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.

14. Showdown Underground

(A/N: Back when I first got into Code Geass, I read the Nightmare of Nunnally manga. Wasn't a huge fan of it back then. I'm older and wiser now—33 to be precise, my how time flies—and so I'm giving it a second reading. …Clearly I wasn't harsh on it enough when I critiqued it the first time. I've spoken with friends, and I know I'm the odd one out but I do not like that manga.

To summarize my feelings on it: Bad execution, bad storytelling, bad characterization, but cool visuals and halfway decent ideas. Master Asia Lelouch would be cooler if it wasn't marred by all the absolute bunk that went into making the manga. I've read low effort fanfiction of higher quality than that manga.

…Right, now that I'm done savaging on that manga, let's begin).

---

21st Day of the Blue Sea Moon

As Lelouch exited his room that evening, the door next to his opened, much to his surprise. Nunnally rolled out in her wheelchair looking greatly concerned.

"Big brother?"

Lelouch turned towards her. "Go back to bed, Nunnally," he told her amicably.

Nunnally looked hurt. "You've been going out late a lot at night, haven't you? And sometimes you aren't returning until the late hours of the early morning. Are you okay, Lelouch? You're not caught up in something bad, are you?"

Lelouch smiled. "No, of course not. Don't be silly. Come on, let's get you back to bed."

"You didn't used to do this at Ashford and you weren't doing this when we first got here," Nunnally said as Lelouch grasped the back of her wheelchair. "I know you used to go out during the day for chess, but it was rare for you to go out at night."

"I'm just doing some extra training," Lelouch told her.

Nunnally put her hand on his. After a few moments, she said, "You're lying to me."

Lelouch froze, Nunnally's wheelchair barely in the door of her bedroom.

Nunnally whipped her head around to look at Lelouch. "Why are you lying to me?!"

"Shhhh," Lelouch hushed. "You'll wake up the whole dorm wing. Come on, let's get you to bed."

Lelouch brought Nunnally inside and lay her down in her bed, tucking her in.

Nunnally grabbed his arm. "Big brother, I…"

For the briefest of moments, Lelouch considered the unthinkable. That unthinkable thing was prying open his sister's blind eyelid and Geassing her through her blind eye not to worry about it. There were two reasons this idea only lasted a fraction of a second. Reason one: Lelouch did not believe he had and would never accept that he had gotten to the point where he would ever seriously consider using his Geass power on Nunnally. Reason two: Nunnally's hands were shaking. She was really scared, scared she could lose her big brother.

"Am I…am I still useless?" she asked. "Is…is that why big sis doesn't want me on the raid team?"

"Nunnally, the Holy Mausoleum is no place for an HLKMF. The residual energies could collapse the pillars and walls. And if there's anyone down there, there could be very shady folk looking to kidnap you. You're not being punished," he told her as he brushed her bangs above her forehead, "And you're not useless. I'm still looking to get you a blood transfusion, okay? So just be patient. You'll get a chance to show everyone what you can do at the Battle of the Eagle and Lion a few moons from now, okay? Let Oz, Milly and the others train you." Lelouch took one of her hands in his. "Be strong and be patient, Nunnally. I'll be relying on you when the moment is right."

"Relying on me for what?" Nunnally asked.

"Never you mind that now," Lelouch said and pecked her on the forehead. "Sleep well, okay? No nightmares either. If I find out you had nightmares again, I'll have to sleep at your desk tomorrow night."

"Ahaha, I'm not tween anymore, Lelouch. You don't have to worry about me."

Except I do worry about you, every day, Lelouch thought. You're everything and the only thing I have left that this world hasn't taken away. Lelouch brushed the back of his hand against Nunnally's cheek, which made her smile. He sang her a lullaby until he could hear snoring, and then he slipped out of Nunnally's room to meet up with the Ashen Wolves.

---

22nd Day of the Blue Sea Moon

Leila Malcal always felt to be the odd one out in the Blue Lions. Her original family was Britannian, from the far northeastern region. However, she had lived plenty of her childhood in Faerghus, only to be adopted there after the death of her parents. The only Blue Lion who really understood what it was like to be her was Mercedes, the woman having grown up in Adrestia and moved to Faerghus recently. However, her and Mercedes's upbringings were completely different.

Leila had moved to Faerghus because her father was an outspoken critic of the Emperor. Mercedes had moved to escape her own family. They were not the same. Still, she was friendly enough with Mercedes that she considered her a friend. In fact, to Leila, all of the Blue Lions were a friendly bunch, even Felix despite the fact that his main house was now the Green Pheasants. Sure, Felix was rough around the edges, but Leila could tell he had a good heart.

Of course, Leila was so focused on the hearts of others, that she rarely considered her own heart and her own standing and value in the world. So, it came to her as quite a shock when Edelgard, seemingly out of the blue, invited her to tea. Leila, being too polite to say no, accepted without hesitating.

The two sat not in the tea garden but in Edelgard's dorm on the second floor. Leila was a bit disarmed at how…feminine Edelgard's tastes were. A plushie here or there—especially the big bear the size of an armchair wearing "armor"—some board games, and, much to Leila's surprise, video games. Who knew a princess could be so down to earth?

Hubert, noticing her looking around, stated sharply, "I trust nothing you see in this room will be spread around the Monastery into the rumor mill."

"Oh, perish the thought," Leila said with a polite shake of her head.

"Hubert, it's fine. I'm not ashamed of any of my hobbies, even the new ones," Edelgard said.

"Yes, I'm well aware you've been spending one hour a day, what do they call it again…streaming?" he asked, sounding like he was his father's generation for not knowing the term.

"I'm popular, aren't I? It will be good for the cause," Edelgard said, glancing back at her retainer.

Leila laughed. "You two really trust each other implicitly, don't you?"

"But of course, I could not serve Lady Edelgard faithfully if I did not hang on her every word," Hubert said, smirking.

"And I trust Hubert with my very life and then some," Edelgard said. "But enough about us, Leila, there's something I want to ask you."

"Ask…me?" Leila asked, very surprised.

Edelgard nodded. "What would you say to signing up with the Adrestian Army after the year spent here at Garreg Mach?"

Leila was so shocked she almost choked on her tea. "Me? In ze Adrestian Army?"

"We've done our research," Hubert said proudly, folding his arms. "The daughter of Count Breisgau, one of Britannia's most outspoken critics. And now, the Malcal family intends to marry you off to their own son for your…pedigree."

Leila fiddled nervously with the handle of her teacup. She suddenly felt like she was in an interrogation.

"Leila," Edelgard said with an amicable enough smile. "I believe in a fair world, ruled by skill, not by status. I've seen some of your achievements at Garreg Mach already. You would make an excellent field commander in any army."

"You are kind for saying so," Leila responded, sipping her tea.

"It's not kindness, I merely speak the truth," Edelgard told her much more seriously. "As heir to the throne, I have reformations planned for the Adrestian Empire. As someone with connections to both Britannia and Faerghus, you are someone I would most like in aid of those reformations."

"We are acutely aware of your desire to join the Faerghusian military to avoid your obligations to your fiancé," Hubert said. "We are prepared, as future heads of the Empire to not only make that problem go away, but to also allow you the freedom of choice in who you wear a white dress for, should you even choose to wear one a day in your life at all."

"My father always used to tell me zat if a deal is too good to be true, it is," Leila told the two. "Zis is very sudden."

"Perhaps to you, but I've had my eye on you since Lonato's Rebellion was put down," Edelgard said.

"There were reports that you allowed two members of the enemy forces to escape into the mists of war," Hubert said. "While this in itself is not a crime, it speaks volumes to what you value: human life."

"I for one, if I could, fix this world without the need for bloodshed, but I understand that the world is not that kind. If I had a way other than force, I would gladly pick that." Edelgard gestured to Leila. "You would make a fine and merciful commander, I believe. After all, should Adrestia need to go to war, we could be merciless on the battlefield, yet humane in our treatment of the enemy's surrender. You would be a shining example of that."

Leila thought about it. It was true. She had no loyalty to Faerghus, even less to Britannia. But to join the Adrestian Empire…?

"May I have time to zink it over?" Leila asked.

"Of course," Edelgard said. "Take as much time as you need. I didn't expect an answer today anyway."

"Zank you, Lady Edelgard," Leila responded, bowing in her seat. She sipped the tea to completion. "Ze tea was very lovely. I vill be going now." She stood up, bowed and left.

As soon as the door was shut, Hubert looked to Edelgard. "And? How do you find her?"

"So far, within expectations. I don't know if she'll accept our proposal, but I believe it is simply just a matter of time."

Hubert merely smirked.

---

23rd Day of the Blue Sea Moon

The day of the Rite of Rebirth had arrived. And Garreg Mach was busy. Oldrin could not recall the last time she'd seen so much traffic of human feet in one place. It was a madhouse. Presently, she was in Marrybell's and Byleth's company. The three were finalizing their plans for the day as the new professor prepared to head down into the Holy Mausoleum.

Whilst Marrybell was confirming the plans and hammering out last minute instructions—in case the raid was larger than they anticipated—Seteth and Flayn walked by.

"Ah, making last minute preparations?" Seteth asked the trio.

"We are indeed, Director," Oldrin said with a smile and a confident disposition. "Whether it's the assassination or the raid on the Holy Mausoleum, our houses are ready."

"I see," Seteth said and then looked to Byleth. "You seem a mite too relaxed however, Professor."

"I'm always like this," Byleth replied, deadpan as ever.

Flayn giggled.

"What's so funny little Flayn-Flayn?" Oldrin asked, rubbing the top of Flayn's head as she bent over.

"Her name is simply Flayn, Oz," Marrybell stated.

"But she's far too cute for just one Flayn, so I added another," Oldrin said as she bounced upright.

Flayn laughed. She then looked to Byleth. "Do not let my brother's callousness deceive you, Professor. He told me that he is simply very concerned about you and that he worries that you might be better off patrolling a coffin."

Seteth looked aghast. "That was said in jest, Flayn. And in confidence. Please remain by my side and do not cause anymore trouble." He looked to Byleth. "As a Professor, do not forget it is your duty to guide your students down the path of righteousness."

"Are you heading to the Goddess Tower now?" Oldrin asked.

"Indeed. Are you coming along?" Seteth asked.

"Yes, would you like an escort?" Marrybell asked.

"Ordinarily, I would decline, but given the circumstances, you and Miss Zevon would be flattering extra security," Seteth replied with a serious expression.

"See you later, Professor. I hope you will partake in the festival of food later."

"Oh, if it's the Professor, she absolutely will," Oldrin said. "She has the biggest appetite of any Tiger." She snickered. "An appetite fit for a demon."

"Be well," Byleth told Oldrin.

"Same to you," Oldrin said.

Byleth then watched the quartet march off before meeting up with her students near the entrance to the Holy Mausoleum. Nobody else was present. Everyone who was anyone was gathered near Garreg Mach's Goddess Tower for the Rite of Rebirth.

"You all set, Teach?" Claude asked.

Showing emotion for once, Byleth put something resembling a game face on. "Let's do this."

"Everyone stick together and don't make any noise. We don't want to alert the enemy that we're here until they spot us," Lelouch stated.

"If we spot any enemies at all," Lysithea pointed out.

"Heh, yeah, it'd be pretty funny if we gathered all this muscle just to run into some tourists," Claude remarked.

"You wanna spend the time sneaking up on them and shouting boo for kicks if we're wrong?" Shez asked, smirking wryly.

Claude laughed so hard he was wheezing. "Oh…oh, that was a good one, Shez." He composed himself and then said, "But I think we're right. There's an old saying Leicester: if three people tell you you're drunk, lie down. Well, Lelouch, Marrybell and I all agree we've got something here, so I'd say we're bound to run into something."

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Leonie asked, pumping her fist. "Let's get to it."

Carefully, and quietly, the members of the Golden Deer and the Violet Tigers made their way down the staircase and into the Holy Mausoleum. With Byleth, Lelouch and Claude in front, the trio peered around the corner of the final staircase down, finding the Mausoleum crawling with weird men and women in black robes.

"Look at their skin, it's all…washed out and pale," Claude pointed out, whispering.

"Definitely not Seirosian then," Lelouch said. "No one's that pale." They're all Agarthans like Kronya.

"Well then," Claude said, drawing his rifle and loading a wind cartridge into it. "What's say we open the hostilities?"

With a single shot, Claude fired on one of the men in black robes and the magic-empowered rifle shot sent the man hurtling through the air as he crash landed to the ground in a daze.

"What?! Oh, crap! They're here!" A mage shouted.

"N-Not to worry, thanks to Kronya, we know Zero will be here soon. She told us as long as he shows up that we can't lose!" Another one shouted.

