*Chapter 13: Dark Reunion Part Two

"Well, well, well. Just what do you think you're doing, Corrin?" The Dark King of Nohr said sternly as he steps into the battlefield alongside his wife and sons, staring down at his treacherous adoptive daughter with several Rangers and Sorcerers beside him.

"Father…" Corrin recoiled with dread at the sight of him but still maintains a strong front and briefly spares Arete a glance before returning to Garon. "Mother…"

"You've been quite the naughty girl, Little Princess, how rare it is for you to be in need of some discipline." Arete said also sternly but not as unkind, though the look of disappointment is eminent.

"I never gave you enough credit Corrin, the mere thought that you could actually outsmart us is truly foolish, but at the same time bold enough to earn my respect. Truthfully, I never expected you to be so competent or brave to pull something like this off, and yet here you are." Garon scolded, his right hand glows with dark magic and focus on to Bölverk. "Though, considering how little effort you put into learning tactics from your brother, the praise clearly belongs to another."

'How flattering.' Corrin and Robin mused at the same time and spare a brief glance at each other.

"Well… you made it easy considering that you came here of all places while waging your crusade." Corrin replied but with little strength in her voice.

"You dare mock me, child? There is nowhere in Horus where I don't have eyes to scour for my enemies, and I've been watching you ever since you defeated your old friend, Sir Silas in Fort Jinya. Though we did lose your trail back in Mokushu due to the mysterious deaths happening to the people there and I had to scramble my forces to secure the survival of my allies as we could from the supernatural pandemic that only ceased recently." Garon explained. "It was obvious that your hoshidan brethren would be tempted to come after me like the moths they are once they learned I was here. Every bit as arrogant and pathetic as Sumeragi."

"Bite your fucking tongue, serpent! And don't make your death sentence any more thrilling for us than it already is." Takumi warned venomously over the insult directed at his father as he points Skadi at him and readies to fire a dark arrow.

"Why shouldn't he, we're already at each other's throats, and there's no point in holding back now." Leo countered, smugly.

"How disrespectful of you people, this opera house is meant to be a house of enjoyment and relaxation from the sight of delicate women and proud men who pour their heart and soul into their singing and dancing for the purpose of entertaining and rejuvenating others. Mixing it all with violence is not only sad but a wasted opportunity to sooth the hearts of dashing maidens." Laslow said speaking flirtatiously but also with passion regarding the performers of Nestra.

"Time to break some legs, and I hope you Hoshidans are strong because your bones are going to sing for me!" Peri declared with a hint of malicious intent, contradicting her cute appearance.

"Indeed, we did come here to be entertained with music after all, and it seems that the music of your defeat will have to suffice. Starting with you. Robin!" Xander is the first to begin the battle and he instead goes after Robin. Moving as fast as a horse, conveniently odd seeing how he's primarily the Head of the Cavaliers and Paladins. The Tactician summons one of his Levin Swords and goes to face the Crown Prince, moving faster with the two clashing with their swords, both radiating with violent surges of power.

This uproar resumes the battle with the Light Constructs reengaging the Nohrians, the chaos reigniting but at the very least there are no longer any innocent bystanders to be caught in the crossfire so neither side has an excuse to hold back.

Hinoka roars, furiously delivering mighty slashes against her current opponent, which is Peri, but the young Dame lives up to her status as a member of the Royal Guard and holds her own against the High Princess, with neither having the chance to overpower the other, even when Hinoka succeeds in getting behind Peri, and strikes at her legs with the bottom tip of her naginata, knocking her to the ground, the knight was quick enough to make a backflip to avoid being stabbed in the face by the Princess for her to then make a horizontal swing with her silver spear that she nearly decapitates Hinoka with the High Princess narrowly dodging. This forces Hinoka to take to the air, returning to her Pegasus with the hope of using an aerial advantage, though this is still risky as Peri could best her by sinking her spear on her mount but Hinoka's swings are faster than hers and this Pegasus of Light is more durable and resistant than Rukia so she can still win.

Kaze faces against Xander's other Retainer, Laslow and keeps his distance as he throws his shurikens at him but the Mercenary is fast with his swings using his impressive looking single-edge sword that looks to be made of platinum or something similar, yet is just as dense as a Brave Sword, and repels all the throwing blades at him while he draws in closer, forcing the ninja to enter close combat with his silver katana as they clash and like with Hinoka and Peri, Kaze is the faster of the two but Laslow's reflexes are enough to hold his own against him, so Kaze will have to buy his time and wait for an opening that may never come, after all, if Xander is anything like Ryoma, his chosen retainers must be experts of their craft. Kaze has even heard Kagero explain what she knows of the Crown Prince's retainers as she and Saizo have clashed with their ''opposites'' before and she describes them as very odd but very competent and deadly so this won't be easy for him, even if he is his brother's equal.

Two Rangers confront two Light Oni Savages daring to get near their King and succeed in destroying them, unfortunately for them, two more savages emerge from the ground and grab them by their feet and drag them to the water with the intent to drown them. And it's not just with them, few other Nohrians are caught and dragged into the water by more constructs below them and forced into the same fate or have their throats cut while they are struggling.

"My, what interesting brutality." Garon said as he cuts off the hands of the constructs that were going to pull him underwater. He's then attacked by a Wyvern of Light, peculiar since he has noted that many of Hoshido's new army seems to be completely based on Hoshidan Classes and there are no Wyverns in the East of Horus but it makes a little sense why they would attempt to make copies of units from opposing armies to their advantage, though the Wyverns he has noticed aren't mounted like the Pegasi and Kinshi constructs. Garon raises Bölverk to block the Wyvern's teeth as it attempts to take a bite out of the old king, however Garon is shockingly strong for a man his age as he holds his own against the beast well until he channels his magical abilities, surging with dark energy and blows the wyvern to the ground, giving Garon a better chance to finish it off as he decapitates it. Once that is done and the construct disintegrates until all that remains of it is a single page that looks like it used to be a part of a Tome, giving the writing that explodes once set free in Garon's face.

"Your Majesty!" The nearby Nohrians cried out upon noticing the point-blank explosion that occurs upon their King, but to their relief, Garon comes out of that, completely unscathed without so much as a scratch on his unprotected face.

"Interesting." Garon said amused by the little trick. The Rangers who stand beside their liege quickly band together and raise their shields to block incoming arrows and javelins aim directly at Garon by the airborne Light Soldiers, among them is Reina as she lands to face Garon herself.

"Well, this is a flash from the past." Garon said, familiar with the savage leader of the Kinshi Knights.

"King Garon, it's been too long, I wonder if you're every bit as deadly as I remember or have those new pets of yours made you wallow in your ugly throne for too long and made you rusty." Reina boldly dared the vicious king to come and face her himself as she jumps off her mount.

"I invite you to come and find out." Garon said as he waves at his men to stand down as he will face the woman on his own.

"A pity this war has to end so soon, I've hardly had the chance to enjoy myself as much but at least it'll be all worth it after this." Reina smirked.

"The only pity tonight is that Gunter is no longer with us, he would've enjoyed seeing you again." Garon said, and his words struck a nerve with Reina now harboring a scowl against the King.

Near Leo's side of the battlefield, three Bow Knights intercept Kinshi Knights trying to get near their Prince and once they strike down one of them, it disintegrates, leaving a magic page that it also had inside, which releases a huge fireball that blows the three Bow Knights into the air screaming before falling down into the water.

"What the blazes was that?" Leo protested.

"By the Ghost of Ike! Our enemies are pulling the Page Bombing Technique." Odin said in another of his exaggerated tones.

"What are you blabbering about now, Odin?" Leo demanded.

"The Page Bombing Technique, I told you about it. You remove a page from a Tome and modify it into a bomb set to trigger a portion of the power from the tome it originated from." Odin said to his master. "It's a truly exciting ability I learn in my homeland. They must've shredded any Tome they've confiscated from us over the years and placed a page inside these majestic foes but clearly not all of them."

"Really, and how come the Hoshidans know this foreign technique? I am already certain that you wouldn't do something so stupid as to give away such viable information." Leo questioned.

"Well…" Odin uttered nervously while subconsciously turning to his left and witnesses the battle between Robin and Xander, the two fighting evenly so far with other unmounted Paladins ganging up on the Tactician and briefly making things difficult before Robin overpowers his foes and it's back to just him and Xander again, the Crown Prince holding nothing back, ready to claim his vengeance. "That one over there is also foreign to Nohr, maybe."

"Of course, the could've been brother in law." Leo scowled. "A pity Camilla couldn't be here; she would've punished that rat far worse than Xander ever could."

"Right… but maybe we should focus on something more concerning like a magical arrow being shot right at us!" Odin advised as Takumi engages the enemies and fires an arrow at Warlocks and with one shot, a deathly explosion occurs that strikes them down, along with the nearby Outlaws with only Leo, Odin and Zero remaining.

"Duly noted." Leo scoffed as he steps forward to face Takumi as he fires an arrow at him, of which Leo blocks by raising his hand up while enchanting it with his Tome's magic, that allows him to easily catch the dark arrow and stop it. "What happened to your other bow, I knew vermin like you didn't seem to mix well with the more majestic elements but this new toy of yours doesn't feel like you're kind of swine."

"Give me a few more shots, maybe you won't feel like that with holes all over your body." Takumi said as he fires three more arrows at once with the intent to hit all three of them, but the Dark Prince counters through the use of his Sacred Treasure and fires three tendrils of dark magic that collide with the arrows and overpower them, charging then after Takumi, only for Lilith to interfere and creates a magical forcefield around them to block off the attacks.

