Chapter 29: Schemes and Gambits

16th day of the Red Wolf Moon 1180. Western parts of Hevring territory.

Yuri was having a field day. His projects were coming along well, as was his assignment. Count Hevring had made it extraordinarily easy to infiltrate his lands. The widespread corruption had ensured that no-one wasted a single thought on one or two suspicious deaths among the officials within the lands of the Count. Fomenting rebellion against him had been almost painfully easy from then on. Actually turning the rebelling people into a proper armed force had proven to be more difficult, however. At least he had help with that.

Fortunately for him, the Church had provided a Knight of Seiros by the name of Shamir as well as her apprentice Cyril. The two had proven adept at training the new troops. It was a good thing, too, as using untrained levies was a breach of custom. The Black Eagles, minus Linhardt, were also present to help speed the process along. Their presence motivated the people and made the recruits eager, increasing their overall performance.

It was kind of predictable that a morale boost would result from Princess Edelgard's presence, but the others contributed just as much, contrary to Yuri's expectations. A large part of that had been a speech held by them. First, Edelgard had talked about the course she wished for the Empire to take. Her intentions to make meritocratic and egalitarian policies had earned the people's favour. Next, she had read a signed and sealed letter given to her by Linhardt, in which he expressed his intention to follow the Princess instead of his father. Then, Ferdinand, Caspar, Hubert and Bernadetta had publicly denounced their fathers and aired quite a bit of dirty laundry about them. The crowd had been aghast, especially at the crimes of Duke Aegir and Count Varley. Justified outrage was an excellent motivator.

"Note to self: Shank that piece of shit when I see him next," mused Yuri to himself. Maybe it was just guilt talking or genuine affection for the girl, but he was quite incensed when it came to threats against Bernadetta.

"What are you muttering about?" asked Hapi, who walked up to him.

Yuri smiled darkly. "Oh, I was just thinking about visiting an old acquaintance once we're done here," he said.

"Must be some visit you're planning," replied the girl.

"It will be quite memorable," chuckled Yuri. "Business first, though. Is everyone ready?"

Hapi nodded. "As ready as they'll ever be. We should probably start marching before B amasses more gambling debts with the soldiers, though."

The purple-haired youth laughed at that. "Then we'd better move out now. I'll give the signal to Shamir. You inform the Black Eagles."

"Sure thing, Yuri-bird," she said.

The march which was about to take place was the culmination of Yuri's efforts to fulfil the strategic objectives of the Church's High Command. Originally conceived as a contingency plan, this operation had the goal of completely crushing what remained of Count Hevring's strategic potential. Since the Count had managed to break out of the trap set to him by Baron Ochs, the contingency plan was now being executed.

That was not to say that the soon-to-be-former Minister of the Interior had managed to get away unscathed, however. Only about 5'000 soldiers had made it back to Hevring lands. The rest had either died, deserted or defected. He was now returning to his holdings to lick his wounds and mobilise a new army. He likely knew that that plan was doomed to failure and that there had been an uprising against him, however. This assumption was reinforced by the fact that he had dug in at the Western edge of his official territory, where he was hoping to hold out against the loyalist forces from within one of the coastal strongholds.

As the situation stood now, Count Hevring was surrounded. To the west, he was under siege from Ochs forces under Monica's command. With most of the town militias staying stationary, she had access to only about 3'000 Ochs soldiers. That would have been enough for the Count to give battle in a fighting retreat or even a counter offensive, but she also had roughly 3'700 defectors on her side. To the east, Yuri and the Black Eagles had amassed a force of 8'100. They were inexperienced, but the troops Shamir and the Black Eagles had brought with them formed a solid core of battle-hardened combatants around which the green recruits could rally. As such, the cordon was complete. It was basically a total reversion of how it had been in the beginning. The only difference was that Count Hevring did not have any elaborate traps prepared for his opposition. It remained to be seen whether he had the smarts to surrender.

On the topic of smarts, Yuri had managed to fulfil his primary mission well so far. His information network had done well in figuring out exactly which unit commanders would defect from the rogue Imperial Army back to the Emperor's side. His informants had also played a vital role in the uprising against Count Hevring by providing organisation and giving a nudge to set them off. The secondary objective of acquiring more funds was also coming along well, though to a lesser degree. Minor smuggling activity and raids on rival criminal gangs ensured that the budget stayed in the black, if only barely.

Of course, he could have taken funds out of the Imperial Treasury which his forces had captured, but those belonged strictly to the Empire, and Yuri was not stupid enough to steal from his allies. Indeed, he had been busy preventing looters from entering the place. He was, by Edelgard's own words, allowed to plunder the personal treasuries of corrupt officials and sycophants of Count Hevring's administrative apparatus, though. Embezzled funds were to be returned, of course, but the legitimate riches of those people were still substantial.

