-Valm Encampment-
"Hold the archer units in close reserve." Robin said, visualizing the battle to come. "Ylisse's pegasus knights fight in formation, and we'll be able to keep them off the battlefield by using the threat of deployed archers to zone them out."
"Heavy infantry to start, or light infantry?" Zulas asked, moving pieces on the mock battlefield.
"Light, right Robin?" Aversa said. "Start with the skirmishers?"
"No. One clash will settle this, so there's no point of leading with our weakest forces. The Dire Wolves will lead the charge, and I'll be at the head of them." Robin corrected her. "The Ylissean don't have cavalry to match ours, so spread them out on the flanks, and prepare to circle them, should the opportunity arise."
"And if it doesn't?" Ravena interjected.
"Then hold." Robin said. "We outnumber them, and a slow grind brings us victory just as much as a complete route. We're in no hurry to win here – they're the last holdout."
"I've been meaning to ask this." Argeni spoke up. "Why aren't they holding up in Ylissotol? If you're outnumbered, isn't siege tactics a viable solution."
"Generally, yes." Zulas told her. "But Ylissotol isn't built for siege defense. The original city was a good four hundred years ago. But additions to the city means that there are additional parts outside the initial stonework walls, which haven't been integrated well within the city."
"That, and the city was sacked by Gangrel." Robin said. "The defenses were never really repaired after that, which means that it's defenses are weak. But even still, it'd give them an advantageous defensive position."
"They why…?"
"Because Chrom is soft." Robin said, sighing. "In truth, I'm not upset at what he's done, but it's still stupid. This is how he thinks: If we took the fighting to the city, then the people within it would suffer, especially with how weak the defenses are. We'd kill at least three civilians to every soldier. A good part of that would be that the civilians would resist us during the fighting, of course, but Chrom wants to avoid that."
"So he brought the fight to us." Ravena said. "Even though he knows that it'll make it harder for him to win."
"Chrom isn't the type of person to care about." Robin grit his teeth. "Though I kind of wish he was."
"You'd rather a siege?" Aversa asked him, puzzled.
"No, if he was that kind of person, he'd recognize the futility of his position and surrender." Robin replied. "As it is, I'm going to have to beat that lesson into him. He'll make a fine ally and a good member of our Council once we're done here."
"Is that what you're planning?" Zulas interjected.
"I'll be trying for it." Robin said, studying the battlefield. The pieces had been arranged so that it roughly represented both armies. Valm had the numbers, but at the same time, Ylisse had managed to choose an advantageous position on the battlefield. Both sides had opted to send their elites to the front, rather than skirmishers. Valm's cavalry wings would serve them well, though, if the battle could be prolonged.
"If that's all you want to do, I think we're ready." Ravena said. "Father, are you going to command the army directly?"
"No. That responsibility falls to you, again. I'm not using a complex battle plan, so even you should be able to manage it."
"Ooh." Ravena smirked. "Called out by the old man. Don't worry, if I can beat you at chess, I think I can handle this."
"Glad to hear it. Even still, one piece of advice." Robin tapped a spot. "This is where the Empress is going to be. Her Valkyries from Steiger have accompanied her, and they're going to serve as a cavalry charge. Direct them towards armor battalions, but be careful about it, alright? We don't want to lose our Empress in this battle."
"Don't you mean, 'We don't want to lose my girlfriend'?" Aversa teased.
"Please stop." Robin sighed.
"If you marry her, I won't be able to call her your girlfriend. Just a thought."
"Don't worry, Father. I'll be able to take care of it." Ravena said. "So, will you be leading the charge?"
"Not by choice." Robin plucked two figurines that weren't in use and placed them. One was a crossed Falchion and shepherd's crook, which he placed in front of the Ylissean army. The second one was a snarling wolf, placed opposite it. "Chrom is with the Shepherds, and they lead the charge. If I'm going to meet them in battle, I need to charge as well."
"Cut off the head, and the rest will fall easily." Ravena said. "One final strike?"
"It's what is needed." Robin said. "Like the cut of a surgeon – swift, decisive, and final. Remove what is wrong, and then the healing can begin."
-Plains of Ylisse-
A wind whistled through the grass across the plains, gently stirring it as waves. The air was clear, and the sky a pale blue. The sun had risen a few hours earlier and shone across the plain. There was no rain nor fog, and the day's temperature was cool, but not chilly. It was a wonderful day on a wonderful plain, that quite unfortunately, would have rivers of blood running through it before the day was done.
