Man, I got carried away with this one.
Chapter 73 – The Remire Calamity, Part 1 (Red Wolf Moon)
The scene at Remire was unlike anything the students had ever seen. The villagers, normally peaceful and friendly, had seemingly lost their minds and now were in a violent frenzy, attacking anyone who approached or who wasn't part of their bloodthirsty mob. The hundreds of infected villagers were identifiable thanks to the bulging veins on their faces and whited out eyes. The carnage was palpable even from a distance; severed limbs and corpses lined the streets. Those who hadn't gone mad were screaming for help or crying out as they were ripped to pieces.
But that wasn't the worst of it. From where they stood overlooking the town, Byleth could see a particular set of bodies was lying in the center of town. They were the bodies of the third-year students, each in various states of dismemberment.
The third-year semester had been wiped out.
"By the Goddess…" said Alois as he overlooked the carnage.
"What's going on here…" said Jeralt as he tried to make sense of it all.
As they saw the chaos, Dorothea saw Dimitri making a strange twitch at the sight.
"Your Highness?" asked Dedue.
"I… don't worry about me. I'm fine," said Dimitri as he recomposed himself.
As Dorothea watched this exchange, she felt Felix give her a small tap on the shoulder as he whispered, "Best not to get close to him."
Confused, Dorothea asked, "Huh? What are you–"
"Lady Edelgard! Thank the Goddess you're here!" shouted a familiar voice.
Dorothea turned to see two figures stumbling toward the group, and her heart sank as she saw Manuela limping toward them, bleeding from several cuts on her otherwise pristine skin. The second was Monica, whose uniform was torn to reveal her left arm and the right side of her waist. Her expression was one of both terror and relief at her salvation.
"Manuela!" Dorothea gasped in fright as she ran over to the senior diva.
"Dorothea, dearie…" Manuela groaned as she slung her arm over Dorothea's shoulder.
"Manuela, what happened to you?"
"W-We were overrun. We tried to stop them, but…"
"Easy there, Professor Manuela, we've got you," said Alois as he offered his help.
It was then that Manuela looked like she was about to burst into tears as she said, "T-They're dead. They're all dead! I was responsible for them and… I-I couldn't save them! Varus, Heine, Ezekiel, Sorsha, they're all gone!"
The first-year students looked on in grief as Manuela spoke the names of the deceased third-year students.
"No… How could this happen?" Claude said grimly.
"Get her back to camp," Jeralt said to one of the knights, who led Manuela away.
"Monica, what happened here?" Edelgard asked the whimpering redhead.
"W-We were helping to treat t-the villagers when, all of a sudden, t-they just went crazy," said Monica. "They s-started killing each other a-and setting fire to the village. We tried to stop them b-but there were just too many of them." Then, bursting into tears, Monica said, "F-Freu, t-they tore her apart limb from limb!"
Monica was almost screaming in tears as Edelgard said, "Hubert."
"I'll see her to safety," Hubert replied as he led Monica away.
"Why is this happening?" Dorothea said with grief. "What could drive these people to do something like this?"
"Didn't the knights say this was some sort of illness?" asked Ferdinand.
"That's what I heard," said Sylvain.
"No way this is an illness," said Anna, who had offered her help earlier.
"Anna, have you seen anything like this before?" asked Catherine.
"More-or-less. I saw something similar back in Valentia, though it wasn't on this scale. This has to be the work of some really dark magic."
"How are you certain?" asked Lysithea.
"The crazed villagers only seem to be attacking those who are still sane, or anybody who's trying to interfere. If this were just some illness, they'd be attacking each other too. But it's as if something's guiding them…"
At hearing such an implication, Dorothea said, "Why…? Why would someone knowingly do this?"
Then, to the surprise of everyone, Byleth said, "If someone is responsible for this, they have to pay…!"
Dorothea looked at Byleth as she said this and immediately found herself concerned. Byleth had an expression no one there had seen her bear before: one of anger.
