Fire Emblem: Binding Blade Part #16 - Rescue Mission or, Wolt of the North Star

Part 16: Rescue Mission or, Wolt of the North Star

Chapter 13: Rescue Mission or, Wolt of the North Star

Or should that be Fist of the Wolt Star?

...Fist of the North Wolt?

I DON'T KNOW stop giving me so many things to choose from!

ahem

She also forms a loyalist group to combat the revolutionaries.

Also let me apologize for the size of this update.

It got kinda huge.

With so much power, the revolutionaries easily push the loyalists out of Eturia.

Roy learns that Cecilia has been forced back by the revolutionaries.

The loyalists are under attack by both revolutionaries and Bern's military. With such adversity, the loyalists' forces have little time...

So we get to bring a fairly sizeable force this time. I'm actually going to drag Merlinus' useless behind along because I have a fuckton of things I want to sell, and also Shanna because she is marginally better than her sister and the arena on this map is her last chance to not be Benched Forever.

Sire, the loyalists led by General Cecilia fight harder than anticipated...

She interferes in my work yet again!

King out of fucking nowhere!

Cecilia is so screwed

So screwed.

Just this moment. The general from Eturia fights well, I see.

Yes, Your Majesty... But everything will soon be under our control.

Allow me. I will squash her myself.

These arms could use some exercise. It's no bother.

Well, it was nice knowing you, Cecilia, except some asshole spoiled that she's joining my army so I don't even get to be concerned for her safety

I guess I'll let Roy do it for me, good luck spoiling him.

The castle has yet to fall, Lord Roy.

Good! We still have time.

Here is our starting position, and right next to it,

Horrible Ballista Jerk #1,

and Horrible Ballista Jerk #2,

and their asshole mate who covers the same tiles as HBJ#1, just as an added fuck you.

In turn, I say,

enjoy your special delivery of Wolt.

Jerrot will be taking most of the group as well as a horseslayer on the upper path.

Nothing much happens on our first turn.

...King Zephiel...

You fight well. I reward you with the honor of dueling me.

......

Go get him Cecilia, I'm sure you'll do just-

-fine

...

you did not do fine, how are you this awful

You're too... powerful...

Like hell she's "unconscious", Fire Emblem characters die when they hit zero health, and you hit her for three points short of thrice her maximum HP.

I suppose it was foolish to expect a challenge from an Eturian.

If you would allow it, Your Majesty, will you leave her to me?

Why?

She has caused me... certain difficulties. I want to see that she suffers for them.

Hmph. Very well. Do as you wish.

You! Ready a cell in the dungeon!

Such a creep.

Such a creep.

oh and the other enemies did some things too I guess. Wolt does not care about your ballista.

He does care about being set on fire. But not a whole lot.

Holy shit this map is full of dialogue.

Yes, sir.

...This wasn't in the agreement. They promised to leave Eturian matters to us of Eturia.

What shall we do?

Was it General Narcian who made the order to attack the castle?

No, sir. It was King Zephiel himself.

Really! The king himself...

Yes, sir!

'Course, we have to get in on it too.

Yes... We were too late.

Is General Cecilia all right?

There's no report of her death, but it looks grim...

There's still a possibility that she's alive. We can't give up on her. We must hurry!

Lance "hurries" by missing this archer and forcing me to spend two actions killing him

Allen performs better against his target, the mage below.

So here's the reason Jerrot wanted that horseslayer. Even then, he still can't one-round this paladin!

Gah! I did not want to see that smug mug of yours again so soon, Narcian, don't you have a hole in the ground somewhere to go crawl into or something?

Bring her before me.

Guinivere. So good to see you.

Zephiel, why? Why do you continue this war? So many innocent people have died...

Innocent, you say? Pah. Jealousy, vanity, greed... Men kill because of these petty emotions all across the realm. How can you say they are innocent?

I...

The world must be liberated from these trivial creations of man. That is the purpose of this war.

But... so many people are being killed in the process.

A few worthless lives are a fair trade for the change I desire.

Guinivere, you are my only sister. My only surviving blood relative. As such, I forgive you this time, but I shan't the next. You would do well to remember that.

......

Narcian! Is the head of Guinivere's guard present?

Good. Have her take Guinivere back to Bern. Also have her ensure the Fire Emblem is returned to the Shrine of Seals.

