Korrina and the Black Eagles
Chapter 17: Thales
To say that Korrina did not take the deaths of Seteth and Flayn well was an understatement. Even if they were on opposing sides, Korrina still thought of Flayn as a friend and hoped to make it through this without having to kill her. Korrina wasn't as fond of Seteth, but she still wanted him to live for Flayn's sake and even secretly wanted him to take over as the new archbishop after Rhea was deposed. Now thanks to her men's overzealousness on the battlefield, both of them were gone forever. Korrina desperately wanted to use Divine Pulse and find a way to spare both of their lives, but the reality was that Korrina couldn't think of a way to save them without giving up Garreg Mach in the process. This almost drove Korrina insane. She was a goddess. She was supposed to have the answers for everything, yet here she was without any conceivable answer to speak of. In a way, Korrina was almost no better off than she was in the month after she lost Jeralt. It was enough to make Korrina wonder if she even deserved the title of goddess in the first place. At times, Korrina wondered if Sothis was even a real goddess at all or just some really powerful being that loved the attention she got from humans. After a few hours of pointlessly deliberating these questions, Korrina went into a state of psychosis, her God Ki now completely out of control. Seteth, Flayn, and Hilda were all confronting Korrina at the same time (looking as they were at the time of their deaths), Sothis was continuously admonishing Korrina for her foolishness even though she no longer existed, and the whole time, she was still remembering the cheers she received when she first became Co-Empress of Adestria. Eventually, Korrina used so much God Ki in this psychotic episode that she passed out for the rest of the day.
When Korrina finally came to, she realized that her outburst from the other day had done even more damage to the Holy Tomb than Rhea's outburst 5 years ago. Thankfully, Korrina's throne managed to survive the uncontrolled discharges of God Ki that occurred during Korrina's episode. This caused an epiphany to occur within Korrina's mind. "A goddess shouldn't act like this", Korrina said to herself as she climbed back upon her throne and deliberated how best to end this war. After all, even if Korrina could think a bit straighter now, she was still sick and tired of having to kill good people for a goal that may or may not have been selfish. As Korrina pondered, Bernadetta set foot in the Holy Tomb and said, "You'd better apologize to Ferdinand. He hasn't come out of his room since you called him a childkiller." However, even if Korrina had somewhat regained her senses, she still felt that her judgement of Ferdinand was accurate and said, "Ferdinand knew what he did was wrong, but he still took Flayn's life anyways. Knowing you did something wrong doesn't automatically make it right." Although Bernadetta was somewhat scared of Korrina's fury, she was still appalled enough at Korrina's words to call her out in her own throne room. She said, "You think that Ferdinand just woke up two days ago and said, 'I want to kill Flayn'? No. I was there with Ferdinand when Flayn died, and I can safely tell you that neither of us just murdered her on the sight and moved on with our lives as if we never knew her like you think we did! Flayn struck first! Surely you noticed that big column of light as you were preventing that forest fire! That was Flayn trying to kill us! We tried to scare her away! Believe me! But the only way to survive that battle was to take Flayn's life!" Around this time, tears of anger were flying from Bernadetta's face and she was beginning to talk so quickly that her words were no longer decipherable. Hearing this, Korrina realized that she was indeed being hard on Ferdinand for circumstances that no one could completely control. It was as Raphael said, you can't always control who lives and dies in a situation as chaotic as a war. Korrina forgot that key element during her time as co-empress, and now one of her men was suffering because of it.
