Time for the conclusion to the Holy Tomb battle. Hope you're all ready for a heart-wrencher.

Chapter 111 – Fateful Farewell (Pegasus Moon)

Byleth could scarcely believe what she was seeing as Edelgard proudly proclaimed her title as Flame Emperor. Her grip on the Sword of the Creator grew weak from shock.

How could Edelgard be the Flame Emperor? Byleth's first instinct was to look for the possibility that this was an imposter. But upon seeing Edelgard's stance, hearing her voice, and seeing the conviction in her eyes, she had no doubt that it was the genuine article.

"Edelgard…?" Byleth said silently.

Edelgard turned her gaze toward the green-haired teacher and said, "I'm sorry, my teacher. I will make no excuses. I cut this path, and now I must follow it."

The loud sound of footsteps caught everyone's attention as Constance strode furiously toward Edelgard and, upon reaching her, slapped the emperor across the cheek. Edelgard took the blow with barely a reaction.

"What has possessed you to go through with this?!" Constance shouted.

Edelgard replied, "I have considered every angle. I have wavered and suffered, and now my resolve is firm. Now confess…" She then raised her voice, addressing everyone in the Holy Tomb as she said, "Had I told you, any of you, would you have kept my secret?"

Indignantly, Constance answered, "Absolutely not! I would have moved against you without a moment's hesitation!"

The looks on the others showed they either agreed with Constance or were left with uncertainty, but none looked as though they would have sided with Edelgard.

"As I thought," said Edelgard. "That is precisely why I did not tell any of you." She turned briefly to Dorothea and added, "Not even you, Dorothea."

Dorothea looked at Edelgard in despair at these words and whimpered, "Edie…"

Edelgard then looked back at Constance and glared as she said, "Now get out of my way."

"I will do no such thing!" said Constance.

Constance was quick to raise her hand to slap Edelgard again, but this time Edelgard quickly swung a fist into Constance's gut. The blonde groaned as she stumbled back from such a powerful blow and then collapsed to the floor, clutching her injury.

"Constance!" shouted Ferdinand.

Edelgard then turned to her soldiers and shouted, "Take away every last one of those Crest Stones!"

Before the soldiers could continue the battle, Rhea shouted, "That is enough! Do you even know what those stones are?!"

"They are the key to freeing Fódlan from the tyranny of your order, Rhea. Your Church has perpetuated a system that leads Fódlan to a slow, inevitable demise. I will remove that system, and Fódlan shall embrace a new dawn without the influence of Crests."

Rhea was almost shaking with outrage as she said in a tone of barely suppressed fury, "You disappoint me, Edelgard. To think that a descendant of House Hresvelg would dare betray the holy church… You shame your ancestors and our creator with your actions!" Rhea then turned and shouted, "Catherine! Kill Edelgard von Hresvelg at once!"

Dorothea visibly flinched at hearing such a command from Rhea's lips.

"What?! Rhea, no!" Byleth protested.

"Be silent, Professor! She is a danger to all of Fódlan! Such a rebellious heart cannot be allowed to keep beating! Catherine!"

"By your command, Lady Rhea," Catherine said in grim determination as she readied Thunderbrand.

"Wait!" said Dimitri, his single word stunning everyone in the Holy Tomb. Then, with a bloodthirsty smile, he said, "Allow me, Lady Rhea."

Rhea paused for a moment to look at Dimitri's face, as did Byleth and Dorothea. All three could see the killing intent in his eyes.

"As you wish, Prince Dimitri," said Rhea.

Dimitri let a sinister chuckle as he tightened his grip on his silver lance and stormed his way toward Edelgard.

As he did, Dorothea suddenly rushed toward him and said, "Wait! Dimitri, stop! You can't – AAH!"

Dorothea shrieked as Dimitri grabbed her shoulder and shoved her aside, sending the diva tumbling down a flight of stairs. The others watched in horror as Dorothea reached the bottom and slowly tried to push herself back up.

As she rose again, Dorothea said in protest, "Dimitri!"

Rhea glared at Dorothea's actions, her suspicions of treason resurfacing as Flayn looked at her in worry. At the same time, Byleth looked at her and could tell exactly what was going through the diva's mind.

She could not bear to see two people she cared for about to fight one another.

"Dimitri, stop!" Dorothea pleaded again.

"Dedue, restrain her," Dimitri said commandingly.

"At once, Your Highness."

Dorothea scrambled to her feet and tried to intercept Dimitri again, but screamed as Dedue grabbed her by the arms and wrested them behind her back.

