Part 1: White Clouds
Invader from the Stars
[WARNING! THERE WILL BE DESCRIPTIONS OF GORE WITH DETAILS OF BODY PARTS GETTING RIPPED! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!]
In the courtyard of Garreg Mach, Byleth was powering up her Ki to the max. She was gritting her teeth, letting out more screams and trying to reach deep inside her soul to try and find the power she was looking for. On her left, Shamir was watching with her arms folded, though the bead of sweat that was running down her face was a clear indicator of how intimidated she was at the power before her. To Byleth's right, Jeralt watched with an intense stare before letting out a sigh and walking up to his daughter before placing a hand on her shoulder.
"That's enough kid, you'll pop a blood vessel if you strain too hard."
Suddenly, the wind abruptly stopped as Byleth nodded and sat down with her arms folded, before looking up at Shamir who walked over to her. "Did you notice anything?"
"Well, you have an impressive set of lungs." Shamir smiled with the light jab and shook her head. "Seriously, you were screaming for like four minutes there."
"Yeah, my throat does feel sore." Byleth mumbled, rubbing her neck. "But is there anything else? Any difference?"
Jeralt shook his head. "Your power is incredible, but it's no different from before. Remind me again, kid. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"
"There's this great power inside me." Byleth explained as she got up and placed a hand on her chest. "But it's unfiltered, out of control and needs to be refined. I'm trying to find a way to bring it out without actually becoming that monster."
"A Great Ape, right?"
They turned to see Catherine waving at them but Byleth tilted her head. "Great… Ape?"
"Yeah, it's what I decided to call it."
"…But apes don't have tails."
"Yeah, but… I… never mind, so what's up?"
"Byleth's trying to harness the power of the Oozaru." Shamir explained. "So far, not much progress."
"Why don't we spar then?" Catherine suggested. "That might help you awaken something."
"I'm sorry Catherine, but I'm afraid that it's time for our training session." Dimitri cut in as the adults all saw the students walk in donning their training Gi. "Though you are welcome to learn."
But Catherine just waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I'll pass. Maybe one day I'll learn, but so far there's not been a problem that I haven't been able to solve with good old Thunderbrand here. I can help you guys with your footing however."
"That reminds me. Teach, there's been one thing you've been neglecting." Claude said which made Byleth tilt her head again in confusion.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"We want to fly of course!" Claude exclaimed.
"Indeed, it would be beneficial for us to learn that ability." Dimitri nodded. But Byleth just shook her head.
"No, I think not."
This surprised the other students as Edelgard stepped forward. "Pardon me Professor, but why wouldn't you teach us this clearly amazing power? You taught Shamir it."
"Well one." Byleth lifted a finger. "Shamir isn't a student here, and that technique would be useful for someone of her station."
"It's true." Shamir nodded.
"Two." Another finger raised. "It's the Battle of the Eagle and Lion soon, and don't you think it would be a little unfair that some students can fly and some students can't?"
"But there's already an unfair advantage! I can push a giant boulder with my bare hands!" Lysithea whined. But Byleth raised an eyebrow.
"And I believe it was Mercedes who bested you in a sparring match recently?"
"…It was…"
"You were too busy stuffing your face with cake and ended up with a stomachache." Felix said as he watched Lysithea's face heat up.
"Don't tell them that! Why were you even spying on me?!"
"I wasn't. You were just gobbling up so much cake I had to wonder if rats had gotten into the pantry."
Their foreheads were now touching at this point as lightning sparked between the two, before Byleth pried them both away.
"Alright, that's enough you two. My point still stands however. But I promise, after the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, I will teach you all how to fly. You have my word."
"Alright! I can't wait to fly!" Caspar cheered, pumping his fists in the air. "So what kind of training are we going to be doing today?"
"I'm glad you asked." Byleth replied.
"I have a little challenge for you all to try and improve your training." She slowly reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a bottle before holding it out in front of them. They all looked at one another confused. But then Byleth explained.
"It's a little concoction that I made with the help of Anna and Manuela. When you drink what's inside, it'll give you power like you've never seen from yourself before."
"Ooooh, that sounds like an amazing potion." Annette giggled, reaching out for it-
SMACK!
"Ooowwwweeeey!" Annette whined, rubbing her hand as Byleth smacked it away. She had that same smile on her face that all the students knew of at this point. The kind where she knows she's putting them all through the wringer. It wasn't going to be easy getting that potion.
"Your task will be simple. Just try and take it from me. It'll be anytime, anywhere. All you have to is grab it. Whoever gets it, wins." As she used her tail to dangle it behind her.
"Well? Get to it. Unless you don't want to make yourselves stronger."
Byleth watched as the gears turned in their heads before they suddenly realised what to do and charged towards her, or rather, the bottle that held the potion. Unfortunately for them, Byleth was dodging and ducking and making full use of her abilities and Saiyan biology to make it extremely difficult for them to grab hold of the potion. Annette had an interesting strategy where she used a wind spell to throw Byleth off guard, but her own feet were her downfall as she face planted on the ground.
