Sorry for the long delay. Last few weeks were so hectic, I was basically running around like a headless chicken.
Chapter 109 – The Matron's Vengeance (Harpstring Moon)
Ferdinand let out a deep breath after he finished cutting down another of the Black Scorpions. The murderous brigand had not made it easy for him. Each one of them was proving to be a deadly adversary, and all around him he could hear the monastery's defenders struggling to overcome the enemy.
Hearing a panicked howl, Ferdinand whirled around to see one of the Church's defenders fall to the ground, his left arm severed below his elbow. His attacker laughed sadistically as his victim tried to scramble away from him. Just as the Scorpion was about to thrust his blade into the wounded soldier, Ferdinand rushed over and forced the murderer to dodge a quick slash from the noble's blade. Ferdinand then avoided the Scorpion's counter before driving his sword into the man's heart. The Scorpion choked briefly before Ferdinand kicked him away.
Turning to the wounded soldier, Ferdinand said, "Get yourself to safety!"
The noble then turned back to the battle, not replying to the soldier's protests. He had no time to convince the man to retreat, not while the Scorpions continued to rampage through Abyss. He quickly slashed through another Scorpion's throat before hearing a woman shriek. Turning, he saw one of the civilians had just been slashed in the back by another brigand. Ferdinand rushed to aid the woman, but the Scorpion drove his blade into the poor woman's torso. Just as the Scorpion ripped his blade out of his victim, he was cut down in turn by Ferdinand's blade.
Ferdinand grimaced in regret as he looked down at the dead woman. Though he knew saving everyone was impossible, it still hurt knowing he'd failed this woman and so many others. But he couldn't stop here; there were others who he could still save.
He heard another pair of screams, this time coming from a pair of kids. He swung around to see two more of the Scorpions advancing menacingly toward two children, a boy and a girl, their blades at the ready. Ferdinand tried to rush to their aid, but he was stopped as another Scorpion slashed his sword at him, forcing Ferdinand to parry the strike.
With dismay, he realized he wasn't going to make it in time to save them.
But just as one of the brigands was about to bring his blade down on them, he let out a howl of pain as Shez dashed in and slashed through him. Before the man could topple over, Shez spun around and slashed through the second Scorpion three times in less than a second.
Shez then shouted to the kids, "Get outta here! GO!"
The boy hesitated for a second before grabbing his sister's arm and running toward the passage to the monastery.
Ferdinand finished off his foe as he heard Shez's shout, relieved that the mercenary had come to their aid.
With no time to thank her, Ferdinand rushed back into the fray while Shez slashed through three more Scorpions in quick succession.
…
Brigitte winced loudly as she swallowed a vulnerary. The medicine tasted horrible, but it helped dull the pain in her abdomen and would at least slow the bleeding. There wasn't time for her to receive proper medical attention, not with so much death and destruction around her.
As she tossed aside the vulnerary's flask, she turned back toward Yuri as the rogue continued his battle with the leader of the Black Scorpions.
Kantus continued his snickering as he clashed with Yuri. The Savage Mockingbird wasn't making things easy for him, but Kantus matched Yuri step-for-step. Yuri, meanwhile, found himself frustrated by Kantus anticipating his every move. Yuri usually relied on feints and speed to surprise his foes, but Kantus wasn't falling for any of it.
After blocking another pair of swift slashes from Yuri, Kantus slowly circled the rogue as he said, "Ah, this brings back memories. You and your little shits coming after me and my men after we robbed that rundown treasury. Barely paid my men for two days, what we got out of it. 'Course, it wasn't about the money - it was about teaching you and your rats a permanent lesson."
Yuri didn't reply to this, knowing Kantus was trying to goad him. Despite this, Yuri struggled to hold back his anger. He had lost so many people to Kantus and his band of killers over the years, and more of them were dying now than he wanted to count.
Kantus then added, "You know, I always wanted to sack this place. Bet the Church's got some fancy baubles to steal. But that's just a bonus compared to putting you and your fuckwits down for good."
"Not happening, Kantus," Yuri snarled. "Not now or ever."
"Then try and stop me, Leclerc!"
