A/N: This is supposed to be titled 'Hell Hath No Fury Like a Defied Tactician', except that was one over the letter limit. I don't want you to think I would ordinarily use such a tacky title like 'Hell Hath No Fury Like a Defied Robin'. My tackiness has a class to it. Announcement over, now resuming to your normally scheduled Valmese Tactician murdering irate peasant mobs.

-Robin's Warcamp-

"Where is he? Where's Robin?"

"General Pheros! I am sorry to tell you that the Battlemaster is out." The soldier snap saluted her. "I wasn't expecting you here. Weren't you at the Ft. Steiger garrison?"

"I was." Pheros pursed her lips. "Unfortunately, it seems the rebels are too cowardly to strike near my forces, and my army hasn't been put into service, because it seems that the Wolfguard are receiving the brunt of the work. Despite the fact that the rebels have spread into the Holy State of Mila."

"Yes, how tragic." A voice interrupted her monologue. Pheros spun around to the familiar figure in a crimson coat approach her. Robin continued. "Sometimes large armies aren't as capable as the smaller counterparts. But that hasn't stopped you from coming to the frontlines, has it General Pheros?"

"Battlemaster." Pheros gave him a brief dip of her head out of respect. "What is the status of the war right now?"

"We've run into a problem." Robin said. "A small one, relatively speaking. But a problem nevertheless. Your presence here is a curiosity, though."

"Curiosity?" Pheros said.

"Indeed." Robin drew his sword. Pheros knew he only recently started wielding one, but he seemed quite competent for it. The blade still had blood on it, which Robin was starting to clean. "I've just come back from a scouting position. Encountered a few rebels, and we dealt with them. Now, I'll be honest. Killing in person doesn't bother me, especially once I've made a decision which literally will cost thousands of lives. But I don't see the need to involve myself personally, unless the circumstance require it."

"As opposed to…?"

"You're the third." Robin said. "Farber is leading a massive wave of cavalry against the Chon'sin rebels, and Cervantes headed a force to hunt down a Rosannean cell, personally. I would count Ignatius, but he's deep in Nova Islands where the fighting is thick, so he needed to fight, Wolfguard or no Wolfguard. You're the third to personally come into the fight. Something, I'll be honest, I wouldn't have done in your shoes."

"Never order a soldier to do anything that you aren't willing to do yourself." Pheros replied. "I would never pass a chance to show my dedication for Walhart."

"A noble sentiment." Robin sighed, making a face. Pheros could tell he was hiding something. Then his expression changed. "Very well. I dislike circumstances that I failed to predict. You may come with me if you wish, however I must ask that the guard you took with you remain here."

"Certainly."

"Your personal guard as well." Robin's eyes narrowed. "You must come alone with my army. The mission we are about to go one promises to be one of a delicate nature, and I haven't the time to brief your guard. There's a lot that could go wrong."

"You don't seem to have that concern for me."

"Actually, I do." Robin said. "Unfortunately, I can't demand that you remain here, as you personally happen to hold a rank such that I can't give you direct orders. I can, however, countermand and overrule any orders you give."

"Robin." Pheros looked at his hard eyes. "What's going on? You didn't seem like this much of a control freak when you visited me. Or is this a manifestation of the battlefield commander?"

"Neither." Robin closed his eyes and inhaled. "General Pheros, I apologize for my rashness and rude words. As it happens, my spies recently located a hub of rebel activity in this area, and if we raze it to the ground, we'll effectively cut off all rebel activities by the Holy State. And stop their recruitment as well – that's irritating me. So this is somewhat important."

"Recruitment, you say?" Irritating him? We're talking about a widespread rebellion, and Robin seems to treat it like a mild cold.

"Yes." Robin ground his teeth. "I expected this to be over in a month and have the Wolfguard sweep up the stragglers in the next six. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. There are more rebels today than when they first started. A drop in the bucket to Walhart's million-man army. But still annoying."

"And recruitment is the only thing annoying you?" Pheros frowned. Robin seemed to be on the edge of insanity. It was a state that Pheros had seen in dozens, if not hundreds of soldiers. From her judgement, Robin wasn't in danger of snapping, but he could end up there if things kept coming up wrong for him. "It sounds like there's something else."

"Yes." Robin cocked his head. "There's a Wolfguard garrison two hours away. I set up my camp here because it wasn't suited to holding my forces, but it's the first stop for my patrol to destroy the rebel hub."

