Chapter 27: The Mist

Jeralt swung his halberd to the side, catching the man who tried to rush him in the collarbone and sending them stumbling slightly. Pulling the weapon back, he thrust the point forwards and ran them through, the spear tip puncturing out the other end of their thin tunic before ripping it free.

He had little time to prepare before his next opponent was upon him, two this time. The woman swung her shortsword towards his head, ducking low he felt a sting on his face as the edge of the weapon slashed a thin line across his cheek and sent a wisp of blood into the wind. Jeralt slammed his forehead into the woman with a satisfying crunch as her nose caved inwards, stumbling backwards and away from him, he shifted his attention to the man wielding a double bladed axe.

Taking a step back as they swung, Jeralt narrowly avoided the weapon as it buried itself into the ground at his feet. He stamped down on the handle as the man made to pull it out, even he couldn't match them in strength but he only needed to delay them a little while. His left hand went for his belt and gripped the handle of his dagger, ripping it free of its sheath he thrust it upwards and into the man's eye socket.

He shoulder pushed them away from him as the went limp before spinning on his heel and sending the axehead of his halberd into the woman, the bladed edge slammed into the side of her head and sent her body to the floor along with a large splatter of blood.

The battlefield was chaotic, barely anyone could catch sight of their foes before they were virtually upon them. He could occasionally hear wisps of arrows flying past overhead and the thuds of them striking bodies but it was all background noise to him and hardly relevant. It appeared to be having little effect, this point being emphasised when another man came charging towards him with two arrows sticking out of his back and one out of his chest.

Clearing the distance between them in scarcely a few seconds, the man brought his sword down towards Jeralt. The Mercenary captain lashed out and grabbed his wrist before the weapon made contact, although the power behind the attack was far too great for him to stop. Meaning the only thing he could do was re-direct it. He bit back a cry of pain as the shortsword buried itself to the hilt in his shoulder and sent the halberd flying from his grip.

Jeralt hissed through gritted teeth and pulled back his working arm, slamming his right hand into the man's throat. They stumbled backwards, releasing the sword and clutching at their neck. For a brief moment, Jeralt saw the cloud of insanity life from their eyes and reveal only naked confusion and a rather healthy dose of fear. The latter came to them when Jeralt clasped his hand around the grip of the sword and ripped it from his body, hissing to himself as he charged the man and swinging the sword.

It took his head from his shoulders in a single blow, not only that, it also sent the body catapulting through the air and into the crowd. Jeralt's left harm hung limply at his side as he gripped the shortsword with one hand. He noticed that the pain of his wound was no longer a pressing issue, more than that he could feel much, much stronger than before.

No…

He felt powerful. Far too powerful. These pitiful little peasants were nothing to him, even with his arm wounded he could take a hundred of this fuckers if he had too! He'd rip them all to pieces and show how great the Blade Breaker was and after he was done with them, he'd wipe that smug little of superiority of Rhea's face an-

He threw the sword away, heaving as the thoughts left his body. He stared at his hand, then in the direction of the sword. Blinking several times as a scowl came to him.

"That's messed up…" He muttered to himself as he clasped his wounded shoulder and fell to a single knee. He bit his lip as the pain returned in force. Something roughly grabbed him from behind. He jerked his body and made to attack before blinking in surprise. Seteth stared at him with a brief look of concern before another Church Knight came at him from the other side and slowly dragged him behind the pair.

Seteth, branding a trident spear of all things in his hand, stepped past him and towards the front lines. Jeralt managed to catch a glimpse of the man as he twirled the spear through the air before thrusting it forwards and through some unlucky bastards head. Seteth then ripped the spear free and swung it two handed into another person, burying the bladed edge into their side as well as cutting their arm off at the shoulder.

Carrying the strike through, the green haired man lashed out with his foot and slammed it into the sternum of a charging peasant. The man released a bloodied cough as the kick was accompanied with the sound of crunching bone, the man fell to the ground as Seteth ripped his spear free of his previous victim before thrusting it through the chest of the floored man and pulling it out.

Jeralt was now wondering wondering why the administrator of the Church was so dammed good with a spear. Although he figured they'd have to ask them later.

"Make way!" The man carrying him shouted, Jeralt swore he had heard that voice before "Make way for the Captain!"

'Oh no…' He remarked in his own head in resignation before looking up and seeing Alois, of all people, dragging him behind the relative safety of the front lines. The Church Knight looked down at Jeralt and gave him a grim nod and a small smile as he continued to drag him back.

Jeralt grunted and shook himself free of them man with a small scowl "I'm not a cripple, Alois." gritting his teeth, he stood up straight and looked down at the man "Just get me a vulunerary and I'll be fine."

Alois stared at him for a few seconds before he threw his head back and gave a boisterous laugh "As expected of the Captain, eh?" he wiped away an imaginary tear before hefting bis battle axe over his shoulder "But that wound might-"

"Alois. I've been in fights before. I've been wounded before." He huffed, looking away from him and back towards the chaos of the frontline, or would if he could see it. All he could hear was mad cries and the sounds of clashing steel "It will take more than some lunatic with a butter knife to put me in the ground."

"I suppose that makes you the largest lump of butter on the continent, eh?" Jeralt levelled a glare in his direction, Alois winced and looked away. "Sorry...You there!" he pointed towards the nearest knight "Get Captain Jeralt a vulunerary and see if we can't get word to the clerics, we need a way to clear this fog."