"Dimitri! Please! You can't! Dedue, let me go!"

"You will not interfere, Dorothea," Dedue said taciturnly.

"Let me go! Professor! Please, stop him! Please!"

Byleth moved to intercept Dimitri when she was suddenly surrounded by rings of white magical energy. These rings wrapped around her, binding her arms to her sides.

Knowing who had cast the spell, Byleth looked up and shouted, "Rhea! You can't let him–"

"For your own good, Professor Eisner, you will remain where you are," said Rhea. "If she is allowed to live, Fódlan will be plunged into an era of chaos unseen since the days of Nemesis. Edelgard must die."

"Nemesis…" Edelgard said as she kept her gaze on Dimitri. "You paint Nemesis the villain in another of your lies, Rhea. Saint Seiros did not kill him because he became corrupted. She killed him in a mere power struggle because he wouldn't fall in line with your founder's ideals like my ancestor, Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg, did."

Now unable to contain her outrage, Rhea shouted, "BLASPHEMY! How dare you besmirch our founder's memory with your apostasy!" Rhea then turned and shouted, "Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd! Silence this heretic once and for all!"

"It would be my pleasure," Dimitri said with a smile.

"Dimitri, stop it!" Byleth shouted. "Rhea, let me go! AAGH!"

The rings tightened around Byleth, causing her to cry out in pain.

"You have no idea how much it pains me to do this to you, Professor," said Rhea.

Surprised, Byleth looked up to see Rhea's face now filling with regret as the Archbishop looked back at her.

Dimitri was now only a few meters away from Edelgard, his stance without any of his usual discipline or pride. Off to the side, Felix glared at the prince, knowing what was to come.

Dimitri then said in a crazed voice, "I've been looking for you, Edelgard… Before I break your neck, there is one thing I must ask you."

"Stay out of my way," Edelgard said commandingly.

"I don't recall giving you permission to speak. Answer my question. That is all you have left to do. Edelgard… no. Flame Emperor. Tell me now. Why did you cause such a tragedy? You killed your own mother at Duscur, and yet you haven't even had the decency to stop and consider the reasons behind your actions. Have you?!"

Both Dorothea and Byleth were stunned to hear such an accusation from Dimitri.

"I already told you, I had nothing to do with that," said Edelgard.

"Ha! It was foolish to think I could reason with a lowly beast. I will take that head from your shoulders … AND HANG IT FROM THE GATES OF ENBARR!"

The blonde prince rushed forward and made a wild swing of his lance. Edelgard met the strike with Aymr.

"STOOOOOP!" Dorothea screamed in tears.

Dimitri began making a series of wild, aggressive swings and lunges at Edelgard, striking so frequently and with such ferocity that Edelgard was forced on the defensive. Even with the superior weapon, Edelgard was slowed by her heavy armor. She hissed and scowled as Dimitri attacked again and again, with the emperor hard-pressed to fend off his assault.

Edelgard's mind raced as she continued to block and avoid Dimitri's attacks. In his aggression, Dimitri left himself repeatedly open to counterattack. Edelgard knew she could exploit it if she could just get a moment to attack, but he was barely even giving her any time to defend. Meanwhile, across the Holy Tomb, the Imperial soldiers resumed their battle with the students.

Dorothea struggled to free herself from Dedue's grip, but the Duscuri man's strength far outclassed hers. As she thrashed about, Dorothea watched in horror as the others began fighting the Imperials again.

Mercedes made a loud choking gasp when an Imperial brawler rushed up, grabbed her by the throat with both hands, and pushed her hard to the ground. The blonde healer winced as she tried to break herself free, her vision blurring as she was deprived of air. The brawler made a sinister chuckle as he continued choking the life out of her until an arrow from Shamir pierced through his neck. The brawler released his grip on Mercedes and grasped at the arrow in a futile attempt to remove it, but within moments, he fell to the ground and breathed his last while Mercedes gasped and coughed for breath.

Lysithea let out a loud shriek as she was hit in her leg by a crossbow bolt and fell to the ground on her side. With tears of pain in her eyes, she finished her Swarm Z spell, unleashing magical insects on her attacker, who screamed as the swarm tore away at him. The white-haired mage then clutched at the bolt in her leg as Ingrid grabbed her collar and pulled her to cover. The blonde had been wounded by a slash to her left arm, but the wound had been partially healed.

