#withering flower

Byleth was in the classroom organizing his papers when he heard the doors open.

(Byleth) “Hm? Oh, class.”

The Black Eagles class walked up to him, looking very excited.

(Byleth) “What’s with the smile on everyone’s faces?”

(Dorothea) “Well, professor! The ball is tomorrow!”

(Edelgard) “Hah, I have no worthwhile memories of such an event, yet I am still looking forward to it.”

(Hubert) “As am I, in the sense that I look forward to destroying all the unworthy suitors that would swarm Lady Edelgard.”

(Ferdinand) “I admit, Edelgard is adorable, however I think I am far superior on the dance floor!”

(Dorothea) “You’re not a bad dancer Ferdie but you have some moves that are...hard to watch.”

(Linhardt) “I also know how to dance...in theory. Maybe I should participate as well.”

(Bernadetta) “N-NOT ME! You wouldn’t catch me dancing no sooner than you’d see a fish swimming through the sky!”

(Caspar) “You do tend to flop around like a fish on land after all! Though, speaking of it, do we get to choose who we dance with and stuff? I wonder who I’ll ask...”

(Petra) “I will fight with all I have!”

(Byleth) “Er...I don’t think fighting is what you’ll be doing, Petra-”

(Dorothea) “So, professor, got anyone in mind?~”

Byleth raised his eyebrow at her.

(Byleth) “I...don’t think I’m going to dance, I’m a mercenary not a-”

(Ferdinand) “No, you’re not a mercenary either, professor! You’re our teacher!”

(Bernadetta) “I-I won’t be dancing but, I’m sure watching you would be interesting!”

(Edelgard) “Our professor ball dancing?” Snrrk!

(Byleth) “I-I can dance! At least...I think I can?”

(Caspar) “You mean those ‘dances’ you do with the other mercenaries? That’s drunk dancing!”

(Hubert) “Seeing our professor ‘drunk dance’ at a ball as fancy as this would be very entertaining? May I humbly request you do this?”

(Byleth) “Absolutely not.”

Everyone began chatting about the dance, Byleth’s dancing skills and who they were going to ask to dance.

Edelgard watched the class engage in such a lively manner, it brought a smile to her face.

(Edelgard) “Excuse me, sorry to change the subject but I have a proposition. Five years from tomorrow, let’s all agree to meet up again!”

(Caspar) “Like a class reunion? That’s a great idea!”

(Petra) “Yes, you will get to see how much growing I have done! This is a good idea!”

(Byleth) “Five years time? Hah, I wonder how all you kids will be five years from now.”

(Linhardt) “And you won’t be enjoying a cozy retirement by then, professor?”

(Byleth) “Hah, not likely being honest. Though, no matter what I’ll be, I’ll be right back here in time.”

(Edelgard) “It’s a promise, professor. Don’t you forget it!”

-----

(Edelgard) “Five years...”

(Dimitri) “El?”

(Edelgard) “O-Oh, Dimitri. Sorry I...”

He stood next to Edelgard, looking up at the monastery.

(Dimitri) “We cannot turn the hands of time back to what it once was.”

(Edelgard) “I know but...maybe if I had done something different...Byleth wouldn’t be what he is now. If I had never started the war then...Maybe we could have all lived in peace together-”

(Claude) “What’s done is done, Edelgard.”

He walked up beside her, looking up with the two.

(Claude) “Much as I would have loved to live a life of friendship, reality doesn’t work that way. All we can do now is try to right our wrongs.”

(Dimitri) “No matter what, we’ll stay alive long enough to fix this world, together.”

(Edelgard) “...Together.”

(Claude) “I like the sound of that. But, right now we gotta hurry. We’ll be within Garreg Mach in an hour...”

(Edelgard) “Byleth...”

(Everyone) “...”

(Edelgard) “Alright. Let us put an end to it, once and for all.”

...

Byleth stood near the gates watching the three armies converge on their location.

(Soldier) “Sir, the Javelin of Liberation will be activating soon. All of the main forces who haven’t rebelled are out here in the gates.”

He nodded.

Ever since the massive casualties at Gronder, their morale was shaken and started to question their loyalty.

The fact that Shamir, Alois, and Leonie had defected did not help easing their fears.

There was an uprising within the barracks that had to be contained. No one had time to properly kill them.

(Soldier) “If I may sir?”

(Byleth) “Go ahead.”

(Soldier) “I don’t think there’s much chances of us surviving this fight, so you need to get to a safespot and ensure that the Javelin activates.”

Byleth turned to the soldier.

(Byleth) “You are right but...Not being with my men in this battle would surely break mora-”

(Soldier) “We’re all dying for this cause, one way or another. For us loyalists, I’d be more comfortable knowing our deaths ensured victory.”

Byleth looked at the armies who were getting closer, seeing Edelgard leading everyone alongside Dimitri and Claude.

(Byleth) “...Understood. Sothis watch over you all.”

The soldier nodded, and started directing commands to the others, preparing for battle.

Byleth went to the roof to watch the Javelin’s progress on activation.

The main core was in the Tombs where he found the Sword of the Creator, near the chapel.

(Byleth) “All of this blood I have shed...All the lives lost. All will soon be forgiven for everyone...”

...

(Dimitri) “Even though he is our old friend, we must not go easy today...”

(Claude) “As long as we pull off the victory, doesn’t matter how.”

(Edelgard) “Our victory must be absolute, no matter what it may take...”

Kingdom, Alliance, and Empire soldiers drew their swords, the House Leaders retainers coming up to them.

(Dedue) “We all are ready to lay down our lives to stop this madness.”

(Hilda) “Speak for yourself! I don’t plan on dying. I plan on kicking their butts, and living to tell the tale!”

(Hubert) “An inelegant way of putting it, but something I agree with nevertheless.”

...

The Blue Lions slowly drew out their weapons.

(Sylvain) “Can’t say that this is where I imagined the war taking us but...I’m glad we’re all together today.”

(Ingrid) “I will protect my homeland, and my people!”

(Felix) “Tch...If I die here, then the Old Man would never let me hear the end of it...”

(Annette) “My father is gone, but I will not be losing anyone else today!”

(Mercedes) “I’ll protect everyone, even if it means losing my own life!”

(Death Knight) “You will not be losing it when I am around, because I will make sure you die by my hands...”

(Ashe) “Lonato, Christophe, everyone...Today, we’ll make things right for everyone!”

...

The Golden Deers all stood behind Hilda.

(Marianne) “After seeing so much death firsthand, I now realize how precious life is. I won’t let everyone be robbed of such a wonderful thing!”

(Raphael) “I got my little sister, and she sure as heck isn’t going to get killed by this weird Javelin thing if I have anything to say about it!”

(Ignatz) “I’ll protect my family, and all of ours!”

(Lorenz) “What kind of noble would I be if I let a tragedy such as this slide? It is my honor to-”

(Lysithea) “Put a sock in it, would you?...Hmph, I’m not sure I have long to live but, I won’t be letting it end early!”

...

The Black Eagles Strike Force looked down sadly.

(Linhardt) “To think this is where 5 years would put us...”

(Bernadetta) “This one time, I won’t run away. If I die today, well...At least I know it was for all of you.”

(Caspar) “Randolph...even though I didn’t know you that well, I’ll make the professor pay for what he’s done to you, and your sister!”

(Dorothea) “Professor...”

(Ferdinand) “I am conflicted as well but, I will be protecting all of our homes.”

(Petra) “Whether it be Brigid or Fodlan, protect them I shall!”

...

(Edelgard) “Hubert. From the schematics and plans Leonie told us, you and the other retainers will lead the students to the core.”

(Hubert) “And you’ll be going for the control room where Byleth is, correct?”

She nodded.

(Hilda) “We’ll get it done, don’t you worry Miss Edelgard!”

(Dedue) “Leave it to us.”

Everyone looked back to the gates and took a deep breath.

Everything they did here would decide the fate of everyone.

[Apex of the World (Rain) - Fire Emblem Three Houses] 

(Edelgard) “FORWARD, NOW!”

(Dimitri) “FOR HONOR!”

Claude motioned forward, and charged with everyone else.