As it stood now, everything was ready for the network of informants and enforcers to expand once the current operation reached its conclusion. Said expansion would likely take place in Faerghus, seeing as the Alliance was covered by the spy network managed by Judith of House Daphnel. Arundel territory was also a possible deployment zone. It made little difference, however. Both would serve in the resolution of the Faerghus front. Further ruminations would have to wait, however. There was a Count to defeat.

17th day of the Red Wolf Moon 1180. Oghma Mountains, mountain pass leading to Arundel territory.

The Blue Lions plus Flayn and Seteth were gathered at the foot of the snow-covered pass. With them were their usual troop complements. They were a small force, just somewhere around 700 soldiers. Normally, Seteth wouldn't have entertained the thought of moving into a warzone with so few troops, and neither would Hanneman have done so, but they were not meant to proceed alone to their first objective. There was a force of Ochs troops only a few kilometres away. They were currently engaged with Arundel forces, and the Blue Lions were to attack the enemy's rear.

Coordination of such an attack on such short notice was not something that could be pulled off conventionally. However, Hanneman had finally managed to create a functioning prototype of the communication spell. Just like Hyperion had theorised, using a combination of Warp, Rescue, lightning magic and wind magic had yielded results. Range had unexpectedly not been a problem since no mass was actually transported by the Warp and Rescue component. The actual issue was that it only allowed two-way contact, and only then if the caster knew what the voice of the target sounded like and their general position. Hyperion had helped out with that last bit with his map. Once those difficulties had been overcome, contact with Baron Ochs had been established.

The second objective, for which they had actually been deployed initially, was to help with the clean-up of the remaining bandits in Ochs and Nuvelle territory. With war going on, some groups thought that it would be easy to crop out of the woodwork again and take advantage of the situation. After the scenes they had witnessed in the city of Nuvelle, the Blue Lions were only too eager to disabuse such characters of this notion.

There was a third objective as well, though it was a secret that only Seteth and Flayn knew. They had a mission to once again seek out Indech. Rhea, or rather Sothis, wished for the turtle-like Saint to retrieve something. Neither Seteth nor his daughter knew what it was, only that it was an object that had been hidden before the long sleep. It was apparently something of great personal value to the Goddess, on top of being very useful. Fortunately, the path of their patrol was close enough for Seteth and Flayn to take a detour without arousing suspicion.

Before he could think of anything further down the line, however, he had to focus on the current matter of import. Since they had just left the pass, the Blue Lions detachment was now shifting from marching column to combat formation. In what was quickly becoming the new standard for Church troops, the mages formed the centre witch a second line of heavy infantry. Light infantry was on the centre's sides. Cavalry would normally be posted on both flanks, but with the limited number available, all of it was on the left flank under Sylvain's command. The right flank was formed by Ingrid's pegasus riders. The backline was made up of the centre's heavy infantry, archers, healers and Seteth's wyvern riders. As he took his position, he surmised that everyone was ready for combat and gave the order to advance.

An hour of marching later, the clamour of battle was easily heard by the approaching Blue Lions. The sight of it was also easily accessible. Both allies and enemies noticed their approach on the right flank of the Arundel army, which caused the line of battle to shift. This was the first opportunity to strike.

"Sylvain, Ingrid, we shall strike and disrupt the enemy movement!" ordered Seteth.

They did not actually hear him, but the practiced signals made their commander's intentions clear. The three units in question took off, leaving Hanneman in charge of the remaining troops. The first to make contact with the enemy was Ingrid, seeing as her unit was the fastest. Just as they had practiced many a time, the pegasus riders performed noting more than a strafing run. They inflicted little actual damage, but they prevented the reshuffling of the Arundel forces. This left the enemy vulnerable to further attack.

Seteth and his wyvern riders came next. The heavy flying beasts crashed into the disrupted mix of foot and horse, further destabilising the formation. This time, the attack inflicted heavy casualties. Many soldiers were crushed beneath the claws of the wyverns or were killed by their riders while Baron Ochs' troops pushed them from the other side. Arundel's troops were hard pressed to withstand the attack. When they were just read to fight back more effectively, however, the wyvern riders took off into the sky.

There was no relief to be had for the Arundel forces, though. Sylvain's cavalry barrelled into the suddenly unbalanced enemy force in a wedge formation. Their lances tasted a lot of blood in short order. Between them and the Ochs troops, the Arundel forces on their right flank crumbled.

Naturally, the commander of the Arundel forces had no intention of letting this go unpunished. Archers and reserve troops had made their way to the affected flank and did their best to drive the Blue Lions. They did not get many shots off and scored even fewer before the signal to retreat came.

The Arundel commander was clearly no fool. He or she had most likely charted out Hanneman's approach and concluded that continuing the fight would only lead to unnecessary casualties. It was a tad bit disappointing for Seteth, but it was not overly surprising. What really mattered was that the battle was won and that only relatively few of his soldiers had fallen in the process.

