Dimitri charged into battle towards the Leicester Alliance, and Claude knew he needed to defend himself and his troops.
I have to fight...
Why are we even fighting...?
An enraged expression grew on Claude's normally calm features as he raised his arm above his head. Upon seeing soldiers run towards him, Claude lowered his arm, urging his own army forward. No words could express his despair at the situation, and as his soldiers pushed forward. He felt a laugh bubbling from his throat, but he forced it down. Claude joined the fray with his Teach by his side.
"And so we fight on..." Edelgard sighed, forcing her troops forward. She, unlike the other two, did not move from her formation. She was prepared to let everyone take the blow for her.
Coward.
Claude hated such a tactic. To start a war, and then let your troops die for you while you waited on the sidelines...It was stupid. His hate for her grew stronger, and a hysterical chuckle finally escaped from his lips.
Teach glanced at him, a concerned look on her face. He had been trying to hide his utter frustration and guilt that he'd been feeling from her, but he could tell she was demanding an explanation.
"Claude-"
"We need to fight," Claude responded, not looking at Byleth. He knew that if he did, he would lose his composure. "I'll head towards the Adrestian Empire. Attack the Kingdom only if they show aggression towards us. Lysithea, Hilda, Teach! Follow me."
"Understood!" Hilda nodded, a dedicated look on her face. She'd come a long way from her slacker tendencies. She held Freikugal in her hands skillfully. He knew he could trust her if he fell.
"Raphael and Ignatz, I need you to travel towards Dimitri. Marianne and Leonie will help the soldiers here. Try to reason with Dimitri. Subdue him if you have to, but don't kill him."
"I should go with them," His Teach interrupted. A flash of fear crept across his face; separate? He hadn't promised that they would remain together, and he knew it made the most sense for them to split, but he didn't want to let her go.
"No."
"...I'll be okay, Claude," She clasped his hand reassuringly. She quickly leaned in for a quick kiss before pulling away. "No one else is going to get though to Dimitri, and you know that. One of us has to go."
Claude hesitated, but she had a point. One of them did need to reason with Dimitri, and she was probably better suited for it than him. Plus, he wasn't sure if she could handle fighting Edelgard yet.
"Okay," Claude agreed reluctantly. "But be safe."
"I will be," His Teach nodded, and she quickly squeezed his hand before taking off in the opposite direction. He took a deep breath, and then continued his advance towards Edelgard.
Hilda rushed in front of him, swinging her axe wildly. She blade locked a soldier in red, kicking his legs out from underneath him, and then held her axe above him. The soldier cried out, trying to hold her off, and Hilda looked away as she dug her axe into his chest.
From behind her, Claude armed his bow skillfully and began to shoot into the midst. His precision was jaw-dropping; he didn't miss a single blow. Every single one of his deadly arrows hit their mark. However, he didn't aim to kill. He tried to aim for their legs, effectively taking them out of the fight, but not outright killing them.
When a soldier managed to close the distance between the two, Claude unsheathed his Sword of Begalta and swung, easily weaving through the Adrestian soldier's predictable movements. With a grimace on his face, Claude thrust his sword forward, piercing her through the stomach. The soldier cried out, feebly trying to pull it out, and Claude slowly obliged.
"I'm sorry," Claude sheathed his now bloody sword. "It was you or me."
A burst of purple clouds swarmed another Adrestian soldier, four magical spikes forming and targeting the mounted cavalry. Lysithea closed her fists, a concentrated look on her face as the soldier crumpled to the ground. Claude gave her a look of appreciation.
"Good work, you two."
They only took a couple more steps when an arrow flew towards their heads. Claude dodged, looking up at the attacker.
"Y-Y-You won't go any further!" A small figure stood atop a hill, with short purple hair and yellow accents in her clothing. Claude felt his heart sink in his chest.
"Bernadetta," Claude recognized the student from the Black Eagle's house who had changed quite a bit. She looked a bit more put together, and she held her bow and stood her ground strongly. "Please, leave. I don't want to kill you."
"I can't leave! Edelgard entrusted me to defend this hill, and I will!" Bernadetta said courageously, but he could see her legs shaking. "I owe her so much..I believe in her to build a better future."
"Are you blind to the amount of people you've killed!?" Claude exclaimed, glancing around. Bodies were sprawled around the hill, filled with arrows. Bernadetta's arrows. "Edelgard will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. Are you willing to kill everyone you meet?!"
