Korrina and the Black Eagles

Chapter 13: The Battle for Garreg Mach

Within the span of a few minutes, everyone was transported to a temporary encampment within Adestria. Edelgard tried to explain how Rhea's species had been controlling mankind under the disguise of humans for centuries, but Korrina didn't really catch any of it. Instead, she spent multiple hours trying to wrap her head around what just happened. To Korrina, the idea of an archbishop turning on her own goddess was incomprehensible. No matter how long Korrina pondered the answer to this question, no answer would manifest. Eventually, Korrina reached the conclusion that maybe she had been overthinking this situation the whole time. Maybe Rhea was just mentally unstable and not used to taking orders from someone else. Finally, Korrina went back to where her "sister" was explaining everything and said, "Lord Lonato was right. Rhea IS a false prophet, and a dangerous one at that. Someone as unstable as she has no right to lead an institution as large as Garreg Mach. We must dispose of her immediately." Most of the Black Eagles were taken aback by Korrina's sudden change in attitude. Edelgard wasn't at all expecting Korrina to embrace her path so wholeheartedly and almost tried to dissuade her. However, Korrina was dead set on removing Rhea now that she learned of the Archbishop's true nature. This didn't mean she was suddenly on good terms with Edelgard again, though. Korrina still despised the fact that her own "sister" would keep secrets from her and raid her birthright. However, circumstances had changed. Rhea was now the greater evil, and Korrina knew she would at least have to bury the hatchet for a few months. Besides, Korrina couldn't go back even if she wanted to. Rhea's anger was specifically directed towards Korrina, and Divine Pulse can only wind back the clock so far. In trying to prevent a war between the Adestrian Empire and the Church of Seiros, Korrina may have ended up starting one.

In the following days, everyone had to choose whether to stay with or leave Edelgard. Most of the Black Eagles stayed out of fear that they would no longer have a place at Garreg Mach. Even if some of them had a falling out with Edelgard over whether she should have been more open about her plans, they never truly believed that they could just go back to Garreg Mach. Alois decided to keep his promise and stay by Korrina's side no matter what. Shamir wasn't even that loyal to Rhea in the first place and decided that it was better to switch sides for the time being. Hanneman was originally an Adestrian noble before coming to Garreg Mach and always planned on siding with the Empire should a rift form between the two. Manuela was also from Adestria and felt a strong degree of loyalty to her former homeland. Silvain genuinely believed in what Edelgard was selling them even if he was scared of invoking his former king Dimitri's wrath. The only noteworthy person that rejoined the Church of Seiros was Flayn. Even if she acknowledged that Rhea may not be the most fit to rule the Church of Seiros, she still couldn't bring herself to face her father Seteth on the battlefield. Thankfully, everyone understood Flayn's logic and let her go (even Hubert). Edelgard expected people to leave the Church of Seiros for her, but Korrina didn't feel this would be the case. When asked why, Korrina said, "We know what Rhea really is, but no one else does. Outside of the people in this room, no one saw Rhea's breakdown. Don't forget that she is still in charge of Garreg Mach, too. It is highly likely that the rest of the students and staff will take her word over ours."

Although Korrina's prediction of everyone at Garreg Mach siding with Rhea came true, there was one exception. Albein the Gatekeeper sought them out in the end of the first week of preparations, not able to believe any of the things that Rhea was saying about Korrina. Korrina and Edelgard slowly explained everything that happened in the holy tomb that faithful day and proclaimed their intention to remove Rhea from power. Although Albein didn't like the idea of opposing his former boss, he still decided that Korrina had her reasons and that he should trust her.

