Chrom raised his hands into the air and slowly stepped towards the Arch Surg officers. Everyone with him turned to look at him as he did. Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori seemed to silently beg him not to get any closer, and Gaius gave him a worried look. Isaiah's expression was more bitter. He wanted Chrom to do whatever was needed to avoid any kind of threat to his loved ones. The only one not outwardly worried was Henry. He just smiled towards his former comrades. "Well hey! Walhart's old friends and Algol! It's been awhile!"

"Henry." Pheros responded. "I see you've switched sides on us. It doesn't exactly look like you're trying to capture these criminals."

"Aww." Algol said sarcastically. "And Archangel had such high hopes for you. The two of you go way back after all. She'll be so disappointed."

"Come on guys. We're all fighting the Grimleal here! We can all be on the same side."

"If only it were so easy, ma boy." Cervantes added. "Alas, these fellows have committed crime after crime against the Archanean Liberation Front. And after we showed you such hospitality in Nowi Falls."

Pheros clutched her healing staff more tightly, her hand shaking with contained rage. "Not to mention the crimes against the Valmese Empire."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Gaius roared in exasperation. "Walhart's gone! He's been gone for a long time, and he was on our side when he died! Let it go!"

"SILENCE!" Farber barked. "You're lying! He would never abandon his dream, and you'll pay for what you did to him!"

"But we didn't do anything! I don't even know who that is!" Soleil cried out. Pheros nodded.

"We understand this. We're going to make you a deal. We have no quarrel with any of you. We only want one man." Pheros turned to Chrom, her very light blue eyes burning with thirty years of fury. "The Exalt."

Farber's stoicism briefly disappeared, replaced with a twisted smile as sadistic as Algol's. "He stands accused of committing crimes against the Archanean Liberation Front, and the Valmese Empire."

Cervantes made a motion with his hands, as if cracking his knuckles. "The sentence is a good old fashioned beat down! First Pheros and I, then Farber and I, then Farber and Pheros, the all three of us for a Valmese arse kicking!"

Algol frowned, giving an almost childish tone. "Hey! What about me!"

"Aw hell. I forgot about Algol. Hold on! Let me redo my calculations!"

Ophelia defiantly stepped in front of Chrom, keeping him from moving even if he wanted to. She drew the Parallel Falchion, kept safely in her inventory ever since Chrom had given it to her at Nowi Falls, and struck a pose she thought was heroic. "Why would we even agree to that, you vile doers of evil?!"

"Because if you don't, we'll take all of you." Pheros stated bluntly. She nodded to Algol, and he raised his axe in the air. The Risen by him responded by raising their own weapons and roaring. It was a horrifying scene. Even after thirty years of not seeing them, Isaiah, Gaius, and Chrom shivered at the display. Henry seemed more amused than anything. "Give us Chrom, and we leave the rest of you alone. We only want him. If you resist us, then we'll take him from you." Pheros' whole body shook with anger, as if she could barely continue her calm and collected demeanor. "And we'll raze this entire homestead to the ground. Your choice."

Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori answered by readying their weapons, only to find that their companions didn't join them. One by one they looked to the former Shepherds to find solemn, or in Henry's case apathetic, looks. Even Gaius was hesitant to draw his weapon. Chrom appeared to accept his fate, and he even tried to step forward before Ophelia stopped him. "What are you doing?!"

"Ophelia… don't fight them."

"You're kidding me?!" Soleil responded. "Y-you want to go with them?!"

"They outnumber us, and I can't allow any harm to come to Isaiah's family."

"Who cares if they outnumber us!" Ophelia yelled. She tried to give a smile, but it failed to cheer anyone up. "The Shepherds were sometimes outnumbered, but they always won!"

"Don't give me that!" Chrom snapped. "I've already taken one family from Isaiah!" Chrom looked over to his old ally. Isaiah was clearly pained. He didn't want Chrom to get hurt, but he knew the Arch Surg would be capable of destroying his entire house without a second thought. He slowly nodded to Chrom. "I-I can't let anything happen to his family. Not after he's done so much for us."

"You don't have to do this!"

"He'll do whatever it takes to keep this war from my home!" Isaiah barked. "He took everything from me once. Never again."

"Never again." Chrom answered in kind as he brushed past Ophelia.

"Chrom no!" Ophelia pleaded.

"They'll kill you!" Caeldori yelled out, but Chrom just shook his head without turning around.

"No they won't. They need me to see their leader."

"But they'll probably torture you!"

"I can't let them threaten Isaiah's family."

The girls desperately turned to the others to find support. Caeldori looked to Gaius. "Please do something!"

"I'm sorry, Copy. His mind is made up."

"But he's only doing this out of guilt!"

"Guilt runs in his blood now. I know him. There's no deterring him when he's like this."

Soleil shot Isaiah an angry glare, and received one in return. "How could you encourage this?! You call yourself his friend!"

"Don't speak so highly of him. He killed my wife and daughter! He killed your father! I don't want this to happen, but I can't let this war come to my home! This is all your fault, and my family won't suffer for it!"

Ophelia turned to Henry and pointed the Falchion towards the Arch Surg officers. "Please, grandfather! We can take them, or maybe you can talk to them? You know them right?"

"Eh… I don't know. I don't think they like me very much, and I remember those four always talking about getting revenge on Chrom. I'm sure things will be fine."

By now Chrom was too far away for the girls to restrain. They frantically called for him to come back, and Gaius eventually broke down and did the same, but Chrom was unmoved. Even if they could defeat the four officers and the Risen, the slightest possibility of Isaiah and his family being harmed was unacceptable. Chrom had taken a family from Isaiah once. How could he ever live with himself if it happened again. The four Arch Surg, even Pheros, all gave devious smiles as Chrom neared them. He drew his Falchion only to immediately toss it to the ground. "Alright. Here I am. I'll come quietly. There's no need to hurt anyone."

