Lie and Seek

by draconichero21

On Planet Earth, there are multiple superpowers that oversee the global populace, most prominently are those that follow the Church of Seiros: Adrestia, Faerghus, Leicester, and Britannia. A chance meeting interlocks the fate of Lelouch and Edelgard, unknowingly putting the fate of mankind in their very ambitious hands.

4. Mock Battle

(A/N: In the year 2017atb, the strongest PMC would find her way to Garreg Mach Monastery and end up the teacher to Britannia's house, the Violet Tigers. What does destiny have in store for her?)

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2017 atb

27th Day of the Great Tree Moon

As it turned out, Marrybell was quite a ways ahead of Byleth in terms of planning for the mock battle, not that Lelouch expected any less. Now it made sense why she had collected all of those affinity charts. Morning lecture began with some free study while Byleth and Marrybell chatted quietly up at the front of the room. When Byleth said everyone should learn from each other, clearly she meant it.

Lelouch, however, while he was reading a tactics book, was also scanning the room for reactions to Byleth becoming the teacher. By all accounts, Byleth fell within the age range of a student, yet she was being allowed to be a professor. Based on his research, she was actually younger than Mercedes von Martritz, as well as several of the Green Pheasant students. It made little sense to hire her on as staff. He vowed to look into this later.

Of course, Shez's expression caught his eye whilst scanning the room, not that he expected any less. He could almost guess what was on her mind, that this was some kind of mockery. Not only was the Ashen Demon better than her, now she was touting it over her by becoming her teacher. Okay, so he had to enact damage control. He wasn't going to have his big sisters at each other's throats.

It took about half of morning lecture for Byleth to get herself situated, and then things took a weird turn. Lelouch had always known the blue haired woman to be relatively quiet, especially towards Jeralt. If a hand gesture or body language would get the point across quicker than words, she took that as an option. So it was a bit surreal for Lelouch to not only hear Byleth talking up a storm, but talking with actual life in her voice. She wrote equations, read out loud from a book crisply and clearly and seemed to be taking her job very seriously. As she marched in between the rows of desks, discussing the importance of Julius Caesar's battlefield tactics, she even smacked Sokkia lightly across the back of the head lightly. The girl had been dozing off while leaned back in her chair.

There's acclimating to your environment quickly, and then there's this, Lelouch thought, a bit dumbstruck at Byleth's behavior. Still, it was a lot better than he thought she would fare. He was always willing to have his expectations subverted if those expectations were surpassed by several magnitudes.

He looked towards Nunnally in the spot next to him. As always, she was using a tape recorder to record the lecture. Since she couldn't see, writing was difficult so it was easier for her to just record the lecture and listen to it multiple times in order to study. Lelouch was fortunate that most of the major textbooks either came in audio format or brail. The ones that didn't, he would be spending extra time with Nunnally on them so she could learn.

Jeralt was certainly right when he said Nunnally wasn't helpless. Lelouch needed to help her with certain tasks, but thanks to their substitute father figure, Nunnally had learned to be as independent as possible without her big brother doting on her. She still needed her meals cooked for her and needed help getting dressed, but she needed very minimal assistance bathing as long as she could find her way into the bathtub.

---

2012 atb

14th Day of the Lone Moon

"Come on, kid! Put your back into it! Do you want to be outpaced by your sister's wheelchair for the rest of your life?!" Jeralt barked.

Lelouch, Nunnally, Jeralt and Byleth were at a public gym.

"S-Screw you! This is child abuse!" Lelouch exclaimed, damn near at his limit, only to gaze at Byleth in the treadmill next to him, running at twice the speed. She was exhaling healthily and breaking into a comfortable sweat.

"F-four…" Nunnally grunted, straining. "F-Five…"

She was on a pull up bar with Jeralt holding onto her waist. Since she had no leg strength. If she let go, she wouldn't be able to catch herself.

"That's it! You can get to ten, nice and easy."

Lelouch pushed himself. If Nunnally was trying, so could he. They wouldn't be helpless. He wouldn't be helpless.

"Lelouch! Watch out!" Jeralt called out.

THUD!

And that was the day Lelouch learned not to manually change the speed of a treadmill unless you absolutely knew what you were doing. He was lucky Jeralt was nearby to pick him up before he really hurt himself.

---

2017 atb

27th Day of the Great Tree Moon

Thanks to Jeralt's training, Lelouch could exert himself without getting stupidly tired, and Nunnally's upper body strength allowed her to, most times, transfer in and out of her wheelchair if it was close enough to her bed or bath. Even with that said, Lelouch still wasn't winning any marathons, and Nunnally's constitution, by all accounts, was still a bit frail. A strong enough impact would break her bones sooner than someone built for combat like, say, Suzaku. Still, it was more than they had found themselves before Jeralt and Byleth came into their lives: weak, helpless and scared.

The morning lecture bell rang before Lelouch had even realized it was the appropriate time. However, as students began to get up, Byleth slapped her desk with a ruler.

"The bell doesn't dismiss you," she said sharply. "I do." She went around the room, giving a piece of paper to everyone. "This is your homework for the week. I expect you to complete it."

Lelouch looked at the page Byleth had given him. It had a whole bunch of page numbers in text books pertaining to battle tactics, his strength. However, there was also an additional assignment. He was to practice hand to hand combat.

Hand to hand? Lelouch wondered. He peered at Nunnally's paper. It was full of holes made with a sharp pencil point to stand in for actual brail writing. Lelouch could translate. It was mostly faith magical theory research, but also some reason problems as well.

"Shirley, can I see your paper a moment?" Lelouch asked.

"Oh uh, sure Lulu," Shirley said, handing it to him.

Lelouch was awestruck when he saw what was written. Shirley's assignment was mostly reason problems, but it was also firearms training. Byleth had known Lelouch and Nunnally a long time. Giving them custom assignments didn't seem all that surprising. But being able to discern Shirley's strengths from the limited time Byleth had to gaze over her affinity chart alone was impressive.

Lelouch handed it back to Shirley with a smile. "Looks like our new professor knows what she's doing."

"I'll say," Rivalz said, grinning as students now began to leave. "Guess we got nothing to worry about." He looked towards Lelouch. "You up for lunch, pal?"

Lelouch nodded.

"You know, it's been a long time since we've all been together what with how the school's lecture system was led up until now," Milly said. "Why don't we all eat together, a good old Ashford Academy reunion?"

"That's a great idea, Pre—Milly!" Shirley said, forgetting for a moment that Milly was no longer in charge.

Milly laughed. "Oh, Shirley," she said, eyeing her up. "You know you'll always be my little secretary."

"Wh-what are you saying?!" Shirley exclaimed, getting flustered.

Nunnally laughed. "It almost feels like we never left Ashford with everyone still getting along like this."

Rivalz laughed too. "Yeah, it kind of does."

Nina suddenly quickly packed her things and bowed to her fellow students. "I must politely decline lunch. I have something important to do."

"Oh. Is everything okay, Nina?" Milly asked her.

Nina nodded. "I'll catch up with you all later."

Lelouch made a mental note of this, but decided not to push the matter.

As Nina Einstein left the lecture hall, she crossed the bridge at the back of the academy and made for the cathedral. There, she walked into a bathroom stall and walked out in a priestess uniform, as opposed to her student uniform, just in time for afternoon prayer. She found a spot in the front row and watched with a blush and a little bit of drool as Rhea arrived from the northwestern corridor to the podium.

She clasped her hands together in adoration. Lady Rhea…

Rhea put her bible down onto the podium and then walked around in front of it. "I am overjoyed to see so many devout followers here this afternoon," Rhea said. "We begin on page twenty-four with the afternoon hymn."

Nina drooled a little more. That's just like you, Lady Rhea! She thought as she sang with the congregation. You don't need your own scripture to know the Goddess' words! They're all in your heart! Nina's heart pounded with adoration. Lady Rhea! She thought, gazing upon the visage of the beautiful green haired woman. LADY RHEA! She exclaimed internally, hearts forming in her pupils.

---

Unaware of Nina's newfound devotion, Lelouch sat with his old Ashford classmates in the dining hall, listening to Rivalz talk about his time spent on the expedition. Lelouch listened carefully as he ate, but unfortunately nobody in Rivalz's group sounded to be anyone of note. While Lelouch listened, he was far more concerned about something else, the mock battle.

It would be a 5-way Battle Royale consisting of five-unit teams. Each team would be comprised of the professor, their house leader, and three additional students. That meant if Lelouch was going to participate, he and Marrybell would have to cooperate. No doubt Byleth would pick him. She knew how invaluable his tactical mindset was. What she didn't yet know, to Lelouch's mind, was that he and Marrybell would either disagree on specifics, or they would end up agreeing on everything. To Lelouch, it was presently unknown what it would be until the day of the battle, unless things changed.

Among the students in his class, Oldrin was a given. Best swordsman outside the Knights of the Round in all of Britannia. Sure, HLKMFs were banned in the mock battle, but Oldrin knew her stuff. She wasn't the head knight of the Glinda Knights for nothing.

That left a single opening on the Violet Tigers.

Oldrin and Byleth are no doubt best suited to the front lines while Marrybell and I are best suited to the backline. Marrybell is good with a rifle and with magic, while I am only comfortable with dark magic. Based on that, what our professor would want is a good pivot, or a healer.

Among the top level students in the Violet Tigers, the only good healers were Lelouch's sister Nunnally, or Nina. And as for pivots, that meant either Milly, Shez or one of the other Glinda Knights, probably Leonhardt or Sokkia. Lelouch crossed Tink off his list simply because the man's natural bulk and stamina made him suitable for the front and Byleth and Oldrin would already be sharing that position in Lelouch's hypothetical scenario. Three fronts and two backliners would get folded by any team with a better strategy.

And that was when Lelouch's mind drifted to the other houses. First were the Lions. Dimitri and Hanneman made an excellent contrasting pair. Dimitri would no doubt pick his right hand man, Dedue and that covered the front lines exceptionally. That meant a healer would be needed, so Mercedes was a given. And he would either select someone who could act as both backline and midline—a pivot's role basically—or he would select a rifleman or an extra mage. Among the Blue Lions, that only left two options: Ashe Ubert, the adopted son of Lord Lonato, or Annette, whom Lelouch had gotten to know in the past fortnight.

Among them, Dimitri would prove the biggest challenge. Both of our frontliners are predominately swordswomen, which suffer at disadvantage to a lance fighter. So, unless I catch him off guard with a spell, the Blue Lions could be trouble.

