Lysithea summoned a Swarm and sent it toward the first charging spearman. The spell began biting away at his skin, armor, and weapons, weakening and distracting him to the point that Claude could make an easy shot to his chest. He went down just as the Professor finished dispatching his own opponent.
Another three swordsmen would come charging and Byleth would engage them all while Lysithea and Claude provided support. Between her magic, Claude's arrows, and Byleth's blade they made quick work of the enemies with only a few minor scratches on the Professor as the cost. These Lysithea would take but a few seconds to heal before sending them off on the way. Though she was far from capable at healing as Marianne was, Lysithea's faith magic tended to be more… offensively oriented, her healing was still sufficient enough for minor wounds.
Lysithea took a step back and surveyed the battlefield like she was instructed. She looked for any of her classmates that needed any help. The short answer, no.
Leonie was skilled and dexterous. She would constantly switch between a bow and spear, softening up her enemies from a range as they charged her before skewering them with her spear. She had ended up dispatching a fair number of them and any that tried to charge her side was met with the wall that was Rapheal.
Rapheal was strong, tough, and could be surprisingly tricky when he needed to be. More than once he had baited his enemy in with an awkward yet powerful swing of his axe only for their faces to meet the end of his fists. At one point he put on a pair of gauntlets, rammed through a brawler that had tried to charge him, and picked up another one with both his arms. He lifted the man above his head and quite literally flung him at an archer that had been trying to take a shot at him. By all rights it was a crazy and idiotic looking move, but he made it work.
He wasn't the only powerhouse though. Hilda despite her frame was swinging a large steel axe around like Lysithea would a wooden training sword. The frightening speed at which she struck and power the power behind blow was enough to send most enemies she hit reeling, if not cleaving them outright. Every break between her kills would be filled with her shouting her own name in triumph, which only unsettled her opponents even more. Lysithea still couldn't figure out whether that was a coping mechanism for Hilda or simply a way she enjoyed the thrill of battle.
Standing alongside Hilda was Lorenz who was also making a great show on the battlefield. He combined spear work and magic, proving a fairly versatile force on the frontlines by switching between the two as necessary. His presence, his demeanor, and even the way he fought seemed to provoke the enemy into going after him. Hard not to really, he could really be that insufferable.
Anyway, the distraction those two created made it simple for Ignatz to quickly and quietly finish off the foes that they weakened. With light, quiet steps that belied his frame, he quickly flanked enemies so that he could shoot at them with his bow. Many were dead before they truly registered him as a threat while those that did simply couldn't catch up to him as he darted away and used the pillars of the Mausoleum or even Hilda to cut them off.
All while this was happening, Marianne would provide healing from a distance with physic or even simply walk her way to each group to heal them should the situation permit it. She had a gentle and effective touch to her healing while also being pretty nasty with a lance, something which an assassin had the unfortunate experience of learning firsthand when he tried to sneak up on her. All it took was a quick warning from Lindhart for Marianne to turn around and ruthlessly skewer her would be assailant before he had a chance to react.
Lindhart looked a bit unsettled at the sight but otherwise continued to apply his own healing to the rest of Golden Deer that would need it. On the battlefield he was fully awake providing what healing was needed and even throwing in cutting gale or two when he had the chance. He moved quickly and efficiently doing everything that might've needed from him.
It was the first time she had actually observed the entirety of her class as she fought, and they were all quite impressive. She always thought that she was a good student but seeing that at work now only motivated her to put even more of an effort in the future. Perhaps that was why the Professor placed here there.
Seeing that the flanks were secure, Lysithea made her way to Byleth and Claude.
The Professor as always was a demon on the battlefield cutting through anyone in front of him with ruthless efficiency. Close to him was Claude who was flashy and cocky with each of his movements yet was still able to land nearly every shot he made. Their house leader was one of the if the not the best shot in the academy and it showed every time he was out on the field.
Together the two would work in near harmony. With a single step forward from Byleth, Claude would know to stay back and let the Professor cover him. And with a single arrow from Claude pointed in the Professor's direction, Byleth would know to duck or move away so that the archer could make a shot on whoever was trying to flank them. Nothing ever had to be said between them. It was like they had fought together as close companions for years despite having only known each other for a few months.
An armored knight began to lumber toward them. His defenses might've given them some trouble had Lysithea not walked up to the front lines briefly and completely eviscerated him with a single Miasma.
"What's the situation?" Byleth asked as she took her place behind him once more.
"Everyone's been making steady progress, we'll soon converge on the center where we'll meet the enemies main force," Lysithea informed him.