"What the hell is that thing?" Leo protested.

"My barrier only works on shots from the outside but it can't stop attacks that come from within." Lilith explained to Takumi.

"Lilith…" Leo uttered, recognizing her voice.

"Now that's music to my ears!" Takumi shouted as he fires a more powerful arrow that phases through Lilith's barrier without much trouble and destroys the tendrils and marches straight for Leo again, only for Odin to step in front to take the arrow instead and thwarts it through the use of an extraordinary two-handed sword that looks to be made of pure gold that swiftly cuts the arrow in two. Everything about it screams majestic and holds so much authority, a fine sword for a king.

"That sword is divine." Lilith gasped in awe at the sight of the blade.

"A Sacred Treasure?" Takumi asked.

"I don't know, nothing about it feels similar to the Fujin Yumi and Yato."

"These two are mine, both of you can go and apprehend the traitor." Leo instructed to his retainers as he cast another spell from his Brynhildr, one from below his two current prey, but Lilith notices the threat coming and takes herself and Takumi to the air by using the barrier to float while changing its shape to a sphere, narrowly avoiding an eruption of darkness that destroys part of the boat but it does not stop Odin and Zero from jumping to the next boat. Takumi continues to rapidly fire at Leo with Leo firing back with his magic but is yet to even put a dent in Lilith's barrier. "How much longer do you think you can keep this up before I finally get my hands on you, Takumi?! You weren't exactly holding your own back in Kurosaki." He questioned his current rival.

"I brashly chose to go at it alone! But now it's you who's made that mistake." Takumi scoffed, and at the same time, Leo notices a threatening presence behind him and turns just in time to block another arrow fired at him by another Takumi standing before him.

"What…?" Leo muttered.

"Seeing double." Both Takumis taunted in unison and fired their Skadis at once, forcing Leo to form a barrier of his own to block both shots.

Corrin overpowers and knocks out a Berserker that managed to ambush her but couldn't go very far with his assault, afterward she gets dogpiled by four Knights, though before her own strength it proves foolish as she blows them off her, one of them gets thrown into the water while two get dragged in by the constructs and the last of them gets back up to fight Corrin again but the Princess strikes first, swinging Yato at his lance that he uses to block but her strong slash knocks it off his hand and he is forced back into the ground, seemingly out. Corrin looks at her surroundings and wonders where the other three knights and berserker she just fought off have gone, not fully aware of the rather dark method her light soldiers are using to dispose of the Nohrians yet and while she does notice the bodies lying around in the water she's not sure if they all died by drowning yet.

She then turns to see how the rest of the fighting is going on and so far things are going in their favor with everyone following Robin's strategy to a teeth, the Nohrians don't seem prepared at all for this kind of assault, let alone these numbers with so far only her Nohrian family and their retainers lasting as much as she expected (and hoped). Though things were bound to turn ugly sooner or later with things heating between Hinoka and Kaze vs. Laslow and Peri, with neither so far getting any assistance from their respective armies yet. Kaze came close to bisecting Laslow until the mercenary backflips far enough away in a very stylish manner that Corrin could mistake him for a dancer in a way, and that's when things get progressively worse as Xander's most trusted soldier's weapon does something really grand as it either morphs into or is magically replaced by a spectacular looking bow, pulls the strings, which manifest an arrow of the same material and fires it at Kaze, that her Ninja narrowly avoids. Laslow then makes another arrow and fires it at Hinoka, that the Princess does notice but there's not enough time to fly up to avoid it so instead she is forced to move her Pegasus down to avoid the shot that was aiming for her mount, and this was a risky choice as Peri swoops in, ceasing the opportunity to jump kick Hinoka out of her Pegasus.

"Gotcha now!" Peri giggled in a childish tone that just made her all the more intimidating.

"You're welcome my lovely." Laslow smirked at his partner while his weapon changes shape again, and this time into a lance that he uses to face Kaze again and takes an advantage against the Ninja's katana, but Kaze can handle it and while he's at it, he throws a shuriken as hard as he can towards Peri who is about to strike at Hinoka while she gets herself back up and the shurikens hits the tip of Peri's killer lance hard enough to force her to drop the weapon and gets her to stop, giving the chance for Hinoka to deliver the same courtesy as she goes to kick Peri in the face, though the unmounted Cavalier raises both her hand arms up and block the incoming kick, afterward both women leap away from each other before picking up their respective weapons again to resume their clash.

Corrin decides to step in and aid them since she sincerely doesn't want to take any chances with those two. Xander would often brag over the upsides and downsides of his Retainers, what is it about them that embarrasses him or makes him proud and of course their fighting prowess, which impresses him a lot, and anyone that can impress Xander is serious danger in the battlefield so she rather not let Hinoka and Kaze fight them for much longer on their own. She, unfortunately, doesn't get the chance to help, forced to counter a fireball from Odin shot straight at her that she blocks using Yato to take the hit without any damage to it or her but this proved to be a diversion as she is next shot by a killer arrow straight in the right knee by Zero, causing her to fall to the ground in pain.

"Dammit!" Corrin shouted as she is forced to confront the two retainers.

"So, you're the little thorn in our master's side, are you? Normally when he sends me to confront someone it's usually to eliminate said target but both he and their Majesties want you alive, so I'll settle for kicking and screaming, and I sure hope your screams are loud and exhilarating." Zero said viciously, readying another arrow.

"Not another step, oh Fallen One! I am Odin Dark! Warrior chosen by the Darkness. It's a shame that we will have to bring you to your knees as a traitor, Lady Corrin, I had hope that our next meeting would be of one as brother and sister in arms in our glorious pursuit to free our people from the horrid hands of the Black Horseman of Famine but orders are orders. If only you had stayed true to our glorious and noble kingdom." Odin declared dramatically.

"What are you talking about?" Corrin asked, her baffled state somehow dulling the pain in her knee.

"Oh. That's not the reaction I expected." Odin said now speaking with sense but also hurt. "Do you not remember the darkest and most mysterious of heroes?"

"Don't waste your breath Odin, Lord Leo has said so himself that this pathetic woman has a memory as false as the supposed nine lives of a cat, unless she sees us frequently she remembers nobody and we've only conversed with her seven times, which is sadly not enough for her fragile mind." Zero explained to his partner while mocking Corrin.

"Oh, screw you both and Leo's propaganda!" Corrin snapped at them as she tries to get up and pull the arrow out, as naïve as that is without a healer nearby to help, however, she soon stops as she is beginning to feel more pain in more than just her knee, poisoned even.

"Oh, so you only now notice the venom in the tip of my arrow, but don't worry, it's not enough to kill anyone, just make you easier to deliver you to our Demon King." Zero said.

"Zero, you know Lord Leo doesn't like it when he is called that, I don't think the King himself likes to be called that giving how intimidating his scowls are." Odin lectured.

"The old fart always has a scowl on his face, Odin, it's physically impossible for him to smile at this point." Zero stated.

"How in the blazes did Leo recruit you into his service and are still allowed to live?" Corrin questioned after hearing such a bold insult.

"Pure charisma." Zero declared proudly.

"Not even remotely close." Odin objected.

"Mind if we cut in!" Hana shouted as she and Subaki come flying to Corrin's aid, Hana jumping off the Light Pegasus and goes for Odin, at the same time Kagero appears and goes for Zero. Odin reacts in time by using another tome he has with him and releases a gust of wind but on the ground between himself and his partner to propel both of them into the air and away from danger, and simultaneously, Zero fires another arrow at the female ninja, that she narrowly dodges.

As the duo lands back down they engage the three Hoshidans, Odin taking on both Hana and Subaki while Zero takes Kagero.

"Big sister!" Sakura cried as she rushes to Corrin's side and with her hear, Corrin without hesitation removes the arrow off her knee for Sakura to begin healing it. "I'm g-going to need e-xtra help with this." She said as she turns her attention to the water.

"H-Hello… I need a-assistance w-with h-healing, please." Sakura pleaded and immediately two light constructs come out of the water and soon transform into luminously blue gas that merge together into her rod, empowering it as Sakura uses this to heal Corrin's wound and does so spectacularly as the wound is already beginning to close up faster than Sakura has ever been able to heal anyone in her life so far, making Corrin sigh in relief.

"This feels so much better." Corrin said.

"Just hold on a little while longer, taking care of the poison is always the most troublesome." Sakura instructed.

"You're a very sick woman, Rinkah." Hinata protested as he thrust his Rapier down the back of a knight, piercing through the armor and hitting the spine, making the Nohrian gasps in horror and agony as he falls on to the ground in defeat, afterwards the Samurai stabs him through the back of his head, securing the kill. Another knight was going to ambush him from behind as payback, only for Rinkah to stop him by delivering a fire punch to the right abdomen that knocks him out and crashes into an unmounted Paladin and they both fall into the water. None of the Nohrian Units who use mounts are riding horses at the moment so the majority are 'easier' to deal with due to on-foot combat not being their specialty.

"And what pray tell am I so sick about?" Rinkah asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe something to do with all the people being drowned to death." Hinata protested. "Just because these lovers of darkness deserve to be skewered to death starting with their balls, doesn't mean that we should be the ones doing the barbarism. Quick and painless deaths is more than enough punishment and not frightening at all as the common folk might think."