The Valm army lined up on one side, leading them was Robin dressed in his full Battlemaster armor, glistening blood red. He had his spear in his hand, and two swords strapped to his sides, a bright red blade and a Chon'sin katana. His gloves were thick vellum.
Across the field, the Ylisse army lined up, with a knight in blue armor, riding atop a proud horse. He held a silver spear in his hand, a gestured with it at Robin. Beside him were the rest of the Shepherds – a scattered group of the country's best fighters, all ready to fight him.
"VALM!" Robin howled, his voice echoing across the plain. "HEED MY CALL!"
"VALM!" The army roared behind him as one.
"This day marks the end of this war!" Robin said. "Walhart began with a vision and a dream, and today is the end of that vision and dream. When we walk off this battlefield, it will be with the world under one banner – the flag of Valm! Rally to my flag, Valm! Rally to the Battlemaster, for victory!"
"RALLY TO THE BATTLEMASTER!" The roar came at once. "FOR VALM!"
"Ylisse!" The knight in blue, Frederick, Robin remembered, raised his lance. "We fight today for freedom! For liberty! For the legacy of Naga, and for the Exalt!"
"FOR YLISSE!"
And with that, the two forces met together in a thunderous chorus of steel upon steel. Ranks met each other whereupon blows and blood were exchanged. Neither side had any intention of losing, and as a result, the two forces elites leading either line fought with their full strength, nothing held back.
There was a single oddity, though. While the rest of the line had clashed, and was now fighting back and forth, clash-to-clash, the very center of the battle noticeably lacked that. On the one side was the Grandmaster with his Dire Wolves, and the other side was the Shepherd. No one was willing to get in the middle of that fight, and both sides weren't intent of charging in headlong. Robin was approaching when he finally noticed something and frowned. The Shepherds was spread before him – with a very noticeable member missing.
"Where's Chrom?" Robin demanded. Olivia seems to be missing too, but I'm guessing she's with him.
"Not here, I'm afraid." Frederick, the lead knight, drew his massive lance. Beside him, a red and a green cavalier did the same, as did the rest of the Shepherds. Soon, the assembled force was all facing them, weapons drawn, alongside a group of more generic forces that had come to bolster their strength. "You face the assembled might the Shepherds, now. There's no way you could defeat all of us combined. Accept your defeat, Valmese tactician! For I am Frederick, stalwart protector of House Ylisse, and I shall never allow you to approach the Exalt."
"Twenty of them." Robin said. Argeni flicked the reins as her horse cantered backwards. Zulas stood beside him, as did Vermil. Ravena stood behind Robin and bit to his right, holding her spear, taking up Dant's place, as the assassin couldn't risk showing up to the battle. And surrounding them, the Wolfguard. "Almost makes you feel sorry, doesn't it? Because no matter how many sheep there are, they are never a match for the wolves."
"Your hubris will be your demise." Frederick declared.
"Not today, sheep." A glint appeared in Robin's eye. He stabbed his swordspear into the earth and drew a single crimson blade, the Sol blade granted to him by Walhart. He'd never had been given a good reason to use it, but he did have one now. It was time to teach those beneath him just how wide the gap between them was. "Vermil, scatter them. Zulas, lead the Wollfguard after that, but be careful to keep your distance from me and just handle the reinforcements. The Shepherds are mine, all I want from you is to keep the rest of them out of it."
"I understand, Robin." Zulas nodded.
"You think that your army can beat ours?" Frederick asked.
"Army?" Robin snorted. "I just need the one."
"I am the breath of my flame. Magma is my body and lava is my blood." Vermil began chanting as he stepped forward. He clasped his hands in front of him as small flares bloomed to life around him, creating hundreds of small pinpricks of fire in the air around him. "I have created over a thousand fires, unknown to ash nor known to dust. Have withstood burns to create many fires, yet these hands will burn everything…"
Vermil thrust his hands forward and the air lit up with fire as he finished his spell.
"…so as I cast, Unlimited Fire Works!"
The pinpricks shot forth as if fired from an entire army's worth of archers, growing larger as they did so, forming a rain of fiery spheres as they headed towards the Shepherds and the forces around them. Frederick had time to bark an order for shields to be raised as the first row hit, burning through troops or being deflected by shields.