Demonic Beasts came barreling out of the gate, running at a full tilt sprint at them.

Dimitri jumped into the air slammed the lance straight into its head, making it stop and trip over, the corpse now acting as a mini shield for everyone.

The second beast tried going for Claude, only to miss as his Wyvern flew into the air, letting Claude land a shot in the eye.

Hilda, Lorenz, and Ignatz attacked from the sides, sticking their weapons into its head as it tried to break free from the barrage.

Marianne and Lysithea finished it off with a combination of holy and dark magic, burning parts of the body off or completely disintegrating it.

The third beast swung its claws at Edelgard, which was blocked by a magical barrier that reflected it back.

She stood still readying her axe as the rest of the class charged in front of her.

Caspar grabbed onto its head while it was recoiling, and started punching it in the eye, with Hubert, Dorothea, and Linhardt keeping it down with magic.

Ferdinand, Petra, and Bernadetta began taking down the soldiers that were accompanying the beasts and were eventually joined in by the others.

The Blue Lions rushed into the town with Dimitri, seeing the soldiers in formation, walking towards them.

(Ingrid) “RIGHT AND LEFT FLANKS!”

Soldiers emerged from the houses, catching several Kingdom soldiers off guard and killed them.

The Death Knight was almost caught off guard by two soldiers, but his horse leaped back, and cut both their heads off with his scythe.

(Dimitri) “KEEP AN EYE ON THE HOUSES, SOME ARE IN HIDING!”

Dimitri swiped his lance upwards, cutting off the limbs of one knight as he helped one of his own up.

The rest of the classes joined in, with troopers on all sides pouring from the other entrances.

(Nemesis Knight 1) “THEY’RE IN, SHUT THE GATES!”

The Gates closed behind Edelgard, seeing that a good portion of her soldiers were still out there, alongside Claude’s and Dimitri’s.

Claude’s Wyvern landed on a porch right in front of the gate and motioned to everyone.

(Claude) “PREVENT ANY REINFORCEMENTS FROM COMING IN OUTSIDE, AND FIND A WAY TO BLAST THESE GATES OPEN!”

(Alliance Captain) “Yes, Milord!”

Claude nodded and flew back into the fight that was ensuing in the town.

Felix and Sylvain struck down a soldier trying to charge Annette and Mercedes who were trying to cast a spell.

As another squad tried to come at them from behind, Ingrid swooped in, knocking them all back with her Pegasus and skewered one of the soldiers on her lance, making her drop it and pulling out a sword.

Annette and Mercedes shot a line of ice spikes that shot out of the ground, sending a battalion flying into the buildings around them.

Ashe took out the enemy snipers trying to shoot Ingrid, and Dedue protected him from any attackers coming from behind. 

A soldier turned the corner and ran straight into Dedue’s shield, making him kick the soldier down, tumbling onto other soldiers falling at the bottom.

Once the Town Square was clear, they all moved to the gates.

However, more and more soldiers began to surround them.

(Dimitri) “Damn, there’s no end to them!”

Dimitri cut down several soldiers, twirling his lance and impaling a soldier behind him without turning to look at him.

Edelgard crushed a soldier completely into the concrete, breaking it and making blood splatter everywhere as Hubert shot a fireball into the building, making everything inside explode.

A soldier opened the door from the building, completely on fire as he fell to the ground dead.

(Edelgard) “We will not be able to make it to Monastery at this rate!”

(Hilda) “Claude, take Dimitri and Edelgard to the monastery, there’s no time to wait up on us!”

They all looked back to their retainers, realizing if they had any chance, they had to be left behind.

(Dedue) “Your highness, go!”

(Hubert) “We have no intention of dying just yet!”

(Hilda) “GO YOU IDIOT!”

Claude nodded, and had Dimitri and Edelgard hop on.

(Claude) “This ride’s gonna be really bumpy, so hang on!”

His Wyvern shot off towards the Monastery, leaving everyone behind.

(Dedue) “Now, it’s up to us!”

The soldiers who accompanied the classes were finally wiped out by the overwhelming numbers of Knights of Nemesis, who slowly began to surround them.

(Hilda) “Looks like they still haven’t found a way to enter in yet! We need reinforcements!”

(Hubert) “EVERYONE, HOLD YOUR GROUND!”

All the classes stood back to back, drawing out their weapons as they moved closer in.

(Ingrid) “So many of them...!”

(Lorenz) “I admit, I’m more than a little worried!”

(Hilda) “I never thought I’d be dying back at the schoolgrounds!”

(Dedue) “How about side by side with your classmates?”

(Hilda) “...No!”

(Hubert) “Both of you be quiet, we need a plan!”

(Bernadetta) “You know what...?!”

Everyone turned to Bernadetta who grasped her bow firmly.

(Bernadetta) “TO HELL WITH ALL OF YOU, NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA KILL ANY OF US TODAY!”

She took the chance to fire her arrow straight through someone’s head, making the soldiers flinch.

(Death Knight) “Well said, little one! General Vestra, you have your plan!”

Before they could react, the Death Knight jumped into the crowd, swinging his sycthe left and right and decapitating and chopping people into pieces.

Now, the rest of the class began attacking, charging and making their enemies back up in fear.

Ashe and Petra pulled out a sword and started trading blows with anyone who got too close to their circle, followed by Felix and Sylvain.

Annette and Mercedes went back into the circle as everyone was keeping the close combat soldiers at bay, alongside Marianne, Lysithea, Dorothea, Linhardt and Hubert.

Spells ranging from healing to offensive were being cast, keeping everyone in fighting shape as they slowly turned the odds back into their favor.

Ingrid grabbed Ignatz by the hand and onto her Pegasus, leading them towards archers who were about to fire into the crowd.

Ignatz dropped down and sliced most of their bows in half, with one archer being able to shoot into the crowd.

Dedue grabbed his shield and deflected an arrow that was about to hit HIlda.

(Dedue) “Ineffective!”

(Hilda) “Thanks!”

She said cheerfully as she swung her axe down, cutting someone in half, and kicking the legs toward a crowd.

Caspar and Raphael used their gauntlets to pulverize the enemies, charging straight in together, crushing heads and stabbing through stomachs.

A group tried to gang up on Raphael, who grabbed one of the soldiers by the legs and swung his body like a weapon, sending troopers flying back from the sheer force.

Ferdinand and Lorenz had to get off their horses to fight in such close quarters, elegantly dodging with their lances and striking back, almost as if they were fencing instead.

The more that everyone cut down, the more soldiers that took their place coming in.

(Ashe) “S-So many!”

(Dedue) “WHERE ARE THE REINFORCEMENTS?!”

As if on cue, one of the gates close by completely exploded, shooting debris all over the floor.

Everyone stopped fighting and looked towards the noise, unsure of whose side it was.

(Nemesis Knight) “That came from the barracks we had in town!”

More Knights of Nemesis emerged from the smoke, raising their weapons.

The students clenched their teeth, raising their weapons as the Knights of Nemesis started to cheer.

Their cheering stopped when they saw Thunder Catherine step out in front of them.

(Catherine) “Sorry to keep you all waiting!”

An arrow flew out of the smoke, hitting a soldier dead in the eye, letting the Knights with Catherine charge out into the fray.

They were joined by Knights of Seiros, adding more to the chaos and confusion.

(Nemesis Knight) “DAMN IT, THE DEFECTORS GOT OU-AUGH!”

A soldier had an axe thrown into his chest, and another was taken out by a woman on horseback.

(Shamir) “Looks like we made it in time.”

(Alois) “Had to make a quick detour!”

(Leonie) “Come on, the Monastery guards will be too busy to deal with us!”

The classes looked off into the distance and saw smoke coming from Garreg Mach.

Even the demonic beasts were having a hard time dealing with the Defectors.

(Shamir) “The beasts we made were ordered not to attack our own forces in the event someone possessed them or Those Who Slither were still around. Obviously, that came to bite them in the ass.”

(Hilda) “Then what are we waiting for, let’s get a move on!”

Everyone nodded, and left the fighting to the soldiers, running towards Garreg Mach.

