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World Within the Well.
Deep darkness shrouded this place, as though the world had returned to the moment before light was born. Looking around, there was nothing to be found except darkness.
A young girl, unclothed and covered in strange black runes, gazed at the only unknown light mass in the dark space, emitting a pale green glow, and said calmly,
"False light. This power that protects you is merely a foreign anomaly born from darkness. Compared to eternal darkness and shadow, it is so laughable, so pitiful."
Her grayish-white skin and eyes flickering with a dim red glow revealed her identity—
A denizen of shadow.
"Smaller, simpler souls—the spark of a flame can indeed ignite hope and rekindle the hearts of those whose spirits have turned to ash. The ability to draw power from hope is undoubtedly your greatest trait. And because of that, I will do everything I can to extinguish it. Until all your time and effort become futile, and everything you once built turns to ash before your eyes! You sent out your guardians, and after they failed, you turned instead to even smaller souls, knowing full well you were sending them down the same tragic road of no return."
"Darkness is the end of all things, the constant within change. No matter how much time passes, all is still within chaos. That is the true nature this world should possess. You gave the world time. You gave it a chance. You allowed beings as weak as yourselves to give birth to something incompatible with darkness. How long can a flame sustained by ash—dust crystals possibly last?"
"The miracle born in the Ashfog World will not happen a second time. The guardian power you are so proud of is gradually weakening. When this spark is extinguished, the world will return to its proper course."
Ripples spread through the darkness, forming a water mirror that reflected everything happening far away. At the boundary of darkness, Ruby and the others were currently fighting against the former guardian knights.
The black-haired, red-eyed girl spoke calmly, as though stating a fact.
"This is the beginning of the end for light. In the end, you will lead them to destruction!"
The green ball of light flickered faintly, as though disagreeing with her theory yet unable to express its meaning.
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After months of arduous travel, the dangers along the way had matured Ruby and her group considerably.
Compared to when they had first set out, the deliberately created atmosphere of harmony was gone. Instead, they had come to see one another as companions to whom they could entrust their lives.
The many dangers they encountered had not made them retreat. Even in this cold and oppressive Boundary of Darkness, they each drew faint warmth from their companions to resist the invasion of the dark aura.
This was precisely why Beacon Academy required Huntsmen to form teams.
Once one entered the domain of darkness, emotions such as cold, darkness, oppression, despair, unease, and fear would erode the minds of living beings until they degenerated into mindless shadow creatures.
If one were in the Realm of the Half-Dead, a person might barely hold on alone. But in a place like the Boundary of Darkness, far removed from the human world, a human mind could collapse in less than a day. At times like this, the sense of reliance brought by others of the same kind was enough to help Huntsmen resist the darkness.
After passing through the Infernal Lava Lake, Ruby and the others finally arrived at their destination—
The Boundary of Darkness, once the most prosperous religious city in eastern Vale: Firm.
They hid at the edge of the ruined city and carefully observed the situation inside. From deep within the ruins, the sound of clashing steel occasionally rang out, chilling them to the bone. They truly could not understand what had turned the city into this state.
The arrival of darkness usually only caused living beings to die or degenerate. It generally did not affect the matter itself. In the Realm of the Half-Dead, they had even seen houses that remained completely intact, everything as normal except for the food on the tables having weathered away.
But what about this city before them, known as the most prosperous city in eastern Vale?
Looking down, they could not find a single intact house. Everywhere were broken walls and shattered ruins, as though countless giant monsters had trampled across the entire city.
"Boom! Boom!"
The sound of heavy steel impacts came closer from afar. The four hurriedly hid behind a wall and restrained their presence.
Ruby slightly poked her head out and looked curiously. At last, she understood why the city constantly echoed with the sound of steel collisions, and why the city had become like this.
Blake placed a finger to her lips, her expression extremely grave as she warned Ruby and the others to stay silent.
They saw a knight wearing tattered heavy armor being blasted from afar and crashing through a stone wall not far from Ruby. Soon after, another knight, also clad in heavy armor and wielding a greatsword, slowly walked over from a distance.
There were no unnecessary words, no unnecessary movements, not even defensive stances. The two heavily armored knights engaged in the most direct life-and-death battle.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Before long, the knight who had been sent flying, lacking a weapon, tore off one of the sword-wielding knight's arms before ultimately having his head smashed into scrap metal by the other knight's heavy sword.