Of course, Your Majesty.

Your brother's a douche.

I hope you don't like him too much, 'cause I'm going to one-round him with my iron sword.

Jerrot gets to work on the paladin's entourage, all of whom he can one-shot with the horseslayer. It was not worth it.

There are a couple of cavs and a paladin on the lower bridge as well, behind the archers. One of them thought it would be a good idea to throw a javelin at Wolt.

I would admire his stupidity, if I wasn't giddy with anticipation.

Meanwhile, in the castle...

Your Highness, I am pleased to see you safe.

Your Highness?

W-what are you doing?! Put that sword down before you hurt yourself!

Let me free, Quarth!

What?!
...And what will Your Highness do if she is freed?

...I understand that Roy and the Lycian Army are nearby...

You would join the enemy?!

I cannot sit idly by and watch as the world is overrun by Bern's forces... No matter the reason, it is still the same violent conquest. What kind of future will this war lead us to...?

......

Quarth, I ask you to let me go.

...There is just...

Yes?

There is just one thing I wish to ask, Your Highness.
When you left Bern, why did you not ask me for my opinion...?

I didn't want you to be branded a traitor like me.

Does Your Highness honestly think I would ever pay any mind to that? I serve Your Highness before I serve Bern. It has been so since I was knighted.

Quarth...

If you tell me to let you go, then with pleasure, I will. I ask only one favor of you. Allow me to accompany you.

So when you two join the group, you come with a pre-set A support, right...?

Anyway they hop on Quarth's flying lizard and somehow manage not to get shot down by Wolt.

What? Soldiers, let her through!

She could be a messenger. There is no honor in killing a messenger.

......

Merlinus is like "I don't know why I even try". Poor guy, we're giving him grey hairs.

...Yes. And you are?

Princess Guinivere?! You're unharmed!

Yes... I escaped with her assistance.

R-really?

Yes, truly. She is gravely wounded, but she is alive. She is locked in a cell in the castle.

Thank you! We have to rescue her!

Quarth at least had the sense to park her lizard outside the range of the ballista... barely.

She claims her growths are HP 75, Str 50, Skl 50, Spd 45, Lck 25, Def 20, Res 5, but I'm pretty sure her speed growth is at least three times that.

Either way, she's getting the fuck away from that sniper because it would be terribly embarrassing to get shot down before she can even get a kill.

Shanna manages to gain strength finishing up another of the cavs around Jerrot.

Fir gets the last one. Can she make something of it?

...ehh, kinda.

Noah takes care of the paladin. I am not terribly amused. But it is time.

It will build up your muscles when you use it.
...It might make the ladies a little less attractive, though.

Jerrot is out of horses to slay and visits the village only to run into this fuckwit. Look at him. Look at how wrong he is. There is nothing more attractive than a character who can fucking lift their weapon without a speed penalty unlike some people I could fucking mention and I would be throwing these things out like confetti if I only could.

...So yeah, it's a body ring, which increases constitution. You all know what constitution does, right? Good.

Yes, the dragons are prepared to fight at your command.

Narcian.

I want you to go with your troops to Nabata after cleaning up here.

Nabata? The desert lands to the east ot here?

Correct. There is tell of a hidden village in the desert. Dragons have supposedly been living there since the Scouring.

Ah, now I understand... A legendary weapon is likely hidden there.

Precisely. It must not fall into enemy hands. I sent some men in already, but they seem to be outnumbered.

Leave it to me, Your Majesty. The village shall be ours.

...I trust that it will. Do not disappoint me.

You can rest easy, Your Majesty! By my honor as a Wyvern General, I will not fail you!

So in other words, it's up to us to make sure he does.

Spear through the face? One damage. And this is the most noteworthy thing to happen this entire round.

Did you treat my wounds?

Yes... I'm not an expert, however... My work may leave something to be desired...

No, it's fine. Thank you. We must find a way out of here...
...Ow...!

But I must do something...

Everything will be fine... I see a light... It will arrive shortly...

A light?

Yes... A light that will aid us... We must wait patiently...

Who are you...?

I am Sophia... A shaman of Arcadia...

What is Arcadia?

I will tell you more later... For now, please just trust me...

I know I won't trust you with my spare punctuation, you'll go through it in like six dialogue boxes, holy shit... and now you have me doing it

The Lycian Army!

