(A/N: Winter has ended. Spring is here—though it's still cold—let's jam!)
With the power of the Absolute Zero, Lelouch began manifesting cartridge pistols and taking aim at Kaguya Sumeragi, dancing around her acrobatically to the best of his ability. HLKMFs could really turn a stick like him into someone a dexterous equal to Suzaku at moments, it seemed. Kaguya, for her part, had already activated the Raiden Miko and was blasting beam of lightning after beam of lightning at Zero. They were moving in a disjointed circle around the turret guns, careful to avoid damaging them.
Around the platform, Hapi was engaged in a competitive exchange with the Kuro Kitsune. The quadrupedal aptly named black fox was keeping her Demonic Hellcat on its toes. Boosting speed, Sugiyama darted ahead of Hapi, pivoted on a dime and turned to claw her frame in the face. Hapi stopped short and fired at her incoming foe with her howitzer. She barely had enough time for that. Sugiyama had to abort his offense and drop low to avoid taking that nasty cannon blast to the face. Hapi circled around him.
"Banshee Theta!" Even inside her HLKMF, Hapi was ever the expedient dark magic caster. The attack tore into the stopped short frame and left it pinned where it stood, causing alerts and warning sirens from inside the virtual cockpit to its wielder.
"Damn her!" Sugiyama grumbled.
He then started taking additional fire from the Howling Timberwolf as it weaved across the battlefield. His battery was not liking this, not one bit. But, he hardly had to panic. He'd drawn fire from two of the Ashen Wolves. Surely that meant good news for the Green Pheasants, right?
He wished.
With Ohgi preoccupied, Inoue watching the south flank, Tamaki out, and Ashe and Felix pinned, Kaguya quickly realized that Zero had brought his entire unit to secure the center area. She had an auxiliary force that would get torn apart at this rate. And, if she didn't do something quick, she herself would be surrounded and, subsequently, eliminated.
"Uh, Zero, we've got a problem!" Yuri called out to him.
Zero looked over the horizon. Members of the Violet Tigers were pushing eastward. No one dangerous, but the sheer quantity of them was alarming. And he still had to evict Kaguya from the area.
"Q1! B1!" Zero declared. "Guard our western flank! Let none approach!"
"If I must," Constance responded flatly.
"Understood," C.C. responded.
Boltings and Agnea's Arrows began raining down from the sky like a natural disaster of divine intervention, giving the units pause and hesitation to push forward. However, anti-magic HLKMFs then broke through to the front.
"Those don't look friendly," Balthus remarked.
"P1! K1! You're on!" Zero shouted.
Ayano and Akito sprang to action, getting into the fray as C.C. and Constance offered suppressive fire. But at what cost? With so many of his units diverted to avoid a direct confrontation with the Violet Tigers, Zero would lose his post at the center. Sure, Britannia was essentially feeding him easy kills at this point, but if he was eliminated—and that had to be the idea—he wouldn't win even with these early kills.
"It was a valiant effort, Zero, but this is a battle royale!" Kaguya told him. The Raiden Miko spun a shakujo around and charged it up with electrical energy. "Compared to every other faction here, at most you have a raiding party!"
Kaguya thrust the spear forward at a somewhat off-guard Zero, intending to strike him down right then and there through the chest. However, her intended finishing blow was stopped short…by Kallen.
Kallen's Gekka 900 had changed since her time at Garreg Mach. It was hard to train both it and her Guren Mk. II, but she had done a terrific job keeping both distinct yet powerful. Compared to the Guren Mk. II, which used a sleek build to maximize attack, Kallen's student distributed model was far bulkier, putting more emphasis on being a fully decked out monster. It sacrificed stamina for better weaponry, but the tradeoff was well worth it. The model was red, just like her Guren Mk. II, and just like Oldrin's Lancelot Shogun. However, the offset was black, not orange like the Guren. Rocket propelling thrusters adorned the back in the shape of two wing-like structures and along the boots. A kite shield was in Kallen's right hand, whilst the black had an all-black claw, smaller but far more versatile than the radiant wave surger on the Guren. Lastly, rather than the silver face and blue eyes of the Guren, this model had a visor and an all red head, almost making it look like her frame was wearing sunglasses. Well…if not for the fearsome gold eyes that lay beneath. To complete the look, two massive shoulder mounted missile launchers adorned the build. This was Kallen's way of keeping pace with her new Ashen Wolf comrades when she had to hide her true allegiance to the JLF. Codename: Lagan Impactor.
"Kallen," Kaguya responded calmly.
"Empress."
"I'm surprised you can stand there proudly. You joined this school on my side."
"I know I did, but…we can't do this alone. If anything, were it possible, I would wish to merge the Green Pheasants with the Ashen Wolves, but…I know that's wishful thinking," Kallen stated.
"Something to talk about at a later date I suppose. What's done is done though. I respect you as a person, Kallen, but right now Zero is my enemy. If you're going to defend him, I won't hesitate to cut you down."
Kallen nodded. "Consider me a traitor if you must, but I have chosen my path and I stand by it!"
"Then show me your resolve! Show me where this new path has led you!" Kaguya shouted and began to concentrate energy, creating multiple lightning orbs from sheer focus alone. She was going to fire them all at Kallen. However, before she could, Kallen's left arm turned into a massive arm cannon and blasted the Raiden Miko multiple times in the joints and chest, greatly damaging it before Kaguya could fight back. The gun barrel smoked.
"This territory belongs to the Ashen Wolves!" Kallen shouted. "If you won't join us, the Green Pheasants staying alive works to our benefit. Perhaps a temporary ceasefire rather than cooperation is in your best interest, Empress."
Kaguya sighed. This had gone completely belly up for her. Kallen was really proving why she had originally been her house's so-called "monster." Each house had one this year. The Black Eagles had the Ashen Demon, that was a no-brainer. And, if one didn't put Dimitri under the same banner given he was house leader, Ingrid was a fantastic understudy. The Golden Deer had Hilda. The Violet Tigers had their pick of the litter, but Shez Lamperouge stood out among the dark horses of the group. The Ashen Wolves were a special case. The Green Pheasants had…no one. It sucked, but Kallen had been their best bet on victory this year and she'd switched sides. That pain stung the most as Kaguya stared down the gun barrel that represented the fruits of Kallen's training.
With a heavy heart, Kaguya gave the order, "All forces, break away! Let's leave Zero for now. Focus on the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer!"
"A wise decision," Zero remarked, Lelouch smiling behind the face mask. He then radioed his own units. "All forces scatter around the perimeter and secure the area. Do not let our enemies surround us. Pick off who you can, but, for now, leave the Green Pheasants alone."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Ryo asked. "We have one pinned down here right now, we can—"
"Anyone not directly after us is someone we don't have to worry about gunning one of us down right this second. The loss of a single unit or the breach of a single alliance, however temporary, can spell the end for us. Our only option of victory is to survive as long as possible."