Kantus rushed at Yuri and took several slashes at the rogue. Yuri dodged each strike before countering, but just as he did, he saw Kantus's grin widen.
Realizing what Kantus had planned, Yuri tried to dodge, but Kantus whirled around and plunged one of his throwing knives, which he had swiftly drawn from his side, into Yuri's shoulder. Kantus then followed up with another swing from his serrated dagger, but Yuri managed to dodge away from it. The lavender rogue pulled the knife out of his shoulder and threw it away before clutching his wound.
Yuri cursed that he hadn't seen the move coming sooner. It was one he knew all too well.
It was how Kantus had killed Julius.
"Aww, and I was hoping to send you off just like how I did to Julius," sneered Kantus. "Time to reunite you with him!"
Kantus then rushed toward Yuri.
But mere milliseconds after he did, Kantus dodged away as Brigitte came roaring in, avoiding her hammer.
As Brigitte put herself between Kantus and Yuri, the Scorpion leader said, "Ain't you a tough bitch, Sheila? Figured you'd have bled out by now."
"I'll have time to bleed after I bash your fucking skull!" Brigitte shouted.
Kantus laughed at this as Yuri staggered over to Brigitte's side.
"Let's kill this son of a bitch," Brigitte snarled to Yuri.
"My sentiments exactly," Yuri replied.
Kantus let out another laugh as Brigitte and Yuri rushed at him. The Scorpion leader dodged a swing from Brigitte and then a slash from Yuri. He countered Yuri's strike, only to be met by Brigitte's shield, forcing Kantus to dodge back to avoid a shield bash. Then, realizing he was going to have trouble dealing with them both, Kantus gave a whistle to his men, prompting four of them to rush to their leader's aid.
But as the first one rushed in to attack Brigitte, Alicia shouted, "Out of the way!"
The brunette yelled as she dashed forward and ran the Scorpion through with her lance. The second one tried to attack her while she was getting her lance free from her kill, only for an arrow from Ashe to hit him in the throat. The remaining two Scorpion minions were quickly dispatched by Yuri and Brigitte, the former slashing open his opponent's stomach while the latter smashed her enemy's ribcage with her hammer.
Snarling, Kantus dashed back in while Brigitte was dealing with her foe, slashing several times at Yuri. Yuri managed to dodge three attacks, but he was then struck by another of Kantus's throwing knives, which dug into his right leg.
"Yer mine, Leclerc!" Kantus shouted as he moved in for the kill.
Ashe, who had just fired an arrow at another Scorpion, reached for his quiver, but he knew he wouldn't be fast enough. At the same time, Alicia went wide-eyed after defeating another Scorpion, too far away to help Yuri and thinking the rogue was done for.
As Kantus neared the Savage Mockingbird, the Fetters of Dromi began to glow crimson.
Kantus swung his blade from overhead, intending to bury it in Yuri's head.
To his surprise, his serrated blade struck steel as Brigitte took Yuri's place, catching the attack with her hammer's shaft. The blade was barely an inch from stabbing her in the eye.
Before he could react, Brigitte bashed him with her shield. Kantus staggered back for a moment before Brigitte let out another yell and smashed her hammer into his collarbone. The Black Scorpion leader went to the floor with a loud groan of pain.
As he wheezed for breath, Kantus said, "B-Bloody bitch… Go on then, Sheila… Finish it…"
"My name is Brigitte! And this… is for MY BROTHER!"
Brigitte let out one last yell as she swung her hammer as hard as she could at Kantus's head.
Alicia winced for a moment at the gruesome result as the battle around them suddenly ground to a halt.
As Brigitte gasped for breath, one of the Scorpions said, "T-The boss is dead! She killed the boss!"
Another shouted, "Let's get out of here!"
Before any of them could run, one of Kantus's lieutenants shouted, "You cowards! Keep fighting! That's an order!"
"Hey, who put you in charge?!" said another Scorpion lieutenant.
Within moments, the Scorpions were thrown into utter confusion as Kantus's subordinates began fighting amongst themselves.
Realizing they had a golden opportunity, Ferdinand shouted to his men, "Now, while they are in disarray! Charge!"
