Leonie led Kratos and the Blue Lions around the corner as they hurried towards the Mausoleum. Once they rounded the bend, the scene before them came into full view. The Golden Deer and Black Eagles had already gathered near the entrance to the underground tomb, and both groups were standing over two bodies that lie on the floor. The first was the imposter guard, whose helmet was removed and blood seeped from a wound on the side of his head. The second, a woman and the real church soldier, looked deathly pale while Manuela hunched over her as she furiously worked to heal a wound in her gut.

Everyone turned to see Leonie and the rest of her company moving swiftly towards them, and the Blue Lions could see the grim expressions that most of them wore before coming to a halt. Kratos stepped up to the professor attempting to save the guard, unclipping Mimir from his hip so that the head could see what was going on.

"Oh, bloody hell," Mimir said upon seeing the two bodies. "What happened here?"

Claude spoke up, "We caught this guy posing as one of the church's knights." He says, kicking the boot of the unconscious man before nodding at the woman. "After we knocked him out, we found the real guard on the stairs just past the entrance."

Mercedes rushed over and knelt down on the side opposite from Manuela. "Is she going to be alright?"

The songstress' eyes were narrowed with intense focus as she continued to concentrate her healing magic on the wound, and she shook her head in uncertainty. "The wound is deep, and she's lost a lot of blood. I fear that we may have arrived too late to save her."

"But is there a possibility that she'll survive?" Asked Annette in an attempt to sound hopeful for the soldier's situation.

"Maybe. But for now, she will need constant medical attention, and we can't move her until her condition has stabilized."

Kratos turned his attention to Byleth. "You said that you have found the enemy. Are the rest of them inside the Mausoleum?"

The younger woman nodded. "Yes. However, we're not sure how many of them there are down there."

Kratos considered this for a moment, then began outlining a plan. "The Black Eagles will remain here and guard the entrance. The rest of us will go in and neutralize the threat."

Caspar immediately cried out in frustration, "What? You're leaving us behind? We should be helping you in the fight, not just standing guard!"

The Ghost of Spartan remained firm. "We do not know if the enemy has reinforcements waiting for them elsewhere. Therefore, you will be our only defense in guarding our flank, should they come looking. And if any one of them were to sneak past us in the midst of battle, you will be the ones to ensure they do not escape."

To his slight surprise, Edelgard was next to step forward and object to his plan. "Sir Kratos, perhaps it would be frugal if I were to at least accompany you. As Professor Byleth stated, we don't know exactly who will be waiting for us down there, and it would be wise to have all of the manpower that you can-"

The brigand raised a hand for silence, having already made up his mind. "Your place is here with your instructor and your fellow students. If reinforcements arrive, you must help them hold the line and protect the injured. Do not underestimate the importance of this duty." Then, to his students, "Blue Lions, fall in behind me- and be on your guard."

The Blue Lions and Golden Deer, led by their respective professors, quickly descended the steps into the depths of the mausoleum. The heavy thud of their boots and the clattering of their armor echoed down the stone corridor until the sounds gradually faded away, leaving the Black Eagles alone at the entrance.

All was quiet in the hallway, save for the sound of Manuela's magic being put to work along with the occasional groan of the injured guard.

Eventually, Bernadetta was the first to break that silence as she whimpered out loud, hugging her bow close to her chest. "That Professor Kratos... He gives me the absolute creeps. I mean, did you see the way he just shut down Edelgard? It's like he doesn't care what anyone thinks! He-he's even scarier than Hubert!"

The taller, imposing young man couldn't help but huff humorously at the girl's last remark. "Is that so? Then perhaps I'll have to try harder in the future."

The purple-haired archer squeezed her eyes shut as her hands shot up to her head. "Oh, Bernie! Now why'd you have to go and say that?!"

Meanwhile, Linhardt, who had been leaning against the wall with his eyes while trying to avoid looking at the wounded guard, sighed. "I'd much rather be back in my room with a good book," he muttered as he stole a quick look at the bloodied scene before quickly averting his gaze. "Why did I even get out of bed today?"

Manuela, who had been tending to a wounded soldier, shot Linhardt a sharp look. "Linhardt, if you've got time to complain, you've got time to help. Get over here and assist me before we lose this one."

