"Dismantle."
With a single word, the Nevermore's head was severed from its body.
There wasn't even a visible weapon.
The massive Grimm's head simply flew from its body as if an invisible blade had passed straight through its neck. Its enormous corpse collapsed onto the arena floor a moment later, dissolving into black smoke and ash.
For a brief moment, the entire Colosseum went silent.
Then the civilians started screaming again. Killing the Nevermore hadn't calmed them down. If anything, it had made things worse.
The massive Grimm had been terrifying enough on its own, but watching someone kill a creature that large with nothing more than a single word was something completely different.
"What... was that?"
"Did he just kill it with his Semblance?"
"He didn't even move!"
"That's Danger Level Seven..."
Their voices spread through the crowd as more and more people began to fear him.
What normal person could kill a Nevermore that massive with a single word?
Even veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses would have trouble taking down a Grimm of that size so quickly.
The fact that Tsutsumi didn't even need to draw a weapon only made things worse.
To the civilians watching, he didn't look like a student anymore. He looked like something that was just as dangerous, if not even more dangerous, than the Grimm attacking them.
Suddenly, several dozen lockers fell from the sky.
They crashed into the arena around Tsutsumi like artillery shells, slamming into the ground hard enough to shake the surrounding area.
The metal doors opened, revealing weapons belonging to the students who had been evacuated from the Colosseum.
Nora immediately recognized hers.
"Finally!"
She grabbed Magnhild without hesitation.
Ren quickly retrieved Stormflower as well, checking the weapon before turning his attention back toward the battlefield.
The others weren't so quick to move. Some students reached toward their lockers, only to stop when they noticed Tsutsumi standing nearby.
Like the others, they were afraid of him. Even with Grimm invading the arena, they weren't sure whether approaching him was a good idea.
Tsutsumi didn't seem to notice or care.
Before anyone could say anything, several large winged Grimm descended into the arena.
Their talons struck the ground as the creatures spread their wings and screeched.
"Gryphons..." Ren muttered, raising Stormflower.
More of them began landing around the arena.
Then something much larger stepped forward.
At first glance, it resembled the other Gryphons, but its body was considerably larger and more muscular. A long, twisted horn rose from the center of its grotesque face, almost resembling two horns that had been twisted together into one.
Ren's expression tightened. "That's an Alpha."
The Grimm let out a deep roar, glaring down at them with its crimson eyes.
"Uniskorn," Tsutsumi identified calmly.
The Alpha Gryphon charged forward.
"RIS formation." Tsutsumi gave the command and instantly stepped back.
Nora immediately understood.
"Got it!" She charged straight toward the Grimm, Magnhild raised high above her head. "COME ON!"
Her roar drew the attention of every Gryphon around them.
The Grimm turned toward her and roared back.
Only for crimson arrows to suddenly fly through the air. They pierced through the wings of several Gryphons, pinning them down before they could take flight.
At almost the exact same moment, sharp cuts appeared across their leg joints.
The combination completely destroyed their mobility.
Nora took advantage of the opening. She swung Magnhild down with all her strength.
The hammer crashed into the Uniskorn with a deafening impact that echoed throughout the arena like a thunderbolt.
The Alpha Grimm staggered from the blow, momentarily stunned.
The weaker Gryphons didn't even have time to react. An invisible slash passed through one of them, cleanly splitting its body apart. Another tried to take flight, only for a blade to suddenly pierce through its throat. Ren pulled his dagger back immediately and leaped away before the Grimm could retaliate.
"Nora!"
"On it!"
Nora shifted Magnhild into its launcher configuration and fired. The grenade slammed into the Uniskorn's body before exploding in a brilliant flash. The Alpha Grimm staggered again, its vision temporarily overwhelmed by the blast.
It let out a furious and painful roar.
Final Attack Ride:
A series of enormous golden cards suddenly appeared in the air. They formed a straight line toward the stunned Uniskorn.
De-De-De-Decade!
Tsutsumi leaped upward, performing his rider kick. He passed through the row of cards one after another. Accelerating through each one until his body became little more than a blur.
He emerged directly from the final card in front of the Uniskorn.
His foot slammed into the Grimm's head.
The impact crushed its skull before Tsutsumi's momentum carried him straight through the creature.
He landed cleanly on the other side. Behind him, the massive Grimm staggered for a moment before its body began dissolving into black smoke.
Tsutsumi straightened himself and looked around. Only then did he realize something was wrong.
"Where's Pyrrha?"
Nora blinked.
"She-" She looked around, not spotting the redhead that had just been beside them a few minutes ago.
"Huh?" She searched the arena, her expression becoming more confused. "Wasn't she just with us?"
Ren looked around as well. He hadn't noticed her leaving either.
"She should have been right here."
"We should look for her," Ren suggested. "We're a team. We can't just leave one of us behind."
Tsutsumi was about to answer. Then another screech echoed through the arena.
Everyone looked up; more Grimm were approaching.