"Oh that's not entirely true." Algol's Risen moved to block Chrom off from the rest of his allies. The four officers surrounded him, and Algol stood in front of him.

"I've surrendered!" Chrom said nervously. He took a deep breath, held his head high, and spoke again without any signs of fear in his tone. "I've surrendered. Let's be reasonable here."

"Let me show you just how much of a position you're in to negotiate." Algol produced a small dagger and drove it into Chrom's stomach. His smile grew until it had consumed his face as he forced the dagger upwards, rupturing most of Chrom's organs. Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori could just make out what was happening behind the Risen. They all screamed and cried out for the man they'd grown so close too, but the Risen readied their own weapons as if to ward them off. Algol held his dagger for several seconds before finally letting Chrom fall to the ground. Pheros then immediately applied her healing staff to him.

"Argh!" Chrom struggled to yell in between coughing and sputtering. "What are you doing?!"

Pheros responded by striking him in the back of the head with the shaft of her healing staff. "This is for my men at Fort Steiger!" Pheros then drew a short blade and ran it through Chrom's arm. Again the Arch Surg officer held it there for several seconds, reveling in Chrom's pain, before withdrawing it. She then applied her healing staff once more, instantly healing the wound.

"Did you think you could get away with your crimes, my boy? It's time for you to pay for your sins! You thought you could just go around killing whoever you wanted, but by the silvery fibers of my beard, you will pay for your crimes against our empire!" Cervantes then plunged his axe into Chrom's back, almost severing his spine, again Pheros applied her healing staff.

Farber dismounted his horse and placed his armored boot on Chrom's back. He drew a thunder tome and activated it. However, rather than send the electricity outwards, he sent it coursing through his body. The electrical energy made its way to the ground, but not before passing through Chrom's body. Farber laughed as the Exalt fried beneath him, until again Pheros used a healing staff. "FOR THE GLORY OF OUR EMPEROR!"

This continued for about five agonizing minutes. Each Arch Surg officer would take turns inflicting some terrible and painful injury on Chrom, only for Pheros to use her healing staff on him. Chrom would have died many times over otherwise. The four wanted him to suffer as much as possible. Save for Henry, who seemed in awe of their creativity, Chrom's allies couldn't bear the scene. Ophelia turned away and buried her face in Soleil's shoulder, wincing everytime her great uncle screamed. Soleil put her arm around her friend's back and tried to look strong for her, but she was on the verge of tears herself. Only her rage kept her sadness at bay, and she desperately yearned to draw her sword and attack, but the Risen readied their weapons whenever anyone moved, and Isaiah, tears in his own eyes, silently begged her not to with a strange mix of rage and desperation. Caeldori and Gaius just watched, just able to make out what was happening past the Risen keeping them away, with looks of contained fury. After what felt like an eternity, the four finally gave Chrom just a few seconds to recover. Pheros' healing staff had kept him from dying, and he was technically completely healthy, but Chrom was overwhelmed with fear and pain. He tried to stumble to his feet, but he barely managed to rise to his knees and produce a whimpering noise. Dignity was the last thing on his mind now. All he could do was shiver and cry uncontrollably as the blood spilled before his injuries healed ran down his arms. His four once and current foes took pride in their work, and they relished in his suffering before Algol finally stepped forward. "Alright. Enough playing with him. I'm taking off a limb! How about his right arm?! The one with the birthmark?!"

"No." Pheros snarled. She took her short blade and cut a line through Chrom's birthmark. Such was the cut's depth that the wound would certainly scar, as if there were a line through the mark. "I want him to be left with that. So he can remember what happened here, and our revenge. Take off his left arm."

"Time for your sins to take reign! This is the fate your crimes heralded in!" Algol raised his axe and let a grin take his face as he prepared to sever Chrom's left arm, an injury that Pheros' healing staff wouldn't be able to heal. Chrom's allies all turned away in misery, and the former Valmese generals all watched with anticipation. Chrom just closed his eyes and waited, sure that nothing would save him. Seconds went by however, and yet nothing happened. Chrom cautiously opened his eyes again to see the Risen in front of him dissipating. They hadn't been killed. Rather, Algol had lost the concentration to keep them summoned. He turned to see Algol grasping at an arrow that had impaled itself in his throat. It had apparently just happened, as Pheros, Farber, and Cervantes just now realized what was going on.

"A-Algol?!" Pheros exclaimed as he fell to the ground, lifeless. A second later, an arrow struck her in the shoulder and knocked her to the ground. Another arrow buried itself into the head of Farber's horse, causing the beast to die and crush its master. Chrom's allies briefly watched in wonder, daring to hope that some guardian angel was coming to their rescue, before an arrow dashed these hopes by burrowing itself between Soleil's shoulder blades. An arrow struck Henry just a moment later, and Gaius only avoided one by instinctively ducking to the ground. Almost three decades of being a gun for hire gave Gaius the ability to react quicker than his allies. While Soleil and Henry fell over, and while everyone else sprinted for cover, Gaius bolted back into the house, grabbed his arquebus on the wall just inside, and ran back into the badlands. Ophelia was also struck with an arrow as Gaius turned back to the house, and he followed its origin to a shadowy figure on the rooftop. Gaius could tell that the figure was aware of him, and he immediately took aim and fired. His long career served him well, and the shot hit the assailant dead center. The figure collapsed and rolled off the rooftop, ending the assault. Fearing for Chrom's life, Gaius didn't take time to reload. He instead sprinted towards his old friend and brutally assaulted Cervantes, the only Arch Surg officer still standing, with the butt of his firearm.

"YOU ABSOLUTE SACK OF GARBAGE!" Gaius roared as he struck at the former Valmese general. Cervantes was too confused to respond in turn. He just covered his head while glancing to the bodies of his comrades.

"Ow! Agh! Knock it off, boyo! Truce! TRUCE!"

"Why the hell would I do that?!"

"We clearly have another enemy here! Don't you want to find out what's happening?!"

