(Third Person POV)
Nevara and Kaelith stood still, both locked in their stances.
The dark, cursed power of Gehaburn shimmered faintly in Nevara's grasp. Her body was still, but her aura was taut—like a bowstring, ready to snap into lethal motion. Calculated. Efficient. Lethally beautiful.
Kaelith mirrored that readiness. Her expression was impassive, nearly bored, but her eyes told a different story—eyes that flicked through countless possibilities, simulations playing out in microseconds. Scenarios where she struck first. Scenarios where Nevara did. Responses. Counters. Punishments.
And then—decision.
Two Ki blasts fired from Kaelith's right palm, arcing toward Nevara. Instinctively, Nevara sliced them apart with Gehaburn in a swift X-shaped cut.
But they detonated. Small, tactical bursts—not meant to injure, just blind.
In the half-second of flickering smoke and burning light, Kaelith vanished.
She reappeared behind Nevara, low to the ground, rotating into a full spinning back kick—her heel slamming into Nevara's spine with a crunch that sent a shockwave through the clearing.
The moment her kick landed, she spun low, sweeping Nevara's legs out from under her. The cursed goddess staggered, body tilting—unnatural, yet elegant—even in imbalance.
But Kaelith was already inside her guard.
Palm strike to the ribs.
Elbow to the throat.
Knee to the stomach.
Each attack was designed to pressure her opponent, and deal damage. Yet no movement was wasted.
Nevara twisted with a hiss, slashing Gehaburn in a wide arc, its blade trailing sickly violet energy. Kaelith stepped back, avoiding the cursed edge with ease. Then backflipped to gather distance, yet Nevara appeared in front of her, instantly.
One second she was within 20 metres of Kaelith, the next shadows wrapped around her—space warped like a heatwave. Shadows peeled back as Nevara reappeared right in front of Kaelith, slashing Gehaburn upward. Kaelith, not having the time to dodge due to the teleportation, blocked the cut with her forearm.
The blade scraped against a faint whitish barrier. Her Aura (RWBY) had blocked the attack.
'Good, the blade can't stop energy barriers, and doesn't deal percentage damage,' Kaelith thought, but upon looking at her MP bar. '2500 damage, good. And she already showed off she can teleport. Now that I know it exists, I can anticipate it.'
10 seconds had passed when she stood still, and Mana Absorption kicked in, restoring Kaelith's MP fully. Mana Absorption restored 5% of Kaelith's Maximum MP every 10 seconds. So long as she stood still.
Nevara slashed once more.
But Kaelith?
She read the movement before it happened.
Sliding her right foot back and shifting her weight low, Kaelith allowed Gehaburn's follow-up arc to pass just over her head, slicing a few strands of her black hair. In a single motion, she countered with a low kick—not meant to damage, just disrupt—striking Nevara's shin and knocking her slightly off-balance.
Nevara blinked.
Literally.
The Goddess disappeared again in that now-familiar shimmer of warping shadow—her body dissolving into a collapsing outline of herself, then vanishing.
The air warped above Kaelith—Nevara was reappearing mid-air, blade already mid-swing.
This time, it wasn't a normal strike.
Gehaburn's cursed edge came down like the judgment of a god, crackling with dark energy, the pressure alone enough to crush a lesser fighter.
But Kaelith surged forward—not away—utilising a skill she never tried or rather, never had the chance to use. Mana Burst.
Only 50 MP was used, barely a pinch out of her 270,000. But the impact was phenomenal especially since it would last 5 minutes.
Her strength and agility increased by 50 points, enough to blur her figure, and she stepped into the downward swing—not dodging it, but grabbing Nevara's wrist mid-arc. A flare of the other's Share Energy bit into her skin, but the RWBY Aura held firm, not crackling.
Nevara's eyes widened. That moment of resistance—of control—was something she wasn't used to.
Kaelith used it.
She twisted Nevara's arm inwards, slamming a precision elbow strike into her shoulder joint—popping it partially from the socket. Before Nevara could recoil, Kaelith spun, bringing her heel up into a blindingly fast crescent kick that hit Nevara in the chin and sent her airborne.
"Thought you were going to be dangerous," Kaelith stated. Her expression was one of... disappointment.
As Nevara flipped through the air, she stabilized—twisting unnaturally, like a puppet with broken joints but perfect control. SP flowed from her like leaking ink, and she phased again—gone in a blink.
Kaelith didn't move.
Instead, she closed her eyes.
Sixth Sense with Ki Sense.
The world around her breathed differently when Nevara teleported. It wasn't just visual—it was tactile, audible, metaphysical. The air thickened, the temperature dipped, her senses picked up the disturbance like a bass drop in a silent room.
Behind. Low. Left.
