RWBY - Child Of Light

Chapter 7: The Second Step

There are only two paths left for me.

I could quit now—call it a day and go home to the Faunus girl who's probably waiting for me with a warm smile. Or, I could choose the reckless, stupid option. The one that risks everything for the sake of saving time and proving a few pointless things along the way.

I clench my fist, feeling the comforting weight of the [Ring of Recovery] vanish as I prepare to move forward.

The hall above the prison spreads out before me—grand and excessive. Every inch of the massive corridor drips with opulence, carved in luxurious detail, as if the very walls are a shrine to indulgence. At the far end, a door looms, one I'm definitely not meant to cross. Guarding it are two glowing orbs—the same Living Reflections that almost killed me before.

"Fool me once, shame on me..."

From my inventory, I pull out two of the cursed books I salvaged from the library. They pulse with dormant malice, their pages empty but eager for life.

[Inactive Cursed Book] Holds a fragment of demonic essence.

The only thing I need is the right trigger, and I know there's at least some amount of mana on me, even if I can't actively use it. Making a small cut upon my palm, I allow the blood to run down into both open books. The tomes shudder in my grip before I toss them forward, summoning a pair of shadowy figures from their cursed pages.

The Living Reflections flicker, immediately scanning the new threat. As they lock onto their targets, they flare brighter—ready to respond with overwhelming force.

But not fast enough.

With a single throw of my axes, I behead both guardians in one fluid motion. The demons are nothing more than an afterthought.

[Secret Objective Completed]

Living Reflections defeated: 4/2

I step through the door into the final chamber, and what greets me is... unsettling.

In the center, a creature is trapped, encased in a sphere of glass. An entity of light, its radiant form bound in heavy chains and layers of intricate armor. It pulses like a furnace at the heart of a dying star—this world's heart. Its flickering body writhes against the bindings that struggle to contain it. I walk around the cage slowly. The creature watches me, its massive frame twitching, desperate to break free. It resembles some twisted fusion of a wyvern and a bird of prey, yet it feels more mechanical.

This is the last ember keeping everything here afloat, literally.

I stop beside one of the massive chains holding the prison aloft, my decision hanging heavy in the air. Then, with a swift slash, I sever it. Chains snap and recoil, the glass sphere tumbles down, and the creature roars as its prison shatters. Its wings flare, and it surges toward me, unbound and furious.