Jaune raced across the fractured crimson landscape with such speed that the shattered moon beneath his feet exploded into sprays of red stone with every stride. The wind shrieked around him as the immense heartbeat reverberating throughout the celestial corpse grew stronger with every passing second, no longer merely something he could hear but something he could physically feel vibrating through his bones and thoughts alike.
The pulse had steadily guided every awakened toward this destination ever since they had arrived within the Crimson Moon Realm, and now it had become impossible to mistake its source. The beating originated from the core of the moon itself, each rhythmic thrum carrying enough oppressive force to make the atmosphere feel heavy, as though the entire realm were anticipating the birth of something that had once shaken existence itself.
Jaune maintained his impossible pace until the landscape abruptly ceased to exist before him, forcing him to slow not through hesitation but necessity. Ahead stretched an impossibly vast precipice that dwarfed any mountain, canyon or cliff he had ever seen upon Remnant. Calling it a cliff almost failed to capture its scale.
It was as though an entire world had simply ended. Crimson earth stretched endlessly behind him, while before him the moon opened into an immeasurable hollow that descended toward its exposed core. The sheer drop continued beyond the limits of sight, disappearing into a cavernous abyss illuminated only by rivers of blood-red runic energy that pulsed like arteries through empty space. Floating throughout that impossible void were colossal fragments of moon rock, each one so enormous they resembled entire continents suspended in nothingness.
They drifted silently through the interior of the celestial body while crimson streams of runic energy connected one fragment to another, weaving together an immense lattice that resembled the circulatory system of some unimaginably ancient organism.
Every pulse of those rivers synchronized perfectly with the heartbeat echoing through the moon, causing the floating landmasses to glow briefly before fading once more into crimson shadow. Somewhere beneath those drifting continents lay the moon's exposed core. Instinct alone told Jaune and every other awakened that was where the true battlefield awaited.
Unlike everyone else however, Jaune wasn't just operating on instinct alone. Both he had his father had already discussed what he'd have to do, the moment he got to the moon. If he wished to reach the source of the heartbeat—the place where the Sleeper herself struggled against the prison that had stolen her infinity, he would eventually have to leap into that vast abyss and descend toward the center of the celestial object itself.
Before such a descent became possible, however, another battlefield demanded his attention. T
he very edge of the colossal precipice had transformed into an enormous warzone where awakened from both factions had already collided in full force. The landscape surrounding the cliff was scarred by fresh craters, shattered crimson stone and countless overlapping runic constructs.
LUCID operatives fought desperately against the masked members of Sleepless, every servant of the cult wearing the familiar bone-white Grimm masks that concealed their identities while allowing them to move freely amongst the Grimm.
Rank Ones darted frantically across the battlefield, reinforcing crumbling defensive lines, evacuating wounded comrades, supporting Rank Twos with ranged techniques or intercepting Grimm attempting to overwhelm isolated fighters.
The Rank Twos themselves fought on an entirely different level, moving so quickly they appeared as little more than streaks of light and shadow carving across the battlefield. Every collision between two Rank Twos generated thunderous shockwaves that blasted apart enormous sections of crimson moon rock, reducing towering formations into clouds of shattered debris.
Entire stretches of the battlefield vanished beneath those exchanges, forcing Rank Ones to constantly reposition simply to avoid being annihilated by the collateral damage. From a purely numerical standpoint, humanity possessed the advantage.
Jaune could immediately tell that LUCID fielded significantly more awakened than Sleepless. Unfortunately, the battle had never been merely humanity against humanity.
Grimm surged alongside every Sleepless formation with terrifying coordination, charging directly through openings their masked allies deliberately created. Massive Ursa smashed apart defensive positions while King Taijitus slithered between clusters of awakened before erupting from beneath the ground.
Nevermores wheeled overhead before diving toward vulnerable Rank Ones, and Beowolves flowed across the battlefield in coordinated packs. The Grimm completely ignored the masked cultists moving amongst them, treating them as though they belonged within the horde itself.
LUCID therefore found itself fighting not merely another organization of awakened, but an entire Grimm army operating in perfect synchronization with human intelligence.
Jaune's gaze swept methodically across the battlefield until two familiar figures abruptly caught his attention, causing a grin to spread across his face despite the carnage unfolding around him.
A brilliant shock of orange hair crashed through the battlefield amid explosions of roaring electricity while an equally familiar cascade of crimson hair danced gracefully nearby, elegant spear thrusts reducing Grimm to drifting ash almost faster than they could emerge.
Nora Valkyrie and Pyrrha Nikos.
Relief washed briefly across him at the sight of two people he had not seen since he had become a Rank 2.
Without slowing further, Jaune casually released the burdens he had been dragging behind him. The two gigantic Grimm corpses slammed heavily against the crimson earth, each massive body already dissolving into black ash before impact as their lingering existence finally unraveled.
They disintegrated completely within moments, their remains carried away upon the crimson winds.
Jaune activated Plunder and distance itself ceased to matter.
Rather than crossing the battlefield conventionally, he simply stole the separation between himself and his destination. Reality folded around him as he instantly appeared beside Nora at precisely the moment she planted her hammer to intercept a devastating torrent of Runic energy appearing the form of blood.
Across from her, a masked Sleepless Rank Two extended both hands while an immense crimson waterfall surged toward Nora's position, every drop infused with enough runic force to carve effortlessly through reinforced steel.
Neither technique reached completion however.
The blood simply vanished and simultaneously, Nora's gathering storm cloud of electricity disappeared as well.
Both attacks had their very existence Nullified before they could manifest fully. Nora's eyes widened so dramatically that she nearly forgot where she was.
