Author's Notes:
Finally, the final battle of the Valmese campaign! But, the end of the chapter may not be what you're expecting.
With this chapter, this story reaches over 200k words. To be completely honest, this story is longer than what I had initially expected, but I do not think that's necessarily a bad thing. Thank you to everyone that's been reading. I know I'm not a professional writer, and the support certainly makes me feel good on the inside. If you haven't yet, please feel free to leave a review so that I can know if you're enjoying my story.
A bit of a shorter chapter this time, at least compared to the more recent chapters. However, you can certainly expect the next chapter to be a good one. Once again, it is another late night post. However, I found it necessary to keep writing until I finished the chapter. I ended up getting a little carried away and lost track of time.
In the meantime, here is chapter 30:
Valm Castle…
"Th-they… There must be at least a hundred thousand soldiers out there!" Excellus exclaimed in a panic. "Would they dare!? Is it… is it possible that it was Yen'fay they feared all along, and not me?"
"Hmph." Walhart grunted as his wounds were being treated. "Without him to back you up, your threat was only the grand shadow of a tiny spider."
"Tiny spider, is it?" Excellus asked, his voice dripping with anger. "Well this spider has woven other webs in secret that even you can't-"
"You mean how you blackmailed Yen'fay to keep his loyalty?" Walhart interrupted. "Or perhaps your correspondence with that Plegian woman… Aversa was it? Yes, I know you have designs for the Fire Emblem… you have no secrets from me, worm."
"B-b-but… I don't… I-if you knew… then… why?" Excellus stammered, completely dumbstruck.
"Why haven't I killed you then?" Walhart chuckled. "I've wondered the exact same thing, several times, in fact. But you're of no threat to me. And, I will admit, you do have your uses. I'm not one for court jesters, but you do amuse me."
"Amuse you?" Excellus asked. "I AMUSE you, like a jester!? Are you AMUSED now!? With a million swords at your door, coming for your head? You've lost, LOST! And you're going to DIE! ALL OF YOU! But not me. I want no part of this suicide!"
Excellus prepared to storm off. At least, that's how he envisioned it would go after he said his part.
Walhart's eyes bulged and an extremely intimidating expression appeared on his face. "Why Excellus, did you just VOLUNTEER to lead my personal guard against the rebels? How GENEROUS of you!"
"What!?" Excellus protested. "No! That's preposterous!"
"Unless you'd rather fight me, right here, right now." Walhart roared as he stood up and picked up his axe.
"Mercy! Mercy!" Excellus immediately fell to his knees in front of him. "F-forgive me, my master! It was but a moment's madness… it will not return, I assure you!"
"Then it's settled: we have a new captain of the guard." Walhart scoffed at him as he turned to leave. "Congratulations, captain. You'll be right at my side until the fray is upon us."
When the Conqueror finally left, Excellus was left panting on the ground in fear.
"Do give our guests a warm welcome, snake." Cervantes chuckled as he endeavored to follow Walhart. "Perhaps offer them some of your tea? My equal…" the General let out a hearty laugh. "Pah!"
When they both left, Excellus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Those imbeciles! They forget who I am! I could have fried them both where they stood with my magic! We will crush these rebels.., we MUST crush these rebels! Or maybe… if Walhart is sufficiently injured, I might 'amuse' him with a spell!" Excellus began to giggle. "Either way… this spider crawls out alive!"
Around Valm Castle…
Cordelia was currently making some lunch for the shepherds. It was her shift in the kitchen after all. Unfortunately, they didn't really have an opportunity to go shop for fresh ingredients, so she had to work with what they had with them, which turned out to me mostly dried or preserved food. What's more, Robin instructed her to make something light, so that they won't be sluggish from digestion when they do invade the castle.
She sighed, and began to pick out some ingredients to use from the storage caravan. She finally decided on what she was making and carried the ingredients back to the kitchen in the dining hall. It was one of the few tents they had set up; they weren't camping for the night after all. As soon as she made sure she had everything, she began to cook.
Moments later, the kitchen door opened, and Sumia walked in.
"Cordelia!" The Dark Flier exclaimed. "I knew I'd find you here!"
"Your intuition must be pretty good." Cordelia joked with a straight face, not even bothering to look up from her work.
"Hardly." Sumia giggled. "I just asked around, and apparently it was your turn to cook, so I thought I'd check here."