Catherine was leading the charge, cutting down anyone foolish enough to get in her way, with the classes coming in right behind her.

(Alois) “We’re heading towards the chapel’s Tomb! That’s where the core is!”

Everyone nodded and made a mad dash for the chapel.

Able to run through most of the mayhem with the Loyalists and Defectos fighting each other, they ran down the stairs and saw the core.

It was a massive glowing crystal that was so bright, it almost illuminated the entire tomb.

(Leonie) “There it is, let’s go!”

(Dedue) “A moment, Leonie.”

(Leonie) “Huh?”

(Hilda) “Where are the guards at?”

Everyone remained silent until they saw a shadowy figure form in front of the crystal.

(Hubert) “That sword shape!”

Catherine turned her attention to the weapon the figure was holding.

(Catherine) “The Sword of the Creator! Damn it, it’s Byleth!”

(Linhardt) “N-No it isn’t! Look at the shape of that person!”

(Death Knight) “It is someone worse...”

The core pulsated, and now lit the entire room up to where everyone could see the figure clear as day.

...

“Who...WHO ARE YOU ALL?!”

(Mage) “Sir, the ressurection is working, and he’s under our control.”

(Byleth) “Amazing, Thales. Simply amazing. Trying to resurrect this man against Seiros. How symbolic.”

“That sword...that is mine...! And that crest...!”

(Byleth) “It was never yours to begin with. Sothis belongs to no one.”

“Your hair...your eyes..that means...YOU’RE ONE OF THEM-”

(Byleth) “Kneel.”

“HRRGH! I...CANNOT...MOVE...”

(Byleth) “This is your duty, and you will obey. You are to protect this room from invaders, and you will forfeit your life in order to protect it.”

“I AM A KING! YOU CANNOT CHAIN ME DOWN LIKE-”

(Byleth) “I can, and will. I’ve read the reports on what you are. You’re nothing more than a pathetic old man, but a useful one I suppose. Put him into stasis and have him reemerge once someone has infiltrated.”

(Mage) “Yes sir.”

“YOU WHELPS, DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO I AM?!”

...

[God-Shattering Star - Fire Emblem Three Houses]

(Hubert) “Nemesis...!”

“You...YOU ALL WILL DI-”

(Hilda) “GO BACK TO HELL YOU CRUSTY OLD BASTARD!”

(Leonie) “Goddess, that’s what Byleth was doing all this time down here?!”

(Dedue) “Tch, doesn’t matter! We must get to the core, from the way it’s glowing its about to activate!”

(Catherine) “THEN LET’S DO THIS! EVERYONE, CHARGE!”

(Everyone) “HYAAAAAAAAA-”

(Nemesis) “NO ONE WILL GET IN MY WAY TO DESTROY SEIROS AND HER CRONIES!”

Nemesis charged into the students, and clashed swords with Catherine.

The swings were met blow for blow, both of them too fast to actually make any decisive hits.

Alois and Leonie came in from the sides, attempting to flank him.

Kicking Catherine away, he cut the head off Leonie’s horse, making her fly off and the horse making Alois roll out the way.

Bernadetta, Ignatz, and Ashe fired several arrows at him while he was in place, making him back off.

Activating the whip, he deflected the arrows and swung it the archers.

Ignatz managed to dodge in time, but Ashe and Bernadetta were hit by it, making them hit the floor.

Leonie and Alois charged again, Alois slamming the axe onto the floor with Nemesis rolling out the way, blocking Leonie’s hit in time.

Pulling back his sword, he swung at Alois, cutting his axe in half and striking him down, a visible scar on his armor as he fell down.

Leonie sustained a similar injury, though without the blessing of armor, having blood spill out.

(Hilda) “LEONIE!”

(Hubert) “FOCUS!”

Nemesis jumped into the air, slamming his bastardized version of the Sword of the Creator into the ground, creating a mini shockwave.

Dedue, Hilda, and Hubert, and Catherine were sent flying and hit the pillars behind them, falling onto the ground.

Annette and Mercedes fired a multitude of spells at him, Nemesis using the whip to absorb the spells with his sword.

Quickly deactivating the whip, he countered both the Death Knight and Felix’s attacks, who came from his sides.

Nemesis grabbed Felix and threw him onto the Death Knight, making him fall off his horse.

The horse went ballistic, and started charging at Nemesis out of pure fear, which he cut in half with a single slice.

He turned to his right and saw Ferdinand, Lorenz, and Sylvain charging with their lances in three separate directions. 

Flicking his wrist, the whip reactivated and he swung it upwards, decapitating all the horses and inflicting cuts that went through all three of their armors.

He noticed that his shadow was growing larger, and looked upwards seeing Ingrid trying to divebomb him with the Pegasus.

Rolling to the side and taking several swings, both unable to land a solid hit on each other.

Nemesis grabbed Ingrid by the arm, and pulled her towards him and off her mount.

He punched her in the stomach, denting the armor and making her cough up blood.

The force which he grabbed her dislocated Ingrid’s arm, and he threw her into the closest wall, making the wall crack using Ingrid as a projectile.

When she fell onto the floor, it was then he noticed that Lysithea, Annette, and Dorothea were charging up a spell.

It was starting to become brighter than the core in the room.

(Lysithea) “FIRE!”

Unleashing a beam of dark magic, it completely incinerated the pillars next to Nemesis, with him barely dodging in time.

He was about to run before he noticed that parts of his arms were singed off, making it hard to hold the Sword of the Creator.

Flicking his wrist, he was about to strike at the three mages until it got caught onto something.

Looking back, he saw the Death Knight’s scythe was holding the whip.

Caspar and Raphael leaped out from cover, and drove their gauntlets into his head, making an audible cracking noise.

Instead of falling over, Nemesis mustered all his strength to throw the Death Knight around like a ragdoll, finally releasing his grip.

Having nothing to restrain him, he headbutted Caspar so hard that blood came out from both their heads, and kicked Raphael into the ground.

Nemesis aimed his sword at Raphael’s heart, but his hand was shot by a precision shot, making the sword fly off from his hands.

Turning back, he saw Shamir and Petra, loading up arrows.

He ran up to them, leaving his sword behind and using rage as his weapons, raised his fists.

Petra and Shamir dodged his punch, as he punched the wall and created two massive holes.

They took out their daggers and went for the his knees, slicing the major arteries and hopping away quickly before he could retaliate.

From this position, Nemesis could see the room clearly.

All the mages in the room immediately went to healing the injured, Mercedes, Marianne and Linhardt healing the gravely injured first.

However it was at this point he realized he didn’t see Hubert, Catherine, Hilda or Dedue from where he knocked them out.

He saw Lysithea in the distance, firing at a spell behind a rock.

Then, the bright light appeared right above him.

Catherine was warped right on top of him, slamming Thunderbrand into his arms, which he tried to use as a shield.

Feeling his bones start to split apart, he then realized where the other three were.

Right beside Catherine.

Hilda slammed her axe into his legs, severing it, which made him lose balance, leading to his arm getting cut off by Thunderbrand.

Dedue slammed his shield with all his strength on top of Nemesis’s head, crushing it and splattering his head all over the floor.

Everyone hopped out the way as Hubert casted his most powerful dark spell, completely overwhelming Nemesis’s body and vaporizing it into dust.

Once his body was gone, the mock Sword of the Creator dissipated into the air.

(Shamir) “Leonie, Alois!”

Marianne grabbed Leonie while Mercedes helped Alois up, trying to heal their injuries.

(Leonie) “D-Don’t worry about us, the core...!”

They all looked to the core which was pulsating faster and faster.

(Shamir) “Shit, it’s about to activate!”

(Alois) “Y-you-agh! N-Need to overload it with magic! HURRY!”

Dorothea, Linhardt, Lysithea, and Annette all started to cast their strongest spells and aimed it at the core.

(Shamir) “NOW!”

At the same time, all of them shot from their hands, ranging from ice, holy, dark, meteoric spells onto the core, hitting it all at once.

The core exploded into fragments, the energy overtaking the room in a bright light.

[SONG END]

Catherine held her eyes shut, expecting to lose all feeling from the blast, until she opened an eye.