"Zero's never steered us wrong before. I say we follow through," Hapi said and looked at Ryo and then to Sugiyama. "Today's your lucky day, guy. Guess you're not getting carted off the battlefield just yet."
Sugiyama did not look a gift horse in the mouth and fled, but the taste of defeat was bitter on his lips. Still, better to "die" when it mattered more than to be laughed at the after party having accomplished nothing, sandwiched between Zero's underlings.
With the turrets secured, Zero gave a single, solitary order. "Open fire."
The turrets were manned and used to unleash hell on the surrounding area. Each gun was mounted with a tank barrel-like cannon that could be adjusted to shoot straight ahead or send volleys into the air like the arrows of old. Craters started to get formed and plenty of enemies were downed in the first few seconds. Inoue, almost caught in the crossfire, pulled back away from the center. She made to retaliate, but was quickly informed of the temporary ceasefire. Most of Zero's targets were the Golden Deer to his direct south and the Eagles to his west and southwest. So far, the Violet Tigers and Blue Lions had yet to make a direct approach.
This brought no end of frustration to Claude. He growled, "Ugh, Zero got the turret guns. Crafty bastard. All units, stay away from the center and focus your attention on our north and west flanks. Let's leave Zero alone for now!"
This strategy benefited Claude as much as it did Zero. With enemies looking to stay away from his main force to avoid a hail of cartridge gunfire, Zero would pick up fewer kills, but he would guarantee his forces being able to survive longer. Short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. For a force as small as Zero's, Claude knew it was the best thing the guy could do.
"If we push through the north flank, circle around to Britannia from behind!" Claude ordered to all units. "Do not leave the west flank unguarded. Repeat, do not give up ground on the west!" Claude was not about to let Adrestia mow through his forces licking their wounds as they pulled back, not when his best weapon was right here to mop the floor with them.
Locked in combat with Caspar, Hilda's energy axe was smashing against his as the two started to tear up the ground across the battlefield, even dodging through Zero's salvos of turret fire. They didn't leave the southern side of the map and they were streaking around Claude and Hubert as if they were trying to conjure up a dust storm.
"Gotta say, you're pretty good to keep up with me," Hilda, her hard light frame's legs trampling the ground beneath them.
"You're not so bad yourself," Caspar remarked, chuckling. Then, screaming, he pivoted his position and went for a frontal strike. Then, much to his amazement, Hilda dismissed her axe and then socked him so hard in the stomach she smashed the torso of the Inferno of Justice. Caspar didn't just feel it with his protective mock battle suit, but he was going to feel that one in the morning. Saliva spewed from his mouth as he went flying back, hitting the ground. A sharp decrease to his in-combat vitals and especially his HLKMF's battery.
"Oooops, was that a bit too much?" Hilda asked. "Need me to take it easier on you?"
Caspar got up, having trouble catching his breath.
"How did you…?"
"Whaaaaaat?" Hilda sounded somewhere between sarcastic and genuinely surprised. "Don't tell me you were going all out. It's so early in the battle."
"Wait, you mean…?" Caspar coughed.
"Bingo," Hilda said with a smile. "I've been holding back. A lot, actually. Not cause I'm lazy, not this time, but cause this is gonna be a loooooong fight. Don't wanna burn out too quickly. Not like you seem to be."
Caspar chuckled while coughing. "Dang. You're something else. But…" He got up and doubled the girth of his gauntlets, covering them in unfriendly looking spikes. "I'm not going down without a fight! RRRAAAAAAGH!"
Mid-charge, Caspar completely lost sight of Hilda. When he blinked, she was behind him.
"Sorry," she said. "But I don't have time to play with you anymore. Tough luck, Caspar. Better luck next time."
KA-BOOM!
Caspar's HLKMF exploded and left him prone for staff pickup, just another fake corpse to be carted off the battlefield.
"Thanks, Hilda," Claude radioed. "Knew I could count on you."
"Heyyyy, come on. I know better than to take it easy this whole battle. Things are getting messy, so I've gotta step it up," she remarked. Her genuine glee to hear praise tossed her way went unspoken, but could be heard.
Claude smiled. Hilda really was becoming more and more reliable. "Fall back to my location. You and I are going to give up a bit of ground. I want to pull Hubert and Monica a bit closer to our rear guard and take them by surprise."
"Roger," Hilda remarked and doubled back.
"We're down Caspar," Monica reported to Hubert, standing within speaking distance.
"Yes, which means Hilda really has, as we believed, changed from lazy to problematic. Let's carefully observe for now," Hubert remarked.
It didn't take long for him and Monica to notice Claude, Hilda and some of their heavier hitters falling back.
"They're…falling back?" Monica questioned.
"It's clearly a trap. Claude means to drag us closer to his rear guard now that our best forward fighter is down. Unless we finish Britannia quickly, and that chance is so improbable it's Zero, we will have to make do with what we have," Hubert remarked.
Monica fell back on her experience on this very battlefield for an idea. "There's lots of cover in that direction too. Oh! I have an idea! Let's make them come back to us."
"I'm listening."
The next thing Claude knew, as he finished picking off some terribly ill-minded Adrestians that were charging in a pointless one-man—or woman—assault for glory, he gazed up to see meteors raining down from the sky. Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. "Evasive action!" he shouted aloud and over comms.
Back near the Black Eagles frontline, Hubert laughed as Monica floated herself several feet into the air using magic propulsion. Using the skills of a sorceress only manageable by someone of her caliber, Monica was using the best spell in the fire mage's book, Meteor, to rain holy hellfire upon the Golden Deer.
"AHAHAHAHA! That's it! Run! Run and scatter! You are no match for Adrestia's magic might! All thunder mages! Take point! Fire at will!"
Blasts of Thoron and Thunder traveled down the battlefield, creating a massive incoming onslaught of pain for the Golden Deer.
Dammit, they turned my ambush into a slaughter fest, Claude thought, finding himself hiding behind his defensive line's shields.
"Claude, what do we do?" Hilda asked, doing the same.
"Look, they can't keep this up forever, but we're gonna take heavy casualties if we don't fight back. Unfortunately, sending you out there alone is suicide." Claude sweat, rubbing his chin to help him fish for an idea, grumbling, "Nnnngh, if they don't cut this out in a few minutes, we'll have to launch a one-way suicide rush. Whatever hard hitters make it will have to break their mage rank."
"And if they do drop the attack?" Hilda asked.
"Then we send you back in there with suppressive fire and give them a taste of their own blitz tactics," Claude told her.
"Got it," Hilda said and clutched her trusty axe. "Sounds like a plan."
With the Golden Deer pinned down, Adrestia felt more confident on their northern front. Or they would have if the Ashen Demon wasn't sandwiched between two of Britannia's best combatants: Oldrin Zevon and Shez Lamperouge.