With a sigh, Linhardt pushed himself off the wall and reluctantly moved to assist Manuela. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I?" He said with resignation, though he quickly got to work with his own healing magic.

Dorothea glanced toward the stairs where Kratos and the others had disappeared. "I hope they know what they're doing down there. I was hoping that intruders would at least try to avoid causing harm to others, but…" The brunette then gestures to the two bodies laying on the floor. "It seems that fighting can't be avoided."

Petra nodded in agreement, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "Yes, and we are needing to remain strong, for the sake of our friends. The battle may be hard, but we must be harder."

Ferdinand, standing tall with his lance at the ready, added confidently, "We are the Black Eagles, the finest students in the Empire. We will hold this position no matter what comes our way. Sir Kratos has entrusted us with this task, and we will not fail him."

Caspar, who had been pacing restlessly back and forth, suddenly stopped and looked around. "Hey, wait a minute... Where's Edelgard?"

x-x-x

At the bottom of the steps, the two classes were immediately met by two unfamiliar soldiers guarding the entrance to the massive underground chamber. They both turned in surprise before one of them instinctively yelled, "Oi! We've got company!"

The two men raised their weapons to attack, but Kratos and Byleth were already upon them before they even had a chance to do much else. The brigand headbutted the man who'd called out, even through his thin helmet, then grabbed the dazed man by the head with his massive white hand and drove it into the wall beside him.

Once the guards were subdued, they noticed a number of enemies shouting and running to take cover, some hiding behind the rows of giant stone pillars and tombs, while the rest of them grouped up together out in the open to face the "intruders" head-on.

"Seems like our guess was spot on, Teach." Claude commented to his professor as he reached for an arrow. "See over there at the other side? That mage appears to be working on the spell keeping Seiros' coffin sealed. We need to stop them before they can get their hands on whatever's inside."

"That would appear to be our only course of action," said Dimitri, though as he looked In the direction that Claude was referring to, another presence in the Holy Mausoleum had grabbed his attention. "Also, look over there." he points with his lance. "See that man in the black armor?"

The individual he was referring to was a menacing-looking knight wearing jagged, full-body armor and sitting atop an equally dark horse. Horns protruded from the rider's helmet, which hid its face and replaced it with a demonic skull shaped design and glowing red eyes. In its hand, it carried a wicked-looking scythe, which was held lazily at its side as though it wasn't even expecting a fight.

"What is that?" Lysithea asked, her mouth slightly agape.

Beside her, Leonie cocked a grin. "That is mine."

Before anyone had a chance to realize what she was doing, the orange haired archer quickly knocked an arrow, took aim at the rider in black, and let it loose. The arrow streaked through the air towards its target, but just as it was about to hit its mark, the knight's scythe moved. With an effortless flick of its wrist, the knight deflected the arrow, sending it up in the air before eventually clattering to the stone floor.

Claude's usual smirk faltered as he tried to process what had just happened. "Did… did anyone else just see that?"

Ashe's eyes were wide with disbelief. "How could it move so fast?"

But before they could recover from their shock, the knight slowly turned its gaze toward Leonie, its glowing red eyes beneath the horned helmet now locked onto hers. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, the black knight raised its scythe and pointed it directly at her. The weapon crackled with energy before an arc of lightning shot out from the blade towards her.

It was Lorenz who was the one to react first, being one of the few students to maintain awareness of the situation. As soon as he realized what was happening, he dropped his weapon as he yelled, "Watch out!" Before diving to tackle the petrified girl.

However, it wasn't enough to move her out of the way in time, and the most that the young noble could do was put himself between his classmate and the streak of lightning coming at them with blinding speed. But then, just before the arc had reached them, everything came to a complete halt. Kratos' entire surroundings turned into a shade of dark blue, and once again he was forced to move against his will as time rewound itself.

A split second later, he found himself still standing exactly where he was previously, but he looked to his left to see the students of the Golden Deer repeating their lines from earlier:

"What is that?"

"That is mine."

Once again, Leonie begins to ready a shot with her bow, but just as she had pulled back the bowstring to take aim, Byleth was quick to intercept, placing her hand on the student's bow and forcing her to lower it.

"Wait," The former mercenary told her. "He doesn't seem to be hostile."

