I'm betting you've guessed how Byleth and Dorothea are going to survive the cliffhanger, but you won't have guessed what else is coming!
Chapter 54 – Beast of the Red Canyon (Red Wolf Moon)
Dorothea spun around toward the Demonic Beast's breath as the poisonous cloud surged toward her and Byleth. She raised her arms to project a magical ward, despite her mind screaming that it wouldn't work. But she couldn't think of anything else to do. She couldn't run, and there was nowhere to seek shelter. And she couldn't let Byleth die.
The singer's barrier formed quickly as she poured as much Mana as she dared into the ward. As it finished forming, the venomous breath of the Demonic Beast struck it. The force of the breath made Dorothea stagger back, but she kept her balance as she struggled to keep the barrier from breaking. The breath parted as it struck the ward, which kept it from hitting either of the women behind it.
As Dorothea strained to keep the barrier up, she saw a small shimmering light out of the corner of her left eye. It was coming from her. More specifically, it was coming from the hairclip that rested over her left ear. And as Dorothea's barrier was bathed in its light, the barrier was strengthened against the Demonic Beast's attack.
Seconds later, the beast's attack passed, leaving two clouds of poisonous smoke to either side of Dorothea and Byleth. The singer fell to her knees as her barrier dissipated; the effort had exhausted her Mana.
But as Dorothea looked up, she saw the Demonic Beast wasn't finished with them.
On the ground, Byleth struggled to stand up from the pain that debilitated her. She was amazed that Dorothea had managed to block the beast's attack, yet she knew the singer couldn't keep it up.
Standing up on shaky legs, Dorothea drew Joyeuse as the Demonic Beast let out another roar. The singer assumed her stance.
Though Byleth couldn't see her face, she knew Dorothea had to be absolutely terrified. She knew she stood no chance against the Demonic Beast. She should have been fleeing for her life. So why was she trying to stand her ground?
"D-Dorothea… d-don't…" Byleth groaned painfully. "You're no match f-for it…"
"I'm not going to abandon you, Professor," Dorothea replied, though her voice trembled with fear.
The Demonic Beast reared back as it readied itself to charge.
But before it could attack, it was struck in its right eyeball by a well-placed arrow.
The beast let out an ear-splitting screech as it clutched painfully at its eye, thrashing about as it tried to remove the arrow.
Dorothea's eyes widened in surprise. She turned to see who had fired the arrow. Upon seeing their saviors, her expression became filled with dread.
It wasn't at the sight of Alois or Shamir, nor at the sight of a battalion of Church soldiers.
It was the sight of Archbishop Rhea behind them all. And Rhea was channeling a spell.
A second later, Dorothea let out a yelp of surprise as white light began to shine around her body as well as Byleth's. Then, before she could figure out what was going on, the two of them vanished briefly before reappearing right in front of Rhea. Dorothea looked to the Archbishop, realizing she had used a Rescue spell, a complicated bit of Faith magic that could warp another person to one's location.
Dorothea found herself trembling as she looked at Rhea. The Archbishop was not at all pleased to see them there.
"L-L-Lady Rhea…" Dorothea stammered in fear.
Rhea said nothing to the girl, and instead knelt next to Byleth as she began channeling a healing spell. Byleth let out a painful moan as the spell worked to numb her body. The bluette realized who was healing her as she looked up, and soon her face was filled with the same dread as Dorothea's.
"R-Rhea…?"
"Hush, child…" said Rhea. "All will be well."
As Rhea continued healing Byleth, Alois raised a hand toward the Demonic Beast and said, "Get into formation, men! Shields up front, pikes in behind! Move, move, move!"
The soldiers moved in concert as they advanced toward the Demonic Beast, while Shamir readied another arrow and fired it at the Demonic Beast, striking it in between the scales at its neck. The beast let out another screech of pain and continued to thrash about wildly, but it now knew where its attackers were coming from. It began to rush blindly toward the soldiers, who were still getting into formation.
"Look out! Spread out!" shouted one of the soldiers.
Some of the less experienced soldiers, panicked upon seeing the Demonic Beast charging at them, broke their formation and ran to the sides to avoid being hit.
"Stay together! Stay in formation!" Alois shouted, but it was no use.
The Demonic Beast, now catching sight of the soldiers with its one good eye, swung its right arm at two soldiers and swatted them, sending them crashing into a wall. Several soldiers drew their bows and started firing arrows at the beast, but unlike Shamir their accuracy was lacking, and their arrows bounced harmlessly off its scales. The beast swung its tail at a trio of soldiers as they tried to ready more arrows, crushing them underneath. Three heavily armored soldiers rushed in to try and get the beast's attention. The beast grabbed one of them in its left hand and slammed the screaming man to the ground under its claw.