"Zero?! The masked guy from Lonato's Rebellion? What's he doing getting involved in all this?" Claude wondered bewildered.

"I dunno, but I don't like it. Let's kick their asses and make them talk!" Hilda exclaimed, drawing her energy axe.

Byleth silently agreed, drawing her silver energy sword.

"Remember," Claude told everyone. "No HLKMFs this place isn't built for heavy HLKMF combat."

"Right!" Leonie exclaimed and with that, the joint forces headed into battle.

Raphael was the first to charge in. With hefty looking electromagnetic gauntlets equipped to his arms, he just started straight up punching anybody that was wearing a shady black robe.

Sokkia aided in the opening hostilities zipping across the battlefield with twin pistols against anyone that looked at her funny, all with a grin on her face.

While more reserved about killing people, that didn't mean Shirley Fennette was going to stand around and do nothing. She began aiming low, tagging mages in their robes until they fell over screaming, blood pouring from their legs.

Shez was far, far more fast and furious. Borrowing Arval's power, she was an unstoppable hurricane of dark energy. Anything she touched became past tense.

Leonie helped Shirley, standing side by side with her and Claude, ringing gunfire down wind. The rifles discharging at different times made the echoey halls sound like a melody of fireworks.

Elsewhere in the Mausoleum, Milly was being approached by strong looking men and fierce looking women. "Oh no," she said with all the seriousness of an actor reading lines from a script for the very first time, "Whatever shall I do." Then, with a kittenish smile, she pulled out an energy sword and quickly began to show why nobody tested her patience back at Ashford Academy. In between sword slashes, she also peppered these mages with blasts of fire magic and a few pistol shots as well.

"Man, these guys are all super weak!" she declared, holstering a pistol.

"The stronger ones are likely further in," Lelouch said, strolling up next to her. He then fired a blast of dark magic over her shoulder, tagging a straggler and knocking him unconscious. "This is just the cannon fodder to make us lose our initial burst of energy. This Zero character clearly has a mind for strategy."

"I'll say," Milly remarked. "Is he handsome too?" Her question was inflected in such a way that she suspected Lelouch to know something.

"I'll not entertain your whimsy of finding love on the battlefield, though I imagine the Goddess would weep at you attempting to flirt with a man leading an army of soldiers looking to raid the bones of her children," Lelouch said dryly. He pulled up a map of the area. "I'll go this way," he said, pointing across his body. "Give Shirley and our rifle squad a hand and keep fighting towards the back. Once the central line is broken, we can fan out and flank the enemies in the back."

Milly winked, "That's our Lulu, ever the strategist."

That was when the two of them got a radio from Hilda. It was on their team's open frequency, but she was speaking to Claude in particular. "Hey, Claude, you seeing this?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how I feel about it?"

"Hilda? Claude?" Lelouch questioned.

"We've uh…got a bit of a situation," Claude said. "Check this out."

He sent a live feed to the entire group, Lelouch took out his cell phone. Leonie and Shirley were continuing to fire at anything that moved, all except for a spooky looking man in pitch black armor with a demonic skull helm.

He's not supposed to be that far forward in formation. Death Knight, what are you doing?

"Milly! Go to where Claude is, I'll break the ranks of the enemy on this side!" Lelouch exclaimed.

"What?! No! I should help you! Since when can you take an entire flank out by yourself?" Milly asked.

"Since I know my limitations and don't have to worry about covering your backside! Go!" Lelouch shouted.

"Okay! Okay!" Milly exclaimed and sped towards the center line.

Once clear of Milly and all other allies, Lelouch hid himself behind a sarcophagus and began radioing in on the Ashen Wolves's frequency. Using a voice changer and pulling up a virtual map of the area—he spoke to his team. "Death Knight, this is Zero. I am ordering you to fall back."

"I do not take orders from weaklings. I crave battle."

Oh. That was just great. Lelouch needed the Death Knight to be dealt with so that his allies could push through to the side flanks. Lelouch had prepared to rejoin the chaos once the enemy had pushed far to the back. Death Knight just threw the majority of his plan into chaos.

He put his Golden Deer and Violet Tiger frequency on "listen only" while keeping voice and sound on his Ashen Wolf frequency.

"Is that a problem, Zero?" Yuri asked.

"Yuri, I had the Death Knight positioned further back for a reason," Zero told him.

"Look, you heard him, right? He's not gonna fight anyone beneath him. As long as the knights don't do anything stupid, he'll just sit there like a big, cranky scarecrow."

Suppose that's true and it does buy me time.

"He doesn't look so tough! Hey, you! Get outta the way!"

Lelouch groaned, deeply regretting choosing Raphael for this mission, but unfortunately, having the man's muscle for this battle simply made sense.

"Raphael, wait!" Hilda shouted.

Lelouch wasted no time putting his Zero HLKMF on. He would have to play adversary to his fellow classmates sooner than he thought. Inside the helmet, he kept Claude's live feed in one window while using the digits of his left hand to manipulate which microphone he was speaking through.

Unfortunately, there was no stopping Raphael. Lelouch was too far away.

"I have no interest in fighting weaklings. If you pass, I will not strike," the Death Knight told Raphael.

However, the strong son of a merchant had his mind made up. With a hefty shout, Raphael swung his electromagnetic gauntlets at the Death Knight's armor. He felt like he was punching a wall made of Mythril. The Death Knight didn't even budge. The red eyes of the Death Knight's helmet flared to life.

"I told you that if you fled, I would not chase you. Yet it seems you wish to dieeeeee,"The Death Knight remarked. He drew out a scythe unlike anything anyone in the Tigers and Deer had ever seen.

Hilda knocked an opponent senseless and then turned her attention to Raphael. "Raphael!"

Too late.

With a single swing of his scythe, the Death Knight ripped Raphael straight open from shoulder to hip.

"RAPHAEL!" Marianne shouted.

Shirley and Claude both went wide eyed, panicked at how quickly Raphael had been cast down with a single swing.

Yet this future would never come to pass…

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

"Remember," Claude told everyone. "No HLKMFs this place isn't built for heavy HLKMF combat."

"Right!" Leonie exclaimed and with that, the joint forces headed into battle.

With no sense of déjà vu for anyone, even Lelouch, Byleth went from hanging in the middle of the formation to charging head first into the fray, cutting down enemies and racking up early kills.

"Hey!" Shez shouted. "I'm not going to let you beat me!" She went down one half of the aisle. Byleth took the other half.

What's with her? Lelouch thought. No matter, if she's energized, that just means the Death Knight will be reached sooner. He, like everyone else on the battlefield, had no idea the idiot mistake Raphael had made in a possible future.

As before, Lelouch split left with Milly and became acutely aware that the Death Knight was a bit farther forward in formation than previously determined. And, as before, he forced her to go help the center formation. And, as before, The Death Knight refused to listen to Lelouch's instructions.

"He doesn't look so tough! Hey, you! Get outta the way!"

Just like before, Raphael made to charge the Death Knight.

However, unlike before, Byleth slid in front of him.

"Huh? Professor?" Raphael asked.

He saw Shez backing away too. This gave Raphael pause and he realized that if Shez and Byleth were taking this guy seriously as a threat, he wasn't just any old enemy.

"Guy's got an HLKMF equipped. This won't be easy," Claude pointed out.

"Should I activate mine?" Shirley asked. "I brought my crystal."

"We all agreed we wouldn't activate our crystals to avoid bringing the roof down on our heads," Shez reminded her.

"But going base to HLKMF is suicide!" Shirley shouted. "If the bad guys are breaking the rules, why can't we?"

"Because a knight is supposed to be better than that!" Sokkia declared. She held two pistols up in front of her, gangster style.

"Sokkia's right. Taking an HLKMF out on foot is tough, but not impossible," Claude said. "Still, we also gotta think about our situation here."

"Raphael, go east and break through the enemy ranks," Byleth told him. She remembered how Raphael was like swinging plaster at a cinderblock. He would be more useful fighting other enemies.

"You got it, Professor! I'll take out the other enemies so you can knock some sense into this guy." He ran off. Not being very bright, Raphael left strategies to smarter people like Byleth, Lelouch and Claude.

"Lelouch has the other flank," Milly said, joining the others.

"Marianne, you're on standby as our healer," Byleth told her. "Milly, if we need it, you're our backup healer."

Milly nodded.

"Grrr, it's a shame we don't have Oz here. We could really use her," Claude complained.

"Want me to contact her? The situation's changed, hasn't it?" Sokkia asked.

"Yeah, tell her to bring some cavalry. We might need it!" Claude said with a stern expression. "All right, Teach. Ball's in your court. We're under your care." While Claude considered himself an expert strategist, he also trusted his instincts and those instincts right now were telling him that listening to Byleth was probably their best chance at winning right now.

Byleth nodded. As she and the students readied their weapons and magic, she knew they were all in for a tough fight.

"Like moths to a flame!" The Death Knight shouted.

Seeing this from Claude's visual, Lelouch closed his map and phone. Good, that will buy us some time. He radioed, "Kronya, what's your location?"

"I'm in the back, what's up?"

"I need you to be the second line of defense in case the Death Knight goes down," Zero pointed out. "Constance, back her up."

Kronya sputtered. "The Death Knight, go down? Are you daft?" She frowned.

"Never consider victory a certainty," Zero said over comms. "Besides, the group we're up against has the infamous Ashen Demon in their ranks. If anyone can bring the Death Knight down, she can."

"Shirley!" Byleth declared.

"Wha—ME?!" Shirley exclaimed, but didn't question her orders. She took out her rifle and took aim.

The Death Knight advanced on her and splattered her blood against the wall of a sarcophagus before she could even blink.

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Byleth rewound time. "Shez!"

"Leave it to me!" Shez declared and leapt into the fray, flanking the Death Knight from the side with her twin swords. The Death Knight noticed her approach and blocked with his scythe. Shez was shocked when she was overpowered and flung back. She bounced her foot off a sarcophagus and leapt into the air.

"Weak," the Death Knight commented and dropped her out of the air with a blast of lightning magic. Shez hit the floor wounded but alive.

"Hilda!" Byleth shouted.

Hilda didn't have to be told what to do. She rushed in and swung her energy axe at the Death Knight. He evaded her clumsy swing, but Byleth had anticipated this and was behind him, poised to strike with her sword at the back of the neck. Her foe evaded, only to nearly get sniped by Claude.

"We've got him on the defensive!" Claude shouted. "Everyone give him everything you've got!"

"Foolish!"

Rifle shots from Claude, Shirley and Leonie's rifles tagged the Death Knight whilst Lysithea and Milly struck with magic. Then, suddenly, a shockwave ripped across the Mausoleum, shaking it and sending the assailants flying.

Byleth saw the Death Knight rushing towards Claude, his scythe poised to strike into Claude's forehead.

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Byleth didn't have to wind time back too far this time. Shez got them a good opening. This time, rather than calling Hilda to action, Byleth decided to attack the Death Knight's flank with her sword and keep him busy.

"Would you quit spamming my divine pulse?! Your body can't handle the strain! Instead of rushing in head first like a Neanderthalic fool, perhaps! Use! Your brain!" Sothis berated.

Byleth nodded. She rewound time once more, but only once more. This time, before engaging the Death Knight, Byleth activated her crest.

At this, Shez released the full power of Arval's power, her hair turning from purple to pink as a result.

"Oh, hey yeah! Our crests!" Claude exclaimed. He activated his Crest of Riegan. Hilda activated her crest of Goneril. Lysithea powered herself up with her Crest of Gloucester.

"And what about the rest of us, huh?" Leonie asked.

"Just take openings where you can get them," Shez said. "Leave the rest to us."

And at this, Shez flung herself into battle. With Arval's power fully active, she could react to the Death Knight despite him being inside an HLKMF. Her swords clashed headlong with Death Knight's scythe. He was quick, quicker than her in that armor. His single scythe was able to keep up with her twin swords. If only she could use her Flugel of Fate.

"Ah. I believe I may have an idea, but you'll need to get a clear shot," Arval told Shez.

Got it. Just say when!

With Shez holding the Death Knight's attention, Byleth began attacking as well. However, much to the surprise of both young women, the mighty Death Knight kept up with the force of both of their blows.

Suddenly, Byleth pulled back sharply. Not questioning it, Shez did the same. The two then barely had enough time to leap over a massive, short range energy shockwave.

"That was close," Shez said. "Nice intuition. Y-You know, for a demon."

Byleth nodded. She was starting to adapt to the Death Knight, but this was far from over.

"My turn," Hilda said slyly and snuck in behind Death Knight. He intended to meet her axe head on, but the grip on Hilda's energy axe proved to be a cleverly disguised feint. With fancy footwork, and twirling her axe so that the positions of her hands were swapped, she forced the Death Knight to overcompensate to a swing that never came. Now he was unprepared for a nasty sideways strike to his armor, or so Hilda thought.

