Chapter 19

"We should have just done this from the start." Cinder smirked, looking at the guards protecting one of the most important buildings in Vale.

Or, rather, what remained of the guards.

A hellscape remained around the needle in the sky.

"No matter who you are or what you are, Remnant will fall." Cinder said.

And with a last, flaming fist, the tower was crushed. A gout of fire was directed towards a generator exposed by Cinder's emanance of heat and metal melting temperatures. Emerald's aura flared in the very presence of the heat.

Emerald finally put down the scroll, the stream finally showing that there was no signal.

Since Emerald had let Watts hack the CCT tower, no government could forcibly shut their stream down even after Cinder went with Mercury to show the devastation that Vale had sustained from a mysterious battle.

Panic was spreading. Cinder's grimm arm could feel it. The black, spongy parasite hidden within her palm was pulsing, yearning to feast on the negativity. It was awake, more awake than ever before.

In its nature, it was grimm.

Cinder supposed that it would be acceptable to let its urges for violence run wild.

She leapt off the building and onto the streets. From behind a wrecked building, one guard took aim and shot a stream of bullets at her. It pinged off her aura harmlessly.

"Insects." she bemused, sending a gout of flame at the guard.

All around her, a fire burned. Just like the hotel and the corpses of her stepmother's family that she had left behind.

Now, how would Ironwood react to Vale crumbling so easily?

…

"All specialists, move into vale! Technicians! technicians!

Ironwood watched as his communications cut out. Kojiro looked irritated as his replacement radio stopped working. The stream of Mistralian music, from a Mistralian radio station, had also been cut off.

"Damn!" Ironwood shouted. "The CCT tower's been destroyed."

"That easily?" Kojiro said, raising an eyebrow.

"It turns out that Vale leaves one of the most important buildings almost unguarded by professional huntsmen." Ironwood scoffed. "We shall have to take matters into our own hands."

Ironwood shut off his scroll, taking out a walkie talkie instead.

"Sometimes, we have to rely on real technology. Not whatever those engineers think up… Seriously… Four interlinked systems that all go down when one is destroyed… I respect what they've achieved on a technical level, but it's just ridiculous."

Winter looked exasperated, despite the situation.

"This is Polearm to the Dauntless. Radio in the technician team to return to base. What? You've lost contact?"

There was some indistinct radio chatter. Ironwood sat up, before grasping the walkie talkie with renewed intensity, the black plastic cracking under metallic fingers.

"What do you mean you've lost contact?"

"Does this mean that the dragon is free?" Kojiro said, a morbidly excited tone in his voice.

The whole room froze. Winter dropped the teacup she was holding and let out a strangled shriek. Neo dropped the pair of heels she was considering wearing after her last pair had been destroyed. They clattered on the floors, making another dent in the now bruised and battered tea parlor.

"Well, we must be off." Kojiro said. "Come on, Neo."

"You would just run away?" Winter shouted, scandalized, looking at the robed man with an incredulous look on her face.

Neo looked at her available selection of footwear and put on a pair of combat boots before following Kojiro to the truck. The large vehicle drove away, making a sharp ninety degree turn at a crossroads, and headed towards the walls of the town.

"Sir. This is unbelievable." Winter said. "As one of the most prominent huntsmen in Vale, Sasaki Kojiro chooses to run away?"

"No." Ironwood said. "He's running towards the dragon."

"Running… towards… it?" Winter said. "But shouldn't the technicians already have the mountain contained?"

"We haven't contained anything." Ironwood said. "We have merely delayed it. You and I should know the limits that hardlight dust has."

"So… sir, what should we do?"

"We should hold no faith in Kojiro's suicide mission, and while he's delaying the dragon as well… The airships will carpet bomb the area."

There was only silence in the tea parlor. Winter looked at the empty sword rack on an altar in the center of the most prominent wall, the dusty cash register, and the broken stairs that lead up to the living quarters of who was possibly the most popular unofficial huntsman on Remnant.

This man would be wiped from history today by the song of cannons.

Doing so felt scummy. Winter hadn't known the eccentric man for very long, but it still pained her agree with such an action.

"General…" she said, before hesitating.

Was one man or one city more important?

Undoubtedly, the answer was the second.

…

Kojiro turned on the radio in his truck. There was only static on his usual music channel. He changed the channel once more. There was still only static.

Neo looked at the knob and sighed silently.

"We're going to fight the dragon, Neo." Kojiro said. "If you want to run away, you can do so."

Neo shook her head, determined.

"This will be something unlike anything we've ever faced. A dragon is a totally different beast. In my experience, they have nearly impenetrable scales. Regeneration. Fire attacks that can sear a whole town and bring even the mightiest heroes to their knees."