"Reinforcements for you?"

"Hardly." Robin shook his head. "All in all, I'm taking a patrol of nearly twenty thousand men, and the garrison's only five thousand. Fairly large for a Wolfguard post, but their numbers have swelled, thanks to recruiting. I can't answer questions on the way there, but I'll be able to answer all of them after we get there. Is that okay?"

"Seems like it will have to be." Pheros nodded. "When do you leave?"

"Now." Robin turned to head away. "I'll be joining the patrol."

"Not so fast."

"What now?"

"We're heading to the same place, aren't we?" Pheros patted the saddle beside her. I think I'll monopolize his time on the way there. He said he won't answer my questions, but I'll see if I can't get something anyway. "I know you don't have a horse. Why don't you ride alongside me? Or do you not know how to ride doubleback?"

"I…" Robin sighed. "If it's going to be one of those days, I suppose I might as well play along. Fine."

-En Route-

"This really can't be comfortable." Robin said. He was sitting behind Pheros as the pair rode alongside Robin's assembled force. Most of the force was infantry, so the horse was progressing at a slow trot. That was the main reason Robin told her he never cared to ride, because it didn't get you anywhere faster.

"If you want to get off, feel free." Pheros said, knowing full well he'd refuse. "But I've been riding since I was a small lass of eight, and I've ridden dawn until dusk."

"Normally I'd have some kind of pithy quip at my disposal." Robin sighed. "Alright, let's get down to brass tacks. What do you want?"

"Are you willing to tell me without fear of being overheard?" Pheros teased.

"Is my paranoia really that bad?"

"It's legendary." Pheros smiled, which Robin couldn't see, sitting behind her. "Though I will admit that it's saved you from at least three assassination attempts that I know about."

"It's like people in this Empire have nothing better to do." Robin sighed. "I mean, seriously? I get my food poisoned constantly, I'll get attacked when I'm having lunch at a food stall, and I once went three days straight with someone trying to dig a pit trap in front of my door. Three days!"

Haven't heard that one. "Same person?"

"Eh heh." Robin shuddered. "It, ah, was, actually. My daughter. She likes playing pranks on people and showing how smart she is."

"Sounds like you." Pheros said. "Didn't you say she was adopted? Have you been corrupting her, or did she come that way?"

"Birds of a feather, and all that, you know." Robin said. "A bit of both, I think."

"Robin and raven." Pheros laughed. Something twitched in her memory. "That reminds me. Did you know there's an old legend about a man who wanted to learn all the knowledge in the world?"

"Can't say I knew that." Robin frowned. "Of course, I can't say I didn't. Amnesia is annoying."

"I forget the name of the man, but he wasn't one to let anyone or anything stop him." Pheros dredged up the memory. "Legend says he traded his eye to a giant as payment. Anyway, he had two ravens, who he sent out to gather information for him. Their names were 'Knowledge' and 'Memory'."

"…And what reminded you about that?"

"The two birds, even if only one of them is a raven." Pheros laughed. "And you serve the Empire, do you not?"

"Yes, but Walhart doesn't seem like the type of man to merely stop at all the world's knowledge. Or possibly even want it, if it has no bearing on conquest." Robin hissed. "Unlike that dratted spymaster of his."

"Spymaster? Why would you be annoyed at him? It's not like he's sabotaging you, or…" Pheros trailed off as Robin started laughing bitterly. "Apparently not. It's that bad?"

"Yes." Robin said, with a trace of bitterness. "Let me sidetrack you with a completely unrelated question. Who do you think is behind the current rash of rebellions?"

"Hard to say." Pheros frowned as she pulled up the train of thoughts she'd composed on the subject. Ft. Steiger wasn't home to any Valm analysts, and her own network of informants was little better than a glorified grapevine of gossip. "At best, I'd say you're the primary cause."

"Me?"

Was that a – Pheros frowned again, glad that Robin couldn't see her this time. The Crimson Tactician of Valm wears many masks, and most of them are invisible. But I thought I just heard him slip. Surely he can't discount his own involvement with causing the rebellion? Or perhaps…? "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No, I just can't see how you would think that."

"It's unlikely that the three rebellions have a single leader organizing everything." Pheros said. "Ultimately, I'm willing to concede that the timing was, in fact, a coincidence. So I asked myself, if the timing is a coincidence, are the fact that the rebellions are more than one a coincidence? Obviously not. It makes sense that the rebellions all have a common cause. And that common cause is you, Robin."

