Back to our heroes' dismal situation. It's not about to get better.

Chapter 104 – Further Sorrow (Harpstring Moon)

Anna looked to the south as wagons of wounded soldiers passed her and moved across the Great Bridge of Myrddin. She was amazed they had managed to reach the bridge before the Imperials could catch up to them, especially while burdened by so many casualties. But she knew the Empire wouldn't take much longer to reach them. Imperial scouts had already skirmished with their forces, and once they reported back their findings, the Empire would surely press their advantage and overrun them.

The redhead brought a hand to her temple as she tried to think of anything they could do. Trying to hold their ground at the bridge would be suicide, both because there were too many wounded and because the enemy had enough fliers to outflank any defensive line they could make.

She hated to admit it, but she knew there was only one thing that could be done. The only way they would have any chance of getting away was if someone stayed behind and delayed the Imperials.

Everyone knew such a task would be a sacrificial one.

Anna turned back toward the bridge and watched as hundreds of Loyalist soldiers worked to set up a hasty defense. Despite knowing they were hopelessly outmatched, the Loyalist knights under Gilbert's command, including men and women who were still wounded, intended to hold off the Imperials and give the others a chance to escape.

The merchant knew there would be no talking Gilbert out of it. Even if someone were to convince him to flee with the others, the aged knight's pale face and bouts of violent coughs told Anna that he wasn't going to live much longer. It was as though Gilbert's immune system had simply failed him after Dimitri's death. His orange hair now had several streaks of white and grey, as though he had aged more than a decade in just a few days.

That did not stop him from giving orders to his men. Though the others could see his days were numbered, they nonetheless followed his orders, intending to go down fighting alongside the Church's eldest Crusader.

Hearing Shamir call her name, Anna strode past the battered Loyalists as they gave her brief nods and glances. She did her best not to look them in the eye.

Silently, Anna cursed herself for finding the Hymn Scroll for the Dirge of Armageddon. If she hadn't found it, Dorothea never would have sung the Hymn.

As she strode past Gilbert, Anna heard Annette say, "Father?"

Anna stopped and turned as Gilbert turned to his daughter and said, "Annette…"

"Father, you don't have to do this," said Annette. "Please, you have to come with us."

"I cannot, Annette. Someone must remain here to delay the Empire so the rest may escape."

"You don't need to be that someone, Father! We still need you!"

"You are strong enough to survive without me, Annette. You made that clear when last we spoke."

Deeply wounded by her father's words, Annette knew she had no one to blame but herself for Gilbert's claim. The aged knight let out another bout of coughs, but he quickly recomposed himself afterward.

"Get over yourself, would you, old man?" said Cia as she strode onto the scene.

"Cia!" Annette exclaimed as she turned to the sultry mage.

"You think dying here's gonna be some kind of penance for what happened to Dimitri? What a load of bullshit! You can't do anything for the dead! It's the living you should be fighting for!"

"That is precisely my intent, Miss Lacrimosa," said Gilbert.

Cia was about to continue her rant, but her surprise at Gilbert's words caused her own to vanish in her throat.

"Father?" asked Annette.

"I have already failed two lieges, and in serving them both, I failed in my duty as a father. This is the only way I can atone for such failures."

"Don't give us that crap!" said Cia. "Going on a suicide mission isn't gonna suddenly redeem you! You'll just be leaving Annette without her dad!"

"You can still come with us, Father," said Annette. "Please…!"

"It is too late for me," said Gilbert.

Annette flinched as Gilbert let out more loud coughs, and this time she saw a small trail of blood begin to drip from her father's mouth.

"Father…!"

Recovering, Gilbert said, "I know my body better than anyone, and I am near the end of my mortal coil. I doubt I will last another two days, even if I choose to retreat. If I can buy you time to escape, I will gladly give what remains of my life for that cause."

Annette opened her mouth, but she could not find anything to say. Instead, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

After a moment of sorrow, Gilbert said, "I have something for you, Annette."

Gilbert walked to a nearby table and took a stack of bundled letters from it. He then came back to Annette and handed the stack to her.

"A bundle of letters?" asked Cia.

"There's so many of them," said Annette.

"They are for you and your mother," said Gilbert. "Take them and leave this place."

"But Father–"

"Please, Annette. Do this for me."

Annette wanted to protest, but she knew from Gilbert's expression that nothing she said would change his mind.

Gilbert then knelt next to Annette and embraced her in a hug.

Breaking down in tears, Annette dropped the letters and hugged Gilbert back as she said, "I'm so sorry, Father! I'm sorry I said I hated you! I love you, Father! Please, don't leave me like this!"

