Part 1: White Clouds

Garreg Mach vs Lord Slug

"This is going nowhere!" Byleth said in frustration. "We're not even close to finding the power of the Oozaru."

She had lost count on how long she and Sothis were in the realms of her mind training to try and harness the power that was in Byleth. But no matter what, the amount of meditation would prove that their efforts were ultimately fruitless. Sothis sat on the steps of her throne and hummed to herself with her hands on her chin.

"Perhaps you are right… we need you to actually transform…"

"But the full moon is already passed. It's not like I can transform into it anytime I wanted." Byleth said to her and Sothis sighed.

"Unfortunately even if the full moon was out, you couldn't use it."

"What do you mean?"

"Whilst you were resting, I went out of your body to get an update on what's happening outside." Sothis explained and Byleth tilted her head.

"You can do that? Wait no, more importantly, what's it like out there?"

The grimace on Sothis's face told Byleth everything she needed to know. "Is it that bad?"

"If it's any conciliation, your students are holding themselves remarkably well. They were able to drive back the army. But…"

"But?"

"He's there now."

Byleth felt her blood drain from her face as she stood up. "How long do I have left?"

Sothis looked around and hummed again. "Based on what I'm seeing, you should be waking up soon. However, an exact time I cannot say."

"Sothis, I need an answer-"

"Well I don't have one!"

Silence fell between the two as Sothis stood up and smoothed her dress before walking over to Byleth. "I'm afraid that this might be the one time that you are too late. I can't guarantee that you'll wake before any of your students fall. But you can't go charging in without a plan, otherwise he will be taking a lot more than your arm this time around."

Byleth clenched her fists tightly… before letting out a sigh and running her hands through her hair. "Okay… okay… what do we do?"

"Well, if unlocking the Oozaru is out of our reach, what we can do is make sure your sword arm isn't out of practice. At least that way, you're prepared in some shape or form."

And with that, Sothis powered up and narrowed her eyes at Byleth. "Ready?"

"…Yeah. Ready."

"Come on, don't be shy. After all that time you took slaying my Demon Clan, I would hate for you to get cold feet at the last minute."

To say that the Fódlan army were terrified was an understatement. This creature known as Lord Slug displayed impressive amounts of power and they're expected to fight him? They barely managed to defeat his henchmen! But they needed a plan, and fast. Jeralt looked behind him and waved the army and students away.

"You all go and get some rest and pick off the last of his soldiers. This is not a battle that you are equipped for. 141, with me."

The students all grimaced. They didn't want to leave behind the group of 141, but… they knew he was right. So they all slowly backed away as they all shouted words of encouragement to the remaining group who all stood side by side.

"Alright Edelgard, what's our plan?" Claude asked, leaning over to mumble into Edelgard's ear. But she pressed her lips together and clenched her fists.

"I don't have one."

"What?"

"Look, you know as well as I do that we didn't expect to get this far. But now that we are here-"

"I can hear you guys!" Lord Slugs voice boomed across the battlefield causing all of 141 to stiffen up as he chuckled.

"I have an idea, why don't you all come at me? At the same time! I think that will make it fair!"

"…He has a point." Shamir said.

"That doesn't mean it's the right call." Edelgard argued.

"You said yourself you don't have a plan. And we're a lot more coordinated this time around compared to Lonato, so we should have some form of chance."

"…Very well."

Edelgard raised her axe and pointed at the Namekian. "CHAAAAARGE!"

"Oh, I don't know if this'll be fun or sad." Lord Slug said, while watching 141 charge towards him, before he shrugged.

"Who am I kidding, it's gonna be sad. But it'll be fun watching them squirm."

"What does it look like out there, Seteth?" Rhea asked, as she looked at the still comatose Byleth.

"It appears that 141 is challenging this… Lord Slug on their own. But then again, they're probably our best chance right now…"

"I understand that you're worried about Flayn. But I'm sure she will be able to pull through."

"Hm. I hope that you're right. I have prepared myself for the worse. Because if Flayn and 141 fall, then all of Fódlan will follow suit."

Seteth closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "I'm just so… tired of feeling useless."

