Well, first of all, I apologize for my absence. These past few weeks have been hectic for several reasons, one of them being falling ill. I ended up having a stomach issue (pretty severe, I might add) and had to go to the hospital and all. I took some medication, and I'm feeling better now.
During the time I was sick, I couldn't write at all. But when I started feeling better, the ideas from a week of doing absolutely nothing helped me rush through some chapters, which resulted in the creation of the second tier of my (P)(A)(T).
The first tier consists of 3 chapters, both from Devas' story and Hunter for 2 dollars.
The second tier has 7 chapters (3 from the first tier + 4). For now, they're only from Devas' story and 1 extra from Hunter's story, which I'll release as soon as possible.
Well, if anyone wants to support me or simply read extra chapters, that's possible on my (P)(A)(T).
If not, I still appreciate you reading my stories and being patient with the delay.
With that said, good night everyone, and happy reading!
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
PS: I'll return to posting at the normal pace, don't worry!
[...]---[...]
I didn't waste time with introductions; that could wait until we were in a better situation, not surrounded by Grimms causing chaos in this city... Vale, if I'm not mistaken, that was the name of this kingdom.
The moment I opened the hands created by the Bone Helm and released Ruby, her friends, and the other four whose names I didn't know, I didn't hesitate to run towards the guy with a scorpion tail.
At the same time, I commanded the eight hands to shred the Grimms around the eight behind me and threw as much debris as I could from the hole where the Grimms were emerging.
It wasn't a permanent solution, but it would do...
I appeared moments later in front of Tyrian and kicked him in the chest. Could I have used Houtengeki? Yes, but I had some reasons not to.
The first and foremost: I wanted to beat the guy up, no ifs or buts, it was simply that; I wanted to beat up this weird Joker-looking guy with a scorpion.
The second reason was something smaller, less useful, and almost dispensable... After all... he had been ordered by a "Queen of Grimm," hadn't he?...
I had no idea who or what the hell this queen was, and I wanted information. Tyrian would give me that information.
Dead men don't talk, not without some kind of necromancy spell that I didn't have on hand, so Tyrian would live... for now...
I wasn't Batman to let a complete psychopath who probably had a mountain of bodies in the closet live.
I wasn't the only one thinking that, as many members of (CHAT) advised me to extract information from the guy.
[AinzOoalGown]: I don't know how things are in other worlds, but having good information on hand is always useful, especially when you're in a totally new place with an unknown enemy lurking. (Emote of a skeleton researching information on the internet).
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: I'm not a saint, I won't say whether you should kill this guy or not... Actually, yes, kill this guy, he wanted to kill Ruby, screw him, but try to extract who this "queen" is before he dies (Emote of Iron Man on top of a coliseum with a thumbs down).
[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot]: I'm of the same opinion, get the information first, then we decide the rest, which in this case means the way this scorpion is going to die. (Emote of an old toad launching its tongue at a scorpion and devouring it).
[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: What is this? Did everyone press a button and change personalities?... But I'm in favor! (Emote of a generic guy cooking a scorpion on a skewer over a fire).
In Ainz's case, it was more of a cold analysis of the situation, something expected from him because of the emotion suppressor.
But for the others, it was pure resentment. The stream had been around for over six months; many members of (CHAT), especially (CHAT - FATE), interacted daily.
Bonds would inevitably form; this was even more true in Ruby's case, who was always friendly and helpful, answering any questions.
No one would speak up to spare Tyrian, even Dumbledore, who was against killing, had remained silent, not supporting but not trying to make me spare him.
This scorpion was doomed from the moment he accepted that order; the question now was when he would die, not if.
My kick sent Tyrian flying, not dead. I held back to make sure that wouldn't happen, but to my surprise, I felt something block my kick, which didn't directly collide with the man's chest.
"So, this is Aura..." Ruby and the others had described it to me, but having a description and seeing it firsthand was another story.
