Raven watched her brother take flight, and for a moment there was something almost surreal about the sight. Qrow Branwen had always been a man who moved through life with a certain irreverence. As though the world had never quite managed to convince him that its rules were worth taking seriously. Yet now that same man had become something so vast that the distinction between himself and the creatures he had spent his entire life fighting had nearly vanished.
His enormous Crow form spread its wings against the crimson heavens, each beat of those wings displacing enough air to send rolling shockwaves across the battlefield, and then the gigantic creature surged forward into the harrowing melee where the Rank 3s fought. The sheer scale of the transformation was difficult to comprehend even for Raven, who had just undergone apotheosis herself.
Qrow's body had become a thing of mountain and storm, a living manifestation of the three concepts that had once existed as separate runes within his spirit. Yet even more bizarrely, his single body had split into a murder of gigantic Crows, each one possessing enough physical strength to tear apart entire towns with their talons and were large enough to blot out sections of the world.
They descended upon the Rank 3 Grimm with savage force, buying the other Rank 3s precious moments to breathe, reposition, and strike back. Raven could feel the disturbance their arrival caused even from where she hovered, the overlapping domains of the awakened and the Grimm turning the air itself into a turbulent sea of invisible pressure.
For the moment, however, Raven did not follow her brother. She remained where she was and regarded the rune that now occupied the center of her spirit, the Master Rune that had been created from the fusion of her three previous runes.
She stared at it with a strange mixture of fascination and confusion, allowing herself a few precious seconds to understand what had happened. Unlike what she had been taught, the rune did not possess the sort of name she had expected.
Master Runes were generally named through the combination of the three constituent runes that had been merged together to create them, their names serving as a conceptual reflection of their origins.
Ozpin's Master Rune was perhaps the most famous example, Kinetic Energy Empyrean, a grandiose title that unmistakably represented the three concepts that had been brought together to forge it. Yet Raven's rune was different.
It possessed only two words.
Obsidian Eclipse.
She narrowed her eyes at the strange, oppressive symbol floating within her spirit, its presence somehow feeling much heavier than the three individual runes that had existed there before. It was not merely a combination of them but was something new which had been born from their destruction.
Raven considered the possibility that the difference came from the fact that one of her three original runes had been a Meta Rune. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it was a Meta Rune that changed the nature of the fusion itself, causing the resulting Master Rune to become something more conceptually condensed.
Did that mean that the presence of more Meta Runes would result in fewer words within a Master Rune?
Did it make the resulting rune more abstract?
Stronger?
More concentrated?
Raven did not know, and there was no one nearby who could give her an answer. The information surrounding Rank 3s was deliberately kept somewhat confidential, with only a select number of Rank 2 operatives ever receiving anything resembling a complete explanation of what happened beyond the threshold of Rank 2. Even Raven herself had known only the broad strokes. Now she had crossed that threshold and discovered that there were still more questions waiting on the other side.
What she did know, however, was that her domain was enormous. She reached outward with her senses, allowing her newly awakened perception to spread across the battlefield, and the sensation was almost overwhelming.
Fifty kilometers in radius.
At least.
Perhaps slightly more.
She could not properly determine its full extent while standing within the chaos of the battlefield, but she could feel the boundaries stretching outward over an absurd distance. It was as though some invisible portion of herself had been peeled away from her body and expanded across the world, allowing her to perceive everything within that territory with an intimacy that bordered on physical sensation.
The ground beneath her domain was hers.
The air was hers.
Every particle, every movement, every fluctuation in runic energy within that space brushed against her awareness. It was not literally touch, but it felt close enough that Raven struggled to find another word for the sensation. She understood now why Rank 3s were considered fundamentally different creatures from Rank 2s.
Demigods.
They were not merely stronger awakened but had crossed into another category of existence.
The usual size of a Rank 3's domain was around twenty-five kilometers across, at least according to what Raven had heard from classified LUCID briefings and conversations with Rank 2 operatives who had been fortunate enough to receive such information.
