The Ashen Saiyan

by zZ Sky Ninja Zz

Byleth is no ordinary woman. She has great strength, a monkey tail, and a huge appetite. All from her departed mother. She has lots of questions and no way to answer them. But after events in Remire Vilage unfold, perhaps Byleth will find her answers at Garreg Mach Monastery. Saiyan Byleth! CURRENT ARC: LORD SLUG

29. Chapter 29

Part 1: White Clouds

The Death Knight Rises

"HHHAAAAAARGH!"

*CRASH*

"URGH!"

"Come on kid. One more time!"

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

*CRACK*

"URK!"

Jeralt sighed watching Byleth crash face down on the ground which he was responsible for after that last hit as he rubbed his chin and scratched at his beard. "Alright kid, let's take a break. Yo, Hellen. Heal her up. Think I might have knocked around that brain of hers."

Hellen ran up, staff in hand and pointed it at Byleth who picked herself up and ruffled her hair to get stray grass off before sitting cross legged and looking at her father as she was being healed.

"Not bad, kid." He started off, smiling at her. "Hard to believe how long it is been since we got you on board. You're a natural at fighting."

Byleth was now thirteen years old and had been with the group as an official member for quite some time. Though she still had a long way to go as Jeralt gave her a look.

"However. You're sloppy. You keep wasting your strikes trying to end it in one shot. You've got all this power and nothing to use it on. You think that power is all you need to end a fight? But what happens when you're put in a situation where you can't go all out? You'll be in trouble."

She kept listening as Hellen ruffled her hair after healing her and left the pair alone as Jeralt continued. "Remember. It isn't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep getting up. That's how you win. You can have the greatest strength but that don't mean anything when when you got an opponent who can dodge it all or can tank it. That's what today is all about. We're going to be improving your defence. And keep your weaknesses in check."

He finished that sentence looking at her tail which was wagging about as he shot a look. "Didn't I tell you to keep that around your waist?"

"You did, dad." Byleth said with that blank look.

"You know what happens if someone grabs it, right?"

"I do. But it's uncomfortable."

Jeralt sighed and put his hand on the back of his neck. He wasn't an expert on this since he didn't have a tail. But he does know that Byleth can't function if someone grabs it. It was a very sensitive muscle. Never mind. He wasn't here to lecture her on her tail, he decided to just focus on what he was going to do today. He tossed a piece of cloth to Byleth who caught it and looked at him quizzically.

"Put it over your eyes kid. I'm gonna teach you a very important lesson before we focus on your physical defence. Something that you've been struggling with for quite a while."

Oh no.

He didn't mean…

"We're going to teach you, how to dodge!"

He held a bunch of rocks in his hand and threw one in the air and caught it again while explaining. "You're going to wear that so that you can't see and then I'm going to throw these rocks at you. You should only focus on your senses and my Ki to move out of the way. I know this won't injure you, but it's not exactly gonna tickle either, so you would do best to actually avoid this. Any questions?"

"No father." Byleth shook her head and tied the blindfold in place. "I'm ready."

He didn't pick up on the rare instance of her sounding nervous as he aimed at her. "Alright then, get ready!"

She breathed in and out slowly and focused on her surroundings. The rest of the group watching in the distance, the birds tweeting, the sound of the wind rustling. It felt peaceful. It was nice doing stuff like this with her father.

'Quite peaceful, isn't it?'

Wait. Who was that talking-

CRACK!

Next thing Byleth knew, she was on the ground holding her nose as the rock hit her clean in the face. Jeralt rubbed the back of his neck again and looked down at her. "Jeez, kid. I gave you plenty of time to react there. What happened?"

She looked down at her hands and saw she wasn't bleeding at least. But man, it hurt like hell. But she just stood up and kept that same face. "Sorry, father. I was distracted by the scenery-"

"JERALT EISNER WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?!"

Jeralt sighed again seeing Hellen stomp towards him. "Maybe we should call it a day here, kid. I have a feeling that this scolding is going to be a little longer than usual. Why don't you go catch a fish for dinner?"

"Understood, father."

With that, Byleth slowly walked away. But Jeralt couldn't help but worry. He knew she could've avoided that. She may prefer to tanking hits, but even a turtle could dodge that throw. Something was up. But, he supposed that maybe it was a fluke. Everyone gets distracted after all-

"OI! I'm talking to you!"

…Just like he wished his healer was right now, so he could get out of here.

Oh well.

---

Byleth gritted her teeth, jumping away from The Death Knight after their fists clashed and she looked at her fist, then back at him. He was definitely stronger. She can feel it. This wasn't good, she had to try and end this quickly. So she charged up and held out her hands forming a Ki attack and throwing it at him.

But to her shock, The Death Knight held out his hand and caught the blast and stared at the ball of Ki.