He then shifted his focus to the next least troublesome, the Golden Deer. Claude and Manuella were both backline fighters given their respective capabilities. The issue suddenly became that Lelouch knew, based on limited interaction, exactly the type of man Claude was, a shrewd tactician in his own right that, based on his snarky personality, suggested that Claude was going to behave in an underhanded and possibly unconventional fashion. This meant that any prediction Lelouch had towards the Golden Deer's battle formation was bound to be wrong. He would have to memorize all manner of combat patterns and see whatever viable counterstrategies remained open on the big day.

Things were even worse trying to figure out the Green Pheasants. Sure, Kallen was a given and Empress Kaguya was a rifle user and a thunder magic user, but he knew very little about their teacher, this Kaname Ohgi character. In fact, the Green Pheasants were mostly an unknown quantity to him, given the limited amount of information caused by the bad blood between Neo-Japan and Rome. They were definitely the dark horse of this upcoming battle.

That just left the Black Eagles, arguably the toughest adversaries, in Lelouch's mind. And this had nothing to do with any of the students within their roster. It had everything to do with the teacher.

Lelouch's mind flashed to when Jeritza glitched out Sokkia's HLKMF with a thrown axe. It was a two-handed weapon not meant for throwing. Additionally, Professor Jeritza specialized in lance combat, not axes. Yet the man still had enough strength to hurl a weapon not only not meant for throwing, but also one he wasn't specialized in, and still had enough power to tap out the energy reserves of Sokkia's armor in one strike. He definitely had a crest, that kind of strength wasn't normal. However, it was his choice of weapon and that strength combined that left Lelouch concerned. The teacher was just as much a part of the house team as the students. Lelouch worried that Jeritza would be difficult to bring down without a concentrated effort to do so not just from the Violet Tigers, but multiple houses.

And that was just one man out of the five-unit team. Edelgard was no slouch in combat. And she would no doubt insist Hubert be part of the battle. A strong frontline with Hubert in the backline. With such a team…Edelgard could fill her roster with a backliner and a healer, and her team would be almost completely impervious.

Monica was both banned from the proceeds. She'd been in the mock battle last year and had a year's experience up over the other students. That meant Lelouch only had to worry about the new students. Among the Black Eagles, Dorothea seemed the best suited for the backline. Edelgard would simply add her to the team on principle. It was the last spot that Lelouch was concerned about. The only well-known healer in the Black Eagles was a young man named Lindhart von Hevring, the son of Count Waldemar von Hevring, the Minister of Domestic Affairs in Adrestia. However, there would be one issue with deploying Lindhart to a mock battle.

"Ah, Lindhart! Wake up!" Lelouch heard a loud voice call out from a different table. A short, and short haired, blue haired young man was berating what appeared to be Lindhart laying fast asleep on the dining room table, mashed potatoes inadvertently up his nose.

"Lin, you're making a scene of yourself," Dorothea said with grave concern. "Perhaps now's not the best time for a nap."

"Allow me," Hubert said and yanked hard on Lindhart's ponytail.

Snorts and flailing arms preceded Lindhart von Hevring rising up from the table, coughing as peas fell out of his nose.

"So attractive," Dorothea said in dismay.

Lindhart yawned. "Oh, is it dinner already?"

"Is it dinner?" The blue haired young man grumbled rhetorically. "It's still lunch! You passed out in the middle of your meal."

Lindhart yawned. "Oh. So I did." He stretched. "Well, good night." He pushed his plate away this time and curled up with his head resting in his forearms.

Even Edelgard could not believe what she was seeing. She shook her head, troubled.

"Guess some people just can't stay awake," Rivalz commented.

"Oh dear, I hope he's all right," Milly said.

"Let's go see," Shirley said. She and Milly went over to where the Black Eagles were eating to shmooze.

So then who would she deploy? Lelouch thought. He went over the high profile members of the Black Eagles to do his best guesswork. There was Edelgard, Hubert, Dorothea, and Lindhart for starters.

If I had to guess, that short gentleman with the loud mouth is Caspar von Bergliez of House Bergliez, son of Leopold von Bergliez, the strongest man in the Empire. Owner of the HLKMF The Adrestian Bear, said to be rivaled in sheer power by only Bismarck Waldstein's Galahad X-2 of the Knight's of the Round.

He looked at a girl with tan skin and purple hair chatting away with Shirley and seeming to hit it off with the way Shirley was now giggling. Petra Macneary, the Double A Princess. Double A referred to Australian-Adrestia, the secondary land that Adrestians called home after they conquered it centuries ago. Her skill is best suited for the frontlines given her skill with a sword and her predator-like speed.

While much of Lelouch's intel came from public records, his information network, at present, relied mainly on three sources. The first was Shez whose time in the Britannian Embassy gave her access to a lot of records restricted to the general public, but weren't exactly top secret. The second was Sayoko and her vast information network through the Japanese underground from Kyoto to what remained of the Yakuza. How a simple maid knew so many people was beyond his comprehension, but he wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth. The last was, of course, Garreg Mach's Gatekeeper who, true to his word, gave Lelouch intel regularly.

Lelouch continued his analysis of the Black Eagles' student roster. I don't see him, but I know that Adrestian's Prime Minister, Ludwig von Aegir, sent his son here this year, Ferdinand. So who am I missing?

Every single house, including Lelouch's, had 8 noteworthy members of the roster bare minimum. That was the intel he received from his sources, including Gatekeeper a few days ago. Lelouch's own house, the Violet Tigers, consisted of himself, a renown tactician and dark mage, and Jeralt's kin, Oldrin and Marrybell, Milly Ashford of the Ashford family, the three members of the Glinda Knights that had come with them: Sokkia, Tink, and Leonhardt, plus Leonhardt's fiancée Marika. Sure, the rest of Ashford's student council, and Nunnally, had come along, but they weren't exactly top-tier students.

He said eight per house. I only count seven, Lelouch thought. "Nunnally, I have to go check on something, okay? We'll meet up for afternoon lectures."

"Okay, big brother!" Nunnally exclaimed happily. "If I get lost, I'll text Miss Shez or big sis."

Lelouch smiled and then left the dining hall, deep in thought. He passed by the fishing pond and rounded towards the dorm rooms, taking the long way to the front by circling around the entrance hall. He could have just taken a quick left out of the dining hall towards the market, but he wanted time to think things over before asking Gatekeeper. With luck, he might spot the mystery eighth person on the way.

The young Britannian may have been lost in thought, but that didn't mean he wasn't carefully observant. He heard a door slam close nearby and turned his head. That was odd. The door that just closed was unoccupied earlier in the school year. In fact, Lelouch was certain it was open his entire first week here at Garreg Mach. It was occupied now? That didn't sit right with him.

He thought about calling the knights, but there were airborne monitor guards above his head. And if someone had broken in, there would have been a manhunt announced for an intruder. Still, cornered prey could always bite back hard so just in case of an unlikely worst case scenario, Lelouch made his dominant hand glow and knocked on the door with his other hand.

He instantly heard a skittish yelp from inside, followed by a thud, followed by a timid, "Wh-Who's there? N-Nobody's here but dust bunnies! …Go away!"

A girl's voice? Lelouch took a moment to gather his breath as he dismissed his magic. He silently cleared his throat. Then, in the kindest voice he could muster, like how he would talk to Nunnally. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was under the impression this room was unoccupied."

"Well it isn't! I mean…it is! Nobody's here! No! I mean…I'm not here! …Leave me alone!"

Lelouch was now more confused than ever. "I just want to talk."

He heard a gasp from inside as if he'd just spoken blasphemy. "That's what everyone says! And then the next thing you know you disappear into an unmarked van, never to be seen again! Well you won't get Bernie! Bernie's too smart for your tricks you…you…kidnapper!" There was an awkward pause before this "Bernie" shouted through the door. "I'M ONTO YOU!"

Bernie? Lelouch thought about. …No it couldn't be. Count Varley's daughter, Bernadetta von Varley? He decided to test his theory. "You wouldn't happen to be Bernadetta von Varley, would you?"

He heard more timid squeaking. "H-how do you know that?'

It is her. "I was just checking. I wasn't sure until you told me. Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Eh?" Bernadetta seemed surprised. She was being left alone just like that. She was even more surprised when she heard footsteps. Curiously, she peered through the blinds, watching Lelouch walk away. She thought about coming out of her room, but…no, she was safer in here. Safe from everything. …He didn't seem so bad though, Bernadetta thought sorrowfully. And then her own mind got the better of her. She talked to herself out loud. "Eep! What if he was a commoner? Ooh! I almost put myself in danger! Bad Bernie! Stay inside where its safe!"

---

28th Day of the Great Tree Moon

To complete his assignment for the week, Lelouch was learning basic hand to hand principles from Oldrin. The two were in the training yard with the rest of their class being monitored by Professor Jeritza. Just because the main teacher oversaw the class did not mean that the other teachers did not have a hand in the students' education.

Right now, Lelouch and Oldrin were paired off at Lelouch's request, allowing Nunnally to learn more about healing magic from Nina, while both were practicing to try and learn the most basic of offensive Faith magic spells: Nosferatu, a spell that damaged the target and also healed the user for half the damage sustained by the enemy. It was a complicated spell, but if one had any intention of becoming a useful healer on the battlefield, it was paramount for self-defense.

"Pay attention!" Oldrin shouted, hitting Lelouch in the face.

Lelouch tumbled like a house of cards to the ground and then pushed up on his left hand and right arm, coughing.

"I get it, you're the careful observer and you have to take everything into account," Oldrin told him. "But you can't let that become a distraction or the unexpected will be your downfall." She offered her hand.

Lelouch took it and then quickly put his open palm in front of his face, anticipating that Oldrin would try to sucker punch him.

"Good, your guard isn't down," she said to him. "Let's continue."

Lelouch proceeded to soundly have the basics into him by Oldrin. She was a stern teacher, not unlike Jeralt or Byleth. This wasn't Ashford. Lelouch had drive to be here, mostly because he didn't want to be sent to Jeralt's office by his own sister. Too many eyes were on him. He had also told Marrybell that he wanted to be a Knight of Seiros. What kind of knight didn't take their training seriously? No, for now he had to actually put in the effort. He would find the cracks in the monastery later…and blow them wide open.

---

Night of the 29th Day of the Great Tree Moon

Lelouch was busy studying his tactics book when he found a knock at the door. "Door's open," Lelouch said politely.

"It's your house leader," Marrybell said sternly.

Ah. Important business.

Lelouch got up off his desk chair and made for the door. He opened it. "Princess Marrybell." He then noticed Oldrin. "Oh, and Oz too. How unexpected."

"Strategy meeting. Professor Byleth's asked for us."

Good. Then it sounds like my predictions were relatively correct, Lelouch thought. "Did the professor only send for me?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

"She didn't even send for Oz," Marrybell admitted, "But where Oz goes, I go."

Lelouch nodded. He followed his half-sister and her knight to Byleth's personal quarters. The merc turned professor had a map laid out on the floor with Risk pieces dotting the battle map. Oz, the last one in, shut the door behind her.