"Well, my fellow whiteheads insisted that we should make any kill we commit as clean and cut as possible." Rinkah scoffed as she grabs a Warlock by her throat and immediately sets her on fire, not paying any mind to her painful screams and leaves her lying on the ground. "And I assure you lots that drowning and setting them on fire are two very clean methods and there's barely any cutting, that's a plus."

"Yeah, and then they replied simultaneously with a ''what is the matter with you''.

"Oh, how is a Samurai even remotely capable of judging when your class is just as immoral and cruel as Ninjas, cleaning up the messes your precious Nobles want out of the public eyes." Rinkah hissed not having any insults thrown her way. "Don't even get me started on the bullshit your clan and Saizo's pulled on Shion!"

"Wow! Wow! Now I know why the other tribes treat you hotheads like Black Sheep. You are just the worse." Hinata mumbled, largely offended by her comments.

"Is now really the time to argue about our morals!" Orochi complained as she sends an Ox Spirit to burn a Bow Knight to death. "Gods dammit, guys, we're so close to ending this madness and get back home as heroes."

"I'm just saying, even in war we should try to maintain a level that's more humane." Hinata insisted.

"No, we don't!" Rinkah shouted as she bashes the skull of another Bow Knight.

Azura confronts seven fighters alongside Oboro and Azama while being provided cover by Saizo and Setsuna, which would've gone smoother but the Songstress right now has two different major problems to deal with, one being that Azura greatly dislikes Azama, like everyone else, as well as Saizo for how rude they are which makes it tempting for her to let out her ''Inner Nohrian'', as Takumi used to call it back when he distrusted her, and give them a piece of her mind now that so much adrenaline is pumping in her veins and despite working together very nicely the team can't help but bicker amongst themselves as usual. And then there's the biggest issue that if not for the adrenaline Azura would've lost the will to fight sooner as seeing her mother again caused her will to show cracks, her face indicates distraught, that Azama quickly notices and at first makes a brief insulting joke about her and her Nohrian family before he starts to show a more surprising concerning attitude.

"You know the internal struggle would be ''easier'' to bear if you stick to the sidelines and provide support with your singing as Robin instructed." Azama suggested while getting behind a Berserker and hitting him on the back of his right knee, making him fall down to be impaled in the throat by Oboro's naginata. Followed by a Bow Knight firing at Oboro but spectacularly, Setsuna intercepts it by shooting her own arrow which clashes and cancels both shots out, Saizo then goes in and shoots that archer down with a shuriken to the neck.

"No! I have to do this!" Azura argued as she pushes forward.

"Fool." Saizo whispered in annoyance, lacking confidence in her resolve while trying to remain by her side so that she doesn't get herself killed or captured, which is getting increasingly harder as Nohrians tend to be at their most savage when backed into a corner and are inclined not to hold back if they're going to die anyway, like a lion frustrated about being caged for so long and will soon get the chance to claim it's vengeance, something each of them are used to by now but it's still a hassle to go through, especially now that they have to deal with Nohr's elite, as Saizo and Oboro face off against Silas and Benny and while not as fast are proving to be rather bulky, Benny especially as he is certainly backing them into a corner, and it only gets worse as Charlotte rushes in and breaks Oboro's naginata with a ridiculous amount of strength that leaves the Spear Master baffled, putting them all in a brief standstill as they back away from each other.

"You're Silas." Azura said recognizing the young knight.

"And you're our stolen princess, influenced by the enemy to stand against us. Princess Azura. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't recognize you back at Fort Jinya despite your resemblance to the Queen." Silas proclaimed. "At last, the time has come for you and Corrin to come home."

"Don't make this harder than it has to be Milady. Your mother awaits." Benny insisted with compassion, unbefitting of his rough voice.

"N-No… I-I can't. I…" Azura nearly loses her usual composure that everyone knows her so well for, overtaken with strong mix feelings, unsure on what to do now with her loyalty rifted between Hoshido and Nohr.

'Is this… how Corrin felt when she was forced to choose…?'

"Get your head in the game!" Hayato shouted as he leaps into the boat and fires several wind blades at the enemy trio, who still manage to safely avoid the attacks and immediately receive aid from nearby Warlocks that create barriers to defend themselves and the knights but only a few of them actually manage to block the hits while the rest are destroyed rather easily and blow some of them into the water and Hayato lands right next to Azura. "No use in feeling down now!"

"Hayato watch out!" Azura cried out as she notices Charlotte who held her own better than most and rushes behind the boy and swings her Axe at him, though Hayato manages to block the blow with a wind shield but the woman's strength is too great that it's enough to knock him to the ground anyway.

"Seriously! How can anyone fight like that?!" Hayato uttered blushing madly at the sight of what the female Fighter is wearing, making Azura and Oboro scowl at the boy's sorry state.

"Oh, you like what you see, little boy." The Blonde Fighter said in a playful tone. "Naughty boys shouldn't be pulling bad stunts like this. You need to be taught a lesson."

"W-W-What are you getting at!" Hayato uttered. Benny then steps in behind the woman to shield her from arrows fired at her from her back by Setsuna.

"Please, you mustn't speak in such a manner to him, Charlotte. He is just a boy." The Man lectured with dismay.

"Oh, hush Benny, not like these pests don't have it coming." She hissed. "Someone grab the girl!"

"I don't think so." Robin said as he creates chains of magical energy from his palms to wrap around Azura and pull her away as that side of the danger zone is getting worse with more Light Soldiers and Nohrians moving in and Azura may prove to get in the way with her current state and drops her in another boat close to the one he's in while he's fighting Xander, just as the Crown Prince goes to deliver a horizontal slash at the Tactician to cleave him in two, but Robin reacts fast enough to fly away to avoid the Sword of the Timeless King. Xander however, manages to grab him by his leg and using all his might slams Robin on to the ground, pinning him down so that he can stab him with Siegfried, but Robin again counters fast enough as he shoots a lightning bolt at Xander's chest, not enough magic to hurt him too much and mainly push him back, right at the edge of the boat but surprisingly, the Crown Prince doesn't look hurt at all, not even flinching with the electricity absorbed into his armor.

'Of course, his armor has been enchanted with Anti-Magic defense, same with Garon and Leo no doubt, and if what Corrin told me is true, his sword Siegfried grants his body near invulnerability when he's carrying it and it's out of its sheath. Either way, I'll have to use much more power to break through.' Robin thought. The Tactician is then forced to fly away to avoid incoming fireballs at him from his right as another combatant enters the fight, and it is Arete.

"Your Majesty." Robin muttered in a poor attempt to greet the Queen.

"Robin. Always a pleasure." Arete greeted before turning to her stepson. "You've rushed in foolishly Xander, it's easy to tell that you can't beat him with brute force alone."

"I need no one's help mother, I'll execute this traitor alone." Xander declared.

"Can't take any chances with this one if the reports of Kurosaki hold truth, he needs to be handled accordingly." Arete said, wielding a different tome to strike Robin down alongside Xander.

"Mother… don't do it. He has nothing to do with this!" Azura pleaded with her mother to not fight Robin.

"Azura, at long last you've returned to us, and yet you still feel so far away." Xander said with mix feelings upon laying eyes on his lost stepsister again. "It's clear that Hoshido's hold on you is too tight."

"Yes, this is not the reunion I had longed for, and it seems I have no choice but to discipline you as well as Corrin." Arete said now with sadness. "Using the holy song of our homeland that I have taught you as a tool to enslave your own family when it is meant to appease the masses of any sinister intent. I did not think Hoshido would be so callous."

"I… I had no choice. It was to end this war as swiftly as possible!" Azura muttered, trembling some more. "I… don't want our nations to destroy each other but Father crossed the line."

"So even you believe that your father killed Sumeragi. I see." Arete scoffed. "So be it then, it's time to go home."

"Yes, but first we must dispose of him!" Xander roared and he thrust his sword at Robin and from it he fires a violent stream of dark energy that Robin has no time to dodge and blocks with a barrier. Arete joins in firing her own dark magic attack, the combination of the two makes it harder for Robin's barrier to hold as it starts to show cracks.

"Robin!" Azura cried in horror, not sure of what she can do, if she sings again, Arete will just cancel her out and she isn't at a level of combat that she can be of use to Robin.

With Elise, who could do no more than watch the battle unfold up until now but even she is not spared from the conflict, two shurikens are fired straight at her retainer Effie but Arthur notices the incoming threat and blocks them with his silver ax.

"Reveal yourself at once villain! What kind of heathen would dare raise their blade near a defenseless maiden! Step forward and face justice!" Arthur demanded with his ax ready for combat with six other knights standing guard, while Effie keeps Elise close, her shield in front of the Princess while she is also close to the Pink Knight's chest. A few Light Samurais step forward and engage the defending Nohrians.

"Change of plans, we don't know how many more are out there so it's best you leave Milady and make your way to the Warlocks." Effie instructed to the little princess, as she and her allies can barely fight in the small area they are in now, especially if they have Elise to protect.

"Okay. Be safe you guys." Elise pleaded as she gets behind her knight and picks up something she brought along with her for the ride that looks like a pitch-dark backpack for her size that has a bone-like mask plate with Grimm markings and a single yellow eye at the center of it. The whole thing gives an ominous sensation that it is not something a little girl as colorful as Elise should have but then again she doesn't have a problem with being surrounded by monsters so it shouldn't be a surprise. As she places the two straps on her shoulders, she begins to climb to the balcony to jump.