Then the second wave hit, sending the lines into further chaos. Than the third. Volley after volley of fireballs, weak individually, went into the formation, blasting through their ranks and scorching or burning them. Cries filled the air and it soon became a conflagration, as more and more fireballs hit.
Vermil stood, keeping his hands forward, a look of concentration of his face as more and more pinpricks bloomed into life around him, keeping up the onslaught. The smell of burns and char filled the air as the heat washed over the battlefield, yet the Valmese mage refused to give up. Vermil grit his teeth and focused, keeping the rain of fire as long as he could, gradually growing more and more pale.
"That's enough." Robin said, placing a hand on the young mage's shoulder. "Ease off before you drain yourself completely."
Vermil let the spell die off, and bent over, breathing hard. "Did I … did I get them all?"
"No." Robin said, staring straight ahead. "But you got enough of them. The Shepherds seem to have pulled through, but as I said earlier, they're mine."
-Shepherds-
"BARRIER!" Lissa gestured with her staff as soon as the spell started, holding back the relentless onslaught of flames with the power in her staff. But eeven with her, Maribelle, Ricken, Miriel, and Libra pooling together their strength, they could only keep the flames back from the Shepherds themselves. The fire rained past them, slicing through the ranks of the soldiers with them.
Lissa sighed in relief as she saw Frederick order them to start to retreat. I'm glad for that. There's no way they could keep up with this kind of a fight. But even still, what a nightmare. Robin may not have the same number of followers as Chrom has in the Shepherds, but that fire mage is horrifically strong. The healer is probably as strong as me, and the other spear wielder is going to be strong. But isn't that last member – the assassin – supposed to be taller?
Then the fire stopped, leaving a cloud of smoke before them. Lissa swapped for a new staff quickly as Ricken summoned force a powerful gust of wind to blow the smoke and ashes away from them. As he did so, Lissa slammed the staff into the ground and used its power to cure the wounds and burns that had been inflicted before she and the rest of the healers brought the barrier up. "FORTIFY!"
"Good." A dark figure walked through the disappearing ash. Lissa gasped. The Battlemaster had come and he was alone. His force was back, alongside with the rest of his gathered forces. They were staring off the forces that Frederick had ordered back. "I'm glad you're uninjured for the most part. My Wolfguard, the Dire Wolves especially, could hold their own against you, but I think the rest of my forces would honestly get in my way against the Shepherds. Besides, I want to take you all out alone."
"What do I hope to accomplish by doing that!?" Frederick challenged him.
"What do I hope to accomplish?" The Battlemaster sounded puzzled. "Oh. You think there's some kind of ulterior motive to this or some trap I'm planning to spring, don't you? No. This is just to prove I can."
"Listen, pal!" Lissa pointed her staff at him. "Don't underestimate us!"
"I would never." Robin calmly looked over the entire group, who were all pulling out weapons and getting ready to attack him with steel, fang, and magic. He had drawn but a single red sword. "But it would also be in your best interests not to underestimate me."
"Your blade…" Lissa said. "There's magic coming off it, right? But that's not a Levin sword."
"Ah, you've noticed. But don't think you'll have an advantage with your high resistance to magic. What you're detecting is merely an enchantment, the blade still cuts like a physical weapon." Robin said. "Gungnir is my strongest weapon, true, but this is the Sol blade, given to me by Walhart himself. It has unique properties, which make it ideal for this kind of fight."
"Well, Sol blade or not, you won't beat us." Lissa swapped her staff for a Bolt Axe and the war cleric twirled it around her, using strength that belied her petite form. "I'm not the princess for nothing, you know!"
"I know." Robin smiled. "Lissa, wasn't it? I enjoyed our conversation earlier. You really ask such delightful questions. Permit me to give you my answer, princess. THORON!"
A line of crackling electricity streamed towards her as Robin cast the spell suddenly. Lissa gasped, caught off guard, and braced herself only for Lon'qu to shove her out of the way and narrowly avoid it himself. The Chon'sin blademaster drew his katana and pointed it at Robin. "You have aimed to kill the Ylissean princess. Thus, you have forfeited your life."
"No, bodyguard. My life isn't forfeit just yet. And it's going to be very difficult to kill me." Purple flames lit up around Robin as he drew the blade, and a golden aura flared from the sword as it mixed with the purple one already around him. "It's time for you to understand the true gap between us. Ignis Spectrum: Forbidden Rite of the Stolen Sun…"
"Don't let him finish that spell!" Lissa cried, thrusting her arm forward. She wasn't going to caught unaware twice. "Attack at range!"
