Never Change

Chapter 22

Percy narrowed his eyes at the explosions that came from the tower of Beacon as the tower fell. He boosted himself again, decapitating Grimm that stood in his way with ease as he pushed himself towards the tower. He sketched wards on his hands and forearms, adding an unsight ward to Anaklusmos as well, all while mindlessly exterminating the Grimm as he made his way to the tower.

It was time to show Remnant the true power of the stormbringer.

He pushed into the vicinity of the tower, slashing away the beasts of Grimm that dared converge on him. He saw Ozpin lying prone on the ground, knocked out, and Cinder casually strolling towards him, her amber eyes meeting his.

Cinder Fall narrowed her eyes at him, a flame appearing in her palm, flickering dangerously.

"Tell me where the Maiden is, and I will allow you, Vale, and Beacon to live. There need not be any bloodshed."

Percy looked into her eyes, "No."

"So be it. I will have the full Maiden power."

She leveled her hand at him, the flame flickering even more violently.

"Whatever it takes..." she whispered, a certain look in her eyes that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

He narrowed his intense sea green eyes at her dangerously.

"This is your reckoning. You killed all of these people. The blood of Vale, of Beacon, is on your hands."

"And?" the woman raised an eyebrow cooly.

"You'll die, for that."

"Oh?" the woman sounded amused, her amber eyes twinkling with humor, "Is that a threat?"

"No."

Anaklusmos flicked out in a sheen of gold, as he leveled the blade at her.

"It's a promise."

Percy quickly sketched an expel ward, firing it at the woman. She dodged to the left at the last possible second, her amber eyes narrowing at him.

Immediately, he was met with flame, a beam that scorched his chest. It was hotter than anything he'd felt before, and that was saying something considering he'd felt the inside of a volcano before. He felt his shirt singe off in the heat, and he knew he had to do something before it got bad.

Percy grunted, concentrating. He summoned the force of the ocean within him, creating water out of nothing but his power to block the flames. He extended his senses to deep underground and yanked water to him. The groundwater exploded to the surface and converged on his assailant, suffocating her. Superheated steam burst all around the place, extinguishing her flames. Before he could suffocate Cinder, she just barely managed to roll away.

She instantly attacked him with dual blades, but Percy danced away, before reengaging. Riptide burst forth in a flurry of celestial bronze that promised death and pain, and it expertly snaked around her defenses, chipping away at her aura. His arm moved so fast that it blurred, and the effect was augmented by the unsight ward on Riptide that made his sword look like a golden sheen, causing her to falter in her defenses.

Cinder snarled in anger, trying to press on the attack, but only found herself on the backfoot, forced to give ground. The son of Poseidon was relentless, never giving her even a moment to breath. He controlled the pace of the fight, the feeling of the fight. He made ward whips with his left hand to hook her limbs and blocked when necessary.

She blasted torrents of scorching fire at him, with rings of fire, but he withstood it all with grunts of exertion with his natural disposition against fire. Her swordsmanship was excellent, perhaps even better than Pyrrha. But all of that didn't mean she could keep up with him.