This is gonna HURT.
Chapter 36 – A Rapturous Battle (Horsebow Moon)
The Death Knight made a loud sneer as Byleth and Anna readied their weapons, while Dorothea lay on the grimy floor gasping for breath amid her sobs of terror. He readied his lance as the two women slowly moved to encircle him.
As she moved, Anna said, "You're in for a world of hurt, buster!"
"How joyous…" the Death Knight rasped. "Now you will all die together…!"
With that, the Death Knight swung his scythe in a wide crescent, sending a wave of dark energy at both Byleth and Anna simultaneously. Anna leapt over the attack while Byleth rolled underneath it. Mid-air, Anna kicked off a nearby wall and sprung toward the Death Knight, slashing at him with her Levin Sword as she did. The Death Knight blocked the blow with his scythe, and though the electricity of the blade coursed into him, he was unfazed by it. Anna leapt back as the Death Knight countered, and then jumped forward to strike at him again, but again her blow was blocked and so she was forced to dodge back.
Dorothea, her eyes still hazy with tears, watched as Byleth rushed at the Death Knight and attempted to strike him from behind. The Death Knight saw this coming, spinning around and slashing at Byleth, forcing the bluette to dodge. Without missing a step, the Death Knight whirled around and deflected another strike from Anna. And as he moved and fought with unnatural fervor, the Death Knight began to laugh.
"Yes…! YES…!" said the Death Knight. "Rapturous!"
Anna made another slash at the Death Knight at this moment, but instead of blocking he dodged the strike. Alarmed, Anna tried to dodge back, only to be caught by the shaft of the Death Knight's scythe. With a powerful swing, the Death Knight threw Anna toward a far wall, the redhead yelping before crashing into the wall and crumpling to the floor.
"Anna!" Byleth shouted in concern.
Dorothea's heart felt like ice as she looked at Anna, who now lay unconscious on the floor of the passage. She thought her salvation had come, but upon seeing Anna's prone form, the hope in Dorothea's heart began to turn to despair.
Byleth hissed as the Death Knight turned back toward her, his sinister laughter echoing through the dark, dank chamber.
"One of us will die, the other will live…" the Death Knight said to Byleth. "I will enjoy this dance of damnation!"
The Death Knight renewed his attack, taking several wild slashes of his scythe at Byleth, who struggled to block or avoid each strike. She tried to make several attacks of her own, but the Death Knight always countered or blocked each strike she made. He made a hard swing at her, forcing Byleth to block with a spell ward that shattered instantly, knocking her back so that her boots left skid marks on the grimy floor.
Byleth took several deep breaths. Though she didn't want to show it, she felt herself getting desperate. She had to end the fight soon, or the Death Knight would surely kill all of them.
The Crest of Flames radiated from Byleth's body as she separated the Sword of the Creator into its whip form. Byleth shouted as she made a series of long-ranged slashes at the Death Knight. Masterfully, the Death Knight blocked or avoided each strike from the Sword of the Creator.
Frustrated, Byleth shouted as she made another long-range slash at the Death Knight.
The Death Knight made a loud "Heh!" as he raised his scythe, causing the Sword of the Creator to wrap around it, something Byleth hadn't intended. Before Byleth could try and pull away, the Death Knight wrenched back on the scythe, pulling Byleth briefly off her feet and sending her stumbling toward him. As she did, he readied his scythe like a spear, the wicked head of the scythe perfect for skewering his victims.
Byleth made a loud, dull gasp of pain as the spear-like head of the Scythe of Sariel impaled her through the left side of her abdomen.
And as she saw this unfold, Dorothea let out a loud wail of despair at seeing Byleth receive a surely fatal blow.
Dorothea's cry stopped as time froze.
"Be more careful, you fool!" Sothis snapped. "You're going to get us all killed!"
Against Byleth's own will, time rewound itself. Sothis had taken control this time, and when time resumed its flow, Byleth found herself still hurtling toward the Death Knight's scythe, which was set to impale her yet again.