"SO THIS IS YOUR POWER. IT IS POTENT. POWERFUL. AND WHAT WILL HELP ME ACHIEVE ULTIMATE POWER. OUR STRENGTH SHOULD BE EQUAL, BUT THAT WILL CHANGE. I WILL BE THE SUPERIOR WARRIOR."

He then crushed the Ki as it exploded in his hand, and started walking towards Byleth with a dark aura forming around him. Byleth narrowed her eyes, and flew towards him at breakneck speeds and slammed her fist into his chest, which did send him flying back but he managed to stop himself and she could feel the grin behind his mask.

"I KNEW I WAS RIGHT WHEN I FELT YOUR POWER."

"I am disappointed, Jeritza." Byleth replied as they kept exchanging blows while talking and grunted in pain when The Death Knight struck a clean blow on her chin. "I always suspected you weren't innocent by any means, but never to the point of kidnapping individuals and harming innocents. Why do you do this?"

"I AM NOT INTERESTED IN QUESTIONS OR TALKING. ONLY COMBAT. WITH THOSE I ALIGN MYSELF WITH, I HAVE A CHANCE TO BECOME THE STRONGEST WARRIOR."

"Those who you align yourself with?" Byleth muttered, blocking a punch and catching his other hand before using his weight to flip herself over him and kick him in the back. He flipped to the ground with a heavy clunk as Byleth held out a hand with Ki charging out of it.

"Who do you serve? The same people who Lonato was with? You share an awful lot of similarities."

"I SAID I AM NOT INTERESTED IN QUESTIONS. ONLY COMBAT." Before he started hovering in the air and summoned a dark scythe. Much like his old one and he flew towards her and swung in a wide arc, but Byleth teleported behind him and punched him, only for him to block it at the last second. She jumped backwards to gain some distance but The Death Knight was hot on her tail as the two kept exchanging blows travelling all throughout the arena. Teleporting in and out of view and clashing fists before Byleth gripped his hands and he did so in return as power started sparking from their hands and shaking the area around them. Byleth looked up and gritted her teeth, managing to let go and observing any damage that may have been caused by that exchange.

She narrowed her eyes and got in an stance, sword at the ready for another round.

Meanwhile, the students were managing to hold off their end of the chaos off. Despite her injury, Edelgard managed to help Dimitri and Claude pick off the remaining mercenaries that weren't behind the barrier created by Hapi and Constance. But the other two did most of the work since she was unable to walk due to the arrow embedded in her ankle. She was tempted to pull it out multiple times but knew that it was best that an actual medic did it so she didn't do any damage that was permanent.

Dimitri roared and drove his fist into a mercenaries chest and had a big grin on his face. And he heard voices in his head.

'Yes! Kill them all, my son!'

'They deserve this fate, Dimitri!'

"Yo, Dimitri. You okay?"

Dimitri blinked. Claude looked at him a little worried as am he dissipated his lance and looked away. "Yes. I apologise if I made you worry."

"You sure? You looked a little out of it-"

"I said I'm fine."

Claude wanted to prod, but he had a feeling that now wasn't the time. So he decided to drop it, but would keep an eye on him. He changed the subject and looked around.

"That should be the last of them. Now we can help Teach!"

Dimitri, thankful for the subject change, nodded and smiled. But then he remembered that their mercenary problem wasn't over yet. The barriers. He offered his hand to Edelgard as he gently pulled her up and looked at her.

"What's our plan for the ones behind that barrier?" He asked as Edelgard gritted her teeth, still in pain from the arrow embedded deep in her.

"I'm… not sure. But we should help out the Professor in taking down this foe. The others have their end under control. We should be more worried about The Death Knight."

She then noticed one of the heads of the fallen mercenaries looked… off. A dying purple glow was inside the eye sockets which slowly dwindled away as it now became a standard skull. What the hell-

But Claude shook his head and snapped her out of her mind. "Sorry Princess, but you're not going anywhere. Not on that leg. And we're staying with you."

"What?! Don't be preposterous, we can- AGH!" Edelgard screamed, crumpling to the floor. The pain was getting worse. The boys looked at each other as Dimitri looked at his hands.

"I can help a little. But the most I can do is ease the pain, not make it better."

"Fuck it, I'll take anything!"

"Very colourful language for a princess." Claude joked but Edelgard just glared.

"Oh, go to hell, Claude!"

Dimitri placed his hands above her chest and looked at Claude. "You know how to remove arrows?"

"Well, yeah. But shouldn't we leave it for now?"

"No. These arrows are enchanted and they're draining her of her energy. Like I said, I can ease the pain."

"Alright. If you're sure. Yo, Edelgard. You might want to bite down on something."

She nodded and ripped off her glove showing her scars and shoved it in her mouth and looked at Dimitri who nodded back.