"…You noticed." Robin said flatly. Pheros could have sworn she heard him say something afterwards, but she couldn't make it out. "And I had thought I could escape without blame, too."

"You've made great strides in unifying the diverse cultures that the Empire has conquered, and you've made dozens of the new citizens rich and successful. You also personally converted Viscount Virion and Chon'sin Princess Say'ri to our side." Pheros said. "However, those actions have had ramifications. For starters, you've angered the loyalists and on top of that made them feel isolated as their friends and neighbors started joining Valm. These rebellions are really just a natural outgrowth of your actions."

"Can't deny that."

"And, as an added irony, I'm sure you've also managed to get the Valm elitists absolutely furious out you, thanks to the fact that you're including the conquered territories as our equals." Pheros laughed. "It's almost comical. You've got bitter enemies teaming up to kill you, even if they don't realize it."

"You're not mad about it?"

"Why would I be mad about it?" Pheros said. She was genuinely surprised by the question. "Do you think I would blame you for not predicting that the rebellion would happen?"

"The, ah, opposite, actually." Robin said. "Actually, I think you'd blame me because I knew the rebellions were going to happen."

Oh. Robin thought I'd blame him because Robin always assumes the worse in people and that everyone's going to backstab him. He probably should work on that. "Did you?"

"Yes." Robin sighed. "Yes, I did. I was convinced that we'd see multiple rebellions break out in defiance of what I did. I mean, on top of the normal resistance we usually face."

"And you did nothing about it." Pheros noted. Ah. Maybe it was his fault.

"No. That part isn't true." There was anger in Robin's voice. "If Excellus were alive right now, he'd have me as the laughingstock of the entire Valmese court! I'm glad he isn't, but I slipped up. As it happens, I knew the rebellions would occur, but every projection I had, and all the intel suggested that they wouldn't strike for another year and a half! A year and a half."

"You'd have defense ready than?"

"Of a sort." Robin replied. "Honestly, I ran the scenario a few times in my head and a preemptive strike doesn't work against a grassroots rebellion. The real best option was to just let them exist, and respond by defeating them as they show up."

"So, to clarify…" Pheros said, dryly. "When I told you did nothing about it, and you disagreed with me, you were lying. The rebellion may have happened before you expected, but you were going to do nothing anyway."

Robin inhaled deeply behind her. Pheros raised her eyebrow as she prepared for a tirade. But that wasn;t what she received.

"Sometimes the best way to fight is by choosing not to fight."

"Well spoken." Pheros said. He's seriously on the brink of snapping if that's how he's reacting, overly measuring all his actions. "Is that your final answer?"

"Yes." Robin said. "But, like I said, I have no idea how to convey that to people. I made a judgement. I knew unifying the Empire would cause rebellions to break out, but I judged it to create less strife. Unfortunately – well, actually I think my luck has nothing to do with it, for once – all the rebellions broke out simultaneously. And that's not all."

"What's not all?"

"It's not a coincidence." Robin said. "The rebellions are affecting things. Like ripples in a pond. Their repercussions are building off each other. Someone is influencing all three of them."

"You're certain?" Pheros felt a sharp jolt run through her. The actions affecting each other – she'd never looked into that, just judging each rebellion separately. She couldn't see the pattern if she didn't have the information in front of her, but Robin wouldn't lie, especially when she could double-check back at Ft. Steiger.

"Yes." Robin said grimly.

"Then who do you think it is?"

"Well, previously, I thought it was some dark mastermind." Robin chuckled. "Say'ri just said it was another me, except evil. I called them the Gray Tactician. But recently I've had another suspicion."

"Oh?"

"You remember when I said that this is changing the subject when the previous discussion was about the spymaster of Valm?" Robin said. "I lied about changing the subject. I think it's him. Basically Excellus, except a lot sneakier. He doesn't like me. And I don't like him. I think he's doing this deliberately, to make me look bad."

"That is a serious accusation."

"Yeah." Robin agreed. "Dastard's got a good shield. It's going to take a mountain of evidence that doesn't exist to get him. Or just track him down and kill him, but that's just as hard. Don't even know who he is, and he's eluding two of my best agents."

"If this is a joke, it's no longer funny." Pheros said. "Because treason rarely is."