Elise is halted as a Light Ninja rushes inside faster than any of the Nohrians could react and catches Elise by one of her long pigtails, aiming to not just capture the King but all the royals if possible.

"Hey, watch the hair!" Elise cried while she struggles to resist and the construct is unable to capture her as a demonic black arm with a skeletal forearm and sharp fingernails like talons come out of her backpack, grabs the construct's arm and tears it off with its talons. The ninja is then forced to confront Effie who angrily thrusts her spear at it, while it succeeds in evading the blade, it is unable to avoid the second hit as Effie hits it by the temple with her shield, bashing him to the wall, and is then stabbed through the head by her spear, destroying it.

Freed, Elise jumps off the balcony and falls down straight towards the pool and battle going on below.

"Time to take to the skies, Bucky!" Elise declared to seemingly no one and a pair of black wings like the ones of a raven or crow manifest from the backpack and the Princess starts to fly, at first heading towards her parents but upon seeing the fighting going on, firstly the one Leo is having against Takumi and Lilith with the Hoshidan Prince and Astral Dragon who remain with the aerial advantage against the Dark Prince, she ultimately decides to involve herself.

"Change of plans again, Bucky, we're joining this fight." Elise declared as she rushes to the fight, towards the Princes.
Whichever is the real one means little to Nohr's Second Prince, only that he must finish what he started in the First Battle. Leo creates a large tree around himself to serve as his shield, the magical wood way thicker than steel that it usually serves as a perfect defense but against Takumi, there always seems to be a breach of three hundred, and it is now more apparent with two of him as they keep rapidly firing with only a matter of time before they break through, but all Leo needed was enough time to cast another spell one strong enough to hit both targets as he summons two large wood-like, sharp stalagmites from below both targets.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to!" The Takumi on the ground said as he anticipated what he might be cooking up in there as he points his Skadi on the ground and once fired, the arrow creates a purplish twister that blows him into the air to safely land on another boat while the stalagmite misses it's target but destroys the boat, and as for the one for the real Takumi and Lilith, it also misses it's target as Lilith flies them out of the way.

"Little pests." Leo hissed.

"Better safe than sorry." Lilith said regarding her stunt. Lilith then briefly looks to her left and gasps upon seeing the youngest Princess of Nohr with wings heading towards them. "Lady Elise!"

"You have got to be kidding." Takumi uttered just as surprised to see Elise flying but soon turns to shock when those wings of hers begin to morph and change into eight large and sharp spider legs. "What in the God Damn Hells!" He shouted, horrified as Elise comes in and launches her spider legs at the barrier, and her attack actually creates cracks on Lilith's barrier, possibly because of Lilith losing focus due to her surprise of the unorthodox attack.

"That's a good little sister." Leo praised as he fires another powerful beam at the duo, with Elise backing away with her wings returning and Leo aims for the cracks on the barrier, finally shattering it as Takumi and Lilith fall down on the same boat Leo is in but Skadi falls into the water and this seems to have an effect on the clone as the other Takumi vanishes into thin air.

"Well, that twin thing felt short-lived," Takumi mumbled.

"Hope you enjoyed the ride." Leo smirked as he prepares to fire again at point-blank at Takumi.

"Lord Takumi!" Lilith cried out with her Dragonstone starting to glow and from it comes out a sword made of clear crystal that lands on Takumi's left hand, with the Prince not thinking twice about using it against his Nemesis, swinging it right at Leo's hand that is surging with the dark magic he was going to fire on him, dispelling the magic and forcing the Dark Prince to back away. Lilith then makes her way to the water, no doubt to recover Skadi.

"This one is all mine, Elise, fly to safety." Leo instructed with Elise reluctantly listening, though she does not go where he instructed. Takumi goes forward and continues the fight with Leo at close range with Leo force to fight by channeling magic into his right arm entirely, increasing its density enough to resist the sharp blade and parry but he can barely keep up. Despite being a Dark Knight, Leo regrettably never took swordsmanship to heart like Odin or the rest of the order who are known for being more adaptable in combat than any other unit in the Nohrian Army. Odin is arguably stronger than him if it wasn't for his Brynhildr.

His father and brother often criticize him for this flaw and question his place in the Dark Knight Order and why should he take the role of leader as the Dark Crusader, especially whenever Xander caught him lecturing Corrin about her inability to use magic, unlike the rest of the family as Xander could also be a warlock but is simply too much of a swordsman at heart to rely on magic as much as his family. Takumi on the other hand, while he is clearly better suited as just an archer, he has extra training as a samurai in case of being forced in close quarters combat, probably knows hand to hand as well, something Leo also lacks, and so has a great advantage against him. But that doesn't mean that Leo is the lesser of the two.

"Uh-oh, Bucky, we got troubles of our own." Elise said as the Hoshidan's aerial unit spot Elise and begin to pursue her though not with the intent to kill, just capture and they begin by trying to surround her, thankfully the Princess' Winged friend is much faster as they are able to evade their pursuers but not for much longer.

"Protect the Princess!" One of the Nohrian Archers shouted as they provide cover fire to allow Elise to fully escape but this came at a cost as they left themselves open for the grounded light soldiers to overpower and subdue them.

"Well, that just won't do." Elise huffed and from the backpack, a Grimm arm comes off carrying a tome and presents it to her.

"Moonlight!" Elise enchanted her spell, firing several gray beams at the light soldiers but it doesn't seem to hurt them but rather absorbs them into Elise's spell, giving some of her soldiers a fighting chance.

"Thank you, Princess." One of the Knights said in gratitude.

"All in a day's work." Elise winks as she starts to use her Healing Staff that she never seems to travel anywhere without, on the wounded.

"You're all better now." Sakura said as he finishes healing Corrin's knee.

"Thank you, Sakura." Corrin said not bothering to rest while the fighting is going on and gets back on her feet, good as new. She witnessed the fight with Kagero, Hana and Subaki against Odin and Zero with Kagero fairing a lot better against the Adventurer, evading his arrows and then kicks him straight in the face, knocking him down.

"Odin! I could use a cold hand here!" Zero called to his partner for assistance, who's holding his own better against the other two retainers.

"Say no more, my one-eyed reaper. Behold! This is Fimbulvetr!" Odin cast a powerful chilling wind spell that hits only the three Hoshidans, knocking Subaki off his Pegasus and forcing the two women on the ground, giving Zero the advantage he needs as he fires another arrow at Kagero, this time with her unable to defend herself but Corrin steps in and blocks the arrow to save Kagero.

"Oh, look who finally decided to join the party. What happened, spine cringed at the last second over the thought of striking down your own family at the behest of your hardly known ''real'' family. I never believed Hoshidans to be the spineless vermin my Prince claimed them to be, he is known for grossly exaggerating when angered but it seems he was correct all along if they managed to warped you this much so soon." Zero's repeated taunts are really reaching Corrin's limits.

"SHUT UP!" She snapped and charges in recklessly.

"Milady, don't let him get under your skin!" Kagero pleaded but it falls on deaf ears as Corrin wildly swings at Zero but despite the ferocity, the Retainer is quicker and evades three of the Dragon Princess's swings, and upon avoiding the third swing, Zero picks up a dagger he carries with him and uses it to literally stab Corrin in the back, making her shout in pain but that doesn't stop her as she tries to make a fourth swing but again fails to hit as Zero makes a backflip and readies to fire again as Corrin removes the dagger from her back and resumes to fight.

"Corrin!" Elise cried out to her from above, her voice is like music to Corrin as she cannot help herself but look up to see her little sister again while she is in the air, with wings that make her look like a delicate little Angel of Darkness. How and why did she suddenly grow wings is beyond Corrin at this point since the revelation of the Grimm but at the same time she can't bring herself to care and just stares at her aimlessly not sure of what to say to her.

"Elise…" Is all she is able to say before getting shot in the back by a dark sphere of Leo that knocks her to the ground.

"You are no longer fit to even look at my sister, Hoshidan." Leo cursed, his antagonism towards Corrin intensified following her abandonment.

"Eyes on me, dickhead!" Takumi warned as he thrust his blade at Leo's chest that he is able to block by firing a dark shockwave to push Takumi back and near Lilith who returns with Skadi.

"Takumi!" Lilith shouted as she telekinetically throws the bow back to the Prince.

"I don't think so!" Leo yelled as he traps the two of them in a magical sphere and then slams them down right below the pool, violently enough to leave cracks on the floor and make Takumi lose his footing, falling down. "Next time keep your damn mouth shut when engaging, pineapple head."

"It's always something with Dark Mages!" He cursed.

"This will be a hassle to get out of, and… there's no oxygen." Lilith muttered as she barely realized Leo's true intentions and already begins to bust them out.

"Why do I only ever remember to do that when I'm backed into a corner?" Leo lectured himself.

"Leo, what did you just do to our Corrin?!" Elise demanded naively as if the hostility doesn't make sense.

"You only bring yourself harm by not yet realizing the severity of Corrin's situation, Elise." Leo scoffed at his sister's childish innocence.

"Leo…" Corrin muttered in anguish, forcing herself to stand up as Sakura, Hana, Subaki, Kagero, Kaze and Hinoka regroup with her while Leo, Odin, Zero, Peri and Laslow surround them, neither side having a clear winner yet.

"Well, I got to say that you guys have been truly blessed to have lasted this long, quite the renowned tactic you got, though I'm not surprised giving who's on your team." Laslow praised, and beside him is his partner who makes a girly chuckle in excitement.

