The Mock Battle.
The day has finally arrived. It was the time for the Mock Battle between the three houses. Akame had been thinking about it a lot these past few days. She was not worried about the battle itself, since they would be using training weapons to avoid any serious injuries. What she was really thinking about was who her opponent was going to be. Her own older sister was on the opposite side. Akame and Byleth has sparred together many times before. But this was a battle to see which of the three houses would come out on top. Safe to say, Akame was a little nervous about it.
She was not the only one with concerns. Byleth too was thinking about how it would feel to face her younger sister in battle. Even if it wasn't a real battle. Right now she was talking to Claude.
"Time for a mock battle, eh? Hmm, how should we go about this... Well, you'll be our commander, that much is for sure. Just don't screw it up and everything'll be great. Got it, Teach?" Claude asked.
"I will do what I can. But my sister is on opposing side, and her skills more than rival my own. We will need to watch out for her" Byleth said.
Claude nods "I hear you, both us and the Black Eagles has inside information. Still I noticed Akame is a very big eater. Maybe if I add a little something to their food to upset their stomachs...".
"Don't even think about it" Byleth warned, even if it was a harmless trick, it wouldn't be a honorable fight... and she did not want her sister to stop trusting food.
"Yeah, yeah, wink, wink. I read you. You can't officially condone that sort of thing, right? But say, hypothetically speaking, students from the other houses started racing to the infirmary... As far as anyone knows, it could just be a harmless little stomach bug making the rounds" Claude said, but then Edelgard and Dimitri walked up to them.
"Well, well. What a fascinating conversation you two are having. May we join?" Edelgard asked sarcastically.
"Claude, I can't believe you would stoop to such crooked schemes to gain the advantage. Have you no honor?" Dimitri asked, though there was no real hostility in his tone.
"If that was really my scheme, I wouldn't be talking about it out in the open. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until our battle to see what's really in store" Claude said with a smirk.
"It's irrelevant anyhow. Whatever you have planned won't save you from a crushing defeat" Edelgard said in full confidence.
Dimitri nods at that "She has a point. Still, I'm rather eager to see what sort of scheme that mind of yours conjures up".
"You heard 'em, Teach. We can't let these fine folks down" Claude said.
"If they insist" Byleth said.
"Are you serious, Teach? Well, if a crooked scheme is really what you're after, I've got more than a few of those up my sleeve" Claude said, feeling a little excited now.
"Well well, isn't this a lovely bonding time" Came the voice of Esdeath as she walked in with Manuela, the leader of the Blue Lions
"Aw, how precious. Looks like you and the students have become fast friends" Manuela said with a smile.
"Sorry, but this will have to be cut short. It's time for the faculty strategy meeting" Esdeath said.
"I'm sorry, Professors. It's about time I returned to my training anyhow. Claude. Edelgard. Until we meet again on the battlefield, farewell" Dimitri said.
"I look forward to assessing your abilities. I hope you don't disappoint" Edelgard said before everyone left.
Later that day, everyone were getting ready for the battle. With the Black Eagles, they were all but ready, even though Bernadetta was of course being very nervous like she always was.
Ferdinand looked at Akame who had been silent for a while "Nervous?".
"Not so much for the battle. But who I will be fighting" Akame answered.
"That's right, you are Professor Byleth's younger sister. But this could be a benefit for us. You know her better than anyone, so you should know all her weaknesses right?" Edelgard asked.
Akame shook her head "Even if I did, it wouldn't make much of a difference. My sister's weakness is hard even for me to find. All I can tell you is that she is very unpredictable. Besides, she knows that I know what her normal tactics is. Meaning she will not fight the same way she does when I'm with her".
"And since you both have the same amount of knowledge about each other, if you two were to clash, it would likely end in a stalemate" Everyone looked and saw Esdeath walking up "Being trapped in single combat in the middle of a battle for to long is never a good thing. Luckily, I have a way around this. Listen everyone, you will focus on the other students, leave the new professor to me".
Everyone looked a little surprise, with Dorothea being the one to speak "Are you sure about this, Professor? You want to fight her yourself?".
Esdeath nods "I already know what Manuela can do. She would never last against me. I crave a challenge".
"But, how are we supposed to fight the rest if you will not lead us? We will be crushed" Bernadetta said, growing more scared by the moment.