Jeralt mentally sighed in relief. Alois might have been an idiot, but the man wasn't a fool. His eyes turned back to the fog, his hand pressing down on his bleeding shoulder as he attempted to stem the flow of blood. Although he could already feel the pain lessen, he knew why, of course.

One of the main reasons he viewed the injury so lightly to begin with, it would probably heal over soon...or at least to an extend he could use his arm. He still had no idea what Rhea did to him, but he wasn't going to complain too heavily about it in this situation.

Right now, he was more concerned about his daughter and the brats.

Byleth parried the sword away, gritting her teeth at the effort it took in order to do so. She thrust her knife into the man's throat and ripped it outwards, working her way forwards with one hand holding a steel sword and the other holding her dagger in a reverse grip. She spied over her shoulder and squinted her eyes as hard as she could.

The good news was that, from what she could make out, there weren't that many casualties so far.

"Form up!" Catherines voice cut through the fog, as did the glowing shape of Thunderbrand. The strange sword acting as a shining beacon for all the students and knights to rally around. Probably the only reason they hadn't been completely overrun was because they had been able to form a small circle.

"Down!" Ashe called out to them, Petra took the voice as a warning and did so. The arrow flew just above her head and nailed the man rushing her in the head. The Brigid woman turned and gave the blue haired boy a small nod of thanks before she found herself on the backfoot. The frantic man thrust his sword towards her chest. A miasma liquefied his head before that happened.

Hubert lowered his hand, staring at the body with a scowl before turning his attention back to the front "This fog prevents us from seeing anything! We need to find the mages who cast this spell and kill them."

"Great plan kid!" Catherine sarcastically remarked as she ripped Thunderbrand from the collarbone of her latest attacker, the woman kicked the corpse away before slashing the weapon upwards towards her next attacker. The hooked edges the sword tore a bloodied slash through their chest and sent them falling backwards "But we're a little stuck unless you-"

A knight next to her was barrelled over, several people were on him in an instant. His pained screams were cut short when several axes and sword were repeatedly buried in his body again and again.

"Desmond!" The Knight near the dead man cried out in horror, right before his body was split in half by a greatsword wielding man. The two halves of his body were sent flying through the air before landing at the feet of Linhardt and Mercedes. The pair paled at the sight before they looked up to find the man upon them in an instant.

Caspar tackled him, sending the man stumbling slightly before his eyes turned down to the boy in a mad haze. His hand clamped down around the boys throat and hefted him into the air, with a single flick of his wrist, there was a sickening snap and Caspars body went limp.

A shattering sound of glass occupied Byleth's ears in that moment, time ground to a halt. Willing power through her body, she watched as the man fixed Caspars neck and lower the boy to the ground, stepping backwards and back into the fog as the two halves of the knight formed back into a living man.

She stopped. The other knight, Desmond couldn't be saved. Being attacked by three at once wasn't something she could do, but the other knight could be. Sothis floated near her with a dispassionate gaze, Byleth sent her a small nod causing the Goddess to raise her hand and snap her fingers.

Time resumed.

"Desmond!" The man cried out in shock as he took a single step forwards to his friend, Byleth rushed past him and swung her sword upwards. Cutting off the greatsword wielding man's arms off at the elbows, she lashed out with her dagger and slit his throat before kicking him backwards. The knight seemed to blink in shock at how close he had come to death before giving her a shaky nod.

The three who had been hacking away at Desmonds body soon rushed to their feet to find more targets. Dimitri ran the first man through with his spear, his face set in a savage snarl before he cocked his fist back and punched the man off his lance. Felix rushed in behind the second attacker, a young woman holding a small meat cleaver of all things, the butchers weapon stained with blood. Even with the enhancements too it, it did her no good as Felix slashed her in the back. Taking her completely by surprise.

A thin blade of air slammed into the final attacker, courtesy of Linhardt, and cut a large line through his body. They stumbled backwards into the overhead axe slam of Hilda, the woman shuddered as she ripped the axe free of them and turned around.

Goetia found the book he had placed on the bookshelf back on the table. He stared at it for a few moments before casting his eyes over to the doll on the desk. The gem in the centre was still pulsating as strongly as it had done before.

Releasing a small scoff, he looked away from it and moved to pick up the book again. That was the one thing about her time reversal that grated on his nerves.

More than that it was…

Akin to a personal insult. The lengths he had gone to even make the attempt at moving through time were nothing short of meticulous. Byleth could do it with a simple snap of her fingers, in fact the only thing that likely stopped her from using this skill to the best of her ability was the amount of magical energy she could hold.

Her Divine Core certainly did wonders for her. No doubt that Sothis in her prime would have been able to manipulate time to an even greater degree. It did beg the question of how the Goddess even ended up in such a situation to begin with.

Not that it was too great a concern right now, he still had research to go through.

Thunderbrand cut through the air, slicing through the body of its next victim as the group slowly advanced through the fog. Catherine kept up her grimace as she continually swung the sword in every direction, the continuos attack from the militia was relentless. There was little time for breathing as they moved blindly through the fog.

Although, by Catherines own guess, the mages who were behind the spell would probably be towards the back of the column. Which was the direction they were headed for, it was slow progress.

