And here we go, the mock battle. A little bit warning that this is the first time I wrote a multiple battles in a single chapter in a format where characters fall left and right. I'll appreciate suggestions if you find the battle scene lacking in your review, for the improvement of next chapters.
As for Morgan, I really appreciate all the feedbacks and ideas about him/her, like how their presence will affect things and what problems will be caused by their presence. I think I'll take Jokoloko's advice and make a one-shot about them first to see people's reaction and get myself some practice in writing Morgan.
I'll admit that some scenes here was inspired by a fanfic written by Fantasy Fan 223 called Let's Die Together, a good story. Well, please enjoy and review.
Beta Reader: DarkAngelDan98
Robin stepped forward to stood next to Alois whose attention was focused to their captain, Jeralt, who stood at the center of the field they were on. At the moment, the two of them alongside a few other knights were positioned at the corner of the field, a spot that they referred to as post one. Aside from post one, there were other posts scattered throughout the area; each spot had knights and members of the Monastery staff stationed there. Their job here was to ensure today's event ran smoothly as well as retrieve any students who either forfeited or ended up being incapacitated from the match and then see to it that any wounds that they might have sustained during the fight was healed and tended to as soon as possible.
And why would they, the Knights of Seiros and some of the Monastery staffs be needed to do these particular tasks today? Well, because today was the day…
The day of the mock battle between the three houses.
"You're late." Alois remarked as he stared at the white-haired knight, though his tone was more surprised rather than annoyed as he found it unusual that someone who was usually quite punctual like Robin would arrive late to an important event like this.
"Sorry, I needed to be somewhere else before coming here." Robin replied with a small shrug. The truth was he had visited the dining hall first before coming here as he felt a sudden urge to do some…investigation in regard to the ongoing cases of missing jerky sticks and fruits. Apparently, the staff still couldn't give him any valuable information concerning the culprit or the method they had been using to steal food from their inventory but fortunately, the amount of food that was going missing wouldn't have any significant impact on the Monastery's stock of provisions so they would still be capable of serving meals in the dining hall every day without issue which was quite a relief to everyone involved.
The package of jerky sticks within his coat certainly didn't have anything to do with this incident, nope.
There was no connection whatsoever.
"Well, you're not that late and as long as it doesn't become a habit, it's fine." Alois said with a smile and a nod before giving a firm pat to the younger man's back. Robin gave the older man a grin and a nod in response before he shifted his attention back to Jeralt who was standing in the middle of the field, surrounded by the twelve students who would be participating in the mock battle.
"So victory is achieved once one house eliminates all of the students from the other houses so they're the only ones remaining, right?" Robin asked as he crossed his arms. He wished he could be stationed up at the hill to join the professors to see what these kids could really do but his duty required him to be here so he would probably miss out on seeing most of the actions.
A shame, he wanted to see what kind of strategic decisions that each leader would make.
"Yes, last year it was the Black Eagle house who won the mock battle. I'm curious to see if they'll be able to hold onto their winning streak this year, especially since this time around we've got the Imperial Princess, Kingdom Prince and next Head of the Alliance among the combatants. I still recall in the past 5 years the Blue Lions have won the annual mock battle three times and considering how this year their class is made up of quite a few talented close-range fighters, they seem to have a pretty good shot at claiming victory once again." Alois explained with a smile as he mimicked Robin's gesture in crossing his arms.
"Well, only time will tell how things will play out." Robin replied, feeling a little eager to see what Byleth's students could do.
While he probably wouldn't able to see most of the actions from where he had been positioned but despite that the tactician in him couldn't help but be intrigued at the thought of how the three leaders would go about overcoming their adversaries.
"I'm sure you all already know this but the house that still has students left standing at the end of the bout will be declared as the winner."
Edelgard put a hand on her waist as she listened to the instructions given by the Captain of the Knights of Seiros, Jeralt Eisner. Before the mock battle could start, all students were instructed to gather at the center of the field to listen to the rules and victory conditions. Despite that being the official reason, Edelgard knew that she, and probably her fellow house leaders, was also using this as a chance to assess the other teams. In a real combat, an opportunity like this rarely happened but she would gladly take this chance here if only to increase the likelihood of the Black Eagles coming out of this on top.
"The rules are simple. You beat your opponent by either knocking them out or forcing them to surrender. To surrender, simply drop your weapon, raise your hand, and say I surrender."
Edelgard was only half-listening to the instructions that Jeralt gave as she was more interested in judging the other team's strength by the weapons they would be using and the role each of them might play in battle. As expected, the Blue Lions mostly consisted of close-range combatants. Dimitri used a spear with a sword strapped on his waist, his retainer from Duscur whose name Edelgard hadn't learned yet wielded an axe, and that rude boy who challenged her professor, Felix if she wasn't mistaken, wielded a sword. There was also a boy with gray hair that carried a bow and arrows, meaning that the Blue Lions had at least one ranged attack option.