The air around Robin exploded with force. Fire magic, wind magic, thunder magic, and dark magic all were blasted at him. A bowstring sung as Gaius fired an arrow, which was joined by javelin and throwing axes. Robin had timed to throw up his guard before they all hit him at once.
There's no way he could live through that. Even Chrom can't take all those hits at once! Lissa cheered. Her relief was short-lived when no one else on her side did, or the other side make any motion of despair. No way … he can't have- oh.
The smoke and explosion split apart as Robin burst out of it. A deep cut had lanced itself among his cheek and his left side was smoking. The arrow snapped out of the joint in armor it had lodged itself in, and a few cuts had shown up on his relatively unarmored legs. He was unmistakably injured but kept up his charge towards them.
Yes! We can do this! Lissa thought. She gestured with her axe again. "Close quarters, go!"
Robin reached their line and met with Frederick, who had charged ahead. The Battlemaster leapt up and crossed blades against the mounted Frederick, sending the great knight clean off his horse from the force of the blow. Lissa cried out and swung her Bolt Axe, sending electricity into Robin, who just grimaced as it shocked him. Robin exhaled hard though, and bent downwards, clearly winded, using the sword to prop himself up. Robin spun and went after Frederick.
"Fighters forward! Mages back! Healers at the ready!" Lissa cried. With Chrom behind them and Morgan gone, she'd take his place and direct the battle. It couldn't be that hard. "He's already injured! We can stop him!
"Battlemaster!" Vaike howled as he came in first, swinging his axe to stop Robin from impaling the fallen Frederick. "It's time for Teach to get his tenure!"
With a swift burst of energy Robin dodged the swinging axe and impaled the fighter cleanly on his blade. Lissa gasped as the sword impaled Vaike, and then the tactician kicked the bare-chested man off the blade. The purple-gold glow enveloped the Battlemaster. Robin looked up and met Lissa's eyes as he calmly finished his sentence. "…Dyson."
"You''ll pay for that – what!?" Sully came in for a sweep, only for Robin to leap up to close for her to use the lance and kick off her horse. Midair, he crashed into Stahl charging in and threw the green horseman off. Sully howled and went for him only to suffer the same fate. That was when Lon'qu intervened, dashing in, and helping the two de-horsed cavaliers.
While that was happening, Lissa rushed over to Vaike and started healing the wound. When she did so, she blinked in surprise. He wasn't bleeding that much for the gut wound, but it wasn't because the wound wasn't severe. Almost as if his energy and vitality had been drained from his …
"HAH!" With a display of force, the three combatants were forced back. Sully had a cut along her arm, Stahl had taken one to his leg, and Lon'qu was worst off, having suffered from three hits. Robin, by contrast, lacked any injuries. There were cuts in his clothes and dents in his armor, but no burn wounds, no visible wounds, and even the cuts on his face were gone. All the injuries had vanished. Robin grinned. "So, princess. Have you figured it out yet?"
"Impossible." Sully stared at the whole and uninjured Robin. "But we hurt you…"
"You did. All your energy becomes mine as I injure you, and that in turns heals me." Robin said, holding the red blade up. "So long as I hold the Sol blade, my Dyson technique will feed me all of the energy from the damage I deal while injuring you. With this, I don't have to care about receiving injuries at all, so long as I can keep hurting you and as long as you don't defeat me in one attack. So the question, Shepherds, is simple. Can you outlast my blade or defeat me in a single blow?"
"I don't know." Lissa admitted as she got up, keeping the healing energy pouring into Vaike. "But we're going to try. We won't let you fight Chrom!"
"I admire your resolve, princess." Robin smiled a ghastly grin. "But perhaps you should acknowledge that you're outmatched?"
"It's GREGOR TIME!" The redhaired mercenary charged at Robin, who took the cross swing to his forearm, letting the blade sink into his flesh, before responding with a vicious cross slash and sending him back. The mercenary went down with a red cut across his chest, and Robin let the blade pop out of his arm, fully healed without even a scar to show for it.
"Two down." Robin said, shaking his head. "This isn't even remotely fair. Though I'll warn you, I'll get serious from here on out. But let me ask you a question. Are you sure you want to keep protecting Chrom? He wants to face me, and all you're doing is getting yourself injured."
