Amber tried not to let her horror show as students continued to return in varying states of shock and injury. Some of them were on the brink of death as soon as they were dragged off the platform, and some writhed and fought against their friends, bodies practically burning with demonic taint. They screamed and shouted to be let back to Cinder. They didn't want to run, they wanted to join her.

Knowing that her blessing had not saved them felt like an unexpected blow to her chest, and it only got worse. As more and more students returned, or didn't, her mental picture of what was happening out in the path started to grow. And it was terrible.

People who were more vulnerable to demonic corruption were, predictably, more affected, but Amber hadn't expected the effects to be so dramatic. They had to be held to their cots, or otherwise bound down with thick straps of some dark material she didn't recognize.

She tried to purge their corruption as fast as she could, but those needing treatment continued to build up. Soon there was no time to tend to people who were only wounded. Her brothers and sisters tried to help, but they just couldn't work fast enough.

Amber almost wished that she couldn't recognize the faces. She'd looked out to the crowd when she blessed them, and they'd looked hopeful and strong. Now they looked twisted and broken.

She struggled to pull air into her lungs as she wiped sweat off her forehead, swaying unsteadily and trying to keep her vision from blurring. The glow faded from her hands, and the brown-haired faunus she'd purified blinked several times before focusing on Amber's face and mouthing a few soundless words. She smiled down at the girl, shaking her head.

"It's alright, you're safe now. Don't worry."

A loud crack split the air, and she turned to see another group return. They were bloodied, and all eyes were turned towards the ground, but she was glad to see that none of them were clawing at the others.

She recognized their faces too. It was team RWBY.

They had started out strong, but Amber had seen their strength wear down, battle after battle. Even Yang was starting to deflate. Quietly, they started to stagger over to the tent, as they had many times now. They had gone on at least ten excursions, more than most others. They'd come back battered every time, but they also reported multiple kills every time. How they'd managed, Amber didn't know. After a while she'd simply chalked it up to sheer willpower.

As the group approached she turned back to the cots, reminding herself that time was a luxury she didn't have. More would be flooding in soon, and she needed to make as much room for them as possible. Several undead had started to pick up the slack on treating injuries, but keeping the warriors sane was left entirely to the Order of the Holy Light.

She put her hands over a boy, gibbering wildly and foaming at the mouth, conjuring power from within herself. A calm, almost surreal feeling washed over her. She could feel her thoughts slow down as her panic died away, and she focused entirely on the corruption that held the boy. Moments later, he was free, and the panic came crashing back down on her. Crying, screaming, and mad howls mixed with frantic shouting the frantic shouting, and all the while, the undead looked on, unfazed. It was easy to say that they didn't care, but Amber looked deeper than that. It couldn't be the explanation.

Maybe it didn't matter, in the grand scheme of things. They all knew that the good they could do was limited at best. A big portion of Cinder's forces had been shaved off, but she still had many. More than enough to be extraordinarily dangerous. But if that were the case, couldn't their resources be better spent elsewhere? This certainly didn't seem like the time to waste efforts, and Naze didn't seem the kind who would.

She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts by a sudden stab of pain in her head. It was like the migraines she used to get, only immeasurably worse. Her body gave in to the hours of miracles she'd forced it to perform, and her thin legs collapsed beneath her. Everything faded to a fuzzy purplish void, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered the sensation of crumpling towards the ground.

The feeling of impact never came, though, and she blinked rapidly as her senses started to return.

Something appeared underneath her, and hands held her shoulders tightly as her weight settled. When she was able to see again, she realized that she'd been placed on one of the cots. Confusion took hold of her, and she made to stand back up, knowing she didn't have the time to rest.

Again, a hand met her shoulder, and she looked up, gradually focusing her eyes on Solace's face. He gave her a soft expression, like he understood what she felt, then spoke.

"You cannot keep this up. It's painful, watching others suffer, but you have to rest."

The metal hand of Solace's white armor slid down her back, patting her gently. It felt good. Almost on its own, her body drew in a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. She was high strung, but that was understandable, right? For the past few hours she'd seen nothing but pain and misery. Even the most driven individuals had to feel this way at some point, right?

She wanted to get up, and keep doing what she could, but the look of Solace's face was serious. After a few moments of quiet thinking, she nodded and looked back up at him.

"Alright, fine. I guess you're right."

Solace gave her a sad smile, then turned away to start helping where he could, like the other Paladins were.