When Seteth landed next to Hanneman, the Blue Lions' Professor addressed him. "Seteth, I have just spoken to Baron Ochs. He advises that we should not pursue. The recent snowfalls make it not worth the effort."

"I agree" said Seteth. "I will give the appropriate orders."

After a quick round of signals, all units broke off pursuit and moved back into formation. This process naturally took some time, but it happened without issue since there was no doubt that the soldiers, especially those of Baron Ochs, were happy to not have to continue fighting. For the latter, the battle had been going on for several hours, after all. It had mostly been a game of cat and mouse, though it had never been quite clear which side was which, and it had only devolved into a pitched battle towards the end, when Hanneman had informed the Baron about their imminent arrival.

It was roughly half an hour after that battle's conclusion that Damian approached Seteth and Hanneman. "Professor, Master Seteth, I wish to extend my gratitude for your assistance today. Thanks to you, we've dealt this force a severe blow. Without its support, Arundel's current offensive is likely to fail completely as winter makes further pushes unfeasible."

"It was our distinct pleasure to help," said Seteth in reply. "It is always an honour to aid those who fight the enemies of the Goddess."

At this point, Hanneman spoke up. "With the pleasantries out of the way, I must ask what you are doing here. I doubt you wish to remain in this place for long."

Damian nodded. "You are correct, of course. I am here to request new information. Duke Gerth and his fleet keep me informed of events, naturally, but there is a delay in the flow information. I was wondering if you had any new intelligence on what is happening in the south."

"I think we can acquiesce," said Seteth. "The newest information we have suggests that Fort Merceus is under siege. The bulk of the Imperial Army's traitors are located there, though the siege remains largely ineffective because the fort is not surrounded. A mixed force of Imperial Army traitors, Aegir household troops and Varley Household troops is aggressively attacking Rusalka and Hresvelg territories across the Rusalka river. The defences have held so far, but they are in dire need of reinforcements."

"This is troubling," said Damian as he rubbed his chin. "I will ask Duke Gerth to send troops to aid the river's defences. If it falls, Fort Merceus will be easily bypassed by the enemy." He sighed. "In any case, I thank you for the information. I will delay you no longer. Farewell and good luck on your mission."

"Likewise," said Hanneman and Seteth in unison.

The same night. Hyperion's prayer space.

It was good to see Claude again, I had to admit. Oh, he was very exhausting to converse with, at least for me, but there were things I absolutely needed to know and which only he could confirm. The whole strategy we had going for the Alliance front and the war as a whole would go down the drain if his answer proved to be unsatisfactory. Conversely, if things went well, the front would be secured. Before I could ask him anything, however, I had to observe the courtesies of receiving a prayer, even from an unbeliever, not that I minded those.

"So, what do you want to know?" I asked.

Claude smirked. "Going right for the throat, I see," he said.

Change of plans. If he played into my hands with word games, I would let him do it. "Not quite the same as going for Fodlan's Throat, but sure," I replied.

The smirk on the young man's face was replaced with a laugh. "So you do know. Not that I didn't expect it."

"Don't expect me to know everything. Doing so could cost you," I warned him. "You're right in this instance, however. I've spotted one of your shenanigans marching up the mountain pass at the border. Well, I at least hope it's one of your shenanigans, Prince Khalid."

My partner in this conversation stilled. "Huh, you surprised me. How much do you know?" he asked in a carefully neutral tone.

I decided to answer honestly. "I know that you're the son of Duke Riegan's daughter and the King of Almyra. I know that your name is Khalid. Your relationship with your family can be considered complicated, though I'm fairly certain that at least your mother genuinely loves you, but her way of showing it likely leaves much to be desired. How far up in the line of succession you are is a mystery to me, and neither do I know if you have to prove yourself to be worthy of the throne. However, you do have a good shot at becoming King. I have no idea about your childhood except that it was tough and included the incidents with the horse-dragging and your mother beating up Nader."

Claude was uncharacteristically silent for quite some time. He seemed to be mulling over the situation. A low hum escaped his throat before he relaxed his posture somewhat and asked, "Did you expect me to get reinforcements from Almyra?"

"In a sense," I confessed. "I hoped you would get us an Almyran host. There were no guarantees, neither about that host's coming nor its size, or even its date of arrival. I also suspected that when you said you'd write home a few months ago that you'd also write your father, not just Duke Riegan."

There was a smirk again on Claude's face. "You guessed right on that. I asked Father for an army and asked Grandfather to let it through. A few more letters were necessary, but he has agreed to order Holst Goneril to let the Almyran host pass on my personal command. Can I ask you when they'll arrive?"

That was a fair question. "Going by their current marching speed, they should be at Fodlan's Locket in roughly two weeks. Maybe less if the pass they're taking has a few relatively flat sections."