Byleth gestured to the floor, pondering over her makeshift map.

Lelouch took a seat in front of her. Oldrin and Marrybell flanked either side of him.

"Before we get started," Marrybell began with a serious tone to her voice. "News. The Black Eagles have agreed to forge an early alliance into the battle with the Black Eagles."

Lelouch turned his head towards Marrybell in interest.

Byleth began rearranging pieces on the board to reflect her strategy.

"Who are we deploying? I wager that the four of us here are obviously taking to the field of battle," Lelouch said.

"That's also what I want to discuss," Marrybell said and got out the student roster. "Ultimately, the choice is up to the Professor, but I want to show formation options with the best possible deployments."

"Sokkia, Leonhardt, Marika, Nunnally and Nina, correct?" Lelouch asked.

"I can see the gears turn quickly in your head, Lelouch," Marrybell noted.

"Mhm," Lelouch said, staring at the battle map.

Oldrin was a bit slower on the uptake. "Why those four?"

Byleth showed with actions rather than words on the battle map. Leonhardt had proficiencies in energy lances and firearms, allowing him to pivot between backline and frontline. Sokkia was almost exclusively long range, but if she had to get up close she had basic swordsmanship abilities. Marika showed aptitude at being quicker on her feet than her fiancé, but balanced her energy lance skills with fire magic instead of using firearms. As for Nunnally and Nina, both were potent healers.

"I see, so our formation is going to look like this then, yes?" Oldrin asked. The deployment pattern looked like an X formation on the map. Byleth and Oldrin started shoulder to shoulder with Marrybell and Lelouch bringing up the rear guard with the healer or pivot starting in the middle.

Byleth nodded.

"What do we know about enemy formations?" Marrybell asked.

"You're about as smart as me, you haven't worked that out?" Lelouch teased.

Marrybell shot him a dirty look.

Byleth shook her head. She had no idea either.

"Then it's a good thing you're deploying me," Lelouch said. "I have info that may be of use."

Lelouch shared his speculations with his teacher and house leader from the other day. Byleth began rearranging the board accordingly.

"The Golden Deer trip you up?" Marrybell asked. "Really?"

"You know differently?" Lelouch asked.

"They were the one house I had a pretty solid understanding of," she said. "Claude's a shady one to be sure, but he's not that hard to figure out."

Lelouch gazed at the map as if he was trying to burn a hole through it with his gaze as Marrybell played with the yellow pieces, explaining her belief on what Claude would do.

Even if our intelligence and understanding are the same, our upbringings shape our comprehension, Lelouch thought. Marrybell mel Britannia. You will one day become a potent enemy.

"Claude's stuck with Manuela on his team, so we can instantly eliminate the chance that any other healers will be deployed. Claude's crafty, not brainless," she said.

From a digital roster sheet of the Golden Deer, she crossed a girl with blue hair, Marianne von Edmund from the list.

"A crafty sort like Claude will want to lure enemies to unfavorable terrain, so he'll need a good forward," she said, highlighting Leonie, Hilda, and a man Lelouch had yet to make the formal acquaintance of: Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, of House Gloucester. "But, he may also want a second forward unit as a surprise, so two of these three students are guaranteed to be on his team."

"Brilliant, Mary!" Oldrin praised.

"Ahaha, well," Marrybell said, rubbing the back of her head.

Lelouch nodded to his half-sister, silently requesting she continue.

"That just leaves one slot open," Marrybell said.

"Right, but that's what was tripping me up," Lelouch admitted. "I agree with what you've said so far, but the rest of it is all speculation. We probably don't know who he's going to deploy until tomorrow morning."

"Actually, it's really simple," Marrybell said. "The best lure acts as the one most likely to charge into battle, even without being told to do so while using a second individual as cover."

She highlighted Lorenz and Ignatz.

"I don't follow," Lelouch said.

"That's because you don't know court nobility," Marrybell reminded him. "Lorenz is a stuffy one to say the least, but he's the easiest sort of noble to prey upon. He's the type that thinks that his pedigree and all the best tutors money can blow past any obstacle. Even without Claude's schemes, or maybe in spite of them, he's bound to go charging off on his own." She arranged the battlefield accordingly. "Cue Ignatz, someone I've seen in training to be a bit timid, so no doubt Claude has noticed the same," she explained. "As soon as Ignatz sees Lorenz go down, he'll double back with suppressive fire towards Claude, but this is the trap. Instead of pursuing Ignatz, we'll leave the Golden Deer down a man to face the wrath of other houses while we break through the center line with the Black Eagles."

"And what if our cease fire ends when they have the advantage? Jeritza is on their side, Marrybell," Lelouch stated. He left out Princess for two reasons. One, because she was his half-sister at the end of the day. They were on equal footing. Secondly, as Seteth said at opening ceremonies, treat anyone as if they were your equal.

"Right, Professor Jeritza. Honestly, when I made that agreement to a truce with Edelgard, I was figuring it would be a good nation building exercise," she said, scratching her head. "I never expected she'd end up with a monster running her house."

"Technically we have our own monster," Oldrin said with a big grin, grabbing and then shaking Byleth's shoulder.

"True, but the HLKMF Ashen Demon is banned from the battlefield," Marrybell said. "You heard what Sokkia said. Jeritza is crazy strong."

"It's going to be tough to win if we're teaming up with our greatest adversary," Lelouch said.

"No, I think it's quite the opposite," Byleth said. "If Professor Jeritza isn't focused on our house, the other houses will wear him down."

"An optimistic way to look at things," Lelouch remarked.

Byleth gazed sideways as if she felt her statement was being disapproved.

"I agree with the Professor," Marrybell said, to Lelouch's astonishment. "Ah! In fact…Lelouch, we're going to turn Claude's own tactic against him."

"Something come to you?" Lelouch asked, he was rather intrigued to find out what.

Marrybell began playing with the map talking in a low voice as she began going over combat details. Lelouch nodded his head through most of it. It was unusual for him to put his fate in someone else's hands. But, for now, Marrybell was house leader and he was finding almost no fault with her strategy. At the end of the day, it was hers and Britannia's honor on the line when it came to the mock battle, not his. It would not affect his goals any if the Violet Tigers didn't win the mock battle. Still, competitive young man that he was, he was going to give this battle his all. After all, though he tried to deny who he was, Lelouch vi Britannia still existed, and Lelouch vi Britannia hated to lose.

---

Morning of the 30th Day of the Great Tree Moon

As all five houses made it to their designated section of the map on the field of battle, Marrybell stood shoulder to shoulder with Byleth, prepared to name the three additional units that would be partaking in the mock battle. "If I call your name, please step forward," Marrybell said. "Lelouch Eisner."

No one was shocked given Lelouch's apparent relation to their professor.

"Oldrin Zevon."

Again, there were no surprises. Oldrin was Marrybell's knight. The two were practically joined at the hip.

"And finally," Marrybell said as she refolded the missive and tucked it into pants pocket, "Nina Einstein."

"Eh?" Nina was shocked to hear her name and then it took her a few extra moments to register the weight of her name being called. "EHHHHHHH?!"

"All right, Nina!" Milly exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Show 'em the pride of Ashford."

"You can do it, Nina!" Shirley exclaimed.

"Good luck, Nina," Nunnally told her.

Nina was now bright red with embarrassment, sweat pouring down her face. "W-w-w-w-w-w-wait! Th-this must be some sort of mistake!"

"In preparing for war, there are no mistakes, only the capable and incapable," Lelouch told her with whimsy in his voice.

"B-B-But I can't go out there! I'll be dead weight! I-I'm useless!" Nina excused, terrified of going out there.

Byleth smiled and nodded her head. "You'll be fine."

"We based our entire strategy around having our best healer out there," Marrybell told her. "Don't worry. You'll have the Professor and Oldrin in front of you and Lelouch and I at your back."

Nina swallowed. L-Lady Rhea…sh-she's going to be watching, right? Ohhhhhh, I better not mess this up.

---

In the Black Eagles section, similar objections were being raised. "Edelgard, I must object," a man with orange hair and eyes said. "How can you form a battle strategy without me, in it?"

"Ferdinand, you were considered, but properly overlooked given Jeritza and I can handle the frontlines just fine," Edelgard said.

"This is unprecedented," Ferdinand said, holding the side of his forehead as though ill. "House Aegir has always been presented in the mock battle for generations at Garreg Mach. I…" he swung his arm out in defiance. "I beg you to reconsider!"

"I beg you to reconsider!" a girl with purple hair squeaked.

"Reconsideration denied," Edelgard said sternly. "Ferdinand, I've made my decision, and Bernadetta, I have faith that you will do the Empire proud."

"I'm going to die out there! Please NO!" Bernadetta exclaimed. She looked positively terrified.

"It is impossible to die in this battle," Jeritza said, head craned at the sky. "Death is one luxury the church will not afford us today. Ahhhhh, how I long for real battle."

"That's easy for you to say, Professor!" Bernadetta shrieked. "You're practically impervious to damage today! You're like the strongest person there! I'm weak! I don't belong out there!"

"Bernadetta!" Edelgard called her name with disdain. "Stop making excuses! You have plenty of firearms training enough that you're not going to put your own eye out. I request that you stop making excuses and get in formation."

Berandetta whined. "Yes, Lady Edelgard." She sniffed in resignation of her fate.

---

The Black Eagles and the Violet Tigers were not the only houses plotting out last minute strategies. The Green Pheasants were also bemoaning the state they found themselves in.

"Man, we gotta handle some real monsters," a man with red hair and a red headband complained.

"Think of it as a chance for us to show what Japanese are capable of, Tamaki," a man with black hair in the teacher's uniform said.

"Hey, easy for you to say," Tamaki said, "You've got a future after this, Ohgi."

"I don't intend to stay with the Church, if that's what you're thinking," Ohgi said. "We all agreed we would come support Empress Kaguya per her request. It's not every day you get direct orders from what our monarch."

"How are things on the ground?" A woman with blue hair asked Ohgi. "Have Minami and Yoshida reported in?"

"We're getting closer to pinpointing the target's location, but we've managed to clear the biggest hurdle," Ohgi said.

"I don't think now is the time to be talking about things like this," Kaguya said.

"I agree with the Empress," Kallen said. "We have to focus on what's in front of us."

"Easy for you to say, Kallen. You're a monster in your own right," Tamaki said to her, "Crest and all."

Kallen glared at Tamaki. Yes, she had a crest. A minor crest of Cichol, but that didn't mean she wanted to be labeled by it. It felt like it was invalidating her Japanese heritage.