Alois let out a loud grimace at seeing his soldiers being outmatched by the Demonic Beast. He hadn't expected this one to be so strong, even while partially blinded. As his men continued to cry out in terror, Alois readied his axe and rushed in to help his men.
"Hey, over here!" Alois shouted. He roared as he swung his axe at the monster's hind foot, the blow only partially getting through the scales.
The Demonic Beast let out another screech of pain before taking a hard swipe at Alois. The veteran knight, not expecting the beast to be so fast, raised his axe defensively, causing the blow to break the weapon and send him flying back with a yelp before he hit the ground on his back.
"Sir Alois!" one of the soldiers shouted in concern.
Raising a hand to signal his men, Alois said, "I'm okay! Just a bit winded!"
Then, as he sat upright, he made another yelp as the Demonic Beast rushed toward him, intent on crushing him. Alois scrambled to his feet and leapt away before the beast could flatten him, and then raised his axe before realizing it had been broken.
"Uh oh… that's not good."
Next to Rhea, Dorothea was watching the soldiers struggle against the Demonic Beast. She would have used her magic to attack it by now, but she had used up a lot of her Mana blocking the beast's breath attack.
She turned back to Rhea and Byleth and said, "Come on, Professor. We need you!"
Rhea finished her healing spell a few seconds later, and Byleth let out a stifled groan as she began to push herself up. Her hand clasped around the Sword of the Creator, and the blade began to glow once again.
"You should be able to stand now, Professor," said Rhea, which prompted Byleth to rise to her feet.
"R-Rhea, what are you–"
"There will be time for that later. For now, aid our soldiers in destroying this monster."
Byleth gave Rhea a nod before dashing forward toward the Demonic Beast.
Dorothea was about to follow her with Joyeuse when Rhea said, "Miss Arnault, I require your assistance."
"Huh?" Dorothea spun around in confusion.
"Help me to channel a spell that will burn away our foe. You no doubt are familiar with such a thing, yes?"
"O-Of course, Lady Rhea!"
Without sheathing Joyeuse, Dorothea raised a shaky hand to Rhea and began channeling what Mana she had left to the Archbishop. Rhea raised her hands before her, and an intricate magical circle began to form in front of her.
Shamir jumped in a backflip as the Demonic Beast's tail tried to swat her, avoiding the strike with practiced ease. Before she even landed, she fired another arrow, embedding in between the beast's scales around its tail. Alois made another swing at the monster's legs, having grabbed another axe, but this blow failed to break through the scales. Byleth lashed at the beast's head with her whip blade, slicing the monster's left horn.
The Demonic Beast let out another horrifying roar and then, to everyone's surprise, it jumped up and slammed itself down on the ground, releasing a shockwave around itself that sent everyone close to it flying back. Alois cried out as he slammed into a stone pillar, while Shamir managed to avoid the hit but now was in a bad position to fire from. Byleth, still aching with pain, fell to her knees again after being knocked back.
And then the beast seemed to react to something. It turned its head toward Rhea, its left eye focused on her.
Then it charged at her, intent on ripping the green-haired woman apart.
"Lady Rhea!" Byleth shouted as she desperately reached for the power of the Divine Pulse.
But as Byleth stood remembering her power's limitations, Dorothea stopped channeling her Mana and stepped in front of Rhea with Joyeuse readied. Rhea, on the other hand, did not move from her stance as Byleth watched, horrified that the monster was about to crush them.
The beast lunged its head forward.
And then, after a second, it let out another screech of pain, as Dorothea had stabbed it right up its left nostril with Joyeuse.
The Demonic Beast wrenched its head back in agony, startling Dorothea and making her lose her grip on Joyeuse, which was still sticking out of the monster's nose. As the beast continued to thrash around attempting to remove the blade from its face, Rhea opened her eyes as the Crest of Seiros shone within them.
"Begone from this world!" she shouted as she cast the spell Abraxas.
A pillar of pure holy light rained down upon the Demonic Beast from above, and the monster let out a horrified scream of pain as its body was seared by the light. Its scales and flesh began to burn away, and though it writhed and tried to escape the burning light, it could not stop its imminent demise.
Seconds later, the beast's cries of pain ended, and its one remaining eye dimmed as it collapsed to the ground. Its body began to decompose as it reverted to the form of a decaying human body, which crumbled to dust. Soon there was nothing left of the Demonic Beast but stains of its blood on the floor of the ruins.
