Warning: some slightly graphic violence.

If you want to skip it: when the demonic beast appears, skip to the next horizontal line break!

Verdant Rain Moon

-oOo-

The Black Eagles' mission for the month was to eliminate the thieves led by Miklan Gautier in the Kingdom. Miklan had allegedly stolen a Heroes' Relic - the Lance of Ruin - from House Gautier, and the Black Eagles were tasked with getting the weapon back.

According to Seteth, Miklan was the disowned son of House Gautier; his lack of a crest made him an unsuitable heir in House Gautier's eyes. Miklan was also Sylvain's brother. Byleth thought that disowning someone only because of a lack of crest was unreasonably cruel, but he supposed it didn't matter for the mission. It was possible that he simply didn't understand enough about Kingdom customs.

His class would travel to the Kingdom and eliminate the thieves at the end of the month. It seemed a bit long to wait, considering Miklan had stolen the relic around the time of the Rite of Rebirth, but the thieves seemed to be staying put in their stolen hideout, for the time being.

Predictably, a few days after he received the assignment, he was approached by Sylvain and Mercedes. They found him just outside the dining hall, at the top of the stone staircase.

Mercedes smiled sweetly and waved. "Hello, Professor."

Byleth nodded. "Hi, Mercedes. Sylvain."

Sylvain gave a half wave. "Hey. Want to take a guess at why we're here?"

Byleth replied flatly, "Is this about my class' mission for this month?"

"You guessed it! Right on, Professor." Sylvain smiled and gave a thumbs up.

Mercedes lightly put a hand over Sylvain's thumb and lowered it. "What Sylvain means to say is that we would both like to join your class on this month's assignment, if it's okay with you."

Sylvain's smile fell and he scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. I'd really appreciate it if you took me with you."

Byleth had been expecting this ever since he got the assignment. The man they were being sent to kill was Sylvain's older brother, after all. "I don't mind at all. I will check with my class next time we meet."

The corners of Sylvain's mouth curled into a smile, but there was no mirth in it. "Thanks, Professor."

Byleth looked at Mercedes. "Are you being sent by Hanneman to look after him?"

"Yes. I also thought it might help to have an extra healer."

Byleth cocked his head a little. The Blue Lions had an assignment this month, as well, but Mercedes was their only healer. "What will the Blue Lions do, then?"

Waving a hand dismissively, Mercedes said, "Oh, they'll be alright. I hear Marianne is joining them for their assignment as their healer. And Professor Manuela is the best healer at the academy, so the Golden Deer will be fine, too."

"It seems like you thoroughly planned this out."

Sylvain breathed out a puff of air, amused. "Oh, don't get me wrong. That wasn't us. I'm pretty sure it's all a coincidence, actually." He lowered his voice. "Actually, I hear Marianne is thinking about joining the Blue Lions. Don't ask how I know that, though."

Mercedes asked, "Oh, is this about the date you went on last week?"

"No, I heard about it on my date yesterday, actually."

Byleth had heard the rumors, but Sylvain really did go on a lot of dates.

Mercedes smiled innocently. A little too innocently. "Is that so?"

"Uh, yeah... Hey, there's nothing wrong with playing the field, is there?" Sylvain's expression became self-assured. "Besides, you're looking real nice today, Mercedes." Just after the words left his mouth, his eyes widened, as if he caught his mistake.

Byleth realized that Mercedes' smile wasn't innocent at all. It was threatening. "You flirt with people in front of Professor Byleth, now? Don't you think that's disrespectful?" She spoke with a pleasant tone, but her words still managed to be intimidating all the same.

To Sylvain's credit, he hardly seemed phased. He turned to Byleth. "Hey, sorry about that. I swear I didn't mean anything by it."

Byleth sighed faintly. It was more of a huff, than anything. He would let it slide; he didn't enjoy using his authority as a professor for things like this. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Sylvain nodded quickly. "Yeah, definitely. Sorry again. Well, I have somewhere to be, so I'll be going now." With a wave, he walked away.

Mercedes turned to Byleth. "Please don't take his behavior the wrong way. Sylvain has... a lot going on."

Byleth had already gotten the picture from his previous interactions with Sylvain. "I know." Although, Sylvain had left before Byleth had the chance to ask him anything. "Do you know anything about Sylvain's relationship with his brother?"

Mercedes frowned. "Well it's not really my place to say, but... all I know is that the two of them hate each other." She paused. "Actually, that's not right. Miklan hates Sylvain, but I think that Sylvain only hates what his brother represents. It will be an emotional battle for him. Please look out for him, Professor."