"Well…" Gaius did lower his weapon, but he didn't say anything further to Cervantes. He instead ran over to the attacker's corpse and inspected it. Gaius froze in shock as he got a good look at it. The attacker had been a sniper, and it had been a woman. Most disturbingly, it had been undead. Gaius knew he's seen this entity before, and he figured out who the entity was fighting for. "Deadlords." He almost whispered. "Oh gods. Grimmies are really pissed off. Oh gods, oh gods. Gods NOOO!" Gaius almost turned and ran back, but he stopped in place. Curiosity took over him, and he walked over to the body and removed the sniper's helmet. So horrified was he by the discovery that he couldn't bring himself to move again for several minutes. "You…"

Chrom almost passed into unconsciousness, but the constant screaming that assaulted his ears forced his mind back to the present. He moved his head to see Algol lying lifelessly in a pool of his own blood. Pheros was beyond him, alive but wounded. In the background Chrom could hear the screams and shouts of the girls, and Isaiah and Matilda's voice could also be heard through the piercing sounds of the chaos around him. Chrom forced himself to his feet and retrieved the Falchion. The feel of it in his hands calmed him considerably. For everything that had happened in his life, that sword had always been by his side. As long as it was with him, things would never be hopeless. Chrom wiped his agony induced tears away, took deep breaths to end his shivering, and readied himself for battle. He was rewarded for his efforts with the clarity and compucture needed to dodge a heavy sword as it swung past him, almost taking off his head. He maneuvered to face his attacker, a mounted, heavily armored soldier. Chrom realized he was facing a paladin, but there was something off about this soldier. He was given little time to ponder it, as the paladin charged at him again a moment later. Chrom moved out of the way and felled the soldier's mount with a slash from the Falchion. He then drove it into the soldier before he could recover.

Chrom readied the Falchion and looked around, but he noticed something strange about the blade as it entered his view. There was no blood on it. Chrom looked back to the soldier in a mild panic and inspected the corpse, tensing up as his suspicions seemed to be proven true. The soldier had sickly pale skin, and there seemed to be a purplish hue to it. This was some kind of undead, but it was no Risen. No Tunneller. "No." Chrom whispered. "N-no that can't… they can't be here."

"CHROOOM!" The Exalt turned to see Gaius dragging a body towards him. In his rage and fury, he was able to drag the body with little strain, and he almost hurled it at Chrom. "Look at that!"

"W-what?"

"LOOK AT HER FACE! This is the archer that attacked! LOOK AT WHO SHE IS!"

Chrom wasn't sure why Gaius was shouting, or if his anger was directed towards him or not, but he did what his old ally asked. This body was also undead, with sickly skin and a purple glow to it. Chrom looked curiously until his eyes finally fell upon the woman's face. All emotion left his voice. So overcome with horror was he that his words came out blank and drone like. His mouth formed them, but they didn't feel like his. "Noire…"

"MY DAUGHTER!" Gaius shrieked. "TURNED INTO ONE OF THEM!" Gaius stopped shouting, and his anger fell away as his lip began to quiver. "Our… children. First they take them from us… then they send the bodies after us. The Grimleal… they've got a strange sense of humor. Don't they, Chrom?" Gaius gave a strange laugh, like there was no way he could really process what he was feeling. "Heh. Heh, heh! Don't they?! DON'T THEY?! ... bastards."

Chrom went back to the paladin and removed the man's helmet, but that sight was no more encouraging. He had pink hair and a mask that covered his eyes. "Gerome." Chrom said, again in shock. "Oh my gods…" Both men couldn't bring themselves to move for several minutes. As much as Chrom could have stood there, overloaded with shock and self-loathing, indefinitely, his mind was still drawn back to the shouting in the distance, especially when he again realized the voices belonged to Isaiah and the girls. Sure enough, the Deadlords Draco and Equus hadn't come alone. Several other Deadlords were fighting the rest of Chrom's friends, and they were as violent as terrifying as he remembered them. Perhaps more than. Chrom was still emotionless and in shock from what had just happened. It wasn't any conscious thought or feeling that caused him to launch himself forward. It was automatic. He would not be still for one more second if Isaiah and the three needed his help.

In the confusion of the attack, Isaiah had retrieved his matchlock arquebus, a short spear, and a pot that he wore as a helmet. He and Matilda, armed only with a metal pan, desperately tried to fend off Anguilla. Isaiah had been skilled enough to disarm the Deadlord but, having been formed from Yarne, Anguilla was more than capable of fighting them unarmed. Nearby, Caeldori and Ophelia had to work together to be a match for Tigris. As fast and graceful as she was, Caeldori could not match Tigris' raw strength, but Ophelia had some success blasting him with attacks from her tome. Henry tried to cover her from spells that Gallus was hurtling at her, but the Deadlord, formed from Laurent was more than a match for him. Unfortunately, Ophelia was too distracted from protecting Caeldori to notice Porcus sneaking up behind her. Before she could react, and thief wrapped its arm around her neck and plunged a dagger through her back; somewhat ironically, the same thing Chrom had once done to save her from a would be burglar when they first met. Caeldori wasn't a match for Tigris, who got its fighting spirit from Priam, by herself, and the Deadlord eventually disarmed her. Caeldori bravely tried to fight with her fists, but the Deadlord caught her hand, crushed her fingers by simply squeezing downwards with its own, and plunged its axe into her shoulder. It then drew its bow and brought an arrow into Henry's shoulder, giving Gallus the opportunity to knock him back with a spell. The triumphant Deadlords then advanced towards Isaiah and Matilda, who nervously backed away towards their home.

"Isaiah?" Matilda said. She had little fear in her voice. Rather, she seemed to have given up any hope that she'd survive the attack at all.

"Matilda? My wife?" Isaiah responded with a similar amount of determination.

"They… they won't hurt the kids? Will they?"

"No." Isaiah knew he was lying, but he'd say anything to calm Matilda in that moment. "They won't.

