Ozpin nearly dropped his mug as the security cameras caught the appearance of the Megoliath in the clearing.
"What!? How is a Solitas Grimm here? and an ancient one like a Megoliath at that? How did it avoid the detection of our instructors when they were sweeping the area before Initiation?"
He remained silent, not answering Glynda's exclamation as his eyes hardened.
Something was wrong here, he could tell.
It is nearly impossible for such a dangerous and ancient Grimm to silently sneak into his own backyard, one that he knew like the back of his hand for many lifetimes now.
That meant it was either a new addition, which would mean it was either her act or one of her agents, which was not good news.
Or, that this thing was even older than his incarnation that first established the royal castle of Vale here all those years ago.
To him, the latter theory seemed more likely, but then, the question arose.
Why did it wake up now, of all times? Simply because that Elder Deathstalker called for other grimm in the area for backup?
That couldn't be it.
So what is it? What caused it to wake up?
"Glynda. Call in Port and Bart. We will go down there and deal with...."
He trailed off as the cameras showed the children make a break for it towards the bridge as the Megoliath charged at full speed.
All but one.
"What in the name of the Brothers is that boy doing!? He is going to get himself killed!"
Ozpin watched silently, unable to comprehend why Ignis Rube stayed behind while his companions ran for the ruins, with the Nevermore and the Deathstalker being lured away by them as well.
'What is that boy planning.....ok, what in the name of the gods is that thing?'
Ozpin, for the first time in a while, felt really shocked, as Ignis pulled out the folded weapon on his back and put it together.
Revealing something that should be considered an artillery piece instead of a handheld.
Then came the boom.
A thunderous noise that even reached them, at the very top of the cliffs, so far away.
It sounded similar to those large-scale explosives used by Atlas to clear out entire hoards of Grimm. The same kind that are usually used as mines around the defensive lines of the four Kingdoms and their main cities.
Like the mines meant to deal with extremely dangerous Grimm, such as Leviathan-class monsters.
Watching Ignis digging grooved into the ground with his feet with the sheer recoil of the gun, then promptly throw away the gun to grab the tusks of the tumbling body of the monster, Ozpin could not help but sweat a bit.
'How is that boy's shoulder still intact? I know that he has the strength to stop a Goliath in its tracks, but that kind of strength is still not enough to mitigate the sheer force of holding that kind of weapon!'
"....Actually, never mind. It looks like they have it handled. But, prepare the infirmary, just in case."
"....."
Glynda did not know what to say at the sheer power displayed by that overcompensating gun of the boy, so she simply remained silent and continued watching.
————————————————————————-
The students felt dumbfounded as, for a single instant, it felt like everything in the world stopped, as that thunderous roar of Ignis's Punt Gun sounded out.
Even the Nevermore in the sky and the Deathstalker across the bridge seemed like they paused their attacks for a moment, not understanding what had happened.
Ruby, on the other hand, was giddy from the sight that she rarely gets to see, with the last time being nearly three years ago.
"Yeah!! He finally used the Destroyer!!"
"Ruby! Not the time! Also, didn't Ignis say not to name his gun!?"
Ruby ignored Yang's words as she watched Ignis pull back the bolt, releasing a hiss of steam and the empty casing that contained a solid, 1lb Aura-Steel ball.
A projectile that was now embedded deep in the woods behind the Megoliath. Right after carving open a clean path straight through the left side of its skull, its body, and out its back.
The body that was now starting to dissolve after Ignis stopped its charging body dead in its tracks by grabbing its tusks and anchoring it into the ground with his own two feet.
"Take that, you damned elephant monster."
Ignis whispered through gritted teeth as his body continued glowing red-hot through his sheer rage, having gotten fed up with the damned species that always seemed to have a strange attraction to him.
Unlike Ruby and Yang, who already knew the power of the weapon, the others could not help but stare dumbly at their peer, not knowing how to react to the sheer scale of that weapon that was more of an airship-mounted canon than a handheld.
"Whoa..."
Jaune muttered. The boy who had secretly forged his transcripts now looking at Ignis with a sense of admiration.
Something that his partner, Pyrrha, seemed to share as well. Thinking about asking him for a spar later on.
The first ones to snap out of it were the Grimm.
The Nevermore screeched in anger and started to circle around again, while the Deathstalker started running towards the group from the other side, snapping the students from their trance.
However, with the biggest threat taken care of, the students felt like they had a little bit of breathing room to take care of the threats.
Ruby observed how the ranged attacks from her friends were not even scratching the Nevermore, with the Deathstalker being in the same situation.
So, she made a call.
"Weiss, with me. Yang, Blake, you too. Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, you think you can handle the Deathstalker for a bit?"
"Done!"
Pyrrha responded while Jaune nodded, agreeing for the whole group.
"Ignis! You coming!?"
At his little sister's call, the angrily muttering teenager snapped out of his funk and turned to her.
"....Yeah. I'm coming."
While still in his Semblance's fully powered state, he shot forward, tearing apart the very earth beneath his feet with each step of his run with the sheer kinetic impact.
Then, as he got close, he toned down his power, gradually coming to a stop by Ruby's side.
"What'cha thinking?"
Ruby quickly explained her plan to the group, making Ignis and Yang smack their palms on their face as one.
"Ruby...."
"What have we told you about being reckless?"
"Guys! Come on! We don't have the time for it-"
"On second thought, I've got a better idea."
Ignis spoke up.
At Ruby's confused look, he pulled out his Punt Gun again and reloaded it, making her eyes brighten up.
"Wait! You're going to use it again!? You never use it twice in a row, though?"
"Because it suckes the fun out of all fights. But right now, it is better to deal with boredom than that hairbrained scheme of yours."
"What? My plan is perfect! Right Weiss? Weiss?"
Weiss did not dare meet Ruby's eyes, while Blake found the sky to be particularly interesting at that moment.
Ruby's shoulders slumped.
"You guys suck."
Ignis shook his head and took a wide stance, holding up the 9-foot-long Punt Gun and aiming at the Nevermore. Blake and Weiss now watching the process with interest.
His body instantly started to heat up as water flooded the chamber, right behind the hollow casing that only existed to slot the Aura-Steel ball into the barrel.
Then, he placed his finger on the trigger and turned his power to full output. The heat trasmitted through the trigger mechanism straight to the water.
Under the ridiculous temperatures of nearly four thousand degrees Celcius, the water flash-boiled and turned to steam in a single instant, expanding rapidly and pushing the projectile out.
All of this happened under five seconds.
With another thunderous explosion, the Nevermore had a massive hole straight through its center mass, not even giving it the chance to screech in agony before its dissolving body hit the ground.
Ignis turned back to take a look at the Deathstalker, only to see the final bits of the fight where Nora nailed the beast with its own stinger.
The teenager grinned as he started to break down the punt gun into its component parts and started putting them back in their harness on his back.
"Well, looks like that's that. Shall we get back to the Cliffs?"
And so began the group's journey back to Beacon.