"Any news on their numbers? If father or grandfather sent me letters detailing that, they'll be sitting unread in Garreg Mach," asked Claude.

"About 40'000 in total. I can't get more accurate. Distinguishing life sings so far away from the centre of the search radius is a bit difficult for the sensors," I answered.

"I don't quite understand what that is supposed to mean, but I get the gist," he said. "Do you mind explaining?"

I laughed. "Always fishing for more information, eh? I'm down for it, but later. Right now I need to know if we can expect further reinforcements from Almyra."

Claude hummed. "Probably not for a while. There's always some kind of dispute going on. Sending more troops would endanger my father's dominant position in the internal politics of the country."

I blinked. "Do you have a civil war every ten years over there or something?" I asked, incredulous.

"That's… not an inaccurate description, though it rarely escalates into full-blown war. It's more like a long series of skirmishes and maybe one or two minor battles," answered Claude.

A slap rang though my prayer space as I facepalmed. "Of course. Like bloody Rome and China, I swear," I muttered.

"Now that sounds interesting. Some sort of ancient history?" asked Claude.

I nodded. "Yes, Rome and China were two large and influential empires. They were also famous for having a new civil war every other week. Rome lasted for about 2'100 years despite this, and China for about 4'000 to 5'000, depending on when the different sources set the 'start date' of the empire. But I digress, back to topic," I said. "Out of curiosity, will this deployment of Almyran troops help you in some sort of succession dispute?"

"It likely will," said Claude. "I don't have any full siblings, but I've got some cousins and a bunch of older illegitimate half-brothers. Some take offence that a child with 'tainted' blood is the heir to the throne. Unless I want a civil war on my hands, I have to prove myself to the people of Almyra."

"Sounds about right. Warrior cultures tend to expect that, sometimes to a stupid degree," I commented. With a smile, I added, "Though I guess an additional benefit of this expeditionary force is that it will lay the groundwork for future cooperation, won't it?"

Claude laughed. "Ha! Got it in one. Why let the opportunity to further my goals pass? War is horrible, but it would be a disservice to everyone who loses their lives in it if we didn't use the opportunities it creates for the betterment of the world."

I leaned back in thought for a bit before I said, "You're right. You just have to tread the fine line between taking advantage of opportunities and making them, and when either of those is not acceptable. I know that sounds preachy, but it's important. Don't sell your soul to buy an ambition, or you'll realise that you've sold that too once everything is over."

"I guess you're not the God of Wisdom for nothing," he said with some cheek.

I groaned. "Don't remind me, man. Divinity stinks. Though there are some benefits, it's mostly just a hassle," I said. Too bad for Claude that I had immediate payback at the ready for that remark. "But never mind that. You have just been volunteered as guinea pig for my speech practice. You will listen and give feedback while I try to explain to you a term which I don't really understand myself: the categorical imperative."

"What?"

19th of the Red Wolf Moon 1180. Northern part of Goneril territory.

Armies were loud. Large armies could be deafening. That much Byleth could be sure of. The 83'000 soldiers which made up the assembled army of the Leicester Alliance made that clear to him. At this moment, however, the sound was far enough away from the command tent that he could hold a conversation with Judith and Margrave Edmund, who were the commanders of the centre and he northern flank respectively. Count Goneril had been slated to command the southern flank, but he had instead elected to stay back and command the strategic reserves, that being the Goneril household troops. This act of cowardice had enabled Byleth, who was now the de-facto commander of the southern flank, to have a frank discussion with people who could be trusted.

"There is a good chance we'll lose here," said Byleth.

Judith and the Margrave looked at each other. "What makes you say that?" asked Judith.

"Two reasons," said the Knight of the Covenant, "The enemy has a slight numbers advantage thanks to the survivors of Acheron's army, and they've brought a lot of demonic beasts with them. It is likely the majority of their reserves. Their deployment has been confirmed by a reliable source." Said source was Hyperion, of course. Life signals like those of demonic beasts were easy to track.

The beasts' presence wasn't as much of a surprise as one would have thought. Indeed, despite the massive number of troops deployed to it, the Alliance Front was the one the Agarthans were the most likely to lose on. Crushing the resistance in a single battle with overwhelming force was the smart thing to do. Unfortunately, that presented a problem for the free peoples of Fodlan.

"That is worrying," said Margrave Edmund. "But we cannot back down now. We must not let such a large enemy force unhindered."

"Damn right," added Judith. "I won't back down from this."

Byleth did not complain. He said, "I understand that and agree. Defeat is a very real possibility however. I even consider it likely. We need a plan in case it happens."

"What do you have in mind?" asked the woman.

"I have prepared a surprise to cover our retreat. It might even destroy valuable enemy assets," answered the Professor. "That said we also need to determine where our respective troops will retreat to."

"Do you have a plan for that as well?" asked the Margrave.