Rhea shifted her gaze to Manuela and Hellen who were still tending to Byleth as she walked over to Seteth and spoke in a low voice. "This battle is unlike anything we have fought in the past."

"I know… it just makes me feel small, knowing that even you couldn't… with Flayn…"

"Yes, I couldn't subdue her back then. It was only by a stroke of sheer luck that we were able to win. But as the years go by, I fear that our luck is running out. We have lost too many…"

"Yes… we have…" as Seteth's mind wandered to all his brothers and sisters who were slain… and also to the music box in his study that carried a secret only he knows.

"And when Sitri arrived to our world… it made me realise that we are just a big target floating aimlessly in the universe." Rhea continued. "Where despite having no magic, there are a lot of races out there that are more advanced than us in every way."

"Yes, and who's fault is that?"

"Seteth…"

"You know I'm right. You had no right doing what you did. I understand you don't trust them, but now we're paying the price for it."

"…" Rhea remained silent at that part, unable to come up with an argument. But that's when they both heard a noise coming from outside the infirmary and looked at each other.

"I'll investigate." Seteth said, moving over to the wall to grab his lance from where it was leaning. "It would be best for you to stay here, just in case it's an ambush and you need to protect Manuela and Hellen."

"Understood. Please return safely Seteth."

As he slowly opened the door and looked both left and right. Empty. Nobody is outside. He steps outside and closes the door behind him. He won't stand idly by. He will defend Rhea, Manuela, Hellen. And yes, even Byleth. Their last hope.

'But we are running out of time. Soon, the water level will rise too much, and then all will be lost. Goddess, why are we placing all our trust on one woman? One alien?'

But that's when Seteth felt a presence behind him and wheeled around, lance at the ready and felt himself step back at the sight of who was there.

"Hubert?"

"Greetings." Hubert bowed and saw Seteth pointing his lance at his chest.

"Stay back! You are not going anywhere near Byleth or the Archbishop."

Hubert just sighed and shook his head. "I mean you no harm. And if I wanted to harm those two, I would've done so without you even noticing. I am here to offer a solution to our predicament out there."

Seteth narrowed his eyes at Hubert who waited there patiently. "I remember what happened that day. You were conspiring to assassinate Edelgard. And now you come back here for what reason?"

"Do you truly believe I was conspiring to harm the one I devote my life to? No, I have my own mission. One that requires I be absent from Garreg Mach. So it was a clever ruse to get me away from here all without arousing suspicion. But again, I'm here with a potential solution to our problems. I just need you to work with me."

"…I'm listening. I'll take anything that will greater our chances without having to rely on one person."

Hubert nodded and smiled at him. Whether it was genuine or not, Seteth couldn't tell. But he knew Hubert appreciated the chance.

"Good. Now listen closely…"

"You know, I was thinking that this would be a boring day, but there's nothing better than squashing some bugs!" Lord Slug laughed, tanking a punch from Dimitri and grabbing him by the face before throwing him into a charging Felix.

"Get off me boar!" Felix grunted, pushing Dimitri off him. The two Lions gathered their bearings and charged again.

"Like we practiced Felix!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know! You just keep up!"

As Lord Slug was yanking Hilda off his back and tossing her into the air, he saw the two running to him again. Trying to attack them, he drew his fist back but saw them break off in separate directions. Dimitri charged his lance with Ki and charged straight for the legs whilst Felix followed suit. But Lord Slug grinned and held out his hand, catching Hilda and holding her in front of the boys.

That made them stop completely in their tracks, the Ki vanishing from their weapons and losing the power up. Seeing his opening, Lord Slug swung Hilda at the two and knocked the two off their feet before he threw Hilda on top of Dimitri.

"Owwwwww, my nose feels weird… is it broken?!"

"Hilda… you're on top."

"Oh, sorry!" Hilda quickly got up and after being satisfied with her nose, picked up her axe. "Oh, now he's asking for it!"

"Hilda wait! We need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan! Attack!" She rushed back in alongside Petra who summoned a pair of wolves to fight alongside her.

"This foe… his power is blinding." Petra said, as she and Hilda tried to attack but was met with the same fate as the boys behind them.

