Pyrrha Nikos had not expected the moon to be as large as it was. It was far larger than it had ever looked from below.
From the surface of the Dream Realm, it had always appeared distant and almost decorative, a shattered celestial body hanging silently above the world like an old scar that civilization had simply learned to stop questioning. Standing upon it was another matter entirely.
The broken section where she had arrived stretched beyond the horizon in every direction, dominated by a colossal crater that carved deep into the moon's interior like something impossibly large had bitten a chunk out of reality itself. The wound descended into darkness so deep that even Pyrrha's enhanced vision struggled to perceive its true depth.
Around that vast opening floated islands of moon rock the size of buildings and city blocks, suspended in the void by crimson runic energy that threaded between them like veins of living light.
Entire mountains drifted overhead.
Fragments rotated slowly through the black sky while streams of glowing red energy connected them to one another in intricate geometric webs.
It was beautiful and also terrifying in a certain sense. Unfortunately she had not been given much time to appreciate either.
The Grimm had found her almost immediately.
Rank Twos.
Ordinarily that would not have worried Pyrrha very much. Rank Two Grimm were dangerous creatures capable of annihilating entire cities if left unchecked, but Pyrrha herself was no ordinary awakened.
She herself was a Rank Two. One whose combat capabilities bordered on absurdity whenever metal happened to be nearby.
That last condition had always mattered.
One of the primary reasons she had created her Ferrous rune in the first place had been practicality. Most Nightmare zones appeared near human civilization. Cities, towns, industrial centers, abandoned facilities and transportation hubs.
Metal was everywhere.
Buildings, vehicles, infrastructure.
Even when hunting wilderness Nightmare zones there had usually been enough materials nearby for her to work with.
So when the first winged Grimm descended upon her from the crimson sky her immediate instinct had been annoyance rather than concern.
She could create ferrous metals, even in places where there wasn't any. But, perhaps out of instinct, she had instead reached toward the surrounding environment, expecting the familiar sensation of steel beams, buried pipes and scattered debris.
Instead...
Something else answered her.
She could feel metal.
Not large concentrations or solid structures but, dust. Countless microscopic particles buried within the moon rock itself.
Tiny fragments scattered throughout every floating island and every grain beneath her feet. Metal existed here.
Not in abundance but it was still everywhere. The realization had genuinely surprised her. Apparently this blood red moon had more in common with planetary geology than she'd ever considered.
It was interesting but unfortunately the Grimm had interrupted further scientific reflection. The first creature reached her.
A Rank 2 Nevermore.
But it wasn't at the peak of its realm. Much weaker than she was, at least.
Metal dust erupted upward from the ground in enormous streams, gathering into titanic ribbons of silver that wrapped around the flying Grimm with the speed of striking snakes.
The creature twisted violently and dispersed into multiple smaller Nevermores, but it was too late. The metallic particles flowed outwards, created a giant birdcage, and compressed inwards, causing bones and both to crack
The Grimm exploded into ash. However, three more descended immediately afterward, taking its place.
Pyrrha exalted her powers. Her Ferrous perception spread outward in every direction, extending across the battlefield until it covered kilometers of floating terrain and drifting moon fragments.
The world transformed and every microscopic piece of metal became a point of awareness.
A second sight akin to a third eye. The Grimm were no longer hidden by speed or distance. She could feel them moving through her makeshift domain. A barrage of runic attacks descended toward her position from above and behind.
She stepped aside before they were launched. Explosions tore through the ground where she had stood moments earlier.
More metal rose and silver storms swirled around her.
Rank Two Grimm possessed defenses that bordered on absurd. Their bone plating could withstand artillery strikes and conventional weaponry struggled to injure them in meaningful ways.
Fortunately Pyrrha had never been particularly interested in fighting fairly.
The metal shifted and density changed. Microscopic particles phased through armor and bone before returning to solidity within flesh and organs.
Several smaller Grimm simply died and others roared in pain. One creature collapsed from the sky as hundreds of sharpened metallic fragments erupted outward from inside its body.
The battle continued for twenty minutes. By the end her Aura reserves had fallen by over thirty percent. That number bothered her more than she cared to admit. Phasing metal through physical matter was extraordinarily expensive. Bypassing durability always came with a price and Rank Two bodies demanded significant energy to violate.