Later, Korrina went to Ferdinand's room and asked if she could come in. Fortunately, Ferdinand did not hold much against Korrina for her treatment of him the other day and unlocked the door. It was clear that Ferdinand only left this room to get something to eat, and his cheeks had dried tear marks all over them. Korrina took a deep breath and said, "I realize that I may have been harsh in my judgement of you the other day. I still think it was wrong for you to kill Flayn, but it has occurred to me that I may also be at fault for not considering the possibility of her fighting out there and then turning around and blowing up at you for following an order I gave. I'm sorry for humiliating you in front of your former classmates. I should have handled the situation more tactfully." Although Ferdinand was only slightly mad at Korrina, it was clear that he largely blamed himself for Flayn's death as he responded by saying, "No. The fault is all mine, Empress. Murdering children, even on the battlefield, is something no noble should ever think of doing. You were right, Korrina. I strayed from my own ideals and killed an innocent woman-let alone a former classmate and friend-in the heat of the moment. I no longer deserve the title of a noble." Although Korrina agreed with Ferdinand's assessment of himself, she still regretted that she had this kind of an impact on someone. She sat down next to Ferdinand and said, "In all honesty, Ferdinand, I have probably sinned just as much as you. Back at Derdriu, I choked Hilda with the Sword of the Creator. Hilda-a woman I was once proud to call my sister-was killed by this hand. It wasn't even in self-defense. I did it of my own will because she was too big of a threat. And it is something that has haunted me every day since. Neither of us can really say that we have a pleasant afterlife waiting for us when all this is over, but we do still have some work to do in this life. I'm not going anywhere until Rhea is properly dealt with, and I hope you wouldn't either. All we can do is embrace the flames and not regret the creation of our new world. Got it?" Ferdinand seemed to understand what Korrina was saying. At the very least, it was enough to get him out of the corner and back on his feet. Korrina then reached for Ferdinand's hand and said, "Then let's finish this fight once and for all. May Hilda and Flayn's deaths not be for naught." The two then left to face the world once more.
As Korrina tried to catch up on what had happened while she was closed off from the world, it became clear that the past week had taken a toll on the Adestrian Army. Even if they were able to drive off the Knights of Seiros at the Valley of Torment, it came at far too great of a cost to consider it a victory. Of the forces that were slated to invade Faerghus that day, the only noteworthy people who survived the battle were Lorenz and Raphael. Acheron was originally listed as one of the survivors, but once it was revealed that he actually turned tail and ran the moment Catherine stepped onto the field, he was stripped of his lands and titles and demoted to foot soldier for his repeated acts of cowardice and overall unacceptable conduct. The news about Acheron somewhat amused Korrina, but the fact that they no longer had enough men to continue the invasion of Faerghus as planned was no laughing matter. The Black Eagle Strike Force needed to change tactics quickly if they wanted any chance of winning the war, and with their best tactician (Korrina) emotionally compromised, things had come to a standstill on the strategy end. Even if Korrina's sentimentality was beginning to be a liability, she was still the reason that Edelgard was able to successfully subdue the Leicester Alliance. For that reason, Edelgard was willing to wait a week for Korrina to snap out of it before doing anything too drastic.
Later that day, the first strategy meeting in a full week was convened. Hubert was a bit passive aggressive about Korrina's long break, but the rest were just happy that she was still functioning. Dorothea even seemed to understand what Korrina was going through, as she too lamented the loss of her former friends. Manuela, too, confessed that this war was taking a huge toll on her and that her infirmary was more of a morgue nowadays. Even Alois confessed to being haunted by the people he killed in battle (something that Shamir confirmed, as his wailing keeps her up at night). Nevertheless, it was time to suppress those feelings and find a way to end the war before more people died. Suing for peace was not an option, as both sides hated one another too much to ever agree to anything but the other side's complete destruction. Thus, Korrina said, "I've got an idea. From here on out, let's concentrate all our efforts on finding and killing Rhea. The whole reason this war started in the first place was because of Rhea. Thus, if we can successfully remove her, the rest of the Church of Seiros will have no choice but to stand down. Also, the only reason the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus would have for opposing us after this is pointless revenge." Everyone agreed with Korrina's sentiment, but there was one problem. Rhea's current position was in Fhirdiad, the capital city of Faerghus. Even if the Black Eagle Strike Force concentrated all their efforts into finding and killing Rhea from that day onward, they would still need to get past Dimitri and his army before they could lay a finger on the archbishop. Thus, the war continued as planned (much to everyone's dismay). Edelgard had announced that her next target was Fhirdiad, but that was only a ruse to conceal her real target. In reality, the Black Eagle Strike Force would be going for the Fortress City Arianrhod before any future measures could be taken. Korrina was a bit concerned since most of what she heard about Arianrhod in the past was about how it had never been taken since its construction was finished. However, now that the Adestrian Army had suffered numerous losses to the Knights of Seiros, it was now an even greater risk to try and bypass Arianrhod. Not only would taking Arianrhod remove one of the most problematic sources of reinforcements going forward, but it would also involve the complete removal of House Fraldarius as well as a deceptively clever kingdom tactician named Cornelia who was stationed there. It was definitely a gamble, but a victory at Arianrhod could turn the tide back in Adestria's favor. That logic was enough to convince everyone to approve of the plan. Korrina even added that she had no plans on sparing anyone else going forward. Leicester may have been neutral, but she felt that Faerghus would only continue to fight so long as Dimitri and Rhea were still alive. Thus, peace was no longer an option. Especially now that Seteth and Flayn were gone.