"I… I'm glad I met you, my love. I know I hated it out here at first… but I'm so glad I went with you. T-together."

Isaiah turned to his wife and forced himself to smile. "Together."

"NO! NOT THEM!" The Deadlords turned in perfect unison as the Falchion impaled itself into Tigris' abdomen. "I'M THE ONE YOU WANT!" Chrom shouted as he forced the Falchion upwards, slicing the Deadlord's head in half as the sword exited through the top of its head. "I'M THE ONE THEY SENT YOU TO KILL! ME! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Porcus tried to hurl a dagger at Chrom, but he caught it and hurled it back. The weapon struck the Deadlord with enough force to return the body to its natural state of death, but Chrom wasn't actually paying attention. He'd instead charged at Anguilla without hesitation, and just as before he brought down the Deadlord's mount before killing the rider. Gallus tried to attack him, but Henry recovered enough to stun it with a spell, and Chrom cut it down before it could react further. For a few minutes, in his desperate attempt to save his allies, Chrom moved almost like he did as a young man. With that moment over, Chrom's age returned tenfold. He fell to his knees exhausted. He even had to use the Falchion to brace himself. Everyone slowly gathered around him.

"Are you hurt?" Henry asked Gaius as he wandered over.

"No." Gaius was amazed by how violently and quickly Chrom had dealt with the Deadlords. He was definitely taken by surprise when Henry drained some of his life energy and used it to heal Caeldori and Ophelia's injuries. "Ow! Junior!"

"You said you weren't hurt! I couldn't do that to someone who was. That just wouldn't work."

Tired as he was, Chrom didn't allow himself any rest. He knew the Deadlords were never separated, and they'd only taken out six of them. "There are… more Deadlords." He struggled to say through his raspy breathing.

Ophelia looked up as she rubbed her back. "Deadlords?"

Caeldori seemed to recognize what Chrom was talking to. "I suspected those things were undead, but I didn't imagine we'd ever face the Deadlords. Oh gods. The Grimleal is serious this time."

"That… that sounds cool! We're fighting the Deadlords? That sounds awesome! Another blood pumping chapter in the chosen heroine's story!" Ophelia looked around in excitement, but her friends didn't share her enthusiasm. "But for now we'll just focus in fighting them… heh, heh."

"Is everyone alright?" Chrom asked as he finally rise to his feet again.

"I-I think so." Matilda replied, a little shaken up.

"Where are your children?"

"In the house."

"Alright. Both of you, hide in there! I'm so sorry, Isaiah. This is my fault, but I won't let any further harm come to you."

Isaiah shook his head and gave a determined look. "No. I don't want to hear it. All that matters now is stopping them." Isaiah kissed his wife and nodded. "Take the kids. Get them upstairs with Ma. Barricade the door." Matilda nodded and went inside the house, and Isaiah readied his spear. "You did this… but I'll fix it with you. Side by side."

Chrom slowly smiled, feeling a camaraderie with Isaiah. "Just like old times."

"Uhh, Tinhead?" Gaius spoke up. "Do you have a pot in your head?"

"Yeah."

"Just like you did thirty years ago?"

"Yes?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"It's armor!"

"Damn it, Tinhead! I'm trying to be serious but you're making me want to laugh!"

"It's my helmet!"

The lightheartedness of the moment faded as the other six Deadlords finally entered into view. This time they all stood together, unwilling to be defeated one by one. Mus stood in the center, with Bovis, Lepus, Ovis, Simia, and Canis by its side. The first and third generation Shepherds all readied their weapons and stood together.

Meanwhile, Pheros had been forcing her injured body to her healing staff, telling herself that the unbearable pain would pass as soon as she retrieved it. With the last of her strength she ripped the arrow from her, seized the healing staff, and used it to regain her strength. She then sprinted over to Algol and checked his body. Though he was still and covered in blood from a severed artery, his eyes slowly moved to look at Pheros. She callously tore the arrow from his throat and used her healing staff to keep him from bleeding to death. "Algol! Resummon your Risen! We're outmatched here! Resummon your Risen!"

Algol took several seconds to cough up all the blood in his throat, but he ultimately stood up and managed the concentration to bring the Risen back. He directed them to unpin Farber from underneath his horse, and Pheros healed his injuries. Cervantes walked over to the three as they caught their breath, pointing towards the battle by the homestead. "Sooo… do we leave? Attack the winners?"

Pheros assumed her usual pose and contemplated the options. "These aren't regular Grimleal forces. These are the Deadlords! We've only ever heard about them in reports. This is an opportunity we can't pass up. As much as I hate to say it… we need to help them."

By the homestead, Chrom and his allies were not repeating their earlier success against the Deadlords. They were far more coordinated now, and they didn't allow themselves to be separated or lured away. Chrom remembered that Mus seemed to be the lead Deadlord and tried to single it out, but Mus was more than capable of holding its own. Just a few blows from the general's weapon made Chrom's arms scream with exhaustion, and he was almost overpowered before managing to unload both barrels of the Thundergrypp into his foe. The bullet simply deflected off the Deadlord's heavy armor, but Chrom had the opportunity to slash at its head. He immediately regretted it. Chrom only managed to knock off the Deadlord's helmet, exposing the face of the woman it was formed from. Chrom immediately froze in shock, having lost track of how many times he'd done that in the past several minutes. It'd be far worse if he hadn't already faced E-13. "Lucina." He said blankly. "How many times must I be forced to fight you?" The body was sickly and glowed an eerie purple just like the other Deadlords, but it was still unmistakably the body of Chrom's daughter. Her birthmark was even still present on her left eye, but it was now a black silhouette against the glowing red. Chrom steeled himself and raised his sword, internally screaming to himself that this was not his daughter. "I'm sorry, Lucina. You didn't ask much of me. You only asked that I help you. That I fight by your side. That I love you… and I failed you. I'm so sorry… but I didn't fail you completely. I still love you, and I always will. My baby girl." Mus simply advanced, its massive sword ready to strike. "But I have to stop you. For those that still live, I have to fight you. I will free you from this. You're not a weapon! You're not a tool! You're a woman! You're my daughter! I'll save you from this. I promise, and I won't fail you again." Chrom tried to rush his enemy, but Mus brought the offensive to an end with a single blow from its sword. Chrom was forced to his knees, desperately pressing the Falchion against Mus' sword and trying not to be crushed by its strength. "Ah! You have no soul!"