It was like a kind of force field covering the body, and, seeing it now up close, paying more attention, I could "feel" it too, even if faintly.
The sensation was vague, but I could probably tell who had aura and who didn't. Over time, maybe I could even tell the amount... Well, that was something for the future.
Before Tyrian shot away, I moved one of the eight hands to collide with him, the hand slapping him in the air directly to the ground, which shattered upon collision with the body.
He was still conscious, tough guy, or maybe not, since I didn't know how long the aura could hold. Taking hits like that could very well be something normal.
I approached the faun quickly, ready for another attack, but to my surprise, he had the reflex to react, or rather, his scorpion tail did, shooting towards my face.
I'm almost certain it was more of a reflex than anything else, as Tyrian didn't try to attack me in any other way, only the tail moved.
The tail was fast, faster than any Grimm I had seen so far; it moved like a whip and seemed to be as fast as one, nearing the speed of sound when it finished the "whip," the stinger stopping inches from my face, the appendage caught by one of the eight hands.
Did it require a bit more nightmare energy than I expected to hold the tail? Yes, but nothing that killing one or two Grimms wouldn't replenish.
Damn... What a marvelous piece of equipment!
I briefly looked at the venom dripping from the stinger inches from my face before pulling out Houtengeki, cutting the limb near the base, making the tail twitch briefly before becoming still.
I threw the tail into the inventory moments later. I'll figure out what to do with it later.
I'll give credit to the tail-less scorpion; he didn't even react to the loss of the limb. Did this guy not feel pain or something?...
I didn't waste time and stepped on his back, cracking the ground around us even more and making a snap echo through the surroundings when the aura around his body gave way instead of the spine... A shame.
Still, I could see that he had his eyes open, even if just a few, and for some reason, he still kept staring at me with a somewhat fanatical look...
Was this information really necessary?...
Unfortunately, it was, so I didn't smash Tyrian's head into the ground but rather into a cloth soaked with chloroform, which took effect almost instantly, sending him into the realm of dreams.
Curious... Either his Aura had truly broken and didn't protect him, or the Aura didn't work with gases... Something to test later...
With a thought, the faun's wrists and ankles were handcuffed, and his body wrapped in the chains that held the Mother Slime.
Obviously, I wouldn't leave his body here; it was asking for him to wake up and somehow escape, and so I wouldn't have to carry the guy on my shoulder, I commanded one of the eight hands to hold him in the air.
It was good that I could regulate the size of the hands up to a certain limit; I'll see if I can fly on them later...
With Tyrian out of commission, the stream emitted a "Ping" in the mission section. Well, it looks like the first part was completed.
I ignored the "Ping" and jumped out of the crater I had created with the two attacks and returned to where the girls and the other four were... Or at least tried, as the giant Grimm snake attacked me the moment I jumped out.
It had been the only Grimm to move since I arrived, the others paralyzed like the hallucinations in Terraria.
This time, I didn't use the hands to defend myself but rather Houtengeki, which I held with both hands.
'Sun Breathing (Devas Style) - First form: Solar Flare.'
The collision of the serpent's head, which failed to bite me, and Houtengeki created a shockwave that blew away the dust from the surroundings.
Inertia threw me back to the ground without any damage. I didn't even need to bend my knees to absorb the impact.
The Grimm snake, on the other hand, was thrown away, colliding with the nearest building that was already partially destroyed and empty, I checked on the Minimap to make sure.
Even before the Grimm's body fell, affected by gravity, I kicked the ground, not holding back this time, as I had with Tyrian, and flew towards the snake.
I noticed that the Grimm hadn't come out unscathed from the deadlock, the mask on its face cracked with dozens of fissures, all originating from where I attacked... From where I attacked again.
'Sun Breathing (Devas Style) - First form: Solar Flare.'
I repeated my attack, destroying the Grimm's head, along with the already ruined building behind it.
I ignored the body turning into smoke and turned around, walking back to the others. I already had some Grimm bodies in the inventory; unlike the hallucinations, they were more "physical," even if that didn't continue after their death.
