CHAPTER 12 :

RENVALL!

Still in Nevassa. Ike watches both fighters stand still, exhausted and wounded from combat. He has to go down to the arena itself to see what has become of these two people. They both claim each other has been defeated and then brought to the medical ward, where the abbot of Kisca, who came as a guest of the clergy, listens to the claims made on both sides about the fight. A Bishop tells His Majesty, "We have no choice but to let you judge which one has been defeated."

Ike decides that Jarod has been defeated. He instructs Oscar that if he escapes, he is to strike him down. Jill stuffs Jarod with poisoned wine, prepared just in case a quick death is required and combat made one suffer to the point where surrendering one's life may be the better option. Given his current state, the poison will kill him as quickly as a beheading would do. But Jill is unsure of what to do with his corpse; Tauroneo, however, is allowed to decide on issues pertaining to the death of members of the Kingdom Council.

Tauroneo asks Oscar, "Can you bring this corpse to the coffin maker? Even if he died a traitor, a general is still a general. He deserves to be buried as anyone of his rank would." Four years ago, one couldn't think traitors who came from the nobility would deserve burials like any other nobleman. But this tomb is the proof that the Daein of today considers everyone to deserve a noble end. Well, almost everyone. Jarod's treachery did not involve any stealing or violent acts; if he was a thief, a rapist or an assassin (just fighting under the Thief, Rogue or Assassin classes does not suffice) then his head would be on display in the center of the marketplace.

Oscar takes a standard, wooden cart, harnesses it to his brown horse and he puts Jarod's corpse, covered in the armor he wore at the instant of his death. Other peasants put hay on top of the body, as the horses of the coffin maker were in shortage of hay. And, while the coffin maker was away, his son put all the horses on diets so strict that they have fallen ill; even as they ate what's left of the hay reserves, they didn't fully recover. Also, the pile of hay would make the carriage go unnoticed. Meanwhile, Michelle is given her meal by the medical ward staff. She finds that the beef has a strange taste, for the food has been infused with a special drug whose property is to make the body "feel" like the person who takes it has gained supplementary veterancy, sometimes strength or, for the lucky ones, a class change!

Renvall. After long weeks of campaigning, the Daein rescue force has finally arrived to the fabled lakeshore castle where Prince Ephraim is. Sad (or happy?) news finally arrived at the prisoners still in the overloaded castle. All the guards of the castle have left the fortress to engage the Daein army, but they were defeated.

Forde, as a watchman, warns, "The Grado army is at our 1 o'clock!"

The first prisoner asks him, "Who are they? They seem intent on recapturing the castle!" Also, the second prisoner tells that after the death of Murray at their hands, the survivors would have alerted Grado Keep…

Ephraim, worried and in disbelief, asks Forde, "Oh no… Forde, are you sure the Grado army had us completely surrounded?"

Kyle answers, "Your Highness, this is not the Grado army, but… Daein!"

Ephraim mutters, from his position in the watch tower, "Daein! I heard that Daein has captured all the territories from here to Ide. And they are with the Free Renais army. Open the gate!" Renvall's main gate is so heavy it requires eight Knights (or rather say, a General and seven Knights) to open; the Daein army enters the stronghold through the vaulted gate. Calill meets up with Ephraim while his band of Knights of Free Renais make up the watch on top of the castle. Kyle and Forde seem to forget about the presence of the Daein troops, which makes them uneasy.

Ephraim turns to Calill. "King Ike finally acknowledged that the true place of Daein is with the United Nations.", he says. "Do you have any news of my sister?"

Calill, also in disbelief, asks, "Princess Eirika?" She tells His Highness that the U.N. General Assembly convened that Ephraim's sister was to be with the group led by Crimea. They have word from Jehanna Hall that the Crimean Army is fighting alongside the laguz armies of Jehanna and a group of Phoenicis hawks.

Lute begins her speech. "You may not know it, but for years, I kept the secret. The orders from the King of Renais were clear: "The people must know nothing of your origins. Tell them only if some great peril strikes." However, with all that happened, Emperor Vigarde's actions, I feel necessary that I tell you everything, Your Highness." She asks, "Are you ready to hear the secret of my own origins?"