That's when 141 heard a voice in their heads. 'Guys, I'm gonna try and charge up a Buck Shot! Try and keep him distracted, I need time!'

"You heard him! All out attack!" Leonie yelled, throwing a spear at Lord Slug who just caught it and crushed it in his hand.

While they were all busy, Claude held his wrist and charged up his Buck Shot attack. "Let's see if you can handle this, you bastard."

"I heard that!" Lord Slug grinned looking over to where Claude was as Flayn powered up.

"Don't let him near Claude!"

"Hehehehehe… I guess your 'Professor' didn't tell you everything, did she? I don't need to get close."

This confused everyone as they looked at each other wondering what he meant. Until he outstretched his arm and everyone looked dumbfounded as it stretched out towards Claude who was caught completely off guard as his vision went black as the hand grabbed onto his face and Lord Slug yanked him towards him.

"GET OVER HERE!"

"What the hell?!" Caspar yelled and had to duck when Claude went flying towards him after Lord Slug threw him towards the Eagle. He missed, and that caused Claude to go flying into a nearby cliff causing a small dent to form. Shamir clicked her teeth in frustration and tightened her grip on her bow.

"Great… he can stretch his arms… why not? Just add that to the list of things that made up my week."

"What do we do?!" Annette screamed, tugging at her hair. "We can't do anything against this!"

Edelgard had an idea… but felt like she was forgetting something as she wiped the rain off of her face again. 'If we can find a way to take out his arms, then we might have an advantage.'

She then closed her eyes and sent a message to Claude. 'Claude? Are you still alive?'

It took a few moments before he responded. 'Yeah I'm alive. Head hurts like hell, but I'm alive. You thinking what I'm thinking?'

'Yes, we will try to keep him distracted as much as possible, and you charge up your attack. If we can get at least one arm down for the count, then that'll pave the way to victory.'

'I agree. But… do you get the feeling that we are forgetting something?'

'We can figure it out later! Just charge up your attack!'

'…What's the attack called?'

Edelgard growled under her breath as she can FEEL that condescending smirk on Claude's face. 'Claude! Attack! Charge it! Now!'

'You're the boss, Princess!'

With that now sorted out (along with getting another headache) she relayed another message to the rest of 141. 'Claude is charging up his attack! Whatever you do, do not let Lord Slug near him! He needs time, but I don't know how long exactly.'

'Five minutes.' Lysithea chimed in.

'…What?'

'He needs five minutes.' Leonie repeated. 'He was working on reducing the charge up time but then… well, all of this happened.'

"Oh Goddess…" Edelgard rubbed her temples as she was NOT a religious person and never used the Goddess's name. But everything piling up from today as well as this new bit of information was making her really starting to wish that the Goddess was real because they NEED a miracle.

'Okay, five minutes. We can do this. Let's form a strategy.'

'I agree.' Jeralt spoke up. 'It doesn't look like this guy can sense Ki like we can, so he doesn't know Claude's charging his attack. Here's what we will do. Edelgard, Dimitri, Felix, Flayn and Caspar. You're in charge of close quarters combat. You keep him busy so he doesn't try to attack the ranged attackers. Annette, Lysithea and Petra. You will make up the middle section. Use your magic to take pot shots at him, and Petra, you will use your attacks to come in and out. Finally, Leonie, Bernadetta, Ashe and Shamir. You will keep circling around and use your arrows and Ki beams to hit him. Don't push yourselves, we need to buy time for Claude.'

'This is going to be tough.' Shamir chimed in. 'We're all on our last legs. We need to prepare to change plans on the fly.'

"Yeah, that's an understatement." Jeralt mumbled under his breath. 'Stick to the plan for now. If anyone needs to bail, say it, and then we can adapt from there.'

As 141 all readied their weapons in front of Lord Slug, Claude peeked out from his hiding spot and looked at his hand charging his Buck Shot attack.

'Come on guys… we can do this.'

Lord Slug noticed that their demeanour had changed and laughed when he tanked a punch from Caspar. "Well, well, well! Didn't think you would go with a strategy. I'm not one for that kind of thing, when I can just PUNCH my problems away!"