"Do it."

Claude held her leg in place and snapped off the fledgling before grabbing the arrow and in one clean movement, tore it out as her muffled screams shot out but he held her in place as Dimitri's hands started glowing in a white light. Claude watched her wound slowly close into a scar. Wasn't perfect, but it would do. Edelgard spit out her glove and let out baited breathes, feeling a little better. It wasn't agonising anymore at least.

"Are you ok?" Dimitri asked, and Edelgard nodded.

"Yes… thank you."

She then looked at the blonde. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Oh, Marianne taught me how to use healing magic. It's not much but I figured that since we're getting into these situations it's best to have more healers on board-"

"If you three are done just chatting then we need help!" Hapi yelled, causing the trio to turn around.

Now that the mercenaries on this side were dealt with, that meant that Hapi and Constance had more backup to keep their barriers intact. Though they saw that the girls were exhausted.

"Come. We need to help."

Dimitri looked at Edelgard. "What about the Professor-"

"Ah, don't worry big guy." Claude interrupted slapping his back. "Teach has got this."

"If you say so…"

Back at the fight between the two powerhouses, Byleth was blocking strikes from the scythe with her sword but the force behind them was causing her to step back. She didn't have the full power of The Sword of the Creator on her and The Death Knight knew this.

"HOW DISAPPOINTING. YOU NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE FULL MIGHT OF THE SWORD. IT SEEMS THAT I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FIGHT YOU AT YOUR BEST."

He kept delivering strike after strike as Byleth looked behind her at the others helping give energy to Constance and Hapi as the mercenaries banged on the barrier more and more. But then she saw a beam of dark energy soar past her and struck Constance on the back causing her to scream loudly in pain and fall to her knees, the damage left behind was a burn mark on her back. What's worse is that it broke her concentration and the barrier was starting to crack.

"Constance!" Everyone yelled as Hapi lost her concentration too causing her own barrier to begin breaking down.

"Focus! Both of you! Constance, fight it! Fight the pain!" Yuri shouted and poured more energy into the barrier sealing the cracks. Byleth looked back at the Death Knight who had his finger pointed at Constance with the tip smoking from the Ki blast.

"YOU ARE FIGHTING ME. DO NOT FOCUS ON THEM, YOU KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME. UNDERSTAND?"

"Is this some sort of game to you?!" Byleth yelled. "If they get in here, then this place will be swarmed and possibly collapse!"

"ALL THAT MATTERS IS OUR FIGHT. I COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT ANYONE ELSE. NOW FIGHT!"

He clashed his scythe with Byleth's blade with the force of the impact throwing her into a wall. She grunted in pain and looked to the rest of the students desperate to keep the barrier up.

'Please hang on, everyone. I'll try to finish him.'

But doubt lingered in her mind. She honestly didn't think he could get this powerful. Was she slacking? No, that couldn't be. What else could she do to train? But then again, how was this guy getting better from every encounter?

The Death Knight got closer and swung downwards but Byleth backflipped in time just as the blade pierced the ground. But then to her surprise, energy started forming from where the blade was and it made it's way towards her and just as it went under her, it boasted upwards and enveloped her in the blast causing her to scream in pain. She landed hard on her back and tried to pick herself up, using the blade as a crutch to help her get up.

'Okay, that hurt a lot more than I thought it would. So I was right. He has gotten stronger. And he has the home field advantage too. It's like he tailored his attacks to fighting in close proximity. Does this mean that… this was his power when we first saw him with Flayn?'

Now on her feet, Byleth glared and charged her Ki. 'Need to try and end this fast. I can see he has chinks in his armour from Flayn. Those are weaknesses I could exploit. But he may anticipate that.'

So she got in close and got in a couple of strikes with the sword and when he tried to attack back she deflected it and left him wide open and his armour exposed and she drew her fist back to strike the weak points. But suddenly, when her fist made contact, an expulsion of energy shot from his armour and threw her back again and she opened her eyes just in time to see him above her throwing his fist down onto her stomach, burying it deep. She coughed up blood from that attack and was slammed onto the ground.

"I HAVE MY WEAKNESSES NOW COVERED. I WONT BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD LIKE THAT AGAIN."

"Damn it…" she phased out of thin air and reappeared away from him, clutching her stomach and trying to catch her breath. "I have to admit. You've gotten better since our sparring session, Jeritza."

A dark growl escaped his throat. "DO NOT SAY THAT NAME."

"Sorry… Death Knight. But I'm not planning on losing, regardless of the disadvantages I have." She vanished and appeared behind him. Before he could react, she threw a Ki blast into his back which made him fly through the air. She then appeared in front of him and used both her fists to slam into his stomach. But that's when the shield activated again and a pulse of magic threw her backwards once more.