The room was just lit dimly with the orange torches that were in the room, no longer outshined by the core.

She looked around her, seeing all the students were having a similar reaction.

(Leonie) “We...did it...hah...!”

Marianne felt Leonie go limp, which prompted her to start shaking her.

(Hilda) “L-LEONIE!”

(Marianne) “I-It’s the shock from her blood loss, I can still save her!”

(Catherine) “And the others?!”

(Sylvain) “A-Agh...right here...!”

Sylvain was helped up by Felix, but they nearly tripped over themselves once they saw how Ingrid was.

Ferdinand and Lorenz helped each other up, which Linhardt began to heal the both of them, alongside Dorothea.

(Hubert) “That was far closer than I’d like...”

(Hilda) “N-No kidding...!”

(Dedue) “Wait a second, our lords!”

Everyone’s eyes widened when Dedue said that.

They may have taken out the core.

But what about Byleth?

“I’m going to ask this one more time.” Shamir said angrily, tightening her grip on the hooded man’s neck.

“Where. Is. The. Entrance?”

“A-AACK! R-RIGHT BENEATH THE ROCKS! T-THERE’S A ROCK COVERED BY ILLUSION MAGIC THAT YOU CAN ENTER THROUGH A DOOR!”

Byleth nodded, and Shamir let the man slump back to the ground. He was struggling to catch his breath while everyone stood around him.

(Alois) “Magic, huh? That sure explains why the Alliance and Kingdom can’t find them!”

Apparently, the hideout of Those Who Slither In The Dark (TWSITD) was in the Hrym Mountains of the Adrestian Empire.

Two years had passed since they all left the Monastery, and so far the Empire was steamrolling the Kingdom while the Alliance tried to remain neutral.

Even though the war was raging on, it did not stop the tales of what Byleth had done during the fight. The rumors began to spread far and wide.

Some say that Byleth ran away in terror, some say Byleth betrayed the Church and escaped, but all of that was false. All he did was simply walk away. The betrayal would come much later.

Regardless, Byleth had spent all this time traveling among Empire territory as discretely as he could. 

He knew Edelgard was allying herself with TWSITD, and that taking them out would be a massive blow on her war effort.

However, their magic and secrecy was...concerning, put gently. 

It took two years of staying hidden in forests, interrogating, and killing to not only find these people, but to cover their tracks.

The moment Byleth wiped out TWSITD, Edelgard would no doubt focus a large amount of forces on her.

Worse yet, she could send the Black Eagle Strike Force.

This elite unit consisted of the students in the Black Eagles and had some of the most dangerous fighters in all of Fodlan. After all, Byleth trained those students himself.

But all of this would come later. For now, he could relish in the bloodshed that was to come.

(Leonie) “So...What do we do with this guy?”

(Shamir) “I recommend disposing of him. He could alert his higher ups to us if we let him go.”

(Byleth) “Hmph. Good point.”

(Hooded Man) “W-Wait! I-I can help you with information!-”

(Byleth) “We’ll have all the info we need once we’re inside. But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t grateful for your help. Shamir-”

Shamir wrapped her arm around his neck, grabbed the side of her head and twisted it around, making a loud cracking noise.

His body slumped to the ground as the four made their way back to camp. It was time for the plan to be set in motion.

Later...

The mercenary companies stayed outside the secret entrance, standing on guard. Mages casted spells around the area to hopefully prevent any type of magic catching them by surprise.

Though, who knew what was going to happen once they were inside?

With that in mind, Byleth, Shamir, Leonie, Alois, and a mage went into the base, and that was going to be the only forces sent in. If something happened, the mage with them would fire a spell that only the other mages outside would detect. It would signal them whether to retreat, or storm in.

As the team walked in, they began watching the natural formation of the rocks slowly shift into some bizarre structure. 

It was unusually smooth, with pulsating lights on the sides of the room and on the floor.

(Alois) “What in the world is all this...?”

(Leonie) “These guys have some weird advanced magic going on, right? Makes sense their secret lair would be creepy as hell.”

(Mage) “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life...It’s incredible!”

(Shamir) “Any traps?”

(Mage) “Huh? N-No, none that I can sense.”

(Byleth) “Doubt they would have any. I don’t think these people ever expected anyone other than themselves to come in here.”

(Alois) “If that’s the case, then where are all the people?”

(Everyone) “...”

(???) “So, the Fell Star finally finds his way in here!”

Everyone raised their weapons and put their backs against each other.

(Byleth) “Soldier, can you identify the source?”

(Mage) “N-No, all the magic surrounding the area is throwing it off!”

(???) “For thousands of years, we have existed underground, living on only that we might someday see our vengeance realized! Here and now, with the Sword of the Creator coming into our lair, vengeance is finally within our grasp! There is but one thing left to do...DESTROY THEM!”

While everyone else tensed up, Byleth smiled to himself for the first time in years.

This is what he was waiting for as well.

From the end of the hallway, 3 mages warped in and shot fireballs at the group.

Byleth and the mage went out into the front and blocked the fireball.

The mage put up a magic wall and deflected them while Byleth used the Sword of the Creator to cleave one in half.

2 more warped in behind them, but Shamir had her bow ready and let an arrow loose.

The arrow lodged itself into one of the mages eyes, piercing right through the eyehole in the mask, making him fall over.

(Alois) “There’s fighting outside!”

(Byleth) “Shamir, Alois! You two go out there and support our men! Soldier, Leonie, you’re with me!”

Wasting no time, everyone split up.

Leonie stuck behind Byleth as the sword dispelled any spell they threw at him, and the Mage began firing back.

The enemy mages began to back up, but it was far too late.

Leonie’s spear went into one of their guts while Byleth sliced the hands off a mage as he tried to cast another spell.

Byleth and the mage went on ahead while Leonie drew out a knife and slit his throat, catching up with Byleth as the enemy mages fell to the ground, bleeding.

Once they went out into a larger room, two squads of soldiers with swords charged at them.

Figures, they were waiting for them after all. 

(Byleth) “Get the squad to the left of us, I’m going for the one in front.”

Not bothering to wait for a response, Byleth charged ahead, activating the whip function.

As they all swung their swords at him, he jumped as high as he could, his foot landing on one of their faces as he hopped over the group and landed behind them, seemingly not have done anything to them.

They all turned around and swung at him as Byleth raised a hand into the air, and balled it up into a fist.

The battlefield quickly deafened as they began to turn away from him, and started to walk backwards, the sound reversing as well.

Byleth was thankful he could access Divine Pulse after all this time.

Time resuming when the group was only a few inches away from where he was standing, they quickly halted in their tracks.

(Soldier) “What the?! Where did he g-”

Byleth swung the whip around their midsections, hearing a split second of the squad screaming before their torsos disconnected from their legs, a pile of meat slamming onto the ground with blood spraying out everywhere.

Byleth saw Leonie and the Mage holding their own on their end. Leonie twirled her lance around, striking one soldier in the face with the blunt end of the lance while impaling another as she thrusted forward. 

The Mage sprayed ice from his hands onto the floor, making the other soldiers slip. With a flick of his fingers, the ice turned into flames, igniting all of them.

Byleth began running to what appeared to be the main room, as it was completely empty and with stairs leading up to a pure-white skinned man with gray hair on top of them.

(Thale) “KILL THE FELL STAR!”

The ground quaked around Byleth as two massive figures dropped near him. 

At first he thought they were demonic beasts, but it was clear that wasn’t the case. They were some form of autonomous giants, no doubt powered by the magic here.

(Leonie) “Reinforcements!”

The mage ran to Leonie’s side as he fired a stray shot, one that was easily dodged by swarms of incoming soldiers.

(Mage) “We’re about to get surrounded!-”

As the soldiers were taking position, a group of them near the entrance of the room exploded, sending them flying in all directions.

The mercenaries started flooding in from the entrance, starting to fight the soldiers with Alois leading the charge.

Alois swiped what looked like an enemy sergeant off the ground, and slammed the blunt end of his great-axe into his skull, blood and bits of bone covering the hilt.

(Alois) “No worries, we got them, Byleth!”

(Byleth) “Where’s Shamir?”

