Part 1: White Clouds
Wolf Pack
Byleth and the group of 141 along with the Ashen Wolves were running down the halls with every ounce of energy they had to spare. They managed to pick up Aelfric's Ki signature, which was in the Cathedral. They knew it was only a matter of time before he tried to do something foolish. They only hoped that they were not too late. Byleth and Jeralt lead the charge as the former had her eyes closed focusing on the last place that housed the Ki signature, and she kept giving directions on where to go to the rest of the group. Finally, they were now in front of a large set of iron doors which blocked the way to the Cathedral. And if they were correct, Aelfric was also there. This was it. The final battle. Jeralt sighed and turned around to address everyone.
"Look, I want you all to be prepared. There's no telling what might happen or what tricks he could have hiding behind that door. I don't want any of you to go in there and end up the same way as Edelgard or Byleth."
Both women looked at each other and felt the burning sensation of the scars left behind by the enchanted weapons that struck them. But everyone else nodded as Rhea looked at Jeralt, a steely resolve in her eyes.
"Open the door, Jeralt. I pray it's not too late."
"Yeah. Me too…"
Taking a deep breath, he nodded to Byleth and both charged up a Ki ball and thrusted it towards the door, which completely blew it to pieces and cleared the way for them to enter. Rhea followed them inside and gasped, seeing Aelfric on the centre altar in front of Sitri's body. She saw she was holding the Chalice.
"Aelfric! Stop! Cease this at once!"
Aelfric turned his head slightly to glare at her. "It is too late. The Chalice is filled to the brim with the blood of the four. Should their blood prove inefficient, then I shall spill even my own blood to finish this."
"The Chalice cannot return her soul!" Rhea yelled trying to get him to see sense. "It is incapable of even bringing her body back."
"Please Aelfric, you must stop." Byleth pleaded. But it fell on deaf ears as he closed his eyes, smiling.
"Do not fret, Byleth. Today, your mother returns to us."
He then looked fully behind to see Jeralt glaring at him and he sighed. "The time has come. Perhaps I am not an equal man to him… but I am here by your side, Sitri."
He slowly placed a hand on her arm and froze when he realised he couldn't remove his hand. He grunted and put more effort into trying to remove his hand, but it was like it was stuck to her using the stickiest substance. That's when the Chalice started glowing a dark red energy and from it, red tendrils of pure energy started encasing Sitri, and by extension, Aelfric. Her body was jerking as if something was awakening within her. When he saw her face, it showed her eyes had opened… but they revealed blood red eyes along with sharp teeth. The tendrils started encasing him too as he let out a final gasp, everyone hearing his last words.
"Sitri…"
The Chalice had succeeded in encasing them both. But the cocoon of energy started to expand, growing bigger and bigger until it eclipsed the group. Some didn't understand what was going on. But for Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude, they knew exactly what was happening.
"Her face… it looked just like…" Edelgard whimpered.
"No… I can't go through this again…" Claude gritted his teeth in frustration. Why did they just stand there?!
The cocoon started showing cracks as the power contained within it was too much. It was escaping. Byleth adjusted the glasses on her face as the full moon loomed over the cocoon and she glared at it.
'You won't turn me.'
CRACK!
"Get ready! It's hatching!" Jeralt yelled, powering up his Ki.
"The Chalice had this much power?" Balthus grunted.
The cocoon finally cracked open as a beast stepped outside. Everyone's eyes widened at what they saw.
"No… there's no way…" Hilda whispered in disbelief.
"It was under Garreg Mach this entire time?" Ashe said, his hands shaking at the memory of that last battle.
"Huh… so the Moon Beast rears it's ugly head once again." Linhardt tried to make light of the situation, despite the ongoing fear in his heart.
The beast was revealed to be the mighty Oozaru. The form built into every member of the Saiyan race. Though this one had quite a few differences due to being mixed with the magic of the Chalice. It's giant hulking form still remained, but it's fur and skin was displaced and decayed, with its skull staring back at them with red dots in the centre of the black holes of its eye sockets. Thick red tendrils were wrapped around it's body pumping energy into it's host in an attempt to keep it among the living, even if just for a short time. A true beast of horror.
"Is… this what I look like?" Byleth whispered to Jeralt who shook his head.
"Nah… no way you look that scary. Though this is unnatural in every way."
"No… it happened again. Just like the last time it was performed." Rhea lowered her eyes in deep sorrow.
"Is this really happening?!" Balthus yelled in disbelief. "Did Aelfric turn into that… thing?!"
"Heh… not exactly how I imagined it." Yuri chuckled nervously. "I thought the Ritual turned you into an Umbral Beast. Looks like we're dealing with an Umbral Moon Beast. So this the Rite of Rising…"
The Umbral Oozaru growled deeply and leaned back, before opening its mouth and letting out a deafening roar which caused everyone present to cover their ears and groan in pain.