Byleth nodded. "Indeed, I do. It was proposed by a circle of advisors," he said, referring to the staff of the SIC in the Underworld. "In case of defeat, I suggest that Lady Judith retreats to Daphnel territory to guard Aillel. Margrave Edmund will retreat to Derdriu and prepare it for siege. My part of the Alliance army will retreat into Goneril territory."

"Why?" asked Judith.

"That way we force the enemy to split their army. They will have to conduct three separate sieges. We will be able to hold on until reinforcements arrive. Afterwards, we can crush the enemy piecemeal," explained Byleth.

"You know something," accused the hero of Daphnel.

Byleth nodded. "The details are secret, but Duke Riegan and Claude have managed to secure reinforcements. They will arrive in less than two weeks."

Margrave Edmund and Judith looked at each other again. The older man nodded at her. Judith's head turned to Byleth and she said, "Very well. If we lose, we'll follow your plan. You had better do your best to win, though."

"I will," said Byleth honestly. "If things start going wrong, I will send a message through magic." He was fortunate that he and Hyperion had already learned the spell from Sothis, who had learned it from Hanneman during a conversation in prayer space.

"Alright," said Judith, accepting that answer. "Now get to your posts. It won't be long now until the battle starts."

The three then dispersed and went to oversee the deployment of their respective forces. Only a few minutes on horseback later, Byleth was already back with his troops. Once there, he called the students together and had Lars and Jana join in. It was time for a last-minute pep talk.

"We're about to participate in our first truly large battle," he began, "which means I will have to stay back. I command the entire southern flank. In my absence, there is one order you must follow above all." Here, he paused for a short moment. "Come back to me, alive and whole."

Surprised looks from the students greeted that order. Despite their increase in frequency ever since they had first met Byleth, emotional proclamations were still rare from him. They knew that he regarded them highly, but they had not expected this.

"Sure thing, Teach," said Claude in a jovial manner.

"Is it?" asked Byleth. "There will be no charging ahead, no competitions about how many you take out, no glory-seeking and no 'honourable' duels. You will fight to keep your troops and yourselves alive. I've lost comrades before; I refuse to lose my friends and students."

That took all semblance of levity away. A more sombre atmosphere spread. Jana was the one who spoke up first. "I'll look after the kids," she said.

Byleth inclined his head. He seemed to hesitate for a bit, but then he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. It was awkward, though to a lesser degree than it would have been months ago. "Come back as well, sister. I'm scared for all of you."

That struck a chord in Jana. Byleth had never openly expressed any sort of fear to anyone. As a child, it had been because he had not understood it. As a teenager it had been because he had seen Jeralt as an invincible bulwark. As an adult, he had had an image to project. Right now, however, something had unsettled him enough to truly worry.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

"Hundreds of demonic beasts. A good number of them are probably capable of flight. Roughly 90'000 soldiers are on the opposing side," answered Byleth. "I've done what I can to prepare, but a lot of people are going to die today. Don't be among them."

Jana did her best to reassure him. "We'll live through this," she told him. The students and even Lars, who would stay with Byleth as his squire, all nodded in agreement.

"We won't die," affirmed Claude.

Ignatz chimed in as well. "W-we'll be careful, Professor!"

"My little sis would be upset if I died, so I can't do that. Don't worry," said Raphael with a laugh.

One after another, the others said their piece too, and Byleth seemed finally satisfied. "Very well," he said. "Don't forget to keep your eyes sharp and your ears sharper. We could lose this battle, and I don't want you missing the signal to retreat."

Roughly one hour later.

Everyone was in position as much as they could be. All units were in combat formation, though it differed greatly from the one Byleth was used to. Mages were all on the backrow and cavalry was interspersed with the mixed light and heavy infantry in the main battle line. Archers made up the front row. The flanks were held by cavalry and wyvern riders. Pegasus riders were held in reserve at the back. While Byleth heavily disliked this kind of formation, especially since it was so tight and vulnerable, there was nothing he could do about it. The army hadn't trained with any other formations. It would have to do.

The other side mirrored the formation for the most part. There were more mages than in the Alliance forces, naturally. Only the Adrestian Empire fielded as many mages in their armies as the Agarthans did. The great difference was made by the presence of demonic beasts all along the battle line. Just as Hyperion had reported, there were hundreds of them. Fortunately, they were spread out evenly, which was a tactical error in Byleth's opinion. There was another peculiarity, however. There were almost no wyvern or pegasus riders in the Agarthan army. That actually made sense, considering that they came from a subterranean civilisation. They did compensate that weakness with flying demonic beasts, though.

The two armies marched against each other, coming ever closer to their counterpart. As the distance between them diminished, their noise level increased. Soldiers huffed or growled in an attempt to steel themselves. People on both sides of the battle braced themselves for the inevitable clash. And then, a threshold was reached.