Beneath the victorious heavy-armored knight's helmet, a terrifying red glow flickered. It stared for a moment at the fallen knight whose head had been twisted and shattered along with its steel helmet. Then it withdrew its gaze and walked toward the direction from which the continuous sounds of heavy impacts still came.
"What are they? Why are they killing each other?" Ruby stuck her head out and stared in surprise at the knight lying among the rubble. Her instincts told her these heavily armored knights were completely different from the Grimm she had destroyed.
"Weiss!?" Blake cried out softly in alarm.
Weiss had stepped out from the concealing shadows.
"So that's how it is."
Weiss walked from the wall's shadow to the fallen knight. With a complicated expression, she gently touched the scar-covered armor and softly spoke the identities of these heavy-armored knights.
"The hero Marcus and his immortal knight order. They were once the heroes who protected the city of Firm. Even after being corroded by darkness, they have not forgotten their mission as guardian knights."
"Nameless knight, I, Weiss Schnee, offer my highest respect to you and your companions. Your spirit as guardians is also the blade that guides us, Huntsmen."
An elegant ice flower condensed in Weiss's hand, and she gently placed it on the knight's chest.
After doing this, she hurried back to the others' hiding place. Based on the flow of aura and the records in ancient texts, she knew something would change soon.
Weiss solemnly apologized to the other three.
"I'm sorry. As a member of the Schnee family, I wanted to express the most basic respect toward a knight."
Yang crossed her arms and frowned in confusion.
"Can something like that still count as alive?"
Blake said gravely,
"Judging by its aura, they are indeed dark creatures that have been corrupted."
Weiss sighed silently.
"Yes. Precisely because they are dark creatures, this scene is happening. Their mission is to eliminate dark creatures. Even after their bodies fell into corruption, they have continued faithfully carrying out that responsibility. This kind of slaughter has probably continued ever since darkness descended here several hundred years ago. The reason this city became completely ruined is also because of their endless killing."
At that moment, Blake's expression tightened, and she raised her hand to stop the others from continuing.
The heavy-armored knight whose head had just been smashed apart slowly stood up. The twisted helmet on its head lit with a faint red glow, followed by the sound of metal warping. Before long, the helmet had fully restored itself.
The scarlet gaze beneath the helmet swept over the surroundings before finally stopping on the ice crystal flower that had slipped from its chest. After a pause, it chose a direction and left the area.
"This is the Immortal Knight Order. Originally, they only used secret armor techniques and the power of Dust crystals to greatly enhance their physical abilities and recovery. But after experiencing the dark aura and countless deaths, they have truly become undead."
As someone born into a family of secret arts, Weiss spoke with absolute certainty.
Blake took a deep breath and looked back at everyone calmly.
"Our target is the cathedral in the city center. We just don't know whether any other Huntsman teams have arrived here. If we can join forces, breaking through the blockade of these immortal knights will be much easier."
Even as a member of the White Fang team and despite having experienced hundreds of life-and-death battles, she still felt an instinctive fear toward this place.
After thinking for a while, Weiss shook her head.
"No. Right now, we still don't know whether the hero Marcus has survived to this day like the immortal knight order. If he is here, no matter how many Huntsmen arrive, it will be impossible to break through the defensive line. He is a hero-level city guard Huntsman, on the same level as Beacon Academy's headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Blake, you're a Faunus, so you should possess abilities beyond those of ordinary humans. For the next two days, we can only rely on you to gather information and contact any other Huntsman teams that have arrived here."
Blake looked at her deeply and nodded solemnly.
"I understand."
Yang smiled carelessly.
"Don't worry. We'll always find a way."
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World Within the Well.
Inside the dark world where direction could not be distinguished, the bodies of Huntsmen lay scattered everywhere. Around them, tens of thousands of Grimm corpses slowly sank into the dark environment and vanished.
Only the red-eyed girl remained standing behind the green light mass. She looked around at the Huntsmen, still barely able to support themselves, and said calmly,
"Humans, in the end, you still do not understand."
As soon as she finished speaking, the black runes on her gray-white skin lit up, turning a blazing red like molten lava.
