They were close enough, but also too close to risk unnecessary movement without preparation.
Clover gave the order, and the team moved with well practiced efficiency. A small base was built to protect them from the lava and anchors were deployed across the jagged surface of their current mountain with a faint pulse of light that felt strangely out of place in this molten, shadow-drenched landscape. The devices hummed softly as they synchronized, locking their position into the network that bridged this world and reality.
A foothold that was temporary and fragile, but necessary.
Jaune watched as the researchers finalized the calibration, their hands moving with precision despite the oppressive pressure that still lingered in the air. Even here, even at this distance, Velik's domain pressed against them like an ever-present tide.
It was quieter now due the protection of their Stalker friend's own domain, but it had not vanished. Jaune shifted slightly, rolling his shoulders as if he could physically shake off the sensation.
It didn't help.
His thoughts drifted back to the extraction device.
He still didn't understand it.
Earlier, he had asked Qrow how exactly they were supposed to remove something like the Gheist from a soul fragment. The man had given him a look that was equal parts tired and dismissive before shrugging it off.
Too much technical nonsense, he had said.
Something about filtration and separating impurities from a core structure. Words that sounded meaningful but carried no real weight to someone who wasn't buried neck-deep in research jargon.
In simple terms, it was supposed to pull the parasite away from the soul like drawing poison out of a wound.
Simple, in theory but this wasn't poison. This was a Rank 3 Grimm. His gaze drifted, landing briefly on their Formless Stalker companion.
It hovered at a distance, its amorphous body shifting slowly as it observed both the team and the distant figure of Velik's fragment. Despite everything, it made no move to approach.
It simply… watched.
That, more than anything, unsettled Jaune.
Earlier, when Team 1 had first established a base back in the forest, there had been a brief window where a portal to reality had opened right in front of it.
If the creature truly was as curious about humans as it claimed, it should have tried to cross but curiously enough, it didn't. Not even a tentative attempt.
It had remained where it was, content to observe them from afar.
Helpful and cooperative.
Curious.
And yet…
Jaune didn't trust it.
He couldn't.
Gula was different. Even in its current dormant state, Jaune understood it. He had seen its nature, felt its intent and traced the contours of its existence through the strange connection they shared of having the same body.
The Stalker?
It was a closed book written in a language he barely understood. Its curiosity felt genuine, but curiosity itself wasn't harmless.
Curiosity could dissect and consume.
For now, though, there was no choice.
If the creature had ulterior motives, they would reveal themselves in time. Until then, it remained an ally by necessity.
Jaune shook his head forced his focus back to the present.
The beacon pulsed once and space twisted.
A ripple formed in the air above the anchored point, spreading outward like a stone dropped into invisible water. The distortion deepened, folding in on itself until a portal tore open, its edges shimmering with controlled instability.
From within, the extraction device emerged.
Or rather, its shadow.
Jaune watched it descend, his brow furrowing slightly despite himself. Even now, even after everything he had seen, the sight didn't make sense.
It was a perfect replica, yet not.
The device resembled a large cannon, its frame sleek yet heavy, built with purpose rather than elegance. At its center ran a long, glass-like tube, translucent and faintly glowing with a muted internal light.
But it wasn't glass and it wasn't light.
Even without trying, his weakness sense brushed against it.
Dense.
That was the only word that came to mind.
An absurdly concentrated mass of runic energy that sat within that central chamber, layered and compressed to a degree that made his instincts prickle. It wasn't chaotic, but structured and controlled with such surgical precision that it was simply downright astounding.
Creation.
Even if the device was in shadow form, the influence of the Supreme Rune was unmistakable. It didn't matter that this wasn't the original object.
It would function the same. That alone spoke volumes about the nature of the power behind it.
The device touched down with a soft, heavy thud.
For a moment, no one moved, then Qrow stepped forward.
He reached out without hesitation, gripping the frame of the cannon with familiarity. The moment his hands settled on it, he adjusted his stance slightly, testing its weight. It looked somewhat comical given the size of the device versus his own size, but he was still strong enough to lift it. Jaune could feel him subtly using his Crow Rune's runic energy to increase his strength, enough to lift it.
Having no body stat in the Shadow realm was problematic in its own rights.
"Alright," he said. "Let's move."
The shift was immediate.
Rank 2s straightened and their expressions hardened. The folk from menagerie were especially serious. The air itself seemed to tighten as intent replaced preparation.
Their formless stalker friend chimed in.
"Would you like me to come with you?"
Clover glanced at it warily.
"Are you capable of blocking Velik's domain here or do you need to come closer?"
"I am capable of blocking it here. The distance to his fragment, doesn't matter."
"Then, its fine. Don't worry about it, we'll handle it. Could I trouble you to look after them?" Clover jerked his head at the Rank 1's.
"Very well."
Qrow gave the stalker a nod while Clover said his thanks before moving on towards the fragment. While the Rank 2's were moving forwards, something tugged Jaune's awareness.
An emotional current that didn't match the rest of the Rank 2's.
He turned his head.
Cinder.
She stood among them with her posture somewhat odd in a way that didn't quite align with the situation. Around her, the others radiated focus, tension, readiness.
Her?
Different.
Through his weakness sense, her emotions bled through in an odd shade. Not fear or even the controlled caution the others carried.
There was something else. A quiet anticipation. And beneath it, something sharper.
Jaune's eyes narrowed slightly.
As if sensing his attention, Cinder turned and their gazes met. For a brief moment, the world seemed to narrow to that single point of contact.
Then she smiled. Just a small, knowing curve of her lips that lingered for a fraction too long.
Her eyes held his, then she looked away. Something about that exchange felt… odd.
