Chapter Text
The slightly middle-aged man continued to approach the group, without anyone yet aware of his presence. Compared to the dwindling morale of those attempting to face Weissmann, this man was composed and prepared for a challenging but winnable battle. And once he made it close enough to be in view of everyone, Weissmann, he slams down his bo staff and yells "In a real battle you must not lose faith! There is still a path yet forward!"
In response to hearing that voice, multiple people turned to face him at once.
Agate speaks first, yelling "How the hell?"
Richard's eyes light up as he says "It cannot be!"
Zin smiles knowingly and says "Took him long enough…"
Kevin then holds back a shocked laugh while saying "Of all the people to show up…"
Tita fights back a relieved tear before saying "I can't believe my eyes!"
Renne frowns in response to seeing him, while saying "Oh great… At least he will increase our odds of survival significantly. He'd better not try to get all sappy with me…"
Bleublanc lightly chuckles, saying "Haha! What a surprise!"
Walter just smirks and says "Good thing he didn't show up before our raid. Though I would've like to challenge him. He'd give you a good fight, McBurn."
McBurn stretches in place while yawning, before saying "Maybe… In this situation, I'll just have to settle with fighting a buncha Loewes…"
Thomas then turns to Vandyck and says "It seems our prayers have been answered…"
Vandyck nods and responds, saying "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him as comrade-in-arms. This should be interesting…"
Finally, Estelle nearly drops her bo staff from shock before loudly shouting "D… Daaaad?"
With that colorful response, Cassius Bright walks closer, while laughing and saying "I'm happy my daughter is so excited to see her papa…" Then he pauses, and adds, saying "I'm also happy to see you as well, Joshua. I wish this reunion could be under better circumstances…"
Joshua nods and says "Likewise… But seeing you here makes me think we can actually succeed."
But when Mueller sees him, he turns to Olivert and says "Was this your doing, Your Highness?"
Olivert slyly smirks and says "I simply requested he come back with us, in secret, in case of a disaster scenario with Ouroboros…" Then he sighs and adds, saying "This was far beyond my predictions though…"
When Neithardt sees him, he folds his arms and says "So that's the famous Liberl general… He looks impressive…"
Sara however, blushes before saying "And attractive…" But once she sees Neithardt's disapproving glare, she pouts and says "What…? I like a maturely aged man…"
Captain Claire was less impressed, as she says "I'm not sure how I feel about relying on Erebonia's most dangerous foes..."
Agate folds his arms in response, before saying "Hey now, nobody in Liberl wants to be a vassal state to Erebonia. Look at it from our perspective."
Claire sighs, finding Agate's blunt logic to be sound, so she says "You do have a point. And this isn't a situation to be picky about allies..."
Back at Class VII's group, Laura turns to Rean and says "That's the Divine Blade, correct?
Rean nods and says "Right. Besides Master Ka-fai, he was the foremost master of the Eight Leaves One Blade, though he no longer uses a sword. Arios MacLaine might be more skilled now, but he still practices with a sword."
When Laura hears that, she says "Either way, he might be one of the few who could stand equally with my father…"
But now that Cassius revealed himself, Weissmann began to clench his fist with anger, before asking "Why are you here?"
Cassius glares at the heretical bishop in response, before replying, saying "I could not sit by and allow you to seize victory. After needing to sit out while you were in that floating city, this is my way of paying you back, Faceless."
After that, Kevin walks up to Cassius and says "While I'm glad you're here, I don't know how much one more person will help… That bastard has an army backing him up…"
Cassius then scratches his chin and replies, saying "Kevin, you have the most experience with this place and its mechanisms. Look past his words. Are there not any limitations with operating this system? Any at all?"
Kevin thinks silently for a moment, before finally saying "You know what…? You've got a point! This place runs on the mental energy of its operator, and even a guy like Weissmann doesn't have an infinite supply…"
Cassius nods in response while saying "Then that might be our chance. In all likelihood, he summoned the amount that he did in order to break morale. As long as we break off into small groups, we should be able to hold them off while a few of us take on Weissmann himself."
Kevin reloads his crossbow when he hears that, before saying "Then I'm joining that group. There's no way I can let that heretic live a second longer…"
Joshua then walks up and says "Dad, I'll join you as well."
Cassius nods again and says "I thought you would. Very well."
Then, out of nowhere, Victor S. Arseid came out from a dark corner while saying "Fight to your fullest, Cassius! I'll keep things handled out on the frontlines…"
When Laura sees him, she steps back in shock before saying "Father? When did you arrive on campus?"
Victor laughs and says "Laura! His Highness requested I join him… I'm glad that he asked me to, especially after seeing this…"
But while the fighters present slowly broke off into small groups, Kevin scratches his hair and says "I know we've got you of all people helping, Cassius, but I can't help but feel inadequate by only having a 3-man team…"
In response to that, Vita approaches and says "Than allow me to join you…"
Joshua looks over at her, and says "Vita?"
Kevin then glares and says "And why would an Anguis help us fight Weissmann?"
Vita flatly replies, saying "Weissmann The Faceless is dead. The position of Third Anguis is already refilled. I merely wish to enforce that fact."
Weissmann smirks in response and says "How cold…"
But then, she looks toward Emma for a moment, before saying "Joshua, if my darling Emma was in your position and I was in Loewe's… I'm not sure if I could have soldiered on like he did. If this is my chance to honor his memory, then I will gladly oppose Weissmann alongside you…"
Joshua just smiles and says "That means a lot, Vita…"
Kevin then grins in response and says "Well that's good enough for me… Can't say I've ever teamed up with an Anguis before."
Vita merely winks and says "There's a first time for everything…"
After that, Cassius folds his arms and says "With that settled, let's get moving. This will be a test of endurance for everyone else, so we need to fight our hardest to stop Weissmann."
With that decided, Cassius, Kevin, Joshua, and Vita go off to battle Weissmann directly, while Victor organized the others to group up against the army of Loewe duplicates. Rean and Class VII decide that their best option would be to stay out of the fight, since someone like Leonhardt the Bladelord would be far too strong for them.
It seems like Weissmann's advantage was ripped away, leaving both sides now evenly matched, thanks to Cassius Bright's intervention…
Preview of the battle groups for next time (let's hope I didn't forget anybody! It's hard to organize so many characters. Falcolm really are the experts):
Olivert, Mueller, Neithardt & Vandyck
Sara, Thomas & Victor
Agate, Claire, Estelle, Tita, and Ries
Richard, Zin, Angelica & Towa
Bleublanc, Walter, Sharon & Renne
McBurn