Her body slowly enlarged, becoming increasingly distorted and deformed. Black mist drifted upward and formed a pair of black wings of light behind her. From a young girl, she transformed into a majestic humanoid monster over ten meters tall.
This was the original form of the humans who had chosen to flee into the dark shadows when light was first born in the dark world.
"Hmph. We really don't understand, but we know that destroying you here is the right thing to do."
Yang, whose right arm had been severed by a sharp weapon, stood up. As she stared at the strange being in the distance, her violet pupils turned reddish gold. Fiery-red particles of light surrounded her golden hair.
The power of the immortal phoenix flowed into her body and into the bodies of the heavily injured Huntsmen around her, healing Yang's severed arm and the Huntsmen's serious wounds.
The shadow denizen, transformed into a humanoid monster, spoke unhurriedly.
"How many more times can you use the power inherited from the Summer Maiden? A human body serving as the medium should be close to its limit by now."
"That's true. I can't keep throwing the burden onto my sister. I need to pull myself together too~ This can't go on."
Ruby, whose dark-red scythe had already shattered, struggled to her feet and forced a smile toward Yang.
"I don't know who you are, but if I destroy you and recover the power of the Spring Maiden, then I, Weiss Schnee, will also be crowned with the title of hero. Is this what they mean when they say the greater the reward, the greater the risk?"
Weiss spoke gravely with sword in hand. Her specially treated white gothic dress, which normally would not be stained by dust, had already been torn into a terrible state during the brutal battle against the Grimm. Under normal circumstances, she absolutely would not have tolerated such a disheveled appearance.
"I'll handle support. If we fail, dying here with all of you wouldn't be so bad."
Covered in blood, Blake revealed a gentle smile for the first time in front of Ruby and the others. Her weapon had likewise been damaged beyond use.
The surviving Huntsmen gradually gathered beside Yang.
Under the pressure of life and death, all the Huntsmen maintained a subtle tacit understanding.
Or rather, they were all already prepared to die.
They were Huntsmen.
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The plot of 'RWBY' was not complicated. It was essentially about a Huntsman team formed by the four heroines and their growth and performance along the journey to recover the power of the Spring Maiden.
The film highlighted the differences in their personalities, their shining qualities, and especially the light of humanity they possessed in contrast to the oppressive and despairing environment around them.
Forest of Shadows, Realm of the Half-Dead, Crystal Abyss, Ashfog Canyon, Infernal Lava Lake, Boundary of Darkness, Ruined Cathedral Beneath the Earth, and World Within the Well—
Each of these eight different settings had its own story unit. Each story conveyed a different spiritual core. When they resonated with one another, the final boss battle in the World Within the Well illuminated the entire movie's central theme—
Light struggling within darkness.
It also echoed everything spoken in the opening monologue.
The character portrayals, pacing, variety of battle scenes, and novel enemy designs all made the charm of the 'RWBY' movie feel stunning to every viewer.
"Alright, let's look at the audience comments."
After the giant wall-mounted screen finished playing 'RWBY,' Kamiyā Yuu calmed himself and instructed Morishita Aoi.
The others had only just recovered from the rhythm of the movie. Hearing this, their expressions instantly became tense.
"Wait... wait!"
Miyauchi Ema set down the teacup she had been holding the entire time and raised her hand with a grave expression.
"I'm too nervous. Can I go to the restroom first?"
"M-Me too."
The boyish-looking Matsuoka Taira also weakly raised his hand.
Kamiyā Yuu smiled helplessly.
"Why choose now to go to the restroom? Alright~ I can understand, more or less. Let's take a ten-minute break, then look at the comments together."
Thinking about it, it seemed no one had left the break room even once while 'RWBY' was playing.
During the ten-minute break, everyone calmed themselves down in their own way. Once they all returned to the break room, they finally opened the comment section beneath the 'RWBY' video page.
Only a little over two hours had passed since the comment section opened, yet the number of comments had already reached five million. After the movie ended, the comment count entered its peak growth period, with thousands of new comments appearing every second.
Because the webpage was set to automatically load comments, what Kamiyā Yuu and the others saw was an endless flood of comments refreshing across the page. Before they could even make out a single English letter, one comment would be pushed down by countless others.
'RWBY' views: 16,524,378
Audience likes: 13,245,671
Audience favorites: 5,627,183
Audience comments: 6,273,817
Audience overall rating: 9.8