He remembers the burning Cheve, and the sight of its innocent civilians being hunted down and killed as if they had been mere animals. He remembers a wicked laughter over all the destruction, and a particular shape amongst the ruins and fire, bringing down his great axe upon the unluckiest citizens especially, just like he remembers the nonchalance in face of all that death and destruction, treating the prince's righteous anger at the atrocities done as if he was merely a teenager throwing a fit.

His mind also flashed back to that bridge, and the manner in which that thug started it all by killing that poor Samurai before ripping his father figure away from him with a cowardly attack upon Gunter. And the numerous taunts ever since then, aware that Garon would shield him away from retribution. A bloodthirsty thug, of no greater mind or reason than the average slum-dwelling criminal, who was somehow thrust into a position of great power within the army, allowing him to freely commit all the heinous deeds he had in mind thanks to the hundred soldiers within his "personal squad" of bloodthirsty killers, thugs and even worse than that.

Hans had been a shame upon Nohr for far too long, and he was at the fort, ready to spite on Corrin's promise. But this time, there would be no more deaths on Corrin's watch. He didn't care about Hans's position, or Garon's approval. If he saw the bald man commit the slightest crime, he was going to grab his sword and put the rabid animal down, here and now, and the false king would be free to whine about that as much as he could without the prince caring in the slightest. He hated that bald freak moreso than he hated his enemies in Hoshido combined, and he was supposed to fight against those!

"Keep Sakura away from that animal, Tello! I'll stop him from doing anything too bad!"

"Right!"

Kaze escorted Corrin as he began to run to the gates, and he spoke, but his words didn't register yet. All that mattered was stopping the freak from doing any damage. And to accomplish that, the prince ran with enough speed to neatly surpass the ninja, easily reaching the doors of the fort with such speed that Hans and his thugs, who were stationed in front of the gates, actually seemed surprised when Corrin landed on the floor, producing a light shockwave as his course ended. He moved with such swiftness that Xander and the others, who had been informed as well, and were likely closer to the gate, were actually still on their way.

Corrin said nothing but he glanced behind. A few wounded Hoshidans were already being put to death by the dogs of war, or were dragged away by them in some cases. The nearby Nohrians, like those in charge of healing or the ones who handled the magical cannon, were present but unable to intervene, either because they didn't want to get in the way, or because they knew they wouldn't be able to stop the crazed killers, or simply because they didn't care enough to actually save lives. Corrin winced at this particular sight, though he couldn't help but also notice the uneasiness within some of the men.

"Ah, Lord Corrin! Fantastic work once again!" Hans raised his axe and pointed at some plume of smokes in the fort. "They said that the place was about as mean as my ex-wife." This got some chuckles out of his men. "But you managed to capture it alright! However." Hans lowered his axe and pointed it past Corrin. "Couldn't help but notice that you left some of them alive. Luckily enough, I'm here to ensure that there won't be anyone left by the time His Majesty arrives!"

"We'll have them in jail." Corrin assured. "You're not needed there, Hans, and neither are those thugs. Why don't you go forward to Suzanoh? Or do you want to spend the war leaving the fighting to someone else?" The man almost spat. Hans briefly looked surprised but recovered swiftly enough. He put the axe-holding hand against his hip, while clenching it, and raised a finger, wagging it a little while chuckling. Then, he curled his finger.

"Haha, you've gotten better at talking trash!" Hans smiled, but there was a hint of anger on his face. "But come on, are you going to do it like Cheve? My orders were given by Ganon, and as those big ears of yours must've caught, the order's to ensure that there won't be any eastern trash on this side of the continent." Two thugs of his walked past Hans and started to walk past Corrin at well, holding their blood-stained weapons. "How about you just go and complain to your siblings about it, while my soldiers and I do a man's job?"

Corrin frowned and raised his two hands, catching the soldiers by the throats and lifting them up. Their expression of smug triumph vanished instantly, but the youth couldn't really keep his eyes on them, since he was sending his best glare at Hans. "You and those low-lives are not stepping into Jinya." He threw the two at Hans's feet. "Go cry to my father about it, but I won't budge. And since I've been key to the war thus far, he'll listen to me." Corrin folded his arms. "What have you done since its start, Hans? Killing civilians and wounded soldiers? Why'd he trust you over me?"

Hans snarled a little and almost swung his axe before he realized just who he was speaking to. Calming down, he, too, folded his arms right as the royals arrived, having quickened their pace after seeing Corrin choke the two men. "Lord Xander." He said, recovering his calm to sound like a concerned friend. "I trust that you've witnessed this act of assault done upon my men? Lord Corrin has obviously snapped because of the battle. Why, he even stands against the orders delivered by the King." Said the bald man. "You should get him away from the fort, it is clear that his sympathies for the wrong nation are clouding his judgment." Upon hearing this, the blue-haired prince very nearly moved to choke Hans, but Xander thankfully dissuaded him with a quiet nod.