"Please let's stay on each other's good sides," Kaguya requested politely. "If we cannot coalesce as a single unit for a small, mock operation, we won't be able to free Japan when it matters most." She looked at the people going to battle with her. "Tamaki, Kallen, Ohgi," she said, looking at each of them one by one and then looked at the blue haired woman, "Inoue. Please. Lend me your strength."

"I'll be cheering for you guys from the sidelines," A man with blue hair said.

"Preciate it, Sugiyama," Tamaki said. "Hey, wanna switch? There's still time."

"Pass. I like my teeth where they are," Sugiyama remarked.

"It's a mock battle, people," Ohgi said. "Nobody's getting teeth knocked out."

"Says you. I'm going at those Seirosians full force," Kallen said.

"Don't do anything that would get yourself disqualified," Inoue said, loading a heavy battle rifle. "You're our main frontliner."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Let's hope this doesn't end up with all of us needing the infirmary," Ohgi said with a sigh. "Let's move, people!"

---

In the Blue Lions starting zone, a girl with blonde hair and ox horn hair buns, almost looking as if she could be Mercedes' younger sister, was suiting up for battle, double checking the status of her rifle.

"Getting some last minute maintenance in?" The polite voice of Prince Dimitri made the teenager nearly jump out of her skin.

"Don't sneak up on me like zat," The girl said, putting a hand on her chest. She had a think accent reminiscent of first millennium Franks. She turned to face Dimitri. "Were this a real battlefield, I may have shot you."

"Apologies," Dimitri said. "I did not mean to startle you."

"No. The fault is partly mine, I did not mean to be so lost in thought," the girl said and stared up at the Crown Prince. "Are you…sure you want me out there? Ashe is just as capable a rifleman as I am. And he is far more battle adept."

Dimitri smiled at her. "I need someone with tactical promise on that battlefield. You're just what I need right now. Besides, you're our ace in the hole, Leila."

Leila didn't look convinced.

"Look, you were recommended to the academy by Lord Rodrigue himself," Dimitri said. "I can take very little for granted in my position, but I would trust that man's word as gospel."

Leila took a deep breath. "Very well, Your Highness. I shalt not let you down."

Dimitri smiled. "Thank you, Leila. Let's show these other houses the might of Faerghus!"

Leila swept her rifle into her arms. "Yes, sir!"

---

"Remember everyone," Manuela told her students, "It's just a mock battle, so try not to fill my infirmary with grievous injuries amidst the other participants, okay? You're representing the Golden Deer as much as you're representing your respective families after all."

"Ugh, we know, we know," Hilda complained, but kept up a smile. "You don't have to worry about us, Professor. We're a tough bunch."

"Yeah, speaking of which," Claude said. "Don't think you can go sneaking off to take a nap, Hilda. I'm counting on you, okay? Or, if you don't, Holst might uh…find an unflattering letter coming from yours truly."

"Okay, okay, I get it, Claude. I'll behave, I promise."

"Never fear, Claude," A man with a coconut shaped head, a long nose and a purple haired bob cut said, "For it will come down to neither you nor Hilda. For on the battlefield," he proclaimed, holding out one hand and covering his heart with the other, "There can be no greater warrior than I, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester!"

"You uh, you keep telling yourself that, Lorenz," Claude said. "Everyone remember the plan?"

"Um, are you sure I should be part of this Claude?" Ignatz asked. "Lysithea's just chomping at the bit to prove herself after all."

A short, white haired girl with pink eyes folded her arms and glared at Claude.

"Hey, come on now, you know the battlefield's no place for a child," Claude answered. Lysithea swiftly kicked him in the shin. "Ouch."

"Don't worry, Lysithea," Hilda said chipperly. "I'll make sure you're front and center next mission."

"That's not the reassurance you think it is, Hilda," Lysithea said, getting snappy.

"Now, now, same team everyone. Places, people!" Manuela announced in an operatic voice.

The Golden Deer began to get in formation. And, despite what she said, Hilda was a bit concerned about Claude's judgment. "Are you sure about this, Claude? No offense, but Lysithea's a really good mage. We don't have any spellcasters. I'm not saying Ignatz was a bad choice, but…"

"Unconventional and underhanded are my bread and butter," Claude said. "Besides, Lysithea doesn't yet have the stamina to make it through a battle royale like this. She's quick witted and powerful, but she leaves herself wide open at times. Ignatz won't give me that kind of a liability. I trust him."

"If you say so," Hilda said to him.

---

As all 25 combatants got into position, Jeralt stood on a hill with Seteth to oversee things.

"I trust you will be fair and objective in being the referee," Seteth said.

"Don't sweat it," Jeralt said. "This ain't my first rodeo."

"Lady Rhea has sung your praises since you left, Jeralt," Seteth said. "Yet I can't help but question the reason for your departure. You were the pride of the knights."

"Look, now's not the time for this conversation. You asked me a question, I answered it," Jeralt said pointedly.

"Hmm, very well. I suppose that's fair. Well then, it appears all of the students and their teachers are prepared for action," Seteth said.

"Looks like it," Jeralt said and then took out the air horn he was given and blew it. That was the signal for the battle to begin.

Immediately, as agreed upon, Oldrin and Byleth darted forward into the fray, converging left to meet up with Jeritza and Edelgard.

"I hope you strike as fast as you run," Edelgard said to Byleth.

With an unflinching expression, Byleth pulled ahead of Jeritza and Edelgard and headlong into the fray.

Seeing her coming was Dedue, Dimitri's vassal. With a one-handed energy axe in one-hand, an energy shield in the other, he stood staunchly ready to meet Byleth's charge.

"You shall not-!"

SHING!

Although all energy weapons had to be modified to prevent them from being lethal and all participants were required to wear specially made elastic-adjacent body armor to protect them, it was still something else to see Byleth cut through Dedue's energy shield in one blow.

Dimitri saw this from afar and was in shock. Dedue was far from mediocre. It was why he entrusted Dedue with the front lines. To see him torn through so swiftly…

And Byleth wasn't done. Following her training, while Dedue was still off balance form having his shield destroyed, she smacked his weapon wrist hard with her blade and then kicked Dedue in the back hard enough to make him feel it. A few more attacks came that were so swift most lost sight of Byleth entirely, and they were savage enough to launch the semi-giant that was Dedue into the air before he fell to the ground, Byleth's energy sword at his throat.

A whistle blew. "That's it! You're done!" Jeralt called.

There were two rules for ending a participant's time in the mock battle: pummel them until the next step was drawn blood or beyond their natural limits—being winded was enough—or put them in a situation that, if this were a real battle, they were essentially dead. Having Byleth's silver energy sword at his jugular put Dedue in the second category.

"Ngh! Apologies, Your Highness. It appears I can go no further," Dedue grumbled over open team communication through an earpiece.

"That's all right, Dedue. We will take your loss and move past it!" Dimitri told him over the earpiece as Dedue was helped off the field by staff.

"Wanna bet?"

Dimitri was unprepared for Kallen to suddenly find herself behind him. Mercedes was tossed aside and out of formation as if it were a mere formality. She was able to get herself back up and taking aim with her rifle at Kallen.

Kallen lay savage blow against Dimitri's lance as he tried his best to defend himself. Energy axes had a decisive advantage over lances. Their ferocity and sheer power gave them an added layer of maneuverability against the lance's ability to only thrust straight or sweep wide. The most vulnerable part of the lance, the shaft, was easily broken by such a weapon.

Despite this, Dimitri was not about to be outdone by a commoner, no matter their place of origin.

With a flick of a switch at the base of his lance, Dimitri empowered it with wind-elemental Sakuradite. Then, clenching the weapon tightly, a glow emanated from his back. Dimitri had activated his crest.

"Tempest Lance!" Dimitri shouted. With ferocious power, Dimitri gripped the lance with both hands before thrusting forward and smashing the lance tip into Kallen's chest, causing a hard impact against her body armor. Kallen spewed saliva. Her ribs really felt that one. She went tumbling along the ground.

Oh, I guess he didn't need my help, Mercedes thought. She lowered her rifle and concentrated to cast a heal spell on Dimitri.

"I suggest you pick another target," Dimitri said as his crest stopped glowing and he flicked off the Sakuradite engine in his lance. He then bent his knees, the base of his lance rising above his shoulder as he held the tip of the lance near his feat. In a way, his stance resembled that of a boar with a single tusk. "I think you will find I'm a bit stronger than most."

Kallen staggered to her feet. In her right eye, Dimitri saw the crest of Saint Cichol flash green and outward. "Don't get carried away," Kallen said as her eyes turned from blue to green. She charged forward, shredding Dimitri's body armor of one layer with her axe swing as he went flying back. "I'm not exactly known for being weak either."

Dimitri touched the fraying fabric on his armor and resumed his readied stance. He activated his crest once more. "I don't believe I've caught your name, member of Green Pheasant house."

"The name's Kallen," Kallen said as she charged forward as a chain wove itself around her right arm. "Kallen Kozuki!"

As Dimitri and Kallen clashed, things were just as hectic and crazy on other parts of the battlefield. Oldrin Zevon, dual wielding energy swords, found herself being caught at range by Inoue of the Green Pheasants. She was dodging and zipping around the battlefield with strength and speed alone, no magic or crest to be used…yet.

"Wouldja freaking tag her already?!" Tamaki shouted at Inoue.

"I'm trying to lead her, but she's too fast!" Inoue shouted. She ejected her current cartridge after another miss and reloaded. "If you think you can do a better job then you do it!"

"All right, I will!" Tamaki shouted. He took aim at Oldrin, only for someone to get in his line of sight, someone with a big, broad white armored chest, standing tall, his ivory mask in front of his eyes.

"Uhhhhh…" Tamaki remarked, only to have his rifle swiped out of his hands by Jeritza before he knocked clean to the ground with a smack of the butt of his own rifle. Jeritza then aimed at Tamaki's chest and pressed the weapon to the Japanese man's forehead.

"Bang," Jeritza said, bored.

The whistle blew. Tamaki was out.

Inoue, suddenly losing her lack of cold feet made to take aim at Jeritza, only to suddenly get blindsided by Oldrin kicking her in the arm and chest with both feet, knocking her over. Oldrin, however, then got tagged in the back by a thunder round from Kaguya's rifle.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings," Jeritza lectured. "I thought you were a professional."

"Hey, if you wanna tussle buddy, I'll show you the might of the Glinda Knights as soon as I take care of our friendly sniper over there," Oldrin said, grinning to the point of showing teeth.

Jeritza sized her up. "No. It would be boring," he answered.

"What?!"

A shot rang past Oldrin's shoulder and had to be shot out of the air by Kaguya.

Marrybell pumped her rifle so she could reload it. "Same team, you two. Save the hostilities until after the other enemies are down."

"I am," Jeritza answered in his bored and stoic tone.

"Disperse, Oz. I've got this one. House Leader to House Leader."