In the next few weeks, very surprising people would answer Edelgard's call to arms against Garreg Mach. Predictably, most of the Adestrian Empire sided with Edelgard. Despite taking part in the Insurrection of the Seven, both Caspar's father and Linhardt's father were among the first to answer the call to arms. Whether this was a heat of the moment decision made out of fear of sharing Lord Aegir's fate or if the two changed their minds about Lord Aegir years ago was something nobody cared to ask. Lord Varley tried to lead a revolt against Edelgard both out of sexism and out of an effort to preserve the new order brought on by the Insurrection of the Seven, but this movement was quickly stomped out by Hubert. Once Bernadetta learned that her father was imprisoned for rebelling, she finally decided to tell Edelgard about what kind of person Lord Varley was and her mother confirmed everything at the trial. As punishment, Lord Varley was stripped of his lands and titles and arrested for domestic abuse. Most of Garreg Mach stayed loyal to Rhea, but smaller branches (such as the Western Church) broke off and prematurely proclaimed Korrina as the new archbishop. Before long, the Church of Seiros had officially split between those who believed Rhea's side of the story and those who believed Korrina's side of the story. There were also a few less than favorable groups who joined Korrina's side. For starters, the Death Knight and his men decided to let the past stay in the past and join the Adestrian Empire in search of a good fight. Korrina was vocally opposed to letting child traffickers join her cause, but Edelgard needed all the men she could get if she were serious about going against the Church of Seiros. Even more problematic was the return of Lord Arundel, the man who led the experiments on Edelgard's family. Even Edelgard wanted nothing to do with him, but Hubert believed that Arundel's…talents…would prove useful in the war yet to come. Neither Korrina nor Edelgard were convinced, but Hubert made enough good points to warrant giving him a chance. Unfortunately, not everyone saw it that way. Leonie originally sought out Korrina thinking that this is what Jeralt might have done, but once she learned that she would have to work with the men responsible for his death, she went right back to Garreg Mach and told Rhea everything. Korrina and Edelgard viewed this act as proof that the Death Knight and Lord Arundel were just going to be toxic influences, but those two were able to convince enough people of their worth to stay in high ranking positions for the time. Like it or not, Korrina would have to rely on people she abhorred in order to depose of Rhea.

The final war meeting before the big attack on Garreg Mach was extraordinarily tenacious. Garreg Mach was one of the most well-guarded places of that time period, and any former strategy they might have had for getting in was already leaked by Leonie. The only true advantages that Korrina had were the fact that she memorized the layout of the monastery like her hand during her time as a professor, the fact that she had truly crafty individuals like Hubert and Arundel who would use every method and manner of trickery to achieve their goals, and the fact that the Death Knight still knew the precise locations of every entrance and exit to his former lair (which in turn provided them with a back door into the monastery). Eventually, everyone agreed on a divide and conquer strategy. Korrina would personally lead the center flank and keep the main forces busy. Edelgard would lead the left flank and enter through the space in between the dorms. The Death Knight would lead the right flank and distract Rhea's finest warriors using any means necessary. Finally, Arundel would use the commotion to sneak into the Death Knight's former lair and use it to shuttle men into the monastery while the Knights of Seiros were all busy engaging everyone else. It wasn't a foolproof plan by any means, but it had the highest chance of success of any of the other ideas proposed (plus it didn't involve poisoning everyone at the monastery and potentially jeopardizing relations with Faerghus and Leicester any more than necessary).

Despite being fully prepared for war, Korrina still held out hope that she could somehow pull off a diplomatic solution. She was able to convince the others to let her negotiate before the invasion truly began under the logic that her words could at least convince some of the knights, faculty and students to perform some last-minute betrayals. Thus, on the day of the invasion, Korrina insisted on going first and announcing her presence. After gathering some energy, Korrina let loose another column of God Ki to let everyone know what they were up against. Her voice echoing throughout every corner of the monastery, Korrina proclaimed, "Archbishop Rhea, I have come for you! When I first achieved this power, I hoped that me, you and potentially the Flame Emperor could usher in a new age of progress. However, the events of the previous month have made it abundantly clear that you only ever intended to control me! Even back when I was born, you were finding ways to put me in your debt and ensure that you never lost control of your own religion! Your lack of emotional stability, explosive temper, controlling nature and excessive use of death sentences present a far bigger threat to this continent than any Flame Emperor ever could! Thus, with the entirety of the Adestrian Empire as my witness, I hereby proclaim you unfit to rule Garreg Mach and the Church of Seiros and demand you resign as archbishop effective immediately! If you cooperate and surrender yourself within the next 30 minutes, the lives of you and your knights will all be spared. You will be moved to Brigid, placed under house arrest and barred from holding any position of power again, but at least you will be guaranteed to be alive. If you refuse to surrender, I will send in the entirety of the Adestrian army to remove you by lethal force if necessary. The choice is yours, Rhea." Rhea was very quick to respond, but her message was anything but peaceful. Instead of cooperating, Rhea turned to everyone in the monastery and announced, "Do not listen to the words of this heretic! Her and the Flame Emperor have conspired to overthrow me for months! Just last month, she gave the Flame Emperor permission to steal this monastery's finest treasures. Korrina is nothing but a wicked thief, liar, apostate and traitor! Kill her and everyone of her fellow heretics! Their souls are beyond the point of salvation!" With these words, the Knights of Seiros stormed out of every available entrance to the monastery and the invasion began in full.

