Author's Note:

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As Naze looked at the artifact, he came to the hurried conclusion that whatever was happening would be far easier to deal with if the White Fang were not continuing to charge him and his people down. They started to pick themselves back up off of the ground, and he could tell that there was a fire in their eyes that hadn't been there before. The air was now thick with demonic energy and, while it wouldn't affect Naze or his people, Ironwood and his men would be just as susceptible as the White Fang if exposed for too long. He didn't need Ironwood becoming hostile. It would be best to simply wrap this conflict up, and take the artifact for himself. If that was still possible.

He turned to face the numbers of White Fang that were picking themselves up, raising his staff, ready to do the grim work that would be required of him if the White Fang were to be dispersed in a timely manner. Necromantic energies pooled in the spike near the top, and he to build greater and greater reserves, drawing from his inexhaustible supply. Ironwood and his men were starting to rise from the ground now, all shaking off the surge of demonic power. Naze knew that his control over the situation was no longer secure, so the sooner he and his men got out of the way, the better. His own solders were climbing to their feet now, and resuming the slaughter that had been interrupted.

Several of the sprinting attackers had gotten past them, though, and were quickly closing the distance between them, spitting gunfire and shouting as loud as their lungs would let them. The dark green and purple swirling light of the blast ripped the air apart, momentarily pushing the demonic taint away as everything in its path died. The grass on which the White Fang ran shriveled and withered, and all biological functions in their bodies ceased. Naze was not wasteful with his investments, though, and the corpses were reanimated before they hit the ground, the only instruction in their heads being "kill".

The zombies stumbled and fell at first as they tried to change directions from the way they had been sprinting before their demises, but their fists remained clenched around their weapons tighter than any rigor mortis could manage. Zombies as fresh as them were fast and, while uncoordinated, more deadly than their stiff-jointed relatives. The sudden excess of death energies also started to eat at their flesh, causing rapid decomposition. They wouldn't last long, but they would make quite a show while they did. Naze could only imagine the terror one might feel when battling the corpse of a friend, not only dead, but rotting before their eyes. There were only around fifteen of these zombies now, but Naze planned on making many more.

Ironwood looked to the lich now, an implacable look on his face. It was part worry, part fear, part anger, a wide variety of things. What he expressed however, was a question. "What's going on? What was that explosion?" Naze spoke back as his hollow sockets scanned the battlefield for the most horrifically mangled corpses he could find. "I couldn't say. Something demonic, no doubt. I might recommend you evacuate your men, and leave the White Fang for me to deal with. I can assure you they will find no mercy from me."

Ironwood glanced from Naze to the artifact. "Is this thing safe?" He had to shout to make sure that he was heard over the screaming, shouting, and pounding of weapons. Naze shook his head as his gaze alighted on a particularly shredded pile of bodies, all having been tossed aside by his knight using the wrist claws. "Not at all. It us unpredictable, and requires further study. I shall keep you appraised of our progress, if you wish, but it would be far more convenient for you to leave." Another blast of necromantic energy, and another few zombies joined the fray. This time the number added was around twenty, and all bore significant disfigurements. Several were torn wholly in half, intestines trailing behind them through the muck, and many more were missing significant portions of their bodies. As these monstrosities started to run, shuffle, or claw their way towards their former brethren, he could see the fiery resolve start to dissipate. A battle with necromancy was not only a war of attrition, but one of mental fortitude as well. One had to be prepared to see horrific things if one was to battle them.

Those who came into direct combat were horrified, and became even more so when they realized that their weapons were next to useless. Dust rounds didn't cause enough structural damage to impede their abilities, and the knives and cleavers required them to get far too close for comfort.

The mages in the center of the defensive circle set about the task of studying the artifact, even in the middle of the battle. It would be very important to know if it could be safely contained, and if it could be deactivated from whatever state Ironwood's touch had put it into. Ironwood was shouting into a communicator about "immediate evacuation", and his men were continuing to fire. A few had stopped, simply putting their weapons down and sitting, their backs to the defensive cover that had been set up earlier. They couldn't be blamed, really. Not everyone was strong enough to bear the sight of a rotting human rising up from a mortal wound and resuming fighting. If Ironwood hoped to avoid traumatizing all of his troops, his evacuation had to be quick, as Naze had no plans of holding back. He continued to conjure the magic of death, hurling it at his foes and creating allies from the aftermath, the numbers of his forces only increasing with every casualty. It wasn't long before he became aware of something else, though. Something far more worrying than what he was doing.

The barriers between normal space and hell were weakening, and he could feel the demons clawing at them from the other side. If they didn't hurry up, a rift between the two would open.

Cinder started to realize that her plan to take the artifact was going to fail about as soon as she saw the knights start to rip into the White Fang as if they were lambs to the slaughter. This was why she had hung back instead of charging with the men. It was obvious that Neo did not like this, but she didn't care very much about what Neo wanted. Roman had been deployed with one of the units, tasked with driving them forward and keeping them focused. Neo wanted to go to him, but she didn't let her. Her abilities would be better used guarding Cinder rather than that fool. He had been useful, but lately he was becoming more trouble than Cinder thought he was worth. Still, this battle would be a good place to prove himself.

