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Here we are again. Let's see what tricks Riev has up his sleeve this time.
We open on a Knight getting absolutely destroyed by a Cyclops warping in. We're back to knights as our allies, which means no more bolting NPCs sniping enemies and stealing our experience.
Remember when I said I would have given Metis' Tome to Neimi like... four chapters ago? Well, here I am, actually remembering to do that. The growth rate change does apply, but it's not reflected on the growth rates shown on her stat screen.
And, since we have way more deployment slots, most of my other promoted units will be coming along, as well as one... decidedly not promoted unit.
Let's fix that, shall we?
Lovely.
These are the only enemies we can see so far, and they're nothing our party can't handle. Though at this point, there's not much that is.
Knoll firing a torch into the upper hallway reveals enemies that are more physically inclined. The Tarvos on the top has both a Killer Axe and a Hand Axe, and I'm suddenly wishing I had someone with Capture so I could grab a free Killer Axe.
Another Torch over here reveals a bunch of enemies, but I'm sure they're nothing to worry ab-
Now I'm really sad nobody ended up having Capture...
Eh, why not?
An Axereaver doesn't save this knight from getting doubled by the cyclops.
A pirate comes out of the shadows to attack Cormag, but him having turned out weirdly tanky saves him.
No saving levels like this, though.
Man, why can't Devil weapons backfire when I want them to?
This Wight could have attacked Rennac, but I guess the knight was a more appealing target.
Elsewhere, Kyle is like a honeypot for monsters to try and attack him.
And then on the NPC phase, the Devil Axe guy doubles a knight and hits himself both times. 
Another one of the knights goes for the Killer Axe guy, and it ends exactly the way you'd think.
This guy also tried to attack Syrene, but Vanessa makes short work of him.
This Enemyrika has a Light Brand, which doesn't look great but I'd like to see if it works with Eirika's busted animations. However, I'm pretty sure if Rennac enters her range, she'll switch to it and I won't be able to get it, which means he'll have to Metal Gear Solid his way to the treasure room without attracting her attention. Unfortunately, even with Cormag's help, he won't be able to get across and out of range in one turn, so I'll just have to wait another turn to get him to the treasure room.
Knoll's piss horse isn't helping his levels at all.
Losing the Killer Axe is worth it just to see Joshua's ridiculous combat stats some more.
But let's take a break from that for a moment to deal with this clusterfuck.
First, Tana crits the non-silenced Mage for yet another amazing level 
Then Ephraim swoops in for another crit on the Cyclops.
He's capped three stats already (he capped Resistance last chapter and I forgot to note it), so I can't complain about this.
He also gets yet another useless magic-enabling skill in a class that can't use magic to begin with.
Natasha is here to help again, too.
Meanwhile, Gerik's low Skill is still a pretty big problem. He whiffs the second hit, so Kyle takes the kill.
He sure does. 
L'Arachel dodges one of the Great Knights for a decidedly unlucky level... and then she was double unlucky because the enemies moving means the Enemyrika could come in and attack her with the Light Brand 
Not that it put her in any danger, but now I don't get a Light Brand.
Up top, a whole lot of this happens.
It takes some feeding, but Gerik gets a kill.
Kyle is so powerful that not even reavers can stop him.
There's even more magic users coming, so I guess I should actually use Silence wisely for a change.
Stabby stab.
Cormag Bards for him so he can get closer to the treasure room, and in doing so I find out how Riev looks. Pfft, 8 speed? He doesn't even come with a sword, so I could totally box him in and beat the crap out of him... with magic users, so Counter doesn't kick in.
That said, he does have the other Death Blow (+20 Crit when initiating battle) along with a Killer Bow, which is... something, I guess. Can't really do much with it on only 16 damage before defense.
I'm more interested in this Assassin near him, who somehow is so bad at stealth that she has Provoke as a skill.
Tana still has way more of a crit chance than Riev, though! The Great Knights here have Wary Fighter, which is why she isn't able to double this guy to death.
Natasha gets the other one.
Ow.
I'm honestly kind of impressed that this landed at all, despite doing no damage.
And now, a quick treasure interlude. The first chest I open has a second Fili Shield, which reminds me that I also never gave the first one to Vanessa.