I'll see what I can do with him later and if I can prevent them from turning into smoke. For now, let's proceed with the "real" introductions, after all, things had calmed down.
("Introductions?! Am I finally going to meet the other voices in your head?!" Lucy "said" excitedly.
I kept walking without reacting; Lucy talked a lot. I was already used to her commenting randomly.
("Yes, but later.") I sent my thoughts to her, and she "nodded" and fell silent.
I had gotten used to her talking, but these mental "nods" were still really weird... She didn't even have a head to nod with!
Ruby and the girls, along with the other four, practically pierced me with the intensity of their gazes.
Some with different emotions than others, surprise, awe, joy, happiness, and even fear, the latter from the four whose names I didn't know.
I paid attention to everyone's appearance as I walked, just as they looked at me; I looked back at them.
Ruby and the others were easy to figure out who was who; besides having described themselves in the (CHAT), for some reason, they wore clothes in the color of their names.
Ruby was what I expected from her. She was the shortest of the four, had black hair with red streaks, and wore a black dress with red details and embroidery, along with a hooded cape, also in red.
She also wore dark brown stockings that covered her legs and combat boots on her feet.
I ignored the part of my brain that screamed horrified that fighting in a skirt wasn't the best choice and focused on the part of Ruby that caught my attention the most: her eyes.
I had seen gray-colored eyes before, both on Earth and in Terraria, but Ruby's eyes weren't just gray or "steel" colored, but a pure silver color that almost glowed with joy as they stared at me.
They also pulsed with a faint mana, something that no one else here seemed to have except Ruby. Well, at least among the living beings.
Before I could look at another person or even introduce myself, I turned my head away, towards the city, where hundreds of red dots were approaching.
They weren't Grimm, I knew, as I could see the "Jet helicopters" flying in the distance.
An army, judging by the way they shot at the Grimm from afar, came to contain this invasion; now, why they were red on the Minimap, I didn't know...
I hadn't been in this world for even ten minutes, and there was already an army coming to attack me?... This must be some kind of record...
One of these red dots, in particular, was running quickly in my direction, closer than all the others.
The moment this specific red dot turned the corner, two things happened: first, I had a glimpse of what, or rather, who this red dot was.
The tallest woman I had ever seen in my life, damn it, she must have been about two meters tall, blonde, and used a whip.
Was she the wet dream of a masochist who took shape or something?... When I felt my entire body freeze, held by some kind of telekinesis, I was tempted to say yes to that answer.
I admit I may have reacted with more violence than necessary, but the moment I felt something holding my body from all sides, I exploded my mana, along with my nightmare energy and spiritual energy throughout my body.
At the same time, I tensed all my muscles and used as much strength as I could to break free from this telekinesis, which had worked, as the aura around me exploded away, shattering into millions of pieces.
The dominatrix with the whip staggered, bringing her hand to her forehead; this seemed to be enough for the soldiers in the "Jet helicopters" to start firing in my direction.
I felt like cursing, not because I had been in this world for less than ten minutes and was being attacked by an army but because I wasn't the only one in the line of fire.
In addition to Ruby, her team, and the other four, who were probably also Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, clearly allies of these bastards, behind us, sheltered in the buildings, dozens of civilians were!
I couldn't help myself and pulled all the bullets into the VoidBag, and to my surprise, the bullets resisted!
Not enough to give me a headache or not go into my inventory, but it was a surprise. The only projectiles that had this kind of "resistance" had been the ice shards that Deerclops himself threw at me.
I knew that Dust was some kind of mana powder, but that it would have this effect, even on bullets, was a surprise. This only increased my desire to acquire at least dozens of tons of this stuff even more.
The first ten seconds of gunfire were fast, but when I realized that they didn't seem to intend to stop, even when their bullets seemed to have no effect, I started to worry.
