Ozpin's reaction was fast.
One moment they were falling through open air and the next reality itself seemed to shift around them. An invisible pressure spread outward from Ozpin's position, his domain, washing across the area in every direction with silent authority.
The dozens of Rank Ones and Rank Zeros that had been plummeting nearby abruptly slowed as though the world itself had decided to catch them. Their descent softened into a gentle drift before depositing them safely upon the ground.
Immediately after, the Grimm surrounding them all started dying.
The countless creatures rushing toward the newly arrived awakened suddenly shuddered as though struck by an unseen force. Their bodies began to fracture and crumble apart. Entire hordes collapsed where they stood before being reduced to drifting ash carried away by the winds.
The destruction spread outward relentlessly.
Kilometers upon kilometers, as Ozpin's Domain expanded across the landscape. Tens of kilometers of territory were cleared within moments, leaving behind nothing but barren crimson ground and slowly drifting clouds of white moon dust.
Silence followed, and Weiss found herself staring at an area entirely devoid of Grimm.
She had seen recordings before in LUCID simulations, educational demonstrations designed to showcase the capabilities of Rank Threes.
But those had always felt artificial and controlled—if not, contained.
This was different.
Real.
For perhaps the first time in her life, Weiss truly understood why Rank Threes stood at the apex of humanity. It was difficult to even comprehend the scale of what she had just witnessed.
Entire armies had ceased to exist.
Erased like they were worthless.
Truly, nuclear bombs in human form...
City crushers.
The realization sent a faint chill down her spine.
Around them, the newly arrived awakened appeared equally stunned. Many of the weaker Rank Zeros and Rank Ones were staring blankly at the empty landscape, their expressions carrying equal parts relief and disbelief.
Weiss noticed their looks and features. Ozpin had said it was likely that this was a random teleport. Considering the features from these awakened, she had to admit that it was very possible.
Many had native Mistrali and Vacuoan features.
This was... problematic...
Ozpin, meanwhile, simply observed the surroundings. His expression remained calm, though Weiss could tell he was studying something.
Thinking.
After several moments she finally approached closer to him. Truthfully, she wasn't entirely certain what to do. Everything had happened so quickly that she still felt as though she were struggling to catch up.
The apocalypse had started, and... from what she last saw, the Dream Realm had started to merge with reality. Now she was standing atop of the crimson moon. Confusion felt like a fairly reasonable response.
Ozpin eventually turned toward her.
"Miss Schnee..."
Weiss immediately raised a hand and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Ah... just Weiss is fine, Commander. Apologies for interrupting, but it sounds a little too much like my sister."
A faint smile touched the older man's features.
"Very well."
He inclined his head politely.
"I shall endeavor to call you as such from now on, Weiss."
For a moment his gaze drifted toward the horizon, then he asked a strange question.
"In any case... do you feel it?"
Weiss frowned. At first she wasn't entirely certain what he meant, then she concentrated and a moment later she felt it.
A pulse of some sort that seemed to emanate through the land.
Faint and steady.
Her eyes widened. The sensation wasn't coming from thin air but rather, from beneath her feet.
Weiss looked downward as the crimson-white terrain stretched endlessly in all directions, appearing like ordinary stone at first glance. Yet once she focused on the sensation, it became impossible to ignore.
The ground was alive.
Each pulse carried a strange sense of scale that made her feel microscopic by comparison. It reminded her of placing a hand against the chest of a sleeping giant and feeling their heartbeat resonate through an entire mountain.
No.
Perhaps it truly was some sort of heartbeat.
A chill crept up her spine.
"It really is alive..."
Ozpin nodded slowly.
"I believe so."
Weiss stared across the landscape.
It seemed what Ozpin suspected was true. This place wasn't merely associated with Salem but was truly Her, the very body of the Sleeper itself. Herself?
Weiss still wasn't entirely sure if that creature could even be considered a female even though people referred to her as such.
Nevertheless, the thought alone felt incomprehensible. How large did a being need to be for an entire celestial body to merely constitute its sleeping form?
How powerful, and how old?
Weiss had always somewhat imagined that gods possessed vaguely humanoid shapes. Perhaps larger than mountains and surrounded by incomprehensible power.
But still recognizable.
Something that could fit within a person's understanding. Yet the reality before her shattered that assumption entirely.
This wasn't humanoid.
"Eldritch..."
The word escaped her lips almost unconsciously. Ozpin glanced toward her and Weiss struggled to find better language.
There wasn't any.
Eldritch.