"My attacks can't get through… physical ones at least. But my Ki can bypass that magic shield. I need to be careful with what I use…"

Meanwhile, the students were all groaning and trying to keep up the barrier that kept the swarm of mercenaries away.

"Linhardt! Keep on healing!" Edelgard yelled, giving energy to Constance. But when the Noble tried to cast a healing spell, all that came out were a few sparks. Not only that, but he was looking very pale and sweaty as he fell back panting.

"I'm all out… I'm having a nap…"

"Dammit Linhardt, don't pass out on me! We need to keep this up!"

But she looked behind and saw that he was indeed passed out. That was one down. He exhausted his entire healing pool for the time being. And Edelgard looked to the mob behind the barrier and noticed… some of them had that same purple glow in their eyes. They looked… lifeless. But then she heard a strained voice and looked to her right at the Noble.

"We need to do something! I can't keep this up!" Constance yelled, looking just as bad. Both she and Hapi were looking worse for wear with sweat pouring down their faces from the strain of having to keep up this mix of Ki and magic for such a long period of time. On top of that, Constance was still reeling from the Death Knight's attack as her back had major burn marks on it which was affecting her concentration.

Claude was helping Hapi and looked around. They were running out of time! If only there was a way to get rid of this mob-

Wait.

"Wait a minute."

Dimitri looked to Claude whilst trying to heal Hapi but to no avail. It wasn't working properly. "What is it, Claude? Do you have a plan?"

"Yeah, I think so. Ashe! You've been practicing long range Ki attacks?"

Ashe blinked when he realised he was being called upon and kept his hand on Constance's shoulder. "I-I guess? I don't know-"

"Yes or no?!"

"Yes! Yes, I have something. It's not completely stable but I can do it."

"Great. Okay, let go and charge it up."

Yuri looked to Claude and smirked. "Good. Another person who can make plans. What will you have us do?"

Claude was charging up his Buck Shot attack whilst looking at Yuri. "When I give the signal, both Constance and Hapi will drop their shield's then get down. If we time this just right, we'll have them all lined up ready for the slaughter. How's it looking, Ashe?"

Ashe had his two fingers pointed out whilst a ball of Ki charged on the end of it. "It's coming along… I think I can do it."

"How long will it take?" Edelgard asked, still helping by giving Constance energy. But more cracks started showing. "Because yours took a long time before, Claude!"

"It's fine, Princess. I've been working on it so I shouldn't have to take as long. How are our special defence squad holding up?"

"I swear, one more wise crack out of you and I'm dropping this barrier myself." Hapi growled, eyes squeezed shut with more cracks on her end. The barriers were failing. The amount of Ki being poured into them was meaningless now. It kept leaking out instead of being contained. The screams of the mob in front of them got louder as one part of Hapi's barrier broke.

"Ashe! Gonna need an update!"

"Almost done!"

"I swear, this better work!" Constance screamed, more pieces of her barrier breaking off. "This is very unbefitting of my image!"

"They're coming through!" Balthus yelled.

"Ashe!"

"Okay!"

"Get down both of you!" Claude screamed as both girls dropped their barriers and fell to the ground. Just as the mob ran forward, weapons at the ready, Claude and Ashe pointed their attacks.

"BUCK SHOT/CHIVALRY CANNON!"

Two beams of Ki shot out from them and it enveloped the mercenaries with them all screaming in pain as they were incinerated, the attacks going through the two entrances and making sure nothing was left.

It was over.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Balthus and Yuri helped up the two ladies who were very exhausted with Ashe handing a pouch filled with water to them both which they took and eagerly guzzled down the water, having to keep up that barrier for so long left them severely dehydrated. Ashe looked up at the now vacant tunnel and smiled.

"We did it… we did it."

But then Hilda eyed up Ashe with an amused look. "Really? Chivalry Cannon? That's such a lame name."

Ashe just rubbed the back of his neck in response. "It's based on the various knights that I grew up reading about. I couldn't think of a better name to base my newly made attack on."

"An admirable name." Dimitri smiled placing a hand on his shoulder. "Well done Ashe. We couldn't have done it without you."

"AHEM!"

"Oh, I apologise Claude." He continued turning towards his fellow House Leader. "While I was originally hesitant on this plan. It seems that it worked out for the best."

"Yes, I have to admit. I'm not usually fond of such big gambles." Yuri commented holding Constance up who was utterly exhausted. "But it seems you knew what you were doing. Key word being seem, because it was still very risky."

"Hey, you got to find any possible way to win. Even if it doesn't seem so certain that we would do it. I had every bit of faith in our friend over here."

Yuri just let out an exhale through his nose and smirked at him, before looking at his friend. "You okay, Constance?"

"Uuuugh, I need a bed, some biscuits and a nice pot of rose petal blend tea."