The Golden Deer seemed to be the opposite of the Blue Lions with Claude and a bespectacled boy with olive green hair were also wielding a bow and arrows, though they also had a close range combatant in the form a girl with pink hair who wielded an axe. When Edelgard's eyes reached the last member of the Golden Deer team, she couldn't suppress her surprise as indicated by her slightly widening eyes. The last member of the Golden Deer was a girl, smaller than any of the other students present, with no weapon in her hands which was a heavy implication that she could be a mage but what surprised Edelgard was the color of her hair…it was pure white just like hers…
First the skilled mercenary-turned-knight who was a close ally to her teacher and Jeralt and now this girl. It seemed that her time at the Monastery was going to serve to be quite different from how she originally envisioned.
"For this battle, all of you who bear Crests are forbidden from making use of them in this battle. If I or the knights spot any of you using your Crest, you can expect your house to be disqualified immediately. No exceptions." Jeralt warned firmly which caused Edelgard to shift her attention back to the man.
"That's all, any questions?"
Surprisingly, it was Claude who raised his hand.
"Are we allowed to forfeit from the battle if, say, we suddenly have a bad case of a stomachache?"
Edelgard couldn't help but raise her eyebrow after hearing the tanned boy's question before she silently glances at her fellow house leader to see his reaction only to see that Dimitri already did the same. Even though she and Dimitri haven't had a chance to interact all that much but at this moment, they could understand what was on each other's mind just by staring at each other.
Claude was definitely up to something…
"Yes, you may." Jeralt answered curtly but the knight did raise his eyebrow at such an odd question.
"Ah good then, don't want anyone to lose their dignity in case they lost control of their bowels today after what I did with their breakfa- oops, I mean." Edelgard didn't need long to finally figure out what Claude was up to with his strange question. However, while she did realize what his real intentions were with such an odd statement, it seemed not everyone caught onto it right away.
"H-Hold on a second!" the grey haired boy said with a nervous look.
"You had better be joking about that." Felix said sharply as he glared at the heir of the Reigan House.
"Really? Spiking our breakfast?" Dorothea in a tone that carried a mixture of skepticism and disgust as she crossed her arms.
"So that's why you insisted on having breakfast early?" the pink haired girl from the Golden Deer inquired with a mischievous smile as she leaned forward slightly to stare at her leader directly in his eyes. Claude simply gave her a wink in response.
"Relax my fellow students! I never said I spiked your breakfast." Claude replied easily with a smile as he held up both his hands before he looked up at the Captain of the Knights of Seiros.
"Besides, is there a rule that says using a non-lethal poison before the mock battle was prohibited?"
Jeralt let out a sigh as all students turned their attention toward him before he gave the leader of the Golden Deer an irritated look.
"No, there isn't…but I'll personally add it after this battle is over."
"I see! Thanks for clearing that up Sir!" Claude replied with a grin and a salute.
"Petty mind games." Hubert concluded simply in a low tone so the other houses wouldn't hear him as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Indeed." Edelgard agreed with a nod. She had to admit that while she didn't approve his use of such a tactic in this event as it only wasted their time but Claude really knew how to make full use of an opportunity to disrupt his enemy. Even she could feel the uneasiness that had formed thanks to his seemingly innocent question.
"If there is no more questions then let this battle begin!" Jeralt announced as he grabs the horn that strapped on his horse's side before he takes a deep breath and blows into the horn. The students of each house ran back to their assigned starting point as the sound of the horn that signaled the beginning of the mock battle resounded throughout the battlefield.
"His words about the placing of spikes and poison in our morning meal was not true, correct? Poison may be hard to be tasting in food but I am certain I would be feeling it if I had swallowed spikes." Petra asked once Edelgard and her team reached their starting spot. It was a shame that their starting point was relatively out in the open, meaning they couldn't allow their opponents to bring the fight to this spot due to the lack of objects or terrain that could be used as a shield against the mages' spells or archers' arrows.
"He was; he simply made that comment for the sole purpose to mess with your mind and causing distraction. Don't think about what he said; simply focus on our objective, to win this mock battle." Edelgard assured and tried to make her team focused on the present time.
"Falling for such an obvious trick is rather pat-." Hubert stated but he immediately shut his mouth when Edelgard gave him a warning look. Edelgard refrained herself from letting out a sigh as she massaged her temple. The last thing they needed right now was an internal conflict within their team.
"Alright then Edie, how should we play it?" Dorothea asked as sparks could be seen between her fingers, showing the former songstress's eagerness to start the battle.
"We'll split up into two teams. Dorothea, you go with Petra to engage the Blue Lions directly. Most of them are close ranged fighters so your magic should be able to keep them at bay while Petra would either defend you or deliver additional blows to whoever gets hit by your lightning spell. Use the trees as cover since they have an archer on their side, and Petra be sure to use a hit and run tactic unless direct confrontation is unavoidable. Hubert and I will confront the Golden Deer." Edelgard commanded after a brief consideration.
The reason why she choose Hubert, Dorothea, and Petra was to make a balanced team with two ranged fighters and two close range fighters, and she had specifically chosen Petra in the event that Dimitri would choose Felix as part of the team that represented the Blue Lions.
"The important thing that we need to remember is to not simply rush in and attack at the first chance we get. Calmly observe the situation and pick the right moment to attack, and be careful when picking your target." Edelgard stated as she closed her eyes briefly, reminding everyone of the advice that her professor gave them.