Edelgard ripped her axe free of the man's torso before casting a glance forwards. Staring at the mangled body of one of the latest casualties of the knights. The steel armour that was meant to protect him had been ripped to pieces as easily as if it had been made of paper. Her eyes fell on the sword just beyond the reach of the knights killer. The mundane looking weapon which had been able to inflict such damage in the hands of its wielder.

She had been aware that there were plans for Lord Lonato, Arundel had been 'charitable' enough to inform her of those. His mysterious advisor was said to have been working on something but she never imagined it was something like this.

An ugly expression came to her face. She knew that these people had chose to support Lonato, it wasn't like she couldn't empathise with their dislike of the Church but allowing themselves to be subjected to this rabid state was…

She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Shaking her head, she dismissed the thoughts from her mind and grabbed the axe with both her hands. If there was a way to use such weapons without turning the wielders into mindless animals, then it was certainly something to look into.

Lorenz ducked his head to the side as Claude loosened an arrow over his shoulder, a shadow just at the edge of their vision slumped over with the shaft stuck out their head. The Noble curled his lips in disgust at the wasteful nature.

"Lysithea!" Claude called to the girl behind him "I'm not seeing too many spells!"

"You try casting at nothing but shadows then!" She cried back at him, she wanted to at least attempt to use some of Goetia's teachings but the fast paced battle meant she had little time to concentrate.

"Watch ou-!" Sylvain cried out just as he was struck in the chest with a large wooden hammer, the boy collapsed backwards, chest visibly dented and coughing out blood. Ingrid stared in horror as the man swung his warhammer about his head again. The girl raised her spear to block the strike only for the pole of her spear to shatter and the hammer to continue on its trajectory. It slammed into her skull with a sickening crack as she fell backwards-

Time rewound.

"Watch ou-" A dagger flew over Sylvain's shoulder, just nipping at his ear as it buried itself into the face of the large warhammer wielding man. The attacker fell flat on his face directly in front of the red haired boy who let out a sigh of relief. Byleth let out a small exasperated breath, which didn't go unnoticed by Catherine.

The Knight pulled her sword clean from the woman she had run through and sent a look towards the mercenary "I hope you aren't getting tired so quickly?"

Byleth didn't respond, although a small part of her was slightly annoyed that her situation was being dismissed as simply being too tired. Rewinding time was challenging work.

"How do you think I feel then?" Sothis voice snapped back at her, sounding less annoyed and more exhausted "We've been getting close to our limit."

She'd counted five separate instances of having to rewind time. It was already beginning to wear her down. They needed to kill Lonato quickly, and put an end to the fog so they could actually see.

"Alright!" Catherine roared as she cut down another man, sneering at the charging crowd "Whose next to face the Goddesses wrath!?"

"You will be if you don't stop talking!" Sothis seethed at her, although she wasn't quite sure what brought that on. Despite the woman's bluster, they'd been making marginal progress at best and the repeated time reversals were far from ideal.

"Jeralt!?" Seteth exclaimed in surprise as he caught sight of the mercenary commander shoulder past the knights behind him, his halberd having been swapped out for a longsword. "What are you doing here? You're still injured-"

"It's best not to argue with the Captain." Alois declared as he followed behind the man, readying his axe as another wave of shadows appeared from the fog sprinting towards them. "He's steeled himself for battle...get it? Steel-"

"Not now!" Seteth and Jeralt shouted at the man in equal parts irritation as they both turned their attention to the front lines. "Can you still fight with that arm?" Seteth asked him in slight apprehension. Jeralt let out a sigh in response.

"Doesn't matter if I can or cannot. If I'm going to die, it won't be in a medical tent." He sent a sideways glance to Seteth "I'd also be more concerned about yourself, considering which of us is actually the accredited knight."

"Ha." Seteth let out a dry laugh at that "Your concern is appreciated, but if all it took were pushing quills to run the Church, my job would be less stressful."

The dark mass emerged from the fog in the form of people, all dressed in rags and barely coherent in their screams. However, when they came just shy of throwing themselves at the knights, they stopped.

Seteth, Jeralt and Alois stared in naked confusion as one. Then from behind the front row of militia, they could see an extraordinary large shadow push its way to the front.

The man was easily two metres tall. Wearing a large dark cloak that covered their entire body, they shouldered their way past the militia and stopped at the front. Their expression was hidden behind the shadow cast by their hood, the only visible feature were their bright red eyes. Although the black crossed pupils were certainly disturbing.

The eyes landed on Jeralt, the man shivered as they seemingly studied him with blatant intrigue for a few moments before they moved over to Seteth. At which point they seemed to burn with an even greater intensity to them. A well muscled arm appeared from underneath their cloak, the man raised his hand into the air before clenching his fist.

On mass, the horde rushed past him before throwing themselves at the knights spears. What concerned Jeralt, however, was the fact that he, Seteth and Alois now found themselves in a small clearing as the horde had avoided them entirely.

"You…" Seteth pointed his spear at the man and spoke in an accusatory tone "You command them? An agent of Lonato perhaps and the one who provided him with these weapons?"

"I am." The man replied, Seteth blinked at the surprisingly smooth tone to the voice. It sounded far more intelligent than he had first envisaged. More importantly, it sounded somewhat familiar to him although there was perhaps something in the pitch of the voice that was slightly off. There was an echo which accompanied it, as if three individuals were speaking at once.