"Sorry, we only have ginger tea left." Balthus said, holding Hapi up and heard a long high pitched whine from the Noble.

"This is truly the worst day ever…."

But then, as if a pin just dropped, everyone realised that they weren't out of the woods yet. They turned around and saw Byleth still fighting the Death Knight. And she was… losing?

"Professor! I'm coming- ARGH!" Edelgard yelled, trying to go towards her but forgot about her injury. She collapsed and Dimitri ran to her side.

"I thought you said that you knew how to heal?!"

"I told you it wasn't perfect! We need to get you to an actual healer that isn't passed out!"

"But the Professor needs help!"

Claude clicked his teeth in frustration, but then Yuri spoke up. "Look. We can't do anything. I sure as hell can't, and there are a lot who are worse off than we are. It would be stupid to run in right now."

The students all protested despite the exhaustion hitting them hard, but Yuri gave that same smirk. "Not to worry, however. Why don't we… improvise?"

---

"KEEP FIGHTING! I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! WHERE IS THAT RAGE? WHERE IS THAT POWER?"

Byleth dodged more blasts and jumped in the air, swerving left to right to avoid more attacks and soared downwards, and at the last second, held out her hands and fired her own Ki blasts right into the Death Knight which threw him back.

"Well…" Byleth panted. "Maybe if you… drop that barrier… we can have a fair fight."

"I AIM TO FIGHT YOU AT YOUR BEST. I REFUSE TO LOWER MYSELF TO TRY AND PLAY BY YOUR RULES. NOW ARE YOU GOING TO USE ALL YOUR POWER OR NOT?"

"Look around you. If I go all out, then this place collapses and we all die."

"THEN WE TRULY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE AT THIS POINT."

As he grabbed her by the head and slammed it into the wall and dragged her face across it, putting more and more power into each second before throwing her to the centre of the arena. Byleth gritted her teeth and felt a wet sensation on her face. As well as having trouble seeing out of her right eye. She was bleeding.

Great. As if things weren't difficult enough. She dodged another attack and slammed a ball of Ki into his helmet and went to attack again, but then felt an armoured hand grab her by her throat and lift her high in the air.

She grabbed the hand and tried to force it open, but something felt off. She felt… weaker.

Then pain.

Lots of pain.

Byleth screamed loudly writhing as her energy was being drained out of her by the Death Knight who almost moaned in delight.

"YES… NOW I HAVE THE POWER THAT YOU HAVE HIDDEN. I CAN USE IT TO MAKE SURE I AM THE PERFECT BEING."

'This isn't good! My whole body feels like it's being emptied. If I don't get out of this soon, I might die! Maybe I could use a Divine Pulse? No, that wouldn't work. I've been on the defence this entire fight. There hasn't been a single moment where I've had the upper hand. Is this really it? Do I have to… destroy this place to try and kill him?'

She was about to weakly lift her hand and summon a Ki blast to knock down the ceiling, but the Death Knight grabbed it.

"YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE. YOU DO NOT DESERVE POWER LIKE THIS WHEN YOU NEVER USE IT. I WILL USE IT- URGH!"

Byleth didn't know what just happened. But looking down, she saw what looked to be… a rock?

"Hey! Over here!"

The Death Knight slowly turned around still holding Byleth by the throat and saw Yuri sitting on a boulder while tossing a piece of rock in the air and catching it. "What's up, big guy?"

"YOU….."

"Don't appreciate you coming down here and tearing up our home for a way to feel good about yourself."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING-"

CLANG!

The Death Knight growled deeply at Yuri who kept that same smirk. Though on the inside, he wasn't so confident.

'Come on, Ashen Demon. You have a trick up your sleeve, I know you do. You were practising that technique. Use it! I don't know how long I can keep this up.'

"So how about it? You can fight me if you like."

"YOU ARE TESTING MY PATIENCE. YOU ARE NOT WHO I AM AFTER-"

CLANG!

"…"

Byleth weakly turned her head to Yuri who kept throwing rocks at the Death Knight and realised, he was buying her time. But why? She couldn't think of anything that could damage him without destroying the area around them-

Wait.

There was nobody else.

It was just them.

That's it!

Steeling herself, Byleth narrowed her gaze at the Death Knight and started to focus. She hadn't perfected it yet, but if it was as powerful as she envisioned, then it will do the job right.

"I HAVE DECIDED. I WILL CONTINUE TO DRAIN HER POWER UNTIL SHE IS NOTHING MORE THAN A HUSK, AND ONCE I HAVE THE POWER THAT I CRAVE, YOUR HEAD WILL BE SPIKED ON TOP OF MY SCYTHE!"

Yuri had that signature smirk on his face as he threw the current rock he was holding over his shoulder. "Nah, that won't be necessary, big guy-"

"DEATH KNIGHT."

