Yet again, I missed the Monday. Sorry, Genshin is so enjoyable.
Chapter 68 – The Rose-Colored River, Part 4 (Lone Moon)
Both sides of the battle backed away apprehensively as the dark cocoon that had once been Fleche von Bergliez began to swell. They knew that whatever monster the poor girl had turned into was about to emerge.
Caspar, for his part, scowled at his distant relative's fate. A young girl like Fleche should never have been on the battlefield, and now she was being transformed into a monstrosity that he would surely have to put down. His promise to Randolph—to keep Fleche safe—had already been broken.
The sound of tearing flesh snapped Caspar back to reality as the cocoon finally burst open, revealing the abomination that Fleche had become.
Soldiers on both sides were surprised to see it wasn't a familiar reptilian monster. Fleche had been turned into a large crimson lion, but with draconian wings emerging from its back. Additionally, it had three scorpion tails in place of a lion's tail, with each covered in numerous spines. The face, much like with other Black Beasts, looked more skeletal than the rest of its body, and had two long tusks coming from its cheeks. Two curled goat horns emerged from its head. The monster towered over the soldiers, and even over the other Demonic Beasts.
The Manticore let out an earsplitting roar, forcing several on the bridge to cover their ears.
Then, to the shock of everyone on the bridge, it lunged toward the closest thing it could find. Three Imperial soldiers cried out as two were slashed through by one of the Manticore's claws, with the third being swatted off the bridge. It then swung two of its tails at a pair of nearby Church soldiers, smashing them into a bloody mess. The Manticore roared again and stabbed its third tail at a nearby Imperial Pegasus Knight, skewering the rider and knocking her mount out of the air.
"What the hell?!" shouted an Imperial soldier.
"Get back! Get – AAGH!" cried out a second Imperial before he was raked by the Manticore's claws.
"What the – why is it attacking the Imperials?" said Annette.
"Watch out!" shouted another soldier as the Manticore swung one of its tails their way, releasing a barrage of spines toward the Church's warriors.
Soldiers aware of the danger raised their shields toward the oncoming barrage, but the spines were so powerful that many pierced through their shields and armor. Twelve Church soldiers fell to the ground from the barrage, with four of them already dead.
Byleth watched as an Imperial officer shouted for the remaining 500 men on the bridge to reinforce them. At the same time, one of the Demonic Beasts roared as it stomped toward the Manticore, despite being half the monster's size. The Demonic Beast fired a blast of flame from its mouth, hitting the Manticore in the side. Angered, the Manticore lunged toward the Demonic Beast and tackled it into the western side of the barracks, demolishing the structure. The dust cleared to reveal the Manticore had sunk its fangs and tusks into the Demonic Beast's neck, tearing out its throat. The Demonic Beast crumbled into dust as the Manticore looked for another victim.
"What's the call, By?" Anna shouted to Byleth.
"We have to stop it," said Byleth. "It'll destroy the bridge if we don't. Yuri, get Felix and Catherine back out here, fast! Shamir, Ignatz, Bernadetta, aim for its hind legs and wings! Annette, try to deflect its spines with your wind magic! Caspar, Raphael, Alois, keep the Imperials busy!"
"You've got it!" shouted Alois as he returned to the fight, his prior injury healed.
Shamir, Ignatz and Bernadetta drew their bows as Alois and Raphael engaged the Imperials that were still fighting with the Church. Yuri dashed through the chaos, sliding under an Imperial's axe before the enemy soldier was impaled on a lance. The rogue then rushed into the barracks structure and down a flight of stairs leading to the bridge's interior, only stopping to slash another Imperial who tried to stop him.
Caspar, however, did not listen to Byleth's order as he moved toward the Manticore.
"Caspar, get back here!" shouted Brigitte.
"I gotta stop her!" said Caspar as he tried to run past the opera matron.
Grabbing the warrior, Brigitte said, "Didn't you hear what she said?!"
"Fleche turned into that thing because of me!" Caspar shouted as he struggled to get out of Brigitte's grip. "I caused this mess and now I've gotta stop it!"
Before Brigitte could respond, one of the Church soldiers shouted, "Here it comes!"
The two stopped fighting and turned to see the Manticore, having just taken several arrows to its hide from the Church's archers, was now heading their way. A second Demonic Beast was crumbling to dust in its wake, along with around a hundred Imperial casualties. Men and women lay in various states of injury, with death in abundance for the Imperials.
"Aim for its legs!" shouted Byleth, prompting Ignatz's ballista crews to take aim. "FIRE!"
The ballistae unleashed large bolts as archers fired arrows and crossbow quarrels at the Manticore. Many struck without doing significant damage, but only one of the ballista bolts struck the fast-moving monster, burrowing into the left side of its ribcage. Letting out a pained roar, the Manticore lunged toward two Church Fortress Knights, crushing one underfoot while viciously biting down on the other and tearing through his armor. It then swung its left wing at the Church soldiers, sending a gust of wind that knocked several of them off balance.
"EAT THIS!" shouted Cia as she unleashed a Miasma Δ spell at the Manticore while Lysithea cast a Seraphim spell.
The Manticore, seeing the approaching spells, leapt upward and beat its wings, lifting off the ground and dodging the oncoming attack. It then swung its tails, upwards then down, which Byleth realized meant it was going to fling its spines again.
"Annette, now!" shouted Byleth.
Just as the Manticore flung an enormous barrage of spines from its three tails, Annette cast her Excalibur spell, creating a massive cyclone that collided with the spines, sending most of them tumbling away. The few that made it through missed their mark, though two unlucky soldiers were hit and fell to the ground, crying out for help.
"Hit its wings! NOW!" Byleth shouted.
Dorothea, Cia and Lysithea all cast their spells at the Manticore while the Church's archers and ballistae unleashed another barrage of their own at the flying beast. Several shots were landed upon its wings, with Dorothea's Thoron spell hitting the right wing hard. Roaring in pain, the Manticore tumbled out of the air and landed on its side, breaking its right wing from the impact.
It was at this moment that Yuri emerged from the interior of the bridge with Catherine and Felix in tow, along with fifty men.
Seeing them, Byleth shouted, "Catherine, get on its right flank!"
Taking only a moment to look at what they were facing, Catherine immediately led the others to get on the Manticore's side as it recovered. Another barrage of spells, arrows and bolts kept the monster's attention.
Byleth briefly looked over at the east flank, knowing the cavalry battle was still raging. To her relief, the Imperials were being pushed back now that Alois and Raphael were helping the cavalry. But there was no sign of Leonie or Ferdinand.
Then, just as she turned back toward the Manticore, Byleth heard Anna shout, "WATCH OUT!"
The Manticore, having spotted Catherine's flanking maneuver, swung two of its tails at the barracks, knocking out several support pillars. The structure above Catherine and the others began to collapse.
Time came grinding to a halt just before Catherine was crushed by the rubble.
Byleth didn't have much time to work with. Three seconds would be the most she could manage this time. Using the Divine Pulse in quick succession always left the second one with much less time available to her. And now that she had been forced to use it again, she knew she wouldn't have any more room for error.
The Manticore's tails reversed their swing as the barracks structure reassembled itself. Catherine and Felix ran backwards. She heard Anna's warning shout in reverse.
Reaching as far as she could go, Byleth then lost her grip on the sands of time as they resumed their flow.
"Catherine, fall back!" Byleth shouted.
Catherine looked up and, upon realizing the Manticore had spotted them, skidded to a halt and shouted, "BACK! BACK!"
The Manticore's tails smashed again into the support pillars of the barracks. But unlike before, Catherine and her men narrowly escaped being crushed as the structure collapsed.
"Fall back! Regroup!" shouted one of Catherine's subordinates, prompting the rest to retreat away from the Manticore's reach.
Byleth, knowing they had to do whatever it took to bring down the monster, readied the Sword of the Creator and said, "Anna, Dorothea, follow me!"
"Right behind you, By!" said Anna as she and Dorothea followed the Archbishop and rushed toward the Manticore.
…
Lorenz wasn't sure which he was more amazed by: Leonie's courage or her tenacity.
The Sauin mercenary had chased him right through the Empire's ranks on horseback, with Imperial troops too stunned to react to her pursuit. Perhaps they could not quite believe what they saw, Lorenz thought. It was, he admitted, completely unexpected.
But there she was, having cornered him near the south end of the bridge, completely cut off from her allies, and still glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, Lorenz thought, he would've been dead over a dozen times by now.
"Nowhere to run now, Lorenz," said Leonie.
"I must admit I'm impressed," said Lorenz. "But you know you cannot win here. Even if you defeat me, you've cut yourself off from the Professor and the others."
"Worry more about yourself!"
Leonie rushed at Lorenz as he readied his lance, meeting her charge in a joust. Again, the two clashed without injury as they passed, but to Lorenz's dismay, his lance broke to Leonie's attack. He tossed aside the useless weapon and readied a firebolt spell as he turned back toward her. To his surprise, Leonie had already whirled around and was charging at him, too fast for him to finish his spell. Her lance had also been broken, but she still held it with a near-fanatical drive to take him down.
With a loud shout, Leonie slammed her lance's shaft into Lorenz, unseating the purple-haired noble from his horse. Lorenz let out a loud cry of pain as he fell to the ground, his horse running away in fear. Part of the shaft was now dug into his shoulder, staining his armor red with blood.
Gasping for breath, Lorenz looked up as Leonie loomed over him, throwing aside the rest of her broken lance and drawing a short sword. She held the blade to his head menacingly.
Knowing he was defeated, Lorenz said, "I yield. Though I will not beg for my life. That would be unbecoming, wouldn't it?"
Leonie glared angrily at him, sorely tempted to end her former classmate's life. Silence passed for several seconds as Leonie held Lorenz at the tip of her blade.
The two heard the crackle of electricity too late to react.
Leonie let out an agonizing scream as a Thunder spell electrocuted her, sending her and her horse toppling to the ground.
Stunned, Lorenz turned to see Acheron's smug smile as he finished his spell.
"Well, well, I think some congratulations are in order," said Acheron as he walked over to Leonie, who cringed in pain on her side.
"Acheron? What are you – GAH!"
Acheron quickly sent another Thunder spell out, briefly electrocuting Lorenz. The heir of House Gloucester fell onto his back in pain as Acheron continued walking toward Leonie.
"Don't interrupt me, Gloucester," said Acheron. Clearing his throat, he then said to Leonie, "As I was saying to your… friend here, I need to thank you. I've been looking for a chance to get rid of Lorenz for months, and you've given me such a convenient opportunity."
Struggling to speak, Leonie said, "Y-You son of a bitch – AAAGGGHHH!"
Leonie screamed as Acheron sadistically unleashed another Thunder spell into her.
"My word, the mouth on you! And she's supposed to be one of your classmates, Lorenz? How utterly shameful."
Lorenz watched as Acheron continued to channel lightning into Leonie, the Weathervane grinning as he tortured the girl. After several seconds of pain, Acheron ceased his spell, allowing Leonie to gasp for breath.
"I may have lost the battle for this damnable bridge," said Acheron, "but at least I'll be able to blame you for this, Gloucester. Emperor Edelgard won't suspect a thing when I tell her that you were aiding the Church and sabotaged our defenses."
Leonie was in too much pain to respond, but she knew Acheron's plan would never work. Edelgard wasn't so gullible that she'd believe such a blatant lie.
"After all," Acheron sneered, "dead men tell no tales."
Acheron turned toward Lorenz, intending to finish off the heir of House Gloucester.
To his shock, Lorenz had his hand outstretched, readying his own spell.
"Enough of your spinning, Weathervane!" said Lorenz as he unleashed Agnea's Arrow.
Acheron let out a series of panicked, agonizing screams as Lorenz's spell set him ablaze. The Weathervane fell to the ground, rolling in a hopeless attempt to put out the blue fire that consumed his body.
Stunned, Leonie looked on as Acheron Lethe Phlegethon screamed his last and fell silent, his body reduced to ashes within moments. Lorenz, meanwhile, fell back in exhaustion and pain.
Slowly pushing herself up, Leonie looked over at Lorenz and said, "Lorenz, you…"
"That's two things I've always wanted to do," Lorenz said as he smiled in pain. "Getting rid of that snake… and saving your life."
Leonie was so stunned by Lorenz's words that she was motionless for a full minute, oblivious to the chaos of the ongoing battle.
Smooth, Lorenz. Smooth.
A few months ago, I was originally planning to have Acheron turn into a monster instead of Fleche. However, I knew I'd run into writing difficulties when it came to Lorenz betraying him (in a sense), so I had Fleche turn into the monster and Acheron die for his "Bond Villain Stupidity". It'd be just like him to gloat too much.
I also was originally thinking of the "boss monster" for this battle being a Hydra, but instead I decided to go with a Manticore/Scorpicore. I was thinking of Heroes of Might and Magic III when I made the decision. They're actually what I consider to be the weakest of the Tier 6 creatures in the game. They're not bad, per se, but their competition overshadows them (and Minotaur Kings are so strong by comparison). Cyclops Kings tend to be other player's choice for worst-in-tier, but they're easier to get in Horn of the Abyss.
We'll be wrapping up the battle in the next chapter. Stay tuned.