Get serious? Lissa blinked. He'd get serious!? He would have killed me if it wasn't for Lon'qu, he's taken out two of us without breaking a sweat, and four more are injured. If this isn't serious, then we might be in trouble – and he may be right, anyway. Chrom wants to fight him. But that's the exact reason we can't let him past us!
"Sorry!" Lissa cried. "But I can't let you pass! Call it a little sister's intuition, but you're too dangerous for Chrom to face alone. Chrom wants to be a sword for our people! Well, I'm going to be a sword for Chrom! You won't get to him!"
"Admirable, princess." Robin closed his eye. "Admirable … but shortsighted. And foolish!"
Robin blurred and dashed straight for her. Lon'qu swore and blurred himself to try and stop him. Lissa dove out of the way on instinct, but she wasn't his target. She rolled up to see him. He'd managed to cover the distance between all of them without them being able to react and was by the mages.
"Magic users first." Robin said. He was bleeding again, and Lon'qu was on the other side of the battlefield. He'd gone for a slash, and apparently Robin just let him hit something non-vital.
"NO!" Lissa cried.
Robin's thrust caught Ricken in the gut and he backhanded Miriel right afterwards with his free hand, shattering the mage's glasses and sending the woman dropping to the ground. Ricken followed to the floor, in a slump as Robin removed the blade. Robin spun to the dark mages, but was blocked by Kellam, standing over Miriel's fallen body.
"Always knights, huh?" Robin's blade danced past Kellam's defenses, but the knight stood firm even as cut started overtaking him. Lissa watched Maribelle rode over to use healing magic on Ricken. Miriel, thankfully, was in better condition.
How do we defeat him?
The rest of the fighters caught up with Robin, and the Battlemaster found himself surrounded. Sully, Stahl, Frederick, Kellam, Lon'qu, Nowi, and Panne now surrounded him. Gaius had hung back, the assassin drawing another arrow to full draw.
"Seven on one?" Robin spun around and his eye glinted. "There's the weak link."
Robin went on the offensive, ignoring the wounds he received. Stahl went down, and Sully after him in a series of cuts. Lon'qu went after him with the blade again, but this time Robin dodged the thrust and countered with a cut, a deep enough across the right arm to cause Lon'qu to drop his blade.
"That wasn't going to keep working on me, you know." Robin sighed. "I'll be honest, I have no patience with your kind. One-trick ponies, all of you. Iaijutsu users will either kill you the first time, or just be annoying after that. Now, for the rest of you…"
With Stahl, Sully, and Lon'qu down, that meant three more out of the fight. He targeted the cavalry because they're not used to fighting on foot. Lissa realized. "We can still win this! Surround him again."
"Oh, I'm not letting that happen, princess." Robin was a blur across the battlefield. With Lon'qu, the fastest among them down, none could match his speed. Henry and Tharja kept blasting at him, as Panne and Nowi chased after him in beast form, but the Battlemaster was just evading all their efforts.
Lissa sprinted to the fallen cavaliers, meeting with Libra as she did so. The pair of healers started their work, with Frederick watching over them with his spear. "He'll go for the mages again!" Lissa warned.
"Too late." Robin charged them. Tharja was expecting it, and blasted him head-on. Robin leapt through the blast and cut down the Plegian dark mage in a spray of blood, walking past her fallen body with his injuries disappearing once again. Henry was cackling like a maniac as Robin approached him, holding a ball of dark energy above his head.
"So, I realized something." Henry raised his hand up, conjuring a ball of dark magic. "You can't take my energy if I do it first."
"Henry, don't do it!" Lissa cried.
The magic slammed down and exploded, blasting both combatants. Henry was thrown clean by the force and landed in a heap. The Battlemaster tried dodging but was caught it a decent part of it – the right side of his armor now bore traces of rust and ruin.
"HENRY!"
"Sumia, don't-!"
The pegasus knight swooped in, pointing her javelin at Robin, ready to impale the Battlemaster in retribution. Lissa gestured, sending Libra to take care of Henry and started running towards the clash. Robin swung in retribution, slicing a deep gash in the pegasus, but taking the charge. The impact sent the Battlemaster rolling, which Panne lunged at.
The taguel landed on him, claws shredding through the cloak. But Lissa's hope was short lived when she saw that Robin had managed to roll over and get his sword up right as Panne leapt on him. He took the claws, but once again, had managed to land a vital blow. Robin kicked her off and got to his feet. Behind him, Panne's rabbit body shifted, going back to woman's human form. It wasn't moving, and a hole in her stomach was now leaking blood.
