The Black Eagles and the Blue Lions held a strong lead in the Mock Battle thus far. Both sides had all of their competitors, while the Golden Deer was whittled down to just Claude, Hilda, and Manuela. But did that mean Claude was going to throw in the towel? Absolutely not. With the Black Eagles and Blue Lions engaging one another, he and Hilda began an assault to take down the stragglers. A head on fight may have been common, but Claude liked to pursue other options. "Alright, Hilda…let's see how long it takes for you to bring Hubert down." He told himself, staying perched in a tree nearby to have an eye on the battle. He enjoyed having a bird's eye view of the field so assess the situation and adapt on the fly if needed.
Hilda didn't really want to fight anyone, but she had no choice since Lorenz dragged himself and Ignatz down, while Leonie's competitiveness led to her getting taken down swiftly by Professor Byleth. So here she was now, swinging her axe at Hubert. "Hah!"
Hubert was able to leap away from Hilda's axe. But despite how much of a lazy swing it was, his brows furrowed. He could still feel the force within the swing despite it not coming close to him. "Hm…" Hilda was a threat. He made that assessment instantly and decided she needed to be removed from the equation immediately. Once he landed on his feet, he immediately fired a few orbs of dark magic in her direction.
"Ugh…" Hilda groaned before dashing forward. Hubert's aim was really annoying for her, so she had to jump off to the side a few times to avoid being struck by magic, but the small explosions did throw her off balance a bit. "Sorry Hubert, but I'm going to end this as fast as I can!" She then leapt up, planning to swing her axe down on Hubert.
"You took the words from my mouth." Hubert held both hands out, conjuring a large orb of dark magic that Hilda's axe collided with. It was a stalemate, until some lightning started to spark around Hilda's axe. This slight surge of magic caused an explosion, throwing both her and Hubert to the ground. "Unpleasant…" Hubert grunted, bruised and battered a bit.
"Ow…" Hilda groaned. She was a little quicker than Hubert to pick herself up, but she could see a purple spike protruding from her leg. It hurt. "What is this!?" She looked at Hubert, who slowly picked himself up.
"Wouldn't you like to know? Call it…a little surprise." Hubert said with a sinister chuckle. Unfortunately for him, Hilda was still rushing forward, and an arrow flew past Hubert as well. It came from Claude, which he barely dodged. That seemed to be the point, because this allowed Hilda to knock Hubert down to the ground once more. "Oof…well then…consider this my loss." He knew when he was beaten…but his contribution to this fight was far from over, even as he was warped out.
"That sucked." Hilda stared at the spike protruding from her leg. It pierced her, but it didn't seem as though it caused physical injury. "Can I get rid of this thing or what?"
"I wouldn't try touching it…" Claude advised. "Maybe Professor Manuela can help you out and get you back in the fight. We can leave things to the Black Eagles and Blue Lions for now. They seem to be having a lot of fun. Actually…where'd Teach go?" He'd seen everyone on the field so far, but he only saw Byleth once. That…didn't bode well…
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Dedue was a force to be reckoned with. His physical prowess alone was more than capable of handling Edelgard, Caspar, and Shez at once. Every mighty swing with his axe caused the three of them to jump back for safety. This was even before factoring in Mercedes with her nonstop healing, and Ashe's long range support. This trio was a nigh unbreakable wall. "We're not getting anywhere…!" Caspar grunted, but the challenge had him grinning.
"Just what is this formation…!?" Shez grit her teeth. "We can't get past Dedue, Ashe is annoying with his arrows, and even if we did hurt Mercedes she can heal herself and others."
"Dimitri is certainly putting all of his assets to good use." Edelgard said. "Our Professor would be a good asset right now, but that would defeat the purpose of what she asked of us." After all, Byleth was taking a more hands off approach for this first battle, stepping in when needed. She gave them a battle plan and it was up to them to follow it.
"You have the power to take out the archer. That should make things a lot easier." Arval told Shez.
"You want me to use my power now? Doesn't that seem like a bit much?" Shez was confident she could do this without…
"Not the full extent of it! But we both know none of you are getting past this monstrous formation without shifting the momentum. You only need to take down one." Arval added.
"Shez, look out!" Edelgard shouted.
Dedue was bringing his axe down towards Shez. Shez quickly brought her swords up in an X formation to block Dedue's attack, but his weight and momentum caused her knees to bend. "Ngh…!"
"Now!" Caspar and Edelgard moved in. Caspar punched at Dedue's rib, while Edelgard aimed an axe strike at his chest. They did succeed in pushing him back, but Mercedes was on the ball with healing and restored most of the damage he sustained in a heartbeat.
"This is your chance! He's attacking!" Arval told Shez. They had to take the initiative now!
"Right!" Shez turned to Ashe, who was nocking a few arrows. She sprinted to him as he fired, using her swords to knock his arrows down.