"That is fine. I, too, stand against my father's orders. There shall be no more needless death today. You and your dogs are encouraged to leave at once and never return." The prince swung his arm dismissively. "Leave at once, now!"

"You too?!" Hans yelled, before he shook his head. "… Ah, my prince, it's dirty work, I know, but I was told by the King himself to do that. And, well, mighty as you are, dear prince, you ain't no king yet." Hans smiled. "So, please, move away so we can start our work. We can have a debate in Lord Garon's presence if you want." And his smile widened. "He's coming here soon."

"Good. Then we'll talk about this with him." Xander didn't react at all to the news. "Return to him and tell him that Jinya has fallen and the surviving soldiers will be taken care of. I have heard my father's orders, but I find genocide to be a contemptible measure, and the captured soldiers will be quite useful in giving us informations."

They would rather not talk about Yukimura or Sakura. It could be used to quickly explain why they'd need to spare them, but Hans wasn't a tactician and at this point, the two men doubted that he'd be stopped by this information. If anything, it'd drive him to try to kill either two, which would be outright catastrophic for Corrin. Things were tense enough as of now.

"Listen, you can argue about all that as long as you want, but I'm here to ensure that Lord Garon won't have to witness those pathetic barbarians dying near him while he's making a speech, so hurry up and stop annoying me!" As he said that, he actually moved to shove his way past both, and Corrin snarled. What point was there in speaking to someone who was deaf to reason? If it weren't for Hans's position, he would have him slaughtered on the spot!

"Alright boys." Hans talked, while the royals glared at him. "The men, you slaughter. The women, you bring them to me." He smiled. "I'll take the prettiest, and you'll take the rest. Whoever gives me the best harlot will get their own chunk of land." He said. "And the opportunity to rise in the ranks of Nohr. So get movin' before they bleed out!"

"Absolutely not!" Xander had his hand on his sword. "You're not touching any of the soldiers present, you damned animal! Desist immediately, least I run you through with my sword!" He said, and he glanced at the rest of the soldiers, causing them to stop. "I will have no difficulty doing this to all of you either!"

"Tsk tsk tsk… Xander, I like ya." He briefly looked down. "I like you, yeah, but don't get in our way. How many times do I need to repeat that these are King-given orders? You and your siblings could protest as much as you want, and it won't matter." He then looked at Xander's swords. "And killing a loyal servant isn't very nice either, you know? The prince killing a fellow Nohrian to save the lives of some Hoshidans is pretty damned close to betrayal, milord, and I don't think Lord Garon look upon this too kindly! Come on!" He raised his arms and sweeped at the wounded, who were very nervously trying to get away. "None of those guys would hesitate to slaughter us if given the chance! Why'd you show mercy to them?"

"Because we are better than this." Xander frowned. "Nohr is the superior nation to Hoshido, and this is precisely why it will not partake in any manner of abuse against defeated foes. We will not allow these men and women to rejoin the war later." He said. "But they will nonetheless be taken care of, because Nohr can do better than this. It has to, or we won't get any different from the Hoshido we despise."

"Winning the war will make us a whole lot different." Hans rolled his eyes. "It's not a matter of being kinder than the other side, or more honorable, it's the matter of winning, and honor get in the way of that. But anyway, I'm in to kill, not to debate. Go cry to your father later." Hans grasped his axe. "He'll care very much. Boys!"

"Hans, I'm challenging you to a Praxys!"

Corrin stood there, finger pointed, and Hans turned around, visibly confused. Xander himself, powerless to prevent Hans from doing anything, looked at Corrin visibly surprised. Camilla's eyes widened in recognition and she pulled herself from her silence to approach. "Wait, you already tried that at Cheve, Corrin!"

"And I'm doing it again, this time." Said Corrin. "Xander, do you accept this?"

Praxys is a complex Nohrian practice. If a Nohrian find himself in disagreement with another, and it is established that diplomacy is powerless, then this is their last-resort. By invoking it, the Nohrian is challenging his countrymate to a duel, where both are expected to fight fairly, one against the other, until one Nohrian is knocked unconscious, surrender or is killed. The winner is assumed to be the one who had the right idea all along, and as a result, his ideology will be seen as the correct one, and the loser's own beliefs will be discarded. This was an all-or-nothing strategy, pretty much, but Praxys itself could only be announced by a soldier or a former soldier, though the soldier could always decide to invoke it on a troublesome civilian if they wanted to.

Praxys was created early in Nohr's existence. The cruel queen, Theodora the Second, was, according to rumors, tired of having philosophers debate at length (though some versions pretend that she was simply tired of seeing generals argue about the correct strategy) and implanted the rule so that the philosophers could challenge each other with fists or swords instead of mere words. It proved pretty popular, though in its original form, it was quite easy to trigger. A mere farmer could declare Praxys, and the other one had no choice but to partake in it. It was her own daughter, the third Theodora, who placed further standards, such as the need for approval from a higher-ranked individual. As an example, a soldier can always challenge another, but it will be up to someone of higher rank in the hierarchy to decide if a fight will actually take place. That way, a responsible commander could prevent their soldiers from killing one another, though some encouraged Praxys and saw it as a good way to weed out weaklings.