"Okay, Mary. I'll go this way," Oldrin said and ran off in a different direction.

Jeritza walked away as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Kaguya took a shot at him, but the shot was shot out of the air by Marrybell. Sure, maybe she could have let Jeritza's carelessness cost him one, but she was trying to prove a point.

"Empress Kaguya Sumeragi, right?" Marrybell asked as she got close enough to be heard from across the training yard by Kaguya.

"That's right," Kaguya said with a nod. "You are…Princess Marrybell, correct?"

Marrybell nodded. "I hope you know, I don't go easy on anyone. I'm treating this battle like the real deal."

"What a coincidence," Kaguya said as she fired a shot that was decisively not a standard rifle shot. A bolt of lightning rang past Marrybell's ear. "Neither do I."

With that, a shootout began, Marrybell and Kaguya reloading their rifles shot after shot, shooting each other's cartridges out of the air. They kept running around in a circle, like two dogs chasing the other's tail. They were both taking care not to reveal their entire hand just yet. Both still had a surprise in store for the other.

First, since Inoue had not been officially ruled as out of the battle, she had gotten up to one knee and took a well-placed shot at Marrybell, striking her in the shoulder and the impact sent her tumbling.

"Excellent shot, Inoue!" Kaguya exclaimed.

"Don't let your guard down, Your Majesty," Inoue told her sternly. "She's not done yet."

Indeed, Marrybell was not. A glow emitted from under her clothes around the area of her right-side collarbone. It was a crest, the crest of Saint Indech." Marrybell then compacted her rifle and took out an energy lance. She then held the lance out in front of her at chest level, ready to charge.

"Is she crazy, or am I missing something?" Inoue asked, reloading her rifle.

"No, I've heard of Marrybell even in the shelter of Kyoto House at Mount Fuji," Kaguya said, jogging towards Inoue. "The Hero Princess, when it comes to battlefield aptitude, the 88th heiress…has no weaknesses."

As Marrybell prepared to hold off two enemies at once, Lelouch was in the midst of trying to figure out what to do. Formation had fallen apart, but that was fine for the moment. The battle had gotten chaotic rather fast. Byleth and Oldrin were doing their jobs and Edelgard and Jeritza were mowing down unwanted "pests". He saw Lorenz and Ignatz being helped off the battlefield. Now…where was Claude?

Lelouch was almost taken off his guard by a rifle shot that nearly tagged him in the back left shoulder. He managed to get out of the way just in the nick of time.

From the safety of a tree, Claude lay across a limb like a sniper, his eye in the scope of his rifle. "Dang, missed 'em."

"Want me to go out there?" Hilda asked.

"Not quite yet. Wait for my signal," Claude said to her.

"If you say so," Hilda said. The less she had to do to earn her keep the better.

Claude watched through his scope as Lelouch found unwanted trouble on the battlefield. Kaname Ohgi, the Professor of the Green Pheasant House had come upon him and was in the process of trying to give Lelouch a one on one smackdown with energy gauntlets alone.

I can't cast spells like this! Lelouch thought. The battle will be lost if I fall before we start fighting Jeritza!

Even with the basics Marrybell had taught Lelouch, the most the young Britannian could do was dodge Ohgi's attacks. And then, Lelouch mis-stepped, Ohgi reared back his fist and he tagged Lelouch in his right pectoral with a fearsome strike. Lelouch went tumbling along the ground and slid backwards, prone on his right shoulder. Ohgi approached swiftly. Like this, Lelouch was headed for a one-way ticket to the bleachers.

And then…a warm glow washed across Lelouch's body and he managed to roll out of the way in time.

"Nosferatu!"

Lelouch gasped as an ivory light struck Ohgi from all across his body and the light then returned to its caster: Nina Einstein.

Suddenly caught off-guard by Nina's attack, Ohgi was unprepared for Lelouch to strike back. Moving hand gestures back and forth like he belonged on a Tokusatsu show, Lelouch chanted as magic power gathered around him. His purple eyes glowed. "You can't kill what's already dead."

The blast of Miasma shot out of Lelouch's hands slammed into Ohgi so hard and fast he never even saw it coming. Ohgi went tumbling along the ground, landing on his stomach. He sweat profusely as he made to get up.

Was that…critical magic? Ohgi thought. On rare occasions, mages can tap into a spectral force that boosts their spells by three times the normal amount of power at no cost to the user. It's been deemed an otherworldly phenomenon because it disobeys the physical laws of diminishing returns. And this guy…he just tapped into it like it was nothing…who is he?

With a grin, Lelouch prepared to finish Ohgi off. "Checkmate."

Another Miasma, another blown whistle.

Lelouch glanced towards Nina as Ohgi was helped off the battlefield. "Nina, thank you."

"O-Oh. N-No. Y-You don't need to thank me, I-I was just…"

Lelouch turned his head towards the chaos. "No, just now you acted in a manner befitting of a combat medic. Take pride, Nina. However unintentionally, you may have just carried the Violet Tigers to victory."

Nina's heart raced at this, not because Lelouch said it, but if that were true then Lady Rhea would have to recognize her. Right? RIGHT?!

"Watch my six and don't fall behind. Whatever trap Claude's laid out for us, we're about to spring it. I'll hear no complaints," Lelouch told her.

"U-Understood!" Nina exclaimed.

As Lelouch determined how best to approach the woods he now had a pretty good feeling Claude was hiding out in, Professor Manuela had her hands gripped firmly around a special energy sword known as a Levin sword. Normal energy swords drew upon an internal battery and had a limited time of use before they needed to be recharged or repaired, but Levin Swords were powered by the user's magic power and had no such defined limits. They could also fire bolts of lightning. With this blade in hand, she charged across the battlefield to find her old rival, Professor Hannemann launching fireballs at the approaching Hubert von Vestra.

She damn near tagged the man in the whiskers of his beard he was so unaware of her presence.

"Manuela, of all the barbarity!" Hannemann exclaimed. He released a fireball at her.

"Oh spare me," the songstress snapped. She then said with as much cutesy sass as she could muster, "All's fair in love and war."

"No matter the year, you don't change," Hannemann said. "Very well, I will show you why age is merely a number."

Hubert did not immediately engage. The professors could wear each other out. He would pick off a winner. At least, that was the plan until a rifle shot nearly impacted his right wrist. He turned his attention towards a girl about Edelgard's age with blonde hair.

"Well now, I don't have any intel on you, young lady. What is your name?"

"I am Leila, sir. Leila Malcal," Leila answered. "And I am a member of the Blue Lions."

"Malcal, that's not a house I'm familiar with. No matter," Hubert said as his whole body radiated with dark magic. "I will silence you like any other enemy of Lady Edelgard's!"

As Hubert and Leila engaged in warfare, Bernadetta was wandering the battlefield, avoiding rifle shots and hurled fireballs like the meek little mouse she was. She ended up crawling through a bush and tried to hide from basically everything until it was over and the Black Eagles were stated to be victorious.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. She suddenly found herself getting shot at and proceeded to leap to and fro like a scared rabbit.

"Boy," Claude said, reloading, "She's quick for a timid one."

"I got her," Hilda said, leaping from the tree. She followed Bernadetta's path, leaping from tree to tree with ease as Claude's shots slowly pushed Bernadetta in the direction he wanted, and straight into Hilda's path.

Hilda slammed her axe down a couple dozen centimeters from Bernadetta's face. She heard a terrified squeak.

Bernadetta made to back up, but she ended up almost getting shot by Claude. If she hadn't freaked out and leapt, she would've been tagged in the abdomen.

"Thanks for the easy work, Claude," Hilda said and took a powerful, but lazy swipe at the otherwise defenseless and freaked out of her mind Bernadetta.

Bernadetta shrieked in terror…only for Hilda to get blasted across the woods by a blast of dark magic. Her back slammed into a tree.

"I'm surprised you took the bait that easily, Claude," Lelouch said, entering the fray from a completely different part of the woods than Claude had been tracking him from.

Claude didn't talk, lest he give away his position.

Hilda got up, pretty aggravated. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" She looked at Lelouch. "Heyyyy now, you wouldn't badly hurt a girl, would you? I mean, look at these noodle arms. Axe, what axe?" she asked, going slack on her weapon. "Hahaha."

Lelouch prepared another blast of Miasma.

"Fine, be a stubborn jerk. See if I care. However, if you push me…" Hilda said as the center of her abdomen began to glow green. "I can't be blamed for what happens."

Don't worry about Hilda too much. Even with her crest, she won't go all out. She's not the type, especially in a mock battle. Concentrate on finding Claude, Lelouch told himself. "Strike me down if you can then, Hilda Goneril!" Lelouch said, as dark magic emanated from his whole body. He grinned wickedly. "I'm not exactly what you'd call an easy target."

As Lelouch prepared for a spat with Hilda, Kallen and Dimitri were continuing their clash with Mercedes helping give Dimitri the upper hand by healing him at regular intervals. Despite the damage to his armor, Dimitri was able to face Kallen in close quarters without issue. Using the power of his crest, his strength was more than her equal.

However, as he thrust his lance forward and Kallen, temporarily airborne, swung down her axe, his weapon shattered, his brute strength overextending its use. Kallen then slammed her axe into his chest and sent him flying back, dodging Mercedes rifle shot as the blonde quickly made to heal Dimitri.

Kallen was at a decisive advantage. Dimitri had no weapon and she was still raring to go. However, Dimitri was nothing if not resourceful and was planning to take Kallen on with his bare hands. At least, he was until he was suddenly slapped up and downside the head by a pair of swords. Simultaneously, Mercedes was sent flying by an energy axe swing so fearsome and mighty, it was like a golf club swing and Mercedes was the ball. She landed on the ground, so dizzy her head was spinning.

Kallen looked around. Two people approached the battlefield: Oldrin Zevon, and Edelgard von Hresvelg.

"That's most of the Blue Lions taken care of, it would seem," Edelgard said.

"So it would seem," Oldrin said as she and Edelgard gazed at each other with competitive gazes. "Is our truce at its end?"

"Is it?" Edelgard asked, waiting for Oldrin to make the first move.

"Hey! Don't act like I'm not here!" Kallen shouted.

"Ah, apologies, Kallen. I didn't mean to devalue you as a person," Edelgard said.

"Huh? You remember me?" Kallen asked.

"Yes, your efforts during the terrorist attack were quite something. I've been interested in taking your measure," Edelgard said.

"I guess we all could say that," Oldrin said, bearing her twin swords. "A mêlée à trois then, is it?"

"Kallen?" Edelgard asked.

Kallen's axe glowed. She was more than ready. "As if you have to ask!"

