The world shifted once again. The familiar emptiness of the void gave way to a cracked stone courtyard bathed in dim, eerie light. Dark red streaks stained the ground, pooling in uneven grooves. The group's eyes darted around the desolate space, their unease growing with every detail that ca into focus.
Then they froze.
Qrow and Tai were on the ground before them, their corpses mutilated beyond recognition. The man stood over Tai's severed arm, which he casually brought to his mouth, biting into the flesh with a sickening crunch. He chewed slowly, devouring the limb with grotesque fervor. Wet, disgusting sounds filled the air as the demon feasted, a twisted smile playing on its bloodstained lips.
Ruby's knees buckled as she let out a choked sob, tears streaming down her face. Yang caught her, wrapping her arms around her sister in a desperate attempt to provide comfort, though her own face was pale and horrified.
Nora, her voice trembling, whispered, "This is growing worse by the mont... How... How do you find peace in this nightmare?"
The demon lifted its head, its expression gleeful as it noticed Crimson standing at the edge of the courtyard. It spoke excitedly. "So, you're the one I've been waiting for," it said as it threw the arm away. Continuing, it sneered, "You've got their scent all over you. Friends of yours, huh? They were weak. Pitiful. Not worth a proper fight."
Crimson's grip on his weapon tightened, and soon after, the fight erupted.
The demon lunged with terrifying speed, its fists blasting through the air with deadly power. Crimson parried the blows effortlessly, his strikes thodical and unrelenting. The demon was excited throughout the battle, but Crimson remained silent, his focus unbroken.
The fight didn't last long. Crimson's blade found its mark, cleaving through the demon with a final, decisive blow.
Qrow exhaled heavily, his expression a mix of relief and disgust. "Good riddance," he muttered. "Happy to see that freak die."
Before anyone could respond, the haunting note of the biwa echoed once more.
"Not again," Qrow groaned, rubbing his temples.
The world shifted, the courtyard dissolving into nothingness. When the scene reford, they stood in a lavish chamber adorned with macabre decorations. They saw the heads of Ruby, Yang, and Sumr, ticulously preserved and displayed like trophies.
At the center of the room stood a man with an unsettlingly serene smile, his pale features frad by silver hair. He gestured grandly to his grotesque collection.
The group recoiled, unable to stomach the sight before them. None of them could speak, their gazes averted from the nightmarish display.
The demon spoke proudly of his collection, and another fight began.
Doma's mastery over ice was evident as he conjured deadly shards and blizzards with ease. The room beca a battlefield of frost and steel as Crimson faced him, his movents growing sharper and more aggressive. For the first ti, the group saw sothing shift in Crimson's deanor—an undercurrent of fury beneath his stoic exterior.
"He was angrier this ti," Ren observed quietly.
The others nodded, watching as Crimson's strikes beca fiercer. Doma's strength was undeniable, but it wasn't enough. Crimson delivered the final blow, shattering the demon into fragnts of ice and ash.
The group exhaled collectively, their tension montarily eased.
Another biwa note sounded.
But this ti, Crimson moved.
As the world around him began to change again, Crimson charged forward, his blade flashing. He reached the woman playing the biwa and struck her down before she could complete her lody.
The group let out a collective sigh of relief as the oppressive sound ceased, and the world stabilized.
They found themselves in a deserted town in the middle of the night. There were no lights, no moon, no stars. The quiet streets and empty buildings were a stark contrast to the horrors they had just witnessed.
"Finally," Yang muttered, her shoulders sagging. "Sothing normal."
But Qrow's expression darkened. "Sothing's wrong."
The group tensed as Crimson began walking through the town.
They saw them—themselves and many others.
Their corpses littered the streets, mangled and lifeless. Pyrrha's body lay crumpled against a wall, her spear shattered beside her. Weiss's arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, her face frozen in anguish. One by one, they saw each of their lifeless forms, distorted and broken in ways that made them avert their gazes.
Ruby clutched Yang's arm tightly, trembling. Qrow turned away, muttering a string of curses under his breath.
"When is this nightmare going to end?" he growled. But no one had an answer.