A few days later, Korrina was summoned by Hubert for a top-secret meeting. Things did not start off well as Hubert asked how much Korrina knew about Lord Arundel. Korrina responded by saying, "you mean the terrible 'man' who experimented on my sister and turns innocent people into monsters?" This response caused Hubert to understand that this approach was never going to work on Korrina and instead got to the point. He said that he had been investigating Lord Arundel in secret, and although said investigation is far from complete, he has been able to acquire some…interesting information. Korrina scoffed at this idea and said, "You think I would care to hear anything about that man aside from when I can take action against him" Hubert let out a chuckle and said, "I know something you might care to hear. Do you remember Solon and Kronya?" Korrina responded by saying, "The ones behind the Remire Village incident and my father's death? How could I forget?" Hubert followed this up by saying, "Lord Arundel was their ringleader. Just like them, he has given himself a false name and human body to conceal his true form and intentions. His real name? Thales. I believe you saw his true form when you were trying to prevent Sir Jeralt's murder at the hands of Kronya." Korrina was angered but not surprised at this revelation. In a way, it all made sense to her. Thales was probably breeding Edelgard to be the perfect puppet to take over the world while he controlled her from the shadows. That had to be his master plan: to rule the world through his "Flame Emperor". Korrina's next thought was whether Edelgard knew of this. Hubert responded by saying, "She always had an idea about what her 'uncle' really was. After all, she was the one who wanted me to investigate Thales. She wanted to know as much about him as she could before she betrayed him. The only reason she is not present for this meeting was because I already filled her in on the details." Korrina became annoyed that her sister and co-empress would still keep secrets from her after all that has happened and said, "Hubert. How long have you two been keeping this from me?" Hubert responded by saying, "In truth, this investigation began shortly before Seteth and Flayn attacked the monastery. We would have told you sooner, but you seemed to have a lot on your plate as is." Korrina seemed to understand what Hubert was saying. He was implying that Korrina was not in the right state to be privy to this information. Hubert tried to change the subject and talk about how fascinating Thales and his followers were, but before he could get anywhere with that conversation, Thales came in to see them. The moment Korrina locked eyes with Thales (who was still disguised as Lord Arundel), she wasted no time "going for the throat" and called Thales by his true name in front of others. Rather than being shocked, though, Thales was intrigued at how much Korrina knew about him. Before Korrina could press him further, Thales changed the subject and got to the point of why he was there. Apparently, his new batch of experimental monsters went out of control and he needed someone to take care of the situation for him. Korrina responded to this by saying, "In other words, you want us to clean up your mess for you." Thales confirmed this and said that it would be a shame if some of his fine men were to perish or the monsters got out and started attacking civilians because Korrina couldn't let go of a little grudge. Korrina growled for a second, then said, "Fine, but only because your beasts pose a significant threat when they're not on leashes. Let's go, Hubert." The callousness of Thales's request annoyed Korrina to no end. He behaved as if her and Hubert were his slaves. She couldn't understand why Hubert would deliberately allow a man like him to continue having power. Yet despite all this, she did admit that those experimental beasts could be exceptionally problematic if left to their own devices. Thus, she gathered the Black Eagle Strike Force and went back into the Sealed Forest where the beasts supposedly went amok (even if they were as happy about this as she was).
