Returning back to the situation at hand, Alec was fuming in anger as he looked at Elenor's pitiful body lying on the body. He could still see the fresh blood on her lips.
"Take one step closer and I'll stab her through the heart." Hera spoke, her tone joyful and childish as if they were playing a game.
"What did you do to her!?" Alec yelled, his emotions all distraught, his breathing becoming irregular.
Hera laughed, poking Elenor's ribs with her heels which caused her to groan in pain, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Oh!" she suddenly gasped and clasped her hands together.
A bright smile was plastered on her face as she happily spoke, "We had so much fun didn't we, Lady Elenor?" she questioned with a smile.
Elenor glared at her but she wasn't fazed.
"Yes we had a lot of fun, tying her up until her blood vessels nearly burst, hitting her everywhere and even with different ornaments creating a beautiful hue of colours on her body!!" Hera laughed, clearly having fun with how the situation had turned.
Alec couldn't take it anymore and was about to run over to Elenor when Judas stopped him. He glared at him,
"Don't stop me!" he shouted.
"Calm down! If you do you might kill your master instead of saving her!" Judas shouted back, bringing back some rational thoughts to Alec.
Judas turned to one of the guards which were with them and mouthed, "Go and report this back to Lloyd!"
Without wasting a second, the guards quickly hurried off but was stopped by Jonian who immediately stabbed one of them in the guts.
"Do you think I'll let anyone off easily?" Hera chuckled.
"Jonian, don't leave any of them alive."
Jonian nodded, licking his lips as they turned into a smirk, "Of course, your highness."
With one heel on the ground, he pushed himself off and with quick speed, stabbed the fatal points of each and every guard. Loud screams rang as blood splattered everywhere onto the ground, dying the snow from white to red.
Jonian returned back to the same position without panting. He wiped the blood off the corner of his cheek before turning to Hera.
"Good job my Jonian." she clapped.
She turned to the two figures and grinned, "Don't you know? Jonian here is an assassin which I bought for a high price but investing in him was worth it."
Alec clicked his tongue and turned to Judas, "Your highness, run and call for his highness and extra guards. I'll hold him off."
Judas' face paled, "Are you crazy? Did you not see what he can do?!"
Alec sighed and took out his blades which were hidden inside his coat, "Unfortunately for him, I'm better than him."
"But-"
"Your highness, do you want all of us including your people to die?!" Alec snapped at him, clearly irritated by his hesitation.
Judas stared at him before swallowing everything back down and glanced at his men who were bleeding out of the cold snow. He nodded and hurriedly ran off. Jonian was in front of Judas at the speed of light but so was Alec.
"I'll kill you!" Alec yelled, his murderous intent spilling out uncontrollably.
Jonian chuckled, "See if you can."
Jonian swiftly swung his blade towards Alec. Noticing his attack, he blocked it before counter attacking it, giving Jonian a large slash on his arm.
He showed no signs of pain and didn't give Alec another second to attack him. He leaped back and threw out small daggers. They were as thin as a needle and around a finger's length.
Alec dodged most of the daggers but when his foot came in contact with the ground, Jonian was right in front of him, his blade about to press deep into his guts. Being caught off guard, Alec was only able to move his body to the side, letting the sharp blade dig into his shoulder blade.
He winced at the pain but held back his groans as he distanced himself from his opponent. He pressed his hand against his shoulder, tightly pressing down on it to cease the bleeding. He sneered at Jonian who only looked on at him.
"Not bad." was all Jonian said before running towards him again.
The blade came across with Alec's, blocking it with all his strength. The two blades trembled by the amount of force the two were using against one another. Alec gritted his teeth, his jaw tensing up as he exerted more force on his blade.
Jonian furrowed his brows before jumping away, a loud cling sound ringing.
"You won't be able to hold on." he commented, looking at the deep wound he made.
Alec didn't reply to him. He knew there was the possibility of him dying right here and then. He also knew that he could die not from this man in front of him but the cold air seeping into his bones and wounds he received.
But he can't die here. He had to protect her. He would trade his life for her.