She instinctively turned toward the impossible newcomer, recognition flooding her face so quickly that her mouth had already begun opening to shout his name. She never finished however as Jaune had already disappeared again.
The Sleepless Rank Two barely had enough time to register movement before Jaune's hand closed firmly around the front of his Grimm mask and face.
There was no exchange of blows or contest of strength—no opportunity for retaliation.
Jaune simply continued moving, driving the man's head downward with overwhelming force until it struck the moon rock beneath them hard enough to shatter the landscape.
Crimson stone fractured outward in every direction as the Sleepless operative's skull buried itself deeply into the ground, his entire body twitching only briefly before going completely still. It wasn't the physical impact itself, that been Jaune's true attack.
The instant contact had been established, Plunder reached directly into the man's mind. Thoughts unraveled and the man's memories detached themselves from consciousness.
The man's mind dissolved and every secret accumulated throughout the man's life poured directly into Jaune's own mind in an overwhelming torrent of stolen knowledge.
He calmly sifted through the flood while keeping one hand resting atop the man's head, discarding worthless fragments with practiced efficiency. Personal recollections, trivial conversations and childhood memories.
Even emotional attachments.
All were stripped away and discarded as useless dross while Jaune focused only upon information relevant to the present battle.
Within moments the picture became startlingly clear.
Tyrian had already begun the ritual. He had descended toward the core of the moon where he now struggled to shatter the barrier imprisoning the Sleeper's stolen infinity.
Although strengthened enormously by Salem's fragment and his pseudo Rank 4 status, Tyrian himself remained short of true Rank 4 existence.
Meaning, forcing open such an impossible prison required continuous effort. He had therefore become the centerpiece of the battlefield below. Every available Rank Three awakened had already descended in an attempt to stop him before the ritual reached completion.
Even Velik himself, who was considered that the "strongest" rank 3, had already entered the moon's depths. Yet those Rank Threes found themselves stalled by equally terrifying opposition. Several Rank Three Grimm had emerged specifically to defend Tyrian's position, monstrosities powerful enough to occupy humanity's strongest awakened while the ritual continued uninterrupted.
Among those defenders stood another familiar name that immediately caught Jaune's attention. Lionheart.
'So he had fully committed himself to Sleepless after all.'
Jaune hummed thoughtfully before withdrawing his hand from the fallen operative's head.
The man's body remained where it lay, breathing continuing only through instinct while every trace of higher thought had vanished forever.
Jaune had not merely stolen selected memories but everything.
Every memory, instinct and learned behavior. Every fragment of personality and cognition that the man might have had, was Plundered away until nothing remained but an empty shell.
The Sleepless operative still lived biologically, yet the person who had once inhabited that body no longer existed.
He had become little more than a vegetable.
Resting within Jaune's other hand was the Grimm mask that had previously concealed the man's identity. Jaune rotated it thoughtfully between his fingers while his father's earlier explanation resurfaced within his mind.
Salem's fragment had never possessed complete authority.
When only a tiny sliver of the Sleeper's consciousness had invaded Tyrian's mind, it inherited only a fraction of her dominion over Grimm.
That fragment retained enough power to craft these masks, artifacts saturated with Grimm essence that caused ordinary Grimm to perceive their wearers as kin rather than prey. They were ingenious preparations made long before the current conflict.
Had Salem herself fully awakened, no such masks would ever have been necessary.
Her complete consciousness could simply command every Grimm not to attack Sleepless.
Yet Tyrian contained only a fragment, not the entirety of the Sleeper's immeasurable existence. The masks compensated for that limitation, allowing the cult to march alongside Grimm despite lacking Salem's full authority.
Which was precisely why this ritual mattered so profoundly. Tyrian did not merely seek greater strength for himself. He intended to restore enough of the Sleeper's true consciousness that her dominion over Grimm and reality itself could begin returning.
His body could never contain her complete infinity. Ironic, considering that he had the Vessel rune. But, in any case, it could still serve as the first foothold through which Salem might finally begin reclaiming what had been stolen from her.
Jaune's contemplation ended abruptly when something struck him with tremendous force. Powerful arms wrapped tightly around his torso as Rank Two strength crashed into him hard enough to launch an ordinary awakened across the battlefield.
Jaune himself did not shift even a single inch. His feet remained planted exactly where they stood while a familiar smile spread naturally across his face.
He calmly wrapped one arm around the figure clinging to him before looking down into an unmistakably furious pair of electric eyes.
Nora stared up at him with a mixture of relief, rage and disbelief that seemed ready to burst apart all at once.
"You motherfuc—" she began furiously before Jaune chuckled and gently raised his free hand in surrender.
"Whoa, hey Nora. Relax. It's good to see you too."
Her expression somehow became even angrier.
"I'm gonna break your legs! Where have you been?! Everyone had been looking for you!"
Jaune's smile softened, though it never completely disappeared.
"I'll explain everything later, Nora. Now isn't the time."
His expression gradually became serious once more as he turned his gaze beyond the battlefield toward the immeasurable abyss stretching beyond the cliff's edge.
Raising one hand, he pointed toward the titanic hollow leading into the exposed heart of the moon where the rhythmic pulse had become almost deafening.
"Let's go help everyone else," he said calmly before lowering his finger toward the floating continents suspended far below.
"Then we head down, alright?"
Nora looked a little confused but didn't argue.
"Fine. But you're not going to run away again, got it?!" She pointed her finger directly at his nose. Jaune had to lean back slight to avoid it poking him.
"Sheesh, aright. I promise. We'll head there together."
Nora nodded, seemingly satisfied. But then a look of contemplation turned over her face.
"What's down there Jaune? It's like a heartbeat..."
Jaune answered the only way he could.
"Down there... is going to be the final battle that decides everything."