Thunder echoed across the open plains outside Toldrin's walls as the Hellhounds charged forth in a mad sprint toward the city's gate. Olivia's time in the southern duchy allowed her to befriend and accrue debts from a few horse breeders which allowed her to purchase enough horses for the entire one hundred man knight order. The warhorses they rode upon were Sevette Stampedes; black horses with white stripes along their ribcage whose great muscles were bred for being able to carry and pull heavy loads while maximizing speed. Their name wasn't meant to mock them as cowards but was given since the sound of their thundering hooves caused lesser animals to stampede away from them in fear. Special plate armor hung from chainmail that adorned the horses with spikes fashioned atop the shin and knee guards of the horse's front legs and a long metal spike was fixed atop the horse's helmet giving it the appearance of a unicorn demon. Even weighed down by such heavy armor, the Sevette Stampedes continued their fifty-kilometer-per-hour charge.

"Form up!" Lucina cried over the deafening sounds of hooves from her place at the front of the charge and raised her sword into the air while giving it a twirl. The Hellhounds maneuvered themselves into a thin line that was five knights wide and twenty knights deep as they neared the enemy. Peltaira's outer troops were positioned into three lines along the walls near the gate: the first line was spearmen who were bracing themselves for the coming cavalry charge, and the second and third were a mix of swords, maces, and axes. Archers from atop the walls loosed a volley of arrows that descended upon the Hellhounds like rain, but the arrows deflected off their plate armor or embedded themselves into the shields the knights were holding high. "Swords!" Lucina barked when they were close and the four knights next to her, including Peter, all threw their shields to the side and held their great swords ready to strike. Seeing that they were charging without lances, the Peltairan spearmen started getting nervous at the strange behavior the Hellhounds were showing as they seemingly were going to crash directly into the waiting spears without faltering.

"Hold!" the leader of the group of spearmen the Hellhounds were charging toward called out to his men to try and keep them calm. He positioned his spear to strike at the gap in the armor around the lead horse's neck and he tightened his grip. "Hold!" The Hellhounds weren't deviating their course and their horses lowered their heads so that their helmet spikes faced forward. "Hol-!?!" As they braced for impact, the closest spearmen to the Hellhounds had their spears ripped from their hands as Lucina used her gravity magic on them. The spears impacted and dug into the dirt at their feet causing a brief moment of confusion that didn't even last long enough for them to register as the Hellhounds finally met the Peltairan's now weaponless line.

"No-!?!" A man tried to scream but was impaled by the lead horse's helmet spike and he was thrown into the air as the horse raised its head and threw the man aside. The spikes on the shin and knee guards dug and ripped into the defenders as the horses continued their charge seemingly unimpeded by running through the defenders. Men and women were trampled from the crash and had their bodies thrown to the ground so the following horses could crush them into broken, unrecognizable corpses. The knights wielding great swords swung their blades and cleaved through those they passed who were lucky enough not to be flattened under hoof. Blood sprayed upon the Hellhounds and they broke through Peltaira's first line where they began sewing chaos within the defenders.

"Spread!" Lucina cried as her knights began fanning out in the middle of Peltaira's forces. "No quarter!" To accent her point, Lucina sent a gale force wind through a group of Peltaira's second line of defenders causing them to lose their balance and stumble while her knights began the slaughter. Peter's blade erupted in an inferno of blue flames as he rode along the rear of the spearmen while taking long arcing swings that cut down multiple men with every pass. Carl was itching for a fight and led a group of knights directly into Peltaira's second line where he cut down the defenders he came across with his axe while his horse stomped, head-butted, and kicked the rest. Jeremy followed Carl's group since everyone's focus would be on the lunatic with an axe rather than him which allowed Jeremy to safely start picking off the archers on the wall with his bow while he steered his horse with his legs. Elise brought up the rear of the cavalry charge as she had a different task to accomplish. When she met the shattering line of spearmen, Elise stopped and jumped off her horse since earth magic could only be used while directly touching the ground. Spikes of stone erupted from the ground and impaled Peltaira's troops, hoisting their bodies into the air and dangling them like meat on hooks, creating a permanent gap in the first defensive line. Chaos reigned as the Hellhounds began their feast.