However, those were few, and Praxys itself was encouraged to be used only when no other option was available. Even in the age of Garon, no doubt the bloodiest in Nohr, few threw the term around lightly. After all, most Nohrians tended to take it to the death, and few listened when the rules explicitly prevented such. Of course, this wasn't because of concerns over the idea that people could challenge each other for a fight to the death. Rather, people didn't want to be challenged and slain by a subordinate. Nearly anyone could challenge anyone, even the queen (with approval from the king), and the older generals, who could only rely on their wits and experience instead of their rather frail bodies, feared its use against them. Of course, they could always back off, but it would be seen as cowardice. No general would back off in front of other individuals, lest they bring upon them the shame of losing.

Here, Hans was put in that situation. His men were there, and so were Corrin's own soldiers. Refusing would lead Hans to looking weak in front of them, which would obviously reflect badly on him. And for a man who had thrived on being "the toughest, baddest" (to quote him), backing off would be admitting his weakness, something which the man would very much rather not do, especially in front of the prince that he'd often sneer at for being weak. And Xander, as the person of highest authority here, would accept the challenge. After all, it was a good try at disposing of Hans, since they could use it to get him to stand down. A shame that Praxys wouldn't work on Iago, who wasn't prideful enough to accept putting his life on the line, or Garon who, as Nohr's absolute king, was obviously not meant to be defied. Hans had enough pride in him to accept fighting, but until then, Corrin never really got the occasion to challenge him to a duel. After Cheve, they had been separated for a while and it'd be in poor form to beat up a fellow Nohrian before an invasion, right when Garon himself was clamoring for unity between western Dreiz. Who in the world would believe in that upon seeing a high-ranked Nohrian officer and a prince throw down for seemingly no reason?

But right here, right now, he had the argument, someone sympathetic on his side and a yearning to just end Hans on the spot. The only obstacle would be Hans putting his pride aside, but thankfully, he fell into the bait. "Fine, Praxys it is." He said. "I don't get why you really ought to save those Hoshidans, but maybe a few whacks to the skull will dissuade you from thinking that."

"Hold on." Xander stepped between the two. "It is up to me to accept the Praxys, as the King's first son." He glanced at the two duelists and frowned a little before deciding to accept it. They could maybe nail a victory if they showed Hans to be weak in front of his own men. And to be honest, Xander had never trusted the man. He could only hope that Corrin knew what he was doing, since it would be rather awful if the Nohrian prince were to lose to Hans. "I approve of the Praxys, but I shall set some of the terms. The duel is to remain a fair battle between two adversaries. It will take place here. There shall be no intervention from a third party in any way, unless one of the duelists here attempts to cheat. The fight ends when a fighter is knocked out, unable to fight any further or give up. There shall be no attempt upon the life of someone else here as well. Hans, you may set the rules."

"I forbid my opponent from transforming into a dragon." Said Hans. "Or using a dragon vein if any is nearby. He may not use his legendary… swordy thing." He raised a finger to point it at Yato. "Though a weapon may be given to him in return."

"A fair agreement." Xander looked at Corrin. "Do you have any rules to set as well? You may not override Hans's."

"Hans can fight with a weapon." Said the prince, looking down as he started to take Yato's sheath off his belt. Once he was done, he lifted it and glanced at Azura before tossing the sword upwards, with her easily catching it, clearly worried. Corrin wondered where Beruka was, but he thought that he'd ask later. "I will rely on my fists." He stretched his arms and then pressed his knuckles one against the other while walking up. Xander's eyes widened, along with everyone else. Hans's composed expression briefly made way for anger before he composed himself into smirking nastily. Perhaps he imagined that Corrin's refusal to use any weapon at all would play into his hands. Thus, he raised his own axe and spun it.

"I'll hit you with the blunt end, milord." He said, earning himself some laughter from the rest of the crowd. Corrin stared back quietly, even as Xander approached him. "Get a weapon, Corrin." The prince stared at Hans. "He's still a dangerous criminal, and his rank isn't for show. Do you intend to beat a general down with your bare hands?"

"Sure." Said Corrin. "You saw me in action, haven't you?"

"Even then…" Xander contemplated. "… Well, I'll stop anything if you get backed into a corner. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm gonna do just fine, watch me, big brother." Corrin stepped forth confidently, but Xander didn't dare stop him yet, especially since Camilla approached him quickly to put him aside, so that there'd be place for the showdown.

"Don't worry Xander. Corrin is still very much our baby brother but he's grown." Camilla looked at her younger brother as he took a stance. "I've seen his progress through the war, you know? And he's miles ahead of his level at the beginning of it, and I can assure you that it was already quite high!"

"Aren't you worried though? Hans is a brutal general."

