"Matthias Lindenhurst, prior to becoming one of Nemesis's Elites, was a bandit," Cichol said. "However, he didn't operate alone. He has a brother named Markus. Like his brother, he has a stolen Crest, but it seems Markus Lindenhurst is more honest about what he is than his brother, because while Matthias allowed Nemesis to make him a noble, Markus does not involve himself in that charade. As far as Nemesis's kingdom is concerned, he's a mercenary warlord and nothing more. He doesn't have the political power of an Elite, but he also has fewer responsibilities."
"His status has enabled him to recruit an army of bandits and mercenaries, all of them vicious and bloodthirsty," Macuil continued. "One of his captains, a former mob boss named Holden Gravis, has recently been directing raids against villages under our protection, then leading our retaliatory strikes into ambushes. Track them down and eliminate them."
"Is there a reason you can't deal with them personally?" Flayn asked.
"Gravis's men take prisoners to sell as slaves when they raid," Mercedes explained. "But they also serve as an anti-dragon countermeasure. They have some sort of Agarthan weapon that lets them turn their hostages into Demonic Beasts, while they escape during the battle. And as for why I can't deal with them myself, while ordinary magic is mostly ineffective against me and Hubert, the Agarthans quickly developed specialized spells that could harm us. This usually isn't a serious problem in a battle, but it makes storming an enemy position by ourselves...difficult."
"They're prepared," Dimitri acknowledged. "But they aren't expecting us. We'll deal with them."
"I cannot impress this upon you well enough," Macuil said. "These men are the vilest of the vile. Show no mercy."
"They were here recently, " Ignatz said. "They weren't exactly trying to hide their tracks. If I had to guess, they're planning to ambush whoever ends up coming after them."
"We have options," Dedue said. "We can try to avoid the trap, or we can walk into it."
"Why would we walk into the trap when we can avoid it?" Linhardt asked.
"To let them think they have the advantage," Sylvain said. "They may be prepared to fight soldiers, but they're not prepared to fight us."
"We've got them outnumbered, twelve Rising Sun members to none," Balthus said. "Those are the only numbers that matter."
"But we're not going to be able to get them all in the ambush," Annette pointed out. "These aren't proud warriors, they're bandits and swords-for-hire. As soon as the battle starts to turn against them, they're going to run for it."
"That's a good thing," Linkle pointed out. "These men aren't going to split up and run in random directions. They're greedy thugs; they're not going to leave their ill-gotten riches behind. They're going to flee to their base of operations."
"And we chase them there and turn their camp into a mass grave," Mercedes confirmed.
Everyone looked at Mercedes, concerned. "I know we've all killed even before we faced Nemesis at the Red Canyon, but none of us have ever heard you speak of it so casually before," Flayn said, worried.
"After eight decades of war, I've grown more used to death than I was," Mercedes admitted. "And I've seen Holden Gravis's work before. I will shed no tears for him, nor anyone who chooses to follow him."
"Then let's not keep them waiting," Dimitri said.
The ambush forces had picked a decent spot for their surprise attack, a valley in a rather thick forest. At a certain point, Linkle stopped and turned to the trees to the side. "We know you're there."
At that, dozens of bandits revealed themselves, surrounding them and brandishing weapons.
"You just made a terrible mistake," Dorothea said.
The bandits laughed. "You're the ones who made a mistake, girl. Tell you what, if you stand aside and let us kill Saint Cethleann and Mercedes the Sunray, we'll let the rest of you go. It's already a pity that we'll have to gut two pretty girls like fish," he added sarcastically.
"Here's our counteroffer," Dimitri said, and he dashed forward, Remembrance of the Fallen stabbing the man through the throat. "DIE."
The ensuing battle could barely be called that. The ruffians had as much chance of victory as the wheat had of killing the farmer on the day of the harvest.
Sylvain's halberd quickly and easily bit through the cheap armor of any enemy foolish enough to approach him. Those that were not fell to a blast of fire just as easily.
Ignatz opened with a volley of fire, ice, shock, and bomb arrows that each felled their target, and in some cases more besides. By the time the last arrow hit its mark, he had spotted where the bandits bound their two hostages, had been Warped to them by Flayn, and effortlessly cut down the men who had tried to turn them into Demonic Beasts. Even as more enemies approached him, none could pin him down, and his blade quickly and smoothly dispatched each one that tried.
