Part 24: The Frozen River or, The Filler Chapter

Chapter 18: The Frozen River or, The Filler Chapter

Time for an update! Too bad it's kinda boring.


He soon enters the thick forests that characterize central Ilia.


In his possession is an ancient spell said to have been lost centuries ago...

Well it's not Forblaze, I have that right here and still haven't needed to use it, so...



15 deployment slots! Which means Bartre is off screen, but he's in there.

Too bad 90% of our crew won't be able to move worth a damn on this map.



A new tileset! Looks nice, but those trees everywhere? They get in the way. Coincidentally, I just promoted two fliers last map, and they'll be handling most of this on their own.


We have brought the hermit Niime as you asked.

Good. Let her pass.

Martel is another boring, unimportant character I couldn't be arsed to find a replacement for. You'll forget him the moment the map is over anyway.



You must be Niime, the Mountain Hermit.

I'm not aware of that nickname, but I am Niime. I'm probably the one you seek.

We found an elder spell tome within the castle. I hear that you may be capable of using it.

Most likely. I have studied darkness and elder magic my whole life.

I understand that this spell can change the weather surrounding the caster...

That doesn't seem entirely improbable.

Then I order you to use the tome to create rainfall. Make it rain so that the rivers overflow. Push back the advancing Eturian Army.

I can try, but frankly I can't guarantee that it will work. Also, powerful spells like this can only be cast once. Are you sure you want to do this?


You said you wish to join our forces. Make yourself useful.

......



I can't see this attitude coming back to bite him in the arse at all, good job M... guy whose name I've already forgotten.

...Merkel?



Anyway, customary Roy Time.

We are approaching Bern's army.

...Yes, I know.

As we get closer, we will clash with the soldiers of Bern more and more. It will not be long before we are in full combat with Bern.

......

I want to ask you something before that happens.

Go ahead.

I have heard rumors about King Zephiel... I heard that he killed his father, the previous king.



I could scarcely believe it myself. You believe in him so strongly that you cast away your own country. If King Zephiel is truly as mad as the rumors say, I'm sure you would not have done all that you have.

......

Princess Guinivere, I accepted the Fire Emblem not to use it in battle, but to find a way to end this war peacefully.

Roy...

I think I have the right to know the truth about the rumors...

I... I'm sorry. Please... give me some time.



That could have gone better!


Princess Guinivere looked very troubled...




A powerful dark mage by the name of Niime fights in the enemy ranks.

A dark mage... A druid, probably.

In any case, she is apparently extremely learned in ancient sorcery. She is said to be more knowledgable than most scholars can even imagine.

We can't pull back now. We press on.

Of course, but please exercise caution.

Yes, you're right. We must tread lightly!

Bollocks to that.



Here's a map. Of what this place looks like in summer, apparently. Good job bringing a seasonally appropriate map, Roy.



About halfway up the map, there are two Ballista buttheads,



...and this priest has a Berserk staff.


A bishop heading one of Bern's units in Ilia.

Angela Martel is sitting on the castle gate, as bosses do, and is nothing to write home about. He has Purge, but a lot of people have had Purge.



Let's kill everything!


and we can get to the village in the east without much trouble. But it's not quite the season, unfortunately.

Shanna visits the house on the right.



Zeiss heads east. The enemies on the bottom right are all wyvern riders and all much less awesome than ours.



He gets a level dodging a javelin. An okay one.

He's still a shithead.



The priest with the berserk staff moves. Dumb idea.



Pictured: A preview of what's going to happen to him.


But I bet you couldn't beat the Sword Saint. They say he's on a level all his own.

Excuse you Roy is level 24 right now, I don't think he has anything to worry about.


He said he has some secret weapon. I'd be careful if I were you.

That's all the houses down by the starting point visited.



Roy one-rounds these guys with his iron sword.



Shanna is the only person who doesn't dodge the ballista good fucking god Shanna why.



No funny business!


Sigh... Bern's army marched through here just the other day, too. When will we have peace again? Here, take this. Use it to end the war.

Zeiss visits the lowest village and gets a Secret Book.

Lady, if you want to help end the war, maybe you should give me something a little more useful...



Shanna takes revenge. Only one ballista left now. We'll handle him soon.



First, however, the last house.


I heard she was originally planning to join you guys, but for some reason she joined up with Bern instead. What is she thinking?

Probably that she wants to be close enough to see the look on Myrtle's face when we kill him.



I bet he'll look something like this pegasus knight. Now that's a "I Have Made A Terrible Mistake" expression if I ever saw one.



Anyone picking a fight with Wolt has made the last and biggest mistake they'll ever make.



There is no stopping the pain train.



Might as well let Schwarth handle this village, since no one else is close.



Zeiss isn't afraid of arrows, but the casters are kinda dangerous.



Man, Flux you guys.



Also, Marty's Purge radius. He's not very dangerous, but Zeiss has like five Res, so he's not my first choice to take on the boss.


But I pray to it everyday, and nothing happens. That con man tricked me! Here, take it. Just looking at it is making me angry.