Horns blared on the Agarthan side of the battlefield, and the beasts were unleashed. They rushed at the Alliance army, shrieking all the while. They were met with a hail of arrows and magic, but only about a handful fell before the archers were forced to fall back. As such, the beasts barrelled into the combined infantry and cavalry line, where they wreaked havoc. They met fierce opposition, but there was little that could be done for those who had the misfortune of being trampled or throw around like ragdolls. At least the charge had abated.

The engagement in the sky went similarly. Flying demonic beasts engaged the pegasus riders along the front. The wyvern riders on the flanks of the Alliance army were forced to come to the aid of the centre, leaving the flanks bereft of their most mobile assets. The actual fighting itself was actually relatively even for the moment, but that would change as soon as the Agarthan archers got into range.

Some parts of the battle line did better than others, most notably the southern flank. This was mainly due to the Gauss spell the Church mages could cast. They had the experience and the means to deal with such creatures. It also helped that the artificial demonic beasts were not quite as tough as the wild ones. This did not mean that things were going smoothly, but the southern flank definitely had more breathing room within which the soldiers could act. More than once, Byleth could see Seraphim spells head for flying demonic beasts closer to the centre. Lysithea was putting on the pressure with the help of Thyrsus. Closer to the Golden deer, it was Linhardt and other wind mages who prioritised the flying demonic beasts. The momentum seemed close to reversing.

That was when another blast from a horn rang through the battlefield. More horns and trumpets joined in. They heralded the Agarthan charge that followed. The clash occurred about half a minute later. It was brutal, too, as the Alliance troops were in disarray due to the demonic beasts rampaging through their line. Just as Byleth had predicted, the tightly packed formation of the Alliance army became an additional detriment which resulted in heavy casualties caused by magical bombardment. The one saving grace was that the Agarthans had to steer clear of the beasts as well.

Byleth was sorely tempted to rush in and do something, but he had to direct his troops, and direct them he did. "Signal a fallback. The centre and the northern flank are being pushed back. We can't afford to let the line break," he ordered

The orders were relayed via instruments, and the retreat began. The part of his flank that was made up of Alliance troops performed far worse in the assigned task than the Church troops, who had trained for this kind of manoeuvre for months now. Nonetheless, the fighting retreat remained somewhat stable. The troops that were supposed to hold while the rest retreated did so. After the latter had taken up their new position, the signal was given for the second phase. The soldiers who had retreated now chucked magic and arrows at the enemy while the front row retreated to the new position.

All the while, Byleth, with Hyperion's help, kept an eye on the battlefield. The battle was barely twenty minutes old, yet the death toll was staggering. Thousands of lives had already been extinguished, and the rate of death showed no signs of slowing down. The demonic beasts were responsible for both of these circumstances. On the upside, the beasts were paying dearly for this. With their original charge over and an army of allies at their backs, their movements were restricted, which made them easy targets for retaliation. On the downside, their might had crushed – in many cases literally – a lot of Alliance soldiers. The slight numerical advantage of the Agarthans at the beginning had now turned into a significant one, and the flying demonic beasts were not hindered by the same limitation as their terrestrial counterparts.

From his position, the young Professor could also clearly see that all of his students were still alive and well, as was Jana. He couldn't help but fret over them, especially as the battle was not going well, but he felt relieved at the moment. The ever-expanding lake of blood the battlefield was turning into did not inspire confidence, however. He was very worried that if Judith didn't pull the line back further, it would break, thereby endangering both his remaining troops and his students.

The centre was buckling under the heavy assault of demonic beasts and Agarthan soldiers alike. Dark Magic blasted apart defensive formations, and the remaining demonic beasts attacked the lighter troops. Mutilated corpses flew through the sky and fell on their comrades while the smell of burning flesh and the stench of innards spread across the battlefield. Morale was falling fast among the Alliance soldiers as they were being dismantled. The position became untenable.

The northern flank fared only better because the enemy assault was focussed on the centre. Losses were still high, however. The Margrave's troops were somewhat more competent against the beasts than Judith's due to their experience in the Forest of Beasts, but that did not mean that they were holding well. As the pressure of the Agarthan attack built more and more, it was becoming ever more difficult to keep up the defence. When he spotted a flanking force of several thousand cavalry riding out from behind the enemy, Margrave Edmund ordered his troops to fall back.

Independently from him, Judith ordered the same for the centre. It was impossible to hold against this onslaught. Trying would result not only in failure but also in death. Almost all her heavy infantry was completely crushed. The other elements of her force were not doing so well either. Maybe about half of her initial force was still alive at this point.

Following the trend, Byleth also pulled his flank back, though it as far more organised than on the other two sections of the Alliance army. Part of the reason for this orderliness was that almost all demonic beasts on their flank had been killed, even the flying ones. The other part was that his soldiers weren't panicking as much as the others, which allowed the retreat to go a lot smoother.

