As the Queen flew back, Corrin readied himself.
"Watch out, she can put you into a dream-like state! It's part of her Resonance!"
The Queen jumped up onto one of the boulders.
"You three don't stand a chance against me."
Corrin looked around. He realized that the attackers from before were gone. He had been so busy fighting the Queen and Vesterii, he hadn't even noticed that the attackers were gone.
"What happened to the other attackers?"
Corrin whispered to Merri, but didn't keep his eyes off of the Queen.
"They left. I don't know why. Maybe she thought that only you were alive, and sent them away? Or maybe they left because they were part of the Mostiis Empire. Not sure. That was when you burst into the wall earlier."
Merri coughed up a bit of blood when she spoke.
The Queen knelt down on the boulder. Corrin's scar was burning hotter by the second. The smoke from before was still flowing out of it.
"What the hell did Vesterii mean when he said I didn't know what the shard does!?"
The Queen gave a skeptical look.
"You're naive and weak. Nobody aside from myself and a very few others understand the true power residing in that shard, and even fewer know how to call upon it."
Corrin could feel the shard around his neck. What had it even done? Was it the reason for the strange silhouette? Corrin didn't care, because wherever the silhouette came from, it was helping Corrin.
Corrin didn't move forward, because the silhouette didn't.
The Queen raised her broadsword in the air. It flashed in the sunlight.
"Quakes."
She brought her sword down like thunder. The boulder she was standing on cracked in two, the room around them began to crack and fall apart as though an earthquake had begun.
Corrin looked up.
"There has to be more than raw power in that attack!"
He noticed the silhouette moving. It rushed and flanked the queen as boulders fell. Corrin followed, dashing around the Queen's left flank. He jumped up alongside the glowing silhouette and did exactly as she did.
Corrin's blade rushed in toward the Queen a dozen times, pushing her back with each blow. The floor began to crumble as they fell down. The Queen and Corrin traded blows as they fell; Corrin watched the silhouette the entire time.
"You're faster, Corrin!"
Corrin was keeping up with her movements easily.
"Unfortunately, you're not fast enough!"
The Queen kicked him away as they fell. Her scar began to turn red color. Her blade became covered in a red light, just like Corrin's yellow light around his sword.
"What the hell!?"
Corrin flew back towards the queen as they hit the ground in unison, dust flying upward. The Queen's movements became double her previous speed, and now Corrin was again having trouble keeping up with her movements.
The light that flew off their attacks came together and created an orange before disappearing into the dust.
"I-I can't keep up!"
That's when Corrin made a mistake. Of course, the silhouette didn't; Corrin did. His leg slipped on a piece of rubble, and he missed an attack. The Queen took advantage of this immediately.
She grabbed Corrin's arm that held his katana to keep it away from her. She brought her leg up.
Corrin coughed blood, his body slamming into the wall behind him. Rubble exploded outward and around, and more dust followed alongside it.
Corrin tried to get up, but his left foot was lodged between boulders.
"No!"
Corrin tried to pull his foot loose, but he couldn't. He looked at the silhouette. She also had her foot stuck. Corrin reached for his katana, which he had dropped on impact, and brought it up.
He watched to see what the silhouette would do. She raised her katana, pointing it toward the queen from above, whose red silhouette was just in view through the dust.
"What kind of technique is that?"
The form looked awful, but he knew that this was all he could do in the moment. He raised his katana like hers.
The queen walked forward.
"It was a good fight, Corrin. But this is the end of the line."
The Queen shot forward toward Corrin, her blade at the ready. Corrin followed the silhouette. Corrin wasn't sure how, but he knew exactly what he was to say.
"Light Katana, Explosive Defense!"
Corrin's body moved quickly, pairing raw physical strength with quick reflexes.
Merri looked up, coughing blood. She could see everything that was happening clearly.
"Edwin, look! He's using an extremely old and difficult technique…"
Merri coughed again; her time was running out.
"...It's a defensive stance with so much raw physical strength…"
Explosions of sparks and fire began to blast all around Corrin and the Queen.