"Well, worst come to worst, we'll stop it, but I believe in Corrin." She said. "He'll beat that jerk before he can even realize it!"

Hans looked to the side and grunted, displeased at being so thoroughly underestimated by the royals. Corrin was the very picture of serenity in contrast, calmly staring ahead at his foe and not dropping out of his guard. To his credit, Hans didn't rush in initially, and simply tried to gauge for an opening. Asking the brute to hit someone without killing them was most unusual for him, but perhaps he knew that Corrin could take it? Either way, he decided not to peer at a hole in Corrin's defense and attempted to make one, though he was shrewd enough not to run in.

"You think you can take me on without any weapons, my prince? You might be getting a little co-"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in what Corrin said, and he spoke firmly enough to briefly startle the bald brute. The sheer lack of hesitation even in the face of such a taunt angered the brute and he decided to forgo his careful approach to run in, swinging his axe like a bat to try to hit Corrin. Naturally though, the prince was ready and ducked past that quite effortlessly. Hans had expected that. What he didn't expect was that Corrin's fist would dug into his guts with great speed, hitting Hans before he could even begin to compute what had just happened to him. The bald man leaned forward and clutched his stomach, struggling not to reveal the content of what he had today to his crew. Bile escaped from his mouth a little but he held it on well, this left him distracted to Corrin, who was already behind him and chose to strike in his back with a kick, hurling the cruel general to the ground. The shock caused him to land on his stomach, doing him no good at holding it in and finally getting him to vomit.

Time briefly stopped as everyone but the royals tried to understand just what had happened. In the span of a few seconds, Hans had been hit badly twice and throw into the ground, near a puddle of his own vomit. Whispers began to be heard coming out of the entire group, while the other contestant was left to lie on his face, staring flatly at the ground. Then, the stench of what was just right in front of him and the fury of being bested in front of his men caused him to angrily bash the ground with his fists before jumping back to launch a fierce assault with his axe, attempting to bash Corrin with the blunt end of it. To his credit, he wielded it skillfully and proved fast, but clearly not enough to catch up to the youth, who managed to dodge his way past everything thrown at him without quite attacking. However, with every dodge, the axe would threaten to hit more and more, prompting Hans to continue his attack, aware that he'd be able to shut that damned cocky smile of his with a single mighty blow.

Eventually, Corrin had to block instead of dodging, and to Hans's joy, he found it to be difficult. Yes, he repelled the axe with his bare hands, but he winced whenever he had to, and he seemed to be more and more shaken with every encounter. This only drove the general to attack further and further and eventually, he managed to strike, shattering Corrin's defenses and forcing the young man to stagger in surprise as Hans made an upward strike that destabilized the young man! Smelling the triumph, the bald man spun the weapon around and grasped it with two hands before bringing it down with great strength.

"YOU'RE WIDE OPEN!" With this unimaginative line, Hans swung down, and did so with all his strength, actually creating a crater into the ground of the fort with his sheer strength. Gasps of shocks were heard everywhere around him: The general might just have killed a royal with an attack this strong! Even the brute seemed to realize that he went a little far, his smirk of triumph having quickly shifted to an expression of shock. Getting back to position, he slung his axe on his shoulder. "Heh, sorry milord, looks like I went a bit overboard!" He chuckled, staring at the smoke created by his strike. His men chortled after getting over their surprise, and he turned to stare at Xander, smiling proudly. "So, can I do my job now?"

"Not until the Praxys is over." Xander's response caused the tall man to lean his head to the side and he moved to lower his axe… only to realize that he wasn't holding it anymore! In the span of a second, it had vanished from his hand entirely! Panicked, the man wheeled around in time to get struck in the face by the blunt end of the axe. It wouldn't have done much damage, since his enemy was holding the axe up instead of doing anything with it, but in his panic, Hans had wheeled around too fast, causing his nose to crash violently against the steel. This caused some further pain to the general, as well as some humiliation because of the rather comical reason behind his latest injury. As he held on his bleeding nose, Hans heard some laughter coming his way. Laughter from some generic soldiers who would've never even dared to do so in any other circumstance, but also laughter from Camilla and Leo, his own men and, most of all, most irritatingly, Corrin, who had stolen his axe.

"You sure look silly Hans." He said. To the terror of the general, he was rather unscathed, having used the prodigious speed that allowed him to casually steal that axe to move out of the way of the move. As for the weapon itself, he was carefully holding it up with one arm. "What kind of story are you going to find to describe that one?" With a simple gesture, he threw the axe at Hans, who caught it in mid-air. "Here."

"You little fuck!" Hans put particular emphasis on the latter part, and Corrin leaned to the side, putting his hands on his hips.

"Where's the respect, Hans? You know, if I were a prince of lesser compassion, I could kill you for this." He waged his finger. "Luckily for you, I'm only out to violently humiliate you." Corrin smiled, and Xander frowned slightly at the slight hint of malice in Corrin's face. The boy had never been out to intentionally put down anyone, even when he hated them. He had been conflicted about hurting Takumi, someone who had tried to kill him three times by now, and had just fought hard to save the lives of the people of Hoshido. Against Hans though, he was displaying none of his usual traits, though that could be reasoned as Hans being particularly despicable.