Then the artifact had let off some kind of pulse, and Cinder had been taken completely off guard. The wave that came out of it gave Cinder a certain strength, one that she couldn't quite place. Although she didn't know why, she felt stronger, and her thoughts were faster than ever before. She was still cautious, though. Momentary confidence was no reason to throw herself into battle. She was certain that if she were to try and charge one of the knights, she would meet the same fate as those others who tried it, and be several pieces on the ground.

That was when the lich had started to reanimate those who had already fallen. It was at this point that Cinder knew the battle was hopeless. No matter how many men she threw at the artifact, the undead would be able to endure it. In fact, the more people she threw at it, the more undead there would be. She had been about to order a full retreat when that power and strength that the artifact had given her started to shift. "No."

The voice was deep and booming, but no one else seemed to hear it. She tried not to react to it, and instead puzzled over what it was, or what it meant. She didn't have to puzzle long, as the voice spoke again soon. "No retreat. You desire power, I can give you power."

She saw the artifact pulsing, and noticed that the voice boomed in rhythm with it. She wasn't sure if she was somehow hallucinating, but the voice seemed to be that of what she had assumed to be an inanimate object. "Blood. Need blood. When we have enough, we will burst forth. You will be spared. All others will die." A smile wove its way across her face. She had come here to take the power of the artifact, so maybe it wasn't too late. If this thing was being truthful, then she would be happy to keep the blood flowing.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw Ironwood starting to shout into a communication device. Was he really calling for evacuation? That wasn't very like him. She shrugged. He wasn't the one spilling blood, so he could leave if he wished. It would actually make things easier, anyways. Dust rounds didn't cause nearly as much damage as the weapons that the undead used. If she could sate the artifact's request, she would gain power. That was worth the risk of the thing lying. Even if it was, there were many more White Fang that she could use to her own ends. She had the inclination that it wasn't, though. She felt more powerful now, and the feeling seemed to be slowly growing. It couldn't be lying. She could already feel that it was telling the truth. Down in the charging masses, she spied Roman being swept up in the crowd.

As much as she felt that his blood on the field would be a beautiful sight, she could think of several things that she could still use him for. Avenues of action that would close if the man were to die. With a sigh, she looked around herself. She was quite a distance away from the battle itself, and anything that came after her would give her plenty of time to react before it reached her. After she had come to this conclusion, she gestured to the distant Roman and said "Very well, if you really must, than go to him."

Neo broke into a run faster than Cinder had even seen her move before. Her short legs carried her small body faster than Cinder had thought they could. As she went, Cinder let her eyes drift back to the fighting. There was a certain beauty about it, the people willing to throw their lives away so readily for something they believed in. She almost felt guilty about lying about it.

Yang pulled her fists up, and Solace shouted "Get your weapons!" The robed Paladins all rushed towards a weapon rack, and team RWBY, Pyrrha, and Jaune readied themselves. They didn't want to fight their friend, but there was little choice left. Nora gave a ferocious scowl, then called out "I just want to help Ren! Why do you want to stop us?"

Jaune was the first to answer, saying "You aren't good for him! You've been hurting him the whole time!" Pyrrha spoke after him, saying "And you've been hurting yourself as well! You've obsessed over him constantly! It's not healthy!" Pyrrha lowed her shield and took a step towards the girl. "Please, just let us help you."

Nora's face softened for a brief moment, then hardened back into an aggressive frown. "No! You just want to take Tiny away from me!" With that, she started sprinting again. It wasn't in the direction of Ren's room this time, but directly at Pyrrha. The girl barely had time to raise her shield before Nora's fist impacted the disk of metal dead center. The vibrations that rang through the shield almost made her cry out, but she managed to stay resolute.

Yang stepped in now from the side, again delivering the force of a train into Nora by means of a fist to her gut. She hadn't meant to, but she had used her metal one instead of her flesh. The force of the blow lifted Nora off of her feet, and her eyes widened in shock as a small amount of bile was forced from her innards. The fluid fell onto Yang's arm before sliding off and hissing on the ground, steam wafting slowly away.

Yang had thought that his blow would be enough to stop her friend, or disable her enough to restrain. However, before her feet had even touched the ground again, Nora had wrapped a hand around Yang's wrist and pulled herself closer. Immediately she started to assail the blond with everything she could, kicking, clawing, and even leaning her face in to bite her. Yang held her at bay, just able to keep the girl's razor sharp teeth a few inches away from her flesh. Nora's nails were almost as sharp as her teeth and, though Yang couldn't feel pain, she was well aware of the damage that they were doing to her face and chest. It was superficial so far, but blades that sharp could easily slice tendons.