(Alois) “Still fighting upstairs! She’ll be down here in a few moments once she cleans up!”

Leonie and the mage nodded at Byleth, charging at the automatons. 

(Mage) “How in the hell are we going to take this thing down?!”

(Byleth) “These things are probably controlled by the leader up there! We kill him, and we take these things down!”

(Leonie) “Got it, come on buddy, we gotta be bait for a little bit!”

(Mage) “WHAT?!”

Byleth ran up the stairs, deactivating the whip and charging straight for Thales.

(Thales) “So, you’ve finally arrived Fell Star, or should I say Sothis?”

Byleth said nothing as he continued running up the stairs.

(Thales) “I WILL SPILL EVERY LAST DROP OF BLOOD TO FUFILL TH-”

Byleth interrupted him as he slammed the sword down, trying to split Thales in half, with him rolling out the way.

Several soldiers warped around Byleth all swinging their swords at him, trying to buy Thales time as he started to cast a spell.

The energy emitting from his hands was some black smoke-like substance. Whatever it was, Byleth was not going to let himself get hit by it.

He swiped the sword up, splitting the chest of one soldier while grabbing the face of another, and tossed him down the stairs. 

Exiting out of the opening he created, he dove out the way of a spell Thale cast, some soldiers lucky to get out of the way but the unfortunate ones were impaled by a dark spear.

Byleth quickly got up and stepped to the side to avoid another spell shot at him. 

Two soldiers tried attack from behind, and Byleth spun around, the sword angling upwards.

Their heads fell from their shoulders and Byleth turned around to dodge another spell.

(Thales) “FALL, DAMN YOU!”

Shamir and the rest of the forces ran down the stairs and saw the fight. Alois, Leonie, and the Mage were trying to fend off one of the automatons while the other one was heading up the stairs.

Byleth was fighting Thales, but seemed too busy to deal with the giant coming up. 

No, that didn’t seem right, It was more like he didn’t have time to deal with it.

Thankfully, it seemed like Byleth had the upperhand, landing a slice on his chest but...he still wasn’t going down, and started backing up from Byleth.

No time to think about it. He was about to cast some form of spell.

(Shamir) “Going for the kill!”

Once Byleth flipped upwards with the sword slicing his chest open, he began to back up, his hands on the floor.

(Byleth) What is he- DAMN IT!

(Thales) “You...will not enjoy your victory for long! LET THERE BE LI-”

From out of nowhere, an arrow flew right into Thale’s head, the arrowhead sticking clean out the other side, with bits of pink and red on the tip.

He fell off the stairs and onto the floor, an audible splat being heard throughout the entire room. The Automatons suddenly stopped moving and the one on the stair fell over to where Thale was, completely crushing him.

The one the others were fighting simply shut off, and remained still.

(Mercenaries) “OORAH!”

(TWSITD Soldier) “Retreat! RETREAT!”

Byleth walked down the stairs, reuniting with everyone as the rest of the mercs ran the soldiers down.

They didn’t need an order to make sure every last one of them was dead.

(Byleth) “Nice shot, Shamir.”

Shamir had a little smirk forming as everyone caught their breath.

(Leonie) “So...they’re done for. Jeralt’s avenged.”

(Alois) “Happy as I am to see them gone...I don’t feel relieved, not entirely anyway.”

Byleth agreed.

No amount of bloodshed could bring Jeralt back. Though, this was certainly better than nothing. In fact, this was fantastic. That meant whatever tech these people had, was theirs to wield.

The mercenary company’s second in command came into view, nodding at Byleth.

(Byleth) “Riddhe.”

(Riddhe) “Damn good job today, sir. We finally got our revenge for Jeralt. What’s our next order of business once we kill these fools?”

(Byleth) “Keep one alive for interrogation. Make sure it’s a mage, the others kill on sight. Once we confirm the main forces are dead and gone, form search parties and find anything valuable. No matter what it is, loot it.”

(Riddhe) “Sir.”

(Leonie) “Welp, no rest for the weary!”

(Shamir) “I’ll stick with the egghead so we can examine the room, assuming that’s what you were about to say next.”

(Byleth) “It was, thanks.”

Alois, Leonie, and Byleth went with Riddhe to clear out the base of any more hostiles.

(Mage) “...When you said egghead, you’re talking about the weirdos from upstairs, right?”

(Shamir) “I’m talking about you, yes.”

Jeralt's Battalion Journal - "Aftermath”

Once Byleth ordered us and the rest of the boys to clear the idiots out, we got straight to work on finding anything valuable. Luckily for us, there was loot a plenty to grab. Documents, textbooks, spells, blueprints, everything to make the grand librarians in the Holy Kingdom cry.

What the real treasure was, was some form of spell that casted a giant pillar of light and crushed anything below it. It took us about a few days to get out everything that wasn’t nailed down and got to a bit of a distance from the mountain. No doubt Imperial Forces would investigate why their friends in low places stopped getting in contact.

Understandably, Byleth refused the notion of us using it as a base, and instead, the mages used their own spell against Those who Slither, bringing a light down onto the mountain, and burying that forsaken place.

With our first major step done after two years, spirits were high. Though, no time could be wasted on celebrating. We had to make a permanent base with all of our new goodies. We had to prepare for war against the Empire and Church.

CURRENT STATE OF FODLAN:

3 Years Later after Chapter 4

Imperial Year 1185

When Byleth, now referred to as Nemesis, announced his presence to the world in Arianrhod, he had declared war on the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros. And by association, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

For such a small force to deal with a 3-Front war, everyone thought he would be crushed in a matter of a few months, or even weeks.

The Church of Seiros was the first to attack, sending a relatively strong army to Garreg Mach and to secure the Monastery.

However, the forces were completely obliterated in an ambush right outside of the monastery, with magic and beasts no one had ever seen before.

This showed that Nemesis would not go down easily, if at all.

Before anyone could make the next move, Nemesis launched a full-scale counter attack with the Knights of Nemesis on all fronts.

While had not conquered territory to expand, he razed each city to the ground while taking all the supplies and any prisoners back to Garreg Mach.

Several attempts were made to infiltrate Garreg Mach, but each time was a critical failure.

His forces could warp in and out of the battlefield, inflicting maximum damage while taking minimal losses, no one had a good counter to his hit and run tactics.

Edelgard, previously having Nemesis as her professor, knew how dangerous he was and tried to avoid direct combat with his forces as much as possible.

The only trump card she has against him, is the Death Knight, which no forces have been able to take down thus far.

The war is at a stalemate.

Claude, having stayed neutral the entire war, decides to investigate what Byleth has been up to.

Having been careful in setting his spy networks, has been keeping a close eye on him.

Not only that, an anonymous source saying that they were a Knight of Nemesis and wanted to defect gave Claude vital information.

Large amounts of soldiers and resources were poured to moving an item from Garreg Mach to the deserts of Sreng. They could not put what exactly it was into the letter, but time was of the essence to reveal this project.

They could not hope to stop it Sreng, but once they found out what this item was, it would be pulled back to Garreg Mach and be hopefully destroyed there.

In order to find out what it was, he sends a small force to run a covert operation.

Hilda, Lysithea, and Ignatz were trusted to keep a low profile and check it out.

Deserts of Southern Sreng Unknown Facility...

Ignatz turned the corner in the hallway and saw two guards chatting as they continued in the direction opposite of him.

(Guard 1) “Damn, the test did that much destruction?”

(Guard 2) “Yeah, it was a good thing that we were told to stand back as far as we did. The debris of the buildings went everywhere.”

(Guard 1) “Thank the goddess that it was uninhabited.”

When they turned a corner to the right, they disappeared. It looked like they were at an intersection now.

(Ignatz) “What are they talking about?”

(Lysithea) “We’ll figure it out soon enough, now let’s get moving!”

He nodded, and the trio quietly ran to the intersection.

Hilda checked the right side while Ignatz checked the left.

(Hilda) “Jeez, how slowly can these guards walk, they’re not even out of the hall yet!”

(Lysithea) “Be quiet!”

(Ignatz) “Coast is clear over here, let’s get a move on!”