Edelgard looked up at the hill where she knew the professors, including her own, as well as the rest of the students of Officers Academy watched them. The professors were positioned up there where they could see the whole battle and assess their students' ability in combat without their direct guidance. The leaders, like her, were expected to be able to guide their team and make strategic decisions on their own.
This was the time for her to test her own leadership skills.
"If there are no issues, let's move forward."
"Clever little bastard." Jeralt grumbled as Robin kept on laughing. Some knights were either following Robin's example in laughing or simply expressed their amusement in other ways such Alois who simply shook his head in amusement.
"Now that's a strategy." Robin stated with an amused chuckle. Jeralt had just returned to their post where he would observe the battle alongside them and decided to tell them what the leader of the Golden Deer just did, which most of them found amusing. Robin must admit though that it was a quite clever decision on Claude's part to use a bit of psychological warfare on his opponents because not only were most of the students were still teenagers but Claude, from what he'd heard anyway, had built up a reputation of being some sort of schemer, meaning that some people would believe the lies he'd spew with little to no convincing.
While Robin himself rarely used such mind game during his days as tactician he could certainly concede that Claude was pretty smart in making such a play before the battle begins since it could potentially disturb the focus of his opponents.
"Do you really think he spiked their breakfast?" Alois asked as he turned his attention to Robin.
"I very much doubt it unless he planned to poison most of the Monastery's residents in the process or he somehow had a way to make sure only the students would eat the food that had been poisoned. It's not like the students are the only ones who eat breakfast in the dining hall after all." Robin answered with a shrug.
"Alright, enough joking around. We have a job to do and I don't want any of you to miss it if one of those brats decided to go against the rules and use their Crests, understand?" Jeralt reminded them as he put his hands on his waist.
"Yes Sir!"
"Do you think he really put something funny in our breakfast?" Ashe asked as he rubbed his stomach.
"Don't listen to him Ashe; he was just trying to draw your focus away from the task at hand. I doubt even Claude would do something like that." Dimitri advised as he patted the younger boy's shoulder. Leave it to Claude to decide to use his words to mess with their minds right before a battle but a part of Dimitri, despite the reassurance he just gave, couldn't help but worry that Claude might have indeed been telling the truth. But he decided it would be best to ignore such thoughs because for now, he needed to focus all his attention on their match.
"Oh, okay then." Ashe replied with a small smile as he gave the prince a nod.
"How naïve." Felix commented with a scoff. Even though it was only brief, Dimitri could see that Ashe looked hurt by Felix's comment but the silver haired boy immediately looked away slightly with a neutral expression. Dimitri grunted and gave his childhood friend a reprimanding look but as per usual, Felix merely ignored it.
"What is our plan Your Highness?" Dedue decided to speak up to bring their attention back to the current situation.
Dimitri put a fist under his chin as he tried to think of a strategy after hearing his retainer's question. Three of them were close range combatants while he noticed that the Black Eagles have two mages on their side and the Golden Deer has two archers, a close-range fighter and a single mage. Going on the offensive might put them at disadvantage which meant they needed to be on the defensive, at least until only one house remained. Dimitri then surveyed their surrounding and nodded to himself. There were ruins around them that they could utilize as a shield against the ranged combatants.
"We'll use our surroundings to our advantage. Ashe, can you try to lure our enemy here? The rest of us will use the ruins to hide and set up an ambush." Dimitri commanded.
"Tch, we'll be sitting ducks if both of the other houses decide to gang up on us." Felix pointed out.
"Perhaps but we'll be in a more disadvantageous position out in the open when the majority of our enemy are capable of using ranged attacks, at least here we have a fighting chance." Dimitri reasoned before he raises one of his eyebrows.
"Of course, I'm open to a better tactic in case you have one." The prince stated while Felix simply clicked his tongue in annoyance before looking away with a hard expression. Dimitri let out a small sigh while shaking his head slightly after seeing the respond of his childhood friend.
"Anyway, Ashe please mov-"
Dimitri never managed to finish his sentence as Dedue suddenly pushed him away and got electrocuted by the lightning bolt that about to hit the prince.
"Dedue!" Dimitri cried in worry as he saw his retainer fell to his knees with a painful grunt. However, the prince never got the chance to run to his retainer's side as he was forced to leap backward when the next lightning bolt nearly hit him.
"There!" Ashe shouted when he managed to spot from where the lightning bolt came from, from within the group of trees nearby. Ashe tried to nock his arrow into his bow as fast as he could but the boy never got the chance to fire his arrow as Dimitri tackled him to the ground just before another lightning bolt could hit him.
"Use the ruins." Dimitri commanded as he quickly got up and, once again, ran toward Dedue who still struggling to stand back on his feet. However, once again, the prince never got the chance to reach the larger male as before Dedue himself could even stand properly, a tan girl with purple hair suddenly came out from one of the bushes and ran at Dedue with staggering speed allowing her to easily close the distance between herself and the Duscur boy and she wasted no time in smacking him in the head before the boy could even react, knocking him unconscious.