"And did you need something?" Cordelia asked as she finished slicing a loaf of bread, allowing herself to finally look up at her friend.
"Well, I have something to tell you that you might find interesting." Sumia said as she placed both her hands behind her back. "Remember what you asked me to find out? Well, I have the results."
This immediately sparked Cordelia's attention. "Oh? And what did she say!?"
"You'll never believe this." Sumia giggled. "She has a crush on Robin! ROBIN! And from the looks of it, it seems pretty bad too!"
Cordelia's eyes went wide, and a smile began to slowly form on her lips. "That's wonderful!" Cordelia exclaimed, as she rushed over and grasped Sumia by her shoulders. "That's just fantastic!"
"Um… is there a particular reason?" Sumia asked, quite perplexed by her friend's reaction.
"U-um… well," Cordelia laughed sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. "All right, I'll tell you, but if anyone asks, you didn't hear it from me."
Sumia gave Cordelia a curious look. "Sure. My lips are sealed."
"Robin has a crush on Lucina as well." Cordelia whispered to her. "Gaius and the others got it out of him."
"Wh-what!?" Sumia squeaked. "R-really?"
"Yeah!" Cordelia nodded. "So if Lucina is into him as well, that would be perfect!"
"Ohh…." Sumia practically swooned. "This IS just like a romance novel! Robin… the great tactician who never found true love… gets the ice in his heart melted by the princess that time travels from the future in order to save the past… who happens to share deep feelings for him as well… yes I can already see the story that the bards will write about them!"
"Take it easy." Cordelia chuckled. "We wouldn't want you to faint before such a historic moment."
"And I already nudged Lucina in the right direction then!" Sumia realized. "Ooh… this will be good!"
"Calm down." Cordelia said more seriously. "I'm quite excited as well, but we should really only do something after we defeat Walhart. They both play an important role in our success. It wouldn't do us good to distract them before such an important battle."
"Yes, yes, you're right." Sumia admitted. "All right then, I'm really glad we had this talk. I'll let you finish the cooking then."
Sumia waved her friend goodbye and left the kitchen, squealing in delight.
"Right, finish cooking." Cordelia muttered to herself. "I'll tell Gaius about it after the battle as well. Maybe he'll be able to push Robin into making a move."
Meanwhile…
Robin was currently resting in his tent. The initial battle against Walhart took a lot of energy out of him. He knew for a fact that if they charged the castle immediately, they would have extremely poor results, assuming he was the one giving the commands. And so, he elected to take a short nap in order to help him recover faster. Although the shepherds hadn't set up too many tents, they did have some for them to use in order to have a shady place to rest. Technically, it wasn't HIS tent, per se, but most of the shepherds didn't bother him because they knew how important it was for Robin to be well rested. And so, Robin essentially had the tent to himself.
His plans to fall asleep was delayed when there was a tap on the entrance of the tent.
"Robin?" The voice of Lucina called from outside. "Could I… can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Robin sat up from his bedroll. "Come in."
Lucina lifted the flap and entered.
"I'm sorry, were you sleeping?" The future princess asked sheepishly. "Sorry for disturbing you."
"No, it's all right." Robin smiled. "I wasn't actually asleep anyways."
"Well, it's just… I was wondering if we could have a talk…" Lucina began.
"Well, sure." Robin blinked a few times. "Isn't that what we're doing right now?"
"Th-that's not what I meant!" Lucina shook her head as a shade of pink began to creep across her cheeks. "I meant… could we have a private conversation after we beat Walhart?"
"Sure…" Robin replied slowly as he furrowed his eyebrows. "What would it be about?"
"Um…." Lucina mumbled. "I just need to ask you something… something important. But after the battle, is that fine?"
"Yeah." Robin nodded. "All right, no problem."
"Promise?" Lucina asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"Yeah." Robin nodded again. "Promise."
The tactician let out a chuckle. "It must be something really important then. I suppose I'll look forward to it."
"All right, I'll hold you accountable to that." Lucina bowed in order to attempt to hide her deepening blush. "I should leave. You need some rest before we storm Valm Castle."
"Sure." Robin replied. "I'll talk with you more after the battle then."
Lucina turned around and left Robin's tent.
"What was that about?" Robin wondered to himself once he was alone again. Shrugging, he decided to not put too much thought into it and rested his head back down on his pillow. They didn't have too much time left, so he had to milk the opportunity and have a good rest.