Thankfully none of the Grimm had been peak Rank Twos. Had even one possessed that level of power the battle would have become considerably less comfortable.
Eventually silence returned and black ash drifted through the lunar winds and Pyrrha stood alone once more, standing atop a grainy metal platform of metal sand.
For approximately three minutes.
Then she saw the storm in the far distance. At first she mistook it for some odd moon weather. After all. The Dream Realm's moon was weird. It was unknown how many things here could be considered normal, after all.
That assumption lasted all of two seconds. Lightning exploded across the horizon and thunder rolled through the floating landscape with enough force to shake the surrounding moon fragments as colossal bolts of electricity repeatedly hammered downward toward a distant battlefield.
A massive shape staggered beneath one of the impacts.
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes.
Goliath.
The Grimm towered above the battlefield like a walking mountain, its immense body illuminated by repeated flashes of blue-white lightning as another strike impacted directly against its skull.
The creature roared and the sound carried for kilometers.
Goliaths were awful.
That opinion was nearly universal among awakened. Their durability bordered on obscene even by Grimm standards and their runes made them particularly dangerous opponents regardless of rank.
Vibration or Quake.
Sometimes both at the same time. The abilities attacked balance, internal organs and skeletal structures directly. Armor didn't help much and most defense runes were also rendered somewhat worthless.
Dodging wasn't always possible either. Most awakened preferred fighting almost any other grimm.
The Goliath stomped and the surrounding terrain shook violently. Pyrrha felt the vibration ripple through the ground and floating rock formations around her position.
And yet...
The lightning user appeared completely unconcerned. Another bolt descended, not from the sky but from the figure itself.
A streak of electricity crossed the battlefield at impossible speeds before colliding with the Goliath's shoulder hard enough to send the enormous Grimm skidding backwards across the lunar surface.
Pyrrha blinked.
Because she recognized that movement. The battlefield around the storm slowly came into focus as she extended her senses outward.
There were others as well.
Slightly less than a dozen rank Twos.
Some fought alone while others worked in teams against equally powerful Grimm that emerged continuously from the direction of the great crater at the center of the moon.
Below them smaller battles raged across the landscape. Rank Ones against Rank Ones. Entire groups of awakened fighting desperately against overwhelming numbers.
The front line stretched for kilometers.
And despite everything...
They were advancing, slowly and painfully. But advancing nonetheless. Towards the center crater. Towards whatever waited beneath the moon's broken skin.
Pyrrha considered heading toward the nearest Rank One engagement to help.
It would have been logical and efficient. Instead she accelerated toward the lightning storm. Because she knew exactly who she was looking at.
The Goliath roared again and lightning answered into its mouth. The figure then struck downwards like a meteor. Electricity wrapped around her body in violent arcs as a massive hammer made entirely of lightning crashed into the Grimm's jaw with enough force to send shockwaves across the battlefield.
The creature staggered and its quake rune activated immediately afterward.
The lunar surface erupted. Fractures spread outward for hundreds of meters while violent vibrations tore through stone and floating debris alike. The air visibly popped like a gigantic sonic boom had occured. Akin to thunder from the heavens.
The lightning user ignored it entirely. The electricity surrounding her body seemed to absorb the vibration before it could affect her and grow even stronger.
Another hammer strike followed, then another and another. The Goliath retaliated with enough force to level buildings but the woman fighting it answered by headbutting the creature hard enough to finally crack its mask.
Pyrrha smiled.
Some things truly never changed. She landed atop a floating fragment of moon rock overlooking the battlefield just as another lightning strike split the darkness.
"Nora!"
The woman paused and electricity still danced across her armor as she turned toward the voice. For a brief moment confusion crossed her face.
Then recognition and disbelief before excitement.
"PYRRHA?!"
The Goliath chose that exact moment to attempt murder. Its massive trunk descended toward Nora's position.
Metal erupted upwards and thousands of silver strands wrapped around the Grimm's trunk and halted the attack mid-swing.
The creature struggled and failed. Nora stared at the metal bindings before looking toward Pyrrha.
Pyrrha smiled softly.
"Need a hand?"
Nora's grin was immediate and feral.
"Haha! You're late, Invincible girl!"
The hammer hit the Goliath's face hard enough to create thunder.