Leonie looked bewildered by this statement. "'Doesn't seem to be hostile?!' You're kidding me, right? I mean, just look at him!"

"We don't know what an individual like that is capable of." Byleth informed her. "Plus, he hasn't taken any action against us since we arrived. I think it is best that we go around him and deal with the underlings."

"But what if he attacks us while we're busy with the rest of the intruders?" Ingrid asked her skeptically.

"I have to agree with Ingrid," Dimitri spoke up. "We can't leave someone like that unchecked."

As the students debated their options, Kratos remained focused on the rider. The knight, still motionless atop his dark steed, seemed almost amused by the situation, as if waiting for Kratos to make his move.

Finally, Kratos's deep voice cut through the chatter, "Enough. The Golden Deer will take the left. The Blue Lions shall take the right." He opens up his guardian shield, his gaze never leaving the Death Knight. "I will handle this."

Dimitri looked surprised by this. "Sir Kratos, are you sure about this?"

The god of war nodded as he turned his attention to the young man. "Yes. In the meantime, you shall lead in my stead. Now go. There is no more time to waste."

The prince didn't hesitate; not bothering to question his instructor any further before answering with a determined nod. "Of course. Blue Lions, follow me!"

Once his class had broken off, Byleth was quick to encourage her own students to do the same, and once Kratos and Mimir were alone again, the head said, "Kratos… about what happened earlier… was that what I thought it was?"

"Yes." The brigand answered stiffly, but did not elaborate further as he brandished His spear and shield. "But now is not the time."

Kratos made his way up the small elevation of steps deeper into the Mausoleum, and the dark rider, seeing that the Ghost of Sparta intended to challenge him, nudged his black steed to trot slowly towards him. From nearby, a couple of the intruders pointed at the brigand and began prepping a spell to cast at him, but his buddy stopped him and pointed at the evil-looking knight, and instead decided to focus on the group of students that were cutting their way towards them.

The soon-to-be combatants were now only roughly fifteen yards away from one another, and Kratos took his stance in anticipation of the coming fight between him and the scythe-wielding knight. But then, a flash of white hair and red armor appeared out of the corner of his eye, and Edelgard readied her own shield and ax as she got into a defensive position at his side.

"Let me help." She told him with a tense undertone in her voice.

Without taking his eyes off the black knight, Kratos shook his head. "The rest of the students will need your help. This fight is mine."

"I can help you." She persisted, but Kratos cut her off angrily.

"Do as I say!" He raised his voice with enough force to cause the young Empress to blink, and he lowered it into a soft growl before finishing with, "Do not disobey me again."

It was evident that the Blue Lion's professor was unwilling to hear anymore from her, and Edelgard's eye immediately went to Mimir's head as if silently pleading for him to intervene and talk sense into Kratos. For an extremely brief moment, Mimir met her gaze. In that fleeting exchange, he noticed something off about the worried look on her face, but before Mimir could process it further, Edelgard broke eye contact with him and relented with a reluctant nod. She quickly turned and ran off to join the other students, leaving Kratos and Mimir alone again with the black knight.

From atop his, the knight's glowing red eyes followed her as though intrigued by the girl's initial willingness to try and face him in combat, before it snapped back to the Ghost of Sparta and spoke in a deep, hollow, and menacing voice:

"A wise decision." He said, still holding his scythe as he dismounted from his horse. His armored boots clanged loudly on the stone floor, and the knight brandished his scythe for the spartan to see in full view. "They told me to attack… to kill. But I don't take commands. Or waste my time on weaklings." He took a slow step forward, his red eyes seeming to glow brighter than before. "You… You are the one I crave. How fortunate, indeed, that we meet like this. The others… they are of no consequence."

Kratos remained still, his grip tightening on his weapons, yet he maintained a composed posture and said nothing in return.

This in turn gave the black knight a pause for thought, tilting his head slightly as if to assess the brigand. "I've longed for a challenge, and it seems fate has delivered. The others will fall in time, but you… you are different. Our meeting was inevitable." Having now said his piece, the Death Knight flourished his weapon by dragging the tip of the curved blade across the stone beneath him, causing sparks to fly as an aerie grating sound emanated throughout the Mausoleum. "Now then, let us partake in this dance of damnation!"