He's baaaaack…
Chapter 34 – Shadow of the Reaper (Horsebow Moon)
For a few seconds, everyone was silent upon seeing the Death Knight. The Abyssian rogues cautiously backed up as the Death Knight's steed trotted forward, as if daring someone to challenge him.
"Who the hell is this guy?" asked Balthus.
"Someone I owe some payback!" snarled Caspar as he tried to stand. Immediately, he made a hiss of pain as Linhardt forced him back to a seated position.
"Are you that eager to lose to him again, Caspar?" Linhardt asked. "You're still wounded."
"Yeah, so what? I'll still kick his–"
"Stay where you are, Caspar," Edelgard said commandingly. Then, turning to the Death Knight, she said, "I don't know or care what brought you here, Death Knight. Leave. Now."
The Death Knight made no reply, ignoring the princess.
"I don't know what your deal is," said Yuri, "but if you plan to pick a fight with us, we're not in a merciful mood right now."
The Death Knight's steed stopped as several rogues moved to encircle him. The knight paid them no heed, keeping his glowing red gaze focused on Byleth.
Then, he raised his left hand, palm facing upwards as if to beckon one to approach him. In his hand was a strange black gem the size of a small apple.
He then said in his sinister, raspy voice, "Indulge me… And sate my thirst with your blood!"
The Death Knight's horse let out a loud whinny as it reared back, and then the Death Knight crushed the gem in his hand. Upon being broken, the gemstone crackled with dark magical energies. Seconds later, a cloud of black smoke burst from the gem, spreading rapidly to engulf the colosseum in darkness.
Two Abyssian rogues immediately rushed forward to attack the Death Knight before his spell could finish. In a flash, the Death Knight's scythe slashed through them, cleaving both of their heads from their shoulders in a single blow. Archers released their arrows at him as the black cloud spread, but none found their mark as the Death Knight disappeared into the smog.
Within seconds, everyone in the colosseum was as good as blind.
Byleth immediately shouted, "Stay together! Don't get separated!"
The students immediately rushed to regroup with Byleth, or at least to come together into tight groups. The rogues, however, were too confused by the spreading darkness.
And within seconds of the cloud engulfing the colosseum, they could hear the screams of men and women being cut down.
"AAH, he's gonna kill us all!" Bernadetta yelped in panic as she curled herself into a ball.
"Lady Edelgard, stay behind me!" hissed Hubert.
"Where is he? I can't see anything!" said Ingrid in an unusual tone of fear.
"Dammit! Guys, we can't stay here!" shouted Leonie.
Behind Byleth, Dorothea broke into a cold sweat at the sounds of the Abyssians being slaughtered. The Death Knight was already a formidable opponent, but now he was truly living up to his title. She looked over at Byleth, Yuri and Edelgard, seeing that all three had kept their nerve as their eyes tried to scan through the smog.
Deep inside the fog, Ferdinand sat upon his horse as he listened to the carnage, trying to find any signs of movement. Constance had mounted Syrene and hovered above him, using her magic to create a floating light above her left palm that only afforded them a slight increase in visibility. The blonde was busy trying to cast another spell.
"Show yourself, you craven cur!" shouted Ferdinand.
"F-Ferdinand?" called out a soft female voice. "Where is everyone?"
"Mercedes? I am over here! Follow my–"
"Ferdinand, on your left!" Constance shouted urgently.
Reacting immediately, Ferdinand had just enough time to raise his shield as the Death Knight rushed out of the smog, blocking a blow that would have otherwise decapitated him. Ferdinand immediately thrust his lance at the Death Knight, but the blow was turned away by the knight's armor. The Death Knight made another slash, this one knocking Ferdinand off balance and slashing his right arm. Ferdinand howled in pain as he fell off his horse and crashed to the ground, grasping at his wounded arm.
"How terribly unsatisfying, son of Aegir," rasped the Death Knight as he raised his scythe to skewer Ferdinand.
Just before he made his strike, a wall of ice suddenly sprouted between the Death Knight and Ferdinand, stopping the scythe's spearhead.
"That is far enough, you murderous malcontent!" shouted Constance as she floated down above the Death Knight. "I will put an end to your rampage here and now!"
She then swung her hands down as she cast another spell, this one bringing a blue-hot flame down from above at the Death Knight. It was one of the most powerful spells in Anima magic: Agnea's Arrow.
To Constance's dismay, the Death Knight's steed moved like quicksilver, leaping to the side and dodging her powerful spell.
"As insufferable as ever, I see," said the Death Knight as he readied his stance.
