The Dustbin
Day 29: Joint Session Part Final
31st of Verdant Rain Moon, Morning
The siege around Conand Tower rages on. Bandits and soldiers fighting like demons as the main strike force consisting of the star students of Garreg Mach (and Dustbin) moves through the chaos to enter the tower itself.
"We need a way in!" Alois barked out, "let's make this an explosive entrance!"
The carriages carrying several barrels of black powder had their wicks lit before they were shoved towards the deadlock before it exploded, breaking apart the barricades and bandits alike in the blast.
"MOVE IN!" Jeralt ordered as he led the charge into the tower's first floor, catching the disoriented bandits by surprise as everyone present engaged into a frenzied melee.
Karna's class took towards securing the way into the second floor, with Byleth's Black Eagles covering their backs, both sides cutting down their own vectors of engagement.
"HOLY SHITE! THESE ARSEHOLES ARE EVERYWHERE!" exclaimed Sorcha as she swung her [Claymore] across a row of Mercenaries and Brigands, "AND DE REPORTS SAY DAT DER'S A THOUSAND OF EM?!"
"LESS LIP! MORE SLITTING THROATS!" Karna scolded as he fired his [Miasma ∆] at a bandit Mage in tandem blocking a sword strike from a Thief with his [Silver Shield].
"NOW THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!" Cyrus euphorically howled out as he slashed his [Steel Lance] across the Thief's back atop of Darius, the latter's bloodied hooves drumming the earth into the symphony of carnage that both he and his master had longed for, "FIGHTING YOUR OWN KIND! NOTHING IS MORE GRATIFYING!"
Vidar himself was lost in the madness of bloodshed, savagely beating another Brigand with his [Iron Gauntlets] in such horrific and bestial manner that both enemy and ally alike (sans the Dustbin; they're used to it and are more concerned of letting him out of their sights) recoiled away from the circle of death that he'd formed around himself.
"Oh my goddess..." Dorothea gasped at the sight of Vidar hammering his bandaged head against the Brigand's own after he'd finished off the previous bandit, "... which part of hell did he come from to act like that?!"
"Don't ask, don't tell," Hubert surmised as he carried the fainted Bernadetta (passed out as soon as she looked at the dead Brigand's face; he didn't have a face anymore) over his shoulder, "some are born that way, I assume."
"... You know..." Caspar nervously remarked as he punched a Mercenary in the throat before throwing him over his head, "... I kinda wanted to fight with him, now I'm having second thoughts."
"He is not bad," Petra defended, "his power is good in time like this-"
Everyone near Vidar, both student and hardened killers alike flinched at the sight of the feral soul biting into an Archer throat before ripping his jugular out between his teeth like how a wild predator kills its prey.
"... I think I'm going to be sick," said Lindhardt before he puked at the gory scene burned into his mind on repeat.
"... No shame in being sick, I suppose," Ferdinand gagged at the macabre sight of Vidar going on a rampage toward their direction, "EDELGARD! HE'S COMING YOUR WAY!"
The Adrestian heir swiveled her head behind to see that the bandaged student was coming towards her way. Bloodlust completely taken over his eyes and mind, with Edelgard ready to defend herself if must-
"GIVE ME THAT!" Vidar barked out as he snatched her [Short Axe] from her hands before going on another killing rampage to whatever bandit that stood in his way right before circling back towards where the stairs towards the second floor was leading into in order to push the front line further into the enemy territory.
"... Well," Edelgard remarked before she shot [Fire] towards a charging bandit Fighter, "I'm down one weapon," she muttered before a [Hand Axe] was given to her by Byron.
"Not as good as the one you had," Byron remarked with a smirk as he threw his own [Frost]-enchanted [Hand Axe] towards a fleeing bandit Soldier's neck, "but good enough to kill."
"You lot have no discipline," Edelgard growled as she swung her borrowed weapon to an enemy Soldier, "I would've killed him if he held any malicious intent towards me at that moment!"
"You're welcome to try," Byron remarked as he casted his [Blizzard] towards a bandit Armor Knight with an [Iron Lance], "he's the strongest creature I've had the pleasure to witness in combat."
Suddenly, as soon as Vidar ran towards the stairs after leaving behind a trail of corpses, he was suddenly ejected back out where towards he came and Byron trying to catch him from the air resulted in both him and Edelgard kissing the stone flooring upon Vidar's landing.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Edelgard as she faintly heard marching sounds coming from upstairs through the cacophonic cries of the battlefield.
"MORE BANDITS COMING FROM UPSTAIRS!" Selene remarked as she saw a row of Warriors and Heroes all armed with [Silver Axes] coming towards their way from upstairs, "THEY'RE BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUYS ALREADY!"
"How prudent, given that we've broken into their home," Topaz spoke as she finished slitting open an enemy Cavalier's throat before throwing his corpse off of his now-unoccupied mount and the little Hassashin letting it stampede on its own, "I can take one of them in the chaos, but not ten at once."
"Byron!" Karna cried out as he fired his [Dark Spikes T] and [Swarm Z] towards the reinforcements to slow them down, "relay towards the Black Eagles Class! Tell them to pull back! I'll watch the rest of the class and see that they don't die"
"Right!" Byron replied before he casted [Frost] on the ground where the bandit reinforcements were coming from, causing them to lose their footing long enough for him to scramble off of Vidar's landing and runs towards the Black Eagle Professor with her [Sword of the Creator] lashing about with its extended, segmented blade-whip like a cut snake.
"Okay, still not used to wielding a whip on a battlefield," Byleth grumbled as she tried to retract her Relic's unique (and cumbersome) built-in feature after taking off a Mercenary bandit's head from afar, "there's a reason why whips are not used on the battlefield and a sword that goes flaccid if I'm not careful is not the kind that I would be seen using!"
You know that there isn't anything stopping you from using other swords, right? Sothis pointed out as her astral form floated out lackadaisically in sheer contrast to the madness happening below.
"PROFESSOR!" Byron cried out as he ran towards the Relic-wielding teacher, "we need to pull back! Miklan's reinforcements are too much for us!"
Byleth then glances at what she was looking at, only to see five Warriors and Heroes making their way through Karna's obscurant veil of Dark Magic with their [Silver Axes] hacking away through the barricade between them and the two classes.
"Point made," Byleth replied, both the ex-sellsword and her spirit companion realizing that they were currently outmatched when it came to facing the illegal [Advanced Seal] jailbreakers as of they were right now, "alright! Pull back! Let the experienced guys handle them!"
Both the Dustbin and the Black Eagles make their hasty retreat, the former informing both the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer of the shift in situations, worsened by the fact that Selene noticed more illegal [Advanced Seal] jailbreakers (now adding 3 Snipers and 2 Fortress Knights wielding [Silver Bows] and [Killer Axes] respectively) into the bandit ranks.
"You know Sylvain," Ingrid remarked as she and everyone else made their retreat from the powerful bandit reinforcements, "not to point out the really obvious, but I think Miklan especially hates us both."
"YOU THINK?!" he barked back before he ducked his head under an enemy Sniper's [Curved Shot], "HE HATES EVERYONE AS MUCH AS HE HATES ME AND YOU COMBINED! WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK HE SENT JAILBROKEN ADVANCED CLASSES AFTER US?! SERVE US TEA AND BISCUITS?!"