"This is so much fun! This night is turning out so great but there is still not blood in their eyes!" Peri laughed in complete amusement. "Your uncle really is a genius, Laslow."

"Uncle…" Corrin repeated confused.

"Now is not really the time, Peri." Laslow said a bit nervously.

"We rather there be blood on your eyes!" Hana shouted, incapable of giving up with how riled up she is.

"I listen to her if I were you, samurai." Leo advised as he is about to cast another dark spell.

"Hey, ah, sis, don't take this the wrong way and I know you hate the other side of you right now but we could really use a bigger shield while our troops are on their way." Hinoka advised Corrin.

"I rather wait longer but when do I get what I want." Corrin uttered as Leo traps them in an identical but bigger sphere without oxygen to trap the Hoshidans but once Corrin enters her Dragon Form she merely rams herself into it, easily shattering it and freeing her allies and the shockwaves knock Leo to the ground, worse he drops Brynhildr as it falls into the water.

"Gods Dammit!" Leo cursed.

"Don't worry Milord, I'll get it for you." Odin swore as he is about to jump into the water but stops once Light Soldiers start coming out of it and surround the Nohrians. "On second thought, I've never been a swimming person."

"Well, the tables have turned nonchalantly." Laslow muttered.

"Aw, C'mon! No fair!" Peri cried. "These things don't even bleed. That's not right!"

"It's over Leo." Corrin said, already declaring victory on her brother, in which he just shrugs.

"How many times have I and Xander taught you to never declared victory until you know the enemy is not getting back up." Leo lectured. "Has acquiring the power to turn into a Dragon like our ancestors really made you even more naive?"

"A lesson you yourself never took to heart either seeing how full of yourself you've always been, little brother." Corrin countered.

"Yeah, you tell 'em, Milady." Hana boasted.

"I be more concern on other matters, like the fact that your replacement brother is sleeping with a fish right now." Leo mocked.

"The ''replacement'' is fine!" Takumi shouted as he and Lilith are freed and breathed in some air after such a close call. "And how about I show you what this pineapple head can really do!"

"And I'm not a fish!" Lilith cried.

"Why does she sound so familiar?" Peri asked confused.

"Corrin…" Elise uttered, unable to look away from the dragon Corrin has become but now there is only fear.

"Elise, wait. Don't be afraid." Corrin pleaded, picking up on the look on her face quickly. She takes one step closer to her as a Dragon and Elise's wings flap once to keep away from her, and from her backpack, the Grimm's arm comes out again, carrying a small transparent sphere with an orange liquid within.

"Drop it, Bucky." Elise whispered and the Grimm obeys, dropping the sphere and once it touches the water, it breaks with the orange liquid turning into a blazing infernal that spreads through most of the large pool, alarming everyone fighting and damaging many of the Light Soldiers, but not so much as destroy especially once they are all forced out of the water.

"Odin!" Leo commanded as his Retainer casts a strong wind from Fimbulvetr to blow himself, Leo, Zero, Peri and Laslow into the air and to safety with Elise following them.

"What is this?" Corrin shouted.

"Seafire. A special flammable substance that creates fire magic immune to water and spreads once it makes contact with any kind of liquid." Kaze explained as their group keeps away from the edge as the boat they are in is burning up fast, luckily Lilith swoops in and flies them to safety with a bigger barrier to carry them out. "Ever since the Grimm came into the picture it was discovered that their bodies could be harness into energy to siphon, the Nohrians have been able to use this ''dark divine'' power to perform fruitful experiments to forge all manner of never before seen magic tools so surreal but among the new weapons they've been building there are so far only prototypes."

"If this is a prototype, I hate to see the real deal." Takumi hissed.

"Elise, who gave you permission to even carry a vile of Seafire? Certainly not Xander or I, and certainly not father or mother." Leo demanded to his sister agitated, while they are all at a safe distance from the fighting for now and glances Odin a brief dirty and suspicious glare, making the Warlock Swordsman/unofficial Dark Knight nervous.

"Hey, how about a thank you instead, I just flew us out of danger!" Elise protested indignantly.

"What, you want a hug and some cupcakes while I'm at it." Leo scuffed. "What have we told you about messing around with our stuff. It's unbearable enough father ordered we do something so stupid like let you keep our first prototype for the experimental Geist-infused Gearapack. I didn't have that built for your amusement."

"You're a jerk, Leo, and now I'm not going to help you pick up your stupid book." Elise pouted, about to cry.

"I don't need your help, the Geist on your pack will go and get my Sacred Treasure out of the infernal you created right this instant." Leo demanded with the Grimm arm coming out again and about to stretch far to get Brynhildr back from the burning pool.

"Bucky no! You're not helping Leo with anything." Elise countered with the Grimm listening to her instead and the arm retracts back into the pack.

"You gave it a name. What did father and I tell you about treating them like they're your pets." Leo scolded.

"You can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with." Elise argued.

"You can't be friends with monsters Elise, they're not people."

"They're more people than you."

"In what sense?"

"At least Bucky has an excuse for being cold and… and… Hoshidan." Elise tried to make a proper comeback but came up blank, not that she didn't succeed in offending Leo while making the four Retainers beside them feel uncomfortable, minus for Zero who is very amused.

"Are we supposed to be offended by that?" Hinoka asked nonchalantly as they overhear the silly argument.

"I don't think we should because this is actually adorable." Takumi said with a sincere smile.

"She does seem too pure for this world like our precious Sakura." Hana added.

"I suggest we ignore them, as dangerous as they are they'll be held back guarding a defenseless Prince Leo as of now." Kaze suggested.

"Yes, please." Corrin pleaded as Lilith flies them off elsewhere.

The climax of this battle draws near with so few Nohrians left with only the strongest remaining, Robin's plan is nearly done, not that it's getting any easier, in fact it's getting harder for the Hoshidans, especially after Elise set the pool on fire and destroying so many of the boats but since it hasn't spread completely, there are still boats to stand on and the Nohrians are now just as wild as lions.

Speaking of Robin, despite Lilith's claims of his low amount of magic, the Tactician remains facing against Xander and Arete alone on near equal ground, with this being arguably the most ferocious fight of this battlefield, behind the one Garon and Reina are having, which actually looks more ferocious. The clash of swords echoes across the Opera House and Xander lets loose the tremendous dark powers of his Great Sacred Treasure with Robin holding off each swing better than even the Crown Prince expected he would. The two have had some sparring sessions in the Northern Fortress, simply competing for sports and getting to know each other as they possibly can with Robin's memory loss and while both have held back a lot, Robin always seemed to be struggling to keep up even then but now it seems that the Mage Fighter was holding back even more than Xander ever did even when training Corrin, and he still isn't using his second Levin Sword.

'Only by channeling my mana into the Levin Sword to increase its density can I hold my own against Siegfried, most weapons shatter to pieces after even one hit from a Sacred Treasure but even that might not be enough.' Robin bemused as he blocks another hit from Xander that nearly pushes him off the edge of the boat they are fighting on and then dodges another by leaping and getting behind him and prepares to counterattack from the back but Arete stops him by creating magic chains of her own to strap them around Robin's arms, stopping his assault on Xander and pulls him away from him, though Robin resists and stands his ground.

Xander takes this opportunity to strike him while he's trapped, however Robin pulls harder to rush back in time so Xander instead hits Arete's chains, instantly destroying them, Robin then proceeds to make another hit on Xander by channeling power into his left fist to punch him in the face but Arete stops him by summoning a black magic circle below his feet that erupts with a burst of darkness that blast Robin away from Xander, while the Great Prince received no form of damage from the explosion and Robin falls into another boat with Xander in pursuit.

"I'll make you wish we had left you bloodied and near death in that open field!" Xander swore as he goes forward, the two counter each other by each using their open hand to grab their sword arm, locking each other in a stalemate, though Xander has his sword near Robin's neck, inches away from putting at least a scratch on him.

"What did you do to her?!" Xander demanded with hate in his voice as he tries to force Robin to his knees.

"Nothing you yourself didn't see coming once she learned the truth." Robin replied strongly but there was no harshness as he musters up more strength than the Crown Prince can prepare for as the Tactician pushes him aside, knocking him to the ground and made him drop Siegfried to the water. Robin then flies off to the air to fire his next attack as he finally calls forth his second Levin Sword from Morgenstern, he's been careful on not using his more offensive magic against Xander since it would prove useless against him anyway but with Siegfried out of the way for now, he could overtax the Anti-Magic armor with both magic swords so the time to let loose is now to hopefully temporarily paralyze Xander. Before he does so he spares a brief glance at the rest of the battlefield while in the air and notices his comrades overpower what remains of the Nohrians. Corrin faces off against the remaining Rangers while in dragon form but one of them manages to sneak behind her and is about to attack with the use of a Wyrmslayer.

That could end badly as that sword was designed to kill dragons like their sister species, forcing Robin to intervene and shoot a lightning bolt from one of his swords directly at the Ranger, blasting him away from his Princess. This, however, proves fatal for the Tactician as he is left wide open.

"Xander!" Arete called out to Xander as she recovers Siegfried with a magic chain and returns it to her son before she grabs Robin by his leg with the same chain and with impressive force manages to force the White Mage down and crashes into the boat. This is the chance Xander craved as he leaps towards the briefly helpless Robin and swings his sword down on him while channeling more power from his Sacred Sword. Fortunately for Robin, Azura interferes as she manages to tackle Robin and drags them both out of the boat and into the water, escaping Xander's attack as he creates a small but still devastating dark explosion that destroys the boat and blows the Crown Prince safely near Arete.