"I knew you'd do that…" Ashe said while readying his third arrow, this one was pulled back much further than the others. Shez saw her chance. Suddenly, she completely vanished from view, causing Ashe's eyes to widen as he lost his target. "Huh-!?" And then Shez appeared in front of him, slashing at him with both swords. Ashe just fell over, in pain, and still in shock. "S-So fast…I didn't even see her…" And he was warped out, just like that.
"Ashe..?!" Mercedes turned, shocked that he went down so easily.
"Mercedes, watch out!" Dedue stepped in front of Mercedes, arms crossed as he blocked her axe strike. "Are you alright?"
"Oh my…thank you Dedue…" Mercedes smiled and used her magic to heal him.
"I almost caught her unaware…" Edelgard muttered. So close…
"I'm taking out Dimitri!" Shez exclaimed, sprinting further onto the field.
"Wait, what?" Caspar blinked, but Shez was already gone. This left him and Edelgard to deal with Dedue and Mercedes.
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Bernadetta was hanging back…all alone. She had her taste of fighting and she'd much rather not do anything else. "Oh…" She whined to herself. Granted, she had to trust Byleth's methods and figure out a way to get used to fighting under pressure, even if she didn't want to at all. That's when an arrow flew past her. "EEEP!" She hopped up and instinctively turned around, returning the fire. Claude had to jump out of the tree his was hiding in.
"Whoa! That was a good shot…" Claude was actually sweating a bit. Bernadetta's instinctive reaction led to some high accuracy sharp shooting.
"Oh, why did it have to be you…" Bernadetta whined. "I knew you'd be out to get me! Because I'm another archer! I didn't even wanna be out here!"
"Uh…" Claude wasn't sure how to react. He knew that Bernadetta was…a lot, but dealing with it himself was a different story. "Well, you were a target I thought I could take…"
"I KNEW IT! You ARE out to get me!" The purple haired girl simply attacked to protect herself. Not the incorrect decision, but her reasoning for it was a bit skewed. She fired arrow after arrow at Claude, who took the time to dodge or fire arrows of his own. It was an impromptu shootout and somehow Bernadetta's shots were getting more and more accurate.
"I didn't think it'd be this bad…" Claude muttered to himself. But luckily he had a means to stop Bernadetta in her tracks. He let loose an arrow imbued with wind into the ground near her fit, kicking up a bit of dust that obscured her sight.
"Ah! I can't see…!" Bernadetta had to close her eyes and rub them, which left her open to an arrow to her shoulder that struck her and knocked her down. "Ow! Okay, I surrender! I don't wanna do this anymore…!" She whimpered. Whatever she could do to get out of this, and she was warped away as she asked. Did she get used to fighting under pressure? It was…hard to say. It was a start, at least…
"…ow…" Claude looked at his lower left side. Bernadetta managed to graze him with an arrow. "…That's something to watch out for…"
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"Incoming!" Luke shouted to Dimitri. "It's just one though! I got this!" Shez was incoming and he brandished his sword, rushing towards her with a grin. "Time to see what you're made of!" He swung his sword at Shez, but she sidestepped him completely. "Gah-!?" He pivoted on his heel to block her next strike. He blocked one sword and hastily moved to block the other. "Two swords…!?" He wasn't expecting this.
"Sorry, but you're not the main prize today. Maybe some other time!" Shez said with a cocky grin, pushing Luke down with her boot before rushing straight to Dimitri. If the Blue Lions' commander was taken down, surely they would surrender. This was going exactly against what Byleth wanted, but Shez wasn't exactly going to let the Ashen Demon's tactics outdo her own decision making.
"You're quite a bold one, but I respect your efforts. Unfortunately, they shall end with your defeat!" Dimitri thrust his lance forward. Shez was anticipating an action like this since Lorenz opened with the same move…but the force behind it was completely different. Even as Shez moved to the side, a powerful gust of wind nearly blew her back.
"Gah..!? What the…?" Shez wasn't expecting this amount of strength from Dimitri…but this made her grin. She could take him. She regained her footing and began to assault him with her twin swords. While she was fast, Dimitri was capable of using his lance to block her attacks, not losing a single step. He even pushed his own offensive, which in turn, made Shez defend. The two of them then jumped back. "Did you get stronger from a few days ago?"
"I would like to think so." Dimitri replied with an earnest smile. "But is this the time for you to be relaxing? After all, you charged right past another enemy. I did not think you so careless."
