Kronya and Myson made their escape from the Black Eagles, but not before giving them a Demonic Beast to play with in the meantime. This creature was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, and it was in a wild frenzy as well. Its tail whipped around violently, forcing everyone to take evasive maneuvers to avoid taking serious damage. Even then, the collateral damage it was causing still managed to hurt everyone in some way. "Seriously, what the hell is this thing!?" Luke asked while taking the chance to rush forward, leaping with his sword drawn to slash against the Demonic Beast's back, while Edelgard attacked its front with her axe. When he landed on his feet, he looked back and grimaced. "Are we even hurting it!?"

"I-I hope we are…!" Bernadetta said while firing arrow after arrow at the Demonic Beast's body from as far a distance as she could manage. Her arrows were sticking into the creature's body, but she really couldn't tell if her efforts were useful or not. "I'm starting to run out of arrows!"

The Demonic Beast roared and raised its claw up, intending to bring it down on Luke since he was the closest person to it. "Sh…" He jumped back, but the claw's impact caused the ground to shake and tremble violently. It kicked up multiple rocks that flew in Luke's direction. He tried to slash through the rocks, but they pelted him and he hit the ground hard. "Gah…"

Luckily for Luke, Dorothea stepped in front of him, her hand charged with lightning magic. To get the Demonic Beast's attention, she fired off a few bolts of lightning at it. It worked too, so she looked back at Luke and winked. "You're welcome. I accept thanks in dinner invitations." A noble was still a noble, so she had to take her shot.

"Sure, if we make it out of this one." Luke replied with a dry laugh. Unfortunately for the two of them, the Demonic Beast suddenly whipped its tail around, striking the both of them and knocking them down hard. "Gah!"

"Agh!" The two of them cried out while rolling along the ground.

"Dorothea…! Luke…are they okay?!" Byleth asked, now getting the Demonic Beast's attention by slashing at its leg. It didn't appreciate that, so it retaliated by swiping at her, which she was able to dodge.

Linhardt approached the two downed students, making use of healing magic on them. "They're still breathing…just unconscious." Linhardt reported their status. He was regulated to healing duty, and he much preferred that over having to deal with the literal monster they were fighting.

Shez was warping around the Demonic Beast, trying to find a weak spot in the creature's thick skin. But despite how many times her blades found their mark, she wasn't sure if she was doing damage. "Serious, what is this thing!?" Shez grunted while warping back, starting to pant a bit. Sure, she was exhausted from having to fight Kronya and now this monster, but sustaining her transformation for this long was also beginning to take its toll on her. But she couldn't stand back and watch while the others fought either.

"You're starting to slow down…maybe it's best you take a breather." Arval suggested.

"Not yet…" Shez shook her head.

"Shez. We can handle this if you're tired." Byleth said. As Professor, she had to watch over everyone. She wanted all of her students safe.

"I can keep fighting…!" Shez insisted, even as her transformation was beginning to flicker. If she lost this surge of power now…

"You look like you're about to keel over." Ferdinand said. "If you do, it will make the battle much harder for us having to keep you safe. But worry not! I, Ferdinand von Aegir, will ensure no more harm comes to you! It is my duty as a noble to protect the commoners such as yourself!" He said this while taking a defense stance, bracing himself as the Demonic Beast took a swing at him. He blocked the hit, but he was still sent skidding back and his weapon nearly broke in the process. "Gh…!"

Shez hardly had the chance to respond, but it definitely didn't feel like she appreciated the way Ferdinand worded that. Still, she jumped back to make sure he was okay. "You really have to work on your wording."

Petra used this to her advantage. While the Demonic Beast was distracted, Petra used her speed to slip underneath it, dragging her sword along the soft underbelly of the beast. While her blade was unable to fully cut through the beast, she was successful in inflicting heavy damage and making the monster bleed. Once she was out from under the Beast, she shook her sword to clean it of the blood. "It is having weak spots! The monster is not unstoppable!"

This, however, made the monster rampage. Shez took this chance to distract the beast, putting herself in its line of sight only to warp away again. "Looks like it's angry, but it won't be for much longer!"