She turned and snapped her leg out in a reverse mule kick—nailing Nevara before the cursed goddess had even stabilized from her reappearance.
"Five seconds," Kaelith said aloud, stepping back as Gehaburn scraped across the ground and narrowly missed her ankle. "That's your cooldown, isn't it?"
Nevara hissed and vanished into a back step, favouring her dislocated shoulder. She rolled it once, and with a sickening pop, it slipped back into place.
"Observant," Nevara muttered, circling.
Kaelith didn't answer. She didn't need to.
In a flash, she was already moving again. Her foot kicked up dust, but she'd already burst forward, closing the 15-meter distance in less than a second. Her hand moving in.
Nevara raised Gehaburn to block, but Kaelith rotated. Kaelith had fainted with that, and revesed direction coming around with a spinning backfist, catching Nevara in the temple.
The cursed goddess staggered—focused, and reflexively, teleported again.
"Four."
Kaelith waited, counting out the seconds.
Nevara reappeared across the clearing, panting slightly. A line of blood trailed down her temple, staining her cheek.
Kaelith grinned. "You're fast. I'm faster."
Nevara raised her blade, its cursed edge now fully alight with dark flame.
"Blaze Breaker!" Nevara yelled, activating one of her stronger basic skills. One copied from a CPU she had slayed, and altered to fit her.
Kaelith stood still, letting her Aura block the flaming slash. 10,000 MP was gone, only to be restored 5 seconds later.
"You think you can win?" Kaelith said calmly. The girl was stronger than most would think, but right now? It seemed as if she was relying too much on that accursed blade.
Nevara teleported away, but Kaelith moved to the spot with a sharpened jab to the face connecting when Nevara reappeared.
She had been stunned, staggering back from pain. Kaelith used the opportunity to throw a series of quick acting Wing Chun strikes to various parts of Nevara's body.
Each strike hit with precision—abdominal, torso, face. Nothing was safe from the combination.
5 seconds passed, and Nevara finding the focus too, teleported once more. This time, directly behind Kaelith swinging Gehaburn down at her in hopes the other would be surprised by the attack.
She wasn't.
Kaelith stopped the attack before it came by landing a singular back kick to the Solar Plexus of Nevara.
Nevara's eyes, narrowed into slits. The dark flames licking at Gehaburn pulsed with malevolent energy. She lunged, the blade a black streak wreathed in fire in yet another Blaze Breaker.
Kaelith sidestepped with a fluid grace that spoke of countless hours of training, her movements economical and precise. As Gehaburn whistled past her ear, she delivered a sharp sidekick to Nevara's ribs, the impact echoing through the clearing. It wasn't meant to shatter bone, but to disrupt the flow, a pinprick in the goddess's relentless assault.
"Too slow," Kaelith stated.
Nevara snarled, the flames on her blade intensifying. She teleported again, reappearing to Kaelith's left, sweeping Gehaburn in a horizontal arc. Kaelith reacted instantly, her right arm snapping up in a textbook block, the white shimmer of her Aura flaring as it absorbed the impact. 2500 MP used.
Before Nevara could follow through, Kaelith shifted her weight and executed a lightning-fast jab, her knuckles connecting with Nevara's nose with a sickening crunch. Blood blossomed, and the goddess recoiled, momentarily stunned.
Kaelith pressed her advantage. A straight punch to the sternum, followed by an angled elbow strike to the floating ribs. Each blow was delivered with pinpoint accuracy, designed to maximize kinetic energy transfer and disrupt Nevara's balance but she vanished.
The tell-tale ripple in the air appeared behind her. Nevara materialized, Gehaburn held high for an overhead strike. But Kaelith was already in motion. She pivoted on her heel, executing a spinning back fist that slammed into Nevara's jaw. The goddess's head snapped to the side, and the downward swing went wide.
Capitalizing on Nevara's disorientation, Kaelith launched a low sweep kick, her leg scything through the air and catching Nevara's ankle. The cursed goddess stumbled, her footing compromised.
Kaelith didn't let up. She closed the distance with another minuscule Mana Burst, the surge of energy enhancing her speed. She stepped inside Nevara's reach and delivered a rising knee strike to the goddess's abdomen, expelling a gasp of air.
Nevara teleported.
This time, Nevara appeared further away, her posture more cautious. She swiped at the blood dripping from her nose with the back of her hand, her eyes burning with a frustrated intensity.
"You rely too much on that trick," Kaelith observed, her stance relaxed yet coiled with potential energy. "It's fast, but predictable."
Nevara didn't respond verbally, but the flames around Gehaburn flared even brighter. She channelled her SP into the blade, the energy crackling.
