Time for Byleth to get a new sword, and for some alluring clothing damage. :P
Chapter 16 – A New Sword (Blue Sea Moon)
Byleth took a quick glance around at the students currently engaged in battle with the Western Church soldiers. Dimitri had just impaled an axe fighter on his lance, while Leonie leapt back to dodge a blow before shooting her attacker with an arrow to the gut. Felix had quickly cut through a pair of lance fighters, letting out a scoff at how outclassed they had been.
Meanwhile, Petra deflected two quick strikes from a swordsman before slashing the man's legs, the man's howl of pain cut off when Petra sliced through his throat afterward. Petra barely had a moment to breathe before a Wind spell from a Western Church mage narrowly missed her, and Petra yelped in both surprise and embarrassment as her shirt was torn by the spell. Though unharmed, she was quick to cover her chest—which threatened to burst out of the frayed strands of her damaged shirt—before an arrow from Claude struck down her attacker. Claude gave her a wink and a grin, to which Petra blushed deeply.
Then, upon hearing Annette's scream, Byleth turned to see Caspar lying on the ground with a large gash across his chest, his uniform soaked with blood as he groaned in pain. Marianne had already rushed over to try and heal him, or at the very least keep him alive. Byleth turned her attention to the black-armored knight, who was now some distance away from Caspar as he slashed his scythe, sending a splash of blood across the floor of the Holy Mausoleum.
"Death Knight! Prove your strength and scatter these fools!" shouted the dark mage.
"I don't take commands," said the Death Knight. "Or waste my time on weaklings."
In the meantime, Dorothea looked on at Caspar's dilemma and said to no one in particular, "Death Knight? A bit on the nose, don't you think?"
She might have said it jokingly, but she could feel a terrible chill run down her spine as the Death Knight glanced in her direction. He wasn't to be taken lightly.
Unfortunately, Byleth didn't have time to focus on the Death Knight. One of the Western Church soldiers swung his blade at her, forcing Byleth to parry the strike. She then countered with a hard swing, but the swordsman deflected the attack.
The Death Knight then turned back to Caspar, clearly intent on finishing his kill. With a shout, he urged his horse forward and charged at Caspar and Marianne. As he charged, a blast of Wind from Annette struck him, but harmlessly bounced off his black armor. Annette made a loud yelp of shock when her spell had no effect.
"No way!" yelped Annette.
"MARIANNE, LOOK OUT!" shouted Hilda.
Finishing off her opponent, Byleth whipped back around to watch as the Death Knight closed the distance upon Marianne with alarming speed. Byleth knew she would never reach them in time from her position.
"MARYYYYY!" screamed Hilda.
Marianne had just enough time to look up at her attacker before he thrust his scythe at her, the spear-like tip at the top about to impale her through her chest.
The world around them stopped. The look of shock was frozen upon Marianne's face, as was Hilda's expression of terror at seeing her friend's imminent doom.
"Oh dear, that girl was quite the fool, wasn't she?" Sothis said within Byleth's mind. "As was that boy. Let us see if we cannot do something about that, shall we?"
The sands of time turned back. Byleth watched as the Death Knight moved in reverse, with Annette's failed spell shooting back toward her. She watched as the Death Knight retorted to the dark mage that had tried to give him orders.
And then time stopped again.
Byleth was caught off-guard by this. She had wanted to reverse time back to before Caspar had been struck by the Death Knight, but something was stopping her.
"Oh, my friend, you did not think this power was without limits, did you?" said Sothis, as though answering Byleth's thoughts. "I can only send us back so far at any one moment. Perhaps you should have used my power sooner."
Byleth would've cursed at Sothis for this, but the green-haired girl was right. She had waited too long to use the Divine Pulse, and as such had missed her chance to prevent Caspar from being wounded.
But she still had the chance to save Marianne. She would have to make it work.
The sands of time resumed their flow.
"Death Knight! Prove your strength and scatter these fools!" shouted the dark mage.
"I don't take commands," said the Death Knight. "Or waste my time on weaklings."
"Death Knight? A bit on the nose, don't you think?" said Dorothea.
