HK-47: The White Fang's Assassin

Chapter Forty Seven - Fall Of Salem

As Adam Taurus confronted Salem, the leader of the White Fang Empire studied the movements of his enemy. She showed no sign of concern. He could see the arrogance in her smile. Adam readied Wilt and Bush while Salem chuckles. 

Salem: You are an interesting one. I've yet to encounter a being such as yourself. But you are in way over year head. You cannot kill what cannot die.

Adam: We'll see about that, Salem. 

Without hesitation, Adam charges at Salem and begins slashing her with Wilt. Salem made no attempt to defend herself as she allows Adam to cut her up. Eventually, Salem fires a magic beam at Adam, blasting him back against a wall. 

Salem: Poor little Taurus. You have all these grand ideas, but they mean nothing in the grander scheme of things. While you have been a useful distraction, you are ultimately a pawn in my game. 

Adam: I am no one's pawn! 

Fueled by rage, Adam once more charges at Salem and continues hacking away at her. Salem conjures multiple Shadow Hands from her body and restrains Adam. Adam attempts to break out, but Salem maintained her grip. 

Salem: Human. Faunus. You're all the same to me. You have no idea how insignificant you all are. You are dust motes in a storm. A grain of sand upon a beach. Meaningless. Miniscule.

Salem then unleashed a powerful magic beam on Adam and began to torture him. Adam screams in pain as Salem tortures him with relish. The pain Adam felt was beyond word. He felt as if every nerve in his body was being burned. For a moment, it seemed as though Adam would die at the hands of Salem. As his life began to flash before his eyes, Adam's thoughts fell on the cause he had fought so hardly for all his life. He thought of all the battles he won and the scars he sustained. In that moment, Adam refused to let this be the day that he dies. Spurred by his willpower and rage, Adam fought through the pain and slowly raised his Wilt Sword, much to Salem's shock. 

Salem: I....impossible!

Salem attempts to kill Adam with an even more powerful energy blast, but Adam manages to raise his Wilt Sword to a position to absorb the energy. Once it absorbs the energy from the magic beam, Adam uses his Moonslice to unleash a powerful energy strike on Salem, cutting her in half. As Salem begins to rapidly regenerate, Adam discards Wilt and Bush and charges at her. Adam then tackles her to the ground and begins punching her in the face repeatedly. For the first time, Salem felt defenseless as Adam punched her again and again, beating her to a bloody pulp. But even as she regenerated, Adam continued punching her, splattering her black blood on his face and mask. Eventually, Adam relents as Salem was left unconscious by the relentless assault. It was at this moment that HK-47 and Penny along with Samanya and the Sword of the Faunus arrived. 

Adam: Bring her to the Tartarus. 

With that, Salem was taken into custody by the White Fang Empire. Hours later, Salem found herself standing before Adam and the entire White Fang Empire on the bridge of the Tartarus. 

Adam: Salem. 

Salem: What do you hope to achieve, Taurus? You can't kill me.

Adam: I don't have to kill you.

As Adam says this, a seemingly ordinary crate was wheeled on the bridge. 

Adam: The Star Forge held blueprints to all sorts of technology. Technology that is far beyond Remnant's technological capabilities. But Atlas technology allowed us to construct this. A Mind Prison. This device will imprison your mind inside this box while your body will remain.

Salem: Do you think that will stop me?! I'll get out! An when I do, I'll burn your little Empire to the ground!

Adam: Even if you somehow escape, your kingdom will be nothing more than glass. You thought yourself untouchable, Salem. No one is untouchable. No one. 

Without hesitation, Adam activates the Mind Prison. An energy beam strikes Salem. Salem finds herself unable to move. 

Salem: You cannot stop me! Nothing can stop me! I swear, Adam Taurus, I will exact vengeance upon you! I'll see you suffer for this! DO YOU HEAR ME?!  I WILL LIVE FOREVER! I AM ETERNAL! I AM......

Before Salem could finish, her mind was sucked into the Mind Prison. Her body soon went limp as it collapsed onto the floor. In that moment, Salem was no more. 

HK-47: Query: What shall we do with the body, master?

Adam: Toss it in the black sea. As for the Mind Prison, toss it in a shuttle and launch it into space. I won't risk Salem breaking out. 

With that, Salem's lifeless body was tossed into the Grimm Pool while the Mind Prison was tossed in a rocket. The rocket then shoots out into space, forever trapping Salem's mind in the far reaches of space for no one to find. 

Adam: Glass this place. I want this land wiped out from the face of Remnant. 

Following Adam's orders, all White Fang ships launched an orbital bombardment upon the Land of Darkness. Adam watched from the bridge of the Tartarus as the Land of Darkness burned. The constant bombardment soon reduced the Land of Darkness to glass. With the Land of Darkness destroyed and the threat of Salem no more, Adam set his eyes on the few remaining pockets of resistance that sought to defeat him. The ranks of the White Fang Empire swell with both Faunus and Droid as Adam Taurus proved once more that no one was untouchable.