The girl was about to run to a nearby group of trees but Felix managed to block her way and swung his sword vertically at her, forcing the girl to leap back before she assumes her fighting stance. Dimitri was about to help Felix but a warning shout from Ashe immediately made the prince jumped forward to avoid another lightning bolt before the prince quickly hid behind one of the ruins around the area.
Dimitri took a peak from behind the broken pillar he was using as cover to try to find their assailant. It didn't take long for him to spot her, a girl with long brown hair who wore a hat. It seemed that the Black Eagles had chosen them as their first target…or were they? Dimitri quickly surveyed his surrounding to try to see if Edelgard and her own retainer were hiding somewhere but part of Dimitri believed that if those two were here, they surely would have already launched their own attack especially since Dedue was now down for the count.
Could it be that Edelgard only sent these two to deal with them while she and Hubert went after the Golden Deer? How bold…yet he had to admit he admired her confidence.
Dimitri returned his attention back to the battle when he heard the crackling sound of lightning to see Felix barely dodged a lightning bolt that had almost hit him though this redirection of focus caused him to be unable to block a blow to his side from the tanned girl. The mage was about to fire another lightning spell when an arrow from Ashe forced her to retreat behind the tree to protect herself, that was when Dimitri saw his chance.
"Ashe, keep pressuring her with your arrows!" Dimitri shouted in command as he left his hiding spot and dashed toward the mage's hiding spot as fast as he could.
"Understood Your Highness!" Ashe replied as he nocked another arrow into his bow before letting it loose as soon as he noticed the mage take a peak from behind the tree she was hiding behind, forcing the mage to duck once again again to avoid the arrow.
Dimitri noticed from the corner of the vision that the purple haired girl seemed to realize his intention and tried to make her way toward him…only for Felix to block her way again.
"Our battle isn't over yet!" Felix declared as he forced the girl to leap back by swinging his sword vertically. He needed to admit that the girl was fast, faster than him but what he lacked in speed, Felix made up for with the sheer ferocity of his attacks. Felix kept up his attack, trying to break the girl's defense by attacking her relentlessly but, to his frustration, she always managed to either block or dodge his attack, utilizing her superior speed to keep him from landing a decisive blow. The victor of this fight would be decided by who could land the decisive blow first…or who could outlast the other.
Dimitri didn't stop to thank Felix or check his condition, believing that the stern boy could handle his opponent. When the mage took a peek again and noticed him, the prince could see the panic in her eyes before she pointed her finger at him as a yellow magic circle started to form in front of her finger.
Fortunately, before she could fire another lightning bolt toward the prince, Ashe's arrow managed to hit her wrist and messed her aim, making her lightning bolt to completely miss Dimitri. Dimitri shouted in determination as he leapt forward with all the strength he could muster without activating his Crest and immediately thrust the training spear he wield toward the mage once she was within his spear's range. The brown-haired mage didn't have time to react as the spear hit her stomach with enough force to send her flying and hit the tree behind her.
Dimitri watched as the mage groaned before her body slid down to the ground, fully unconscious. The prince then used this chance to survey the surrounding area, noticing the knights had come to treat the unconscious Dedue and to bring him to where the other Blue Lions, and professors, were witnessing the battle from. Seeing that Felix and the girl from the Black Eagles were still engaged in combat, Dimitri intended to return to Ashe to rethink their strategy.
However, before he could even take a step forward, both his eyes widen when he noticed something.
"Ashe, behind you!" but the prince's warning came too late as when the young archer turned around, an arrow hit him on the chest… before another arrow hit him in the face, knocking him out cold. Even though the arrows from training bows were completely blunted so as not to cause any serious injury there was still always something somewhat unsettling about seeing someone getting hit with them, perhaps it was because unlike close-combat training weapons that were seen up close during sparring it was a little more difficult to discern that training arrows from the real thing especially when at a distance. For a split second a more gruesome sight overlapped the prince's vision when he saw a downed Ashe but thankfully since he was more than accustomed to seeing training arrows in use, he was able to quickly dispel the picture from his thoughts before it took his mind somewhere he really didn't want to go.
Instead Dimitri narrowed his eyes before he quickly tried to determine from where where the arrows might have come from. There were several trees around them, the best chance he has in finding the archer or archers was to check those trees one by one…but that would give his enemy the chance to attack him.
Dimitri shifted his attention back to Felix who still engaged in a sword battle against the Black Eagles' swordswoman. While he thought it would best for him to join the fray and aid Felix…he also knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from his childhood friend considering his preference to deal with enemy on his own.
Thus, the prince decided to lay low for now and observed his surroundings in the hope that he could determine from where the arrows that took out Ashe originated from.
"Stay sharp Hubert." Edelgard said as she and her retainer entered the area with the most trees. She had no doubt that this would be the sort of area that Claude and his housemates would use.
"Understood Lady Edelgard." Hubert replied with a small nod, his eyes scanned the area in an attempt to find a clue as to where their enemies were hiding.
Edelgard knew that entering this place as opposed to setting it on fire, like what her professor suggested, wasn't exactly the best course of action. But she didn't want to risk anything yet and as far as she knew, there was a possibility that the Golden Deer weren't even here. Lighting a fire would also give away their position to any other enemies that were nearby.