Byleth immediately found herself back to clashing with the sword-wielding soldier, and immediately changed her next move. Rather than try to make a hard strike at him, which would have been deflected, Byleth sprung forward and thrust her blade into the soldier's chest before he could react. She quickly kicked the soldier away and then broke into a run toward Caspar just as the Death Knight's horse reared back and began to gallop toward the wounded boy. Again, Byleth saw Annette's spell strike the Death Knight uselessly.
"No way!" Annette yelped again.
"MARIANNE, LOOK OUT!" shouted Hilda.
Marianne again looked up to see the Death Knight upon her, his scythe's lance about to pierce her breast. Byleth cursed herself. She was still too far away.
"MARYYYYY!" screamed Hilda.
Byleth did the only thing she could think of. She threw her sword at the Death Knight.
The Death Knight sensed the weapon flying at him and swung his scythe around to cleave it out of the air, the poor-quality weapon breaking into pieces. He then centered his red-eyed gaze upon Byleth.
"Like moths to a flame…" said the Death Knight.
Byleth grimaced at this. She only had her dagger left to defend herself, which wasn't going to do anything against the Death Knight. She glanced around at her surroundings, trying to find a suitable weapon she could use. The only things she could see were the crude, poorly crafted weapons of the Western Church soldiers, none which would do her any good against the Death Knight's armor. To her relief, though, the Death Knight was no longer interested in Caspar or Marianne, the latter who was now struggling to pull the boy to safety. She knew Marianne would be able to help him; despite her pessimism, she was very talented in the healing arts.
"So, you are the Ashen Demon…" said the Death Knight as he turned his horse toward Byleth.
Byleth now visibly scowled. The Death Knight knew her mercenary moniker.
"Ashen Demon…?" said Dorothea as she overheard the conversation.
Then, with a shout, the Death Knight charged at Byleth, far faster than she anticipated. Unable to fight back, Byleth dived away as the Death Knight swung his scythe at her, narrowly missing her back and instead slicing through her overcoat. The black fabric fell to the floor as Byleth hissed, and then she yelped as the Death Knight swiftly whirled around and slashed, almost taking off her left arm.
"I'm not impressed," said the Death Knight.
He then made another slash at Byleth, who again avoided it by less than an inch. Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to find something to defend herself with. Several more strikes came at her, each one she avoided, but by less and less distance. A fifth swing from the Death Knight's scythe cut her shirt at her left breast, narrowly avoiding her skin but exposing a tantalizing portion of her ripe chest mound. If Byleth were anyone else, she would've been blushing fiercely.
Evidently, the Death Knight had no interest in her physical beauty, for his onslaught did not slow its pace. He made another swing, and Byleth knew she wasn't going to avoid this one. Acting on a reflex, she extended her arm forward and focused her Mana, casting one of the few spells she currently knew. A wall of magic extended before her to intercept the Death Knight's blow, but it was no match for the knight's scythe, which shattered her barrier in an instant. The force of the blow knocked Byleth off balance, and she was unable to avoid the next strike.
"PROFESSOR!" Dorothea screamed.
The shaft of the Death Knight's scythe slammed into Byleth's exposed navel, knocking the wind out of her as she let out a howl of pain and was sent flying right into Seiros' casket. The dark mage was startled by this, but he had already finished his work on the seal.
"Central Church fools!" said the dark mage. "The seal is already broken! First, I'll kill you, and then– AAAARGH!"
The dark mage let out a loud scream as Dorothea's lightning spell fried him, blasting him away from the casket. Dorothea immediately ran over to Byleth, who groaned loudly as she tried to recover.
"Professor, are you alri-IIEEEE!"
Dorothea shrieked as she narrowly avoided a thrust from the Death Knight, throwing herself on top of Byleth as the scythe smashed into the lid of the casket and broke it open. Byleth's right arm hung back into the casket. Dorothea gasped and panted loudly at having been less than an inch from death, but she knew she wasn't going to be lucky twice.
The Death Knight raised his scythe again, this time to cut through both Dorothea and Byleth. On the sides, Dimitri, Claude and the others, who had almost finished up with the other soldiers, watched in horror as the Death Knight made his swing.
And then everything went silent as Byleth whipped her right arm out of Seiros' casket, holding a glowing red sword, and blocked the Death Knight's strike, the scythe blade almost touching Dorothea's back.
Dorothea shook in terror. For a moment, she thought she was already dead. But then she turned her gaze and saw the glow of red, and then she saw the sword that Byleth held.
Everyone in the Holy Mausoleum was awestruck. Even the Death Knight had paused upon seeing this new weapon.
"That sword is… I see…" said the Death Knight.
Before anyone else could react, Byleth let out a shout and, despite her lack of leverage, slashed with her new blade, forcing the Death Knight back. The dark rider's horse moved as though a part of his body, leaping back as Byleth regained her footing. At the same time, Dorothea's legs gave out beneath her from fear as she fell to the ground on her hip.
The Death Knight renewed his attack, charging at Byleth and readying another slash. Byleth's body began to glow a green light, and the symbol of her Crest shone above her. But now, it looked far different, far more complete. It was a symbol no one in the chamber besides the Death Knight recognized.
The sword in Byleth's hand split its blade into multiple small fragments, all bound together by a single link. It was as though the sword had become a whip, and Byleth shouted as she swung this new weapon at the Death Knight, forcing him to break off his attack and parry Byleth's strike. Byleth swung the whip-blade again, prompting the Death Knight to jump his horse back.
The blade's segments floated around Byleth and Dorothea, protecting them from any new move the Death Knight could make. Everyone in the chamber was silent, including the Western Church soldiers.
With a single short laugh, the Death Knight said, "What a pleasant surprise."
"Do tell!" shouted a boisterous woman's voice, prompting the Death Knight to turn and see another glowing blade and its wielder.
Catherine and several of the Knights of Seiros poured into the Holy Mausoleum. Behind them, quivering in fright, was Bernadetta, doing her best not to be seen by anyone in the tomb. Beside her was the large, confident frame of Alois.
"Y-You see, I told you! They're here!" Bernadetta stammered. "I dunno what they're up to, but–"
"It's alright, Bernadetta," said Alois, giving the girl a small pat on the head that seemed to calm her down. Then, turning to his subordinates, he shouted, "Round them up, men!"
"Yes sir!" shouted one of the other knights as they rushed to apprehend what was left of the Western Church soldiers. The soldiers were quick to throw down their arms and surrender, totally outmatched by the knights.
The Death Knight, however, did not lower his weapon. He glanced between Catherine and Byleth.
Turning back to Byleth, the Death Knight said, "I didn't expect to encounter someone like you… How fortunate."
Then he charged again toward Byleth. Byleth readied herself to counter the Death Knight's attack.
But that attack never came. The Death Knight was suddenly surrounded by a veil of black mist that crackled with dark magic. Reactively, Byleth slashed at him with her whip sword, but the weapon only met air.
The Death Knight had vanished.
Byleth was panting for breath for a moment. The glowing sword retracted its segments back into its normal state. And then it fell from her grip as her strength seemed to leave her body. Byleth slumped to the floor beside Dorothea, who was quick to check on her teacher.
"Professor? Are you okay?" asked Dorothea.
"I… I'll be alright…" answered Byleth.
Dorothea could tell Byleth wasn't being totally straightforward, but she didn't realize to what extent it was. Byleth, meanwhile, took in a series of deep breaths as she felt an unfamiliar weariness fill her body. As far as she could remember, that had been the closest she had ever been to dying. The very thought of it left her weak in the knees.
The two then took a moment to gaze at the strange sword that lay on the ground before them. It was unlike any blade either of them had ever seen, clearly made of some ancient material. In some respects, it resembled the Thunderbrand. Curiously, there was a large round hole in the center of what would've constituted the crosspiece.
It was clearly a Hero's Relic.
Still catching her breath, Dorothea said jokingly, "That's… definitely a better birthday present than I got you…"
Anybody else think the cutscene where Byleth gets the Sword of the Creator was kinda lame? This would've been so much more awesome.
Also, was this too much fanservice for a fight scene?