In other circumstances, Xander would've called off the Praxys. There wasn't any way for Hans to win, and he didn't want for his brother to sully his soul by resorting to petty humiliations. But it was a good opportunity to show the strength of their conviction by having Hans, the result of years of Nohrian suffering in the slums, be completely outmatched by Corrin, a kind prince who wanted to change Nohr for the better. Their soldiers would realize that their leaders definitely aren't weak, and Hans's dogs of war would learn that they follow a path that, while brutal, is definitely weaker than it look.

Well, that and he didn't like Hans, and wasn't about to pass on a chance to have the bald man be given his just desserts. He'd stop if Hans asked, to be fair, but the leader of the ruthless Nohrian squad was definitely too enraged to just back off. "You little shit! You're lucky I'm holding back while you're going all out!" His arms trembled in rage and multiple large veins emerged all over his face. The blood and bile streaming down from his lips added to the effect instead of taking away from it.

The young man's face turned dead serious. "… You think I'm going all out?" Corrin asked. As if to demonstrate his point, he immediately ran ahead and struck Hans twice. One time in the chest, shattering the armor, and the other time, with less force, on the face. Both blows sent Hans skidding backwards but he used the momentum to spin around and lash out at the rushing Corrin directly, using the sharper end of the axe this time. The dragon prince saw this though, and instead of dodging, he raised his hand and neatly caught the blade between his fingers, stopping it dead-on. Hans gasped in shock: Even if the blows had weakened him, in no world did he imagined that anyone could so casually stop his attack.

The general did his best to try to wrench the weapon free, but all his might apparently met its match in Corrin's grasp. By now, the spectators had gone silent, and Corrin's demeanor was still intense. "You realize that this is what your victims felt like, don't you Hans? Did you ever stop to think about that? How they felt when you and those barbarians of yours attacked them? How they were helpless and unable to do anything to stop you two?"

Hans frowned. "I don't give a shit about what they thought!" He kept trying to break free. "They were weak! Beaten! And no one gives a crap about the weak in Nohr!" As he spoke though, he didn't notice that Corrin's grip was slowly growing stronger and stronger. "And none of what you're going to say will change my mind! I don't care about their suffering one bit, and I'll never stop!" The bald man tried to pull away in one last effort. "So get lost!"

Corrin's fingers tore through the cracked metal, shattering Hans's great axe. The man shut himself off in the middle of his own speech, thoroughly stunned by what he saw, and the youth snarled. "I'm not going to change your mind." He said. "But you're going to know what it feels to be weak."

The dragon moved too fast for Hans to react once again, and struck him directly into the chest. "That's for Gunter!" He yelled, as Hans took two steps backwards in pain. Immediately, he was struck multiple times over the face, covering it in bruises. "And that's for those Hoshidans at the canyon!" Hans fell, but Corrin wasn't satisfied. He grabbed the man's left and swung him overhead to bash him to the ground, causing Hans's back to painfully meet the stone that made up the ground. The man spat out blood but Corrin hardly cared, battering away with kicks. "For Cheve! For Rigeaux!"

Hans vaguely tried to defend himself with his arm but he was still more bruises than an actual man. And Corrin heard something in said arm snap when he moved to swing the limb out of the way with his hand , not that he cared, since he immediately put his hand on the man's throat. The thug's expression was one of pure shock and horror (though one would need to pay attention because of his damaged his head was), and by now familiar voices were telling him to stop. Yet again, Corrin didn't bother registering it.

"I sur-" Hans's words were blocked out before he could speak, and Corrin began to apply pressure on his throat. A small part of him should've felt horrified at what he was doing, but he wasn't. His entire being wholeheartedly approved of the bald man's demise. He remembered the flames of Cheves, the ambush on Gunter, the way he tracked some of the singers in Cyrkensia… Everything was coming to an end. He kept applying pressure to Hans's throat, and watched his hated foe's slow agony.

"That's how it feels, Hans, to be the weaker one!" Corrin's voice turned frantic. "That's how it feels to be stuck against someone who has absolutely no mercy! That's how it feels to be at the wrong end of that philosophy that you so eagerly embrace!" He kept choking, his red eyes watching the life drain from that lifeless husk, and the voices resonated more and more with each passing second.

"Kill him! Slaughter him! Pull him apart! Break his bones! Crack his head open!" Chanted a voice deep inside Corrin. But another voice made itself heard soon, when he felt a pressure on the shoulder. Corrin whipped around, ready to question his interlocutor, and just barely managed to stop himself from yelling in anger when he noticed Xander, his expression stern. In the background, everyone else was either shocked or similarly stern, Elise was about the only one who seemed to be different from the others in that she was thoroughly horrified, clinging unto Azura's leg and staring at her brother in a fearful manner.

