Assassins were coming from all sides of the hotel...

How!? They had knights outside who were meant to protect them, so how did those guys let the assassins pass!? Were they just that fucking useless or what?!

No, he didn't have the time to think about it. Instead he got up, and summoned his Rapier. It was time to weather the storm that was chapter three.

And the first thing he should do was... "Wake! Wake up! There are assassins everywhere!" Wake up his allies up. Thankfully his ability to give orders would be quite useful in this situation.

Priscilla woke up with a shocked face, and floundered around for a bit, but she got the message. The only problem was that she was much weaker during nighttime, she was genuinely in danger.

Poor little Schult who had slept with her today looked terrified.

And then there was Al, who was up in a second, and already with a sword in hand. Heitor had a feeling the gladiator was used to waking up during the middle of the night to fight off assassins.

The biggest problem however, was Emilia, who was still soundly asleep in her own assigned room. She would already be troublesome under normal circumstances, since Puck would sleep during the night, but this was worst than he had expected!

Why!?

The color green came to his mind.

Emilia was a fucking green unit, and as a green unit, she could not talk with him through his powers, because green units did not obey player's orders. He would need to reach her, and possibly talk her into being a blue unit.

He hated Intelligent Systems.

In that case his plan would need to be... "Priscilla, Schult, lock yourselves in the room and wait. Al, go towards Lady Priscilla, defend her no matter what. I'll go towards Lady Emilia and defend her!"

He could see Priscilla getting annoyed, but obeying nonetheless, carefully watching both the windows and the door. Just as he could see Al leaving his room.

Heitor did the same.

Thankfully the rooms weren't that far apart. Al slept close to Priscilla for the obvious reason of being her bodyguard, and Heitor did the same. Emilia had slept near them as well for the same reason.

So once Al and him left the rooms, they actually saw each other... just as they saw assassins.

One for each to handle.

"Al, that guy is a knife user, he poisons his blade, so don't get hit no matter what!" It was a pretty cheap poison, but poison nonetheless.

Al began his battle with the assassin, but Heitor had his own battle to worry about.

The assassin glared at him... He was definitely stronger than Heitor in every possible way. There was nothing truly particularly special about him, but he did have a poisoned knife, and way more skill... So this would be a tough fight. Especially since he currently didn't have his support bonuses or his skill activated.

He might even lose...

Or he could just crit. "With Volcanica's Divine Protection!" He sliced cleanly through the assassin, with far too much speed for the man to defend himself.

How lucky... but it wasn't the time to think about luck, he entered Emilia's room, already ready for battle. There was an assassin who climbed through through her window after all.

Another knife user, another troublesome enemy... one with a interesting thing on his information... gold. Droppable Fire Emblem gold, and one thousand at that! Heitor had no idea why it was Fire Emblem gold, but he supposed he could try to sell it or something, it definitely wasn't the currency that Lugunica used however.

The man could have just stabbed the sleeping Emilia right there and then, but perhaps because he actually wished to live post assassination, he went for Heitor instead.

They clashed blades. "Lady Emilia wake up! Lady Emilia...! How deep of a sleeper are you!?" And he tried to wake her up while fighting.

It would be kind of funny to see her slowly wake up in any other situation. She was like a special little princess, even giving a big yawn and everything... Sadly, he was fighting for his life with an opponent where one blow would possibly mean death! He was lucky a sword had much better reach than a knife...

Eventually however, she actually woke up and saw what was going on. "Heitor, what's happening!?"

He clicked his tongue. "Assassination attempt! Kill this guy because there's someone coming from my back!" If it wasn't for his power...

Emilia complied immediately. "El Huma!" She fired a barrage of icicles at the man he had been dueling. The assassin screamed in shock and fell dead.

But Heitor didn't get the droppable gold... Probably because Emilia was the one to land the final blow.

Heitor used this opportunity to turn around and fight the man that was coming from behind him. "Urgh...! Do you guys just don't end or something!?"

He could already see another man trying to climb his way into Emilia's window. And the same thing was happening in Priscilla's room, always one person trying to get through the door, and one through the window.

It was basically one of those annoying maps where enemies kept spawning through certain tiles!

But as Heitor fought the man, something interesting happened.

D-Rank Sword Achieved!

Suddenly, Heitor went from a man who pretty much only knew how to swing a sword correctly, and nothing more, to an actual swordsman. Perhaps that would still not be enough in normal circumstances, but the sheer shock of it allowed him to overwhelm and kill the assassin.

"Lady Emilia, the window! There's another man coming from it!" Winning did not mean he forgot the incoming problem.

The girl nodded and rushed towards the window. "El Huma!" Like she did once before, the half-elf fired ice crystals at the man... if the barrage did not kill him, the fall certainly did.

They had a moment of peace, so Emilia turned towards Heitor. "I-is this really an assassination attempt...? But we had knights posted outside, right?"