The armored monster managed to pivot and block her strike just in the nick of time, but not without cost. Hilda managed to push him back from his current spot.

"Impressive."

He attempted to charge forward, only to get a triple barrage of rifle blasts from Claude, Shirley and Leonie.

"Keep firing and don't let up!" Claude shouted.

"Marianne! Barrier!" Byleth shouted.

"Ah! Um…" Marianne panicked, but nodded and then cast the white magic spell known as barrier, which appeared as a shield in front of Claude and the others. This wasn't able to stop the incoming shockwave, but it mitigated the damage.

"Okay! I've had enough!" Shirley shouted. "These shockwaves are causing the Mausoleum to shake anyway! I say we go for it! Blue Marine, activate!"

Byleth thought about using the Divine Pulse, but she wanted to see if it was truly necessary.

Like a bolt of blue lightning, Shirley skated across the battlefield in the Blue Marine and delivered a hardy kick toward the Death Knight's neck. He blocked it relatively easily.

Lysithea took our a sensor of some kind. "Energy readings are awfully low for HLKMF usage."

Shirley reversed somersaulted high into the air towards the ceiling and then drew out several small knives that seemed to be made of water.

The Death Knight bat the weapons away with ease. Shirley landed on the ground and then began simply skating around the Death Knight with the Blue Marine, taking out a rifle and firing while rotating around him. The surroundings were taking a beating, but Shirley just kept up the footwork.

Come on, I can do this, nice and easy, she thought.

"That's amazing!" Shez exclaimed. "Shirley, that's awesome!"

"Don't just marvel at it! Get in there!" Shirley shouted. Lulu, you better be grateful! I've been practicing my butt off!

Shez and Byleth rejoined the dead center of the fray with Shirley weaving around them, firing passing shots whenever she could. With her just outside the close quarters perimeter, Leonie began to follow her example, as did Claude. While neither could move faster than the Blue Marine without using their own HLKMFs, they could still follow Shirley's example and make rings around the Death Knight.

For the moment, this appeared to work. Byleth, Hilda and Shez would keep the Death Knight busy up close, Shirley would blast him with a powerful blast to the torso and Claude and Leonie would hit with smaller shots. Then, while reeling, Lysithea and Milly would further injure the Death Knight while he was reeling.

Sokkia stood by Marianne. Since her pistols may as well have been pea shooters against an HLKMF, she was taking out any dark mage that got too close to the group's white mage. That was when reinforcements arrived…for the Death Knight.

"We've got company!" Sokkia shouted.

"Hilda, give her a hand, okay? The Professor and Shez have this covered!" Claude shouted.

"Way ahead of you!" Hilda shouted and raced towards the enemy formation.

One robed figure in particular aimed a cartridge rifle at Marianne's head. He fired only to watch the cartridge blast sail straight into Hilda's hand. With nothing powering her up other than her crest, she'd caught a cartridge rifle shot in her bare hand and then crushed it, glaring at the robed man who tried it.

"That's my best friend you're aiming that at," Hilda said. She wrapped an energy chain around her arm and then hurled her energy axe forward as it split the man cleanly in two, his charred halves now littering the ground. With a yank, Hilda pulled the axe back to her grip and began twirling it on its chain. The robed figures suddenly weren't sure if they wanted this fight, but Hilda continued to advance. "Too late now!" She shouted and charged headfirst into the fray. "You asked for it!" She slammed her axe into the ground, causing an eruption of energy, scattering the enemy like bowling pins.

Sokkia watched Hilda continue to tear these robed terrorists apart in stiff terror. "Note to self: Never make Hilda angry."

---

While Hilda had her allies' rear guard covered, Raphael was having an easy time punching through the enemy's right flank. "Come on!" He shouted, as he lay out more and more fodder, "Is that all you got?!" He radioed to his allies. "Hey guys! I think I'm almost done! Need any help?"

"Hold your position and maintain it, Raphael!" Lelouch radioed. "No. Actually, start heading west and prepare to rendezvous with the others once they've taken out the Death Knight."

"Roger," Raphael stated as he began to move west, only for an energy axe to block his path. Raphael raised his gauntlets. A lone warrior strolled forward as he put his axe onto his back. This guy wore a black robe just like the other Mausoleum raiders, but he also had his uniform open to show off his massive pecs and abs.

"That's far enough, pal," the man said, his voice distorted by some kind of device. He raised electromagnetic gauntlets similar in design to Raphael, except his were glowing orange to Raphael's blue and gray. "Not one more step."

"Sorry, but I got orders from my friends and I'm gonna keep 'em!" Raphael said and prepared his gauntlets. "So, you're gonna have to get out of my way!"

"All right, bring it on!" The strange man declared. He leapt into the air and turned his body as he prepared to punch Raphael in the head. Let's see if you can tango with the Disguised King of Grappling!

A massive swing came to Raphael's face, but he blocked with his gauntlets. Despite this, he was pushed back a good twenty feet.

"Heyyyyy, you're pretty strong," Raphael said as he smashed his gauntlets together. "Let's go!"

The two men charged at each other as their gauntlets smashed into each other, causing a rippling shockwave around the area that cracked two near sarcophagi. The two heavyweight gauntlet users were about to throw down.

---

Seeing the battle against the Death Knight from a vantage point up half a flight of stairs, Zero watched Byleth continue to push the team into further and further advantageous positioning. No. It was too soon. This was happening far too fast.

Something about how quickly she's adapting to the battlefield doesn't sit right with me, Zero thought. I always knew she was good, but this? He radioed Yuri. "How's that lock on the sarcophagus coming, R1?"

"It's…coming," Yuri remarked. "They sure locked this thing up tight. Four magic seals and three magic locks. I sure hope the body's perfectly preserved for all the effort they went through to lock it."

Zero watched as Byleth dodged an attack from the Death Knight and then swung up and did minimal damage to his HLKMF. Shez then leapt at him from behind and slashed at his upper back. Both were then healed by Milly since Marianne had to conserve her magic power for barrier production.

At this rate…things might not go our way. Zero thought. "Hapi, heal the Death Knight."

Hapi sounded dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, you want me to…what?"

"You heard me," Zero said over comms. "Your default position should be close enough to cast physic. Just do it once."

However, before Hapi could commit to Zero's plan, something…happened.

"Yes! MORE! Combined you are weak, but together you are strong! How simply…RAPTUROUS!" The Death Knight exclaimed. And then, suddenly, a faint glow emblazoned from his armor.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Claude shouted. "This guy has a crest?"

The Crest of Lamine shone on the Death Knight's armored plating.

Lamine? The crest best known for its healing? Zero questioned. "Hapi, cancel previous order. Yuri, switch with Kronya. I'm going to need you up here with healing magic at the ready."

"Aw, come on! I wanna stab people!" Kronya complained.

Zero realized he was at a slight impasse. He needed to keep Kronya placated so he could play nice with her superior. "Fine, but when you start to feel overwhelmed, switch with Yuri."

"Youuuuu got it!" Kronya exclaimed.

Zero then went back to watching the fight with the Death Knight. He noticed that now, even though the knight's HLKMF was taking damage, the Death Knight wasn't even flinching or reacting to the incoming attacks. I suppose the Lamine was known as the Aegis Dragon for a reason.

And it was here that the tide of battle began to take a nasty turn. Now that the Death Knight was no longer reacting to attacks, even as his armor continued to take hits, he was more of a juggernaut than ever. Grasping Byleth and Shez by the face, he blasted them both with lightning and threw them at the ground.

Byleth made to get up, Milly running over to her, only for the Death Knight to generate an energy lance and impale her straight through the abdomen, pinning her to the wall of a sarcophagus.

"MILLYYYYYYY!" Shirley shouted.

"Marianne! Go help them!" Hilda shouted. "I've got things with Sokkia here!"

Marianne raced to go give Milly a hand as Shirley, enraged now took the Death Knight on in close quarters.

This is bad! They did too much damage without finishing him off and now he's going on a full-blown rampage! Zero thought, panicking. What do I do now?!

The Death Knight suddenly grabbed Shirley's HLKMF by the torso and then zapped the entire frame with not lightning, but dark magic and not just any dark magic, but Death Gamma, one of its most brutal attacks. Shirley screamed in pure agony as her Blue Marine was completely totalled and she was hurled across the battlefield face first. The wax tiled flooring ripped open skin along her forehead as the impact broke her cheekbone. The top of her head impacted on the base of a sarcophagus as she began coughing up some blood from the sheer pain she was in. She tried to push up on her arm, but she couldn't get leverage as it wobbled. No good. It was broken.

Leonie pulled out an energy lance, but the Death Knight caught it with ease and then slashed it in two. Leonie was then slashed down by the Death Knight's scythe. However, before he could motion to finish Leonie off, Byleth tackled him with her full body. Only she had born witness to the timeline where he'd actually killed her and this was all she could do to try and stop him.

Her body was starting to shake as the Death Knight hurled her off him and kicked her in the back before following up with a scythe strike. Byleth maintained her footing.

So what about that great big plan, Arval? Shez thought.

"We missed our chance. And there was never an opening. He's just…too strong," Arval thought, already feeling the despair of defeat.

Lysithea had not lost hope however and she was beginning to blast the Death Knight over and over again with miasma blasts. He ignored the strikes and continued to fight Byleth armored fist to silver energy sword. However, Byleth was in bad shape not just due to overextended use of Divine Pulse, but also because of the injuries she had sustained. With another blast of Death Gamma, she was blown off her feet and crashed to the ground.

"Pitiful," The Death Knight thought, walking through them. He then zapped Lysithea with lightning magic. "You are weak, and small."

The Death Knight stomped his foot into Lysithea's face, breaking her nose and cracking her skull, severely injuring the young magus. He prepared to finish her off, only to get attacked by Claude from behind.

That armor's gotta be running on empty, right? Claude thought. He began zipping around the Death Knight, taking easy shots, trying to bring the Death Knight down, but the attacks didn't appear to be having any effect.

With one more blast of Death Gamma, Claude was thrown to the ground, body battered, forearms broken. He coughed up bile as he lay on his back.

Well, this sucks.

Enraged and having finished beating down the enemy forces behind her friends, Hilda raced to fight the Death Knight one on one. She had her axe grabbed by its shaft as she was punched twice in the face followed by a blast of Death Gamma.

Lysithea watched in horror as Hilda fell. Everyone on the battlefield was either unconscious, bleeding out or both. On her hands and knees, she gazed from her injured face towards the Death Knight approaching on Marianne trying to heal Milly from her stab wound. Shez was the only one trying to get up.

Lysithea's vision waned, but that was because she was crying. She didn't feel like a cool, awesome adult mage right now. She felt like a little girl half her age that wanted her mommy and a stuffed animal to hug. She was scared, more terrified of what was going on around them than any ghost she could imagine in her head.

She saw Marianne get thrown aside in front of her, the girl bleeding from her forehead as the Death Knight approached Lysithea, cracking his knuckles.

"Still conscious? But only by fear and not fortitude. How utterly disappointing."

NO! Shez thought. It wouldn't…it wouldn't end like this. She would not allow things to go the way they were going. Not as long as she still drew breath. Not while there was still something she could do.

"Hey! Demon!" Shez shouted. "Get up! We're finishing this!"

Byleth didn't move.

"You know what? Fine! Screw you! I don't need your help! I'll finish this BY MYSELF!" Shez shouted.

Shez forced herself to her feet as the sword Arval manifested for her glowed brightly. The Death Knight noticed this and briefly glanced over his shoulder, only to turn back towards Lysithea.

However, he suddenly found Shez standing atop the sarcophagus Lysithea was slumped against and he didn't even sense her approach.

Shez glared down at him with the one eye gazing out from her bangs glowing bright yellow. She was aiming Arval's sword at the Death Knight's shoulder.

"Flugel…of Fate."

A monstrous energy surge gave off from Shez as the Death Knight took a leap back. Shez was through playing around or by the rules. She didn't care if the monastery came down on all of their heads from the energy. She was kicking this son of a bitch's ass for hurting her FRIENDS!

Shez's black and red HLKMF consumed her body and she leapt into the fray against her equally armored foe. And, during her fight with the Death Knight, energy began to gave off from her as her broken halo horns began to grow taller and more pointed. Her HLKMF was evolving. The Flugel of Fate gained a new name: Leviathan of Vengeance.

Red energy not unlike the sensation caused by a Hero's Relic when it reached Critical Magic levels began to give off from Shez's blades. With hatred and rage she then began to rip through the Death Knight one sword slash at a time.

"Shez! Stop! You'll burn yourself out!" Lelouch shouted.