"Darn my feet!" Annette's voice was muffled in the ground as Caspar ran past her.
"Here it comes! I'm gonna get it-"
He was cut off when Byleth grabbed his arm. "You really need to stop shouting so much. It alerts your foes to where you are."
"But then I don't get to show off my awesome moves!"
He yelped when Byleth kicked him away and back flipped over Edelgard and she grunted in surprise when Byleth landed on her shoulders, causing her to crumple to the ground due to both her weighted clothing and her Professor.
"Try to pay attention to your surroundings, Edelgard."
"…Duly noted, Professor." Edelgard growled, with her voice being muffled by the ground. Byleth then swapped the potion from her tail to hooking it on her sword when Claude grinned and fetched a little concoction he made in his spare time and looked to everyone.
"Think fast! I'm getting that potion!"
He threw the concoction to the ground causing an explosion of thick smoke and dust to come out and cover the entire area and making everyone cough and close their eyes.
"Claude! What did we say about cheap tricks?!" Dimitri coughed loudly.
"Dammit Claude! I hate it when you do that!" Hilda screamed, also coughing into her handkerchief. But Claude had a piece of wet cloth over his mouth and chuckled.
"All according to plan. Just unfortunate collateral damage. Now nobody can see me." He grinned but froze when he heard a voice behind him
"True, but you are bad at hiding your Ki. You stick out like a sore thumb."
"Uhh, heeeey Teach!" Claude laughed nervously. "I was about to get you, somebody tampered with my little concoction, I think it was Edel-GUH!"
He was cut off when she drove her fist into his stomach and sent him crashing into a nearby pillar causing it to crack. That was one problem taken care of. She could draw it out longer to see how everyone else would fare, but she's honestly seen enough. It was time to end this. With a loud roar, she expelled her Ki and used the force wave to dispel the cloud of smoke. Now she could see who was left, and her eyes glinted with mischief as she charged with blinding speed towards each one.
"Not the face! Not the face!" Bernadetta squealed waving her hands frantically in front of her.
One by one, they all face planted against a pillar with groans of pain and in Hilda's case, she got sent right through the door of a room used for prayers and surprised everyone inside who were currently using it. Byleth let out a breath and relaxed before clapping her hands together.
"And that's enough for now."
"Dammit… I didn't even get to do anything…." Felix growled clenching his fist and punched the ground.
"Claude, that was your fault!" Lysithea screamed.
"Hey that was Edelgard!"
"Don't involve me in your shenanigans!"
"Enough."
They all turned to Byleth who was now dangling the potion on her tail. "Now would anyone care to explain where we went wrong?"
"Yeah, Claude!"
"Edelgard did it!"
Byleth had an unusually pained look on her face and pinched the bridge of her nose before seeing Edelgard raise her hand. "Yes, Edelgard?"
"I believe that we became too focused on the goal that was in sight." Edelgard explained, now dusting off her gi of all the dirt that had got in it from being stomped on. "And when we saw that only one of us could win the prize, then it devolved into chaos. We were only looking out for ourselves."
Byleth nodded with a smile. "Very good Edelgard. Yes, you all got too focused on grabbing the potion. And it's like all the training we have been building up to this point had dissolved like paper in the rain. You went back to old habits." She finished that last point with a look at Claude who shrugged.
"The same can be applied to a battle." Byleth continued. "You might see a potential key to victory but if you focus on that one point, then you're blind to everything else around you. I believe in future, you should all try and rely on one another to help each other. Even if only one person gets the victory. For example, you could've had Petra use her Eagle Vision to sense my movements and where I would strike."
"I apologise for not doing that, everyone." Petra bowed deeply. "I will do better next time."
"Like I said, this isn't over yet." Byleth explained, tucking the potion in her coat. "You can try and take the potion from me at any point. However, it's clear that your team work is lacking when it comes to competition. We will be fixing that with some more training."
"Awesome! What'll it be?" Caspar asked.
"Meditating."
"Aaaaw come on!"
Byleth sighed. "Image training."
"Alright, yeah. See? That's more like it." Caspar chuckled.
"Won't you be joining us, Professor?" Petra asked but Byleth shook her head.
"I apologise to you all, but for now I will be on a training session of my own. One that I believe I'm close to. A realm of power that is greater than before."
"Woooaaahhh…" Caspar, Annette and Ashe all breathed out in amazement.
"Great, as if the gap wasn't big enough." Felix muttered, crossing his arms.
"Alright you lot, come on over. Leave Byleth in peace." Shamir said and lead all the students away with Catherine following suit as she wanted to spar with some of them one on one to gauge how strong they have gotten, leaving Byleth and Jeralt alone as he looked at Byleth.
"Think you've got a shot at it? The power I mean."
"I'm not sure." Byleth replied. "I'm trying to remember the feeling of when I turned into… that. If I was able to change again then I could replicate the feeling. But…"
"You don't want to lose control again."
