>>5669336Sylvain is speaking to you, but your eyes don’t leave Raphael. The grappler is dead, there’s no question about it. Perhaps there was a chance that had he not been disarmed by your pleas; he might have survived. Or perhaps not. Sylvain was an experienced paladin armed with a Crest and Hero’s Relic. One could reasonably argue that Raphael would not have stood a chance either way. Still, someone who you could once rely on as an ally and a friend had just died, and in an incredibly brutal fashion at that. Gronder was proving to be far worse than you could have imagined.
“Blair! Are you alright?!” Sylvain asks once more, penetrating your defenses and snapping you back to reality. The redheaded paladin has galloped up to your side and offers you a hand from atop his steed. He’s the spitting image of a heroic knight gallantly riding to his maiden’s side to ensure she was protected. And though you were horrified at the way he’d disposed of Raphael; you can’t help but grimly admit that he’d come to your aid and possibly saved your life. There was no time to mourn or cry for what had already been lost. You had to see this battle through to the end.
>“I’m fine. What’s going on here? Why are the Kingdom and the Alliance fighting? I thought the plan was to stay out of each other’s way.”Sylvain shrugs. “I honestly don’t know. Once the hill exploded, we were forced to divert our march eastward. Things became a chaotic mess, and then the next thing we knew, fighting had broken out. Your scouts were able to warn us just in time so that we could prepare ourselves for the Alliance’s soldiers.”
>“Are they still alive?” You ask, referring to Caleb and Milly.Sylvain nods. “I saw them myself not too long ago.”
>“This is a disaster…there are so few of us…why are we wasting our valuable manpower fighting against the Alliance?”Sylvain winces. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but what’s done is done. First blood has been shed, and no amount of groveling or apologizing will fix that. Our goal of stopping Edelgard remains the same, and if the Alliance is in the way, we’ll have to take them out too. Now get it together, Blair. We still need you.” With that, the paladin rides off to rejoin the front.
You find Beathan waiting for you a few steps away. Sparing one final glance at Raphael’s corpse, you remount your faithful companion and take to the skies. Sylvain’s words ring through your mind. Your worst fears had come true, and this had become a three-way battle to the death. Any Alliance soldier that you’d come across now you’d have to consider an enemy, and vice versa. Your thoughts naturally drifted towards Lysithea, Hilda and Claude. You made a silent prayer to the Goddess that they’d be okay, but if today’s events were anything to go buy, she’d been ignoring you for quite some time.