"What's… it doing?!" Byleth gritted her teeth in pain, falling to her knees. But Hilda, Ashe and Linhardt recognised that specific roar and turned to look at the entrance.
"No… not again!" Hilda gasped.
"We did it! Mission accomplished!" Annette grinned, pumping her arms in the air. She and the rest of 141 were in the courtyard after a job well done. But some questions were on some of their minds.
"Why were there so many people in those caves?" Caspar wondered. "It almost looked like a prison."
"I have a feeling that it had something to do with that Cardinal we stopped." Lysithea said and Leonie nodded in agreement.
"Feels like we stumbled into quite the conspiracy." Leonie continued and looked at the entrance to the Cathedral. "Hopefully Captain Jeralt and Byleth can handle the rest. Though… that woman…"
"Hm?" Everyone turned to Leonie who was about to say her mind when-
RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!
Everyone froze at the sound and frantically looked around. Felix gritted his teeth.
"You're kidding…"
"N-N-N-Not again!" Bernadetta whimpered, shaking like a leaf. "Bernie can't go through this again!"
That's when Shamir flew in and looked at them all, having just done a quick scout around the premises. "Beasts are making their way to Garreg Mach!"
"We just repaired most of the damage done!" Annette yelled. "The Greenhouse was finally looking great!"
Shamir let out a "Tch…" and looked in the distance. Just like before, giant wolves and hawks were charging towards Garreg Mach and it almost felt like they were doomed to fail this time… but fortunately, they had continued their training. And they also had an ace in the hole.
"Flayn! Now's the time!" Shamir screamed and from the Monastery, Flayn came running out, a look of determination in her eyes as she looked at her team.
"I apologise that I was not able to assist you all last time, but I shall not be a hinderance tonight! We will claim victory!"
That's when they heard Petra's voice coming from the rooftops using her Eagle Vision. "Two large enemies approaching!"
Shamir let out a sigh and powered up. "You all ready? Remember the plan. We didn't spend all this time coming up with strategies against these beasts only for you to forget."
"Let's do this!" Caspar grinned, also flaring his power up. "I've been wanting to punch them in the face!"
"The knights can handle the civilians." Shamir explained, pointing a finger out and charging it with Ki. "Protect the buildings. No damage done. Are we clear?"
Everyone nodded as the rest all powered up. As a giant wolf leapt from a building and dove straight for Shamir, barring its teeth. But it's face turned into a look of shock as Shamir fired a beam of Ki which went straight through its head. It went limped and crashed to the ground as Shamir nodded.
"Let's do this."
"Lady Rhea!" Two guards came running in and despite the fear creeping up at seeing the Umbral Oozaru, saluted. "Monsters have attacked the Monastery!"
Rhea bit the inside of her cheek and looked up at the beast. "Could it be…? Did it's roars bring them here?"
She closed her eyes and gripped her hands tightly before sharply turning to face the group. "Task Force 141, I ask you to take down this thing as soon as possible!"
"Wait, you want US to fight the Moon Beast?!" Hilda yelled, not believing what she heard. "Claude and the other House Leaders couldn't even land a scratch on it last time, and they had Professor Jeralt and Shamir with them!"
"It's not the same Moon Beast."
They all looked at Jerslt who had powered up to his maximum, his Ki creating cracks in the floor, now seeing how dire the situation was. "I can't explain, not right now, but that's not the Moon Beast. It's some undead version of it. And it's notably weaker than her."
'Her?' Everyone thought. But Linhardt started thinking to himself and looked at the tail belonging to Byleth as well as the giant tail of the Umbral Oozaru. His eyes widened in realisation.
'I see. It all makes sense now.'
Luckily, nobody else had figured it out. Not like they had time to, as the Umbral Oozaru roared and slammed it's fists into the ground, causing it to crack and form craters which had thrown everyone off balance.
"This is not how I thought this day would go!" Constance yelled, hopping backwards to avoid the cracks. Balthus gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Seriously?! It's enough to possibly rival me! The King of Grappling!"
Yuri looked up at the giant monster… before looking at Rhea. "Lady Rhea. Please allow me to fight for the Church."
Rhea looked back, confused at what he meant. But Yuri continued. "It's because of my lack of actions that led to this moment. Please allow me to make up for it and to hold my end of the deal."
"Oh, so you are going to try and steal all the glory in the heat of the moment? That's so in character for you, Yuri." Constance giggled and summoned her Ki and magic.
"But worry not! For I shall assist you! Don't forget, you're not the only one with stakes in this battle. Aelfric used us, lied to us, and tried to have us killed."
Her eyes then softened as she took in the sight of the Umbral Oozaru which was once the man that she knew. "Yet despite all of that… he gave me shelter when I had none. We need to end his swiftly and put him out of his misery."