He finished that by landing a solid punch on Edelgard's stomach making her winded and was about to send her flying away, but was caught by one of Petra's animal illusions, this one being her wolves as Edelgard collapsed to her knees coughing violently and trying to get her breath back.

"Are you in need of rest?" Petra asked as she helped up her classmate who shook her head.

"I'm fine. He hits like a thousand horses though…"

They watched Lord Slug walk towards them but he then grunted as he felt a big sword slash on his back. "Okay THAT one hurt like hell!"

As he turned around to see Felix with his sword drawn and jumped backwards in time to avoid a fist slamming into the ground, Lord Slug then felt more pain in the form of a blast of dark magic hitting him on the side of his face courtesy of Lysithea followed up with an uppercut by Caspar and then being covered by flames that were being shot by Flayn.

"Okay, THIS is getting really annoying!" As Lord Slug expelled his Ki to throw those around him away, he then grunted again in pain when multiple Ki arrows impaled into his body as he turned to see the ranged attackers running around in circles firing as much as they could while the others recovered. He fired a Ki blast from his mouth towards Leonie but Annette used a powerful wind spell to direct it away. But she realised quickly in that moment just how outclassed she was in that moment.

"I had to use my most powerful spell just to slightly move it away…."

"We knew it was going to be tough." Lysithea said to her. "But we're holding… for now."

But Annette knew Lysithea wasn't doing good. She exhausted herself just getting through the army and despite using her second Crest (she will DEFINITELY be asking about that later) it was obvious that the younger girl was going down soon. Especially when Annette noticed the blood when Lysithea coughed into her sleeve.

"We can do this… we HAVE to do this."

Annette nodded and powered up her Ki. "Let's do this!"

"Okay… we are almost ready. There's nothing more we can do. The question is… what are you going to do?'

Dimitri dodged a swipe from Lord Slug and jumped forward thrusting his lance forward to stab him in the chest but was caught off guard when Lord Slug grabbed him by the face and slammed him down on the ground hard enough to crack the area around him, but before he could crush Dimitri's head, his head wrenched to the side when a big shield slammed into him. It was Edelgard who had grabbed a dead knights shield and used it as a battering ram to get him away. She helped up Dimitri and looked him over.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes… thank you Edelgard, I owe you one."

"You can thank me once we win."

Lord Slug rubbed his face and found that his head had a small cut in it from the edge of the shield and chuckled. "All that for a drop of blood. Well, I promise you, I'll make sure I'll be spilling more than a drop of yours."

Edelgard and Dimitri tightened their grip on their weapons and resided themselves for another attack as Edelgard's eyes darted to where Claude was.

'Come on Claude… hurry up…'

But to everyone's shock, including Lord Slug, he was tackled and thrown into the side of a mountain which actually hurt him a lot more than usual. He looked down to see Flayn growling and gritting her teeth. Her Ki was getting fiercer and her power was slowly rising.

"Oh, so this is new." Lord Slug grinned. As Flayn growled again and uppercutted him in the chin before grabbing his leg and spinning him around rapidly before throwing him across the battlefield. 141 couldn't do anything but stare in shock as Leonie brought herself up with her lance and wiped her face.

"What the hell…? Her power has never been this strong before."

"It's fluctuating." Edelgard replied. "Seteth worried about this. It's the entire reason why he didn't want her to train with us in the first place. Now we're seeing the reason."

Flayn grabbed her head and started shaking it violently screaming in pain as the hexes on her arms started glowing brighter and brighter, her eyes starting to flicker white and her fangs getting longer and sharper. But then she was punched into another mountain as Lord Slug chuckled.

"Alright, you're the most interesting one aside from the Saiyan. We're fighting right here, right now."

"He's going to hurt Flayn!" Hilda exclaimed, but Jeralt shook his head.

"No, this is good. Flayn can take the hits for a while, and she can buy us time."

"But what if she loses? Or worse, what if she loses control?" Shamir asked but Jeralt shook his head.

"Like you said, we need to adapt our plan at every opportunity and this is one of them!"

With that, they all stood back to not only recover and regain some of their depleted strength, but also stayed on guard in case things went south with Flayn. All the while Claude was charging his attack more and more.

