Promised (Reluctant) Victory In Remnant

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.

I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.

Here's the link:

Disc: HrPrTeam

(Special thanks to Glorious4EyedKing & Wudi_Tianxia for the Beta Reading Labor!)

-Story Start-

In the cavernous depths beneath the abandoned ruins of Mountain Glenn...

A hurricane swept away blood and flesh.

So powerful it was, it splattered across the cavern, decorating both far and near the remnants of the once-living Neopolitan.

No one was spared of the visceral decoration - even those riddled with wounds and battle scars had received their fair share of what had formerly been living.

"N-Neo?" Roman reacted first, the feeling of the warm blood droplet of his beloved trickling down his cheek.

Other reactions soon followed...

The intense, adrenaline-filled, chaotic battle to the death had filled the cavern to the brim with the sounds of guttural roars, shouts, Dust explosions, and the melody of steel clashing with steel...

Was replaced with eerie silence.

A heavy weight settled onto everyone's shoulders; their primal survival instincts triggering to warn them to not make another move.

To run.

To hide.

To not lose sight of the Human responsible for triggering all those alarm bells.

Dull amber eyes exuded an almost hypnotized coldness, wielding an awe-inspiring blade that had no trace of the blood it had just drawn.

His every breath chilled the air and quaked the earth, his Aura was incomprehensibly visible and was overwhelming the very ground he stood on.

He, Alex Andrite, appeared to all as no less than Power Incarnate.

Nothing cemented it better than the fact this all had occurred...

In less than a second.

In the next second, however, he moved once more.

Another explosion reverberated as a cloud of dust and debris was sent into the air, quickly picking up velocity due to the wind he set into motion with his movement.

Two White Fang lieutenants were unfortunate enough to be the closest to him, barely reacting through instinct and combat experience to even make the attempt to draw their weapons.

But drawing their weapons was all they could do before even the Dust Ammo was diced apart alongside their bodies.

Alex was within their strike range in an instant, Excalibur swung in rapid, habitual motions to separate them from their mortal coils.

The two Faunus, now but a fleeting hurricane of flesh and blood once more.

Another second passed.

Dread spread, Breaths hitched, and glints of recognition formed, and before he launched to deal with everyone else-

"ALEX STOP! STOP KILLING THEM! PLEASE!" A tearful plea.

A lament, a genuine plea cut through the mute fearful silence.

Alex's tensed muscles had paused at that sudden voice.

There were no voices of reason in Purgatory's ever-shifting environment.

Especially not one he certainly recognized.

Blinking, Alex turned to the widespread spatters of blood and flesh he had perpetrated.

"Kill?" He repeated with perplexion, his voice sending a chill down the spines of all those present.

Both his teammates that have yet to process what had just occurred fully.

As well as his would-be opponents, who dared not make a move - even Adam himself stood on guard a weary sweat trailing down his face.

Alex started, "What are you talking about? The Abominations will regenerate soon, stitch themselves toge-" he paused, his clouded eyes taking note of the solid world once more.

The guarded, detached coldness in his eyes was swiftly replaced with bitter realization.

The blood, the flesh.

They were not reaching for each other, reforming into an Abomination.

Nor are they each forming a new one at all.

These were not Abominations.

Humans.

Faunus.

People.

Albeit, terrorists.

A thin line settled on his face, 'They're not going to regenerate, I killed those people.' His hand clenched the handle of Excalibur with bone-breaking tightness.

The prior coldness in his eyes quickly found its replacement.

A storm of emotions - head of the list being none other than fury.

But his fury will have to wait.

His head sharply turned to look at the unmoving figures of the rest of the White Fang as we all Mercury, Emerald, and the unreadable Torchwick.

Their bodies tensed at his sharp look as Emerald was seemingly hard-focused on doing something.

They expected to be suddenly hit by an unstoppable force but instead were met with...

Dialogue?

He didn't just threaten, he commanded, "Nobody move unless you want to get knocked out. Painfully."

Then, with blunt impatience and transparent wrath, he added, "I'd rather not even try. Best case, you get maimed. Worst case, you die. I don't know how much to hold back, so unless you want to test that, stay fucking put. Don't try me."

The response was incredibly swift, as Emerald paused at Mercury's sudden gesture.

"We surrender!" He nodded in agreement with a shout and raised hands.

Torchwick was still much too stunned, perhaps with grief to even move, his only sign of movement was his bloodied hat shadowing his eyes and a shiver of his figure, his fists clenched tight enough that the muffled pitter-patter of blood reverberated below him.

