Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 22]

A root punched up behind her and tried to stop her by crushing her against the floor. Salem caught it with her one hand, wrestled against and twisted it to the side.

"You can stop your meddling as well! Your efforts are worthless. That's all they've ever been. You bray at destiny as though it can be changed. Well guess what – it can't. You were born a nobody and you shall die a nobody!"

"That's where you're wrong."

Ruby's eyes bulged as Jaune – the real Jaune – ducked out from behind the last root he'd used, the one Salem was still fighting with, and swept in under her guard. He'd thrown aside his armour and left himself in nothing but a tunic and his jerkins, a silvery amulet bouncing on his chest.

Salem gasped and tried to move back, only to falter as the Ironwood root pushed down on her.

Jaune dropped under her guard and fell to one knee, sweeping his silver blade at the monster's stomach like a hero from legend. The blade caught black cloth and ripped through, cutting through skin with an audible slice of a cleaver through meat.

Salem shrieked in fury and brought her knee up, snapping the blade with one well-placed strike and tossing the Ironwood root to the side.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 22]