"AZURA!" Arete cried out in a panic over perhaps her daughter being caught in the explosion but thankfully both Azura and Robin come out unscathed.

"I thought you were just a skinny little thing." Robin joked and complimented over her latest stunt.

"Dragon adrenaline. Told you I had it too." Azura smiled back. The moment is cut short with Arete sending more magic chains after them with Robin responding by dragging himself and Azura back underwater as he swims, or rather ''flies'' them to safety with the chains closing in but they only succeed in snatching the pendant from Azura's neck, to the Songstress's horror as she tries to catch it but is too late as the pendant returns to its original owner.

"Dammit, I only got half of my dearest treasure back." Arete cursed. "No matter, at least now I can put a stop to this lunacy." She said, planning to use the pendant's power to subdue the Hoshidans.

Once they are far away, Robin pulls himself and Azura out of the water.

"We have to stop her; she's going to use the pendant on our friends." Azura warned while Xander remains on guard to make sure none stops Arete.

"We'll see about that." Robin objected, while at the same time someone else says the same thing, startling both him and Azura.

"Who… said that?"

"We're not alone." Robin narrowed his eyes.

Corrin ceases her march alongside her allies upon hearing a very irritating ringing sound that hurts her ears, making her squeal in minor pain.

"Milady, what's wrong?" Kaze asked, noticing her remain in the back.

"Where is that noise coming from?" Corrin asked covering her right ear with her right hand, or where Kaze can only assume is her ear because if she thought her human appearance is strange than she clearly hasn't seen her own reflection while in her alternative form because everything about her, especially her mask face is just odd, in a fascinating way of course, but odd still.

"What noise do you mean?" Kaze asked, not hearing what she is referring to.

"The ringing, can't you hear it?!" Corrin said louder, lowering her head on the floor to use both her hands to cover her ears but nothing's working. "It's like my head is about to burst."

"B-Big sister, I'll help you." Sakura said as she goes to heal Corrin of her pain but the moment she lifts her rod, the healing tool starts to heat up so quickly that it burns the young priestess's hands, forcing her to release it as she cries out.

"Sakura!" Hinoka shouted as she holds on to her sister and notices how badly burned her hands are. "What the hell is going on?"

"What Warlock dared do that to Sakura?" Hana demanded in vengeful outrage.

"That couldn't have been the Nohrians, most of their Mages are dead and the remaining few are busy getting slaughtered." Subaki said.

"Help her Lilith! Damn it all, we're so close for any unwelcome surprises now." Takumi growled in turmoil.

"You've gotten slower old man; I remember you being much more tenacious back in the day." Reina said exasperatedly while breathing a little heavily as her fight with Garon continues, though, aside from the several scratches to his armor and the blood coming out of his forehead, Garon doesn't look all that worn out.

"Always barking more than biting, I see. As enjoyable as this little dance is, I rather get this foolishness over with." Garon said sternly.

"That all depends on you, your forces are outnumbered and outmatched with only your family and most loyal attack dogs holding their own but not for much longer so you might as well call it quits." Reina advised, causing Garon to make a menacing chuckle.

"Outnumbered? That's a frequent annoyance in my profession but outmatched? Foolish Sky Devil of Hoshido, you have forgotten how I despise to be underestimated. It seems I have to remind you of that grim fate all over again." He warned as his body begins to surge with a darkly purple aura.

"Bring it on, old fool. You know I can take anything you can dish out." Reina dared.

"No, Reina, you can do no such thing anymore." Garon countered as he goes to make one last show of strength that should end this battlefield in his favor.

Corrin is getting worse as her screeching can be heard across most of the Opera House and becoming more monstrous by the second.

"Corrin, just listen to my voice, we'll get you out of whatever is going on, I promise." Lilith assured her but Corrin may have not heard her at all.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Corrin cried and from her body black miasma surges through her and from her mouth she fires a water geyser at no target in mind, spreading destruction on her right and takes out most of the flames Elise wrought. It's easy for her allies to tell that she isn't doing this wisely with no clear motive, she even stated it herself that she has no idea how her breath attack actually works, like every other of her dragonic abilities apart from her enhanced prowess.

Her blast draws closer to Arete and Xander to strike them but the Crown Prince steps forward to defend his mother and blocks the deathly water with Siegfried, and while he does succeed in blocking Corrin's assault, the water does get cut into multiple, smaller beams that spread wildly everywhere and hit his foes and allies alike, among the former are just the constructs while with the latter, Garon is among them, who's big move is interrupted as he gets hit with a straight blast that his armor could barely defend and is knocked to the ground but not out just yet.

"So much for your big move." Reina scoffed.

"Corrin!" Xander growled in outrage, quickly assuming that she meant to attack them and clearly hasn't caught on yet to what he indirectly has done to his father alongside Corrin. "I am ending this now!" He declared before falling to his knees upon hearing the same ringing sound that is driving Corrin mad and with pain.

"Xander." Arete uttered, upon seeing him in such a state before succumbing to the same horrid sound.

"Am I seeing things or is Prince Xander and Queen Arete looking like they're hearing the same ''ringing'' sound as Corrin?" Subaki asked, noticing the state of the two, before turning to see Takumi and Hinoka looking like their ears, or heads are in pain. "Oh, Gods…"

"W-What's happening to them?" Sakura cried in horror in seeing her siblings succumb to the same painful state.

"I… I don't know." Lilith uttered not sure herself what's going on.

"Lord Leo!" Zero shouted as he holds on to his Prince who is also suffering from the same condition while Odin is tending to Elise and using a Vulnerary on her hands, due to suffering the same fate as Sakura's burned hands when she tried to use her staff on Leo.

"Is everyone slowly losing their minds?" Peri asked, witnessing most of the Royals in the battlefield ally and foe alike going nuts.

"It's epically hypocritical coming from you but it really does look like everyone with Dragon Blood is being assaulted by some unseen force." Laslow suggested, coming up with a few reasons for what this could be.

"But then why aren't I going through the same thing?" Elise muttered in distress by what's happening. "Father seems alright too."

"Well…" Laslow tries to come up with an answer but is stopped once more Light Soldiers pop up and attack them, one of them fires two arrows at Elise's back, damaging her Grimm backpack and causing her wings to dissipate and she would've fallen harshly on the floor if Odin wasn't close enough to hold on to her in time and quickly moves her to his back to defend her from the incoming assailants.

"Bucky!" Elise cried out to her Grimm but there was no sort of response from it, signaling its demise.

"Of all the rotten luck." Zero cursed as he tries to reach for one of his arrows to fire but fails to do so as he instead must push Leo out of the way as an Oni Savage rushes in and sucker punches the Adventurer out of the boat. In retaliation, Peri furiously assaults that same Construct by ramming herself at it, pinning it to the ground and starts to mercilessly stab it repeatedly with Soldier's Knives she always keeps with her but rarely ever gets a chance to use them.

"Zero!" Leo yelled out to his Retainer while it's up to Laslow to protect the Prince as his sword morphs again and this time into a majestic ax and uses it to break the naginata of a Spear Fighter before cutting open the head. "Dammit… to be reduced to such a feeble state." He cursed as he forces himself up his feet and extends his hand towards the Light Soldiers Laslow is fighting against for his safety and fires a dark energy sphere mix with lightning at his targets, consuming most of them.

"Lord Leo, you know the use of Tomeless Magic is incredibly risky to the body of a mage." Laslow warned over Leo doing something as risky as channeling his magic power without a conduit to support his body's endurance from the stress.

"Desperate times, Sir Laslow." Leo hissed as he fires another dark attack that's way more powerful than the previous one that it even vaporizes most of the soldiers assaulting Odin and Elise, and as Laslow warned using magic without a tome starts to weight him down much faster than usual, combined with the intense headache, he only succeeded in worsening things for himself as he begins to become clouded by a burning rage he's been suppressing ever since he saw Corrin again.

Corrin can no longer contain this madden state she's experiencing as she lets loose, raising both her arms upwards before violently slamming them to the ground, releasing a powerful black shockwave that results in a powerful explosion that knocks all nearby down, including those from Leo and Elise's side with many getting blown into the water, which is the worse place to be in right now as Corrin also creates a large and deep hole, probably goes as far as the sewers that begin to suck everything and everyone nearby in it, with the Hoshidans and Nohrians doing all they can to avoid being sucked in, such as jumping from one boat to another to get as far away as possible as is the case with Laslow, Peri and Zero, take to the sky as most of the Hoshidans receive aid from their aerial support and using magic to keep themselves airborne with wind magic, however not everyone is so lucky to receive aid, such as the two youngest Princesses who draw closer to the hole with no way to save themselves.

"SAKURA!" Hana cried out as she like the rest of the Nohrians and Hoshidans try their best to rush to their aid, though Leo makes it to them first, using the tomeless version of wind magic to levitate towards his sister and manages to grab not only Elise but Sakura surprisingly as well.

"ODIN!" Leo shouted to the nearest ally and throws both Princesses with enough force away from the hole for them to be caught by Odin, but Leo, now too low on stamina ended up falling into the hole instead and just in time with the last of the water to be sucked in as well.

"MILORD!" Odin and Zero cried out to their Master and Prince as he vanishes into the hole.

"LEO!" Garon, Xander, Elise and Arete cried out in even more horror.