"... Wow Sylvain," Felix remarked, sounding almost impressed at his classmate's nonsensical behavior, "... I suddenly find your existence not as disgusting as your usual philandering gadabout disposition."
"Um, Felix?" Ashe questioned his fencer classmate's preferences, "can you not encourage whatever is making him miserable?"
"ALL OF YOU SHUT YOUR TRAPS! Karna barked out as he led the retreat towards Jeralt's forces, "HEY BLADE BREAKER! SWITCH WITH US! WE'RE GONNA GET MULCHED BY THESE GUYS BEHIND US IF WE FIGHT EM! WE'LL TAKE YOUR LEFTOVERS!"
Jeralt lets out a resigned sigh at the thought of Karna of all people referring to him by his moniker than his actual name. "Knew that this was getting too easy..." he muttered, "men! Break off from your current engagements! We got enemy reinforcement on their backs! Move it!"
As soon as the order was acknowledged, Jeralt's company of Paladins all stampeded towards the bandit group chasing after the the students. In turn, the fleeing group draws their own arms upon approaching the weakened opposition/Jeralt's leftovers, starting a new engagement with a different group of foes.
"Well, so much for pushing the front!" Cyrus groaned as Darius crushed a Fighter's head under its hooves.
"Do you wish to die now?" Topaz remarked, completely out of character for her to not kill, "I can take one, but that'll only leave one less out of many," she pointed out as Topaz climbed atop of an Armor Knight's back before burrowing her blade into the back of his neck exposed in a gap between his armor and helmet, "even ants may take out a scorpion, but the scorpion will take us all out before it succumbs! I will not die until it is my time to do so! Now it's not the time!"
"... Fair enough," Cyrus acknowledged, realizing that punching above his own weight right now was counterproductive as he got along killing other, weaker bandits.
Still, even though Jeralt's company had reduced their numbers by significant margin, it still didn't change the fact that they were on a timetable before Miklan escapes through unspecified means. Karna knew that the bandits were a diversion for something, for no good commander sends this much of his own forces to simply slow them down, right?
"Professor!" Byron cried out as he shot his [Frost] and [Blizzard] simultaneously at the bandits, "what do we do?! Cut every single one of them down before we move on?!"
"That's my language that you're speaking!" Catherine grinned manically as she ran her [Thunderbrand] through a Brigand, "kill them all! Don't let any of them get away!" she ordered her Swordmasters as they proceeded to execute the bandits one by one.
"Me and Catherine will catch up," Shamir told Karna as she fired her [Silver Bow] towards a Brawler charging towards Karna from behind, "take Alois and Gilbert with you and push for the offensive."
"You sure?" Byleth asked as she swung her [Sword of the Creator] into another blazing arc of segmented blades.
"We're on a schedule and we're gonna fall behind the longer this takes!" Karna pointed out, "ALOIS! GILBERT! WE NEED TO GO! NOW!"
Gilbert bashes his shield against a bandit Armored Knight before burying his [Steel Axe] into him. "Agreed," he nodded as he eyed towards the stairs leading towards the second floor of the tower, "Alois! Lead the charge! I'll cover the rear!"
"Right!" the Church Warrior replied as he pulled his [Silver Axe] from his most recent kill, "everyone! Upstairs!"
Alois's group of Brigands then spearhead the charge while Gilbert and his band of Armor Knights create a bulwark to ward off any potential pursuers. A Hero from the reinforcements try to get a jump on the charging group, but Jeralt himself stops him by piercing his [Silver Lance] into his back.
"Eyes on me," said Jeralt as the Alois' charge slowly pooled towards the staircase leading to the second floor unimpeded.
As everyone climbs upstairs, Karna's head then begins to stir up ideas so that they don't wind up charging blindly into their next possible fray. First, he needed to ascertain everyone's current strengths.
"Alright, roll call!" Karna spoke out as everyone marched upstairs, "there's going to be enemies waiting for us upstairs so might as well tell at least what classes you guys are right now so that way, we know who faces what, got it?"
"Reasonable enough," Byleth agreed, "Thief."
"Brigand," Edelgard spoke.
"Mage," said Hubert.
"Same as Hubie," Dorothea winked.
"Cavalier!" Ferdinand spoke out.
"Mercenary!" called Petra.
"Brawler"! Caspar hollered, "and Lindhardt's a Priest!"
"A-Archer!" Bernadetta chittered, still reeling at Vidar's brutality on the battlefield.
"The geriatric scholar's a Mage and I'm a Priestess," Manuela remarked to both Hanneman and herself, much to the latter's annoyance.
"I'm a Lord," Dimitri spoke.
"I am an Armored Knight," Dedue declared.
"Mercenary," Felix scoffed.
"Sylvain and I are Soldiers," Ingrid pointed out in her friend's place, the aforementioned Sylvain being too stressed out to talk right now.
"Archer!" Ashe called out.
"Mercie's a Priestess and I'm a Mage!" Annette spoke out for both her and her friend.
"Another Archer," Claude remarked.
"... Armor Knight," Hilda rolled her eyes, clearly not having fun lugging around inside the bulky armor.
"Same as Claude!" Ignatz raised his hand, "and Raphael's a Brawler!"
"Lady Ordelia and I are both Mages," Lorenz boasted for both him and Lysithea's prowesses, "the best of the best, mind you."
"Still stuck as Soldier," Leonie sighed out, "was going to take my exam last week but forgot due to this happening right around the corner..."
"... Priestess," Marianne mumbled to herself.
"Mage," Karna raised his hand as he kept walking upstairs, "also, Catherine's a Swordmaster, Shamir's a Sniper, Gilbert's a Fortress Knight and Alois is a Warrior. Just to save time."
"Monk," Byron remarked, "not that it matters. I'm plenty adept enough."
"... Bri... gand..." grunted Vidar.
"Still Myrmidon," Sorcha sighed out, "gunna have to work twice as 'ard..."
"I'm an Archer!" Selene spoke.
"Cavalier," Cyrus called out.
"Thief," Topaz curtly remarked.
"Alright, that's everyone, so here's the plan," Karna spoke, "two Armor Knights, be ready to aid Alois and his men from both of his flanks until Gilbert's men shows back up to the front! All Mages and Archers, stay and the rear and back up the front line with long-ranged bombardments! I don't care how weak they are as long as they keep their eyes away from the front lines! All two Cavaliers, each of you carry a Soldier, two for you, Cyrus! Your behemoth of a horse should have enough capacity!" he pointed out his plans, "the five of you act as mobile scouts to keep me informed of any formation changes within the enemy ranks!"
"What about the rest of us?!" Byleth remarked, "we're auxiliary, aren't we?"
"Just shut up and be ready to jump in as soon as one side of the forces are in danger of being compromised!" Karna replied, "if any of your are confident in your constitution, get up to the front lines and be ready to aid the vanguard! All healers with knowledge of Faith Magic, stick close to the rearguard and don't go off on your own unless you want to get killed!"
Alois then enters the second floor, greeted by the scrambling bandits who are currently in the middle of destroying/burning any incriminating evidence and packing their ill-gotten gains next to a Brigand swinging his [Hammer] into a wall, trying to break open a hole for escape.