"In a way, I almost feel sorry for him." Hapi said, combining her dark magic with Ki and summoning her vines.
"He's spent a lot of time and money, just for this moment. To bring back this woman. And yet, in the end he lost himself. That's pretty sad."
Her eyes then widened when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Balthus who grinned at her, though she could tell it was a strained one. Seems that it was hard for him too.
"He made his choice. All we can do is accept it. So let's do all of us a favour and take him out!"
"Hey, don't count us out too!" Claude winked, as Dimitri nodded.
"We will fight to the very end alongside you all."
"Let's lower the curtain on this unfortunate tale." Edelgard smiled as all three powered up alongside the rest of 141.
"Let's do this." Byleth simply said and also powered up her Ki, it being higher than everyone else's. Rhea looked at them all and nodded, before allowing the guards to escort her to safety.
"Please take care of him. But with the upmost care. Stop this beast! Stop Aelfric!"
But then the Umbral Oozaru roared and punched the wall beside him, which caused chunks of rock to fall on the floor. Everyone ran to different parts of the Cathedral to avoid the shower of rock, with some of them having to summon barriers from their Ki to shield themselves from any stray ones that got near.
"This magnificent Cathedral will collapse if this keeps up!" Constance exclaimed. Jeralt looked at the walls and cursed under his breath.
"Yeah, and what's more, the walls here are connected deeply into the architecture of Garreg Mach. If this Cathedral goes, chances are the Monastery and town will go down with it."
"Great." Edelgard groaned, forging a Ki axe. "This adventure has been nothing but giving us handicaps at every turn. I pray that this be the last."
"We have no choice to but go all in." Yuri said, twirling his enchanted knife in his hand. "I've seen the destruction the Moon Beast caused, and if this is anything like that, then we need to finish it quick."
"Yeah, we've fought the Moon Beast before." Claude nodded. "We can enact a similar strategy to what we did last time."
"Yes, but we need to proceed with caution. This is different from last time. And we're confined to a small area." Dimitri reminded everyone.
"Heh. Don't worry Didi. We designed our attacks to be used in close quarters." Hapi smirked, placing her hand on the ground and channeling her dark vines to snake towards the Umbral Oozaru.
While she was doing that, Jeralt and Byleth flew into the air and distracted the monster by firing Ki blasts into it's face. It roared and tried to swipe at them with it's massive arms, but it crashed into the walls again which caused it to form more cracks.
"Hey!" Yuri called out to them, while dodging more falling rocks. "We're trying to save the Cathedral, remember?"
"You realise we're fighting something almost the size of the Monastery, yeah?" Jeralt yelled in response.
But Byleth was feeling something inside her again. Her blood was pumping, her muscles were aching in anticipation. This was it. She was being challenged once again! Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but feel excited at this. And Jeralt noticed this and shook his head.
'Saiyan's….'
Byleth ducked underneath another attempt at a swing but this time she punched the hand that was hurtling towards the wall. Though it didn't do much damage, it was able to stop the momentum. Byleth then started to form a plan in her head.
'Okay, let's not abuse Divine Pulse like last time. There's too much going on at once. It's a big target too, so while we can't do much damage to it, the beast can't move a lot due to the confined space. So if we manage to hold it down, then blast it with Ki attacks then it should go down without a hitch. But I can't forget that this is what I turned into, and even dad couldn't land a dent in it. Which means that it must have a power increase too-'
'For the love of all things, can you stop talking?!'
Byleth's eyes widened. 'Sothis? You're back? I'm fighting an Oozaru.'
'I noticed! I was sleeping, what the hell has been going on?!' Sothis yelled now appearing next to Byleth with bags under her eyes and a bewildered look on her face.
'I'll explain later! We need to take it down before it destroys everything.' Byleth said, dodging a swipe from the tail.
'I can't leave you alone for five minutes… alright fine, let's figure this out.' Sothis sighed loudly in exhaustion.
Jeralt looked at his daughter and groaned slightly, seeing that she was talking to herself again. 'Was hoping she kicked that habit…'
But then shook his head and flew over to Byleth. "You got a plan, kid?"
"I think so. I think our main concern is keeping it still so we bombard it with attacks."
"Got it."
She looked down and surveyed in her head on who can keep things in place. That's when her eyes widened when she remembered.
"Hapi!"
The girl looked up at Byleth while dodging the kicks of the Umbral Oozaru. "What is it, Chatterbox?"
"Can you create those vines again? The ones that you used against those bandits."
"I can try… but I've never tried it against something this big. It'll take some time!"
Byleth nodded at her as Hapi retreated from the battlefield and kneeled on the ground, placing her hands on the hard stone floor and closed her eyes. She channeled her mixture of Ki and Dark Magic into the stone floor as it started to slowly spread. The rest knew what to do. Keep the monster away from Hapi.