Adam gestured for the other fearful White Fang to stand down, as he similarly made no move, his katana tightly held with a contemplative grip.

Nodding, Alex quickly shifted his priorities and with a burst of speed ran towards Blake's headless body.

Emerald turned to look at Mercury with a gobsmacked yet still pale expression, whispering in bewilderment, "What are you saying?! I can get us out of here with my semblance."

He retorted with a whisper as well, "Maybe, but that would risk revealing what your semblance can do, and besides..."

Although he kept a composed face and was a trained assassin, Mercury couldn't suppress the shiver coursing through his body as his hair stood on end.

"I wouldn't risk doing anything against him... that is not a Human by any means. This is not a tiny miscalculation this is..." His eyes narrowed sharply, lack of understanding and fear of the unknown welling in the depths of his gaze.

How could anyone blame him for forming the questions lingering in his dissecting gaze?

What Human could be that powerful?

What Human shook the ground with his every breath?

What Human held a blade more fit for a museum than a battlefield, almost ethereal in its beauty?

What Human could have such a vast aura that it weighed down the air around him?

The conclusion was simple for Mercury, a man who has been told the dark, almost magical truth of this shattered world...

'This cannot be a Human being.'

How can one account for something like... this?

-----------------------------

Alex arrived in an instant beside Blake's recently deceased form, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he noted the headless body.

His gaze was searching as he scanned his dumbfounded teammates, the only one still on their feet were Ruby and Pyrrha, both holding shivering expressions too complex to describe.

His head turned to Yang, who sat on her knees in a pool of blood.

Blood not of her own, clutching tearfully onto Blake's head with unadulterated regret, and self-deprecation beneath her hollow lilac gaze.

Approaching her, Alex lowered himself to her eye level and demanded, "Give me her head, now."

The demand prompted Yang to break out of her shock, raising her head to look at Alex with a glint of realization; whimpering a protest, "N-NO SHE-"

He interrupted her, his fury boiling over.

Lack of patience growing ever more, "This... is the point where you zip it. I'm trying to save her life, give me her head. Now."

She didn't have time to react before he slapped her hands away painfully, and grasped onto Blake's lifeless head.

Yang yelped and before she could react to that absurd notion of somehow saving Blake after being decapitated, Alex dashed towards the headless corpse and arrived beside it in an instant.

"Alex, I-" Pyrrha started as she approached with a slight limp.

"Tend to the others. Don't talk to me."

Her lips quivered, as she gave a hesitant nod, "...Right."

Indeed, Pyrrha and Ruby were the ones who came out of this in the lightest form.

Weiss and Nora were barely holding onto their consciousnesses, falling flat following Alex's hurricanes hurling them away.

His arrival signaled their respite.

Alex lowered himself, sticking the head to the body in a rather amateurish placement, his hands and chest drenched with blood as he did as best he could.

With a frustrated look, Alex finally asked a question:

'System. How do I take out Avalon?'

[You can't.]

He was about to lose it.

'What do you mean I can't?'

[You can't. Avalon is meant for you and only you. If you could heal others, that'd make a lot of leeway for foolish and irresponsible actions don't you think?]

...

"BULLSHIT!" He roared aloud, his fury reverbrating across the cavern and sending a shiver to all present, his teammates included.

Perplexed yet nonetheless fearful looks nestled on his figure - confused as to what he was trying to do by sticking a head onto a corpse so... tragically yet pointlessly.

Alex had long lost any semblance of trust in the System's words.

So he tried to take out Avalon his own way:

-Abilities-

↓

- Avalon The Everdistant Utopia -

𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒂𝓁𝒊𝒃𝓊#@rГr5sdKmnz2qkpWfhzQWв7OiJq2yz0V8!Xл6k9pM|TzRt0Yw6sbpo9OxGvrB7sk8D-𝑒𝒳f9qU^Z!rQxL0sdbWr4pWjmF3. W98xzLCфztwr0lf9qL+pOp67BvRfX9Y!q3uWfkhpZXмL#TwLp.

B3LTLOSS22rfrskZXty25-нYoExmzydfglRcaChq-12Txvn6Zk7q3? Ynlb8zRhHRdXGQZmbH9vXty2vcdXOdo+qR!wL3pkVsYna-sYvErTт+oXzTYGlRv5zrb23aqLw7Vex#c- d9w!ex-L0stb3ltldq-Q9Wvfw5YhcRo-пXgQVR2bkZbz+K1hsqL.