Kill a couple more dudes, Narcian time again.

What?! Flaer, you cad! I thought you took care of them at Jutes!

I did! Well... I left a dragon to deal with them... I never through they would survive!

Roy's Boys: 1, Dragons: 0.

Disregarding your failure, my reputation is at stake!
They defeated a dragon, so they must be more hardy than I expected. Yet if I can't defeat them here, people will doubt my ability...

I've been doubting it for about 11 chapters now, hope this helps

General Narcian... What should we do...?

There is only one thing we CAN do... Flaer. I will return to Aquleia and prepare to face the Lycian Army. You stay here.

M-me...? Stay here?

Don't worry. I don't expect you to defeat them. All I want is for you to hit them as hard as you can and soften them up a bit.

General Narcian! You intend to use me as fodder?!

Flaer... In truth, you should be executed for failing to take the Western Isles. I am giving you one last chance to prove that you aren't a complete failure. You should thank me, if anything. Hm hm hm...

But...!

......

Yes... sire... I understand.

Good. Then I bid you adieu.

Narcian could actually be a pretty entertaining douchebag antagonist if just looking at him didn't make me feel like I need a shower.

Back in the land of much nicer people on wyverns...

Quarth gets her first kill

On to more important matters, however.

+4 magic! Aaaand he can now use staves. Hey Saul, how does it feel to be obsolete...?

Even the three Wyvern Generals of Bern are no match for them.
...That's what I'd like to think, anyway.

Unable to promote, Chad just goes and visits the nearby house.

Hmm... hmhmhm... I know this is a waste since Wolt already hit level 20, but...

Yes... yes!

It's not worth showing us wiping out the pathetic wretches that try to stand in our way, but I'm going to show you Lance stealing Roy's vulnerary because Lance needs it and Roy does not.

Roy is awesome like that.

Jerrot is almost over the upper bridge. He is in ballista range now, but I figure he should be able to take it... even if the one on top is a killer ballista.

In the end though, the guy never fires it. Yay, I guess?

All right, no more diversions. It is time. Wolt, embrace your full potential!

A sniper is born!

Sadly there's not much for him to snipe, since most of the remaining enemies are up here. Jerrot may have a horseslayer, but some of those aren't horses and this may be a bit rich even for his blood. He retreats so he doesn't get swarmed.

Hold on, you're not allowed to have those!

Meanwhile, Noah takes a crit... for 12 damage.

Maybe kinda sorta a little bit overpowered.

Three guys between Roy and the boss. The one on the right is a Hero, promoted merc, but not much stronger than the others.

Next time I need a wyvern shot, I'll ask someone else.

Fir is helping!

Reinforcements? From behind?

...oh wait it's just another group of the exact same enemies we've already killed more than once.

We're leaving.

What? Are you sure?

Bern's actions are an insult to Eturia. I cannot aid Bern any further. We must return to Aquleia. I will inform General Douglas of this and plan a new course of action. Fall back at once!

Yes, sir!

And they all run off, including the guy on the ballista. The cavalier on the left is the only one who's left.

Too bad for him! He could still mess things up while I'm setting up to take on the reinforcements, so...

he has to go.

His only outstanding stat is HP, but he's decent-ish at everything.

Quarth isn't really in a condition to fight the cavs, so she gets to chase down this poor helpless troubadour instead.

Roy can't one-round this guy with his iron sword... or his steel one, either!

But he can level up off the chipping. Not too shabby for a guy who gets badmouthed so much!

but I don't know how to use it. It's a nice sword though, isn't it? The last one to use it was a kid named Al. He was a courageous one, and he stood up to Bern, just like you.
Here, I'll give it to you. Use it to end this war!

Lance visits the village.

And gets another nod to a character I've never heard or cared about.

The troub runs off to heal. Let the game of cat and mouse commence!

We're set up to take one hit from the paladin... and nothing else.

You'll run out of vulnerary eventually!

Meanwhile, the group in the south has no trouble dealing with the hero and would-be heroes after they dull their weapons on Wolt's iron body.

And once that's done, we can take a peek in the house.

Loyal and hard-working to the end. That's what I call a real man...

Have you met Wolt? I hear he's single.

The plan worked perfectly, the pally is weak and the rest are lined up for the slaughter. Dorothy borrows the killer ballista.