Despite the nonsensical statements that implied the fact that Kojiro had faced a dragon before, Neo still resolutely nodded her head.

"Alright, then." Kojrio said, smiling softly. "We'll face the dragon, the three of us together."

Neo began to count in her head. One was Kojiro. Number two was her. And three…

Was number three the temple or the truck?

…

Within the hardlight barrier, the dragon roared.

Outside of the blue, quivering shell, the scientists ran for the bullheads, tripping over the roots and pebbles on the impromptu dirt road that they had created in the brief few days that they were working here.

"It's not going to hold!"

"Squad Gray, go reinforce the systems on the west side!" one man shouted, still resolutely standing at the shoddily built control terminal.

"Sir? We have to run! When it gets free, we'll all be dead!"

"There's no escape for us." the commanding officer sighed, looking at the skies. Up there, dark shadows flitted about, attacking the bullheads that had already taken flight.

"Huntsman… I may not know your name, but I need you to do something."

"W-what is it, sir?"

"Go tell the bullheads on the ground to stop taking flight."

The dragon roared. The grimm herds surrounding the scientists closed in on the sounds of sadness, determination, anger, and humming machinery.

The commanding scientist got a megaphone from a nearby table, before flipping the switch and beginning to talk.

"Comrades." his voice blared. The panicking scientists trying to board the bullheads suddenly stalled, listening to the distant speech.

"There is no doubt that we'll all die here. Even if we fly into the air on these bullheads, we'll all die to the nevermore circling us. But, if we stay here, every minute that we keep the barrier up can buy Vale more time to prepare. Every minute could save thousands of lives."

There was a brief pause, before sniffles echoed out from the megaphone.

"I'm sorry… We're all Atlesian, and we'll die on this foreign land. Our families will receive that compensation check and hopefully will be able to continue on. But this is really the best option we have. I'm not a good motivational speaker, but we should at least die usefully. Thank you all, my brothers. It's been good serving with you."

The megaphone switched off.

Thirty minutes later, the dust storage exploded. The generators broke down. The barrier shattered into blue, crystal shards. The commanding officer slumped over, back torn open by a beowulf claw.

And there was absolute silence inside the former facility. Not a single soul breathed, or could breath, after this catastrophe. Carrying the last words of about a half of the staff on the back of a map, a bruised and battered huntsman sprinted out of the camp.

The flapping of wings and the footsteps of countless demons, however, was deafening.

That paper would be found stuck in the mud. The bones of a severed arm would be found right next to it.

…

Ruby and Yang stood before the imposing white walls that lined the borders of Vale. Her scythe quivered in her hands slightly. Yang Xiao Long, for once, wasn't wearing a smile.

Atlesian specialists chose that moment to file into the ranks of the waiting huntsmen. With gray and professional uniforms, their stalwart backs made the trainee huntsmen feel slightly better.

"To think that such a catastrophe would occur on my first week in Vale…" a white haired girl muttered, rapier in hand.

"It's the invincible girl!" somebody shouted from within the crowd. "She's here! She's… here… to…"

The familiar face of Pyrrha Nikos walked into the lines of huntsmen, and for once, not smothered in paparazzi. Her signature smile wasn't on her face, and she held an expression as grim as any.

"It's within three kilometers! Prepare to fire the cannons!" somebody on the wall shouted. There was a unified and loud 'yes, sir' shouted from the top of the wall, before members of the Vale defense force began to march along the wall.

"Where's Uncle Kojiro?" Ruby whispered.

"I dunno." Yang said uneasily.

A bird flew in from overhead and landed before Ozpin, before transforming into Qrow Branwen.

"Still no sign of him." Qrow spat out the words, panting from exhaustion.

"Keep looking." Ozpin ordered curtly. Qrow nodded, before jumping out of the window that Ozpin had been standing near, which was overlooking the formation of huntsmen.

Why were they standing beneath the walls, one would ask?

It was because no matter what, the walls would crumble. The huntsmen would then step forward to

Still, nobody inside the walls had actually seen the supposed dragon yet. And if a dragon came… Who could really defeat it? Atlesian airships?

Nobody had ever seen anything like a dragon. It was a supposed mythical creature. What size was it? What were its abilities? Would it be anything like in fairy tales?

And…

Where in the world was Sasaki Kojirou?

…

Cyprus climbed onto a rooftop over the whole scene, rifle in hand. He had been unable to guess where Sasaki Kojiro would be, rendering his vigils completely useless.

This time, however, there was, without a doubt, that Sasaki Kojiro would be here.

He was under a tarp, wearing gray clothing, and even had something covering his rifle.

Today, he would kill the man that had ruined his life. Nobody remembered him? That was fine. He was on the news fifteen years ago.

Nobody cared about him? That was fine. He was a disappointment anyways. He wasn't memorable, he wasn't particularly strong, and he was destitute, starving, and slightly emaciated.