"Exactly."
"And honestly, we were barely able to keep you under wraps while you were transformed." Jeralt nodded, agreeing with Byleth as he hummed in thought.
"Try sleeping on it kid. After all, you'll just get more and more frustrated at the lack of progress. Maybe take a break and then come back to it."
"I guess you're right dad… I just don't want to be a burden." Byleth looked down with her tail drooping too. "I almost did it again back in Abyss. If it wasn't for Edelgard…"
"Hey, you can't keep thinking about the negatives on these things, kid. You just have to-"
Both their eyes widened as their senses were on overdrive. Jeralt looked at Byleth with a serious look. "Did you feel that?"
"I did… it is malicious… and powerful. But where is it coming from?"
"We are here, my Lord." A hooded figure nodded, staring out of the window of the ship they were on. Behind him, Lord Slug looked at the planet and grinned.
"Good. This planet is perfect, just as you said. Well done, my underlings. You have outdone yourself this time."
"I am not worthy, my Lord." The hooded figure bowed deeply.
"Aw hell yeah! A new planet full of people to suck dry!" One of the goons pumped his fist and rubbed his hands together. "Say the word my Lord and I'll get my boys down there to get it ready for you-"
"No."
The goon slowly looked up, confused at what he heard as Lord Slug's grin got wider.
"I want to see this planet for myself. Make sure it's up to my standards. Do you know how long I have been waiting for the right planet to build my water paradise? No, you'll all stay here and get ready while I inspect the water here."
"Yes sir!"
"Good." Lord Slug slowly walked towards the teleporter pad and stepped on it, before chuckling to himself. "I can see it now. A planet full of the freshest water, and all for me and me alone."
With that, the pad turned on and Lord Slug was teleported away. All the down to the world of Fódlan.
"Shit. I sense it!" Jeralt cursed and looked in the direction of where that Ki was coming from. "It's insane!"
"Ngh… it's unlike anything I've ever sensed before." Byleth mumbled, feeling a bead of cold sweat ran down the side of her face. She had an idea. And judging by her dads look, he knew what it was.
"Not that I don't trust you kid, but-"
"I'll go and check it out." Byleth simply explained. "If anything happens, get over to my position with Shamir as soon you can."
But before she could leave, the students ran up to her again. This time it was Edelgard who spoke up with a serious look.
"Do you sense it too, Professor?"
"I do."
"Are we going to check it out?" Leonie asked but Byleth shook her head.
"You lot are staying here. It's much too dangerous. Like I said to Professor Jeralt, I will go and investigate."
"But Professor-" Dimitri tried to argue, but a quick glare from Byleth made him hold his tongue.
"Listen. I don't know if I'm strong enough to fight this individual."
That completely floored the others. As far as they've known for so long, Byleth was the strongest person who could win any battle. For her to say that she might not be strong enough…
But Claude then eyed her with the most serious gaze she's seen on him. "The moment we sense your Ki dwindling…"
"Yes. I know. But I've already said to Professor Jeralt that he and Shamir come get me if I am to fall. None of you can fly yet, nor are you anywhere near strong enough. Please don't do anything reckless until I know for certain what we are dealing with. Then we can plan from there."
With that, Byleth adjusted her coat and sucked in a breath before nodding to Jeralt who nodded back and they all watched as Byleth flew away to the direction of the malicious Ki. Bernadetta timidly looked over to Jeralt.
"S-She's going to beat it, right?"
"…"
"…R-Right?"
Jeralt wasn't one to sugarcoat things and looked at the students. "I don't know. I really don't know."
'Come on kid… be careful.'
As Byleth was flying through the air, Sothis appeared next to her with a very worried look.
'Do not do anything reckless, child. I will help in any way I can. But the flow of time won't be able to save you.'
"I know… it's strange. I should be excited."
'I'm sorry?'
"There is an opponent who I might have to push myself to fight. That's good, isn't it? But… this Ki. I have a feeling that whatever their intentions are for Fódlan, it isn't good."
Sothis looked down in thought and nodded. 'Just… please-'
"Be careful. I know. But whatever happens next…"
Byleth didn't finish that sentence and just kept flying.
In a separate part of Fódlan, near where the Empire and Alliance were connected, there was a vast clearing filled with luscious green fields along with various wildlife going about their day. A deer was drinking out of the nearby lake that was at the centre of it all. It was peaceful. Beautiful. Untampered.
Unfortunately that would all come to a stop as a loud noise came out of nowhere and scared the animals away with something starting to materialise in the middle of the clearing. When the light dissipated, there stood Lord Slug who looked around at the scenery and took a deep breath through his nose, soaking it all in and almost shuddering in delight.
"The air! It's so clean! And pure!"
He then noticed the nearby lake and slowly walked over to it, and dipped his hand in the water before drawing it out and observing the droplets that fell from his hand. Nodding in satisfaction, he dipped his hand in again but this time cupped his hand to drink the water.