The Umbral Oozaru roared again and went to stamp it's feet on the ground again, but that's when it was thrown back on its feet when an explosion came out from under it, throwing it to the floor, leaving a noticeable gash on the foot. Claude grinned and pumped his fist in the air.
"Ki mines never let me down!"
"We have an opportunity! Attack!" Edelgard yelled.
But that's when the tendrils wrapped around the beast untangled itself and attempted to stab the assailants, the group barely able to dodge that attack. Edelgard felt it graze her arm, drawing blood and noticed it flying back to the Umbral Oozaru and inject itself back into it's body. Like magic, the monster stood up and roared again. They all stood there in disbelief but quickly snapped out of it and readied themselves again.
"You saw that right?" Claude asked Edelgard who nodded.
"Yes. Those tendrils managed to get me. Seems that maybe it's trying to heal it's host? By using the blood of others?"
"Everyone! Be careful with those tendrils! They will drain your life force!" Edelgard yelled as everyone nodded, holding their weapons tight in anticipation for another round of fighting. Byleth looked over at Hapi who was still charging her attack but noticed the web of vines was starting to get bigger and bigger, slowly snaking towards the Umbral Oozaru. She looked like she had to concentrate hard in order to conjure up so many vines. Luckily, the Umbral Oozaru hadn't noticed her and kept it's focus on the two flying targets. Byleth and Jeralt got together and charged a joint Ki attack, firing it straight at it's face.
The attack had connected and caused it to roar once more and open it's mouth to charge a massive Ki blast. Everyone's eyes widened as they tried to figure out a way to stop it. Sothis looked to Byleth and nodded.
'I'll turn back time. Then we can figure out a way-'
"Wait, hold on a second." Byleth raised a hand to stop her and pointed to the floor as everyone jumped out of the way of Hapi's vines slithering towards the monster. It's attack was cut off as it grunted in confusion before looking at the vines crawling up it's feet. Hapi gritted her teeth focusing as much as she can as it started to envelop it's legs. It tried to get out of it but everyone in the group made sure to keep it distracted by throwing everyone they had at the Umbral Oozaru. She could feel the life force start to drain thanks to the vines. Okay, the plan seemed to be working, they just needed to-
SCHICK!
"ARGH!"
In an unnaturally loud voice, Hapi's focus was broken as she slowly looked down in horror to see one of the tendrils embedded deep in her stomach. She then let out a shriek of pain as she felt her energy start to decrease again. She already lost so much blood before, and now she felt light headed. Byleth gasped when she saw her and tried to fly towards her but that's when the Umbral Oozaru caught her by surprise and slapped her towards the ground.
"HAPI!" The Ashen Wolves all cried out as she weakly tried to pull the tendril out. Yuri however, was quick to the rescue and dashed towards his friend taking out his dagger and glaring at the tendril.
"Oh no you DON'T!"
He brought the dagger down and sliced the tendril clean off, and thanks to the power of the enchantment, it couldn't heal itself properly. And judging from the reaction that the Umbral Oozaru had, they were doing something to it. Yuri then knelt down and tried to help up Hapi but she shook her head and sat with her back against a wall.
"Nah, I'm tapped out Yuri-Bird…"
"Hapi! Are you okay?" Constance yelled, running to her side alongside Balthus who had Linhardt tucked underneath his arm. Hapi rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I'm doing fine Coco. Just been stabbed by a freaky magic monster. You want some tea?"
"Well, at least she hasn't lost her charisma. I think she'll live." Balthus rolled his eyes and set Linhardt down. "Alright, get to healing her."
Linhardt sighed heavily but nodded and held out his hands, applying healing magic to her wound. While he was doing that, Balthus looked over at the Umbral Oozaru who was twitching unnaturally and not moving around em despite the barrage of attacks from Jeralt. "Hey, I think whatever you did with that knife stunned it, boss! We might have a chance!"
On the other side of the room, Byleth groaned lifting the rubble off of her and looked up at the monster who seemed to be… stunned in a way. She noticed the limp tendril by it's side and sighed in relief. That's one way to stop it. Byleth then looked at the moon and cursed under her breath. Why did one thing cause so much trouble?
"Professor!" The three House Leaders yelled running towards her as Sothis thought of a plan.
'Any bright ideas, Byleth?'
Silence. Sothis frowned. Why wasn't she talking? But then she noticed something on the ground and her heart leapt up into her mouth.
It was Byleth's sunglasses.
'Oh no…'
She wasn't the only one that noticed. Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude all saw right away she wasn't wearing her sunglasses. They must've gotten knocked off when she got hit. What's worse is that when they looked at her face, they saw that same blank look… and pink eyes.
