"Spare a bit of coin for an old blind man, sir?"
Bishop Tarquin had to hold back his disgust at the sight of the beggar. He was tempted to kick him, but that would be unseemly for someone in his position, so instead he simply walked past him. The man he actually wanted to see was further down the street.
"Myson," he greeted the man. "What news do you have for me?"
"Archbishop Rhea, Duke Fraldarius, and the impostor impersonating Prince Dimitri have arrived," Myson said. "Their army is waiting outside the walls. They're demanding the city's surrender, and they claim they will attack if we do not surrender by noon."
"So the heretic Archbishop has come to overthrow me herself," Tarquin sneered. "Good. Saves our militants the trouble of going to purge her and her supporters. A shame that Lord Lonato didn't have the strength to deal with her, but it doesn't really matter. Are your weapons ready?"
"The Titanoi are prepared for battle," Myson said.
"And you're sure they will provide results?" Tarquin asked.
"Of course," Myson said. "I doubt anyone save for Saint Seiros herself could defeat one, and I brought five."
"Then let the purge begin," Tarquin said, with what could vaguely be described as a smile on his face.
"Tarquin was a good man, once," Rhea said. "I suppose I spent too long hoping that he might realize he had lost his way. Now I see that was a mistake. I can only hope that there will not be too many people who will die because of my indecision."
"They chose their path," Dedue said. "They heard your message and his, and they chose his. You can mourn them, but I will not."
"It doesn't matter now," Dimitri said. "Don't focus on the lives you can't save, focus on the lives you can save. Otherwise, you'll go mad."
"Wise advice," Rhea admitted. She saw five giant mechanical soldiers at the head of Tarquin's militants. "That could be annoying."
"Mercedes, you take the one on the right," Link said. "Hubert, you take the one next to hers. Shez, take the one on the left. Flayn, do you think if you made a show in your other form, it might get those people to see that the Goddess is on our side and turn against Tarquin?"
"...I don't know," Flayn admitted. "They might. But it might just cause them to panic."
"Okay, then you handle the one next to Shez's, Annette. I'll handle the one in the middle by myself," Link said.
Everyone outside of the Company gaped at that. "...How?" Byleth asked. "I sparred with you, and you're good with a sword, but not good enough to take down one of those things. Even with the Master Sword, I don't see how you could."
"What makes you think my sword skills are the only thing I have to fight with?" Link asked, holding up his right hand, which was still in the same odd-looking glove that none of them had ever seen him take off, and Byleth realized something.
"That glove you're wearing. It's Ancient Tech, right?" she asked.
"Not exactly," Link said. "And it's not exactly a glove, either. But I'll explain that later. For now, just watch."
Mercedes started glowing, and then vanished just before a massive explosion enveloped the Titanus on the right. When the smoke cleared, it was clearly damaged, but not destroyed. Mercedes wasn't done, however, and started attacking it further. At the same time, Shez used his Shadow Slide to warp behind the Titanus on the left, where he started attacking in a whirlwind of swords and magic.
Meanwhile, Link's hand started glowing bright blue. He pointed at a nearby boulder, then made a grabbing motion with his hand. As he raised his hand, the boulder levitated into the air. He mimed throwing, and the boulder launched itself at the Titanus, hitting it hard enough to shatter. The Titanus was still standing afterwards, but its metal body was dented and cracked.
As the Knights of Seiros got closer, someone used Warp to get Hubert, Annette, and Link close to their targets. The Titanus that Hubert was facing swung its giant sword at him. He ducked under the blade...and then he was just gone, and the Titanus began sparking and making jerking, erratic movements until it simply fell over, destroyed. Shadows flowed out of the destroyed Titanus and reformed themselves into Hubert.
Which wasn't as spectacular as what happened to the other two. Annette used her Mini-Slate's Magnesis rune on her Titanus, lifting it into the air, and causing it to partially implode. Meanwhile, Link used the same power he used to throw the boulder at his, and lifted it into the air. Using all of the force their abilities allowed them, they slammed the two Titanoi into each other, destroying both.
This display of power certainly grabbed the attention of the Western Church militants. Some threw down their weapons and surrendered on the spot. More decided to turn and run. In the back column, Tarquin desperately tried to rally his men.
Rhea quickly went to take his life, encountering very little resistance on the way to his position. Of course, between her, Jeralt, and Byleth, there could have been a thousand men between them and Tarquin, and they would have been just as effective at blocking their path.
As she got close, Tarquin snarled in anger. "Heretics must burn!" He threw a powerful blast of fire at her, but she was the better mage, and she extinguished it with a burst of wind.
However, she then felt herself being shoved aside by Byleth, who was then enveloped by a cloud of darkness. Looking past, she saw the hood of one of Tarquin's mages to fall, revealing an Agarthan man's face.
"Byleth!" Jeralt shouted, distraught.
And then, the darkness vanished, revealing not Byleth, but Sothis, whole and unbroken. Three meters tall, with the very air around her glowing, none could deny her identity.
The Agarthan man panicked and tried to cast another spell, but Sothis simply looked him in the eyes. Her eyes glowed for half of a second, and he fell to the ground, dead.
She then turned her gaze to Tarquin, and it went from dispassionate to wrathful, the heat of a thousand fires burning in her eyes. Tarquin took a step back, terrified. "My Goddess?"
"Not yours," Sothis said. "You have not been one of mine for a very long time."
"Please, Goddess!" Tarquin begged. "My life's work has been in your name!"
"Your life's work sickens me," Sothis said. "You corrupted the faithful, spurned the needy, and stood by and watched as the blood of the innocent was spilled. You betrayed everything I called upon you to protect. Did you think I would be pleased?"
As Tarquin tried to back away, he fell on his rear. "Please, Goddess! Have mercy!"
"You, who are without mercy, now beg for it?" Sothis asked, furious. "Seek it from my Father. I have none to offer you."
Green flames began to burst out from beneath Tarquin's skin. "Was it not you who said that heretics must burn?" Sothis asked. "This is what you wanted, is it not?"
Tarquin screamed in pain and fear as the fire consumed him. When it died, there was nothing left of him but bones.
That sight caused every one of Tarquin's men who hadn't dropped their weapons already to do so.
"Goddess..." Jeralt said, not fully comprehending what was happening. "Is Byleth..."
"Safe," Sothis assured him. "I will return her to you soon—but I'm sure you wouldn't begrudge a mother the chance to speak with her children first, would you?"
"No, of course not," Jeralt agreed. "Although I think this may not be the proper place for it."
"I agree," Sothis said. "Let us go to the Western Church, then. I have been away from there for too long."
At the side of a street, an old, blind beggar heard three people walking towards him. "Spare something for a blind man?" he asked them.
"Of course," a woman's voice said, and he heard the sound of coins clinking as she dropped them into his bowl.
"Thank you, ma'am," he said. "Means a lot to me."
"It's no trouble at all," she said. "But tell me, is there a reason why you do not go to the Church and ask them for alms?"
"They don't give me much of anything," the old man said sadly. "They don't want me there."
"I think you'll find that things are about to be very different there," the woman said, and she placed her hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly, he realized that he could see again. And the woman crouched in front of him...
Well, he was sure she had to be the Goddess herself.
"Am I...dead?" he asked.
"No," she assured him. "And yes, I am exactly who you think I am. It seems I have much to do today."