The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 19

Across the world, there was a war being fought in the shadows and the light.

In the frontiers of the kingdoms, in the lush forests and vegetation of Sanus, hoards of Grimm in concentrations never seen before started to move about, attacking any Human or settlement they came across.

Only for their efforts to be thwarted by the new Military technology sold by Seasons Inc. at dirt cheap prices to the frontiers in exchange for significantly lowered prices on their locally produced goods.

Beowolves were mowed down by the powerful fire of the SILK weapons wielded by the men and women of the Militia while their upscale artillery variants brought low even the strongest of Grimm, such as the Goliaths and Griffins.

In the Urban landscapes of Mistral and the other kingdoms, the war was waged more in the shadows.

Many important people across the world did not even know that their lives were in danger as tiny Grimm mosquitoes filled with uncurable Venom infiltrated the cities, wishing to take out the major players of Humanity so that the Humans and Faunus would be easy picking for their mistress.

And yet, they would always face their end when they are caught in the webs of a spider golems that were made to look like regular household spiders but only ever attacked the small Grimm.

On another front, another type of war took place.

A certain former scientist of Atlas used his talents to try and break through the information security of many high-profile targets while his associate would try to use the temporary blackout to assassinate their targets.

And yet, here as well, the tactics of their leader failed as they faced a veritable wall of Steel standing in their way.

Powerful broad-spectrum scanners and fledgling AI facial scanners always kept a vigilant eye on all entrances into the kingdoms, while the firewalls of the CCT were completely rewritten by Polendina, upgrading the security of the towers along with creating a new OS that had no backdoors whatsoever for anyone to exploit.

This back-and-forth continued in the shadows and became the new status quo.

Sometimes, the Queen of Darkness would win as she would either take out an important player or manage to wipe out a settlement or two, overpowering the machines. Other times, it would be victory for the King of Steel as his machines and men would push back against the darkness and would stand victorious.

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Within her castle’s throne room, Salem leaned onto her seat and watched with amusement as the last of her Grimm were struck down by the machines of her husband.

“Haha! Look at him go.”

“He used the machines as bait and used the humans to kill off my beasts. Winning against my horde with minimal casualties.”

Her grin became something crazy yet melancholic.

“How cunning.”

“M-My lady, you asked for me?”

Arthur Watts stammered a little as sweat poured down his back due to his nervousness.

Ever since his mistress had come back from her visit outside, things had become extremely strange for him and his companions.

Sometimes, he would see her talking to herself or grinning madly at the floating, tentacled abomination that showed her distant images. Other times, she would try to drown herself in alcohol, only to curse up a storm when she realized that the substance had no effect on her.

Aside from that, her temper had also become so strange that nobody dared to even approach her anymore, lest they meet a fate worse than death, just like that poor Faunus with silver eyes did a few days ago.

Arthur would prefer not to become a Human-Grimm hybrid under any circumstances. That was why it was in his best interest to make himself scarce and not appear in front of her eyes.

Salem turned her malevolent eyes to her subordinate, who did not even dare to meet her gaze anymore.

“Ah! Dr. Watts. How are things going on your end?”

Arthur instantly lowered his head and started shaking in fear at her question.

“F-Forgive me, my lady! I have done everything in my power, but I could not install a backdoor into the new CCT OS. If I had access to the system’s physical servers, I could do something, but remotely? It has become nearly impossible to crack their firewalls.”

“Hmm. So, you say you need to get to one of the CCT towers in person to do anything?”

“Y-Yes.”

Salem’s eyes shone with a strange light as she heard those words.

“Very well. Take Tyrian with you. I’ll initiate an attack on Vacuo’s walls with my Grimm. Take that opportunity to sneak into the kingdom and do what you need to do.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Also, how are things going on young Sienna’s end?”

At the mention of the Faunus’s words, Watts could not suppress the sneer that appeared on his face.

“Abysmal. She is completely reckless and has outed herself to the world once again with her recent actions. Not to mention the kingdoms at large, she and her White Fang have become enemies of their own people.”

“Personally, I think she is no longer of any use to us.”

Salem saw through the hatred that the Atlasian man had toward the Faunus and knew for a fact that things could not have been as bad as he was describing them to be.

And yet, she could not be bothered to care about these things. Especially since there was indeed a kernel of truth to what Watts said.

Closing her eyes for a few minutes in thought, she decisively decided the fate of one of her subordinates, chilling the heart of the Atlasian but also filling it up with resolve to never disappoint his mistress. For his life may very well depend on it.

“Inform Tyrian that Sienna Khan has outlived her usefulness. He will know what to do.”

“Of course, my lady. Anything else?”

“How goes our negotiation with Mistral’s underworld?”

This time, Arthur grinned.

“Swimmingly, my lady. We are very close to having their allegiance.”

“Good. Keep up with your good world, Dr. Watts.”

Arthur Watts simply bowed and swiftly left the room, leaving behind the Queen of Darkness to chuckle and continue watching the image on the Seer that showed Ozpin’s latest interview in Atlas.

“Soon, you will falter, one way or another, by beloved. And when that time comes, I will be there to capitalize on it, and get those damned relics.”

Her chuckles filled the darkness of the castle, making the atmosphere even more eerie than it already was.