I was at a disadvantage here, and I could see other red dots coming in my direction, these running at the same speed as the dominatrix, who had already recovered from the breaking of her telekinesis.
Damn, things are going to get really bad, aren't they?...
I sighed, pulling Houtengeki from the inventory, preparing for the fight that was coming, but I was prevented from even taking a simple step after that.
Thanks to the dominatrix's telekinesis? No, but thanks to the human bullet that collided with the side of my body, namely Ruby.
"No! No fights! We're allies!" She shouted, for both me and the army to hear, which obviously they didn't, as these idiots were still wasting ammunition.
I'll melt all these bullets and make a middle finger statue and throw it at these guys' headquarters...
And why did I feel like Ruby's shout was more for me than for the soldiers?...
At least Ruby's appearance had been enough to draw the dominatrix's attention, who finally saw that I wasn't the only target of the bullets and growled, freezing the bullets with telekinesis before they entered my inventory.
"STOP SHOOTING, YOU IMBECILES! CAN'T YOU SEE THERE ARE STUDENTS AND CIVILIANS HERE!?" the dominatrix shouted.
Whether it was because of the shout or because the soldiers finally ran out of bullets, I couldn't say, but they had stopped shooting, leaving the surroundings silent.
That is, before the dominatrix shouted again.
"RUBY ROSE, GET AWAY FROM THAT THING NOW!" Thing? Damn, is it the Bone Helm or something? I wasn't that ugly...
"NO!" Ruby shouted back, still clinging to me like a koala. "HE'S AN ALLY! NO FIGHTING!" She repeated.
Before I could speak, or the dominatrix tried to restrain me with her telekinesis again, as she seemed ready for it, cracking the whip, the other red points arrived.
There were about ten of them, but the only one I paid attention to was the yellow dot among them, the only yellow dot among them.
"Glynda, calm down, why don't we let our guest speak?" The man representing the only yellow point spoke, preventing the dominatrix and the others from attacking me.
He was an older man, I'd guess in his fifties, but the white hair looked natural, rather than something from old age.
He was tall too, probably reaching two meters, just like the dominatrix, and had an air of wisdom around him.
I ignored all of this, paying attention to the two things that caught my attention about the man.
The first was the mana emanating from him and the cane he had. The mana emanating from his body was weak, almost like something worn out, very old... Very old indeed...
The mana inside the cane seemed to be of the same age but larger; the amount of mana in that thing could probably blow up the block just with brute power...
But what really made me pay attention to the man was that deep down, really deep down, I could feel something beyond mana in his body... Divinity.
It wasn't much, but it was enough for me to notice that it existed...
Funny, I thought I'd react hostilely when encountering something with divinity that was alive, unlike Aqua's hair, but no, I was indifferent...
The man wasn't a god, if he was, he was a near-dead one, on the verge of not even being considered a god anymore.
Probably not a demigod either; the amount of divinity practically excluded these two options.
Was it a blessing? Gods were known to give these things to their favorites... Or a curse? Probably one of the two, which one I didn't know.
I'll try to find out later, for now, let's see if I can resolve this situation without needing a fight...
[...]
POV: Ozpin.
"I don't have time for your games, Ozpin. Do you want to let that thing speak?!" Glynda growled in a low voice. "Can't you feel the amount of malice emanating from that creature?"
"Of course I can." Just as I could feel the immense amount of mana the man had.
I almost had a heart attack thinking it was "Her" who had come to Vale; to my relief, it wasn't.
How he had magic, I didn't know, but just the fact that he wasn't "Her" already relieved me.
"I'll agree with Professor Goodwitch, Professor Ozpin, I don't even think that thing can speak." The leader of Team CFVY spoke, approaching.
I could see the fear in her eyes, in everyone's eyes, including Glynda.
The aura that man emitted was immense, more than an entire army of Grimm; this, along with the mana he exuded, must have been enough for me to signal everyone to attack him before he did something.
But I couldn't do that, for a few reasons.