Ephraim nods. He stands silently as Lute continues to tell everyone her secret. "As you all know, Emperors of Begnion are the true heirs of Altina. You suppose you don't know what happens when you're not the one destined to the apostolic crown… that's exactly what happened to me. King Fado confided this information to me before I went away from the royal palace of Renais. Simply put, Begnion dispossessed and disowned me. They sent me in exile… I am the younger sister of Sanaki."

Ephraim, surprised, asks the purple-haired Sage, "The younger sister of Sanaki?"

Calill commens about a few things related to the 11-year-old magic user. "Now that I think about it, that fact may account for many things: your magical proficiency, and also the fact you boast very often… That doesn't mean you're the younger sister of the Apostle that there isn't any mage better than you are! Perhaps not myself but just… someone else can do somewhat better."

Ephraim solemnly states that he gives his full support to Lute, not only as a Renais citizen but also as family of Begnion royalty. "Allow me to apologize for the discourtesies I have made. We did indeed capture Renvall, but Vigarde did not care for its prisoners, beorc or laguz. After we killed Murray, Grado pulled back from the castle in order to search for an enemy force.", he says.

Lute begins to talk about their strategy. "Their forces were stretched thin at that time. Grado faces Frelia and Daein to the west, and the laguz armies of Jehanna to the east. Princess Tana commands the Frelian army; Lord Pelleas for the Daeins. I suppose the Begnion Senate wouldn't care too much about Grado's defeat."

At this moment, a Druid enters the castle, with Grado crests on it. He waves a white flag, meaning that he surrenders. As the rest of the Daein soldiers get into the castle, he stays close to them, fearing that the gate will snap him open. Knoll announces to His Highness that he has troubling news about Renais. Ephraim then asks the Druid, "What news?"

Knoll tells the shocking tale of Orson, once an intensely devoted knight of Renais. "He signed a blood pact with Grado! What I didn't tell Orson, was that, to break a blood pact, you needed to meet two conditions: first, kill one of the sides involved, and, second, destroy the physical document. Either condition by itself is insufficient. So we have to search for Vigarde himself; the Begnion Senate wouldn't meddle with Renais directly. Knowing Vigarde, he would keep the document on himself, due to its very nature.", he concludes.

He fears that the document would be put on "malevolent hands" if he didn't keep the thing on him, and that anyone who would assassinate him would be after him only to break the blood pact. Or that, if put elsewhere, he fears that the people who would then safeguard the document would secretly destroy it and then assassinate Vigarde. Anyway, even if he can still exert control on Renais, he has more to fear than the Begnion Senate alone. With Orson killed, his fears were assuaged, but only a small bit.

Ephraim mutters, "Calill, Lute, Moulder… Thank you. Thank you. I am… so very happy. With you at my side, I want to retake the kingdom of Renais. Please, lend me your strength."

Calill states, "Of course!" Lute then tells the foursome that they cannot possibly defeat Grado without her genius at their side.

Moulder ends the pledge of the group. "To you, Prince Ephraim, we three pledge loyalty."

Taizel. The Daein army pitched camp for a few days in order to rest in the farmlands nearby. For some reason, Pelleas organizes a war council, where a few of his chief lieutenants take part in it: Vika, Eurytos and Duessel, in his personal tent in the middle of the makeshift camp.

Pelleas asks, "What news? Do you have a plan to capture Taizel?"

Vika formulates her plan of action, "Taizel is the beginning of a straight road to the capital, but we will have to fight every step. The Grado army outnumbers us Daeins by a certain amount. Here's my plan: we will wait at night to get into the city. Then, we will hit them fast enough so they cannot take their positions. Lord Pelleas, my role in this is to take out the catapults and the mages. And you are to kill the Grado soldiers when they sleep. Kill the enemy guards making the rounds, for we are certain to fall on enemy patrols."

However, in the walls of Taizel, Aias leads a patrol of men even as Roark stands on his back. Roark fears that laguz may appear; he made nightmares for every night he fought laguz, in fact, ever since he led the pillage of the laguz district of the capital of Renais. Or he fought against laguz, for that matter. Roark tells Aias that this is complete lunacy. "Look at how meager our force is, considering our proximity to the frontline!", he says. Aias tells General Roark that they're only doing the rounds this evening. They think they don't need a larger force. Besides, they believe laguz are no match…

Roark "insults" Aias, "No, you're wrong! Even now, these bloodthirsty beats stalk us! The sub-humans! They want to consume me!" Aias pleads his General to calm himself, as he says this every night, and they have yet to see laguz encroach this place at night!