Hers was roughly double that.
The implications were difficult to ignore.
If the presence of Meta Runes during the creation of a Master Rune increased the resulting domain's size and depth, perhaps each Meta Rune contributed another doubling. It was only a theory, but Raven's mind immediately followed it to its logical conclusion.
Jaune.
If Jaune reached Rank 3 and somehow managed to incorporate all of his Meta Runes into his Master Rune, his domain could potentially span two hundred kilometers.
The vastness of that was difficult to imagine. That was no longer merely a battlefield in size but multiple cities in terms of territory. A region so vast that an ordinary human could spend hours traveling through it and never realize that they remained inside the domain of a single individual. Raven's expression tightened as another thought followed.
If that theory held true, what did it mean for Tyrian Callows?
She deliberately pushed the thought away. The stronger Raven became, the more acutely aware she seemed to become of just how weak she actually was. Every new layer of power revealed another mountain beyond it. Every secret she uncovered exposed three more hidden behind it. There was an uncomfortable wisdom in the old saying that ignorance was bliss.
Raven had never particularly liked ignorance, but she was beginning to understand why people preferred it.
She shifted her attention inward again and discovered another astonishing change. Her physical body had been transformed by apotheosis. The difference between her Rank 2 physique and what she possessed now was not simply quantitative but categorical. Her strength, speed, durability, aura density, perception, and control had all surged to levels that would have seemed absurd to her only hours ago.
Yet perhaps most intriguing was the sensation beneath reality itself.
Raven could feel the surface shadow pressing against her senses. The Shadow Realm had always been present in some inaccessible layer of existence, a place separated from the physical world by a membrane that only certain abilities could penetrate. Before, entering it had required deliberate preparation, or access to suitable shadows.
Now Raven could feel that boundary as clearly as a liquid membrane resting just beneath her fingertips. She could enter the surface shadow whenever she wished. More than that, she could feel that she no longer required an existing shadow as an entry point. Her new existence simply allowed her to step across the boundary.
The sensation was wondrous, but Raven had no intention of testing the deeper levels. The surface shadow was one thing. The Deep Shadow, the Shadow Realm itself, was another. Somewhere within that darkness existed the Eye of the Black Sun, the monstrous godlike creature that Raven had seen personally.
Salem being asleep was one thing. The Sleeper's slumber was at least understandable. The Eye, however, was awake. Worse, every indication suggested that it was thriving. Raven had no desire to discover what would happen if such a creature noticed a newly created Rank 3 wandering through its domain.
Some powers were better left untested.
Her attention returned to the battle.
The arrival of Qrow had shifted the battlefield dramatically in the Rank 3s' favor, though Raven quickly noticed something peculiar. None of Qrow's gigantic Crow forms appeared to possess a domain. Only the original Qrow, the true body hidden among the enormous murder of Crows, seemed to have one. It was an interesting limitation, and one Raven suspected would become important once Qrow learned to properly exploit his new abilities.
Before Qrow arrived, Velik had been drowning the ten Rank 3 Grimm surrounding him beneath an endless tide of gigantic dark abominations. His domain had transformed the battlefield into a nightmare ecosystem where creatures crawled out of the darkness and tore themselves toward the Grimm, only to be ripped apart and replaced by more.
Yet even Velik had been unable to break through completely. A Rank 3 Sleepless operative had been harassing him throughout the battle, taking the form of a gigantic Golden Lion that moved with frightening speed and strength.
Lionheart.
The name alone was enough to make Raven's eyes narrow. Velik was one of the strongest awakened in the world, but even he had been forced into a stalemate.
The other Rank 3s were in similarly dire situations. Ozpin, Ironwood, and the remaining awakened were struggling to contain the Rank 3 Grimm attacking them. Each had effectively been forced to deal with two enormous opponents simultaneously, and the fact that they were still alive was almost miraculous.