"THEY'RE MAKING AN ESCAPE ROUTE!" bellowed Alois as he saw one of the bandits light a smoke signal out of the newly-formed hole with any burnable evidence/activity records they have on their persons, "FLYERS INCOMING! DON'T LET THEM LAND!"
"Leave the bandit fliers to me and my squad," Shamir remarked as she and her squad of Archers and Snipers aimed their bows towards the hole, outside there being winged silhouettes spotted from a distance, "no one escapes as long as I'm around." A shower of arrows shot towards where the hole was broken open forced the bandits to flee from that area, the crates barrels being stuck full of the quills fired and the Wyvern Riders being forced to back off lest they get shot out of the sky.
"Armor Knights and my Warriors, forward!" Alois barked as the two Armor Knights (Dedue and Hilda; the latter being less than enthusiastic about her job), "make sure they don't get past us no matter what!"
"I'm entrusting my own being to a madcap of whom one of his students happened to be my supposed butler before he ran away..." Hilda groaned, "... why can't life be easy?"
"Don't worry," Dedue reassured his fellow student from a different class, "Blue Lion or not, I won't let anyone die under my watch. As his highness' shield, I will make my stand here!"
"Rearguard! Get into your positions!" Karna barked, "Cavaliers, take the Soldiers and keep your eye peeled and horses moving!"
"Another day of work," Selene sighed out as she readied her [Iron Bow], "now dat's more of me wheelhouse, ye know."
"Aahahaha... right," Bernadetta winched nervously, her hands trembling, "... I really hate this..."
"Don't miss and you'll be fine," Ignatz remarked semi-confidently as he took out his [Steel Bow], "we'll all be fine."
"The aspiring artist speaks the truth!" Lorenz confidently declared, "no ne're-do-well shall ever best us as long as I'm around!"
"As long as 'we're' around," Lysithea pointed out, "don't get cocky when I'm the prodigy of our class, you Gloucester upstart."
"So says the Ordelia upstart," smirked Byron as he readied his [Frost] spell, "come back and talk to me when you invent your own spells, got it?"
"Hey now, don't make this a competition!" Annette scolded, "this is a team effort, so everyone pitch in, got it?"
"That much is obvious," Hubert nodded.
"Agreed," Dorothea acknowledged as [Thunder] crackled in her hands, "here they come!"
The front lines roared with steel against steel clashing against each other, the remnants that slipped though making their way towards the Mages and Archers.
"BANDITS INCOMING FROM LEFT AND RIGHT FLANKS!" Cyrus barked out as both Sylvain and Ingrid held onto the Battuian's back as his horse drummed its hooves onto the stone flooring, "I SEE MOSTLY MERCENARIES AND BRIGANDS ALONG WITH SOME SOLDIERS IN THE MOB!"
"THE BRAWLER AND ARMOR KNIGHT BANDITS ARE KEEPING THE VANGUARD OCCUPIED!" Ferdinand hollered out as he and Leonie swatted away any bandits that came towards them with their lances, "AUXILIARY, BRACE FOR COMBAT!"
"AUXILIARY FORCES! DEFEND THE AREA!" Karna ordered as he brandished his [Crescent Sickle] as Byleth drew her [Sword of the Creator] and Catherine wound her whole body back as if she were ready to pounce, [Thunderbrand] in hand, "REARGUARD! PROVIDE SUPPORTING FIRE! VANGUARD! PUSH FOR THE OFFENSIVE! SHAMIR! KEEP AN EYE FOR REINFORCEMENTS!"
The auxiliary forces clash against the bandit mob into another frenzied melee sandwiched between the now-advancing vanguard and the supporting rearguard as the two Cavaliers and three Soldiers took care of any outliers that tried to slip out of the encirclement. Shamir and her forces were also firing their bows at the hole in the wall in case if any fliers came their way. The battle rages on, ebbing and flowing between two sides wrestling over whose odds shall be declared superior.
"That's the Golden Deer for ya," Claude boasted as he shot a Mercenary dead with his [Steel Bow], "always on the mark."
"Heh, I can do better," Selene scoffed as she shot two arrows directly into both of the Brigand's eyes and sending him on a blind rampage that caused him to inadvertently attack his own allies, "top that, mate."
"Ugh, bickering like children!" Lysithea scolded as she fired her [Miasma Δ] towards a group of Brigands (including the blinded one), "focus on the battlefield!"
"We're born in it," Byron snarked as he fired his [Blizzard] towards a Mercenary and freezing him alive before casting [Frost] onto the patch of ground that the Brigand was running over, causing him to trip and fall onto his face and allowing Topaz to stab him in the back with her [Bolo], "this is our second nature."
"I truly pity your upbringing," Lorenz shook his in disapproval as he shot his [Fire] spell towards another Mercenary behind Raphael, "to be raised like an animal."
"Come on guys, focus," Ignatz spoke as he let loose another arrow, "we can all talk later! For now, I think I hear footsteps behind us!"
Annette then breaks off of the group to see who's coming from behind. In the dim halls, she spots a familiar shade of orange hair and the sounds of heavy boots marching upstairs.
"... Dad?" Annette muttered to herself before shaking her head in dismissal and running back upstairs, "Gilbert and his men are coming! They're coming!"
"GILBERT'S MEN ARE COMING!" Leonie cried out upon hearing the barked remark, "I REPEAT, GILBERT AND HIS MEN ARE COMING!"
"Well now," Byleth remarked after she cut down a Soldier with her whip-sword, "took em long enough."
"REARGUARD! CLEAR THE WAY FOR GILBERT'S MEN!" Karna barked out as he blocked an axe blow from an enemy Brigand with his [Silver Shield] before slashing the bandit's chest open with his [Crescent Sickle], "MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HIT THE FRIENDLIES!"
As the Archers nocked and pulled their arrows with their [Iron] and [Steel Bows] and the Mages and Monks readied their spells, the sounds of iron boots marching upstairs heard behind them getting closer with each passing second.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Karna ordered, the arrows and spells being released towards the enemy while the auxiliary forces all jumped out of the way. The bandits caught in the middle were all scattered by the rain of arrows and spells alike, those who weren't hit being corralled out of the way by the charging squadron of Armor Knights wielding [Steel Axes] with metallic tower shields.
"THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!" Alois laughed at the sight of Gilbert coming to his aid, "WELCOME TO THE FRAY, FELLOW KNIGHT OF JUSTICE!"
"EVERYONE!" Gilbert bellowed out as he readied his arms, "PUSH!"
The Armor Knights and Gilbert began aiding Alois and his men (with Dedue and Hilda) pushing the offensive, driving some back up to the third floor in fear as the rest either tried to escape through the hole or were simply cut down by the forces led by Karna and Byleth. Any stragglers that tried to make a run for it were chased down by the two Cavaliers before being speared through either by the riders or the Soldiers riding with them.
"Another one!" Ferdinand remarked, "have to look my best as a noble!"
"Geez, I already had to deal with Lorenz and now you?" deadpanned Leonie as she rode with said noble, "I fear the day when the two of them end up in the same room as the other..."