"No, no, no, no! We can't fight both of them!" Claude cried out, gripping his hair.
"Professor! Stay with us! We're here!" Dimitri yelled, trying to shake her out of it. But no response.
"Professor Jeralt! She's transforming!" Edelgard screamed, which caught everyone's attention. Jeralt's eyes widened while everyone else looked confused. What was she talking about? But Jeralt was trying to think. Was there any way to stop Byleth from transforming.
'Come on Jeralt. Think! That old noggin of yours must have some info. What did Sitri tell you about the Oozaru?'
"Hmm? What exactly does it take to become an Oozaru?" Sitri said, looking up from the birdhouse in her hands that she was in the middle of repairing.
"Yeah. I mean, how do I know you won't accidentally turn into one?" Jeralt asked, as he was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.
"Wow… thanks for the vote of confidence." Sitri jokingly glared, but then shrugged and placed her tools down.
"Well, it's quite simple. We only need two things to turn into an Oozaru. Our tail, and the full moon. However, that doesn't mean that we can't be outside at night."
Jeralt hummed in thought, and nodded for her to continue as she pointed at her face.
"You see, moons have something called Blutz Waves. And the way those waves enter our bodies is through our eyes. So in a way, if you stop the Blutz Waves, then you stop the transformation."
'If you stop the Blutz Waves, then you stop the transformation…' Sitri's words rang through Jeralt's head as his eyes widened in realisation. It was a long shot, but it was better than nothing. He quickly turned to Edelgard and roared.
"Edelgard! Get the glasses on her! NOW!"
The Princess flinched but nodded, quickly understanding the situation. As she dropped to the ground to grab the sunglasses, she scrambled to her feet, ignoring the scorching hot pain in her ankle and ran to Byleth who's eyes were turning red. She quickly placed them on her face, covering her eyes from the rays of the full moon. Everyone waited with baited breath while Jeralt and the Ashen Wolves fought the Umbral Oozaru.
"Come on… come on…" Claude muttered.
Edelgard was practically gnawing her gloves in a state of nerves while Dimitri had crushed a rock beside him from his own nerves. They knew that if this didn't work… they weren't getting out of here alive. No way they could survive two sets of giant monsters.
'Please…'
But then… her twitching stopped. And Byleth then groaned and rubbed her head before looking at her students. The leaders saw her eyes were back to their usual blue and breathed a sigh of relief.
"My teacher, do not worry us like that again, my heart almost gave out on me." Edelgard said, dropping to her knees.
"I apologise." Byleth replied, and helped her up. "But we have no time for resting. We stopped my transformation, but we still need to figure out a way to get rid of this one."
They all looked up at the Umbral Oozaru and wondered what to do. Byleth flew up to Jeralt and adjusted her glasses. "Sorry about that dad."
Jeralt smiled and gave a thumbs up in response. "Glad you're still with us, kid. And… I think I have an idea on how to stop this."
Byleth tilted her head in wonder. "Oh?"
"Yeah. It's something your mother told me. A Saiyan's tail is their main source of power. And to turn into an Oozaru, you need your tail and the full moon."
"So if we get rid of the tail… then it should reverse the effects?" Byleth frowned, placing a hand on her chin in thought while dodging out of the way of a swipe.
"Exactly. Though I don't want to mutilate your mothers body, Aelfric has made it so we don't have a choice. Hardest part of the plan is to get this beast to sit still long enough for us to cut it off."
'Hey… didn't you used to have troubles with your own tail?' Sothis asked and Byleth's eyes widened. She looked to the giant tail swinging about and turned to Jeralt.
"Dad, did mother ever train her tail so it doesn't paralyse her?"
Jeralt, knowing what she was talking about, quickly shook her head. "No, I don't think she did. Never had a good enough reason to. Okay, we throw everything we got at that tail. Hopefully, it shares that same weakness."
Back on the ground, the students were all trying anything they could to take down the giant beast. Claude had his Ki mines, Edelgard and Dimitri were using brute strength, even Ashe was trying his long ranged attacks and Hilda using her axe on the feet. But nothing was working. To make matters worse, both Linhardt and Hapi were out of commission with the former focusing all his efforts on making sure she didn't go into shock from her wound.
"Ugh, this is so frustrating!" Constance yelled. "It's like it's skin is completely invulnerable to our attacks!"
"Well, if it's anything like the Professor- EEK!" Hilda was about to respond but had to jump out of the way of the Umbral Oozaru's tail slamming into the ground before her.
But that's when they all felt a throbbing in their head and heard Byleth's voice.
'Everyone. The tail is the weak spot. It's a working theory, but if we remove that tail, then victory will be ours. I repeat, focus on removing that tail.'
"Oh yeah, we did suggest that before…" Claude wondered out loud and Dimitri nodded.
