Wait, Zephiel's the bad guy? Let's Play Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals!

Saul keeps on truckin'.



Down by the bridge, Alan and Tate team up to bring everyone across the water to cut down on time.



The first of the map's traps appears here - stepping on certain tiles will trigger a pillar of flame, damaging your units for 10 damage. Not much, but definitely annoying.



We've got healers, so it's easily reversed.



Grr...



Thieves can deactivate the trap, by the way, but it's kind of pointless to try deactivating them as you go along. Just take them as you go along and cross your fingers.



Saul takes aim at a hero near the top, but doesn't quite have enough fire power to finish him off.

Saul finishes him off next turn though.



Next, he takes aim at a berserker near the top.



An archer takes aim at him afterwards, but promptly gets shot down.



Cath opens the first chest, obtaining an elixer.



Alan heads a little east here, just stopping short...



...So they can lure this sniper here closer to finish off.



Cath opens the other chest, grabbing another elixer.



Take your time, Saul. Take your time.

Alan lures in another sniper for Saul to kill.



And does so for a hero as well. Note the Brave Sword he's wielding, the second we've seen so far.



Saul then finishes off the druid from before, raising his Light Rank to S. And about freaking time, too.



Cath opens another chest, and a Mamkute pops out. Thankfully, we're more than prepared to deal with it.



Hugh finishes off the Mamkute, leveling up.



Oh, right. The second trap, arrowheads, pop out of the walls here, but deal so little damage as to be negligible. As it is, a character with 7 defense can ignore them safely, as they're more than strong enough to render it as a "no damage".

Hugh starts wearing away at one of the druids near the throne, but takes a heavy hit from Fenrir.



Saul heals him up promptly, reaching level 19. I wonder if he'll be able to hit the big 2-0 before the game's end?



Another Mamkute pops up, but Rutger takes him out with a single blow.



He levels up, though it's nothing particularly special.



Sophia finishes off another druid, leveling up.



One of the druids to the north heals up the other.



Saul weakens down another druid for Hugh...

...which he then takes out to reach level 20/6.



The attack is enough to push his anima rank over to S. As it is, Lance is the only one left to S-Rank a weapon type, and he's almost there anyway.



Sophia and the others have been moving up the right side of the map for the past few turns, and she begins luring in the nearby shaman.



Looks may be deceiving, but Sophia's definitely killing this shaman in one hit.



She'll need two hits for the general further up, but the outcome is just the same.



Hugh gets to work on the other druid to the north, this time dodging the blast of Fenrir.



While Alan lures in a mercenary in the northeast, leveling up.



Hugh and Sophia finish off the two enemies next turn.

Another Mamkute appears! Command?



Sophia casts HURT! The MAMKUTE is slain! Thy courage and wit have served thee well, for Sophia has been promoted to the next level!



*Cough* anyway, Alan, finishes off the Mamkute himself just after.



Pereth: I will show you its power.



O Rly?



Rutger pulls out his Wo Dao just after, finishing Pereth off. I do believe we've got our Durandal wielder...





Just some last minute stuff... Ray finishes off a nearby general while Cath raids the last chest for the third elixer.



Yep.

Elphin: ... It is probably the Apocalypse spell book.

Roy: Apocalypse?

Elphin: Yes, it is also known as the Silencing Darkness. Bramimond, the most mysterious of the Eight Heroes, used it.

Roy: Bramimond... I only know his name.

Elphin: We don't even know if Bramimond is male or female, old or young. None of the old scrolls say anything specific about Bramimond.

Roy: I see...

Elphin: ......

Don't feel bad, guys - we've met Bramimond personally, and even we don't know what he's supposed to be.



Roy: No, I was just thinking.

Guinevere: About what?

Roy: I was wondering why there is always some kind of trap where a Divine Weapon lies.

Guinevere: ... Perhaps it is to warn people that their power is too great to be dealt with lightly.

Roy: But still... The traps are so carefully set. There must be other reasons.

Guinevere: ......

Elphin: ... I wondered the same thing. Perhaps I shall look into it.

Roy: Yes... Please.



And that's all of the other Divine Weapons. So long as we don't break them between now and chapter 22, we'll be locked into the "good" ending. Though we've still got one last thing to do before we can get the "best" ending...



Roy: This must be the Sword of Seals.

