Fire Emblem Protagonist 28

“It will be a difficult battle, are you truly ready, Heitor?”

“As ready as I will ever be…” He looked around. “Though if you’re asking that question, we should be approaching the White Whale, right?”

Currently both him, Crusch, and Wilhelm were in an open carriage. It made it easy to watch for their surroundings, though the fact that night had fallen did leave him a bit worried. At least that shouldn’t matter too much for Priscilla who was in a carriage way further in the back. She wouldn’t be joining the fight unless his song became necessary.

As he had expected, she had made a division solely for healers on the back lines. Priscilla, Al, and Felt would all be there. Felix, Crusch’s trusted knight, would be too, although differently from those three who wouldn’t be doing much of anything, the Blue was actually leading that division of the army.

Crusch nodded to his question. “Yes. We are nearing the last place where my scouts had spotted the beast… Has your ability shown any signs of fully activating yet?”

“Not yet…” Heitor put a hand on his chin. “Speaking of my ability though, I spotted a concerningly low amount of archers in this little army you’ve formed.” 

The White Whale was a flying enemy, so his Fire Emblem knowledge was screaming at him to abuse it’s obvious weakness to Archer Units. Considering he had only spotted five or so in Crusch’s army so far… he was a bit worried.

Crusch frowned, clearly she felt the same as him. “It couldn’t be helped. I more or less recruited what I could find, that is to say, men who had grudges against the whale, and Lugunica has never had a specific part of the army devoted to archery.” That was insane to hear.

In his world’s culture archery had dominated the battlefield almost since the bow was invented. Though then again, this world barely used spears, which was another weapon that had dominated his world. Lugunica was mostly focused on swords and magic.

This Fire Emblem game sucked at balance. Why were so many people foot-locked sword units!? Was this hell!?

Crusch continued. “Still… I have plenty of mages, and I also purchased some magic canons from Lady Anastasia… Which were insanely expensive. But I suppose they are better than nothing.”

Heitor nodded. “I’m sure they will be useful.” And he was sure Anastasia was happy. “I’m surprised she was willing to sell weapons to a rival candidate though.”

“Indeed, I have the Fire Emblem to thank for that.” She put a hand on her chest. “I must confess, when that alliance was first founded I had my doubts, but today it will pay off.”

Because of the alliance she had strengthened her army with weapons from Anastasia, and also had grabbed a broken tactician from Priscilla. It would certainly make the fight with the White Whale a lot easier.

Crusch cleared her throat. “But if you will excuse me, I need to do… something.” Oh? 

With a blush, she turned towards the rider. “Give the signal for everyone to stop. We should be approaching the White Whale.” 

And with that, the man raised an arm to the sky and started using some kind of magic. It was night, so everyone could see its glow. Soon after, every carriage began slowing down.

Heitor tilted his head. “Are we going to set up a base of operations or something?” Maybe it was time to station their healers. He supposed that was wise. Not that his opinion mattered, Crusch was the leader of the army here.

“Yes, though… I also want to give a speech. Just to try and liven up morale.” Ah, that made sense. They were probably about to go into battle, after all.

Though Heitor had a feeling she also wanted to do something else. “Good luck. Though I’m guessing you also need to do that ritual of yours.” 

Crusch’s blush became more pronounced, proving that he had hit the mark. “Yes. In fact I might do it before the speech…” She began avoiding his gaze. “Is that… shameful…?” No woman should look so cute before a battle with a giant monster.

Heitor forced a smile on his face. Forced, because otherwise he would be straight up laughing. “Of course not. What matters is that you do it.” Shameful or not, as long as it did its job…

“Uhhmm… Sometimes I despise the wind.” With those words, Crusch jumped out of the carriage.

As she left, Wilhelm spoke up. “It’s surprising to see her like that. Lady Crusch is typically very composed… even amongst her closest friends.”

His voice actually spooked Heitor for a bit, seeing as the Sword Demon had stayed silent for the whole ride. “We have a… unique friendship.” It was probably because of the way their Supports had gone.