Edelgard was instantly proven wrong when she heard a rustling sound came from a bush somewhere in front of them. Edelgard and Hubert immediately assumed their fighting stance as Edelgard slowly advanced forward, intending to inspect where the noise was coming from…only for her to realize too late that it was a trap when she heard another noise that come from behind her.
Edelgard was admittedly surprised when the girl with pink hair leaped out of a bush with her axe raised over head…fortunately, Hubert managed to put himself in front of her and cast a barrier to block the girl's strike, allowing Edelgard to quickly react by running past Hubert to try to strike the pinkette who was still recovering after her initial strike was blocked by swinging her axe upward.
Edelgard clicked her tongue in annoyance when the girl managed to take a few steps back to avoid her strike…but the girl's eyes widened when Edelgard immediately thrust her free hand forward before an orange magic circle formed in front of it.
The pink haired girl yelped in pain as a fireball hit her and sent her crashing against a nearby tree.
"I'll give you a chance to surrender now to save both of us some time." Edelgard offered as she approached the slumping girl carefully, not wanting to get too close in case she was only acting. However, Edelgard quickly crouched down when she noticed something coming towards her direction from the corner of her vision, saving her from being rammed by a ball made of dark energy.
"Get up Hilda, this isn't time for a nap." The newcomer, the mage with white haired that caught Edelgard's attention earlier, proclaimed as she prepared herself to throw another sphere of dark energy toward her enemies.
Upon hearing her words, Edelgard returned her attention back to the pink haired girl, Hilda she believed her name was, before the princess quickly rolled to the right just in time to avoid a downward slash from the slightly shorter girl who launched herself forward by using the tree as a support.
"Easy for you to say Lysithea, you're not the one who just got blasted by a fireball." Hilda complained to the mage, Lysithea Edelgard assumed, as she struggled to get back on her feet.
Hubert quickly summoned a ball of dark magic in his hand and intended to fire it toward the Golden Deer girl but before he could do so, the dark mage was forced to cast a barrier with his free hand to block an incoming dark sphere from the Golden Deer's mage.
"I am your opponent." Lysithea declared in a challenging tone as she summoned a pair of dark spheres in her hands.
"Hm, a mere child who just happens to know a little dark magic suddenly thinks she's good enough to take on her superiors? It seems that you've gotten ahead of yourself little one." Hubert said in a haughty tone with a scoff.
"Do not call me a child!" Lysithea replied in irritation as she fired one of her dark spheres toward the dark haired mage which Hubert easily countered by firing his own dark sphere, resulting in a small explosion when the two spheres collided.
"I'll offer you the same thing, surrender now so we won't end up waste each other's time." Hilda said with a small smirk as she held her axe with both her hands.
"Sorry but I must refuse that offer, I plan to win after all." Edelgard replied as she charged forward and delivered a horizontal slash that Hilda barely dodged by leaning backward before Edelgard forced her to jump backward when she followed her initial strike by spinning herself to deliver a downward slash.
Once Hilda managed to steady herself, she immediately tried to counterattack by raising her axe to execute a downward slash and then follow that up with an upward slash before she half-spun herself to deliver a horizontal slash yet none of her attacks managed to touch the princess as she nimbly dodged each of her strikes by either stepping aside or backward. Hilda, however, didn't want to back down yet and tried once more to attack the princess by raising her axe for another downward slash but this time, instead of dodging it, Edelgard decided to deflect the incoming attack with enough force to cause Hilda to stumble backward.
Edelgard then applied the lesson that she learned from her professor by hitting Hilda's stomach with the base of her axe, hard enough to make the girl gasp loudly, before Edelgard swiped her legs and made her yelp as she fell to the ground.
"Surrender." Edelgard demanded as she pointed her axe on the girl's face. To her surprise, Hilda quickly raised both her hands and cheekily stated 'I surrender' without any hint of regret…in fact instead of bothered or annoyed she looked rather relieved. Edelgard had a feeling that Hilda didn't truly give it her all during their battle…well, that suited her just fine. If she wanted to pull her punches then that was her choice, Edelgard wasn't about to complain about a win.
Hubert clicked his tongue as he sidestepped to avoid a dark sphere that the child fired toward him before he launched his own dark sphere toward her. They have been locked in a stalemate, firing their spells toward each other and blocking or dodging the other's spells, a cycle that kept repeating itself. This was unacceptable and downright infuriating for him, how could a mere child be capable of keeping up with him when they both were utilizing dark magic, a skill that he considered as his specialty? On top of that she was clearly several years his junior and yet she was giving him this much trouble.
However, this time instead of dodging or blocking before counterattacking like what she had been doing previously, Lysithea simply stepped aside…before she performs a small hand gesture with right hand. Hubert realized a little too late on what the little mage had done as when he turned around… the dark sphere that he dodged earlier returned and hit him on the chest, causing him to stagger a little.