They walked down the hall trying their best not to make any noise as they slipped by the guards. They kept walking down the corridor, looking behind and front of them.

(Hilda) “The room the double agent told us to meet them in is getting close, right?”

(Ignatz) “If the map is accurate it should be...here!”

Ignatz readied his bow before Lysithea quickly opened the door, drawing out an arrow and looking into the room.

(Ignatz) “...Clear.”

Hilda nodded and shut the door behind them, holding her axe tightly.

(Lysithea) “Where is the agent? Did they fake us out?”

(Ignatz) “Must be running late. If that’s the case they should knock on the do-”

KNOCK KNOCK!

Everyone hid behind cover as Ignatz put his back against the wall near the door.

If the situation came up where they didn’t see each in the room, they had to knock back in a certain pattern.

Ignatz slowly put his fist against the door.

KNOCK! KNOCK...KNOCK KNOCK!

The door slowly opened and the figure revealed themselves.

“Whew, thank goodness you guys are-What in the-?!”

(Everyone) “Leonie?!”

(Leonie) “H-Hey, keep it down you idiots!”

(Lysithea) “So the rumors were true! What in the world are you doing with Byleth?!”

(Leonie) “Listen, there’s a time and place for that, but that isn’t now! I promise I can explain everything, but for now put these on!”

Leonie down disguises for everyone. They were uniforms with bits of armor, and a fully sealed helmet.

Once everyone put on their helmets, they turned to Leonie.

(Hilda) “It’s good to see you’re okay but, it’s been five years! Why did you suddenly decide to contact us?”

(Leonie) “City after city, civilians dying in the droves and being ordered to kill every one of them? That’s...That’s something I can’t in good conscience let slide, even if it was at some point for a good cause. But that doesn’t matter, I need to tell you about what you came for! It’s...It’s a super weapon the likes of which we’ve never seen before. It’s called the Javelin of Liberation.

(Ignatz) “That name doesn’t sound good. What does it do?”

(Leonie) “That’s all I can say. The last thing I want to do is risk what little time I have. Here, take these papers!”

Leonie shoved documents into his hands.

(Leonie) “Bring it to Claude, and he’ll know what to do. The fate of Fodlan...No, this world lies in your guys hands! You have to bring it to him! Do you guys have an extraction point?”

(Lysithea) “Yeah, we have a boat that can-”

(Leonie) “Tch, that’s not fast enough! We’re already preparing to ship out the Javelin back to Garreg Mach!”

(Hilda) “What?! We were too late?!”

(Leonie) “No, just in time as a matter of fact. I’m supposed to be transporting this to a portal that’ll take us to Gronder Field in 2 weeks!”

(Ignatz) “Why Gronder?”

(Leonie) “We’ve had scouts examining the area from where we wiped out Those Who Slither, and it’s been completely unguarded since Edelgard thinks that place can’t be used anymore. We’ve been using it as a shortcut to avoid Alliance and Kingdom forces to get to Sreng. I can get you guys through that portal and from there, you can hijack a carriage to get back to Derdriu!”

(Lysithea) “Sounds like a plan to me, but what about you?”

(Leonie) “I...I gave up trying to justify myself a long time ago. I’m ready to pay the price for what I’ve done with my life. And that means doing the right thing.”

(Hilda) “Come with us! We can’t just-”

(Leonie) “When you get out, take a left and keep going straight! If they ask what you’re doing, say you’re redeploying back to Garreg Mach as an assignment by me! Now go!”

Leonie immediately left the room, leaving the three alone.

(Hilda) “Leonie...”

(Ignatz) “...Come on, we need to move. We need Claude to get this.”

As Leonie walked down the hallway, she looked down and sighed loudly.

(Leonie) Claude, I hope I can do right by you now...

(Shamir) “You’re sweating a lot there, Leonie.”

(Leonie) “S-SHAMIR?!”

She turned around and saw Shamir leaning against the wall.

(Shamir) “Those are some guards I haven’t seen before. In fact one of them looks like a kid, didn’t even know we made uniforms that small.”

(Leonie) “S-Shamir I-”

Shamir put her hand on Leonie’s shoulder and leaned into her ear.

(Shamir) “Next time, check your surroundings completely. You’re lucky it was me around.”

Leonie’s eyes went wide and turned to Shamir who was already walking off.

(Leonie) “Wait...Does that mean you-”

Shamir signaled a thumbs up behind her as she kept walking.

(Leonie) “...Thank you, Shamir.”

Derdriu, War Room

2 days later...

12 days before Javelin of Liberation ships back to Garreg Mach.

13th of the Ethereal Moon (12/13/1185)

(Claude) “First of all, thank you guys for risking your necks. We never would have gotten such criticla information without you.”

(Hilda) “If anything we should be thanking Leonie. I...I wish she could’ve come with us.”

(Ignatz) “It doesn’t feel good leaving a classmate behind like that.”

(Lysithea) “Did you guys forget what she said already? She’s doing this for us, let’s not waste it.”

(Claude) “Lysithea’s right. All we can do now is look forward and try to make things better. Now, the papers?”

Ignatz nodded and handed Claude the documents he kept safe.

As Claude read the papers, his eyes slowly became wider.

(Claude) “Goddess, this is what Teach has been doing?!”

(Lysithea) “Yeah, we read the reports on the way here...I didn’t think anyone had that much magical power in this world. The technology-”

(Hilda) “Is freaking scary! Do you think he really is going to do that?”

(Ignatz) “With how he’s been completely destroying the Church, Empire and Kingdom? I have no doubt in my mind...”

(Claude) “Hilda, get the fastest couriers we have that can slip by Garreg Mach and bring them to me! Ignatz, I want you to order to have our troopers stand by for combat. Teach is going to know we’re up to something. Lysithea get the best mages we have to prevent any kind of magical attack that the Knights of Nemesis might have!”

Everyone nodded and ran out the door to do what they were told, there wasn’t a moment longer to lose.

He took out three papers and a quill with a bottle of ink.

(Claude) “We have to get everyone together to stop this. If we don’t...Doesn’t matter who wins this war, we’re all ending up dead...”

10 days later...

2 days before Javelin of Liberation ships back to Garreg Mach.

25th of the Ethereal Moon (12/25/1185)

It was the extremely early in the morning when everyone started arriving in their escorts.

Dimitri was the first to arrive, alongside the class of the Blue Lions. As they were nearing the gate, a blue haired woman greeted them.

(Dimitri) “Marianne!”

(Marianne) “Hello your majesty. It’s good to see you again.”

(Dimitri) “And to you as well. Though, I wish this was under better circumstances.”

(Marianne) “Claude is waiting for you in the War Room. If you would please follow.”

Dimitri nodded and followed, the rest of the former Blue Lions close behind them.

The next to arrive was Edelgard, closely tagged behind a Royal Guard and the Black Eagles Strike Force.

This time it was Claude who greeted them.

(Claude) “Edelgard.”

(Edelgard) “Claude.”

There was an awkward silence before Claude cleared his throat.

(Claude) “If you’d follow me, Dimitri will be there. All we’re missing is Rhea.”

(Edelgard) “It must be a very desperate situation if you are expecting me and her to get along during this meeting.”

She expected Claude to crack a joke, but his expression just grew darker.

(Claude) “If you don’t, then I might as well just kill us all myself to save Teach the trouble...”

(Edelgard) “I’ll...be on my best behavior then, Claude.”

(Claude) “Appreciated.”

Rhea was the last to arrive, coming in with Seteth, Flayn, and Catherine as her escorts. The Knights of Seiros stood outside, across from the Kingdom and Empire’s royal guards.

Dimitri brought them in and guided them to the room that they would all be sitting at.

(Dimitri) “Lady Rhea.”

(Rhea) “Hello, Dimitri...I see that woman is already here.”

(Dimitri) “Y-Yes-”

(Seteth) “I can only guess how you must be feeling, your worship, but I humbly ask that we keep our minds open. It must be an urgency of the upmost importance if Claude were to invite those who are warring to come together like this.”

(Flayn) “And the professor isn’t here...?”

(Rhea) “Because that child would be dead, Flayn. I am barely holding my hatred in as it is...”