To Chrom's horror, the Deadlord spoke, letting out a raspy, barely feminine voice. "And that is why we have no fear!"

Chrom ducked to the side as Mus finally brought its sword down, but was unable to counter when Mus lifted up the hilt and smashed it into his face. With surpassing speed for its size, Mus then brought the blade cleaving through Chrom's body, almost severing his left arm and killing him outright. Blood poured outwards from the Exalt's body, and as he slowly brought his head down to see what had happened to him, his mind flashed back to the last time he'd seen so much blood coming from a sword wound to the abdomen. It was when he'd unintentionally cut down his daughter thirty years ago. The event that ultimately lead to Mus' creation now. Just as when E-13 had almost killed him at Cordelia's homestead, Chrom couldn't help but think that this death at his daughter's hand was a form of penance. Just as when he'd been mercilessly attacked by the Arch Surg officers, Chrom didn't think there was anything he could do to defend himself. Ironically, the aforementioned group was the one to save him this time. Before Mus could bring down its sword, two Risen mobbed it. As Mus fought them off, Farber blasted it in the back with a spell. Mus staggered forward, and Cervantes ran up and brought his axe into its chest. "I remember you!" Cervantes exclaimed when he noticed Mus' face. "You royal whore!" Cervantes grabbed the Deadlord's long, blue hair, a relic of the woman that it had been reincarnated from, and forcibly held its head in place.

"Hold still, you little rat." Algol said as he casually raised his axe and lopped off the head of the Future Witness' reanimated corpse. Mus fell to the ground, its latest venture to the world of the living over. The three looked over the body with pride before turning to Chrom. They had little sympathy for him as his body shut down. "Well look at that. He died on his own. I love a happy ending."

Ophelia had been watching, and she threw herself to Chrom's side. At the sound of her almost feral feelings of rage and sorrow, Soleil and Caeldori ran to her side. Farber, Cervantes, and Algol simply watched as they desperately tried to resuscitate him, and the three men gave a cold laugh as the three women realized just how hurt he was.

"No, no!" Caeldori yelled. She tried nudging Chrom's body, only to find that her hand was almost instantly coated in his blood. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no, no, NO, NO! DANG IT!"

"T-this isn't how it's supposed to be!" Ophelia roared in his face as she hovered over him. "You're a hero! Heroes don't die in a pool of their own blood! That's not how the stories go! No that's not, no you can't, no that's not happening! This isn't funny! THE STORY ISN'T OVER!"

Soleil still had her smile, but it was almost alien on her otherwise tortured face. Soleil nudged him over and over, refusing to look at her own increasingly bloodied hands. "But… I opened up to you. You can't just… this isn't how it's supposed to go! You can't just leave! Please, no! NO!" Soleil finally gave up and buried her head in Chrom's shoulder. "Y-you told me you loved me! I-I love you too! You're the closest thing I've had to a father! You can't die now! Not in some farm in the middle of nowhere! Not to some Grimleal monster! This isn't how it's supposed to be! Ple-hea-hease! DON'T just LEAVE! GET UP!"

Chrom could hear people next to him, but his mind wouldn't concentrate on them. Everything was becoming blurry, and he began to mutter, seemingly involuntarily. "Here in my empire. That you do not remember."

"What does that mean?! Chrom! Get up!"

Farber, Cervantes, and Algol had no problem with watching the young women in front of them see their hero die, but Pheros stepped out from behind them and tightened her grip on her healing staff. Cervantes realized what she was doing, and held his arm out to stop her. "What are you doing? This is our chance to get rid of him."

"Have you no honor, Cervantes? We're not… we're not enemies right now. We have bigger problems."

Pheros walked towards Chrom, and the third generation Shepherds rose to their feet and pointed their weapons at her. "How dare you?!" Soleil snapped. "Get away from him!"

"You need not direct your anger at me, girl." Pheros said as she applied her healing staff to Chrom, seconds away from dying of shock otherwise. "I'm clearly not your enemy."

Chrom violently inhaled and descended into a hacking fit. The girls swarmed him as he rose to his feet, almost causing him to cough even more. "Chrom!" Soleil exclaimed as she buried her head in his shoulder again. "Gods-damnit, old man! You scared us!"

"But we made it out." Ophelia said triumphantly as she turned to Caeldori, who nodded with a relieved smile. "We made it out. Heroes of holy blood always prevail over the undead!"

Chrom looked down at his body once the three let go of it. His work shirt now had a rather sizeable tear in it from the sword slash, and Chrom was drenched in his own blood. He was sure that would cause severe lightheadedness once the adrenalin wore off, but for now he was otherwise fine. "What of the other Deadlords?"

Pheros motioned behind her. Algol's Risen were no match for their more advanced counterparts individually, but in numbers they were able to force the five remaining Deadlords back. "We can deal with them together when you're ready."

"Really." Chrom readied the Falchion. "And we're just going to trust you now."

"No." Pheros refused to show any physical remorse for her actions, but she did hesitate. "We can't expect you to trust us, but we have the same foe. We don't need to fight each other right now."

Isaiah and Gaius approached, nervous around the Arch Surg but relieved to see everyone else okay. "So that's it?" Gaius asked with a genuine smile. "We beat them! Huh. Things were easy for once."

"Just like old times." Isaiah said. For a moment, Chrom could see his younger counterpart in Isaiah's smiling face. He looked excited for the first time. "Just like old times."

