-Orb Pov-

I fly through the skies of Remnant, in hot pursuit of Belial. It's time for me to do what I should have done years ago. I should have ended this. But I didn't, and because of that, lives and families have been destroyed. And that's on Belial. But, at the same time, that's also on me for what I did. That's on me for letting him live. Every person he crippled, every graveyard he ever filled, that's on me. And it ends today. As he flies off, and tries to run, I sneer. This is what he always does. He gets in over his head, starts a fight and then leaves when things don't go well. Except this time, he doesn't have me, or any Ultra to cover for him and clean up the pieces of his mess. Holding out my hand, I bombard him with disks of energy, and then he falls and crashes into a field.

Landing in front of him, I can see how tired he is, and that he has next to no energy left. Just in case this is a trap, I walk over to him slowly, and I keep my hand charged with energy, ready to end things once and for all, or defend myself if I still intend to fight with him. Belial chuckles softly, and then looks up at me. " You win Orb. You beat me. You have me right where you want me. The question is, are you going to do anything about it? Or will this repeat? The same cat and mouse game across the universe?"

" You think this is what I wanted? Of course you think that. Because that was the conspiracy you always had. That everyone was out to get you. That it was you against the entire universe. That way, it didn't have to be your fault. When I, or the King, Or Hikari, or anyone had a problem with you, you could pass it off, and you could just say that we had it out for you, that we had some problem with you, some agenda. But this isn't what I wanted. You chose this. Bad choice after bad choice. You did this to yourself," I tell him, so done with his excuses.

Belial sits up a little bit, and then chuckles again. " What do you want me to say Orb? That you're right?" He asks, and then I open my mouth to say something, and then he cuts me off. " All I wanted to was help people. You were my partner. I think you know that better than anyone else. But you, and Hikari and all of them would never let me. Because none of you knew what needed to be done to protect the Land of Light, to protect anywhere. I could have chosen anyone as my host, but I chose Adam because I knew that he would be the one person who knew that sometimes you have to get your hands dirty."

" Helping people? This was about helping people? Yeah. That's why you possessed Qrow Branwen, and ruined his life by making his Semblance unstable. Or why you had Jason. Or why you had Adam kill (y/n). Or why you had Adam try to kill Sienna. Belial, this was never about helping people. This was a chance to do whatever the hell you wanted, damn everyone else and damn the consequences," I tell him. " Come to think of it, that's all it's ever been about for you. I just missed it. We all did, and the world is paying for it."

" You could never understand it," Belial says, still somehow utterly convinced that he's right, and everyone else around him is in the wrong. He sighs a little, and shakes his head, and then thinks for a moment. " I'm out of energy Orb. I can't even move. Without a host, I'm going to fade away. Or you can take me back to the Land of Light, and they're going to execute me. It's up to you then to give me the fate you think I deserve." He then thinks for a moment. " Do you remember ages ago? In the Land of Light?"

" Which part of it? The part where I trusted you and you turned your back on me and on all of us? The part where we gave you second chance after second chance and you threw them all away? Or did you mean the part where you broke out of jail, killed Hikari, and then flew here to get away from the consequences of your actions," I ask him, wondering where he's going with any of this. At this point, I want to just blast his head off and be done with all of this once and for all.

" The part where you were going to ask me a question Orb." He says, and then I instantly remember what it had been. I open my mouth to tell him it doesn't matter anymore, and then he shakes his head. " I know you. You're going to say that it didn't mean anything to you, that it never did. That it was stupid. But it's going to bother you for the rest of your life." Belial says, and he holds out his hand, it already turning to dust since he's dying and without a host. " This is your best and last chance to find out what it is."

Sighing a little, I look down at my own hands to see myself fading as well. I need to make it back to (y/n) soon, and then to the Land of Light. But, I know Belial is right. As much as it pains me to admit it, Belial is right about this. " Did being an Ultra ever matter to you," I ask him eventually.

" Oh Orb," Belial says, in a rare moment of sincerity, which puts me off for a little bit. He gives me a soft, almost sad smile. " That's all that ever did matter to me." He says. A moment passes, and then he fades away entirely. Belial, the man responsible for all of this is gone. He's finally gone. So why do I feel like I haven't won?

Sighing, I fly back to (y/n), trying to shake the feeling of sadness at the passing of Belial. It's bittersweet almost, to think he's gone. But I know my host can have a much better life now, and the world is safer.

( let me know what you thought. Next chapter is the epilogue)