"I win!" Lysithea declared as she summoned a bigger dark sphere compared to what she had been throwing up to that point and fired it toward the dark haired boy. Despite his condition, Hubert still managed to cast a barrier in order to protect himself…but when Lysithea's sphere hit his barrier, he hated to admit it…but he knew his barrier wouldn't last against the force of such a powerful magic spell.
Hubert groaned in pain as the sphere hit him with enough force to send him crashing against a nearby tree, knocking him out.
"Go Lysithea!" Hilda cheered when she saw her housemate's victory…but her eyes widened when an axe suddenly flew toward the direction of the girl.
"You know, my professor always told my house…" Edelgard started as she watched how the white-haired mage looked surprised by the incoming axe.
"That most people always drop their guard when they achieve a victory." the princess finished just as her axe managed to knock Lysithea out, scoring Black Eagle two victories over Golden Deer.
"Seems His Highness decided to play the waiting game. He's hiding until we fire off another shot and reveal our position." Claude observed when Dimitri didn't come out to help his housemate who was still fighting the girl from the Black Eagles.
"What should we do Claude?" Ignatz asked, his nervousness could be clearly heard in his voice.
Claude has divided the Golden Deer's team into two groups; one would stay in their starting spot, which luckily enough just so happened to be surrounded by trees and bushes, to set an ambush against anyone who entered their area while the other would try to go around the field and eliminate the other students from afar. Since both he and Ignatz were archers, he decided to bring the shorter boy along with him while leaving Hilda and Lysithea behind for the ambush team.
Honestly while he believed in Lysithea as there was no question she'd give it her all, he was a little worried about Hilda…considering the ever growing string of complaints that she gave him when he picked her to represent the Golden Deer this morning, which he had no doubt would continue to lengthen once the mock battle had ended.
"Well, two can play that game. If he decided to wait us then we can wait for him…is what I'd like to say but doing that would put us at a disadvantage if both of us stay in the same spot. So, I'll head out and look for a new hiding spot while you stay here, alright? Just like earlier, fire at either of those two after one of them wins, okay?"
"But Claude-"
"Don't worry about me; I'm good at walking around without anyone noticing I'm there." Claude interrupted him with a playful wink.
"That wasn't what I-"
And Claude had already left him before Ignatz could even finish his statement.
"-mean…"
Ignatz let out a sigh before he took a deep breath as he kept his sights set on the battle between the two sword users who seemed to be pretty much equal in term of skills. He hoped the two of them would simply knock each other out or run out of energy at the same time so he didn't need to try to render the winner unconscious with his arrow especially since he now knew that if he fired a shot then Prince Dimitri would come after him.
After watching the two students fought for a while, Ignatz immediately froze when an axe suddenly was being placed very close to his neck; it was only a training axe but still…
"Surrender or be knocked out? Your choice." Ignatz silently looked over his shoulder to see the princess of Adrestian Empire stood behind him with a stern look on her face.
If this had happened before he enrolled here Ignatz would have dropped his bow and surrendered no questions asked though things were a little different now. He may not had been here for long but he couldn't deny that he was already enjoying his time in the Golden Deer house and he hoped to become friends with his new classmate and perhaps even….find a way to make amends with Raphael.
Not to mention despite often coming across as reckless or even childish sometimes there was just something about Claude that Ignatz considered to be…oddly inspiring.
So even though he knew it wouldn't accomplish anything Ignatz still felt compelled to do everything he could for the sake of his house.
Without saying a word Ignatz ducked and kicked himself forward, his short stature thankfully preventing a horizontal swing from hitting him. He managed to nock an arrow and let it loose as soon as he turned, unfortunately because of his desperation and their close proximity he wasn't able to properly aim his shot and so Edelgard manage to dodge it with minimal effort and once she closed the short distance between them she wasted no time in striking the back of his head with the base of her axe causing him to flop lifelessly to the ground as he lost conciousness
"Not the wisest decision but I respect your willingness to keep fighting to the end despite having no chance of winning." Edelgard praised with a nod before she lowered her axe once she was sure he was out cold.
Edelgard was lucky that she could sneak up on him like she did, giving herself a hidden spot to get a good look at what the boy himself was observing; if he had spotted her before she had the chance to surprise him then she would've to expend far more energy to incapacitate him than she just did.
The princess narrowed her eyes when she saw that Petra was still locked in combat against Felix, both seemed to be equal in term of skills.
However, she decided that this needed to change.
Felix growled in annoyance when the purple haired girl once again managed to dodge his strike before she quickly tried to deliver her own attack that he managed to deflect. Despite the fact that neither he nor this girl had gained a significant advantage over the other, Felix couldn't help but notice that it had been a while since someone managed to keep up with him like this in a sword duel without straight up defeating him like that stoic professor.
Felix crouched down slightly when the girl tried to attack his shoulder by thrusting her sword forward before he quickly stood up in an attempt to knock her chin but the girl managed to leap back in time so that his sword only hit empty space.
With a good distance between them, both combatants tried to control their breath as well as prepare themselves for their next assault.
"You are having great skill." The girl praised with a small smile, using an accent that he never heard before as well as speaking in a rather…peculiar manner. At least he knew he wasn't the only one enjoying their match.
"What's your name?" Felix decided to ask after letting out a scoff.