"About that." Caeldori took a few steps forward and studied the Deadlords as they defended themselves from Algol's Risen. They showed no fear or hesitation in their movements earlier, and even now they fought the Risen without a trace of emotion. It didn't make sense. Why were they retreating if they were perfectly willing to fight to the death. "I don't think they're falling back. I think they were ordered to… lure the Risen away." Caeldori turned in panic. "Someone's directing them!"

"That's crazy!" Soleil said in frustration. "Fight's over! We won."

"You just want to believe that, Soleil. It doesn't make it true. Do you really think the Deadlords were alone? They probably had Grimleal agents directing them."

Gaius thought about it. "Well.. things are never that easy for us."

"Fuck in 'ell! They told me those diggers were good, and some wops in the middle of bloody fucking woop woop kill half of them! I ask for a mallee bull, and I get a bunch of derros!" Chrom and the others turned to look at the robed man as he walked towards them. "Oh well. I don't mind doing my own work. I like the practice. Besides, it's not everyday I get to hunt people like you."

Everyone was horrified at the sight of the man, and Caeldori in particular screamed. The robed man was wearing a backpack consisting of just a spike. Impaled at the top of the spike was the severed head of a woman with long, red hair. Chrom's eyes widened, and Caeldori's stoicism was completely wiped away. "GRANDMOTHER!" She shouted in agony.

The man took his arm and manipulated the mouth of Cordelia's severed head. "I don't know, Dartsmoth." He said while pretending to speak in her voice. "These guys look pretty tough." "Really? I think you overestimate their chances."

"Who the hell are you?!" Chrom snarled in barely contained rage.

"Inquisitor Dartsmoth. Don't worry. I already know who you are, and… heh." Dartsmoth's thuggish face actually seemed to blush a little, and there was a perk in his step as he slowly approached the group. "You're uh… heh, they didn't mention how handsome you were in your file. I mean, wow! They didn't make you look good in the picture, but you're so rugged!"

"What is wrong with you?!" Gaius shouted. "Do you know who that woman is?!"

"Sure do! Cordelia. Obnoxious crush on Chrom. Raised Caeldori since she was five years old. Became a Pegasus Knight because she was a lousy runner. Weird breast complex. Played the harp. Does that sound familiar?"

"H-how do you-"

"I've been talking to her quite a bit. She's been helping me navigate, and she's told me so much about you. Especially you three girls." Dartsmoth looked to each of them and smiled. "Oh, Soleil. Always picking fights with Caeldori. Ophelia, annoying her with constant talk of heroism and naming weapons and attacks. Caeldori, oh she had so many memories of you. You used to hate taking baths as a little girl. She'd take you into the sky on her Pegasus, and you'd cling to her waist. Always trying to use her weapons when she wasn't around."

Caeldori had to back away to feel comfortable. "How could you possibly know any of that?!" Chrom roared. Dartsmoth continued.

"Unfortunately she couldn't tell me much about you, Chrom. I can tell you're something else though. See I get sent after a lot of gangbangers and corrupt officials, but you? A hero! A lord! And I get to be the one to hunt you! It's a real honor. A violent man who has spent his life killing people and thinking himself righteous for it. I've had a lot of fun going after you, and now? Now we get to my favorite part."

"Enough of this!" Gaius took aim with his arquebus and fired. The bullet would have struck Dartsmoth in the forehead, but it somehow deflected off of thin air a few centimeters away from him.

"Heh, you're going to have to do better than that. You're Gaius, aren't you? Cordelia told me about you! Mmm. So many handsome men here today."

Ophelia drew a tome and sent a fireball at Dartsmoth. It paused in midair in front of him. "What the-"

"Ha! Is that all you got?!" Dartsmoth casually walked up and touched the spell, causing it to rocket back and explode in front of its creator. Algol tried to raise his axe and call his Risen back to help, but Dartsmoth waved his hand and sent an electrical attack hurtling towards him. It struck Algol and then arced into Cervantes and Farber. Algol and Cervantes were electrocuted, almost to the point of death, but Farber was able to resist it. Dartsmoth was unfazed, and he telekinetically seized Algol's axe and ruthlessly drove it into Farber's head, leaving only Pheros. Dartsmoth sent another spell at her, and she tried to resist it. It was far too much power for her to simply resist, so she panickedly deflected it instead, sending it into Isaiah's house. The unnaturally powerful electricity instantly set the structure ablaze.

"NOOOOO!" Isaiah screamed.

"Ha!" Dartsmoth burst out laughing. "BWAHAHAHA! Whoopsies!"

"Uhh…" Pheros muttered. "Ooh." She turned back to Dartsmoth just in time to take a brutal punch to the face, incapacitating her. Meanwhile Isaiah tried to sprint back into his burning home, but Gaius physically stopped him and wrestled him back.

"Donnel, stop!"

"LET GO OF ME!"

"Don't go in there, you idiot!"

"MY FAMILY IS IN THERE!"

"You'll die!"

Isaiah elbowed Gaius and dashed back to his house. The magically generated fire burned with a greater intensity than normal. The house collapsed entirely just before Isaiah could reach it, dooming the inhabitants. Isaiah fell to his knees, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Gaius trying shaking him, and Chrom called out to him, but he wouldn't say anything. He became stuck, as if he were a piece of scenery.

Meanwhile, Henry tried to attack Dartsmoth with spells, but he easily deflected them all. "Ophelia! My tome!"

"Huh?" Ophelia answered as she recovered.

"The tome I gave you!"

Ophelia gave the Muninn tome back to Henry, and a few seconds later a raven flew down from overhead. Henry quickly absorbed it and attacked Dartsmoth again. This time he was forced several steps back, but he was still unharmed. "Ha! Wow! I've never seen anything like that. You're a skilled mage, but can you fight through less esoteric means? I don't have time for little schoolboys who won't fight in the gutter." Dartsmoth advanced on Henry, deflecting his spells and curses, until he was able to simply strike at him with his fists. Henry had always relied on magic to deal with his enemies, and he wasn't able to stand up to Dartsmoth's physical assault.

