"Stop Neila! Why're you doing this?!" Byleth called out as she sprinted after the carriage, as it has begun to slow down. Pulling out her bow, she begun to aim to try and hit the horse, anything that could stop it from moving.
From afar she noticed someone jumping out of the carriage, someone with white and yellow robes crash against the dirt and rock. It was the hooded girl inside, who has spoken against Adachi. "Are you alright? Can you walk?"
"Yes, thank you for coming to assist me..." Covering her green hair as Byleth helped her up, she saw footsteps rushing from the carriage. "L-Look out!"
"Why?! Because of the war, Byleth!" Byleth brought her sword up just in time, barely getting cut by a sharp blade. Her shoes were practically digging into the ground, struggling to move as Neila's gigantic sword was pushing her to the floor.
"So many have died... Thousands have died, only for them to just make up at some academy...! What about the victims?!"
"Neila..."
Bang!
"N-Neila!" Byleth watched as the mercenary fell to the floor, clutching her chest in pain as footsteps could be heard from behind. A quiet strut, tired smile and now a kick to his step, Adachi had now come onto the scene.
"If you're gonna call yourself a freedom fighter, you'll have to surprise me more. You shoulda' just done your job." Spinning a revolver around his finger, Adachi smirked as he approached the downed merc. Now standing above her, Adachi felt a cold glare from his ally as his full attention on Neila.
Not that it mattered, their betrayer now bleeding a puddle right in front of them.
"What? Don't give me that look, she was about to stab you..." Adachi brought his hands defensively, justifying his need to shoot Neila. Byleth knew Neila could've done something rash, and she was almost certain she could've handled it. But the risk was there, and Adachi wouldn't take any chances.
Things had already gotten messy enough.
"I will not die... I still have to end this...!"
Huh? Adachi turned back to the downed mercenary, noticing her body turn entirely black. Dark liquid oozed around Neila's body, her silver armour completely covered in muck. Adachi's head slowly rose to look up, the merc now towering over both him and his blue-haired acquaintance.
Byleth stood back in shock as her former allies body started to change.
"I don't believe it," Adachi was astounded at the sight, he was all too familiar with what was happening before him. The black ooze, the weird red waves and the disturbing screams. This 'Neila' was about to awaken something she never knew she had.
"You might wanna step back kid," He said, slowly moving his hand to push Byleth back. The black ooze grew tremendously, now towering over the carriage as everyone looked in horror. What followed was a shock to Byleth and the remaining lady.
Is that... A horse slowly trotted from the scene, as a burst of wind blew Adachi and Byleth away. Byleth tried to regain her footing, managing to catch herself by rolling backwards. Adachi's body flung into a tree, injuring him as he blurred out swears.
"Adachi!"
"D-Don't look at me! The goddamn horse-!" Byleth quickly turned to find a ball of wind thrown at her face, she didn't have enough time to react as it collided. She felt her head ring as a huge burst of air was blasted in her face. Stunned, she couldn't think straight as the armoured monster finally revealed itself.
"You will not take this away from me..." It was relatively short figure, with a long pike that it aimed towards Byleth. The dark red horse neighed loudly, changing its course as it charged straight at the distant mercenary. Adachi sweared to himself, she's gonna get herself killed!
Adachi brought his hand up, aiming towards the galloping pikeman. He screamed out Zio, as a bolt of lighting went flying towards the horse. Striking the ground in front, the armoured figure stopped in time. "You dare...!"
Shit, now I gotta think of a plan... But my back... Adachi tried to get up, but his legs gave in as he tumbled back to the floor. He couldn't move properly after that collision with the tree, Adachi was surprised he wasn't broken in half.
"How could you understand?!" It threw its spear at Adachi, who was struggling to stand up as it barely missed his head. Hitting a tree, Adachi raised his hand for a reaching motion. The former police-officer grinned, as the familiar blue glow came down to him. The knight gasped, realising what he was about to do. "You are a W-"
"Time for some fun, Magatsu-Izanagi!"
