Ep. 27 - Investigation, Solution

I flew at maximum speed towards planet Resort. The situation has just gone from manageable/easy to fucked up/Hell mode. 'I thought I would only have to deal with Salem and her pieces then boom: peace achieved. That was stupid of me, thinking it would be that simple. If that thing really mounts a global offensive, probably more that half of humanity will die, no doubt about that. I should send my friends a message.'

I typed out my message: "Stay in the chalet. Stockpile food. Stay safe. Will be back in a bit."

For Weiss I wrote something else: "Going to be late. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. Stay in the chalet. I left something for you guys in the basement should things go South before I'm back. Listen to Winter. Love you."

I wrote a little something to Yang and Ruby as well: "Hey tiger! Hey little Rose! Stay with the others. Whatever happens, DON'T rush to fight. Stay together with the others. Winter Schnee should come to you guys, possibly with some instructions. Do what she says, but always go back to the chalet. No matter what. Love you, see ya later!"

'That should do. I am not too worried about Weiss, she'll listen to me even if she is conflicted. Yang and Ruby on the other hand are likely to go fight the Grimm. The others will hopefully trust me and stay in the chalet. Ah, this is difficult. Let's get to work.'

'I don't know what I'll find in that cave system Ren and Nora found. I will bring my Shotgun, Hand Cannon, and Scout Rifle out already. My armor is fine as it is.' With that settled, I trasmated to the ground with my sparrow. I sped through the forest between the sandy beach and the cave entrance I marked during my vacation here. I soon found myself in front of an enormous black hole. And no, it wasn't your mother's butthole. Trying to lighten the situation, so don't hold it against me.

I started making my way through the caves. MoonRay was gradually filling a 3D map I tried making last time. It seems that some parts changed. 'This shit is alive and moving. Is it connected to the 'Land of Darkness'?'

I gripped my Scout Rifle. Currently it is in the 'Doom of Chelchis' form. It works and handles great, exactly what I need. I was already on the 6th 'floor' when I noticed some movement. My threat sensor on the HUD also showed signs of there being something. It is undetermined whether it's an enemy or a neutral being.

I was at a corner, so I peeked, keeping my rifle ready to shoot. Behind the corner, I saw a white ghostly thing, similar to a Geist. While peeking, my wristband communicator vibrated against my rifle, making a sound. The white Geist looked at me before flying away from me.

I sighed and checked the area. Seeing it was safe, at least for the moment, I checked my communicator. I saw a message from Weiss: "If anything happens to you, I'll kill you. I'll use the chalet as base with the others for now. Winter came by. Said you left on a mission. Since when do you even go on missions?! Is this related to what you had to do during the tournament? Be safe. I'll wait here to give you an earful about leaving me and Yang this morning!"

'Oh, how much I love her. I'll ignore the death threat at the beginning.'

I answered: "Remember that ritual on the moon? It ended up being useless. There is something worse going on. Might face worldwide extinction around this time next week. That's why you need to stay in the chalet. It should be the most defendable location, followed by the academy. If things go South, go to the basement. Don't worry about me and stay safe. I'll come back in a bit. If I'm lucky, I should be finished by tomorrow. I need to be stealthy, so I'll contact you. Send a message if something happens. Gotta go now."

I stood up from where I was sitting and continued making my way downwards. If there is a thing I know for sure, it's that what I'm looking for is at the bottom of this cave system. Don't know what, but it's there.

"MoonRay, how much time have I been here?"

"Around four hours. We have completely explored 13 floors. Want me to put the time on your HUD."

"That would be best. Exploring at this rate is too slow. We saw more than a hundred 'floors' from the surface, just imagine how many the scans couldn't reach… I need to move faster."

I started running throughout the cave system, leaving scouting the area for points of interest to MoonRay. That way, I managed to explore up to 'floor' 64. I met that white Grimm a couple more times, but it never attacked.