To better take out the monsters in as timely of a fashion as possible, the Black Eagle Strike Force surrounded the forest and moved in from 3 different angles. Korrina, Edelgard, Hubert, Manuela and Silvain took the top corner. Petra, Caspar, Hanneman, Shamir, Dorothea and Ferdinand took the left corner. Lorenz, Raphael, Alois, Lysithea, Lindhardt and Bernadetta took the right corner. Immediately, the Black Eagle Strike Force began to realize why Arundel specifically needed their help. Not only were these experimental monsters everywhere, but they also wore masks that made them invulnerable against all forms of magic. This in turn made around half of the Black Eagle Strike Force useless until further notice. From Korrina's position, there were two dragonlike monsters to her squad's left and right. Korrina thought for a second then chose to engage the dragon on the left. After all, if it chose to engage the squad in the left corner while they were busy dealing with the dragon in front of them, they wouldn't stand a chance. If nothing else, Korrina's attack could make a good distraction until the dragon the left squad was engaging was taken care of. Meanwhile, the right squad decided to engage the xenomorph further away from them as it was not headed into the forest where it would be harder to fight. Meanwhile in the left squad, Petra, Caspar, and Ferdinand used their bows to attract the nearby dragon's attention. The plan worked, but now it was a race against time to finish the dragon before it closed the distance and started killing everyone. Thankfully, Petra reached the dragon first and was able to temporarily stun it with her signature "slash down" technique. The north squad, unfortunately, had a much rougher go at it since no one had a bow and most of the people there were magic users (something most of the monsters were immune to. However, that didn't stop the co-empresses from using the Sword of the Creator to do as much damage to that dragon as possible. Despite this, however, the dragon was able to take most of Korrina's hits and respond with an attack of its own that launched Korrina back a few meters. Things were looking bad for the north squad, but then an explosion occurred where the left squad was fighting their dragon. Korrina remembered buying a few carts full of explosives for the attack on Arianrhod, but she didn't think they would be that effective. The dragon that got caught in that explosion was dead, and all the noise attracted the attention of the nearby monsters. Thankfully, this included the dragon that Korrina was fighting. That dragon flew right at the left squad, but Shamir noticed the gashes in its scales from where Korrina had sliced it and concentrated all her firepower into them. Two dragons were now dead, and the mission suddenly seemed more bearable. Meanwhile in the right squad, Raphael and Alois were pounding away at the mask their xenomorph was wearing. Alois had a hunch that the masks had to be concealing a critical weakpoint, so he gave his squad the order to focus all their firepower on that specific region. He was right, too. Once the mask was off, the xenomorph's defenses became nonexistent and Bernadetta was able to finish the job with a well-placed arrow to the eyes. As it fell, Lorenz began to wonder if these monsters could also be affected by magic once the masks were off. From there, the top and left squads converged and moved in on the xenomorph attacking the dark mage in that area where the Black Eagles fought Kronya 5 years ago. It was probably too late to save the dark mage in the top right corner, but it couldn't be helped. All the Black Eagle Strike force could do was try to finish the xenomorph in the center before the dragon that just killed that dark mage came for them. Luckily, Korrina and Edelgard were more accustomed to fighting enemies on the ground and were able to break the xenomorph's mask with only one or two hits. From there, taking it down was a cinch. Meanwhile, the right squad began to follow the other xenomorph closer to their starting point, and lucked out when they found that the dark mage that xenomorph was fighting had taken refuge in the nearest possible entrance to the forest. This in turn forced the xenomorph to tear down that part of the forest tree by tree in an effort to flush out the dark mage and leave it wide open for an attack. Bernadetta used this opportunity to shoot the clutches holding the mask to the xenomorph's head while it