As the Agarthans advanced, they missed one important thing, however. Concealed by the blood and corpses of tens of thousands of people was a long and broad strip of disturbed earth. It was the remnant of a trench which had been dug on Byleth's orders. He had then ordered it filled with barrels whose contents the Professor would not disclose to anyone, though there were accusations that he had stolen the entire alcohol supply of the army as well as some other supplies. He had only said that it would be a surprise for the enemy.

It's time, thought Byleth. He lifted a hand to his ear and cast the communication spell. "Judith, the battle is lost. We've lost about half of our forces."

"That bad? Shit," replied Judith. "Alright, we'll go with your plan. This had better work."

"It will," said Byleth in response. "Signal the retreat. I'll draw attention and set off the surprise."

"You'll what?!" exclaimed Judith.

Byleth did not answer. Instead, he cancelled the communication spell. Kicking his spurs, he made his horse gallop towards the heaviest fighting while ordering his trumpeters to signal the general retreat. There was no time to lose.

The trumpets and the other instruments soon blared the order to retreat. The Alliance soldiers hurried to disengage and flee. This, in turn, caused a rout due to the low morale. It was a disorganised scramble to get away, which would have resulted in quite a few of them dying if not for the titanic hexagonal barrier which manifested itself between the fleeing Alliance soldiers and the Agarthan army.

The culprit of this phenomenon was Byleth, who had dismounted and now donned the Raiment of the First Principle once more. The barrier was the result of Byleth and Hyperion overlapping their AT fields and projecting them to their greatest extent. It did not cover all of the Alliance army, but it protected most of it. Contrary to what one might have expected, however, the barrier was not there to shield the Alliance army from the Agarthans but from the surprise Byleth had buried and now activated.

It was an ingenious piece of magic that relied on an enchantment which Byleth had learnt from Rhea about a month ago for unrelated reasons. The enchantment was one which would trigger a spell it was loaded with once a specific condition was met. In this case, it was a wide-area fire type spell set to activate once Byleth deployed a barrier of a certain magnitude. This fire type spell then interacted with the content of the buried barrels.

The substance contained within those was the result of the young Professor's continued studies in alchemy. He was still only a novice, but he was progressing well. While he was not yet ready to progress beyond tinkering with alcohol, water, oils and fats, he had been able to transmute said materials into an extremely potent explosive: Acetone peroxide.

The explosion caused by several thousand tons of the stuff coming into contact with fire tore up the ground. It also destroyed a large chunk of the Agarthan army. The shockwave alone killed thousands and threw down many others. The flying demonic beasts were knocked out by the blast, causing them to fall down on their Agarthan masters. The vacuum that resulted from the massive amount of displaced air ripped the breath from the unfortunate ones too close to the blast zone, killing them as well.

Everyone was frozen in shock at the sight. Nobody dared move a muscle for several seconds. Then, javelins of light were hurled at the few demonic beasts that still moved. Small explosions followed their impact, killing more of the beasts. The javelins stopped after only about half a minute, however, as the action had kicked everyone into gear again. Byleth had no wish to remain in place and be bogged down by the Agarthan army, and so, he ran in the same direction as his students.

With the gap between the new front row of the Agarthan army and the retreating Alliance army which had been caused by the explosion, the retreat was covered. The thought of turning around and engaging in battle once more had occurred to Judith, but she knew that her soldiers were too exhausted and demoralised to continue. The battle was lost. It had to be said that the enemy had not bought their victory cheaply, though, and Judith was determined to see to it that its price was strategic defeat for the Agarthans.

Hours later, past midnight. Castle Goneril.

Spirits were not high among the Golden Deer. They had lost a lot of soldiers. To add insult to injury, they had lost them while losing the most important battle of the Alliance front so far. Many men and women had also died from their injuries on the hurried flight to Castle Goneril. Their Professor had forced them to march at a brutal pace. He would not halt until they reached the safety of the fortress. The majority of the soldiers had collapsed from exhaustion upon arrival, the Golden Deer and the two additional students included. Consequently, nobody was in the shape to do anything but eat, drink and sleep.

Sadly, not everyone could rest. The healers, Byleth included, were doing their best to save as many lives as they could. Marianne, Constance and Linhardt were helping as well. They pushed past their exhaustion by necessity, considering that many wouldn't make it through the night without immediate medical attention. It was even more pressing for the four of them for personal reasons. One of the critically injured people was Leonie. An axe had split her sternum, but the edge had narrowly missed her heart. She had been kept relatively stable during the march thanks to frequent applications of healing spells, but her treatment could not be delayed any further. It had the whole class fretting over her.