Oldrin and Shez danced around Byleth, only going in when they thought they could land a strike without retaliation, even if it was just a graze. While Shez was determined to bring Byleth down, Oldrin was of a different mindset. Even if she and Shez failed, Byleth should be so exhausted that the rest of the Violet Tigers should be able to take her out.
That moment in the battle was a long way off, of course.
In the meantime, the Aegir Wall was locked in combat with the Saintly Witch. Although Ferdinand had previously damaged one of the Saintly Witch's arms, Marrybell had repaired it quickly and was now dancing around the slow, sluggish Iron Wall, looking to penetrate it with its armaments.
"You can fire at me all you want," Ferdinand declared. "You will find my Blaze Luminous impenetrable. Meanwhile, I…" he said as his Crest of Cichol began to glow. "Shall not falter!" Ferdinand struck the ground with his lance, creating a rippling shockwave with the weapon that slammed into the Saintly Witch, destabilizing a lot of its weaponry.
Marrybell growled in frustration.
"You built your frame with too much weaponry," Ferdinand told her. "It's prone to being overwhelmed if its hampered in any capacity. Your objective seems to be to obliterate any enemies you come across before they can blink, which makes my Aegir Wall perfectly suited to counter it."
Ferdinand charged forward with the Aegir Wall's lance, only for something unexpected to happen. The arm of the Saintly Witch caught the arm of the Aegir Wall, and all of Marrybell's weaponry seemed to vanish into thin air.
"You're right about that, the weaponry is a little too loaded out. Good thing that the Saintly Witch's best quality isn't its power." She made a drill on the fist of the Saintly Witch and used that to bash Ferdinand in the face, piercing through the Blaze Luminous surrounding the cranium. "It's its versatility."
Ferdinand was very surprised when Marrybell dropped a lot of pretense and the otherwise bulky Saintly Witch became covered not in weaponry, but in boosters for speed. Moreover, the fists now sprouted drills for hands.
"The best way to win without taking damage, is to overpower your enemy. However…" Marrybell was on Ferdinand before he'd realized it and he was suddenly taking serious body blows, further compromised by the spinning, piercing power of Marrybell's drill fists. "Concentrating all that power into two small weapons at blinding speeds…" She launched one drill that tunneled into Ferdinand's frame, exploded and launched the man back. "…Can have remarkable results as well."
Ferdinand was jostled, but the damage to the Aegir Wall repaired quickly. "You're incredible. I can't believe you had this power all along. Our scouting team didn't even discover it."
"Please, I may not go out onto the field of battle, but I'm still the leader of the Glinda Knights," Marrybell stated and swung her arms down at her sides. "I hope you're prepared to leave the battlefield, because you're going to do so in disgrace."
As Ferdinand prepared to deal with a now more motivated than ever Marrybell, Sokkia was having her own troubles. Her famed Scarecrow King was good at precisely one thing: hit and run tactics. This left her zigzagging all over the battlefield as she was trying to avoid being tagged by a just as swift, if not swifter frame: Petra Macneary and her Hard Light Huntress.
Petra didn't have any armaments in the way of long range, preferring to strike up close and personal with her short-range blades. Ordinarily, this would give Sokkia a decisive advantage…if not for the fact that by the time she took aim at Petra, Petra wasn't there anymore. Even using the tried and tested "Leading the target" method of gunfire—firing where you thought the opponent was going to be instead of where they were—wasn't helping. Petra was just that fast.
"Dammit, hold still!" Sokkia exclaimed. "…Please?"
"You will not make me yield, Knight of Guhlinda. For I am Petra Macneary and you, you are my prey!"
"Eeeeeek!" Sokkia shouted and ramped up her firing rate, anything to get this crazy lady away from her. She didn't have the aptitude nor the time to correct Petra's pronunciation of the Glinda Knights. The silliness could wait. She needed to focus.
While this was going on, Dorothea and Bernadetta were pushing eastward together. And, eventually, made it beyond the Violet Tigers' forward line.
"Wh-where are the enemies?" Bernadetta whined.
Dorothea checked her interface's map. "They're…all behind us. Bern! We could circle behind and lay an ambush!" She radioed Edelgard. "Edie! Bern and I are at the edge of the enemy's force. We have enough space to circle around and ambush from behind. Orders?"
"Belay that ambush. Cornelia isn't a fool and neither is Princess Marrybell. I don't see all of the Knights of the Round at their forward rank. You two aren't a match for even one on your own. If you get counter ambushed, you're as good as dead. I can't have that."
Dorothea nodded. "What do you propose we do then?"
"Zero's taken the center hill. I'm getting reports from Hubert and Monica. Concentrated fire is light on this battlefront. Sneak up on him if you can and take those turrets. If nothing else, if you can cause a problem for him, that's worth more right now than worrying about the Violet Tigers. As long as we have the Professor, Britannia is of no long-term threat to us."
"Got it, Bern and I will move east," Dorothea stated and double tapped her temple to end the call.
"We have to face Zero?" Bernadetta whined.
"It'll be fine," Dorothea stated. "Just cover me, okay Bern?"
"I'd rather get it over with quickly and attack Cornelia's knights! At least it'll be painless!" Bernadetta exclaimed. "Zero will torture us!"
"He won't torture us," Dorothea said, reassuringly. "Now come on. If we follow Edie's orders, we have a better chance of sticking around on the battlefield for longer."
"Yeah, but…"
"Bern, if this was a real fight and you disobeyed orders, you'd die for real. Would you want that?"
"Hey! I don't even want to be at this stupid school! I don't even want to be here, but it's this or deal with my dad, you know?"
Dorothea sighed. Getting Bernadetta to do anything was going to be the hardest part it seemed. "Oh that's a shame. I hear there's going to be lots of cake at the party if we wiiiiiin," Dorothea remarked.
"Cake?! Oh come on! You can't hold cake over my head and expect it to work," Bernadetta complained. Her stomach and sweet tooth disagreed. "Ohhhhh, fine! I'll…I'll do it for cake! But I want to be clear this is being done under protest and I hate every second of it!"
Dorothea laughed quietly to herself and the two made their way further eastward, encroaching on the Ashen Wolves' territory. Of course, there was a reason Zero wasn't firing the cannons to the west. He had proper security detail over there.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Yuri remarked.
Bernadetta shrieked and hid behind Dorothea.
"Such a fragile creature," Constance remarked with a pitied tone in her voice. "Ah, when I lose to such a failure of a warrior, I will be in such death-inducing despair."
"Yurikins, Constance," Dorothea remarked, addressing them both. "I don't suppose you'd buy that we're just…passing through?"
"Do I look like I was born yesterday?" Yuri asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Ah well, had to try. Remember, Bern. You promised. No turning away now."
Bernadetta groaned, but that was better than screaming and running away Dorothea figured. Both the Scarlet Songstress and the Grizzly Fortress activated.