Their ability to maintain a draw had only been possible because Velik had already killed two of the Grimm assigned to him, creating the first significant imbalance in the battlefield. Raven could still see the enormous corpses of those fallen Grimm scattered across the crimson terrain, their mountain-sized forms smoking as they slowly dissolved into ash.
Then Qrow had arrived.
His enormous Crow forms smashed into the Grimm like living artillery. One gigantic Crow collided with a Rank 3 Grimm and sent the creature toppling across the crimson terrain, while another descended upon a second Grimm with enough force to create a shockwave that rippled through several kilometers of battlefield. For a few glorious moments, it looked as though sheer physical force might actually turn the tide.
Then the domains answered.
Runic attacks manifested directly inside the bodies of Qrow's Crow forms. There was no projectile source or visible warning. Practically zero movement from any of the Grimm. Their attacks simply appeared inside the space occupied by the Crow bodies because that space belonged to their respective domains.
The city-sized creatures shrieked as blades, spikes, flames, and other manifestations erupted within their flesh. Several of Qrow's Crows were destroyed outright, their enormous bodies collapsing into runic energy before dispersing into nothingness.
One particular Rank 3 Grimm resembled a gigantic dragon, its body stretching across the battlefield like a living mountain range. Its enormous jaws opened, and Raven instinctively expected a torrent of fire. Instead, nothing emerged. The dragon had not even needed to attack. Its domain had already declared the space occupied by Qrow's Crow as its own. Suddenly, the enormous Crow shrieked as flames erupted from its eyes, nostrils, and mouth simultaneously, burning through its body from within. The creature convulsed and crashed downward.
That was the terrifying power of a domain.
Every Rank 3 possessed one. Any runic attack or ability belonging to the Rank 3 could manifest from any point of space within the territory claimed by its domain. The concept was difficult to explain to someone who had never experienced it, but Raven understood now.
A domain was not merely an area of effect but ownership. The space within it had effectively been claimed. To an outside observer, there was nothing physically different about the air or ground, but to the Rank 3, that space belonged to them. They could reach through it with their runes as easily as a person reached for their own hand.
The only true counter to a domain was another domain. When two Rank 3s fought, their territories clashed against one another, each attempting to overwrite the other's claim. The result was a battle not merely between bodies, but between conceptual territories.
Domains themselves required surprisingly little Aura to maintain under normal circumstances. A Rank 3 could theoretically keep one projected continuously for twenty-four hours without much trouble, though almost no one did so.
Domains could be felt by others.
There was an unmistakable sensation when entering one, like walking into liquid air. There was pressure, a subtle weight against the skin and senses. It was not necessarily painful or life-threatening, although a sufficiently hostile domain could absolutely make it so. Normally, it was merely uncomfortable, akin to standing at the precipice of a violent storm and feeling the atmosphere become charged around you.
As a result, Rank 3s generally did not manifest their domains casually. There was a certain unspoken courtesy among the highest-ranked awakened. There was no reason to make everyone around you feel as though a storm was pressing against their skin simply because you could.
But when domains began clashing against one another, the Aura costs changed dramatically.
Maintaining one's domain against another domain required constant conceptual resistance, and that could consume enormous quantities of energy.
Raven finally decided she had watched enough.
She stepped into a shadow and vanished.
A heartbeat later, she emerged directly onto the gigantic head of Qrow's true Crow form. The sheer size of his head was ridiculous. Where once the Crow's head had only been the size of a large house, now multiple football fields could have comfortably fit across its surface without crowding one another. His feathers were individually enormous, each one large enough to rival the size of buildings. Qrow himself had buried his human body somewhere within the gigantic creature, and now Raven felt the flesh beneath her feet shift.
Human Qrow emerged directly from the surface of his own enormous head, rising out of the flesh as though climbing through a dark ocean. He glanced at his sister, then out toward the murder of Crows being systematically destroyed around them. Despite the devastation, he looked almost amused.
"I could get used to this level of strength," Qrow said.
