Tomu covers his mouth, seemingly trying not to laugh.
"I'm doing you a favor. I'm destroying enemies of the Queen. You stopping me is practically treason, isn't it?"
The captain's body twitches, the seizure still wearing off.
"Even so, you have destroyed personal property and caused harm to numerous innocent civilians in this fight. This must end at once."
Tomu scoffs. The civilians start getting up. Corrin clutches his stomach, and blood begins to seep out of his mouth. The wound is just a bruise, but it's enough to have Corrin realize that he's not invincible.
"Turn yourself over or I will apprehend you by force."
Corrin watched the captain's bravery. He had no chance against Tomu's unique Resonance, but he still stood up to him. Then Corrin realized that his sword was not in his hand. He panicked and began searching the house.
The Captain geared himself for a jump forward. Corrin had to be there to help; he had to push himself past the pain and help the captain of his own enemy.
"Heavy Katana…"
The Captain leaps forward, his sword closing in on Tomu's body. The attack was clearly only to hinder him, not kill him.
"...Iron Gale!"
The Captain's large sword swings towards Tomu, but Tomu smiles.
Just then, Tomu spits blood as his head collides with Corrin's foot. Corrin had not been trained to fight without a sword, but it was all he had alongside a clear shot.
Tomu flies away, crashing into a building on the other side of the dirt road.
"Gods- That kid's kick is no joke!"
Tomu gets up slowly, coughing.
"Resonance…"
He smirks.
"...Failing winds."
Just then, the very wind around them becomes caught in an off-white color. People around him begin to fall into seizures: the civilians and the Hidden Vanguard.
Tomu brings up the scarf around his neck, covering his mouth.
"You all are so pathetic. You can't go up against my Resonance…"
Visibility drops as he strides closer to Corrin, whose body begins to shake violently. Suddenly, he howls in agony, blood splattering on the dirt. Behind him was Vesterii, who had a tan scarf around his neck and face.
His axe plummeted into his wrist, causing a long, deep, twisted wound.
Corrin grabbed a katana from a nearby guard, his body still shaking and his vision blurring.
"Light Katana…"
The blade begins to hum and glow a golden color. Corrin brings the blade closer to Tomu's neck.
"...Power!"
His blade comes crashing down on Tomu's neck, but his body suddenly stops shaking and begins to twitch violently. His arm twitches, and the attack flies just over Tomu's head.
Tomu had ended the seizure faster than normal, causing Corrin to enter a twitching state. That alone saved Tomu's life.
"No!"
Corrin crashes into the ground. The gas around them began to cease as the sound of screeching metal penetrated Corrin's eardrums. Tomu was being pushed back by Vesterii. His two axes are no match for Tomu's rapier and wounded hand.
"Twin Axes…"
Vesterii brought his two axes into the air.
"...Crumbling Earth!"
Vesterii slammed his two axes down in one massive attack. Tomu narrowly avoided the attack, having jumped upward. The two axes crash into the ground, and it causes cracks to split through the earth for a few feet.
The rest of the Hidden Vanguard began to get up. Merri and Dr. Arvell ran to the doctor's office.
"Oh no, you don't."
Tomu smiled at the two, and they collapsed again. Corrin watched Tomu's scarf fall from his neck and to the ground. That's when it hit Corrin. As Forrest and Lenn ran to enter the fight, Corrin stopped them.
"Wait! Did you see how he had to use the scarf to protect himself from the gas?"
"What about it?"
"What if that means he's not immune to his own seizures. What if he sees himself in a mirror?"
Forrest thinks about it for a moment.
"It's worth a shot. I'll get him off of Vesterii. You make sure he turns and smiles at you while you hold the mirror."
Corrin nods and looks for a mirror among the people crawling and running away.
Forrest and Lenn enter the fray, getting the heat off of Vesterii for a moment. Tomu continues to back away. Corrin finds a mirror among a woman's bag of belongings. It's small, so he'll have to get close.
Forrest and Lenn continue to push Tomu back. However, they soon move away, revealing Corrin dashes forwards with a katana in one hand, and a mirror in the other. Tomu smiles.
