Having descended the ice slide, the duo of Summer and Hans were especially cautious of the individual in front of them.
Summer, having seen her daughter in her hands, made an attempt to leap at the man.
If not for Hans.
'Be careful, we don't know what he might do if we jump in recklessly.' Hans was concerned as well, but caution was due. Rage and recklessness were something he'd fallen victim to before.
Never again.
Summer attempted to use her semblance, but to no avail.
"I'm afraid that won't work. Salem informed me of you, so I came up with countermeasures to your semblance. Try as you might, you won't be able to swap with anything." Silence ensued before Hans dropped his coat.
"Go stall Salem. I'll deal with him." Summer was panicked, her daughter was in danger and she had no intention to leave.
But...
She needed to follow the plan. She could trust Hans.
A conflicted frown crossed her face as she turned.
"Please... save my daughter." And with that, she vanished. The bulky man would've sighed.
'What a cruel world. She's dead, isn't she?' The Knight smiled with misery.
"It pains me to do this to such a promising youth. But it's what my wife wishes." A slight twitch of his wrist and Hans rushed in immediately. But Ozma had already thrown her, Ruby's corpse sailing through the air.
Headed straight for the grimm pool.
And yet, right now, there's only one thing he could do.
"I'm afraid I can't have you doing that." As the captain was about to rush past and freeze the pool, Ozma had already planted his blade deep in the man's chest. Having cut Smoothly into his shoulder and into his original heart.
Hans felt lightheaded at such a deep wound.
"Oh dear, you're not-" Before the old hero could finish, the captain reached into his mouth, grabbing his philtrum and the roof of his mouth. With his immense strength, Hans threw the man over him with his right hand, slamming him brutally into the stone ground.
Standing up to full height, he stitched himself back together with the shadows inside his own body, his intricate knowledge of anatomy coming into play.
'He's good... better with a sword than I am.' Speaking of, said sword was currently still in his heart. Taking hold of it, he carefully pulled it out to not shift his heart too much.
A simple look at the blade told him it was mystical, trying to break it would do him no good. So he tossed it into his shadow.
"I must say, that was some extravagant strength." Even after such an unconventional yet brutish judo throw, Ozma was only bleeding a little. The blood running down the side of his face. "I don't think I've ever seen such a skilled fighter. You closed the distance, even after my strike, you remained calm and performed a throw using the roof of my mouth as the cornerstone of your grip."
"Your pain tolerance is commendable." Raising his staff up high, it shined brilliantly, encompassing a massive radius to create a red, incandescent barrier around them.
"But it will not save you. For it is just you and I here." Once again, Hans was on the aggressive, walking forward, just out of range of Ozma. His grip was ready, Hans could predict his next move.
One more step...
A blade appeared in the fallen icon's hand, swinging it horizontally. Yet Hans had already moved, ducking under the blade, he grabbed Ozma's collar and swept him off his feet. The singular moment he was midair, his other leg struck centre mass, quickly launching him to the barriers edge.
"Ah, with my options so split like this... I can't focus." Standing up, Ozma was far more dishevelled than his previous noble look.
More like a drunkard.
Yet he was still every bit as dangerous.
Tossing the staff aside, Ozma placed both hands on his magic blade. It was a simple red blade, a medieval longsword.
Hans couldn't help but slow his breathing. At this point in time, he needed to get as much energy as possible. Long deep breaths.
He still had to go help summer after this.
Tossing his gloves on, he stood with his hands at the ready. Prepared to deflect the blade of this world's first hero.
What a day this is.
Carefully, each of the warriors inched forward. And, once the two of them were at the very edge of each other's range, they stopped.
"What an anomaly you are. Your aura is entirely offensive, those gloves of yours are imbued with life force... a peculiar thing since that life force isn't even your own. But instead belongs to that other heart in your chest, and even stranger still, you possess the divinity of one of the brothers... are you a chimera?"
There were many things that he needed to question there, but those he could contemplate later.
Right now, there was only one thing he needed to focus on.
His opponent.
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Having broken in through the roof, Neo wandered the barren halls of the Evernight Castle.
She may have had Hans' physical abilities, but she had none of his senses. Hunting down the Owl wouldn't be easy.
But this room wasn't it. A massive double door, no doubt that this was the throne room.
And so I walked straight past it. That's not my job, that's Summer and Hans.
My job is to take out the owl.
I was excited, positively vibrant. How would I kill him? Maybe cut his head off? No... that's way too quick. Cut his limbs off? Possibly?