I sent a message to Weiss telling her that I reached a safe area and asked if anything happened. She told me they started stockpiling food with long expiration dates and that does not require refrigeration. She went to the basement and found my 'trump card'. She was not particularly surprised I would do something like that. In her own words: "How could you put a bomb that wipes out all Grimm on the continent in our basement?! No, the question should be why didn't you use it?!"

Well, I did write that it wipes out all Grimm on the continent, but that is not exact. It targets all things without a soul in a huge radius. I didn't use it yet since I don't know how the 'Land of Darkness' would react. For all I know, it could even create a soul for its Grimm. The situation is like playing chess with a professional when you barely know how the pieces can move on the board. I can't afford to fuck up. I didn't create more of those bombs because they destabilize reality, quite literally. A huge explosion that does not target anything with a soul and has a huge radius? Very OP but very dangerous. It will take years before I can fire off another of those bad boys without shattering reality. When I gave her this explanation, she wrote an essay on how stupid, irresponsible, and incredible I am. The incredible part was partly a compliment and partly berating me.

"MoonRay, I will continue going down. You check the surroundings for anything interesting."

"You got it! Let's save humanity in another world! Sounds like good old Guardian stuff."

"Indeed it does. Reminds me of some abandoned tunnel system on the moon, just that this is not infested with Hive breeding grounds or Fallen strongholds."

I made my way to the 139th floor before stopping to contact Weiss again. There was no big news apart from some enhanced Grimm activity. It was due to the discontent of the public when it was announced the tournament would be postponed for an investigation. After chatting a little, I asked her to say hi to the gang for me, before going back to exploring.

Another day and I was on the 196th floor. According to MoonRay, we should almost be at the bottom of the cave system. The temperature is rising due to some subterranean lava stream. Weiss told me that there was nothing new, but Beacon wouldn't restart lessons, so they are stuck at the chalet training. Winter and Qrow are with them to control the situation and coordinate in case the invasion happens.

I was currently on the 229th floor. MoonRay detected some strange readings from directly below us, so now I need a way down. I searched the entire floor, but no success.

"MoonRay, can you somehow make a partial map of the floor below if I make an opening?"

"Yes I can. The bigger you make it, the better the result."

"What about structural integrity? Do I need to be worried about cave-ins?"

"This is unknown material, I don't know. Expect the unexpected."

I decided that blasting a hole with a rocket launcher would be most likely to cause a cave in. I can't trasmat myself to the ship when I'm down here. 'A Trace Rifle might do the trick.'

I took out the TR ball and transformed it in a 'Divinity'. I started firing to the ground at an angle, wouldn't want to get a cave-in right under my ass. I lost count of how many times I had to reload, but it was working. After a couple of hours, The laser broke through to the next floor. MoonRay informed me that her scans worked, so I stopped firing.

"So, what's the situation, MoonRay? You already had the readings, so what can you tell me about the floor?"

"It's basically what you saw in the 'Land of Darkness'. There is a lake down there, with quite a few readings that match that white Grimm. It seems that they are not hostile, seeing that the thing never attacked, but I can't be sure. The direction where you fired is above an 'island' in the lake. Your call about what to do."

'So basically I am either in the 'Land of Darkness' v. 2 or I am in the 'Land of Light'. If it's the second, I have a good chance of not having to kill my way through and maybe get some answers.'

"MoonRay, I'll blast through the floor. You continue with your scans. Warn me if something is wrong."

I took out my grenade launcher and changed it to the 'Colony'. I fired the grenades and directed them to enter the hole. I set up a total of three mags, concentrating the explosion on the lower part of the tunnel. I then moved a safe distance away from the area.

As I started the explosions, the whole cave system was shaking. Fortunately no cave in occurred, but I have the feeling that it would have been different if the grenades were closer to the surface. As the dust settled, I saw a pretty big hole in the ground. On the other side was a white lake with an island-like platform in the middle, exactly as MoonRay said.

"Do you have a more detailed scan of the floor?"