***

At the rear of Urldrusk's forces, even further than the catapults, was James and his retinue of knights and companions who were watching how the Hellhounds were doing through a spyglass. When he watched Lucina begin her mad dash toward Toldrin's walls he had a smile on his face and held a laugh in his chest as he believed he would bear witness to her embarrassing death. But his smile quickly faded as the Hellhounds not only didn't immediately die, they broke through the first line and were causing havoc to Peltaira's forces.

"By the gods…" a Golden Lion knight muttered as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Annoying to the last," James bitterly spat.

"Was this not to plan, brother?" Terence rode his horse up to James to gauge his younger brother's reaction. "I thought you sent the Hellhounds ahead because you knew this would happen which would allow our helsgar to get close enough to begin pelting their walls."

"How many times must I tell you not to call me 'brother'!? And also, how am I supposed to predict a monster?" James shot back and scowled at his brother.

"…" Terence gave a sad sigh before speaking, "Because that 'monster' is supposedly our royal family's dog. She's been creating absurd situations like this ever since she took command of the Hellhounds which everyone on the front, and anyone paying attention back home, knows about." He kicked his horse into a trot and left James behind while giving one final thought, "As a member of the royal family, your lack of knowledge about our conquest is embarrassing, Crown Prince."

"You-!?" James' pride took the hit and his fists clenched around the reins of his horse.

"Pay him no mind, Crown Prince!" one of the Golden Lions tried to win some points with James. "He throws empty insults at you since he knows the throne will never be his, so it's all he can do to keep up appearances as a prince."

"That's right! You are the future king of Urldrusk, Your Highness James!"

"…Of course." James continued to hide in the rear while his followers endlessly praised him, fueling his fragile ego to remain forever arrogant.

"…" Terence felt a bitter sting in his heart as he rode away from his brother. Their relationship wasn't always like this and he remembered a time he could openly call James his brother without the fear of being reprimanded. Those peaceful days were long gone, killed by his mother's ambition for the throne that saw the assassination of the former queen. Stephany being the culprit was the worst kept secret of the kingdom but without any concrete evidence, thanks to the intervention of Duke Ordrin, meant that she couldn't be convicted or dethroned. The snakes in the nobility and bootlickers looking for a position of power used this opportunity and poisoned James' innocence into bitter spite, turning him into the foolish prince he is today; all while their father turned a blind eye because he missed his first love. "This is far too rotten to save," Terence mumbled as he rode through his kingdom's forces to reach the cavalry at the front. "Duke Ordrin?"

"Prince Terence?" Richard was leading the Azure Hawks in a steady trot to keep pace with the rest of their forces, under the orders of James.

"Since I am without a retinue, may I borrow the Azure Hawks?" Terence rode up next to Richard and kept pace with him. "We are more than close enough that our escort mission is fulfilled as the helsgar will begin assailing the walls any second. We should not leave fate up to the Hellhounds alone!"

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"Well said, Prince Terence," Richard agreed with the sixteen-year-old prince and took the war horn off his belt. The bellow of his horn was picked up by the other cavalry divisions who all began picking up the pace to crash against the disorganized defenders. "Azure Hawks knights! We fly!" The open plains around Toldrin were met with a tidal wave of horses that raced toward the city's gates to catch up to the Hellhounds.

"…" If James ascended the throne then he would be a puppet for the loyalists, and if Terence ascended the throne he would be a puppet for Duke Ordrin and Mordrist. Terence bit his lip in apprehension as he prayed he could salvage enough power so that the Arlexton royal family wouldn't be completely wiped out at the end of this power struggle.

***

"What's the matter? Why aren't you attacking them!?" Breezeson questioned some of the archers atop the wall who had stopped shooting arrows.

"My Lord, they're too close! We're just as likely to hit our comrades as we are the Hellhounds!" the archer explained.

"And if you don't attack then only our comrades will die!" Breezeson barked back. There was a massive hole in their line of spearmen after Lucina ripped their weapons from their hands and broke through to the second line. The Hellhounds also weren't shy about rushing headlong into the thick of things as, even on horseback, they charged themselves into the waiting defenders seemingly without a care in the world. Even though his troops were managing to cut down a few of them, the Hellhounds were dealing far greater damage than the losses they were taking. "We must focus down-"

"My Lord!?" the watchman suddenly cried to grab Breezeson's attention. "The rest of Urldrusk's forces have begun their attack!"

"Already!?" Breezeson thought he would have more time to deal with the Hellhounds, but the sight of Urldrusk's cavalry charge sent fear down his spine. "Sound the horn for our spearmen to focus on the coming charge!"