The group watched as Crimson detected a man atop a building and headed toward him. Once the two stood face to face, the man sneered, mocking humans with a voice dripping with contempt. He declared himself a superior and perfect being before beginning to transform.
Another battle started, but this was no ordinary fight.
The demon's power was overwhelming, each blow it landed sending shockwaves that shattered the buildings around them. Crimson fought valiantly, but it was clear he was being pushed back. The group watched with growing anxiety as the demon's attacks beca more relentless, each strike tearing through the environnt.
Then it happened—the demon landed a direct hit.
Crimson's kimono was torn, the fabric fluttering away in tatters. The demon laughed, a mocking sound that made the group flinch. But Crimson didn't respond with words. Instead, he sheathed his sword.
The atmosphere changed instantly, a chilling tension filling the air. Most of the group knew what was coming next.
Crimson's body began to transform. His eyes—once sharp and human—multiplied, six glowing orbs now glaring with an unearthly light. His aura shifted, becoming sothing monstrous, primal, and utterly terrifying. A sinister sword grew from his hand—a grotesque, fleshy weapon covered with eyes.
Pyrrha's mother gasped, covering her mouth in horror. "What is he?!"
Cheiron's expression darkened, his voice low and grave. "This... This can't be a semblance."
Raven's body trembled, her hands gripping her arms tightly as mories of her own trauma surfaced unbidden.
The fight resud with renewed intensity.
This ti, it was Crimson who held the upper hand. His movents were faster, more brutal, and each swing of his sword left devastating trails of destruction in its wake. The town crumbled under the weight of their battle, entire buildings reduced to rubble as Crimson and the demon clashed.
The demon's arrogance faltered, its confidence replaced with desperation. It fought back with everything it had, but it was no match for Crimson in this form.
With one final, monstrous strike, Crimson cut the demon down. As the creature turned to ashes, it called Crimson a monster and told him to accept his nature. The group watched silently.
They barely had ti to feel relief before the sound of rushing liquid reached their ears. They looked around in horror as a flood of blood surged through the town, swallowing everything in its path. Crimson leapt to the top of a nearby building, standing silently as the crimson tide washed over the ruins.
The group's relief turned to terror as the world around them changed.
The town was gone, replaced by an endless sea of blood. The sky above was an oppressive jet black, pierced only by the light of a sinister red moon that hung low in the center.
And then the corpses began to rise.
The blood churned and bubbled as mutilated bodies erged, their lifeless eyes staring blankly ahead. So were disfigured beyond recognition, while others retained horrifyingly familiar features.
Ruby's trembling voice broke the silence. "I... I see my schoolmates... and those rchants from Vale..."
Qrow's voice was grim, his gaze fixed on the endless sea of corpses. "This... This must be every person Crimson has ever t or seen in his life."
The group clung to each other, unable to tear their eyes away from the horrific scene.
And then they noticed Crimson.
His six eyes scanned the sea of blood. Their breath hitched as his gaze seed to settle on them, but Qrow shook his head.
"No," he said, his voice tight. "He's not looking at us. He's looking... behind us."
The group turned slowly, their hearts pounding in their chests. Standing there, silent and nacing, was another Crimson.
The group froze, their minds racing as they tried to comprehend what they were seeing.
"Another... Crimson?" Yang whispered, her voice barely audible.
The demon began tempting Crimson to let go of his humanity. Crimson declared that humans could defeat them with enough will, to which the demon laughed, saying only they could beat themselves. The group couldn't help but agree with the demon. They didn't believe humans working together could defeat Crimson—not when he was transford.
The demon continued to mock humanity before saying, "People you trust will betray you. They can never understand you. And those you swore to protect? They feared you the mont they saw your strength."
Its words made the group feel guilty. They truly didn't understand Crimson, and when he transford in Haven, they feared him. To their shock, Crimson transford back to his human self. Their hearts skipped a beat, especially as the demon expressed delight.
"What I know, you know. What I will be, you will be. You are the mirror of , and I am the reflection of you. Human versus demon. Let's put it to the test," Crimson said calmly.
"He is going to fight that…" Ruby said in a shocked tone. The others had similar reactions.