Team RWBY entered the tent, and while its living members started seeking treatment, Yang started to hobble her way over to Amber. She noted that the undead girl's legs were particularly eviscerated, and her left arm seemed to be dangling uselessly. Nevertheless, not the slightest hint of pain crossed her face as she made her way towards Amber.

"Hey! Naze wanted me to tell you that the ambushes are almost done. It looks like a good time too…" She looked around at the other students before turning back to Amber with a hesitant expression. "So how are you doing? I mean, you don't really look like you're doing super well right now. Is there anything I could help with?"

Her voice lacked the enthusiasm she'd started with. Now it was clear that she almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"No, not unless you can learn how to be a Priestess in a few minutes. That's good to hear, though. Were they as effective as Naze hoped?"

"I guess so. He never really had any anticipation of how many we'd be able to kill. I think he was surprised, though. He expected a lot more of us to die or get corrupted. Thanks to you, we haven't had too many losses."

Amber shook her head and looked away from Yang, turning her eyes to the floor. "Any losses are too many. I should've done better."

Yang rose an eyebrow before sitting next to the Priestess, being careful to keep her distance from the holy book at her side.

"Trust me, out there, it's no one's fault. Things just happen too fast. I've got better reaction times than I ever did when I was alive, and I've come back every time sliced up. Demons are just… something else. Honestly, I don't know how Naze plans to take out Cinder. I know he's got a plan, he always does, but I've seen a little bit of what she can do. I don't…"

Her voice trailed off, and she blinked, as though noticing Amber's paling expression for the first time. "Oh, not that I don't think Naze can handle it! I mean, he's one of the oldest things on the planet, of course he knows what to do. I'm just saying Cinder's pretty scary."

Amber remembered what she'd agreed to. The Paladins were to sand between Naze's cursed swamp and Cinder, giving her one final battle with the living before they entered the domain of the dead. Amber didn't know what waited for them there, but she knew she didn't want to find out. Now she didn't know which was worse. Cinder was terrifying enough to strike fear into a dead girl and no doubt traumatize countless trained killers, and the swamp was engineered by a Lich to be as hostile an environment as possible.

Contemplating this wasn't helping her mood in the slightest.

Yang hesitated, seeing the effect she'd had on Amber. "Hey, don't sweat it. None of the students can make holy power, but you guys can just shoot that stuff off like crazy. I bet Cinder will hate that stuff. I know I do. Just blast her with that, it shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Amber sighed. "Maybe it will be that simple. I hope so, anyways. Maybe none of us will get hurt."

Yang smiled, looking a little relieved. "Yeah! You've all got shields of holy power. Those demons hit right through peoples' aura, but a holy shield will do a hell of a lot more good! You're playing field is a lot more even, really. They might be stronger and faster, but you've got the powers to make you a threat. Plus, you've got Solace on your side." She glanced over her shoulder, spying the white mass of armor. "That dude is a tank."

Amber chuckled lightly, nodding.

"Yes, I guess he is. I know he's going to fight hard, and all the others are too, but I don't know if I will be able to support them enough. If the student battles have been anything to judge by..."

"It's going to be fine. You'll kick butt out there. I can practically see it already, you healing your friends and shooting lasers of sunlight out of your eyes. I wouldn't want to be on your bad side. I hope I'm not, considering, you know, I'm dead and all."

Amber shook her head, looking towards the ground again.

"No, you're fine. I'm sorry about that, really. It's an old belief, and I don't really think all undead are bad. You're certainly not, and I've seen that others are more than willing to set aside differences for the greater good. It's going to be a bit of a change to the Order, but I think it will be a good one."

Yang smiled again, then looked up at the rest of her team. They were quiet, keeping their heads down and isolating themselves. They stared at their feet with thousand-yard stares, and Amber watched as Yang craned her neck to watch them.

"They've been like that a while now. I think we've reached our limit on raids now. They'll start getting over it soon, but it's probably best to just leave them to their thoughts until they start coming back around. Where's JNPR?"

Amber tried to recall the last time that she'd seen the team, taking a few moments to sort through all the faces she'd seen. Last she knew, they had gone out on another ambush, but she didn't know if they had come back.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. They left maybe half an hour ago. I haven't heard anything since. I think they're fine, though, they were holding up well. Nora seemed to be having fun."

Yang laughed, nodding as she did so, and shaking her head. "Nora is… well, she's special alright. Even before she got a demon in her, she was eccentric like that. It figures that she would be fine doing all this, though. I'm sure she's racked up plenty of kills."

The two fell silent, and Yang started to push her way up off the cot.