"I'm disappointed, Bernie. What did I spend all this time training you all for? I made sure you all would be ready to fight, even if I am not around to hold your hand. Besides, I think Edelgard should be more than capable of leading you all" Esdeath said.
"But you are our professor, you are responsible if anything happens" Akame said.
Esdeath rubbed Akame's head "Trust me kid, I know what I'm doing. Your sister clearly is the biggest threat, so by keeping her away, and preventing her from guiding her own students, I am making things more fare for the rest of you".
"Don't worry so much, Akame. Esdeath can be trusted, I promise" Edelgard assured.
"Alright, then let's do this" Akame said with more confidence.
Esdeath smirked "That's the spirit. Alright, Black Eagles! To battle!".
It was finally time for the battle to begin. Everyone has gathered, all ready to win. Losing was not an option for anyone involved, this may be a mock battle, but losing would still be a strike on their House's reputation. Esdeath was watching the battlefield, taking notes of all their opponents. She finally spotted Byleth, and could tell the woman already had a strategy in mind. Esdeath smirked and licked her lips. Byleth sure was an fascinating woman. And she could not wait to see what she could do.
"Alright everyone. Remember, follow Edelgard's lead and keep an eye out for any potential ambushes or traps. If you drop your guard for even a second, it could lead to a certain loss" Esdeath instructed.
"Leave it to me, Professor. But please, try to at least consider helping us if we need it" Edelgard said.
"I will, I am not going to just leave you all as an distraction just to satisfy my need for battle. If things gets to bad, I will break of my fight and help you out. But I am confident that it won't come to that" Esdeath said.
Akame pulled out her blade. This was bound to be one of the most challenging battles she will ever be in. With that the battle began. Sticking to the plan, everyone spread out, but not far to far. Byleth was moving in to position for the strategy she and Claude had come up with... however she was shocked when she was forced to block a strike from Esdeath.
"Found you! Time to see why Rhea was so insistent on making you a professor here" Esdeath said with a smirk.
'This woman is crazy... still I did not expect her to come after me directly and completely ignore the rest... I will not be able to meet up with Claude now' Byleth thought. Her plan had all but been thrown in the lake because of Esdeath unexpected approach to combat.
But there was nothing she could do about it right now and she readied her blade. She heard Esdeath was by far one of the deadliest warriors in all of Fodlan, meaning she could not let her guard down, even for a second. Eager for a good battle, Esdeath attacked first, attack fast and hard. But her strikes were not random, they were targeted, and she put just the right amount of power in to each strikes.
Byleth could already feel herself being forced on to her back foot. Each of Esdeath's strikes felt like she was being hit by a really strong man, wielding an ax. For Esdeath to pack so much power in to her one handed sword strikes made it clear her reputation was well earned. Her strength was unreal and she was not letting up.
"Come on! Fight back!" Esdeath demanded.
Byleth grunts but finally managed to dodge one of Esdeath's strikes, rather than having to dodge. She quickly launched a strike of her own, but Esdeath quickly blocked it and they entered a blade lock. It was not much, but Byleth had at least managed to stop Esdeath's momentum. Any longer and the taller woman would have smashed right through her. She had to come up with a better strategy than this. Maybe if she could lead her towards her allies so she could have a numbers advantage.
"You know. Your face may be void of emotions, but you still look really beautiful" Esdeath said.
Byleth looked confused for only a second, but that was enough time for Esdeath to break the blade lock and kick Byleth square in the chest, making her fall on her back. Byleth mentally cursed herself, she knew she shouldn't let her guard down for even a second, yet a simple comment from Esdeath was enough to make her do just that. She made an amateurish mistake. She quickly rolled for a bit until she was back on her feat and noticed Esdeath was attacking her again. But this time, Byleth managed to deflect Esdeath's strike and rammed the hilt of her blade in to Esdeath's stomach, making her back away.
Esdeath rubbed her belly a little before giving Byleth a wide grin "Amazing! This is the first time in years that anyone managed to score a hit on me! You really are something else, Byleth".
Byleth narrowed her eyes and got ready to continue the fight.
However, with the two professors busy, their students had to fight without them. Bernadetta was looking around nervously, doing her best to keep her bow from shaking.
"Oh, I hate this, where is everyone?" She asked out loud, not noticing Chelsea behind her.
"You should't stand out in the open like this, little bunny. Foxes lurks everywhere" Chelsea said with an evil smile.
