Daphnel and Thales were both around the same position, so Leonie and Lorenz were fighting in the same general area as Cato. In the few moments where she could spare the attention, Leonie saw what she could of his fighting style.

He did dual-wield his weapons, his sword in his right hand and his axe in his left. But he didn't use them in the same perfect, synchronized way that Shez used his swords. He would use one to strike at his opponents, while defending himself from attack with the other. He could switch which he was using for each purpose in a moment, moving from attacking with one to attacking with the other, but he didn't attack with both. He moved quickly, sidestepping most of the attacks aimed for him.

He was also a skilled wind mage, as demonstrated when he cast a wind spell that cut an arrow aimed at her out of the air. "Hesitate and die!"

"Uh, right!" Leonie said, returning her attention to the enemy. There weren't many of them left in this stretch of the battlefield, but she picked off a few more archers and mages who were a bit too close for comfort.

It didn't take long for them to reach Thales and Daphnel's position. Thales and Cato locked eyes, sneering at each other. "So we meet again, Thales," Cato said. "Let's make it the last time."

"You're pathetic, Turncoat," Thales spat. "To defend vermin makes you even lower than them yourself."

"Better than being like you," Cato sneered. "Epimenides isn't truly a person any longer. He's nothing but a ghost. Died with the Agarthan Empire, kept from resting in peace by his pain and rage. But he was a person, once. You never were. You are nothing more than a wight. A corpse with no soul, only blind hatred. That's all you are, all you ever have been, and all you ever will be. All I will have done by ending your worthless life is making sure your body can rot as it should."

"You have the soul of a poet," Thales said mockingly. "But flowery words mean nothing unless backed up by steel and fire!" The two of them then started fighting fiercely.

Daphnel, meanwhile, regarded Lorenz and Leonie. "I had hoped to face a Nabatean or one of the nobles of Adrestia today. But I saw you fight, and I imagine many of the others on this battlefield did as well." He brandished Lúin, preparing his horse to charge. "Tell me your names, so they may be recorded in my legend when I kill you."

"I am Lorenz of Gloucester," Lorenz declared. "When you get to Hell, if you find a man named Astor, tell him I was the one who sent you there."

"And I'm Leonie Pinelli," Leonie said. "Apprentice to the Blade Breaker, and soon to be your executioner."

"I imagine you already know my name," Daphnel said. "May the ones who die, die well."


"Nobody cares about this, Leonie," Hilda said.

Leonie stammered, "But-but our battle against Daphnel was epic and spectacular-"

"Your battle against Daphnel was inconclusive," Hilda said.

"Only because of the Tribune with the silly-looking hat!" Lorenz protested.

"I'm with Hilda on this, no one cares about your fight with Daphnel," Cyril said. "And did ya really posture like that before you started fighting? It sounds like you made that part up."

"It's true!" Leonie insisted.

"Let's just skip to the important part," Shez said. "The fight with Nemesis."


Shez swung his swords, cutting down another one of Nemesis's soldiers. He wasn't in his Awakened form for the same reason he assumed Link was using a regular steel sword instead of the Master Sword, he was saving its power for Nemesis and couldn't afford to waste it on fodder.

Not that he had needed to; Constance and Lysithea were doing a fine job of clearing the path.

When they reached Nemesis's position, all of Nemesis's men ran to give them a wide berth, save for two. A big, bald man with an eye patch and a war hammer, and a scrawny-looking man who looked to be on the older side of middle-aged, who carried a staff.

Recognizing that the two of them were likely Tribunes or similarly dangerous warriors, Hilda and Lysithea attacked them, engaging them in one-on-one fights to keep them from interfering in the battle against Nemesis.

The others prepared to attack Nemesis. Nemesis looked at Link, then at Shez. "I recognize the two of you. You're the fools who hindered me at the Red Canyon." He pointed the Sword of the Creator at them. "I shall obliterate anything and anyone that stands in my way!"

Nemesis was fast, but Zelda was faster, as she unleashed the full power of the Sheikah Slate's Bomb runes.

It was a storm of bombs that could have reduced a Stone Talus to rubble. But against Nemesis, it wasn't nearly enough. When the storm of bombs dissipated, while his horse was well and truly dead, Nemesis was still standing there, looking as if he had barely been scratched. In response, Nemesis extended the Sword of the Creator to try to cut down Zelda.

It never made it to her. Edelgard ran into its path, and deflected it with her shield. Deflecting the Sword of the Creator was far from easy, but the Gorons built things to last, and she had angled her shield to deflect the blow rather than stop it completely. The Sword's point bounced off, leaving only a small dent.

"Seiros said Nemesis has a wound that never properly healed," Arval said. "Maybe that's his weakness."

"Good thinking," Shez thought, and cast Mire. He was under no illusions that it could kill Nemesis, but it distracted him long enough that Shez could sheath his second sword (it was borrowed, after all) and enter his Awakening. Using his Shadow Slide, he teleported close to Nemesis, then back out of Nemesis's reach as he brought his Sword down on the spot where Shez was standing.

Ferdinand tried charging while Nemesis was at least somewhat exposed, but Nemesis simply held out a buckler shield with his left hand, breaking his lance against it. He then punched with the buckler, breaking the neck of Ferdinand's horse. Before Nemesis could try to follow up and kill Ferdinand, Kronya used her Sheikah arts to teleport behind Nemesis and slash at his back with her blade, then ducked before the Sword of the Creator could separate her head from her shoulders, and dashed out of Nemesis's range.

