around it had been reduced to ashes.

However, despite the massive hit it had just taken, it recovered quickly enough and as it started to stand again, it looked up-.

-Right into the eyes of its most hated nemesis.

Jaune Arc was here.

And said blond teen lashed out at the behemoth and all it knew in that following instance was pain.

Just as planned, their pilot had gone as high up as he could manage before they'd leapt out. They'd ended up being so high up in the air that from where they'd disembarked, the transformed Hazel had been little more than a large dot from their perspective.

But even then, that hadn't proved to be an issue. If anything, their long descent had given his two female companions plenty of time to concentrate, forming a storm that covered the sky for miles on end. And then, just as they'd gotten much closer to the ground, that had been when both Maidens had unleashed their combined attack, an attack that had brought Hazel to his knees, if only for a few seconds at most.

That had been all the time Jaune had needed to finally deliver his own opening moves.

In light of the information Raven and Qrow had provided him of Hazel's transformation, he'd instantly realized he'd need cutting power to get through the transformed man's thick and armored body. To this end, he'd chosen the water Dust blade and wind Dust blade.

During the entirety of his descent just now, he'd spent all that time charging up his moves and just as Hazel had looked up at him, he'd attacked.

Through the wind Dust blade, he'd concentrated the wind it provides into the finest possible point to enhance his blade's edge. With the water Dust blade, he'd ended up effectively generating an insanely high-pressured water cutter to also enhance the slicing properties of this blade.

His swings landed on target with all the strength he could muster in that instant, cutting into the top of Hazel's shoulders in an X-shaped formation. Alas, his transformed foe had managed to move back a little at the last possible moment and so his blades cut through part of his shoulders and then ran down his chest and part of his stomach.

Jaune inwardly grunted as he landed. Though his attack had clearly hurt Hazel a fair bit, the wounds hadn't been as deep as he'd been expecting. Could it be that Hazel's power now was even greater than what Raven and Qrow had spoken of? In any case, he certainly hadn't held back considering even the more aftereffect of his swings ended up slicing through a solid portion of the ground around them.

Hazel stumbled back and clutched a massive hand at his chest for a split second before then looking directly at him. In that instant of eye contact, Jaune could understand why the Branwen siblings would consider this man a full-blown monster – his appearance and demeanor… it was all just so drastically different.

But Jaune would honestly beg to differ – something in those changed eyes of Hazel's, he could see it… the man from before was still in there.

"JAUNE ARC!" Hazel bellowed out, his deep and distorted voice containing such fury and power that the mere wind pressure it generated would've blown back most others.

Jaune, however, remained unmoved and simply readied his blades again. He really wanted to talk, to at least say something… "But that's not going to happen now, is it…?" he murmured to himself before dashing towards his foe.

Sure enough, another bellow followed and Hazel charged right at him, forgoing whatever ranged options he had at his disposal for the pleasure of crushing him up close and personal.

However, in the man's clearly blind rage, he'd forgotten Jaune wasn't alone.

The storm above intensified and hail fell from the clouds above, peppering the ground with amazing force. A quick glance upwards showed Jaune that Amber was the one behind this, the young woman even going as far as to direct the strong winds in such a way as to ensure the hail primarily peppered and obstructed Hazel's path.

Meanwhile, Raven levitated in the air not too far away from Amber's position, the woman raising her blade high above her and clearly concentrating.

The hail got Hazel's attention and the monstrous man's gaze switched to the Maidens for just an instant – and the spike upon his back glowed ever so slightly too.

"-!" Jaune let out a sound as he put on a burst of speed, pushing himself past his limits and closing the distance between them instantly. With the water blade, he activated the Dust within via his aura, only unlike before, he only used it just enough to summon a large pool of water with a short swing of his blade. The water splashed forth before Hazel's feet just as the man started to run across it. Jaune immediately followed up with a powerful shoulder tackle. Combined with the puddle of water, this proved enough to make Hazel slip and go sailing back. This skewed his aim just enough for the lightning bolts generated from his back spikes in that moment to miss their targets by just a few feet.

Hazel obviously didn't appreciate this.

Just before Jaune could pull back enough to properly swing his blades, a burst of intense heat was unleashed from Hazel's body, instantly evaporating the spilled water and even scorching the ground immediately around them both. This ended up scorching Jaune's skin and hair too, making the former char and peel off while the latter caught fire a bit.

His eyeballs practically cooked and his blades became superhot, to the point where simply wielding them was burning his palms and fingers. But he merely grunted in discomfort and pushed on, swinging his wind Dust blade upwards. The attack caught Hazel along the bottom of his jaw, just barely drawing blood.

Hazel's response to this was a sudden punch that Jaune just barely saw coming but was still not fast enough to avoid. Lightning covered spiked knuckles slammed against his chest with tremendous force and blew him back. His sternum cracked as did his ribs. Those spikes probably stabbed some organs too, not that he could really tell at this very moment. In any case, he coughed and hacked a bit but stabbed a blade into the ground and forced himself to a halt.