Byleth nodded. "You have my word." He only hoped that it would be over quickly, for Sylvain's sake.

Since their mission was in the northernmost part of the kingdom, the Black Eagles took horses and wagons to their destination. Edelgard picked a wagon out for her and Hubert, and the two of them sat next to each other on one of the benches. To Edelgard's annoyance, Sylvain seemed to have had his eyes on the same wagon. He slid onto the opposite bench, followed by Mercedes.

Sylvain crossed an ankle over his thigh, stretching his elbows over the edge of the wagon. "It's not every day I get to sit across from a real-life princess!"

Edelgard's eye twitched. She could've sworn that everyone in the monastery was in on some sort of joke at her expense. "Do you and Claude talk often, by any chance?"

Sylvain blinked in confusion. "What? No, not really. Why do you ask?"

Edelgard held back a sigh. Perhaps it was coincidence that everyone teased her in the exact same way. "No reason in particular."

Sylvain squinted his eyes. "I... see. Well, if it's about the princess thing, the nickname definitely suits you." He smiled confidently, "You're a real beauty."

Edelgard was about to reply, but Hubert stepped in before she could do so. "Do not say such things about Lady Edelgard so flippantly."

"What, are you saying that she isn't a beauty?" Sylvain cocked an eyebrow and smiled. A challenge.

Hubert crossed his arms, and his voice rose ever so slightly in anger. "Of course not. What are you, some sort of-"

He was cut off by Mercedes, who raised her hands in a calming gesture. "Now, now, let's all settle down. It wouldn't do to start arguing right before the assignment."

Hubert scowled, but he didn't say anything else. Edelgard was a bit proud of him for that, honestly. Perhaps not even he could argue with Mercedes' gentle demeanor.

The wagon started moving, and the four of them sat in silence for a bit. After a while, Sylvain said, "So, Edelgard, what did Dimitri want to tell you?"

That came out of nowhere. "What do you mean?"

"You know, on the day of the Rite of Rebirth. I remember he followed you around for weeks before he finally approached you. Like a little lost puppy!"

'Puppy' wasn't the word that Edelgard would have used, but it didn't matter. She knew what Sylvain was talking about. She looked into the distance, remembering the odd encounter. On the day of the Rite, Dimitri had asked about her hair color and her dagger; the conversation had not followed any sort of logic. "I do not actually know what he meant to say. He said several things that, frankly, made no sense at all. When I asked him what he meant by it, he invited me to tea. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, so I said no."

Sylvain leaned forward a bit. "You said no? Well, that makes sense, actually. Knowing Dimitri, I have a pretty good idea of how that conversation went."

Edelgard's eyes drifted a bit skyward. "It was an... experience, to say the least."

"You should really talk to him, though. Didn't you two used to know each other? Something about a dagger, right?"

That gave Edelgard pause. Dimitri did mention something about her dagger... but he didn't say anything about meeting each other in the past. That was odd, since she had never met Dimitri before coming to the monastery. "No, actually. We never knew each other in the past."

"Huh. That's weird." Sylvain pursed his lips. "At any rate, you should talk to him. You can see what he has to say, I guess, and maybe you can figure out what's up. Whatever it is, it's really bugging him. Believe me, I'm around him all the time."

Edelgard hated to take advice from Sylvain of all people, but he did have a point. There was no sense in refusing to listen to whatever Dimitri wanted to say. "Perhaps. I'll think about it."

Sylvain smiled. "Good! That's all a guy can really ask for."

The fight in the tower wasn't as difficult as expected. As Byleth led the students and Gilbert up the tower, the narrow hallways only contained the occasional rogue, which his students took out quickly. After going up another set of stairs, Byleth spotted another rogue in front of the door. He said under his breath, "Edelgard."

Edelgard, who was next to him, took a throwing axe from her belt and chucked it at the rogue. The axe took him by surprise and hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him over. Hubert sent an orb of dark magic at the fallen rogue, securing the kill. Edelgard took a moment to retrieve her axe.

Byleth led the group to the door. From what he could see, they were almost at the top of the tower, if they weren't there already. He turned to his students and said, "This could be the final room. Is everyone prepared?"

Gilbert said, "I'll be taking your orders. Lead us well, Professor."

Casper grinned. "I'm as ready as ever!"

Petra nodded. "I am the same."

"Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Dorothea said.

There were similar murmurs of ascent from the rest of his students. Sylvain, however, was silent. His face was scrunched into a rather serious - by Sylvain's standards - expression. Byleth turned to Sylvain. "Are you ready to face him?"

