Boss battle time.

Warning, this chapter isn't for the squeamish.

Chapter 52 – The Forgotten Hero (Lone Moon)

Ingrid swung Luin to her side, sending a splash of blood from the lance's blade after slaying a Dire Wolf. It was the third one that she and the others in Dimitri's group had killed that night, along with two more wild Demonic Beasts and a collection of other wild monsters ranging from giant boars to huge bats, among others. It was as though the entire animal kingdom was trying to kill them.

The Falcon Knight heard another man in their force scream his last as a Sabre Cat, a giant cougar that matched a Dire Wolf in size, slashed through the ill-fated soldier with its claws. The Sabre Cat was then shot by a hail of arrows, wounding its front left leg. Sylvain rushed in with the Lance of Ruin and, with a powerful thrust to its neck, slew the Sabre Cat.

There was no euphoria from the soldiers at this kill, and Sylvain couldn't blame them. They had already lost over 60 men chasing after the Wandering Beast, with another 70 wounded. Despite having almost four battalions' worth of troops, they were hard-pressed by the many creatures that confronted them. It wasn't just their numbers, but these beasts were abnormally strong for their kind. And despite their progress, they still had not caught up to the Wandering Beast, though its spilt blood and the trail of broken foliage meant finding it wouldn't prove difficult.

Sylvain turned and watched as Mercedes drew her bow, a Sacred Relic known as the Tathlum Bow, and fired an arrow into the wing of a giant bat. The flying creature screeched as it spiraled out of control and crashed into a tree. Sylvain was grateful that Mercedes had the weapon to fall back on. Using her fire magic in such a dense forest would be far too risky.

But then, to the cleric's dismay, the group heard a loud buzzing sound closing fast. The group turned to see an enormous insect, known in Fódlan as a Monarch Moth, fly out of the woods and beat its wings at them, sending a toxic dust toward them. Thirty men were engulfed by the dust and quickly found themselves on their knees, paralyzed by the insect's attack. The Monarch Moth then snatched up a soldier and, to the horror of those who watched, stabbed its proboscis into him and began sucking out his bodily fluids.

Mercedes reached for another arrow, knowing she couldn't try and help the paralyzed soldiers until the Monarch Moth was dealt with. If it wasn't slain, it would just spread its spores again. The cleric fired at the moth, which had just finished with its meal, but the arrow glanced off harmlessly. The monster dropped the desiccated husk of its victim as it looked for another.

"Burn it!" shouted Dimitri.

"But what about the–"

"NOW!"

With no time to think, Mercedes dropped her bow and readied a fire spell. To her disgust, the Monarch Moth grabbed another victim and sucked the soldier dry in the time she needed to ready the spell. Mercedes and Sylvain both released their fire spells at the Monarch Moth simultaneously, and immediately the giant insect was set ablaze. The monster screeched as it fell to the forest floor and began rolling and flailing about, crushing two more unlucky men in its death throes and setting several nearby trees aflame. Mercedes winced as this happened, knowing things could quickly get out of control.

"Get them moving again! Hurry!" Sylvain shouted to the cleric.

Mercedes quickly readied another spell and shouted "Esuna!" as she cleansed the soldiers of their paralysis. The soldiers quickly fled from the Monarch Moth and the burning trees around it as the monster stopped flailing and lay still.

As Mercedes scooped up her bow, she heard Dedue shout as he slammed his axe into another giant boar, the pig squealing its last from having its skull split open. Another Sabre Cat howled its last as Dimitri skewered its heart with Areadbhar before slashing open its belly, spilling its blood all over himself.

Before anyone could congratulate the king on his latest kill, a guttural voice echoed through the trees.

"Your efforts are futile," said the Wandering Beast. "The beasts who hear my call will tear you all apart!"

Another roar echoed through the forest, drawing more beasts out to attack the Loyalist soldiers.

"We have no time for this," Dimitri snarled. "Dedue, you and the rest of the men are to hold these beasts at bay."

"What about you, Your Highness?" asked Dedue.

"I will find that monster and rip off its head. Sylvain, Ingrid, Mercedes, you're with me."

"As you command, Your Majesty," said Ingrid.

"Charging right into the lion's den? What could go wrong?" Sylvain said sarcastically.

"You can stay behind if you're afraid, Sylvain."

"Not a chance, Ingrid."

"I'm at your service, Dimitri," said Mercedes.