"Professor…?"
"We have to search the village and find who's behind all of this!"
Byleth took a step forward with her sword drawn, but Jeralt put a hand in front of her to stop her.
"Even if someone's behind this, our first priority is rescuing as many of the villagers as possible," said Jeralt. "Got it?"
Byleth glared at Jeralt for a moment, but her father did not flinch to her gaze.
Then, Byleth let out a loud scowl as she said, "Yes, father."
Jeralt turned to the students and knights, which in total numbered around 300 strong, and said, "The Knights and I will rein in the villagers who've turned violent. Byleth, Anna, take the students and focus on rescuing the others."
"What if the violent ones decide to attack us?" asked Ignatz.
"Then you are to put them down. Understood?"
"What?! Captain Jeralt, you can't be serious!" said Leonie. "We have to save them too!"
"Maybe we could just knock them out instead!" said Caspar.
"There isn't time for that," said Jeralt. "You saw what they did to the third-years. We can't afford to have you taking such a risk. Save those you can. For the others, put them out of their misery."
Jeralt's order was one that left the students in dismay.
"No… No, we can't!" Dorothea said loudly, prompting everyone to turn to her. "They're innocent people! They aren't doing this willingly! We can't just kill them! There has to be some way to save them all!"
"Dorothea?" Edelgard asked with concern.
"If we find the ones who are doing this, we can make them stop! If we take them out, maybe the villagers will go back to normal! Please, Sir Jeralt, you can't just–"
"You have your orders, cadet," Jeralt interrupted. "Carry them out." Turning to Alois, Catherine, Shamir, and the rest of the knights, he said, "Let's move!"
The knights began to march on Remire. Horrified, Dorothea tried to run in front of them before being restrained by Byleth.
"No! No, you can't! P-Professor! Let me go! Sir Jeralt, please don't! PLEASE, STOP!"
Dorothea's pleas went unheeded as Jeralt led the Knights of Seiros to battle against the deranged villagers of Remire.
Desperate, the singer then turned to Byleth and said, "Professor, you have to stop him! Your father–"
"Father is right, Dorothea," said Byleth.
"B-Byleth?" Dorothea said, her tone with a hint of betrayal.
"I don't like it any more than you do, but if we try to save everyone, we could end up losing everything. We have to save who we can." Seeing that Dorothea wasn't convinced, Byleth said, "Are you willing to risk everyone else's lives for what you want, Dorothea?"
Dorothea's eyes widened at this for a moment before taking an expression that showed she had gotten Byleth's point.
"Dorothea, if you do not wish to participate in this, no one will force you," said Edelgard.
"Edelgard's right, Dorothea," said Byleth. "If you want to sit out, I'll–"
"No… no, you're right, Professor," Dorothea said with a sniffle. "We have to help those we can. And you might need me to heal you out there."
"Thank you, Dorothea. I know this must be hard for you."
As Dorothea did her best to recompose herself, Byleth turned to the students to give out her orders.
…
The Death Knight stared pensively down at Remire from atop a hill as the Knights of Seiros and the first-year students of the Officers' Academy entered the village. The crazed villagers immediately moved to attack the Knights as the soldiers of the Church formed a shield wall and readied arrows to shoot down the violent mob. The villagers were quickly met by hails of arrows and a wall of lances that cut them down in droves, but their sheer numbers meant the Knights inevitably had to fight a close-quarters battle. Off to the sides of the village, the cadets had split into two groups on the east and west side of town, each one tasked with finding any villagers who hadn't gone mad and getting them to safety.
The Death Knight let out a sneer before he centered his gaze on the eastern group, which was being led by Byleth. He watched as three crazed villagers rushed at the blue-haired maiden, who slashed at them with her whip sword and cut them down with an expression of remorse.
As he watched, one of the Death Knight's subordinates rode up next to him and said, "Solon is sure to be discovered soon. What are your orders?"
"We wait for the so-called 'Savior of All' to make his presence known," said the Death Knight. "Then we join the slaughter."