"Tell you what." Robin said. "Right now, I want to bet on every shred of trust you have with me. After what I show you, I think you'll agree with me."

"I thought you said the mountain of evidence didn't exist."

"It's right in front of you." Robin said. Pheros looked up to see they had arrived at the Wolfguard garrison. "The information's in there, I promise. Just accompany me while I go see the man in charge."

"Very well." Pheros considered. "I'll follow you. This once."

"Thanks." Robin said. "I'm not expecting trouble. But bring your tomes with you."

-Wolfguard Fort-

I hate walking into traps. Robin grimaced. But I hate setting them more. Hit metals greaves echoed in the stone hall of the keep. The Wolfguard base for this stretch of land took over an old fort, reconstructing the place. They hadn't finished yet, but the full fort was for at least fifty thousand troops, and the five thousand Wolfguard members only needed part of it, so the whole fort hadn't been reconstructed yet. As Robin walked through, his forces would be working to restore parts of the garrison so that his twenty thousand could stay.

At least, that's what he told the Wolfguard garrison commander. That wouldn't be what his garrison would be doing at all.

Pheros's boots made an odd clip-clop sound as she walked behind him, reminiscent of the horse she rode. Some of the modern fortresses were actually designed to accommodate riders everywhere, but not this one. It was just too old. Pheros seemed fine on foot, though, keeping a watchful eye around her. She had taken a Class B fire tome, and a Fortify stave. It was just the two of them, Robin politely, but firmly, declined the escort.

"We're meeting with the Wolfguard commander." Pheros said. "You personally selected them, didn't you? So which one is this?"

"Rumors of my involvement in the Wolfguard is … yeah, I guess it's not exaggerated." Robin said. "This one is named Erik. He's a skilled cavalier, a noble, and supposedly a gifted commander and highly charismatic."

"Supposedly?"

"There were a lot of candidates, and I couldn't do a thorough check into everyone. So sometimes, I went with people who had flaws, because it was either them, or picking someone who had a 50/50 shot of being worse." Robin sighed. "Eric's one of those. He's definitely that good on paper, but he suffers from lack of confidence, and has a habit of getting unlucky with who his peers are, which only reinforces his lack of confidence."

"Valm should never make do with anything less than the best of the best."

"Agreed." Robin stopped before the door to the room. "But everyone, even the two of us, has flaws. Ours just happen to be smaller than most. Similar to a battlefield, where an army is made of different troop compositions, each with strengths and weaknesses. The job of a tactician is to decide where to put people to maximize their potential. After all, there's only a handful of our types. The Wolfguard organization was designed to handle the mindless Risen, which fall pretty fast to proper tactics, and usually don't exceed an average soldier."

"So, you picked him, hoping to compensate for his flaws."

"Yes." Robin nodded. I really should have told her. It's also kind of dangerous if she doesn't know. But I can't help myself. There's always something so inherently satisfying when a plan comes together. And I kind of need this. Robin opened the door.

"I'm busy!" Eric wasn't. He was sitting back, with his feet on the desk. An iced drink was on his desk, a luxury considering that ice elemental magic went out of fashion a few hundred years back, meaning that it had to come from a storeroom beneath the castle specifically made for that purpose. There were supposed to be papers Eric was looking over. But there was no actual sign of them.

"Noted." Robin said. He closed the door and set the deadbolt behind him. "But I decree that you aren't. By order of the Battlemaster."

Eric looked up for a moment. His face became one of the most satisfying shades of white Robin had the pleasure of seeing. He swung his legs around and temporarily lost control, so they fell to the floor with a thud. Robin smirked as Eric scrambled to make himself presentable.

"No, please." Robin said. "No need to make yourself look presentable on my behalf. And I'm sure Pheros had seen worse."

"Yes, but it's usually on brigands that I'm about to kill."

"Ooh. Low bar to clear." Robin winced. "So, Erik, how are you? Let's talk about why I'm here. You do know why I'm here, right? Or do I have to tell you that to?"

"Resupply." Erik said. "You said you were running low on projectiles? You, ah, said that you were stopping here for supplies because of rebel activity to the north. I didn't expect you for another few hours."

"That's what I told you, yes." Robin said. "However, I'm afraid to tell you that the reason I'm here is actually for something entirely different. And I see your eyes moving – don't worry, Pheros isn't aware of the real reason I'm here."

"Real reason?"