"Get her off of me!" Yang shouted to her teammates. None of them were quite sure what to do, but Ruby was the first to react, using her semblance to rocket herself towards her sister, wrapping her arms around Nora as she went, and continuing on past through the air now dragging her violent cargo. Nora didn't weigh much, but Ruby's capacity to transport anything but herself with her semblance was bad, and it was only a few feet before the two dropped out of the air, thudding against the floor and rolling. Before anyone could do anything, Nora was on top of Ruby, screaming viciously and making wild swipes. Ruby held her arms up to protect her face and neck, and felt her skin start to split under the assault.

Yang shouted angrily and made to lung at Nora, ready to punch her in the head again, but before she could, one of the robes Paladins leapt at the two, a moderately sized war hammer arcing up from below. The hammer impacted Nora in the center of the chest, and a bright flash of golden light was cast outwards by the head of the hammer, seeming to blow Nora away from it. She was knocked into the air again, did a small spin then reoriented herself before hitting the ground again. She stood, giving the Paladin a death glare. The woman swallowed the lump in her throat before hefting the weapon back up, ready to swing again.

Nora looked like she was about to go for the woman, but Jaune called out again "Nora, please, we only want to help you!" Nora's head flicked to face Jaune, and in the pause everyone got a good look at her face. There were bruises left from Yang's knuckles, but even as the group watched, the bruises started to fade. If there was any damage from the punch to the gut or the hammer blow, they couldn't tell.

The brief break allowed both sides of the conflict to recuperate, team RWBY, Jaune, and Pyrrha making their way over to Ruby, who was still on the ground, while the Paladins made to encircle Nora. The one who had saved Ruby from Nora stayed behind, even lowering their guard a little.

Yang went to Ruby, holding her by the shoulders and saying "Are you alright? How bad did she get you?" in a very concerned voice. Without speaking, Ruby held her arms out for her sister to see. The black fabric of her sleeves was sliced nearly to ribbons, but luckily Ruby's aura had saved her from the brunt of the damage. The cuts that she did have were just from what Nora had been able to force through. Still, the bleeding was heavy, and if it continued Ruby wouldn't be able to fight anymore.

Yang was about to start looking for something she could use as a bandage before the Paladin put her hammer down, balancing it on its head, and pulling a thick book out from her robes. "If you'll let me, I think I can help with this." Yang felt a natural distrust, but her desire to have her sister save overpowered that by many times. "Yes! Yes, just do it!" The woman's auburn hair cast a few silvery reflections of light off of it as she nodded, then cracked the book open. "Let's see…" she seemed to be talking to herself "prayers, prayers, where is it…" One of the other Paladins shouted out, and all eyes went to him just in time to see Nora sink her teeth into his arm. No aura would protect from that, at least not enough to matter.

The woman's eyes lingered on this, as if she was transfixed by the scene, before Solace stepped forwards and with a deft motion, pulled the man's arm down, forcing it off of Nora's top row of teeth, then pulled it away, smoothly off of the bottom row. After that he cautiously yet quickly shunted the man behind him and delivered a kick to Nora that knocked her back.

Yang snapped her fingers in front of the woman's face. "Hey, come on! Fix her!" The woman's brown eyes fixed with Yang's for a second before she blinked, swallowed hard, and looked back down at the pages. "R-right, sorry." She flipped through a few more pages, then stopped, placed her finger on a line, and started to trace it across the page, speaking a strange, ancient-sounding language. Yang's friends around her looked at the woman with slight surprise, as if the things that were coming out of her mouth were beautiful. Yang only thought it sounded strange, but supposed that she didn't find it so pretty because she was undead. She tried to look at the book itself, but it gave off a bright glow that burned her eyes when she saw it. She held up a hand, blocking the light, then looked down at Ruby's arms.

The woman's hands were resting softly on top of the cuts, and as she read, her hands started to glow as well. Yang could hardly see past it, but what she could see was Ruby's flesh starting to knit back together, and Yang smiled. If it took a Paladin to make sure her sister was alright, then that was what she would get. The woman let out a breath and gave Ruby a happy look, leaning close and saying "Are you feeling-" before her voice was cut off by another shout, and her eyes raced back to the group. She moved quickly, standing back up and stowing the book away again before going for her hammer. She retook it and rushed at Nora, leaving team RWBY, Pyrrha, and Jaune on their own again.

Ruby sprang to her feet and immediately started to spur her team into action. "Come on guys! We have to get her under control! And, as much as I hate to say it, it looks like we won't be able to do that gently." She removed Crescent Rose from her back, and gave a backwards look at the raging girl who had been a close friend a few weeks ago. "Don't worry, I'm sure she can take it."

All six of them moved at once, as a group, to join the Paladins. They had already encircled Nora, and it seemed like they were poised to regain control of the situation, but all of them could feel something in the air that made them feel as if something was just begging to go wrong. None of the Paladins were attacking Nora yet, and Nora seemed temporarily content to remain in the center of the circle and seethe at the others. The Beacon students joined into the circle of Paladins, making it thicker, and Ruby spoke to Solace, saying "How do we calm her down?"