Merlinus: Let's see. ...I can't seem to draw it from the stone.

Roy: It's sealed. You have to use the Fire Emblem.

Merlinus: Use it? How?

Roy: Princess Guinevere said that you just have to stick it into the opening of the handle... Woah! What the...

Merlinus: The blade is glowing!

Roy: Now I should be able to draw it... ...! ......!...



Roy: This is the Sword of Seals'... No. Hartmut's memories...?



Roy: ! Who was that? What is this feeling... It's very...



Roy: Yeah... I'm fine. So this is Hartmut's sword, the Sword of Seals... Am I allowed to use it...?

Elphin: It has been said for centuries that the best swords choose their owners. The sword is in your hands now. You were chosen by it.

Roy: But it's only coincidence that I'm holding it...

Elphin: What we may think as being coincidental... Even that may be part of our fate.

Roy: ......

Merlinus: Anyway, now that we have the Sword of Seals, all we need to do is head for the King'scastle. We must hurry!

Roy: ...Right! We have to defeat Zephiel!



There we go. The Sword of Seals is finally ours... but what's this?



It's time.



Upon obtaining the Sword of Seals, Roy finally promotes to Master Lord. With the promotion gains combined with the stat boosts we gave him and the Sword of Seals, Roy is now the strongest fighter on our team by *far*.

And with that...



Next time: You will not bar my path!

Well, here we are. After a long, arduous journey across the entirety of Elibe, fighting Bern at every corner, we found ourselves in front of Bern's main castle. It's time.



...capitol, where King Zephiel was waiting inside the castle. Zephiel awaited with his personal guards at hand. Roy prepared to charge the castle to end this war, and to bring peace to Elibe again...

It's time we finally learn of Zephiel's ambition...

Chapter 22: The Neverending Dream





Brenya: ...I am sorry.

Zephiel: ...How is the Etrurian army behaving?

Brenya: They have captured the Temple of Seals. They are now headed this way.

Zephiel: I see... Then we shall face them inside this castle.

Brenya: Yes. I will protect you to the death.

Zephiel: Not you. Brenya, I have a very important task to you.

Brenya: What...?

Zephiel: Idoun. Where is Idoun?



Zephiel: I will stay here and defend the castle from the Etrurian Army. Idoun, you must escape and hide until this battle is over.

Idoun: If his Majesty wishes.

Zephiel: Brenya, I want you to escape as well. Protect Idoun.

Brenya: What!? Please! Let me fight by your side!

Zephiel: No. ...This will be a harsh battle. I cannot afford to lose Idoun now. If Idoun were to be lost... This whole war would be meaningless.

Brenya: But! I, I...

Zephiel: Enough, Brenya! This is an order. Are you telling me that you cannot follow your king's commands?

Brenya: No... I'm not saying that...

Zephiel: Idoun, even if I were to fall... You understand, do you not?

Idoun: Yes... I will 'free' the world as you ordered.

Zephiel: Right. I will not give up my dream now.

Idoun: Yes.



Hero: I will not let you invade the throne room!

Hero 2: I shall protect this device with my life!



Merlinus: Master Roy, Zephiel is residing in the throne room at the center of the castle. However, there are some special devices that protect the throne room when invaders appear.

Roy: What kind of devices?

Merlinus: One of the captives said that at the west end of the castle there are some switches that need to be maneuvered first.

Roy: It'll be a long detour...

Merlinus: There is more. After hitting the switches you must hold the 'Gem' in front of the throne room to make it open.

Roy: Gem? Is it the Fire Emblem?

Merlinus: Probably.

Roy: I have that with me. So I should head to the throne room while leaving the switches to the others...

Merlinus: That would be the shortest way.

Roy: ...But would the captives leak that kind of information so easily? Perhaps it's a trap...

Merlinus: No. The captive also said, "the switches and the door are all defended by Bern's most powerful warriors. Even if you knew how to get into the Throne room, you wouldn't be able to get there.

Roy: We need to try, even if we're going up against powerful enemies. We're pretty strong as well. We won't lose!



As you can see, nearly all of the enemies on this map are in their promoted forms, so you'll want to be careful engaging them in combat. Other than that, there are no reinforcements until the very end and all of the enemies here are of the passive type, so take your time moving through the halls and make sure you don't get yourself in over your head.