"Well then, shady lady, shall we?" Yuri asked and activated the Silver Trickster.
Constance activated the Magnificent Peacock and instantly changed tunes now that sun-blocking solar panels protected her face. "If I have told you once, I have told you a thousand times, Yuri. Don't! Call me! That!" Constance shouted and rocketed into the air, raining down magic mines that exploded in Dorothea and Bernadetta's face.
Yelps of fear saw Bernadetta turtling in place and tanking the damage.
"Bern, don't just hold there, shoot!"
"Oh! Oh, yeah!" Bernadetta exclaimed and opened fire on Constance. A battle of land and air was now being waged.
That left Dorothea in a one-on-one confrontation with Yuri. "You really don't want what I'm capable of, Dorothea."
"Your concern is appreciated, Yurikins, really. However," Dorothea stated and generated a Levin sword. She then lifted her blade up to shoulder height, pointed the tip at Yuri. "I think I'll be just fine."
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you, Miss Arnault. I'm not exactly in the mood for holding back," Yuri told her and drew out his own Levin Sword. However, Yuri held his blade off to one side, leaving his free arm relaxed.
"I'd be insulted if you did," Dorothea stated and then rushed in to meet Yuri's blade.
As the songstress from the streets and the underground kingpin's electric swords met blade to blade, the battle between the lions and the pheasants continued to heat up. In particular worth of note to the cameras and spectators was Ingrid's clash with Felix.
House Fraldarius and House Galatea were long-time allies. To see their heirs clash on the most important day of the school year was simply unprecedented in the entire history of the kingdom.
"Say, Holst, what exactly are we looking at?" Alois asked from up in the booth.
"Hmm, you're asking about the difference in skill between Ingrid Galatea and Felix Fraldarius?"
"Yes, and I'm sure the fine people watching at home would like to know the same," Alois nodded.
"All right. Bear with me, as I'm no expert on Kingdom soldiers, or footwork, but I know combat from my own experience, and I've read up on the participants as best I can."
Armed with the Royal Alicorn around her body and Luin in her fingers, Ingrid attempted to, in a figure of speech, catch Felix napping, but she should have known her childhood friend better. Felix rebuked Luin with the Aegis Shield's aura and then immediately transformed using his own HLKMF. Felix's Immortal Ronin had undergone quite the metamorphosis since his last battle. Spurred from his growth underneath the tutelage of the Green Pheasants, and now the aid of the Aegis Shield, Felix stood with more complete armor than he originally had. The outlines of the padding, which had originally been white, were now emerald green. Instead of a normal helmet, a samurai's kabuto was wrapped around his face. The Aegis shield merged with the chest region of the frame and Felix had multiple energy swords strapped to his back. A blade made purely of ethereal energy—barely resembling a corporeal sword, was held between Felix's hard light gloved hands. The midnight blue color scheme had also brightened slightly, turning tealish. This was the Felix's new power. Codename: Rogue Shogun.
Luin's might clashed against Felix's "sword" the weapon feeling like it was going to melt along the shaft when Ingrid used it to block. Ingrid, however, poured a little bit of magic down the base of the shaft and used that to block Felix's next strike. Then, sweeping the spear back up, she attempting to cut Felix with reverse grip along the neck. Felix craned his head to one side and then flipped sideways out of the way, just in time to avoid Ingrid's forward thrust. Felix then took the opportunity to slash at Ingrid's neck, but he missed when Ingrid ducked.
"Felix Fraldarius, according to his student record, is a man seized by two things, speed and strength. Ingrid, meanwhile, prefers to hone skill and precision over brute force," Holst explained.
Wings shimmered under Ingrid's boots as she used them to fly around Felix swiftly, trying to confuse him about when she would strike. Ashe would have taken a shot at her…if he was given the chance to aim. Dimitri was now on him, having swapped enemies with Ingrid after a brief clash, and Ashe was hard pressed to counter Dimitri. Despite having learned to fight with an energy axe, Dimitri's overwhelming might left him no match.
However, with Kaguya in retreat, backup was arriving and Dimitri got zapped with a bolt of lightning from the Raiden Miko. This allowed Ashe just enough time to take one well-placed shot at Ingrid.
Unfortunately, the shot was just a bit too far away and Ingrid had just enough time to evade it at the last second. However, in an attempt to dodge the incoming projectile, she'd neglected Felix. The son of House Fraldarius capitalized on Ingrid's mistake and thrust his pseudo-energy blade right into her abdomen, zapping her head to toe.
"Nothing personal, Ingrid, but on this battlefield," Felix said, driving the sword deeper. "You're my enemy!"
Ingrid could feel her strength ebbing, her battery draining. She could feel the pain like she was being stabbed in the stomach and it hurt. It was like she was being punched by a solid flame.
Is this it? Is this my limit? She wondered.
Fortunately, no. And help came to her in the form of, in her opinion, an unlikely source.
Felix was so concentrated on putting Ingrid down he'd neglected spatial control and that left him wide open to take a nasty shield bash from a Ceratopsian head shaped shield. Although the Aegis shield's aura blunted the damage, Felix went flying down field towards the Golden Deer's rear line.
"D-Dedue," Ingrid stated, staring at her classmate.
Dedude slowly pulled himself from out of his attacking posture. He stood tall and sturdy, armed with a bony looking HLKMF with the saurian shield in one hand and a mighty energy axe in the other. Like the others, his Stone Ceratops had gone through several upgrades. It was bulkier, sturdier, shinier. Gone was the stone aesthetic. Now it appeared to be made of hardened steel. Moreover, the shoulder guards were designed to look like Triceratops heads. Codename: Tri Tank.
"Are you all right, Ingrid?" Dedue asked her.
"Yes, thank you. I…"
Dedue immediately had to turn his attention away from Ingrid to block an incoming volley from Green Pheasant riflemen.
Ingrid, feeling a bit guilty, said to the man, "I…I'm sorry. I know I said some really hurtful things to you earlier in the year and—"
"You needn't apologize. We've had this conversation already," Dedue told her. "Twice, actually."
"And you still act like nothing's wrong," Ingrid remarked, gripping near her chest.
"This isn't the time for this conversation," Dedue said as the volley stopped, and choked up on his shield.
"You're right," Ingrid said. She stared south at the enemies before her. "Felix is going to be a problem if we don't handle him now. Do you think you could assist me for a bit longer?"
"I would be honored to follow your orders as a comrade in arms," Dedue remarked. "Do you have a plan?"
Ingrid nodded. "Your Tri Tank is well suited to frontline defense. Guard me, break their ranks and I'll provide the follow-up finishing blow. By the time Felix gets back, he won't have any backup."
"Very well then," Dedue stated calmly and then summoned a second shield to his off-hand. The weight did not feel cumbersome to him at all. He then charged. "You're in the way!"