Outside the tent, Lucina felt her heart beat twice as fast as usual. 'All right, you've already set yourself up with an opportunity.' she told herself mentally. 'That wasn't too bad, was it? All you've got to do now is to confess your feelings to him after the battle. No matter what his response is, telling him how I feel is the right thing to do."
She let out a sigh. "If I'm lucky, maybe he'll even agree to let me be his girlfriend… But regardless, that's something for after defeating Walhart. If anything, it's some extra motivation to make it through the battle.'
Lucina squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her hands on her cheeks. "Just thinking about it is making me so nervous!" she complained. "I never lack the courage to fight against the Risen, so why is this whole thing so troublesome for me?" she shook her head in frustration.
"That's something for future Lucina to worry about." She finally muttered to herself. "No need to worry about that right now." Sighing, she slowly walked towards the dining hall. It was almost time to eat, after all. It's a shame that Robin was skipping this meal, because Lucina would have loved to be able to sit next to him.
A Few Hours Later…
After the shepherds had rested enough, Chrom and Robin decided to make a move. The shepherds would enter the castle and lead the charge. There will be some soldiers that follow after their lead, while the rest of them will help the dynasts continue their siege, so that Walhart and his men cannot run away.
Following the plan, the shepherds were the first to make their way into Castle Valm.
Chrom squinted as soon as they entered the main hall of the castle.
"I think I see Walhart." The Exalt muttered. "He's sitting on his throne. It doesn't seem like he's thinking about escape."
"And his soldiers…" Robin noted. "They look ready to die before they surrender. One must admire their loyalty, at least."
"He does inspire that in people." Chrom conceded. "It's part of what makes him so dangerous… if only we had the inspiration he's capable of working on OUR side…"
"Well, he inspires SOME people." Robin chuckled.
"Yes." Chrom chuckled. "In some people, but not me."
"Shepherds!" Robin declared. "Remember what we discussed! Let us march forward and unseat the Conqueror!"
The Shepherds roared in agreement. They raised their weapons and charged the Valmese Imperial Guard.
They were met by a pair of Valmese Heroes and a pair of Valmese Warriors. Kellam, Frederick, Stahl and Sully led the charge, carving a path for their allies. They each engaged one of the Valmese, allowing for their ranged friends to target the preoccupied enemies.
"There are some Generals trying to flank us from the hallways to our sides." Robin informed the rest of them. "Vaike and Lon'qu, protect our left flank. Gregor and Donnel, protect our right. But that won't be enough to defeat them, so all mages be prepared to cast your spells towards them as well."
The shepherds shifted to follow Robin's instructions. True to their tactician's words, the four fighters were unable to do much against the heavy armor of the Valmese Generals. Only Vaike was able to make a dent in their opponent's armor. However, they didn't need to do much. All they did was serve as a distraction for Miriel, Ricken, Maribelle, Tharja and Henry while they began channeling their spells. Unfortunately for the Valmese Generals, while their armor provided adequate protection against metal based weapons, it did very little against magical attacks. Soon, the four Generals all fell, having been killed by the magic from inside their suits of armor.
As the shepherds marched forward, they were met by another wall of Valmese Generals. They were lead by someone rather familiar.
"Let's have it then, rebellious scum!" Cervantes roared as he swung his Tomahawk around. "Like a flimsy belt around the waist of defeat, you shall buckle here!"
"Cervantes!" Say'ri exclaimed. "You died at the Mila Tree!"
"You are mistaken then, harlot." Cervantes replied. "For I am still alive. I can't say the same for your group in a moment, however."
"Enough." Chrom drew his Falchion. "Clearly we didn't finish the job. So we shall correct that mistake, right here, right now."
The shepherds once again began to clash with some Valmese Generals.
"Get used to it." Robin told the rest of them. "Walhart has a lot of Armored Knights, and the only effective way to kill them is by using magic. All mages prioritize these enemies as your primary targets."
The shepherd's own armored units charged to meet the Valmese Generals. Besides having to fight each other in hand to hand combat, both sides were also bombarded with ranged attacks from their respective backlines. The only difference was, while the Valmese had Snipers to back them up, the shepherds had mages, and so the difference was night and day. The Valmese Generals fell one by one under the concentrated fire of the Ylissean mages, while the shepherds' frontline simply shrugged off the arrows being shot at them due to their heavy armor.