As mentioned already, you'll have to hit both of the switches before moving Roy in front of the door in the center. Thankfully, the game's already split our team up into two groups, so we can do it before heading for Zephiel. The game plan here is for the east and west groups to head for the switches before reuniting at the top and heading for the throne - openingt the chests along the way, of course - and once there, we'll build up supports and storm the throne room.



Here's how Roy looks after his promotion. Great stats all around, best weapon in the game, S-rank in swords and all his supports maxed out... it's such a great accomplishment to get to this point in the game.



The druid in the center is wielding a berserk staff. One way to wear down the staff's usages is by using a high-Res unit...



...But you know what, screw that. It's time to break out the long-range magic.

With the druid gone, it's safe for our teams to move north. The rest of the turn is pretty boring, just the enemy moving forward to meet our units.



The next turn opens up with Ray taking out a mercenary.



Lilina and Wolt conspire to take out the sniper (it would've just been Lilina, but she missed one attack).



Eh.



Wendy heads further north to take down a knight.



Saul pulls out his Purge tome and snipes an enemy druid. Interestingly enough, long-range magic in this game is light enough that you can double with them...



Back with the west group, Shin takes out a mercenary.



As for the sniper, Tate and Alan team up to finish him off.

On the enemy's phase, a berserker and sniper take aim at Lance, missing.



Shin takes out the sniper, leveling up.



Tate and Lance take out the berserker.



Miledy, meanwhile, heads further north to take out a mercenary.



Lance follows up from behind, switching to his Javelin so he can counter a nearby druid next turn.



Lilina kills off a berserker in the distance, leveling up.



Roy finishes the turn by killing a nearby mercenary.

Wendy dodges a Javelin thrown at her by a fellow general.



Alan takes a heavy hit here from the druid's Fenrir tome, but he succeeds on killing the druid on the counter. Level up!



Geese weakens the general...



And Gonzales finishes him off.



Saul and Lilina team up to take out another berserker with long-range magic.



Lance accidentally moved into range of a druid during the previous phase, but he dodges anyway. Hooray?



Next turn, Tate and Shin team up to remove a berserker in the far south.



Geese switches to his Brave Axe in preparation for storming the first switch.



The others, meanwhile, begin heading west.

Alan lures the north berserker down, and Cath begins softening him up.



Lance finishes off the berserker. Level up!



Alan takes out another berserker with his javelin.



Miledy finishes off by moving into range of the hero to lure him close.



Gonzales and Geese take out the first switch guard.



Tate finishes off the last enemy to the south, and Shin begins ferrying her back to the rest of the group.



Lilina snaps her Bolting tome weakening one of the heroes.

The hero immediately goes after Oujay, who criticals him right back.



The hero Miledy was luring takes the bait and attacks.



Geese trips the first switch. One done, one more to go.



Lance takes out the hero Miledy lured.



With the east switch triggered, Roy's group begins heading east to rejoin the others. Saul takes advantage of the approach to heal Alan up with his Physic staff.



Tate and Shin are closing in as well.



Tate stops briefly to attack the druid bugging Lance earlier, finishing him off for a level up.



Lance himself runs afoul of a general while clearing the path to the other switch.



Instead of sticking around, Lance heads further south to bait in the knight while Alan takes care of the general himself.

Shin heads further north, putting him just inside Saul's range to heal him.



Lance and Alan come under fire, as expected...



...and as expected, they finish them off.



Alan levels up from it. It's pretty good!



At this point, a pair of bishops spawn in the northernmost stairs, but they're wielding Silence and Sleep staves, neither of which are particularly dangerous.



Cath begins looting the chests. First out comes a tome of Nosferatu.



Miledy heads north to take out the hero guarding the second switch. Level up!

Cath raids the other two chests, pulling out a White Gem (good, as we'll need more money for next chapter) and a Sleep staff (worthless).



Miledy hits the second switch. Nothing quite happens yet, however...



Alan and Lance begin ferrying Cath over to the other chests, but falls to the Sleep staff. Stupid irony...



Thankfully, it doesn't carry over to Cath, so Saul unloads her from Lance. Then she gets put to sleep again...



Alan wakes up a few turns later, and ferries Cath further on for Saul to unload.



Alan gets put to sleep again, but Cath wakes up next turn so it doesn't matter.