He staggered, standing up straight, his eyes returning back on his opponent who twirled his blade around his fingers.
'I'll kill you.'
Alec pounced on him, not wasting any more time. If he did, he could already foresee him dying in the man's hands.
Jonian was about to block his attack when Alec midway moved to the side. He smirked as if he predicted Alec's moves. He moved to the left, waiting for Alec to attack him but the attack didn't come.
He frowned before he realised. His eyes widened and tried to back away but he was too late. Alec had misled him into thinking he would attack him from the side but all along it was always from the front.
Alec swiftly used his blade, giving him larger and deeper slashes onto his chest, blood splattering all over the snowy grass.
Jonian was panting, clearly not expecting Alec to use even more strength after he had stabbed him on his dominant shoulder blade. He couldn't help but chuckle, finding this even more fun than before.
"It's been some time since I have met a good opponent." his pupils were dilated as his smile grew distorted.
"...Just shut up and die." Alec spoke with scorn.
Jonian who was already pretty fast before this, picked up even more speed, throwing more forceful and speedier attacks towards Alec.
Alec was able to match his speed, blocking and evading his attacks left and right, even throwing his own attacks back at Jonian when there was a chance.
As the fight went on, the wind grew colder and harsher while Hera boredly watched them. She was about to yell at Jonian to finish the fight and end it by injuring Alec to the point of him close to death when she noticed a bright light shining in their direction.
"Shit, they came faster than I thought." she cursed to herself.
She looked down at Elenor and grinned, another plan coming into mind.
Lloyd hurriedly rushed over once Judas came over, informing about everything and what had happened. He had brought more guards with them as they rushed to the scene.
Richard heard all the commotion and tagged along with Lloyd, his face pale as he heard about his sister.
"Are they insane?! The snow is getting harsher and they do this!" Lloyd grumbled, teeth chattering as he spoke.
"Who cares about that!? I need to protect Elenor!" Richard glared at Lloyd who shrunk his neck back.
As they finally reached the scene, they saw Jonian and Alec fighting against one another, ignoring everyone, focusing on killing each other.
"Why hello." Hera greeted, taking their attention from the two fighting onto her.
She held an arrow in her hand while she used her foot to step onto Elenor who hadn't moved since Jonian dropped her to the cold ground.
"Elenor!" Richard yelled her name, taking a step forward, inching closer to her and Hera.
"Did you know these arrows have poison on them?"
Hera grinned before piercing Elenor's shoulder with the arrow. She screamed in pain, twitching uncontrollably. She wanted to run and dodge all these attacks but her body wouldn't listen to her. She couldn't move her body even if she tried.
The poison didn't waste any time to go inside her system, she could feel her body burning up despite how cold the weather was at this moment.
'Fuck the poison is spreading fast!'
"You!-" Richard was about to curse at her but stopped himself. His eyes glaring deeply at her.
Alec heard her scream and instinctively looked over. Seeing this as a chance, Jonian retracted his blade before leaving a deep stab into Alec's lower abdomen.
Alec cursed at himself but did not back away. He took in a deep breath before charging in once more. Jonian laughed at how pathetic he was, struggling so much to win.
"You can't win against me." Jonian cackled, blocking his attack again and again.
Alec glanced at the ground on and off while continuing to attack him. Jonian bent down and swiped his leg from right to left, hitting Alec in the process causing him to fall to the ground. He climbed above him, blocking any exit of escaping.
"I'm supposed to keep you alive but," Jonian swung his blade up to the sky, "I've changed my mind."
The blade came down in a flash and a loud groan was heard. Alec lied underneath Jonian, unmoving. Jonian's body fell to the side, his blood covering his own body as he laid there with his neck revealing a deep cut, instantly killing him off.
Alec slowly moved, his breathing slow. He was lucky his plan had worked. He had been looking at the ground as he had noticed earlier there was a large area of ice which was barely covered by the snow.