"Let go of Hans." Xander's voice was devoid of the usual warmth he reserved for Corrin. "Now." The voices ended up drowned out nigh-instantly, and the prince stared at Hans, noticing how badly battered the man was. Yelping a little in fright, he let go of the bald man, letting the bald man fall to the ground in a heap, and looked at his bloodstained hands. The horrified prince gasped before putting his hands close to his body, treating them as if they were about to explode if he held them too far out from his chest. Hans, meanwhile, was a sorry mess. His armor had been shattered thoroughly by now to reveal intense wounds over his body, and blood was leaking down from his mouth and into his chest. His breathing was ragged and painful, owing to the large red marks over his throat, and he could barely even begin to pull himself together. To his credit, he was tough enough to actually sit upright, but he looked absolutely terrified.

"You… you freak! I knew it!" He coughed harshly and spat something on the ground. "When… when you showed those weird dragon limbs on the bridge, I knew it! You're a dragon freak!" He began to crawl backwards. "He's going to snap and kill us all eventually! He's more dangerous to us than Hoshido!"

"Stop it, Hans." Asked Corrin, a bit overwhelmed. The guilt of what he had done was firmly grasping him, as attested by the whispers all around him, all of whom he could hear even with his current distractions. But even worse than the whispers were all the stares of horror or shock from his own soldiers or even siblings, none of whom even dared to look at him in the eyes. Even Xander could only briefly support his sight before he sighed and looked down at the ground, shaking his head.

It was supposed to be his moment of triumph, but yet Corrin hardly felt anything but… emptiness. He had imagined that his defeat of Hans would be a triumph, a moment where he'd actually show to everyone that his way to peace was not weak and could stand up to whoever would attempt to upset it… But what had he done but merely show himself as the bigger dog? He was as brutal, if not moreso, than those that came before him. That was the big moment for Xander"s "faction", and he had messed it all up. Azura immediately approached and gave his weapon back to him, though she stepped close to whisper a quick "what was that, Corrin?"

"No idea…" He said, though he knew. He knew it was his deeper nature, but who was he going to admit that to? "I-"

"What in the holy name of Theodora the Fifth is happening here?" Before Corrin could even start to say what he meant to say, another voice piped in, interrupting everyone. Iago, the dreaded tactician of Nohr, was standing still. It'd be impossible to identify him as a magical hologram if he didn't occasionally "leak" some flames on his hair or helmet, but he looked very solid nonetheless, indicating that he was close. After all, Iago's projection spell depended on the location. If he was far, then he couldn't do much besides walking and even then anything else but a brisk short walk would damage the connection. Were he closer though, he could easily walk around and, at the cost of harming the connection, channel spells outright. Of course, maintaining the hologram enough cost a lot of magic, and there hadn't been a tome for it, meaning that only a potent wizard could even hope to channel the spell for a second. "A wounded general and a stricken prince? Just what has happened here? Explain yourselves quickly lest you answer to the King himself."

"A Praxys has just taken place, Iago, but the matter behind it will need to be brought to the King himself. You may report that to him." Said Leo. Iago glanced at the fort and narrowed his eyes at the sight of Hoshidan prisoners of war being put on their feet to be escorted away.

"Oh? Are my eyes playing trick on me? Some of the Hoshidans here are still breathing." He said. "I thought that their annihilation was requested by the King himself."

"Indeed, but these soldiers are meant to be carried away to be interrogated. They will be executed later on by my hands." Said Leo. "After giving away key informations, of course. As we wander towards the capital, there will be only more traps, and being made aware of them will allow us to begin the final phase of this war with more soldiers at our side."

"Hm… We were not equipped with the means to hold them, but you could always turn their prisons against them." Iago said, reasonably enough. Leo sighed in relief, having dodged an arrow. "Nonetheless, while I must praise you for conquering Jinya, I still want to know what manner of harm has befallen Hans. You speak of Praxys, and yet the man look like he had been caught in a earthquake!" He pointed an accusing finger at Hans, and smiled smugly. "Though perhaps it actually help his appearance."

"That… that thing fucked me up because I wanted to do my job! Look!" He pointed at his throat and general bruises, to which Iago threw a flat look at first.

"I can see your injuries, you idiot." He then frowned. "But those are grave injuries, indeed… Corrin, what say you in your defense? Using Praxys to hurt a fellow Nohrian is something that I didn't expect you to do. Are you perhaps not the little angels we all thought you were?" He kept that sarcastic smile and glanced to the side when Leo stepped in. "Does that explain your shocked attitude, perhaps? Ah, you never believed that he could be this savage, hm? Well, I'm not surprised, do you remember the manner in which that boy slaughtered those poor, poor dancers? And the countless Hoshidan deaths at his hands! Ah, I always knew that he was a brute."

"Shut up!" Corrin answered, with a hoarse voice. Iago actually glanced at Corrin in surprise, somehow not thinking that the youth would defend itself, and he smiled nastily.