Cath opens the last three chests, picking up a Wyrmslayer (great!), Dragonshield (sure?) and Swordreaver (yech).

With all of the chests open, it's time to head south to the throne.



Lance lures up a berserker, finally pushing his sword rank over to S.



Tate finishes off the berserker next turn while Lance and Wolt take out the hero.



Saul heals Lance up, pushing him to level 20. ...Yeah, I hit the arenas a little too hard, didn't I...



Anyway, Roy and Wolt take out the last enemy in the hallway, a knight.



Roy then switches Wolt's Long Bow to the first slot so he can take on the sniper nearby.

Wolt takes out the sniper over a few turns, gaining a level in the process.



With the sniper gone, all that's left are the enemies in the throne (and the other two bishops, I guess). Might as well take the time to build supports.



Lance: Ah, Wolt. I was keeping a record of this battle.

Wolt: A record?

Lance: Yes. In one of my favourite books, there is a quote from a famous general. It says; 'The most important thing in battle is information.' Therefore, I've been keeping track of who does what in which location. It might be of use someday.

Wolt: I see.

Lance: In the battles ahead of us, one mistake could lead us to our deaths. We must pay careful attention to every aspect of battle under Master Roy.

Wolt: Y-Yes!

Lance: ...It's time. I must be off.

Wolt: He's amazing... I can't be losing, either!



In the final chapter of the support, Lance meets up with Wolt again to find him exhausted from spending most of the night reading. Impressed at his dedication, Lance offers to loan him 24 more by the same author, much to Wolt's chagrin.



Geese: Yeah?

Cath: Ohhh... I think I'm drunk...

Geese: ......

Cath: Can you stay and revive me? Come on...

Geese: ... Hey.

Cath: Yeah?

Geese: Were you hit with a Berserk staff or something?

Cath: Huh?

Geese: Whatever you're doing, it's not very convincing at all.

Cath: What!? You withstood my seduction moves!? You're no ordinary man!

Geese: ... Gee, thanks. But you know, I'm not really suited for that role.

Cath: I-I know that! I was just testing you! I'll get serious next time. I'll take your stuff without you even noticing!

Geese: Uh-huh. Good luck.



Alan: Tate? Is something wrong?

Tate: I have to tell you now. Why do you fight like that? Even the way you thrust your spear... Why do you rely on brute strength to attack? It makes it harder to evade a retaliation that way.

Alan: Well... I see you've been watching me carefully.

Tate: Huh? N-No... it's not that! It's just that... How could someone miss when you're fighting like that? That's all.

Alan: ?

Tate: Anyway, what I wanted to say was, why don't you be more careful when you fight?

Alan: I understand what you're saying. But I can't pull back.

Tate: You're still saying that? But the way you fight...

Alan: In battle, the first ones to match blades with the enemy are us, the knights. The enemy will judge the entire army's strength by looking at how we fight. That's why I have to show them our power.

Tate: ......

Alan: If I cringe even a little, that adds to the enemy's morale. If there is hesitation in my movement, it will have a bad effect on the whole army... That's why I have to charge. I have to keep pushing forward.

Tate: ...I see. ...I thought you were just an idiot who couldn't do anything but charge...

Alan: ? Did you say something?

Tate: ...No, nothing.

Alan: I'm sorry, but I have to fight like this. Still, your advice was useful, too. Give me some more when you get the chance.

Tate: ...All right, I suppose.



In the third part, Tate returns once more to question Alan's fighting style. When he replies the same way, Tate offers to stay at his side during the fight, as she's too worried to leave him alone when he charges. She get's a bit flustered when Alan misses the point, but they stick together nonetheless.

...Well, that's it for supports. Time to unlock Zephiel's door, I suppose.



And so Roy and Zephiel meet for the first, and possibly last, time...

Zephiel: Hmph... how ironic. A child, stepping in my path.

Roy: Zephiel... King of Bern... I will ask you this. Why did you start this war!

Zephiel: ... I wish to end the age of man.

Roy: ...What?

Zephiel: Humans... Humans are filthy. They flock to those with power and would not think twice about betraying trusted allies to obtain more power. You must have witnessed numerous traitors in your travels. Am I right?

Roy: ......