Solace shook his head and said "I'm afraid that we may have to knock her out." He gave the girl a doubtful look, then shrugged his shoulders. "If we can manage it." Ruby closed her fingers tight around the handle of Crescent Rose, and said "We can do it, don't worry. She's strong, but she's wild too. We can use that to our advantage; she leaves herself wide open after every attack. We just need someone to take a hit so that we can get to her. Yang could probably take the hit, but there's no way to guarantee that she wouldn't get hurt so much that she couldn't fight, and if she does that then there's no way to fix her during the fight." Nora made a few eccentric gestures, and Ruby took an involuntary step back. "If we're going to decide, we should probably do it now!"

Solace stepped forward, hefting his hammer up as he did so. "I will be the one to bear the blow." Nora's gaze immediately shot to him, and he spoke quieter over his shoulder "Be ready to strike hard. I will give as many opportunities as I can." The rest of the group agreed, and he stepped forward more, the gap behind him in the circle closing. "Demon" he spoke heavily "leave this girl, or face our holy wrath."

Nora's mouth curled into an unnaturally large smile, and she said "I don't want Tiny to leave me. All I want is Ren. You're the ones who are making me fight." Solace lifted his hammer and shook his head. "Then you make your choice. It is sad indeed."

Suddenly, as if the hammer was weightless, he struck out at her, bringing the head crashing down into the ground in front of her. She leapt back, then charged forwards when Solace left himself open as he pulled his hammer back up. Her hands were outstretched, and her claws extended, ready to turn him to mincemeat. Of all the people to put the plan into action, Jaune had not expected to be the first to hit his friend. He saw the opportunity though, as Nora brought her hands up, and he lunged out, bringing his shield crashing into Nora's ribcage. As he did this, he wasn't thinking about protecting Ren, or getting Nora to be still so she could be healed. He was thinking of Pyrrha, and of the look of bloodlust that had been on Nora's face when she had attacked Pyrrha. He allowed his shield to carry through, pushing her further off course.

Her path disrupted, Nora stumbled to the side, unable to stop. She was just about to topple over when Yang stepped off of the line, bringing her metal left fist up, catching Nora just under the chin. The girl was tossed up in the air, but tucked her knees to her chest in midair, sending herself into a controlled spin. Blake was the next to see on opportunity, and activated her semblance, a brief clone of herself occupying her place as she launched herself into the air. Her bladed sheath sang through the air before connecting with Nora, batting her out of the air and sending her back to the ground.

She hit face-down, and laid still for a moment as she recovered from the series of blows she had suffered. She remained on the ground for just an instant too long, and Solace's hammer, Judgment, came down on the center of her back, making her yelp as another bright flash of light was given off by the strike. Solace stepped back, putting the hammer back over his shoulder and waiting to see if Nora was finished. A tense second of silence followed, then two, then three.

The whole of team RWBY as well as Pyrrha and Jaune were all fairly sure that Nora was not a contortionist. She had demonstrated an impressive level of flexibility before, but they had never seen her do something like what she did now. Instead of pushing herself up to her feet in the somewhat slow, battered manner that they all expected, her back arched in an unnatural way, placing her feet flat on the floor next to her head. There was a series of sickening pops as her muscles pulled her back upright.

Without pause, she picked another target to try and break out of the circle. This target was Jaune. His reflexes were slower than Pyrrha's, and she had barely gotten her shield up in time to protect her from Nora. As such, he wasn't able to save himself.

Nora's long strides carried her shoulder into Jaune's gut, and the two of them traveled several yards before Nora pushed off the ground with her feet and tucked her shoulder towards the ground. Jaune realized what was about to happen just as Nora's weight started to push more into his belly. He cried out, but it was too late for him to be helped. With Nora holding him tightly, there was nothing he could do. He tried to pry her off of him, but it was the same situation as it had been before, she was simply too strong.

As the pair rammed into the ground, Jaune felt his organs pushed out of the way and his ribs crack under the pressure. It was a terrible pain, and his aura did little to dull the feeling. Even worse, the air was forced out of his lungs, and as Nora climbed off of him, he was forced to breathe in the hypnotizing odor that she gave off. He felt his body relax, and he was unable to do anything to stop her as she broke into an all-out sprint towards the room Ren was stored in. All he could do was watch.

The group moved to pursue Nora as best they could, but she moved too quickly. Her pace didn't slow, either, as she neared the wall to Ren's room, and everyone felt a small amount of disbelief about what she was about to do. Nora impacted the wall, body thudding against it hard, before it crumpled under her, and she flew through it. Yang was hot on her heels, though, and she leapt through the hole, shouldering Nora as hard as she could manage.

Nora only caught a brief glimpse of Ren before Yang ran her through the next wall like a bulldozer, bringing them back out into the light of the sun. He had been sitting cross legged, and had a shocked expression on his face. Nora could tell that he was scared. She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn't do that will all of these people attacking her.