"Let's see you try and survive this attack you son of a bitch."

As Flayn let out an ear shattering roar and charged towards Lord Slug, both of their fists collided and created a massive shockwave, throwing them both back as Flan let out a snarl clenching her fists.

"Heh.. you're getting sloppy. What's wrong? Can't keep your temper under control?" Lord Slug said, extending his arms to grab Flayn by the throat and pulling her towards him as he brought her in closer.

"Well it's only fair to do the same to you!"

As he swung her round and round at a rapid pace, until the two were only a blur before he finally let go and she went soaring away until she vanished from sight. In the distance, the students looked on in fear.

"W-Where is she going to go?" Dorothea asked, as she and Marianne worked on healing the injured.

"Get! LOST!" Shez screamed teleporting away from another blaster as the soldiers just kept coming after hearing that their comrades needed backup. "I was trying to find my way to town! I'm not interested now- GAH!"

As Shez was shouting at them, one managed to shoot her in the ankle making her collapse.

"She's down! Pile on her!"

But as Shez braced for impact, a green blur soared past her with a scream and crashed into the soldiers who were in front of her, the impact causing them all to explode into a collection of blood and limbs most of which landed on Shez head to toe, with the rain slowly started to wash off whilst the rest of the soldiers fell to the ground. She looked in the distance as the screaming faded into the distance.

"I… was not ready for today." Shez mumbled.

'I don't think any of us were.' Arval said, also stunned. 'Though I can't help but feel I recognised that presence from somewhere. Never mind that though, my partner. The battle is not yet over. Heal yourself while those who are left are still collecting themselves.'

"Arval… I don't think I can lost long." Shez grunted, casting a basic healing spell on her leg to heal it as her unique form was flickering on and off. "These guys are insane…"

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"They're overwhelming us!"

Ladislava gritted her teeth as she couldn't believe just how much they were being overwhelmed. They made progress, sure, but there was just too many!

"GRAAAAAAAHHHHHH! COME AT ME, YOU BASTARDS! I WILL NOT LET YOU PASS AS LONG AS I LIVE!"

"Leopold! Retreat! We need to evacuate!" Ladislava yelled at the father of Caspar who clutched his axe.

"I respectfully disagree! My men and I will hold the line! You send the evacuation order!"

"But there's too-"

FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"…many?"

Everyone in the Empire looked on in shock and surprise as a good chunk of the soldiers were taken out, but Leopold grinned and laughed loudly, raising his axe.

"LET'S GO MEN! WE HAVE THEM ON THE ROPES NOW!"

"What… just happened?" Rodrigue blinked, unsure if the rain was making him hallucinate. One second, they were about to call the order to retreat. The next second, a green blur came shooting forth and wiped out the entire squadron of soldiers that were raining fire on the Kingdom. Not a single one was in sight. He scratched his beard and hummed in thought.

"How peculiar… perhaps the Goddess favoured us this day."

"Huh. This day just keeps on getting weirder and weirder." Judith muttered as she was looking upon the splattered remains of the soldiers who were mowed down by a green blue before it slammed into a mountain. As she looked in the direction of the mountain she could've sworn it was… vibrating?

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!"

The mountain blew up in a bright green light as Judith had to cover her ears from the intensity of the roar and watched it soar at breakneck speeds in the direction it came from.

"…I need a drink after this is all done."

"Oh she is MAD." Ashe gulped when 141 sensed her Ki skyrocket.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY! SHE'S COMING!" Edelgard yelled as they all got to safety leaving Lord Slug confused. It was just enough time for him to see a green speck in the distance… before a fist collided into his face and he was slammed repeatedly into the ground by a VERY angry Flayn who was snarling.

But despite the pain, he kept laughing. "Yes! GET ANGRY! This is the most fun I've had in decades!"

As he fired a mouth beam at Flayn who was also thrown into the ground but she growled loudly as the hexes on her body were glowing brighter and brighter. And she grunted in confusion when she tried to power up more but wasn't able to. No matter, she would tear this thing piece by piece with the power that she has as she launched towards Lord Slug and their fists connected once again, both trying to gain some ground.