"You are aware of the punishment for actions against the Church?" Seteth carried on "How did you come into Lonato's court?"

"I have no interest in answering your questions." The figure replied, before an almost amused chuckle escaped them "In truth, it is fortunate you have happened by. I was not expecting one of you to be here at all…" their eyes turned back to Jeralt "I was originally here for him, but now that you are also here...I find myself spoilt for choice."

"You won't be taking anyone, evildoer." Alois exclaimed, although it lacked his usual aloof tone as he brandished his steel axe with a scowl on his face "You and your crimes will end here, and by the might of the Goddess herself, you will feel Divine Punishment."

"Ha...hahaha…" It began as a silent chuckle, then the figure threw their head back as it grew into a boisterous laugh "Hahahahah! Hahahahahahahah!" their hands emerged from underneath their cloak and clenched themselves "I forgot how amusing Zealots sounded...I wonder if my preaching ever sounded as such? I suppose there is room for growth in all things." their hands tightened into fists as their eyes burned with fire "I would not lower myself to dealing with you by hand...but if it was good enough for my King, it shall be good enough for me."

"King?" Seteth inquired, the man ignored him and advanced forwards, making no effort to arm himself as he approached the trio.

"Beg for help! Raise your voice to the heavens, perhaps if you are lucky your Goddess with hear you drown in a sea of anguish!"

Catherine furrowed her brows as he cut through another attacker, the numbers were beginning to thin out and it was becoming much easier to see ahead of her. Although being able to see more than two metres in front of you was hardly an improvement. But it was something at least, they were approaching the end of the column.

Byleth pulled her sword free, panting slightly as trickles of sweat began to creep down her brow. She wasn't used to using Sothis power that often and it really was starting to wear down on her. Wetting her lips, the woman continued forwards, taking a quick step backwards as a sword cut through the spot where she had been.

Her heel slipped and she found herself losing her balance, the man pressed the advantage and threw a punch towards her head. Before she could even think to rewind time, the heavy thud of an arrow striking a body filled her ears and vision as the shaft of said arrow appeared in the man's neck. They stumbled backwards, if only because of the impact as their expression shifted to an even more intense snarl.

It was enough of a slip for Byleth to press the attack, rushing forwards and thrusting her sword through their chest and kicking the body away. She looked over her shoulder to see the faint outline of Leonie, the girl already nocking another arrow and looking off into the fog. Some small part of Byleth was a little upset that she needed saving in the first place but she wasn't going to complain about the rescue.

It was just because she was tired was all.

"Forwards!" Catherine called out from ahead of them "The fog clears up here!"

The group took the incentive and charged after the Knight, when daylight immediately filled Byleth's vision she raised a hand to her eyes and blinked several times. As she lowered them, she found herself staring at the entourage in front of her. She wasn't sure who was more surprised.

Lord Lonato stared at the group wide eyed from atop his horse, completely taken off guard by the sudden appearance of over two dozen individuals. Then he frowned as he took another look at them. Children, young boys and girls. Barely old enough to be squires, let alone soldiers.

They came to a stop on one particular individual.

Ashe stared back at Lord Lonato, apprehension in his face before he flinched when Lonato's frown intensified.

Catherine stepped to the front of the group, Lonato's personal guard readied their spears. These were clearly still sane, considering their heavy armour and lack of rabid nature marked them as different to the horde they had just fought through. Lonato sneered at Catherine in disgust.

"I should have expected this from you." He spoke, voice trembling with barely restrained anger "Not only do you murder my firstborn son, but you steal away my other boy. Is this how you interpret the messages of the Goddess? By sending a child to kill his father?"

"We sent no one to do anything." Catherine replied with narrowed eyes "They are all here because they chose to be. Because none of them will sit back and let out pillage with impunity."

"Pillage?" Lonato sneered "Is that what you think I am doing? I am going to raze that Monastery to the ground and put an end to all the schemes and manipulations of that vile woman-"

"Do not insult the Archbishop!" Catherine roared back at him "She holds more love for Fodlan than you could ever dare-"

"I see how she loves them so greatly." Lonato scoffed "My eyes have been opened. Thunderbrand Cassandra. At first I wanted that woman dead because of the murder of my son...but now I see that she must die for the good of all Fodlan."

"Huh...So you're insane now, are you?" Catherine shook her head "A part of me is glad that Christophe never saw how low his father-"

"Do not speak his name so carelessly wench!" The Lord spat at her, eyes burning with rage as he tightened his grip on his horses reins "You are the reason he is no longer here." his eyes snapped away from her and towards Ashe "And you…" they softened slightly "Ashe...surely you can understand. Christophe loved you as if you were his own blood, you cannot let his memory be tainted by whatever lies the church speaks of him."

"Father…" Ashe swallowed "Father, Christophe wouldn't want this! Look around! Look at what you've done to your subjects, what you're going to do! This...this is senseless violence!"

"I will have justice for Christophe, Ashe." The softness of his eyes vanished as his voice became as hard as iron "And I will see to it that he did not die in vain. I will put an end to that woman and will open all of Fodlan's eyes to her schemes and half-truths…." his hand fell to the hilt of his sword, clenching it tightly "And if you will stand against me...then I cannot be held responsible for what will occur."