All eyes drifted to Sylvain, who quickly schooled his face into his characteristic smile. Mercedes, who was standing beside him, frowned at the feigned expression. Sylvain said, "I'm ready whenever you are, Professor."

Byleth nodded. Sylvain's confidence was obviously faked, but there was no point in mentioning it. "We will fight in three groups. Edelgard, Sylvain, and Petra, with me. The second group will be Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Hubert, and Mercedes. The third will be Gilbert, Caspar, Dorothea, and Linhardt. Understood?"

There were curt nods from everyone.

"Good. Let's go." He pushed open the door with his left hand while holding the Sword of the Creator in his right. As expected, the lock was already broken, probably from when Miklan and his men originally took over the tower.

The moment the door creaked open, the rogue nearest to the door turned his head towards the rest of the room and shouted, "They're here! The church's goons have finally made it!"

A red-haired man stood at the back of the room. His face was rougher than Sylvain's and had many more scars, but the bright red hair they shared undeniably indicated that he was Sylvain's brother. He yelled back with a snarl, "Kill them where they stand."

While the first rogue was distracted, Byleth took advantage and rushed forward, extending his sword to impale and kill the rogue instantly. Without taking his eyes off of the rest of the enemies in the room, he said to his class, "My group will fight our way to Miklan. Ferdinand's group, go left. Gilbert's group, go right. Keep as many of them off of us as you can."

A small flurry of arrows soared from the back of the room as a small group of Miklan's archers shot at the class. Byleth swung the Sword of the Creator in a large X-pattern, catching most of the arrows. An arrow made it through his defense, but it landed harmlessly on the ground next to his foot. "Now!" He said.

The two other groups split off, while Byleth led his group in a charge towards Miklan. Sylvain felled a swordsman to his left. An axeman blocked Byleth's way and swung when he got close enough. Byleth ducked under the swing and impaled him on the Sword of the Creator, slaying him. Petra stood still for a moment to aim an arrow at a swordsman. The arrow hit him in the stomach. When he hunched over in pain, Edelgard took advantage of it and struck him down.

Byleth glanced towards Ferdinand's group. Ferdinand was hit by the spell of an enemy mage, but Mercedes was already healing him. Bernadetta was hugging the wall and Hubert was casting a spell at the mage who had hit Ferdinand. They were relatively safe, for now.

He looked at Gilbert's group. Caspar and Gilbert were in the front, while Linhardt and Dorothea trailed not far behind. Just as Byleth's eyes landed on Dorothea, he saw an enemy arrow fly and hit her straight in the chest.

He used Divine Pulse to rewind only a handful of seconds. He shouted, "Dorothea, duck!" Dorothea, who had been preparing a spell in her hands, immediately let the spell dissipate and ducked. The arrow that had hit her before grazed harmlessly over her head.

Petra said, "Professor, behind you!" Byleth twisted around and just barely blocked an enemy's sword with his own. The enemy swordsman smirked, probably proud of catching Byleth off-guard, but it lasted only a moment before Sylvain struck the man down with his lance.

Byleth said, "Thanks."

Sylvain only jerked his head in acknowledgement. He faced forwards again to engage the next enemy.

The battle progressed in a similar manner until Byleth ordered Edelgard and Petra to split off and help the other two groups. Strangely, the path to Miklan had less soldiers than the sides of the room; perhaps the thieves were planning to flank his group. As the battle went on, the formations of both Byleth's students and Miklan's soldiers became looser and shakier, making the entire battlefield much more chaotic. The students were still in groups, but their formations weren't as tight as before.

Eventually, Byleth and Sylvain reached the back of the room. Miklan stood only a small distance away, now. He wasn't fighting; he was only watching the battle and commanding his group from afar. Byleth extended his sword, killing the last rogue that stood in the way. It was a clear shot to Miklan. Sylvain sprinted towards him, lance raised. A rogue jumped from the left and tried to stop Sylvain, but Byleth stepped in the rogue's path and blocked the rogue's sword with his own. "Go," he said. "It's your fight, right?"

Sylvain nodded. "Thanks, Professor." He ran off, lance raised to attack. He shouted, "Miklan! I'm here to take that lance back!"

Byleth dueled with the rogue for a few moments, but he quickly outmaneuvered his opponent and stabbed him in the chest. He quickly glanced around, his eyes drawn to movement by the wall. He noticed a rogue trying to sneak up on Bernadetta, who was aiming her bow towards the middle of the room. He quickly ran towards them and extended the Sword of the Creator. The rogue was so focused on Bernadetta that she didn't notice Byleth until the extended sword had already buried itself into her shoulder.

