The fog from earlier in the day had dissipated to reveal the three opposing forces meeting at Gronder Field. To the north, the Blue Lions surveyed the battlefield and their options. Their messenger to the Alliance had been brutally murdered which made many suspect their eastern neighbours had no intentions of allying themselves with the Church and the Kingdom. But there were those who held out hope that the messenger had simply been intercepted by the Empire.
Byleth was among these believers. She remembered how Claude had been during their time at the Academy. He was chaotic and mischievous, yes, but not maliciously so. The Alliance leader had been good friends with Eve; perhaps only second to Sylvain when it came to the people Eve trusted. And he had had a strong sense of justice that Byleth was confident would not have led him to ally with the Empire.
As such, she had devised a plan of attack that she knew no one else would approve of. Dimitri was to lead the Kingdom forces to the south west to take on Edelgard and her forces. He, of course, needed no convincing on this front. Byleth had then convinced Rodrigue and Gilbert not to engage with the Alliance, giving them an opportunity to become allies. But the part that she intentionally left out was that she alone would cross the bridge to the south east of their starting point to approach Claude and his men. She hoped that going solo would show her intent not to fight and give her an opportunity to speak to Claude.
There was no way the Church forces could overcome two fronts in this battle, so Byleth was doing her best to ensure that wouldn't happen. Even with Count Charon's aid, it was going to be a tight battle just considering the Empire forces. Though, Byleth noted, the Empire forces seemed lighter than she had expected for such a notable standoff.
"Professor."
Byleth snapped out of her thoughts to look over at Shamir who had called out to her.
"I've got that report you asked for." She said quietly, aware that this had been a personal request from the Professor.
"And?" Byleth raised an eyebrow, slowly walking a few paces away from everyone to avoid being overheard.
"Emperor Edelgard was waiting for three more battalions to join this fight, but none of them made it." Shamir reported. "And apparently a caravan full of rations was ransacked. But what's weird is most of the rations were destroyed— only a small amount was actually taken."
"An amount enough for one person?" Byleth asked.
"It's hard to say." Shamir shook her head. "As much as I don't believe the rumours that all of this carnage is the work of an individual, it certainly wasn't enough rations for more than a few people maximum."
"Any hints on their identity?" Byleth pressed.
"Despite the fact that they always leave one survivor, the accounts are varied." Shamir huffed in frustration. "It's all ridiculous stories of a ghost in a blood-red cape that moves faster than the eye can see. Some say they kill you with a curse without even lifting a blade."
"A curse?" Byleth asked incredulously. "People really believe that?"
"I was in a tavern where a survivor was telling the story of how it happened. They said they saw their comrade run the ghost through with their blade but instead of injuring the ghost the stab wound manifested on their comrade." Shamir half laughed at the absurdity of it.
"That's impossible…" Byleth trailed off in thought.
"Professor!" Gilbert called out before the two could continue their conversation. "It's time."
Byleth nodded and joined up with everyone else on the front lines. Her plan was to begin moving with them so as not to give away her intentions to split off before using the chaos of the battle to slip away.
"Kill every last one of them!" Dimitri roared as he motioned with Areadbhar for the army to advance.
And with rallying cries that echoed across the field, the battle that would be written in the history books as the Battle at Gronder began.
Sylvain looked up at Ingrid on her pegasus above and nodded as she and Felix joined him on their assault of the central hill. The Empire had beat any of the opposing forces to occupying the most advantageous spot on the field and the three childhood friends had agreed to take it back first.
"The Alliance is hanging back." Ingrid shouted down to the other two, looking out across the field where she could see yellow banners whipping in the wind.
"Let's not engage them if we have no reason to." Sylvain shouted back up.
"Heads up!" Felix cried out, darting to one side as a projectile from the ballista atop the hill came hurtling towards them.
"We've gotta get to that hill." Sylvain gritted his teeth.
The three of them pressed on, avoiding shots from the ballista and cutting through any enemies that laid in their path. As they finally approached the hill, a chill ran through Sylvain's blood as he finally recognised someone on the field. It was bound to happen, fighting a war against the people they had attended school with, but Sylvain still wasn't prepared for it. He knew this was war, but was he really expected to kill someone he had once considered a friend?
"For Adrestia and for Brigid… I will be defeating all of you!" Petra cried out, readying her axe Sylvain and his friends approached her.
"Petra, please…" Ingrid pleaded, clearly facing the same trepidation that Sylvain was.
"Even if we were friends once," Petra faltered for just a moment. "I have to be making victory for Emperor Edelgard."