"Hehehehehe. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lord Slug laughed loudly raising his hands in victory. "Amazing! Absolutely amazing! The air is clear, the water is pure! It's perfect! This'll be the place!"
But then Lord Slug noticed something approaching his location and looked up, still keeping that grin. "It seems like I have caught someone's attention."
He slowly walked to where the person was landing and it was shown to be Byleth who glared at him. But internally she was very put off. She hasn't seen anything like this before. And Sothis was next to her.
'So this is where the malicious Ki came from. There's no doubt about it, he's not of this world.'
'What was the clue? The green skin?'
'Don't get snippy with me!'
Byleth then focused her attention on the being before her. "Greetings."
'Did you just greet him?!'
"And a hello to you too."
"I'm going to cut to the chase. Why are you here?"
Lord Slug didn't answer at first, instead his eyes shifted to the tail that was on her waist. "Hm. I never thought I'd see a Saiyan around these parts."
This surprised Byleth. But then again, this being wasn't from this world. Maybe he met the Saiyan's at some point. She steeled herself and asked. "How do you know that I'm a Saiyan?"
Lord Slug ignored the question and shrugged. "Didn't expect you lot to still be kicking. Last I heard, your planet was destroyed by a meteorite. But I suppose you'll do great as my little messenger."
"Messenger?" Byleth tilted her head.
"Yes. Go tell everyone that this planet now belongs to me, Lord Slug. I will be terraforming it to turn it into my personal paradise. Water as far as the eye can see! And it'll all be mine!"
She narrowed her eyes. "And tell me, 'Lord Slug'. What will happen to the people of this world?"
And just like before, Lord Slug gave a shrug. "Don't know, and don't care. It'll take some time to filter out the water. I don't like the taste of corpses desecrating my water, you know? Now run along, Saiyan. Tell everyone to pray to whatever kind of God they want because by the end of the week, their world will be no more."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. This is my world too. And I won't stand back and let you destroy everything I hold dear." Byleth declared, grabbing her coat and tossing it onto the ground, with it making a slight dent due to the weight. Understanding what she meant, Lord Slug smirked, starting to crack his knuckles.
"Well, I wasn't planning on getting my hands dirty. I was just making sure that this planet was up to standard. But then again, I haven't had the chance to test out my strength after regaining my youth. Alright little Saiyan, I'll play along."
But on Byleth's side, Sothis had a look of deep concern as she looked at her host. 'Byleth, are you sure? His power is incredible from the start. And I have a feeling that this is only the beginning.'
'What other choice do we have? I'll need your help on this one with your Divine Pulses.'
'Of course.'
With that silent conversation over, Byleth crossed her arms in front of her face and started powering up. Her aura flaring like a wildfire. She gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep it under control. This was the first time in a long time that she had to go all out from the beginning. But she knew that if she didn't…
The ground beneath her split and made large cracks with chunks of rock floating upwards from the intensity of the Ki. And back at Garreg Mach, those who sensed Ki were blown away by what they were sensing.
"THAT'S THE PROFESSOR?!" Lysithea exclaimed.
"It's amazing! I've never sensed her Ki go up like this before." Edelgard nodded but looked over at Felix who was scowling. Dimitri noticed it too and asked what was wrong, but Felix shook his head.
"Don't you all get it? If she's going up THAT high at the very start, then it's clear that whatever she is facing is no joke."
"Yeah… he's right." Claude said. "Teach hasn't gone all out before. Not even when it was against Lonato…"
And with Jeralt, he was looking in the distance where the fight was taking place and scowled. But then heard a voice behind him.
"Should we go?"
He turned to see Shamir and Flayn standing there. He pondered for a moment, before shaking his head.
"Wait for now…"
"You don't sound sure." Shamir pointed out.
"Yeah… you're right."
Finally, Byleth was done powering up as she took in a few deep breaths. Her physical appearance hadn't really changed all that much, with the only difference being that her muscles got a little bigger. And she took a stance with the Sword of the Creator still attached to her hip and glared at Lord Slug who chuckled.
"Very impressive! I never thought I'd get the chance to fight a Saiyan! This is truly my lucky day!"
Byleth said nothing in response, with a cold bead of sweat running down the side of her head. She was going all out. But it might not be enough. She couldn't do this with brute force, so she would have to strategise. With that final thought, Byleth charged forward and punched him hard in the stomach. But to her shock, she heard a chuckle in response.
"Oh, so you've got some fight in ya, huh? But if you're gonna hurt me, you have to try harder than that."
That's when Byleth groaned loudly in pain as he drove his knee deep into her stomach, completely knocking the wind out of her. And as she fell into her knees clutching her stomach, he kicked her hard in the face sending her flying into a tree with the force of impact being more than enough to topple the tree and scare away the wildlife that were hiding there. Byleth held her nose while bringing herself up into a sitting position.
'You're welcome for me reversing time like that.' Sothis said, with a big look of concern as Byleth slowly realigned her nose.
"This is going to be tough…"
'We already knew this. Now look alive! He's coming!'
