'Professor, if I may, how long do you intend to stare at the trees for?'

'Until I'm satisfied no one's there,' Byleth muttered, lying in the grass. He lay in the valley near where the ground gradually inclined up towards the Golden Deer's woodland strip in the northwest position of the field. Although he couldn't guarantee it, he was certain the remaining Golden Deer students were still hiding there. Their House had started the battle by keeping their main force there whilst sending a team down to ambush him and the Black Eagles. They'd intended to wipe out his House immediately and then perform a flanking manoeuvre against the Blue Lions from the south. Their ambush had failed, however, and thanks to the efforts of himself, Petra, Ferdinand and Bernadetta, they'd lost more of their team, thus trapping the remaining ones in the woods ahead of him. The Blue Lions had had the exact same plan as the Golden Deer, but they'd had more success. Although their ambush and flanking manoeuvre had also been less successful than they'd hoped, they'd still emerged with the most members remaining. That meant they could hold a defensive position and wait for either his House or Claude's to try and attack them out in the open.

As to how he intended to deal with the Blue Lions, Byleth still wasn't sure. At that moment, the second horn echoed through the air and he felt a sinking sensation suddenly grapple his insides.

'There's only a short while remaining,' Ferdinand said. 'We need to act.'

Byleth nodded. The Blue Lions could afford to wait, but they couldn't. He had to eliminate them and the Golden Deer soon.

Or else we will lose… and then it's over.

Up above, grey clouds began shrouding the battlefield. He crawled back to Ferdinand and Bernadetta and then rose to his feet. If he remembered correctly, apart from Claude, the Golden Deer had one magic user and one axe wielder left. Ferdinand confirmed this, but Byleth sensed something in his tone.

'You don't sound concerned about the magic user.'

'I would be lying if I said that I knew much about her, Marianne. I fully intend to get to learn more about all of our classmates throughout the year, but there have been rumours that her confidence is somewhat... lacking.'

He momentarily flickered his eyes in the direction of Bernadetta, whom, was looking the other way.

'Like her?' Byleth asked.

Ferdinand didn't respond immediately. 'I think she might be in a worse state than Bernadetta.'

The idea made Byleth pause a moment, and then he shook his head. 'Scan the grassland one more time, then we'll make our move.'

Ferdinand nodded and moved quickly up the side of the valley. Byleth's mind raced. Whether the girl called Marianne was a threat or not was one thing, but he knew that Claude was, and if they weren't careful, they'd-

'Professor' Ferdinand whispered.

Byleth turned. Ferdinand looked at him from near the top of the valley's ridge. His eyes brimmed with excitement.

'Claude is out of the woods on his own. He's walking towards the Blue Lions.'

'I am not retreating again,' Felix said. 'We can't let one bowman push us around like this.'

'Got to agree with Felix here,' Sylvan said. 'I'm looking to share some epic tales on my date tomorrow and running from one dude with a bow won't cut it.'

'I agree,' Dimitri said. 'If we keep moving back then we'll be at risk of Claude backing us into a corner and picking us off. If we all move at the same time he won't have the chance to deal with all of us. What do you think, Professor?'

Hanneman squinted his monocle. 'The problem is that after seeing how far away he was when he took out Mercedes, I can't be certain that I'll be able to get close enough to hit him before he strikes. However, you are right in saying that it could be dangerous if we allow him to trap us. We need to push him back but we must not under any circumstances try to engage him in the woods where there would undoubtedly be an ambush waiting on us.'

'That doesn't scare me,' Felix said.

'There is also the Black Eagles, who were almost certainly were the ones who eliminated Dedue and Annette,' Hanneman continued. 'They are either very lucky or Byleth is living up to your expectations, Dimitri. I am sure they will be entering the woods soon as well. Perhaps it is Claude's plan to have everyone fight there.'

'Bring it,' Felix said. Dimitri shook his head.

'The professor has a good point. I have no intention of fighting the Black Eagles in the woods. The moment that happens our advantage is gone. Dedue being eliminated has only confirmed my belief about Byleth. We need to give him the respect he deserves.'

'And how do you intend to do that? Keep running away?' Sylvain asked.

'Not exactly,' Dimitri said.