But he had a gun. And a box of bullets.

Bullets that would find themselves in the body of Sasaki Kojiro.

Qrow flew over the sniper, nodding to himself in his bird form at the sight of another citizen committed to defend Vale.

…

Cinder Fall hovered in the alleyway, with the huntsmen three blocks away, which was what she reckoned was a safe distance. A lingering spark flew between her fingertips. The array of huntsmen looked so pathetic, so weak and fragile. Just a gout of flames would-

Mercury looked at the huntsmen apathetically.

"Let's just fucking shoot them." he said, metal boots clicking and readying the guns underneath.

"Wait." Emerald hissed, pulling on his arm. "He still isn't here yet. Can you get rid of him? No?"

"Fine, fine." Mercury muttered. "It's just that… if we're really going after the demolition-"

"Destruction." Emerald corrected.

"My term's more specific." Mercury scoffed. "Anyways, if we're really going for the demolition of Vale, why aren't we just… going out to kill those huntsmen? Kojiro's only one man. He can't kill all those grimm."

The three stood in silence awkwardly.

"...Yeah, for once, you actually have a point, Mercury."

"This is the second time this month you've said that!" Mercury shouted. "I think I deserve a little recognition!"

"Excuse me…" a voice outside of the alleyway said. Hurriedly, Emerald gave the three the quickest illusion she could think of…

"Have you seen a big, white truck go by?" Qrow asked desperately.

"No, young man…" Emerald croaked. She had disguised them as old ladies. "Our eyesight isn't what it used to be."

"Well, old ladies, this area isn't very safe. You might want to head indoors." the drunkard said, jumping and turning back into a bird.

"Anyways, Cinder, I really must insist that-"

"Silence. My word is absolute. We will wait for Sasaki Kojiro here, and nobody will stop me. Do you want to be burnt like the CCT tower?"

…

Adam Taurus crouched in a dumpster, looking over the crowd of huntsmen for the purple robes and long katana of Sasaki Kojiro. Idly, he brushed a banana peel off of his suit and shifted his boots in the water at the base of the dumpster.

After being hit by a truck, he felt… safe here. Like the dumpster called to him. Every time that long sword arced through the air, he always ended up somewhere like a dumpster.

Adam shook the silly thoughts out of his head. The lack of food was getting to him. As a terrorist leader, he never really had to eat the food of the common White Fang member, and being a huntsman level fighter took a lot of calories.

What was he doing again?

Right. Waiting in the dumpster.

Sasaki Kojiro was bound to show up. But first…

Hunger wracked his body again. Standing straight despite trying to hide in a dumpster two blocks down the street from the huntsmen, Adam eyed his dumpster.

He had just discovered that charging his semblance made him hungry. Very hungry. He had been charging it for about half an hour now.

His semblance could split a giant spider robot at about five seconds of charge time. Charging it for thirty minutes?

Adam had never done so before, but he really, really wanted Kojiro to die. His corpse would be vaporized by his semblance. This, he promised to himself.

Blake? She would be next. After all, she was in this city… somewhere…

…

The chatter abruptly halted as an explosion sounded outside of the walls. On top of the walls, one of the cannons pulled back, before a soldier on top handed over another shell.

"Status report?" Ozpin said into a walkie-talkie, while looking out from the building overlooking the huntsmen crowd.

"N-no damage, sir." the artillery man said.

"Fire at the surrounding grimm, then." Ozpin said, sighing.

"Sir? Are you sure? The dust cannon is the best way we have to deal with giant grimm such as this-"

"It'll be useless." Ozpin muttered. "Follow orders, soldier."

"Yes sir." the soldier swallowed nervously, before the walkie talkie clicked off.

Ozpin sat in an abandoned office chair and sighed, looking at his walking stick. He looked at his mug.

"Empty…" he sighed.

He searched deep within his soul, and found the ebbing power that remained inside him after the millenia in Remnant. His cane housed a significant fraction of that power, and he inspected the aging artifact with a fond eye.

If he fought the beast, this body might give out.

But would it be worth it to attack the beast now? In his weakened and aging form, he would have to expend a substantial amount of energy to defeat the dragon.

Salem could make many more beasts similar in size, though since this dragon, viewing its resistances to dust cannons, had probably been around for a while as well. At least a couple centuries. Age made grimm strong, after all.

That was his disadvantage. Salem continuously grew stronger as he grew weaker, expending power with no opportunity of regeneration.

But honestly, he saw no way of getting out of the pickle he had found himself in.

Unless…

He was jolted from his thoughts by

The walls shook. The immaculate, white bulwarks of Vale trembled. The cannons above ceased singing, while soldiers further down the line began to use binoculars to see what was going on.