Zephiel: Jealousy. Hate. Greed. Friends, even family members would be driven to kill by these stupid emotions. Such emotions make fathers who try to kill their sons to save their own flesh. As long as humans control, as longs as humans dictate, as long as humans exist... this madness will never end.

Roy: But look at what you are doing! You are one of those humans who control other humans!

Zephiel: ... You know how the Scouring ended.

Roy: The Dark Dragon was defeated by Hartmut...

Zephiel: That was the mistake.

Roy: Mistake?

Zephiel: Mankind should not have won. Just because the humans came out victorious, the world came under their control and transformed into a world of madness and evil, driven by accursed emotions!

Roy: ......

Zephiel: Mistakes must be fixed with haste. I will give back the world to the Dragons. I will free the world from the evil grasp of me. History must be redone from the beginning again to save this world from everlasting evil!

Roy: Then... Is it true you resurrected the Dark Dragon?

Zephiel: You may see that for yourself.

Roy: You said you would give the world to the dragons. Then rule by humans would just be replaced with similar rule by Dragons!

Zephiel: The Dragons you see now are weapons for battle. They have no 'self'. They have no cruel emotions to be driven by, unlike humans. The world under Dragons' control would be fair and peaceful.

Roy: I cannot agree that such a world would be for the better good! It is true that humans have many evil emotions and do terrible things, but it has always been us humans who have corrected them!

Zephiel: Hmph... You are indeed naive.

Roy: I have faith in mankind. I will not lose to a man who has lost faith in people and even in himself!



And so the throne room finally opens. There are only eight enemies in here, but they're strong enough that they can make mincemeat out of your characters if you go rushing in (the Mamkutes in particular). They'll be heading for you anyway now that the door's open, so wait for them to come to you before you deal with them.

Reinforcements also spawn in the far southeast and southwest, so Miledy and Geese (who I forgot to move for Zephiel's throne, whoops) head to block off their rooms and limit the number of sides they can be attacked from. Odds are the new enemies won't reach them, but precautions are always nice.



Shin moves Roy out of the way of the two heroes so that they'll go after two others instead.



The two heroes head after Oujay and Wendy, missing entirely.



Shin takes out one of the heroes himself, leveling up.



Wolt and Tate, meanwhile, take out the other.



Roy pulls out the Sealed Sword to take care of one of the Mamkutes while Lilina deals with the other. ...You know, it's interesting to compare Roy's fighting style pre-promotion with the way he fights now that he's a Master Lord. His swings used to be stiff and amateurish, as if to showcase his inexperience and youth when he first joined the Lycia Alliance Army. Now that he's come this far though, his swings look much more natural and fluid. He's come a really far way, and it's really showing when he pulls out his signature weapon.



Anyway, Alan gets to work on the bishop, taking him down for the count.

Lance, meanwhile, connects on the sniper, leveling up.



Ray takes out one of the other druids, gaining more magic in the process.



As does Wendy, who also gains a level from it.



No one else is in range of the sniper, so he gets a turn to run wild. Not that it helps him, though.



Wolt takes aim with his bow, finishing him off. He levels up, too, and it's an interesting one at that. Hmm...

For one of our most dangerous, persistant foes, Zephiel... isn't much. He can nail us pretty hard especially with his signature weapon, the Exaccus, and he can take a huge beating, but he's much too slow to double our team at this point. Besides, we've got legendary weapons on our side to pierce his defenses and all of his army has been decimated at this point - odds are we can beat him in one turn.



As far as final bosses go, Zephiel's not very talkative. No matter who you send against him, he just says the same thing...



Powered by an A-rank support with Lilina and wielding the Sealed Sword, Roy is the ideal candidate to deal with him. Lucking into a critical on his first strike and striking back on the counter, Roy finally puts the Mad King's plans to rest once and for all...



Zephiel: But remember... My will shall never die... As long as humans retain control, madness will persist...



It's over... It's finally over.



Merlinus: We've done it, Master Roy.

Elphin: ...Or have we.

Merlinus: What?

Roy: What do you mean?

Elphin: I do not see the Dark Priestess anywhere...

Merlinus: Hm... She escaped.

Roy: ...So it seems.

At this point, if you've broken, dropped or missed any of the Divine Weapons (that is, any one of the Sealed Sword, Durandal, Malte, Armads, Miurgre, Forblaze, Aureola, Apocalypse or Holy Maiden), and/or if Fa had died over the course of the game, the game will end at this point and switch over to the middling ending. Guinevere will be crowned Queen of Bern at this point, and the Dark Priestess will be left forgotten.