"Actually, maybe we should change our plans a little Teach," Claude pointed toward the Death Knight who remained motionless in the middle of the room. "I've been overhearing a bit of a disagreement between him and the one leading this group. I don't think he'll even try to do anything as long as we stay out of his way. Also, he's called the Death Knight."
"Then we'll meet up in the center, strike through their right flank, and head straight for the sealed coffin," Byleth immediately replied. The Professor seemed to trust Claude implicitly, at least on the battlefield. There was simply no doubt between the two of them, they knew they could trust on rely on anything that they told each other.
Once the Golden Deer regrouped, they would all follow Byleth's order to charge the right flank. With the Death Knight just standing there and essentially just being another obstacle in their way, the rest of their foes were simply too slow to reinforce their collapsing flank.
With a fling of her arm, Lysithea use a Luna pierce through the resistances of an opposing bishop and sent him collapsing to the floor. Time was of the essence as they made their way toward the coffin, though there were still quite a few enemies standing within their path. She was however close enough to watch as the mage opened the coffin and kneeled down to grab what was inside.
"A sword!?" he heard the mage shout as he took a strange serrated sword with a hole in the center of its held.
Lysithea froze as the man turned around. Black robes and a beak-like mask. He was one of them, the same mages that had experimented on her all those years ago. The same men that had killed all her siblings and left her behind with a death sentence.
"Lysithea is something wrong?" Lorenz said only for her to break out of formation and make a beeline toward the coffin.
She recognized the spell that he was trying to cast. A teleport but it would take time and he wasn't getting away from her now. Her vision turned red and she screamed as the Crest of Gloucester activated above her. At least several of the enemy saw her run out of the formation of the class and charged at her.
Her first Miasma hit the axeman that had been charging her. The second missed the swordsman though she was able to block his blade with her own. She blocked a few swings before an arrow flew through the air and struck him in the arm. She then took the chance to strike him down with a Swarm at a point-blank range.
An arrow flew by and grazed her cheek, but she didn't care. She decimated the bowman before he could draw another. She continued running toward the coffin. At least two other people stood in her way. Two that would soon be just corpses on the ground though a shallow cut on her waist and a long slash on her arm was the cost.
By now the mage had finally noticed her presence and barely interrupted his teleport to block the Miasma she fired at him. Then a Swarm which he dodged, then a Luna that he redirected. He then flung his one spell at her which she redirected.
Spell after spell the two mages flung at each other, until Lysithea's head was pounding head pounding and her blood boiling from the strain. Despite the power being thrown she clearly had, by all rights all she had to was keep him busy until the others were done fighting the rest of the enemy. However, she wanted this man dead now.
She was overusing her crest and her body was screaming from the strain, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to kill him, to rip him to shreds scatter his body into pieces across the floor of the Monastery until his friends could no longer recognize it. Then she would find the rest of them and do the same to them. She wouldn't stop until he and everyone responsible for what had been done to her and her family was dead.
With the last of her spell reserves, Lysithea spread her arms wide and summoned numerous spears of Darkness all aimed toward the mage. Dark Spikes, a spell that she had initially for the Death Knight, but she no longer cared about him. She slammed her hands together and fired the spears all at once. They slammed in the area surrounding the mage, breaking the ground and causing smoke to fly up around him.
The dust settled and Lysithea was enraged to find that the mage was still alive. He had a spear in his leg and was barely holding himself up by grabbing onto the tomb. He had also lost his group on the strange sword which was now on the floor a good distance away from him. Lysithea walked forward ready to fight him with her sword when Byleth suddenly ran up to pick up the sword and charge the mage.
The mage, apparently having some spells left, fired a black ball at the Professor.
The sword, a Heroes Relic Lysithea realized, glowed in her professor's hand. Byleth would cleave the spell with his new blade and then swung it at the mage. The mage tried to block it with a barrier but with some force Byleth was able to break through the barrier and cut them down.
The mage was finally dead yet Lysithea hardly felt satisfied. It was only after she had taken a few breaths and calmed down that she realized it would actually be better if she had been able to take them alive. It would've been a chance for to get information on the people she sought, and she wasted it.
Lysithea noticed Byleth looking at her peculiarly. He clearly had some words for her and she likely deserved it.
Before either of them could take a step toward each other the rapid thumps of a galloping horse could be heard. The both turned to find that the Death Knight had finally started to move.
"That sword! Perhaps, you will be the challenge that I seek!" the Death Knight's voice rumbled as he charged at the two of them.