In the span of minutes, the monastery that Korrina spent the best year of her life in was transformed into a bloodbath. The Knights of Seiros were unlike anything that Korrina had faced before, but knowing they were facing the goddess herself caused their hearts to falter and their resolve to crumble. This in turn made the Knights easy pickings for the Adestrian Army. As predicted, Korrina lead the charge with Silvain, Bernadetta, Linhardt and Shamir backing her up. Caspar, Dorothea, Ferdinand and Hanneman accompanied Edelgard in the left flank. Hubert, Manuela, and Alois went in the Death Knight's former hideout with Arundel. Petra flew above the battlefield, assisting any flank that needed help. The first force to meet the Adestrian Army was a troop of Pegasus knights, but those fell easily thanks to Shamir. The center flank managed to get in without a hitch, but Gilbert's forces were successful in bottlenecking the left flank and halting their advance. This in turn caused Korrina to shift priorities and head for the dorms in hopes of saving Edelgard and the rest. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but the dark mages that Arundel put on Korrina's squad were able to thin Gilbert's ranks to a more reasonable level. Eventually, Gilbert had no choice but to turn his back to Edelgard and engage Korrina's squad before he shared his men's fate. The dark mages readied their spells for what would have otherwise been an execution, but Korrina insisted on fighting Gilbert one on one. Even if they were enemies now, Korrina still respected Gilbert enough to give him a more dignified end than what those dark mages would have done to him. Before they drew, Korrina said, "Sorry Gilbert. I'm sure you are a good man, but if you stand in our way, you will be cut down. No mercy." Gilbert simply responded by saying, "Same to you, Korrina. Those who threaten Garreg Mach will be punished, regardless of who they are." With this, their dual began. Gilbert's strikes were powerful, and he was able to block some of Korrina's attacks. However, against the Sword of the Creator, all Gilbert could have done was stalled for time. The moment Korrina found a gap in Gilbert's defenses, a single swipe was all it took. The Sword of the Creator was powerful enough to split Gilbert's armor wide open and stagger him, and from there, Korrina wasted no time in performing a follow up attack in the exact region she split Gilbert's armor. Gilbert was down, and with a rather nasty open wound on his abdomen too. This was the opening that Edelgard needed, as she immediately took her forces around Gilbert's body and met up with Korrina's forces for a joint attack. Before anything else could happen, however, a massive explosion occurred on the eastern wall. This whole time, the Death Knight was trying to make his own entrance into Garreg Mach, and now he succeeded. All the remaining Knights of Seiros turned their attention towards the Death Knight and his squad, giving everyone else the perfect opportunity to enter the monastery properly. It didn't take long for the Death Knight to catch up. While his men set fire to just about everything, the Death Knight easily cut through the remaining knights, Seteth and even Flayn before forcing his way in through the front door. Meanwhile, Arundel's squad had managed to successfully infiltrate the back of the monastery through the Death Knight's former lair. Garreg Mach was as good as captured.