"How hostile, Lord Corrin. I'm beginning to think that you might hate us poor Nohrians. I was led to believe that your ruthless slayings of Hoshidans would extinguish any love towards them, but it seems that I was wrong." He was clearly enjoying his little show of dominance. "What have we done to you to get such slight thrown at us? We are only humble servants."

Azura placed her hand close to Corrin's mouth and nodded. "Corrin wanted to interrogate the captured Hoshidans, but Hans expressed a desire to kill them all. Praxys was invoked because their differences were impossible to reconcile and-"

"Either way, one does not bruise a high-ranking officer and get away with it. You will have to answer for what happened when the King arrives… Meaning at any minutes now, and I shall be there as well, of course." The hologram shut off, and the Nohrians were left with a bruised Hans. Corrin was almost crying. Almost because he didn't want to show off any more weakness than he already had. Being outright insulted like that over and over again by Iago… He would've been able to rise above that, or fire back perhaps. But he felt too drained to defend himself this time, bar a rather awkward attempt at asking the great general what he meant. Xander looked down at Elise.

"Elise, if you please…"

…

Garon's arrival was relatively low-key considering his stature. He had arrived surrounded by elite Nohrians and Iago himself, but was riding a mere steed instead of a greater vehicle. Though the steed in question was unnaturally tall and wrapped in armor, to the point where even its head was protected, leaving two small holes for the eyes and the nose. Even the hooves were wrapped in some manner of metal. No rider would inflict such a fate to their horse, and no horse would even accept it, but Garon's noble animal showed no protest. It didn't even move a single muscle when it had arrived, staring unflinchingly at the horizon without even once tilting its head or daring to throw a look somewhere else, like a statue.

"Father." The royals, Tello and Hans, lined up side to side, bowed in front of their King, and so did most of the army gathered in the fort, though a fair few were currently away to prevent the Hoshidans, locked in their underground cells, from leaving, though a few were also at the tower. Seemingly, Sakura had succeeded in convincing her troops to surrender, which greatly helped everyone along. Kaze had been sent along for the former, to watch over them along with other Nohrians.

The corpse had been cleaned up but Garon had arrived so fast that no effort could fully remove the bodies. However, the dogs of war had decided to string up some massacred bodies at the gates, showing some impressive speed in doing so. Magic had been used to destroy the Hoshidan bodies that weren't seized by the dogs of war, while the Nohrian corpses were being carted away to be brought back to the homeland. The destruction was still present but at least the fires had been put out and the front of the fort was cleaned up, even if the rest was a mess. The member of the King's shadow that had been deployed was present, observing the scene near their king, arms folded. Corrin glanced at the masked person in surprise, wondering where they had been all this time but figuring out that he wouldn't be able to ask anyway.

Garon admired the fort, and threw an especially appreciative look the way of the corpses, though he seemed disinterested in anything else. A familiar smile appeared on his face. "My children." He said, with some warmth in his voice. "You have done it. You've accomplished something that had only been done twice over the course of Hoshido's wicked existence on this continent. You have taken Jinya and secured a path towards the capital." He grinned wickedly. "And you will certainly outdo yourselves again by taking Suzanoh's wall, our final obstacle, and the barrier that no other army had ever managed to break through."

"It is with great honor that I bestow this fortress upon you, father." Said Xander. "May its fall announce to Hoshido that Nohr's advance is ineluctable, and may the cowering old fools who rule over it realize that their time had come to an end at last."

Garon chuckled eerily. "Now you're getting into it… Good." Garon got off his horse and walked forward, judging everyone. "You've done us a great favor. Within about two months, we will we be on our way to Windmire, where our dear citizens will be covering us in riches for our immense triumph. Soon, the plight of our subjects will come to an end, and Hoshido's resources will be available to us." He clenched his fist. "You've also managed to do so with somewhat limited losses, but I guess I must owe it to those Faceless I sent your way."

"Yes, father, I do thank you for the arrival. Had it not been for them, we should perhaps still be fighting… But what are they, may I ask?"

"The culmination of years of development, that's why." Iago folded his arms and stared at one of his abominations. Ever since the fight ended, they've been standing aside. He began to speak again but Garon glared, and he decided to shut up.

"As Iago said, even though he has no business speaking in the place of his king, those beasts are indeed Faceless, but enhanced. They have the speed, strength and resistance of the average Faceless but are also bestowed with an intellect that allows them to easily take orders and acknowledge the sides they fight for. The former Faceless are now useless antiquities, so we unleashed them across the region so that they may as well level a fort or kill some cowering Hoshidans." Garon spoke dismissively at the latter part. "There's a few of them but our wizards back home will soon be making more. They will be handling the territory once it has been conquered." Said the King. "And ensuring that order is preserved. That way, the soldiers will return home instead of having to educate some low-lives on what to do."

"I see… They were most useful." Xander seemed a little doubtful. "We shall be on our way. Will we be traveling together, father?"