"By your command."
The Death Knight then caught a glimpse of a familiar blonde healer among the western group. Even from where he was, he could see Mercedes healing an elderly villager of his wounds.
The subordinate saw him observe the girl, and wisely chose not to ask about it.
…
A young village boy cowered before his father as the crazed man held an iron blade in his hand and stumbled toward him.
"P-Papa! Papa, it's me!" the boy whimpered. "Papa, please! Papa!"
The boy's father did not heed his son's pleas as he said, "Kill… Kill…!"
The man raised his blade to strike his son, prompting the boy to scream.
The iron blade let out a loud clang as it struck the Mythril edge of Joyeuse.
Dorothea let out a grimace as she struggled to hold back the man's blade. Despite that the man didn't look all too muscular, he exhibited inhuman strength that Dorothea knew she couldn't hold off for long. And in the chaos of the battle, she had gotten herself separated from the others.
Grunting with exertion, Dorothea shouted to the boy, "R-Run! Get out of here!"
"B-B-But, Papa…" the boy cried.
Dorothea was about to tell the boy to run again when the man let out a shout as he swung again at her, and Dorothea yelped as she blocked and was sent stumbling back from the man's blow.
Reassuming a defensive stance, Dorothea said to the man, "Please, stop! I don't want to hurt you!"
"KILL!" shouted the man as he rushed at Dorothea.
"STAY AWAY!" Dorothea screamed as she thrust Joyeuse at him in a reflex.
The Mythril blade went cleanly into the man's chest and through his heart, killing him instantly. The iron blade fell to the ground with a loud clatter as the man fell backward and hit the floor with a loud thud.
Dorothea's eyes were wide with shock at having killed the man. She hadn't meant for the blow to be lethal.
"PAPA!" the boy screamed as he rushed over to his father's corpse. Then, realizing his father was dead, the boy turned and yelled angrily at Dorothea, "You killed him! You killed Papa!"
Trembling in horror at the accusation, Dorothea stammered, "I-I had no choice! H-He was going to kill you! I–"
"Get away!" the boy ran to pick up the iron sword on the ground, but he lacked the strength to lift it. As he tried to raise it, he shouted, "Get away from my Papa, you killer!"
Stung by the boy's words, Dorothea could only sob as she left the building.
Stumbling outside, Dorothea tried to catch her breath as she leaned against a broken wall. She turned to look at the battle in the center of town. To her sorrow, the Knights had made short work of the rampaging villagers, and there were now hundreds of innocent bodies lining the streets. The sight almost made Dorothea break down in tears at such senseless slaughter.
But then she heard a familiar voice… laughing.
She turned slowly to see who was laughing at such a horrible scene with a mix of confusion, dread, and fury.
"T-Tomas?" Dorothea said upon seeing the old librarian. "What are you doing here?"
In a tone that was completely different from the kindly old man she knew, Tomas said, "Tomas? Oh yes, you're referring to that old fool from the Ordelia territory."
"W-What? What are you talking about?"
Letting out another sinister laugh, Tomas said, "Let me spell it out for you, you stupid girl: I am not Tomas. My name is Solon, the Savior of All!"
Tomas then raised his hands, one which held a black cane of an unknown metal as dark energy swirled around him. His form began to change before Dorothea's eyes. His skin became a deathly pale, his hair turned white, pulsing veins began to show on his forehead, and his eyes became pitch black, with several symbols appearing around his right eye. His robes turned black and strange black gloves appeared on his hands.
Dorothea was in shock as she recognized Solon.
"You! You're that mage who kidnapped Flayn!"
"Ah, so you do remember me," said Solon. "Yes, indeed, I was the one who took that weak girl, so that I could extract her blood. Disguising myself as that fool of a librarian made that task far too easy."
"You're responsible for all of this?! Why? Why are you doing this to these people?!"
Solon let out a loud sneer as he said, "I need not explain my motives or reasons to an insignificant beast like you!"