Despite the battle being as good as lost, Rhea was not at all ready to give up. She teleported all the knights to the top floor to rest, then sent forth her finest warriors. It earnestly sickened Korrina to hear Rhea pretend to care about Seteth, Flayn and Gilbert. A few months ago, Korrina might have believed Rhea. Now she knew the truth: Rhea only loves people so long as she perceives them as being loyal to her. If any of them defied her like Korrina did, she would have tried to kill them as well. There was little time for Korrina to reflect on this, though. Out of nowhere, giant golems appeared and started to attack the Adestrian Army. The only reasonable explanation for their existence was if Rhea had created them somehow. The golems began to manifest spears of light and sweep the Adestrian army like dust. Thankfully, the golems were on the slow side. Once everyone figured out how the golems move and attack, their role was reduced to that of a mere time waster as the Adestrian Empire began to surround the golems and attack on all sides. Unfortunately, the golems took so long to destroy that Catherine was able to easily launch a sneak attack on the Adestrian Army. The Death Knight was the first to challenge her, but despite being on a horse, it didn't take long for him to fall. Even if Thunderbrand and the Scythe of Sariel were somewhat equal in power, the gap in power between the Death Knight and Catherine was nothing short of terrifying. After the first weapon clash, Catherine immediately used her remaining energy to carve up the Death Knight's horse, forcing him to dismount. From there, Catherine quickly overwhelmed the Death Knight with her relentless attack pattern, knocked the Scythe of Sariel out of the Death Knight's hands, then sliced him in half before he had a chance to react. Most of the Adestrian army was shocked to see one of their strongest warriors fall so easily, but Korrina used this chance to sneak attack Catherine before she could decide her next move. Luckily for everyone, Catherine took the bait and directed all her attention on Korrina while the rest of the army started tracking down Rhea. Unlike previous fights, Korrina knew better than to try and grab Thunderbrand with the Sword of the Creator. If she did, Catherine simply would have used Thunderbrand to electrify the Sword of the Creator and given her an even bigger shock than the Death Knight did. Instead, Korrina fought strategically, using the Sword of the Creator to instead keep Catherine at a distance and wear down her stamina before going in for any decisive blows. After about 4 flurries, Catherine finally began to tire out from all the energy she was exerting. This was Korrina's chance to strike. She retracted the Sword of the Creator, closed the distance, defended Catherine's final attack from a more dangerous range and finally pierced Catherine's chest by way of turning the Sword of the Creator back into a whip at just the right time. Korrina could have used this time to bring back the Death Knight with Divine Pulse, but she didn't bother for two reasons. First, bringing back the Death Knight through Divine Pulse would also result in Catherine being fully healed and ready to fight again. Second, Korrina felt that the Death Knight's reputation would have been a liability in the long term. Thus, Korrina coldly left the Death Knight to his fate and joined the rest of the Adestrian Army in fighting Cyril. Everyone was surprised to see that the young lad could ride a dragon let alone do as well in battle as he was, but it didn't matter. Once Shamir stepped into the fray, Cyril was shocked to see his mentor fighting with the enemy. Shamir then took advantage of Cyril's moment of weakness to floor him with a single arrow, allowing the army to advance. At long last, it was time to dethrone Rhea. Rhea was adorned with the Sword and Shield of Seiros, the most valuable weapons the monastery had behind the sword of the creator. Rhea did a shockingly good job at holding off everyone, but the moment she locked eyes with Korrina, her attention suddenly shifted. Rhea's assault on Korrina was even more ferocious than Catherine's. Rhea wasn't as strong as Catherine, but her sheer anger and hatred towards Korrina was enough to compensate. On top of that, it was almost as if she had faced the Sword of the Creator before. No matter what Korrina did, Rhea seemed to have an answer for it. Eventually, Korrina's heart began to faulter and the rest of the Adestrian Army had to step in. While Rhea fought everyone, Shamir stayed in the back, looking for a good shot. Eventually, Shamir was able to get in that one in a million shot and take out her former employer. Unfortunately, Rhea somehow managed to heal herself and continue fighting. At this point, the tide was beginning to turn in Rhea's favor. Korrina was out of commission, the Adestrian Empire was beginning to tire out, and both the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer were fully rested and prepared to enter the battle. If Rhea so chose, she could have easily deployed them to clean up the rest of the Adestrian Army and won the war before it even started. Instead, Rhea went for the overkill and assumed her true form once again. In this dragon form, Rhea easily took out Shamir and made a beeline for Korrina. Rhea then destroyed the terrace Korrina was on with her light breath, causing the goddess to presumably fall to her death. Before Rhea could do anything else, however, the entire monastery collapsed beneath her weight and she was buried in rubble. From there, the entire continent found itself in the midst of a war with no clue who won that initial battle and no clue if Korrina had survived at all.

Note: Sorry it took forever to do this chapter. School caught up and I had to choose priorities.