As a fight brewed between Edelgard, Oldrin and Kallen, Bernadetta was crawling out of the woods. However, unfortunately for her, as she did so, it was from one bad situation to another. Gunfire rang out as she witnessed Princess Marrybell dancing about the battlefield, under a hail of bullets from two members of the Green Pheasant house. Despite this, Marrybell appeared to be winning. Her energy lance slammed into Inoue, causing the armor of the already sweated Japanese woman to fail, bringing the fight back down to just Marrybell and Kaguya.

Bernadetta hid from the carnage in a bush.

Marrybell then received word from Oldrin that the truce had ended. "Understood. She sent the word to all members of the Violet Tigers. The truce with the Black Eagles as over. Treat them as hostiles!"

"Hostiles?!" Bernadetta squeaked.

She watched as Marrybell swept towards Kaguya with her lance. With Marrybell at too close range for rifle shots, Kaguya switched things up to her thunder magic.

The two girls' attention not on her, Bernadetta attempted to slowly crawl across the battlefield, hopefully to find a big wall to hide behind, or Jeritza. He would protect her…right?!

As Bernadetta crawled away in terror, Marrybell took a thunder blast to the chest, but then dodged the next one. She made the length of chain from her lance run down her arm, suggesting to Kaguya she was ready to throw it. She even pivoted her stance to go for a big, powerful windup.

Kaguya, not familiar with feints, dodged to her right to avoid the lance strike, only to be caught off guard when she was tagged with a fireball from Marrybell's open palm. Her eyes shook with surprise. And then Marrybell flung her lance forward, terminating the usefulness of Kaguya's armor and sending her tumbling back as she rolled along the ground. She landed face-down in a heap, unable to get up. She tried. She failed, and then she heard the whistle blow. She was out.

"Hmm, guess that's that," Marrybell said.

Bernadetta then snapped a branch by accident under palm as Marrybell turned towards her and let loose her lance. She missed Bernadetta by a ruler's length.

Bernadetta recoiled in terror, shrieking.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Marrybell asked. "If you have honor, rise and fight? If not," She reared her lance back, "This isn't personal, but lie down and play dead."

Marrybell's lance was on a collision course with Bernadetta's chest. A well-placed shot to her center of mass would send the girl tumbling hard enough to knock her out and take a member of the Black Eagles out of the running.

However, as the lance drew towards Bernadetta, she didn't realize it was coming towards her chest, she thought it was coming right at her face. A shriek and a look of terror expressed themselves on Bernadetta's face. …And then a green glow emitted from the back of her terrified, sweaty right hand. Marrybell's lance sailed past where Bernadetta…was? …What?

As Marrybell blinked, her lance sailed to the limit of the chain's length, but Bernadetta just wasn't there anymore. She turned, looking for her. It didn't take her long. Bernadetta was out in the open, still terrified, but there was something different about her. Well, for one she was standing up, but for another, she'd loaded the weapon she'd been carrying, a rather sleek looking pure white rifle.

"Get…GET BAAAAAACK!" Bernadetta yelled.

The crest on her hand! That's my…

Marrybell had to swiftly dodge as a shot rang out from Bernadetta's rifle. She assumed it was just the shot the way a frightened civilian would fire on a reflex, but her guard should have been higher than that. Marrybell had forgotten the first rule of hunting: cornered prey, was often the most dangerous.

Despite Bernadetta wielding a long rifle, the blasts were coming out of it at the pace of semi-automatic.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

If Marrybell didn't know any better, she would have thought Bernadetta was slam firing, a practice outlawed on gun manufacturing in the 20s for safety purposes.

Worse, the sheer speed at which Bernadetta was firing had Marrybell completely on the defensive, and taking shot after shot after shot after shot to her armor.

Panting heavily, Bernadetta didn't let up, still terrified, but now completely focused.

Marrybell took out her own rifle and tried to leap, run, duck and tumble to evade Bernadetta's shots, but the difference in firing rate was just unreal.

What's her deal? We have the same crest? How is she…?

So much faster than her? Marrybell didn't get to finish that thought as Bernadetta shot her rifle out of her hands. Marrybell then noticed with her acute observation the changes Bernadetta was making to her rifle's firing power. She began to charge a powerful shot as she began to flank Marrybell, who took out her lance. Despite being outranged, Marrybell was smiling. She'd realized something.

This isn't terror, she thought.

She met Bernadetta head on. She had to take the opportunity to either sweep Bernadetta's legs or thrust forward at her chest. But Marrybell knew, even before she made the strike that no matter what choice she made, she would be wrong. Still, optimally, a sweep of the legs was more prudent. Bernadetta leapt over the strike with precise timing, too late for Marrybell to correct course.

Marrybell had just enough time to gaze up at Bernadetta. The terror in the girl's eyes had vanished. Reflected in them, were the eyes of a strong, focused hunter, who only had one thought on her mind: survive.

Marrybell smiled again, It's instinct.

BANG!

Berndetta's charged shot tagged Marrybell right in the chest and sent her flying. Exhausted from her previous bouts and having taken a pretty nasty strike to the chest. Marrybell simply rolled over onto her back. She smiled. Bernadetta von Varley… she thought, …she may one day become an actual threat to Britannia.

With her opponent down, Bernadetta had a moment to catch her breath and saw the fallen Marrybell on the ground. "EEEEEEEK! Oh my gosh! Princess Marrybell! I'm so sorry!" She began to flee from the scene, clutching her rifle. "Noooooooo! I don't want to do this anymoooooooooore!"

While Bernadetta was fleeing from the scene in terror, Byleth was, in short order, finding out that the truce with Adrestia had ended. This was evident when Jeritza's lance came slamming down in front of her and put her on the defensive.

"You," Jeritza said as calmly and stoic as ever. "You seem like you might stave off my boredom. Battle me."

Byleth's expression grew tense and focused. She sheathed her sword. At first, Jeritza thought Byleth was mocking him…and then she uppercut him in the jaw.

Jeritza, recognizing the change in tact, decided to put his own weapon away. He and Byleth's fists smashed together. Knees crunched, shins collided, and forearms impacted. To onlookers, the two appeared less like soldiers of the living world, and more like they'd just jumped straight out of a TV show. All that was missing was the energy blasts.

"Yes. YEEEEEES!" Jeritza exclaimed, suddenly smiling as he and Byleth locked grip with their fingers. "This is what I CRAVE! You are strong!"

Byleth looked more determined than ever as her left knee began to buckle.

"What's the matter? Are you weaker than I expected?! I'm finally getting into this! Sate my boredom!"

Byleth sighed. Despite how much she didn't want to have to do what she was about to do, she and Lelouch were a lot alike. They were both very competitive, and they both hated to lose.

With a battle-loving smirk, Byleth slid the heel of her boot into the dirt and pushed up on Jeritza's force.

A glow emanated from her whole body and then focused itself on her back. For the briefest of moments, purple, flame-like wings appeared over her jacket.

"A crest? But which one?" Jeritza wondered aloud…and then Byleth punched him in the jaw hard enough to make him stagger. He laughed. It no longer mattered. No, what mattered most was this woman before him. She would make him crave his penance!

Jeritza began to throw punch after punch after punch, delighted to see Byleth returning the same.

"YES! MORE! SATE MY NEED FOR BLOOD!" Jeritza exclaimed.

Byleth was a bit taken aback by Jeritza's excitement, but for the moment she had to push through. She couldn't rely on the power of the Ashen Demon and with Jeritza's crazy strength, weapons were completely out of the question. She had a mastery of hand-to-hand combat up to a certain level, so for now she would have to rely on her own strength, and the strength of her crest, her crest without a name.

---

Up on the hill, Jeralt groaned. I told her not to use that. Greaaaaat, he thought.

"Something the matter, Captain?" Seteth asked.

"No, nothing major," Jeralt said. "My kid just doesn't know when to hold back it seems. Always gotta be competitive no matter the circumstances. Honestly, on some days I feel like I raised a son rather than a daughter."

"Well, that's children for you," Seteth said, with a hint of fatherly pride lost on Jeralt, "You never know what they will become."

---

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Lelouch was dodging Hilda, really annoyed that Bernadetta had up and ditched him. However, having heard word from Marrybell that the truce had ended for now, perhaps it was for the best. Still, he was in a tight spot. Hilda was felling down tree after tree and she was making it look easy. Lelouch had finally determined Claude's location, but he was in no position to do something about it.

His and Marrybell's initial plan had gone completely awry, lost in all the chaos. Now it was a free-for-all, every man and woman for themselves. Still, tired as he was, Lelouch was no quitter. And then he got awful news.

"Hey, radio message from the bench," Marrybell said. "Watch out for Bernadetta. She's not to be underestimated."

"Understood," Lelouch responded. He thought back to the scared mouse he'd seen groveling at Hilda's feet when he arrived. If she was still nearby, then maybe…

As he evaded Hilda's attacks, he tapped his ear piece, attempting to change frequencies to a radius rather than to a specific channel. "Bernadetta…Bernadetta, can you hear me?"

He got a response back through his earpiece, a shriek of shock. "Wh-who is this?"

"My name is Lelouch. We met on the battlefield earlier…and also the other day…through your door?"

Bernadetta gasped, sounding terrified. "Y-You? I-I mean, I know your voice sounded familiar, but…um…"

"Do you think you could double back and give me a hand? I sent an ally of mine to attend to more pressing matters," Lelouch said. "I could use some help if you doubled back."

"N-No way!" Bernadetta exclaimed. "You just want me to come back there so you can…do awful things to me! I-I'm not falling for it! Nooooooo! Get me out of heeeeeere…" her line went static. Out of range.

Well so much for plan A, Lelouch thought.

Because the ear piece was set to radius rather than frequency, as Lelouch changed it back, Claude had heard everything he said to Bernadetta. And Lelouch noticed that he stopped firing at him.

I saw him and the glasses wearing girl through my scope earlier. I lost sight of them when Bernadetta crawled into our little hidey hole here, but did they really split up? It kind of looked like they were coming here together? Claude thought.

Lelouch smirked. If he's stopped firing, he clearly took the bait. He has no way of knowing if Nina is here or not, and that's going to make him overanalyze the situation and be more cautious. Check, Claude. What will you do?

Hilda now stopped chasing Lelouch and lost visual contact with him. She talked to Claude over wireless frequency. "Hey! You stopped firing, what gives? You heard Lelouch. He's alone."

"I don't know if I buy that," Claude said. "He's a crafty tactician like myself. You heard what Leonie told us about him. He's a man after my own heart, practically. I mean, if I was Lelouch, I wouldn't admit to being alone. Which means…" Claude carefully analyzed and thought about the precise spot where he figured would be the best location for an ambush and sent a rifle shot whizzing through the air…hitting nothing.

Checkmate!

Claude was not prepared when a blast of miasma hit him dead center and knocked him out of the tree, causing him to collapse to the ground.