"AHAHAHA! RUN YOU SNIVELING COWARDS!" cackled Cyrus both Ferdinand and Leonie saw the Battuian's [Steel Lance] have several bodies of Mercenary and Brigand bandits alike all skewered through the same shaft like pieces of gory meat, of whose blood showed onto the riders (and passengers' heads), "I'M COMING FOR YOU!"
"... I remember him being less loud," Leonie recalled Cyrus' previous behavior being more sullen and bitter, a complete contrast to his current, euphoric bloodlust.
"Clearly, all of us were wrong," Ferdinand agreed, admittedly a little terrified at the prospect of all of Vidar's classmates being just as demented, with evidence of Sorcha and Selene being the same, "... don't judge a book by its cover indeed."
"Aw, wats da matter?" Sorcha smirked as she walked up to the two riders, "can't stand the sight of red?"
"You're all a disgusting lot, you know that?" Leonie glared at the shameless Brigidian.
"No, but your conduct leaves much to be desired," Ferdinand replied before he and Leonie rode off elsewhere, mopping up the remnant forces trapped behind enemy lines.
"... Wuss," she spat before she rejoined the fray. Through the tide of bodies both alive and dead, Sorcha spots her former liege, Petra, fighting about with her former class of Black Eagles as if it were something natural to her. "... Princess," Sorcha glared from afar as she swung her [Claymore] through a Mercenary's [Iron Sword] and then his head, "... the Empire defanged ye. Next time we talk, I dunno if I'm gunna know be talkin' to the same person."
She then bumps into Raphael. "Oh! Sorry about that!" he apologized before he swung his log-sized arms to bat a Brigand aside, "need a hand?"
"... You know what, ya," Sorcha nodded as she stood back to back with the Golden Deer Brawler, "don't slow me down, ye big lug."
As the two then got on with their combat, Karna himself was dragging Hanneman back to the rear to get healed by Manuela and the other available healers.
"Another case, Manuela," Karna grunted as he set the older Professor down gently, "took an axe to the ribs. Nonfatal, but hurts like hell."
"How did you end up out there?!" Manuela pointed out as she began healing the older man, "you were supposed to be at the rear!"
"... Call it... an obligation..." he remarked painfully, "that and well... one of them got me before Karna took him out."
"Alright, back to the front," Karna then ran back towards the battlefield, casting [Swarm Z] as an improvised smokescreen to slow the coming marauders down before cutting them down with his [Crescent Sickle]. A Mercenary tries to jump him from behind, but the cloaked Professor proved to be a tad bit quicker. "No remedials for you," he snarked as Karna slashed his polearm across the bandit's stomach and making him spill out his innards before his feet, "dismissed."
"ONE LAST PUSH!" Alois barked out as he and Gilbert's men kept up their advance to clear their way towards the third floor, killing all the bandits that refused to yield (all of them) "HI-HO!"
The second floor then falls silent as soon as the last bandit falls dead by the sword. Don't pass out just yet, Sothis remarked as Byleth sheathed back her Relic, one more to go.
"... Right," she nodded, admittedly a little exhausted, "room clear!"
"All wounded or injured, please see yourselves to the healers nearby before we face the final boss," Karna yawned out, "Shamir, Catherine, please watch for the holes for any possible ambushes via fliers. Thank you."
"... I would say something if I wasn't injured at all," growled the Swordmaster.
"Ignore him," Shamir remarked as she looked out of the punched hole in the wall, "just do what you do best-hey, you two! What are you all doing?!"
"Uh, getting spares?" Sorcha pointed out as she and Topaz began looting from the abandoned crates with several copies of [Claymores] and [Shamshirs] held around their arms respectively, "bandits are gunna be too dead to use em, so might as well have it for ourselves."
"And before you say that these weapons are illegal to use, I suggest reevaluating your laws' logics," Topaz snapped as she partially unsheathed one of her [Shamshirs], "no different from an [Iron Sword] or a [Rapier], no? A sword's a sword no matter how you cut with it."
"... Fine," Catherine growled, "... but one of each only!"
Both Dustbin girls grumbled as each of them took only a single copy of their own weapons from their homelands.
"... Until then," Topaz bowed her head in a small prayer towards the pile of imported blades behind the two, "may we meet again soon."
At the back, everyone who came back from the front were having their wound treated by the available healers or drinking whatever bottles of [Concoctions] that they were able to find in the bandits' loot.
"Oh my goddess," Marianne gasped at Vidar's near-dead condition yet he's somehow still fully responsive, "how did you end up like this?!"
"I ask myself the same question every time the Dustbin ends up at the infirmary," Manuela rolled her eyes as the two of them healed their patients.
"... Vidar... strong," he reassured through his bloodied face and crooked lips, "... Vidar... strong... protect... Byron... everyone..."
"Out of the way, where's is he?!" Byron pushed the others out of the way and joined the other two healers, casting [Heal] of his own to the bandaged boy, "... oh," he turned his head towards Manuela, "... fancy meeting you here again of all times."
"Byron, I hold nothing against you, but I am bound by certain rules," she scolded, "no matter how much you protest, no, we are not cutting open a dead body at my seminars!"
"The Goddess considers that a desecration of a body a grave sin," Marianne explained to Byron, "I assume you've already crossed that line by yourself, but please, do not drag the others into your mire."
"Maybe I'll stop complaining when I have something new to learn!" he replied with venom in his voice.
"And that's why no other Professor knows what to do with you," Manuela pointed out, "for now, just focus on healing."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Byron snapped as he continued using [Heal] on Vidar and others.
Karna meanwhile, was being healed alongside Byleth by the other Priests and Priestesses available. "So, how's the limp noodle that is classified as a sword treating you?" Karna asked in a teasing manner.
"Are you still mad about the hood?" Byleth asked.
"No, not really," he replied, "I'm more mad that my creation that has lasted over a decade none worse for wear has now met its match. It's honestly kind of mortifying."
"So, how do you think those two are doing?" Byleth pointed towards Catherine and Shamir watching the hole, shooing off the Wyvern Riders trying to come in.
"They'll be fine," Karna shrugged, "provided if a curveball isn't thrown-"
Suddenly, something heavy flew in through the hole and over the two Knights of Seiros' heads. Everyone at the room then saw a barrel with black stains caked around its rims roll towards the center of the room, at its end being a lit fuse.
"Oh crap," cursed Karna, "EVERYONE RUN-"
The whole room explodes into an ashy blast of burning black. The hot flash of conflagration filled the whole floor in a viscous and searing smoke that smelled like rotting eggs.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Catherine cried out mid-gag, "THIS SMELLS WORSE THAN THE DUSTBIN AFTER WE PULLED THEM OUT OF THE SEWERS!"
"It's a smokescreen!" Shamir coughed out through her covered mouth and nose, "EVERYONE! TO THE THIRD FLOOR-"
Another thud was heard, followed up with another rolling sound drumming smoothly across the stone floor.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Karna cried out as another explosion burst through the air, followed up by the sounds of screeching of a giant animal heading inside, "FLIERS! THEY'RE COMING IN!"
"GO!" Alois cried out, "I'LL HELP THOSE TWO HOLD THE LINE!"
"DAMMIT!" Catherine cursed as she swung her blade semi-blind from the irritants clouding her eyes, "I SEE REINFORCEMENTS! MORE BANDITS ARE COMING TOWARDS JERALT'S POSITION AND THEY BROUGHT MORE FLIERS!"