"Gaius, Olivia! Now's your chance!" Robin exclaimed as an opening was formed when some of the Valmese Generals fell. The two of them dashed past the sluggish armored soldiers and ran straight for the four Valmese Snipers.
They weren't able to react in time.
Gaius dodged an arrow and dashed in close to the first Sniper, slitting his opponent's throat so fast that his dagger did not get a single drop of blood on it. It took his target's neck a second to realize that it had been cut, before blood began to pour out. The Sniper fell with a gurgle as blood flew out from his throat.
Gaius quickly brought his dagger up to his mouth. He bit down on the blade in order to free up both of his hands. The Assassin then drew his killer bow and shot a second Sniper. His second target had turned to take aim at him, but did not react quickly enough. The arrow shot by Gaius hit his target right between the eyes, killing him instantly.
Gaius put away his bow and sheathed his dagger. "Like taking candy from a baby!" he chuckled as he turned to see how Olivia was doing.
The pinkette had some time by now to refine her own style. She twirled and spun around the Valmese Generals, dodging the Sniper's arrows at the same time. Once she got close to a Sniper, she delicately moved around her opponent and killed him with two quick slashes of her killing edge. Immediately, she drew a dagger with her off hand and flung it towards the fourth Sniper just as he was loading another arrow into his bow. The flying knife struck her target in the chest, causing the last Sniper to cry out in pain. Olivia immediately tumbled towards this man and killed him with a final slash. Satisfied, she pulled out her dagger and wiped off the blood before resheathing it.
Once the enemy bowmen were killed, it became safer for Cherche and Cordelia to fly past the Valmese. Cherche picked up Olivia and Cordelia did the same for her fiance. They then flew them back behind their armored units, into friendly territory.
Cervantes was proving himself to be quite an admirable General. He was able to keep Chrom, Say'ri and Lucina on the defensive, all at the same time. However, he wasn't able to score a hit on any of them either. Unlike the shepherds, he no longer had ranged units supporting him from the back. Cervantes took two spells directly, a Rexcalibur from Ricken and an Arcthunder from Sumia, and finally fell.
"I am finished…" he breathed as he felt himself about to die. "But I have no regrets… for I die in the shadow of greatness!"
The shepherds ignored him after he died, and proceeded to advance after they had slaughtered the Valmese soldiers.
They took a moment to allow their staff users to patch up some of the minor wounds they received during the last skirmish before making their way up the next set of stairs and onto the next group of Valmese soldiers.
"More of them?" Vaike complained as more Generals charged them.
"Nya ha! They have some Heroes as well, though." Henry laughed. "And some Sages too! Maybe this won't be as dull."
"Those Sages can be dangerous." Robin told them seriously. "Archers, prioritize them."
The melee fighters among the shepherds engaged the Valmese Generals once again. Virion, Gaius and Olivia all took aim at the multiple Sages as they began to channel some spells. While they were able to shoot a few of them, there were still some Valmese Sages that survived the initial round of arrows. They managed to get their spells off, and the shepherds' frontline took some significant damage for the first time in this battle.
"Lissa, Libra, Maribelle! We need you to work on those injuries as soon as you can!" Robin commanded. "Lon'qu, Say'ri, we need you to help kill those Sages! All other fighters, try to fill in the gaps while our healers tend to them."
As he finished, Robin drew his scythe and took a spot in the frontline. His slashes were unable to deal too much damage to the armored Valmese Generals, but when he had enough space, he would generate magical blades of energy and fling them towards his opponents, which saw much more success.
Lon'qu and Say'ri dashed past their opponents and began to engage the enemy Sages. The pair was simply too fast for the Valmese to hit with their spells, and soon closed the distance. Lon'qu quickly slashed down his first target and ran towards his second.
Say'ri, on the other hand, recognized one of the Valmese Sages and directly made her way towards him.
"You… YOU!" Excellus exclaimed as he saw Say'ri rushing towards him. He immediately cast a Bolganone spell at the Swordmistress. "You and Yen'fay cost me EVERYTHING!"
Say'ri dashed to the side, causing the spell to miss her… for the most part. Her right sleeve was singed, but otherwise she ended up perfectly fine.
"Everything?" Say'ri asked in response. "You cost me Yen'fay! And I will make you answer for your crimes!"