Civilians began to flood away from the sections of Vale surrounding the district that the huntsmen were in. The guards of the docks watched as aquatic grimm began to gather around the waterways of Vale, their spear-rifles at the ready.

The huntsmen readied their weapons, some watching the city skyline anxiously, waiting for the nevermore to fly in.

There was a deafening crack, and the huntsmen lowered their gaze from the sky and back onto the wall that had held against dozens of large scale grimm invasions in the past century.

A claw gripped the top of the construct. A soldier fired his gun, but was knocked off the wall by a flying nevermore.

The black tide of flying grimm finally soared over the walls. Nevermores and griffons worked together to carry the soldiers on the walls off to their doom, but the huntsmen hadn't opened fire.

Because currently, a black limb was being brought through the walls very smoothly, almost like a hot knife through butter.

"What are you waiting for?" a grizzled huntsman said, firing up into the sky. Beacon's professors began to lead the action as well, with a blunderbuss-axe firing buckshot into the black cloud.

Doctor Oobleck stepped forward just as Qrow walked out from a building to shift his sword into a scythe.

"I guess it's up to us two to stop that beast coming through the walls."

Oobleck hefted his thermos-flamethrower-club, lighting the tip ablaze.

"I suppose that is true. Where's that huntsman? The flying grimm professional?"

"Kojiro's probably already tried to fight the dragon." Qrow sighed, putting his scythe over his shoulder. His voice was barely heard over the gunfire or semblances going off.

One limb was completely carved through the wall now, and a hole was slowly widening. The whole construct began to quiver as something massive slammed into the walls over and over again.

"It's here." somebody in the crowd said.

"Where's Sasaki Kojiro?" a student shouted. "That fucker said that he would be here, wouldn't he?"

The wall crumbled with that student's shout. A large, black head poked through the wall, and for a moment, all of the gunfire was redirected towards the grimm's giant head. Elements were hurled via glyphs and dust rounds, and both machine gun, rifle, and sniper rounds echoed throughout the air.

The all out offensive at one grimm continued for a couple of seconds, before the wall was covered with a sheen of gunfire smoke.

The attacks halted.

"Did… we do it?" a boy cowering behind an old-fashioned shield said, his blonde hair standing out amidst the gray cloud.

A gout of fire answered his question. He quickly scrambled back from the wave of heat, still holding his shield in front of his face.

The cloud was cleared, and the bony mask of the six-eyed dragon met the eyes of the huntsmen.

There was one small scratch on the bony mask of the dragon. Just one.

The huntsmen took a step back, while Qrow took a step forward. Then another.

He took a deep breath, his crimson aura flaring over his body. His scythe was held in both hands now, off to the side.

Exhaling something that sounded suspiciously similar to a warm season, he closed his eyes, and then opened them. A fake devil-may-care attitude appeared on his face for what could have been the last time.

"Let's do this."

In the crowd, Ruby Rose whimpered.

Inside a building, Ozpin stood up, his eyes and staff glowing green. His legs were filled with power, ready to jump off the building to use his magic to defeat the beast.

Inside an alleyway, three people began to chuckle at the lack of a certain orange haired, purple robed man.

On top of a building, a sniper pursed his lips, being denied his intended target once more.

Inside a dumpster, a swordsman held himself in a ready stance, prepared to unleash his semblance at any moment.

Qrow signed, and took a step forward. A dragon claw was raised, aimed at the insect that dared challenge the largest grimm ever seen in at least two centuries.

Just as Ozpin was about to intervene, a white truck sped through the clearing and hit the dragon's paw. The unusually tall cargo box was eviscerated by the claw blow deflected by the windshield of the truck.

Slowly, the cargo box crumbled, revealing a temple gate on top of the trucks' cargo bay. And out of the front seats stepped out two people.

One was cleaning a short katana while an umbrella was strapped to her belt. The other threw the bodies of two dead white fang members onto the ground before climbing onto the stone steps of his temple gate.

"Sorry, everybody."

A whimsical and calm voice rippled throughout the crowd.

"I was a bit delayed."

A katana was unsheathed, and though it just took two lives, it was completely free of blood. Sasaki Kojiro looked at the dragon with an almost proud expression on his face. Bulging muscles lined every inch of the reptile's limbs. Every claw flexed with anticipation as large, wide wings spanned only slightly less than the length of a block.

The six eyes looked like rubies. The white, bone mask? Something out of a statue exhibit.

Kojiro laughed.

He… laughed?

The crowd muttered uneasily. They didn't hold high hopes for the eccentric swordsman. Even a concentrated barrage of some of the best weaponry in the world only caused a small scratch in the dragon's mask. What could a sword do?

"What a big swallow I've found." Kojiro mused, scratching his chin. "Taking its wings will be an interesting task."