"Nice work, Petra!" Caspar grinned. "Now we know how to take it down!" Ultimately, his version of this was just hit it really hard.

"Ouch…thanks, Lin…" Dorothea flashed Linhardt a smile.

"Yeah…" Luke also nodded and wearily stood up.

"Okay…" Byleth was thinking about this. They could beat this monster. It was in a rage after Petra damaged it…

"Don't worry, Professor." Edelgard said while giving Byleth a reassuring nod. "You've done quite a lot of work for us already, but it's our turn we show you what we're capable of." They already let Byleth handle investigating the basement, clearing out the dark mages, and forcing Kronya and Myson to retreat. Edelgard wanted to show their Teacher that they could pull their own weight as well. "We will take what you've taught us, and use it to defeat this beast. I swear on Empire's honor, this beast will fall by my axe!"

"Edelgard…" Byleth was a little surprised at Edelgard's initiative. "Very well. I trust you all."

"These students of yours are very eager to impress you. But let us standby in case something goes wrong." Just like Byleth, Sothis was eager to see what these students could muster as a force together.

"That's precisely what I was hoping to hear. Is everyone ready?" Edelgard looked to everyone, all of them prepared to fight this raging beast. "We will use our numbers to our advantage, just as the Professor instructed us. Dorothea, Linhardt, Hubert, and Bernadetta. Give us an opening!"

"As you wish, Lady Edelgard." Hubert nodded.

"Anything for you, Edie!" Dorothea winked.

"O-Oh okay…" Bernadetta gave a sheepish nod.

"If I must…" Linhardt didn't really think his aid was needed, but better safe than sorry he supposed.

Hubert, Linhardt. Dorothea, and Bernadetta attacked at once from a distance. Shez was a team player, making sure to position herself so the Demonic Beast would face the incoming attacks. Before the monster could react, it was slammed by dark, wind, and thunder magic all spearheaded by an arrow. A violet explosion occurred that caused the monster to roar and recoil.

"NOW!" Edeglard shouted, charging in with the physical attackers. As the Beast recoiled, Luke and Petra lunged in with their swords to the side, striking the Beast's exposed upper body with their blades for damage, while Caspar and Ferninand attacked from the left for the same effect. The beast was starting to howl in pain and began thrashing around wildly, desperately knocking back those wo attacked it. Edelgard and Shez were using this chance to finish it off. "Are you prepared!?"

Shez's transformation was flickering on and off, but she was determined to hold it through to the end. "Let's do it!" She nodded and leapt into the air with Edelgard, the two of them gaining height over the Demonic Beast. They slammed their weapons down on its head, but the Beast howled and fought back, swinging its arm at the two of them in a desperate attempt to fight back. Shez was hit and knocked to the ground, knocked clean out of her transformation from overuse, while Edelgard was knocked into the air.

"Edie…!" Dorothea gasped.

Byleth narrowed her eyes, watching as Edelgrd flipped. It looked like a helpless position at first, but…. "…"

Edelgard caught herself in the air, hands gripping the handle of her axe as she started to dive back down towards the beast. Fire erupted from her axe as she intended to follow through on her word. "By my name, Edelgard von Hresvelg, I will slay you!" The Beast was going to try and hit Edelgard one last time, but she twisted her body in the air to avoid its claw, her axe landing right on top of its head. There was an explosion of fire and smoke that caused everyone to cover their eyes. But as that cloud of dust started to clear, Edelgard was standing over the felled Demonic Beast, panting heavily with heavy wounds on her body. But she raised her axe up high. "This is a victory for the Black Eagles!" Everyone erupted in a cheer for their victory.

"Whew…" Luke whistled lowly. "This class is something else…"

Byleth felt a tiny smile tug at the corner of her lips. Is this what pride in others felt like? "Good job, everyone." She walked over to Shez and extended her hand to help her up. "Are you okay?"

Shez had one eye closed…luckily, it was the eye usually hidden by her hair. She stared at Byleth's hand before trying to stand up on her own. "I'm fine…"

"Well. That was absolutely terrible." Linhardt wasn't going to sugarcoat it either.

