Author's Notes: This chapter was just 'ugh' to write for the first portion. So if it doesn't really feel right to any of you, that's the reason why. But once the real meat of the chapter comes into play, I enjoyed myself immensely. Interlude 20 shall be rather large because I will be putting the ending to the chapter in it as well as putting in some plot points that will be important for the finale of Part II of the game.
In other news, the fic is around 1/3 of the way to completion now. Time certainly flies. Less than a year ago I published the very first chapter to this site. December is going to be such a nostalgia trip, I swear...
Chapter 16C: Unison Raid
"That is your final plan?" the general asked the group as they stood at the ready, awaiting him to make the first move, "You will pin all your hopes upon the single blade of an injured girl? You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, correct?"
"Ridiculous," Eliwood repeated to him calmly, "But not impossible."
As Eliwood finished speaking, Hector charged at the general, his arm raised high into the air as he tightened his grip on his axe. Raven ran after him as Lyn charged at the general from his side. Eliwood remained rooted in place as he tried to look for an opening to exploit. Lucius had teleported again next to Priscilla as she dismounted her horse. The remaining Caelin knights had begun to circle the general and the young lords from all sides.
The general blocked Hector's initial strike by using the head of his silver lance as he smacked Hector in the face with the butt of his killer lance. Hector stumbled backwards from the attack, but Raven came running up from behind Hector and used his back as a ramp, running up Hector's back and using his head as a jump pad to jump well over several feet into the air to bring his sword down in a large vertical strike. The general didn't bother to block Raven's attack, his sword bouncing harmlessly off the general's thick and heavy armor. In fact, Raven's sword partially chipped when it came into contact with the general's armor, several large cracks traveled along the blade like snakes.
'Well this won't end well…!' Raven cursed himself as he tried to jump back and away from the general as quickly as he could.
"A solider is only as good as his armor," the general laughed as he glanced over to his unmarked armor.
Lyn came up silently behind him as she tried to slash his back, but the general jumped forward several feet and avoided her blade, coming face to face with Hector in the process, who was still reeling from the pain of a lance smashing into his face. Before Hector could even so much as let out curse, the general took him by his head and tossed him back in Lyn's direction, as if he were a giant blue ball. Hector crashed into Lyn in a split second, sending the both of them back several feet, with Hector on top of Lyn as they lied in a pile. Both of their weapons slide out of their hands as they landed.
By that point, Eliwood had decided to join in the fray, finally figuring out that the general wouldn't be so idiotic as to let himself open to attack unless he was purposely creating an opening to draw opponents in. With the Caelin soldiers, he charged at the general, with lances and rapier, they all attacked as one, the general using both of his lances to block their attacks before locking all of their weapons beneath both lances before twisting his wrists and forcing all of them to drop their weapons. Letting all of them drop to the floor, the general proceed to sweep them all of their feet with one single sweep with the side of his silver lance. The soldiers all became close acquaintances with the nearby wall, while Eliwood was lucky enough to have his the soldiers there to break his fall, learning that armor, while useful for providing defense, was not exactly the softest of material to collide into full force.
"G-Get off of me!" Lyn grunted in annoyance as she pushed Hector off her with all the strength she could muster. Her wound on her forehead had begun to bleed again from the sudden force of her fall and her exertions.
"Not like I want to be here!" Hector bit back at her as he reasserted himself. Now he knew how Michael had felt when he had been used as human artillery.
"He's a monster…" Lyn grunted as she picked up the Mani Katti from where it had slide off to when it they both landed.
"He'll get tired eventually," Hector assured her as he picked up his axe, "Until then, we just have to keep throwing ourselves at him!"
"Some strategy…" Lyn muttered sarcastically, even though she herself had no other ideas on how to deal with their seemingly invincible enemy.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Lucius began as he gently took Priscilla by the hand, "I'm afraid we will need your services as well."
"How exactly will you need my help?" Priscilla asked the strange blond-haired woman in front of her.
"I will need to go over and heal the knight in the middle of the room and Sir Michael over there," Lucius informed her as he pointed first to Oswin and then to Michael, "We may need their strength again if our current numbers continue in this fashion."
"But what will you do?" Priscilla inquired as she absentmindedly took out her mend staff.
"I…cannot heal others…" Lucius admitted sadly, "But what I can do without a doubt in my mind is give others strength they otherwise wouldn't have."