"Indeed. Though… is this truly right? It is Professor Byleth's mother after all. Must we desecrate a corpse?"
"We can worry about that later." Edelgard said to Dimitri. "But right now, we have to stop this beast from destroying Garreg Mach."
"Yes… you're right."
On the other side of the room, Balthus suddenly had an idea and grinned, before turning around and running off. Constance noticed this and screamed.
"And where do you think YOU'RE going?!"
"Giving you guys a helping hand! Just buy me some time!"
Yuri chuckled and shook his head. "Well, you heard him. Once he has an idea, there's no stopping him. Though I'm excited to see what he's planning…"
But then he saw Dimitri's display of strength as he lifted a large chunk of wall to provide cover and hummed in wonder. "And I think I have an idea of my own…"
The formation had now changed. While Byleth and Jeralt provided distraction, the rest were now trying to attack the tail of the Umbral Oozaru. But it seemed like it knew what they were trying to do, because it kept its appendage close to it's body. And any attempts at an attack would be blocked by the tendrils who still tried to take their life force.
"It's smart, I'll give it that. Maybe that's the Saiyan instincts kicking in." Jeralt wondered out loud and flew upwards to avoid a swipe from the beast. "Hey, brats! Are you even trying?!"
"Give us a break!" Hilda yelled back. "We're three people short!"
"Wait, three?"
"Yeah! Baltie ran off somewhere!"
"What's he even doing?" Edelgard growled in frustration, using her Ki to boost a jump and attempted to swing her axe into the tail but the Umbral Oozaru quickly sensed her and swiped at her, causing her to go flying straight into a wall and knocking the wind out of her lungs. She slid off the wall and when she landed on the cold hard ground a bunch of rubble came down with her.
"Edelgard!" Dimitri yelled, dropping his spear and sprinting towards her and falling to his knees in front of her. He quickly removed some rubble off of her body and quickly checked for any signs of serious damage. Thankfully, there was none… until he saw her ankle. Which was bent unnaturally. It seemed like her injury finally caught up with her.
But the Princess just coughed some dust up and groaned, looking at her ankle. "Why is it always me that gets hit by it…"
"Just rest, El." Dimitri whispered, brushing her bangs away from her face. "I don't think you're in a position to fight anymore. Does it hurt?"
"It's more… a numbing pain. I don't think it's actually hit me yet that it hurts."
"Aw, how touching that our future leaders care about each other."
The two looked at Yuri walking up towards them. And he set his sights on Dimitri. "Hey there, your Highness. I have a plan. How good are you at not drawing attention to yourself?"
He slowly held out the enchanted dagger as Dimitri and Edelgard looked at each other, wondering what his plan was.
Meanwhile, Balthus had climbed up to the top of the Cathedral, scouting out a good place to mount his attack. He made a portrait with his fingers to get a good angle on the Umbral Oozaru. Satisfied with his position, he grinned and clenched his fist.
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be the best one yet!"
As he cracked his knuckles and neck before squatting down and closed his eyes, focusing all his Ki into his two legs. He's only got one shot at this so it has to count. As he kept focusing, his legs started to glow with power as cracks formed under his feet. He kept his eyes on the prize. Right in that monsters ugly mug.
"You don't mess with the King of Grappling and live to tell the tale!"
Back at the fight, Byleth was trying to hit the tail but no matter what they tried, the Umbral Oozaru just kept defending it with it's life. She looked around, trying to find anything that could give them an edge for them. Then she spotted it. Hanging above them was a loose boulder that was a miracle by itself that it hadn't gotten dislodged. Byleth then sensed a rising level of Ki and turned around to see Balthus charging up something. Then it all clicked in her head.
This was it.
This was the moment.
'Are you sure about this?' Sothis asked. But Byleth shot her a look.
"You have any better ideas?"
'Don't get snippy with me! I'm worried!'
"Just gotta time it right…"
Byleth wasn't an idiot. It was clear that they were losing. Not only were they down two people, one of them being in the top 3 of strongest fighters in this group. But also, their only healer was focusing on keeping one of them alive. She then let out a yelp, dodging out of an approaching tendril and cursed. This thing was getting desperate now. It was trying anything to get rid of them.
"GET READY FOR THE PAIN!"
They all stopped and turned to see Balthus launching himself off of the platform at speeds that not even Pegasi could compare to. The Umbral Oozaru even stopped it's attacks in disbelief at what it was seeing right now. But Balthus wasn't done yet as he drew his arm back and channeled all the power he had left into his right arm. The power was so great that it tore his sleeve off from the energy alone. But he didn't care, he had the advantage. The beast didn't even know he had retreated and had no time to react.
"HAIL TO THE KING, BABY!"
He slammed his fist straight into the Umbral Oozaru's face and the impact was so great that it caused it to stumble back clutching it's face roaring in pain. Exactly in the spot Byleth needed it to be as she looked up and aimed a small Ki blast at the boulder, dislodging it… and it slammed right onto the tail of the monster.