Yang's momentum slowed, and she threw Nora off of her before she could grab ahold of anything. The rest of the fighters streamed through the new holes in the walls, again making to surround their target. Nora knew that this would only keep happening and happening if she didn't do something about it, so she had to break the cycle. She had taken Jaune out of the fight, but that wasn't enough.

She thought of what was going on, what was really going on, and felt rage start to boil up inside of her. They were trying to keep her from Ren. They were trying to keep their love apart. That was wrong. The love was hers, not theirs. They couldn't decide what happened to it. Her body started to react to the new anger, and she felt herself grow more powerful, her chest starting to rise and fall more rapidly as she called on Tiny again. It was rare that she ever even had to call for him, he was always in her thoughts already. But when she called, he returned, and started to tell her exactly what she had to do to get Ren back.

Ruby leveled Crescent Rose on Nora, not wanting to have to shoot her, but she was leaving very little choice in the matter. It was clear that she was not going to give up, and now that she had seen Ren, there could be no chances taken. She saw the others ready their ranged weapons as well, Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang. All of them nodded to each other, wordlessly communicating that they all had to fire at the same time.

Ruby took care of the countdown. It had to be fast, while Nora was staying still, and it had to be everything they had. She held up three fingers, then two, then one.

When her last finger fell, the raucous sound of gunfire filled the air. The heavy pounding of Crescent Rose's high caliber bullets, the sharp cracks of Pyrrha's rifle, and the consistent spitting sound of Blake's weapon spewing a thick rain of bullets all melded together in one great orchestra of destruction. There was one projectile missing, though. With her eyes glued on her target, she couldn't look to see what Yang was doing instead of firing, but that didn't stop her from wondering. She blinked, focusing. It didn't matter, all she had to do was to keep hitting her mark.

Nora wasn't nearly as affected as Ruby had thought she would be. Most people, no matter how strong they were, got knocked off their feet by Crescent Rose's fire alone. Nora was reacting, holding her arms in front of her face, and the many dust rounds that assailed her were certainly pounding her aura down, but she didn't show any signs of faltering. In fact, if Ruby didn't know better, she could've sworn that Nora was pushing through their suppressing fire, and walking slowly towards the building. That couldn't be, though. Nora had grown taller lately, yes, but she was still the size and weight of a human. Something had to be anchoring her to the ground, or even pulling her forward.

Her finger depressed Crescent Rose's trigger again, and it clicked empty. She cursed herself for forgetting how many times she had fired, and dropped the current magazine out, fumbling for a new one. As she did so, she looked behind her, and saw Ren standing alone in the hole, his face completely awestruck. She wanted to shout for him to get back inside, to hide, to do anything to get away from Nora, but she doubted that he would listen. His eyes had gotten that glossed-over quality that seemed to accompany Nora's effect.

Finally, after what felt like a painfully long stretch of time and several more magazines, Nora started to wobble uncertainly. In was now that Yang decided to throw in her lot. A fireball, not like the one that they had seen Yang use before, rushed past them and impacted Nora squarely in the face. The thing exploded into a massive blast at least two meters in diameter, blowing Nora backwards and making her skid a fair distance before coming to a rest. The dust settled, and the group started to approach slowly, watching carefully for any sign of movement. There was none.

Solace let his guard fall slightly, breathing heavily as he walked up to the limp body. "I think that's…"he wiped his brow and took a few more deep breaths. "I think that's done it. Paladins, come! We must bind her before she gets up again." The robed individuals obeyed, going to Solace's side and kneeling over Nora. One of them ran quickly back through the hole, ignoring Ren as he went, and quickly returned with a length of chain. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha all backed off now, letting them do what they needed. Their crowding the area would only make it harder for the Paladins.

Ren started to walk out, his steps slow and staggering. No one noticed it at first, but when he made to pass Pyrrha, she put a hand out on his chest and held him back, saying "Ren, what are you doing? You have to get back inside!"

Ren didn't respond, and only tried to keep walking as if Pyrrha wasn't there. A vacant look in his eyes told all of the story that they needed to know. He had fallen under her thrall again. Pyrrha tried for several moments to talk Ren down before he simply started to utter a single word; "Nora… Nora…" in slurred, almost sleeping tones.

It broke the hearts of everyone watching. Even after all that, Nora had enough impact to make Ren act like this. Pyrrha took matters into her own hands, deciding that she'd had enough disappointment for one day. She grabbed Ren and lifted him like a baby, carrying him back into the warehouse. The others followed hesitantly, not sure if they should go with her or continue to watch Nora.

Ren was laid down on the ground near Jaune, and Pyrrha sat next to them, watching the two with soft eyes. Ren tried to get up several times, but each time he did, Pyrrha pushed him back down gently, saying "Ren, you have to stay here."

The others felt worried, not only for Nora, or for Ren, but for Pyrrha as well. The battle had taken every one of her teammates, at least temporarily, and she was now acting very strange. Ruby knelt down next to her, and spoke in a cautious voice. "Hey, Pyrrha, are you alright? You're, uh…" she looked at the two incapacitated boys "You did well out there. You should feel proud."