"I spot a few ballistas!" Shamir pointed out, "BACK! BACK OFF NOW!"
Large bolts of sharpened wood and iron punched through the stone walls of the tower as the bandit reinforcements outside made their way towards the tower.
"EVERYONE! UPSTAIRS NOW!" Gilbert ordered as he shepherded the strike force towards the third floor while keeping the rear covered, "THE FASTER WE DEAL WITH MIKLAN, THE SOONER WE END THIS!"
As Karna and Byleth spearheaded the travel towards next floor, Gilbert then stations what was left of his and Alois' men to aid the cover. "Shamir, do you have colored flares?!"
"Got one," she replied as she took out said flare charge.
"We're gonna need help getting out of the deadlock!" Gilbert pointed out, "call for our own reinforcements! Request fliers!"
Shamir then ties up a colored cylinder around her arrow before lighting it and shooting it into the air, exploding into a bright red flare.
"Hopefully Seteth got the message," Shamir grimaced, "everyone, hold the line!"
Battle cries and animalistic snarls echoed all the way up to the stairwell that the students and the remainder of the staff and one Knight of Seiros were climbing on.
"Okay, might be sounding superstitious," Karna chittered as he marched next to Byleth, "but either my misfortune is spreading to others, or this Miklan person is stupidly overprepared."
"Quit talking and save your breath for actually fighting," Byleth shot back, "it doesn't matter how much luck decides a person's survival. I make my own luck."
And me having to wipe your bottom every time you make a fatal mistake, Sothis pointed out, to which Byleth ignored for a later time, like seriously, who stand still in a [Fire] spell's trajectory?!
Everyone kept marching upstairs with bated breath, as the head of the cartel and the remainder of the bandits in the tower still remaining. Sylvain especially was hyping himself up for the confrontation.
"... Hey Ingrid?" the last Gautier asked, "... can you promise me one thing?"
"Anything," Ingrid replied, "... as long as it's not you asking me out on a date."
Sylvain lets out a tired sigh before speaking. "If.. I become like Miklan, in any shape or form..." he heaved out, his eyes pulsating and his breath shortening to quick huffs and puffs from fatigue and stress, "... then kill me. Bloodline going extinct, be damned."
"... Sylvain," Ingrid was taken aback by her friend's shift towards a zeal that she'd never seen in him before.
"I'm not going prove that monster right," Sylvain gritted his teeth, "no matter what, I can't let him be right! That people can become monstrous as him-"
Out of the blue, Ingrid slaps Sylvain across his face, leaving behind a bruise swelling his cheek.
"... Idiot," Ingrid sniffled, "you're already letting it happen," she growled at Sylvain's brooding demeanor, "THIS ISN'T LIKE YOU!"
"... What?" he despondently remarked as he suddenly stopped climbing up the stairs.
"I take back what I said earlier," Felix remarked in a disgusted manner, "you're starting to sound like the boar on his bad day, but somehow even more suicidal."
"I don't know what happened with you or your brother," Ashe pointed out, "but Sylvain is Sylvain! You're not Miklan!"
"Miklan is alone, ultimately loyal to no one but himself," Dedue surmised, "Sylvain, you are our friend and fellow student. Like it or not, we will not forsake you."
"That's what friends are for!" Annette nodded, "we won't let you become Miklan! Because we'll never abandon you!"
"No matter how hurt your soul is, it'll heal when you're with us," Mercedes reached out compassionately, "the Blue Lions are a pride. We're in this together."
"Sylvain, I will speak to you not only as the next King of Faerghus, but also as a close friend of mine," Dimitri declared, "you are your own person. Your choices are your very own and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," he ordered, "Miklan is nothing more than bad memory to overcome. But know that we're with you together, until the bitter end."
Sylvain wipes his eyes across his arms. "... Thanks guys," he sniffed before dying his tears, "alright, let's end this."
The rest of the Blue Lions all climb up to the top floor, waiting for them across the peak being none other than Miklan's scarred mug and the [Lance of Ruin] grasped around his hands, its spikes around its spearhead twitching like an insect's limbs.
"Took you guys long enough," said Karna, "hey boy toy, your brother is waiting for you."
"I know," Sylvain narrowed his eyes in steely determination, "this isn't about the Gautier clan anymore. This is about me getting even."
"Getting even?! YOU?!" Miklan snarled out, "you who took everything away from me after you were born?!"
"So what?" Sylvain shot back, "that justifies you being a born bandit?! LOOK AT YOURSELF! ALL OF THESE MEN WILLING TO DIE FOR YOU BUT CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND LOYALTY?! MIKLAN! YOU ARE AN INGRATE WHO IS NEVER SATISFIED WITH ANYTHING! YOU'RE A PARASITE, SUCKING ON EVERYONE ELSE'S VEINS CLAIMING THAT YOU STARVED AS YOU DRAIN THE WEAK DRY! YOU'RE A PIG, MILKAN! YOU EAT AND EAT AND ARE NEVER FULL EVEN AFTER VILLAGES ARE EMPTIED OF THEIR HARVESTS! THAT [LANCE OF RUIN] WAS NEVER YOUR OBJECTIVE! YOU NEVER EVEN HAD AN OBJECTIVE BEYOND YOUR SELFISHNESS! YOU THINK MOM AND DAD ARE DEMONS BECAUSE WHAT THEY DID TO YOU?! TO HELL WITH THAT! THE APPLE NEVER FELL FAR FROM THE TREE!" he roared out, unleashing his pent-up rage that he'd held back for 10 years, "MIKLAN! YOU WERE NEVER A VICTIM! YOU'RE JUST A PLAUGE THAT MAKES EVERYONE SUFFER FOR YOUR OWN WOUNDED EGO!"
"... Ooh, snap," Byron slightly reeled back at Sylvain's venom, "so, does the ex-older brother have a refute?"
Miklan begins cackling madly, completely losing his mind as the aura around the stolen Relic begins to grow more sinister. "YOU'RE RIGHT! IT WAS NEVER ABOUT THE RELIC!" he agreed, much to everyone's surprise, "IT WAS ABOUT HOW MUCH I CAN HURT YOU! HOW CAN I KILL YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS IN FRONT OF YOU TO MAKE YOU BEG UNDER MY FEET! YOU'RE MY PERSONAL PUNCHING BAG! NOTHING ELSE MATTERS OTHER THAN HOW CAN I MAKE YOU SUFFER PAINFULLY AS POSSIBLE!"
"... Vidar... kill..." the feral student snarled, "... see... prey... meat..."
"... For your sake, don't hold back," Sylvain glared at his brother, completely freed from his hatred, "we'll settle this as brothers."
"That'll be your last mistake," Miklan manically grinned, "boys! Leave that punching bag of a brother of mine to me only! Everyone else is open season!"
"Finally," Sorcha licked the blood off of her [Claymore]'s blade, "time for de slaughter."
"You know that he's not going to honor your words, right?" Karna pointed at the battalion of bandit Soldiers standing behind him.
"I know," Sylvain replied, "but I can trust you guys to do the dirty work, right?"
"You heard him," Byron remarked as he cracked his knuckles and neck, "open season."
"It begins," Topaz drew her [Bolo].