-fmrUjkbF1pmVrmN!T63rxl 𝑒𝒳calibr;4tb98wdoifqahwnShl𝒆𝒳caliburYq+8gx35uJtmD6=U9e0tX3Kbq1yL5yXhsb*JYл5-#@9nsqzO0P54h!𝒆𝒳ca@libu-rnU5bwTpGHyl6NeXs9j4LftOaqwRRemnan**!tVJpt5sd-Lbt9.**

R3mnant 's AF89}}| C0reB1rth--gdX!sbmlq!vxoq-0К0Rtm𝒆𝒳Y3b2zL+=|PkyuzIt5-Vw0h56dQabF4-р#t0lce2yXY9waVebX7GL2Rp!l#Z9hlR9h9OsLO-R9fgPlbE+Nr-TNxVtEj3AsGy5XZm66JrmGFsdtnp.**

TxmBlqt!@Ti-б9Om6fvLsYxR3C0GnIti0N 0F HUMANITYpZajL5zXGodi!Pcm9w3gkB7!flsAx8tPlqwdK3nxboQcm78ZR7jWx-0lNh9EJQhOhZ+xlBjp6M. T6h89Njf!Q𝑒𝒳CaLбу6##58sbOa+=py1mrP9ft-Q9sO9YtnMk0dhtGAIA8oJr𝑒𝒳calibur**-wrdH-*krQ==QHvhUwo+3bc7bQso!0L0db𝑒𝒳caliburIsTheAnchorgtp9-4r!qnkm7yfzPRot0k2mblLshAN CHORTOGAI AD3 tbp6_8Gh4wxlTcREoVEoRSEoS1DEoOFoTHoEoW0RoLDFs2gZRlq3OpwtiXj5sz-RмXaWbm3bNtfZl7f9gGvrTjD.

𝑒𝒳calibur-remZzXp5y8qR9v-s2+Z3qlkjQz8j8Wxzq!dd4bl0r2^xFlpq9ZmTkR!jsLzRxn57vbs-2sjGQZfo7p+h8IGAIA+𝑒𝒳9calIбуJrtSz0+43d5vkmjr9lF3bN-МvZw9Eo8vqqmd0lhRswpqXW^y-FthJ4L5Godq==3#o-9drtGw5rdf2Zjv9tx6n9bX^8shhw𝑒𝒳б6xkPlmnZXzLOstbel*rOAvRf3cdT-qkxwv+whjqXnIhf0oUjbPlqXoYoVskdlr!7d1v1neSp1r1Tb.

[ERROR!]

[ERROR!]

[AUTHORITY OF [REDACTED] FAILED!]

...

Realization struck Alex once more.

Unlike Excalibur itself, Avalon's usage wasn't something he gained instinctually.

Rather, he wouldn't have known he had it were it not been mentioned or passively felt.

[See? You can't remove it.] The System didn't hold any gloating in its matter-of-fact tone.

But it certainly felt like it.

'Merlin managed to activate it for me, if the System can't do anything about it I should be able to remove it but... he's not here.'

'Make yourself useful and tell me how I can remove Avalon.'

[Will repeating myself change the facts?]

Alex's grip on Excalibur tightened, as a deep frown found its place on his expression, bordering on a snarl, 'You can't do anything to Avalon. You gave it to me, you must know how to take it out. If it's any levity, I'll take it back once I'm done.'

[And I said you can't-]

Alex had reached his boiling point.

Alex was mad at many things at the moment.

His teammates.

These terrorists.

But more than all of them combined...

The target of his rage could be none other than his perpetual tormentor.

"YOU DISGUSTING FUCKING PARASITE, CAN'T YOU TELL HOW HYPOCRITICAL IT IS THE FACT YOU'RE NOT LETTING ME SAVE A LIFE?!"

"SO MUCH FOR A BLOODY SAVIOR!"

"YOU THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE THE LETTER 'B' MISSING YOU SINISTER TOOL?!'

His shouts were met with growing fear, the keen sense he was having an argument with himself had given the impression he might be... insane.

Which only made things worse for the frozen figures of the White Fang and their colleagues.

However, some more intimately aware of Alex's situation had a suspicious almost knowing glint in their eye; a glint quickly dismissed for more immediate matters.

Alex's breath hitched, as the System curtly replied:

[You were granted Avalon, but the means of controlling it are beyond my capabilities, hiding this fact is deemed unnecessary as of this point.]

Digesting the System's words, Alex failed to find any trick in the System's words.

The evidence was there from his time in Purgatory.

The System is powerless when it comes to Avalon.

Taking a calming breath, Alex's mind examined his options.