She swung her axe at Sylvain swiftly which he was only barely able to block with his lance. He deflected her attack to the side, striking her with the butt of his lance as he did so. Above, Ingrid let loose a javelin directly into the inner mechanism of the ballista and jamming it. Felix took the opportunity she opened up to dispose of the archer manning the machine.
Petra swung at Sylvain again and he dodged to the side, stepping back and out of her reach. She gritted her teeth, readying for another attack. Felix and Ingrid were making quick work of the other soldiers on the central hill, but Sylvain found himself unable to take the offensive against Petra.
"Petra, please, I don't want to hurt you." Sylvain said as he blocked another of her attacks.
"If you did not want to fight me, you would not be choosing the wrong side of this war." Petra frowned in response.
Before Sylvain could try to plead with her any more, a flash of steel cut between them and Petra's axe fell to the ground with a heavy thud. She winced in pain, looking at the gash that had opened up on her dominant arm.
"Did you come to save me?" Sylvia's tried to joke when he realised Felix had been the one to put himself between the two of them and disarm Petra.
Felix didn't respond and instead lunged at Petra again. She grabbed a dagger from a sheath on her thigh and narrowly blocked Felix's attack. Before Felix could make another move, she jumped back and shouted towards where the majority of the Empire forces were gathered.
"Hubert!" She cried out. "I can't be fighting anymore. I must be retreating now."
"Hubert?" Sylvain looked towards where Petra had shouted to indeed see the Emperor's right hand man standing back and watching the carnage.
Sylvain, Felix, and Ingrid all watched as the mage used a warp spell to extract Petra from the central hill. And while they hadn't been able to defeat her, they had at least cleared the hill of all Empire forces. This way their allies wouldn't have to contend with fire from the ballista.
"You were pulling your punches!" Felix chastised Sylvain as the three of them reconvened.
"Felix, I can't just kill someone I went to school with." Sylvain shook his head.
"This is war you idiot." Felix grimaced. "We don't get the luxury of a choice."
"We should join with the others." Ingrid briefly landed her pegasus beside them, motioning towards the west where the rest of their forces were. "They've made it over the bridge and are getting close to the Emperor."
"What's she doing?" Sylvain squinted in the direction Ingrid had pointed as it appeared Edelgard was motioning towards the central hill. She was yelling a directive of sorts, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.
Suddenly, everything around Sylvain was engulfed in flames. It took a moment for him to realise in his shock what had happened and that the entire central hill was ablaze.
"It was a trap!" Ingrid was the first to act, pulling her pegasus up into the air to avoid getting caught in the fire.
"Felix!" Sylvain was sprung into action by Ingrid's shout and dove for his other friend.
He tackled Felix, sending them both off the edge of the structure and into the grass. The two of them tumbled as Sylvain continued to hold onto Felix, rolling both of their bodies in the earth to extinguish the flames that had caught on their clothing.
"Get off of me!" Felix pushed Sylvain away.
"Are you two okay?" Ingrid landed again, concern in her features as she glanced over her friends.
"A little singed, but unharmed." Sylvain took stock of himself and was relieved he had gotten out of there with only a few burns on his arms.
"What were you thinking tackling me like that?" Felix huffed as he stood and brushed himself off.
"I couldn't think I just wanted to get us out of that fire as quick as possible." Sylvain shook his head, still buzzing with adrenaline.
"We're lucky." Ingrid looked over to where the wooden structure of the central hill was fully burning. "That could've been a lot worse."
"The battle isn't over." Felix said. "Let's not count ourselves lucky yet."
"Hubert…" Sylvain once again caught sight of Edelgard's devout servant as they turned their attention back to the battle.
Sylvain hadn't realised that both Hubert and Edelgard would have been here for this fight. And now that he was right in front of him, Sylvain was filled with a desire for revenge. Seeing Hubert with his own eyes, he could begin to understand a little of the thirst for vengeance that consumed Dimitri. He was shaking, practically vibrating, with rage as he was reminded that Hubert was the one who had taken Eve away.
Was it also Hubert who decided to execute her? Did he do it himself? Sylvain had always thought him a creepy bastard— the kind who would have cruelly enjoyed taking Eve's life.
"What are you scared of that little Von Vestra?" Felix taunted, mistaking Sylvain's tremors of rage for ones of fear.
"I'm going to kill him." Sylvain growled which caused both of his friends to blink in surprise.
"Sylvain…" Ingrid looked at him with worry.