Ahead, the Rank 2s continued forward, closing the distance between themselves and the distant storm of Velik's fragment. Their figures grew smaller against the vastness of the mountain as they advanced, the extraction device carried steadily at the center of their formation.
Behind them, the Rank 1s remained. Jaune came to a stop, watching as the gap widened. This was as far as they went.
A silent understanding passed through the group.
This part wasn't theirs.
The moment stretched, fragile and quiet, as the Rank 1s stood at the edge of something far beyond them.
Then it broke.
"Wait."
The voice cut through the air, sharp with confusion.
Jaune turned immediately. The senior researcher stood near one of the anchored beacons, her expression tightly drawn in uncertainty.
"What's wrong?" Jaune asked, already moving toward her.
The rest of the Rank 1s followed, drawn by the shift in tone alone. In a place like this, nothing unusual was ever harmless.
The researcher crouched beside the device, her fingers hovering just above its surface as if she did not quite want to touch it.
"This beacon…" she said slowly, her voice measured but strained. "This isn't LUCID tech."
Jaune blinked.
That didn't make sense.
He stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he examined it for himself. At first glance, it looked identical to the others. Same structure and same faint pulsing light with a hum threading through the air as it synced with the network.
But the longer he looked, the more the differences began to emerge.
Subtle and almost imperceptible.
The lines were slightly off. The glow was just a shade too dim. The rhythm of its pulse didn't quite match the others.
It was some sort of perfect imitation.
The researcher shook her head slowly, disbelief creeping into her voice. "I personally checked every beacon before deployment. Every single one. This wasn't here before."
A chill crept down Jaune's spine.
Behind them, their Formless Stalker drifted closer. Several tendrils extended from its mass, each tipped with a pale eye that focused on the device.
"How curious," it murmured into their minds. "This one is indeed different from the others."
Jaune glanced at it sharply. "You can tell?"
The tendrils shifted, all of their eyes turning toward him in unison.
"I can sense it," the creature replied. "Most shadows fall within my awareness. This construct… is resonating differently."
A pause.
Then, more pointedly, "The location it connects to is not the same as the others."
Jaune froze. For a single heartbeat, his mind refused to process the implication. Then it hit and his eyes widened as the realization detonated through his thoughts.
"Shit—!"
Jaune surged forward, his shadow body snapping into motion as he lunged for the beacon. His hand came up, power flaring as he prepared to shatter it before whatever it was connected to could fully manifest.
But it was too late.
A pulse of energy erupted from the beacon and tore through the air like a shockwave, slamming into Jaune mid-motion.
He didn't even feel the impact properly.
The force threw him back along with every other Rank 1, as their bodies lifted and were hurled like ragdolls across the jagged surface of the mountain. Fortunately, tendrils of shadow rose from the ground to catch them and stabilize them, born from the Formless Stalker.
However, the air itself seemed to have fractured as the blast expanded outward, ripping through the fragile calm they had built. Space had been torn open, and above the beacon, a new portal formed.
Not the controlled, stable gateway of LUCID.
This one was jagged and violent. Its edges writhed as if struggling to contain what pushed through from the other side.
And then they came.
Figures stepped through the distortion, one after another, their forms silhouetted against the warped light of the portal. Grimm masks covered their faces, each one unique, grotesque and inhuman.
Their presence hit like a second shockwave.
Runic energy bled from them in suffocating waves, thick and oppressive, like standing too close to a live reactor.
Jaune didn't need anyone to say it.
Sleepless.
At the front stood a very tall and muscular man, his posture relaxed in a way that made it infinitely more threatening. His gaze, though hidden by a mask swept across the area with casual indifference, settling briefly on the distant figure of Velik's fragment and the Formless Stalker hovering in the air.
Jaune's breath hitched. This man. The leader. He recognized him from his time in Belmont. It was that man with the catastrophically powerful rune that could turn him into a flesh monster. The one responsible for all of those deaths!
The man turned slightly and addressing another man at his side.
"You're up."
The man he spoke to stepped forward.
A mane of brown hair spilled out from behind his Grimm mask, but it was the feeling that made Jaune's instincts scream. Power coiled around him, dense and suffocating, pressing against the world like a second atmosphere.
A domain!
The man nodded once and vanished. Jaune's eyes snapped toward their Stalker friend. The man reappeared directly in front of it.
A claw of golden energy erupted from his arm, blazing into existence with blinding intensity. It was heavy and condensed, like a weapon forged from pure force.
Then he struck and the impact was instantaneous. The moment the claw collided with the Stalker's form, and the world ceased to exist.
Sound disappeared and light collapsed, as everything detonated. The mountain beneath them exploded from the sheer force of the strike. The shockwave obliterated the peak, sending stone, shadow and molten debris outward in a cataclysmic eruption. The shockwave tore through the area, ripping across the terrain with unstoppable violence.
When Jaune felt it hit him, he could only describe it as being caught in the blast of a nuclear detonation.
His body was thrown through the air, control ripped away completely as the world spun into chaos around him. Heat, pressure and force collided all at once, overwhelming his senses.
His vision flickered as half his body disintegrated under the sheer force of the impact, torn apart as if it had never existed. The sensation was distant and almost unreal, his mind struggling to catch up with what had already occurred.
Around him, the others fared no better. Two figures from Atlas were caught directly in the blast.
Jaune saw them and for a single, frozen moment, they were erased. Their bodies burst apart under the overwhelming force, reduced to nothing in the span of a heartbeat.
The air filled with shadow debris and fragments of stone spinning wildly as gravity reasserted itself.
And then they began to fall. Jaune's remaining senses struggled to orient.
The sky above and the shattered remains of the mountain. The distant figure of Velik, still standing unmoved within the storm of his own domain and the look of horror on the Rank 2's faces
Then, Jaune looked below.
The lava.