"Dark Slash!" She hollered, unleashing another of her copied skills. She leapt high into the air, and slashed downwards. The blade elongated with pure dark black energy, becoming a slash wave of that rushed towards Kaelith with terrifying speed yet…
"Luminous Crescent." Kaelith's voice was completely calm, slashing her hand horizontally and using Ki and Aura together. Her semblance mixed with Ki enhancing the Crescent Slash.
A fast, lavender white slash formed of Ki and Aura cut cleanly through the black energy slash used by Nevara like a hot knife through butter that then cut into the girl. Blood spilled from the wound as she fell.
Kaelith simply stood watching her pathetic form on the floor. "How pathetic. Neptune's Blaze Break, Noire's Fall Slash and combat style ruined.. No, you didn't even fight with Noire's elegance. The skills you have… none of them are original and you don't have the technique to use that accursed weapon properly."
Kaelith raised her palm, charging a fiery orange sphere of Ki in her palm with a faint yellowish outline, glowing with power. This took around 1200 MP.
"Allow me to show you how to use what you have, in an original manner." She taunted, and then called out the name of her attack, "Shining Star!"
The Ki Blast was released towards Nevara who was too injured to teleport.
Nevara raised Gehaburn attempting to shield herself with the dark energy blade. The blast collided with her full force, detonating in a blinding burst of orange-gold brilliance that ripped the forest apart.
Trees were vaporised. Some were uprooted. Rocks were completely destroyed.... including the shrine for Beacon Initiation that was often used.
Nevara was in the middle of the explosion that lasted for several seconds.
Smoke curled around her broken figure as the explosion died down. She was in the middle of the massive crater. Her body trembled, her crimson blood hissing as it touched the ground, she had only survived that attack because she used Share Energy to enhance her defence last second. She had to use 50% of her reserves there just to survive.
Kaelith lowered her arm slowly, breathing through her nose, calm and cantered. Her stance didn't shift. Her focus didn't waver.
After all, all her MP was already back.
"Get up," she said quietly. "I'm not done carving your delusions out yet."
Nevara's fingers twitched, digging into the dirt as she pushed herself upright. Her jaw clenched. Her eyes were wild.
"I am divine," Nevara snarled. "You're just a parasite with a fancy brain."
Kaelith didn't respond. She simply moved.
A breath later, she was in front of Nevara again, palm open.
A devastating open-hand strike to the sternum caved in Nevara's footing. Her ribs screamed. Before she could suck in air, Kaelith spun on the ball of her foot and drove her elbow into the same spot with mechanical precision. Another pop. Another stagger.
"Tell me, how many beings were killed by that blade?"
Kaelith didn't care for the answer as she gripped Nevara and pinned her to the ground in an instant, mounting her opponent throwing fist after fist down at her face.
"How many worlds have you conquered?"
Another hit.
Blood spilled from Nevara's face, her eyes widened.
"How many gamers have met their end to you?"
Another.
With each question, Kaelith hit her, she gave her opponent no mercy. No room to breathe.
However Nevara saw what her eyes looked like... they were cold... callous... almost void-like. It was as if this beating didn't effect her emotionally at all.
And that thought scared Nevara the most.
But it also partly scared Kaelith. Because being so unaffected emotionally reminded her of one thing.
Even if she was no longer in that white hell, a part of it will always be with her.
"You think you can come into my world and go to kill me without consequences?"
Bamf!
Bamf!
Bamf!
Gasps exited from Nevara's lips, desperation clawing at her. Each hit hurting more than the last. To stop this feeling clawing inside. To stop being so scared. She tried to push Kaelith off of her with a kick. A share enhanced. Kaelith stumbled slightly but she remained on top, and continued her assault.
Bamf!
Bamf!
Bamf!
Finally, Nevara let Gehaburn go.
Taking the chance, Kaelith took the cursed CPU slayer, pointing it at the girls throat.
"I wonder, do you know how this thing actually works?"
Nevara was terrified. She had been on the losing end the entire fight. And now, her foe had her weapon. Her own weapon to her neck. She couldn't even generate the focus to activate her Hard Drive Divinity right now.
But what Kaelith did next, took her breath away. She threw Gehaburn into the air, directly, and then, cupped her hands.
"Ka-" she drew them to her side, a bright ball of energy forming in her hands, "me-" the ball of energy brightened, pushing her palms apart, "hame-" and then with a mighty, "HAAA!!" She thrusted her hands forwards, unleashing the gigantic wave of whitish blue energy directly at the weapon, completely covering it.
The beam faded. Gehaburn? It no longer existed. The beam had completely eradicated it. And strangely, Nevara felt her head lighten, like something had been subtly influencing her...
For the readers unaware, Gehaburn has the power to convince people to use it. To want to use it. A form of mind control. Clouding a persons judgement That was why the worst ending in Neptunia history happened. The Conquest Route.