That's the village, and the treasure. Silly man, didn't you know you have to grind it into a powder and snort it?



Shithead.



A bunch of brigands spawned in. Too bad for them I'm almost done with the villages already.



And look at that, we killed the archer before he could use this up!



HEY ASSHOLE



I trust Schwarth to survive an encounter with the boss, she has a lot of HP.



More brigands?



And one of the mercs randomly has a light brand, sure, why not? It... seems it only does 10 damage at range? That's... not as useful as it could have been.


You made it through this snow... Curse that useless woman!

You haven't even started on that spell yet!



Good job.



Oh, and apparently fliers pick up swords on promotion? That's exactly what I wanted to do after 20 levels, pick up a new weapon and start all over from E-rank again.

Still, an iron sword's enough to kill this guy, so might as well.



Free damage! Sadly Schwarth does not crit, so he lives.



Wolt continues to play with the ballista.



Worth it.



And now stuff starts happening. Damn it Schwarth, if you had landed that crit I wouldn't have needed to transcribe this shit!

...I'll warn you one more time. I can't guarantee the results will be what you want...

Enough of your yammering! Cast the spell!

Sigh... Very well.



An enemy spell caster? Watch out, soldiers!



Oh hey look, it's that frozen river they were talking about.

That could actually have been handy, if it had, you know, happened before I already walked Roy nearly up to the damn castle already.


The rivers... They've frozen over!

Well, I'll be... that's not what I expected.



Don't be absurd... I warned you that I couldn't predict what would happen.

Enough! You there! Toss her in the dungeon!



Sigh...

That's enough, you're not even sighing, you're just saying "sigh"!



Lord Roy, we have a report. The rivers have apparently frozen over.

What?

The ice is so thick that even knights on horseback can cross them safely.

Oh... Well, good. We can advance more quickly now. Charge the castle gate!

Bleh.



Martel heals, because he's an asshole.



He even lands a hit on Schwarth!


I'm too brilliant... to die...

And then he dies.



You are not allowed to hang with Shanna any more, you're picking up bad habits.


...A gift from the gods?
Nah, someone on a pegasus or wyvern probably dropped it. Here, take it. I prefer my dolls anyway.

It was a... guiding ring. Wow. I hadn't needed to buy one for Hugh after all. Three villages, nothing particularly useful. What a lovely map.



More brigands.



Roy murders a priest for fun...



...and profit.



Let's get Shanna a kill, even though we all know it's a waste of



...

Shanna, you have failed to disappoint me. I am very disappointed in you.



Hugh does okay for himself as well.



These idiots spawn in two at a time for a lot of rounds.



They're easy kills. Sometimes it's even worth it!



But there's just no end to them.



I'm not sure it's worth killing them, but I guess it could get us a few weapon levels or something.



Also, a support while we wait.

You have to be more careful!

I got him!

...Don't rush like that! You were lucky you defeated him...

Yeah, well.. The point is I beat him. It's all right, Schwarth. I was fine.

But who can say that you'll be so lucky next time?!

...It wasn't luck.

Zeiss...
Just listen to your older sister. I would never be able to forgive myself if I let something happen to you...

...You don't trust me, do you? Am I so weak that you can't even rely on me?

Zeiss, I'm not saying that. Stop being a child.

Then... stop treating me like one!


...Why...?

Who knows?! But that's a B rank.



And that's a seize because the reinforcements finally dried up a few turns later.

You are?

I am Niime. I live in the mountains where I study arcane magic.

Why were you in the dungeon? Did you not join Bern of your own choice?

Well, actually, I did, but it was only a guise. Bern's army has something I wish to study.

And what is that?

The dragons.

!!

Well, that sure got your attention, didn't it?

The dragons you speak of... They're not like the wyverns that Bern's soldiers ride upon. They're strange troops that fight alongside Bern's soldiers...

I know that well. They're the same dragons that were defeated in the Scouring.

How do you know this...?

At first I thought this was only a simple act of aggression by Bern. But then I began to sense a strange and... evil force among their troops. I decided to investigate.

Did you learn anything?

The dragons are very much shrouded in mystery. I looked through many ancient books and scrolls. I could only decipher so many of them. But...

But...?

I have come to the conclusion that Bern has resurrected the demon dragon.

The demon dragon... The leader of the dragons that Hartmut defeated.

The very same. Dragons are a much more advanced species than us humans. Their vitality and intellect puts that of humans to shame.
There is one thing, however, the dragons lack in. They multiply at a fraction of the rate humans do. But the demon dragon... It had the power to create more dragons. That is what I learned from my research.

It can make dragons...?

The demon dragon can create more of its kind. That would explain where Bern is getting all of its dragons.

That seems likely.

Now, that being said... I wish to learn more about the dragons. I wield dark magic... Let me join your army. I'm sure I can be of some assistance.

Of course. We want to learn abut the dragons as well. It will be a perilous journey, but if that's acceptable to you, you're welcome to join us.



I... I was only kidding about Demon Dragon cells! Stop looking at me like that!

Anyway, next time should be more interesting... because it would be hard for it not to. I'll be looking forward to it.