Raven regarded him coolly.
"Truly? And yet your first act as an Empyrean being is to lose terribly."
She extended one finger toward the battlefield.
Qrow's expression twisted as he followed the gesture. Several of his Crow forms were currently being torn apart by internal runic attacks.
"Hey. I'm working on it, alright? This is still new territory. I've got to figure out my capabilities, first and foremost, before I go all in. Besides, I don't see you lending a hand."
Raven shrugged.
"I will. In a moment. There is credence in surveying the field before we join the fight, after all."
Qrow crossed his arms, his enormous Crow body continuing to flap beneath them.
"Well, what does your survey say?"
Raven's eyes moved across the battlefield.
The answer was obvious.
Helping Ozpin or Ironwood or any of they other Rank 3's would be useful. All of them were struggling under the pressure of their respective Grimm opponents, and relieving any of them could potentially prevent an unnecessary death. Yet there was a more important target. Velik.
If Velik could be freed, the entire battle could snowball in their favor. The man technically possessed three domains. His own, along with the domains connected to the Stalker and Rank 3 Grimm he controlled. If Raven and Qrow could eliminate Lionheart and free Velik from his stalemate, the strongest awakened in the world could join the rest of the battlefield.
That could create an avalanche.
But leaving Ozpin, Ironwood, and the others alone was equally dangerous. One mistake or one poorly timed attack with a Grimm landing a devastating ability directly into a Rank 3's body, and one of the strongest awakened alive could die.
They needed to split up.
"I'll help Velik," Raven said. "You do your best to make sure none of the other Rank 3s die in the meantime."
Qrow glanced at her.
"Alright, but... you know how to use your domain properly?"
Raven gave him a condescending smirk.
"I'm not like you, little brother."
Qrow's mouth fell open, as if ready to protest. However, Raven didn't give him and chance and kicked away from his Crow head.
The resulting acceleration was absurd.
She crossed kilometers in a single instant, her body becoming a streak of black against the crimson air. The air detonated behind her, the shockwave spreading outward as she accelerated toward the enormous Grimm battlefield.
Qrow stared after her.
"That woman..."
Raven ignored him. She reached into her domain and drew out a portion of its conceptual power. The black energy condensed and a sword began to form.
It was enormous.
The blade stretched across the sky, its proportions so vast that it could have split a mountain in half. It was not merely a physical weapon but an embodiment of the concept of End contained within Obsidian Eclipse, a sword of ending.
Raven's fingers closed around the gigantic weapon and she felt the rune answer.
Obsidian Eclipse.
The name suddenly seemed obvious. She looked at the enormous sword and muttered, "Obsidian Eclipse, huh? How fitting."
Then she swung.
The blade crossed the intervening space with terrifying speed.
Ahead of her stood a Rank 3 Grimm unlike any species she had seen before. It resembled a gigantic hand, its palm and wrist forming an enormous body while countless fingers bloomed from its upper surface like the petals of some grotesque flower. Each finger was itself large enough to resemble a tower, and the entire creature's domain stretched around it like an invisible storm.
Raven's sword entered that domain. For a fraction of a second, the two domains collided but then, Master Rune started to dominate and the concept of Ending spread along the edge of it.
The Grimm's domain was cut.
The boundary of its territory split apart as though it were paper, and Raven's sword passed through the conceptual barrier, plunging deep into one of the gigantic fingers.
The Grimm recoiled and the entire battlefield seemed to tremble. Raven's eyes narrowed as she felt the impact reverberate through her domain.
Behind her, Qrow's human form stared at the sight atop his titanic Crow body.
He had expected Raven to be strong knowing that his sister was more naturally talented than he was, particularly when it came to combat. But there was a difference between knowing something intellectually and watching it happen in front of you.
His newly acquired power was extraordinary, yet his attacks had been repeatedly countered by the domains of the Rank 3 Grimm.
Raven had simply cut through one.
"Damn," he muttered. "How the hell did she do that?"