The first was that he was too close to Team RWBY and Team JNPR, even if I thought he wasn't an enemy, it still wasn't something I could risk.
The second was what really stopped me, as unlike the others, I had a greater sensitivity to Grimm, years of experience gave me that ability... Many years of experience...
Thanks to that, I could feel that it wasn't the man emanating that aura, but rather the mask he wore on his head.
I didn't know how, but that deer mask seemed to have the ability to absorb the malice of Grimm, and by the huge black hand that I could see holding what seemed to be a chained body, that wasn't its only ability.
Miss Rose might be someone kind, almost naive, but she wasn't foolish; she wouldn't be embracing and defending someone wicked and cruel, her eyes would have burned or turned into stone long ago if that were the case, especially after she awakened them.
These three reasons, along with the fact that the man hadn't retaliated even when attacked twice, and he had killed some Grimm himself, from what I could see from afar, made me bet that he wasn't an enemy...
"Pleasure to meet you, I am Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon." I introduced myself, taking a step forward and placing my cane in front of my body.
... But rather someone who could be an ally...
I could practically feel the tension emanating in the air when the man took a step forward, ignoring the weight of Miss Rose hanging on his back along with that of his scythe.
I swear, if any of James's soldiers fires a bullet, I'll personally kick them all out...
The man looked at me for a moment, as if looking at something beyond me, and then responded.
"My name is Devas." The surprise of everyone around me when the man spoke almost made me laugh. "Nice to meet you, Ozpin." Devas, the man, nodded slightly in greeting.
His voice was an echo from beneath the mask, but I'd guess he was young.
"Pleasure to meet you, Devas." I responded with an equal greeting. "First of all, could you do something about the aura your mask is emitting?" I asked, pointing to the deer mask on his face.
Devas froze, his movements stopping for a moment before he sighed, the mask on his face disappearing. A storage Semblance, perhaps?...
The moment the mask vanished, the entire horrible feeling weighing on the surroundings disappeared as well. I could see and hear everyone around sighing in relief, including everyone except the leader of Team JNPR.
At the same time, the body that the black hand was holding fell to the ground, drawing the attention of some people; curiously, the entire Team RWBY seemed indifferent to it... Whose body was that?
"Sorry about that..." Devas scratched his neck; I could even say he looked embarrassed. "I didn't think the Bone Helm would have that effect on others." He seemed sincere.
The contrast was striking. Before, he exuded malice, so much that he seemed more like an army of Grimm than a person. Now, he seemed only like a gentle twenty-year-old with a certain warm aura.
Of course, I wasn't foolish or blind enough not to see how he moved, walked, and looked at me as if analyzing me.
He might be young, but his eyes said otherwise, even calm, I could tell those were the eyes of a warrior, someone who had fought on battlefields and killed... Not just Grimm.
Almost every professional Huntsman or Huntress had one or two deaths on their record; unfortunately, it was part of our profession. Thieves, traitors, and deserters were more common than I would like.
So I wasn't too surprised, and I wouldn't judge him without knowing what he had been through, but seeing those eyes on someone so young was something that, as old as I was, I hoped never to get used to...
Because the moment I got used to it, I knew I would fall even lower than I already had...
"May I suggest we move to another location?" I asked. "A more private place to have a conversation?" I didn't want to ask the questions I was going to ask with so many people listening.
Devas hesitated but eventually agreed after Miss Rose whispered something I couldn't hear.
"Lead the way, just ask your soldiers and the dominatrix not to attack me." I almost stumbled when he called Glynda a dominatrix.
The way he had a blank face while saying that only made the situation funnier. Glynda was lucky Qrow wasn't here, even though he'd probably find out about it later.
"They're not my soldiers, but they won't attack." James wasn't here to order them, but I would make sure they didn't mess up anymore... "And I assure you, my dear assistant, Glynda, won't attack you either."
Glynda didn't respond, her face split between anger and shock.