Crusch most likely cared way more for Felix, but Felix had never stumbled onto her changing… so their friendships worked in different ways.

“That aside… are you okay, Sir Wilhelm?” The man was trembling. Heitor just didn’t know if it was due to anger or fear.

“I’m fine.” The old man nodded. “Sorry, I’m a bit overwhelmed, so I felt like I needed to say something…” The man put a hand on his sword, and muttered to himself. “The day is finally here, Theresia…”

Theresia? That was… Well, Crusch did say she had gone after men with grudges against the whale.



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“For four hundred years, that beast has terrorized our lands! Now, we put an end to it! Not that dragon, not the Sword Saint, and not some Sage resting on a tower! Us! The future of Lugunica!” Crusch raised her sword up high.

Heitor sure felt like his spirits were being lifted, though differently from the men here he didn’t have the context for a lot of what the White Whale had done. He hadn’t lost a loved one to it, he hadn’t lost business opportunities to it… So Crusch couldn’t really make him feel any rage. Still, the sheer confidence on her voice was—

“Ugh.” Heitor grasped his head, as a fountain of information hit his head all at once.

It had been quite some time since his ability had activated at full force, so he hadn’t been ready for it. It also didn’t help that this was by far the most information he had ever received… The “Map” of this battle was immense, the type of map that would have people making jokes about Genealogy of the Holy War.

And so was the amount of units in it. He had expected them all to be green units, for this to work similarly to how armies had worked on things like Radiant Dawn… but no. He could “Command” every single soldier Crusch had bought. Literally hundreds of men.

He could also see the boss of this map far away. The White Whale… It was a juggernaut of proportions that no animal from Earth could reach.

It also had certain traits that made Crusch ill equipped to deal with it. Not good.

It also has a Bullion XL as a drop! Heitor still didn’t even know what Gold was for, but he still wanted the damn thing! That was the first time he saw a bullion!

But he didn’t have time to waste thinking greedy thoughts, so he informed Crusch. “My ability activated, I can see the White Whale.”

Crusch, who was still cheering the men on after her speech, suddenly had her face morphed into shock. She waved for him to get closer.

There was now a great height disparity between them. Mostly because Crusch was now on top of an Earth Dragon, while Heitor had yet to start riding the one that she had lent him. And he didn’t even know if he would be capable of doing such a thing in the first place. It really was a mystery how his power would react to it.

Heitor approached her, and bowed. “Lady Crusch.” Since she was surrounded by her men, it was best to act as polite as possible.

“Lord Heitor.” Lord huh? Well, he was married to Priscilla. “Fill me in on the situation. At what capacity is your power working on? Can you see our enemy? Its weaknesses?” 

“My power is working at full capacity… I can see every man we have, and communicate with them. I can see our enemy too… They’re pretty far away however. My ability has spread around a truly massive area.” It made his battle against Petelgeuse's group seem small.

Crusch’s jaw hit the floor. “You…” And then she let out a sigh. “Here I was, talking about not needing any of the three heroes and their legacies, when I have quite possibly the greatest weapon Lugunica has ever seen at my side.”

Heitor preened at her words. “I’ll just relay your orders, so I won't hog too much glory.”

“I doubt that… but I knew the risks when I sought your aid. That matter aside, you will have a much better view of the battle than I, so if you feel it’s necessary to act, act.” Heitor nodded, knowing the battle would get confused. “Tell me, what are the weaknesses and strengths of the whale?”

Heitor opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself. It was probably better to relay this information through his ability. If any of the men overheard it, it might harm morale.

It was better to control the spread of information amongst the army. “Let’s start with the obvious. The Whale is a massive enemy who can fly away whenever it wants… It’s not that fast though. It also has two mists that it can generate with its mana, one that erases someone from existence, or more accurately makes that person be forgotten.”