Robin walked forward, casually dispatching a charging, but now pegasus-less, Sumia. She didn't even take a stab wound, having tripped on her way to him, so Robin simply pommel-slammed her in the head. A concussion, but she wasn't as bad as Panne was.
"Kellam, keep him busy!" Lissa ordered. The knight complied – he might have said something but Lissa had enough trouble finding him as it was, so if Kellam did say something she couldn't hear him – and Kellam charged Robin. Lissa ran pass them to reach Panne. She was breathing slowly, a wound in her gut. Lissa grit her teeth in frustration as she poured healing into her. Vaike, Gregor, Stahl, Sully, Sumia, Ricken, Miriel, Henry, Tharja, Lon'qu, Vaike, Panne, Gregor … the man is a monster.
A clank stopped her thought. Lissa turned to see that Kellam had fallen, and now Frederick and Donnel of all people were fighting Robin while Maribelle was trying to heal Kellam. They weren't putting up much of a fight, despite both using spears.
"It's not that I don't respect you." Robin said, his sword dancing between their spearwork. "You are capable fighters. It's … how do I put it …?" With a sudden whirlwind of steel, both were knocked aside. Donnel took a horizontal slash across his chest and Frederick, a blow to his face. Robin continued. "It's that I'm also disappointed. If you're the strongest friends Chrom had…"
Nowi swooped in to attack him and fired a shot of dragonbreath. Robin braced and took the impact on his crossed forearms, sending him back, and hissing from the injury. Then, before Nowi could move again, he'd cross the distance and attacked with a heavy two-handed hit, sending the manakete tumbling, and reverting back to her human form as well. Nowi tried getting up once, but just collapsed.
"…Then Chrom is no match for me." Robin finished. "Honestly, I have friends who are just as capable of doing this. Well, only Dant, really. But it's the principle of the matter."
"Physic." Libra cast, healing the manakete. The normally pacifistic monk had an angry expression on his face as he drew his large axe. "Do you know what you are doing?"
"I am single-handedly defeating the most elite strike force in Ylisse." Robin said, walking towards him, readying his blade for the coming exchange. "Without a scratch, I might add."
"REPENT, SINNER!"
"You're finished!"
With that exchange, Libra fell as well. A soft glow surrounded him – the monk's innate powers would heal him as long as the wound wasn't fatal. Lissa clutched her staff white-knuckled. Maribelle, Gaius, and Cordelia were now the only ones left.
"Cordelia, get Chrom!" Lissa yelled.
"No! I won't run away this time and leave you all to die."
"Running is all you've been doing this battle, pegasus knight." Robin said. "You didn't want to intrude on your teammates – I get that. But have you considered that they're terrible at fighting and you shouldn't have given them the opportunity? You're the Shepherds? You disappoint me, all of you."
"Says the man with the sword that lets him steal our energy?"
"So?" Robin shrugged. "All it does level the playing field. You had some good ideas – surrounding me, for instance. Also the dark mage's suicide blast – he didn't die from it, and I took a decent amount of damage. If all four of the mages did that, I'd be in trouble. Not to mention that if you healers had prioritized the ones fighting me, rather than always reacting what I had previously done, the control of the fight wouldn't have been mine. Additionally, if you had managed to keep out of my way, or if you had been strong enough to manage to keep inflicting injuries faster than I could heal them, perhaps if you had tried for something a bit cleverer, like disarming me, you might have won the day. I mean, for certain definitions of win, you wouldn't have killed me, and I would have just called in reinforcements, so it would have been a token victory at best. But certainly I would have been able to defeat me if I had been the one leading you. But I suppose that's why I'm the Battlemaster."
"All at once?" Gaius asked. "You think we can do it, princess?"
"I think we can, especially now that he's told us how to beat him. Maribelle, I leave the healing to you. Gaius, you'll have to parry his blade. Focus on nothing else besides that. Cordy, you'll rain javelins and I'll keep the lightning coming. I think it's just possible." Lissa said. "Keep your eye on the sword, all of you. It's the most important thing to-"
"Good plan." Robin tossed the sword aside with a flick of his wrist and then his gloves glowed. One he pointed at Cordelia above them and one he pointed at the trio. "Wilderwinds. Dying Blaze."