Immediately after stopping, he swung his water Dust blade and unleashed a wave of high pressure water again at Hazel, but this time he proved too late as Hazel focused on the Maidens and attacked, shooting a massive beam of pure magical energy at them.

Fortunately, just before the man had done so, Raven had finished charging up whatever attack she had in mind and what followed was a clash between Hazel's beam and Raven's lightning and ice enhanced sword swing. In terms of pure power, Hazel had Raven beat, but his unfocused beam proved to be susceptible to Raven's highly focused and charged swing and the latter's attack cut through the beam just a split second later. Her attack reached forth and clipped Hazel hard on his right shoulder, smashing him into the ground.

That was when Amber decided to make her move too.

Coating her staff in some odd form of ice, she flung it at the man and it impacted right against the other shoulder. As her staff struck, an explosion of ice occurred, freezing the man entirely… or so it would seem.

It certainly didn't take a genius to realize Hazel had only been marginally slowed and Jaune made sure to let the others know. "Keep at it! Don't give him a chance to respond!" As he yelled that out, he switched out both of his blades in exchange for the gravity Dust blade and hard-light Dust blade.

With the first sword, he charged it up and fired a wave of condensed gravity at Hazel's location. Upon it striking the man who was already bursting out of the ice, Hazel ended up grunting in surprise as his personal gravity ended up heavily increased.

With the man slowed, Jaune concentrated aura into his other blade and fired a powerful, hyper concentrated beam of light that caught the man at an angle and blew him into the air. Immediately thereafter, Jaune performed a mighty leap and caught up with the airborne Hazel and proceeded to deliver a powerful kick that sent him crashing down.

Hazel slammed into the ground with such force that the entire area shook. Still in midair himself, Jaune prepared to attack again from a distance – only to end up slightly gasping.

Hazel was already back up, his powerful and monstrous form seemingly bursting with even more power now than before despite how short a time this fight had been going on for.

The man thrust out a fist – and the next thing Jaune knew, the spikes atop said fist suddenly shot out and impaled him right through the gut. This took the blond teen off guard considerably, just long enough for Hazel to then tug downwards and bring him crashing to the ground hard enough to make a small crater.

As if to compound this sudden absurdity, that had been when Amber had attacked Hazel again, unleashing a massive fireball upon the man… only for the man to physically reach out and grab it only to then toss it at the downed Jaune.

Through the following explosion, Jaune was vaguely aware of Amber crying out his name in shock, horror, and guilt even though she couldn't have seen such a thing coming. A pity he couldn't assure her that it wasn't her fault given that the blast ended up knocking him back a fair distance…

…Except those spikes were still in him. And now they were reeling him in.

Jaune swung a blade at the spikes and cut the bony 'cords' that bound them to Hazel and then swiftly got back up in time to see Hazel stomp the ground and unleash a spurt of magical power that traveled through said ground towards him.

Jaune leapt forward just before the magical power burst below the spot he'd just been in and proceeded to swing his hard-light Dust blade, once again using said Dust to unleash a beam of light that travelled right towards Hazel. However, the man had apparently predicted such an action, for he'd sidestepped just an instant before the teen had swung. Even so, this was a beam of light they were talking about here and so it ended up clipping the man somewhat on his side.

Inwardly, the teen grimaced. It'd been one thing to fight Hazel before since for all the man's battle prowess, his moves could eventually be read and thus predicted and avoided. But now the man had so many new options available to him that even when ignoring the power difference between them, this fight would still be an uphill struggle.

However…

"I'm not alone," he muttered as he charged forward, just as both Amber and Raven touched down nearby, the three of them forming a triangle formation around Hazel.

Yes, this was it, the teen thought as he ran right towards Hazel who was running right towards him too.

As Raven had said earlier on their flight here, sheer naked power was certainly a form of strength, one that Hazel had them all beaten at – at least for now in his case – but the three of them still had their own strengths here too that could turn the tide here.

For one thing, they had spirit and grit. For another, they've their own diverse skill sets, ones that could match up well with what Hazel can do… but more than that, they were here to support one another. Even if Raven, for all of her 'only the strong survive' mentality, may deem teamwork and trust to be useless things, they would always exist in one form or another.

And while she may not exactly trust him or Amber to do much of anything, it didn't change the fact she was here to provide support.

Such as now when she swung her blade at the ground, using her Maiden power to manipulate the cut earth to effectively elongate the chasm she'd formed. It extended all the way towards Hazel's path, clearly meant to make him fall into it and thus trap him.

The man had been much more alert this time around, though, and had just taken an extra long stride to cross over the widening chasm – but in doing so had left himself open to Amber's attack, the young woman using a combination of lightning and fire to form afterburners that shot her across the battlefield at insane speeds. She thrust her staff with all the strength and momentum she'd mustered right into Hazel's side, just a bit above the waist and right where there was a small gap in his armor-like skin.

Jaune then stepped in and thrust both blades outwards. With his ever-growing strength and speed, he was able to just barely stab through the man's 'skin' and bury both blades a few inches into Hazel's lower stomach, just above the crotch.