The demon's laughter added to their unease as it described itself as Crimson's superior. Ruby and the others looked grim, unable to believe Crimson could take on such a creature.
Their fears were justified—it was a one-sided fight. The demon easily kept Crimson on the defensive, pushing him back without allowing him to strike. Then, Crimson started closing the gap between them and finally landed a strike, surprising even the demon.
"Ah, I see. You've managed to see it—the Transparent World—even as a re human," the demon said mockingly as its sword transford, sending Crimson flying with a single strike.
Instead of pressing the attack, the demon began speaking while circling Crimson. "Doesn't it infuriate you? Ruby and Yang get to live, to get old, while you are running out of ti because of them. You're dying, Human. You know it."
"What is that thing talking about?" Yang asked worriedly, while the others watched in confusion.
"Oh, you can lie to them, you can lie to yourself, but not to . Qrow didn't save you that day. He just gave you twenty years to watch your life drain away. That's why you refused to teach them the breathing style. Not because they couldn't learn, but because you couldn't bear to see them end up like you—dying young. You even denied them the knowledge of Total Concentration Breathing, fearing that with their talent, they would develop a new breathing technique." the demon mocked.
"Crimson is dying because of the moon breathing!" Pyrrha exclaid in shock, and the others gasped.
"You got angry about the attack on Beacon, not because of the damage or the lives lost. You were angry because you knew you didn't have ti left to start over, that your efforts were in vain and nothing changed at the end" the demon continued, circling closer. "Yang's lie and actions led you here. If she hadn't run that day, you wouldn't have crossed the limit. None of this would have happened. Why did you go south? Because they might be heading north. Deep down, you wanted them to think you had abandoned them and were living sowhere alone, because they would never expect you to die—not after your display at Haven. And what was all of that for? Yang isn't your sister. Your parents lied to you the whole ti. But you can still live; you just need to accept . That family isn't worth your sacrifice. Nothing is."
"He's dying because of ?" Yang dropped to her knees and began crying, while Ruby hugged her.
Crimson's response was swift and resolute: "I decided long ago that if fate is cruel to them, I will not be its accomplice."
Everyone could feel the sincerity in Crimson's reply, but the demon mocking words next stupefied them.
"He thought of killing Tai?" Qrow repeated in a questioning tone, he couldn't understand where this ca from.
"He is reacting to it, he's really afraid of hurting us?" Ruby asked, her confusion evident. She and the others couldn't understand why Crimson would fear sothing like that. It was unimaginable to them that he would ever act with the intent of harming his family.
The demon and human continued to share their desires, the demon desires made them feel fear and disgust while the human made them feel sadness, they couldn't understand what kind of thinking process would lead to so much guilt.
They watched sorrowfully as a human fought against a monster. Their movents grew so fast that the group could no longer keep up. Raven, who had faced the monster before, knew how impossible it was to match it.
Then they heard it: "14th Form." The blood around them beca waves, and the corpses were destroyed or washed away by the sheer power.
Then they heard: "16th Form," which shocked them.
"Just how many forms does he have?" Blake asked in a daze.
Suddenly, things went quiet. They saw Crimson leaning on his sword for support, his body covered in deep cuts and bleeding, while the demon was missing a hand and its head.
"He... won!" Weiss said in surprise. The others sighed in relief, thinking it was over.
"You're not done. Let's finish this," Crimson said, his voice tired and breathing heavy, which scared them.
The monster before them grew more grotesque, more terrifying than ever. Their bodies froze even though they didn't feel the malice—it was the sight alone that was horrifying.
"I'll devour you!" the distorted voice roared with malice.
The group watched in horror as the human and monster fought again. They saw only a blur before the monster was sliced in half, and Crimson's body was shredded beyond recognition. They couldn't comprehend what they had just witnessed.
As the monster disintegrated, Crimson's bloodied form dropped to his knees, a faint smile on his face.
"CRIMSON!" Ruby scread upon seeing his state.
The world around them returned to normal. Jinn stared at them, speaking softly: "That was quite sothing."
"Why did you stop?" Ruby scread at Jinn, tears streaming down her face.
"It was the end, Crimson Rose died" Jinn spoke casually then disappeared.
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