wasn't looking. The mask then fell off, and the dark mage it was fighting was finally able to use his spells to great effect. Lorenz then came in and cast a spell that caused the ground to erupt beneath the xenomorph's feet, causing massive damage. Alois then rushed in to deal the finishing blow with an axe to the back. All that remained now was the dragon headed towards the rest of the Black Eagle Strike Force. Noticing the way the previous dragon fell, the Black Eagle Strike force developed a plan of attack. Korrina used the Sword of the Creator to slice open the dragon's armor, and then everyone else would fire a ton of arrows into the gaps created by Korrina. The plan worked, but this dragon seemed more resilient than the others. While all this was happening, the remaining squad caught up with the others and knocked off this dragon's mask too. Lorenz then let everyone know that the mask was what was making the monsters immune to magic. From there, everyone let out a combined offensive and annihilated the last dragon in a torrent of dark magic, fire magic, thunder magic, bows, and the Sword of the Creator. The day was saved. Not all the dark mages made it out alive, but at least the surrounding villages were no longer threatened by these beasts.
Annoyingly, though, Thales and his followers were not exactly the most grateful people around. Some of the dark mages were embarrassed to be saved by "the likes of" the Black Eagle Strike Force. To that, Edelgard asked the dark mages if they had rather not been saved at all. The dark mages saw her point and reluctantly decided to reward her with a unique magical weapon called the Arrow of Indra. Thales was not much kinder, either. Rather than being thankful that his mess was cleaned up for him without too many casualties, he insulted Korrina and Edelgard to their faces for letting some of his men die. Edelgard tried to explain that the monsters were too powerful to reasonably save everyone, but Thales wrote her off. Thales then proceeded to write off the Black Eagle Strike Force as useless to him before attempting to take his leave, but Korrina was not about to let him have the satisfaction of getting in the last word. Korrina said, "Don't get too full of yourself, Thales. The only reason you were even able to create those abominations in the first place was because the dumb *# vampire permitted it to. If it were up to my sister and I, you would not have made it this far into the war at all. Remember that going forward." Thales was much better at subtlety, though, and only responded with a dismissive grunt before leaving. Once Thales was gone, Hubert grabbed Korrina by the neck. He could tolerate being called a vampire. If anything, Hubert was delighted to have that kind of reputation for himself. However, Hubert would never allow anyone to call him a dumb *$. He worked hard to restore House Vestra's (his house's) reputation and relations with House Hresvelg after his father (Marquis Vestra) sold out Ionius 9th during the Insurrection of the Seven, and he was not about to let anyone undermine that with questions about his intelligence. With the closest thing to genuine anger that Hubert ever expressed, he asked, "Dumb#*% vampire, was it? Do you really think I have just been a little toady for Thales like my father was for Lord Aegir? No. I only kept Thales and his kind around because we needed the extra numbers in the beginning of the war and so that I could study their technology, methods, and secrets up close. When Rhea falls, I have every intention of betraying Thales and bringing him to justice for his crimes against Lady Edelgard. In the meantime, I insist that you never use that vulgar, demeaning word to describe me again." Edelgard then put her hand on Hubert's shoulder and said, "That's enough, Hubert. You made your point clearly." Hubert looked at Edelgard thinking that she was taking Korrina's side on this, then dropped Korrina, closed his eyes and said, "yes your majesty." Edelgard made it clear that the only reason Hubert would not be facing serious punishment for his little outburst was because he was the only one that could continue his investigation of Thales before turning to Korrina and confirmed that Hubert was indeed intending to betray Thales once the war ended or he figured out all his secrets (whichever came first). It may be agonizing to work with someone like Thales, but until the time came, they would all just have to bear it a little while longer.