Bernadetta quickly turned around, finally noticing the enemy behind her. "Oh! Professor, you saved me."

Byleth retracted his sword again when he reached them and slashed at the rogue from close range. The rogue easily dodged; this wasn't an opponent that Bernadetta could handle alone. Byleth said, "Go help Sylvain." Bernadetta would be much safer helping Sylvain battle Miklan than facing this opponent on her own.

"Right!" Bernadetta ran in the direction that Byleth had come from.

The rogue kept low to the ground and swiped horizontally with a dagger. Byleth dodged to the side. The rogue followed up with a jab from another dagger in her opposite hand, but Byleth stepped back to avoid it. The most obvious weakness of daggers was that they had a limited range, and Byleth intended to take full advantage. He backed up one more step before he extended his sword in a straight line, aimed straight at the rogue's chest.

What he didn't account for was the rogue's agility; she was able to quickly dodge out of the way at this distance. Byleth readied himself to parry the next strike. However, the rogue's face suddenly went blank and she fell, revealing Edelgard standing on the other side with her axe buried in the rogue's back.

Byleth opened his mouth to say something, but Edelgard beat him to it. Her eyes were wide with alarm, and her voice sounded urgent. "Professor. The students fighting Miklan are in danger."

Byleth spared a glance at the back of the room, where Sylvain was locked in battle with Miklan. Caspar was with him; he had joined while Byleth wasn't looking. Bernadetta had a bow aimed at Miklan from a spot near the wall. Sylvain swept his lance in a wide arc, forcing Miklan to step back. The moment Miklan stepped away, Bernadetta let an arrow loose and it struck his leg.

Byleth looked back to Edelgard. "What do you mean?" He scanned the rest of the room, trying to spot if any of his students might be in danger. No one seemed to need immediate help. He wanted to go and aid someone else on the battlefield, but he wanted to hear what Edelgard had to say. It seemed important, judging from her expression.

"She didn't tell-?" She paused. "It doesn't matter. That weapon is going to transform Miklan into a demonic beast."

That was all he needed to hear. Byleth took off running towards Miklan. Edelgard knew more about recent happenings than she let on, and Byleth would be stupid to question it now. He shouted, "Sylvain, Caspar, Bernadetta! Fall back!"

Sylvain parried a blow from Miklan's glowing relic lance. He said, "What? Why?"

That wasn't good. Byleth had forgotten that Sylvain might not trust his orders as much as the Black Eagles did. Before he could repeat the order, though, Caspar said, "You ask that now? C'mon!" He ran past Sylvain towards Byleth. Bernadetta backed away easily, since she was already at a good distance from any enemies.

Sylvain tried to jump back, but Miklan followed him. Miklan grinned widely. "Don't think you'll get away so easily, brother!" Sylvain was forced to parry another blow. Byleth wanted to interfere, but he didn't trust his aim at long range when Sylvain and Miklan were so close together. Miklan kept up the attack, forcing Sylvain to block heavy blow after heavy blow. "You're laughably weak! I should've been the one with a crest! Not an undeserving child like you!"

Byleth ran up and planted his feet firmly on the ground, swinging his sword to hit Miklan with a heavy blow in the side. Miklan's armor stopped the worst of it, but he grunted and staggered away. Byleth's eyes flicked to Sylvain. "Go."

Sylvain quickly backed up a few steps before he turned around and ran to help Ferdinand with his opponent. Good. Now, Byleth only had to worry about himself. He returned his gaze to Miklan.

Miklan recovered and swung his lance, but Byleth jumped backwards, out of its range. When Miklan drew his relic lance back, Byleth followed and swung his sword directly at Miklan's chest. To Byleth's surprise, Miklan quickly maneuvered his lance to parry the sword. Their relic weapons clashed in a shower of red sparks, the resulting noise sounding more like the clack of bones than the ring of steel on steel. Miklan was clearly much more skilled than any of the men he led, even with an arrow buried in his leg.

Miklan's smile was wild. Something about his expression had a manic edge to it, making him appear almost on the brink of madness. Miklan said, "Who the hell are you? I was going to put that brother of mine in his place."

Byleth didn't bother responding. He quickly whipped his sword and body away from the parry. He slipped his weapon under Miklan's guard, but it only scraped the armor at Miklan's chest as Miklan jumped back.