"I see two Fighters and a Mage at the front, a Thief with a chest on his person, four Archers, two Myrmidons, and other enemies lurking around the hidden corners," Selene gleaned across the room with her glasses off, "Miklan's got nowhere left to run, but keep yer eyes peeled on him."
"They'll all fall the same," boasted Cyrus as Darius bucked its hooves, ready to gallop.
"Enough talk!" Miklan barked out, "kill every last one of them!"
"Right back at ya," Byelth deadpanned as she drew her [Sword of the Creator], "ATTACK!"
The entire top floor erupts with even more cries of frenzied combatants making their way towards each other in the final melee to decide who walks away with the [Lance of Ruin]. The Black Eagles take the front line with Gilbert aiding them defensively, the Golden Deer flush out the hidden bandits around the corner by going into their ambush spots and preemptively confronting them before they can spring out on their own, and the Blue Lions all push towards Miklan and his battalion at the center of the room.
"Oh Sylvain," Miklan referred to his brother in a faux-hurt manner, "and here I thought we were going to settle this like brothers."
"I forgot to tell you this beforehand," Sylvain spoke back in a faux-jovial manner before glaring back with eyes sharper than the most legendary of steel, "you're not my brother anymore."
"Spoken like a spoiled brat until they very end!" Miklan snarled, almost proud of his brother for catching onto him, "BREAK THEM!"
The mob of bandit Soldiers all charged towards the Blue Lions with their [Iron Lances] pointed towards them in their run. However, Byron covertly casts [Frost] towards the ground that they were walking on and all of them began slipping and falling onto their faces from the reduced friction on their footing, compromising most of their momentum and formation as most of them tried to stand straight on slippery ice. In the ensuing chaos, the Dustbin began to sulk elsewhere for a different agenda.
"Good luck Sylvain," Dimitri remarked as he headed off to deal with the disrupted battalion along with the rest of the Blue Lions.
"Give em hell, your highness," Sylvain saluted back before he faced Miklan, the two now jousting their lances together thrust for thrust, clanging spearhead against spearhead as a way for the two to finally look at each other eye to eye for the longest time.
"You..." snarled Miklan, "... YOU! YOU BRAT!"
"Getting real tired of hearing that over and over," Sylvain sighed out as he kept pushing forward, "come up with something different to insult me with already!"
"Keep yapping!" the older brother bit back as he jabbed with his shield before slamming the [Lance of Ruin] towards where Sylvain was standing at, releasing a small dark eruption, "LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT YOU NEVER BEAT ME IN A ONE-ON-ONE FIGHT AND THAT'LL NEVER CHANGE!"
The two resentful brothers kept up their back and forth while the rest of the Blue Lions (the Dustbin are busy looting the place while taking a couple potshots here and there at the enemy) were dealing with the weakened Soldiers.
"So," Ashe spoke as he shot his [Iron Bow] at a downed Soldier, "think Sylvain will be alright?"
"Sylvain is weak, but Miklan is sloppy," Felix pointed out as he swatted his [Killer Edge]'s pommel into aa Soldier's throat before cutting him down, "the older brother is simply letting the Relic do the fighting for him. His stance and form are garbage, his protection is subpar at best, and his aggression makes Dimitri's look more dullard. At least the playboy didn't miss a day of training, I'll give him that much!"
"You can just say that he's just unskilled but strong," Dedue pointed out as he pressed a Soldier down with his shield, slightly miffed that Felix once again took a verbal jab towards his liege.
"Agreed," Dimitri acknowledged the fact as he cut down Soldier after Soldier with his [Steel Sword] and [Iron Lance] in tandem, "Miklan's no knight. He's a bandit to his very core. And bandits are only adept at fighting those weaker than them."
"GET EM SYLVAIN!" Annette cheered right before she dodged a Soldier's thrust before knocking him back with [Wind], "whoops. Should focus more on our own fights."
"Yes, let's," Mercedes then used [Nosferatu] to drain the Soldier's vitality and convert it into her own.
Elsewhere throughout the top floor, Karna and his class were collecting evidence of Miklan's operations and helping themselves to the cartel's ill-gotten gains.
"Man, these guys got a lot of stuff that I would kill for and with," Cyrus grinned like a happy child on his birthday as he took up an [Iron Bow] with its quiver full of arrows and a [Killer Lance], "hey Sorcha! Got anything you like?!"
"Got me actual [Iron Gauntlets]," Sorcha smirked as she banged the weapons together before she picked up an odd, cumbersome-looking blade made of cast-iron, "and git me somethin' called an [Armorslayer]."
"Are you sure that it's safe doin' this?" Selene remarked as she continued stuffing the paper evidence into any bags that they can find, "I mean, what if they get confiscated later on?"
"Well, Catherine ain't here to see us, so come up with a lie if we need to," Byron pointed out as he collected bottles of [Elixir] and [Pure Water], "ooh, a [Prayer Ring]!" he then put the ring around his ring finger, its holy aura soothing Byron's whole being, "I now feel safer all of the sudden!"
Vidar then takes a [Talisman Shield] and a wicked-looking [Devil Axe] for himself, completely ignoring the sinister aura emitting from the latter.
"Fascinating," Topaz spoke as she picked up a sheathed [Rapier] before peeking at its blade, "so light, yet so long... finally, the armored ones will be easier to fell!"
"Good for you," Karna remarked as he took a [Rusted Lance] for himself, "alright, no evidence left behind?" the class nodded, "good! Watch your backs when we get back out there!"
The Dustbin then reengage the enemy, using their newfound arms and tools to their advantage.
Vidar blocked a Mage's [Fire] with his anti-magic [Talisman Shield] before striking him down with the [Devil Axe], the sensation of pain being felt after he slew an enemy, but it didn't bother him in the slightest.
Byron shot his [Blizzard] at a Brigand after the latter had wounded him with his [Iron Axe], only for the wound to start closing by itself, testing the ring's magical capabilities.
Sorcha and Selene came swinging after an Armor Knight with their [Armorslayer] and [Rapier] respectively, the former bending the plating into the wearer's body while the latter's lithe blade easily slipped through the narrow gaps of the metal pieces.
Cyrus from atop of Darius, fired his [Iron Bow] as he galloped across the battlefield, striking arrow after arrow with such precision that one would assume that he's a Bow Knight in the making, but in reality, Battuian children were taught how to use a bow before they learned how to ride and tame horses, being more of a fact that he's now back in his natural element.
Karna and Selene... were practically the same, more about keeping their collected evidence intact and trying not to get pinned down due to the fact that someone had to carry the bags in the first place.
"Watch my back, Selene!" Karna cried out as he swung his [Crescent Sickle] at the roving bandits around them, "don't let them touch us!"
"R-Right!" Selene replied only for her to get her [Iron Bow] to snap in two from being pulled back too many times, "bloody 'ell! I'm armless!"
"Take this!" Karna handed her the [Rusted Lance], "better than nothing!"
The fight raged on, with the bandits slowly being pushed into a corner, the ground itself quaking ever more slightly with each hour of combat passed, each bandit fallen signaled with a dull bang from below, and every blood dropped and siphoned from each others' bodies gambling between who lives and who dies serenaded with their dying throes.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE ALREADY?!" Miklan roared out as he hammered his [Lance of Ruin] into the ground as Sylvain dodged each blow or suffering from a graze resulting from a near miss, "YOUNGER BRATS LIKE YOU SHOULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THEIR OLDER BROTHERS!"