The critical strike phenomenon occurred as Dedue's charge sent the members of the Green Pheasants flying. Ingrid worked hard to swoop in and pick off the stragglers. Using this tactic, the duo broke through three lines of defense, only for Felix to show back up, striking past Dedue, injuring his frame, and making for Ingrid, delivering a nasty body blow.
Ingrid was knocked off balance, tumbling onto her arm and then rolling along the ground. If she was in a real fight, she could've snapped her arm out of its socket just now. With the special mock armor though, it just felt sore.
Felix turned to face his former allies in the Blue Lions. "I must say, you two work fairly well together, but you're not going to harm any more of my soldiers. I'm ending this now."
Felix then suddenly seemed to vanish in a bolt of red lightning.
Ingrid gasped. The critical strike phenomenon was only supposed to occur right before an attack landed. Yet Felix used it at the first step of his movement.
The Rogue Shogun blitzed past its own limitations briefly, striking Ingrid so swiftly it was as if she'd been struck by Felix in three different directions.
"Ingrid!" Dedue shouted.
"Too slow," Felix remarked and then began to move his hands into a mantra pattern Kaguya had taught him. "Thoron!" Felix fired the blast directly at Dedue, breaking his shield in one electrified blast.
Ingrid picked herself up off the ground. "You can…" she stumbled. "Use magic? Since when?"
"Empress Kaguya is a good teacher," Felix remarked, palms sparking as he brought his wrists near each other.
Damn it! Ingrid hadn't counted on Felix learning magic of all things in his time with the Green Pheasants. Choking up on Luin, she rushed back in to face him. His fake blade clashed with her hero's relic.
"What a spectacle!" Alois cheered, watching the two former friends go at it. "The way those two clash, you'd never think they were old friends."
Sparks flew as Felix's energy blades kept trying to overpower Luin, but to no avail.
Holst laughed. "Ingrid Galatea is considered tough as nails, one of the toughest warriors to come out of House Galatea's generations of male knights. And her test scores support this. Ingrid is considered in the top 20 of best students at the academy in a fight."
"Ah, but don't count Felix out, all of you watching at home. He too carries that same honor," Alois pointed out.
The cameras remained on Ingrid and Felix for a bit, with Dedue shifting his focus to the Green Pheasant's ranks, doing his best to keep Felix cut off from support. If Ingrid could land a finishing blow, the enemies would scatter.
"Think they'll finish any time soon?" Alois asked Holst.
"Doubt it? Why don't we shift our gaze a bit, not too far, of course."
The cameras focused in on Dimitri squaring off against Kaguya as the leader of the Blue Lions took a particularly powerful blast of lightning straight down to his body. Even with the Azure Reaper equipped, it still hurt like hell.
"Never bothered to temper your magic resilience up, your highness?" Kaguya asked.
"I've never been good at magic in general," Dimitri chuckled, taking a far more casual tone with the Empress than he would most enemies. He sunk into a knee bent posture, aiming his spear at the ground, like the tusk of a boar. "Brute force has always been more my style."
"I see, then that makes us quite the match," Kaguya said as yellow orbs began to encircle her Raiden Miko. They all had the kanji for thunder—Kaminari—emblazoned in black lettering on them. "My Raiden Miko is powerful, but it's not very sturdy."
"Then it sounds like we will both be targeting each other's low defenses," Dimitri remarked. "This will be a good opportunity to see what I'm really made of. Don't hold back, Kaguya!"
"Believe me," Kaguya remarked. "I won't."
One by one, each orb's symbol vanished and a blast of lightning went hurtling Dimitri's way. The young prince had a hell of a time dodging or deflecting the attacks with his energy lance. Yet, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd was not going to let the difficulty stop him from showing off his capabilities. Despite this, he had to get in close to Kaguya.
The first time he tried, Kaguya had a counterplay. Making more orbs, a bunch of orbs made a curtain of rotating lightning bolts around her frame, deterring Dimitri from coming closer.
"Thoron!" At closer range, Dimitri had trouble dodging the attack and was sent flying back and across the battlefield.
"Bolting!" Kaguya exclaimed, using the magic power attuned to her frame to cast the most powerful lightning spell known to the Church.
BOOM!
The blast seemed to engulf Dimitri, but in reality had only made a crater and blasted up a bunch of dirt. Emerging from the dust cloud, Dimitri had his lance in hand and was high in the air. Throwing it, he barely missed Kaguya as she evaded and was forced to pull it back mid-flight. As the chain wound itself back, Kaguya made a rifle with her hands and took an electrified shot at him to blast him out of the air. He went tumbling to the ground.
Panting, he quickly got back up. "Not bad," he admitted and, as some might call it, locked-in, "But I'm not finished yet."
Kaguya shook her head. "I didn't think you would be."
As Dimitri continued to wage battle with Kaguya, the Violet Tigers' rear guard was pushing eastward unimpeded. Soon, the entire northwestern quadrant of the Ashen Wolves' territory would be surrounded by them.
"Looks like we've got company," Hapi remarked.
"Ayano?" Zero questioned her.
Ayano had binoculars out. "Not seeing any of the Knights of the Round, just a lot of well-trained soldiers."
"Then let's see what we can do to defend ourselves. Get out there with Akito. Guerilla tactics."
"Want me to get out there too?" Hapi asked. "Gonna be honest, I'm kind of itching for a fight."
"No, I need you here as a secret tactic. If things get bad, I'll send Kallen," Zero replied, "Or I'll pull Ryo away from our south."
Hapi nodded, accepting this.
Zero then looked at the big screen where a bunch of students' vital bars could be seen, as well as the live camera feed. He saw Dimitri locked in combat with Kaguya and Ashe providing support.
If Kaguya goes down, Ashe is sure to follow, that's two points to the Blue Lions I don't know if I can afford.
Zero looked off in the distance to where Ayano and Akito were now slicing through plenty of Britannian soldiers, causing disarray. As long as they could hold them off for a short time, he had juuuuust enough time to enact something sneaky.
"Hapi, take the turret I'm manning," Zero told her.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, sure," she said.
Zero began to walk to the northeastern edge of the center.
"What are you doing?" Kallen asked him.
"They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link," Zero said and Lelouch grinned devilishly behind his face mask. "Let's see if I can't snap the Blue Lions in two." He fiddled with the settings on his helmet. "Kallen, take over for Yukiya. Yukiya, I need you to hack me into someone's comms."
"Who?" Yukiya asked.
"Prince Dimitri," Zero responded.
As Yukiya prepared the hack, Dimitri was having a hell of a time dealing with Kaguya, but he was slowly finding gaps in her defense patterns. One, two, or three more exchanges, depending on his luck, and he'd be able to impale the Raiden Miko for certain this time.
Kaguya released a bunch of energy, using her lightning curtain, to try and zap Dimitri by extending it outward. However, this came with the drawback of creating larger gaps between the bolts. Kaguya had a plan for that too, of course: another curtain right behind the first one.