Heitor grimaced. "They're either dead or incompetent... I don't know." His ability did not consider the outside of the hotel as part of the chapter. "Anyways, I have an ability that let's me scan the battlefield, so please stay by my side Lady Emilia."

She nodded. "O-of course." And suddenly she went from being 'green', to being 'blue'. He hoped he wouldn't ever have to go through that again... "S-so, what do we do now?"

He paused for a moment to think. "We... Let's head to Lady Priscilla's room. Al is there, so we should join our forces." Especially since Al was struggling with so many enemies.

And being near him and Priscilla would mean Heitor getting his Support Bonuses. He didn't know exactly how those worked... but it was better to have them, than not have them.

"Okay! I'll try my best to support you with my magic." Considering how many times it had one shotted troublesome enemies, he appreciated that.

They left the room, but there was another assassin on the way to Priscilla's room.

Now however, Emilia was officially a blue unit, so he could make plans with her. "Lady Emilia, I'm talking with you through the usage of my power, so please don't be alarmed." She jumped in place, clearly being alarmed...

He prepared himself. "I'll rush at that man, and very clearly aim at his legs. Use that opening and attack him with your magic!"

He dashed forward without waiting for her answer, confident she would listen. Once he was close to the man, he basically ducked to attack him.

"El Huma!" She took advantage that in such a situation, her magic would not hit Heitor, and fired icicles at the man.

He could not defend from both attacks, so the icicles ended up taking him out... Hopefully that didn't mean Emilia stole his EXP. Just like she had stolen his gold... Maybe friendship wasn't real after all and he should just try to do everything by himself!

The two approached Priscilla's room and... "Wow, careful there!" Heitor barely dodged a swipe from Al's sword.

The gladiator chuckled. "Sorry cousin, but you should have said you were coming. I'm on as high alert as someone could be." That was understandable... but still scary! Dying to friendly fire would be the worst.

Heitor blushed. "My bad, just let us enter." The knight nodded and moved aside, so the two finally managed to make it into Priscilla's room.

The woman was comforting Schult... and now glaring at Heitor. "I see where your loyalties truly lie, piggy." Geez... what a way to greet him.

He looked away. "S-sorry, but Emilia wasn't counted as an ally by my ability first so I had to..." He shook his head. "Look, I knew Al was gonna be able to take care of you, okay?"

The princess simply responded by huffing... Was he gonna be in the dog house now!?

Emilia smiled. "W-well, I'm really grateful for your help, Heitor!" Maybe the dog house wouldn't be so bad as long as Emilia gave him treats like that!

Wow, being near Priscilla was rotting his damn brain. He needed to run away before he melted into a Al like creature that deserved no happiness or redemption.

Priscilla snapped at her. "If that's the case, then call upon that rat of yours! Or does he believe dying will be a good lesson for his daughter to learn...!?"

Emilia flinched. "He... part of our contract is that he's asleep during these hours." She bowed. "I'm sorry..."

Heitor interjected. "There's no need to be." He already knew of it anyways. "It's not like you are the assassins coming for our necks. Just... please guard the window with your magic."

He look at Al. "Meanwhile, we two guard the door, does that sound good?"

Al gave him a thumps up. "Sounds like as good plan as any, cousin. Just make sure to warn me if any special trouble happens."

"Sure. As long as my power bothers to show me any special trouble in the first place." And so began their defense.

Emilia easily handled any man who tried to get through the window, and she didn't seem to get tired from constantly firing magic. Just as the assassins didn't get tired of failing over and over again against an unbeatable obstacle. As expected of Fire Emblem mobs!

Meanwhile, he and Al handled whatever assassins tried to come through the door. It wasn't as easy as the situation with the window, but it wasn't too bad either. They were... choking the point... just fine...

He hated reality.

Eventually, the assassins stopped coming... he almost let out a sigh of relief...

But they showed up. "Al, that special trouble decided to appear."

Al nodded. "What's the situation like?"

"There are two men coming for each side of the corridor... They're strong. One guy with an axe, and one guy with a lance."

And the lance was a droppable Killer Lance of all things... The man with the axe had a Divine Protection that mildly healed him with the passage of time, while the man with the lance lacked a Divine Protection, but was overall more skilled.

In summary, they were both really scary.

Al hummed. "Okay... I'll deal with one of the guys, while you and the elf lady deal with the other, then after it's over, lend me backup."

That's... "Are you sure? I mean it when I said they were strong." Was Al going to use the time loop?

The gladiator shrugged. "Everyone is strong when compared to trash like me. I just gotta grit my teeth, and hope that I can outlive them one way or another." That was depressing coming from a fellow Earthling.

But he just had to accept it. "Okay then, please hold back the man with the axe." Since the lance user couldn't heal himself, maybe he would be faster to deal with.

"You got it." All three fighters left the room.

Which meant they came face to face with the two bosses of the chapter.

The lance using man grinned. "Finally, my silver haired prey..." He chuckled. "I'll give you praise for surviving my men, but Kane of the Dark Spear will put you down!" He was a Fire Emblem boss alright!