In one swift motion, he crushed the card above him. The lady of royalty, Lily, has been watching the entire time as a figure began to form behind Adachi. It's features were indescribable, still a phantom in the eyes of both her and the wielder himself. She saw his look of momentary surprise, before turning his attention to the armoured knight.
The armoured horse-rider would not back down, summoning the same winds that was thrown at the man named Adachi. He chuckled, shrugging as the dark figure flew in front of him. It took the blow flawlessly, with Adachi groaning as he fell to his knees.
"Son of a... Hits harder than I thought," Adachi got back up, seeing the armoured figure trying to rush him with his pike aimed right at his persona's head.
"Not gonna happen." Magatsu-Izanagi caught the pike-man by the tip, his grip tightening as its horse tried to run. Lily watched the ghost overpower it, the horseman helpless as Adachi tore it apart bit by bit. It was disturbing for her to watch, closing her eyes as she refused to watch.
Lily winced as she could still hear the screams of agony from the knight, hearing a male voice slowly distort.
By the time she turned back, the armoured figure was gone, with Adachi standing before a black puddle. A body slowly began to rise from the puddle, the silver armour being a clear sign as to who this was.
Neila was back, and she was unconscious.
Byleth, who had finally come to, saw the scene before her. Before Neila could regain consciousness, a shoe pressed down onto her neck.
"You really put us in a bad spot, almost got civvies killed..." The two watched as he brutally stomped her head, Neila whimpering in pain as she tried to shield herself. Adachi kept his foot on her head, his anger slowly seeping through his grin. She wasn't getting off that easily.
"You need proper punishme-"
"She's doesn't deserve to die...!" Magatsu-Izanagi's blade was inches away from her neck, as Adachi slowly turned to Byleth. Watching her former acquaintance bleed out in front of her, spitting out blood. Neila was one of many mercs she had met when moving around with her father, knowing her to be a very kind individual despite her brash nature.
Adachi saw the look in Byleth's eyes and groaned, was she really considering saving her?
It was so familiar...
"Jeez, you kids keep digging yourselves deeper..." Adachi took a few steps back, his golden irises disappearing as he walked to a nearby tree. It was enough for Byleth, who quietly thanked him for not murdering her former acquaintance.
Leaning onto a nearby tree, Adachi observed Lily approach Byleth to talk. What it was? He wouldn't know, and he doesn't care.
......
"Thank you for the help, Adachi..." Both of them stood over a pile of ashes, as she watched it slowly drift in the wind. Neither of them had expected things to end this way, with Byleth feeling more dejected than her acquaintance.
Adachi had the defeated Neila, lifted on his shoulder.
She knelt down to the ashes, reaching out to what looked to be the remains of a bandit. Letting her hand pass through the soft ashes, the last bits flew away. Adachi had already begun walking back to the girl of royalty, seeing her alone sitting by a tree. "Why did she turn into that...?"
Adachi stopped, turning back to Byleth who stood up. She was just as confused as everyone else, with Adachi looking more annoyed than anything else. He really didn't want to have a serious conversation after everything that's happened. "Huh?"
"When she turned into that beast, you knew how to defeat it... How?" Byleth asked, as Adachi stood with his hands in his pocket. The hooded girl was staring at him now, more curious than anything.
Adachi begrudgingly threw his hands up in defeat.
"I went for their weak spot, surely you guys gotta understand what that means right?" Adachi said, waiting for them to nod in agreement. They did not, Byleth continued staring at him with a blank expression. He groaned, they were prompting him to elaborate even more...
He didn't have time for this.
"Listen- We still have a mission to do, and I don't wanna get hunted down if we get mystery girl to her destination one hour too late!" Adachi pleaded with the three to drop the conversation, a sweat dropping from his tired expression. After what seemed like minutes of silence, Byleth nodded. Picking up a bandits hoodie and handing it to Lily.
"Take this, you don't want to be recognised do you?"
———
Well that was pretty long, longer than most chapters I've made. I really wanna make more interactions between Adachi & Byleth, but I think I should move on soon...
Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D