The battle continued, with Byleth just barely managing to cut Miklan shallowly in-between Miklan's heavy lance swings. The power of the Lance of Ruin was formidable; it was no surprise, considering it was a Heroes' Relic.

Eventually, Miklan's attacks became more reckless, and Byleth managed to deeply slice the leg that already had an arrow in it. Miklan aimed a blow at Byleth's neck, but Byleth could clearly read his intention and ducked down, making another good cut on Miklan's forearm.

Byleth was about to attack again when he noticed a strange, red stream of ooze jump out of Miklan's weapon. The ooze clung to Miklan's arm. Miklan tried to touch it with his opposite hand. "What the..."

Another stream of ooze jumped out and clung to the hand. More ooze shot out of the weapon at a rapid rate, quickly consuming Miklan's entire right arm.

Sothis yelled, "This looks like bad news! Get out of there!"

Byleth heard Edelgard's voice behind him, "Professor!"

Since Miklan was preoccupied with the ooze, Byleth was easily able to back away. The students were all around him, watching Miklan. There weren't any enemies left standing; it seemed that any left standing had already fled the room, leaving Miklan alone.

Byleth could only watch as the red ooze quickly crawled up Miklan's arm. Miklan screamed in terror, clawing at the ooze. It was futile, though; the ooze slipped right through his fingertips.

Edelgard watched as Miklan was consumed by blood-red sludge. It was horrifying to watch, but she needed to see it with her own eyes. She knew exactly what was happening; Miklan was turning into a demonic beast.

The process was different from how Those Who Slither In The Dark purposely made their demonic beasts. Usually, they used a crest stone without its weapon to turn people into beasts. It was a rather silent affair, with the stone quickly covering the host in sludge before transforming it into a demonic beast.

With an entire Heroes' Relic, though, it was different. Instead of silently creeping up, the sludge shot out of the weapon, as if it were rebelling against the very idea of a wielder without a crest. It rebelled against anyone born with the wrong bloodline, obeying the goddess' will without question.

Well, that last part made sense, at least. It was only a stone with no will of its own, after all.

Edelgard took a few steps to get to Byleth. She only had a scant few moments before Miklan completed his transformation. She told Byleth, "This beast will be much stronger than one you might find in the forest. We must be prepared."

Byleth whipped his head towards her. "I... how do you know that?" His face looked neutral at a glance, but the way his eyes darted to her and the subtle purse of his lips indicated that he was apprehensive. That observation surprised Edelgard; she hadn't realized she was capable of reading his emotions.

From Byleth's responses both earlier and now, it was plain to see that Rhea hadn't warned him about the possibility of Miklan transforming into a demonic beast. That was odd, to say the least; Rhea should've fully known the consequences of using a Heroes' Relic without a crest.

Edelgard said, "There's no time, now. We need to prepare." Edelgard glanced at Miklan, who was now completely covered in sludge.

Byleth stared at her for a moment before he turned back to watch Miklan and nodded. "Right." He turned to face everyone and ordered, "Lance-users, I want you in the front, but don't fight him until I say so. Any other melee fighters, stay near me, and everyone else should stay in the backline. We don't know what we're facing, so be prepared for-"

Byleth was interrupted by the piercing screech of a demonic beast. The thing that was once Miklan was a hulking, heavily armored creature with glowing red eyes.

The rest of Edelgard's class moved to their positions. Edelgard didn't need to move, since she was already standing next to Byleth. She readied her axe.

The beast stood up, shaking off the rest of the sludge.

Byleth held the Sword of the Creator high in the air. Edelgard spared only a quick glance at his face, but he suddenly seemed much more self-assured than before - confident. It was the self-assuredness that always brought comfort to her when she wasn't sure about what the future may hold. She wasn't sure how he composed himself so quickly, but he was Byleth. That was just who he was.

Byleth swung his arm and extended the sword, the blade hitting the beast's neck while the tip curled around it. Byleth shouted, "Lances, backline, attack!"

Ferdinand and Sylvain ran up to the front of the beast, using the long reach of their lances to attempt to pierce the beast's chest while still keeping their distance. However, Byleth was only holding the beast's head immobile; its arms were still free. The beast lifted one of its front arms and sweeped it at Sylvain. Sylvain jumped back at the last second, and Ferdinand managed to hit the beast's opposite arm at the same time. Edelgard couldn't see Ferdinand's strike from her vantage point, but, when he withdrew to avoid retaliation from the beast, he was no longer holding his lance. It seemed that the lance had pierced too deep, and he couldn't yank it back out.