"It's like your ears there for decoration only," snarked Sylvain, "Miklan, like I said, YOU'RE NO LONGER MY BROTHER! THIS IS NOT TEN YEARS AGO WHEN YOU LEFT ME AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL!"
"YOU SHOULD'VE DIED BACK THEN!" Miklan cried out, "THEN I WOULD'VE TAKEN BACK WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY MINE!"
"AND THEN WHAT?!" Sylvain retorted, "WILL ANYTHING CHANGE EVEN AFTER I DIE?! HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU GOING TO KILL IF IT MEANS MAKING YOURSELF FEEL ANY BETTER?!"
Sylvain then locks his [Steel Lance] against Miklan's [Lance of Ruin], pinning it down to prevent it from being raised up, even going far enough for the shaft to snap in two in the process, only for Sylvain to use the sudden momentum to whack Miklan across his jaw with the loose rebar of his weapon.
After one blow to his chin, Miklan was now the one looking up. Surrounding him were the rest of the strike force. All of them wary from all the fighting throughout the whole day, but nevertheless victorious.
"It's over Miklan," Sylvain coldly declared, the shadows of his friends eclipsing his pitiful reminder of his sordid past, "I won."
He couldn't believe it. Neither of them could believe it. Sylvain won.
"... No," Miklan gagged through his broken jaw, "NO! NOT LIKE THIS!"
He then gabbed onto the [Lance of Ruin]'s shaft, but as soon as his fingers wrapped around the Relic's chalky shaft, a surge of malignant energy surged out of the weapon's gemstone placed at the spearhead's center.
"What's happening?!" Dimitri exclaimed as everyone recoiled at Miklan now flailing about as if he were on fire.
"GET BACK!" Gilbert ordered, trying to maintain control of the situation, "ALL OF YOU, GET BACK-"
From above, a tiny blur fell from the ceiling. As soon as it landed, the surge of dark energy was gone, Topaz stood between Miklan and the [Lance of Ruin], and Miklan was now short one arm in favor of a bleeding stump.
"... Me... me me..." he stammered in disbelief before a surge of agony shot up to his brain and throughout his body, "MMMYYY ARRRRMMMM!"
As the cartel leader rolled around the ground in unimaginable agony, Topaz felt an odd sensation coming from her sword arm, choosing to ignore it as she sheathed her [Rapier] back. "Are you going to shut up?!" she snapped as Miklan continued wailing in pain of losing his arm, "oh just give a minute, you'll go into shock."
Miklan's screams peter out into faint moans as he then promptly faints from blood loss, as she predicted.
"Well," Cyrus blinked, "that was anticlimactic."
"How did you know that was going to happen?" asked Gilbert, "of the Relic going out of control?"
Karna smirks. "To be honest," he answered, "I had no idea what was going to happen next. We already wasted enough time so I had to cut it short."
"Pardon?" the Knight of Seiros remarked.
"Look, the Dustbin already fought two big, scary monsters beforehand, we don't need to face a third right now," Karna pointed out as he took the [Lance of Ruin] for himself, the slightly cursed energy tingling his nerves but otherwise having little to no effect on him, "I see dark, gross energy coming out that thing named the '[Lance of Ruin]' which I'm pretty sure might partially be alive," he pointed at the Relic's twitching barbs below its spearhead, "then I assume big, scary monster. It's simple math."
"Anyone up for fighting a giant scary monster after going through an entire horde of bandits?" Byron asked everyone, whom all then murmurs in not doing so, "I thought so."
"... Well, it's over," Dimitri sighed out in relief, "now we can all go home-"
Suddenly, the ground beneath them jerked sideways, causing everyone to lose their balance.
"... Um, quick question," Karna asked, "did anyone feel any rumbling or hear any explosions happening beneath us when we were fighting Miklan's group?"
Byleth's head then recalled one of the Wyvern Riders throwing in powder kegs into the tower on the previous floor, with everyone realizing that Conrad's Tower now had its structural integrity completely compromised. "... Oh no."
The tower itself began leaning slightly towards the side, with everyone starting to slide towards one side of the leaning room.
"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Edelgard cried out.
"WE WON'T MAKE DOWN THE STAIRS IN TIME!" Claude remarked.
"THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!" Dimitri exclaimed.
"SOTHIS! THINK OF SOMETHING!" Byleth cried out in panic.
I can't! she panicked, we're too far ahead in the timeline to make any sort of difference! That Miklan person had no intention of letting anyone leave here alive!
The cloaked Professor lets out a sigh before he faced his students with a blank expression.
"Dustbin," Karna spoke, "do you trust me?"
"No?" Byron replied as Karna then let out a shrill whistle, catching everyone else's attention.
"DO YOU ALL TRUST ME?!" Karna cried out to everyone else who tried to remain on their feet inside the leaning structure.
"NO!" everyone exclaimed out in unison to Karna.
Suddenly, the cloaked Professor then blasts a hole into the wall next to him with [Dark Spikes T] with [Flux H] weakening the walls that the former Dark Magic hit.
"THEN JUMP!" Karna ordered as he jumped off the crumbling tower. Seeing no other way of how things can get much worse, everyone follows and jumps off the collapsing tower.
Okay, that suicidal, walking anathema wearing a human skin has now officially lost his mind, and so have I, Sothis grumbled before she realized Byleth was the last one standing inside the collapsing tower, JUMP YOU FOOL!
At least Byleth knew that bones heal after a three-story jump... provided if she doesn't land her head or neck.
As she kept looking down to at least minimize her fall injuries, something catches her by her shoulders. Byleth looks up, and sees that she was now being carried by a wyvern ridden by Seteth, and around her, there was a whole flock of Church-aligned Wyvern Knights carrying the strike force and the remainder of the Knights of Seiros in either their backs or hanging by their claws.
Reinforcements from earlier did arrive from Shamir's signal flare. And it was due to Karna's gamble that he was able to ascertain where the wyverns were flying at.
"KARNA!" Seteth screamed as his "passenger" hanging next to where Byleth was, "YOU ARE OFFICIALLY INSANE! I'LL SEE YOU INSTITUTIONALIZED FOR THIS!"
"JOKE'S ON YOU, I'M BANNED FROM EVERY NUTHOUSE IN FODLAN-ACHOO!" Karna sneezed mid-taunt as he white nose turned cherry-red from his hard sneezing, "... sorry, allergic to wyverns-ACHOO!"
Behind Seteth's wyvern, Edelgard (with Hubert hanging next to her on the same wyvern's talons) tried her utmost hardest to not acknowledge that there was someone else's spit spraying on her face from ahead.
"ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!" Karna kept violently sneezing under Seteth's wyvern, much to the rider's annoyance.
At another wyvern, Topaz looked at her right arm where the Lance of Ruin had spilled some of its residue energy onto it mid-amputation. Her arm was now completely different, transformed into that of a semi-skeletal reptilian arm with stone-tile-like scales and aa "XIII" crudely scratched into the back of her morphed hand. There was no signs of spreading further up her arm, so the mutation stopped right above her elbow. Its fingers were now baring sharp, bestial-like claws, lightly raking it against her cheek, only for it to draw blood in its streaks.