Upon seeing his posture, Constance made a gasp of surprise.
"Wait… Your composure with that weapon… Your posture… It cannot be…"
As Constance stared in surprise, the Death Knight swung his scythe in her direction, releasing a crescent wave of dark energy at her. Shocked, the blonde had just enough time to raise a magical ward, which shattered immediately upon being struck. The force of the attack sent Constance tumbling off Syrene's back, the blonde shrieking as she fell to the hard floor of the colosseum, striking her head as she landed. The sorceress immediately lost consciousness.
The Death Knight's steed trotted toward Constance's still form. A painful moan escaped her lips, showing she was still alive.
"What a pity…" the Death Knight rasped.
"Constance!" shrieked the same feminine voice from before.
Then, out of the fog, the motherly form of Mercedes rushed over to Constance's side and began to check her injuries, seemingly oblivious to the Death Knight's presence. At the sight of her, the Death Knight's crimson eyes widened in surprise.
"You…"
Now realizing the Death Knight's presence, Mercedes looked up at him and said in a shaking voice, "O-Oh my… how frightening…! W-Won't you please go easy on me?"
For a moment, the two were silent and unmoving as they looked each other in the eye.
"Was this meeting… preordained?" mused the Death Knight.
"W-Whatever do you mean?"
…
Aelfric muttered under his breath as he continued to work on his spell while Byleth and the students stood in a circle around him. Then, raising his arms, he shouted, "Luminas!"
A bright shining light appeared over him that seemed to burn away at the black smog covering the area. Rapidly, the cloud began to dissipate, allowing the students and rogues to see again.
And just as things started to clear up, everyone heard a loud shriek of terror from Mercedes.
"Mercie?!" Annette yelped in near panic. A second later, her eyes widened as she shouted, "MERCIE!"
The smoke finally burned away. The floor of the arena was covered in the bodies of the Abyssian rogues, most of them dead, others crying out for aid. In the middle of the carnage was the Death Knight.
Mercedes was slumped unconscious over the Death Knight's horse in front of his saddle.
"LET HER GO!" Annette screamed as she hastily fired a Wind spell at him.
Effortlessly, the Death Knight swatted the spell with his scythe, causing it to dissipate instantly.
"The girl is mine," bellowed the Death Knight. "If you wish her returned, follow if you dare."
With a shout, the Death Knight spurred his horse into a gallop and took off down the same passage from whence he came.
"MERCIE! MERCIIEE!" Annette screamed in panic.
She immediately ran to chase the Death Knight, stumbling over the steps of the arena before tripping and falling right into Felix's grasp, the swordsman having moved in front to intercept her.
"Felix, let me go! LET ME GO! MERCIE!"
"Control yourself, Annette!" Felix barked. "Think this through!"
"B-But I…"
"We will pursue him, but to do so without a plan is suicide."
From where she stood, Dorothea could only watch as Felix fought to restrain Annette. All around her, the students and rogues were on the verge of panic. The Death Knight, all on his own, had killed over fifteen rogues and grievously wounded at least ten more, all in the span of a few short minutes. Ferdinand lay on the ground holding his wounded arm, while Hapi had run over to try and rouse Constance. Others who had kept their nerve, such as Edelgard and Dimitri, now argued with whether to chase the Death Knight.
It was at this moment that Byleth strode forward amid the sounds of terror and discord from both the students and rogues. She swung the Sword of the Creator at a discarded iron shield on the ground, releasing a loud clatter that silenced everyone in the arena.
"ENOUGH!" she shouted. "Aelfric, please see to the wounded. Anyone who hasn't been injured or isn't helping Aelfric, follow me."
With that, Byleth turned and rushed off down the dark passageway after the Death Knight.
"Right behind you, By!" said Anna as she dashed after the professor.
Turning to Balthus, Yuri said, "Balthus, stay here and round up whoever's still breathing. We don't know if more mercenaries might show up."
"Got it, Yuri," replied Balthus.
As Yuri ran off to pursue Byleth, Claude said, "Whoa, hey, you sure that's a good idea? I mean, he obviously wants us to follow him. We'd be walking right into a trap."
"Do you intend to let that fiend make off with one of our own, Claude?!" Dimitri barked. "Stay if you wish, but I will not rest until that fiend is caught!"
"I concur with His Highness," said Dedue. "For Mercedes' sake, we haven't a moment to waste."
"Yeah, Dimitri's right!" said Dorothea. "We can't let him get away!"