One of the Heroes under Roark's command warns the group, "Enemy fire! We're under attack! It's those Kilvan birds! The laguz are attacking!"

The bird laguz in the Daein army, led by Vika, Arch-Druid of Kilvas, have made use of light magic to inflict casualties on the enemy forces, but also to light the path for the other laguz. Vika faces an enemy Druid in a magical duel while Pelleas' men batter the main gate down with magic. Once the gate has burst into flames, they meet no resistance and Diadora wants to give chase to Roark… At this moment Diadora then requests permission to chase General Roark! Vika, in denying that permission, claims that pursuing General Roark would bring the whole garrison to ready against them. However, in a street surrounding the wall, Franz runs in against an Archer getting in position to go to the catapult, and he cuts the bowstring of his enemy, to stab him afterward. The corpse of the archer is found near a butcher's shop. The enemy Druid, near Franz, is to fight Vika; however, he decides not to stab the enemy magic-user in the back and goes for the Hero instead. As a Paladin, he uses his Steel Blade to cut the enemy Halberd, leaving the Hero without a weapon to counter cavalry. To continue the fight, he pulls out a… Bronze Sword? It goes without saying that the Hero is losing the game to Franz.

As for Vika, the Druid's magic gives her some trouble. She is the target of the enemy's Verrine, though the enemy does not realize that his foe is a laguz of the bird tribe. For this reason, her tremendous magical resistance allows her to give enough time for her to dodge the spell. When a Daein Sniper near her fires an arrow, the Sniper didn't expect the arrow to hit the Druid, but the Halberdier instead. And the Druid Vika was fighting is nothing more but a cadaver; she loots a Verrine spell from him before she takes wing and transform. However, as a laguz-sized raven, she cannot use magic and therefore, she has to inflict physical damage. Pelleas himself finds Aias and casts Verrine on his tightly packed group. So tightly packed that some cannot find the space to dodge. By then, Eurytos goes for the docks with his men, without running into enemy patrols or booby-traps, though he recognizes that his superior officer is in danger, for which he rushes to his aid. The aftermath of the spell is that some of Aias' men are wounded, an Halberdier is killed and another Halberdier has been blinded, leaving the path for Vika to kill him. Franz, however, leads his path into the door of the soldiers' quarters, of which he forces his way through. Pelleas gives his orders, "The guards are almost done in for! Eurytos, finish this!"

Eurytos uses his Knight Killer and pierces through the horse's body, putting Aias off his paint mount in a dark alley. With another quick stab, Aias is dead. The mounted Great Knight has finally known defeat. And he masses his men in the door of the barracks nearest to his position, as one of his men picks on the lock of the door. When the "locksmith" is done with the lock, Eurytos sends his men to kill the men-at-arms that are still asleep. Same thing for Pelleas, but he chooses to go for the cellars afterwards, in search for able-bodied prisoners to be freed.

Vika and her band of bird-tribe laguz fall asleep in the marketplace, near the entrance to the cathedral of the city. Granted, the cathedral is nowhere near the size of the Mainal Cathedral of Sienne, but the bishop opens the door and takes the three raven laguz inside piecemeal. When they awaken, the bishop asks a few things to them. The bishop asks the bird tribe laguz, "Why were you in this city?"

Vika answers, "I'm the Arch-druid of Kilvas. I'm with Daein to free the laguz imprisoned throughout Grado. Your Grace, should I take you to safety?"

The Bishop replies with, "Even I questioned the whole war. I waited for an occasion to join an enemy of Grado and today's the day. Yes, take me to safety."

Radmin, the anima magic-user, asks, "Why did you wait until now to fight the Grado army?"

Diadora claims that Grado has tortured innocent laguz since the beginning of this war. If he wants to save whatever laguz are left… Daein is the way to go! "Grado wishes to destroy the Sacred Stones, and Begnion is supporting it!", she says.

Vika also makes her claims, "I have seen firsthand what Grado did to its own Sacred Stone. However, I heard that the Sacred Stone of Frelia has been transferred to Daein and the Stone of Jehanna resides in Gallia. Prince Lyon branded me a traitor but I was saved by Daein."