Bernadetta got wide eyes "AHHHHHHHH!".
Akame heard Bernadetta's scream and ran in that direction. But when she reached some trees, she stopped when she sensed something, before quickly jumping to the side as someone came down from the tree, almost landing on her.
"Wow, not bad! You knew I was hiding in the tree. This will be fun!" Akame looked up and saw Leone. The busty blonde was wearing some kind of arm guards. But Akame couldn't see any weapons. Was she going to fight her with her hands?
Akame readied her blade, she knew Leone wouldn't fight like this if she didn't have some tricks up her sleeve. And she had spent the whole month being trained by Byleth, so she must have learned a thing or two by now.
Leone suddenly launched herself towards Akame, forcing her to duck under a hook at the last minute and block a jab at her lowered head. Using the momentum given to her from the strike, Akame backed away to avoid several powerful swings from Leone. Her fighting style was straight forward, but very strong, one solid hit and Akame would be on the ground. She needed to avoid taking a direct hit from those punches. Countering the attacks should be easy, if Akame could just get some breathing room. Something Leone did not seem to be willing to give her.
Akame had to gain some distance, or it's only a matter of time before Leone scores a desiding hit. She decided to jump over her, hoping to striked her from above... bad move as Leone quickly grabbed Akame's leg and threw her down to the ground.
"Nice try, but you are not the first tricky opponent I've faced" Leone aid with a smirk.
Akame jumped back to her feet, as she feared, Leone was not just a brute, she had the insticts of a animal. But Akame knew she needed to win this and quickly launched her own attack. She delivered several wast strikes, all of which were blocked by Leone's arms guards. Akame struck a few more times before throwing a kick, which Leone grabbed with both hands. But Akame jabbed her her with her sword, forcing Leone to guard against it with her arm guard. Akame then leapet of with her free foot and managed to kick Leone in the chest, making her stumble back, and allowing Akame to roll back and get back in to her stance. This fight wasn't going to be easy, and Akame hoped Bernadetta was alright.
Speaking of the little girl. Hubert found her body. He noticed she had rechived a strike to the neck, not deadly, but she wouldn't be waking up until the battle was over "How sad, Bernadetta. You should be more watch ful than that".
"You should heed your own advice" Chelsea said as she launched a strike towards Hubert's neck... only for him to block her arm with his own, preventing the small object she carried from hitting his pressure point and he quickly used his free hand to blast her back with some magic "Ow! What the?".
"Did you really think I would fall for such an obvious trap? Your overconfidence is clear" Hubert said, already readying another spell "Don't worry, this won't kill you. But it will hurt. A lot".
With that, he blasted Chelsea again, taking her out of the battle.
Back with Byleth, she was sent to the ground by a direct hit from Esdeath's powerful strike. This was it, she couldn't keep fighting anymore. She tried to come up with strategies, but Esdeath's unpredictable style, not to mention her own keen mind, was simply to much for her. Esdeath herself looked a little winded, she was even sweating a little.
"I must say, Byleth. You are a worthy opponent. I look forward to our next battle. But for now I need to help my students" Esdeath said as she walked away.
Byleth said nothing, but she felt ashamed that she lost like that. So much for being a good example for her students.
Back with Akame, she was finally getting the advantage over Leone, striking at her with several swift attacks before scoring a final blow to Leone's head, making her fall down "OW OW OW! That hurt!".
Akame was breathing hard. The Monastery was full of powerful opponents, and Leone has clearly seen her fare share of battles to have pushed her this far "You are a worthy opponent, but I win".
Leone smiled "Yes, I will openly admit that you defeated me fairly. But I hate to tell you, but we don't really fight fair here in the Golden Deer".
Akame was confused before she quickly deflected a arrow fired at her from Claude. However, by doing so she left herself wide open for Hilda to deliver a powerful blow to her gut, knocking her air out of her and making her fall on to a tree. She coughed a few times before looking to see Claude and Hilda looking down at her.
"Sorry for that Akame. But we knew we had to take you out quickly, as you are easily one of the best fighters here. But you did defeat Leone before we got here, so I say we lucked out on this one" Cloude said.
"Luck indeed, but your luck has run out" Everyone looked to see Esdeath, who had been dragging a badly beaten Leonie, smiling at them, And behind her, were the rest of the Golden Deer, non of them managed to last long enough against her "Your professor is out of the game".