Several of the bandits who knew a bit of magic tried hurling spells at Dedue, reasoning that they would be as effective as fire and lightning usually was against Fortress Knights. But the Gorons had ensured such magics could barely warm his suit of armor. And any of them who did find themselves in reach of him found they had as much chance of striking him down as they would of cutting down a mountain, and as much chance of fending off his attacks as using a shield or sword to stop an avalanche.
Dorothea danced effortlessly around every attack aimed at her, her scimitar and lightning spells finding their marks each time she struck. There was almost a strange rhythm to her fight, as if her opponents found themselves compelled to strike at her in perfect time with her moves.
Balthus threw punch after punch, his physique, Crest, and gilded gauntlets ensuring that even if a punch landed against a helmet or plate armor, it struck with enough force to shatter the bones beneath. Weapons that struck at him were batted aside, and their wielders left broken.
Annette didn't even bother drawing her Bladesaw. Instead, she used her Magnesis rune to rip the weapons from her enemies' hands, then sent them back to skewer their own wielders. A few fireballs were sufficient to mop up the stragglers.
Linhardt swept his foes away with wind and fire that cut through them with ease. Any who managed to get close enough to strike a blow felt their weapons freeze in place when they tried, Linhardt simply stepping out of the way and slaying them with another spell, or else stabbing them with a dagger.
Marianne wielded her trident in her right hand, and it took many lives, quick and deadly. With her left, she cast ice spells enhanced with Zora techniques, which were each as deadly as a blizzard.
Flayn cast lances of light that burned holes in the bandits as if they were arrows tearing through paper. Few enemies got anywhere near Flayn, but the few that did were easily dispatched by a Zora spear backed by draconic strength.
Dimitri brought death to every bandit slow or stupid to let him catch them, Remembrance of the Fallen as quick and unforgiving as the Reaper's scythe—with a lightning bolt chained to the blade. Matched with Dimitri's tremendous strength, the lance passed death sentence after death sentence.
Some of Linkle's victims were hit by her Ancient Bowcasters, killed instantly by the explosive blasts. But if they thought her boots would be less deadly, they were wrong; her kicks sent even heavily-armored men flying, their bones crushed to powder where her feet had hit.
But by far the deadliest fighter in the battle was Mercedes. Beams of light like Guardian beams fired from her fingers to blow enemies to pieces in rapid succession, and when there were none left, she turned into a beam of light to move near-instantly to a better position. Arrows passed through her as if she wasn't even there (when the archers were able to keep their hands steady enough to aim). She had to dodge some of the dark spells that she would later identify as being named Vantablack, but few of the casters survived long enough to throw a second spell.
Anyone who could claim to be able to tell how long a battle went on while taking part in it was a liar. But in retrospect, the fighting probably lasted no more than sixty seconds. It didn't take the bandits long to realize they were utterly outmatched and run for it.
A few were smart enough to run in different directions from the group, correctly assuming they were less likely to be followed if they didn't follow the group back to their base. But most were too scared to think clearly, or their greed had overwhelmed their good sense. The Company followed them, but not too quickly, just to make sure they reached their hideout.
Gravis and his men had set up in the ruins of a fort that had been mostly destroyed in some battle or other. They had patched it up a bit, but it wasn't in any shape to stand up to a siege. Not that it would have mattered.
Mercedes blasted apart a section of the wall that hadn't been reinforced well enough, and they stormed in, slaughtering Gravis's men. After the monsters they had fought in Hyrule, most of them died easily. The only exceptions were Gravis himself, his personal guard, and one seemingly random bandit. Gravis was a big man, taller even than Raphael, and while he was also quite fat, he was still surprisingly quick with his axe, and he managed to put up a decent fight against Dimitri. And his bodyguard, a muscular man wielding a hammer, actually managed to withstand several bowcaster blasts and full-force kicks from Linkle before she managed to bring him down. And the random bandit, upon being blocked from reaching the cage where they kept the prisoners, had used a dagger to turn himself into a Demonic Beast instead. Even with the Company having fought Hinoxen and Lynels, a Demonic Beast was still not to be taken lightly, and Sylvain, Marianne, and Annette had to put some effort into killing it.
But in the end, the attack wasn't a battle, it was an extermination.