The stress was rising during the preparations for Arianrhod, and for good reason. The Adestrian Army was slowly regaining its numbers, but still wasn't quite ready for a full on invasion of Faerghus, rumors of tension between the co-empresses and Hubert as well as Korrina's breakdown earlier in the month had some in the Black Eagle Strike Force wondering if their leaders would even be able to hold it together, their next target was Arianrhod (a place rumored to be impenetrable), and the final battle against Rhea and Dimitri (two of the most powerful and psychotic individuals in the world at that point in time) was drawing ever closer. If it wasn't for Alois, Albein, Raphael and Caspar trying to keep everyone's spirits up, things could have easily come apart right at the end here. There was a silver lining, though. Because Arianrhod was originally built by the Adestrian Empire, blueprints for the place still existed somewhere in Enbarr. Because of this, the Black Eagle Strike Force was able to conduct an extensive study of the place and figure out the best plan of entry without having to do any trial and error the day of. It turned out that there were two entrances to Arianrhod: the usual front entrance, as well as a secret exit that lead into the heart of the fortress. Thus, the Black Eagle Strike Force decided that they would carry out this assault like an assassination. A vast majority of the troops would go in the main entrance and draw the attention of everyone inside. While the main defense force (likely led by Felix's father Rodrigue) is distracted, a smaller division consisting of Dorothea, Manuela, Hanneman, Lorenz and Raphael would sneak in through the secret exit and take out Cornelia while no one is looking. Everyone was sure that Cornelia had some sort of counter strategy for this, and the plan depended on multiple variables and assumptions coming together at once, but at the time, this seemed like the Black Eagle Strike Force's only hope for a victory. Thus, the plan was unanimously agreed on. The rest of the month was spent training as much as possible. Any top-secret techniques that still evaded the Black Eagle Strike Force were obtained during this time. Even Korrina was mentally preparing herself for the fact that she would no longer be able to save anyone. When the time came to move out, spirits were not exactly high, but much higher than they were at the beginning of the month.
The way to Arianrhod took the Black Eagle Strike Force down a familiar route: Magdred way. A lot of the Black Eagle Strike Force did not have pleasant memories of this place, as it is where they fought Lord Lonato and experienced their first taste of moral grey 5 years ago. It was almost crazy to think of how much was different back then. Back then, Lord Lonato was the enemy. Now, the Black Eagle Strike Force was on their way to finish what they started. Lonato may have been mad with grief at the time, but if he just held off his revenge for another year, maybe he would have had more people who actually would have heard him out. It couldn't be helped though. Cornelia likely wouldn't wait for everyone to get through looking at the past and Rodrigue certainly wasn't going to wait. This was the time for everyone to steel themselves. As Arianrhod got closer, Hubert prepared everyone by reminding them of Arianrhod's history. Arianrhod was indeed constructed by Adestria as a front-line base for the war against Faerghus at that time. However, the head of the project (House Rowe) had far more treacherous designs for Arianrhod. Once it was completed and House Rowe moved in, they sweared fealty to House Blaiddyd, killed everyone inside who was still loyal to Adestria as proof of their intentions, and then proceeded to use the place as a base of operations for invading Adestria instead. The only reason the Black Eagle Strike Force still had access to the blueprints was because Hubert was able to find the one spare copy that wasn't destroyed. Korrina scowled at this tale of treachery and betrayal and said, "Those honorless serpents…but worry not. By the end of the day, this black mark on Adestrian history will be forever erased. Today, we shall do the impossible, and conquer an "unconquerable" fortress. Once we do, everyone in this kingdom will know their chances of victory are slim. Long live the Adestrian Empire!" Everyone repeated this statement, and Caspar especially seemed full of energy after hearing that. Satisfied with the response, Korrina said, "Now. Arianhod is right before your eyes. Remember the plan and spare no one. From here on out, no mercy!"