The defenders of Garreg Mach roared as they charged toward the Scorpions. In their confusion, the brigands quickly found themselves being overwhelmed. Some began fleeing for their lives, while those who stood and fought were quickly struck down.
Within minutes, the few survivors of the Black Scorpions were in full retreat.
As the defenders cheered in victory, Brigitte gasped for breath as she knelt next to Kantus's corpse and removed her brother's token from his killer's body.
"Brigitte, are you alright?" Alicia said as she ran up beside her. "Ah! You're wounded!"
"I'll – ugh – be okay," Brigitte said as she clutched her wounded side. She then turned to Yuri and said, "Hey, a little more warning next time, Yuri! I almost didn't block him there."
"Sorry about that, Brigitte," said Yuri. "Had to keep him fooled."
"Well, at least it worked out, right?" said Alicia.
"Come on, let's get you both to a healer," said Ashe as he moved to put himself under Yuri's arm.
…
Jiayi emerged from the chamber half an hour later to see the result of the battle. Many had been wounded, with no less than eighty deaths between the defenders and civilians. For the defenders, they had suffered around 140 casualties in total.
The Black Scorpions, however, had fared far worse. They had been almost entirely wiped out, with less than twenty still alive to be taken prisoner and barely a dozen escaping the battle. The remaining, approximately 200 brigands and killers, were either dead or dying.
Making her way through Abyss, Jiayi found Ferdinand, Shez, Yuri, and the others in discussion as they nursed their wounds.
"Your efforts were most welcome, Shez," said Ferdinand. "In light of your aid, I am willing to pardon you for assaulting Lady Eisner."
"Wait, really?" Shez asked in confusion.
"You saved a lot of lives," said Yuri. "For that, you're free to go."
Shez struggled to find something to say, so Jiayi said, "You should thank them for such a reward, Shez."
The others turned to Jiayi as Simon said, "I should be thanking you, Madame Jiayi. I shudder to think of what my fate may have been without your aid."
"Wait, she fought too?" asked Alicia.
"Oh yeah," said Shez. "You should've seen her. She was all 'Watcha!', 'Hiyah!', and 'Atatah!'"
The others looked at Shez in confusion as the purple-haired mercenary swung her arms in a poor mimicry of Jiayi's martial arts.
Realizing the looks she was getting, Shez stopped and said, "What?"
Smiling, Jiayi said, "What a colorful description."
"Madame Jiayi, I thought you said you could not fight," said Ferdinand.
"Merely because I detest violence does not make me incapable of self-defense."
"I see…"
"I do not enjoy resorting to such forceful measures. However, those ruffians only understood one universal language: that of combat."
"Well, it's a lesson they won't soon forget," said Yuri. "They'll have plenty of time to think about it in prison."
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to teach us how to fight like you did, Madame Jiayi?" asked Ashe.
"No, I would not," Jiayi said flatly. "You would likely require years to master such techniques in any event."
Disappointed, Ashe said, "I suspected as much."
"So, what do you plan to do next, Shez?" asked Simon. "You have your freedom again. I won't ask you to stay here on my account."
After a short pause, Shez answered, "Don't have anywhere to go anyway. I don't suppose you guys would mind me hanging around, would you?"
"Hey, if that's what you want, I ain't stopping you," said Brigitte.
"A warrior of your caliber would be most welcome," said Constance. "But what of your feud with Lady Eisner?"
Shez paused again before answering, "I… can't say I'm ready to drop that. I still owe her for beating me years ago."
"That will not do, Shez," said Ferdinand. "The people here look up to her. If you intend to assault her again–"
"I've trained for years so I could beat her. I can't just let that go so easily. But I… I promise I won't try to kill her again, okay?"
Deciding it was the best they were going to get with her, Ferdinand said, "Very well. But you must keep your word when she returns."
"Don't worry. I don't go back on my promises."
Really sorry this took so long. I was just so busy.
I hope I didn't end up making Kantus's death too abrupt. I never intended for him to live past this battle.
As for Shez, yeah, she's sticking around, but she's still got her beef with Byleth. That doesn't mean she still wants to kill Byleth; she still wants to surpass Byleth.
We'll be heading back to Fort Merceus and the Imperials in the next chapter. I'll try not to delay it so long again.