"Beast?! The only beast here is you, you twisted old freak!"
"HA! You think to judge ME? It seems you need to learn your place!"
Solon raised his hand and sent a Miasma Δ spell at Dorothea. The singer raised a ward just in time to block the spell, which shattered her defense immediately. However, part of the attack got through, and Dorothea shrieked as pain ripped through her body.
Solon laughed at this as he said, "So feeble!"
Fighting through the pain, Dorothea retaliated by launching a Sagittae spell at Solon. To her dismay, the Dark Bishop did not even raise a hand as a strange ward blocked the attack. Solon's ward did not look as if it were made from magic, but instead from some unknown energy.
"Is that the best you can do, girl?" Solon taunted. "How pathetic."
"SHUT UP!"
Dorothea launched a Thoron spell at Solon, but again the strange ward blocked the attack. Then, with another sneer, Solon raised his hand and began channeling his dark power. Dorothea suddenly felt pain shoot through every nerve in her body. She screamed in agony as she was brought to her knees by the spell.
"Does that hurt?" said Solon. "Perhaps you would like another taste!"
The pain surging through Dorothea intensified, making her scream at the top of her lungs.
But then Solon made a loud "Tch!" as the Sword of the Creator slammed into his ward, forcing him to break off his attack. The pain in Dorothea's body vanished, allowing her to gasp for breath.
Solon scowled as Byleth dashed in front of Dorothea, a look of intense anger upon her face.
"Dorothea, are you alright?" Byleth said angrily.
"I-I'll live," Dorothea said as she tried to stand back up.
With a twisted grin, Solon said, "The cursed Fell Star… This will be a fine opportunity to measure your power."
Dark magic energy then began to coalesce around Solon as various neon lines began to glow across his body. A fierce gale began to form around him due to the magical pressure Solon was generating, preventing Byleth from moving forward.
"Be on your guard!" Sothis said to Byleth. "This Solon is no ordinary foe!"
"Rise…!" Solon rasped loudly. "Rise! RISE, MY MINIONS!"
Dark magic energy surged throughout Remire from Solon's body, entering the bodies of the fallen villagers. The corpses jolted and twitched as they were filled with dark magic.
Dorothea looked on apprehensively at the body of the father she had killed as the son looked on in fright.
And then, to Dorothea's absolute horror, the dead man rose from the floor, as though alive once more, but blood continued to drain from the wound Dorothea had given him.
"Papa? Papa, you're alive!" said the boy. "Papa, you're– ACK!"
With inhuman quickness, the man grabbed by the boy his neck and lifted him off the ground as he stood up.
"P-Papa…" the boy whimpered.
The man looked emotionlessly at the boy and then, in a single motion, he clenched his hand and snapped the boy's neck like a twig.
"No!" Dorothea gasped as the man dropped his dead son to the ground.
But the boy only remained lifeless on the floor for a few seconds before the same dark energy infested him, and he slowly rose to his feet, his expression lifeless.
"No… No, this isn't right…" Dorothea whimpered, now on the verge of panic.
"Oh, but it is," said Solon. "It is your worst nightmare."
Byleth heard numerous terrified voices and looked to the center of town to see more of the dead rising, with the Church soldiers backing away from them in horror.
And then Solon shouted, "KILL THEM ALL!"
With his command, the risen dead surged toward the Church soldiers, the cadets, and at Byleth and Dorothea.
I've been getting a number of complaints that Dorothea has been in spots where she shouldn't be in various scenes. I should iterate that Dorothea is kind of meant to be a "Lord" stand-in for my story, so she has to be more involved in the central plot. This trend is going to continue, but I can understand why you guys think it's a bit OC-ish.
As for Solon, yes, I made him a Necromancer. It makes him a much deadlier threat. Really, all of the Agarthans should've gotten unique gameplay mechanics, but instead they were just regular opponents who were full of themselves. In my story, however, they're not just boasting about "powers beyond your comprehension".