Rhea brought her hands together in prayer.
"Goddess… have mercy upon this poor, lost soul, and give them peace in the hereafter."
Rhea then turned back to Byleth and Dorothea as the two checked on one another. All around them, the Church soldiers were tending to the wounded, while Alois and Shamir conferred with one another.
"Are you alright?" Byleth asked Dorothea.
"I'll be okay," Dorothea replied.
The singer then walked over to collect Joyeuse off the ground. As she grasped it, she made a disgusted groan at seeing the blade was covered in mucus.
"Eww… monster snot."
As Dorothea looked around to find something to wipe off her blade, she froze as Rhea said, "Professor Eisner, Miss Arnault. You two know very well that the Red Canyon is off-limits."
Alarmed, Byleth turned back to Rhea and said, "Rhea, I can explain–"
Raising a hand to interrupt Byleth, Rhea said, "Normally, I would punish you most severely for your trespass."
Dorothea's eyes widened with fear at this.
But then Rhea said in a more assuring tone, "However, given that you aided us in slaying a dangerous Demonic Beast, I will forgive your intrusion upon these hallowed grounds."
Dorothea let out a loud sigh of relief and said, "T-Thank you, Lady Rhea."
As Rhea smiled at Byleth and Dorothea, Shamir strode up to Rhea and said, "Don't get used to this, you two. You might be off the hook this time, but don't do something stupid like this again. Are we clear?"
"W-We won't, we promise! Right, Professor?"
Byleth could only nod at this.
Alois then walked up to them and asked, "Just to ask, why did you come here in the first place? I can't imagine it was simple curiosity."
Byleth hesitated to answer but realized the truth would be the best possible answer. Fibbing wasn't going to do her or Dorothea any favors.
"Well… when we first came here back during the Harpstring Moon, I felt as though this place were… familiar to me, even though I'd never been here before."
"Really?" Alois asked with a puzzled look.
"We thought it could've been memories of a past life or something like that," said Dorothea. "So, we thought that if we could come back here, maybe we could jog loose a few more memories."
"Is that so?" Rhea asked inquisitively. "Did you, perhaps, recall anything new?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Byleth said as she shook her head.
"I see." Then, smiling at them, Rhea added, "Nevertheless, I am sure that someday you will learn the answers you seek. The Goddess works in mysterious ways, after all. For now, let us return to Garreg Mach. You two must be exhausted from your little adventure. Oh, and Professor Eisner? Please ask for permission next time you wish to explore here."
"O-Of course, Lady Rhea…" Byleth said bashfully.
"Well, I'm not in any hurry to come back here," said Dorothea. "This place creeps me out. Uh, no offense, Lady Rhea."
Rhea gave another smile to Dorothea as she said, "I see my gift to you proved useful."
"Huh? Oh, the hairclip? Y-Yeah, I guess it really… really worked." Then, after a moment of silence, Dorothea blushed as she said, "Hey, um, does anybody have a washcloth? My sword's kinda…" She raised Joyeuse as a gesture with a nervous laugh, showing the mucus still clinging to the blade.
Shamir shook her head in exasperation as Alois let out a chuckle.
…
"Well, that isn't something I'm eager to repeat," Dorothea said to Byleth as the two sat in the dining hall before their plates of meat pie. "Our trip to Zanado, that is."
"It certainly was a… unique experience," said Byleth.
"Sure, if you wanna call it that."
Dorothea speared another piece of her pie and was about to bite into it when she was struck by realization.
"Hey, Professor? We never asked Lady Rhea what she was doing in Zanado." Byleth looked at Dorothea as she added, "Why would the Archbishop go personally to the Red Canyon?"
Byleth paused before she said, "That's a good question…"
"And… we never told her about that mural, right?"
"No, we didn't."
After a pause, Dorothea said, "Maybe that's for the best… We don't know what it meant, and it could've just been some piece of art, after all."
Byleth nodded wordlessly to this, though she suspected the mural had meant something more.
This whole thing might've seemed a tad pointless, but it does get Dorothea more involved in Byleth's story, after all.
Having Rhea show up at Zanado wasn't something I originally thought to do, but I didn't want Byleth and Dorothea to be saved by the other students. However, I needed a good reason for Alois and Shamir to be at the Red Canyon (hunting Dire Wolves didn't feel like a solid enough one), so I thought to have it be that they were guarding Rhea on a "pilgrimage". Of course, that's all implied, as our two leading ladies never asked Rhea why she was there.
But stabbing a Demonic Beast in the nose? That one was there for laughs. :P