But Shez wasn't listening. She'd turned off the comms. She'd given in to her hatred and anger and now this big, black armored bastard was going to feel the sting of her wrath. The Death Knight could not even mount a defense as Shez continued to fight on without a shred of humanity.

Zero was paralyzed, not even able to command his troops as Yuri, hearing Lelouch's fearful panting over comms moved in to put Shez down. She screamed like an enraged banshee. This was…this was…

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

This was not the future that was to pass.

Byleth, having witnessed everything, saving her strength for one more use of the Divine Pulse, rewound time to when the Death Knight first activated his crest. When he charged forward to grab her and Shez, Byleth pivoted and shoulder checked him in his torso, embedding her silver energy sword right into his gut.

"SHEZ! DO IT NOW!"

For the first time in her life, Byleth yelled at someone. For the years that Lelouch had known her, Byleth had never raised her voice, nor put this much emotion into a declaration.

"The Ashen Demon's right! Use your HLKMF! Finish this!" Arval shouted at Shez.

Shez activated the Flugel of Fate.

The Flugel of Fate? Zero questioned. But won't the roof…? HLKMF to HLKMF combat was dangerous in a place like this. The Death Knight had already done enough damage to the surrounding area. Adding Shez on top of that could very well shake the walls.

But, Zero had nothing to worry about, and Byleth already knew it. She'd seen a future where Shez had evolved her HLKMF to an even stronger form and nothing bad had happened. She had sensed it since they started fighting side by side that Shez wanted to cut loose and Byleth was giving her student, no, her friend that right.

The Death Knight, buying into this new challenge, turned towards Shez as she stood ready to fight him one on one. However, with Byleth's sword in his chest plate, he wasn't prepared for Shez's opening strike and then shoved Byleth with both hands, dropping his scythe as Shez struck forward, putting him on the defensive.

Unreal! Lysithea gasped, gazing at Shez. Shez's HLKMF is so strong, but the energy is so controlled.

"Shez will buy us time!" Byleth shouted. Coming from anyone else, this was a perfectly normal declaration. And that was just it. Byleth suddenly sounded normal. "Let's move!" she declared.

If Lelouch didn't feel absolutely screwed right now, he would be proud of Byleth. He watched the Death Knight struggle to keep pace with Shez now that she had her own HLKMF to fight him. With all the damage his had taken, hers was more than a match at this point.

"What's the matter, big guy?" Shez asked as her strikes started coming in faster and faster. "Can't keep up?"

"Everyone square up into formation three!" Zero shouted. "The Death Knight has been compromised!" He then dismissed the matrix as he began to carve his way through the left flank of the Agarthan forces. "Professor! I've almost made it to the back of the enemy formation! Keep up the pace!"

"Can do!" Byleth shouted. "Claude! With me! Shirley! Keep the Blue Marine steady and punch a hole forward!"

"Death Knight! Do something! GYAAAAAGH!" A mage shouted, only to get flattened by a kick to the face from the Blue Marine.

"I only have one opponent before me, the Flugel of Fate. Deal with it yourself," The Death Knight remarked.

As Lysithea moved to catch up with her friends, she squeezed her hand. I have…a lot of work to do, she thought. I was…completely powerless against such a foe. She gazed at her hand as a spike of dark magic formed in it only to crumble to dust almost as soon as it was formed. But not next time.

Shez and the Death Knight continued to clash as Hilda slipped right past the latter.

"You've got this!" Arval beamed with pride. "The Ashen Demon gave you this chance to shine. Don't waste it!"

"Yeah! I KNOW!" Shez shouted, not caring who was listening to her talk to herself. This was her moment. She fought tooth and nail with her twin blades as the Death Knight tried to hold his own with his fabled weapon, the Scythe of Sariel. The blades clashed, causing the floor to crack and the walls to shake, but that was going to be the price to pay. Shez had to do this, for her friends, for her pride!

She could feel the Flugel of Fate flowing with energy. And then, a single, red wing shot out of the right side. She suddenly became much faster. She suddenly gained one very long sword instead of two small ones. But the sword she was wielding greatly resembled the one Arval always let her borrow. It was longer than a Japanese nodachi and heavier in heft than a claymore. With the strength of a sword and the reach of a lance, Shez began to swing against the Death Knight on even footing. The letters on the Flugel of Fate's interface began to scramble. Shez's HLKMF was evolving. The Flugel of Fate's new name appeared in a flash: The Leviathan of Destiny.

Arval smiled with pride. Shez was growing stronger. And, one day, they wouldn't need the Ashen Demon's help to soften up such a foe. They could defeat it themselves. But for now, they only needed to do one thing: finish the job.

"ASTRA!" Shez shouted and sped past the Death Knight. Then, with a single swing of her blade, several red, jagged lines of energy like the flash of a Hero's Relic copying the Critical Magic phenomenon raced across the Death Knight's HLKMF, shattering it in multiple places.

The behemoth of a warrior now took a knee. "I didn't expect to encounter someone like you," with his helmet damaged, Shez could see the pleased grin sported by the wielder, "How fortunate." He then teleported out.

Shez dismissed her own HLKMF and then nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"Easy," Arval told her. "You're not used to fighting with such powerful energy. Let's leave this to the demon and the others. I think you've earned a rest."

"Yeah," Shez panted. "Thanks."

---

Raphael kept punching away at his opponent, unknown to him to be Balthus, their electromagnetic gauntlets slamming against each other at a brisk pace. Both men started to sweat.

"Phew," Raphael exhaled, "You're pretty tough."

"You're not so bad yourself, blondie," Balthus remarked as he smacked his gauntlets together. "But I'm tired of fighting with kid gloves." With focus, Balthus activated his own crest, the apostle's crest of Chevalier. "Let's kick it up a notch."

Balthus swung forward, but when Raphael went to parry it with a punch of his own, Raphael's own gauntlets cracked.

"Uh oh," Raphael uttered calmly, recognizing that he was at a significant disadvantage.

Balthus began to strike Raphael harder and faster than before, causing bruising and even knocking out a tooth.

Grunting and focusing his strength, Raphael punched back, only for Balthus's next strike to seem to heal the damage he'd just received.

That was when an energy axe slammed into Balthus's right arm gauntlet and severely damaged it, forcing him to back away. Hilda had ambush struck the altercation and now stood staunchly between Balthus and Raphael.

"Wow! Thanks for the save, Hilda!" Raphael exclaimed, giddy with cheer. "Ow. Ow. It hurts to laugh."

"Oh crap," Balthus muttered under his breath and began to bolt.

"Hey! You get back here!" Hilda exclaimed. She pursued Balthus briefly, but ultimately decided not to give chase. It could be a trap after all.

"Hey! Zero!" Balthus radioed. "Mind if I take leave?"

"That's fine," Zero answered back. "There's a teleport portal I set up in the northwest wing. It will lead you right back to the classroom if you swipe your ID card."

"Thanks, pal," Balthus said and ran straight for it.

Meanwhile, Raphael couldn't stop singing Hilda's praises. "You're really strong, Hilda! That guy ran the moment he saw you!"

Hilda grinned. "What? Me? Nooooo, you just softened him up, that's all. I'm not strong at all."

Raphael laughed. "Yeah, guess I did wear him out a bit. But man, I'm exhausted and the enemy's right flank isn't cleared up yet. Think you could handle it for me? I need to go find Marianne."

"Stay here. I'll call her over. Marianne always listens to me," Hilda said and tapped her comm ear piece. "You get all that, Marianne?"

"Yes. I'll be right there," Marianne responded.

"Good. So stay right here, Raphael," Hilda said and gazed forward towards the mages before her going towards the northeast corner of the Mausoleum. "I'll take care of this since you did such a good job holding that big guy off."

---

Lysithea von Ordelia never thought she would ever find an equal in magic combat, yet here she was fighting a woman in a strangely colored robe—unknown to her to be Constance—matching her with every blast.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHO!" The woman cackled. "Is this the best you can do? Truly! I am to laugh," the woman said, all haughtily.

"Grrrrr," Lysithea growled and began firing off more blasts of Miasma to match her opponent's fireballs. The bolts of dark magic were matched in power and in size by her opponent's fireballs.

"What's this now? Only the one spell. Come now, even a child can master more than two," Constance taunted.

Lysithea saw red. "Did you just imply that I am less than a child?"

"I…er…" Constance did not realize the button she just pushed.

Lysithea focused deeply. Her crest of Gloucester was already activated, but she had a trick up her sleeve: a second crest. She activated it, adding the power of the Crest of Charon to her own power. "You're irrelevant!" Lysithea shouted. Focusing her power, it reached an equilibrium and her next shot absolutely obliterated the counter fireball Constance threw.

Constance could only stare in awe.

Critical Magic!

Lysithea's Miasma Bolt slammed into Constance, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to stumble back. Constance fired a fireball back at Lysithea.

Critical Magic!

Lysithea countered hard and her spell had enough power leftover to injure Constance further.

Critical Magic!

Lysithea attacked again, knocking Constance off her feet and to the ground.

Critical Magic!

And she was far from done.

"I AM NOT A CHILD!" Lysithea screeched. Focusing her power, she decided to use a yet untested spell. A magic projectile shaped, colored, and shaded like a moon appeared over Constance's head. It felt heavy in Lysithea's hands, but she was managing control…for now.

Constance was only just getting to her feet when she saw the attack change form from a moon, to a singularity.

"Luna…Lambda," Lysithea said with a spark of violet in her pink eyes. She then made a fist, crushing the singularity and causing a powerful explosion that caused Constance to rocket into the air, hit the ceiling and fall back down, unconscious.

Lysithea took a knee. She was out of breath.

Hapi, seeing this, radioed to Zero. "Zero, Coco's down. I'm extracting her."

"Understood. What's everyone else's positions?"

"Holding target Leonie Pinelli in my sights," Ryo said, exchanging rifle fire with her.

"Akito and I are keeping tabs on the Blue Marine," Ayano radioed.

Shirley might have been more powerful in the Blue Marine than on foot, but she was no Death Knight. The combined might of Ayano and Akito with their energy swords and speed was keeping her held at bay.

She blocked a sword strike from Akito with her right arm and then kicked out her left leg to block Ayano. She then performed a backflip and released several "water knives" at the two of them, forcing them to leap out of the way as Shirley generated her energy rifle, firing away at both without hesitation.

Shirley's a lot more skilled with her HLKMF than I ever thought she would be this soon. How fortunate that this is actually playing right into my hands, Lelouch thought. He was, for all intents and purposes, proud of her. He recalled a memory between them.

---

"Huh? Garreg Mach? That academy in Rome?"

"Mhm."

"You want to learn to fight, Lulu?"

"It's better than doing nothing with my life."

"Nothing? What do you mean, nothing?"

"…"

"Well…I'll go too. I…I don't know if it's right for me, but…as a member of the Student Council, the least I can do is try. After all, I've always wanted to visit Rome."

---

She'd come to Garreg Mach wholly unsure of herself, not sure if she was cut out to be a knight, but Shirley evaded a sword strike from Akito and kicked at his face, only to miss by inches, quickly backflipping to avoid a counterattack, she and Lelouch both knew. They knew that she had come into her own. And now, Shirley knew that she wanted to become a Knight of Seiros. That was her new dream.

Skidding backward, Shirley looked at her HLKMF energy gauge. 50%. She radioed to the others. "Got half my tank left. Gonna need backup soon."

"Try to hold out until help arrives," Claude told her. "Sokkia, where's our reinforcements."

"I tried calling Oz. It went straight to voicemail. Her phone is off. Looks like we're stuck holding out until the ceremony's over," Sokkia radioed. "I'm at the front in case any more bad guys try to attack our rear. You can leave it to your favorite scarecrow."

"Copy that," Byleth said with enthusiasm. "Shez, how's your condition? Can you back up Sokkia and Shirley in an emergency?"

"Yeah, I'm a bit exhausted, so don't expect me to do much more than grab her and run, but I can fight if absolutely necessary. Really winded from all that HLKMF use."

"Understood," Byleth said and took her finger away from her ear.

The battlefield was unfolding in such a manner that she was slowly making gains straight to the back of the enemy formation.

Marianne was on healing duty. Lysithea, Raphael, and Shez were exhausted. Sokkia was covering the rear. Lelouch and Hilda had the enemy flanks. Shirley had her hands full. Milly had just intercepted another enemy's encroachment on Lysithea's location. Leonie and Claude were both in shoot outs.

Zero watched this unfold. Yukiya surprisingly was good at playing duck and cover against Claude, not letting him gain any ground. Milly was surprisingly good at avoiding getting overwhelmed by Hapi's spells. That meant he, Kronya and Yuri were all in top condition.