As he chased after two Imperials who had taken several Crest Stones, Raphael howled in pain as he was hit in his left shoulder by a fireball. He crashed to the ground on his back as his leather pauldron caught fire. He quickly ripped off the piece of armor and threw it aside, burning his right hand in the process. Then, before another fireball could hit him, he was surrounded by a magical ward cast by Lorenz.

"Pull back, Raphael!" Lorenz shouted. "You are outmatched by our foes!"

"But they're getting away!" Raphael protested.

"Do not be a fool! Retreat!"

Realizing Lorenz was right, Raphael cursed as he scrambled to his feet and ran back from the enemy mages just as another spell shattered Lorenz's ward. The purple-haired noble quickly followed Raphael's retreat.

The sight of her friends being overwhelmed, coupled with seeing Edelgard take a glancing slash to her waist from Dimitri's lance, was more than Dorothea could take.

"NO! STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP! PLEASE!" she screamed. "EDIE!"

Edelgard grunted loudly as another of Dimitri's strikes smashed into Aymr, sending her skidding back on her feet across the stone floor of the Holy Tomb. She was about to resume her clash with the prince when several shouts behind her alerted her to several Imperial soldiers as they rushed to defend their emperor.

"Protect Her Majesty! For the Empire!" one of the soldiers shouted.

Six Imperials with swords and lances ran at Dimitri, who roared as he swung his lance. The Minor Crest of Blaiddyd fueled his strike as he slashed through four of them with a single blow. He then raised his lance like a javelin and threw it into the forehead of a fifth soldier, killing him instantly.

The sixth soldier growled "Why you!" as he raised his sword.

Dimitri immediately lunged a hand forward and grabbed the man's head. The soldier gagged for a moment, dropping his blade as he struggled to free himself from Dimitri's grip.

A second later, Byleth watched in horror as Dimitri crushed the man's skull in his hand, and the prince made a sinister snicker as his face was stained with blood.

Dimitri released the dead man, walked over to the fifth dead soldier and pulled his lance out of the man's head.

He then said with another laugh, "Time to die, El!"

Hearing the nickname filled Edelgard with anger. In her mind, Dimitri's use of the treasured name her mother and father would call her was an insult she would not suffer.

"You've brought this on yourself, Dimitri!"

Edelgard's white hair billowed as her eyes lit up with green energy and power crackled around her. The others watched in awe as the Minor Crest of Seiros first appeared over her head, and then was joined by a second, unmistakable Crest.

Rhea's eyes shot wide with indignation at the sight of the Crest of Flames.

"WITNESS MY POWER!" Edelgard roared as she swung Aymr at Dimitri.

Dimitri, as if sensing the power of the blow that was coming, finally gained enough sense to block Edelgard's attack.

The blow cleaved his lance clean in two, and though Aymr only grazed Dimitri's chest, the prince let out an earsplitting howl as he was sent careening across the Holy Tomb and into a wall, which cracked deeply as he hit it.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

As Dimitri fell from the wall and crashed to the ground, his eyes frozen open in shock as he lost consciousness, Dedue released his grip on Dorothea and ran to the prince.

Dorothea slowly turned back toward Edelgard, watching her surge with the power of her twin Crests. After a second, the power receded as Edelgard took a deep breath.

"Edie…?" Dorothea said silently.

As if on cue, after Dorothea spoke, Edelgard suddenly grimaced as if someone had stabbed her. She struggled to stay standing as blood began to leak from her eyes like tears.

Edelgard knew she was in trouble. She had never used both Crests simultaneously before, but Thales had told her of its risks. A human body was never meant to bear two Crests, much less use two at the same time. She could feel herself growing weaker by the second.

Despite her wounds, she still heard Rhea as she hissed silently, "Kisama…" She then shouted, "You will suffer for your transgressions, Edelgard! CATHERINE!"

Edelgard quickly looked back toward the Crusader as the blonde immediately responded to Rhea's command. Catherine rushed toward Edelgard with Thunderbrand poised to strike.

She knew she couldn't continue fighting in her state.

"Hubert, to me!" Edelgard called out.

One of the mages, dressed in black and wearing a strange black mask, raised his hand and cast forth a Banshee Θ spell, surrounding Catherine in a swarm of dark spirits. Catherine howled as she was struck by the spell and immobilized. The mage then pulled a crystal from his belt and, with a wave of his hand, teleported himself to Edelgard's side.

The mage pulled off his mask at this moment, revealing Hubert's smug smile.