Dimitri couldn't help but grin at this. He then rushed forward at an approaching Dire Wolf and slashed Areadbhar through its jaw without slowing down. Sylvain, Ingrid and Mercedes pursued him as Dedue and the Loyalist soldiers took up defensive positions, intent on drawing away as many beasts as they could.

…

Minutes passed as Dimitri and the others rushed through the thick forest. Broken branches and a trail of blood made it easy to follow the Wandering Beast's trail. To their surprise, no other beasts moved to attack them, despite that Dimitri could see their shadows amongst the trees.

"What are they waiting for?" Ingrid said, having seen the beasts as well.

None of the others answered her as she rode Celdia behind Dimitri. The forest was too thick for her to fly up and get a bird's eye view, so she stayed close to the others.

The four heroes soon reached a large clearing in the forest, and immediately they saw the Wandering Beast flanked by two more Demonic Beasts. The light of the full moon shone down upon them all as they realized the Wandering Beast's wounds appeared to have fully healed.

"So, you've come," said the Wandering Beast. It then snarled at the two Demonic Beasts, "Bring me their bones!"

The two Demonic Beasts rushed forward to attack the four heroes.

"Take the one on the right," said Dimitri. "I'll deal with the other one myself."

Without responding, Ingrid maneuvered Celdia above the Demonic Beasts as Sylvain charged in on his horse. Mercedes readied an arrow and fired as Sylvain dodged a claw swipe and countered by slashing the Lance of Ruin at the Demonic Beast's arm, inflicting a long gouge across its flank. Ingrid then swooped in and stabbed Luin into the Demonic Beast's left eye. The monster screeched at being blinded and tried to swat the Falcon Knight, but Ingrid pulled away with ease.

Meanwhile, Dimitri swiftly avoided two claw swipes from his own Demonic Beast. The monster then brought its claws together and tried to crush Dimitri with them, missing the King of Lions again. This time, Dimitri countered by slashing Areadbhar through the Demonic Beast's snout. The monster shrieked as it stumbled backwards, allowing Dimitri to leap up onto its head. Grabbing one of the beast's horns, Dimitri then made several brutal stabs with Areadbhar into its cranium, each one spilling blood and bits of gray matter on him as the monster tried to throw him off. After a seventh strike, the Demonic Beast toppled over as Areadbhar finally stabbed into its brain, with Dimitri sliding off the monster's skull before it crumbled into ashes.

At nearly the same time, Sylvain landed his own killing blow on the second Demonic Beast, gouging open its throat. The beast collapsed and similarly disintegrated into ashes.

As the heroes turned back to the Wandering Beast, it said, "Impressive, descendent of Blaiddyd. Your ferocity reminds me of his own penchant for bloodshed."

"What would you know of my ancestor, beast?" Dimitri said viciously.

The Wandering Beast ignored him and said, "And your allies, bearing Luin and the Lance of Ruin… Heh, Gautier was always so full of himself. As for Daphnel… I never liked that drunkard."

"Wait, what?! Drunkard?!" Ingrid said, insulted by her ancestor being called such a thing.

"And the blonde woman… now I see, you're one of Lamine's descendants. Even I found her frightful. She'd heal her prisoners just to keep them alive for as long as possible while she tormented them."

Mercedes said nothing, shocked by this accusation of her ancestor.

"What the hell are you going on about?" said Sylvain. "Are you saying you actually knew our ancestors?"

"You spout nothing but lies," Dimitri said to the Wandering Beast. "I will silence your falsehoods by removing your head, beast."

The Wandering Beast laughed and said, "You keep things simple. Very well then, descendant of Blaiddyd! Enough reminiscing! Time for you to sate my hunger!"

Maurice let loose another roar as Dimitri and the others brandished their weapons. Dimitri rushed in first, shouting as he slashed Areadbhar at the Wandering Beast, who swiftly swung a claw at the King of Lions, surprising him with his speed. Dimitri barely avoided the strike, but he was then backhanded by the monster's wrist.

Ingrid, though surprised at the beast's speed, dove in with Luin as Maurice spun around to her attack. Realizing she couldn't approach, she tried to pull away, only for Maurice to release a ball of dark fire from his mouth. The ball exploded in mid-air near Celdia and Ingrid, and the blonde knight screamed as she was blown off her mount and crashed to the forest floor.

"Ingrid!" shouted Sylvain as the blonde Falcon Knight grimaced in pain, her steed knocked out by the blast.

The pain in Ingrid's body was met by familiar warmth as Mercedes quickly channeled a healing spell to her. The blonde slowly got to her feet and grasped Luin just as Maurice stomped toward her, intending to crush her like an insect. The Wandering Beast then yowled in pain as the Lance of Ruin raked its side, prompting Maurice to swing his tail at Sylvain, missing the Dark Knight by a few inches. Dimitri then rushed in and struck another blow to Maurice's side, prompting another fierce counterattack that knocked the King of Lions away.

"Yes, fight with all you have!" snarled the Wandering Beast. "Prey is far more satisfying when it struggles!"

As he said this, a large fireball from Mercedes hit him in the side, but this didn't have much effect on the beast. Mercedes hissed at realizing her fire spells were next to useless against the Wandering Beast.

"Focus on your white magic, Mercedes!" said Ingrid as she ran on foot toward the monster.

Ingrid, Sylvain and Dimitri all began to slash away at the Wandering Beast simultaneously, trying to spread his attention in multiple directions. The beast turned after Sylvain hit him again in the side with the Lance of Ruin and, with a roar, smashed the ground next to him, knocking him and his horse away with a shockwave.

Eyes wide at seeing Sylvain take a hit, Ingrid hissed, "You'll regret that!"

She then began channeling her Mana into Luin, intending to unleash the Heroes' Relic's power. Seeing this, Dimitri made a quick attack at the Wandering Beast's head before darting back, giving Ingrid room. Ingrid shouted as she leapt up and then slammed Luin's head into the ground, releasing a wave of fire and earth toward the Wandering Beast.

With a loud "Heh!", Maurice raised his arms and slammed his fists into the ground, sending his own shockwave at Ingrid's Burning Quake. The two attacks met in an explosion of fire and rock, but where the Wandering Beast withstood the blast, Ingrid screamed as she was sent careening into a tree, her left arm hitting it hard before she crashed to the ground. Ingrid lay on the ground, in so much pain that she couldn't even scream. She couldn't tell from the pain, but she figured her arm had to be broken.

"INGRID!" Mercedes shrieked, rushing toward the blonde to try and heal her.

But just as Mercedes began to run, Maurice recovered from the explosion and, after taking a deep breath, sent another ball of dark fire at the healer. Shocked, Mercedes raised a ward as fast as she could, the magical barrier shattering as Maurice's dark fire exploded on contact, sending the cleric to the ground on her back. Her vision swam before her eyes as her head struck a large tree root.

Releasing another roar, Maurice boasted, "Is this the best you can do?! I expected better!"

Dimitri let out a war cry as he rushed Maurice again, prompting the beast to turn to face him. The king was bleeding in several places from his wounds, but he did not slow down his assault against the Wandering Beast.

"I CANNOT BE STOPPED!" shouted Maurice as his body began to glow with crimson cracks along his hide.

The Wandering Beast released another massive roar, releasing a wave of dark electrical energy around himself that smashed apart several nearby trees. Dimitri, who took the brunt of the hit, was blasted to the ground by the electrical shockwave.

Struggling to get to his feet, Dimitri growled, "Not… yet… Not until I've…"

"It's over for you, descendant of Blaiddyd," said the Wandering Beast as it settled from its attack. "My power is at its peak in the light of the full moon. You were a fool to come here. And now… your flesh and blood… ARE MINE!"

The Wandering Beast opened its jaws and prepared to swallow Dimitri whole.

"NO!" shouted another woman's voice.

A beam of holy light crashed down upon the Wandering Beast's head, burning two of its four eyes. The monster yowled in pain as it reeled back and clutched its burning face.

Dimitri, shocked at what had just happened, turned to see the one person he least wanted involved in this brutal battle.

"Marianne…"

Riding atop Dorte, and accompanied by Dedue and his entourage, Marianne von Edmund prepared another spell, ready to aid her beloved husband and his allies against the Wandering Beast.

Got any ideas for more interesting creatures that could fit into the game's Beast mechanics? Shoot me a few of them. I'll see if they might fit the narrative.

I know the Wandering Beast isn't supposed to be that tough to beat, but again, if it's too easy for our heroes to win, it would kill the suspense. As such, Maurice is putting up one hell of a fight, as should be expected from a thousand year old monster.

Also, yeah, I know you can only get the Tathlum Bow in Azure Moon, but I already gave Annette the Crusher, so giving Mercedes the bow doesn't feel wrong.

Just one thing: is it jarring or heavy-handed to have Maurice talk to our heroes about the other Elites? I'm trying to go along the lines of them thinking the Wandering Beast is either lying or crazy. I know he kinda does it with Claude if you have him attack the Wandering Beast, but even then he's ambiguous. Maybe I'm having him say too much?