"Yuri, pull back and pretend to engage me on the sidelines. Leave the rest of the lock to me. Kronya, engage the Ashen Demon."

"Finally!" Kronya exclaimed. "Was starting to get bored!"

"Copy that, Zero," Yuri stated.

Lelouch activated the Zero Matrix and went from northwest corner to passing Yuri towards Saint Seiros's sarcophagus. Meanwhile, Kronya leapt out from behind cover and engaged Byleth directly.

"Here I come, Ashen Demon!"

Kronya's attacks were swift and brutal. She was moving so fast, she was a blur. Under normal circumstances, Byleth would have been fine, but she was tired from the battle with the Death Knight and the use of the Divine Pulse. At this point, Kronya was on her level, possibly stronger.

Still, if strength and energy was all that was required to defeat Byleth Eisner, she would have been dead long ago. With a grin, Kronya slammed Athame into Byleth's energy sword.

Being cheeky. Zero radioed to the Tigers and Deer. "I've found a strong one in the northwest corner. There's a teleporter here too. I'm going to check it out."

"Copy that, Lelouch," Milly remarked as she continued to engage Hapi in battle. Like with Lysithea, fireballs met miasma bolts, but now the teams were reversed. Milly had the flames and Hapi was packing dark magic. More importantly, Milly was sorely lacking in any real power. Her shots kept getting overwhelmed.

Of course, where Milly lagged in firepower, she had an edge in versatility. She was slowly gaining ground on Hapi, and Hapi knew it. Despite how much they were dancing around each other, Milly was keeping one hand firmly clenched around an energy sword that hadn't yet been activated.

Milly started spamming fireballs, hoping the sheer quantity would overwhelm Hapi, but Hapi was way more experienced with magic combat. Her resilient body to unfriendly magic helped her mitigate damage against the weaker fireballs and her more powerful miasma bolts blew past Milly's stronger ones. Milly then finally activated her energy sword and began swatting spells away.

Hapi thought to retreat but she couldn't let Constance be taken by the enemy.

Guess I've got no choice, she thought. She activated her crest of Timotheos. Empowering her magic, she showed that Lysithea and Lelouch weren't the only ones with skill on their side.

Critical Magic!

The attack blew Milly off her feet, hitting her harder and faster than she could react, and allowed Hapi to pick up Constance and leg it. "Come on, Coco, we're getting you out of here."

Delirious, Constance uttered, "Mmmmm, no, sir, 500 Roman Credits isn't even enough to shake my hand." She then snored.

Hapi greatly resisted the compelling urge to sigh. She gave Constance over to Yuri. "Coco's secure, Zero. What now?"

"Give Yukiya some aid. Claude's going to be a problem."

"You leave him to me," Yuri said. "The enemy doesn't yet know our full forces. And also, we still have our secret weapon."

Zero nodded. Yes, if needed C.C. was waiting in the wings, just in case they needed her power. However, as Yuri tagged in to fight Claude up close, forcing the house head to switch from rifle to his secondary weapon—an energy sword, which he was much less skilled with—it didn't appear as if they would need it. Byleth was now surrounded. Yukiya, Hapi and Kronya were all upon her at the same time.

"I would surrender if I were you," Zero said, turning away from the magic seal. "Even the Ashen Demon has her limits."

Byleth shook her head.

"Defiant to the end, I see. Very well then," Zero said and fanned his arm out to his companions' benefit. "Show no mercy."

Yukiya took a show at Byleth, but she dodged out of the way, right into the path of Kronya's sword, forcing her to block. Hapi sent a bolt of Miasma out at Byleth's back, forcing her to duck under Kronya, kick her in the stomach, pivot and swat the magic blast away before the attack hit her.

Zero continued to watch this unfold. Even exhausted, even fighting three on one, Byleth Eisner was a tough woman to defeat. But he knew this to be the case. He knew she was tough, the strongest woman in the world they called her. He was prepared to get his own hands dirty if need be.

He watched her dance about this 3-vs-1 scenario, blocking Kronya, dodging Yukiya, deflecting Hapi. Any attempt to attack one was interrupted by the other two as Byleth slowly started to take damage. A grazing rifle shot here, a glancing blow off her shoulder there. And Lelouch could see the sweat pouring down her face. Byleth Eisner was on the verge of suffering her first loss of her career.

And Sothis could tell. "You're going to die at this rate!"

I'm aware, Byleth responded to her flatly.

"So do something about it?"

I could activate the Ashen Demon, Byleth proposed with her usual amount of enthusiasm, which was to say, none at all.

Sothis contemplated this. "Actually…yes, that may work."

What about the ceiling? Byleth questioned.

"Pfft, obviously a lie fabricated by the church. Look how well this place is holding up and look how high the ceiling is. And if you do nothing, you'll die. That Zero character has us caught in a trap good, rewinding the hands of time with the Divine Pulse won't get us out of this one without putting someone else in this kind of danger! The time has come to throw caution to the wind! Let the Ashen Demon roar!"

With a focus of her mysterious crest, Byleth released a pulse of energy around her.

Zero then saw the spike in energy on his sensors. "Oh, that's not good."

Without hesitating, Byleth unleased the Ashen Demon just as Yukiya's rifle shot and Hapi's miasma bounced against it harmlessly. With a predatory growl, Byleth prepared to ward them all off. Well, preparing may have been the wrong word. With power and speed unlike anything the three combatants were prepared for, she dropped all three of them in record time.

Yukiya was slashed in multiple locations, Hapi was dropped by a claw slash that left her with multiple lacerations and Kronya was then kicked followed by being grabbed and slammed through a sarcophagus at high speeds. The Ashen Demon let out a ferocious howl and then began to speed towards Zero.

If you want something done right, do it yourself, Zero thought. He checked Hapi, Yukiya and Kronya's vitals via the Zero Matrix. They were badly injured but alive. He radioed. "Balthus, I need you back out here! Hapi, Yukiya and Kronya are down. I need a healer stat!"

"Roger that, pal! I'm coming back out."

Constance radioed. "Zero, shall I resume hostilities? I am not in awful shape anymore."

"No, belay that order. If high end magic power is required, I have a secret weapon just in case it's needed," Zero stated. "You've done plenty, today, Constance. Take a break."

"Copy that!" Constance exclaimed cheerfully.

Using a special, "sticky" whip that shot out of his wrist Zero connected it to the ceiling behind Byleth and then leapt into the air, firing small bolts of magic at the Ashen Demon as he swung by. Byleth, confused, took a moment before turning to fight Zero.

"Yuri! Once Balthus has finished healing our forces, I'm going to need you to switch with him and finish unlocking the sarcophagus if I'm not done yet," Zero radioed.

"Sure, if you're still breathing," Yuri remarked.

"Don't count me out," Zero said. "The king may be in check, but it's not checkmate just yet!"

Byleth sent a sword flying through the air and cut Zero's line free. Fortunately, he was only swinging a few inches off the ground. He slid back, curling one hand behind his back. On one panel inside the helmet, he could still see and affect the progress of unlocking the sarcophagus remotely. All he had to do was keep the Ashen Demon busy.

Byleth charged toward him in a frenzy. Zero fell back on his new training, courtesy of Oldrin Zevon.

"When an opponent well beyond your ability charges, you should never take the head on. Always be prepared to flank. The later you flank, the more uncoordinated they'll be."

Knowing that Byleth's dominant hand was on her right, Zero dodged in its direction and took a wide berth out of the way. It would be harder to get momentum from that side. He also made sure to take a wide enough step to see if Byleth let loose any of her "sword feathers".

Byleth, taken slightly be surprise by the feint was prepared with a counterstrike by firing a sword from her "wings" directly at Zero. But Zero had anticipated this. Byleth had also fired a little too late and given him ample time to duck under the sword. He quickly charged a Miasma bolt and fired, tagging the Ashen Demon in the arm.

Byleth spun and released a multitude of swords that homed in on Zero like ballistic missiles. Zero, however, was well away that they could be controlled by the interface. He also knew that Byleth would not hesitate to charge straight in.

For an attack like this, there's only one opening, Zero thought. Generating a hard light pistol, he targeted one of the Ashen Demon's "eyes" and then made a sticky whip that aimed above and over Byleth's head. He then retracted the whip to pull him forward and in between the incoming, converging swords.

Byleth was very surprised. Zero had recognized the sole gap in her attack pattern and reacted without a hint of fear. She then took a few shots to the back.

Who is this guy? The young woman wondered.

Zero dropped five feet out of the air and used his cape to glide northeastward.

Byleth flew after him at high speeds. Using a sticky whip he pulled himself towards the nearby staircase in the center walkway of the Mausoleum. With his free hand, he continued to undo the locks on the Sarcophagus.

However, Byleth's swords were now incoming and forced Zero on the run. If he ran towards the sarcophagus, Byleth would catch him in a pincer maneuver. However, if he ran towards the swords, there was enough distance for Byleth to correct course. His only choice then was to seemingly meet the Ashen Demon head on. Using a sticky whip he pulled himself towards the ceiling and then fired a magic blast at the wall. The kickback caused him to be pushed southeastward as he began to swing around Byleth. Soon, he'd be behind her.

That was when Byleth did something unexpected and cute the line to the sticky whip.

What?!

Zero had expected Byleth to flank and give chance to him head on, not cut the whip. What he didn't know was this was the power of the Divine Pulse at work. Byleth had already tried that, saw it failed and rewound time to try again.

Zero began to fall, sticky whipping a sarcophagus and pulled himself towards it, only for the swords to come directly towards him from the left.

Not good! He exclaimed. He had no choice. He had to activate the Diamond Black Shield. It wouldn't mitigate all of the damage, but it would stop some of it.

As predicted the swords skewered the shield and eventually smashed it to pieces before piercing pieces of the matrix, knocking Zero out of midair and sending him tumbling along the ground. Thankfully the Zero Matrix was quite durable so none of Byleth's blades pierced all the way through. However, that one attack had dropped his energy readout from 75 to 25%.

Using one hand to continue fiddling with the sarcophagus, Zero radioed. "Q1, get out here. You're needed."

"Understood."

In the next instant, The Ashen Demon was blasted out of the sky by a massive blast of lightning. The spell Bolting had been cast overhead. Electrocuted, the Ashen Demon crashed into the ground. Byleth's head whipped around. A woman floated onto the battlefield. She was garbed in a dark cloak like the others, but Byleth could still make out her green hair.

Wordlessly, another cast of Bolting dropped from the air and nearly fried the Ashen Demon, but Byleth dodged this one.

"How long do I need to keep this up?" C.C. asked Zero.

"Guh, hopefully not much longer," Zero remarked. "But if you suffer serious injury, retreat. I don't want anyone to know it's you."

"Understood," she said. She floated into the air under her own power and then began raining small meteors down at the Ashen Demon.

Byleth had to dodge the meteors or shred them with her claws, but she also had to keep her focus on Zero, who was working tirelessly to open the sarcophagus.

"Professor!"

Lelouch groaned. Hilda was headed towards the battlefield.

"Hilda! Stay back!" Byleth shouted, only for a meteor to go blazing towards Hilda and impact her directly in the body before she had a chance to see it coming.

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

But this future would never come to pass. Instead, anticipating Hilda's approach, Byleth instead got between the meteor and Hilda.

"Whoa! That was close! I could have been hurt!" Hilda exclaimed.

How did she…? Not aware of the future Byleth saw, Zero had no context for how Byleth knew to intercept an attack for the oncoming Hilda. To him, it was like she was just…there all of a sudden.

"You're pushing your body past its limits even with the Ashen Demon," Sothis warned Byleth.

So what do I do?

"Is the answer not obvious? You must do as your friend with the purple hair did earlier, and evolve," Sothis told her.

I must evolve? Byleth questioned.

"I'm sure you can do it if you try. Focus on what you want to achieve. Growth lies in heart and in passion. Seize your passion and you will grow like a flower blooming wildly."

Evolve, Byleth thought.

The Ashen Demon took a knee.

"Uh, Professor? You okay?" Hilda asked. She then noticed Zero. "Hey!"

She charged Zero, only to be blocked by an energy sword. At first, Zero suspected that Yuri had come to his rescue, but the person getting in the way was…Kronya?

"Hurry up!" Kronya shouted. "We don't got all day! The knights will be here soon!"

"Right. Thank you, Kronya," Zero told her.

"Grrrr, get out of my way!" Hilda shouted.

"Zero, instructions?"

"Hold position. Let Kronya fight for now," Zero thought.

"Understood," C.C. replied.

Hilda tried to fight Kronya, but winded from wiping out so many of her comrades, she could barely keep up with Kronya, much less land a scratch on her. Conversely, Kronya was landing glancing blow after glancing blow on Hilda, cutting her shoulders, arms and even her shins.