"Yes, real reason." A massive clang echoed as the fort's bell started tolling. Erik's forces were raising the alarm. The fort was under attack. Robin turned his head, grinning at Pheros. "And so it begins."

Erik made his move faster than Robin would have guessed he would. The both of the cavalier's hands went down below the desk, out of Robin's sight and Robin wasn't even looking to begin with. Erik swung his feet up and set both of feet against the desk he was sitting behind. Then he kicked.

"Robin!" Pheros cried.

Please. Like something like that would do me in.

Robin drew his blade in one clean motion, a magnificent Chon'sin samurai sword, slicing the table in half. The two parts bounced off his armor, crashing into the floor. Two open drawers slid out, clattering to the floor. Erik got up, charging at Robin with a pair of daggers in his hands.

Robin sheathed his blade and kicked the man in the head with the full force of his armored foot. He didn't even need to do anything else. The charge was too clumsy.

"Hopeless." Robin sighed at he stared at the scene. Erik had lost one of his daggers, and his hand was pressed where Robin's heel had made contact with his face, whimpering. "Really? Pick to a plan and stick to it. If you wanted to feign ignorance, go and do that. If you wanted my life, a halfhearted last-ditch effort wasn't going to cut it! You aren't even a knife fighter. At minimum, minimum, you should have had your sword."

"Erik is a traitor. And judging from the alarms, the garrison as well." Pheros stated. Robin nodded. He was glad that Pheros was capable of making snap judgements and reading the situation. Pheros looked at him. "How long have you known? And, more importantly, why didn't you tell me on the way here?"

"Not as long as I should have." Robin dodged the question. In truth, Aversa had only managed to get him the information the previous morning. Robin knew there was a traitor within the Wolfguard. But unfortunately… "Talk, Erik. I know you aren't the only Wolfguard traitor. Who are the others?"

"Never, crimson devil!" Erik spat at him, personality now flipped. "You'll drive Valm to the ground, with your unification programs. We didn't conquer all these foreigners just so they could get rich off us."

"Listen." Robin shook his head. "I don't have the time – and I'll be honest, the inclination – to correct your painfully shallow perception of reality and your elitist urges which are skewing it. Not that you'd listen to me anyway. So instead we're skipping to the universal language of pain."

Robin drew his spear and rammed it through Erik, stabbing the spear into the wall. "I've left the spear in your gut. It's not lethal – at least, not yet. You've got two options. Right now, my forces are killing yours. I'm going to join them. When I get back, we're carting you off, then I'm leaving you to the tender ministrations of my spymaster to find all you know. That's the first option. The second is you remove that spear and run like a coward. That's the best outcome for you, since you don't die and you keep the information. But I'm betting you're too much of a coward to do that."

A loud crash came from the door.

"Robin, there are men by the door." Pheros noted. "Are they his men, or yours?"

"His forces." Robin drew his Chon'sin blade again and tossed a red tome to Pheros. He drew one for himself. "Bolganone isn't good for cramped quarters. On three, we open the door and roast the hall."

-Rebel Fort-

"Bo-o-o-o-ored." Vermil yawned. He was resting on top of a mostly-destroyed tower, leaning against a destroyed outcropping. Cries of battle rang out below him, from the courtyard which had dissolved into chaos. Vermil slipped the orders out of his sleeves and read them again. "Yup. Just to take out this fort. And nothing more than that."

"Multiple operations are critical to success. I'm led to believe that the rebellions are connected, which means that there must be cells whose sole task is to pass messages without being discovered." Vermil read. "I had a look in sections without any rebel activity, and we've only located this one. They're holed up with a derelict fortress. Luckily, they couldn't repair it without exposing themselves. Not that it helped them. Take a patrol and kill them."

"Yup. Boring ol' routine missions." Vermil said. "Bet Zulas and Argeni are doing something fun."

-Vermillion Capital-

Argeni sneezed. It set a tower of paperwork she'd already finished collapsing to the ground. She groaned as she retrieved it, shuffling through the papers to try to get the back into order. "That's definitely that little mage's fault. I'm going to kill Vermil if I get my hands on him."

-Rebel Fort-

Vermil folded the orders into a paper glider, something he'd learned back in the magic academies. He considered the glider for a moment, wondering if there was some way of militarizing it. "Eh. If there is, that's someone else's job."