"Well, I should let you get some rest. Everything will go great, I'm sure, you've just got to be strong, you know? All that faith and stuff that makes your powers work. I have faith in you, if that helps, and I know everyone else here does too."

With that, Yang turned and made her way to her teammates, who still looked to be in some form of shock or another. Amber watched her go, thinking about what she said. It was true, she hoped, that everyone did have faith in her. It was the most she had ever been given. Her life before becoming a Priestess seemed so hazy and distant that she could hardly remember any of it, but she was sure that under this kind of pressure she would have cracked a long time ago.

She was strong, in her own way. Not like the Paladins and Huntsmen, but in a meeker, more humble way. She could hold up her brothers and sisters in battle, and share her strength, allowing a victory.

Her panic started to subside, and she looked up as what sounded like distant thunder rumbled through the air. Heavy storm clouds floated in the distance, over the dark and cursed land where Naze lay in wait for his prey to arrive. She could still feel a tight knot of something deep in her chest, an eager energy she hadn't unleashed.

Her headache had mostly gone, and she could feel her limbs starting to get over their aches. She drew her book from her side, and started to read, despite having memorized every passage and every hymn. It was the best way she had of passing the time.

She didn't have to pass much, as the last few student ambush teams returned within the hour, even team JNPR making it back. Amber could only watch a few minutes of the emotional reunion, however, before it was time for the Order of the Holy Light to embark. Paladins held their heads and hammers high, and she pulled her hood over her blonde hair. The group formed into a procession, walking in a tight group towards the edge of the camp. They knew where they were going, and they knew what awaited them.

Amber tried to keep spirits high by talking to others, making sure that they weren't too nervous about the coming battle. As they reached the tree line, a burst of noise from behind them made them turn.

All the kids they'd helped who were able to stand had followed for some distance, and were cheering them on. There were too many voices to make out any specific words, but the overall meaning was very clear. They had the support of everyone they had helped, and their confidence.

After a few attempts at shouting back, the Order departed, hurrying to make it to their goal. Amber could feel the air growing heavier, and the storm overhead was growing more intense. Thunder continually ripped through the sky, and as they walked, Amber couldn't help but wonder if it was some concoction of Naze's.

As an unfortunate side effect of the unfavorable weather, whether it was planned or not, the wind of the storm seemed to blow stagnant and disgusting air out of the swamp towards them. It made Amber want to gag, but she stopped herself. The smell of rot was almost overpowering, she could almost swear she could feel her nostrils burning.

As they got closer, a path emerged from the trees. It was a wide, open dirt road that lead into the quickly darkening marsh and stopped almost immediately, collapsing into thick mud and muck. She wondered if that was a recent change, or if any road had ever successfully cut its way through.

They took their positions, Solace farthest from the swamp at the front of the group, and Amber at the back. The Paladins between them were spread out considerably, as they'd all heard just how fast demons were. If they were going to have a shot at catching any of them, they needed as wide a reach as possible.

Amber started to pray, bowing her head over her book and pouring her soul into the ancient words. She could feel the air around her growing warmer and more comfortable, and saw out of the corners of her eyes the others being engulfed in a bright golden halo. Each of them had their heads bowed too, muttering their own prayers to bolster their spirits and bodies. As they finished, they hafted their weapons up and stood ready, watching.

In the distance, Amber could make out something, but it was too far to actually make out any detail. She didn't need to see it to know what it was, however. Her body tensed and her mind started to function in high-gear. She felt the knot in her chest tighten painfully, and gasped, hoping that whatever it was didn't become a problem.

She received a few concerned glances from over the shoulders of several of her brothers, but waved them off with a smile on her face. She could bear it, she was sure. It was nothing that would stop her.

She could almost feel the demons before she could see them, the rumbling in the ground almost indistinguishable from the thunder that continued to rip across the sky. She couldn't see any lightning, but the wing was starting to pick up. She thought she could hear things moving in the swamp behind her, but she ignored it. The whole world itself seemed to vibrate with anticipation. Amber tried to keep herself focused.

The distant threat approached with alarming speed, so fast that Amber couldn't gauge how long it would be before they arrived. The distance was too great to judge. By the time she could make out individual shapes, a sense of dread overcame her, and her gaze shot down to her book out of a natural reaction.

Solace called out to the Paladins, his voice echoing off the trees. "Here they come! Be ready, and fight well! I've trained all of you in the path of the light, and each of you have followed it admirably. If we fall now, it is to the light we go!"

