Time for our first beast battle of the story!
Chapter 25 – Black Beast (Verdant Rain Moon)
Byleth knew there was only one command she could give.
"Run… RUN!"
Immediately as she shouted, the Black Beast reared up on its hind legs and howled. And then, just as the students whirled around to flee, the beast charged after them, smashing through pillars of stone as it advanced. The roof of Conand Tower began to crumble as the students fled for their lives from the Black Beast.
Dorothea made a loud shriek as Byleth yanked her back, causing the diva to narrowly avoid being crushed by falling debris.
Releasing her grip, Byleth shouted, "Keep moving!"
Dorothea resumed her run when another shriek caught their attention. Byleth and Dorothea whipped their heads around to see Marianne had just fallen to the ground after tripping on a fallen piece of wood. Before the girl could even move, more debris fell from above, trapping her leg under a pile of fallen planks.
"MARIANNE!" shouted Dorothea.
The blue-haired healer tried to pull her leg free for a moment, but then the sound of the Black Beast's snarling made her turn back to her approaching doom. The Black Beast's red eyes were fixated on her as saliva dripped from its twisted maw. It reached out a massive claw toward her just as Byleth broke into a run to try and save the girl, but another load of falling debris broke off Byleth's rush. She knew she wouldn't be in time to save the pale girl.
Then, as Marianne let out another scream of terror, a wall of steel and orange hair stepped before her. Gilbert swung his axe overhead and cut into the monster's hand. The beast recoiled in pain, though the blow had done little real damage.
Gilbert then shouted, "Begone, beast! On my honor as a knight, you will not pass!"
"Father!" Annette yelped as she skidded to a halt.
With a fell growl, the Black Beast slashed one of its claws at Gilbert, meeting his shield with a blow that made even the veteran knight stagger. Behind him, Dimitri rushed over to Marianne and began to lift the boards covering the girl's leg.
"Hang on, Marianne!" said Dimitri. "I'll get you out of here!"
"D-Dimitri…" the girl said in a whisper. Then, as Gilbert barely blocked a second blow from the Black Beast, Marianne shrieked again, as this blow ended up ripping Gilbert's shield from his arm.
Gilbert, realizing he could not hold out much longer, gripped his axe with both hands and made a defiant shout as he met the Black Beast's next strike with his axe. But this time, the axe proved unable to match the monster's blow. The Black Beast's claw broke the steel weapon and continued onward to slash into Gilbert's chest. The sheer force of the strike sent Gilbert flying back, smashing him into a pile of crates.
"FATHER!" Annette screamed in horror.
The orange-haired girl rushed to try and aid her father as the dust settled, revealing Gilbert covered in his own blood. The knight had lost consciousness, his armor the only thing that had spared him from being cleaved in half.
"Father! Wake up, Father! FATHER!" Annette continued to cry.
At the same time, the Black Beast turned its attention back to Marianne and Dimitri, but before it could make another move, the Sword of the Creator lashed it across its left flank. This evidently was far more effective than Gilbert's axe had been, for it left a noticeable gash on the creature's hide. The Black Beast howled in pain before furiously turning to Byleth. As it faced her, a bolt of lightning from Dorothea surged forth and hit the monster, but it barely seemed to acknowledge the spell.
As Dorothea stood in shock at her failed attack, Byleth grimaced. She had just tried to activate the Divine Pulse again, but nothing had happened. Her mind raced. What was Sothis waiting for?
"That is just it, my friend," Sothis said in response. "You already used it to save that boy from certain death; I cannot use it again so soon. Believe me, I wish I could."
The realization would've left anyone else in despair, but Byleth maintained her composure. She knew she had to act fast, or the Black Beast was sure to tear them all to shreds. She glanced to her side, seeing that the others had stopped their retreat upon seeing Byleth had halted. She wanted to scream at them to keep moving, but she knew if she did that Dimitri, Marianne, Gilbert and Annette would all be doomed.
"I suppose there's nothing for it," said Sothis. "If you seek to prevail here, do as I tell you and fight!"
Immediately Byleth began to shout orders. "Dedue, Edelgard, keep it distracted! Claude, Leonie, Ashe, aim for its head! Everyone else surround it! Bernadetta, find Catherine, NOW!"
The class moved in unison as the Black Beast roared again. Edelgard and Dedue both shouted as they rushed forward with their shields while the archers pelted the beast's face with arrows. Felix, Hilda, Sylvain and Lorenz all moved to try and get around the beast, with Lorenz making a loud yelp as the monster's tail nearly flattened him. At the same time, Lysithea and Hubert both launched their Miasma Δ spells at the monster while Linhardt and Annette attacked with blasts of Wind, their spells unfortunately having a limited effect. And though Bernadetta was quick to flee, Byleth knew she would get to Catherine faster than anyone else could.
All they had to do was hold out until the Crusader could get to them.
Dorothea, meanwhile, was readying another Thunder spell when the Black Beast reared back and swatted Dedue aside, the Duscuri man landing in a heap. The diva saw wisps of black smoke starting to ebb from the monster's mouth.
Edelgard was the first to pick up on what it meant, and shouted at Byleth and Dorothea, "LOOK OUT!"
Byleth moved just in time, tackling Dorothea to the side as the Black Beast breathed a cone of black smog at them. Wood rotted and the stones of the tower turned black as they were engulfed by the beast's breath. The breath attack narrowly missed consuming the two women, who lay next to the line of decay caused by the monster.
Dorothea made a loud wheeze as she pushed herself back up and saw the decayed line where she had just been.
Without any of her usual sass, Dorothea said, "That was too close."