Pyrrha gave a small laugh and rolled her eyes, saying "Yes, I suppose I should." She blinked, and a small river of tears started to run down her face. "But I didn't do well enough, it seems." She gestured to Jaune, then to Ren. "Both of them can't do anything, and Nora…" she made a wild gesture behind her "…and I didn't even notice. Not until it was too late. I should have…" her hand went to her mouth, and she said in a muffled voice "I should have done more. Fought harder. Talked to Ozpin sooner. Anything!"

Ruby put a hand on the girl's back, saying "Hey, we all feel that way. You just have to have faith that-" Ruby was cut off by a massive tearing sound, and panicked shouting. In an instant, all of them were back on their feet, facing where Nora had been. Where there had been a cluster of Paladins, there was now only one, the rest having been knocked away from Nora, and now being on the ground. The chain that had been used to bind Nora was now in her hands, pulling it taught. It was wrapped in a circular fashion around the neck of the Paladin, and from the distance they were at, they could just see that it was the woman who had healed Ruby. She was clawing at the steel links, trying to get them away from her throat and allow her to breathe again. It was a fruitless struggle. Nora was too strong, and the chain was too thick. She put a hand out, as if begging for help, then turned to a ragdoll. Ruby drew in a sharp breath, horror overtaking her for a brief moment. Nora let the chain loosen, allowing the limp body of the woman to slump over, then started to charge back at them.

As she ran, the chain flared up behind her, and all of them could see that it was nearly three times the length of her body. She held it tightly, and the look on her face clearly said that she was ready to do whatever she had to in order to get to Ren. None of them wanted to imagine what that chain would feel like if it were to hit them, but they were all well aware that with the strength she had displayed so far, combined with the material properties of the chain, that it would break their bones easily of their auras faltered. They would have to be sure to keep their guard up, and guard Ren as well as they could. Nora moved almost as fast as Ruby could, steam rising off her skin as the temperature below it rose above the boiling point.

As she drew closer, Nora's pace slowed to a walk. The chain dragged behind her, and Ruby could feel the group's collective breathing sharpen. Nora knew exactly what she was doing, to say the least. She knew exactly how to unnerve them. Her hips swayed in a way that even Ruby found vaguely hypnotic, but when Ruby shook herself out of it, she was even more disturbed that she had let her focus fade enough to let that happen.

The chain made an uneven scraping noise on the ground as it followed behind its wielder. Her tongue flicked out across her teeth, and the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile. There was a hungry look in her eyes, like she was looking at a meal she couldn't wait to dig in to. Ruby wondered if Nora planned to eat them. It would certainly fit her new behavior.

Nora continued to close the gap, and when she got into range with her new weapon, she started to swing it, making the chain fly wildly through the air, the sound of it rushing through the air filling the warehouse. As she continued to gain ground, Ruby narrowed her eyes, trying to see any kind of weakness. She was erratic and without care, but was she so strong that this didn't matter? Their best volley had failed to do anything against her in the long run, the several hits she had already taken that would've been enough to kill a Deathstalker hadn't done anything, it seemed that they were out of options.

She hefted Crescent Rose up, saying "Get ready to fight!" Her cry was worthless, though, as all of her friends were already prepared. "Ice flower!" Without hesitation, Weiss jumped to her side, and she gave her scythe a twirl, landing its blade solidly in the ground and angling the gun just right so that it would be able to hit. Weiss made a gesture with her blade, and several white spinning glyphs appeared in the air in front of Crescent Rose's barrel. If Nora knew what this would do, she gave no indication. Ruby pulled the trigger, and the ice-infused bullets zipped to their target, causing large clusters of ice to form on her body, slowing her down. Ruby tried to aim for the joints so that Nora would be slowed, and was mostly able to make her marks.

The first place that was hit was Nora's right shoulder. She dropped her shoulder back as the bullet collided, and ice locked the arm in place. She could break it, but it would take more effort than it was worth. Her body would take care of the problem naturally. As other clusters of ice sprang off of her clothing and flesh, the immense temperature of her body started to melt it. In seconds, all the ice of the first cluster that had held it on her had melted, and the clusters fell to the ground, shattering. Ruby got a shocked look on her face, and Nora swung at her with the chain. If it weren't for Weiss grabbing her hood and leaping back, the series of steel links would have lashed her squarely across the face, likely knocking out more than a few teeth and breaking her jaw. She was only just able to keep a grip on her weapon, pulling it along with her.

Nora reached the point where she was far too close, and Pyrrha lost her patience. It was clear that team RWBY was going to be unable to stall Nora for any significant amount of time, at least without sustaining considerable losses. She on the other hand, might be able to keep her former friend at bay. She was using a chain, and chains were metal. If she could touch it, she could probably manipulate it magnetically, disarming or possible incapacitating Nora. The only problem was that there didn't seem to be any safe way to make contact. Nora's arm worked constantly to keep the chain a whirling metal threat, and she knew that if she got too close the chain would only bend around her shield and hit her. But she had to do something. She couldn't simply stand by anymore.