Corrin drops the katana and brings up a mirror. Tomu closes his eyes.
"Damn you!"
He brings his wounded fist forward without looking, and the mirror shatters.
"You think I'll fall for an easy trick like that?"
Suddenly, Corrin felt the rush of Lenn dashing between them at unbelievable speeds.
"Twin Fang Style… Rush."
Corrin watches Tomu's hand fly upward, disconnected from his body. He wails and falls hard into the ground. He grips the nub on his right arm.
"My hand! Oh- Gods!"
The Captain walks forward. The wind begins to settle, and the air returns to a normal breathable state.
"Tomu, you are under arrest for assault and battery, attempted murder, and destruction of private property, among others. They'll have you hung for this, Tomu."
The Captain turns to the others.
"As for you. While it is true that you all may be wanted, you also helped me in capturing a very dangerous criminal, Tomu."
The Captain grabs a sheet. On it is a bounty with the name Tomu written on it.
"He wasn't just any bounty hunter; he was a sword for hire. Your actions may have saved dozens in the Shem Empire."
The Captain smiles.
"Leave here. I never saw you."
They nod and quickly return to the doctor's office. Dr Arvell places the Arron plant in Edwin's mouth and has him swallow it.
"He should be right as rain in a day or two."
Dr Arvell hugs Merri goodbye as the others return from their fight, and they exchange a few words. Forrest sheathes his sword.
"We'd better go. Corrin, where's your sword?"
Just then, Corrin remembered that he had lost it. He quickly goes to the other building and retrieves it from the wreckage. Luckily, it seemed unharmed. When Corrin bent down to grab it, however, he felt the pain in his left stomach. He realized that during the fight with Tomu, he hardly felt it.
Corrin walked back and relayed the information to them. Dr Arvell had a look and declared that it would likely heal on its own.
"It's your first battle scar, Corrin. Lucky…"
Edwin spoke softly on the bed. He hardly had enough energy to lift his eyelids open. Corrin laughed a little.
"It's hardly a scar. Just a bruise."
They helped Edwin onto a horse alongside Forrest, and they traveled through the town. Now that the battle was over, Corrin had a first good look at the city's buildings and structure. Most of the buildings here were made of wood.
But the closer they got to a large keep in the distance, the bigger and more sturdy the buildings became. Soon, they were brick buildings. Forrest, Lenn, and Merri all left to replace the supplies that were burnt in the fire from the ambush before.
They had to pitch in all the money they had to purchase the supplies they needed, which left them nearly without any money to spare.
"This time, we need to make sure we don't let these things burn."
They slung their packs over their shoulders and attached some to their horses. They went to a nearby inn and decided that it would be a good place to sleep. They had been up through the entire night and into the morning, after all.
The beds were stiff, and their backs ached, but it was better than a sleeping roll would have been.
The next morning, after they all awoke, Edwin was feeling much better. He chose to ride with his own horse for the day. They paid the innkeeper and travelled off. The town of Henfil was now far behind them.
Despite the intense action the previous day, there was little conversation on the matter. Though the idea of a Resonance was on everybody's mind, even Edwin, who had been asleep during the fight against Tomu.
Corrin, in particular, was very interested in the idea. He was doing the exact thing people who had gained Resonances did to obtain them.
Dr Arvell had said that in order for one to obtain a Resonance, they had to find and connect with the Anees power surging through the air.
"Is it possible…?"
Corrin whispered to himself, barely audible. Corrin was learning to connect with the Anees the same way that Tomu had. The only difference was that Corrin had the shard to help him.
Corrin recalled the mysterious man from his dreams. He had not been appearing to use a Resonance. Though Corrin could not be sure. It could have been something that he simply could not recognize.
He wondered, at that moment, if he would obtain a Resonance. And that if he did, what kind of power would he have?
He thought about these things during the day and at night. His mind was so full of the idea that he could hardly think of anything else. But as they brought themselves closer to the Capital City, Corrin realized that he should not have been thinking about foolish things like that.
Instead, he began to worry whether or not the Queen possessed a Resonance.
Then, Lenn screamed and fell from his horse.