Welp, time for the big chapter battle. Be warned, it's a little gruesome.
Chapter 88 – The Cause of Sorrow, Part 1 (Ethereal Moon)
It was two days after the Ball when Dorothea woke with a start early in the morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise on the horizon. A bell of alarm was ringing from the monastery.
The singer grumbled at the thought of having to perform a drill at such an hour. Dorothea was about to throw her blanket back over her head and try to get back to her beauty sleep when a loud knock came from her door.
"Dorothea? Dorothea? Are you there?" came Mercedes' frantic voice.
"M-Mercedes?" Dorothea groaned, loud enough for the healer to hear her.
"Dorothea, please get up! It's an emergency!"
"H-Hold your horses, Mercedes. It's just another drill."
"No, it's not a drill! The soldiers said there were Demonic Beasts coming out of the old chapel!"
Dorothea was left wide awake at hearing this, scrambling to her feet as she rushed to her closet to dress herself.
…
To the singer's dismay, it had not been a false alarm.
They were now near the same old chapel where Aelfric had deceived them, and surrounding the building were eight Demonic Beasts. Though still reptilian, they differed from the usual grey-scaled monsters that roamed the countryside, instead having leathery black hides segmented by cracks that made it look as though their whole bodies were covered in bile-soaked bandages. A set of sharp, fleshy protrusions formed a spine of blades along their backs, and it appeared as if their mouths had no teeth within them, instead having fleshy jagged gums in their place. It was difficult to discern whether they had eyes or not, but they could clearly see regardless. A strange red glowing stone was on each one's forehead.
But that wasn't the worst of it. The first-year students had heard that before the monsters had appeared, many of the second-year students were seen heading to the old chapel. The second-year students had been acting strangely as they went, and now there was no sign of them. Though the first-year students weren't on the best of terms with those from the second year, they still did not wish any harm upon them.
Jeralt was atop his steed as he rallied the Church soldiers, a mere 120 men against eight of the large monsters. They should've had at least twice that much for such a large number of Demonic Beasts, but it was all they were able to muster on such short notice.
Byleth worked quickly to divide both the students and soldiers into small squads. Dorothea was assigned to Byleth's own group alongside Edelgard, Felix and several men from the Church. Above them, Ingrid led Constance and Flayn atop their respective Pegasi, ready to swoop in and intervene if aid was needed. Anna, who had once again offered her assistance, led a group that included Ashe, Claude and Petra, meant to search the area for any survivors.
"How the hell did these things manage to get inside the monastery walls?" Jeralt mused aloud.
As Byleth continued to give orders to the first-year students and the men assigned to each group, one of the Demonic Beasts let out a fell roar as it charged toward their line.
"Here it comes!" one of the soldiers shouted fearfully.
"Hold your ground!" Jeralt shouted commandingly. "Steady, men!"
The Demonic Beast opened its mouth as flames licked from its mouth and sent a ball of fire at the soldiers' defensive line. The mages behind them worked quickly, conjuring a combined ward that blocked the attack, though just barely. Even before the flames subsided, the beast continued its charge, and a slash from its claws finished off the ward, shattering it like clay.
"Archers!" Jeralt shouted.
Shamir and her archers drew their bows and fired, pelting the Demonic Beast with arrows to its neck and shoulders. Though the arrows pierced its hide easily, the attack did not slow the monster as it made another swing of its claws, smashing three soldiers aside.
"Watch out! Watch out!" shouted another soldier as the men scattered to avoid being crushed.
Jeralt was about to give another order to his men when several blasts of magic from Byleth and Dorothea pelted the Demonic Beast. They were followed up by more spells from the other students, which burned and tore at the monster's hide. A Seraphim spell from Hapi delivered the killing blow, and the Demonic Beast screeched in agony before it collapsed to the ground.
The men began to cheer at the success, but this stopped when the remains of the Demonic Beast shriveled and crumbled away, revealing the body of a student.
Dorothea made a loud gasp of shock upon seeing the girl's face. It was Cistine, the same black-haired girl who had called Dorothea an 'Opera slut' a week prior. The girl's empty eyes were wide open and devoid of life. In the center of her forehead was a strange red stone, embedded messily into her skull.
"Oh no…" Dorothea said as she held her hands to her mouth in horror. Even if she had nothing but distaste for Cistine, the singer felt the girl hadn't deserved this.
"The Demonic Beasts are students…?" Jeralt said in disgust.
The students and soldiers did not even have a moment to process what they had just witnessed before a loud scream came from the chapel. They looked to see another second-year student was being held in the jaws of one of the Demonic Beasts by her legs. It was Ludmilla, and the brunette's panic was palpable as another Demonic Beast raised its jaws toward her.
"NO! NO, PLEASE! GODDESS NO! HELP ME! SOMEONE! PLEAAAAASE!"
Ludmilla's screams were cut short as the second Demonic Beast snapped its jaws down on the upper half of her body. Then, just as quickly as her cries had been silenced, the two beasts ripped the poor girl's body in two, and each began devouring their half of her remains.
"No!" Annette shouted in dismay.
"Ludmilla…!" Ferdinand said remorsefully.
