Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 13, Ch. 14]

"Hm. I'm just worried about Salem cracking another hole in the wall." She sighed, "At least if she does, it'll be the west wall again."

[...]

The west wall was very much the same as the north. It was by far accepted as the most dangerous, but that was because of Salem in the distance, not the Grimm attacking. With her not casting spells, it was the same as all the others. The wagon was halted down below the west gatehouse and feedbags attached to the horses' mouths so they could eat, and Yang and I made our ways up and down collecting wounded.

[...]

Black light washed over the shape of the CCT in the distance. It was all the way on the other side of Vale, literally the furthest point imaginable from where we were. I held my breath, as did everyone there. If the CCT fell, the Constructs fell, and with it the breach they were holding.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 13]



"Is this really a good idea?" I asked as Ironwood, Winter and I approached the wall, right at the breach where the Constructs and Penny held off the Grimm.

[...]

"Penny!" I yelled, already moving. "To the CCT. Quick!"

/-/

Beacon was in uproar when we arrived. Without portals it took time to make our way through the streets and I was panting when we did. The gates were still open but the unmistakeable sounds of combat from within the school reached me. For a second I dreaded an attack on the Guild Village, but it was impossible to miss the Archers, Mages and other Heroes attacking the three Nevermore atop the CCT.

[...]

"I think we may have a problem there," I said, looking around and up the CCT, noticing all the bodies flung off the boots and laid on the floor. Clawed feet stood out from every booth and pale blue light flickered ominously. We were less than a quarter of the way up the tower and every booth was occupied. Hundreds of slumbering Grimm. Maybe even close to a thousand.

We couldn't kill them all quickly enough. Even if it took thirty seconds to kill one and cover the distance between it and the next, times that by a thousand and we were looking at just under ten hours of constant killing. Even if we split that in four and ignored fatigue, that was two to three hours' work. The Grimm would surely wake up in that time. The Constructs were being destroyed even now, so they'd wake up at any moment.

"Ironwood," I said, moving forward, upward. "We need to find the Archmage."

The others sensed my urgency, or maybe they'd realise the implications themselves. They rushed ahead, faster than me and not afraid to put that to good use. Blake was the quickest, pushing further and further ahead and a full floor above us when the first of the Grimm awoke.

I heard the splash of feet hitting blood above, then a rattling, hissing cry. I pumped my legs harder, hearing sounds of breathing as the Grimm on the same floor as me came out of the Constructs, cracking their limbs with clicking sounds.

"Yahh!" Blake yelled – and it was the angry tone that told me she was on the attack, not in pain. A black body was tossed off the causeway and down below, screeching the whole time. One ahead of us slid out of the booth and onto its feet, only to have its head carved off by Pyrrha's sword.

"Keep moving!" she yelled. "Don't stop for anything!"

To stop was to get bogged down. To get bogged down was to give the Grimm a chance to wake up properly and surround us, and that would be death. I hacked a confused and distracted Grimm down as it tried to clamber out its booth, then jumped over a dying one Ren left behind. Up another ramp, onto another floor, catching up with Blake as she slowed down to deal with two Grimm at once.

More and more were waking up. I was surprised it took them so long – but they must have been busy making sure every single Construct was destroyed. They'd been created for this purpose. Grimm made for the sole job of invalidating the work the Archmage had done. This was why Salem hadn't broken her way into the city. She wanted the Constructs out the way first. Damn it. We'd been such idiots. So confident in our work.

Three quarters of the way up our progress became slower and slower. Pyrrha and Blake worked side by side to carve a path forward while Ren and I covered the rear, Weiss casting spells upon the ground to leave it icy and trip the Grimm in pursuit. We'd been reduced to a snail's pace; every metre bought in blood. And more and more of the things were coming awake, both behind us and ahead.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 14]