However, for this playthrough that won't be the case.

Roy: Zephiel's sword... it glowed! It's...

Elphin: The Exaccus... A sword that only the King of Bern can use...

Merlinus: Master Roy, the legends say that when all of the Divine Weapons come together, the Dragon Temple rises out of the ground!

Roy: The Dragon Temple...

Merlinus: It was the Dragon's Headquarters... Or at least, that's what the legends say.

Elphin: Yes... That is correct.

Roy: So is the Exaccus the last Divine Weapon? I thought Hartmut's weapon was the Sword of Seals.

Elphin: ...Maybe... The Sword of Seals could be something separate from the Divine Weapons... Perhaps it is even more powerful...

Roy: More powerful...? What powers lie in this sword?

Merlinus: The sword glowed again! The light is pointing to the south!

Roy: So the Dragon Temple lies to where the light in pointing?

Merlinus: If the legends are true, then that would indeed be the case.

Elphin: ...If the Dark Priestess is indeed the Dark Dragon... There is a high chance that she would be there...

Roy: All right. Let's go to the Dragon Temple!



Next time: Bern, baby, Bern.

Hehe you say Sleep won't be a problem, then they knock somebody out with like every usage. ^_^

Quotes Zephiel has reminded me of this chapter (paraphrased):
"What are you doing?" "I'm killing humans." - Deception 2
"As long as evil madness lurks in the heart of men... I. Am. ZEROMUS!" - duh

I've been following this topic (lurking) for the last weeks and just wanted to say that you did a great job on it. Reading this topic made me replay FE6 and I'm currently on Chapter 7. Still one of my favourite games in the series.

The strange thing is that Nosferatu (or Resire) used to be Light Magic before FE6. They probably thought that a spell with these properties was better suited to Dark Magic.

It was also used as light magic in FE9, where there was no dark magic.

When dark magic returned in FE10, though, yeah, it was dark again.

Well, we finally did it. We took out Zephiel and broke the backbone of the Bern Army in one last climactic battle, ending the Great War once and for all. But the problem is, what now?



...was over. However, Roy's battle was not. Roy continued to search for the Dark Priestess, who could be the Dark Dragon. Following the light emitted by the Divine Weapons, Roy headed for the Dragon Temple.

However, waiting for Roy in front of the temple was Brenya, the one remaining Dragon Lord of Bern. She had rounded up the remaining troops and was waiting to attack Roy. A battle with the now dead Kingdom of Bern... Roy already had a heavy heart at having to battle these "ghosts."

There's something strange in the neighbourhood. I guess it's time we bust...

Chapter 23: The Ghost of Bern





Yahn: What are you going to do, human?

Brenya: We will stay here and face the Etrurian Army one last time.

Yahn: Do you have the troops?

Brenya: The Dragon Knights scattered around the continent have all returned under our cause.

Yahn: Do you have a chance of victory?

Brenya: ...Our chances of winning are not high. But we are the Bern Army, the strongest force on the continent. We shall at least show them our unbending will.

Yahn: Will... You humans are incompressible to us at times. Would your will raise your chances of winning? Very well. We all have our methods of battle.



Soldier: Yes. "Those who flee the army now will not be tried guilty of fleeing. Whether to fight or to leave is up to each his own." That was your message, General Brenya.

Brenya: How many still remain with us?

Soldier: Almost all of the troops are saying that they still wish to fight by your side.

Brenya: All? Our chances of victory are slim. I'm sure many of the troops have family waiting for them. They must not feel pressured to stay.

Soldier: We are Knights of Bern, my lady. We have no intention of bowing our heads to Etruria.

Brenya: ...I want you to expel those who are injured and those who have young children or aged parents. They must not stay here.

Soldier: But General Brenya...

Brenya: That is an order. Understood?



Roy: ...Did the messenger return?

Elphin: Yes. ...As we suspected, the enemy has no intention of surrendering.

Roy: Did you make it clear that their safety would be guaranteed if they surrender?

Elphin: Yes, but they said, 'We appreciate your offer, but we will not surrender.'

Roy: Why? Bern already officially surrendered...

Elphin: This person might understand...