Byleth winced loudly in regret at seeing such a thing happen, but she steeled herself as Sothis' voice rang through her mind.
"This is no time for remorse!" said Sothis. "You must act swiftly if you are to have any hope of saving those that remain!"
Tightening her grip on the Sword of the Creator, Byleth shouted, "Press forward! We have to get them to focus on us! Hurry!"
Byleth's cry steeled the resolve of the students, and they advanced toward the remaining seven Demonic Beasts.
…
Sylvain yelped as he and his horse narrowly avoided being swatted into a wall by a massive reptilian tail. Recovering, Sylvain shouted as he slashed the Lance of Ruin across the Demonic Beast's hide, tearing open a large gash. The Demonic Beast was clearly riled by this, for it whipped around and readied a breath attack that caught the redhead off guard.
He would've been incinerated seconds later had Hilda not charged in and slammed her axe into the side of the Demonic Beast's head, the Minor Crest of Goneril fueling her strike. The beast shrieked as its attack was sent off its mark, but the blast of fire still engulfed two Church soldiers, who screamed as they were burned to death.
"No!" Sylvain said painfully as he watched the men die.
The sight of such senseless death fueled Sylvain's anger, and he spurred his horse forward for another charge. The Lance of Ruin glowed bright red as the Demonic Beast swung its head, tossing Hilda aside as it exposed its vulnerable neck. Sylvain thrust the lance through the beast's throat, the Heroes' Relic piercing with barely any resistance. He quickly withdrew the Lance of Ruin as the monster let out a choking gurgle and slumped to the ground.
Seconds later, the beast's body disintegrated, revealing another female from the second-year students. Sylvain was dismayed at the sight of the orange-haired girl and her shattered glasses.
"Sylvain? Hey, are you okay?" asked Leonie as she rode up next to him.
"Leonie? Y-Yeah, I think I'll be alright…" Sylvain said, his tone very unconvincing to the Sauin huntress.
"Is she one of the girls you dated?"
"Yeah… Her name was Elliana. She was something of a bookworm. I said I thought her glasses made her look sexy and…"
Sylvain sighed as he cursed himself. He had spent a lot of time at Garreg Mach breaking girls' hearts, and now it truly made him feel like a villain. Most of the girls who had dated him were only interested in marrying into House Gautier and didn't care about him besides his Crest. And now he was talking about how he had flirted with her as though it were meant to be funny.
In truth, Sylvain was disgusted with himself at that moment. Even if Elliana had only spoke with him out of a desire to become a member of House Gautier, she didn't deserve this.
"Hey, Sylvain? Sylvain!"
Sylvain was finally snapped out of his remorse when Leonie bonked him on the head with her lance.
"Ow! Leonie!"
"There'll be time for regrets later! Come on, the others need us."
Realizing Leonie was right, Sylvain spurred his horse and followed Leonie to rejoin the fight.
…
Hubert made a loud hiss as one of the Demonic Beasts broke through a line of soldiers and nearly crushed him in its jaws. He quickly retaliated with a Banshee Θ spell, swarming the beast's head with dark magic and making it writhe as it tried to fend off the attack with its claws. As it thrashed around, Catherine dashed in and slashed through the beast's chest with Thunderbrand. The beast let out a painful shriek as it collapsed, its body reverting to the corpse of yet another second-year student. This one was a male, a burly lad from the Golden Deer named Damian. He wasn't big on brains but had been a good fighter.
"How unfortunate for you," Hubert said dismissively to Damian's body.
"Hey, a little more respect for the dead, would you, Hubert?" Catherine said crossly to him.
Hubert did not reply to this, prompting Catherine to move on to help the others.
As soon as Catherine had left, Hubert turned and said, "Linhardt, remove whatever that is in his forehead for me."
"Is there a reason why I must do it?" asked Linhardt.
"If it is what I suspect, then my lack of a Crest would present a risk if I were to touch it."
Linhardt seemed to put two-and-two together as he knelt down to inspect the strange red stone in Damian's head. After a moment's hesitation and a groan of disgust, Linhardt pried the stone from the dead boy's corpse.
The healer turned around to show the strange stone to Hubert, who scrutinized it carefully. The stone did not look like a natural object, but rather looked as though it had been fabricated through some unknown means. It bore a strange symbol across it, much like a Crest, but the design was warped compared to the Crests that were known in Fódlan.
"Now that I've, ugh, gotten a good look at it," said Linhardt, "it almost looks like… oh dear."
"A Crest Stone," said Hubert.
"Yes… though it's different from the ones you see in the Heroes' Relics."
"That would explain a great deal." Gesturing to Damian's body, Hubert said, "I believe he lacked a Crest, so it is likely this is what caused him to transform into a Demonic Beast."
"I agree. But then again, why would he do this? Why would he take a Crest Stone, real or not, if he knew it could turn him into a monster?"
"Perhaps he had no say in the matter."
Linhardt was left to ponder this point as Hubert turned away from him and looked at the old chapel.
The dark mage already had a good idea who was responsible for all of this.