Byleth sprung to her feet as the Black Beast whirled around and nearly took Hilda's head off with a swipe from its claws. Another arrow from Leonie hit the monster's head, but uselessly broke against one of its scales.
"Dammit!" Leonie hissed. "This thing won't give up!"
A blast of Wind from Annette struck the Black Beast's hind leg, but again it ignored the spell. The Black Beast was about to strike again at Sylvain when a loud whiny and a flourish of white feathers announced the arrival of Ingrid and her Pegasus. Ingrid, not even taking the time to ask what was going on, attempted to stab the Black Beast's right shoulder, but the scales of the monster turned away her lance. The monster swung around to try and swat Ingrid out of the air, but Ingrid pulled back on Celdia's reins and the Pegasus flitted away from the beast's reach.
Byleth scowled as she said, "This isn't working…"
"Professor, what are we going to do?" asked Dorothea. "We can't hold that thing off much longer!"
Byleth said nothing, too busy listening to Sothis in her head.
"Your attacks are far too uncoordinated!" Sothis snapped. "You think simply surrounding the beast and trying to confuse it will avail you? No! You must strike it all at once, from all sides! Do not give any quarter!"
Knowing she would only have one chance of making it work, Byleth shouted, "Everyone, we need to hit it all at once! Don't just attack it one by one!"
"All at once?" Hubert asked bemusedly. "That's quite the risk."
"There's nothing else for it," said Claude as he readied another arrow. "Just say the word, Teach!"
"We'll help too!" shouted Marianne, having been freed from the debris and now standing next to Dimitri, who readied his lance.
"By your command, Professor!" added the prince.
The others were quick to give their affirmation to the plan. The Black Beast roared again as Felix dodged back to avoid another strike.
"We need a distraction," said Felix. "It'll never give us a chance if it keeps thrashing about."
Then, to Felix's surprise, Sylvain said, "Leave that to me."
Sylvain rushed forward, causing Felix to shout, "Wait, Sylvain! Are you daft?!"
"Sylvain, what are you doing?!" shouted Ingrid.
Ignoring his two friends, Sylvain shouted, "Hey, Miklan! Over here! You want me? Come and get me!"
The Black Beast whirled around to stare down at Sylvain, its face contorting in what seemed to be pure rage as though some part of Miklan's mind remained.
"That's right, Miklan! You've wanted to kill me for years now! Here's your chance!"
Furiously, the Black Beast raised both claws, ready to crush Sylvain beneath it.
As it did, it let out a loud growl that almost sounded like it was saying "DIIIEEEEEE!"
Byleth saw their moment. "NOW!"
All at once, the students unleashed their attack. Annette, Linhardt, Hubert, Lysithea and Marianne all launched spells at the beast's chest. Claude, Ashe and Leonie fired arrows at its throat. Hilda, Felix, Ingrid, Lorenz, Edelgard, Dimitri and Dedue all stabbed and slashed at the creature's hind legs.
And as the beast reeled from the combined assault, Byleth extended the Sword of the Creator into its whip form and, with a shout, made a hard slash at the Black Beast's chest. The sword cleaved through the outer scales and cut open a large gash from the beast's shoulder to its pelvis. The Black Beast howled in agony at this wound.
Byleth then whipped back to Dorothea and shouted, "Dorothea, now!"
Dorothea nodded as she readied her next spell, one far stronger than her usual Thunder incantation. This one was far more potent yet would also demand more of her Mana. But power was what she needed right now. Everyone was counting on her.
She thrust her hands out and shouted, "TAKE THIS!" as her Thoron spell surged out and struck the Black Beast's open wounds with powerful bolts of lightning. The beast writhed and thrashed its head in pain, breaking its horn as it struck its head against the side of the tower.
As soon as she had finished her spell, Dorothea found herself gasping for breath. She had used far more of her Mana than she had intended. She sunk to her knees as she asked, "Did we–"
Her question was cut short as the Black Beast showed it was still in the fight by pounding its fists against the floor of the tower. The stones began to crack and shudder as the walls started to crumble around them.
"It's going to bring the whole place down!" shouted Ingrid.
Byleth was just about to give the order to renew their attack when a familiar boisterous woman shouted, "Then let's kill it before it kills us!"
Dorothea, still exhausted as she tried to stand back up, turned to see Catherine had returned. The others were close behind her, with Mercedes rushing over to tend to Gilbert.
"Professor! Let's finish this!" shouted Catherine as she rushed at the Black Beast.
Byleth retracted the Sword of the Creator to its normal state as she charged forward after Catherine. The two swordswomen neared the Black Beast as, in its rage, it smashed the floor once again, widening the cracks in the tower. Dorothea knew the floor wasn't going to last.
Catherine and Byleth both released a loud yell as the Black Beast raised its arms again, about to break the floor beneath it with one last smash. The two leapt up at the Black Beast, slashing Thunderbrand and the Sword of the Creator at the creature's thick neck.
The Hero's Relics carved through the Black Beast's flesh and bone like a hot knife going through soft butter.
The Black Beast's head flew from its shoulders, releasing a final guttural howl as it spiraled through the air and crashed down only a few feet from Dorothea.
The impact was all it took for the side of the tower to break beneath the diva's feet.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Dorothea heard Edelgard shout her name as she no longer felt the ground beneath her. She saw everyone looking upon her in muted horror, seeing her about to fall to certain death. She saw Byleth rushing toward her, too far to catch her.
And then, as she began to plummet, she let loose a scream of absolute terror.
OH NOES! A CLIFFHANGER!