It didn't take long for him to stand up from his lowered position and give a long hard look at Blake's lifeless eyes.

"C-Can you save her?" Yang's hopeful tone reverberated amid the eerily silent cavern.

Alex's rushed demand had given her a sparkle of hope.

How could he not?

He was the embodiment of the impossible.

If someone could surprise her with unbelievable capabilities - like reattaching a severed head, it would be him.

However...

There came no pleasant nor hopeful surprises this time around.

His amber-eyes which held restrained fury met hopeful lilac which had smidgens of red due to tears.

Alex gave a slow, hard shake of his head, "I can't heal her." He stated bluntly.

Thus, the waterworks burst once more for Yang and even in Ruby and Pyrrha's case.

"T-This was a mistake this..." Ruby's adrenaline had begun to run out, replaced with the looming regret as she tearfully tried to stop Nora's bleeding abdomen.

Pyrrha only cursed her own hubris as she dealt with Weiss's bent leg.

She thought she was strong enough.

She shouldn't have assured Alex that they'd be fine, that she'd be enough.

She knew that that's why she sent that text and yet...

Even then, it seems she wasn't humbled enough.

"If I had been, I wouldn't have agreed to this-"

Regret.

Ren only lay unmoving with his face lowered, his expression better left unseen.

The bawling was growing loud, reckless, and pretty much defenseless.

But the unmoving kidnappers had yet to move.

They weren't given permission and they clearly knew better. Such was the threat Alex held, such was the confidence his teammates and allies held in his strength.

The apprehension of the White Fang and their colleagues had yet to lower; in fact, it had only risen.

They observed with bated breath how Alex digested the death of his fellow Beacon Student; hoping he doesn't act as impulsively as he did to his first three victims.

Alex wasn't sure how to feel as he looked intently into those lifeless eyes of Blake.

'She's in that hell, getting her Sins pulled out of her... and then into the light she goes.' 

Pity, he pitied her.

He didn't like her, he would go as far as to say he hated her.

But...

'She didn't deserve to die.' Alex nodded with a sour look, a look that slowly morphed into a furious frown once more.

[Moody aren't we? You're rather inconsistent Alexander, I can't tell what to think.]

'Why... didn't you give me the Quest earlier?'

[You're asking why she had to die, is that it?]

'Had to?'

[Indeed it is fate. Once you fail a Main Quest related to a person or people, they will eventually perish and no Quest will be issued to save them again.]

'What...?'

[Failure of a Main Quest means giving up on the person, on the people, on the World.]

[Their death or ending is fitting isn't it?]

[After all...]

[This is still the Savior System isn't it~?]

...

'Am I supposed to regret my actions and blame myself for this mess? Is that your goal?'

Alex contemplated those abominable, irredeemable, hypocritical words.

'To take responsibility for their stupid actions? To be more obedient to your little ploys?'

'I knew you were sick and inhumane, but this?'

[You don't feel particularly sad about Blake's death, don't you? I can tell that much. But, as long as you act as a Hero, as a proper Savior should, no one close to you will perish. Not that she was that close to you if you let her die in the first place by lacking the necessary qualities.]

[Instead of getting emotional and angry strictly at me, see where your fault lies in the situation at hand. That is how growth is precipitated.]

'I feel revolted.'

[Fantastic, make sure it doesn't happen again to someone you truly care about or anyone else really, that's why your growth is necessary.]

His fury grew with each passing moment.

And as he contemplated, others saw opportunity where reflection lay.

The ground cracked from afar as a man burst into motion, charging Alex with a katana.

Alex's teammates had noticed the approach of the man, yet...

None desired to warn Alex.

There was no need.

It seemed, that either this man had let his emotions get the better of him.

Or he had forgotten the age-old lesson all Huntsmen were taught regarding unstoppable forces of nature.

With a powerful and eloquent swing of his katana, Adam slashed at Alex's midsection, roaring, "DON'T GET YOURSELF FULL OF YOURSELF HUMAN! WHAT I FELT WAS NOT FEAR!"

The sound of steel clashing with steel resonated as the katana ceased its trajectory clashing with Excalibur, easily stopping its motion.

"I told you not to try me."

To Be Continued!

-Author Note Start-

Contrary to popular belief - Alex would rather not be a murder hobo (I don think that's surprising).

For better or worse.

You'll get a better handle on his philosophy of dealing with enemies as the story goes, but here's the first tasting.

Is Adam gonna get his shi rocked?

Probably.

Idk.

See ya next chappie whenever.

Love ya and hope you've enjoyed it!

Bu Bye!