"Guh!" Hilda exclaimed as a wound appeared on her cheek.

Hilda…be strong, Lelouch thought.

I must…evolve, Byleth told herself.

"Guess you wanna die?!" Kronya shouted. Creating a black energy chain, she wrapped a chain connected to Athame around her dominant arm and thrust the blade towards Hilda, the weapon sparking with red energy.

A critical strike? Lelouch thought.

If that hit Hilda, as it was aiming to, she would die, unquestionably. It was aiming right for her chest and it had plenty of striking power. And Hilda had neither the speed nor the time to get out of the way.

"HILDA!" Zero shouted.

However, just before the blade pierced her flesh, time stopped.

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

That future, would never come to pass.

Instead, this time, as soon as Kronya let the blade loose, the chain was shattered as the sound echoed in the Mausoleum. The cause was none other than The Ashen Demon's right energy claw, but as Zero, Kronya and Hilda all looked at the Ashen Demon, there was something different about it now. The gray color that was its iconic feature had turned into a washed out version of a vibrant green. Additionally, two horns resembling dragon horns now adored the back of the "skull" of the head of the HLKMF.

The Ashen Demon had evolved. Zero scanned the HLKMF before him. A new name was read back to him: The Fallen Angel.

With a swing of her energy claws, Byleth took one swing and did serious damage to Kronya, burning her torso, causing her to bang her back on a nearby sarcophagus.

"Balthus!" Zero radioed.

"I'm on it!" Balthus exclaimed. "I got her!" He ran over to provide first aid.

"Freaking…beast," Kronya coughed, holding a burned wound.

"You take Zero," Byleth said and turned her attention back to C.C. A big, glowing longsword appeared in her right hand. "That one's mine."

"You got it," Hilda said and prepared to square off on the masked warrior.

Byleth flew towards C.C even as she blasted Thoron after Thoron lightning blast at her. The spells crackled, piercing the flooring and causing damage, but Byleth weaved and tumbled around C.C.

With another swipe of her energy claws, Byleth sent C.C careening into the ground so hard she cracked the tile.

Shez was beside herself. You've gotta be kidding me, just as I make the cusp of my evolution…the Ashen Demon…gets even STRONGER?! She clenched her teeth.

"Well…this will be a problem if we ever hope to best her," Arval commented.

That wasn't all, in a single swipe, C.C had been struck down by the Fallen Angel. Byleth then turned her HLKMF's head over her shoulder and glared at Zero, eyes flashing.

Zero thought he was going to have his hands full when Kronya pushed Balthus away. "I'm healed enough!" she shouted. Dark energy flowed around her as she pushed on an orange crystal embedded in her collar. Her suit then suddenly had armor form around it. Kronya had activated her own HLKMF. Like rare models, this one was tightly compacted around her body and did not increase her body mass at all. It was black and orange, like her favorite colors and greatly resembled Shez's Leviathan of Destiny. However, three metallic, vibrating sharp blades whipped around from Kronya's back and she held two weapons very similar to Athame in each of her hands. The helmet was an identical design though. This was the HLKMF of the Agarthan's best Assassin. Codename: Gleaming Blade.

Darting forward, Kronya attacked Hilda outright with all five of her weapons. However, Byleth sped in front of the assault and countered with her claws and sword wings.

"DAMN YOU!" Kronya shouted.

What followed was an impressive display from Kronya. The Gleaming Blade was more than resilient to withstand Byleth's energy claws and more than fast enough to keep up with the sword attacks. Zero took note of this.

Either the Zero Matrix could use an upgrade, or I lack the reflexes I need to do the same. Or, despite her increase in power, Byleth is heavily exhausted.

Whatever the reasons, Byleth and Kronya were competing on even ground with attacks clanging against the frames and not being properly deflected. Both were clearly tired and not at their best, focusing more on damage and neglecting the power of their frames.

Zero and Hilda were watching carefully, Hilda forgetting her order to take Zero on directly.

"You can do it, Professor! Kick her butt!" Hilda cheered.

And it was this lapse in judgment on Hilda's part that gave Zero just the opportunity he needed to finish what he started.

Click!

The sarcophagus opened.

Finally! Zero exclaimed.

"Oh…oops!" Hilda exclaimed. She darted towards Zero to stop him, only to get shoulder checked by Balthus and knocked on her back.

"Okay, please tell me I can go now," Balthus requested of Zero. Sorry, Hilda. Don't recognize me and if you do, don't tell Holst!

"You're good, Balthus," Zero said. "Now, what do we have here?" He looked into the sarcophagus of Saint Seiros, but did not find a body, instead, something else lay in the casket. "…What?"

Meanwhile, now more acquainted with her power, Byleth was making gains on Kronya. The Gleaming Blade was slowly getting overwhelmed by the Fallen Angel.

"Gotta be kidding me," Kronya grunted, barely able to keep Byleth back.

That was when Zero saw Byleth's right hand claws glow red. "KRONYA, LOOK OUT!"

"It's over!" Byleth declared. Moving faster than Zero could see, Byleth darted through the air barely half a foot above ground, striking Kronya not once, not twice, but four separate times, shattering the Gleaming Blade on contact with the fourth blow, each strike a Critical Strike. Kronya was sent flying, hit the ground, bounced and crumpled on the ground, battered and bruised.

"Tch," Zero grunted, grinding his teeth together as he turned while grabbing what was actually in the Sarcophagus of Saint Seiros.

Byleth, for her part, finally ran out of energy for the Fallen Angel and had to proceed to face Zero on foot. She drew out her silver energy sword and charged forward. She'd beaten HLKMFs on foot before. Today was no different.

However, what Zero had grasped in his hand caused Hilda to gasp. "Is that…"

Clenched in his non-dominant hand was a bony sword with the blade resembling a spinal column. The craftsmanship greatly resembled Catherine's Thunderbrand. But this was no ordinary Hero's Relic.

In fact, Zero knew exactly what he had in his hands. He quickly switched the weapon to his dominant hand and pulled his cloak around in front of him with his left hand. When Byleth struck in with her energy sword, Zero countered with the sword he found.

The sword won't glow red like it does for Catherine. This Hero's relic lost its crest stone long ago, Zero thought. But…I have a crest myself, so I can deal with the negative effects of a Hero's Relic no problem.

For the next eight swings, the yet identified Hero's Relic clashed against Byleth's silver energy sword. Zero was so keen on staying alive and not getting hit that he was failing to notice that, with every swing of the sword he held, red particles of energy flew off of it, as if the sword was reacting to something nearby.

Byleth, you're probably used to always overpowering and intimidating your opponents with your raw strength, but I know all of your moves from watching you over the years. So I will know… Zero thought as he prepared an miasma blast. Just when to strike.

At the precise moment when Zero anticipated that Byleth would commit to an overhead two handed swing, Zero crouched and leaned backwards, firing a blast of energy into her stomach.

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

Tik

Tock

At the precise moment when Zero anticipated that Byleth would commit to an overhead two handed swing, Zero prepared to crouch, only for Byleth to show that her swing was a feint and knock the blunt end of her sword into the side of his head. She then stepped on his food and shoulder checked him in the collar. She then brough her elbow down on his upper arm and slashed the impacted arm with her sword. The damage to Zero's frame forced him to drop the sword.

Zero blasted magic in Byleth's face, but she deflected it.

How the heck—

Zero didn't get to finish his thought on why Byleth was suddenly able to predict his plan. He knew her fighting style perfectly. Byleth slashed him down the torso with enough force to send him stumbling back into Saint Seiros's Sarcophagus. He used it to prop himself up. Only 5% in the Zero Matrix left. Not good. If it emptied out, Byleth would know who he was and he'd be screwed.

She's been doing that all battle. Have her combat abilities evolved, or maybe…

Zero then realized there was something else that required his attention.

The Sword of the Creator!

Zero darted for the sword, but he was far too slow as Byleth sheathed her energy sword and picked up the fallen Hero's Relic.

No! Not in her hands! Zero thought. Byleth had a crest and one not yet identified. But…no…it couldn't possibly be that one…right?

Oh, if only his luck was better than that.

As soon as Byleth picked up the Sword of the Creator, the fabled Hero's Relic said to be wielded by the Fell King Nemesis, the sword did only what it did when a hero's relic was in the presence of a crest bearer and its crest stone: it glowed red.

That's impossible, Zero thought.

Byleth's crest sure, but the crest stone was lost to history. How could it be nearby? He then recounted the exchanges between him and Byleth, and how flickers of red could be seen during their clash.

The stone is…on her person?

He had little time to react. Byleth was on him. Armed with a much better than her silver sword, Byleth attempted to cut Zero to ribbons. Fortunately, Zero had the sense to dodge and ran for it towards the northwest.

But Byleth was not playing games. To the best of her knowledge, Lelouch was over there. This masked thief would not hurt her brother.

Swinging her sword out wide, Byleth's sword grappled Zero's leg and smashed him against the sarcophagus.

Zero coughed hard. 1% remained. He…he was screwed. He had to do something, but what? Geass perhaps? But now?

As if to make matters worse, a certain someone wasn't too thrilled about being treated like second hand garbage. Having reclaimed Athame from the ground, Kronya was darting towards Byleth to intercept her incoming attack on Zero. Athame struck back against the Sword of the Creator.

"I'll carve out your heart!" Kronya shouted. She attempted to impale Byleth, but she vastly underestimated the power of Hero's Relic, and the power of Byleth herself. Kronya's ambush strike had placed Byleth on the backfoot, but Byleth had enough battle experience to not be thrown off balance. She put weight on her back foot, rolled with the momentum of Kronya's parry, and began to rotate her blade overhead. Kronya's incoming impaling thrust was cut short by a downward swing from Byleth's new sword, splitting Kronya's skin right open from shoulder to hip.

And Byleth was currently not in a merciful mood. Zero could see it in her eye.

No! He couldn't lose Kronya. She was one of the most valuable pieces on his board. He had no choice. He had to use Geass.

Opening the left eye slot on the Zero Matrix, Zero declared, "Professor stop! Don't kill her!"

Byleth froze in place, caught fast by the Geass.

This power again?! Sothis was caught completely off-guard.

Standing on ceremony atop the sarcophagus, Zero commanded Byleth further. "Allow Zero and his forces to escape. Do not cease your actions until you hear Oldrin Zevon's voice."

"Understood, Master Zero," Byleth said, her voice droning on.

"There's nothing that can be done," Sothis thought, frowning. "We've reached the limit of the Divine Pulse. I sure hope this does not have a problematic result."

Kronya didn't know what was happening, but the next thing she knew, Byleth was rounding on Hilda.

"What the…hey! Professor! What are you doing?"

"I must cover Zero's escape," Byleth said in a dull monotone.

"Wha—What are you saying?" Hilda shouted, using her energy axe to block Byleth's clumsy, tired strikes.

She'd heard what Zero said moments before Byleth began acting strangely.

She put distance between her and Byleth as Zero and Kronya began to leg it.

"All forces retreat!" Zero shouted. "Everyone through the portal!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Ayano shouted.

"You really think I'll let you get away?!" Shirley shouted, noticing Ayano and Akito in retreat, the power of the Blue Marine still activate.

However, Akito briefly activated the Wyvern Revenant and kicked the Blue Marine so hard it caused Shirley to crash on the ground. He then dismissed it so that he and Ayano could escape.

"Anyone who can, I need some help!" Hilda shouted. "Zero put the Professor under some kind of mind control! I can't break her out of it!"

"Teach is under mind control?!" Claude shouted. He rushed over to give Hilda a hand, watching Byleth, shambling around like an overpowered zombie trying to strike Hilda down.

"Looks like the Ashen Demon got caught in quite the trap," Arval pointed out.

"We should help out," Shez said and got right into the thick of it with Byleth. She stood the best chance. Despite Shez herself being at her near limit, she was more than capable of holding her own against Byleth in the young woman's present condition.

She's not committing to her strikes. She's fighting defensively. I think I can knock her out if I'm careful.

"No! This is your chance!" Arval shouted. "Go for the kill! Take your revenge!"

What? No! I'm not going to take my revenge now! Shez shouted, pressing the attack. She's not herself at the moment! It wouldn't be proof of anything!

"Do it!" Arval shouted.

Shez's head started to hurt. She dropped to her knees and started screaming in pain.

"Shez!" Claude ran over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders, only to completely forget the fact that Byleth wasn't quite herself, the woman about to cut both him and Shez down in the same blow.

Fortunately, they were saved just in the nick of time. Oldrin Zevon blocked Byleth's attack with her own energy sword.

"Professor! Stop! Don't make me put you under arrest for treason!" Oldrin shouted.