"I put enough Mother Darkness on that blade to kill twenty men!" She complained. "Why isn't he slowing down?"

"Did you remember that most poisons don't work as well on Crest bearers?" Edelgard asked, as she tossed Fire at Nemesis.

"...Shit," Kronya realized, ducking out of the way of a blow. Edelgard was right. As a first-generation Crest bearer, if Nemesis was feeling anything from that poison, it was probably nothing more than an itch.

Before Nemesis could try again, a bomb arrow hit his buckler, visibly cracking it. Unfortunately, Nemesis simply growled, "This is your end. Perish!" as he cast a Thunder spell at Cyril. Cyril didn't have a proper defense against that, and it knocked him to the ground.

Link, having drawn the Master Sword, placed himself between Nemesis and Cyril. "Ferdinand. Protect Cyril." He then ran towards Nemesis, and when the Sword of the Creator swung, he dodged at just the right moment. Link's well-trained reflexes kicked into motion as he aimed for the scar on Nemesis's side. He moved almost faster than the eye could see.

Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough. Nemesis's left hand, still holding the cracked buckler, punched him in his center of mass, sending him flying and causing him to drop the Master Sword.

"Link!" Zelda angrily blasted Nemesis with a triangular beam of white-hot light magic, which broke his shield completely and forced him back several steps as he defended against it. But when the beam dissipated, he was still there, having warded it off well enough to not be seriously injured.

Shez had an idea. Dropping his ordinary sword, he Shadow Slid to the Master Sword and picked it up. And almost regretted it immediately, because just holding it was extremely painful. But it still glowed blue, which Shez took to mean his plan could work.

"I'm shielding you from the damage as much as I can, but even with the spirit of the sword not actively trying to attack you, this sword does not want to be used by you," Arval told him. "You'll get one strike out of it, and I doubt you can handle more after that."

"Tell the sword to fuck off and focus on killing Nemesis, not me," he told Arval. "Nemesis! This sword in my right hand is the Goddess Hylia's Master Sword, the most holy blade in the entire known world! With it, I will render the Gods' judgment against you!"

"You arrogant swine!" Nemesis shouted. "You think yourself a holy paladin, boy?"

"What's with the showboating? You don't have much time before the sword starts crippling your arm!" Arval protested.

"Trust me," Shez assured him. "I need you to help me parry his sword when he attacks me. Can you do that?"

"We'll probably both be useless afterward," Arval said.

"Fine by me," Shez said, and started running towards Nemesis.

Sure enough, the Sword of the Creator came to cut him down. And even though it felt like he was trying to parry a battering ram, he used Arval's sword to parry it, forcing the Sword back and exposing Nemesis's chest. And with his right hand, he slashed at the wicked king, before dropping the Master Sword as he transformed back to his regular form, exhausted.

"Impossible," Shez panted, staggering backward as he realized Nemesis was still standing. "That should have at least knocked him down."

"It will leave a scar," Nemesis said. "Is that not enough for you, boy?" He walked over to the Master Sword. "I will prove to you that I alone am worthy of being king, and then your worthless lives will be mine!" With that, he picked up the Master Sword with his empty left hand.

And immediately screamed in pain. He held onto the Master Sword for what might have been one second or two, before dropping it to the ground. and after dropping it, his left arm flopped uselessly at his side, as if he couldn't even move it.

He snarled and tried to charge at Shez's fallen form, but Edelgard and Constance attacked him, with twin cries of "Volcanic Rage!" and "Chromatic Thunderstrike!" And while the Sword of the Creator caught Liberator's head before it could reach his wounds, Constance's Golden Gauntlet, wreathed in multicolored lightning, hammered into his already-injured chest, causing him to cough up blood and stagger back several steps.

"Cursed worms. Now I'm angry!" He shouted and tried to strike them down with his strongest attack. "Heaven's Fall!"

But Link had gotten back up, and had gotten the Master Sword back into his hands and countered with an attack of his own. "Empyrean Aegis!" His blow met Nemesis's, and they countered each other perfectly, with such force that everyone nearby reflexively took a step back from the clash.

The two officers who had been fighting alongside Nemesis had also been forced onto the defensive, and retreated from their fights to his side. Turning his head slightly toward the muscular one, Nemesis issued an order. "Balor. Sound the general retreat."

Link was bout to press his advantage, but he saw several more Tribunes move to defend their king. He quickly did the math and realized that while he and his friends could beat the Tribunes, they probably couldn't do it without giving Nemesis or the two officers a chance to attack. So, they simply watched as Nemesis's army turned and retreated, with Cyril, Lysithea, and Constance picking off a few as they fled.

"'Empyrean Aegis?' Since when do you name your attacks, Link?" Zelda asked.

"It seems like the thing to do in Fódlan," Link said. "Besides, I liked it. Maybe I'll start doing it more often."

Several Adrestian soldiers who had been watching from a safe distance moved closer, and a healer started checking Shez's injuries. It seemed the battle was over.

Edelgard then looked at Constance's mismatched gauntlets. "Wait. Wasn't your Sheikah Tech gauntlet a right gauntlet?"