But because of her Gamer's Mind, Kaelith was completely unaffected.
Kaelith had taken a chance. A chance that would be repaid—
With a hammerhead fist to her spinal.
Nevara had managed to stand weakly. She took the time to use one skill she copied from someone in her verse. She healed herself. Using a skill called, "First Aid Kit". Compa's skill. She wasn't back at full strength but she gathered enough Share Energy from her followers to enhance one strike, just one to Kaelith without her guard up.
Unfortunately for the corrupt CPU, Kaelith had her guard up the entire time. She just couldn't dodge or block at that moment.
The Share Energy enhanced hammerhead fist dealing just under 3000 damage to her MP.
Nevara had found the focus too, and Phase Stepped once more. Now 30 metres away, she felt her confidence return.
'It was worth a shot.' Kaelith thought before shifting to face Nevara.
The air twisted.
Nevara, standing thirty meters away, trembled—not from fear, but from release. Her fingers curled, then stretched open, glowing with threads of white light that shimmered unnaturally. Share Energy pooled around her like liquid starlight.
"Access." Nevara called out, the glowing dot on her choker flared, a silent scream of light before bursting out. A bright, white light filled with binary like numbers, black in colour formed swirling around the light that travelled high into the sky. Then slowly died down... revealing a completely different person.
Gone were the golden eyes.
In their place: void-black orbs, and power symbol pupils. The only thing that was white in her eye.
Her hair, once soft as snow, now coiled in a raven-black ponytail, the metallic tie gleaming like a distant star. Her body shimmered, her dress collapsing inward into skin-tight monochrome armour. One of her arms were completely covered is segmented plates that shifted around, each plate glowed with a faint energy.
Her feet no longer touched the ground. A black ring floated behind her head, runes spinning.
Her scarf split into wing-like protrusions, each feather a glyph.
Her voice, when it came, was the sound of finality.
"Raven Heart. CPU of Gamindustri #52. And now... it is time to end this once and for all."
Kaelith felt a strange pressure, like a mild sensation creeping up her back. It was strange, like a passive of Nevara's HDD weakened the effects of certain things.
But also this was the worst thing to happen in Kaelith's mind.
Because whilst it was clear Raven Heart was more powerful, Kaelith couldn't sense her Ki at all. Likely because it was a form for Goddesses, meaning it used God Ki. And God Ki, right now couldn't be sensed by Kaelith.
Meaning, she could tell how much stronger she was. Whether it was a Grade 1 boost
However Kaelith wasn't exactly worried. Sure she might be a little concerned but based on her calculations, she can make up for the difference by using all of her MP in one Mana Burst.
Or maybe only just 50% of it.
Either way, she knew she would win.
"Just because you've transformed, doesn't mean you're gonna win."
"Oho? Quite confidant aren't you?" Raven Heart taunted.
Kaelith took her left thumb, pointing it at herself, before saying, "It's not confidence. Nah, I'd win."
Having enough of this bullshit, Raven heart moved.
Kaelith saw a flicker—no, a ripple—then a crack of air displaced, and Raven Heart was on her. A single palm strike detonated against Kaelith's chest, her Aura flaring wildly as the force launched her across the battlefield like a ragdoll. She barely landed before Raven Heart was there again, teleporting mid-air and kicking her through a tree. Wood splintered into toothpicks.
"Too slow," Raven Heart murmured, grabbing Kaelith by the throat as she rebounded—and then slamming her into the dirt hard enough to make the crater deeper.
A glyph-etched boot drove into Kaelith's stomach.
"You talk big for a decimal."
She didn't even let her breathe. A black glyph formed in Raven's hand—then exploded point-blank, sending Kaelith skipping across the ground like a stone across a lake.
'Okay, not the best showing. The Vegeta curse hit me. But... a boost of 80 times huh. Good thing my MP was so high and could tank most of that damage... if my Aura shield hadn't faltered.' One fact about Aura RWBY, was that it sometimes randomly deactivated out of nowhere, or broke out of nowhere. You know, what it did in the show. Apparently the skill did the same random bullshit. 'At least I can get a Zenkai now.'
Her HP was at 70%, whilst her MP was at 65%. Both would rise back to full, but Kaelith had no time to stand still. She had to act.
She floated out of the impact crater, slowly, then... as if by command
Kaelith's Ki exploded, a shimmer of lavender formed around her as she poured half of MP into one, "MANA BURST!"
BOOM!
One second Kaelith was at the crater hundreds of meters away, the next, her fist connected with Raven Heart.
Kaelith had closed the distance, in .0000000000001 nanoseconds.
The momentum added to the strength behind the blow and Raven Heart was now the one skipping across the ground like a stone.
Round 1 had ended, and round 2 had just begun.