She ran towards the round eunuch, brandishing her killing edge. Excellus raised his hand to cast another spell, but a dark purple blade of energy flew through the air and knocked away his red tome.
'Sir Robin!?' Say'ri thought to herself, not daring to look back.
"Go, Say'ri!" she heard Robin call out, confirming her suspicions. Robin was currently busy fighting a Valmese General, but saw Say'ri out of the corner of his eye. Instead of pressing an advantage that he earned, he had used his opportunity to ensure Say'ri's success instead.
Say'ri slashed upwards and to the right, causing Excellus to shriek out in pain. "Help me!" the Sage cried out in pain.
Say'ri was about to stab her opponent in the stomach, but had to jump backwards as a Bolganone spell and a Rexcalibur spell decimated the patch of ground she had been standing upon just a moment ago.
"My wounds…." Excellus panted as he looked at the blood on his hands. "My perfect figure! You've ruined it all!"
Excellus snarled. "Fuck the consequences! I'll die if I stay here any longer! Walhart can't do anything worse to me anyways!"
With that, he channeled a teleportation spell as Say'ri once again began to charge him once again.
"This won't be the last time you hear of me!" Excellus cried as he ported away just before Say'ri's blade was able to reach him.
"You insufferable toad!" Say'ri cried out in anger. She had been unable to kill him and had allowed him to get away. Shaking her head, Say'ri turned back and ran towards the shepherds instead.
Under the coordination of Robin, the teamwork between the shepherds proved to be too much for the Valmese to handle. The shepherds prioritized the Valmese soldiers that could harm the shepherds the most, and worked alongside each other.
This was different from the Valmese soldiers. Although they all were on the same side and had a common goal, their coordination was not very high. They all worked towards their goal as individuals, instead of working as a single unit. As a result, they weren't able to target the same opponents, which meant that more often than not, they were only able to wound and not kill the shepherds. This was perfectly fine for the shepherds, because they had an abundance of healers that could tend to any of these smaller wounds.
Soon, the soldiers led by Excellus were all killed.
"We're almost to Walhart!" Chrom exclaimed. "Very soon, this war will be over, and we'll be able to return to Ylisse victorious!"
This caused the shepherds to let out a cheer.
"What happened to Excellus?" Robin asked, scanning the dead bodies of the Valmese. "I can't seem to find him. You did kill him, didn't you?"
"Nay." Say'ri shook her head. "Sorry, Sir Robin, but I only wounded him. I wasn't able to kill him because some of his soldiers interfered with our fight. He managed to escape before I could close in on him again."
"That's a little bit unsettling." Robin admitted. "Did he run towards the direction of Walhart?"
"Nay." Say'ri replied once again. "He used that spell, and vanished into thin air. I wouldn't be surprised if that worm is running away from the castle, and fleeing for another continent as we speak."
"That's very unfortunate." Robin sighed. "But Excellus is not the main enemy right now."
Robin placed a hand on Say'ri's shoulder. "We'll kill him some other time. We'll get revenge for Yen'fay, I promise you."
"I give you my thanks, Sir Robin." Say'ri smiled.
"For now, let us continue towards Walhart." Robin pointed towards the top of the next staircase, where Walhart was waiting upon his throne. The shepherds let out another cheer, and they began to move towards the Conqueror once again.
Once they finally reached the top, they were greeted by Walhart's personal guard. These were the elite among the elite of the Valmese empire, and were the hand picked troops by Walhart himself.
"Walhart!" Chrom called out to him.
"Prince!" Walhart retorted.
"Will you surrender?" Chrom asked. He knew the chances were slim, but even still, there could still be a chance. They wouldn't need to risk any casualties if Walhart was willing to do so. He is a powerful man, and even though victory was so close, it still is possible for Walhart to take down a shepherd or two with him.
"Don't waste my time with questions you know the answers to." Walhart sneered.
"It didn't have to be this way." Chrom sighed as he shook his head. "You believed in mankind's strength… and so did my sister. You believe that we're the masters of our own destinies, and so do I. You could have joined with us."
"ME!? JOIN YOU?" Walhart laughed. "Does a pegasus join with a flea on its back? A dragon with the cow that it eats? You forget your place, BOY! I am the Conqueror, and I will unite the world!"
