Ever since the moment Ruby first discovered that the Grimm were ruled by a single entity that dictated everything in a shadow war outside of public view, she understood who the true villain was.
Call it naïve, but if one were to see the world in black and white, then the righteous and the unrighteous should be evident both in the past and in the present.
Staring at Salem, Queen of the Grimm, Ruby felt the weight of a destined enemy more than she ever had before. And with that feeling was an accompanying dread for what failing to defeat her entailed.
"Try to avoid interfering unnecessarily." Shirou advised with a solemn tone. "Remember the lessons when encountering Grimm. If they are above your capability then do not engage and instead seek cooperation from others."
Cooperation?
Ruby inwardly shook her head.
She wanted to run away while staring at the dark energy blackening Shirou's skin from where Salem had touched him.
However, such an outcome was impossible now more than ever.
"Ruby!" Weiss called out while fighting with her back to Pyrrha and the others.
The Grimm were everywhere, and Jaune's barrier could only do so much as he focused on sheltering the surviving civilians from harm.
The flashes of red and the echo of gunfire through the horizon had drawn Ruby's peers to her location.
Retreating back from where Salem had nearly gotten hold of him, Shirou back tracked and stopped with Ruby beside him in front of Jaune and the others.
It wasn't until Shirou drew closer that attention shifted away from Ruby and towards the person she was fighting alongside.
"..." Jaune opened and closed his mouth while Pyrrha and the others shuddered.
"No way..." Emerald stammered in shock.
"The Huntsman of Red," Blake muttered, staring from Ruby then to Shirou and back before hope reignited in her eyes the same way it did for everyone else.
Vale was lost.
That much had already been accepted by Blake and the others who were no longer just fighting Grimm for the sake of protecting the city, but for the sake escorting those alive out.
Even Beacon Academy's Second and Third-Year students were busy evacuating without Ozpin's instructions. They had defaulted to the lessons they were taught in the academy. The echo of Coco Adele's machine gun fire resounded in the distance to clear a path through the Grimm, but the tides were ceaseless.
Soon, ammunition would run dry, and exhaustion and fatigue would catch up to everyone.
And in that moment where Salem revealed herself at the center of it all, it felt like the beginning of the end.
The only reason panic and despair had yet to set in was due to the world of swords everyone found themselves within. When the Grimm would draw close, swords would rain down from up high and skewer them in place.
"It's him, the Huntsman of Red," Ector said, unable to forget the back of the man who had saved Mt. Glenn.
And alongside the famed Huntsman was Ruby.
If Yang were present, she would have been the first to exclaim, as Ruby had insisted about knowing the Huntsman of Red for years.
"Now isn't the time for talk," Shirou said while raising an arm and firing numerous swords at Salem.
Darkened copies identical to the weapon Shirou shot towards her, formed around Salem and countered each and every one.
The thunderous clang of steel striking steel sobered many faces, but amid those faces were ones filled with the desire to fight.
YOU ARE READING
The Huntsman of Red V2
AdventureGuardian, Protector, Hero, and perhaps something more, that was what he had always meant to her, but to others he was simply known as the Huntsman of Red, Remnant's final hope. This story is not mine, it belongs to Parcasious