Without another word, Lucius ran over to Raven, who had picked up Michael's sword in a vain attempt to try and be useful, even though he hadn't been able to anything to the general previously except offer a few seconds of distraction.
"Lucius!" Raven called out as the bishop ran over to Raven's side, "I need this man dealt with yesterday!"
"I apologize for the delay!" Lucius told him as he reached into his robes and took out a bright yellow tome and began to chant, keeping his eyes locked onto Raven the entire time.
Spears of light began to materialize in the air all around the general as Raven ran forward to run interference for Lucius as he chanted. The general immediately began to run towards Lucius the moment he had begun chanting. He met Raven halfway down his path, but that was giving Raven more credit than he deserved. The general simply ran past Raven as he smashed Raven's sword in two. In an instant, the general was upon him, but Lucius simply smiled and teleported next to Raven as he then let go of his spears, aiming them all at the general. The general barely had time to turn his lances into two deadly mills of wind and steel as he deflected the magic spears as they came at him. He succeeded in blocking them, but just barely. Either he was finally beginning to tire, or he had difficulty defending attacks from powerful attacks from so close in range.
"Lucius," Raven breathed as he continued to look at the general, "I need our first trump card…"
Lucius went silent for a moment before speaking, "But you know it could very well be as much a blessing to us as a curse."
"I know that!" Raven yelled, "But we don't have much choice!"
Lucius sighed in defeat, he couldn't be more correct if he tried. Closing his eyes, Lucius chanted an unfamiliar spell. It was one of his and Raven's own design. It was only to be used when Raven didn't have a weapon nearby, as Raven would be defenseless otherwise and the spell itself took much of Lucius's strength. One by one, swords made of pure light began to materialize hovering in the air. Some appeared at Raven's side while others appeared in-between the general and the two of them. Smiling, Raven grabbed two of the blades of light in both hands and charged at the general. Suffice to say, the general was more than a little shocked by the young man wielding magic in his hands and NOT being harmed by it.
'What kind of sorcery is this?!' he thought at Raven's swords and his lances met in a clash. While the swords didn't seem to give the young man any extra strength, they did indeed have the properties of regular magical attacks. The general could see the swords actually eating into the heads of his lances. The general quickly kicked Raven in the stomach to create distance between the two as he began to think up some new strategy of attack.
"Miss us?!" Hector yelled at the general as he and Lyn came attacking the general from his right side.
For once, the general didn't have time to properly react to the both of them as Hector slammed his axe into the general's right shoulder guard while Lyn attacked him from below, trying to go for his front. With instinct taking over, the general brought both of his lances in close with terrifying speed as the Mani Katti slammed into both of the lances. However, combined with the previous damage from Raven's sword, the Mani Katti was able to cut through the silver lance completely and barely leaving the killer lance's head intact. Without the head of his silver lance, his attack on Lyn proved to not be a fatal hit as he then proceeded to slam the now blunt end of his lance into her stomach. Not to say there wasn't any damage or effect from that; Lyn was propelled backwards with great speed as her vision distorted from the pain traveling out from her stomach.
Hector didn't wait for the general to make his next move. Using all of his strength, Hector dug his axe even further into the armor as he attempted to rip it off piece by piece. However, the armor proved to be a tough opponent as his trusty Wolf Beil could barely move, even with all of his great strength behind it. The general, in the meantime, threw aside his lances since they were no longer useful to him and haphazardly reached out for one of the light swords around him. Raven gritted his teeth as he tried to quickly charge in to grab the general's attention. He was about to learn about the double-edged sword of their trump card!
With a mighty swing of the light sword, the general ran it across Hector's armor in an upward arc as it tore through Hector's armor like a hot knife through butter. Hector's eyes widened in shock as the sword passed through. How could such a thing exist?! Lucius looked on in horror. It was only a matter of time before the general put the pieces together about how the magic worked.
As soon as the general took care of Hector, he brought his attention back to Raven as they crossed blades once again, this time, the sword weren't eating through his weapons. The general's stiffness from when he first experienced the swords was gone now. "There swords adapt themselves to whoever first grabs hold of them," the general told Raven, "However, that means even an enemy can use these against its creator."
Raven grunted as the general pushed him back, his expression all the general needed to confirm his answer. Now it occurred to him that they were all far in over their heads.