"Big guy." Yuri continued. "Like I said, that won't be necessary. I wasn't actually going to fight you."

"OH? THEN PRAY TELL, WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR WASTING MY TIME?"

"Simple. Distracting you."

The Death Knight wasn't sure what this bug meant by that, until his eyes widened behind his mask when he realised that he wasn't paying attention to the person he was draining of their power. He quickly turned around and tried to drain more. But Byleth had other plans.

Her irises were glowing a bright red as she focused more and more Ki into her eyes and with a yell, unleashed a Ki beam attack straight from her eyes right into the Death Knight who was roaring in pain. The concentrated Ki was going through his armour and the barrier which was supposed to protect him was useless. It was only meant to deflect physical attacks. He tried to instead kill her by crushing her throat, but Byleth focused her gaze onto his arm and burned away at it.

"ARRRRGH! STOP! STOP THIS!"

Finally dropping Byleth and clutching his arm, he saw chunks of the plating were breaking off and the barrier itself was now gone. He growled at the Mercenary who was now standing up and her eyes still glowing, ready to attack again. That's fine. He was ready to go another round-

"You are to retreat."

His head shot up wildly and he growled again. "WHY? I HAVE HER IN MY SIGHTS-"

"You will get your power in due time. For now, the experiment was a success. Now, retreat."

A flash of dark magic appeared behind him and Byleth's eyes widened. "Hubert?"

And she wasn't the only one as Edelgard gasped. Why was he here? He shouldn't be here!

"It is time to go." Hubert simply said.

"…FINE. I WILL BE BACK TO CHALLENGE YOU AGIN, BYLETH EISNER. I TAKE MY LEAVE. FOR NOW."

Byleth started running towards them, Ki charged in her hands as Hubert smirked.

"Until we meet again, Ms Eisner."

Just as she punched, her hands went through the pair as they teleported away and she collapsed to the ground, having lost her footing.

Damn it. They got away.

But… they won.

One of Yuri's rogues ran to them and announced. "Boss! That's the last of them!"

"Good. Finally." Yuri nodded. "Thanks for your help, everyone."

They won! Everyone around sighed in relief as they all fell to the ground.

"Oh, thank the Goddess… I thought we were going to die." Hilda moaned in pain, as the adrenaline had worn off and she could feel the exhaustion and pin take over.

Yuri hopped off the rock he was sitting on and helped Byleth up. "Not a bad technique. Precise, not as destructive. Seems I was right about you."

"Thank you, Yuri." Byleth replied. She then turned to the destroyed entrances and sighed. "I'm sorry about the damage."

"Ah, don't worry about it. We would've collapsed them anyway. Less unwanted people getting in, and that's all I care about. You and your students did good. Have to admit, I was slightly nervous when that knight showed up."

Byleth frowned and closed her eyes. "Yes. He has gotten stronger since the last time we fought. I was on the back foot that entire fight. I fear that if it wasn't for you…"

"Hey, no sweat, right?" Yuri said. "We won, and that's all that matters. And I feel like they don't be coming back anytime soon. Especially having lost so many."

That's when their senses went into overdrive as one mercenary that they missed charged towards Yuri. "I ain't going down without a fight! I'm taking you with me, punk!"

"I will not allow it." A voice sounded from nowhere as a beam of magic appeared in front of the mercenary. Byleth was on edge, sword at the ready. But Yuri just walked up to him.

"Aelfric, you're here! Well, shall we capture this fool?"

---

"I HAD HER IN MY SIGHTS. I DID NOT APPRECIATE BEING DRAGGED OUT OF MY FIGHT."

"Oh, do be quiet." Cornelia huffed observing his broken armour and taking notes. "If we didn't interfere, you would've been dead on the ground. And besides, you were meant to test out the barrier and that's all."

The Death Knight just growled silently staring ahead. "WHEN WILL I GET AN ALL OUT FIGHT? WHILE I GOT THE POWER, SHE WAS HOLDING BACK TRYING TO STOP THAT CAVE FROM COLLAPSING. SHE ALSO DIDN'T HAVE THE POWER OF THAT SWORD."

"Be patient, Death Knight."

He slightly turned his head as he knew Thales was here but looked back towards the wall. Thales just kept talking.

"You want power? Then you need to prepare yourself. We placed you there for a reason. If you went at her with her full power, then you wouldn't be here. And the only way we place fear amongst those who live on the surface is by killing her at her very best."

Hubert was in the corner with his eyes narrowed at the three but kept any impure thoughts to himself. "And the mercenaries who attack Abyss? Do we provide assistance if they attack again?"

Thales just laughed. "No. We got what we came for. As well as our little side project being a great success on top of the barrier with the Death Knight."

"Side project?" Hubert frowned and watched as Cornelia placed something on a pedestal giggling with glee.