Byleth narrowed her eyes in concentration and ducked under a punch which the force alone tore through the forest behind her. She then drew her sword and tried to take a swing at his face but he dodged with ease and grabbed her face, and slammed her into the ground. And brought her back up to eye level, and slammed her again. And again. And again. And again.
"Come on, little Saiyan! I heard you lot were supposed to be the strongest warriors in the universe! Where's that fire?! Show me!"
As he picked her up again and threw her into a rock, with the rubble falling on top of her.
"Who knows, maybe I'll even find those you care about and take their lives too!"
That's when the rubble started shaking from the energy output. And Lord Slug grinned seeing that this was going to get interesting. Seems he touched a nerve there, as the rubble exploded outwards with Byleth screaming and powering up further. Seems like she tapped into some more power there. And she glared right at Lord Slug.
"What did you say?" She spoke in a low voice and Lord Slug beckoned her forward.
"Come at me!"
He grunted loudly feeling himself he thrown back by Byleth's punch aimed right at his chest which actually hurt a lot more than her usual attacks. But she didn't stop there and flew over to Lord Slug, punching him again, and again, and then grabbed him by the arms and went to toss him in the air before getting ready to fly up to him.
But that's when Byleth realised something. She tossed him in the air… so what was still holding onto her? And by slowly looking at her shoulders she saw his hands. And they were stretching from all the way up there.
"He can stretch his limbs?!" Byleth exclaimed but Sothis widened her eyes and screamed at Byleth.
'DOOOOOODGE!'
"What-"
Byleth yelled in pain as Lord Slug used the momentum to smash his head into her own head and caused her to go sailing into a cliff. She groaned loudly holding her head and glared at the spirit.
"You know Sothis, yelling 'dodge!' is more of a distraction than helpful!" Byleth yelled as Lord Slug tilted his head.
"Who the hell are you talking to?"
"Not important!"
Byleth charged forward and seeing Lord Slug going for another swing, she jumped over his arm just as it hit the ground and grabbed it before flipping herself over his head and attempted to throw him, but found herself being bonded by the very arm she was holding onto.
"What the- what is this?!" She grunted as he kept wrapping his arm around her body before slowly lifting her to make them eye level.
"My arms can stretch to great lengths! You won't be able to properly-"
BAM!
She slammed her head into his face which made him yell loudly in pain and drop her, and while he was distracted, Byleth used the Sword of the Creator's whip form to latch onto his leg and toss him a great distance away from her. After that was done, she wheeled round to Sothis.
"That bought a little time! We need to strategise! Sothis, maybe we can turn back time!"
'Byleth.' Sothis tried to say.
"If we can just get a few more seconds, then I can try things differently."
'Byleth!'
"Maybe I can cast a spell that can burn him-"
'BYLETH!'
"What?!" Byleth yelled turning to face Sothis, but gasped when she saw… how tired she looked. That only meant one thing.
"Oh no…"
Sothis had a sad look on her face as she hugged her arms, while panting heavily. 'I've been turning back time multiple times in this fight, Byleth. If I didn't, you would be dead. And unfortunately, it hasn't mattered one bit. I'm sorry, but the hands of time won't be able to help you in this fight…'
Byleth couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was supposed to be the trump card. The ability to go back and plan ahead. But now she's learned that in fact, Sothis has been doing that just to keep her alive. Though now that Byleth thought about it, she saw the flashes of glass shattering every so often when it looked like she was about to die. She then started rubbing her head while walking back and forth.
"Okay, okay… new plan. What if we-"
BOOM!
Both girls jumped in fright as they turned to see Lord Slug had landed in front of her after flying all the way back. He cracked his neck and glared at Byleth. "Okay, not gonna lie. Kind of a dick move. What were you even hoping to accomplish with that?"
Byleth glared at Lord Slug and got into a stance again with her sword as he eyed it up. "Heh, I've never seen a sword like that before. Think I'll take that with me as a little trophy after I'm done splitting you in two."
That's when Sothis remembered something and her eyes widened. 'Byleth! His arms! If you mutilate his arms then you should get the advantage!'
Sothis had a good point. Her biggest obstacle right now was trying to get past those stretchy arms. It meant long distance combat was out of the question and close quarters only slightly have her an advantage. But if she took them out, then the job could get done quicker. "Sothis, how many times can you turn back time?"
'…One more time. After that, I will fade into your subconscious to rest up. Use this wisely.'
"…Understood. Hopefully we can find an opening."
"Professor Jeralt, wait!" Flayn yelled, running after Jeralt who was already strapping on his armour. "Professor Byleth might be okay-"
"Flayn, you don't know what you're talking about." Jeralt replied, and looked at Shamir who was looking tense. "You both sense it. She's losing. And she's already using that power that she got from fighting Lonato and even then she's barely keeping up."
"And to make matters worse, I can sense that this opponent isn't going all out." Shamir said, gripping her arms tightly and tapping a finger in anticipation. "You're right. We have to go now."