He got up, only to get kicked in the head and drop his rifle from the disorientation. Lelouch then held him at gunpoint with his own rifle.

"Shrewd. Deceitful. Devious. Kudos, Lelouch, you got me," Claude said, putting his hands up in surrender. "But you made one mistake."

Hilda suddenly approached Lelouch from behind. If Claude was getting DQed, she'd take Lelouch down with him.

Lelouch smirked wickedly. "I don't make mistakes."

As Hilda committed to her swing, she was suddenly accosted by a blast from the spell Nosferatu.

Lelouch then turned and fired at Hilda at point blank, dead center, tagging her in the chest.

"What the…?" Claude looked to where Nina popped up out of foliage that matched her hair perfectly.

"From a bird's eye view, Nina's hair blends in rather well with nearby bushes. You were so focused on me, you didn't realize that she wasn't watching my back, she was waiting for my signal to turn the tables on both of you."

Claude laughed. "I gotta hand it to you, Lelouch. I did not see that coming. Guess this time it's my loss, but next time," Claude said and made a finger gun at Lelouch, winking at him. "Watch yourself."

"Indeed I shall."

---

As Claude and Hilda were escorted off the battlefield, the only remaining member of the Golden Deer was its Professor, Manuela. She and Hannemann were still looking to settle their rivalry fair and square. Unbeknownst to them, as they were so wrapped up in their own little spat, volleying insults at each other as only immature adults could, few combatants now remained.

There was the free-for-all between Edelgard, Kallen and Oldrin. Hubert and Leila were still fighting not too far from where Hannemann and Manuela were battling it out. Byleth and Jeritza were locked in combat. Lelouch and Nina were heading towards where most of the conflict was concentrated in the Blue Lions' starting zone, and Bernadetta was running around like a scared, meek rabbit.

But all eyes had been on the battles and none on the combatants.

The Green Pheasants and the Golden Deer now only had 1 combatant apiece.

The Blue Lions weren't faring much better with only 2 fighters remaining.

The Violet Tigers were doing remarkably well with 4 units, having only lost Marrybell.

But the Black Eagles were in the lead. None of their 5 combatants had been defeated. And it was time for the last one to make a dazzling entrance.

As Professor Hannemann dodged back from Manuela's Levin Sword he was suddenly tagged in the chest by a lighting bolt he didn't even know was coming.

"The star has arrived," Dorothea declared with a giggle. "Apologies, Professor Hannemann, but it's curtains for you."

"Unnngh," the old man groaned. The whistle blew. He was out.

"Up high!" Manuela exclaimed, slapping five with Dorothea. "Mittlefrank Opera Company power!"

Dorothea laughed. "Don't think I'll be taking it easy on you either, Manuela. Whether it's battle or opera, I don't do things by halves." She then launched a fireball into her senior's abdomen and sent the former opera star flying down the battlefield. Exhausted from her battle with Hannemann, Manuela was down and out. The Golden Deer had been eliminated.

Hubert then groaned. "Perhaps you could have made your entrance a little sooner, Dorothea."

Dorothea turned to see that Leila had Hubert in a lethal position, rifle aimed at his cheek with Hubert laying on the ground.

"Apologies, Hubie. I only did like I was asked, wait a little bit before showing up as the cavalry. I did wait until the timer went completely off."

The whistle blew, signaling Hubert's defeat. "In real battle, know that you will have to be adaptable."

Dorothea winked. "I'll be sure to remember that. Now then," she turned her attention to Leila. "I must say, I absolutely love your hair."

Leila blushed. "Oh…um…thank you? I'm sorry…who are you?"

"Oh little old me? No one important. I'm just an opera singer turned knight-in-training," Dorothea said as she charged lightning between her palms, "And I'll be the one sending you to the sit in the audience."

As Dorothea tagged in for Hubert's inability to stop Leila, the latter radioed Edelgard.

"Man down," was all he said.

"Understood," Edelgard said. "Then I should stop holding back." A white glow emanated from Edelgard's right shoulder, her minor crest of Seiros had been activated. As Kallen came in, Edelgard's axe collided with hers and then shattered it. Kallen was shocked.

What?

And then, flame began to emit from Edelgard's axe as she took a hefty swing to Kallen's chest and sent her flying. She'd finished what Dimitri started.

"A valiant effort, Kallen," Edelgard said. "I dread to think of what you're like at 100%. Perhaps you might've even been able to beat me today."

"Don't let your guard down!" Oldrin declared and came rushing in with her twin swords, putting Edelgard on the defensive.

"Oh, believe me, I haven't," Edelgard said and summoned an energy shield to her right hand to help deal with Oldrin's swords. As Kallen was escorted off the battlefield, giving the Green Pheasants 4th Place, Oldrin and Edelgard fought tooth and nail, neither one giving the other an inch.

For every heavy blow of Edelgard's that Oldrin had to avoid, Edelgard had to take care to block two to four of hers. Edelgard smashed her energy shield forward, sparks flying as it collided with Oldrin's swords. Oldrin clenched her teeth, pushing down to try and break past Edelgard's defense. Edelgard, meanwhile, showed no outward emotion. She then proceeded to swing at Oldrin's shoulder.

Oldrin managed to dodge, but Edelgard quickly wrapped a length of chain around her arm and threw her axe at Oldrin, tagging her in the chest and sending her flying.

"OZ!" Sokkia called from the sidelines, watching the battle on the big screen.

"She'll be okay," Tink said. "After all, Oz still has one card left to play."

Tink was absolutely correct. Standing tall, battered but with plenty of fight left in her, Oldrin Zevon was far from ready to call things quits. Edelgard watched her entire abdomen start to glow.

What? A MAJOR crest?

The crest took shape into one that was thought to be lost to history. As it took shape, Oldrin spoke, "Within Britannia, most of the crests belong to the four saints. We rarely even have Crests of the 10 Heroes in our bloodlines. Many thought this crest lost, but the Zevon family has kept it treasured for generations."

A gust of wind generated from energy pouring out from Oldrin's body blew away the grass and dirt around her feet. "This is the crest of the Zevon family!" Oldrin shouted. "It belonged to the founder of House Zevon, and was named after his first name, The Crest of Ernest!"

Barreling forward like a madwoman, Oldrin's sword strikes had a sharper edge to them now. Edelgard was seeing visible damage in her shield as she blocked and whenever she tried to counterattack, Oldrin just…wasn't there.

What do I do? Edelgard thought. I have an option, but…no, I couldn't possibly. But…I don't want to lose.

"Lady Edelgard, perhaps it is best we leave the rest to Professor Jeritza. I do not believe we can beat Oldrin Zevon as we are now," Hubert said over radio.

As Edelgard continued to have her shield shredded by Oldrin, she had to concede to Hubert's point. "Very well, there is no shame in retreat, but…I will not go quietly!" Tempering the power of her crest of Seiros, Edelgard struck back hard, slicing through the energy emitted by Oldrin's blades, damaging their battery considerably.

The tide of war between them suddenly became a matter of time and effort in equal measure. Edelgard roared with a womanly howl as she abandoned her shield and gripped her axe with both hands, swinging with all her might. She had become a tempest of flame.

Oldrin met her with a barrage of lightning imbued sword swings, their weapons smashing against each other well beyond the regulated safety standards. The impact from their weapons could be felt for meters around and caused Lelouch to want to hurry and help Oldrin out. Unfortunately, on his way, he saw Byleth get punched in the arm, both crossed in front of her face in an X-pattern.

"MOOOOOORE!" Jeritza roared.

"Eep! Professor Jeritza looks scary!" Nina exclaimed.

"Don't let that trouble you," Lelouch said. "Heal the Professor. We'll see how he likes a taste of my magic." He crossed his arms over his body.

Neither Lelouch nor Nina were prepared when Jeritza grabbed them both by the back of their elastic suits, spun and hurled them in opposite directions.

So fast…and strong… Lelouch groaned mid-toss. He tumbled along the ground on impact. He was still able to get up but the fall and subsequent tumble hurt.

Byleth got right back into the fray with Jeritza, taking out her sword. The final push was here. If they could take out Jeritza, victory would be assured.

Meanwhile, Leila and Dorothea's battle was just wrapping up.

With a resounding Ka-Chik fired by a loud KA-POW! The impact upon Dorothea's abdomen was too much for her to handle and she collapsed to the ground. The climax of the mock battle was swiftly approaching.

In the Blue Lions' cheering section, a woman with medium length blonde hair and green eyes smiled and nodded. Her name was Ingrid Brandl Galatea. "I must admit, I am impressed with Leila's performance."

"Certainly better than I would have done," a young man with gray hair and freckles stated. His name was Ashe Ubert.

"Well, father did always have an eye for talent," a young man with dark blue hair tied back into a bun stated. His name was Felix Jugo Fraldarius.

"Ashe, don't sell yourself short," Dimitri said to him.

"No, I'm not putting myself down, Your Highness," Ashe said. "But I do believe I could learn a lot from her."

"Well, she did have plans to enter the Faerghus military," Felix pointed out. "Despite her family's wishes."

"But of course," Ingrid said sharply. "Women have just as much a duty to the battlefield as men."

The Lions watched as Leila encroached upon Oldrin's battle with Edelgard.

As long as my friends are behind me, Leila thought. I feel like I can do anything. If fortune favors the bold, then grant me strength. If this were a real battlefield, I would wish…to come back alive!

With a decisive pull of the trigger, Leila shot into Edelgard's shoulder, giving Oldrin just the opening she needed to land a decisive blow on the Imperial Princess, sending her tumbling to the ground. Oldrin, recognizing the shot was not entirely friendly, turned and managed to deflect Leila's next attack as she tore towards her.

Edelgard, however, had just enough strength left in her to hurl her axe at Oldrin and tagged her right in the back. It hurt like the weight of a freight truck, but Oldrin was a stubborn soldier. She grabbed the chain of Edelgard's axe and, mid-push from the strike of the axe, had enough arm strength to pull Edelgard—using the power of her crest—along for the ride. She then threw Edelgard at Leila.

Disoriented, Edelgard never saw Leila's rifle blast coming as it impacted into her right shoulder. Leila then sidestepped Edelgard as she crashed hard on the ground. She tried to rise up, but she was then found two energy swords smashing into her back.

Oldrin then got tagged in the back by Leila's rifle in the spot where Edelgard had struck her. With a simple pump of her rifle, Leila calmly reloaded her rifle as the whistle blew to escort Edelgard and Oldrin from the battlefield.

1 Blue Lion

2 Black Eagles

3 Violet Tigers

The battle was coming down to the wire.

And Jeritza wasn't making it easy for the Tigers to take the win.

Byleth's sword was now in direct confrontation with Jeritza's lance. Weapon combat had resumed. Lelouch attempted to blast Jeritza from behind, but Jeritza was resilient enough to eat them like they were bug bites.