She gave Miló a small spin, turning it to its spear form, and brought Akoúo̱ up to defend herself. The two had never failed her before, and she needed them now more than ever. With moderately slow and cautious steps, she approached, looking for an opportunity that might allow her to thrust in with the spear and knock Nora off balance. Nora's eyes locked with hers, and she felt a kind of revulsion at the menacing gaze. Even if now was not the time for guilt, she felt it.

"Nora, please, just give up." Her voice was pleading, but her body was ready to fight. Her mind was reeling from the outlandish situation, but her instincts guided her hands. Nora opened her mouth to respond, and her voice seemed to be distorted somehow, deeper and sharper. "Come on Pyrrha. I love him, and you can't keep us apart! If that meant I have to go through you, I-" Pyrrha cut her off with a sudden thrust, catching even herself off-guard.

For one brief, terrifying moment, she had thought that she had missed her mark. Her spear was wide away from Nora, and she felt almost no feedback from the shaft of the weapon. Then a sudden strong pull informed her that something had happened. She allowed her gaze to drift to the spearhead, and she found that somehow, she had managed to stab at just the right time, in just the right spot, putting Miló's head straight through three different chain links, each one at different intervals along the chain. In effect, the chain was now much shorter ranged, if not useless. Pyrrha had to make a choice now, though. She could touch it, then wrestle the spear back, or she could leave it, and deprive Nora of an effective weapon. Her hand went out to touch the chain, and she resigned herself to not having a weapon. She didn't need it anyways, if she could control the chain itself. It pained her to give up her main means of helping guard Ren, but if it made the enemy less dangerous, she had to do it.

Nora ripped the chain out of Pyrrha's hands and started to swing it again. While its range was now much diminished, there were now three different loops of chain flying around, which meant three times the weight behind each blow. It would be easier to defend against, though. She got a first-hand experience with this as it came crashing down on top of her. Akoúo̱ was able to block the majority of this, but the end of the chain, slightly longer than any of the loops, was able to whip around and hit her wrist. Her aura negated most of the damage, but a bruise started to form almost immediately.

Weiss took advantage of Nora's attention being elsewhere and with the help of a glyph propelling her towards her target, she lunged out, long ponytail of white hair trailing behind her. When she made contact, Nora was thrown several feet back, and reeled unsteadily backwards. Yang saw her opportunity, and leapt as hard as the muscles in her legs would allow, felling a few of the ligaments tear from the stress. She crossed the distance though, and metal fist hit demonic face in a display like something from a cartoon. The angle of the hit ensured that Nora was knocked to the ground, and Yang made sure to follow Nora down the whole way until her knuckles felt the resistance of Nora's head pushing against the ground.

Pyrrha saw that it was her time to move, and ran as quickly as she could to Nora's downed side. Acting as quickly as she could, she used her semblance to pull Miló from the chain, then let it fall to the floor, putting her entire attention to the chain itself. Managing to have such complete control of an object was very strenuous for her, but the knowledge that this could be the only way to stop Nora was more than enough encouragement for her to take the risk. The chain slithered up like a snake, then began encircling Nora, a black outline seeming to settle over the thing. As it wound its way around the girl, Yang lifted her fist off of her face, revealing a bloodied and broken nose underneath and eyes closed peacefully, as if she were asleep.

They all felt relief when Nora stayed still. The chain continued to wrap around, until one side met with the other, and Pyrrha slid her weapon back through, locking the chain in place. There was a sigh from all around when the spear slid through the links, and all seemed well.

Another wave of disgusting red air passed through the building from outside, and a strong wind accompanied it, howling in their ears for a brief moment. Nora's eyes flicked open, and every muscle in her body tensed as she let out a horrible, tearing screech. Everyone's hands went to their ears, but the sound suddenly became muted. Ruby raised an eyebrow, removing her hands, and noticed that the scream was now only about the volume of a whisper.

She felt a strange warmth on her fingers. She looked down at them, and gasped when she saw blood. It was no wonder she couldn't hear anything; she had been deafened. The only thing she was able to think was "I hope this isn't permanent" before Nora convulsed again, and an explosion seemed to emit out of her, tossing Ruby into the air. Her vision faded as well, and she never felt herself hit the ground.

Yang twisted in the air and landed on her feet, putting a hand to her ears and experimentally putting a finger in the hole. When she drew it out, there was an oddly colored fluid dripping off. Everything seemed quieter, but she could still hear. Her attention was drawn back to Nora as she got off the ground. Yang broke into a sprint, trying to reach Ren before Nora did. She was too fast though, and scooped him off the ground before Yang would reach them.

When it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to catch them, she decided to try Ember Celia to slow them down. She aimed at Nora's feet as she ran back towards the holes, but the bright dust rounds couldn't catch her either, slamming into the floor around her but not hitting her.