Below, some of the rebels had managed to rally. Vermil wasn't a good tactician, in fact, he was sure that if he tried to use tactics, it would end horribly. On the other hand, he did know that his soldiers were better and that he outnumbered the enemies. So he just had his troops attack from all the directions they were capable of, with special focus on splintering enemy groups. A few units, including his own, had taken the towers and started blasting the enemy with fire.

That'd been fun, until they gotten tired of getting barbecued, so the enemy stopped using formation and the free-for-all melee that was currently happening had broken out. Vermil was sure that if Robin was the one commanding, he'd have done something clever, like set up walls of infantry to keep the enemy in groups or something. Vermil tried doing that, but it seemed a lot more difficult than it looked.

His side was still winning. Vermil knew that Robin couldn't be everywhere at once, and therefore meant higher casualties among everywhere he wasn't. When he served under Yen'fay, same thing happened, not because of tactics, but because Yen'fay was just that good. That's why soldiers tried getting into Yen'fay's personal army. On the other hand, soldiers were trying to get into Robin's army, but not his personal group. Vermil had no idea why.

"There you are." Vermil smiled. The rallying soldiers had formed a cohesive group. That was working to fend off the scrabbling Valm soldiers. They looked kind of like ants to Vermil. Vermil tossed the glider with a practice flick of his wrist, sending it into a spiral. When it was it between him and the group, Vermil raised his hands.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, beware the sun's harsh light. Let those who dare oppose my might, burn like my power," Vermil chanted as he focused the power from his tome's energy matrixes, mixing it with his mental state and focusing the power into a raw beam of heat. "VERMILLION'S MIGHT!"

-Wolfguard Fort-

It took a few minutes for the passage to sufficiently cool to let the two of them walk through it. Charred corpses were everywhere, and the smell was horrible. Robin, acting as a gentleman, tore off two stripes of cloth from his clothes and wet them so he and Pheros could wear them as impromptu face masks. The two of them passed through in silence, reaching the end of the passageway.

There were no soldiers waiting to jump them at the end. Instead, one of Robin's squadrons was there, guarding the entrance. The man there saluted him. "At your orders, Battlemaster."

"Save me any?" Robin asked, removing the cloth and tossing it aside.

"It's a massacre, sir." The man bowed. "They have no chance. We outnumber them four to one and caught them mostly off guard."

"Odd." Robin frowned. "I thought they would have been planning a trap against us. Really, off guard?"

"We found a large amount of poisoned food supplies." The man saluted. "We think he intended to give them to us."

"Of course. Poison." Robin nodded. "Actually, that's pretty smart for someone like him. I approve. Next question – any surrender?"

"A fair amount, but mostly individuals. There's a large group resisting in the main courtyard." The man said. "We have our archers and mages moving to flank them as we speak."

"Excellent." Robin said. "Pheros, I apologize for not telling you earlier. I just required a bit of… well, I'm not even sure. I kind of just wanted to push off my own forces betraying me as long as possible."

"I understand." Pheros said. "Shall we clean up?"

-Traitorous Scum's Fort-

A spear whirled around, slicing through the bodies of traitorous Valm soldiers. Soldiers fell, as the dead increased. The spear's owner held his ground, letting the ranks of enemies break upon him and his men as he held the position. He slammed the haft upwards, sending the enemy soldier he was fighting staggering back, then setting into a thrust.

"Mercy. I surrender." The Valm traitor held his hand up as he tried to shake up the blow.

"No mercy for traitors." Zulas ran him through.

No need to make an example out of them. Robin had told him. Zulas, I know if anyone's angrier than me, it's you. But try to hold back, alright? Because the last thing we need right now is a martyr or a rallying point.

"Sorry, Robin. But I can't hold back on your account." Zulas said. Rage burned within him, fierce and hot. It wasn't the kind of debilitating rage that would send a man frothing, it was a cold and calculated rage that replaced his normal self with an alternate version that had a single goal. "Destroy them all."

Zulas plunged into the fray again. In the capitol, he'd been put in charge of training, specifically integrating Robin's new methods within the Valm army at large. He'd earned the respect of hundreds of well-placed soldiers, giving him tens of thousands of recruits who knew of his name from legend. And, given that, when he gave commands, they obeyed.

Robin told him to also set a trap for the Wolfguard, getting his army in and slaughtering them from the inside. Zulas ignored those orders, instead taking all the entrances and systematically moving within, killing them man by man. His authority let him do that, something he was grateful for. Because now, there wasn't a single member of the traitorous guard that was escaping punishment.