A couple of arrows soared at the beast, but they ricocheted harmlessly off of the beast's thick hide. Hubert's black magic and a strike of Dorothea's lightning magic hit at the same time, but the beast seemed to be unaffected.

Ferdinand said, "My lance!"

Once Ferdinand and Sylvain were sufficiently away from the beast, Byleth yanked his sword downwards, rending a long, bloody cut all the way around the beast's neck. Byleth retracted his sword back into its normal form; when he did so, Edelgard could see that the cut at the beast's neck wasn't actually that deep.

Edelgard felt rather useless, standing there without doing anything. She asked, "Professor?"

Byleth took the normal steel sword he usually kept at his waist and tossed it to Ferdinand. Ferdinand caught it easily by the sheath. Byleth said, "Keep your distance; everyone. We don't know what it can do, yet." He extended his sword again, wrapping it around one of the beast's front legs - the uninjured one. Edelgard saw him try to yank and make the beast go off-balance, but he wasn't strong enough to move it.

Edelgard took a throwing axe from her belt and aimed it at the beast's neck, where Byleth had made the shallow cut with the Sword of the Creator. She threw it, but the beast moved and the axe bounced off of the unharmed skin on its neck. She said to Byleth, "I know what it can do."

The backline followed Edelgard's example, aiming at the beast's exposed neck. The beast moved out of the way of Bernadetta's arrow and Dorothea's Thoron, but Hubert's Mire managed to land right on the exposed flesh. It left a corrosive, purple stain, and the beast screamed in pain.

Byleth withdrew his sword in the same way as before, but it didn't leave quite as clean a cut as the same maneuver did on the beast's neck. The bones and muscles in the beast's arm gave it an odd curvature, so the sword only managed to cut through some bulging muscle. Once the sword was back in its normal form, Byleth said, "Then do what you need to." He extended his sword again, trying to pierce into the beast's side, but it barely even pierced the skin without being wrapped around it.

With those few words, Byleth had placed complete trust in Edelgard and her knowledge of the demonic beast. He had essentially just given her permission to act against orders. And it was only because she had said that she knew something. Edelgard tried to make eye contact with Byleth, but he was looking away. She wanted to ask him why he would put so much trust in her, but now wasn't the time.

Edelgard had never taken down a relic-infused demonic beast herself, but she had seen it done before. She knew that the weakest spot in the beast's defense was its eyes. (The mouth was a weak spot, too, but only while it was open.) The eyes were a small target, but it was possible that Bernadetta's aim would still be able to hit the mark. And perhaps Hubert's magic was a large enough projectile to blind it. She said, "Bernadetta and Hubert, aim for the eyes! Everyone else, let us overwhelm it with numbers!"

Byleth said, "Do what she says! Spread out as much as you can so you don't get hit at once."

To their credit, the Black Eagles took the odd joint order in stride. The melee attackers surrounded the demonic beast in a semicircle, since the beast was against the wall. The healers and ranged attackers stayed in the back, but spread out as well. Edelgard stood near the beast's already injured arm. Byleth stood right in front of the beast, attacking it wildly with the Sword of the Creator to get its attention. The beast roared and swiped a claw at Byleth. Edelgard expected him to dodge out of the way, but he only put his sword in front of him to guard and took the hit, getting pushed back several feet.

Edelgard shouted, "Professor!"

When he slowed, Byleth grabbed the dagger from his belt with his left hand and jammed it into the bottom of the beast's foot. The beast cried out in pain. Byleth said, "Now!"

Edelgard wanted to help Byleth, but she forced herself to turn her attention back to the beast. Just as she turned away, she saw Byleth glow with a Physic spell. He would be fine.

Edelgard planted her feet firmly on the ground and swung her axe at the beast's leg, just below where Ferdinand's lance was stuck in its flesh. Her axe cleaved straight through the beast's skin and into muscle, tearing through whatever tissue wasn't already damaged by Ferdinand's strike. Vibrations shot up her arms when her axe struck bone. She yanked on her weapon, forcefully freeing it before the beast could move and make her lose her grip.

Edelgard quickly jumped back, knowing that Byleth had only bought them a few seconds to attack. She could see her classmates doing the same.

Byleth shouted, "Petra, move!" Edelgard saw Petra leap away from the wall, only for the beast to lash its tail and take out the nearby chunk of wall instantly, pieces of it falling to the ground. If Petra had even been a second later, she might've been crushed.