After every castle map before this having chests with upwards of 10K in them, this is almost insulting.
That's better!
Gerik is still plugging along.
As are the others.
I took Vanessa to get some revenge for Cormag, and found out the hard way that these sages have Vantage+.
At least Vanessa is stronger for it.
Now that I know that... let's nip this one in the bud.
And then everyone clumps up for the wave of promoted enemies to come.
Thus ends the tale of the world's worst assassin. Moulder hits S in lances off this, which is nice. If only I had a second Vidofnir...
Speaking of Vantage+, I'm glad Natasha has it too, even if it doesn't help her against this sniper.
Damn, this more than makes up for missing out on the Battle Axe earlier!
Okay, I think that's enough money now...
And the chests end on a whimper.
Joshua being merciful to an Enemyrika lets Gerik come in and take another free Shamshir. Too bad he started with an E in swords.
Then Knoll 
s the Warrior for another bad level.
More gold for the pile. That's almost 30K in one chapter.
Silent Sage goes down so the line can move up.
Of the several levels my team members have gotten so far, Tana was the only one to get a good one.
More effective damage! More!
In yet another instance of "why the fuck did I not check skills before attacking", Foresight completely invalidated Tana's attempts to one-shot this Enemyrika. 
This works, though.
A Druid gives Ephraim the two stats he still really needs more of.
What did you think would happen?
Well, uh, at least it helps with her low skill.
Another four or five enemies try to attack her and none of them are effective in any way.
Same story with Kyle.
Knoll takes out another enemy. I didn't bother to check the inventory, but by an amazing stroke of luck, this one had a Light Brand to drop! 
More Mercy means more kills for Gerik, and a pretty solid level. It's good to see him gain Strength again.
Reaver weapons continue to be totally invalidated by superior firepower.
Rennac runs into yet another enemy with Vantage+, but this one's a chump.
And Tana makes this one a chump by virtue of being Tana. She drops a Recover staff, which is a nice bonus.
Ephraim takes out the wight, and in doing so reveals a gorgon with Stone. Hmm...
Yeah, no.
Neimi one-ups a fellow Sage and gets more defense!!
She also gets an interesting movement skill, though I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of it. Orson had it in Chapter 5x and I don't think I used it there either.
Oh for fuck's-
-Eh, I'll take it.
Seriously, what is with these anemic Generals?
Another Gorgon whacks him with Demon Surge, but it's fine.
Oh, this is... something. Too bad he can barely scratch L'Arachel even with 5 hits (of which 2 miss).
It's a shame Natasha's low speed means it's hard for her to really take advantage of the Desperation/Vantage+ combo. If she had higher speed, she'd be able to double and kill most of the enemies that went for her, but alas.
Some more of this happens up top. Dazzle means she lives to see the player phase, but it's fine.
Rennac makes his way to the front lines for another very 
level.
Fury's a nice bonus on top of this good level, but I wish it was on someone with higher HP...
Vanessa gets another good level.
Ephraim... doesn't.
Oh boy, more Stone! Good thing it couldn't have actually landed.
And another magic sword I'm missing out on.
But hey, at least there's reinforcements!
The stats suck, but HP drain is HP drain.
I'll take this, too.
Cormag tops out so Innes can get to the front lines. From here on out, it's basically a game of cutting through enemies to get to Riev, and since the enemies are pretty nondescript... time for more level up screens!
Natasha continues to focus on her strengths and also gets a pretty good skill.
Tana keeps on being Tana.
Neimi also continues to be a real good glass cannon.
That's strength capped!
And Artur gets the one stat he could really use.
Eirika's stats are so good that I almost forgot I didn't do the double promotion glitch for her.
I forgot about the reinforcements that come out by the treasure room, but we're almost done - Mansel's not in danger.
Some Torch spam (because what else am I going to use it on at this point?) gives Knoll some much needed speed.
Hi, Riev!
In attacking with Moulder, I find out that Counter (mercifully) can't kill; it just leaves you with 1 HP
(also rennac takes out one of the other remaining enemies)
Bye, Riev!
And in one fell swoop, she caps strength and speed. 
Ivaldi seems decent but, like the other S-rank magics, I have nobody to use it.
NEXT TIME:
