And now for the scene that starts the darker parts of Three Houses' story.
Chapter 24 – The Gautier Inheritance (Verdant Rain Moon)
Miklan snarled furiously as he heard the students continue their advance toward the command chamber at the top of Conand Tower. His men should have overrun them, but thanks to their sorcery they had nearly routed his gang. Now he and his few remaining men had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
But Miklan wasn't about to go quietly. He knew he'd never be allowed to live for stealing a Hero's Relic, but he'd be damned if he was going to give it back to House Gautier. At the very least, he planned to make these noble brats pay dearly if they wanted the lance.
Miklan turned to the weapon he had stolen, the Hero's Relic of the warrior Gautier. It was an ominous weapon, looking more like it had been crafted from bones rather than metal, but there was no doubting the power it held. Time and again it had turned back invaders from the Sreng region and other factions from the north. And even if Miklan couldn't tap into the lance's full power, it would still prove more than enough to make him a true threat.
A painful howl from one of his men prompted Miklan to grab the Lance of Ruin and turn to the entrance to the chamber. One of the thieves had just taken an axe to his chest from Dedue after failing to get past his shield. A second later, an arrow from Claude struck another thief in the chest, dropping him instantly. Miklan scowled at seeing his men being slaughtered.
And then his face turned to utter rage as he saw his younger brother among the attackers. Sylvain deflected a swing from a third thief and countered by slashing with his lance, cleaving through the thief's chest. Sylvain barely paused before he moved forward and turned his gaze to his elder brother.
"You!" Miklan snarled angrily.
"Miklan! Long time no see!" Sylvain said almost jokingly. "Gotta say, for a no-good thief, you've done well for yourself."
"What are you doing here, you Crest-bearing fool?"
Dropping his friendly tone, Sylvain answered, "I'm here for the Lance of Ruin, Miklan. Hand it over. I don't want to humiliate you, but I will."
"Hmph. Hurry up and die already!"
Miklan's response was faster than the others expected. Despite being clad in heavy armor, Miklan moved swiftly and roared as he slashed the Lance of Ruin at Sylvain. The younger Gautier leapt to the side to dodge and tried to counter with his own lance, but Miklan deflected the strike with his shield. Sylvain tried to press his attack with another strike, only to be met by Miklan trying to bash in his skull with his shield. Sylvain stumbled back but kept his footing.
Seething, Miklan said, "If not for you… If it hadn't been for you…!"
Miklan then raised the Lance of Ruin and swung it down at Sylvain, who brought up his own lance and barely blocked the strike. Sylvain's Crest shone above his head as he pushed back, forcing Miklan to briefly step backwards.
"Will you SHUT UP?!" Sylvain shouted with uncharacteristic anger. "I'm so sick and tired of hearing that! You've always blamed me for something that isn't my fault! Do you think I wanted to have this Crest?! How is it my fault that I was born with the damn thing?!"
Sylvain made another strike at Miklan, whose face suddenly curled in a grin. Sylvain immediately realized his error as Miklan swung his shield at his lance, knocking Sylvain off balance. Miklan then reversed his swing and smashed his shield right into Sylvain's body, sending the younger Gautier flying back with a yelp of pain.
"Sylvain!" shouted Dimitri.
The prince immediately rushed forward to face Miklan, but his strike was parried by the elder Gautier.
"Well, well, well," Miklan said confidently. "If it isn't His Highness. Faerghus is going to need a new heir to the throne once I'm done with you!"
Miklan continued to deflect Dimitri's attacks while Dorothea rushed over to tend to Sylvain's injuries. All around them, the other students continued their clash with Miklan's remaining rogues. Felix knocked one thief off balance, allowing Annette to blast him with a Wind spell. Edelgard made a powerful swing that smashed through another thief's sword, her axe continuing onward to cleave into the man's chest as Hubert slew another with a dark spell. Another thief was shot simultaneously by Bernadetta and Ashe, while Leonie tripped one more with her lance before stabbing him. Things were quickly going badly for Miklan's gang, but the ringleader wasn't finished yet.
Dimitri made another attempt to break Miklan's guard, swinging his lance in low. To his surprise, Miklan avoided the strike rather than blocking it and, faster than Dimitri could react, he thrust forward with the Lance of Ruin.
Everyone in the chamber stopped and looked in horror as Miklan ran the prince through his heart.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" shouted Dedue.
At the same moment, Marianne screamed in dismay at seeing the prince's doom.
And then the world literally stopped moving.
"Oh dear, I knew something like this might happen," said Sothis. "You know what to do, my friend."
Byleth would've scowled at this if she could. Sothis was being far too flippant about the situation for her liking.