Ashe flinched in response, looking away from the man for a few moments before he steeled his expression, fighting back the tears building up in the corner of his eyes as he nocked an arrow into his bow "I...I won't let you kill anyone else, Father...I won't let you murder in Christophe's name…"

"...So be it." Lonato released a hollow chuckle "The Goddess extracts a heavy toll from me indeed."

"The Goddess has nothing to do with this butchery, Lonato." Catherine huffed, scowling at the man "This is all on you." gripping Thunderbrand with two hands, she assumed a stance with the sword pointed towards him "And as a Knight of the Church, I will see you brought to justice."

"A Knight of the false Archbishop can do nothing against the power of a true believer." Lonato affirmed as he jumped off his horse, the older man walked towards the front of his small line and past them as they stepped aside to allow him passage. His hand slowly unsheathed his sword from his waist.

The perfectly black longsword held a single red jewel in the hilt, the pommel was bright silver and carved into the shape of a ball. However, what concerned Byleth was the odd feeling she got from looking at the sword.

"It is like those wielded by the villagers." Sothis whispered to her "But…it is cleaner. There is no taint of madness. I advise caution, he will be far more dangerous than those you fought before."

"Kill them all." Lonato ordered, his entourage advanced immediately. The heavy plate armour of his men loudly clanging together as they advanced. The Church Knights readied their sword as their opponents approached.

Byleth looked just behind them. Her eyes instantly focused on the small group of dark robed wearing individuals. The mages then, they were all stood inside a small glowing circle with their hands pointed towards the centre. She assumed that was the cause of the spell.

"The mages." Byleth ordered to Edelgard, the girl perked up and then followed her line of sight "Can you deal with them?"

"We shall do our best, Professor." The Heiress nodded her head, then gestured to Hubert. The boy narrowed his eyes before grunting in affirmation.

"Ha!" Catherine charged forwards, swiftly followed by the Knights of the Church as Lonato and his band did the same. The two steel walls instantly slammed into eachother.

The armoured men shoved at eachother and thrust their spears and swords as best they could, steel cried as glancing blows left gash marks and scratches.

Catherine and Lonato locked swords, the woman instantly found herself on the back foot as Lonato's strength far exceeded what she thought he was capable of. The woman stepped back as Lonato rushed forwards, the black sword in his hand parried aside Thunderbrand.

Catherine slammed her forehead into his, Lonato stumbled backwards in shock before a vicious snarl came to his face and he rushed forwards again.

Alois gasped as the fist slammed into his gut, lifting his feet off the ground. The man grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder and hard onto his back. The knight coughed heavily from the impact as his vision was soon blocked by the boot looming over his head.

Seteth thrust his spear towards the cloaked man, the man raised his forearm, the bladed edge glanced off his forearm and over his shoulder as he moved over Alois and rushed Seteth. The Church Administrator found himself gritting his teeth at the speed the man showed, he was even having to tap into his dragon blood in order to keep up with him.

The man was by no means skilled in hand to hand combat, but he had the speed and the strength to make up for any lacking talent in the art of fighting.

Their fist collided with Seteth's guard, the man's knee's buckled as the power behind the punch would have flattened a normal human.

"Hmmm…" The giant hummed inquisitively as they stared Seteth down "I was expecting more...If you were a simple terminal, I would excuse this weakness but this is still your original body...so how are you this pathetic?"

Seteth didn't respond to the jab, he shifted his stance and pushed the pole of his spear upwards. The continued force being applied to the punch carried the man forwards and caused his punch to just clip Seteth's shoulder. The man winced at the impact but didn't let it stop him, bringing the butt of his spear up from the other side he cracked it against the larger man's jaw.

Their head snapped to the side from the impact, causing them to stagger backwards slightly. Seteth twirled the spear in his hands, pulling it backwards before thrusting it forwards and towards the man's head. Their hand lashed out and grabbed the blade of the trident spear. Stopping it dead in its tracks.

"Like I said…" Seteth coughed out a lungful of air as the man's leg blurred and slammed a kick into his torso, sending his body shooting away from them and onto the ground. "...Weak. I am curious as to who is more incompetent if this is what they struggled with for so long."

His hand lashed out, clamping down around the sword in Jeralts hand and stopping the blade from reaching him. Jeralt had just enough time to widen his eyes in shock before the sword was wrenched from his hand.

Lemegeton threw the weapon away before cocking their fist back and slamming it into the man's gut, Jeralt spat out a glob of blood as he was thrown from the giant. They straightened themselves out as they stared at the trio, the frown under their hood grew.

The wasted potential here was almost insulting to him. The Phantasmal was much weaker than he had been expecting, in truth he was almost dubious as to whether or not it would be necessary to retreat at first. An early confrontation with them would be hazardous for him, yet after the initial first few blows it was pathetic.

The green haired Phantasmal in the guise of a human had locked away much of their former power, to the point where he was easily able to keep up with them. He was quickly learning something important though. His eyes turned back to the blonde haired man as he coughed out more blood and rose to his feet. That punch would have killed a normal human, so it appeared that the body did receive improvements from the injection of Phantasmal blood in them.

Provided they survived, but such things could be refined. As it stood, he was slowly learning the upper limits of the capacity of-

He found a frown coming to his face.

What was this sense of Deja Vu? As the humans called it. Some small part of him felt as though he had done this before. This exact train of thought and this exact action and recently as well. The blood of the Dragon screamed within his host.