“It also has a mist that makes one go insane. I now know how that mist works, it affects those with great mana capacity more.” Heitor should have a decent amount of protection against it, since his MAG stat was shit.

Crusch’s let out a silent gasp. Just like that, Heitor had revealed a massive fact about one of the world’s greatest monsters with a single look.

Heitor continued. “That isn’t all… It’s scales dissipate foreign mana, so it’s highly resistant to magic.” Seeing as Crusch was heavily relying on magic for her attack plan, that wasn't good. “It can also clone itself… though that isn’t a problem. It would split its power between the copies, and if the original dies, the rest will die too, and I think I would be able to see the original.”

At least that ability Heitor could counter pretty easily. It was the White Whale’s last trump card, and it would only use it if it needed to run away from the battle. It would overwhelm most people for obvious reasons, but he would know who to attack and end the fight.

Heitor put a hand on his chin. “By far the most worrying thing is that it can be controlled by the Archbishop of Gluttony… I don’t know if this means the cult might interfere on the fight, or if the whale will start acting more intelligently, but it’s something worth keeping in mind.”

In a way, he was about to fight another Archbishop, even if Gluttony wasn’t around—

Crusch started laughing. Laughing so hard that Heitor, and the confused men around her were startled into taking a step back, those who were on top of an Earth Dragon almost falling off their mounts.

“Um… are you okay, Lady Crusch?” He couldn’t read her. 

Heitor truly wished Priscilla was at his side at this moment, his wife had always been great at reading people.

Slowly, her laughter subdued. “I’m okay, sorry.” She pinched her nose. “Thank you for your help, were it not for you, my father would be receiving his daughter in a casket. If he even had the capacity to remember me after this doomed battle.”

“...” He didn’t even know what to say.

Crusch’s face eventually lost all trace of laughter. “So, tell me… would retreat be wise? What do you think?” Conflict was written all over her features.

It was simple, she had bet on magic, and the White Whale resisted magic. So perhaps it was best to retreat and live to fight another day. Even if that would be a massive hit to her campaign. 

Crusch’s popularity existed due to two reasons. Her noble blood, and her military accomplishments. If she made a blunder and was forced to retreat, she would lose a great amount of support.

The fact that she was asking the husband of a rival of hers for advice when it came to such important matters showed one thing… That she truly trusted him.

Heitor knew this could be done, he would not fail that trust. “No, but we should be careful. Let’s use magic that makes solid objects, like making ice with Fire Magic, and using Earth Magic.” He hummed. “Wind Magic also seems to be strong against it, because it can mess with its flying. That thing is not flying through natural means, after all.”

In other words, Wind Magic was effective against fliers…! Since the White Whale essentially had an anti-magic skill though, bows would definitely have been better.

Confidence returned to her face. “That is most reassuring. I’ll need your help to organize the cannons though, they are all charged with normal fire crystals… And all my mages have been instructed into using Goa…” She really had been running straight into a massive loss.

“I’ll do as you say, you’re the leader here.” Though he imagined she wasn’t feeling much like one now. “Crusch, please don’t lose faith in your capabilities because you lack a cheat like mine. I know you will be able to do this.”

She chuckled. “Perhaps comparing myself to the next Reinhard Van Astrea really was foolish.” Hey, Heitor didn’t like comparing himself to Reinhard either, the guy was just absurd.

“...” She stayed silent for a moment. “Heitor, I have been thinking this since I first saw your ability in action, but… be careful. One day kingdoms might go to war over you.”

There was no denying his ability was scary, but he didn’t even want to think about such a possibility. “Can we all please go to war over Reinhard first? I’m too shy to be the starting guy.”

She snorted. “Hah! You speak as if that has not almost happened in the past.” For real!? “Wars aside, please get on top of an Earth Dragon, I would like it if you also gave a speech. My commanders already know of your ability, but hearing you talk about it is bound to raise morale far higher than what that whale can fly.”

A speech huh…? Heitor wasn’t sure he was really ready for such a thing. Not because he couldn’t do it, but because he would have liked some warning first! Then he could try and write something!