Hazel gasped from the surprise – only for said gasp to become considerably different in sound, indicating something coming. Alarm bells rang in Jaune's mind and he wisely backed off, pulling free his blades before he could even think to attempt anything else. Amber followed his lead and backed off too.

They did so in just the nick of time, for Hazel suddenly started to throw up lava of all things. At first, the lava just spilled forth to where he'd been standing, but then Hazel heaved hard and the lava spewed out several yards easily, forcing Jaune to dodge.

That was when Hazel ceased his puking and suddenly slammed a fist into the ground, generating a burst of lightning so powerful that the ground itself practically rippled and rumbled as if a massive earthquake had suddenly manifested.

The suddenness of this caused Jaune to lose his footing, as he'd just barely landed as the shaking had started. Amber fell for sure but Raven managed to levitate into the air at the last possible instant. Clearly looking annoyed, Raven readied her next move-.

-Only for Hazel to make his own move again. Leaning forward to better expose the spikes on his back, a multitude of magical beams were fired from them in all directions possible. This forced Raven to abandon her planned offense in favor of defense, the bandit leader hastily putting up some kind of thick barrier to block the beams that peppered her general direction. Even then, her barrier was swiftly cracking and she was left with no choice but to fly back and out of range.

As for himself and Amber, their fates were a bit more mixed. In Amber's case, because she'd completely fallen to the ground and Hazel was primarily firing from his back, she ended up avoiding being blasted to bits.

Jaune, however… he wasn't so lucky.

"…!" Even with his balance terribly disrupted, he wasted no time swinging his blades to cut through the beams heading his way. He succeeded in cutting down a few, but unfortunately the power each beam contained was still more than enough to send his unbalanced self spinning and thereby leaving him open for plenty of follow up ones.

Said magical beams impacted against his entire body, exploding upon contact. His clothes were, as usual, pretty much ruined as a result and he suffered no small number of injuries. Compared to the other attacks he'd taken so far, especially that punch, these beams weren't too bad and so he was mainly being bruised like hell.

But even so…

Grunting, Jaune forced himself to stand properly and spun around to where Hazel was.

Unfortunately, he did so just as two things occurred.

Firstly, Hazel had used this time to close the distance between them and was now bringing both massive fists down upon him.

And secondly… off in the near distance, it seemed as if the Grimm horde was now on the move again.

"…" Raven let out a gasp of genuine amazement.

Her brother was a lot of things, but Qrow was no liar or exaggerator. Even then, when he'd spoken of this Jaune brat's power, Raven had taken those words with a grain of salt at best. How could she not after all that's happened by that point?

And yet here she was, high up in the air and reassessing her own options whilst watching what was happening back on the ground.

That damned monster brought down both fists in a massive hammer strike, one that the teen managed to block at the last possible second by using both blades. It still sent him slamming into the ground with insane force, forming a massive crater and even knocking him onto his back… but the fact of the matter was that he was still alive and already getting back up.

In this very short time so far, he was already beaten and bloodied and injured all over, but Jaune Arc, who'd been doing most of the close up fighting against that fucking behemoth, was still in one piece and even holding his own.

Holy shit, Qrow really hadn't been lying at all when he'd said this kid was on the level of a Maiden. Just where had this blond been this whole time?

Well, wherever this kid was from, the monster sure didn't appreciate his resiliency one bit because it roared right in his face hard enough to uproot some nearby trees before swinging its arms at incredible speeds, trying to clearly pummel him into mulch.

As wild as the punches looked, there was no doubting the startling accuracy behind each one; any single one of those blows should've landed, should've struck their target… except they didn't, at least not entirely. Having switched out his blades, Jaune Arc had taken to narrowly deflecting each punch with some swings of his own blades, moving them towards the side or if failing that, twisting himself out of the way.

The missed strikes were tearing up the ground rapidly and dramatically, especially when the monster started to channel pure magical power through its blows, explosions erupting with every missed attack. Ash started to seep out of its body all over too and soon enough, the battle between the monster and the kid was completely enveloped by said ash, which proved to be so thick that not even the continuing shockwaves and explosions could disperse the cloud.

Some more roaring occurred and this grabbed Raven's attention. So caught up in observing the battle that she'd neglected one other very important thing – the Grimm horde.

The woman gritted her teeth fiercely. The horde was on the move now. Looks like that monster's roar just seconds ago had spurned them onwards. And now the horde was resuming its march towards Vale.

"Damn it…!" Raven muttered as she flew through the air, leaving behind the battle. As big of a deal as that monster is, the horde was even more so if only by sheer virtue of the fact that it's, you know, a horde.

In all honesty, she couldn't give less of a shit about Vale and its citizens… but though she'd never even dare to admit, images of certain individuals flashing through her mind gave her some extra motivation in moving a bit more quickly.

Plus, if Vale did fall and Salem got that much closer to accomplishing her goal, then sooner or later, the tribe would be screwed either way.

Raven closed the distance between her and the horde's general airspace quickly – and was forced to drop down a bit as a huge Nevermore tried to gulp her down. On top of that, as she flew downwards, some Griffons started to screech and head right for her.

Drawing her blade, she swung and unleashed a wave of concentrated air, having switched out its current blade for one made of wind Dust, backed just a bit by her Maiden power. Her swing cut through the Griffons instantly and continued onwards, slicing through a portion of the other airborne Grimm flying about.

All things considered, a rather impressive feat even for her… but nowhere near enough. As both a warrior and the Spring Maiden, she was a mighty individual, possessing more firepower than an artillery strike and by a significant degree at that too. Alas, at the end of the day, she was but one person and this horde was large even by horde standards. Her attack just now had done nothing more than give her some breathing room.

Sheathing her blade as she now flew back up, she brought out the lightning Dust blade and swung it upwards. Several lightning bolts shot straight up into the storm clouds she and that Amber bitch had made earlier. As said bolts interacted with the magically charged clouds, an interesting reaction occurred. Stimulated, thunder practically roared, drowning out the screeching avian Grimm… that was when the lightning started to descend.

Calling it a lightning storm may very well be an understatement, if only due to how many lightning strikes were now shooting towards the ground. Wherever it struck, Grimm would just die, be it Beowulves, Ursas, Deathstalker, or even Goliaths.

But it still wasn't enough, not even close.

Dropping low and flying towards the front, Raven switched out blades again, equipping the ice Dust blade for her sword. Charging it with magical power, she swung it at an angle and a wave of frost was let loose. It impacted the ground just before the very front of the horde and on contact, a wall of thick ice erupted upwards. Easily twenty or so feet high and several feet thick, it traveled for almost half a mile, effectively stopping the horde in its tracks. Combined with the lightning storm still ongoing and posing the most risk to the avian Grimm, the horde was currently stuck.

Raven lost some altitude, now huffing from fatigue. Though the magical power of a Maiden was something that seemed virtually limitless, using it required a great deal of effort. Though in theory it was something a Maiden can simply spam forever, in practice there were limits to what they could do. And the big and rather flashy and powerful ways she's been slinging this power around so far was proving quite draining.

"They better appreciate it," she muttered.

Unfortunately, despite her efforts, not even the power of a Maiden can do all that much.

Suddenly, the rank and file Grimm near the front parted and several Goliaths made their way forth. They actually charged towards the ice and smashed right through it, making full use of their ridiculous size and strength. Meanwhile, the parts of the horde closer to the ends of her ice wall merely started to circle around it and link back up with those that now rushed through the openings made by said Goliaths.

Cursing, Raven prepared to engage yet again – only for her instincts to set off alarm bells in her mind and practically force her to dodge.

Hastily, she flew towards her left and then upwards, just in time to avoid being struck by a ball of condensed lava that would've undoubtedly killed her. Hell, even with how close she still was to said lava ball, the heat from it was so intense that it was still painful to her, eliciting a loud hiss.

Looking down at where it'd come from, she noted the ash cloud around the monster and Jaune Arc had parted just slightly, allowing the former to glare right at her even all the way from over there.

She gaped again.

Unbelievable – that thing was still focusing on her?!

"…" A part of her felt it best to go back and lend assistance. If that behemoth was just going to continue doing shit like this, then it'd just be best to try their hands at beating it before going to take on the horde. But another part of her thought otherwise. Sure, with that Jaune kid's power, taking down that behemoth didn't seem like an impossibility anymore… but just how long would it take to actually do so? Could they really afford focusing entirely on that thing while neglecting the horde?

No, she highly doubted they could afford such a cost.

"…Just keep at it, you blond brat," Raven murmured.

Her choice made, she flew off as quickly as she could, eager to both once again slow down the horde and get the hell out of range of that monster.

Now more than ever, the bandit leader really hoped she wasn't making a bad choice here.

The monster roared for what had to be the umpteenth time. This was due to both a mixture of it trying to communicate with the horde and due to the sheer rage it held towards its current foe, its most hated and detestable opponent, Jaune Arc.

Having surrounded itself and the teen with this thick ash cloud, it'd sought to try and blind and gag the teen through the ash in addition to obscuring the aim of those other two, those Maidens who were serving as this insufferable teen's support in this battle. To some extent, it was succeeding, but not as much as it'd have liked.

Then, it'd sensed through its connection to the horde that it was being attacked by that airborne Maiden, which had prompted it to order the horde to speed up and take some evasive maneuvers. And when that ice wall had been formed, it'd been the monster who'd ordered the Goliaths to smash through it and for the smaller and quicker Grimm near its edges to just circle around it and regroup.

A pity that it hadn't been able to take down the Maiden itself just now, but at least now that foolish human woman would be wary of its attacks, even with how far away the two of them were from each other.

Alas, by taking its eyes off its true foe for just a split second, it'd left itself open to attack.

The monster howled as several lightning quick slashes cut it across its knees and calves – water and wind Dust blades, from what it could tell. Even with how tough it is, even with its enhanced semblance, the swings still managed to cut it slightly drawing some blood if only barely.

Angered even further than before, the monster proceeded to mentally change the composition of the ash before then generating just a single spark from one of its spikes. Said spark ended up igniting the ash, generating a massive explosion with it and its foe at the very epicenter of it.

The monster ended up being hurt by its own attack, but it was the price needed to be paid in order to further get at its most hated foe, that insufferable 'slave.'

The resulting explosion ended up knocking them both back and levelling the entire area. The ash had naturally been down away with thanks to the ignition and this afforded the monster a good look again at its target.

Said target, Jaune Arc, was still standing. Clearly hurt and injured all over… but that look in the teen's eyes… he was far from done just yet.

But it wasn't just simple willpower at work here either… there was something more to the teen's gaze, the monster realized. However, whatever that something is, it knew not – its ability to sense emotions was still restricted entirely to negativity, that being rage and hate and envy and despair. This… this was something else entirely.

…Could it be…? Did this so-called 'hero' not hate it? Not loathe it? Did this boy… did he perhaps feel some sort of pity towards him?!

At that thought, the monster growled and every spike on its body began to glow, its own power growing yet again in response to its increasing rage.

However, before it could even dwell upon what attack it should unleash next, it was interrupted.

The other Maiden suddenly threw herself into the fray, quite literally at that too. Just out of the blue, this Maiden, a young woman wielding a staff, charged at it from the side and delivered a swift swing of her weapon to the very side of its jaw. Charged with pure magical energy, the blow proved enough to knock its head to the side. But unlike before, where the strike to its waist had ended up digging into a sensitive spot, this strike hit nothing of the sort and thus caused the monster no discomfort.

Instead, all this attack accomplished was reminding it of the Maiden's existence.

The monster lashed out with a sudden backhand, catching the Maiden right in her side. She'd tried to block it with her staff and a small barrier, but its strength proved too much for her to handle and sent her flying.

That was when Jaune Arc gave chase after the girl, leaping up and catching her before she could go smashing into the ground. Upon catching said girl, the teen immediately dropped one of his blades and pulled out another one and swung it.

A wave of flames was unleashed and it washed over the monster in a split second, if that, the heat superheating its armor-like body. The monster was practically being cooked from inside its own body. What's more, the flames obscured its view, preventing it from just blindly lashing out. Granted, it could just unleash a wave of power or shoot out dozens of beams like it had earlier, but that takes a second or two to charge up, time it simply didn't have right now.

Sure enough, just as the flames passed by and it could see again, the first thing it saw was Jaune Arc leaping right at him, having picked up the blade he'd discarded in the instant before jumping, it seemed.

And the very tip of the fire Dust blade was coming right for its left eye.

The monster twisted at both its neck and waist, trying to avoid the stab… but it proved to be too late.

As the sword buried itself deeply into its eye, it howled in pain and flailed around for a moment before managing to shake the teen off, the blade being withdrawn too.

Through its one good eye, it glared fiercely at the blond, but confusion tinged its features.

Just how had he been able to do that? It was one thing to deliver some cuts here and there, but to stab out an entire eye?! Just how was that possible?

Should it not be as close to invincible now than it ever was before?!

What was even going on?!"

Jaune let out a quiet wheeze after being thrown off by Hazel and studied the damage he'd just inflicted. Considering that Hazel had been able to recover from the damage suffered during their last fight, it wouldn't surprise him if the man could still heal all the damage he'd been taking so far either. But that would require concentrating whatever magical energies he now wielded to accomplish, time that couldn't be afforded in the middle of a fight like this.

Right, time to up the ante a bit more.

Wielding his fire Dust blade and his water Dust blade, Jaune took just a half step forward, aura exploding from within him, more so than ever before. His power was growing as per the usual, the gap between him and Hazel shrinking, but only ever so slightly – it seemed that even now, Hazel's own power was still growing too.

How that could be possible, Jaune knew not, but it probably had to do with whatever had caused this transformation of Hazel's in the first place. In any case, this was going to be a battle of endurance, attrition. Either he will close the gap in power enough to strike Hazel down for good or Hazel will forever remain out of his reach.

But in any case… still would be best to whittle him down as much as possible.

He'd set Amber down nearby, just close enough for them to speak.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Still in one piece," she replied quietly as she slowly got back up, grunting as she clutched at her side. "Got any plans?"

"Give me just a quick second," he said. "Afterwards, we're going to fry him. Ready yourself."

As Amber nodded and started to channel some more magical power, Jaune readied himself as well.

Hazel was preparing an attack of his own, the spikes on his body beginning to jut out quite ominously. Considering what had happened before, he was probably about to actually fire them out of his body.

Well, he wasn't about to give the transformed man that chance.

He swung both of his blade, the fire and water Dust in each one activating. The combination gave rise to a huge generation of thick and insanely hot steam that covered the entire area around Hazel. It proved to be just enough to obscure the man's vision, but he was already about to move forward.

However, just before Hazel could even take a full step, Jaune switched out his water Dust blade for his lightning one and promptly charged it.

"Now!" he exclaimed as he fired a lightning slash towards the insanely thick steam. Amber immediately followed up with several lightning bolts of her own, using her own staff as a conduit.

The steam ended up being supercharged by the lightning and electrified Hazel, who was still deep within it. The man didn't roar like before, but some sounds of surprise were made and Jaune could just barely see that the man had been stopped in place as the lightning stopped him in place.

He'd gotten this idea somewhat from the ash field Hazel had made just a moment ago, though clearly modified of course. It certainly proved to be effective.

With the man now kept in place, Jaune sheathed both blades and now pulled out his gravity Dust blade and his ice Dust blade, charging them both as soon as he fully drew them out.

"Get the ground!" he told Amber as he rushed forth.

Against a foe as big and powerful as Hazel, it was especially important to capitalize on their speed and general mobility. Though the big man was plenty swift himself and had numerous attack options to counter speedier opponents, it was never wrong to keep such a behemoth as immobilized as possible to use the strongest and fastest moves they have with impunity.

Such was the point of the electrified steam and now the attacks to follow.

He heard Amber slam a palm onto the ground, making it open wide below Hazel. Just as it did so, Jaune swung his gravity Dust blade, activating the Dust within it to increase the gravity of his own blade in order to deliver an even heavier strike. As his own power grew, he found himself able to use more versatile techniques, which is why his usage of his Dust seems to have improved somewhat. He sure as hell was putting it to good use.

His swing cut into the falling Hazel's neck at an angle, the heavy strike practically smashing the man into the forming hole. Additionally, upon hitting him, Jaune transferred the increased gravity to Hazel to make him fall faster.

As soon as that was accomplished and the seemingly dazed Hazel hit the bottom of the pit Amber had created, Jaune now reversed his grip on his still charged ice Dust blade and stabbed into the side of said pit. Instantly, solid ice grew from the blade and filled the entire pit, trapping Hazel for good within it. But more than that, the sheer cold managed to spread throughout the entire area, so fierce was the cold that even the molecular bonds of the earth around the pit tightened up immensely, increasing its density and thus weight that much more.

This went for the ice as well too and as Jaune concentrated and pumped ever more power into it, the ice became that much more solid, that much durable. So great was the cold that even the blade itself was running the risk of breaking from the strain, even his own fingertips being coated in frost.

It was honestly a very painful cold, the chill seeping down into the very marrow of his bones, but he paid it no mind. Such a chill wouldn't stop him.

He did stop, however, when it seemed like Hazel wasn't moving any longer… but he wouldn't be fooled – that was nowhere near enough to defeat the man for good. At best, it'll keep him trapped long enough for him and Amber to unleash the absolute strongest attacks possible.

Backing up a bit, Jaune switched out his ice Dust blade for his hard-light Dust blade. Letting out a deep breath that he'd been holding, he took a stance and started to charge up both blades. As he did so, the chill that had just been assaulting his body disappeared. His aura capacity seemed to grow again and threatened to overwhelm his own existence, but he was doing his best to condense the excess as much as possible into his blades to avoid further damaging his own body lest his healing falter.

"Ready?" he asked Amber, who was now levitating in the air just above him.

The woman's eyes glowed fiercely and her staff was also levitating before her as it was being charged with the Maiden power. Amber looked quite exhausted. To be expected given just how recent her awakening from her coma had been. Even with her having spent the past few days recuperating and working off the figurative rust, it would take a hell of a lot longer than that to fully be back at her peak condition. But even so, as exhausted as she was, she shone beautifully like a star, the glow from her eyes just being that insanely bright.

Plus, she was concentrating pure magical power into a bright ball before her, with her staff at the very center of said ball.

With a tired, strained, but determined smile, she answered him. "You bet I am."

Smiling back, Jaune nodded. "Then let's do this."

Their respective attacks charged to the max, the two of them went onto the offensive. And just in the nick of time too – the ice was beginning to crack, the surrounding earth slowly trembling as Hazel was clearly starting to break free.

Amber was the first to launch her attack, all that power that she'd concentrated into her staff causing it to glow so bright that it was like looking at a solar flare. The staff shot forth at Mach speeds towards Hazel's location, piercing through the insanely thick ice in the process. It did so with a great deal of difficulty, her attack losing some speed as a result of the insane resistance the ice provided.

Even so, her staff reached Hazel's slowly moving form with time to spare, the power within it being unleashed directly through the weapon's tip. All that power was released in one concentrated burst and blasted Hazel right in his stomach further down into the earth, but at the expense of the immense power and the collision causing the staff to self-destruct in the process.

It was quite the loss, to be honest, Amber now being left weaponless… but it was a sacrifice Jaune intended to make the most of.

Something he's realized during this brief battle so far is that while Hazel's semblance had been strengthened considerably, allowing him to endure even stronger hits before his defenses can actually be pierced, it had come at quite a sad cost.

The thing about aura and semblances is that both were ultimately the extensions and manifestations of a person's soul respectively. The link between the soul and the body is what allows the former to be able to extend itself as aura to protect a person while a semblance manifests usually in a form that reflects a person's self. The catch, of course, is that this is only applicable to those who have souls, namely people and animals.

And Hazel… whatever he'd done to himself to end up this way, he was far less human than ever before. He may still retain aura and his semblance, but these things were now little more than facsimiles of their previous selves. Aura can eventually recover so long as one's soul remains intact and thus allow people to use their semblances, which runs on aura.

But now, for Hazel, though he still possessed a soul, it was now so warped that the unknown but intimate connection between his soul and physical self has been disturbed. Now when his aura depletes, it'll stay depleted, never to recover for it was now nothing more than mere remnants of his previous self. And once his aura runs out, his semblance of invincibility will cease to function too.

And after all the attacks they've been landing on him so far, his semblance should now be down for good. Which means…

"Let's see how you shrug this off," Jaune whispered in an almost sorrowful tone.

He then swung his blades, his immense aura activating the Dust within them. A torrent of light and gravity condensed into a single beam-like attack, travelling at the speed of light and warping the very fabric of space itself due to how intense the gravitational force of the attack is.

Had he tried this earlier, it would undoubtedly hurt Hazel, but the man's remaining aura and semblance would've negated at least some portion of the damage.

But now that his aura and semblance is likely down for good…

The beam shot down through the hole Amber's attack had left in its wake, travelling after Hazel's still tunneling form. And given just how fast said attack, it didn't take even a microsecond for it to cover the distance and connect with its target.

The combination of gravity and light interacted violently with the earth upon impact, the surrounding area practically rolling in a wave-like form before viciously breaking apart and collapsing inwards.

The destruction was immense, more so than even Jaune had anticipated and he had to frantically scramble back lest he fall into the forming chasm. He got only several feet back before Amber, still levitating, suddenly flew over to him and grabbed him by his forearm. She then wasted no time flying upwards and back several dozen meters.

"Thanks," he mumbled, noting Amber's straining expression.

"Ngh… no biggie…" the young woman replied before finally dropping him as exhaustion took her. Now it was his turn to hold onto her, catching her in a princess carry immediately upon him landing on the intact ground.

Setting her down gently a split second later, he surveyed the area before him.

Calling it a chasm honestly wouldn't do the destruction justice anymore. this was just a canyon now, albeit one on the smaller side of things.

"Wow…" Amber gasped out as she tried to get some rest. "Think that did him in?"

Before he could even think to reply, the Grimm horde could be heard roaring and screeching from relatively nearby… and it sounded like the horde had yet to be deterred despite Raven's actions and the fact that their 'commander' was now seemingly out of commission.

Even with how the Grimm are naturally like, there's no way they'd just keep on striding forth like that if they'd lost the one initially leading them.

Jaune grimaced. "…I'm afraid not."

As if to punctuate his point, the massive amount of rubble that now littered the bottom of the newly formed canyon began to shift… and an immense amount of power could literally be felt building up. A roar filled with pain and surging rage emanated from beneath the rubble too.

Amber was gapping as she forced herself to stand. "You have got to be kidding me."

Jaune stood up and stared as the mounting power reached its peak and the rubble there just ceased to be. Ash swiftly manifested from nothing and filled the canyon, just as a veritable wave of lava erupted forth from where the rubble had been too. Blasts of pure magical energy shot up into the sky and caused the clouds to darken even more and for thunder to become an almost constant sound now. Lightning soon followed and rained down relentlessly around the canyon, having explosive results as the strikes peppered the sides of the canyon walls and caused chunks of earth to fall into the still spewing lava below.

And from all this, Hazel emerged.

His form started out very hazy due to the ash and lava and lightning his very presence seemed to be generating. The transformed man now literally walked across the lava without any effect for a moment before then leaping up out of the canyon and onto the nearest intact part of land.

This caused the ash to clear, allowing Jaune and Amber to get a good look now at Hazel.

Just as the blond teen had predicted, it would seem Hazel's primary defenses have finally been broken for good. Before, where his and Amber's and Raven's attacks had left only marginal wounds, the man now sported a massive and smoldering wound in the dead center of his chest, where Jaune's attack had struck him at. The armor-like flesh there was hideously warped, no doubt due to the gravity Dust and looked like it had burst open, likely due to the hard-light Dust's properties. It clearly showed no signs of healing, thus why Jaune believed Hazel's aura and thus his semblance to no longer be in effect.

But the man still clearly had access to pure magical power and he made that fact known as his entire form seemed to glow now, highlighting every wound, both big and small, that he'd taken up to this point… and that power only seemed to be growing by the second.

Reality itself seemed to bend around Hazel's location, a sign that the man's power was now reaching the point where he was practically becoming something akin to a singularity.

