Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 20]

Salem stood and pointed her hand toward me.

"Kill him!"

The first Grimm to come close died, cut in twain by a sword that left behind a trail of black, crackling energy. There was so little resistance that I stepped through with the swing, pivoted and slashed horizontally, cutting three more down in a single swing. There was no time to stop and marvel at that thanks to the legions more that came crashing down.

She didn't want to come close. The sword, her magic or just the fact I could use the `Seal` Rune to cancel her attacks out had her sending her forces at me from a distance. Salem watched, hands clenched at her sides and summoning more and more Grimm from the surrounding buildings. Many were on fire, but plenty came out unscathed, turning away from Beacon and the battle there to pour down onto me.

I backpedalled, cutting any Grimm that tried to encircle me down and giving ground where I had to. I was already exhausted from my near-death experience earlier that every swing was agony. My eyes glowed, pushing me through it. The more Grimm she sent at me, the less she kept around herself. I just had to buy Ruby and Blake their opportunity.

I need her distracted. Grimacing, I shouldered my way through an attack, taking claws to my upper arm and back. Changing my momentum suddenly and lashing into the Grimm, I started to cut my way forward, sacrificing defence for overwhelming offence.

"Salem!" I roared. "I'll cut you down myself!"

"You shall do no such thing. One man, no matter how aggravating, cannot hope to kill a God. More!" She pointed her hand at me. "Slay him. Throw yourselves at him. Drown him in an ocean of your bodies."

The deluge increased. I stepped up onto a Beowolf's back and stabbed an Ursa in the face, jumped onto and rode its body down into another. Wrenching the sword out, I used the momentum to spin and tear through two Canis, a Gekkan and a Boarbatusk. The moment the blade passed, four Canis leapt at me, open mouths snarling. One caught my hand and lit up like a bonfire as I Stoked the Forge. Another was batted aside with the flaming carcass. The other two hit my chest and forced me back, jaws snapping at my face.

Too many! There were far too many! Even through the haze of Resilience, I felt a spike of something. Not fear, but a slow and creeping dread, the onset of realisation. I couldn't fight back this horde and she had more and more coming. I was already climbing on top of dying Grimm, being pushed back and killing them so quickly that their bodies were forming small mounds before they even had the time to dissolve into nothingness.

Ripping one Canis off my face, I swung blindly with my other hand, knowing I'd cut through enemies regardless of whether I saw them or not. Claws scratched down the back of my armour, still whole thankfully and protecting me. There was another Grimm entangled around my legs, trying its hardest to claw my knees to shreds and failing, but managing to be an obstacle all the same.

"Do you think this is all the Grimm I have?" Salem asked, voice carrying as she boomed with laughter. "Even if you were to slay every Grimm in the city, I would simply leave and summon more. They are endless. In fact…"

Salem raised her hands toward the sky. The clouds over Beacon roiled and bubbled, swirling inward until the sun was cut off and replaced with thick grey clouds. The Grimm around me backed away and I took a moment to catch my breath, spinning with Crocea Mors out, blood dripping from my body, most of it not my own.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 20]