"Who were those people…" Dorothea felt sore all over. What an exhausting day this turned into.

"I-I have no idea. But if I never see them again, it'll be too soon!" Bernadetta shook her head. She absolutely did not want to experience something that terrible ever again.

"I won't let them get away next time." Caspar clenched his hand into a fist. "They were clearly bad guys…"

"…" Edelgard didn't say anything at first. "Whoever they may be, I do not intend to allow them to do as they please." Her voice carried a surprising amount of conviction despite this being their first meeting with the strange foes.

"Something about them was…how do you say…off?" Petra didn't know how she wanted to phrase it.

"That's about right." Dorothea nodded at Petra's words.

"Next time, they will face the full wrath of my nobility." Ferdinand said confidently.

"They also knew something about us…" That was something that Arval wouldn't be able to get out of his head, or Shez for that matter.

"…Yeah, that was not what I expected out of today." Luke said while rotating his arm. "…I'm so tired…"

"…The Knights are going to want to hear about this." Byleth thought.

"…Monica…was I too late…?" That was the only thing Edelgard could think about. Kronya told her that Monica wasn't here any longer. But did that mean she was already disposed of…or did they not get to that yet? Not having the answers to such an important question was going to eat away at her for the longest time. But Edelgard simply pushed those feelings down. There was nothing she could do. This just meant the plan would be taking a different direction…so be it.

"…" Hubert didn't say anything, but was the only one who knew how Edelgard felt at this moment.

.

.

Kronya and Myson were warped to a rendezvous point not too far off from Zanado, where a number of dark mages were waiting for them. They were still in the mountains, but further away from the fortress after they left the Black Eagles to deal with the Demonic Beast. The moment they were safe, Kronya nearly collapsed from the wound Byleth dealt to her. "Gh…!" She was still alive, but she was in a lot of pain. More pain than she'd ever experienced. "I…have to get underground…"

"What happened there, Kronya?" Myson was scrutinizing Kryona's performance. "You let those beasts get the better of you? That's not like you at all. Your recklessness nearly costs us the mission."

"Shut UP, Myson!" Kronya barked back. She was not in the mood to deal with his remarks. "The mission is fine, I don't need to hear it from you! Now…" She turned to the lingering dark mages were. Something was mission. "…Where is she?" Kronya snarled. The dark mages started to back away worriedly.

"W-Well…" One of the dark mages took another step back. "W-While you and Myson were busy…she…well…"

"SHE WHAT?!" Kronya was not in the mood and it showed on her face. The pain from her wound fueled her anger.

"…She managed to attack us…" The dark mage said. "She caused an explosion…it took a few of us out, and knocked her back…right off that cliff…?" He pointed down to a cliff, but there was nothing visible at the bottom.

"You LOST HER!?" Kronya growled.

"N-Nobody can survive a fall like this!" The dark mage waved his hands. "She's a beasts, she's soft, she surely would've died upon impact. P-Plus, she dropped this…" He held up Monica's Tome.

"Oh. That's fine then." Kronya swiped the tone, but before the dark mage could respond, Kronya stabbed him in the chest to kill him instantly. She had a lot of anger boiled up after what Byleth did to her. She was shaking as her mind flashed back to it. She needed to release her pent up anger and kill something. "Worm…"

"This is a disaster. The plan is nearly in ruins before it can even begin." Myson groaned.

"It's fine." Kronya spat. "Monica was already treated horribly, she's a worm, and no one can survive that kind of fall." She then held up Monica's tome, looking it over. A Scared Weapon, it was called. "Tch. I'll go back underground to recover…then I'll assume Monica's role. I already have enough of her blood, so it doesn't matter. And then…I'll get my revenge on that woman…" Nobody ever made Kronya feel like some sort of weaking. It was an embarrassment…one she couldn't forget or forgive.

And yet, on an incline just beyond their sight on the cliff…there was the real Monica, lying unconscious after the explosion she caused. Her fingers twitched to show there were indeed signs of life within her…but from her location and with her injuries…