"I guess that's the end of play-at-school, Lady Edelgard," said Hubert. "I mean, 'Your Majesty'."

"Hubert…" Byleth said as she glared at him.

"We will withdraw, for now," said Edelgard as she and Hubert were surrounded by magical light.

The two of them warped back to the teleporter, with Hubert casting aside the spent crystal as it shattered like glass. The surviving Imperial soldiers were already warping out of the Holy Tomb with bags of Crest Stones in their grasp.

Edelgard was about to turn to make her exit when Dorothea shouted, "EDIE, WAIT!"

Stopping, Edelgard turned to see the singer on the level below her, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes.

"Edie… how… how could you…?" Dorothea could barely form a sentence in her state.

"I am sorry, Dorothea," said Edelgard. "But I can no longer be your friend anymore."

"Edie… Edie, wait…"

Edelgard turned and, not daring to show the regret she felt in her heart, stepped toward the teleporter and vanished through it with Hubert in tow.

Dorothea looked up at where Edelgard had once been as Rhea began to shout in rage.

"To flee is futile, wicked girl! The Church of Seiros will raise its entire army against you, until you have been captured and punished! You have defiled the Holy Tomb, dishonored the goddess, and humiliated your brethren! That crime will never be erased, even if you burn in the eternal flames, and spill all of your blood into the goddess's soil!"

Byleth glared at Rhea as the Archbishop released her spell, freeing Byleth from the white rings of magic. Rhea began making her way down the stairs leading to the throne of Sothis as Byleth marched up to her, prompting Rhea to glare back at her.

"Professor, take Miss Arnault into custody," said Rhea.

"What? Rhea–"

"Do it, or I will have Catherine do it for you. The girl is to be questioned for anything she may know of Edelgard's plans."

For a moment, Byleth was silent with indignation.

"No."

"Profess–"

"No, enough is enough. She's done NOTHING to deserve this kind of cruelty from you."

"She is the betrayer's close friend. She must have known somethi–"

Everyone who was looking at the exchange froze in shock as Byleth slapped Rhea across the cheek. The Archbishop was silent, her eyes conveying her surprise as she touched her stinging face.

"NO ONE knew a damn thing about what Edelgard was planning, Rhea! She had us all fooled!"

"Teach is right, Rhea," said Claude. "She must've been planning this for months, maybe years. And you heard her say it: she didn't tell anyone about it, not even Dorothea."

"Are you intending to punish Dorothea for being deceived?!"

As the Archbishop stared back at her, Byleth fought against every impulse she had to strike Rhea again. But after a few seconds, Rhea let out a sigh, and Byleth knew she had gotten the point across.

Byleth then said, "Claude, help tend to the wounded."

"Right, got it, Teach," Claude said in an exhausted tone.

Byleth walked down from the stairwell and looked around the Holy Tomb. The sanctum had been wrecked, with broken caskets and shattered pillars littering the area. To her dismay, all of the students had been wounded, with Hilda, Dimitri, Caspar, Leonie and Sylvain being severely injured. Only Flayn and Seteth had emerged unharmed.

They had failed to protect the Holy Tomb. The Imperials had made off with many of the Crest Stones.

Byleth grimaced as she walked down toward Dorothea, who was now on her knees as she cried silently with her arms limp at her sides.

"Dorothea…?"

Dorothea did not respond.

Byleth placed a hand on her shoulder, and the singer began wailing as she buried herself in Byleth's embrace.

And now the path to war begins.

I'm going to touch on Byleth choosing her side in another chapter, as it would've been too much to go over in this one. Needless to say, Rhea's got her work cut out for her if she ever wants Byleth to trust her again. But hey, I let Byleth give her the slap to the face she deserved, right?

I also changed the scene so that Rhea orders Catherine to kill Edelgard instead of Byleth, as Rhea seems to know Byleth is too conflicted to do the deed. But then Dimitri comes up and says he'll do it, and so we get a brutal fight between him and Edelgard, complete with her using both Crests at once (something which can't normally happen in-game).

We're closing in on the pre-timeskip finale. As we're getting there, I've gotten quite a few reviews that are concerned about how I'm going to handle the post-timeskip story. Well, needless to say, we're still going to be seeing quite a few of the same things you see in-game (i.e. Byleth commandeers Garreg Mach, raises an army, fights her way to Enbarr, etc), but I hope to introduce enough differences to the story to keep you all entertained. It's not quite going to be Silver Snow, nor Azure Moon, nor Verdant Wind. It's going to be something else.