…
Dimitri yelped as he was backhanded by one of the Demonic Beasts, sending him to the ground on his back. Before he could recover, the same beast rushed at him and swatted him again, and the blonde cried out in pain as he struck the trunk of a tree.
Now on his hands and knees, Dimitri coughed loudly as he spat up some blood.
"Your Highness!" Dedue shouted as he rushed to protect Dimitri, placing himself between the prince and the Demonic Beast.
Dedue blocked the beast's attempt to bite him with his shield and countered with a blow to the monster's lower jaw with his axe. The beast screeched painfully but did not stop its assault. It reared up and lunged its head forward with the speed of a viper.
"DEDUE!" Dimitri shouted as the beast engulfed the Duscuri man in its mouth.
Dedue grunted loudly as he pushed against the beast's jaws with every ounce of his strength. If he faltered for even an instant, the Demonic Beast would crush him.
The beast instead lifted him from the ground and, without bothering to try and crunch down on him, shook its head side to side before releasing its grip, throwing Dedue into a broken pillar. The pillar broke into thousands of pieces as Dedue smashed through it, leaving him on his side and unable to move.
"Y-Your Highness…" Dedue groaned as he tried to look in Dimitri's direction.
Dimitri growled loudly as he tried to fight through the pain in his limbs, watching grimly as the Demonic Beast swatted aside two more soldiers before readying its jaws to crush the life out of the prince.
"DIMITRI!"
Just before the Demonic Beast was about to crush him, a wall of ice formed between Dimitri and the monster's jaws. The beast's jaws clamped down on the block of ice, becoming stuck with it in its mouth. Dimitri looked to who had cast the spell and saw Marianne readying a healing spell.
A surge of warmth washed through Dimitri's body as Marianne's spell took effect, dulling the pain and healing his injuries. Spurred on by the healing spell, Dimitri leapt up and shouted as he threw his lance right into the monster's forehead, smashing through the red stone in its head. The impact of the lance was enough to shatter the ice in the Demonic Beast's mouth, and it let out an agonizing screech before it fell to the ground, dead.
As the monster's body reverted to that of a second-year boy from the Blue Lions, Dimitri remorsefully took back his lance as Marianne walked up to him.
"Are you okay, Dimitri?" asked Marianne.
"I am, thanks to you," Dimitri replied as he looked her in the eye.
Marianne couldn't help but blush at Dimitri as he smiled at her.
"I… I'm sorry," Marianne said bashfully.
"About what?"
"I ran away from you at the Ball. I shouldn't have done it, but I just…"
"Marianne…"
Dimitri and Marianne were silent as they stared at once another for a moment.
Then, hearing a familiar groan, Dimitri said, "Dedue!"
The two rushed over to tend to Dedue's wounds.
…
Dorothea readied another Thoron spell as Byleth slashed away at another Demonic Beast, trying to keep its attention. The diva unleashed her spell as Byleth lashed the beast's left arm, electrocuting the monster.
But to both Byleth's dismay and hers, all the attack did was draw attention to the diva.
Byleth immediately lashed again at the monster, but as it whirled around to face Dorothea, the Sword of the Creator missed its mark. Before Byleth could try for another attack, the Demonic Beast had raised one of its massive claws and swung at the diva, who frantically raised Joyeuse in a futile attempt to block the strike.
As Dorothea's scream filled the air and her blood stained the Demonic Beast's claws, time ground to a halt.
"Must you continue to allow that girl to suffer from your own ineptitude?" said Sothis.
Byleth mentally wanted to tell the green-haired girl to shut up as the Demonic Beast's claw reversed its strike. Byleth's lash returned to where she had been before the beast had spun around toward Dorothea.
Time resumed its flow, and so Byleth moved differently.
The Demonic Beast whirled around to face Dorothea, but instead of trying to attack it, Byleth rushed toward the diva to protect her.
"Look out!" Byleth shouted just before she got in front of Dorothea, whirling around to face the Demonic Beast's claw.
To her shock, the Demonic Beast was no longer trying to slash them, and instead had its mouth open, ready to unleash its fiery breath.
Byleth and Dorothea both tried to raise a ward to block the attack, only barely managing the start of one before the attack hit. The ball of fire exploded as it hit, and both Dorothea and Byleth screamed as they were sent flying back.
Dorothea could barely move, her body screaming in pain, but she was able to look up and see Byleth struggling to recover.
To her terror, the Demonic Beast's jaw loomed over the bluette, about to feast on Byleth's flesh.
Well, that didn't go well.
I'm guessing you guys were expecting me to kill off those named second-years. Just my way of making it hit a little harder. Apologies for any squeamish readers who weren't expecting me to be so gruesome.
Also, am I making Sothis too much of a jerk here? I know she's a brat and all, but I might've been a little too harsh this time around.
EDIT: Also, to address the point that Byleth shouldn't be having trouble against Demonic Beasts, I get that. I know she takes down two of them solo in the Byleth/Ferdinand C-Support, but I always felt that was a big outlier. Additionally, in my story, I want Demonic Beasts and big monsters to live up to their reputation, otherwise any fight with them feels cheap.
The next chapter is one I'm sure some people are going to criticize for one reason or another, but I'll do my best to explain things when it happens.