None are able to rush to the Prince's aid as Corrin continues with her berserk rampage, such as grabbing Odin just as he was about to jump into the hole and throws aside, crashing right into Zero who was about to do the same as they violently crash into the ground with Laslow and Peri rushing to their aid.

"ODIN!" Elise cried out to the Warlock, just as her Retainer Arthur swoops in and drags her away from the feral Corrin who makes another violent roar that creates a shockwave that blows Sakura several feet away but with no harm to her.

The remaining Nohrians gather around the Royal Family to defend them against the now out of control Corrin as she sets her sights now on Garon and she fires another water blast at the King, that he and the few other remaining warlocks are able to block by creating a magic barrier around themselves, though it does hold on well upon impact, Corrin is still able to push them a few feet back and the barrier won't hold on for long, that is until Xander rushes in on his defense and fires the strongest dark energy blast he can muster from Siegfried directly at Corrin that proves sufficient enough to blast her to the ground, saving his father again, as he ceases the barrier.

Xander does not hesitate to charge directly at Corrin again but Robin gets in the way and fires a blast of wind to push him away from her but the Crown Prince resists rather well, but not against Kaze who makes the next attack through a surprise kick to the face, knocking him to the ground, allowing the two to rush to their Princess along with the others who regroup with the exception of Azura who gets caught by Charlotte.

"Going somewhere, traitor!" The Female Fighter sneered.

"No!" Azura shouted while struggling to free herself but she is unsurprisingly frail in comparison to Charlotte.

"Azura!" Takumi yelled as he immediately attempts to save her by firing an arrow straight at Charlotte's head, however, she is saved by Xander who fires another beam from his sword that destroys the arrow while it was three feet away from her, enabling her to forcefully drag the Songstress back with the rest of the remaining Nohrians.

"Dammit, this ringing sound in my head is worsening!" Rinkah protested as she and Hayato are in the same state as Takumi and Hinoka, who continue to suffer from the same headaches but the four are holding on much better than Corrin, and Robin can only conclude that this is intentional somehow.

"This… anger, growing inside my head, desperately trying to crawl out and destroy." Takumi mumbled as he is starting to lose focus and give in to the ringing and it's not just the Descendants of the Dragons as Robin also begins to notice that the rest of his comrades are starting to look strange with bits of black miasma coming out of them and even a faint glow of red in their eyes, with the exception of himself, Lilith and Sakura looking fine. And he's also starting to notice the same symptoms from the Nohrians.

"Anger? Oh crap…" Robin uttered, coming up with one horrid conclusion. "Gods dammit!"

"What is it?" Lilith asked.

"We need to leave. Get as far away from this place as possible!" Robin ordered out of the blue, earning gasps from everyone.

"What are you on about, don't you see how close we are to winning this!" Takumi protested.

"Forget about Garon! We're the ones who are trapped!" Robin argued and would've continued to press forward until Corrin gets back up and is about to proceed with her rampage, forcing Robin to get in the way and block her path. "Corrin! Stop! Stop! You mustn't give in to the madness. It's Wrath!"

"Yeah, Hoshido's Wrath, and we're not done dishing it out!" Takumi declared as he viciously shoots another arrow at Xander who blocks with Siegfried but it releases a shockwave that blows all of his nearby allies away and badly wounds them, such as Peri who immediately receives treatment from Silas with a Vulnerary.

"No! I mean the Demon Sin of Wrath! He's here!" Robin revealed, now really getting the attention of his allies.

"What?! Is that why Corrin's going…" Hinoka began but stops once Corrin starts spreading her wings and begins to fly, something that was previously established that she can't yet do on her own while in control of her dragonic form, indicating that she's lost control again and flies off to attack Garon but Robin stops her by grabbing her tail and pulls as hard as he can, stopping her mid-flight.

"Corrin, no!" He yelled in desperation.

"Well, that went south quick." Wrath smirked while holding a fireball in his hands that just so happens to be making the same ringing sound that the carriers of Dragon Blood have been hearing.

"He's nothing if not persistent, though it was kind of obvious at this point." Sloth muttered as making Corrin go crazy even with her Dragonstone was his idea. Wrath would've just wanted to charge in while infecting his foes with his parasitic anger inducement. "Well, aren't you gonna go and make them all go blood-mad right about now?"

"Nah, I'm beginning to see things from your perspective most beneficially, little brother. Why start a riot when you can make a proper show and settle with just a few actors." Wrath said finding a way to make this amusing some other way. "This is Nestra, after all. Show business is the best way to live here."

"Oh, so now you want to do things the proper way like the rest of the family should." Sloth scoffed. "Now if we could just get Envy and Greed to be more mature."

"Enough!" Robin yelled louder as he uses more of his magical strength and succeeds in pulling the Dragon Princess to the ground. "It doesn't matter what he's done, nor if he's the enemy, you can't kill your own father!"

Corrin redirects her fury towards her Tactician, stumping her right hand down at him, that he catches with both his hands, though the amount of force she uses was enough to cause the ground around Robin to crack, if she had used more force she might've made a small crater.

"Again with this shit!" Takumi hissed in shock over his stepsister's rampage.

This infighting amongst each other gave the Nohrians the chance to counterattack, if not for Lilith who channels as much power as she can to form a barrier to shield them while the remaining Light Constructs that didn't fall into Corrin's hole move in to defend them. Lilith then flies in on top of Corrin and releases from her Dragonstone a bluish purple beam on her that causes a sort of effect that forces the Princess back into her human form and she falls right into Robin's arms, breathing heavily with a shock expression while shaking like crazy. But what really shocks everyone is her eyes as the sclera are black.

"What the fuck!" Rinkah hissed.

"What's happening to her?" Kagero gasped horrified.

"O-Oh C-C-Corrin…" Sakura cried, the words too hard to come out.

"If that demon is here then where?!" Hinoka demanded enraged.

"Anywhere and nowhere where battles rage on." Lilith uttered, terrified. "But why are so few being infected?"

"Doesn't matter, cancel the Nullification Spell, Lilith and get everyone out of here, it's not safe for us, especially her to be here for much longer." Robin ordered the Astral Dragon.

"A-Alright!" Lilith said with haste and begins to cancel out the spell Robin had Orochi cast because the spell prevents everyone within the Opera House from using Warp Magic, with no exception to even them.

"You're not going anywhere!" Xander roared as he destroys Lilith's barrier with a single swing from his Sacred Treasure. In response, Orochi assaults the Crown Prince with a Tiger Spirit to force him back, though only by a few feet as he destroys the spirit easily, afterward Robin steps in and rams himself on to the great Paladin and forces him even more back as they again lock themselves in a standstill.

"Hurry Lilith!" Robin shouted as there's not much time left.

"No… wait." Corrin managed to utter under all the pain she's in with the ringing sound still clinging in her head.

"Get in the circle, Robin!" Lilith advised him as she forms her mark on the floor beneath them, though only she can see it.

"There's no time!" Robin shouted as he pushes Xander off him and then throws one of his Levin Swords near the edge of Lilith's mark in front of them and the sword generates a large dome of lightning to protect them as a massive tree is heading in their direction and slams itself on Robin's barrier, and the tree is coming out of the hole Leo fell in as the Dark Prince comes out of it through the tree he created using Brynhildr, the book is completely unharmed, even dried up after it got trapped underwater that was being incinerated and fell in the hole where it reunited with its owner.

"Things won't end like this, Hoshidan Trash!" The Prince growled furiously as he makes his tree entrap the Hoshidans further into it with the intent to suffocate and squash them and blocking Robin off from them.

"Be grateful that we have to leave." Takumi snapped at him, livid that they have to leave without settling the matter but they can't stay if one of the Seven Deadly Sins is here to ruin things, especially if it's the same one that started this war in the first place.

"Get out now!" Robin ordered them to leave and they'll have to go without him, especially with needing to hold off an enrage Xander, who looks to be going just as violent as Corrin and his strength seems to be growing.

'What is that demon plotting by infecting so few of us?' Robin questioned.

"Wait, Azura!" Sakura cried.

"Forget about me! Go!" Azura yelled pleadingly at them to leave her behind.

"I'll keep her safe." Robin insisted.

"Robin, NO!" Corrin cried out and aiming to run to him, punching a hole on Leo's tree, forcing both Kaze and Kagero to restrain her from leaving the mark as Lilith regretfully prepares to evacuate them.

"Run then, Little Princess. Run like the coward these vermin have molded you into but know that wherever you go I will always find you. It is your destiny to face me for what you've done and fall like the Scourge you've become!" Xander swore.

"Corrin… why…?" Elise uttered in misery, the full scope of what is transpiring finally sinking in because like Camilla, she has been in denial of Corrin's betrayal until now. Said treacherous sister doesn't seem to notice her as she and her comrades escape into the Astral Plane, leaving Robin and Azura behind, as the Tactician sighs and is unconcern with the predicament he's in. With them gone, all the Light Constructs fade away with the Light Scroll no longer in the vicinity.

"I'll see you soon, Cor." Robin whispered as he is forced to continue his fight with an even more pissed off Xander who manages to hit hard enough to force Robin to drop his sword, leaving him defenseless for a brief moment enough for the Crown Prince to slice into his chest, leaving a large gash on him as the Tactician falls to the ground defeated.

"ROBIN!" Azura cried, horrified.

"You have made your final mistake, Robin!" Xander growled as the Nohrians surround him to capture the fallen Tactician.