An enthusiastic cry rose from the Paladins as they agreed, looking at one another and smiling. Amber looked up from the tome hesitantly, finding some comfort in their confidence, but her chest only tightened further. It was starting to remind her of the panic attacks she'd had before joining the Order. Memories of those times started to flood into her mind.

She flinched as painful, unpleasant experiences started to replay in her mind. When she'd been alone, in pain, and needing help. She shook her head, reminding herself that those times were over. She was surrounded by close friends, and all of them were going to stand together, no matter what happened. The Light would give her strength. It had before, and she had no doubt that it would again.

She looked back up, surprised at the distance the demons had covered in such a short span of time. It was now clear that it was only seconds before they reached each other.

Every Paladin tightened their grip on their weapons, and the glows around them intensified further. Amber felt her shoulders square, and she drew in a deep breath, getting ready to speak whatever blessings she needed to.

Tensions rose to nearly the snapping point as Cinder entered the final leg of her approach, then Cinder did something that none of them could have predicted.

She skidded to a halt, stopping about a hundred yards away, and smiled.

"Oh, it's you. How cute. You actually think you can delay me, don't you?"

Her voice carried over the distance between them easily, and didn't seem to be entirely audio. Amber could hear her words in the back of her mind, whispering to her.

Solace called out to her, keeping rooted firm in his positon, "Come, beast! Face the holy judgement of the Light!"

He sounded confident, and Amber couldn't help but admire the power he displayed. When he addressed Cinder, he didn't move an inch.

Cinder was still for a moment, then started to laugh. It was a mocking, hysterical, piercing laugh that spread an uncomfortable feeling all over Amber's body. She started to say another prayer under her breath, her mouth barely moving.

As suddenly as she had started, Cinder stopped laughing, and began to say something else. Amber's head tilted slightly as she tried to make out what it was. The prayer died on her lips when she realized Cinder was speaking the ancient words at the same time she was. Amber took an involuntary step back, thoughts racing to explain. Either she was already familiar with the prayers, or…

Nothing could possibly hear so well over that distance. She knew that had to be true, and yet Cinder had stopped at virtually the same time she had. As though she could see the look on Amber's face, Cinder chuckled again, and started to strut forward slowly.

"Maybe that delusional corpse hasn't told you, but you can't stop me. Nothing can, not even him. I'm on my way to prove it, and if you get out of my way, I can save you for later. You get to go home, and spend what little time you can with whoever you care about before I make you forget your own names."

Demons started to arrive behind Cinder at this point, coming to a halt behind her, digging their claws into the dirt or flaring out half-formed wings. They all appeared to be grotesque perversions of what a human was supposed to look like, but Amber couldn't deny to herself that there was something alluring about them. She could spend hours simply staring…

She shook her head, and bit into her cheek. She couldn't let herself think like that. As she looked around at the other faces, she was pleased to see that they were all focused and unwavering. Her blessings worked well. With as much strength as she could, she mustered up mental walls, ignoring the otherworldly charm of the monstrosities.

"It won't happen. You face us here, and now! You face the wrath of all that is holy!"

Cinder was close enough now to make out facial expressions, and Amber saw her raise an eyebrow as she looked past Solace.

"Is this it? I imagined there would be more of you. From the way people spoke, I thought I would have a real challenge in the cult leader."

"I could say the same."

Solace's grim response was low, but no volume was lost in his helmet. A heavy silence seemed to settle over the opposing groups, before Cinder started to giggle.

"There's plenty of me to go around, Paladin. Come, I'll show you."

With that, the demons behind Cinder charged forward. Solace let out a mighty battle-cry before dashing forward as well, leading the other Paladins. As they went, Amber glanced down to her text, reading out a hymn she knew would strengthen the others, as well as herself. They would need the help.

A deafening blast exploded as Solace met with the demons, his body sheathed in holy light. He was a man, thus could not compare to the demons' speed, but the Light hardened around him as claws and teeth struck out at him. None could as much as tarnish his white and gold plate armor.

While in a one-on-one battle a demon would've had a greater chance of dodging away from Solace's hammer, the disorganized horde they charged in made this quite impossible. One overhead swing brought the sanctified bludgeon down on one particularly unlucky demon, who crumpled under the blow after struggling for a moment to stay upright. The sound of bones shattering and air leaving the lungs of the beast reached even Amber's ears.

The rest of the Paladins crashed into the wave of demons, matching their ferocity with zeal and courage. Some were able to score the first strikes against their opponents, but most were forced to take more defensive stances. The battle quickly turned into a wild flurry of razor sharp knives and teeth, filled with the din of thousands of noises blending together. Screaming, howling, the crunching of bones and the strange plinking sound of claws glancing off of aura or armor.