Pyrrha smiled despite herself. That was a nickname she hadn't been called for a while now, not since her MMA days, before awakening and LUCID came around. Perhaps Nora was just excited to see her?
Perhaps for the first time since arriving on the moon, despite the impossible battle, the floating mountains, the apocalypse unfolding across reality itself, some things simply remained wonderfully familiar.
Nora Valkyrie was still charging directly into monsters several times her size with all the restraint and tactical caution of an artillery shell. And Pyrrha Nikos was followed close behind to make sure she survived doing it.
Together they turned toward the Goliath, and the Grimm suddenly looked significantly less fortunate.
.
.
Yang had stopped trying to count how many times she had been hit. The battlefield around her had long since descended beyond anything that resembled combat. Rather, something closer to a slaughter.
Another arrow screamed through the air.
Her instincts reacted before conscious thought did and kinetic force surged through her body as she twisted and raised her forearm to intercept it. The projectile struck her skin and pain exploded through her arm.
Her Kinetic rune should have been absurdly effective against attacks like these. Bullets, impacts, explosions and even heavy strikes from physically stronger opponents could normally be absorbed, redirected and recycled into her own offensive output.
These arrows should have been trivial. Instead the glass projectile punched through flesh and muscle before finally losing enough momentum to stop against bone.
Blood splashed across her arm.
Not deep but still painful. Some kind of secondary rune was affecting the ammunition.
A meta-rune or some sort with and aspect of penetration or piercing. Something designed specifically to ignore durability and defensive abilities.
She could still absorb the force, that much remained true but unfortunately force wasn't the problem anymore.
The arrows were small and fast. Even Yang's reactions struggled to track them completely. Another shot came, then another. The air itself seemed filled with invisible death.
Yang launched herself backwards over a vast distance, not to protect herself but to protect the Rank One awakened behind her.
The man hadn't even realized he was under attack. His reaction speed couldn't even let him see the arrows.
To him the battlefield probably looked almost empty with explosions and waves of booms echoing.
Yang moved between him and the incoming shot, her hand snapped upward but only pain erupted from her palm. The arrow had punched through the center of her hand.
For a brief moment she actually thought she had caught it, but then it kept going, straight through flesh and through bone. Straight through her hand and directly into the man's face.
The man's head exploded from the power. Chunks of skull and blood struck Yang across the cheek and forehead.
Warm and wet.
The body collapsed and Yang froze. For just long enough for the chunks of somebody's thoughts and memories to slide down her face.
"Fool! Snap out of it, now!"
The voice cut through the haze.
Yang turned.
Raven stood perhaps twenty meters away and for the first time in Yang's life she thought her biological mother looked afraid.
Not worried or cautious. But afraid.
For her.
A wall of shadow condensed before Raven as something enormous crashed into it hard enough to split the ground beneath her feet.
A man stood opposite her.
Tall and broad with muscles bulging beneath torn clothing. A Grimm mask covered most of his face and somehow it made him look less human than the monsters surrounding them.
His fist remained buried inside Raven's shield. Then, something impossible happened. The shadows making up the the shield itself, the darkness flowed inward and disappeared into the man's flesh as though he had simply swallowed the attack whole.
Yang's stomach dropped.
His arm changed as shadows spread across it and his entire limb became encased in darkness. That same arm shot forward and Raven's eyes widened.
Six shadow Asura arms erupted from her torso and slashed outward in a storm of blades. The attacks passed through his arm.
As if it wasn't there at all. As if reality itself had forgotten how to interact with it. The shadow hand then closed around Raven's throat.
The world slowed and Yang moved but she felt as if her body was moving in slow motion. Raven's feet left the ground and the woman struggled.
Then, another figure entered the battlefield, with an equally horrific grimm mask across her visage. However, even with the mask on, Yang recognized this woman. She had seen her from the Vytal Tournament that had occurred almost a year ago. She was one of the traitors to humanity. A part of Sleepless.
Cinder Fall.
She floated above the ruined crimson moon ground as though gravity had become optional. Glass gathered around her.
Molten and beautiful.
Terrifying.
A spear formed in her hand and she threw it. The weapon crossed the battlefield in an instant. Yang watched it happen in slow motion.
The spear struck the muscular man directly through the torso.
Except...
It didn't.
The glass passed through him as if his body was a phantom. The weapon continued forward, still moving and aimed.
Straight toward Raven.