"He's the one who took Eve." Sylvain turned to Felix, knowing the Fraldarius would share his rage if he knew the truth.
"What?" Felix balked.
"He counted on her being with His Highness in Fhirdiad." Sylvain elaborated. "He ambushed Eve in the capital and took her to Enbarr."
"Do you think he knows today is the last day his head will be attached to his shoulders?" Felix hissed, eyes darkening.
Before Sylvain could answer or Ingrid could protest, Felix set off in Hubert's direction. He seemed as if a beast had taken over him, sprinting across the battlefield and felling any foe who tried to stop him. By now, the rest of the Kingdom and Church forces had pushed the Empire's front line to its limit and were closing in on the Emperor.
By the time Sylvain caught up to Felix, Dimitri had also reached Edelgard. The two were fighting in a clash that was as impressive to witness as it was frightening. Neither one seemed interested in yielding, however a particularly well aimed jab from Dimitri's lance left Edelgard with a particularly incapacitating gash on her side. And meanwhile, Hubert was struggling to hold his own in close combat with Felix.
"We must retreat for now!" Edelgard called out to her troops.
As she did so, Hubert warped to her side and the two of them disappeared before Dimitri could stop them. The rest of the Empire forces began their retreat and Sylvain realised that the Alliance had also begun to retreat from Gronder Field.
"The Alliance is retreating." Byleth reported, appearing out of nowhere.
"They didn't even engage, what were they here for?" Gilbert frowned.
"Our suspicions were correct." Byleth explained. "Our messenger was intercepted and the Alliance never knew we wanted to join forces. They heard of the conflict here and came to ensure that whoever won wouldn't then turn their course for Alliance territory."
"How do you know all this, Professor?" Rodrigue asked as everyone reconvened.
"I split off to approach Claude." She said.
"On your own?" Gilbert frowned. "That was reckless of you."
"I had a hunch and it was correct." Byleth shrugged. "I negotiated with him and convinced him to retreat so as not to create meaningless casualties."
"That woman...we failed to capture her. I'll keep pursuing. The rest of you, keep fighting!" Dimitri shouted to the gathered troops as they had all stopped pursuing the retreating forces.
"I'm so sorry...but we can't do that." Rodrigue appeared beside the prince. "I understand how you feel, but we only barely claimed victory. We must retreat to the Great Bridge of Myrddin before the Empire can regroup and attack again!"
"I'll kill all of them! No matter how many hundreds or thousands of them they are!" Dimitri growled.
As he spoke, Sylvain noticed a young girl armed with a sword approaching the two arguing men. He vaguely remembered her begging to join their forces after their victory at Myrddin. But he wondered why she would be here now.
"You... What are you doing here? It's too dangerous! Fall back, now!" Rodrigue noticed her, eyes widening with concern.
Unfazed, the girl rushed Dimitri as she brandished the sword she held.
"You filthy monster!" She screeched. "It's time to die!"
"Your Highness!" Rodrigue was the first to act, diving between the girl and Dimitri.
Sylvain watched in horror as the man he had known and respected all his life took the blow meant for the prince. Before anyone else could even process what had happened, Byleth had stepped in and swiftly executed Dimitri's attacker.
"Rodrigue!" Dimitri choked out in shock.
"Your Highness... Are you safe? Please tell me... it wasn't in vain..." Rodrigue collapsed to the floor.
"This punishment... it was mine to bear." Dimitri knelt down to hold the Fraldarius Lord.
Sylvain looked around for any sign of Felix, but couldn't find him around. In fact, he realised that many of the Blue Lions had dispersed to search for survivors and care for the wounded in preparation for a retreat to the Bridge of Myrddin.
"There are no sins or punishments... on the battlefield..." Rodrigue shook his head, a faint smile on his lips.
"No! Don't die... Please, don't die! Father, Stepmother, Glenn... They all died and left me behind. Rodrigue... Are you to join the ghosts who shadow my every move? This is my fault... I... I'm the one who killed you, as surely as though I had wielded the blade!" Dimitri wailed, his voiced wracked with a grief and pain that tore at Sylvain's heart as he could do nothing but watch the scene before him unfold.
"Your Highness. You have one thing... terribly wrong." Rodrigue let out a weak chuckle. "None of them... none of us... died for you. I'm dying for what I believe in... just as they did. Your life is your own. It belongs to no other, living or dead. Live for what you believe in. Dimitri... My boy... You really do look just like His Majesty..."
He reached up to gently pat Dimitri's face as a content smile filled his face.
"Lambert… My Promise… I…"