Amber's brain tried to process it all for a few moments, then surrendered to the chaos. She started to let her focus jump from subject to subject, keeping a special eye out for anything that could hurt her. Demons rose and fell as they tried to slash their way through the wall of Paladins.

Her prayer shifted from one of strength to one of protection, hoping to minimize any damage that might be able to slip through the shimmering shields. It was slightly more taxing, and she could feel herself starting to become drained.

She could feel the power from the others though, and it pushed her on. She wouldn't stop bolstering their abilities, no matter what. She was going to stick with them, even if it came to a bitter end.

Every second felt like an eternity. For a while, it seemed that the two forces were about evenly matched. Every slice that was able to slip through the golden auras, white armor, and Amber's prayer, another demon felt the unsympathetic weight of a hammer crush their bones to dust. The Paladins used what holy powers they could muster, throwing waves of glimmering holy power that burned their enemies to the touch.

All the while, though, Amber was uncomfortably aware that Cinder was nowhere in the fray. Part of her wanted to be thankful, knowing that she would be able to wreak devastation on the Paladins with barely so much as a thought, but she also knew that not knowing Cinder's location was a very bad thing. She found her eyes wandering to the thick tree line to either side of her, and a chill ran up her spine. She could be anywhere.

Amber's attention was drawn back to the fight when she saw a demon grab a Paladin's head, threatening to drag him down. Her prayer intensified, and she focused on the man, trying to give him the power he needed to escape.

It worked for a moment, he was able to throw his attacker off, but as he went for the counter hit, a long red appendage sprouted from his gut, and blood started to leak from the wound. The Paladin looked down in shock at what had managed to skewer him, and the war hammer dropped to the ground as Amber watched his body start to go into shock. The thing that had speared him was still for a moment, then began to wiggle as though trying to free itself. After a moment, the man was lifted off the ground, and with a final brutal motion, he was slammed on the ground after finally coming loose.

The demon that had done it stared down at their victory, and Amber could make out the hungry glint in its eyes. Something told her that the man would be lucky if the demon intended to eat him, though. Anger built up inside her, and the pain in her chest flared up even more. She wasn't used to lashing out, but she didn't have any choice.

Her hand shot up with hardly any consultation from her brain, and before she knew it, a bolt of holy power was streaking through the air at the demon who'd downed her brother. She didn't have the presence of mind to feel surprise at this sudden unfamiliar ability, the only thing she processed was a feeling of purpose. She watched as the bolt passed over her fallen comrade, bestowing some amount of healing on him as it traveled past before striking the demon in the center of the body, sending it crashing backwards, screeching and smoking.

She glanced down at her hands, fingers shaking. She could feel a stinging sensation under her skin now, like her nerves had caught fire. Her palm glowed brightly, much brighter than she had become accustomed to, so much that she had to look away.

The sound of the battle around her brought her back to reality, and she saw several more Paladins felled by demons. It was too fast for her to do anything, they were dead before they hit the ground. Anger built inside of her again, and she started to throw holy bolts as she read out her prayer. Demon after demon was crushed or blown back by the strength of the Order, writhing and screaming curses before being silenced by a hammer or boot, the chaos continued for minutes before a chill struck at every Paladin's core.

"Enough!"

The piercing cry forced the attention of every Paladin towards its source. Amber didn't need to see the monster to know that Cinder was tired of watching her forces be stalled.

The quick, thunderous footsteps were easy to mistake for the weather, but the bodies that were flung from the front line of combat told the despicable truth. Among those who were launched, Solace was among them, landing in a disgruntled heap only a few feet away from Amber, but instantly beginning to move again. As he struggled to his feet, more were thrown towards them, and Amber suddenly felt a churning in her stomach.

Arms, legs, heads, pieces of unspeakable horror soared over the heads of the thinning lines of Paladins. Corpses, their organs trailing out behind them and features mangled so gruesomely that Amber couldn't even put names to the faces. Her body started to seize as she realized that her own fate was drawing ever closer.

As Solace managed to pull himself back up, he charged again without hesitation, not the slightest hint of fear showing in his body language. The sound of his battle cry snapped Amber back once again, and she continued to fight. Whatever happened, she was going to give her all.

Cinder broke through the line of Paladins before Solace could come close, and her eyes locked with Amber's for a brief moment. She could tell the angry glare had no room for mercy, but she also knew that Cinder had no intention of killing her. No, her fate was going to be something much, much worse. She didn't stop saying her prayer, though. Nothing was going to make her stop, not in the face of such danger.