He narrowed his eyes and inspected it. "It's a box. What purpose does this serve?"

Cornelia rolled her eyes and shoved him away. "Do not come near. It is a box that has incredible potential! What we saw in that cave was unlike anything I've ever seen! The ability to resurrect the dead to do our bidding!"

Hubert glared at Cornelia and rubbed his chin in thought. "I see. I thought some of those mercenaries looked sort of… odd. And are they sentient?"

"Of course not. That would be a waste of effort. They only know to obey."

"…Noted." Hubert said to himself hiding a smirk. Another thing to add to the notes.

Cornelia was finished with taking her necessary samples from the Death Knight and looked to Thales. "We can now move onto furthering the research. The Death Knight's armour is getting stronger and what little power he managed to absorb has boosted him significantly. However, he still isn't at the level that the Fell Star was at when she fought that Lonato person."

A growl was her response from the Death Knight but Thales nodded. "Good. Keep improving his armour and collecting her Ki in any way you can. Do you think she can get stronger?"

"Hardly." Cornelia replied. "There's nobody else strong enough to challenge her. Well, except for that disgusting Nabatean but she's so afraid of using her power that she won't go all out. Other than that, the Fell Star is at a disadvantage. We get stronger while she remains the same. There's not even someone strong enough to trigger her Zenkai Boosts."

A wicked grin spread across Thales face. "Excellent."

Hubert stayed in the corner but kept noting all the things he was hearing. Between this, and from what he observed from that strange transport device. He would have so much to tell Lady Edelgard.

This just got interesting.

---

"Aelfric! How serendipitous that you have come to our aid!" Constance smiled with glee as Aelfric nodded back.

"I am relieved that I wasn't too late. I do hope my presence proved to be useful."

"No doubt about it." Balthus said, wincing at his aching muscles. "We needed the backup."

"Yeah, biggest understatement of the century." Hilda muttered to herself as Aelfric gasped when he took a good look at the group.

"Oh dear, Constance. Your back. Come over here, I will give you some much needed healing. How is everyone else?"

"Edelgard needs looking at too. She took a hit to her ankle." Dimitri explained as Edelgard was leaning on Dimitri, still finding it difficult to stand.

"Oh, it was dreadful, Aelfric!" Constance cried out. "They ruined my dress! It's going to take hours to fix this!"

"Our only healer was worked to his limits." Ashe looked over to Linhardt who was still passed out. "It was like… they kept on coming."

Aelfric frowned. "How curious…"

But Byleth just observed him and took note of his robes. "You're with the church…"

Aelfric turned to face her and his face brightened up. "Ah, Miss Byleth! I believe this is the first time our paths have crossed, is it not? Of course, I have heard all about you from Her Grace, the Archbishop."

He then gave a bow and smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aelfric. The church has granted me custodianship of Abyss."

But Byleth said nothing in response. Only narrowed her eyes as her tail swung back and forth which Aelfric saw but chose to say nothing. He instead continued to keep talking.

"I am sure you have already been told about Abyss's unique situation." He said to Byleth, now done healing Constance's injury and made his way over to Edelgard who also glared at him but a nudge from Dimitri made her just close her eyes and turn away as he gently grasped her ankle and started healing it.

"For varying reasons, all of the inhabitants here are unable to live a peaceful life on the surface. People like Dadgans and Almyrans, who suffer persecution across Fódlan. The poor and the sick, who were forced into Abyss. Not to mention all the other unfortunate souls who ended up here." Now finished with Edelgard's ankle, he stood up and smiled again. "I believe that it is my duty to provide a place for those who have nowhere else to go."

"Riiiight. And the poor and sick living in a sunless crypt helps them… how?" Claude asked with a cheeky smirk but an elbow to his ribs from Dimitri made him glance at the Prince.

"What? I can't say what is obvious?"

"That is enough Claude." Dimitri chastised him and smiled at Aelfric.

"Please forgive my friend, Aelfric. We would love to hear more."

Aelfric just shook his head and closed his eyes. "In all honesty I understand his concern. I dearly wish I could provide a better life for my flock. But it would appear that Her Grace and most of the church consider the existence of Abyss to be… something of a nuisance. I've even heard tell of those within the church who intend to purge Abyss."

"That's the church for you." Hapi scoffed. "They make a big deal of helping the helpless… when it suits them."

"We can't just sit back and accept the way things are. We got to fight the system!"

Edelgard had a smile looking at Balthus. "I think we will get along just fine."

"Sure, I'm here to hide from literally countless bounty hunters."

He sweated a little seeing Edelgard now glaring at him. "But I'm not the only one in need!"

"…I take back what I said."

"Aw dammit. Another enemy…" He sighed but then turned to his friend. "You're in a bad way too, Hapi. We can't just let the church walk all over us."