"I didn't forget about him…" Shez anticipated Luke's incoming attack to her left, so she moved to sidestep again…only to see that he was mirroring her movements exactly. "…!?" She went to dodge, but instead, he completely read her movements and she was forced to block a sword strike. "How did you…"
"I'm really good at reading people's movements. I may not have a Crest, but my eyes are all I need. You might get me once, but you'll never get me a second time." Luke said with a grin, charging at Shez once again…and Dimitri followed suit. The two of them began an assault on Shez, swinging their weapons. Shez was glad she had two swords, but keeping two skilled combatants at bay like this was pretty hard. She'd seen her fair share of fights as a mercenary, and Byleth was the most humiliating defeat she had…and these students were tough on their own. Shez was eventually hit by the back of Dimitri's lance, causing her to slide back and pant a bit.
"Impressive, Luke. You kept up well." Dimitri said.
"I'm not gonna fall behind you just because you're the future king." Luke said. "And I'm not working with you because I want to. It's just advantageous to press our numerical advantage."
"Of course." Dimitri wasn't going to press that issue.
"This doesn't look great. Maybe you should retreat. You have the speed…" Arval suggested.
"I do have the speed…and I'm gonna use it." Shez said while rushing ahead. Luke was charging first. She bent her knees and preformed a front flip over Luke, slashing down across his back in the process to slow him down.
Luke grunted and nearly collapsed on the ground, gasping from that surprisingly hard hit. Dimitri took note of this and reared his lance back, lightning sparking around the weapon. "So you're intent on coming for me? Very well! Do not hold back!" He thrust his lance forward and Shez brought her swords down. The two had a powerful clash that caused a shockwave to boom outward. They were even too.
"He's way stronger than I thought. If I want to take him down, I've got no choice but to…!" Shez's train of thought was interrupted when the unexpected happened. She was holding her ground fairly well, but Dimitri suddenly gained a huge surge of strength from nowhere. Dimitri's Crest of Blaiddyd activated, increasing his strength tenfold. This surge of strength was so powerful, not only was Shez sent flying backwards, but Dimitri's lance shattered in the process.
"GAAAH!" Shez cried out. She tumbled along the ground for a good while before coming to a stop on her back, pretty bruised from the impact and rolling along the ground.
"Are you alright!?" Arval gasped. He didn't think Dimitri was capable of a blow like THAT.
"Ugh…" Shez was barely responsive. That blow knocked the wind out of her and nearly sent her to the realm of unconsciousness. She was teetering in and out, but ultimately her eyes closed and she passed out. She had no idea that Dimitri could be that strong. As such, she was defeated and warped out for her safety.
"Geez, dude…" Luke said. He watched the whole thing and he was just speechless.
"Not again…" Meanwhile, Dimitri seemed less than elated in the fashion he won. It came at the cost of his weapon, and on the battlefield, that alone could be costly. He couldn't control his strength at times, no matter how hard he tried. This was just one of those moments. "It appears I have no choice but to surrender at this stage. Being on the battlefield without a weapon is simply asking for a death sentence. I trust the rest of you will take victory in my stead." Before Luke even had a chance to reply, Dimitri was warped out.
"…Yeah, sure. Dump the rest onto me." Luke groaned. "…Okay, well. Guess I should check on Professor Hanneman. He's been oddly quiet, and we were supposed to group up at the front. I can grab him and we can take the fight to the Eagles and wipe them out…then we can go to the Deer…" Luke was talking to himself while running back to get Hanneman, but on the way there, he happened to run into Hilda. "Ah."
"Ugh…" Hilda groaned and grabbed her axe. She really didn't want to do anymore fighting right now, but she didn't have much choice with Luke standing in her way. "Can I ask that you just give up? That would make things a lot easier on me?" She flashed a sweet smile Luke's way and winked too.
"Well…" Luke was actually considering it for a moment!? But his gaze turned and his eyes widened at the sight he saw. "W-What the…!?"
"Huh?" Hilda blinked and turned to see what Luke saw, only for her eyes to widen as well. "W-Whoa…" Both Hanneman and Maneula were defeated. Standing before them, with her back turned, was Byleth. Her gray coat wavered in the wind and she slowly turned to the two students. "Eee…"
"She took them both out…!?" Luke was flabbergasted. Byleth didn't even have a single scratch on her…! "…Truce?"
"…There's no way I'm fighting her." Hilda shook her head. But she didn't have a say in the matter anyway, because the magic spike on her leg exploded. It wasn't a large explosion; it was small and contained. But since it was attached to Hilda, it still did a fair share of damage and knocked her down. "Ow…." She said weakly. Hilda had no idea what happened in that instance, but she thought about Hubert's parting words. It was his trick…She was down and warped out.
"Oh sh…" Luke's eyes widened. He made the mistake of taking his eyes off Byleth, but it didn't make a difference. He just felt a fist slam into his gut, causing him to fold over and cough. "Agh…hack…"
"You should never take your eyes off your opponent in battle. Even a split second is costly." Byleth imparted these words of wisdom as Luke crumpled to the ground, KO'ed. And he was warped out as a result. "Now…how are my students doing? The battle should be over soon…"
.