Dimitri, already injured from a few shocks, had learned the timing though and, in a ferocious sprint, was making his way to Kaguya between the bolts. In fact, as long as the very last curtain didn't get thrown at him too soon, he'd have a clear shot this time.
However, Kaguya had known the whole time what Dimitri was doing and she'd thought best how to come up with a counter strategy. As the man came in, Kaguya switched tactics and met his lance with a Levin Sword. Strikes came out fast as lightning as Dimitri gored forward like a boar, but Kaguya gracefully met his attacks, parrying them with the grace of a crane. She lost a lot of ground, but, in the process, Dimitri had tired himself for a brief moment. Kaguya used this need for a breath to push him back on the defensive. Taking a stance Felix had taught her, she sheathed her blade in an invisible sheathe and then drew it quickly, performing strikes and swings just as swiftly as Dimitri had with his lance. Now on the backfoot, Dimitri was forced to parry this suddenly impressive foe.
She's good! Dimitri found himself thinking, and then suddenly sped away from Kaguya.
Using proximity comms, Dimitri called out to her. "Empress Kaguya, I acknowledge your skill, but you're still leagues behind someone who has been training all their life. Observe!" Dimitri shouted and then, much to Kaguya's surprise blitzed her from her right side flank, even though she'd watched him speed away to her right.
A powerful lance was coming straight towards her and, in a moment, would pierce her frame. Desperately, Kaguya put up a magic shield to block the strike, but it was clear Dimitri's brute force was going to win out.
Gritting her teeth, Kaguya pivoted, getting Dimitri's lance stuck inside her frame as the hard light pierced through. Generating an orb of lightning, she proceeded to strike Dimitri at close range. However, she was shocked when Dimitri grabbed the orb…and crushed it in his grip.
Unbeknownst to Kaguya, Dimitri had sped right past Mercedes, who'd enchanted him with high magic resilience in the split second he'd run by her.
After crushing the orb, Dimitri went for Kaguya's head, crushing the helmet in his grip and throwing her to the ground. Dimitri then brandished his spear and proceeded to plunge it downward for the finishing blow. Kaguya brought up a sword to block it as the weapons clashed each other, Kaguya's arm buckling under the strain.
However, before Dimitri could finish the job, a video feed hacked its way into his frame.
"Prince Dimitri, are you ignoring me?"
"Zero?! How did you…?" Dimitri immediately backed off Kaguya and was startled.
"Let's put aside the how for a moment. I would have thought you'd want to settle the score for Duscur," Zero told him.
Dimitri's demeanor changed on a dime. "Oh don't worry," he said in an angry monotone. "You'll get yours."
"Why wait? You know my location. Why waste your time on weaklings? Come claim the glory of my head for yourself. Unless you're too scared."
Zero was taunting him, openly at that. Dimitri knew, Zero wanted him to come his way, which meant he'd be expecting him. A trap, most likely.
"My northern flank is entirely unguarded. I'll meet you on the field of battle, if you so choose. You know it as well as I do, if I fall, the chances of an Ashen Wolf victory becomes Zero. Right now, my forces are picking off stragglers one by one. Can your princely pride allow yourself the knowledge, knowing that if you leave me unopposed, well, I could very well win."
"YOU SHUT YOUR LYING MOUTH! I'LL CUT YOUR TONGUE RIGHT OUT OF YOU!" Dimitri shouted. "I'd die a thousand deaths before I let you win this battle, Zero."
"Then come take the opportunity to fight me," Zero told him. "If you dare."
"MERCEDEEEEEES!" Dimitri roared.
Mercedes ran up to her liege. "Yes, Prince Dimitri."
"Cast recover. I need to be at full strength for this," Dimitri told her.
"Right, of course. Recover!" Dimitri was restored, in an instant, to peak condition. "And…Kaguya?" she asked, worried about what his screaming meant and why she was still laying there.
"Deal with her yourself," Dimitri spat and sped off.
Mercedes proceeded to fire a magic blast at Kaguya, but the latter was already getting her second wind. She stood up and dismissed the Holy Ghost to conserve its power. A magic battle with Mercedes would help her recover some of her strength.
Strafing away from the white mage of the Blue Lions, Kaguya's thunder blasts smashed against Mercedes fireballs. Like the country she was charged with, Kaguya Sumeragi would live to fight another day and seize victory from the jaws of defeat.
"Looks like he took the bait," Zero remarked.
"Is this really a good idea?" Yukiya questioned.
"We can handle Dimitri," Zero stated.
"Okay, but at what cost?" Yukiya asked.
Zero looked towards C.C. "Not much, I'd wager."
Yukiya sighed. "I sure hope you're right about that."
Zero was about to respond, but that's when he got a red alert.
Ryo Sayama was just doing as Zero had asked him, weaving a grove between the Black Eagle and Golden Deer battlefield, picking off stragglers and people that got too close to the turret fire. He was essentially acting as a forward vulture unit to score points for the Ashen Wolves, and it was working.
However, since his targets were the Deer and the Eagles, he wasn't paying attention to encroaching Green Pheasants. And it would cost him greatly.
Naomi Inoue, sniper elite of the Green Pheasants, lined up her shot, and fired.
The signal that Ryo had been taken out, a single high-powered rifle blast from Inoue doing the deed, sent a chill down Zero's spine. He knew they wouldn't win this war with no casualties, but Ryo getting taken out this early was not good.
Fortunately, Zero knew he had a fall back to buy himself time in the face of increasing danger. "Hapi," he said as he gazed at her with the utmost seriousness from behind his helmet. "Do it."
"I sure hope nobody gets hurt over this," Hapi remarked and let out the biggest sigh in the world. She let out a few, and then more. It had been a long time since she'd sighed and was taking this opportunity to let it all out.
When it came to gambling with friends during the spectacle of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, a modern day gag was, of course, the Bingo sheet. And if anyone had put "wild bears attack the players" on it, those people would later be encouraged to play the lottery. As a consequence of Hapi sighing, many bears, wolves and wild boars stormed the field.
The stampeding, frenzied animals confused even the owner of the field, Leopold von Bergliez. "What the…where are they all coming from?!"
Leopold's closest companion, and equal and opposite at the courts, Waldemar von Hevring, inspected the oncoming chaos. "I am uncertain, but I don't believe this is supposed to be part of the spectacle."
Surely it was not as Seteth grew pale. "Lady Rhea, should we do something? Those wild animals aren't supposed to be here."
Rhea thought about it, especially as the frenzied beasts attacked Black Eagle and Violet Tiger alike. She watched the Eagles and Tigers fling these animals off, sticking them and killing them with ease, though some animals had the sense to flee.
"No, let it go on," Rhea remarked. "Healers on standby to avoid casualties, but I think our students can handle a few frenzied wild animals."
Seteth nodded. "If that is your grace's word, I will not go against it. What about scoring?"