Pelleas' men saves countless prisoners and Taizel falls. At daybreak, they make the count of the prisoners and they find thousands of laguz as well as beorc imprisoned not only in the proper jail cells but also in the sewers. Many of these beorc have been imprisoned because they wanted to betray Grado, but some of them also were laguz rights activists. And the laguz simply were victims of the ill treatments of Grado.

Myrrh hollers, "We are looking for a bishop, by the name of Lovestospooch. Taizel has been captured, now is the time to speak up against Grado!"

Lovestospooch fanatically says, "Today, a new day has come for Taizel! Grado has long violated the rights of its criminals! The time has come for us to pay back!"

Myrrh warns everyone in the cathedral, "There is a flow of evil… I can feel it!"

Lovestospooch also warns her, "The city is not safe for a Goldoan princess. I kept you hidden from Begnion because you were wanted back there."

Myrrh says that he discarded Goldoa nobility because of the Great Flood. Just after the Great Flood, there was a faction of dragons who left Goldoa and lived in the Darkling Woods and the other one remained in Goldoa. King Goldoa's younger brother is the leader of the Magvel dragon faction; his name is Morva. Even if her father is on the other side of the sea… she is not a Goldoan princess, but a princess of Darkling!

Lovestospooch distracts all four laguz by saying that the Grado army left a notice. "If anyone can defeat the Cyclops in the Circus Horrificus, the city is his/hers to control!" is written on the notice. As for the Circus Horrificus itself... This "circus" is open only at night. It is said that ancient demonic creatures dwell in the arena. If anyone is to cleanse the arena… it's the Daein army. For they have come to fight the abominations in the haunted building. At this time, they did not find any ghost or monster, only… beorc guardians.

Burton tells the group, "If you wish to defeat the Cyclops, you have to go through me!"

Amelia taunts Burton, "Leave it to me, beorc knight!"

The white-clad Grado General begins the fight by drawing his sword and, at the same time, ghosts surround the two people who fight. He begins by charging at the woman, but he realizes that Amelia has developed a style that allows her to fight and move much faster than other Generals, but only as fast as an Halberdier. That being said, she thrust her lance and, as her foe parries the blow, gets a dent in his sword. And… another dent! Amelia's speed allows her to take the weak spot of the enemy armor and to exploit it.

As the enemy General lies dead, two people show up: a red-clad Swordmaster named Isaiah, wielding a Silver Blade and a tall beorc magic-user (a shame that Begnion or Grado do not recognize that laguz could also use magic to a level where they can effectively fight with it before they morph) in teal robes whose name is Wystan.

Isaiah admonishes the laguz, "Die, sub-human curs!"

Wystan, on the other hand, proves to be more conciliating, "If only circumstances were different… if only we could understand each other as species…"

Vika, in the background, tells Diadora to take the Fire Mage while Radmin takes the Swordmaster. Diadora casts her spell, Shine (the Tellius version because the Magvel version is more akin to Ellight), and they blind both men. However, the second raven can finally get to see any better than with the torch lit in the haunted premises. The laguz couple fought untransformed all the time before this fight started. So they both shift and they eat the eyes away from their beorc enemies. By then, there is no one left to guard the main enemy of the arena: the Cyclops who is the object of the notice left by the Grado army.

Lovestospooch then says, "Leave it to me, laguz! Even Diadora, the laguz bishop, does not have a bonus vs. monsters…but I do! And I'm the rightful master of Taizel!"

Diadora says to Duke Lovestospooch, "You were on a mission to Kilvas during the Mad King's War! I saw you somewhere, my lord!"

The giant one-eyed monster begins the fight against Lord Lovestospooch by throwing an axe at him, but even the old bishop is fast enough to dodge the hit. Needless to say, the other people who were killed by the Cyclops simply closed in too much and were killed by the Swordslayer. But Lovestospooch uses the moment his foe needs to "recharge" his axe throw to cast his Divine spell. Blinded by the intense light, the Cyclops cannot aim very well either. Therefore, the Bishop remains at the last position he was to cast his second Divine spell and the Cyclops falls dead on a skeleton after the spell hits. Once the Cyclops dies, Lovestospooch undertakes his Sanctification, as his many years of service as a Bishop, healing his own people and leading his forces in battle against bandits, gave him much-needed veterancy.