Lucius fell to his knees in defeat. If their trump card couldn't do anything, what else could they do against this kind of opponent?! Their most powerful fighters were all but useless fighting him. They all may as well be leaves swaying in the winds of a storm!
"Lucius!" Serra's voice called out to him, "Come on, and get on your feet! This isn't over until we say it's over!"
Lucius looked up beside him to Serra standing there, her arm outstretched for him to take. She winked at him as he looked up. "It's my turn to help you up."
That's when another idea hit Lucius. "Miss Serra!" Lucius yelled out as he grabbed her hand with both of his and hoisted himself up, "That's it!"
"W-What is?!" Serra asked back as she blushed in spite of herself and the situation they were in.
"Unison Raid!" Lucius smiled at her.
"What?!" Serra almost spat at him, "Isn't that a REALLY powerful light spell?! Last time I checked only bishops who have studied for decades can use it!"
"Not if people with powerful bonds use it!" Lucius reminded her, "In the teachings, Unison Raid first came into being when several light mages banded together to defeat a common enemy in the rising of an evil shaman. It stands to reason that we can use it ourselves if we work together!"
"Do it!" Lyn shouted to the two of them as she struggled to stand herself up, "I'm going to go all out and I'll need the time to concentrate. I've been thrown around a little more than I care to admit…"
"Aauughh!" a loud yell echoed out as Raven was sent flying past them before landing with a loud thud on the ground. The light sword in his hand dissipated as he lost consciousness.
"Hurry!" Lyn commanded the two light mages as she began to form her stance. Lyn bent her knees and took her blade close to her side…
Clasping onto Serra's hand, Lucius began to chant the spell to Unison Rid from memory. Serra began to hesitantly repeat his chant, though a second after his in order to properly pronounce the incantation. The general could hear their chant, though it wasn't familiar to him, he knew that he had to stop the two before it was too late.
"HALT!" a deep voice bellowed out into the room. The general stopped dead in his tracks. The voice was one he knew all too well. But why would he be here?! He should be at the Valor by now! The general shot his head in the direction the voice had come from, expecting to see his lord, but instead, all he found was a young noble cowering behind a pillar. How…? The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. He could imitate voices! But how could he know the voice of his lord?
In his momentary shock from Casanova's little stunt, the general had forgotten about Lucius and Serra, who by this point had finished their chant and unleashed it.
"UNISON RAID!" the two shouted in perfect harmony. Dozens of rhombuses made of pure light surrounded the general on all sides as he braced himself on reflex for the magical attack. At first, nothing happened, the rhombuses merely floated in place. But after a moment, they all began to shimmer with an even brighter light before they all exploded into a beautiful wall of light before it came crashing down upon the general. The magic felt as if he had an entire mountain dropped upon him. He fell to the ground from the weight of the spell.
The spell lasted for only a few short seconds, but once it finished and dispersed, Lucius and Serra fell to the ground in exhaustion. Both were panting heavily and sweat was visibly dripping down their necks. They were absolutely spent in both mana and in energy. But they had brought the enemy general down all on their own.
"I…must commend you…" the general gasped as he began to stand himself up, "That almost did me in altogether. For that, you have my congratulations. You taught me once again to never underestimate a mage. It is a lesson I almost forgot altogether in my old age." He looked barely harmed by the attack, but his armor had definitely seen better days. There were obvious dents and holes all around his chest plate and helmet. Maybe if they had concentrated the spell a little more just on his helmet…
The general began to slowly walk towards them, a little hobble in his step. His sword of light was still in his hand. How had he not dropped it after all that? Small miracles for him being injured though.
"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself if I were you…" Lyn warned the general as she finished taking a deep breath, "It isn't over yet."
"You're right," the general conceded, "But by telling me that, you have given up your last chance of a surprise attack."
Lyn smiled in utter confidence, "I have to disagree with you!" In a flash, Lyn was gone, disappearing into the air like a phantom, as if she weren't even there to begin with.
The general braced himself once again despite himself out of hesitation because of the last attack. But this time, the attacks came in quickly. At first, a loud sound of metal being crushed was heard as his chest plate broke into two. The general immediately slashed in that direction with his sword but there was nothing to strike at. In the next second, a second attack was waged at his back, another slash through his armor. How could one sword cut through armor so easily?! It wasn't an armor slayer, so how!? This time the general spun around like a hurricane, his weapon in hand, hitting Lyn even though she had gotten out of his senses, the blades meeting, but the Mani Katti cut clean through the sword and cutting the underside of the general's arm. By now, the general couldn't feel any more pain. Without a weapon, the general opted to grab Lyn by her ponytail and threw her into the nearest wall. Lyn slammed into it and his vision blurred once again as her head smacked against the wall her sword dropping from her hand. She felt lightheaded. The entire room was spinning.