Flying Grimm of different shapes and sizes began appearing above the Colosseum, filling the sky as they descended toward the battlefield.
...
A few moments earlier, while Nora and Ren had charged forward to deal with the incoming Grimm, Pyrrha was preparing to follow them.
She barely had time to take her first step before a glowing white magic circle suddenly appeared beneath her feet.
The circle activated without her or anyone noticing, and in the chaos, light surrounded her body before she vanished completely.
It happened so quickly that neither Nora nor Ren noticed anything was wrong. With Grimm attacking from every direction and the entire arena descending into chaos, Pyrrha's sudden disappearance was almost impossible to notice.
"What the...?"
Pyrrha blinked several times.
Her body felt strangely disoriented; as if she had just been dropped somewhere without any warning, the nausea from dimensional travel caused her mind to scramble; it was like getting a terrible case of car sickness.
Still, she quickly calmed her breathing, pushed through the nausea, and tried to focus on her current surroundings.
She looked around; her hands also moved to feel her surroundings.
Dark metal surrounded her. She was trapped inside some kind of metal container, with barely enough room for her to move.
This didn't make any sense to her; one moment, she had been standing behind her teammates. The next, there was nothing there.
"Hey! What is going on? Where is this?!" Her voice echoed inside the cramped space.
She immediately placed both hands against the metal walls and tried to push herself free with her semblance, yet nothing happened.
Pyrrha's breathing became faster.
Trapped inside some kind of metal box with absolutely no idea how she had gotten there.
"Let me out!"
She struck the metal again before noticing a small window built into the side of the container.
The glass was thick and reinforced, but it was still large enough for her to see through.
Pyrrha slowly looked outside; her emerald green eyes scanned the place before her expression changed.
She knew this place. She was just here not too long ago. This was the same underground facility Headmaster Ozpin had shown her. The place where she had learned the truth about the Maidens. Where she had seen Amber, the current Fall Maiden, lying unconscious inside her own containment system.
"No..."
She slowly backed away from the window, her back pressing against the metal wall; the coldness of the metal touching her skin, she bit her lips; the sense of iron filling her mouth was more proof to her that everything around her was very real.
Why was she here?
She was supposed to be in the arena fighting alongside her team.
She had no idea how she had been brought here, and the fact that she had been taken without anyone noticing made the situation even worse.
Only then did she notice that she wasn't alone.
A figure dressed in a white robe stood nearby. Their face was hidden behind an orange, gemstone-like mask, making it impossible to see their expression.
Pyrrha immediately moved toward the small window.
"Who are you?!"
The masked man, Wiseman, calmly looked in her direction. His attention shifted toward the controls before him, and he pressed a button.
The equipment surrounding the sarcophagus immediately came to life.
Lights flickered on.
Pyrrha reacted on instinct. She slammed both hands against the metal frame and activated her Semblance again.
Polarity surged through the surrounding metal.
Normally, moving something like this would have been easy for her; however, nothing happened once more.
From outside, a magical ring had already formed around the metal sarcophagus containing Pyrrha. The magical ring seemed to suppress her Semblance, preventing her from manipulating the metal itself.
"What is this?!"
Pyrrha struck the metal again, her arms struck the metal again and again. Yet no matter how hard she hit or how much effort she put in with her Semblance, she couldn't break out.
"Who are you?!" Pyrrha demanded, her heartbeat rapidly increasing. "What is going on?! Where is Professor Ozpin?!"
Wiseman remained silent for several seconds, looking straight up at her, then he finally spoke.
"We don't have much time anymore."
His voice was calm; there wasn't much, if any, emotion in it. If anything, there was genuine regret.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Nikos."
Pyrrha froze at his words, the voice sounding identical to the Headmaster of Beacon Academy.
Then she suddenly felt something pressing down into her aura, causing her eyes to widen, feeling something strange starting to invade her.
"No... Stop!"
She pushed against the restraints again.
"Professor Ozpin?!" She called out, the pressure and weight pressing down on her entire body.
The masked figure didn't answer after being called out. Instead, Wiseman slowly lifted his gaze toward Pyrrha Nikos and the unconscious Amber.
...
Near one of the exits of the arena, several Atlesian Knights were desperately trying to hold their position as they fired their rifles toward a massive Nevermore flying above them.
The enormous Grimm circled around the arena before suddenly swooping down, its massive wings creating enough wind to knock several of the Knights off balance as it opened its talons and dropped something from high above.
A large, heavily built Alpha Beowolf crashed into the ground below with enough force to send dust and debris flying into the air, and before the Atlesian Knights could even figure out what had just happened, the Nevermore pulled back into the sky and flew away to search for another target.
The Alpha Beowolf slowly pushed itself back onto its feet, shaking off the impact before letting out a deep growl and immediately charging toward the nearest Knight.
The Atlesian soldiers opened fire, bullets striking against the Grimm's body as it continued moving forward without slowing down.