"I-If it means that she'll be successful, I will!" Bernadetta replied firmly, arming her bow. She fired two shots at Claude, who easily dodged both arrows. Still, he couldn't raise his bow towards her.
"Bernadetta, stop...please..."
Claude knocked away one of her other arrows with Failnaught, wincing as he had to dodge yet another arrow. Bernadetta would not stop firing, but Claude wouldn't kill her.
Someone had to die in order for the deadlock to end.
A gust of purple wind swept past Claude, landing upon Bernadetta and shooting right through the small girl's chest. Bernadetta cried out in pain, stumbling backwards as she fell to the ground. Horrified, Claude looked behind him to see a grim faced Lysithea.
He rushed over to Bernadetta, hoping to help her, but she was bleeding internally. She coughed loudly, trying to stand to no avail.
"Bernadetta..."
"I'm...sorry...Edelgard.." Bernadetta stuttered, her eyes landing upon Claude slowly. "...C-Claude...I..."
Bernadetta never managed to finish her sentence. The light drained from her eyes as her body went limp. Claude could only stare in shock.
They had killed Bernadetta...
"What were you thinking, Lysithea?" Claude lashed out, standing and striding over towards the younger girl. He knew this wasn't the time, but he wanted her death to have some meaning. Instead, she was just another soldier, another casualty of the war.
"We needed to kill her to advance," Lysithea replied, pressing her lips together in a straight line. Claude could see she was trying not to cry. As much as he hated it, he understood that some people couldn't be saved. Like Ferdinand before her, Bernadetta was now just...gone. "I..."
"...Damn...this is hell..."
Before either Hilda or Lysithea could reply, the hill burst into flames. Apparently, Edelgard was rather furious about Bernadetta's demise. The edge of Claude's cape was singed from the fire as the three of them dodged the fire. Lysithea began coughing as the smoke began to affect her, and Claude promptly picked her up in his arms as Hilda and him kept running.
Making it out of the hill, Claude panted and set Lysithea down gently. She huffed, but said a brief "thanks". After taking a moment for a break, Claude nodded and gave the go ahead. He had a grimace on his face.
"Let's keep going..."
They continued to push through Edelgard's forces, and Claude could sense the panic in her troop's expressions. Hubert rushed out to meet them with three others, a sinister look still placed on his face.
"Lady Edelgard will succeed!"
Hubert quickly raised his hands, purple flames enveloping Claude. Unable to properly gauge where Hubert's magic was coming from, Claude stumbled backwards as his dark magic hit him. Searing pain shot through Claude's body, and he grimaced to try and bear the pain.
"Oh, now you're going to get it!" Hilda was furious upon noticing Claude's injury, and she charged forward to engage with Hubert. She managed to roll under Hubert's fire, swinging her axe upwards. He dodged her blow, but he could tell he was outmatched.
"I'm sorry, Lady Edelgard, but this isn't over," He threatened, before disappearing. Hilda panted heavily, furious that he had so simply retreated.
"It's alright, Hubert, we still have many troops," Edelgard called out. Claude looked over, a look of distaste on his face. Lysithea rushed over to him, circling her hands together in his general direction, and Claude felt a warm sensation run though his body. The previous pain that had plagued his body disappeared, and he thanked her almost absentmindedly.
"Almost there," Claude exclaimed, and upon noticing Hilda's fatigue, he unsheathed his blade and headed in before the other two. They cut through a couple of more soldiers before finally stopping in front of Edelgard.
"So. I see you can finally make a stand against me now that you have your precious Professor," Edelgard jeered, trying to rile him up. Unfortunately for her, taunts had never been her strong suit.
"Yeah, I've got my Teach," Claude emphasized the word my, watching in satisfaction as her lavender eyes narrowed. He had planned on asking her to end this, but he couldn't stop himself from hurling childish insults at her. "I hate to remind you, but she'll never fight for you. Knowing that you'll lose, since, you know, she picked me...can you really still continue this war?"
"I will change Fódlan," Edelgard replied, a furious but composed expression still placed on her face. "I don't need the Professor. I wanted her, but her devotion to you is unquestionable. That is why I will kill you where you stand."
The time for playing was over. His eyes softened, but he didn't let go of his sword.
"Edelgard, I don't wish to kill you," Claude tried to reason with her as he watched her intensely. "Surrender. This doesn't have to end like this."
"Unfortunately, it must. My goal must be achieved. Now, fight me like you mean it!"
Claude sighed as she readied her axe.
"Fine. If that's how you want to do it."