The Darkling Woods host the Black Temple of the Demon King. Many laguz reside in the ancient woods; their territory extend to Jehanna through Neleras Peak; this is why Senator Riev's army cannot reinforce the Grado army fighting in Jehanna Hall. Simply put, the laguz army based in the Darkling Woods defeated the Begnion army in Neleras Peak. However, exhausted, that army suffered heavy losses and it cannot reinforce the army of Crimea that fights to free Jehanna Hall, the capital of Jehanna, entrenched in the middle of the desert.

Elincia orders her men to form up. Even if the Crimean army is under the command of Elincia, there are plenty of groups: Saleh leads the Carcino-based group, Sudler for the renegade Begnion army, Muarim for the beast-tribe laguz, Hawke for the bird-tribe laguz, Eirika for the Free Renais army and Innes for the Frelian army. What is left of the Daein contingent is split into different groups: Anna with the beast-tribe laguz, some of the beorc with Renais and others still with Frelia. Seven groups are then headed different ways. The bird tribe laguz, the main Crimean army and the renegade Begnion forces go after Valter to the south, the beast tribe laguz and the Magvel-based troops fight Caellach to the west. And no one has much cover when there is no sandstorm brewing. That being said, cavalry is best to be used as the last line of defense, for horsemen cannot go very far in such terrain. And so the cavalry stays away.

Muarim witnesses his men advance faster than the beorc trailing behind him. Apart from magic-users, thieves, rogues or assassins. He realizes that Grado thieves do not fully use the advantages of their agility in the sandy terrain, but Begnion thieves do. Obviously, they did not have much to steal, so the fragility of thieves makes them vulnerable. The rabble of Begnion throws knives at its renegade troops.

Sudler gives his orders to his men, "The Begnion army fights like bandits! Target the thieves first!"

Bilodeau, using the power concealed within her quick, calculating brain, shoots Ellight shots in rapid succession, hitting several Thieves and Rogues, along with Mages and Monks. The charred bodies of her enemies make it easy for her men, as well as Elincia and Hawke to use their respective swords to kill them. As for Elincia herself, she uses her Amiti, the royal sword of Crimea, like a Brave Sword, so she can kill enemies like the Warrior on her right with two hits while they can only strike once at best.

The Soldiers and Halberdiers clash with the Begnion rabble, people who were convicted of thievery and/or murders and who fight as Thieves or Rogues. The harder armor makes them more resistant to thievery attacks, as the Rogues and Assassins who serve as their officers expect to fight flying units and/or dismounted magic-users, like Bilodeau or Sudler. On the other side of the Begnion lines…

Kyza admonsihes the Grado troops massed before him, "Insects of Grado! We'll show you the power of the laguz!" At the same time, Lyre also admonishes the enemy soldiers, "Beorc scum! For the razing of our homes, we'll make you wish you'd never been enlisted!"

Riev warns the laguz, "Filthy sub-humans! This war ends now. Prepare yourselves!"

Ilyana warns the people around her, "A beorc army is approaching from the sand bank to the west!" Nolan tells that the flag is that of the Crimean army. This flag sends a wave of doubt in the defenders, even as Leonardo then suspects that Crimea intends to side with Grado after all. Micaiah reassures the group, stating that Crimea is a member in good standing of the Laguz League. "Why Queen Elincia would suddenly betray both the League and her own convictions to side with a nation who mistreats laguz at every corner?", she asks.

She also fires Ellight shots in rapid succession; when she does so, one of the Grado shamans gets hit quite badly, loses balance and gets stuck in the magical quicksands created by the mages who defend the area. These two mages are readying their spell combination: the beorc Sage casts Fimbulvetr on a massed formation of Grado soldiers. The spell hits the group with tremendous icing force; the laguz Druid casts Arcfire and the giant icicle melts.

With the Druid she kills as a Bishop, Micaiah suddenly is surrounded by blinding light that makes her an obvious target but, for some reason, she is not targeted and begins her Sanctification instead. She becomes a Saint, a third-tier Priest or Monk (Magvel Clerics can also become Saints if they choose to become Bishops as second-tier combatants). As the true leader of the Dawn Brigade, she fights on with her magic, who makes her opponents fear her.