"The animals are just a random event. Anyone taken down by them should not be counted for anyone's score," Rhea remarked. "If any are taken down at all."
"Understood," Seteth responded.
"…Hey, isn't there a girl we put down in Abyss, she's part of the Ashen Wolves, Hapi I think her name is," Catherine pointed out. "Any chance she caused this? She can't exactly control her ability, right?"
Rhea and Seteth exchanged glances. "You don't honestly think…" Seteth began, trailing off.
Rhea sighed. "Zero seems to be finding interesting and creative ways to combat his low army count, if so. If such the matter is the case, we will have to count any wild animal KOs as points for the Ashen Wolves. It is no different than releasing locusts on crops, or arrows of fire to an unsuspecting army."
On live feed, Edelgard and Cornelia were shown batting away a pair of bears that had attacked them individually, ultimately slicing their heads off with their respective weapons before turning their attention back to each other.
Seteth looked at one of the nearby staff members. "You there! Review the footage! If the Ashen Wolves are responsible for this attack, we need to calculate damage caused by these animals accordingly!"
"Yes, Director!" the staff member exclaimed and sped off.
Up in the booth, Alois and Holst were as lost as anyone watching at home about the animal attacks. Until…
"Hold on…I'm getting word from the ground. We've just received word that the Ashen Wolves have a magus among them able to call beasts with her sighs," Alois spoke, fingers tapped to his ear.
Holst laughed. "What a wild strategy. Literally. This Zero fellow is quite creative. Of course, the average wild bear is no match for a well-trained warrior in their Hard Light Knightmare Frame."
"Even so, our knights are ever vigilant and on standby with bear spray and other wild animal repellants that House Bergliez is now passing out," Alois said.
"Zero sounds rather desperate to be using wild animals to do his dirty work," Jeralt remarked.
"Are you that surprised?" Shamir asked. "It sounds like exactly something he would do to even the odds."
"Let's just hope this doesn't backfire on him, or he's going to be in big trouble," Jeralt stated. "If even one student actually dies because of this, Lady Rhea's going to throw a fit."
"Not to worry, Captain," Alois said. "Our knights would never let the students be endangered by something like this. Rest assured, that nobody would be able to bear the loss of life by animal attack." He then laughed at his own pun.
Jeralt groaned. "Can we cut to commercial?"
Back on the ground, Akito and Ayano were continuing to fight back to back and rack up points for their house…and then a problem swiftly emerged.
Ayano nearly had her helmet taken off by a swift pair of swords and had to divert her attention from the fodder she'd been hacking down to her assailant that had just shown up. Using her sword to block, purple clashed with green for a few swift strikes of the blade until both energy weapons were locked against each other.
The Shadow of Hope now found itself locked in combat with Monica Krushevsky and her Florence.
Akito, noticing this, quickly did his best to get clear of the enemies he'd been surrounded by and doubled back closer to the Ashen Wolves' territory. "Zero! We have a problem! Monica's made it to us!"
"Krushevsky?" Zero asked, just to make sure he wasn't losing his mind as to where key players on the battlefield were.
"Yeah, her," Akito responded.
So, the Knights of the Round are looking to help the rear guard, but that means more work for the front. "Give up ground and pull back. As long as the Knights don't pursue, we've done all we can on our northern flank. Let's hope the Violet Tigers will push eastward to engage the Blue Lions. They're a bigger threat.
"Copy that," Akito stated. "Ayano, fall back! Zero's orders!"
"Got it!" Ayano exclaimed and released a smokescreen to cover her escape and give Monica the slip.
Gino in his Tristan pulled up next to his fellow knight. "They're retreating?"
"It's a prudent decision. Zero has to avoid losing casualties as much as possible until later on in the battle. Let's proceed with the next objective."
"Got it. All troops! Follow me! We're attacking the Blue Lions rear guard!" Gino declared. He and a bunch of soldiers stampeded east…only to be attacked by animals crossing the river from the north.
Monica briefly turned her gaze southward. She wanted to engage Zero personally, not for any type of grudge, but simply…curiosity. Still, her men, and Gino, needed her. Whipping out twin swords, as the Florence was accustomed to battling with, she moved in to assist.
Thanks entirely to the animal attack, the siege laid to the Golden Deer by the Black Eagles had come to almost a screeching halt.
"Hilda! This is our chance! Do it!" Claude shouted.
"Right!" Hilda shouted and converted power to her thruster units, blazing forward, axe at the ready. "Here I come!" Hilda declared and began demolishing the Black Eagles' southeastern frontline.
Hubert saw this and immediately called out, "All forces retreat! We can't take Hilda out in the open like this!"
Giving up ground, the Black Eagles fell towards their central guard at the hub of their territory. And that was where a little surprise was waiting for Hilda. While she was busy clubbing mages, and hearing them scream in pure agony, she nearly got blindsided by a new foe entering the fray.
The flat side of Hilda's energy axe caught the bottom of a blue Knightmare Frame's foot. On impact, a shockwave ripped through the air. "Well, well, well, wasn't expecting to see you of all people challenge me. I thought you'd be too frightened."
The blue mech pulled out a lance and matched Hilda's Queen Bahamut with some very skillful lance work. The two weapons locked against each other. The HUD displayed the name to the mech right in front of Hilda: Immortal Mermaid.
"Look, I don't want to fight you of all people just as much as the next Black Eagle," Shirley Fennette admitted. "But I'm the best chance at stopping you. That's what Lulu and Edelgard both think." She leapt back from Hilda, bending her knees and raising her lance. Shirley looked absolutely ready for a real fight on her hands. "And so, here I am!"
Hilda stopped smiling and gripped her arm hydraulic controls, clenching her toes too. Something prickled along the back of her neck. Unlike Caspar, who was just happy to be in a good scrap, Hilda could tell Shirley was going to be a serious challenge. And so, Hilda became laser focused. She'd meet her redheaded foe head on.
Hilda's Bahamut swung forward with its axe, but Shirley's nimbleness saw her use the Immortal Mermaid's lance like a pole vault and leap over Hilda. She landed behind her and used her lance to thrust into her back, but Hilda was already pivoting to block the strike. Sparks flew as Shirley seriously tried to push past Hilda's strength, to no avail.
Hilda could feel her arms and legs tingling. She could feel her Crest of Goneril itching. Something about clashing with Shirley made its power want to come out, and Hilda obliged. Synergizing with her crest, Hilda took a swing at Shirley that nearly bifurcated the whole mech in one slash. Shirley got sent flying towards the approaching Golden Deer frontline. She recovered quickly and sped around Hilda, but Hilda saw this tactic coming as soon as she noticed Shirley not coming right at her.
She met up with Shirley at an acute angle and tried to smash her axe into the Immortal Mermaid's face. Shirley raised her lance to block. At a bad angle, Hilda was off-balance and Shirley brought up her leg to strike her in the stomach, preparing to knock Hilda over. Thankfully for Hilda, the Queen Bahamut could fly and she took to the sky.
