Shea holds up her hammer. "Grand Gruen Volcano, conquest complete!"

Blake swiftly jumps past her snake as it tries to bite it, and she fires onto it, blowing it and its mana core up. Tio, Shea and Yue deal with their snakes.

"The end!" Hajime shouts as he and Ruby blow up their snakes and destroy the mana cores

Ruby smirks, but then frowns as she looks up, her eyes widen. Suddenly a massive pillar of blue magic slams down onto Hajime and Ruby.'

Everyone gasps in shock and they're eyes widen.

"MISTRESS!" Blake shouts as a couple tears fall from her eyes.

---

---

Blake stares at the pillar of magic in shock and after a few seconds it dies down. Revealing an injured Hajime and an Injured Ruby.

Ruby's holding her scythe above her head with her left arm, as her right bone arm is gone. Several burn marks are seen around her body as blood seeps out of several large wounds. 

Her dress is ripped up, barely covering the important parts.

Her left eye is closed as blood runs down it, her other eye his barely open and her grimm scythe slightly cracks.

Both Hajime and Ruby start to fall out of the sky, but Yue throws her hand forward. "Updraft!"

Both Hajime and Ruby stop mid air, with Yue grabbing Hajime and Blake swinging over and grabbing Ruby.

Both Blake and Yue land on a large stone pillar and set the two down.

"Hajime! Hajime!" Yue calls out to him.

"Mistress!" Blake shakes the unconscious Ruby.

Tio looks on with a worried look as Shea lands next to her, also with a worried look.

Yue pops a holy vial and pours it into Hajime's mouth. Blake looks down worried at Ruby.

"Come on, Mistress." Blake whispers. "You're the strongest in the world, you have to pull through." She pulls Ruby into a hug. "Pull through."

Blake's ears then stick up and she gains an idea. Blake brings her hand up to her mouth and bites down onto her thumb, hard. She then moves her hand back and blood starts to pour out from her thumb, which she then drops into Ruby's mouth.

"Please work." Blake mutters.

"Fools!" Tio yells. "Above you!"

Blake swiftly looks up and sees several blue arrows of magic flying towards them.

"Not on my watch." Tio then casts. "Tempest Void!"

A barrier appears above the four and protects them from the incoming magic attack.

Yue then throws her hand up. "Herem!"

The magical attack blows through Tio's shield and slams into Yue's. She grunts as the attacks won't stop, she then shrinks the shield and so it will only protect her and her lover, and two friends.

The blue arrows destroy the rocks all around the four, until they're only on a smaller pillar. The shield deflects attacks into the surrounding rock formations. 

"Hajime-san! Ruby-san!" Shea shoots forward.

"Shea!" Tio grabs Shea before she can get too far. "Clam down! If you leave my defenses now, not even you would survive!"

The Dragon and Rabbit are force to watch their friends and lovers be in danger.

After a few seconds the attacks die down and Yue lowers her shield.

Blake looks up, holding Ruby close to her. "Is it over?"

A new voice echoes in the cavern. "Setting the ambush here was a good idea."

Everyone looks at the source of the voice and gasp. A large army of dragons float high above the group, and at the front is a large white dragon, with a demon by the name of Freid Bagwa, standing on it.

Blake glares and growls at the demon, baring her sharp teeth at him.

"You pose too great a risk to ignore." Freid states. "Especially that man and that... thing." He looks down at Hajime and Ruby. "How did they survive a direct hit from Uranus's breath? Who are you two? How many Age of Gods magics have you learned? And how is a long extinct species still alive?"

"Why don't you introduce yourself properly before you start asking questions?" Hajime weakly says. Fried becomes surprised and Hajime glares at him. "Don't you demons have any manners?"

"Hajime!" Yue smiles.

Ruby suddenly starts to laugh as she weakly stands up, though nearly collapsing a few times. She looks up at Freid with her barely open right eye. "Talking a lot of shit-" She coughs up some blood. "-for someone in bitch slapping distance." 

Ruby nearly falls over, but Blake grabs onto her. Tio and Shea run over to them.

"Hajime-san!" Shea calls out.

"Are you alright, master?!" Tio asks Ruby.

A black-ish red aura surrounds Ruby's wounds and they very slowly start to heal. A red glow shines at the stump of her right arm, and her bone arm slowly starts to grow back. "I'm kinda..." She takes a breath. "Mad."

Freid then speaks again. "I don't see any value in introducing myself to someone who's about to die."

"Don't worry, I'm just playing with tropes." Hajime states. "I actually don't care."

"Bitch." Ruby starts with a smirk as blood runs down her chin. "I'm not allowed to die yet, I still have a mission to fulfill and my goddess won't allow my death till then.