Jeralt nodded. But as the trio were leaving, they were stopped by Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude. But before Jerald could move past them, Edelgard spoke.
"What will you have us do?"
"…Alert Manuela and Hellen to prepare a room for emergency care. We're going to need it."
Edelgard's jaw clenched and her body tensed up at the implications of what he said, but she nodded nonetheless. "Understood, Professor."
Nodding back, he motioned for Shamir and Flayn to follow him as he jumped out of a window and flew off with all the speed he could muster towards the battle ahead with the Mercenary and student close behind him.
'Come on kid, hang in there. We're on our way.'
And back at the Monastery, the three House leaders looked at one another and decided to not speak about what they feared. Only ran off to find Manuela and Hellen.
Byleth growled and deflected another one of Lord Slug's powerful swings aimed at her head. She was on the defence just trying her best to find an opening. But unfortunately for her, his tall hulking form and his stretchy arms made it really difficult to actually locate an opening. She couldn't even rely on Divine Pulses either as Sothis had used them all up sans one just to keep her alive. She had one shot at this.
"You know, it's times like these where I appreciate a good old warm up!" Lord Slug boasted while not even fazed by her punches or strikes as he kept his guard down. "I feel like a new Namekian again! Come on, hit me harder!"
Byleth yelled and punched him in the chest, only to look up and see that he didn't even flinch. But he nodded at her and she gritted her teeth letting loose a flurry of blows which was making the ground beneath them crack and split open. Yet even with one final punch, still she could do nothing to faze the Namekian. She stepped back and watched him adjust his armour before patting his chest again and nodded at her to try again.
She hated feeling ridiculed like this so she charged Ki up in her hands and started another flurry of blows. To her credit, she was making him move at least but it was requiring her to again go all out and drain her stamina. But then Byleth saw his guard was down and finally saw an opening, rather than deal a heavy blow, she jumped up and channeled Ki into her legs before slamming her left leg right into the side of his head, causing his helmet to fly off and clatter to the ground. She gritted her teeth and punched the ground. It didn't work like she hoped. And when she looked up. The first she noticed was…
"Wow! Your jaw is enormous!"
Lord Slug grinned and cracked his knuckles. "And your jaw is gonna be broken when I'm finished."
Meanwhile Sothis could only stare in shock at the antenna sticking out of his head. 'He really is from another world….'
Byleth jumped backwards as Lord Slug slammed both fists into the spot she was just in and barely avoided a serious injury. Another advantage Byleth had was that his moves were predictable. She could easily tell what he was going to do next. And with that information, she could make her next move. The arms were a problem, that much is obvious. But as she kept deflecting blow after blow she kept a close eye on when his guard was down and narrowed her eyes. She had to do this. For Fódlan. For the entire world!
"You know, maybe I should keep you. After all, you're like a puppy. A puppy that I can easily beat to death and still have fun with. So basically a puppy."
As he drew his arm back ready to punch her once more she made her move. Just before the fist connected, she swung her sword whilst channeling the power of her Crest in it and completely sliced off Lord Slug's arm. The arm collapsed to the ground as he looked at it, a little dumbfounded and almost impressed. Sothis pumped her fist and cheered.
'Yes! You did it! That's one arm down!'
"Yeah… that's right…" Byleth panted, struggling to keep herself up and glared at Lord Slug. "And there's plenty more where that came from! So unless you want your other arm cut off I suggest you leave before-"
Her eyes widened as a large beam of Ki was heading straight towards her. Which was fired from Lord Slug's mouth. But before it engulfed her, the shattering glass effect was in her sights once more as Sothis stopped time.
She looked at Sothis who was panting hard. 'That's the… last one. I can't do any more and I'll fade away soon to recover. Make the most of it.'
Byleth nodded. 'Resume time. I'm ready.'
'As… you wish….'
Time flowed back to normal and Byleth ducked under to avoid the oncoming mouth beam and turned around to see it incinerate the forest behind her. It was all gone. And she would've gone with it if not for Sothis. She then turned back to Lord Slug and tried to look intimidating.
"I will now end your life. You won't hurt anyone anymore. And if any more of you show up then I'll… I'll…"
She stopped talking when she heard Lord Slug laughing. He then stood up and pointed at his missing arm. "You know… I really liked that arm. It was my favourite version. But I suppose I was due for a new one anyway."
Byleth had no clue what he was talking about. But what she saw next really cemented her fate as she watched Lord Slug roar loudly… and with a spurt of purple blood, a new arm was now in place.
Both Sothis and Byleth watched in horror as their efforts were wasted in the end and both could only utter a single word.
'Holy…'
"Shit."
Lord Slug looked at his new arm and flexed his hand a couple of times before looking at Byleth and stretched his arm out to grab her by the throat. "And now I have to break it in. Lucky you."