Byleth instinctively shifted her body to the side, and the scythe's head left a shallow cut along the left side of her midriff.
The Sword of the Creator came loose from the Scythe of Sariel, allowing Byleth to leap away from the Death Knight before he could follow up his attack. The two ended up in a standoff once again.
A second later, Byleth felt a sudden spike of intense pain from her abdomen. She gasped loudly as she clutched her side. It felt as if she had been impaled again by the Scythe of Sariel, even if it had only grazed her this time.
The Death Knight let out a chortle at seeing Byleth holding her side. "Are you truly so fragile, Ashen Demon?" he asked.
Byleth grimaced at this, her mind presently listening to Sothis.
"A side effect of my power, I am afraid," said Sothis. "Remain focused! You have no room for mistakes now!"
The Death Knight renewed his assault, taking several slashes that Byleth, now without the protection afforded by the Divine Pulse, frantically moved to block or avoid. His laughter continued to echo through the chamber as his assault grew ever closer to ending Byleth's life.
On the floor, Anna groaned as Dorothea attempted to rouse her. The singer had crawled over to the merchant's unconscious form in a desperate attempt to revive her.
"Anna, Anna!" Dorothea said frantically. "Please, wake up! Please!"
Despite her efforts, Anna could only moan as Dorothea shook her.
A loud yelp from Byleth caught Dorothea's attention, and the singer turned to see Byleth had just taken a shallow slash to her left shoulder. The Death Knight was now cackling loudly at inflicting such a wound upon the blue-haired swordswoman. He made another slash, and Byleth only barely deflected the blow, leading to another shallow cut across her right thigh.
Dorothea knew she had to do something drastic.
She quickly began to channel her Mana for a spell, but as she did so she saw Byleth throw a fireball at the Death Knight, who effortlessly batted it aside with his scythe. Dorothea knew she would fare no better with her own magic against him.
Dorothea did the only other thing she could think of: she directed her spell at Anna.
The merchant made a loud, surprised yelp as she was shocked by Dorothea's magic. It wasn't nearly enough to cause serious harm, but it proved enough to restore her to consciousness.
"ACK! GAH! Wait until we're open first!" Anna yelped.
Dorothea stopped her spell, allowing Anna to regain her awareness. It only took a second for the merchant to realize what the singer had done to her.
In disbelief, Anna said, "Did you just–"
"Not now, Anna! The Professor's in trouble!" Dorothea interrupted.
Anna looked over at Byleth as the bluette narrowly ducked under a swing that would've taken her head off, instead slicing off a few of her hairs.
Grasping her Levin Sword, Anna said, "I'll help By! Get yourself outta here!"
Anna then rushed toward the Death Knight, who realized he was once again against two opponents as he swung around and blocked Anna's strike. Byleth attempted to capitalize on this, but the Death Knight moved too quickly and struck her with the bottom end of the Scythe of Sariel's shaft, knocking Byleth off balance.
Dorothea could only stare, petrified in fear, as Byleth and Anna continued their desperate struggle against the Death Knight. Her mind was screaming at her to run, to escape, to survive. But no matter her thoughts, she couldn't act upon them. She couldn't bring herself to flee.
Her hand raised itself subconsciously toward the Death Knight, readying another spell. But this was not a spell of Anima she chose to cast. Green light began to shimmer around her hand as she channeled the power of Faith. But it was not a spell meant to heal, or at least not one intended to heal another. It was a spell she had never actually tried before, and she had only recently studied it. It was a spell to draw the energies of life from another being: Nosferatu.
She silently prayed the spell would work.
Green, wispy strands of magic extended from her fingertips and slithered their way through the air toward the Death Knight, whose attention was focused on blocking more of Anna's strikes. A second later, the Death Knight made a loud growl of pain as the strands touched him, bypassing his armor's enchantment, and his vitality began to drain into Dorothea's body. Growling, he turned to see Dorothea casting her spell at him. The sight of his red eyes gazing at her nearly brought Dorothea to hysteria once more.