Alien.
Those words came closest, yet still failed to properly describe the scale involved. Human minds naturally sought patterns and familiarity.
They wanted things to make sense.
But Salem existed on a level where those instincts simply stopped functioning. A being whose sleeping body was visible from every corner of the Dream Realm.
A being whose unconscious Domain covered an entire world and a being whose influence had survived thousands of years despite being sealed. Weiss finally understood why Jaune and Pyrrha, when speaking about entities like these caused them discomfort.
It wasn't merely fear but perspective.
Humanity existed on one side of an ocean and these things existed on the other. The distance between them was so vast that comparison itself became meaningless.
Ozpin remained silent for several moments, gaze sweeping across the gathered awakened. His eyes lingered upon each face, cataloguing details with the efficiency of a man who had spent decades commanding people and coordinating crises far beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
There were perhaps several dozen gathered here now and unfortunately the only Rank 2, being Weiss herself.
In any case, these were men and women from different kingdoms and different backgrounds. Some wore civilian clothing, having been ripped from their daily lives without warning and others were already equipped for combat, weapons drawn and their expressions grim.
Fear lingered in many of their eyes, though most were trying desperately not to show it. The weak pulse of the moon beneath their feet did little to calm nerves. If anything, every beat only reinforced the impossible truth that they were screwed.
Eventually Ozpin stepped forward and the murmuring ceased almost immediately. As a Rank 3, authority radiated from him naturally. There was no need to raise his voice or demand silence. The simple fact that he stood there was enough.
"I regret to inform you," he began calmly, "that the end has begun."
The words settled over the group like a physical weight. At this point, denial was no longer possible.
The landscape, the endless sea of Grimm stretching beyond the horizon, the sensation of standing upon a living celestial body. All of it had already shattered whatever comforting lies reality once offered.
Ozpin continued.
"I am uncertain of the finer details, but as many of you have likely already suspected, we are currently standing upon the moon of the Dream Realm. Yes, that moon. The one that hangs eternally above every continent. The one which has remained forever beyond reach regardless of effort or distance traveled."
Several expressions shifted at that.
Some looked horrified while others simply looked exhausted.
Weiss could hardly blame them.
Even after accepting it intellectually, actually hearing the words spoken aloud made the situation feel even more absurd.
Ozpin folded his hands behind his back.
"This scenario has most likely occurred because Sleepless has initiated the ritual required to awaken their god, the Sleeper.
His gaze lifted briefly toward the black heavens. The name seemed to echo strangely across the landscape.
"The Grimm surrounding us likely number in the millions. Perhaps more. I can already instinctively sense several Rank Three entities steadily moving toward our location."
That announcement immediately caused several people to pale.
Against ordinary awakened they might as well be natural disasters. Fortunately Ozpin raised a hand before panic could spread.
"Do not concern yourselves excessively."
The statement sounded ridiculous considering the circumstances, yet somehow he managed to say it with complete sincerity.
"Rank Three Grimm rarely concern themselves with lower ranks. They seek stronger prey. In particular, they are attracted to other Rank Threes."
His eyes narrowed slightly as though tracking something in the distance.
"If I remain with you, my presence will only draw them here."
The implications became immediately obvious. He needed to leave them alone and act as bait. If he stayed... he would live, but he'd be unable to protect them.
So... bait.
An incredibly powerful bait.
Ozpin continued.
"As such, I will be leading them away."
Weiss herself was hardly surprised. It was exactly what a Rank Three should do. The strongest individual present had a responsibility to act where his strength would create the greatest effect.
"And Operative Weiss Schnee," Ozpin said, glancing toward her, "shall be leading you toward the core."
Several eyes immediately turned toward Weiss. Perhaps two years ago she would have preened at the expectation placed against her. But now, after experiencing everything that she had, Weiss wasn't sure if responsibility was something she like.
She resisted the urge to sigh.
Ozpin seemed entirely unconcerned by this burden he had casually handed her.
"Follow the trail I create. The path should remain relatively clear of Grimm and will make traversal significantly easier."
Weiss nodded. She understood exactly what he meant.
The core.
The idea itself was fairly straightforward.
The teleportation was likely random.
Every piece of evidence so far seemed to point toward that conclusion.
The awakened gathered around them came from multiple kingdoms and different regions. Some spoke with Mistrali accents and others were clearly from Vacuo. There was even a man whose Atlas military insignia remained attached to his uniform.
If teleportation had been random for this group then it was almost certainly random for everyone else as well.