He held her high in the air and slammed his fist into her face, as a sickening crunch came from her nose which was now broken. He drew it back again and slammed it into her face. And again. And again. And again. And Byleth couldn't do anything due to exhaustion as her left eye swelled shut and blood was now pouring all over her face and getting into her hair with her vision shaking with each punch. Lord Slug then looked at his fist and nodded in satisfaction.
"Yeah, this'll do. Though that last arm was a personal favourite of mine. I think that wasn't nice of you, was it?"
But that's when he grabbed her right arm and started pulling. "I think its only fair if I take yours in return."
Byleth started screaming loudly in pain as it felt like her arm was on fire. The force that Lord Slug was pulling had already made sure that her arm was broken. But he wasn't done there. He pulled harder and harder, as the muscles and tissue were starting to tear open and separate from her shoulder and she weakly tried to pry his arm off, but all she could do was scream to the heavens. Now the muscles were being ripped and more blood was pouring out as the arteries and veins were torn off, making her arm be held in place by measly tissue and muscle. Lord Slug saw her blood spurting out in large droves as he gave one last tug and ripped it clean off her shoulder.
The pain was unbearable to the point that Byleth was sure that she was going to go into shock, with her screaming in pain and falling to her knees. The shock alone was enough to make her throw up onto the grass and the blood was spurting out in large amounts, and if she didn't do something, she would bleed out. But thinking quickly, she conjured up a fire spell and slammed it into the stump that used to have her arm on it. It was painful, yes. But she would just add it to the list of pain she was going through. At least she wasn't going to bleed out as the wound was cauterised. Beside her, Sothis could only watch in horror as she faded away due to overuse of altering time.
'I'm sorry… I'm so sorry….' Sothis whispered as her form disappeared into Byleth's mind. Lord Slug glanced at the arm in his hand and shrugged.
"Ah, when you have the ability to regenerate entire limbs, you forget that you're the only one who can. Also less messy."
Lord Slug tossed the arm away and loomed over Byleth who was glaring at him despite having zero sight in her left eye due to the swelling and the overwhelming pain around her entire body. "Unfortunately for you, I'm now bored. There is only so much enjoyment you can get out of a punching bag before it just bursts."
He grabbed her by the throat and giggled with malice tightening his grip around her neck. She gasped and coughed, trying to use her one hand to pry him off, but it was no use. Her vision was starting to blacken and the last she was seeing was this alien laughing at her misfortune. But before Lord Slug could snap her neck in two, he noticed something in the distance. Three figures flying towards him.
"So the cavalry has arrived. Eh, I suppose you can live. I've seen all I've needed to see. If you're really the strongest on this miserable rock, then conquering it won't be an issue."
With that, he let go of Byleth and didn't spare her a glance as she crumpled to the ground. Lord Slug then reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote. Pressing the button activated the teleporter on his ship as he wiped the blood off his hands. Byleth tried reaching out to stop him, using whatever strength she had. But it was no use. The pain was too much. And as Lord Slug vanished from sight, she barely registered the horrified scream.
"PROFESSOR!"
Flayn? She was here?
"Kid! Stay with me! Don't move!"
Dad?
"Holy shit… what the hell happened?"
Shamir…
As she passed out in Jeralt's arms, the trio could only look in horror at Byleth's near death state. Flayn was covering her mouth in shock when she saw the arm nearby.
"By the Goddess…"
"Is she…" Shamir didn't want to say the word, but Jeralt understood. He slowly brought a hand over her face and nodded, a steel cold look in his eyes.
"She's still breathing. But if we don't get her to Manuela, she might perish."
"But what happened?" Flayn asked. "Who was that person? How did they-"
"Flayn."
The girl stiffened in fear at the edge in Jeralt's voice as he stood up, holding Byleth in his arms. "We don't have time for this. You go and alert Manuela about Byleth. Tell her it's serious. Hopefully the brats already warned her about preparing a bed. Shamir, you go and tell Rhea and the Knights of Seiros about what happened. We've not seen the last of who did this."
"What about you?" Shamir said, unable to take her eyes off of Byleth's cauterised stump.
"I'll be right behind you. But you two will be faster than me, so make the most of it."
"…Understood. Flayn, come with me."
Flayn slowly nodded and flew off with Shamir as Jeralt waited until they were gone before taking off. He went slow so as not to give his daughter anymore damage than was already done.
'Don't die on me kid.'
A lone tear slipped down his face as he held her tight. "Don't die."
"Edie, say something! Come on! You guys have been sitting there all silent for ten minutes. Petra? Bernie? Not even you, Caspar?" Dorothea said with her hands on her hips looking at her classmates. But the closer she looked at them, she realised their looks were… haunted.
They were scared. All the students who could sense Ki were. They had sensed the entire fight go down. They sensed that evil Ki go up… and they sensed Byleth's Ki almost snuff out entirely. The rest of the students noticed their fellow classmates sit there stunned and tried to coax them out of it. But they were starting to realise it was something serious as Mercedes saw Annette shaking the same way she did when she listened to Mercedes spooky stories.
"Annie? What happened?" Mercedes softly asked while rubbing her friends back. It took some time before Annette whispered.