Light shone through the medical tent as Byleth cast a Heal spell on Leonie. This was her tenth. Just like the nine before, this one was reinforced by the Sun Arcanum. Before that part of the treatment, he had cast several spells he had learnt from Manuela which dealt with cleaning wounds and removing bone fragments. Only after that had he been able to begin closing the gash in her chest. With the newest application of the Heal spell, that work now seemed accomplished. The last remnants of the wound sealed up as flesh and skin meshed together over the reconstructed sternum. A shuddering breath escaped Byleth at the sight.

"Professor? Will she be alright?" asked Raphael from the side. He and the rest of the students were in the tent.

"She will be, though she will feel tender where the wound was for a few days," answered Byleth.

Relieved sighs were released by the students. Their postures relaxed as they sagged. Tension was released as well, and with it went decorum. More than one began to sniffle. Soon enough, there were tears.

"Today was awful," said Ignatz. "I don't want to go through that ever again."

"You will have to. We all will," replied Claude softly. He had the most composure of the students, mostly because his upbringing had left him with strange emotional responses to blood and death.

Lorenz added, "I agree. This war is far from over. We will have to fight like this again."

"Worry about this later and to sleep for now," said Byleth. "I'm going to continue healing the wounded."

As he tried to walk towards where more of the sickbeds were, he stumbled and nearly fell, only to be caught by a set of familiar arms. They belonged to Lars. How had he missed his squire's approach?

"You'll do no such thing," said Jana. It appeared Byleth had missed her too.

He took a look at her and noted that she way carrying the limp form of Marianne over her shoulder. At his question gaze, she answered, "Your student here passed out from the exertion. Constance and Linhardt are nearly in the same state, but at least they could still walk on their own. They had the sense to retire. You, however, don't. I know you."

"There are still people who need help," protested Byleth.

Jana stared at him. "Will it help them if you botch the healing spells because you're too tired to focus?" she asked.

Byleth was silent for a second before he deflated. "No," he said.

"Then do as you told your students and get some damn rest," said Jana.

The young Professor sighed in defeat. "Alright. Raphael, Lorenz, carry Leonie to Lysithea's tent. They're bunking together. Hilda, take Lars and carry Marianne to your tent," he instructed.

"Sir?" asked Lars.

"I want to talk to Jana while I'm heading for our tent. Alone," said Byleth.

The squire nodded in understanding and proceeded to take Marianne off Jana's shoulder. The students also did as they were told and left in short order. This prompted Byleth and Jana to leave the medical tent as well. The latter had to steady the former as he staggered through the haphazardly erected camp at the foot of Castle Goneril.

"I'm happy you're alive and uninjured," said Byleth.

Jana stopped, and so did he. She turned to fully face him and then engulfed him in a crushing embrace without warning. "Damn it, little brother. When that explosion happened, I thought you'd died," she said with a wavering voice. "Don't ever do that again. I can't bear the thought of losing you, little brother."

He was surprised by the suddenness and the vehemence of her statement, but he responded nevertheless. "I'm sorry. I can't promise that," said Byleth.

"I know," she said. Her arms around him tightened and she let out a choked sob. Memories of that accursed day in Faerghus twenty years ago had sprung up during the battle. Of course, there was a difference between helpless peasants being brutalised and soldiers being killed in battle, but the rational part of her mind had taken a leave of absence partway through.

Byleth lifted his tired arms and put them around Jana. "I can promise that I'll live," he said. "I'm not ready to leave this world, and I won't be for many years."

"You'd better not break that promise," said the woman with some heat in her voice.

"I won't," said Byleth.

It took them a few more minutes to finally reach Byleth's tent. Coincidentally, it was also her tent, as many had been abandoned during the retreat. As such, bunking up was now standard procedure for the remnants of the Alliance army's southern flank. While a bit of a hassle overall, in this case, it was a boon. The sleeping arrangements made sure that the surrogate siblings could be assured of the other's continued presence. It was the only thing that allowed them some semblance of calm as they fell into a fitful sleep.

AN: Hello, hello, dear readers. It's been three weeks again, and I'm here with another update for you.

I would like to thank my readership for their continued support of my story, and I'm very pleased to see it growing ever so slightly with every new chapter. Let's hope the trend continues.

A note concerning acetone peroxide (aka APEX): That stuff is incredibly dangerous. It has the 70% of the explosive force of TNT. It's also not very complex, chemically speaking, so it would be easy for a budding alchemist to transmute other organic compounds into APEX. As for the amount of it, an army of 83'000 people would have lots of alcohol in store. Besides, if you also include other sources of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen (such as water, fat and oil), it's easy to get several thousand tons of the stuff together.
For reference, the Hiroshima bomb had the explosive force of 15 kilotons of TNT. To get the same force out of APEX, you'd need a bit less than 21.5 kilotons.

Today, I actually don't have a story to recommend, sadly. I'm running out of stories of which I have the opinion that my broader audience would like them. Maybe next time.

That said, I wish you all a good time. Stay happy and healthy, dear readers!