"...that small explosions occur when an attack lands!"
The Queen was immediately put on the defensive. Corrin used the situation to quickly break the rock around his foot; he was free.
Corrin's upper-body muscles began to tense in pain. He could feel them stretch and snap.
"D- Dammit! This stance is extremely effective against the Queen… but it's so taxing on my body!"
Blood began to run down Corrin's face and out of his mouth.
"It's so difficult that my wounds are beginning to re-open!"
Corrin hadn't even realized that he had been cut on the face. Despite the stance's effectiveness, it seemed to mute the stinging pain from being cut. In a way, Corrin thought it was good. However, he wondered what would happen when the pain returned to him.
The explosions began to die down as the incredible pain in Corrin's upper body began to show itself. The stinging in his face came in waves; blood ran down Corrin's face on his right side and out of his mouth.
Corrin knew that he couldn't keep going like this for long. He needed to stop.
"Light Scimitar, Vengeance!"
Merri's scimitar exploded around in a circular motion on the Queen's back. She turned to attack Merri. Corrin immediately fell and caught his breath. The pain was too immense for Corrin to handle.
The Queen and Merri traded spark-filled blows. Edwin soon joined in as well. But neither of them was prepared for the Queen's increased speed.
The Queen blew forth, kicking away Edwin easily. She forces her way past Merri's defense. Grabbing onto the katana lodged in Merri's chest.
"Goodbye."
She pulls the katana out of Merri's chest, sliding a ways past her. Merri falls to her knees and gasps for air. Blood seeps out of her wound.
"Merri!!"
Edwin runs to Merri and kneels next to her, his eyes tearing. Merri looks up at Edwin, the life fading from her eyes quickly.
Merri grabs her scimitar and places the tip against the wound in her chest. In one jab, she pushes the scimitar through her chest. She screams and coughs blood.
"I know this won't save me, Queen Shem… but it will keep me alive for a few seconds longer. Just enough to watch you die…"
Blood pours out of her mouth and nose as she smiles. The sunlight hit her just right so that the queen saw nothing but her black silhouette.
Merri stands, shaking violently.
Corrin gets up, he runs over to them and faces the Queen. He dashes towards her, following the glowing silhouette. The Queen instinctively drops the scimitar that was lodged in Merri's chest; it was exactly what he wanted. He kicks the sword to Merri.
Merri picks up the sword and dashes towards the Queen. Edwin follows shortly behind.
As the dust began to settle, the room came into view. It was the room from before with dozens of paintings. Most of them had fallen to the ground and ripped. Corrin found satisfaction in that.
"Light Katana…"
Corrin readied himself. His muscles tensed in pain, his wounds hurt like hell.
"...A Thousand Cuts!"
Corrin's blade shot forward in a flurry of attacks. Both Corrin and the Queen were stationary as they attacked and blocked dozens of attacks at once. The light blew off their attacks, and an orange hue burst out in their area.
Edwin shot forward.
"...A Thousand Cuts!"
Edwin's blade began to glow a very faint golden color as his attacks mimicked Corrins. The Queen began to defend against double the number of attacks as before.
Merri closed the distance on the only flank left of the Queen that wasn't already occupied.
"...A Thousand Cuts!"
Merri's blade also began to glow a faint golden color as she stepped in, dozens of attacks whirling. The Queen was surrounded, blocking and dodging more attacks than was possible to count.
The Queen began to falter, cuts appearing on her body all over. Corrin watched the silhouette jump up. Corrin took the opportunity.
"Light Katana!"
Corrin jumped; his katana glowed a yellow color.
"Judgement!!"
A huge circular ray of light exploded around Corrin as he spun forward. The yellow light outshone the red as the slash hits the Queen on her left shoulder.
The entire room lit up alongside the attack, and Corrin began to pass out as he fell toward the ground. He slammed into the ground and slid a dozen feet before stopping. He looked up faintly.
As he got up, he could see the Queen standing there, her left arm disconnected from her body, the blood pouring out. She was laughing.