(Catherine) “Lady Rhea, please. Let us hear what they have to say first.”

(Rhea) “Hmph...”

When Rhea and Dimitri entered the War Room, Claude was sitting at the head while the classes were standing near their respective leaders.

Rhea sat down at the other end of the table, facing Claude, while Dimitri sat across from Edelgard.

(Claude) “Alright...onto business, we all understand the general idea of why we’re here, yes?”

(Dimitri) “Yes.”

(Edelgard) “...Indeed.”

(Rhea) “Hm.”

(Claude) “Teac-...No, Nemesis is planning something huge, something that dwarfs this war entirely.”

(Rhea) “Oh please, what could those band of heretics even do-”

(Edelgard) “Those ‘heretics’ if you haven’t noticed have been decimating all of our forces across the entire continent! And if I recall correctly, your forces were so confident marching up to Garreg Mach, only to end up with no survivors!-”

(Rhea) “You dare?!-”

SLAM!

Everyone turned to Dimitri who had completely ripped off a part of the table when he slammed his fist into it.

Though he didn’t mean to do that, it certainly got their attention. Whatever works he supposed.

(Dimitri) “We have no time for your grudges right now! I have seen first hand three years ago of what he is capable of, and the fact Claude brings us all here despite those grudges, and tells us that he is planning something? I’d take this meeting as a priority over your ideals!”

Rhea and Edelgard sat back down into their chairs and turned back to Claude.

(Claude) “Thanks. Now, how much do you guys know about Nemesis thus far?”

(Edelgard) “He has been evading our main forces and have been striking at strategic points along the borders of Faerghus and the Alliance. I have only fought his men, none of his Elites or himself as of yet.

(Dimitri) “Dedue and I encountered him in Arianrhod where I was to be executed. Back then, I only cared about getting my revenge, believing Edelgard was behind the Tragedy of Duscur but...Nemesis had opened my eyes to the facts. Besides that, our forces have had minimal contact with him. The Death Knight protected Mercedes and Annette from their assassins, but that’s about it as direct contact goes. I do not think they are interested in Faerghus besides key points associated with the Church.”

(Rhea) “He has been slaughtering my followers with no hesitation, and have devastated most of our bases...”

(Claude) “Then let me tell you what exactly he’s been up to. I’ve sent some of my men to Sreng after someone from within contacted me...-”

...

Scouts looked at the soldiers standing outside and motioned for the others to head back.

It was confirmed. Claude has called all the leaders to Derdriu.

Byleth and his forces were closing in on Derdriu as they marched forward.

Though it took a lot of resources to do so, they teleported directly outside to bypass any of the border patrols, and everyone wore black to blend in with the darkness of night.

(Byleth) “So it was true...You did allow a breach of security to happen, Leonie.”

He turned around to Leonie, who was kneeling on the ground with hands tied behind her back.

Riddhe and Alois were standing next to her, holding their weapons firmly.

(Byleth) “You disappoint me but at the same time...I cannot fault you for going behind my back.”

(Leonie) “...”

(Byleth) “You always were a kind person underneath.”

(Leonie) “And I thought you were too?! Those years we spent slaughtering civilians, how can you still look any of us in the eye?! You and Jeralt spent so much time protecting the people, and you’ve become no more than a glorified bandit leader!”

The soldiers looked to her in shock of what she was saying.

It wasn’t necessarily that she was in the right or wrong for saying it. It was more of the fact she said that to begin with.

(Byleth) “...I was a fool for believing that you could understand why I was doing this. Perhaps I had a bit too much faith instead of relying on my logic.”

(Leonie) “What we did to Randolph and Fleche, what we did to all those civilians?! How do any of those actions justify what our goal is?! You said we’d be bringing peace to the world, not destroying it!”

The soldiers started talking amongst themselves, agreeing and disagreeing with her.

Byleth just sighed.

(Byleth) “I always did like you, Leonie. So, as an act of mercy, you will not see what will become of your classmates.”

He unsheathed the sword of the creator before Percy walked up.

(Percy) “Sir?”

(Byleth) “What is it?”

(Percy) “I’ll be the one to do this sir. You need to focus on the task at hand, you shouldn’t have to kill one of your students.”

Byleth stayed silent. True, he really didn’t want to but he had to make an example for the men, but at the same time...

(Byleth) “You have my thanks then. Percy, take care of her, and make it painless.”

(Percy) “Yes, Nemesis.”

Alois and Riddhe stepped to the side as Percy began charging a spell in his hands.

Shamir and Alois looked at each other but didn’t say anything.

They knew what was about to happen.

(Leonie) “Percy...”

(Percy) “You’re my friend Leonie so...Sorry about this.”

Shamir and Alois closed their eyes and looked away.

Leonie shook her head slowly.

(Leonie) “You were always too compliant for your own good, ya know?”

Percy silently nodded, and raised his hand at her.

The next thing Leonie saw, was her world going black.

Percy picked up Leonie’s body and turned to Byleth.

(Percy) “I’ll bury her for you, sir.”

Byleth nodded silently.

(Byleth) “Now then...Riddhe, prepare the artillery.

....

(Edelgard) “Byleth intends to blow up the entire planet?!”

(Claude) “In his words, it’s to start everything from zero. No church, no crests, nothing so...what better way to do than to wipe the earth clean?”

(Dimitri) “And...And he already has this weapon?!”

(Claude) “No. He intends to use it Garreg Mach, and we have a limited time to intercept it.”

(Rhea) “And where is the damned child going?”

(Claude) “From the Hyrm Mountains and how long it’ll take all of our forces to reconvene, it’ll be 3 days too late to get him at the base of Those Who Slither. Our next best option is to intercept him right at the heart of Gronder Field.”

(Edelgard) “...Tch, how ironic.”

(Dimitri) “I loathe to think what would’ve happened if this war carried on as it did. We’d be fighting each other there instead...”

(Rhea) “Do not dwell on such useless thoughts, Prince Dimitri. What matters is that we kill Nemesis as fast as possible.”

(Edelgard) “We are in agreement for once.”

(Claude) “So, we can put aside all of our differences to stop Nemesis then?”

Everyone nodded and the classes started whispering to each other.

(Claude) “Fantastic. Now, let’s send letters to your armies standing near the borders and prepare to-”

KABOOOOM! (Claude) “...Fight.”

(Imperial Royal Guard) “LADY EDELGARD! THE KNIGHTS OF NEMESIS HAVE BEGUN ATTACKING DERDRIU!”

(Hilda) “They got past our patrols?!”

(Claude) “Figures, EVERYONE, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!”

Platoons of soldiers of the Knights of Nemesis began pouring onto the roads to Deridru.

(Gilbert) "GET TO THE FRONT, WE MUST PROTECT THE CIVILIANS!"

The Lion Corp moved to the front, forming a blockade with their massive shields, blocking incoming arrow fire.

(Death Knight) "MAGES!"

Imperial mages unleashed a volley of spells onto the troopers coming in, the Death Knight charging into them with his bodyguards on horseback.

Rodrigue and Judith came in with a number of troopers behind them, joining the fray.

(Judith) "Those damn mages up there are raining hell on Derdriu! If we don't get up there fast enough, this entire town will be in flames!"

(Rodrigue) "We can't get close enough! The archers are providing cover for any riders we send up there, and going by foot is suicide!"

(Gilbert) "All we can hope to do is block their main forces from storming the city! The kids will be getting the civilians to safety!"

The Death Knight rode back to them, holding his scythe firmly as he looked to the Titanius Golems moving in behind the soldiers.

(Death Knight) "We have no time for idle talk, we must take down those golems!"

(Rodrigue) "Right, TROOPERS, WITH ME!"

The four generals charged alongside their men and took the Knights of Nemesis head on.

(Seteth) "They are using the other entrances to breach the city!"

(Claude) "Golden Deers, get the townsfolk to safety!"

(Dimitri) "Lions, we shall take these bastards head on!"

(Rhea) "Knights of Seiros, we shall join the Prince in smiting down these heretics!"

(Edelgard) "Black Eagles, we move to take out the artillery!"