"Don't be… so sure, Xander." Robin mumbled, injured and above them, is Morgenstern as it again opens by itself and shines a luminous white light that forces all of them to cover their eyes for a few seconds and once they are able to open their eyes again, they see Robin gone from where he originally was, worse still, Azura is also missing with Charlotte lying on the ground with both hands covering her now broken nose, already bleeding.

"DAMMIT!" Xander yelled in frustration.

"AZURA!" Arete cried, again deprived of her daughter.

"MOTHERFUCKERS!" Charlotte shouted enraged over being sucker punched by Robin. "I WON'T FORGET THIS YOU!"

"Corrin…" Silas muttered in sorrow of what has transpired and then looks to see young Elise as she starts to cry in Arete's arms as the Queen gets on her knees to comfort the completely devastated Princess, to say nothing on how the queen is feeling right now with Elise's Retainers and Benny remaining at their side, not sure on what else to do on the matter.

"SPREAD OUT AND FIND THEM! THEY COULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN FAR!" Xander ordered to his surviving soldiers, which aren't that many left, there's probably only a few dozen of them now compared to the three hundred they brought, even the ones standing guard outside were called to help.

"Well done, Corrin." Garon gives hollow praise as he wipes the blood from his face. "You got to accomplished one of your petty childhood goals and have earned my attention, and though I made not be your father, I will still slap you down like the petulant child you are." He then turns to see Leo, groaning in obvious pain over what he had survived and is immediately being tended to by the only survivor among their healers, not including Arete and Elise. "Still Walking Tall, I see, Leo."

"Tsk, pay me no mind, father, a dislocated shoulder never bothered me before." Leo said acting tough, even though it's easy for Garon to tell that he is in a lot of pain.

"Cease your bravado and accept this defeat, boy, you're no use to your men, especially your siblings by keeping your pain buried when it can be easily tended." Garon lectured his son, which seem to have an effect as Leo gets on his knees, his tough-guy exterior gone and replaced with a defeated one.

"I will not allow us to be humiliated like this again!" He swore vengefully.

"Well, the finale was not what I wanted but I be lying if I said I am disappointed by the result." Wrath said amused.

"Quite the result it is we have since this has presented us with a wondrous opportunity to spread strife." Sloth said. "In this modern age of magic, it only takes three days for news like this to spread across half the continent and you can work your magic and start a more political war in Nestra over rather or not they should get involve in the Twilight War and tear the kingdom down."

"Oh, it's been a while since I've seen you put your tactical mind to work. What's the occasion." Wrath sneered.

"For starters, you're still being an asshole and won't listen about coming home so you might as well do something that will make Pride give us both less of an earful, and I still have to find Envy. So there's that." Sloth hissed irritated.

"So I'm to help you make up for being such a weakling." Wrath chuckled in amusement. "Fine then, no harm no foul. What about Robin? He's still kicking and fighting him should be exciting."

"You know, I decided to think about that and I figured… why bother? That fool's fate was decided the moment he chose to lick the feet of that half-baked Precursor child. His death or his fate worse than death is merely a waiting game now." Sloth shrugged. "Not like he isn't asking for the former so not even you should even be wasting your time with the likes of him. He's nobody now, a broken shadow still of who he was when the Fell Dragon scarred his warped soul."

"Underestimating humans who are true masters of the mystic arts is a grave mistake, little brother." Wrath warned, knowing better than to think poorly of the Tactician. "Hey, whatever happened to that Kitsune that also indirectly caused all this mess?"

"Bolted and helped evacuate the Nestrians and is in the wind." Sloth replied.

"Shame, damn shame." He shook his head in disappointment.

"Quite." Sloth replied as he begins to use his staff again as it glows in green light.

"What are you cooking up now?" Wrath asked.

"Getting rid of those marks Anankos's runaway bastard left behind to serve as exits to her personal Deeprealm. In the off chance that the Nohrians are able to kill Robin for us, we best make sure he has no chance of escaping." Sloth explained.

"Yeah, I don't see that working out. After all, a man who has endured as many wars of high magnitude as he has cannot be killed by such a primitive army." Wrath said confidently that Robin will survive the Twilight War. "If anyone is going to finish him off and become the true God of War it's going to be me."

Robin and Azura make a run for it to the exit out of the Opera House, so far three steps ahead of the Nohrians and close to escape though it is hard for him to run as fast as he should, he's nearly empty on magic and is losing a lot of blood, Xander cut him too deep.

"Robin, you have to stop, you're losing a lot of blood." Azura pleaded with him to slow down, and he reluctantly stops to rest in an empty corridor with just the two of them.

"Not really in a position to rest, you know…" Robin muttered weakly while trying to cover up his wound by channeling much of the mana he has left to force the bleeding to stop. He's not really capable of healing himself but he can perform a very minor form of biokinesis to keep his body from falling apart long enough to find a healer to aid him.

"Now is not the time to be stubborn." Azura lectured as she examines the wound. "Siegfried is also called the Sword of the Timeless King, as it has the power to inflict wounds that can never be healed due to a curse infused into the wounds that only the wielder of Siegfried can dispel, and we both know Xander wants you dead."

"I know, he always refused to train with anyone while using his treasure with how dangerous it is." Robin said. "All the more reason not to let this stop us from getting out of here."

"No, don't push yourself any further for me." Azura begged, coming up with only one solution. "It's over Robin, let's go back, we're going to get caught sooner or later and if I turn myself in, I might be able to convince them to take you as a prisoner of war."

"Knowing Arete, that could work but based on what I know of Garon, they'll only keep me alive long enough to lure Corrin into surrendering and bring her back into his clutches." Robin countered. "The both of you are in a dangerous crossroad and whatever side you choose, you would've found more pain than salvation."

"I knew that from the start, I held up for as long as I possibly could and it seems I reached my finish line." Azura uttered. "But you can still make it through this, at least for Corrin's sake."

"That day, If I had taken matters into my own hands things might've turned out for the better for all of you." Robin barely whispered.

"Pardon?" Azura asked, catching what he said.

"I'm sorry. This is more my fault than most, which is why I can't rest until I set things right, and at least secure the place you and Corrin have in Hoshido." Robin said as his left hand begins to manifest darkness mix with a red aura.

"What are you going to do?"

"Calling in a reluctant friend." Robin said, reluctant to do what he's about to use as from this darkness a sword begins to come out of his palm, one with a black blade and red fuller.

"Stopped to plan things out? That was a mistake." The two turn to see that Laslow and Odin have caught up to them, and luckily it's just them so far.

"Crap… of all the people to have caught up." Robin cursed his luck as he cancels out the weapon he was about to summon and pulls Azura behind him to confront them.

"Of course we were going to be the ones to catch you." Laslow sighed, not even remotely satisfied over managing to stop their target.

"That's as far as you go, Pawns of Dawn, for it is time for you to submit to the Darkness that beckons for your defeat." Odin declared dramatically.

"That sounded weak. Do you two even want to do this?" Robin questioned.

"No… not really." Odin confessed in a more normal tone before becoming more serious. "But we are now loyal warriors of Nohr and we won't allow anything nor anyone to hold us back. Not even you, uncle."

"Uncle?" Azura repeated in shock by what this warlock just called Robin.

"I know." Robin said somberly, like he is very familiar with the two, not really wanting to do this either. "But are you both up for this? Stopping me hasn't exactly ever been a feat just anyone can pull off."

"In case all the adrenaline is going haywire, Lord Xander has given us a fitting handicap on you," Laslow said as the two of them point their swords at the Tactician. "Either way, we've got to at least try."

"Very well…" Robin sighed exasperatedly as he summons Morgenstern back to his side to fight the duo. "Though, before we do this, mind telling me why is it that you have Archangel, Inigo? Or why are you using THAT sword, Owain? I don't question your use of the blade but… that one's not in your family."

"Oh, so now you want to talk about home?" Laslow uttered while holding his sword tighter but flinching a little, same as Odin at the mention of their true names. "We've had plenty of time to talk things out back in Nohr, and Lady Corrin is not around at the moment to freak out over your nonexistent amnesia."

"What…" Azura feels like her brain is going to tear up from all the information forcefully being shoved down her throat. "You lied?!"

"I wasn't ready to talk about our home after what'd happened." Robin confessed remorsefully.

"Well… now is not the right time either but then again, our lives now are still pretty complicated, even if they are now more thrilling." Odin said.

"True, but it really is a shame that we have to be fighting on opposite sides, I didn't think this would ever occur to us." Robin said regrettably.

"Yeah, well you made your choice when you decided to support Lady Corrin. Though her choice isn't what I would consider the wrong one, we both know how this is going to end if the family keeps fighting like this." Laslow stated.

"If things turn out for the worse, I'll take responsibility for the wrongs my side makes as I know you two and Severa will for Nohr." Robin declared solemnly. "But until then I can't afford to be bested here, nor be strap in chains so I'm gonna have to ask you boys to get out of my way, or there will be consequences."

"Not to point out the obvious but there are always consequences when things don't go your way, uncle." Odin pointed out.

"And yet here you two remain." Robin sighed.

Well, that's it for Dark Reunion. I apologize if the ending feels weak or anti-climactic but I really couldn't decide on rather or not to bring Wrath into the fight or not since I feel like I might be rushing things and I ultimately decided to leave it like this. Corrin's revenge against Wrath will be put on hold for now as there are far worse things to come, especially since the blood feud between both Kingdoms have only worsened because of this insult against the Nohrian Royals so expect things to only escalate further. Till next time.