"By the way, how's your friend's arm?" Hajime asks and Freid goes silent. "I hope he likes his new style."

After a few seconds Freid speaks. "My name if Freid Bagwa. I am God's obedient Apostle, who brings divine punishment to heathens. " He holds a fist out.

"God's Apostle, right..."

"Bitch, does it look like I care?" Ruby asks. "NO!" She coughs up a few drops of blood and groans.

Hajime continues. "I guess learning an Age of Gods magic gave you the right to call yourself that?"

"You're sharp." Fried says.

"Are you two just going to ignore me!" Ruby yells in annoyance and she tries to step forward, but nearly falls over and Blake catches her.

Freid ignores Ruby. "When I gained the powers of the Age of Gods, my God spoke to me directly, addressing me as his Apostle."

"Huh." Jaime mutters.

"That's why I will sacrifice anything to make my God's wish come true. Both your existences are an obstacle to that. So, I will remove you two with all my might."

Hajime smirks. "Those are my lines."

"What?"

"You stand in my way, that makes you my enemy."

Ruby giggles as Blake hands her, her grimm scythe and it changes into Crescent Rose's rifle form. "Let's do this!" She aims her gun up with one arm.

Tio, Shea and Blake run off to the sides.

"I kill all of my enemies!" Hajime yells as he aims up and fires his gun.

Ruby laughs and fires her gun, blood shoots out from her arm and she stumbles back a little. She then flips Crescent Rose up into the air, grabbing the charging handle and chambers a new round, before grabbing the handle of the gun.

A black-ish red aura still surrounds her wounds as most of them heal.

Yue fires lightning at Freid, Tio shoots fire balls, Shea fires magic from her hammer and Blake fires Grambol Shroud. 

But a large purple magic walls materializes in front of Freid, blocking all the incoming projectiles.

"You thought I only brought dragons with me?" Freid asks.

Large Monster tortoises stand on the backs of several dragons.

Everyone keeps firing at the magic wall, Ruby grunts with each shot as her arm spurts out more blood and her legs wobble.

"This defense can't be penetrated easily." Freid informs and he holds up a hand. Now, I'll show you the Age of Gods power I have earned!" He then starts to chant. I desire the end and walk heaven and earth. My hands reach nothing and drift beyond dreams." Tio, Shea, Yue and Blake gasp. "Then I shall seek a fissure, a break in the seamless world."

"I won't let you!" Hajime shouts and he summons Orkan and fires at the magic wall.

Ruby puts her gun between her arm pits and loads a new magazine in. "Try this on for size!" She grabs her gun and fires.

Freid continues to chant. "I break a hole in the boundaries and create a corridor into the divine realm!"

Hajime's missiles and Ruby's 20mm rounds do nothing to the magic barrier.

"That's so bullshit!" Ruby shouts.

Freid finishes up his chant. "Cosmic Rift!" A magic circle appears behind him, then a large portal opens.

Shea gasps and turns around. "Behind you, Hajime-san! Ruby-san!"

Hajime and Ruby swiftly turn around and aim their weapons at Freid and his dragon.

Uranus, Freid dragon, opens it's mouth and fires a Cosmic Breath.

"Oh shit!" Ruby uses Petal Burst and flies behind Hajime, as he uses Orkan as a shield. 

The two then get blown back and Uranus flies after them.

"Hajime!" Yue shouts in worry.

"Mistress!" Blake shouts in worry.

"Hajime-san! Shea shouts in worry.

"Master?!" Tio shouts in worry.

Tio looks up and sees blue arrows of magic fly down towards them, so she throws up her hands and forms a shield, Yue does the same. Shea yelps and hides under Yue's shield as Blake hides under Tio's.

'Who does this bastard think he is?!' Blake shouts in though. 'He dares anger my Mistress, he will face the wrath of Goddess Salem!'

Ruby slams her feet into the ground and pushes her shoulder into Hajime, stopping them.

"Hajime!" Ruby shouts. "We need to finish this!" Her eye droops, but she shakes her head. "Or we'll both die!"

"I'm trying!" Hajime shouts in anger.

"Try harder bastard!"

"I'll kill you for that!"

"Try me asshole!"

The two grunt as Uranus keeps firing his Cosmic Breath. Ruby's feet start to slip and crunch is heard from her right leg.

"AW FUCK!" Ruby shouts in pain, but keeps standing. "FUUUUUUCK! LIMIT BREAK!" A red aura surrounds her and she holds her ground. 

"LIMIT BREAK!" Hajime casts as well.

Then Ruby grabs Hajime by the back of his coat. "Make it count!"

Ruby yells and throws Hajime up into the air and away from the Cosmic Breath. But the breath hit Ruby and she goes flying into a stone pillar, Uranus stops his breath.