The classes moved out and the leaders about to join them until they heard something warp in behind them.

As the sun rose in, they saw the shadow of the person.

They all drew out their weapons and spun around, pointing it at the figure.

(Byleth) "It's been 5 years..."

No one said a word as they stood their ground, waiting for him to make a move.

(Byleth) "I should've been keeping a closer eye on you, Claude. You were always one of the more crafty students."

Claude's brows furrowed, keeping his relic trained on Byleth's head.

(Claude) "Why the hell are you trying to blow us all to oblivion?!"

(Byleth) "Because, we're all part of the problem, Claude. Humanity will never learn to stop fighting each other at this rate. The poison of the Church and Empire run too deep. The nobles, crests, relics, everything."

(Rhea) "You dare to call us a poison when you yourself take the mantle of a murderer you ignorant brat?! If you read the history of Those Who Slither, then you should know Nemesis was nothing more than a thief!"

(Edelgard) "Professor, I-"

(Byleth) "You still call me that after what you've done? You started all of this!"

(Dimitri) "You speak as if you are above us, yet you fail to realize you are a hypocrite! Condemning Edelgard and Rhea for the very actions you are doing, believing that YOU and you alone are right in what atrocities you have committed!"

(Byleth) "...I will not deny that my actions are unforgivable, but-"

(Rhea) "But NOTHING! YOU WILL DIE TODAY, HERETIC!"

(Byleth) "Then it seems I was a fool for trying to talk to a beast!-"

...

(Percy) "Hey, come on! Get up already!"

"Nnggh...what...?-"

Leonie sat up quickly realizing what had just happened.

(Leonie) "P-Percy? Are you dead too-"

(Percy) "No, you're still alive!"

Leonie's face went from relief to confusion.

(Leonie) "...What?"

(Percy) "...Truth be told, the moment we retook Garreg Mach and I had to kill all those townsfolk...I started to lose faith in our cause."

He helped Leonie up. And took off his mask, and looked at her, eye to eye.

(Percy) "And what we started doing to Randolph, his little sister and all those people? No amount of good we do will wash the blood off our hands from that."

Percy started to look off to Derdriu as the sounds of war filled the air.

(Percy) "I promised my cousin to be a mercenary to help protect families who couldn't protect their own...I guess this is my way of repaying the favor."

He turned back to her.

(Percy) "Get to town via the water, your gear is right next to you."

(Leonie) "You're...not coming with?"

(Percy) "As you said Leonie, I'm too compliant for my own good. I couldn't raise my weapon against Byleth if I could. Half out of respect and half out of fear honestly."

(Leonie) "Percy...You know what he does to-"

(Percy) "He'll kill me, I know. Don't worry about me, alright? Just get to your folks."

Before he put his mask on, he smiled at her.

(Percy) "Thanks for always being so nice to me, Leonie."

Leonie picked up her gear and nodded. A single tear dropped from her eye, but she wiped it away as they parted ways.

If she started now, she wouldn't be able to stop.

Claude and the others needed her now.

(Leonie) "Goodbye, Percy."

(Percy) "...See ya."

...

Shamir and Alois walked towards the other mages firing off artillery.

Two other mages were with them and they stopped before they reached the others.

(Mage 1) "Is there a problem?"

(Alois) "Yes son, there is."

(Shamir) "Two of them."

Alois spun around and punched the mage's stomach, making him drop to the floor.

Shamir roundhouse kicked the mage, making him fly off a small cliff below them, landing in the water.

(Alois) "I'll take care of the archers, get the mages!"

(Shamir) "Already on it."

As Alois charged towards the unsuspecting bodyguards, Shamir pulled out several small ball-like explosives.

(Shamir) "Might as well see if these prototypes work."

The archers were taking aim at the four leaders in the fight below as the mages kept bombarding the city.

(Archer 1) "On my mark!"

Right as he raised his hand, he noticed several spheres rolling under their feet.

(Archer 1) "Huh?-"

An explosion made most of the archers and mages fly off the cliff, or die from the shrapnel and blood loss as their limbs went flying.

Several more explosions went off, cutting off the Nemesis's artillery.

(Judith) "The hell is going on up there?"

(Death Knight) "An opportunity."

(Gilbert) "MEN, ADVANCE!"

...

(Raphael) "There's so many of these guys!"

He clashed two of the knights head together before throwing their bodies beside him.

Lorenz and Lysithea used magic to blast away a squad getting too close to the civilians, as Hilda and Ignatz made sure they were getting to the evacuation boats.

Marianne healed any civilian who couldn't run to the boat.

(Hilda) "At least we're not dealing with the bulk of them!"

(Ignatz) "RAPH, BEHIND YOU!"

Raphael turned around right as a knight was about to take a swing with his sword.

A knife went into the knight's head and he fell over.

(Leonie) "Note to self, thank Shamir for practice."

(Lysithea) "LEONIE!"

(Leonie) "No time to talk, where's Claude?! The Javelin is already on the move!"

(Hilda) "Huh?! But thats too early, we still have 2 days don't we?!"

(Leonie) "The report I gave you was a trick from Byleth, he knew that I'd be giving out the information on it!"

(Lorenz) "Goddess, Nemesis is fighting them!"

Everyone turned around and saw the fighting in the distance.

Claude shot several arrows, with Byleth deflecting each one, dodging Rhea's swings.

Activating the whip, Byleth rolled out the way of Edelgard's axe as it slammed down onto the concrete.

As he swung the whip at Edelgard, Dimitri hit the whip away from her and twirled at him, the lance hitting a part of Byleth's cloth.

Before he could retaliate, Riddhe and several other soldiers warped in front of him, blocking Claude's shot with a magical shield.

(Riddhe) "Sir, our artillery battery and main forces are overrun!"

(Byleth) "What?!"

(Mage 1) "Shamir and Alois have gone rogue, and have already caused catastrophic damage to morale!"

(Byleth) "Damn it, fire the flare, we're withdrawing!"

One of the mages fired a green fireball into the air as they warped away from the fight.

In the distance, they all saw the Knights of Nemesis retreat into portals.

(Rhea) "DAMN IT!"

(Dimitri) "So, this battle is won then..."

(Leonie) "CLAUDE!"

Everyone turned around and saw the Golden Deer students run up to them.

(Claude) "Leonie, thank -"

(Leonie) "Yeah yeah, good to see you too, not now! The Javelin is already on the way to Garreg Mach!"

Everyone's eyes went wide.

(Edelgard) "What?!"

(Claude) "A false report, damn it all! And our forces haven't had anytime to recover yet!"

(Shamir) "If the Javelin gets to Garreg Mach and has proper time to deploy?"

Shamir and Alois stepped around the corner, holding their weapons and hands over their injuries.

(Alois) "Then we're all dead..."

Everyone reconvened near the entrance, Catherine and Seteth's jaws hitting the floor.

(Catherine) "You two!? The hell makes you think you can just waltz back in? Leonie too!"

The three looked down onto the floor.

They couldn't deny what Catherine was saying.

(Dimitri) "Worry about the trials later, we have a much bigger crisis on our hands! EVERYONE, LISTEN WELL!"

Dimitri shouted loud enough for all the soldiers to hear, clearly conveying the situation at hand.

(Edelgard) "We must ride to our armies, and regroup at Gronder Field!"

(Rhea) "How much of the heretics will be present to defend their Javelin?"

(Shamir) "Almost half our forces will be there to defend it now that information has been leaked. The rest are stationed at Garreg Mach awaiting for a fight."

(Claude) "Then let's get moving, people!"

Everyone steeled themselves as they got on horses to alert their armies.

This was going to be the bloodiest battle Fodlan had ever seen since the old days.

-----

The Elites of the Fell Star Journal - “Surprise”

If there’s one thing we weren’t expecting once the news of our doomsday weapon was leaked, was that all four factions would unite under a single banner.

With the false leak that we’d be moving later, we thought we could at least get a bit of a distance from the armies before they could converge.

And for once in our entire campaign, we were the ones getting surprised.

I’ll tell you right now.

I’d trade places with that poor bastard Randolph than partake in the Battle of Gronder again.

-----