"Yes. I can confirm that the concept is the same as the lake in the 'Land of Darkness'. This however is filled with light-related laws. I don't understand how this is connected to the one in Remnant."

"Wait, this is a creature. Anyway… We're about to find out."

I jumped in the hole, then started walking as if on stairs by using the Light to make platforms in the air, like a Hunter's double jump. When I descended through the hole, I had the complete view of what laid beneath. An army of white Grimm, with new ones joining the ranks from time to time.

"Greetings, mortal. I was waiting for you since you came with your friends. I was expecting you to arrive much later. I am the embodiment of the will of this planet. You can consider me as a opposite to the 'Land of Darkness' as that as well is the embodiment of a will. The God of Darkness corrupted that planet with a course, while I was blessed by the God of Light. Arriving on this planet and finding your way through this cave system was supposed to be a test for you or any other mortal. Your reward will be a single answer. Now, ask away!"

'One fucking question, huh? How to destroy the core in the' Land of Darkness' is a big no as I would have to kill the planet. Asking how to remove the curse is an option, though I don't know if I have the power to do so. How to save humanity? Too broad. Oh, maybe I know.

"How do I stop the creation of new Grimm and/or severe their ties with the 'Land of Darkness'?"

Ah, decent questions, better than I expected. Very well, I shall answer you. You can't drain the pools of Grimm, as they are connected to the core. You can try to purify the core, as that would cease its control over new Grimm and the creation of new ones. To prevent the creation of Grimm as well as free them from its control, you need to implant a new will into the world and purify the previous one. They will then merge to create a new one."

"This helps and doesn't. Where do I find a new will and how do I implant it?"

"Why don't you ask about the white Grimm I made?"

"Didn't you say just one thing?"

'No comment, huh? If I've learned anything, it's that godlike existences like mind games, so let's try this.'

"You said: 'why don't you ask about the white Grimm I made?' and I want to know what you meant."

'Now, theoretically that's not a question but a statement. If it answers, then it likes details.'

"Oh, those? Those are for a separate test. If you win against my army, I'll give you any one thing within my power."

"I assume that I will be able to choose you as a reward."

"You assumed incorrectly, but I could give you my seed."

"Sorry, I'm not a female, much less interested." I said with a horrified face

"Pesky mortal! You know what I mean! I can give you the seed of a will. It's connected to me, so it will 'bloom' when it and the core in the 'Land of Darkness' touch."

"That is fine. Start the test."

"Very well. I warn you that I have a lot of excess energy today."

"Wait. What?!"

"I said one answer only."

"Oh, for fucks sake."

When I jumped inside the hole to 230th floor, I had stayed in here for three days and a couple of hours. Right now, I am halfway through the fourth day, still killing the endless hordes of white Grimm.

"Come on mortal, you're almost there!"

"Why do I have the feeling that you are munching on popcorn while watching me here?!"

"Whatever could you mean?"

"Just shut up! I'm busy!"

I have spent the entire fourth day and a few hours of the fifth getting through an army of Grimm. I had to use rocket launchers, grenade launchers, all sorts of supers, grenades, bullets, anything really, but I finally killed the last Alpha Megoliath. 'Those bitches were tough even with my weaponry. I guess this is why raids are done in a fireteam. Too many enemies to work efficiently. Oh, and puzzles.

"Good job, mortal. You have beaten the last Grimm I made. State your desire."

"I want the seed for a new will. The one you talked about before this slaughter."

"Yes, here. Put it to good use. Oh, you are welcome to come again with your friends. Just enjoy the place." It said as a giant seed materialized from the lake.

As I stored my reward, I said: "I'll take your word for it. I really need a vacation after this. And a lap pillow. Would Weiss and Yang do it? Maybe Ruby? I'll have to ask."

"You're thinking out loud."

I made my way towards the surface by causing a lot of explosions.

"Time to go home. I've had enough adventure for at least a year."