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Edelgard, Caspar, and Dedue were all panting heavily. It was a tough fight, and even though Mercedes was keeping Dedue healed, exhaustion was still a thing and it was setting in for those three. "I can do this allllll day…" Caspar said between breaths.
"You and I both." Dedue replied, making sure to stand up straight. "As long as I stand, you will not be getting past me or hurt Mercedes."
"Thank you, Dedue." Mercedes smiled at Dedue. It was thanks to his efforts that she could stay in the fight to begin with.
"Now…" Dedue was prepared to attack once more. He lunged towards Edelgard and she took the defensive…and then the unexpected happen. An arrow imbued with wind struck Dedue, completely knocking him for a loop and throwing him to the ground. "Ugh…" It was a single hit, but a very well placed and timed one that caused Dedue to be warped out.
"Huh!?"
Everyone glanced back to where the arrow came from and saw Claude. "His guard was down." Claude said. "And you all look pretty exhausted yourselves now too."
"Was this your plan?" Edelgard asked. Exhausted or not, she would fight him all the same.
"Not initially." Claude admitted, but nobody would know if that was the truth or not. "You gotta adapt on the fly, Your Highness. As it just so happens, I'm very good at doing that. I can't take you all in a straight fight…but I think I can weasel a win here in these conditions."
"You're sorely underestimating me if you think you can take me as I am now." Edelgard wanted to laugh at the idea. She absolutely refused to lose to Claude.
"Losing hasn't even crossed your mind, has it? Ooooh, this'll be a bit of a shock, then…" Claude said while readying an arrow.
That fight would never come to pass. Because Byleth was behind Claude. "This fight should be over. You're the only two remaining from your Houses." Byleth said calmly.
"Oh…" Mercedes placed a hand on her cheek. She was the last one standing? Well…she didn't think she would win out in these conditions. "Is that so?"
"Oh…looks like I ran out of time…" Claude was looking forward to duking it out with Edelgard a bit to see what she was really made of. But it didn't seem like Byleth was willing to let that happen. "Damn, I knew I should've kept my eye on you, but since our numbers were already so low, there wasn't a lot I could do…"
"Do you surrender?" Edelgard asked both Claude and Mercedes.
"…I know when I'm outmatched. No amount of scheming can get me outta this one." Claude threw his hands up, waving the metaphorical white flag.
"I surrender as well. But this was a good experience." Mercedes wore a pleasant smile.
"All right, that's that!" Jeralt said. "The winner of this mock battle is…The Black Eagle House!" With Byleth, Caspar, and Edelgard remaining, the Black Eagles were the victor.
"Whew! We did it!" Caspar pumped a fist into the air. "…I didn't get to do much, but fighting Dedue was great. He's so strong…"
"You all did well." Byleth said, extending these words not just to her own students, but to the others as well. "I think I'm beginning to understand how some of you operate…" This was still only the beginning. Learning how her students acted and fought was the first step. Teaching them to do better was the next. And then there was Shez, who pretty much ignored what she had to say and went off ahead. She was going to be a troublesome one….
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There was an abandoned fortress somewhere within Zanado, the Red Canyon. A few of the Iron King's Thieves retreated there after Kostas was killed by the Ashen Demon. But it was also occupied by another party as well. "What pitiful beasts…" A dark mage by the name of Myson scoffed at the scattering humans seeking refuge in their hideout. "I should exterminate them here and now."
"Ah ah…" A woman with pale skill and short orange hair appeared. "Based on what we know, they need to serve as bait. Granted, I'd much rather slaughter them like sheep, but we have our orders."
"You should be focusing on your mission, Kronya." Myson said. "Why isn't the girl dead yet?"
"You know these things take a while." Kronya was lazily twirling her curved blade around. "Besides…" She reached over, an arm looping around a girl in a student's uniform from Garreg Mach. "Monica and I have been talking a lot. I've really been getting to know her~. She's been telling me everything I want to know about her life, isn't that right?"
"….." Monica's wrists were bound. She didn't answer Kronya and instead looked away.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Kronya's fake sweetness quickly turned into venom. "I've been nice and kept you alive this long! The least you can do is answer me when I ask you a question, vermin."
"…I refuse." Monica replied.
Kronya looked annoyed for a moment, before tossing Monica to the ground lazily. "If that's how you want to be, fine. I'll enjoy draining more samples of your blood. I've got something veeeeeery special planned for you. And you're going to help me, whether you want to or not!"
"Don't waste any more time on this than necessary." Myson warned Kronya. "You have the annoying habit of playing with your food. These craven beasts are…"
"Yeah yeah…" Kronya said while picking Monica up and effectively dragging her along. "Come on, Monica. I have so many more questions I want to ask!"
Monica grunted from the initial pain of being dragged along. But despite her situation, there was a fire in her eyes that had not yet gone out. "Lady Edelgard will come save me…I just know she will…"