His spear struck outward, piercing the heart of one of the rank-and-file members. Zulas withdrew and stabbed again, cutting another one. They hissed at him and his men. Zulas watched as one charged at him, swinging an axe. He dodged easily and swung the spear around. But instead of dodging, the man took the lethal wound and struck at Zulas, drawing a line of red across his arm.

"Tch!" Zulas hissed at the pain. He stepped back and gestured. Soldiers flooded the gap and one of the healers stepped up, healing him.

"They're fighting with recklessness." One of his younger sergeants was addressing him.

"No." Zulas shook his head. "We've cornered them, and now we're just killing them. Even if they surrendered, we wouldn't accept it. Ever been on a hunt, boy?"

"A few times, with my father."

"He ever warn you against attacking an animal in their lair?"

"Once. Why?"

"This is why." Zulas gestured. "When you've got nothing to lose, you fight even stronger. That's why you never fight a trapped animal. And that's what we're doing. So we're going to get a few more injuries."

"So, why are we doing this?"

"Son." Zulas stared at him. "It is an honor to die for Valm. And there exists no greater honor than dying to cleanse the Empire for the worse evil there is. Traitors. These … filth … must be cleansed, so the rot cannot grow. And we are obligated to sacrifice our lives for it."

Zulas turned to the healer. "Enough!" The healer scampered back. Zulas spun his spear. "It's time to keep this fight going."

-Wolfguard Fort-

"Red life blood of the earth, heed my call and open your mouth to envelope all those underneath…"

"Crackling ozone of the sky, heed my orders and form a lance to obliterate those in my path…"

"BOLGANONE!" "THORON!"

Robin's and Pheros's spells blew through the last of the traitors holding out. A few stragglers were left standing upright, some of them drinking blue or brown tinted bottles. Around the courtyard, the rest were either dead or being rounded up by the rest of Robin's troops. Archers and mages kept watch from the walls and the roof of the keep.

"We'll never surrender!"

"I didn't expect you to." Robin walked forward, motioning for Pheros to stay back. He made sweeping motions with his arms, giving commands to the other soldiers to stay back. Then, Robin drew his spear, keeping it in guard position. Seven of them, Robin noted with satisfaction. I think they can give me a good exercise. "There are those who won't surrender. So, let me offer you a chance. You hate me, right? Well, here I am. We'll have a fight the seven of you, against me."

"And if we win, you'll let us go?"

"No, don't be ridiculous. My men will kill you." Robin said, eyeing the man who had spoken. He wielded a heavy axe and seemed to be the leader. "I just offer you a chance at my life. Want to take it?"

"Take it… and your head! Take him down!"

The lead man rushed him, pushing his body to move despite the wounds. He swung the heavy axe at Robin. Robin dropped the spear, sidestepped the swing, and drew his sword through the man once he within the guard. One.

Two more came at him. Robin ducked the swing of the first one, who was wielding a sword, and let the second one, a mage, hit him with a blast of electricity. Robin swung his left hand to the mage, and summoned his own nexus of lightning, blasting the mage, while casually blocking the sword wielder's swipe with a behind-the-back block using his right sword-wielding hand. Robin turned his head and gave him a cocky grin. Two One behind me and four in front.

Robin set his foot under the dropped spear and kicked it high up in the air. Then he set his left hand on his sword hilt and swung it, using his shoulder as leverage, sending the man behind him staggering back. Two of the four reached him, lunging with spears. Robin sidestepped as fast as he could, tossing the sword to his left hand, and then blasted the pair with a lance of lightning. Neither died from it, unfortunately.

The next one went after him with an axe, while a jet of flame roared by him. Robin deflected the axe to the side and spun back to where he was a moment ago, catching the spear with his right hand. He now stood in the middle of five of them, all wounded. One sword, two lances, an axe, and the last was a fire mage.

Robin spun like a dervish, slashing with his spear and using his sword to guard again his undefended side. He dropped low and extended the lance, slicing through legs. The axe user went for him, forcing him to roll out of the way. He used the spear to prop him up, and then stabbed the axe user, killing him. Three.

That was when one of the lances hit him, deflecting off his plate to cut along his side. Robin took it well, slicing the man who did it apart with his sword and then going on to blast the sword user with lightning, frying the man to a crisp. The second lancer went for him, which Robin deflected with a gauntlet, then buried the gauntlet within the man's stomach. Now at close quarters, he kneed the man in the groin, and then grabbed his head in a two-handed grip and twisting his head to violently break the man's spine. Four, five, six.