Gilbert was silent for a moment, and then said, "Thank you, Annette."

As Annette wept into her father's chest, Gilbert looked up to see Felix glaring at him. Gilbert could tell the newly appointed head of House Fraldarius thought poorly of the aged knight, but Felix said nothing, knowing his words would fall on deaf ears.

Seconds later, the group heard one of the Loyalists shouting, "The enemy approaches from the south! To arms! TO ARMS!"

Gilbert rose as Felix strode over to Annette and grabbed her by the arm. Cia scooped up the bundle of letters as Felix began dragging Annette away.

"Felix, wait! Let me go!" Annette said loudly in protest as she tried desperately to break free of the swordsman's grip.

"We have to go, Annette," said Felix.

"No, stop! Let go of me! I have to – UHH!"

Annette's eyes widened as Felix, gritting his teeth in frustration, drove his fist into her gut. Annette let out a soft moan as she lost consciousness, with Felix lifting her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Annette," said Felix.

The swordsman wished he didn't have to hurt the petite mage, but Annette would never leave her father otherwise. Felix knew she would be angry with him once she came to.

He then turned to Gilbert as, without a shred of anger, said, "Look after her in my stead."

As much as Felix wanted to tell Gilbert to do the job himself, he knew it would be impossible for the aged Crusader. Instead, he nodded respectfully to Gilbert and carried Annette away with Cia in tow. The white-haired diva gave Gilbert one last glance as he turned to lead his men on their impossible fight.

Bitterly, Cia rushed off after her friends as they fled across the Great Bridge of Myrddin.

Finally, Gilbert turned to Anna and said, "It has been an honor, Miss Anna."

Anna gave him a silent nod before taking off in pursuit of the others.

Moving to the front of the Loyalists' defensive line, Gilbert saw the vanguard of the Imperial Army as it approached. He had about 1,200 men and women alongside him to defend the bridge, yet the Empire had him outnumbered no less than four-to-one. Six Demonic Beasts led the Imperial vanguard, with two of them being fliers, and at least four battalions of Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Riders supported them.

Knowing this was to be his last battle, Gilbert Pronislav, also known as Gustave Eddie Dominic, shouted, "Warriors of Faerghus, our day of reckoning is at hand. If this is to be our last battle, then we shall drag the dogs of the Empire to Hell with us!"

The Loyalists roared in challenge as the Imperials and their Demonic Beasts began their assault.

…

Later that evening…

Byleth stirred slowly as she lay upon the ground at the Church's camp. The first thing she could hear were the cries and moans of the wounded and dying. Her vision spun before her green eyes, but as it came back into focus, she saw a face that jolted her awake almost immediately.

"Dorothea!" Byleth said in fright at seeing the unconscious diva next to her.

The Archbishop bolted to her feet and immediately was met by pain throughout her body. She fell to her knees next to Dorothea as she clutched her side.

Images of what had happened prior to losing consciousness flooded Byleth's mind. She saw herself catching Flayn in mid-air. She saw the Empire overrunning their forces. She saw Dimitri's final moments before Edelgard slew him.

She saw Edelgard at her mercy.

The image was immediately distorted by another memory, one that sent pain through Byleth's mind.

It was of Edelgard, impaled on the Sword of the Creator, reaching for her face.

She had killed Edelgard.

And then she had undone it.

"By, you're awake!" said Anna as she rushed to Byleth's side.

Jolted from her memories, Byleth turned to the redhead and said, "Anna? W-What happened?"

"You've been out cold for four days now."

"Where are we?"

"Back across the Airmid River, near Gladevale."

Hearing they were on the north side of the Airmid River immediately filled Byleth with dread. She looked around and saw hundreds of wounded soldiers from the Church, Loyalists, and Alliance strewn across the camp.

"I hate to tell you this, By, but…"

Seeing her friend's face, Anna knew she didn't have to finish her sentence.

The outcome was clear as day to the Archbishop. They had lost the Battle of Gronder Field.

"We lost…?" Byleth said in soft disbelief.

"We just barely made it out," said Anna.

Byleth tried to stand as she said, "What are our losses?"

As she moved, pain immediately ran through Byleth's body again, forcing her back down.

"Easy, By, easy! You haven't fully recovered from that hit you took."

Another memory flashed before Byleth's eyes. It was of pain—dealt by lightning—as she hesitated before Edelgard.

Seeing Byleth settle down, Anna said, "Between our three armies, we've only got about 12,000 who can still fight, and more than half of those are wounded. We've also got about 15,000 more who are badly wounded. The rest are…"

Byleth was crestfallen at hearing such figures. More than half of the combined force that had challenged the Adrestian Empire had been lost.