Shaking his head, Lemegeton dismissed the notion for the moment. It was likely a spur of the moment brought on by his disappointment. The sense of familiarity was purely because he was seeing human potential wasted yet again. Nothing more.

He raised his forearm, Alois steel axe slammed into it with a heavy thud. Despite swinging it full force, the axe head had only barely managed to break the skin, a slight trickle of blood emerged from the wound and flowed down his arm. The pair watched in silence as a single drop of blood fell from his arm and splattered on the ground.

Lemegeton and Alois locked eyes, the latter's slowly paling complexion mean that he fully understood the ramifications of what had happened, at least in part.

"I forgot you were even here." Lemegeton admitted with a bemused scoff "Truthfully, you were so pathetic that I thought you dead after the first blow."

"Then perhaps you shouldn't underestimate the strength of a Knight of Seiros." Alois boasted, although the slight trembling in his hands as he backed away indicated that he wasn't as confident as he wanted to appear.

"Hmph." They grunted in response, raising their forearm and looking at the cut "Perhaps...although." Alois watched in mute horror as the small trickle of blood from the single wound inflicted on them seemed to reverse its movement, climbing back up his forearm and into the cut before the skin sealed shut. "The strength of humans is nothing to be boasted of." they mirthfully replied.

The Knight swallowed heavily as he readied his axe again.

Lemegeton took a single step forwards, then froze. Their head snapped upwards. Alois followed it and realised something important.

They could see the sky.

The pair looked around them to see the fog slowly clearing away, revealing the full chaos of the battlefield to the world. It was all the Archer's mounted on the rocks needed, instantly their shots became far more accurate. Striking down the charging villagers and peasants before they even reached the frontlines.

"Hmmm…" Lemegeton released a hum. It took longer than he thought it would, but they were able to clear away his bounded field. Although he had left it in the hands of the magi expressly for that purpose. If he had been powering it, the field would have remained active and Lonato might have ended up winning.

"Ha!" Alois let out a boisterous laugh and levelled his axe towards the man "It seems that the light of the Goddess still shines brightly upon us!"

"If you say-" He stopped with a grunt, hissing as he looked down at his side to see the tip of Seteth's spear trident buried in his ribs. His gaze travelled upwards to the man, his arm still extended from the throw. "Don't get conceited, phantasmal." he hissed at them, Seteth widened his eyes at the familiar title as they ripped the spear clean from their body and tossed it away "The loss of the fog means nothing."

It actually meant a great deal. The entire army was now going to be cut to ribbons by the wyvern riders and archers, but it was best to appear less competent than he actually was.

"If you truly believe that, then it appears Lonato is not the only fool here." Seteth replied back, his hand going to the sword he kept on his waist, unsheathing it and assuming a basic stance. "However, you do not strike me as a Servant of Lonato."

"I am a servant of his goals." Lemegeton replied smoothly "That is all you need know."

Lonato looked past Catherine as the fog began to dissipate, he seethed before looking over his shoulder just in time to see the children finish off the last of the mages. The blue haired boy wielding an axe removing the weapon from the back of one of the robed figures.

"Using children?" Lonato scoffed, turning back to the woman "I dare say you have fallen even lower, if such a thing were possible."

"You should stop blaming me for his death." Catherine bit back as Lonato swung his sword downwards, Catherine met it with Thunderbrand and struggled with his intense strength "Christophe made his choice, he paid the price for it."

"He paid the price of your betrayal of him!" Lonato shouted back, pushing down with greater strength "Friends for years and it took you barely a second before you threw him to those Church wolves!"

"I swore to serve the Goddess-"

"You serve Rhea." Lonato growled out "That woman serves only herself."

Catherine snarled at him, striking out with her leg and catching him in the knee. Lonato hissed in pain as he stumbled backwards, Catherine thrust Thunderbrand towards his chest. Lonato parried the sword aside before slamming the pommel of his weapon into the woman's face.

The knight stumbled backwards, clasping at her nose as blood dribbled down her chin.

"A fast dead is too merciful for a fiend such as you." Lonato coldly spoke "However, Christophe seemed to believe you were his friend. Out of respect for playing the part, I will take your head from your shoulders and be done with it."

"Father!" He paused, looking over his shoulder to see Ashe aiming his bow at him. The sounds of combat drowned out between the two. Lonato staring blankly at his son's trembling hands. "Father...stop...please."

Lonato turned to face him fully "You should loosen Ashe. I won't stop until I get justice for Christophe and you have already made the choice to stand against me. If you don't loosen that arrow, I will kill you."

Ashe bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he stared at his father, the trembling in his hands increased as he looked between him and Catherine. The Knight charged Lonato again.

Lonato blurred, he wasn't any more talented that Catherine, indeed she was somewhat of a prodigy with the blade. However, Lonato had experience and power on his side when fighting her. Catherine was instantly forced onto the defensive from the vicious barrage of slashes and thrusts from the Lord.

Ashe's aim trembled as he watched the two fight, he had neither a clear shot at Lonato nor was he sure he had the strength to loosen the arrow on him in the first place.

Catherine released a cry of pain as Lonato carved his sword through her leg, the armour doing nothing to protect her and he pulled the blade upwards. Blood splattered onto the ground as his sword split open her breastplate and sent her stumbling backwards. Hefting the black blade into the air, he swung downwards towards her head.