Marisa, though, approaches the enemy beorc soldiers. With her superior agility (though not quite as high as a Begnion Thief) she dodges the enemy lances as she closes under the lance points, cutting their limbs and, sometimes, lances. By then, she also undertakes a class-change process; in her case, it's a Swordmastery. Unfortunately for her, a Halberdier makes her suffer from tennis-elbow and she has to fall back to find a Priest or a Cleric to make her battle-worthy again.

And Muarim eats away at enemy bodies, as he puts his claws into enemy soldiers under his humanoid form. However, under humanoid form, he doesn't fight as he would in his tiger form. His fellow beorc protect him in order to buy him the time to charge his transformation, even as some of his laguz comrades already fight under their animal forms. Mordecai asks Commander Muarim, "What news?"

Muarim orders her men to target the enemy Halberdiers. Mordecai's pure might mows down some enemy medium infantry (i.e. Soldiers, Halberdiers) while Lethe, Muarim's second-in-command, runs off to catch a few Thieves off-guard, like Vartel, a Grado thievery officer hired as a Renais mercenary, whose body lays dead. But before that thievery officer died, he tried to snatch a Vulnerary from an untransformed cat laguz. Thieves don't fight very well against masses of laguz or heavily armed/armored beorc. One of the Mages who remain afar casts a long-range Blizzard spell, raining down heavy snows and hail. Tormod, as he fights the Grado medium infantry with his magic, casts an Arcfire spell on the heap of ice, still melting from the hot Jehanna sun. As a result, Soldiers and Halberdiers get trapped in the quicksands. Mages casting Fire and Thunder spells kill many Soldiers and Halberdiers but some enemy Priests and Bishops use Rescue and/or Rewarp staves to extract those trapped in these traps of death.

Anna shouts to her men, "Caellach dead ahead!"

At that moment, a Druid among General Caellach's men, who was simply sitting on a chair to test the beer, accidently threw out the beer keg on his men, even as his clothes remain stuck on his chair. The undrinkable beer fills the air around the Druid, who lacked the strength to carry the beer keg a long distance. As she transforms into a dragon as large as a farmhouse, Anna spits fire directly at Caellach and the alcohol-fueled fire bursts on Caellach's close guard, including the Druid who threw it in the first place. And the foul farts of a fat Warrior behind the Druid seals the fate of both the Druid and the Warrior, as they are consumed by fire.

Haar makes the things go worse for the Grado army under Caellach's command as he carries a "bambi bucket" attached to the tail of his wyvern, filled with boiling oil. And Ilyana gets promoted in the heat of battle to an Archsage, where she uses her magical skills to take on a Wyvern Lord who command a wing of Wyvern Riders. Zeffren descends into a steep nose-dive towards not Ilyana but Lyre, and she distracts the Wyvern Lord while Ilyana casts Arcthunder to success as the Wyvern Lord is aground. Lyre uses her razor-sharp claws to cut holes into the wyvern's body and two holes deep enough are drilled in a timely fashion. Zeffren admonishes the "Blasted sub-humans!" but Lyre interrupts him by saying, "We're not "sub-humans"! Jehanna recognizes everyone is equal!"

The one who previously mounted a wyvern hides in the largest mosque of the capital, full of vaulted columns and glasswork. Ilyana exploits Zeffren's vulnerability to magic and the vaulted halls of the Jehanna Royal Mosque see the thunder as Zeffren gets hit and dies a few moments later, due to the burns the magic inflicted.

As the quicksands dry up, some trapped soldiers are finally capable to be rescued safely by conventional means. But the surprises that await them are far worse than quicksands: Kyza orders that a catapult be rigged with a small keg of Greek fire and the keg be thrown towards Grado soldiers. Unfortunately, his plans backfire as the keg itself remain stuck on a Hero's helmet. A keg who gets removed as a Soldier remarks some oddity from the siege engineers who man the catapult. "The siege engineers must have been pretty precise to hit one person in particular", he thought.

The Soldier and the Hero catches fire and, very quickly, a massed formation catches fire. This is the timing the Laguz Alliance needed: their enemies would create artificial sandstorms and they would cast fire on it yet again. After the Laguz League pulls a huge fiery prank, the enemy had to extinguish the fire. And, through the fiery prank, all the undead forces are wiped out.