"Too true." Constance nodded. "For the sake of all who dwell in Abyss, we must help dear Aelfric to turn the tide!"

"I am overwhelmed with gratitude." Aelfric smiled. "Your fervent support is all the reward I could ask for."

Then he turned to Byleth who still had that suspicious glance. "As for you, Miss Byleth. I just beg a favour of you."

"…What's the favour?"

"The Ashen Wolves are a house in name alone.0 Aelfric explained. "They are eager students with no teacher to guide them-"

"I'll stop you right there." Byleth raised a hand, interrupting him. "I am not a teacher. I am merely an instructor. And I only teach students outside their classes. And I have no interest in adding any more to that group."

"I… see. That's too bad. I was under the impression that you were a Professor." Aelfric frowned.

"And now you are going to answer some of my questions. I've been suspicious of you since the moment I have heard about you."

"Hey, don't talk to Aelfric like that!" Balthus yelled.

"Yes, it is most uncouth to display this sort of aggression towards the man who has provided us with shelter!" Constance huffed.

But Byleth ignored them and glared at Aelfric. "How do you know how to use Ki? Don't you realise how dangerous it is teaching those four about it? And there's nobody else who knows how to use it originally aside from my father and myself."

Aelfric was silent for a moment before smiling. "Of course, you have every right to be suspicious but I ensure you that I am one to be trusted. In fact, I knew of your father."

Wait… what?

"How do you know my father?" Byleth asked, now even more suspicious.

"I was born and raised in Garreg Mach." Aelfric replied. "So I often hear the opportunity to spend time with him. Though he wasn't the one who taught me how to harness my life energy."

"Then who-"

"It was in fact your mother."

Byleth just felt like a boulder just slammed into her. This… man, knew her mother? As in, her birth mother? Does this mean… he could answer the questions that Jeralt wouldn't give her? But how does Aelfric know them? Sensing her questions, Aelfric continued.

"Your mother was a cherished friend of mine, back when she was still with us. Why, I was even present at her wedding with Jeralt. You're the spitting image of her, down to the tail. It's good to know that her race still lives on."

That… made everyone pause as Claude looked at Aelfric. "What are you talking about? Race? Teach looks like any other person from here."

Aelfric now had a confused look staring at Byleth. "I… would've thought that you knew. Did Jeralt not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Oh… oh dear. Perhaps I've overstepped. It's not my place to-"

But Byleth cut him off. "I have lived all my life knowing that I am not normal. Nobody can do the things that I can do, nobody eats like I do, and most of all, nobody has a tail like I do." She emphasised by showing her tail which was wriggling.

"And now, I have the opportunity to get my answers. So, tell me. What am I?"

Aelfric looked at her… and then sighed. "Very well. You deserve your answers at least. The truth is… your mother was never from Fódlan."

"So, what? She's from outside these lands? Like Brigid?" Hilda asked, scratching her head. But Aelfric continued.

"No. She wasn't from… well, Gargmana."

"Wait a second. What is Gargmana?" Ashe asked. But Edelgard had a shocked expression on her face, remembering something Kronya said to her.

"You actually think that she's just like you?!"

"Gargmana… is the name of our world…"

Expressions suddenly shifted to shock everywhere as Aelfric nodded at Byleth.

"Indeed. Your mother came from the stars. A world called Vegeta… and she was a Saiyan."

Byleth just had that same look of shock on her face as it all hit her at once. A flashback of a giant monkey rampaging through Fódlan. As well as an image of her destroying that mountain after facing Lonato.

"You are a hybrid of this world and another."

*Song: Closing Theme (DBZ)*

After so many years of being in the dark, Byleth finally knows what she truly is! Will she finally be able to move on now that she knows her mother's pst? Or will this revelation overwhelm her? And what of the plans of those who work in the shadows? Find out next time on the next chapter of, The Ashen Saiyan!

---

We finally got there guys! Another chapter down! And now Byleth finally knows that she's a Saiyan! I did debate whether to leave the revelation until the end of this arc but figured now was a good time.

Hope you all liked the fight scenes. I do admit, I'm still not good at writing them but I do try. I feel like this one got a little better. But yes, that box might look familiar to some. It's the Reeking Box from Awakening! It's such a unique thing that I just had to bring it back here! It's so useful for the bad guys!

The Death Knight is getting stronger and yes, Byleth is still only at her current level. Could there become a point where he surpasses her? Well, this is Dragonball so no. But how will Byleth get stronger? Will it be Flayn?

Also, be sure to check Quan Ming on Twitter. We're working together on a Three Houses x Persona 5 crossover with Byleth and Sothis seeing the Velvet Room. It's really fun!

And also thank you to everyone who favourites and follows and reviews. Always means a lot when you guys do that. But yes, join us next time when we dwells more into the Cindered Shadows saga.

See you then!