"But they're being cut down by the Hellhounds!" the watchman reported as he watched Peter cleave through four men as he rode past them atop his horse.

"Then we must focus the Hellhounds on a different target," Chadman proclaimed and stepped forward while snapping his fingers.

"Do you mean…!?" Breezeson tried to ask a question but was interrupted as twenty-five soldiers appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The new troops were adorned with white and black robes that flapped in the wind and on the backs of their robes was sewn a long, serpentine dragon with a white bushy beard that flowed like a river.

"While half our order is forced to remain by the king's side, I shall personally lead the remaining Heavenly Dragon sect into battle." Chadman's proclamation was met with cheers from the archers on the wall. "See to our defenses, Breezeson. Do not allow our Jade to be tarnished."

"We will lay down our lives for Peltaira!" Breezeson shouted as he watched Chadman and the knight sect leap off the wall.

***

"Die, monst-!?" a Peltairan knight roared as he charged Lucina only to be compacted within his armor. The sight of his blood and guts shooting out of the armor's gaps demoralized the current group Lucina was dealing with after she abandoned her horse. The horse wasn't dead, but Lucina couldn't use all her magic while riding it so she let it go off and fight on its own since it was well-trained; it was currently helping Carl tear into a group of swordsmen. While many would think this made Lucina a sitting duck for the archers to pick off, Lucina was using her wind magic to make a constant stream of wind follow her that knocked away any arrows that flew her way. She wasn't feeling the least bit tired after using so much magic thanks to her increased magic reserves.

"Hmm," Lucina hummed to herself as she slowly walked through the carnage. The sounds of weapons clashing against shields and armor, horses neighing and whining as they trampled men under hoof, and the screams of the dying were all Lucina could hear. Her boots splashed in a puddle of blood and the stench of iron assaulted her nostrils as Lady Muz blessed the carnage. It was a world Lucina had grown both familiar and numb to. She turned around to see if the attack had begun and felt a smile play across her lips as she saw Urldrusk's cavalry join the fray. "Took you long enough."

"Now!" Thinking she was distracted, four knights jumped Lucina with their weapons raised for the kill.

"…" Blood splattered Lucina's back as she caused the four men's armor to implode on them spraying the area in a red mist. Without acknowledging the existence of her would-be killers, Lucina returned her gaze to the looks of fear plastered on the third line of defenders' faces as she and the Hellhounds had ripped a hole through the second line. "Hurry up and launch the helsgars, I want this to be over with." Lucina saw the fake Olivia standing in front of Toldrin's gates with a welcoming smile on her face. "…I want to go home."

"Indeed, soon this will be over!" A shout from above drew Lucina's gaze to the sky and she saw a giant of a man leap off the wall followed by twenty-five others. All twenty-six combatants landed on their feet as if unfazed by jumping from such a height and they stood tall and proud. "Though it will be the forces of Urldrusk that fall this day, Hellhound of the West!"

"The Saint! It's Saint Chadman!" the fear-filled faces of the third-line infantry all changed to those of excitement and relief as Chadman entered the battle.

"The Heavenly Dragon is here!"

"Our Bloodied Sister has not abandoned us!" The once shattered morale was reformed.

"Hear me, defenders of Peltaira! I have arrived!" Chadman's voice echoed across the battlefield demanding attention. "We, the Heavenly Dragon sect, will not see you crumble this day for you have all shown the hearts of warriors! Though you are tired, stand tall and proud as defenders of our home in the faces of our arrogant foes! Though you are distraught, steel yourselves as the day is far from over and we may grasp victory from the jaws of the invaders. Though-!" Interrupting his speech came a massive boulder which was launched from Urldrusk's catapults that Lucina yanked out of the sky with her magic and sent directly at Chadman. "HA!" White and black energy swirled and flowed like water around Chadman's hands as he struck the incoming boulder with his palm. The strike shattered the massive boulder sending its debris harmlessly into the dirt. Breathing out a sigh, Chadman's aura deactivated and he straightened himself up to stand as tall as he could while the dust settled around him. "It is rude to interrupt your senior, Hellhound," he chastised.

"You were putting me to sleep, despite being so loud," Lucina taunted back as she allowed the other boulders to fly unimpeded. Toldrin's wall shook from the impacts but remained standing and didn't appear to take much damage. "They aren't even using big enough boulders," Lucina complained when she noticed the sizes of the boulders James was having the catapults use.