"You are a strong little girl, ain't ya?" Lord Slug said. "Shame about the anger issues, otherwise you would've made a great addition to my crew."

Flayn just growled in response and went to breathe fire, but was then grabbed by the throat, cutting off the attack. "There's just a tiny problem, kid. You're way too predictable when you're like this."

As he brought his other fist downwards directly onto her head, causing a Flayn shaped crater to form in the ground. And she burst out a second after and swing wildly with a roar, but Lord Slug just dodged effortlessly and jabbed her in the face again, making her fall to the ground as he pinned her down with his legs and started throwing punch after punch into her face as she tried to counter but couldn't do anything, as he kept punching. Soon, she went limp as the final punch knocked her unconscious as she was now out of her powered up form and the hexes stopped glowing, sealing in her power once more as Flayn was beaten.

Jeralt gritted his teeth, looking at the fallen form of Flayn and back to Lord Slug who exhaled and clenched and unclenched his fist before looking back down to Flayn.

"I think once my water paradise is complete, I will take this one with me. I need a good sparring partner, and anger issues aside, is a worthy foe. Unfortunately for the rest of you, that invitation has now expired."

As he kept on spewing his monologue, Edelgard closed her eyes and talked to Claude.

'Flayn's down, Claude. What's your status?'

'Almost done. Just another minute.'

'You really need to-'

'Yeah, yeah, I know.'

"Everyone! Back to the formation!" Edelgard yelled, with Bernadetta following suit and during a volley of Ki arrows as Ashe ran in close and while Lord Slug defended against the arrows, he picked up Flayn and ran off. He patted his pockets and tried to find a Vulnery or a Concotion but… nothing. This whole day had exhausted everybody's supply. But that's when he heard… a voice.

'Ashe! Ashe, can you hear me?'

'Wait… Marianne? How are you-'

'No time to explain! Bring Flayn to me, I can help!'

He wasn't sure what exactly the Golden Deer girl could do, but if she seemed so sure… maybe there was a new healing spell that she had learned. But Flayn was beaten up very badly, what could she do?

But Ashe decided to trust her words and after sending a quick message through telepathy to 141, ran off to find Marianne.

Edelgard meanwhile, was up close and personal with Lord Slug as she swung her axe at his face but he caught the blade with his hand and despite drawing purple blood, crushed the blade in his hand and grabbed her by the throat.

"Ready to take flight?"

"Fuck… you." She managed to wheeze out before he drew his arm back and slammed his fist into her which sent her flying in the other direction, with Petra barely able to dodge the incoming Princess.

"EDELGARD!" Petra screamed out, before she growled at Lord Slug and used her wolves to pin him down as her tattoos glowed brighter due to how much she was pushing her newfound abilities.

The rest of 141 were now pouring every attack they had into keeping Lord Slug down when suddenly they all heard Claude's voice ringing in their minds.

'EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WAY!'

Immediately understanding the message, they all split up just as Claude jumped out of his hiding spot with the Buck Shot fully charged up.

"EAT THIS!"

His attack fired out of his hand. The powerful beam soaring across the battlefield, it's powerful light lighting up the dark area as it went directly for Lord Slug, who didn't look like he had noticed it coming towards him. Everyone held their breath. This was it, they were going to do it!

…Until Lord Slug chuckled and jumped up high as to everyone's horror, the Buck Shot missed him completely and crashed into forest, piercing through a lot of trees. The attack soon died down as Claude fell to his knees, punching the ground.

"DAMN IT!"

"Very impressive attack. Unfortunately for you, I heard you the entire time." Lord Slug said, tapping his ears. "I'll give ya props though, if it was anyone else you would've gotten- URK!"

He was stopped in his tracks when two powerful strikes of blades sliced through both his arms, as Felix and Dimitri managed to get the jump on him and used their Ki charged weapons to completely slice off his limbs. Claude slowly looked up with a grin and pumped his fist.

"Plan E, I love you Plan E."

Felix walked over to Dimitri and held out his hand. "Up you get Boar. If you're going to lead the Kingdom, then do not do it on the ground."

Dimitri smiled in return and took the hand. "Thank you Felix."