Shock, probably because the "thing" was a seemingly ordinary and calm young man, and anger because this same young man had called her a dominatrix.
With my assurance, Devas began to walk, leaving part of the Atlesian soldiers tense but not reacting.
"Shall we walk? Or take these... " Devas stopped walking. Miss Rose whispered something in his ear before he continued and finished the question. "Bullheads?" He asked.
I could hear him muttering, "What a ridiculous name..." But maybe that was my imagination.
"Let's take a Bullhead to get to Beacon faster." As much as I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, I still knew nothing about the man.
Taking him to a place surrounded by Huntresses and Huntsmen and Atlesian airships was the best option if he tried something. I also called Qrow, who should be flying to Beacon right now.
I'll need to ask why he seemed so familiar with Miss Rose, with Team RWBY in general. Did he know them before? Or did they know him?
"As I said, lead the way." Devas pointed with his chin, starting to walk again.
The short walk to the Bullhead was tense, but Miss Rose's sister managed to lighten the mood with a few words.
"You know, I didn't think you were so assertive, sis." The way Miss Rose blushed and disappeared from Devas's back with an explosion of rose petals seemed enough to calm everyone's nerves a bit.
Devas's next words seemed to be enough to finish the job that Miss Yang had done.
"Just a heads up, I won't return the bullets; they were thrown at me, now they're mine." The laughter that echoed from some people was the signal for the Bull Head to take off.
[...]
POV: Devas Asura.
The trip on this... Bull Head was silent... What a shitty name.
I could see that Ruby and the others wanted to talk, ask questions; even the others on board wanted to, but no one seemed to have the courage to take the first step.
I could do it, but I ended up preferring to stay silent, organizing my thoughts.
Finding out that the Bone Helm absorbed not only the malice of Grimm but seemed to exhale it was quite a piece of news.
I hadn't even noticed this fact; it seems I had developed a certain immunity to it thanks to the nightmare energy.
Finding out that this world also had a version of Dumbledore was a bit funny, as much as it was worrying.
Old men who kept secrets and spoke in riddles almost never told the whole truth; I'll need to stay alert.
Even more so since I was heading to probably the most fortified place in this realm, a school where all the students were warriors, the teachers too, and it was surrounded by dozens of ships and an army.
Will Ruby forgive me if I have to fight my way out of her school?... Well, I hope that won't be necessary.
One thing I also had doubts about was why those three still remained as red dots on the Minimap.
After the short conversation I had with Ozpin, all the soldiers changed to the yellow color, not all at once, but little by little until they all turned yellow, the same happened with the dominatrix... Glynda, and with the other students.
I doubted they trusted me, but at least they didn't treat me like a damn "Destroy on sight."
Damn soldiers...
Even so, those three still remained as red dots, which was strange, as they seemed to be Beacon students as well, or at least from another nearby school since they wore school uniforms...
I'll ask for the names of those three later... This was suspicious... Especially since the woman who seemed to be the leader of the three also had mana...
"Ah!" Ruby exclaimed beside me, interrupting my thoughts. "Torchwick escaped!" I blinked confused...
Who the hell was Torchwick?.
[...]
Well, Devas in Remnant has few adversaries who can stand against him, even fewer in a fight to the death. I won't say who, but they're not many...
Tyrian was captured (Ruby is beloved by the CHAT).
Misunderstandings occurred, no one died (yet), and there are some really tall people in Remnant; Glynda is basically the wet dream of a guy who likes to be beaten by a woman.
About Ozpin, it's easy to figure out where the Divinity that comes from him is, but I'll leave it a mystery here in case someone hasn't seen RWBY.
Well, finally, don't worry, the "introductions" and reactions to Devas will happen, but in the middle of that situation, it would be kind of strange if it did, but it will happen (probably not in the next chapter).
As for the next chapter, it will focus on conversations, interrogations, both from Devas being interrogated and doing the interrogating because he won't just sit and accept being interrogated.
I've written too much here already, as always, good night everyone and happy reading!