The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 7

I shot forward, enhancing my body and senses with my magic and Aura as my opponent shot into the air to avoid my blows.

Yet, even with her maiden powers, she could not avoid the rapid barrage of my blows as Long Memory slammed against her body’s vital points hundreds of times in the span of a few seconds.

In just a few seconds, her Aura fell from solid green to yellow despite her reserves being boosted by the magic of the Maidens.

In the split second, I used to stabilize my footing, she retaliated by materializing ice crystals and shooting them all around her, trying to limit my mobility and lead me into a kill box.

But I used my magic to create an emerald green barrier right above my skin and layering over my Aura, making her efforts meaningless as I shot forward once again, all the while teaching her how to use her powers.

“Don’t just use the elemental aspect of your powers. Remember, magic responds to your intent and knowledge. You can make literally anything possible, provided you have enough knowledge or the reserves to compensate for the lack of knowledge.”

“Easy for you to say!!”

I ignored Glynda’s incensed scream as I once again dodged her attacks and telekinetic shockwaves, keeping the pressure on her.

After my decision to shift our group from a defensive to offensive footing, Glynda approached me one day and asked me to train her in properly utilizing her newly gained Maiden powers.

A request that I was more than happy to grant since she would serve as one of my strongest soldiers in this war.

Unlike Amber and the Haven student who ran to Raven, I did not wish to take back my magic from Glynda purely because I could not bring myself to harm her in such a way, even if the pain would be temporary and she would not lose much of her combat efficiency.

Because unlike those girls, and the current Winter Maiden who is already tired of carrying those powers all her life and readily agreed to give them up when I informed her of my plan, I practically watched Glynda grow up from a clueless teenager to being one of my most trusted subordinates alongside Qrow.

No matter how professional Ozma was and no matter how much I tried to distinguish his memories and emotions from my own, I could not help but look at her in the same way that Ozma did, like a child that I raised with my own hands.

That is why, I decided to train her instead so that when the time comes, she could fight by my side against the ex-wife who is hell-bent on taking out her spite on this entire planet.

Our session lasted for nearly fifteen minutes before Glynda exhausted her Aura fully, making the alarms of the training room blare in warning.

“That is enough for today. No bad, Glynda. You lasted nearly twice as long compared to yesterday. An astonishing improvement.”

“And you are just as annoying to hit as ever.”

I grinned at her glare.

“Speed and defense are my specialty, Glynda.”

“Yeah, I knew as much even as your student all those years ago.”

With a shake of her head, she got up from the ground and followed me as we walked out of the training room.

“Once the summer vacation is over, we will have to pace our practice better. I cannot have you conduct combat classes with your Aura in the red.”

“True. I guess we will have to train during the weekends.”

“I guess so. Or, we will have to find some time in the evenings to train so that you can go to bed to recover your Aura before teaching in the mornings.”

“Why don’t kill me instead!? I already have to deal with the rowdy nature of teenagers drunk on their Aura and Semblances, you want me to exhaust myself even more by fighting you every night and waking up to reap the whole thing all over?”

I smiled at her outraged words.

“Glynda, I know you can manage it. That is why I appointed you as the Vice-Headmistress.”

“In other words, you appointed me as the second in command so that you can avoid dealing with the students and avoid the paperwork while I literally drown in your work.”

“…No comment.”

“Ozpin!!”

I laughed at her outrage as we continued walking to my office.

A brief reprieve like this is much appreciated, especially with so much work I have to do for the sake of my plans.

However, my mood instantly evaporated when I walked into my office, spotting a Corvid waiting for me on my table.

“Looks like, for the first time in your life, you have made a wise decision, Raven.”

The corvid released a burst of magic before turning into the black-haired, red-eyed woman that I once proudly called a student of mine but turned out to be a cowardly monster instead.

The bitter look in her eyes did not make me pity her one bit since I knew what she had been up to for the last few years after she abandoned her daughter and husband.

Especially since I felt my magic within her, more than what I bestowed on her and her brother when they graduated.

It seems even with how low I set the bar, she still managed to disappoint me greatly.

A shame. I would have loved to give my grieving students some reprieve, but I guess that was too much to hope for.

Raven glared at me as I took my seat while Glynda stayed near the elevator, vigilantly watching the bandit while holding her riding crop. Her stance looked no different from her normal body language but ready to pounce on my former student should she make any threatening moves.

Typical Glynda, deadly serious and extremely reliable, as always.

“…I am here like you wanted.”