The battle wound backwards. Leonie's lance exited her victim's gut as Dimitri's low strike reversed itself. Annette's Wind spell was undone. Dorothea was just about to start healing Sylvain.
It was as far back as Byleth could go.
The battle resumed. Dimitri again went to confront Miklan, who expertly blocked the prince's attacks. As she entered the room a second time, Byleth chose not to go after one of the thieves at the side of the room, as she had done before. Instead, she focused her attention on Miklan.
Byleth rushed toward the ringleader, but in doing so, the thief that had previously gone after Leonie turned his attention toward the professor. The thief rushed at Byleth, forcing her to parry a strike and then slash through the rogue's stomach. A second thief then tried to avenge his comrade, but he too was met by a quick riposte and perished as the Sword of the Creator sliced through his throat.
However, these two thieves had managed to delay Byleth's intervention. She saw Dimitri making his low strike again, and she knew she had only scant seconds before the prince would die.
The Sword of the Creator separated into its whip form, and Byleth shouted as she swung it forward, sending the blade forward like an arrow at Miklan.
Miklan was just about to skewer Dimitri when he saw the bladed whip coming at him. He swung the Lance of Ruin at the whip, narrowly deflecting the strike and giving Dimitri the chance to dodge back.
"Professor!" Dimitri said in surprise as Byleth rushed past him.
Returning her weapon to its normal form, Byleth slashed at Miklan. The ringleader blocked with his shield, but the steel made a loud wrenching sound as the Sword of the Creator cut into it, getting stuck for a second before Byleth ripped the blade out. His shield now ruined, Miklan tossed it aside and blocked another strike from Byleth with the Lance of Ruin, though the force of the blow sent him sliding back several feet.
As he skidded to a halt, Miklan looked around, then smirked and said, "Not bad for your kind… A bunch of spoiled rotten children."
Byleth said nothing and simply resumed her stance. Behind her, Dorothea had finished tending to Sylvain, so the singer had rushed up to join her teacher. Outside the tower, a bolt of lightning came crashing down, its flash briefly illuminating the chamber.
For a moment, Dorothea thought she saw something coming out of the Lance of Ruin. Something black…
"So, you think you can take the lance from me, huh?" Then, shouting angrily, Miklan said, "I'll kill you… I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YO– AAAAGH!"
Miklan suddenly made a loud yelp of pain as he looked over at the weapon in his right hand.
The Lance of Ruin was emitting an eerie red glow. And to everyone's surprise, a thick black slime-like substance was pouring out from its Crest Stone. It writhed and slithered in tendrils that began to encircle Miklan's arm.
"W-What the hell?!" Miklan said in surprise.
The ringleader attempted to push the substance away from his arm with his free hand, but upon touching it his hand was also engulfed by the slime. Rapidly, the black tendrils stretched out over his body as Miklan thrashed, trying to get the stuff off him to no avail.
Behind Byleth, Dorothea watched in horror as she said, "W-What's happening to him?"
As if on cue, Edelgard shut her eyes and said, "The fate of one who is corrupted by a Crest Stone…"
"Huh? What are you–"
Miklan's cries grew louder, prompting Dorothea to turn back to look at him. The black substance had now almost completely covered his body and was now encroaching upon his face. Miklan was now panicking and let loose an agonizing scream as the black ooze began to pour into every orifice it could find. Within seconds, the black substance had consumed him entirely.
And then it began to shift and grow. It expanded rapidly, taking a new shape as it grew. It was like a cocoon of black energy.
All around the students, the thieves began to flee in terror. The students, too awestruck by Miklan's gruesome fate, did nothing to stop them. One thief tripped and fell to the ground before the swelling black mass.
"B-Boss?" the thief said in fear.
A massive claw emerged from the shifting blob. On the other end sprouted a thick spiked tail. A scaly hind leg broke free from the black mass.
And then the cocoon completely burst open, revealing a massive lizard-like creature with skin as black as night and scales as grey as stone. A long horn emerged from its skull-like head, from which a pair of red eyes locked their gaze onto the cowering thief. In the center of the beast's skull was a symbol: The Crest of Gautier.
The thief shouted, "Wait, NO!" as the monster reached forward and grabbed him. The thief's scream of terror was quickly and viciously silenced as the beast's maw crunched down on the man's skull as if it were a grape. The beast then tossed aside the man's corpse, causing it to smash into one of the tower's walls in a spray of blood and mangled flesh.
Another flash of lightning outside illuminated the room, and the students got their first good look at the Black Beast that was once Miklan Anschutz Gautier.
A second later, as if to punctuate the students' terror, Dorothea screamed at the top of her lungs.
Ah yes, the scene that gave me such Berserk vibes. You have to admit, the Crest Stones are kinda like Behelits in some way.