Roy: Princess Guinevere... Do you understand why?

Guinevere: Yes. ...Bern recognizes itself as being the strongest force in Elibe. Their pride would not allow them to accept defeat without fighting.

Roy: ......

Merlinus: Master Roy! The enemy is advancing!

Roy: ! ...We have no choice. We must fight! Merlinus, send Princess Guinevere to the back lines...

Guinevere: No. I will stay here. I... must listen to their calls. That is all a... traitor like myself can do...



Brenya's built up a substantial force from the remainder of Bern's army, but it's sadly not very much. Still, they're as serious as they've ever been, and will most likely be fighting to the last man so don't hold back.

This chapter is mostly a chance to stock up once more on supplies before we head into the final gauntlet. Though we've still got all of the Divine Weapons intact and perfect condition, we'll be wanting to stock up on Silver, Killer and Ranged weaponry just in case, as well as magical tomes, staves and elixers to protect from the flank. The final recruit is also on this stage in the village, so we'll be dropping by there to shore up our numbers.

We'll be bringing Fa along as well for the battle, as she's forced onto your team for the last few chapters and it's probably best to get her development over with soon while we still have a large team to protect her with. Most of the enemies here are promoted, so a single kill will be able to generate a level up for her, making it a quick and (hopefully) painless process.

So... yeah. I guess it's time we take on the Bern army for one last battle.



Nothing really happens much in the first turn, as it's just a bunch of repositioning to face off against the approaching dragon riders. However, at the village it's...

Karel: So I see. This place is not known to outsiders. I thought I could be free of warface if I stayed here...

Old Man: What should we do?

Karel: Please do not worry. I will protect the village.

Old Man: Thank you! We have nothing to fear with the Sword Saint on our side.

Karel: I am just an ordinary swordsman. Rumors become larger with time, so they must not easily be trusted... ...But this battle seems to be bigger than I thought. Is my sister all right...?

Old Man: I never knew you had a sister.

Karel: I haven't seen her in a long time, but I heard a wile ago that she fell ill. I can only hope she is leading a peaceful life with her husband and daughter...



At this point, Wendy heads north to stab-stab-stab an approaching druid.



Elphin givers her a boost so she can move a little further back.



She gets hit by the Mamkute nonetheless...

Roy gets attacked by an enemy dragon rider and kills it on the counter to level up. Man, it's great to see him back in action, isn't it?



Oujay wyrmkills a dragon lord, also leveling up.



Oh my. How will we deal with this?



Wolt puls out his iron bow to double the dragon lord down.



Fa then transforms into her dragon form to finish it off, gaining a level in the process. She gets 2 points in luck, too - the highest luck growth in the game, if I'm not mistaken.



Lilina and Hugh take out two more dragon riders with Aircalibur.



Our two resident wyrmkillers take out another two dragon riders as well.

Elphin refreshes Fa again so she can get another kill.



And she does so, killing the Mamkute for a level up.



Wendy criticals another dragon rider down with her Killer Lance.



Geese takes out another with his Hand Axe, leveling up.



As does Gonzales. gaining speed.



Our team comes under fire during the enemy's phase, but none of their assailants connect.



Wolt pulls out his Long Bow to double down the dragon lord.

Fa finishes him off, leveling up. She'll be maxing luck, at the rate she's going...



Wendy's taken a bit of a beating, so Saul heals her up.



She jumps back into the fray to weaken another dragon rider...



And Fa gets boosted by Elphin to take him out.



Oujay pulls out his Wyrmslayer to take out the last dragon rider nearby.



An approaching druid has Fa in his sights, so Gonzales and Ray move her out of range.



He ends up going after Elphin instead, but he misses. Oujay dodges a ballista bolt in the same phase as well.



Wolt rescues in Lilina just to weigh himself down when he attacks.

Elphin gives Wolt a boost, reaching level 15 in the process.



Wolt, sufficiently heavy, damages the druid without killing him by mistake.



Of course, leave it to Fa to get a critical hit anyway... she levels up, and it's just two points away from being perfect.



Fir heads to the village to recruit her uncle... you can use Bartre to recruit him as well if you're using him.

Karel: That voice... Is it Fir? What are you doing here?

Fir: I never expected to find you here, Uncle.

Karel: After traveling around the continent, I decided to settle here. I thought I could train my sword skills without being caught up in unwanted messes in a quiet place like this...