By attacking him continuously, he had subconsciously stepped back, inching closer to the icy floor. He purposely allowed Jonian to kick him causing him to fall as he had hoped. With his plan completed, he waited until Jonian tried to strike him and shifted his body thanks to the ice. Once the blade was stuck into the ice, he killed him, striking Jonian's neck which was so visibly exposed right in front of him.
Hera noticed the fight had ended with Alec winning. She frowned before insulting Jonian who was now dead, "How useless can you be?!"
"Hera, it's over, you've lost." Judas spoke before pointing at her, "Seize her!"
Hera laughed, not accepting her fate. "You think it's over?" her smile dropped as she grabbed hold of the bow and arrows that were not far from where she was standing after Jonian had used it.
She took an arrow and pulled the bowstring back. As if she lost her mind, she laughed once more before looking dead in the eye at Alec.
"I'll kill you! If I can't have the things I want, they should never exist. This is all your fault, if you listened to me, everything would have been fine. Your master here would be fine!" Hera kicked Elenor,
"Every living thing should be loving me! Worshipping me! I am the only one who deserves to be loved!"
"Hera-"
"Shut up! Shut up brother!" Hera cut Judas off, pointing the arrow at him now.
"Do I not deserve love because I'm a half blood?" she questioned, her hands beginning to tremble, "Is it because my mother was a maid? A lowly maid who pounced on his majesty in the deep night?" she asked but nobody answered.
She bit her bottom lip hard causing it to bleed, "Is that why nobody loves me? Not even my own father?!"
She slowly raised the bow down, "...I am unworthy of love.."
Everyone thought she had calmed down but her shoulders started shaking. Fits of giggles were heard before a maniac like laughter came out of Hera's mouth.
"How outrageous!! I don't care if I am worthy or not. If I can't have what I want," she raised the bow up once more and pointed it towards Alec, "Then it should just die."
"Guards, capture her!" Lloyd shouted but it was too late, Hera released the arrow, flying straight towards Alec.
With what strength he had left, he tried to dodge it but a figure came into view, blocking the arrow from piercing through him. His eyes widened as he knew whose figure it was.
Elenor who had been lying on the cold snowy ground this whole time finally moved. Her strength was almost gone and she could feel herself growing closer to her deathbed but with the last splur of energy, she took the arrow straight into the chest.
Blood spilled out of her mouth and her body fell back to the ground. Her body felt like a block of lead, everything hurt and she was too tired. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep.
Before her body fell to the ground, Alec caught her, wrapping his arms around her cold body. He stared at her, touching her face only to notice his hands were freezing to death but he ignored it and continued stroking her face.
"Hyejin...Hyejin..." he muttered her name repeatedly, trying to keep her awake.
"...You're..safe.." she croaked out, her voice scratchy.
"Don't close your eyes! Stay with me! Hey!" he yelled but to Elenor, his voice was growing fainter.
Then she felt something wet on her face. Her eyelids were half opened and her vision was blurry but she could make out Alec's face still. She slowly brought her hand up to his cheek, trying her best to wipe the tears away. Alec grabbed onto her hand, pressing it closer to him.
"Please...don't leave me!-"
"....Don't...cry.." she weakly muttered, her voice was barely audible but Alec was close enough to be able to hear it.
More tears spilled out as he shook his head, "You can't die! You promise you won't leave me! We promised!" he yelled again.
'Please..stop crying...I don't want to see you cry..'
"..Alec…I'm..sorry..."
'I'm sorry I'm weak, unable to protect myself or you…'
"You don't need to say sorry. Just stay with me, please…"
"...Alec..I…"
"Don't leave me all alone here! Hyejin!"
"..Alec...I lov.." Elenor couldn't finish her sentence as she finally succumbed to the darkness, her eyes fluttering shut.
'I didn't get to tell him…'
"..Hyejin…? No… No! Hyejin wake up! Please wake up!! Hyejin!!! Wake up!!" Alec shouted, shaking her body in panic but it was no use.
Alec continued calling her name even when her body was taken away by the doctors. No matter how much he called out to her, she didn't respond to him, leaving him all alone in the darkness.