But then the Death Knight turned back around as Byleth and Anna both struck at him simultaneously. He raised the Scythe of Sariel to block the attack, and then made a loud groan of pain as the combined blows knocked him back in a stumble. Dorothea's spell broke upon the Death Knight, barely managing to take even a little of his life force from him.
Dorothea fell to her knees again as the Death Knight stood still for a moment. Byleth and Anna, not dropping their guard, readied themselves for another clash.
Then the Death Knight began to laugh again.
"Glorious…" he said. "Simply glorious! I must have more!"
Anna grimaced as she tightened her grip on her sword, while Byleth held a hand to a cut on her right arm. Both were gasping for breath.
The stillness between the combatants ended as a pillar of flame erupted from the ground between the Death Knight and his opponents. Everyone in the room turned to this unexpected sight as the pillar dispersed.
Where the pillar of fire had been, there was now a figure in regal black and crimson robes and armor. The figure wore a black helmet with a long, crimson plume running down behind him. The figure's face was hidden by a white and red porcelain mask. In the figure's hand was a glowing battle axe that looked all too similar to a Hero's Relic, and glowed a deep red. The blade of said axe moved eerily, as if part of something living.
"Halt!" the figure said to the Death Knight, his voice almost mechanical. "You're having a bit too much fun."
For a second, everyone was silent.
The Death Knight then said, "You are getting in the way of my game." His tone clearly showed his displeasure.
"Hmph. You'll have more opportunities to play soon," the figure said as he turned to the Death Knight. "Your work here is done. Return at once."
For a moment, the Death Knight stared at the figure intently, and Byleth thought the Death Knight would attack this unknown person.
Then the Death Knight's grip on the Scythe of Sariel slackened, and he said, "Understood. I will go…"
He raised the scythe, striking the bottom end of its shaft upon the ground, and he was surrounded by a dark circle of magic. Black mist crackled around him and, within seconds, the Death Knight vanished.
Byleth and Anna did not lower their guard as the figure turned toward them. The figure first looked at them, and then turned his gaze to look briefly at Dorothea, who was still on her knees and quivered with fear.
Looking back at Byleth, he then said, "We will cross paths again. Know that I am the Flame Emperor… And it is I who will reforge the world."
The Flame Emperor raised his axe upward, and another magic circle emerged beneath him. A second later, another fiery pillar surrounded the Flame Emperor. The pillar soon dissipated, revealing the Flame Emperor had also disappeared.
For a moment, the remaining three women were silent besides their gasps for breath. Slowly, Byleth and Anna lowered their weapons.
"He's gone…" Dorothea said in a whimper.
As she said this, an overwhelming weariness enveloped Dorothea. All the adrenaline that had been surging through her was gone, and now she felt like she would pass out at any moment. She slumped to her side, about to collapse.
She felt Byleth's arms wrap around her as she fell into the teacher's grasp.
"Dorothea, are you alright?" Byleth asked with deep concern.
Slowly, Dorothea turned to look at Byleth. The teacher was a mess, still covered in small cuts and smeared with her own blood, but this did nothing to diminish the image of reassurance on her face.
It was too much for Dorothea. The diva burst into tears as she sobbed softly, burying her face in Byleth's bountiful bosom.
As Anna knelt beside them, using her magic to heal Byleth's injuries, Byleth wrapped her arms around Dorothea as the diva cried.
"It's okay, it's okay…" Byleth said as she attempted to calm the girl down.
Dorothea couldn't find any words to express her gratitude. She was alive. She had been on the verge of death and was still alive.
All Dorothea could do was cry silently in relief.
Bet you're interested in how the Divine Pulse doesn't let Byleth get away from the pain of any injuries. Think of it as a drawback.
And yes, that's Aymr that the Flame Emperor was holding. Yes, it's pre-timeskip. I didn't want Entei to have a regular Steel Axe or Silver Axe.
And yes, I imagine the Death Knight is gonna have a lot of explaining to do.