"No." Garon spoke. "Unfortunately, not all squads were as successful as you are. While the forts fell, or are in the process of falling as we speak, some of the squads were outright decimated, though those include our weaker, less experimented neighbors from the west. I will be joining a nearby Nohrian squad that was hit rather harshly, so as to attend to my subjects and ensure that at least two holes will be blown through that wall." He said. "Better not put all our eggs in one basket, wouldn't you agree?" He smiled agreeably to his children, and lost that smile instantly when he gestured at Iago.

"The squads will be regrouping to make up for their losses, but your next assignment will take you to the Wall of Suzanoh. I'll tell you more once you get closer to it." He said, quickly. "But shouldn't there be one issue to deal with, my lord?"

"Hm? What issue would there be? Ah yes." Garon glanced at Hans and Corrin. "My boy." He spoke. "Have you defied my general, Hans, into a Praxys where he ended up heavily wounded?" His voice was harsh, and his eyes were fixated on Corrin, who felt as if the ground was about to shatter underneath him to toss him into some void. "Speak." He ordered, noticing the boy's lack of a reply.

"… Yes." Said Corrin. "I defied Hans to a duel, and I battered him badly. I wounded a fellow Nohrian and I am ready to pay the price for it." His answer was out of a script, he did right as Leo asked him, even the part where he looked up with pleading eyes. Garon waited, and then his usual stoic face broke into what only could be described as an insane grin.

"Good!" He said. "Good! I was anxious about that! You are truly becoming one of us, Corrin!" Garon raised his axe as Hans managed to let out a strangled gasp. "Who cares if Hans acted on my orders? You, and the others here, are my children. You are the royal family of Nohr, blessed with mythic blood. If someone displeases you, then feel free to punish them for it!" The King smiled. "You didn't need to invoke Praxys to batter Hans! If you ever feel slighted, then impose your will with your bare hands! The laws of this land do not bind you!"

"My king?" Asked Iago, surprised at the outburst.

"You are fully forgiven for striking Hans." Said Garon. "And in the future, should you strike a Nohrian who defied you, then feel no guilt over the fact. We are not like the rest of them, after all." Said Garon. "We built this land. Who are they to talk back to us? Xander, Elise, Camilla, Leo, Azura, I do hope that you will also apply this kind of behavior in your future diplomatic dealings. Fear is what keep people in line." He clenched his fist once more. "Wasn't that proven when I slaughtered those nobles in Forlorn? And won't that be proven once Hoshido's spirit break upon our onslaught? Hans! For daring to talk back to Corrin in the first place, you will join me in fighting the Hoshidans, and I except to see good results!"

Hans stammered in utter surprise and most of the royals hardly fared better. Corrin was surprised but actually reasonably happy at the thought… Well, it was terrible that Garon justified it like this, and he knew it was wrong to enjoy it, but not being punished for rightfully stopping the maniac was still sweet. And besides, a tiny part of him looked forward to being respected, for once, instead of either coddled or dismissed. However, he hide his satisfaction well and got up. "I am pleased to-"

"But… Corrin, this brutality that you've shown against Hans should also be let loose on the Hoshidans." Garon glared, and Corrin got back on his knees without realizing it. "Why aren't the Hoshidans dead? I thought I had ordered their execution before your depart to Hoshido."

"Fath-" Xander was cut off when Garon swiftly put his hand up and shook his head. "No." Garon said. "If your sibling is man enough to beat down Hans himself for speaking up to him, he is man enough to speak for himself."

Corrin bite his lips, and tried to go for a pragmatic approach. "Well… We mean to interrogate them, father. They will give us the informations and will be disposed of, as we said."

"Oh, is that so?" The smile came back on, and Corrin stared at it intently. How had he even thought Garon was human? The way his jaw just stretched a little, the wide unblinking look in his grey eyes, the subtle echo beneath his words… Garon had been a monster from the start, and they were all too foolish to realize it. He'd draw his sword to try to cut his arm off, and let other see what he truly was, but he'd be stopped immediately before he could do so, and Garon could still fend him off with ease at his current level. "Bring them up."

"W-what?"

"Bring them up." Garon jammed upwards with his thumb. "Interrogating all of them will take you far too long, my son, but you make a good point. Who knows what kind of deadly traps lay beneath their soil? But we should not lose our time and interrogate too much of time as we are winning."

"Correct, so we will…"

"You." Garon emphasized before pointing at Corrin. "You will pick the survivors, and the rest of them will die by Nohrian blades at this very hour." Said Garon. "Effective immediately."

...

A/N: Oh we're sticking to Jinya a little longer but we're out next time, promises! Anyway, here's a rather big change from canon! Corrin doesn't quite let Hans walk all over him, but while he let Garon do the same? We'll see!
Beruka is absent here, sadly, but she's going to have a big role up ahead. And besides, she had two to three chapters on her own didn't she? I can promise that she and Corrin are gonna get into hell of a scene after this.
What did you think of the chapter and the fight? I love reviews, they help me out a lot!

See ya guys later!