"Petra Macneary."
Felix simply nodded his head slightly in response before he immediately charged forward once more. However, a fireball that he noticed raced toward him from the corner of his vision made him quickly stop and leap backwards to avoid the incoming blast.
Even though Petra was slightly baffled by the sudden arrival of a fireball that hit the spot in front of her, creating a burning wall between her and the Blue Lions boy, she decided to not mull over it and immediately used the chance to leap forward through the flame and toward the surprised navy-blue haired boy. Petra let out a battle cry as she thrust her sword onto the boy's solar plexus, pushing as hard as she could to knock him out.
Felix gasped painfully as Petra's blow managed to send him flying several feet away before he landed roughly on the ground, already unconscious.
Petra, however, didn't get much chance to regain her breath as before she even could straighten her posture, the shaft of a spear hit the back of her head with enough force to render her unconscious in one blow.
Dimitri, who has been watching the fight all this time, stood over the two unconscious students before he shifted his attention to where the fireball came from. Standing in front of a tree and bushes where a green haired boy was being carried away by a knight was no other than the leader of the Black Eagles.
"Edelgard."
"Dimitri."
"What a splendid battle, I believe we have finally reached the finale." Manuela commented from her spot atop of the cliff that overlooked the field. It had been a thrilling battle and she admitted that she couldn't wait to see the result of the mock battle.
"Indeed, if my memory serves right, last year mock battle victory was also decided by the battle between the Eagle and the Lion. Let us see if the Black Eagles can yield the same result as last year." Hanneman agreed with a nod with both his hands clasped behind his back.
Byleth decided to remain silent as she watched the two leaders make their way toward each other though she silently agreed that it has been a good match. She needed to praise her students to be able to make it this far, especially Petra who had been dealing with Felix from the very beginning. Though, Hubert's performance did tell her that her lessons in teaching her class magic was still lacking. But now, it was up to Edelgard to decide whether the Black Eagles would win this year's mock battle or not.
"You can do it Edelgard! Kick his arse!" Caspar yelled as loud as he could in show of support.
"Don't lose Your Highness! We all believe in you!" Annette yelled too while cupping her hands around her mouth, not wanting to be outdone by the other house.
"Could you two keep it down? It's not like they could hear you properly from here anyway." Linhardt complained with a sigh.
"Don't act like those two are the only ones left, our leader is also still out there." Leonie reminded the other houses as she crossed her arms while giving a confident smirk.
"That's right! Claude will be sure to beat them both!" Raphael added with a grin and a nod.
"With a cheap shot no doubt." Sylvain joked sarcastically while rolling his eyes.
"Hm…I can't say that I disagree since that troublemaker does regularly used some sort of underhanded tactic, but in a scenario like this I suppose that I can settle with regarding it as…ugh…tactical planning instead of immediately branding it a cheap shot. Of course, if I was the one in the field, I would never have to resort to such unsavory methods. The fact that Claude has to resort to such objectionable forms of combat just goes to show I am a far more fitting choice to be the Alliance's next leader," Lorenz said; his tone made it sound as though he was in physical pain just from saying anything that could be remotely interpreted as him defending the Reigan heir.
"If you were there Lorenz then you would've definitely gone down first after charging in blindly because you refused to follow Claude's intructions." Hilda said casually with a wave of her hand, causing a few girls to giggle as Lorenz tried to protest.
"I think you guys take Edie too lightly, she's not just tough physically but she can even use magic on top of that." Dorothea stated confidently as she flicked her hair.
"His Highness might be not as magical capable as Princess Edelgard but his strength and expertise in the ways of the spear more than make up for that shortcomming." Ingrid replied, just as confident in her leader's ability as Dorothea was in hers.
"It begins." Byleth stated flatly as Dimitri and Edelgard finally charged toward each other, causing all the students to close their mouth as they focused their attention back to the two royal heirs.
Claude couldn't help but let a grin decorated his face as he watched the prince and princess engaged in close combat from his new hiding spot on top of a tree. When Dimitri tried to strike the princess, Edelgard managed to deflect his attack away but because of the prince's strength, he managed to recover almost immediately and tried to attack the princess again by swinging his spear horizontally, forcing her to leap back to avoid his strike.
Claude nocked an arrow into his bow and started to take an aim. Normally, he would wait for one of the combatants to win before making his move but he was well aware that his chances in defeating Dimitri were significantly lower compared to Edelgard. So, if it looked like Dimitri would beat the princess, he would intervene and hope that she would come to a similar conclusion as him thus causing them to team up against the prince.
If she tried to attack him even after he distracted Dimitri…well then, she wasn't as smart as he thought she would be.
Claude watched as the two kept engaged in battle with his arrow kept aimed at the prince's head…however, he didn't know whether it was because of a sheer coincidence or if the princess did it in purpose but when Edelgard fired another fireball toward Dimitri, the prince managed to dodge it…and that caused the ball of flame to head straight toward his direction.