I should find him first, then I can decide on what to do.
Seems I'll just have to search each room until I find him. I'll just speed it up though.
The ground pulsed with a wave of pink and numerous duplicates of myself appeared. I look really good, don't I? I never really looked too much at myself when I put this on.
I just picked it out when I was going for a chat with Weiss.
I wonder how Hans thinks I look? I don't think he'd complement me though...
He's a bit... out of his comfort zone.
Well... let's go kill it.
My doppelgangers all split apart, running through the castle halls as they searched. It sure didn't take long for a beam to blast through a door.
Seems the search was over.
Casually, Umbrella in hand and hitting the tip against the ground for extra effect, I strolled around the corner and headed for the door. Peaking my head in, I grinned.
There he was! Ah... sweet revenge is close at-
I dodged another shot from the railgun.
Really? Is this all he has? I mean, they are dangerous... but a glance at his hands tells me straight where that shot is going...
This room smells strange... pulling out my little Mauser, I backed out of the room, firing in several shots. And it happened just as I thought. A massive explosion.
'The room was filled with gas. He was prepared to try and take...' the both of us...
He's still alive. His body is burnt and charred, well then... what to do? I'm taking that pistol. No offence to Hans, I completely adore that pistol.
But a railgun is just so cool!
Not only that, but the potential is amazing.
Get ready... We'll see how much you can take! Especially since you went and presented yourself like this for me!
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The two men were warriors, fighters without equal. Fighters who were unparalleled in their respective forms of combat.
Each of them stood at the zenith of their practice. As sword blows were deflected, Ozma started to notice something.
"You're getting better, aren't you?" Unable to respond, Hans launched a high kick, aiming to take off his head, using his right foot as a pivot. Ozma couldn't lean back in time, the sheer speed managing to slice his forehead from which a black liquid poured.
Not Pausing at the injury, Ozma immediately aimed for the one pillar of support, being his other leg.
"Such a strange fight. It's no surprise that one mistake could prove to be fatal for you. Yet I never expected a man who fought with his body could ever pose a threat to my life. I commend you, Warrior. Yet it feels as though you're not enjoying this?" Enjoy a fight?
The adrenaline pumping through his heart was the only thing making his heart pound so fast.
Kicking up a cloud of dust, Hans lunged with a straight punch.
Ozma swung his sword, aiming to slash his head in half. And it looked as though he was going to win, yet something unnatural occurred.
A blade of pure magical energy. Something of such pure energy cannot simply be blocked. It must be broken or deflected. And so, he did just that.
As the blade approached, Ozma noticed two things. First, the shifting of a fist to an eye jab. One that he clearly couldn't avoid. And secondly. The shattering of his magic blade.
At first, he was confused, but at a glimpse told him everything before he lost his sight.
"You bit the blade... with the shadows in your mouth..." Many would call that an insane gamble, yet that was par for the course for this warrior. His fingers dug clean through his eyes, stabbing cleanly into his mushy and wrinkly grimm brains.
Even a grimm couldn't survive that, his body fell back, slamming onto the ground. But that was operating off of normal logic. As much as a disgraceful act as it was, caution was necessary.
Raising his fist high, Hans punched once more. Splattering his fist, body and the floor with blood.
It was a disgraceful act. But he had to make sure.
Now came the issue. Ruby.
What... how... was he supposed to react? That girl was nice to him. She gave him a place to stay, even if brief. Did he ever repay her kindness? Sure, he baked for her, but that was a simple response of gratitude.
She seemed to dearly care for him, even Neo thought that considering her... proposal. That... was such a rash act in hindsight. He couldn't understand such a decision.
But, what even would be left of her corpse? The god of darkness himself said that nothing would be left.
All he can do, is just sift through it with darkness itself. But not right now unfortunately. In a blink, his shadow encompassed the entirety of the grimm pools, devouring them like ravenous hyenas.
And yet, in another blink, all that was left was empty lakes. Glancing back to Ozma, he briefly contemplated it.
No, he's hollow. There's nothing in there. Nothing to bring back. No more than puppetry. A hollow existence made from memories.
Yet that brought about many a question. But once again, now was not the time for questions. Their barracks had been taken, now the soldiers could do their jobs. Whereas he would go meet up with Summer and deal with the commander.
This war would end today.
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I gotta say, you boys lurk a lot. I genuinely want to receive criticism or at least input on something that might be better if I did something. Hell, you could even just say hi.
But, yknow, join the discord I guess.
See ya.