And like that, the Geass on Byleth was broken. "Oldrin…Zevon," Byleth droned as she came out of it. "Oz."

"Oh thank goodness, you're okay."

Damn, Arval thought, The moment has passed.

Shez caught her breath, palming her right eye. Arval…what…what were you just trying to make me do?

More footsteps came tromping down the stairs. Catherine, Suzaku, Shamir and other members of the knights burst into the Mausoleum, seeing the surrounding damage.

"Wha…what happened her?" Suzaku questioned, flabbergasted.

"It's…kind of a long story. I'm sure the Archbishop would love to hear it. Unfortunately, it'll probably best be told in 26 minute intervals with intermittent commercial breaks," Claude said, being cheeky.

Marrybell, among the cavalry, suddenly shrieked. "Goddess among us! Is that…is that the Sword of the Creator?!"

"The…what?!" Catherine exclaimed, shocked to hear those words.

"Blade shaped like a spine, guard shaped like wings, hole where the crest stone would be," Shamir analyzed. "There's no doubt about it. That's the genuine article."

"Okay! I have no idea what's going on, but you all had better cooperate while we clean this place up. I expect a full report from both classes on the double."

"You uh…you can count on us," Claude said, sweating a little.

---

That night…

In her room, after all the chaos had died down, Shez was beside herself, staring out the window. She spoke aloud. "Arval…what happened back there?"

Arval manifested in the real world, but only as a manifestation of Shez's cognitive thought. He could not be seen by anyone else, but he was still taking up physical space.

"I…don't know," Arval said. He closed his eyes. "That's the honest truth. I…simply felt a power welling up within you that was calling for the Ashen Demon's death."

"Don't do that again," Shez said. "Whether I like it or not, the demon…Byleth is basically a part of my family now. I want to get stronger than her, but killing her when she wasn't in control of herself would have been way too far!"

"I'm sorry," Arval apologized, but his face was stonier than a mountain, "I thought you wanted to put this grudge match of yours behind you."

"I said it before, didn't I?" Shez snapped, glaring. "Death is a part of being a PMC. It's part of the job! I'm pissed that I got my ass kicked, but that doesn't mean that killing the Ashen Demon is consuming my entire being in a bloodthirsty quest for revenge!"

"I…do not understand. You claim you wish for strength, yet when the opportunity is available to prove it…you deny it?" Arval questioned.

"What would that have proven?!" Shez shouted. "I would have killed a woman not in her right mind, not the demon that killed my friends!" She held the side of her hand to her forehead as though ill. "I'd never be able to look Captain Berling in the eye if I did something like that." She gave Arval a serious look. "When I do beat Byleth, it'll be a fair one on one fight. I won't be satisfied with anything short of that understand me?"

"Understood," Arval responded.

"Good, now let me get some rest," Shez responded. "I'm exhausted."

---

24th Day of the Blue Sea Moon

In the wake of the chaos and insanity, classes were cancelled for the day. And the worst part was, Byleth was incarcerated on suspicion of treason, and also for the property damage caused by Byleth's evolved HLKMF. Sure, Shez and Shirley had also used HLKMFs, but Byleth was being held accountable for both of them. Nobody had the full story and only Hilda's testimony could be gone on for claiming Byleth was under mind control. Of course, this was Catherine's arrest on a matter of principle. The damage to the Mausoleum was severe and priceless sarcophagi had been damaged, not to mention all the cracks in the tile flooring.

"Is big sis going to be okay?" Nunnally asked Lelouch as they passed through the courtyard from the dining hall, having just had breakfast.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Lelouch said. "It's just a big misunderstanding."

"I sure hope so," Nunnally said.

Lelouch continued to push her wheelchair before entering the training yard, spotting Shez. He saw the woman swinging around a practice sword, sweating profusely as he approached.

"Oh! Hey, Lelouch!" Shez exclaimed. "What's up?"

"Could you watch Nunnally for a bit?" Zero asked. "I need to go take care of something important."

"Sure thing. I love watching Nunnally. She's in safe hands," Shez promised. Right, Arval?

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're implying. I wouldn't force you to harm anyone you don't want to. I made a bad call with the Ashen Demon. I have already apologized," he told her.

Shez nodded her head to Lelouch who then left. He made his way to a location he rarely visited, the Cathedral. There, he found the cathedral doors closed, but not locked. Quietly, he slipped in and saw members of the Western Church on their knees in chains before an angry Rhea. Sneakily, he put his back to a pillar inside the cathedral hall.

Suzaku stood behind these men, arms folded behind his back at attention. He wasn't the only one present. Cornelia was nearby just out of a ten meter radius and Catherine was guarding the door on the opposite side of the pillar Lelouch was using for cover.

Suzaku took out a holographic half-tablet—the modern day version of the scroll—that listed off the crimes these men were being accused of. They were the survivors of the debacle down in the Mausoleum yesterday.

"Inciting a Kingdom noble to rebel. Unlawful entry. The attempted assassination of the archbishop. An attack on the Holy Mausoleum. These crimes and more are what the Western Church is being accused of."

"Ridiculous!" one of the priests exclaimed. "We were here, in the cathedral the whole time, honest!"

"Spare me!" Cornelia exclaimed. "We have enough eye witness testimony to know who was and wasn't above ground at the time."

"Princess Cornelia is absolutely right," Rhea said with venom in her voice. "Dishonoring a holy ceremony is worthy of death for a member of the church. You are well past the hope of redemption. If you have any grace remaining, you will willingly offer your life as atonement for this crime."

"L-Lady Rhea, is death really a punishment to fit the crime?" Suzaku asked.

"Suzaku, I can understand that you were not raised on our faith, but believe me," she said and glared, "There is no forgiveness for these despicable actions. These people have banished the goddess from their heart and must be punished."

"But…"

"Suzaku, I understand your feelings on the matter, but please leave the matter at rest. Those who turn against the Goddess must, in turn be punished accordingly."

In other words, you cut the cancer before it has a chance to spread, Lelouch thought.

Solemnly, Suzaku bowed, "Forgive me, your grace. I forgot myself."

"Apology accepted, Suzaku. The Goddess will forgive you," Rhea said. She then glared at her prisoners. "But not you. May your souls find peace when they return to her side!"

"Please wait! The goddess would never forgive you for our execution!" a second priest exclaimed.

"Monster!" A third one shouted. "We know you've already slaughtered countless others! Your sins cannot be washed away!"

Rhea tilted her head back and glared down at the members of the Western Church. The sheer hatred in Rhea's eyes was unbecoming of her position. "Remove these poor, lost souls from my sight before I stain this cathedral, and not the execution grounds with their blood."

Suzaku had never seen, and Lelouch had never heard, Rhea sound so angry.

"NO! PLEASE! MERCY!" A priest shouted.

"I don't want to die!"

But, there was nothing for it. With Catherine's help, Suzaku escorted multiple prisoners to execution grounds beneath the monastery. Several of the priests were offering up prayers, a couple others were screaming, and a few others still were sobbing and begging for their lives.

And thus, that is the true face of the church, Lelouch thought. A selfish organization where, once you turn against it, you're considered nothing more than a blight upon this Earth. Disgusting.

He prepared to leave out the side exit where Catherine had previously been guarding, careful to sneak around Rhea and Seteth. However, just as he was about to leave out the door, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Lelouch thought he was going to have a heart attack as he whipped around, coming face to face with Shamir.

"This was a church only matter. Nobody was supposed to be in here," she remarked.

"The door was unlocked," Lelouch stated as an excuse.

"Hmm, so it was," Shamir responded dismissively.

The two stared at each other for a bit.

"That's it?" Lelouch asked.

"I'm not being paid enough to take people in for trespassing," Shamir remarked. "Besides, like you said, the door was unlocked. Just remember, I know what you saw and if you do anything unsavory with that information…"

"I'm not trying to undermine the church," Lelouch lied to Shamir's face.

"I'm impressed, that was most difficult lie I've ever seen through," Shamir remarked calmly.

"Believe what you will," Lelouch told her curling his lip.

"You can't hide your inner disgust. I don't even put a price on life itself besides what's going in my bank account, so it's of no concern with me. However, some free advice: if you go against the church, you'll end up just like those men," Shamir told him.

"Why are you warning me?" Lelouch asked.

"I dunno, boredom, I guess? Some…divine compulsion," she remarked, joking. Clearly, her reasons were her own.

"I'm leaving now."

"Best you do," Shamir told him and watched him walk away. She sighed. He's too young to be so ambitious. He'll end up going before his time. Her mind flashed to her old partner from back in her home country, an independent nation called Dagda up in the north, across the pond from Faerghus and Northeastern Northern Britannia. Well…before Adrestia invaded and took it over. She sighed. I'd best keep an eye on him, so he doesn't get in trouble.

---

That evening…

Byleth stood in a cell, being given much better care than Clovis had been getting. She was merely behind bars and not in chains for one. Despite this, her mental companion was not happy in the slightest.

"Well, this is a fine mess we've landed ourselves in, ISN'T IT?!" Sothis shouted, full of fussy mom energy.

Byleth just shook her head in dismay.

"What the hell kind of lame excuse is 'I don't remember'. Your entire class saw what you did? How could you not remember any of it?!"

I just don't, Byleth replied.

Sothis grumbled. "Honestly, it's just like what happened with your brother that one time a few nights ago. Do you recall?"

Byleth thought about it. …I do.

"It was like you were caught in a trance, almost as if you had no will of your own. That same power affected you again here, but…it did not affect me. I wonder why," Sothis's wonderment was genuine. She hadn't the faintest idea.

Byleth, however, had an idea. He couldn't see you.

"See. See? Ah! Yes! You may have a point," the small girl declared with a nod. "Both times you were forced to make direct eye contact with your assailant. But how strange, to think this mysterious power would belong to both your brother and the mysterious Zero. Unless…"

They're one in the same? Byleth questioned.

"That may very well be," Sothis commented. "Yet, he was with us when we went down there, so I am not sure how that works."

He was standing right in front of us, Byleth pointed out.

"Ah! I believe I get what you are suggesting. Zero is wearing an HLKMF to cover himself much like that Death Knight character. Yes. It all makes sense now. But…I doubt you could force the truth out of him. You would have to catch him in the act," Sothis remarked, pondering how to do so as she spoke the words.

Byleth began to think about it herself, but wasn't coming up with any foolproof plans. She was in the middle of thinking when Suzaku approached her cell.

"I'm really sorry about this, Professor," he said. "We didn't want to arrest you, but Catherine just didn't want to take chances."

"I understand completely," Byleth said calmly.

"Well, Lady Rhea's asking for you. Will you come with me?"

Byleth nodded without a word.

Suzaku opened her cell. He felt he could trust her enough not to handcuff her. He believed her story at face value that she was under mind control. The two walked into Rhea's audience hall, the doors closing behind them. Seteth and Rhea's presence were expected, but much to Byleth's surprise Jeralt and even Prince Schneizel were also in attendance.

Rhea bowed her head in apology. "Professor, I want to apologize for being forced to hold you in incarceration. Forgive me, it was just to protect the students given what transpired."

"I understand," Byleth said.

"What exactly happened down there anyway? Mind control?! That's what I've been hearing anyway," Jeralt said.

Byleth did her best to give a quick summation of events from fighting Zero to the Sword of the Creator being inside Saint Seiros's sarcophagus to suddenly being under mind control when she went to strike down one of his men.

"I don't even remember getting put under mind control," she said.

Seteth sighed. "This again."

"Seteth, I believe the professor," Rhea remarked. "I'd like to take her at her word. I believe her account can be trusted. Miss Goneril was watching the entire time."

"I am far more concerned about something else," Schneizel said. "Hence my proposal, Lady Rhea, if you might speed things along."

Rhea nodded. "Professor, the Sword of the Creator being where Saint Seiros is supposed to be buried is a closely guarded secret within the church, but by now word has probably spread that you came by it. I have given due consideration as to what to do with it, but…I have decided to entrust the sword to you."

Byleth bowed in gratitude, "Thank you."

"With that said," Schneizel said, butting in again, "Her grace is concerned about how much damage was done to the Mausoleum and the impact your actions may have within the community here at Garreg Mach. For that, I have a proposal." Schneizel smiled to Byleth. "If you would accept my offer, I would like you to become my knight, Miss Eisner."

Byleth looked shocked. She turned her head from Schneizel to Rhea. The shock did not vanish from her face.

"Jeralt has expressed his concern to me that you might not be happy here at Garreg Mach. I will not force you to quit, Professor. You are always welcome here at the Monastery, but…I would have not considered Prince Schneizel's proposal if I did not believe it wouldn't make you happy," Rhea told her.