One of the Knights tried to keep his distance while firing, but the Alpha Beowolf closed the gap far too quickly and slammed its arm into him, sending the machine flying across the floor. Another Knight stepped forward and fired directly into its chest, only for the Grimm to grab the machine and throw it aside before turning toward another target.
The remaining Knights continued firing, but the Alpha Beowolf was simply too strong for them to stop, ripping through the mechanical soldiers one after another as their metallic bodies were thrown across the battlefield.
A family trying to evacuate noticed what was happening and immediately began moving in the opposite direction, hoping the Grimm would remain distracted long enough for them to get past.
The father held tightly onto his children's hands while their mother stayed close behind them, repeatedly looking over her shoulder to make sure the creature wasn't following. They had almost made it past when the Alpha Beowolf finished off the last Atlesian Knight and slowly turned its head toward them.
The family froze in fear.
The Alpha Beowolf stared at them for several seconds before beginning to walk in their direction. Its heavy footsteps echoed through the area as the father instinctively stepped in front of his wife and children, even though he knew there was very little he could do against something like that.
The children were beginning to panic, and their mother tried to keep them quiet as the Grimm continued approaching, its claws dragging against the ground while it prepared to attack.
A gunshot suddenly rang out. The bullet struck the Alpha Beowolf in the back, causing it to stop in its tracks.
The Grimm slowly turned around and saw General James Ironwood standing several meters away with his weapon drawn, his expression cold and focused as he aimed directly at it.
"Over here."
The Alpha Beowolf snarled before lowering its body and charging straight toward him.
Ironwood didn't wait for it to reach him.
He charged forward as well, firing several more shots from his weapon as he ran. The bullets slammed into the Grimm's side and shoulder, forcing it to stagger slightly and howl in pain as it tried to protect the wounded area. Despite that, it still refused to stop and swung its massive arm toward Ironwood with enough force to send him flying if the attack connected.
Ironwood raised his right arm and caught the attack.
The impact forced him to slide backward several feet, his boots scraping against the ground, but he managed to hold his position. The Alpha Beowolf growled and tried to overpower him, only for Ironwood to tighten his grip around its arm.
"You should have picked someone else."
Ironwood suddenly pulled.
Using the Grimm's own momentum against it, he lifted the massive creature off the ground and threw it over his head. The Alpha Beowolf crashed into the ground behind him with a heavy impact that cracked the surface beneath its body, but Ironwood didn't give it a chance to recover. He immediately turned around, stepped forward, and planted his foot against the Grimm's chest, pinning it down before raising his weapon.
The Alpha Beowolf struggled beneath him, its claws scraping against the ground as it tried to push itself free.
Ironwood fired repeatedly. The shots struck the Grimm directly in the head, and its body immediately began breaking apart into black particles before completely disintegrating.
Ironwood lowered his weapon and looked toward the family that had been caught in the middle of the fight.
"Move!" he ordered.
The father didn't need to be told twice.
He grabbed his children's hands and quickly led his family away, with their mother following closely behind. Ironwood watched them disappear into the evacuation route before turning his attention back toward the arena.
The evacuation had been anything but orderly, with students helping injured classmates, searching for friends they had been separated from, and constantly looking over their shoulders whenever another Grimm's roar echoed through the city.
Some were still trying to understand what had happened in the middle of the tournament, while others were simply relieved that they had managed to get out alive.
An Atlas military shuttle soon approached and landed near the evacuation area, its doors opening as the students were directed toward it.
Ironwood stepped toward them.
"Students." The conversations slowly died down as everyone turned toward him. "You have two choices before you."
Ironwood looked around at the students standing in front of him before gesturing toward the chaos surrounding Beacon.
"You can stay here and defend your school, or you can run and save yourselves."
Several students exchanged uncertain looks.
Ironwood's expression remained serious.
"No one will fault you for running," he assured them. "You came here to participate in a tournament, not to fight in a war. What is happening now is not something any of you were prepared for."
That seemed to make some of the students hesitate even more.
They were students.
They had trained to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, but there was a difference between training for the occasional Grimm attack and suddenly finding themselves in the middle of an invasion.
Ruby stepped forward, looking toward Ironwood with concern.
"Where are you going?"
Ironwood turned toward the military ship parked farther down by the docks.
"I need to get to my ship."
Ruby looked in the same direction.
"Why?"
"From there, I can signal Atlas and call for reinforcements," Ironwood explained. "If we are going to stop this before the situation gets any worse, we need more soldiers."
With that, Ironwood headed toward the waiting military ship while the students began boarding the shuttle.
Everyone moved as quickly as they could, filling the airship with as many students as possible while making sure nobody was left behind. Some helped their teammates aboard, while others stood near the entrance and searched the crowd for familiar faces, hoping that the people they cared about had made it out as well.
The doors eventually began to close. Outside, the sounds of Grimm continued to echo throughout Vale.
And for the first time since arriving at the Vytal Festival, the students were no longer thinking about who would win the tournament.
They were thinking about whether Beacon would still be standing when this was over.