The general neared her with the utmost caution. He couldn't handle one more attack like the one she had just performed. It took until this very moment for the general to notice that Hector's axe was still lodged into his right shoulder guard. He must've truly been focused on the battle to forget something like that. The general removed the axe and prepared to use it to finish Lyn off.
But then, all of a sudden, his entire body shuddered. Hector's axe dropped from his hand as a coldness began to creep over him. The general slowly turned his head back to see flaming red hair. Eliwood, somehow, someway, had managed to sneak up behind him and run him through with his rapier. The last he had seen, Eliwood should have lost consciousness with the rest of the Caelin knights. Apparently that wasn't the case and the general was now paying dearly for that mistake.
"Though I detest sneak attacks…" Eliwood sighed painfully though bruised ribs, "You have let us with little choice but to engage in such tactics…"
Silently, the general continued to move forward, drawing Eliwood's rapier out himself. Eliwood was nothing bu shocked, unable to move as the general continued to advance. The general reached the wall and turned around, resting his back on the wall, before slowly sliding down until he was lying on the ground. Lyn stared on in shock as he chose to sit right next to her.
The general slowly raised his hand as he took off his helmet. Underneath that dehumanizing armor, he revealed the twinkling dark brown eyes of an old man. Dark reddish brown hair neatly trimmed and an equally well maintained beard and goatee covered his face. He had a distinct lack of check bone, but there were crinkles around his mouth that indicated that the man smiled more than often. "I…must commend you…" he spoke in a raspy and quivering voice, "Well done…! You have…protected your homeland… This…is my just reward….the Laus's unprovoked brutality… But…I die here knowing I have been loyal to my country…"
Eliwood and Lyn remained silent as the general continued his speech. They had no idea why they had become so fixated on this man's final words, well, that wasn't entirely true. They had known him for this short time as a faceless soldier that may as well have been a force of nature that they had no hopes of defeating, but now, all he was to them was a man on his last legs.
"Lady Lyndis…" the general gasped as he looked towards Lyn, "I must apologize for my actions. The soldiers of Laus…did not want this war…this battle…but our Lord's word is law. We are nothing…without our loyalty to our lord."
Lyn could do nothing but nod in understanding. Was it all of the lost blood that made her so understanding?
"Thank you…for sparing all of my men outside earlier…I am grateful beyond words…" the general continued.
"P-Priscilla…!" Eliwood called out without breaking his gaze from the general, "Priscilla, please, heal him!"
"My name…is Bernard," the general called Bernard introduced himself, "It has…been an honor to fight warriors such as yourselves. You still have growing to do, but once you all have grown to your full potential…I feel I will not be able to match any of you."
"I'm here!" Priscilla called out as she ran towards the three. She had come ran all the way over from where Michael was after she had healed Oswin and Michael. They, like almost all the others, were unconscious.
"Heal him," Eliwood begged her as he pointed a finger to the dying Bernard.
"But…" Priscilla hesitated as she looked from Eliwood to Lyn and back, "What about the two of you?"
"We won't die from these injuries," Eliwood shook his head, "Tend to him first. Serra already attended to everyone else you didn't get to. I don't want anyone else dying today."
"If you wish it," Priscilla finally caved as she walked over to Bernard and placed her mend staff on his wound, "Hold still, good sir, I will have you healed in no time…"
Author's Notes: I'm surprised I put in a Fairy Tail reference. Even though I no longer think its as good as it used to be.
Bernard...Bernard...Have I got plans for you! All of Laus really (Which is why I left as much of them alive as I possibly could). Be honest, who thought Lyn would get the 'killing' blow on Bernard and end the fight? Come on, admit it, its okay.
And I introduced Casanova in Side Stories almost solely for that little scene with him. I should probably finish Royal Parties III so you all know how it ends. plus I could start a story around Michael and how he met Jake... WHO IS ALSO SOMEONE I HAVE PLANS FOR!
OK, we all were hoping for Raven and Hector to finish him off together...
