639,

A drop of fresh blood fell, and time seemed to stop.

What Cyclone saw was a moment of despair.

“No…”

From being knocked aside to crawling forward, Cyclone’s hands and feet moved awkwardly, out of sync.

“No—no, no, no…”

“Ha… haha… hahahaha!!!”

In the silent world, an annoying laugh rang out.

The King of Dusk laughed in stunned disbelief, tears streaming from his eyes.

“This—this is what happens when you betray this king… when you betray this king…”

Before he could say anything else, the King of Dusk suddenly tightened his grip on the magic spear.

“No, that’s not it! It’s you! This is your fault!! Cyclone Theodore!!!”

He raised the magic spear once again and aimed it at Cyclone.

“Oh no!!”

“Get out of the way!!”

As Yuna shouted, another person’s cry rang out alongside hers.

The sky suddenly darkened. The King of Dusk’s armor didn’t move, because the sudden attack was coming from every direction.

Marcina flew past the King of Dusk’s side. At the same time, the Great Dragon opened its jaws.

“Oh…”

Marcina didn’t know what to say either. The dragon’s jaws swallowed the King of Dusk in an instant.

None of the assassins, especially Yuna and Cyclone, could react.

However, Cyclone no longer cared about the King of Dusk’s death.

“Why—why did you come back?!!”

His words were laced with anger and grief. As he looked at the two bleeding wounds on Elyse’s body, unease surged up from the depths of his heart.

As if it were some cruel joke, Elyse lay right before Cyclone’s eyes.

The bullet had pierced through Elyse’s abdomen. Realizing that time was slowly slipping away, Cyclone hurriedly tore open his own clothes.

He stuffed the cloth into Elyse’s back wound, stopping the bleeding on one side first.

But with two holes punched straight through her body, the blood flowed out freely. By the time he had dealt with the wound in her back, a river of blood had already formed on the ground.

“Cy… clone…”

“Don’t talk!”

“Cyclone…”

“I said don’t talk!!!!”

All Cyclone wanted was for Elyse to conserve her strength.

Hilmirya rushed to the other side of Cyclone, bringing the surgical instruments over.

But when she saw the wound in Elyse’s abdomen, Hilmirya couldn’t help but flinch in shock.

By an incredible stroke of luck, the bullet’s path hadn’t pierced the child’s body.

And since Elyse had already reached full term, there might still be a chance to save the child by cutting open her abdomen and taking the baby out.

In Hilmirya’s eyes, this was the greatest blessing within a tragedy—but that was only her immature personal judgment.

Why? One look up at Cyclone was enough to explain everything.

His gaze wavered, and his hands trembled.

Cyclone had instinctively tried to stop Elyse’s bleeding, but now his movements came to a complete halt.

He hesitated, unable to bring himself to act.

Because this wasn’t a lucky situation. It was the cruelest fate the heavens could have given them.

Although the bullet’s path hadn’t harmed Feng’er, it had struck the umbilical cord.

The umbilical cord would now dry out from exposure to the air. Once the blood vessels contracted, Feng’er would be deprived of oxygen.

The blood Elyse was losing could temporarily keep the blood vessels moist, but…

To save Feng’er, he would have to cut open Elyse’s abdomen. By then, Elyse would certainly die from excessive blood loss.

But if he didn’t save Feng’er and only stopped the bleeding, then without the blood to keep it moist, Feng’er would eventually suffocate and die in the womb.

Blood…

If only they had blood right now, perhaps they could perform both operations while giving Elyse a transfusion.

But where could they get blood? And they still had to consider the blood type.

Would his own blood type work? What was Elyse’s blood type? How had his master taught him to distinguish between blood types back then?

Too many things had to be processed by his mind at once. In that instant, Cyclone couldn’t think.

“Cyclone…”

Elyse’s voice came through her weak, labored breath.

“D-don’t talk yet. Whatever you want to say, wait until later…”

Elyse shook her head and stubbornly insisted on speaking.

“I know. I’ve always been worried too…”

Her feeble tone stabbed at Cyclone’s heart.

“A girl like me, who offered herself to you of her own will… I probably can’t compare to the girls you pursue…”

“That’s not true, Elyse! Hang in there!!”

Hilmirya, who was beside them, clasped Elyse’s hand tightly, hoping to pass her own strength into Elyse.

“I’m different from them. I couldn’t help you, and I don’t have any unforgettable memories with you… Cough! Cough, cough!”

Seeing the blood spilling from Elyse’s mouth, Cyclone tightened his grip on the surgical knife.

“B-but love at first sight… can count too, right? That’s how… that’s how I fell in love with you…”

“Is that what you wanted to say?”

Cyclone looked at Elyse gently, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes.

Elyse smiled as she looked at him.

“Save Feng’er… Let him… live freely… in place of his mother…”

After saying that, Elyse closed her eyes.