"Interesting..." she snickered to herself, with all new possibilities opening at her new "feature", "... hopefully the [Lance of Ruin] is intact after this," she remarked as Conrad Tower collapsed completely behind them.
Miraculously, the Relic was later found by Jeralt's men excavating the tower shortly after the battle came to a close. Sylvain's position as the new head of his now-one-member clan was to be temporarily held by Lord Rodrigue until the young Gautier finishes his education, with the [Lance of Ruin] now in his personal possessions.
As for Karna's group, their collection of Miklan's connections throughout the continent was deemed valuable intel for future sweep operations, enough so that they were allowed to keep their current ill-gotten gains ([Rapier], [Armorslayer], [Devil Axe], [Talisman Shield], [Prayer Ring], [Iron Gauntlets], [Claymore], [Shamshir], [Iron Bow], [Killer Lance], [Rusted Lance] and all of the medicine that they've pilfered) as a reward... after a stern lecture from Catherine and the Archbishop herself that lasted throughout the next morning.
Topaz's arm was then scheduled by Hanneman to be examined on a later date.
Miklan's cartel was now no more, and soon the rest of the organization of arms and human traffickers will collapse without its center leading them.
Later That Night (Or so they thought)...
A dry, heaving cough echoed through the damp, night sky of Faerghus in summer. A small segment of rubble trembled before someone burst out, revealing Miklan's scarred face, now missing an eye, an arm, along with a broken arm, a staggering limp, and several other broken bones inside of him that stabbed him from the inside all over. Nevertheless, he was still alive, even after being crushed under rocks and falling from three stories high.
In fact, it was the pain itself that was keeping him awake. The pain and humiliation of loss that seared into his mind and soul was the only thread that kept him and his broken body in the world of the living.
Miklan couldn't let it go. He will, never let that feeling go. Even if it means crawling on the earth and eating mud, Miklan refused to die. Not until he proves that he's better than Sylvain-no.
Miklan will not die until he is better than anyone else.
He then slouches himself against a tree, only to hear metallic clangs coming from deeper into the woods next to him. He then spots a pair of red wisps that looked like the Devil's eyes. He knew what or who that was.
"... What do you want?" growled Miklan as the Death Knight appeared before him, "... as you can tell, I kinda had a really bad day here."
"Lesser men died under less strenuous circumstances," complimented the Death Knight, sounding genuinely impressed at the bandit leader surviving the destruction of Conrad Tower, "your tenacity is that of a cockroach's."
Miklan smirks audaciously, knowing that he's done for as soon as he saw that the Death Knight was armed with his unholy-looking scythe, and the fact that his cartel was now left leaderless. Simply but, Miklan knew that he was now a liability to the Flame Emperor and the Death Knight was here to clean up the mess.
Even still, he refused to beg for his life. Instead, Miklan chooses to carry that burning hatred towards everything that Sylvain knew and loved all the way down to the flaming depths of Hell.
"... Go ahead," he bowed his head down, exposing his neck from his armor as his chest boiled in nothing but pure spite and poison towards the very world around him, "... don't miss."
"... Very well," the demonic rider acknowledged, raising his scythe, "Miklan the disgraced Gautier shall die as requested."
The blade swings down, with Miklan closing his eyes and smiling, knowing that despite everything, he lived a good life on his own terms.
To Be Continued...
Support Conversations:
- Sorcha and Topaz (C):
Sorcha: Sup. Ye out here late.
Topaz: The sun was never my preference. It's easier to work and be myself at the dead of night.
Sorcha: I git ye. Stars are easier to see when der ain't a sun searin' above our heads.
Topaz: Agreed. I had enough sun back where I came from.
*two then stare upwards towards the starry sky in silence*
Sorcha: Say. Gotta ask. How did ye git ere'?
Topaz: Pardon?
Sorcha: Like, how did you, an Almyran, choose to come ere' before ye went in too deep and ended up meetin' me and others?
Topaz: ... I'd like to ask you the same thing. Brigid is an island away from Fodlan, yes?
Sorcha: Ooh, touchy, aren't we? But der ain't a sea dividin' Almyra and Fodlan now, ainnit?
Topaz: You never talked to me. Then again, I see no reason why we're talking in the first place.
Sorcha: Other people say talking to other people helps ye build trust in combat or sumthin', but yer always watchin' us, slittin' throats. Kinda wish ye kinda tell us wat yer doin' so we don panic.
Topaz: Hmph. Perhaps. Although your gung-ho attitude can be a little worrying for me sometimes. I fear that I might not be quick enough sometimes.
Sorcha: Bah! You, slow? Come on, ye know better than us! Yer always ahead of us!
Topaz: Don't work me to death. That is not how I wish to die.
Author's Notes: And that's one war sequence written down, even though Fire Emblem fics as a whole are nothing but war sequences. Yeah, the Dustbin are not soldiers bred for war, but more trained specialist killers who utilize dirty tricks to end battles quickly. They can hold their own better than the others, but even they're smart enough to know that a drawn-out fight is a potentially losing fight.
And regarding the process of writing this chapter, I had to revise a few things and a toss-up between adding to the canon to keeping said canon in my adaptation of the "Tower of Black Winds", the process was a bit messier than I liked, but I'm not the kind of person who'd rather drag this out during a schedule/continuity mishap. And like Byron said, the fight was taking too long, Sylvain's wake-up call, while needed was really an in-universe filler, and I already have to make sure that I don't end up messing up the schedule again.
And regarding Miklan's characterization, aside from supplemental dialogue that can only be seen in the Black Eagle's route, I kinda made Miklan the Jagi to Sylvain's Kenshiro (nowhere near as badass though). I wanted to emphasize that no, Miklan is not a victim of the Crest system, and the line for pity has long been crossed when he started attacking civilians and actively siding with the Flame Emperor out of opportunism. I had to alleviate his "flat character" status somewhat, and the reason why I had to cut the Black Beast fight is that again, like Byron said, the fight was taking too long. But at least said Black Beast is referenced through Topaz's new arm, more on that later. Not only that, but like Karna said, they already faced two giant scary monsters before (the Giant Wolf at the Abyss and the Giant Bird at the Red Canyon), they do not need to face a third. Better to cut off the spreading infection then deal with and again, a big scary monster thing.
References:
- Cyrus's first line is a reference to Travis Touchdown's line from Dr. Peace's pre-fight cutscene from No More Heroes.
- Miklan's breakdown towards Sylvain is meant to mirror that of Jagi's from Fist of the North Star.
- Topaz's line towards Miklan after cutting his arm off is a reference to Harley Quinn (2019) Season 1 Episode 1 "Til Death Do Us Part".
- Byleth's thoughts of jumping off three stories off of the collapsing Conrad Tower is a reference to Mother's line from Medal of Honor (2010) being "Bones heal..." when he jumps off of the mountain.
- Karna's line towards the rest of the students to jump off the tower is a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series Episode 56 "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Virtual World".
- Miklan's last words is a nod to Hans' line when he has to get his arm amputated to avoid an infection in a Fire Emblem Fates fic, "A Brighter Dark".