"AH! Argh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! A-alright!" Henry groaned as Dartsmoth sent him to the ground with a strike to the stomach. "I always wanted a *cough* bloody death!"

Dartsmoth just shook his head and struck him again before enduring a frigid blast of wind. He turned to see Ophelia. She readied herself for battle, and Caeldori and Soleil took up positions behind Dartsmoth. "Ah! Yeah I do have orders to bring you three in. Course I really don't much care for you three bitch bushrangers, so could you kindly just roll over so I can get to the more interesting people?"

"You can't take all three of us!" Soleil shouted.

Dartsmoth's only response was to laugh. The moment one of the girls tried moving, Dartsmoth spun around and hurled Cordelia's severed head at Caeldori. The brutality of this was too much for her, and the normally agile warrior just froze in place. Dartsmoth proceeded to approach Soleil, dodge her furious strikes, and disarm her. He then removed her arm shield and viciously beat her with it. He then beat Caeldori, too stunned to react, into near unconsciousness. The entire time this had been happening, Ophelia had been furiously casting spells at Dartsmoth, but he simply resisted all of them. He finally turned to her and smiled while motioning for her to move forward. "Come on, Sheila. Your turn." With nothing else to do, Ophelia drew the Falchion and tried to charge the Inquisitor, but Dartsmoth blocked the blade with his bare hand. On closer inspection, he actually seemed to be telekinetically stopping it centimeters away from his hand. "No, no, no! Get this bloody thing off of me!" Dartsmoth sent the sword hurtling away, then wrapped both of his hands around Ophelia's neck. "I bet you think your bloodline makes you real important, but the age of privilege is over."

"Ophelia!" Soleil made a last, desperate attempt to save her friend, but Dartsmoth dodged her attack.

"Cheeky ganga! At least take me out before you try to root me!" Dartsmoth kicked her in the face, placed his hands on her chest, and channeled magical energy into her body. Soleil went flying backwards a few seconds later. Ophelia had fallen to the ground gasping for air, so Dartsmoth telekinetically forced her back into his arms only to brutally slam her into the ground. "Now die with the rest of your family!" Dartsmoth resumed choking Ophelia until her struggling ceased. He then stood up and formed a lightning bolt in his hand, except that it didn't move and he held it as if it were a physical object. The same magical energy that Grima had once used to kill Chrom in Lucina's alternate future. Dartsmoth was moments away from driving this into Ophelia when Henry's other raven dived down from overhead and clawed at him. Though she had no conscious idea what she was doing, Ophelia somehow knew how to absorb it. It just felt right, and her grandfather's magical energy was readily accepted by her body. She unleashed a blast of raw dark magic powerful enough to send Dartsmoth off of her, then in another display of her natural ability managed to copy Dartsmoth's attack exactly. Without really knowing how she was doing it, Ophelia materialized a lightning bolt in her own hand and impaled it through Dartsmoth. It was a moment of hope for everyone, as one by one Ophelia's allies all looked up to see it. For a moment it seemed like the threat was over… but then everyone noticed that Dartsmoth refused to fall over. Blood seemed to pour from his mouth, but it was only blood in the sense that it was bleeding out of him. The liquid was bright gold, and it actually gave off light. Dartsmoth was in considerable pain, but not enough to actually neutralize him. "You… you copied my spell. Only the strongest dark mages can do that. You, you have potential!" Dartsmoth smiled as he placed his arms on Ophelia's shoulders. Ophelia was stunned that he'd survived, and couldn't bring herself to do anything. "That would have killed me if I was still human, but… not anymore. You on the other hand?" Dartsmoth pulled Ophelia into him, impaling her with the same lightning bolt she'd attacked him with. He then freed himself, summoned his own, and ran her through completely. "Are very fragile." Ophelia collapsed to the ground as soon as Dartsmoth withdrew his attack, and he smiled. "One down." Dartsmoth turned over to Chrom. Though he was still very injured, he was sent into a fit of rage at Dartsmoth's actions. "One to go."

"YOU BASTARD!" Chrom willed himself forward with the intent of striking Dartsmoth down. His muscles begged for him to stop, and he was still in considerable shock, but pure hatred drove him. Dartsmoth simply stood and smiled. He allowed Chrom to get within a few meters of him before telekinetically gripping Chrom's foot. He then simply tripped him up. For no other reason than his own enjoyment, he allowed Chrom to get up only to do this again. He did this several times before finally placing his boot on Chrom's chest. He then summoned a lightning bolt and put it just centimeters away from Chrom's face, threatening him with the same fate that his counterpart had suffered in Lucina's timeline.

"Aversa wants you alive, Chrom. Surrender, and this doesn't have to be any harder."

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"No you won't. You'll lie there like a bitch. Now Aversa wants you alive, but she doesn't need you alive. It's in your best interest to do what you're told. Handsome man like you deserves more than a gangbanger styled death. Besides, Aversa really wants to talk to you again."

"I have nothing to say to her!"

"Well you should. Grima wants you dead, so you don't want her to decide not to keep you around."

Chrom's rage left him, replaced by overwhelming sadness at what Dartsmoth had just done to his friends. Chrom wondered if Gaius had survived, and his question was answered as a bullet tore through the back of Dartsmoth's head. Chrom felt a small amount of relief as Gaius ran over to him and helped him up, but Ophelia's death was still crushing. "Sack of trash!" Gaius roared at Dartsmoth's body. Shimmering golden liquid poured from the wound, and Gaius' anger was replaced by repulsion and confusion. "What the hell was that man?!"

"OPHELIA!" Chrom said, not caring about anything else. "Check on her! Please!"

Gaius nodded and ran off after her, and Chrom looked around to see what had befallen everyone else. He couldn't see Soleil or Caeldori, but he did see that Isaiah had moved. He was behind Chrom, his matchlock arquebus in his hand. "You."