141 sans Edelgard all gathered together and saw Lord Slug looking at his amputated limbs in surprise. They all held their breath and readied their weapons.

"Good, he's completely disarmed now." Jeralt said. He heard a groan next to him and turned to Shamir who was shaking her head.

"What?"

That's when he realised and facepalmed, also groaning. "Dammit Alois…"

Unaware that in another part of Garreg Mach, Alois let out a sneeze which caused him to unintentionally dodge a laser blast from a soldier who was promptly slain. Alois frowned and looked at his chest, humming in confusion.

"Huh. Why do I feel a bubble of pride just now?"

Back at the battle, Lord Slug kept staring at his stumps before sighing.

"And I had just gotten used to that…"

"We have you surrounded, and you have no way of harming us! Give up now!"

But Lord Slug just slowly started chuckling before belting out a full on belly laugh, which confused everyone as he stood up.

"You know, I was assuming that the Saiyan would've told you. But then again, I left her clinging to life. Ah well, it's always fun to see a new reaction."

That's when it dawned on Jeralt when he remembered what Byleth said in the planning room before passing out. "Shit!"

Lord Slug let out a massive roar and to everyone's horror, spouted out brand new arms which were coated in purple blood. Bernadetta had to look away and cover her mouth in an attempt to stifle a vomit.

"Holy…."

"Shit!"

"Yeah, she had the exact same reaction." Lord Slug said, flexing his new limbs as Jeralt cursed under his breath.

"She did warn us before… but we forgot about it…"

"S-So what do we do now, Captain?" Leonie asked him, her hands shaking as fear was starting to creep up.

"I have a better idea!" Lord Slug piped up. "I get to break in the new arms, by breaking all of you."

"….l….rd…."

Ugh… what happened?

"…dy….gard…"

Did they lose?

"Lady Edelgard!"

Huh?

Edelgard's eyes snapped open and she quickly sat up before hissing loudly in pain as she felt a massive bruise forming on her stomach. Oh this was not going to be a fun healing process. She saw a canteen filled with water being handed to her and she nodded, taking it.

"Thank you Hubert."

But when she started drinking it, her mind caught up to her and she spluttered out the water and coughed a little before turning to him.

"Hubert?! What are you doing here?"

"My duty of course." Hubert replied. But before she could say anything else, he raised a hand.

"Apologies, Lady Edelgard but we don't have time for idle chatter. All I'll say for now is that the plan you created is working… and I have one of my own. One that can end this battle."

"End it? You mean you found something?"

"Indeed. But it all rests on Miss Byleth's shoulders. Without her, the plan falls apart."

Edelgard shook her head. "You must've not heard then Hubert. Professor Byleth has been in a grave battle with this very being."

"I'm aware. And I do know that she'll be waking up soon."

That made Edelgard shoot up a little too eagerly as she grabbed his soaked coat. "Repeat that again? You said that she will awaken soon?"

"Yes. But I need you for this plan to work. I already have another ally in the works gathering support from the other parts of Fódlan. By what I have been able to gather, the other soldiers that invaded have been dealt with. Apparently, a green blur decimated the invaders and left them scrambling. Some say it was an intervention from the Goddess."

Edelgard remembered exactly who that blue was and shook her head. "They're not exactly wrong… but hold on, why do you need me? I need to join up with 141-"

She was cut off when she saw a notebook in Hubert's hand being extended towards her.

"Please turn to page 167. You will see a Ki technique that will be the key."

Giving Hubert a strange look, Edelgard took the notebook and flipped through the pages and scanned what was on the page… before her face went pale and she had to swallow a lump in her throat. "H-Hubert…"

"Now I know what you're going to say-"

"You're out of your mind!"

"Just listen-"

"We barely survived the last time this happened-"

"And if we don't do it, then we die anyway. It's literally our last resort, Lady Edelgard."

Edelgard and Hubert shared an intense stare off before she broke it and groaned loudly. "You're right… of course you're right…"

'Edelgard, are you okay?'

She heard Dimitri's voice in her head. Of course, they don't know that Hubert is here. After sharing another look with him, she nodded and closed her eyes.