"Good job kid!" Jeralt yelled. But then he saw Balthus start to fall down and he quickly flew over and caught him. It was only then he saw the damage that Balthus had received.
His arm looked like a mess. Not only was it suffering from severe burns from the output of Ki, but also bits of skin and blood vessels were ripped out and dangling. Jerald couldn't even begin to imagine what his bones were like. He flew down and laid him next to Hapi who let out a gasp.
"B! What the hell were you thinking?!"
Balthus cracked his eyes open and gave a weak thumbs up. "Hey. Worked, didn't it?"
That's when the situation caught up to them. Jerald saw the Umbral Oozaru kneeling down, groaning in both pain and frustration as the trapped tail made it impossible for it to move. Just like he and Byleth predicted, Sitri never learned to train her tail the same way her daughter did. Which means they did it. They won!
…That is, until the Umbral Oozaru let out the loudest roar it could muster and knocked everyone back, including Byleth. She was still in the air and gritted her teeth when she saw it's giant mouth open up. A large ball of energy formed in it's mouth with the target being very clear. Everyone in this room.
"Is this it's last cry for help?" Constance yelled while trying to get up. Yuri chucked next to her.
"This can't be good. Seems like it felt too good to be true. Come on, hurry up…."
"Do something!"
"We can't do anything to stop that!"
"Everyone brace yourselves!"
Everyone took whatever cover they could find and waited as the Umbral Oozaru charged up the attack ready to fire and destroy all these annoying creatures-
SHINK!
The attack abruptly stopped as the beasts eyes widened. Everyone else was confused. Except for Edelgard who let out an exhausted grin and pumped her fist and Yuri who nodded, satisfied. Why? Because from behind, Dimitri was behind the Umbral Oozaru… with it's tail slumped on the ground. And in his hand was Yuri's enchanted dagger.
He managed to cut off the tail.
The real question is that what would happen now? They all held their breath to find out. It was not moving at all. Just a vacant look in it's deformed face. But that's when smoke started to billow out of it's body as the tendrils all untangled themselves before disintegrating into nothing. As the smoke started coming out more and more, the monstrous size started to shrink. Everyone now had a look of hope. Did they do it? Did they win?
The smoke was now covering the Umbral Oozaru and they all had to cover their mouth's to stop inhaling the smoke. Luckily, there was plenty of ventilation in the Cathedral thanks to the damage done. Byleth and Jerald saw the smoke clearing after almost a minute of constant billowing and there they saw… Sitri. Minus the tail, she looked like nothing had happened to her. Even had her white dress on still. Though they did wonder what happened to Aelfric.
The Ashen Wolves all looked down with sadness in their eyes as Constance helped up Hapi who clutched her stomach.
"Even after all he did… all the lies and deceit… I still didn't want him to go like that." Hapi said.
"Like I said, he made his choice. We have to respect it even if we know it was foolish." Balthus looked down at the floor next to Sitri's body and saw a pile of ash.
"Damn fool…" Yuri muttered and shook his head before they all heard a voice. They all turned to see Rhea walking up to them.
"I apologise for not providing assistance in the battle."
But surprisingly, it was Edelgard who shook her head as she leaned on Dimitri, hobbling on one foot. "It's okay, Archbishop. There was no guarantee we would make it out of here alive. We couldn't have you putting your life at risk."
Rhea let out a sigh and looked around at the Cathedral. What a mess. But these things can be repaired and replaced. She looked to Sitri's body and closed her eyes.
"It's over."
But she saw Byleth and Jerald looking at the body and walked up to be beside them. "I imagine you two have a lot on your mind."
"It's been over twenty years since I last saw her…" Jerald whispered. "I just wish it could've been under different circumstances."
"But I thought she was buried at Garreg Mach… why is she here Rhea?" Byleth asked. The Archbishop closed her eyes again and sighed.
"I could give you a whole list of excuses… but at the end of the day, it was just a selfish act on my part. Prior to her funeral, I arranged for a fake burial. And then I brought her here where I would visit her. I never thought that anyone would ever find her. How foolish I was."
She turned to the it and saw Jerald smouldering in anger. "I understand your anger, Jeralt. I suppose I just wasn't ready to let her go… but today has proven that it is time."
"…This was a low blow, Archbishop. You had no right to take her body." Jeralt growled… but then took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled. "But I guess thanks to you, I got to see her one last time."
Byleth slowly walked up to the pedestal and observed Sitri. Even slowly reaching her hand out and tracing her cold cheek. She closed her eyes and let out a small smile.
"You're right dad. I do look just like her."
Jeralt cracked a small smile of his own and Rhea nodded to the two. "I will arrange a proper burial. This time, in the spot she was meant to be."