Oh dear…
Claude immediately jumped off the tree he has hiding on just as the fireball hit it and set the tree alight. Of course, this also blown up his cover so before either Dimitri or Edelgard could target him, the archer decided to send his message to the princess by firing his arrow toward the prince…who managed to dodge his arrow by leaping backward… and that led to his arrow hitting the princess's wrist which ended up disarming the princess…
So much for a message…
While things might not have gone exactly according to plan Claude decided that even in these dire situation, it was best to simply roll with the punches. Claude wasted no time in running in a circle around the two royals, already nocking two arrows into his bow at once and then firing them at Dimitri from an angle so that the prince's back was turned, even though Edelgard had been the one he disarmed Dimitri was still the bigger threat. He'd hoped that even if his arrows didn't knock the prince out they'd provide the princess with a chance to reclaim her weapon and strike Dimitri while his attention was on him then Claude could retreat back into the trees and pick off the victor of their scuffle.
What Claude didn't expect was for Dimitri to turn on his foot and use his spear to deflect his arrows and then in the same move prepare to throw his spear at the Reigan heir.
Claude's brow furrowed at the sight, it seems that he underestimated the prince's reflexes, he always seemed a little tense so he figured his reaction speed wouldn't be anything to worry about but it seems he was proven wrong.
Seems like he'll have to take some time learning more about these guys going forward.
All Claude could do was to fire another arrow but just as he let it fly he saw Dimitri had already thrown his spear. It was clear that while his arrow would hit the prince there's no way it would land anywhere soft enough to knock the blonde boy down.
The last thing that went through Claude's mind before Dimitri's spear knocked him out was…
Did he somehow piss off the Gods of fortune today or something?
Edelgard winced when Claude's arrow hit her wrist and made her weapon fly out of her hand. She didn't know if Claude was actually targeting her all along or if the fact that Dimitri managed to dodge his shot caused this. Anyway, the moment Dimitri threw his spear toward the tanned boy, Edelgard instantly dashed toward her fallen axe, knowing that even without his spear, Dimitri still had his sword.
Unfortunately, while she managed to grab her weapon off the ground, Edelgard didn't manage to grip it properly as the moment she turned around, Dimitri, who to her surprise already behind her, managed to disarm her again by smacking her wrist with his sword…and this time her axe went flying out of her reach.
Edelgard quickly leaped to the right, rolled on the ground, and assumed a kneeling position with one arm stretched where she shot another fireball from her hand. Dimitri, as she predicted, managed to dodge the fireball by jumping to the left but this at least created a significant distance between her and him.
"I thought the people of Faerghus were supposed to fight with honor?" Edelgard said sarcastically as she stood back on her feet.
"Fighting you unarmed would be dishonorable but you still can use magic so I fail to see what your point is." Dimitri replied as he pointed his sword at her.
Edelgard narrowed her eyes as she tried to think of a way to even the odds, even with her magic, she knew that she was at a disadvantage here. Dimitri, however, didn't want to give her much time to think and immediately charged forward, forcing Edelgard to fire a few more fireballs to delay his advance and to give her more time to think.
Dimitri stood between her and where her weapon flew off so in order for her to retrieve her axe, she needed to get past him…that would be difficult.
When she was within his range, Dimitri immediately raised his sword and delivered a downward slash that Edelgard managed to dodge by leaping to the left. She was about to try to run past him but the prince's hand immediately shot up and grabbed her arm. In a panic, Edelgard summoned her magic and blasted the prince with another fireball at close range.
She could hear him grunt in pain and while the prince did let go of her arm, the fireball didn't stop him from thrusting his sword forward and hitting her on her shoulder, causing the princess to hiss in pain as she stumbled backward.
She has hoped that point blank range fireball would at least stagger him a little but the prince immediately attacked her once again. The princess was forced to keep dodging the prince's assault as she knew that one blow from him might be enough to knock her out. Eventually, when her gaze happened to stare at a figure with blue hair on top of the hill, an idea came to Edelgard.
When the prince attacked her with another horizontal slash, Edelgard leaned backward…and allowed herself to fall to the ground. The prince didn't seem to expect her to pull such maneuver…before Dimitri let out a small gasp when Edelgard legs shot up to deliver a hard kick on his gut. The attack did cause the prince to stumble backward slightly though Edelgard knew by this point that even if she tried to run, he would catch up to her in no time.
Gambling on this chance, Edelgard thrust both her hands forward and tried to summon her spell one last time…only for both her eyes to widen when the magic circle manifested for a moment only to disappear…she had run out of magical power…
Oh no…
"I am sorry." was the last thing she heard from the prince before he smacked her head with his sword, causing her vision to go black.
"The battle is over! The winner is the Blue Lions!"
Byleth could hear the students from the Blue Lions house cheering while some of her students groaned once her father announced the winner of the mock battle. The professor watched as the winner of the battle, Dimitri of Blue Lions, fell to his knees breathing heavily. It seemed the boy pushed himself to his limit when he tanked Edelgard's fireball from close range.
Despite the fact that her students, in her opinion, still performed quite well despite their loss, Byleth couldn't help but let out a silent sigh of disappointment…
She wasn't disappointed at her students…
She was disappointed in herself…
Did I do Claude's dirty? ... Maybe? Did I turn Dimitri into a juggernaut? ... Maybe? Anyway, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter.