First chapter of the year, and it's gonna be a lot of fighting!
Chapter 76 – Imperial Counterattack, Part 3 (Great Tree Moon)
Alicia turned just in time to see Cyril's body crash to the ground, sent away by a brunette rider in crimson armor riding a ruby-scaled Wyvern. The boy's blood was on the woman's ebony lance.
As Alicia screamed "CYRIL, NO!", time ground to a halt.
But as Byleth grasped the power of the Divine Pulse, she found herself leaving time at a standstill. She wanted to reverse the flow of time, but she knew it would not change the outcome. She only had enough power to turn back time for five seconds, and Ladislava had mortally wounded the boy around ten seconds ago. There was no one nearby who could slow his fall, and even if there were, Cyril's wound was fatal. And with the 5th Army's soldiers finally reaching the Church's line and beginning to face her men in close quarters, Byleth knew her attention had to be on the battle, not on Cyril.
With regret, Byleth knew there was nothing she could do for him.
And so, without turning back time, she released her grip on the Divine Pulse, and the battle continued onward.
It was then that she heard Alicia release another bloodcurdling scream as she and Welkin charged at Ladislava, who was pulling up from her dive and looping around for another attack on the bridge.
"Alicia, don't!" Byleth shouted, but in the chaos of the battle, her words went unheeded.
As Alicia rushed headlong at Ladislava and Fenix, Byleth was forced to turn and block a spell from one of the Black Eagles' mages with the Shield of Seiros. Byleth lashed the Sword of the Creator at the attacker, who evaded the attack and flew away. The Archbishop then whipped around and slashed through two Imperial soldiers in quick succession.
Ladislava, hearing Alicia's war cry, turned to see the inexperienced rider rushing to avenge the boy she had just struck down. She and Fenix swung around hard, much faster than Alicia was expecting, and charged to meet the former diva's attack.
The Crimson Warrior swung Longinus as the two fliers passed each other, and Alicia shrieked as she took a deep blow to her right shoulder. Unseated, she fell ten feet to the ground, landing hard on her back.
"ALICIA!" Dorothea screamed in horror.
On the ground, Alicia could only let out a painful moan as she blacked out.
…
Zola let out another boastful laugh after she slashed her axe through another Knight of Seiros. It had been her eighth kill of the day so far, but she was far from finished. And so far, despite their reputation, the Church's forces weren't giving her the challenge she desired.
But then she heard a woman's shout and, recognizing the voice, turned to see Catherine slashing through a member of Zola's squadron.
Catherine whipped around as another Imperial, this one from the 5th Army, tried to strike her from behind, deflecting the blow and delivering a deadly counter. She then slashed aside another Imperial's lance before bisecting him through his waist.
The Crusader stopped for an instant as she heard another one of the Knights of Seiros cry out in pain and turned to see Zola had just buried her axe in the man's chest. The blonde Skraeling kicked her victim away as Catherine finally recognized her.
Seeing Catherine glaring at her as she entered a battle stance, Zola laughed and said, "Well, ain't this a surprise? Thunderstrike Cassandra! It's been a while, Cassie!"
"Zola," Catherine said confrontationally. "I'm amazed you're still alive after all this time."
"What can I say? I'm a tough bitch to kill. And look at you, one of the Church's attack dogs now!"
"I could say the same about you serving the Empire. Don't go thinking I'm about to show you any mercy!"
"I'd be insulted if you did. So, come on, Cassie. MAKE MY DAY!"
Zola roared as she wildly swung her axe around, forcing Catherine to avoid the strike. Catherine attempted to counter the blow, but Zola used her prior momentum to dodge the attack and follow up with another wild swing that Catherine avoided. The blonde Skraeling was about to swing again when one of the Church's soldiers rushed at her with his lance. Without slowing down, Zola whirled about and decapitated the soldier before immediately turning her attention back to Catherine, seeing the Crusader had similarly been forced to parry and counter a strike from an Imperial soldier from the 5th Army.
Catherine knew Zola wasn't going to be easy to take down. Had it only been the two of them fighting, she knew she could beat her. But with the battle all around them, the Crusader had to constantly watch her back in case someone tried to attack her from behind. Concentrating solely on Zola would be suicide in such a chaotic melee.
Zola, meanwhile, continued to laugh as she made swing after swing at Catherine while dodging any of the Crusader's counterstrikes. The Skraeling was practically a whirling dervish of death at this point, flowing from one blow to the next like a raging river.
"Come on, Cassie! MAKE ME WORK FOR IT!" Zola shouted as she made a powerful overhead swing at Catherine.
Catherine saw her opening. She dodged to the side as Zola's axe slammed into the bridge and then rushed forward, intending to run the barbarian through.
But to her shock, Zola was already swinging a fist at her. The blonde Skraeling had intentionally left herself open to bait Catherine for an attack.
Catherine yelped as Zola's punch hit her in the forehead, leaving the Crusader seeing stars. Two more brutal blows from Zola continued to knock Catherine back, before she wound herself up for another heavy blow.
But this time, Catherine was ready for her. She roared as she swung Thunderbrand around, intending to split Zola in half.
Zola saw the attack and dodged back.
Catherine felt the tip of Thunderbrand meet flesh.
Zola let out a howl of pain as she stumbled back, clutching at the left side of her face as blood ran through her fingers.
Catherine's strike had narrowly avoided slashing Zola's eye out. Seeing her wounded, Catherine moved to finish the job.
But it was at this moment that Zola's Wyvern came roaring in, forcing Catherine on the defensive while Zola recovered her axe.
As the Wyvern pulled away to avoid Catherine's blade, the Crusader saw Zola cleave through another Church soldier, even with blood in her eye.
Turning around, Zola continued to chuckle sadistically before licking her lips, tasting the blood that ran down her face.
Without a word, Catherine readied herself for another clash with Zola.
…
Leonie let out a loud yelp as a blast of water from Trauare knocked her off her horse. The mercenary immediately scrambled to her feet in time to avoid a thrust from the water mage's trident. Leonie countered, but Trauare's Pegasus darted back and dodged the strike.
"Leonie!" Lorenz shouted as he sent a firebolt at the Black Eagle ace.
Seeing this coming, Trauare shouted "Wasserschuss!" and sent a ball of water at the fire spell. The two attacks met in a burst of boiling steam, though no one was close enough to be harmed by it.
Lorenz then rode up in front of Leonie and, without turning to look at her, said, "Get to your mount! I'll handle her!"
Leonie rushed to get back to her horse as Trauare said scornfully, "Handle me, Lorenz? That's all you ever wanted to do, 'handle' me like I'm some cheap floozy."
"I see you still have such a negative opinion of me, Trauare."
"Ugh, it's like I keep saying: NEVER TRUST A GLOUCESTER!"
Trauare readied another spell and sent a barrage of icicles flying at Lorenz, who blocked the attack with a ward before countering with a fireball. Trauare shouted "Klageharnisch!" as she whirled her trident over her head, creating a swirling barrier of water around her and her mount. With another stylish swing, she sent the barrier forward as a watery tornado, this time breaking Lorenz's ward.
But before Trauare could attack again, she saw Leonie had recovered her mount and was in the middle of firing an arrow at her. Shocked, Trauare leaned just in time, hearing the arrow whistle by her right ear.
Realizing she couldn't take them both on alone, Trauare whipped the reins on Zorne and flew away from the two Alliance riders.
After a second to catch her breath, Leonie then said, "What the hell was that about?"
Confused, Lorenz asked, "What do you–"
"Lemme guess, you flirted with her before, and she said 'no'."
"That is unimportant now, Leonie. We are still in the middle of a battle."
"Fine, fine. Tell me later."
The two rode off to assist the others who were still fighting with the Black Eagles and the 5th Army.
…
Petra weaved through the strikes of two Imperial soldiers before slashing through both men with her tribal blade. She then swiftly sheathed it, drew her bow and an arrow, and fired at a Black Eagle and her Pegasus, hitting the steed in its neck. The Eagle shrieked as her mount crashed to the ground, but the Imperial elite survived the impact. Petra, intent on finishing the rider off, drew her blade again and rushed toward the grounded Eagle.
The Brigid princess had barely made it three strides before she heard a familiar voice shout, "KEMUNING!"
Shocked, Petra turned just as Setiawati fired an arrow at her head. The princess leaned just in time for the arrow to miss its mark.
Petra turned back to the Brigid huntress and said, "Setiawati?! Kenapa kau di sini?!"
Glaring angrily at Petra from atop her horse as she readied another arrow, Setiawati said, "Aku datang untuk membawamu pulang. Kau membuat Dewata marah karena berpihak pada musuh Kekaisaran. Mereka menuntut Anda dihukum karena kebodohan Anda. Kembali sekarang dan memohon pengampunan mereka."
Readying her blade, Petra answered, "I will not be returning with you to Brigid. My friends and comrades are having need of me here. And will never be throwing the lot in with Edelgard and the Empire!"
After looking Petra in the eye and seeing her determination, Setiawati said. "Kau mengecewakanku, Kemuning. Raja akan menangis ketika aku kembali dengan sisa-sisa Anda!"
Setiawati drew Sharanga and fired at Petra, who dodged the shot.
After landing, Petra shouted, "Hentikan ini, Setiawati! Aku tidak ingin melawanmu!"
"Dewata harus tenang! Jika itu berarti aku harus membunuhmu, maka biarlah!"
Setiawati drew three arrows to her bow and fired them simultaneously at Petra. Knowing she could not dodge to her sides, Petra leapt in a violent twirl, with the arrows passing less than an inch past her waist.
In the middle of the dodge, Petra drew her bow and an arrow and, upon landing, fired it at Setiawati. The veteran huntress did not move as the arrow sailed past her, knowing Petra had only meant for it to be a warning shot.
"Kau bertarung dengan setengah hati, Kemuning!" said Setiawati as she drew two more arrows. "Waktu Anda dengan orang asing ini telah membuat Anda lemah! Jika kau ingin bertahan hidup, lawan dan bunuh aku, atau aku akan mengakhiri hidupmu!"
Setiawati drew one of the two arrows to her bow and fired at Petra, who again avoided the shot. But before her first arrow had even passed by Petra, Setiawati had readied her second and fired it at the Brigid princess, who now had no time to avoid it.
Petra shrieked as the arrow hit her in the left shoulder and sent her to the ground.
"Kau lupa apa yang telah kuajarkan padamu, Kemuning," Setiawati said as she readied another arrow. "Dan sekarang, sebagai mentormu, aku akan mengakhiri hidupmu."
Struggling to get up, Petra watched as Setiawati readied another shot, this one aimed at the princess's head.
Just as Setiawati fired, she heard Caspar shout, "PETRA!"
Caspar rushed in front of her, blocking Setiawati's shot with an iron shield. He then immediately countered by throwing a hand axe at her, but Setiawati dodged the projectile easily.
"Caspar, wait!" Petra shouted in protest. "Do not kill her!"
"What?! But she shot you!" Caspar said in surprise.
Before Petra could protest, Felix rushed up and fired a short bow at Setiawati, prompting the huntress to dodge again and fire a quick shot back at Felix. The heir of House Fraldarius easily avoided the hasty shot.
Horrified, Petra shouted, "Felix, please! Do not – NO!"
Felix fired another shot before Petra could finish, but again he missed Setiawati. The huntress reached for her quiver to retaliate, but then realized she had only three arrows left. It would not be enough to finish the job as long as Caspar and Felix protected Petra.
Snarling, Setiawati shouted, "Ini belum berakhir, Kemuning! Anda masih mangsa saya!"
Whipping her horse's reins, Setiawati rode away from them, whistling for her cavalry archers to regroup. Trauare and her Pegasus Knights also flew toward them.
As Setiawati and Trauare backed away from the fight, Caspar knelt next to Petra and said, "Are you alright, Petra?"
"No… no, I am not," Petra said with sorrow.
"Who the heck was that?" Caspar asked as he pulled the arrow from Petra's shoulder.
After a loud hiss of pain, Petra clutched her shoulder and said, "Her name is Setiawati. She was my pengajar… my teacher before I came to Fódlan."
"Really?" Petra nodded, so Caspar asked, "But why would she try to kill you?"
"She said the Dewata – um, the Spirits, are angry because I did not side with Edelgard and the Empire."
Caspar was about to ask Petra more when Felix said, "There will be time for questions later, Caspar. We've still got a battle to win. Get Petra to a healer."
"I can be getting to a healer on my own," said Petra. "Do not worry about me."
Caspar nodded and then followed Felix back into the fray as Petra, her heart torn between her people and her friends, stumbled away from the front line.
Oof, our heroes aren't having a good time. But at the same time, they're not really losing the battle so far.
If you're wondering how the heck Catherine could know Zola, remember that Catherine had to become an outlaw due to being implicated in a plot to kill King Lambert. She ended up fleeing to Garreg Mach Monastery and joining the Knights of Seiros as a result. The way I have it, Catherine ended up meeting Zola during that time. But don't mistake them for being old friends, because they're definitely not. Zola wanted her dead back then and still wants her dead now. Also, just so you know, Catherine would win a one-on-one with Zola if it was just the two of them, but in such a pitched battle, Catherine can't focus all her attention on Zola. She has to make sure someone else doesn't shank her from behind. Tunnel vision is a surefire way to get yourself killed in a battle.
As for Lorenz and Trauare, well, you know how Lorenz is with women during the academy phase. Let's just say Trauare was someone he flirted with a few times and kept telling him "you're not my type!"
Finally, yeowch for Petra, right? Suddenly running into her old hunting teacher and having her try to kill you? Poor princess. And sorry once again if I messed up with Indonesian grammar. Again, I use online translators, so they're bound to have some errors.
The fight's not over yet, so I'll see you next time.