"Yeah… thanks."
Both Byleth and Jeralt appreciated the gesture… but it was sort of Rhea's fault this all happened in the first place. Needless to say, this drove a wedge between the pair and the Archbishop.
But the sombre moment was ruined when they saw Hilda stomping up to them and jabbing a finger in Byleth's chest.
"Now hold on a minute! You have some explaining to do Professor! What the heck was that back there? You looked at the moon and you were acting like you were possessed by some demon."
The House leaders quickly walked up to them, or in Edelgard's case, hopped. Along with the other students and Claude tried to reason with his classmate.
"Hey Hilda, maybe now's not the time-"
"Claude. It's okay."
The three looked at Byleth who shook her head at them. Dimitri leaned in.
"Professor, are you sure?"
"They deserve to know. And… I feel like I can trust them to keep it a secret for now."
She then turned to the rest and proceeded to explain everything. The way her tail works, and how she cannot look at a full moon without her glasses on. She even explained how she was the 'Moon Beast' and was the one who almost destroyed Garreg Mach. Needless to say, the students were floored at this realisation. But Linhardt simply nodded.
"Honestly, the more I think about it, the more that it all makes sense. Especially considering how you've been wearing those glasses throughout the night."
"So how do we know that this won't happen again?" Hilda asked, clearly afraid.
"I'm working on it." Byleth simply replied.
"Oh, well that makes me feel better…"
"This has been one of the strangest weeks of my life." Constance moaned, falling to her knees in exhaustion. "But I'm glad it's over. Wait… what about the Chalice?"
"I shall make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands again. It'll be sent far, far, far away from Fódlan." Rhea said as Constance whispered a curse. Looked like she got too attached to that trinket. But that's when Balthus turned to Yuri.
"Boss, you gotta tell me. Was Aelfric really just using us all this time?"
The only answer he got however, was a shrug. "How should I know? He always acted that way around me. Like we were a means to an end."
His eyes trailed over to the pile of ash that they only assumed was their old friend. "But, the Church records indicate that he founded the Ashen Wolves house fifteen years ago. He mentioned finding Sitri ten years ago. So it really did seem like he meant well at first."
But Hapi shook her head, still clutching her stomach. "What's done is done. He's gone and we're here. That's what matters."
"You're so quick to adapt to change, Hapi." Constance smiled. "I should follow your example!"
Yuri chuckled and shook his head. "That's true, you always get to the heart of things. Right then, I have things to take care of-"
"I'm afraid I have to cut in, Yuri."
The Ashen Wolves saw Rhea looking at them with a stern gaze. "You four are joining the rest in getting medical attention. Balthus and Hapi won't be getting far without it."
Yuri and Constance then realised just how badly their friends got hurt. The way Hapi was pale and clutching her stomach despite her cool demeanour. And Balthus couldn't even move his arm without wincing in pain. Not to mention the rest of the students who had injuries of their own, the most being Edelgard who couldn't even walk, as well as himself losing most of his blood. He nodded in response.
"Fair enough. Once we're patched up, then we go."
Byleth nodded towards the exit. "Let's go. I have some tea I can give you all if you're interested. Do any of you like Bergamot or Rose Petal Blend?"
Constance almost cried tears of happiness as she threw herself into Byleth hugging her tightly. "Thank you! Oh thank you! Finally some proper tea!"
"Okay Coco, ease up. You're being weird." Hapi said as they all started to leave.
"Huh. It's morning now. The suns coming up." Linhardt said and yawned loudly. "Oh well, I'm going for a nap now. I require no disturbances."
Byleth noted what Linhardt said, and took her glasses off, no longer needing to use them as the moon was gone. But as Byleth was about to leave, she could've sworn she saw something at the other end of the room.
At first she thought it was Sothis. But the more she looked at the figure smiling at her, she saw similarities to herself. And then… the tail.
"Mom?"
"Hey kid, you okay?" Jeralt asked. Byleth looked over to him and then back to the other end of the room, but then saw there was nothing there. Did she… imagine it?
She just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. I'm okay. Let's go get a drink, dad."
"Hah! Best plan I've heard for a while."
*Song: DBZ Closing Theme*
At long last, after a hard fought battle, our heroes have emerged victorious over the dreaded Umbral Oozaru. But not without a few scrapes along the way. What will be next for our heroes? And what about the mysterious Lord Slug that's on his way here? Find out next time on, The Ashen Saiyan!
And that's a wrap guys. With this chapter, we have one more to go and then we are finally done with the Ashen Wolves saga. And then after some brief interval chapters, we will be on our way to the Lord Slug saga. I already have the ideas pinned down as well as art ideas that will be used. I hope you're all excited like I am.
So guys, I shall see you all in the next one.
Catch you later!