"Not good…" Lissa tried to get a barrier up in time, but she aimed it at Cordelia, hoping that Maribelle could help the rest of them. Maribelle didn't get her barrier up fast enough. And neither did Lissa. Twin blasts took both Cordelia and Gaius out of the equation. And then Robin blasted at the two healers. Lissa threw up her barrier in time to protect Maribelle, who turned tail and ran. She'd be getting Chrom, Lissa had no doubt about that.
But she needed to protect herself and everyone else in the meantime. The Battlemaster's blast hit her, but Lissa was resistant to magic, and got to her feet. She reached for her staff and slammed it into the ground. It's now or never. This won't bring everyone back into the fight, but it'll stop the wounds from getting worse, even if it leaves me open to Robin. "FORTIFY!"
"Very nice."
"Ah!" Lissa leapt back. Robin was standing right in front of her. "What are you doing?"
"Your first instinct was to make sure that everyone else was okay." Robin said. "They do train you well in Ylisse, don't they? My first instinct would be to go for a weapon and charge."
"Don't act like you care!" Lissa scowled. The battlefield was over now, even though the sun had yet to clear noon. Both her side and Robin's side had retreated back, and now there was just Robin standing before her, alongside the rest of the Shepherds. They were scattered, fallen, and wounded. Her staff had helped, though. To Lissa's too-experienced eyes, they didn't look like were dying. But they were wounded. Lissa drew her Bolt Axe and held it in front of her.
"I do care." Robin said, softly. "I care so I cannot care. You are right, Princess of Ylisse. I suffer from nightmares that I can neither order to be gone, nor can I slay them. But all the same, this is the path I chose, and I believe that all will be for the best at the end of path. So I try my best not to care, because that will send me spiraling off of by path."
"Don't act all high and mighty." Lissa growled. "What you're doing is wrong."
"No, what I'm doing is war." Robin said. "And I'm rather good at it, if you hadn't noticed. You didn't realize that I told you my weaknesses just because I knew it'd get your guard down against my magic, did you? Next time, don't be fooled. Be ready for everything."
"How did you do that?"
"My gloves." Robin said. As Lissa watched, he removed both of them and slipped on a new pair. "They're vellum torn from the pages of tomes. Regardless, you Shepherds did well. You managed to land a few more hits than I expected. Though you should not have assumed I would keep Dyson running as long as I did. The moment magic proved to be more useful, of course I switched to it. Something you didn't consider. Your plan was good. But a great plan would have taken that into account. Though, as a final grade, I still have to fail you."
"We're not done yet!"
"Oh?" Robin's eye glinted. "Will you fight me, princess?"
"I may surprise you!" Lissa charged forward and attacked him with her axe, electricity crackling around it. Robin sidestepped the first slash, then ducked the next one. Lissa continued with her one-woman whaling act, trying to hit the Battlemaster as all her did was avoid her. "What's wrong? Scared of hitting a girl?"
"Not really." Robin said. "It's just that this is a good warm up for the main act. Hate to ruin my practice by ending it early."
"A good warm up!?"
"Lissa."
Lissa froze when she heard the voice and froze. "Chrom?"
"I should have suspected the rest of you were up to something when you told me that I was needed to inspire morale across the rest of army, and you promised that you wouldn't get into the fight without me."
"Is that the excuse you used?" Robin considered. "Not bad, all things considered."
"Get the rest of the Shepherds to safety." Chrom said, walking forward. "I appreciate what you've done, but this is not an enemy to be underestimated."
"Chrom, we-"
"Lissa, I understand, and I don't blame you." Chrom placed a reassuring hand on her shoulders and his blue eyes met hers. "You wanted to protect me. That's fine, and I'm glad no one got hurt. But there are some things that older brothers exist for, and one of those things is to protect their little sisters."
"He's right, you know." Robin said. "My fight is with him. You did well though. You probably would have even been able to defeat me if I hadn't used one of my trump cards."
"I'll have to fight this alone." Chrom said. "Get to safety."
"Chrom…" Lissa whined.
"Don't give me that look." Chrom stepped forward, moving past Lissa. Behind him, members of the Ylissean healers came forward tentatively. "Robin, would you mind if I removed my wounded before we fought?"
"Not at all." The Battlemaster gestured. His army formed ranks and got into a defensive position. Robin made another gesture, and a thrown red lance flew through air, landing beside him. Robin picked up his lance as it crackled with electricity. "I assume we'll have a proper duel once that has been done? With the fate of this continent at stake?"
"You have my word." Chrom promised.
"Good." Robin's eye lit up with purple fire. "I've been looking forward to finally ending this."