The beast withdrew its arm from Byleth. Byleth sent the Sword of the Creator out again, probably trying to bind one of the beast's limbs, but the movement left him open to attacks. The beast took advantage and swiped sideways at Byleth.

Edelgard was only a few steps too far away to help him. She ran in his direction, but she knew she would be too late.

Suddenly, Gilbert appeared from behind. He stepped in front of Byleth and pushed him back. However, Gilbert didn't have enough time to put up his shield against the beast's attack, and he went flying several feet and fell to the ground. His giant shield flew out of his hands and skated against the floor with the screeching sound of metal on stone. It came to a stop near Edelgard.

Gilbert was alive, but the wind had been knocked out of him. He probably had internal damage, too. If it were anyone else who had gotten hit, they would probably be dead, or close to it.

Byleth jerked his sword up to retaliate, but the beast retreated out of the way. Byleth retracted his sword and stood in front of Gilbert.

"I've got him!", Mercedes shouted. She ran up to Gilbert and crouched down, casting a point-blank healing spell on him.

Byleth kept his eyes on the beast, which was recoiling from the ranged attacks of the students. "Gilbert's too close; someone needs to move him."

Mercedes replied, "He's too heavy, we can't." Gilbert was so heavily armored that no one would be able to pull him away quick enough.

"He'll be hit by attacks if we take much longer," Byleth said. "We need to end this, now!"

The demonic beast recovered from the magic it had been hit with, and lifted one of its legs to attack again.

Edelgard picked up Gilbert's shield and held it in both hands. She ran towards the beast, fully intending to take the hit. Edelgard held the shield above her head just as the beast stomped down with its gigantic foot. She was almost crushed by its sheer weight, not to mention the force of the beast trying to push her down. As the shield slightly dented in and the floor cracked beneath her feet, she realized that the power of her twin crests was probably the only thing keeping her standing. She shouted, "Go!"

During the next few moments, she couldn't see what was happening around her. A flash of purple - Petra slicing into a back leg with her sword. A burst of white and a numbing feeling in her arms - Dorothea casting a Thunder spell on the beast. A glimpse of a bright sword glowing red - Byleth, stabbing the beast's chest. The beast cried out in agony.

Then, Edelgard heard another set of footsteps from behind. She could see Sylvain as he passed her and ran straight at the demonic beast, his lance held with both hands. With a wordless shout, he thrust the lance up into the beast's neck, rending a large tear through it. He stepped back, breathing heavily.

Byleth shouted, "Everyone, back!"

Edelgard put all of her strength into her legs and leaped back from under the beast's foot. Just as she stopped supporting its weight, the foot slammed down onto the floor with a cracking noise. Everyone else in the room retreated as far as they could, still surrounding the beast.

Ferdinand said, "Professor, what are your ord-"

Byleth held up a hand, and Ferdinand stopped talking. Staring at the beast, Byleth said, "It's dead."

Blood poured out of the beast's neck and splashed onto the floor. It staggered, pitching to the side and barely catching itself in time. Then, it pitched in the opposite direction, and its severely injured leg wasn't enough to support its weight. Its leg gave out and the beast fell to the ground, making a groaning sound from somewhere in its throat. After several long moments, its body went completely still - dead.

A rather pitiful death for such a powerful beast.

The beast's body disintegrated quickly, turning to dust before disappearing completely. With the beast's body gone, only Miklan was left lying there, still holding the Lance of Ruin.

Edelgard heard Bernadetta's voice from behind. "Is he...?"

Byleth walked forward, bent down, and put his fingers to Miklan's neck, checking his pulse. "He's dead."

Byleth stood back up. At the same time, Sylvain staggered forward. He fell to his knees in front of Miklan's body. Edelgard could only see him from the back, and she couldn't even imagine what his face might look like.

Sylvain's voice was quiet. Defeated. "Miklan, you absolute... idiot."

Byleth put his hand on Sylvain's shoulder. He wasn't sure how to comfort people with words, so actions were all he truly had.

After a while, Sylvain suddenly stood up, and Byleth removed his hand from Sylvain's shoulder. Sylvain, still staring at Miklan's body, said, "Are we ready to go?"

Byleth replied, "Whenever you are."

Sylvain picked up his lance from where he'd let it fall next to him. "Let's go, then."

The walk back down to the foot of the tower was quiet. Byleth kept an eye on Sylvain, but Sylvain seemed to gain confidence with every step. Byleth wasn't sure how much of his confidence was faked, but he got the feeling that Sylvain wouldn't appreciate him questioning about it.