Not willing to let Hilda take a moment's breather, Shirley swapped out her lance for a rifle and took aim. Without even hesitating, she took a shot at Hilda's chest. Much to her surprise, Hilda had the strength and speed to deflect the shot before it reached her.
"Let's see how you like this!" Hilda shouted and slammed down towards the ground.
Spike!
Energy burst from Hilda's crest through her axe and crashed it down onto Shirley's mech. For a moment, it looked as if the Immortal Mermaid had been completely totaled. Shirley even flinched in such a matter as if she expected such to be the case.
However, fate, or rather the closest thing to it, intervened. Using her potent healing magic, Flayn had healed off the damage to Shirley's Mermaid, restoring its composition and letting Shirley fight on.
"I'll back you up, Shirley!" Flayn declared, hanging back. "We'll fight her together."
Shirley smiled. "You got it, Flayn. I'm always tougher with you backing me up."
Flayn giggled.
Hilda, knowing the tried-and-true tactic of taking out the healer first, attempted to turn her attention on Flayn, but Shirley immediately got in her way, kicking her in the face, launching her back.
"Your fight is with me! If you even try to hurt Flayn, I'll stop you!" Shirley shouted.
"Man, listen to you, you'd think I tried to flatten Lelouch just now with the way you're acting," Hilda chuckled.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Shirley retorted, blushing.
Hilda laughed. "Well, it's nice to see you nice and motivated Shirley. Normally I'd complain about pitiful little old me getting ganged up on and how that's not fair. But that was the old me. Today?" Hilda's frame's wings expanded to their full length and glowed as she seemed to turn up the juice on her Queen Bahamut, as if she'd taken off a limiter on its energy reserves. "Today I'm gonna kick your butt!"
"Not if I kick your butt first!" Shirley shouted and radiated the power of her own new crest.
"Then by all means!" Hilda shouted. "Bring it on!"
The two charged, weapons clashing, creating a shockwave.
As the chaos on the battlefield ramped up, Dedue was slowly breaking the ranks of the Green Pheasants, and he was not the only one. The Golden Deer's northern flank was dwindling the Green Pheasants as well. The Japanese soldiers had fallen victim to the exact situation that Zero had prevented happening to the Ashen Wolves. Left with no other recourse, the Green Pheasant's rank and file were huddled together closer and closer together and then, ultimately smashed. Now, for the first time, Golden Deer troops met Blue Lion faces and frames for the first time all battle. As for the Green Pheasants, only their best and brightest fighters now remained. They were in dire straits, and those who remained could feel the pressure.
A victory for the Blue Lions for certain, Dedue felt, as Claude was a far bigger threat than Kaguya ever could be to the Blue Lions. "Your highness! We've reached the Golden Deer's frontline. Orders?"
No response.
"Your highness!"
Static.
Dedue, fearing the worst, looked at the big screen. No, Dimitri was still in the fight, vitals at max. Now taking fire from the Golden Deer, Dedue tried to make sense of it all. And, as he helped his fellow lions, he realized there was only one reason Dimitri would be refusing to answer comms.
His highness is in danger, but I cannot abandon the frontlines or more of our own will suffer for my lapse in judgment.
Dedue, Dimitri's vassal and supposed to be protector, was now trapped on the far side of the battlefield from Dimitri himself. And it was all according to Zero's plan.
"ZEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lelouch could hear Dimitri coming a mile away. Clad in the Azure Reaper, Dimitri was manically charging straight to Ashen Wolf territory, smashing a few forward Violet Tiger scouts in the process.
Here he comes, Zero thought. Right on time. Generating a sword, Lelouch moved to meet Dimitri out at the northern edge of his group's held territory, meeting an enraged Dimitri and barely able to contain the force of his blow.
"Do not think your tricks will save you, coward! Today, you FALL!" Dimitri took a few lumbering, full force swings at the Absolute Zero. Lelouch dodged each one. Dimitri was frenzied right now, it made his movements sloppy and easy to predict well before he made them.
"You did well to make it here so quickly," Zero told Dimitri. "But ultimately, you have fallen for the oldest trick in the book."
"Spring whatever traps you want at me, I'll break past all of them and cut you down, cur!" Dimitri snarled.
"Then if you want my head," Zero stated as he stepped to one side, "You'll have to fight your way to get it."
Charging past Zero, Balthus emerged and nearly landed an unimpeded blow on Dimitri's face with Vajra Mutshi and the Heavy Thunder King.
Dimitir put up his lance to block, but the weapon was snapped in two. The Azure Reaper lost ground and its feet tore up the grass beneath it.
"Coward!" Dimitri roared at Zero. "You said you would face me yourself!"
"I said no such thing!" Zero declared, fanning out his cape. "I told you that I was giving you the opportunity to stop me! You never stopped to think what that meant because you are so blinded by rage that you can't think straight. You have prioritized my death over the safety of your Kingdom as war between the Alliance and the Kingdom erupts. And when you fall in this battle, the Kingdom shall go with it."
"Then I shall simply have to cut off your lying, treasonous head before that happens," Dimitri remarked, generating two one-handed short spears to replace his broken lance.
"You're welcome to try!" Zero declared. "Balthus, you know what to do."
"Right," Balthus said, rolling his shoulders. "Leave it to me."
Dimitri, as he prepared to fight Balthus directly, could hear the sound of footsteps. The Violet Tigers were marching towards his rear guard. More importantly, given Dimitri's current position, he was now cut off from any potential aid. No matter, he'd win. He'd take out every single one of the Ashen Wolves by himself.
"Zero, you made a grave mistake in taunting me. For now you will suffer, AND TASTE THE LION'S ROAR!"
(A/N: Dimitri really out here pulling a "Nah, I'll win." Buddy, you know how that tactic goes, right? Eh, maybe it'll work out for you. Who has faith in Dimitri, anybody? If so, leave it in the comments.
The battle's really heating up now, huh? I hope you're all enjoying this. I didn't mean to disappear for so long between chapters. I'm hoping I can muster up the motivation to get 49 out soonish, but you can't rush perfection D:
Anyway, we are only on line 36 of my outline of this mock battle. Considering I've now done 18 lines—roughly—per chapter, if this trend continues, the Battle of the Eagle and Lion itself will consume nearly 9 chapters of content, including this one and last. Guess we will see if that's true. I did intend for this to be the big awesome climax of phase one after all.
And until part 3 of that climax, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!
SPECIAL THANKS to my Patrons ShawnH, Nier 99, and Wizard Aro. Without the support of you and all of the rest of you reading this, none of this would be possible! If you'd like to support my work, consider subscribing. Feel free to also leave a comment, write a review, or just say hey. It helps out a lot and it keeps me motivated to write more. And I'm sure everyone wants that :D I know I do!