"P-Professor Byleth… she lost…"
And on cue, is when they all saw Flayn land in front of them and sprint towards the medical ward, screaming for Manuela. That snapped everyone out of their state of shock and made the members of 141 stand up, and wait for their Professor.
"Her Ki is low… very low…" Dimitri muttered darkly. But Caspar spoke up.
"Maybe she managed to get away from the fight? She's just exhausted!"
But then Shamir landed and ran over to where Rhea and Seteth were located which didn't stop the fear creeping up in their hearts. Petra shook her head and looked in the distance.
"When you are battling the beast, you do not leave without wounds."
"Out of the way!"
And then they all saw Jeralt run past the separating crowd who had noticed the frantic running of both Flayn and Shamir. But nothing could prepare anyone for what they saw.
Hilda covered her mouth in shock and Claude had to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him when he saw something different about Byleth despite the injuries. Lysithea tried to hide it, but her hands were trembling from the fear taking over and Leonie only stood there, her mind struggling to process what just happened.
And they weren't the only ones. Annette shared a similar reaction to Hilda and with Felix, he gritted his teeth in irritation. He hated being right, but he knew this would happen. He wished he could've stopped his Professor from going out there. And Ashe just fell to his knees and like Leonie, couldn't process what he saw. Dimitri just had a thousand yard stare, like he was reliving a memory.
With the Black Eagles, poor Bernadetta fainted on the spot at the sight of the strongest person she knew being reduced to this. Caspar had ran over to catch her whilst being unable to take his eyes off Byleth's retreating form. Petra could only close her eyes and shake her head. Like Felix, she knew something like this would happen. But she foolishly hoped that Byleth could overcome the challenge.
And Edelgard? She, like many others, could only watch in horror as Byleth was carried away by her father to the infirmary. But that's when Claude walked up to her and looked down.
"…You saw it too, didn't you?"
Edelgard swallowed the lump in her throat but nodded. She had to grab her wrist to stop it from shaking and showing her weakness. Injuries was something she could handle. But what she wasn't prepared for… was the stump where Byleth's arm used to be.
Nobody cried or screamed. It was like they were frozen in time. That their brains just couldn't catch up to the present. There was only one thing throughout all of them.
Fear.
Because whatever did this to their Professor… was still out there.
At the back of the crowd, Kronya was in her Monica disguise and was… unnaturally silent. No quips, no snarky remarks. She saw Byleth just like everyone else. And she knew what she had to do. Kronya quickly shoved through the crowd that the knights were trying to disperse and quickly made her way to the library where she saw Tomas by himself, reading a book. He saw her and wore a thin smile.
"Hello child, do you wish to borrow a book today?"
But Kronya dropped the act and looked him dead in the eyes.
"We have a problem."
His eyes slowly narrowed as his demeanour changed whilst looking around to make sure they were truly alone. "What do you mean by that?"
"Welcome back Lord Slug. Was it to your liking?" One of the henchmen asked as Lord Slug stepped off the teleporter on his ship.
"It's amazing!" He grinned, looking out the window to the planet spreading his arms out wide. "Even better than I imagined! This will be the place for my water paradise!"
"…Um, sir? Why are you covered in blood?"
"Ah, it's just me getting to know the locals. One of them thought that they could best me." Lord Slug said, before turning to his group of elite henchmen. "They won't be an issue if a Saiyan is the toughest they can offer. When will the machine be ready?"
"In about 48 hours this planet's time, Lord Slug."
"Excellent. Then when the time comes, you lot are entrusted to ravage the entire planet and kill all life. Don't want anything tainting my water."
A big beast called Wings punched his fists together. "Yeah! I'll wreck their shit in! They won't know what hit 'em!"
"Yeah they really won't." Lord Slug agreed, sitting on his throne as a servant cleaned the blood off his hands. "Easy pickings. And then I'll have my eternal water fountain! Now get to work! We start in 48 hours!"
"Yes my Lord!" They all yelled.
*Song: DBZ Ending Theme*
Things have taken an unexpected turn. And now Byleth is at death's door by the hands of the malicious Lord Slug. Will our group be able to combat this new threat, or fall trying to protect their world like Byleth? Find out next time on, The Ashen Saiyan!
And with that, the Lord Slug saga has begun! Let's be honest, this is how a fight between a DBZ villain would go. Byleth was way out of her league, and now she got future Gohan'd.
I have been looking for a way for her to lose her arm for a while, and what better way to do it than with most of the most brutal villains in Dragonball. Needless to say, Byleth will be out of commission for a while, but that doesn't mean we'll be seeing the last of her. Just means that the focus will be on 141 since they're the strongest after Byleth. Hope you all are excited.
Also, thank you to everyone who checked out the new story with Saiyan Robin! Next chapter is being written alongside this one but as I mentioned, that story will be less of a priority. But updates will come, just sporadically.
So join us next time for everyone to figure out what in the actual hell they're gonna do.
Catch you later!