As he finished saying this, Walhart got up off his throne. He picked up his Wolf Berg and got on his warhorse, which had been waiting patiently next to the throne. Walhart saddled up and prepared to fight against the shepherds once again.
"No." Chrom shook his head. "I will." he gestured to the rest of the shepherds. "WE will. And we will not do it by forcing people to choose between the sword or the knee. Peace will only come by stoking people's hearts… not their fear."
"You think that's what you've done?" Walhart retorted. "Look at your sister! She shouted some nonsense and leapt off a rock! Such weakness!"
Robin could feel the shepherd's anger at Walhart's last remark. They were all itching to fight against the Conqueror's guards by now.
"You're wrong." Chrom told Walhart. "That wasn't weakness… that was strength. That one act lives on… in the memory of those that saw her… in the stories of the bards… in the books of history. It WILL live on, longer than the results of any of your conquests!"
"And longer than you will, I suppose." Walhart raised his axe, challenging Chrom. "Come then, flea. Come die for your peace!"
Walhart charged Chrom.
"Shepherds! You all know the drill by now." Robin called. "I'm going to help Chrom stand his ground against Walhart. The rest of you engage in his Imperial Guard! Remember to not take any unnecessary risks!"
The shepherds spread out and began to fight the final group of Valmese. Robin drew his scythe and joined Chrom's side, as did Say'ri and Lucina. Even though they had four of them to deal with Walhart instead of just the three from earlier, the fight was still about even. This was possibly due to the fact that Walhart had more on the line now than he did before, which was reflected in his fighting. Furthermore, he was no longer stuck with a sword that felt awkward to his touch. Walhart was fighting using his Wolf Berg now. There was no one on the continent that could beat him while he had his favorite axe with him.
Even though Chrom. Robin, Lucina and Say'ri were all extremely experienced fighters, the four of them put together could only keep even with the Conqueror as he went on his rampage. In fact, at some times it almost seemed as if they were losing.
There was a moment where Walhart almost overpowered the four of them. However, he was interrupted by an Arcthunder spell, which brought the skirmish back to a standstill.
Sumia's Falicorn let out a loud whinny as Sumia launched the spell towards Walhart.
"YOU!?" Walhart pointed his axe at Sumia. "I know that falicorn. I'm sure of it! I will kill you all and reclaim it for Valm!"
"Quiet, you Imperial pig!" Say'ri exclaimed as she swung her sword at Walhart again, forcing the Conqueror to refocus his attention towards the four he had been fighting. "You're opponents are down here!"
The four of them continued to struggle against Walhart as he held them all off.
However, the fight as a whole was actually favoring the shepherds. The problem for Walhart and his men were that they were extremely outnumbered by this point. Even though Walhart could fight against four shepherds at once and hold his ground, not all of his men could do the same. Slowly but surely, his Royal Guard fell one by one under the teamwork of the shepherds, until only the Conqueror was left standing. The shepherds slowly began to encircle Walhart.
"You should have surrendered." Chrom told Walhart as they locked weapons. "You're no Conqueror. You are just power hungry. All you want is for others to submit to you. You've cast away your humanity, and so we shall cast you aside as well."
"We'll see about that." Walhart's eyes bulged. "Maybe I have lost. Maybe my conquest ends here. But I'll make sure I take a couple of you maggots with me!"
Walhart pushed Chrom away and roared. He swung his axe around at an unbelievable speed as the adrenaline in his blood fueled him. Chrom was caught off guard and hastily tried to block the swing with his Falchion. However, he wasn't fast enough, and Walhart managed to knock the Exalt's sword away. Falchion flew from Chrom's hands, and clattered onto the ground a good few meters away. Chrom was knocked aside and fell down.
"What!?" Chrom breathed in disbelief.
"It seems your end is nigh, prince!" Walhart grinned triumphantly. He raised his axe and was about to bring it down on the unarmed Chrom.
"Chrom!" Sumia exclaimed in fright.
"No! Father!" Lucina shouted.
"Milord!" Frederick rushed forward in an attempt to help his liege, but he was simply too far away to react in time.
However, someone much closer to Chrom acted instead. Robin dashed forward at an almost inhuman speed and stood over Chrom's fallen body. He raised his scythe horizontally and attempted to block the Conqueror's strike.
Even though Robin's magical capabilities were unrivaled, his physical ones were nothing too out of the ordinary. There was simply no way for him to compete against Walhart in terms of sheer strength alone.