Time rewound itself.

"If you don't loosen that arrow, I will kill you." Lonato spoke perfectly calmly Catherine rushed towards him. He turned and swung towards her before widening his eyes in alarm and throwing himself to the side.

Catherine stepped back as the fireball exploded against the ground where Lonato had been moments prior. Her head snapped to the direction of the attack to see Lysithea lower her arm, Byleth stood next to her with her hand pointing in the Lords direction.

The pair soon rushed over, Byleth visibly exhausted as she prepared her sword and Lysithea jogged over from behind.

"I had that." Catherine muttered under her breath, Sothis scoffed behind her before sending a fleeting glance at Byleth.

"I can't rewind time again...doing so would put your body in far too much danger." The Goddess warned her "...You will have to be careful."

Byleth affirmed in her head as Lonato got back to his feet, sending a heavy scowl directed at the pair "More Church dogs. It matters not how many of the indoctrinated fling themselves at me, I will not be denied my justice."

The Professor instantly rushed him as Ashe kept his bow trained on the man, Byleth and Lonato were already clashing blades as Catherine soon joined the fray.

Between the pair of them, they were able to keep Lonato's attention divided with it only being his enhanced speed which prevented him from being immediately cut down. Lonato blocked Byleth's slash towards his shoulder, pushing her away as Thunderbrand came for his neck. He raised the flat of his sword to block Catherine's strike. The woman hooked the outward carvings of Thunderband around his sword and jerked it to the side, ripping the blade clean from his hands.

Lonato landed a solid haymaker on her jaw in response, the woman stumbled backwards only for the older man to score an uppercut on her chin, he then gripped her sword arm and threw her over his shoulder, jerking his hand and the arm in his grasp, there was a sickening popping sound that filled the air. Catherine bit back a scream as he dislocated her shoulder, Thunderbrand falling from her grip.

"I received a blessing as a true member of the Goddesses faith, you traitorous heathen." He hissed at Catherine as he straightened himself out "The sword might have made me feel like a younger man, but there is more to the faithful than a mere trinket." he kicked Thunderbrand out of her reach.

Something thudded against his shoulder as he stumbled backwards, looking down to see the shaft of an arrow embedded in-between the plates of his armour. His gaze snapped away from the injury to Ashe, the boy staring in shock at his own actions.

Lonato's face darkened "...I thought I told you that your arrow should have killed me." was all he said, instantly he rolled across the ground, grasping his sword and rushing towards the boy. Still staring in shock as his father approached him with murderous intent.

Byleth intercepted him, swinging towards his neck. Lonato stepped backwards as the girl pursued him. Byleth matching him blow for blow when it came to technique, although she was far less honourable than he was. Chucking gravel into his eyes had the man recoil and clutch at his face, Byleth thrust her sword towards his face just as his vision cleared. He stepped to the side and hissed as the edge of her blade dug into his cheek and had a stream of blood begin to pour down his face.

His eyes burned as he brought his own sword upwards, Byleth raised hers as a guard and gasped as the black sword cleaved through her own instantly. Splitting it into two halves and leaving her with the broken handle, Lonato thrust towards her chest.

She sidestepped him, although still tired from the earlier bouts and reversing time rapidly. She wasn't able to avoid him entirely as he cut through her side and had her hands instantly clasp at the wound as she fell to the ground. Pain flared through her body as she rolled away, Lonato's boot stamping down where her head had been moments prior.

"Professor!" Dimitri's startled voice was soon followed by the appearance of the boy himself, throwing himself towards Lonato with a snarl. The Lord blocked Dimitri's first attack with ease, his enhanced strength easily allowing him to match the Prince.

"You are far too aggressive, young Prince." Lonato frowned at him "And you should not have come, I have no interest in killing you, your majesty."

"That makes one of us!" Dimitri sneered in an unusually violent tone of voice as he pushed past Lonato's guard, the man's sword scraped along the ground before Dimitri smashed the back of his hand into the older man's face. Lonato recoiled from the blow, several teeth being knocked clean from his jaw along with a small spray of blood.

Lonato responded with a punch of his own, slamming his gauntlet into Dimitri's ribs, the boy let out a sharp gasp of pain as his gripped his side. The punch having clearly broken something, he found himself eerily familiar with his fist fight with Goetia. Although at least Lonato couldn't take punches like the mage could. Then again, he couldn't either.

"Ansuz!" Lysithea cried out, Dimitri felt a heat crawling up his back and ducked down instantly. Lonato was less fortunate and raised his hands to cover his head as he found himself impacted by a stream of fire, it lasted for barely a moment but was more than enough to have the Lord release a cry of pain as the magical fire impacted his armour.

Lonato stumbled backwards as Dimitri rocketed to his feet, swinging his spear sideways into the man. The spear tip buried itself in plate armour before getting stuck, Lonato lashed out in a rage, backhanding Dimitri away from him and sending the boy stumbling to ground. The Lord latched his hand around the spear and ripped it free of his body, hissing as it send specks of blood flying from the wound.

His eyes locked onto Lysithea, the girl already preparing her next spell. Lonato rushed towards her, clearing the distance between the two in barely a few seconds.

Lysithea widened her eyes and stepped backwards while thrusting her hand towards him, the tips of her fingers glowing as a magic circle slowly formed in front of her outstretched palm.