“And yet, I don’t see the Spring Maide. I haven’t received any calls from VPD about your surrender, and neither have I received word from my contacts in Mistral about the Branwen tribe being disbanded.”

I watched Raven nervously eye me while cautiously hovering her hand over Omen, her weapon, at my words, telling me everything I needed to know.

“Once again, you disappoint me, Raven. I had hoped that your IQ and survival instincts would at least be high enough to tell you that I was not joking when we talked. Alas, it seems that I still thought too highly of you.”

My words must have stung her hard since her fear disappeared beneath a flood of rage as she drew her sword and pointed it at my neck.

I raised a hand, stopping Glynda from moving as I stared directly into Raven’s eyes she sneered at me as the power of the Spring Maiden sprang to life with flame-like energy spilling forth from the corners of her eyes.

“Let me make one thing clear, Old Man. I will never follow your orders ever again, not after you lied to us so much!”

She then turned slightly towards Glynda with a sadistic look.

“You will let me leave and stop perusing me and my tribe. If not, I will tell your precious inner circle everything, including all the secrets you kept from them-“

“No need to trouble yourself with that, my foolish former student. They already know everything.”

The shocked look she gave me was something that made me feel very satisfied.

Indeed, I made the right call when I told the truth to my subordinates, if not, I really would have been placed in a very bad spot this time.

However, this is still something I need to take care of right away, I cannot allow a precedence of someone threatening me to get away with it.

Raven Branwen needs to be punished harshly to dissuade anyone from threatening me ever again.

Fortunately, I already had several contingencies in place for such an eventuality.

The moment I got up from my chair and took hold of Long Memory, Raven must have sensed that something was wrong.

I felt her magic mobilize, not the power of the Maidens, but the power I gifted to her which allowed her to turn into a bird.

And yet, nothing happened, which made her feel confused, not noticing that the power of the Maiden had also faded from her eyes and became dormant.

I slowly moved towards her, alerting her to my movement and making her attack me with wild abandonment.

However, unlike many times before where I held back against her because she was my student and I cared about her, I did no such thing this time.

The result? Raven Branwen was completely dismantled and reduced to a moaning mess on the floor in a matter of a few seconds.

“Your first mistake, Raven, was assuming that you could threaten me and get away with it.”

The clacking of Long Memory within my office filled the atmosphere with an ominous atmosphere which made Glynda tense up.

“Your second mistake was assuming that I would still treat you the same way as always did despite my warning to you in our last talk.”

“Your third mistake was killing that innocent girl that came to you for protecting for the sake of the Maiden’s power.”

I glared down at her as I reached out the part of my soul that was entangled with her own.

“Your final mistake, Raven Branwen, was thinking that you could use your amateurish mastery of magic against someone like me who spent countless years refining it into an art, from the Age of the Gods all the way to the modern times.”

I relished the look of terror in her eyes for a few seconds before I pulled at the fragment of my soul within her.

The screams of her agony rang out across my school as I deliberately pulled out my magic very slowly and carefully, making the pain last as long as possible.

I have no doubt that Glynda would be extremely disgusted by my cruelty today, but this is a necessary act, even if I do secretly enjoy this.

To deal with monsters like Raven Branwen, it is necessary to carve the terror of my ire into their very souls with blood and agony so that they will never even dare to entertain the thought of going against me.

Unlike with Amber where the process barely lasted for a few seconds, I stretched out Raven’s agony for ten minutes straight, driving the woman catatonic.

Once I pulled out my magic and left behind just enough to keep the woman alive, I sent a pulse of my magic into the air, deactivating the barrier I had set up some time ago to suppress any magic that is used in here without my permission, the very barrier that was responsible for suppressing Raven’s abilities when she tried to use them.

‘Two down, one to go.’

“Glynda, please take Branwen to the infirmary and inform her brother that we have her. Once she has recovered, I want you to hand her over to the VPD along with the files we have on all the crimes she committed till now.”

“….Was that really necessary? Ozpin?”

“It was. I understand that you feel uncomfortable with my actions, Glynda. But understand this, in our fight against her, we can no longer afford to be soft-hearted towards traitors and those that stand in our way.”

“…I understand. But, remember this, Ozpin. In pursuit of defeating that monster, do not let yourself become a copy of her.”

I smiled warmly at her words.

“That is why I have you and the rest of our friends. Should the time come when I become like her, I have no doubt that all of you would make sure that I am pulled back to the proper path.”

“…I see.”

With those words, she picked up the unconscious bandit with her telekinesis and took her to the infirmary I turned towards the windows, looking down at the city below as Ozpin’s reflection joined me silently.