At the bottom of the tower, Byleth told everyone to take a break before loading up the supplies. They spent about half an hour resting and eating the rations they'd packed. Byleth sat by himself in the back of one of the wagons, while most of the students scattered about on the grass. The entire group was silent at first, but conversations bubbled up here and there by the end of the break.

Byleth was officially in charge of the mission, but he let Gilbert oversee loading the supplies back into the wagons. Byleth took it upon himself to see to the Lance of Ruin, which he quickly but carefully wrapped in a cloth and bound with rope. He didn't want to touch it for very long, after seeing what it had done to Miklan. He placed it under the bench of the first wagon, where he would be sitting.

As Byleth walked back to the main group, he saw Sylvain and Mercedes walking towards him. Sylvain didn't have any of the traces of the sadness from before. Byleth imagined it wasn't possible to recover from the death of one's brother so quickly, but Sylvain seemed to have recovered enough to push the feelings aside.

Sylvain was holding weapons that they had taken from the men in the tower. He was holding so many weapons that he needed both arms to carry them, while Mercedes was holding nothing. It was probably due to that odd sense of chivalry Sylvain seemed to have.

Byleth heard some of their conversation as they walked towards him. Sylvain said, "I don't know, won't that be weird?"

Mercedes said, "Of course not! You should go for it!" She looked away from Sylvain and saw Byleth. "Look, he's even right here!"

"Talk about timing."

Byleth stopped in front of them. "Did you need me for something?"

Sylvain replied, "Actually, yeah. Um, how do I put this..." He looked down and kicked at the dirt. The nervous action looked odd while he was carrying armfuls of weapons.

Mercedes said, "You can do it! You ask girls out all the time."

"Well, yeah, but this is different."

Byleth had the horrible realization that Sylvain might be asking him out.

Sothis teased, "Maybe he ran out of girls?"

Byleth hoped not. He wasn't sure what he would do if Sylvain did actually ask him out. He was fairly certain that professors couldn't go on dates with their students. Was Sylvain expecting him to disobey that rule? He wondered how he should refuse Sylvain. Did he need to let him down gently? Byleth wouldn't even know how to go about that. Maybe it was better to just be direct?

He decided to be direct. That was all he knew how to do, after all.

Sylvain said, "Can I join your class? The Black Eagles, I mean."

Sylvain wanted to join the Black Eagles?

Byleth was filled with relief. Sylvain... wasn't asking him out? He was happy to be wrong about that.

Sothis laughed. "How funny! You always jump to such interesting conclusions."

You thought he was asking me out, too. You suggested that he ran out of girls.

"Oh, that? I was just teasing! Yet, it was hilarious how you took my words so seriously! Oh, how I wish I could've seen your face at that moment."

There wouldn't have been much to see. Byleth knew he wasn't the most expressive person.

"Well, that is true..."

Sylvain waved his hand in front of Byleth's face. "Um, hello? This is House Gautier, reporting to Professor Byleth. Are you there?"

Byleth realized how long he had been standing still and saying nothing. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"You may join the Black Eagles. I need to check with my current students first, but it shouldn't be a problem. I'll talk with Hanneman when we arrive back at the monastery to figure out the details." There was one thing Byleth was curious about. "Is there any particular reason for the transfer?"

Sylvain smiled. "Really? That's great! Thanks, Professor. And, if you want to know the reason..." He paused. "I've been with your class on two assignments out of the year already, yeah? So I've been able to see how you all work together and how I fit into the group. And, I like the group. There's a lot less friend drama here than in the Blue Lions, and there are more cute girls here, as a nice bonus." Sylvain quickly glanced at Mercedes. "No offense, Mercedes."

Mercedes smiled. "None taken."

It was a much more long and thought-out answer than Byleth expected, but he supposed that switching classes would be a hard decision. It was no wonder that Sylvain had several reasons for it. "The Black Eagles will be happy to have you."

Hello! I finally got this chapter out!

Sorry it took so long, I injured my wrists and then actually writing the chapter gave me some trouble too, haha. Not completely satisfied with how the chap turned out, but thought I'd get it out there anyways.

Lots of Sylvain in this chapter, but he's now officially part of the Black Eagle gang! It was also everyone's first time seeing a demonic beast transformation, aside from Edelgard. I wonder how she knew so much about demonic beasts ;D

Next chapter will be shorter, just a few scenes after they return to the monastery. But after that we're getting into some real exciting stuff! I'm pumped to write it.

Not sure what my posting schedule will be, considering school and my possible participation in nanowrimo, but next chapter should get out more quickly than this one did.

Until next time!