"Donnel! You're alright-"

"You did this." Isaiah was kneeling by the corpse of Porcus. The Deadlord had been reincarnated from the body of his daughter, and Isaiah's tortured expression made it clear that he knew. He pointed his weapon at Chrom, who took a few steps back. Isaiah briefly glanced back at the burning remains of his home. When he turned back, his eyes were choked with hatred. Whereas Chrom had thrown himself at Dartsmoth, Isaiah's hatred took a quiet form. He didn't move at all, and his eyes never looked away from Chrom. His sole focus was on the man he blamed for the war that came to his home.

"D-Donnel. Isaiah." Chrom said as he raised his hands.

"You. Did. This."

"I-I… I'm so sorry. We s-should have left. What are you doing?!"

Isaiah took out a small lit piece of wood and ignited the match on his firearm. "This is an older model, Chrom. It has no trigger. It goes off when the match burns out. Now nothing will stop it from firing. The only question is what will be on the other end of the barrel."

"Donnel… please… don't do this. D-don't do this."

"And I saw what happened to Ophelia. That's your fault too, you know?" Isaiah took aim. "Everyone just keeps dying, but not you. Never you. Other people suffer for you knowing them."

Chrom's every combat instinct wanted to grab the Falchion and disarm Isaiah, and Chrom's rational thoughts told him he could negotiate, but Chrom was in too much shock that Isaiah was threatening him at all. He was also weighed down by his guilt. As terrified as he was of being shot, Chrom didn't disagree with anything Isaiah told him. "Donnel… please think about this. I've wronged you again. I've gotten these people killed. I brought this to your family. I am so sorry, but this isn't going to change that. D-don't do this!"

The match continued to burn, but Isaiah didn't relent. "I could do it, Chrom. I could gun you down right here and now, and I wouldn't feel a thing. Everything that's happened to the world is your fault!" Isaiah's expression softened, his quiet rage consumed by the horrible loss of his loved ones. "But… people still need you."

"Donnel? What are you saying?"

Isaiah looked Chrom in the eye and just stared at him for several seconds. "I'm sorry, Chrom. I can't lose another family." Isaiah grabbed the barrel of the gun and placed it on his chin pointing upwards. Chrom immediately tried to sprint forward and take it from him, but the match burned out before he could. Chrom cradled his ally in his arms and tried to check on him, but it was far too late.

"Donnel! No-no-NO! It didn't have to be like this! NO! DONNEL!"

Gaius and Henry slowly approached behind Chrom, having seen everything. Chrom looked up, desperate for some kind of good news, but Gaius also had a body in his arms. He gently set Ophelia down on the ground. She was completely and entirely motionless. "She… didn't make it… Blue. She's… she's… I couldn't save her, Blue. She died instantly."

Neither of the two men had anything to say. Minutes passed, but time had no meaning for Chrom. Nothing did. "Why her." He said blankly, his voice again stripped of emotion. "So many people taken from me, but I always survive. Why did I have to see this?"

"I… don't know."

The former Shepherds could have stood still, short circuited by the trauma they'd just endured, for hours, but a brilliant golden light emanating from Dartsmoth's body made them both draw their weapons. Gaius started to load his arquebus as Dartsmoth levitated off the ground and rose to his feet. "Bloody pikers! I wasn't paying attention!"

Dartsmoth still wasn't paying attention, as again Gaius was able to send a bullet through his head. Gaius and Chrom watched as Dartsmoth fell dead again. He was the same as before, and he somehow hadn't died then. "What is that man?!" Gaius yelled. "I don't think he's going to stay down. We need to leave."

"What?! Where's Soleil and Caeldori?"

"I didn't see them."

"And you want us to just leave them?!"

"Chrom, we don't have a choice! I don't want to leave them alone! I don't! But we can't beat that man! That thing! If we stay, he'll kill us all."

"We're not leaving them!"

"Chrom!"

"WE'RE NOT LEAVING THEM!"

"We leave them, or we all die! We have to leave!"

Chrom knew the truth in Gaius' words. If Dartsmoth regenerated again, and if he couldn't simply be shot, he'd kill them all. With all the horrifying violence he'd seen in the past hour, it was disturbingly easy for him to accept it. He couldn't save Caeldori and Soleil, but he could save his allies. He couldn't let them die for his actions. "Alright." Chrom said quietly. "Alright."

"Come on. We'll take Minerva."

"What about Aurora?"

"She's a Pegasus! She won't accept a male rider. We'll just have to hope that she flies after us."

The three made their way towards the stable, Chrom carrying Ophelia and the Parallel Falchion along, and crammed onto Minerva's back. The wyvern wasn't used to not having one of the girls by them, and she initially refused to budge. "Come on!" Gaius shouted as he kicked her. "I know I'm not Cherche, but you need to work with me!"

Minerva was reluctant to move until the five remaining Deadlords burst into the stables. Simia cut Minerva with its sword, and the wyvern panicked and ascended into the atmosphere, leaving Aurora and the homestead behind.

Dartsmoth regenerated once again, brilliant golden light coming from his body as he rose. After realizing the former Shepherds were gone, Dartsmoth sighed, lit a cigarette, and walked over to where Caeldori had been. The very injured Pegasus Knight was crawling for her lance, so Dartsmoth simply kicked it away and knelt in front of her. "Where are your friends going?"

"I'm not telling you anything."

Dartsmoth casually took his cigarette and burned her forehead. "You say that now, but they always talk eventually."

A recon soldier walked up with Soleil in his arm. He pointed a pistol to her head. "I found this one, Inquisitor. What should we do with her?"

Dartsmoth stared at her for a few seconds. "Hit her."

"What?!"

"Don't question me! Just do what men have done for thousands of years and hit the woman!" The recon soldier struck Soleil across the face with his pistol, and Caeldori winced. Dartsmoth noticed. "Ah! You can take a lot of punishment, but you can't bear to see her get hurt. The three of us are going to have a lot of fun together."