Lonato slapped her hand upwards with his free arm. Lysithea's spell being cancelled out as she stumbled away from the man.

A sharp gasp escaped her lips.

Blood stained the ground. The white haired girl stared at Lonato in shock for a few moments, the hardness of his eyes seemed to soften in trace amounts of pity. Her eyes left his and trailed downwards towards her chest-

-and the longsword currently running her through.

"NO!" Lonato stumbled away from her when Ashe collided with his side, the younger boy sending the older man to ground and causing Lysithea to be released from his grip. She fell back, struggling for breath as pain began to flare up in her chest, her eyes remained locked on the sword.

She didn't notice he bracelet on her wrist begin to flicker.

Goetia stared at the doll. The green light turned bright red, pulsating rapidly. He knew what it meant, Lysithea's life was in danger. He stared at it for a few moments, already tensing himself for the shift in time. It had already happened six times so far, so he would be able to expect it again.

…

…

…

When nothing happened, an ugly feeling slowly emerged in his gut as he continued to stare at the pulsating red light. It would seem that perhaps Byleth had reached her limit or was perhaps unaware of the girls injuries.

He looked away from it and down.

The deaths of humans was something he was gradually beginning to accept. Even if he saved Lysithea today, she would still die one day. That fear of death she was no doubt feeling right now would inevitably be felt again.

His intervention would be pointless.

It would be pointless.

Saving her wouldn't mean anything in the long run, no matter how promising she had been. It wasn't his fault she was there and dying, those were choices made by humans.

He had already said he wasn't going to get involved, doing so now would be hypocritical. They would expect him to step in the next time something like this happened, and the next. Then he would be forced to put down every wayward group who attempted an insurrection or that the Church wanted dead.

Yes, it would be less troublesome if he left her to die.

His eyes flickered back to the pulsating red light, it slowly began to dull.

"It's less troublesome…" He muttered to himself "It's less troublesome...she'll die anyway if you act, just leave it be...leave it be…" his own teeth were grinding against eachother as his face warped into a troubled frown "Leave it…"

He gripped the table he was sitting at the hurled it across the room, the wooden desk shattered into splinters as it made contact with the ground. Goetia was at his feet, breathing heavily as he marched towards the front desk and the doll. He snatched it up with one hand, glaring at it.

The sound of footsteps heralded a door being flung open, Rhea strode in with a heavy frown as she beheld the carnage. The shattered table and Goetia's trembling shoulders as he seemingly stared at the doll in his hands.

"What is the meaning of this commotion?" She demanded, he didn't respond at first, prompting her to from and step closer towards him "Goetia?" she called out again. Pausing when his head slowly turned towards her.

His face was blank for a few moments before it shifted into one of irritation "Just this once...just this once and only because I won't be like him."

Before she could inquire what he meant, he disappeared in a flash of light.

AN: He just couldn't leave well enough alone in the end.

But yes, the fight continues and only after Lysithea getting injured does he even make an attempt to move. Also Lemegeton laying the smackdown on Seteth, Jeralt and Alois.

Now, for Seteth, the guy is still a dragon. So I full expect him to be stronger than a normal human being. As for Jeralt, the blood of a Dragon in his veins provided him with a minor resistance to the Mystic codes which is why he didn't immediately turn crazy.

But yes...Goetia is going.

And he's pissed.

Omake: Big (Little) Sister

"And this is the Library!" Flayn beamed as she dragged the boy in behind her, the thin young man looked around with a blank expression for a few moments. Red eyes flickered around the room with mild interest.

"I've never read a book before." He confessed, Flayn turned to him in shock at the statement.

"What!?"

Sieg flinched "Sorry for the trouble-"

"Don't apologise!" Flayn waved her hands "Honestly, I don't know who was raising you but it can't have been done very well. Whatever did your mother have to say about this?"

"I didn't have a mother."

"Oh my goodness!" Flayn covered her mouth with both her hands "I'm so sorry! What about a father?"

"No." He replied back, although he was internally wondering if Siegfried counted as a father to him. Although he doubted it, somewhat. If they were talking about pure genetic information, then Siegfried would count, but he doubted they would accept the answer of 'he stuck his heart in my chest'.

"You poor thing!" Flayn sniffled "Come on! I know that Seteth will be able to do something!"

"I really don't want to trouble yo-"

"None of that now!" Flayn dismissed his argument "You've been alone too long I fear, and there is much for you to learn! And I shall be able to teach you…" she paused in, slowly turning to Sieg with a gradually growing smile "I shall act as a big sister!"

"But you're shorter than me." He helpfully pointed out, earning a pout from her.

"Being a Big sister has nothing to do with height! I am clearly the older one, so I shall be the big sister."

Sieg felt as though this was an odd sense of Deja Vu, as if another woman he knew had a strange fascination with being an older sister. But he didn't know that many women, so he couldn't say for sure.

"But we aren-"

"Being siblings has nothing to do with blood relation!" Flayn dismissed "Now call me big sister!"

"But-"

"Big. Sister."

"...Big Sister." Sieg eventually allowed, Flayn beamed at him and turned around, grabbing his wrist and leading him further into the monastery.

"Now let us be off!" Flayn giggled to herself "We shall bring you to Seteth, my older brother!"

"...Do I call him Big brother?"

"No. I am your only older sibling."

"But that doesn't-"

"The only one."