"Ruby!" Hajime shouts, as he lands on an air platform. He glares at Freid and holds up his hand as Uranus fires another Cosmic Breath, but in several smaller attacks. "Cross Bit!"

Several large crosses appear around Hajime.

The four crosses move in front of Hajime and form a shield. Hajime then stands up and fires his revolver from behind cover and he slowly moves closer to Freid.

Hajime rounds just keep striking the magic shield in front of Uranus.

"How tenacious is he?" Freid questions. "I'm so close, yet I can't land the finishing blow. Though, I feel as if I'm forgetting something."

"ASSHOLE!" Ruby suddenly appears next to Freid, with her scythe at the ready. Many wounds close up around her as she glares at the demon.

Freid's eyes widen and he leans back as Ruby's scythe swings past his cheek, slightly cutting into him. Ruby flies past Freid and lands on a rock formation below.

"I..." Ruby takes a deep breath as her chest heaves up and down as sweat falls down her brow. "I ain't done yet!" She coughs up some blood.

"Such a strong will, for something soulless." Freid glares at Ruby as blood runs down his cut cheek. "I desire..."

"Not on my watch!" Tio, in dragon form, crashes into Uranus

Uranus loses control for a few seconds, before getting his barrings and facing Tio.

Freid regains his bearings and looks at Tio, his eyes widening. "I-Impossible!"

"A Black Dragon?!" Freid shouts in shock.

Ruby nearly collapses but she leans on her Grimm Scythe and looks up at Tio with a smile, her bone arm is almost fully healed. "That's my girl."

"Th-The dragonborn were wiped out!" Freid shouts.

"I won't let you hurt my master anymore!" Tio states and purple flames puff out of her mouth. "Remember this, young lad! This is what a real dragon's breath feels like!"

Tio breathes purple fire at Uranus and he fires his breath attack. The two magic attacks slam into each other, creating a large blow back. 

The force of the attack pushes Ruby back a little as she grunts to stay standing. Waves of lava crash up against the stone pillar.

Freid then speaks."I never thought I would see a dragonborn survivor in such a place... I have no choice. This is still risky, but I will use magic on this entire area to..." He holds up a hand.

"No way." Hajime yells from a ways behind Freid.

Freid looks back to see Hajime holding Crescent Rose, in sniper form. Hajime fires a magic round, leaving a purple streak behind the bullet.

Freid brings up a hand and forms a shield, and the bullet slams into it, breaking the shield. Freid gasps as the shield falls, revealing Hejime with Crescent Rose in scythe form, right in front of him.

Hajime swings the scythe and it cuts deep into Freid's chest armor and into his chest. He then back kicks Freid off of Uranus.

Freid flies far into the air and Hajime jumps after him and swings Crescent Rose onto Freid, but another dragon swoops in and grabs the demon.

Uranus becomes distracted by Freid's endangerment, which weakens his flame breath. Tio uses this to her advantage and over powers Uranus.

Tio's fire pushes Uranus back, and the dragon disengages and flies up into the air where Freid is. Freid jumps back onto Uranus's back as the dragon regroups with the rest of the army.

Hajime goes to jump, but he ends up coughing up some blood. 'Dammit, time's up.' The air platform beneath him disappears and he falls down towards the lava below.

But Tio swoops in catches Hajime on her back. "Hajime-kun! Hold on!"

"Tio." Hajime mutters and he looks back at Freid's army

Ruby looks up at Freid as he legs give out beneath her, but Blake swiftly swings in and grabs her. Blake carries Ruby over the lake of lava and regroups with everyone.

Feird stares down at the two anomalies as he puts a hand over his bleeding chest. "Terrifying combat powers. Those women serving those two are extraordinary as well. A dragonborn, thought to be extinct. A magic user who can cast without chants or magic circles. A catman with extraordinary agility.  A rabbitman with inhuman strength and what seems like an ability to see the future... I never thought I would be this threatened even with my Age of Gods powers. If I didn't land the first blow, I might have been the one who was defeated."

Hajime looks up at Freid. "Why are you acting like you've already won?"

Ruby, with Blake holding her up, yells at Freid. "Yeah, we can still easily kill you asshole!" Sweat drips from her chin. "We're still in this fight."

Ruby's burns are slowly healing as veins bulge on her head. Her bone arm is nearly to the hand.

Freid smiles. "I'm sure you are. The torrent of murderous intent coming out of you two is still strong. Perhaps your most terrifying aspect is not your combat abilities... but rather, your unstoppable intent to kill... No, your insistence on survival. I didn't want to use this tactic. I'll have to say it's a worthy sacrifice, to kill powerful foes like you."

"What are you talking about?" Hajime asks.

Suddenly the entire place shakes, making everyone gasp. Pillars of lava shoot up and the lava starts to rise.