The fire mage was last. Robin tossed aside his sword, and then dropped the tomes from their holsters, walking towards the mage and slamming his fists into each other, grinning. The mage panicked, and summoned the most powerful flame he had, blasting Robin at point blank with his fire.

Robin dove to one side, dashing to the mage before he could adjust his aim. Robin leapt up and slammed his right hand into the mage's face, and lifted him in the air, before landing himself. Then Robin slammed the mage into the ground, shattering the mage's skull.

"Dead." Robin stood up, looking at the gore and blood he was now covered with. "War is … messy, it seems."

"Was that necessary?" Pheros asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I needed the workout." Robin said, working to remove his gauntlets. "I don't have many opportunities to fight alone, to the death."

"Stress relief?"

"I guess a bit, why?" Robin blinked as Pheros looked him up and down. "Hey, stop that. I'm completely sane."

"You told me you don't relish killing people." Pheros gestured to the corpse. "You just cracked a man's skull like an egg."

"Fine. I'm a bit tense, I suppose."

"You aren't tense. The Wolfguard are traitors." Pheros said. "You're furious."

"I am the Wolfguard." Robin scowled. "This was my project, my oversight, my people. And now I have multiple Wolfguard commanders who took the opportunity to recruit men loyal to them. It's a flaw in the system that was exploited. Aside from the commanders, who are handpicked, and officers, who are drawn from the army, the rest are rank and file militia. So, if the command is rotten, they can fill their Wolfguard unit with dissidents."

"What makes you suspect the spymaster, then?"

"Because he's the only one who could do it." Robin sighed. "Honestly, if I had to guess, he didn't predict the rebellion either. He just slipped in a few commanders who were loyal to him, or that he had some kind of control over, intending to use them against me when the time was right. And now, apparently, was that time."

"I see." Pheros nodded. "So, you're saying the spymaster decided to use your own hubris against you and fill your supposedly infallible Wolfguard full of holes to prove you aren't as capable as you think you are."

"That's not what I'm saying at – actually, yes." Robin grit his teeth. "I just didn't expect him to go this low. He's put me in a rough spot."

"He's sabotaged you, in other words." Pheros said. "Is this normal or am I strange for thinking we should be infighting right now!?"

"He started it."

"Stop acting like a child." Pheros snapped. "You're throwing a tantrum."

"So, what am I supposed to do, then?" Robin narrowed his eyes. "You don't play the hand you wished you had, you play the hand you get dealt. And right now, both myself and that spymaster of Walhart's are in a situation that only one of us walks away from."

"You can't end the rebellions without implicating him?"

"I can, especially with no proof." Robin scowled. "I'm not referring to this rebellion per se, honestly. I'm referring to the situation. He knows – well, he knows I've done a few things that might be considered traitorous by those without a long view, and he doesn't like me. Formerly, I just wanted to keep tabs on him back, but now that he's caused these rebellions, I've pretty much had it."

"Fine. So end the rebellions. Now, one that happens, if I attempt to mediate, will you cooperate?"

"Yes. I'm irritated, not irrational." Robin reconsidered his position. "Yet."

"Then I will attempt to bridge the gap. And should that fail, I expect you to be a pragmatist about it." Pheros's eyes met his. "You are the Battlemaster, and the second in command of the Empire. You cannot be seen infighting, and a protracted stealth war will just harm the people of Valm. Understand?"

"Yes, Pheros." I understand what you want, anyw-

"Similar to how you dealt with Excellus."

Wait, what? "Did – did you just condone the murder of a Valm Imperial officer?"

"No, of course not. I am merely saying that your solution must be surefire and swift, with no chance for repercussions or a fallout." Pheros shrugged. "I'm afraid that I'm not a strategist, so I may not be able to imagine what that might entail, but as long as you meet those qualifications, I can support you."

Translation: I'm not happy about traitors either, so if you're sure, than make the move, and make it clean. I won't oppose you. Robin nodded. "Thank you, General Pheros. For the advice."

"My pleasure, Battlemaster." Pheros nodded and turned to walk away. "Remember. I'm the nice one. Not the naïve one. Oh, and take a vacation. You seriously need it."

I need an excuse to go to Ylisse, anyway. "Once all this is done, fine."