"The final decision is ultimately yours, kid. But…offers like this don't come around like clockwork. And I don't know if Prince Schneizel will keep the offer on the table for long. But…hey, this could be good for you. I mean, a Knight to a Prince? Do enough good work and you could be a Knight of the Round."

"Your father isn't wrong, Byleth. Come with me and you would never want for anything," he said to her with a smile.

Byleth thought about it. There were really only two decisions. However, she didn't even have to think about it. She'd known how she felt about her teaching job the moment she took charge of the chaos in the Mausoleum.

With a brief, but deep breath, Byleth said, "I want to stay at the Monastery. I want to keep being a teacher."

It wasn't what Byleth said, it was how she said it that stunned not only Rhea, but Jeralt as well. There was such…life in her voice. Normally the young woman approached everything with cold stoicism, but she almost sounded…normal just now.

Rhea smiled ear to ear. "I am so very happy to hear that."

Schneizel took his defeat gracefully. "Lady Rhea is lucky to have you on her payroll. I'll excuse myself out." He quickly left the audience hall.

"You sure about this, kid? Being a knight to royalty pays a lot more," Jeralt said to her, concerned.

"I found something here more valuable than money," Byleth said with a smile.

Rhea couldn't wipe this giddy smile off her face. "I am grateful to have you here with us, Professor."

"Yes, honored. Professor, if I may, please, in the future, do be a little more courteous when fighting on sacred grounds. While the floors and walls can be fixed, some of those sarcophagi were very old. Fixing them will be costly if they can be fixed at all."

"I don't make promises I can't keep," Byleth said stoically.

Jeralt laughed, throwing his head back. "Oh! Oh, that's my kid for you. Wit like a razor sharp energy sword.

Byleth gazed her eyes towards Jeralt without turning her head to catch him in her vision, smirking.

Seteth sighed, groaning.

"It is all right, Seteth," Rhea said. "I have faith in the Professor's skills."

"That makes one of us," Seteth groaned.

"You are hereby cleared of all charges, Professor. Have a wonderful day," Rhea told her.

Byleth nodded and left. Suzaku followed her out.

He pat her shoulder while walking behind her. "I had a feeling you'd get cleared of all suspicion."

Byleth nodded.

"Hey, since you're sticking around, I'd like to make a proposal to you," Suzaku said, nervously.

"What sort of proposal?" Byleth questioned.

"I know I'm already a full-fledged knight, but would you mind terribly if I worked with you a little?" he asked. "I feel like I could learn a lot from you, both combat and leadership. If I want to keep growing as a knight, those are two skills I could always brush up on." He extended a hand to her. "What do you say? If you need a teaching aide, I'm down to help with that as well to lighten your load, you know, kind of a you scratch my back, I scratch yours kind of thing."

Byleth smiled amicably and shook Suzaku's hand.

Suzaku smiled. "It's a pleasure to be working with you, Professor."

---

That night…

Edelgard was meeting with her uncle in a hotel in Rome. "Quite the conundrum yesterday."

"Quite. Kronya said she was finalizing her field report. She'll be here soon," Arundel said.

And, as if on cue, Kronya teleported in. "Thales, I have a report."

"But of course," Thales, in his disguise as Arundel, stated, "Tell me everything."

"Saint Seiros's remains were not in her tomb, but something else was, the Sword of the Creator," Kronya informed him.

"I heard about that. Professor Eisner was arrested shortly after the incident and just recently she was seen wandering around campus with it. "I guess the archbishop has decided to leave it in her hands."

"There's more and Zero and I know what we saw. That woman…she was able to awaken the sword's true power. Even without a crest stone the sword glowed red. Her crest is compatible, there's no mistaking it!" Kronya exclaimed in an insistent tone.

"You're certain?" Edelgard asked.

"Zero had his hands on it first, but it didn't glow, but the moment that woman with the gray coat started swinging it around, it never stopped glowing," she stated.

"That's preposterous. It should be impossible for…" Thales said, starting to get irritated, only to calm down. "Is that everything, Kronya?"

"Unless you want me to make excuses for the fact that the Death Knight and I were both defeated, that will be everything," she said.

"Even the Death Knight?" Edelgard asked, putting the back of her hand to her forehead as though ill. "You I can understand given the Professor's presence, but the Death Knight?"

"It wasn't easy, but that other girl, with the purple hair, she helped wear him down. I think we need to investigate her. She's weird," Kronya said.

"Weird? Weird how?" Thales asked.

"Her HLKMF, its helmet is just like mine. It's the same type of model, no mistaking it," Kronya stated.

"One of my models?" Thales questioned. "That does warrant investigation. I'll speak with Myson on the matter. Oh, and Edelgard."

"Yes, uncle?" Edelgard questioned.

"Clara and Rolo have given me their decisions. They would like to stay with you in the Black Eagle house."

Of course they would. "I am happy to carry them under my wing," Edelgard stated plainly. I am anything but. However, I can't exactly refuse.

"Excellent," Thales said. "Kronya, you are to continue to monitor Zero and the Ashen Wolves."

Kronya recalled how Zero came to her rescue. She blushed a little and cleared her throat, clearing the embarrassment from her face that she would insist was never there. "Yes, sir."

"Speaking of, how do you find him, Zero I mean?" Edelgard asked. "I would like a chance to meet him myself, one day."

"Ah, you likely will," Thales said. "After all, I plan to unify your factions at some point."

"I see," Edelgard said and then looked to Kronya for her answer.

"Well, he's extremely smart for one. He barks a lot of orders out too. He acts like he has a whole lot of swagger and charisma, but it's just because he has such pathos and confidence that your choices are either follow his orders, or risk getting torn apart by the enemy. Still, his results speak for themselves."

"Results? Both times he's been on the battlefield, he's been thwarted," Edelgard commented.

"Battle is a bit more nuanced than victory and defeat," Thales pointed out.

"Thales is right," Kronya said. "If not for Zero directing us, I doubt we would have had the Sword of the Creator in our hands, even for a short time."

"I see," Edelgard commented honestly. She looked at the Agarthan in her uncle's body. "For now, I propose letting the professor keep the sword. I have a plan. As for the Death Knight, continue to use him as you see fit."

"Ah, such generosity, your highness, thank you," Thales replied with a smile.

"Will that be all?" Edelgard asked.

"Indeed," Thales told her. "You are both dismissed."

With that, Edelgard left the room normally and Kronya teleported out. Edelgard eventually stepped out into the moonlight, quickly accompanied by Hubert.

"And?" the tall, dark haired man asked.

"Everything according to plan, so far. How go negotiations with the liberation front?" she asked.

"You're in luck. Kyoshiro Tohdoh has agreed to a meeting starting next moon. A date is currently being finalized," Hubert told her.

"Excellent," Edelgard said with a calm poker face. "See to it."

"At once, Lady Edelgard," Hubert said with his usual smile.

---

While Edelgard and Hubert continued to scheme, Kronya returned to Abyss. As soon as she teleported in, she found Zero was waiting for her. "How did it go with your Master?"

"That's none of your business!" Kronya snapped.

"It is when I helped you craft your report," Zero told her.

Kronya growled. "It went fine. We're still in business. That's all you need to be concerned about."

"I'll be the judge of that, but I can tell based on your tone that I'm not being executed any time soon," Zero commented.

Kronya continued to glare at him.

"What? What is it?"

"During the battle…at the last moment…you weren't the target of the Ashen Demon's blow. I was. When I jumped in, it was to get back at her for wrecking the Gleaming Blade. I didn't give a squirrel's ass hair about you," Kronya told him. "You understood that, right? I'm not one of your students. We're just working together."

"I understood that just fine."

"So why did you save me? You could have cut your losses and run. You should have cut your losses and run. But you…you used some weird mind control power…to save me. I…I decided not to tell Thales about it. Because…because I want to know why. Why did you save me?" Kronya asked. "I'm not used to being saved by others. When you're an Agarthan, you either complete your objective, or you're dead. Nobody will spare you a second thought if you make a mistake or get stabbed. Sure, we have healers, but even they wouldn't have saved me for doing what I did. It's every Agarthan for themselves. I nearly got myself killed. So…why did you do it?"

"Because you're my student," Zero answered her bluntly.

"That's a load of—"

"Kronya, you can call it a business transaction and lie to yourself all you want, but at the end of the day, I take care of the men and women under my command," Zero told her. "The Ashen Wolves are my elite squadron. I won't let a single one of them die. That includes you."

Kronya didn't know how to feel about that. "I'm…not used to being treated like this," she said, lip curled.

"You'll get used to it," Zero told her. "Now then, I need to be returning to the surface. I'll see you later." Zero then left Abyss.

---

25th Day of Blue Sea Moon

The Violet Tigers were relieved to see Byleth the next morning, all manner of rumor had spread the night before and she was mobbed by hugs from Shirley, Oldrin, Sokkia and others. Lelouch was surprised to see such a warm smile on Byleth's face as she embraced the group hug from her students.

"Something's different about the professor today, it feels like," Marika said.

"Well yeah, she has a brand new sword," Tink pointed out.

"No I mean something different about her character," Marika stated.

"She's found her passion," Marrybell said. "She knows what it is she wants to fight for." She watched Byleth stroll to the front of the room.

"Yesterday we finished our lecture on when tank warfare started to take over as the predominant land vehicle. 7 years ago Knightmare Frames were introduced…" Byleth began to lecture.

"I'm happy for her. I hope she continues to grow," Marrybell said with a smile of her own. "The strongest woman in the world, should fight for what's right."

---

That Afternoon…

"You want me to what?" Cornelia asked as she, Schneizel and Euphemia sat in Rhea's office.

"I would like you to reinforce security with the Glaston Knights around Rome," Rhea said. "I am…concerned about fallout that may come from executing members of the Western Church. I would like Britannia's stationed army to keep the peace."

"Is that not what your knights in training are for?" Cornelia asked.

"My students have enough on their plates as it is," Rhea told her. "I needn't trouble them with a task such as this."

"Why not?" Schneizel said with a shrug. "The Britannian army can carry on without you for a bit longer, sister. It carried on without you for a year, after all."

"I wasn't a three-star general back then, Schniezel," Cornelia told him.

"It's only temporary. Besides, Euphemia gets to see Rome for a bit longer," he said to his sister.

Cornelia sighed. "Very well. I'll keep security up with the Glaston Knights."

"My sincerest gratitude, Princess Cornelia," Rhea said to her with a smile.

Cornelia sighed once more. "I sure hope that things will calm down around here soon."

Schneizel chuckled. "With Garreg Mach, you can never quite tell."

---

That Evening…

"Your mind is made up, your certain?"

Byleth and Lelouch were talking in the former's dorm room.

"Positive. If what I've heard is true, Euphemia could be transferring in to the Violet Tigers at any moment. I can't be caught," Lelouch told Byleth.

"And Nunnally?" Byleth asked.

"I've entrusted her to the Golden Deer. I asked her to speak with Professor Manuela of her own accord," Lelouch told her. "She gets along great with Raphael and Hilda will be good to her. However, Hubert is far too cunning and cutthroat. I want to keep him at a close distance for my own sake, but for Nunnally, this would be a detriment. She could be used against me. I can't have that," Lelouch told Byleth.

Byleth frowned. "I'll miss seeing you in class."

"We're still family," Lelouch told her.

"The more I get to know you, the less I feel like I do," Byleth stated, still frowning.

"I really did want to stay in your class," Lelouch told her. "It's been fun. …Professor."

Byleth looked shocked, only to smile. She hugged Lelouch. "Take care of yourself, all right?"

"Hey, I'll still see you occasionally, just not in class," Lelouch told her.

Byleth nodded. "If you want to transfer back. You know I'll take you back in a heartbeat."

Lelouch nodded. "I know."

---

Morning of the 26th Day of the Blue Sea Moon

In both the Violet Tiger and the Black Eagle classroom, a similar scenario was unfolding in each.

"Starting today," Jeritza said calmly. "A student will be transferring in."
"We have a new student starting with us today," Byleth told her class.

In the Black Eagle classroom, Lelouch strolled forward.
In the Violet Tiger classroom, Euphemia strode to the front of the room.

"Greetings to you all," Lelouch said with a fake, but amicable smirk. "I am Lelouch Eisner." He bowed to his new class.
"My name is Euphemia li Britannia. But you can all just call me Euphie," Euphie said with a genuine and warm smile.

"It's nice to meet you all. Starting today, I'll be taking classes with you."

---

(A/N: Yeesh! Long one! But hey, at least we're done with the Rite of Rebirth story beat. Next up…(checks notes) Miklan's Rebellion! Oh goodie! More Blue Lions stuff. Nah, I'm just kidding. We got a butt load more to do than just the Lance of Ruin biz all over again. What is that stuff? Well, you'll just have to wait and see and, until then, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)