'I'm sorry everyone, I need time to recharge. I can barely walk. I'll be back soon, I promise.'

After that, she let out a sigh and focused on the notes. "Okay… I can do this. So what is this called?"

As she read the letters at the top…

Power Ball. For Blutz Waves.

"Dammit, we're two people down!" Dimitri exclaimed, as he dodged more of Lord Slugs attacks.

"Boar, if there was anytime for you to let loose, now would be the time!" Felix yelled, trying to slice at the arms again but his blade was caught by Lord Slug who promptly shattered the blade.

"I am trying Felix!"

"That's not what I mean!"

Lord Slug then grunted when he felt wind spells on his back and turned to see Annette trembling in fear. "Alright, you've been a real pain in the ass. Time for all you ranged fighters to go!"

As he extended his arms and used them to knock away Shamir and Petra who were trying to protect the others, his hands kept stretching to grab both Bernadetta and Annette by their faces and pulled them towards them.

"Now let's see how long it takes for you humans to pop!"

"NO! BERNIE! ANNETTE!" Hilda screeched loudly which caught the attention of every else. On the other side, Mercedes gasped in fear.

"ANNIE!" As she tried to run towards them, but was held back by Sylvain.

"Let me go!"

"It's suicide! You can't do anything!"

Meanwhile, in the Medical Ward of Garreg Mach…

"It's time."

"LET THEM GO!" Petra screamed, rushing to Lord Slug but was knocked away when he swung Bernadetta at her.

"What happens next… falls down to you."

"No!" Dimitri shouted and went to use his spear to stab him, his eyes starting to shift back into that feral look from before. But then Lord Slug held out Annette in front of him and he grunted in fear, his eyes reverting back to normal as he collapsed to the ground, unable to follow through. Lord Slug just laughed loudly.

"Dammit! We need backup!" Shamir yelled.

"We don't have backup!" Jeralt replied.

"But can you make a difference? I suppose we shall see, for it is do or die…"

Byleth's hand twitched which Hellen noticed and gasped.

"Look!"

Both Rhea and Manuela looked and had looks of relief.

As Bernadetta and Annette were now screaming as Lord Slug applied pressure to their heads, starting to crush them. "Well isn't this fun! You all have this great power! But too weak to actually do anything with it! You could've cut through these girls to get to me!"

"We are not a heartless bastard like you!" Caspar yelled. "Give us our friends back!"

"Oh you can have them. They just might be a little messy from all the brains splattered about!"

That's when both girls screamed out one thing that reached everywhere in the area.

"PROFESSOR! HELP MEEEE!"

Eyes shot open, and in a quick blue and gust of wind, the door to the Medical Ward was blasted open and the Sword of the Creator vanished from sight, as well the coat that laid on the chair leaving behind a stunned trio who could only watch.

"Hahahahahahaha! POP GOES THE WEASEL- URK!"

Lord Slug's laughter and taunting was cut short as he felt a strong force strike him directly into the stomach which caused him to double over winded whilst dropping the students in the process. Everyone was confused on what happened… but then they all heard a voice. And they all swore that they were going to cry with relief.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, my students."

Jeralt and Shamir both sported smiles of relief as they realised that they could actually win now… maybe.

"But do not worry…"

As the Sword of the Creator shone brightly against the rain and dark sky, despite missing an arm, Byleth Eisner glared defiantly at Lord Slug.

"For I am here!"

*Song: DBZ Ending Theme *

After all hope had seemed lost, Byleth has finally awoken. But will her power be enough to defeat Lord Slug? Or will it be a repeat of last time? Find out next time on the next chapter of, The Ashen Saiyan!

At long last, Byleth is back up and about. There's still quite a few chapters before this saga, but we are nearing the climax. And Hubert is now making his own move with Edelgard. But what exactly does he need Seteth's help for? And yes, Byleth wasn't able to tap into the Oozaru, but that doesn't mean she can't do it at all. She just needs that extra push.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it always means a lot when you do so. And the story itself has broken over 175 favourites as well hit 195 followers, thank you all very very much.

But please join us next time, for round 2 of Byleth vs Lord Slug.

Catch you later!