But if he was suddenly put on the spot, then he would do his best to impress. “No need for that, Lady Crusch.”

The purpose of getting on top of an Earth Dragon was to grab people’s attention. To stand above the rest of the men, but that was all unneeded for Heitor. He had far better means of doing so.

“My comrades.” He spoke to the minds of every single person in the map, even to Priscila. “Please don’t be alarmed, this is just my ability. I am the man who slayed Sloth, so hopefully that helps everyone calm down.”

It did to some, it didn’t to others. Heitor could see everyone, every reaction of theirs. “I’ve been asked to give some words, since I’ll be the one relaying Lady Crusch’s orders throughout the fight with the White Whale.” 

That should have clarified some things. “Now, I could give everyone a speech about revenge, or about making the world a better place by killing that beast that even now I can see with my power, but… Those words would ring empty. Devoid of feeling. I have never lost anything I loved to that monster, it has not taught me hell."

He summoned his sword, and raised it. It would only affect those near him, but it was still better than nothing. "So what I offer you instead is reassurance. I have seen the beast, its abilities, its weaknesses, everything, and thus I know… This is a battle that can be won! The hopes, the memories, the longing, the despair that shines in each and every of your swords can cut through its scales!”

“Its flesh can be pierced, its twisted heart made to pay! So lend me your strength, and let’s tear that monster asunder!”



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Heitor didn’t know if he regretted his speech or not.

He didn’t feel ashamed of it, even now. After all, he had made it up on the spot. But maybe using his power to deliver it had too much of an effect… Because even now, after the army had marched to the White Whale, and reached the beast… 

People were not looking at Crusch, they were looking at him.

Which was embarrassing when he was almost falling from his Earth Dragon. Though he was glad that he could at least ride it. His ability had not given him any special skill with it though, so Heitor was pretty sure he would fall off the damn thing when it mattered the most. Hopefully he would be able to keep up with Crusch, since he needed to transmit her orders to the rest of the army.

Speaking of that, the other problem with all the men waiting for his signal was that this was Crusch’s army damn it! He didn’t feel guilty when she was the one who ordered him to do it, but he didn’t mean to steal so much of her thunder.

And then he noticed that Crusch was looking at him, as if waiting for something.

Was she scared of the White Whale too? Just like the rest of her men? Heitor supposed that was to be expected, he had been seeing the thing for a few hours now, but this was her first look at it.

It was massive, big enough to cover the skies.

Well, if Crusch wanted him to do it, then he would give another speech to the men. It didn’t matter whether it was a good speech or not, his power basically guaranteed it would be somewhat impressive.

…No. He had stolen enough glory. It was time for Crusch to step-up and remember that she was just as amazing as any Reinhard Van Astrea or Fire Emblem protagonist.

So he did use his power, but only on her. “[I]What are you waiting for? I’m sure you did your cute little ritual already, or do you need to do it again?[/I]”

In front of the White Whale, who was following their instincts as a Maebeast and slowly approaching the group of humans it wanted to have for lunch… Crusch Karsten blushed. He was pretty sure she would be scolding him for this later.

But for now, she raised her sword, readying herself.

Such a thing wouldn’t be seen as all that impressive after her ally had talked to every soldier of hers through their minds though. She needed something more. Something to truly start this battle.

And she knew just what would work. “One blow!” She swung her sword in the direction of the beast, launching a wave of wind at it. “One hundred felled!” It was her signature kill steal move that he had grown to hate.

It was also incredibly powerful, ripping a huge chunk of the beast’s face. Its scales did their best to diminish the damage, but… the Whale was a flier after all! 

That aside… Heitor felt some kind of meter being filled. It must have been the bar needed to use songs.

Crusch pointed her sword at the wounded monster. “That thing has made the earth we stand on a living hell while hiding in the skies for far too long! Let’s bring it down and cut its disgusting horn!”

And so, the battle officially started.