Weiss doubted that it was just them in particular who had been transported here. Which meant that it was likely that every awakened on the planet had likely been scattered across this moon.
The implications were not encouraging and Weiss could already identify the first problem. A great many of them were going to die.
The thought was unpleasant but impossible to ignore.
Before Ozpin had annihilated the surrounding Grimm, Weiss had even seen multiple Rank Two grimm among the horde.
The only reason they seemed insignificant now was because Ozpin had erased them so effortlessly. A Rank Three made Rank Twos appear weak. That did not actually mean they were weak. A Rank Two Grimm remained fully capable of slaughtering dozens of lower ranked awakened.
Against Rank Zeros and Rank Ones, such creatures would be catastrophic. Many groups across the moon would not possess an Ozpin and many groups would encounter those monsters alone.
Which mean that many groups would die.
The realization left a bitter taste in her mouth. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about it. Attempting to search the entire moon for survivors would be impossible.
The scale involved was simply too vast and their only realistic option was convergence.
Concentration of force. And that naturally led to the second observation. The heartbeat-like pulse. Weiss could still feel it beneath her feet.
Every instinct told her that whatever generated that pulse existed somewhere deeper within the moon.
A heart implied a center, and a center implied a core. And if there was a core then it was likely important.
Perhaps critically important to Sleepless itself. She and Ozpin had reached the same conclusion almost immediately.
Other awakened would likely reach it as well. People naturally moved toward objectives.
If enough survivors independently sought the source of the heartbeat, then eventually large numbers of awakened would begin gathering in the same location.
There they could regroup, organize and coordinate.
Perhaps even mount a counterattack.
Most importantly, they could stop wandering blindly through an ocean of Grimm. Because that was exactly what this moon appeared to be.
An endless hunting ground.
Every direction beyond Ozpin's Domain contained monsters.
Thousands, hundreds of thousands and possibly millions. Simply choosing a random heading and hoping for the best would eventually get someone killed.
The core offered purpose and direction.
Hope.
And perhaps most importantly, it offered the possibility that Sleepless itself intended to use that location.
Weiss found it difficult to imagine otherwise.
If Salem's resurrection was occurring here, then surely the center of her body would play some role in the ritual. Which meant reaching it first might provide opportunities.
Or at the very least information.
Of course, another possibility lingered at the back of her mind.
Sleepless.
The thought alone made her expression darken.
If awakened had been teleported randomly, then Sleepless members had undoubtedly been teleported as well.
Somewhere on this moon.
Potentially anywhere.
Which meant that... they would likely be moving toward the same destination.
The core.
A confrontation felt inevitable.
Ozpin seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. His gaze met Weiss's for a brief moment. No words were exchanged because, at this point, none were necessary.
However, he still nodded.
It was a simple gesture that represented trust.
Responsibility.
And perhaps a silent apology for leaving her with this mess.
The next moment he vanished.
The ground beneath his feet shattered as he launched forward in a blur of motion that exceeded Weiss's ability to properly track. A shockwave rolled outward across the crimson landscape while his Domain advanced ahead of him like an invisible tide.
Far in the distance, entire swathes of Grimm began disintegrating.
A road.
Ozpin was carving them a road.
The gathered awakened watched him disappear beyond the horizon before gradually turning toward Weiss.
Some looked uncertain and others hopeful. A few simply looked terrified. Weiss inhaled slowly.
Then she drew her rapier.
The blade gleamed with an impossibly cutthroat shine beneath the blood-red sky.
"Alright," she said, forcing confidence into her voice. "Everyone stay together. If you have ranged capabilities, move toward the center. Defensive specialists form the outer layers. I'm mainly going to conserving my strength for Rank 2's which means the lot of you will be responsible for thinning rank 1s and 0's. If any grimm would slow us down, I'll speed up our progress."
The awakened immediately began organizing themselves.
'Good. At least they aren't idiots.'
Her mind drifted slightly to another idiot. Specifically a blonde haired-blue eyed idiot which she... really wanted to see again. Weiss wondered if she'd cross paths with him here.
Surely if all awakened were transported, he would also be here as well right?
Weiss turned toward the distant trail Ozpin had created. Beyond it stretched the vast crimson landscape of the Sleeper's body.
Somewhere in that direction lay answers and the core. And... somewhere ahead, countless other awakened were undoubtedly fighting for their lives.
"We move now."
The group surged forward.
Above them, the broken moon's black heavens watched silently as humanity began its march toward the heart of a sleeping god.