"…" Jaune could only stare and make a sound of both amazement and pure sadness. To think this kind of thing was even possible at all, for any one person to be capable of growing this powerful regardless if it was achieved through natural or unnatural means… if nothing else, he had to commend the determination that had led to such an end result.

But more than that… he was just sad. With every passing minute, Hazel was losing what little humanity he had left.

To think that the man would throw everything that had once been himself away just for the sake of his goals…

…No, Jaune realized, I'm in no position to judge.

After all, prior to Beacon, just how willing had he been to do damn near whatever it took to accomplish his own goals? He may not have gone to anywhere near the sort of lengths Hazel or others would go to achieve what they wanted, but having been a 'slave' at the time, he'd been pretty much compelled to give up a lot of what had made him a normal human to save other others and eradicate evil. Hell, even after joining Beacon, he'd still indulged in such behavior for a time.

But now, though… he liked to think he's changed for the better. Of course, he still has plenty of room to grow as a person, but all things considered, he liked to think he was a far cry from how he was during his time on the frontier.

"…" Jaune sheathed his blades, leaving himself bare handed for the moment. Swiftly, he helped Amber fully stand up and then stood in front of her, all without ever taking his eyes off Hazel, who currently seemed occupied with assessing his own situation. "Amber… please, leave this to me."

He could feel her gaze fall onto him. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something? You want me to just leave you alone with… with that?!"

"His power's even greater now than it was just mere moments ago," he replied. "Though my own power has only grown too since the start of the fight, he still outstrips me… and that goes triply so for you, I'm sorry to say."

It was a hard thing to say, but it had to be said. Amber, for all her potential, was quite a squishy combatant in comparison to him, especially given her current condition. Even if she tried to stick to just functioning as a support for him, going forward from here, she'd be at a far, far higher risk of dying than ever before and needlessly so.

"And the horde… it doesn't seem like it'll be slowing down any time soon, even with Raven doing what she can to thin their numbers. I think it'd be best to go back her up instead," Jaune continued. "Better to try and halt the horde than to keep at this, I think."

Amber grimaced, clearly understanding his point.

The three of them had hoped to be able to subdue Hazel and then go to work on the horde, but given that Hazel was not only still standing but now even more powerful than before, it was as clear as day that dedicating most of their efforts to defeating him was going to only end up being futile. But at the same time, simply ignoring Hazel was no longer an option either now that they had his full attention.

They'd have to divide their efforts here and it was very apparent how that was to be done.

Amber gently slapped his back, showing that she understood the situation. But when she spoke, it was clear that she wasn't all that happy with how things were turning out. "…Try not to die, alright?"

"You got it. Now go – I'll cover you in case he tries anything," he replied gently.

Amber leapt into the air before beginning to outright fly off via the Maiden power. As she did so, Jaune leaned forward and took up a stance. His hands went to two of his blades and he gripped them firmly, ready to move if Hazel so much as twitched in the woman's general direction.

But nothing of the sort happened. Instead, Hazel, now done doing whatever he'd been doing, merely stood stock still and glared solely at him.

Jaune glared right on back, unperturbed by his foe's lack of response to Amber's departure.

If anything, he'd actually expected such a reaction.

"Yeah," Jaune murmured. "It's only natural that fools like us have to sort things out when we're alone."

Despite how far away Hazel is from him, despite not being able to have heard what he'd said, the man clearly felt the same, for the transformed behemoth actually nodded in an obvious sign of grudging agreement.

Hazel assumed a stance, bestial in nature… but there was no mistaking the telltale signs of Hazel's numerous years of experience and training in his posture either. It would seem that some wisps of his humanity still remained in some form.

This only caused Jaune further sadness, but he now brushed it off. The time for pity had long since passed.

Now it was time for the two of them to just settle the score, no matter how long it'll take. There would be no 'next time' for them.

In perfect unison, the two charged at one another.

As you can all see, quite the action-packed chapter this time around, heh. Hope it proved to be enjoyable. I also hope it did its job of setting the stage for Jaune and Hazel's final battle, which will only continue to escalate from here on out, because this is where the two of them start to really go crazy, just like the Slaves of Light from the Silverio VN series, which are infamous for off-the-chain battles and that is in no way an understatement. Seriously, guys like Christopher Valzelide (the primary influence for this version of Jaune) and Kagutsuchi and Helios are just absolutely bonkers.

And damn, didn't realize until now how long this chapter turned out to be. Goes to show that when you're enjoying what you're doing, time can really fly, ha ha. I'll do my best to keep future chapters from getting too absurdly long though – wouldn't want things to risk becoming stale.

Watts is dead too as you can all see. Hope it wasn't pushing the T rating of this fic too much... or that it came across as being too sudden or anything.

Ah, and I do also hope you've noticed that Jaune is the only one referring to Hazel as Hazel while everyone else, even the man himself, refers to him as the monster and other such synonyms. This is very much intentional.

Whelp, on that note, not much else to say really other than that I hope you all will continue to be safe out there and enjoy life the best you can. Keep on keeping on, everyone.

Until next time. Take care!