"I actually agree with Claude, and I can hardly believe I'm saying such a thing," said Edelgard. "To follow the Death Knight into unknown territory without knowing what he has in store for us is playing right into his hands."
"Edie, what are you saying?" Dorothea said in disbelief. "You want to leave Mercedes in the hands of that monster?"
"I'm saying that we need to approach this carefully. With so many of us wounded or unable to fight, we'd be hard-pressed to defeat him."
"This is hardly the time to argue such a thing, Edelgard!" said Dimitri. "Stay behind if you wish, but I am going after that beast with Professor Eisner!"
With that, Dimitri spun on his heel and rushed after Byleth with the rest of the Blue Lions in tow.
And as the others began to argue over whether to follow the Blue Lions, Dorothea looked anxiously down the dark passageway, trying to decide what to do.
…
Byleth hissed as she, Anna and Yuri found themselves at a dead end. They had pursued the Death Knight to this point courtesy of a trail of blood that no doubt had dripped from his scythe, but now there was no sign of his presence. The chamber they had entered had no other exits.
"What gives?" said Anna. "Where'd tall, dark and gruesome go?"
"Trail goes cold here," hissed Yuri. "Gotta admit it, this bastard's as slippery as a fish."
Byleth did not reply as she looked around the cul-de-sac, trying to find any sign of where the Death Knight had gone. She deeply hoped he hadn't just teleported away like he'd done in the Holy Mausoleum. If he had, he could be anywhere by now.
"Professor! Are you there?" shouted Dimitri, prompting Byleth, Anna and Yuri to turn to see the Blue Lions rushing up to them.
"Dimitri, I'm glad you're here," said Byleth.
"Where is the Death Knight?" asked Ingrid.
"We don't know," answered Yuri. "He was leaving a trail until we got here, and now there's no sign of him."
"Maybe he entered some kind of hidden passageway," suggested Ashe. "We should look around and see if anything here might open something like that."
"H-Hey, wait up!" shouted another voice, prompting everyone to turn and see Dorothea running up to them, gasping for breath as she reached them.
"Dorothea? Why are you here?" asked Dimitri. "Didn't Edelgard not wish to–"
"Edie and the others are tending to the wounded, but I couldn't just stay behind and do nothing."
"I see… And Claude and the Golden Deer?"
"Claude had them stay behind as well."
"Tch, the coward," said Felix.
"Easy, Felix," said Sylvain. "Claude's just worried about his classmates, that's all."
"But what about Mercie?" exclaimed Annette. "She's a classmate too!"
"Don't worry, Annie," said Dorothea. "If the Death Knight wanted her dead, he wouldn't have kidnapped her. Believe me, I should know."
"What do you mean?" asked Dedue.
"Uh, well, I…" Dorothea did not elaborate further, showing the others she was clearly uncomfortable talking about it.
Interrupting, Byleth said, "Let's stay focused on the Death Knight. Check this chamber, search every corner. He had to have left some clue as to where he went."
With that, the students moved to look around the cobweb-filled chamber. Dorothea looked about as Ashe began inspecting the various stones that made up the walls of the chamber, looking for any switches or signs of a hidden passage. The other Blue Lions were not nearly as adept as Ashe in their own search, but none seemed to have any luck.
It was then that Dorothea looked to her right and saw on the floor a small pouch on top of an elaborate floor panel that did not match the rest of the room. Cautiously she stepped toward the panel and the small pouch. As she stepped on the panel, she knelt over to inspect the pouch. It contained a small bottle of fruit preserved with sugar, something that would help with baking sweets. Dorothea realized it had to belong to Mercedes.
"Hey, Professor! I found something!" said Dorothea as she reached for the small pouch.
As she did, the floor panel suddenly came alight, startling the singer. Magical energies coursed out of the panel and quickly enveloped Dorothea's body before she could react.
And as everyone turned toward the commotion, Dorothea made a yelp of surprise as she suddenly vanished in a flash of light. The floor panel lost its glow seconds later. The small pouch of fruit preserves was still on the panel.
Byleth's eyes widened with concern as she said, "Dorothea? Dorothea!"
I honestly feel that the Death Knight kidnapping Mercedes would work really well in a manga or anime version of 3H. What do you think?
For this chapter, it took me a bit to figure out how I was going to get the Death Knight to solo a large group, as despite how powerful he is, he's still just one guy. Then I came up with the idea of him using a magical smokescreen (so to speak). I had thought of him summoning phantom soldiers or something like that, but that didn't speak to his character. The smokescreen idea played to his predatory nature.