Nora disappeared around a corner, and when Yang reached the hole, there was no trace of her. She knew that alone she wouldn't stand a chance of catching Nora, and started thinking about who could. Naze, possibly Ozpin, possibly Ironwood…

Her gaze drifted down to herself, and she noticed shattered steel links of chain poking out from her torso and abdomen, embedded deeply by raw force. Absentmindedly she picked a few out, tossing them to the ground, before her eyes widened and she thought of something else. If she had been hit by flak of the chain exploding, the others might have been to.

She sprinted back to her downed comrades, and drew out her scroll to call for help.

Whether the White Fang were driven by the demonic energy of the artifact or pure rage was unclear, but they had certainly demonstrated either courage or stupidity by continuing to throw themselves at their goal. There were around two hundred zombies now, battling their living brethren and doing a fairly good job of keeping them at bay. Their numbers were running low now, and he could see that their attack was faltering.

Ironwood's men had completely evacuated, leaving the scene in Bullheads that took them back towards their main airship. If the White Fang had the capability to shoot them down, they didn't show it. In fact, Naze was starting to believe that their goal was not to take the artifact anymore. The once organized waves of troops were now little more than frenzied crowds. He had spied Torchwick at one point, egging on a group into a charge before dropping out and moving to another one, repeating this process over and over.

The blood-soaked battlefield was certainly not a boring place. Everywhere, someone was dying a horrific death, and many were being pulled back from that death to spread more of it. Most forces, no matter how disciplined, would flee in a situation like this. But they didn't. Perhaps he had underestimated the leading capabilities of Cinder. He doubted that, though.

His attention briefly went to his orb of control, and he saw that Nora was embattled with the groups from Beacon, teams RWBY and JNPR. His puppet body was close, but focusing enough to do battle with a demon-possessed individual like Nora was not a strong option right now. He had instructed his mages to begin the teleportation process, taking the artifact back to the ziggurat, but the charging of the runes took time. So it was that he was still there, felling White Fang after White Fang with the unholy power of death itself. He might've complained, if there wouldn't be a massive profit in raw corpses. They could always use more meat.

It came as a surprise when the artifact let off a second blast of demonic energy, and the gears in his head had immediately shifted direction. There was a rip now, between his world and hell. The fabric between the two had thinned dangerously, and he could practically feel the hordes of demons clawing at it, and he knew that it was about time to leave.

When the veil between the two spilt, he didn't want to be anywhere close. The sheer number of demons that would spill out would be far too numerous to combat, and defeating them wouldn't close the rift. Withdrawing would make the most sense, and would result in no loss other than the material used to construct the extractor. Yes, the White Fang could have thing if they wanted it so much, and would be ripped to shreds for their trouble. He would be abandoning the corpses, but they weren't worth the trouble either. The only sensical thing to do would be pull out. Because of the easy access they had to the rune of translocation, they could withdraw easily.

He issued the command for his death knights and mages to return, and started to double the numbers of zombies. They would make excellent cover for their escape. One by one, the warriors and scholars stood upon the rune and disappeared in a flash of light. Just before Naze followed them, he looked back behind him as an unearthly sucking sound filled the air.

In the space above the artifact, reality had started to be rent asunder. He quickened his pace, and just as he returned to the rune, he saw the gaunt, spindly form of a pink and fleshy gargoyle-like thing emerge. It pointed a long beak at him, and dark squinting eyes locked with his for a brief moment. It was a weak demon, and when it saw the void of soul that Naze embodied, it shrank back in a brief fit of fear before looking to the sides and picking another target. It was immediately followed by six more, and another pack started to follow.

The world slashed, and Naze was returned to his home, the rune of translocation disappearing behind him. Back in safety, he immediately started to think about what he would have to do to contain the damage a demonic rift could cause. With no gods to fight them, the demons wouldn't have much resistance.

Cinder watch from afar as the monsters tore into the forces that had served her loyally. So many had already died, and now the rest would follow. She didn't feel remorse, though, as she could already feel the power that had been promised to her entering into her system. Her thoughts sped, and her body almost seemed to grow.

Roman and Neo were by her side. She was not foolish enough to sacrifice them. As far as pawns went, they were some of the most useful. She could feel that both were transfixed by the carnage before them, but she didn't want to spend the time waiting. She turned her back on the slaughter and stated walking away, saying "Come on now. We have other business to tend to."

There was a brief moment of hesitation, then Roman followed, saying "Uh, I don't know if you've noticed, but we still don't have the red spiky thing. I mean, I'm all for leaving as fast as possible, but wasn't that the whole point here?" Cinder smiled over her shoulder. "Roman, you'll know what you need-" he finished the sentence for her "-When you need to know it, yeah. But do you even know what those things were? I mean, what if they follow us?"

Cinder's smile widened as she thought about the deal she and the voice behind the artifact had reached. "Maybe they will. Maybe that's exactly what we need."