Anna tells everyone that it is her chance to kill Caellach. "Do not interfere with my kill!", she orders. The big dragon scratches Caellach very badly and, taking in account that he was severely burned in the fiery prank pulled by the League, he could barely move his badly scorched axe arm. As a third-tier Vanguard, he put all his remaining strength in his axe and throws his Tomahawk at Anna. The axe bit only dents her skin but, before she reverts, she spits fire once again and Caellach dies, amid a large fire. And, as fire dies down, Sudler also casts light magic spells in quick succession. The end result is that blinded enemies who played dead to avoid it are no longer playing as they actually are dead. However, this comes at the cost of losing a flag-bearer, as a Grado Sniper killed him, using a well-placed Steel Arrow. At this time, a red-clad Hero takes up the flag and carries it into battle, effectively replacing his steel-made shield. As for the shield, an Halberdier, who had its shield destroyed, takes it up and continues his fight.

Valter's remaining forces are at least three times as numerous as the Crimean army, but the Crimean case becomes worse as the main body of the Grado army, led by Riev, has been directed to fight the beorc forces of Crimea directly, instead of fighting the laguz on the walls of Jehanna Hall.

And the prime Crimean flag-bearer gets to kill an enemy Sniper, still alive despite the huge fire on the battlefield, for she closed in under the chaos the sandstorm created. For some reason, the Crimean flag-bearer's Halberdiering goes awry and the newly promoted Halberdier gains the ability to use Swords instead.

Haar asks Suzie, "Are you OK, my lady?"

Suzie, in disbelief, "How do you know I'm enlisted as a knight? Perhaps my marriage with Sir Kieran gave away?"

Haar then orders Suzie to take any of the swords on the ground. She then feels like the sword is more her calling than the lance, as she wields an Iron Sword and she seems to strike faster than if she used her Steel Greatlance, almost as fast as an Hero but not quite like a Swordmaster. At the same time, Kyza sends his men to guard one of the gates of Jehanna Hall, for which the enemy musters a giant battering ram that requires four Cyclops to man.

The gate itself holds off two swings of the battering ram, but at the third hit, the gate falls and monsters begin to pour in the streets, like Maunthe Doogs and, of course, undead laguz, in either transformed or untransformed shapes.

Lyre admonishes the undead laguz, "Laguz scum! Why are you raised from the grave?"

Far to the west, the Daein army in position in Taizel is the seat of an unexpected happening regarding its own forces. The Lord Lovestospooch, when he gathers all prisoners that are capable to fight, the solar clock in the plaza in front of his cathedral indicates noon. Vika and her close guard apparently left to meet with what's left of the Kilvan army in the Za'albul Marsh.

Lovestospooch makes his speech, "Today is a day for all to remember! Let's bravely charge the fields of Grado to drive the laguz-haters off our lands!"

Pelleas asks him, "Where are you guys?"

Lovestospooch answers that he is over there, by the cart. The cart Lovestospooch refers to is to be found near the cathedral and the freed prisoners because it contains weapons: axes, knives, swords, bows, lances, even magic tomes for the more intellectual people. Prisoners recover the weapons they previously wielded before the Grado jailors took them away upon arrest. Somehow, Eurytos and Franz feel uneasy distributing weapons to prisoners, culminating in Eurytos having diarrhea and having to leave for the cathedral crypt, where one can go around to urinate or taking a crap.

Franz turns to Eurytos, "We've been waiting forever! Even Lovestospooch, who is usually quite patient, showed signs of impatience!"

Eurytos explains to Lovestospooch, "Well, I have to take a dump, milord!"

Lovestospooch insults the Daein Halberdier, "If you didn't eat so ill, you wouldn't have diarrhea all the time!"

Lords Lovestospooch and Pelleas convene inside the cathedral, leaving all the prisoners to rest and/or train for their next fight. Inside the glasswork-covered halls, they speak of their plans for the rest of the war.

Pelleas begins the conversation, "Many Grado soldiers are unwilling to continue the fight; yet, the Begnion Senate won't let Grado surrender unless Vigarde dies." He formulates his plan, "Our plan is to kill Vigarde as soon as we can. To this end, we must mount an assault on Grado Keep as soon as possible. Also, Lord Lovestospooch, I must inform you that Lord Duessel is responsible for the Grado beorc prisoners, while I command the core Daein army."