Korrina did much to raise morale in the minutes leading up to the attack on Arianrhod, but reality would quickly manifest. Felix was the one who awaited the Black Eagle Strike Force at the gates, and he was dramatically stronger than he was 5 years ago. The first battle of the day would be against Felix and the Fraldarius cavalry accompanying him. The cavalry lived up to its reputation, but a few well-placed magic traps from Hubert and Lysithea took them out rather quickly. Felix, however, was another story entirely. Right off the bat, Felix charged at Korrina and challenged her to single combat in hopes of finally satisfying his urge to face her in battle. Korrina held her own for as long as possible, but Felix wouldn't stop attacking. Before long, Korrina was mortally wounded and left with no choice but to use Divine Pulse before she died. For a while, Felix proved to be nigh unstoppable. Even Ferdinand with the heaviest armor he could buy eventually fell to Felix's superior speed and technique. Thus, Korrina changed tactics and started fighting dirty. This time, the Black Eagle Strike Force approached the gates of Arianrhod but did not give any indication that they were there for a fight. Felix approached Korrina with confusion as to what she was doing, and when he got close enough, Korrina "sucker punched" him by extending the Sword of the Creator right through his chest. Felix tried to take Korrina down with him, but now that his momentum was broken, he couldn't quite recover. Felix died shortly afterward, but his final words were for Korrina. Barely holding it together, Felix asked Korrina to kill the "boar" before the life faded from his eyes and mouth. It was obvious that Felix was referring to Dimitri as that was what he often called him back when they were students, but no one ever thought Felix was that serious about it. It was enough to make Korrina wonder if there was a way she could have saved him, but it was too late for serious reflection. The Fraldarius cavalry was launching its counterattack, and everyone only had a few seconds to think.
The Fraldarius cavalry was wiped out as quickly as it was the last few Divine Pulses, but now Rodrigue was right behind them. Rodrigue, too, had access to a powerful form of light magic that allowed him to make searing columns of light, and he used them where the Black Eagle Strike Force was at its most packed. Not everyone could avoid the columns of light in time, but everyone narrowly survived. Before he could become a major threat, Korrina turned the Sword of the Creator into its whip form and cut Rodrigue and his horse in half. "There's no other way", Korrina whispered to herself as everyone healed back up in preparation to enter the fortress. On the other end, the smaller force had learned that Cornelia had indeed taken the secret exit into consideration. Multiple great knights were stationed in that part of the fortress, each more powerful than the last. Thankfully, this was why Raphael was a part of the smaller division: to take out any threats that came their way. They pushed through the great knights, but quickly found themselves with an even bigger problem on their hands. Cornelia had prepared multiple giant robots (?) called Titanus to guard Arianrhod, and one of them was right where the secret exit lead into the main part of the fortress. Until further notice, the assassination of Cornelia had to be put on hold in favor of a more formal invasion. Once the Black Eagle Strike Force entered Arianrhod proper, they found that the path had split into four. Not only that, but some of the floor consisted of spike traps. Petra could fly over them without a problem, but the rest would need to move quickly. Korrina, Caspar, Lindhardt, Lysithea, Shamir and Bernadetta went to the right. Everyone else went to the left. Multiple generals were cleverly stationed between the spike traps but the only thing difficult about taking them out were the spike traps around them. The head of House Rowe, a prideful old man by the name of Gwendal, tried ambushing Edelgard's forces. However, Edelgard turned to face him and easily cut him down using her axe. The real problem was the Titanus that patrolled the fortress. Their sword arms could cut through multiple soldiers at once, and their shields could defend against nearly any attack. Their only forseeable weaknesses seemed to be the head and legs. Petra was able to fly high enough to bash in the head of one of the Titanus with her axe, but that only drew the attention of the Pegasus knights patrolling the area. Leading those forces was none other than Ingrid, and she had her family's relic: a lance called Luuin. Petra was forced to take cover and hide among the other forces while they all found a way to deal with them and the now defective