Robin cried out in pain as Walhart's Wolf Berg pushed his scythe down and bit into his shoulder. Had he not reduced the impact of the blow with his scythe, Robin guessed that his shoulder would have been chopped clean off. The wound still hurt and was nothing to scoff at, but at least his limb remained attached to his body.
"Tch." Walhart scoffed. "That blow was meant for your precious Exalt, but since you're so EAGER to die, I suppose I'll let you take his place."
Walhart lifted his axe back up and swung it again, this time horizontally. Robin expected Walhart to go for his neck, and got ready to block the strike accordingly. However, Walhart surprised Robin by instead swinging at his midsection. Wolf Berg connected with Robin's body, tearing him from his right hip to the top of his left pectoral muscle. The impact of the blow caused Robin's body to fly a few meters away. His limp body fell to the ground. He didn't move.
"No…" Cordelia covered her mouth in shock.
"Bubbles! No you can't leave us yet!" Gaius cried out in shock.
"Don't just stand there Libra!" Tharja yelled. "Go help him!"
"ROBIN!" Lucina roared. She began to feel so angry that she charged Walhart, completely disregarding logic or reason.
She was not alone. Say'ri and Anna also did the exact same thing.
A moment of shock passed, as many of the shepherds were unsure of what to do. However, they eventually regained their senses and charged Walhart as well.
Chrom got up and rushed over to Robin's side.
"Robin? Robin!" The Exalt lifted his best friend's head and supported his back. "Please, get up! This can't be happening!"
Libra, Maribelle and Lissa also rushed over to try and heal him.
"We'll try our best, milord." Libra sighed. "But this wound… by the looks of it, it looks like it might be fatal."
"Don't say that!" Maribelle slapped him, with tears beginning to form in her own eyes. "The three of us are our best healers! We can definitely bring him back."
The three of them began to desperately work on healing Robin's wound.
Meanwhile, the rest of the shepherds dogpiled Walhart. Although the man was strong, he could do nothing against the onslaught of most of the shepherds. While he was busy trying to fight off the angry swarm of shepherds from the ground, Cherche swooped in and Minerva knocked Walhart off his horse with a swing of her tail. Once Walhart fell off, Vaike, Gregor, Kellam and Donnel dove onto him, pinning him on the ground. They each took one of Walhart's limbs, and made sure he could not move a muscle.
Frederick dismounted, and along with some help from Stahl, pried Wolf Berg away from Walhart's grasp. The Conqueror could do nothing but hurl insults at his opponents, which the shepherds largely ignored.
Lucina, seeing as Walhart had been immobilized, immediately ran over to check on Robin. She was quickly followed by both Anna and Say'ri.
"Robin?" Lucina immediately knelt down next to her fallen crush, and held onto his hand with both of hers. Tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks. "Please! You can heal him, right?"
Libra sighed and shook his head. "The three of us have been trying to, but it seems our staves are ineffective. Although he technically is still alive, he won't live for much longer."
Anna and Say'ri rushed over just in time to hear Libra say this. Say'ri's eyes went wide as she fell to her knees, dumbstruck. Anna covered her mouth and whispered "Oh Naga, oh Naga…" over and over again.
Lucina looked over at Libra with tear streaked eyes. She grasped Libra's collar forcefully. "You're lying! You have to be! This isn't something for you to joke about!"
Libra closed his eyes and sighed once again. "I'm sorry, milady. I wish it were but a jest, but truly, there is nothing else we can do for him."
Lucina's angry expression quickly faded, and was replaced with a look of hopelessness. She looked at Maribelle and her aunt Lissa and found that both of them were bawling their eyes out.
"No… this can't be happening…" Lucina whimpered. "This has to be a nightmare… this wasn't supposed to happen…"
Besides the four that were restraining Walhart, the rest of the shepherds made it over. News of what had happened spread quickly, and the mood of the shepherds quickly fell. They no longer felt like they had just defeated the Valmese empire. In fact, it felt as if they had just lost everything.
"No…" Chrom wrapped his hands around his head. "This is all my fault… if I hadn't let my guard down…"
Robin's breathing was becoming more and more shallow. It was clear that he was unable to hold on for much longer. Lucina couldn't bear to watch anymore, and got up. She immediately stormed off down one of Castle Valm's hallways, crying. No one tried to stop her.