Fir: Uncle... I must tell you something. Mother... She...

Karel: ...Died?

Fir: Yes...

Karel: ... So she didn't survive the illness... I'm sorry. I wasn't there when she needed me the most.

Fir: No... it's all right.

Karel: But why are you here? You don't seem like you have been searching for me just to say that.

Fir: Yes. I'm fighting against Bern now.

Karel: You... joined the war?

Fir: I know that you don't like getting caught up in conflicts like this. BUt I could not help but try and do something for those people who are suffering because of the war. Uncle... am I wrong? Did I make a mistake? Is this not good for training my sword...?

Karel: No, you have not made any mistakes. The path you choose on your own is never wrong. In fact, I shall assist you from now on.

Fir: Really!?

Karel: Yes. ...You are right. You have grown. The last time I saw you, you were still a baby.

Fir: Uncle.



Karel is a badass, through and through. He's got great stats all around, to the point where even our strength-blessed Rutger can't compare with him, and his growths are amongst the highest in the game (all of his growths are over 100%, and only Fa beats him in Luck growth). He's only got one level left in his development though, so you'll have to make that level up count, but otherwise Karel is ridiculously overpowered and a great asset to any team in the end-game.



Like Bartre, Hector, and the other carry-overs from the prequel, Karel has changed significantly from his appearance in FE7. In that game, he was known as the "Sword Demon", with a pretty vicious blood knight-type personality looking for nothing but powerful characters to kill. It's hinted at in his supports in both games that something to do with his sister changed him in the preceeding twenty years, and you can really see the difference - the previously bloodthirsty Karel has adopted a more peaceful warrior-poet-type personality and wants nothing to do with combat and war.

His supports also reflect that, with his philosophy being a main point of interest in his supports with Rutger, Noah, Zeiss, and Fir. The real gem of his supports is his own with Bartre, where they both recount their found memories of his sister, Karla...



Anyway, Wolt pulls back his Long Bow and takes out the last aggressive enemy approaching.

Elphin uses up the Dragonshield to boost his defense up a bit.





Roy takes advantage of the brief intermission to visit the nearby shops. He picks up supplies here, namely Silver and Killer weaponry as well as a dozen or so Elixers, in preparation for the next few chapters.



We also take the time to level up Elphin a bit and build supports...

Yep.



Fir: Wait, please don't glare at me like that... I'm not here to fight.

Rutger: ......

Fir: But your skills are indeed impressive. I still see you as a goal to reach. I wish I could be as strong as you...

Rutger: ...Just be yourself.

Fir: What?

Rutger: My blade is covered with blood. There is no need to see your goal in that.

Fir: ...... Someone once told me... 'All paths of the sword lead to one place'.

This person being Karel, by the way.

Fir: I still have yet to find out if that is true or not, but I can say that your sword is definitely on some kind of path. But I still have much to learn.

Rutger: ...Think what you will.



Geese: Yeah?

Cath: Doesn't this look familiar?

Geese: Hey, that's my...

Cath: Hehe! Guess you weren't so good. After all! There's no treasure I can't steal!

Geese: Sigh...

Cath: Well, let's see now. What have we got in here? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... What... What the heck!? This is nothing but junk!

Geese: It's not junk. Maps, compasses...

Cath: What about treasure!? Where's the treasure!?

Geese: Hahaha, there never was any treasure! I'm broke. Drowning in debt, to tell you the truth. I got nothing you can steal!

Cath: Erg... How come you're bragging like that?! You're broke!

Geese: I've got a dream. I'm gonna go back to being a trader and hit a jackpot. You'll see. I'll fill my ship with riches in no time. Then you'll have something to steal!

Cath: ......... Did... Did I lose? Are you a big shot? ... Or just an idiot?



And that's it for supports. I tried to build up a few others in addition to what was shown, but the game was being stubborn with point allocation and they were lost in the crunch. Still, if you want to check out the ones that were missed, feel free to drop by Serenes Forest to read more.

Onwards...



Oujay and Saul team up to wear down the ballistae...



Surely enough, it works and their teeth are pulled. If I were fielding any flying units, I'd fly someone over to take them out, but I'll let them live anyway.



Wendy lures a dragon lord to the north down and Gonzales and Ray finish him off.