Titanus. Ingrid directed her forces at Edelgard since she was the leader, but that proved to be a mistake. Ingrid had the mobility advantage, but once she moved in for an attack, she was knocked off her Pegasus and killed in one hit. Once the Titanus and other Pegasus knights were taken care of, Edelgard noticed a switch in the back and flipped it. This seemed to deactivate the spike traps, clearing the way for everyone to move safely through Arianrhod. Korrina's team, on the other hand was not faring too well. Most of the Titanus were specifically placed on the right side of the fortress, which meant that Korrina had to face them all down one after another. Korrina was able to eventually take out the one guarding the emergency exit and clear the way for the smaller force, but then they were all bottlenecked by another Titanus that was literally in the next room. This seemed like the end for Korrina, but then Edelgard's forces came in and ambushed the Titanus from the back. Since the Titanus was facing Korrina's forces, its back was vulnerable and completely turned to Edelgard's forces. Edelgard wasted no time exploiting this critical design flaw, and before long, the last Titanus was finished off. The battle was not over yet though. As soon as the Black Eagle Strike Force fully reunited in the central chamber, warriors and mages surrounded them on every side. Luckily, though, Cornelia's arrogance had caused her to give away her own position at the top of the stairwell as she boasted about how they came so far for nothing. Korrina used this chance to bypass the warriors and mages, climb up the stairs, and slay Cornelia. She moved so quickly that Cornelia didn't even have time to counter with the most basic of magic. Once the warriors and mages at the bottom saw what happened, they all ran away or surrendered. For the first time in history, Arianrhod had fallen. Another division of the Adestrian Army took control of the place to use as their base while the Black Eagle Strike Force prepared to return to Garreg Mach.
The moment the Black Eagle Strike Force was safely outside Arianrhod, they were confronted by Thales. He congratulated Edelgard and Korrina on capturing Arianrhod and the sheer amount of tact and treachery needed to achieve such a feat. Unfortunately, Thales was not entirely there for empty congratulations. It turned out that Cornelia was a subordinate of his and was supposed to betray the Kingdom of Faerghus and take Arianrhod for them. However, Korrina was not buying it. Without hesitation, Korrina said, "I highly doubt that was the case. If Cornelia was truly on our side, she would have programmed her Titanus to attack the soldiers stationed there instead of us. She didn't even try to dissuade us from killing her when we were in the same room. No. If Cornelia was truly planning to betray the Kingdom of Faerghus, it certainly wasn't for our sake." Despite having a hole blown straight through his logic, however, Thales continued to act like the Black Eagle Strike Force was incompetent and said that their future looked grim if they continued on their current path. Before leaving, Thales made a thinly veiled threat about how Adestria may become another Arianrhod in the future. Just after Arundel left, a massive pillar of light came down from the sky and landed where Arianrhod was. The fortress, and all the soldiers located there, were completely annihilated. Korrina looked on in horror as the scene unfolded, her only words being a question of whether this was Rhea's true power. Hubert doubted this, though. He said that the Valley of Torment was originally destroyed by a massive beam of light, resulting in the land being thrust wide open. Hubert said that hours of research had eventually resulted in the conclusion that Thales was also behind this (even if the details were still fuzzy). Finally, Thales had shown his true colors. He didn't care about the Adestrian Empire at all, and would gladly impede their progress out of unfounded revenge. This was undoubtedly an act of revenge for killing Cornelia, and this fact enraged the co-empresses. Without a moment's hesitation, Edelgard said, "Thales is no longer our ally. He has impeded our progress, destroyed a valuable stronghold, killed hundreds of our men, and endangered the lives of both co-empresses in this act. Hubert, freeze all of Thales's assets and detain him for questioning. Now." Hubert asked Edelgard if it was truly wise to make an enemy of Thales while the Church of Seiros and the Kingdom of Faerghus remained, but it was clear that he was no longer in a position to negotiate either. Hubert reluctantly left to do his duty while everyone headed back to Garreg Mach in a state of genuine outrage. All that hard work was rendered meaningless, and Thales was going to pay for this.