"We couldn't even get them all out…" Anna added. "Had to leave a lot of them behind at Gronder, or the Empire would've caught up to us. We're badly outnumbered, and morale's taken a nosedive."

Byleth let out a sigh of grief at hearing the battle had been a catastrophe. Everything they had fought and suffered for had been for naught.

Then, looking up, she saw Dorothea again, lying unconscious on her side.

"Dorothea…"

Byleth reached toward the girl's face when she heard a man say, "Don't bother waking that witch."

Shocked, Byleth turned to see several wounded soldiers were looking their way. None of them were particularly happy to see the Archbishop was conscious again, but she saw their glares were directed at the unconscious brunette.

"If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be in this mess," said another wounded soldier.

"What?" Byleth asked in disbelief.

"Aye, she's the one who called down that damn firestorm," said a third soldier. "Killed more of our people than Imperials!"

"She's a traitor!" said another soldier.

"She handed victory to the Empire!" shouted another.

The wounded continued their jeers for several seconds until Anna shouted, "HEY! Shut the hell up!"

"Why should we?" said one of the wounded. "You know we're right!"

"She was trying to help!"

"HELP!? You call that catastrophe 'help'?!" said another wounded soldier.

"Of course, you would defend that witch!" said another.

"She doomed us all!"

More of the wounded jeered and shouted, yet Dorothea did not stir.

After a few seconds, one of the wounded men staggered to his feet and drew a short sword as he said, "We'll be better off once I cut that girl's throat!"

The swordsman barely moved before Byleth sprang to her feet and, despite still being in pain, grabbed him by the wrist and twisted his arm. The swordsman yelped painfully as he dropped his weapon.

"Harm one hair on her head, and I will ensure you regret it," Byleth said softly and angrily.

She released the man, who fell to the ground and scurried away in fear.

…

Byleth had Dorothea moved away from the other wounded, fearing for her safety. The brunette now lay unconscious in a tent next to Byleth and Anna.

"Tch," Anna hissed. "What a bunch of assholes."

"Anna…" Byleth said, giving the redhead a moment to turn and face her. "Is what they said true? Did Dorothea cause us to lose the battle?"

Anna was silent for a few seconds. She then took a deep breath and said, "We were already in a really bad spot. Dorothea didn't know what that Hymn would do. She was trying to turn things around, but she couldn't control it."

"What Hymn?"

"Jiayi said it's called the Dirge of Armageddon. Easily the most destructive Hymn of them all."

"But how did she know it? Jiayi never taught Dorothea any Hymn by that name."

After a pause, Anna answered, "She learned it from me."

"W-What?"

"Before we fought Randolph, she saw me trying to practice it in Abyss. I was planning to use it as a last resort, but I couldn't get it to work. Dorothea could. She sang it, and…"

Byleth was stunned by Anna's confession.

"I had to blast her with my Levin Sword to stop her." Seeing Byleth's eyes widen in shock, Anna quickly said, "I tried to stop Dorothea without hurting her first, but I couldn't get to her. If I hadn't hit her, she could've wiped us all out. I'm sorry, Byleth. I wish there had been another way."

Byleth could not stay angry at Anna. It was clear that the redhead deeply regretted harming Dorothea, and Byleth knew Anna would have chosen an alternative if it were available.

The discussion was broken up as they heard someone shouting, "Make way! Make way!"

Byleth and Anna exited the tent to find out the source of the commotion. They soon saw a group of badly wounded Loyalist knights limping into the camp. Anna immediately recognized them as being part of Gilbert's forces. There were less than thirty of them out of their 1,200-strong regiment.

Marching up to one of the returning Loyalist officers, Anna asked, "Where's Gilbert?"

The officer remorsefully turned to them and said after some hesitation, "He fell."

Anna expected such an answer, but the confirmation of Gilbert's death still stung for her.

Byleth, already quite dismayed by everything Anna had told her, let out another sigh of grief.

Yet another of our playable roster has fallen. At least we got to see Annette reconcile with Gilbert before his death.

Having Gilbert's health take a nosedive the way it did isn't inconceivable. There have been real life cases of people having stress weaken their immune system. Having failed a second liege could definitely cause Gilbert to get very sick in a short span of time. Given he's already 60 after the time-skip, that'd make him even more susceptible to a stress-induced health failure.

Gameplay-wise, Gilbert is, IMO, mid-tier in the grand scheme of things. He arrives late and specializes in Defense, but his Speed is comically low (starts at 2 when you first get him), and any mages will take him out easily. I do use him for the Rusted weapon training trick, though, so he's not without his uses.

I'll see you guys next time.

EDIT: Another delay. Sorry, folks. Busy week.