"You come to our walls with such insignificant toys?" Chadman bellowed and brushed some debris off his shoulders. "I will have words with your king by this war's end for daring to send children while he hides himself away."

"Stop assuming you'll live," Lucina flatly stated as she was getting a headache from how loud Chadman was being. Stamping her foot, Lucina caused stone spikes to erupt out of the ground beneath the Heavenly Dragons to impale them.

"Foolish!" Chadman yelled as he and his twenty-five knights all leaped into the air and landed on the tips of the spikes completely unharmed. With his hands behind his back, Chadman continued to chastise Lucina, "You lack patience and underestimate your opponent! Even though you are a child, I would have expected you to be on the battlefield long enough to have heard stories of the Heavenly Dragons. Your ignorance disturbs me."

"Are you trying to teach me, now?" Lucina was getting annoyed.

"While we are enemies, it is the duty of the old to teach the young so that they may grow into better individuals. And you, Hellhound, are in dire need of teaching."

"I don't need your lessons, Heavenly Dragon." Lucina noticed that no one was attacking her anymore and all of Peltaira's defenders were giving her a wide berth; it was as if they were leaving her to Chadman. "And I do know who you are, I just don't take the time to learn more about cowards who hide in their capital while their kingdom burns."

"You da-!" One of the Heavenly Dragons tried to object but was swiftly silenced by a raised hand from Chadman.

"Unfortunately, being a coward was not by choice as my king ordered me to remain and protect him from the assassins your king loves to send," Chadman poked. "You also speak highly for someone who serves a 'coward who hid in their capital' as I don't recall your Crown Prince ever taking part in the war prior to today."

"That's because he's here to steal the credit," Lucina stated matter-of-factly which caused Chadman to burst out laughing. "…?"

"It seems we are both cursed with servitude to incompetent crowns," Chadman continued to laugh whole-heartedly much to the chagrin of his companions.

"…Shut up." Lucina felt her nerves start to fray as she was getting a worse and worse headache from Chadman's voice.

"Though it is late, I, Tao Chadman, greet you, Hellhound of the West! Know that this day you will fall and become another page in my legend for future generations to study from."

"Shut up!" The pounding in her head worsened.

"Are you losing your nerves when faced with-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Lucina lifted her left hand and created a tornado of dust and debris around the Heavenly Dragon knights.

"Such wind?" While Chadman knew of Lucina's exploits, seeing it was far different from reading a report. "But magic won't-" Chadman's words were drowned out as Lucina snapped the fingers of her right hand and ignited the tornado with her fire magic. The whirlwind of flames reached above Toldrin's walls as the fire burned to match Lucina's rage. Nearby Peltairan troops ran away from the flames that threatened to consume them, and the remaining Hellhound knights began gathering at Lucina's side upon seeing the fire tornado.

"…So annoying," Lucina spat to the side as her head continued to throb.

"Commander!? Are you alright?" Peter rode his horse next to Lucina and called down to the girl.

"Hah, so much for the Heavenly Dragon Saint!" Carl laughed as the fire tornado continued to burn.

"He's not dead," Lucina bitterly stated as she drank a magic potion.

"What do yo-!?"

"!!!" The fire tornado erupted and dispersed as the deafening roar of a monster shook the battlefield. From beyond the red-hot flames came waves of white and black energy that snuffed them away before coiling up into the air. The energy transformed and morphed its form into a long, serpentine body covered in luminescent scales with a spine of spikes. A long snout filled with razor-sharp teeth and whose long beard flowed like a river extended from a reptilian head that had the antlers of a deer extending out its back. Chadman's aura shaped itself into the terrifying visage of a member of the long-extinct dragon species, and it banished Lucina's magic since Chadman had mastered the technique to make himself immune to magic attacks.

"Your arrogance is beyond measure, and your power without check!" Chadman's voice dripped with anger as he stood at the head of his knight sect. Six Heavenly Dragon knights had been burnt to a crisp in Lucina's attack as they had yet to master the immunity technique, but that revealed the remaining nineteen members standing to be formidable Auristers. Chadman shed a single tear for his fallen comrades who had to die to such reckless hate and his body rippled with his aura that wafted off him in waves as he jumped off the stone spike and landed on the ground. "Hellhound, you are courting death!"