Then, a shot rang out, tagging Jeritza in the back.

"Would you call a truce, Violet Tiger House?" Leila asked, reloading her rifle. "Professor Jeirtza does appear to be ze strongest adversary on the battlefield."

"We'll take all the help we can get," Lelouch said.

"YEEEES! FIGHT ME!" Jeritza roared. "I THIRST FOR YOUR ATTACKS! MAKE ME WORTH FOR MY DEATH!"

Leila was taken aback.

"Yeah, he's been like that since Professor Byleth got serious," Lelouch said.

"Should we stop him Lady Edelgard?" Hubert asked her from the sidelines.

"Do you want to win or don't you?" Edelgard asked.

"I'm just saying, this will be difficult to explain to the church later," Hubert said.

"And when it gets to that point, there won't be any questions to ask," she said to him, shaking her head.

Hubert bowed. "As you command, Lady Edelgard."

Back on the battlefield, Jeritza's speed and brutality were sending his adversaries flying with every strike he landed, especially on Lelouch, who needed twice the healing from Nina with every bit of carelessness as the others.

And then, after the third injury, Nina dropped to her knees. "That's it…I'm tapped out," she said, sweating profusely.

"How much can one man take?" Leila asked, panting.

"Don't ask questions and keep pushing," Lelouch said. "We almost have him."

"How are you certain?" Leila asked.

"Look at his eyes," Lelouch said.

The ferocity in Jeritza's eyes was starting to die down and even his mood was starting to change.

"Death? No…this is…the mock battle. Did I lose myself to battle?" he wondered aloud.

And then Lelouch and the others saw him take a knee.

"PROFESSOR, NOW!" Lelouch shouted.

Byleth charged Jeritza as quickly as she could. Raising his lance, Jeritza did his best to block her.

From behind, Leila and Lelouch pelted Jeritza with dark magic and rifle shots, even as the large man wailed on Byleth. Snarling and refusing to yield, Jeritza grabbed Byleth by the face and slammed her into the ground. Then, attaching the chain to his own lance he smashed it into Leila's abdomen before she knew what hit her, piercing her rifle in half in the process.

"Leila!" Lelouch shouted.

Leila groaned from the ground. "My apologies to my comrades. That's…as far as I go," Leila uttered and fainted from her stomach pain.

The Blue Lions took third place.

Pushing what little energy she could muster, Nina cast a single Nosferatu on Jeritza, but it missed and she collapsed to the ground.

Fortunately, Jeritza's dodge gave Byleth just the right opportunity to try and strike a decisive blow on Jeritza…only to get tagged in the arm…by a rifle shot.

Lelouch looked across the battlefield at a now petrified looking Bernadetta. "Eeeeeeheeheeheeep! I didn't even mean to do that! That was an accident! An accident, I swear!"

Almost forgot about her, Lelouch thought.

Two on two. Eagles Vs Tigers. Only one team could walk away.

We're fighting too normal, we need to fight crazy, Lelouch thought. Or do we? We were all supposed to survive to the end and handle Jeritza in one last push! This is all wrong! This is—

"Lelouch!" Byleth shouted.

Lelouch looked towards his big sister as she was grappling with Jeritza. A silent nod from the woman who'd pulled him out of homelessness was all Lelouch needed to compose himself.

Bernadetta fired a shot at Lelouch, thinking he wasn't paying attention, but Lelouch dodged it before she'd even committed to the shot, having taken off into a sprint, straight towards Jeritza.

If the king doesn't go into battle, Lelouch thought, his men will not follow. He clenched a fist. Dark energy imbued his fist. But when the king has lost almost all his men, what then? Do you concede, or do you keep fighting?

Lelouch saw Jeritza raise his free hand and fire a blast of lightning in his general direction. He dodged to one side, as Byleth slashed at Jeritza's chest and then shoulder checked him. She then darted towards Lelouch and crouched low. She arched her body a little forward as she felt Lelouch's foot press onto her shoulder. Raising her hands skyward, she let Lelouch use her hands as a springboard before hurling them upward to give him a little extra lift. Lelouch went higher into the air, a good seven meters. It would be enough.

Byleth did not attack as he focused his efforts at the ground. She weaved and avoided Jeritza's attacks and Bernadetta's shots of panicked terror as Lelouch tapped into his last magic attack of the day.

I choose to keep fighting and never stop. Because a king without subjects, is a KING STILL! "CRITICAL!"

Edelgard gasped. Hubert too was in shock.

"MAGIC!"

Lelouch's final Miasma blast of the day slammed down and tagged Jeritza hard right in the back of the neck. And then with a powerful sword slash from Byleth, the beast of the Black Eagles fell.

Of course, a drop from the height after expending the energy he did and the attacks he took had Lelouch land hard on his shoulder as he rolled on the ground. The whistle blew. That was all he had to give.

Bernadetta's legs trembled and trembled as she looked at what was happening. Jeritza was down. Lelouch was down. Leila was down. Nobody else was on the battlefield besides her and the new Professor.

Byleth advanced slowly, almost menacingly as she sauntered towards Bernadetta. Freaked out of her mind, the fear of death consumed Bernadetta. It was as if she could hear the advancing doom of boss music in her head.

Byleth got closer and closer, the gleam of her silver energy blade getting brighter as the hum got louder. Before Bernadetta knew it, Byleth was closer to her than ever before and she was shaking so much she looked like a naked homeless person out in the cold during winter.

Cheekily, Byleth tapped two fingers to Bernadetta's forehead. The purple haired girl's eyes retracted inward, she foamed at the mouth and she dropped to her knees, letting go of her rifle and then subsequently passed out in terror.

"Well…that's one way to end things," Jeralt commented. "The winner is…the Violet Tiger house."

Edelgard shook her head, mortified at Bernadetta's finale.

Hubert chuckled. "Worry not, Lady Edelgard. We would have lost anyway, without Bernadetta. After all, she was the one who defeated Princess Marrybell." Hubert had heard the recap from the other Eagles.

"I suppose. It just…it stings to lose."

"Princess Edelgard."

Edelgard gazed up from her mopey doldrums to see Lelouch approaching her.

"Oh. Lelouch," she said.

He offered a handshake. "You almost had us there. I admit, if things had gone even slightly differently, The Black Eagles may have yet won the day."

Edelgard smiled. "That's a fine concession to make as the winner, Lelouch," Edelgard said. "Nevertheless, I agree. A battle well fought." She shook his hand firmly. "I would hate to make an enemy of Britannia with you as its strategist."

"Actually, most of my strategy went completely out the window today. It was ingenuity on the fly that helped bring the Violet Tigers victory," Lelouch said.

Edelgard smiled. "Then that is even more impressive."

"I must agree with Edelgard," Ferdinand said. "You are a credit to your house, Lelouch. I would like to learn your ingenuity myself sometime."

"Ah, a compliment from the prestigious Ferdinand von Aegir," Lelouch said. "I will have to clear my schedule."

Ferdinand sounded overjoyed. "I look forward to it."

"That was awesome!" Caspar exclaimed. "You were all like CRITICAAAAAAL MAGIIIIIIC!"

"I don't much care for the yelling, but I do agree," Hubert said. "It was almost as if you could tap into the phenomenon at will." He slouched slightly, pinching his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Not many could claim such a feat."

"Uh, well, you know, practice makes perfect," Lelouch sweated. "I should be going. My team probably wants to have a word with me." He walked away.

"I think I'm in love," Dorothea remarked, blushing. "Clever. Handsome. Rich. If he was a bit more charming, he'd be the full package."

"You are thinking?" Petra wondered aloud. "I was having belief that having strength was key factor in deciding upon a significant other."

"Maybe for most girls, but not this girl," Dorothea said with a wink. "Meatheads usually don't do it for me."

"Meat…head? I am not comprehending? Lelouch's head is having not made of meat?"

"It means she doesn't like dumb men, Petra," Ferdinand explained. "Which I agree with. Strength is nothing without the intelligence to back it up."

"Ah! So that is what it means!" Petra exclaimed, bowing. "I am having understanding! Thank you!"

"Yet you behold neither, Ferdinand, so what's your excuse?" Edelgard asked, frowning.

Ferdinand was taken aback by Edelgard's savagely stated rebuke, only to see her smirk.

"I'm only teasing. Keep working hard, Ferdinand," Edelgard said with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am!" Ferdinand exclaimed, clenching a fist. "You can count on me."

---

Over in the Blue Lions section, Leila was returning to her house. "I am sorry I let you down everyone," Leila said, shoulders slumped.

"Let us down? You were amazing!" Ingrid exclaimed cheerfully. "I was really impressed, Leila."

"Oh! No! I-I was…ahaha…" Leila rubbed the back of her head bashfully.

"Forgive me, Your Highness," Dedue said, shaking his head. "It is my own carelessness that cost us a better performance."

"That is the third time you've apologized, Dedue. And as I have said the last two times, nothing could be done about it. We were simply outmatched. And we should use that as a learning experience, not bemoan the loss. Mock battles can be seen as real battles, certainly, but the merit to them is the ability to learn from them with no permanent consequences other than wounded pride."

"For once the boar and I agree on something," Felix said rudely. "Don't like the results? Do something about it," he said, glaring at Dedue. "Complaining will get you nowhere."

"Yes…forgive me, I forget my place," Dedue apologized.

Dimitri pat his shoulder. "That's quite all right, Dedue. These things happen. There's no place to forget. We are all equals here."

"Prince Dimitri is absolutely right. Today, I vas alone on the battlefield physically, but you were all vith me in spirit," Leila said, clenching a fist. "Tomorrow, we march together." She then pumped her fist high into the air. "To the Blue Lion House!"

"Hahahaha!" Dimitri laughed. "To the Blue Lion House!" He raised his fist into the air too.

"Blue Lion House!" Annette cheered, doing the same.

Despite the third place finish, the group seemed more cohesive than ever.

---

After the long way back from the training ground, Lelouch was ready to take a bath and crawl into bed. But, before he did any of that, he marched up those front steps to the sight of a familiar face, ready with a salute. He smiled at the soldier without a name as he heard a greeting, he'd come to grow fond of, especially today after a battle that left him sore all over.

"Greetings, Lelouch," The Gatekeeper said to him. "Nothing to report."

---

(A/N: Mock Battle end.

And this is just the beginning of the kind of chaos and insanity you can expect for the combat of the battles ahead. Let me know if you think there are things I can improve of, or complain about. Don't worry if your favorite character didn't get a chance to shine, there's still plenty of fic to go. It is my hope that every important named character will get to do at least one cool thing before the end of the story.

Anyway, this chapter is long enough as it is. It's late. I'm tired. I have work tomorrow. So, until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)