She appears to be having a little more trouble dealing with it than Wolt, who probably has the strength (and con) to just lift it up and carry it on his shoulder like a fantasy bazooka, but won't do it because it wouldn't be sporting (and because he likes to see the results of his handiwork up close and personal).

Every group like this has one asshole with a killer lance and he Needs To Go.

Gone.

Ogier gets the paladin. They're good exp, as always.

Get over here!

Quarth can't kill her, but she can level up off the chip damage.

Not helping, Fir!

I can't set Shanna up for a kill, so I feed her this robe she's been carrying around for most of the map and I forgot about as soon as Narcian started being creepy.

Fine. Creepier.

The southwest now?

But it's well timed, we're almost done. Shanna finally gets a kill!

And Chad levels up finishing the last guy.

Time to get started on the last buildings.

King Zephiel is more powerful than any of us could have imagined...

Eh, I'm pretty sure he's going to be, like, the final boss or something. It comes with the territory.

What am I going to do with all these fucking lockpicks?

...Sell them, of course, along with the gems.

The reinforcements... decide to head for the upper bridge instead of Roy and company straight across?

Well, since the reinforcements are ignoring them, Roy's boys make their way up to the castle so they can deal with this toad instead.

But I am a knight of Bern! I will not surrender!

Your surrender is not required. Wolt, do you have something to add?

Thank you Wolt.

I am... nothing... next to Bern's greatest warriors... You will be defeated eventually... Be sure of it...

What's that? I couldn't hear you over all the dying you're doing.

Also I have AlLance carry the less mounted characters up so they can participate in the slaughter.

"Heh. This isn't even..."

"...my final form!"

Oh, and before I forget, I may have been fucking with the level cap a teensy little bit.

I'm still going to consider 20 the max for any normal characters, but for the ones who'd otherwise be screwed by that cap, I'm just going to ignore it. And if it means we see enemies take advantage of the new caps... well, it's only fair!

Let's get started on the conga line of suicidal cavs. Fir gets strength!

Killer lance guy Has To Go.

Meanwhile, Merlinus has sold most of the junk and is that a killing edge buyable straight up over the counter with no secret shop shenanigans or anything?

I'll take 20.

If you want to know how the rest of the clash on the big bridge goes, imagine this repeated like a dozen times.

Chad leaves them low enough on health that I can continue spoon-feeding Fir exp. Not helping!

Shanna, meanwhile, shows her up considerably.

Clarine not so much, but no one really cares about Clarine.

...

I'll have Shanna hunt you down.

...

Why did you come back?! Well fine, if you don't want to drag things out, I'll oblige.

uh I may have bought ~~too many killing edges~~ EDIT: there is no such thing as too many killing edges!

...but it means I'll have to sell something else, like one of the lockpicks I was saving. Pretty sure I have enough for the rest of the game, and if not, oh well, I'm sure there'll be someone to steal them from at some point.

Quarth is off to a poor start, but lives through this with 3 HP.

Healing the fighters is profitable. If I had another guiding ring, I'd promote Saul at sub-20 levels just to get him that extra move and actual damage, but alas.

It's time for a montage!

Well not really.

I'll just show this...

...and the results of Fir's training. She's still made of wet tissue paper, but she can actually damage things and her HP is sort of respectable thanks to that robe. Next!

...Not the strongest start.

Or the strongest end result.

Clarine's just kinda crappy. Sad.

Saul has... really shitty magic. I'm starting to rethink that whole promotion thing, I'm not sure he'll be able to scratch enemies even if we get him a weapon.

And finally... I'm not terribly impressed with Shanna, but eh. We'll see if I can find some use for her, and if not, tough shit I guess.

Thankfully, all the other characters I care to use were easier to train without abusing the arena. Let's move on!

Roy... I failed. I'm so ashamed.

The important thing is that you are alive... But how are your wounds? Are you all right?

Who is she?

I am Sophia... A shaman of Arcadia...

She foresaw your coming. She also said she would explain her story once we had time.

Arcadia, my home, lies to the east in the Nabata desert... We have always kept hidden... but Bern discovered our existence... and...

They attacked?

Yes... I... was too slow to act, so I was captured...

Maybe if you didn't trail off everything you say like you're goddamn sleepwalking you could have got away.

Why would Bern attack a small village like yours?

I do not know... Perhaps they learned of the dragons that live in Arcadia...