Lovestospooch solemnly tells him an extra piece of information concerning Pelleas' father, "I heard your father was slain against Daein; he sided with Grado because he felt that Renais was corrupt. And, as I know that your father did not have any other child, then you are duke of Borgo from the very moment he died."

Pelleas announces that he will discard Daein peerage and remain with Renais, even if he leads Daein forces in battle. He also states that King Ike trusted him only because he had unshakeable faith that Grado violated laguz rights and that, once defeated, it will return back to normal and that he wouldn't betray Daein's cause. Lovestospooch finally states that Daein is still on Renais' side and, at the same time, that they'll depart Taizel in two days.

In the desert citadel of Jehanna Hall, Kyza's men hold off the battle against the Cyclops who man the battering ram. Ilyana begins by casting Elthunder on the first Cyclops' eye, making it go blind but it does little to placate their efforts. Another beorc mage goes around using Fimbulvetr and it grounds the forward Cyclops, giving the laguz below enough time to rend the flesh of their monster enemies. Lyre and Mordecai eat through the flesh and makes the left Cyclops bleed from his legs; Ilyana casts another Elthunder spell and the magically hurt, right-hand Cyclops collapses but remains alive. Kyza himself is surprised to find an enemy Saint behind the second line of Cyclops and, as such, engages him, leaving his men, such as Lyre, to fend off the other two Cyclops.

Muarim orders his men to take the close guard of Senator Riev while he takes on Riev himself. He leaves the cat sisters to fight a dragon, along with Mordecai. Kyza himself makes a change of plan and he is to engage Riev directly, leaving Muarim to take the head Cyclops, which is in the back of the battering ram. The general of the Laguz League suddenly remembers that the weak spot of a Cyclops is behind its eye! With this information, it pierces the eye before the Cyclops can react and he rends the flesh behind the eye, making it fall on the heavy ram. Before the lead Cyclops fall, though, the beast had a hole punched in the entire depth of its head.

Even as the ram falls, the other two Cyclops are deadlocked by the height of the gate, whose clearance is not high enough to let it pass. Their sheer size make the defenders on the cakewalk above the gate able to strike at the one-eyed abominations with either magic or arrows. Kyza uses this diversion to fight Riev head-on while Lethe, Lyre, Mordecai and Muarim fight the Zombie Dragon Laguz, with Ilyana to cover their backs with thunder magic.

Riev asks Kyza, "Where did you hide Jehanna's Sacred Stone?"

Kyza answers that he never knew where Jehanna's Sacred Stone was in the first place. Obviously, he is by no means a monster, only a laguz. As a Tiger, he leaps forward at Riev's aging body, who is caught off-guard but still alive. In turn, the excommunicated bishop casts Divine, making his own pet dragon blind but only slightly affects the Jehanna laguz officer. With the dragon blind, he blindly spits wretched air everywhere, even among its own allies. This proves to be part of Riev's undoing but Kyza finishes him off. As Riev dies, all monsters on the battlefield (and also elsewhere on the continent) suddenly die and/or vanish. As for Valter, the crazy psycho Wyvern Paladin (a third-tier Wyvern Knight), he fights not only Haar, but also Elincia and Hawke. Having then learned that Valter's lance is actually a cursed lance given to him by Duessel after a laguz broke his previous lance, Haar's objective is to break the lance so his foe can regain some sort of sanity. Hawke, in hawk form, is to make the wyvern go mad and make its rider fall to the ground. Using Amiti, Elincia parries the thrust of the cursed Spear while Haar throws his axe so much as to break it. He used the Spear quite a lot to kill laguz and beorc enemies alike, so one knows that the worn-down Spear will soon break. And Haar's trick works; Valter regains his sanity and no longer wishes to engage in mindless killing. But he thinks that fighting Elincia, along with her flying lackeys, as a battle he must fight to the death. He draws the sword he uses for display in social gatherings and the weakened Valter asks both Haar and Hawke to leave him alone against Elincia. She is drawn to a sword fighting duel against another flying fighter. Valter did not want to fight the other two because he did not deem the other fliers worthy of him, as they are not nobles and he is from a noble family, who led a territory located east of Grado Keep for generations. Caught off-guard because of his wyvern, Valter gets his head cut by Elincia, at the very moment where a messenger calls for the decommission of Caellach, Riev and Valter, including all men under his command, leaving General Roark, the Cinnabar, as the supreme commander of the Grado Imperial Army.