Cinder continued to dash forwards, too fast for the eye to follow, batting Solace out of the way like he was nothing but am insect. He tumbled to the side, and didn't move again. The awkward angle of his neck make Amber worry about him.

Nothing stood between Amber and Cinder now, and before she could really take in the situation, Amber felt long fingers wrap around her throat, lifting her off the ground. Cinder's face was barely an inch away from hers, and her breath was hot against Amber's skin.

"Now you, you're not like the others. You're not big, or strong, or fast. You've just got this book!"

Amber felt the strap that kept the holy text with her snap, and saw the tome spiral off into the distance.

"Now you have nothing. Nothing except your little 'holy light.' I'll show you just how insignificant it is, next to the power of my master! Next to me!"

Cinder's skin looked oddly appealing, soft and welcoming, and her smile seemed to show that she was sincere. As her hands slid over Amber's body, however, Amber felt no comfort. There was no pleasure in the things Cinder did. The burning pain in Amber's body flared like lightning, increasing a thousandfold. She could no longer hold it in. Cinder was going to make her a mutated servant in minutes anyways, why did she continue to hold it in? She could use the pain to fight, even to the last sane thought she had.

Kicking punching, Amber shouted not a prayer from the book, but one of her own. She'd become familiar enough with the old tongue to do it, and the Light was the one hope she had left.

She prayed not for the strength to resist Cinder, or the endurance to outlast her, but for the ability to stop her. If she could do that one simple thing, and save the rest of the world from this torture, then she would gladly accept whatever she became.

The pain inside exploded, then she couldn't feel anything at all.

Her thoughts were thrown into turmoil, and the lack of feeling made her panic. Was this what it was like to be dead?

No, she didn't feel tired at all. If anything, she felt more rejuvenated than she ever had. Something changed, and she couldn't help but feel it was for the better. She needed to focus.

Like drawing in a huge breath, she tried to bring her consciousness back together.

She found herself standing in the center of a crowd of demons, like she had been before, but she could also see herself, from many different angles. She had grown impossibly bright. It was impossible to tell if she even had a body anymore. Her eyes themselves turned down, and she brought her hands up.

Holy power like she never could have imagined pulsed through her, eager to follow her command. She felt unbound, untouchable. Hardly realizing what she was doing, she rose up into the air, and surveyed the damage.

The corpses of her brothers and sisters littered the ground, and blood-soaked dirt was all that kept them. Her heart sank, and she wished that she'd been able to save them.

No sooner than the thought passed through her mind, bright beams of light came from her body, shining down on her fallen friends. She could feel their lives return to them, and as they slowly looked up at her, their confidence and love in her brought her strength. The last to arise was Solace, and when he looked up at her, she was sure that even through his thick plate helm, she could see a tear of joy running down his face.

An angry howl made Amber's stretched mind become aware again of the demon horde below, and as she looked down at them, she didn't see monsters and mutants anymore. She saw people, addled out of their own control, waiting for release, covered in layer upon layer of depravity and hellish energy.

She put a hand out towards them, and as her gentle rays touched their corrupt visages, they started to yelp in pain and run away. They fled towards the Black Morass, and Amber knew many would die there. They didn't deserve it, though. It wasn't their fault they were this twisted.

Many of them fell before reaching the tree line, and their afflictions were cured. In the place of gibbering demons, ordinary humans and faunus slept, purged of their afflictions.

As she tried to follow them into the cursed swamp, she found an ancient power holding her back. That land was decidedly unholy, and its barrier made its message clear: she had no power there.

As Cinder ran, Amber made one last attempt to save her, pulling the demonic presence out of her, but she was barely able to make contact. The beam of light only seared her flesh away, exposing the vulnerable muscle and bone underneath. She hadn't meant to do that, but as Cinder faded into the swamp, Amber became more concerned with what had become of herself.

And she floated back down towards the ground, the others kneeled before her, and she could feel their reverence.

Naze gave his head a surprised tilt as his shade observing the battle was blown out of its existence and into the realm of the dead. It was the first time he had been surprised this much in a very, very long time.

There was only one strong possibility as to an explanation, and he wasn't quite sure yet whether he liked it or not.

He had just been witness to the birth of a god, and not just any god, but a holy, not divine, god.

That was going to complicate things significantly in the near future.

Author's Note:

Hey now, who expected that?

As always, leave what you thought in a review. Getting close to the end now.