Leone had wide eyes "She got Leonie!".
"And she defeated our professor!? What do we do now?!" Hilda asked in fear.
Claude was sweating, he knew that even with Hilda's help there was no way they could defeat Esdeath without Byleth. As much as he hated to admit it. They lost the moment Esdeath defeated Byleth, and the rest of the Black Eagles were keeping the Blue Lions busy. The battle was even, but it would soon turn the moment Esdeath joins in.
A little while later, the Black Eagles were declared the winners of the Mock Battle.
After the battle, Byleth was comforting her students, who's pride had been bruised in more ways than one.
"Darn it! I can't believe we lost like that!" Leonie said before looking at Byleth "You were trained by Jeralt, how could you not defeat Esdeath?".
"Back or Leonie. With Esdeath as our opponent, our chances of winning were slim right from the start. Esdeath is not known as the strongest warrior for nothing" Leone said.
Leonie sighs "I know, I know... Sorry professor".
"It's ok, I understand you are all frustrated. But I fear there are some battles we simply can't win" Byleth said.
"No jest. My muscles were little more than pudding compared to her strikes, she took me down so fast I barely even knew what was happening" Raphael said.
"The mighty Esdeath, clearly a legend" Lorenz said, disappointed by his loss.
"Mine is going to give me an earful for this" Hilda said with a sigh "I can already hear her lecture me that maybe I wouldn't have lost if I trained more".
"Well, we can't win them all. But don't feel to bad, Teach. If not for you, Esdeath would have plowed right through us from the start. And I keep hearing that you scored a hit on her. Not many can say that" Cloude said.
Leonie sat up "No way! You managed to hit Esdeath?! Jeralt really did train you well".
"So cool! Tell us about it, Professor!" Leone said.
Byleth smiled, at least there was something her students could be happy about.
Back with the Black Eagles, Akame was talking to Edelgard.
"Sorry Edelgard. I didn't impress much" She said ashamed.
"Don't worry about it, Akame. You only lost because Claude and Hilda attacked you at the same time, after you were already tired from fighting Leone. I say you did your part well, helping to keep the Golden Deer busy long enough for Esdeath to finish up with Professor Byleth and rejoin the battle" Edelgard said.
Akame frowns "She left us to fend for ourselves so she could fight my sister alone. Not a very good leader".
"Esdeath knew we could last long enough until she was done. Tough it was tragic that Bernadetta was taken down, it all worked out in the end. Besides, this was only a mock battle. Esdeath would never abandon us in a real life and death battle" Edelgard assured.
Akame sighs "If you say so. Still we did win, so time for a feast?".
"You sure love food, don't you?" Edelgard asked, amused.
Akame blushed but soon received a hard pat on the back from Caspar "Hey, I don't blame you. Food is great, and after this, I say we earned it".
"I am in agreement. We gained victory thanks to our hard work" Petra said, her accent strong.
"Hmph. I daresay we owe our victory to Lady Edelgard" Hubert said.
"How so? For that battle, she was only a soldier following our professor's command. Sure, she was an incredibly powerful soldier..." Linhart argued a little.
"Don't worry about it too much, Linhardt. All that matters is that we won!" Caspar said.
"I'm all done with being on the battlefield, OK? I'd rather stay back than pursue victory out there. I almost died!" Bernadetta said.
"It was a mock battle. Your life was never in danger" Akame said.
"Heart attacks can be deadly too!" Bernadetta argued.
"You are all as ridiculous as always. We only managed to win because we worked together" The Black Eagles all look at Edelgard. She continues nervously "Was it something I said? Is it so odd, me talking about togetherness? If so, that perception must change. In fact, I'm canceling the festivities so we can discuss this topic further. I'm kidding, of course. Come on, everyone! We've earned this celebration".
"Indeed you have" Esdeath showed up out of nowhere... late, of course "I am proud of you all. So this celebration is all on me. So enjoy yourselves".
Several of the students cheered and Akame smiled. All in all, she learned a lot today. She still had a long way to go.
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Man, writing a three way battle was much harder than I expected and I had to skip a lot of it to focus on the fights I really wanted to write. Sorry if the battle felt rushed because of it.
And some may be confused to see that Akame and Byleth lost. Well they may be the main characters of the story, but that does not mean they will clean up anyone they come across. They will need to work for their victories.
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Tell me what you think.