Emilia gasped. "So... so this attack is because of me...?"

"Ye-." Before the lance using man could continue...

The axe wielder interrupted him. "Not really, I don't even know who ya are, missy." He scratched his nose. "I hate killin' pretty woman, so ya can leave if ya want... My only goal is Priscilla Barielle. I don't care about the rest." Was he calling Priscilla ugly?

Wait, he shouldn't be focusing on that right now!

Heitor's eye twitched. "Hey, I'm just curious about something... Do you two know each other?" He was referring to the bosses of course.

Kane shook his head. "Nope."

And so did the axe wielder. "I don't bother to remember man."

Heitor pinched his nose. "Right... and you two... could it be the case that one sent assassins through the windows, and one didn't? Is this what I think it is?"

Kane scratched his cheek. "Well, I sent my boys through the windows. You can't really be stealthy when commanding so many men, but you gotta at least try, you feel me?"

The axe wielder shrugged. "I just ordered my men inside, I don't care how they did it. There were no defenses anyways." There was supposed to be! Those knights were the goddamned worst!

Still, he got what this was about... It wasn't one assassination attempt, it was two, and aimed at two different people.

What was he even supposed to say to that!?

He aimed his sword at Kane. "Let's just do this." And rushed at him. "Emilia, let's do what we did the other time!" One attack aimed at his legs, the other one not.

At the beginning it went the same, with Heitor pretty much ducking to attack, but...

"Not fast enough!" The man kicked him away.

"El Huma!" And once Emilia fired her icicles, he had gained more than enough of an opportunity to defend.

Still, at least that meant Heitor also had the opportunity to recompose himself. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue and got up once again. This much was expected from a boss, so he wasn't scared.

He was just happy Al was managing to deal with the other one so they wouldn't get overwhelmed.

He assumed a defensive stance, and backed off towards Emilia. "This time we'll play defensively and get him on the counter attack." Hopefully that lance of his wouldn't trigger.

Could normal people even crit?

Emilia nodded, and extended her hands. "Huma!" Instead of firing projecticles at the man, she simply made a shield of ice.

Now here came the most important question of all... Would this boss move!? It was clearly a defensive map after all! Though if he stood still like an idiot, then they could just go and help Aldebaran.

Kane growled. "Don't think this little shield is gonna stop me!" With one stab from his spear, he pierced through it.

Heitor took this opportunity to attack.

And, when he did so, he once more felt overwhelming strength flowing through his body. "May my allies guide this blade!" It was another crit.

"What—!?" The man barely had the time to understand Heitor's sudden increase in strenght, before his head was already flying.

Level up!
+1 Str
+1 Skl
+1 Spd
+1 Lck
+1 Res

Killer Lance added to Inventory.

He... with his current rank in Lances, he couldn't even use the damn thing... Maybe it would be a goal worth working towards, but so far he had only focused on swords...

Right now however, what he had to focus on was Aldebaran. So he turned around to face the axe wielding man, and Emilia followed.

The assassin chuckled. "Ah, so now the attention is all on me huh... Okay then! The name's Bubba! The Unbreakable!" He was a chapter three boss. Nothing unbreakable about it.

Even so, Al was sweating. "I can see why..." He was already falling off by chapter three... How!?

Heitor pointed his Rapier at him. "When we work together, there is no enemy we can't overcome! No wall we cannot break! Now let us go, my friends!"

Al slowly tilted his head at him. "Cousin, you're seri—?"

Before he could unjustly judge Heitor, Emilia agreed, a blush on her face. "Y-you're right Heitor! When people unite, nothing is impossible!" Now this is what a Caeda archetype sounded like! Now all she needed was to talk about love!

Down with the Priscilla! May king Emilia rule justly and wisely until the end of her days!

He smiled, glad that someone was feeding his chuuni ways, finally. "Well said, Lady Emilia... Now let's prove our words with actions!" It was time to kill the last boss!

Kane was kind of difficult so...!

Emilia raised her hands. "El Huma!" Her reliable barrage flew towards the man.

He did a much worse job at blocking than Kane. "Damn it...!" All he could do was raise his arms to try and block it. Which naturally meant he got speared all over.

Al took this opportunity, and with a swing of his sword, made another assassin lack a head.

Damn EXP thief...! Damn him! Damn Emilia! Damn friendship!

Still... as the battlefield disappeared from his mind, Heitor let out a sigh of relief. "That was the last one of them, everybody. We can rest easy now." He passed through another map with zero casualties.

How unusual. Usually by now he would have fumbled horribly and lost at least one unit to a dumbass mistake.

Al sheathed his sword. "Rest easy? Now we have to actually talk with the princess." Ah... "If those knights actually did nothing to stop the assassins... We might be declaring war against Lugunica by the end of the day."

And like that, his Fire Emblem brand happiness died.

AN: A reminder that a cartridge of Fire Emblem Echoes fucking dies if you don't play at least once every six months. No, I am not kidding.