"Hajime-san!" Shea yells. "The lava is rising!"

Ruby grits her teeth and looks up at Freid. "What did you do?"

Freid and his army start to fly up the volcano. "I just destroyed the cornerstone."

"The cornerstone?" Hajime questions.

"Didn't you notice something odd about this lava? The Grand Gruen Volcano is clearly an active volcano. Yet there are no records of it ever erupting. This must mean..." He holds up a medallion in his hand.

Freid continues. "There is something controlling the magma chamber underneath."

Ruby thinks for a few seconds. "Oh... OH! YOU?!" She yells.

Chamber doors begin to open leading up the volcano's shoot and the sun starts to shine down into the volcano. 

"Just like you imagined." Freid says. "You will perish here, along with the Great Labyrinth."

Freid and his army start to leave.

"Get back here!" Ruby yells and she nearly falls off Blake. "I'll bite your legs off!"

"Reuben." Hajime calls out.

Ruby looks over to Hajime and they stare at each other for a few seconds, before they both nod.

Hajime walks over to Tio. "Tio, listen." He holds out his hand which has his creation ring on. "Take this, and escape via the roof."

"Tio, we are counting on you." Ruby calls out.

Tio looks at Ruby. "Master, are you singling me out as unworthy of spending your last moments together?"

"Yes.. I mean no, that's not it. There's no time, so I'll just say this once. Hajime and I haven't given up on anything. I'm gonna get the Age of Gods magic, and kick that guys ass one day! We will deliver the Stillstone to Anjaki, as we promised."

Hajime then speaks. "But we can't do it all alone. That's why we need your help. You're the only one who can punch through the obstacles and return to Ankaji quickly. I need your help, Tio!"

"Yes, I need your help, Tio!" Ruby breaths out.

Tio smiles in dragon form. "Understood!"

Hajime holds his hand out and the ring disappears, and reappears on one of Tio's talons.

"Tio, a message to Kaori, Neo, and Myu." Hajime starts. "'See you later.'"

"Ah that was shit." Ruby mutters.

"Fully understood." Tio says.

Tio takes off into the sky as magic spells fly down towards her, which she gracefully dodges. Yue pulls a hand back and throws a curve ball black hole up to Tio.

The black hole flies just below Tio, absorbing any magic that nears her.

Shea aims her hammer up and fires its gun, hitting a couple dragons. Ruby, with the help of Blake, aims Crescent Rose up and fires off several rounds, blowing the heads off of several dragons.

The chamber doors start to close that lead up the volcano. Tio narrows her eyes and speeds up, causing the black hole to disappear. 

The dragon spells hit against Tio and she starts to moan. "The pain is nothing, or rather, it feels good! Bring it on!"

Tio makes it through the first door as it closes.

Ruby smiles up at the closed door. "We're counting on you." 

Ruby's eye rolls up into her head and she slumps over. Blake grows worried.

With the Dragon

Tio swiftly flies up as chamber doors close behind her. Spells keep hitting her and making her moan in pleasure. 'Pain Conversion. Receiving pain boosts all of my stats. It's all Ruby's fault.'

Tio's eyes narrow as she sees a bright glow coming from the exit. "What?! Fine, do your worst!" She speeds up more.

Uranus' Cosmic Breath flies down towards Tio and shes uses Hajime's ring to summon Cross Bits. The crosses fly up and block the attack.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Tio cheers. "I love you, my master!"

Tio makes it out of the volcano and sweeps past Uranus and Freid.

Fried looks up at Tio. "It escaped from that situation?! What a group of monsters." He sees some blood fall from Tio. "But the black dragon is heavily injured. I'll finish it off, right here and---"

Freid notices Cross Bits in front of him. He then yells in shock as they blow up, throwing Fried off Uranus and out of the tornado protecting the volcano. 

Tio looks down at the massive explosion she caused.

"I believe in you, Master, Hajime, Yue, Shea, Blake..." Tio flies off.

.

.

.

Neo checks over a patient she's with, but gasps as the building suddenly shakes.

"The Grand Gruen Volcano just erupted!" Someone yells.

Neo's eyes widen in fear and she makes a scared noise.

.

.

.

.

Yang punches a target and it blows apart, then she swiftly back kicks another target, blowing it up. Yang holds up her fists as sweat falls down her brow and she punches another target several times.

Memories of how Ruby saved her and the group back in the Great Orcus Labyrinth plays in her head. She punches a final target and she holds up her fists for a few more seconds, before lowering them.

Yang sighs and wipes sweat from her brow. "To think you'd become stronger then me so fast Reuben, or should I say Ruby." She looks up to the sky. "I just hope you're doing fine... where ever you are."

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08-02-2023

3655 words